Angelic (Book 2)

Four

The next day, we suited up to investigate the note Angel left. Blake knew where the warehouse was, so he would lead the charge. After violently throwing up the night before, I was otherwise unaffected by Ryan's attempted cure. We both agreed the whole scenario was something that nobody else had to know about.

"Ellie!" Blake called. "We're heading out!"

Well, sort of otherwise unaffected.

I stared down into the sink, hands braced on either side, staring at the blood I had just coughed up. I wasn't sure what to think. Coughing up blood had never been a symptom of my condition before.

"Ellie!"

"Coming!" I called, rinsing the sink and rushing down the stairs. Everybody else was in the car. I laced up my boots and left the house with Blake. It was an all hands on deck situation, but I still hoped we didn't run into any unwanted surprises.

"Everybody ready?"

"Sir, yes, sir!"

"Shut, up, Ryan."

"Sir, why, sir?"

"I will punch you in the mouth."

"Okay!" Jessica exclaimed, breaking August and Ryan's bickering. "Let's just drive, yeah? I don't want all of us to be in the car together longer than is necessary."

Blake nodded, squirming around in the seat, futilely trying to make more room out of nothing. Augie was driving, Jessica was in the passenger seat, and I was squished in the middle between Ryan and Blake. My lungs were nearly crushed. "That's a good thing," I gasped. "I'll be out of oxygen in ten minutes."

In response August floored the pedal, zooming us out of the drive and down the unfinished road to Denver. I thought it such a dramatic change between our woodland landscape and the city lights. Almost too abrupt to be real. But it happened right before my eyes, a gradual change to industry and urban living, and the toxic fumes of one too many vehicles jamming the streets.

August sighed from the front seat, holding his head in his hands. "I freaking hate traffic."

Ryan patted his shoulder. "You'd be a weirdo if you loved it."

"Hand. Off."

"Jeez, mate, what crawled up your ass and died this morning?"

His eyes flickered up to the rearview mirror, locking on my face for a split-second. Only I caught it. "Nothing," he grumbled. "Where is this warehouse, anyway?"

"Mid-Denver, next to some lousy convenience store with outrageous prices and a salon that seems to only cater to people with New York accents."

Jessica turned in her seat to cast Ryan a funny look. "How in the hell would you know that?"

"You know, I get around."

"Uh-huh."

"What?"

Blake leaned toward me, his breath fanning across my neck. The action caught me off guard and I nearly jumped. "Ryan used to work as a tour guide for extra money," he whispered. "Born and raised in Denver, this one was. He hates it when anybody brings it up, though."

But a tour guide sounded cool. Cooler than running for your life twenty-four-seven across the country.

So I turned to Ryan smiled, and said, "I think being a tour guide is really cool."