Angelic

Alec ~ 30

The streets were dark and quiet. It took ten minutes to find another taxi. As soon as I got inside, I leaned my head against the window and closed my eyes. I was asleep before we even turned onto the main road.

I don't know when I woke up again, but when I did, I could barely open my eyes. I saw Ev's and Lizzie's reflections through the glass window. Ev's arms were around her.  Protecting her. Holding her like she was trying to keep Lizzie from falling apart. Maybe she was trying to keep both of them from falling apart.

"Where are they taking me?" Lizzie whispered, her voice shaking with fear.

"Somewhere safe." Ev answered, stroking the little girl's hair soothingly.

"Are you going to leave me?" Lizzie asked, leaning her small head against Ev's chest.

Ev was silent for a long time. I wondered what she was thinking. Finally, she murmured, "No. I promise you I will do whatever it takes to keep you by my side."

Neither one of them said anything. I looked past them, at Jace squished between the door and Lizzie's thin frame. He caught my gaze, and the question in his eyes mirrored what I was wondering: how long would Ev be able to keep that promise to Lizzie?

...

Sometime later, I must have dozed off again, because the next thing I knew, Ev was shaking me awake. I opened my eyes, looking over at her. Jace and Lizzie had already gotten out of the car. Ev had one leg out the door, waiting for me to wake up. I looked out the window. I recognized this road; we were a block away from the institute.

I got out of the car and the taxi disappeared in a puff of exhaust before I even had time to stretch.

"We need to get back to the institute." Jace said, his arms crossed over his chest. Only then did I note how cold it was.

Next to me, Ev nodded, her hand swallowing Lizzie's small one. "You two go on ahead."

"We're going with you." I protested.

All three of their gazes flickered over to me, but no one had the chance to say anything before something began ringing. It was high pitched and persistent. It seemed to be coming from Ev's jacket.

She dropped Lizzie's hand, taking something out of her pocket. A phone. She looked at the screen before closing her eyes, looking like someone had just stabbed her in the gut. She hit a button and the phone went silent.

"Who was that?" Jace asked.

Ev looked up at him. There was a pain so deep written across her face that it seemed infinite. How could a seventeen-year-old girl feel pain so deeply? "Someone that can wait. Look, both of you look like you're ready to drop dead. I need to go with Lizzie. We can meet back up tomorrow to go to the Silent City." She added, looking at me.

I thought back to the conversation we had had at her party.

"I think we should go to the Silent City tomorrow." She had said.

"For what?" I had asked.

"To figure out what's wrong with you. I mean, why you hate me when you seem like it isn't your choice. Maybe the Silent Brothers can look inside your mind..."

The party seemed like days ago. It was crazy to believe that it had only been a few hours ago.

"Where's Raphael?" I asked, suddenly realizing he had disappeared.

"He left at the lake, remember?" Jace answered. "Said he had something important he had to do."

I faintly recalled him making some dumb excuse before disappearing and leaving us to fend for ourselves, not that he had been much help anyways.