Michael (The Curse) (The Airel Saga, Book 3: Part 5-6) (11 page)

A flash of bright light, and I was spun around. Something—someone—grabbed and yanked me from the side and I went down hard. I rolled over quickly and managed to get to one knee. Immediately my senses kicked in, full force.

Thanks for the warning.
Clearly
She
was laying down on the job.

I looked up to see a woman—a girl about my age—standing over me with a short curved sword.

I sprang to my feet. I reacted out of shock, grabbing her outstretched wrist, yanking her off balance. She pitched forward. I forced her to foul her blade against the ground, safely away from my body, and hit her hard as she came into me. I smacked her in the forehead with the heel of my hand, right between the eyes. The girl’s head snapped backward, and she twisted back and around and away.

I scrambled to my feet. I knew my opponent would waste no time in renewing her attack and I wanted to be ready.

“Stop.” The voice was so loud that it reverberated through my body. It was Michael.

The girl was on her feet again, but she stole a glance in his direction. I took the opportunity. I punched her across the jaw and followed that up with my elbow. The sword clanged to the ground and she dropped to her knees.

I snatched it up and stood over her at the ready.

“Stop!” Michael shouted.

I took a step back.

The girl was seething, staring daggers into me.

“Don’t move or you will never move again.” I growled through my teeth at her. I would not lose my advantage. She would not touch me again.

Kim came running around the corner, sliding to a clumsy stop on a low pile of debris. “Airel, where did you get a sword?” She stopped when she saw me standing over the girl. “What—”

“Airel,” Michael said, “just calm down. I’ve got this.”

I dared to glance at him for the first time, quickly bringing my eyes right back to my foe. It took a few seconds to register in my mind.
He has a gun.
Where did he get a gun?
It was aimed squarely at the girl.

“I’ve got her. She’s not going anywhere. Just step back slowly and—”

“Shut up. Both of you.” The girl spoke with an accent. It sounded Australian, but not quite. “Just listen to me,” she said as she slowly came to her feet. “This is a mistake. I’m here to help. Not to kill.”

***

“MY NAME IS ELLIE.” She brought one hand to her lip, which was bleeding from where I had split it open. Piercing eyes regarded me from under the hood of her sweater.

I rolled my eyes. “And my name is Airhead Cindy. All I want is world peace.”

She scowled at me.

“You’re here to help? Then what
was
all that? Your version of ‘hello’?”

Kim moved closer and stood next to Michael. I looked at her a little annoyed, like ‘
Whatever happened to ‘BFF’s got your back, girl?’
But she seemed dazed.
The peanut gallery has no comment. Miracles will never cease.

Ellie’s hand came away from her lip and the blood was gone. “You’ve got a mean cross. You seem to be able to handle yourself.” She pulled her hood back, exposing a bright blue explosion of spiky hair. “Sorry ‘bout that. I thought you were someone else.” She extended her hand to me.

As if I was going to shake it. I didn’t move. I just stared at her and her look-at-me hair.

“Wow.” Kim said. “Great hair; it looks so cool.”

“Thanks. Did it myself,” Ellie replied, withdrawing her hand.

I sensed in that gesture the vague whiff of missed opportunity, but I stuffed it down inside. “Who are you? What are you doing here?” I was getting angry all over again.

Michael had relaxed his aim, allowing the gun to point downward at the ground. Other than that, he stood motionless, watching the proceedings like a wise man.

“Well?” I said the sword still up and ready to slice.

“As I said before, I’m Ellie. I’m an angel. I’ve been looking for Kreios. It’s obvious that you all know exactly who that is.” She eyed me in particular. “I don’t have to tell you he’s out of control. I’m here to find him and put a leash on him.”

I gaped.

“How do you know who we are?” Michael said. He slid the gun into the small of his back and visibly relaxed. I lowered my sword, but I was still tense.

“I keep my ear to the ground. I heard about the activation of one of the half-breeds—no offense,” Ellie glanced at me with a fake smile, “and the way she fights I’m guessing she is you. Airel, right?”

“Yeah, she’s me,” I said, blowing a wisp of hair out of my face.

“And who did you say sent you again?” Michael said.

“El,” she said, her tone pat.

“And who did you think we were?” I asked. “I’m still a little confused about that.”

“That’s okay, dearie. I’ll explain it for you,” she replied. “It’s simple. I thought you were the baddies.”

Kim snickered.

“Laugh it up, Red,” I said to her. “Thanks for getting my back.”

“Shut up, Airel,” Kim said. “You knew it was stupid to walk in there. I didn’t have to tell you that for you to know it.”

“Just whatever,” I said.
Great. Now I’m the peanut gallery.

“Look, you guys,” Ellie said. “Your little family quarrel is out of hand now. It’s not just your problem anymore. We—the Fallen—would like to avoid all-out war.” She looked at Michael, then glanced to Kim. “You’re Michael?” she asked him, looking back.

“Yes.”

“Well, aren’t you guys just the motley crew. A half-breed Immortal, an exiled member of the Brotherhood, and,” she turned to Kim, “and I’m not quite sure what you are. Or why you’re here.”

Kim looked like a cornered three-year-old. “You know a lot about us.” Her face was white and drenched with fear.

“How about you leave her alone,” I said, bringing the tip of the blade up again.

“How about you make me,” Ellie responded, whipping out a dagger from under her baggy hoodie and turning back to me.

“Ladies, please,” Michael said. “We don’t have time for this nonsense. Can we just stop insulting each other and try to get on the same page here? Please? If you really want to avoid the fight Kreios is out there trying to pick, we have got to get past this little scuffle quickly.”

Ellie’s face was beautifully sinister, and I believed if she could have, she would have growled at me.

I scowled back at her, then looked down at her sword in my hand. “Think fast,” I said, twirling the grips of the sword around in my hand. I flipped it down and around and tossed it end over end, right at her head.

She caught it directly in front of her face, one-handed by the grips, and smiled at me.

“I’ve got my own in the car, so don’t mess with me,” I said.

“You, young lady, need to get over yourself,” she said.

Precisely, She
said, and I rolled my eyes and turned away from Ellie, but only slightly. I wasn’t sure I could trust her yet.

Michael caught my eye and I knew he felt for me. “We’re all looking for Kreios. We should work together.” His gaze on me intensified. “Just like Ellie was trying to say.”

“It’s true,” she added, heaping hot coals on me.

“I’m sorry, okay? It takes me a while to make friends.” I kicked a brick, making it plop over. “Especially after I get attacked for no reason.”

“Airel, please accept my apology. As I said, I didn’t know it was you.”

I looked Ellie in the eyes. I decided to trust her.
For now.
But she didn’t need to know that.

“Ellie,” Michael said, “we were hoping to find some clue as to where he’s headed.”

She laughed. “What? You think he was going to leave you a note or something?”

Kim giggled, but turned serious when she looked at me.

“No,” Michael said. “I’m a tracker. I don’t need much. Just thought maybe you’d found something.”

“Not yet. I’m still looking for clues myself. I’m still too far behind, unfortunately, to make much of what I have. I’ve been going round to suspicious-looking sites and taking notes. What happened, how many were killed, stuff like that. Intel.”

“Can’t God see what’s going on and just stop it?” Kim asked.

“Sure. But El has his ways and I don’t question. I just do as I’m told.” Ellie looked away off to the distance, her eyes illuminating a depth of experience that I knew I lacked. It made me jealous. “I really need to be on my way....”

“The cops are after us,” I blurted out.

“Are you bragging?” she asked.

“No. Just … it’s probably a good idea for you to clear out,” I said.

The wind was still gusting, but it was drier because the rain wasn’t coming down with it.

Michael shook his head. “No. We should work together. We’ll be better equipped to find him, and more quickly, if we go after him together.”

“You want me to take orders from you, Demon Boy?” Ellie said.

“No,” Michael said, “I just want you to be reasonable.”

“That’s pretty funny, coming from you. Oh, yes, I know all about your situation. Word gets around. And you talk about being reasonable?”

I wondered how much she
could
know, though. If I were a betting kind of girl, which I wasn’t, but if I were, my money would be on fatal shock whenever she found out about Michael writing in my Book. She just couldn’t know about any of that.

“Believe it or not, yeah, I
am
talking about being reasonable,” Michael said. “I’m not going to get into all the reasons for or against right now, but it’s pretty obvious—even to Little Demon Boy— that this is a time for, I guess you might call it ‘consolidation of force.’ Even if the truce between us is uneasy.”

Ellie spat on the ground and it sizzled in the dust of brick and mortar. Was she convinced? I couldn’t tell.

“We need you,” Michael continued. “Come on. You can’t tell me that you’re not at least a little suspicious that this is El, and not a chance meeting.” He paused. “Airel needs you too,” he said, looking at me, and I wanted to kill him where he stood. “She’ll never admit it, but she needs anyone and everyone who can help her find her grandfather.”

I gave him the stink eye.

“Yeah, I know exactly what you’re talking about,” Ellie said. “You can’t hear him anymore, can you?” she asked me. “He’s a brick wall for me too.” She looked around at us with her piercingly beautiful blue eyes. I couldn’t help noticing that she was beautiful,
darn it
. Why was I being so competitive, though? Michael wasn’t just some fair-weather boyfriend. I shoved my hood down off my head onto my shoulders and ran my fingers through my hair, redoing my ponytail.

“What do you say?” Michael asked her.

“Don’t try too hard to close the sale,” she said.

I looked at her again. There was something about her that drew me in. Part of me wanted to pull her aside and grill her with questions I couldn’t even begin to know how to put into words. I wasn’t sure if it was her or if it was what she represented. I was so hungry for truth. If she was a conduit to the end of at least some of the mystery in my life, I wanted to grab on to her and not let go. “Okay,” I said. “Truce.”

I held out my hand to her. “Let’s start over. I’m Airel.”

Her eyebrows arched in surprise. She walked to me and promptly took my hand and shook it— firmly. “Yeah. You can call me Ellie.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“Pleasure.” She smiled wryly.

I wondered if Ellie was the one
She
had been trying to tell me about.

“Have you been to the other site yet? The one in Portland?” Ellie asked us as she sheathed her sword in the scabbard that was strapped to her back under her hoodie.

“No,” Michael said.

“Yeah, well, don’t bother. That’s why I’m here. There wasn’t much there to go on.”

Ellie and Michael started trading information, syncing up their brains. I stole a look at Kim as they talked. I caught her eye, but she looked away from me. I would have to talk with her later. Make things right.
Should we have just sent her home?
Maybe Michael had been right about that. I didn’t know for sure. I just needed Kreios so badly.
Why are you not here?

Ellie and Michael suddenly stopped talking and jerked their heads toward me. “What?” I said.

They looked at each other. “We should get going,” Michael volunteered. “Talk in the car.”

“Agreed,” Ellie said.

I couldn’t help but feel like I was being taken on some kind of ride that I couldn’t get off of. Not at least until it was all over.

The four of us began walking back toward Kreios’ SUV. I looked at Michael. “Hey, and just where did you get a gun?”

All he did was give me his trademark crooked smile.

From the Book of the Brotherhood, Volume 3:

…

The Brotherhood seeks above all else to undo El’s cursed work. Brothers and Hosts, when you deceive or destroy a Son or Daughter of El, you engage in the pure and right; you restore the Chthonic to all that is; you unmake what has been made…

CHAPTER I

U.S. Highway 97, Oregon—Present Day

RAIN. IT PELTED DOWN on the windshield loudly in the darkness, the wiper blades pushing at it in swipes, but the downpour was relentless, making it hard to see the road.