Free Rise of the Fallen 1 - My Soul to Keep by Sean Hayden

area. “Big, black Escalade?”
    “Yup, that’s my dad,” she answered and I thought I detected a modicum
of embarrassment in her voice.
    “Are you guys in the witness protection program?” I gave a little inward
groan at my own stupidity. The joke left my lips before my “don’t look like an ass”
filter stopped it.
    “No. Why?”
    “Just don’t see too many Escalades in the area.”
    “Ah. Dad is an author. He writes some spy thriller series that’s sold
like a billion copies.”
    I looked at her like she'd just stepped off a spaceship and had tentacles
instead of arms. “And you live in Cedar Hills, why?”
    “My grandparents grew up here. They died before I was born. My dad
and my step-mother are getting a divorce. She got the big house, he chose to move
here and get away from Philly.”
    As soon as we got within twenty feet of the SUV, the driver's side
door opened and my worst nightmare stepped out and walked around the back of the
vehicle. He stood about six and a half feet tall. His long brown hair had been pulled
back in a ponytail so tight the wind didn’t stand a chance against it. His brown
eyes lit up when he saw his daughter, but narrowed into cat like slits when he saw
her hand on my arm.
    I gulped audibly, not from the venom in his gaze, but from the shimmer
of the air around him. Mr. James wasn’t human, but he appeared to be. He had an
orb on him somewhere, but I couldn’t tell where. I blinked twice and tried to see
through the shroud around him. For some reason I couldn’t see through it and I didn’t
know why.
    I must have registered a fair amount of shock on my face. His narrowed
eyes travelled from his daughter’s hand on my arm straight up to my eyes. His eyebrow
cocked several inches above what my practiced in the mirror eyebrow lift could ever
hope to attain.
    I saw his lips move as he spoke several words under his breath. The
light breeze that had been prevalent all week picked up and brought his words from
his lips and settled them over my skin. I heard them as they settled and every other
word ended in a soft “th” sound.
    I shivered as his words tried to pull my human illusion away from me.
I could feel my wings starting to spring forth from my back.
    "No," I whispered and concentrated on being human.
    Whatever tried to settle over me, snapped with an audible Pop.
    I knew her dad wasn't human, but that scared me. For the life of me,
I couldn't imagine what he could be. Had he wished to be some sort of wizard? I
could see that. If I had thought about it before I wished to be one of the Fallen,
I might have chosen that. Knowing invisibility spells would be really awesome...
    Jessie tilted her head and tried to listen. “Are you okay?” She sounded
confused.
    “Yes, I thought I had to sneeze but it went away.”
    She giggled and pulled me forward, closing the distance between me
and her father. “Daddy, this is Connor. He’s been showing me around the school today.”
    “Hello, Connor,” he said and held out a hand I had no intention of
touching.
    “Hello, Mr. James,” I responded and gently picked up Jessie’s hand
from my wrist and put it in her father’s waiting hand.

 
     
    Chapter 9
     
    If the neighborhood wasn’t full of kids and other teens, I would have
gone all Fallen and flown home. After meeting Mr. James, I wanted to hide and immerse
myself in some serious PlayStation therapy. My parents always said video games are
not the answer to everything.
    They lied about other things, too.
    The revving of an engine and a sharp honk behind me caused me to trip
and fall to my knee. I glanced over my shoulder and saw a very familiar pink bug
with a laughing blonde driver behind the wheel. I flicked her off over my shoulder
and looked down to what I was sure would be a bloody mess, torn jeans, and a good
deal of pain. I put my hands down and lifted my knee off the already cracked sidewalk
and winced. My jeans had a huge rip where my knee met the concrete, but I