Exalted Page 19

  Cayne shook his head. His lips were pressed together, like there was no way he was saying what he was thinking. “Those are better questions for Lille."

  “Well he's not here right now," Julia pressed. It had been too late when they returned around 3:45 a.m. for Lille to report anything to anyone, but she knew Cayne must have some ideas. Ideas he was reluctant to share, probably because they would scare the bejeebies out of her.

  Cayne rubbed his palm over his head, the picture of a reticent male. Finally he said, in a gruff voice, “Lille feels strongly that The Adversary knows.” He looked straight out the window, where a molten, golden glow was spreading between the high-rises, painting the city streets. “I think he looks forward to it,” he said quietly.

  His green eyes shifted over hers, assessing her reaction.

  “Does that mean he has a way to beat us? He outsmarted Methuselah—” and us, she almost added.

  Cayne shrugged. “Lille can't tell, and I don't know.”

  “Where are the other Authorities?”

  “One is still trying to contact the Alpha, at the gates. Noelle is aiding Nathan. We'll all meet up tomorrow, in Napa Valley.”

  “Will it be then?" she whispered.

  Cayne leaned his cheek on the top of her head, relaxing his body against hers. Despite his super Nephilim-ness, Julia thought he seemed tired. “Lille isn't going to tell us,” he said into her hair. “His mind can't be read by The Adversary; ours can, so it's best we not know.”

  “If The Adversary is already expecting us, though...” Julia shook her head. She didn't see how they even had a chance. “Will you tell me what he's like?” Tears sprang to her eyes, blurring the city lights. “He's a Celestial... Does that mean he's like...”

  “He's nothing like Methuselah,” Cayne said flatly. “And I won't let it go like that.”

  “You can't be sure.”

  “I'm his son. That's got to be good for something. Our plan is pretty solid, too.”

  “But is it solid enough?”

  “It's what we have. Why?” His brows arched. “Have you changed your mind?”

  She shook her head, thankful for the news shows she'd watched earlier.

  “Then try to stop worrying,” Cayne murmured.

  “There's no way not to!”

  Suddenly, he was on the floor in front of her, kneeling in front of the couch, clasping her hands too tightly in his bigger, warmer ones and looking pretty intense for his usual M.O. When he spoke, his voice was low. “You know what I hate most about this?”

  She shook her head. Their eyes were locked, and Cayne's were wide.

  “I hate it that I can't promise you anything. I hate it that I messed this up so much. Now that he's here, I can't keep you safe.” His low voice cracked, and he inhaled like he couldn't get enough air. “Julia, I'm so very, very sorry.”

  There was real regret in his voice. Genuine regret fueled by fear. It scared her.

  “We'll be okay," she said weakly. "And when we take him down, we'll buy a house on the beach in California, and you'll fly me over the ocean every night and I'll learn how to cook steak medium rare for you and give a good back rub when your shoulders are sore.”

  “How did you know my shoulders get sore from flying?”

  She swatted his face. “You think I don't notice your little things?”

  He shrugged, and for half a second, he looked a tiny bit bashful. The kind of guy who wasn't really sure about the world, so he was holding all his cards close to his chest.

  Then he kissed her lips, and swept her up into his arms and carried her to the huge bed. Julia inhaled the wonderful scent of him, and he proceeded to show her all his cards.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  After flying across the country in the early hours of a sunny October morning, Cayne and Lille touched down in a dew-drenched Napa Valley vineyard. Cayne set Julia down, and she turned a slow circle, looking all around. For miles, it seemed, there was nothing but the fields, except for a small, brown building, maybe a half mile to her left.

  "This place is beautiful," said Carlin, who had also flown Cayne Airlines. Julia agreed.

  Drew, who'd flown in Lille's arms, pointed to the building. “Is that it?”

  “What?” Julia said.

  “We're not going to the train depot with the others,” Lille said. “That's just for...well, for everyone but us.”

  “It is?” Julia blinked at Cayne, who shrugged, as if to say: Sorry I forgot to tell you.

  “It is. Nephilim are there, other Chosen are there, other Authorities are there. We're meeting Nathan here.” Lille pointed to the thin dirt road about ten feet to his right.

  “So we're not going to see any of the...anybody else?”

  Lille nodded, and Julia felt unnerved by the change of plans. “Why not?”

  “We have things to do here,” he said, and Julia wasn't sure if he was acting secretive or if that was her nerves.

  “Where's here?” she quizzed.

  Cayne smiled a little—a small smile that didn't reach his eyes, but one that was just for her—and he bumped her shoulder gently with his. “This is a vineyard, city girl.”

  “I know that,” she said, surprised to feel that gooey, sparkly feeling that came with being near Cayne. Even on a day like this one.

  She was going to ask what they were doing here, but a gray Land Rover came rolling down the dirt road. Nathan rolled the window down, sticking his arm out to wave. He looked so normal driving the Land Rover, Julia had to bite back shocked laughter.

  She was really shocked when he honked the horn. They piled into the SUV like a bunch of high schoolers on a lark, and Nathan explained that the brown building was used to store barrels of wine.

  “We rented this place for a week,” he explained. “There was a caretaker, probably supposed to keep watch over us, but I told him to go home."

  A few minutes and lots of picturesque grapevines later, Nathan rolled onto a gravel path that led to the dark brown building, made of the kind of wood that Julia could picture on a wine barrel. Shaded by a big oak tree, the building had a charming stone porch with several rocking chairs on the front, and at the side door, a sign that said Green Leaf Cellar.

  Carlin opened her door, yammering something about samples, but Nathan said, “No, Carlin. Get back in.”

  “Why?”

  Julia noticed Nathan and Lille's eyes meet over Carlin's head, and Nathan said, “I think I could use you and Drew back at the gymnasium. Julia, they're asking a lot of questions about you. They fully accept me as their leader,” he said smugly, “but they know you're the star of the show, and I think they'd feel better if they at least had your friends to talk to.”

  “Is that serious?” Drew asked quietly.

  “Of course."

  Carlin shrugged, biting her lip as she climbed back in the SUV, and Drew stepped out, hugging Julia gently. Into her ear he whispered: “We'll come back before tonight.”

  “Okay. Thank you, Drew.”

  To Julia's surprise, Nathan stepped out, too. He hesitated only for a moment before wrapping his arms around Julia. “I won't see you again,” he told her. “Got to coordinate our bus trip.” He pulled away, sticking his hands in his pockets as his eyes held hers. “We're leaving a lot earlier than you are.”

  Julia nodded. She had the weirdest feeling in the pit of her stomach, like she was saying goodbye for a longer time than just one day—and if she was honest with herself, she knew maybe she was.

  "And Julia," Nathan said quietly, "I'm sorry for what I did…to you and to—" He clamped his lips together as his eyes glistened, and Julia hugged his neck again.

  "Nathan," she said, "it's no one's fault. Not ours, anyway." And she actually meant it. More softly, she said, "Mer knew you cared about her."

  He nodded once, and that was their goodbye.

  “Julia,” Carlin said next, and as they hugged, Julia saw tears in her friend's eyes. “Be careful, promise?”

  Julia nodd
ed, and she said, “Same thing for you.” And, more softly: “Maybe we can see each other before tonight...somehow. Drew mentioned it."

  Carlin gave her a conspiratorial nod, and a few minutes later, Julia, Cayne, and Lille were standing outside the cellar.

  Lille nodded at them, like he'd picked up on her mood. Which he probably had. Sometimes he reminded Julia of Meredith. “You guys want a few minutes? I'll go on in.” He waved and ambled up the stairs to a little side door, without waiting for their answer.

  Moving quickly, with surprising vehemence, Cayne wrapped his arm around Julia, pressing her face into his chest.

  “I love you,” he said fiercely.

  “I love you, too.”

  He was squeezing her hard, and she could hear the emotion in his voice. Despite that, and how much she loved him back, it was a horrible moment, because all Julia could think about was how this could be one of their last times saying so.

  Earlier that morning, Lille had told them that he had 'sensed' that something might be going down over at The Adversary's mansion sometime in the next twenty-four hours. His best guess was that they would attack later that night, during one of Michael Abiss's raucous parties.

  The hope was that The Adversary would be at least somewhat distracted, giving Cayne and Lille a better chance of executing their part of the plan. How likely that was to work depended on whether The Adversary was expecting them.

  One of Cayne's more recent theories was that he hadn't pointed his crystal ball their way, because he'd rather anticipate the surprise of an attack. According to Lille, The Adversary couldn't use all of his abilities on Earth; it wasn't his realm, after all.

  Julia's mind was whirring when a blond-haired, green-eyed Authority appeared to open the cellar door for them. Cayne took her hand, and together they stepped inside a warehouse about a third the size of a school gymnasium. It was filled with barrels—and Authorities.

  Julia's stomach hurt just looking at them, because she knew they were there mostly for her. The energy inside her pulsed in anticipation of what was to come.

  Then one of them whipped out a bow, and a glowing, golden arrow came whooshing toward her.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  It happened too fast for her to be sure, but Julia thought Cayne was snatched away by Blondie McGreeneyes.

  The Authorities in front of her moved like dancers in a music video: perfectly in sync, with hard, concise motions. Shock dulled her reaction until the arrow was there, just inches from her nose. Blue flame flared around it, and Julia watched the pointy tip grind to a halt, like it had been suspended in thick gel.

  She tried to snatch it from the air, but it poof'd.

  She didn't even see the next one until it was inches from her left eye—but she stopped it, too, and this time, she was fast enough to grab it. She plucked it from the air and hurled it at Lille, who was standing right in front of her. He waved his hand, and that arrow went poof, too.

  Julia thought of their conversations, she thought of how comfortable she'd felt with him, she thought about how ridiculous it was for him to attack her this way. Was he trying to test her? Was he really some kind of double agent?

  “What—”

  More arrows flew at her as the other Authorities made a circle around her and fired from every direction. A few arrows got near enough that Julia could hear the whoosh of their flames extinguishing a few seconds before they would have pierced her skin.

  "What the hell are you doing!" she cried.

  Fire came next.

  It wasn't hellfire, and it wasn't blue fire. It seemed 'thicker' than regular Earth fire—heartier and more yellow, and when it curled and snapped around her, her heart recoiled in memory of Suzanne and Harry. She yelled, and her own fire appeared, devouring the Authorities' flames in a puff of smoke.

  She recognized the nearest Authority, with spiky hair and sparkling blue eyes, from the resort at St. Moritz. He gave her a forceful shove, and Julia sent a bolt of blue fire cracking in his direction. She aimed for the spot between his eyebrows and hit his left eye—but at least she hit him; he went down on one knee, moaning.

  Another Authority jumped over his head. For the first time since the attack began, she heard Cayne cry out—the sound was muffled—and when she glanced up to see if she could spot him, the Authority socked her in the jaw. Julia stuck her hand out and sprayed him with blue fire, but she was so angry, the fire consumed more than just him.

  Dozens of barrels stacked on tall, wide, wood shelves erupted, wine shot everywhere, and all the Authorities who hadn't been hit by Julia's fire scattered.

  She stood there with her palm out for a second, then whirled, and when she spotted Cayne on the ground, under an Authority who was beating his face bloody, she saw white.

  Her hands curled into fists, her chest felt warm and hot, and she could feel it coming before it did: from the top of her head, bridging the distance between she and Cayne like a ball of ribbon, unrolling. It knocked the Authority off his feet and hit Cayne square in the chest. He jumped up, and his aura was flaring from silver to brilliant white; he was enveloped in a healing circle she had never seen before, and every knot he'd ever had was gone in a second.

  Consumed by anger, Julia turned toward the rest of the Authorities. She was holding out her arms, waiting for the furious energy to build until she couldn't hold it inside anymore, when Lille's voice came into her head. “Julia. I'm sorry, but we had to know. We had to know your capabilities.”

  The energy continued to roil inside of her. Her entire body buzzed. Her head and chest felt good for once—not overfull, but perfect. So she did have Methuselah's power. Not all of it, but enough. Enough to challenge The Adversary. Enough to take out all the Authorities in this room.

  When her watering eyes met Lille's, her heart was pounding. His dark gaze soothed, and second by second, she felt her body unknot, her anger diffuse.

  “I think you can do this, Julia. Do you want to move on to the next phase of our plan?”

  Julia glanced at Cayne, standing a few feet from her with his hand out, like he wanted to touch her; his face was still covered in blood.

  “Julia? Do you still want to take on The Adversary?”

  At that moment, Cayne stepped over to her. He wrapped an arm around her from behind, and Julia felt so secure there, pressed against him, she let go of some of her anger, some of her apprehension about what the next phase would entail, and she found herself saying, “Yes.”

  “I'm sorry,” Lille said inside her head. “This won't take long.”

  Lille was on her before she could blink, snatching her from Cayne's arms with superhuman strength, slamming her to the ground. Cayne jumped on Lille's back, stabbing the Authority in the neck with his blood dagger. Lille threw him off, and Julia heard him screaming at full-volume, livid...

  Other Authorities were on her now, flawless faces hovering above hers, their eyebrows drawn, square jaws set as they tried to kill her.

  That was what they were doing, wasn't it?

  Punching her face, bashing her head, kicking her sides until she felt her ribs crack. She screamed as someone jabbed an arrow between her breasts.

  The pain was unreal.

  Julia heard screaming and realized it was hers; she could hear Cayne's voice somewhere, even louder than before, and Lille inside her head, saying, “Not much longer.”

  Why were they killing her? Could Authorities be turned? Must not be...on The Alpha's team.

  There might have been fire. That beautiful, pure-looking Heaven fire. She knew for sure there were broken bones: her arm, her shin, her ribs. From a painful fog, one thought emerged: This is why they didn't tell me much about this part of the plan. About how they would see if they could find a way to 'enrich' the power she already had.

  The beat her until all her thoughts were gone, until she was back inside the pyramid, and when her aura was waning, she took, just like she'd seen Cayne do so what felt like ages before. She drained five of them before sh
e was on her feet again, and then she gladly drained the one that had Cayne pinned to the floor.

  Reality returned in a burst of horror. She felt a heaviness inside her arms and legs, a horrible, horrible ache inside her head.

  More power.

  Her own Methuselah-given energy was rapidly rebuilding, but now she had the energy of five Authorities, too. Looking down at herself, she saw that her forearms glowed like she'd swallowed something radioactive.

  Oh, shit. They'd really done it. Lille had talked back in Egypt about giving her more power, and she'd been leery—considering what Methuselah had done to her with the same goal in mind, how could she not?—so she hadn't really thought about it. Hadn't really, truly trusted it would happen.

  She could do it now.

  Now she could maybe really kill him.

  She turned a slow circle; she'd lost track of Cayne, but her eyes were blurry with her own blood, and she couldn't see anything. Aura vision snapped into focus, and frantically she scanned the bodies on the ground. Of the Authorities she'd drained, three were...

  “Oh, God. NO!” She couldn't find their auras—not at all!

  She put her hand over her mouth, and just like that, Lille and Cayne were there.

  Cayne wrapped his arms around her, and he was saying something, but blood rushed in her ears; energy pushed on her head from the inside out.

  Lille stepped in front of her, speaking aloud and very clearly, like he knew she was freaking out. “Julia, please accept our sincere apologies. And don't worry about those Authorities. You sent them home the only way they can get there.”

  Cayne's hand was wiping blood from her forehead when her vision got a little clearer, her thoughts a little less crazed. “They went to Heaven?”

  Lille nodded.

  “Does that mean Meredith did, too?”

  “Don't worry about that, okay?”

  Julia was breathing hard. She tried to slow her breathing, craning her head back to look at Cayne, still standing behind her with his arms around her waist.

  “Are you okay,” she half-sobbed.