Innocence and Evil (The Arcadia Falls Chronicles #6) (2 page)

BOOK: Innocence and Evil (The Arcadia Falls Chronicles #6)
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“I don’t know.” Because I’d probably never
go out in public again since I was too afraid to hurt people. So
why should I practice.

Just then, Christina appeared in the kitchen
entry. She had already dressed in a pair of tight black jeans and a
dark blue top that hung loose off one shoulder. As always, she wore
boots, which I knew damn well had at least two knives within.

Ah, dammit. I’m pretty sure I fell in love
with that girl the moment I met her.

Her long dark hair had been pulled back into
a ponytail and she had even put her makeup on. Chloe wrinkled her
nose. “Are you going somewhere?”

Christina shook her head and opened the
fridge. “No, why?” She reached in and grabbed the orange juice.

“Because you’re dressed like you’re ready to
go out and it’s like five in the morning,” Chloe responded.

Straightening, Christina opened the
container of juice and set it on the counter. “Just because I don’t
lounge around in sweats all day doesn’t mean I’m going somewhere. I
just like to be dressed.”

“Well, I like to be comfortable.”

Those girls were never going to stop. This
was what our life with them was like. Every. Single. Day.

Drew flicked his eyes back and forth between
the two girls. I briefly wondered how often he felt awkward when he
was with both of them. Christina had been his girlfriend before
Chloe. They had grown up together, so it wasn’t strange that he had
dated her. But, the fact remained, Christina had been jealous of
his relationship with Chloe for a long time.

Drew didn’t really seem to care how the
girls dealt with stuff. Even when I first met them, it was always
Chloe for him.

“Chloe and Drew are going over to work at
the training centers, are you going with?” I asked.

She filled a large glass with juice and took
a long drink, meeting my eyes as she drank. Once she swallowed, she
set the glass back down on the counter. “Not unless you’re
going.”

I shook my head. “No, I’m staying here.”

“You can’t hide forever, Zander.”

My hands found their way into my hair. I
didn’t like talking about this stuff in front of everyone else. “I
know that. I just don’t want to go.”

“You want to take a trip to Arcadia Falls.
We can go see Luke and see if they need us to do anything over
there.”

Again, I shook my head. “No. Someone needs
to stay here.”

“Okay, fine. I’m going to stay here with you
though.” She shook her head, resigned to the fact that I wasn’t
going off the property.

“I don’t need a babysitter, Dammit. I’ll be
fine here by myself.” I slapped the counter with my free hand.

After polishing off her juice, Christina
calmly turned toward me and said, “I know that. I actually like
spending time with you, so I am staying because I want to be around
you, not because you need a babysitter. Now stop being so
defensive.”

Chloe and Drew were smart enough not to say
anything. I was already a guy who didn’t like to get all girly with
my feelings, but on top of all that I was cranky from the lack of
sleep.

“I’m going to go shower.” I lifted my coffee
off the counter so quickly is sloshed over the side of the mug.
Instead of cleaning it up, I just marched out of the kitchen,
leaving them to deal with it. The conversation had gotten
uncomfortable and I didn’t want to be around it. I swung by my room
first to grab some clothes and then headed for the bathroom.

This was getting ridiculous. I didn’t want
Christina around me if she just wanted to make sure I didn’t get
into trouble. If she stays with me it should be because she wants
to, not because she thinks she has to watch me or some crap.

I stripped down and cranked the hot water
knob over to the on position. Then, I stepped into the tub and let
out a sigh of relief when the hot water washed over my tense
muscles. Steam filled the bathroom as I stood there, letting the
water soothe me. I stayed until the hot water ran out, even though
I knew the others were going to want a shower as well.

When the water ran cold, I turned it off and
moved the curtain aside. I snagged the towel off the hook and used
it to dry off my entire body, then wrapped it around my waist. With
a hand towel, I wiped the steam away from the mirror so that I
could see my reflection.

I looked the same.

But, I was a completely different person
now. In a way, I wanted my old self back. The guy who didn’t give a
crap about anyone else. Well … the guy who pretended not to give a
crap about anyone else.

I was a warrior in my own right. Intended to
rid the world of evil.

I had no idea how to live up to what was
expected of me. I needed the Warrior Angel to tell me what to do …
to tell me how to control my new and growing powers. But, I didn’t
have a clue how to find him.

My fingers curled into a fist and I lifted
it up in front of me. Then, I turned my hand and slowly uncurled my
fingers. There, sizzling and snapping atop my palm, was a glowing
white ball of energy. My Warrior Angel magic.

I stared at the incredible thing my body
could create, wondering what it was good for. Is it a weapon? If
so, then for who? Was I supposed to use this on people? Normal
citizens who have made mistakes in life. Or was this a power only
meant for me to use on vampires and other demon creatures.

I needed answers and I wasn’t getting any
while I was hiding out in this house.

The energy absorbed back down into my palm
as my fingers curled back into a fist. “I need you,” I whispered.
“Dammit, I need help.”

My eyes lifted and I stared at myself in the
mirror, which was beginning to fog back over where I had already
wiped it. I wanted to punch my reflection. I wanted to crack it to
pieces and watch it fall.

What was happening to me?

And then, with sudden clarity, I knew what I
had to do.

I dressed quickly and hurried out of the
bathroom. Downstairs, I peeked my head into the control room and
found Oscar manning the panel. “Open the gate for me in a few
minutes, okay.”

Oscar jumped a little when I burst into the
room, but recovered quickly and nodded. “Gotcha.”

I closed the door behind me and headed for
the front entrance. I didn’t even tell Christina where I was going,
so I sure as hell wasn’t going to tell anyone else. But, I should
have realized that I wouldn’t be able to get out of the house
without her knowing about it.

“Hey,” Christina called from behind me.
“Where do you think you’re going?”

I halted to a stop just before I reached the
front door. Slowly, I turned to face her. “I have to do
something.”

“Then I’ll come with you,” she told me.

I shook my head. “No, this is something I
feel like I need to do by myself.”

Her eyes softened. “Zander, I want to come
with you.”

“I don’t need you with me.”

She defiantly moved passed me and opened the
front door. “I know that you don’t need me with you. I’m not
stupid. But, I would hope that you would
want
me with you.
There is a difference.”

That little manipulator. She knew that I
wouldn’t tell her that I didn’t want her with me. My hardened heart
turned soft when it came to her. “Fine.” I stomped past her. “Get
in the truck.”

I didn’t stop to see if she would still
follow me. I knew she would.

Our vehicles were all parked in a row to the
side of the house. It had been a while since I’d driven my truck
anywhere. So it was covered in a thin layer of dust and pollen. I
flung open the driver door and hopped up behind the wheel while
Christina slid into the passenger seat.

“You don’t have to act like a baby,” she
told me, leaning back against the leather.

I rolled my eyes and turned the key over.
“I’m not. I just don’t want you to see what I’m going to do.” I
paused, thinking I’d better explain so she didn’t think I was going
to kill myself or something. “I’m going to try to call the Warrior
Angel.”

Her eyes widened a little bit, but she
didn’t really look too surprised. “Well, let’s go then.”

I pulled out of the drive and passed through
the gate, which opened before I got to it and closed behind me.
Oscar could see us on the security cameras so he knew when to open
and close it.

Huge clouds of dust and gravel sprayed out
behind us as we sped over the dirt back roads. After a little
while, I turned onto a tiny road that, in reality, could hardly be
called a road. Branches from the overgrowth scratched at my truck
and the ruts dipped really low in some spots.

It wasn’t long before the road began to
slope upward. We continued like that, going up further and further
until Christina glanced over at me and sarcastically asked. “Are we
there yet?”

“Nope.” I shook my head. “We’re going all
the way to the top.

Narrowing her eyes, she nodded. “Yeah, that
makes sense. You’re trying to get as close as you can so he can
hear you.”

“It’s dumb. I know.”

“No, it’s not. It’s smart,” she argued.

I shrugged. “Maybe, but it probably won’t
work anyway.”

“Maybe it will and maybe it won’t. It’s
worth a shot either way.”

She had a point. I was going to try it, one
way or another.

Eventually the narrow, winding dirt road
opened way and crested into a wide area at the top of the mountain.
The trees were spread further apart than they were coming up,
leaving a wide area at the summit. I parked, making sure the
emergency brake was on, and took a moment to look around.

“This is amazing,” Christina breathed.

“It is,” I agreed.

Below us, we could see for miles and miles.
The green expanse of trees drifted on like a blanket covering the
earth. Here and there a few tiny rooftops could be seen, as well as
the two nearby lakes.

Christina opened the passenger door and
stepped out. “I’m glad I came with you, if for no other reason than
this,” she said.

I rounded the truck and stepped up beside
her. Reaching out, I took her hand and gave it a squeeze. “Me too.”
It felt good to get out, to get away from everything in real life.
Way up here, we were on top of the world, far from all our
troubles.

While there was no wind down below, there
was a heavy breeze up on the mountain. It caught Christina’s hair
and lifted the dark locks, blowing them every which way. I released
her hand and stepped closer to the edge of the summit.

“Warrior Angel!” I called out. Even though I
was yelling, my voice seemed lost in the wind. “I need you!”

Christina stayed back and let me do my
thing. I waited a few minutes and when nothing happened I tried
again. “You can’t leave me here like this. I’ve tried to live up to
what you have wanted. I have tried, dammit! But, I don’t know how.
Please help me.”

Again, I waited, and again there was
nothing.

“Some angel you are. You’re just like my
father. To create me and then leave me. To give me these powers and
then disappear, making me an outcast in my own world. Your just
like him and he was a vampire … you are supposed to be the good
guy!”

I stepped back from the edge and bent over
so that I was staring at the ground. I was breathless from yelling.
I hadn’t realized that my abandonment issues ran so deep. Screw
that … screw them both.

Inhaling deeply. I straightened and turned
to Christina. “Let’s go. I should have known better than to think
this would work.”

She reached out for my hand and the wind
picked up even more. The gust was so strong it practically blew me
off the side of the mountain. The sky darkened as a cloud passed
over the sun.

I grasped Christina’s outstretched hand and
we both tilted our faces to the sky.

“Holy crap,” Christina whispered.

“Yeah,” I agreed.

A massive dark gray cloud was making its way
across the sky, blocking out the clear blue canvas of the day.
“It’s going to storm.” I tugged on her hand. “We better go.” The
last thing I wanted to do was be stuck on top of a mountain in the
middle of a downpour.”

She followed me to the truck and we hurried
to open our doors. But then, a deafening crack of thunder sounded
and we both covered our ears as we looked upward again. The black
storm parted directly above us and a shaft of blinding light burst
through the opening.

“It’s him!” Christina yelled over the wind.
“It worked!”

I didn’t believe her at first, but then, I
saw the sandaled feet of the Warrior Angel appear. The blade of his
sword was the only other thing that I could see right then. The
steel shimmered, reflecting in light that wasn’t there.

Before we knew it, he was on the ground. His
black and white feathered wings lifted and then spread wide,
covering an expanse of probably eight feet or more. He had dark
hair and piercing dark eyes that seemed to bore right into my very
soul.

I had expected to see him in robes, like you
would imagine an angel would wear, especially since he
did
have sandals on. But, he wore clothes that were on the more modern
side, blue jeans, but no shirt. He probably couldn’t wear a shirt
because of his wings.

“My child,” he boomed as he landed atop the
earth. “Why have you called for me?”

I couldn’t speak at first. I hadn’t really
thought this would happen.

“You have called for me and I have come at
your request. Speak now or I shall take my leave.”

I cleared my throat and tilted my face up to
meet his dark glare. “I have called you because of the gift you
have given me … the powers and the urge to kill. I don’t know if
what I am doing is the right thing.”

The Warrior Angel’s eyes narrowed. “You do
not appreciate the gift I have given you? I gave you life and a
purpose. You have the heart of a warrior, a good soul, and a soul
like yours should not go to waste.”

BOOK: Innocence and Evil (The Arcadia Falls Chronicles #6)
8.13Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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