Your Soul to Take (Rise of the Fallen) (18 page)

Chapter 25

I
groaned as I passed through the doors of school. I moaned as I walked to my
locker. Luckily, Jessie was standing there or I might have collapsed in utter
dismay.

“Hey,
handsome,” she said with her usual early morning chipper smile. It was one
of the few things I couldn’t stand about her. Mornings were meant to be slept
through, damn it.

“Hi,
beautiful. I don’t suppose you have a cup of coffee in your pocket for
me?”

“Um,
no. I did
have
one, but it spilled. Good thing I was wearing Khaki
pants.”

I
laughed and gave her a good morning kiss after searching the hallways for
lurking teachers. “It’s the thought that counts. Thank you.”

“Will
you two stop sweetening up the hallways? It’s gross,” my sister said as
she passed us, making gagging noises.

“Stop
looking!”

“Come
on, we’re gonna be late,” Jess said and pulled on my jacket sleeve.

We
settled into homeroom just as the bell rang. The class quieted down with assistive
shouts from our teacher. Mrs. Jacoby took her place at the podium and looked
out over the small sea of faces sitting before her. Something in the back
caught her eye and she gave a brief nod.

“Class,
we’re getting a new student today. Charles, come up here and introduce
yourself.”

He
swished as he walked up the aisle. I caught a flash of corduroy out of the
corner of my eye and looked up to see a very tall blond kid walk by. Without any
hesitation, he took the offered podium and smiled out at each of us, catching
as many eyes as he could, until his eyes met Jessica’s. The smile that crept
onto his face turned my curiosity into instant dislike.

“Hi,
I’m Charles. Willoughby. My family and I just moved here from Los Angeles.
Don’t ask me why, I’m still not quite sure. Not that Cedar Hills isn’t lovely,
it’s just not LA. It’s nice to meet you all,” he finished, flashed one
more smile at my girlfriend, and walked back to his seat in the back.

I
looked over at Jess, who had turned to follow his movements. She had a curious
look on her face until he sat down. She gave him a small smile and turned to
look at me.

“Love
you,” she whispered and turned her attention back on Mrs. Jacoby.

Veins
started popping out on my forehead, my vision darkened, and I screamed as I
ripped the desk in front of me neatly in half. Okay, none of that happened, but
my eye twitched as I fought down the jealous monster welling up from inside me.

Thankfully,
the bell for first period rang. I stood, as close to Jess as inhumanly
possible, and waited for her to pack up her things. For the first time in my
life, I was actually looking forward to algebra.

“You
okay?”

I
turned and looked at a bemused Jessica walking alongside me, with the barest of
smiles on her lips. “Of course. Why would you ask?”

“Well.
That was the first time I’ve ever seen you jealous before. And all over a
pretty blond head, smiling at little ole me.”

“I
wasn’t jealous.”

“Liar.”

“Maybe
a little.”

“It
was hot.”

“Okay,
I was very jealous and I thought about ripping his face off.”

“And
now you know how
I
feel ninety percent of my day.” She
patted me on the head, and walked ahead of me to
class.

“Well,
damn,” I whispered and caught up.

We
settled into class and fell into an easy silence. Until Charles came in right
as the bell rang. I tried to be good, I honestly did, but I looked around the
nearly full room and noticed the only empty seat was on the other side of Jess.
I growled.

People
from three seats away turned to look at me. Jess covered her mouth and
suppressed a giggle fit. She was enjoying this. Too much. Way too much.

“Class,
this is Charles. He’ll be joining our class for the remainder of the year.
Please give him a warm welcome,” Mr. Thompson called out to the class.
“Take the empty seat over there.”

Chuck
wandered through the aisle and smiled yet once again when he saw who he would
be sitting next to. “Hi,” he said softly as he slid into his new
seat.

“Hi.
Charles, this is Connor, my boyfriend,” she said and leaned back to
introduce me.

I
plastered on a fake smile and curled my hand into a fist to avoid flipping him
the bird as I nodded in his general direction. His smile evaporated as he got a
good look at me. Then he glanced at Jess, back at me, and repeated it several
times before clenching his jaw and staring straight ahead.

“Wow,”
I whispered and lifted my eyebrows.

Jess
just looked confused. With a shrug, she opened her book and paid attention to
Thompson.

Halfway
through class, I caught some movement out of the corner of my eye. Chuck
reached over and dropped a folded piece of paper onto Jess’ desk. It took him
all of twenty minutes to pass her a note. A note! Who even does that anymore?

Jess
covered it with her hand.

I
gripped the edge of my desk and pretended not to notice. The creaking of
shearing metal could be heard, if one had super-hearing, as I strained not to
rip the bolts holding the desktop down. Jess unfolded the note, took one glance
at it, folded it back up and handed it back to him.

Whew.

I
took a chance and looked over at him. He looked even less happy than before.

The
rest of the class passed rather quickly, but not quick enough for me. I kept
glancing up at the clock, watching the minute hand tick by, wanting nothing
more than to get away from the jerk-wad who seemed to have a thing for Jess.

Finally,
the bell rang. I gathered my things slowly, not wanting to seem anxious. Jess
actually finished before I did and waited for me. I looked up at her as I
stood. Her face almost caused me to fall back into my chair. “What?”

“Let’s
go,” she whispered, her face as white as new snow.

I
nodded, slipped my arm through hers, and led her out into the hallway.
“What’s wrong?”

“He’s
one of them.”

“Who?”

“Us.
Chosen. The Council found out I’m not human anymore. They sent him to observe
me.”

“Is
that bad?”

“It
wasn’t until I introduced him to my Fallen boyfriend…”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“So
what did he say?”

“He
mentioned something about your lineage and that I am to accompany him to my
father at the end of the school day.”

“Are
you?”

“Am
I what?”

“Going
with him?” Jealousy was replaced with anger and subtle hatred.

“I
think I have to? I don’t know. I’ll call Daddy at lunch. See what he says. I’m
a little pissed off at him, too. He didn’t mention that we might be getting a
representative from the council snooping around.”

“Maybe
he didn’t know. I’m sure he would have if he did.”

She
nodded but didn’t seem entirely convinced. “It figures.”

“What
does?”

“We’re
off for two weeks. He had to show up today.”

* * *

Jess
sat next to me at our usual lunch table, but instead of tearing into her salad
like she normally did, she whipped out her phone and her fingers flew across
the keyboard.

“Whatcha
doin’?”

“Texting
my father,” she replied without looking up or stopping.

“Tell
him I said hi.”

She
shot me an exasperated look. I had been shooting for making her smile. I failed
miserably. She looked truly worried. “Why don’t you call him?”

“I
tried on the way down to lunch. He didn’t answer.”

She
hit the send button and finally set the phone down and picked up her plastic
fork. I was halfway through my second hamburger when I noticed she was just
pushing the lettuce around her Styrofoam bowl.

“You
should try actually eating it. I’ve heard that stuff is pretty good for you.
Makes your wing feathers lustrous.”

“Connor,
I love you, but I’m not in the best of moods.”

“I
noticed. Just trying to make you smile.”

She
set down her fork with an exasperated sigh and closed her eyes. She started
breathing in and out and finally put a smile on her face before turning to face
me. “Thanks. And sorry.”

“Don’t
be. You have every right to be upset. It’s just my job to make you smile. That
and it makes me happy.”

“Shush.
You’re going to make me blush.”

“I’m
surprised you can stomach being around his filth.”

We
both turned to find Chuck standing behind us, tray of food in his manicured
hands. “Well, if it isn’t Percy Perfectpants. The asshole table is two
down. I’m sure they saved you a seat.”

Jess
elbowed me in the ribs. “Not helping,” she whispered.

“Apparently,
Lady Jessica still has some human tendencies for bad boys. No worries. We’ll
straighten her out. Show her the proper path. Quell her urge for junk
food.”

“Well.
Hiya, Cabriel. Long time no see,” Clarisse said as she slid into the open
seat across from Jess and me. “How long has it been? At least a century. I
believe the last time I saw you, you were stuck on the end of my blade. Wasn’t
it during the California Gold Rush?” Disinterestedly, she picked up her
burger and took a large bite out of it, looking up and giving him a big smile,
showing a mouth full of food.

“Animals.
Jessica, please accompany me elsewhere. I cannot stand to be in their presence
any longer and I don’t wish them to tarnish you further.”

“Um…
No? I have called my Dad. I’m waiting to talk to him about you. I highly
suggest you leave me alone until I hear from him.”

He
seemed utterly confused, but turned around and walked away anyway. I resisted
the urge to throw the rest of my burger at him.

As
soon as he was gone, Clarisse put down her food and looked at us in all
seriousness. “When did he show up?”

“This
morning,” we replied in unison.

“Great,”
she said drawing out the word.

“You
know him?”

“Yeah.
He’s the Chosen Council’s do-boy. What did he say?”

“That
I am to ‘accompany him after we leave this place of learning’ and that he
doesn’t like my boyfriend.”

“Yeah.
He could probably smell Connor a mile away. I told him to shower more
often.”

Jess
giggled. I gave Clarisse the bird. “What does he want?”

“Probably
to indoctrinate Jess into the mindless drivel that is the teachings of the
Chosen. Perfect world, blah blah blah.”

“Are
they all that bad?”

“Take
one look at Shannon and ask me again.”

“Good
point,” Jess replied. “What does that mean for me? I know my dad was
someone big, but he won’t go into detail about it. Now he has hardly anything
to do with them.”

“You
don’t know?” Clarisse looked at Jess who shook her head. She looked at me
and I shrugged. I didn’t have a clue either.

“Okay,
you know Lucifer was the head of the rebellion?”

We
both nodded. “Yeah, but everyone calls him the Usurper.”

“Yes.
Because he tried to usurp your father’s role as the leader of all. We lost. The
Chosen won, but eons later, he abdicated the throne. When he fell in love with
a human…”

“Oh,”
Jess said simply.

Things
started clicking in my brain. “That’s why they call her
Lady
Jessica.”

“Not
as dumb as you look, worm. Good job.”

“I
thought the Archangel Gabriel was the ruler of the angels? I mean I never
really went to church, but every book I have ever read, paints him as the head
honcho?”

Clarisse
looked at Jess, a little surprised. She started nodding slowly. “What’s
your father’s name?”

“Gabriel
James… You’ve got to be kidding me. I mean come on. My father is
that
Gabriel?” She didn’t look convinced.

I
felt a knot in my chest. Of all the people to end up with as a potential
father-in-law…

“Yup.
You’re sorta royalish,” Clarisse said with a grin, giving Jessie her best
star-struck look.

“No.
Daddy would have told–” She was silenced by the ringing of her phone.
“Hello,” she said as she picked up. Clarisse and I sat and waited
patiently while Jess had a muted conversation with her father explaining the
situation and flinging questions and accusations at him faster than I had ever
heard her speak. Of course we could hear the whole conversation, but we
pretended not to. Finally, she angrily hit the end button and slammed her phone
down on the table, shattering the screen. The entire lunchroom turned and
looked at her.