Fall From Grace (20 page)

“Gaby, we spoke about this. You need to
refer to me as Principal Mastema in the halls. The other kids may
taunt you if they believe you’re one of my favorites. Which of
course you are.”

The words flowed into her ears, but Gaby
couldn’t focus on them.

“Gaby, what is it?” The Prim sat on the
corner of her desk staring down at her. It took all of Gaby’s
concentration to just not drool; how would she make it through an
interrogation?

Words, yes, she needed to speak. “Just
tired.” Yeah, that made sense. She’d been sick.

“Gaby, are you on something? Your eyes are
dilated slightly.” She leaned in. “They’re drugging you. Are they
insane?”

“They?” Gaby struggled to keep up.

“Your father; the others. Do they not know
who you are? You can’t be zoned out of your mind.” Prim grabbed
Gaby’s purse and started rummaging through it. The pill bottle
rattled inside. “Anti-psychotics? Are they serious? Gaby, what are
they trying to do?” Prim shook her. “Tell me.”

Gaby toed the laminate coating at the foot
of Prim’s desk.

“You can’t take these.” She tossed the
bottle in the trashcan. The thump meant it was an empty trashcan,
right?

“Snap out of it. What did you see? I know
you saw something, or they wouldn’t have drugged you.”

“Demon. Darkness. Trapped souls.” Something
told Gaby she should shut her mouth, but what did it matter. What
did any of it matter?

“You know how to free the trapped souls?”
The Prim knelt in front of her.

Wait, how did the principal know about souls
and demons? Why didn’t she hand her back the pills and tell her to
take a few more? Everything was so fuzzy. “How?”

“How do I know? Because I’m one of you. A
warrior from Heaven, sent to protect you.”

“They think you’re a demon.” Gaby
concentrated on her words, trying to form a sentence.

“Fools. You know better, don’t you Gaby? You
trust me, right?” Prim squeezed her arms. “I’m going to keep you
safe, trust me. We need to get out of here until your mind
clears.”

The Prim stood and grabbed her purse. Keys
jingled and she helped Gaby from the chair. “Let’s go. Trust me.
I’ll take good care of you.” Prim kept repeating as they made their
way through the back entrance to the principal’s parking spot.
“We’ll get out of town for awhile. You can tell me all you know
about freeing the trapped souls.”

The first bell rang and Gaby’s legs stopped.
“I need to get to class.”

“No. You need to come with me.”

She’d missed two days of school already, and
after overhearing Bruce and Alexander talking about drawing
attention to herself, she decided to go to school. She needed to
make an appearance. That was why she came.

“I’ll mark that you attended school. Don’t
worry, I’ll take care of you Gaby. I’ll love you like a daughter.
Your mother would want you to go with me. Trust me.”

A flicker of some sensation ran down her
arms, but it wasn’t strong enough to make out what it meant. “No, I
need to go to class.” Gaby took two steps back, but Prim grabbed
her arm. Nails dug into her skin.

“You’re coming with me right now. There’s no
time to argue.” Prim opened the passenger door and shoved her
inside.

The driver’s door slammed a second later.
Gaby reached for the handle but the locks snapped shut. Prim shoved
the key in the ignition and the engine revved.

Even in her state, a small inkling of fear
gnawed at her. She scanned the horizon, but didn’t see anything but
dark clouds moving in from the coast. If something did attack,
would the meds be enough to suppress her powers before she burned
The Prim alive?

“Need to get out. Don’t want to hurt you.”
Gaby managed and reached for the door handle again. Prim grabbed
her hand, and fire shot up her arm. Pain woke a part of her that
rested, and a singe of anger ebbed to the surface.

Prim steered the car out of the parking
space and onto Old Highway Nine. “Sorry, but I need you to wake up.
When did you take the last pill?”

Gaby yanked her arm away. “Two hours.”

The car swerved onto a long driveway.
Nothing was too far away in Kemp. A large white, modern home stood
at the end. “You’re not going to like this, but I need you
coherent. Too much is at stake and the others will find you soon.
That boyfriend of yours is such a problem.”

Boyfriend? Alex?
He’d been by her
side day and night. The way she referred to him made him sound
evil. “He took care of me.”

“Took care of you?” Prim hoisted her out of
the car and led her to the front door. “He drugged you.”

She was right. He’d given her the pills
she’d managed to avoid for almost a year. It was for protection,
though. She almost set fire to them all again. “He tried to protect
me.”

“Protect you? He’s ruining everything. He
doesn’t trust that you can handle your abilities, but you can,
Gaby. You are the chosen one. The only being that can free the
trapped souls. An army—”

“No, I can’t. I’m not in control. Something
could go wrong.”

Prim unlocked the front door and ushered her
inside. The walls, sofa, and floor were all white. Prim guided Gaby
to the couch, backing her up until her legs hit the sofa and her
knees buckled, sending her plummeting to her seat. The white
leather sofa squealed beneath her weight. It faced the large
windows with a clear view of the ocean
. How much did principal’s
make?

“You are the key to everything. Now listen,
this is going to hurt, but you need to sober up so you can
concentrate.” The principal pressed a hand to Gaby’s temple and the
other on her leg. A jolt of heat shot into her.

She bucked, but Prim’s grip only tightened
on her leg. A heated restraint slapped across her chest. Prim’s
perfume intensified, and a floral aroma broke through the fog.
Alexander had said something about the principal’s perfume. He
believed it masked a demonic odor. Gaby sniffed, but coughed at the
overwhelming intrusion of flowers.

The restraint turned from uncomfortable to
fire. “Hurts! Stop!” Gaby cried-out, but it only intensified more.
“I-won’t-free-demons.”

The roaring blaze shot through her body in
one engulfing ball of lava. Her insides twisted and turned in
protest. “Stop, please.”

Heat pulsed inside her head, and the images
of her last vision flashed. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to
keep them out, but they continued faster until it appeared more
like a movie.

Cool, damp air flooded her face and body,
and she opened her eyes to see The Prim on the floor. Gaby’s legs
seized, and she rubbed the palm of her hand down each thigh trying
to relax the muscles.

Prim lifted herself up onto a glass coffee
table. “Sorry, there was no choice. It would have gone smoother if
I had more time, but do you see that storm out there? It’s the
master demon and its close. We need to free the souls to
fight.”

Gaby’s mind was clear. A zing of fear shot
through her, and she bolted up from the couch on wobbly legs, only
to fall back again. “What have you done? What are you?” Gaby
scanned the oversized white room. No pictures of family or
knickknacks scattered around the space. Sterile…uninviting.

Prim shot across the room to the
floor-to-ceiling window. “Shoot, your
boyfriend
is on his
way. Listen to me.” She took three giant steps and grabbed Gaby’s
arms so tight it cut off blood flow. “Free the souls. It’s our only
choice.”

Gaby swallowed hard. “Are you a…?”

“Demon? Does it really matter what I say?
Your friends have already passed judgment. Although, you’d think
your boyfriend would have learned from past mistakes.”

“You didn’t answer my question.” Gaby shoved
her hands from her arms and stood up, this time taking care not to
topple over.

“I’m not a minion from hell. Trust me.
Heaven needs you. You’re their only hope. Heck, you’re the only
hope for all of Heaven and Earth. You’ve got to release the
souls.”

“Even if I knew how, it’s too
dangerous.”

A crack etched down the length of two
windows in a spidery line. Glass shattered and a typhoon of air
blew Gaby backwards over the coach. The front door flung open.
Brilliant pale pink light blinded Gaby, and she shielded her eyes.
“Sammy?”

****

“You can’t have her.” Fury bubbled to the
surface. He’d rip the creature to shreds if it touched Gaby.

“We won’t let you take her.” Boon stood by
his side.

Gaby’s hand clutched the back of the coach,
and she rose to face them. Boon’s midnight black wings folded in
half, and he walked the perimeter of the room.

“Where’d she go?” Sammy hollered from
behind.

“You alright?” Alexander’s shoulders relaxed
and he took a few crunching steps toward Gaby. He wanted to sweep
her into his arms and hold her forever, but he had to be cautious.
Did the demon draw out her powers, and now he’d be forced to fight
Gaby instead of the monster that lured her there? That principal,
he’d known something was wrong the night of the dance. He should’ve
done something then.

A door slammed in the back of the house.
Gaby sucked in a quick breath and grasped the couch cushion.

Boon took off through the broken window
while Sammy shot to the back of the house. Alexander lowered his
wings and wrapped his arms around her. Her skin was cool, no
swelling inferno of evil surged from her into his bare chest.
“Why’d you leave? You could’ve been hurt. I didn’t know where you
went.” He lifted her face and held her hair back on the sides of
her head. Her beautiful sapphire eyes grew wide, but her pupils
were normal. She wasn’t under the effect of her meds. He studied
her for a moment, waiting for fire to shoot from her eyes and
mouth, but nothing happened. The muscles in his arms relaxed and he
tucked her head against his chest and held her without another
word.

“She’s gone.” Boon landed just inside the
window.

“Gaby, we need to know what happened.” Sammy
retracted her wings and brushed glass from the couch before she sat
down. Boon took off out the window and returned with clothes in his
hand. He disappeared down the hall before he returned in human
form.

Gaby kissed Alexander’s cheek. “Please don’t
be mad.” Her warm breath on his ear tested his resolve.

“Gaby, you can’t leave us like that. You
have to let us protect you.”

Gaby took a step back and gave him a
reassuring smile before her mouth curved back to a frown, warning
he wasn’t going to like what she was about to say.

“You’re wrong about Judy. She’s trying to
help. She’s on our side.”

Alexander fought the urge to shake her to
make her see the truth, but took his crumpled shirt from his back
pocket and shoved it over his head instead. “Judy? See, what
principal tells you to call her by her first name? She’s been
trying to get close to you since the beginning of the school
year.”

Gaby shook her head and moved away from him.
His muscles tightened with her distance.

“Gaby, Alex does have a point. Principal
Mastema has behaved slightly strange. You do see she’s not human,
right?” Sammy asked.

Gaby threw her hands up. “Yes, of course,
but that doesn’t mean she’s demon.”

With a look of interest plastered on his
face, Boon stood and made his way over to Gaby. “We’re
listening.”

Certainly he didn’t believe any of it. That
so called principal was a full demon. If they hadn’t arrived in
time, Gaby…he couldn’t go there. His jaw popped under the pressure
of his anger.

“She had plenty of time to hurt me, but she
didn’t.”

Sammy gave a rueful smile and shrugged. “She
has a point.”

Alexander snarled at her, and the thought
that any of them believed that thing had anything but evil
intentions. “If she’s so innocent, why’d she run when we showed
up?”

“Geez, you’re really going to ask that?”
Gaby gestured to the broken glass scattered on the floor and couch.
“I would’ve run for my life too the way you guys ransacked the
place.”

She had a point, but still.

“What did she want? I mean, she didn’t bring
you out here for a chat.” Sammy clasped her hands in her lap and
leaned forward.

“She…she wanted me to free the trapped
souls.”

Sammy gasped. “You can do that?”

“No. She can’t. It’s too dangerous. We’ve
already talked about this.” Frustration gnawed at him. They
couldn’t take a chance like that. “Even if she knew how, she could
free all the souls including the demons. Do you want Forras back
here, Gaby?” He shoved his fists in his pocket to keep from
smashing something.

“No, of course not, but we could have Grace
back.” Tears spilled from her eyes.

“You know it wasn’t your fault.” Alexander
saw the remorse in her eyes, and he couldn’t restrain himself from
touching her for another minute. She fell into his arms and took a
few stuttered breaths.

“Maybe not, but I could give you your mother
back. If there was any way I could get my mother back, nothing
would stop me.” Gaby’s words sent a chill through his wings,
ruffling them inside his back.

Sammy’s brow furrowed. “Is there no way to
guarantee she’d only free the heaven bound souls? I mean think
about it, Grace is stuck in darkness, trapped between worlds. Not
to mention, if we free the angelic souls we’d be able to
fight.”

Boon spun on his heels. “Wait, what if this
is what was prophesied?”

Gaby wiped her eyes. “What do you mean?”

“If you freed the angelic souls, Satan would
have to abandon his plan to start a war on Earth. He’s powerful and
greedy, but he’s also a coward. If we had a strategic advantage
with greater numbers this war could end before it started.”

“I don’t like where this is going.”
Alexander narrowed his eyes at Boon.