And then the reality finally sank in. He had a sister. He wasn’t alone anymore.
Chapter Fifteen: Fears Realized
It had been a long night. It was just before sunrise now, and they both knew they weren’t going to get any sleep. So they took Will’s Suzuki and cruised into the U District to Java Jungle, a pre-Starbucks relic of a coffee shop favored by old hippies and other fringe dwellers who preferred the funky vibe and mismatched furniture to the sheen and gleam of the franchise shops. This morning it was quiet and almost empty. They both had straight coffee served in thick, chipped old porcelain mugs.
“Tell me about the shedemons,” Will said as he drank.
“Is that what you’re calling them?”
“It’s as good a name as any.”
Loreli nodded and took a sip of her coffee, then added more sugar. “They serve him unquestioningly. Their allegiance is total.”
“Like every other demon,” said Will.
“Yeah, except their dedication is a little more intense. They not only will die for him, they want to die for him. It’s like it’s a . . . privilege or something. So they can be reborn bigger and better from the demon dead someday when the Dark Lord opens the portal. They’re kind of like the Satanic version of nuns. They’re totally celibate, ‘married’ only to the Dark Lord.”
“Where did they come from? I’ve seen demons all over the country, but never any like them. It’s like they’re . . . supersized or something.”
“It’s the methamphetamine. When they’re high on it, they’re crazy out of control. Rocco Manelli, he’s the big dog at our school, the Alpha demonteen. He recruits them, runs the whole drug ring. I was trying to infiltrate his pack when you showed up at the party. He hangs out down below.”
“In the Under City,” said Will.
“Yeah. How do you know about it?” asked Loreli.
“I have a . . . friend, who had an encounter with the shedemons. They took him to the Under City. He said he saw the Dark Lord’s body.”
“Just like in our dreams, and in my drawing.”
“Yeah.”
Will had a surge of hope. From what Loreli had said about Rocco, that door in the club would lead Will to the Under City. If he could get through it, he could go and finish the beast off for good.
“I’m going down there,” he said, almost to himself. “I’m going to find the Dark Lord’s body and blow it to smithereens.”
“Too messy,” said Loreli in disagreement. “Acid. I’d use acid. There’s a special batch I made that can eat through hardened steel.”
They drank their coffee.
Lorelai mused, “Killing the Dark Lord . . . our father. We’ve certainly got our work cut out for us.”
Will stiffened. He should have realized this was where their conversation was leading.
“Listen, Loreli, I know you’re more than able to take care of yourself. And your flash bombs and everything are awesome. But I work solo. There’s no ‘us’ here.”
Loreli’s cheeks flushed with anger.
“Excuse me, but you’re not going to play me like that. You can take your solo act and shove it. There is an ‘us,’ whether you like it or not. And if you’re planning to make him pay, you’re gonna have to find him first. I know the area, and the people. You don’t. You need my help.”
Will opened his wallet and pulled out a few twenties, and put them on the table in front of Loreli. “Look, I think you’d better let me take care of it. Those are for a taxi. I’ll let you know when it’s done.”
He stood up and started moving toward his bike. He made it all the way out the door before Loreli raced around lightning fast and stood in his path.
“You’re crazy if you think you can just ditch me like this,” she said, clamping her hand on his arm.
“I need to go do this alone.”
“I never wanted a partner either. But when you saved my life tonight it made me think. It made me think that this was all meant to happen this way. You and me. Together.”
Will shook his head, but Loreli grabbed his wrist tighter.
“Will, there’s a reason why we found each other.”
Will wavered. His whole life he’d been a lone wolf. But then again, back in Harrisburg, Natalie had pulled his ass from the fire, and that was without any training or super-human abilities. He couldn’t totally discount the value of having an ally, especially one as skilled as Loreli. But he’d just met her, and she was used to working alone, too. Could he really trust her in a fight like the one they’d be walking into?
“My whole life I’ve been in this thing alone,” Loreli said. “And then you come along. It’s got to mean something.”
Loreli couldn’t hold back any longer, and she moved closer to Will and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him. She held him tightly and whispered in his ear: “We’re in this together. We’re family.”
She had tears in her eyes. And so, Will realized, did he.
Natalie had been driving the BMW around Seattle for hours. She refused to go back to the house until she was sure Will was okay, and he still wasn’t answering her texts. If he was hurt somewhere and she didn’t find him, she’d never forgive herself. But she needed caffeine.
Turning the corner to a coffee shop Will had taken them to when they first arrived in Seattle, Natalie saw Will first—she’d recognize his big strong back anywhere—and she felt relief wash through her. He’s alive, he’s okay! But then her heart stopped as Will shifted, revealing a scene that punched Natalie in the gut. Not only was he with her, they were hugging. The image burned like acid. Natalie saw Loreli’s face, saw her arms around Will, saw her perfect lips gently brushing his cheek, saw her whispering in his ear. Natalie’s world seesawed back and forth and she lost control of the car. She swerved, slamming on the brakes, tires screaming, and the BMW skidded into the parking lot, punching into Will’s Suzuki, totally mangling it.
Emily, who had been dozing in the passenger seat, let out a shriek. “I knew this was a bad idea! Geez, Nat, what happened?”
“Dammit!” said Natalie, slamming her fist into the steering wheel.
“Well, this is messed up,” said Rudy from the backseat, surrounded by Dick’s Drive-In cheeseburger wrappers from their 2 A.M. stop.
“Gee, ya think, Einstein?” Emily snapped. She looked like she was ready to slug him.
Natalie’s anger ebbed and she shrank into the seat as Will stormed toward the BMW, Loreli a few steps behind him. When he opened the door, she thought he was about to yank her out and shake her but he just spoke to her evenly.
“Are you all right?” he said.
Natalie nodded slowly. She felt like a fool and wanted to tell him so. But her eyes had found Loreli and were locked in on her. She couldn’t pull them away. Loreli was unreadable, her expression a perfectly blank canvas as she took everything in. Watching as the pathetic jealous girlfriend makes a self-indulgent scene, Natalie thought. It was a nightmare.
Will looked at Emily and Rudy. “You guys okay?”
“I’m okay, Will,” said Emily.
“I’m fine, dude, but your bike . . .” said Rudy. Will didn’t even bother looking at the Suzuki.
“What are you doing out here?” Will asked Natalie.
“We were just . . . you said you’d text me, and . . .” Natalie’s voice trailed off. “I was worried,” she said lamely. She still couldn’t stop looking at Loreli, who was smiling now. Probably laughing at Natalie.
“My cell phone is broken,” Will said tiredly. “You didn’t have to panic.” He shook his head and glared at Rudy. “And Rudy, I told you to stay put.”
“I know, man, but Dick’s . . . their cheeseburgers, they just call out a siren song to me, you know?”
Will thought over his options. The best course of action right now was to calm down and get off the streets.
“Get in the back, I’m driving,” he said to Natalie.
“What about your bike?” she asked.
“Forge
t about it,” said Will. He could buy ten more just like it and throw them all off a cliff and not care. He opened the back door and firmly guided Natalie into the car. Then he turned to Loreli.
“Get in, I’ll give you a lift home.” He held the door open for her. She hesitated, looking at Natalie.
“Are you sure?”
“Just get in.”
Loreli offered Natalie a friendly smile as she climbed in next to her, but Natalie had trouble returning it. They were only a few miles from Loreli’s house, and Will drove frighteningly fast. But the ride seemed to last forever. Loreli and Natalie sat side by side. Natalie shuddered—she didn’t want to be touching her, but she couldn’t help it because Rudy was a seat hog. Loreli broke the silence.
“So . . . you guys are all new at LBJ, right?”
Natalie stiffened. Even her voice was beautiful, like a seraph’s. This girl, this creature who’d had her arms around Will, was a nightmare.
“Yeah. I’m Rudy,” said Rudy, “and that’s Emily up front, and this is Natalie,” he said, hooking a thumb toward her. “They’re twins,” he added.
Loreli laughed. “Gee, I hadn’t noticed. Listen, it’s great to meet you guys.”
“The pleasure’s all ours,” said Rudy.
An icy silence followed. Natalie leaned her head back against the backseat. She could smell Loreli’s musky perfume.
“Listen, I know how hard it is being new and all, and well, if any of you need anything, feel free to give me a shout, okay?” said Loreli.
Rudy smiled like he’d won the lottery. “Oh yeah! Tiiiiight!”
Natalie clenched and unclenched her fists. The perfume was making her feel nauseous. Up in the front seat, Emily turned on the radio. Loud. In another moment, they arrived at Loreli’s house and she got out.
“It was really nice meeting you guys. Any friends of Will are friends of mine.”
Natalie closed her eyes. Emily sighed.
Loreli then spoke to Will in a low tone. “Walk me to my front door?”
Will shut off the Beemer and escorted Loreli to her front door. Rudy was bouncing in his seat to the music and staring at Loreli.
“Man, are you kidding me? She is smokin’ hot!”
Natalie and Emily both turned and stared daggers at him. He wilted.
“Well, excuse me. But she is . . .” he muttered.
At her front door, Loreli touched Will on the arm.
“I’m going down there tomorrow night. I mean, tonight.” She looked up into the sky, at the sun just coming up and the sky turning from a dark purple to a dull gray. “I want you to come with me. Meet me at First and Yesler at 10:30. Okay?”
Will sighed. “Let me think about it.”
She shrugged. “Suit yourself. I’m going with or without you. But I can help you, Will. It makes sense for us to do this thing together.”
“I’ll see you at school,” he said. Then he turned and walked back to the BMW.
“Thanks for the ride,” she called after him.
The BMW drove away and Loreli whispered to the gray morning, “Brother . . .”
On the drive home, Will kept checking the rearview mirror, but Natalie wouldn’t return his gaze; she’d only stare out the window and watch the raindrops smear the city as it went by. He’d ignored her before, and two could play that game. She was trying to let her anger give her strength. But the truth was that she didn’t know how to handle this. She’d always been so certain of her relationship with Will. Relationship. That’s what they had, wasn’t it? Right now she wasn’t convinced. In fact, it felt like her world was crumbling around her. She touched something on the seat beside her. It was a tube of lip-gloss. It must have fallen out of Loreli’s pocket. Natalie’s fingers wrapped around the tube and she squeezed it angrily. She reached over to power down her window and was about to toss it out—she pictured it landing in the gutter, pictured Loreli landing in the gutter, rolling like a corpse—but at the last second she changed her mind and slipped it into her pocket instead.
Once at home, Will led everyone inside.
“It’s been a long night. Try to get a couple of hours of sleep,” he said. “We’ll go into school late.”
Exhausted, Rudy and Emily trudged upstairs. But Natalie waited, and when Will tried to walk past she stopped him.
“I have a question, and I’m only going to ask it once,” she said.
She was acting tough, but her eyes were red with pain. They spoke to him in their familiar way; they were pleading with him. Will wanted to take her in his arms, wanted to tell her everything about Loreli so she wouldn’t worry, wouldn’t suffer needlessly. But he’d sworn on his blood not to betray Loreli, swore he wouldn’t reveal her secret to anyone. And he would keep his word.
Maybe this was a good thing. He knew he couldn’t have a future with Natalie, and that he had to convince her to let him go, for her sake. Maybe letting her believe something was going on with Loreli was the only way to do that, no matter how great her present pain. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her. But what if hurting her meant saving her? What if hurting her made it so that she would get over him and go on to live a regular life, even find love with some guy whose blood wasn’t polluted? He straightened his spine, hardened his heart, and spoke without emotion.
“I’m listening,” he said.
She faltered. His eyes were vacant and the tone of his voice was foreign and almost cruel—he was like some guy she’d never even known, let alone the boy she’d fallen head over heels in love with—and it stabbed like a knife. But she made herself go on, so hurt and angry she was shaking.
“What’s going on with her, Will? Who is she to you?”
Will looked away. “That’s not something you and I are going to discuss. Go upstairs and get some sleep.”
He turned and headed into the lab, leaving Natalie staring after him. She felt like she’d just fallen off the planet and was tumbling through space. She climbed the spiral staircase in a daze. Once in her room, she locked the door behind her and closed the drapes. She sat down in front of her vanity, staring at herself in the mirror. How had this happened? Even if Will had fallen out of love with her, how could he treat her that way, like her questions weren’t even worth answering? His dead eyes had wounded her in ways she never knew existed. I will not cry, she told herself. And in that moment, she did not. She was in too much shock; the pain was too great. Her hands shook. Her insides churned. If she cried now, she was afraid the tears would never stop.
She told herself that whatever was happening, she would handle it. She’d battled demons, for God’s sake! Maybe he was just tired. He’d been out all night, too (with her). And taking the BMW out to look for him had been a mistake. He was probably angry. She just needed to put it in the past. Loreli was new, but Natalie and Will had a history. Natalie had to keep her wits about her and not let jealousy take over her brain, and she’d be fine. They’d be fine.
She took her jacket off and the tube of Loreli’s lip-gloss fell onto the floor. Natalie stared at it a long time, as if it were the only thing in the room, before she picked it up. It felt hot to the touch. She unscrewed the cap and pulled out the applicator. The liquid gloss shined brightly, even in the dim light of the room. Her hand trembling, she touched the wand to her lips, gently applying the purloined gloss. When she was done, she looked in the mirror. Her lips weren’t just beautiful, they were intoxicating. She couldn’t take her eyes off them. They felt hot, and the heat spread from her lips to her mouth to her cheeks, her throat, her brain. Her body flushed with the heat. It felt good. She imagined Will looking at her lips with longing. In her mind, he was standing behind her now and put a gentle hand on her shoulder, then tilted her chin up. Her head was spinning, her mind churning, her brain tumbling. She melted into his arms. Her vision blurred. Dizzy, she held on to the side of the vanity, then toppled over, collapsing onto the plush carpeting.
In his lab, Will worked on some of his high-tech weapons and then inputted the day an
d night’s exploits into his Demon Hunter game while the others napped. He included the fight in the J & M basement as well as the skirmish in the cemetery, but omitted his scrap with Loreli. He saw that Jade16 had logged on and was racking up kills and points. He would have to speak to Loreli about that. It wasn’t good for business to have one player totally outclassing everyone else. The closer the front-runners were to the rest of the pack, the better the sales, and sales were what kept Will’s bank account full.
He thought about whether he should go down to the Under City with Loreli. He believed that she wanted the Dark Lord dead just as much as he did, but that was the problem: they might get in each other’s way. He made his decision. He would tell her at school that he’d go with her that night, but it would be a lie. Instead, he’d go right away. That would give him a head start, and he would go down on his own. Maybe he could even kill the Dark Lord before school got out. He did an inventory of his arsenal and decided which weapons he would take. When he had his cache assembled, he sat down in a lotus position on a mat on the floor and meditated.
Natalie was lying flat on her back on the carpet. She opened her eyes and looked up. Above her, the ceiling was a swirling galaxy of sparkling stars. Her brain thrummed with thoughts and emotions and imagery, her heart pumping furiously, her temperature rising. Stumbling into the bathroom, she threw up. Was she getting the flu? She half-wondered if it was her jealousy that was causing her sudden sickness. She drank some water and that seemed to help, but her world was still tilting as she made her way back into the bedroom. Feeling like her skin was on fire, she peeled off her clothes and crawled into bed, tossing off everything except one sheet, which she pulled up to her neck. She closed her eyes.
The Rising Page 17