“Relax, I’m working on it. My father prides himself on
making sound business decisions and right now I’m
plugging you as an asset rather than a liability. It’s got him
thinking.” Jake looked at me, expecting a response, but I
remained silent. “You can thank me anytime you’re ready.”
“Just because I might not have to go back to that infested
hole doesn’t mean I’m any less miserable,” I explained.
“That’s a slight exaggeration,” he said flippantly.
“No, it’s not,” I said, annoyed by his attitude. “I may not be
in pain anymore, but this place is stil my worst nightmare.”
Jake spun around suddenly, his dark eyes on fire.
“What’s it going to take with you, Bethany?” he said in a low
voice. “It seems nothing I do for you is ever good enough.
I’m al out of ideas.”
“What did you expect?”
“A little gratitude wouldn’t go astray.”
“For what? Did you real y think rescuing me and then
flying me like a kite would change anything? I’m stil here
and I stil want to go home.”
“Get over it,” Jake snarled.
“I’l never get over it.”
“Wel , that proves you’re an idiot because I know for a
fact that pretty boy is already over you.”
“He is not!” I retorted hotly. Jake could talk about
whatever he wanted and most of the time it didn’t bother
me, but Xavier was off-limits. Jake had no right to mention
his name let alone presume to know what was happening in
his life.
“Shows how little you know.” Jake was taunting me now.
“Hormonal teenage boys don’t wait around forever. In fact,
they’re short-term thinkers. Didn’t they teach you that in Sex
Ed? It’s out of sight, out of mind with them.”
“You don’t know anything about Xavier,” I said,
determined not to let him get to me. “You have no idea what
you’re talking about.”
“What if I told you I get regular updates about life on
earth?” Jake smirked. “What if your brother and sister have
given up looking for you and Xavier has moved on? He’s
with another girl as we speak … the pretty redhead in fact.
What’s her name again? I
think
you know her … .”
I could feel my temper growing. Did Jake honestly think
he could trick me into doubting the people I loved? How
naive did he think I was?
“I’m tel ing the truth,” he added. “They’ve accepted they
can’t help you. They tried and failed and sadly now they
have to move on.”
“Then why are they going to Alabama to try and find a …”
I swal owed my words immediately, realizing my mistake
seconds too late. I bit my lip and watched as Jake’s brows
lowered darkly and his eyes glittered with rage.
“How could you know that?” he said.
I hoped my face didn’t betray me as I tried desperately to
repair the damage. “I don’t know. I’m just guessing.”
“You’re a very bad liar,” he observed, approaching with
the slow stealth of a panther. “You spoke with total certainty
just then. I’m betting you’ve seen them … maybe even
communicated with them.”
“No … I haven’t …”
“Tel me the truth! Who showed you how?” Jake swept a
crystal vase off a table so it smashed on the floor,
scattering long-stemmed roses. I wished he would calm
down. I wished he hadn’t dismissed Tuck and Hanna. I
didn’t like being alone with him when he was this worked
up.
“No one showed me anything. I figured it out by myself.”
“How many times have you done this?”
“Not many. A few.”
“And every time you were with
him
, right? It’s as if you
never left! I should have known you were up to something. I
was a fool to trust you!” He raised his hands and clawed at
his temples like someone deranged.
“That’s priceless—you talking about trust.” But Jake was
no longer listening.
“You’ve been playing me, making me think we were
growing closer, trying to keep me in the dark about what
was real y going on. I thought if I gave you space and
treated you like a queen you might forget about him. But
you didn’t forget, did you?”
“That’s like asking me to forget who I am.”
“You stil think like a schoolgirl. I thought Hades might
help you mature a little, but I see now the experience has
been wasted on you.”
“It’s an experience I never asked for.”
“You’ve had your last happy reunion—of that you may be
sure.” He’d resumed his usual cynical tone, but the threat
beneath it was real. I knew I should say something to dispel
rather than exacerbate the tension between us.
“Why do we always have to fight?” I ventured. “For once
can’t we try to understand each other?”
Jake shook his head and gave a rueful laugh.
“Wel played, Bethany. You’re quite the actress, but you
can stop now. The game’s up. You had me going for a
while, though. I almost believed you were making an effort. I
should have known better. I should have left you to rot in the
chambers. You’ve put me in a very bad temper.”
“I don’t care,” I said. “Do whatever you like with me, send
me back or hand me over to Lucifer.”
“Oh, you misunderstand me. I’m not going to harm a
single hair on your head,” Jake leered. “But I wil make you
sorry you treated me with so little respect.”
The implication behind his words sent chil s through me.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means travel plans of my own are in order. I think it’s
time I saw firsthand what you’re missing so badly.”
ALTHOUGH Jake had been deliberately vague about his
intentions I knew him wel enough to know he didn’t waste
time making idle threats. He was headed to Tennessee to
get even with me. I didn’t know what he planned to do once
he got there, but I knew he wouldn’t stop until he
succeeded. Being passed over for Xavier just when he
thought he stood a chance must have been a bitter pil for
him to swal ow. Anyone else would have accepted it with
greater dignity. But exacting revenge was the only thing that
was going to satisfy Jake and what better way was there
than targeting the people I loved? There was no way Jake’s
demonic strength was any match for my powerful siblings
and there was little point in him going after Mol y. So that
just left Xavier. My Achil es’ heel. Exposed and vulnerable.
Especial y if Jake caught him alone. And that would be
easy enough to achieve.
If Xavier was in danger there was no time to waste. I
needed to get back to earth and warn him before Jake got
there first.
I couldn’t project right away because my mind kept fil ing
with images of Xavier in trouble and the agitation threw my
focus. In the end I jumped in the shower and turned the cold
water on ful blast. The shock of it cleared my head and
settled my thoughts long enough for me to focus my
energies. The projection happened effortlessly after that.
A moment later I was outside Xavier and Mol y’s room at
the Easy Stay Inn. The window was open a crack so I slid in
like a trail of smoke and hovered below the ceiling fan. Al
was silent apart from the sound of their regular breathing
and the wind chasing some dead leaves around in the
parking lot outside. Mol y was sound asleep in her bed, the
previous drama of the evening erased from her face. Her
resilience never ceased to amaze me. Xavier was much
less comfortable in his sleep. He kept changing position
and even sat up once to thump the pil ows. Before lying
down again he rested on his elbows to check the time on
the digital clock. It read 5:10 A.M. Xavier cast a look
around the room, his turquoise eyes bright in the darkness.
When he final y did drift off to sleep his face stayed
troubled, as though he were fighting battles in his dreams.
I wished I could reach out to comfort him even though I
knew I was the primary cause of his distress. I had turned
his life upside down and now his safety was being
threatened. So far Jake had not disturbed them and for a
fraction of a second I entertained the hope that he might
have been bluffing just to rattle me. But I’d seen the look in
his eyes and I knew better.
The room turned suddenly cold and Mol y pul ed the
covers up over her head. I could hear the sound of wolflike
breathing. I saw it then: A shadow slid into the room with us.
It crept across Mol y’s sleeping form under the duvet and
danced across Xavier’s features.
Sensing the presence, Xavier’s eyes snapped open, and
he swung himself out of bed. His whole body was poised
for a fight. I saw a vein throbbing in his neck and could
almost hear his heart racing.
“Who are you?” he said through gritted teeth as a figure
began to take shape before him. I recognized the curly hair
and baby face even before he had ful y appeared. It was
Diego, dressed formal y in a black suit and tie as though he
were going to a funeral.
“Just an acquaintance,” Diego replied in a lazy voice.
“Jake said you were pretty—he wasn’t lying.”
“What do you want?”
“You’re not very polite for someone I could kil with my
little finger,” Diego said in his slimy, slightly effeminate
voice.
“You do know there’s an archangel and a seraphim next
door, right?” Xavier retorted. “Think maybe they can take
you down?”
Diego gave an empty chuckle. “They were right about
you, just like a lion cub. Kil ing you would be too easy.”
“So do it then,” Xavier hissed and I felt my stomach
plummet to my feet.
Diego cocked his head to one side. “Oh, that’s not why
I’m here. I’ve come to deliver a message.”
“Yeah?” Xavier said without a hint of fear. “Then go
ahead and deliver it.”
“Our sources inform us that you and your angel squad are
trying to pul off a rescue mission,” Diego said, a smirk in
his voice. “I’m here to tel you not to waste your time. You
might as wel cal off the chase. The angel you’re searching
for is dead.”
There was a long silence. Xavier’s heart, which had been
racing just minutes before, seemed to slow down and thud
like a pound of concrete in his chest. But when he opened
his mouth to speak, he didn’t betray a hint of emotion.
“I don’t believe you,” he said in a level voice.
“Had a feeling you might say that,” Diego replied, his
smiling face framed by dark curls. He reached behind him
and produced a rough burlap sack. “So I brought along
some evidence.”
From the sack he withdrew something feathered and
folded. When he shook it loose I saw it was a section of
broken, blood-stained wings.
My wings
. “You can have this
as a keepsake if you like,” he said. What he held up was
twisted and bent and the blood had congealed in parts
causing the feathers to stick together. Diego waved it like a
fan and droplets of blood spattered onto the floor. I saw
Xavier draw a sharp intake of breath and lean forward as if
someone had punched him in the stomach, knocking the
wind out of him. His turquoise eyes darkened, like clouds
rol ing across sky and blotting out the sun.
“Hel hounds,” said Diego, nodding his head in
commiseration. “At least it was quick.”
“Don’t listen to him!” I cried, but my words were lost in the
void that separated us. The desire to be with him fil ed me
so strongly that I thought I would explode through the
confines of my spectral form.
At that moment the door burst open and my brother and
sister appeared. For the first time, a look of true fear
flashed across Diego’s face. I guessed he hadn’t counted
on running into them.
“Did you think we wouldn’t pick up your scent?” Gabriel
asked, his voice drenched with anger. His eyes fel on
Xavier’s face and then the mangled, bloody wings that
Diego’s had dropped on the ground. Ivy saw them too and
an expression of disgust settled on her face.
“You real y are the lowest of the low,” she said.
“I try my best,” Diego said, chuckling.
“Tel me it isn’t true,” Xavier said, his voice choked.
“Nothing but cheap tricks,” Gabriel replied, kicking the
wings aside, as though they were a theater prop.
Xavier let out a low moan of relief and pressed his back
against the wal . I knew how he felt. When I thought Jake
had run him down with the motorcycle, the grief had been
crippling and the relief made me giddy.