Fallen Angel

Chapter 12: Emily

We'd shopped or rather, I'd shopped and stopped the fluff ball phase as Luca put it. They offered no suggestions as to what I should or should not purchase. All Luca said was that I had to stop lying to myself. I looked at the pink skirt and white shirt and realised it was a lie, that I was still following the guidelines as set out for all infras. I'd never liked the clothes and it took a damned vampire to make me realise it. This world and my life sucked.

My bags of purchases had been sent to my apartment, I didn't want to lug heavy bags around. And getting around this city with a sun shy vampire wasn't easy. We walked from shadows to alleys, tunnels, subways and shops. I don't think that I have ever walked this much in my entire life.

"You need to get some sunscreen."

"Yeah, one with a bazillion SPF." Luca huffed as he laughed.

The mood was relaxed as we waited for our lunch. This little restaurant was dark, lit only by the dull tea lights and the odd wall sconce. It was hidden down the back of a dark alley, something that I think that Luca liked. As much as he wanted to escape the school, he was rather uneasy about surfacing out of the catacombs. Personally, I couldn't wait to get out of the place. It was constricting and dark, there were no skull lined walls yet I feared to turn a corner in case I was faced with the horror.

Our lunch arrived, two plates of the largest burgers I'd ever seen. The waitress looked at us with a slight frown.

"Sure you don't want anything?" She asked Luca.

"I'm all good."

He offered a charming smile and she was instantly captivated. My attention was dragged to Brannon who held up his hand, five fingers showing. I frowned with confusion, a finger dropped, four remaining tall. Slowly each of the fingers dropped, the smug grin on his face offered no hint as to what he was referring to.

Okay, so clearly he was counting down to something, but what? I was lost, unable to figure these two out.

"But I could use your assistance with something," Luca said as he stood. "See, I have to make a call and my phone is busted."

I watched with a sneer, almost puking into my mouth at how thick the schmooze was. He smiled, he made her giggle and this little angel had just witnessed sickly sweet flirting.

Brannon swung his hand around, pointing to the treacle with a small but grand flair. Luca's hand went to the small of her back as he guided her to the other side of the room. With an opening of a door, the two of them were gone.

I laughed, shaking my head. "That's so wrong, it's not funny."

He nodded, saying nothing as he picked up his burger. Suddenly the reality of the situation hit me. Luca had been here. Luca was not here anymore. I think I've just been set up.

I looked at Brannon who seemed unaware of the situation or maybe he was aware of it and was trying to play it cool. There was nothing here, I was doing my job and he was the poor, unfortunate subject. The thought of it made me feel like rubbish, that I was toying with his heart and I'd walk away leaving him a broken soul. Which considering he was the son of the devil, wasn't a good thing. Maybe I would have to steer him to a friendship rather than anything physical and definitely a lot less emotional.

But that in itself was difficult, I was growing to seriously like Brannon, I found being in his company reasonably easy and when he smiled at me, I felt my heart stutter.

I knew that I should leave, to stop this from being what I feared this was. A date. I feared Luca's intention for tonight as well, Luca and Brannon were off on their globetrotting drunken rampage and it was hinted that I follow. My mind was willing my body to move but the stupid thing just wouldn't listen. Instead, I quietly ate my lunch and hoped he wouldn't bring up the plans for tonight.

The more I thought of Brannon as a person rather than a subject, the more I began to regret my mission. Not just the newest part but all of it. Why were they so concerned about him? To me he seemed so placid, like rising against heaven had never crossed his mind. Because that's what they feared, they always would fear it. They wanted to break the trinity.

It was like a wave of realisation hit me as I looked at Brannon, thankfully his gaze was to the chip he was dipping into the ketchup.

They wanted Brannon either broken or on their side. They wanted to pull the devil into line and return the majority share of power to them. Brannon's birth meant that the trinity was strong, that between him and his parents they held great power.

I couldn't do this. I couldn't break him and I couldn't tear apart his world.

Looking down at the half-eaten meal in front of me, I knew that it was about to go to waste. Rummaging through my bag I found my phone and pretended that an urgent message had come through, one that I had to leave to deal with.

"Gee, I've got to go. Sorry but urgent stuff, you know?"

Brannon looked up at me with disbelief as he swallowed the food in his mouth.

"Sure." He offered. "I guess I'll see you on Monday."

"Yeah," I said before I thought about it.

I slid along the bench, dragging my bag with me. Red flickered through his eyes as he offered a smile, one that was very nice to look at.

"See you Monday," I said softly.

Scurrying out of the place before Luca returned, I stepped into the empty alley and sighed heavily. That was a terrible lie, angels weren't supposed to lie.