Blood Redemption (Angel's Edge #3) (14 page)

Mrs. Alice. A smile like the sunrise broke across her face, and she looked thrilled to see me. She was utterly at home in the midst of all the noise and frenetic activity.

I saw the chaos with new eyes. Mrs. Alice’s smile changed my surroundings, or at least my perception of them. All of the bustle and loudness wasn’t intimidating at all; rather, it was its own form of peace. Mrs. Alice was in her element because her family thrived around her, busy and loud and full of life and each other. There was no fear here, no threat of death and destruction. I leaned against Logan, realizing at last how much peace and safety had been missing from my life, even if it took a chaotic form.

“Come on,” said Cassandra, beckoning me to the long table. “If we wait on this lot to be ready to feed you, you’ll waste away to nothing.”

Ethan followed just behind me. He seemed unaffected by the noise and rush around us; it made me wonder how many times he’d been here before.

Bewildered by tiredness and hunger now instead of the household around me, I let Logan lead me to the long table. Ethan and Logan sat on either side of me while someone slid a plate of food under my nose. Apple cinnamon oatmeal, biscuits with gravy, fried sausages, and cheese almost overflowed the plate. If I ate all that, I wouldn’t be able to move for days. Logan waggled his eyebrows at me as I stared at my breakfast.

“Slide that over here if you can’t finish it,” he said, smiling a little. “I could use a snack.”

“Let the girl eat,” said a crisp, familiar voice. “She needs her strength before the others arrive.”

I looked right into Mrs. Alice’s welcoming face and almost abandoned my food in an effort to stand up and hug her. She placed a firm, but gentle hand on my shoulder, silently urging me not to move. With one look at Logan, he got up and made room for her on the bench. Mrs. Alice slid in beside me and hugged me with one arm. She gestured to me to eat, and I did, hastily shoveling gravy-drenched biscuits into my mouth. I wondered if hunger made everything taste so wonderful, or if the food really was that good.

“You look great,” I tried to say with a mostly filled mouth.

If my lack of manners offended her, she gave no sign. Instead she looked critically at my appearance and sighed.

“I wish I could say the same for you,” she said, a slight smile taking the sting from her words. “You look as if you wrestled with a bear… and lost.”

“Pretty much.” I nibbled on buttery tasting cheese.

Logan, banished from my side, slid a huge glass of orange juice in front of me.

I gulped it gratefully. “Bears… demons… very similar, actually.”

“Well, we’ll have to do something about that,” she said cryptically, then left me to finish my breakfast.

To my surprise, I ate every bite. My empty plate was whisked away by the woman who’d shot flames into the stove. Remembering what Cassandra once told me about elemental mages, I assumed her affinity must be for fire.

“Hello, Caspia,” the woman said softly―so softly I had to strain to hear her over the noise. “I’m Anna. Logan’s told us so much about you. You are very welcome here.” She handed the plate off to a younger boy and turned her attention back to me. “I think Cassie is about the same size as you; I’ll send some of her clothes over so you can get out of those rags.”

“Mother!” Cassandra said with an embarrassed huff. “It’s not her fault how she’s dressed. And don’t call me Cassie.”

I hoped Cassandra had something to wear besides tie-dye and flowy skirts as her mother, rolling her eyes, led me off to a small bedroom down a long hall. A narrow bed, obviously meant for one, was piled high with blankets and pillows. A small door stood open, revealing a bathroom with a claw foot tub.

My heart sang. A tub! How I missed my huge, deep bathtub back in my apartment. After thanking Anna, I wasted no time in running almost-scalding hot water. I wanted to be lobster red by the time I got out. I sank into what felt like the most luxurious bath of my life.

I emerged even sleepier than I had been when I got in it. I padded my way across the room to the pile of clothes Cassandra’s mother had left: a white peasant blouse and jeans. Secretly grateful that I’d avoided tiedye, I wadded up my soiled dress into a tight ball then threw it in a nearby trash can. I never wanted to see that thing gain. The bed looked very inviting.

Mrs. Alice had mentioned the others who were coming. Once again, I wondered who they were and what was so important about them. I was too tired to care much, though. Surely no one would mind if I just sat down on the comfortable bed and rested for a bit first? After all, they weren’t here yet…

I don’t know how long it took for me to fall asleep. It seemed as if one minute I was awake and enjoying the pile of soft blankets, and the next, I was sitting up in a house gone silent and cold. It took me a minute to register the faint blue glow emanating from my body. When I realized what it meant, I groaned.

The Dreamtime. Again. I was getting damn sick of being dragged out of decent sleep and into the realm of waking nightmares.

Then a hand grabbed mine and pulled. I stood from my still slumbering body, knowing by now not to look unless I wanted to see myself as a corpse. I jerked away from the hand with all the force I possessed, whirling on its owner with the fury of the unjustly awakened.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I said. “I just want to rest. I need to rest. Just this once. Please, Jack.” Even to me, I sounded whiny.

His eyes were wide and frantic. He gestured me to silence with a single finger to his lips. Then he crept very close and whispered one word in my ear, “Hunters.”

Dread froze me, leaving my body washed in cold fear. It couldn’t be. Hunters of the Light would like nothing more than to murder me and my brother because of the gifts we possessed―gifts they saw as a threat. We were supposed to be safe here at Blackwood Lodge; their wards were supposed to be intact.

I whispered as much to Jack. “How is it possible that they’re here? The whole point of coming was to be safe. Not to bring more trouble to my friends.”

“As far as I’ve been able to find out, they can move freely through the Dreamtime. But something’s stopping them from getting more than a few feet from Blackwood Lodge. And that has them very, very upset.” The tattoos along his arms writhed in the dim, Dreamtime light. His bare chest crawled with living ink. “Come on. You need to see this.”

He dragged me through a warren of quiet, empty rooms; no one walked this parallel world except the two of us. And the Hunters, of course. If it had been night when Jack came to me, we would have been able to see the shape of the sleeper’s dreams. But mid-morning in the Blackwood household, everyone went busily about their daytime business, safe from the threats prowling the Dreamtime.

Eventually we reached a front room with a huge picture window looking out into the main garden. Jack crouched just below the window, so that nothing was visible but his head. He gestured at me to follow suit. Several figures paced the garden’s perimeter.

The Hunters were tall―they towered at least a foot over Asheroth. They didn’t try to camouflage their battle armor as all the other angels and Fallen ones did. Their armor looked exactly like something the ancient Romans would have worn. Golden breastplates shone in the twilight of the Dreamtime. Helmets obscured much of their faces, and long curved swords hung from their sides. Cold panic swamped me when I saw the swords, remembering Dr. Christian’s paintings of the first Nephilim wars. Hunters just like these had slaughtered my ancestors as the paintings showed in graphic detail.

Then I remembered Ethan had been one of them once.

I slumped against the wall in despair. That was a fact I’d rather forget. It seemed no matter what I did, no matter where I went, there was something or someone who wanted me dead, or at least captured. And now, I had brought yet another deadly threat straight to my friend’s door. I could only hope the Hunter’s interest extended no further than me, and that they hadn’t noticed Logan yet.

“What’s keeping them out there?” I mused aloud.

“Strong wards, I assume. Wards that extend even through the Dreamtime.”

I swallowed, determined to formulate some kind of plan. “Mrs. Alice needs to know about this. And Ethan.” I winced. “His time as one of them may work to our advantage. Maybe he can tell us something about them―motivations, weaknesses, anything. But right now, we need some kind of plan.”

Jack regarded me somberly. “I’ve been waiting to hear you say that.” He paused as if measuring his words. “Caspia, no matter what plan you come up with, it will all boil down to the same solution in the end.”

I sighed and rolled back onto my knees to get a good look out the window again. Just beyond the garden, a small group of Hunters had assembled, talking amongst themselves. When I popped my head up, the largest of them turned to look directly at me. Its eyes were a mesmerizing gold, and they smoldered as if with an inner fire. I gasped at the force of his animosity and dropped back down below the window again.

“What is that, Jack?” I whispered.

“Caspia,” he said. “You’re going to have to learn how to fight. You must learn to control your Shadows, and channel them at your enemies. And we have to find a way to work together. We’re the last Azalenes. Combining our powers will make us a force to be feared.”

I let the truth of his words sink in. I would have to face the darkness inside me. There was no longer any way to avoid a war.

'm not getting tattooed,” I warned Jack, rubbing my arms as if to protect my virgin skin. “I don’t care how much it will change my gift; that’s just not happening.”

“What about running around barefoot and shirtless, then?” he asked, one eyebrow slightly lifted over too-bright Nephilim eyes.

I punched his bicep.

“Ouch! Okay, okay, I was only teasing,” he said, rubbing the offended spot. I watched it redden with satisfaction. “Besides, this is special ink. It’s mixed with my blood, and only my father knew how to apply it.” A shadow crossed his face. “He died before he could teach me. Murdered by Belial’s forces.”

So much death. Would our kind ever find peace? I bit the corner of my lip, agitated. “I’m sorry, Jack,” I said softly, not knowing what else to say.