Obumbrate (The Illumine Series)

by Anders, Alivia

  CHAPTER NINE

  ANGELS & DEMONS

  "And here I thought the biggest house I'd ever seen was in Maine," I observed in awe at the giant home looming above us.

  Ari hadn't been leading us to a safe house, he had been leading us to a freaking super-huge mansion. From what I could make under the dark, the building had to at least be five stories tall, stretching on both sides like an oversized rectangle. Small windows held candles inside them, casting an eerie glow within each room.

  "It puts Ursula's place to shame, at least for this lifetime," came an all-too familiar voice from the open doorway. I didn't need any magical glasses or super sleuth to tell me who it was.

  Kayden was leaning against the frame of the door, his facial expression decidedly amused. Since the last time I'd seen him he looked well; the tan color of his skin had returned, his eyes bright and dancing with the need to be mischievous.

  I started to run to him, then stopped. There wasn't a chance that I was ready to forgive him for his actions, not yet. Keeping my composure in check, I made sure to walk with intentional grace and steadiness.

  "Going out on a limb here and saying this isn't your place?" I asked Kayden, giving him a minimal acknowledgement. He deserved that much, I guess.

  He gave a low chuckle and shook his head. "Not a chance. Lilix called me as soon as she spotted you. She had a feeling you'd come here sooner or later."

  I took the four steps leading to the door carefully, but made sure to stop in the doorway and get a closer look at Kayden. He was wearing the same thing I would always picture him in; a black ribbed turtleneck, tan pants, and a pair of black Italian leather shoes. On anyone else it would be decidedly snobbish, but for him it worked.

  "Good to know you haven't changed one bit from your lazy ways," I remarked coolly, sniffing with feigned distaste. "At least Ari here gave a genuine damn if I lived or died."

  Ari had been right behind me, giving Kayden the same suspicious regard. In the end he said nothing, giving a curt nod before stepping inside. I followed after him, leaving Kayden to trail behind both of us.

  Following Ari, we walked down a series of hallways, all with similar decor on the walls. Any door that was open had a completely different mix of things within it; some had weapons both crude and current; some had drawing rooms, old as colonial times in America; some had bedrooms, mixed furniture making it appear caught between two worlds at the same time.

  Ari ended up turning into a large drawing room, the furniture reminiscent of Victorian times. A fire had already been started in the grate. Taking one of the seats closer to the fire, he seemed to sigh with relief as he sunk into the cushions.

  I collapsed with a thump into one of the chairs across from Ari. Pain pulsed as I moved about against the chair, my back still sore from the beating I had taken today. I didn't even dare ask about my head, figuring that as long as I wasn't passing out there wasn't a problem.

  "Where's Lilix?" I looked around, seeing nothing but books and random brass objects displayed on various tiny tables throughout the room. "Is this all real Victorian era furniture?"

  "Of course it is," Kayden answered with a laugh, mocking me with a roll of his eyes. "Hasn't your little angel buddy told you how old Lilix is?"

  I gave a small shrug of the shoulders and met Ari with a sideways glance. "No, he didn't."

  Kayden stood in front of the fire, blocking it from my end of the grate. He waved a dismissive hand. "We can save that for another time, then. I'm just surprised she remembered the first time we met in Greece. Togas baby, gotta love 'em."

  My hand twitched compulsively, the pressure of fire budding in my fingertips. I reigned it in, for now. "So why, in the name of anything sacred, are you here?"

  He jerked a thumb over his shoulder to Ari, a dull expression on his face. "Rumor has it this twit can't save you from a Vens." He leaned in closer, narrowing his gaze questioningly. "Believe me now about the Queen and her psycho antics?"

  "If you're here to gloat, I'm leaving," I snapped, getting up from the chair. Everything around me turned blurry and tilted sideways before I collapsed back into the chair.

  Ari moved to get up, but Kayden stopped him. He came closer to me, centimeters left between us. I felt my chest tighten and stopped breathing.

  His fingers hovered dangerously close to my skin. "Essie, pull in your fire for a minute. Your head looks like hell."

  "Gee," I rolled my eyes. "Flattery will get you everywhere."

  "Don't roll your eyes at me. Haven't you read that darker shades book? You'd never roll your eyes again after that."

  I made a mental note to figure out what the hell Kayden was blathering about. "Okay, fine. Ari," I leaned over slightly to the side, just to see his teal eyes. "Burn him if he tries anything."

  I took a deep breath, feeling the fire flex inside my veins. Pictures of waterfalls, cooled incense sticks, and ice bergs all played in my mind, forcing the fire deeper and deeper into my chest until it was only tightly wound around my heart. I gave a nod to Kayden but warned him, "Go slow."

  Very gently, he brushed at the wound on my head. Pain instantly flared down my neck as he did it, and I lost control on the tense coil of power wound in my heart. Fire erupted on Kayden's fingers, singeing him and racing up his arm with speed. With a swear he dissipated into thin black smoke, swirled around and reformed in front of me.

  "You might want to get something on that before it festers," he pursed his lips and ran a hand through his black hair. "I'm sure your little golden boy can manage that much."

  "Do you mind?" Ari finally jumped in, hands on his knees curled to fists. "You don't hear me mouthing off about you and your demonic spawning."

  "Oooh, he's a keeper," Kayden stage-whispered back to me, winking for extra effect. "Really knows how to defend a lady."

  "How about both of you are being freaking ridiculous?" I spat, using the back of the chair for support as I stood. "Neither one of you can behave like grown men, can you? I'll talk to both of you in the morning, and you'll both be civil, or I'll char you both to ash."

  Against his better judgment, Ari snickered and opened his mouth to speak. "Technically speaking-"

  I raised my eyebrows, one fist curled in display. He decided it wouldn't be worth it to make his point, after all.

  I nodded, turning sharp on my heels and making for the door. "Right, goodnight to both of you. I'm going to find the nearest bed, pass out in it, and tomorrow morning we can take care of the loose ends."

  Kayden materialized in front of the door before I could reach it, hands up automatically in a display of harmlessness. "Lilix wanted you to use her room while you stay here. Second floor, left hall, two doors on the right."

  "I'll have to thank her when she shows up," I said, breezing past him through the door and straight down the hall. After today, a bed sounded like the best thing next to getting a hold of the Queen with my bare hands.

  Lilix Morgan was gorgeous, even before her death. Now, three hundred years later, that still hadn’t changed. I watched her in the mirror as she slowly wrapped a strand of cultured pearls around my bare neck. She was dressed like a woman from the 19th century, right down to the shoes. Her corseted dress was of a deep, rich crimson, accented with gold and black. Small, off-white laced gloves covered her hands, little ribbons tied at the edges in bows. Her soft, platinum blonde hair had been spun in soft curls, piled high on her head. Even now she reminded me of a queen, or a duchess, ready to make her appearance to her people.

  Only she wasn’t the one going to meet people, not this time. No, she had said it was my turn to make an appearance. I was brought here for an important reason, a duty to fulfill. It was my time to join a family, to become betrothed. That should have bothered me more than anything, to be tied down forever, but it didn’t. In fact, nothing bothered me, not even the fact that I was wearing a white corseted dress with golden accents from the 1800’s.

  Lilix tied the back of my necklace, looking up in the mirror
to meet my eyes. I only had a couple of minutes left now. The bare, whitewashed walls of the dressing room suddenly became small, confined.

  “You look beautiful,” Lilix whispered, placing her hands on my shoulders. I had to admit, she was right. Only an artist could have taken my pallor complexion and turned it into something as beautiful as it was now.

  “Thanks. You look gorgeous, too.”

  She scoffed, rolling her eyes like she always did. “Please. Even in my previous life I didn’t look as pretty as you do right now.”

  We stared at each other through the mirror, neither of us speaking. I vaguely wondered if my eyes were going to sparkle as much as hers did when this was all over.

  Lilix sighed, walking to my side so she could look me directly in the face. “You have to go now.”

  “I know.”

  “You’ll be fine. He’s a good man, Lilix. He’ll take care of you.”

  I wasn’t afraid of not being taken care of, that I could manage perfectly well on my own. No, I was more afraid of what would happen once I looked in his eyes, once he spoke my name. I could never go back after that. Not unless I wanted to die. “I know,” I repeated, sounding like a broken record.

  Lilix nodded, like a person sealing the deal with someone else. I rose from my chair, grabbing fistfuls of my skirts so I could walk my way out. I managed to get to the door before I heard her running to me.

  “Wait,” she called, and I spun around with a little too much enthusiasm. Something reminded me he was waiting outside, waiting for me to show. Maybe if I stayed in here long enough he’d leave, defeated. Slim chance.

  “You forgot this,” she held out the small bouquet of white and red roses to me, seventeen roses in total. Taking both of my hands, my skirts dropped as she wrapped my freezing fingers around the bouquet. “There. Now you’re ready.” She smiled, only this time it looked painful.

  I couldn’t speak anymore, so I nodded, turning and opening the door.

  All around me, the atmosphere changed. Fire laced up the walls as thick black smoke clogged my lungs. Air rushed into the room, fueling the fire as it pushed out the small quarters into the main hall. Somewhere behind me I could hear the sound of voices, screaming in agony as I’d never heard before. My name was called, pleading, but I knew to go back meant turning my back on everything when I was so close to the truth. I fell to the floor and crawled to escape the fire, my vision going hazy from the smoke. I covered my mouth and screamed a name, flinging a hand out into the darkened miasma surrounding me.

  My eyes snapped open, a hand reaching for my throat. Short, painful gasps of air pressed through my lungs, as if I'd been running in the scalding, southern summer heat with no reprieve. The sheets clung to my damp and sticky skin, a thin sheen of sweat covering every inch of me. Now would have been a good time to have a window to crack open in my room.

  Oh, you know, except I couldn't because some psycho monarchy inbred of a woman decided she wanted to have me and my blood for some reason. Hence the lack of windows in my room. Because you never know when someone is going to try breaking in and running off with me tossed over their shoulder a-la old fashioned humor movie. I sniffed and made a face.

  Slowly I sat up, using one arm for support against the mattress. I was too tired to get up and face the two boys just yet, but the idea of going back to sleep and possibly back into that weird dream seemed far worse. For a split second, I half expected to fall back into the dream, or worse, wake up to flames all around. I thought back, trying to recall the startling noises and scents, but only came back with the images of blazing fire and putrid smells of burning wood. The images were vivid, tangible to the point of reaching out and touching them. I distinctly remembered a part that involved a white room, but what exactly was said in said room slipped from my mind, like sand through my fingers.

  Stupid dreams and their stupid premonitions. These days my dreams were always caught halfway between pure premonition based warning and nightmares bordering on driving me mad. Neither one left me feeling like a bag of joy in the morning.

  Groaning, I rolled out of bed. I had a date with some stitches, a demon, and another Nephilim. And to think, two years ago the worst thought on my mind had been if I'd get a new car come graduation or not.

  I took a quick look around, getting a good look at Lilix's room for the first time since Ari and I had arrived at the mansion. Her room had to be at least as big as a suite in a hotel. The walls had been trimmed in a rich blue and painted white, the same royal blue color used for the plush carpet lining the floors. Two doors, a bathroom and full walk-in closet, showed a matching taste for the carefully decorated tastes of Ari's demon friend.

  Taking one look at the blue dress from Serena, I took it off, glad to have the blood and dirt stained piece of cloth off. It only took me a few minutes riffling through Lilix's clothes to find a comfortable pair of jeans, dark blue blouse, and socks to wander. I'd worry about the shoes later.

  Out in the hallway, the smell of something sweet and delicious caught me. Judging by how strong, it was just around the corner, so I followed after it. Sure enough, down the end of the hall was an open kitchen and dining room combo, a marble-topped island in-between both for smaller parties.

  Ari was standing in front of the stove, flipping pancakes without a spatula. He took one step back, held the pan out, and gave a quick flick of the wrist to send the flapjack sailing into the air before landing smack back in the middle of the pan. For the first time since I'd met him, he looked truly relaxed, the expression on his face genuinely happy as he moved around and cooked. I was almost sad to interrupt, but my stomach couldn't handle waiting much longer.

  "Any eggs?" I called out to him, still having not moved from the end of the room.

  He looked up, any trace of the happiness I first saw vanished. Now he was guarded, drawing into himself and shutting the door.

  "Don't really care for eggs," he said with a shrug. He pointed to a set of plates already set with three pancakes on each at the marble island. "But I made you some pancakes if you're up for it."

  "Thought you'd never ask," I replied quickly, crossing the room in two strides and taking a seat. I didn't even care to cut the pancakes; instead I drizzled on some syrup, jabbed it with a fork and piled a whole one into my mouth to chew.

  Ari watched me with a cross of awkward and surprise written on his face. He started to shake his head, muttering something under his breath while fighting not to laugh. "Do you want eggs?"

  Swallowing a chunk of pancake I asked, "Do I eat that much like a wild monster?"

  "You have no idea, Essallie," he bit his lower lip, still trying not to laugh. "Have you never been fed your whole life?"

  "My hips bones are cunning little liars."

  Ari cracked, a chuckle escaping from his lips. Before any more could get by, he turned around and opened the fridge, pulling out a carton of eggs. "Scrambled or sunny-side up?"

  "Wait, I want to make them," I said, hopping down from my chair and rounding the counter. Ari had started to move towards me, handing out the carton, when we bumped together, the carton dropping onto the floor between our feet.

  "Oh, shi-" I looked up at Ari, afraid. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to-"

  But Ari wasn't mad, not in the slightest. His teal eyes looked up at me under thick and dark lashes, no trace of anger in them. A crooked smile dashed his lips, his chest still shaking from the bottled laughter.

  "Relax Essie, it's fine. There's another carton in the fridge," he said, only it sounded more like a gentle whisper to me. It suddenly dawned on me that we were close, close enough that I could make out the details of his face perfectly. I stared at the sharp line of his jaw, the perfect curve of his throat, his soft and lightly colored lips. Part of me wondered what it would be like to nestle in the crook of his neck, or kiss those lips.

  "I... I think I should get a mop," I fumbled out, my eyes darting between watching his bright teal gaze or the grin hitching on his lips.

&n
bsp; He tilted his head to the side, and for a moment my breath caught in my throat. "You sure?"

  Somewhere between the ogling of his lips and eyes, I shook my head. Ari leaned forward, lips dangerously close to mine-

  "Those pancakes have salmon in them?"

  I froze, eyes wide. From the corner of my frozen stare I could see Kayden, dressed in funeral style black, sauntering into the room like a king to his throne. He squandered my seat from earlier, digging into my plate without a single question.

  Ari pulled away first, mumbling something under his breath about cleaning up the mess on the floor. He averted my eyes as he scooped the carton and moved to dump it into the trash.

  I turned my gaze to Kayden, furious. Who knew just how long he had been standing there, waiting for the right moment to drop in and mess with me, like always? I had a right mind to deck him in the face and let him see how to felt to have on the other end of a sucker punch.

  Kayden swallowed a chunk of pancake and syrup, grimacing and nearly gagging. "Mortal food, how positively revolting. No matter how many times I try and eat it, it always tastes like dirt."

  "I bet you know exactly how that tastes," I snapped. "Since your behavior has you on the end of someone's boot more often than not." What a shame I didn't own a pair of boots. I wondered if Lilix had a spare pair in her room...

  He rolled his eyes, sighing with boredom. "Must you be so hostile in the morning, Essallie? I haven't done even done anything yet today."

  "Other than hijack my breakfast."

  His eyes looked down in horror to the plate in front of him. "No wonder it tastes like death- your germs are all over it."

  I started around the counter, fire sparking over my knuckles. Ari's hand snaked out of nowhere and grabbed my wrist, shaking his head while holding me back.

  His gave flickered from mine to the demon. "Why is he here again, exactly?"

  My shoulders slumped. "It's a long story."

  "Well, whatever it is, it can wait." Ari said, stunning me. He wasn't exactly Kayden's number one fan; the idea of even tolerating him seemed completely beyond his charming persona. "We have bigger things to think about. Like why the Queen wants Essallie."