Guardian (47 page)

Rafael continued to try and jerk away from me, though I could see the effort was costing him dearly. His skin continued to steam and hiss with the contact of the steel. “Go back, get Colton and Grace, and move on. Don’t put yourself in danger for me! I’ll come and find you if we get out of this.”

I stepped solidly forward and grabbed his face, which was slick with sweat. He could barely keep his head up, he was so exhausted. I ran a trembling thumb over his lips, smoothed out his forehead. His whole face was contorted in pain, though he tried to hide it.

“Rafael,” I whispered, wanting to be sure that he heard me, focused on what I was saying. “Colton and Grace are perfectly fine where they are. They don’t
need
me. And I don’t
need
them. All I need, all I want, is you. I love you.”

Rafael looked up at me with tortured eyes, but the emotion I saw there made my heart beat fast, only this time, not from fear. “I love you, too,” he whispered.

Tears leaked down my cheeks, but I tried to keep myself calm, under control. I tried to be like Rafael, always centered with a calm appearance. “Let’s get you out of here then, shall we?” I asked, sliding off the platform and running for the door, where a ring of keys hung from a nail.

We couldn’t waste precious time freeing everyone who had been locked up, though I wished we could. Still, I refused to leave without Naomi, Rachel, and Matthias, all the members of Rafael’s immediate flock. On a similar platform right next to Rafael, I was relieved to see, was Matthias.

He had his head cocked toward us as I worked on Rafael’s locks, and though he was in just as bad of a condition as Rafael, he was grinning just a little as he spoke, “The tables have turned, haven’t they, Lyla? For once Rafael is the one needing rescued.”

“About time, isn’t it?” I replied, catching Rafael as the hand manacles ceased to support him, and I felt scared at how heavily he leaned on me. I had seen him have cuts that healed in the blink of an eye, so why weren’t the bloody circles around his wrists beginning to heal yet? The cuts along his body and back – where he had been whipped – were all bleeding sluggishly, and he was covered in large bruises and literal
holes
. He had been tortured, but to what end?

“I’m going to get Matthias,” I whispered, laying Rafael down on the platform after freeing his feet. They had even taken his shoes, so all he wore were his now-ragged black jeans.
Push it all away,
I thought fiercely to myself, scrambling over to Matthias and unlocking his chains.
You can panic later, when everyone is safe.

“Why aren’t you
healing
?” I asked Matthias urgently, lowering him to the ground as well.

He gasped as he hit the floor, and I saw that his back was one large, dark bruise. “Holy water,” he wheezed, lying prone on the floor. “They drip it into the cuts, feed it into the bloodstream, and it slows down the process, weakens us. A little can hurt, but only large doses will kill.”

“Rachel? Naomi?” I asked, trying not to think how this would hinder the process of escaping. I had counted on the Fallen being able to fly away. What would happen if we had to go on foot? We couldn’t all fit in my little car.

Matthias weakly pointed toward the long wall of metal cages. “They’re all over there. Except for Orpah. I don’t know what they did with her. She screamed for a long time, there were several people in here, and Damian. And then she stopped. The sounds… I think they were torturing her. Cutting her. Cutting her… open.”

I pictured the bloody, dissected corpse that covered one of the tables in the lab and couldn’t keep myself under control any longer. I leaned over the edge of the platform and vomited, sickened. Orpah, dead, victim of some sick kind of science experiment. I’d almost lost it seeing the disgusting body, the blood and bones and skin all sliced and pulled apart so neatly, but knowing who it was… it all brought a fresh wave of nausea over me, and I retched again.

“Lyla?” Rafael asked weakly. He was slowly beginning to sit up on his own platform. His skin had regained some color, I was relieved to note, and the bruise under his eye was almost completely gone.

“I’m okay.” I forced myself to get up and wipe off my chin. “I’m fine. Orpah is… no longer with us. I’m going to get the others, and then we’re going to leave.”

The sight of little Naomi in a cage nearly put me over the edge. She wasn’t even a Fallen, what did Damian want with her? What had possessed him to take her? I went to her cage first, lightly tapping on it. Daniel, Joseph, Sara, and Rachel were all blindfolded, but the three other Fallen in the cages only watched me with sad eyes, their gazes slightly unfocused, their wings rising and falling gently as they pushed vainly against the edges of their cages.

They all had some kind of IV hooked up to their hands, and when I saw the clear liquid that fed into it, I knew immediately it was filling them with holy water, the one thing that could apparently reduce a Fallen to human strength and keep them weak. I’d never realized what a weapon it could be until now.

“Naomi?” I whispered, and set to work on finding the right key for unlocking the cage doors.

“Lyla?” Naomi turned in her cage to face me, her little hands bound, her face dirty and tear streaked. “Lyla, I’m s-scared!”

“I know, baby, I know,” I said, keeping my voice calm and soothing, trying key after key. There were almost a dozen on the ring, and finally I found the one that fit into the lock. I turned it and reached in, snatching Naomi out and clutching her to my chest. “But it’s okay now, I’m here, and we’re going to leave this place. We’re all leaving, and you’ll never be scared again. Come on, get on my back, we need to get your mommy.”

Naomi climbed onto my back, so light I barely noticed her there. I stood up and reached to the second-level cage where Rachel was weeping softly. I unlocked it and ripped the IV out of her wrist, untying her hands and then setting Naomi down next to the cage.

“We have to get going,” I whispered to Rachel. “As soon as you can move. Matthias is over there.” I pointed, and moved on to the next cage, where Daniel was lying prone and so still I wondered if he was still alive.
He is, he is, he is,
I chanted in my head, trying not to let the fear take over my whole body, paralyze me so I couldn’t help them all get away.

There was a small
thump
as Rachel wormed her way out of the cage and fell limply to the floor. I wanted desperately to help her, felt my heart ache as she used the wall of cages to agonizingly pull herself to her feet, but forced myself to move on, freeing both Sara and Joseph, ripping the IV’s out of their hands as well. After going back to help Daniel out of his cage, since he seemed to be the weakest, I turned quickly, only to hold back a scream as someone grabbed my arm. But it was only Rafael, breathing heavily, but finally standing on his own.

My own chest was rising and falling rapidly as well, but from fear and nerves, not exhaustion. “
Please
,” I whispered fiercely, “Do not do anything like that again. No sudden movements, no touching. I’m on pins and needles already, Rafael.”

“Could have been avoided if you had just stayed home,” he grumbled, and then stumbled into me as he took a step. I caught him, and he allowed himself to lean on me.

I gave him a glare, but was secretly relieved. Arguing with me was a good sign he was beginning to recover. I saw the beginnings of scabs creeping over the outer edges of his wounds, the bruises turning yellow as they healed. I wanted to collapse in relief, but couldn’t. It wasn’t over yet, not by a long shot.

“The door I used to get down here closed behind me. I don’t think it can be opened from the inside,” I whispered to him. “There must be a back door or something.”

“There is,” he replied, watching where Daniel, Sara, and Joseph sat propped up against the cages, color slowly returning to their bloodless faces. Matthias had made his way over to Rachel and Naomi and was holding his daughter as well as Rachel’s hand. “They’ve used it several times, especially Damian.”

I looked up at him, unsure. “Damian-” I began, but he cut me off.

“Later,” Rafael bit out. “Did you drive here? Do you have a car? We aren’t going to be able to fly, Lyla. We’ll have to escape on foot.”

My heart sank. Our escape would be that much more difficult, and seemed that much less likely to succeed. “I drove my car, it’s in the driveway. There’s a Christmas party going on upstairs, plenty of distraction. I thought I saw the Hummer there too, but I wasn’t sure if it was really yours or not.”

“It is,” Rafael confirmed, and with a small push against me, he was standing on his own again. “Damian has been using it. I don’t know where they hid the other cars, but two will be more than enough.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a single key. “Give your keys to Rachel and Matthias. We’ll help the other three out to the cars. The door is over there.” He pointed to the opposite side of the lab, and I immediately passed off my keys and walked over to Daniel.

“Come on.” I took his arm and pulled him to his feet. It took every ounce of my strength, but once he was on his own two feet, Daniel was able to pick up more of his own weight. His head lolled, but his eyes were finally open, and he gave a sad attempt at a smile.

“I agree with Matthias,” he croaked in a hoarse whisper. It was a pale imitation of the strong voices the Fallen had always had before. “You’re just pleased the roles have been reversed. You’ll be able to hold this over Rafael for centuries.”

“I’m glad your hearing and sense of humor haven’t been damaged,” I said lightly, but secretly I was pleased. If they could still joke around, it couldn’t be all that bad, could it?

Rafael took both Sara and Joseph under his support, and though they were slow, they still made progress across the room. Matthias had both Rachel and Naomi to contend with, and though the little girl let out a whimper every now and then, she was handling it well and I was ready to burst with pride for her.

It was an arduous trip, and never had any room seemed so big. But we made it past all the lab tables and gleaming tools, past the tubes containing the Fallen and the operating tables and the weird machines. Finally we were at the door, all panting for breath. I was burning up in my hoodie and long pants, but I knew once we were outside I would be grateful for them.

“Just a sec!” I laid Daniel down on the floor and ran back to the cages, where I had dropped the set of keys on the floor. I slid across the floor in my haste to stop, nearly bypassing them but managing to snatch them up as I flew past. I found the one that matched the lock instantly, a big brass-looking one that wasn’t nearly as modern as any of the other keys. Aided by the adrenaline only fear could supply, I sprinted back to the door, shoving the key into the lock.

“Do you hear that?” Sara asked suddenly, cocking her head.

We were all motionless, straining our ears, though I soon realized it was probably pointless for me to attempt to listen. I would never be able to catch something the Fallen had to strain to pick out. But the grating of stone on stone was easily identifiable a moment later, and I realized with horror that it was the secret door in the fireplace of the office.

“Someone’s coming, we need to go,” I said, opening the door. “Now. Soundlessly. Come on.”

I grabbed Daniel once more and followed Rafael and his charges through the door, Matthias and Rachel bringing up the rear. Once everyone began the agonizing ascent up the stairs, I paused to pull the door closed and lock it. Hopefully anyone following us wouldn’t have their own set of keys. The air in the tunnel was distinctly colder, something I was grateful for as I pulled Daniel up step after arduous step. I was only aware the others had stopped when we ran into Matthias.

“Keys,” Rafael hissed.

Down to the floor Daniel went again as I pushed past the others to the door. The same key unlocked it, and with a
whoosh
the wind caught the door and ripped it from my hand, slamming it into the side of the brick house. The world outside had turned completely white, snow falling in clumps nearly as big as my fists, creating a completely soundless and blinding world. Night was full upon us, and the world seemed to contain only two colors: the black of the sky and the white of the rest of the world.

Without hesitation I ran out and looked quickly around, trying to determine which side of the house we were on. To my right, just barely visible through the blizzard, was a lighted lamppost with a Christmas wreath hanging from it, laden with snow, shining like a beacon in the nighttime sky – one of the same posts that lined the driveway. I darted back inside the door.

“To the right,” I said, heaving Daniel up one last time. “Driveway is to the right.”

Urgency lent us speed, but the snow seemed to steal it back. I was amazed at how much had fallen in the hour or so I had been inside the house. It was well over my knees now, and I had to clench my teeth against the snow that fell down inside my boots and sent darts of chilling cold up my legs. The sky just kept spewing more snow, thicker and in bigger clumps, until the only thing guiding us to the driveway was that small circle of light from the lamp. Nothing else was visible.

I didn’t even realize we had arrived until Daniel and I tripped over a hedge that was completely covered in snow, falling headlong into another large drift. I popped up immediately and strained my eyes. There! The cars were practically right in front of us. We were at the driveway.