Shadows (6 page)

His house is two blocks away. A little weatherboard with bright pink bougainvillea growing up a ratty trellis around the front door. One of the dozens of holiday rentals scattered around town. This one has seen its fair share of backpackers, given the burnt-out forty-four-gallon drum in the front yard and the rusty deck chairs clustered around it.

The front door opens before we’re out of the car. Rafa has changed since this morning. He’s wearing a faded blue singlet, pants, combat boots that he hasn’t bothered to lace up. He leans against the doorframe and watches us approach.

‘I had another visitor,’ I say, stopping whatever smartarse comment he was about to make.

He stands up straight. ‘At your place?’

‘No,’ Maggie says, and brushes past him. ‘She went for a walk.’

‘Shit, Gabe. Some things never change. When are you going to listen?’

‘I’m in one piece, aren’t I?’

He checks me over and then steps aside so Jason and I can go in.

‘Who was it?’ He follows us into the kitchen. He’s been busy since we left: our breakfast dishes are washed and drying on the rack and the place smells of disinfectant.

‘She said her name was Daisy.’

‘Tall, red hair?

I nod.

‘Was she armed?’

‘No. She said she just wanted see me.’

Maggie, Jason and I sit at the table, all of us where we sat this morning, and Maggie begins tracing the scratch in the table again.

Rafa leans against the sink. ‘What else did she say?’

‘That you’re a dick.’

‘She’s called me worse. Anything else?’

‘That you’d take care of me.’

His eyebrows go up. ‘A vote of confidence from the gingernut. That must have hurt her.’

‘She also said you needed to grow a set and tell me the
truth— that it was about time you did something useful.’

His lips twitch but he doesn’t smile. ‘Did she ask you to go back with her?’

I shake my head. ‘She asked if you had back-up.’

‘What did you say?’

‘Not that I was aware of.’

He pushes off from the sink. ‘What did you do that for?’

‘Ah…because I didn’t know not to?’

‘If she tells Nathaniel I’m here alone, he’ll send another pack of dogs after you.’

Maggie’s hand stops moving.

‘She won’t.’

‘What, you remember Daisy? You
know
her?’

‘No, but I don’t think that’s why she asked.’

He runs a hand through his short hair and it sticks up. ‘We have to go. You need to be long gone before they come. I can’t hold them off on my own.’

‘No.’

He leans on the table across from me, blocking the light from the window. ‘Gabe, for once in your life would you just do what you’re told.’

‘Not until you tell me what connection I have to a mythical gang of fallen angels.’

He falters. ‘What did Daisy tell you?’

‘Nothing!’ My voice is too loud in the small kitchen.
‘ And I’m sick of everyone keeping me in the dark.’

Jason is watching Rafa intently.

Rafa stands back from the table, looks at the wall behind us and then stretches his neck until there’s a cracking sound. ‘Fine. But you might want to have this conversation in private.’

I shake my head.

‘Gabe…’

I cross my arms and wait.

‘If I tell you this, will you come with me?’

‘Probably not.’

He breathes out heavily and moves back against the sink. ‘Where do I start…?’

‘How about with Semyaza?’

‘We know he was the leader of the fallen angels,’ Jason breaks in, ‘and that they were all sent to hell.’

Rafa cracks a knuckle. ‘Pity they didn’t stay there.’

Jason seems surprised by the answer, even though his instincts were right.

‘They broke out about a hundred and forty years ago,’ Rafa says. ‘Nobody knows how they did it. They spent forty-eight hours on earth, amusing themselves with willing virgins, and then disappeared off the face of the planet. Popular theory is they’re hiding out somewhere. Or trapped.’

‘Hold on a minute,’ Maggie says. ‘They were originally
sent to hell because they hooked up with human women, and then as soon as they saw the light of day, they did the same thing again?’

‘Guess they were slow learners.’

Jason’s chair creaks as he shifts position. ‘What makes you think they weren’t caught and dragged back to hell?’

‘Because the demons are still looking for them,’ Rafa says.

‘The demons?’ Maggie swallows. ‘God, you’re serious, aren’t you? You really believe this stuff?’

Rafa ignores her.

I dig my fingers into my arms. ‘And where do Jude and I fit into this?’

‘Like I told you, we’re all part of an association.’

‘The Rephaim?’ The word brings a flutter to my chest. ‘Daisy mentioned it,’ I say, before he can ask.

‘Yeah,’ Rafa says slowly. ‘We hunt for Semyaza and the two hundred.’

‘Why?’

He looks at me like I’ve just asked why he’s wearing pants. ‘What else are we going to do?’

‘But, you said…’ I’m trying to remember our conversation in his room.

Rafa shrugs. ‘There’s a difference of opinion about what we should do if we find the Fallen.’

‘What’s that got to do with—’

‘The story doing the rounds is that you and Jude disappeared because you’d found them, and it cost you both your heads.’ He pauses. ‘So, you see, now that you’re back from the dead, everyone’s going to be more than a little curious about what happened. Your crew, our crew, the demons…’

‘But I don’t know anything.’

‘And I’m sure if you politely explain that to the hellspawn, they’ll just leave you alone.’

Daisy wasn’t kidding about the questions I’d have.

‘So, Taya and the other one last night…they’re on
my
side?’

Rafa scoffs. ‘No, you were on
theirs.
When you and Jude took off, your crew thought you’d joined us. And ours thought Jude had joined you. Everyone’s been a little twitchy ever since. You reappearing like this…Let’s just say there’ll be a frenzy going on at the Sanctuary right now.’

The only noise in the kitchen is the slow drip from the tap over the sink. Maggie’s attention has drifted to the window. Her face is pale, eyes distant. I rub my temples.

‘Gabe,’ Rafa says.
‘Gaby.’
He waits until I’m looking at him again. ‘Demons exist. The hell-spawn you wrote about, they’re real. And sooner or later all this chatter about you being alive is going to reach their deformed ears and they’ll come for you. I can’t protect you here.’

It’s hard for me to argue with him when I have no idea
what he’s talking about. That doesn’t mean I’m not going to try. ‘But why do I care about fallen angels? And who the hell are the Rephaim?’

Rafa glances at Jason and Maggie. I’m not sure she’s even listening, but Jason is hanging on every word.

‘Just spit it out,’ I say.

‘Those forty-eight hours the Fallen spent on earth, they got busy. They seduced about a thousand women between them.’ He waits, as if that should mean something to me. It doesn’t so he continues. ‘More than a few of them fell pregnant. To the Fallen.’

‘But what does that have to do with me or Jude, or these
crews
you keep talking about?’

The corners of Rafa’s lips turn up just a little. He’s enjoying this.

‘Because, Gabriella, we’re the result. We’re the offspring of the Fallen.’

‘You are such a prick.’

‘What?’ he says, laughing. ‘You wanted to know.’

I shove my chair back from the table and walk out of the house. When will I learn? Every time I start to trust him, he makes me the punchline of a joke. I expect Maggie and Jason to follow, but I’m out the gate now, and I’m alone. Disappointment flares. I push it away.

It’s only anger that gets me back up the hill.

I throw our front door open so hard it slams into the hallway wall and the whole house shudders. I walk in to my bedroom, ready to slam another door, but I don’t get the chance. Rafa is standing on the other side of my bed.

‘How…?’

He’s not even sweating.

‘Enough,’ he says.

The only way to our house from his is up the hill. He could easily outrun me, but he would have had to pass me.

‘You’ve got to get past this shit,’ he says, his hands resting lightly on his hips.

I open my mouth. Close it. Try again. ‘You just told me I’m descended from fallen angels. How did you think I’d take it?’

‘Now you understand why Daisy was too gutless to tell you.’

I glare at him.

‘Look, I can show you. But you have to come with me, now.’

I look longingly at my bed. The sun streaming on the striped quilt. Maybe everything will make sense after some more sleep.

‘The other two don’t know I’m gone yet. As soon as they figure it out, they’ll come straight here.’ He moves around the bed and stands in front me. Sandalwood, a hint of cinnamon. ‘You don’t need them for this.’

For once, his green eyes are completely serious.

‘I don’t trust you.’

‘I know.’ His hands come up to my arms. They’re cool, even though the morning is warm. A shiver runs through me. ‘Come on. It won’t take long.’

I can’t look away. ‘Where?’

‘You’ll see.’

‘And we’ll come straight back?’

He sighs. ‘I’d rather not, but for what it’s worth, I’ll bring you back here if that’s what you want.’

I’m so tired, I don’t know what to do. Nothing in my bedroom brings me comfort. None of it is mine. A bright shawl of Maggie’s hanging over an old armchair her mum gave me. A beat-up desk from the market, piled with secondhand books. Faded curtains from the op shop. Nothing of Jude’s either. What was left of our lives was destroyed in the accident. Nothing in my life is clear. That needs to change.

‘Okay.’

His shoulders relax. ‘Thank you.’

He gently pulls me to him. My body responds before my mind does, and I wrap my arms around him. He murmurs in surprise and draws me closer. I mould myself against him, not caring about anything except the promise he might kiss me again. I can’t help it when he’s this close. He breathes in, and the air around us turns wintry. The floor drops out beneath me. We’re moving.
Fast.
I try to lift my head but there’s a hurricane pressing down. I can’t move. I can’t even open my eyes. It’s terrifying… and exhilarating.

It lasts only a couple of seconds, and then the ground
is solid under my feet again. I catch my breath and try to lift my head, but everything around me is still spinning. Wherever we are, it’s dark. And cold. Rafa is still holding me tight.

‘Don’t freak out.’

‘What did you do?’ I whisper. My pulse is still skittery.

He prises my arms from his waist. ‘Give me a second to light the fire.’

My eyes adjust to the light and I track his silhouette towards a wall. We’re in a house, I think. It smells stale. I shuffle towards the window, checking for hazards on the stone floor. I look out, and forget to breathe.

It’s night here. We’re on a hill, and there are town lights speckled below. It’s not Pan Beach.

A match strikes, and I jump. Rafa puts the flame to a stack of scrunched-up newspaper and kindling in the fireplace. It catches. He walks off into the darkness.

I am not going to panic. I am
not
going to panic.

Rafa comes back carrying blankets. He moves as if to wrap one around me, but I duck away from him.

‘Where the fuck are we?’ I’m surprised by how steady my voice is. Everything else is shaky.

He drops the blankets on the floor. ‘Your mood swings are starting to wear a little thin.’

‘You want me to
apologise?’

‘I want you to stop acting like a teenager.’

I back away from him. ‘I
am
a teenager!’

‘No, you’re not. You’re a hundred and thirty-nine years old.’

I stumble backwards, feel rough fabric against the back of my legs, lose my balance and sprawl onto something wide and hard. A couch. It smells as musty as the room.

He kicks a blanket over to me. ‘Put that around your shoulders.’

I want to defy him, but it’s bloody cold in here, so I wrap myself in it.

‘This is where Jude and I used to come when we’d had enough of all the bullshit.’

Jude was here…My fingers are still trembling. I hide them in the blanket. ‘It smells,’ I say.

He cricks his neck. ‘Yeah, well, housekeeping hasn’t been a priority lately.’

‘Why am I here?’

‘Some of Jude’s stuff is still in his room. I thought if you saw it, you might accept I’m not a complete liar.’

‘How can I see anything? It’s dark.’

‘It won’t be forever.’

He adds fuel to the fire. It’s cracking and popping, and starting to throw out serious heat.

I still resent the accusation that I’ve been the unreasonable one. ‘I thought you were going to drive wherever we were going.’

His face dances with shadows from the bright flames. ‘Even after you found me in your room?’

I don’t answer.

‘So, what, you thought I just wanted a hug?’

And yet again, I feel like a fool.

‘I’m not complaining,’ he says. ‘I’m still getting used to the idea you don’t want to punch me every time you see me.’

‘I wouldn’t go that far.’

He gives a short laugh and picks up the other blanket. ‘Move over.’

I do.

I have a thousand questions. ‘Tell me about the Rephaim.’

He rubs his eyes. ‘In a minute. You thirsty? There’ll be something to drink here somewhere.’

I almost ask where
here
is, and decide I don’t want to know just yet. One surprise at a time. ‘Like what?’

Rafa rattles around in a cupboard behind the couch and comes back with a bottle of water and two glasses. He fills the glasses and hands one to me. I hold it for a few seconds, surprised how cold it is.

‘It’s just water,’ he says, misreading my hesitation. ‘If I wanted to hurt you, I would have done it that first day in the rainforest.’

My breath catches. ‘That was you?’

He lifts his glass to his lips.

‘Rafa.’

He seems startled to hear me say his name.

‘Yeah, that was me. I was about to get closer when you started crying. It kind of threw me. And then you
ran…It
made me curious. So I did a bit more reconnaissance, and figured my best option was to come at you again when there was safety in numbers.’

‘The bar.’

‘Yeah.’ He smiles. ‘Not at
all
what I expected.’

I feel my skin heat up, and take a sip of water.

‘Okay,’ Rafa says, stretching his free arm along the back of the couch. ‘The history of the Fallen and their bastard children.’ He lifts his glass as if to make a toast. ‘So, the Fallen break out of hell, roam the globe for two days, and leave behind a couple of hundred pregnant women. Except not all of the Fallen disappear. Nathaniel got left behind.’

The guy Daisy mentioned.

‘Why?’

‘The way he tells it, he didn’t want to repeat the sin that landed him in hell in the first place, so he
abstained
in the hope of scoring points with the archangels.’

‘You know him?’

Rafa laughs without humour. ‘He’s the one who brought us all together and called us the Rephaim.’

‘Why not just call you the Nephilim, like the others?’

‘The Nephilim have such a bad name. Nathaniel didn’t want God doing anything drastic to wipe us out—you know, like a global flood—so he called us after a dead race, and tried to convince the angelic host we’re not a threat to mankind.’

‘The who?’

‘Angelic host. Host of Heaven. You know, the rest of the angels.’

‘Oh.’ I pick at the label on the water bottle. ‘How did Nathaniel find everyone?’

‘He spent a few years looking for us.’

‘But how did he know which babies belonged to the Fallen?’

Rafa puts his back to me. ‘Look under my hair.’

I lean over. ‘There’s nothing there.’

‘Touch it.’

I run my thumb over the skin near the base of his skull. There’s a rough area there, like an old burn. ‘What is that?’

‘The mark of the Rephaim. It’s a crescent moon. We all got branded during conception.’

I’m still stroking his skin with my thumb. I stop. He turns around and I slip back to my corner of the couch. ‘So I should have one?’

‘You did. Right where your scar is.’

I reach up under my hair. ‘Convenient.’

‘The only way we can be killed is decapitation, and the
blow has to sever the mark. It makes perfect sense that someone wanting to kill you would try to take your head.’

I think of Jude. And his missing head. I can’t deal with that yet.

‘Nathaniel found all of them?’

Rafa glances out at the sky beyond the window. A lone cloud blots out the moon. ‘There are a hundred and eighty-two of us that we know of. A chance, maybe, that there are more half-angel bastards out there, keeping their heads down, doing their own thing. Nathaniel found the majority of us in those first few years and took care of—’

‘Hang on. What about their mothers?’

‘All died in childbirth.’

‘All of them?’

‘Yep.’ He swirls the water in his glass like it’s expensive whisky.

A log on the fire ignites. I watch the flames caress it until it’s completely engulfed.

‘What does it mean to be…like you?’

Rafa stretches his legs out. ‘We’re stronger and faster than humans. And we can shift. That’s how we got here. It’s one of
the gifts
we’ve inherited from our fathers—the ability to shift from one place to another in the blink of an eye.’

That’s impossible. Even if I have just changed time zones without boarding a plane.

‘And we’re immortal—unless we lose our heads, of course.’

I clutch my glass to my chest. He’s messing with me again. Right? ‘Shouldn’t you be old and wrinkled if you’re a hundred and thirty-nine?’

‘We all stayed whatever age we were the first time we shifted. For most of us, it was late teens. There are a couple of exceptions—’

‘Is that what you did after I got the crap kicked out of me last night?
Shifted?’

‘When we shift, we can exchange energy. You were hurt. I helped you heal quicker. It’s why we usually travel in pairs.’

My fingers stray to my ribs. ‘Where did you take me?’

‘Here. Just for a second. The place wasn’t important, just that we shifted. Maggie was hammering on the door, so I didn’t have long.’

‘That’s why you were so wrecked this morning?’

He nods.

‘So why haven’t you shifted us before now if you’re so keen to get me out of Pan Beach?’

‘Force you to leave?’ He yawns. ‘That only works on humans. A Rephaite must consent—unless we’re unconscious or incapacitated. That’s why Taya ambushed you. You were with me, so she figured she’d have to knock you out before she could take you with them.’

‘Take me where?’

‘To the mothership.’

I pause. ‘What?’

He laughs. ‘God, this is too easy. To the Sanctuary. Rephaim HQ. It’s an old monastery in the Italian mountains. Not a spaceship.’

‘I knew that.’

‘No, you didn’t.’ He grins. ‘Your head hurt yet?’

‘Like it’s going to explode.’

He puts his glass down. ‘Let’s get some sleep. I’ll show you Jude’s room when the sun’s up.’

‘What about Mags? She’ll be worried.’

‘No, she won’t. You get snarky, you disappear. Don’t tell me she hasn’t seen that before.’

I straighten the blanket around my shoulders. That was just a good guess—he can’t know me that well.

‘Your turn for the fire.’ Rafa gestures towards the wood pile beside the hearth.

I use a log to flatten the coals and then toss it on. Sparks shower up the chimney. When I turn back to the couch, Rafa has stretched out, filling its entire length. He’s got one blanket around him and the other in front of him spread out. He pats it.

‘Don’t you have a bed?’

‘Sure, but the fire’s in here.’ He gives me that slow smile.

I take a breath. I am
not
making a fool of myself again.

He watches me wrestle with his offer. ‘I may have the hormones of an eighteen-year-old, but I can control myself. Unless you don’t want me to.’

‘What I want,’ I say, walking over to him, ‘is a night where you don’t harass me in my sleep.’ The best form of defence is attack, right?

I lie down on the couch and pull my blanket around me, careful not to touch him. Rafa has positioned a cushion as a pillow and I jerk it forward so there’s enough for me.

‘Doesn’t sound like me.’ His mouth is close to my ear. ‘I prefer my women awake when I harass them.’

‘No, smartarse, you keep showing up in my dreams. And not
those
sort of dreams either. The kind where you’re cutting the heads off hellions.’

He’s quiet for a few seconds. ‘Is that how you know about the Rhythm Palace? You dreamed it?’

‘Yep.’

‘That story, it’s like it was Jude’s version of what happened. We got there late and came in through the back door, just like you wrote, and we helped turn the tide in the fight. But you didn’t write it like he would have.’

‘In what way?’

‘Well, for starters, he would have called them hellturds, not hellions. And, secondly, he wouldn’t have noticed my aftershave.’

I close my eyes. There’s just no way I can throw this guy off balance.

‘And that website—Dark Thoughts—how did you know it existed?’

‘I don’t know. I must have heard about it somewhere.’

He moves around behind me, getting comfortable. ‘I figured Jude must have told you about it. He’s the only person who knows I read that stuff.’