Sold: Survival (complete)

11

I tapped my foot on the marble floor impatiently. It had been two full days since Melissa tried to get Azrael's attention and nothing happened just as I suspected. Azrael was the same disconnected, self-serving archangel he had always been.

Melissa was becoming weaker by the hour with no food or water and Liam and I were growing thirsty. I wasn't sure if the human or the vampires would give out first, but I was sure I would rather die of thirst than drink straight from Melissa's body. She was small and frail to start. I couldn't imagine her lasting much longer.

An idea sparked in my head.

"Liam," I said, pulling his attention from the book he was reading. "What if she tries to kill herself."

"Anna," Liam chided.

"Think about it. She has a better chance of getting him here if she's in immediate danger."

"The smell of her fresh blood would drive both of us insane. There's no way he would get here in time to stop it."

I hadn't thought of that.

"Fine," I grumbled.

"It was a good thought," he tried.

"We need to do something."

"There's nothing we can do."

"So you just want to sit here and wait until one of us dies?" I snapped.

"No, we're going to wait for Azrael."

"He's not coming, Liam."

"Have a little faith, Anna. We'll figure this out."

I shook my head and rested it against the wall. Keeping faith wasn't an issue. It was keeping faith in Azrael that was pointless. He proved time and again he wasn't reliable. I couldn't figure out why Liam wanted to believe in him so badly. He knew Azrael better than either Melissa or I knew him.

"You saw firsthand how unreliable he is. Why do you think he's going to show?"

He sighed and tossed his book down. "Because he actually cares about her."

I folded my arms and shot him a glare. I might have moved on from Azrael, but that didn't make it any easier to accept the fact that he never cared about me. Not really anyway. Not the way I cared about him.

"If you say so."

"I do say so," he shot back. "So stop. He will be here. She's not in any immediate danger so he's probably not rushing."

I sealed my mouth shut and focused my eyes out the windows. I wished I wasn't stuck in this office with the two of them. Melissa hadn't said much which I was thankful for. I didn't want to hear her opinion on the matter.

"He hasn't responded at all," she squeaked from her spot on a small leather couch.

"He will," Liam assured.

"We're sitting ducks," she whispered.

"Look, if we can't get out, that probably means no one can get in or we would have been attacked by the council already. This is the safest place for any of us right now. Michael has sealed off everything."

"Yeah because he's trying to kill us himself."

Liam shook his head and picked up his book again.

Suddenly, it hit me like a ton of bricks.

"Azrael can't get in," I whispered.

"What?" Liam asked, clearly annoyed.

"He can't get in. That's the whole plan. Don't you see? Michael is waiting for us to kill her."

"That doesn't make sense. Why would he do that?"

"Because that's the only surefire way Azrael will go back to heaven and stay. And, and," I rushed. "What if Michael is working with the council? He could be setting us up. We kill her which sends Azrael back to heaven and Azrael's so upset he kills us which takes care of the council's problem. And Michael's hands are clean of any blood and the council gets control."

The room fell dead silent. It made sense. It all made sense and I felt a rush of accomplishment at figuring it out. My moment was quickly squashed by the realization that I was right though. In that particular moment, I hated that I was right.

Liam threw his legs off the couch as his book fell to the side. His eyes were furrowed in thought as he considered my scenario.

"Shit," he muttered. "You're right."

"He let us waste all this time so we would be weak and have no choice but to kill her."

"What do we do now?" Melissa asked.

Hell if I knew. There was still no way out. Even though we knew the why, we didn't know the how. The why was obsolete without knowing how to escape. If Azrael couldn't get in and we couldn't get out, there was no way to reach him or anyone else. We couldn't even reach Pierce. We had no choice but to kill her.

"We haven't tried tunneling out," I said.

"This place is a fortress. There's no way to tunnel out," Liam said.

"So we're stuck. I don't know anything about angelic power, but seems like as soon as we kill her, Azrael will come barging in and smite us," I shot back. "I'm not going to just sit here and wait for something to happen."

"And what are you going to do?" Liam questioned.

"Stop controlling my abilities and I'll show you."

"Anna-"

"Do you have a better idea? I blew up the lights because I was angry. Don't you think it's worth a shot?" I urged.

I had to at least try. The longer we sat there, the weaker Melissa got and it was only a matter of time before Liam and I caved to our basic instincts. We were going to kill her if we didn't do something. I didn't know what my ability was or how to use it, but I assumed if I was angry enough I could make something happen.

"If I release your senses you're going to be starving. You could attack Melissa."

"I've been fine," I assured him. "How much worse could it be?"

"Anna, you're barely functioning above human senses. And I mean barely."

"Well, it's the only choice we have."

A surge of hyper awareness flooded my body and mind. I thought my senses were sharp before, but that was nothing compared to the overwhelming array of heightened senses. The sudden shock made my head throb and my chest burn with the power of a thousand suns. I nearly doubled over from the excruciating burn in my stomach. If this was what all vampires felt, it was no wonder Liam controlled my senses. Nothing could have prepared me for how intense the world could be. The lamps were blinding. The smell of Melissa was too tempting.

My hands flew to my eyes in an attempt to drown out some of the light. They ached and burned and I wanted nothing more than to crawl under Liam's desk to hide.

But I couldn't. I couldn't hide because I had to get us out of the office. No one else could save us. I channeled all the anger I had bottled up since the moment I was kidnapped. Every ounce of pain and sadness I felt when my brother died, when I discovered my parents died. I mustered the hurt and betrayal from life, Azrael and Mariah. I pulled it all to the forefront of my mind and and shot it outwards to expel it from my very being. In a blast of invisible energy, I blew out every window in the office. Any furniture once near me was thrown across the room. The walls surrounding the windows bowed outwards from the force.

I was light, nearly weightless before I felt my senses dulling again. Liam didn't take them back completely; he just dulled them enough to function.

I glanced over my shoulder and watched as Liam slowly uncovered Melissa. She stared at me, wide-eyed and amazed.

"Let's go," I prompted and jumped out the window before Michael could show up and lock us in again.