Book of Love (11 page)

I spoke bravely. “He
protects
her,
Gregory. Guardian angels were built to protect, not kill. It
doesn’t have to be about death for him as it is for you. It is a
choice he can choose to make. The side effect that girl has is
something he can help her to understand.”

“
Everyone
dies eventually, Erik. All of this is about death. All life is but
a march to the end.” Greg laughed. “And to think, people hope to
find meaning while they’re still alive, but there is
none.”

I raised one brow, rolling
toward Greg in my chair. “It doesn’t have to be that way. We can
all co-exist, the magickal and the non-magickal. That’s the way
it’s always been. I believe it’s the way it’s supposed to
be.”

Greg crossed his arms
against his chest, his wings melting behind him. “I’ll get Max to
turn one way or another, Erik, even if that means taking
her
away from
him.”

“
Max will protect her,” I
warned one last time. “There is nothing you can do to break her
away from him. Max made sure of that ten years ago.” I was furious
with Greg now. I did not yet understand Max’s fascination with this
girl, but to me, she was already family.

Greg laughed. “Just another game for me,
Erik. And just as I told Max, her family can be a strong bargaining
tool in destroying their connection. If this girl is so special,
perhaps she can be useful to our war.”

“
Your
war,” I corrected
him.

Greg growled at me for
interrupting, pacing the room and leaving a trail of blood. “All I
need to do is awaken her lust for death on the dark side. I know
she has the potential. If she is united on my side, Max will find
the reason to join as well—for
her.”

“
There is more than just
Max to stop you, Gregory. Even if you do succeed in destroying your
brother’s virtue, magick will rise again and stop you. There are
armies in place on our side, much as you have on yours. You cannot
stop it,” I contended smugly.

I saw the anger boil
inside Gregory’s green eyes. He slammed his hand down onto the
surface of my desk, breaking it in half as splinters crashed to the
floor. “Like that could stop
me!”
he yelled, his arrogance getting the better of
him.

“
You
don’t know this new magick, Gregory. The world of the supernatural
has evolved in the time since it last appeared on Earth, growing
strength inside those that carry it in their genes, passed down
through the many
Nephilim
Pandora left here long ago. The beings that have
been touched by it are immune to your power.” I knew I was pushing
my luck, and Gregory’s patience, but what did it matter in my old
age?

He lifted his hand to
silence me. I felt my mouth sew shut with his power. “No matter,
dear brother. They will all one day meet their maker. Those beings
that chose to consort with humans in the beginning of time made a
grave mistake. The two worlds should have never mixed, and the
mixed-breed children—or
Nephilim
, as you so methodically
refer to them—left behind were nothing but bastard
monsters
, spreading
their dirty magick.”

Emily:

I heard Wes screaming in my head, his
whispers clear though the shape of his body was all wrong. I backed
against the car door, my hands frantically searching for the
handle.

“
Wes!” I screamed again, my
hand finally finding the door handle. I yanked it open, falling
backwards out of the car. Lying on the ground, I was quick to kick
the door shut with my foot. I was breathing heavily, watching the
window above me in terror.

I saw the glass fog and the bird appeared. I
screamed, pushing my body away from the car as I dragged myself
through the dirt. I tried to prop myself up and stand, but a voice
in my head made me freeze.

Em, don’t. Stop.

I whipped my head back toward the car
window, staring at the raven. I heard the whispers repeat again and
again, as though this bird had somehow taken Wes hostage inside its
mind. I stared for a moment, standing tall with my hands readied at
my sides. The bird watched me from inside the car, its beak tapping
against the window.

I clenched my fists. “Where is Wes?” I
demanded, feeling insane for talking to a bird.

Em, it’s me. Em!

The crow blinked repeatedly, tapping the
window. I took one step forward, my back now aching from the fall.
Dirt clung to my bare knees, mixed with sweat. I drew closer to the
car, inspecting the crow.

“
Wes?”
My voice
shook.

The crow let out a
sharp
‘caw!’

I jumped, hearing Wes’s voice echo in the
sound, but I still couldn’t trust it. Its feathers fluffed then,
its body beginning to shake. I felt my heart begin to race once
more, and I grabbed the door handle, finding it locked.

“
Wes!”
I yelled. The bird
began to change as the feathers shed from its growing body. I
gasped, unable to reach him.

What was going on?

Wes:

I kept yelling to her but she couldn’t
understand. I looked down at myself, seeing nothing but black
feathers. Emily grabbed the car door and fell out, slamming it
behind her. I yelled after her, but again, she didn’t understand. I
made my way to the window, navigating clumsily across the slick
leather seat. My hands were of little used, now clothed in a layer
of feathers.

I looked down at Emily as
she lay on the ground outside. I yelled again, and this time she
noticed me—she had
heard
me. I kept yelling over and over, and at last, a
strange sound erupted from my mouth. Emily stood, running back
toward the car and grabbing the handle, but it was
locked.

Pain racked my body in a second wave. I
winced. As quickly as it happened before, I felt my limbs change
back. It was over. Sweat coated my skin as I lay across the front
seats of my Camaro, completely naked.

I heard Emily gasp from outside. I looked up
at her through the fogged window. I was quick to cover myself with
the clothes that had been discarded around me, embarrassed.

“
Wes! Unlock the door!” She
screamed, frantically rattling the handle.

I reached over and unlocked the door. There
was a blanket in the back seat and I grabbed it, pulling it over me
as I discarded the clothes to the floor, figuring that unless I was
going to attempt to put them back on, they offered me little
cover.

“
Wes,
what was that?
What happened?” Emily was breathing as hard as I
was. She leaned down and looked into the car. Her brown eyes were
frantic and wide, looking just like her sister’s.

“
Emily
I—
I don’t know
.” I shrugged, finding it no longer hurt to move. “The pain,
and then the bird. It’s like I
saw
it, and something inside me wanted to
be
it, and—” I couldn’t
continue. I felt tired and afraid.

Emily climbed back into the driver’s seat
and shut the door. “How do you feel?” She maintained a distance
between us, clearly still frightened that it might happen
again.

I looked down at my arms and the black
feathers that were now all over the car. Surprisingly, my limbs
felt much better than ever before, as though I’d experienced some
sort of release that had been building for seventeen years.

“
I feel
better….
Much better.”

Max:

After school, I waited for Jane, scanning
the nearby buildings and trees. I waiting to see Greg lurking
somewhere nearby—he was never far. I could always feel his
darkness, and I knew I could never leave Jane unprotected. Greg
wanted to destroy everything in my life, in his hope to convert me
to his side.

That would never happen.

Jane would be safe from
most of his advances, but not safe from all of them. He could still
harm her irrevocably. Worst of all, he could drag her to Hell. Her
connection with death had toughened her. Because of this, I was
sure she could smell what lay beneath his stony
exterior—
murder.

I heard her footsteps approaching, her
thoughts racing with anticipation. I smirked to myself and turned,
looking to the doors of the school. She was still a ways down the
hall, but I began to feel her all the same. Our hearts were
connected in a way that I’d never connected with another human. She
was different than all the other souls—different because I’d saved
hers. I touched my hand to my chest. The beating of her heart
reminded me of what it was like to be alive, and I relished the
feeling.

I turned back toward the lot, pretending I
hadn’t known she was coming just seconds before she reached the
door. I looked into my hands, trying to wash the smile from my
face.

Jane:

I opened the door to the school and walked
out of the hall. The cool air hit my face as my cheeks burned with
emotion. I saw Max’s broad back facing me. He sat on the edge of
the short cement wall where he had approached me yesterday, hunched
casually with his head down. I swallowed hard, walking down the
path. As I turned to face him, he saw me and smiled.

“
Hello, Jane.” His blue
eyes swept over me.

I couldn’t help but smile back. “Hi.”

Max stood, walking toward me. “Are you
ready?”

I looked around the lot for Emily but didn’t
see her. I adjusted my bag on my shoulder. Wes’s car was also gone,
again.

“
Your sister is not here
anymore,” he said plainly.

Alarmed, I looked at him. “She isn’t? Do you
know where she is?” My brow creased, wondering how he knew.

Max looked at me strangely, but shook his
head. “I saw her leave earlier. That’s all.”

I was confused. “When?” I was supposed to
keep track of her, and already I’d failed.

Max frowned. “Around third period. She left
with Wes.”

I smiled to myself, hoping that perhaps Wes
was taking my suggestion from lunch on Monday seriously. I felt
better knowing she was with him than anyone else, even if it did
seem she was skipping classes. My thoughts turned to concern as I
began to wonder if Emily had talked Wes into it, but I knew Wes
knew better than to give into something like that. He was aware of
Emily’s tricks.

“
That’s good.” I
nodded.

Max looked pleased by my answer. “Shall we,
then?” He urged me forward with his hand, like a gentleman.

I stepped off the curb, wondering where his
car was and what kind. My heart was alive. It had been a long time
since anything unpredictable or new had happened to me. I never
took time to pay attention to my own life, seeing that Emily was
difficult, and my mother a wreck.

I looked at his profile as we walked across
the lot. In my dream last night, he had initially scared me, but as
I watched him now, I saw something different. It was as though he
was really there in my dreams. He had to have been. My mind
couldn’t manipulate his movements with such expert likeness, not
when I barely knew him. Max had been his own being there, separate
from what I wanted or thought. I shook the image of it away. He
eyed me as I followed next to him.

We approached a rugged looking SUV, a style
I didn’t see much, but recognized as a type I often saw when
watching National Geographic. He clicked something in his hand. The
lights on the car flickered and the doors unlocked. I was startled
when I noticed him reach toward me. He smirked at my guarded
display, ignoring me as he lifted the bag off my back. I let my
hands fall through the straps, his eyes never leaving my form.

His car didn’t fit in with every other car
in the lot. Most were gloriously shiny—an expensive gift from their
parents, complete with no lack of couture accessories and fancy
German symbols. Wes was one of the only other exceptions to the
mold, though he still owned a coveted vintage Camaro.

Max walked me around to the passenger side
and opened the door. I got in, following his lead. He placed my bag
between my legs, his arm grazing my knee and causing my skin to
tingle. My heart surged forward, threatening to make me faint. He
glanced at me before shutting the door, walking around the back of
the car as I watched in the rearview. When he was finally inside,
he let out a contented sigh.

I was frozen and nervous, sitting tall and
rigid in my seat. Max sat there for a moment, the keys in his hands
jingling as he fished for the right one. Finding it, he put it in
the ignition and started the car, but didn’t shift into gear. He
sat back, watching me.

I wondered what he was waiting for. “What?”
The way he stared made me uncomfortable—another deep, personal
stare.

Max smirked and leaned toward me, our faces
so close, I could feel his breath on my cheek. “Here…”

My body tightened as he reached one arm
across my chest. I stopped breathing. Max fumbled with something,
and I realized what he was looking for. Grabbing the slackened
seatbelt beside me, he paused to look me in the eyes. With his body
across mine, and his lips so close, I knew my heart was about to
explode. He lingered there for a moment, the blue of his eyes
making me forget where and who I was. He lifted one brow, finally
leaning back and pulling the belt across my chest. He clicked it
into the clasp, locking me against the seat as his hand pressed
against my hip.