Beyond (25 page)

“
Claudia? Claudia?
”

I looked up to see Holly waving her hands in front of my face with a worried look.
“
Are you okay?
”

“
S
orry , I was just thinking about something .
”
I knew it would bug me until I f ou nd the answer. My distraction was quickly reso lved when two females came toward us .

“
Hello, ”
one said and the other repeated.

Austin turned to me.
“
Claudia, this is Kate and Avalon. Avalon is new to our team.
”

They both smiled with bright eyes.

I returned the smile,
“
Hello.
”
Afterward, we stood there in silence , as neither of us knew what to say, but their eyes were flirting with Austin. He seemed to have that kind of e ffect , especially on the newbies. Gratefully , Katherine interrupted when she entered.

“
Glad to see you, Claudia.
”

“
Hello, ”
I greeted nervously , worried she would give me few words about the incident at Gamma ’
s house, especially about going there by myself .

“
Gather your Alpha team and meet me in my office in ten minutes, ”
Katherine directed Austin.
“
Claudia, why don ’
t you walk with me now ?”

Suddenly my blood
pressure skyrocketed and I flashed my eyes at Austin. He gave me a “
don ’
t worry ”
look and turned away, leaving me with anxiety , wondering why Katherine wanted to be alone with me. Ten minutes of conversation was not a long time when you want ed to chat with a friend, but it was awfully long one on one with Katherine. She walked out the door and I quicken ed my steps to her s .

“
Don ’
t be nervous, ”
she said with a tender tone. She must have felt my heart bea t escalate .
“
I know you have many questions. It is quite normal to want to find the missing pieces of your forgotten life. One thing you must understand is that you should never go anywhere by yourself. You are still learning about your powers and you r capabilities . Unless you are fully aware of your limitations, you are still vulnerable. I ’
m only saying this because I care about your safety. I promised your g randmother I would keep you safe. Please don ’
t make me break my promise.
”

She stopped and turned to look me squarely in the eye. I saw compassion , and at the same time her eyes were filled with power that could only be ge nerated by angels. The serious l ook in her eyes sobered me to never go against her words again.

Austin
had told his mom about that night.
O
n the one hand, I understood why he had to ; a fter all, he report ed all supernatural activities to her .
B
ut I still felt hurt and betrayed by him. I had assume d he would keep it between us .
She continued her steps.
“
One more thing. Happiness is not something readymade . It comes from your own action.
That’s a quote from the Dalai Lama , and I try to follow it. My advice is that you should too. You are a leader, a great asset to the venator team. How you feel and what you do a ffects your team. Take control of your emotions, seize the moment that you are here and alive , for life is too short, even for us angels.
”

“
Yes, I will, ”
I agreed and nodded , as we now stood in front of her office. Katherine was right. I had to stop moping around. Too much time was wasted on thinking what parts of my life I had no memories of , when I should be asserting my energy on creating new ones. Memory was a way of holding on to the things you love d , the things you were , the things you never want ed to lose. I c ould n ’
t hold onto memories I d id n ’
t have. I need ed to hold on to the things I c ould remember.

The door automatically opened by her will.
Cool!
I thought.
I ’
m going to try to do what she did someday soon . I guess ed ten minutes must have passed, because t he Alpha team was entering right behind me. Katherine sat in her black leather chair behind her desk, looking as elegant as ever.
She looked proud to see the Alpha team standing in front of her.

“
There have been several supernatural occurrences throughout the city, mostly in bars. The one you need to check out is called the Rave.
”

“
Cool. My kind of demons, ”
Davin cheer ed .

Surprised by Davin
’
s blurt, everyone let out a short laugh as they tried to hold in their laughter. Katherine raised her brows in amusement and continued.
“
I would like your team to investigate.
”

“
Woo hoo. Double cool, ”
Davin said , a nd everyone let out a nother short laugh.

“
Davin, please keep your comments to yourself, ”
Katherine requested.

“
Oh…I ’
m so sorry. I ’
m just too excited. I ’
ll keep my comments to myself. Sometimes I don ’
t know that I am excited . Maybe it ’
s because I ’
ve been in Crossroads too long or maybe, you see —”

Davin suddenly stop
ped when Holly nudged him hard and he almost fell on Austin.
Davin glared at Holly .
“
Holly did it . She likes to push me. She touched my butt before.
”

“
What?
”
Holly said, feeling mortified.

Katherine raised her hand and stopped
the laughter. Davin covered his mouth with both of his hands and nodded , acknowledging that he understood.

“
Okay…where were we? Oh…yes. I believe these supernatural activities are created by the dark shadows. They ’
ve beg u n to take human souls. I was afraid this would happen.
”
Katherine was deep in thought . She lower ed her head and then looked up again.
“
I ’
ve changed my mind. I ’
m not sending t he whole team …
it would look suspicious. Austin, Claudia, Davin, Holly, Delilah , Avalon and Connor…I ’
m sending the seven of you. The rest stand by. God be with you. You are all dismissed.
”

The ones
remain ing behind le t out a disappointed sigh. Elissa gave me a sad face, waved and mouthed, “
See you later.
”

We headed out the door toward the open sky. I was
the last to exit.
Delilah and Avalon caught up to Davin, but instead of holding a conversation, Davin purposely slowed his pace. I caught up to Austin, but instead of walking beside me, he practically ignored me and paced faster to catch up to Avalon and Delilah . He positioned himself in the middle and all I could hear were the giggles. Occasionally he would g lance my way. Was Austin mad at me? He had been less flirtatious with me lately, not that I want ed that kind of attention from him.
Or did I ?

Davin was now beside me, but he was unusually quiet. Narrowing his eyes intently , his line of gaze was toward Avalon if I was not mistaken, but he had walked away from her. It didn ’
t make sense.
“
Hello, Davin.
”
I had to find out what was wrong.

“
Oh, Claudia, ”
Davin flashed a quick smile and resumed his analyzing expression.

“
What ’
s wrong ?”
I whispered.

He looked at me
, surprised that I knew something was out of place.

“
I ’
m not sure .”

“
What do you mean? Why don ’
t you tell me , and maybe I can help you figure it out.
”

He stopped.
“
I think something is not right with Avalon.
”

“
What do you mean?
”

Davin
’
s eyes widened and leaned closer.
“
She makes my heart beat faster. Every time she is near me, she makes me feel weak, as if she is stealing my powers. And when she asked me a question, my mind be came frazzled and I couldn ’
t speak. The first time I met her , y ou were not here , but s he put me in a trance. I couldn ’
t stop staring at her. When I tried to break away from her spell, I walked away, but then I ran into a wall. S
he made me do it. I think she ’
s evil. Maybe she ’
s a demon and we don ’
t know. Should I tell Katherine?
”

I had to keep myself from
laughing out loud . Davin was too cute. We were not allowed to have relationship s , but we were half -
human. That alone was enough to make us weak, have crushes , and also fall in love. Davin simply had a crush , and the fact he didn ’
t know it was the most adorable thing.
“
No, why don ’
t you let me find out.
”

“
Okay, but you need to hurry , because she makes me feel funny inside. I can ’
t explain it. Every time I see her, I feel tingly all over , and I feel like I have butterflies in my stomach. Maybe she is trying to put a demon inside me !”

I laughed inwardly. Davin was so cute I could just squeeze him.
“
I don ’
t think that ’
s what she ’
s doing. We can talk about this more later.
”
Austin motioned his hands for us to hurry.
“
We better catch up. Just stay close to me. I ’
ll observe her when we ’
re together down on Earth.
”

“
Thanks, Claudia. You ’
re one person I ’ve always counted on. Well…besides Michael, Caleb and .
…
”

He stopped speaking and looked at me in shock, like he had revealed a secret. His body bec a me tense and he looked away.

“
Michael, ”
I said softly. It felt like lightning had struck me. I didn ’
t know any Michael, but the name pained me for a split second, making my heart skip a beat. It gave me the same tingly emotions Davin had described , the way he felt about Avalon.

“
I meant, Michelle and Gracie . See what she is doing to me ?
I can ’
t even say the right names. Next time, I may even call you by something else. They ’
re waiting for us.
”
Davin grabbed my hand, pulling me out of something I c ould n ’
t e xplain as we headed to meet the others in the open sky : a meeting place to discuss our plan before we head ed to our destination.

Chapter
1
4

Up in the sky
, a full moon was ready to cast her light a s the sun was shin ing her final rays to prepare to end the day. The air was cool, but not cold enough for a sweater.
The Rave was situated near an alley. Hardly anything was nearby besides sev eral abandon ed warehouses toward the back and a gas station in front . Streetlights dimly lit the neighborhood, but other than that, the town was pretty empty .
On top of the club , a huge red neon sign flashed the name, “
Rave .
”

Claudia linked
arms with Austin and they walked through the wooden double door s . The rest waited around the corner of the building. Connor and Avalon agreed to wait outside a t lookout.
After ten minutes, Holly, Delilah an d Davin entered. H
eavy metal tune s blasted. D
avin smiled from ear to ear, enjoy ing the music and the different am biance he had never felt before—dangerous.