by Leia Stone
Jacob shook his head. “Not yet. You have a workout, followed by weapons training—”
“That’s with me,” Marlow piped up. Bringing her hand to her tattooed arm, she slapped her palm over a serrated dagger. When she pulled her hand back, the dagger peeled away from her skin and became real.
That was a really useful party trick that I wanted in on. ASAP. I knew I wouldn’t be able to ascend until my birthday, but did I have to wait until then to be able to store weapons on my skin? Probably.
Jacob looked down at his phone, his finger passing over the screen as he read something. “I think after weapons training you might get a—oh wait, nope. You have to meet with Theo, then to go over the basics of Lumen and Shade magic. It looks like she scheduled in dinner at around eight tonight.”
I pouted.
“What is that?” I asked.
“Aurelia made a schedule for you,” he answered with a shake of his phone.
That was really thoughtful. I was glad and thankful she was doing her best to get me ready for my trip back to the Netherworld, and to start schooling here, but what I really wanted was a snack.
“Come on.” Jacob waved for me to get up. “We’ll hit up the academy’s gym. Grab some clothes and you can change in the locker room.”
After snagging my workout clothes from a drawer Drea had emptied for me, I waved goodbye to the girls and followed Jacob and Dash out of the dorms and next door to the academy. I quickly dressed in the modestly decorated locker room, so different from the state-of-the-art changing room and spa at Shade Academy, and met Jacob by a row of exercise equipment. Dash was on the other side of the gym pounding a punching bag with his bare knuckles, hood pulled over his head. Dude definitely had some skeletons in his closet.
But who was I to judge? I had my own.
“What am I learning first?” I asked.
“The most important part of demon fighting is endurance,” Jacob answered, gesturing to an ancient looking treadmill.
Sword fighting… yes please. Martial arts… sign me up. Hand-to-hand combat… bring it on. Running… hard pass.
I eyed the machine with a heavy dose of disgust. “Please no.”
Jacob laughed. The sound rumbled deep in his chest. He probably thought I was kidding. I really wasn’t, especially not without food.
“Come on, hop on up. We’ll just do a thirty-minute jog as a warm-up.”
“Warm-up?” I didn’t think I was capable of running for that many consecutive minutes, and I had less than zero desire to test that theory.
Ten minutes later, I was limp walking on the treadmill, holding a hand to my side where a stitch had formed.
“No more,” I wailed.
Jacob was sprinting full-out on the machine next to me, not even a hint of perspiration glistening on his brow.
“Oh, come on, you’ve barely even—”
I yanked the red string which brought the whole thing to a stop and then glared at Jacob. “Feed me or suffer my wrath.”
He chuckled, pressing the buttons until he came to a slow stop. “All right, one quick trip to the cafeteria. They have twenty-four-seven pizza and chicken fingers.”
My mouth started to salivate. “Dude, if you’d told me that earlier I would have chosen Lumen on day one.”
Jacob waved to Dash and made a motion with his hand that looked like he was eating. Dash nodded to let Jacob know he understood and then went back to pounding on the punching bag. His hits were hard and solid. I was surprised the bag hadn’t split.
Jacob and I left the gym with smiles on our faces. My legs felt like Jell-O, but the fact that I was walking toward food made it easier. When we got to the cafeteria, Jacob had me sit and told me he’d grab me a plate with one of everything. He was chivalrous, which made me think of Gage, who was basically the opposite of Jacob in every way.
Pulling out my phone, I decided to send him a text.
Me: How are you?
The three dots appeared, indicating he was writing a reply, and the butterflies took flight in my stomach all over again. The dots disappeared and the butterflies turned to hornets.
Me: I’m safe. Gran is healing.
I added.
Three dots. No dots. Dots. No dots.
Dang it, Gage. Just write me back!
“Food for my lady.” Jacob’s voice pulled me from the agony of watching my phone. I was under the three-dot anxiety spell and I couldn’t take it anymore. Gage would write when he was ready. I just hoped he was okay, and his dad never found anything out.
One look at the slice of cheese pizza, three chicken tenders, tater tots with ranch dressing, and all thoughts of Gage flew from my mind.
“This is what I need,” I moaned, and started to shove food into my mouth.
Jacob chuckled, shaking his head. “Don’t overdo it. The last thing I need is you barfing on the brand-new training mats.”
Whatever. I could easily take down this plate and still be hungry. I’d always been a healthy eater, but lately, as I got closer to my birthday, it was like I couldn’t get enough calories.
We ate in comfortable silence before heading back to the gym, where Jacob, Dash, and Marlow tortured me for the next three hours.
I was in a love-hate relationship with this place, but I mostly loved it.
CHAPTER
SEVENTEEN
It had been four days since they’d removed Gran’s curse. She spent the first two days in a coma and the last two in and out of consciousness. Tomorrow was my birthday, and I hoped to find her awake and lucid when I stopped by. I’d just finished dinner and was hoping it was enough to tide me over for a few hours.
“Good luck!” Drea called as I left our shared dorm room. They’d brought a twin bed and desk in, and Drea had even been helping me fix up one of the studio apartments in the family housing for Gran. It was within the Lumen Compound, so I could see her every day if I wanted. So far, I’d set up her bed, nightstand, and even brought her favorite pillow. Drea even dragged that bistro table set two blocks from the Lumen storage unit. Aurelia said Gran could stay as long as she needed, forever if need be. The kind of weight that took off of me was too hard to describe. I’d been hustling for so long to make ends meet, to provide for Gran, that now that we were both taken care of, I could finally breathe.
I took the elevator to the first floor and stepped out onto the street, making my way to the healing center a few doors down.
Checking my phone one last time, I growled when I saw there was no reply.
Gage still hadn’t texted me back, despite my five follow-up messages, and I was starting to take the hint. He didn’t want anything to do with me now that I’d made my choice and the evidence had been deleted.
It stung, not gonna lie. Those days with Gage were infuriating but also special. I felt like we understood each other on a fundamental level. I wasn’t ready to let him go. Or give up on him.
The sun, just setting, threw a splash of color across the sky in golds and yellows as people walked home from work. Before I knew it, I was at the healing center, where Rose was on duty at the front.
“How is she?” I asked her as I signed in and attached my visitor’s badge to my top.
Rose grinned, her dimples in her cheeks popping. “She’s awake. Fully lucid and asking for you. I was just about to call you.”
The shock ripped right through me, and I burst into tears of joy. Taking off running down the hall to her room, I almost slammed into the healer who was stepping out into the hallway.
“Oohf.” I skidded to a stop.
Healer Francine smiled warmly at me. “We just scanned her. No remnants of the curse left behind. She’s very coherent, and I’ve brought her up to speed as much as I could to fill the gaps of her memory from when she was unconscious.”
Tears streamed down my cheeks as I pulled Mrs. Francine into a hug. “Thank you for everything. Seriously, I will always be grateful,” I managed to eke out.
She pulled back and smoothed my hair.
“You’re more than welcome, my dear.”
Without waiting another moment, I burst into the room and took in the sight of my beloved gran sitting up and eating a chocolate chip cookie. There was a healthy glow to her skin I hadn’t seen in years. Her bobbed hair was shiny and now browner than gray, and even though she was sitting, her frame looked strong.
When she saw me, she dropped the cookie onto a napkin on her lap and opened her arms. I bolted forward, closing the distance as I sank into her embrace. Sobs racked my body as her arms tightened around me.
“I was so scared,” I cried. “I almost lost you.”
I wept, letting it all out as the emotional roller coaster from the past few weeks finally caught up with me. Gran just held me, patting my back through it all. When I felt like I’d cried every tear I had in my body, I pulled back and wiped my eyes.
“I’m so proud of you. That couldn’t have been easy. Aurelia stopped by and told me about everything you did to break Arthur’s curse on me.” Gran squeezed my shoulders. Her eyes glistened as she looked down on me.
I nodded. “It’s fine. I’m just glad you’re okay. But, Gran, I have to tell you something. Mo—”
“Me first.” She broke her cookie in half and handed it to me. “Pull up a chair, honey. This might take a while.”
Telling her my mom was still alive could wait. She’d waited years to be clearheaded. I needed to hear her out.
Standing up from the edge of her bed, I walked over to the far wall and dragged a chair right up next to Gran. Taking my cookie, I nibbled at it and looked at her expectantly.
She sighed, looking tired already and she hadn’t even spoken. “Arthur’s curse was one that got worse any time I tried to tell you the truth.”
I knew it! That bastard.
Gran shook her head. “I tried a few times when you were twelve, but it just deepened my confusion, and I’d wake up with the stove on or forget where I left my keys. That’s when I knew I would have to be careful.”
My heart broke at the fact that this whole time she’d been cursed, and I had no idea.
Gran wrung her hands together. “I thought maybe his curse only applied to you, so once I tried to come here to ask for help, but when I got within two blocks of the place I blacked out and woke up at a police station.”
“Oh, Gran.” I grasped her hand and squeezed lightly. I remembered that day. I was fourteen and had gotten a call from the police station that Gran was found at a park mumbling about shadows and things. I’d lied and said my mom would come with me to get her, and then I’d walked in and picked her up myself. I’d told the cop my mom was circling the block looking for parking. It was the first time I realized she had a serious problem.
Gran frowned. “As your birthday drew nearer, I didn’t want you to be left in the dark, so I tried to tell you bits and pieces of what to expect, but it only made the curse’s hold on me tighter.”
“It’s okay,” I said. “I was lucky enough to meet some Lumen friends on the subway. They helped me through what I was seeing.”
She nodded lightly. “Tatum, now that I can speak freely, I have some information that might be distressing.”
A lump formed in my throat. I knew there had to be a reason that Arthur gagged my gran from speaking about the Watcher world, and now I was scared to find out that reason.
“Tell me everything.” I leaned toward Gran, because without the truth I wouldn’t be able to move forward.
Gran picked at her cookie, not eating it. Cookies were our thing. We could polish off a dozen in a day. If she wasn’t eating, it was because what she was working up to tell me was bad. Really bad.
I braced myself.
“Your mother was the light of my life,” Gran started, and I totally remembered the fact that she was still alive.
“Gran… she’s alive. I met her. In the Netherworld.”
Gran’s entire face dropped. “What did you just say?”
“Gran, I met her! I talked to her. She got me out.”
Gran didn’t look shocked, she looked… angry. “You went to the Netherworld!” she yelled, and I flinched.
Okay, Gran was back with zero problem with hollering at me. “I was kidnapped. I didn’t go on purpose. And did you hear me? Mom is alive!”
Gran frowned. “That can’t be. I identified her body for the police after her crash. I went to her funeral.”
I took her hand, forcing her to look at me. “Then it was a trick. I met her. She’s kept as some pet to Apollyon. They have her chained, but I’m going to get her out.”
Gran’s entire body froze, her hands clamping down on mine. “You met Apollyon?”
I shook my head. “Mom got me out before he could get there.”
Gran’s brows drew together.
“Emery’s alive?” A small sob escaped her throat.
Poor thing had been through enough shock and trauma the past few days. I didn’t want to do any more damage to her fragile and healing memory.
“She’s alive,” I promised.
Gran suddenly looked at me with desperation. “You must never go back there. Not even to get your mother.”
I reeled back in shock. “I… Gran, I have to. It’s my mom. He keeps her in chains!”
Gran clamped her teeth shut and anger flooded her features. “Your father took enough from me when he took Emery. He won’t take you too.”
Chills erupted on my arms, and I stood so fast the chair toppled over. I stepped away from the bed as if it were crawling with shadow snakes.
“My fa-father?”
She never spoke about my father. Now I realized it was the curse. Gran swallowed hard, clutching her little chocolate chip cookie as if it would make whatever she was about to say a bit sweeter.
“Apollyon. Tatum, your father is the ruler of the Netherworld.”
No…
No. No. No. No.
The room spun around me as panic crept in. My heart rattled against my rib cage and my breath came out in short bursts.
“Tatum, calm down.” Gran dropped the cookie onto her lap and held out her hands for me.
Why was it so hard to breathe? It felt like I was sucking air through a pinched straw. Black dots danced at the edges of my vision.
“Apollyon. Is. My. Father?” I barely got the words out.
Gran frowned, nodding once. “Yes, dear. He lured your mother from me with poisonous lies, all in an effort to make an heir. Why? I don’t know. It wasn’t until she was pregnant with you that she realized how evil he truly was. She didn’t want Apollyon to get his hands on you, so she came to me for help.”
An heir. I was the freaking heir to the Angel of Death?
That had to be why I was so different from the other Watchers. Why I could make portals, heal, and eat like a football linebacker without gaining an ounce.
I couldn’t handle this. “Gran. I gotta get some air. I’ll be back in an hour, okay?”
She looked at me with concern, but then relented. “Okay, honey. I’ll be here.”
I stumbled from the room, feeling like the walls were closing in on me. The second my feet hit the pavement, I ran through the dark Manhattan streets.
I guess I’d lied when I’d told Jacob I didn’t like running. In this case, it was the only thing keeping me from full-blown panic.
My legs burned, my lungs screamed, but I didn’t care. I pumped my arms harder as I covered the twenty or so blocks to Shade Academy. When I finally slowed, I was wheezing and ready to drop.
My dad was Apollyon. This wasn’t happening. No wonder my mom was kept there.
Was she his wife? Judging by the chain on her feet and broken demeanor, I would say no.
Fumbling for my phone, I texted Gage, one last cry for help.
Me: I’m outside, in the alley by the Mediterranean place. I need to talk. Something happened. It’s bad.
Those three dots appeared, and then were followed by an actual response.
Gage: Coming. Don’t be seen.
&nbs
p; I could almost hear his throaty growl through the text, but relief spread through my limbs. If anyone would understand being born of darkness, it was Gage. I ran my fingers through my hair and adjusted my sports bra under the glow of the streetlamp.
A figure moved at the end of the alley. Gage, shrouded in a baseball cap, walked toward me. He passed the first streetlight and it dimmed to nothingness, then he passed another and took the light from that one too. By the time he reached me, the light overhead flickered a few times before plunging us into the soft glow of moonlight.
“Are you insane? You’ll be killed on sight,” he growled, head tipped down and avoiding eye contact with me.
I bristled at his demeanor, hugging my arms. Were those fading bruises on his neck?
“Gage, look at me,” I begged.
I was in a really fragile place. I hoped my cracking voice conveyed that. I needed soft Gage, not prickly Gage.
He lifted his gaze to mine and I gasped. Two black eyes shone on either side of his nose, and there were stitches above his eyebrow, just under the brim of his hat. His chin was black and blue, and the bruising pattern around his neck looked like fingerprints.
This wasn’t from when Dash punched him to make the break-in look real. “Are you okay?”
“Why are you here, Tate? Other than because you have a death wish?” he snapped.
My fragility slowly turned to rage. “Because I need your help. I need to talk. I just found out—”
“I’m done helping you. Take a hint.” He yanked his baseball cap down so that it would better cover his face and spun to walk away.
I wasn’t going to let him go.
Running forward, I grasped his upper arm and yanked him backward. He hissed as if I’d caused him pain and I let go.
“Gage, who did this?” If he said his father, I would never forgive myself.
“What do you care? You’re a Lumen now, you shouldn’t even be on this block.”
My mouth popped open. “What do I care? Gage, don’t do that. You know I care about you.”
He shook his head. “Just go, dammit! I don’t want to see you ever again.”