Shot: A Novel

Chapter Seven

                                                           -Aphrodite- 

     I lay on the couch on my stomach with my eyes closed when I hear someone come in the door. I pretend to sleep as that person gets closer to the couch I know its Ares. I open my eyes and look up into his ice-blue eyes. I sit up and he never says a word.

     "H-hi." I stuttered not knowing what to say.

     "Hello, I am ready when you are to leave." He says with no emotion on his face or in his voice.

     "Leave? What do you mean, where are we going?" I ask confused.

     "I am doing what you asked me to do. I am taking you back to Rachel and then leaving you the hell alone." He says in a tone I don't know.

     "I am sorry Ares, I was angry I didn't mean that, please. I don't want to leave. I don't think even if I wanted too I could." I admit hating myself for what I said last night. Ares crouches by my head and puts a cool hand on my forehead and I close my eyes.

     "Where does it hurt Aph?" Ares whispers next to my ear. I open my eyes looking him in the eyes and decide to tell him.

     "M-my wings," I say and look away. Ares makes me look at him and he smiles at me.

     "Wings eh? Well, I guess we have even more in common now." As he talks I smile, I never thought that there may be more of me out there.

     "You're a fallen too?" I ask letting the shock show in my voice. He smiles more and nods.

     "You landed straight on your back last night, which means straight on your wings. Do you know the damage before I look?" he asks as he stands up looking for the first aid kit.

    "I know at least one of them is broken and neither is healing." I lay back down on my stomach as I talk. He comes back in and asks me to unfurl my wings. I do put I can't push my wings through my t-shirt. Ares takes a dagger off his belt and cuts two lines down the shirt for my wings. He gently takes my wings out and lays them out examining them.

     "You have beautiful wings. You have been here a while, and your crime killed many people." Ares stated to me and I nodded.

     "You can tell all that from my wings?" I asked in a soft voice while he gently runs his fingers down my wings making me shiver.

     "We had a class about fallen's wings and what they symbolize. Red means blood spilled. Black means banishment. You are able to hide what you are very well and you have been gone sometimes being you don't know about the signs on an angel's wings. It is not a new class." He says watching my expression, I keep my face neutral. "Your left wing is broken, and your right is fractured." His voice is softer. I nod, trying to sit up but he stops me and makes me lay back down. I relax some letting him wrap my wings.

     "I have been a fallen a long time, and the crime I was accused of was very bloody and done in cold blood," I say letting my sadness leak into my voice. Ares looks at me and I try to smile. "Can I see your wings?" I ask in a stronger voice. He chuckles softly.

     "Nope. You rest and let your wings heal and I will think about it, ok?" He says staring into my eyes and I nod my head. Laying my head down on the pillow I close my eyes, falling asleep with Ares

                                                                      -Rachel-

     I watch Lynne make a phone call to a friend of hers that may be able to help us track down Aph and Ares. Lynne made me take the leashes off of Pol and Sean with a lot of arguing, but she won. Sean hates me and Pol seems undecided. When Lynne gets back from her phone call she sits next to me and looks across to the guys.

     "So, how did you two get tied up with being babysat by a Lycan?" Lynne asks Pol and Sean, I try not to laugh by biting my lip.

     "Rachel told Ares to go after Aphrodite and we were still handcuffed so our options were limited," Sean says bitterly.

     "You are older than her and stronger, yet you don't try to fight. Wow, you have been domestic too long." Lynne says to him laughing, Sean growls but we all ignore him. Lynne then turns to Pol and raises her eyebrow at him and he shrugs. I look back and forth between them and just decide to give up. That this conversation would be pointless.

                                                                         -Sean-

     I lay back happy that I was no longer on a leash. I watch Rachel who kept staring at Pol, hmmm I wonder...                                   

                                                                           -Pol-

     After everyone settles down for the night I feel Rachel get up and shift. I pretend to be sleeping when I feel her go out into the woods.  I then sit up and follow close behind her. Wouldn't want her getting lost out here right? I hear her starting to go faster up ahead but then stop in her tracks. I freeze wondering if she felt me close until I sense another person out here too.

     I creep along the trees getting closer to Rachel when I hear her growl. I peek around a tree to see a petite girl with pale ivory skin and long golden hair going over her shoulders. Her eyes almost the same piercing ice blue that Ares has. My mouth drops hearing the nasty things she was saying to Rachel. She is pretty but has a big mouth, great that is what we need another one.

     "It is not polite to listen to other people's conversations Pol," Lynne says coming up from behind me, scaring me to death in the process.

     "Lynne!" the blonde shouts and runs over to where we were standing, pushing Rachel over in the process. I go over to Rachel to help her while the other two girls hug. Rachel was back in human form, so I hold a hand out to her. She looks at it for a second and then takes it letting me help her up. Then we turn towards the two girls who had stopped squealing finally.

                                                                          -Rachel-

     "I am sorry Rachel, I forgot to tell my friend I had company with me," Lynne says smiling sympathetically. I growl and Pol squeezes my hand for a second trying to calm me down.

     "I am sorry too, I did not mean to be rude. I am Katherine Jane. It is nice to meet you Rachel Conell." She says to me holding out her hand. My mouth drops in shock and Lynne laughs.

     "Katherine's talent is to know people. So this is why I think she may be able to find your friends."Lynne explains. After another minute I take her hand and shake it and she smiles. She then turns to Pol and looks him up and down, and for some reason that made me want to pounce on her.

     "You must be Polguaniak Karver," Katherine says to hold holding out her hand to him and he shakes it without the hesitation I had. "Where is your other half that always is with you, Sean Freid?" She asks curious.

     "Right here, Katherine," Sean says walking up from behind Lynne. Katherine nods in acknowledging him.

     "So your friends Ares Fraiser and Aphrodite Rose are missing, or so you say?" Katherine says smirking to herself and I growl again.

     "What do you mean, 'so we say'?" I ask the annoying blonde.

     "I know where they are and they are not missing at all." She says simply leaning against a tree.

     "They aren't?" Pol asks in shock.

     "Ares and Aphrodite are together in a cabin twelve miles from here with Ares's friend Dilan Sheppard." My mouth drops so does Sean's and Pol's while she talks.

     "How together are they?" Sean asks smiling devilishly.

     "Very together even if they don't admit it. She has showed him her biggest secret and he has shared his strongest emotion with her." Katherine says smiling obviously liking what she saw. I then screamed at the top of my lungs, shifted and ran out into the forest.