Angel Fire (13 page)

“Hi,” they each muttered. After a beat, Brendan, the short one with wiry hair, stepped forward to awkwardly shake Alex’s hand. With an apprehensive glance at Willow, he stepped hastily back again.

The black guy was Wesley, whose arched eyebrows and wry mouth made him look like he should have a great sense of humour – except that he also looked like he’d never smiled in his life. He shifted his feet, glowering. “Are you going to need us for this, Kara?” he muttered.

“No, I don’t think so,” said Kara. “Why don’t you guys go into the TV room, or the range or something, so the three of us can talk?”

“You sure?” drawled Sam. He narrowed his blue eyes at Willow in a calculating way. “You might need some backup.”

Alex snorted. With an effort, he refrained from pointing out that backup worked a lot better when the person backing you up actually knew how to shoot a gun.

“Yes, Sam, I am sure. Go on, now. I’ll tell you guys whatever you need to know later.”

After the AKs had drifted away, Kara put some water on to boil. She started getting mugs out of a cabinet, then hesitated as she looked at Willow. “Do you...do you eat and drink like we do, or—”

A cold anger tightened Alex’s muscles. “Kara, for Chrissake—”

“Well,
I
don’t know!” she snapped back. “How am I supposed to know what a half-angel does or doesn’t do?”

“Come on! Do you think I’d even be
with
her if she was like them?”

Kara started to say something else and stopped; a flush tinged her cheeks. Not answering, she banged the cupboard door shut and opened another one, taking out a jar of instant coffee. She thumped it onto the counter.

Willow looked away, hugging herself; the plaid shirt billowed loosely about her thighs. “Yes, I eat and drink like you do,” she said in a soft voice. “But I don’t want anything.”

Wishing he could pull her close against his chest, Alex put his arm around her instead; he could feel the tautness of her shoulders. Kara poured boiling water into the mugs, and added splashes of milk. “Two sugars, right?” she said without looking at him.

He glanced up in surprise as his throat tightened. It was how Jake had taken his coffee. “No, uh – just milk.”

He saw Kara realize her mistake; a pained wince crossed her face. There must have been a hundred times on hunts when they’d stopped at a 7-Eleven and Kara had walked back out to the jeep balancing coffees for everyone – teasing Jake about the sugar and saying he couldn’t take his java like a man. Now Alex knew she was seeing the same thing he was: his brother’s grin as he said,
What you’re really saying is I’m sweet enough already, right?
The flirting between Jake and Kara had never come to anything, though if Alex knew his brother, it hadn’t been for lack of trying.

Kara handed him a mug without speaking; they sat down at a battered wooden table that dominated half the room. “You sure you don’t want anything?” she said to Willow, her voice stiff.

“Maybe some water,” said Willow. “I can get it,” she added as Kara started to stand up.

Alex and Kara sat in silence as Willow found glasses in a cupboard and filled one from the bottled water that sat on the counter. Kara was very pointedly not looking at Willow; she sat drinking her coffee, drumming her fingers on the worn wooden table. Her nails were short but shapely, painted bright pink. Memory stirred in Alex as he noticed. Those incongruous feminine touches of Kara’s had given him some sleepless nights when he was fourteen or fifteen; he’d speculated endlessly on whether she might wear lacy lingerie too. Kara probably would have decked him if she’d known. No, not “probably”.

Willow sat down, slipping into the chair next to him and avoiding his eyes. Under the table, Alex rubbed her thigh reassuringly, wishing they were alone; he hated how tense she seemed. She let out a breath, and darted a grateful glance at him.

“So what is this place?” he asked Kara again. “How did you hook up with the angel spotters, anyway? And how did you manage not to get killed? Cully said—”

Kara’s brown eyes turned large. “You’ve seen Cully?”

“Yeah, just over a month ago.” Alex glanced down, playing with the handle of his coffee mug. “He’s got angel burn, Kara.” Even now, he hated thinking about it. Once Alex’s father, Martin, had started losing grip with reality, Cully had taken over as lead of the AK training camp: the place in the remote New Mexico desert where both Alex and Jake had been raised. And he’d done it so tactfully and unobtrusively that Alex’s dad hadn’t even noticed to take offence. The man had been a father to him in everything but name.

He described the encounter to Kara – how Cully was staying alone at the old camp now; how he’d tried to kill Willow because the angels had told him to.

The news brought a hard line to Kara’s mouth, but then her manner turned thoughtful as she took in the pink scar on Willow’s arm, where Cully’s bullet had struck her.

“So the angels want you dead, huh?” she said.

Willow grimaced slightly. “Yeah, you could say that.”

“It’s what the terrorist manhunt is about,” said Alex. He drained the rest of his coffee in a quick gulp. “They think she has the power to destroy them.”

Kara sat watching Willow; even relaxed, Alex could see the muscles in her slender arms. “And? Do you?”

“No one’s told me how yet, if I do,” said Willow. Her spiky red-gold hair cut across her cheek as she looked down, tapping at her water glass. “Unfortunately, being a half-angel doesn’t come with an instruction manual.”

“No, I guess not,” said Kara. “But my guys saw
something
about you that freaked them out.”

“My angel self,” said Willow. “I have a – dual nature, I guess you’d call it. My angel form can appear at the same time as my human one. They’re both me, though. My angel self doesn’t have a halo. It doesn’t...feed, or anything.”

Alex could tell how bizarre Kara was finding this. “Ohh-kay,” she said. “So, you want to show me?”

Willow gave her a level look. “No, not really.”

Kara’s gaze narrowed for a second, then she shrugged. “Fair enough. But how is it that...I mean, I thought angels couldn’t breed.”

“I don’t know,” said Willow. “I’m the only one; it’s a mystery to them, too.” She managed a tight smile. “I’m just a fluke, I guess.”

Briefly, Alex explained how he and Willow had first met; how Willow had almost died trying to stop the Second Wave from arriving. He didn’t tell the final part of the story – how he’d held Willow’s lifeless body in his arms and somehow willed her back into life. It still made his stomach clench to think how close he’d come to losing her.

When he’d finished, Kara tipped her chair back as she studied Willow carefully, her dark eyebrows drawn together. “So you really are on our side, then,” she said.

Willow shrugged. “I don’t think my AK boyfriend would want to have much to do with me if I wasn’t, do you?” Kara didn’t answer. Willow went on, her voice quiet but deliberate, enunciating each word clearly: “My father destroyed my mother’s mind. She would have been normal if it wasn’t for him; instead she barely knows who I am. Of course I’m on your side – I
hate
what the angels are doing here.”

Her hand was clenched on the table; Alex covered it with his own.

“Okay. Got it,” said Kara after a pause. Then she frowned, and her chair legs slowly came down to touch the floor. “Wait a minute – what are you two doing down here, anyway? How did you find us?”

“Willow had a dream that we should come here,” said Alex. “She’s psychic; she knew something was going to happen in the Zócalo.”

Kara didn’t move. “Psychic,” she said finally, and Alex knew exactly what she was thinking: psychic skills were an angelic trait.

“Yes, I’ve always been psychic,” said Willow. “Even before I knew...” She shrugged her slender shoulders, looking tired suddenly. “Even before I knew,” she finished.

Alex circled her palm with his thumb. “Are you going to answer some of our questions now?” he said to Kara. “If the interrogation’s over with, that is.”

Kara rolled her eyes at the word “interrogation”. She pushed her chair back and got up. “All right, let’s just get settled first. You guys hungry? Liz likes to cook; we’ve got some leftover spaghetti I could heat up.”

“Yeah, starving,” said Alex. He let go of Willow’s hand and scraped his palm across his face; his cheek gave a throb where Sam had punched him. It felt as if he’d been awake for days.

“Liz?” asked Willow.

“The one with dark hair,” Kara reminded her, opening the fridge and taking out a covered casserole dish.

“Oh yeah, her. The one whose life Willow saved,” said Alex pointedly, and took a dark enjoyment in the startled look on Kara’s face. “Man, Kara, that group of yours needs some serious training,” he went on. “What did you even have them out on a hunt for? Are you trying to get rid of them or something?”

Kara rested her hands on the counter; closing her eyes, she hung her head for a second, shaking it. “Okay. I’ve got to hear all about this, and I don’t like the sound of it one little bit...but let me answer your questions first, and then we’ll get to it.”

She slid the casserole dish into a microwave and punched a few buttons; a low humming noise started. “So, the first thing you should know is – this place isn’t mine, it was Juan’s originally. He bought it for us to use.”

“
Juan?
Is he alive too?” Alex sat up straight, heart thumping. Juan Escobido had been one of the best AKs at the camp – he’d often been the team lead on hunts, especially after the accident that had cost Cully his leg. If he was still alive, it was some of the best news Alex had heard in months.

“No,” said Kara heavily, leaning against the counter. The fluorescent light cast the exotic lines of her face into sharp relief. “He was the one who brought us all down here; that white van in the drive is his. But he was killed the day after we finished fixing this place up. He didn’t even have a chance to start training the team.”

Alex went still. He could feel Willow’s eyes on him, gentle with sympathy.

Kara’s voice turned rough. “And the way it happened was just – stupid. The two of us had gone out to get some supplies, and we forgot to scan. An angel linked minds with Juan to feed, and he managed to break away enough to try and shoot it...but then it tore his life force away.”

Alex didn’t speak. “I called an ambulance, but I already knew he was gone,” Kara went on. “And you know the worst part? I had to pretend I didn’t even know him, that he was just some man I’d found collapsed on the sidewalk. Thankfully, I managed to get his gun, and he never carried ID...” She trailed off. “I got the angel,” she added after a moment. “But it was sort of too late by then.”

Unfortunately, Alex could picture it all too well; Jake’s death had happened because he himself had forgotten to scan. God, it was so easy to do sometimes – so stupidly, criminally easy. Willow touched his arm, and he knew she was aware of what he was thinking.

“So how did he get you all down here?” he asked finally.

The microwave went off; Kara took the spaghetti out and started piling portions onto plates. “Well, when Project Angel first got taken over, the angels started getting rid of all the AKs and angel spotters – you probably already know that. They sent one of their lackeys out after us; I guess none of them wanted to get near us themselves. And when it came to Juan’s turn – well, let’s just say that now there’s one less lackey in the world.”

“Good,” said Alex shortly. Willow sat without speaking, listening intently.

Kara handed them both a plate; opened a drawer and fished out forks and spoons. Putting them on the table with a soft clatter, she sat down again. “Afterwards, Juan searched the guy’s car and found his phone – and there was a document on it that had the names and contact numbers of everyone who hadn’t been killed yet. Me and those five in there.” She nodded towards the rest of the house. “We were all next on the list. Juan managed to get to us first, and brought us all down here.”

“Why Mexico City?” asked Alex. He wasn’t that hungry any more, but knew he should eat; he took a bite of spaghetti. “Juan wasn’t from here, was he? I thought he was from Durango.”

Kara nodded, tapping the table. “He was – we’re here because of an email that Juan found on the phone. Alex, something big is going to be happening here soon. And we have to be here for it – we have to be ready.”

Willow shot Alex a quick look. “What’s happening?” she asked Kara. Her tone was full of dread; he knew she was thinking of her dream.

“I’d better start from the beginning,” said Kara. “Juan didn’t keep the phone after he got the information from it, but he wrote the email down – wait, I’ll show you.” She got up and left the room, her tall, slim form moving almost silently.

As Willow turned to him, her face creased with concern. “Your poor cheek,” she murmured, stroking it gently. “Does it really hurt?”

“It’s okay,” said Alex, his mind half on what Kara had been saying. “I just wish I’d punched him back when I had the chance.” Then he glanced at Willow, taking in her face. “Are
you
all right, though? Being here?”

He wouldn’t really call the slight curving of her lips a smile. “I’m fine,” she said.

Alex fell silent, not knowing what to say. He knew how hard this must be for her – coming into a strange situation where all anyone saw was her half-angel self, and no one trusted her as far as they could throw her. When she was probably the most trustworthy person on the planet. “Listen, they’ll get used to you, if we stay,” he said. “Kara’s a really good person; she just—”

“I know,” she broke in. “Alex, it’s all right. I can’t expect them to just...take it in their stride, I guess.”

She was so beautiful, sitting there in his faded plaid shirt. He slid his hand around the back of her neck and leaned forward, kissing her. Her lips were warm and soft; he felt her tension melt as she responded.

They both sensed rather than heard Kara standing there. Alex drew back, not taking his eyes from Willow’s. He smiled at her again; her own smile looked a little more relaxed this time.

“So, here it is,” said Kara shortly. Her expression was tight as she sat down; Alex didn’t know if it was the document in her hand, or what she’d just walked in on. Both, probably.