by Diem, J. C.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Finally dragging myself out of bed the next morning, I put the rune stone that Nathan had found last night in the top drawer of the nightstand. I was grateful that he hadn’t asked me why I’d kept it. Maybe he already knew that it was a memento of him.
I took a quick shower and the scent of bacon and eggs wafted up to me when I left the bathroom. That had to mean Sophia was back. Heading downstairs, I saw her standing at the stove. She turned and I saw a hint of disapproval in her eyes before she smiled. She knew the hijinks I’d been up to last night.
I didn’t hesitate when she opened her arms and I stepped forward to hug her. “I’m glad you’re back,” I said when she released me.
“So am I. Nathan and Leo advised me of your late night excursion,” she said.
I hung my head in instant shame. “It was stupid, I know.”
She sighed and piled my breakfast onto a plate. “I do not think you are completely at fault for this episode,” she said as she placed the plate on a tray. A teapot and two cups accompanied the food.
I followed her into the front room where the guys were waiting. It was a relief to see that Brie was absent. She’d turn up sooner or later, but I hoped we could finish this discussion before she arrived.
“What do you mean Violet is not at fault?” Leo asked when we took our seats.
I wasn’t hungry, but I dug into the bacon and eggs anyway. My body needed fuel even if I didn’t particularly feel like eating it.
“It would seem that Fate wanted Detective Reynolds to witness the girl’s death,” Sophia replied. “Violet was meant to lead him to the latest victim. That would not have happened if she had not snuck out with Samuel.”
“Do you have a theory about why the girls are being drawn here?” Sam asked.
“I talked to Heather about that last night,” I said before anyone could voice their theories. “She’s pretty sure she’s one of the girls that Nathan used to watch over.”
He flinched and Sophia sent him a sympathetic look. “Why did she believe that?” she asked.
“Her Mom traced their ancestry back to ancient Greece. Plus, we look the same.”
Sam nodded in confirmation. He’d been there when I’d assimilated Heather’s soul and he’d seen her in the flesh. “They are remarkably similar in appearance, as was the girl who was murdered last night. All three of them could have been sisters.”
“Heather thinks that the other girls are all extras and that they’re expendable,” I said unhappily.
Sophia didn’t disagree. “That is what I also believe.”
Nathan turned to her and I could see the weight of responsibility settle over him. “What is your theory?” he asked.
She hesitated for a moment, knowing her words were going to hurt him. “It would seem that Asteraoth was fated to choose one of Hannah’s descendants and she had twenty to choose from.” He nodded confirmation and motioned for her to continue. “She could have chosen to possess any one of them. When she selected her vessel, the offspring of the other possible candidates became superfluous. The moment that Violet was conceived, she became Hellscourge, which nullified the importance of the other girls.”
Shock coursed through me at the implications. “If my Mom had chosen any other vessel, I would have ended up as the extra,” I realized out loud. “It could have been me getting my heart carved out of my chest last night.”
I could also have been the one who had been raped to death by the Prince of the eighth realm. All of Hannah’s female descendants had given birth to daughters within a few months of each other, or so it seemed. If my mother hadn’t been chosen to be a vessel, someone other than a demon would have impregnated her. For all I knew, she might have been married or had a boyfriend before her life was altered forever by Asteraoth’s possession.
Sam quailed at that prospect and shivered in reaction. “I do not understand why the girls are being killed.”
Sophia voiced another theory. “It is possible that they are decoys.”
More guilt flooded through me. “You mean they’re keeping attention away from me?”
She nodded, twisting the knife a little deeper. “Fate is ensuring that you remain safe. It is possible that she is sacrificing your kin in the process.”
Nathan closed his eyes and Leo put a hand on his shoulder. “It is not your fault that they are dying,” the teen said. “Neither of you are to blame for this.”
Brie arrived just in time to overhear him. “They are not to blame for what?” she demanded. Turning to me, she eyed me suspiciously. “What disaster are you responsible for this time?”
“Violet had nothing to do with it,” Sam said in my defense. “Another teenage girl was killed by demons last night.”
Brie waved her hand in dismissal. “Why has that upset you all so much? Murders happen every day in this city.”
No one bothered to advise her that the girls were my relatives. She was a snitch and we didn’t want her superiors to know what we’d just learned. At least my involvement in the murders of the girl and the demons’ vessels had been kept quiet this time. Sam would have been glued to the TV all night and he’d have told us if my name had been mentioned in the news reports.
“Can you tell us about your search of my old apartment?” I said to Sophia, switching topics entirely.
She nodded and took a sip of tea. I concentrated on eating before my breakfast grew cold. “A new family is living there, which is why I could not enter and search the premises immediately,” Sophia explained. I felt sad that my home had been given away to someone else. It hammered home the fact that my old life was over and that I could never go back.
“How did you get in?” Leo asked. He was a sucker for a good story and sat on the edge of his seat in anticipation.
“I stole the key from the new tenant,” she admitted. “A mother and her two small children have moved in. I followed them on their daily routine for several days and was finally able to take her keys out of her purse when she wasn’t looking.”
“Who knew an angel could turn out to be such a good thief?” I joked.
Her frown only made me smirk. “I waited until the mother was at work then returned to the apartment. It took me several hours to search the place from top to bottom. I left her keys on the table, hoping she would believe she’d merely forgotten them.”
As far as I knew, there were no hidden spots where my mother could have stashed my soul. “At least you tried,” I said with a sigh.
“Is that it?” Brie said contemptuously. “Your missing soul could be important to your cause and you are willing to give up on finding it that easily?”
I turned to Sophia. “Can I borrow your crystal ball for a moment?”
“I do not have a crystal ball,” she said in confusion.
Turning back to Brie, I shrugged. “Sorry, Princess, I don’t have any magical way to discover where it is. If you have any suggestions, I’d love to hear them.”
Leo broke in before his twin could unleash a tirade of abuse on me. “What do Hag and Orifice have to say about Violet’s missing soul?”
I choked on a piece of bacon when I tried to laugh and swallow at the same time. Sam handed me my tea so I could wash it down.
Brie glared at me before responding. “They agree that locating her soul is important.”
“Do they have any suggestions about how we could find it?”
She shook her head. “No.” The word was clipped and angry.
“Then it would appear that we are at a stalemate,” Nathan said. “Violet will find her soul if and when Fate decides it is time for her to do so.”
Brie was annoyed by his attitude. “You might be content to trust Fate, but we are not.” By ‘we’, she meant her superiors.
“What exactly do you plan to do about it?” Leo demanded. “This is beyond anyone’s control. Not even Hagith and Orifiel can shape Violet’s destiny to suit themselves.”
Her lips pinched together tightly.
Clearly, she didn’t have an answer for him.
₪₪₪
Chapter Twenty-Five
I was sitting at the table just after I’d finished eating my lunch when my cell phone vibrated in my pocket. Since it was no longer a secret that I was dating Zach, I took it out and checked it. It was a short message saying that he wanted to meet me as soon as possible. I frowned at how curt it sounded.
I asked him where he wanted to meet me and he gave me an address near his home. I texted him I would be there in half an hour. His response was simply, “Okay.”
“What is wrong?” Leo asked.
“Zach needs to see me,” I replied.
Nathan immediately tensed. “It is too dangerous for you to wander the streets. You cannot afford to be seen by the police.”
“That’s why Leo is going to zap me there,” I replied as evenly as possible. “I wouldn’t ask him to, but I think something is wrong.” I would have asked Sam to go with me, but I doubted either of the angels sitting at the table would have allowed it.
Heaving a sigh, Leo gave in. “Where does he want to meet you?”
“Near his home. I told him I’d be there in thirty minutes.”
“That will give you time to finish your tea and to freshen up,” Sophia said. It was a hint that I looked terrible.
“Good idea,” I agreed. Taking my tea with me, I headed upstairs. Sam gave me a hurt look when I glanced into the living room. He’d overheard every word. I entered the room and sat next to him on the couch. “You know I’d rather have you with me when I meet Zach,” I whispered for fear of hurting Leo’s feelings as well.
“Then why did you not ask me to accompany you?”
“I need to build their trust in me again. Sneaking out last night was a bad idea even if it was meant to happen.” I blew out a sigh at that admission. “It was petty and dangerous. I acted like a child instead of the champion this world needs.”
He nodded thoughtfully. “You should probably warn Leo that he will need to think of a way to get your attention if you get carried away with Zach.”
I made a face and stood. “Thanks. I hadn’t even thought of that.” He smirked and went back to watching TV.
Nathan was waiting for me in the bathroom and his expression was thunderous. He’d obviously overheard our whispers. “Exactly how carried away do you get when you are with your beau?” he asked me icily.
“Not as carried away as I get when I’m with you,” I replied softly, which instantly deflated his anger. “I care about you more than anyone, but we both know you and I can never be together.” He’d decided that I deserved to have some happiness and that I should be allowed to date Zach. Now it seemed that he was regretting that decision.
“I know that I am forbidden to be with you, yet it pains me to see you with another man,” he admitted.
His anguish brought tears to my eyes. “You know I’d pick you if I had a choice,” I told him. “I’d let the whole world burn if it meant I could have you.”
Our eyes locked as we thought about how close we’d come to crossing the forbidden line when he’d saved me from falling to my death. Sam cleared his throat pointedly from the living room down the hall, shattering the moment. He was close enough to have heard every word we’d uttered. He knew we were walking on treacherous ground.
“Sam is quite accomplished at being your chaperone,” Nathan said in something close to annoyance.
“He’s a man of many talents,” I replied lamely.
“Where are Nathanael and Violet?” Brie demanded from downstairs. Her voice echoed through the hallway.
“They are having a quickie in the bathroom,” Leo replied nastily and loudly enough for me to hear him.
I sniggered and wasn’t at all surprised when the teen appeared beside me. She glared at us suspiciously. “What are you doing?” she asked.
“I’m trying to cover up the fact that I’m dying,” I responded so starkly that Nathan flinched. None of us had forgotten that the rot was spreading through me. It was only a matter of time before it would kill me.
“We shall give you some privacy,” Nathan said. He took Brie by the arm and they disappeared.
I was getting better at putting makeup on. It took practice to make sure I didn’t have an obvious line between my face and neck. Putting mascara on last, I checked my reflection and was happy to see I’d covered up the dark circles beneath my eyes.
My wardrobe was limited, so I chose a t-shirt and hoodie at random. I donned a fairly new pair of jeans and deemed myself to be ready. Leo wisely teleported upstairs to me rather than waiting for me to join him. Brie would no doubt ask probing questions about where we were going and it was frankly none of her business. “Are you ready?” he asked and I nodded.
He teleported us to a street that was only a block away from Zach’s apartment. I’d shown him where my boyfriend lived once before, so I didn’t need to give him directions now. “What does Sam usually do when you meet with your beau?” he asked.
I scowled at the archaic word they all insisted on using and he grinned at my annoyance. “He keeps his distance and blends in with the environment,” I replied. “Zach never even knows he’s there.”
I hesitated and his brows rose in query. “Is there something you want to tell me?”
“There’s a possibility that I might get a bit caught up in the moment if Zach kisses me,” I confessed.
His brows rose even higher. “Is the experience anything like how I have seen you react to Nathan?”
I nodded morosely. “Pretty much.”
“I wish you had warned me about this before we left the store. I could have brought a bucket of cold water along.”
“Very funny,” I muttered and started walking towards the address that Zach had texted me. It was only a block and a half away on one of the side streets. The homes and businesses here were less ornate than the buildings on Park Avenue. Peeking around the corner, I saw Zach already waiting for me. He loitered near a gate between two buildings, checking his watch impatiently.
“I will keep my distance,” Leo told me. “If I see you are becoming too distracted, I will find a way to break you apart.”
“Just don’t do anything that will scare him away.” I wouldn’t put it past him to try to break us up. My life would be less complicated if I didn’t have a boyfriend in the mix, but I didn’t want to lose him.
He sent me a wounded look. “You can trust me. I will not do anything to jeopardize your relationship with him.”
Left with little choice, I nodded and hurried towards Zach.
₪₪₪
Chapter Twenty-Six
Searching the area, I couldn’t see Giles anywhere. It looked like Zach had managed to ditch his bodyguard for once. His smile was wan when I reached his side, which made my stomach clench in trepidation. Without a word, he motioned towards the ornate black gate. “Let’s get out of sight before Giles comes looking for me.”
His tone was strained and he made no move to touch me. Something was definitely wrong and I didn’t know what it was. I stepped through the gate onto a concrete ramp. The ramp led to a small private courtyard. A wrought iron table and two matching chairs sat beneath an umbrella. I took a seat and waited for him to take the other one before I spoke. “What’s wrong?”
Taking a deep breath, he met my eyes. “Are you seeing someone else?”
I blinked in surprise and had to stamp down on my emotions before my guilt could show on my face. “Of course not.” I loved Nathan, but he was out of bounds. “Why would you think that?”
“Because of this,” he said and took his cell phone out of his pocket. He showed me a picture of me being carried by Sam when we’d fled from the cops. “Who is he?” he asked. The photos must have been posted on the internet.
“He’s a friend.” My reply wasn’t good enough, going by his frown. “I guess you know by now that I was arrested and that I escaped from jail?”
He nodded. “I can’t believe you didn’t
tell me about it.”
“When did you find out?”
“Last night after I laughed at Candy when someone spilled punch all over her.”
I couldn’t stop my snigger from escaping. “That was hilarious. What did she say to you after you laughed at her?”
“She said I have no respect for her and that I have horrible taste in women. She told me that you’d been arrested and had escaped. She also told me you were with another guy and had been spotted by the cops a week ago and that it was all over the news. I looked it up and found out she was telling me the truth.” His eyes narrowed when he remembered what I’d just said. “How did you know I laughed at her at the dance?”
I had to come clean, but I couldn’t tell him the whole truth. “Because I was there. The guy she thinks I’m dating really is just a friend. His name is Sam and he helped me escape from the cops. She is the one who called them and she’s the reason why I was arrested.”
“She was so smug when she said you’d probably been arrested when she interrupted our date at the library,” he said. He reached over and took my hand. Relief swept through me and I squeezed his fingers. “Now I know why. How did you get into my school? There were half a dozen security guards surrounding the grounds.”
“Sam is really good at sneaking into places,” I said, desperately trying not to break into hysterical giggles at that understatement.
“Is he a burglar or something?”
“No. He’s just kind of invisible. Most people don’t even notice him.”
He thought about it for a moment then understanding dawned. “Was he the guy who spilled punch down the front of Candy’s dress?”
“Yep,” I replied and smiled widely. “Her expression was priceless.”
He grinned in return. “I’d like to meet Sam one day so I can shake his hand.”
“You’re not mad at me for humiliating her like that?”
He shook his head. “Nope.”
“Why not?”