The Fall (3 page)

“Addison,” he said by way of greeting. Addison looked up, doing her best to mildly interested, rather than eager.

“Hello. Archer, was it?”
Oh how far I’ve fallen,
she thought.
Playing games to get his attention.

“Yes,” he said. Addison wondered how he managed to appear bored and alert at the same time. “I was just wondering if you have any further information on Malachi. Maybe you’ve seen him or he’s contacted you?” Addison tried to fight the disappointment of his indifference.

“Nope, nothing,” she said shortly.

“Please,” he said, reaching out to touch her hand softly. “Do call me if you have any new information.” His touch left her skin tingling. With that, he turned and stalked back to his table.

***

Archer wasn’t sure what had driven him to touch her, but he regretted it. Part of him regretted not touching her longer.

“So, anything?” Chance asked.

“No, which I guess is a good thing. Hopefully Malachi leaves her alone. I’d rather no innocent people get caught up in this.”

“Well, I’m gonna head off,” Chance said, standing up. “Call me if you need anything.”
“Will do.” After watching Chance walk off, Archer decided to stay a little longer just in case Malachi turned up. At least that’s what he told himself. As he scanned the crowd, his eyes continuously flicked back to Addison. He couldn’t deny that she was captivating. He stared as she laughed with customers, fascinated by her smile and playful eyes. Their conversation the night before had proven her to be quick and clever, but seeing her like this showed her carefree, relaxed side. 

She looked up and they locked eyes. Moments passed before Archer came to his senses. He pulled his eyes away and stood up, all but running towards the exit. He needed to get away. Addison was more dangerous than he had initially thought.

Chapter 4

Addison sat in her family law lecture, fairly sure that no one would notice if her head fell to her lap. She tuned in when she heard her professor say, “includes more than the bare necessities of life.” Oh great, she thought; now she had
The
Jungle Book
theme song in her head. By the time Addison got to the chorus the second time, she was tapping her foot enthusiastically. Too enthusiastically, it seemed, because she knocked her bag over and its contents spilled out. She groaned before bending to collect them and saw the business card the dark-and-handsome Archer had given her. Just thinking about him made her face warm. When she had caught him staring at her she had felt as though they had shared a moment. Then he’d ruined it by leaving without as much as a goodbye. She returned the card, along with her other stuff, into her bag and resumed her inattentive pose. It was going to be a long day.

Addison finally found herself back at her place. She had taken the train, as she was too broke to afford a car, and was about to enter her apartment building when she heard heavy footsteps approaching. She wasn’t sure why, but Addison felt the urge to hide. Never one to question her instincts, she darted behind the stairwell and quieted her breathing. Addison was immediately grateful for her perceptiveness as she saw the ‘stranger.’ What do you know? Six foot six, blond hair, brown eyes, and the eye-catching gold cuff peeking out from his shirt. Creepy Cuff guy, as she had begun to mentally identify him. She watched as he paused at the door and held her breath. She thought her heart would pump through her chest when he finally took two steps forward into the sunlight before he disappeared completely. Just … vanished.

What the?
Addison mentally screamed, assuming she was going crazy.

Addison continued to her apartment, half expecting to find her door broken down, but it was secured. When she did a quick rundown of the house, she saw that everything was in order. She moved to the kitchen where her roommate, Kitty, was making some foul-smelling goop in a gigantic pot.

“Ew, what in the hell is that?” Addy said by way of greeting.

“Ah, Addster, always a pleasure. I made us some organic leek and tofu soup. No need to thank me,” she replied, scratching her head beneath her high pigtails distractedly.

She wore a tight, net shirt, showing her blood-red bra underneath, with a spandex miniskirt and fishnet thigh highs, topped off with five inch platform boots. Her makeup was expertly applied; black-rimmed eyes with matching lipstick that was a shocking contrast against her porcelain skin. Addison looked down at herself. Dressed in simple blue jeans and a white cami, with only blush and lip gloss covering her mocha skin, she and Kitty looked like complete opposites. No one would expect they had been best friends since meeting two years ago.

Being desperate and the rent being cheap, Addy had met with Kitty, who merely looked her up and down and said, “You’ll do.” They had been friends ever since.

“Um, yeah. That smells like garbage, so I’ll pass. I’ll order some Thai.”

“Och, that stuff’ll kill ya,” Kitty said in a fake Scottish brogue.

“I’ll take my chances,” Addy replied, eyeing the ‘soup’ with distaste. Kitty rolled her eyes.

“Oh, by the way, you missed the biggest babe. Chocolate eyes and blond hair, with an admittedly creepy aura to him. He asked if you were home and said he had to talk to you about some inheritance? He left a card for you; I put it on your bedside table.”

Addy walked to her room, filled with dread. The little white card said his name was Kai Gregory, an attorney-at-law. Addy wasn’t stupid enough to believe that, but she didn’t think the police would be supportive if she merely said a creep wanted to talk to her about possibly getting a load of money from a dead relative. No, she couldn’t tell the cops. So instead, Addison called the only person she thought could help. She assured herself that it was because it was the logical thing to do, not because she just wanted to hear his voice again.

***

Archer hit his forehead on the hood of his 1967 Chevy Impala when his phone rang. When trying to right himself, the auxiliary latch released, and the hood fell onto his head and body. He re-latched it and pulled his phone from his pocket, answering it without looking at it.

“What?” he snapped angrily, expecting Jake to tell him about some girl or game he found. He rubbed his head, trying to ease the throbbing pain.

“Um, is this Archer?” a hesitant feminine voice asked. Archer snapped to attention.

“Oh, hello Addison. Is everything okay?”

“Oh, yeah. Well you told me to call if I saw that guy again and …”

Archer cut her off. “Fuck, I mean, ah, sorry. What happened? You sure you’re alright?”

“Yeah, just a little shaken. He came by my apartment today looking for me under the pretence he was finding me about an inheritance. He spoke to my roommate. I only saw him when he was on his way out,” she replied, her response making his heart speed up.

“Shit, he saw you? What did he say? Did he touch you?” What the … where did that come from? Archer was usually so calm and collected. Why couldn’t he filter what he was saying?

“Oh, gosh, no. I, ah, hid,” she said, as if embarrassed by her actions, even though they calmed Archer significantly. “I just had this weird feeling that there was danger. Anyway, he didn’t see me there, thank God.” That comment raised Archer’s eyebrow. “He has an über creepy vibe coming off him. So, could you tell me who he is, and what he’s doing chasing me up?” Archer thought that Addison sounded ridiculously calm for something being chased by a maniacal stranger.

“I’m sorry, but I really don’t know much at all. I do know that he is dangerous and needs to be avoided.”

“Okay. Um, one other thing. I have possibly gone crazy, but I have to tell someone. When he came down the stairs, he just disappeared. I don’t mean he ran really fast—I mean one moment he was there, and the next he was gone,” she said, confusion colouring her words.

Archer’s heart stopped. Malachi could teleport. Only one Nephilim line could do that. Malachi had to be a son of Armaros, which meant he could do real magic. When he noted that Addison was growing increasingly agitated, Archer realised he had been quiet too long.

“Look, I’m not insane,” she said quickly. “It was probably a trick of light. Or I need specs. Yep, that’s it.”

“Will you meet me, please?” Archer asked. She needed answers.
Yeah sure
, he thought.
Strictly business
. Where had he heard that before?

“You aren’t trying to have me committed, are you?” she said, her voice lined with humour. Even Archer’s lips threatened to smile.

“Wouldn’t dream of it, but I would like to see you. To talk to you about what’s going on, of course. Do you know where Clancy’s is? Meet me at noon tomorrow?” he asked. He felt anxious.

“Sure. I’ll see you then, Archer,” she said. Her breathy voice touched his name like a caress.

“I’m looking forward to it, Addison.” He cut the line before he said any more.

***

Archer was hunched over his laptop, trying to find whatever he could on Malachi so he could give Addison some reassurance. Unfortunately, short of typing his name into Google, he wasn’t really making any progress. He had all but exhausted his contacts and had received no information. He needed help.

Jake was yelling at the TV uproariously behind him, telling another online
Call of Duty
player to do something anatomically impossible and inappropriate. His wet hair hung around his shoulders, drenching the t-shirt he was wearing that read “Of course I don’t look busy, I did it right the first time.” Although he should have looked like a poster boy for guys that lived in their mother’s basement, he still managed to look somewhat put together.

“A little help wouldn’t hurt, Jake. Saying ‘later’ doesn’t really cut it.”

“Ah, you’re right, dear brother. Why procrastinate today when I can procrastinate tomorrow?” His eyes didn’t move from the television. Archer was about to utter some choice threats when the person he least expected to see walked into his living room.

“My, my, look what the Heavens dragged in,” Jake muttered, finally pausing his game.

“I do believe that is in the wrong direction,” Lazarus replied darkly.

Lazarus, even on his best day, was a loner. He stood at six foot five with perfectly groomed, waist-length white-blond hair. His eyes were a bright turquoise, framed by thick, black lashes and black eyebrows. Quite the enigma among his kind, the Nephilim isolated himself from his brethren. Even Archer hadn’t seen or heard from him in decades. He was bitter, unpredictable, and a genius. Despite his intellectual and rather pompous manner, no one could mistake him for a pansy. No, frustrating articulacy aside, Lazarus was definitely someone you didn’t want to fuck with.

“To what do we owe the displeasure?” Jake asked pleasantly before adding, “And knocking would be nice.”

“Oh, you wound me. I thought you should know that a self-righteous asshole named Malachi contacted me,” Lazarus said smoothly, his expression bored. Archer, and even Jake, was immediately at attention.

“What happened? No detail is too small,” Jake said, his usual joking demeanour vanishing.

“I was out. He approached me and introduced himself as Matthew White. I told him to stop telling fallacies. He sobered immediately and told me he would like me to take part in a revolution. I feigned innocent curiosity to see where he was going, but he was intentionally vague. However, he told me he is able to release the Grigori from their prison, but he needed ‘muscle’, for lack of a better word, from secluded Nephilim such as myself. I asked what he needed me for, and he said that before the Grigori were released, he wanted to build an army. He said everything was organised, and a few pieces merely needed to fall into place.” Lazarus paused, as if gathering his thoughts. “He did not lie. My gift would detect that, but he can twist the truth without me knowing. It could be that he actually believes it is the truth, but there is a significant degree of certainty that vibrates in his words. I believe caution is necessary.”

Archer took a few breaths before talking. “Shit,” was all he could muster. “This is much worse than I’d thought. If this has any truth to it, it’d change our lives.”

“Malachi is of Armaros’ line. If all of this happens, the Lord won’t be happy to have Tartarus infiltrated. His wrath could be far more effective than last time.”

“What is that dipshit thinking?” Jake said, “The Grigori don’t give a shit about us. We’re just their fucking accidents. They’d see us dead just as soon as the Lord would. Why would he be willing to risk that? Especially when we try so hard to stay in the shadows.”

“Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain, and most fools do,” Lazarus told Jake with a sneer. “I have done my part; now you do yours.”

“Even though I am pretty sure you insulted me, we appreciate you informing us,” Jake called out to Lazarus as he turned his back.

“Wait!” Archer called. He walked over to Lazarus. “Do you have any idea why Malachi would need a young human woman?”

“I heard nothing of this.” Archer gave him a nod, then turned back to Jake as he left.

“Man, he is one weird-ass motherfucker,” Jake muttered under his breath.

“No kidding, but thankfully he’s on our side. Kind of.” Archer shook his head. “Now, what the fuck are we gonna do about the Wentworth Miller try-hard?” Archer asked, hoping Jake had a solution.

“No idea? Wing it, like we usually do, I guess. That was a terrible comparison, by the way. Breaking your innocent brother out of prison is a little different to trying to free fallen angels from hell.” His gaze drifted to the television. “Hmm, I’m going to watch
Prison Break
.”

Archer mulled over the new information. It seemed the situation was far more complicated than he’d anticipated.

***

Chapter 5

Archer sat down at a table at Clancy’s, coffee in hand. Jake had tried to come with him to meet Addison, but he’d told his brother to stay his ass at home.
Ah, the quirks of being the eldest brother
, Archer thought. Though it would have saved him having to repeat the whole story to Jake later, Archer couldn’t help but want the alone time with Addison. Jake was sitting at home doing online research with a pout on his face while Archer was on a date with the hot bartender.