Dark Wings Descending (28 page)

“You have a guardian angel for protection,” Rafe said.

“That doesn’t mean I don’t need to still be able to look after myself. I know martial arts too. Remind me to show you sometime when you’re not so banged up and I can pin you down.” She pushed Rafe out the front door. “We can compare caliber sizes later. The Garden of Eden obviously means more to him than the first scenes.”

Rafe hastened beside her, tugging on her hat. “You know this is probably a setup? He’s got to be aware that you’re watching for him just like we are.” She opened the car door for Ashley to get in then rushed around to get in the driver’s side. She started the engine and pulled away from the curb at high speed.

“Would it be any easier if I say I have right on my side?” Ashley understood Rafe’s trepidation. After all, she was deliberately going to confront a serial killer who was also demonic. She knew Rafe had already faced down a demon personally. So she knew intimately the strength they possessed and the damage they could inflict.

“I’d feel better if I could call my people in to cover us. It’s just the whole demon element that fucks up that plan of action.”

“This is my job, Rafe. I have you here. That’s all the backup I need.”

“And the angels, right? There will be angels?”

“The angels are always there.”

“Why don’t I feel like we have everything covered?”

“Because this is my realm you’re stepping into and you have no idea what that entails. I need you to do as I say and just trust me.”

“I really don’t take orders very well. I’m more used to giving them out.”

“I’m asking you as my lover as well as a cop. I need you to let me lead in this.”

“If he even thinks of touching you I’m blowing his head off. We’ll deal with the banishing crap after.”

Ashley watched the streets as they drew closer to the block that the Garden of Eden was on. “Park where we did the night we came to view the body. I need to go in on foot and alone.” Rafe pulled the car over as directed and parked. Ashley got out and spoke into the darkness. “Eli, I know you’re here; I can sense you.”

Eli appeared instantly beside her.

“You had no idea, did you?” Ashley’s faith was justified when he shook his head.

“You wouldn’t have been called in had I known,” he said.

“Is he still in the garden?”

“He hasn’t moved since he glamoured to hide in the shadows. We could read his signature immediately. We’ve just kept watch on him until it got late into the night and the city started to sleep. He’s got your father’s coloring; he glows a golden orange.”

Ashley tucked her gun securely into the back of her jeans and made sure her jacket covered it. “Will you find somewhere safe for Rafe to hide please?”

“I’d rather be beside you,” Rafe said. Her own gun was out and in her hand.

“What did I say about trusting me?” Ashley loved how focused Rafe was on her safety, but she needed to have her step back. This wasn’t a police matter. Not anymore.

“And what did I say about my not being good at taking orders?”

Ashley looked to Eli. “Rafe is in your charge.” She took a step away but was pulled back gently by Rafe’s hand on her arm.

“Don’t take any chances. He may be family, but he’s still a killer. Don’t let sentiment blind you to his agenda. He wants
you
.” Rafe moved closer still. “I’m not prepared to lose you.”

Ashley placed a kiss on Rafe’s lips. “I’ll be careful, I promise. You and I have a lifetime to explore together.” She took a deep breath to prepare herself. “God, I’m not usually so nervous.”

“Family reunions will do that.”

*

Ashley was grateful that there were no police guarding the crime scene. Rafe had told her that with the scene processed so thoroughly it had been decided to leave it yellow taped but unguarded. The police were needed to look for the killer, not guard where he’d already been. Ashley had asked who had decided that. Rafe had admitted she had, in the hopes that Lucas would return to the garden to relive where his art had been displayed as he’d intended. Ashley wasn’t surprised Rafe had proved to be correct. She slipped under the yellow tape and opened the garden gate. There was an eerie silence that put Ashley’s already heightened senses into overdrive. She knew that the angels would have secured the area themselves. No one would witness what happened in the garden; human eyes would never see a banishment take place. A Shroud of Secrecy would have been placed over the area. She stared into the darkness, searching for the glimmer. He lit up the darkness like a flame to her sight.

“Come out of the shadows, Lucas. It’s Ashley.”

A voice spoke out almost hesitantly. “Is it really you?”

“Come see for yourself.” Ashley looked over to where his voice was coming from. His shimmering pulsated amid the shadows, effectively marking his hiding place.

“How do I know it’s really you? So many have been you until I looked closer and found they were just meat.”

Ashley could barely contain her revulsion at his choice of words. “I haven’t changed that much from the last time you saw me. Let me see you. I’m sure you’ve changed a great deal from the little boy I last saw.”

He emerged from the darkness. The shadows seemed to fall from him like he was shedding a cloak. His glamour dimmed, then winked out and Ashley finally got to see him. He was not much taller than she was. His hair was a mousy blond kept short but unkempt and his face strongly resembled his mother’s. Ashley could see the demon in him, though, the legacy from their father. It was starting to alter his human features as it struggled against his humanity.

“Is that the face you showed your victims before the throat wound you inflicted made them mercifully bleed to death?”

“No one ever really looked at me. No one sees
me
. But
they
did; they saw exactly what I am.”

“And what are you, Lucas? A murderer without conscience?”

He straightened his shoulders and stood proud before her. “I am my father’s son.”

Ashley shook her head at the arrogance in his voice. She laughed at him and watched his face fall at her derision. “Your father was no killer. You defile his memory by claiming to be something he’d be proud of.”

Anger erupted across his face, contorting it even more. His true nature became even clearer to see. “No, but then he was always so proud of you, wasn’t he? Daddy’s Little Angel. Fuck! That’s all I ever heard about.”

“That’s not my fault. You can’t honestly expect me to believe you killed innocent women because of that? That you were pissed because Daddy loved me more? Grow a set, Lucas! Take responsibility for your actions.”

He stormed forward and Ashley reached a hand back for her gun, praying Rafe wasn’t already taking aim to fire. He stopped, his breathing sounding harsh in the silence.

“I grew up in your damned shadow and then found I could hide easily in them for real. Who would have thought little Lucas Thorpe would finally get a gift all his own? Of course, it was nothing compared to yours.” He bowed mockingly at her. “You can become anyone you choose to be. Anyone at all. Yet you’ve become what? A private investigator. You’re out saving the world when you could be ruling it.”

“I don’t want the responsibility of the world, Lucas. I just want a normal life.”

“But you’re not normal! You’re the daughter of a demon. A very powerful demon. One that used to be an angel.” He looked around them, scanning the garden excitedly. “Did you bring him with you?”

Ashley frowned. “I beg your pardon?”

He stomped like a petulant child. “Did you bring Dad with you so he can see what I’ve done?”

Ashley shook her head at him. “Dad hasn’t been around for years, Lucas. He got banished.”

“No!”
Face contorting, Lucas screamed and his skin began to mottle with bright red patches. “No. You took him away to live with you.”

“No, I didn’t. The angels came and banished him to hell because he wasn’t supposed to be here. He didn’t leave you and your mother willingly. He was taken before he could tell you he had to go.”

“You’re a liar.” Lucas’s voice growled as the demon inside him grew.

“Why would I lie? I lost him too.”

“But I wanted him to see,” Lucas whined, rubbing at his face and tugging at the horns that were starting to sprout from his forehead.

“See what?”

“I wanted him to see me when I cut your wings off and get to wear them for myself.”

*

Rafe was surprised by how strong an angel could be. With just one finger pushing downward, Eli had stopped Rafe from raising her gun when Lucas had taken his threatening steps forward.

“Just let me take a shot. I just need one. I can nail him from here.”

“Your weapon won’t be much use, Rafe, and Ashley could get caught in its path.”

“He’s going to kill her and you’re going to stand by and let him do it?” She struggled against his pressure until she could fight no more and lowered her weapon. Hoping to catch him off guard, she stepped forward to sprint, but he blocked her way like a solid wall. “Goddamn it, Eli! Let me past.”

“No. I am going to wait until the time is right and then I will give you the weapon you require.”

Rafe stopped struggling. “You have a bigger gun?”

He gave her a withering look. “Our might is so much more than bullets, Detective.” He held out a small silver pen. “Here.”

Rafe took the item and examined it critically. “What? I’m supposed to
Bic
him to death?”

Eli sighed and directed her attention to a small button. “Press here.”

Rafe did so and the small instrument became a much larger spear. “Holy Christ!” she gasped as she felt the weight of the object in her hand.

“Exactly,” Eli said.

“It’s a Spear of Light.” Rafe recognized the weapon. She balanced it on her palm, testing its weight, then gripped it tightly. “Where are the angels this belongs to so they can run that bastard through with it?”

“There are no angels for this killer, Rafe. He’s half human. He needs a different form of capturing.”

Rafe considered this. “He has to be taken by humans?”

“He has to be banished by ones like him.”

“I’m not demon born, though, for all my mother would argue otherwise.”

“You’ve been marked by a demon. You can see what he truly is.”

“He’s an ugly mother—”

Eli hastened to interrupt. “And you were healed by a pure heart. The same pure heart who faces him now.”

“So I do what? Try to creep up on the guy and wield this like a javelin at him? He’ll see me coming.”

Eli put his arm around her. “No, he won’t. You will let me hide you from his sight and then you can run him through and ground him.”

Rafe recognized the blinding white light when it enveloped her. For the first time, she embraced it. “Guide me, Eli.”

“You learn fast.”

“He’s threatening Ashley. I want to rip him apart.”

“That’s an outdated form of punishment, Rafe. We find banishment so much more civilized now. Tonight, Detective, you’ll get to mete out justice of a different kind.”

*

Ashley saw the flames start sparking in Lucas’s eyes. She forced herself not to take a step back and show him she was afraid.

“I looked for you. I looked everywhere for you. Then I started to see you and I just wanted to talk, but you would get frightened and start shouting. Then the glamour faded and it wasn’t you after all. So I just followed the lights and found more women all pretending to be you.” He stared at her critically. “I still can’t see your lights.”

“My glamour is only visible when I take on the form of someone else. I don’t shimmer all the time. I’m like you; I can turn it on and off.”

“It’s because you’re more human, though, isn’t it? You didn’t get the full undiluted demon blood like I did.” His sneer was intimidating and Ashley began to feel unnerved. “Did Dad know you weren’t a true child of his? That you got more of your weak mother’s humanity?”

“You’re half human too, Lucas. Don’t forget that.”

“Not enough to save me, though. I got the best parts of my father. The brute strength to cut those women open and the face to have them stare into as they died right before me. I liked that part. I’d lie down beside them on the ground and watch the light go out in their eyes. I was looking to see if I could find you in there. I never did, but I figured I still needed to double-check if it really was you. So I looked for your wings.”

“My wings are tattoos; you didn’t need to dig deeper. You didn’t need to cut them, Lucas.”

“They’re real! I saw them myself. You have angel wings growing from your back. That’s why I had to cut through to the bone.”

“They’re just pictures inked into my skin.”

His teeth audibly ground as he clenched his jaw. “I saw them. I want them for myself. Then I can be Daddy’s Little Angel and he’ll love me more than he ever loved you. Then on dark wings descending, I will wreak havoc on the earth and can finally be the demon my father expected of me.”