Garden of the Gods (The Immortals Series Book 3) (13 page)

Chapter 16

Colin’s plane touched down in Glasgow and Olivia caught up to him as he was walking down the jet bridge. He didn’t have any luggage to wait for, but she asked if he would mind helping her with her bags. Colin didn’t have anything else to do, so he agreed. As they waited by the carousel, Olivia asked him about more of the places he’d visited around the world, and he found that he liked the distraction of talking about traveling without all of the horrors and the stuff of hellish nightmares. He was able to replay memories that involved only the best aspects of human nature: their innovation and ingenuity, their creativity and generosity.

Olivia revealed she’d majored in mass communications because she was hoping to be a journalist and her trip to Scotland, while it had been a graduation present, was her first overseas adventure. She was planning on blogging about her two week vacation and her experiences here. Colin didn’t understand how the two were connected, but he also didn’t really get blogs. Sometimes, he still felt like he was living in the seventeenth century.

Olivia smiled up at him as the bags finally started to circle around on the carousel. “Keep an eye out for red luggage. One large suitcase and one medium. And if my blog gets a lot of hits, it can be helpful in promoting myself to magazines and newspapers that cover international stories. That’s what I’m hoping anyway. Lots of people use successful blogs as a platform to get into careers. There they are.”

Olivia pointed to a set of cherry red suitcases with hard plastic shells. Colin grabbed them for her and offered to help her with them as they made their way to the bus that would take them to the train station.

Olivia smiled at him again and thanked him. “So you never told me what you do,” she said, still smiling up at him.

They had just gotten out of the airport and were waiting with a line of other eager tourists and travelers for the bus to arrive.

“Um… I used to work in a press.”

“Like a book press?”

Colin nodded and stepped away from the curb as the bus pulled over.

“Cool. What did you do? Acquisitions? Or like… in the factory itself.”

Colin helped put Olivia’s bags inside the luggage compartment then boarded the bus.

“Binding,” Colin answered.

He had no idea how books were made now and if people even still bound books by hand. He doubted it. He hoped Olivia wouldn’t know either, but she had been a mass communications major. He probably should have just lied, but he’d never been a good liar.

Olivia sat next to him near the back of the bus. It was packed and she had to squeeze in tightly and pressed her body against his. Colin was about to stand so she could have more room, but another couple boarded the bus and stood in front of him, grabbing the bar above them to hold on as the bus lurched forward. Olivia let her body repeatedly brush against his as the bus moved forward.

“That’s a pretty specific job title. So what are you doing now?”

He
really
wished he were a good liar. “I don’t know. Still trying to decide.”

Olivia leaned a little closer to his ear. “Maybe I can help.”

Colin flinched away from her, surprised by her breath in his ear, and shook his head. “No, this is something I’ve got to figure out on my own.”

The train station was only a mile from the airport, so the trip was short and the bus rolled to a stop; passengers began filing off the bus and Colin and Olivia followed the mass of smelly tired travelers. The weather was cool in Scotland, but that didn’t seem to stop a lot of people from perspiring anyway. The bus reeked.

They had to wait at the train station for the train to arrive, and because Colin had offered to go to Edinburgh just for Olivia, she bought his train ticket for him. She chatted happily about her college days at Notre Dame, and when Colin found out she was a huge Notre Dame football fan, he found discussing college football was a great distraction from losing his wife and their life together, too. He was pretty sure it was a Saturday, which meant he was missing out on all of the games his friends back in Boulder were probably enjoying.

Although by now, he was too jetlagged and tired to do the math to figure out what time it would be in Colorado. Maybe the games hadn’t even started yet or maybe they were over. Maybe it was Sunday now. What difference did it make? He had always known he had no existence without Anna, and nothing seemed important anymore anyway.

The train ride from Glasgow to Edinburgh wasn’t as bad as Colin had originally feared. Olivia’s incessant talking had actually proved to be a blessing in disguise: it drowned out the silence in his head that he was sure was going to drive him insane sooner or later.

By the time the cab pulled up in front of Olivia’s hotel, it was quite late and Colin was hungry and exhausted. He helped her bring her luggage inside and she checked into her room, while Colin waited patiently because she still had his magazine. He wanted it back.

Olivia tossed her purse onto the cart holding her luggage and offered Colin another sly smile. “Room service is still delivering. You can come up to my room. I’ll buy you dinner to thank you for all of your help.”

Colin glanced behind him at the dark city street then at Olivia’s smiling face, and tossed his backpack on the luggage cart.

“Sure. I don’t have anyplace to be anyway.”

Chapter 17

Anna ticked her nails against the armrests of the train as she and Amanda rode to Edinburgh. Amanda hadn’t tried to talk to her much since their last conversation on the plane, only delivering messages from Jas when Anna’s dead friend insisted on talking to her. But even Jas didn’t have much to offer now, so they sat in silence for much of the trip.

Anna knew she wouldn’t come to her now, but more than ever, she needed The Angel. There were the practical problems she would have to address – like her promise that she and Colin would be together for the duration of their service, and didn’t his infidelity break that promise? Did this mean Anna would no longer be a hunter either? And did she
want
to quit?

She couldn’t die now. She couldn’t face eternity like this. Her soul couldn’t possibly go on through an endless existence when it had been ripped apart; God knows where the other half of her was or what he was doing. But this wasn’t a tear in her spirit, a laceration that could be sewn back together. She was irrevocably broken.

Anna couldn’t even cry. Maybe it was the shock or anger, but the part of her that still felt mortal, that had been reminded she was human by Colin’s touch, was dead. But she couldn’t stop loving him no matter what he had done, and she would find him in Edinburgh and convince him his life was in danger. He couldn’t ignore the war being waged against them. The fallen angels would find him no matter where he went.

As the train pulled into the station, Anna followed Amanda to the platform and they once again waited for their luggage to be unloaded so they could go to the hotel where Max had left Colin.

While they were waiting for their bags, Anna’s phone rang. It was Dylan calling her again, and she didn’t want to answer it. She couldn’t bring herself to talk to anyone about anything, but she also couldn’t forget what Dylan had told her: “
It seems like everyone I care about is being taken away from me lately
.”

Anna answered her phone. “Anna, I got a ton of information from this professor. I had to wait to call you until Andrew was out of the apartment. Where are you now?”

Anna had to swallow before she could speak. She was completely numb. “Edinburgh. We just got here.”

“You sure he’s there?”

Anna sighed and closed her eyes. “Yes.”

“Well, find him and hurry up and get back here. Until we can get those three dimwits to snap out of it, we’re on our own, and I’m not exactly sure what to do with all of this information because if he’s right, then we were wrong. I need you here as soon as possible.”

Anna opened her eyes and caught Amanda watching her. Amanda looked away and watched the passing travelers disembarking from the train instead. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. Be careful, Dylan.”

Anna kept her eyes on Amanda.

“You too,” he told her.

Anna hung up and took a deep breath. She stuffed her phone back in her pocket and grabbed Amanda’s hand, whose eyes revealed her surprise.

“Come on,” Anna commanded. “Let’s go save my husband.”

After finding their bags, Anna hailed a cab and gave the driver the address to the hotel Max had insisted Colin had gone into with another woman. And had never left. Anna passed the cab driver more money and asked him to wait for her. She turned to Amanda and asked her to wait, too. Amanda just nodded, but as Anna opened the door to climb out, she grabbed her hand and stopped her.

“Anna,” she said softly. “Max said he’s sorry he didn’t stay. He knows what he promised about your dreams, but he just… couldn’t.”

It was almost two o’clock in the morning. There was a good chance Colin was asleep by now, and he had no one to protect him. Anna was filled with so much rage and resentment and she didn’t know if she was being fair to Max or not, but she heard herself saying it anyway.

“Well, I guess it’s only fair considering my husband killed you and all.” Then she opened the car door and climbed out of the cab.

The hotel lobby was empty except for the desk clerk who was half-asleep when Anna approached. She knew the answer already, but she had to ask anyway. “I’m looking for Colin O’Conner. Is he checked in here? Can you ring his room? It’s an emergency.”

The desk clerk sat up a little straighter but didn’t bother sitting up too straight. He tapped at his keyboard then shook his head. “Not here.”

Anna thanked him then walked away, turning once to make sure he wasn’t watching her. She could walk the halls and find him that way. Even if he were asleep, assuming one of those demons hadn’t captured his mind, she’d be able to sense him. Anna walked through every hallway on every floor but never felt him. Max must have gotten the wrong hotel. Or maybe she had been too late. Jas
had
warned her in her dream that he was in trouble. Anna began to panic.

She ran down the stairs and back to the cab still idling in front of the hotel and got Amanda’s attention. “He’s not here. Max must have gotten the wrong hotel,” she said through the open door. Anna had no intention of getting in the cab with her. “There are a bunch of hotels near here. Go to one and text me where you’re staying. I’ll meet you there once I find him.”

Amanda wouldn’t let her close the door. “Max said he’s not wrong. He
knows
this is the hotel. Anna, we’re hours behind him though. He may have left. He may have decided to go back to Glasgow for all we know. Why don’t you come with me to the hotel and maybe Max can reconnect to him? We can find him that way.”

Anna moved Amanda’s hand off the door. “Tell Max to find my husband. Then call me when he does. I’m going to look for him.”

Then she closed the door and walked away from the cab. She heard it drive away but she was walking in the opposite direction, searching around her trying to find him, but their telepathy wasn’t boundless. He could be drunk or too far away or in some sort of Hell in his mind erected by these demons, and she’d never be able to find him.

Anna passed in front of a pub that was still noisy and crowded and ignored the catcalls as she hurried past the open doorway. She hadn’t gone far when she heard footsteps behind her. Anna was in no mood to be harassed tonight. She spun around and faced the man who had followed her from the bar. His speech slurred in a Scottish accent as he asked what a beautiful woman like her was doing out this late at night by herself. Anna clenched her fists. She wished she had her daggers and knife with her, because she had so much aggression within her, she needed to hunt. She reminded herself this man hadn’t posed a threat to her yet; she shouldn’t hit him.

“I’m looking for my husband.” Anna let the London accent of her youth free again.

“What kinda man runs around widda wife like you at home?” he asked.

Anna nodded back to the bar. “Go back to your friends. I’m in a hurry.”

She turned to leave but the man grabbed her arm. Anna spun around again and punched him, his nose breaking under her fist, and she backed away from the blood pooling on the sidewalk. He was cursing her, but she didn’t stay to listen. She ran away from the pub, still searching for Colin and still finding nothing but silence.

She stopped at a water fountain and rinsed the man’s blood off her hand. There was a small scratch on her knuckle but it was already healing. She watched it, still amazed even after centuries of watching these injuries heal before her eyes. She turned her hand over and washed the dried blood off her palm and had a flashback to the bizarre dream with Jas, her bleeding hands, Jas wrapping them. Why had she wrapped them? Scrapes should have healed on their own. It’s not like she would have bled for long.

But it had just been a dream. She had been trapped in Stalingrad, and she was trapped now in Edinburgh, without Colin and with no hope of getting out. She pulled her hand out of the water and turned it over again. The small scrape on her knuckle was gone. It was past three in the morning now, and Anna’s legs didn’t want to run anymore. They begged her to sit for a while. She shook her head as if she were actually arguing with her body and backed away from the water fountain. And that’s when she felt him.

He was a couple of miles west from her, and Anna ran again, faster this time. As fast as her body would allow her to run. At some point, she became aware that he’d realized she was nearby, too, and she felt his shock, his apprehension and fear, his
exhilaration.

She rounded the block and saw a bus station ahead of her. He must have been waiting for a bus. Anna stopped running when she saw him work his way out of the crowd to find her. She didn’t know if she wanted to finish those last fifty feet and throw her arms around him or hit him. He dropped his backpack and ran to her, not giving her the chance to decide.

“Anna, my God, Anna, what are you doing here?” he asked, grabbing her hands and pulling at the jacket sleeves just as he always had when they’d finished a hunt, needing to convince himself she was alive and not hurt.

Anna jerked her hands away from him and he looked into her eyes, surprised by these feelings he knew she had.

And as he searched her mind his eyes widened and he inhaled sharply. “God, Anna, you think I
cheated
on you?”

“Max was with you,” Anna hissed.

But she had been searching his mind, too, and she had found the truth. He had accepted dinner from Olivia but when she tried to make a pass at him, he left. He’d walked around Edinburgh for a while before deciding to come to the bus station to go back to Glasgow.

Anna shook her head slowly. “What did you
think
was going to happen, Colin?”

Colin looked down at the sidewalk, embarrassed, because of course he knew Olivia had been flirting with him, but she had kept his mind distracted, and he thought maybe there was a chance he could convince her she needed a friend in Scotland more than a lover.

But Anna was still angry. She put her palms on his shoulders and pushed him.

“None of this would have happened if you hadn’t
left
me!” she shouted.

“I only left because you wanted me to,” Colin protested. “I have nothing without you. You are everything. You’ve always known that.”

The tears Anna had held back since the plane started its trek over the Atlantic Ocean finally fell. She had never told Colin to leave. She had never
wanted
him to leave. And he should have known that. Her husband would
always
know that. Anna put her hands on the sides of his face and peered into his eyes.

“Oh, my love,” she whispered, “I don’t know what they’ve done to you, but I’ll get you back. I’ll get you out of this Hell, I promise.”

“
What do you mean?”

Anna kept peering into those beautiful emerald green eyes, those eyes that still held all of the love and passion and devotion he had always had for her. He wasn’t gone. He hadn’t been taken from her, but he was being manipulated somehow, just as Luca and Andrew were. And Anna wasn’t going to lose him again.

“
If you don’t want to hunt anymore, you don’t have to. Just come home with me. How can either of us survive without one another?”

Colin smiled at his wife and wrapped his arms around her then leaned down to kiss her. When Anna pulled away from him, she kept a hand behind his neck so he couldn’t look away from her. She gazed into his eyes again and made him promise her, no matter what he thought she wanted or what he believed to be true, he would never leave her again.

Anna knew she wasn’t being entirely fair to Colin. Somehow, when one of these fallen angels had gotten into her mind, it had made her run away from Colin and her friends. She had led herself into her own trap and had no memories of any of it. Something similar must be happening to Colin and Luca and Andrew now, because while Luca’s denouncement of his faith had been shocking, there was nothing Anna was more certain of in this world or in any other than Colin’s love for her.

She sighed and rested her head on his shoulder and he wrapped his arms tightly around her.

“
I’m sorry, my love,
” Anna told him. “
For believing you’d cheat on me.
”

Colin stroked her hair and kissed the side of her head. “
I’m sorry I gave you any reason to be suspicious. I don’t know what’s happening to me. The hunting, quitting. That still makes sense to me, but leaving you. Coming here, agreeing to even have dinner in that girl’s room. Anna, I would never do those things to you. I don’t understand why I’m doing any of this.”

Anna gripped the back of his jacket in her fists. “
They need to bring down the Immortals before they start their war. And they know they can only defeat us if they separate us. They tried in Baton Rouge, and they’re trying again. But not even Hell can tear us apart.”

“I hope you’ve got a hotel,” Colin sighed. “I’m exhausted.”

Sunrise was only a couple of hours away by the time Colin and Anna found the hotel Amanda had checked into. When they got to their room, Colin collapsed on the bed and fell asleep quickly, but Anna lay awake watching him sleep until the sun began its ascent in the eastern sky. She kept checking on his dreams to make sure he wasn’t pulled through a memory, or worse, that he’d somehow become disconnected from her again. But his dreams were sporadic and short and meaningless, and Anna eventually succumbed to her body’s need for rest as well.