Personal Demons 2 - Original Sin (31 page)

He only nods.

I turn and walk deeper into the park. He comes up beside me, matching my stride, his hands in his pockets and his eyes on the ground. Neither of us says anything.

The dusk deepens in the shade of the trees, so we don't notice her till we're nearly on top of her. Luc grabs my arm and pulls me behind him.

I jerk my arm away and step out from behind him in time to see her glide out of the stand of trees just a few feet away.

“Angelique,” I whisper.

“Fee,” she says, her voice hypnotic, and with that one word, I feel overwhelming desire for her.

Luc backs up a few steps, keeping me behind him. “Frannie, just listen to my voice. Don't look at her. Just listen to me.”

He says it over and over as we back slowly toward the play structure, but I can't do it. I can't rip my eyes away from her as she keeps pace with us.

But when she pulls out the knife, still covered in Taylor's blood, I snap. I rip my arm away from Luc's grasp and charge at her. Luc lunges after me, but he's not quick enough. Angelique holds the knife out for me.

In that instant, I want her more than I've ever wanted anything, but I also want her dead. The fleeting image of the knife plunging into her chest sends a shuddering thrill through my entire body. I dive for the knife, needing to touch her while I watch the life run out of her onto the ground. But just as I reach her, I'm tackled to the ground at her feet.

Gabe holds me pinned to the dirt. “Frannie, stop!”

Then Luc is there, murder in his eyes. Gabe scoops me into his arms and starts running. The last thing I see as we turn up the street is Luc ripping the knife from Angelique with one hand and wrapping his other arm around her in an embrace.

As my head starts to clear, my heart starts to scream. I lose sight of them as Gabe sprints up the street. “No!” I scream, then press my face into Gabe. “No, Luc. Please,” I whisper.

Gabe puts me on my feet at the house and pushes me through the door. “Now!” he says, fixing me in a hard gaze. “You're leaving
now.
”

My hands are on my shaky knees as I struggle to get air through my collapsing throat. “Now? What about Luc?” I gasp.

“He's on his own, Frannie. My priority is you.”

I drop to the floor, unable to hold myself up. “Oh, God,” I whisper into my hands. Why did I have to run? Why couldn't I have just told him I love him? “If he kills her—?”

“She'll take him,” Gabe says flatly, standing over me.

“No!” It starts in my chest, an aching need, and spreads till every cell in me vibrates with it.
Come back to me!
my heart screams, over and over.

I spring off the floor and almost make the door before Gabe blocks my exit. He stands between me and the door and reaches his hand out for my shoulder. I yank away from him when I feel his summer snow start to dull my panic.

“Stop it! I have to help him.”

His eyes are full of compassion and pain as he simply says, “No.”

Behind him, there's a knock—or really more of a pound—on the door. I jump for the handle and Gabe pushes me back, holding a hand to the door. A moment later, he pulls it open. My heart nearly explodes in relief when I see Luc standing on the porch. I lunge for the door again, but Gabe holds me back with an arm as he scrutinizes Luc. Finally, he lets him come through. Luc's holding his left arm across his chest with his right hand, and there's blood on the front of his T-shirt. And I'm not totally sure it's all his.

I stare at him, unable to breathe, as he steps through the door and lowers himself into the chair under the window without a word, but his eyes don't leave me.

I go to him and kneel, trying to figure out where the blood is coming from. He drops his arms, and I gasp at the bleeding gash across the inside of his left forearm.

Pressing Luc's arm back into his chest, I look up at Gabe, who disappears into the bathroom and comes out with a damp cloth and bandaging supplies.

Luc stares at me with empty, unseeing eyes as I clean and bandage his wound. Gabe disappears again, and when he comes back, he tosses Luc a clean T-shirt. They share a glance, and for a second, I'm sure I see suspicion on Gabe's face before Luc pulls his bloody T-shirt over his head and tosses it in Gabe's direction.

I look at Gabe, but I'm afraid to ask either of them what's going on.

Gabe throws Luc's shirt into the trash and stands in the kitchen door. “We need to get you out of here. It's not safe. Lucifer isn't going to stop.”

I sink into the couch, and a sense of bitter relief swirls inside me. Because there's one thing that's become clear in the last few weeks. “He won't want me anymore when He figures out that I don't really have Sway. Not Sway that matters, anyway.”

Gabe's smile is sad. “If it were only that easy to convince Him. Someday your Sway might be strong enough.”

Anger swirls with the relief, and I lash out. “I don't have Sway! I can't change anything!”

He slides onto the couch next to me and leans back, contemplating that. His eyes shift to Luc. “I think the biggest proof of your Sway is sitting right over there. You've turned him mortal—twice.”

I glance at Luc, who's sitting still as stone, hands on knees and face flat, staring at me.

I shake my head. “I don't know how he's doing it, but it's not me.”

“Frannie—”

“I can't change shit!” I scream in frustration. “Isn't that obvious? Taylor is
dead
!”

Gabe examines his hands, and his voice is low, meant just for me, as he says, “I know you have Sway, Frannie. I've felt it.”

And then, on top of everything else, guilt swirls into my emotional jumble when I think of all the times I've used Gabe. I explode off the couch and stand in the window with my aching forehead against the cool glass. I feel Gabe move in behind me.

“When your Sway has worked—on Luc and me—what's been different?” His voice is soft and soothing in my ear.

I sag into the window. “It's not me. Why won't you believe me?”

He turns me gently to face him and his eyes are deep, full of compassion. “What's been different?” he repeats.

I shake my head, but he catches my chin and lifts it. I gaze up into his eyes as I feel his peace and love begin to take hold. I raise my hand and lay it on his chest as if I can feel his heartbeat. And, because I want to, I do—even though he doesn't have a heart.

The realization hits me all at once. “It worked when I wanted something with my heart.”

He brushes his fingers across my forehead, sweeping my hair to the side. “So, when you get this out of the way,” he leans in and kisses my forehead as his fingers drop to my chest, “and let this do its job, your Sway is more powerful.”

I lean my cheek against him, listening to the heart he doesn't have beat in his chest. “It's love,” I finally say. “My Sway is love.” The thing I never even believed in till Luc and Gabe came along.

“I think it's more than that…that
you're
more than that.” His voice is soft, but it vibrates through his chest.

I pull away. “What do you mean?”

“I'm not sure yet, but…I don't know. It's just a feeling.”

“Please don't say that. I'm pretty sure I can't handle anything else.” My eyes slide to Luc, who sits with his forehead in his good hand. I walk over and kneel down in front of him again, taking his other hand in mine. He lifts his eyes to mine and locks me in his haunted gaze. I breathe deep, pull all the armor off my heart, and without a word, I let it say what it's been dying to say.

Luc's eyes seem to focus on me then. And I know he hears me, because they well up and he pulls his gaze away from mine, along with his hand.

“Luc…? What happened?”

He stares at the bandage on his arm, picking at the tape, but doesn't answer.

Gabe's hand is on my shoulder. “Frannie, we need to get you out of here.”

My heavy heart makes pulling myself to my feet difficult. I try to clear my head, remember the bigger picture. We're not safe here.

Gabe guides me to the door with a hand on my back.

“But, if they know we're going to L.A.?” I say.

“You're not going to L.A.” He grabs my hand and spirits me quickly through the door and into his car. I turn to see Luc following close behind, dark eyes darting.

“Then where are we going?” I shudder when I realize that when I said
we
, I meant all of us—Luc too. What if he won't come? He glides into the backseat, still looking haunted as I fight tears.

“I can't tell you yet. No one can know. Your family—everyone—has to truly believe you're in L.A.”

Theory of a Deadman plays, filling the room and drowning out my thoughts as I shove clothes into my canvas duffel bag. I pull my iPod off the speakers and shove them both into the bag before zipping it shut.

Gabe's propped on my doorframe, looking anything but calm. “You ready?”

“I guess.” I take a last survey of my room, then glance at Luc, standing vigil at my window. He hasn't said a word since Angelique. I have to know what happened, but I can't bring myself to ask again. I hesitate a second longer before asking instead, “You coming?”

My heart pounds, but it holds its breath as he turns from the window and locks me in his dark gaze.

And makes me wait forever for his answer.

Matt

This is Hell. And Frannie and her demon put me here.

No good deed goes unpunished.

A mirthless bark of a laugh escapes my throat.

My only consolation is that they're going to burn in Hell for all eternity too. I'm going to make sure of it. Because if she hadn't been such a total moron, she would never have fallen for a demon in the first place.

A demon.
What was she thinking?

She thinks she can hide behind Gabriel's ridiculous Shield, but we're twins—the unbreakable bond. I'm pretty sure I can find her. And it will help my cause that she always thinks everything is her fault. She'll feel guilty about what happened to me…and she should.

I can use that memory—and others—to make her pay. Because, with King Lucifer's help, I've found my unique talent. My gift. The one that Gabriel never even mentioned I should be looking for. Which makes me wonder if I've been on the wrong side all along. Either way, there's no going back. I've sworn my fealty to King Lucifer. What choice did I have, really?

At first I wasn't sure it was the right move.

Now I am.

The celestials were all about holding me back. But my new king has shown me things—ways of using my power—that I could never have imagined.

I lie on the floor with my fingers laced behind my head and stare up at the ceiling of the cave, at the light being sucked into the black stone surface like reverse sparkles, and try to figure out how that works. I feel my newfound power pulse inside me, like a wild beast, starving and waiting to be unleashed for the hunt. And then I feel something else—Lili's hands. Stroking. Caressing. Making me hungry in a whole different way. I turn my head, and the expression on her face says everything. She's insatiable.

She had to leave Angelique behind because mortal bodies don't survive the shift between plains. But King Lucifer has what she calls a “vessel” here for her—a body. He can send for her whenever He chooses. He built it to His preferences, so the claws and the horns took a little getting used to, but it's still human in most ways. And pretty damn hot, though a little battered. Apparently our king wasn't happy about her coming back empty-handed.

She won't tell me what happened, but she says she deserved it. Still, when I saw the bruises, rage ripped through me. I still can't help wanting to protect her. Even from Him. The only good thing to come of it is that He seems to be done with her for a while. He's promised Lilith to me for as long as I want her, which I'm thinking might be forever.

I trace the purple bruise on the inside of her thigh with my finger and raise an eyebrow. “Again?”

She shrugs. “It's what I do.”

“But I need to practice.”

She rolls her glowing green eyes at me.

“Sorry, but you're the only humanish sort of person down here.”

She sits up and pushes back from me. “Fine. But you know our deal. If I let you hurt me, you need to make me feel better after.” An innocent little smile curves her lips, completely at odds with the gleam in her greedy eyes.

That look stirs raw lust deep inside me. “You're not going to need to twist my arm.” I tingle all over in anticipation.

“But that sounds like fun. What if I want to?” Her lips pull into a pout and I can't help myself. I crush my lips to hers, aroused even more at the taste of her blood on my tongue.

Licking the blood from her split lower lip, I pull back. I guide her hand to the deep claw marks across my hip. “If I didn't know better, I'd say you were trying to dismember me limb by limb.”

Her pout pulls into a smile. “Maybe later.” She curls her legs under her, hands braced on the ground, accentuating certain curves and making me want her right now. “So, go ahead. Practice.”

I think about going with Lili's suggestion and bagging the practice. But if I'm going to be ready to deal with Frannie anytime soon, I have to stay focused.

I close my eyes and clear my head, then slowly scan Lili's mind. I can't read it, but I can pick up on memories and get the flavor of them. I choose one that has a particularly dark, thick feel to it and I focus my power like a laser beam. And then I watch as Lili's face contorts with the pain of the memory. Tears spill over and evaporate off her cheeks in Hell's intense heat. I push harder and her head drops into her hands. She sobs at first, but her moans of grief gradually turn to screams of agony.

An electric thrill sends fire coursing through me, and I crawl to where she sits, still screaming. I pull her hand from her face and feel my excitement build as I stare into her terrified eyes.

Because, let's face it, Lili deserves a little payback too.

I buzz all over as my lips lock on to hers, smothering her scream. The scream becomes a feral moan, and she grabs me and throws me to the ground.

Then I let go of her mind while she takes her turn with my body.