A Matter of Time (The Angel Sight Series) (16 page)

“Excuse me, Senator,” Diane interrupted. “We do have a new guest via satellite phone. General Benjamin Caulier. General, are you with us?”

“I am.” The man’s voice was gruff, but not nearly as gruff as the picture they placed next to the senator would suggest. He was older, maybe in his sixties, with white hair and some semblance of a trimmed beard. “I would like the opportunity to answer some of the senator’s questions. The president has not given up on this country. He and his staff are working around the clock. Washington is on top of this. As for your concerns regarding Rayna Evans, I would like to reiterate that she is
not
a wanted fugitive.”

The senator shook her head. “The released records from the San Francisco Police Department state that she is wanted for questioning in two unsolved murders.”

“In this country, Senator, we believe a person is innocent until proven guilty. Wanted for questioning is often for an eyewitness testimony or statement.”

“Next you’ll be saying, General, that her escaping from a Mental Health Clinic isn’t a valid concern for those searching for her. This country has dozens, maybe even hundreds of known terrorists on its soil. Add to that the armed civilians doing their part to try and locate her and our enemies have created a perfect storm, a recipe for disaster. This girl could be working with the terrorists. Another thing, her mental health is obviously not at what we would call ‘normal levels.’”

“Senator, let me first clarify that the U.S. Government does not authorize, support, or encourage civilians taking matters into their own hands. Which is why we have a hotline in place. If you or someone you know believes you’ve come in contact with Rayna Jane Evans”—an eight-hundred number appeared in bold white letters below the general’s picture—“please call this number right away. For those of the population concerned, we are looking for the girl and collecting information. We have things under control.”

“Control is not—”

“If I could finish, Senator? Yes, we are concerned about the mental health of Miss Evans, which is why the National Guard, Army, Navy, Marines, and ground forces of the Air Force have been stationed at several major cities in the U.S.”

I scrubbed a shaky hand across my face and hit the power button on the remote.

“Had enough?” Kade asked, now fully dressed in his previously worn wrinkled denim and damp shirt. “If it makes you feel better, the Fallen have been looking for me too. Just not publicly. I guess they want me for themselves.”

“This just keeps getting better.” My fingers tangled in my wet hair as I stared at the blank TV screen. “How did they manage to shut down the entire country?”

“They have power, numbers. It was easy for them.”

“The borders too? Mexico and Canada?”

Kade nodded.

All of this geography talk reminded me of Cam’s map. I gently plucked the soggy map out of my pocket and unfolded it. The wet paper tore at some of the folds. I laid it out on the table by the window. Most of the blue and red dots had bled through to other parts of the map.

Kade walked up behind me. “Did you lift that from Cam, too?”

“This was the only thing I took from him.” I pieced together the ripped parts and flattened it again.

“That and the emergency contact number I left.”

“Oh, yeah. And that.” I waved a dismissive hand. Stealing was the least of my sins. “Which are the Fallen and which are the angels?”

“I haven’t been following it as closely as Cam, but I’d guess red are the Fallen, and blue are the angels.”

I picked up the face towel I’d used to cool down when I first arrived. It was dry now. I used it to blot the heavily inked sections of the map. “I have to stop this.”

“Not a chance. You’re not gonna give them exactly what they want.” Kade ripped the map out from under me. Part of it stuck to the table. He ended up with three-quarters and left me with the west coast.

I pointed to the black TV screen. “You’ve seen what they’ve done. You know how ruthless they are. They have to be killing humans. Is there a death toll? Have they counted? And—how many of them
are
there? It’s like … all of them from … ”

Another memory surfaced. The masks. The robes. In front of Lucifer’s ice castle. I sank into the nearest chair. “All of the Fallen from Hell. It’s like they’ve all come up. Can they do that? I mean, without Lucien is that possible? Or is he not truly dead?”

“I have no idea what they can do and what they can’t when it comes to Hell. But if Az is the face of this and not Lucien, I think it’s safe to say he’s toast.”

It was a small victory, one I let myself bask in for exactly half a second.

“How many humans have they killed? Kade, how many do they have to kill before I do something about it?”

“It’s not your job to do something about it.”

“You’re wrong. This is my only job! They may have put this thing inside my mother to make her kill the angels, but it’s in
me
now. I’m going to use it the way I want. Against them. I’ll take out every last one of them. One by one if I have to.”

“I’m not letting you do this.”

“I’m not asking for permission. I’ve made up my mind.”

“This whole time, all I’ve been trying to do is keep you safe. Maybe Cam implanted this idiotic hero complex inside you when he—”

“This is what I need to do. I’m sorry, Kade, but I … I have to go.”

“Where? Anywhere you go, you’ll be seen and captured—or killed.”

“I have to go … ”

I looked down at the map. At the biggest purple splotch on the map. San Francisco. I looked back at him, at the tall, angry mess of him.

“I have to go home.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

Kade

If any other person on this Earth wanted to throw their life away trying to fight the Fallen, I’d gladly stand aside and watch them fail. But Ray wasn’t any other person. And she was freaking me the fuck out because nothing I said seemed to make any sense to her. She’d made her decision.

“I hate this,” I muttered again, in case she didn’t hear me the first fifty times.

Ray kept that indignant look in her eyes. “It’s what I have to do.”

“I would have done anything to keep you out of this. Anything. You can still walk away.” Why couldn’t she just understand?

“Maybe now. But where am I going to go when there’s nothing left? I would have let everyone down. Laylah, my dad, Lee. Everyone.”

I sighed. None of them were worth half of her. “I hate it. I absolutely hate it, but if you’re doing this stupid shit, I’m going with you.”

“I can’t let you—”

“It’s not up for discussion.” I dropped onto the lumpy mattress and looked at her. The purple circles under her eyes, the rings on her tired face. “We can get an early start in the morning—if that’s okay with you.”

“Okay,” she agreed. “One last night.”

With me still watching, she peeled off her top and hung it over one of the chairs. The cotton was still damp from her shower. I averted my gaze, but could still see her rolling her wet shorts down her legs from the corner of my eye. She draped those over the back of the other chair. She walked around the foot of the mattress where I sat, wearing nothing but her bra and underwear, and crawled into bed.

What are you doing to me?

Blood roared in my ears. When I was sure I had myself under control, no trace of gray in my vision, I stood and looked at her.

She sat up on the side of the bed, the sheet pulled up to her chest, holding it there with one hand. “If this is really our last night … like this … ”

I shook my head, not ready to hear another damn word out of her mouth right now.

“Kade, I don’t want to wait any longer.” She moved forward, kneeling in the center of the bed. And she dropped her hand. The sheet pooled by her knees.

I looked at her, her face, her body, dressed in so little, taking it all in. Then I cast my eyes down again. “Ray, I—you have no idea how much I want you, but—not like this. When this is all over—”

“What if we don’t make it that far?” The concern in her voice made me look at her again. Her eyes held so much. Pain, despair, struggle. And maybe even secrets of her own. Things she hadn’t told me. Things she was dealing with alone.

“I can’t. I just can’t.” It was better this way.

Her face fell. Her hand gripped the sheet by her side.

I knelt in front of her and kissed her forehead. When some of the tension left her body, I scooped her into a hug, waiting until her head dropped onto my shoulder. “I just want to be close to you. It doesn’t have to go any farther than that.” And it couldn’t if I intended to keep my hunger under wraps.

Ray looked up at me, defeated and exhausted. She nodded.

“Let’s get some sleep.” I pulled the sheet up for her and waited for her lay down.

She curled up in a ball at the far edge of the bed with her back to me. I yanked my shirt over my head, discarding it on the floor, opting to leave my jeans on. After her attempt at seduction, the more fabric between us, the better. I crawled into bed and pulled her toward me, flipping her around to face me.

I whispered to her, much like we had during those short nights in Hell. They were never long enough. “Just promise me you’ll be careful. I couldn’t stand if anything ever happened to you.”

She lifted her head off my shoulder, the beginnings of an argument firing behind her eyes.

Something between a chuckle and full-blown begging made my voice shake. “Even if it’s empty, just promise me. It’ll make me feel better.”

Ray kissed my cheek. “I promise I’ll try.” She snuggled back into me.

Her fingers grazed my bare stomach. I twined my fingers with hers, trying not to think about how she just threw herself at me, or how she looked doing it.

“Should I be afraid?” she asked.

I stiffened, afraid she could sense my hunger. “Of what?” I asked eventually, desperate to know what she saw in me, resigned to hear the kind of monster she saw on the outside.

“Sleeping. With Azriel back on Earth.”

The last time that combination came together, Az had coaxed her dreams. She ended up smashing my car’s window and slicing her arm open under his influence the day after I broke her out of the mental hospital.

I stroked her hair, hoping it would soothe her. “Most of our power comes from our wings. Without them we’re practically powerless. Except for our influence; that comes straight from the heart.”

Powerless. If only I could have left the desire to feed with my wings back in Hell. “He won’t be invading your dreams. You’re safe.”

She hummed an acknowledgment and within minutes her breath was slow and even. She was out, sleeping the sleep of the dead.

I released her hand and reached over, switching on the TV, keeping the volume low. I watched for an update, but it was still the same old crap. I turned it back off and closed my eyes, listening to her breathe, doing my best to keep the black out of my eyes and the hunger off my mind.

***

Ray folded up what was left of the ruined map and slid it into her back pocket while I slid the car keys off the table.

“So,” she said, “you’re not going to talk to me at all today?”

I stood there, stone faced.

“This is going to be a really long drive if you refuse—”

Last night I’d done everything I could to be a gentleman—which, to be honest, who knew I had it in me?—and this morning I doubled my efforts when I woke up next to her smelling of soap and some sweet scent I couldn’t put my finger on. With her legs tangled up with mine, and her wearing so damn little.

Now, I couldn’t take it anymore. I walked up to her and kissed her the way she deserved to be kissed. Thoroughly, passionately. When I pulled away, her fingers were threaded in my hair.

She gave me the kind of smile that could stop a cursed heart. Her cheeks flushed an adorable pink. “I guess I can handle the silent treatment if it goes down like this.”

I might have cracked a smile at that, too. Then I made myself move toward the door. If I hadn’t, we might not have left the motel room today. At all. In fact, all I could think about as I turned the doorknob was that kiss, and what I really wanted to do about it, which was drag her into bed and never let her leave.

That would lead to my hunger raging out of control. In my mind I could already see Ray collapsed on the floor, whether unconscious or dead I couldn’t tell. Keeping my distance from here on out would be better for the both of us.

“We need Cam,” Ray said behind me.

I closed the door the inch I had opened it and turned. “What?”

“Well
that
got you talking. Yeah, Cam.” The amount of attitude she injected almost distracted me enough not to retort. Almost.

“No. No way.”

“We have to at least talk to him now that I remember more. He was with the angels—with Elyon. He has to know more than we do.”

“You’re asking a lot.” I tried to keep my voice even. Not sure it worked.

A defiant glint ignited in her eyes. “Of him or of you?”

“Both,” I spat.

She was with him for almost two months. Him, not me. What else could she possibly want with the golden boy? I pressed my hand against the door, searching for control. Finding none, I approached her anyway. “Mostly of him,” I lied. We both knew I cared more about myself.

The smile on her face was so far gone I couldn’t remember what it looked like. “Then Cam can tell me that himself.”

I might have been proud of her, if she wasn’t wasting her newfound spunk by fighting with me.

She pivoted around me, opened the door, and walked out into the open sky with zero concerns of being recognized as the girl on the news. Good to know she wasn’t letting her anger get in the way of her safety. I followed her out, closing the door behind me.

Ray stopped at the passenger side of my
borrowed
SUV, still the only car in the lot. There was a good chance she hadn’t been spotted by the man working the front desk yet.