Praefatio: A Novel (29 page)

It was so bizarre and surreal, all of it. I felt responsible for all of the things that had gone wrong lately. Remi, Jenny, and now Gavin; maybe even Emeria. Everyone was perfectly content until I … became an angel.

Pulling himself slowly from my grasp, the look on Gavin’s face was hard to decipher. He opened his mouth to speak, but stopped, deciding to walk away instead. As the tears continued to fall, I followed him. He turned toward me, pushed me against Ambry, and kissed me so hard it took my breath away. Ambry bucked her hind legs slightly and let out another neigh from the force of Gavin’s and my weight. Gavin placed his right hand against her to hold us steady as he continued to kiss me—deeper than before—and closed his wings around us.

“Grace,” he whispered, nearly out of breath, then continued his rather delicious assault on my mouth.

“Yes,” I half moaned when he took a breath in.

“I know you love me and that you want to take care of me—but this has nothing to do with you. This is between Tyler and me.” He kissed my nose.

The breathing that caused the obvious rise and fall of my chest was rather embarrassing. As I tried to look down, he raised my chin with his left hand and kissed it.

“Let’s worry about Remi and Jenny right now. When we get home, we’ll see what we can do about your supposed kidnapping.” He moved closer to me so that our bodies were touching again. He expanded his wings, making a loud fluttering sound, then collapsed them around me again. “As much as I would love to stay here like this with you,” he said, running one hand around my waist and the other from my waist to my stomach, then slowly upward as he kissed me softly on my cheek, chin, and neck. “We have to go,” he warned me, whispering in my ear as he kissed my lobe, then all the way down from the back of my ear to my collarbone.

Yum.

“You always make me feel so good,” I blurted out without even thinking, totally realizing after I said it how it sounded, and how he was going to take it, being a typical guy. So much for stopping. I hated being so needy.

“Is that right?” Gavin smirked, pulling me even closer so that if there was any doubt about what was going on with either of us physically, it was gone now.

We had been this close before; I wasn’t afraid. I was just uncomfortable because of the immense pressure I was under and fact that we were not alone. It seemed Gavin couldn’t care less.
Fallen
.

Gavin watched for a change in my expression before letting me know that he felt the exact same way by pulling me in even more and holding me firmly in place. I unintentionally licked my lips as I considered a clever retort, but could not, in that moment, think of one.

“Do that again,” he said, not taking his eyes from my mouth and blinking slowly.

“Do what again?” I teased, thrilled to have found a secret weapon to use on him, immediately forgetting our audience and the tasks at hand.

“You know exactly what I am talking about, Grace Ann Miller,” Gavin asserted, making his voice half an octave deeper than it normally was, but somehow softer and lighter in texture. He placed his hand behind my head, just at the base of my hairline, his fingers dancing as if my hair was a stage. It was soothing and titillating at the same time, making me shiver. Gavin smiled with pleasure.

I reached up to kiss him deeply and repeatedly on his mouth, cheeks, and chin. I couldn’t get enough of him and nearly forgot what had brought us there in the first place. I felt intoxicated, overwhelmed, like I was not myself, and the choices I was making, though pleasurable, were not my own. He was completely bewitching, irresistible, and part of me wondered if it was something he was doing on purpose—or if that was just part of being Fallen.

Still, I kissed his closed eyelids, nose, forehead, ears, neck, and more of his mouth. I got carried away, forgetting everything. If I had not felt the water, I don’t know when or if I would have stopped. Appropriate, since in that moment I wanted nothing more than to forget everyone and everything and drown in Gavin Zachary Vault.

Raindrops hit my nose first, then my hair, which is a huge no-no for a girl.

“Sorry to interrupt, Grace, but we gotta go,” Stone urged me as he whipped his hair around, spraying water from above, mostly on Gavin, before lowering himself to the ground.

Gavin let go of me, lowering his wings, never looking directly at Stone. It was forbidden for Virtues to have contact with Fallen. Gavin was showing respect for Stone and a tremendous amount of restraint, both in letting go of me and not taking Stone out. I was proud of him.

Stone waited patiently against a tall evergreen. Technically, Gavin was supposed to ask permission to speak or do pretty much anything in my presence and in Stone’s. I suppose a Fallen would never have an occasion when he would come into contact with a Virtue, but in any case that was the order of things. The fact was, Gavin and I, a Fallen and an Archangel, would never come into contact except to battle and try to kill one another. We were mortal enemies. Our ancestors have been trying to one up one another for ages, since the first Fall. And Stone being there just complicated the whole deal.

“We’ll finish this when we get home,” Gavin said softly. He kissed my nose, then flew away. And when he did, my clarity returned.

I could tell from Gavin’s posture that he did not like playing second fiddle to Stone. He worked hard at humility. It was not a trait angels exhibited, and Fallen struggled with it even more.
Let me know when you and Water Boy are done making waves,
he thought as he took Zion and Ambry around for some fun.

Temper tantrum number one for today
, I teased Gavin telepathically as he flipped his hair and rolled his eyes at me. I think he may have even flipped me the bird.

“Grace, honestly, I didn’t expect him to be so … civilized,” Stone conceded with a hint of sarcasm in his voice while flipping his hair again as he approached me. It was another surprising move considering his place in our order, which was above mine. I was supposed to go to him. “My orders from Tia are to be of assistance to you, so while I’m here, on earth, in your realm, I serve you,” he explained, noticing the wrinkle of my eyebrows. Virtues rarely concerned themselves with mind reading. It was beneath them.

Stone began his update. “We should reach Nod in about one hour. We need you focused, Grace, not distracted. Do you understand?” He ran his fingers through his hair, spraying droplets of water.

I laughed. His whole deal was just comical to me. An angel made of water.

“Grace.” He seemed annoyed now. “Would it be easier for you if I were in a form, a body, an animal so you could pet me like … a
dog
maybe? Would you …
respond
to me better that way?”

Gavin whipped his head toward me at the sound of Stone’s tone and scowled, sending Stone a warning that he would attack him if he continued. That Stone didn’t snap Gavin’s neck in that instant was out of respect for me and much appreciated. The last thing I needed was the two of them getting into a pissing contest.

“Okay, I think you should take on a form for sure. That’s a great idea, actually, because I don’t think Jenny will be able to handle seeing you like that, and better to do it now than in front of her. The girl has been through a lot. I have no idea what her … um … interaction with Remi has done to her … what condition her body is in … uh … yeah … form would be great,” I said about as eloquently as I could manage.

“Fine.” Stone ascended without waiting for me to say anything else. He took off so fast that I barely had a chance to add more of my very opinionated opinion.

I trust he won’t be coming back
, Gavin thought as he moved himself next to me.

“Sorry to disappoint!” Stone called, having just read Gavin’s mind. I supposed Stone would be doing lots of things for the first time while on earth. He walked out of the woods wearing a black hoodie similar to the one I was wearing—only his had angel wings painted on the back. Cool. His long legs were tucked into black skinny jeans that ended with checker board high top Converse sneakers. He held a long sword and a black leather quiver with arrows at his side and a bow on his back. His slick black hair, in that familiar pixie style, looked wet, as if he had just washed it, and it was flipped to one side, covering just enough of his deep green eyes to make me excited for his next hair flip, when both eyes would be exposed at the same time.

“Freaking poser,” Gavin mumbled under his breath.

I jabbed Gavin in his side and ran to give Stone a hug. He was beautiful.

I think that’s enough, Grace. We have to go, remember
? Gavin thought.

“No horse? We’re not allowed to fly. Well, we could but, we shouldn’t,” I said as we walked back toward Gavin, who had already mounted Zion.

“Nope. Riding with you. And I’m pretty sure I know the rules a little better than you, newbie. No celestial powers unless human lives are in immediate and eminent danger,” Stone answered with a song in his voice and a wide smile. Stone affixed a newly materialized longsword to his back, took my hand, and flew me over to mount Ambry. Before Gavin had a chance to protest, we took off as Ambry let out a loud neigh that, if I had to guess, could be translated to mean, “Hot damn!”

As soon as we were riding, my visions started again, taking me back to the police station.

“Well, it doesn’t matter now. The police have everything they need,” he said.

My head started to hurt as the vision sped up, then slowed down, as if someone was fast-forwarding it to the spot they wanted me to see.

There’s Tyler. Who’s he talking to?

“With Gavin gone, I’ll take over and make whoever delivers Gavin to the police for the kidnapping of Grace Ann Miller second in command,” Tyler summarized as he stood in front of about ten Fallen Angels. The room cleared. Emeria stepped forward with a baby in her arms. I gasped.

She handed the baby to Tyler with a smile. “What about Grace? You know he will do anything to save her.”

“Grace will seal her own fate with her arrogance,” Tyler retorted as he smiled brightly at the bundle in his arms.

My heart was racing by the time the vision ended. I held on to Stone for dear life. I tried to feel something other than rage, but couldn’t. It was silent for a few minutes. No animals, nothing.

I pleaded with my brain to send me a good idea.
Praefatio
. I grabbed it from my backpack and started to read.

And the High Priestess had paid a great price on that day to ensure the balance of power remained. The sacrifice of humans to famine, war, and flood for an Earthly period of seven years was inconsequential, for the expense of the rule of Evil would be far greater. As the first day passed to the second, dark forces gathered. And all that were Fallen conspired.

This was it. I needed to know what happened next, how to stop this, change things for Remi if I could. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of it before. My life, all of our lives, depended on me reading further. But the pages were blank. Waving my hand several times like a lunatic did nothing to change it. I continued to flip and wave, desperate to find the answers, to know. Nothing. And then it occurred to me. Of course the pages were blank. It hadn’t happened yet.
Coconuts.

I placed
Praefatio
back in my bag, equally enlightened and defeated. I could fix things for Remi and Jenny, but at what cost? Human lives? Famine? War? I wasn’t sure I was cut out for this.

Silence thick as tree trunks surrounded us. It went on like that for about thirty miles before I got used to it, even welcomed it.

Then, out of nowhere, I heard loud flapping noises, like a swarm of really large birds, thousands of them, not too far from us. A few minutes later, the sound of growling, hissing, and howling creatures, not animals, but something way more sinister. We were about to be attacked.

I closed my eyes so I could assess the situation more clearly.

“Tell me what you see, Grace,” Stone said as he slowed slightly so he and Gavin would be aligned. I realized then that Stone had been tuning in to my thoughts. I opened my mind fully to Stone and Gavin. They needed to see what I saw.

I could clearly see that two Fallen led the charge from the air.

“Keep going, Grace,” Gavin insisted, sounding as if he was in pain. I knew it was hard for him, especially with Stone there, to admit that his family was responsible for this attack. It was putting us in danger, and Gavin knew that Stone questioned his loyalty to me. Still, I went on.

“There are two black lions. In the surrounding woods, I’m tracking three vamps and two demonic shifters.”

“Stone, if I may be allowed to address you?” Gavin asked with a hint of sarcasm, flipping his hair, though it was unnecessary since it was being blown back by the wind.

These pretty boys and their hair. Oops.

“Sure, Fallen,” Stone replied calmly, but not before shooting me a look of disapproval over my “pretty boy” thought.

“The shape shifters have no powers, sent merely to scare the humans … er, Grace and Jenny. I can take the vampires easily, but … I will not fight Fallen. I will leave that to you and Grace. But I got your back,” Gavin concluded with an air of superiority, though superiority over whom, I could not tell.

“Thanks, Gavin. I appreciate your candor.” Stone sounded sincere.

“Grace.” Gavin turned to look at me. “What do you want to do?” He asked as if he was now taking orders from me. The sounds from above and behind us grew louder.

“What do you mean, what do I want to do?” I knew exactly what he meant.

“Grace, we’re about twenty miles from Nod. We’re not going to make it. We have to fight,” Stone declared as if fighting was fun.

“We should make it,” Gavin replied with confidence, as if he had been part of the original planning.

Stone shot a disgusted look at Gavin. “Yeah, well, your little detour back there gave them all the time they needed to catch up with us. Leave it to a
Fallen
to sacrifice the lives of millions of humans because he can’t keep his lust in check.”