Fallen (3 page)

It was empty, so I didn’t have to fight anyone for the swing, even though I didn’t feel like swinging. I sat there, holding onto the cold metal chains as my feet kicked little pebbles. A car pulled up a few seconds later, and I looked up to see Gabriel park next to the curb.

He got out of his car and paused as he looked at me, his eyebrows pulling together over the silver band of his aviator sunglasses. 

Shit.

Gabriel shut his door and walked around the front of his car, the glare from the sun reflecting off his shades. He reached up and removed them, exposing his golden-green eyes and two little black dots that turned into vertical slits as soon as the sun hit them. 

He smiled. “Well, well, well. Look who’s matured.”

Chapter Three

GABRIEL

Emily froze as her eyes went wide. “You— You’re a—” She stood, taking tentative steps backwards as I approached.

Hmmm. I thought she didn’t know about Feeders.

Her eyes darted left, clearly trying to determine if she could outrun me. Hell, she might be able to. Feeder males and females were evenly matched when it came to speed. Strength on the other hand…well, males were still stronger, albeit not by much. I didn’t want her to know that, though, and I sure as hell didn’t want to find out if she could outrun me. 

I held my finger up, swishing it from side to side in a chastising gesture. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

She didn’t look convinced. 

In under half a second, I had her against the tree behind her, my hips pinning her into place. My fingers grazed her collarbone, then wandered up her neck, to the soft spot of flesh that I usually fed from. “First and foremost, I’m a predator.” The tip of my nose traced her jaw line, nuzzling her as I breathed in her scent. “I
like it
when they run.”

Her body tensed underneath me. “You wouldn’t.”

I lifted my head, staring her straight in the eye. “I assure you, I would.”

Her bottom lip trembled as she glanced away. “What do you want with me?”

The citrusy scent of fear permeated the space between us. I frowned and loosened my grip. “
Do. Not. Run.
Got it?”

She nodded but wouldn’t meet my eyes. I reluctantly let her go, half-expecting her to take off. She didn’t, though. She stayed rooted to her spot by the tree.

“You want to know why I’m here? I was assigned to babysit you until it was time to take you in, that’s why.”

Her eyes shot up to me. “What?”

“Apparently your mother pissed off the wrong people. You’re…insurance.” I reached into my pocket and took out my pack of cigarettes.

Emily’s brows lifted. “You
smoke
?”

I placed one between my lips and held up my lighter, cocooning the flame from the wind with my other hand. Inhaling, the burning end glowed orange as smoke went down my throat, into my lungs. 

Oh, sweet Jesus… Just what I needed. Turning my head to the side, I exhaled, smoke disappearing with the breeze. “There’s a lot about me you don’t know.”

My mouth pressed into a hard line. “Apparently. Like how none of this was real.”

Gabriel took another drag, cocking an eyebrow at me. “None of what?”

I shook my head and looked away, wiping a tear from my eye. “Nothing, just forget about it.” I thought I saw something flicker in his eyes, some kind of realization, but it was probably just wishful thinking on my part. 

God, I felt like such an idiot. I fell for his lies, hook, line, and sinker. All the talks we’d had, all the time we’d spent together, was bullshit. Total and utter bullshit. He was never my friend.

I fought through my constricting throat and said, “Who hired you?”

Don’t blink. Don’t you
dare
blink and spill these tears.

“I’m not at liberty to say.”

I rolled my eyes and hugged my jacket to me, even though I wasn’t cold. “Can you at least tell me what you intend to do with me?”

He flicked his cigarette away. “My instructions were pretty clear once you matured: I’m supposed to bring you in.”

“To
where
?” With my peripheral vision, I scanned the park and surrounding streets. They were eerily empty. But surely he wouldn’t try to kidnap me in broad daylight…right? 

“Paris,” he said absently, pulling out his phone.

“Paris, as in
France
?”

He nodded.

“And by ‘bring me in’ you mean…”

He looked up from his phone. “It means I’m not asking.”

My stomach dropped to my knees. He really
was
going to kidnap me in broad daylight.

Okay, plan B…

I dropped my hands to my side, my fingers balling up into fists. I’d fight him off if it came to it. Well, I’d
try
to fight him off.

Plan A was to try and reason with him. 

“Please don’t do this.” Tears streamed down Emily’s cheeks. “I don’t want to go.”

My brows knit together and I put my phone in my suit jacket pocket. “You’d rather stay
here
, in this shit stain of a town, than be with others of your kind?
Why?
” What on Earth would possess her to want that?

She looked away. “My whole life is here.”

“You mean
Thomas
is here.” Goddamn it, I should have known.  I scowled and stabbed my fingers through my hair. “God, I’m so
sick
of hearing about your stupid little boyfr—”

A black Jeep Wrangler barreled around the corner, its tires screeching before coming to a halt. A tall, muscled blond got out of the car, his shoulders squared back and tense as he stalked towards us, his fists clenched by his sides. His face was hard and cold as he spat, “Get the fuck away from her!”

Is this asshole talking to
me
?

My eyes narrowed as my teeth clenched. The wind blew his scent right into my face, and I froze, my face going lax as my eyes widened.

He’s a Healer. 

The hell was he doing here? And what the
hell
 was his problem?

The sound of Emily’s frantic heartbeat broke me out of my thoughts. Her face had paled, and her mouth hung open. 

She looked terrified.

I instinctively shoved her behind me, shielding her body with mine. It was an uncharacteristically selfless move. I had half a second to be shocked by my behavior before he lunged at me, fist cocked. 

A growl erupted from me, right as Emily appeared between us, placing a firm hand on each of our chests. Her eyes darted back and forth between the two of us. 

“Knock it off,” she said.

My stance relaxed minutely. “Wait, you
know
this asshole?”

His navy eyes burned with hatred. “You mother—” 

Emily cut him off, pushing back on his chest. “Thomas,
stop
.”

The blood in my veins turned to ice as the world tilted around me. “
Thomas?
”

Chapter Four

EMILY

Gabriel looked at me incredulously. “
This
is Thomas? Are you
kidding
me? Do you even
know
what he is?” Gabriel’s face had turned a deep shade of red as he yelled, and the vein in his forehead strained under his skin. Any more yelling, and the thing would surely pop.

“Of course she knows,” Thomas sneered behind me.

Gabriel’s eyes narrowed as he pointed at him. “
You
stay out of this.”

I put my hand up to silence whatever snide comment Thomas was about to make. I didn’t want to watch them fight, no matter how much Gabriel deserved to have his ass handed to him. “Let’s just go,” I said to Thomas, grabbing his hand as I pulled him back to the Jeep. 

“You can’t be with him, Em! It’ll never work,” Gabriel called out the further we went. “
You’ll kill him!
”

I paused and glanced back, the wind whipping my hair across my face as I locked eyes with a desperate man. 

“Don’t listen to him,” Thomas whispered in my ear. His hand went to my back, urging me along.

I kept my eyes down as we got in and drove off. When we were safely on the highway, I turned to Thomas. “How’d you know I needed you?”

“You pocket-dialed me.”

“Oh… How much of it did you hear?”

His fingers tightened on the steering wheel. “Enough.”

I sighed and rubbed my head. “You were right not to trust him, and I should’ve listened to you. I’m sorry.”

He took his eyes off the road to face me. “You have
nothing
to be sorry for, you hear me? They’re liars and manipulators. All of ’em.”

His words stung, and I nodded absently. Did he even realize he’d just insulted me? 

Probably not.  

My pocket vibrated, and I pulled out my phone, freezing when I saw it was a text from Gabriel.

“What is it?” Thomas asked, surreptitiously eyeing my phone.

I tried to play it cool as I opened the message and read it. However, I had to fight to keep my breathing and pulse even as his words sank in. My stiff shoulders relaxed as I gave Thomas a small smile. “It’s a text from Beth. Josh is being an ass, as usual.”

My eyes glanced down to the screen as I re-read Gabriel’s message:

You’re wrong. It was real for me, too.

Chapter Five

Tuesday, December 22nd

Dallas, TX

EMILY

We pulled into my parents’ driveway, behind my mom’s black SUV. Thomas cut the ignition, but made no move to get out of our rental car.

I frowned and unbuckled my seat belt. “Are you nervous?”

He nodded. “I don’t think I’ve ever been this nervous in my life. All three-hundred years of it,” he muttered as he climbed out.

I rolled my eyes and got out. “You’ll do fine,” I said as he pulled our suitcases out of the trunk.

He shut the back of the car and picked up our bags, flashing me a lopsided grin. “It can’t be any worse than when you met
my
family.”

I smiled and nodded. “That’s true.”
Very
 true. That had been a disaster of epic proportions.

Thomas followed me up the front steps, and I peered in the glass detailing of our front door before pushing it open. The house was relatively quiet as we stepped into the foyer. I heard the TV in the living room, but that was it.

“Mom? Dad? We’re here,” I called out.

My mom came into the foyer from the living room, and when I saw her smiling face, I lost it. I ran up and hugged her, burying my face in her light brown hair. She smelled exactly the same. Like Dove soap and roses. My eyes watered, but I refused to cry. Our time was limited. I wouldn’t waste it by blubbering like a little kid. 

When my throat started to ache with the force of my unshed tears, I pulled away. My mom looked pretty much the same, with maybe a few more crow’s feet around her blue eyes.

“Let me look at you,” she said, placing her hands on both sides of my face. Her eyes were a little red and watery as she smiled. “You look even more beautiful than the last time I saw you.” She kissed my forehead and released me, gesturing for Thomas to come over. 

“You must be Thomas,” she said, giving him a hug.

His surprised eyes met mine, and I smiled. I should’ve warned him that my mother was a hugger. 

“It’s nice to meet you,” she said as she let him go.

“You, too, Mrs. Hayes.”

My mom made a “
pffft
” sound and swatted in his direction. “Please, call me Sophie.”

I leaned into Thomas’s side and he wrapped his arm around me. “Where’s Dad?” I asked.

“He’ll be back in a bit, he just ran to the store.” She wiped her eyes and pointed to the staircase behind us. “Em, why don’t you show Thomas where your bedroom is? I’m sure you guys would like to get settled.”

I cocked an eyebrow, but said, “Okay.” I hadn’t even
dared
hope that Thomas and I would share a room. My dad tended to be a little…old school.

As Thomas and I ascended the staircase, I watched him take in our house. He eyed every painting and every piece of furniture with great interest.