Salvation (The Guardian Angel Series Book 3) (16 page)

“I know. It’s just hard to believe…”

“I know.”

Mila was petrified. She shook in fear and she looked like she was going to vomit at any second. I realized my duty wasn’t killing vampires and risking my life. Right now, my duty was to be a good friend.

“Can I have a go at drawing?” I asked, picking up the pencil.

It was my attempt at distracting her from thinking about Lucian.

“You draw?”

“No, definitely not, but I want to try.”

With a small twitch of her lips she opened her drawing pad.

“Give me something to draw.”

“A puppy,” she suggested.

I put the sharp lead pencil to paper and attempted to draw a dog—attempted being the key word. I wasn’t even halfway through when Mila exploded into a fit of laughter.

“What?” I giggled.

“I’m sorry, but that’s horrible! It doesn’t even look like a dog!”

I threw the pencil at her. It looked like a puppy to me. “What does it look like, then?”

She looked at the paper and wiped tears from her eyes. “I have no idea, but it definitely isn’t a puppy.”

Mila claimed her pencil back and drew a quick sketch of a puppy… an actual puppy. It looked so realistic and so animated. I could watch her draw all day and be completely at peace. What a beautiful talent. A few more bangs sounded, and every now and then we’d hear a distant scream. Soon, not even drawing could take our minds off the horrible sounds of battle. We curled up next to each other at the head of her bed, praying that everyone made it out safely.

“Ruby?”

“Hmm?”

“He’ll be okay.”

She knew I was thinking about Eli. I was, but I was also thinking about everyone—Mr. Aleksandrov, Gwydion, Aaron, Lyric, Xavier, Sera, and even Paul and Markus. I wanted nothing more than for them to come out safely.

I nodded, swallowing the hard lump that formed in my throat. “I know.”

Broken

M
ila and I didn’t sleep. Instead, we sat in silence, listening and waiting for any sign the house had been breached. It hadn’t. The hours didn’t fly by, but they did eventually pass. As soon as the first murky, gray light peered through the sheer fabric of the curtain, I sat up, feeling tired and bleary-eyed, but I was ready to find Eli. To my surprise, Mila was as well. Despite the slight bags that hung underneath her big, blue eyes, she still looked beautiful.

“I think the angels are meeting in the hall, do you want to come?” I asked her.

She bobbed her head and pulled the bandage from her wrist and exposed a two small angel wings.

“I think it’s healed.”

An excitement grew in my chest. “Can you feel him?”

She closed her eyes and took several deep breaths. After a few moments she opened her eyes.

“No…”

“That’s okay. When we get closer to the hall, you’ll feel him.”

We exited her room. The house was quiet, no one was home.

“They’ve already gone to the hall?” I wondered aloud.

“I guess so.”

Outside was gloomy and depressing. Clouds hid the sun and light rain spat down on us. A hint of smoke lingered in the air and there were no noises. No birds. No crickets. Nothing. The closer we got to the hall, the more nervous I became. Mila and I watched as guardians swept up tons of piles of dust and set them on fire. They greeted us with sympathetic nods and awkward glances. I didn’t read into it.
Eli is okay,
I told myself over and over.

Mila grasped my elbow and walked close beside me. “I can’t feel him, Ruby,” She whispered.

“Maybe your tattoo isn’t in full effect yet,” I replied, refusing to believe any other explanation.

“Yeah, maybe.” Her tone was thick with doubt. I ignored it.

In the hall, stretchers were laid out everywhere as guardians were helping each other with their injuries. Some were sporting injuries as small as scrapes, others as horrific as, well, death. There were so many people, it was hard to find a familiar face. I squeezed in between people, searching for the one face I needed. When all was lost, I spotted Mr. Aleksandrov and my anxiety eased up. I was happy he was alive and well.

“Mr. Aleksandrov!” I called out.

When he spotted me, his face fell slightly. My stomach knotted, but my heart refused to react.

“It’s good to see that you’re well.” I smiled when I reached him.

“As well as one can be in a situation like this,” He replied, gesturing to all the pain and suffering.

I couldn’t hold the burning question back any longer.

“Where’s Eli?”

Mr. Aleksandrov looked me dead in the eyes. I tilted my head to the side, trying to understand what his eyes were trying to tell me.

“I’m so sorry… ”

My heart shattered into a million pieces, I no longer heard it beating. I shook my head and bit back the tears, forcing my body into a sense of numbness.

“They’ve taken him.” Even as he said it out loud, I refused to believe him.

“When are we going to rescue him?” I asked, expecting some kind of plan.

Mr. Aleksandrov shook his head. “We aren’t going to.”

I felt my face crumple. “What?”

“It’s dangerous. We’ve lost enough guardians. We can’t afford anymore.”

Each breath I took hurt. The urge to cry was there, but I swallowed it down.

“We can save him!” I shouted furiously, the words exploding out of me.

“Even if we knew where Lucian was, we couldn’t risk it,” Mr. Aleksandrov rebutted.

I stared, uncomprehendingly, into his eyes. He stared back, his gray eyes filled with regret. Guardians tried not to stare at me, the girl who was in love with her guardian angel. How pathetic I must’ve seemed.

“Please.” My voice was just a whisper now. My body finally registered that Eli was taken and awareness began to seep through me. “Please…”

Mr. Aleksandrov dropped his head. “I’m sorry, there’s nothing we can do.”

He turned away, leaving me staring into an empty space. My whole body went numb and Mila pulled me into a hug, but I refused to cry.

“I’m so sorry,” she mumbled, her voice shaking with emotion.

I pulled away from her as my chest tightened. I could feel a panic attack coming on, and I rushed outside. I bent over and placed my hands on my knees, inhaling as much air as I could. Soon, my heart beat slowed down, but only enough for it break again and again. Then I felt it—the pain. The aching pain radiated from my chest and into the pit of my stomach. I wanted to vomit and scream, all at once, but instead, I ran. I sprinted as fast as I could—as fast as these guardian boots would allow me—and I didn’t stop, not until I made it back to my little house. I burst through the door and stormed into my room. I was so angry and hurt, this wasn’t meant to happen. I screamed. I screamed until my voice disappeared and my chest burned. I grabbed my lamp and threw it across the room, shattering the light bulb. I pulled the sheets off the bed and threw them on the floor. There wasn’t much else in my room, so I gave up. I collapsed onto my knees and dropped my face into my hands, then the tears came and boy, did they come full force. Once they started, they wouldn’t stop. I cried so hard I was gasping for air. When I was certain my lungs were going to explode, my tears slowed down and eventually stopped. Once again I became numb and angry. Why weren’t they preparing a search party? Eli was a great asset to the team… Didn’t they want him back?

I was exhausted, absolutely spent. I lay down on my crumpled blanket on the floor, but I was shaking too hard to hope for sleep. I curled into a cramped ball and faced the horrifying facts. Eli was taken by vampires—probably dead—or worse, a vampire.

The plan

S
ometime later, a knock on my bedroom door woke me up. I don’t think I’d actually fallen asleep… maybe I did and my dream was me lost in the same unthinking daze as my waking life.

“Ruby, are you okay?” Mila asked, her voice barely audible.

I didn’t reply, not because I couldn’t, but because I was afraid I didn’t have any voice left. Mila tip-toed in. She ignored the state of my room and sat down next to me.

“I don’t think he’s dead,” she said. Her was voice light with hope.

“How positive of you…” I muttered.

“My tattoo is still here, that’s a good sign… right?”

Realization dawned on me.
The tattoo!
Eli wasn’t dead or a vampire. As long as Mila’s tattoo stayed on her skin, it meant he was alive. A flicker of hope ignited in my chest.

“Uncle is preparing for tonight. He thinks they’ll keep coming until they have you.”

I sat up, crossed my legs, and tucked the lock of hair that had escaped from my ponytail behind my ear. “Do you think Lucian will bring Eli? To lure me out?”

Mila nodded. “That’s what uncle thinks.”

I thought long and hard. There was no doubt about it. I’d exchange my life for Eli’s, no questions asked. I was the reason he was in this mess in the first place.

“There’s one other thing,” Mila began. “Uncle wants some of your blood. He wants to test the cure.”

I frowned; apparently Mila was now aware of what the council wanted with me.

“Does he think Lucian will turn the guardians into vampires?” I asked her.

Mila shrugged. “He’s preparing for everything. Why else would Lucian carry them away?”

The thought of Eli as a vampire made me ill. It was hard enough seeing Hunter as one.

“Okay, I’ll give him some blood.”

“Now. He wants to make a batch now. Are you up for it?”

I got awkwardly to my feet—I was stiff from lying still for so long. I limped on my dead leg to the bathroom and splashed water on my face. My eyes were bloodshot and slightly swollen from crying. Mila’s tattoo showed he was still alive and I needed to get him back. I detangled my hair and tied it back into a high ponytail.

“Are you ready?” Mila called from the living room.

When I was sure I no longer looked like I had literally cried a river, we headed toward Mr. Aleksandrov’s house. It was difficult. Everything reminded me of Eli, and although he was alive, it broke my heart seeing all the familiar things anyway. I did my best to keep my face hard and unfazed, and most of the time I was sure it was believable. Underneath it all, however, I was a mess.

Guardian angels nodded to me, like they owed me an apology for the way things had went down. Did everyone know Eli and I were involved? If so, why were we allowed to be around each other? If they knew, why hadn’t Eli been banished already? Pushing my questions aside, I did my best to nod back and appear unhurt by the situation. It was horrible.

Mr. Aleksandrov’s house was abuzz with loud chatter and plans. From what I overheard, they believed Lucian would come back tonight, and if he did, they’d do their best to trap him or Hunter with silver and find out where the stolen angels were.

“One of them will talk. Eventually,” a guardian said as I walked past the open tea room door.

I stopped just outside the tea room, hoping to catch some more information about tonight’s plans, but Nita the housemaid interrupted me.

“Miss Moore? Mr. Aleksandrov is ready to see you.” Her Indian accent was thick and deep.

Nita turned and walked up the stairs. I stared after her, unsure of where we were going. I usually met with Mr. Aleksandrov in the tea room. She turned on her heel and placed her hands on her hips impatiently.

“He’s in his office,” Mila murmured into my ear.

I proceeded up the stairs. This house had so many rooms, it shouldn’t have been a surprise to me that Mr. Aleksandrov had an office. I assumed we were going to his bedroom, a place I never wanted to go
regardless
of what he wanted from me.

Mr. Aleksandrov’s office was three doors down from Mila’s room. Nita flattened the front of her light blue dress and knocked on the door. She paused for a few seconds, stroked her long braid, and then opened the door. I turned sideways and shot Mila a skeptical look, which she returned with a careless shrug. It seemed I was the only one that found her ritual strange. The room was immaculate. The walls were paneled in wood, the floors carpeted in thick, deep crimson. The far wall wasn’t even a wall—it was a window that allowed you to see the lush forest that surrounded Sage. Black leather couches were arranged in a cosy grouping by the window, and the glass coffee table held a red crystal vase filled with pale roses. Suddenly I had the urge to take off my shoes and feel the carpet between my toes—Mila did. As soon as her toes touched the carpet she appeared to be relaxed. She floated over to the window and watched as two crows fought over an insect. As she walked, her feet made prints in the carpet. It was one of those cool two way carpets that you could draw pictures in. I copied her. I slid my boots off and then my socks and stepped on the carpet. As soon as I entered the room, I was completely at ease. The anguish I felt disappeared and the small feeling of nausea left me. Just like that nothing bothered me. Then, I remembered that Mr. Aleksandrov could influence emotions.