Forsaken (23 page)

Alex had been right when he said I was
going to like the suite. It was on the top floor of the hotel and
had an immaculate view of the water. The whole suite was twice as
big as my apartment. It looked like something right out of a travel
magazine.

Once we got our bags into the room, I
found myself out on the balcony, soaking up the summer sunshine.
Alex came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my
waist.

I closed my eyes and smiled in sheer
bliss. Alex’s familiar scent filled my senses and the warmth of his
body radiated throughout my skin. It was amazing the emotions he
invoked in me. I didn’t have words for how much I loved him or for
how happy I was.

Before I even realized what I was
doing, I had turned around and pushed Alex back into the room with
much more force that I should have been capable of. My lips
greedily found his and the two of us tumbled onto the plush
carpet.

We might have gotten carried away if
it hadn’t have been for the sudden explosion of Alex’s shirt and my
scream. In Alex’s loss of concentration he had lost control of his
ever constant struggle to keep his wings contained and they had
burst forth with blinding glory. My scream of surprise sent both of
us into a fit of laughter immediately after.

The wings might have frightened me but
I hesitantly reached a hand towards them as we lay on the floor,
gently tracing my fingers along a few of the feathers. I had never
felt anything so soft and perfect. Even though I didn’t meet his
eyes, Alex stared intently into mine. His body was still half on
top of mine, propped up on his muscled arms, just staring at me as
I stroked the feathers.

“
Let’s go do something fun
tonight,” Alex finally said. “When was the last time you went
dancing?”

“
Uh… never?” I said
hesitantly. “Well, I guess that’s what Emily tried to get me to do
when she took me out that night. I don’t think that really counts
though.” I shuddered at the memory.

“
I’m going to take you
dancing. I heard of this really cool club. I think we should
go.”

I bit my lower lip in uncertainty. My
last experience at a club hadn’t been great. But if Alex was
involved I was willing to do anything. And besides, this might be
the last chance I had to do anything just for the heck of it in a
long time. Terrible things were going to be occurring soon and were
probably already happening. “Okay.”

Alex gave me a quick grin and the next
second he was gone and I heard the shower turn on.

I simply smiled as I sat up and then
blushed when I saw his clothes in a heap at the foot of the bed. As
I heard the shower curtain being pulled open then closed, I noticed
a few things had fallen out of the pocket of his jeans. I bent to
pick them up, wanting to make sure he didn’t lose them. My heart
froze for a moment before breaking out into a throbbing race as I
saw a small black box lying next to his keys.

The velvet on the box looked worn and
had quite a bit of lint stuck to it, as if it had been in Alex’s
pocket for months. I knew what this type of box was for. There was
only one thing Alex would have carried in his pocket for weeks and
weeks like this.

I felt sick and excited at the same
time as I held the box. I wanted to see the ring more than
anything, yet at the same time I knew what it was going to do to me
emotionally. It was going to crush me again. I didn’t want to go
back to feeling like that again and I didn’t want to make Alex have
to deal with that either. We had bigger things going on right
now.

My stomach sinking, I put the keys and
the box back in Alex’s pocket and arranged his pants so they
wouldn’t fall back out again.

I had just pulled some new clothes out
of my suitcase when Alex walked out of the shower, water beaded in
his sandy blond hair and streaking down the bare skin of his chest.
I blushed when I noticed he was wearing only a towel.

A soft moan escaped my
lips as I walked toward him. “Are you
trying
to torture me?” I teased as I
pressed a brief kiss to his lips before locking myself in the
bathroom so I wouldn’t do anything irrational.

X

I might have felt
embarrassed for the looks I was receiving from about half the guys
at the club if it wasn’t for the looks Alex was getting from
all
the women. I
couldn’t blame them for staring. Alex was unquestionably the most
beautiful creature walking this planet, but the lights that flashed
and pulsed around us only seemed to enhance the unearthly effect.
And I had to stop and stare at myself when I caught a glimpse of me
in a mirror. There was most definitely something wrong with
me.

There was something intoxicating in
the air that night. Maybe it was the pulsing music, the flashing of
the lights. Maybe it was the way we all moved, surging and flowing
in a throbbing mass of dance. Whatever it was, I liked
it.

We stood in the middle of the dance
floor, the crowd pushing in around us. I noticed her across the
club, watching us as we moved. She had curves any porn star would
have sold her soul for and blond hair that looked like it had leapt
straight out of a fashion magazine. After a moment I realized it
wasn’t us she was watching. It was just Alex.

The edges of her lips curled up and
she worked her way through the crowd. Her eyes never left Alex’s
face.

In that moment, I saw every girl who
had called me a freak and made fun of me in high school. I would
never be like them.

Much to my satisfaction, as soon as
Alex noticed her, he pulled me all the closer as the song changed
and the tempo picked up. As I caught the woman’s eye she simply
winked at me, a slight smile on her face, and walked the other way,
her eyes scoping out her next victim.

I knew Emily had been right, I had
seen the way other women looked at Alex, but I had never seen the
effect he had on women like she had said. I would bet any other
woman here would do anything to have Alex dance with them like he
was dancing with me. And he was mine.

I could only imagine what my parents
would think if they saw the way everyone in the club was dancing,
myself included. I had never moved this way before in my life.
Something felt alive in me in a way I had never felt before. A
hungry feeling for more. Maybe it was the time Alex and I had spent
in the suite that had gotten me feeling this way. Maybe it was just
Alex and the way he was touching me.

A strange excitement spread from my
stomach out to my toes and fingers as our bodies melded into one.
Alex’s lips played at my neck, his breath causing goose bumps to
rise on my flesh. Of one thing I was certain, I didn’t want this
night to end. I was seeing a slightly different side of Alex I had
never seen before. It was one that didn’t want to hold back. I
liked it.

And yet the pounding music was also
causing my head to throb. My eyes ached from it all. I smelled all
the alcohol that was being passed around, smelled the smoke that
held on to people’s breath. It felt like the whole building was
about to collapse in on me.

“
I’ll be right back,” I
yelled over the loud music. As soon as I did, I realized yelling
wasn’t necessary, Alex would have heard me even if I had whispered
it.

As I walked toward the bathrooms, I
hoped I wouldn’t come back and have to battle a hoard of women off
Alex. Considering all the hungry looks he was getting, it seemed
likely.

The smell in the woman’s bathroom was
enough to make my stomach roll. Evidence of human waste was
obvious, cigarette butts had been left in the sink, the garbage can
was overflowing. There was another person in the stall next to me
and after a minute I realized there were actually two, both wearing
heals. I got in and out, trying to touch as little as possible.
After I made my escape I stepped out the back door to try and get
some fresh air, afraid my stomach wouldn’t handle any more of the
stench.

The night was still warm but at least
the air wasn’t so muggy like it had been inside. The symphony of
the city sounded around me as I stood in the heart of
it.

I was about to go back inside when a
noise from just a few yards away made me jump, the cacophony of
garbage cans getting plowed into. It was followed by a yell and a
curse.

The smart thing to do would have been
to go back inside and not think twice about it but my curiosity got
the best of me. I stepped cautiously forward, my eyes adjusting to
the dim light.

For a moment my blood ran cold and all
sound dropped away. A flash of metallic light and feathers came
into sight for the briefest moment. I might have wondered I had
imagined it but the face that looked up at me from the ground told
me I hadn’t. It was also different from the one I
expected.

“
Adam?!” I shrieked as I
backed away a few steps, my back pressed to the cold brick
wall.

“
What?” he gasped as he
struggled to stand up. His clothes were dirty and wrinkled and I
was horrified to see a small hole in his shirt above his left
breast, blood soaking it.

“
What happened?” I said,
my voice suddenly hoarse and quiet.

He looked down at his shirt and
squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head. He placed his hands on
either side of his head. “What year is et?” he said with a heavy
Scottish accent that took me even more off guard than I already
was.

“
What did you say?” I
whispered again. I was still so in shock to see him here in the
real world, this man who had bound and transported me from a cell
to the place of judgment thousands of times.

“
What year is et?” he
repeated as he looked me in the eye, the same steely gray as
Alex’s.

I told him, my voice quivering. My
mind struggled to catch up to what was happening.

“
Holy shize!” he cried.
“Et’s been eighteen years?”

“
Eighteen years since
what?” I asked, unsure if I wanted the answer.

“
Since I wus shot!” he
exclaimed as he stuck a finger in the hole in his shirt. “Since I
wus left ta die, bleedin’ in the streets!”

I didn’t know what to say or how to
react. How could this keep happening to me? I thought I had escaped
the world of angels, save Alex, but here another one was, yet
again. “Alex?” I called, my voice unsure and weak.

Not two seconds later, the back door
burst open and Alex’s perfect form was at my side.

Had I been normal, things would have
happened too fast for me to see. Surprise and uncertainty spread on
Alex’s face as he took Adam in. The next moment Adam was in Alex’s
face, Alex’s shirt bunched up in his hands. For a moment,
terrifying malice filled Adam’s face, quickly replaced by one
filled with awe.

“
You’re the one they
allowed ta return?” Adam’s voice was filled with amazement. “You’re
not the escaped one.”

“
I most definitely
am
not
Cole,”
Alex said, a hint of disgust in his voice.

“
Do ya know where he es?”
Adam asked as he released Alex.

“
We’re leaving tomorrow to
find him,” I said quietly as I stepped closer to Alex’s
side.

“
Ya have ta let me come
with ya,” he said, his eyes pleading and fierce.

“
We can handle it,” Alex
said as he grabbed my hand and started walking away. “Just go back.
I’ll make sure he finds his way back to you.”

“
Please, ya have ta let me
come with ya,” he pleaded again. “They won’ let me move on ‘til I
make him come back.”

I had wondered many times why Adam had
had to wait to be judged. Whatever the reason, here was his chance
to finally move on. It was unfair that he had to wait so
long.

“
Alex, let him come,” I
whispered, even though I knew Adam would be able to hear
me.

“
You know what he is,
right?” Alex asked me, looking me in the eye.

I simply nodded.

Alex looked like he was debating with
himself but I somehow sensed it didn’t matter what his answer would
be. I was sure Adam would get to Cole one way or another. If there
was any way to speed this up I was willing to do it. I didn’t see
how it would hurt to have Adam come with us.

“
We’re flying out
tomorrow, bright and early,” Alex finally said

“
I don’ have any money,”
Adam said, his voice sounding slightly downfallen. “At least I don’
think I still have a bank account since I’ve been dead for eighteen
years. But I have ta go.”

Alex sighed and shook his head. I
couldn’t blame him for feeling a bit annoyed. “Come on,” Alex said
as he continued down the alley.

“
Thank you,” he said as he
followed us. “Ma name es Cormack by the way. Cormack
MacKenzie.”

Not Adam. Guess I should have figured
that wasn’t his real name.

CHAPTER
SEVENTEEN

JESSICA

The international flight was nearly
full. Cormack was lucky we were able to get another seat and
located so close to ours. We had gotten two end seats and he got
the one right across the aisle from us.