Taking Angels (The Angel Crusades) (13 page)

I cringed, feeling guilty. I knew sleeping well
wasn’t at the top of my list for tonight.
I climbed into bed, concentrating on the last
image of Kendal I had; him standing in the middle of the
street by Cassie’s house right before he shimmered. A
short time later, I felt myself drift and then the nightmare
began.

I stared at the moon, full and bright overhead. I
walked along a street I didn’t recognize and past houses
foreign to me. Understanding, I looked through Kendal’s
eyes; the scent of lilac came to me and I braced for
anything.

This night was different. He walked into an
isolated park and sat on a bench facing a swing set. The
wind blew as the swings squeaked back and forth giving
an eerie, scary movie feeling to the setting. My vision
turned to the left as a man approached, a long black coat
wrapped around him and a wool hat pulled down over his
head obscured both his form and appearance. He sat next
to Kendal and smiled, the moon glinting off a silver tooth
in his mouth.

“Why did you want to see me?” I heard Kendal’s
familiar voice.
“I think we can help each other,” the man replied.
“Don’t need your help.”
“Oh, I think you do.” The man smiled again.
“How so?”
“We understand some rules are being broken
around here and we mean to bring those who are
perpetrating the crimes to justice.”
“What kind of rules?”
“Come on, friend. We’re aware of your taste for
angels.” The man raised a hand to silence Kendal’s
objections before they could be voiced. “Don’t make this
harder on yourself.”
“Don’t know nothing about that,” Kendal said.
“I believe you do and that’s the reason for my
visit.”
“Nope, you’re talking to the wrong guy.”
“I don’t believe so. I have it from very good
authority there is an Eternal in this area taking
guardians. I’m confident that Eternal is you.” He
motioned with his hand and two men stepped out of the
shadows.
“Wait.” Kendal held up his hand.
The men stopped and turned to the man with the
silver tooth, questioning. The man gave a nod and the
men relaxed their aggressive stance only slightly.
“What if another crime has been committed,
something forbidden by the council?” Kendal continued,
a slight tremor in his voice.
“Then we’ll investigate that allegation as well,
although it doesn’t diminish what you’ve been doing.”
The man shook his head.
“What if the crime involved the Parks family?”
The man turned, eyes narrowing as he studied
Kendal for a moment. “What kind of crime?”
“The touching of the dead,” Kendal watched the
man closely for his reaction.
The man’s eyes shot wide and a grin crept across
his face as his tongue reached up to rub against his silver
tooth reflexively.
In my dream world I felt a chill rush down my
spine.
“If there is proof of said crime, I would be very
interested in making a deal with whomever brings me
sufficient evidence for a conviction with the council.”
“You let me go and I’ll get you evidence,” Kendal
assured him. He stood and walked away. I felt a tingle,
and my dream with Kendal ended.

I sat up, reached over, clicked on my light, and
then flopped back down on my pillow. My bedding was
soaked with my sweat and my t-shirt stuck to my skin.
Kendal planned to give proof to this man that Allister
touched me. That alone terrified me. Then, I wondered
what evidence that might be and felt another shudder
rattle through me.

I sat awake the rest of the night, recalling the man
with the silver tooth. His manner made me uneasy. The
way he grinned when Kendal told him the crime involved
the Parks family. The information appeared to bring him
joy, euphoria, like bringing the Parks down was personal.

I still stared at my ceiling when the alarm went off
the next morning. I reached over and slapped the button
with a moan, rolled out of bed, and headed to the shower.

I heard a car horn honk as I came down the stairs
and rushed to the door, opening it to see Allister leaning
against his car. Angelina stared out the passenger window
with indifference. I closed the door behind me and
walked to the car, texting feverishly to Trish I didn’t need
a ride.

“Morning.” Allister smiled and leaned down to
give me a light kiss on the lips.
“Morning.” I blushed and then frowned at my
own reaction.
“Please, do I have to be a witness to that?”
Angelina sighed from the car.
“Yep,” Allister said, opening the car door and
ushering his sister out of the front seat.
Angelina sauntered out of the car and slid into the
back seat, not looking at me as I got in. Allister eased
behind the steering wheel and we rolled into the school
parking lot a moment later, pulling up next to Trish’s Jeep
as she and the girls got out.
“Hey Britt,” Elisa smiled.
“Hi,” I said back, grateful she didn’t seem upset
after yesterday’s information dump.
Trish and Cassie waved as they hurried into the
school.
“What’s up with them?” I asked Elisa as she
pulled her backpack from the Wrangler.
She shrugged, unconcerned. “They had to meet
the boyfriends this morning.”
“What about you?”
“Tommy had an early practice today. No rush for
me.”
We walked into the school, students staring and
whispering. I smiled, walking next to Allister as Angelina
paced ahead, not looking back.
“What’s her beef?” Elisa asked.
“She has her reasons for not liking me much,” I
said, understanding Angelina’s resentment. My existence
put her brother and family in danger as well as mine.
Sitting in Calculus later that morning, the cold
reality slapped me in the face as a female substitute stood
at the front of the class where Mr. Kinsley stood just a
few days earlier. Kendal’s existence now made a lasting
impact on my life, along with every student in school.
The sooner we stopped him, the better.
Lunch became a spectacle as my friends and I
joined Allister and Angelina at their table. The other
students stared as we ate our lunch, whispering between
glances over at our table. Angelina’s face showed nothing
but distaste as we sat down, but Allister smiled and
welcomed us.
“Hey,” he said.
“Hi,” I smiled back.
Elisa, Trish, and Cassie sat down, nodding to
Allister while carefully avoiding Angelina’s dirty looks.
To make matters worse, Jeb, Tommy, and Carl all
sat down with us as well, turning Angelina’s mere
disgusted look into appalled. The boys looked at her for a
moment and then turned their attention to the rest of the
table, ignoring her disdain completely.
Allister visited with everyone, smiling and asking
questions of the guys. Jeb, about his music, Tommy about
the team’s chances in the upcoming game, and Carl about
the knowledge bowl competition he participated in.
I sat watching, fascinated how this appeared
outwardly normal, recognizing the bizarreness of it all.
Allister could be friendly with the guys, yet never friends
on the level of the amigos and me. Knowing he would
eventually watch them go into the ground. I couldn’t help
but feel sadness for him. Sorrow washed through me as I
realized once the girls were gone, my friendships would
also become much like that, merely superficial.
Angelina stormed off just before the bell and our
heads turned to watch her leave. Her attitude remained
pretty much the same when we met up at the car after
school. She slid into the back seat without a word and
remained silent the entire ride to my house.
Allister hurried around the car, helped me out, and
walked me to the door. Angelina moved to the front seat
and turned her back to us.
I stared at her as Allister and I stood by the porch.
“Don’t worry about her.” He looked back at his
sister.
“I wish we could be friends,” I sighed.
“She’ll get over it.”
“Yeah, right.” I rolled my eyes.
Allister leaned down, gave me a kiss, and smiled
as he pulled away. “See you later.” He walked back to the
car as I climbed the steps, looking over my shoulder as
they drove off.
Dad worked late again so Mom and I ate a salad
and I excused myself to my room to get my homework
done. Walking through the living room, the local paper
had an article on Mr. Kinsley. I lifted the pages and read
how they found poor Mr. Kinsley at the school, correcting
papers where he’d had a heart attack and died.
So they still thought Kendal’s murders were heart
attacks. No one suspected we had a mass murderer in
Grand Rapids, just a rash of heart attacks. I set the paper
down and headed to my room. We needed to stop him
before he could hurt anyone else.
I crawled into bed around 10:00pm and tried to
get to sleep.

I’m not sure when I fell asleep, but the dream
came quickly. I walked down a dark alley, strangely
familiar, yet too dark to identify. I looked from side to
side, no one in sight. I stopped behind a house, the
upstairs, completely dark, while a few lights shone on the
bottom floor. I slipped into the yard, finding a dark corner
behind a shed, hidden from prying eyes.

My room materialized before me as the smell of
lilac came to me and I stared through Kendal’s eyes at my
bed as I slept. He crept closer even as my mind screamed
for me to wake up, to just, wake up.

Kendal, only a step from me, jumped back in
surprise. Regaining his composure he moved closer.
“Stop,” I shouted, my heart racing.
He smiled, his teeth shining white in the dim light
from the lamp on my desk and he kept coming.
“I’m warning you, stop,” I said again, hearing the
panic in my voice.
He put a raised finger to his lips, silencing me.
“We wouldn’t want Mommy or Daddy to come in and
find me here, would we?”
Oh my God, I forgot. They couldn’t help me when
dealing with Eternals. They were more vulnerable than I
was.
“I’m warning you,” I whispered feebly.
“I’m just here to finish the job Allister and
Angelina interrupted,” he grinned.
“You can’t hurt me,” I bluffed.
“Is that what they told you?” he laughed. “All I
have to do is pull your heart out. It’s quite painful, from
what I’ve witnessed, and very final.” He raised his hand
in front of him and came closer still until lilac pervaded
my senses.
“Why? Why are you doing this?” I cried.
Coming up short, he blinked. “After I tried taking
your angel I had strange feelings. At first, I didn’t
understand. Not until seeing you at that party. I was
drawn there; it must have been because of you. I know
we are linked somehow. The strange feeling is you, inside
my head. That must end, you see, it interferers with my
plans.”
“Your plans to kill more angels?” I sneered.
My anger failed to affect him. “Angels are like a
drug, giving us euphoria and strength. I like it too much
to quit and, with other Eternals in this area, I can bring
the blame down on the Parks and relocate somewhere
else. I win either way.”
“What about the man with the silver tooth?” I
stalled, growing desperate.
“The man you are referring to said I could remain
a free man if I bring him evidence of Allister’s crime.
You’re evidence alive
or
dead. And with you dead, there
is no witness to tell them I’m the one taking the
guardians. As you can see I’ve given this a lot of
thought.” He smiled and lunged.
I caught his wrist, his hand hovering above my
chest. I strained to keep him from touching me, grunting
with exertion. He pressed his weight down over me and
his hand inched closer. His fingertips touched my bare
skin as my t-shirt slid down in the struggle. Pain erupted
in my chest and I felt a jolt of searing pain. I screamed
out then bit my lip, remembering Mom downstairs.
The taste of blood filled my mouth as I struggled
to hold his hand at bay; I felt my teeth go through my lip.
I was weakening rapidly, Kendal’s hand pressing
even harder against my skin. Using my last ounce of
strength, I kicked up against his stomach, pushing him up
and off of me. Without warning, something flashed over
my bed and collided with Kendal, hurtling him across the
room, and smashing him into my dresser, toppling the
lamp. The fallen light created gruesome shadows of their
struggle on my pale bedroom walls.
I rolled over in time to see Kendal vanish and left
Allister standing with his back to me, shoulders rising
and falling as he panted from the exertion. He spun
around, rushed to my bed, and knelt at my side.
“Are you alright?”
“Yeah, fine,” I gasped, still feeling the burning on
my skin. I looked down to see five red fingerprints on my
chest, between my breasts.
“How’d you know?”
“I sensed something was wrong. When I got here
I found Kendal over you.” Allister couldn’t contain the
anger in his voice.
“You didn’t call first.” I touched the red marks on
my skin and flinching at their tenderness.
“I save your life and you’re worried I didn’t call
first?” he smirked.
“I guess it’s okay this one time,” I told him,
blushing.
A knock at my door startled us. “Honey, are you
okay?” Mom asked through the closed door.
“Yeah, fine.”
“What was that noise?”
“I had a nightmare and knocked over my lamp,” I
replied, trying to exude nothing but calm in my voice.
“Do you want me to come in and help you clean it
up?” The door knob turned as she started to come in.
I scurried to the door as Allister shimmered out of
sight. Catching the door as it opened, I put my body in
the opening to block her view of the trashed room.
“I’ve got it. Sorry to scare you.” I spoke quickly.
She leaned to the side to look past me and I
moved my head to obstruct her view. “That’s okay, as
long as you’re okay.” Though she appeared dubious, she
let it go. Maybe it was the hour, regardless, I didn’t
question my good fortune.
“I’m good. Just want to get back to bed,” I said
easing the door closed, shrinking the opening.
“Good night,” she replied, sounding uncertain, as
I closed the door.
“Night.”
I latched the lock and turned back to find Allister
standing right behind me. I jumped and put a shocked
hand to my chest, cringing as it brushed Kendal’s
fingerprints.
“I can heal you, if you’d like,” he offered,
nodding at the marks on my chest.
“Oh no. Remember the last time you healed me?
Look at where that’s gotten us.” I walked past him and sat
down on the bed.
“Not much more trouble I can get us into then, is
there?” He raised an eyebrow.
I shrugged, laid back, and moved my hand as he
sat next to me and eased his hands onto my injuries. His
skin felt cool and soothing compared to the heat coming
off Kendal’s marks. The pain increased and I sucked air
through my clenched teeth, and then, the pain
disappeared.
I looked up at him as he leaned over me. He
stared into my eyes, his hand still touching my chest. I
could feel the edge of his hand touching either breast as it
pressed against me and my heart quickened.
His incredible eyes, so full of passion, love and
desire, all mixed together, seemed to transfer into me. I
reached a hand up behind his head, weaving my fingers
into his thick hair, grasping it in my fist as I pulled him
down to me and pressed his lips to mine. My heart raced,
the touch of his lips driving all thoughts of discomfort
from my mind, my need for him overwhelmed me.
He tried to pull away but I pulled harder, keeping
his lips pressed hard to mine. He gave in to it and his
tongue darted into my mouth, flicking against mine, and
drawing a moan from deep in my throat. After all too
short a time, he forcefully pulled away, panting. I gasped
at the sudden separation.
“I need to warn Angelina that Kendal is in the
area and he’s grown bolder,” he said as he straightened,
pulling his hand from me with some reluctance.
Pleased to see he seemed just as affected as I, I
made my way to the dresser where I pulled out fleece
pants and a sweatshirt to wear over my pajamas. “I’ll
come with you.”
“Hurry, I don’t know what he might try next, but
we shouldn’t leave her alone.”
“When can I learn to shimmer so you don’t have
to be with me all the time?” I asked, taking his hand.
“Later. It takes years to learn the discipline needed
to shimmer without putting yourself inside a wall or a
something.”
He grinned and I tingled. We instantly stood in his
sister’s room, the darkness felt oppressive with not a
glimmer of light anywhere. I felt Allister stiffen as he
wrapped a protective arm around my waist.
“She always keeps a light on,” he whispered.
We eased to one side and he clicked on the light.
The room was disheveled; furniture overturned,
bedding strewn about, pillows torn apart, the stuffing still
floating in the air. Most alarming, the blood was
everywhere.
“Angelina!” Allister rushed over to the corner by
the bed where Angelina lay staring blankly at the ceiling;
her blood painting the wall beside her.
My breath caught in my throat, squelching the
scream waiting to escape as I stared at her.
She blinked. I pushed Allister aside when he
appeared only able to gape at his sister in shock. I knelt
next to her, placing my ear to her mouth. My hair
fluttered and I looked up with excitement.
“She’s alive, get over here, she’s alive.” I
motioned to Allister.
He knelt beside me, placing his hand on her chest.
Blood oozed out of five holes around his fingers and onto
his hand. Her arm looked broken and her leg twisted the
wrong way. Allister could heal her. He
would
heal her. He
had to.
Allister closed his eyes as he pressed his hand
against the source of her most threatening injury. His
eyelids squeezed tight in concentration and then opened
wide. His face turned to a mask of horror as he stared at
his sister and then up at me.
“What, what is it?” I cried.
“She’s too far gone, I can’t bring her back,” he
whispered, his voice hoarse.
“You brought me back, what’s the difference if
you break the rules once or twice, save her,” I shouted.
“No, it’s not that, I don’t have the power to bring
her back. He might as well have ripped her heart out, he’s
severed the arteries,” he cried, tears rolling down his
cheeks.
“No, she can’t go. I won’t let her go,” I shouted
back.
In a panic I pushed his hands aside, replacing
them with my own. Instantly I felt her pain. Her broken
bones, her internal bleeding, and the deep wounds in her
chest; I felt them all. I sensed something rising within me,
something surging to the surface like at the hospital. At
first I wanted to slow it, to try and control it; afraid of it
taking control and burning me to ash. Then, the choice
was taken from me as something burst free from within
and took over.
I tilted my head back screaming, scorching my
vocal chords with the intensity released through my
throat. Anger erupted at the thought of losing her, of
seeing Kendal get away. I let go; all my will power, all
my thoughts of caution telling me I pushed the
boundaries. I ignored them and let the energy do what it
will. The pain manifested in a rush of white, hot, scalding
light in my brain and then everything went black.