I glanced over at where he stood just insidethe doorway with an expression nearly identical to Corson’s as hesurveyed the room. They both looked prepared to defend themselvesagainst an impossible angel uprising. Vargas appeared behind him,his eyes widened as he surveyed the room, and his fingers brushedover his cross before his hand fell back to his side. Beside him,Erin took one step into the room before quickly stepping back.
“Sometimes I just know things,” I answeredand returned the sign to where it hung on the wall.
Tilting my head back, I lifted my hand to themobile over my head. My fingers slid over the cherubs hanging fromit and dancing in the air beneath my touch. I turned away from themobile and moved closer to the window to stare out at the hushedstreet.
I bit my lip, suppressing a gasp as theshimmering image of a young girl standing on the sidewalkmaterialized before me. Her wheat blonde hair hung in ringletsaround her shoulders, her kelly-green eyes were vivid in the sunspilling around and through her transparent body. She looked thesame as Angela, the girl in the picture downstairs, and she worethe same red and white checkered sundress from the picture.
I knew it wasn’t real, that the little girldidn’t exist, but I couldn’t look away from her. There had been alot of strange occurrences in my life, some I’d written off andforgot, others had stuck with me, butnothinglike this had ever happened before. Iclosed my eyes and rubbed them with my fingertips. When I openedthem again, she was still standing there, a see-through vision whoheld my gaze.
“Do you see her?” I inquired when Corsonwalked over to stand next to me.
“Who?”
I wasn’t surprised by his answer, but I’dstill hoped that someone else could see her too. “No one. I thoughtI saw someone, but I was wrong.”
The little girl continued to stare at me, herpretty features sparkling with the rays of the sun filteringthrough her body. Angelic would have been the best way to describeher. I flattened my fingers against the glass as the girl waveredand vanished before blinking back into form further across theroad. She turned and lifted her hand to point at the horizon. Ifollowed her finger until I spotted something standing along thetree line on a distant hillside.
“What are those?” I inquired and pointedtoward the shapes moving swiftly across the ground. I didn’t knowif it was the distance, a trick of the light, or if they werereally doing it, but they seemed to be floating across theearth.
Corson’s eyes narrowed as he studied whereI’d indicated. “Lanavours,” he grated. I recalled the name fromlast night and the creatures roaming the city. “We have to get outof this town.”
“What about Kobal?” I demanded.
“He’ll find you, but not if they find usfirst. We don’t have enough weapons or people to deal with them,and believe me, you donotwant todeal with them. The gargoyles were more fun.”
Those words made my blood run cold. Anythingworse than a gargoyle was something I preferred not to mess with.Turning away from the window, I snatched one of the angels from theshelf. I had no idea what possessed me to do such a thing, but itfelt right in my hand as I rushed out the door after theothers.
CHAPTER 14
Kobal
I stared at the boulders blocking the road,my fury mounting when I spotted the crumpled remains of a gargoylewing poking out from the rubble. We could climb over the boulders,but that would mean leaving behind all the supplies and vehicles.It would mean continuing on foot from here, something that wouldtake far too much time considering the mortals.
“Shit!” I exploded.
Grabbing a boulder the size of a small car, Ilifted up and heaved it out of the way. The boulder smashed off therock face across from me, disintegrating into smaller pieces thatcrumpled onto the top of the giant pile in our way. Humansscampered to get away from me and the broken bits of rock bouncingacross the surface of the asphalt.
I looked toward the next rock with the intentof throwing it out of the way, but there were hundreds of themseparating River from me. It would take hours to work our waythrough them enough to be able to pass. I hadn’t set it free, butfire licked over my hands and up toward my elbows as I stared atthe obstacle before me. My flames would be of no use against stone.The force would push the rocks back, but with the mountainsblocking both sides of the road, there was nowhere for the rocks tobe pushed to.
Turning, I studied the road behind us. Itbranched off a few miles back, most likely making its way around tothe town where Corson and River had gone, or at least it would goclose to it.
“We’re going to have to double back,” Moraxsaid.
“I know,” I murmured. “Let’s go!”
Around me, what remained of the humancontingent returned to their vehicles. They went in reverse untilthey found a place to turn around. I climbed behind the wheel ofanother pickup and Bale slid into the passenger side. Backing downthe road, I spun it around and drove forward to take the lead whenthe other vehicles stopped to wait.
I found the other road and drove down itrapidly. I didn’t care about the creaking, thudding sounds of thepickup or the tires as I pressed the gas pedal to the floor. I hadto get to River, had to see her, had to know she was safe.
It took far more time than I would haveliked, but we finally pulled into the town where I’d told Corson towait for us. The sun had set an hour ago; the moon hung over thetops of the trees to illuminate the roadway almost as well as theheadlights did.
I caught a lingering hint of River’s freshrain scent, a scent that radiated from her soul and was an integralpart of her. It was far too faint for her to still be in this town.My hands curled around the wheel as I fought against ripping itfrom the truck.
Fear wasn’t something I was familiar with,but now it incessantly crept through me. They had been here; theynever would have left if something hadn’t driven them away.
What if something had taken her?
Bowing my head, my nostrils flared and mymuscles bulged as I grappled to maintain my self-control.
