Feathermore (23 page)

“
Be careful, Jade,” Avan said from behind me.

His voice was much closer than I expected. I needed to get Amy away from him. I couldn’t let her get physically close enough to be able to hurt him or do God knew what to him.

I took a few steps forward, hoping that she would back up, but she didn’t cede an inch of ground. She sprang and was almost on top of me. I shoved her backward. She stumbled but quickly regained her balance and raised her arm, palm out toward me. She flung what I can best describe as an energy ball, hitting me in the chest and throwing me against the wall behind me. A mortal would surely have died from the impact. I really needed to get Avan out of here.

He tried to help me get up, but I put my hand up to stop him. I could do this on my own. I was here to save
him,
not the other way around. I got up and came at her once again. This time, I wouldn’t be the one flying around. The thought stopped me in mid stride. It lingered in my head as I realized that if I were to use my strength or any other power on her, I could
really
hurt her. After all, Amy’s body was still mortal—if I really unloaded on her, I would most likely kill her.

I tried to scare her off, first by creating balls of fire on my hands. And then, when that failed miserably, I let her have it with my sonic scream—at least, that’s how I had come to think of it.

“
Cover your ears, Avan,” I said. “You don’t want to hear this.”

The ravens came first. They flew in a tight pattern above me as I held my hands above my head, making them wait for my command. I had never actually given them an order, but I figured that since they always did what I had been thinking, they may actually listen if I spoke to them under my breath. “Do not harm her,” I murmured. “Keep her entertained while we make our escape. I’ll be back for her.” I lowered my hands, and they went for her, wings flared, driving her to the ground as she batted in vain at them.

I walked up to Avan and grabbed his hand and, without giving him any warning or mental preparation, transported us right into my living room. Claire was sitting on the couch. She gave a little jump when we appeared. Nate rushed in from the kitchen. “What happened?”

“
Amy happened,” I said. “She’s been possessed or something. I’ll bet you anything Lilith is behind it. The birds are keeping her busy, but I have to go back. Should I bring her back here? I can’t just leave her on the streets like that.” I ducked into the garage and came back with a coil of rope around my shoulder.

“
What do you care?” Claire said. “Let her be miserable for a while. See if she’ll bother you
then
.”

She had never liked Amy, not as a human and not as an enemy. Claire thought the evil in her was too acute and she was a lost case, but I couldn’t just turn my back on her. This time, at least, the evil wasn’t her doing.

“
She can do a lot of damage if we don’t contain her, Claire. That isn’t Amy right now. We don’t know what she’ll do, and I can’t use my powers on her.” I lowered my voice, not wanting Avan to hear. “I would just kill her if I did.”

Claire’s exasperated sigh let me know she agreed with me.

I looked at Avan. He was sitting on the couch with his head in his hands. “Avan?”

He didn’t look up, but just shook his head.

“
I’m sorry,” I said. “I know it’s a lot for you to take in. Trust me—it was hard for me, too.” I sat on the coffee table in front of him. “I’m sorry you had to find out about it this way. I meant to tell you; I really did, but . . .” I let my head fall. “I was afraid you wouldn’t accept me.”

I wouldn’t blame him. All I kept doing was bringing more trouble down on his head. I put my hands around his face. “You shouldn’t be in the middle of all of this.” I let my hand fall to my side, and he took it. I didn’t dare look him again, “I have to go now, but stay with them, and you’ll be safe.”

In that very moment, I understood just how selfish I had been all along. He deserved better than me. He deserved a shot at a normal life. I wanted to slide my arms around his neck and pull him to me and kiss his lips, to feel the energy coursing between us and get lost in our touch. Instead, I was back in the alley.

The birds had ceased the attack but stayed close by, perched on the, the power lines and the fance across the alley, keeping a clear view of the two of us. I wasn’t too sure what to do with Amy. After all, she did have powers, and all I had to bind her with was this stupid rope I had brought.

“
So now that he’s gone, anything else you want?” I asked hesitantly. I really didn’t care what she was after. Ultimately, although I really didn’t understand why Lilith was so dead set on me in the first place, I knew that her intentions came down to one thing:

Me.

Dead.

Amy crumpled to the ground, hitting her head against the hard concrete pavement with an audible
thunk
. Instinctively, I urged her forward and pulled her limp body into my arms and checked her throat for a pulse. She was breathing. A thin line of blood flowed down her cheek. I traced it back to its source: a pretty big a cut on her scalp. I was no doctor, but it looked bad. She needed help, and she needed it fast.

I cradled her in my arms and stood up. I was about to transport us both to my house when a dark silhouette appeared where the alley met the street. It made its way toward us. I froze, knowing I had been caught. I couldn’t project myself. The voice in my head went on a wild rampage, telling me to run, that I wasn’t safe. And then it said that familiar name:
Ki-sikil-lil-la-ke
. I wobbled backward, almost tripping over my feet. Amy gave a soft moan.

“
Your skills are better than I had expected.” Lilith’s voice floated on the breeze to my ears. “Nothing I do seems to hand me what I desire.”

“
And that would be what, exactly?” I looked around for a way out, silently alarming the flock of birds and making them shuffle restlessly back and forth on their perches.

Her laugh was so beautiful, it was a wonder to me how such an evil person could make me feel so . . . calm.

No!
I told myself. I wouldn’t let her sway me.

The moment she saw that she was not controlling me, she spoke. “You.”

“
Then why did
she
want Avan?” I nodded down at Amy, not liking it one bit that my all-too-mortal boyfriend was now in dire danger.

“
If she had been able to capture the boy, then you would have come running to save him, and I’ll bet my immortality you would rather die than see the boy get hurt.” She moved forward. I stayed put, looking at her in silence. “And if she wasn’t able to capture the boy, well, you would have come to rescue him anyway, just as you did. You know, you are very predictable, Jade.”

I didn’t like that she could read me so easily. In fact, it infuriated me. I held on tight to Amy and pushed off the ground, but Lilith caught my ankle and pulled me down, making me lose my grip on Amy. She landed mysteriously in Lilith’s arms, and I fell with such force, the concrete beneath me cracked.

I felt the anger build inside me. “I’m here, Lilith, so what are you going to do now?” I said, goading her. “You want me? Come get me!”

I waited, ready to materialize behind her or even across the street, but again she just laughed at me.

“
I’m glad I amuse you,” I said. I was starting to hate the way no one seemed to acknowledge me or what I could do. They either laughed at me or dismissed me.

“
I will, child—when the time is right.” And with Amy in her arms, she vanished.

I stood still for a few minutes, trying to compose myself. After all, I really had thought I was going to battle Lilith right there and then. When I felt as though I could move without my legs giving out on me I walked out of the alley and searched for Avan’s car, which I quickly spotted in the parking lot across the street. Once I reached it, I tried the handle, but it was locked, I willed it open and willed the engine to start. The car smelled like him and made me long to feel his arms, his lips. I gently ran my fingertips over the rim of the leather stirring wheel, feeling the faint energy that lingered there. Then I drove away, back to him.

Another problem that needed to be resolved: Amy. I saw two possible outcomes for her: either she was as good as dead, or she would wake up and tell everyone what she had seen, exposing me for what I was. Neither scenario worked out well.

23 HISTORY LESSON

By the time I made it back to my house everyone was in a tizzy. No surprise there. Claire and Nate, in their own little bubble, were talking about the consequences of Amy’s involvement, and the possibility that she had been possessed by Lilith—which, unfortunately, I had to confirm was true. They went on and on about strategies we could follow to get Amy back safely, but I was only half listening. I was more interested in Avan, who, at the moment, was gazing out the window.

“
I am sorry about all this,” I said, going over to him. Even now, with him no doubt furious at me for making his whole world crumble, I could still feel our bond. I gazed into his distant eyes, but they showed no anger.

“
I’m pretty sure you hate me, and I can’t say I blame you,” I said to him. “But I will make it right.” I turned to him and put my hand on his biceps. “I will
not
let anything happen to you, do you understand?”

He didn’t respond or even so much as look my way. He just stared off again. I had lost him.

I let my hand drop to my side. My breaths grew shorter and sharper. I couldn’t let him see me cry. He had seen my world and what truly came with it, and was walking away from it and from me. I knew it. I turned and went over to Claire, who sat on the couch, her left leg going up and down like a sewing machine.

“
Why are you so nervous?” I said. “You’ve been around for six hundred years. I’m sure you’ve seen all this before.” I sat next to her, letting the whole weight of my body slump on the couch.

“
You don’t understand, Jade,” she said. “We have gotten too involved with mortals. This could turn out badly for us.” Her eyes screamed in desperation. She shook her head as she added, “We can’t lose any more human lives, or we’ll be forever exiled from heaven.” I saw Avan slowly turn around to face us. Hopefully, he would realize that it wasn’t just him in danger, but all of us.

“
Okay, we’ll find Amy,” I said. “Lilith is after me, so we’ll find a way to lure her to me. What do we do once we have Amy, though? How do we get her back to normal? Will she remember any of it?”

“
There is a special angel who would need to be called to erase her memories,” replied Claire. “It’s quite simple. She just needs to drink a purple liquid from a vial, and it’s done.” She must have caught my horrified look, because she quickly added, “She will wake up in her bed with no recollection of the past few days.”

I nodded and hoped we would find her before anything worse could happen. Avan was still at the window. “What about Avan?” I said. “We need someone to watch over him.” I was trying to work out all the ways this could go down, and was surprised when he spoke first.

“
What about my guardian angel? Surely those exist, too, right?” He was now sulking on the other side of the coffee table, staring at Claire. His eyes were changing. They didn’t have their usual wild sparkle.

Claire looked from him to me and back. “Well, when Jade fell she was cast as your guardian angel while on earth, but I will talk to them, since Jade is in extreme danger as well.”

I shook my head and closed my eyes. “I didn’t even know I was his guardian. Why didn’t you tell me? I suck at this angelic life.” My face was buried in my hands now.

“
There are many things you still don’t know Jade,” Nate said. “It takes a really long time to get it all down, and sometimes, unfortunately, we have to learn from experience.”

I swiped my hand over my cheeks and looked over at Avan. His eyes were killing me inside. The anger he shot my way cut me in two. I couldn’t find any more words to express how wretched I felt about everything, and he was no longer listening to me anyway.

“
Well, you may want to find someone else. She doesn’t seem quite up to the job.”

Ouch
.

Claire looked over at him and cocked her head to the side, analyzing him. From the look in her eyes, she saw something in him I couldn’t yet read.

I winced at the cut and felt the need to defend myself, but after all, I guess he was right: I was a pretty crappy angel. All I had done so far was create more trouble than I solved.

* * *

That night, I waited until everyone had gone to sleep. When I was sure no one was lying awake, I disappeared through the back door and onto the patio, seeing visions of my parents in happier days. I had done enough damage, and it was time to end it. I walked through the dark woods, the eerie fog churning about my ankles and hiding my feet.

It was time to face Lilith and finish this.

I wanted to get her as far away from the house as I could, so I had to rely on my mortal skills for now—my own two feet. Once I reached the cliff I let my wings come out. I was about to take the plunge when an unexpected rustling in the air behind me caught my attention. I turned around slowly. Usually, the impression of someone behind me was something I felt in my head. Not this time.