Few Are Angels (21 page)

“They found the secret to eternal life, and in doing so, sacrificed the Frenchman’s daughter. The Eternal Ones told the men their actions would either be the end of them or give them the ability to change the world for the better. The Eternals gave them directions on finding the girl once she was reincarnated and told the men how important it was they protect her.”

I sat beside him and absorbed his words. I closed my eyes, trying to produce a picture of the two men and their quest. I imagined the men as they traversed through the desert, tired and weather-beaten, with the hope they would survive long enough to find the answers for which they searched. Suddenly, I was hit by a wave of fear. My stomach knotted, and I feared I would pass out. The usual twinges of a vision crept under my skin. I felt Kale’s cool hand brush my cheek, calming me. I opened my eyes, surprised that Kale’s touch could affect me with such intensity.

“Why did the Frenchman trust the men to even bring her back?”

Kale frowned. “From what I understand, they did it because they had to. It was within the fifty years of service to the Frenchman.”

“Oh. So they did whatever the Frenchman asked them to do?” I leaned over to unbuckle my shoes and pulled them off. I was glad I had on my black socks instead of the rainbow striped ones.

“Yes, and that is why the Council of Immortals was formed. The men learned of the plans he had for his daughter and every Arc after that. After the fifty years were over, they formed a group of men to protect the next Arc that was born.” His dark eyes searched mine for any sort of recognition of the story.

But it all seemed so far away. I felt crazy for believing it. I had been in Ocean Trace with people who were truly insane, and by Kale’s actions, it was clear he wasn’t crazy.

“So, what happened to the girl? I mean, what happened to her that made the men want to form the Council to protect her?” I knew whatever Kale was going to tell me would be upsetting, but I still wanted to know. I needed to know.

He moved closer to me, and I could feel his breath on my cheek and his thigh as it brushed mine. Kale placed his hand on my shoulder and lightly pushed me back so I was lying down on the sofa. Kale moved to the floor and kneeled over me. I could feel his lips on my ear.

“Remember,” he whispered.

My pulse sped up and my body warmed. A wave of wooziness swept over me, and I was thankful I wasn’t sitting upright. I knew the wooziness was the result of an oncoming vision. I’d had way too many visions to mistake their symptoms for anything else. Kale was so close and I hoped he’d kiss me, but I could tell my body was gearing up for a major vision. I tried to move away from him, but he grabbed my arm and waist to hold me in place.

“What are you doing?” I squealed. “Let me go, I have to go!”

His grip was strong, and I couldn't move away from him. I tried to struggle, but my muscles tensed and locked. I screamed, but even had he released me, I wouldn’t have been able to get far. Panic spread through me. I prayed I wouldn’t pass out in front of him. Would he know what to do? He knew about my visions, but he’d never seen one. He would probably call an ambulance, which would mean I would have to explain to Eric and Sarah where I’d been and why. It felt like his hands were crushing me, but I no longer had the strength to try to push him away. The dizziness took over. My vision swam in front of me like waves of shapes and colors I couldn't make out. Kale whispered reassurances in my ear as I started to cry, overcome by fear and pain. My head felt as if it was going to split in two. How could he do this to me? I’d trusted him. I’d believed he wouldn’t harm me even as my head begged me not to.

“Listen to me, Ella. I want you to show me, and that way you will know why the Council was created and why you are now in danger.” His voice was soft and soothing.

My stomach dipped and I repressed the urge to retch. No longer worried I would embarrass myself, I just wanted this to end. There was no way I could explain why I’d ruined the Carltons’ family vacation, and I was sure to end up back in Ocean Trace. Normally the vision would have taken me by now, and I would be sick or unconscious, but it hadn’t. I could still hear Kale as he spoke.

“I need you to remember January 18, 1884, in France.” He stroked my hair.

I could feel his lips travel to my cheeks for a sweet and light kiss, then back to my ear. His touch was warm and soft; his voice pulled me deeper into the vision, and I stopped fighting. This was what I’d come for—the truth. I would only find it deep in the recesses of my mind.

“I want you to remember the actions of the Dark Prince and what happened to Hélène,” Kale whispered, as obsidian darkness surrounded me.

Chapter 20

France 1884 Castle Laurent.

I didn't have to guess where I was. The place felt familiar. I remembered Kale’s whisper in my ear, the way my body responded to his touch and his request for me to remember. He had somehow transported me here. I knelt with hands bound behind me, my eyes burned, and my throat raw from screaming. It was where Hélène had been reintroduced to Kale—the new Kale. I felt her fear, disgust, and love for him rolled into one emotion she couldn't understand. She loved Kale more than anything and had been willing to sacrifice her life for his, but her plan had failed. Kale stood before her with black eyes and pale skin—a soulless creature she no longer knew. The man that had promised her forever would indeed live forever, while she would perish here tonight. Everything was the same, but different: the way he looked at her with such intensity, the way his brow wrinkled when she’d done something he didn't like, or how she could feel his desire cascading off of him like a dense, searing wave that crashed into her and sent her heart into a frenzy of flutters and aches. Hélène and I were the same person and I could no longer call this a vision. As I sunk deeper into the memory, Hélène and I become one person and her experiences were mine, as well as her pain.

Kale’s bright green eyes were dark, unseeing oil pits swallowed by his unremitting need to spread his disease. His once honey-colored skin was pale and devoid of the warmth that life had once given him. His mouth, once capable of sending shivers throughout my body, could tear through my flesh and steal my warmth and life, though it would never bring him either. No matter how many breaths Kale stole, he’d never breathe again.

Laurent kept us facing one another as he circled us, taking pleasure in our defeat and pain. I hadn’t won our war, nor had I won any of the battles. I’d played my hand wrong and right into his, which lead my love to his death and rebirth. That was the worst part, knowing I would be reborn again and Kale would remain a cold, empty shell of himself, needing to take the lives of others to continue to exist. I’d heard of a group of men who had set out to protect people from Laurent, but I was forced to divulge their names and locations to him. The majority of the men were captured or killed. Some of the men didn’t blame me, but I was responsible for their suffering, and I was the only one that could fix it. Asked to remember locations and names which caused the majority of them to be killed or imprisoned and though some did not blame me I knew that I alone was responsible from their pain and I was the only one that could fix it. Laurent’s voice snaked his way into my head as I stared at what was once the love of my life.

“Now you see what you have made me do?” His smile was cruel, yet excited. “All you had to do was what I demanded, and he would have been forever free of me.”

I knew it was a lie. Kale’s grandfather, Grandpa Grey, had told me I would lose my second sight at the age of twenty-seven. I would be killed so the next Arc would be reincarnated and brought to Laurent to be raised by his servants and guards until the age of seventeen, when she would be used for her “sight” the same way I was. I knew this to be true because Kale helped me remember the day I was ripped from my mother’s arms and taken. Luckily, I was told this story before I revealed the date of birth and name of the Arc that would take my place. Her name was odd, yet beautiful, her birthday the same as mine. I knew he would figure that out, but only Kale and I knew where she would be born. I looked back at Kale, saddened by what I had done. I could no longer feel his warm skin against mine, nor could I feel his breath against my cheek as he whispered to me. We’d fallen in love fast, and his grandfather worried it was just the pressure of the situation that made us believe in our heightened feelings for each other. I knew he was wrong. We belonged together. Though I had only seen the future once, I saw Kale fiercely protecting a girl with green eyes—my green eyes—and that made my suffering worthwhile. I only hoped Kale could forgive me, and in my next life, I could look at him without seeing the monster Laurent had turned him into.

Chapter 21

Wake Up!

When I opened my eyes, Kale stared down at me. I felt the sheen of sweat as it beaded and chilled on my skin. Kale removed his coat and placed it over me as I shivered.

“Do you want me to start the fire again?” he asked.

He started to move toward the fireplace, but I reached for him. I didn't want him to leave my side. The shivers hadn’t yet subsided, and I wasn’t sure I had the strength to stand. Kale wiped my wet cheeks. Though the tears had stopped, my brain still tried to understand all the vision had showed. The Dark Prince would stop at nothing to find me, and that placed the Carltons and everyone else I knew in immediate danger. If that wasn’t enough, the vision Kale had asked me to remember could be the way that Laurent found me. That was most likely why Kale had been so reluctant to tell or show me anything. I finally found the strength to talk, and Kale leaned in close to listen.

I closed my eyes. The room was still too bright and my brain felt swollen. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do, Kale. I can’t stop him—no one can.” I tried to swallow the lump that had settled in my throat. “The only option I see is to die over and over again, and that’s not even a practical solution.” Dying hadn’t worked for Hélène. Yeah, she saved a few lives in her lifetime and Laurent had been searching for the next Arc ever since, but that didn't stop the deaths of innocent people caught in the cross fire like Anna and Janice. I was sure that there were others. Plus, how many Arcs would have to die this way before it would be over? There were times when I’d wished for my own death after a vision, but I knew now that wasn’t the solution.

Kale shifted uncomfortably beside me. “I know what you want to hear, but I can’t tell you that, Ella.”

“Why not? Why can’t you say it’s just all in my mind and that things will get better?” I’d begged him to lie to me after demanding the truth all this time. It was ridiculous, and I knew it.

“Ella, I’d be lying to you, and I can’t do that. I just can’t. You are an Arc, and you have the ability to recall the past and maybe even see the future. Because of that, there are people out there to protect you and others that want to use you for their own personal gain.” He took my hands.

I wanted to pull away, but I didn't. His touch soothed and grounded me. It took the horrible feeling that had evaded my stomach and masked it and I was grateful, even if it was only for a bit. “I don’t want this,” I whispered.

Kale leaned down and kissed my cheek. I turned and faced him. My heart ached for his touch, as had Hélène’s the night she found he’d been turned. She feared him, but more than that, she wanted to kiss him one last time. She could feel it in every nerve in her body. The pull to him was so great she was forced to fight it until the end. Kale’s face was so close to mine, his breath warm and sweet, and I wanted more than anything to feel his mouth as it molded against mine.

“I’ll do my best to protect you, Ella.”

I moved closer to Kale, and he cradled my head in his hand. There was no time to be shy. My heart took control, and I reached behind his head and pulled Kale to my lips. Kale’s lips felt exactly how I knew they’d feel. Soft, yet demanding, Kale gently parted my lips with his tongue and I was helpless to comply. My whole body felt alive with sparks of electricity, and every place Kale touched burned deliciously. I tried to control my breathing, but it seemed impossible as the kiss grew more passionate. I pulled Kale closer and arched my body into him, and he accepted me completely with a groan of satisfaction. Kale’s arms buckled around us and he fought to keep himself elevated above me. As the kiss intensified, Kale pressed his body closer to mine, stealing the last of my breath. This was easier for him; he didn't need to breathe. I placed my hands on his chest and softly pushed forward. Kale lifted himself with his elbow, which allowed me to take the breath I so desperately needed.

He nuzzled my nose as I caught my breath. “Sorry.” He started to move away.

He’d done nothing wrong, and to prove it, I used all of my strength to pull him back on top of me. Kale lost his balance, but turned just in time and landed half on me, half on the couch. I smiled and pulled his head down to mine for a kiss he returned with urgency. I ran my fingers through Kale’s soft hair and grew more excited with every groan and moan of satisfaction that vibrated through us. Kale’s body was the warmest I’d ever felt it. Normally his hands were freezing, but as he caressed the hem of my shirt, his thumb grazed my skin, sending sparks of heat up and down my spine. I’d never felt this way before—so alive that every inch of my body was so sensitive the mere thought of Kale’s touch excited me. My need for Kale was so urgent it slammed through me like a freight train. The foreign feeling scared me out of my passion-induced haze. How far was this going to go? I wasn’t ready, and with all of the other dilemmas in my life, going too far would be a dangerously bad decision. I slowed the kiss to a crawl, then to a complete stop. Kale looked down at me. His eyes were half masked and dark. I untangled my hands from his hair and rested them at my side.

“I’m sorry,” I said. I hadn’t meant to lead him on. I just got carried away with the need to kiss him. I knew from experience a guy could get upset when all you wanted to do was kiss, but I didn't think Kale was that way.