Rising (19 page)

The whole time me and my guys were
triangulating the call…Yep, I think it’s actually a federal crime… Heather and
I really connected. Turns out she was in a bit of a rocky relationship too. After
a couple of minutes, I heard this guy yelling at her to hang up and take her
clothes off, so she had to go. I thanked her not only for the self-esteem boosting
advice, but also for the address I got out of it.

Tarren’s Story

I noticed a crowded pizza restaurant
right next door to the pet shop…Pizza? No. I had some Power Bars on me...
Patrons were walking over to the restaurant from some of the office buildings
and then back on foot. Perfect targets for an angel.

It was a long shot, but I waited and
watched. I got lucky. Two angels attacked a woman as she took a shortcut
through an alley away from the restaurant. I put one down with a headshot, and
the other one… He became willing to tell me where the angels were
headquartered…The woman? She was fine. I tranquilized her… No. Not outside in
this temperature. I broke into a closed office building and put her on a couch
in the lobby… She had a coat on. She was fine.

Gabe’s Story

Would’ve been nice to have Tarren at my
back, but that fucker was nowhere to be found.

I’d brought a couple extra weapons we
had laying around at home, and got my team outfitted and armed. Imagine a
montage if you will. Guns being slung. Faces serious. Muscles glimmering in the
overhead light. Rocky theme song pounding in the background…Oh, okay, you got all
the visuals. Good. So then I told my new posse the plan, and they were right
behind me, ready to lay their lives on the line at my word.

Rain’s Story

It was a terrible plan. I was pretty
sure we were all going to die.

Tarren’s Story

I arrived at the location at 7:13 AM and
scoped out the property…My course of action wasn’t clear at that point. I
hadn’t even confirmed that you were on site. And then I heard…You were
screaming, somewhere away from the main house.

Gabe’s Story

When we got to that huge-ass mansion I
found a nice tree on a hill about 20 yards away from the front door. It was big
enough that I could mostly hide behind it without being seen, and the hill gave
me a great angle. I set up shop there with the sniper rifle. The Gabettes went
around back…They actually voted on the new name themselves, if you must know. I
tried to talk them out of it. It was all rather embarrassing.

Tarren’s Story

I saw the flames, and I…Of course I
considered a trap….But you were…The angels left. The last one out, he
looked…Never mind, it’s not important. I made my choice.

Gabe’s Story

The Gabettes took up position behind the
mansion and started shooting that fucker up… Not exactly brilliant, but it
worked. The angels streamed out the front. I checked every set of hands through
the scope. All angels, and I picked them off one by one with the sniper rifle…Okay
not all of them, but a lot of them….At least seven. Those poor bastards didn’t
know what the fuck was going on.

Rain’s Story

Loud. The gunshots were so loud. My ears
are still ringing. It was all madness and adrenaline, and I just remember how
loud the gunshots were.

Gabe’s Story

I kept waiting for you to come out that
front door, but you didn’t.

Rain’s Story

We kept shooting at the back of the
house, and no one was coming our way, which was fine by me. We could hear them
screaming though on the other side of the house. They sounded so afraid.

Then a group of them came up behind us
from the left. They were just there, and Chain was shouting, so I pointed my
gun at them and started shooting. This bald guy, he went down, and two others
ran away. A man and a woman. At some point I must have run out of bullets, but
I never even noticed, because one of them, a woman, she…She flew.

Gabe’s Story

I saw one of them rise up into the sky
from behind the house. A woman with blonde hair. All this lightening surrounded
her, just like Storm from the X-Men. I always liked Storm, but this lady, she
wasn’t one of the good guys. She raised up her arms and all hell broke loose.

Rain’s Story

Hail. Thunder. Lightening. It was chaos.
The wind was so heavy, it knocked me over. She was looking at us, right at us,
and lightening crawled all over her body…No, I’m fine. I was like, well, I just
closed my eyes and waited.

Gabe’s Story

With all the wind and lightening and
shit going, it was an impossible shot. For anyone else.

Rain’s Story

Then it was over. I caught just a
glimpse of her falling like a piece of lead. I think I was kind of in shock or
something, because then everyone was standing around, and Gabe was giving us
orders. I couldn’t believe we were all still alive. Gabe was shivering and
seriously looked like he was going to drop. He told Bear and Chain to search
the mansion for you. He waved me to follow him. I didn’t know where we were
going until I saw big clouds of smoke billowing to the left.

Tarren’s Story

I went in. You were alive but barely
conscious….I know what you said…I tried to pick the lock, but visibility was
severely limited. You lost consciousness, and the whole structure was
collapsing. The central beam was caving, so I emptied my clip into it. Then I
grabbed the chain linked through your cuffs and pulled. The beam buckled, and I
got you out...The beam broke apart…Nothing. It was nothing. 

Gabe’s Story

I saw all that smoke, and I think a part
of me knew you were there. I turned the corner, and the guest house was a
bonfire. Then I saw Tarren lying in the snow a couple feet from the door…It
wasn’t the most enjoyable moment of my life.

Rain’s Story

The fire was so bright that I didn’t see
the guy at first. Not until Gabe went all spastic, floundering through the
snow. The guy’s shirt was smoldering, and he was curled up on his side, not
moving. Gabe got to him and pulled him over. That’s when I saw there was
someone underneath him.

Gabe’s Story

Tarren woke up as soon as I touched him.
You were a different story. Maya, I, there was a moment. God, I thought my
heart was going to crawl out of my throat and vomit.

Rain’s Story

You had something, I guess the guy’s
jacket, wrapped around your hands, and you weren’t breathing. I’m CPR-certified,
so I thought I’d…Yeah, you know the rest.

“Ugh. What’s that stench? You burn your
shoes or something?” Gabe looks over to Tarren.

“My shirt got singed,” he replies.

The windows of the jeep are up, and it
smells like someone threw something unappetizing onto a grill and left it there
for a couple of days. Outside, snowflakes dance lightly in the wind, and cars
fill the streets, kicking up brown slush.

I lie down across the backseat, reach
into the seat pocket in front of me, and grab the extra pair of fingerless
gloves I always keep there for emergencies. They prove difficult to don, or
maybe it’s that my fingers are still numb and tingly and my thoughts all logged
with smoke. Every pull of the gloves wakens little snakes of pain in my chaffed
wrists.

“Maya, how much did you tell them?”
Tarren asks. He sits ramrod straight in the passenger seat and stares ahead.

I reflect on his question. Gem rifled
through my mind like it was an unlocked filing cabinet. He knows everything and
could hurt us in so many different ways that it strains my imagination. But he
won’t hurt us. I know this, or at least I think I know this. He allowed me to
be rescued by Tarren, but there’s something more; the connection he forged
between our minds wasn’t one-way. Even as he was picking over my thoughts, I felt
the touch of his own.

I struggle to push beyond my exhaustion
to understand the feelings I caught from him. He’s not evil. Well, not in the
cruel, insane, scalpel-loving way of Grand. There was…conflict. Lots of
conflict and uncertainty….and remorse.

And he’s my brother, as much as Tarren
and Gabe are.

“Nothing. I didn’t tell them anything,”
I say.

“We need to know exactly—” Tarren begins.

“How did you get your hat back?” I ask
Gabe, overriding Tarren’s question. Tarren sets his jaw, but doesn’t follow up.

A wide smile spreads on Gabe’s face.
“You know that squirrel?”

“Uh, you’re going to have to be a little
more specific.”

“The cool one with the bent tail.”

“Oh yeah, the one that lives in the
woods next to the house. You put him on the no-snack list.” I know this particular
squirrel. He’s a mean motherfucker, big and bold with black devil eyes.

“Yeah, well, he and I are really tight.
I trained him to understand human speech and to monitor the woods for angels.
He also tells me what color panties Francesca wears every day.”

Another stupid story. I should have
known. Outwardly I groan, but really, this is a good thing. Gabe being playful
is a good, good thing.

“He owed me a favor, so he got the hat
down.”

“First of all, you’re totally full of
bullshit,” I inform him. “Secondly, you’re a perv. Thirdly, the hat was taped
to the tree branch, and fourthly, you cheated!”

Gabe laughs. His hands rest lax on the
wheel as we pause at a stoplight, so different from the precise ten and two
grip that Tarren never deviates from.

“Firstly, you’re insanely jealous that I
can commune with the animals of the forest,” Gabe responds, mimicking my tone.
“Secondly, Francesca is my future wife, so I have a relevant interest in her
panties. Thirdly, squirrels have crazy strong teeth, duh. Don’t you watch the
Discovery Channel?”

“Hey, that’s not…”

“Fourthly,” Gabe hollers over my
objection. “Fourthly….what was the fourth one?”

“You cheated.”

“Turn up here,” Tarren cuts in.

I do everything to keep a smile off of
my lips. It doesn’t matter that every inch of my body is battered and bruised,
that I can feel hardened ash around my nostrils and in the corners of my eyes.
My brothers found me. My brothers are here; we’re all together. And Gabe is
cracking jokes. I would stop time if I could, hold this moment still forever.

Tarren gives Gabe additional directions,
and I’m surprised when I recognize where we’re heading. A minute later we pull
into the parking lot of the Bluebell Estates. I sit up and look out at the
weathered building.

“You kept the room?” I ask Tarren.

“I figured that if your captors were
successful in getting information from you…”

“I would send them here,” I say flatly.

“My options at the time were limited,”
Tarren says. His eyes stay glued to the windshield.

“No they weren’t. You could have
followed protocol,” I say, not because I’m angry or upset, but because I’m still
confused.

“Yeah, if you were breaking all the
rules anyway, you could have at least kept your phone,” Gabe jumps in.

“I didn’t want my movements tracked,”
Tarren says.

Gabe pulls into a parking space in the
far back corner, and we all stare at the squat building.

“Do you think it’s safe?” Gabe asks.

Oh shit, Raven.
“No, this isn’t a good idea,” I say. “There
was a girl in the room below us. The angels nabbed her, changed her, but she
got away. She’s lost and alone out there. Confused. She might try to come
back.”

“Infected her?” Tarren turns his head
toward me.

“Yeah, it’s a long story. I’ll tell you,
I swear, but can we just find someplace else and get a shower first?”

“Did you clean out the room?” Gabe asks.

Tarren shakes his head. “Didn’t have
time. Everything’s still in there.”

“I didn’t give them a checkout date,” I
add. “Credit card should hold out for a few more days.”

Gabe sits back in the seat, one hand
tapping against the wheel. “We could just keep the room. Rotate watch for the
girl.” He looks to Tarren for confirmation.

In the passenger seat, Tarren seems lost
in thought. I wonder what dizzying array of plans swirl through his mind.

“Too risky,” he says at last. “If she’s
been reported as a missing person, the police will want to question everyone
who’s checked into the motel. We can’t afford that scrutiny. We’ll clear out
the room, find somewhere close to rest, and set up a rotating watch here for
her. When we get eyes on her, we’ll take her down.”

Take her down.
Tarren’s words echo hollow inside of me.
Take her down.
That’s what my brothers do. They see an angel, line up
their shot, and pull the trigger. I can’t get rid of the image of Raven
shivering and terrified in the backseat of the SUV. Maybe we can help her. I
just don’t know how yet. I’ll think it through, come up with a plan.
Tarren…yeah, I think hell would have to freeze over before I could get him to
budge. I’ll work on Gabe first.

Gabe hefts open his door and slides out.

“We’ll get two rooms as usual,” Tarren
says, unbuckling his seatbelt. I’m not sure why he feels this thought requires
voice. Does he mean like the way things used to be, where Gabe and I would take
a two-bed room and Tarren would take a single? No. Everything Tarren says has a
reason. He means that he and Gabe will share a room. He doesn’t want me near
Gabe, not after…

“Okay,” I mutter and push my door open.

Tarren exits with such care, that I
wonder if he’s still feeling the effects of the smoke. He looks at me. His pale
eyes seem bright. I catch more reds leaking into his aura beyond his grip of
control. He’s still angry that I ran off, that I was stupid enough to get
captured…twice. He has every right to be furious. I could have gotten him and
Gabe killed.

“I’m sorry,” I tell him.

“I know,” he says and follows Gabe up
the stairs to the room.

I stand there, hand resting on the open
door, and realize that I haven’t thanked Tarren for saving my life. For not
abandoning me.

***

When I make it into the room, I double
check that the Do Not Disturb sign is in place before locking the door behind
us. Gabe is already shedding his duster, guns, hat, and shoes. He collapses
onto the king bed and immediately burrows under the blankets.

The sight and smells of the room are
oddly comforting. I breathe in the cloying odor of old cigarettes and let my
eyes trails the sagging green and white stripped wall border. Even the obnoxious
rumbling heater sounds like an old friend. My bag still sits next to the cot, and
there, in the corner is the cage where the last three rats huddle. Fear ripples
through their auras as I move in close.

I take them into the bathroom. It’s a
quiet slaughter as I slake my hunger.

“Alright, you two get to work. I’ll
supervise with my eyes closed,” Gabe says as I return and slide the cage
discreetly behind my duffle bag.

“Not yet,” Tarren says. “We’ll go
somewhere else. Get two rooms.”

“How did you get your hat?” I call out,
forcing my voice to sound normal even as the last shudders of addiction leave
my body.

“Made a jet pack using Tarren’s Junior
Detective Chemistry Set and all his LEGOS.” Gabe’s voice is muffled beneath the
blankets.

“LEGO jet pack? That really the best you
got?”

“Tarren loves LEGOS, almost as much as
tea parties with his stuffed animals.”

I glance over at Tarren, expecting his
usual curt denial, but he isn’t paying any attention to us. He stands by the table,
eyes far away. The hints of anger haven’t left his aura.

It hits me like a punch, how utterly
filthy I am. My clothing and skin are caked in ash, scabs, and blood. I need a
shower. Now.

“We should get cleaned up first,” I say
to Tarren. “Why don’t we take an hour to regroup and then pack up? It’d do us
all a world of good.”

He looks up at my words. “It’d be better
if—”

“Gabe’s already asleep,” I tell him, and
nod toward the bed, where Gabe is nothing more than a slight impression under
the blankets issuing slow, deep breaths.

Tarren glances at his brother. His lips
set tight. “One hour.”

“One hour,” I confirm.

Tarren eases himself into the chair at
the table as I rifle through my duffle bag for an outfit. I’m careful to not to
stain the fabric with smears of ash. Nearby, Sir Hospalot’s carrying case
shakes as the rabbit repositions himself within.

“Long time no see,” I say to him,
because it’s better than the silence.

“Maya,” Tarren says, softening his
voice, “When they…did they…”

I stand up, clothes gathered in my arms.
“I didn’t give anything away,” I tell him. “Everyone’s safe.” I justify the lie
by thinking,
If Gem wanted us dead, we would have never left that mansion.

“No, not that. The way you were
chained…”

I glance over at Tarren. He stares down
at his ash smudged hands and clinches his jaw like he’s trying to bite through
a steel ball bearing. Then I understand.

He’s asking if they cut me. “No, they
didn’t,” I say.

Tarren doesn’t say anything, just keeps
looking at his dirty hands.

“I’m going to take a shower now.” I do
everything but run into the bathroom. I can’t handle this conversation, not
right now. I just need to get clean.

I peel away my sodden clothes and study my
reflection in the mirror. I can’t take my eyes from the stark contrast between the
dark ash crusted on my face and neck and the white skin of my shoulders and
chest where my shirt protected me.

For a moment I smell the burning insulation
and melting glass, hear the crackle of flames, and watch the Monet landscape blacken
beneath the fire’s touch. I shake the images out of my head and turn the water
cold, very cold. Standing still under the spray, I watch the gray runoff from
my body paint a ring around the drain.

I made it out
, I think, forcing myself to believe the
words. Technically, Tarren dragged me out and Rain Bailey kissed me back to
life. Sort of. I touch my lips, and they don’t feel any different to me. It’s
pointless anyway, me thinking that Rain is handsome and feeling a little tingle
in my chest when I imagine his lips on mine. I almost killed the guy. Not
exactly the run up to a solid flirtation. Course, he did tranq and kidnap me,
so maybe we’re even. Big red F on both sides.

Not that he could or ever would think of
me like that.

***

When I finally return to the main room
with a towel draped over my shoulders, that burnt barbeque smell is a heavy
presence. Tarren needs to get rid of his smelly shirt, the sooner the better. Gabe
is still a lump under the covers, and Tarren sits at the table taking cryptic
notes in his journal. He apparently hasn’t made any attempt to clean the ash
off his face. Strange, since he’s definitely the most finicky about hygiene of
the three of us. I’ve never met another guy who flosses like clockwork twice a
day.

Gabe’s breathing sounds more labored,
and I move next to the bed and look over him.

“He’s feverish again,” I say to Tarren.

“Is it serious?”

I listen to the rattle of Gabe’s breath
and study the weak film of his aura.

“No, I think he’s fine,” I conclude.
“Just exhausted. He’s pushing himself too hard.”