Between (A Key Holder Novel Book 1) Read online

  "We're dreaming, brother." The man leaned back, stretching out his long jean-clad legs. He closed his eyes and tilted his face toward the sun. "We've been waiting on you."

  "I don't know you." Noah studied the man, trying to glean some measure of recognition. Still, his mind was blank. The man's face was familiar, and his gut was telling him that this man was important to him. How, or why, it wouldn't say.

  "No, I suppose not." The man seemed slightly disappointed as he opened one eye to study Noah. "You've found the girl, then?"

  "You mean Cassie?"

  The man nodded, turning to look at Noah. "She's important. She can help you get your memories back, but you don't have much time. There are those among us who don't want you to remember. Stay with Cassie, and protect her."

  "Protect her from what?" Noah felt an itch in his right hand as his guard went up. If anyone, or anything, tried to hurt Cassie he would fight. He could do it. He could feel the knowledge in his mind, even if he couldn't call to it now.

  "Others will want you to remain as you are. Without your memories, you'll be incorporeal. You'll also be less of a threat. With Cassie out of the way they can ensure you never remember who you are."

  "Who am I?"

  "That, my brother, is something I cannot tell you. You have to remember it on your own."

  Noah looked at the man, his head pounding as he tried to force it to recognize the face. "Who are you?"

  The man stood, crossing to Noah and patting him lightly on the shoulder. "Don't let us down, brother. We're waiting for you."

  Noah tried to stop him as he walked away, but he knew he was sliding from sleep into waking. As the meadow and the glorious sunshine disappeared, he could only try to hold on to his memory of the dream.

  ***

  I KNEW THAT NOAH WAS no longer in bed when I opened my eyes. I missed the soft warmth of his wings as they covered us, and the feeling of the heat of his body against my back.

  "I haven't gone away."

  I rolled over to find him sitting in my chair, studying me intently. I blushed, trying to tame my unruly morning hair. "No, I didn't think you'd gone." I sat up, frowning at him. "Is something the matter?"

  "I had a dream."

  I shook my head. "Impossible. Angels don't dream."

  His lip quirked as he put his elbows on his knees. "Know that for sure, do you?"

  I laughed. "No, not for sure. I know that every text about angels says that they don't dream."

  "Well, I did dream." His face grew serious as he looked into my eyes. "There was a man in the dream. He said that you can help me recover my memories. That he and others are waiting for me to remember who I am."

  "That's great." I threw off the blanket and stood, shaking out my mop of curls. I stiffened when Noah came to me, taking my shoulders in his hands.

  "That's not all he said, Cassie. He said you're in danger because you're helping me. That there are others who don't want me to remember, and they'll try to hurt you to keep you from helping me."

  "I assume that the shadow things last night were here for me then." I frowned at him. "Where are your wings?"

  "I can retract them inside my shoulders when I concentrate." He tightened his hands on my shoulders. "Yes, Cassie, I think the shadows were here for you."

  "Good thing you can protect me, then." I said brightly. I hated the burden of fear and guilt I could see in his eyes. He was scared, not for himself, but for me.

  "Cassie, I can't ask you to help me. Not if it puts you in danger. You're a bright, beautiful woman, and you don't deserve that kind of trouble."

  I broke away from him and picked up my robe as I stuck my feet in my slippers. "Can you leave my side?"

  He shook his head. "The man in the dream said I'll remain incorporeal until I regain my memories."

  I smiled. "Then it looks like you're stuck with me. I have an eight o'clock class, so make me a cup of tea and a waffle from the freezer while I shower. Okay?" Before he could object I left him, closing the bathroom door behind me with a click. I knew he worried for me, but I'd promised him I would help him. Now, knowing he was an angel, I couldn't turn my back on him, despite the dangers. There was simply too much at stake. If Noah was an angel, maybe he could tell me what had really happened to my mother the day the angels fell.

  Noah was sitting on the futon staring at the window when I was finally ready to go. I grabbed my backpack and tucked a blue tooth device into my ear. I saw Noah staring at it and I smiled. "It's a wireless microphone device. My cousin Jenna gave it to me last year. This way when I talk to you it will look like I'm talking on the phone and not to myself."

  He chuckled. "Yes, you might not want to appear insane." On the walk across campus to the math center I quizzed Noah about the dream, and had him try to remember more details. Eventually we both decided that he'd recalled all he could about the meadow and the mystical man.

  "Well," I took my seat in the class, "we also have to think about the possibility that this guy is the one who took your memories. It's possible he's trying to mislead you." He was just behind my left shoulder, but he didn’t respond as Mr. Abraham, the math professor, hurried into the room.

  "Good morning, class." he said, dropping his calculus texts onto the desk. "First things first, we're going to have a pop....." he trailed off as he glanced up at the room and seemed to fix his gaze somewhere to the left of my shoulder. His mouth was hanging open like a dead fish. The class groaned, preparing for one of his famous pop quizzes, but instead he scooped the texts up and practically ran out the classroom door.

  I glanced over my shoulder just in time to see Noah hot on the math teachers trail. I hurried to follow, in case Noah tried to dissipate when he was too far away. I followed Mr. Abraham down the long hallway and out into the quad. Under the large oak near the parking lot I finally caught up with him. Noah was right in front of him, seeming to block his way.

  "CCC...assie," the teacher said with a stutter, "I...I don't understand. How can you, how can he...?" he trailed off and stared at Noah.

  "You know I'm here, demon." Noah leaned down to look directly into Mr. Abraham's wide eyes. "What I want to know is how you managed to survive here this long?" I looked back and forth between Noah and Mr. Abraham, confused.

  "I've been given a dispensation to be here. I...I'm a lesser class Vorneou, and I'm no threat to anyone on this plane." Mr. Abraham stood straighter as he spoke, and his voice deepened an octave or two.

  Noah continued to stare at my math professor, but I stepped forward.

  "Wait a minute, what the hell is a ...vorneooo, or whatever, and how can you see Noah?"

  Mr. Abraham glanced at me for a split second before returning to Noah's gaze. I could have sworn his eyes were ringed in red. "Your boyfriend here hunts my kind. I'm a VOR-NO," he repeated, "A demon. We aren't a threat to humans, so he has no right to threaten me." His voice wavered on the last word, and again he seemed the timid calculus professor.

  Noah nodded. "Vorneou aren't a threat to humans." he confirmed. "They don't torture or kill or drink blood like some. We keep an eye on them though, just in case they find some dirtier "friends".

  Mr. Abraham was already shaking his head. "NO, NO, NO.. I don't associate with other demons. All my friends are human."

  Noah considered this for a moment, then stepped aside.

  Abraham stood for a moment, then headed towards the parking lot to his car. He turned back to me before getting in. "You should be more careful when you choose your associates, Cassie. I may be a demon, but that thing is the real monster." Before I could ask any questions he jumped in the car and drove away.

  I looked at Noah a moment. "So you do remember some things."

  He looked at the ground sheepishly. "As soon as I saw him I just sort of knew all that stuff about the Vorneou and watching them. When he ran I knew I was supposed to follow."

  I laughed. "My math teacher is a demon." He chuckled at my gleeful tone. "...and I'm free until two! Let's go get coffee."

  He followed me as I headed toward the campus diner. I watched him out of the corner of my eyes for a while, trying to see the monster that Mr. Abraham had claimed he was.

  "I don't know what he was talking about, Cassie," Noah said at last. "But I think he might be right. Angel or not, when I saw that demon the only thought that entered my mind was KILL IT. "He dropped his head again as we strolled along. “What if I am a monster?"

  I stopped and let him catch up with me, my hand going to his as easily as breathing. It felt right, somehow, to comfort him when he was feeling so conflicted.

  “Noah, I may not know a lot of things,” I nudged him with my shoulder when he refused to meet my eyes. “But one thing I do know is that you are not a monster.” He lifted his head then, and let his free hand toy with my curly hair where it lay over my shoulder.

  “I'm happy you have such faith in me, Cassie, but the truth remains. You don't know me. I don't know me. It seems that demon knew more about me than the both of us put together, and he thought I was a cold-blooded killer.”

  Our eyes met and held, and I had the strangest urge to kiss him. I shook my head, breaking the spell. He was, despite everything I kept telling myself, a stranger. I didn't go around kissing total strangers. Sensing that our talk was over, Noah let go of my hand and started walking again. I sighed, and followed, butterflies in my unsettled stomach. He looked back at me over his shoulder, a wicked grin on his lips.

  “I'm hungry.” he said, and I smiled, despite my trepidation.

  “You're incorporeal.” I reminded him, hurrying to catch up. “You can't eat remember?”

  He chuckled and slowed his pace to allow my shorter stride to catch up. “I'm hungry.” I thought he said “I'm not sure for what.” It was under his b
reath and I wasn't sure, so I let it go. We walked in companionable silence the rest of the way to my favorite diner on Sycamore Street.

  “ARE YOU HAVING FUN?” Gabriel rolled his eyes as his brother, Uriel, interrupted him. He shook his head, still trying to hear the human girl as she talked with Noah, but they were too far away now, and he was losing the signal. He sighed in irritation and waved his hand over the scrying bowl, cutting off the magical connection with their youngest brother.

  “What do you want, Uriel?” he asked, sweeping his hair off his face. Since they'd fallen they'd lived in hovel after hovel, barely surviving on whatever food they could find. It was an odd sensation, feeling anything at all, really. Hunger was the worst. When your insides gnawed at you to be filled it created a pit of despair deep in your soul. They'd searched and searched for Noah, hoping that he, too, had survived the expulsion. It had come as a great surprise that Noah had been in the dream realm with him last night. He'd never been so happy to see anyone in his whole life. Only the three of them, together, could reopen the door to Heaven for all their surviving brethren.

  “Chill out, Gabe.” Uriel dropped onto his ratty cot, shivering in his thin clothes. The sun here was weak, and it left the days chilly and the nights down right freezing. They were rarely warm enough. Gabriel tried to shake his irritation at how quickly Uriel was picking up the human way of speaking. “How is Noah?” Gabriel shook his head, lighting yet another candle to try to ward off the pervasive chill. He worried that the cold came, not from outside, but from inside his own soul. If Uriel hadn't felt it too, he might have given up completely.

  “He is still incorporeal.” Gabriel said with a worried frown. “He believed at first that he was the soul of a dead human, trapped in this plane, but last night he apparently manifested his wings. At least I was able to give him his real name by rearranging the letter tiles.”

  Uriel snorted, a smile creeping over his face. Uriel was the middle brother of the three. Once a powerful angel of justice he had a particularly dire sense of humor. His long hair was the darkest midnight black, offsetting his tourmaline gaze to perfection. Their creator was nothing if not a lover of beauty. Uriel's face was chiseled perfection, and he knew it. He often commented on it daily. Now he shrugged at Gabriel and quirked his perfect lips. “Noah was ever the dreamer, but at least he's not stupid.”

  Gabe nodded. Their youngest brother was, indeed, a dreamer. He'd spent the whole of his time in Heaven watching over humans, bringing them love and happiness everywhere he went. The most shocking thing imaginable, it had been, when it had been their fun-loving brother who'd allowed all of Heaven to be nearly destroyed. “He still is a dreamer, but his warrior nature may have to win out this time.” Gabriel sat down across from Uriel and put his hand on his chin.

  “What will he choose?” Uriel asked, and his gaze sharpened. He was seductively intelligent, and often his wit surprised even his brothers. Gabriel shrugged again. The oldest of the three by nearly two thousand years it had long been his task to keep the other two out of trouble. A mandate from their Most High Council, to keep his brothers under control and within the confines of Heavenly Law. He resisted the urge to laugh wryly. Now, look at them. Most of the angels dead in the fall, and the few left scattered to the ends of the Earth. Humans, trapped here in this purgatory of the between, with their souls never moving on past life. There was nowhere for them to go. When the doors to Heaven had closed, so had the doors to Hell. Gabriel shook his head again.

  “I don't know what he'll choose.” he said softly to his brother. The most beloved of his heart; Uriel and Noah. He'd sacrifice anything for them, but now he was set upon an impossible road. Their creator was silent, and he was the eldest living angel. It was up to him to bring Noah back and open the door, or kill his brother and use his essence to open the door. No matter what, the angels needed to return to Heaven. Earth was the realm of mortals, and the longer the angels lingered the more of their immortality was drained from them. Soon, no angels would be left to return home.

  Chapter Three

  I watched Noah as I ate. He looked at every person who passed, and his hands were clenching and un-clenching on the table. I put down my fork and put my hand over his, startling him. He looked at me, and I grinned.

  “You're going to drive me crazy if you can't relax.” I tapped my blue-tooth headset when the waitress gave me a funny look. After a moment she moved on, and we both breathed a sigh of relief.

  “I'm sorry.” he said, and I shrugged.

  “Half the human population went off its rocker the moment the angels fell.” I took a sip of my orange juice and shook my head. “No one is gonna notice one more crazy woman in a diner booth.”

  Noah's face was thoughtful. “Tell me what you remember about the day they fell.” he said, and I raised my eyebrows. “It feels like it matters.”

  I took a bite of toast and thought about it for a minute. “I was twelve. A big storm cloud covered the whole Earth. It was so scary, covering every continent. The scientists had no explanation. On April tenth lightning started, every five or ten minutes, but it never rained. We all stayed home that day, and my parents kept the doors and windows locked. The air was so heavy...” I trailed off. “I sat in my room and held my dog, Kernels. Suddenly, a big lightning strike shook the whole house. Later we were told it shook the whole world. We ran to the windows, and outside it looked like birds were falling from the sky. Suddenly, one fell right outside my window and I screamed. It wasn't birds, but men and women with wings...” I stopped and closed my eyes, I could feel my face pale with the memory. Noah put his hand over mine on the table, and I gave him a small smile. “My Dad ran outside, and tried to help, to save them, but they were so mangled. Bones broken, blood everywhere,” I shuddered, “and we could only watch them die. It was the most horrible thing I've ever seen. My mother died that day too.”

  “I'm sorry, Cassie.” Noah put a hand over mine. “How?”

  “Heart attack.” I took a deep breath. “How about you? Remember anything?”

  Noah closed his eyes, and I could see him searching for some familiar feeling. “Nothing.” he said.

  I smiled and took the last bite of my pancakes before throwing some money on the table and standing.

  “C'mon.” An idea came to me. “I have something to show you.”

  We walked through the park, towards the pond where the ducks had long ago stopped coming.

  “Does it feel to you like the whole world is dying?” I looked at Noah from the corner of my eye. He seemed preoccupied, thoughtful, and I hated to break his train of thought, but my own dark worries made me in need of conversation. It was hard to be alone nowadays. I'd noticed it a lot, actually. Ever since the fall, people seemed to congregate together, even they didn't realize they were doing it. On the street no one walked alone, preferring to huddle together in small groups. At night the streets were mostly deserted, and the air took on a feeling of real malice.

  “Dying?” Noah asked, bringing me back around to my question. “Everyone and everything dies eventually, Cassie.”

  “I meant, doesn't it seem like the planet itself is dying.” I clarified. “We rarely see the sun anymore, and I'm surprised that we aren't experiencing an ice age already.”

  Noah took my hand this time, and it was comforting to feel his warmth, even if others couldn't.

  “It's a side effect of the fall, like I said before.” he said. His frown told me he was trying to think very hard. “When the angels fell there was a cosmological shift...the Earth is now out of alignment with the sun.” He gave me a wondering stare. “When the door was broken down...” he paused, the words coming harder to him, as if the memory was elusive. “When the door was broken....” He shook his head. “I don't know what happened with the door,” he said, “but it was important.”

  “Well, you've gained one memory.” I tried to ease his mind, and he grinned at me as we continued down the path.

  He sighed. “One memory. I need them all, Cassie.”