Angel Fever

11

I AWOKE FROM TANGLED DREAMS to find the desk light on, its neck pushed down low. I blinked as I propped myself up on my elbows, wondering whether I was still dreaming. Alex was moving around the room wearing only his jeans, his hair damp as if he’d just taken a shower.

He had one of the small nylon backpacks from the supply closet, and he was packing it.

“Alex?” I glanced at the clock. It wasn’t even four in the morning. “What’s going on?”

“Hey.” He came over and sat beside me. “It’s, um…been kind of an eventful night. Kara’s here.”

“Kara?” I sat up straight. “You mean – she’s still alive? But how? Is she okay?”

He took my hand and looked down, playing with my fingers. “She was in an Eden. Something’s happened to her – I think she’s been marshalled somehow.”

Images of what he’d seen swirled through me. I caught my breath at the sight of Kara’s bruised face. “Oh god, she’s not okay.”

Alex detached his hand from mine and cleared his throat. “No, she’s fine – just pretty beaten up. And she’s been through a hell of a lot.” Briefly, he told me what had happened. My mouth tightened at the mention of my father. Oh, poor Kara.

“Brendan’s dead,” Alex added after a pause. “He was fatally injured in the Mexico City quake.”

Sorrow stirred through me, though I’d already grieved for both Brendan and Kara months ago. Wordlessly, I touched Alex’s arm, rubbing his tattoo.

He still sat looking down, the muscles of his torso firm even though he was relaxed. Or was he? Studying him more closely, I became aware of a faint feeling of tension, and I glanced again at the backpack, gaping open. A folded T-shirt lay on top and a couple of spare magazines for his pistol.

I slowly dropped my hand. “So…what does all of this have to do with you going somewhere?”

Alex got up from the bed, and if it had been anyone else, I’d have said that he was moving to avoid looking at me. “Kara’s brought some new information,” he said as he picked up his camouflage trousers. “I’ve got to go check something out at the old AK camp.”

“You mean you’re going to New Mexico?” I shoved back the covers and scrambled to the bottom of the bed. I took the trousers from him and put them aside. “Hey, stop packing for a second. What new information? About the angels?”

“Yeah. It’s probably nothing, though.”

“Well…what did Kara say?”

Alex’s blue-grey eyes met mine. I had the fleeting sense that the moment was poised on a knife’s edge. Then he let out a small breath. “It’s…something my dad was working on years ago, that’s all.”

He stopped, and I opened my mouth to say, Yes, but what? Then he turned away and went on: “It was, um – kind of to do with the earth’s energy field. I always thought it was crazy. But if he was right, then…” He shrugged.

“The earth’s energy field,” I repeated blankly.

“Well, not really. It’s complicated – I don’t have time to explain.”

“Cully,” I said suddenly. The name had just popped into my head; I frowned as I tried to put the pieces together. “Did Kara see Cully? Is this coming from him?”

Alex had gone to the desk to get his pistol; when I spoke, he stopped in his tracks. His shoulders flexed as he propped his hands on the desk. “Willow, listen – don’t try to get it, all right? It’s better if no one but me knows some of this.”

“Whoa, whoa.” I went quickly to him. Sliding a hand across the smooth warmth of his back, I leaned around to look into his face. “Alex, what’s going on?”

“Nothing, it’s – just a precaution,” he said, squeezing my hand briefly and releasing it. “I don’t think anything will happen here while I’m gone, but if it does, none of you would be able to tell the angels any details. Just…trust me and leave it alone, okay?”

I didn’t know what to say. He’d gone back to packing; his dark hair was half-dry now, looking soft at the edges. “Is this something dangerous?” I asked at last.

His gaze stayed on the backpack as he put the camouflage trousers in. He shook his head. “No. Nothing I can’t handle.”

I fell silent, thinking about the promise he’d made. I almost said something, but then he looked up and I saw the expression in his eyes. He hadn’t forgotten; I could tell.

If he were putting himself in danger, he’d tell me.

There was a long pause. Finally I nodded reluctantly. “All right. But – well, why don’t I come with you? Or Sam, or Seb, or someone?”

Alex fastened the backpack. “No, it – makes more sense if I go alone. There’s no reason to take anyone else away from training the team, when I can do this myself.”

He paused and touched my hair then, gently fingering a wavy strand. As if thinking about something else, he said, “Willow, look – this is just something I need to do. I mean, it’s probably nothing, but if it is something, then…”

He didn’t go on, though I sensed in a rush how important this could be – and knew that whatever objections I had weren’t going to make any difference.

The words didn’t want to come out. “So…when are you leaving?” I asked finally.

“Now. I just need to tell the others. I’m leaving Sam in charge while I’m gone – is that okay with you?”

“Yeah, good call.” I rubbed my arms, still hardly able to believe we were having this conversation. “How long will you be gone, exactly?”

Alex’s eyes met mine. For a second I thought he was going to say something, then he turned away and tightened a strap on the backpack, yanking it taut. “However long it takes, I guess.”

However long what takes? With an effort, I bit the question back.

I watched as Alex pulled on a blue T-shirt and then reached into our closet for his leather jacket, scavenged almost a year ago from an abandoned store in Phoenix. He shrugged into it, and for a second I was reminded of when I’d first met him – he’d been driving a black Porsche and wearing a jacket just like this one. Even then, back when we’d hated each other, I’d thought he was the best-looking boy I’d ever seen.

Once we’d gotten the others up, Liz and Sam were as stunned by the news that Kara was here as by Alex leaving. Only Seb seemed unsurprised; I saw him give Alex a sharp look.

“Look, Al, I seriously don’t like this—” Sam was saying as we walked down the corridor towards the garage. Outside, I knew it wasn’t even dawn yet; the rest of the base was still asleep.

“Wait a sec; I’ll just grab a sat phone,” interrupted Alex as we came to the comms room. He ducked inside and was out again a few moments later. I had the brief sense that he’d stuffed more than just a sat phone into his jeans pocket.

Alex was walking a little ahead, fielding a barrage of questions from Sam.

“Did you know about this?” Liz whispered.

I shook my head, still gazing at Alex. Without trying, I was aware that there was something buried in his mind; that he was consciously piling other thoughts on top. I crossed my arms tight, resisting the urge to look further. He’d asked me to trust him and I did, but…what was going on?

Alex grabbed some food and a rifle, and then, all too soon, we were in the garage and he was loading up one of the 4 × 4s. He shook hands with Sam and Seb, gave Liz a brief hug. “Okay, I’ll check in when I can, but try not to worry if you don’t hear from me.”

Like the night Alex and I had gone to Colorado, Sam was in his pyjamas, his broad face a scowl. “Yeah, we’ll just throw a party. Bud, all this secret squirrel stuff is not reassuring.”

Seb hadn’t said much, though his hazel eyes were troubled. He said something to Alex in low, urgent Spanish; Alex shook his head. “No, pero gracias, amigo,” he replied in an undertone – and I knew Seb must have asked, as I had, whether he could go along.

“Look, if – I mean, it won’t, but if anything happens—” Alex broke off, jiggling the keys in his hand. “Sam, you’re in charge, but the others are allowed to mutiny if you do anything stupid,” he said, his voice abruptly curt. “Seriously, just keep on training everyone, all right? If what I’m checking on doesn’t pan out, that’s all we can do. There are plans on my laptop I’ve been working on; Willow knows the password.”

Sam’s eyebrows lowered. “Alex, what the hell—”

“It’ll be fine.” Alex glanced at me, then back at the others. “Let us have some privacy, okay? Take care, you guys.”

The others left with backward glances. I gripped my arms, leaning against the truck as silence settled around us. “Alex, this is— I mean, I’m still trying to figure out what’s even going on here.”

Alex stood motionless. Then he shook his head as if chasing a thought away. His voice was rough. “Yeah, I know. I’ll tell you everything later. I’d better get going now, though.”

He stepped close and stroked my hair back with both hands – and though our kisses had meant many things before, this one was somehow different. I wrapped my arms around his neck, kissing him back as hard as I could; then we just held each other, his head buried against my shoulder.

“Hey, I’ll be checking up on you,” I tried to joke as he finally pulled away. “I mean, like, every second.”

His throat moved slightly. “I know,” he said. He gave a crooked smile and touched my cheek. Slowly, his fingers trailed down to my neck.

“You are my life, you know that?” he said in a low voice. “You always have been, from the second I met you.”

He swung himself up into the truck before I could answer, not looking at me. “Get the elevator for me, will you?” he said. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

But as I moved to press the button, I froze in place. For a second, I literally couldn’t make myself do it – it felt as if I’d be sending Alex to his doom.

I glanced back, drinking in his face, the beautiful shape of his mouth as he fiddled with the truck’s controls. It’s okay, I told myself. He said that he wouldn’t put himself in danger again without telling me. He promised.

I squared my shoulders…and pressed the button. As the elevator door slid open, Alex looked up and started the engine. “Be careful,” I said, lifting my voice over the noise of the truck.

He nodded, drove the 4 × 4 into the elevator, and then hooked his arm over the seat, twisting around to look back at me. Our eyes met and locked as the door slid shut, slowly slicing him from view.

It closed.

As the machinery rumbled, moving upwards, that feeling of dread swept over me again, stronger than before. But I had to trust that he knew what he was doing.

I looked up as Seb entered the garage, his hands shoved into his back pockets. “I, uh…heard the elevator,” he said. “Are you all right?”

“Yeah, I guess,” I said. I could sense Alex above, the garage door rising for him as the outside gate slid open. Another second, and he’d be gone.

Unable to help myself, I connected quickly with my angel. Spreading my ethereal wings, I shot up through the elevator shaft, bursting up out of the building like a swimmer emerging from water. There were still stars overheard, with the rosy tinge of dawn in the east.

Alex’s truck was making its way down the dirt road. From this height, it looked like a toy. I hovered as I watched the truck grow smaller, longing to fly after him but sensing the intensity of his purpose – and his grim conviction that he’d do whatever it took to come back to me again.

He turned onto the main road and the truck was devoured by darkness.

Seb was still standing beside my human form as my angel merged with me again. I stared at the empty space where Alex’s truck had been, feeling alone despite Seb’s presence.

“What do you want, Seb?” The words came out more sharply than I’d meant.

His face drained of expression. “Nothing. Forget it.” He turned to leave. I could feel that he was worried about me – and Alex too, for that matter.

I sighed and followed, stopping him with a touch on his arm. “Look, I’m sorry.” I leaned against the wall, rubbing my throbbing head. “It’s just…this has been a really weird night, okay?”

Seb gave a humourless smile as he propped himself next to me. “It’s funny – just a few hours ago, he was convincing me to stay.”

“A few hours ago?” I stared at him. “What more do you know about this?”

Seb shook his head. “Only what he just told us.”

Then his words registered. “Wait – why was he convincing you to stay? Were you leaving?”

He shrugged. “I might still. We’ll see.”

I paused. “With Meghan?”

Seb nodded. And for some reason, this made what had just happened a little harder to bear. “I really like her,” I said finally. “I’m happy for you, Seb. I mean it.”

The look he gave me was complicated – wry and vulnerable at the same time. “Yes, thank you,” he said, his tone formal. “I like her too.”

Neither of us spoke for a few minutes. All I could think of was Alex, heading towards New Mexico and his father’s old camp with something locked deep inside of him. I let out a breath.

Oh god, Alex, please be safe.