Chapter 60
60
Farryn
Dizziness swept over me, as I stared down at the blurry scene below. Everything was some abstract state of dark moving shapes and disjointed voices. Pressure tugged at my chest, beating with a fury that burned in my throat. I opened my mouth on a gasp, and the view before me sharpened into the nauseating sight of rolling traffic, hundreds of feet below me.
Caught off balance, I flailed my hands, reaching out for one of the thick, stone pillars at either side of me, and tipped toward it.
A scream tore from my chest as I lost my footing, falling forward to what would be a horrible death.
Something caught me from behind, dragging me backward. My heels scraped over the rough stone parapet to a smooth concrete floor, and I looked up to find Remy standing over me.
“Holy shit. I didn’t think we’d make it. I practiced with Danielle a few days back, and well … we hit the water, and she slipped out of my arms. Not sure what happened to her after that.”
Though I heard him just fine, I didn’t absorb a word he’d said, too caught up in the confusion of what the hell was going on.
Frowning, I sat up from where I lay, noting the tall, buttressed crown of pillars that encased a rooftop sitting area, where lush white couches sat around unused fireplace tables. The eerie sound of big band orchestra music played in the background. The familiar pronged top of Willis Tower stood off in the distance, with the backdrop of a dusky sky, telling me we were in Chicago.
A cold sensation spread inside my chest as realization dawned on me. “You brought me back.”
“Yep. Back to your world.”
The moment he said the words, I stared down at myself, to find I wore the same nightgown and robe I’d worn back at the cathedral, which looked incredibly dated, all of a sudden. Yet, I recalled Jericho telling me that the Fallen could reverse time.
“Back in time?”
“Nope. Didn’t have to, which is weird. Thought I’d be returning you to little floating dust particles. Like Garic,” he snorted, and I glared back at him.?“But instead, you came back in one lovely piece of fresh human meat. Probably why you smell so good all the time.”
Distant words came to mind. Evie’s words. Back at the cathedral.
He’s going to trade you. For redemption.
As Remy reached out a hand for me, I slapped it away, kicking myself back. “You plan to trade me! You lying ass!”
Withdrawing his hand, he scratched the back of his head. “Yeah, so that …. Look, it’s not what you think. I had to make a deal with Pentacrux to release your father, right? So, I told them I had you. But don’t worry, I’m not really gonna let them take you. Once we know where he is? We’ll snatch him up.”
“And how do you plan to escape the Pentacrux?”
“What? A bunch of humans? Pfft!” He waved his hand in dismissal. “Easy. Like picking ticks off a rat.”
Head tipped, I shot him a disapproving look. “You know that’s not all that easy, right?”
“Okay, Miss Expert on ticks, then it’ll be like picking fleas off a dog.”
Groaning, I shook my head and pushed to my feet, straightening the too-thin gown. “Okay, Einstein, what’s your plan?”
“We’re supposed to meet up at some motel. The guy takes custody of you,” he said, with air quotes. “And lets your dad go. Then I’ll swoop in and save the day, and boom. I earn my redemption, you get your dad, and the bad guy dies. Horribly.”
“This sounds very haphazard.”
“Look, it was the best I could do, okay? The guy was kinda pushy, if I’m being honest.”
“What guy?”
Remy scratched the back of his head a second time and huffed. “Yeah, so, I didn’t get his name. But don’t worry, he’ll be there. Like I said, he was kind of a prick about the whole thing.”
“You keep saying don’t worry, but I keep worrying.”
“You worry too much, princess.” Waving his hand a second time, Remy shook his head. “Seriously, one scan when I see him, and I’ll know everything about him.”
“You can read people?”
The moment his lips stretched to a smile, I threw up my hands. “If it’s about me, I don’t want to know.”
“Fair enough, lacy bum.”
At his snickering laugh, I screwed my eyes shut and breathed hard through my nose. “Let’s get this over with so I can get on with my life.”
“On with your life? So, you don’t want me to take you back afterwards?”
“Back where? To Jericho? So I can listen to him fuck other women for eternity?” Shaking my head, I turned away from him, looking for the exit. “I’ll pass.”
“Jericho?” Remy asked after me, as he trailed my steps. “You sure we’re talking about the same guy?”
Slipping through one of the glass doors, which led to an empty dining area within an enormous octagonal dome, I glanced over my shoulder. “The one who banged Evie outside of the door where I was tied up? Yeah. Think that’s the same guy.”
Snorting a laugh, Remy shook his head. “That wasn’t Jericho. So, funny story, I’d just popped some Rapture when Evie came slamming through the door.”
“What door?” Still scanning over the dining room, I spied a door with an exit sign across from us. Odd that the tower’s dining area was completely empty, and that there wasn’t any staff around.
“Garic’s old place. I kinda took over ownership. Anyway, she told me Jericho wanted me in his office right away. But on the way there, she let me know he’d locked you up in some room down in the undercroft. I planned to go straight there and get you out, and then that damn Rapture hit me.” He adjusted his crotch as if the effects still lingered. “And, well, I didn’t want to go ravaging you, so I was fully prepared to go rub one out, but Evie suggested a quickie instead.”
“Why the hell would you pop a pill that makes you horny like that?” I pushed through the exit door, finally catching sight of sign that said the dining room wouldn’t be open until seven at night. With the waning light outside, it had to have been close to that time.
“Uhh. You took it, too, did you not? Because aside from the painful hard-on, it feels good. Real fucking good.”
“It didn’t feel all that good having it shoved down my throat by a psychopath who dumped me into a pit of rotting carcasses.”
“Yeah, well, Evie isn’t the most accommodating chick, that’s for sure. Anyway, back to the story. So, while fucking, she told me she overheard you and Jericho saying that you wanted me to check into the church. So she told me she would take you down to the burn pit, and I’d go have my meeting with Jericho so that he wouldn’t get suspicious of anything going down. Afterward, that’s where I found you. Lying in the pit.”
Pausing halfway down the first flight of stairs, I paused, which also brought Remy to a halt behind me. My chest throbbed with something that I couldn’t discern—relief, or embarrassment for having been duped. “That was you and Evie outside my door?”
“Are you mad?”
“Extremely.”
Shrugging, he stuffed his hands into his pocket. “Wouldn’t be a first, would it, princess?”
“Let’s just get this over with, okay?”
“By the way, why the hell are we taking the stairs?” He pointed to his back. “Wings, remember? Big strong wings.”
“Fine.” I didn’t particularly care to be seen roaming around in my robe, anyway.
“Ever had sex in the air? It’s fun.”
“Don’t make me smack you, Remy.”
* * *
Remy touched down in a dark field behind the Shining Star Motel.
“I know this place,” I whispered. It was the motel in which Hines had told me Alicia Maxson was murdered. “Why here?”
“No idea. This was the place where he wanted to meet. He said to rent room six and wait for him there.”
The curiosity to know who’d set up the meeting with him tugged at me to the extent that I stalked across the field, leaving Remy to deal with his wings by himself.
“Hey, wait up!” he called after me, and I turned only briefly to find him rolling his shoulders back, bare chested from the waist up.
Having caught up to me, he swiped up my hand as we neared the building, and when I tried to wrench my arm free, he tightened his grip. “We’re supposed to look like we’re renting a room here. As in, to fuck. We should probably look like we want to fuck each other.”
I wrenched my arm free. “I absolutely don’t want to fuck you.”
“Really? Not even a little? I’m hurt, princess.”
“Quit. Calling. Me. That.”
“Oh, right. Gotta stay in character. Let me try that again. I’m hurt, my little whore.”
On a growl, I stormed ahead of him toward the rental office. As soon as I swung back the door, the bored-looking clerk perked up. When she eyed me up and down, I remembered that I was wearing nothing but a nightgown and the robe, which I promptly tied tighter.
Remy strode in after me, swiping up my hand once again. “Hi. We want a room to fuck in.”
Humiliation flared inside of me, and I dug my nails into his hand, once again trying to break free.
On a chuckle, the girl turned around to reach for one of the keys hanging on the wall behind her.
“Uh, room six, if that’s okay?”
“Had someone die in there recently. You okay with that?” Must’ve been the same room where Alicia had been found slaughtered. Gross that they still rented it out.
“Totally okay.” Remy lifted our clasped hands, where I’d drawn blood with my nails, and kissed the back of my palm. “My little vixen here has a gore kink, don’t you, baby?”
If I didn’t kill Remy myself after that, it’d be a miracle.
“Whatever floats your boat. We rent by the hour, so …”
Remy turned his attention back to the clerk and leaned into the counter. He twitched one of his arm muscles, snagging the girl’s attention, as her eyes darted there. “I don’t suppose you’d be willing to rent the room for free, would you?”
Brows knitted together, she lifted her gaze to his, as if to cuss him out.
Then her eyes softened, and she appeared to be pleasantly … mesmerized?
“Yes, I think we can do that for you.” The husky tone of her voice left me frowning.
“Has anyone ever told you that you have beautiful eyes?” Remy shamelessly flirted back.
The girl rested her chin on her palm and smiled. “Aren’t you so sweet?”
“Okay, are we … getting the room, or what?”
Snapping a mildly irritated glare in my direction, the girl slid the key in front of us, and I swiped it up from the counter.
“Enjoy yourselves,” she said, her voice spacey.
“We will. Trust me, I can go all ni--”
I kicked Remy’s leg and spun around for the door. Once outside, I scanned over the parking lot, taking note of the two cars parked there. I assumed one belonged to the clerk. Both vehicles stood empty as we passed on the way to the room.
“What was that?” I asked over my shoulder. “Some kind of fallen angel glamouring trick?”
“Glamouring?” He spoke the word like a bad taste in his mouth. “I’m not fae. It’s called bona fide sex appeal.”
As I slid the key into the lock, Remy pushed me aside, and the goofiness of before turned serious. Instead of bothering with the lock, at all, he walked right through the door.
Literally.
Mouth hung wide, I stared after him, puzzled. When I shoved my hand toward the door, the steel surface grazed my knuckles, sending a throbbing ache up into my wrist. “Damn it!” I recoiled my hand and shook off the sting.
The door swung open, and Remy jerked his head and winked. “All ours, baby.”
Groaning, I closed the door behind me and frowned when he threw himself onto the bed, folding his arms behind his head. “We’re here. We might as well--”
“No.”
“You’re sure? You might not get the opportunity again.”
Shooting him the second glare of the night, I took a seat at the small table. “Contrary to what you seem to think, I actually like Jericho. A lot.”
“Like?” Remy snorted a laugh. “The guy burned down an entire city for you, and you like him? I like oats for breakfast. Sometimes, I like satin instead of cotton. Two-ply toilet paper instead of--”
“I get it.” As much as I didn’t want to have the conversation with Remy, it was a nice distraction from the sickness in my gut, telling me the whole idea of meeting some random guy in a motel room where a woman had been killed not long ago was bad. Real bad. The only reason I decided to go along with it was that Remy wasn’t human, which made him a much more formidable bodyguard.
“I’m not the type of girl who falls in love at first sight, okay?”
“Then, you’re definitely my type of girl.”
“I will never be your type of girl, Remy. Let’s get that straight.” Glancing out the window, I noted the same two cars that had been there before, but movement caught my eye. Frowning, I turned to see a cat prowling between the vehicles. Hairless. Smooth, velvety gray skin. It looked an awful lot like Camael. Couldn’t be.
Shaking my head, I cleared my throat and swung my attention back to Remy. “It’s better this way. With Jericho. He would’ve been disappointed to learn that I’m not … well, that I’m ordinary. Honestly, the fact that you’re even interested is odd.”
“Ouch. Look, I don’t know what the fuck romance novels you’ve been reading, but you are far from ordinary. I don’t know that I’d call you entirely normal, though. I mean, I saw your collection of cat ornaments back at the house. You’re kind of weird, if I’m honest.”
“Okay, that started out sweet and then ended like a Remy statement. And the cats belonged to my aunt, for your information.”
“Makes sense. Older lady, huh?”
“Yeah.”
“Were the panties hers, as well?”
Just as I turned to send a third glare back at him, the door knob clicked, and I shot up from my chair and rounded the bed, to the other side of Remy, who’d jumped to his feet already.
The door swung open to reveal a tall figure, and the moment he stepped inside, I moved from behind Remy, completely confused.
“Detective Hines?”
“Hello, Farryn. Nice to see you again.” In the next breath, he pulled out a gun and aimed it at Remy. Before the angel could react, Hines shot a bullet into Remy’s chest.
“Remy!” I lurched toward him, as the angel dropped to his knees, and the look of shock on his face told me he wasn’t accustomed to being leveled by a bullet.
“Don’t worry.” The air of humor in Detective Hines’ voice sent tendrils of fear skating down the back of my neck. “It’s only enough celestial steel to hurt. It won’t kill you. Yet.”
Holding Remy’s head in my lap, while he gasped for breath, I swung my attention back to Hines. “Who the hell are you?”
“I’m surprised you don’t recognize me, Lustina.”
A flash of memory hit my brain. A red-haired boy. Dark brown eyes.
“Drystan?” I didn’t know why I’d had any suspicion that it was him, considering I’d never actually seen him, but the guy was apparently a dead ringer for some distant memory in my head.
His lips stretched to a grin. “I can’t wait to catch up.”