Fallen Angel of Mine (49 page)

"It must be so," she said. "For the
good of our people."

"In case you didn't know, there's a law
against polygamy, even in Utah."

Dad gripped my arm and dragged me away
from the others. I didn't resist, despite the rage boiling in my
chest. He turned and looked at me, eyes stern, gaze commanding. I
had never seen him look so determined. It puzzled me even though I
burned with anger.

"Justin, we all have choices to make.
Your mother made hers, you made yours, and now I've made mine. You
captured Vadaemos. Meghan told me about Daelissa, and how she's
responsible for the mess between the Templars and Spawn. But you
must remember House Assad and Slade are still at odds. The news of
Vadaemos might heal those wounds in time, but we don't have time to
waste."

"It's not like the two families are
fighting in the streets and killing each other," I said. "Look,
even Thomas Borathen shook my hand tonight."

He nodded. "I heard. I'm proud of you,
Son. More proud than you could know. But spawn have a different way
of fighting. They use politics. And the maneuvering both houses
have used over the past several years has all the major houses
aligned with one or the other and nobody wants to apologize and
lose face. There are even talks of secession from the Overworld and
creating a new supernatural government."

"Whose stupid idea was that? What are
they going to name it, Underworld?"

"House Assad wants to create an eastern
bloc and a group of minor houses have already created an army of
supernatural mercenaries to combat the Templars. Kassallandra and I
can unite the halves again. Keep them whole."

Fury and sadness ripped apart my
insides and tears of anger threatened to break loose. He was
abandoning Mom and Ivy. Giving up on them. Destroying our family.
"This is stupid, Dad. What makes you think it'll even work? House
Slade—your own family despises you."

"I've already worked out details with
them. I'll do my penance."

I looked at the beautiful Daemas, her
flaming red hair, the smooth curves of her body. "I know why you're
doing it. Mom obviously wasn't pretty enough."

He shook his head sadly and wiped one
eye with the back of his hand. "Your mom is the most beautiful
woman in the world to me. I still love her with all my heart." His
voice ached with sincerity. "What I'm doing isn't for me, Justin.
It's for the future of our race. For the future of this world. I
know you don't see it now, but you will in time." He touched my
shoulder. Hugged me and kissed me on the forehead.

I shoved him away. "Get out
of my sight you faithless bastard. I never want to see you again."
Everything inside me hurt. Part of me said he was right. Another
selfish part felt he was betraying
me
. I grit my teeth so hard they
ached. Turned my back on him as he walked away. Kept it turned so
he wouldn't see the tear leaking from the corner of my
eye.

A hand touched my shoulder. I shook it
off and spun. Shelton backed away, hands up. "Whoa,
cowboy."

Bella stood by his side. I saw my
father and Kassallandra walking away. I wanted to run to my dad and
tell him I was sorry. I hadn't meant what I'd said. But the hurt
and anger surged again, reminding me why I had to be right. First,
Mom had abandoned me. Now, Dad had given up on our family. Ivy and
I were the only real family, both of us betrayed by our parents.
Both of them had gone to the enemy—Mom to the Conroys and Dad to
the Slades. We had no one else to count on. It was up to me to save
her.

"Bella tells me you're ready to learn
some magic," Shelton said, glancing back at my father as he
spoke.

I nodded, fighting back the regret.
Pushing away the hurt. I braced my throat so I could speak without
a trembling voice. "It's time for me to prepare. I'll need every
advantage I can get."

"We start first thing tomorrow then."
His eyes hardened. "I won't go easy on you, so you better man up
and keep your mouth shut if you want to learn."

My face grew hot but I stopped the
smart retort forming on my lips. "You got it."

By now, the parking lot was almost
empty. No more bodies or wrecked cars, and the Templar mind-benders
had evidently worked their magic on the local populace.

"Looks like we're in the clear,"
Shelton said. "No way in hell anyone at this place would call the
cops even if a dragon took a dump in the parking lot.
Ninety-percent of their business is probably from pimps and
hookers, and the only kind of poking around they want here sure as
hell doesn't involve the law." He laughed. "Damn, I crack myself
up."

I didn't ask Shelton how he knew such
things.

I found Elyssa and Nightliss sitting in
the same spot the angel had taken me earlier. I decided I needed to
figure out if the word "angel" really was the best word to describe
her and Daelissa. I had, after all, seen Nightliss's wings. They
weren't exactly how I imagined angel wings, consisting of pure
energy rather than fluffy white feathers. Even so, the word "angel"
sent images of corpulent cherubs with harps and love-inducing
arrows dancing through my mind as opposed to an adorable gal who
sometimes fancied turning into a cat.

A white fog steamed from Elyssa's eyes.
I stood, mesmerized at the sight. I glanced around for a sign of
her family, but didn't see any of them. After several minutes of
waiting, I took a seat. Nightliss continued the operation,
seemingly oblivious to my presence. Fear tried to rear its ugly
head. It questioned why I trusted Nightliss so much with Elyssa's
mind.

"Dude, I hope she's not turning her
into an MRF," a familiar voice said from my side.

I jerked from my thoughts and saw Beck.
In an instant, I was on my feet, ready to punch him in the face for
calling Thomas and his army of Templars.

"Whoa, man!" he said, backing off. "I'm
sorry, okay? I thought I was doing the right thing."

"Getting yourself a promotion, you
mean."

"Not just that." He sighed and looked
at Elyssa. "It's just—"

"Wait a minute. You did it so you could
get into her pants?"

"Nah, man. I grew up with her. And when
her dad caught us kissing and sent my family into
exile—"

"He exiled you?"

"Might as well have, sending us to
Australia three years ago. I guess absence really does make the
heart grow fonder. I love her."

"You don't love Elyssa. You just want
to have sex with her."

He laughed, sounding like a kid riding
high on a sugar rush. "Well, okay, fine. I wanted her. Always
have."

"Just for sex, or because you want to
be with her forever?"

He scratched his head. "It's not that
simple."

"Yeah. It is." I rolled my eyes. I'd
been saving an eye-roll for a good occasion and this was it. I
stepped closer to him. "Beck, let's get one thing clear. Elyssa and
I are together. You go have your fun with some other girl and
forget about her."

His eyes narrowed and his jaw went
tight. But he didn't argue. Just shrugged and said, "Whatever,
dude."

I turned. Stopped. "What's MRF mean,
anyway?"

He snorted. "Mentally Retarded Female."
Walked away.

"Mentally retarded female?" I said,
watching him go.

"What are you calling me?" Elyssa
said.

I almost jumped out of my skin. I spun
and looked into those gorgeous eyes. "Please tell me you
remember."

Her eyes widened. "I do! I remember it
all!"

Relief breathed into me like a calming
salve. "Thank god."

"Where's Beck?" she asked.

"Huh? What do you want with
him?"

"He's my boyfriend." Her eyebrow
arched. "Who are you and where's my father?"

"But—but—"

"Oh, I can't wait to kiss my
Becky-poo."

I'd kill Beck before that happened. My
fists tightened and I felt a mix of hopeless anger come over
me.

Elyssa burst into laughter. She laughed
so hard, tears streamed from her eyes. "You should see your face
right now. Oh god, I really got you good."

Embarrassment burned through my anger.
I face-palmed out of sheer habit. "I'm going to spank you for this
one," I said.

She leaned forward and kissed me hard
on the lips, her hands pressing hard against my back.
"Promise?"

I grinned. "Promise."

I hugged her and saw Nightliss still
sitting on the stairs, tears streaming from her eyes, her body
shaking with grief. Concern overwhelmed my happiness. What had gone
wrong?

I kissed Elyssa again. "Meet me in the
parking lot in a minute? I need to talk with Nightliss."

She nodded. "I need to find my
Becky-poo anyway."

I growled. "Only if you want him to die
horribly."

She stuck out her tongue as she walked
away.

I knelt next to Nightliss. "What's
wrong? Why are you crying?"

She managed a tiny smile. "I thought
while I was in there I would remove a burden from her
soul."

"A burden?"

"The death of her brother."

"Oh crap, please tell me you didn't
make her forget it. It's not like she won't find out in five
minutes all over again."

She shook her head. "No, she remembers.
But I took much of the grief onto myself. Her heart was broken, but
I have softened the loss."

"How—never mind." I was tempted to ask
for some grief management of my own, thanks to my father, but my
sadness couldn't begin to compare to the death of a
sibling.

Nightliss sniffled and wiped the
wetness from her face. "You have some memories of your own, clouded
by your mother."

I hadn't thought about it, but it was
true. "Can you tell how much stuff I still haven't
remembered?"

"No. The memory block your mother used
is far different from what Daelissa used." She shook with sobs as
grief overcame her again.

"You're in too much pain," I said.
"Don't worry about me right now. There will be time."

She smiled and stood, leaning her head
into my chest. I wasn't sure what else to do, so I hugged her and
let her tears soak my shirt. She pressed tight against me and for a
moment, I thought she'd never let me go. Then she seemed to snap
out of her distress and pulled away, an almost embarrassed
expression clear on her face. "I must go for now,
Justin."

"Before you go, I have one more
question."

"Yes?"

"When you turn into a cat, do you ever
lick your bottom?"

Her eyes widened and a smile broke
through the clouds of sorrow on her face. She laughed long and deep
until what I hoped were tears of mirth trailed down her cheeks.
When she caught her breath, she kissed me on the cheek and squeezed
my hand. "You are so funny. I love this about you." She sighed, and
a hint of melancholy drifted across her features. "I will see you
soon."

I expected her to use angel magic or
blinding speed. Instead, she walked away, shoulders slumped and
head low, vanishing into the darkness at the far edge of the lot. I
felt terrible for her and wished I could have done more than given
her a good laugh. Was she all alone with such incredible pain?
Could she recover faster? I didn't know, but I wished I could help.
I almost ran after her to tell her I would gladly join her side.
But I had to stop. To think. To be sure I knew what I was
doing.

Even though partnering with Nightliss
seemed like a slam dunk, I had a foreboding feeling my decision was
a trigger to unlocking all kinds of world-wide nastiness. And I
wasn't ready. Not by a long shot.

I found Elyssa talking to Stacey and
Ryland. Meghan had already patched him up, used the vaccine made
from my blood to counter the hellhound bites all over his body.
Stacey held him like she would never leave his side. I couldn't
blame her.

Elyssa looked from Stacey to me.
"Justin, my father spoke to me. He told me you two made
peace."

An uneasy peace, to be sure. I didn't
want to get my hopes up, but for now decided to be thankful for the
small victories. "Yeah. I don't think he's exactly happy about
it."

She threw herself into my arms and
kissed me like tomorrow would never come. I staggered back a few
steps before catching my balance and kissed her right back. "I love
you," she said. "I love you, I love you, I love you."

"Someone's getting kind of gooey," I
said with a grin. "Don't think I'm letting you get away with your
Becky-poo stunt, though."

"I couldn't resist." She threw back her
head and laughed. Nightliss really must have removed the burden of
loss from her.

"And you remember
everything?"

"I think so. I'll have to watch my
video again to make sure I'm not missing anything."

And then it was time to test the
waters. Gently. "I'm so sorry about your brother."