To Kill An Angel (27 page)

Raising her hand to his shoulder, she swiped at the air behind Bo, but her fingers met with nothing but empty space.

Bo was the first to speak, his voice barely a croak.

“What is it?  What do you see?”

“It looks like- like- like wings.”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

It was so quiet a pin dropping across the street could’ve been heard.  I don’t think any of us knew quite what to say, what to make of Savannah’s strange observation.  But then Cade spoke, adding another layer of bizarre mystery to the situation.

“It’s beginning.”

All eyes then turned to him.

“What’s beginning?” I asked.

“The battle,” Cade answered enigmatically.

“What battle?  Cade, what are you talking about?”

“Sebastian must have located all the necessary components.  He’s preparing to carry out Iofiel’s letter.”

“What does that even mean?”

Even as I asked this, I was afraid that I knew.

“It means that he’s found a way to kill Bo.”

My heart stuttered like a faulty airplane engine, stopping for just a second before it dropped through the floor.  Even though I knew that’s what Sebastian was planning, knew that was his goal, the worst part was finding out that it was imminent.  It was nerve-racking to have someone like Cade confirm that we were, in fact, running out of time.

“How do you know that?”

It was Bo who asked this time.

“I’ve seen it.  Your true nature is emerging, preparing to fight.  Preparing for
the
fight.”

“But that can’t be right.  I don’t know how to defeat him yet.  All of the letter hasn’t appeared on Ridley’s skin yet.”

One side of Cade’s mouth turned up in a smirk.

“Then I guess you’d better start letting her feed more often.”

Bo’s lips thinned.  Aggravation was clear in every hard line of his face and in the tick at the corner of his clenched jaw.  I knew he wanted to lash out at Cade, but Bo was smart enough to realize that we needed him.

With great effort, Bo brought his anger under control and asked, “Do you know anything more about these sources that Sebastian needs?”  His words were tense and purposeful.

“I know that this place, this town is a nexus for the elements that Sebastian must use against you.  All that he needs, he will find here.”

“So we need to find the rest of the people and make sure that he can’t get to them,” Bo concluded.

“Yes, but you’ll have to hurry.”

“Why?”

“Because the visions I’ve seen show your wings coming very near the end.  The changes have already begun.”

All eyes turned toward Bo, but his eyes were locked with mine.  In his gaze, I read a thousand things.  Some scared me, some reassured me.  Some turned my bones to butter, but all of them pierced my heart with tiny needles of mad desperation. 

Underlying the myriad things in his eyes was a coolness, a bravado that was meant to be reassuring.  I tried to return some of that confidence, but it was difficult.  After all, I had seen what could happen if I didn’t make it in between him and Sebastian in time.  I had seen what was at stake.

 “Then what are you people waiting for?” Savannah chimed in, throwing her hands up in question.

Everyone glanced at me, as if I was supposed to just walk right over and sink my teeth into Cade.

“Um, you can just forget it if you think I’m gonna be putting on a show for everybody.”

“You’ve done it in front of others before,” Cade added with a sly little grin.

“Well, this is different.  The three of us can just go somewhere else and y’all,” I said, sweeping my hand to include everyone else, “can go get to know each other or something. Talk.  Laugh.  Plot.  Do whatever.”

“We could use my room,” Cade suggested.

“No.”  Bo was quick to shoot down that idea.  “No bedrooms.”

Cade shrugged, not surprised by Bo’s reaction.  I was beginning to think he liked provoking Bo.

“Well that leaves bathrooms, the kitchen, the dining room—which would be very appropriate in my opinion—the garage, the hidden room or the study.”

Bo scowled at Cade, in no way amused by his flippant attitude.

“The study sounds good,” Bo said.  “And that will no doubt work out best for you.  There are fewer weapons I might be tempted to use against you in there.”

Cade arched one ebony brow at Bo and inclined his head in silent agreement, not the least intimidated by the blatant threat.

Bo shifted to the right side of the hall, indicating with one hand that Cade should precede him.  With a snort, Cade moved past Bo and made his way the short distance to the study.  When he’d disappeared through the door, I moved to Bo’s side.

“I know you don’t like this,” I said softly, “and I’m sorry you have to watch.”

“I don’t have to watch.  I just don’t trust him, that’s all.”

“But you trust me.”

The corner of Bo’s mouth twitched as he tried to grin.

“Yes, I trust you.”

“Good,” I said with a smile, hoping to lessen the tension.  “Because I’d break both his hands if he tried anything.”

Bo actually smiled at that.

“Now that’s something I’d like to see.”

“Don’t doubt it, mister,” I said with teasing bluster.  “There’s a part of me that’s ninja vampire.  You just haven’t seen it yet.”

With a chuckle, Bo slid his arm around my waist and drew me in close to his body.

“Then you must keep her well-hidden, because I’ve seen most of your parts and I don’t remember that.”

I smacked Bo’s chest playfully, a blush stinging my cheeks.  I couldn’t help but look over my shoulder to see if anyone else heard his softly-spoken suggestive comment.  Though all eyes were politely turned in another direction, I got the distinct impression that they’d heard him.

Turning back to Bo, I reached behind me and took his hand, tugging him down the hall.

“Let’s go before you get us into trouble.”

Bo grinned, the gleam in his eye making him look adorably mischievous.  I loved every second of it.  With doom knocking at my door, I wanted to grab hold of every pleasant moment I could find and hold on until the bitter end.

I led Bo into Sebastian’s study and closed the door behind us.  Cade was seated in the plush executive chair behind the desk and he’d swiveled it toward the door. 

Audaciously, he patted his lap.

“Come hop on.”

Shocked at his insensitivity, my eyes flew to Bo.  I was surprised that there wasn’t steam coming out of his ears.  He did look positively livid, though.

Cade chuckled, pushing his large body out of the chair and coming to his feet.

“I’m kidding.  Come here,” he said, opening his arms much as he’d done earlier.

I glanced back at Bo and he nodded once, sharply.  I imagined that, at that moment, he couldn’t have squeezed a single sound between his teeth, they were gritted so tightly.  He looked as if he was about to explode.

I turned and walked quickly to Cade, determined to get the necessary feeding over with, for Bo’s sake if for no other reason.

As I stepped into the circle of Cade’s arms, however, it became less of a drudgery to feed from him.  His delicious smell enveloped me, as did his body when he hugged me to him.  Reaching up, I grabbed the back of his neck and pulled myself up on tiptoe to sink my very-ready fangs into his throat.  Right before I did, I couldn’t stop the pang of guilt I felt at the four angry-looking marks on his neck.

But then everything faded into the background, overcome by that first heady mouthful of sweet, human blood.  As with previous times, I was lost to the sensation of it for a time before my head cleared enough to take in any information.  Absently, I wondered if Cade felt the same way—swept away for a few minutes on a tide of glorious feeling.

Finally, the visions came, this one alarming in a way far different than the others.  This one was of Lilly. 

My heart lurched when I saw her playing with her dolls in the center of a dirt floor.  Now that I knew who she was, it was impossible not to see the incredible similarities between her and her mother, my dead sister. 

After what felt like an eternity of taking in her beauty, I managed to look past the Izzy in her and really look at Lilly herself.  She was wearing royal blue leggings and a print top.  The top had ruffles along the hem and it was filthy.  Anger rose up in me when that registered, but then, on closer inspection, I realized that her hair looked clean and she looked happy.  It was mostly her clothes that were soiled, no doubt from playing in the dirt.

A small wave of relief washed over me when it became apparent that they were still taking care of her, but I had to wonder how long that would last.  If she was the focus of my vision then I could only assume that she was in danger.

I looked around where she sat, taking in as much detail as I could.  There was something about the structure that looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t put my finger on where I’d seen it.  The walls seemed to be made of poorly-spaced wooden planks and the ceiling wasn’t even visible in my field of view.  It wasn’t until I saw the vicious teeth on the front of the tractor that sat in the background to Lilly’s right that I put two and two together.  Sebastian was keeping her in the barn where Trinity had died.

I tore my teeth from Cade’s neck in a gasp.

“Why?” I asked, searching his eyes for answers.  “Why there?  Why would he keep her there?”

Cade shrugged.

“I don’t have the answer to that.”

I turned to Bo.

“I saw Lilly.  Sebastian’s holding her in the barn, you know the one where Trinity and Aisha, uh, fought.”

Bo frowned.

“Are you sure?”

“Positive,” I said emphatically.  I’d never forget that building.  Never.  “But why?  Why would he keep her there, Bo?”

Bo made a noise, one that fell somewhere between sigh and growl.

“It sounds like a trap.”

As soon as he verbalized it, I felt the truth of his words resonate somewhere deep in my soul.

“It is.  It’s a trap, but what do we do?  How can we help Lilly then?”

“Was she alone?”

“I didn’t see anyone else, but that doesn’t mean that no one else was there.”

“True.  If they’re not feeding, we’d never be able to see them in the dark.”

I paused, my next thought both encouraging and dreadful.

“No, but we know someone who could.”

Bo and I said the name simultaneously.

“Savannah.”

The instant her name left my lips, I was filled with misgivings.

“Bo, we could never ask Savannah to be a part of this.  It’s too dangerous and she’s too breakable.”