Текст книги "Angel Fever"

Автор книги: L. A. Weatherly

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Текущая страница: 19 (всего у книги 26 страниц)

26

I’D ONLY BEEN IN THE town hall twice – once on a field trip in third grade and once to pay a parking ticket when I was sixteen. It smelled just the same, like dust and lemon cleaning polish. Jonah led us to a room on the ground floor. At one end was a battered-looking desk with a shortwave radio; at the other, a fireplace.

Jonah crouched in front of it, feeding the small blaze with scraps of wood. “Sorry it’s so cold in here,” he said. “The town’s only got one generator – we save it for the service station and heating the school at night.”

It felt strange that Jonah knew more about my hometown than I did now. I glanced at Nina, still hardly able to believe I was here. “How are you?” I asked her quietly. “I mean – how has everything been?”

“Bizarre,” she said with a tight smile. “These last two years have definitely not been normal. Not for you either, I guess.” She hesitated. “So did you know you were half-angel? Or what?”

I shook my head. “Not until I was sixteen – it was that day I followed Beth to the Church of Angels, actually.” It was also the day I’d first met Alex. At the image of him falling into step beside me as we walked through the parking lot, I stopped short and looked away. “It’s, um…a long story.”

Nina studied me with a frown, looking exactly the way she’d always looked when I’d tried to evade something. Thankfully, this time she didn’t pursue it.

“Are you sure your name is really Fisk and not Freedom?” Seb asked Jonah from beside the desk.

Relieved to have something else to think about, I followed his gaze – and saw scrawled notes on a yellow legal pad beside the shortwave. A puzzle piece slipped into place.

“You’re the Voice of Freedom!” I burst out.

Jonah’s cheeks reddened as he straightened. He briefly pulled off his cap and ran a hand over his head – his dark hair was close-cropped now, the curls gone. “Um, yeah…I guess you could say that.”

I felt a sudden fierce pride that the Voice of Freedom was coming from Pawntucket. “We listen to you all the time,” I said fervently. “People hear you – they tell us so in dark towns, when we go in to recruit.”

Jonah’s eyebrows shot up. “Really? That is so good to hear. Sometimes it feels like I’m just broadcasting into nothing.”

“No, you’re definitely making a difference. Don’t give up, not ever,” I said – and then winced, remembering the angels gathering in Schenectady.

A tense silence fell. Finally Jonah poured water from a plastic bottle into an old-fashioned kettle and hooked it over the fire. As we all settled near the hearth, he glanced at Nina. “So, where should we start?”

“How about with why you’re in Pawntucket?” I tried to smile. “I think you’re literally the last person I expected to see here.”

Jonah had to be in his early twenties, but his quick, embarrassed grin made him look about eighteen. “Actually, I came looking for you.”

“Me? Why?”

“Well, you and Alex,” he clarified. When I didn’t respond, he went on. “See, after the Second Wave arrived, I – I guess I didn’t deal with it very well.” He made a face as he traced a pattern on the faded carpet. “I mean…everything I’d ever believed in was gone. Everything. And we hadn’t managed to stop them, and—” He broke off. Nina’s expression had softened as she watched him.

Finally Jonah let out a breath. “Anyway, after a while I realized I could do something about it, if I could just find you two. I knew you’d still be fighting; I wanted to join you. But the only place I knew about where you and Alex might come to was here.” He hesitated, looking up. “Listen, I hope I’m not saying the wrong thing, but – where is Alex?”

I tensed. I’d never had to say it out loud before; everyone at the base had already known. The words came out harshly. “He’s dead. He died over a year ago.”

Jonah closed his eyes tight, as if he’d almost been expecting this. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I would have liked to have known him better.”

“Oh, Willow,” whispered Nina – and I knew Jonah must have told her about me and Alex being a couple. She leaned over and squeezed my hand. “Are…are you okay?”

For a second I couldn’t help gripping her fingers. “I’m fine,” I said. I quickly let go of her, hating the fact that tears were threatening. It had been a year. “Fine,” I repeated.

Nina still looked stricken; Jonah’s gentle brown gaze was full of concern. Seb cleared his throat. “Willow and Alex went down to Mexico City after they escaped from Denver,” he said. “Willow had a dream that took them there.”

He told Jonah and Nina everything – the assassination of the Council, our base in Nevada, the recent angel attack. He explained it all far more succinctly than I could have. It made me sad to listen, though. For over two years, we’d tried so hard, hoped so much – and we’d just had failure after failure.

Nina and Jonah both looked dazed when he’d finished. “Wow,” Jonah said finally, pushing his cap back a little. “Well, nothing as important as that’s been happening here. Though something pretty strange has been going on.”

He glanced at me and seemed reluctant to continue. Instead he stretched on his knees to hook the kettle off the fire. He poured us each a mug of tea, his boyish face intent. “Sorry, no milk. We’ve got sugar, though.”

“No, it’s gone,” Nina said, hugging a knee to her chest.

Jonah settled back beside her. “Oh, well. Sorry, no sugar, either. Anyway, I got to Pawntucket and found out that you weren’t here, Willow. But then I met Nina.”

Nina gave a small smile as they exchanged a glance. “Yeah, we were both outside your aunt’s old house. I mean…where it used to be.”

I stiffened, remembering the news footage: the shimmering wall of fire that had devoured the house, with a garden gnome glowing like a weird fire spirit in the front yard. “What were you doing there?”

Nina shook her head. “I don’t know; I just…went there sometimes. I really missed you after you left.” She ran a finger over her mug as she went on: “So one day there was this guy lurking around, and it was Jonah. We got to talking, and I thought he was crazy at first. I mean, he was telling me angels were real and feeding from humans, and you were half-angel and trying to defeat them – believe me, I made an excuse to get away from him pretty fast.”

Jonah smiled slightly. “And here I thought it was just my personality.”

“It was. I thought you were cute, but certifiable.” Nina swallowed. “But…then all this other stuff started happening, and I realized he was right.”

“What stuff?” Seb asked sharply.

“Well, things got pretty weird as soon as Willow left.” Nina glanced at me. “Right after, we had police all over the place, asking questions – and then there was all that about you running away with a secret boyfriend, which I knew wasn’t true. I – well, I was scared.”

“I wanted to call you so many times,” I said softly. “It just wasn’t safe.”

She nodded, her eyes bright. “I know that now. Anyway, things just got even weirder after that, with everyone convinced you were a terrorist. Which made even less sense than the secret boyfriend. And then the quakes…” She sighed. “Oh god, it was horrible. No power except for one tiny generator, the middle of winter—”

“Why didn’t you go to Schenectady Eden?” I asked. “I mean, I’m glad you didn’t, but I haven’t seen any populated dark towns this far north.”

“Most people did. I stayed because…well, because of the angels.” Nina shook her head. “It’s crazy, huh? I would never have believed that anything like that could be true. But after you left, I’d see people just – looking up into the air with these empty smiles. And then afterwards they’d go join the Church. It was like everyone was turning into a Stepford wife.” She bit her lip. “But then after the quakes hit…it all changed.”

“We’ve, um – sort of got a theory,” Jonah said. “We think maybe the earthquakes affected people here in ways they weren’t aware of. Like, woke them up, on some level.”

I stared at him. Nina took a deep breath. “Willow, a few days after the quakes, I saw Mrs. Baxter standing in front of Drake’s Diner, staring up at the sky – only this time I could see what was happening. I saw the angel, saw it feeding from her. It was so…” She trailed off with a convulsive shudder.

“I know,” I whispered, remembering the first time I’d seen someone being fed from by an angel. It wasn’t a sight that left you.

Nina started to say something else and hesitated, looking pained.

“The next week, Nina’s parents went to the refugee camp outside of Schenectady,” put in Jonah softly, touching her hand. “They’re probably residents of the Eden now.”

If they were still alive at all. I winced, remembering her nice, normal parents – how much I used to envy her having them. “Oh god, Nina, I’m so sorry.”

“Yeah,” she said at last, her eyes full of an old sorrow. “I begged them not to go, but they didn’t believe me. They tried to make me go, but by then everyone who’s here now had seen what was going on too. We all kind of…banded together, I guess, and refused.” She gazed down, playing with Jonah’s fingers.

“Nina, that’s—”

She took a deep breath. “Wait, there’s more. We didn’t realize it until the first time an angel tried to feed from one of us, but – well, it’s like we’re immune. They try to feed and then hiss and back off. It’s even gotten to where we can see them coming now, as if our senses are sharpening all the time.”

I stared at her, my thoughts in chaos. “How many of you are there?” I asked finally.

“Almost two hundred,” she said. “Pretty much everyone you had a class with at Pawntucket High. Which, um…” She glanced at Jonah.

He put his mug down. “Willow, this is just a theory, okay? The thing is, we think the quakes had something to do with what’s happening – but we think you might, too.”

“Me?” I gaped at them. “I wasn’t even here!”

Nina’s voice was low. “Yes, but the people who became immune after the quakes had all spent a lot of time around you. We’ve gone over and over possible links, and you’re the only one that makes any—”

“Oh, right!” I let out a short, gasping laugh. “So I’m, like, secretly marshalling everyone from thousands of miles away, even though I wouldn’t know how if I tried? Yes, that’s reasonable.”

Jonah’s face was troubled. “No, actually we think it’s the opposite,” he said. “That people who knew you are somehow connecting to your energy and marshalling themselves.”

We were speaking different languages. “But that doesn’t make any sense. There’s nothing about me that could help them do that.”

“Jonah says the angels think you’re the one who can defeat them,” pointed out Nina. “So there must be something special about you.”

I hated this conversation. “The only thing special about me is that I’m half-angel – and so is Seb, so what does that do to your theory? Besides, if this is true, then everyone I know should be immune, and they aren’t!”

Seb had been sitting quietly through all this, missing nothing. “What about Kara?” he asked.

I froze. “What about her?”

“Kara is an AK,” Seb explained to Nina and Jonah. “And she, too, is immune. We don’t know that the others aren’t,” he added, looking at me. “During the battle, the angels weren’t trying to feed; they were only trying to kill.”

I shook my head dumbly. “Seb, no – this is just too strange. There’s no way it can be true.”

He shrugged. “I don’t know… I’m thinking now of how attached everyone in the base was to you. I’d feel it, sometimes – as if everyone’s energy was reaching towards you. I thought it was just – that they liked you, you know? But…” He fell silent.

I’d felt the same thing. Oh god, I’d felt the same thing. My blood chilled. Whatever was going on couldn’t really be to do with me, could it?

“Okay, but even if this is true…it doesn’t change anything,” I said finally. “Because if the only people this happens to are ones who’ve spent time around me – well, I can’t spend time around the whole world, can I? The angels will still win in the end.”

“It must mean something.” Nina’s voice was tight with frustration. “If you could just find a way to harness this thing—”

“How?”

“I don’t know; you’re the one who can defeat them!”

“Don’t you think I’ve racked my brains for two years now, trying to figure out what I could do? There’s nothing! I’m just me, Nina, not Supergirl.”

There was a long pause. Nina blew out a breath and stared down at her tea. Jonah’s eyes were kind but disappointed – and I realized with a jolt that they’d been hoping I was the answer. From Seb’s wry smile, I knew that he, at least, hadn’t believed for a second that we’d avoid a fight with the angels.

I didn’t believe it either.

“I’m sorry,” I said to Nina and Jonah. “I’d give anything if I knew how to defeat them. But if you’re looking for a saviour, you’d better look somewhere else.”

The room grew warmer as the fire took hold; finally Jonah started to speak again. The rest of his story didn’t take long. He’d come here looking for me and Alex, and found a dark town full of people who were immune to the angels. With Jonah’s knowledge, they started training themselves and bringing their attackers down.

It had taken a long time for the angels to figure out what was going on. Once the Edens got under way, they didn’t come here often – and when they did, their small groups were decimated by dozens of fighters, leaving no trace.

“But a few months ago, we started going out after them,” Jonah said. “At a raid on Schenectady Eden recently, one of our fighters got killed. Or at least that’s what we thought. Now, though…” He shook his head. “It looks like he might have still been alive and got captured.”

Seb’s eyes narrowed. “Why do you think this?”

“Just before dawn this morning, we found a group of angels in their human forms, prowling around town.” Jonah glanced at me. “That’s, um – why everyone was kind of on edge when you got here. The angels tried to fly away, and we got them all, but it was like they were scoping the place out. And now, with an attack coming…” Jonah swallowed. “I’ve got a really bad feeling our fighter, Chris, told them everything about us.”

I nodded. “The angels know,” I said in a soft voice. “They definitely know.”

“And it will be more than just an attack that comes, I think,” Seb said, shooting me a glance.

He was right; we had to tell them. I cleared my throat. “Look – Seb and I both feel like whatever’s going to happen here will be major.”

Nina stared. “Major how?”

“I don’t know. Affecting the whole world, somehow.” I paused and looked down at my mug of lukewarm tea. “You and the others could always evacuate,” I said. “The army that’s gathering is massive – I’m not sure how much of a chance we actually have.”

“I’m not leaving,” Jonah said, his jaw tensing. “This is my home now; I don’t have another one. I’ve run away from them once – I won’t do it again.”

Nina’s face was set. “I don’t want to leave either. The others will feel the same.” She gave me a sharp look. “You didn’t come here just to tell us to leave, did you?”

“No.” I hesitated, but knew there was no going back. “I came to face Raziel and get rid of him for good.”

Jonah’s expression darkened. I could sense him remembering how much he’d once revered his angel-employer.

“Raziel?” he repeated.

“He’s my father,” I said levelly. “And I’m not going to let him destroy what’s left of Pawntucket and live.”

27

THE MAIN OFFICE IN THE town hall was piled high with scavenged goods. Ignoring the thought of all the people these things had belonged to, Seb sifted quickly through the clothes. He was wearing just his jeans, his skin still damp from a hasty wash with chilly water. Scott the football hero hadn’t returned yet with the others, though they’d be back any second.

Footsteps echoed in the marble hallway. Seb glanced up; Willow’s voice floated in – she was talking to Nina. He stood motionless as their footsteps faded – then shook his head and snapped on a T-shirt.

Though he would never have thought it possible, kissing Willow again had at least done one thing for him: the thought of trying again with her, ever, held no appeal at all. He couldn’t believe it had happened again – to be kissing her, then find out it was Alex she wanted. And this time it had killed something vital in him. Even if Willow came to him now, totally over Alex, and said she wanted him – he’d tell her no and he knew it.

There was a mirror propped against one wall. Seb stopped and stared at himself, frowning, as the momentousness of this hit him.

Dios mío…it was really true. He’d finally had enough.

In a daze, Seb sank down onto a desk. Searching his emotions, he found only a deep sense of caring for Willow. He loved her, yes; he always would – but in love with her?

No.

After sixteen years of thinking himself in love with Willow, he’d at last come out the other side. Yet the sadness was still there, so ingrained within him that he could feel it in every cell.

Willow’s frustrated voice came back to him: At least be honest with yourself! Why do you think you’ve been so unhappy these last few months?

The ghost of the argument still infuriated him. To go from kissing Willow to being told that he wasn’t really in love with her at all—

Deep down, his angel stirred. But you’re not.

Seb’s jaw clenched as, from out of nowhere, he remembered when Meghan had taught him to drive: the way she’d laughed when he’d stalled them with a lurch, sending her auburn hair swinging forward. Suddenly his chest felt hollow. He clutched the back of his head and sat hunched over, almost wanting to punch something.

And then glanced up, startled, as Jonah stepped in.

An awkward silence. “Hi,” Jonah said, shifting his weight. “I just wanted to see if you were finding everything all right.”

“Yes, thanks.” Seb got up and yanked on his sweater, confused by the vehemence of his emotions. What was wrong with him, anyway?

Jonah came in and leaned against the desk. His jean-clad form was tautly thin, like a runner’s. “So you’re from Mexico?” he asked. “My family went to Puerto Vallarta on vacation once.”

Seb had been several times, hoping to spot his half-angel girl in the sunburned crowds. “Very pretty,” he said non-committally. “The beach is nice.”

Jonah smiled slightly. “I guess it’s not the real Mexico.”

Images swarmed in: the traffic of the Distrito Federal, with its shouting street vendors; the grinning skull of Santa Muerte; the danger that lay down a wrong street – the chaotic beauty down another. And the large brown eyes of a too-thin street girl as he grabbed her, told her to Run, niña!

“No, the real Mexico is impossible to explain,” Seb said finally. “It’s better to go where the tourists go. Enjoy the sun.”

“I grew up in Utah – I got plenty of sun there. I’d rather see what’s real.” Jonah nudged at the floor with a scuffed sneaker. “I’ve got kind of an aversion to things that aren’t, ever since I left the Church.”

Voices approached outside; Jonah straightened. “Scott’s back.” He cleared his throat, glancing at Seb. “You know, I’ve never been in a battle before.”

“I don’t recommend them,” Seb said in a low voice. “But we have a warning this time, at least.”

Jonah’s face might have been boyish; his thoughtful dark eyes were not – and Seb realized that at some point he’d already faced what was, for him, the worst thing imaginable.

“Yeah, I hope that makes a difference,” Jonah said quietly. “But if it doesn’t—” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “As long as Nina’s safe I don’t care what happens to me. There are some things worth dying for.”

When Seb and Jonah entered the room with the shortwave radio, Scott and a dozen others were already there, including Willow. Scott had a map of Pawntucket spread out on the desk. He glanced up as Seb and Jonah came in.

“I’ve got the others out scavenging,” he said. “Wood, nails, stuff like that, so we can build fortifications.”

Seb nodded. “Yes, this sounds good.”

“And listen, sorry about before. We had some angels sneaking around here this morning, and—”

“Jonah told us,” put in Willow. “We probably wouldn’t have been very welcoming either.”

For the first time in two years, Seb realized that he didn’t have to stop his aura from straining towards Willow’s. She’d been about to say something else; her eyes widened. She turned quickly towards him – and he knew that she knew.

Looking somewhat stunned, Willow shook herself. “So, um – what kind of fortifications?” she asked.

As everyone pressed around the table, Seb found himself next to a tall, leggy girl with long auburn hair. He did a double take, and she glanced at him, eyebrows up.

It was only Rachel – that girl he’d seen earlier. Seb tore his gaze away, gritting his teeth as he realized: when he’d seen her, hope had leaped within him like a flame.

Damn Willow, anyway, with her stupid certainty. He was not in love with Meghan. Because if he was, that would mean he was the biggest idiot in existence…and had lost the girl who meant more to him than anything.

Scott was drawing something beside the map. “Okay, the angels always come in from the air; they like to attack from height. So I think we need ladders on all the intact buildings, and footholds on the roofs, like this. All around the square, so that fighters have a clear shot at them.”

“What about these streets?” Seb asked sharply, pointing to the lower part of the map. “You have to protect more than just the centre, or they’ll destroy you.”

“But we’ve only got five days,” Rachel protested. Her eyes were the same sky-blue as Meghan’s.

“You are lucky to have five days,” Seb snapped. She reddened and looked away, and he hated himself.

“I’m sorry,” he said after a pause.

“No, you’re right,” Jonah said quietly. “Scott, what about—” He broke off at the sound of running footsteps.

“Jonah!” called a voice. “Jonah!”

Jonah leaped for the door; he flung it open just as a guy with blond hair reached it. “There’s a pack of angels circling overhead,” he panted.

Everyone reacted instantly. Less than a minute later, Seb found himself with his rifle in hand, running close to the buildings lining the square with a guy named David. The town hall bells rang out as angels soared far above.

“This way!” David led him into the bank with its dark, abandoned teller stations. “It’s one of the tallest buildings left – there’s a good view from the top—” David gasped as they pounded up the concrete stairs.

They emerged in an office that had clearly been used for defence before: two metal tables lay overturned, forming a shield, and the glass had been broken out of its windows.

Seb peered out. The dozen or so angels were just circling, too high up to shoot at. He could sense the frustration of other fighters scattered throughout the town.

Finally, after a few long, tense moments, the angels started descending. David snapped his gun into position; Seb’s hand flew out to stop him. “No, wait,” he said, staring upwards. “I don’t think—”

Gunfire sounded from elsewhere; one of the angels exploded into brightness. Seb held back a curse as more gunfire, more destroyed angels followed – he had a sudden feeling that this was not a good idea. Don’t bring your angel out, he thought fervently to Willow, though he knew she was too far away to hear. Don’t let them know we’re here.

As we’d all run outside, everyone had split off in different directions; Scott had gripped my arm to keep me with him. “You any good with a gun?” he demanded as we flattened ourselves against the remains of the hardware store.

I’d already brought out my pistol. “Not bad,” I said, eyeing the bright forms overhead.

Then I stiffened, every sense tingling. “Wait!” I gasped. “We’ve got to go this way.” I’d already taken a few steps further south.

Scott flung me a hurried glance. “What?”

Sudden urgency took my breath away. I had to get there – had to. I started running down the street; Scott caught up and grabbed my arm again. “Willow, what are you doing?”

Gunfire had started. “Come on!” I cried.

“What’s going on?”

I wrenched away; I wanted to kick him. “I don’t know, but I’m psychic, remember?”

Scott looked alarmed; he dropped my arm, and we took off. I caught glimpses of the others as we ran – felt them crouched behind buildings, firing upwards. Stop shooting! I wanted to yell, but my pounding pulse drove me forward, to the streets heading south out of town.

When we reached them, the view opened up and we saw the angels again, only five left now, high up in the sky as they flew off towards Schenectady Eden. “Damn it,” muttered Scott. “If the angels didn’t know about us before, they sure will now.”

“They knew,” I said. We were at the top of Orchid, looking south. I stared at a fallen tree lying across the street. “That wasn’t there before, was it?”

“No, we blocked off the main roads when we got back. Is there a reason we’re here, Willow?”

Then we both heard it: an engine heading our way.

Scott swore and pulled me around the side of a house; he peered out. “Okay, you were right,” he said. “Just like in high school. You know, everyone only called you Queen Weird because it was so spooky how accurate your readings were.”

I crouched down and stared out from under his arm. The street was still empty; the sound of the engine was growing closer. Over the sudden hammering of my pulse, I said, “Yeah, Nina used to tell me I was ruining my chances with the popular crowd.”

“None of that crap matters any more,” Scott said shortly. “We’re all glad you’re back, Willow. We’ve been hoping you’d come.”

A truck cruised into view: a blue 4 × 4 that looked like an Eden vehicle. As it reached the barricade, it stopped. Someone got out; the door slammed.

“Only one,” Scott said, fingering his rifle. “What is he, can you tell? Human or angel?”

I’d forgotten to scan, because all I could do was stare. The guy who’d gotten out had dark hair…and was wearing faded jeans and a leather jacket. My heart skipped so hard it was painful. Oh god, when would I stop seeing Alex everywhere?

“Willow?” said Scott from a distance. “Is he okay?”

The dark-haired guy had firm shoulders, slim hips. A rifle was slung over his back. As I watched, he shoved a hand through his hair in a motion so familiar it clutched at my soul.

Suddenly I was shaking. I did a scan…and as the familiar energy hit me, the world stopped.

“Alex?” I whispered.