Praefatio: A Novel (31 page)

Mr. Johnson turned to see the little boy’s horrified expression. I looked at LJ, then Gavin, who looked at each other, and then at me. They seemed to know something I didn’t. The little boy reached Mr. Johnson, whispered in his ear, and then stood horrified as Mr. Johnson decided what to do with the news he had just been given. It didn’t take long.

“Grace, we must go to Remiel now.” Mr. Johnson placed an appreciative hand on the boy’s shoulder, sighed, and led me into the church before I could say a word.

I tucked my sword away and followed him. I turned to see if the little boy had gone back down safely, but he was gone. Nothing but hundreds of huge brown rats running down the steps.
Gross.
I decided not to ask what the boy had said.

We hurried up the main aisle, past the pews and the pulpit, with Gavin, Stone Aquus, and LJ following closely behind us. I heard the flutter of wings and knew they had to be that of Fallen.

“Come on, Grace, the Angel of Death is on his way—we don’t know who he will claim,” Mr. Johnson insisted as I faltered just slightly, made lightheaded by the news. I could tell the Fallen were gaining on us, the sounds of their wings louder and louder in my ears. We were moving so fast that we were blurring.

“I’ll get rid of them,” Stone Aquus offered as he turned to go back and fight.

“I’ll go with you, Stone, Aquus, or whatever your name is!” LJ shouted as she turned to go with him. She seemed to have little regard for his status as a Virtue and more concern for him as a cute boy.

Behind me I heard punching, blades ripping skin, heavy breathing, and grunts.
Oh God.
I hope they’re okay. I hope I don’t get them killed. Please don’t get killed because of me.

We raced through a door that was hidden behind the altar, then headed down what seemed like an endless flight of steps. We were at least one hundred stories underground, or more. I could no longer tell. I was getting dizzy.

Not now. This is not the time for visions
.

Mr. Johnson was practically pulling me as Gavin pushed me forward from behind. My mind was a blur. I was having trouble standing up as we glided faster than I ever recall moving. I tried to push the vision from my head, but it was there, staring me in the face. It seemed to be a vision of the present.

“OOOWWWWWWW!” LJ screamed as the blade sliced through her left wing. I could feel her exact pain. I remembered when Gavin ripped that one little feather from my wing and shoved it in Remi’s mouth months ago. When a being is de-winged, when wings are cut completely from from your back, you literally become cut off from The Divine One, and you don’t feel it. But having someone slice a part of your wing off is like having someone slice your arm off. It hurts like hell!

LJ grabbed her quiver and tried to pull an arrow from it, but she was in too much pain. I was off balance; my equilibrium was jacked. I had to help LJ, but my body was being pulled down by Mr. Johnson. I broke free from both Gavin and Mr. Johnson and started to head back up as fast as I could. I was not going to let LJ get killed on my watch. I wouldn’t let her die for me.
God, no. It was LJ. He was here for LJ—The Angel of Death. No.

I spoke to her mind.
LJ, I’m coming. Can you hear me?

Grace. Stay where you are. It’s a trap,
was the message I got back, but it was too late.

Someone grabbed my arm and pulled a sword from my back just as I reached the top of the steps. From the way he smelled, I gathered he was Fallen. I wriggled around to no avail as he succeeded in pulling me into a choke hold.

“Grace!” Gavin shouted as he reached me, horror tensing his entire body.

“I’m okay, Gavin. This Neanderthal is going to put me down, and I’m going to make a human out of him. Wanna watch?” I removed my short knives from my sides so slowly I hardly made any movement at all. The confidence came from out of nowhere. Doofus hadn’t even realized that I’d moved.

“Grace, seriously. He has your sword and your neck. Just do what he says,” Gavin advised me, unsure of how I intended to get out of my predicament.

“How about I make mere humans out of you both? They say it doesn’t hurt, losing your wings. But I’m certain I can figure out how to make it hurt,” I countered, keeping my eyes fixed on Gavin.

“Let’s not get carried away. I don’t want any trouble, angel,” Gavin conceded, bowing for effect.

“Then call off your brother and walk away,” I ordered, fully in command.

You are so hot when you give me orders and threaten to de-wing me
, Gavin spoke telepathically, after opening his mind only to me.

“You two bore me. Either kill me or take my wings. I’d love to go to Eden with the rest of them,
Your Highness
,” the Fallen offered sarcastically, looking from me to Gavin with equal disdain.

“Sorry, buddy. No Eden for you.” I jammed my short knives into his sides, and he went down like a bowling pin behind me, releasing his hold on my neck. Darkness crept across his face. But I was not going to let him get off that easily.

“Sleep and never wake again.” I waved my hand over his eyes as they closed, and his body slumped. A slight hesitation came over me before I put my short knife through his once-angelic heart. The sound and smell were nauseating. I was surprised by how little life had been in him. I got up, flipped him on his side, cut off his wings, and placed his lifeless body flat on the ground.

I sent a telepathic APB to LJ and Stone Aquus:
Whoever gets here first. Had to take down a Fallen. Burn him and make sure there’s nothing left for any demons who may be hanging around to feed on.

I realized Gavin had been staring at me, and I couldn’t quite tell what he was thinking. I was certain it unnerved him to see me take down his so-called brothers. I couldn’t worry about that. I headed down to look for Remi.

“Nice work, Arch,” Gavin teased me on the way down. “Impressive skills you got there. Should I be worried?” He did seem a little worried. Killing an angel was not something you saw someone do every day.

“Yes, you should,” I replied with a smirk, only half joking.

Last Impressions

At the bottom of the steps was a dark, open space. I could see well, compliments of my new state of being. A single light bulb hung from the ceiling in the center of the cavernous area. Two massive-looking beings that appeared to be carved out of stone stood guard in front of a wooden door that seemed relatively small. Gavin and I approached the door; they remained motionless.

The door opened right before I could knock. An exhausted-looking and shirtless Remi greeted me, nearly knocking me over with the biggest hug. He buried his newly buzzed-cut head in my hair, sobbing, shaking and holding on with his life.

“It’s okay, Remi. Everything is gonna to be okay,” I whispered, and noticed he smelled a little less sweet. I stroked his newly fuzzy hair and turned my nose away slightly. He needed a shower big time.

Taking his hand in mine felt like old times as we walked together into the room where he and Jenny had been staying. Gavin attempted to follow.

“You stay here,” the guard closest to the door mumbled, not moving at all. His “I can go where Grace goes” vest wasn’t going to help him now. I felt bad, but this wasn’t about him. I think he knew that.

Before I stepped into the room, I touched the being closest to me on his huge arm. It was as if he came to life as he arched his back and then bowed slightly, offering what could have been a smile. The sound of rocks rubbing against one another was loud in the expansive space.

“Guard? What happened to Mr. Johnson?” I looked around the open area, hoping to see a familiar face, but even Remi looked like a stranger to me.

“Mr. Johnson has returned to his post, Your Highness. He says neither you nor the Archangel Remiel requires his services any longer. He asks that the Fallen One remain outside.” The guard moved back into place, still keeping a close eye on Gavin.

I took one last look at Gavin, hoping that my reassuring smile would be enough. My family needed me. Gavin nodded and mouthed, “I love you,” just as Remi pulled me inside and closed the door behind us.

“Want something to eat, drink?” Remi offered, as if I was visiting him and Jenny at their new marital home for the first time. He seemed agitated, yet was acting like this was the most natural thing in the world. He had to have known what we had just been through to get to him. There were Thrones guarding his room. Jenny was about to give birth to an unknown being. Gavin, a High Fallen, was just outside the door. People were trying to kill us. This was not a social call.

He plopped down on one of two couches in the room. One faced a fireplace, and the other, a flat screen TV. He sat down deep into the cushions as if he intended to stay there forever. I suppose it was as good a hiding place as any. All he cared about was keeping Jenny alive. And I guess now, after everything, he could if he really wanted to. Things were different today, not like they were in Tyler’s day. No one had to die.

“No thanks,” I refused, still standing, looking around, anxious to see Jenny, and trying to shake the thought of Remi turning Jenny into a vampire from my mind.

Remi’s eyes darted back and forth from the TV, to the door, to me, and back again. The TV was off.

“Are Mom and Dad here?” I asked, switching my weight from one leg to the other impatiently. Remi’s demeanor was unsettling.

“Dad was here. He’s gone now. Michael was here, too. Even Raphael and Marcus, my dad.” Remi seemed proud to go down the list of prestigious visitors.

“Remi,” I started, but was unsure of what to say, so I decided to sit before continuing. “What does Jenny know about what’s happening to her? To you? What are you going to do?”

Remi’s right leg shook, fast and constant like a drug addict’s. He had bags under his eyes and looked pretty beat. The light that used to emanate from him was almost completely gone. Almost.

“What were you thinking, Remi? I mean, it’s clear what you were thinking.” I wasn’t helping at all.

“Seriously, Grace!” Remi shouted as he stood up, then fell involuntarily back onto the couch, too weak to act out. “You think I don’t know how badly I screwed up? How screwed up I am?” Tears streamed down his caramel face. “These freaking shackles!” Remi grabbed at his ankles, but I didn’t see anything.

“Listen to me,” I instructed him. I moved over to the couch where he sat. “We don’t know if the baby is Fallen, for God’s sake. Even still, we have to protect it, and we know now that we can’t keep the baby
here
. The Fallen don’t respect Nod as a neutral place anymore. We need to take the baby to the Garden. You can stay here, or you can move to Kheiron with me. Work with me, Remi, I’m thinking out loud here.”

Remi sat, rubbing his ankles. “What about Jenny?” he asked suddenly.

“Ahhhhh!” Jenny screamed from the next room as if being stabbed.

Remi stood up, then tried to run toward the room where Jenny was. It broke my heart to see him in this condition, fragile and weak as he struggled to take the necessary steps to reach her. His feet seemed glued to the ground as he walked, pulling, and a seemingly immense effort was needed to propel himself forward.

“Jenny, babe, are you okay?” Remi asked as he made it to the door to the bedroom at the end of the hall, struggling to breathe.

“Ahhhhhhhh!” Jenny let out another louder, longer blood-curdling scream as she crouched forward, grabbing her stomach in pain. Her legs were spread wide and her feet pressed firmly against the palms of Vivienne’s hands in a surreal scene, since there was no visible sign of pregnancy.

“Mom,” Remi and I said at the same time. She was delivering Jenny’s baby. Dark brown bruises encircled by purple, then black and yellow, covered Jenny’s body in a pattern that seemed odd at first, but was no doubt from the being growing inside her. When I looked closer, I could have sworn it was in the shape of the Big Dipper.

I grimaced at the sight of her. Remi hurried to her side to cover her from my judgmental eyes, but the damage had already been done.

“Push,” Mom instructed Jenny calmly.

Jenny’s face was pale, almost green. It was as if someone had doused her with a bucket of water. Her mangled hair was dripping into tiny individual pools on the floor. If I didn’t know it was a birth, I would have sworn I had walked in on an exorcism. The room smelled slightly of metal. Remi paced back and forth as a few grayish-white feathers fell to the floor.

“It’s okay, Jenny. You’re gonna be okay,” Remi lied as he wiped her forehead with his hand. He breathed on her and cooled her, drying the skin on her face.

I stayed near the door as I watched Vivienne work with Jenny, contemplating the fact that Remi was not the least bit sad for what he had done. My mind was working overtime trying to figure this out.

“AAAGGGHHHH! OOOOOOHHHHHH!” Jenny screamed as she lunged forward, grabbed her knees, then immediately fell back onto the bed, exhausted.

“Good job, Jenny. You have a beautiful baby boy!” Mom exclaimed as she pulled a tiny ball of slippery, bloody, yucky mess from Jenny’s insides.
Gross.
Vivienne cut the cord and wrapped the baby in a blanket from on a table nearby before walking over and handing him to me. “Uh, Mom. Don’t you think Jenny or Remi want to hold their baby?” I whispered as I looked over and saw Remi bent over Jenny. He covered her with his body.

“Babe, it’s a boy,” Remi informed Jenny as he held her head in his hand. She looked worse than she did before. She was starting to turn blue, even as she forced a smile.

“Is … is that … that Grace?” she managed through chattering teeth, turning her head to me. That she had any energy at all was astonishing. Her entire body shook uncontrollably. “I’m so-o … c-c-c-c-co-o-col-old.”

In the far corner of the room, a huge, black blob appeared on the floor, and at first I thought perhaps I was seeing things. I hugged the baby to me.

“Remi, you need to go now,” Mom said as she noticed it too.

“I’m not leaving. Let him face me,” Remi challenged Mom. “Get Gavin in here. He can turn her. I won’t lose her!” he shouted as he hunched over Jenny.