Death Takes Wing, page 16
“Does she have wings?”
“Yeah. There were a bunch of humans there, but a lot of them had already started to change.”
Amalia let out a breath and glanced at the door, hearing Gabriel’s voice, tight and restrained, still on the phone. “We need to leave. To –“
“To find Sam and Patty,” Lindsay finished, offering her a slight smile, “I know. Go. I’ll be fine. Really, I will.”
Amalia nodded and followed Lindsay out the door. She watched Lindsay walk towards the house. Probably to get the things in the kitchen before someone picked her up, Amalia thought. She looked around for Gabriel and found him staring at a withered tree, the dead branches looking like something out of a horror movie.
Gabriel stood and stretched, spreading his wings. “What did you find out?”
Amalia shook her head as the unpleasant conversation replayed. “Something that you’re not going to like.”
He cocked his head. “And that is?”
“It’s Aleks,” Amalia said slowly, starting to walk towards the Aston.
“Excuse me?” he said, easily catching up to her.
“It’s Aleks,” she repeated. “Aleks is what happened to Lindsay.”
“No, he’s not,” Gabriel proclaimed with a grimace.
Amalia pursed her lips. “According to Lindsay, he’s the one that changed her from human to angelus.”
“Not possible,” Gabriel stated as he stopped outside the car.
“Because no enforcer goes bad?” she said, mocking his earlier remark.
“Not just that,” he said, “but I know Aleks. Aleks won’t do something like that. Aleks can’t do something like that.”
She shook her head. “So you won’t believe it her.”
“No,” he said, running a hand through his hair in frustration, sure that the girl wasn’t right. That she’d been mistaken. “Did she actually say it was Aleks?”
“No,” Amalia admitted, “but she described his wings to a t.”
“That doesn’t mean much,” Gabriel said with a relieved smile as he dismissed Amalia’s proclamation.
“So, I thought no two angelus had identical wings?”
“They don’t, but many can share colors or patterns. It’s more likely that there’s another angelus that shares his wing colors.”
Amalia shook her head, “no, I don’t think so. Gabriel - ” She meant to tell him about her suspicions concerning Aleks, that he’d always felt ‘off’ to her, but he cut her off with a sharp shake of his head.
“Think what you will. But it’s not Aleks,” Gabriel said finally.
CHAPTER TWENTY
After making it almost to the car without another sign from Lindsay, Amalia glanced up, and saw a dark figure watching them from a second story window. With a shudder, she quickened her step, catching up with Gabriel, who hadn’t seen the figure due his distraction by the foulness that covered his wings.
Gabriel reached behind him and mournfully picked off the cobwebs that had collected on the previously pristine feathers while in the attic and mystery room. With a look of revolt, he grabbed a dead spider off of a particularly large web that had gotten wound around a feather. With a depraved glance at Amalia, he threw the dead arachnid at her.
She screamed, batted at it, and missed. The spider, still dead, landed in her hair, near her face. With a shriek, she plucked at her hair, trying to get the desiccated thing away from her.
Gabriel found himself laughing hard for the second time that day, his arms wrapped around his stomach, trying not to unbalance himself with the laugher that was aimed at Amalia’s insane outburst. As she realized where the spider had come from, and that it was no more among the living, she grabbed it and proceeded to fling it back at the perpetrator, who only ducked. Her face was red with anger and fright, while his was red with an attempt to quell the laughter that continued around the car.
“You feathery SON OF A BITCH,” she yelled as she came at him, swinging, “you KNOW I’m afraid of spiders!”
Trying to choke down the laughter, but not succeeding, he replied with a snort of laughter, “I know; that’s why it’s so funny! You should have seen the look on your face!” He raised his arms and easily blocked her feeble attempts at pummeling him. Now, if she’d had a Pepsi bottle, he would have been more afraid, he surmised with a grin.
She glared at him, considered her next option, and then settled on punching him in the arm. He barely felt it through the haze of laughter, but the connection broke the feeling of jocularity.
“Hey,” he reached out to her, and she pulled away. He felt the grin slip away as he realized just how upset she was.
She rounded on him and spat “you are such an ass. I hope you know what you’ve started, because let me tell you something, I’m going to pay you back. Completely, and with interest. Compounded.”
He considered the possibilities as he slid into the car. “With a dead spider?”
“No, you winged asshole,” she said, opening the door, “I’m going to find whatever you’re afraid of, and then you’ll be sorry.”
“I get the feeling that what I did was a nasty thing, but it was asking for it,” he cajoled, the hint of a smile creeping back across his face.
“Oh,” she gave him a mocking frown. “I’m sure the spider was just asking to be thrown at me,” she said sarcastically.
“Hey, don’t be angry,” he pleaded as he started the car, not sure if he wanted to be in the same car as a pissed off woman, but between that and staying at the creepy house, he was fairly sure which was one the lesser of two evils. The house, of course, he thought with a chuckle that drew her frosty glare.
After a period of silence, Amalia spoke up abruptly. “Owen married her because she survived. He didn’t marry her just in case she survived.”
Gabriel gazed at her and patiently waited for her to continue.
“He knew that she’d make it. Before I got into that a fight with Owen, Vicki told me that he knew she would make it, one night, over margaritas. Vicki married him because she loved him, but he didn’t – doesn’t – love her. But I want to know how did he know she was going to survive? That’s what I’m asking myself, because I know that has something to do with everyone that’s gone missing that we know about, and I’m guessing, many, many more that we don’t know are missing,” she finished with a frown on her face. “And I bet Owen knows something. Or maybe it’s just because he’s an ass and I don’t like him, but I think he knows something.”
He leaned back against his seat, feeling what he was pretty sure was a spider crawling up his back. He tried to wiggle around to kill it, but the wings made that move extremely hard, considering how sore they were. “That’s actually a decent idea. Of course you think Owen’s in on it,” he said with a smile. “Just because he’s an arrogant ass doesn’t mean he knows anything about it. But, when you combine that with him knowing she would survive, now that raises questions. Add in the missing people, and that has me curious enough to actually want to talk to the man. Not a lot, mind you, but enough to find out how he knew,” he finished, a considering look on his face.
Giving her a desperate glance, before he could open his mouth, she cut him off. “I’m still pissed off.”
“C’mon, give me a hand. There’s a spider crawling up my back. I can feel it, please get it off,” he found himself whining.
She smirked at him, and watched the tiny millipede perch on his shoulder. She touched his arm. “Don’t worry. It’s not on your back anymore. And it’s not a spider, just so you know.”
He caught sight of bug on his shoulder and suppressed a shudder. Karma was a bitch, he thought, as he carefully grabbed the millipede before flinging it out the open window.
“Oh,” Amalia said, breaking out of her silent reverie, “that doesn’t count as payback because I didn’t do it. You still have it coming.”
“I’m sure you’ll think of something good,” he teased.
“Oh, I will,” she promised with a wicked smile, “I will. And believe me, you have absolutely no idea what you’re in for. Especially when I call Morgan for some ideas.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Amalia sat in the formal parlor, feeling out of place in her jeans and dirt-strewn sweater among the silk fabrics, and china knick-knacks strewn about the shelves and hutches that cluttered the room. The room’s heavily perfumed air made her feel claustrophobic, and judging by the slight frown of disgust on Gabriel’s face, he felt the same way.
He grimaced, tasting the heavy perfume in the air, and unable to smell anything over the perfume. The overwhelming fragrance surrounded him; the cloying floral scents were starting to give him a headache, and he seriously regretted his decision to come here. He idly wondered how Owen would react if he opened a window, but he was also sure that they’d be locked, or, more likely, nailed shut.
She looked around, sitting straighter when Vicki entered the room in a heavier cotton dress. Vicki looked embarrassed as she sat across from Amalia, perched on an uncomfortable looking backless chair covered in a pale blue silk patterned fabric.
“Owen will be here in a few minutes,” Vicki said as she leaned forward towards Amalia. “Is it about Sam? I heard she was missing, but I didn’t think there was anything to it because she’s done this before, you know.”
Amalia stared at Vicki’s creamy colored wings, pulled tight against her body as if she didn’t know what else to do with them. Nervous, Amalia decided, after looking at Gabriel, who relaxed on his stool, slightly leaning against the arm of his chair, wings a filthy shadow behind him, a distracted look on his face as he gazed around the room.
“No, she’s gone.” Amalia glanced at Gabriel, then back to Vicki. “We found the body of her, uh, Vince in the river. Just after she disappeared,” Amalia replied, leaning towards Vicki.
“I heard that someone-“ Vicki cut her admission off when Owen entered the room, his wings as tight against his body as Vicki’s, his nerves clearly wound tighter than a clock. Sitting next to his new wife, he glared at Gabriel, who gave him a bored, lazy smile, and at Amalia, who smiled perkily at him in return. That unspoken response only made him scowl more fiercely at Gabriel, as if the intrusion on their solitude was all Gabriel’s fault.
“What is this about? My wife and I are trying to enjoy our honeymoon, you do realize,” he said in a snotty voice as he stood behind Vicki, a look of disgust on his face as he continued to sneer at Gabriel.
“Quit being a ruddy prat, Owen. We won’t keep you long,” Gabriel responded blandly, not taking the bait that Owen so obviously laid out in front of him. “We only wanted to ask you about Vicki.”
“What about her,” Owen snarled, possessively leaning over her.
“How you knew she was going to survive,” Amalia said, ice entering her voice, daring him not to respond. “How did you know?”
“What the hell are you talking about?” His eyes flashed, but he wouldn’t hold eye contact with Gabriel or Amalia. Amalia knew that he wasn’t going to share anything voluntarily.
“I know you wouldn’t have married her if you hadn’t known she would survive. So, how’d you know? Or, a better question: how many other women died so that you could find her?” Gabriel asked dangerously, quiet in the midst of Owen’s blazing anger.
“I don’t know what the hell-“
He was cut off by Vicki’s hand on his. Vicki leaned to the side of her seat, resting an elbow on the arm of her chair. “Why do you need to know, Enforcer?”
Gabriel gave him an even stare before drolling, “it’s pertinent to the case I’m on. Concerning Vicki’s friend, and a multitude of missing humans. Humans that are being changed into angelus without their consent. I’d like to know how the kidnapper knows which human’s to take to ensure their survival. If you don’t tell me, I’ll have to get you for obstruction of justice, and you wouldn’t want that on your record, not would you?”
Owen glared at Gabriel before nodded and squeezing Vicki’s shoulder. “There’s a theory about the virus and humans.”
“What theory?” Gabriel asked her, interested and leaning forward.
“That any human that survives has an angelus in their background,” Vicki said softly, wringing her hands in her lap, wings brushing her arms. “Not a human turned angelus, but a born angelus. That’s the theory. That’s why some humans can change, why they can adapt to the virus.”
Amalia looked confused, and Owen stared at her, looking for all the world like an irritated professor with a dunce for a student.
He sighed and stared at his wife before picking up where she left off. “When an angelus and a human have a child, the child is, for all intents and purposes, human. It will have some angelus traits. Better hearing, better sight, healthier, but it will appear human – no wings,” he clarified witheringly, implying that they weren’t bright enough to follow along. He brushed an imaginary piece of lint off his arm as he continued. “However, the child is still part angelus. Any of the offspring of that child will share some of our genetic code. Therefore the genes are ready, they’re just lying dormant. Waiting to be woken, to be brought back to life.”
“By the virus,” Gabriel responded, leaning his elbows on his knees, hands clasped, interested. This was a whole new theory, he thought, marveling that Owen had stumbled on something entirely new. He looked up at Owen, slight interest coloring his gray eyes. “So you traced histories. Family trees. Found one with an angelus. You’d know who it was, no problem. Or did you do it from the angelus side?” He hypothesized.
Owen shifted his weight, his glare directed at Gabriel not lessening, apparently upset at having to share what he considered classified information. “From the angelus side. Most of the humans I found aren’t…worth changing. Victoria was. I found her. I explained my theory to her. Most of the other humans I’ve found discard that thought immediately. Victoria didn’t. She listened.”
“And you know the rest,” Vicki finished softly. She smiled tentatively at Owen, but looked away from him when his closed façade didn’t change.
Amalia leaned back, resting pinning her hand between hard back of the chair and her lower back as she mulled over the consequences of Owen’s discovery. She stared at Owen, wanting an answer, but not wanting to ask the solan directly. With a slight shake of her head, she asked, “how many others know about your theory?”
He shook his head and sneered at her, a long hesitation before he answered. “No one. Like I said, it’s a theory. That’s all.” He was unwilling to share even the slightest bit other than what he’d already shared, and it was started to grate on Amalia.
“So you didn’t share your discover with anyone?” Amalia asked, needed the clarification.
Owen stared at her, dumbfounded that she’d reiterate what she’d already asked. “No. No one else knows.”
“Either you told someone,” Amalia said with a start, “or someone’s come up with the same result as you.”
“And why would you say that?” Owen asked arrogantly.
Amalia let out a halted sigh. “We found one of the missing girls.“
“And?” Owen said with a glare.
“And,” Amalia started, returning the glare, “she’s not human anymore.”
“She’s angelus?” he asked slowly, his fingers tightening around Vicki’s shoulder.
“And she shouldn’t be,” Amalia retorted. “She was supposed to be immune.”
“Then it’s not possible,” Owen stated flatly. “An immune human can’t be changed.”
“That’s what I thought,” Amalia started, only to be interrupted by Owen.
He let out an annoyed huff, “just what I thought.”
When he didn’t continue, Amalia prompted, “what?”
His blank stare turned towards her, unwavering in the intensity. “What we thought was an immunity was probably a heightened immune response to the virus. Instead of being completely immune to the virus, the human probably requires more of the virus to be changed.”
“But why change a human? What are they trying to do?” Amalia said, frustrated.
Owen gave an elegant shrug. “That I don’t know.”
“Is there anything else you do know?” Gabriel said, drawing Owen’s hatred towards him.
“You’re lucky I’ve shared this much, Enforcer,” Owen said snidely, changing back from the helpful solan to the arrogant ass Amalia was used to.
She turned towards Gabriel and found him studiously picking unsightly cobwebs off his dark wings, shamelessly dropping them onto the previously spotless, gleaming hardwood floor.
“Ready?” She said brightly, ignoring Owen’s heavy gaze. He nodded and heaved himself to his feet, joining her in her quest to leave the stuffy room that reminded him of an old dowager’s apartment.
She stopped to give Vicki a goodbye hug, feeling awkward as she felt Owen’s stare, and wondering when, and if, she’d see her friend again. With Owen in the way, she had a feeling he would block Vicki from seeing her old human friends, and try to get her to see friends that he deemed worthy and appropriate.
“Can I talk to you alone for a minute?” Vicki asked softly, casting a nervous glance at Gabriel, who passively ignored the glance.
With a confused nod, Amalia followed Vicki to a small coatroom just off the entranceway.
Vicki stood there awkwardly before saying, “you know you’re in danger, right?”
Amalia nodded, “I know. There are-“
Vicki cut her off with a shake of her head, placing her hand on her stomach again. “No, not, whatever’s chasing you, if anyone actually is. That umbren,” she said, casting another nervous glance while gesturing towards the area where they’d left the two angelus. “He’s dangerous. Be careful, Lia. Really careful. Don’t get in over your head, and don’t let him drag you down with him.”
“Drag me where?” Amalia asked, even more confused, and annoyed that Vicki had labeled Gabriel as being dangerous simply for being an umbren.
“You aren’t a part of what he’s looking for. Don’t make yourself a target by staying with him. If you stay with him, you’ll be in danger. And if you put him in danger, I know he’ll turn on you in an instant, to ensure that he’ll survive. He doesn’t care about anything but himself. Remember that, Lia.”
