by Mary Ting
Milani nodded in understanding and wiped her face, sniffing.
Uncle Davin glanced around, no doubt ensuring nothing evil lurked. “Her message was intercepted. Whoever followed her didn’t want us to get her message.”
“It was probably Vince,” Abel suggested, his blue eyes shifting to amber and back to blue.
“Well, at least we know it’s underground.” Jack tapped his feet, crossing his arms. “But there are so many places we could search. Where to start?”
Uncle Davin began to open the kitchen cabinets, sniffing. Open. Slam. Open. Slam. “Or…the message began to break apart because something is in here that shouldn’t hear it. While I comb through this place, work on deciphering the last clue. I hope it doesn’t lead us to another clue.”
“What are you doing?” Zach asked, crowding closer to Uncle Davin.
“Looking for something to eat.” He placed his index finger to his closed lips.
I froze. Even Zach, who was about to take a step, stilled his uplifted leg. Then Uncle Davin yanked the tall cabinet.
“Ah hah! You have a lot of explaining to do, Clarissa. What are you doing here, and how the hell did you travel without being detected?”
Clarissa crouched into a ball.
“Get out and explain.” Uncle Davin yanked Clarissa by the arm. Clarissa tried to shove Uncle Davin off her.
“What are you talking about? I was here first.” She crossed her arms and glared at us, and then sniffed in Jack’s direction. The veins under her eyes protruded, thick and hard.
I protectively stood in front of Jack. Clarissa would not make a meal out of him.
Wind brushed against me as Abel moved at super speed inside the cabin, circled outside, and then sped back to us. “Uh, we’re not back in time anymore.”
Hugo and Harper exchanged quiet talk and went outside to confirm, I assumed. Brody rubbed the back of his head, eyebrows knitting together in the center. Abel glanced about. Zach stared at Clarissa, and Clarissa kept her focus on Jack.
Milani gazed from the floor to her hands and then back again to the floor. “I think I took us back to the present somehow when I rubbed the ground. I-I…” She continued to stare at her palms. “I’m not sure how I did it. I think I wanted to be out of there.”
“It’s fine, Milani. We needed to go back anyway. This proves you are capable of so much more than you think if you put your heart and mind to it,” Uncle Davin said, keeping his eyes on Clarissa. “Now. You.” He glanced to Zach and then back to Clarissa. “Zach was supposed to send you back to Cyrus. What the hell happened?”
“I did. I escorted her to see her family.” Zach scowled. “I even went inside the mountain with her. She came out of her own free will. But I don’t understand why she would hide in there.” He pointed to the cabinet.
Uncle Davin gripped Clarissa’s shirt and stuck his face into hers. “Explain before I slice off your tongue.” He winced and scrunched his face. “You smell like you rolled in dirt.”
Chapter 8
Lucia
“Okay. Okay.” Clarissa backed away, straightening her shirt. “I didn’t know you would be here. I needed a place to think. I-I needed some air.”
Uncle Davin tapped his chin with his index finger. “So you came all the way over here to get some air? Does the air smell different from one place to another? Isn’t air the same everywhere, Clarissa? Why are teenagers stupid these days? You can’t even make up a good excuse.” His volume increased with each sentence. “Now tell me the truth, Clarissa, before I angel smack you so hard, you’ll end up back where Zach left you.”
“Uncle Davin!” I took a step beside him. My scolding tone sounded just like my mother when we misbehaved.
He shrugged, giving me a sheepish grin. “I was just kidding.”
“She’s not going to tell us anything, so let her be and let’s talk about our last clue.” I sat at the wooden dining table, laying out the paper I had taken from my back pocket. My family and friends either took a seat or stood behind me. Holding the paper, I parted my lips to speak and stopped.
“Wait. You can’t read it in front of…her.” Milani scowled.
I shrugged. “She’s not bright enough to figure it out, anyway.”
Clarissa cursed and lunged for me, but Uncle Davin held her by the back of her shirt and shoved her down on the dining chair. His strength nearly broke the chair.
“If you touch my niece, I will unleash the hell inside me,” Uncle Davin’s voice was laced with icy venom. “If you think Cyrus is bad, you haven’t seen anything yet.”
Clarissa twisted to release herself when Uncle Davin loosened his grip and scurried back to the kitchen.
“Go ahead, Lucia.” Uncle Davin gestured with a nod of his head. “Clarissa won’t say a peep. I know where her brother lives.”
Clarissa hissed, her fangs jutting out and red eyes promising murder. “Don’t you dare touch him.” Her female voice was replaced by a guttural roar.
“I won’t touch your brother.” Uncle Davin didn’t bother to meet her gaze and instead fixed his attention on me. “But Cyrus will. Go ahead, Lucia. We’re wasting time.”
Uncle Davin would never hurt a little boy, but Clarissa didn’t know his heart. When he cleared his throat, I began.
A stone on the ground
To cover what was found
To find the answer
One must travel underground
Pictures tell many stories
Of the adventures long before
But beware
Not all tells true
Within lies a symbol
One must discover
Or be left to drown
Next to me, Brody thumped his head on the table. “Why does it always have to be complicated?”
“A stone? What stone?” Abel grumbled. “How big? What color? Where?” With his elbows on the table, he squeezed his scalp with his thumb and index finger.
“Left to drown?” Milani gritted through her teeth, clutching the back of my chair and cursing under her breath.
Jack leaned closer, mumbling the words on the paper. “Underground. Milani’s mother said underground too. That part’s plain and simple.”
I craned my neck to Jack. “You’re right. We’re looking for some place underground, somewhere sacred.”
“Yes. Sacred,” Jack repeated. “We need to focus underground.”
Uncle Davin let out an odd sound. “Easy breezy. How many sacred underground places are there?” He stood up halfway, glancing around.
“Uncle Davin?” I said.
“Where are Harper and Hugo?” he asked. “They went out and didn’t come back.”
Zach dashed out the door, and before I could count to five, he came back in. “Seems like they portaled out as soon as we astral traveled back home.
“I don’t know if they can be trusted,” Abel said, drumming his fingers on the table.
“I have my doubts too.” Brody shook his head.
“They haven’t done anything suspicious until now,” Uncle Davin pointed out, strolling toward the edelweiss-scented candles. His chest rose and fell, inhaling the scent. “How sweet and divine you smell.”
“What now, Uncle Davin?” Zach rolled his shoulders back.
I understood that need. My wings begged to be released when I felt stressed or hadn’t flown in a while.
“We go back home, and the first person to crack the code wins.”
“What do we win?” Brody stood up, excitement in his eyes.
Uncle Davin waggled his eyebrows and curled his lips wickedly, mischief written on his face. “I’ll let you know when you find it.”
Abel stood up and pushed in his chair. “I don’t like the sound of that.”
Uncle Davin lifted an eyebrow. “How about I give you an F in my class? Do you like the sound of that?”
“What? That’s so unfair,” Abel protested.
“I know.” He chuckled. “I love getting you kids all worked up. You should s
ee the expression on your face.” He laughed harder and louder.
“Uh, Uncle…I mean, Mr. President?” Jack tapped Uncle Davin’s bopping shoulder, adjusting his glasses. “Where’s Clarissa?”
Uncle Davin’s lips curved to a frown. “Why does everyone disappear on us? I’m not worried about her. She’ll come around.”
“Are you sure about that?” Milani crossed her arms, her lips tight.
Uncle Davin spread out his arms. “Have I ever not been right?”
Brody raised his hand. “Is this a trick question?”
Uncle Davin let out a low growl. “Brody. This isn’t class and don’t crawl on my skin.”
“Uh, Mr. President,” Jack said. “You can’t use that phrase. The saying is that something gets under your skin.”
Uncle Davin cleared his throat, cheeks flushed. “The humans have a strange language. Ridiculous. Everyone go home. I need to take a walk.” With that, he was out the door.
Chapter 9
Clarissa
I wanted to tell the one they called Uncle Davin about Ikelia, but I didn’t know if I could trust him. He would make me take him to Ikelia, and then what would he do with me? What would he tell Cyrus? What would Cyrus do to my brother? I imagined the worst. He would capture my baby brother and make him just like me. I didn’t want the same fate for him, having to drink human blood for the rest of his life and becoming the monster he feared.
I was so hungry. Seeing Jack, the only human in that group, drove me senseless. Drinking his blood was all I could think of. How long had it been since I fed? Then they treated me like a nuisance. I supposed they had every right. If they had been a little bit kinder, perhaps I would have shared about Ikelia.
Guilt consumed me. I hated that feeling. I harbored hatred and darkness in my heart, but ever since Eli had been captured and I witnessed his relationship with his friends, I had wanted to belong somewhere, anywhere. Cyrus offered me a family, but it wasn’t the kind of family I wanted. And it was still better than the one I had in human life.
My father was a drunk who beat my mom, who would then beat me. It was an unbreakable cycle. For reasons unknown, my mom fortunately never touched my little brother. I hadn’t thought of the consequences of leaving before. Had my mom been beating my younger brother since Clarissa the punching bag was gone? No—when I went to see him, I didn’t see any bruises. Soon, when all was clear, I would take my brother and run. But would he go willingly with a monster like me?
I flew away the first chance I had when the others started talking. I also needed to get out of there before I tackled Jack. The sound of his blood pumping through his body called to me, caressed my mind and stroked my body. Instead of heading back to Cyrus, I went back to Ikelia, hoping to find some resolution.
I felt so lost. I didn’t know what was the right thing to do. Which choice would have the least effect on everyone. Which decision would cause less death. I had enough deaths on my hands, especially the human lives I took when I first turned. As a newborn, I had no control and didn’t know when to stop drinking.
I didn’t bother to go underground. I wanted to be left alone, to have a chance to think. So I slumped on the rock that covered the underground tunnels and wept until I caught a hint of a scent I knew well. How I wished he could be mine. But I knew not to wish for someone I could never have. Eli belonged to Lucia, and I accepted their unyielding bond. Would he fall for me if I were the one to tell him about his mother? Again, I didn’t know what was the right thing to do. And I feared Cyrus more than I did Eli. For the time, I would keep my mouth sealed to protect the only person I loved.
Eli
Trees and vast green fields surrounded me. So peaceful. A park? What was Clarissa doing there? I followed the narrow paved road, and when I passed rose bushes and a manicured garden, I spotted her.
“Eli.” Clarissa’s wide, surprised eyes and her racing heart told me she had something to hide. She stood on a concrete wheel shape in the middle of a grassy field. The odd stone seemed out of place.
“What are you doing? You were supposed to be back already. Cyrus sent me to find you.” I took careful steps toward her. Other than horns and traffic in the distance, no sound of human or supernatural beings filled the air. Only a couple of birds chirping above me on the branches broke the stillness.
She didn’t seem quite herself. Clarissa would bat her eyelashes and warm up to me sometimes, perhaps a bit too much, but she showed none of that flirtatious side.
“I-I did what Cyrus asked of me, but I lost track…I got confused. He asked me to do something impossible. How could I get information from the angels?” she rambled, looking at everything but me.
She was definitely up to something. A human scent lingered on her, someone younger. A boy. I doubted she would share, so I had to play it cool. “What’s going on, Clarissa? Did they hurt you?” I reached out my hand and gave her a warm smile.
She focused on my hand. “I didn’t get any vital information from Lucia. Cyrus is not going to be happy with me.”
My heart twisted painfully every time I heard Lucia’s name. “Don’t worry about Cyrus. He won’t hurt you. I’ll make sure of it. We have to stick together, especially if you want to ensure your little brother’s safety.” I took a chance and guessed about a brother.
Clarissa backed away. Her hands flew to her chest as if holding something precious. “How do you know? Who told you? Did you follow me?”
“No, I would never do that.” I tried to reason with her, to calm her anger. “I’m good with picking up human scents. It’s faint, but we can wait until the scent wears off.”
Her eyes softened, considering my offer. She peered down at the stone, and when she tilted her head back up, she raised her chin. “You would do that for me? You would go against Cyrus?”
“I’ve been fighting Cyrus all my life. Just because he can control my mind doesn’t mean I agree with what he does. I’m scared, Clarissa. I haven’t told anyone, but I’m terrified that one day soon, I’ll became those monsters he controls.” I needed her to see me as her friend. Someone as vulnerable as her.
She swallowed hard. “Those possessor demons.”
“Yes. I would be a black mist, never able to change into my human form. I wouldn’t have a conscience. I wouldn’t be able to identify my friends, or even you. I would be dead to the world. It would be like I never existed.”
“You can’t let him, Eli.” She bored her eyes to mine, determination set. “I have something to tell you, but…” She glanced down at the stone, her feet tapping. When she raised her head, tears pooled in her eyes. Whatever troubled her, she struggled against it. “What if Cyrus finds out and something bad happens to you?”
I took a step. She didn’t back away. “Nothing will happen to me. What is it? You can trust me, Clarissa. You’ve been there for me, protecting me. Let me return the favor.”
She tugged on her hair, tears streaming down her face. “I hate my parents. It was the reason I ran away. I wanted to be strong so I could get my brother out of the house. Cyrus promised me things. But I didn’t know I was going to be a monster.” She paused to take a breath. “I visited my brother, even though I wasn’t supposed to. One glance at me, my brother ran away. Look at me, Eli. I can never be human Clarissa again. What have I done?”
Clarissa didn’t appear hideous, but her eyes beamed crimson when she neared humans. Thirst for their blood would remain for the rest of her life. I felt sorry for her. I understood her pain. Though I had never been fully human, I would never be the Eli before Cyrus. Not only did I become part Lamia from his blood, but I also had angel blood, the blood combination that gave me my black wings.
My mother gave up her life so I could live. What did Clarissa’s parents do to make her want to run away, to make her hate them so much? Adolescent years were the hardest, and lots of kids I knew had rocky relationships with their parents, but for her to say she hated them, something devastating must have happened. I wanted to know, to help h
er through her thoughts, but perhaps it wasn’t the time.
I wrapped my arms around Clarissa when she sobbed harder. “I believe if we kill Cyrus, there is a chance you could be human again.”
Her eyes lit up, and she wiped her tears. “Then I’ll hold onto that. I do have to tell you something, but at the right time.”
“Okay. Now we must go.” I unfurled my wings. “Where are we?”
“England.”
With Clarissa in my arms, I bolted upward until the houses became nothing but tiny specks.
Chapter 10
Davin
I needed air. I needed to be alone. The teenagers were driving me insane. Driving me up the wall at home and at school. I only took the teaching job to be with Lucia and Zach. I decided I needed a break from them and a break from teaching. I had taken a leave of absence when I started missing consecutive days at work. A pretty female teacher took my place.
I pitied human teachers. Their job was not easy. Some kids gave me a hard time, but I set them straight. And some kids were more difficult to get through to. I wished I could help them, but we had more pressing matters at hand. A part of me wanted to use my angel glamour and force them to be good, but that wouldn’t be free will. The Divine Elders would not approve of such actions on my part anyway. I hoped these children would choose the right path in the future.
I tossed several pebbles into the stream. It reminded me of the time Michael and I challenged each other to see who could create more ripples and toss it the farthest. Hunting demons seemed easier back then. Add the supernatural teens, the Knights Templar, traveling to the past, and crazy Cyrus—Hell would be almost peaceful by comparison. Regardless, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else when I thought of those kids.