Stone Angel (3 page)

He wasn’t angry at her. Thank God, for he had
been far kinder to her than her own parents. “Thank you, Irving.”
Amanda had never meant anything more in her life.

Rosamund adjusted her glasses and, tactless
as always, said, “You’ve always been so severe, so unsmiling. It’s
nice to know you had a good reason.”

“Sit down here and tell me what I can do to
help you get your sister back.” Irving gestured Amanda into the
chair beside him. “I’m afraid I’m not much good for a rescue
mission.”

The joke seemed to diffuse the last of the
tension in the room.

The Chosen Ones seated themselves around
Irving and Amanda.

Martha set up a small end table next to
Irving to hold his tea service, while McKenna handed around tea and
plates of goodies.

Then all eyes fixed on Amanda, and she
started talking. And pacing. “I’ve been thinking and thinking.
Every night, while I’ve been awake, I’ve been trying to make a
plan, a plan to get Sophia back.” She shook her head. “It’s not
good, but since according to Jacqueline’s vision, I only have three
days to save Sophia, it’ll have to do.”

Irving nodded encouragingly as he stirred
sugar and a small amount of milk into his Earl Gray.

It always struck Amanda that she wished she
liked the idea of tea because Irving made it seem like a beautiful
afternoon tradition. But she didn’t like tea, which seemed like
nothing more than a concoction of soggy leaves and hot water.

As if reading her mind, Martha handed her a
can of ice-cold Coke with the tab popped.

Amanda gave Martha a look of gratitude – her
hands were shaking so violently that she couldn’t have dealt with
opening it herself. She took a long gulp, feeling the caffeine and
sugar enter her system, relaxing her. “Each week on my day off —
Sunday — I meet my contact at a different location.”

“So you’re due to meet this Liam Gallagher
tomorrow,” Isabelle said.

“Right. So — my plan is that first, I meet my
contact and force him to help me. Next, we’ll infiltrate the
Sculptor’s house. Finally, we’ll steal my sister back.” Amanda
emphasized each point by ticking it off on her fingers.

The Chosen Ones stared at her.

Genny shot the first question at her. “How
are you going to force this Liam to help you?”

Amanda sank into a chair. “I haven’t quite
settled that yet.”

Caleb asked, “How are you going to get into
the Sculptor’s house? Liam will just meekly lead you in, no muss,
no fuss?”

“There could be problems, yes,” Amanda
acknowledged.

“My vision was of course incomplete, but the
Sculptor seemed to me to be a powerful man, a magician or a witch
with close connections to Osgood.” Jacqueline shook her head
wearily.

“I wonder if I could sneak into the house and
do something,” Aaron mused. He was a talented thief; when needed,
he could become a wisp of smoke and breach any lock.

“And if they caught you,” Amanda said, “what
would happen to Sophia?”

“The trick is to not let them catch me,”
Aaron said.

“Jacqueline just said it. The Sculptor is a
powerful magician. I’ve been in there. In his mansion.” Amanda
shivered. “I assure you, he has spells to protect himself and his
home. You don’t know if you could get in the door, much less
maintain your camouflage. If I thought I could have had any of you
help me, by now, I would have told you the truth. I would have
asked. I think if one of the Chosen Ones stepped foot through the
door, an alarm would go off within all of Osgood's organization and
you’d be surrounded by his goons and captured.”

“So how will you steal your sister?” Genny
asked.

“
I don’t
know. But I have to at least
try
. If
I can make it through step one, convincing Liam, then the rest will
fall in place.” Uncertainly, Amanda added, “At least, I hope it
will.”

“Okay.” Caleb folded his arms over his chest.
“Convince me.”

“Liam’s power is the ability to change into
the form of another person,” Amanda said. “All he has to do is
touch them.”

“Oo!” Rosamund started taking notes again.
“Very interesting. Although not unique, shape-shifting is still one
of the greater gifts.”

Amanda stood again. Paced to the fireplace
and back. “So I’m going to have him turn into Irving.”

A moment of silence. Then all around her,
heads nodded.

“Ohhhh, awesome plan,” Charisma marveled.

“It will look as though you’re handing him
over to the Others.” John crossed his arms over his broad chest and
leaned back in his chair, looking satisfied.

“Liam changes back into himself once you’re
in the house?” Aaron asked.

“Once I have Sophia,” Amanda corrected. “I
don’t want to run any risk of the Sculptor killing her when he
realizes that Liam isn’t Irving.”

“That only leaves one question.” Amanda could
almost see the wheels turning in Rosamund’s head as she calculated
the likelihood of the plan working and any loopholes that could
cause problems. “And it’s kind of a big one.”

“What’s that, honey?” Aaron asked.

Rosamund
turned her violet eyes on Amanda. “How
are
you going to force Liam to help you?”

Everyone buzzed with ideas.

Irving’s halting voice cut through the room.
“She’s going to offer him more money than he could imagine.”

Amanda promptly picked up the thread. “I
don’t know. I’m sure he can imagine quite a bit.”

Conversation came to a halt.

Amanda
looked around. “What? You’re surprised I can recognize a quote
from
Star
Wars
?”

Jacqueline examined her thoughtfully. “I
guess I never figured you for the role of Princess Leia.”

“Better hope Liam is good enough to play the
role of Han Solo, or it’s the garbage compactor for us all,” Samuel
said.

Aaron smacked him across the back of the
head.

Samuel flinched away.

Isabelle elbowed him in the gut.

Samuel said, “Oof!” and clutched his
belly.

Amanda wouldn’t have thought it possible, but
she grinned.

Samuel’s eyes were watering, but he winked at
her. “Don’t worry, princess. You’re going to do just fine.”

AMANDA WRAPPED her coat more snugly around
herself and walked briskly down the stairs of Irving’s mansion.

She didn’t look back at the Chosen Ones as
they pressed themselves against the library windows.

Caleb had offered to accompany her for
protection, but she convinced him, and the Chosen Ones, that any
change in her behavior would alert the Sculptor and ruin the most
important part of her plan: surprise.

She was determined to carry out the first
part of her plan alone. Hailing a cab, she directed the dubious
smelling driver to Columbus Circle.

The ride took forever, as the driver wove in
and out of late afternoon traffic, giving her time to mull over her
continued and deepening hatred of Liam Gallagher. She supposed it
wasn’t good to dwell on it so much, but since she no longer had to
watch her every move to ensure the Chosen Ones wouldn’t figure her
out, she didn’t have much else to think about. That maddeningly
sexy man had baited his trap, and she, like a lovesick puppy, had
followed.

She should have been taking care of her
sister. That is what she had done since Sophia was born. But she
broke her own rules and fell for Liam — and look how that had
turned out. Now she was plotting and planning and hiding. And she
was so tired of it all.

She remembered that night so clearly.

Just before Christmas…

She and Sophia had splurged on a real tree
for their tiny apartment, after Sophia begged and promised to
vacuum the pine needles every day. It was sparsely decorated,
mostly with the thirteen ornaments that belonged to Sophia – one
for each year of her life. Amanda had lovingly picked them out
every Christmas until Sophia was ready to choose her own, starting
with a heart made of tiny mirrors that made the lights dance on the
tree.

It was Friday night, the one night of the week that Amanda
allowed Sophia to stay up late. Their own little tradition was to
watch
Friends
reruns and eat
buttery popcorn with sliced apples and cheddar cheese.

This time they had invited Liam.

Amanda had been dating Liam since the summer,
and she was quite sure she loved him, which was a little scary
since she had never loved anyone but Sophia. She was going to tell
him on Christmas morning after they opened their presents. She knew
it was cheesy, but she wanted her first “I love you” to be extra
special.

She had been such a gullible fool.

When she heard the knock, she bounded off the
couch and opened the door.

There, in her cramped and dim apartment
hallway, stood the most gorgeous man she’d ever seen. Liam
Gallagher. Black hair so shiny he looked like a Pantene model. A
lopsided grin that made his blue eyes twinkle. And a sexy Irish
lilt that made everything he said sound sweet and naughty at the
same time.

But tonight he didn’t wait for her
invitation, nor did he have the usual bouquet of flowers for Amanda
or the box of dark chocolates for Sophia. He glanced furtively
behind, rushed inside, and shut the door. He grabbed Amanda roughly
by the shoulders. “Has anyone else come by tonight?”

He was so insistent, so pleading that she
answered immediately, “No. Liam, what’s the matter? What’s
happened?” Amanda could taste the slow-rise of fear in her mouth,
the coppery taste of her own blood where she’d started chewing her
cheek.

Liam looked anguished. “I need you and Sophia
to leave as soon as possible. There’s no time for you to pack
anything. You need to leave now, get as far away as you can and
change your identities. They are coming.”

Amanda’s heart was pounding, racing in her
chest so quickly she feared she might die right here and now from a
heart attack.

Sophia jumped up from the couch and clutched
Amanda’s arm.. “I don’t get it.”

She had grown so tall in the last year but to
Amanda, she still seemed like a child.

In a voice far more calm than she felt,
Amanda said “I don’t understand. Who is coming?”

“
The Others. They’re after Sophia. They
know her power has grown.” Liam kept whipping his head around to
the door, as if expecting for it to be knocked down at any moment.
“You have to go. You have to protect her.”

Amanda felt sick. She knew who the Others
were. When Sophia’s beautiful mark had begun to change last year,
blooming into a white lily, Amanda had furiously researched what
this could mean. Because of the wonders of Google and her tattered
old library card, she had ascertained that Sophia was one of the
Abandoned Ones. Most were abandoned at birth by parents too scared
or full of hatred to care for them. Then they were up for grabs by
either the Chosen Ones or the Others.

She supposed that Sophia had not been taken
as an infant because Amanda had stayed behind to care for her. But
with Sophia’s power growing, the time had come for her to be taken
by either good … or evil.

The only question was: how did Liam know
this?

Which is what Amanda was going to ask when
they heard rough voices in the hallway.

“
They’re here.” Liam turned to Amanda, his
gorgeous sapphire eyes glistening. “I’m so sorry.”

Sophia grasped Amanda’s arm tighter.

The door burst inward, slamming into Liam and
knocking him into the wall. He stumbled back, fell to the ground, a
bloody gash at his right temple.

Sophia screamed as three enormous, muscled
men, covered in tattoos and holding guns and knives, stormed the
room. The first one through the door, a man with icy blue eyes and
blond hair pulled back into a ponytail, turned to Liam’s slumped
form. He said, “Good work, sweetheart. Thanks for leading us right
to her.”

Liam groaned and touched his hand to his
forehead. “Damn you, Eric, you didn’t have to hit me.”

The other two laughed.

The red-head kicked Liam in the ribs.

The blond guy looked Amanda and Sophia up and
down. “It’s a shame we can’t keep you both. Pretty little things
like you.” His voice was silky, slimy, like a serpent’s hiss.

Amanda felt Sophia shudder.

She couldn’t believe it.

Liam had led the Others to Sophia.

He had sold her baby sister into the heart of
evil.

The bastard had betrayed them. She felt her
love for him shrivel, becoming something ugly, something like
hatred.

Pulling herself up to her full height, Amanda
said, in a voice that shook, “You’re breaking and entering. Leave
now, or we’ll be forced to call the police.”

The three men laughed even more
uproariously.

“
Go ahead, honey,” Eric said. “Osgood
controls pretty much the whole force, so I doubt they’ll be much
help. Besides, unless they can get here in the next two minutes,
we’ll already be gone.” Turning to one of his greasy-haired
cohorts, he ordered, “Kill the blonde. The boss doesn’t want
her.”

“
Ah, come on, Eric,” the red-haired one
pleaded. “Can’t I play with her first?”

“
You know the rules,” Eric said.

“
Yeah, yeah.” The redhead wiped back his
oily red hair, raised his gun and aimed directly at Amanda’s
heart.

“
No!” Liam lurched to his feet.

Amanda flung herself aside.

Too late.

The redhead fired. The pistol roared.

And like some horrible misfire, the bullet
ricocheted back at him. He fell backward, shot through the head …
by his own bullet.

The other guy, tall, hulking, dropped to his
knees beside Sean. “Geeze, boss. He’s dead!”