Lunangelique (The Lunangelique Series) (27 page)

“I was going to your father’s to tell him you were missing,” he replies. He moves his eyes from my face to the dirty shirt under the blanket. “You’re covered in blood, Lexi!” His face has shock and outrage written all over it. His hands come around my back and he pulls me to him to better hide the blood from view. He rubs my back reassuringly.

“How did you know I was missing?” I ask ignoring his blood comment that drove a few people to look at me questioningly. Last thing I want or need right now is attention. I hope no one runs to the police to report me at the next stop.

“Cole, Alex and Kaitlyn went to the museum to escape from those who supposedly took you. They thought if you had run from them that you would have gone there.  Cerviel, Malachi and Rogziel showed up at Cole’s door. They barely escaped. Your brother’s lucky to have such a gift. I just wish he could have protected you too,” he voice is full of regret.

“Do you have a phone? We need to call them. We have to leave the city. Oh, my God. I don’t know what to do.” I start crying on Patryck’s shoulder.

“It’s okay, Lexi. You don’t have to do anything right now. I got you. I’ll take care of you.” He croons the words to me like he’s talking to a child but it doesn’t make me feel like an incompetent child. I feel cherished.

The train pulls into the station. “Come on.” Patryck puts his arm around me and I hug him around his side to hide most of my body as we shuffle out of the station. When we get back onto street level we run the rest of the block to Edmunds. Patryck doesn’t even knock on the door. He runs in and locks the door behind him.

“Alexis!” Edmund cries out when he sees me. “What happened to you?” He runs over and hugs me to him as I start to cry again.

“Cerviel got to her,” Patryck explains.

“Where’s Alexander? Cole?” Edmund asks.

“They are safe. They’re at the museum. I don’t think Cerviel will look for them there. I’m going to call Cole right now.” He walks away and puts his phone to his ear.

I hear him tell Cole that he found me and where we are as my father leads me into his living room. He helps me onto the couch and I automatically lie down, so tired all of a sudden as the adrenaline wears off.

“I’ll be right back, Alexis. Are you okay, right here?”

I nod and he leaves the room. Patryck comes into the room and sits beside me. “They’re on their way. You guys need to leave but I don’t think home is safe for you anymore.”

“No.” Edmund says from the doorway that, I think, leads into a kitchen as he is bringing me a cup of tea. He hands it to me and I sit up to sip it as he sits in the chair he had occupied last night. At least, I hope that was last night.

“They’re going back home. If they don’t, the humans will involve the police and more people will be looking for them. They cannot hide for long. I’m going to call for reinforcements. I don’t want either one of them to be alone.”

“What if they come for my parents?” I ask him in alarm, sitting up taller on the couch.

“Lexi, you need to lie down,” Patryck pushes me to lie back on the couch. “Don’t worry, they can’t touch humans. It’s against our laws. Forbidden. More than forbidden. It’s not possible, physically.” I give a confused look. “It’s not important to explain right now. Just relax. You don’t have to worry about them.”

I take a gulp of the warm tea and feel myself relax. I sigh into the couch and close my eyes. Edmund must have put something in my tea because I quickly fall asleep while they talk about their reinforcements. 

Chapter 22

I wake up feeling really comfortable, too comfortable for a couch, definitely more comfortable than the chair I was handcuffed to. I reach up to stretch my limbs and realize I am not wearing anything but a sheet that is barely covering me. My eyes shoot open to see Cole staring at me with a dark look in his eyes. He’s angry.

“Hi,” I say timidly. It feels wrong to smile when he looks so mad. I look around the room and see that it’s not familiar. “Where are we?”

“Edmunds. Lexi,” he breathes out my name and then comes across the bed, taking me into his arms. “You are never going to leave my sight again. I was so worried about you. I had no idea what happened to you. I should have been more vigilant. I had no idea they would take you.”

I breathe in his scent. So happy in this moment to be back in his arms. I tilt my head up and try to kiss away all of his worries. “You have no idea how much I love you,” he whispers into my neck as he kisses every inch that he can reach as we hold each other. I pull him down into the bed with me and hold onto him as hard as I can.

“I’m sorry,” I tell him between kisses.

“It’s not your fault, Lexi,” he whispers against my lips.

“I know, but I’m sorry for what you had to go through. I missed you so much. I was so scared,” I confess as hot tears roll down my temples.

He kisses both of my eyes and puts his forehead to mine. “I’m sorry they hurt you. I can’t believe they went so far.” His hands ball into fists on each side of my head.

“I don’t want to talk about it right now.” I pull him back to me and kiss him with the urgency of one in need.

*

“He stabbed you in the chest and you lived?” Alex drops his jaw in amazement. Cole’s knuckles are turning white as his hands are clenched into fists on top of the table.              “We shouldn’t talk about this anymore. I told you guys everything. I don’t want to get into the details.” I take a sip of the coffee in front of me.

Apparently we had crashed at Edmund’s house last night. Patryck and an angel he contacted, Mihr, went to scope out Cole’s apartment and get our stuff for us.

Mihr is a very serious angel, who I haven’t seen look any other way but bored. I’m still grateful that he’s here; the bigger the numbers, the safer we should be.

Kaitlyn’s calm personality has really benefitted her on this trip. She’s handling everything very bravely for just learning about us only two days ago. She’s even suggested a few ideas for the security detail when we get back home. I’m really glad Alex has someone like her who is brave, strong and understanding. I think if he was with anyone else, they would have been back in Virginia by now, running.

“We should leave soon,” Patryck says coming into the kitchen where most of us are gathered. I nod my head to acknowledge him.

We decided the safest way to get home would be to teleport with Edmund. He will take us, two at a time, to his house in Virginia and then we’ll hang out until we’re due back home. I don’t want my parents to suspect anything is wrong if we get home early from our ‘epic’ New York birthday weekend. Some birthday.

Cole and Mihr appear in the kitchen a few minutes later. “Everything is good at that end. No angels in sight,” Mihr reports like a military official.

“Alright, I’ll take Patryck and Alexis first...” Edmund starts.

“No,” I interrupt him. “I’m staying with Cole.”

“Fine, Alexis and Cole, followed by Patryck and Kaitlyn and then Alexander and Mihr. Agreed?” He raises his eyebrow at Alex waiting for him to dissent. Alex nods his head. He knows Kaitlyn will be safer with two angels, instead of one.

“Alright, Alexis? Cole?” He summons us over and we take his hand to immediately reappear in a new house.

“That was amazing,” I smile at Edmund. He winks and disappears, reappearing less than thirty seconds later with Patryck and Kaitlyn. Kaitlyn is smiling in amazement just like I was. Edmund disappears one more time to reappear with Alex and Mihr.

Alex seems unfazed by Edmund’s talent. He immediately reaches inside his pocket and pulls out his phone. “I’m going to call mom and dad real quick and let them know we are on our way back from New York,” he says to me. I nod my head at him and he walks out of the room with his phone to his ear.

“Edmund? Can I talk to you, alone, for a minute?” I turn from watching Alex leave to Edmund.

“Sure, come this way.” He puts his arm behind my back and leads me into an office. The room is small and you can tell he just moved into the place because it’s pretty bare. There are a few books on the shelves lining one wall and the desk only holds a laptop. There isn’t anything else in the room except a few chairs.

He closes the door and I sit in one of the chairs placed in front of the desk. He comes over and sits in the chair next to me and not in the one across from the desk. “What is it you want to talk about?” he asks.

I don’t hesitate from asking, “Why are you so disagreeable to Cole? You trusted him with the mission to be acquainted with us, but now it’s like you’re trying to throw Patryck at me. I don’t get it.” I stare him down while I wait for his reply.

He looks humbled when he admits, “I don’t think Cole can keep you safe or give you the dignity you deserve.”

“
Dignity
?”

“He’s a disgraced angel, his wings have been removed. No self-respecting angel will respect
you
as long as you’re with him. Patryck has not been disgraced. He is well-respected among the angels. He is a more suitable match and you guys have common interests.” He talks about all this like it’s the obvious, logical choice. When has love ever been logical?

I reach into my pocket and stroke Cole’s wings. I still need to find a new necklace for it. “You’ve been disgraced. Do you plan on my mother to take you back when she is free? Wouldn’t that be stooping low?”

“Your mother and I have had thousands of years to build our love. She will not care about such matters. If your argument is based off of that then you are just an ignorant child,” he growls at me.

“I don’t care if I
am
ignorant.” I stand up as my blood starts to rise to my face. “I am not going to tolerate you interfering with my love life. I choose Cole. I don’t care what he is or what has been done to him. He is the one I love and I want you to accept that.”

Edmund shakes his head and mutters something about me being an insolent child. “You’re young still,” he starts telling me in a soothing voice. “If you break away from Cole now, it will still hurt but you will heal from it fast. Don’t start your life on the wrong path…”

“I’m not going to stop loving Cole because
you
want me to. I came in here to tell you that you need to accept and get onboard with it…”

“
You
will not tell me what I have to do! I am your father, Alexis. I’ve tolerated you speaking to me with disobedience in the past but I will not stand for it much longer,” he yells at me. He’s now standing up and getting in my face.

I am so mad that tears are swelling in my eyes as my balled up hands shake at my side. “You’ve
never
been my father,” I say through clenched teeth.

I watch with defiant eyes as his hand jerks as if he means to slap me. He stops himself and his whole body relaxes as if he’s been defeated. “Alexis,” he sighs as his hand comes up to stroke the cheek that he was about to strike. “You are as strong and brave as your mother. You have her temper which is much fiercer than my own.” He pulls me to him in an embrace and crushes me to his chest while smoothing my hair down. I keep my arms to my side, not used to him treating me in this way.

“Are you going to accept Cole?” I ask, mumbling because my face is still crushed against his chest.

“No. We’ll just have to agree to disagree.”

I pull away and look into his eyes, “At least be nice to him. You’ve both been disgraced. You have a common bond.” I try to get him to sympathize.

He doesn’t answer me but leads me out the door back to our awaiting group.

When we leave his office I remember something else I had wanted to ask him. I follow Edmund into his kitchen where Cole and Patryck are sitting, looking anywhere but at each other. Patryck looks relaxed but Cole looks defeated.
Did he hear the conversation between Edmund and I?
I think with despair.

“Ollie told me something that is bothering me a little,” I admit to everyone in the room. Edmund is filling a couple of glasses with water. I notice him pause mid pour.

“I’m sure he would tell you anything to make you angry. He is a deceitful creature. What was it about?” Patryck and Cole are looking at me with interest, wanting to know any details of what happened.

“Well, he didn’t know what I was or who I was but he knew you had interest. He said he had been following you all around Virginia. That they finally settled in the area when you did. They knew you guys were up to something. They thought you were gathering an army or something.  I think he might have thought that I knew what it was.”

“So, what bothered you about that?” Edmund looks at me with a confused expression, not understanding where I am going with this.

“I want to know how long you guys were in the area. What were you doing? Were you amassing an army? And… how long were you watching me and Alex?” My anger flares back up as I ask the last question. Hating the feeling of being watched when I was unaware.

Edmund takes a deep breath, probably preparing himself for my wrath when I hear his answers. “Take a seat, Alexis,” he commands me. I move to sit between Cole and Patryck at the little table in the kitchen. Edmund sits in the other empty chair and slide a glass of water towards me. “We are not amassing an army. It would be impossible. Most of the angels that side with us are afraid of the consequences that will happen if they get too close. Though many of them know the truth, they are not willing to risk their wings.” Edmund looks at Patryck. “Cole doesn’t have that to fear anymore. Patryck is determined to fight but I won’t let him risk that. We just can’t get enough on our side. It’s too great a risk. I don’t want any of them to risk the humiliation and loss.”

He takes a sip of his water and continues, “I had to hide you and Alex. I couldn’t keep you with me, so I left you in a hospital in northern Virginia. I thought I would be able to track where they took you but I couldn’t. So, I had Cole try to
persuade
people into giving us the information but it was a feeble attempt. There were a few twins in the system around the same age. We tracked them all down and watched them grow until we knew which ones were you two.” He looks over my shoulder and I turn around to see that Alex and Kaitlyn have come into the room.