Annabelle waited, and waited, but neither male reappeared. Worry ate at her, because she knew they’d be back, eventually—she just didn’t know if her brother would be dead or alive, and she wanted him alive. He would crave a relationship with her, as Zacharel had promised. He just would.
She’d missed him so much. Despite his current feelings toward her, he was still her big brother, the one who had rubbed the top of her head with his knuckles until she cried about the burn, the one who had tickled her until she’d laughed so hard she’d actually peed a little, and the one who had hugged her anytime someone had hurt her feelings.
Today, at her first glance at him, she’d wanted to cry. Not from homesickness, though she’d experienced that in full force, but from sadness. After all this time, it seemed the happy-go-lucky boy had grown into a tormented man.
He was two years older than Annabelle, and she’d always looked up to him, admired him. In high school, all the girls had wanted to date him, and all the boys had wanted to be him. He’d never been without plans, everyone hoping to hang out with him. On multiple occasions, he’d gotten into trouble for sneaking out. Twice he’d wrecked his car. Then he’d gone to college and seemed to calm down, get serious.
Now… He was like a shell of his former self.
Annabelle wandered through the house, a rustic two-story made of natural stone and timber, with a breathtaking view of the mountains from the backyard. First thing she noticed was the fact that he was a slob. Clothes, empty food wrappers and beer bottles littered the floor and tabletop surfaces. He owned very few knickknacks, and had zero pictures of her or their parents.
No, wait. He had a picture of their parents, resting facedown on the nightstand beside his queen-size bed. Why facedown? And oh, seeing her parents smiling up at her when she righted the frame caused her chest to constrict and tears to well in her eyes.
What do you want to be when you grow up, Annabelle? Her mother’s soft voice whispered through her mind.
She closed her eyes, imagined equally soft fingers smoothing hair from her face, then tucking the wayward strands behind her ear. I can’t decide. I want to travel the world. I want to help people. I want to wear beautiful gowns, and eat amazing food and host the best parties.
A warm laugh caressed the air between them. That’s a lot of wants. I’m thinking…a flight attendant who marries a prince?
Annabelle swallowed back her sobs and forced herself to walk away. The master bathroom was open, and she stepped inside only to stop short. An empty syringe, a spoon, a lighter, a rubber band, plastic bag with several small, brown-colored balls of…a drug, for sure, but which drug, she didn’t know.
She thought back to Brax, standing at the door. He hadn’t worn a shirt. Had he sported track marks? She…couldn’t recall. She’d been too busy sprinting from one emotion to another. From elated to guilty to nostalgic to angry to guilty all over again to regret and finally to the sadness that had nearly brought her to tears.
Maybe he wasn’t a user. Maybe he had a roommate and—
But no. With those red-rimmed eyes, those hollowed cheeks and sallow skin, he was the drug user, track marks or not, roommate or not. No wonder he’d turned the photo of their parents down. He hadn’t wanted them to see what he was doing in here. Her shoulders slumped, the weight of responsibility settling heavily. He’d probably started using to escape the pain of all that he’d lost.
“Darling, I’m home,” a female called from below.
Darling? For a moment the weight lifted. How bad could his drug habit be if a woman was willing to put up with it? Then a horrible stillness came over Annabelle. She recognized that voice. But…from where?
She’d heard it recently, she was sure.
“Darling? Didn’t you hear me?”
Realization slammed into her. Driana, from the club. Demon possessed. Evil. Breath froze in Annabelle’s lungs, crystallizing, cutting at her. A weapon. She needed a weapon. She had the new blades Zacharel had given her, but last time knives had failed her. Frantically she searched the bathroom and bedroom for something better…and finally found a gun under a pillow.
She’d never fired a gun before, wasn’t even sure the thing was loaded, but maybe the threat of being shot would be enough to send Driana running. Bracing her legs apart, Annabelle raised her arms, aiming the gun’s barrel at the open space in the doorway.
“Brax?” Footsteps echoed, getting closer and closer. “Darling, answer me. I know you’re here. Unless you’re dead?” A cackling laugh. “How sad that would be.”
A few seconds later, Driana rounded the corner and entered the room. The beautiful blonde spotted Annabelle and gasped, stilled. Her eyelids slitted, but not before Annabelle caught a glimpse of satisfaction and triumph. “Well, well. You decided to join us.”
Annabelle’s aim remained steady as she ran her gaze over her opponent. Gone was the slutty dress. Now Driana wore a conservative business suit in charcoal-gray, the jacket and pants fitted to her sultry curves. If she was stitched up and bandaged, Annabelle couldn’t tell. “You’re dating my brother?” she demanded.
“Dating.” A grin as Driana opened her purse and withdrew a tube of lipstick she traced over her mouth. Smack, smack. “No. I prefer the term ‘debauching.’ But, fine, whatever. Call it what you will. It’s all the same to me.”
“Might want to guard your words. I’m the one with the gun.”
“Well, go ahead. Pull the trigger. Hurt me, kill me. Bring the cops in.” Driana dropped the tube back into the purse. “They’re out there, you know, watching this house, waiting for you to contact your brother. One shot and they’ll think you’re here to finish the job you started four years ago, the complete annihilation of your entire family.”
Do not react. You came here for answers, so get your answers. “Why did you target my brother?”
“Target someone? Me? I would never—”
“You so would, demon, and I won’t listen to your lies.”
A pause. Another grin. “I forget that you know the truth—that you know what I am, and I don’t have to pretend. Driana had been with him for over a year before I arrived, but he’d never proposed, you see, and I helped her realize she just needed a little something extra to convince him of his eternal love. She was more than happy to let me aid her.”
“Why would you go after them? They’ve done nothing to you.”
“You humans. So many questions, when the answer doesn’t ever really matter. I was asked to monitor your brother’s contact with you, to ensure he always hates you and you have nowhere to run, and, well, I jumped at the chance. Now, I grow tired of this. Let’s liven things up, shall we?” Driana pulled a small gun from the purse and fired before Annabelle realized what was happening.
Boom! Boom!
A sharp sting in both her shoulders, jerking her backward, to her knees. There was a gush of warmth down her torso. Her arms fell to her side, too heavy to hold up, but somehow she maintained her grip on the gun. All she had to do was lift it and squeeze the trigger, and this would be over.
“Don’t worry,” Driana said. “Neither was a kill shot. But the cops should have heard them, should be leaping from their car right now and racing inside any second.”
Lift…lift…inch by agonizing inch…breathing through the pain. “Thank you, demon, because now a third and fourth shot won’t matter.” Finally Annabelle had the gun in the air. Praying her aim would be sufficient, she hammered at the trigger.
Boom! Boom!
Driana reacted as she had, jerking backward. Blood sprayed across the hallway walls, her throat torn open, now a gaping mass of crimson and meat. Her head lolled to the side, her gaze fixing somewhere behind Annabelle.
Dead, she was dead.
Annabelle hadn’t meant… Had only hoped to… What had she done? Pure evil had stolen her parents from her, and now she’d stolen this girl from someone else—from Brax.
A green-and-black mist began to rise from her body, a monster quickly taking shape. It had ruby-colored eyes, a skeletal face and stooped shoulders, and it hissed at Annabelle, baring fangs dripping with thick, yellow liquid.
If she’d had the strength, she would have screamed. Below, the front door crashed open. Male voices shouted instructions at each other and warnings for whoever had the gun. Footsteps slapped against the floor. Another hiss, and the demon shot through the ceiling, out of view.
Annabelle dropped the weapon, and labored to her feet, searching for a way out. Dizzying sickness consumed her, hazing her surroundings.
Zacharel appeared in front of her, his features tight with concern. He may not have been here, but he must have been close by. Must have heard the shots, too. His arms slid underneath her, and in seconds, they had cleared the house and were in the air.
She rested her cheek on his strong shoulder and closed her eyes. “My brother?”
“Is alive. I should not have left you alone. I am sorry. So sorry.”
“I killed her.”
“I know.”
“Her demon got away.”
“I know that, too.” He eased her down onto something cold and flat. A bed, she realized, blinking open her eyes. She was in a motel room, her brother seated on the bed across from hers.
Though her vision clouded more with every second that passed, she could see that his eyes were swollen from tears, his cheeks were scratched and bleeding, and he was shaking uncontrollably. She tried to sit up, but Zacharel held her down.
“What happened to him?” she managed to get out.
“I showed him that monsters do, in fact, exist.”
“And the b-bastard dropped me o-out of the s-sky,” Brax said through his shudders. “T-twice.”
Zacharel ripped her soaked T-shirt from her body with a single tug of his hands, then slid her bra straps aside more gently. How they’d managed to remain intact, she might never know.
“You’ll notice I caught him twice, too.” With barely a breath, her angel added, “The bullets went all the way through.”