Forsaken (33 page)

“
Cole,” I
hissed.

As if this were explanation enough,
Alex moved on.

“
He was messing with my
head too. I tried coming to you,” he said. “I couldn’t find the
property. The GPS kept shorting out. Even Cormack couldn’t find his
way back.”

“
He kept you out,” I
stated the obvious.

Alex only nodded.

“
Is everyone okay?” I
asked, wanting to change the subject. My feelings regarding Cole
were too all over the place at the moment to talk about him any
longer.

“
For the most part,” he
said as he pulled into the parking lot of a small but well-kept
hotel.

We walked up to the second floor and
Alex opened a door. As soon as we got inside I was attacked by
Emily.

“
I’m so sorry, Jessica!”
she started sobbing as she pulled me tighter into her. “I don’t
know what got into me! I should have known better!”

I patted her back, accepting her
embrace. Happiness flooded through me. I was so relieved to see
her. “It’s alright. Are you okay now?”

Emily took a step back, wiping her
eyes. I noticed the bandages that were still wrapped around her
wrists. “Yeah, they stitched me up. I needed a transfusion but I’m
okay now.” To my surprise she took another step back, joining
Cormack at his side. “You guys got to me just in time.”

I didn’t miss the way Cormack beamed
down at Emily. I couldn’t help but smile back.

Another person was sitting quietly in
one corner of the room. She had dirty blonde hair and the most
frightening looking complexion I had ever seen on a person. Her
shockingly blue eyes made it obvious who she was though.

“
Jessica,” I’d like you to
meet my mother,” Alex said softly. “Caroline.”

I took a few hesitant steps forward.
She extended her hand but I simply wrapped my arms around her. “I’m
so glad to meet you.”

Caroline seemed hesitant and
uncomfortable as she patted my back twice then pulled away. I
noticed how she would hardly look anyone in the eye. “It’s nice to
meet you too,” she said in the husky voice of a heavy
smoker.

I smiled at her, feeling slightly
sorry for her, and joined Alex again.

“
I suggest everyone gets
some sleep,” Alex said as he looked around at us all. “We’re all
going home tomorrow.”

X

We all crowded into a row of seats on
the plane and everyone listened with rapture as I told them what
had happened in what I had thought was two days. It was harder than
I thought it would be, telling them of Cole’s final hours. I should
have been relieved, and I was. But what surprised me was that I
felt a little sad. It was unreasonable and ridiculous, but for some
reason I felt an odd little twinge in my chest recalling the last
few minutes Cole and I spent together.

Everyone was relieved when we got home
finally, especially Sal and Amber. Well, everyone except for maybe
Caroline. Alex had insisted that she come home with us, but I could
tell she was uncomfortable. I hoped that in the coming days and
weeks she could learn to bond with her son and perhaps start to
form some kind of relationship with him.

As I suspected, it quickly became
obvious that something had happened between Cormack and Emily in
the time I was with Cole. She finally had her angel. But it seemed
there were no perfect happy endings when it came to
angels.

Two days after we got home, Emily
showed up on my doorstep at five in the morning. She was puffy eyed
and her nose was running, but to my surprise there was a slight
smile on her face.

I didn’t even have to ask what had
happened as I ushered her in and we sat on one of the leather
couches.

“
He’s gone,” she said, her
voice sounding small. “He wanted to stop fighting. He was ready to
move on.”

“
I’m so sorry, Emily,” I
said as I wrapped my arms around her.

“
Thanks,” she said as she
sniffed. As she pulled away she wiped her nose with a
tissue.

“
Are you going to be
alright?” I asked, my expression concerned. “Don’t you dare lie to
me.”

To my surprise Emily gave a little
smile. “Actually, I am,” she said as she nodded her head. “It’s
harder than I could have possibly imagined, seeing him go. But… He
gave me hope. He told me to never stop fighting. He said it’s worth
it to reverse what I’ve done.

“
I’m going to have to work
really hard,” she said with a sniffling chuckle.

A smile spread on my face and I felt
my heart flutter. “There’s always hope. You can’t give
up.”

“
I’m not going to,” she
said with a quivering voice through the smile on her
face.

“
Things will work out,” I
said, not only to her but to myself. “They have to.”

She nodded with a smile. She then
stood. “I’ve got to get going. The university called me yesterday.
The other teacher they picked fell through. They offered me the
job.”

“
That’s great!”

She opened the door but hesitated for
a moment. “Things really are going to be okay,” she said as she
looked back at me.

I could only nod and wave good-bye as
she stepped out.

If I hadn’t have been so tired of
feeling so weak and like such a wimp I probably would have started
crying. But I was sick of feeling like I was just succumbing to all
my fears and uncertainties. I wasn’t going to let things be out of
my control anymore. It was time for me to take charge for
once.

I walked back down the stairs to look
for Alex. I found him standing out on the deck, looking over the
water. The sun had started to rise, its morning glory sparkling on
the water. His wings trailed softly to the ground, the sunlight
starting to dance on the metallic surface. I wrapped my arms around
Alex from the side, inhaling his wonderful smell. I closed my eyes
in shear happiness.

He turned and wrapped his arms around
me. He was silent as he stared down at me, his gray eyes burning
with intensity. I saw a million words running through them, unable
to find exactly the ones to express the things he had to
say.

I reached up to my tip-toes and
lightly pressed my lips to his. They tingled as I pulled
away.

Alex held my eyes again and my heart
suddenly started racing for a reason I didn’t understand. He
stepped away from me slightly, and very slowly, dropped to one
knee.

A single, pure white and perfect
feather softly floated to the ground. My heart nearly beat out of
my chest.

“
Jessica, will you marry
me?”

ACKWNOLEDGMENTS

I owe some huge thank
you’s to a lot of people. First to my family for always being
supportive. I love you all and you all inspire me. A huge thank you
to Jenni Merritt for always being there for me when I need to rant
about writing and for her never ending support. And a huge thank
you to her for helping me with the cover for Forsaken. Thank you
to
The Teen Book Scene
and the entire blogging community for so much help and
support in getting the Fall of Angels series out there. You have
been awesome. And lastly, to you. Thank
you
so much for your support! It
means the world to me.

Keary Taylor
is the independent author of Branded, Forsaken,
Vindicated (
Fall of Angels
series), and Eden. She lives on Orcas Island in
Washington State with her husband and two children. To Learn more
about Keary and her writing process visit her at:

www.KearyTaylor.com

or

http://kearytaylor.blogspot.com