Adamant Spirits, page 55
But, Rae didn’t mean anyone harm.
She submerged herself in the water, falling deeper and deeper until her feet touched the earth at the bottom of the pond. The darkness may have scared most, but Rae was different. This is where it was quietest—where the creatures of the night couldn’t be heard.
She wondered why they feared her so.
She was also a creature of the night.
Something nagged at her, warning her that the perfect little existence she’d built for herself was on shaky ground. She’d been alive long enough to know that everything could be ripped from her without notice.
But finally, after almost a century, she’d found love again. With a human. She refused to let that be taken away from her.
The letter she received that morning was more than a threat. If he couldn’t have her, no one could. At least that was his way of thinking. After centuries of running and hiding—Luke was back…and this time, Rae was ready for him.
A low rumble of a laugh vibrated against her brain and she tensed.
In the dark depths of the pond, she could see nothing. Still, she sensed someone’s presence. For a moment, she remained silent, watching, waiting, her eyes beginning to burn as she resisted the urge to blink.
Nothing. The bubbling of fish. The ripples of the water. Relaxing, she finally closed her eyes and shot toward the surface with a supernatural speed that sent her into the sky. Her heart swelled with the thrill of being airborne. This was why she woke in the middle of the night so that she could fly without fear of being caught.
An angel without wings had to be cautious.
Even a fallen one.
She flew through the woods, the air drying the pond water from her flesh within seconds. Something flickered in the corner of her eye, and she almost paused for a second look. Slowing down, she held her breath and wrapped her arms around her chest.
A startled cry ripped from her throat as something slammed into her and sent her crashing into the ground.
Pinned to the ground, she glared at whoever dared attack her.
Luke.
Her heart skipped a beat. He was real, and not just in her head.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“Protecting you,” he said.
“Stalking me,” she retorted.
Before she could utter another word, a winged creature shot down from the midnight sky, talons ready to scoop her up.
Her eyes widened. “It’s not possible,” she breathed out.
Fear gripped her as flashbacks of being torn open by one of those creatures nearly a thousand years ago returned to her. Paralyzed, she stared in disbelief.
Luke, unafraid, more of an adversary for the dark creatures who stalked the human world, simply lifted a hand toward the abomination and sneered.
Her eyes flickered from the giant imp, its black eyes and rubbery skin reminding her of those of a monster born from nightmares, to Luke. His hand glowed, as did his eyes, and before she could blink, he summoned an enchanted sword that materialized mid-air.
She gasped. He was stronger than when they’d last been together.
With the sword in his hand, he leaped into the air and slashed through the body of the imp, sending blood and bone spewing into the woods.
Warm black blood splattered onto Rae’s naked body as Luke lowered himself back to the ground.
Still frozen, he picked her up and without a word flew her back to her porch. He set her right before her door, and nodded for her to go inside.
“It’s time for you to remember who you are, Rae,” he said. There was no humor or resentment in his voice, only genuine concern.
“Why?” Even as she asked that question, she knew why.
She wiped blood from her face as her eyes searched his. Why did he have to stir such delicious memories of centuries together? Villas in Italy, cozy huts in Thailand, cabins in the Netherlands. She missed those days.
He raked his hand through his hair and tilted his head as his gaze met hers. “Edwin,” he said and all of the blood in her face drained to the soles of her feet. Luke gave a single nod, and backed away. “He has a price on your head.”
Twelve
Sleep didn’t come for Rae that night. Clutching her arms around her body, she lay in bed with her eyes open, fixed on the window.
She shouldn’t feel fear. She was stronger than most beings in this world. But, Luke, he had a dark magic over her, and even he was no match for Edwin Allington. She’d tossed and turned, feverish with memories of the dragon who had nearly turned her away from the light.
His touch. His voice.
She shuddered. His dark magic was unholy and dripping with deceit.
Sighing, she looked at her reflection in her bathroom mirror as her favorite song played in the background.
She fixed her red lipstick and turned off the bathroom light. She picked up her coffee mug off her desk and turned off her computer, along with the music that played. Her bedroom was small but perfect for one person. She usually spent her nights with Collin in his spacious lakefront house anyway.
She resisted chewing her bottom lip for fear that she’d get red lipstick on her white teeth. But, worry kept her on edge. She still had a difficult decision to make, one that seemed less important after the night she’d had. Then again, maybe there was a reason for it all.
Did Halston know that Edwin had a price on her head?
She lowered her hands to her sides. Of course, he did. Perhaps this was her way of building a team against him. That idea intrigued her, widening her eyes as she thought of the possibilities.
Maybe she could make it work. They planned on moving to London anyway. She could be an agent and still have her man, and defeat the evil that haunted her.
Rae walked through the short hallway to her kitchen. She grabbed her purse off of her kitchen island, sipping the last of her coffee. Her shift at Mercy Hospital started in half an hour, and if she wanted to get there before traffic, she needed to hustle.
She sighed.
Flying would be so much easier.
Her phone rang and she rummaged through her purse for it.
“Hello?”
“Dr. Rae Petri?”
Rae’s cheeks flushed. She didn’t like the sound of the woman’s voice.
“Yes?” she asked, her voice wavering. Please. Please. Please don’t let it be bad news.
“This is the Waverly Falls police department.”
Her stomach fell to the floor and she braced herself. “Yes.”
“Your sister, Crescentia has been detained for disorderly conduct. Would you like to come and pick her up?”
Rae’s eyes closed, pursing her lips. “Sure,” she said. “I’ll come and get her.”
So much for making her shift on time.
“Crescentia,” she said with a sigh as she left out the front door of her cabin home and stepped into the foggy dew of morning. “You’re going to be the death of us both.”
Thirteen
A beautiful young woman with long black hair that reached her waist stood outside the jail. Tall, and slim, she could have been a model on any runway in Paris. Her jean shorts revealed too much thigh for Rae’s liking, and a cutoff shirt showed off her tattooed belly.
Rae shook her head as she pulled up to the curb and rolled down her tinted windows.
“Get in,” she said.
Crescentia blew a bubble with her gum and popped it as she opened the door and slid into the leather passenger seat.
“Sup, sis,” she said, stretching her long pale legs onto the dashboard of Rae’s BMW.
“Feet off, Crescentia.”
Crescentia rolled her gray eyes but obeyed and took her feet down. “Done.”
“What did you do this time?” Rae asked as she pulled away, hoping no one she knew saw her leaving the jail.
Crescentia gave her a sidelong glance, a grin on her plump pink lips. “I kicked a guy’s ass,” she said, cracking her knuckles.
“Why?”
“He called me a whore.”
Rae exhaled, tightening her grip on the steering wheel. “Was it really necessary to hurt him? The odds aren’t exactly fair.”
“That’s not my problem.”
Rae shook her head, pursing her lips as she drove back to her house. Crescentia was a young, recently fallen angel. Living within the human world was new to her and it was Rae’s job to help her assimilate and learn what was acceptable.
Like a hormonal teen, Crescentia had no control over her impulses or emotions. Such things would have to be learned and practiced and Rae was the teacher.
They drove back to her house, all the while Rae tried to think of ways that she could get through to Crescentia. The young angel was almost as difficult as her teen patients.
That’s when it came to her. Perhaps she could appeal to her the same way she provided care to her patients. A fallen angel wasn’t much different from the teen girls she spoke to each day. They were lost, confused, full of shame for betraying their father, and full of self-loathing.
As Rae pulled into the driveway, Crescentia opened the door.
“Wait,” Rae said, putting a hand on Crescentia’s arm.
“What?” Crescentia asked, her eyes going from Rae’s hand and meeting her eyes.
“Do you want to talk?”
Crescentia titled her head. “About what? About how much I hate this place?”
Nodding, Rae gave her a sympathetic smile. “Yes.”
Slumping back into the seat, Crescentia shook her head. “I just want to go home.”
The pain in the young angel’s voice caught Rae off guard. She swallowed and stroked Crescentia’s arm. “I know. Once the cloak of lies is lifted, we are all faced with the realization of our error. Trust me, hun. We all want to go home, and the ones that don’t end up crossing to the other side.”
Crescentia shot her a look, one of curiosity. “Do you ever think of just giving up this game of trying to earn your redemption, and crossing over to the other side?”
“No,” Rae said, softly. “You don’t want to do such a thing.” She pulled her hand away from Crescentia as it both of her hands started to shake. She looked away. “I’ve seen what that can do to an angel. Please, trust me. You do not want to become a demon. I’ve never seen such an act get reversed, and it only causes more sorrow and pain in the end.”
There was silence between them as Crescentia seemed to mull over Rae’s words. Rae thought of Luke, and how he’d made that exact mistake. If there was ever a way to save him from that mistake, she’d do it. As much as she hated to admit it, she loved him enough still to wish he made it back from that decision.
“Okay,” Crescentia said. “Maybe we can talk about what’s next for me.”
“Sure.” Rae turned off the car. “Are you hungry?”
“Yes. I didn’t want to touch that disgusting food they had in the jail.”
They got out of the car and started up the stairs when another car came up her long driveway.
Rae brightened when she saw that it was Collin.
“Your boyfriend is around a lot lately,” Crescentia said.
Rae fixed her hair. “Yes, he is.”
When he parked and got out of the car, her smile faded at his expression.
“Collin? What’s wrong?” she asked as he approached her.
Collin glanced at Crescentia and took Rae by the arm. “We need to leave. Right now.”
“What?” Rae asked, not budging. “Tell me what’s wrong?”
His chest heaved and his face was flushed as if he’d been running. His eyes widened as he looked down at her. “I have something to tell you, Rae.”
Crescentia walked back down the stairs, her interest piqued. “Oh. This is getting good.”
Rae held a hand up, shushing her. “Tell me.”
Collin paused, his eyes looking to the sky.
Why did the world go silent?
Rae tensed as she followed Collin’s gaze.
The sky darkened, and three figures flew over her house and landed before them.
Rae’s jaw dropped as the sun was blocked by dark clouds that turned the day into night.
Her heart thumped in her chest and her palms grew sweaty as she looked the strangers up and down, wishing she had her sword at her hip.
Demons.
Fourteen
“I told you we needed to leave,” Collin said, breaking her from her thoughts of summoning her angelic powers or pretending to be oblivious to the supernatural world.
She had to protect him, but something told her he was less in need of her protection than she’d thought.
“What else did you need to tell me?” Rae asked, her eyes focused on the three masked men that stood in her front yard.
Crescentia stood beside her. “What’s up with these goons? This isn’t Halloween,” she yelled down at them, completely unfazed by their sudden appearance. She twirled her hair around her finger and glanced at Rae. “Want me to get rid of them?”
“Stay back,” Rae said, her eyes fixed on Collin.
“Halston sent me to warn you,” Collin said and Rae shot him a surprised look, her brows lifting high.
“Halston? What?”
Three dart guns were lifted and pointed at Rae.
Collin stood in front of her, blocking their view.
From behind Collin, Rae looked down at her hands. She chewed the inside of her lip, her rage simmering to a boil. Her breaths became labored, and her mind raced with all of the possible outcomes of what was about to happen.
“The three of you need to leave,” Collin said. He nodded to them. “As a Netherworld Division agent, I have the clearance to either arrest or kill you all.”
Agent?
Rae flickered a shocked look at him, her eyes widened, her lips parted. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t know you were an angel until today,” Collin said, shaking his head. He took a step closer to her, and she backed away. Throwing his hands up, he tilted his head as he gazed down at her. “I’m sorry.”
“So, now that you know my secret. Tell me yours. What are you?”
Never did she get a vibe that he was anything supernatural. Though, humans did work for the division. But, why Collin? He was a surgeon—not a soldier or military man. He wasn’t a vampire or an angel.
That must mean that he’s…
Realization slammed into her and she covered her mouth. “Good God. You’re a shifter?”
A laugh came from who Rae assumed was the leader. “Shifter? They really should stop letting shifters into the Division. Wolves and cats aren’t exactly a match for our sort.”
Rae looked to the leader. She didn’t get a good glimpse of his face through the mask.
But, when he ripped it off, she pushed Collin aside and flew at him with a speed that was barely traceable by human eyes.
“Rogan,” she hissed, grabbing him by his collar and flying him far into the woods. Though surprised by her speed, he tried to hide it with a false smile.
“You do remember me, then.”
“What do you want?”
She threw him into a tree and hovered in the air, throwing three rings of angel light up her body. Exhilarated by the release of her power, she allowed the bright golden light to crisscross and cascade up and down her body.
“We were told to take you,” Rogan, an old enemy from her days in England, said.
As she asked the question, she knew exactly who sent him. Had Luke been trying to warn her this entire time?
“We only had the guns to scare you and coerce you to come with us,” Rogan said, holding his hands up.
The ruler of the demon clan of England, Edwin Allington.
A normal life was no longer on the table, not with a bounty on her head from a creature she didn’t stand a chance against.
Rae lowered herself to the ground, her heart racing.
She stepped up to Rogan, inches from her face. “Well, what are you waiting for?”
His eyes widened. “You’ll come. No trouble?”
She turned and headed back to her house, a scowl on her face as she tread through thick underbrush. “Yes.”
As Rae walked through the woods, she thought of all of the clues Luke had tried to leave her. How he still cared about her enough to save her life.
Though she hated to admit it…she was going to need him to face the demon king.
Collin ran to her once she was back in view. He wrapped his arms around her. “What happened? Are you okay?”
Rae exhaled and buried her face in his chest. “I’m fine,” she said, hating what she knew she had to do.
He held her out at arm’s length and looked in her eyes. “What is it?”
Rae was afraid to say what was on her mind, but she knew that there was no way around it. She looked to Crescentia, who sat on the stairs, her eyes fixed on the three men. The look in her eyes sent chills up Rae’s spine. She frowned, realizing that she had no idea what kind of skills the girl had.
And for that matter, she didn’t know what kind of shifter Collin was.
“Rae?”
She turned to him and kissed him on the lips, her hands grasping either side of his face. “Take care of Crescentia for me.”
“Nope,” Crescentia said, standing and stretching her legs. “I’m going wherever you go. No way I’m sitting in this boring house while you go out and act like a superhero.”
Rae sighed. She did sound like a petulant teen right then. “No. You won’t. Go inside, Crescentia.”
“Try to stop me.”
Rae looked in Crescentia’s eyes and saw a strength that she never noticed before. Maybe she could use an ally.
“Rae. Halston wants you to come to the Netherworld Division. That’s where we are going.”
Pulling away, Rae shook her head. “Tell Halston that I have to do this. I have to face my past for once and for all.”
Collin stepped forward and she held up her hands, pushing him away with the power of her mind.
