Elixxir (The Brethren Series) (17 page)

“I know, Gabriel. But tell me,” she countered, “do the other Warriors get a high when they slice and dice? Do they look for reasons to fight? Do they case the most dangerous parts of town in the hopes of finding someone to pummel into Hell?”

Silence.

“Didn’t think so. But Nathanael has. I’ll bet you a million dollars he’s roaming the streets doing exactly that. Do you know Joe’s number?”

“Joe? Who’s Joe?”

“You must know Joe. He’s his personal fitness trainer and old friend. He’s the only one who knows—I mean…he can tell you how serious this is.

“Oh! Joseph Demonico. Yes, I’ll have Yofi call him. It would be helpful to know what we’re dealing with here.”

“Find him, Gabriel. Fly through the night and find him. Then, lock me in a room with him and I’ll set him straight. I made this mess and I’ll fix it.”

“Thanks, but we’ll handle it.” Gabriel turned to his teammate. “Yofi, we need to call in the others for this. When one of us is hurting, we all are.”

“I’ll alert them right now. Want me to tell them to meet us on the rooftop here?”

“Yeah, that’ll work. But what to do about Murati and the Elixxir? We’ve got to get that situation neutralized. Let me think on it.”

***

Nathanael checked email through his phone and found a list of bounties to be hunted. The streets of Las Vegas proved too tame for him, and he needed to ramp it up. He called his warden friends and discovered there were four highly dangerous escaped convicts on the loose from different county jails across Arizona and Nevada. He flew to each one and asked for a shirt or something personal from each escapee. He sensed each of their intentions and began his hunt.

He started with a fugitive, Jerry Mack, who’d shot and killed his wife and three kids. He’d escaped an Arizona county jail and had last been seen near Carson City. Lucky Nate. He got to pick off the first one close to home. Jerry had plans to visit Reno. Straight to his other wife and kids who lived there. Fucking polygamist.
Well, not anymore
.

Flying off to where he suspected Jerry would be, his adrenaline started pumping again and his heart thrummed with the thrill that had teased him all evening. Down below, in a little hidey hole at the end of a dark alley, the murderer sat eating chicken wings.

“Enjoying your dinner, Jerry?” Nathanael came to land in front of him. He looked up and dropped the wing that he’d been gnawing on.

“Oh, that look is priceless, Jer, my man. Priceless! Wait, I gotta get a picture of this.” He took out his cell phone and pushed the camera button. “Okay, hold it right there. Perfect!” He stowed his cell phone back in his pants pocket. “I’ll be sure to send you a copy…in Hell.”

“What the fuck are you? Some kind of freak?” He dropped his bag of wings and scooted back against the wall.

“Yeah, I’m the freak here. Uh huh. Let’s see, now. You, Jerry Mack, married two women and raised two families at the same time without either knowing about it. You just murdered one of your wives and three of your kids. And I’m the freak? Because of these things, here?” He pointed to his wings.

“I didn’t kill nobody.”

“You’re a fucking liar and a very bad man. Being the angel that I am, I don’t take kindly to people who murder innocent children. Now, I could bring you back to jail, but I really don’t want to waste taxpayer dollars feeding you and buying toilet paper to wipe your psychopathic ass. No, I’d much rather deliver Brethren justice upon ya.”

“You’re one sick motherfucker.” Jerry pulled out a gun.

“Really? That’s all you got? Almost makes this boring. Don’t bother to shoot me. I don’t die. Now, since you’ve been on the run from the law, why don’t we pick up where you left off.”

He gave him a puzzled look.

“That means run, Jerry. Run for your life. Go.”

The crazed man scrambled out of the corner and raced away from him. “One, two, three….” Nathanael shuddered, absorbing the high, and flew off after him. He watched him race down an unlit street, giving him plenty of lead time. Almost without effort, he lifted and landed about fifty yards in front of the desperate man. He stood like a massive wall of impenetrable flesh. Jerry stopped short and turned to run the other way. But the Warrior simply flew over and alighted in front of him again.

“Ever play tag when you were a kid? You don’t seem to be too good at it.” Nathanael’s head pounded and he needed release. He flew around the screaming man at lightning speed, and then punched his fist out, knocking him to the ground. “Tag! You’re it!”

The dazed man looked up at the avenging angel.

“Jerry Mack, you have been charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of escape from jail. How do you plead? This is when you say guilty, Jerry. Go ahead.”

“G-g-guilty, all right? Just who the hell are you?”

“I’m your personal Angel of Death. My name is Nathanael, and I will be delivering justice all over your ass tonight. Swiftly and permanently.” He unsheathed his sword and watched as it glinted in the moonlight. “Time to go to Hell. Say hi to Satan for me. Tell him you’re number two.”

He raised his sword and howled as Jerry scurried across the road, trying to get away from him. But Nathanael had other business to attend to and made quick work of his bounty, severing the man’s head from his body. The sword shimmered and absorbed the man’s blood. Nathanael shrieked from the pain and the pleasure of it all. His arms stretched up to the skies, and he shouted. “Ah! More…I need more!” He flew off to feed on the next loser of a bounty. “Lord, help me stop.”

Darkness slid neatly into the recesses of his mind as Satan paid him a visit. “I’m here for you. No one else is. Where’s your boss? The coward. Where’s your woman? Lying whore. Who’s always given you what you need? Me. And I can give you all that and more. Join me, and you can have all the power you desire.”

Evil taunted his soul and fueled his skewed thoughts. It massaged his addiction and his ego, but he couldn’t seem to jump the last hurdle necessary to become Satan’s angel forever. He could not kill for blood-sport.

“No! I will not yield!” He stumbled onward and took flight, needing the wind to rush around him and looking for the next fix.

The second escaped convict had intended to get revenge on an ex-girlfriend who’d turned him into the police. Nathanael touched down right behind Jake Fremont as he took a container of gasoline from the bed of a presumably stolen pick-up truck. Looked like he was planning on torching the house in front of them.

“Jake Fremont!” he whispered ominously in his ear, and then he flew behind a tree.

The guy jumped and spilled the gasoline on his pants. “Shit! What the fuck?” He turned around and around looking like a dog chasing his tail.

“Jake Fremont,” Nathanael taunted as he floated down before him, “you are hereby charged with two counts of murder and one count of being a stupid ass for thinking you could escape prison. You are hereby sentenced to Brethren justice. Any last words before you die, you worthless piece of scum?”

“I…I….” Jake stood frozen, and dropped the bottle on the ground.

“I…I….” The Warrior mocked him and unsheathed his sword, waving it about with flair. “I didn’t do it? Wrong. It was an accident? No, douchebag, thirty-five stab wounds isn’t an accident. Prepare to meet your new prison boyfriend: Satan. And tell him, you’re number three.”

Jake tried to flee. “You run like a sissy, Fremont!” He flew after him and cut him down mid-stride. The head rolled to the gutter as the rest of the body crumpled like a ragdoll.

“Clean up in Aisle Hell, please.” Nathanael let out a maniacal laugh and cried at the same time. “Ah!” He held his head and shook uncontrollably. The ecstasy of the kill collided with the pain of Satan’s choking grasp on him.

Evil warred with the good inside him, twisting his innards into knots and gnarled masses, and wouldn’t let up. It teased and lapped at his heart and soul, tempting them with ultimate power, leaving behind extreme want and desire. Fire raced through his veins and all the barbs of his feathers. He fell to the ground and picked himself up again, realizing he needed to find a sheltered place to get through this hellish period.

A playground stood halfway down the street, with equipment that could serve to hide him while he went off the deep end. It took every ounce of his will to stumble over to a large cement tube big enough to hold him. He fell into it just as the rapture pushed all sense aside and took total control. His mind fell into the waiting hands of darkness.

Maybe I should finally give in to Satan. I’m tired of feeling this way. Tired of the constant craving and never being satisfied
.

He rose to his knees and grasped the sword. With both hands in a death grip around the hilt, he tried to turn the blade inward, ending his piteous existence. But instead, it did what it always did when he tried. It trembled and shook furiously, and then tossed itself out of his hands when he’d managed to get it pointed at his heart.

“Damn you to Hell!” He threw himself to the floor of the tube and curled up in a fetal position as another wave of rapture pulled him under. “Ariana!”

Chapter Fifteen

Ariana had never felt more shitty in her life. Her impulsivity and lies had sent Nathanael off the deep end. She wanted to scream, wanted to rip her own heart out and smash it to pieces. She had to find him and beg forgiveness, or she’d go nuts herself. The Brethren had long since congregated and flown off blindly to seek him out. Because he blocked them, they could only scan the streets. But who knew where he’d really gone? He could have flown halfway around the world, and no one would know.

Standing by the window, she looked toward the sky and prayed he would find his way back to her. Suddenly, a deep voice called to her from behind, and she turned around sharply. No one was there. She turned again, and an image popped into her head out of nowhere. A deserted playground by her old elementary school. Her pulse quickened as she tried to put sense to the strange events.

The voice sounded familiar, deep and sensual, and desperate, yet no one but she remained in the room, so it couldn’t be one of the Brethren. And why would she be thinking about the old playground now? That voice….

“Oh, my God! It’s him! It’s Nate!”

She hurried to slip on her shoes and grabbed her bag while running out of the room. Nathanael had called to her and needed her help. She knew it now. If she could get a cab right away, it would take all of five minutes to get there. “I’m coming for you, Nate. Hold on.”

***

Ariana barely waited for the cab to come to a full stop before opening the door and running.
The man could be a jungle gym in his own right given how enormous he is. He couldn’t be that hard to find
. She ran around until she came to cement tubes she remembered playing in as a child. They were the only things she could think of that were large enough to contain the guy.

“Nathanael? Nate? Where are you?” There were five of these cement behemoths, and she raced from one to the next until she heard grunts of pain and found a curious, flickering glow emanating from the last one. She approached tentatively and looked inside. “Oh, my God.”

He lay curled up in a ball. Sandy grit had mixed with his sweat and caked on his wings and arms. Tremors wracked his entire body and she could hear him mumbling something unintelligible over and over.

“Nathanael,” she whispered, and crouched low in front of him. Afraid to touch him, she just continued to talk. “It’s me, Ariana. I heard you call to me. You called to me and I came. I’m here.”

“Ariana. I’m not evil. Ah!” He shook wildly.

“I know, Nate. I know. Let your shields down, baby, so your Brethren can come get you. They’ll help you get better.” She couldn’t stand to look at him anymore and not hold him. Taking a breath, she sat beside him and boldly encircled his body with her arms, tucking them between his back and his wings. He bucked and cried out. “Shhh. It’s okay. It’s okay. Let me hold you, Nate.”

He eased against her body and settled his head by her heart. She caressed his cheek and ran her fingers through his hair to cradle the nape of his neck. Kissing his forehead, she closed her eyes and did her best to keep it together for his sake. “You’re going to be all right, angel boy. I’ll see to it.” She did the only thing she could think of to soothe him. She sang him a childhood lullaby.

“Toora, loora, loora; Toora, loora, li; Toora, loora, loora; Hush, now, don’t you cry.” She rocked him and sang the tune over and over. His shivering body weighed heavy against her as he slowly quieted down. Breathing shallowly, she didn’t care if he crushed her, as long as he returned to well-being.

“Ariana, we’ll take it from here.” A hand shook her shoulder gently until she opened her eyes. “I said we’ve got it.” Looking up, she saw Raphael, Kemuel, a group of bare-chested, leather-clad angels, and Joe surrounding her and Nathanael. A couple of the angels she recognized. Others she didn’t know.

“Oh. I didn’t realize you’d all come already. He’s in bad shape, Raphael. Please help him. Heal him. Make this addiction of his go away.”

She moved to release him but he groaned and clutched onto her. “Nate, your team is here to help you. Let go, baby.” But he wouldn’t.

“No! You’re my safe place! They can’t help me. Only you. Only you!” He held on to her even tighter than before. She looked at the others, completely at a loss.

“Guys, help. He’s latched on to me with a death grip.”

The Brethren moved forward and amidst threats and protests, they detached him from her. His painful sobs ripped the last vestiges of her control to shreds.

“I’m so sorry, Nathanael,” she sobbed. “Please forgive me and what I’ve done.”

As the angels draped him across their arms and lifted him away, he arched back and seared her soul with his tortured stare. His hand shot out toward her. She touched her fingers to her lips, kissed them, and extended her hand, doing her best not to fall to the ground under the weight of her grief.