Love and Angels

twenty-three

Laney

Last night was amazing. Well, all the parts of it I got to spend with Kass, not so much the part where Sasha sent us pictures of the night. My parents were pissed when I didn't get home until after one in the morning. My curfew has always been eleven thirty, and Kass and I both know that, but we got a little carried away. Hopefully, we can get a little carried away this morning while my parents are at the market.

I get up and stretch, finding muscles I never knew existed are sore. Gloriously sore. I head to the bathroom and stare at myself in the mirror. Hickeys mar the skin of my stomach—red splotches where Kass sucked and licked. It's as if I can feel his lips still there, paying extra attention to my breasts that are now a nice shade of reddish-pink. I rub the sore skin and feel a tightness in my core. A smile lights up my face; I stop wasting time and hop in the shower.

It takes me longer than it should to pick out an outfit. Kass has seen me completely naked, for Christ's sakes. What the hell does it matter what I wear? I plan to get naked again rather quickly if I've got anything to say about it. I decide on a pair of cut-off jean shorts and a tank top. My breasts are a little large to be going out without a bra, but Kass is the only one who is going to see me and, well, that's kind of the point.

I skip down the steps leading off my porch and walk across the grass between our houses. I slow a little as I notice there aren't any cars in the driveway in front of his house, not even his truck. Is he not home? He didn't tell me about having plans today. In fact, just last night he was telling me he couldn't wait to see me again this morning.

I take note of the windows with the blinds open when I walk across the empty driveway and up to the house. It looks empty from outside. Completely empty. I can't see a stitch of furniture in there. Maybe it's a trick of the light. Yeah, that has to be it. No one can move an entire house, especially one of this size, overnight. I would have at least heard the noise if they'd tried.

The front door is slightly ajar, so I place my hand on the door and press gently, revealing what I had noticed from outside. The house is empty. I walk inside, looking at every possible corner of every single room, searching for something. Searching for some clue they didn't pack up and leave in the middle of the night. That Kass didn't leave me without so much as a hint or a goodbye.

No.

No way.

He wouldn't.

He said he loved me.

He made love to me.

He couldn't have left me.

I slide down the wall in the living room, my head in my hands, tears dripping to the hardwood floor. I don't know how long I sit here crying, but at some point I fall asleep.

"This wasn't supposed to happen!"

"I know. There wasn't anything I could have done to prevent it."

It sounds as if the island in the kitchen has been crumbled to rubble. I struggle to open my eyes but sleep keeps them matted together.

"The girl has ascended. It's too late now."

The voices trail off as I finally get my eyes open.

"Hello?" I call, and when there is no answer, the events of this morning come flooding back.

I run back through the house and out the front door, slamming it behind me. I lose a flip-flop running through the yard and stumble, but I don't stop. I swing by the kitchen and dig through the silverware drawer before pulling out a butter knife. Taking the stairs two at a time, I place the knife in the door jamb of my parents' room until I hear the lock click.

I open the door and begin searching their room for my cell phone. No cell phone for a week is part of the punishment for breaking curfew. I find a few things I'd rather not have found under my parents' bed and high up in their closet, but I don't find the cell phone. Where the hell did they put it? I open my mother's bedside table, and next to a vibrator I wish I could unsee, sits my phone. I grab it, thankful the toy is still encased in its plastic packaging.

I slide my finger across the screen and dial Kass's number. It rings and rings until a voice I've never in my life heard picks up.

"Kass?" I question.

"Sorry, wrong number."

The line goes dead, and I drop the phone from my hand.

He left me. I'm alone. I feel the second my heart rips into pieces, and I crumble to the floor. My hands shake and sobs rip from my mouth as I scratch and pull at my hair.

He. Left. Me.

***

"Who are you?" Kass asks.

"I'm Laney's keeper," Ryder fumes, face red in anger. How could he do this to her? The Archs are pissed. Her mental status is completely screwed, and she is not even close to being able to ascend. They pulled me from her, saddling me with some other pre-Ascent. It's all his fault, but the Archs blame me.

"Who?"

Shit. "Never mind."

Ryder always forgets about the memory sweep. Sometimes he thinks they may have over juiced him because he has a hard time remembering things from his life as a keeper for the angels.

He won't forget Laney, though. At least not for several years, after he's given a new assignment.

Her broken heart and sadness will stick with him long after her face is lost in the memories he held before the sweep.

Ryder's fist pulls back of its own accord and plunges right into Kass's face. Maybe I have an issue with violence, Ryder thinks as his fists clench tighter.

Sasha ascended, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

_______________________________________________________

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