Prophecy Girl (Angel Academy) (20 page)

Everyone expected Charlotte to leave Bud. I think even Bud expected her to leave. But she never did. They got married a year later, and she was pregnant in no time.

I wouldn’t have known anything about the accident if I hadn’t overheard them talking one night. My dad kept saying how it was the right decision to save the baby. How even though it crippled her bondmate, a child’s soul, no matter who the child was, was worth the sacrifice. I figured, for whatever reason, it must have come to a choice between risking the life of her unborn child or letting Bobby get brutalized by demons during a jump. She’d obviously picked me.

I had to wonder, did Mom ever regret it? If she’d known what bloodline she carried in her belly, would she still have sacrificed him—sacrificed her career—to save me? To save
us
?

According to my dad, Bobby moved away after I was born. He never said why, but it didn’t take a genius to figure it out. He came back to the house once, I remember, years later. Dad tried to usher me off to bed, but I’d clung to the staircase railing, mesmerized. Before that night, it never occurred to me my mother was broken. I figured all moms had those bouts of silence, those days where their eyes stayed glazed and they couldn’t force themselves to eat. I had no clue, until I saw her with him.

She didn’t speak for weeks when he left again.

The words on the article scrolled down Luc’s computer pad, unread. It was the photo I wanted. If those people were my mom’s closest friends in high school, maybe one of them knew something about the kidnapping. Assuming that’s what it was. Try as I might, I couldn’t imagine my parents willingly giving up their child…even if someone told them it was pure evil.

I tapped the download icon and waited while the image saved. Then I shut it down. About two minutes too late.

By the time I glanced out the window again, Starbucks was crawling with Guardians. Creepy Daniel stood with his back to the entrance, a dark gray duster thrown over his uniform. In his hand, he held a newspaper, rolled into a loose tube. No telling what was under it. A knife? A gun? Whatever it was, it didn’t look promising. Marcus stood beside him, blond hair whipping in the breeze like Fabio on a cover shoot. The rest of them scurried around, well-trained lemmings in trench coats, their own rolled-up newspapers clutched in hand.

So much for not striking around humankind.

Annoyed at myself, I stuffed the computer pad back into Luc’s satchel and started sketching out the containment wards to set up a portal. Jack was going to kill me when I told him I’d blown our safe house. Oh, well. At least we had plenty of time to get out before the cavalry figured out my Wi-Fi piggyback.

“Hey, Jack.” I gently touched his forehead, and he jerked awake. Probably not the best idea to startle a sleeping man with a deadly weapon in his hand.

“Easy,” I said. “Just a friendly wake-up call.”

Jack rolled over, his eyes squinting at the light streaming in behind me. He leaned back and stretched his arms overhead. “What time is it?”

“Almost ten.” I settled onto the bed beside him, cross-legged. As adorable as he’d been a few minutes ago, it was nothing compared to the sweet, bleary-eyed look of amusement in his eyes now. “What are you smiling about?”

He shrugged, his hands laced into a cradle behind his head. “You’re still here.”

“Where else would I be?”

“I don’t know. The mall? Eating omelets somewhere?” He tugged at my tangled red ponytail. “Hey, that’s a good nickname for you.
Omelet
.”

“Very funny.” I gave him a nasty look. “The good news is, despite my near starvation I
didn’t
abandon you to go on a breakfast run. And as you know, I consider that a rather large sacrifice.”

“I appreciate it. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

“So, what’s the bad news?”

Faint clanging noises rose up from across the street. “Bad news?”

“Yeah, you said that was the good news. When someone points out the good news, they usually follow with the bad.”

“Right. Well, there are two things,” I admitted. “The first is I’ve been thinking—”

“God, help us.”

“About my dad. Lisa told me they’re holding him at the school,” I said. “So I had an idea about what we have to do next.”

He sat up and quit smiling. “The answer’s no. No way.”

“But it’s our best shot. We have questions. He knows the answers,” I said. “What are we supposed to do? Wait until the Elders wipe his memory? We’ll never find out who my brother is.”

“Ami.” Jack leveled me with a glare. “You’re talking about breaking into a warded, maximum security facility to rescue a guy who hasn’t picked up a weapon in decades. It’s suicide.”

“Not necessarily. We’ll have the element of surprise,” I countered. “They think I’m guilty. Guilty people run away. They’ll never expect us to come to them.”

“Because only an insane person would do that.”

“Look, if you’ve got a better idea, let’s hear it. I’m all ears.” I paused, arms laced across my chest. “Come on, Jack, you know I’m right.”

There was turmoil behind his eyes. “But he’s a civilian.”

“Not entirely. He’s trained. Out of practice, sure, but trained. And without the Otrava, I’m sure I can shield him in a portal jump. If you get me in, I’ll get us out. Please?” I gave him the puppy-dog eyes with just a hint of tearfulness. It worked on teachers all the time, though usually my goals had more to do with late homework than felony jailbreaks. “Jack, I’m begging you.”

“Ami, he’s a defector.”

“He’s my dad.”

Jack opened his mouth to argue, then shut it. He knew I had a point. Or maybe he was just a sucker for tears. I didn’t care. I’d lost nearly everything that mattered in my life. It was time to reclaim my dad and my past and start solving the mystery.

After the world’s longest pause, he finally nodded. “Fine.”

“Fine? Really?”

“Yeah.” He threw off the covers and stood, grabbing his weapons belt off the bedside table. He looked grumpy yet determined, a sexy combination if ever I’d seen one. I was on the brink of launching myself at him for another hug when he asked, “So, what’s the other thing?”

“The other thing?”

“With the bad news,” he said, impatient. “There were two—”

“Right,” I said. “About that. We should probably get moving soon. There may have been a tiny security breach while you were sleeping. Not a breach, really. More of a hiccup.”

On the street below, the noises picked up. I could already make out the vague sound of Marcus shouting and Creepy Daniel swearing at no one in particular. Apparently, Jack heard it, too.

“Omelet,” he growled.

“Sorry.” I smiled apologetically. “But the good news is, I know a great place to grab some breakfast.”

Chapter Eighteen:

Undone

We waited until full dark to move on St. Michael’s. Totally
James Bond
, right?

As soon as Luc pulled onto Prytania Street, I could tell things had changed at the school. Deep green palm tendrils draped over the wrought iron fence, their edges fizzing on contact with the warded metal tines. The usual faint glow around the perimeter was amped up and shimmering, a sign that the wards had been fortified recently. Most humans would assume the glow came from the twinkle lights strung in anticipation of tomorrow night’s commencement formal, but I knew better. Maybe the Elders wouldn’t be expecting us, but we were idiots to think they wouldn’t be prepared.

Luc turned his Porsche down a side street and pulled to the curb as Dane’s pick-up screeched to a halt behind us. I wasn’t quite sure what to make of Dane yet. He seemed nice enough when we met, in a friendly puppy sort of way. He had a full head of shaggy brown hair and a round face that lit up when he smiled. Which he did a lot. I think we might have been friends if we’d met under different circumstances. Not so possible with the mega-weird vibe between him and Jack.

Jack tried to be casual about it but I didn’t miss how diligently he positioned himself between Dane and me. Every time I moved, even to gesture to a new target on the campus map, Jack reoriented himself so he filled the space between us. I tried to ask what was up, but he just muttered something about lunar cycles and violent werewolf mating patterns.

Violent werewolf mating patterns?
Um, yeah. After that, I didn’t mind so much.

“So, cousin,” Luc said, cutting the engine. “This is how you want to spend your last night on earth? Really?”

“Luc, we’ve been over this. Bud has information—”

“Which you desperately need. Yes, it’s not for me to judge. Lord knows I’ve had my share of evenings crouched in the bushes with a woman. I’m merely wondering if you’ve considered the alternatives.”

“Alternatives?” Jack caught my eye in the rearview mirror. “I’m listening.”

“Well, Brazil is lovely this time of year. As is Mexico. I could charter a jet for you. Champagne, caviar, a well-trained companion of the finest breeding,” he offered. “You’d leave Saturday, after the Induction—”

“Very subtle, vampire.” I kicked the back of his seat. “If bribery doesn’t work, just call your bodyguards and have them tie him up for you. I’ll bet you’ve spent your fair share of evenings in
that
situation too, huh?”

Luc met my glare in the rearview mirror. “Must you speak?”

“Bite me.”

He sneered. “I don’t fancy your type.”

“Why, too sober? Too much self-esteem?”

Jack frowned at us across the blue light of the console. “Can you two at least pretend to cooperate? We’re on the same team here.”

“Yeah, Dracu-Luc,” I said. “Play nice or I’ll ride with the werewolf.”

“I’ll give you fifty quid if you do,” Luc offered.

“Both of you, cut it out!” Jack said, irate. “Luc, quit goading her. She’s unstable enough as it is. And Ami, Luc has put himself at risk, both physically and politically, to help us. He deserves your gratitude, not your contempt.”

“Oh, please! He’s a sneaky, self-serving man-whore who doesn’t know the first thing about—” I stopped. “Hold up, did you call me unstable?”

“He was being kind,” Luc said.

“
Luc
!”

To be fair, Luc was far from the Mother Teresa of vampires. When we’d first approached him with the rescue plan, his immediate response had been to offer us vodka martinis, probably spiked with Ambien. I suspect it was some lame plot to knock Jack unconscious so he could drag him to the Peace Tenets signing on Saturday.

Evidently Luc’s mom, a vampire aristocrat named Arianna Fassnight (no Montaigne, interestingly), had threatened to cut Luc off financially unless he hunted down at least three of the original peace petitioners from each group. And since he’d dismissed his minions, the poor bloodsucker had been forced to actually
do
the legwork himself. So far he had vamps and werecreatures accounted for, but he hadn’t found a single Guardian signatory. I couldn’t decide which would be more tragic—losing the Peace Tenets or denying Luc a chance to cope with poverty.

“Tell you what,” I suggested diplomatically. “Let’s get my dad, then Saturday afternoon we can take one of Luc’s vamptastic cars and drive to Tijuana. You don’t mind, right vampire?”

“Not a bit,” he said generously. “Anything but the Ferrari.”

“What’s wrong with the Ferrari?”

“I lost my virginity in it,” he said, as casually as if he’d been describing a business meeting.

I flashed a quick look at Jack. There were a few mental images I never thought I’d have to deal with, and chief among them was the crazy-hot vampire being deflowered in the backseat of an Italian sports car.

“He’s kidding,” Jack assured me. “You’re kidding, right?”

“The night of my fifteenth birthday party,” Luc mused fondly. “It was Beatrice Boudreaux, Mum’s yoga instructor. Honestly, if not for that woman’s flexibility and the Rachmaninoff on the stereo, it might have been a complete disaster.”

“I’m going to be ill,” I said.

Unwilling to stomach the details, I let myself out of the car and headed for the azalea bushes lining the street across from St. Michael’s. Normally, a mud-strewn canopy of pink, semi-poisonous plants wouldn’t hold such appeal. But when the alternative was a blow by blow of—

Never mind. My brain felt dirty thinking about it.

A few minutes and several troubling images later, Jack crawled into the bushes behind me carrying a backpack full of C4 and a few remote detonators. He handed me one of the heavy gray bricks, stuck something metal between his teeth, and started pulling a tangle of black wires out of the pack. I couldn’t help but be slightly turned on by how focused he looked as he labored over the wires. It almost silenced the Rachmaninoff in my head.

“There,” he said, when they were finally loose. “I have to go set the charges with Dane. Will you be okay for a minute?”

“Do I need a babysitter?”

“I think we’ve established that you do.” He pulled a baseball cap low over his golden curls. “Try meditating. Maybe it’ll keep you out of trouble.”

“Yeah, that’ll work, for sure.”

He kept to the shadows along the gray stone wall and disappeared around a corner before I had a chance to get irritated. The meditation thing went poorly, as expected. After a few failed attempts, I dug out the computer pad Luc gave us and turned it on. In all the hubbub of planning Dad’s jailbreak, I’d completely forgotten to show Jack the photo I’d found.

It only took me a few seconds to boot up the screen, a soft glimmer illuminating the leafy darkness. If Jack had been there, he would have scolded me for risking the light, but I knew the danger was minimal. One of the benefits of being an aspiring career criminal throughout my prep school years—I had the guard rotations memorized. They never came outside the gates so late.

I’d just gotten the photo loaded when Jack returned, covered in a thin sheen of sweat. He dropped to his belly and scooted under the bushes beside me.

“Charges are set.” He glanced at the computer pad, then back at me, suspicious. “Tell me you didn’t just log on to an unprotected local wireless network again.”

I gave him my dirtiest look. Pointless in the dark. “I wanted to show you this. I figured it’d be a good place to start for a suspect list.” I tipped the screen so he could see.

“Class photo, huh?” he muttered, distracted by the detonators in his hand. “Is that Chancellor Thibault?”

“Thibault?” I scooted the computer back and scanned the blurred back rows. No Thibault. “Uh, you may want to reconsider giving up those glasses, dude.”

Jack shot me a sharp glare, then pushed the detonators into my hands, a light tingle reverberating at his touch. It took a few strokes but soon the photo zoomed in over Mom’s bondmate’s face.

“There,” he said. “Thibault.”

I could see what he meant. The two men had the same wavy hair, the same squared jaw. I squinted at the photo, trying to imagine Bobby-the-bondmate with twenty years and a lot of politics on him.

“Jack, you don’t think…”

We both stared at the photo for another few seconds then at each other. Before I could say a word, Jack grabbed the computer pad and scrolled to the text beneath the photo. We both saw it at the same time. Robert Martin Thibault, assigned as Watcher to Charlotte Lane the year of their graduation.

“Holy crow,” I said. “I didn’t even know they were in the same class. How did we miss this?”

“It’s Alec Charbonnet,” he muttered.

I glanced up. “Alec?”

“Your brother,” Jack said. “If Thibault figured out what bloodline she carried, he may have decided to take Alec from her out of revenge. Or maybe he thought he was doing her a favor. Who knows?”

The evening song of cicadas seemed to quicken along with my heart. In my mind’s eye, I saw Thibault’s gnarled legs, all bent and twisted like melted candles. Those injuries could easily have happened during the botched jump with Mom. And Alec certainly fit the bill as my twin brother. My age. Tall like me, with green eyes. His hair was darker, but it
could
have auburn highlights. Would that satisfy the “hair of fire” line in the prophecy?

“Didn’t he leave class right before your test on Tuesday?” Jack asked. “Thibault approved the testing schedule and site assignments. He could have told Alec where to go. They would have had plenty of time to set up the wards at your test site. Hell, they could have done it the night before.”

“God, I’m so stupid,” I whispered, panicked. “We have to call Lisa. And Katie! She’s practically dating him. We have to warn them—”

Jack shook his head. “You can’t. Think about it. If he suspects they’re onto him, he’s got a reason to hurt them.”

“Jack, I have to do something.”

“They’re safer not knowing,” he insisted. “And I hate to say it, but we don’t have time for this. Dane’s holding live explosive charges, Luc’s waiting for the go signal, and we’ve got less than thirty minutes before shift change. It’s now or never for your dad.”

With shaky hands, I shut down the computer, slid it into my pack, and followed Jack across the street to our position on the north end of campus, away from the wrought iron front gates. The smell of magic burned in the air, and moon-shadowed leaves danced across the lawn like tiny black fairies. Until that moment, I’d never noticed how much the place resembled a fortress.

Hopeful as I’d been about getting my dad back, all I could feel was dread. What if Alec decided to use Lisa and Katie as bait? Would he hurt them to draw me out? And what about Matt? He was too brave not to fight back—would Alec kill him when he did? It’d been over twelve hours since I’d talked to Lisa.
Twelve hours
. They could all be dead by now.

Jack must have noticed the vacant look on my face because as soon as we reached the wall he tugged me into the shadows. “Look, if your head’s not in this we can still abort. I won’t risk you getting hurt. Not even for Bud.”

I blinked my eyes into focus. I could do this.

“Amelie?”

“I’m fine,” I lied. “Let’s go.”

Jack had set explosive charges all along the south corner of the wall, each block of C4 marked with perimeter-disabling glyphs. Of course, once they went off, we’d still have another layer of wards before we broke through to the security building. That was where our handy vampire alliance came in. I was more than a little curious how Luc had managed to come up with six pounds of military-grade explosives plus a rocket launcher with just a few hours notice. Best not to dwell on it.

“As soon as the charges blow, we have to move fast,” Jack warned. “We’ll only have a few minutes before reinforcements arrive. Assuming our diversion works and we can get a clear path in, we’re still cutting it close. Are you sure you’re up for this?”

“Just get me in.”

Jack gave a quick nod. “Plug your ears.”

I did, but it didn’t help much. When Jack pressed that button, it sounded like the entire city block had exploded. It didn’t even matter that it was on the opposite side of campus. The ground shuddered, car alarms screamed and, most importantly, the dome of shimmering light around St. Michael’s flickered.

And went dark.

“Ladies first.” Jack made a cradle with his hands and boosted me over the wall. I landed hard on my butt amidst a pile of deceptively fluffy-looking bushes. Like a hawk in flight, Jack leaped over the stone wall and landed beside me. On his feet.

“Show off,” I said.

Jack stayed by my side as we sprinted across campus toward our target. We were still about forty feet from the security building when I heard Dane and Luc start their assault. It began with a crack, followed by a slow hiss like the bottle rockets Dad and I used to set off on the Fourth of July. I barely had time to register what it was before another explosion rang out, along with the soul-crunching sound of my beloved school’s walls crumbling.

At least it was just the janitorial wing. We’d chosen that as the target because it shared a ward blanket with the security building and would be empty after hours. I didn’t think I could bear it if the main campus got hurt.

The acrid smell of diesel and gunpowder rolled off the target as the next two rockets hit, their glow lighting up the sky in a sick flash of orange. For a moment, it looked like the warded perimeter would fail. Its brightness flickered like a summer brown-out. Then the glow stabilized.

“Dang it,” Jack muttered. “Stay close.”

Ducking low, he ran toward the security building. We didn’t have enough time to mess around setting off multiple charges and Luc and Dane didn’t dare linger with the rockets. Guards already poured out of the buildings toward the south campus. If anyone recognized Luc, there’d be hell to pay at the Peace Tenets. We couldn’t risk it.

Dane’s tires screeched down the street in the distance and my stomach gave a little dip. Whatever fortifications the Guardians had put on the interior wards, there was no guarantee Jack and I could get through them.