Praefatio: A Novel (28 page)

“Have you ever asked yourself what your life would be like if Emeria had been chosen and not you, or if you and I were betrothed rather than you and Gavin?” he whispered. “I’m not a bad person. I merely want what’s mine.” Tyler kissed me softly on the mouth, then on the nose. I’m sure he had seen Gavin do that to me before. I had already heard this speech from Michael and was not impressed with Tyler’s version.

“Tyler, please don’t do this,” My voice was soft and pleading. I couldn’t afford to make him angry. In
Praefatio
he’d killed his wife, and I was not taking any chances. I wriggled free. Listening to his jumbled thoughts, I had almost felt sorry for him for the second time. “I won’t stand in your way. I just need to help my brother. Please let me go, and I won’t stop you from doing what you feel you need to do. I will turn over the child to whoever has rights over it. You have my word.”

Tyler looked at me suspiciously, searching my mind for betrayal or anything that would make him believe that he shouldn’t trust me. I quickly threw in some good thoughts about him, false memories of furtive glances when he was around, making him think there was an underlying attraction to him, jealous thoughts of Emeria, even some underlying doubt about Gavin and his true feelings about Emeria for good measure, not all of them lies.

“OK. I’ll go along with you for now. But if you give me one reason not to trust you, Grace, all bets are off. If that baby is Fallen, it belongs here at Kheiron—no exceptions.” Tyler offered his hand to shake, and I couldn’t help thinking I’d made a one-sided deal.

I held my hand up. “I have one request before I agree.”

Tyler moved closer to me now. I felt him wholly. He put his arm up against the door, covering my shoulder as he did. The smell of steel was fresh under my nose. Had I never noticed how much he resembled Gavin? How was that possible? He ran his fingers through his hair, changing the color to black like Gavin’s as he went.

It was hard not to look at him. I wiggled out from under his arm and moved over to the couch, shaking out my hair color to match Emeria’s. Two could play that game.

I heard voices coming from an adjoining conference room. I turned slightly, closed my eyes, and saw them. Tyler’s guests were awaiting his return—a witch, a sorcerer, and a grand wizard.
For crying out loud.

He smiled. “What is it, Grace?” He spoke in Gavin’s voice, really irking me.

I flew up in anger, grabbing him by the neck, pushing him into the aquarium, shaking the fish and causing them to scatter to either side of the tank. My wings were fully outstretched as I squeezed his neck. I blew into his hair, growing it to the exact length of Gavin’s; then into his eyes, making them the exact color as Gavin’s; then kissed his mouth, changing his voice into Gavin’s exact tone. I threw him onto the floor with such force he could barely breathe as he landed.

“I don’t care how much you look, act, or sound like Gavin,” I said as he lay on the floor gasping for air. I straddled him and raised my hand over his face, making a mirror in the palm of my hand so he could see how he had been made into Gavin’s exact image. He stared in horror at the change in his appearance and my demeanor. “You will not involve humans in this.” I got up and walked away.

As he stood and regained his ability to breathe properly, he followed me and caught me by the arm. “What was that all about?”

“It’s time I started acting like an angel, don’t you think?”

Best Laid Plans

“Okay. Let’s go,” I ordered as I entered the stables, nearly dropping to my knees at the sight of Gavin leaning against Zion, his horse. His smile widened as I approached with a wide smile of my own. Caius, LJ, and Cerin busied themselves while we reunited.

Gavin’s embrace felt like warm apple pie and ice cream. I wanted more of it. I could have drowned in it. He laughed as he listened to my thoughts, and kissed me with more urgency. I became lost in a sea of sunshine, gum drops, and lemonade.

“Gavin,” I whispered as I pulled slightly away. “I’m so glad you’re okay. You are okay, right? Raphael took care of you?”

“Yes. Thank you. All healed and wearing a protective vest, compliments of Michael. Now I can go wherever you go without fear of dying.” He said it as if dying was funny. More kissing followed.

Gavin paused to run a hand through his hair.

With our supplies and weapons loaded and horses mounted, we left Kheiron, uncertainty hanging heavily in the air. Gavin and I headed northeast, and in that moment, I knew exactly how Frodo felt.

***

I carried two Yoshimitsu tantō short knives on my hip and three razor-sharp Tachi Gunto full swords, two on my back and one on my belt. My short knives had ten-inch blades, which were great for decapitation, according to Caius. I wasn’t too keen on using them on another angel, but would have no problems at all defending myself or Remi if I had to. Especially against a vampire who was already dead. On my thighs, throwing knives in leg sheaths. Also on my hip, a machete, katana, Celtic dagger, and a pair of sai.

Gavin’s random and sometimes incoherent thoughts comforted me, saving me from my own. Every now and again, I’d hear someone’s thoughts I didn’t recognize, and he seemed to be on a totally different frequency than everyone else, with access to my mind.

Neither Gavin nor I were in a hurry to discuss all that had happened between Tyler and me, or what he almost died to tell Michael. Even LJ was tight-lipped and light on thoughts.

I focused on more pressing issues, like the single most important conversation I probably would ever have. Tia, High Priestess of the Virtues, had agreed to help me at Michael’s request. She had never before agreed to meddle in human affairs.

I was told that Tia did not usually grant audiences. I later found out that she had been known to have angels killed for asking for an audience. She lived in a walled city on Saturn where the very laws and secrets of nature and science were tended to. No non-Virtue had ever been allowed entry; certainly no human ever had.

***

Gavin said he’d meet me after taking care of “something,” and I assumed his “something” had to do with Tyler. I was looking forward to some girl time with LJ, so I sent the cherubs up ahead.

We rode silently toward Nod, one hand on our horses and the other on our weapons. After about seven miles of riding, we found something strange in the road up ahead. LJ jumped down without warning and ran toward the large puddle-thing.

“Grace, do you know what that is?”

“It looks like a blob of water, and hair and eyes.” I unsheathed a sword, then climbed down from Ambry. She trotted backward for a bit and gave her mane a shake.

The bizarre-looking creature stood, but I had no fear of him. His skin appeared to be clear plastic with water for insides. He stepped forward and raised his hand to wave as the liquid inside him jiggled. And then he did something amazing. He bowed slightly, extended liquid wings spanning about twelve feet, and shook tiny water droplets from his body.

We all smiled politely as he spoke in the most soothing voice. “This is way different than I imagined. No wonder Virtues never come here. I’m Stone.”

As we stared from one to another, his clearish face began to take shape, with eyes set in sea-foam green. Stone flipped his wet water hair to one side.

“So, I’m not going to Saturn? High Priestess Tia has sent you here instead?” I now regret sounding so shocked, but at the time I didn’t know what he was capable of.

“Sorry to disappoint, but a human would never survive such a trip, even if she is part angel.”

“Oh.”

“I’m LJ.” Olivia stepped forward and offered the boy her hand.

He recoiled, squinting in my direction.

“It’s okay. She’s one of us.”

Stone looked past LJ. “Virtues do not recognize Fallens. And if Tia had known you were working with them, embracing them, I wouldn’t be here. So, if we’re going to make this work, you’re gonna have to ditch the Fallen.”

LJ cleared her throat.

“LJ, why don’t you just meet us there. I’ll work on cluing Stone in to how things are done here.”

LJ hopped atop her horse, which sported a newly braided mane of purple and blue, and rode off, taking her frustrations out on the poor thing.

“Is she serious?” Stone’s voice was high.

“She’s harmless, so be nice to her. Here on earth, we watch one another’s backs, Fallen or not.”

“Well, clearly you don’t need me. I guess I’ll be going, then.”

I couldn’t let him leave. It was my chance to help Remi and Jenny and their baby. “Wait. No. She’s leaving. But listen, Gavin and LJ are on our side.”

The clear water boy looked at me with sad eyes. “You don’t need them anymore. They are Fallen for a reason, Grace. They can’t be trusted. Even if they wanted to support you, they can’t. Their nature demands that they betray you. Why do you think Michael did this? Do you know what he must have given up to get this arrangement? No Virtue has ever left Saturn. Ever.”

Unease grew inside me. It felt like I was given a choice between excellence and the impossible. “Well, I trust them. And Gavin is on his way, so I hope you get over your issues before he gets here.”

Stone made a sour face. “I’ll do whatever you say.”

“Good, then you can start by apologizing to LJ when we get to Nod.” A sneaky smile crept across my face.

Gavin snuck up behind me, scooped me into a hug, then planted several soft kisses over my face, nose, and chin. Then he stopped and smiled a smug smile in Stone’s direction. “If I live to be a million and five. A Virtue, here amongst the heathens.”

Stone looked as if he could have punched Gavin. Clearly, Virtues had a great deal of restraint.

Let’s Ride

Stone flew overhead as Gavin and I rode Zion and Ambry toward Nod.

“How long will it take us to reach Nod?” I asked Gavin, knowing he had made this trip before. We were only a few miles out from where Stone had appeared in the road.

“About another three hours or so if we keep the current speed. Two if we ditch the water boy and gun it,” he said, trying to hide a smile as he kept his eyes focused straight ahead.

As I watched his profile, I searched his mind for thoughts of me, but there were none. I decided to stay focused on the visions in my own mind. They were coming faster now. One after the other, information flooding my mind.

A piece of clothing I recognized, my favorite jacket, the white bubble jacket with the faux fur collar that Gabe had given me two Christmases ago. Someone was in my room at Kheiron. The lights were off and they were looking for … no—they took it.
What is that?
A picture of me sleeping. I don’t remember taking that picture. Giggling. Sounds like Emeria. There’s a shadow in the corner. Wait. The police station.
What’s Tyler doing at the police station?
Wait. No.

“Gavin,” I mumbled aloud as I heard Tyler say his name. He handed Sergeant Mullane my jacket and the photo of me sleeping.
What the heck is he doing?

“Grace, what’s wrong? What do you see?” Gavin asked as he rode Zion in front of Ambry, forcing Ambry to come to a stop. He removed me from Ambry and held me at arm’s length, staring into my eyes. I could see Gavin looking at me, but I was fully engaged in my visions even as I was aware of everything going on around me.

Emeria got into the bed and propped herself up on the pillow. “ … you think … enough?” she cracked sarcastically.

“Just … down … take … photo,” he said in an annoyed voice.

“Do you … think … going … ?” she asked coyly.

“It … my … future by … way… on … ” he stated with a fair amount of arrogance and certainty. It sounded like Tyler.

My vision was going by so fast this time I couldn’t make out the details. The speech was inaudible. It was like a cell phone conversation when the person on the other end was going through the beginning of a dead zone. The events were happening out of order, the images were clear, but I couldn’t be sure if they were things that had happened before, had not happened yet, or were happening right then.

“Sergeant Mullane, my name is Tyler Belial. I manage Gavin Vault.” Tyler smiled as he extended his hand to the officer.

“Nice to meet you.” Sergeant Mullane returned Tyler’s gesture with a hardy shake and a suspicious look. “If you can have your client come down and answer a few questions about the disappearance of Grace Ann Miller, I’m sure we can clear all this up,” he added matter-of-factly.

Tyler lowered his head and then raised it as if he’d suddenly thought of something clever to say. “Unfortunately, my client is away for the birth of a family member. But I’m sure that as soon as he returns, he will be more than happy to answer whatever questions you have.”

“Bladen,” Sergeant Mullane called from his office as soon as Tyler was out of earshot. “Get me a search warrant for the estate of Gavin Vault.”

Everything went black when the vision ended.

“I … I can’t believe it!” was all I could manage as I stared into Gavin’s eyes in complete disbelief. I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him to me. I loved him so much right then. “Gavin.” I pulled away. I could not bear to look at him knowing what I had to tell him.

“Yes, just tell me.” He lifted my chin, gently forcing my eyes to meet his.

“They think I was kidnapped. Even though I wrote the note, they think I was kidnapped!” I may have screamed.

Ambry let out a loud neigh. Zion copied her.

“Grace, what aren’t you telling me?” Gavin stroked my hair, then placed it behind my left ear.

“They think
you
did it—that you
kidnapped
me!” I shouted for sure that time, unable to stop the tears from racing down my cheeks as if there was a prize at my chin. The thought that anyone could think that Gavin could harm me broke my heart, and worse, the people behind this horrible lie: Tyler and my very own sister. I had to hide the truth from Gavin. I had to lie. I could not break him with the truth of Tyler’s betrayal.

“I love you so much. When we get home, I
will
take care of this. I promise I won’t let anything happen to you,” I assured him and hugged him tightly. He let himself give in and be comforted by my embrace, burying his head in my hair, inhaling, and kissing the back of my neck.