UnGuarded (35 page)

Moments later, I rounded the doorway and
spilled into the expansive room, conveniently finding more shadows
near the shelves by the wall to keep me fully concealed. A few
torches lined the walls in various places, and my eyes followed
them until I saw about a half dozen soldier demons standing in a
half circle, as if huddling around something—or someone. I glanced
the other way, finding Ezariah sitting in one of his wooden chairs
over by the fireplace, thumbing through one of his worn hardcover
books. With each careful flip, he seemed to be looking for
something within the old, torn pages.

The rattling of chains pulled my attention
to the far left side of the room, across from where the soldier
demons stood. Annabel sat on the ground, her back against the bare
stone wall and silver chains wrapped around her body with cuffs at
her wrists and ankles. She was barefoot and filthy, her jeans were
torn, and she was down to just a black cotton bra. Her red hair was
matted with knots, and dirt was smeared across her porcelain cheeks
and forehead. The look on her face told me she’d been kept this way
the entire past month. And I was willing to bet she hadn’t been fed
either.

Thank God
, I mouthed silently. If
Annabel was here, then I hoped Cole would be here too. And if Luke
was alive…. I let my thoughts trail off. I could only handle one
thing at a time. I drifted through the massive bookshelf and over
by the group of soldier demons, and as I came around them, ever so
careful to stay in the shadows, my heart caught in my throat.

Cole. He was chained just like Annabel, and
seemed to be in her same condition: barefoot, dirty, his shirt
missing. Only he didn’t have a wall to sit against. His legs were
pulled against his body and his face was pressed against the tops
of his knees. Relief gushed through me, a few tears of joy slicking
down my cheek. I wanted to go to him, throw my arms around him and
feel the cool firmness of his perfect body against mine. And that’s
exactly what I’d be doing to get him back to Earth. Only he’d never
see me or feel me, and I wouldn’t feel the physical connection I
craved, only the essence of his body touching the essence of mine.
It saddened me and made me smile all at the same time. At least
he’d be home where he belonged, and not in this hellhole of a
prison serving a punishment for something
I
did.

But before I could take Cole home, I needed
to find…Luke. As I thought his name, a body came into view lying in
a heap of bloodied chains and clothes several feet away from Cole
in the corner of the room. I hovered a little closer and confirmed
it was a man, curled in a fetal position with his back facing me.
His brown hair was caked with blood—thick, chunky tufts matted to
his head—and I knew at that instant it was Luke. Yet since
technically I wasn’t supposed to have that old angel ability, there
was no way for me to understand why I was so certain, but the
feeling in my gut was undeniable. This beat-up vamp was definitely
Luke, and unlike the other two vampires, his shirt was still on and
stained with various shades of red.

Another sharp glance around the room proved
Caitlyn wasn’t in here. Even though my heart sunk at the thought,
at least she wasn’t being held against her will and tormented like
the others. A simple human just couldn’t handle things a vampire
could—even if my sacrifice had healed her. I remembered Raphael
holding her limp body in his arms. She hadn’t been dead, but she’d
been so very close, and after everything I’d just seen, I needed to
believe Raphael had taken her with him. I needed to have faith that
my old archangel wouldn’t have left her here. Whether or not that
meant she moved on to the light, I didn’t know. But I breathed a
sigh of relief just simply knowing she wasn’t here.

I returned my concentration to the vampires
I’d come to save. I wished with everything inside me that I could
save them all at once—Annabel included. Even though I didn’t like
her, she still didn’t deserve such inhumane torture. After all,
she’d helped me…twice. And I owed it to her to get her out of here.
I took a few minutes to assess the situation. Once I was finished,
I reluctantly came to terms with the fact that since she didn’t
have any guards near her, Annabel would be the easiest to save. As
much as I wanted to get Cole and Luke before her, I just simply
couldn’t risk it. If I took either of the boys, someone would
notice right away, and then the demons would be on high alert when
I returned. Nope, it had to be Annabel first or no Annabel at
all.

With my final decision made, I slid back to
the doorway, hugging the shadows lining the walls. Then I curved
around and started moving toward Annabel. There were fewer torches
on this side of the room, making it easier for me to stay hidden.
Once I got within a few feet of her, I paused to confirm that no
one was paying attention to this side of the room, and quickly
discovered they weren’t. Ezariah still leafed through his book, and
the demons in the back of the room still huddled around Cole,
nearby Luke.
Now or never
, I urged myself, then flashed
forward, swallowing Annabel inside my ghostly body. The childlike
vampire never moved; she never noticed a thing. A new rush of
boldness washed over me as I swirled around her body—tighter and
tighter, my energy whirling between her skin and the cold hardness
of her chains. I concentrated on my power, willing it to silence
the chains. Then I closed my eyes, visualizing the only place I
knew to go.

A few seconds later I opened my eyes, and I
was no longer in the cave. Soft light glowed from a few hanging
fixtures in the back room of Huron’s bar. The poker table was
directly in front of me, and thankfully it was empty. A quick
search around showed there was no one else in the room, and I
breathed a sigh of relief. I could feel Annabel’s essence cradled
inside my body as if she were part of my skin. Then she let out a
panicked yelp. In a rush of air, I was hiding in the far corner of
the ceiling, carefully watching the young-looking vampire. Wet
trails glistened on her dirt-covered cheeks as she swung her head
around the room with wide, disbelieving eyes. I could feel her
emotions rushing to the surface, tingling along my arms like
thousands of ants marching. A small part of her essence was still
connected to me, and I could taste her fear, pure and raw. But
there was also a soothing wave of relief as she began to accept she
was no longer on Rhea—even though her mind couldn’t begin to grasp
how she’d left. And that’s when the tears fell in violent sobs and
she hugged her knees against her body, shaking and trembling as she
let loose her harbored emotions. The harder she cried, the less I
could see inside her, and I knew my connection to her was breaking.
As her voice carried throughout the room, creating pained, eerie
echoes, I knew it was just a matter of time before Huron heard her
and came back here to help. And I still had two more friends to
save. It was time to get back to Rhea. I closed my eyes, focusing
on Cole and Luke, and praying for guidance on whom to save
next.

When I opened my eyes I was in the demon’s
lair, floating in the shadows against the wall in the back of the
room. Nothing had changed. All the demons still held their same
stances—including the one I hated most who sat by the fireplace. I
glanced over to where Annabel had been held prisoner and saw the
empty, dangling chains. Relief flushed my body like small waves of
heat spreading across my sheer skin. No one seemed to notice
Annabel was gone. I breathed a quick sigh, then started
contemplating my next step. There weren’t any guards directly
around Luke, but they were still close enough to make me think that
grabbing him next might not be the smartest move. Still the demons
surrounding Cole brought their own level of intimidation—even
though soldier demons had proven not to be the sharpest tool in the
shed when it came to thinking. Brute force was their main strength.
Maybe I could be so lucky as to steal Cole right out from under
their noses. Since they wouldn’t be expecting that, they wouldn’t
know what to watch out for. Plus, deep in my heart, I felt that if
anything went wrong, I needed to know Cole was safe.

My chest tightened with the realization that
Luke would be left behind just a little bit longer, but I was
confident in my decision and needed to act fast. I slowly looked at
each of the soldier demons, and saw that none of their eyes were on
Cole. They blankly stared toward the wall, seemingly in some kind
of trance. In a rush of wind, my body engulfed Cole’s and I was
swirling in tight circles around him just like I’d done with
Annabel. I could feel his face pressing hard enough against his
knees to nearly crush bone if he were human. My energy coursed
along his body, conforming to his skin, and gently holding the
chains to prevent any clinking. My upward view of the demons showed
they hadn’t changed position, or even bothered to glance our way. I
moved quicker, churning around Cole like a mini-cyclone. Then I
opened my mind to one of the places we’d gone to in Colorado,
willing all my power to take us there.

A short moment later, I was on the edge of a
small pond with water spilling into it from an overhead rocky
ledge. Sunlight poked through layers of clouds like sheer yellow
ribbons, glistening across the wave pool—sparkling and ethereal. A
faded green clearing opened up behind me filled with fuzzy white
flowers that were swaying in the chilly afternoon breeze,
interspersed with minuscule patches of ground frost. I breathlessly
gazed down and relaxed upon seeing Cole.
We made it
, I
thought with a satisfied smile. He was sitting in the same position
as in the demon’s lair: hunched over and cradling his legs, and his
face was still buried into his knees. With my ghostly form wrapped
around him like a blanket, I could feel his body stiffen and then
his face begin to rise slowly.

Panic seized me. I couldn’t risk Cole seeing
me even though he’d most likely just assume he’d seen a ghost.
After what had happened to Croix… No! I couldn’t take any chances.
Not with the man I loved. There were groves of trees, and thick,
overgrown brush just on the other side of the small clearing. Their
dark shadows would be the perfect place to hide. I focused on
keeping some of my energy around Cole’s body. The sunlight wouldn’t
kill him, but it was still uncomfortable for a vampire to be in,
especially in his condition. Then, in a brush of motion, I was
hovering inside the safety of the forest, watching my vampire
lover—or former lover—from a safe distance, willing my power to
shield his body. The faint light shimmered on his fair skin,
revealing muddy smears on his arms and back, and what appeared to
be lacerations as if he’d been beaten with leather whips. His brown
hair looked darker, matted and stained with blood. My heart caught
in my throat and I swallowed back the tears that threatened to
invade my eyes, wishing with every part of me that I could go to
him and hold him inside my arms. But for now, I’d have to feel him
through the essence of my power. His skin that was once smooth like
silk now felt crusted from the dirt and dried blood. I could feel
his body tighten with fear, could taste his panic on my tongue like
a bad aftertaste. I watched his eyes widen, and I could sense their
disbelief at what they saw. He slowly cast his gaze around, looking
completely bewildered, unsure. I knew he couldn’t believe what he
was seeing. I could sense his mind telling him this was just an
illusion. Doubt, fear, and sadness so thick with despair filled
him, and because I was open to him, because I was feeling all of
him, my own thoughts began to mimic his. As he released the tight
grip he held around his legs, I could feel the tenderness in his
muscles—aching, burning from lack of use. His arms dropped to his
sides, and slowly his gaze rose up, up, eyes squinting against the
veiled light. He gasped aloud, throwing a hand over his eyes, then
hesitantly lowered it, his brows furrowing with confusion. I could
feel his amazement that the sun wasn’t hurting him, yet an urgency
built up inside him, pushing him to take cover in the shadows of
the trees. He painfully rolled over, getting on his hands and
knees, then began crawling toward me. I’d stay with him until he
made it to the edge of the forest, then I’d draw back my power and
go, though I was not ready to leave him.

But I knew time was running out for Luke,
and I needed to get back to Rhea—hopefully before anyone noticed
the missing prisoners. Fat chance, I knew. Surely at least one of
those demon imbeciles noticed Cole wasn’t beneath their noses any
longer. And if they caught that, they’d most likely have seen the
empty chains on Annabel’s side of the cave too. What measures would
they take to keep Luke imprisoned? Or worse—what condition would he
be in when I returned? As Cole moved closer, I could feel his
essence on my skin getting warmer. Just as he reached the line of
trees, I closed my eyes and pulled back the reins of my power, then
vanished once more from Earth.

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