Your Soul to Take (Rise of the Fallen) (19 page)

“Okay.
I believe you. The good news is he said that under no circumstances was I to go
anywhere with that creep. He was rather angry that they even knew I had
changed.”

“What’s
the bad news?”

“That
we might be in serious trouble.”

Chapter 26

The
bell rang, echoing through my soul just as much as it rang through the halls
and classes of James Underwood High. I looked up at the clock and had never
ever been disappointed to see three o’ clock. It was a new experience.

I
glanced over at Jess and she looked about as happy as I did. I just needed to
get her out of the school and home before Chuck found her. He had been in our
homeroom and first period, he had even been around at lunch, bet neither of us
had seen him since then.

Inwardly,
I hoped the asshat had gotten so flustered he had gone home, or wherever the
hell the self-righteous pricks went when they weren’t bothering normal people.
However, I sincerely doubted he
had
left. My luck just wasn’t that good.

“Ready
to go?”

I
looked up at Jess and nodded, standing while grabbing my books. “As I’ll
ever be.”

“So
what’s the plan?”

“The
plan is to get you out of here and home.”

“I
know that, I meant how?”

“Stealthy
as possible, forcibly if necessary.”

“You’re
gonna protect me?” She smiled as she asked.

“With
my dying breath, but let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”

“Well,
Daddy should be waiting out front. Hopefully he can keep Chuckles at bay.”

“So
I just have to get you out the front door and into your big black limo. I feel
so secret service agent.”

“First
of all, it’s not a limo. It’s a SUV. Second of all, you’re pretty hot when
you’re all protective,” she said and wrapped her arms around my waist.

“Roger,”
I said, putting my fingertips to my ear.

“And
now you’re just being a dork.”

I
nodded and gave her a quick kiss, scanning the hallway as soon as we left the
class. There was no sign of Charles. I took her hand and headed for the
stairwell. Luckily, I glanced over the banister before heading down. I caught a
glimpse of his blond head coming up the stairs. I pulled Jess’ hand and
practically ran in the other direction. Luckily, our school had more than one
stairway.

“Was
he down there?”

I
nodded. “Yeah.”

“Plan
B?”

“Plan
B.”

We
dodged and weaved through the masses heading toward freedom from academic
slavery and made it to and down the stairs without tripping, falling, or
getting hurt. Nothing was more dangerous than a student stampede heading home.

We
stepped off the stairs and made it into the main corridor leading to the
outside world. The sunlight pouring in through the glass front of the school shined
off the highly polished linoleum floor, casting rays of sunshine on the walls
and ceiling, giving our route to freedom a beacon to follow.

“Looks
like the coast is clear,” Jess said and hurried toward the exit.

We
bobbed and weaved the best we could, but the hallway was packed. We were about
halfway through when everyone stopped moving. It was actually more than that.
Everything
stopped moving. It was like time had stopped. You could even see the motes of
dust illuminated from the sun, stop their swirling dance through the air.

I
had a bad feeling. A very bad feeling.

I
looked down at Jess. She was still able to move, just as I was. We continued
walking forward, stepping agilely through the immobile students.

Charles
stepped off the stairs, just as we were about to pass by. He was clapping
slowly. “Congratulations. You
almost
made it.”

“Made
what?”

“Your
play for avoiding me. As you can see, though, it’s not possible. Are you ready
to go, Lady Jessica?”

“No,”
she said firmly, took my hand and tried to leave. We made it as far as the
glass doors, which were quite locked.

“Neat
trick,” I said and tried two of the other doors. They didn’t budge an
inch.

“When
you’ve lived as long as I have, you pick up a few tricks,” he said
snidely. “Now if you will please excuse us, we have business that doesn’t
concern the likes of you.”

He
reached for Jess.

I
slapped his hand away.

The
look of surprise on his face was worth it. “You dare touch me?”

“I
dare kick your ass if you touch my girlfriend again. Leave. Her. Alone. She
doesn’t want to go with you. Ever.”

“She
does. She just doesn’t know that she does. I merely wish to introduce her to
the splendors of the Chosen. Surely you don’t want to keep her heritage from
her.”

“She
can learn from her father. Not from a snooty dick like you,” I said and
turned back to the door. I grabbed the handle and
pulled
. Not like I was
trying to open it, like I was trying to rip it from the frame of the building.
With a loud
creak
and some shattered glass, it opened. I gently nudged
Jess through the door and outside.

Her
dad was standing by the car, watching the exchange. He nodded at me when Jess
cleared the building. I meant to walk out behind her when a hand grabbed my
shoulder.

“Let
her go. I will deal with her and her father later. Let
us
have a little
chat about the hierarchy of things.”

Jess
stopped and nodded to her dad.

“Come
on,” she said.

“You
go ahead. I’m going to have a chat with Chuck.”

“Connor–”

“Go
ahead, baby. I won’t be long. Meet you at your house.”

“Jess,
come on,” her father called from the student drop-off.”

Jess
reached into her pocket and pulled out her car keys, handing them to me.
“Bring my car,” she said and gave me a quick kiss. “I love
you.”

“I
love you more,” I said and the hand on my shoulder started squeezing. I
could hear the popping of bone. I waited until she was safely in her father’s
vehicle, ignoring the pain in my shoulder and then I slowly reached up and
grabbed two of the fingers digging into my flesh and jerked them as hard as I
could.

Charles
slammed into the back of me. Clearly he hadn’t been expecting that. “You
maggot,” he screeched and pushed me out the door.

I
stumbled on the concrete, but didn’t fall. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction
of knocking me down. I hoped. When all was said and done, he was still a lot
more experienced than I was.

But
then again, so is Raven…

I
silently thanked my brain for the little bolster in confidence. I turned and
smirked at Chuck. “Wow. You are a
dick
.”

“What
is that?”

“Something
you’re obviously lacking. Now listen and listen carefully, feather boy. Jess
doesn’t want to have anything to do with you or your kind–”

“You
mean her kind?”

“Whatever.
Just because she has the feathers, doesn’t mean she’s a self-righteous asshole
like the rest of you.”

“Think
what you may, Fallen. The truth is we won the war. You have little say in the
affairs of the Chosen.”

“I
do when they impact the ones that I love.”

That
pissed him off. With a flash of blue light, a flaming sword appeared in his
hand. “You do not get to love that which you cannot have!” He struck,
barely giving me time to call my blades.

As
usual, I saw his eyes widen at the twin black swords nestled loosely in my
hands. I needed to have T-shirts made that said,
they’re not
those
swords
, or something like that. Either way, his eyes narrowed and he
approached, a little more cautiously this time.

He
struck, I parried and attacked but missed, he was fast. Damn fast. But not as
fast as Raven. I smiled and stepped forward, weaving my blades in the intricate
dance I had learned.

Apparently
he was never taught it.

It
didn’t mean he wasn’t good, but fighting him was different than fighting Raven.
He wasn’t clumsy, just had a different style. He began smiling at me and
attacked faster. I kept up but struggled to bat away his one sword with both of
mine.

You’re
as fast as you can imagine yourself being…

Score
two points for my brain as Raven’s words echoed inside my skull. Instead of
willing my hands to move, I imagined them already being there to block. It
worked. Not only was I blocking his blade, but had more than ample time to
attack. I returned his smile as his began to fade.

I
let go of the hatred I had for him. I didn’t want to kill him. That would
probably complicate things beyond belief. I did however want to wipe the smirk
off his face.

With
the next block, I turned my blade and brought my other in a downward arc
against his, close to the pommel. It smacked the blade right out of his hand.
In less than I fraction of a second, I had both blades across his throat. I
stopped dead in my movement. I tiny silver drop of blood escaped from his neck
and settled itself on my blade.

He
sighed and closed his eyes.

I
banished my blades and punched him in the face.

He
looked up at me from the concrete and snarled.

“It’s
over. Stay away from Jess,” I said and walked away.

“It’s
only just begun,” he said, but when I turned around, he was gone.

Chapter 27

I
dropped off Jessie’s car to her, and checked on her. Her father thanked me with
a nod of approval before assuring me that he had everything under control and
that Jess was quite safe with him. His eyes made me believe him. He looked
furious and I was quite relieved it wasn’t directed at me.

I
gave Jess a quick goodbye before heading back to
la casa del
Sullivan. I
called my scooter into being and took off down the road. It was official. We
were on winter break. I wouldn’t have to deal with the headache of school for
two and a half weeks. I couldn’t help but smile for the rest of the ride home.

I
pulled into the driveway, parked my scooter on the side of the garage, and went
inside to find an empty house. It was still pretty early. Mom and Dad wouldn’t
be home from work for another hour or so, and my sister was probably with
Elizabeth watching a movie or painting their claws.

I
had the house to myself.

My
smile got even bigger.

I
knew what had to be done. I ran up to my room as fast as my legs could carry
me. Which, as a Fallen, was pretty damn fast. I double checked to make sure I
hadn’t set the carpet on fire on my way up the stairs.

Satisfied,
I slipped into my room and turned on my Playstation 3. A little COD would help
me relax. Unfortunately, my console picked that exact moment to start clicking…

The
TV sparkled to life, but the loading screen wouldn’t even come on. I reached
behind the console, unplugged it and waited ten seconds before plugging it back
in. It started clicking again. I started crying. Okay, not really crying, but I
wanted to. The PS4 was out, but I didn’t have five hundred bucks to spend on
getting a new one… Or did I?

I
could pull a scooter out of thin air, why couldn’t I pull a PS4?

I
couldn’t think of a reason I couldn’t. Not even a little one. I raised my hands
in the air, picturing its sleek black contours, its shiny controllers and…

The
front door exploded.

The
whole house rattled in shock. I darted out of my room and hit the stairs, only
to have them crumble beneath my feet. I dropped the last six feet to the ground
in a crouch. Drywall dust and splintered wood blocked my vision. I could see
the gaping hole where my front door
used
to be, but not much else.

The
crunching of debris under foot was the first clue I had that I wasn’t alone. I
waved my hand in front of my face and finally made out a silhouette walking
into the remnants of my living room. My parents were going to be
pissed
.

I
stood, brushed the dust off, and met whoever had blown up my house at the
crumbled remains of the broken stairwell. I half expected Charles to be
standing there, but it was someone else and nobody I recognized.

He
stood about two feet taller than me, wore nothing but leather, and had hair
longer than Clarisse. “Excuse me? Why did you blow up my house?”

“I’m
here for the vampire. Where is it?”

Usually
when people showed up to my house, they wanted to kill me. The fact that
someone was there for my sister was a bit of a shock. One I didn’t like.
“That vampire just happens to be my sister… Why do you want her?”

“She
is an un-contracted soul with inhuman power. She must be dealt with.”

“And
you are?”

“Elrich
the Chosen.”

“Chosen
what?”

“
Of
the Chosen.”

“Who
chose you?”

“Don’t
play games with me, Fallen. I can smell your stench from here.”

“Oh.
I thought that was you. All I can smell is ass.”

He
didn’t take too kindly to that statement. His wings burst forth in a flurry of
shredded leather that added to the debris littering my floor. Now he was
standing in my living room wearing nothing but leather pants and boots. He
looked like a Village People. A seven foot tall angry Village People.

Without
warning and without me seeing him move, he wrapped his arms around me in a
crushing embrace. I could hear my ribs cracking under the immense amount of
pressure I was suddenly caught in. His lips, only inches from mine, cracked an
evil smile. I brought my head back and smashed the smile from his face.

He
dropped me as I felt his lips splatter against my forehead. Warm wet blood
dripped down my face. I wiped it away and glimpsed it on my hand. Its silvery
hue caught me off guard. When someone bleeds, you expect red. It’s almost your
reward for hurting the bad guy. Silver just isn’t the same.

He
wiped off his mouth and I could see his lips knitting themselves back together.
We could get hurt, but it didn’t last long. He called forth a spiked club. It
looked like it could tenderize a whole cow with one swing. I
really
didn’t
want to get hit with it. Hell, I didn’t even know if I could block one of his
attacks. I briefly saw my swords, arms, and face shattering in my mind. I
called my swords and stood my ground.

“What
happened to the first blood rule? I made you bleed,” I said sheepishly.

“Doesn’t
count when you use your forehead,” he said and swung the massive mace in a
downward arc.

Instead
of blocking, I dodged it and swung one of my blades at his midsection. I
totally wasn’t expecting it to hit. I mean the guy was the Chosen’s version of
a vampire hunter. I expected him to be inhumanly fast. He was fast, but not
fast enough.

Blood
dripped from the wound I had made just under his ribs. It wasn’t deep, but it
still cut him. The blood fell antagonizing slow and struck the ground with a
resounding chime…

That
just pissed him off even more.

I
ran around, dodging his wild swings, screaming, “First blood! First
blood!”

“I’m
here to kill a vampire. You’re protecting it and keeping me from my duty. There
is no first blood.”

Well,
shit.

I
stopped running and turned and faced the behemoth. There were very few reasons
I would stand and face an opponent like him. Protecting my little sister just
happened to be on the list. “Fine,” I said and crossed my blades in
front of me.

He
grinned evilly and swung his mace across, hoping to bash me off my feet and
into the next county. Halfway through its arc, I ducked and stabbed him in both
his knees. He dropped like a sack of boulders, clutching both wounds. His mace vanished.
I stood and lowered my blades to his neck.

“Leave
my sister alone.”

He
looked up at me and then to the blades at his throat. His eyes widened in fear.
This time I was grateful for the recognition. He nodded.

“Say
it.”

“What?”

“That
you give me your word that you will not pursue my sister and that you’ll leave
Cedar Hills forever.”

“You
have my word.”

“Say
it,” I repeated and dug the tips of my swords into his throat.

“I’ll
not pursue the vampire and I will leave Cedar Hills forever.”

I
nodded, stood straighter, and banished my blades. “Now get out of my
house.”

He
stood and left through the gaping hole in the front. Leaping into the air, he
took off into the darkening sky. My living room had turned into a war zone.
With a heavy sigh, I briefly glanced out the front to make sure no one was
watching and began the arduous task of magically repairing everything before my
parents got home.

My
thoughts were consumed with worry. Something wasn’t right. In the past few
days, someone had killed one of my sister’s friends, attacked my sister, come
looking for my sister, and the Chosen had somehow found out my girlfriend had
changed. It was like they had the Connor Channel in their cable lineup.

“Hey,
honey,” Mom said as she walked through the front door. I had just finished
fixing the couch. She had good timing as usual.

“Hey,
Mom,” I said and sat down, pretending I had been straightening the
cushions.

She
walked past me, and headed toward the kitchen, presumably to start dinner. I
took a deep breath and sank back into the couch to finally relax.

Her
scream rang in my ears like the fire alarms at school.

I
shot off the couch and found her standing at the bottom of the remnants of our
stairs.
Shit. I forgot the stairs.

“What
the hell happened?”

“I
don’t know. I was walking down them and they collapsed.”

“Why
didn’t you say anything?” I could hear the panic in her voice as she
looked me over for injuries. I looked down, too. My pants were a little
shredded, but other than that, I was fine.

“I
forgot.”

“Forgot?”

“Yeah.
As in didn’t remember.”

“Don’t
get smart with me. How do you forget falling through the stairs? Are you on
drugs?” She leaned forward and actually peered into my eyes.

This
conversation took a turn I didn’t want to deal with. I looked my mother in the
eye, leaned forward and whispered, “The stairs are fine. You came home and
no one is here. Go make dinner.”

She
blinked a few times and did just that. I could hear her in the kitchen banging
pots and pans and soon enough, I could smell spaghetti sauce cooking. I quickly
repaired the stairs before anybody else came home.