Fallen Angel of Mine (35 page)

"In on what?" Fausta said.

Beck scratched his arm and shrugged.
"Some kind of fugitive hunt."

"You just agreed to help him hunt down
a fugitive and you don't even know who it is?"

"Vadaemos Slade," I said enunciating
each syllable for the proper affect.

Fausta's eyes went huge. "I
am
in
." She clapped
her hands with joy, like a little girl with a lollipop. "This will
be the biggest takedown ever!"

Beck high-fived her. "You know
it!"

She practically squeed with
happiness.

"We have to take him alive," I said,
trying to curb their enthusiasm a bit. It didn't work. "I need to
interrogate him so I can prove he's the one who set up the massacre
at Thunder Rock, not House Slade."

That got their attention.

"You think this guy is the one behind
Thunder Rock?" Beck asked and looked at Fausta. She
shrugged.

"Let's just say he knows a lot more
than anyone else does about what happened there."

"This is insanity," Bella said, putting
both hands to her hips. "I can't allow it."

"You're not my mom," I said.

"Maybe not, but I am trying to talk
sense into you."

I bit back a smart remark and took a
deep breath, giving me time to find the right words. "Vadaemos
Slade is the key to solving a lot of problems. First and foremost,
if I can make him admit to Thunder Rock, the Templars and spawn can
resume normal relations."

"And perhaps a certain young lady's
father will approve of you?" She raised a dark eyebrow.
"Hmm?"

"Maybe. It's a long shot but it's all I
have left." I tried to keep the desperation out of my voice but did
a lousy job of it.

Bella took my hand and patted it. "You
are hopelessly in love, aren't you?"

I gripped her hand tight and nodded,
swallowing the sudden lump in my throat. Thankfully, Beck and
Fausta were too busy one-upping each other's plans for capturing
Vadaemos to notice the conversation.

"At the very least, catching Vadaemos
will bring a really bad man to justice."

She nodded sympathetically. "Then I
suppose you'll need my help."

"Really? You'll help?" A ray of
sunshine warmed my heart.

"Yes. I'll ask a couple of others who
are familiar with El Dorado to come as well."

"We'll need plenty of light sources," I
said. "That's the only way to keep those shadow things
away."

Bella smiled. "Light is one thing you
won't have to worry about with Arcanes on hand." She took me by the
arm and steered me outside. Beck and Fausta followed, arguing about
what sort of arsenal they should bring with them. "Gather whatever
supplies you need and meet back here first thing in the morning,"
the dhampyr said. "We'll want to be there by the time the sun is
rising to maximize our daylight hours."

I hugged her. "Thanks."

She giggled in a way that totally
belied her age and kissed me on the cheek before heading back
inside the meeting hall.

Tomorrow couldn't come soon enough for
me. I walked back to Alejandro's place and paced restlessly, trying
to think of anything useful I could do to prepare for the next day.
I didn't know magic and didn't have much else of use with me to
take, so it appeared I'd have plenty of time to kill before we
left. About all I could do was practice making magic circles since
one of those had protected me against the shadow horde.

I grabbed a chunk of chalk and drew a
circle on the floor, concentrating on closing it until I felt the
static whisper of magic close around me. Then I brushed away a bit
of the circle to open it, reclosed it, and started over
again.

"Is that all you know how to do?" Lina
said from the doorway.

A sound like a terrified dog burst from
my mouth as I toppled on my butt. I'd been so intent on the circle
I hadn't heard her approach. When I gathered my wits, I said, "Once
I tried to short circuit a security door in a vampire stronghold
and accidentally blew out power in the whole place."

She laughed. "You are so
funny."

"Even when I don't want to
be."

She laughed again, but her smile faded
and her bloodshot eyes told me laughing was an effort. "I am sorry,
Justin. I should not have said those things about you."

I wanted to be angry with her, but
couldn't find it in my heart to go through with it as she stood
there, her big brown eyes still glistening with tears. It was
definitely those guilt pheromones girls had in their tears at work
again. I waved her apology away as though it was no big thing.
"You're a beautiful girl, Lina, but my heart already belongs to
Elyssa." I sighed and stared at the circle.

"Would you like me to teach you some
spells?" Her face brightened a tad.

"Sure. Just don't expect any
miracles."

By dinnertime I was famished and had a
headache. Lina wasn't a master sorceress, by any stretch of the
imagination—in fact, she was still a novice by the Arcane Council's
standards—but she knew a heck of a lot more than I did. The basics
were the same across the board, it seemed, and concentration was an
important part of making anything happen. My brain could only take
so much concentrating before it tried to think about more
interesting topics, namely El Dorado and Elyssa.

Though my ADHD hampered my efforts to
do any real magic, I did manage to make the air in front of me glow
for two seconds, caused a gust of air to knock over a picture
frame, and caught my shoelaces on fire. Thankfully, Lina was able
to put it out pretty fast.

"You are not bad for someone who does
not know what they are doing," she told me as we went into the
kitchen and prepped food for dinner.

I pressed fingers to my temples to
soothe the headache. "Is this normal?"

She nodded while kneading a ball of
cornmeal. "Magic focus is different than thinking hard about
things. The magic—how do you say—presses the mind into
shape."

"It molds our minds?"

"Ah yes, that is it. Like new languages
make new paths in the mind, so does magic. But it hurts for the
first months."

I grimaced. "And it doesn't give you
brain damage?"

She giggled. "No more than you already
have."

"Ha, ha," I said and tickled her while
she had her hands in the dough. "Now who's brain
damaged?"

She laughed and jerked her hands from
the cornmeal, spraying bits everywhere including my face. I
sputtered.

Lina giggled and gently wiped the dough
from my face, pausing perhaps a little too long for my comfort with
her hands against my cheeks. Her dark eyes shimmered with
emotion.

"Interesting," said a familiar voice
from behind.

Lina backed away, her smile flattening
into a hard thin line before turning back to the
cornmeal.

I twisted my head and saw Elyssa
standing in the door, her left eyebrow raised. "Uh, hi," I said in
a weak voice. It was the only thing that came to mind as I felt my
face burning bright.

She walked into a back room and emerged
a moment later with the Templar equipment we'd stripped off her the
night before.

"Where are you going?" I
asked.

"I'm staying in the town hall and
leaving first thing in the morning."

"Why are you staying there?" Lina asked
pausing as she rolled the cornmeal flat.

Elyssa's violet eyes settled on me.
"Even you should be able to figure that out."

A hurt gasp from Lina failed to soften
Elyssa's hard gaze. "You are very rude, but if you want to stay for
dinner, please do."

"Thanks, but no thanks." With that,
Elyssa left.

My heart dropped to a new
low.

The next morning crawled into being
after a long night of tossing and turning. My mind rewound history
over and over again, analyzing and rehashing each detail, searching
for something, anything I could have done differently to keep
Elyssa by my side rather than captured and mind-wiped by her
father. I wondered if they had time turners in the Overworld. I
could definitely use one to go back and fix my mistakes.

My stomach growled feebly but my
appetite had vanished. I forced down some rice, beans, and eggs
Lina's grandfather, Eduardo, had made and hoped they didn't give me
gas. After retrieving my backpack—the very same one Kassallandra
had given me—I set off outside and down the driveway.

When I got to the town hall, I noticed
a bus parked in front. People milled nearby, loading coolers,
folding chairs, and blankets into the back. Bella spotted me and
strode over, an almost apologetic look on her face.

"What's going on?" I asked, looking at
the crowd.

A sheepish grin underlined the
embarrassment in her eyes. "It appears your quest has attracted
more volunteers than we thought."

"Wait a minute—this bus is for El
Dorado? All these people are going?"

"No, no, no, not all." She smiled
reassuringly. "Three old people aren't going because the bus ride
is too stiff for their bones."

My mouth dropped. "This isn't some
joyride. This is dangerous!"

Her hand touched my arm. "I know. But
while we plumb the depths of El Dorado, there will be a picnic and
a history tour. During the day, it is perfectly safe."

My palm slapped my forehead before I
could stop it. When I looked up, Beck and Fausta stood
there.

Fausta gave the villagers a disdainful
gaze. "Looks like we have a three-ring circus accompanying
us."

Elyssa appeared from behind the other
two Templars and gave me a grudging nod. Dark, bruised lines
underscored her eyes, and her hair hung limp in a messy ponytail.
"We're going under El Dorado?" She shook her head. "You're crazier
than you look."

Just peachy. Instead of capturing
Vadaemos Slade, I might end up being responsible for shadow
creatures annihilating an entire village.

I slashed a hand through the air,
drawing a line somewhat less substantial than drawing one in the
sand. Still, I had to put an end to this nonsense. "Forget it. I'm
not going if the entire village is. We're talking major league bad
guys here."

The embarrassment in Bella's eyes
vanished. Her chin angled up an extra inch, buoyed by local pride.
"Lest you forget, Justin, nearly every one of us are Arcanes. We
are more than capable of taking care of ourselves."

My feet took an involuntary
step back at the ferocity in her gaze, and I felt stupid for making
out like I was the expert on supernatural dangers. Not that it made
me feel much better about the bored citizenry of Los Angeles,
Colombia, turning my plans to rescue my love life into a picnic of
all things. These people were
really
cashing in on my misery. "Exactly who will be
joining us in the vaults?"

"Myself and three other experienced
sorcerers."

"And me," Elyssa said, her eyes hard as
steel.

I'd seen that look before and knew it
too well to bother arguing with her. Beck and Fausta chimed
in.

"I will also come," Lina said, stepping
into the small circle.

"Child, you're far too inexperienced to
join us," Bella said. "Does your brother know?"

"Why should that matter?" Lina said,
jutting out her chin. "I can make light globes as well as anyone
else and it would free up the others to be on the
lookout."

"Absolutely not," I said.

Anger flared in her brown eyes. "I am
not a child. I can make my own decisions."

"This is no decision, young lady."
Bella crossed her arms. "This is a mistake. I am sorry, but you
cannot come."

A tear welled in her eye. "But I want
to help Justin." She glanced at Elyssa and her face
hardened.

I took Lina by the arm and led her away
from the group. She offered no resistance. I stopped. She refused
to look up at me so I put a hand under her chin and raised her eyes
to mine. "Thank you."

Her brow crinkled. "For
what?"

"For caring. For helping." I sighed and
looked at the others, at the back of Elyssa's head and felt my
heart pinch with pain. As if she felt my gaze, her head turned and
our eyes locked, like two tractor beams. I could feel the power
sizzle in the air between our eyes. My heart felt electrified and
tight at the same time.

Lina pressed a hand to my chest. "I
care about you Justin. I want you to be safe."

Forcing my eyes from Elyssa, I met
Lina's sad face and took her hand in mine. "I'll be safe as I can
be. I don't want you risking yourself."

She nodded silently. Leaned up and
kissed me on the lips. Turned away and paused for a second before
facing me once again. Digging in her pocket, she pulled out a small
black square and pressed it into my hand. "Devon found this next to
the bullet wound in Elyssa's leg. He gave it to me."