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Theres no such thing as a match made in Heaven right? Aurora Vincent is on the run. Her whole family was slaughtered by demons, and now theyre after her -- to literally steal her soul. But shes not about to live in fear Aurora isnt going to let them get away with their crimes. Hell no. Instead, she swears vengeance and goes demon hunting, and vows not to let anything get in her way. Not even brooding, honor-bound Ezra. Hes more than just a fallen angel - hes Auroras official guardian - but there are rules about this kind of thing. Rules that hes more than willing to break after one look at the gorgeous, fiery redhead. He agrees to help her get revenge for the deaths of her mother and brother, with one condition: she has to let him keep her safe along the way. Hunted by angels and demons alike, Aurora and Ezra have to fight. Not just for their lives, but for the destiny of humankind and for each other. To win the heart on an angel, you have to fight like hell for what you love.
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Rebel Angel: Copyright © 2020 by Kayla Gabriel
All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electrical, digital or mechanical including but not limited to photocopying, recording, scanning or by any type of data storage and retrieval system without express, written permission from the author.
Published by Kayla Gabriel
Gabriel, Kayla
Rebel Angel
Cover design copyright 2020 by Kayla Gabriel, Author
Images/Photo Credit: Deposit photos: Ensuper, fxquadro, JohanSwanepoel
This book has been previously published.
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Pronunciation Guide
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Also by Kayla Gabriel
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A guide to pronouncing some of the more “quirky” names in the Sainted Sinners world:
Belial - Bell-ee-ahl
Armeros - Arm-urr-ose
Kirael - Kee-ray-eyl
Le Medcin - Luh Med-sinn
Priya - Pree-ah
Grigori- Gree-go-ree
“A woman who cuts her hair is about to change her life.” — Coco Chanel
Aurora Vincent shivered as an icy gust of wind swept through the cemetery. The first light of day crept up over the horizon, filtering down over the cemetery.
She looked down at the two graves before her. One grave a few months old, blending in with the rest of the cemetery. The other was fresh, the black soil turned over in a neat coffin-sized rectangle.
For a moment, she was caught in the past, a childhood memory of her mother and brother taking her breath away.
“Aura,” her mother used to say, reaching out to run her fingers through Aurora’s bright red hair. “My sweet girl. My lucky penny.”
Two years younger and only just beginning to talk, Jackson had picked up the nickname.
“Pen!” he’d squawk, flapping his chubby little hands to get her attention. “My Pen!”
The name stuck, a practical joke between the three of them.
Now, Aurora was the only one left alive. No else one in the entire world knew the joke, or the nickname.
Standing in the graveyard, looking down at their graves, it all seemed impossible, surreal.
The two people she loved most, the only family she had left… dead and gone.
One killed by the agents of Heaven, one by the agents of Hell. No reason for it, except that an arcane prophecy named the Vincent bloodline as being capable of producing Nulls.
Some dusty old book said that Aurora and her family were supposed to be some kind of rare supernatural creatures. Perfectly unbiased beings in the Kith world, who might swing the aftermath of the apocalypse in Heaven or Hell’s favor.
Might have an influence. If they were actually Nulls, which no one could predict.
And yet, the forces of Heaven and Hell had feared the Vincents so greatly that they took… precautionary measures.
Measures that had led to this moment, to Aurora looking down at her mother and brother’s graves. Swearing to her family and to herself that she would not let the same fate befall her.
She stepped forward and laid a single rose on each grave, long-stemmed and red as spilled blood. She reached out and brushed away the thin layer of snow that clung to each grave, obscuring the words.
Jackson Vincent, said the older one. Fireman. Devoted Christian. Loving Brother. 1992 — 2014.
Christine Vincent, said the fresh grave. Beloved Mother. Practical Joker.1966 — 2014.
Aurora drew in a deep breath, rose to her feet, stepped back to look down at them once again.
The air was so cold it hurt her lungs, the ground hard under her feet. It was easier, focusing on these small physical discomforts. Easier than confronting what she felt in her heart. The deep well of black, writhing anguish that filled her to the brim, leaving room for nothing but the shallowest of breaths.
Right this moment, Aurora felt empty, hollow.
She’d cried all her tears. Drank herself to the point of blackout, a few times. Tied her waist-length copper hair into a long braid, shorn the whole thing off at the nape of her neck.
When she tossed the braid on her brother’s coffin instead of a handful of dirt, there was no missing the pityingly curious expressions of the onlookers.
Aurora didn’t care. Couldn’t care. Could barely feel anything beyond her own consuming numbness.
The firefighters from Jackson’s unit, the longtime friends of the family, the few school friends of Aura’s bothered to show up. They didn’t understand what she’d lost.
Those people at the funeral, they didn’t know that her family made her the sweet, cheerful Aura that everyone knew and loved. They couldn’t understand that Aura was gone, lost forever now.
Aurora blinked hard as the graveyard went blurry. Three weeks to the day of Jackson’s funeral, she’d returned. To whisper her secrets into the wind, to say goodbye.
She touched her cheek, startled to find the warm, wet track of a single tear.
“That’s the last one,” she whispered to her mother and brother. “The last tear. I promise.”
The tear went icy against her skin, then dried.
It isn’t right, she thought. Night turns to day, the world moves on.
Her mother and brother were already forgotten, just two innocents among the countless slain in the war between Heaven and Hell.
All that violence, and for what?
Lucifer luring her brother away, that Aurora almost understood. Almost. Satan was seductive, nearly irresistible.
But when one of the most powerful angels descended upon her mother, causing her eventual death…
That was Aura’s breaking point.
For so many victims of this unholiest of wars, there was no attempt at justice. No one paid for the sins that robbed people of their lives, stole them from their families.
The Vincents would be different, though.
“I came to show you this,” Aurora said. “Mom, don’t be mad.”
Pulling back the stiff sleeve of her coat, Aurora exposed her left forearm. Emblazoned in a slender French script from her inner wrist to the bend of her elbow was the new word she lived for: vengeance.
“I made you a promise, both of you,” she said. “I told you I would strike at the ones responsible. I said I would never let myself be compromised by Heaven or Hell.”
She fell silent for a moment, struggling for the right words.
“I won’t be coming here anymore,” she said at last, her head dropping. “But I swear, with the last breath in my body, I will find justice for you both.”
With a final nod, Aurora turned away and left the graves. It took everything she had to leave the graveyard, to walk past the quaint country church, to climb into her car.
But she’d made them a promise, to keep herself safe and avenge their deaths. To do that, she had to leave. Start fresh, hide herself completely. Research, plot, and prepare.
Her future and new life lay ahead of her, and it was time to move forward.
Swallowing hard, Aurora pulled out onto the road, refusing to look back.
“Hey look, we’re twins!”
Aurora glanced up from sprinkling a last bit of fresh mozzarella onto the pizza she was making. Her roommate Vesper walked into the kitchen, her long black hair in a single thick braid.
Aurora touched her own copper-colored braid and gave Vesper a smile.
“Sure are,” she agreed. “Except you’re wearing black leather pants in the middle of summer, because you’re crazy.”
“Hey, we live in the French Quarter in New Orleans. Crazy is the new normal here.” Vesper grinned. “Anyway, we can’t all look so good in jeans and a flour-covered apron.”
“Hah,” Aurora said. “I’m making a white pizza if you’re interested.”
Vesper arched a brow. “Depends. Is the crust actual bread, or did you make a cauliflower pizza again?”
Aurora couldn’t help but laugh. “The look on your face when you tried it… priceless.”
“Pizza is sacred. Making the crust with a vegetable is like… sacrilege.”
Aurora chuckled as she picked up the pizza and slid it into the oven.
“It’s veggie-free, except a little spinach,” she assured Vesper. “It is a white pizza, after all. Organic, but otherwise just your average gourmet pizza.”
“Cool.” Vesper cleared her throat. “So… I wanted to talk to you about something. About why I haven’t been around the apartment much lately.”
“Mmmhm,” Aurora said. “A new man, maybe?”
“Yes. For the last few months, I’ve been dating this guy. He’s… a Fallen.”
“Say that again?” Aurora asked, only half listening.
She started to stack the dishes she’d dirtied while cooking, content that her homemade pizza was going to be a success.
“I’m dating Kirael. He’s a Fallen angel,” Vesper said.
Aurora whirled. She and Vesper stood in the tiny kitchen of their apartment, staring each other down for a long moment.
“An angel?” she asked, feeling her blood rush to her head.
“Yeah. It’s pretty serious.”
I’m blown, she realized. I got comfortable here, didn’t protect myself like I should have.
“I see,” was all Aurora could manage.
She gripped her Kiss The Chef! apron with both hands, feeling her palms begin to sweat. Already, in the back of her head, she was making plans.
Another tiny part of her couldn’t repress the image of her mother’s body, just the way Aurora found her that fateful night.
Designer dress and pearls, freshly dyed blonde hair done in gorgeous waves… Aurora didn’t recognize her at first. Only when she turned her mother over did she realize…
Aurora shoved the memory away.
Focus! she snapped at herself.
“Aurora, wait,” Vesper said. “I can see that you’re upset, but there’s a reason I’m telling you this.”
She’d have to run, tonight. There was no other option.
“I know that you’re… um…” Vesper started, then stopped.
“A Null,” Aurora said, her voice gone flat.
She couldn’t get that same image out of her head.
She rolled the corpse over, saw the upside-down cross seared into the forehead. Then she looked at the face, and understood. She dropped her mother’s shoulder, hysterical tears rising…
“Right!” Vesper said, drawing Aurora’s attention back. “So Kirael knows, too…”
“Kirael is the — the angel?” Vesper asked.
Her lips felt strangely numb. Her fingertips, too.
“Yeah. He’s… well, obviously I’m a little biased. But he’s a really good person. He’s going to help you.”
“Help me?” Aurora whispered.
“Yes. We’ve known for quite some time. About you being a Null, I mean.”
“Oh no…” Aurora moaned. “Who have you told?”
“No one, until today. Kirael swore to me that he wouldn’t act unless you were in danger.”
Aurora stared at Vesper. Vesper was calm and steady, and it was plain to see that she believed every single word she said. Vesper was a straight shooter to the point of being overly blunt sometimes.
“Two minutes,” Aurora said after a moment. “You have two minutes to explain before I pack my bag and run.”
“We’ve heard rumors,” Vesper said, wasting no time. “Credible rumors, filtering up from multiple sources in the Kith community.”
“And what do they say?” Aurora asked, trying her best not to lose the last thread of her patience.
“That Heaven and Hell both have agents hunting you.”
“That’s not news,” she said, balling up her fists.
“No, but Belial has been sighted here.”
Aurora paused. As Lucifer’s second in command in Hell, Belial was not easy to dismiss.
“It could be coincidence,” she said.
“Maybe, if Kirael and I hadn’t also seen one of the Watchers with our own eyes.”
Aurora cocked her head. “I don’t know that name.”
“The Watchers are sort of… Heavenly enforcers. When Heaven has to interfere with mortal life on Earth, the Watchers are the ones that do it. Kirael used to work with them, at times. He says that this guy, Armeros, doesn’t appear unless a human’s done something pretty seriously deranged.”
“Armeros?” Aurora went cold, the name barely escaping her lips.
“You know of him?” Vesper asked, but Aurora wasn’t listening.
He’s coming for you. Jackson’s deep voice, ringing through her mind: are you just going to stand here and fail?
Aurora flinched. No, she thought. I’m not going to let them capture me.
When she moved to leave the kitchen, Vesper held out a hand to stop her.
“What are you doing? What about your pizza?”
Aurora slowly turned back to the oven, turning it off. Then she pushed past Vesper to leave the kitchen, going to her bedroom.
Without even bothering to shut the door, she grabbed a backpack from her closet. Opening it on her bed, she turned to her chest of clothes.
There’s so much I want to keep… she thought, rifling through stacks of jeans and t-shirts. I did this to myself. Started to think I might be able to stay here…
She wondered what her mother would say.
Would she have been disappointed? Oh, Pen. You know better.
“Aurora?”
When Vesper called her name from the doorway, Aurora nearly jumped out of her skin.
“What?” she asked.
Her chest started to feel a little tight.
Stop thinking about Mom and Jackson, she chided herself. Save that for later, when you’re on a bus to a new city.
“I just… I thought we were talking,” Vesper said.
“I don’t have time for this,” Aurora said. “You don’t understand what you just did.”
Aurora picked a few t-shirts, all solid colors with no writing.
“I think… I mean, I know this seems like a betrayal, but Kirael just wants to help.”
Vesper hovered just outside Aurora’s bedroom. For the first time since Aurora met her, Vesper actually looked anxious.
“You don’t understand,” Aurora said.
She was on autopilot now; this was the fourth time in two years that she’d been forced to pack and run on short notice.
She grabbed couple pairs of jeans. A fistful of clean underwear, just the practical stuff. Socks.
“Why are you packing?” Vesper asked.
Aurora grabbed two pairs of Converse from the closet, the only sneakers she owned. When she turned, Vesper had stepped fully into the room.
“I have to leave. Tonight. Now, actually.”
Aurora moved to put the shoes next to the duffel. Vesper reached out to touch her arm, and Aurora pulled back as though burned.
“Don’t,” she warned.
“Aurora, I just want you to slow down for a second. You look really pale,” Vesper said. “Why don’t we just sit down and talk for a second?”
“Just leave me alone,” Aurora said.
She blinked. When she glanced over at the purple curtains she’d hand-stitched only the week before, spots swam in her vision. “Crap.”
Aurora pressed the heels of her hands against her eyes. She swayed a little on her feet.
“Hey, hey,” she heard Vesper said.
She trembled when Vesper moved closer, reached out to gently guide Aurora to the bed.
“Just sit down. Take a deep breath,” Vesper urged.
“I can’t feel… I can’t feel my hands,” Aurora said. She let her hands fall from her eyes, then stared down at them in her lap. “Something’s wrong.”
“Okay. It’s okay. My boss gets panic attacks,” Vesper said. “Lean forward a little, elbows on your knees. Good, good. Let your head hang down. Close your eyes…”
Vesper rubbed Aurora’s back in slow circles. Aurora cringed from her touch.
“Aurora, I’m sorry,” Vesper said. “I didn’t know you’d take it so badly.”
“You don’t know me. You don’t know what happened,” Aurora mumbled, a feeling of helplessness blooming.
She felt tears sting her eyes. This was the closest she’d been to crying since leaving Maine. She wasn’t, she was just frustrated and angry.
She needed to move, get the Hell out of Dodge, but she had to stop freaking out first.
What would Jackson tell me to do? she wondered.
Aside from being her brother and best friend, Jackson was a firefighter. Trained in medical emergencies and cool under pressure, he would’ve calmed her in an instant.
Aurora tried to summon Jackson’s voice, but another man cut in first.
“She’s real.”
Aurora lifted her head to find a massive tattooed man standing in her doorway, watching her with a curious expression. Her stomach dropped when she realized that the handsome stranger was an angel. A threat to her, by his very nature.
Another image flashed, this one of her brother hanging from the rafters of their rented lake house in Maine.
Aurora started to feel as though she might throw up, right here and now.
“Of course she’s real,” Vesper said, glancing at Aurora. “Aurora, this is Kirael. Kirael, can you fetch her a glass of water?”
He gave them both a skeptical glance, then shrugged. The second he turned toward the kitchen, Aurora put a hand on Vesper’s shoulder and pushed to her feet.
“Shoot,” she said when she wobbled a little.
“Sit down!” Vesper said, pulling her back down with a frown. “Kirael isn’t a threat to you. And besides, if he was, how far do you think you’d get?”
“I can’t. I can’t stay. Just let me go!” Aurora rasped, her voice going weak.
“Aurora—”
“They killed my family,” Aurora whimpered.
Vesper went silent for a beat. “Who did?”
“Angels. Demons.”
“Aurora,” she said, reaching out to touch Aurora’s arm. “You’re not making sense, honey.”
Aurora reached out and took Vesper’s hand, gripping it hard.
“Nulls run in my bloodline. The Vincents are the last line of Nulls left, or maybe next to last.”
“Okay…”
“So Heaven and Hell hunt us. My whole life, I moved from one place to another, never staying anywhere more than a year. Eventually, though, that wasn’t enough.”
“Aurora… I didn’t know. About your family, I mean.” She hesitated. “Kirael defected from Hell. And Heaven, if you want to couch it that way. He’s not aligned with either one.”
“That doesn’t matter,” Aurora said, shaking her head. “Angels, demons… they can’t help themselves. The prospect of bagging a Null and bringing it to their respective masters… the temptation is too strong.”
“But he has no master,” Vesper said.
“No? Who does he work for?”
“Well… he works for Mere Marie.”
“Uh huh. And who does she work for?”
Talking seemed to be soothing her panic, bit by bit. The spots in her vision began to recede, and the tightness in her chest loosened.
Vesper gave Aurora a long look, then blew out a breath. “I don’t really know who she works for.”
“Exactly. Angels don’t have free will. That rule doesn’t change when they become Fallen, or when they leave Lucifer behind. They can’t exist without taking sides.”
Kirael reappeared with a glass of water. Just as Vesper had earlier, he stayed just outside Aurora’s room, watching her intently. Vesper tried to give Aurora the glass, but Aurora waved it away.
No chance in Hell she was letting him drug her and do Heaven knew what with her… she might wake up chained to a radiator somewhere. Or she might not wake up at all…
“Don’t step foot in here,” Aurora warned Kirael. Turning to Vesper, Aurora pleaded with her. “Can’t he just leave? I’ll be gone in an hour, tops.”
“Aurora, no.” Vesper was gentle enough, but her tone was underlined with steel. “Come into the living room so we can all talk.”
“Are you going to make me?” Aurora asked Kirael.
Kirael’s expression darkened, but he didn’t deny it. It was true, he planned to trap her here.
I am so screwed, Aurora thought. Unfortunately, Vesper’s statement about Aurora not getting far if she ran were all too true. As a Null, she might slow him down, but he’d no doubt find a way to catch her.
“Just come into the living room,” Vesper said.
Heart beating wildly in her chest, Aurora allowed Vesper to lead her into what they called the living room. Really it was just a couple couches and chairs around a coffee table, all leading out onto their tiny balcony.
Aurora went cold all over when she left the imagined safety of her bedroom for the living room.
A dark-haired man stood near the balcony windows, looking out into the busy street below. He turned when they entered, and his brilliant green gaze locked with Aurora’s.
Her heart thudded in her chest, a soft puff of breath escaping her lips.
For perhaps the first time in her entire life, Aurora was made completely and totally speechless… by a man.
Gorgeous. Gorgeous and deadly, was her first thought as she studied him.
Tall and broad-shouldered, with sharply sculpted cheekbones, a strong jaw. He was pure masculinity wrapped in divine beauty, topped with a truckload of sinful heat. His dark brows rose a fraction when he saw Aurora. His emerald eyes dipped low to look her up and down, and then rose again. When their eyes met a second time, they were bright with interest.
“Angel,” Aurora whispered, her heart thumping in her chest.
He was incredible. Beautiful, actually. She supposed Kirael was, too… but there was something about this man that made her mouth go dry, her body tense.
“Destroyer,” he said, his voice a throaty rumble. “If you’re looking for specifics.”
Aurora wasn’t entirely sure what that meant, but coming from his lips it sounded as tempting and dangerous as original sin.
“Aurora, this is Ezra…” Vesper said, trailing off. “Actually, Ezra, I don’t know your last name.”
“Prieur,” he said. He pronounced it pree-urr. “At your service, Aurora.”
He strode closer and held out his hand. For a second, Aurora’s fingers tingled with anticipation, and she almost raised her hand to clasp his.
Horrified with herself, Aurora wrapped her arms around herself, glaring at Ezra.
A long, awkward beat lapsed in which no one spoke, Aurora glaring at Ezra. Like it was all his fault that she found him handsome. She was being silly, but…
Ezra had the alluring beauty of a colorful viper, in the hypnotic moment before the snake struck.
“Right,” he said after a second, dropping his hand. “You’re the Null, then.”
Something dark uncoiled in Aurora’s chest. She felt threatened in a completely new way, and her first irrepressible instinct was to lash out, shove them all away until she was free. Free to run… she should already be on her way to a new place, a new life.
“I can’t believe you,” Aurora said as she turned to Vesper. “You’ve signed my death warrant, you know that?”
Vesper went pale, and Kirael immediately reached out to put an arm around Vesper’s waist.
“That’s not true,” Kirael growled.
“They both agreed that they would only help you, not turn you over to anyone,” Vesper said.
“Yeah?” Aurora said, growing angry. “Help me, like angels helped my mother? Or maybe they won’t kill me, maybe they’ll just keep me from throwing my vote to the other side. Is that what you think? I like this fantasy world you live in, Vesper.”
Vesper reared back. “Aurora, this isn’t like you.”
“No, this isn’t me. You know who this is? This is the girl who found her mother dead in her living room, found her brother strung up by the neck. One seduced and possessed by a demon, one induced into religious ecstasy by one of the heavenly host. Have you ever been forced to carry your mother’s dead body out of your house, Vesper?”
Silence reigned. Vesper’s mouth opened, and she flushed.
“I didn’t think so,” Aurora said. “You might think I’m crazy or paranoid. That’s fine. I spent my whole life running from these… people… and in the end, they still got to my mom and brother. If you think that these two wouldn’t turn me over for a shot at… I don’t know, whatever they want from Heaven or Hell, you’re naive.”
With every word she spoke, she could feel Ezra’s gaze on her, heating her blood.
For the first time, she could almost understand how her mother and brother had lost themselves so completely. Two minutes around Ezra, and she was already…
Curious.
“Guys,” Vesper said, turning to the two angels. “Maybe you should give us some time to talk.”
“I’m not leaving you,” Kirael said, staring down at her. “Not while you’re… you know.”
Vesper rolled her eyes and shook her head, but she blushed too. Aurora wondered what that meant, but the conversation moved along without any answers.
“You can stay in my room. Ezra, I think it’d be better if you went home.”
Ezra tensed, his big muscular body going rigid. “She’ll run.”
Vesper glanced at Aurora, then pursed her lips. “That’s a risk we’ll have to take. We’ve thrown too much at her already. Look, she’s shaking.”
Aurora looked down at her hand, watching her fingers tremble.
Both Ezra and Kirael began to grumble, but Vesper just held up a hand.
“Aurora, just… sleep on it for the night,” Vesper said.
Aurora pinched the bridge of her nose. “Sure.”
“Yeah?” Vesper asked, looking surprised and pleased. “I can make breakfast in the morning, we can talk. When you’re not so upset, I think you’ll understand things better.”
Aurora bit her tongue to hold in the retort that rose in her mind. She was furious with Vesper, but she also knew that Vesper didn’t comprehend the danger she’d put Aurora in.
“Fine,” Aurora said. “But I don’t want to see any of you tonight. And I want him gone.”
Aurora pointed to Ezra, whose expression darkened. He looked as if he might speak, but then he merely crossed his arms and looked annoyed.
Vesper’s smile faltered, but she nodded. “Done.”
Ezra scowled as Kirael ushered him toward the door. When he was gone, Vesper rounded on Aurora.
“I know you’re scared, but we’re only here to help. Ezra especially.”
Aurora huffed a laugh. “Right. He’s not here to… oh, I don’t know, trap me and turn me over to Lucifer? Or the Heavenly host, maybe?”
“No, he’s here because… because I’m… pregnant,” Vesper sighed.
Aurora stared at her. “Sorry?”
Vesper fiddled with the hem of her tank top.
“I only just found out. Until now, we planned for Kirael and I to be the only ones who knew, but… Kirael won’t let me fight anymore. And I don’t want him to leave me,” Vesper admitted, dropping her gaze. “I’m still freaked out. This is all so new.”
Aurora closed her eyes for a moment. Again, she was certain that Vesper believed everything she said. Vesper did think she was helping. Opening her eyes again, she tried to gentle her tone.
“So that’s why you brought… him.”
“You two are more alike than you know.”
“In what possible way am I anything like… him?” Vesper asked.
“Well… your powers are similar, in a way. You can cancel out the powers of other creatures, right?”
“Sometimes,” Aurora said, trying to be patient.
“Well, I’m sure that’s part of the reason you’re always under threat. It scares people, thinking that you can take away the essence of what makes them unique and powerful.”
“I’m sure it does, but I don’t really see your point here.”
“Well, Ezra suffers from the same thing, I think. It’s hard to tell because he’s so rigid, he plays his cards so close to his chest. But he’s a Destroyer. In the same way that Heaven creates souls, pulls together a scattering of dust in the universe and makes something new… Ezra does the exact opposite. He culls them, makes them cease to exist.”
The fine hairs on the back of Aurora’s neck rose. “He can do that?”
“Apparently. Kirael told me that he thinks it’s an impossible burden for Ezra, carrying all of that around. He’s got a heavy weight on his shoulders, just like you do.”
“He doesn’t seem to mind.”
“Wouldn’t you detach from your life, if that was the sole function of your whole life? Created to Destroy. It might be ironic, except I can never tell if I’m using that word right.”
“So you’re telling me that, because Ezra’s got this insanely frightening… ability, I should trust him more?”
“Ezra is a good man, just like Kirael. He’s here because you need protection, nothing more.”
“Right,” Aurora said, unwilling to argue. “Okay. Well… goodnight.”
More like goodbye, but Vesper couldn’t know that. Aurora headed for her bedroom once more.
“Aurora,” Vesper said.
Aurora glanced back.
“I hope you know that I only have good intentions,” Vesper said.
Aurora sighed. “I know. I just wish that was enough to keep me safe.”
Vesper looked crestfallen as Aurora closed her bedroom door, shutting Vesper out. She turned the door’s flimsy lock, though she hardly needed it.
No matter what promises Vesper made, no matter who might be attempting to protect her or capture her, there was only one thing to be done now.
Aurora was leaving the apartment tonight, Hell or high water.
She sat on her bed for a few minutes, taking deep breaths and gathering her thoughts. She ran through the short list of absolute necessities: clothes, cash, the stack of fake ID cards in her safe.
The Vincent sword. A graceful piece of steel and gold, it was the only thing she brought to New Orleans from Maine. Besides a few family photos, of course.
When she was sure the apartment was still and quiet, she knelt on the floor and pulled the safe from under her bed. She emptied the contents and dumped them into her backpack, making sure to stuff a little cash and an ID in her jeans pocket.
After digging the sword out and laying it out beside her backpack, she took a breath and took stock.
What’s next? she wondered.
Glancing down, she realized that she still wore her apron. Untying it and folding it, she laid it on her bedside table. Just underneath, she found the diary of sorts she kept, an accounting of the things she’d discovered about those who’d hurt her family. It was small and light, so into the bag it went.
Aurora changed into a dark t-shirt, clean socks, and her red Converse sneakers. She stuffed a few hundred dollars in her left shoe before she tied it, making sure the bills wouldn’t get torn.
This way, if she was separated from her backpack, she wouldn’t go hungry.
She pulled on another t-shirt and a black hoodie, despite the warmth of the night. She only had so much space in her backpack, it was important to be practical.
The first time she had to run, in upstate New York, she’d been caught totally by surprise. Just having a drink at a paranormal bar, watching the other Kith come and go. Then a high-level demon came in, spotted her right away, and lunged for her before she could even put down her pint glass.
She was only staying in a crummy hotel, so she didn’t have a whole life to give up. But she lost everything that she wasn’t carrying on her, leaving her with less than five hundred bucks, a handful of photos, and the sword.
After that, she’d invested in a rock climbing backpack that strapped tight across her torso. She took it with her every time she left the house, even just to go get something from the grocery store.
Now she stuffed the backpack with all the items she’d pulled together, wincing when her spare pair of sneakers wouldn’t fit.
“Sacrifices must be made,” she muttered, putting them back in the closet.
Even now, as she was frantically preparing to leave, she was careful to keep everything neat and organized. This was the first real apartment she’d dared to live in, the first furniture she’d purchased since Maine.
Aurora ran her fingertips across her soft comforter. She’d picked this out at a store, happy beyond words just to have something beautiful and soft and special.
Blowing out a breath, she snatched her hand away. There was no time to get sentimental over a stupid bedspread.
She picked up her sword, slipped on the special leather scabbard that nestled just below her right shoulder. It allowed her to wear her sword on her back, drawing it quickly if need be.
Shouldering her backpack, she fit it over her sword, then fastened the buckles across her ribs.
A glance in the mirror shocked her; she looked like freaking Lara Croft from Tomb Raider, but in jeans. She touched her braid, her mouth curling down into a frown. She’d finally grown her hair out again, and here it was getting in her way.
Grabbing a couple of hair bands and some bobby pins from her dresser, she wound the braid around her head and secured it. At least that would keep it out of her eyes for the time being, until she could decide whether to chop it all off again or not.
Taking one last look around her cozy bedroom, Aurora tried to banish the sadness that lodged in her chest, threatening to bring tears to her eyes. She moved toward the window, knowing she couldn’t leave through the front door or balcony.
Then she stopped, glancing at her dresser. On impulse, she grabbed a Polaroid snapshot that she’d stuck in the mirror frame. Her and Vesper, arms thrown around each others’ shoulders, grinning like idiots. Vesper’s coworker Vargus snapped the photo after helping them move their furniture in, after a few celebratory beers.
Before she could overthink it, Aurora shoved the photo in her back pocket.
Time to go, she told herself. You know what to do. Don’t look back.
She headed to the window that faced the alley, quietly opening it all the way. She dug her emergency fire ladder out from under her dresser, then lowered it from the second-story window with painstaking slowness.
Finally she climbed out the window, easier said than done with her sword and backpack in tow. She glanced down, swallowing when she saw that the ladder stopped a good seven feet above the street.
She’d just have to jump, hope for the best.
Not giving herself any more time to hesitate, she started climbing down. A rustle below caught her attention and she paused, looking down. The alley was in shadow, making it impossible for her to see much from this height.
Still, after a moment she started to descend again.
A bright bloom of light exploded to her right, hot purple fire bursting against the brick wall. She froze, then another hit just to her left.
“Crap,” she said, scurrying back up a rung.
Another, and another. She couldn’t glance down, but it was clear that someone was lobbing magical fireballs at her from the ground. A fireball hit the ladder just above her hands, and the rope ladder began to burn.
There was no way to climb back up, she’d just have to go down… right into the hands of her attacker. Looking around wildly, she spotted a drain pipe to her left. She looked up at the ladder, knowing the fire was spreading too fast.
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