Dominion (19 page)

I struck him in the chin using the bottom of the gun. “Too bad I’m going to kill you.” I rested my finger on the trigger.

Logan and my parents shouted, “No!”

“
Abigail, don’t!” my father said as he ran over to us. I didn’t lower my gun. “Abigail, don’t.” My father pulled me away as Logan pointed his own gun at Andrei’s head.

“
Brian!” my mother cried, and my father went over to her. “Felix…” she sobbed, pointing at the body on the ground. “He’s gone, and…” My father let go of her and walked over to Felix.

He checked for a pulse, and when he couldn’t find anything, he cursed.

“
Agent V,” Andrei called to my father. “It’s a nice girl you’ve got here. She single-handedly took out all the men I brought,” he said and then turned and smiled at me.

At the sight of his wickedly happy face, I struck him again with the bottom of my gun.

“
Abigail, we need him for questioning,” Logan said. “We couldn’t get in through the front gate because you initiated lockdown, so we had to go around the house. We’d have been here faster, but it seems you didn’t need our help.”

“
Didn’t need your help?” I asked angrily. “Felix is dead!”

“
One person,” Andrei scoffed. “You took down all my men and—”

I knocked Andrei again—hard—on his face. His nose started bleeding.

“
Abigail.” My father pulled me away from him.

“
You took him and his men down?” Logan asked, looking surprisingly at me. “Interpol and the CIA have been trying to nail Andrei for years, and you got him in one night?”

“
I guess now they can send me a freaking thank you card,” I said bitterly and turned away from him. I had no doubt Gideon deserved a card as well.

Andrei started laughing, “She is adorable and I—”

The bullet I fired at Andrei landed in the same arm where I stabbed him. He screamed.

“
Abigail!” my mother shouted in shock.

When I turned to face her, she was staring at me as if she didn’t know me. I didn’t know who I was either because a while ago, I was freaking out that I killed someone, and now I actually yearned to kill Andrei.

“
You’re quite dangerous, aren’t you?” Gideon asked again. Hearing his disembodied voice should have bothered me more than it did.

“
He doesn’t need his arm for interrogation, does he?” I asked my father.

Everyone was now staring at me as if they didn’t recognize me. I figured they were just used to lovely, obedient, good-girl Abigail. Bloodlust Abigail scared them.

“
Honey, you are safe, you are all right, and we are here,” my father said slowly and calmly.

“
Safe?” I shouted at my father. “After a bullet in the arm, having people beat the crap out of me, jumping off a moving motorcycle to avoid getting run over, and enduring this psychopath here, I’m safe?” Reality finally set in, and my body registered the excruciating pain I was in.

The adrenaline was slowly wearing off. I killed people. I had killed!

Suddenly I couldn’t breathe as I became aware of what I had done. Every bit of my body felt as if it were breaking into pieces. The stickiness of the blood on my skin made my head spin when I remembered where it came from.

“
Abigail, I…”

I pulled away from my father, shaking my head. “Congratulations, Father. I guess now you can come home,” I said in a whisper.

“
I never wanted any of this,” he said morosely.

“
You wanted a killer! You’ve got one, and now you’re looking at me as if I’m a stranger. Take a long look, Father. This is me now.” And then without another word, I turned and walked away.

BROKEN STRINGS

*Gideon*

“
You can run all you want,

but when your past decides to hunt you

only dead can hide you.”

Melody Manful

š›

“
W
hat are you doing?” I demanded when I appeared in my room and saw Valoel peering through my telescope.

“
I’m looking at Abigail,” she said and stepped away from the telescope. “I’m rather surprised that you helped her.” I ignored her teasing smile.

“
How is she doing?” I walked over and looked through the lens.

Abigail lay still on her bed, surrounded by hospital equipment. A doctor stood beside her, flipping through some papers attached to a clipboard.

I aimed the telescope into her living room, where her mother was crying. Her house was filled with people in uniforms walking briskly around, each person busy with some task.

“
Why did you help her?” Valoel asked as I turned the telescope back to Abigail.

“
I didn’t do much—she got them herself,” I answered.

“
I think you did enough.” Valoel snapped her fingers, and everything she’d seen through the telescope played before my own eyes, as though I were watching a movie. Abigail
did
kill some of those people. If I hadn’t seen it myself, I wouldn’t have believed she could even hurt a fly.

“
I did nothing,” I repeated. Abigail didn’t need a hero, and it was a good thing I wasn’t one. Still, how did she survive those men on her own?

My eyes met Valoel’s, and she quickly looked away.

“
You did something,” I said, recognizing the guilty look in her eyes.

She didn’t look at me when she said, “I did nothing.”

“
You helped her. You are the reason she was able to fight off those men before I arrived.”

“
Gideon, that girl can take care of herself.” She wouldn’t admit to helping Abigail, being her guardian angel when Tristan wasn’t around.

“
Fine. I helped her because she’s the only creature you don’t hate, and I didn’t want her to die.”

Suddenly, I knew she had something to do with the fact that I couldn’t move when I’d wanted to kill Andrei for hurting Abigail.

“
You stopped me from killing that Andrei,” I said, annoyed.

“
I couldn’t risk you exposing us. I had to erase you from the cameras around her house, and you killing that man in front of Abigail’s mother wouldn’t have helped anyone.” I wanted to argue, but I didn’t.

“
How were you able to stop me?” I asked curiously.

“
We are angels Gideon, we have the power to do that.”

“
I know, but no one can do what you did planets away.” I voiced out my thoughts. Looking at Valoel, I was starting to wonder just how powerful she might be.

“
How did it go? Did you and Tristan find answers?” Valoel asked, switching to another topic.

“
No.” When Tristan and I visited Daligo, he didn’t know any more than we did about how or why we could hear each other’s thoughts. Tristan left to try to find answers from his parents, and I went to D to hunt. After that, I had decided to pay Abigail a visit, and I arrived to find her under attack.

“
I need to go back in case those people return for her,” I found myself whispering, shocking myself when I realized that I sounded like I cared.

“
Relax, Gideon. She’ll be fine.” The moment Valoel said this, I felt as if a weight had been lifted from my shoulders.

Tristan, Abigail needs you.
I said to Tristan in my head. I was sure he was still in Lumens.

Why? What happened?

I allowed what Valoel showed me, and what I saw Abigail do to take over my thoughts.

Oh, my God.

And before I could exhale, Tristan was on Earth. I saw the inside of Abigail’s bedroom through his eyes.

She doesn’t look good
, I thought when I saw her. She was covered in bandages. Her face was swollen, and bruises littered her entire body.

“
I treated her wounds,” I heard the doctor say to Abigail’s father. “I’ve given her some pain killers as well.”

You need to heal her
, I thought the moment the doctor and Abigail’s father left her room.

I can’t. If I do it without her knowledge, she might freak out or something.

So what? She’s in pain, just do it.

Gideon, I can’t. To heal her, I’d have to reveal myself to her, and it’s against the law.

“
The law? Are you kidding me with this?” I shouted.

“
Still not in love with her?” Valoel asked from beside me, making me even angrier.

“
Don’t start with me, Val,” I said, and with a snap of my fingers, I found myself in Abigail’s room.

The moment Tristan saw me, he moved closer toward Abigail.

I’m not going to hurt her, Moron,
I thought.

I can never tell when you’re planning to give her roses or push her off a balcony.

Yes, Tristan had answers to everything. I decided to ignore him and walked over to where Abigail lay. Her eyes were closed, but I could tell she wasn’t asleep. Tears ran down her cheeks, and when I saw them, I felt something. Was it sadness?

In an attempt to dry her tears, I placed my right hand tenderly on her cheek. The moment my hand touched her skin, her heart started racing, and she opened her eyes.

“
Gideon?” she called, looking around her.

I turned to Tristan, and we exchanged surprised looks. I knew she couldn’t see me because I was invisible.

“
Gideon, I can feel you. I know you’re here,” she said again, and then slowly I made myself visible. “Gideon!” she cried the moment she saw me.

“
How did you—?”

“
Whenever you’re close to me, my heart races,” she cut me off and said.

Oh. That was…weird.

“
Abby, how—” I stopped because I couldn’t bring myself to ask how she was feeling. I touched her cheek again. Her skin felt warm, and for a second, I debated on whether I ever wanted to take my hand away.

“
I’m sorry I pushed you away,” she said.

I didn’t understand why she was apologizing for being angry with me for my rudeness, because I was pretty sure I should be the one apologizing.

“
I’m going to make you feel better,” I said, patting her hand. “Don’t freak out, okay?”

“
Don’t,” she protested as more tears slid down her cheeks. “I killed and hurt those people. I deserve every bit of pain I’m in.”

“
That’s a really terrible thing to say, Abigail. Those people were trying to kill you.”

“
Does it matter? They’re dead, and I’m not.” Her tears rushed down like rain. “Felix is gone and…”

I could have saved Felix, but I had been so focused on making sure nothing happened to Abigail and her mother that I forgot there were two more people whom she cared about.

Tristan, heal her now.

Why can’t you do it?
Tristan asked unexpectedly.

In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve never healed anyone. And I don’t want to try it now on her, and…

You’re afraid of hurting her?
Tristan asked, sounding surprised.

Just do it already.

“
You don’t deserve this pain, Abigail,” I told her. At the touch of Tristan’s hands, her body started to glow. “You’re going to be all right,” I said, watching as the wounds around her body started to disappear, leaving nothing behind.

“
I feel strange,” Abigail said, staring at the parts of her body that had been bruised and bleeding seconds ago. She slowly sat up on her bed. “Everything is gone.”

“
Don’t freak out,” I said, taking her hands. “Calm down.”

“
I’m not…I’m fine.” She was shaking. She wasn’t fine.

“
Everything is going to be all right.” This caused her to look up at me. “Smile.” I placed my hands on her cheeks. They were soft. “The world looks much more beautiful when you do.” What was I talking about? “I meant…there is…I got nothing.”

And then it happened again. I laughed, and Abigail smiled.

That’s really a wonderful sound. You should laugh more often
. Once again, Tristan forced his thoughts into my head.

I really, really hope that whatever this thing is will end soon, because I’m a breath away from ripping your heart out.

Then it’s a good thing angels don’t have to breathe, isn’t it?
I didn’t miss the teasing ring to his thoughts.

“
Gideon,” Abigail called in a whisper. “Will you please stay?” she asked.

“
I…” I wanted to say yes, but I stopped when I remembered Valoel’s accusation. “I…” I
could
stay. It wouldn’t mean that I was in love with her. “There is no place I’d rather be,” I whispered.