Your Soul to Take (Rise of the Fallen) (20 page)

Chapter 28

I
opened the front door and closed it like I had just come home. Mom popped her
head out from the kitchen and said, “Hi, honey. How was your day?”

“Interesting.
I’m gonna catch a quick nap before dinner.”

“Okay,
baby. Everything okay?”

“Yeah.
I’m just tired.”

She
nodded and I ran up my newly repaired stairs. They seemed solid enough. The
bright side is I seemed to have mastered the use of my magic. Raven’s teachings
really helped, and I didn’t burn the house down fixing anything.

I
opened my bedroom door, saw my comfy looking bed, and stopped dead in my tracks
as my phone started ringing in my pocket. I pulled it out and swiped the screen
without really looking to see who was calling.

“Connor?”

It
was my sister. “Yeah?”

“Elizabeth
and I are being followed.”

I
actually growled. This shit was getting ridiculous. “Where are you?”

“Mall,
by the food court. We keep moving but don’t want to leave. The place is
packed.”

“Good.
Stay there. I’ll find you. See if Clarisse is working.”

“Shit,
I didn’t even think of that.”

“Call
me if she is and hang out with her. I’ll be there in five.”

The
line went dead and she hung up without saying goodbye. I stuffed my phone in my
pocket and ran back downstairs.

Mom
popped her head out of the kitchen. “I thought you were taking a
nap?”

“Can’t.
Meeting Cae at the mall.”

“I
want you both home for dinner.”

“Don’t
worry. We’ll be back shortly,” I said as I ran out the door. I grabbed the
scooter and drove to the mall as fast as the little engine would take me.

I
parked and ran to the entrance, pulling it open and letting the warm air and
food court smells wash over me. My stomach growled in response and I told it to
shut the hell up. My phone rang again and I pulled it out of my pocket. Looking
briefly at Cae’s face, I answered.

“Is
she working?”

“No.
I’m getting a very bad feeling.”

“I’m
here. Head toward the food court again. I’ll meet you halfway. Stay on the
line.”

I
heard her tell Elizabeth where to go and then listened to the sounds of the
mall echoing through the headset on my phone. Finally, I spotted them in front
of Northern Candle Company. I nodded and hung up. I could see the relief on my
sister’s face when she spotted me.

“Where
are they?”

“I
don’t know. She was behind a column by Angelique’s, but disappeared when I
called you.”

“It
was a she?”

“Yeah.”

“Did
you know her?”

“No.
But it was definitely a woman.”

I
nodded and decided not to tell her about the vampire hunter who had showed up
at our house. “Come on. Let’s go home. Mom’s making spaghetti.”

“Is
it safe to leave?”

“You’re
with me. All’s good.”

She
gave me a brief look of disbelief, but shrugged and turned to Elizabeth. “Dinner?”

“Your
mom’s spaghetti? Hell yeah.”

“Where
did you guys park?”

“The
entrance by Hot Topic,” Liz answered. I nodded and let her lead the way. I
figured riding home with them would be better and mentally banished my scooter.

As
we walked, I let the space between us grow and moved off to the side, keeping
an eye on them. Caelyn kept shooting me nervous glances but I made a walking
gesture with my fingers. I wanted to see if I could spot whoever was following
them.

We
made it to the exit without anyone showing themselves. I was actually a little
disappointed. I didn’t like the idea of whoever was following my sister, still
out there.

“Cae.
I know I’m your icky brother, but don’t go anywhere without me for a while
okay?” I looked at Liz to make sure she knew that included her, too.

“Why?”

“Just
trust me on this one, okay?”

She
stopped dead in her tracks, put her hands on her hips, and stared me right in
the eye. “What’s going on?”

I
took a deep breath and decided to spill it. “Someone showed up at the
house today and practically destroyed it looking for you.”

“Who?”

“One
of the Chosen who claimed to be their vampire hunter. He didn’t like the idea
of an un-contracted blood sucking teenager running around town sucking the life
out of everybody.”

“What?”

I
sighed. I’d tried to make a joke to make her smile, but she just looked totally
confused. “You became a vampire without contracting your soul to get it.
They no likey.”

“Oh.
Did you tell them they could make me human again and shut the hell up?”

The
fierceness in her voice broke my heart. “If it were possible, Cae, I would
have already done it.”

She
softened her expression. “I know. I just wish you’d let me
make
the
damn contract. It’s worth it to me. I wish you would get that.”

“What?”
Elizabeth joined the conversation, not knowing about our earlier discussion on
the merits of soul selling.

“I
told him I’d sell my soul to be human again. He won’t let me. The big
jerk.”

Liz
nodded in understanding. “You’re being selfish.”

My
sister and I both turned and stared at her. My sister asked, “Which
one?”

“If
you want my honest answer… Both of you.”

“Huh?”

“Cae.
Your brother is just trying to keep you safe and that means both in this world
and the next. It’s why he doesn’t want you to sell your soul. Connor, your
sister didn’t ask for this. She doesn’t want to be a vampire. Hell, I don’t
want to be a vampire. Wishing for this was the stupidest thing I’ve ever done.
Especially now that Jenny is gone. I feel like part of me died with her. Top
that off with a big old side of ‘she’s being hunted
because
she’s a
vampire’ and you’ve got a big mess on your hands. If she were human again,
there wouldn’t be a problem.”

I
sighed and closed my eyes. She had sort of hit the nail on the head. I nodded
and looked at my sister.
Really
looked at her. “Is that what you
want?”

“Yes!”

“You
realize once you die, your soul will belong to the Fallen. I don’t even know
what that really means, but it could be bad.”

“Could
it be worse if I ended up with the Chosen? Could it be worse if I ended up just
wandering around the universe?”

“I
don’t know.”

“You’re
a Fallen. I trust you to look out for me when I die.”

That
made me smile. “You know I will, brat.”

“Then
yes. That’s what I want.”

“Okay.
I’ll talk to Clarisse.”

That
put a gleam in my sister’s eye.
“Thank you!”

“You’re
welcome. Let’s go home. I’ll call her on the way.”

I
turned and headed toward Liz’s SUV. “Tell her that her boss is pissed
off.”

Without
turning, I asked, “Why?”

“Because
she didn’t show up for work even though she was supposed to close.”

I
stopped moving. The world stopped turning. My heart stopped beating.
“Cae…”

Cae
stopped walking and looked at me. Realization hit her hard. “No. This is
Claire we’re talking about. She’s like uber-badass. She’s fine. I’m sure of it.
Right?”

The
more she spoke the more unsure she became. I closed my eyes and thought of
Clarisse. Usually when I did that it sort of opened a link between us. All the
Fallen could communicate that way. I wasn’t good enough to do it yet, but I
could usually see where she was and what she was doing. This time I could tell
she was there, but that was it. Nothing but blackness. She was either asleep or
in trouble. I sincerely doubted she would miss work to take a nap. “She’s
in trouble. She’s alive but in trouble.”

“Where?”

“I
don’t know. Come on. Let’s go home. I’ll keep trying and try to get ahold of
Darius.”

We
piled into the Explorer and Liz gunned it toward my house. I kept trying to
picture Darius in my head, but without
any
luck. He was in the realms of
the Fallen. I had no idea how to contact him there. I even went so far as to
try Raven. I had the same amount of luck.

By
the time we were inside and seated with plates of spaghetti in front of us, I
was in a near state of panic. I didn’t even remember filling my plate. But then
again, maybe I hadn’t. Cae was looking at me worriedly. Maybe she filled it for
me.

My
parents were talking animatedly and Liz seemed to be doing her best to keep
them occupied. I tried picturing Clarisse for the thousandth time. She seemed
to be getting weaker. So did my heart.

I
growled and pushed my food away from me. Standing, I left the dinner table
ignoring the shouted questions from my parents. I only had one option left and
I had no idea if he would even help me. I walked out the front door, ran down
the street a bit, and launched myself into the air.

It
took only a few minutes to fly to Jessie’s. I landed in her front lawn and
pounded on the door without even banishing my wings. Mr. James opened the door,
took one look at me, and opened it even wider. “Come in.”

“Thanks.”

“What’s
wrong?”

“I
don’t even know where to start. Something’s killed one of my sister’s friends
when it was attacking my sister, one of the Chosen’s vampire hunters showed up
at the house looking for my sister, my house got nearly destroyed in the
process, and now Clarisse is missing. She’s alive but in trouble.”

“You
wouldn’t happen to know anything about this would you, Cabriel?”

I
turned and saw the snobby bastard sitting in the big leather chair in Mr.
James’ living room. Jessie came skidding down the stairs. She saw me and my
wings and knew something was wrong. “What is it?”

“Claire
is missing.”

She
turned and stared at Chuck, too. All three of us stood there and watched the
smug expression on his face. “No. I did not have anything to do with the
missing Fallen. Nor did any of the Chosen. That would be a breach of the
accords.”

“Tell
that to the one whose ass I kicked after he nearly destroyed my house.”

“What?”

“You
heard me. He was there after my sister.”

“Your
sister is the rogue vampire?”

“Ha!
I would hardly call my sister a rogue anything. She doesn’t even want to be a
vampire.”

“That
is of little consequence. She is an un-contracted immortal. She cannot be
allowed to continue.”

“She’s
my sister and if you touch her, I’ll beat your ass back to Valhalla.
Prick.”

He
stood and called his blade. Mr. James moved so fast I didn’t even see it. He
had Chuck in a one-handed grip against the wall. “Not in my house. Get
out.”

He
physically set Charles down on the ground and dragged him to the front door by
his throat. I resisted the urge to cheer. Jess wrapped her arms around me.

“Do
you think she’s okay?”

“She’s
alive, but not able to answer me. All I see is blackness.”

“You
can see her?”

“Only
what she’s doing. I haven’t gotten the whole telepathy thing down yet.”

Mr.
James tossed the Chosen out on his front lawn and slammed the door shut.
“If you can’t see her, she must be unconscious.”

“I
figured that much. Caelyn was being stalked at the mall. She called me and I
told her to find Clarisse at work. Her boss told her she never showed up. I had
a bad feeling…and well you know the rest.”

“Indeed,”
Mr. James spoke softly.

“What
are you going to do?”

“I
don’t know. It’s why I came here. I was hoping your dad would have a
suggestion.”

“Have
you contacted Darius?”

“I…”
I took a moment to blush. “I don’t know how. He’s in the Realms.”

“Simply
close your eyes and picture him in your mind’s eye–”

I
opened my mouth to interrupt, but he stopped me.

“I
know you cannot see him. Picture him and simply call his name. He will hear
your call.”

“Oh,”
I said bashfully. I did as he said and pictured Darius in all his scary glory.
I must have also been more worried about Clarisse than I thought. My worry
conveyed my need to speak with Darius. I whispered his name and it came out
like a clap of thunder. The walls of the James Mansion shook with the power of
his name.

There
was a flash of light and Darius stood in the middle of the room, looking around
bewilderedly. Mr. James cleared his throat and said, “Not what I was
expecting, but welcome, Darius.”