The Second Sign (13 page)

Gabby cocked a brow. She couldn’t be bound by wraith
or immortal. Naite was lying. No surprise there. “Why are you
here?”

“Because of that.” Naite lifted her chin to the
marking on Gabby’s leg. “You have summoned us.”

Gabby shook her head. No. Impossible. “You’re
wrong.” Her heart slammed into her chest. She knew what this meant.
Max had a similar visitor the day he got his marking when he was
twelve. It started with a marking that stretched up his spine and
neck, which summoned wings and Adler, who was more than just their
traditional guardian. Gabby had held his hand as he cried because
it burned him. She had felt it too. But now she was alone. Max had
not felt her pain or he would’ve been here to protect her from this
demon. He would have saved her from this, wouldn’t he?

“Do not deny it.”

“Stop it,” Gabby snapped. She knew demons, like
angels, were mostly influence peddlers whispering temptations. They
were great liars or keepers of the truth as Max reasoned. Gabby
always believed they were just keepers of
their
truth. A lie
is a lie depending on one’s perspective.

The woman smirked.

“And wear another face,” Gabby added, feeling
etheric energy seeping into her pores.

The woman’s flesh shimmered under the moonlight. Her
face rippled and contorted, changing into Marty with pale skin and
bruised lips, before shimmering into someone else. Gabby shook her
head. No. She imagined Marty.

“Is this better?”

Naite’s features mirrored Gabby’s, sending chills
running through her that had nothing to do with the cold in the
air. Gabby forced her mouth to close and didn’t respond.

Naite stood up, though Gabby didn’t see any legs,
and held out her long, thin hand to Gabby who looked at it and
scowled. “I’m not going with you. I’m not demon.” Those words left
a foul taste in her mouth.

The woman let out a long breath. “Oh, Gabby, don’t
do this.”

She leaned forward, and Gabby smelled a hint of
sulfur on her breath tinged with a scent of earth after a summer
rain.

“Don’t make it harder than what it has to be. Come
now and we will leave this”—Naite motioned around her— “untouched.
Even your friends.”

“My brother will protect me.” Gabby wanted to sound
fierce, strong, so sure. But her voice sounded weak with a hint of
fear for good measure.

The woman laughed. Surprisingly, it was a sincere
laugh with little malice behind it. It was the type of laugh you
gave when you watched people doing stupid things or saying stupid
things. It was a
yeah right
laugh.
Keep dreaming.

“Gabby,” she said, her name hard. “He will not save
you.”

Fear spread through Gabby like wildfire, recognizing
the voice of the demon.
Her
demon stalker.

“You belong with us. Feel your anger. It drives you.
Soon that will change to hate.”

“You’re wrong,” her voice trembled. Doubt crept in
and she knew what that meant. Could Naite be right? Was Gabby a
demon?

“You
are
the Second Sign. We have been
watching you. We have been keeping you safe until your
reckoning.”

Gabby shook her head.
The Second Sign
. The
demon in the mirror had told her the same thing. What did it mean?
She wanted to ask, but asking meant doubting and doubting meant
believing. She didn't believe it. None of it. Her heart wedged in
her throat, and her limbs felt heavy. “I don’t believe you.”

“Very well.” Naite folded her arms across her chest
and narrowed her eyes. “We will show you how much you mean to us.
In twenty-four hours, you will be looking for me. Your brother will
not save you.” Her frame shimmered and then disappeared, leaving a
heavy whiff of death behind her.

Gabby dropped to the bottom of the boat, drew up her
knees to her chest, and shivered. This was way bad. She knew she
was different. Something had always been off with her, but a demon?
Her father was an angel and not just any angel, but a seraphim, the
top honcho in some enclave. It couldn’t be.
Max, where are
you?
She needed him to tell her he would fix it. Just like he
promised he would protect her. Always.

Her eyes trailed the stars as if they held the
answers to her questions. Realizing they were not talking, she
closed her eyes. Maybe she was evil. Maybe it was why her father
never wanted to see her, why she never got her wings. Maybe...

Gabby didn’t remember falling asleep until a searing
pain all over her body forced her to bolt up, snapping her eyes
open under the burning sun. Still in the grip of a nightmare, she
let out a deep groan and hid her face in her hands, willing the
dream to fade.

But it wasn’t a dream.

Naite was real. Pain swelled on the left side of her
leg. She looked down and groaned. Black markings covered her ankle,
wrapping around her in swirls of runes. They writhed under her pale
flesh. Touching the tender flesh, she winced as the pain subsided
to a dull throb.

Naite had said she had twenty-four hours, but why
would Gabby ever want to see her again? Gabby wasn’t a demon. Gabby
was half-angel and half-human just like her brother. She should
have gotten her wings by now. Reaching over her shoulder to check,
she found...nothing. Nope. No wings.

Max would know what to do. She’d tell him. He
would
save her. Naite was wrong. Blood was thicker than
water. The blood of twins even more. Max would never betray her.
But where the hell was he? Why didn’t he sense her pain? She had
sensed his when he received his markings. He should’ve felt hers
unless...unless they were no longer bound.
No
. Shaking her
head, she pressed her fingers to her temple as a wave of nausea
settled into her. Taking a long swallow of water as her eyes
adjusted to the light, she took in her surroundings. All of it.

“What the hell,” she whispered.

The woods were gone. The pond was gone. Jagged
cliffs sandwiched her on either side. But that meant she’d somehow
ridden an imaginary current to the other side of the island.
Impossible. And yet, here she was drifting toward a steep drop and
then whitewater.

She would’ve laughed if she thought she was
imagining it. But she wasn’t. Perfect. The demon had given her
twenty-four hours that expired pretty quickly. Gabby would die and
go to Hell. There was no way she could survive through the jumbled
mass of debris waiting to shred her to pieces.

But no, she shouldn’t have to die like this. Her
brother was a damned angel.

Without thought, she jumped out of the boat and into
the cool water. The boat hovered precariously over the drop for a
nanosecond before it plunged into the depth below. She followed,
unable to breathe. The boat smashed against the cliff face and
capsized. She struggled to swim around it, but there was no
maneuvering the strong current. It led her now. She raised her
hands in front of her as she crashed against the hull. Splintered
wood stabbed her palms as she launched herself off the hull of the
boat and continued the descent.

A burst of pain erupted in her skull, and she swore
she had been scalped, leaving a chunk of flesh and brain behind.
She went under and frantically touched her head. Still intact. She
slammed into something hard, forcing her chest to contract and her
mouth to open, swallowing water. Her lungs burned as she scrambled
to the surface, coughing and gasping.

Death had come for her. Even Max couldn’t stop it.
An insignificant speck in the grand scale of things. They probably
would never find her body. Her lungs swelled, needing to fill with
oxygen. Breaking to the surface, water filled her mouth, and her
struggle was useless. A vision of a clear, blue sky momentarily
pulled her out of pain, reminding her she was still alive. Her
hands felt like lead, her body heavy and she dropped below the
surface. At least this time it was just her. No one else had to die
this time. Dumb luck for everyone else, for her it was just karma.
She’d never had a speck of good luck her whole life. But dying
hadn’t been on her to-do list. She hadn’t told Jake how she felt
about him.

It was too late now. Her lungs begged for
release.

Something pulled at her midsection. The fabric of
her dress snapped, and she was lifted into the open air where she
filled her lungs with oxygen. It burned her throat. A burst of
energy flowed through her, and she thrashed, flailing her arms to
find balance. She could make it, but her limbs were so heavy, her
head a knot of pain as she went under again. This time she felt
strong arms around her chest, pulling her up. She broke through
again and heard a faint whisper edging its way into her ear.

“You’re safe,” he said.

The image, a murky haze in front of her, was Jake,
pulling her against him. She stopped thrashing, her limbs weak, and
allowed him to pull her to shore. On rocky ground, she coughed, her
eyes shut as pain fluttered through her.

Jake fell beside her, his hand firmly clasped around
hers. Rolling over on his side, he cradled her in his arms, his
heart pounding through the thin fabric of his jumpsuit. His
startling, green eyes reaped havoc on her heart.

“Jake, how?” She coughed, spitting water.

Lifting his head, he led her gaze to the sail stuck
on a tree above them.

“It worked,” he said, a smile on his face. “And you
made it.” He breathed hard and gave a final exhalation before the
smile slipped, his head cocked, his eyes narrowed, driving needles
through her.

She couldn’t quite decide if she should run from
whatever was coming, or deflect it with a kiss. She did
neither.

“Now, what the hell was that?” he half yelled, half
whispered. But he didn’t let her go.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean your little stunt...I don’t even know what
to call it!” His face was red and the veins on his forehead
visible.

Angry? No. Pissed? Yup.

“I wasn’t trying to kill myself if that’s what you
think.”

“Oh, really?” He still didn’t let her go, and it was
awkward to argue with him in close proximity, though she should be
used to it. They seemed to be always arguing.

“Really.”

He pressed her against him and stroked her hair. “I
won’t let you fall, Gabby, ever,” he whispered on top of her
head.

She wanted to tell him he would. She could feel it.
She could sense it. Even he could not save her from the fall to
Hell.

He finally calmed and pulled her away to get a
better look at her. “What happened?” His voice was soft and his
hand trembled.

“My brother didn’t come for me.” She sat up wincing,
her mind racing to grasp something. Hope. Reality. Him. “I took the
boat out and fell asleep. When I woke up...” she shrugged. She also
didn’t mention that she was in a pond with no way of getting here.
Too wound up, he didn’t seem to notice that small discrepancy.

“You are the luckiest person I know.”

She chuckled. “How am I lucky?”

“You have me to save you.”

“Yeah, well, you owed me for saving you.” She poked
him. The movement sent icy pain to her head. She moaned and slid
the tips of her fingers to a knot on her head.

“Don’t move,” he whispered. “Just stay here for a
little bit until you’re ready.”

He didn’t release her. Snuggling with him made her
feel better faster than she’d hoped.

Jake couldn’t want to be with her if she was evil, a
demon. Naite had been lying. Gabby would never call upon her, not
when she had Jake, not when he made her feel complete. But what if
Naite had been right? What if Gabby brought Jake down with her? She
couldn’t do that to him. Not when it risked his soul.

She wasn’t sure how much time passed when she
finally broke the silence. “Um, I should probably get up now.” Her
mind turned to fuzz when he was near, and she needed to be away
from him to think.

He sighed but did not argue and helped her stand.
Soaked to the bone, she realized her summer dress was torn, hanging
over her shoulder, her padded bra underneath exposed. She gasped
and pulled it up, but it was useless. Its thin fabric revealed way
too much.

Jake held her at arm’s length, his eyes scanning
her, oblivious that she just ended up in a bra. “Are you hurt?” he
asked.

She felt naked in front of him. He didn’t seem to
notice. “Scratches and I’m sure I’ll get a few bruises, but nothing
permanent.”

He pulled her into him again, wrapping his arms
around her. Leaning her head onto his chest, savoring the feeling
of being protected, she felt...good. Forever didn’t seem like a
long time and she wanted him...forever. Though Naite crept into
focus behind her closed lids.

She should’ve told Jake to leave her alone. She
should’ve told him that she was evil. Naite had been right. Her
brother didn’t come to save her.

“I’ll take you home,” he said, pulling away from her
and walking toward the sail, tugging at the canvas lines.

In that moment, a car skidded to a halt, and soon
after, Alexi broke through the trees and lunged at Jake, wrapping
her arms around his neck and reeling him in for a deep kiss.

Gabby stepped back, her head low, her eyes on Alexi
who didn’t notice anyone but Jake. Gabby’s mind whirled with images
of the girl, strapped on a stone dais, her head arched back, blood
pooling around her, her eyes rolled to the back of her head. Gabby
blinked and the image was gone, replaced by the image of Jake and
Alexi now looking at her. Jake held Alexi’s wrist, keeping her at
arm’s length. He said something Gabby didn’t catch and then Alexi
whirled on her.

“
Her
,” Alexi hissed. Her brow was drawn
tight, forcing her eyes to look like two slits on her face.

“Alexi, listen...” Jake’s voice echoed to Gabby, but
she couldn’t allow him to draw her in again.