Angel of Death: Book One of the Chosen Chronicles (60 page)

“Slowly,” whispered Fernando, and he listened.

His mind reeled at why the Noble was helping him. Such compassion seemed incongruous to the Chosen’s previous nature. The slaking of his thirst with the strange blood stilled the tremors enough for Fernando to release his hands. Gripping the bottle as if a lifeline, he pulled another room temperature draught into his greedy body.

Each mouthful sent shivers down his spine. Never before had blood tasted this divine. Lifting his lips from the kiss of the bottle, he held it slack in his hand.

“What is it?” he asked, lifting it once more to his lips.

“Pig,” replied the Noble matter-of-factly.

He halted the progression of the bottle to his lips in surprise and then noted it was empty. Dropping his hand, he placed the bottle on the night table next to the candle.

“It wasn’t hard to find a butcher who slaughtered his animals by bleeding them,” stated Fernando, noting the Angel’s inquisitive look.

From behind his back, Fernando offered a second green bottle filled to the neck. Gently easing out the cork with a second pop, he offered it.

This time his hands did not shake as he brought the contents to his lips.

“I figured that if you survived, you’d need to feed,” continued the Noble. “Having a Chosen in the throes of the hunger would be detrimental.”

He frowned at the half filled bottle in his hand. “What happened?”

“You don’t remember?”

Fernando’s incredulous tone lifted his gaze to meet brown eyes and he shook his head, frowning.

“It seems that your mortal lover unknowingly ate something with the herbal mixture and when you bit her she inadvertently poisoned you.”

His eyes went wide and then guilt pounded into him. It was no wonder Jeanie was in the other room sobbing. She probably believed he was furious at her.

Closing his eyes with a groan, he rubbed his face with his free hand. “How long was I unconscious?”

“Three nights.” He could feel Fernando’s angry glare but refused to look up. “Three nights lost.”

Shame and guilt poured into him. So much time lost to one day’s momentary joy. The only recompense was that Jeanie knew where the office was and he frowned. Even while he fought the poison in his system Fernando and Jeanie should have gone there.

“Did Jeanie take you to the shipping house?” he asked.

“No,” stated Fernando, tersely, obviously annoyed. “She said she wanted to wait until you recovered. She wouldn’t even tell me where it was so I could go alone.” He let out a huff. “Did you know she’s immune to our Charms?”

He frowned. He had thought it was just he. Notus seemed to have no issue in mesmerizing Jeanie. His jaw tightened and he closed his eyes at how stupid he had been. Of course! Notus made sure she was insusceptible so as to protect her from other Chosen.

Dispirited, he nodded.

“Phag,” spat the Noble, clearly disgusted. “That is not helpful.”

“What time is it?” he asked, desiring to change the topic away from Jeanie for the moment.

“An hour before sunset or thereabouts.”

He caught the Noble’s eyes with his own. “We’ll go tonight once the sun is down.”

Fernando’s eyes lowered suspiciously. “Do you think you’re up for it?”

“It doesn’t matter.” He shook his head. “I need to feed, and I’ve wasted too much time lying in bed.”

A hungry grin spread over the Noble’s features. Turning, Fernando walked to the door.

“One other thing.” He saw the Noble pause at the door. “Would you mind sending Jeanie in?”

Relief washed over Fernando’s features. “Oh God yes. Anything to get her to stop crying.”

Surprised at the compliance and the help he had received he stared at the floor in front of his bare feet.

“Thank you, Fernando,” he said solemnly.

“You’re welcome, Gwyn,” replied the Noble.

The sound of the name spoken by Fernando’s lips stunned him to the quick and his snapped his head up to find the Noble had left. Eyes wide with foreboding he stared at the bottle in his hand. Finishing the tepid liquid in one final chug, he placed it next to the other empty one and wiped his mouth along his arm leaving a red streak against white.

The commotion arising from the other room caused him to lift his head. He could hear Jeanie’s reticence to enter into their room, sobbing her denial that he would want to see her was incongruous to Fernando’s demands. It took the Noble’s bellowed order to send Jeanie scurrying to stand by the opened door.

Afraid to enter, she hugged the frame in an attempt to gain succour, her eyes red and swollen from crying. He could tell she wanted to come to him, but feared his reaction. Seeing all this on her usually soft features broke his heart and he went to stand so as to go to her but found the ache in his muscles, no matter how much decreased by the pig’s blood, still hampered him.

It was his groan at the sensation of his feet painfully taking his weight that sent Jeanie flying into the room to land on the floor before him on her knees, shoulders hunched and shuddering with new wracks of sobs. Over the din, he could hear her mumbling over and over how sorry she was and that if he sent her away she would understand.

Heart wrenched at the dejection she poured forth, he painfully lowered to one knee before her. He could not stand being the source of her misery. Brushing back tangled curls he lifted her sorrowful face by the chin. Red rimmed her vibrant green eyes and he shook his head. Jeanie should never have to suffer like this and he hated himself to be the cause. Wiping the tears from her face with his hand, he followed the softness of her cheek to the side of her head where he cradled her in his hand. Even through the salt scent the smell of her blood jumped his hunger, but this time it was much easier to restrain.

“I’m so sorry,” spluttered Jeanie between sobs, new tears streaming down. “I dinna realize that…that –” She collapsed against him, his bare chest soaking in refreshed tears.

“Shush,” he whispered over her cries. He held her to him, feeling her warmth, petting her hair in an attempt to calm her. He could feel his eyes welling with unshed tears, having hurt her so. “It’s not your fault.”

Jeanie pulled away just enough to look up at him, sniffing. “Then why did ye yell at me to leave if yer no mad at me?”

He brushed an errant lock from obscuring her face and tilted his head to hide his sudden sense of self-disgust. “I’m not mad at you. I had to save you.” Her eyes questioned him, encouraging him to continue. “If you had stayed,” he glanced down at the floor suddenly ashamed. “I would have killed you. I had to save you from myself.”

“But why?” He could hear her plaintive tones.

“I have never felt such a driving hunger before,” he tried to explain. “I was barely able to control it. Had you stayed any longer…” He shook his head.

He watched her eyes go round in understanding. “But I nearly killed ye.”

“I don’t have much of a memory of what happened. Fernando told me, albeit briefly, but I can’t blame you, Jeanie. How were you to know that the herbal mixture was in the food you had eaten?”

It was Jeanie’s turn to look away as if unable to relinquish her responsibility of his current state. He brought her head up to gaze into her eyes.

“I love you, Jeanie. Nothing ever can change that.”

The fierceness of her embrace nearly toppled him over and he felt her mumble her love against his chest before pulling away.

“Do you think we can get off this floor?” he asked, managing a gentle smile and was rewarded with one in kind.

Groaning with the exertion to stand, he gratefully sat back down on the bed with a sigh, Jeanie beside him. “Yer still in pain?”

“I’ll be fine once I properly feed,” he explained with his eyes closed, willing his aching muscles to relax. “You’ll be fine to take us to the shipping house tonight?”

“Aye,” she nodded, sniffing back the remnants of her weeping. “But maybe we should wait ‘till yer better?”

He shook his head. “I’ve wasted too much time. We’ll go once the sun is down. Until then -” a smile lit his eyes “- I am sorely in need of a nice hot bath and if memory serves, the tub in the ensuite is more than large enough.”

The red sadness swept away, leaving green eyes sparkling as she stood up. On stiff legs, he followed Jeanie into the bathroom, never relinquishing his grip on her hand.

E
very jostle of the wheels against the cobbles sent stabs through
his legs and up his spine to pound painfully in his head. He tried to relax against the leather padded backing of the coach, but it only increased the rattles and bobs. Eyes closed and jaw clenched he prayed to whatever Old Gods remained that they would arrive soon at the office.

He could feel Jeanie’s warmth sitting beside him, her bouquet perfuming the air, driving his hunger to be released from its taught leash. He had hoped the bath they had shared would have relinquished some of the ache the poison had left in his body, but it was blood he needed, not hot water.

Even Jeanie’s gentle ministrations with the soapy water to ease the spasms did little to offer relief. What he needed was to feed and for the first time he was afraid to do so. Having seen his fear reflected in her eyes, he knew that she did not want to chance sending him back into that paroxysm of pain. They had touched each other, washing off days of pain both physical and emotional, with chaste tentativeness.

“We’re here,” said Jeanie, her voice loud in the sudden silence.

Opening his eyes in relief he saw the Noble in the seat across from him shift to leave the coach. Fernando’s unexpected help was still mystifying, as was the Noble’s grin when both he and Jeanie had exited the bedroom. There had definitely been satisfaction on the Noble’s face, but there had also been something more sinister behind the smile. Despite the return to the cool façade of the Angel a sense of growing dread took hold, making him wonder how much besides the name, Fernando had heard.

Last out of the coach, he stood to his full height under his cloak, feeling the pops along his spine as they protested the stretch. The pressure of the sword belt ached across his hips as the ancient blade tipped his balance. He needed to feed, and soon. He could not continue feeling this way.

He caught Jeanie’s concerned gaze and smiled briefly at her as the driver clicked his tongue, sending the coach rattling away. Bringing his attention to the white rimmed red lettering of the office sign, the whole building seemed to shimmer a sense of menace. This was the place they should have attended three nights ago and he hoped that the answers they sought were still there. He walked up to the black painted door.

“I doubt that you had noticed,” said the Noble as he strode over to him. Dark eyes shifted to glance into the night as he hugged his cape closed. “But we’ve been tailed since leaving the hotel.”

Turning to look in the direction Fernando had indicated, he could see a dark shape flit from one shadow to the next. The figure seemed to move too fast for a mortal and knew how use the darkness to make himself invisible. A sense of recognition flitted through his mind but he shrugged it off. If it was someone involved with the poisoning of the Chosen then he would be hunted down once they got their answers from behind this door.

“You’re not remotely interested in finding out who that is?” asked Fernando, incredulous that the Angel seemed disinterested in their tail. Ever since he had indicated that he knew the Angel’s name after providing the bottles of pig’s blood, the Angel seemed confused, even concerned, in how to relate to Fernando. The discomfiture had continued, shutting the Angel down to nary a word spoken. The only indication of thought or feeling was the pained expression the Angel displayed on their journey and the smile he gave to the girl.