Your Soul to Take (Rise of the Fallen) (17 page)

The
rest of the tale Jess knew from experience. Waking in the hospital and all
that. What she didn’t know was my role. When Mr. James began explaining that
there were more creatures in the world than Chosen and Fallen, I took over the
tale and explained about Brett and how he had been created by a Fallen in
exchange for his soul, how he had gotten out of control and almost killed her.

“So
where do you fit in?” She looked at me confusedly. “And more
importantly, what are
you
?” She asked the question, but I think she
already knew the answer.

“I
used to be human,” I said and stole one more glance at her father, who
nodded his approval this time. “But then one day, I got the idea to sell
my soul for my fondest wish… I thought it was a joke and I thought I was just
goofing around until one of the Fallen showed up to grant my wish.”

“What
happened?”

“Well.
In an effort to outsmart them and keep my soul, I did something stupid.”

Mr.
James gave a short bark of laughter. “And incredibly brave,” he said.

“What?”
Jessica looked intrigued.

“I
wished to become one of the Fallen.”

“You
two are making all this up. And it’s not funny.”

“Says
the girl with angel wings,” I said to soften the mood.

She
glanced behind her and gave them a little wiggle and shrugged. “So let’s
see
yours.
” She looked at me.

Fear
ran through me like a chill. This was the moment of truth. She would either
accept me or not. There was little I could do but hope for the very best.
“Okay, but I’ll be honest, they’re not beautiful like yours.”

I
called them and they came. Jess’ eyes rounded. “I
remember
,”
she said. “I remember you saving me, and you too, Daddy. You said I was
hallucinating!” She looked at me accusingly.

I
shrugged and held up my hands innocently.

“I
told him to. He was under strict instructions from me,” her father added
helpfully. “I didn’t know if you would stay human or not, and I didn’t
want to burden you if you were.”

“I
sooo
wouldn’t use the word burden. You kept things from me, the both of
you. Not happy.” She crossed her arms for emphasis. “But I do
understand,” she said and stood, first crossing the room to hug her father
and then she crossed to me. She reached out and gently stroked the leathery
membrane between the bones of my wing, sending a chill down my spine. “I
actually think these suit you a little more than the fluffy ones, you little
devil.”

I
gave her a smile and went to hug her. She backed up a step and my heart froze,
but I nodded. “Okay. I’ll let you two talk about the rest.” I said
trying my hardest not to let my voice catch. If it did, I knew I would break
down crying and I really didn’t want to do that right now. Later, when I was
alone, maybe. “Have a good night, Mr. James. Call me later if you want,
Jess.”

I
turned and walked to the door, pulling it open and stepping outside.

“Connor,
wait,” Jess called and stepped outside with me, pulling the door closed
behind her.

I
turned and my chest tightened while I waited for her to deliver the blow.
“What’s up?”

“Don’t
what’s up me. I saw your face when I stepped back. I didn’t mean to, but it’s a
lot to wrap my…um…wings around,” she said and smiled at her own joke.
“Don’t think anything has changed between us because it hasn’t. And don’t
think I don’t love you because I do.” She stepped closer and pulled me
into her arms, her wings striking a beautiful contrast against mine.

“I
love you, too,” I said and held her tight.

“I
just found out that my boyfriend isn’t human. I just found out that
I’m
not human. It’s a little much to process.”

“I
know, baby. No worries. Go ask your dad how to banish your wings. They’re a
bitch to sleep in.”

She
laughed. “I will. Does this mean we’re mortal enemies now?”

“I
won’t give a shit if you won’t.”

“Not
even a little bit. They can keep their war.”

“Exactly.”

“Anything
else I should know?”

“Claire’s
real name is Clarisse and she’s one of the Fallen, too. That’s why we hang out
so much. She is in charge of teaching me all the Falleny stuff I need to
know.”

“Oh.
That’s actually a good thing.”

“Why?”

“It’s
much better than the whole ‘we’re just friends’ thing.”

“Ahh.
That makes sense.”

“Anything
else?”

“My
sister’s a vampire?”

“Will
you stop picking on her? She’s a nice kid.”

“Not
joking. She died when you were in the hospital from a vampire bite. She woke up
on the morgue table with fangs. Oh, and her friend Elizabeth is one, too, but
she sold her soul for it.”

“Okay.
I’m going to bed now. If there’s anything else, write it down and tell me
later.”

“One
more thing.”

“Your
parents are werewolves?”

“No.
You look damn hot as an angel,” I said with a wink and kissed her one more
time.

Chapter 24

I
stepped off the porch and flapped my wings. I gave one more quick wave to Jess
as she watched me fly for the first time. I could see her smile.

“You
are sooo teaching me how to do that in the morning,” she called out,
turned around, and went back inside. I imagined she and her father would be up
most of the night talking. I told her to call me if she needed me.

I
cleared the trees next to her house and headed home, figuring Cae and Elizabeth
would be there. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and noticed a missed call
from Cae. I was a little nervous playing with my phone while flying, but I
checked my text messages anyway.

There
weren’t any, so I called Cae back. It rang with no answer. I hung up when I got
her voicemail.

I
called Clarisse to see if she was still with them. She answered on the first
ring. “What’s up?”

“Just
left Jessie’s. She turned tonight. Wings and everything.”

There
was a moment of silence on the other end. Finally she asked, “How did that
go?”

“Better
than expected. She’s having a long talk with her father right now.”

“Did
you show her yours?”

“My
what?”

“Wings,
pervert. Did you show her your wings and tell her what
you
were.”

“Yeah.
Her dad and I gave her the whole rundown.”

“She
doesn’t hate you?”

“Nope.”

“Give
it time. She will,” she said and laughed to let me know she was joking.

“Where’s
Cae?”

“We
were all hungry after the mall closed so we’re at Denny’s eating breakfast. You
in?”

“I
used the last of my money at the mall.”

“I
got you. Come on. The one on Highway One.”

“Be
there in five,” I said and hung up. I turned more north and could see the
lights of the highway in the distance. I swear I could smell the pancakes. My
stomach growled in anticipation.

I
landed behind Denny’s in the shadows, quickly dispelling my wings. A cat jumped
out of the dumpster and scared the hell out of me. “Stupid cat.”

I
found the three of them sitting in a corner booth. I couldn’t believe how
packed the place was, but then again, nothing topped off Christmas shopping
like a twenty thousand calorie breakfast.

Clarisse
scooted in and made room for me. Cae shot us a dirty look. I shook my head at
her, telling her not to worry about the proximity of our seating arrangement. I
told myself it would make it easier on the waitress if we sat next to each
other since she was paying.

“So.
Jess knows
everything
now, huh?”

“For
the most part,” I replied to my sister, not falling for her baited trap to
make me feel even
more
guilty than I already did.

“And
she’s cool with you being a little demonic when she’s the angel in the
relationship?”

“Opposites
attract. Are you done?” I was starting to get a little pissed at her
attitude.

She
nodded and started picking at her omelet.

“I
ordered for you. I hope you like pancakes and bacon,” Clarisse tried to
inject a little less hostility into the conversation.

“Perfect.
Thanks.”

“I
told her what your favorite was,” Cae added.

“Thanks.”

“Well,
I figured she didn’t know you well enough to guess what your favorite food was.
I mean, I know you two are close, but I didn’t think the topic of breakfast had
ever come up. Has it?”

“Cae.
Enough.” Elizabeth added, apparently having enough as well.

My
sister
harrumphed
, crossed her arms and refused to even pick at her food
anymore. I looked over at Clarisse to see how she was handling the situation. She
was just staring in awe at the cattiness of my sister.

“Sister,
dearest, may I speak to you outside for a moment?” I left little room for
her to disagree.

“Fine,”
she said and rose from the table, bolting for the front of the restaurant
before I even got up.

“Brat.
Excuse me. We’ll be right back.”

“Connor,”
Clarisse said. “Go easy on her. We did screw up.”

“I
will,” I said and gave her a brief smile.

“I
don’t blame you for kissing him,” I heard Elizabeth mumble to Clarisse.
Apparently she forgot my hearing was better than hers. So with blushing cheeks,
I walked past the hostess stand and out the front door to talk to Cae. I had no
idea what I was going to say, but it would have been good. If she had been
there.

I
looked around and saw no trace of her anywhere. “Little shit,” I said
pulled out my cell. I dialed her and held it to my ear, but it went straight to
voicemail. “She shut off her damn phone.”

I
turned around and went inside. Clarisse saw me and frowned. “What
happened?”

“Little
shit took off.” Just then the waitress finally brought my breakfast.

“What
do you want to do?”

I
looked at Clarisse and then at my pancakes. “Let’s finish eating. If she
wants to be a brat and run away, let her.”

I
sat down and dumped syrup on my pancakes and ignored the worried look that Elizabeth
shot between Clarisse and me.

“What?”

“Bad
guys ripping souls out of people like your sister and me?”

Shiiit.
I sighed heavily and stabbed my
fork into my pound of delicious pancakes. “You’re right. Let’s go find
her.”

I
watched Clarisse toss a couple of twenties down on the table and waited for me
to slide out of the booth. “Let’s go.”

“You
take the SUV, swing by your house to see if she’s there. If not, go to my
house. It’s the only two places she would go. Claire, you take to the air and
follow Elizabeth, see if you can spot Cae. She may be fast but she’s not as
fast as Elizabeth driving. I’m heading straight home to look for her
there.”

“Okay,”
they both said in unison.

I
walked away from the entrance and without giving a shit, called my wings and
leapt into the cold night air. I could have flown straight home, but I followed
the roadways, looking for my sister the entire way. Without any sign of her, I
landed in my front yard, banished my wings, and entered the house.

The
lights were off, my parents were asleep, and my sister wasn’t in her room. Nor
had she been there. She had to have gone to Elizabeth’s to sulk. I walked
outside to wait for Clarisse and her to show up, hopefully with my sister in
tow.

When
the SUV pulled up I knew something was wrong. She wasn’t with them. I could
tell by the look on their faces. When they saw me sitting on the front porch,
they knew she wasn’t home either.

Elizabeth
got out first and looked
very
worried. “She’s not here?”

“No.
Not at your house either?”

“Obviously
not. What do we do?”

“Well,
she couldn’t have gone far,” I said.

Claire
opened the SUV door. “What if she didn’t run away?”

“What?”

“What
if she was taken?”

I
didn’t know what to do, so I ran. I ran and jumped into the air and flew all
the way back to Denny’s. I landed in the middle of the parking lot, turned back
into a human, and scoured the front, looking for
anything
to tell me
where my sister had gone.

There
was nothing.

A
few minutes later, Clarisse and Elizabeth pulled up. Something that Cae said
gave me an idea. “Cae said she could always feel where you were because
she fed from you… Does that work both ways? Can you tell where she is?”

Elizabeth
looked confused. “She didn’t tell me that. I don’t know.”

“Try?”

She
closed her eyes and turned in slow circles. “Apparently not?”

“Are
you sure?”

“Pretty
friggin’ sure I have no friggin’ clue where your sister is. I’m sorry. It would
have been awesome, but I can’t.”

“Sorry.
I know. Clarisse? Do you have any ideas?”

“I
don’t know. I’m sorry, Connor.”

“Well,
we’re not going to solve anything sitting here. Let’s go to the house and come
up with a game plan.”

The
three of us drove back in Elizabeth’s SUV. We were all quiet and understandably
worried about my sister. When we pulled up into the driveway and saw her
sitting on the front step, Clarisse and I jumped out before Elizabeth had it in
park.

“Where
the hell did you go?” I’ll admit. I probably could have started the conversation
a little more calmly.

“Home.”

“We
were here, you weren’t. We’ve been looking everywhere for you!”

“I
walked slowly? What’s the big deal?”

I
fell to my knees and sucked in a great big breath of air. Relief that my sister
was okay flooded my body. I felt like passing out.

“You
scared the hell out of us, Cae,” Clarisse said from behind me. “We
thought you were taken.”

“Why
didn’t you answer your cell?” I chimed in, too.

“It’s
dead. And shit, I’m sorry. I didn’t think of that. I just got really pissed off
and wanted some time alone.”

“Alone
is fine, just make sure you’re with us,” I said and stood. I know she
hated it, but I walked over to her and gave her a hug. “Don’t scare me
like that again. Please. I lost you once and I don’t want to do it again.”

“I
won’t. Promise,” she said and actually returned the hug.

“Can
we go to sleep now? We do have school in the morning,” Elizabeth said from
her SUV.