by Michele Vail
“Demanded is more like it,” said Sandra softly.
“After what happened with—” Derek glanced at me and then turned his gaze on my father. “After what you had to go through,” he said carefully, “we understood the decision.”
“Your father sent us pictures over the years,” said Sandra. She offered a brittle smile. “I don’t suppose you remember seeing us when you were younger? You were two at the time. Ally had just been born. We went to the hospital. Your mother refused to see of us, of course, but we got to see you briefly. You said I had pretty hair.”
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I don’t remember.” I didn’t want to connect with these people. It was easier to not like them ’cause then I didn’t have to wonder about the family drama that had kept them out of our lives. Plus meeting them made me think about my mother, and I didn’t want memories of her crowding my brain space.
“Your mother was...difficult. She excluded us from her life and trying to get to know our granddaughters wasn’t possible. Then she left and I thought—”
“Darling.” Derek tucked her against his shoulder, and she took the comfort, but she didn’t let the tears glittering in her eyes fall. I could see the steel in her and I envied that strength. I wished I had that kind of resolve. Whatevs. I couldn’t help but believe that she thought of me as redemption for the children she’d lost. I didn’t care what she wanted. I wasn’t gonna be Daughter 2.0 for her or anyone, not even Anubis.
“I had to protect them,” said Dad. “I’m sorry that cost you, but Cynthia made her choice. And I made mine.”
“What is going on?” I demanded.
“Tell her.” The edict came from Sandra, of course. She straightened away from her husband and turned that chilly blue gaze toward us. “She needs to know.”
I wasn’t sure I could take another info bomb. I mean, I was a sort-of reaper, except for the dead part, my grandparents had been prevented from seeing me for some mysterious reason, I had to go to a boarding school because of my stupid specialness, and...now what? I turned toward my father.
That terrible sorrow in his eyes deepened until I saw nothing but grief. And tears. My father was gonna cry. My anger fled and anxiety filled up its empty place. “Daddy?”
“That’s right,” he said. “I’m your daddy. Always will be.” He sucked in a breath. “But you’re not my biological child, Mol.”
Chapter 7
“Ancient references indicate that necromancy magic was bestowed among the five worthiest royal families in Egypt. No one knows much about these families, or why Anubis gifted certain humans with the ability to make zombies. These days, any child might display one of the Reaper gifts—but in Ancient Egypt, that was not the case.”
~Ancient Zombies by Zachary Millwood
Devastation rocked me to the core. It wasn’t true. Dad was just saying mean things so I’d go to the stupid school. “Y-you’re not my father?”
He flinched. “You were six months old when I met your mother. I loved you like you were my own, and you are. You hear me? You’re mine.”
I shook my head, staring at him, at the man who’d spent sixteen years lying to me. “No,” I yelled. “I’m not! I hate you! I hate all of you!”
Dad—no, Al—reached out to grab me but I ducked away from his arms. I ran toward the stairs and paused. My heart was pounding so hard, I thought it might beat right out of my chest. “I’m not going to boarding school. I’m not gonna be a reaper. Or Anubis’s bitch. You hear me? I choose my life. Not you!”
“Molly Inez Bartolucci!” said Dad sternly. “That’s enough!”
“You’re not my father,” I yelled. Tears streamed down my cheeks. “Just leave me alone!”
I ran up the stairs, feeling like a spoiled brat, but I didn’t care. My life was ruined. Rath had been right. Life wasn’t just about boys and malls. But at least most people had a choice about what they wanted for themselves.
Why had I told Anubis yes?
Could I take it back?
No, probably not. That’s why he’d made such a big deal about accepting the gifts.
I slammed my door and threw myself on the bed. I cried and cried until the tears ran out. I snuffled into my pillow, my face swollen from crying so much. My whole entire world had shifted. Had shattered. If I wasn’t Molly Bartolucci...then who was I?
I should run away.
Yeah. Just pack my crap and go.
I tossed that idea around. Everyone would miss me, sure. But I wouldn’t have to go to Nekyia. I could...well, do something. Get a job. Move to Mexico. Avoid Anubis until I died. Right?
“Molly?” Ally knocked on the door that led to the mutual bathroom. The one my sister would have to herself because hel-freaking-lo, I was going to boarding school.
“What?” I yelled.
Ally came in, and she looked stricken. She clutched a birthday present in her hand, and I recognized the wrapping paper. How the hell had she known that was Rick’s gift to me?
“This one’s from Rick, right?” It was as if she’d read my mind. She crawled onto the bed with me and gave the package. “Figured you’d want to open at least one before...” She stopped. “Well, you know.”
“So you were listening on the stairs?” I asked.
She nodded. Her eyes were big as plates, and they glistened with tears. “You’re really going away, aren’t you?”
I picked at the corner of the package. “I don’t know. I don’t know anything apparently.” I glanced at her. “Did you hear about...um, you know. Dad?”
“Yeah.” She took a deep breath. “It doesn’t matter. He raised you. You’re still my sister. We are your family.” She took on an exaggerated haughty expression and then spoke in a voice that suggested she had marbles in her mouth. “Not those people. You don’t have the requisite stick up your butt.” She fluttered a hand near her face. “Pardon. I meant, stick up your derriere.”
I laughed.
Ally reached out and patted my shoulder. “You gonna be okay?”
“No.”
“If you need to talk or whatever...”
“Thanks, Ally.”
She slid off the bed and padded to the door that led to our adjoining bathroom. “Are you really a reaper, Molly?”
“I have no idea.”
She offered a small smile and left.
The small card attached to the gift said, “Happy Birthday,” and inside, Rick had just scrawled his name.
I ripped off the wrapping paper and stared down at the brown leather journal. There was a note on the front:
It’s a necro tradition to keep journals. At least, that’s what Google said. I think you’ll have lots of cool adventures, Molly. Maybe you can write them down.
He had gotten me a book. Not even one with pictures and writing. I opened it and flipped through all the blank pages. I’d never kept a diary. I had no idea that keeping a journal was a necro tradition.
I had to admit I was sorta disappointed. Still. He’d researched necros hoping to find me a special gift, so I had to give him props there.
The hairs on the back of my neck rose. I shut the book and put it on the bed. Chills raced up my spine. My breath lodged in my chest. Someone was in the room with me. I looked around. “Rath? I’m soooo not in the mood!”
I couldn’t rid myself of the feeling that someone...or something...was in my room. But all I saw was darkness. “Who’s there?”
I examined the wall near my dresser, alarm skittering through me. It seemed sorta wiggly over there, like the shadows were antsy. “I see you,” I said. “Come out.”
A dark shape detached from the wall, and—holy freaking Anubis!—the blob of black nothingness wavered in front of me until it shaped into a human form; the inkiness bled away into the dark, leaving the faded imprint of a woman. She was in a long purple dress, her skin as pale as cream. Her brunette hair was long and straight. She looked familiar. Kinda like Mom.
“Who are you?” I asked, my voice quivering.
&
nbsp; “I’m your aunt Lelia.”
Suspicion arrowed into my gut. Oh, sure. I’d just found out I had an aunt, who’d died, and boom, she shows up? Sorta. “What are you?”
“A sheut. Soul shadow.”
I looked at her. “I’ve never seen a sheut before.”
“Oh, there are more around than you think. But only necros can see us, and only when we want to be seen.”
“I thought sheut hekas were extinct or something.”
“Would you reveal yourself if you were a sheut heka?”
Point taken. I eyed her. “What do you want?”
“Now there’s a question,” she said with a small, sad smile. “You don’t know much about our side of the family, certainly not all our dirty little secrets. You’re one of them—an illegitimate Briarstock.”
“Do you know who my real father is?”
“I don’t have a lot of time, Molly. And that conversation...well, it’s a really long one, believe me.” Her lips pressed together, and her eyes filled with an emotion I couldn’t decipher. I got the strangest feeling that she was trying not to scream. She grimaced and her body twitched. “I died when you were six months old. I tried to—” She twitched again, and took a shuddering breath. Her regret wafted like chilled lavender around us. “I came to warn you.”
“Perfect,” I said. “Because my life isn’t awful enough right now. Gah! I just want everything to be the same! This sucks!”
Suddenly the idea of running away didn’t seem as scary as going off with my wealthy, snooty grandparents to a boarding school. My dad wasn’t even my dad! Why should I stick around?
Self-pity lodged in my belly like a pile of hot rocks. My mind reeled with the possibilities of ditching everything, everyone. If I could be some kind of reaper-warrior at sixteen, why couldn’t I start over somewhere all by myself? I was old enough to kick butt for Anubis, so I was old enough to do everything else, too.
Okay, Molly. That’s just stupid. Run away, really? And go where? And do what? I wanted to smack myself in the forehead. I didn’t want to become some minor headline on Yahoo! News. I was pissed off—more than I’d ever been in my whole life. But it was moronic to take off into parts unknown.
“Why are you a sheut?” I asked.
She sighed. “I trusted the wrong person.” She looked at me. “There are those who don’t want you to go to Nekyia.” Her eyes went wide and she shuddered like someone had just poked her with a cattle prod.
“Are you all right?” I asked.
“Not for a long time.” She smiled, and I saw my mom’s smile there, only better. “You fall under Anubis’s direct protection. There are rules about the champion. They’ll do everything to break your spirit, to kill you in other ways. They can’t take your life, Molly. But believe me when I say they can take everything else. It’s important that you go to Nekyia.”
“And ‘they’ are...?”
“Those who serve Set. Those who wish for his return to this world.”
I blinked at her.
“Another reaper war,” she offered. “One humans will not survive.” She sucked in a breath and closed her eyes. Her expression was pure pain for a moment.
“What’s wrong with you?”
“Escaping the control of a sheut heka is not easily done,” she said.
“You’re a prisoner?”
“In a way, Molly, we are all prisoners.”
Well, that was optimistic. I culled through what she’d told me because there was something...something she’d said that...oh. “What do you mean about the champion thing?”
“My true lord has chosen you as the warrior who will—” Pain laced her tone. She closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she had that indefinable look—one that gave me the shivers. “We all make our choices, Molly. I told you. There are rules. I can’t reveal outcomes.” She waved behind her, in the direction where my fake dad was probably working out my future with my grandparents. “What lies ahead will be difficult. You will train. You will learn. You will survive.”
“Sounds fierce.”
She chuckled. “Oh, yes. Fierce.” She sobered. Her gaze pinned mine. She reached out, and I felt the cold fingers of her hand clutch my shoulder. Weird. Could sheuts actually touch people—or was that another perk of my so-called specialness? “I know this is difficult, Molly. You don’t want to leave your friends, your life. But you’ll like Nekyia. Trust me.”
“Right. Because I know you so well.”
“I wish we’d had time together, Molly. I really do.” She squeezed my shoulder. “Go to Nekyia.”
Zappy cold shot down my back, and I felt this click inside me. Oh, yeah. I needed to go to Nekyia. I felt that down to my soul. It was the only way.
“Okay,” I said. My voice sounded soft, compliant.
Aunt Lelia smiled. “Very good, Molly.”
She squeezed my shoulder again, and another electric chill zipped down my spine. “You’re doing the right thing. The absolute right thing.”
I was doing the right thing. Absolutely.
She let go, and I felt strange for a moment. Then everything seemed to snap back into place. I felt stronger, more resolved. It appeared that I had the Briarstock steel, too.
I looked at her. “You’re really my aunt?”
“Really. If you want proof, look me up. Lelia Briarstock, Reno, Nevada. I existed,” she said softly. She lifted her hands and stared at her palms. “I still do.” She patted my face, and the cold of her non-flesh flowed into my skin. “Goodbye, Molly. And good luck.”
“Thanks.” I paused. “Will I see you again?”
“Not if I see you first.” She faded into ink and then bled into the floor.
I stared at the spot where she’d disappeared. Urgency filled me. I felt so certain of what I had to do, I grabbed a duffel bag. I filled it with clothes, some of my makeup, my perfume and all the cash I had in my emergency shopping fund—$240. I also grabbed my netbook, an early b-day present from my Dad.
Well, my not dad.
Anger and sorrow threaded into my resolve. I didn’t belong here anymore. I wasn’t a Bartolucci at all. I’d been lied to. This wasn’t my home. I looked around my room one more time, and my heart lurched. I felt separate from it all now. Different. I was living someone else’s life, a stranger’s. My chest hurt and tears crowded my eyes. No. I wouldn’t cry anymore.
Besides...Ally and I didn’t have the same dad, but at least she was really my sister. Our mother was gone and our grandparents had just... Well, I didn’t know for sure. They hadn’t mentioned Ally or said anything about connecting with her. Anger bubbled through me. I didn’t have to like them, did I?
I grabbed my cell phone and checked for messages. Rick hadn’t texted me back, and I was a little glad. I had another moment of regret, followed quickly by that sense of unease that I needed to go. If I didn’t, I felt sure something awful would occur—and I couldn’t bear another terrible thing.
As my gaze passed over the bed, I froze. A tiny, pink-wrapped gift box lay on my comforter. Had Ally somehow left another gift for me to open? I wondered why she hadn’t just handed it to me with Rick’s. Maybe she was being mysterious.
Anyway. I swallowed the knot in my throat. Ally. Not that I would ever, ever tell her, but I loved her. And I kinda—on some days—liked having her around. I felt bad for leaving her, but I had to go to Nekyia now. I didn’t belong here anymore.
I’d never been so certain of a decision in my life.
Putting down my bag, I grabbed the present and ripped off the paper. When I flipped open the box, I gasped. The ring inside was silver and it gleamed like starlight. A falcon was etched in the middle. There was an inscription on the inside that I couldn’t read. The band was wide and thin and gorgeous. I slipped it onto on to my right forefinger. It fit perfectly.
It felt warm, too, and seemed to take on extra sparkle. Well. That was the least weird part of my night. I liked the ring, and I was glad I’d opened the box. Since there wasn’t
a card, I didn’t know who it was from...probably Becks or Gena. They both had great taste in jewelry. I’d ask them next time we talked. I grabbed my bag and opened my bedroom door...and hesitated. I couldn’t help glancing back at the room that had been mine for sixteen years. Maybe I’d never come back. I didn’t know, did I?
My heart raced as my sneakered feet hit the stairs.
I could hear the adults arguing in low, furious voices, but when I appeared in the living room, they all stopped and looked at me. Nonna was sitting in Dad’s chair, taking in the drama while she knitted. Now she was looking at me with a mixture of grief and pride. “Yes, bella?” she asked.
That simple question seemed to encompass everything.
“I’m ready to go,” I said.
“Hang on, baby. If you don’t want to go to Nekyia, then that’s that.” He had a familiar stubborn gleam in his eyes. “You’ll be just fine here with us.”
“No,” I said in a quiet voice. “I won’t.” I couldn’t get myself to call her Grandma, so I said, “Mrs. Briarstock is right. Either I go to my destiny, or it comes for me.”
“I’m your father.” He looked at me, daring me to say different. But that was an argument for another time. I was still angry. It burned like a low flame in my belly. But I knew that going to Nekyia was the right thing to do. I would miss my friends. I wouldn’t be able to tell Gena and Becks goodbye. Or Rick. My stomach clenched. Oh, man. That one kiss would be all that we had. What guy wanted to date long distance?
“Molly?”
Dad sounded stern, but I detected the desperation in his tone. I realized then that he was afraid he would lose me. He really did love me, and I knew that. I got that. But he’d lied to me.
“Who’s my real dad?” I asked.
My dad looked stricken, as though I’d punctured him in the heart. I guess I had. But I had a right to know about my own life.
“We don’t know,” said my grandmother. “Cynthia wouldn’t tell us.”
“Did she tell you?” I asked my dad.
He swallowed heavily. “No. And I didn’t care. You’re my little girl.”