18 Truths (39 page)

The sound of a deafening explosion pierced my ears, snatching me from my thoughts. Behind me, smoke rose toward the sky. Nate must’ve thrown the grenade, but did he and Conner survive the blast? I couldn’t stand this fight any longer.

“Are you okay?” Grace yelled.

I sat up slowly, my eardrums still ringing, but I was ready to give up and tell her to save herself, when I felt something protruding in my back pocket. Reaching into my jeans, my heart pounded faster when I realized I’d held onto the glue stick this whole time! I threw the cap off, ready to hit the toggle switch when I realized it was already down, signaling
Angel 9-1-1
.

Two things I was certain of in that moment: one, I’d just brought butt dialing to a whole ‘nother level; and two, I was about to have my butt handed to me by one very powerful angel.

“No man dies for what he knows to be true.
Men die for what they want to be true,
for what some terror in their hearts
tells them is not true.”
—Oscar Wilde

race grabbed my hand again and we began sprinting, cutting through the woods, buying some time. I could hear at least one demon chasing after us. The knee-high briar patches snatched at my pants as I tore through the forest. Over my panting breath, I heard the demons whispering, “You’ll never escape. You’re mine. You’re mine.”

Their shrill warnings were a hammer in my head, beating against my brain. I’d come so far on my journey, and now I was about to lose everything. The frigid air burned my lungs, but I kept running with Grace. We cleared a patch of distorted tree trunks, passed a mangy lone wolf, and raced around the side of a cave to find a path leading to the right.

Grace bolted into the thick of trees toward the left instead. A demon jumped out at us, only a foot in front of my face. I darted around him, quickly moving to the left as he continued his hot pursuit. I could tell Grace ran as hard as she could while practically dragging my human butt along, everything around me a blur.

My childhood dog used to suffer from unfortunate epileptic seizures. I shook more now than he ever did. I heard the demon behind me, and hid us behind a wide tree. Breathing heavily but silently, I searched for a way out, my mind racing. My gaze settled on a huge rock a couple feet in front of me, and I lifted it, throwing the heavy stone in another direction. The distraction worked, sending the demon sprinting the other way.

The second demon strayed behind and stood directly in front of me—his back to us. Eyes wide, I tried to control my panic as I watched Grace quickly break off a branch and whip crack him on top of the head before slamming him to the ground. He fought back, but after a fourth punch to his face, he disappeared. What had I been thinking when I made a deal with these creatures? They were pure evil. Had I actually thought I was such a great spirit guide that I could trick them?

Well, I labored under no such delusion now, that was for sure. And even though I was supposed to be the one helping Grace, I was thankful for her assistance.

With loud snapping wings, Riel materialized in front of us. “Come with me!” His eyes glowed with urgency.

“Grace, come on!”

She hesitated, her lower lip trembling. “What about Nate?”

I couldn’t believe she still cared for that little traitor. My concern was only for one person now. Nate had made that choice easy. “Conner’s out here, too.” Tears spilled over my cheeks, and I could feel them making tracks on my dirty face.

Suddenly, another demon popped in front of us. I sucked in a breath and turned away from it, my gaze pleading with Riel to destroy the disgusting creature.

“Now!” Riel barked.

My mind tumbling, I grabbed hold of his hand while Grace took the other. We were back at headquarters in another blink. I looked at Nate sitting in the chair, eyes wide, his face racked with confusion.

“You okay?” Grace asked him.

Nate only gave a slight nod. His eyes drooped, looking like a wounded basset hound, his gaze flickering back to Grace and Riel.

Ash flew into the room, his eyes wild.

“Take Grace to her mother,” Riel ordered. “I’ll deal with these two.”

Ash nodded, grabbed Grace, and off they went.

Terror washed over me when I caught a glimpse of Riel. “Nate was responsible for this. He—”

“Sit down, Olga.” Riel gestured toward the chair next to Nate, who dropped his gaze to the floor.

I didn’t want to sit next to that piece of pond scum, but Riel’s eyes remained focused on mine with a look that said ‘do not disobey me.’

“What I’m going to say will be hard, so listen carefully because I don’t want to repeat myself. You are going to have to accept there are many things you won’t understand and have little control over. The one thing you must understand is the Angel Council doesn’t trust you anymore—”

“The Angel Council?” Nate said, a low urgency in his voice.

Riel blinked at him, his eyes black. “Oh, honestly. Did you read your Spirit Guide handbook at all? There are Nine Choirs of Angels. The Angel Council is made up of special warriors against evil who are the staunch defenders of justice. And they will send Olga and you straight to Hell unless you do exactly as I say.”

I pointed to Nate. “He
should
go to Hell. He’s working with the demons!”

Fury flashed across Riel’s face. “Did I give you permission to open your mouth? I swear a dog has better obedience than you do.”

A sudden coldness hit my core. Riel’s words knocked something loose in me and before I even realized I was crying, I tasted the salty tears.

“You’ve put us into a complicated position. You haven’t just put yourself at risk—you’ve compromised our whole operation! As of tonight, you are no longer spirit guides. You will never again step inside headquarters. I’ve arranged for a Purgatory passport for you and Nate for the next forty-eight hours while you await your sentence concerning your crimes. You’ve read in your Spirit Guide Handbook, or
should have
at least, the verses from the sixth chapter of Proverbs: ‘There are six things the Lord hates, yes; seven are an abomination to Him. A proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, a false witness who speaks lies, and one who sows discord among brethren.’ You’ve acted with no regard for veracity. You’ve made excuses for not doing the right thing. Told yourself lies for your abhorrent actions. You’ve deceived others, but not God. He sees all and will not be mocked. His council of seven angels will judge if you’ve broken the deadly sin they rule judgment over, and then will determine your sentence if you have. They convene tonight.”

My heart thudded, a sick sensation rolling through my stomach. “What about Conner?”

In a flash of fire, he hovered above me. “He. Is. Not. Your. Concern. It’s not your place to question God’s justice and use it to rationalize your unfaithful actions. What’s it to you where Conner is? Your job is to trust that God is in control.” Each distinct word was like thunder, shaking the ground beneath me, the lights flashing with volts of electricity.

“You should be asking about Grace, or did you forget about your real assignment?” Ash returned, his rebuke filling every corner of the room.

I’d never heard his voice sound so powerful. I wished his tone would shake some sense into me, but my thoughts still drifted toward Conner.

What was he doing? Was he safe? In trouble? Mad at me? Worried? Brainwashed?
I only hoped I could keep myself together long enough to find out.

Ash snapped his fingers, and the door burst open. “Put them with the others.”

Others? As in prisoners?

Two guards half dragged, half carried Nate and me down the long corridors of headquarters, and then deposited us into an elevator. Nate’s guard pressed the down button. The elevator dinged a few seconds later when the door slid open, and the guards shoved both of us out into a carpeted area. The room looked to be a lobby of some sort. A desk sat in the middle of a series of doors, three on each side. Each door was made of marble and featured a hand carved stone sign in the middle.

“Juvie, Limbo, Purgatory.” I read aloud the door signs on my left.

“Celestial Court, Heaven, Hell,” Nate said, reading aloud the door signs on our right.

“Where are these transports going?” The secretary behind the desk scrutinized us, scrunching up her face at me.

“Purgatory, same cell as the others,” my guard answered, placing a rough hand on my arm.

I extracted myself from his grip and shuffled to the labeled door. Nate tried to grab my hand from beside me, but I yanked my arm away in disgust.

My guard snorted. “Erin, buzz these two kids in.”

The secretary nodded, and then the Purgatory door opened automatically. We stepped into a room no bigger than a storage unit, only emptiness inside, just like me.

“Enjoy your stay.” With those parting words, the guard slammed the door behind us.

I limped toward a corner in the darkened room before bumping into a form curled into a ball on the floor.

“Conner?”

To have him here right now, safe with me, seemed impossible. But there he laid, blond hair matted to his face with dried blood, his blue eyes staring blankly at me, his cheeks bruised, his lip swollen.

“Fancy meeting you here.”

I dropped next to him, trailing a finger along his jaw line, smearing a trail of his sweat. “Conner, I’m so sorry for everything. Can you ever forgive me?”

Nate bent down. “I’ll go talk to Dr. Judy and Grace, give you two some time.”

I was about to tell him I didn’t care what he did when my mind replayed the words.
Dr. Judy and Grace?
My face twisted in confusion until my eyes found the mother and daughter reunited in an opposite corner of the room.

“In case I die again soon,” Conner said, and my gaze met his. “I want to tell you I love you. My heart is in your hands. It belongs to you, always has, and always will. I’m not gonna let death or demons or angels or”—he tilted his head toward Nate—“other guys change that.”

My mouth went dry, and I licked my lips. “I love you, too. But, you’re not still mad at me?”

The warmth of his body permeated my skin, my mind full from the memory of our short time in Juvie together. “There’s no room for holding onto grudges against you in my heart.”

I planted a soft kiss on his lips and snuggled up next to him, but we didn’t talk, though there were a million things I wanted to tell him. For whatever reason, it felt like my humanity had been handed back to me. My knee throbbed, and I was so tired. Maybe it had something to do with being stripped of my spirit guide license. Conner moved his head to my shoulder, and I closed my eyes and quickly passed out.