Fate's Choice (ON HOLD)

Chapter Eight // Change of Plans

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“No way!” I argued, glaring at Xavier.

“It’s a good idea.” David agreed with Xavier.

“It’s a terrible idea.” Roma crossed her arms, glaring forcefully at Xavier has she agreed with me.

We’d been going over plans, all of us trying to come up with ideas. First we had pinpointed Fate’s location and then we had sent Xavier to check it out. David had whined about not being able to go but we couldn’t send him and he knew it. Fate might recognize him. Xavier had snuck in, caught a glimpse of Fate and let.

She was saying at an abandoned hotel in Colorado. Xavier had said that it’d been a piece of cake to sneak in since there were no guards or lookouts or anything. He thought it was just because she was waiting for me but I knew the truth. She didn’t actually need guards or lookouts or reinforcements; she could easily take care of herself.

Roma and I came up with a few planes that might work, David and Xavier had come up with a few that may work and then Xavier had his “genius” idea.

He’d drawn out a layout of the hotel earlier so he’d shown us the route he wanted to use. “We can send Roma through here, so she can take out their two guards. As far as I could tell, they were guarding Alba’s Grace but they didn’t actually seem to be keeping a close watch. David and I will go on the other side, up here,” he indicated the place on the map. “We can take down Fate.”

“And what am I supposed to do?” I had demanded.

Xavier smirked. “You can wait for us outside. Fate wants you and you’re the one we’re absolutely not letting her have.”

So here we were, arguing like we had been the past ten minutes. I’d stopped listening to David and Xavier’s plans and pleads of why it would work. Had they forgotten about what the other angel had said? They wouldn’t beat Fate without me. And I sure as hell wasn’t about to let them try.

Before I could say anything else, there was a call from outside. It sounded like someone was yelling at me through a bullhorn.

“Alba Vaughn, come out of the building. We have a message for you.”

I stood and David grabbed my arm, looking alarmed. “You can’t go out there.”

I pulled him to the door with me. “I’m not. We are.”

He looked about to argue but he just shook his head and followed me out. We carefully crept down the stairs and out the door, looking around.

No one was there.

There was an envelope on the ground, in the middle of the driveway. When I picked it up, I realized it was addressed to me.

Alba,

I’m not going to stay here. I don’t particularly like the abandoned hotel, it smells like dead dog. It’s kind of horrid but I’m sure your young, angelic friend can tell you about it.

You’re going to come and meet me. I want to talk to you — Just talk. [Don’t worry loverboy, I’m sure you’ll read this and get all hysterical with worry but I’m being serious.] You can try and kill me some other day. If you bring your friends, I will kill them. And you know that I’ll know, Alba.

She had simply signed it, Fate.

How was I supposed to know where to go? I reread the note and then flipped it over. On the back was one line in Fate’s pretty scrawl.

Watch the birds.

I handed it to David, thinking about the line on the back. Watch the birds? Obviously she meant to watch the news for stories about birds dying. But that was too easy. Fate wouldn’t even give an easy clue. She must seriously doubt my intelligence.

“You don’t actually believe her?” David demanded, sound appalled.

“I do.” I believed this note was true and the last one hadn’t been. This note screamed Fate.

In the last note she had been pleasant and slightly pleading. This was much more straight to the point, harsh and threatening. She wasn’t trying to fake it to get me to be more comfortable. She was just calling her demands. She had just got to the cold, hard point.

“Let’s go inside.” I said, not looking at David. I needed to plan and I needed to get them understand that they couldn’t go.

David grabbed my arm and spun me around to face him. I expected him to tell me I couldn’t go or that I they were going to go. Maybe he’d even yell at me for being foolish and gullible. I didn’t, however, expect what he did.

He lips crashed down on mine and we stood there, kissing for a long time, my back pressed against the side of the house and him pressed against me.  Eventually, it started to rain but still, we didn’t notice. Or care.

All I cared about was him. He held onto my waist, his wings folded around me like an embrace, keeping me tethered to this world. My worries had slipped my mind because, in David’s arms, I was safe and none of it mattered anymore.

“I’ve waited forever to be able to do that.” He immediately bent his head down and kissed me again. This one was short and sweet but just as nice as the previous.

I took a deep breath, not distracted like I knew he wanted me to be. “I have to go.”

“Then we’ll go together.”

We started back into the house, climbing the stairs. “You can’t.” I whispered it low enough that he wouldn’t hear my voice break as I held back tears.

“Why not?” For all we know, she’s probably not even telling the truth!” I could tell he was really angry.

Well I was angry, too. Just not at him. I took his hand and pulled him to a stop. “Didn’t you read the note? She’ll kill you if she knows you’re there. And she will know, the moment you set foot on the property. She’s my mother, I know .”

He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter, you’re not going alone.”

He started to pull us into the house again, where Roma and Xavier were waiting.

David handed them the letter and then relayed our argument. They both agreed with David.

“Look,” I nearly shouted, interrupting their new planning. “I need to do this. And I need to do it alone. You guys can go with me when we’re actually planning to take her down but not now. She’s not bluffing — she’ll kill you in a second, without any thought. You need to stop underestimating her.”

Xavier scowled. “And what is it you propose we do?”

I took a deep breath, trying to remain patient. If they’d just listen to me, we’d be fine. “If you must, you can escort me near where she is. Then I’ll go in and find her. Give me an hour to get in and out. If I take longer, you can barge in and find me.”

They thought it over in silence and it was Roma that spoke next. “How are we even going to find her?”

“It won’t be hard, we just need to watch the news for the next couple of days.” I explained, flipping the note over and showing them her riddle. “Watch the birds. Most likely it’ll be a big group of birds that all just drop dead or something. I also wouldn’t be surprised if it’s nearer to us, so that it’s easier for me to get to her.”

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Sorry this is so horribly short! I swear the next one will be longer. This is just to get all the plans and what they're gonna do out of the way.

The next one probably won't have anything about Fate in it at all, but the one after that will be more action. ; )