To Fall (The To Fall Trilogy Book 1) (41 page)

60

Xander

The lights downtown whizzed by, and loud pounding music from each doorway blasted out as Calista and I ran down the street. We passed club after club, swerving in and out of drunken patrons smoking cigarettes. “Damn it! Raxat jumped again!” she yelled and we paused trying to sense it.

Hannah called from down the street, “Over here!”

I spotted Hannah’s flaming red hair bolt across traffic, followed by Caleb. Calista and I resumed running. “I’m over this demon,” I growled.

“Do you realize this is the third time we’ve caught him setting up a child sex ring?” Calista said astonished.

I blinked at her. “Three? Really? When was the second time?”

“Oh, that was back in sixty-two. You were…” She looked up, trying to remember.

“Assigned to Khrushchev,” I explained.

Calista nodded and her cell rang. “Where are you?” she answered. “Again? Yeah, we’ll stay.” She shoved the phone back into her pocket. “Jumped again. Caleb and Hannah went west. They want us to hang here in case Raxat slithers back this way.”

We watched two girls fling themselves out of the club, tripping over each other in heels. Calista grimaced at the girl now heaving in the parking lot.

I rolled my eyes. “Why? Why do they do this to themselves?”

Calista shrugged. “No clue, Brother.”

We strolled farther down the street and a sharp tingle shot down my back. We stopped and turned, searching.

Calista grumbled, “Where is it?”

The pain subsided as the demon drew away. Without needing to communicate, we broke off in opposite directions. Abby’s ringtone played from my pocket, but I couldn’t stop to answer. Out of the corner of my eye, Calista’s light shone from across the street. Sprinting toward her, I swerved between cars. She finished wiping a young woman’s memory in a back alley.

“Raxat?” I asked.

Calista lifted the woman, scarcely covered by yellow latex with body glitter covering the rest of her. “No, Slegeth.” The woman shifted and moaned. Calista set her down and frowned at the glitter transfer on her hands and tank top.

The woman blinked and focused on us. Her eyes raked me over with hooded lids. “Wow. What is your name, sexy lips?” she slurred.

Calista pinched her golden eyebrows and mouthed,
Sexy lips?

Fighting a smile, I said, “We’re going to get you a cab.”

The woman nodded. “Oh, good, I have to feed my cat. Would you like to come home and help me?” She staggered over and gripped my arms. Her eyes widened. “Oh!” Her hands roamed over me and the strong smell of liquor oozed from her pores. “Honey, it’s a sin for you to wear clothes.”

I laughed. “My sister will take you.”

Her head swung around as if it had become detached from her spine. “My God! Your brother is HOT!”

Calista shook her head and looped an arm around the woman’s waist. “Yes, he is. I’ll be sure to tell my family you thought so.”

“It doesn’t count when they’re drunk. House rule,” I complained.

Calista guided her to the street where cabs were lined up and I listened to my voicemail.

Abby’s sweet tone came over the earpiece and I smiled. “Hi. I miss you. I wanted to hear your voice. I hope you don’t mind me calling a billion more times, so I can listen to you say your name on the voicemail. I never told you this, ’cause I didn’t want your ego to get any bigger than it already is, but you have the sexiest voice.” Her cute giggle mixed with the loud music.

The phone moved, the speaker muffled, and I stood in the alley straining to hear her. I heard Jake’s voice and listened until he said, “We could go to my bedroom.”

Calling Abby back, it went to voicemail. I dialed Caleb.

The wind snapped around his words. “Hey, Brother, we lost—”

“Caleb, Abby’s in trouble, Jake’s with her, he’s possessed. I don’t know where she is. She’s supposed to be at the dorm, but it sounds like she’s at a party.”

He groaned. “Jake mentioned he was having people over tonight. I told him no liquor. Damn him! He was doing so well, too. Okay, we’re a few minutes out.”

Calista came toward me, shaking her head. I tore my shirt off. The look on my face alerted her something was wrong, and she followed me in flight. Calista looked to me for an explanation.

“Cresil got to her. Jake’s having a party. Can you…uh…Caleb’s going…” I couldn’t think.

“Call Greg. I’m sure he’ll be there.”

I nodded and dialed. “Hey, Xander! We’re missing you here, man!”

Panic filled my voice. “Greg, do you see Abby?”

“She’s here somewhere. Mel, where’s Abby? Oh, I see her. Yeah, she’s uh…talking to Jake.” His voice turned to a growl.

My stomach sank. “Greg, it’s important. Get him the hell away from her.”

“Yeah, I’m way ahead of you. Mel, get her pills. I’ll call you back, man.” He hung up.

Pills
. As much as I detested those things, they were the only thing that could save her. My hands shook as I pressed Caleb’s speed dial.

“Almost there, Brother,” he answered.

Ripping my own heart out would be better than this hell. “She’s in trouble. She needs her pills. Caleb, hurry.”

“I will. Have faith, Alexander.”

Faith?
Faith in what exactly? I was beginning to fear His plan for Abby…her heart, the failed pacemakers, denying her healing, refusing to destroy Cresil, and my change. It was adding up to something I couldn’t figure out yet, but I didn’t think it would end with a happy ever after for us anymore.

Calista and I flew in different directions; she went to go help with the party, and I left for home. I prayed to God for Him to protect her, let Caleb get to her in time. The flight was agonizing.

I was a couple of minutes away when Caleb called me. “I have her at home, she’s safe. Oh, sorry, Abby. I didn’t mean to ignore you.”

A wave of relief washed over me and I continued to race home.

Dropping into the yard, Abby’s ashen complexion and trembling body was another reminder I didn’t need of how fragile she was, and how easily Cresil could take her from me.

When the girls arrived, Hannah flashed me a look and Calista met my eyes. I knew what she was going to do and I did nothing to stop her. Calista used mind control so we could talk. If Abby found out, she may never forgive me. After Abby had gone into the bathtub, Hannah and Calista filled us in.

Hannah swallowed and her chin ducked. “He was there. Jake had been drinking. We erased Mel, Beth, Greg, and Jake.”

“What aren’t you telling me?”

Her eyes glistened. “Alexander, Cresil knows. I don’t know how, but he knows.”

I stood up, meeting her eyes. “What the hell did that monster say?”

Hannah put her hands on my chest to calm me down, but it wouldn’t work. “It doesn’t matter, Alexander.”

“Tell. Me,” I ground out.

She sighed, closing her eyes. “‘Tell her rat, I can’t wait to be inside—’”

I held my hand up to stop her. She was right. I couldn’t stomach it. He wouldn’t stop. He’d be back. He was going to kill her. Before, it was a sick game, one more woman to defile, one of thousands. One more sin to blacken his soul. Now he knew who Abby was. She was his ticket to a throne, to become a prince of Hell. He only had to kill her and announce his victory to Lucifer.

“I don’t think we should keep her in the dark anymore. Maybe it’s time we told her.” I honestly didn’t know the right answer.

Hannah shook her head. “Brother, I don’t know. She’s having such a hard time with the nightmares as it is. Her life will turn into a nightmare. The same demon coming after her repeatedly?”

“Do we wipe her memory of tonight?” Calista offered. “She’s gonna ask questions. She knows we’re lying to her already and keeping secrets.”

Hannah nodded. “Maybe for now it’s best until we have answers.”

“We’ve never had answers!” I snapped at them. “She won’t have her defenses up. She’s too trusting, too forgiving. This will happen again.”

“Alexander, I think we should, too.” I opened my mouth to protest and Caleb held up his hands. “She won’t cope with this well, her heart is too weak,” Caleb said resigned.

“Not against her will. This gift scares her.”

Calista put her hand on my shoulder. “Alexander, we are her Guardians, too. Let us care for her this time.”

After a moment of consideration, my shoulders fell. “No, it should be me that does it.”

Calista’s bathroom flickered with candlelight and the scent of vanilla filled the air. Abby had earbuds in, mouthing lyrics, bobbing her head, her button nose scrunched up with silly faces. If not for the guilt racking me, I would have smiled. Bubbles deflated around her movements in the water. I stared at her a long while, so beautiful, so innocent to her history. I was still unsure of what to do and yet here I was.

I wished I could take her far away. Fly her to the tropical island in my head and keep her safe forever. Love her forever in paradise, the two of us strolling along the sandy beach, her in a tiny bikini. After a long day of swimming and sunning, I would make love to her in a straw hut, relishing every moment with her.

My hands went to her head. To my love. To my Abby. “Forgive me.”

61

Cresil

Jake thought he was crazy, but multiple possessions would do that. I visited my old stomping grounds in Vegas and played more than card games there. I had a good time with a tourist: dark hair, petite, green eyes. Oh, those green eyes, how large and round they got when she screamed. She begged and pleaded for me to stop. Mmm. But she wasn’t quite what I wanted.

I craved dark brown eyes. I craved my Pink Polka Dots. Something set her apart from other humans. The angels didn’t just guard her; they were protective of her, all of them. Protecting her for him, their brother. My thoughts went to the night I almost had her. Almost, if it wasn’t for a damn dog.

I wondered if the rat pulled the trigger yet. I had to know and went back to test the waters. Stupid, yes, but I couldn’t get her out of my head. Maybe she dumped the rat by now.

Jake’s head was filled with wasteful, soured things like morals. I had to laugh—two drinks and this kid was mine.

Much to my delight, she showed up wearing a tight blue sweater and skintight jeans, wrapping around her tight body. Mmm, tight.

The rat wasn’t with her, but she wore his ring. I suspected my Pink Polka Dots was still pure. Tonight. Tonight I would have her. No rats to stop me this time.

I kissed her pouty, candy-flavored lips. Delicious. She bit me and then slapped me. I liked it rough, but something she did made me pause, bringing my mind to another girl. Another time. For me, that was thousands of years ago, but about twenty up top. She was a lot like my Dark Wavy Curls. Too much like her.

It wasn’t possible was it? I took care of it, didn’t I? Still…those eyes. They looked familiar. My Pink Polka Dots…she was the right age.

In the middle of taking a piss, the door blew open. Before I could turn, the red rat grabbed my vessel—a drunk kid I found heaving in the bushes. Admittedly impressed by her speed, she had me locked in a choke hold against the wall. She would cast me back, but I could have fun before I left.

“Foul demon! Why do you keep coming back?” she spat.

“We both know why, now don’t we? I’m going to have her, rat. I’m going to rip the innocence away from her.” And here was the test. “Like her mommy.”

Her eyes flashed and her hand cinched tighter. “I can’t wait to tear you to shreds,” she snarled.

I had her. This was the soul in my Dark Wavy Curls. Prince Astaroth was right. I had been too arrogant. She lived this whole time. “Tell her rat, I can’t wait to be inside her. He should go ahead and seal the deal, pop her cherry before I do.”

Her body shuddered and ripping fabric announced her wings as they filled up the tiny room; one broke through the drywall and the other cracked a mirror. Lips curled back over her teeth and I laughed as my blood boiled in her light. “Demon Cresil, with the Light of God, I cast you back to Hell!” Each word shredded me and her light delivered searing and unyielding pain. With the force of the Heavens, she returned me to Hell.