I swat my hand in his direction. “He didn’t even know the circles of Hell were real.”
Now it’s her turn to look surprised. “The circles of Hell?”
D’Maeo sighs. “It’s a long story.”
“Tell me some other time.”
He straightens his shoulders and brushes his fingers through his silver hair. “I’d love to.”
Jeep coughs loudly. “Okay, can we get back to the magical boxing thing? I’ve heard of it, but I thought it was banned a couple of hundred years ago.”
Mona tilts her head. “Oh, it was. So naturally the business flourished. It’s still big underground these days.”
Jeep cracks his knuckles. “Do you know where to find it?”
“I can find out. Give me a minute.” She snaps her fingers and vanishes in a cloud of sparks.
I groan. “I’m so jealous of all of you, being able to vanish and appear in the blink of an eye.”
Quinn smiles sadly. “Most of us weren’t always like this.”
I squint at him, not because of his words, but because of the look in his eyes. A glimpse of a memory tugs at my thoughts. I remember seeing his eyes somewhere, not too long ago, with the same sadness shining through. But there was something different about them.
“Hey, have you been spying on me?” I blurt.
His brow furrows. “I check in on you regularly, you know that. I don’t sneak around, if that’s what you mean.”
“No…” I peer at him again. “It’s strange…”
Suddenly it strikes me and I gasp.
“What?” Quinn says.
I lean back so fast I almost tumble over. “Vicky,” I breathe.
Unease falls over my friend again when I say her name. I contributed half of his restlessness to worries about me and Mom, but all this time it was Vicky who made him nervous. Finally I know why. Now I understand why he avoids looking at her as much as he can.
“What is it?” Vicky moves so close to me that our arms touch and a tingle shoots up my spine.
“Vicky, can you look Quinn in the eye for a second?”
Quinn raises his hands. “Don’t bother, her magic doesn’t work on me.”
“Oh no, it’s not…” I tilt my head to change my perspective. The more I think about it, the more it makes sense. “You can’t read my mind?” I ask Quinn.
“That only works when your thoughts aren’t all tumbled up,” he explains. “Why? What is it?”
“Just look at each other, please. Vicky, tell me if his eyes remind you of something. Of someone.”
Quinn sighs and looks at the girl in black. For a moment, they just sit there in silence.
I string my fingers together and wait. The rest of the Shield watches with interest. I can almost hear the questions Taylar and Jeep swallow.
“Hmm,” Vicky says after a minute or so.
“What does that mean?” Quinn asks.
I tap the side of my head. “You can’t read her mind either?”
“No, that doesn’t work on ghosts.”
Vicky turns her head towards me. “There’s something familiar about his eyes.”
The corners of my mouth move up. “I know. I think Quinn here has some explaining to do.”
I see him stiffening. He never gets nervous, which convinces me more than anything that I’m right.
“About someone in Vicky’s family,” I continue. “Am I right?”
“I prefer not to talk about it,” he says. Sadness has taken over more than just his eyes now. His whole body screams heartache.
Jeep and Taylar lean forward so they don’t miss a word.
“Well, I think Vicky is entitled to the truth. Don’t you?” I stand up, take a couple of beers out of the fridge, put them on the table and hand Quinn one of them. “Here, this might help.”
He grumbles a bit and avoids my gaze. But I don’t back down. I wave the bottle in front of him. “Take it, silly old man.”
Suddenly, Vicky gasps. “The man that found my grandmother!” Her eyes are bigger than I’ve ever seen them. “You’re related to him?”
Quinn finally takes the beer and gulps half of it down in one go.
I stroke Vicky’s back. “Not related, Vick. He was him.”
Her mouth falls open. “No way. You were dating my grandmother? Why didn’t-?”
Before I can stop myself I blurt out another question. “You were white once?”
Quinn puts his empty bottle on the table. “Yes, when I was human.”
Vicky meets my eyes and I see the desire to push Quinn to answer all of her questions. But it’s obvious that Quinn’s reluctant to talk about Mary. The hurt was visible on his face when Vicky asked him about their relationship. He must have loved her a lot. And if I can see the pain on his face, Vicky must be able to sense it even more clearly with her empath power.
To my relief she lets go of the subject for now. Her eyes scan his body. I know she’s thinking the same things I am. “Why did you change so much? You were white, old and skinny.”
Tears form in his dark eyes. “I wanted to change as much as I could, because I loved your grandmother. She was my whole world. When I lost her, I wanted to leave everything from that life behind me. The pain of all the memories was too much for me to bear.” He grins, but there’s no joy in it. “Besides, I wanted to be irresistible for once, not just because I became an angel, but because of my looks.”
She wiggles her eyebrows at him, no doubt to ease his pain. “Well, that worked. You are rocking this look.”
“Hey!” I nudge her and Jeep chuckles.
“Oh, but you’re not my type,” she adds quickly.
A chortle escapes Taylar’s mouth. “Yeah, right.”
“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” I ask Quinn.
He reaches for another bottle of beer and offers the others one, too. Jeep and Vicky take one.
“I didn’t want anyone to get distracted from the mission. Not me, not you and not Vicky.”
“Well, that didn’t work out so well,” Vicky sneers.
“Do you know what happened to her grandmother?” I interrupt, opening a pack of cookies to keep my hands occupied.
“I was told it was not my business.”
Vicky slams her hand on the table. “And you listened?”
“Well yes.” He gives her a small, sad smile. “It was God who told me. He made me an angel so I could help the one who was destined to solve the mystery of Mary’s death. Someone by the name of Dante Banner.”
All eyes turn to me. Vicky leans on me and I wrap my arm around her waist.
“Oh great, more weight on his shoulders,” Jeep mumbles.
I shake my head. “No, it’s okay. This means I can help Vicky find out the truth about her family.”
She presses my hand firmer into her waist. “Yes, but after you save your mom.”
In a flash of light Mona comes back. “You’re in luck. There’s a big fight tomorrow, underneath the school.”
I let go of Vicky and pick up my phone. “Great, which school and what time?”
Mona beams at me. “Your school of course. At eight pm.”
My head swerves to Quinn, who seems preoccupied by his memories. “Did you know about that, Quinn?”
He looks up. His eyes are a bit watery. I’ve never seen him like this. “What?”
“Never mind.” I turn my attention back to Mona. “What do you mean ‘your school of course’?
“Well, most magical boxers are young. A high school is a good place to find young people and they like to stay close to home.”
A thought occurs to me. “Could it be that most students at my school are magical, just like the majority of the Blackford population?”
“Well, of course, love. Because where do those students live?”
“In Blackford.” I scrunch up my nose. “I hadn’t thought about that yet.”
Vicky strokes my arm. “You didn’
t have time to. And it’s a lot to take in.”
Quinn puts down his empty bottle of beer. “Most of the students we know don’t have a clue that they’re magical yet.”
D’Maeo appears next to Mona. “Can you tell us how to get to the fight?” His fingers brush hers gently and she blushes.
“Sure. My friend wrote the instructions down.” She takes a piece of paper out of her pocket and hands it to him with the first shy smile I’ve ever seen on her. Normally she’s so confident.
I lean over to Vicky and whisper in her ear. “Were we as transparent as that?”
“I hope not,” she says with a wink.
Quinn looks at the ceiling. “I have to go. You should all get some rest and we’ll meet back here tomorrow morning to work on your memories of the premonitions.”
I let out a relieved sigh. “That would be great.”
We nod at each other and he disappears.
“I’m going home, too, guys,” Mona says. “I’ll come back tomorrow to keep an eye on Susan while you’re all out.”
I stand up and hug her. “You’re the best.”
Her sparkles gather everything from the table and put it in the cupboards.
“Leave it, I can do that,” I tell her, but she just smiles and hushes me, while D’Maeo watches her every move with longing.
When she waves and leaves the kitchen, the old ghost stares at her as if hypnotized, while the rest of us stare just as hard at D’Maeo.
Jeep pushes his chair back. “Well, since the soap opera is over for the day, I’m off to bed.”
Even Maël giggles now. “It’s been an eventful day again.” Her dark eyes bore into mine. “But we got through it and we will get through whatever comes next, too. Don’t worry.”
She vanishes before I can thank her.
I reach for Vicky’s hand and turn to walk out of the kitchen, when I notice D’Maeo still standing there.
I snap my fingers in front of his face. “Hello? Earth to D’Maeo! Time to get some rest.”
He blinks and looks at me. His gaze darts back to the front door and his eyes fill with disappointment. “Yes, rest.” Then he just goes up in smoke.
Vicky laughs out loud and drags me up the stairs. I expect her to go into her own bedroom, but she goes straight to the annex and pushes me onto the bed. She drops down on top of me and presses her lips into my neck.
I groan. “We won’t get much rest this way.”
She swats my words away. “Who needs rest.”
I want to protest, but she kisses me deeply. Her hands explore the edge of my jeans and I forget how to think.
CHAPTER 16
When I wake, Vicky’s transparent body is wrapped around mine. She looks so peaceful, and for a moment I just stare at her. She’s fully dressed, in her usual black jeans and black top with lace border. I’ve discovered those clothes come back on automatically, even when she puts on something else. Her black leather jacket has slid down her shoulder, and the blonde tips of her black locks curl towards her round lips. I bend forward to kiss them and she stirs.
“I’m going to check on Mom, okay? I’ll be right back.”
“Sure. I love you,” she mumbles, rolling onto her side.
I let out a happy sigh. Thankfully my life hasn’t been all bad lately.
I slide out of bed and tiptoe out of my room.
I jump as a voice speaks up from the other side of the hallway. “You do know she’s a ghost, right? She’ll move on as soon as her work here is done. Like all of us.”
Jeep is leaning against his bedroom door, his tattooed arms folded across his chest.
“What do you mean?” I ask, a chill already creeping up my spine.
“As soon as we defeat the Devil, we will all disappear.”
My mouth drops open. “What? No!”
He lowers his chin and stares at the floorboards between us. “Yes. We were summoned for the sole purpose of helping our masters defeat Lucifer. Once we do that, we will get the rest we all long for.”
For a second I forget about losing Vicky and my new friends. I take a step closer. “Wait, you long for rest? I thought you all liked staying on Earth a bit longer.”
“We do.” He pushes back his hat to scratch the skin on his head. “And we don’t. It’s hard to explain.”
My eyes are locked on his see-through frame. For a moment he has lost his usual care-free, semi-serious demeanor.
“Try,” I say. “I really want to know.”
His tattoos start to wriggle under his skin and he presses his teeth together.
“Are you okay? Do I have to call the others?”
He breathes in deeply and closes his eyes for a second. “No, it’s fine.” He wipes a drop of sweat from his temple. “This is one of the reasons why I’m sometimes sick of being stuck here. You don’t see it, but I have to fight these souls trapped under my skin every second of the day. Sometimes they scream at me.”
I wring my hands together. “I’m so sorry. I wish I could help you with that.”
“I know. But we all carry a burden of some sort. We are constantly torn apart between the desire to save the world and the longing for rest.”
There’s more, I can see it in his eyes. Something that hurts him even more than the constant battle against his demons.
I lean forward and touch his arm. He flinches a little. “Is there anything I can do?”
His familiar grin comes back, but it’s only his mouth that smiles. “Defeat the Devil a bit faster?”
The corners of my mouth mimic his. “I’d love to do that. And I’ll definitely do my best.”
He’s getting vaguer, ready to apparate to the kitchen, when I hold up my hand. “Jeep?”
He becomes clearer again. “Yes, master?”
There’s a bit of sarcasm in his voice, but also respect, and even a little affection. The combination makes me like him more every day. “Is there… is anything else bothering you? Any other reason why you don’t want to stay here?”
He averts his eyes, but not before I’ve seen the glint of sorrow in it.
“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,” I assure him.
“No, it’s fine.” He briefly touches the brim of his hat. “I would just very much like to be reunited with my wife. And I’d like to see my parents again. My friends, my… just everyone that has passed on.”
I lower my head in shame. I can’t believe I have never thought about that before. These people, these ghosts that were summoned to protect me, have loved ones waiting for them. They should have been with them all this time, but instead they are stuck with my family, fighting evil.
“Jeep,” I straighten my back and look him in the eye, “you have my word that I will do everything within my power to get you to them as soon as possible.”
He takes off his hat and bows. “Thank you, master. That means a lot to me.”
Before it gets awkward, he vanishes.
When I climb the stairs to the attic, a tear tickles my cheek. As I reach the last step, the gravity of what Jeep told me hits me full-force.
If we stop the Devil, I lose Vicky. We have only been together for five seconds, but I can’t imagine my life without her. My legs suddenly refuse to carry my weight and I have to grab the ragged handrail to save myself a tumble down the stairs. The top of my shirt is drenched before I even realize I’m crying.
“Hey, what’s happened to you?” Mona’s voice suddenly says.
Her warm smile greets me as I look up.
I wipe my face quickly and pull myself onto my wobbly feet. “How did you get in?”
“What a strange greeting,” she says with a giggle. “I can pop in whenever I like. I was awake, so I thought I’d come by and check on Susan.”
“Oh.” I nod. “Yes, I was just about to do the same.”
“But you got some bad news on the way here?” She opens her arms wide. “You need some comfort. Come here.”
I hold up my hand. “Thanks, but I’m fine. The breakdown is already over.”
I try to slip by her, but she won’t let me. She grabs my arm and pulls me into a hug that almost smothers me. “Hold still.”
Grumbling under my breath, I obey.
While she holds me with one arm, the other moves around. I can’t see where, because she’s still pressing me hard against her chest. I remember her being smaller than me, but somehow I can’t look over her shoulder.
I fight the urge to free myself, and a sudden calmness falls over me. Suddenly my memory takes me back to the nights just after Dad vanished. I had the most horrible nightmares, but woke up surprisingly calm. It never made any sense, but now it does.
“You’ve done that to me before,” I say softly.
She lets go and beams at me. “Well, of course, I’m your fairy godmother, I’m here to ease your pains and worries.”
I open my mouth to ask why she didn’t take my pain about Dad’s departure, or my fear after my premonitions, but she strokes my cheek and says, “Unfortunately some pain is useful. That’s why I never take all of it.” She steps aside and waves at the bedroom where Mom is still lying in a coma. “Now, back to business, love. Quinn is on his way, so you’d better get on with this.”
I can’t bear to stay with Mom for long. The black stuff is creeping up her body way too fast and she already looks like she isn’t really here anymore. My throat clogs up at the thought of losing her, no matter how many sparkles Mona sends my way.
But after a deep breath, I kiss Mom goodbye and go downstairs, where my Shield is waiting.
The smell of coffee and bread floats my way and Vicky smiles as she offers me some toast.
“How domestic,” Taylar grunts.
Vicky glares at him. “If you want hot chocolate, you’d better shut up.”
The young ghost pretends to close a zipper over his mouth.
As I bite into my toast, Quinn joins us out of thin air. “Oh good, you’re eating. You’ll need your strength.”
My appetite evaporates instantly. “Great way to spoil the mood, Qaddisin.”
He grins when I call him by his real name. It’s still hard to believe he’s an angel, but I’m slowly getting used to it. I mean, it’s not stranger than me being a powerful Mage destined to keep the Devil in Hell.
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