“O-okay … I-I must, then, i-if you … if you really n-need me to,” Thorn murmured to himself. He reminded her of a child even though he had to have been in his twenties. “I-I am the source o-of m-my masters’ powers.”
Odette blinked rapidly. What? Him? How?
The man continued on. “S-Seven years ago … Master Jethro f-found a book. A da-dangerous book that … that should have not been given t-to humans at all. He l-learned a way to en-enslave a holy creature … and that is what I am. An angel who must serve the Mages family until the e-end of time. B-But, because I am here, I am c-considered fallen.” Large crocodile tears welled up in his good eye and spilled down his cheeks.
The hairs on Odette’s arms stood on end. Thorn, the man whom she thought to be the world’s largest crybaby, could not have been an angel. And Jethro? A dangerous book? The man was old, yes, but he didn’t seem to be crazy enough to try occult things.
“That’s impossible,” she whispered.
“It’s true!” Thorn insisted. “I-I can change my form but th-this is th-the one I am b-bound to. I-I helped m-master look over … look over you at night. Even be-before you k-knew my masters, I-I was gi-given the task t-to see wh-who the new family was.”
Her mouth tasted sour. Something had been watching her. It didn’t make her feel better knowing that the thing that had been there was the stuttering angel. What good could that have done? Not that she believed his story.
“Impossible,” she said to herself. She was on autopilot, feeling far too detached from this situation. She should be screaming or running. He thought he was an angel—that had to make him certifiable. And the part where he said Grayson was involved in something that he shouldn’t be. Was this it? Was this slavery? Were angels technically an oppressed race? Her head hurt thinking about it.
“I-it isn’t, though. Yo-you just need to … need to be involved in some d-dark things,” Thorn said. He looked like he was trying to be helpful with an almost dopey smile but it only served to creep her out more.
She could see her hands shaking before she felt it. “What kind of dark stuff?”
Did she really want to know? Oh, she really hoped that she would forget everything when she woke up. Her nerves were already shot, she didn’t need this.
Thorn could see her apprehension and frowned. “Black m-magic. The occult.”
Odette felt strangely relieved at this. For some reason, she believed that it would be something so much worse. The occult … and then, the surreality of the situation hit her. She was actually considering what he said—no, not even him, but a dream version of him. Something her mind made up! She couldn’t help but laugh. How could she believe anything that he said? How could she know that she wasn’t making it all up in her mind, no matter how real the dream might have felt or the strange things that seemed like they might be true?
She closed her eyes. “This is just a dream.”
Really, she wasn’t sure anymore. It felt real but not at the same time. In her mind, she felt so disconnected from reality. The place, however, was too vivid and she couldn’t control what came next. She was at the mercy of a dream-invading angel … or was she? It was starting to hurt her head even worse, thinking about the endless possibilities of it.
“This is just a dream,” she said again, firmly this time. “And I’m going to wake up now.”
Thorn’s figure swirled like it was being sucked through a whirlpool. The entire landscape drained through him and it was macabre. It was as though the world was being eaten or sucked of its life. Color went first, then all distinguishable shapes. Things were twisting and morphing; things that looked like faces of monsters or of nightmares surrounded her, and yet she stayed the same.
Odette was left floating in an endless twisting vortex. She clamped her hands over her head in an attempt to still it all but nothing worked. She wasn’t in control. The spinning didn’t even stop when she was in her own bed. The sheets were twisted up around her feet, restricting her movement, and sweat poured from every pore in her body.
Odette let out an involuntary moan of pain, clawing at the bed covers to get herself in a semi-comfortable position, but nothing was stopping the spinning. Her breaths came out in short, deep pants. She needed something—a doctor, preferably. Someone who could make it stop.
If it didn’t stop, Odette was nearly positive that she would begin to retch.
In the midst of all the agonizing spinning, she could feel pain bubble up behind her eyes and in her chest. Her heart was fluttering uncomfortably, clenching up every few seconds. Her muscles weakened and, one by one, her fingers were forcibly relaxed. The ever familiar feeling of being trapped inside of her body was nothing short of terrifying. Seconds later, her eyes rolled back into her head and she lost consciousness.
“NOT LEAVING HER!”
“YOU’LL HAVE TO AT SOME POINT! THERE’S NOTHING YOU CAN DO FOR THIS GIRL, GRAYS! ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!”
Something shattered violently. It was enough to wake Odette up from her episode, and she felt surprisingly normal aside from the crippling exhaustion that sank deep into her bones and the soreness of her muscles.
She opened one eye and peeked to see that she was still in that all white guest room. She must have been in the same position as when she fainted but she didn’t really know.
At the foot of the bed were the fuming twins. Grayson must have been the one to throw the thing that shattered because there was a glass lamp in pieces on the wall by Greer. The female twin hadn’t flinched.
“SHUT YOUR MOUTH, YOU GOOD-FOR-NOTHING! WHAT HAVE YOU EVER DONE TO HELP HER?! HOW AM I ANY WORSE THAN YOU WHO HAS TRIED TO KILL HER?!” Grayson roared. He looked like—at any second—he might throw something else.
He was terrifying. Odette had never seen him this angry, not even after both of her ER visits. He was emitting a raw power that made her want to hide underneath the covers. Or the bed. She was just glad his anger wasn’t directed at her.
Greer scoffed, her voice lowering to an icy hiss. “Don’t even get me started on that one, little brother.”
Odette shuffled back on the bed to avoid any further fire but that only drew their attention to her. They looked so similar with their live-wire blue eyes and wild expressions. She felt like the defenseless lamb in the den of two lions.
Grayson was the first one to break. He rushed to her side and drew her into his arms.
“Oh princess,” he muttered into her hair. His rough petting of her hair didn’t bother her too much but she pulled away from him all the same.
“Grayson, be at practice or else.” Greer tossed her hair over her shoulder and stormed out of the room.
Odette didn’t miss how he glared at Greer. He seemed unstable, a little too unstable for her to deal with. Still, she laid a comforting hand on his.
“How are you feeling?” he asked quietly. It was a stark contrast to his mood a moment ago.
“I feel fine. I’m tired but I’m fine.”
Grayson pursed his lips and shook his head. “I woke up because I knew something was wrong. I came in here and you were having a seizure? I didn’t know that you even had those.”
“I didn’t know either.” Odette felt like her mouth had gone dry. “It had always been a possibility but it’s never happened until now.”
“You’re getting worse?”
Odette didn’t know the answer to that. She shrugged her shoulders. The silence in the room seemed deafening.
He swore loudly, tugging on his hair. “I don’t know what to do, I’m sorry. I can’t leave you in this house by yourself, though. It’s not safe. Are you—are you well enough to go out today?”
“I’ll do whatever you need me to.” Odette glanced down at the clothing she was wearing. It was all his—a regular shirt and flannel pants. Those weren’t exactly something she would be comfortable going out in eighty-eight-degree weather. “Um … do you have anything else I can wear?”
Odette wasn’t certain where he got the dress—it
was very possible that he could have raided his sister’s closet but it didn’t look like something that Greer would wear. Greer tended to stick to purples and blues and the dress was ivory and was not bold or flashy in any way.
Grayson pulled them into the parking lot of the Tent of Mystery a little too aggressively. Odette was thankful that he had loaned her a pair of his sunglasses to not only block out the sun but help hide her reactions to his angry driving.
The lot was empty aside from Greer’s car and it seemed unnatural. The last time that she had been there it was packed. Seeing it so empty was unsettling. With all of the buzz and people gone, it felt less mystical and more haunted. The tent’s pentagram was ever watchful on the grounds.
Grayson held back the tent’s velvety fabric for Odette to pass through. “You don’t have to do anything while we’re here. You can just sit in the seats for the time being. Later, you can come back to my dressing room and rest if you need to.”
She nodded, glancing back at him. “Okay, thanks.”
“Just don’t wander off,” he added.
Greer was on the stage, the harsh white lights pointing directly at her as she threw knives at a target. They connected with several thunks, all of them circling around the bull’s eye.
She turned her head briefly to show that she had indeed seen the pair come in while twirling the last knife in her fingers.
“Hello, Odette,” she greeted. She pulled her arm back and flicked her wrist, letting the weapon whizz through the air and hit the center of the target. “How has my dear brother been treating you?”
Odette swallowed thickly, making sure that she kept a distance between the two of them. The girl descended from the stairs, her heels stomping on the floor with purpose. She was dressed for the show later that evening, minus her skirt. Grayson, however, was not.
“I wasn’t certain you’d show,” Greer said to her brother. Her tone was even but her eyes were icy.
He didn’t react. “I’m here.”
Odette held onto his arm, hiding half of herself behind his body. She didn’t like the anger that was building up in between the two of them. It was as if, any second, a spark would be lit and they would explode, tearing one another to shreds. She almost couldn’t believe it; she had never seen such animosity between either of them before.
“You’re also late,” she enunciated, jabbing her finger in his chest. “You can’t use her as an excuse either. Just get up there.”
Grayson waited until she was out of his face before he did anything else. He placed Odette in a seat towards the middle. He kissed her softly, slowly. Odette knew it was to anger his sister more.
“Grayson! Now!” Greer demanded.
The boy dragged himself back, keeping his lips connected with hers as long as he could. “This won’t take long,” he assured.
XXII
Odette wasn’t bored. She found the practice extremely dull. It was painfully dull. In fact, coming up with ways to describe how boring watching the twins practice was actually somewhat entertaining.
They had moments when they would be very intriguing to watch when they were performing magic or when they would do a trick. Other than that, it was a lot of arguing between them and a lot of very colorful threats. Some of them she caught and some of them were too hushed for her to make out.
Greer, just as Grayson had said, spent most of the time directing what they would do. Most of their lines were already scripted apparently; it was just a matter of rearranging the tricks, so that they would not be always saying the same thing over and over again.
“If you don’t stop it, I might just use your little girlfriend as target practice,” Greer hissed. This was about the fifth time that she had dragged Odette into a threat. It had begun to lose its sting. “Just cooperate!”
“You wouldn’t get within ten feet of her before you would be facedown, out cold,” he responded coolly, twirling one of the knives in between his long fingers.
He must have done something that Odette couldn’t have seen because Greer let out a screech of rage. “You know, all of this crap has been going downhill since Zeke left!”
This really caught Odette’s attention. “Zeke left? When?”
As if the twins suddenly remembered she was there, they both shut up.
“I thought I saw him just the other day. This must have been really recent.” Odette chewed on her lip. He didn’t act unhappy but she didn’t know him very well. It just seemed so sudden.
“It really isn’t any of your business,” Greer sniffed. “But he quit yesterday morning.”
Odette shrank back. She didn’t mean to get in their way. “Sorry.”
“Greer,” Grayson warned. He looked back at Odette, his face softer this time. “Don’t worry about him, okay?”
Greer snorted and then found something else to gripe about.
By the time the afternoon came, the twins retreated into their dressing rooms. Odette went with Grayson—because he was afraid if he left her for a second, she could start seizing—and was again startled by the sheer size of the tent.
The dressing rooms were behind the stage, far back enough that fans couldn’t get in if they tried. Even if it was a tent, it was heavily guarded. And then there was the whole “magic” thing, something that Grayson had neither confirmed nor denied, but Odette was a little more inclined to believe.
“You’re so quiet,” Grayson commented. He was fixing his hair in the mirror, his cape laid over the back of his chair at the ready. “Is there something wrong?”
Odette met his eyes in the mirror and shook her head. “No … I guess I’m just in my own world.”
“I hope I’m in there too,” he said. “You’re always on my mind. Always. I was thinking of you when I was with Greer and I’ll be thinking of you when I’m on stage.”
The girl tilted her head playfully. “What about your screaming fangirls? I’m sure you’ll think of them.”
“You’re the only fangirl I actually care about.” He used his hands to pat down his hair, smoothing it where the comb hadn’t.
Odette snorted, imagining herself in a Grayson Mages T-shirt or waving around an “I <3 Grayson” sign in the front row. She remembered seeing those girls when she came for the first time … with her mom.
Her heart began to thump loudly. Was she a horrible daughter for just assuming they were dead? For just leaving? No, Grayson was right. If they were … alive … they would have found some way to contact her even if they were in the hospital. They would have done something or sent someone. And no one had come. That thought pulled hot bile up and it rested on the back of her tongue. She was an orphan. That shouldn’t be possible. How was it possible?
“Princess?” Grayson was knelt down in front of her. He searched her face but he knew better than to ask her if she was okay. “You know, it’s unfair that you should be so pretty when you cry.”
Odette recoiled from him. It didn’t matter if he was trying to comfort her—that was a weird comment to make. She didn’t like that he thought like that.
“Do you want to talk about it?” his voice was gentle, so gentle that she just wanted to have him hold her until the pain went away, pushing out his previously odd comment.
She sniffled, “Just remembering stuff about my parents.”
They were both silent. The sound of the crowd filling up the tent reached all the way back there. Loud, excited patrons ready for the show.
“It’s never going to go away … the pain of it,” Grayson said slowly. “But it will get easier each day. You’ll find new things to enjoy and, soon, a new family. There’s actually something I want to give you.”
Grayson stood up and walked over to his dressing table. Among the many items that littered the top of it was a black box that he picked up. It was relatively small in size, larger in height than in width and length. He went back to where he was kneeling and handed the little box to her.
Odette furrowed her eyebrows, glancing between him and the box. It
was heavy. She had seen similar boxes before. Never in her wildest dreams had she thought he, of all people, would be holding one.
With hesitant hands, she opened the box and her breath stopped. It was a ring. A huge one at that, one far too gaudy and expensive for her. The band was a silver color but the focus was drawn to the oval sapphire in the center, one that looked similar to the amulet he and his sister wore all the time.
“Grayson, I …” I really don’t know what to say. She didn’t want to refuse him and the gift but she couldn’t keep it. Just looking at it made her feel anxious that she would lose it or break it. “It’s beautiful … but why? It’s too expensive.”
Grayson licked his lips. “You’ve just lost your family, Odette …. What if you became mine?”
“It’s—it’s an engagement ring?” Her eyes widened to the size of saucers. “I’m only seventeen! We haven’t even known each other for that long.”
Oh God, she felt like she was going to pass out.
The boy took her hand, grinning. “Yes, but I’m all you have, aren’t I? And I care deeply about you, Odette. I think I love you. Don’t you love me?”
She wanted to shout at him. She wanted to get it through his head that they were not in a fairy tale or a movie. Her mouth had run dry from fright and he was only making this worse. Weren’t they just talking about her dead parents a moment ago?
“Grayson … I … I don’t know. I want to and I think I do. I’ll know some more with more time, but marriage? This is too fast! I can’t even think straight right now; my mind has gone haywire and my parents aren’t even cold in their graves. I’m still a minor!” Odette was having trouble breathing. The room seemed too tight. Was this a panic attack?
“Then don’t think of it as an engagement ring,” Grayson rushed. He took the box from her hands and freed the ring. Still holding her hand—her left one, she realized—he slid the ring on the proper finger. “Think of it as a promise ring. I don’t know what I was thinking, springing that on you.”
Violent Delights Page 23
