A Touch Menacing

by Leah Clifford

  “Wait. I don’t think I want to—” His mouth pressed into a tight line, his head jerking. Eden exhaled in a steady stream. “Wait!” he cried, and then gasped.

  His last frightened cry echoed through the alley as his ashes scattered.

  “Send me Az back,” she said, her collarbones thrumming as his Touch settled into her.

  “Eden!” Jarrod called sharply. “What the hell?”

  She stared down at the freshly trampled snow at her feet. “He panicked at the last second.”

  “That was one long ‘last second.’”

  “I had to take him.” Eden snapped her neck to the side until it gave a satisfying pop. “I don’t need the guilt trip.”

  “When do I need to start doing this?” Sullivan asked.

  Eden walked them toward Milton’s. “I’d guess you’ve got another week or so before things get bad. The problem is, with the first Siders you send Downstairs, Luke’s gonna know you exist.”

  Jarrod kicked at a chunk of ice. “I don’t think we should wait until she’s sick, Eden.”

  Like me, she thought. Weak. A burden. He didn’t say it, but it was written all over his face.

  It was a miracle Luke didn’t seem to know about Sullivan already. It would only be a matter of time before he tracked her down once he did. He’d let Eden live because he’d thought her useful, and now because her Siders infected Upstairs. Because Luke had been the one to put an end to Sullivan’s mortal life, she was tied to him. Something he wasn’t going to be thrilled to find out. For now, their best bet was keeping Sullivan’s identity hidden, which meant she shouldn’t be taking Siders out until they had no other choice.

  “Jarrod, don’t push this,” Eden said when they got to the street. Her nerves ratcheted up. The Bound could be anywhere. Watching.

  Waiting.

  Had they seen Jarrod at the stairs? Were there angels waiting this moment for the three of them to come out onto the street? A surge of adrenaline quickened her steps.

  “Faster,” Eden said. The Bound wouldn’t attack them in front of mortals. If she could get to Milton’s, they’d be safe. She burst onto the sidewalk, jogging across the street. When she got to the door, she dove for it. The bell clanked against the metal handle as Jarrod and Sullivan barreled in behind her. The mortals in line turned to stare.

  Behind the counter, Zach stood frozen, a cup in his hand, halfway through making a coffee. “You finish this,” he said slowly to the other barista standing beside him. “I’ll be right back.”

  Zach waved them around the side of the counter, holding open a swinging door to the kitchen. He gave Sullivan a quizzical look as she passed by him. “So she is a Sider, after all?” he asked Jarrod when they were through.

  The only time Zach had seen Sullivan was when she’d come into Milton’s looking for Jarrod. Before Luke had killed her. Eden coughed hard, and Zach let it go. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  She couldn’t get the words to come. Didn’t know where to start. Instead, she looked around helplessly. Rows of shelving units took up the right half of the room. To her left, heat waves rolled off a commercial-sized oven. She could smell pastries baking. Her stomach turned.

  “We need help,” Jarrod said finally. “Someplace to hide out. Maybe crash for a day or two?”

  “You’re that freaked out?” Zach asked, confused. A week ago, she’d sent Jarrod to warn him about the Bound, but Zach had seemed nonchalant. “They can’t kill us,” he’d argued. “What are they gonna do, kick my ass and force me to make their lattes with extra whipped cream?” She had to make him see that the threat was real and the Bound were dangerous.

  Zach went for a corduroy jacket hanging from the edge of a tiered shelving unit. Digging into a pocket, he took out a set of keys.

  “My apartment’s small, but there’s plenty of floor. Mi casa es su casa,” he said, handing them over to Eden. His expression was solemn as he took out a pen and an order pad from his apron. He scribbled down an address and handed her the page. “No one knows where I live, Sider or mortal. I don’t get off until seven, so you guys can either hang out here or head there. Up to you.”

  “Thank you,” she said. She folded the address in half, then again. “We wouldn’t ask if—”

  He shook his head. “Happy to help. Just tell me what happened.”

  “We were warned,” she said quietly. “The Bound are closing in on our place. Listen, I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to stay either.” When Zach gave her a sardonic smile, she grabbed for his arm. “This is serious.”

  “I can handle myself,” he said, heading over to the oven. He peeked in through the window to check on whatever baked inside. “If it gets too crazy, I’ll bolt, okay?”

  “Erin!” she said suddenly, looking up at him. He’d been at Milton’s when Eden took over Manhattan. Maybe he would have a lead on where to find Erin. At the name, Zach tensed.

  “Who told you about me and Erin?” he demanded. “Was it Kristen? Madeline?”

  Eden shook her head, baffled at his reaction. “Gabe wanted us to help figure out how the Siders started. Did you know her? We have to reach her.”

  He let his head drop back with a sigh of self-loathing. “That is not where I thought you were going with that,” he whispered.

  “I was supposed to talk to Madeline, but she blew me off. Kristen’s not answering. I’d rather not deal with Vaughn. Erin’s my last hope.” She leaned in, studying him to gauge how far she should push. “What do you know about Erin?”

  He leaned forward to bounce on his toes. “Look, I don’t think this—” He gave Eden a pitying look. “Don’t be pissed, okay? This isn’t how I wanted to tell you.”

  “Tell me what?” she said. Distrust moved her toward Jarrod.

  Zach gave the door a weak shove and checked the line out front. Satisfied, he turned back to her again, grim. “When Erin was in charge, she was cool with some of us being on our own as long as we stayed in contact. I didn’t just live here, Eden. I was part of her crew.”

  “Her crew?” Eden repeated, stunned. She’d always thought Zach had stayed under the radar. She’d admired the rebel in him.

  “I kept track of the Siders who didn’t live with her. We all helped each other out and were there for Erin when she needed us. It was a pretty good system.”

  “What happened, though?” Sullivan asked. “Why’d Erin leave Manhattan?”

  Beside Eden, Jarrod tensed, knowing what was coming. He squeezed Sullivan’s hand, the only warning he could give her.

  Zach leaned back onto a metal counter, oblivious, balancing himself on his arm. “Erin picked the short straw and had to go deal with the huge douche that was running Staten Island.” He turned back to Eden. “You know all this, though, right? Why Erin went? That Vaughn was selling Touch there?”

  Eden hesitated, unsure what to tell about Sullivan. The girl had somehow managed a flawless poker face.

  “We knew,” Jarrod said. Before Eden could take up the conversation again, he hit Zach with a level look. “If you were part of Erin’s crew, why are you still here? I thought she took all her Siders with her.”

  Zach stared at him for a long moment before he answered. His words came slow, careful. “The day Erin left,” Zach said, “Kristen came over and told her about this new Sider, different from the rest of us.” He fiddled with the edge of a bag of sugar on the counter.

  “Me,” Eden said quietly.

  He nodded, not looking at her. “Kristen said you were going to take over Erin’s territory while Erin was gone, that everyone needed to act like it was yours permanently. There wasn’t time to argue. Erin asked that I stay behind. Keep an eye on you. We didn’t know what to expect, because you had some sort of ties to the Bound.”

  Eden went still. “You couldn’t have known about the Bound then, though. Jarrod just told you last week.”

  “Erin told me what I needed to know about them a long time ago.” Zach’s brow furrowed. “I’m her Second, Eden.”


  She jerked away from the counter, away from him. “No. That’s impossible,” she said in disbelief.

  Eden stared at Zach, everything she knew about him warping, distorting. The simple guy she exchanged wisecracks with every morning faded away. Conversations they’d had ran through her brain. She liked Zach because he didn’t ask questions about her past. Didn’t ask about Az and Gabe. Never pressed. Now she knew it was only because he already knew the answers.

  Jarrod looked positively dumbfounded. “Is that why you gave me the job here? You just wanted me to tell you more about us?” he demanded, his tone sharpening as shock turned to anger.

  “It’s not like that,” Zach swore. “Not anymore. I know you guys needed help.” He offered her an apologetic shrug. “Helping out the Siders in Erin’s territory is kind of what I do.”

  “Erin’s territory?” she asked.

  Zach threw his hands up, clearly hoping to set her at ease. “That’s between you and her,” he said. “I don’t do politics.”

  The door swung open, and the kid from the front counter popped his head through. From the sound of the chatter, the postwork rush had started. “We’ve got a line,” he said. “Can you come back out?”

  “Sorry. Five seconds, Clay.” When he was gone, Zach heaved a sigh of relief. “Wow, this is a load off,” he said, his grin reappearing. “I had no idea how I was going to explain if you ran into me and Erin at Kristen’s together.”

  “Kristen’s?” Jarrod asked.

  “Her ball,” he said. Eden shook her head. “Tomorrow. You mean you’re not going?”

  Jarrod scoffed. “Apparently we weren’t invited.”

  “No, everyone’s going,” Zach insisted. “We’re going to figure out what to do about the Bound and the Fallen. See if we can come up with a way to fight them.”

  They’re leaving us out, Eden realized. She’d expect Kristen’s wrath, but this was different. Madeline and Kristen were planning, scheming. Being abandoned while the others worked together left them isolated. Vulnerable.

  Knuckles knocked against the window. “Help!” Clay mouthed from the other side.

  Zach squeezed her shoulder before he took a step toward the front of the shop. “They’re not doing this to you guys,” he said, his gaze jumping between the three of them. “Even Vaughn and his crew will be there. We’re in this together now. All of us. I’ll talk to Erin for you.”

  The look of determination Zach wore was sincere. He wanted to help them. “Thank you,” she whispered.

  He put a hand up on the door. “Jarrod, take them out the back way. I’ll meet you guys at my place in, like, two hours, okay?”

  He didn’t wait for an answer before heading through. Eden jangled the set of keys before tucking them into her pocket.

  “Unbelievable,” Jarrod said.

  “Which part?” Eden mumbled.

  “If the others don’t want us to help, screw them. When shit hits the fan, they can battle Upstairs and Down without us, too.” His voice fell quiet. “But they’ll beat the angels, Eden. I know they will. And when it’s over,” he said, looking up, “we’ll still be here. We’ve done this on our own so far.And we’re all okay.”

  She saw in Jarrod’s face the moment he realized what he’d said. They’d lost Az. Gabe was as good as an enemy. Not to mention the others they’d lost since everything had started. Adam. James. Things weren’t even close to okay.

  “Look,” he said carefully. “We’ve never once given up in this whole thing, and we’re not gonna start now.”

  She dropped her chin to her chest, not bothering with the truth. She’d given up so many times she’d lost count. “What about Kristen’s? Do you even think it’d be worth—”

  Sullivan grabbed her wrist, cutting her off. She pointed to a shelving unit ten feet from them. At the end of it, behind the large cans, was a scrawny girl. Eden froze, instantly wary. A second ago, there had been no one else in the storage room.

  “Who’s there?” Jarrod asked. He crouched and slid sideways in one smooth movement, easing open a drawer and plucking out a knife. “Come out. Now.”

  The girl moved into the open, taking him in with a lazy ogle. Her greasy hair was tied back under a hood, her cheeks blushed an unnatural pink. To Eden’s surprise, a small boy joined her.

  At the sight of them, the hair on the back of Eden’s neck stood up, though she couldn’t figure out why. Angels were easy to spot with the too-perfect, carved-from-marble look they all had. These two, though, dirty and disheveled, looked more likely to show up on the stairs. The rational part of her thought perhaps they’d broken in through the back exit Zach had mentioned. And yet deep inside her, a primal terror blazed.

  “No one’s allowed back here,” Jarrod said. Eden turned toward him. With the kids in her peripheral vision, their skin wriggled as if something slithered just underneath the surface. She whipped back to them. Staring at them dead on revealed nothing like what she’d just seen.

  As Jarrod stepped forward, Eden grabbed his shoulder. “Don’t,” she whispered. “They’re not human. They’re . . . something else.”

  At the words, the girl’s lips split with a grin, revealing teeth black and rotten. What hadn’t broken off was filed to points. A forked tongue snapped like a miniature whip, chattering like a rattlesnake’s warning. “Something . . . else,” she repeated. Her voice tinkled and crackled like bells broken underfoot. “Something wicked. And yet something other to you.”

  Eden jumped when Jarrod moved in front of her and Sullivan. “What the fuck are you?” he demanded.

  Staring in horror, Eden watched as the girl pointed at her with a sharpened fingernail. “Is she the Sider who poisons the Upstairs realm?”

  The boy’s leer glimmered with a mixture of malice and excitement, and then his head wrenched sideways violently. He hissed, baring his teeth at Sullivan, but the girl with him nipped his cheek hard enough to draw blood. He cowered as the blood dripped, black, to his chin.

  The girl focused again on Jarrod. “The Enslaved Ones seek your leader bathed in burn and bone,” she snarled, teeth glistening with spittle and tar-colored blood from the boy’s wound. “The Morning Star, however, wishes for her continued survival. The pretty poison she spreads pleases him.”

  “The what?” Eden managed.

  The demons whispered to each other as Jarrod answered Eden. “Luke,” he said. “They’re demons, Eden. They’re his demons.” He sounded broken and hopeless, though she didn’t know why. If the two were demons, they looked like they wouldn’t put up much of a fight. Eden had just taken out two Siders. It’s not me, Eden realized. Luke’s demons weren’t looking at her at all.

  “Oh no,” Sullivan said.

  The boy demon’s spindly fingers were curled around his partner’s ear. Her eyes widened, so much white showing that it yellowed and then reddened around the outside. “Clever catch,” she said to the boy, and then cocked her head in Sullivan’s direction. “You’ve been hidden well, death breather.” The demon lifted a hand, and Sullivan jerked against Jarrod. “Flinching flower,” the girl pouted. “You would seek to destroy us, and I only want to pluck a single petal from your face.”

  The boy came forward. “When you’re slaughtered,” he promised Sullivan with an icy glower, “I’ll make this broken boy eat your heart.” His long fingers fluttered in front of Jarrod like he was playing piano. “Does she know how you hate that you love her? How it destroys you? Weakness oozes where once was a warrior.” The demon licked his teeth, crept closer to Sullivan as Eden watched Jarrod’s face harden.

  “That’s not true,” Jarrod said.

  Fury radiated off Sullivan as she stepped around him. “You must know the Bound can’t find all the Siders Eden sends Upstairs,” she said. “Do you really think Luke can find all of mine? And every Sider I send down below destroys more of you. In fact,” she said, moving closer to them, “are you so sure I couldn’t end you myself? Right here? Right now? Threaten the three of us again.” />
  Eden had no doubt that Sullivan itched to carry through on the threat.

  The girl demon’s grin only widened. “Our flinching flower has thorns,” she said appreciatively.

  The demons circled like crows around carrion.

  “What are you waiting for?” Jarrod said. “Get them! They can’t tell Luke about you!”

  Without warning the demons dropped, their knees cracking against the tile hard enough that Eden cringed. Fear flashed in their eyes at a noise beyond the door, a shouting match at the counter. What the hell are demons afraid of? she thought as she whirled toward the sound. Writhing in agony, the girl demon grabbed for Eden’s leg. “You’ve no time to kill us. Lucifer sent us to warn you only if the Bound come close. We can’t be in their light. They break our shadows.” True pain shattered her words apart. “They are here.”

  Eden spun for the door, then back to the girl hanging off her calf. “Here? Now?”

  Zach. She had to get Zach. Eden went for the door, but the girl held her back, gripped onto her ankle.

  “Run,” the demons said before they swirled away in a viscous smoke. The blackness floated near the ceiling and then shot off through the shelves.

  “Out the back!” Jarrod said, grabbing her arm. Sullivan ran in the direction he pointed, the same way the smoke had gone.

  “But Zach.” Eden strained in his grip.

  The door swung on its hinges, a blood-smeared hand clutching wildly before it was hauled out again. The door shut, but it didn’t blot out the screams.

  Jarrod’s eyes darted to the small window. “We have to leave him,” he said. “Come on. Now.”

  They didn’t look back.

  CHAPTER 7

  When Eden licked her lips, she tasted ash. The outburst with Gabe earlier had cost her, and she’d already burned through the little Touch Jarrod had passed her. Each inhale of cold air only made her lungs worse.

  “This is stupid,” Jarrod mumbled, but it was halfhearted. They’d been out of the apartment since just after Gabriel bolted, unwilling to risk the Bound showing up. When they’d left, there’d been no Siders on the stairs, no time to wait. She, Jarrod, and Sullivan had kept on the move, loitering in shops only long enough to get warm. Eventually, Eden had needed Sullivan’s help to walk.