Praefatio: A Novel (33 page)

“LJ.” I paused, afraid to accept that LJ had followed me into battle against her own kind, and that support now made her a target. “I realize I have taken some liberties and made some changes, but everything I’ve done has been in the best interest of all concerned, including you.” I paused again before going further, since the last part was only true indirectly.

“I get it. You’re Michael’s daughter; you’re marrying Lucifer’s son, a super special untouchable angel. But can you really go around doing whatever you want? It’s going to catch up with you. You’ve been lucky so far, but I’m not sure you will be next time. You’re pissing some really important people off. ” She brought her horse to a halt.

I did, too, and turned my full attention upon her. For the first time since I’d first laid eyes on her, LJ looked weak, afraid.

“I just want you to know that I worry about you, and by extension myself. You’ve been an angel for all of five minutes, and you’ve gone from not even knowing what
Praefatio
is to de-winging Fallen. That is gonna put a few people out. It’s gonna make things really hard for me, too. You think they’re gonna welcome us back to Kheiron with open arms?” LJ looked down at her blood-stained hands. “I just want you to know that no matter
what
happens, I got your back.” Then she said something completely unexpected. “I just hope you have mine.”

I hated that she questioned my loyalty.

Stone approached. Thank God.

“LJ, if I may have a moment alone with Grace.” Stone Aquus dismounted his horse, flipped his pixie hair, and then reached for my hand.

Ambry backed up a little. I dismounted and took Stone’s hand as Gavin and LJ’s disapproving thoughts shot in my direction like daggers.

“Fly with me,” Stone said before extending beautiful iridescent wings and pulling me up into the air with him. When we had ascended to about two thousand feet, Stone returned to his plastic-filled-with-water state. It was beautiful to watch the reflection of the stars and the moon through the water shimmering off him. I looked down to see everyone watching from the ground even though they knew they should mind their own business.

“Thank you for showing me your world, Archangel.” Stone smiled as he bowed. “It has been my pleasure to serve you,” he continued, as if in a hurry. “I will keep my mind open to you always and will come whenever you call. Oh, and next time, can we take cars? I’ve never been in one.” He touched my face from my eye to my cheek. Then he ascended so far so fast that I could no longer see him.

Next time? Is he nuts?

My wings slumped from sadness and pain. An aching invaded my body, lighting a fire to my nerve endings and pulling me downward. I managed to land without incident, but my wings hung low.

“I might actually miss that guy.” Gavin sounded sincere.

LJ’s eyes were fixed on the night sky in the same spot where Stone had been. Venus twinkled above. “He didn’t even say goodbye.”

Snickering like two preschoolers, Gavin and I hopped atop our horses. But the reprieve was short, and I labored to find the strength needed to handle Ambry properly. Gavin moved closer, replacing LJ at my side.

She’s kidding, right? She does know that a Virtue cannot even look at her?
Gavin thought as we rode in silence. His intense smile unnerved me. How he managed to look so good after all we’d just been through was a mystery. I returned the gesture, unwittingly savoring how delicious-looking my boyfriend was. His smile widened; his confidence brimmed. Then Gavin sent me his own thoughts.

“Gavin!” I scolded him, embarrassed because he’d left his mind open to everyone.

“I can hear you, you know!” LJ growled from up ahead.

Gavin’s laugh echoed through the darkness. Owls and crickets chimed in as we passed. We continued on, the cherubs still speechless, and Gavin’s mind open to us all. His thoughts turned to all the things he wanted to do when we got home. A new album, international concert tour, a new home for us, and what? Cut his hair?
Blasphemy.

Finally, we reached the road that leads to Kheiron. It was awash in fog so dense, we couldn’t see in front of us. At night, no light was cast on the massive mansion at all. Arcturus once said, “The moon would never waste the sun’s reflective light on that place.” Kheiron was not only Gavin’s home, but a sanctuary for dark, exiled, and orphaned beings. If you had no place else to go, Kheiron welcomed you.

A strange light grew brighter as we got closer to the property, one that seemed to come from the estate itself. Gavin and LJ’s knowing smiles grew, and, in unison, we increased our speed upon approach. At the entry gate, we stopped as we always did and were greeted by two twenty-five-foot tall winged gargoyles perched atop the brick-footed columns on either side of the freshly-painted black wrought-iron gate.

“Your Highness,” Nine said as he jumped down to greet Gavin, bowing, then immediately saluting. All one hundred and forty-four of the resident gargoyles had ID numbers tattooed onto their right shoulders. Nine stood at attention, waiting patiently for Fourteen to join him in front of their commander and master.

As I stepped forward, Fourteen smiled, jumped down, and bowed.

“Merry Christmas, my Lord.” Each gargoyle set to opening the massive gate. All I could think of in that very moment was,
I hope I never forget the day I saw a gargoyle smile
.

As we stepped through the gates, the part of the estate where the house sat glowed like a winter wonderland created from a fairy tale. As far as the eye could see, thousands of snow-covered trees set the background for the majestic castle Kheiron. Sixty-four Christmas trees, all decorated just like the one at Rockefeller Center, sat on one side. The same number of bedecked trees sat on the opposite side of the walkway, which led to the grand entrance.

Thousands of tiny white lights outlined every angle, curve, window, door, and archway of Kheiron. Guarding each step was a fifteen-foot tall nutcracker soldier dressed in red. Each bowed as I approached the step he guarded. I jumped back and laughed a high, nervous laugh after the first one moved. At the entry door, on either side, were twenty five-foot tall nutcracker soldiers dressed in blue. Gavin watched my face light up as I took in all that had been done to transform Kheiron into this amazing spectacle. I inhaled deeply.

We were greeted by a one-hundred-fifty-foot Christmas tree taking up nearly the entire thirty-foot foyer, elaborately decorated with blue and white accents. At its top was Proxima Centauri, on loan from High Priestess Tia herself. I wondered if anyone would notice the nearest star to the sun missing.

“Ah, Grace, fresh from saving us from ourselves. Merry Christmas,” Tyler chortled as if he was the happiest person in the world. As if we hadn’t almost killed one another earlier. Tyler stepped forward and pulled me into a long embrace. He let his lips linger on my cheek. Gavin lowered his head at the sight of it.

“Grace, my father would like to see you,” Gavin stated with as much excitement as he would use to introduce me to his oral surgeon. He wore the look of someone about to have knives, needles, and pliers in his mouth.

“Yes, and you better hurry while he’s in a good mood,” Tyler added, releasing me.

I was not ready to meet Gavin’s dad. Seriously, I needed a shower and fresh clothes. I had been fighting demons and other grossness. Whatever happened to making sure I had human comforts?

“You might not want to keep him waiting,” LJ chimed in from behind me.

Touch a hair on her head and I’ll kill you myself
, I threatened Tyler telepathically, smiling as I did.

“Deviously beautiful,” he replied aloud. He took LJ and led her to his office.

I started after them, but Gavin restrained me. “She has to account for her actions, Grace. We all do. Just let it go. LJ can take care of herself.”

I looked behind me, hoping to see Caius and Arcturus, but they weren’t there. “Where are my cherubs?” I didn’t mean to sound accusatory.

Gavin pulled me into a brisk walk past what seemed like twenty doors all leading to God knows where before stopping abruptly in front of one. No guards or servants attended the entry, conceivably because no one dared enter without an invitation.

His very name struck fear into the hearts of most humans from the moment they were old enough to speak it. He was known to them by many names, Lucifer, the devil, Beelzebub, Satan. One thing they knew for sure, they never wanted to meet him, ever. I was perhaps the only human in history eager to meet Lucifer, the very first Fallen Angel, father to my boyfriend, and perhaps the only person who may be able to put an end to the fighting among the members of our kind.

Hmmmm. I had just referred to myself as human.
Bad Angel
.

Gavin stood in front of the door to his father’s quarters with his head slightly down. “I’m sorry I never told you. I guess the proper human emotion would be embarrassed. I didn’t want you to think I was like him.” Gavin searched my eyes for an answer to the question he had not yet asked.

“I forgive you. You’re not your father, nor am I mine. Our obligation is to one another, that’s it. I love you, Gavin Zachary Vault!” My laugh didn’t come as easy as it should have. “Is that even your real name?”

“Yes. Well, not the ‘Vault’ part.” Gavin kissed my nose. He began to pull me closer, but I pulled away.

“He’s waiting for us. I don’t want to keep him waiting.” From all I had read about him, he seemed to have a bit of a complex.

Gavin smiled at my thoughts. “You humans and your Bible,” he mused. “And, Grace?” Gavin’s smile was devilish.

“Yes?”

“You look and smell amazing!” A smile lit his entire face.

Light scents of vanilla and chamomile filled my nose. My skin felt soft as I ran my hand along my arms, then reached up to feel seemingly newly washed and conditioned hair. “What have you done?”

Gavin had dressed me in a black, pink, white, and green plaid patterned dress. I ran my hands along the black waistband with lace-up detailing. It reminded me of a corset the way it hugged my waist tightly, giving me an hourglass figure. Black bow accents lined the skirt hem, making it very girly-girl. I laughed when I realized I was barefoot. Upon inspecting my hands, I found scarlet nail color painted upon the nails of each finger from thumb to pinky.

A sheepish Gavin kissed my cheek. “Sorry. I don’t understand women’s shoes.” His breath was warm on my face.

“Awwww. You did great. Let me get the shoes.” As soon as I thought it, there they were. The cutest open-toed black platform sling-backs from one of the magazines LJ had brought to my room. The platform part was pink with black skulls.

“Ready?” Gavin teased with a smirk.

“As I’ll ever be.” And I actually meant it.

I reached for the door handle. Before I could turn the knob, Gavin placed his hand over mine, stopping me.

“You know it won’t be easy. My father isn’t easily charmed. He will be upset about the killing of Fallen. I don’t know what he will do.”

Now he freaking tells me
.

He opened the door and I immediately started falling at four thousand seventy-five miles per hour. Angels sensed speed among a million other things. There was a tangled mess of hair about my face. The lower I fell, the colder it became. Disorientation befell me as an overwhelming sense of despair filled my lungs.

It was as dark as if my eyes were closed, and I felt as if the space there was neither gas, nor liquid, nor solid, but some other material altogether foreign to humans. I struggled to breathe in the unknown space, my chest tight with fear. Hands, no. Hands and teeth. Wait. Hands and teeth and fists assailed me in a relentless and violent attempt to get my attention. Desperation and desolation crushed my shoulders and chest with great force. My eyes felt as if they would bulge out of my head, like they were being pushed out by fingers digging into my skull and pushing them forward. Hot liquid dripped from my nose, and as I tried to inhale, I began to choke. Hands around my neck squeezed progressively harder, and I could feel the life leaving me, as if willingly. I knew then that I belonged to some other realm, that I was in the presence of a great and determined evil. And then, just like that, it was if an ice cube had been placed in a furnace.

I stood, amazed that I could, and that my breathing had returned to normal. The pain in my head and chest lingered, but there didn’t appear to be lasting effects from the attacks. I waved my hand in front of me, making waves of fire, yet my skin didn’t burn.

I walked from the darkness into a sudden, overpowering, and tremendous light. Afraid my corneas would burn, I squeezed my eyes shut and covered them. Slowly, I reopened my eyes. My legs weakened as the images came into focus.

Before me was a replica of the Garden of Eden. But something was wrong. Everything was exactly like I remembered, but like its architect had seen it through crazy glasses. The flowers were crazy neon colors, the stream ran backwards, and from the trees hung strange looking fruit like none I had ever seen. Giant round things with purple spikes all around hung from branches as if no heavier than a cotton ball. Animals that were some demonic looking version of at least three species pranced around unnoticed. In front of me, two of them who looked like a gazelle on top, but with the face of a rodent, frolicked on legs that should belong to a giraffe.

On a nearby patch of orange grass, angels, about twenty, were intertwined with, on top of, under and twisted into a large slow-moving heap of wings, hands, legs and mouths. One, a girl who looked about my age looked up as I gawked, winked, and licked her lips suggestively before licking the face of the girl angel on her right. I turned away, embarrassed by their activity.

“Welcome to my home.”

A striking child of about six stood in front of me. Platinum blond curls swayed in the hot breeze, like magnolia trees in a Georgia summer. Eyes as green as peridot peered at me from beneath scrunched brows.

The boy offered his hand, and his eyes sparkled. Something clicked for me when I saw his eyes change to blue. It was Lucifer.