Page 12 of Protected by the Fallen
I’m being blackmailed, but we don’t know who is responsible.
Adrian and Zeke had been quick to name their mother as the prime suspect, but I’m not convinced. I’d seen how Sarah watched them, and I’d caught her looks of maternal longing when she thought no one was watching. Sarah wants to mend the strained relationship with her sons, and I don’t believe she’d risk doing anything to anger them.
Besides, Sarah knows my secret. That’s not a surprise. One of the first things she’d said to me had been about knowing my mother—my birth mother. She knows my father. When I put those two facts together, I can’t fathom the possibility Sarah is behind the cryptic and threatening letter. It doesn’t make sense.
To my right, a newly renovated pier extends out into the water. Families stroll across the wood. A child’s laugh floats on the breeze towards where I sit. I swallow and look back out to the ocean.
“It has to be someone on the council,” I hear Adrian state for the tenth time, ending the silence. The Fallen had stopped talking about five minutes ago when none of them could come to an agreement about whom they believed responsible for the note. I quit trying to interject my opinion long before that. I knew little about the players in this angelic game. Honestly, I knew next to no one. I couldn’t even venture a guess about who would warn me against trying to stop The Darkness. Who did this person even think I was? I’d spent the last week hiding in a London flat. I’m not fighting The Darkness at all. I sit up straight, an idea coming to mind.
“What if the note wasn’t for me?”
The Fallen don’t make a sound as they instantly use their speed to position themselves in front of me.
“Messenger?” Joseph asks, “What did you say?”
I tilt my head back. “The note didn’t say my name. What if it wasn’t written to me?”
“Of course it was written to you,” Adrian gives a humorless laugh. His entire body is rigid with anger, and his face is hard as stone. Of all the Fallen, he seems to have taken the potential threat against me the hardest. Or maybe he just isn’t able to hide it as well as the others.
“Who do you think the note was intended for?” Gabe asks at the same time.
I move my attention to the more agreeable angel and lift my right shoulder. “Adrian and Zeke are the only other people who are staying in the flat.”
Gabe squints, considering my words. “But what could the letter’s mysterious author know about either of them that they could use to blackmail them?”
“Nothing,” Adrian states. His tone draws my attention. His arms are crossed. They usually are when I’ve done or said something to upset him. I resist the urge to roll my eyes, no longer afraid of his grumpy behavior. I’ve grown used to his tantrums. I look away.
“My brother is right,” Zeke speaks up. “Plus, the wording of the letter implies there is something… unusual about ‘what you are’. That could only be referencing your unique bloodline.”
“A bloodline which your mother is aware of,” Gabe points out, bringing us back full circle.
I don’t hide my exasperated groan. “Sarah isn’t responsible.”
“How do you know?”
I meet Gabe’s questioning gaze. “Instinct.”
He shifts his stance in the sand. None of the Fallen contradict me. I don’t know if that’s because they agree, or they just don’t want to argue with me. I’m back to being coddled, it seems. And I’m ashamed to admit it, but part of me doesn’t mind it at all. Pathetic, I know, but true nonetheless.
“Let’s say you’re right and the note is about me,” I dig my fingers into the sand. “What do I have to do with The Darkness? I haven’t done anything.”
A beat of silence. Then, one of them clears their throat.
I turn to face the noise. Gabe says, “Veronica, you have been involved for several weeks now.”
“What are you talking about?”
He looks apologetic as he explains, “You’ve been using your powers to heal injured Fallen and Nephilim.”
My eyes are wide as saucers. “I-I hadn’t thought about that.”
“Neither had I,” Joseph mutters. I’m not sure he meant for anyone to hear him.
Lukas, the Light Fallen responsible for my parents’ abduction, not only lowered my ward and helped me practice using my healing powers, but he also asked me to help his allies. Light and Dark Fallen alike were brought to me whenever they sustained significant injury fighting The Darkness. Gabe had been one of them.
I lean forward and rest my arms on my bent knees, letting my forehead press against my arms. Facing the sand beneath me, I ask, “How would someone know about that?”
“Lukas?” Zeke offers to the group.
