My phone pinged, eliminating the need to speculate any further. I’m outside, read Susie’s text. Where’s Mom?
I don’t know. I had a vague recollection of seeing her walk past my bedroom door but that was it.
Find her! I need to know if the coast is clear.
She’ll find you no matter what.
It won’t matter if I lock my door. Hurry!
I dutifully checked the hall and the kitchen but neither parent was in sight. I started to text my report to Susie and then decided it would be easier just to tell her. I opened the front door and found her standing there on the welcome mat, looking around as if she expected Mom to jump out of the bushes.
“What are you doing?” she hissed. “She’ll see you!”
“She’s probably in her bedroom.” I looked Susie over curiously. She really was wearing makeup and nail polish, including a hint of eye shadow, and I wondered how she managed to acquire the supplies without Mom finding out. Maybe one of the girls in the coven? I mused. I’d have to ask Melissa if she knew anything about it. “So how was it?”
“It was fine. Move!” She shoved me aside and crept to the hallway, pausing to slip off her sandals so she could tiptoe silently. She peered down the hall and then hurried to her room, keeping her eyes fixed on Mom’s bedroom door for any sign of movement. She let out a sigh of relief as she opened her door and stepped in, before immediately jumping back out. “Mom! What are you doing in my room?”
“Oh, hello, dear.” I ran down and looked over Susie’s shoulder. Mom sat in the middle of her floor with one of her romance novels open in her lap. “I was just straightening up a bit and got distracted with this book. So,” she asked eagerly, “did you have fun with your friend?”
“Dad!” Susie yelled. “Mom’s bothering me!”
“June, you promised!” Dad’s voice was muffled by his study door on the other side of the house.
“I wasn’t doing anything!” Mom protested. “I was just asking how her date went.”
“Dad!”
Dad emerged from his study and joined us, clearly peeved at having to intervene directly. “June, leave her alone.”
“But I just wanted to –”
“Out.” He waved her into the hall and she obeyed reluctantly, like a toddler told to get ready for bed. I caught Susie’s attention and inclined my head in Mom’s direction but she just shook her head irritably and went into her room.
“You look nice!” Mom blurted out. Both Dad and I rolled our eyes but Susie paused in the act of closing her door.
“Thanks,” she said finally and closed her door without slamming it.
Mom pumped her fist in victory and turned to Dad. “This calls for a celebration,” she declared. “Do we have any champagne?”
“I don’t think so. How about a glass of chardonnay instead?” he offered.
“Close enough.”
They went off to toast Susie’s coming-of-age and I went back into my bedroom to find Lilith looking intrigued. “What’s with that look?” I asked her suspiciously.
“What look?” she smiled. She swirled the mouse around casually, sending the game camera spinning like a runaway carousel. “It just seems to me that she could use some sisterly advice, that’s all.”
“You’re not her sister,” I reminded her tersely, “and she doesn’t need your help.”
“This can be a very confusing time for a young woman,” she persisted. “I may not be her actual sister but I’m closer to her age than her mother.”
“You are not. You’re older than Dara and she’s over four hundred years old!”
“Well, I seem closer to her age,” Lilith allowed with a smile. “I can help her sort through all those conflicting desires she’s feeling.”
“Don’t you dare!”
Lilith sighed dramatically. “What did I tell you, Dara? He doesn’t trust us.”
“I don’t trust you.”
“Oh? So you think Dara is harmless?”
“What? No! I mean –” Daraxandriel scowled at me resentfully as I tried to figure out what just happened. “Dara’s not the issue here! I want you to leave Susie alone!”
“Lilith is human now, Peter Simon Collins,” Daraxandriel told me sharply, “or hast thou already forgotten? She is no threat to thee or thy kin. The waif can protect herself, can she not?”
“What?” I couldn’t believe she was taking Lilith’s side on this. “You wanted me to smother her this morning!”
Lilith quirked a shapely eyebrow. “Did you now?”
Daraxandriel looked away. “I was muddled from sleep and forgot thou had taken my curse upon thyself. Forgive my impetuous words.”
“Already forgotten,” Lilith assured her, dismissing them with a wave. “What’s done is done.”
“What are you doing?” I asked Daraxandriel, aghast. “She’s evil!”
“As am I!” she snapped back. “I am a succubus, or hast thou forgotten that as well? Does my current mien confuse thy thoughts? Let me amend that!” She stood abruptly, almost knocking her chair over, and raised her hands with her fingers curved like talons. Her skin turned darker and her eyes burned with a ruddy fire as her horns swept back from her forehead and her tail snaked out from under her jersey. “This is my true nature, Peter Simon Collins, not that ugly, pale flesh thou dost desire!” I almost expected her to burst into flames.
“No, don’t change back!” I begged her. “What about the demon hunter? What if he sees you?”
“Let him!” she snarled. “He is no match for such as I!”
“Then why did Lilith have to trick you into taking that soul?”
“Because –” Daraxandriel blinked and frowned. “Whyfor, Lilith?”
Lilith spread her hands apologetically. “He caught me by surprise. I didn’t have time to come up with a better plan.”
“There! Do not impugn her character again!”
“She told us up front that she wanted him to kill you!” I shouted back.
Lilith laughed. “That was a joke. Don’t tell me you took that seriously?”
“A joke? Are you kidding me? Dara, don’t listen to her! She’s just getting inside your head!”
“Nay, Peter Simon Collins, thou art mistaken,” Daraxandriel insisted, shaking her head firmly. “She is my clutch-mate and would not betray me so. Is it not so, Lilith?”
“Of course,” Lilith grinned. “I would never want to hurt you.”
“This is why you wanted to play Lorecraft with her,” I accused her, “so you could convince her you were on her side.”
“What nonsense,” she scoffed lightly. “It was just an amusing way to while away the hours. You can have your computer back, if you want.” She reached for the mouse but Daraxandriel stopped her.
“Nay, Lilith!” she said, her eyes glowing even brighter as she fixed me with a warning look. “Thee and I shall continue our questing. Let him consort with witches, an he so chooses.” She resumed her seat and deliberately turned her back on me.
“Dara!” I protested in shock. “Don’t listen to her! It’s just some sort of trick!” I took a step towards her but her tail reared up in a threatening pose. “What did you do to her?” I asked Lilith in dismay.
“I was kind and attentive to her,” she shrugged. “What have you done for her recently?”
“I –” I didn’t have a good answer for that. I knew Daraxandriel was bored ever since she became human but there really wasn’t anything I could have done to change that. Except you didn’t want her to change, my treacherous mind whispered. You liked her better as a human. “Dara,” I pleaded. She just hunched her shoulders resentfully.
“You should go,” Lilith told me with a smug little smile.
“This is my room!”
“I’ll talk to her. I’m sure we’ll be able to work something out.” She made a shooing motion towards the door.
I swallowed my angry retort with difficulty. “You’re just setting her up to take the fall when that demon hunter
shows up.”
“Why would I do that? She’s my sister. Don’t you love your sister, Peter? Wouldn’t you do anything to keep her safe?”
“Of course,” I gritted through my teeth.
“Well, then.” Lilith spread her hands as if that answered all my concerns. Her toothy grin told me she knew she’d won this round.
I wanted to slap that smile from her face but that would just make things worse. Instead, I stalked out of the room and tried Susie’s door. It was locked.
“Susie, let me in!” I called through the door.
“Go away.”
“It’s important!”
“Not to me.”
“You don’t even know what it’s about!”
“Doesn’t matter.”
“Oh, for God’s sake, just open the damned door!”
Something in the exasperated and frustrated tone of my voice must have convinced her of the gravity of the situation. The lock clicked but the door stayed closed. I twisted the knob and let myself in, sparing a moment to glance back into my room. Lilith was watching me through narrowed eyes but she turned away as if she didn’t have a care in the world. I shut the door on her and locked it myself.
Susie had swapped out her date clothes for her pink-and-white satin robe and she sat on her chair with the sleeves rolled up and one bare foot braced against the edge of the table as she carefully applied polish to her big toe. “What?” she asked flatly, concentrating on her task.
“I need you to change Lilith into a frog.”
“Gladly.” She wiggled her toes and then dipped her brush into the bottle. “Once I learn how.”
“She’s corrupting Dara. She’s turning her back into a demon.”
“Dara was already a demon.” Two toes down, three to go.
“Yes, but now she’s starting to act like one again. If she keeps this up, that demon hunter is going to find her.”
“And that would be bad because –?”
“Because he’ll kill her!”
“And that would be bad because –?”
“Because I love her!”
Susie paused with her brush hovering over her fourth toe to give me a look, followed by a snort and a shake of her head. “Right.”
“I do!” I protested.
“She’s a succubus, Peter. You’re in lust with her, that’s all.”
“I am not!” That didn’t come out nearly as forcefully as I meant it to and she ignored me. I tried another tactic. “If she’s just another demon to you, why did you help her this morning?”
Susie shrugged. “I was bored and it was a neat spell.” She twisted around to squint at my chest. “It’s still working, too. Cool.” She finished toe number four and started on the last one.
“Oh my God. So you’re not going to help me?”
“What do you want me to do?”
“Stop Lilith!”
“She’s human now, remember? Mrs. Kendricks says there’s some rule or something about harming humans.” She looked annoyed at the restriction.
“What if she goes after Cameron?” I was grasping at straws now.
“Then I’d have to kill her.” She studied the results of her primping and then capped the bottle. “And you too for suggesting it.”
“It might be worth it,” I sighed. “So you’re not going to do anything about her?”
“Not tonight.”
A tiny glimmer of hope blossomed inside me. “How about tomorrow?”
“Ask me tomorrow. Go away.”
She pointed imperiously at her door and I left. Lilith watched me with that secret smile again, as if she knew exactly how my conversation with Susie had gone, but I wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of seeing me lose my temper. Instead, I just turned away and headed to the kitchen.
Mom and Dad were seated at the table with an open bottle of white wine and two half-filled glasses. I plopped myself down between them and eyed the bottle, wondering if Dad would let me have some if I asked.
“Is something wrong, Peter?” Dad asked after a moment.
“No.”
“Were you and Dara fighting?” Mom guessed. “We heard voices.”
“No. Well, yes,” I admitted grudgingly. “Sort of.”
“What about? Maybe we can help.”
“You wouldn’t understand,” I sighed.
Mom rolled her eyes and exchanged a look with Dad. “I know you think we’re both dinosaurs, Peter, but we were young and in love once, too.”
“Once?” Dad echoed with a raised eyebrow.
“And still are, of course,” Mom assured him, faking a slap at his hand. “Was it something you said?”
I rubbed the spot on my temple where my headache was starting to throb. “Why are you assuming it’s my fault?”
“Oh, well, I guess because Dara’s such a sweet girl,” Mom said, looking a bit embarrassed. “She’s never complained about anything the entire time she’s been here.”
I was sorely tempted to list off all the times Daraxandriel bent my ear since she popped out of that geode, mostly about not surrendering my soul to her, but we’d be up all night and Mom wouldn’t believe me anyway. “It’s not Dara, it’s Lilith. She’s a bad influence on Dara.” And everyone else she meets. “She can’t stay here.”
“Where else can she go?” Mom chided me. “She just got here and they haven’t found her luggage yet.” I almost blurted out that they’d never find it since it didn’t exist. “Besides, she and Dara are getting along famously, aren’t they, dear?” she asked Dad.
“As thick as thieves,” he confirmed. “What’s this really about, Peter?”
I shook my head. I really shouldn’t have opened my mouth. Now I was stuck having a conversation that wasn’t going to do anything except frustrate me even more. “My bed isn’t big enough.”
“What do you mean?” Dad frowned.
“I mean that it’s impossible for three people to sleep in it. If Lilith is going to stay here, we need to do something about the sleeping arrangements.”
“Oh.” Dad and Mom frowned doubtfully at each other. “I wish you’d mentioned this earlier. We might have been able to pick up a larger bed before the stores closed.”
“I did mention it,” I pointed out tersely, “when Dara first showed up last month. You told me to work it out.”
“Well, I suppose we could put a cot in the den,” Dad mused.
“I can’t watch my shows with a cot in the way,” Mom protested.
“You wouldn’t be watching them while Peter’s sleeping in there,” Dad pointed out.
“I wouldn’t be watching them because Peter’s sleeping in there!”
“Excuse me,” I interrupted irritably. “Why am I the one sleeping in the den? Why wouldn’t Lilith sleep there?”
“Peter!” Mom gasped. “She’s our guest! We can’t ask her to sleep on a cot!”
“No, of course not,” I muttered. “Silly me.” I wondered if Mrs. Kendricks would let me use her guest room for a while. She actually might, I thought ruefully, except Stacy would probably murder me in my sleep to keep me from having sex with her mom. Then I realized I already had the answer in my back pocket.
“Actually,” I said carefully, “that reminds me. I meant to ask you about this earlier but things got kind of hectic when Lilith showed up. I might have the perfect solution to our problem.”
“Oh?” Dad asked. “What’s that?”
I cleared my throat. “A friend of mine is getting an apartment and asked me if I wanted to share it.”
Mom sat back in her chair with a startled look. “You mean Justin?”
“Um, no, it’s not him.”
“Steven?”
“No.”
“That boy who works at the grocery store? Allen?”
“No,” I sighed.
“Maybe you should just tell us who it is without making your mother play Twenty Questions,” Dad suggested dryly.
“Well –” My mouth was suddenly dry and I had trouble swallow
ing. “It’s, uh, Melissa,” I mumbled.
“Miles?” Mom asked with a frown. “Have we met him?”
“No, not Miles.” I took a deep breath. “Melissa. Melissa Andrews. She was here this morning, remember? Her father owns the Ford dealership,” I added helpfully.
Mom blinked at me liked she was sending a desperate message in Morse code. “A girl?” she asked incredulously. “You want to live with a girl?”
“It’s not what you’re thinking! We’re just friends.” I left off the part where Melissa was trying her very best to be much more than just friends. That would just confuse things.
Mom looked at Dad worriedly. “Oh, Peter, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Why not?” She shook her head wordlessly. “Look, I’m already eighteen and I’ll be moving out in a year anyway to go to college. This will be good practice for living on my own.”
“There’s a big difference between living on your own and living with someone else, Peter,” Dad said. “Especially living with someone of the opposite sex.”
“How is it different from what’s happening now with me and Dara?” I countered. “That hasn’t bothered you at all.”
“Well –” He stopped with a confused expression, unable to reconcile his normal attitudes about cohabitation with the spell or whatever it was Daraxandriel put on them that made it okay for us to sleep in the same bed.
“Well, what about Dara?” Mom jumped in. “What’s going to happen with her, then?”
“She and Lilith can stay in my room, if that’s what they want to do,” I said tightly. “They’ve taken it over anyway.”
“Peter, just because you two have had a little spat is no reason to run off,” she argued. “Once you cool off –”
“It’s not that, Mom,” I said, shaking my head with a sigh. “I just think it’s time for me to get out on my own. I’m starting a new job next week, I’ll be a senior in a couple of months, and I can’t just sit around in my room playing Lorecraft all day. I’m an adult now, I should start acting like one.”
Soul Mates Page 15