“Saying it won’t make it true.”
“But—”
“Whatever,” she said, dismissing the conversation.
I clenched my teeth, aggravated that she wouldn’t believe me. “Here’s something I don’t get: why do you care so much for someone who has disowned you?”
“She hasn’t—”
“Oh, is that right? You don’t remember how she swore at you, how she said you ruined her life?”
“She didn’t mean it. She was angry.”
“No,” Celestina. “A mother may get upset, and okay, if she’s really pissed off, she might make a mistake and swear at her daughter. But under no circumstances will she ever…ever…say giving birth to her ruined her life. Not if she loves her. A mother who cares will never say that. Besides, you told me you trust me more than her. What does that tell you?”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” she yelled at me, so angry her veins stood out in her neck. “You had a mom and she didn’t want you. Your Granny raised you, so you don’t know what it’s like to have a mother.”
“And that’s where you’re wrong,” I said. “It’s true, my mother didn’t want me, but if Grams never talked to me that way, then why would it be okay for a mother to talk that way to her child? You’re wrong, Celestina. You won’t win this argument. I’m sorry, your mom treated you that way. She shouldn’t have, but I think once Delphine died, your mom lost it. She went over the edge, and I don’t see her coming back.”
“You’re wrong,” she started. “You don’t know—”
“I don’t know your mother?” I asked. “You’re right. A few days ago, she promised never to lie to me, and because I didn’t know her, I gave her the benefit of the doubt. And you know what? That’s all she’s done since.”
“She wouldn’t do that. She—”
“Just like she wouldn’t swear at you? Like she wouldn’t say you ruined her life? Your mom doesn’t regret saying it. She truly feels that way.”
Celestina didn’t respond. The excitement upon discovering her physical transformation had disappeared. Tears now stood in her eyes.
The silence made me realize she’d wound me up to such a degree that I was gasping for air. I’d raised my voice way too loud, and I’d hurt her feelings in the process. One part of me despised my actions, while the other felt justified in telling my niece the truth. However, I needed to change the subject. After twenty seconds of silence and working to regain my composure, I said, “Let’s go back to when you saw Delphine. What did she say when you asked her about stopping me from—”
“Killing mom?” answered Celestina in a bratty tone. She rubbed the moisture that tipped out of her eyes, and a freaky smile made her lips lift upwards.
It almost seemed as though she’d been waiting for another chance to return to this subject, so she could stick her defiance into my face. Nevertheless, I’d asked the question, so I had to expect some resistance. In my silence, I felt more than saw Nolan looking at me with a pleading look as he shook his head, begging me off the subject. I’d never seen him look so vulnerable, so distraught. “Okay,” I said to my niece, “what did Delphine say? How could we prevent your mother from dying?”
“Granny said I’d need to kill you.”
Breathless, my jaw popped open as I stared at her in the mirror. Although I looked for the cute kid I treasured, I couldn’t find her. In her place sat a young woman who had seen tragedy, expected more to come, and exercised her powers on those she cared about, which prompted her to fortify her heart from exposing her true feelings.
That hurt me because ordinarily her heart shined so brightly. But not now, not when she suspected that I’d break my promise. For that reason, I actually scrutinized my niece for any indication that she had considered ending my life. But she'd put up a wall that prevented me from reading her thoughts or feelings.
“So,” I said, “you asked three questions, all of which were answered.” Just as I approached a yellow light with no oncoming vehicles headed my way, I cut a quick left and hit the accelerator.
“Thanks for the advance warning,” said Nolan.
“Sorry.” I looked in my rearview, but sure enough, Alexis had also made the turn with ease. I shouldn’t have expected a clean getaway, not this late at night with so little traffic. I looked at Celestina. “So you couldn’t take a book through the wall, but you can take a person with you?”
“It doesn’t seem logical,” Nolan admitted. “Think about it. What would stop me from sending a car through a wall or even a plane? My gut tells me until I learn more about this ability, I can only send something that breathes through a wall or barrier. Why? I have no clue.”
I’d relied on my instincts often throughout my life, and doing so had served me well, so I couldn’t knock his explanation. “So rather than leave the book, you burned it?”
“Why not?” asked Celestina. “I already know everything.”
Oh yeah, she’s definitely a teenager!
I decided not to mention her difficulty with reading comprehension. “If you do, then why did you ask how to kill Zephora? Delphine said the answer was in the book.”
“It’s not,” my niece said emphatically.
“But she said—”
Celestina cut me off. “It doesn’t matter what she said. She was lying.”
“If the person who owns the book gets to ask three questions, the answers should be correct, right? Otherwise, why bother?”
“Aunt Serena?” Her eyes contained no familiarity, nor the least bit of affection. “She was lying.”
I didn’t want to get into the practice of submitting to my niece, no matter how many abilities she had or how much power she could access. “That’s not an explanation. That’s an opinion. Tell me why you feel that way. Make me understand.”
Celestina pursed her lips, annoyed to have to explain the “obvious” to an elder. “Was Granny a good person?”
“No,” I admitted. “Plus, she was a terrible mother.”
“Exactly. So why do you think she’d be any nicer now?”
My niece had lived with Delphine for years. She knew my mother better than anyone on the planet, including Alexis, who overlooked our mother’s shortcomings in attempting to gain more power and influence over others. For that reason, I needed to trust Celestina. “Point taken.”
“And accepted,” added Nolan. He pointed to the right. “Take this street.”
I veered quickly, evened out the car, and sped down the street. Soon after, however, I watched Alexis take the turn and speed up to remain close behind. “I thought Delphine would be different because she’s either in heaven or hell and she’s—”
“In hell,” Celestina answered for me.
This discussion reminded me of the visit Grams had paid me, so I told Celestina and Nolan about it. “I got the impression that once our ancestors go beyond the veil, they communicate and—”
“Really, Aunt Serena? The witches from our line all get together, eat popcorn, and play video games?”
“That’s the PG version,” I said, thinking they’d more likely drink wine and watch Magic Mike. Then again, since they weren’t corporeal, I doubted they were able to consume anything. I glanced at the fuel gauge and was shocked to discover I probably only had another gallon left in the tank. My pulse drummed in my head. My thoughts swirled without the ability to latch onto any ideas that would allow us to exit this predicament.
Nolan scoffed. “The witches in your line had been adding entries to the book for centuries, so why wouldn’t they explain how they captured Zephora’s soul in the box?” He shook his head, dissatisfied. “We’re missing something.”
“We’re not, okay?” shouted Celestina, pressing herself between the front seats. “Why don’t you believe me? Do you think I’m lying? Do you think I’m just an idiot? What’s your fucking problem?”
“Hey!” I shouted, unsurprised by her anger, but startled that she’d cursed. “That language? Not here, Celestina.
” I glared at her in the rearview mirror. “Not with me. Not ever. You understand?”
She looked off to the right behind her, unwilling to hear me set the tone for our relationship.
“Hey,” I shouted once more. “Do you understand?’”
With baited breath, still with her head in the other direction, she nodded.
As much as I hated to hear my niece disrespect me, I also knew teenagers tested boundaries but actually needed them. Therefore, I didn’t say another word about her outburst and allowed her to save face. Regarding her assertion that no information existed in The Book of Souls about how to banish Zephora’s soul back into the box, I believed that Celestina told the truth.
“What now?” asked Nolan. “We’re no better off now than when we took off from Celestina’s house.”
“You’re right,” I admitted. “We can’t keep running. I’ve got to end this.” Now on the north side of Chicago, I pulled onto West Addison Avenue, heading toward Cumberland. I could take that street toward the expressway, but Alexis would remain on my tail until I ran out of gas. To escape that predicament without ending up dead, intuition told me to get off the road sooner rather than later. Not only that, but I’d need to face my sister alone. If Zephora remained at her side, I’d be unable to defeat both at the same time. As that thought formed, my niece’s accusations punctured my mind. How could I avoid the preordained?
“I’m getting out,” I told Nolan. “Drive Celestina somewhere safe. Protect her. Don’t let them try to control her.”
“Where are you going?” he asked with a sidelong gaze, revealing that he didn’t want me to leave.
“My sister and Zephora want to kill me. I’ve got to face them.”
“Are you nuts?” he asked, incredulous. He sat upright and turned to face me, intensity burning bright in his eyes. “There’s gotta be another way.”
The cushions popped in the backseat as Celestina edged closer to the front seat. “No, I’m coming with you.”
As I passed Plainfield Street, I said to Nolan, “Drive away, get some gas, and look for my next text message.” I met Celestina’s gaze. “If I can’t make your mom see reason, then…” I didn’t have an alternate plan. Pretty pathetic! “Once I lose them, we’ll try to set your mom straight.” She met my stare with indignation. I tried not to let her anger disrupt my thoughts, but they did. I felt a connection with her that went beyond explanation, and it would never change. I just hoped she’d give me the benefit of the doubt that I fought alongside her and not against her.
As I came upon Panama Street, I screeched to a stop, jumped out, and said to Nolan, who jumped into the driver’s seat, “Wait for my text.” I considered popping the trunk and removing the Soul Sword, but I didn’t for a few reasons. First, it would give Alexis a chance to reach the car. She might drive right into me, pinning my body between my car and hers. I didn’t put too much faith in the scenario, but given Alexis’s ever-fluctuating demeanor, I couldn’t rule it out. Second, I planned to run and hide, only to take Alexis by surprise a short time later. If I had the sword, I wouldn’t be able to run quickly enough to put enough distance between us because it would be incredibly difficult to run while carrying a large sword. Finally, if a resident saw me running down a sidewalk or through the alley carrying a sword, that person would call the cops.
Therefore, I hurried around the hood and took off down Panama Street, hoping to run through some yards, and allow my physical endurance to put some distance between Alexis and Zephora. With a glance over my shoulder, I spotted Alexis running after me, hot on my trail. It seemed I’d underestimated her stamina. I’d forgotten that she’d spent plenty of time at the gym. I hoped I could put enough space between us to set my plan into action. Despite that, I suspected my scheme fit my imagination better than actuality.
CHAPTER TWENTY
I pushed my legs hard, racing along single-story homes built of brick until I cut a left through a sidewalk halfway down the street, hoping the change in direction would slow down my sister. No such luck. Despite her dependence upon alcohol, she had spent so much time in the gym perfecting her body tone for her job at the strip club that she’d probably not even raised her heartbeat since she’d left her vehicle.
Regardless, I hadn’t seen Zephora following us, so I had to assume she’d continued after Nolan. However, because she had limited experience driving in the 21st Century, and since she’d only driven once after arriving from beyond the veil since her last incarnation in the Roaring Twenties, I suspected she’d soon give up and drive through the neighborhood in hopes of picking up Alexis.
If I guessed right, I’d only be facing Alexis, which based on Celestina’s visions might not end as I’d hoped.
I ran alongside a sidewalk on the right side of the house until I came upon a small rectangular patch of grass after which lay a garage. I passed it up, burst through an open gate and whipped it shut to put even more time and distance between Alexis and I, before emerging into an alley. Rather than stand there and consider which direction I should go, I darted to the right.
Not hearing Alexis approach the gate behind me, I ran alongside two more garage doors before hanging a left. I unlatched the lock on an eight-foot tall wooden gate, and entered the backyard.
A dog barked about fifty yards ahead, but rather than deal with the beast, I stuck my shoes into the solid grey fence to my right and jumped it with ease. I entered a different yard that had contained a wooden fence on the other side of the yard. It appeared the owner had just begun transitioning from a metal fence to a wooden one. Beyond the in-ground pool straight ahead in their backyard, I heard another rumbling groan from the throat of yet one more dog. How many residents left their dogs outside this late at night? This area was far from a high crime neighborhood. Regardless, the beasts hadn’t raced after the unseen racket, revealing at least two owners had tethered their dog leashes to their homes, preventing them from cutting loose and roaming the yard at will.
Rather than contemplate the issue, since I couldn’t do anything about it, I crept alongside the garage, trying to remain as silent as possible. After all, because one dog had already begun barking, he might wake up its owners (and neighbors), not to mention aggravate the canine in this yard.
Judging by a quick glimpse and the sound of the mutt, I pegged him as a German shepherd. They were a determined and tenacious breed. Since the animal had a full-throated bark, the dog was probably in his prime: too quick to outrun and too robust to defeat without a weapon. Although he’d raised his neck, he still lay on the ground. Why hadn’t he gotten to his feet? Maybe he had poor vision?
Given the time of night and that only a few lampposts stretched across the alley, which might allow me to use the darkness to hide from the German shepherd and Alexis, I pressed my spine against the garage’s brick siding and remained silent, even going so far as to not breathe more than necessary. I slid my back alongside the surface, hoping not to brush my feet against the grass, much less branches or leaves.
After two steps, however, my foot slid across a branch that scraped against the garage.
The chain collar on the German shepherd rattled. His toenails slashed against the wooden deck up ahead as he got up on all fours to scan the perimeter.
I didn’t need to poke my head in his direction to know he’d sensed a disturbance in my direction. I took even breaths in order to make the least amount of noise as possible.
The dog next door either heard the clamor or sensed the German shepherd’s alertness because it let out a half-bark, unsure whether whatever made noise nearby deserved a full-throated acknowledgement.
Cursing my bad luck, I tilted my head to the right, listening for any indication Alexis had cut the distance between us. I didn’t hear a thing, probably because she’d also heard the dogs and didn’t want to trigger their suspicion and encourage them to hurry in her direction.
The humid yet somewhat cool air sifted around me, ensuring that all of the running I’d done resulted in m
y sending plumes of moisture out of my mouth every time I exhaled. I measured my breaths, trying to reduce the amount of visibility that each gasp might send forth.
Neither dog made another sound, but I presumed they still surveyed the area for any sound or movement.
From behind me, I heard pebbles skid across the pavement. Alexis had arrived.
If I moved forward, the German shepherd would hunt me down. If I turned back toward the alley, my sister would confront me. I couldn’t head to my right because it featured a seven-foot tall wooden fence, and I couldn’t scale it because the fence was smooth and didn’t have any footholds in order for me to push off on and enter the next yard. I could run to my left and jump the metal fence before the German shepherd tracked me down, but I’d still need to face the dog next door that wasn’t tied up would no doubt have tracked my progress, giving him enough time to meet me once I landed into his yard.
I’d boxed myself in.
With Alexis closing in and the hounds on high alert, I was short of breath despite having stood in place for the last twenty seconds. I leaned against the garage wall…only to discover that ridges molded against my spine. I half-turned around, eager to find out why ridges pressed into my back.
Behind me, a thick, vertical wire-mesh trellis reached from the top to the bottom of the wall, where a plethora of plants reached up to the top of the rectangular flat surface garage that extended twelve feet in the air. Without a second thought, I spun around silently, plugged a foot into an open spot of the trellis and pulled myself up. I wavered for a moment, sending my heartbeat thundering in my chest, but I’d managed to snag hold of the wooden shakes on the roof, allowing me to maintain my balance.
While tempted to examine the area for some way to propel myself on top of the garage, I negated the possibility because the lamppost didn’t shine light on this area, making it difficult to determine if there were any aspects of the roof to clutch onto in order to pull myself up. Besides, doing so would allow uncertainty to take hold of my mind, resulting in making too much noise and freezing in place, and falling to the ground. Soon afterwards, the German shepherd would bark like crazy and Alexis would pounce on me.
Bloodstone Page 24