Angel's Kiss (26 page)

That’s going to hurt in the morning,
I thought.
No, it hurts now
.

There were broken bones, yet I was sure it wasn’t as bad as my fall from the treetops. Being stronger had its advantages.

Before Danny touched the ground I blinked, and with a blinding flash I was gone again. Somehow my instincts had told me to come back to the cottage. I lay on the floor in agony and cursed my stupid fragile body. I should be better than that — I was supposedly at my peak.

Danny appeared from the bedroom door. He thought I might have transported back to the bed in the cottage. I hadn’t thought that far ahead. I’d only wanted to return home.

As he came to my side, hands cupped and ready to heal the various breaks, I felt a change take place in my body — the bones were knitting of their own accord.

Danny dropped his hands and crouched beside me, listening intently.

“Do you hear that?” he asked.

“If you mean the horrible sound of bones crunching, then yes, I hear it.” I said through clenched teeth.

“How do you feel, apart from the bones? Any internal bleeding?”

I looked inward, feeling and probing, and listened for anything irregular, apart from the noise my bones were making.

“Everything seems to be where it should be.”

“Can you sit up? Have you healed enough for that?”

I nodded my head, my teeth still clenched. I could feel the veins straining in my neck, ready to burst. Danny placed his hand under my back and helped me into a sitting position. He sat on the floor next to me.

I relaxed my jaw and sighed. “I’m okay, really. The bones have finished knitting already.”

“So what happened?” he asked.

I was a bit embarrassed by the whole episode. My overconfidence had gotten the better of me again.

“I thought because I knew that location I’d keep my eyes open and see what happened. I misjudged the edge slightly.”

“You’ll need to be more careful. Next time you might not be so lucky. If you lose consciousness and I’m not around …”

I shivered at the thought.

“Well, I think you can guess what would happen to you.”

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again!

“Shall we try again?” I asked.

“Are you sure you’re up for it?”

He sounded concerned. I sure was a sucker for punishment — pig-headed to the end!

“Yes,” I looked towards the ceiling and tried to sound like I’d learned a very important lesson. “I’ll make sure I keep my focus well away from the edge.”

Danny stood up and helped me to my feet.

“At least now we know you can heal broken bones. That’s a good thing.” He smiled wryly. “You’ll be less of a
burden
to me.”

I poked my tongue out at him and he laughed. I didn’t wait for him this time. I left him for dust!

The vampires were very surprised to see me standing alone on the ledge, when only minutes before I’d been falling. I darted in quickly and grabbed the closest vampire, being careful not to make contact with his skin. Danny appeared a few metres behind me and the vampires started to hiss.

I glanced back at him and smiled, the vampire I was holding struggling wildly.

“Meet you back at the ranch,” I said.

“The ranch?” Danny asked, totally confused by my new name for el rancho stinko.

I answered, but it was too late. My companion and I were already gone. Danny eventually figured out what I meant and arrived to find the vampire complaining of the stench.

“
Let me go bitch
. How can you stand the
smell?
I’m gonna puke, and it ain’t gonna be a pretty sight.”

“Shut up or I’ll take my time killing you,” I hissed, covering my nose with one hand, the other arm around the vampire’s neck, pinning him to my side.

Danny laughed. “If you want a quick death, my friend, I suggest you do as she says.” He turned to me. “The ranch?”

“Yeah. It’s as good a name as any. I knew you’d work it out.” I smiled. “I thought it’d be cool to have secret code words we could use for some things. You know, keep the enemy in the dark, CIA, MI5 and all that.”

Danny raised his eyebrows, shook his head and laughed. “I think you have the makings of a brilliant military tactician.”

I wasn’t sure if he was being sarcastic or not. Were angels capable of sarcasm? Oh well, it was all a bit of fun, so what did it matter. It wasn’t like we were plotting to take over the world.

“She’ll be nothing but ash once the rest of them get hold of her,” the vampire said.

I could hear the hatred and fear in his voice, and let go of him very quickly, only to grab his arms and squeeze tightly until I heard a crunch. I could see the veins standing out in his neck as he gritted his teeth.

“I said
shut up!
” and shook him fiercely. “What
is it
with you monsters?”

“So, the smell is that bad, is it?” Danny asked.

“Yes,” I replied, “though
I
don’t feel like I’m going to lose my lunch.”

Danny looked puzzled. “Lose your lunch?”

I laughed. “Throw up.”

“And you?” Danny asked the vampire. “How bad is the smell for you?”

The vamp twisted his head to look at me and I gave a nod. He was a quick study.

“It stinks like
heaven
around here,” he moaned pathetically, struggling against my grip. “I’ve gotta get away!”

“Is it just the smell or is there something else?” Danny asked.

“The goddamn awful smell!” he yelled.

Danny looked at me and nodded slightly, then turned to walk to the tree line.

“A kiss before dying,” I purred in the vampire’s ear.

I let my lips brush his neck, then my mouth closed over a vein and his blood ran freely. He began to kick wildly and I felt his boots connect with my shins.

Ouch,
I thought.
That’s going to leave a bruise
.

I kept drinking greedily until there was nothing left, and let go of him, watching his body crumple to the ground.

“You know, this is so much easier than decapitating and burning them. At least this way I don’t have to build a fire. Disposing of the bodies is going to be a drag, though.”

Danny came over, touched the vampire, and its body was reduced to ash.

“That’s a cool trick. I wish I could do it,” I said longingly.

“You have your talents,” Danny smirked, “and I have mine. I have to be useful for something or you’ll be tossing me aside like a pile of rags.”

I grabbed a handful of his shirt and pulled him closer. “Never, or at least not in my lifetime. Now let’s get back to the cottage. This place
reeks!
”

He circled his arms around my waist and I buried my face in his chest, to drown out the smell. He led us back to the cottage through the lights. I liked the lights. I’d have to see if I could replicate them somehow, if I focused hard enough. Not like the raw flash of light I currently produced.

The map was sitting flat on the floor, no longer three-dimensional. I hadn’t even realised that when I’d returned to the cottage — after my fall — I’d been laying on a good portion of it.

I crushed the entire region with one fell swoop,
I thought.
Pity I can’t do that to the vamps.

“Now I have somewhere to take them, but if you’re not around I’ll need somewhere to dispose of them.”

“Down the mine shaft perhaps?” Danny suggested.

“I’d need to explore the mine fully, beforehand. There’s no use transporting the bodies there only to find I materialise in solid rock. You’re right though, the mine shaft is probably the best place for them.”

“How about we get back to planning?” Danny said. He produced a pen and paper, handing them to me. “You’ll probably want to take some notes.”

“Right,” I said. “First up, what about a secret language all of our own?”

I could tell Danny was playing along with the idea to keep me happy. In truth I was having fun. We discussed code words for various places, and some actions. One of the few things that remained unchanged was the cottage, since the vamps had no idea where it was. The ledge became
the fall
— named in honour of my stupendous downward spiral — the treetops became
the roof,
the shelter of tightly woven tree branches became
the apartment,
and a snatch and grab became
a snag
. If one of us wasn’t sure where we were to meet we’d ask where
the barbecue
was. We also thought we’d try the words
bath
and
shower
. If one of us said they needed
a bath,
we were to retreat to
the ranch
— the name I’d already given to the copper mine — and if one of us said they needed
a shower
we’d attack, if it wasn’t a simple
snag
.

“I don’t think we need much in the way of tactics. The majority of the time I’ll be snagging it. I’ll only ever snag as many as I can handle — no more than two,”
or three,
I thought to myself. “As long as we both know where we’re meant to be collecting the snags from, and where the barbecue will be, we’ll be fine.”

“If you say so,” Danny replied. “I’ve been working on my own for a long time. Being part of a team will take some getting used to.”

“I don’t expect you to come with me all the time, Danny. In fact after the first few incursions,”
that’s a military term, isn’t it?
“it might be better if I went alone. I can always call on you if I need to, and if you’re free you can come. Perhaps even mentioning your name will give me the precious seconds I need if I’m in a bit of a tight spot.”

“We’ll see,” Danny said. “I’m torn between giving you your freedom, to fight as you will, staying with you every step of the way, and doing my duty to Him. Perhaps you
are
my duty.”

“I don’t suppose you could do something for me about that smell? I mean, I still want it there to keep the vamps away, I just don’t want it getting up my nostrils.”

He laughed. “I’ll think about it and get back to you.”

“Can we get some snags from the apartment for a barbecue at the ranch? I want to practice my disposal technique.” I giggled like a schoolgirl. It sounded like a normal conversation. No one would
ever
know what we were talking about.

Danny was deep in thought and I waved my hand in front of his face.

“Earth to Danny, earth to Danny,” I said.

He looked up and in a flash of inspiration asked, “Helena, do you still have my feather?”

“Yes.”

I reached my hand under my top and around to my back. When I pulled my hand out the feather was in it. From where Danny was sitting he wouldn’t have been able to see where I extracted it from.

“Where exactly
was
that?” he asked.

“Tucked in the back of my bra,” I replied, laughing.

The look of confusion on his face made me giggle again. I was the little schoolgirl with her first crush, keeping a lock of her beloved’s hair. Okay, so I didn’t have a lock of my beloved’s hair — I had his feather instead.
Same same.

“And why was it
there?
”

“It’s my good luck charm.” I held it by the quill and twirled it around in my fingers, smiling. “It symbolises my reason for staying alive.”

Danny plucked it out of my hand, ruffled the vanes and blew on it, before handing it back, together with a small leather thong. I thought he’d changed it to crystal, like the daisy chains, but it appeared no different.

“Tie that around your right arm and wear it always when you’re out in the forest.”

I was touched by the gesture. That he wanted me to wear it openly, but thought it odd that nothing happened when he blew on it.

“Um, I can’t tie it on with one hand. How about making it elasticised or with straps like the sheath?”

Danny tied it for me. “Fine, when we get back I’ll change it for you. Promise me you’ll always wear it.”

I
never
made a
real
promise. Real promises were too hard to keep — they were made to be broken. I couldn’t make that promise — couldn’t say that word.

“If it’s that important to you, I’ll keep it with the knife so I don’t forget.”

“Good,” he said, not pushing any further for the words I didn’t want to say.

I took Danny’s hand and transported us about fifty metres away from the apartment — the shelter the vampires had fashioned by weaving the branches of the densely packed trees to form exactly that, a shelter. It was better to be cautious until I’d mastered this mode of transportation.