by Bree Despain
“Those SKs showed up just after you left last night. I followed them around at the club, and I distinctly heard one of them say the name Jude.”
“They did?” My heart was banging ten times faster now. Why didn’t I stick around last night? “What did you do after that?”
“I followed them here.” He thumbed in the direction of the apartment building. “I think we’ve found the lead we need to get us to the gang—and your brother.”
“So what did you do? Did you question them?”
“Nope. You’re going to do it.”
“Me?” My heart felt like it had stopped cold in my chest. “I don’t think—”
“You’re ready. I know we’ve only been training for a week, but this it, kid. I know you can do it.”
Talbot held out his hand. “Where’s your stake?”
I pulled it out of my backpack.
Talbot made a choking noise—like he attempted to strangle his laughter—when he saw the jewel-encrusted hilt.
“April,” I said.
“Aha.” Talbot took my hand and pushed my sleeve up. He gingerly placed my bejeweled stake against my forearm and then tucked my sleeve over it. “Backup. Just in case you need it.”
“You mean I’m going in alone?”
Talbot nodded. He held my hand in his for a moment and then let go and moved his hand up to my neck. His fingers tangled with the white-gold chain of my moonstone necklace. I didn’t want his touch to send tingles down my spine, but it did anyway. I was about to ask him to move his hand—to remind him of the line that shouldn’t be crossed between us—when I felt a tug and a snap and he yanked my necklace away from my neck.
“What are you doing?” I reached for my pendant in his hand.
He pulled it away. “It’s a dead giveaway. You’re going to go up there pretending to be a lost little lamb; if those SKs see this, you’ll tip them off in two seconds flat.”
“But I need it.”
“No, you don’t, Grace. I’ve told you before. This”—he held up the moonstone pendant—“is holding you back just as much as Daniel and Gabriel. They don’t believe in you. They don’t know you the way I do. And you’ll never know what you’re really capable of without letting go of the things that hold you back.” He tucked my pendant into the front pocket of my backpack and then clasped his hands on my shoulders. He stared at me with his piercing green eyes, seeming to radiate with that same commanding presence that I’d noticed in the club. “Consider this as your final test. Show me you’re ready to be a real Hound of Heaven.”
UPSTAIRS
I knocked on the apartment door and waited a good thirty heartbeats before knocking a second time. I couldn’t help feeling somewhat naked and vulnerable without the moonstone pendant that I hadn’t been without in more than ten months.
“Hello,” I called in a sugar-sweet voice that shook only a tiny bit. “Is anyone home? I need some help.”
I knew Talbot was watching. I didn’t know from where, but I could feel his presence close by.
I heard the floorboards creak inside the apartment, and then the door rattled open. A teenage guy peered through the crack. He looked just like any other wasted city kid: stubble dusted his chin, and his eyes were puffy and red like I’d woken him from a fitful sleep—but I could tell from his distinct sour-milk stench that he was a Gelal.
“Hi,” I said, and gave a friendly wave to the guy with my arm that wasn’t concealing a weapon. “My car broke down, and my cell’s not working.” I twirled one of my curls around my finger and snapped my gum. I have to admit I was doing my best impersonation of April. “Do you think I could use your phone? It’ll only take a second.”
The guy eyed the lock of my hair I had twisted around my finger. He cracked a smile. His teeth were yellow, and one was missing. “Sure thing, little bird.” He opened the door wider. “Come right on in.”
My muscles tensed, and my stomach clenched into a knot. I recognized that disgusting smile of his. He was the guy who had been harassing April with his friend at The Depot. The one with the iron-hard grip I’d kicked in the gut—the one who could probably crush my bones with his bare hands. I was dressed quite differently than I had been at the club—without the fake tough-girl vinyl pants and smoky makeup—so hopefully he wouldn’t recognize me too soon.
I fought off the instinct to run and gave him my best sweet and innocent smile as I crossed the threshold of the doorway into the dank apartment. There was no furniture in the room, only a crumpled mass of blankets in the corner like a nest. No TV, couch, or chairs. Not even a phone on the wall. Talbot had said that he had followed two demons here, but that wasn’t adding up. As far as I could tell, the guy was alone in the apartment, and it didn’t even look like he’d been staying here very long.
“I like your hair,” the guy said from behind me.
I pretended not to notice the sound of the bolt in the door locking shut.
“So, um, like, where’s your phone?” I asked.
“Oh,” he said with a raspy snarl in his voice. He stepped closer behind me. “I forgot. I don’t have one.” My body jerked as he grabbed me by my hair and pulled my back against his chest. His other hand wrapped around my neck. I could feel his nails elongating into claws as he tapped his fingers against the pulse in my throat.
“That’s too bad,” I said sweetly, and flexed my wrist. The stake slid out from my sleeve into my hand.
“What?” the guy asked, genuinely confused. I’m sure he’d expected me to scream.
“Now you can’t call for help.” I felt a burst of power, and I stomped on his bare foot. The bones in his toes popped under my heel.
He screamed and let go of my neck. I grabbed his arm and leveraged his weight against him, flipping him over my shoulder. He landed on his back, a look of pure shock on his face. Then his eyes narrowed, and he snarled at me. “I thought you looked familiar. You’re that feisty little bitch from the club.” He jumped back up on his feet and came at me with his clawed hands. “Did they send you?”
I dodged his attack and kicked him in the back of the knee. “Did who send me?”
The demon stumbled into the wall and then spun around. “We told them we wanted out, and he said we could walk.” He lunged at me.
I pushed him aside and then brought my fists up in a defensive position, one hand still gripping the stake. He snarled at the weapon and took a swipe at it with his clawed hand. I dodged his attack and bounced back on my heels.
“But they sent you after us, didn’t they?” the guy asked, and lunged at me again.
Is he talking about the gang?
I used three of my new moves to grapple with him until I subdued his attack. “Where are they?” I asked, and slammed my knee into his stomach. “Where’s the gang? How do I find them?” I sent a second blow into his gut.
He coughed. “Don’t you already know?”
“Tell me where to find them!” I grabbed him by the throat and slammed him against the wall. I held my stake above his chest. “I want to know where to find the Shadow Kings, or whatever the hell they call themselves. Tell me now, and I’ll spare your life.”
The guy laughed. Black fluid dribbled from the corner of his mouth. “If you want to find the pack, then why don’t you ask their Keeper?”
“What?”
He tried to laugh again, but it ended in a raspy coughing fit. Droplets of black acid landed on my hand, burning my skin, but I didn’t let go.
“He’s a real grifter, that one. Don’t you think?” the demon asked.
“Grifter? Who are you talking about—?”
I heard a cracking noise from behind me, and I turned my head slightly to see Talbot burst through the apartment door, brandishing his sword.
“Tal—?”
“Grace, watch out!”
But it was too late. I’d dropped my guard, and the yellow-teethed guy slashed at me before I could stop him. His claws raked my arm. I howled with pain and anger as blood flowed from the g
ash. I let go of him and staggered away. I grabbed my arm, trying to stop the bleeding. The guy’s eyes went feral with the smell of my blood. He reared his head back and then pounced at me like a lion—claws extended, jaws open for the kill.
Rage pulsed through my veins, gripping my heart. Kill him! I swung my injured arm up and impaled him in the chest with my stake. The wood sliced into him all the way to the jeweled hilt I held in my hand. I pulled the stake out, and black acid blood spurted from his wound. He fell back against the wall. Black ooze smeared down the green peeling wallpaper as the demon slumped to the ground, twitching and groaning, until he went limp. I regained my senses just in time to jump back as he exploded into a smoldering pool of acid and smoke.
I gripped the black-stained stake so hard the fake crystals cut into the palm of my hand. My heart raced like a hummingbird in my chest, and my breath came so fast I was in danger of hyperventilating.
My hands fell to my knees and I gasped for air, only to choke on the acid fumes wafting up from what was left of the demon. I stumbled backward, dizzy, and was about to collapse when warm hands grasped my shoulders.
Talbot turned me around so I was facing him. “You did it, kid! You did it! Come on, we need to celebrate!”
“Celebrate what? I didn’t get any information out of him.… He’s dead.… I failed.”
“I don’t care about information. We’ll find the other guy who was supposed to be here and get him to talk. What you should be celebrating is that you killed your first demon. You are a true Hound of Heaven now!”
“I am?”
“You are.” Talbot squeezed my shoulders. He beamed at me with his dimpled smile. “How does it feel? Wonderful, right?”
Beyond the pain in my bleeding arm, I still felt dizzy and warm and tingly all over—how I could only imagine getting high would feel. I couldn’t believe that I’d staked that demon before he could kill me—with my own two hands. “Yeah, it does.” I took in a deep breath, and as the shock of what I’d done washed out of me, I realized I was positively trembling from the sheer thrill of it all. I’d never felt so in control. So much exquisite power rushing through my veins.
“I knew you could do it, kid.” Talbot squeezed my shoulders again.
If he really thought I could do it all on my own, then why did he come bursting in here? Probably because he’d really thought I couldn’t handle it on my own. At least I’d proven him wrong. I was stronger than even he could imagine.
I raised the stake in my shaking hand. “Call me kid one more time, and I’m gonna shove this where it really counts.”
Talbot laughed and wrapped his strong arms around me. “You’re right. You’re hardly a kid.” He held me in a tight embrace and stared down at me with his bright, glinting eyes. “You’re truly amazing, Grace,” he said in a low voice.
The next thing I knew, his hand cradled my cheek, his callused fingers stroking my skin. He tilted my face toward his. His lips hovered only a fingertip’s distance away from mine. They vibrated with his breath, as if asking me to be the one to meet him the rest of the way.
I couldn’t move.
“Can I?” Talbot whispered.
I gave my head a tiny shake, my lips almost grazing his with the movement.
“Please?” The warmth of his breath made me shudder in his embrace.
“No,” I whispered, but I couldn’t bring myself to back away. “I already have someone.”
“Just once … Please. I have to know what it feels like.”
I half closed my eyes, imagining getting lost in the intoxicating idea of Talbot’s touch, but all that flashed in my mind was the look on Daniel’s face if he ever learned I’d kissed someone else. I turned my head as Talbot tried to press his mouth over mine. His lips lightly brushed my cheek instead. He dropped his hand from my face.
I stepped away from him and crossed to the open doorway. “I need to leave,” I said, my voice barely working.
“Why?” Talbot asked. “You want this. I can feel it. Stop denying yourself what you want.”
Heat flashed through my body. “I just can’t.”
Talbot’s nostrils flared, but then he dropped his gaze. “I’m sorry. I got caught up in the excitement. I’ll never do it again.” He took a step toward me.
I held my hand up to stop him and shook my head again. “It’s okay. We both got caught up. I need to get back to the bus now.”
Talbot reached into his pocket for the van keys. “Let’s go, then.”
I left the apartment and headed for the van in the parking lot. I could hear Talbot following after me, but I didn’t look back.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Need
BACK AT THE REC CENTER
We both knew I was pretending to be in a hurry to get back to the bus—it was a whole hour earlier than I needed to be there—but neither of us said anything about it. I stared out the window at the side-view mirror, concentrating on healing the burns on my hands and the claw marks on my shoulder. I replayed killing that horrible Gelal in my head, embracing the feeling of exhilarating power—the rush of it all—in order to heal my wounds.
We both stayed silent until we parked under the oak tree where he’d picked me up. I pulled on my jacket to cover up the bloody rip in my shirtsleeve and grabbed my backpack, which I’d left in the van during my little escapade. I slung it over my shoulder and was about to get out without saying good-bye when Talbot grabbed my newly healed hand.
“Just tell me one thing, Grace,” he said. “Is the idea of you and me being together that terrible to you?”
“I can’t do this.” I pulled my hand away, my fingers slipping out of his. “You’re my mentor.…”
“Not anymore. Training’s over. We can be together now.”
“Please try to understand. We’re friends, Tal. And that’s all we’ll ever be.”
He half closed his eyes and sighed. “Don’t call me Tal, then,” he said. “It sounds too good coming from your lips.”
“I’m sorry.”
Talbot gave himself a little shake. “Let’s forget this ever happened.” He found his baseball cap between our seats. He plopped it on his head and gave me a dimpled smile from under its bill. “Friends. That’s all.”
“Okay,” I said, and smiled weakly back at him.
“Hey, don’t let this ruin the day for you. You should be proud of what you did back there. Your training’s over. You’ve made it. I’d take you out to celebrate if you’d let me—in a strictly just-friends sort of way, of course.”
I gave a slight laugh.
“That’s more like it,” he said. “You’d better be ready for crackin’ some heads tomorrow. We’re going to find us a new lead—even if it kills him.”
I knew he meant that last part to be a joke—but at the same time I knew it wasn’t.
I laughed uneasily and got out of the van. I said good-bye to Talbot and crossed the back parking lot. I went through the building and figured I’d linger at the front entrance of the rec center until it was time to meet the bus, but what I saw out the glass doors in the front parking lot made me stop cold in my tracks.
The bus was there already, and so were all seven of the other Rock Canyon vans—accompanied by a cop car with flashing lights. Students from my religion class sat huddled on the steps to the front entrance, surrounded by people in Good Samaritan polo shirts. A man in a business suit talked to a girl who looked like she was crying. And that girl was April.
I pushed open a glass door and jogged out into the parking lot. As I approached the huddle of students, Claire stood up and pointed at me. “She’s here! Grace is here!” she shouted. The rest of the students shot up on the stairs, all staring at me. April came running.
She threw her arms around me. “Oh, my gosh! You’re okay. I was so scared.” She squeezed me so hard I could barely breathe.
“Whoa! Of course I’m okay.” I pried myself out of April’s death grip. Her face was splotched with red, and her eyes shone like she was ab
out to burst into tears again. “What’s happened to you?”
“What happened to me?” she asked incredulously. “What happened to you? Everyone’s been looking for you! First Pete, and then you not showing up at that karate studio, and then neither you nor Talbot answering your phones. And then I remembered Jude’s text, and started thinking you’d been kidnapped. Or worse. Your dad is on his way, and Pastor Saint Moon is totally freaking.”
“What are you talking about? I was out on my service project just like everyone else … and what about Pete and the karate studio?” Is she talking about the same dojo where Talbot and I trained?
“All the groups were supposed to go to this karate studio down the street. Like Gabriel said on the bus. We were supposed to start fixing it up for some youth program. But when we got there, the front windows were all busted out, and inside … they found Pete.”
“Pete Bradshaw? What do you mean they found him?” I’d heard people talked about in that way before—last year when they’d found Maryanne Duke and then Jessica Day. Then the other night when the cops told us they’d found that Tyler kid. “Is Pete dead?” I could barely say the words.
April shook her head. “But somebody beat the crap out of him. They probably thought he was dead when they left him behind.”
“What?” The ground suddenly felt uneven under my feet. “They found him at the dojo?” Our dojo? “Did he say who did it?”
“He’s totally unconscious. Might even be in a coma. But Julie Pullman is the one who saw Pete first. She said that the letters S and K were spray painted next to him.”
The Shadow Kings! Was this some kind of warning to Talbot and me to back off? Was this why Jude texted me? Had the Shadow Kings been following us all along when we thought we were tracking them down? Had they seen me at the club with Pete and decided to use him to send a message? I swung my backpack around in front of me and started digging for my cell phone. I needed to call Talbot and warn him that the SKs were definitely on to us.
“The Rock Canyon people called an ambulance and then sent us all back here,” April said. “But when we realized you were missing, Pastor Saint Moon completely freaked out. He called your dad, and the police came, and … and … I’m sorry. I was really worried about you, so I told him. I’m sorry.”
