Fall from Grace (Book 2: An Angelblood Novel) (31 page)

“Did she put you up to this Aidan? Have you
forgotten how long we were friends before your precious
Aura was born?She’s not Avriel! AVRIEL IS DEAD!
When are you going to start realizing that truth?” she raged.

“I forget nothing. Avriel lives in Aura. I have no
intentions of jeopardizing my relationship with her.”
“How can you be so coldhearted, when you know
I’m afraid?”

 

“I wish you would lower your voice, we have guests
in the house.”

 

“I doubt I’m distracting Will and Joshua.”
“I wasn’t referring to them. We have other guests
visiting from New York.”

 

“New York? Is it the Devereaux sister’s? I heard
they werestaying at the Godwin Academy.”

 

“No, it’s another group who came with the
Enchantor Mahlyssa.”

 

“So you have more house guests. Aura is
comfortable picking up strays. It’s what she does best.”

Aidan
tried
to
ignore
Jeziels
last
comment
and
returned to the subject of bringing her before the Council. “If
you were a friend to Heaven, you wouldn’t hesitate to meet
with the Guild.”

“If Aura is making you turn your back on your
friends, then perhaps you should question her loyalty.”

“I choose my own friends,”
Aidan insisted.
“Well perhaps you have chosen the wrong friend.
Let’s hope Aura doesn’t break your heart. I may not be here
to pick up the pieces.”

“I would never expect you to. Are we finished? I
need to check on the little ones.”

“I’m sure your brats are fine! After all, your
precious Aura is looking after them. I hope nothing happens
to any of them.”

“Are you threatening them Jeziel?”

 

“I wouldn’t dream of it, but we both know accidents
can happen.”

 

“I think you need to leave before I call the Council
myself. Don’t come back here again.”

Jeziel turned and started to leave, when she burst
into tears. “I don’t know what I did to make you hate me.
We used to be such good friends. I know you think I’ve
changed, but you’ve changed too. Why don’t you trust and
believe in me anymore?” she sobbed, as she took a seat on
one of the chairs.

Aidan couldn’t bear to hear her cry. What if she
was innocent?
He remembered how she was treated after
the war.
The other angels shunned her.
He was her only
friend now. He walked over to the bench, sat down, and put
his arms around her. “I’m sorry. The Guild is putting
pressure on me. I don’t know what to do.”

“All I have ever asked is that you be my friend;
nothing more. Why doesn’t Aura understand that?
She
doesn’t know what it feels like to be alone. I wish she could
understand me the way you do,” Jeziel sobbed.

“I’ll talk to Aura.”

“Do you think she’ll listen? She’s so jealous of me.
I can’t help feeling she wants me to go away, so she can
have you all to herself.”

“Aura’s not like that. If you knew her better, you
would realize she could never be like that.”

“You know I would never hurt any of those little
ones. I get angry sometimes and say things I don’t mean. I
hope you forgiveme. You’re all I have left in this world.”

“”I forgive you. I’ll talk to Aura; I promise.”

Jeziel threw her arms around Aidan and kissed him
again. He didn’t pull away but stayed there holding her,
until she was calm enough to leave.
Finally, she got up and
started to walk away. “I’ll be in touch. I promise I’ll
consider meeting with the Guild.”

When she was out of sight, she started to laugh.
“This isn’t over Aidan. This is far from being over. If Aura
doesn’t want to listen to you, I’ll make her listen to me.”
She ran until she was no longer visible.

Chapter 31

When Aura reached her bedroom, the girls were
standing next to the window, with the curtains pulled aside.
Aura walked over to stand next to them. “How long have
you been listening?” she asked.

“Long enough to know that Aidan told Jeziel about
Mahlyssa and Shannon,” Bren said.

 

“We won’t let anything happen to either of them.
Aidan may be her fool, but I can assure you that I’m not!”
“What are you going to do, Aura? Are you going to
tell Daddy and the rest of the Guild?” Bren asked.

“No –
I’m going to beat Jeziel at her own game.
I
want her to think the Guild has no reason to question her
now.”

“But she killed Elijah and Ericah. We can’t just let
her get away with that,” Alannah insisted.

 

“You’ve seen this, Alannah?”

“I’ve seen it too,” Bren said. “She beat them and
left them for dead. Then she asked Samhael to start the hellfire and burn them.
Ericah was going to have a baby.
Did
you know that?”

“Yes. I’m sorry that you had to see their deaths.
How long have you had the sight?”

 

“I’ve been seeing visions since I was a baby.
I just
told Alannah, but Tracy has known for a long time.”
“Does Mom know?”
“Yes and she knows that Rita is a seer too. But her
visions aren’t as strong as ours.”

“Can you see past, present and future?”
“Yeah – but I don’t see everything.”

“I don’t think we should tell anyone else about this
yet. It might be to our advantage to keep it quiet, for now.”

“Bad things are coming Aura. Alannah and I have
seen them. We can’t trust Jeziel, because she’s been to see
her father, Lucifer. They are planning another war. Do you
think our friends will be safe?”

Aura had never seen Bren so worried. “My shield
should protect us.”

They all watched as Jeziel stood and kissed Aidan,
before running away. Aura moved away from the window,
when she saw
Aidan
walking towards the house.
But
Alannah didn’t move. She stared icily at her father. That
was the moment she stopped trusting him.

Aura hurried the girls to bed and turned out the light.
“We’ll just be quiet until he goes into his room.”

It was a few minutes later, that Aidan knocked on
the door. The girls didn’t say a word. They clung to each
other and waited for him to walk away. When they heard his
bedroom door open and close, Aura turned on a small
nightlight that sat on the nightstand next to her bed.

“We’ll have to talk in a whisper. I don’t want Aidan
to hear us. We’ll have to be careful, not to let Aidan know
our plans.”

“Do we have a plan?” Tracy asked.

Aura smiled, “Most definitely. We can talk more
about this in the morning. I have a feeling it’s going to be a
very busy day.” She kissed the girls goodnight, and turned
off the light.
She would be patient, but vigilant, just like
Michael told her. Soon, it would be time to settle the score.

When Richard left Paris, he went to the outskirts of Utopia.
As he suspected, there was little to no activity on the street
where Virgil once resided.
He instinctively looked around;
making sure no one saw him as he walked in the house.
It
was a small cottage in comparison with the finer homes in
Utopia; housing only two bedrooms and in need of serious
repair.

Richard was impressed by how neat everything was
on the inside.
Perhaps Virgil still believed in the premise
that
cleanliness
was
next
to
godliness.
As
he
walked
through the kitchen, he came upon a room he presumed was
the library or study.
There was a small wooden desk and
chair in the center of the room.

As he looked behind the desk, there were several
shelves where he saw a host of books, neatly stacked next to
each other. He skimmed over the titles, until he came across
one that didn’t seem to belong with the others. “Surely he
wouldn’t keep something this valuable in plain sight?”
Richard thought.

The book was not written in a language Richard
could
decipher.
He
knew
by
the
condition,
this
was
probably the book he was searching for.
He pulled it from
the shelf, opening it carefully.
Along with the strange
writing, he found pictures that had been hand drawn.
They
meant nothing to him, but to another Enchantor… they
would be priceless. This was the book of spells; it had to be.

Why would Virgil have this in his possession?
He
knew first hand Virgil never practiced the dark arts.
As he
looked inside, he could barely make out the inscription, save
one word … Marcus.

This book belonged to Mahlyssa’s father, one of the
first and most powerful Enchantors.
He wished he had
thought to look for the book before. Perhaps Mahlyssa
would not have betrayed him.
Surely it would contain the
information he needed to save his daughter.
He placed the
book inside one of the pockets of his wool overcoat, and
started to walk towards the door.

As he was leaving the room, a gold locket caught
his eye. Richard had never seen anything like it before. The
craftsmanship was extraordinary.
The chain was made of
gold. On the cover, appeared to be a bird of some kind;
unfamiliar to him.
He had no doubt; it was expensive, and
important.

He placed the pendant, still on its chain, in his
trouser pocket.
As he passed through the front door, he
looked around once more, to see if he had been followed.
When he was certain he was alone, he used a portal to go to
London to meet with the Cavanaugh’s.

Richard arrived in London shortly before midnight.
As he walked towards the home of the Cavanaugh’s, again
he checked to make certain he was alone.
It was not like
him to be so paranoid, but there was a lot at stake now.
As
he prepared to knock on the front door, a middle aged
woman answered it.

“Well this is a surprise. To what do we owe this
pleasure?” Claudia Cavanaugh smiled.

 

“I have a proposition I believe will benefit all of us.”
Claudia smiled and asked Richard to come in and
follow her to the study.

 

“Well I see you’ve done all right for yourself,”
Richard said as he looked around.

 

“We manage,” Claudia replied.

Claudia Cavanaugh was not a stunning woman, but
she was not unattractive either. She had long red curly hair
and deep green eyes. She epitomized the Irish. Her husband
Colin in contrast was almost frail looking. Claudia looked to
be about thirty; Colin looked twice her age.

“So why have you come here tonight Richard?
What was so urgent you couldn’t have waited until the
morning?” Claudia asked.

“I have need of your services.”
“Isn’t Mahlyssa seeing to your needs?”

Mahlyssa and I have had a little misunderstanding. I
removed her father’s curse and I believe she has abandoned
me to search for her daughter.”

“And what of our own daughter, is she not still in
Mahlyssa’s custody?” Colin asked.

“I have no doubt your daughter remains in her care.
Judging from what I saw, the child has been well cared for
these last five years.”

“Do you have any idea where she went?”Claudia
asked.

 

“I have some ideas, but first I’d like to discuss
another matter with you,” Richard said directly.

 

“What is it you would have us do?” Colin asked.

“My daughter has gotten herself in a bit of trouble
with the Guild. She now wears the mark of angel-fire on her
left cheek.I need to find her a suitable identity, so she can’t
be recognized. I was hoping you could help me.”

Colin and Claudia looked at each other.
They had
never had dealings with angel-fire before, but Claudia was
well practiced in the dark arts.
She was more than capable
of altering someone’s identity. “Some of the ingredients we
need will be hard to come by and expensive.
What are you
prepared to pay us?” Claudia asked.

Richard reached into his coat pocket and pulled out
the old book. “I thought you might have a use for this.”
Claudia examined the book.
She was very familiar
with the language in which it was written.

Richard pulled the book out her hand. “I have two
questions for you. Do you believe you can perform the
service and when can I bring my daughter here?”

“We will need a few hours to make the necessary
preparations. It’s after midnight now, if you return with
your daughter tomorrow morning by six, we should be ready
by then,” she said. “I’m assuming you have an identity in
mind.”

Richard ha
nded her the picture of Monica. “There is
one more thing. Better yet; I’ll wait to discuss it with you in
the morning, after we have taken care of Natalie. I trust you
will not betray me,” Richard said. “If you do as I ask, the
book will be yours.”

“You’ll give us the book if we do this service for
you?” Claudia asked.

 

“Yes, if you honor your agreement. Though I don’t
see any real value in it,” Richard snickered.

“This book belonged to Marcus. There are a great
many secrets hidden in its passages. Of course the language
would only be known to another Enchantor.”

“That’s good to know, because if you betray me, I
will have the pleasure of burning it, and making you both
watch. Perhaps I should have an enchantment placed on the
book, so if you ever try to deceive me, you will never know
its secrets,” Richard laughed.

“No please. We swear we will be loyal to you. The
book cannot be copied.
This may be the only one left in
existence,” Claudia said.

“That’s also good to know. I’ll be here in the
morningwith my daughter.” Richard immediately vanished.

“All the secrets of the Enchantors are in that book. I
heard a rumor there was a copy not accounted for.
It must
be the same.
With this type of knowledge, we will be the
most powerful Enchantors to ever live.
Perhaps even more
powerful than Marcus,” Claudia said excitedly.

“You promised after those unfortunate deaths in
New York, you would stop practicing the dark spells.
Have
you changed your mind?”

“It won’t hurt to have a peek. Can you imagine the
power we would have if the book belonged to us?”

“I care nothing about power. Have you forgotten we
lost our daughter the last time you played with darkness?”
Colin asked heatedly. “I want no parts of this. I swore after
our friends died, I would never again conjure another dark
spell.”