Sweet Reckoning

by Higgins, Wendy

  “I didn’t say . . . I meant, I just don’t know.” It was so hard to explain. “It’s like . . . an extension of Marna, only a tiny, separate entity.”

  Ginger started pacing. “Oh, God. Oh, God. We need one of those morning-after pills.”

  Marna’s eyes widened. “I’m not taking any pill!”

  “An operation, then!”

  Marna shook her head. “It doesn’t work, Gin. You know that! Other Neph have tried it, and it kills them just the same.”

  Jay dropped his arm from Marna’s shoulder and stepped back. I’d never seen him so freaked out. The twins kept arguing.

  “Those other Neph couldn’t have been as early on as you,” Ginger reasoned. “If there’s no soul in the thing yet, then you’re safe. When do babies get their souls?”

  Both sisters looked at me, and I shook my head. “I have no idea.”

  I knew souls were created in the heavenly realm, and the Maker knew every detail of our earthly lives and our purposes, starting from conception, but it was never specified at what part of the process the soul was embedded in the flesh.

  “I’m not having an abortion,” Marna said. “I don’t care if there’s a soul yet or not. I’m not having one.”

  “Why the hell not?” Ginger’s voice reached an all-time high. She got in Marna’s face. “Don’t be an idiot! There could still be time!”

  Marna blinked and tears streamed down her cheeks. “And I could die today! I’m not doing it!”

  Jay and I stood watching, silent.

  Ginger was shaking. Marna covered her mouth, her eyes spilling over as she sat on the bed.

  “I’m . . . I’m going to have a baby, Gin,” she whispered.

  “You will be dead, Marna. Dead! You won’t get to enjoy it. You can’t be a mother!”

  “But you can raise her and tell her about me—”

  Ginger reeled back, scowling. “I don’t want anything to do with this creature! And how will I raise your stupid baby when I’m working? Shall I ask Grandfather Astaroth to babysit?” She looked wildly around the room, then grabbed Marna’s wrist. “We’re going to a clinic. Now.”

  Ginger turned, and Marna twisted out of her grip. “I’m not going!”

  A vicious, crazed scream tore from Ginger’s lips. Marna tried to reach for her, but Ginger slapped her hand away.

  “Gin, please,” Marna sobbed.

  Ginger turned to me, and I froze. “You! Fix this. Pray.”

  “I am,” I promised her. “But I don’t get everything I ask for, Ginger.”

  “You’re His little prodigy child, aren’t you?”

  “No. I don’t have any more access than you or anyone else! Maybe we could all pray together?”

  I reached for her hand, but she yanked it away.

  “I am not praying. He let this happen! He bloody hates us!”

  Ginger made a sound that broke my heart, and then reached for her keys and ran from the room. Marna covered her face. I pulled her to me and we hugged, both of us crying. My heart was in shreds.

  “Give her some time,” I whispered. “She just needs a minute to herself.”

  I glimpsed at Jay, who’d backed himself against the wall. Marna and I pulled away and faced him. He didn’t look scared anymore. He didn’t look anything. Just kind of blank and pale, like it’d been too much for him and he’d shut down.

  “Jay?” Marna whispered.

  We didn’t step any closer to him.

  In a robotic voice, he asked, “Can you please tell me what’s going on now?”

  Marna and I looked at each other. She gave me a nod. I turned to Jay’s guardian angel, half expecting him to shake his head, but he only watched me sadly.

  “It’s going to sound crazy,” I told Jay. “Even worse than the conversation you just heard.”

  “It could not get any crazier. Just tell me.”

  I took a deep breath. “There are angels on earth, Jay. And demons, too.”

  He didn’t move.

  “Most of them are in spirit form, and you can’t see them,” I continued. “But twelve of the demons are in human bodies. They’re called the Dukes.”

  I looked at Marna’s pinched face, and she nodded for me to keep going. Jay was still in zombie mode.

  “Our fathers are two of the Dukes,” I whispered. “Same with Kai, and Kope, and Blake. We’re children of demons.”

  No reaction whatsoever.

  “We’re called Nephilim,” Marna said. “But we usually just say Neph.”

  Still he was unresponsive, eyes glazed. Marna looked worried.

  “We can prove it to you,” I said. “Come with me. We’ll leave our cell phones here. Marna, you stay here and listen, okay?”

  She nodded. I motioned for Jay to follow, and he did. We got into my car and drove down the street, almost a mile away. I felt his eyes boring into the side of my face the whole time. I stopped the car and parked.

  “Tell me something nobody else knows,” I said softly. “When we get back to your room, Marna will tell us what you said, because she can hear us right now.”

  “How can she hear us?”

  “We have supernatural abilities—heightened senses.”

  At first I didn’t think he’d play along. His eyes widened, but he was silent.

  “Uh . . .” He finally spoke, and his voice came out quiet and dry. “Okay. I used to dream of Marna when I was with Veronica. I always woke up feeling guilty, but I couldn’t help it. And I’m pretty sure I’m still dreaming now. Only it’s not such a good dream anymore.”

  Oh, Jay.

  “I know this is a lot to take in. I only found out when I was sixteen, and it’s still hard for me.”

  He looked at me now, really looked at me.

  “Angels and demons aren’t real, Anna. They can’t be.”

  “They are,” I whispered.

  He stared at me. “I just don’t get it. You’re both sweet. How can you be . . . part demon?”

  “We have urges, Jay. Worse than any human could understand.”

  “Urges.” He continued to study me.

  “Drugs and alcohol for me.” He sort of swayed backward as understanding rocked him. I kept going. “The twins deal with adultery—cheating. We’re meant to hurt people.”

  His brown eyes swelled while he pieced everything together. “The night I was deejaying . . . New Year’s Eve . . . when we . . .”

  “Yeah,” I said. “She saw a bond between you and Roni. There were demon spirits there watching, and she worked on you, but she liked you. Genuinely. And it says a lot that she loves you, now, completely single.”

  “She really loves me?”

  “The twins can see bonds. Ginger saw love between the two of you today.”

  Poor Jay. He looked so overwhelmed. His eyes shot to mine again.

  “Is Patti . . . ?”

  “No.” I shook my head. “She’s human. All the other Neph were raised by their fathers and Neph siblings, but my dad was in prison and I don’t have siblings.”

  “What about all the mothers?” he asked.

  I swallowed hard, feeling the burn behind my eyes again. I had to catch my breath.

  “They all died during childbirth, Jay.” I held his eyes, waiting for the terrible moment when he’d understand. “Earthly bodies aren’t made to be able to release a Nephilim soul.”

  “Even . . .” He stared down the street in the direction of his house.

  “Even Marna,” I whispered.

  “That’s why her sister’s so upset.”

  I watched Jay grow up in that moment. He sat up straighter, and his eyes cleared. He wore an expression of bravery. It was a sad and beautiful thing to see him so serious.

  “Take me back to her,” he said.

  I turned us around and did just that. He leaped from the car when I pulled into the driveway, and ran into his house. When I got to his room I found them sitting on the bed, Jay holding her, letting her cry into his chest until she quieted.

&nbs
p; “You dreamed of me?” she whispered.

  He kissed her forehead. “Yes.”

  Marna gazed up at him. “I can see that you’re afraid. But happy. Me, too.”

  “You can see it?” he asked.

  She pulled back and ran her fingers through the haze at his chest. “Your aura.”

  Jay shot me a questioning look.

  “We see emotions as colors,” I explained.

  “Anna can feel them, as well,” Marna added. “She’s different from the rest of us.”

  Jay raised his eyebrows, and I shrugged. He came forward and hugged me more gently than normal, like I was fragile. I squeezed him until he squeezed me back. I didn’t want him to treat me differently.

  He pulled away and stared down at me as if seeing me for the first time. “All along . . . you could always see this stuff? And you had, like, superpowers?”

  I dropped my eyes. The heightened senses had been a struggle for me. “It’s not as cool as it sounds. I’ve always hated it, and I’m still not so good at it.”

  “And Kai!” Jay’s eyes widened. “Duuuude . . .”

  “Yeah,” I said.

  “It’s all making sense now.”

  He sat on the bed next to Marna again. Their hands immediately linked. “So, what makes you different from them?” he asked me.

  “Their mothers were all human. My mother was a guardian angel. That’s why I can see the pregnancy when other Neph and the Dukes can’t. It’s an angel ability.”

  “Nuh-uh.” I saw in his eyes that his perception of me fully changed in that moment, from the silly, strange Anna he’d once known, to an Anna who elicited awe. “So, your mom was an angel, but your dad’s a demon?”

  “It’s complicated. They knew each other in heaven, before he became a demon.”

  Jay stared at me.

  “I’m still just me,” I promised him.

  “No . . . you’re more.”

  I shrugged again, embarrassed by the attention.

  “And wait,” he said. “There’s really guardian angels? Here on earth?”

  “Yes,” Marna said. “All humans have them.”

  Jay got still. “I have one?”

  Marna and I nodded, and then giggled as Jay’s head swiveled side to side, searching.

  “You can’t see him!” I said.

  “No way! No way!” He jumped up and spun now, looking right past his guardian angel, who stared down at him with a look of mirth on his celestial, misty face.

  “I think he’s laughing at you,” I said. Marna giggled and nodded.

  Jay went into spaz mode. “For real? I got a cool angel with a sense of humor!”

  “He loves you,” I told him. “He’s always watching over you.”

  “Like . . . as in, always always?” His eyebrows went up. Marna giggled again.

  “Yep,” I said.

  “Oh, man. This is crazy.” His face paled and he started babbling. “Holy crap. Demons. What do they do, exactly? Never mind. I probably don’t wanna know. I knew there was something messed up about your dads, but dang.”

  I didn’t want to talk about our fathers. Jay would learn soon enough about the demons. He’d have to know everything he was getting himself into. Even mentioning the demons gave me the creeps. Dark thoughts raced through my mind, followed closely by a tumbleweed of emotions.

  Jay was in danger.

  Marna had less than forty weeks to live.

  If the Dukes or whisperers found out about this baby, the child would be killed after birth.

  I pressed a hand to my chest. What were we going to do?

  “You all right, Anna?” Jay asked.

  I nodded and shot him a quick smile. “Yeah.”

  “Do you think your sister’s okay?” Jay asked Marna.

  Marna’s face darkened. “I’ve never seen her that upset. She’s always been protective of me, but this isn’t something she can save me from. I know she feels like the world is ending, but I need her now more than ever. If I give her a little time and space, maybe she’ll be okay. . . .”

  Marna met my eyes, and I could see we both knew. Ginger, the mama bear, would be wrecked by the loss of her twin. I couldn’t imagine the world without Marna, so I couldn’t begin to understand how it felt for Ginger.

  “I’ll talk to my dad and ask what he thinks we should do.”

  Jay jumped to his feet, a terrified look in his eyes. “You can’t tell him!”

  “Her dad is good,” Marna explained.

  We spent the next hour explaining everything to Jay. From meeting Kai, to my parents’ story, to the Great Purge when demons killed all the Neph, to Sister Ruth and the prophecy that said I’d rid the earth of demons. By the time I got to the events on the island, Jay looked ill.

  “Is there anywhere I can take the baby to be safe?”

  Those words made me dive forward and hug him, getting choked up.

  “Oh, my gosh. You’re going to be such a good daddy.”

  I heard Marna sniffle.

  “You’ll take good care of the baby, Jay,” she said. We were a mess.

  I wiped my eyes and thought.

  “We took Zania to a convent. What about a church? Demons avoid places where two or more people convene in prayer.”

  “I’m on it,” Jay said. “I’ll contact every church I can find and see if they have something, like a room to rent or a basement, or anything. I don’t know. I’ll figure out something.”

  Marna beamed up at him.

  “It’ll be okay,” he said to her. He sounded strong and sure.

  He sounded in love.

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  HarperCollins Publishers

  ..................................................................

  CHAPTER SIX

  LIE DETECTOR

  Like every other night in the hotels, I couldn’t sleep well. I spent a lot of time begging for peace and clarity, and now I had the Marna situation on my mind, too. I couldn’t think too hard about losing her. I just couldn’t. I wanted so badly to talk to Kai about it, but for all I knew he was flanked by whisperers at any given time.

  I wanted to cry with relief that night when I received a text from my father.

  Where are you?

  I gave him the name of the hotel and the city: Marietta, Georgia.

  I waited, but he didn’t respond. After an hour I was starting to get worried, and considered leaving the hotel in case someone else had gotten ahold of my father’s phone. Just as I was shoving stuff into my bag, I heard a familiar, gritty voice in my head.

  Greetings, daughter of Belial.

  I’d gotten good at controlling my reactions, even while my innards liquefied with fright.

  Azael, I responded telepathically.

  He peered down at me, his heavy feline features fixed in an intense glare. My pulse slowed as I watched our spirit ally, but my nerves were still shot as I waited to hear his news.

  You will have Nephilim visitors. Be careful what you say.

  Neph visitors? Oh, heck no. I shoved the last of my things into the bag and ran to the door as Azael flew away. I lost my cool, letting out a scream when I swung the door open and found two people standing there—a young girl with dark, slicked-back hair, and a blond man with sharp cheekbones and icy eyes. Both had black badges at their sternums.

  “Going somewhere?” the girl asked in a high-pitched voice, her accent replacing w sounds with v’s and rolling her r’s. Her identity hit me with a sickening slap.

  Caterina. Daughter of Jezebet, the Duke of Lies.

  I fought to control my breathing. Caterina may have looked young and harmless, but I knew better. Up close, the evil glint in her eyes made my stomach turn. She had no idea I’d been hiding under the dock on Duke Melchom’s private island. She had no idea I had witnessed the part she’d played in the death of Flynn. She was the one who’d told the Dukes he was lying.

  “What do you want?” I asked.

  “We aren’t her
e to hurt you.” The man’s accent was thick and European, sounding something like Russian to my untrained ear.

  “Who are you?” I asked.

  “I am Marek, son of Shax. From Czech Republic.” Son of the Duke of Theft. I held the shoulder strap of my bag a little tighter as he continued. “And this is Caterina, daughter of Jezebet, from Romania.”

  He smiled warmly. She didn’t.

  “What do you guys want?” I asked again.

  I had to be careful, just as Azael had said. Caterina could sense lies and she was absolutely no friend to fellow Neph.

  “We just want to talk,” Marek said, never losing the pleasant smile. “May we come in?”

  I remembered back to last week when I’d seen Dad in L.A. He’d mentioned looking into the possibility of the son of Shax being an ally. That made me feel slightly better . . . but only a smidge. For a possible ally, he didn’t keep very good company.

  “I was just leaving. We can talk outside.”

  The last thing I wanted was to be stuck in a room with them. I felt the light weight of the knife in my pocket, though I didn’t like the two-against-one odds.

  They crowded the doorway, but I pushed my way out. The door was almost closed behind me when Caterina slapped her tiny palm to my chest.

  “We prefer to speak in the room,” she said.

  I smacked her hand away on instinct and yanked the door shut.

  “Sorry, but I prefer to speak outside.”

  “You are not sorry,” she scoffed.

  Dang it. Stupid lie detector. I’d have to watch every word I said around her.

  “Fine. I’m not sorry.”

  “It’s all right, Caterina.” Marek smiled at me. “You can hardly blame her for being cautious, yes?”

  He gave her a look that said something along the lines of Chill out, you’re scaring her. She rolled her eyes and started moving to the exit door down the hall. She looked like a soldier the way she marched in her black pants and stiff button-up white shirt.

  “Come on then,” she called brusquely.

  Marek shot me an apologetic glance and waved a hand out for me to go next. I went, looking over my shoulder at him several times with distrust. I had the hilt inside my bag since I was wearing shorts, and I wasn’t letting his stealthy hands anywhere near it.