Wings of Darkness: Book 1 of The Immortal Sorrows Series (3 page)

     I startled awake in my own bed,
tasting blood again, and I had the strangest feeling that someone was in my
room with me.  Fear uncoiled slowly in the pit of my stomach and slithered
into my throat.  Was I bleeding inside again?  Or just going crazy
from being bashed in the head too hard?

     I swore I could hear someone
breathing next to my bed.  It was impossible, of course, my dad was just
down the hallway. If anyone were in the house besides us, he would know
it.  I lay still for a few moments, waiting for my eyes to adjust to the
dark room.  I still couldn’t see anything, but I could smell that spicy
leather scent that followed me home from the hospital.

     My heart was in my throat as I
reached for the lamp on my night table.  I held my breath and turned the
light on.  Angry green eyes stared back at me from a couple of inches
away.  I had to laugh at my own stupidity.  “Jasmine, you scared the
crap out of me.”  My cat flicked her fluffy white tail at me and glared,
patently unimpressed with me.

     I yawned, and almost panicked all
over again when my fingers came away from my mouth dotted with ruby red. 
What the hell?  Had I bitten myself in my sleep, or reopened the cut on my
lip?

     I threw the pearl grey comforter
off and stumbled into my bathroom, already half-sick with fear.  There was
blood smudged on my lips and a little smeared across my chin.  A quick
splash of water revealed no obvious injury. 

     I stopped and took a hard look at
the rest of my face in the mirror.  I was paler than normal, which was
saying something, since I’m usually the color of a milk bottle, but there was
something off about my reflection.

     The topknot I’d tied my hair into
before bed was a crumpled mess.  I pulled the tie out and let my hair fall
past my shoulders.  My mother’s green eyes sparkled back at me.  It
took all of a split second to realize that most of the bruises were gone. 
As were the scratches on my face.  Even the busted lip was nothing more
than a pink line now, slightly darker than the rest of my lip.

     Wow. Over-night healing. That
little snake of fear started to coil again.  It rattled and hissed a
warning; nobody heals that fast.  I poked gently at my broken ribs.
Nothing.  I poked a little harder, and still nothing.  Not even that
familiar itch was left to mark my injury. Something was terribly wrong with me,
but I didn’t think the wreck had much to do with it anymore.  Whatever
this was, it was a whole new level of wrong.

     I could have woken my dad up, but
he was exhausted from sitting up with me in the hospital for several
days.  Besides, if he thought I’d been coughing up blood he would have
rushed me to the emergency room.  I wasn’t in pain.  If anything I
actually felt pretty great.  I thought about taking the medical tape off
my ribs, but figured it would be easier to wait till I took a hot shower,
later.  Less skin would be lost that way.

     The wall clock read 5 a.m.  My
dad would be getting up soon.  There was no need to wake him up early.
 I thought about heading back to bed, but decided to stay up and make him
breakfast, instead.  I might even talk him into going to work instead of
staying home to babysit me all day.  It wasn’t that I wanted rid of him,
but I didn’t want him hovering over me and worrying all day.

     Dad owned his own restaurant, which
was ironic since he was the world’s worst cook. He was one of those creative
cooks.  You never knew what, exactly, had been thrown in the pot.
“Whatever you want it to be,” he would say.  It usually wasn’t anything that I
wanted it to be.  Some of it just wasn’t right at all. 

     Fortunately, he recognized early on that not everyone
was into his type of cooking, and he hired a chef to do the cooking for
him.  He was a lousy cook, but he was a great manager.  The good thing
about the restaurant was that he could set his own hours.  Things ran much
more smoothly when he was there, though, so he spent more time at the
restaurant than he did at home.  Usually I was right there with him,
bussing tables or washing dishes, but I think my wreck got me officially laid
off until further notice.

     It was too bad, too, since I needed
the money to help me pay for college in the fall. Not to mention, I was in need
of a car now.  My dad was going to help with college tuition, of course,
but he flat out refused to pay for all of it.  He was trying to instill a
good work ethic in me. I’d learned from the start that if I wanted anything I
would have to work to get it.  It was a good lesson to learn.

     I brushed my teeth before I did
anything else.  That copper penny taste was just overwhelming.  I
wondered when it would finally stop happening. 

    I combed the snarls out of my hair, and
changed out of the tank top I’d slept in. I put on a pink “Hello Kitty” tee and
found a mostly clean pair of jeans in the pile of clothes by my bathroom
door.  I really needed to catch up the laundry if I managed to get rid of my
dad.

     Finished getting dressed, I
gathered Jasmine up off my bed and took her downstairs for breakfast.  She
dug every claw she had into my shoulder and glared at me with poisonous green
eyes.  Jazz kitty wasn’t a morning person.  She would sweeten up once
she got some soft food mixed into her kibble, but she always woke up in a mean
mood.

     The smell of bacon and eggs brought
my dad downstairs a little while later.

     “Good morning, Izzy.  Are you
feeling better?” He took a sip of coffee from the mug I handed him and glanced
over at me with worried eyes.  I thought he would drop the mug, but he
recovered in time.  “Isabel, you look… healthy.”

     I squirmed in the seat I’d taken at
the kitchen table.  “Well, you know, make up can do wonders.  Especially
good concealer.”  My cheeks began to burn so I started picking at my plate
of food.  I hated lying to my dad, but better to tell him a little white
lie to make him feel better, than tell him the freaky truth and get hauled back
to the hospital for a battery of tests

     He was still staring at me when I
chanced a glance back up at him.  It was obvious he didn’t believe a word
I’d said.  It was also obvious that he had no better explanation, and
couldn’t prove anything.

     “Izzy, you shouldn’t even be out of
bed yet, much less up cooking.  Which reminds me, are you sure you should
be eating that?”  He stabbed an accusing fork towards my plate.

     Nope, I thought, probably not
supposed to be eating this stuff. Probably should still be in the hospital, in
fact. I tore off a bite of bacon and chewed happily.

     “You heard the doctor, Dad. 
She said I was healing remarkably fast and that I should do as much as I feel
like as long as I don’t overdo it.”  I stabbed my fork into my extra
cheesy eggs.  “I felt like bacon and eggs.”

     That was no lie.  I felt like
I was about to starve to death.  If I died I would die happy; with bacon
on my breath. 

     He shook his head and took another
sip of coffee.  His eyes were troubled.  “I don’t know, Izzy. That doctor
seemed really distracted.  Maybe she was tired or something, but she
seemed to be running on auto pilot.  I think she discharged you way too
soon.”

     “I feel great, Dad. Really
great.”  I got up to refill his coffee.  “Think you’ll go into work
today?”

     He arched an eyebrow at me. 
“I had planned on staying home with you today.”  He was giving me the
parental stink eye.  If I wasn’t careful I’d end up with a full-time
babysitter.

     I forced a smile as I poked at my eggs.
“That’s cool.  Gwen’s coming over in a little while.  We are gonna
have a chick flick movie marathon. I think Gwen’s bringing a bunch of Julia
Roberts’ movies over.  You can even pick the first one, if you
want.”  By the look of horror that washed over my dad’s face at the
mention of chick flicks, I knew I’d won.  He wouldn’t hang around for that
kind of torture.

     “Well, maybe I’d better go into
work before Claude manages to get half the kitchen staff to quit.  Just
for a couple of hours, then I will be home.”  Claude was the restaurant’s
head chef.  He was also a complete jerk, but the guy had mad skills in the
kitchen.  It really was probably a good idea to go in to check on
him.  Left in charge of everything, Claude would go quite mad with power.

     “I promise I will keep the house
phone close, in case you call.”  My cell phone was still missing in
action, probably broken into at least a million pieces.  I needed to
remember to get a replacement. “In the meantime, I think I’ll go find something
to read while I wait for Gwen.”  I put our dishes in the kitchen sink and
went into the living room.

     Dad made sure I was propped up on
the sofa with a stack of magazines before he headed back upstairs to get ready
for work.  Thirty minutes later he was showered and shaved and heading out
the door.

     I could have shoved him towards the
door, but then he would know I was trying to get rid of him.  Instead, I
smiled and waved at him.  I was absolutely buzzing with suppressed
energy.  It was almost like I’d had too much caffeine, but without the
jitters.  I felt
fantastic
.

    Dad popped his head back inside the door
a minute later.  “Don’t forget to take your medicine, Izzy.”

     “I won’t, Dad. I’m all over it.”

     He didn’t look convinced.  “If
you need anything call my cell phone.  I love you.”

     “Love you, too Dad. Now go to
work.”

     While I waited for Gwen to come
over I managed to clean my room, do two loads of laundry, and straighten up the
kitchen. I felt freaking awesome.

     “Behold, the Angel of Death…
reduced to being a panty-sniffing pervert.”  Oh good, Samael decided to
drop in for a visit.  How delightful.

     “Shut up, Grim, and go away before
I rip your wings off.”  I had been brooding quietly to myself, propped up
on the bed against Isabel’s headboard.  The damned cat refused to move and
somehow managed to take up over half the bed by itself.  She was a small
cat, but what she lacked in size, she more than made up for in attitude.

     I crossed my arms over my chest and
glared as Samael plopped down in the white wicker rocking chair beside the
bed.  He was far too big to fit in the small chair.  “You look
ridiculous.”

     Samael smirked at me.  “I
might say the same thing of you, Asher.”  His face went deadly
serious.  “What are you still doing here? The girl lives.  She’s in
no danger, at least not yet.  If you don’t leave her alone the higher-ups
are going to take notice, however.  Then there will be more than enough
danger to go around, for all of us.”

     Well, there was my problem in a
nutshell.  I could not seem to leave the girl alone, despite my best
intentions.  “Piss off, and mind your own business, Grim.”

     Isabel came sauntering out of the
bathroom trailed by a cloud of steam wearing only two fluffy, white towels. The
towel turbaned around her head fell off and all that glossy dark hair spilled
down past her bare shoulders.  Water gleamed and beaded on milky, white
skin before sliding down her back, and into the towel that barely covered
her.  My mouth went suddenly dry, and I could not seem to get my next
breath.

     “Oh, Asher, the look on your face
right now! You do lovely work, I must say.  I didn’t see it before, but
you’re right; she has a beautiful, um… soul.  And a beautiful rear view, I
might add.”  Samael sat, literally, on the edge of his seat, waiting for
that towel to drop.  I grabbed his shoulder and shifted us into the living
room area.  “No fair.  Things were just starting to get interesting.”

     “You have shown enough interest,
Grim. Now, be a good boy and run along.”

     “Well, as your friend I was
prepared to talk you out of this lunacy, but after I’ve seen the finished
product, I’m thinking of finding myself a lovely project.  She has that
friend hanging about all of the time, the tall one?  She might be a nice
distraction.”  He sank into the large, brown sofa and propped his boots up
on the coffee table.  “You aren’t nearly as pretty with your eyes glowing
red, by the way. You’re going to have to work on that if you ever intend to let
her see you.  You don’t want to scare your little friend half to death, do
you?” He snickered at his own joke.

     I ran my hand through my hair, and
fought the urge to kick his ass back to purgatory.  Grim was my friend, I
had to remember that.  It had been centuries since I had felt anger; felt
much of anything, for that matter.  Now I was angry not just with Grim,
but with myself, and I was worried about the girl.  Isabel.

     I should have left her alone in the
first place. I knew that.  I knew it from the beginning, but I could not
seem to stop myself.  If I am being completely honest I did not
want
to stop
myself.  Her soul called to me.  Greedy monster that I am, I
knowingly bound her, not just to her body, but to myself.  And that was my
greatest sin.

     Samael sighed, uncharacteristically
solemn for once.  “You have to give her up, Brother.  I know you said
this was an accident, but I’ve known you for an eternity.  You’ve never
been anything other than a cold, calculating bastard.  I can’t imagine
that’s changed suddenly.”

     I felt that familiar burn kindling
behind my eyes as I smiled at him.  “The road to hell is paved with good
intentions, Grim.”

     He laughed at that.  “Well,
since I can’t talk you out of this idiocy, tell me how I can help.”

      My first day back in school
started out with a small argument with my dad.  He thought I should sit
out a few more weeks, but I really didn’t want to get behind.  Senior year
is important, and even a few days out would put me so far in the hole, I would
never dig out from under all of the homework.

     I hadn’t woken up tasting blood
lately, and I was getting stronger every day, in spite of the fact that I wasn’t
sleeping well. I had a lot of strange dreams that usually involved birds and
blood.  They were weird, but I figured they might be kind of normal after my
wreck.  Just a form of anxiety dream.

    Going back to school was a surreal
experience.  It felt like everyone literally stopped to watch Gwen and I
make our way through the hallways.  I’d managed to get through eleven
years of school without drawing a huge amount of attention to myself.  I
wasn’t a social pariah, by any means, but I was never the hot topic of anyone’s
conversation.  Until now.  Everywhere we went, kids and teachers were
eye-balling me to one degree or another.  More than once, conversation
stopped completely as we walked by. “Are they expecting me to do a trick or something?” 
Paranoid? Nah, not me.

     Gwen snickered. “Well, you kind of
did pull off an awesome trick. Not only did you survive a wreck that should
have killed you, but you’re back up and walking around, only a week or so
later.  That’s pretty cool.”

     “Hey, Izzy, I heard you broke your
neck!  I would say you’re looking pretty good, but, well, I’m not supposed
to lie.”  That was from Jenny Stevens; Singleton High’s resident queen
bee, and all around bitch.  She was perfect on paper; the preacher’s daughter,
made good grades, reigned over the rest of us peons as head cheerleader. 
The reality was, Jenny had to make herself feel better by putting down everyone
else around her.  I had spent most of our time since elementary school
ignoring and avoiding her whenever possible. 

     I didn’t have to answer Jenny, even
if I’d felt like it, which I didn’t. Gwen was already way ahead of me. 
“Hey, Jenny, you aren’t supposed to be a skanky ho, either, but that hasn’t
stopped you yet!”  Then she gave Jenny the finger as we moved past. 
That got us some nasty glares from Jenny’s disciples.   Three sets of
pouty, perfectly glossed lips drew back in sneers. Jenny Stevens shrieked and
started after us, but her friends caught her before Gwen had to kick her ass.

     I grinned up at Gwen.  She had
a smart mouth, but she was more than capable of backing it up.  Gwen’s
mom, Missy, had been sending her to various self-defense classes since we were
ten years old.  It was probably a good thing.  Gwen’s main hobby was
offending as many people as possible.  She lived for it, in fact.  It was
a sure bet that eventually her mouth would get her into trouble.

     “Was that necessary,” I asked her.

     Gwen shrugged and flipped her
ponytail off her shoulder. “Probably not, but I enjoyed it.”

    “Good enough, then.”  We had to
fight our way through the crush of underclassmen to get to our lockers.  I
pressed my forehead up against my locker and savored the feel of cold metal
against my feverish skin. Maybe my dad was right, and I was pushing myself too
hard.  I was getting a little bit of a headache.

      “Hey, Maitland, are you ok?”

     I jumped back, startled out of my
thoughts. I chuckled weakly at my own stupidity.  “Um, yeah. I’m
fine.”  If I kept telling people I was ok, then maybe I would start
believing it myself.

     I looked up to find Alex Winters
watching me closely.  Alex, who had left a stuffed turtle in my hospital
room while I was still unconscious.  He was the closest thing to
perfection that our little town had ever produced.  He was the captain of
the football team, president of the student body, and volunteered at the local
soup kitchen at least once a month.  If that wasn’t enough, he was
remarkably nice to look at, and kind to old people, little kids, and animals. 
He was also Jenny Steven’s on again/off again boyfriend.  I wasn’t sure if
they were currently on again, or not; their little drama was just too much for
me to keep up with most of the time.  Also, I just didn’t give a crap.

     Alex and I had been friends in elementary
school, but then Junior high came and he got heavily into sports.  The
popular kids had snapped him up, and that was that.  I became a little
more anti-social with each passing year, until
Gwen was about the only person I wanted to hang out with.

     “You look kind of tired, are you
sure you’re ok?”  Alex and I hadn’t spoken more than a handful of words to
each other since Junior High.  The fact that he was acknowledging me now,
was beyond weird.

     “Yeah, I’m good. Just a little
headache.  Thanks for asking, though.” I got my locker open and shoved my
backpack inside.  I grabbed my history book for first period and a couple
of notebooks and pens.  Mr. Blessing was big on long, boring lectures and
he liked it when you had to take notes to keep up.

     Alex didn’t leave, like I figured
he would; he was still leaning up against the locker next to mine, watching me,
with his hands shoved deep into his pockets.  Gwen stood behind him making
lewd gestures and silently laughing her ass off.  I really didn’t want him
catching her behind him making kissy faces, so I had to keep him from turning
around. 

     “Oh, hey, thanks for the
turtle.  That was nice of you.”  I kept my tone even.  No sense
in coming off as rude, but I really needed to get to class.

     “No problem.”  Alex shifted
from foot to foot.  “Listen, Izzy, I was just, um, wondering… how you were
doing, is all.”  He pulled his right hand out of his pocket and smoothed
his perfectly ruffled hair back with his fingers.  It was sandy brown, naturally,
but years of being outside playing sports had given him perfect, golden
highlights that even Jenny Stevens would have killed for.

     Gwen was about to pee herself, for
some reason.  She did that thing where she laughed so hard that no sound
came out and she clapped like a drunken seal.  I pursed my lips and gave
her my best stink eye.  Thankfully, Alex didn’t seem to notice. It took
her a moment, but she finally took a hint and waved at me over her shoulder as
she took off for her first class.  I’m pretty sure she was wiping tears as
she walked away.  It would serve her right if her mascara left streaks.

     Alex said something to me, but I
was distracted and had to ask him to repeat himself.  He wet his lips and
cleared his throat.  “I asked if you’d like to go out with me this
weekend.  Only if you feel like it, though.”

     Seriously?  My nasty,
suspicious, little mind was going a mile a minute trying to figure out what his
angle was.  I realized that most girls in our school would have just curled
up and died if Alex Winters gave them the time of day, and I was probably just
being an ass, but I couldn’t help wondering why he was suddenly being so
friendly.  “Aren’t you and Jenny still a Thing?”

     Alex shook his head. 
“Nope.  Not since last spring.  So will you at least think about
it?”  He looked sincere enough, but Alex had those dark chocolate, puppy
dog eyes that always looked sincere.

     I nodded.  “Ok, let me think
about it?  I’m still kind of sore—“

     “Alex, baby, what do you think
you’re doing hanging out with this loser?”  Jenny ran her hand up and down
his back as she tried to lean in for a quick kiss.  Alex flinched away
from the contact and took a step back.

     “What the hell is wrong with you,
Jenny?”  He actually looked pissed.  Really pissed, like he might hit
her. Jenny, however, didn’t look the slightest bit sorry for barging into our
conversation.  She was either clueless, or dumb as a stump.

     Jenny flipped her hair over her
shoulder and snapped her bubble gum sharply as she turned her back on me.
Clearly, I was a non-issue to her. Fine by me.  I did not want in on their
drama. “Nothing, baby, I just missed you, and thought I’d save you from hanging
out with the wrong people.” I snorted; couldn’t help it.  She was such a
shallow skank.  I wondered how long it would be before she realized that
she’d peaked in high school. Once her looks were gone, she was done.  She
surely couldn’t make it on her personality.

     I really didn’t want, or need, to
get caught in the middle of this awkward little mess.  “I’ll see you
later, Alex.”  I clutched my books to my chest and started to leave. 
Jenny’s tiny, slipper-shod foot shot out in time to trip me as I walked
past.  I heard Jenny giggling her wicked witch giggle as she moved along
on down the hallway as I started to sprawl head-long into the floor.
 Alex’s arm shot out to catch me.  He held me for just a moment too
long against his chest, so close I felt his heart hammering away.

     I pushed away from him and
straightened my clothes back into position.  It was embarrassing, but
probably not the worst thing that Jenny had ever done to someone.  I can’t
say that I didn’t have my fantasies about punching her in the face, and
watching her teeth go flying, but I absolutely couldn’t get into trouble and
ruin my chances at a good college.  Especially not for someone like
her. 

     Alex reached to pick my books
up.  “Thanks, Alex.”

     “You’re welcome.”  I went to
get my books back, but he wouldn’t give them up.  “Let me hang onto
these.  Come on, I’ll walk you to class.”  Then he took off towards
my first class, leaving me no choice but to follow.

***

     My whole day went by in a
blur.  Every teacher, in every class asked after my health; a couple even
looked guilty for assigning me homework. It finally started to wear on my last
nerve; I was sick of talking about my stupid wreck.  They needed to just
let it go.  The students weren’t nearly as big a pain as the teachers, and
the ones who did stop to ask how I was doing were mostly confused about why I
was back in class when I could have had a free pass to stay home.  It was
every slacker’s dream.  I had a legitimate reason to skip school.

     I couldn’t afford to slack
off.  I’d been planning my escape from my little town since I was a
kid.  Taking time off from high school would put me off schedule for
college.  I couldn’t have that.  I’d worked too hard, and passed up
too many parties and dates, to lose focus in the last few months.

     I met back up with Gwen at
lunch.  I’d just bitten into my stale ham sandwich when I smelled that
smell that had been haunting me for the last week. I felt the hair on the back
of my neck raise.  Someone was watching me.  My head came up and I
looked around, automatically.  For a split second, above the sea of faces,
I saw someone standing at the corner of the lunchroom, looking straight at
me.  He was utterly out of place.  Tall, good-looking, too old to be
a student.  I thought I recognized him.  Or imagined him.  His
gaze was steady, focused on me with stalker-like precision.  I caught my
breath and for one insane moment I almost got out of my chair and went to him.
 My heart hammered away in my chest like it should have been earlier, when
I had been caught up in Alex Winters’ arms.  A tiny, secret smile played
around his mouth before he turned away. 

     I turned back in my seat and
dropped my eyes back to my sandwich. Why did I suddenly feel like I’d been
caught with my hand in the cookie jar?  I had butterflies swarming in my
stomach. “Do you see that guy over there?  By the gym doors?”  I kept
my head down, and my voice low, so nobody else would hear me, but Gwen.

     “What guy? Rodney, the
janitor?”  Gwen’s head came up and she started really looking.
 Practically standing up on her chair, looking.  So much for
subtle.  I wanted to crawl under the table.

     “Not him. The blonde guy. 
Don’t be so obvious,” I hissed at her.  Crap, my cheeks were
burning.  I didn’t want to get caught, but I just had to take one more
look.  I dropped my napkin in the floor so it landed sort of behind my
seat. That way, I’d have an excuse to turn and look again.  Really smooth,
hunh? When I glanced back up, he was gone.  I felt lonely suddenly, and
completely foolish.

     Gwen looked over my shoulder and
took a sip of her tea.  Her eyes were crinkled up at the corners like she
was about to crack up. “The only blonde guy over there is Sheldon Blake. 
Didn’t think he was your type.”  Sheldon Blake was a known stoner.

     “Ewww, he’s not.”  I swung
around in my plastic seat to face her. “That’s not the guy I saw.  This
guy was around mid to late twenties, kind of short, blonde hair, high
cheekbones, strong jaw; he had on dark clothes, and a leather jacket, I
think.” 

     Gwen wiggled her eyebrows at
me.  “Sounds like my type.  Maybe he’s a substitute or
something?  Was he tall?  I have a height requirement, you
know.” 

     “Yeah. He looked really tall.”

     She leaned in closer to me, batted
her eyelashes and dropped her voice a few octaves.  Her “sexy”
voice.  “Was he hot?”  Her eyebrow arched seductively and I nearly
blew green tea out through my nose.  Gwen killed me.  I snorted and
choked till tears started at the corners of my eyes.  I finally got a deep
breath and sighed as I got my composure back.  Not my dignity, maybe, but
my composure.

     And yes, from what I saw of the
guy, he was infinitely hot, but for some reason I didn’t want to share that
little tidbit of info.  Strange, because I told Gwen pretty much
everything.  I shook my head and rolled my eyes at her. “Nope, don’t think
so. Just kind of creepy the way he was hanging around watching everyone and
then ducked into the gym.”  Creepy, yet intriguing, and sort of sexy, if
you liked the type. Creepy and sexy in the same thought… I was officially
cracking up.

     “Well, let me know if you see him
again. Maybe he was a sub or someone’s brother or something.”