Stricken (The War Scrolls Book 1) (16 page)

“Lonely.” His smile faded.

“You’ve never had a girlfriend?” she asked, her cheeks heating with the question.

Killian shook his head again. “It’s not like that for us.”

“Oh.” Aubrey turned that over in her mind. “Do the Fallen marry?”

“Sometimes, but love is different for us. It’s more encompassing, permanent. When an angel is destined to be with another, a bond grows between them, connecting them to one another. That bond never goes away for the Fallen.” His eyes were wide and serious as he stared at her. “Even if his mate does.”

The way he looked at her so earnestly so…sadly…stole her breath. She felt as though he was trying to tell her something. Something that terrified her and didn’t terrify her enough.

“Killian, have y—?”

She didn’t get a chance to finish the question.

He stiffened, looking past her as though he saw something.

“Get in the car,” he whispered, his voice guttural.

“What’s wrong?” She spun on her heel to scan the area for some hint of danger.

She saw nothing.

“Please get in the car.” He jerked the car door open and pushed her gently inside before jogging around to the driver’s side to climb in. “Put your seat belt on.”

Fear shot through her at the tight expression on his face, the same he’d worn when the vampire had come looking for her. She scrambled for the seat belt, but couldn’t seem to get her fingers to close around it.

“Breathe, Aubrey,” Killian reminded her, reaching around her to grasp the seat belt. He clicked it into place before turning the key in the ignition.

Aubrey sucked in a deep breath and then another. “Is it one of the infected?” she whispered, the words trembling on her lips.

His mouth compressed in a grim line as he threw the car into reverse. “Hang on.”

Aubrey yelped as the car shot backward, spinning sharply before Killian slammed it into drive. The force of the sudden change of direction threw her back into her seat and locked the seat belt in place.

Killian glanced over at her before hitting the gas. The engine roared as the tires spun, flinging pieces of gravel every which way. Quicker than Aubrey believed possible, the car found traction and darted forward.

A dark shadow bounded out of the woods ahead of them, turning her relieved sigh into a sharp cry of alarm. The wolf was a good half a mile away, but she saw it clearly. The creature was huge, its massive frame seeming somehow larger than the car even at that distance.

“Killian!” she screamed when he aimed for the shifter, not slowing as it hunkered down, ready to leap upon the tiny car.

Another shadow broke from the trees and raced into the road ahead. It hit the bigger wolf from the side, knocking it off its feet and sending it rolling across the gravel road.

Aubrey screamed wordlessly as the second wolf turned its head in their direction.

Time seemed to slow as the shifter’s yellow eyes met hers and held for a fraction of a second. A shock of recognition hummed through her with the force of a battering ram.

“Tyrell!”

***

Aubrey’s heartbeat sounded like a thousand fluttering wings. Killian gritted his teeth in an attempt to block out the sound and steered, aiming the Mustang directly at the two shifters in their path. Both were huge in wolf form. One a light gray, the other so dark it was almost black.

And one of the two was infected, but Killian couldn’t tell which.

Was it the smaller one in the middle of the road? Or the dark gray one?

And then Aubrey’s horrified whisper came, and he knew.

He held the car steady, racing toward the shifter struggling to its feet. Killian wasn’t sure what to expect on impact, but he had a feeling a vehicle moving at seventy miles an hour would take out one of the infected as effectively as a knife slicing across its throat.

He didn’t have time to be wrong.

“Killian, stop!” Aubrey screamed at him, her voice shrill with panic as the distance between them and her friend dwindled rapidly.

The infected shifter bounded back to his feet.

Killian pushed the car harder. The engine roared a little louder in response. Tyrell still didn’t move. He simply continued to stand there, watching the car barreling toward him.

At the last moment, Killian turned the wheel to the right. The car took it in stride, not slipping at all on the gravel road. Aubrey screamed again.

The larger wolf lifted his muzzle and looked right at them.

They hit him hard, the front end of the Mustang crumpling like an accordion upon impact and flinging the Elioud’s body high into the air. Killian’s arm shot out and settled across Aubrey’s chest, holding her in place as her head snapped back against the seat.

The airbags deployed with a dusty roar.

The car spun beneath them.

And then it was over as quickly as it started. The car fishtailed wildly for a moment, skidding across the gravel before coming to a sudden, hard stop.

“Are you all right?” Killian demanded as soon as the car stalled, ripping through the airbags and Aubrey’s seat belt. He had her out of the car in a matter of moments, kicking the door free as if it were little more than a toy standing in his way. In that instant, that’s all it was—an insignificant object standing between him and his mate.

Aubrey shook in his arms as he checked her over. He swept his hands across her body, probing for any cuts or bruises, any damage he might have caused her. She wasn’t hurt, thank God, but she was terrified. Her heart still raced, her breath coming in sharp pants.

“Breathe for me,” he urged, easing her down to the grass at the side of the road. “Deep breaths.”

“Yo-you—” Her teeth chattered as she looked up at him, her green eyes wide with fear.

“He was infected,” Killian murmured.

The second Elioud shifter moved in their direction. Killian leapt to his feet and spun around, putting himself between Aubrey and the wolf.

Aubrey
, Tyrell thought, craning his neck to see her. Despite Killian’s weak Talent reading the Elioud, the excitement of that thought came through loud and clear. So did the surprise echoing from the Elioud lurking in the woods all around them.

Half a second later, howls split the waning day wide open.

Her Elioud friends knew what Killian was, and they weren’t happy to see him here now.

Tyrell hunkered down where he stood, not attempting to get any closer to Aubrey. That was just as well. Killian didn’t want to have to kill her friend, but he would if the shifter attempted to get between them.

He didn’t.

Killian stared at him for a long moment.

“My name is Killian St. James,” he said then. “I am a Warrior of Light. Aubrey is my…” He stopped himself from saying
mate
. “Friend. She’s under my protection.”

Howls rent the air again, coming from every side. They were surrounding them, closing in. Killian wanted to curse. More than that, he wanted to get Aubrey the hell out of there. She was too exposed. Too vulnerable.

“Are there any more infected?” he demanded, silently cursing himself for agreeing to bring her out here without Abriel and Dom. He should have waited for his blade-brothers to return from scouting.

Tyrell’s massive head swung back and forth.

“Did he get any blood or saliva in any open wound?”

The shifter moved his head from side to side again.

“Tyrell?” Aubrey whispered from behind Killian. Her voice was breathy, nervous.

Tyrell tilted his head to the side, looking right at her. A jumble of emotion bounced through Killian, more sensation than actual thought. Joy, wariness, relief…and oddly, resignation. Someone had been expecting her.

Aubrey shifted around behind him as if trying to stand up. Killian hesitated for a moment, torn between watching the Elioud and helping her. When she moved a second time, Killian made his decision.

“I’m going to help her stand,” he murmured to Tyrell.

Tyrell dipped his furry head.

Killian turned and strode back to Aubrey’s side.

She was less pale—though, her hands still shook.

“Are you okay?” he asked, reaching out for her. Only when she was in his arms, her back against his chest, did he breathe a little easier.

“Is the other…was he…?”

“No, he wasn’t one of theirs.”

Her body sagged in his arms, a sigh of relief rushing from between her lips.

He tightened his grip upon her to keep her upright.

The Elioud watched their interaction from the shadows of the trees. Killian couldn’t catch many of their thoughts thanks to his weak Talent, but what he heard was more than enough. Surprise and distrust, but there was no outright shock, no instant flare of hatred. They weren’t happy to see him, but neither were they in the least surprised Aubrey had returned with a Fallen warrior at her side.

Chapter Fifteen

Aubrey stood in the protective circle of Killian’s arms, allowing him to steady her with his hard body. She’d never been in a car accident before, especially not an intentional one. She felt a little like passing out. Or throwing up.

The front end of the car was a crumpled ruin. Pieces of metal and plastic littered the roadway behind them. Blood and thicker fluids were smeared across the silver wreckage in grotesque streaks. And the shifter…well, she had no desire to look at him anytime soon. The one glimpse she’d caught of his mangled human body lying in the road had been more than enough.

Instead, she focused on Tyrell. He’d grown in the last three years. He was no longer the small wolf she remembered. His fur was the same color, of course. And his eyes were the same. But he was as big as Aaron had been in wolf form. Bigger, perhaps.

“Why isn’t he changing?” She whispered to Killian as Tyrell eyed them.

“The leader doesn’t want him to,” Killian responded, his eyes still on Tyrell.

“Oh.”

The boys didn’t trust her. That stung more than she’d thought it would, more than she had a right to feel. She’d abandoned them. Disappeared for three years. Of course they were leery of her now.

“I won’t hurt you,” she whispered to Tyrell.

The wolf huffed.

“It’s not you they don’t trust,” Killian said, tightening his arms around her. “It’s me.”

She opened her mouth to tell Tyrell that Killian meant them no harm and then snapped it closed as the rest of her friends began to slip from the woods running the length of the old gravel road. They came from every side, massive shadows slinking from beneath the trees and stepping forward.

It was a sight she had seen countless times before, but it was even more impressive to her now than it had been then. In wolf form, the Elioud ranged in color from an almost white to the same dark gray of the shifter Killian had run over. They ranged in size too. Some reached only her chest; others were nearly as tall as she or taller.

There were fewer of them, though, only three aside from Tyrell. That hurt.

Killian’s arms tensed and then loosened around her as if he wasn’t quite sure whether to scoop her up and hide her behind him or wait it out. Tension poured from him, but he planted his feet and stood his ground.

A lone male figure loped out of the woods, dressed in nothing but a pair of jeans and loafers. Aubrey hadn’t seen Jason in three years, but she would have recognized him anywhere. As the sun dipped below the horizon, the last rays spilled across his face. His expression was more severe than she remembered. He hadn’t changed much at all, though. Same tall, muscular frame. Same tightly cropped hair. Same flawless, ebony complexion. Same everything.

As the Elioud halted in a loose circle around them, Jason continued forward. His dark gaze roved over the wreckage, over the dead shifter, and then to Aubrey and Killian.

She held her breath, terrified of what he might say to her.

“Breathe,” Killian whispered in her ear as Jason stepped up beside Tyrell and halted.

She sucked in a deep breath.

“Hi,” she squeaked.

“Aubrey.” Jason inclined his head in her direction before his eyes flickered to Killian. “St. James?” he asked.

“Killian, yes.”

Jason’s expression didn’t change, but something flickered through his eyes. Resignation, perhaps. He wasn’t surprised to see Killian. Maybe wasn’t even surprised to see the warrior’s arms around her.

For a full ten count, no one said anything, and then Jason exhaled a long breath and nodded to the Elioud. The tension rippling around them vanished. They sat down as one. Breath came a little easier for Aubrey then. She knew they would never have relaxed even that much had they meant to hurt Killian. Funny how much that relieved her.

“Why are you here, Aubrey?” Jason asked. “It’s not safe for you.”

“There are more in the area, aren’t there?” Killian asked, as if he’d heard more than the words Jason spoke aloud.

Jason’s dark, penetrating gaze shifted in his direction. “Not at the moment, but we’ve been killing them for weeks.”

“None of you have become infected?”

Tyrell whined low in his throat.

Jason didn’t even glance in his direction. His gaze landed on Aubrey again, as grave and serious as ever. “Two.”

“Who?” she mouthed.

“Anthony. And Mark.”

God, Anthony had been a kid when she’d left. He’d been younger than she, only thirteen. And Mark…Mark had been a pain in the ass, but he’d been her friend. They’d argued. They’d teased each other. And he’d always been half a step behind Aaron when she got herself into some trouble or another. Always there, trying to rescue her.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered, bowing her head beneath the weight of grief.

Tyrell whined softly, mourning with her.

“I’m sorry,” Killian said. He had no connection to any of them, but he sounded as pained over their loss as she felt.

“How?” she asked when she could speak, her voice thick with emotion.

“We lost Anthony to a vampire a month ago. And Mark…” Grief washed through Jason’s eyes for a moment. He and Mark had always been close, like brothers. They had been the first of the boys to follow Aaron. “Mark was infected two weeks ago. He was bitten trying to fend off one of the infected.”

Killian muttered something beneath his breath, too low for Aubrey to catch the words.

“You know it’s the
La Morte Nera
virus?” he asked Jason.

“Yes. We found out right before Anthony was infected. One of the Elioud in Ontario sent word about what was happening.” He bowed his head. “They’re gone now too.”

Aubrey’s tears ran over and slipped soundlessly down her cheeks. There was so much death, so much destruction. And God only knew when it would end. If it would end. “We think my dad knew about the virus,” she whispered.

Jason was silent for a moment before he nodded. “I know.”

“You know?” She blinked, trying to see him through her tears. “How?”

“Aubrey…” Jason sighed heavily.

“He created it,” Killian said when Jason didn’t continue.

Aubrey didn’t need Jason’s nod of confirmation. She saw the truth and regret in his eyes as he stared back at her. Her father was responsible for this. He was—

Her stomach roiled and she leaned over, gagging.

Killian muttered something and tried to grab her, but she pushed his hands away and sank to her knees in the gravel. Her stomach heaved, and her eyes burned as she vomited up everything she’d eaten that day.

When she was finished, she wiped her hand across her mouth, refusing to open her eyes. She didn’t want to see the pity in Jason’s expression or the sympathy in Tyrell’s. Mostly, though…she didn’t want to see the accusation in Killian’s.

Her father had created the virus.

Apparently, her heart hadn’t finished breaking after all.

***

Aubrey remained on her knees until the sun sank fully behind the horizon, unable to muster the strength to face the Elioud or Killian. But she couldn’t avoid hearing the truth forever.

“Why?” she said finally, lifting her head to look at Jason. The word was ragged, angry. Just like she felt. All these years, she’d thought she’d left this world behind. All these years, she’d thought this world had killed her dad and Aaron because of her.

And she’d been wrong. All those whispered conversations. All those times her dad and Aaron had told her it was talk, simple curiosity. All the times Aaron had laughed and told her the virus wasn’t real. At their funeral when Jason had told her he didn’t know who had set the fire…

It’d all been false. All lies.

“Was I the only one who didn’t know?” she demanded, climbing unsteadily to her feet. Killian hovered around her, but she brushed him off once more, her eyes narrowed on Jason. “Is that what my dad meant when he told me you would need me? That I was the only one?” Her hands shook with anger as she glared at Jason.

“I don’t know, Bree,” he said.

“Don’t call me that!” She poked him in the chest, her anger boiling over. “I’m not her anymore, and you don’t get to call me that. You
lied
to me. You let me believe they died because of me!”

Jason flinched at her words.

“Aubrey,” Killian started.

She ignored him. “Why did he do it?” she demanded, poking Jason again.

“I don’t know,” he said, backing up half a step. “You know how he was, Aubrey. He thought if he could figure out how a virus like that would affect us, he could find a way to inoculate against it, make us immune.”

“Us?” Aubrey asked sharply.

Killian tensed behind her.

Jason’s eyes darted to Killian and then back to her. “The Elioud.”

“Why, Jason?” she asked, unwilling to accept half-truths.

“He thought it would make a good weapon if it ever came down to it,” Jason answered, his tone rife with reluctance.

“Against the demons?”

“Them too.”

For a minute, Aubrey stood in stunned silence. Her father had engineered the virus that had already killed thousands. He’d made it to be a weapon, and he’d done so intentionally.

“Why?” she whispered, horrified.

“Because he thought they were dangerous, and he was right.” Jason’s gaze flickered to Killian and then back to her. “They look out for themselves, Aubrey. When the time comes, they’ll chose their lives over ours.”

“That’s not true! They saved my life.”

“Maybe,” Jason said, “but who do you think created the Nephilim in the first place? The vampires and werewolves? They claim they stand between humanity and the demons, but that’s a lie. The Fallen unleashed all sorts of evil of this world, and they do nothing to end our suffering, instead standing by and letting their children hunt us down one by one. Then and only then do they react. They will
always
put their own kind first even if it means the destruction of humanity or the creation of monsters like the Nephilim who attacked you and those who bore us. That’s exactly why they were cast from Heaven.”

Killian swore.

Aubrey gaped, her mouth opening and closing soundlessly. She’d never heard Jason speak with such hatred before. And it infuriated her that he could stand there now and say Killian was a monster when Killian was the one putting his life on the line to save her and people like Jason.

“The Halfling who took you knew about the virus. He wanted it for himself.”

Aubrey shook her head, unable to process that. It was too big, too heavy.

“And when you got home…” Jason’s expression was stark in the little pool of light the rising moon provided. “You’d wake up screaming at night, begging him not to kill you. Your dad blamed himself for that, you know. Had he never created the virus, you would have been safe. That bastard wouldn’t have come for you.”

Aubrey sucked in a ragged breath. All this time, she’d blamed herself for what happened to her dad and Aaron, but it hadn’t been her fault. Her dad had been the reason for everything…why she’d been attacked, why Aaron was dead. Why people like Killian were dying.

“Your dad wanted to destroy the virus,” Jason continued, “but it was too late. The night before the fire, someone broke into the lab and stole the vials. By the time we found out, you were already at school for the day. Aaron sent the rest of us to track the thief, and he stayed behind to protect your dad. He was going to go to the lab, and Aaron wanted to make sure he was safe.”

“Stop,” Aubrey said, throwing up a hand. She didn’t need to hear any more, not when she knew how the story ended. Her dad and Aaron never made it to the lab that day. Instead, they’d burned along with her childhood home. And she’d seen it. She’d watched her father take his last breath, and then she’d stumbled outside. She’d sat there until the fire trucks came, watching the house smolder with Aaron and her dad still inside.

“We never caught him,” Jason said anyway. “We chased him all the way into Illinois. By the time we realized Aaron hadn’t checked in, it was too late.” He shook his head. “We didn’t know there were others lying in wait.”

“You should have told me,” she mumbled. She felt numb. Numb and cold.

“You were just a kid, Bree. You’d been tortured by a Halfling, and then you lost your brother and your dad. We promised Aaron we’d protect you. We couldn’t add to what you were already going through, especially not when you—” Jason shifted his weight uncomfortably.

The others did too, bowing their heads as if they couldn’t look at her.

Aubrey wanted to be angry at them. She wanted to scream that they’d known. All along they’d known why her dad and Aaron had died. All along they’d known that
La Morte Nera
was real. They’d always known, and they’d let her blame herself. But she couldn’t be angry at them for not telling her. Not when she was the one who’d packed her stuff and fled without so much as a good-bye.