Angel

Page 68

 

  On the ground, I opened my eyes again, staring upward as my angel flew. “This is just incredible,” I murmured. “I can feel everything she’s feeling. ”

  Alex put his arms around me, and I leaned against him, still watching my angel as she wheeled through the night sky, her snowy wings outspread. “I’m glad you can see her like I do,” he said against my hair. “She’s so beautiful, Willow. ”

  The moonlight lit his face as he gazed up at her, and my heart turned over at the expression in his eyes. “So are you,” I said, touching his cheekbone.

  And then, in the air, my angel self stiffened.

  It felt as if icy water had been flung over me as I flew. Something was out there. What was it? Gliding for a moment, I strained desperately, listening for knowledge I couldn’t quite catch — a probing, a thinking. Fear slammed through me, cold and ominous; the foreboding that I’d felt before was only a shadow compared to this.

  Something was coming.

  Turning on my wing, I dove back through the stars toward my human body, merging with a flurry of wings. At the same time, on the ground, my words tumbled out in a panic. “Alex, I felt something!”

  His hands tightened in mine; his voice sharpened. “What?”

  “I don’t know, but something’s on its way. Something dangerous. ”

  “A person?”

  I shook my head; I felt almost tearful with panic. “I don’t know — a person or a situation — I don’t know! But it’s coming here, and soon. ”

  Alex’s face was tense, his jaw tight. “When’s ‘soon’? Can you tell?”

  “I . . . ” I tried to stop shaking. “I don’t know. I don’t think it’s instantly — I mean, not right this second. But soon. ”

  “We’ve got to get out of here,” muttered Alex, dropping one of my hands and scraping his hair back. “Damn it — it won’t be light for hours; we’d break an axle trying to get down that mountain in the dark. ” He blew out a breath; I could practically hear his mind working. “OK — we’ll get the truck loaded up tonight and leave as soon as we can, the minute it’s dawn. ”

  Nervously, I rubbed my fists on my jeans. “And go where?”

  “I’ve been thinking about that,” he admitted. “How would you feel about Mexico?”

  “Mexico?”

  His dark eyebrows drew together in a troubled frown. “Yeah. From what Cully said, I might be the only Angel Killer left. I’ve got to find some new AKs and train them, or else humanity won’t even stand a chance. We could find someplace down there where you’ll be safe and hole up while I put some feelers out. There were some good AKs from Mexico — I think with luck, I could get something going there, start up operations again. What do you think?”

  I felt slightly stunned; I hadn’t picked up on any of this from him. Slowly, I said, “It sounds good, except . . . it’s all going to take time, isn’t it? I mean, starting things up again and training people. ”

  “Yeah, but what choice do we have?”

  I didn’t want to speak the words, but I had to. “Alex, you told me once that the AKs were losing the war. That you needed something big to stop the angels. ”

  He didn’t say anything.

  The night air felt cold and still around us. I took a deep breath. “I’m the something big, aren’t I? I can’t just hide away forever, keeping safe. I’m supposed to be the one who can defeat them. ”

  Alex gave a short, humorless laugh. He tossed a pebble into the undergrowth. “Yeah. You know, it’s funny, but I’m not as crazy about that idea as I used to be. Willow, if anything ever happened to you —”

  I moved closer, leaning against his chest. He put his arm around me; I could feel the tension in his muscles. Fumbling over my words, I said, “Alex, you know I feel the same way about you — I’d die if anything ever happened to you. But if I really can destroy the angels somehow, so that no one else is hurt by them . . . ”

  His other arm came up around me, too, holding me tightly. All at once his emotions washed over me, as clearly as my own: fear of losing me, determination that he wouldn’t. And so deep down that he was hardly aware of it himself, he was thinking about his brother. I cringed as sudden images flashed in my head: a boy who looked like Alex, but taller and stockier; he was lying on the rocky ground, staring blindly up at the sky. Alex screaming his brother’s name, his voice ragged with agony. It was his fault, all his fault.

  He hardly ever mentioned Jake — I still didn’t know exactly how he had died. And I couldn’t find out this way; it felt like eavesdropping. Closing the images off, I hugged Alex as hard I as could, wishing desperately that I could take it all away — the deaths he’d lived through, the pain he’d suffered.

  Slowly, I felt him relax. Pulling away a little, he kissed me and stroked my hair back, dropping his forehead onto mine. “Look . . . this is the best plan I can come up with for now. I’ve got to keep you safe, Willow. If you really are the one to destroy them, then we’ll deal with it when the time comes, OK?” He drew back, searching my face.

  “OK,” I said finally. It wasn’t as if either of us even knew why I was supposed to be such a threat. And allowing myself to imagine Mexico with Alex, I liked the sound of it. I liked the sound of it a lot.

  Standing up, Alex helped me to my feet. “Come on; we’d better get packing, so we can leave first thing. ”

  We started across the valley, holding hands, picking our way across the rocky ground in the moonlight. It was so bright that I could see the deer path clearly, snaking up through the rocks ahead of us like a vein of silver. I felt almost unreal as I stared at it. At this time tomorrow, Alex and I would be hundreds of miles away from here; maybe even in Mexico already.

  I just hoped that whatever was coming wouldn’t follow us there.

  When Alex woke up a few hours later, he could tell that Willow wasn’t lying beside him even before he opened his eyes. He sat up. She wasn’t in the cabin, either; the small space was almost empty, most of their things already packed and loaded in the truck. After her premonition the night before, worry creased through him. Hastily, he yanked on his hiking boots and went outside.

  Willow was standing in front of the cabin. She had on her boots, too, and a sweater and sweatpants as she stared down at the mountains below. Her smile was etched with sadness when she saw him. “I just came out to say good-bye. ”

  Letting out a relieved breath, Alex wrapped his arms around her from behind and looked out at the mountains. They were lit purple and rose with the first faint fingers of dawn, wraiths of mist curling around their bases like smoke.

  “We’ll come back someday,” he said.

  “I’d like that,” said Willow softly, leaning back against his bare chest. She started to say something else, and then broke off as a distant chopping sound carried toward them on the air. She frowned. “What’s that?”

  Alex stiffened. “Oh Christ, it’s a helicopter. Adrenaline surged through him. He ducked back into the cabin and snatched up the rifle; he was back outside in seconds. “Come on!” He grabbed Willow’s hand, and they ran across the clearing, scrabbling up the rocks behind the cabin. The rotor noise grew louder, beating through the air. As they climbed, Alex cursed himself — damn it, why hadn’t they left hours ago, the moment Willow told him her fears? If the truck had broken down, they could have hiked; at least they’d be away from here. Stupidly, he’d thought that they’d have more time.