Faith (Soul Savers Book 7) (13 page)

“Wings,” I
said out loud. “I have wings.”

And here I’d
thought I’d escaped the monstrosities.

I had to admit they
were stunningly beautiful. Not white anymore or pearlescent like
Mom’s, Rina’s, and Cassandra’s. The feathers were
purple, the deep, royal purple of the Amadis matriarch, darkening
toward the quill tips, which were a shiny black, as though they’d
just been dipped in ink. Like no wings I’d ever seen, real or
imaginary. My hand reached out and hung in the air, hesitating for a
moment, before I caressed my fingers over the feathers. I gasped at
how soft and silky they felt to my fingertips. A tingling, like my
favorite sensation of someone brushing my hair, ran through the
shafts and along the wings to my spine, causing me to shudder.

“Oh, those are
nice,” said a very female and very British voice behind me.

I spun around, my wings
brushing the walls and knocking over a chair. The feathers had
hardened with my surprised response, and the tingling sensation
changed, becoming more like that of fingernails dragging across a
hard surface. As more of a reaction than a thought, the wings closed
in behind me, tight against my back.

A white-and-pink-haired
woman with a voluptuous body clad in a fifties-style dress with
cherries on it stood in front of me. She craned her neck, her big,
blue eyes still trying to see my wings.

“Mine are pink,
see?” A flash of gauzy, hot pink wings showed, shaped more like
a butterfly’s than a bird’s, like mine. They disappeared
before I could barely catch a glimpse of them. When my eyes flew to
her face, it seemed to have momentarily changed, too—a more
impish nose, eyes uplifted at the outside corners, and pointier
ears—but when she frowned, everything looked normal again.
“Been havin’ problems.”

My brows scrunched
together, and I shook my head to clear it.

“What are you
doing here?” I demanded, quickly realizing that she was a
faerie. Had those been her stones in our bed? Was she holding us
captive? She was certainly familiar. “I know you. You were in
England. You’re one of the faeries that sent us to the abbey in
Whitby. Stacey … right?”

“That’s
right, love,” she said, friendly enough. “Debbie and me
took care of you then, just like we took care of you now.”

I crossed my arms over
my chest. Faeries did not do so-called favors, like “taking
care of you.” Not without strings, anyway.

“How, exactly,
did you take care of us?” I asked. “Did you poison us
with your stones? What have you done to Tristan?”

Her eyes widened,
sensing the accusations in my tone. “We helped you! Tristan’s
missing his soul. That’s what’s wrong with ’im!”

I blinked. Missing his
soul … because I’d left him in Hell. My eyes burned, and
I had to bite my lip to keep it from trembling, because I refused to
cry in front of her. “Then
what
did you do?”

“We collected
your bodies and hid them here. They healed themselves, but we
protected you with the faerie stones so you’d be physically
strong and good to go when your souls returned from the Otherworld.”

I squinted at her.
“What?”

“Your bodies were
missing their souls, so even though they physically healed, they
wouldn’t last long without your essence. So we helped. Brought
you here.” She paused, and her baby blues misted over as her
chin trembled. “I’m … I’m sorry about the
baby. There was nothing … the blood …”

I blinked, caught off
guard.

“Um … it’s
okay. I know. I’d already accepted it.” Not that I didn’t
feel like a thick shard of glass had just been stabbed into my heart,
but I knew she wasn’t to blame for the miscarriage, nor was
there anything she could have done.

“I’m so
glad you’re back,” she went on, as though rushing to move
beyond the awkward moment, “but shame ’bout Tristan. I
know he’ll come, though. ’Course, I can’t hardly
stand to be here myself with what the Normans did to the planet,
thanks to Lucas.” Her voice had become watery with emotion, and
she cleared it with a cough. “We faeries are creatures of
nature, Earthly nature or otherwise. We can’t survive on a near
dead world like this one. Didn’t know if you two would make it,
either, so we got you as far away from the nastiness as we could.”
She tilted her head and crossed her arms over her ample chest,
mirroring my position as she studied me. “Seems like you’re
okay. Better’n okay by the looks of ya.”

I uncrossed my arms and
placed my hands on my hips instead. “Hold on. Just so I
understand. You’re saying that you moved our bodies to the
Amadis mansion to protect us from the nuclear fallout? And your
faerie stones have kept our bodies alive, waiting for our souls?”

“Yeah, that’s
right—nuclear and other fallout. Except we’re not at the
Amadis mansion. I just gave you that illusion so you’d feel at
home when you came back. I’ve never been there, so I did me
best copying your memories.”

My mouth dropped open,
although I shouldn’t have been surprised. I’d noticed the
inconsistencies in the mansion. The weirdness. Her explanation was
weird in itself, but at least it
was
an explanation.

“Then where are
we? Where is everyone else? Do you know if they survived? My people?”

The corners of her
mouth quivered as though she fought a frown. “You’re in a
safe place for now. I don’t know about anyone else, or the rest
of the world. All I know is the Daemoni seem able to roam anywhere
they please, so maybe it’s safe for you and the rest of the
Amadis, too?”

“You haven’t
seen anyone through the veil when you’re in the Otherworld?”

She shook her head,
making my stomach drop, and her hands wrung together. “There is
so much going on in the Otherworld … too much to focus on this
one when we are there.”

She meant the fighting
between the Angels and Demons. The faeries probably watched it for
entertainment, passing buckets of faerie popcorn between them.

“Why?” I
asked.

She blinked at me,
reflecting my bewilderment.

“Why would you
faeries go through all of this trouble for us?” I clarified.
“You don’t take sides in the war.”

Her eyes brightened.
“Oh but we have, haven’ we? Some of us have, helpin’
one side or the other out since the very beginning. And the Amadis
need you. This world needs you. So Debbie—remember her in York
with me when you were looking for your lad?—she and I did what
we could to help.”

“You saved us for
the Amadis and the Angels?” I asked skeptically. “For the
Normans? You don’t even like Normans.”

“Sure we do,”
she said unconvincingly. “Except when they destroy the natural
energy that gives us life.” She looked away and sucked her
cheeks in, pursing her lips together as though for a kiss.

“There’s
something else,” I guessed.

A grimace flashed
across her face for the briefest moment, and then she looked back at
me with a bright smile. “Well, there is one tiny thing.”

And here it comes. The
payback they’d require for saving Tristan’s life and
mine. Of course, I couldn’t argue that I owed them, although
I’d much prefer Tristan’s soul be in his body. That
wasn’t their fault, however. I mentally cringed from the
horrible visions threatening to fill my mind and gave them a hard
shove out. I couldn’t break down now, as much as I wanted to at
the thought of Tristan still in Hell.

I inhaled a deep breath
and blew it out. “What can I do for you?”

“It’s not
really anything specific. We just need you to win. You have to beat
Lucas and make sure arsehole Satan stays where he belongs. And, well
… maybe save our folk while you’re at it.”

I cocked my head. “What
do you mean, save your folk?”

Her gaze slid away as
she averted her eyes. My question hung between us for a moment.

“Would you like a
cuppa tea?” She suddenly produced a tray in her hands with a
teapot and two cup-and-saucer settings. “Let’s sit.”

Her head gave a small
jerk, and the chair I’d knocked over with my wing righted
itself. She sat down in it, placing the tea service on the coffee
table in front of her. I moved over to the leather couch and began to
sit down, but my wings got in the way. I tried sweeping them to the
side, but they were too huge and unmanageable. So I straightened up.

“I’ll
stand,” I said.

“Can’t you
make them hide?” she asked as she poured a cup of tea.

“Hide?”

“Unless you plan
on rompin’ all over the place with those whoppin’ things
on your back?”

I frowned. Could I hide
my wings like Sasha could hide hers? With a simple thought of “hide,”
they disappeared. My excitement over this revelation was instantly
extinguished, though, with the thought of the lykora. Another family
member whose whereabouts were unknown. I hadn’t seen her since
she’d chased off a Demon at the Jefferson Memorial, right
before I’d died … or whatever I’d done before
waking up here. I sat down with a heavy heart.

Stacey handed me a cup
and saucer, and although I took it, I didn’t plan to drink the
contents. No telling what was in faerie tea.

“I’m not
goin’ to poison you,” she said. “I need you. All
the fae folk do.”

I pretended to take a
sip and then set the cup on the coffee table. “Explain.”

Her white brows
scrunched together with concern. “Some of us are missin’.
Lots of us, really, ’specially anyone who helped the Amadis.
They’ve just been disappearin’. Like Debbie.”

I recalled the faerie
who’d been with her that night in York, when we’d
followed Kali, Owen, and Dorian through a portal to England. She’d
looked similar to Stacey, but with purple in her hair rather than
pink. “Debbie’s gone?”

Stacey nodded. “She
was here with us, making sure you and Tristan were okay, and then she
went outside and poof! Gone.”

“Maybe she’s
in the Otherworld?”

“Oh, I know she
is. I know they all are. Just not in a place I can go. Unless I’m
taken there.” Her voice filled with fear with that last
statement. “Those of us who are left believe Satan’s got
them. Punishing them for helping his enemy.”

“You think
Satan’s locked up the faeries?”

“Not just the
faeries. Several others, too. He’s had entire races locked up
for eons. Anyone who doesn’t support him. He’d gone after
them before, and now he’s goin’ after the faeries.”

“And you think I
can help how?”

“Satan’s
only as powerful as the souls in the physical realm allow him to be.
They
give him the power. If you take out the Daemoni, you
knock his power down several notches. My people can free themselves
then.”

Okay. No pressure
there.
She made it sound so simple, but what she asked was no
different than what the Angels asked of me. And no less ridiculous. I
didn’t even know if she told me the truth or had some ulterior
motive.

I leaned back against
the couch and studied her face, since I couldn’t read her mind.
Faerie minds came as blank slates to me. She seemed sincere with
genuine concern, but she was a faerie, known for their trickery.
Would she tell me such dire stories in a time like this just for the
fun of it? I didn’t know. I didn’t know her well enough,
and I really didn’t trust faeries. Even if she had helped us
before. Actually,
because
she had helped us before, which gave
her all the more reason to jack with me. Regardless of what she said
about some faeries leaning one way or the other between good and
evil, they didn’t do anything for free.

“I’m not
askin’ you anything you won’t do anyway,” she said.
“You wanted to know why we helped you, so I told you. That’s
all.” She stood up. “I better go now.”

I jumped to my feet.
“No! You can’t leave us here. I don’t even know
where we are!”

She lifted a brow, and
I immediately regretted the outburst. If she stayed, she could demand
anything of me, which she would definitely do when she realized I had
no intention of fighting Lucas and the Daemoni.

“I can’t
stay in this world for long bouts anymore,” she said as she
headed for the door, “but I’ll be back.”

I followed the faerie
out of the sitting room and into the foyer. “What’s it
like out there?”

“In the
Otherworld? Didn’t you see it?”

“Yes. I mean on
Earth.”

She turned to look at
me and frowned, a deep sadness filling her eyes. “It’s
dire. If you feel up to it when I return, you can go out and see for
yourself.”

“Can you tell me
where Dorian is?” I asked. That was a favor I didn’t
hesitate to request.

“I’ll take
a mooch in the Otherworld and let you know what I find out that will
help you.” She had no problem opening the double wood doors.
“But I can make no other promises.”

Panic rose as the
reality of her leaving us here alone hit me. “What do I do
about Tristan? How do I help him?”

“I don’t
know,” she shouted over the howl of a wind outside. “Stay
here until … bring … back ….”

The wind drowned out
her last words, and the doors slammed shut behind her, leaving me
staring at them in bewilderment. The
hell
I was just going to
sit around here, waiting. I needed to figure out how to get my
husband back.

Except I couldn’t
leave. I fought the doors myself, used my powers and superhuman
strength, but they failed to open for me. We were trapped.

At first, I told myself
she’d come back, as promised, because that only made sense. How
did she expect me to do anything when I was held captive here? But
after a while, doubt crept in until it became a full-blown monster.
And that monster morphed into the beasts of Hell, taking over my mind
while the screams clawed and scratched at my soul. I tried to fight
the nightmare, coming in and out of consciousness, begging Stacey or
someone, anyone, to return.