Out of Reach (19 page)

“I could say the same about you! This is my
lab, asshole!” I quickly dub the new guys Thing One and Thing Two
in an effort to keep the craziness straight in my head. While Thing
One stares at me speechless, Thing Two, an enormous guy standing in
the back, steps forward and addresses Kade.

“I see you’ve figured out that the sphere
isn’t in Taylor’s office.”

“Yeah, I got the memo,” Kade replies, wiping
some dried blood off his face with the corner of his shirt. Having
regained a measure of composure, Thing One flashes me an
I’m-not-finished-with-you look as he passes by. Not one to be
excluded, I follow the Things over to workstation 2 where Kade is
busy washing the remnants of the fight off his face and arms.

Drying his hands on a paper towel he asks,
“What’s our status?”

“We turned over Taylor’s office—it’s clean,”
Thing Two reports. “When we discovered the sphere was missing, we
hightailed it down here.” Kade runs a hand through his dark hair,
something he does frequently when stressed. The old familiar habit
in the midst of all this chaos makes me smile.

“The sphere is here,” Kade says, setting the
orb down on the counter. “But we’re out of time. Z, you think you
can tag a few offices quickly while Basal and I trash Lab 4A?”
Thing Two, otherwise identified as Z, nods.

“Whoa, Kade, where’d you find it?” Thing One
asks.

“Actually it found me, brother.”

More than a little confused and tired of
being ignored, I butt in. “There will be no more trashing of
anything tonight, boys.”

My bravado vanishes as the trio of gorgeous
turns. Under the full weight of their dark and luminous gazes, my
tongue ties in knots and I stand, but barely, more than a little
weak in the knees.

“What is she doing here anyway?” Thing One
demands to know.

“I don’t know, but she—” Kade points at me
“—trapped the Sylph tonight, not me.”

Jaw dropping, Thing One looks from me to
Kade and back again. Stalking over to me he demands, “Is this true?
Did you force the Sylph inside?” His unbelieving stare burns
through me like hot coals.

“I don’t know!” I shout at
him. “Kade stuck that thing in my hands and told me to walk toward
the guy who’d gone
poof
into purple smoke. So I did it, and when I opened
my eyes, the smoke guy was gone.”

Glaring back at Thing One I cross my arms
over my chest, daring him to challenge my story. A deep rumble of
laughter breaks through the rapidly developing tension and I snap
my head toward it. Z is holding his sides and quickly becoming
short of breath.

“You confronted one of the
ancients
with your eyes closed?!
You’re either the bravest or the stupidest woman
I’ve ever met!” Looking from one man to the next I suddenly know
what the animals at the zoo must feel like. Each one of them is
staring at me, awe and wonder etched upon their faces. Unable to
understand everyone’s sudden change in demeanor, I arch a brow and
look to Kade.

“What?” I ask. Striding over he grabs my
hand.

“There isn’t time to explain now, but I need
you to trust me. Gwen, you truly are extraordinary,” he says,
pulling me along behind him towards the exit.

After motioning for everyone to be quiet,
Kade drags me along the dark hallway to Lab 4A, at which point I’m
left on the landing while he and Thing One, who he introduces as
Basal, begin destroying the place. Still not understanding the
necessity of all this carnage, I work up the nerve to speak out of
desperation. Watching them ruin another lab makes me want to
cry.

“Why do you look funny?” I ask Kade, having
noticed now that I’ve calmed down that something is off about his
appearance. He pauses, looking at me with furrowed brows. Suddenly
worried I’ve offended him I tack on, “I mean you look great, just
different.”

“This is what I’ve always looked like,” he
tells me, while pushing a freezer onto its side. “Tonight’s just
the first time you’ve seen through my glamour.”

“Glamour?”

Smiling up at me as he tosses beakers over
his shoulder and continues, “Yes, glamour. It’s like a veil we wear
so we don’t stick out.”

“Huh? Either I’m stupid or you’re being
needlessly cryptic,” I say flippantly.

Kade stops mid-task. “Gwen, look at me,
really look at me. Do I seem human to you?”

Closing my mouth I stand
there and really look at him. Kade and Basal move around the lab
with unnatural speed and grace. Both are larger and more muscular
than the average man, with facial features that would make a model
green with envy. Seriously, either could have stepped out of a
D&G advertisement. Upon closer inspection I note their eyes
aren’t just luminous, they actually glow like they’re lit from
within, Kade’s warm amber eyes have a smoldering brilliance like
molten bronze.
What are these guys?
I wonder.

“Glamour,” I whisper the
word out loud.
Of course, like Clark
Kent!
I suddenly think, making the
exciting comparison. Everyone knows the handsome Christopher Reed
is the man behind the sport coat and glasses as well as his alter
ego Superman, but it isn’t until the world is in danger and he
steps out of the phone booth dressed in blue that you stop and
say
Woo hoo!
and
then melt in your seat.

Kade was like Superman and
I was seeing him without his glasses for the first time. It was
more than a little overwhelming.
You’re
not from Krypton are you?
I want to holler
at the guys, who most certainly aren’t human, but I refrain. If
I’ve learned anything from reading science fiction it’s that your
first guess is usually wrong. I’ll get my answers even if I have to
wait all night. For now I’ll play content and trust Kade knows what
he’s doing.

“You’re taking all this better than
expected,” Z says, gripping the handrail to my left. I flinch,
startled by his silent approach.

“It’s a little hard to have
an epic meltdown when I still don’t know what
this
is,” I shoot back at him,
waving an arm around for dramatic effect. Rubbing my eyes, I
reconsider my reaction. “I’m sorry, that was rude.”

“It’s alright, I’ll take an angry woman over
an epic meltdown any day.” He smirks. “My name’s Zafir, by the
way.”

“I’m Gwen, but everybody seems to know that,
or me I mean.”

Zafir chuckles and agrees with me by
nodding.

“So, Zafir, can you guys turn your glamour
back on now please?”

Wrinkling his brow he looks at me, confused.
“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Well. All the colors are starting to give
me a headache.”

“Colors?” he asks like a moron. Come on,
this guy knows who he is, right? Clamping down on my temper I try
to explain what I’m seeing as best as I can. The closest example I
can think of is the description of an aura. Each of the men is
surrounded by a very thin, very bright beam of color; except the
color seems to change on a whim. When the guys stand still you can
barely see it, but when they move quickly it’s like they’re encased
in a brilliant current of ever-changing color. Z loses a bark of
laughter that resonates around the room.

“Gwen, I’m afraid my glamour is very much
still in place.”

“How can that be?” I exclaim, exasperated
again. “You look like Rainbow Brite.”

“You’ve finally become in touch with your
abilities, so now you can see through our glamour. There’s no going
back, I’m afraid,” he tells me, his gravelly voice laced with
sympathy. Having no foundation of knowledge to build on, I find Z’s
comment hard to digest. What does he mean my abilities? Isn’t he
the supernatural something-or-other here?

“Did you really just compare me to Rainbow
fucking Brite?” he asks, feigning indignation. A hysterical laugh
escapes my lips.

“Z!” Kade calls from below. “You
finished?”

“Yes sir.”

“Alright, let’s get out of here before we
have any more surprises.”

“Wait a second. Where are we going now?” I
cut in.

“My place,” Kade replies.

“Just so we’re straight, I’m coming too,” I
tell them all.

“Oh there’s no question,” Kade agrees, his
amber eyes boring into mine. “I’m not letting you out of my
sight.”

Chapter 27

After that great line about not letting me
out of sight, no one pays any attention to me on the ride home, not
even Kade. Stuck with my own thoughts, I begin to draw my own
conclusions based off of the little I’ve seen and heard so far.
Somehow Mr. Taylor, the CEO of Preston-Ward, is involved because
they mentioned searching his office. The sphere appears to be the
only thing they were after and everyone believed it was in Taylor’s
office.

So the sphere is important. I don’t know
what creepy smoke guy is, or how he plays into the equation, but if
I understood Basal right it sounds like he’s trapped in the sphere
now. So why did they trash the place? Unless it was a cleverly
constructed ruse to hide what they were really doing, I think.
Wracking my brain I try to make some sense of it all, but I can’t;
there are too many holes to fill.

Oh yeah, and to top it all
off these guys aren’t human and apparently I’m extraordinary too,
whatever that means.
Thank God Ben’s at
work tonight because there’s no way I’m going home now, not without
answers.

Huddled around Kade’s barely furnished
kitchen I again play the roll of wall flower while the men heatedly
discuss who to call, who not to call, travel arrangements, and the
like. Pushing past Zafir, who’s staying out of the way by leaning
on the bar, I snag the only stool at the counter, pull it toward
the window, and sit down.

Geez, Kade. Would it kill
you to buy some chairs?
I think. In fact,
the whole apartment is sparsely furnished, like he just moved in
when I know for a fact he’s been living at this address for
basically three years. I’ve only set foot in this place a couple of
times, though, and never for more than a few minutes. Huh. With all
the time Melanie, Kade, and I spend together I wonder why that
is.

Tired, annoyed, and ready to address my own
agenda, I grab a beer from the fridge and prepare to steer the
conversation my direction when it simply ends.

“Okay, agreed. I’ll inform Adil of the
mission’s success and that’s all,” Basal tells Kade. Casting a
respectful glance my direction, he continues. “You’ve more than
earned the honor of sharing the rest of the story.” He finishes and
makes a courteous bow to me before exiting the kitchen and
disappearing down the hallway. Perplexed over his odd behavior I
pin Kade with my stare.

“It’s past time to explain why I’m so
extraordinary, I think.”

Nodding to Z, Kade answers.
“Fair enough.” Grabbing a couple of beers, he and Zafir follow me
into the living room. Z retrieves the sphere from a black duffle
he’s been carrying since we left Preston-Ward. Setting it down on
the coffee table he grabs the bottle Kade offers before parking
himself against the wall next to the couch. Sitting across from
Kade I begin to rehearse the list of questions that have been
rolling around in my head since I found him in the lab tonight,
starting with
what
the hell are you. But again Kade beats me to the
punch.

“Is Ben home? Will he be home tomorrow?”

“No, he’s just started back tonight, but
what has he got to do with anything?”

“Nothing,” he mutters, again running a hand
through his hair. He leans toward me finally, resting his elbows on
his knees. “There’s too much to tell and not enough time in which
to tell it, I’m afraid. I’m going to relate everything to the
situation at hand and answer any questions you have as we go.”

“Fair enough,” I reply.

“You see, I’ve been following you for along
time, Gwen, convinced you were the one. Well tonight you’ve proved
it and now you have to come with us.”

“Come with you where?” I question
tentatively.

“To Dubai.”

“The conference?!” I exclaim, totally
perturbed. “I don’t have time for that! I’m still knee-deep in that
project I told you about, and now, on top of it all, I’m going to
have to rebuild my lab!” Kade’s eyes never leave mine as he
patiently waits for me to finish my rant.

“You’re never going back to that place
again,” he tells me, his deep timbre ringing with confident
finality. I know he means Preston-Ward.

“Excuse me!” I bark defensively rising to
the edge of my seat. “I didn’t realize Captain Kade was running my
life!”

“Ahh! You infuriating Nephilim! Just listen
to me!” he yells, slapping his thigh in frustration.

“Seriously! You really
think
now
is the
best time for one of your Gwen’s-a-giant jokes?!” I say, angry
sarcasm coating my words.

“A little help, please,” Kade asks Zafir, to
which Z slowly shakes his head from side to side and raises his
hands in a leave-me-out-of-it gesture. Rubbing his forehead, Kade
tries again.

“‘
Nephilim’ doesn’t mean
you’re tall, Gwen—it’s what you are, it’s why you’re
extraordinary.
You ARE a
Nephilim
.”

“Huh,” as inelegant as it is, rolls off my
tongue. It’s all I can manage.

“You have angel blood, Gwen. You’re
descended from Angels and humans, a sort of cross-breed if you
will.” Kade pauses.

I filter a truly unbecoming retort and let
what he’s saying sink in for a moment. The whole thing is highly
illogical and improbable, but since I’ve already persuaded myself
Kade and his friends aren’t human, this new tidbit is a lot easier
to swallow. By his reckoning, I’m at least half-human. Or at most
half-human?