Chapter 1
High above Angel’s Bend the sun rose in clouds of gold and amber,
casting a warm glow over the sleeping town. As the sun hit the windows of the houses below, sparks of
light flashed into the sky here and there. Windows began to open to the magpies’ morning song, bodies
stretched behind curtains making ready for the day.
On top of the boulder at Angel’s Peak, Lacey lay sleeping with her
head in Cam’s lap. Her dark hair fanned over his knees like a blanket against
the cold and he smiled as he sifted it through his fingers. Despite the turmoil
of the previous day, the fact that she’d almost been made a meal of by a bunch
of Satanic groupies, her face was untroubled in sleep.
It had been seven hours since they’d run away from Angel’s Bend.
Seven hours since Cam had rescued her from certain death at the hands of
Zachael, his old foe, and Linda or Lucifer or whoever that demon had been. Now,
as the day dawned the realisation hit him. He may have saved her in the short
term but the true journey had only begun. Between them, and with the help of
Ty, they had to find the demon that had laid Lucifer’s Mark upon Lacey and slay
him. Well, Lacey must slay him. It
was the only way the mark could be removed and the curse obliterated. Putting a
palm to her head, he stroked the softness of her hair over the crown of her
head. God knows how she was going to react when he informed her of that. Her
fear at the branding ceremony had almost killed her.
Lacey stirred from her sleep and rubbed a fist across her eyes. Rolling
to her back, she looked up. The sun was shining on Cam’s golden hair like a
halo - just as it had on the first day she’d seen him. His blue eyes looked
down on her in a way no boy had ever looked at her before. How could it be
possible that such a glorious creature could fall in love with someone like
her? She was so … so
ordinary.
“Good morning.”
Cam leant down and placed his lips to hers. Prisms of coloured light
shot into the air between them and he pulled back a little.
“You really have to learn how to control that,” Lacey giggled at
him. “It’s very distracting to be
kissing you with those sparks flying everywhere.”
“Sorry.” Cam looked
anything but repentant. He looked
like a boy who was interested in way more than kissing.
“I don’t think you are. I think you like the fact that we have
‘sparks flying between us’.”
Cam leant in again.
“Close your eyes then. You won’t be able to see them with your eyes
closed. If you can’t see them, you can’t get distracted.”
Dutifully, Lacey closed her eyes and Cam kissed her. His lips were warm and soft, pressing
on hers. His hand crept slowly to
cup the side of her face, warming it against the morning chill.
“I can still feel them you know,” Lacey mumbled against his
lips.
“What?”
“The sparks. They tickle.”
“Shhh.”
“But they do.”
Cam moved his lips again, applying more pressure. His hand wove its way through Lacey’s
hair, holding her firm as he deepened the kiss.
She sighed. This was so
perfect. If only it didn’t have to
end.
After a minute or two Lacey, pulled away and sat up. The sun had reached the sky fully now,
having made its way over the hill.
It was shining down on Angel’s Bend like it did every other day. It was just like every other day, Lacey
thought, except her life was now so different. She had her own personal angel and her friend was dating a
slayer. She’d discovered her mother had made a pact with the devil and her
father had been too weak to stop it. Her life couldn’t be more different.
“So, what’s the plan?”
She looked over at Cam who had been studying the sunrise too. A
small crinkle of thought appeared between his eyebrows and his eyes narrowed a
little. His face was a study in seriousness, which was understandable, she
supposed.
Cam’s fingers moved from her knee and dug into the pocket of his
hoodie. He drew out a small square
of fabric and handed it to her.
“First things, first.
Happy 18th Birthday.” He
kissed her cheek.
Lacey looked at the parcel in her hand. Geez, with all that had happened she’d completely forgot it
was her birthday. How the hell had
Cam found time to go shopping?
“What’s this?”
Okay so that had sounded a bit lame.
“A present.”
Equally lame.
“Ha ha.”
“Open it.”
For some reason, Lacey’s fingers trembled as she unwrapped the
gift. She didn’t know why. It
wasn’t as if she was in any doubt that Cam’s present would be exactly what she
wanted, even if she didn’t know she did.
He had that knack of seeing into her soul and interpreting her thoughts. He should be good a buying gifts. She looked down into the scrap of
fabric.
There, nestled between the folds was a pair of the most gorgeous
teardrop shaped earrings she had ever seen. Made from the clearest crystal, they were the smallest yet
most perfect things she had ever been given. Lacey was overwhelmed. She thought she might cry.
“Oh Cam, where did you get them? They’re beautiful.” Picking one up she examined it, watching
as the light caught in its facets and winked.
“You like them?”
“I love them but where did they come from?” James from the jewellers
didn’t carry any stock that vaguely resembled this. His window display consisted of replicas of Princess Diana’s
engagement ring from 1980 and gaudy cubic zirconia necklaces.
“I had them made for you.
While you were sleeping one night, I crept into your room and collected
some of your tears. The Ellerwoman
cast her magic over them, freezing them into crystals. Then I took them to a
man I helped many years ago and he set them as earrings.”
They were so delicate.
Lacey still couldn’t believe it.
“That must have cost you a fortune. I don’t deserve it, really I don’t.”
Cam smiled and lifted one of the earrings to slip it through the
naked holes at Lacey’s lobes. He
sat back and admired them.
“It cost me nothing. I
called in a favour, that’s all. I
wanted to show you how much I cared. And you do deserve it, Lace. Don’t ever think otherwise.”
Lacey smiled. It was
unbelievable that Cam would do all this for her, not because he was her
protector but because he truly cared.
No one had ever cared that much before.
“Thank you.”
“Now, grab your back pack, we have to get moving before the day gets
any further advanced. We’ve a lot
to do if we want to find the demon.”
“Where are we going?”
Cam pointed down to the thickest part of the valley. “The Ellerwoman is waiting for us. We can stay at her cottage for as long
as we need.”
“But you said she doesn’t like people.”
“I know, but I’m not people. Anyway, she’s leaving after we
arrive. Every year she goes on a
quest up the mountain gathering rare herbs and plants for her spells. Some of the flowers she uses only bloom
at this time of year, so she has to go now. Often it takes her weeks to find what she needs and return
home.”
“By which time you’re hoping we’ll have done what we need to?”
As in the demon would be dead.
Cam took Lacey’s hand and led her down the path that lead towards
the forest. “I hope so. This has gone on long enough. You need
your life back.”
*****
The Ellerwoman, Indriel, was not at all what Lacey had
expected. She’d thought the woman
who greeted them would be stooped and wrinkled like a witch from fairytales
she’d read as a child. They had
trudged their way through the forest for the best part of an hour after all and
the clearing they’d come too looked remarkably like a picture from a story of
Hansel and Gretel. Yet, here was
this ethereal faery creature, standing in the doorway of the little stone
house.
Indriel was taller than Cam and thin, very thin. She had wispy black hair decorated with
wildflowers that hung down past her waist and shone in the early morning sun.
As she walked out to greet them, it rippled like a gauze curtain drifting on
the breeze.
“Chamuel.”
Indriel held out her hand, taking Cam’s in her long thin one. Lacey noticed the chunky silver signet
ring on her middle finger, carved with symbols and the extreme length of her
thumb nail, a contrast to the shortness of the rest.
“And Lacey?”
“Yes. Thank you for
letting us use your cottage. It’s
very kind.”
“I am never kind. I do
this because your aunt has shown me great compassion over the years. I merely pay her back.”
Lacey still couldn’t believe that Aunt Beth was actually friends
with a real life faery but given that Cam was an angel and Abbie’s mother,
Linda, had turned out to be Lucifer, nothing seemed impossible anymore. Maybe
Michael Jackson and Kurt Cobain weren’t really dead?
“Well, thank you anyway.”
Indriel didn’t smile
but turned back to the house indicating that that they should follow. Her dress, of the sheerest green
fabric, wafted over her body as she walked then settled around her feet like
waves on a beach as she shut the door and faced them. Lacey had never seen a face so devoid of emotion. It was extremely hard to fathom.
“I will be gone for some weeks. Do not feel that you have to rush
off. You may stay until the danger
has passed.”
She reached to a hook on the wall and took down a floor length cape,
the colour of the forest, wrapping it around her body and fastening it at her
neck. Then she hooked a wicker basket that had been sitting on the table over
her arm, and with a nod to Cam was gone.
Lacey stood looking at the door for a moment.
“Well, she’s not the chirpiest person I’ve ever met.”
“No. She leads a
strange life. But in her own way,
she’s good. She just has no
feelings. As she said, she is
repaying a kindness by your aunt, she’s not doing it to feel good.”
“So she never feels a thing? Joy, sadness? Nothing?”
“She has a hollow heart. Sort of discounts the ability to feel
things.”
“I used to know people who’d have given anything not to feel things.
Me included.”
Lacey began to walk around the tiny cottage. It was sparsely furnished, with simple
wooden furniture that looked like it had been hand made from pieces of wood
found on a forest floor. A large
fireplace stood on one wall and in it a small fire had been set under a cooking
pot.
“Please tell me this isn’t how we’re eating for the next few weeks.”
Lacey’s nose crinkled at the thought.
Cam pointed in the other direction where a wood burning stove was
already alight, giving a chuckle at the look of horror on Lacey’s face. “Indriel’s not quite that
primitive. Hundreds of years ago
she cooked over the fire but she’s moved with the times. We have heat, hot water and an oven.
The fire in the grate is only lit when she needs it for a spell or just as a
comfort.”
Lacey breathed an inward sigh.
She may have grown up on a remote farm but she’d never been a fan of
camping.
“So there’s no internet then? Or electricity?” she joked.
Cam merely rolled his eyes.
“Sorry. You’ll have to make do with my company and a few candles in
the night or the gas lamp.”
Lacey considered the idea for a minute and decided it might be
nice. Her, Cam and the romance of
candlelight. Alone. No adults. This could be a dream come true.
“Don’t let your mind wander too much,” he admonished gently. “We’re not here for a honeymoon.”
Pity.
In another corner of the room Lacey spotted a small wooden bed. It was longer than standard,
understandable if it had been made for its owner, but much narrower than her
own queen sized bed at home. Now
that could pose a problem. Unless they intended on sleeping cuddled up.
“You’re doing it again, Lacey.”
Lacey reddened. “Well,
stop jumping around in my head. I
can’t help what goes on in there. Anyway, I was simply being practical. You have to admit that bed won’t be big
enough for both of us.”
“I wasn’t intending on sharing it with you.”
“What! Why?”
“I mean, I was going to let you have it. I can survive on little or no sleep. And I can’t keep watch if I’m laying
there with you. I’ll sleep in the rocking chair.”
Lacey stepped towards him. Her eyes were filled with mischief.
“Sounds like you’re a little bit scared of being alone with me, Mr. Tough
Angel.”
“Not in the least.”
She stepped closer and wound her arms around his neck. Her chest
pressed against him and she could feel his angelic heart beginning to beat
faster. “But the thought of being in that bed with me frightens you? Am I
right?”
“The thought of losing control and something bad happening because
of it frightens me. We can’t
forget why I’m here.”
Lacey moved her lips within kissing distance of Cam’s. She could feel the electricity
beginning to fly. “I have no intention of forgetting why we’re here but for the
moment can we just act like two hormonal teenagers and make out for a while?
This may be the only opportunity we get to be alone for a very long time.”
Cam sighed. “I suppose so.”
“I beg your pardon!”
“Joke, Lacey,” he grinned, and drew her closer.
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