Atlas (The Atlas Series) (21 page)

The way he said
yet
made Kala pause.

Things that she knew: A. He’d just saved her life. Maybe he did this to become the next Atlas himself, but he did it all the same. B. He hadn’t actually tried to kill her and at this point, having taken her voice, he could so very easily. C. If he wanted to teleport her to some dungeon to kill her there, he could have done it a hundred times over by now.

Kala really did want to hear what this
creature
had to say. It was easier calling him a creature, it made his good looks feel more unnatural and less attractive.

Trying not to have too much snark, Kala waved her hand in front of her gesturing her impatience as if to say,
Get on with it
.

The man smiled, enjoying Kala’s attitude. “Let’s go somewhere less… public.”

Kala didn’t like the sound of going anywhere with this guy, though she did agree that being in an alley near a busy street left her vulnerable to Clifton, and apparently the forces of Demons and Angels as well. She didn’t have much choice anyway, though, as the man touched her arm and Kala’s surroundings blurred in front of her eyes.

Everything came back into focus as Kala and the man materialized in a small apartment overlooking the Capitol Building, with the Washington Monument in the distance. Kala quickly did the math and realized they were somewhere in the Capitol Hill area. She was relieved that they were still in D.C., but Kala really hated this whole teleporting business. Travel of any kind made Kala a little squeamish, but teleporting made her downright nauseous. She would have given this guy a piece of her mind, but as she couldn’t speak she simply plopped down on the brown linen couch that was resting against the far wall.

The apartment was a studio with a small kitchenette, hardwood floors, a couch, matching recliner chair and a ginormous flat screen television, at least sixty inches, maybe bigger. What a Malak needed with a TV Kala had no idea, but she wasn’t in a position to fault the guy for it. It only reminded her of the fact that she’d never be able to watch television again without seeing herself murder Jack on repeat. A thought that was extremely depressing.

Kala noticed that there wasn’t a bed, not even a mattress. She guessed the supernatural didn’t need to sleep.
The more information the better
, she shrugged.

Kala gave the man a look that suggested she wasn’t playing anymore. If she could have put words to it, she would have said,
Speak or die, asshole
.

The stranger got the message, though he didn’t appear threatened at all by Kala, she noticed with irritation. He took off his jacket and laid it on the back of the recliner as he sat down across from Kala. “Sorry about the theatrics and the teleporting. I can see your face is a beautiful tinge of green,” he started in a friendly tone.

For some reason this annoyed Kala even more. She raised one of her eyebrows and gave him the stink eye while crossing her arms in a huff.

He continued, “I’m going to give you your voice back, but if you try any spells I’ll have to block you again. Understand?”

Kala nodded, though she felt like she was being addressed like a four-year-old. To be fair, Kala figured that this guy was probably thousands of years old while Kala was only a speck of dust on the map of time to him.

A fuzzy rushed sensation flowed through her chest and Kala cleared her throat, relieved to hear sound. “What do you want with me?” Thought she’d get that out of the way first.

“I’m what humans call an Angel,” he responded. He reminded Kala of her fifth grade science teacher in the way he answered so patiently, like if he was clear and concise enough, Kala wouldn’t get behind in the conversation.

“I thought you guys were called Malaks.” Kala uncrossed her arms and sighed. She hated being in situations that she couldn’t control. She was tempted to ignore his threat of voice control by making the recliner flip him backwards, but Kala knew he’d stop her in mid-sentence. A new trick she couldn’t even use.

Awesome
.

The man shook his head. “I’m a different kind of Angel. Malaks want you dead. Grautlin was a Malak, I’m not.”

Kala shrugged then nodded. “But you’re both Angels?”

“I’m of a different order, the Grigori. We were sent down to teach humans how to be civilized back when you were barely above the ape-stage of your existence, but the powers-that-be decided we were over-stepping our bounds and banished us from earth.”

“Over-stepping?” Kala was curious. Up until now history lessons had been bore to her, but lately, history lessons meant ammunition for future death matches. Not to be too dramatic, but that’s how it felt to Kala.

“We were supposed to start you humans with the basics — fire, cooking, hunting — but we saw the raw potential in you. We began showing you magic, science, technology, and you soaked it up like you were born to it.” The stranger lit up with the memory, making Kala realize he was probably one of the actual Grigori that existed back then.

How old did that make him
? Kala would have to look up the Grigori on the Internet since her
historical-fact
knowledge was spotty. But one word stuck out to her more than the others. “Magic?” she asked.

The man smiled. “Yes. Much more advanced than the primitive stuff you practice, though. The woman you trained with is the best I’ve ever seen, but she only scratched the surface when teaching you.”

“It was only one night, geez.” Kala found that she was a little defensive at being called primitive. Levitating crap and throwing it at people was quite impressive in her book.

“I didn’t mean to offend you. I just meant I can teach you much more.” He seemed genuinely polite about the whole thing.

“Who are you anyway?” Kala became conscious of the fact that she didn’t know this Grigori Angel guy’s name.

“I apologize. My name is Talan.”

“Of course it is.” Kala smirked.
Talan
? Talk about your romance novel name. The fact that he had the looks to back it up only made it more absurd.

“I fail to see why you think my name is obvious.” Talan stared at Kala with a curiosity that made her feel uncomfortable.

“Why am I here?” Kala changed the subject.

“I’m here to help you carry out your mission. This is the third day and you’re running out of time.” Talan’s blue eyes looked at her intensely.

“I don’t need your help. I can do it just fine on my own.” Kala skirted the issue that she wasn’t planning on carrying out any mission.

“You’re lying,” Talan said matter-of-factly. “You don’t want to do what you were shown.”

Kala didn’t answer, which she realized only confirmed Talan’s statement.

He laughed. “It’s understandable, Kala. Not a single Atlas has
ever
wanted to complete a mission. The first one is always the hardest, but they do get easier.”

Kala’s defenses kicked in big time. She stood up in a huff. “What would you know about it? Were you ever an Atlas?”

Talan stood up with her, but his demeanor was calm, comforting. He placed his hand on Kala’s arm to steady her.

Kala did not want to be touched, especially from this guy. She shrugged his hand off and stepped away from the couch. She would have made a break for it if she didn’t know that Talan could easily find her and bring her right back.

“How did you find me anyway? I thought that anti-tracker made it impossible for your kind to find me. It worked on Asmodeus anyway.” Again with the changing subjects, Kala was good at that.

“The same way Grautlin did, the café surveillance tape,” he said.

Kala groaned. She’d have to steer clear of all civilization at this point!

Talan continued, “And the anti-tracker does work. The Turner family is very powerful. They are much more advanced than most humans, him with his science and her with the magic. The supernatural world has no idea how far the Turners have come and it’ll be too late to do anything about it by the time they figure it out.” Talan almost seemed proud of Turner and Roberta, like they had reached some level of nirvana that he was somehow responsible for. Like a proud teacher…

“
You’ve
been showing them! You said yourself that you Grigori guys got in trouble for teaching magic and science. You’ve been sneaking in some tutoring behind the collective Demon and Angels’ asses!” Kala knew she was right and everything made total sense. “The Turners have no idea what you are though, do they?”

Talan didn’t deny Kala’s accusations, he only confirmed them by saying, “To Roberta I come as an older Cajun man and master of Voodoo. To Turner I’m one of his top scientists. But they have such raw talent on their own! It will take them far.”

Talan’s eyes were proud as he added, “I wouldn’t be surprised if they end up ruling the world someday.”

Kala shrugged. “It wouldn’t be such a bad world if they did. So far, they’ve helped me more than I could have ever imagined. And maybe they could…” she didn’t finish her thought.

But Talan did, “Maybe they could fix what you destroy when you don’t complete your Atlas mission?”

Kala’s eyes met Talan’s, and she knew she’d given herself away in one look. That’s exactly what she was going to say.

Talan stepped toward her again. This time Kala didn’t pull away. He touched her arm gently, his eyes were big round blue abysses of intensity as he looked at her. Kala was attracted to him, though she hated herself for it. Though he looked human, there was something unnaturally beautiful about him.

Maybe the fact that he’s an Angel
? Kala chastised herself.

“Tell me what you have to do,” Talan asked calmly.

They were so close at this point it was making Kala aware of Talan’s body heat, radiating off of him like a freaking space heater. It was the first time since meeting Jack that Kala physically felt this kind of chemistry, and she didn’t like it.

“I’m not telling you.” Kala wanted to back away, but found herself frozen in place, as if she needed to feel the heat from Talan’s body.

“I won’t complete your mission if that’s what you’re afraid of, but if you tell me what it is I can show you what will happen if you don’t complete it.” Talan’s face was so close to Kala’s it was making her legs shaky. Not just because of the chemistry she was feeling, but because of what he was offering her.

A chance to see what would happen if she didn’t kill Jack.

But she didn’t trust him. She didn’t know Talan. He claimed he wouldn’t go out and kill Jack, but if he decided he wanted to, there was nothing she could do about it.

“I don’t trust you, and I have no way of stopping you if you’re lying to me.” Kala decided the honest approach was her best option.

Talan stared at her a few more moments, then backed away with his hands up in mock surrender. “I’ll tell you anything you want to know. Better yet, I’ll show you.”

Kala found that she was disappointed when Talan stepped away from her. She hated herself for entertaining any kind of desire toward Talan, but chemistry wasn’t something she could control.

She could, however, control herself — and Jack meant more to Kala than anything she could think of. No
Angel
would stand in the way of that.

Then what Talan said registered in her brain. “Show me?” she asked.

He nodded. “The same way I will be able to show you the future, I can show you the past. My past.”

Kala’s one weakness in life was her insatiable curiosity. Being able to see what an Angel’s life was like was too tempting to turn down. She looked Talan in the eye and nodded quickly before she could chicken out.

“Show me,” she said.

Chapter Twenty

Talan reached out and took Kala’s hand. She had to repress a shiver that went down her spine at his touch. Kala wanted to punch herself in the face for her reaction to Talan, but she shoved down her emotions instead. Just like always. She was good at that.

Talan led her back to the couch and they both sat down facing each other.

“Close your eyes,” he instructed.

Kala closed her eyes and felt Talan take her other hand so that he held them both.

Relax
. Kala scolded herself, but her heart was racing with excruciating anticipation of what was going to happen next.

A flood of images drowned Kala’s senses to the point where she had to open her eyes from the onslaught.

Talan quietly instructed, “You have to close your eyes. The images will slow down. Relax and calm down.”

Kala wanted to grumble in annoyance, but kept her opinion to herself. She never liked to be told to calm down. For some reason just the words made her want to choke someone. But in this instance Kala figured Talan was right. She was trying very hard not to panic, which was completely new to her. Being a Navy Seal, panic wasn’t exactly one of her regular sensations. Kala was always cool under pressure, but these were very different circumstances. She couldn’t shoot her way out of this one.