Praefatio: A Novel (30 page)

Millions of humans? Wasted efforts? We hadn’t stopped for that long. And, for his information, we did not stop because we wanted to make out. It just ended up happening that way.

“Sorry, Grace, that’s all it took. You were supposed to follow the plan, exactly to the letter,” Stone apologized as he rode Ambry harder. “We’re gonna have to fight now.”

“Nothing is going to stop me from helping Remi. Keep going, to the gate. We have to get to the gate. We need LJ, Caius, and Arcturus,” I insisted.

“Grace, we won’t make it!” Gavin shouted as he shot an arrow through a shapeshifter darting through the wood to his right in the form of a white tiger. Zion never even broke stride.

“This is gonna be fun,” Stone laughed as he raced ahead of Gavin, who jaunted beside us as if kicking Zion into over drive. “Sorry, Grace, I need my own wheels,” Stone said as he spread his wings and suspended himself in the air between Gavin and me while we continued to ride toward Nod.

I grabbed Ambry’s reins as a huge horse appeared out of nowhere, matching Zion’s exact physical features and dress, minus the crest. “A companion for Ambry, perhaps, when this is over?” Stone laughed, looking over his shoulder as he mounted the new horse.

“Nice, Aqua Man,” Gavin teased.

“Grace, look out,” Stone yelled.

A vampire jumped up onto Ambry’s back. Long nails clawed into Ambry’s skin as the vampire reached for me and attempted to pull me off. There were two others behind him.

I pulled a short knife from my right side, then turned to my left and shoved the ten-inch blade into his heart as he jumped up. It was so gross. Blood poured in spurts at first from the site of the wound, then from his rotten mouth in a spray all over me. The vampire fell forward onto Ambry, nearly lifeless, legs dangling as we rode. I reached under him to pull my knife out. Sticky, hot blood covered the handle, making it impossible to grip. I wiped my hands on my pants and grabbed the knife, pulled it out, sliced his head off Fruit Ninja style, and then watched as his head rolled behind us. Freaking vampire bled all over me and poor Ambry before I shoved the rest of him off.

Two other vampires were hot on my tail. I was surprised the Fallen had played their hand so early in the game. I guess they’d assumed getting me out of the way left them room to sweep in and take Jenny’s baby, since Gavin wouldn’t fight them and they didn’t know Stone was going to be there.

They were gaining on us pretty fast. Stone grabbed one of his knives and threw it into a gigantic black lion that had materialized to his far left, stopping it immediately. Stone jumped down off his horse, which had yet to be given a name, and in one fluid movement beheaded the beast he had just impaled with the same knife.

“Just in case!” he shouted.

That seemed to make the vampires mad, so the girl came after me with a vengeance. This girl could not have been older than me and was pretty short, petite. But boy was she quick. She took to the air without wings and punched me square in the face. I was not expecting that.

Out of the corner of my good eye, I saw Gavin take out a shapeshifting black bear and a werewolf.
Sexy,
I thought to myself as Gavin smiled, hearing my private thoughts again.

Stone successfully battled two Fallen, another black lion, and two demons in about three and a half minutes.
Super Virtue.
I don’t know if we would have made it without him, since I had obviously been wrong in my original assessment of the number of Seekers.

That vampire chick had a chip on her shoulder and was determined to take it out on me. “Pick on someone your own size” and “never hit a girl” did not apply here. She ate humans. Well, their blood. She sucker punched me in the eye in front of my boyfriend and smiled.
Unacceptable
. I hadn’t hit her back—yet. I dismounted Ambry, landing quite gracefully on my feet, keeping my eyes trained on Vampire Chick.

As we circled one another, deciding how we were going to end our little standoff, we were joined by Vampire Boy, who stood slightly behind her, towering over her with his more than six-foot frame and surprisingly young appearance. And then I got why they were there. Tyler must have assumed the human girl would have a problem taking on vampire kids.

Everything okay, Grace
? Gavin asked me telepathically, fearing the same thing.

Good, thanks. How are we looking otherwise?
I asked, trying to sound completely in control.

Two demons at large, Fallen at the gate as we suspected. Last two vampires standing before you,
Gavin replied with a smile in his tone.

“Why are you here?”

“Same as you,” said the boy vampire as the girl elbowed him in the ribs and rolled her eyes at me. She glided across the space between us, and I caught her neck with my left hand as I held my knife to her heart with the right. A gasp fell from her full, ruby-red lips. Her friend tried to rush me, and I threw her into him with such force that it knocked them both to the ground like dominoes.

“I’m going to save your life today because it’s obvious that you don’t have a clue. If you make me live to regret that decision, I will come after you. Do you understand?” I said in my best movie hero voice. I was pumped. Stone was right; it was fun.

“If they want you dead, they’ll kill you. We’re dead already.” The girl sighed as she unwittingly foretold her future and made a pun at the same time.

“I’d be happy to put you out of your misery now if you like,” I offered, feeling quite confident as I spread my wings and luminosity shone from me.

“Who
are
you?” the boy vampire asked, his eyes wide with fear and amazement.

“I’m Archangel Grace Ann Miller.”

PART FOUR

Closer to the Edge

So It Shall be Done

When we arrived at the huge, iron gate, there was a man with the most welcoming smile.
Holy cow
. It was Mr. Johnson from our street. The one Mom had called The Mayor. I was happy and confused at once. I hugged him anyway. It was good to see a familiar face.

Above us, dark clouds rolled by, and it looked as if the sky was going to open any minute and pour for days.

“Hi, Grace. Makes sense now, huh? Why Vivienne wanted me to watch out for you when you were a child? I’m high priest of Nod!” He hugged me, something angels didn’t really get into. Mr. Johnson released me and said, “The others are waiting for you inside. Come quickly, now. We have had unwelcome visitors all day.” He motioned at the dark clouds overhead, then waved us on as he rubbed ghost-white sideburns that extended down his cheeks.

He darted his clouded blue eyes left and right. As I followed his intense gaze, I could make out the red and yellow eyes of demons, but I was not afraid. We entered the protective gate, and it closed quickly behind us with a loud, reassuring clang.

Caius came running up to me, screaming, “Grace!” I was surprised by the human-like display of emotion and affection as he hugged me. LJ seemed more interested in Stone—her gaze moved past me to him immediately.

We continued on foot, walking the horses, and the people of Nod seemed oblivious to us. It wasn’t anything like I expected; I hadn’t had much time to look around last time I was here. Lights and wreaths were being hung, and as I passed them, it hit me. It was Christmas Eve. I had been so wrapped up in everything that was happening that I had forgotten about my very favorite holiday.

“Mr. Johnson, has Remi arrived? Is he OK?”

He considered my questions for longer than I thought necessary. They were yes or no questions.

“I will take you to Archangel Remiel. Aside from that, there is nothing more I can do,” he said, and then he did the strangest thing. Mr. Johnson turned around to face Stone and said, “Virtue, I pray thee. A horse, please.” He lowered his head in Stone’s direction, and for the second time that day, Stone materialized a horse out of thin air, this one a white stallion, which Mr. Johnson hopped on as if it had belonged to him all along.

“Shut. Up!” LJ exclaimed as admiration washed over her face.

“Let’s go, people. Mr. Johnson will lead the way.” I jumped on Ambry and positioned myself next to him.

Mr. Johnson led us through a small town that looked like it should have been a set for an old western TV show: small farmhouses spread out over a large area and a main street complete with a general store, pharmacy and doctor’s office, a trading post for mail pick up, and a church that doubled as a schoolhouse. Large satellite dishes were also visible, along with fiber optic cable wires from time to time.
Bizarre.
Except for the occasional historical tidbit or a neigh from one of the horses, we were all pretty quiet. I don’t think anyone knew what to say.

“Here,” Mr. Johnson said as he stopped in front of the blue-painted church. “The horses will graze out back. Aquus, you come with us.” He commanded the horses as we dismounted and they obeyed, except one.

Aquus, which was apparently the name of Stone’s horse, changed immediately from a horse into an angel that looked exactly like Stone, only probably about twenty pounds heavier, all muscle and wings that looked as if they were chiseled from rock. He pulled Stone into himself and they became one, no ascension like last time, he just changed like a shapeshifter, only way cooler, right before my eyes.

“Okay, what the heck was that?” I demanded, pulling Stone’s arm.

Gavin roared in amazement. “Nice!” he congratulated Stone, bonding over some stupid guy shifter appreciation thing. I thought they were gonna fist bump next.

“I’ll explain later. It’s what I do. It’s my purpose.”

“Yeah? And your name? It’s not Stone?” I demanded, angrier now as we walked up the steps to the church.

“Grace, we don’t have time for this,” Mr. Johnson advised me. “Stone Aquus is here to help you. He’s a warrior. You need him right now.”

“Well, how can he help me if I don’t understand all that he is capable of?”

Gavin put his hand on my lower back, calming me, but not nearly enough.

Mr. Johnson and Stone both stepped back as the door to the church opened. They saw it before I did. Before I could react, someone raised a hand to strike me. I crouched down, but it was too late. Sucker punched for the second time that day. I went down, disoriented, trying to get my wits about me, but all I could see was the ground, and not all that well. I blinked a few times and saw red drops. I was bleeding. I blinked some more and looked up. He was coming for me again.

Gavin grabbed the hand and twisted it, then grabbed the person by the neck with his other hand.
Fallen.
As I regained my stance, I could see other Fallen closing in around us, clearly intending to break the rules of Nod.

Reclaiming ground, I stood up, able to see a little better, and wiped the blood from my mouth. I grabbed a Tachi Gunto from my back, and the sound of the sword being released from its sheath gave me a charge. Then LJ ran up the steps faster than light, grabbed my sword, removed the wings of my attacker with it, and pushed him to the ground as I watched Gavin cringe. Had I hesitated?

“Sorry,” was all I could say as I watched Gavin stare in horror at the Fallen who lay in front of him, dark wings three steps below. I turned to LJ, who had a huge smile on her face. She held my sword like a true warrior, up in one hand above her head with her chest rising and falling quickly from the adrenaline.

“
Very
cool,” LJ acknowledged as she handed my sword back to me dripping with blood. “I prefer bows and arrows myself,” she added as she looked over at Gavin. She crouched down, placed her bow in her left hand and steadied it, removed an arrow from her quiver with her right, positioned it, and took aim at a Fallen. Fallen down. Gavin joined her, the two of them taking silent pleasure in the contest.

LJ flipped her thick brown hair from side to side as she reached again into her black leather quiver. She panned the area in front of us, waiting for other Fallen to come into view. Gavin braced, then took out a demon that had come into his peripheral vision. One on the left and another right after, just behind him. Anger, then hatred.

And demons smell pretty horrible. Think rotting eggs, stale tuna fish, and sulfur. Oh, and that’s before you kill them. When they die—the stink is amplified. Yeah, it’s not something you ever want to smell. Ever.

I watched the scene unfold as Stone Aquus, or whatever, cut off the wings of a Fallen he had been battling. As the Fallen’s wingless body hit the ground, Aquus flew over to an unsuspecting Fallen about to kick Caius in the stomach, raised his sword and shouted, “Ha!” as he lowered his blade and removed his wings.

A second later, Gavin flew past me, and I took flight behind him. He landed with his right foot on top of the Fallen he had just put an arrow in. It was a girl, probably about ten years old. He had to hurry since the arrow would stop her only temporarily. She would start to heal in a few minutes.

I removed the arrow and then gently clipped her wings. As a new human child she had to be lowered to the ground gently or the impact to her new body could kill her.

I raced to the top of the church steps and I waited for the remaining Fallen to show themselves. Something didn’t seem right. It was almost too easy. “I’m here!” I shouted. “You want me? Come and get me!”

Mr. Johnson appeared out of nowhere on the steps next to me. “Grace, let’s get to Archangel Remiel.”

Caius was gathering up the bleeding, weak, and disoriented. There was a slight breeze in the air, and I could still smell the stink of dead demons.
Rancid.
Caius mounted his horse, ready to dispose of the newly de-winged; unattended bodies were ripe for demon possession.

I kept my eyes glued in front of me, slowly panning from left to right, still waiting for someone to jump out at any time. A low fog had started to gather at the bottom of the church steps.

“Caius,” I shouted like war commanders I had seen in movies. “Find Marcus. He will take care of them. Tell him that I will visit soon and am in his debt.”

As Mr. Johnson took my arm to lead me into the church, a little boy came running up the steps. “Mr. Johnson! Mr. Johnson!”