A Slither of Hope (13 page)

The tires screeched, spinning on the damp streetcar tracks, and off we went. With my hand still levering Kade's wing down, I peeked out the rear window, watching as the Fallen got farther and farther away.

“Where to?” the cab driver asked, not sounding even a smudge angry about being yelled at.

Kade knocked my arm away and sat up, scooting to the edge of his seat. In the rearview mirror I spotted that familiar blackness leech into his eyes. “Just get us across the Golden Gate Bridge as fast as you can.”

The driver nodded.

I sat up straighter in my seat. “I don't want to leave town.”

“Right now you don't have a choice. We have to put as much distance between us and them as we can.”

I wouldn't argue with him. Not this time. If leaving town right now would stop him from killing more of his own kind, I was all for it. Murder, even of a Fallen, was still murder. They had been angels once too, put on the Earth to help humans. Maybe not all of them had been as strong as Kade, or as driven to stay off Lucifer's radar. Did that mean their lives were worth nothing?

Every time I closed my eyes, I saw that Fallen's neck snapping, imagining Kade's face there between the hands of an enemy.

I shuddered.

“You cold?”

I shook my head.

He nodded, understanding, the way he usually did. Interesting, how he understood humans so well when Cam knew next to nothing about our emotions. The difference between living among them for so many years and just visiting, I had to assume.

“You killed him.” I hadn't intended to say it, but the words were rotating in my head along with the accompanying gruesome images.

He fished in my jacket pocket and pulled out a few napkins. Kade had his wings tucked as far away as he could. The lights outside the cab passed quickly, only allowing brief glances as he wiped his hands. We finally stopped at a red light and I noticed he was rubbing blood off his hands. When he was done, he wiped mine too. It must have transferred when he grabbed my hand back at the venue. I numbly let him.

When he snapped that Fallen's neck, his hands had been clean. That I remembered clear enough. What had happened when I lost sight of him? “Were there more when we got separated?” A blockbuster-style action scene played over in my head. There had to be more, otherwise where did the blood come from?

“No. Not that I saw, at least. Breaking a Fallen's neck won't kill them. I had to drag him around the corner to finish him off.” He avoided looking at his hands again, or at me. No, Kade kept his eyes trained on the road, as if he were the one driving. “In the future, if we ever get backed into a situation like that again, there are only two ways to kill a Fallen. One is by removing the head completely from the spine. The other is a knife through the heart.”

If he thought I'd ever be capable of plunging a dagger through the heart of anyone, he didn't know me very well at all. “There's already been enough death.”

“And since Elyon is in town,” he added, ignoring me, “you’ll need to know how to kill an angel, too. They can only be taken down by full decapitation. Their spines are stronger than steel. It isn't an easy task, but it is possible. And before you go getting all righteous on me, just remember, angel or Fallen, they won't hesitate. If their orders are to bring you to Hell or kill you, that's what they'll do. And you know they aren't above using anyone you know or love to get to you. Don't ever forget that.” He glanced at the cab driver, whose hands were shaking on the wheel, and whispered, “Oh, and by the way, you won't remember where you've gone or what you've heard in here.”

Blind acceptance crossed the driver's face. His eyes glossed over, but he kept driving.

Kade's words were still barreling into me, finding new puncture wounds to invade and terrify. I thought about asking which method he'd chosen to eliminate the Fallen, heart or head, but quickly realized I didn't want to know. It killed a little piece of me inside, but he was right. Az hadn't waited before killing my classmates, threatening my family, or going after Lee. “I get that, but wasn't it you that told me when you first started teaching me defensive maneuvers that there's a time to fight and a time to run?”

He grunted his acceptance. “It was quick thinking, I'll give you that, but running won't work forever.”

“If we can avoid it, how about no more death?”

Kade shook his head almost imperceptibly. “There's going to be a lot more death on the way. You haven't seen what the Fallen army can really do.”

Speaking of what people can do. Now might be the time to spill the beans about that weird explosion thing. “I—” My voice croaked. I tried to clear it without tasting an acrid tinge of bile, and failed. “Something else happened today. Something you need to know about.” The story came out of my mouth slowly, building up to the explosion that knocked out the guy that grabbed me.

When I was done Kade said nothing for a long time—which was pretty damn rare for him. Until we turned onto Lombard street. “I don't feel them anymore.”

“Good, then we can go home.”

He looked at me with a strange cursory glint in his eye.

“What?” I asked.

“That's the first time you called it home.”

A hot blush flooded into my freezing cheeks. “Well, it's starting to feel that way.”

“I hate to ruin the moment, but we can't yet. We have to be careful. And… I need to talk to Cam.”

My eyes nearly bugged out of my head. “Say that again?”

“Call him.”

I pulled out my burner phone, tapping my fingers against the sides instead of the numbered buttons. “I don’t know, Kade. Every time you and Cam get together it doesn’t really end well.”

The stone, I-won’t-be-changing-my-mind-on-this-one face told me there wasn’t room for negotiation.

Shaking my head, I dialed the number Cam had given me. The instant he picked up, Kade snatched the phone from my hand.

“Cam, we need to meet. We were chased by Fallen and one tried to attack us. In public. An entire crowd of people saw him fly.”

Cam spoke on the other line, but his mumbles were all I could hear.

Kade's eyes narrowed. “We're heading to Muir Woods. Meet us there as soon as you can.” He clicked the “end” key and dropped the phone into my waiting hand.

“Do me a favor and don't mention anything about Elyon. I want to see if he'll bring it up or hide it from me. And about your…” He exhaled, a different kind of sigh, one that sounded heavy and complex. “…wing explosion, I wouldn't tell anyone else about that until we find out what it is and what it does.”

I nodded, agreeing to both bait the trap for Cam and to keep my secret, not feeling good about either. But I had my own hopes for the meeting with Cam. After literally staring death in the face tonight, I realized I was sick of everything in my life being up in the air, floating just out of reach. Tonight, one way or another, that had to change. To start, I’d find out everything Cam knew about Elyon. Whatever I couldn’t get from him, I’d read up on, find out on my own. The cherry on top would be to finally try to understand what I felt for Cam, and how that factored into what I was starting to feel for Kade.

Chapter Sixteen

Rayna

The air inside the locked gate of Muir Woods wasn't just cold, it was frost on my skin and ice boring through my bones. By the time Cam arrived I could barely feel my face, fingers, or toes. Watching him swoop in on those white wings with the moonlight glinting off them in the clearing of the trees was a sight to be sure. A sight that did nothing for me, sure, but a sight nonetheless.

“Took you long enough,” Kade called out before Cam's feet touched down on the muddy walking path Kade and I had been sloshing around in for nearly an hour.

“Some of us have purposes here and can't just pick up whenever we want to.” He breezed by Kade toward me. “Rayna, are you okay?”

“Cold as hell, but fine.”

“The attack.” Cam looked from me to Kade. “What happened?”

“It started with one. We got away. Saw more. Tried to hide. One found us. He flew for everyone to see. His sights were set on Ray. I snapped his neck. End of story.” Kade's simplicity left a lot to be desired in the storytelling department.

“You snapped his neck?” Cam asked, brows raised. “So you didn't finish the job.”

“I killed one of my own, finished him with a knife. You'd better hope you never have to learn what that feels like,
brother
.” The last word was saturated with sickness, ending with a bitter finish.

“So you knew him, the one you…”

“No.” The usual confidence in Kade's voice was missing. “But that's not the point.”

Cam's hand absently rubbed the back of my jacket—technically Kade's jacket since he'd draped it over mine not long after we soared in.

From the slight twitch in Kade's upper lip, I think it was safe to say he wasn't fond of this. “Your turn,” Kade fired back at Cam.

Cam's hand dropped away from me and he spun on Kade. “You called me here. What is it you want me to say?”

“That's exactly what I thought you'd say. C'mon, Ray.”

“No, I don't think so.” I planted my feet despite the sloshing, sucking sound. “We came here for a reason. So talk.”

Cam and Kade exchanged glances. Eventually, Kade admitted, “There were more Fallen outside. A group of them.”

“There are more angels, too.”

I watched Kade's face, half shrouded in darkness. This was what he was waiting for: whether he could truly trust Cam or not. He held his tongue and waited, giving Cam ample time to admit just who was among the newest earthbound angels. “How many?”

“I'm…not sure.” Kade's eyes narrowed at Cam's answer, but Cam never would have seen it since he'd turned back to me. “Are you sure you're okay?” The heat of his eyes barreled down on me, making me squirm almost as much as Kade's did, because he was watching, too. Like a freaking hawk.

“I'm fine.” My voice was edged like a sword. The angels and Fallen were descending on San Francisco and these two still couldn't get passed their stupid growing pains toward each other.

“There aren't just angels,” Cam finally admitted, looking over his shoulder at Kade. “A Seraphim is here, too.”

The muscles around Kade’s eyes twitched. “Who?”

Cam swallowed and tensed his jaw. “Elyon.”

To his credit, Kade kept his mask in place, not giving anything away. Silence, thick and biting, wedged between them before Kade said, “It isn't safe for her in the city.”

“What?” I interjected.

“No,” Cam and I answered at the same time.

Kade clapped his hand on Cam's shoulder and spun him around. I stepped to the side to avoid being knocked over by his wings. “Why wouldn't you want her away from Elyon and properly protected? What game are you playing?”

Cam shucked Kade's grip off his shoulder and shoved Kade back a good foot, sending a particularly large spray of mud onto the bottom of his jeans. “The only game I'm playing is strategy. If Ray disappears, Elyon will get suspicious. He knows she and I are close now. His orders were to keep an eye on her, to keep her close.”

“Use your head. Why do think he wants her close?”

“In all honesty I don't know. That's why
I
want to keep her close. I need to find out what he's up to and I can't do that if I don't have his complete trust.”

“And what about your trust?” I asked. Both of them whirled on me, a pack of dogs interrupted in the middle of a precarious greeting. “I mean, you wouldn't have come if you trusted Elyon completely.”

“Or he would have come and brought back up,” Kade added, searching the sky.

Exhausted, my shoulders slumped as I titled my head at Kade. “He wouldn't do that.” In my heart I believed this.

“How do you know that, princess? Because you shared a kiss? You think that even begins to make your loyalty competition for his top-tier superior?”

“I've hurt Rayna enough. I understand that,” Cam said without looking up.

“Yeah, it takes a big angel to admit his faults,” Kade prodded, stepping closer to Cam. “Maybe next time instead of leaving her dad open to attack and then making out with her, you could get her sister killed and try to bed her.”

Cam swung at Kade, his fist connecting with his cheekbone. Kade's head snapped to the side before he lunged at Cam, tackling him to the ground.
Not again.
Mud splashed up from their tangling bodies, covering them so completely it was nearly impossible to tell who was who in the dark forest. I crossed my arms. Might as well let them fight it out here and now so they could get over this dumb macho crap they'd been carrying on about. At least here no one would see them, and in the mud no one was bound to be seriously injured.

I rolled my eyes toward the sky and thought I caught sight of something high up in the trees. It shifted, closing in toward the center of the massive redwood where it would be better protected by the branches. A heavy breeze surged inland. Thick black smoke plumed in, dark clouds deepening the night sky. Was I imagining it or could that shape have been someone watching our little exchange?

A deep crack sounded, jolting my attention back to the boys. In the distance, and well off the clearly marked pathway, one brown form twisted and threw the other against the trunk of a tree. Another crack, this one louder than before. Then rustling. Followed by several smaller cracks and movement. One of the ancient redwoods, taller than most of the skyscrapers in San Francisco, and probably older than the city itself, snapped and began to tip back, away from the paths, taking several more with it on its way down.

What did these majestic trees ever do to them? “That's it,” I shouted, already noting the lack of movement between them. “Two things are going to happen.” I waited until they started sloshing their way back. “You two are going to back off each other and someone's taking me home. To San Francisco. And, like, now would be good 'cause it's freaking freezing.”

“No, not now.” I still couldn't tell the difference between them, even as they both returned to the walking path, but I recognized Kade’s voice when I heard him.