She Speaks to Angels (31 page)

“
Something always goes wrong. I’ve seen enough action to know that and enough to know things never go as planned. I’m not letting you risk my baby sister’s life to get back at some old nemesis.” Samuel could be persuasive, but I knew Kian better than he did.

“
Sam, stop it! This isn’t your decision. I’m a big girl now, and I can make my own decisions. Kian has my best interest at heart. He has kept me safe from Dameon all this time, all this time without you. We don’t need you to protect me;
I
don’t need you to protect me! I have Kian.” I didn’t realize how harsh my words sounded until Samuel’s face dropped. I’d never rejected him before, and he had never looked more hurt.

I placed my hand on his shoulder. “I mean, I know you have always been there for me, and I would not be where I am without you, but Kian knows what he is doing. He has dealt with demons before, and I think we should give him the benefit of the doubt.”

Samuel’s face glowed red with disagreement, but he nodded. “I’m not taking my eyes off you.”

“
I would expect no less.” I grinned, and Samuel pulled me into his broad chest for a big-brother bear hug.

“
So, when are we doing this?” Samuel pressed Kian for information as he fluttered toward my window.

“
Tonight.” Kian answered, and my eyes widened.

“
Tonight? What do I need to do?” I fidgeted with my robe and slippers. “Am I even ready?” As I worried, Samuel’s expression twisted.

“
Don’t worry about it, Ali. All you need to do is walk the alley near River Side alone. Except you won’t be alone. Nathaniel, Krysta, Jacob and I will all be there in the skies looking out for you.”

“
Will it lure Dameon out? Will it work?” I felt flustered.

“
I’m certain Dameon will show up. Krysta will track him and try to figure out where he comes from so that we can backtrack to Azrael’s lair.” Kian threw a leg over the window pane.

“
I’ll see you later?” My voice cracked.

“
Tonight.” Kian had a glint in his eye when he looked at me, a glint any good cop would have noticed.

When Kian vanished out the window, the door to my room swung open. “What are you two discussing in here? I’ve been calling you for breakfast for the last five minutes,” Mom said. She sounded upset.

“
Sorry, Mom.” I trotted over to her tightening of my robe belt. “I’ll be right down to eat.”

“
What are we having?” Samuel cleverly changed the subject.

“
Sausage and eggs and pancakes.” Mom smiled as if food could fix every problem.

“
Sounds delicious. I’ll be there in a sec.” Samuel followed behind me after making a quick stop to his room.

At the dining table, Samuel piled on the pancakes while I made a small circle of eggs on my plate. With a glare, Samuel pushed some of his pancakes onto my dish.

“
You should eat up, Shrimp; never know when you are going to need your strength.”

“
Right.” I said under my breath in an afterthought while shoveling the eggs into my mouth. I almost could not believe Samuel knew everything I knew, that he had been figuring things out for the past year, that he now would be taking part in this plan to rid Manhattan of the demons.

But then, what were big brothers for?

After breakfast I marched up the stairs to my room and quickly took my shower before dressing in a faded pair of jeans, t-shirt and red cardigan. There was a knock at the door. At my invitation, my big brother walked into my room. He looked me over once before rustling through my closet.

“
What are you doing?” I asked with a shrug.

“
You are not wearing that. You’ll be sitting duck. Red! What are you thinking?” Samuel pulled a black jacket off the hanger and tossed the garment to me. “You have to blend in, Ali, not be walking the streets of Manhattan with a bulls-eye on your back.”

I gave him a shriveled expression, because I knew he was right. I didn’t want to stick out that night so Dameon could snatch me up unnoticed, and black did seem the perfect color. Heck, if I was going to be the bait I had to do my best camouflage in case things went haywire.

“
You’ll be there too, right? Watching me?”

“
I told you, Shrimp, I’m not taking my eyes off you. I don’t care what kind of angels you’ve got protecting you. You and Kian might be like this,” Sam crossed his forefinger and middle finger, “but you are still my lil’ sis.”

“
Thanks.” I wiped a single tear from my eye as I turned away from him. I didn’t want him to think I couldn’t do this without him, but the whole thing just seemed a zillion times better knowing he would be there. He had always been there for me, despite my hissy-fit earlier. After Dad died, it became just him and me looking out for Mom and for each other. He became like my Dad and brother all rolled into one. I owed him everything.

“
You’re welcome.” Sam said. He and zipped up my sweater like I was ten again.

“
Any other words of advice?” I bumped him in the shoulder with my own as we plopped down side by side on my bed.

“
Keep yourself vigilant. Pay attention to your surroundings. I’ll be just a block away with a gun and cell in case we need it.”

“
Don’t try being a hero though, Sam. Ok? Promise me.” I squirmed at the image of him ripped to shreds at the clawing hands of Dameon. “Just let the angels do their thing.”

“
I promise I won’t get in the way...unless I’m needed.”

“
Good. One less thing I have to worry about,” I chided, and Samuel shook his head with a half-smile as if I took the words right out of
his
mouth.

***

As evening rolled over the neighborhood, I saw Sam grow tense. He had known the time would come eventually, but now that the plan was coming into action, he would have to let me go and let me be the lure, something he was never good at, letting me go into danger.

When the window creaked, I sensed Kian on the other side and darted to the glass frame to open it. As I drew the thin curtain upward, my eyes met his amber-fire pupils, and I sighed in half-relief, half-ecstasy. The mere vision of him turned me on nowadays. The energy between us only grew in intensity every day we couldn’t touch.

Like a delicate perching bird, Kian slipped off the outside edge of the window, and, in ballerina plié landed in my bedroom. Samuel stood by the closet without ever taking his eyes off of Kian. Angel or not, he didn’t know him as well as I did, and who knew if he could really trust him? Besides, the wings pretty much put anyone into a state of momentary wonderment.

“
Are you ready?” Kian brushed up against me, his wings like pillows against my side, as close as we would get tonight, and I would take it without complaint.

“
Yes.” I nodded. Whether I could do this or not was irrelevant. I had to do it. If I didn’t, Dameon would eventually find me alone, and that would be it. I would end. I had to put a stop to this now. Tonight would be my moment to shine, to put right everything I had put so terribly wrong.

“
Are you ready?” Kian glanced at Samuel, who wore a dark blue shirt with the sleeves rolled up, making him appear more buff than usual. A pair of dark jeans and a dark baseball cap finished off his bad-boy street look.

“
Anytime,” Sam grunted with a glare. As much as Sam knew Kian was on
our
side, he couldn’t bring himself to fully accept him. After all, Kian would be leading me, his ‘lil’ sis’, into the arms of a demon, and Kian, for better or for worse, was also my boyfriend. Then Samuel looked at me and his eyes widened in surprise; they never left mine as Kian picked us both up into his white-winged arms and flew us out into the heavenly clouded skies.

When we finally landed a few blocks from the River Side trail, I trembled. It was now or never. I would soon be staring at the demon Dameon face to face. Wrapping his arm over my shoulder, Kian squeezed me once before planting an open wet kiss on my cheek. A few feathers fell from his wings to the concrete path below us.

“
You will do fine. You will
be
fine. I’ll be right here. We all will be right here.” Kian glanced over at Samuel and then skyward. I saw a hint of a wing sparkle behind a cloud, and I knew that Nathaniel, Krysta and Jacob were close. Before leaving me alone, Kian stared at me. His eyes narrowed and simmered into my own like one long hot bath. Then he sprang into the sky and vanished.

Samuel stood several yards away from me and winked once before I turned away from him to walk my destined path. I had to create distance between me and Samuel, me and any other human, to become this vulnerable lure, this bait that would draw Dameon to me, to his eventual end.

After five minutes I glanced around to see Samuel far behind me, more like a silhouette of him really. Strolling past a kissing couple, I skirted around a corner and stepped up my pace. The cool weather rushed a chill down my spine as goose bumps and hair stood on my arms.

Ten minutes later I found myself without any human contact. Walkers, couples, angels, brothers...they had all disappeared. Just me, the trail, and the Hudson River to my left. I leaned against a large elm tree, resting my palm against the bark. I took a few deep breaths and heard a growl.

My skin crawled as I heard my name whispered in the wind.

“
Allison.”
Dameon taunted me.

I jerked my body around and saw no one, nothing but the river. Blackness covered the distance and the sky. The only light, the sliver of the moon’s reflection danced on the surface of the water. A few leaves blew over the ground in a sudden gust of wind.

“
Allison.”

I jerked back around and again saw nothing but the darkness.

“
Where are you? Show yourself, you coward!” I screamed.

Something scratched my neck softly from behind, causing me to shiver and jump at the same time. When my body spun around I balled my fists and found my feet cemented in place.

“
Where are you?” My vigilant eyes searched all directions, but this enemy might as well have been a shadow.

“
Allison.”
The taunting grew louder, and something that could have been a long fingernail scratched my shoulder blade.

“
Damn you, Dameon!” I shouted. I stomped of my foot. The muscles in my face twitched and my brows arched.

“
Dameon? Who is he, my dear?” The voice sounded as scratchy as the nail on my skin felt, and then the intruder jumped down from his clandestine spot high in the trees and landed with a
thud
in front of me. A black cloak wrapped around his dark attire, and raven black hair spiked around his head. Pale blue eyes honed in on my own until he opened his mouth, and all I could see was his fangs. A fanged demon.
Shit!

I backed up,
only to stumble into the grove of elms. “What do you want?” Why isn’t Dameon here? I wanted to ask.

“
Your blood, of course.” Licking his lips, he acted like a vampire, but I knew his tactic was simple. Either he knew my name from Dameon and he wanted to scare me to death before Dameon came to kill me, or he wanted to kill me himself. But I had to keep my wits about me. He wasn’t a vampire, at least not in the same sense as mythology taught. He was a Fanged Demon bent on the hunger of the kill, weaker than a Dark Angel and yet still stronger than I.

My foot fumbled over the twigs and broken branches below me as my hands felt their way through the grove. The further into the grove I got, the further away from the trail I moved, and the closer to the Hudson River. I wondered when Kian and his gang would rescue me, but figured they still wanted to lure Dameon out and wouldn’t intervene until they saw him. I had to keep this going and buy time.

Within seconds the Fanged Demon appeared before me as if he were floating over the ground, and maybe he did. After all, he had only lost his gift, not his wings. I imagined somewhere underneath his boney arms resided a pair of black wings which could aid him in his movements.

“
You don’t want to kill me. Dameon would be extremely upset with you. See, I’m his kill, not yours,” I bargained as I took another step backward.

Inching forward, he snarled. “Of course you belong to Dameon, but you see, my dear, Dameon has given me permission to rip you to shreds.”

Damn, he knew exactly who I was, and I’d have to think of some other way to save my skin.

“
But doesn’t Dameon want the pleasure of killing me himself? I mean, after all the trouble I’ve caused him?” I asked. I was acutely aware of the rattle of wind through the grove.

“
Yes, he’s told me about all your trouble. I’m going to have fun with this one.” The fangs protruded from his mouth like razors as he drew toward me. His black cloak made the attack seem all the more like the movie
Vampire
. Seething venomously, his open jaw reminded me of a cobra about to strike, and I spun around on the ball of my foot and thrust forward. Dirt churned under my feet as my legs moved faster than I ever knew possible.

But when I reached the edge of the grove, the Hudson River flowed past, a wall to end my escape, and in seconds the Fanged Demon flung himself close behind me.

“
Escape is not an option. Just face your death, Allison.”