Taking Angels (The Angel Crusades) (20 page)

My resolve to go see Gabe dwindled throughout
the day to near nothing as the final bell rang. The thought
of exposing myself to an angel becoming less and less
appealing as the day went on. The word abomination
came to mind. The words Bastion chose to describe me
hung in my ears. If Bastion thought of me in that manner,
then what would an angel feel? Allister said angels didn’t
care for his kind and wasn’t I, at least partially, his kind?

I steeled myself, walking down the hallway to the
library after the girls drove me to the college. I rounded
the corner to the room off the library. I planned on
walking by, looking in, and reassessing the glow around
him, that was all.

I felt the plan a sound one, striding confidently
along, cruising to the doorway with no intention of
slowing down. The plan would have gone off without a
hitch, except Gabe stepped out of the room, his attention
focused on something behind him, and I ran smack dab
into him.

We both tumbled to the floor, sprawling across the
hallway, my backpack falling from my shoulder and
sliding across the tile. Gabe tumbled over me, the armful
of papers he held scattering everywhere, floating down
over us as we lay in a jumble of arms and legs on the
ground.

“Ow,” I moaned. I had to stop running into
supernatural boys, I thought cringing and wishing I could
disappear.

He looked down and our eyes met, his green irises
reflecting my startled face back at me, his pupils dilating
in surprise.

I squinted back at him, my eyes stinging as his
glow blazed bright, my concentration gone, not allowing
me to dim it sufficiently. I took a deep breath, focusing
hard as his glow dimmed to a tolerable level.

“It’s my fault,” I said, trying to get to my feet only
to fall again and trip over his leg.
“Oh, sorry again,” he mumbled, taking my arm
and lifting me to my feet.
“No, that’s okay,” I said, looking around for my
backpack, locating it across the hall. I walked over,
picked it up, and swung it onto my shoulder. I flinched as
a twinge of pain pierced my back, causing me to stop and
grimace.
“Are you alright?” he asked as he stooped to
collect his paperwork.
“Fine,” I said, the pain causing my voice to waver.
“No, you’re not.” He frowned. “You better come
in here and sit down.”
He took me by the arm and pulled me into the
small classroom. Walking over to the desk chair, he sat
me down, pulling the backpack from my shoulder, and
placing it on the floor.
“Rest a minute and see if it gets any better,” he
smiled. “Britt, isn’t it?”
“Yeah.” I nodded.
“Where does it hurt?” he asked, appearing
genuinely concerned.
“I’m fine.” I started to get up, but pain stabbed in
my back again, making me gasp and I dropped back into
the seat again.
“You don’t sound fine,” he said. “Where does it
hurt?”
“My back, just above my tail bone,” I said
mortified and blushing. “Between my shoulders too,” I
added in a rush.
“Nothing to be embarrassed about.” He dismissed
my pink cheeks. “I stepped in front of you, it’s my fault.”
I stretched backwards, trying to pull free the knots
forming in my muscles. “Ah,” I gasped as it knifed again.
“You should go to the nurse’s office,” he
suggested.
“No, I’ll be fine,” I said with a painful exhale,
feeling my muscles spasm.
“Stubborn one, aren’t you?” he smirked.
I nodded, unable to say anything as another rush
of pain grabbed my back.
“Lean forward then,” he instructed.
I spun my head in surprise and paid the price as
my neck kinked painfully. I clenched my eyes against the
pain and then looked up at him suspiciously.
“Trust me, I know what I’m doing,” he assured.
“Now lean forward on the desk and relax.”
I gave him another questioning look and he
nodded to me. With a shrug that I regretted, I leaned onto
the desk, still sitting in the chair.
He placed his hands on my neck first, finding the
kink straight away and gently rubbed the knot out.
An unexpected moan escaped my lips. I felt my
face get hot and bit my lip to prevent it from happening
again.
He chuckled softly and continued to move his
hands in small circles as he rubbed the stiffness out of my
muscles. He eased down to right above my tail bone and I
gasped when he touched the second knot. It hurt so good
as he rubbed and pressed evenly on the injured muscle. I
let my eyes close as the pain began to subside.
Just as my body started relaxing, I heard a gasp at
the door.
Gabe stopped massaging and I looked up to see
Trish, Cassie, and Elisa staring at us in disbelief.
“Oh my God,” Cassie cried out.
“What are you doing to her?” Trish accused him,
glaring.
“Nothing,” Gabe and I said at once.
“Looks like more than nothing to me.” Elisa had
her hands planted on her hips. “And I should know,” she
added with a nod.
“Uh, we collided in the hall,” I stammered.
“She hurt her back and I’m trying to massage the
knots out,” Gabe said.
“Looks like inappropriate behavior for a tutor
with a student.” Cassie frowned.
“Cassie,” I warned. “Don’t start.”
“She’s right.” Gabe caused me to turn and look up
at him as he stood over me.
“It wasn’t inappropriate,” I pointed out. “I
wouldn’t go to the nurse like he suggested so he rubbed
my back to stop the pain, which it did,” I said, somewhat
surprised realizing it was true. I stood and stretched,
amazed at the absence of pain.
“I told you I knew what I was doing,” he smirked.
The girls were not amused. They stared,
disapproving and waited for me to gather my backpack
and walk over to them.
“Maybe we should report this to the dean,” Cassie
suggested. “I’m sure he won’t approve of tutors using
their time to hit on high school students.”
“Report what?” I said. “Nothing happened. I was
sitting at the desk while he showed me how to do an
assignment I had trouble with.”
“That’s your story?” Trish huffed.
“And I’m sticking to it,” I said with a curt nod.
“Fine,” Trish sighed. “Can we go now?”
“Yeah, good idea.” I pushed past them as they
stood in the doorway.
I glanced back at Gabe who wore a knowing smile
and then strode down the hall. The girls hesitated a
moment longer and hurried after. I didn’t have to look
back to know Gabe watched us walk down the hall and
turn the corner, confident he stared until he couldn’t see
us any longer.
“I knew we should have come with you,” Trish
groused as we walked down the hall.
“And what would you have done differently?” I
asked.
“I, I …I don’t know, but I sure as hell wouldn’t be
lying across his desk getting a massage,” she shot back.
“I’m not making it up. I planned to walk by and
look at him as I passed. Just when I got to his door, he
stepped in front of me and we ran into each other.”
“How convenient,” Elisa snarked.
“Really?” I glared at her.
“And you hurt your back,” Cassie kept us on
track.
“Yes, and I hurt my back,” I said, stretching my
back at the waist and smiling at the absence of pain.
“That’s it?” Trish sounding less doubtful.
“Sorry to disappoint.” I shrugged. “But I did
discover one thing.”
The girls stopped and I took two more steps
before stopping and turning back to their questioning
stares.
“What’s that?” Elisa asked. “Is he an angel?”
I shook my head and shrugged.
“Is he an Eternal?” Cassie asked.
I indicated no again.
“Then what?” Trish said, exacerbated.
“He has great hands.” I grinned, liking the rise I
got out of them.
“Ah.” Elisa threw up her hands.
“Oh my God.” Cassie rolled her eyes.
“You suck.” Trish gave me a shove.
I stumbled a few steps before catching my
balance, laughing at them.
We walked out of the building to the parking lot
and jumped in the Jeep, still laughing. We cruised past
Allister’s place the way we did every day, just to be sure.
Seeing it, I felt the familiar tug at my heart. As we pulled
past the house, I spotted someone moving alongside.
“Stop,” I shouted and Trish slammed on the
brakes.
“What?” she looked at me, wild-eyed.
“Back up, back up,” I hollered.
She put the Jeep into reverse and squealed
backward. A tall shape moved along the house and my
blood went cold. I hopped out as the girls stared at me,
not moving.
“Get out of here, now,” I ordered.
“Who is it?” Elisa asked.
“Just go, now,” I said.
“Britt, who is it?” Cassie cried.
“Kendal.” I watched Trish’s eyes light up with
understanding.
“What about you?” Trish shouted as I ran towards
the house.
“I’ll be fine, get out of here,” I hollered over my
shoulder.
The Jeep’s engine revved and the big tires threw
rocks as Trish punched the gas. I watched it disappear
around the corner and then crept closer to the house. I slid
my back against the front of the house, peeking around
the corner as Kendal peered in a window. He turned my
way and I pressed myself against the siding, the ridges
digging into my tender back. I leaned forward again and
saw Kendal moving to the back, obviously not getting in.
Not getting in? He’s an Eternal. All he has to do was
shimmer into the house. Why was he trying to break in?
I eased nearer, looking his way as he vanished
around the corner. I crept quickly after, keeping low and
close to the house for cover. I stepped around the corner,
peering ahead to see where he went and his hands
grabbed hold of me, throwing me down to the ground.
His weight pressing on my lungs as he sat on me, holding
my arms up against the grass. My sore back began to
spasm.
“Well, well, lookie what we have here,” he
sneered.
“Kendal, get off,” I gasped.
“Why you sneaking up on me?”
“Why are you skulking around the Parks’s?” I
countered.
“Checking to see if they came back.”
“Why, are they coming back?” My voice
brightened with excitement.
“Easy, easy, I don’t know. They were still in
Greece when I left. At least Victor and Jennavia were.
Hard to say where your boyfriend and his sister are.”
“Allister wasn’t in Greece?”
“Nope, still missing.”
“Get off, I can hardly breathe.” I struggled to push
him off me.
He rolled to his side leaning on his elbow, resting
his head in his hand as he stared down at me.
“Still as beautiful and feisty as ever,” he grinned.
I ignored him. “Why are you back?”
“I missed you and besides, this place has some
really juicy angels just ripe for the taking.” His smile
gave me goosebumps.
“Like Mr. Geffre last night?” I shot back angrily.
“The old guy? Yeah his angel felt so good.” He
shrugged and then his pleased expression turned sour.
“You watching me again?”
“Like I have a choice.”
“Come on, give a guy a break. It’s not like I can
just quit.”
“Why don’t you?”
“We went over this before. I can’t help myself.”
“It’s wrong.”
He gave me a hard look and then turned away,
getting to his feet.
“Where is Allister if he isn’t in Greece?”
“Don’t know, don’t care.” He shrugged and
shimmered to nothing.
“Ah!” I slammed my fists against the ground.
I didn’t have a chance to ask him how he got away from
Bastion or why he didn’t just shimmer into the house.
Our encounter had left me with more questions than
before.
Allister said Bastion took Kendal with plans to
extract my location from him. I stared at the sky above
me, the fluffy white clouds and the clear blue space
between, as fear raced through me, like ice taking over
my veins.
What if Bastion ‘let’ Kendal escape with the
hopes of following him here to me? I jumped to my feet.
“Kendal, Kendal,” I shouted, hoping he had
shimmered close by and might hear me. I ran to the front
of the house. “Kendal, Kendal,” I cried.
“Why all the noise?” Kendal’s voice spoke from
behind me.
“Holy shit!” I jumped, turning to him, my hand to
my chest to keep my racing heart from bursting through.
“What?” he looked at me, suspicious.
When I gave him an exacerbated look, he
frowned.
“You called me,” he reminded.
“How did you get away from Bastion?” I asked.
“I’m kind of good at getting out of tough
situations, if I do say so myself.” He smiled. “I slipped
away when they went after Allister in Toronto.”
“Allister was in Toronto?” I brightened at mention
of him.
“I thought you were asking about me and how I
escaped.” He frowned with a hurt expression.
“No, you’re right. How’d you get away?” I wiped
away all traces of eagerness.
“I slipped the bracelet off. They didn’t have it on
very tight. And I shimmered away down the street. I
jumped a train and headed back here.” He puffed up with
pride at his accomplishment.
“The one you put on me was pretty tight, why
would they put yours on so loose? Is that normal?” I
asked.
“I’m not sure,” he said slowly, the realization of
what I asked making more sense now. “So you think
Bastion let me escape on purpose? Why?”
“To get to me.”
“Makes sense.” He shrugged. “Except no one can
track me,” he boasted. “No really,” he said, seeing the
doubt on my face. “How do you think I’ve managed to
stay alive and out of prison all these years?”
“Just lucky?” I raised an eyebrow.
“After all the angels I’ve taken, I’m the top
priority to the Eternals and the Avenging Angels. None
can stop me.”
“About that,” I started and then hesitated.
“What?”
“Back at the cabin you said you felt something for
me,” I said, treading lightly on this dangerous subject.
“Yeah, so?”
“Were you lying?”
“No.” His eyes narrowed with suspicion. “Why?”
“If you have feelings for me, you need to stop
taking angels,” I blurted out.
He spun away from me though his hand came to
his chin in thought. “Are you saying you might have
feelings for me…now that Allister is out of the picture?”
“He isn’t out of the picture,” I argued.
“Sure, sure, but if he were…”
“I would be more likely to see you in a positive
light if you stopped taking angels,” I spoke honestly.
He looked over his shoulder at me, doubt heavy in
his eyes.
I tried to put as much sincerity into my eyes as I
could as I pleaded for him to believe me.
“I suppose I could try,” he said with a slight nod.
“It would also lessen the attention we might draw
from the angels and Bastion,” I added.
“I told you,” he said smugly, “I can’t be tracked.”
“Let’s hope in Bastion’s case, you’re right,” I said.
“Let’s.” He nodded and vanished.
I liked Kendal. The thought surprising as it came
to me. Even being so cruel and unfeeling about the people
he took angels from, he made no bones about what he
was. What you saw was what you got with Kendal. But if
I could give him hope he might have a chance with me if
he stopped taking angels, I would lead him on to save
lives. The only question that lingered was how far would
I go to keep up the charade? Would I kiss him? I pushed
the thought from my mind with a firm shake of my head
as I started walking home. The only feeling I had for
Kendal was revulsion. My misdirection had limits.
Trish and the girls pulled up alongside me about a
block from the Parks’s house.
“What happened? Did you talk to him?” Trish
spoke first.
“Yeah.” I nodded.
“And.” Elisa watched me, curious.
“Allister and Angelina were in Toronto, but
Kendal doesn’t know where they are now.”
“Why is he back?” Cassie wanted to know.
I gave her a flat stare and she nodded with
realization.
“He’s back because of you,” she answered her
own question.
“He made it sound like the easy pickings
motivated his return, but I doubt it,” I sighed, knowing as
I spoke that I was right.
“I can tell you’re not too happy about a psychotic
Eternal having a thing for you, but what aren’t you telling
us?” Trish read me like a book.
“I think Bastion let Kendal escape so he could
find me,” I told her.
The girls sat speechless, a rare thing for them, at
least all at the same time anyway.
“Don’t worry.” I did my best to put confidence
behind my words. “He assured me not even Bastion could
track him back here.”