To Fall (The To Fall Trilogy Book 1) (35 page)

50

Abby

My parents left this morning for a weekend getaway at a Tucson resort. Vaguely, I remembered them saying good-bye. Blinking my eyes open to the twins bouncing on my bed, I groaned. Exhausted, my head pounded and stomach churned. I laid back down and closed my eyes.

Margaret shook me awake. “Abby, it isn’t like you to sleep in.”

“I don’t feel good,” I croaked out.

A cool hand touched my forehead. “Do you want anything?”

“No, I’m queasy. I want to sleep until my stomach settles.”

Margaret checked on me at thirty-minute intervals, bringing me juice and broth, and I pushed everything away. Waking up, the sheets stuck to my sweaty body. Another stomach churn and I knew it was coming. I couldn’t hold out any longer.

I stood and the room spun. My legs disappeared and I fell down hard on my right side. I crawled to my bathroom and barely made it to the toilet. Looking back to my bed, I wanted to lie down on the soft mattress, but I couldn’t make it. I planted my head on the cool tile and let my body sprawl out. The air conditioner blew on my damp clothes and I shivered, too weak to care.

Margaret shook me awake again. I was warmer and on something soft; she must have dragged me back to bed. I heard her say I had a fever of one hundred and three. She fed me pills, but not long after, I threw up in a trashcan and passed out again.

She appeared with another cup of broth since the last one got cold. I left it on the nightstand, the smell wafted over, and my stomach roiled. Wanting to get away from the smell, I crawled back to the bathroom, finding relief from the cool tile.

I woke up in bed to Margaret shaking me and calling my name. I tried to focus on what she was saying, but I couldn’t. She was frantic. Margaret didn’t get frantic.

Running water came from somewhere and shaky fingers pulled at my clothes. I swatted and hit an arm. “What are you doing?”

“Baby girl, we have to get you in the tub.”

I pushed her off. “Let me sleep.”

“You can sleep later. You need to get in the bath.”

A breeze blew onto my bare skin and I tried to grab my shirt from her, but there were two Margarets now. “I don’t feel good, Margaret. Let mommy give me a bath later.”

“No. NOW!”

What was her obsession with bathing me? I didn’t want a bath. And I was about fifteen years past the point that being given a bath by our nanny was acceptable. I tried to push her off again, but I hit air. Suddenly, I was off the bed and nearing the bathroom. Somehow, she put my feet in the water. The Antarctic would be warmer. When she forced my whole body into the bath, I was too shocked to yell the line of obscenities I had ready for launch at her. Margaret dumped water on my head to get my hair wet. She had lost her mind. And when did she get so freakishly strong?

Chattering teeth filled my ears. I tried to fight her to get out of the tub, but she kept me in. The girls called Margaret for something.

With a grumbling of curse words, she pushed me down. “You stay put in that tub, Abigail Miller. I’ll be one minute.”

Why was I in trouble? I was going to freeze to death while I waited for her. To hell with that. I pulled myself up the side of the tub, but my arms felt boneless, and then a wave of sickness rolled in. Grabbing the trashcan, acid burned from my stomach to my teeth. I was amazed there was anything left. I stayed there, clinging to the side of the tub, shivering, and closed my eyes. My stomach churned again.

I thought I heard Xander’s voice, but that couldn’t be. He was with Caleb today. I was more out of it than I realized.

My whole right side ached. Purple bruises stretched up and down my side and back. Did I fall? Did Margaret forget me? How long was this minute going to last? Penguins were going to take up residence in here soon. I waited there, ready to use the trashcan again.

The bathroom door tore open with a painful moan, and what sounded like one of Xander’s angelisms rumbled above me. My body rose out of the water and I was even colder than before. Another roil in my gut and the one thing in my vision was that can. My stomach was empty, but I continued to lurch, my belly ached as though I had done a hundred sit-ups.

Warm hands pulled my hair away and someone wiped my face. Turning, I saw hazel eyes. “Xander?” I was dreaming. Hallucinating.

“Abby, you’re burning up.”

Lips went to my forehead, hands heated on my bare arm and leg. I could focus now and I definitely saw Xander. He carried me out and put me on the bed. Xander threw a blanket over me, dried my hair with another towel, and he grabbed clean clothes from the dresser.

Xander knelt, his eyes kind and concerned. “Can you get dressed?”

It dawned on me that my boyfriend might have seen me naked, but maybe he didn’t look. The events were a little fuzzy. Still, I panicked. “Um, is Margaret around? She can help me.”

“Sorry, I needed to heal you, so I sent her out. I could help you,” he offered. Margaret left? That didn’t sound like her.

I groaned. “No, I’ll manage.”

He handed me the clothes and turned around.

“No looking in mirrors this time,” I warned.

His shoulders shook with a laugh. “I make no promises.”

On top of my clothes were my cutest bra and panties. I was too embarrassed to ask for anything else. After getting my underwear on, I stood to grab the shorts. The room swirled around me and I aimed for the bed but missed. Xander caught me, probably waiting for me to fall over. Now he was holding me up and I was wearing the lacy underwear he picked out. Nice.

Sitting me down on the bed, Xander helped me with the rest of my clothes. “This is so wrong. I should be undressing you and putting you
in
the tub.” He peeked up at me through his lashes.

I hid my face in my hands. “I was naked!”

“I just looked at the parts above the knees to below your neck if that helps.”

Keeping my face hidden, I fell back onto my bed and groaned.

The mattress dipped under his weight and his lips went to my neck. “I can show you mine,” he joked. “Even things out.”

“Xander, you’re not making me feel better!”

He laughed and curled around me. “You should have told me you weren’t feeling well. I could’ve helped you. You didn’t answer any of my texts or calls.”

Cracking open two fingers, I looked at him. “I didn’t know. I fell asleep after the dance. When I woke, I was sick. In between throwing up, I kept passing out. I didn’t hear my phone. Thank you for helping me.”

“Well, if I came any earlier, I would have missed the nudie-show. Thank goodness for good timing.” Smirking, his eyes filled with mischief.

I slugged him. “Okay, I want to brush my teeth.”

“Please, yes, brush your teeth.”

Another slug to the arm.

Stepping inside the bathroom, my feet splashed in thin pools of water, but I was too shaky to concern myself with the mess. I threw an extra towel down to sop up some of the water and brushed my teeth.

To make sure I didn’t go headfirst down the stairs, Xander held my hand. After heating up chicken soup for me, he made the twins a snack.

Back from the store with a few groceries, Margaret’s lips went to my forehead in lieu of a thermometer. “How are you feeling?” she asked.

I said, “Better. Thank you for taking care of me today. I’m sorry if I got you wet, the water was freezing.”

She unloaded the bags. “Don’t be such a baby. It was lukewarm. You thought it was cold because you had a fever.” Her tone was playful, but her eyes flashed with something I couldn’t identify.

Xander suggested, “Why don’t you call Mel and have a sleepover tonight?”

The spoon stopped outside of my mouth and I gaped at Xander. This was code for spending the night at his place and he did it in front of Margaret. She would see through him. There was no way Margaret would be okay with that, especially after how I was thirty minutes before. She smiled and nodded. How weird.
Too weird
. Xander handed me my cell and they went upstairs to clean my bathroom.

Missed texts and calls from Xander filled my phone. He must have been beside himself.

Goodnight, beautiful. I love you.

Good morning, gorgeous. Did you dream of me?

Abby, are you sleeping in and getting beauty rest? You don’t need it you know.

Are you okay? I’m getting worried.

Call me, please.

Abby, please.

Forty-three missed phone calls. Holy crap.

Mel, Beth, and Greg each called a couple of times, too.

When I called Mel, she chastised me for making her worry, and then bawled an apology I couldn’t understand. Beth grabbed the phone from her while Greg calmed Mel down. Beth put me on speaker, which didn’t help because they were all talking over each other. I heard “movies,” then, “other side of town,” and finally, “Xander blew up our phones.”

Poor angel.

I packed an overnight bag and realized today was the first time Xander had been in my room. He picked up a picture from senior prom of Mel, Beth, me, and their boyfriends at the time. Only I didn’t have a date, but that was my normal pre-Xander life.

“Abby, you really do like the color pink,” he said, looking around the room.

I shrugged. “I know it’s a bit much. I can’t explain it. Pink comforts me.”

Xander stared at me a long moment before turning away. He peered into my bag. “There aren’t any gold packets this time, is there?” he teased.

I threw my hands up. “No! And they weren’t mine!”

Grabbing my toothbrush from the bathroom, a rattling sounded behind me. Blood rushed from my face and I ran back to my room, trying to grab the rectangular bag Xander was shaking, but he held it above my reach. “Are you sure you don’t have them in here?” he teased.

I tried to climb up his muscular frame to reach for the bag and failed. “Xander, no, please! Don’t open that!”

I was too late. His face fell when he saw the contents. It was all of my pill bottles and blood kit. I didn’t have a chance to take my test and count pills today and I didn’t want to do it in front of him.

He muttered, “I didn’t realize you needed all of this. You never showed me.”

I yanked the bag from him. “I didn’t want you to know.”

He knelt to find my gaze, which was firmly planted on my feet. “I want you to share this with me.”

“Well, now you see it, okay? It’s a bag full of pills that I have to shove in my mouth twice a day. And every week I have to prick my finger for my blood thinners. I have to carry around a pill vial of Nitroglycerin in case I have an attack and pray it works, because my heart is so defunct, five pacemakers have failed to work. I don’t want to share this with anyone because I hate it. I hate that I’m like this.” I stuffed everything back inside the case and put it in my bag, fighting away the tears.

Standing, he held my face. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have touched your bag. I won’t make that mistake again. I’ll respect your privacy.” After my nod, he kissed my cheek.

Once done, he carried my bag downstairs and said good-bye to Margaret. I gave her and the girls a hug and kiss, and told Margaret I would see them tomorrow night.

51

Xander

“What do you think, Abby? Han or Luke?” I asked days ago, holding up the costumes in the shop.

“Han! If you go as Luke, kissing you would be weird.” She leaned up to kiss me and I bent down to meet her lips.

Caleb cleared his throat and he held two costumes for Abby. Images flew in my head and I think I stopped breathing. “Which one?” he asked.

It took Abby less than a second to answer. “The white one.”

Caleb looked to me with a wicked grin. “Alexander?”

I swallowed loud enough the store clerk on the opposite side of the room could hear. “It isn’t my body, but I’ve gotta be honest. If I had a choice, which I don’t, it would be the other one.”

Abby turned, mouth agape, pointing to it. “You want me to parade around my neighborhood in
that
?”

I held my hands up in surrender. “He asked me!”

Caleb wagged the hanger with clangs and jingles. “Abby, come on. No guy on this planet would say no to their girl in the famous metal bikini.”

She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right.”

“I would,” I blurted out and her eyes widened. “I’m saying, you in that, would not suck.”

“So if I picked that one, you would be okay with it?” she challenged.

“Yes.” I looked at it one more time. “Oh, hell yes.”

Caleb tilted his head at the costume. “This would be okay for a private dance.”

More images attacked my brain and my blood went south. My sisters snickered in the racks.

Abby’s cheeks turned scarlet. “Caleb!”

Caleb looked down at her. “Oh, sorry. Not appropriate?”

Abby shook her head, and then hit me because I was smiling like a fiend, although very uncomfortable now.

Pulling up to Abby’s house Halloween night, I spotted her in the doorway handing out candy and my heart leapt. After stealing a kiss, I found Mr. Miller looking at bathroom fixtures online. “More home repairs, sir?”

He spun in the office chair. “Alexander! I was hoping you were here. What do you think of these? If I ask Kate, she’ll pick out ten more to choose from, and before I know it, I’ll be retiling the whole room.”

Mrs. Miller called from the staircase, “Come on, Alexander, I have pictures to take.”

I pointed to the simple brushed nickel faucet.

“That’s why I like you, son. You get me.”

It was a term of endearment, “son,” but it meant the world to me. Maybe one day he would grant me Abby’s hand in marriage. I smiled thinking of that conversation with Mr. Miller, asking for his permission, getting down on one knee, and looking up into Abby’s eyes, proposing to her, making her my wife.

My Abby, my wife.

Not knowing why I was smiling, Abby grinned up at me. “Don’t lose your smile, handsome. This is a Kate Miller photo session. This is no joke. The woman won’t stop until one of us collapses.”

Abby wasn’t wrong. Mrs. Miller snapped one picture after another. The twins complained she was wasting precious candy-time. A few more and she released us. At first, I didn’t understand why the Millers would stay home instead of trick-or-treating with us, but it didn’t take long to figure out. The neighborhood streets stirred with children dressed as their favorite characters, and whining voices filled the night air. The magic of Halloween left the twins after the fifth house and I carried them for most of the way. I was more excited for the holiday than the kids were, and it was possible I had the most candy.

After Jake’s party, I said goodnight to the Millers and Abby followed me out to my 4Runner. Her dark eyes were alight from the moon above us, looking gorgeous. “Did you have fun tonight?” I asked.

She smiled. “I always have fun with you.” Putting her arms around my neck, I looped mine around her waist. Her lips were like the sweetest candy I never wanted to stop tasting and a tongue I couldn’t get enough of. “I’m going to miss you this weekend,” she purred.

I groaned, hating I had to leave her again. Taking advantage of every last second, I laced kisses up her neck, right at the sweet spot behind her ear that made her crane for more. “Me, too. I’m sorry I have to go. I’ll see you Monday morning, though. And you can call or text me as much as you want, I’ll answer.”

“You do make one hell of a Han Solo,” she said, looking at my costume again.

“And you make a beautiful Abby Miller. Sweet dreams.” I kissed her one more time, fighting the urge to break my wings out and take her far away from everything.

Caleb and I were supposed to be demon hunting this weekend with a lead on a duke in downtown Phoenix running an actual meth ring this time. Calista and Hannah would join us Saturday, but Sunday they were volunteering at the Mission. The four of us were hunting before the sun was up. Instead of finding the duke, we tracked a countess to Flagstaff, much farther away from Abby than I thought I would be this weekend.

The air rushed by my ears with pinecones crunching under my feet as we chased her through the forest. The demon Yallel possessed a young college woman. Her predilection was for seducing young men and beating them once she took what she wanted.

Yallel ran, cackling and weaving through the dense firs and aspen trees, kicking up dying brush, leaving a trail in her wake; she was sloppy and easy to track. “Come on, rats! You’re losing your touch!”

A loud crack of bark sounded and I saw the brunette hurl herself from treetop to treetop. Caleb and Hannah unfurled their wings and followed her above the tree line. Calista and I hunted from the ground in case she dropped back down.

Caleb was positioned to catch her. “Yallel, you’re expending energy you can’t afford. Give it up!”

“But I just arrived! I’ve only started having fun!” Yallel changed direction.

Calista and I followed her east. “Sweet angel light, she’s going to town!” Calista called.

Bolting after her, Hannah missed and hit the broad side of a tree before she could break out of her tailspin. Glancing over my shoulder, she popped up and ran toward us. “You good, Hannah?” I asked.

She winked. “Like a demon could get the better of me? Whatevs.”

“I think you’ve been hanging around too many teenagers, Sis. You’re not finishing your words now.”

She paused right before grimacing. “Ah hell.”

Nearing the highway, Caleb dived again, but he missed as she jumped to another tree. The space was too narrow; Caleb grabbed a branch, snapped it off, and then somersaulted to the ground. All of us were on foot now and we followed Yallel along the asphalt, closer to town than I had realized. Neon lights from the bars shone under the cloudy sky, having just opened for business.

Yallel ran into the nearest sports bar. The girls took the back entrance; Caleb and I went in the front door. Sensing the demon past the kitchen, the girls barreled into the ladies’ room and Caleb grabbed the disoriented brunette in the hall—Yallel had switched bodies. Wiping the girl’s memory, Caleb guided her to sit down and I stayed in the hallway in case the demon escaped again. My sisters’ light flashed under the door and the demon screamed as they cast her back. Pulling my cell out, I called Abby for the tenth time today.

I knew Abby was tired when I dropped her off, but she had a long night of trick-or-treating and dancing. My thoughts went to Dr. Fredrickson’s e-mail; he agreed we should have a contingency plan. He said finding a suitable donor heart at the right time would be challenging. Great. He told me she was scheduled after Christmas for a check-up.

When Abby didn’t text back last night, I didn’t think anything of it. Again, in the morning, I thought she was sleeping in, which was unusual for her. By late morning, I knew something was wrong.

My siblings met me outside, I said, “I’m out. She isn’t picking up.”

“Okay, Brother. We’ll scan the area for any more. Unless you want us to go?” Calista’s blue eyes softened with concern.

“I’ll keep in touch.” I didn’t want to tell them how scared I was. Was this it? Did something happen to her? Did Cresil siphon energy off his drones and return to Earth’s dimension already? I didn’t see that as a likely possibility. Being that he was a mere lord, Cresil’s province was small and his drones were weak and few. I tried like Hell to convince myself I was overreacting, but it wasn’t working.

On the way home, I lucked out with low cloud cover to conceal me. Blood pounded louder in my ears with each call that went unanswered. I tried Margaret, Mel, Beth, and Greg. Nothing. It took three hours to fly back to Abby. The most agonizing three hours of my existence.

Touching down by the canal behind Abby’s house, it was eerily quiet. I sped through the neighborhood and nearly slammed into the Millers’ front door. After pounding on the wood to the point of almost cracking it, I heard Emma and Olivia calling for Margaret. A small sigh of relief escaped, feeling four souls within. The twins saw it was me and opened the door.

Emma’s curls bounced with her. “Xander, Xander! Can you play with us? Pahleese!”

I knelt down to their eye level. “Girls, where’s Abby?”

Olivia hugged my arm. “She’s in bed. Margaret said she was sick and we had to stay quiet.”

“Is Margaret with her?”

Emma pulled on my jean pocket. “Yeah, she’s been up there
all day
. We’re bored and hungry!”

All day
. My chest hollowed, fighting to even my voice. “Let me see Abby first, okay?”

The two blonde heads bounced away and I started up the stairs. Margaret came down, separating a soaked shirt from her skin. She blocked me halfway and her dark eyes widened, which panicked me more.

Glancing down, I made sure the twins weren’t nearby. “What’s going on? Where is she?”

“Alexander, she has a stomach bug. She’s been throwing up and has a fever.”

I tried to stay calm, but I was both irritated and frightened. “How bad is it? You look like it’s bad.”

She shifted and I took another step closer in warning. “Her fever is up to a hundred and five. I put her in a cool bath.” Her voice shook. “I was going to call the paramedics.”

“Why the hell didn’t you call me? Why did you let it get this far?” I hissed through clenched teeth.

“I thought I could handle it.” Margaret looked away.

“Evidently not! You put her in danger.”

At this, her head snapped up, eyes blazed defiance. “No, you do.”

Closing the space between us, I pinned her with a glare. “Guess what? He’s coming either way. I told you he’s already been here, in this house, in her room. And when she doesn’t call me and you don’t pick up your phone, I can only think he got to her again. To all of you. I was three hours away, damn it!” I quaked with anger. How stupid she acted today.

Her shoulders drooped and her face softened. “I’m sorry, Alexander. I didn’t think of that and I didn’t hear my phone. I wasn’t ignoring you.”

“You’re going to leave the house and give me time to heal her. And when you come back, I’m taking her with me. She isn’t staying here tonight. You’ll play along and pretend you’re fine with whatever I say.”

Her lips pursed, both of us knowing whatever she had to say next should stay unsaid. I wouldn’t tolerate any more from her. Nodding, she let me pass.

Stepping into the bathroom, the scene was much worse than I thought. A fresh wave of anger at Margaret rolled in. “Sweet angel light!”

Abby reached for the trashcan from the side of the tub. Her skin ashen, body shuddering, and her entire right side blotched with purple. There wasn’t time to be delicate. I pulled her out. It was wrong for me to handle her naked without her consent and I did my best to avoid looking at the vital parts, but I definitely saw more than what Abby would be okay with.

While Abby ate soup downstairs, Margaret and I cleaned her room, both of us in a calmer frame of mind now. “Margaret, I told you how important it was to keep open communication with me.”

“I know, Alexander. I just…want her to have a normal life, and she can’t with you.”

Sitting on the bed, I put my head in my hands. She wasn’t wrong. Our relationship attracted Cresil. I had to think his need to hurt me drove his obsession. More than likely, he knew I would fall for her and he knew her death would destroy me.

“She’s not normal. She’s special, chosen by God. I must get her to the point the Archangels will judge her. Fix her heart. Then I can give her a normal life. I love her, Margaret.”