FORSAKEN
FALL O F ANGELS
By
Keary Taylor
Copyright © 2010 Keary Taylor
All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the author.
Published by Keary Taylor at Smashwords
Second Digital Edition: August 2011
Smashwords Edition, License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
Taylor, Keary, 1987-
Forsaken (Fall of Angels) : a novel / by Keary Taylor. – 2nd ed.
Summary: Now freed from the nightmares, something about Jessica has changed. Alex is keeping a secret from her and they may be ripped apart, forever. And Cole’s not about to be forgotten. He has a few secrets to tell Jessica, about his past and her future.
ISBN 978-1456470289
For my beautiful little family.
““Per tai difetti, non per altro rio,
Semo perduti, e sol di tanto offesi
Che sanza speme vivemo in disio.”
Gran duol mi prese al cor quando lo ‘ntesi,
Pero che gente di molto valore
Conobbi che ‘n quell limbo eran sospesi.”
““For such a falling short, and for no crime,
We all are lost, and suffer only this:
Hopeless, we live forever in desire.”
When I heard this, great sorrow seized my heart,
For I saw men of great distinction there
Hovering in Limbo at the edge of Hell.”
-Dante, Inferno
CHAPTER ONE
JESSICA
She stared back at me, her eyes wide with searching, looking for the answers to the question she didn’t even know how to form. Her skin glowed in a way that seemed almost unnatural. It was almost as if there were a million tiny fire-flies glowing from within. Her skin was so flawless it was unnerving.
I searched my face, looking for something. What was it that was so different? My eyes were the same hazel; the shape of my face wasn’t any different. But why did my own reflection terrify me so much? I felt like I didn’t even know myself anymore. Who was that person in the mirror? That wasn’t the same Jessica I’d seen just a few months previous.
I’d changed so much in the last four months. I’d gone from my normal, ordinary self, to a skeleton with sunken eyes, to this thing that was nearly radiant.
What was happening to me?
“Jessica?”
Alex’s voice jarred me from my tangled thoughts. I glanced once more at my reflection in the mirror, swallowing hard. “Yeah?” I called as I pulled my tank top over my head, glancing over my shoulder briefly at the wings that spanned my back. I stepped out of my bathroom, looking for Alex.
“Have you seen my green t-shirt?” he called from his bedroom.
“Second drawer down,” I said as I stepped into his room. I froze as I did.
I hated the way my heart leapt into my throat, the way I felt paralyzed in fear. It was hard not to recall everything the wings sprouting out of Alex’s back implicated though. The memory of every trial, every brand pressed into my neck, the gleam of Cole’s black eyes flashed through my head. But this was Alex. I had no reason to ever be afraid of him.
“Oh yeah,” he said as he pulled it out of the drawer. “Thanks.”
He turned toward me, the wings suddenly gone, and pulled the shirt over his head. A smile pulled at his lips as his eyes finally met mine. I hoped the traces of fear were gone from my face. I’d vowed Alex would never know the fright that could be invoked in me at the sight of the wings. “Morning,” he said in a low voice as he pulled me to him, wrapping his arms around my waist.
“Morning,” I said with a smile back. My lips found his and my blood felt as if it had turned electric and my body hummed. “Oh, no,” I said as I shook my head and pulled away. “I have to get going. I’m running late. You’re way too distracting.”
Alex gave a sly smile but backed away a step. He grabbed his leather wristband and snapped it on before he put his phone and wallet into the pocket of his khaki shorts.
“So, you’re going to frost the cake now and have it ready by the time we get back this afternoon, right?” I asked as I walked out of the room and started up the stairs. Alex followed behind me.
“Yep,” he answered. “Lime green and hot pink, right?”
“Yes sir,” I said as I grabbed my purse off of the hook by the front door. “We’ll be back at two.”
“I’ll be ready,” he said with a smile. He pressed a quick kiss to my lips as I opened the door that led to the garage. “Love you.”
“I love you too,” I said, feeling my insides quiver. Before I let myself become any later, I stepped out the door and closed it behind me.
I slipped into the GTO and tossed my purse into the passenger seat. I carefully backed out and pulled onto the road.
It had been nearly four months since Alex had made the trade that had saved my life. We’d seen no sign of Cole since he’d left that awful night. Life almost seemed normal. Besides the fact that Alex was now an angel and besides the fact that I couldn’t figure out what was different about me. It was almost like things hadn’t changed. Like the whole impossible thing had never happened.
Some things hadn’t changed. That was the problem though.
I pushed that thought away and just focused on the road before me. The sun glared on my windshield, the day already warming in the July air. Summer was here in full force and I loved it. It had always been my favorite season.
I pulled into the parking lot of the athletic center and joined the small crowd that walked into the building. Emily’s class was growing quickly. While there had only been six or so of us in the beginning, we were pushing over twenty now. Emily was gaining a reputation for being the best yoga instructor in the area.
“Hey,” I greeted her as I helped her pull the bin of mats out of the storage room.
“Hey,” she said, her voice almost sad sounding.
“You okay?” I asked her, hauling the bin out.
“Yeah,” she said, forcing a smile and giving a little nod.
I knew she was lying to me but didn’t get a chance to push it further as class got underway. We started with a set of breathing exercises.
Emily had been different lately. She was normally one of the most upbeat people I knew and could nearly blind you with her smile. But lately she seemed almost… hollow. Fake. Something was wrong but she wouldn’t talk. All I could ever get was “I’m fine. I’m just feeling a little off today.” But she’d been off for the last month or so.
We fell into the normal routine of building flexibility and endurance. The class moved in unison, moving in a wave of ups and downs of fluid movement. I slowly moved myself toward another female student. I whispered to her, hiding my face from Emily with my unruly hair. The other girl smiled and whispered to the guy next to her. I watched as my words spread around the room, all without Emily noticing a thing.
As the class started coming to a close someone switched the lights off. We lay on our backs, eyes closed, palms f
acing the ceiling, each supposedly concentrating on our breathing.
“Happy birthday to you,” someone started singing. Other voices instantly joined in. “Happy birthday to you!” more voices chimed in, including my own. “Happy birthday dear Emily!” By now the entire room was singing as we lay in the dark. “Happy birthday to you!”
I heard Emily chuckle, a real sounding one. “Jessica,” she said with a growl.
“Happy birthday, Emily,” I said through the dark.
“Thanks everyone,” she said with a chuckle. “Class dismissed.”
Everyone got up and the mats and blocks were quickly put away. I stayed behind, helping to put everything back in its place.
“So you remembered, huh?” she teased as we dragged the bins back into the storage room.
“Of course,” I laughed. “What kind of a best friend would I be if I forgot your birthday?”
“Thanks,” she said with a slight sigh as we walked back into the main room. “You’re about the only one that would remember it, or have reason to remember it.”
“Hey,” I said, my voice sympathetic but stern. “You can’t think like that. What good is it going to do?”
She gave me a sad smile before closing the gap between us and giving me a tight hug. “Thanks, Jessica.”
“Now come on,” I said as she let me go and we started toward the door. “We need to get some shopping done. Forget showering.”
Emily chuckled. “Great. Now I’ll really repel the men.”
I just shook my head and dragged her into the GTO.
The mall was busy with people just like us, girls just hanging out and going shopping. Yet none of these other girls had brands in the back of their necks and wings raised into the flesh of their skin like we did. For that reason alone Emily would forever be my best friend. She was the only one who could understand the horror that had been most of my existence.
Emily dragged me into her favorite store and started rummaging through the shoes. If there was one thing that could bring Emily out of a bad mood it was shopping. I started looking through them too, pausing on a pair of bright red stilettos, a sly smile coming to my face as I wondered what Alex would think of them.
“So there’s this guy at my work I think you should ask out,” I said as we moved from one stack of shoes to the next. “I think you two would really get along well.”
“The one that was ogling you when I picked you up last week?” she asked as she pulled the lid off of a box. “I’m not so sure I want to try and compete for someone’s attention. Just look at you, no wonder he was drooling all over you.”
“What?” I said, taken aback. “Look at nothing. I’m about as ordinary looking as it gets.”
“You did not just call yourself ordinary looking,” Emily said as she gave me a look like I was stupid. When I didn’t respond she rolled her eyes and grabbed me by the shoulders. She wheeled me to a floor length mirror and made me look at myself.
“Seriously, how could you ever call yourself plain looking?” Emily demanded as she folded her arms across her chest. “Ever since the whole Cole incident and you nearly dying thing I can hardly look at you. You look more like them than us anymore.”
“Them?” I asked, my brow furrowing.
“Alex and Cole,” she said as she raised her eye brows, again questioning my intelligence. “Do you seriously not see it?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said as I looked back at myself in the mirror. Of course I was lying, but it was too terrifying to admit the truth to myself.
“Something’s different about you, Jessica,” she said as she looked around to make sure no one was listening. If they had been she probably would have told them off for eavesdropping. That was Emily. “I don’t know what
it is but you’re even more different than we were before.”
I didn’t want to admit it but she was right. There was something different. Even with everything Emily had gone through, I felt different from even her. I didn’t feel like I fit in anywhere, except with Alex. He was home; he was everything that was right with my world.
“Whatever you say,” I said as I turned from the mirror. Emily just shook her head and went back to her shopping. I swallowed hard, my stomach twisted into tight knots.
We came out of the store with Emily having nearly maxed out her credit card and too many bags. Emily had a bad spending habit for the amount of money she actually brought in.
“So I’ve been thinking, maybe I should ask that guy…”
I didn’t hear the rest of what Emily said as I looked ahead and saw a guy glance at me and duck into a store. My heart leapt into my throat as dark eyes peered at me from under a fringe dark shaggy hair. My knees nearly buckled.
“Are you okay?” Emily said as she touched my arm.
“No,” I said as I took deliberate steps toward the store. “No, it can’t be him.”
“What are you talking about?” Emily said as she hurried to catch up with me.
“He is not coming back here,” I said through clenched teeth as I stepped through the doors of the store. A figure in a nice white shirt hugged the back of the store, facing away from me. The collar stood up enough it
covered the mark that I knew would be there.
Anger surged in my system as I weaved through the clothing racks toward him. I didn’t know where this surge of confidence and anger had come from but I didn’t care.
“What are you doing here?!” I demanded as I grabbed his shoulder and turned him toward me. The face that glared at me in confusion was nowhere close to the one I had expected to find.
“What the…?” the guy demanded as he glared at me.
“Sorry,” I said as I shook my head and took a step back. “I thought you were someone else.”
The guys face relaxed and a small smile tugged on his face. “I can be whoever you want me to be,” he said arrogantly.
I just rolled my eyes at him and turned to walk out of the store. A confused and slightly annoyed looking Emily followed me out.
“You want to explain to me what the heck that was about?” she demanded, following me as I headed toward the doors.
“Not really,” I sighed as I stepped outside and took a deep breath. It was a relief to be outdoors. I felt like the walls and all the people it contained were pressing in on me.
“You thought it was Cole, didn’t you?” she demanded as she indicated for me to sit next to her on a bench.
“Fine! Yeah, I thought it was Cole.”
“And just what did you plan on doing if it was him?”
“I don’t know!” I spat. “Back off.”
It caught Emily off guard to hear me speak so harshly. I never talked like that. “Sorry,” she said quieter. “I didn’t mean to jump on your back for no reason. I’ve just been, I don’t know.”
I knew what she meant. It was actually kind of nice to hear her acknowledge it. Her normally sun-shiny personality had taken a damper. And she occasionally snapped like she did just now. I hadn’t pressed her on the issue, figuring if she wanted to tell me she would. Emily usually wasn’t one to hold things back.
“It’s okay,” I said as I sat next to her. A few teenagers walked out the doors, laughing and making fun of one of the guys in the group for liking another of the girls. “Sorry I snapped at you.”
We were quiet for a moment before Emily spoke up. “Can I ask you something? You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want. I know it’s kind of personal.”
“What?” I asked.
“What happened with Cole, when he took you and you were so sick? And why did he come after you?”
I was taken aback by her question. Emily already knew so much about the whole messed up angel situation it was strange she didn’t know a lot about what happened with Cole, other than that he had been the leader of the condemned, black eyed angels. She had never asked what had happened and I wasn’t exactly dying to tell my story of dying.
“You don’t hav
e to tell me if you don’t want. I just want to understand what happened better. I should have been there for you more. I’m the only person that could understand even a little bit of what was going on and I kind of shut you out. And honestly, I’m morbidly curious,” she said with a small smile.
I didn’t answer right away, thinking about the answers to her questions. “I don’t think he really knew why he came after me. He said he saw me at a trial and that he just had to have me. Maybe it was just the fact that I was alive, I don’t know. It doesn’t seem like a good enough reason to draw him out into the world of the living.”
“That doesn’t make any sense. He just had to have you? I bet Cole was lying to you about that. I bet there was a real reason.”
I considered this for a moment. “That would make sense. He lied about a lot of things. Cole made me believe a lot of things that weren’t true. He made me think Alex had found another woman, that Sal really did commit suicide. It was awful. He had me locked up in this room with no windows.
“And then he had the gall to ask me to be his queen of the condemned,” I said disgustedly as I stared out at the grass in front of me.
“What?” she asked, confused.
My stomach knotted as I recalled the conversation with Cole. “Cole told me I was dying, which was actually the truth. He had me pretty much convinced I would be getting branded for myself. He said he could make the afterlife not as bad as it could be for me. He said he could even gain me a position on the council. All I had to do was agree to be his. He even had the nerve to tell me that ‘hell’s not that bad’.”
A shudder worked its way up my spine as I recalled how Cole had touched me after that horrific conversation, the way he made me want it in such a delusional and twisted way. It took me a moment to realize that Emily had not said anything in response to my revelations.