The Light and Fallen (22 page)

Jack sat up as Samara came down her front
steps. She was practically skipping as she turned onto the sidewalk
and walked in his direction. He stretched his arms overhead,
rotating his stiff shoulders until he heard a soft pop.
Finally
, he thought.

He had arrived at her house hours ago, only
to see Lucian's truck parked in the driveway. He'd been sitting
outside in the cold waiting for her to appear, and now she was
here, alone. He watched her stride gracefully toward him, bouncing
with energy, and shook his head. She was so completely human. So
careless in her happiness, so frail. She pirouetted on the frozen
sidewalk, and her dark hair flew out around her face.

It was a shame he had to kill her. She was
the most interesting thing he'd come across in decades. He couldn't
quite put his finger on it, but something about her was deeply
intriguing. She was getting nearer, only a few yards away, and he
shook his head regretfully. Desiree was right, of course. His
personal interest aside, her life served no real purpose. But her
death, he thought, will really mean something.

He smiled at the irony. She obviously
preferred Lucian, her one true love, yet he was the reason her
death was so necessary. He should've known better, Jack thought.
Dominions don't belong here. They're good at giving orders, but
they don't have the self-mastery to survive this kind of life.

They don't have to, he thought bitterly,
because they aren't trapped in human bodies. They have a choice to
live as their true selves. He cracked his neck and longed to feel
the fluidity and power of his angelic form. He could almost imagine
the rush of wind that was created when his wings sprang open, the
weightless feeling of flying. Can I really remember? he wondered.
It had been so long. So many thousands of years.

Samara was only a few steps away from the
driveway where he was concealed, and he got out of the car quietly,
steeling himself. Her sacrifice was unpleasant, but necessary. It
would bring the Fallen one step closer to having a place to belong.
He stepped in front of Samara as she reached the driveway, blocking
her path, and she stopped short, startled by his sudden
appearance.

"What are you doing here?"

Jack took a small step toward her and she
stumbled backward, her eyes wide. "I need to talk to you," he
said.

"I don't want to talk," she yelled. She
glanced over her shoulder, hoping to see someone in the empty
streets. "Leave me alone."

"I can't." Jack's hand flashed out and
gripped her arm, preventing her from moving any farther away.

"I'll scream!" She pulled against him and
clawed at his hand, trying to loosen his grip, but he held
firm.

"There's no one to hear you." He jerked her
arm and she lurched forward, slipping on the icy pavement. "Don't
make this harder than it has to be."

He wrapped his free arm around her waist and
dragged her toward the car, ignoring her frantic scratching at his
face. One of her fingernails connected, and he cursed as she ripped
into his skin, leaving a deep scratch down the side of his neck.
"I'd tell you to stop wasting your energy," he said, "but I know
you won't. It would go against your nature."

He stopped at the side of the car and waited
until she stopped fighting. "Will you get in?"

"No!"

"Please. I have to make you one way or
another, and it would be so much easier for us both if I didn't
have to force you."

Samara twisted her torso around and spat in
his face. "Go to hell!"

Jack laughed. "Not today." He opened the car
door and pushed her into the passenger seat. He felt her
resistance, but she was no match for his strength, and he easily
forced her into the car.

"Now I know this is going to seem counter to
every instinct that you have, but I'm going to ask you to sit
still, or I'll put you in the trunk."

Samara glared at him, panting from
exertion.

"I'm serious," he said. "And to be perfectly
honest, the trunk is small. You'll be much more comfortable sitting
here, next to me." She turned her head away but didn't move, and he
took this as agreement. He slammed the passenger door and pushed a
button, locking it from the outside.

She was rubbing her wrists together when he
slid into the driver's seat. "I don't know what you want from me,"
she said. Her voice was so low he had to listen closely to
understand her words. "Are you angry because of what happened last
night?"

"I was angry," Jack said, "but not anymore."
He glanced sideways at her profile. All the blood had drained from
her face, making her skin so pale it almost appeared translucent,
and he could see her hands trembling. "I know you're not going to
be able to understand, but this isn't personal."

Samara scoffed and turned her head away. "It
feels personal to me."

"I know," he said. He started the car and
pulled slowly out of the driveway into the shining dawn. "I'm sure
it's not any kind of consolation, but you're just a small part of
something much bigger than yourself. We both are." He gave her a
chilling smile. "We each have our parts to play."

Duncan and Sofia were waiting on the couch
when Lucian opened the front door. "Finally," Duncan exclaimed. He
shifted his weight as Sofia rose gracefully to examine Lucian's
face. "I thought you were never gonna get home."

Sofia waved her hand impatiently at Duncan.
"What happened?" she asked urgently.

"I followed her to the party, but she didn't
stay there very long. Jack was bringing her home when he pulled
over and tried to assault her."

"Why do you think he did that?"

"I don't know, but we got into a fight."
Lucian held his hands up ruefully. "I'm not sure who won."

"Did you give him a good one?" Duncan asked.
"What?" he said when Sofia turned to glare at him. "Lucian was
taking care of the girl."

Sofia rolled her eyes, but Duncan ignored her
and slapped Lucian on the back. "Can't be a guardian without
learning how to fight. Don't let Sofia fool you."

"I told her I loved her," Lucian blurted out.
"After I brought her home."

"Interesting." Sofia crossed her slender arms
and arched an eyebrow. "I thought you had decided
not
to
tell her."

"I couldn't help myself," Lucian admitted. "I
wasn't going to show myself, even after Jack pulled the car over,
but he was out of control. Seeing her like that-," he paused as he
shook his head, "It was hard not to kill him right there."

Sofia's eyes darkened as he spoke. "Is the
girl safe?"

Lucian nodded. "I took her home."

"Where is she now?"

"She's still there. I stayed with her last
night because she was pretty shaken up, and I'm going back after I
take a shower."

Sofia shot a concerned look at Duncan, and he
silently got up and walked out of the room.

"Did I do something wrong?" Lucian asked.

"It's complicated," Sofia sighed. "You did
the right thing by showing yourself, there was really no other
choice, but it would've been better if you hadn't fought with
Jack."

"He deserved it!"

"I'm sure he did, but sometimes it's best not
to give people what they deserve."

"I don't understand you," Lucian exclaimed.
"You've been telling me to follow my heart for months, and I
finally did. I thought you'd be happy for me."

Sofia gave him a small smile. "I am."

"Then what's the problem?"

"Am I correct in thinking that you initiated
this fight?"

Lucian nodded.

"You had to save her, even he wouldn't expect
any less, but you went further than that. You lost control and
revealed the depths of your feelings for Samara."

"Surely he knew!"

"Maybe not," Sofia said. "The Fallen
experience the world differently than we do. Jack sees humans as
tools to be used and manipulated. He knew you were infatuated with
Samara. He understands that, because she obviously held some
interest for him as well, but he personally feels humans are
beneath him. It would be very difficult for him to comprehend a
real love between the two of you.

"Now that Jack knows the truth," she said,
"Samara is your greatest point of vulnerability."

Samara stared out the window of the Mustang
as it sped through town. The sun was beginning to move up into the
sky, but the streets were still deserted. She knew she should be
afraid, but she felt unusually calm and wondered if this was what
it felt like to be paralyzed by fear. She closed her eyes and tried
to form some sort of a plan, but her mind was empty and still. The
fear of the previous night, Lucian appearing out of the darkness
like a dream brought to life, all the things that he had told her,
and now this new threat were too much for her brain to absorb.

She remembered the touch of Lucian's lips
brushing against hers and the sound of his voice whispering in her
ear. The memory was so vivid it seemed real; she almost wondered if
she reached out her hands if she would feel him there beside her.
The car swerved to the right and her head knocked against the cold
window.
No
, she thought,
he's gone. He's gone, and I am
about to die.

The car slowed quickly and made a sharp right
turn, and she heard rocks spin beneath the tires and bounce off the
underside of the car. She opened her eyes to see that Jack had
turned onto a narrow, twisting road. Trees close set on either side
of them choked out the clear light of the morning and threw the car
into shadow.

She could see Jack in her peripheral vision.
He was gripping the steering wheel with both hands so tightly that
the veins stood out in his arms. His face was set and hard, and his
eyes stared straight ahead.

She realized they were driving up the road to
Aerie Overlook, the same place she had shared her first, sweet kiss
with Lucian. It would be deserted there, and it was so isolated
that there would be no chance anyone would hear her if she called
for help. She was aware of every sound, of every movement of Jack's
body, but she still felt disconnected, as if she were watching a
scene in a movie. It's too bad, she thought as the car wound toward
the top of the bluff. She'd only just found love, and already it
was slipping away.

Lucian had a cold feeling of dread as Duncan
and Sofia quickly and efficiently moved through the house grabbing
supplies. All the relaxed easiness that normally permeated the
house disappeared as Sofia spun through the kitchen and the pantry,
pulling first aid supplies, rope, and an assortment of small knives
off a shelf he had never even noticed. Duncan was at her side,
packing the items into a small black backpack. Despite the flurry
of activity, they still exuded a deep sense of calm. They worked
together without words, and for the first time he had a sense of
how deadly they could be.

"All right?" Duncan asked Lucian. He stuck
the last roll of bandages into the bag, then zipped it up and
handed it to Sofia.

"Will we need all this?"

"You never know," Sofia said. "It's better to
be prepared." She threw the bag over her shoulder and moved swiftly
to the front door. "Let's go."

As she passed him, Lucian saw the handle of a
gun sticking out of her waistband and was struck by how incongruous
the weapon seemed on her delicate frame. When he didn't move, she
turned toward him. "Do you really love her?"

"More than anything."

"Then be prepared to do anything to save her.
She'll be the only one there with one life to lose."

"What if we're too late?" Lucian asked. He
felt his heart constrict as he voiced his darkest fear.

"We'll deal with that if it comes."

Sofia turned and walked out the front door
without a backwards glance, her fingers reaching for Duncan's as
she passed him. She threw the heavy backpack into the bed of the
truck and swung gracefully into the driver's seat.

"Time to move," Duncan said. "Remember, this
is why you came to us. This is what we do."

Sofia had already started the engine and
began backing up as soon as they climbed into the truck. "Where is
she?" she asked.

"I don't know," Lucian said. "I don't know
where Jack would take her."

"You don't have to know what he would do,"
Sofia said. "Focus on Samara."

Lucian thought of her eyes, deep enough to
fall into and sparkling with a hidden flame, the first thing he had
noticed about her. And her touch, the softness of her hands as they
brushed against his face. His skin warmed at the memory, as if she
had left an imprint there.

When he closed his eyes he felt the distance
between them disappear, and it was as if he were right beside her,
listening to the soft sound of her breathing and the rush of her
heartbeat. "She's at the overlook on top of Eagle's Bluff," he
said. He didn't know what sense told him, but he was certain that
it was true.

Sofia didn't hesitate. She pressed the gas
pedal to the floor and the engine of the truck roared as they flew
out of the driveway and headed towards the outskirts of town.

Jack pulled into the empty parking lot of the
overlook and turned off the engine. He sat silently, his hands
still on the steering wheel, and stared over the edge of the bluff
to the town below.

Samara watched him out of the corner of her
eye without moving. She briefly contemplated flinging her car door
open and trying to escape, but she knew it would be futile. She
still felt a dull pain where he had gripped her forearm, and her
hand hung limply from her wrist. He had overpowered her so easily.
If she ran, he would simply do it again.