“Now, let me ask you a question,” he said, his eyes narrowing. “How did ya know what I was? How did ya seem to know exactly what was goin’ on? How do ya know who I am?”
It hadn’t occurred to me that while Cormack may have known what Alex was right away, and more specifically known who he was when he saw Alex’s gray eyes, he would have had no idea that I knew exactly who he was and what he was. Looking around to make sure no one else was paying attention to us, I lifted my hair from my neck and showed him my brand.
“Holy…” Cormack breathed. “But you’re not… ya can’t be… I knew there was somethin’ different about ya but…”
“She’s not an angel,” Alex interjected. “Not completely anyway.”
Hearing Alex finally say it made a rock form in my stomach.
The confusion on Cormack’s face was obvious. It was difficult to explain everything that I did know and did understand of their world. It wasn’t something I liked talking about and it wasn’t pleasant to think about the events that led up to my partially transforming into one of them. But there was obviously no other way to answer his questions.
“I’m not the only one who’s gone through this,” I said as Cormack’s face continued to be full of wonder. “I know someone else who went through trials too. She just had to do it for different reasons. That’s the main reason we’re going to find Cole. She’s with him.”
“Es she daft?” he gaped. “That man es the leader of the condemned for a reason. Does she know what he’s done? To a dozen different women?”
My blood chilled at his words. “Do you?”
“I know every deed every angel in the afterlife has committed. The deeds of your life may only be read once but no one ever forgets or lets ya forget what you’ve done. Cole’s ended a lot ‘o women’s lives. Along with countless other wicked deeds.”
“She doesn’t understand what is really going on. She knows who he is but she…” I faltered unsure of how to explain the situation. Before long I had divulged Emily’s whole story, from why she went through the trials, how she stopped them, and how she had wanted what Alex and I had.
“How could she be so resigned?” Cormack mused. “She believes she’s truly condemned herself enough that she’s willing ta seek out the king of the damned and give herself ta him?” He paused for a moment. “There’s always hope. You should never give up fighting. It’s worth it to keep fighting.”
With his words my heart swelled. If Cormack could wonder at the outcome of Emily’s trial than surely her fate was not as set in stone as she thought it was. “Thank you,” I said quietly as I reached across the aisle and gave his hand a little squeeze.
The attendants came around, taking drink and food orders. I was grateful I didn’t need to eat as often as most people did. I hadn’t ever heard anything good about airplane food.
Using the break in conversation, I turned to Alex, needing to tell him part of this whole thing I hadn’t had a chance to yet.
“I found something else when I went to Cole’s house,” I said quietly, even though I knew Cormack would be able to hear me. I grabbed my backpack from the floor and pulled out the rolled up canvas. After all the horrible things Cole did to me I shouldn’t have felt guilty for cutting the painting out of the frame, but I did. This was the woman he’d loved and I’d defiled her portrait by hacking it out of its frame.
“Holy…” Alex didn’t finish his sentence as I unrolled it, revealing the woman who could have been me. “What…? I…”
“She was his lover,” I said as I looked her face over, so similar to my own. “They had a son together but she was married to another man. She wouldn’t give him a chance.”
“I guess now we know why he came after you,” Alex said as he took the painting from my hands to look at it closer. “She could be your twin. Or at least your great-great-great something grandmother.”
At Alex’s words, something in my mind sparked. “Give me the book,” I said, excitement in my voice.
Alex dug Cole’s family history book out of his carry-on bag and handed it to me. I flipped toward the back, to the page that started with William Anthony’s name. My eyes again read down the line to the last words.
No Connection
The words that I had overlooked before suddenly made perfect sense. The whole screwed up situation just became all the more messed up.
“Cole was checking to see if we were family,” I whispered. I pointed to William’s name. “This was Cole’s illegitimate son he had with that woman,” I said as I pointed to the painting. “He was checking to see if we were related.”
“Oh, that’s jus sick,” Cormack said. Apparently he had been listening in. Of course he had been.
“Tell me about it,” I said, feeling a little queasy.
ALEX
“Just look at him, what I wouldn’t give for a night with that,” someone four rows back whispered.
“What is it about them?” someone else said in a low voice. “There’s something just… different.”
“I’m going to try and talk to her when we land. Maybe I can get her to the bar for drinks later.”
“She looks just…”
The whispers were flying around the plane. Even though they probably thought no one would be able to hear them over the airplane noise, I heard every word, and I suspected Jessica heard most of it too.
They were right. There was something different about Jessica. Her skin was so flawless, it was all I could do at times not to reach out and touch it. Her eye color was just a little too vivid. The way she moved was mesmerizing. I could only stop and stare at times.
I grabbed Jessica’s hand and tried to rub reassuring circles into it as I heard someone whisper something about how Jessica wasn’t good looking enough to be with someone who looked like me. The urge to go back there and chew her ear off was hard to fight back.
With Jessica’s revelation of this other woman, things made bizarre sense. The way Cole was so immediately obsessed with Jessica. The possessive yet terrifying way he looked at her. He had come after a girl who looked almost exactly like the woman he could never have. It had been a game of conquering for Cole. And perhaps revenge.
I wasn’t sure what I would do when we found him. The last time I had seen Cole he had killed me and then I had been tortured by my fellow kind for his location.
I wanted to kill him for all the pain he had caused us but how do you kill someone who is already dead?
I knew one thing though; I would do whatever I had to to keep him away from Jessica.
JESSICA
The flight felt like it took forever. The air started tasting stale, the scent of human sweat filling the air. And the noise was driving me mad. The engine noise, the whispers, the sounds coming from headphones plugged into portable devices. By the time we landed my legs were stiff and cramped. I took a gasping breath as we stepped into the terminal. Fresh air never tasted so sweet after breathing what everyone else had been breathing in and out for hours on end.
We waited impatiently at the baggage claim, watching as suitcases slid down the chute. I noticed a security guard watching us closely. I had to take deep calming breaths to fight back the panic I was feeling. I suppressed the urge to bolt when he started towards us.
I knew there was no real reason why he was going to do what he was going to do. We weren’t doing anything wrong but we just looked wrong.
“May I ask you where you’re traveling from?” he asked as he approached us. I noticed he was having a hard time looking either Alex or Cormack in the face.
“The US,” Alex said, never taking his eyes off the man’s face.
“All of you?” the guard asked, his voice hinting at the unease he felt.
“Yes,” I said shortly.
“Yes,” Cormack answered. I noticed how he tried to hide his accent. I didn’t blame him. We needed to get rid of this guy as quickly as possible; his accent would probably just bring up more questions.
“Can I see yo
ur passports please?”
My heart pounded as he finally asked the question I knew he would. My palms started sweating as I dug into my carry-on bag.
Alex pulled his out and handed it to the man. I knew what the man should have seen. A much younger and much more human looking version of Alex. The man looked it over, looking between the picture and Alex’s face before handing it back.
I thought I might throw up as I handed the guard my “passport”.
What the man held was nothing more than a blank, plain white piece of paper folded in quarters. The man looked from it to my face several times, then handed it back. Cormack handed him the same thing, just a plain, folded piece of paper.
“Sorry to have bothered you,” the man said as he handed Cormack’s paper back. “Enjoy your visit.”
We each just nodded as he walked away. We grabbed our bags quickly as they came around the claim belt and started hurriedly toward the rental car counter.
“I really hope we don’t have to do that again,” I breathed. Just one more thing for me to feel guilty about.
“I didn’t exactly enjoy doing that either,” Alex said as he shouldered my bag. “It creeps me out that I can do that.”
Alex was the only one out of the three of us that had an actual passport. There had not been enough time to get one for me and since Cormack had been dead for eighteen years it was obviously going to be impossible to get one for him. Instead we had given the appropriate people something to simply hold while Alex made them think they were seeing a real passport with a real picture.
I hated that Alex had to manipulate someone’s mind again, but I also knew it was necessary. It reminded me too much of what Cole had made me see and feel. It also kept the fact that we were going to try and find him front and center in my mind.
The airport was quiet and we were the only ones who were at the rental counter. With it being just past midnight it should have been fairly quiet. I hadn’t slept in what felt like days, my nerves and emotions shot, and I swayed as Alex talked to the man and got the papers signed for our car. My legs felt like they were filled with lead as we walked out to the car.
The guys loaded our bags into the trunk and I climbed into the passenger seat and leaned my forehead against the cool glass.
Alex slid into the driver’s seat and started up the car. He then turned his attention to the fancy GPS unit on the dash and started looking up a nearby hotel.
“What are you doing?” I asked as I watched him, my voice sounding like it was being dragged over gravel. “Aren’t we heading straight there?”
“You need to sleep,” Alex said without looking at me as he pulled his cell phone out and dialed a number. “I think it would be good for you to get some rest.”
“I can sleep in the car,” I started to argue, but Alex was already making a reservation.
Not three minutes later Alex had two rooms booked, though Cormack had tried to argue it was pointless to book him a room when he didn’t sleep. Ignoring him, Alex backed out and pulled out of the parking garage and onto the street.
“Hey! Hey!” Cormack yelled from the back seat. “Don forget, you’re not in America anymore! You’re drivin’ on the wrong side ‘o the road!”
“Oh, right,” Alex chuckled as he shook his head. “You would think this wouldn’t be so hard since I lived here for a few years.”
Cormack swore quietly under his breath and shook his head. “I’m drivin’ tomorra’. There’s no need for all ‘o us to be dead.”
I chuckled tiredly and watched the road ahead of us, silently grateful we were going to stop for a few hours so I could get some much needed sleep.
The high-end lobby was empty as we checked in and got our room keys. Again Cormack insisted he didn’t need a room but Alex just ignored him, paid for the room, then handed him the key. I had to agree with Cormack, getting him a room was a waste of money but I wasn’t going to complain. I was always happy to be alone with Alex.
The room was just as nice as the lobby had been but I noticed little other than the bed. I dropped my bag on the floor and collapsed into it. I didn’t even bother changing into pajamas, brushing my teeth, or climbing under the covers.
I didn’t hear him move across the room or climb into the bed but Alex was suddenly beside me, his strong arm wrapped around my waist. I breathed in a sigh of relaxation, his scent flooding my senses.
“Good-night, Jessica,” he whispered into my ear. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” I breathed and smiled as he pressed a soft kiss into my temple. Not ten seconds later I was asleep.
ALEX
It didn’t take long for Jessica to fall asleep. I laid there for a while, just watching her face as she slept. I could watch her sleep for hours and did sometimes. I wished I could keep away the nightmares she had though. I knew she still had them even if she tried to pretend she didn’t. She didn’t like to tell me when she had them. I sensed she felt guilty whenever she did. She was right though, it wasn’t fair that she should still have nightmares, even if they were a different kind. She had lived a nightmare for nearly sixteen years. That should have been enough.
Curiosity got the best of me after a while and I forced myself to leave Jessica’s side and find our new companion. He wasn’t in his room but as I extended my senses, I realized he was no longer in the building. I went to his open window, climbed out, and scaled the building to the roof.
Cormack was sitting on the far end of the building at the very peak of the roof. He sat with his arms resting on his knees, staring up into the star-peppered sky. He didn’t turn to look at me as I walked the roofline toward him but I knew he heard me as I approached. When I reached him, I sat as well, turning my gaze heavenward.
“I forgot how beautiful they were,” Cormack said as he continued to observe the stars.
I didn’t say anything as we sat, side by side, two angels on the rooftop.
“I don think ya realize jus how lucky ya really are to be allowed to still be here,” he said. I thought I detected a hint of emotion in his voice. If he had been capable, I suspected he might have had tears in his eyes. “You must a made one hell ‘o a plea to them, or one hell ‘o a sacrifice.”
“She’s sleeping down below us,” I said simply. “And you’re wrong. I do realize how lucky I am to be here, to still be able to be with her. I almost lost her, twice. But we’re still together.”
“She’s the reason you’re still here?” Cormack asked in shock as he looked me in the face.
“She was dying,” I explained. “I traded my life for hers and the council allowed me to come back to her.”
Cormack continued to stare wide-eyed and mouthed at me for a moment before he shook his head and looked back up to the stars. “It’s really not fair ya know,” he said. “I would give anythin’ to come back. Do ya know what et’s like, to have someone take your life away like that? To be killed en cold blood?”
“Yeah, actually I do,” I chuckled. I was surprised at how little Cormack seemed to know. “The one that escaped is the one who killed me. He snapped my neck after he nearly beat the life out of me. Over Jessica. Don’t you know all this?”
“You never went through a trial,” he said as he shook his head. “I just knew they allowed someone to return.”
He was quiet for a little after that. I sensed some emotional turmoil going on inside of him. “I envy you, ya know. What you and Jessica have together. I never found that. Always looked for it but never found it.”
“I’m sorry,” I said sincerely. Truly I was. I couldn’t imagine what life would be like without Jessica. It wouldn’t be whole. It would feel pretty empty and pointless.
“Tell me what’s happened since I wus taken outa this world,” he said after a few minutes of silence. “The world looks so different now.”
“When did you die?” I asked. I could tell the following conversation was going to be really strange.
“Et’s been eighteen years,” he replied with a chuckl
e. “I can’t believe I missed the changing of a millennium. Ya have no idea how strange it es to hear what year it es.”
“You’re right there,” I chuckled. “I can’t even imagine.”
“So what have I been missin’ these last eighteen years?”
I suddenly wished I kept up on current events more and had paid better attention to the news.
JESSICA
Lights flashed and sparkled around us and the music tinkled throughout the carnival. People crowded into the park and vendors shouted from all around us. Garbage lay underfoot, carelessly thrown by people who obviously didn’t worry what it was going to do to the environment.
I watched with a smile as he picked up the oversized hammer and drew it up above his head. A moment later it came crashing down, nearly breaking the booth game. I suppressed a chuckle, knowing it had taken restraint for him not to break it. The vendor looked at him in surprise, furrowed his brow and handed him an oversized stuffed rabbit.
“I don’t understand why women like these things,” he said as he draped an arm across my shoulders and led us down an aisle crowded with people.
“Yeah,” I said as I looked at the fuzzy animal that filled my arms. “It is kinda’ stupid I guess.”
He just chuckled as he flashed his brilliant smile. “Hey, why don’t you have him paint your picture?”
There was a young man at the end of the aisle with an easel set up, his brushes on a table beside him, just waiting for customers.
“You don’t want to be in it too?” I asked as I looked at his beautifully captivating face.
“I wouldn’t want to taint it,” he joked. “I would love to have a picture of you I can look at forever.”
I gave Cole a smile as I handed my purse and the rabbit to him and took a seat to pose for the painting.