Oh, no! Not again. Not Melinda. Please, not Melinda.
"Mom?" Alec called out, fear in his voice.
No response.
"Check in the rooms," he said.
With my heart on rapid fire, I looked in every room of the cabin. "No one is here."
Alec kicked one of the chairs. Through clenched teeth he yelled, "How did they find us?"
It was most likely my fault, just as it had been with my parents. "They were after me again, weren't they?"
Alec didn't say anything—he didn't have to.
"So they took your mom and whoever else was here." I bit my lip.
He picked up a chair and heaved it across the room.
"I'm sorry." I didn't know what else to say.
He turned around and faced me, his eyes hard. "It's not your fault. We all knew the dangers. We're on our own now." He bent down and rifled through the papers on the ground. "I don't know when, or if, anyone is coming back. And I don't know who's with them."
"Maybe they don't have your mom. Maybe she wasn't here or she escaped." I wanted to offer him some hope, but I didn't have much myself.
Vincent walked over to Pamela and Matthew. He inhaled the stale air. "You know, it isn't too late to join me. Think of the wealth, the prestige, the power."
"Not interested," Matthew said.
Why was he so set on being poor, unknown, and virtually powerless to do anything of importance? "And why not?" Vincent sat on a folding metal chair. If he could convince Matt to join him and drop his juvenile, idealistic beliefs, Vincent would have his revenge. Plus proof that he could convince anyone to join him.
"Because there's more to life than that."
He laughed at Matt's inability to see beyond his simple, meager life. "Oh, yes. Let me guess. Doing good for others? Things that make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside." Touchy-feely people were so amusing.
"You wouldn't understand," Matthew said.
Vincent considered the words for a moment. "You're right. I probably wouldn't." And he didn't want to. Vincent's cynicism bounced out of his mouth into another hearty laugh. "Warm fuzzies got me nowhere. They didn't keep food on the table, didn't keep clothes on my back. I watched my mother slave her life away after my father deserted us. When she died, I realized she'd been a fool all her life. I refused to follow in her footsteps. No rose-colored glasses for me."
"There is another way."
"Don't preach to me." Vincent's voice was cold, but he recalled his mission to convince Matt to join him, so he spoke with more warmth. "Maybe you aren't interested in wealth for yourself. But think of how you could help others if you became part of my organization. You could spend your time doing good deeds. We could be a team." The lies rolled so easily off his tongue. Whatever it took to exact his revenge and destroy Matt.
"Never," Matt said.
"Fine." He stood abruptly, knocking the chair to the ground. "Have it your way. Don't say I didn't try." He brushed at his pants. "No matter. I'll still get what I want."
He collected his thoughts and then walked over to Pamela. He ran his fingers through her soft, blonde hair. "What about you, Pammy? You and I had a good thing in college, didn't we?"
She yanked her head away. "What are you talking about?" She eyed him with confusion which propelled him forward with his story.
"You mean you never told Matt about us?" He touched her cheek, and her eyes turned fierce.
Matt gazed at Pamela, who didn't look at him. In a surprisingly calm voice she said, "There's nothing to tell."
Enjoying the tension in the room, Vincent said, "Oh, I disagree. I most definitely disagree."
"He's lying," Pamela said. "All he ever does is lie."
Unable to resist igniting the flame of contention, Vincent looked at Matthew and said in him most sincere tone, "Am I? Matt, look at your wife's face. Can't you see she's hiding something?"
"Don't listen to him. I'm not lying. He is."
"Come on. Tell him all about the night after finals. We were juniors. You and Matt had just started dating. You were drinking and we . . . Shall I go on? I remember it in vivid detail."
"That's not true," Pamela said.
"You said you wanted me—"
"Stop it. Stop lying!" Pamela shouted with a crimson face.
Vincent laughed. "Isn't this fun? Strolling down memory lane. I haven't enjoyed myself this much in a long time." He'd taken advantage of and used so many people over the years that he'd lost count of them. Now he planned to ruin the one man who'd eluded him—the one man who deserved it most.
Jack entered the room, interrupting Vincent's well-played game. "Sir, I have a report."
"But I'm having so much fun reminiscing with my old friends." He clapped Matt on the back.
"Sir, the report—"
"Yes, I know." He escorted Jack out of the dusty basement room.
"What do you have?" Though he enjoyed torturing his old friends with whispered doubts and innuendos, he was eager to get on with the business he'd come to conduct so he could return to Vegas.
"They don't have the girl."
"What?" He clenched his jaw.
"They're still looking. But Karl said to tell you that they did find someone."
"I don't care, Jack. I want the girl." At this point, no one else mattered—only the girl. Once he neutralized her by absorbing her power, he would be on his way to bigger and better things, like ruling the United States and then the world.
"Karl said you'd be pleased with who they're bringing."
"Who is it?"
"He didn't say."
Vincent narrowed his eyes. "Are we playing games now?"
Jack shrugged.
"It better be someone good or Karl's assignment will expire. Permanently."
Jack left the room, and Vincent found a chair and fell into it. He consoled himself with the fact that in the other room was the only person to walk away from his organization and live. Matt had been more than his roommate, more than his best friend. He'd been like a brother. When Matt disappeared in the middle of the night, it was the last time Vincent allowed himself to be weak by feeling that kind of devastating human emotion.
Almost the last time. Until his wife and son had vanished as well—a pain that still gnawed at him even after all these years. He was sure that Matt, or more likely Pamela, had been instrumental in their disappearance.
Now he'd make them both pay for it.
After staring at the wall for what seemed like hours, I said, "So, what's our plan?" I hoped Alec had something in mind, because staying in the cabin didn't seem like a good option.
"No idea yet."
"How can you have no idea?" My voice betrayed my anxiety.
"Look, I haven't masterminded any of our plans. I go along with them. I help. I don't lead." He gave me a hard glance then walked over to the window.
"Well, one of us has to." It came out harsher than I intended.
He spun around. "Do you have any ideas?"
"I might."
Alec studied me. I didn't know him that well, but he seemed so unsettled—and that worried me. I needed to do something fast. Time wasn't on our side.
"I'm working on one." Ideas were swirling around, just beyond my grasp. I simply had to catch one and build on it.
In a thick voice he said, "I don't know how the demons found us. We were so careful."
I stepped over to him and rested a hand on his shoulder. "I know how you feel about your mom—"
"No, you don't. You have no clue," he said with a sharp tone he hadn't ever used with me. Why is he acting so different?
I drew back my hand. "My parents—"
"Not the same."
"Why not? What's different? People we love are missing, and neither of us knows where they are."
"You don't understand. If he has her . . ."
"What?"
Alec stepped past me toward the sink. "Never mind." He grabbed a cup and filled it with water.
"You are so exaspe
rating." My voice had an edge to it. "Maybe if you'd tell me what's going on, we could figure out how to best help my parents and your mom. You know, together."
He gulped down the water. "It's complicated."
"So? Uncomplicate it. If you'd talk to me, tell me everything you know that I don't, maybe we could come up with a plan."
Ignoring me, he walked to the table and started studying one of the maps in silence. I wanted to yank an explanation out of him.
Several long minutes elapsed.
"If they do have your mom, do you think they'll take her to where my parents are?"
Alec didn't say anything.
"Alec?"
"I heard you."
"Why won't you answer me?"
He traced his finger along some roads on the map.
I tried again. "Do you think they'll—"
"Kill her?" he said without looking at me.
I gazed at him.
He studied a few other papers. "Her fate will be much worse than death. Trust me."
I glanced up at the ceiling and balled my fists. "There you go being all weird again."
"What?" He still didn't make eye contact.
"You almost say something, but then you stop. I hate it."
"The less you know, the better." He wrote something on one of the papers and then compared it to the map.
"Why is it better for me to not know?" Did he think he was protecting me somehow? It only made me crazy with frustration.
He glanced at me. "Do you know this area at all?" He pointed to a spot on the map.
He wasn't going to tell me anything.
Fine. But he better have a really good reason for keeping things from me.
"No. I haven't lived in Silver City for long. We never stay anywhere that long." If only we'd left before all of this happened.
"Have you ever been to any of these towns?"
I shook my head. "Sorry."
"We'll have to go see them ourselves then."
"I can't believe the demons have so much control."
He folded the map and grabbed some of the papers. "We need to go."
Before we opened the door, Alec's phone rang and he answered it. "Yeah? . . . At the cabin, but everyone's gone, including my mom . . . Looks like they've been here . . . Yeah, I think it was them . . . I don't know, but we have to go after her. She can't—" He looked at me and then walked out the front door. Obviously, he didn't want me to hear the rest of the conversation.
I wanted to eavesdrop, but decided against it. I didn't need him even madder at me since he was my only chance to find my parents and end this nightmare.
After a few minutes, he came back in the cabin. "Let's go."
I followed him out to the car and got in. The dark night swallowed us as we drove away from the cabin. "Where are we going?" I asked.
"Silver City. To a warehouse on the north edge of town."
"You think my parents are there?"
"Maybe."
My teeth chattered while I glanced at my watch. It was after midnight. Soon, we'd be in Silver City, and I'd put my own plan into action. One that didn't include any dying. At least, that's what I hoped. I'd surrender myself in exchange for my parents. And Melinda. And the safety of any members of The Covenant, including Alec. When they were safely away from Vincent and his demon army, then I'd . . . well, I hadn't formulated my plan beyond that, but something would come to me. It had to.
"We're meeting others from The Covenant so we can take the demons by surprise," Alec said. "Don't do anything unless I tell you to. Got it?"
Did he think I was some little kid? I didn't like the way he was talking to me or treating me—like I was stupid.
"Do you understand?"
"Yes." I folded my arms across my chest and stared out the windshield, my teeth clenched.
Several moments passed. Alec cleared his throat. "I'm sorry."
"You should be."
"I should've kept my mom safe, but I didn't." He gripped the steering wheel. "I can't let anything happen to you."
"Why don't you just tell me what's really going on?"
"It isn't that easy."
"It is. You open your mouth and tell me."
Alec's phone rang. Of course. He answered it. "Everyone there? . . . About fifteen minutes . . . Wait for me . . . If they have my mom, I want to be there. . . No weapons. I don't want to risk her getting hurt . . . No, I have her with me, and she can paralyze them, maybe more . . . I know, but let's try this first, and if it doesn't work . . . I have weapons in the trunk, but let's try this without killing anyone. No matter what, we have to save my mom and her parents." He ended the call and kept his gaze ahead.
We spent the next ten miles or so in silence. I figured he was coming up with a way to surprise and then overpower the demons wearing people suits. I was trying to summon up the courage to give myself over to them. I'd never frozen more than one demon, but I hoped to do the freezing thing once I knew my parents, Melinda, Alec, and the others were safe. I couldn't risk trying to freeze the demons first and have my power backfire and get all of us killed. That would definitely violate the whole no dying part of my plan.
More houses came into view as we drove. The closer we got, the more my heart hammered.
We were going to face a bunch of demons. Demons. My stomach cramped, and the back of my neck began to sweat. When we got to the warehouse I planned to go in first and make the exchange. With any luck, they'd let my parents and Melinda go once they thought they had me.
We pulled onto a neighborhood street and parallel parked in front of a small green house bathed in the yellow glow of the streetlight. I stretched my arms and realized my legs ached for movement, so I walked toward the house.
"Careful." Alec glanced from side to side. "You need to watch where you're going. Be more aware of your surroundings."
"So-r-ry." It came out rude, but I wasn't used to all of this. I'd never had to worry about being spied on by demons.
"I need you to stay in that house while we check out the warehouse."
Is he serious? "I'm not staying here while you go find my parents."
"Yes you are." He headed toward the house but I stayed put. He turned around and faced me. "Come on."
"I'm going." No one, not even Alec, would stop me.
"I know you want to help, and I know my mother trained you, but we have to time this just right. We can't afford to make mistakes. We need to surprise them."
"But—"
"Please trust me." His eyes pleaded with mine, and my resolve softened.
He walked toward the house and I followed.
A woman with long blonde hair and a sympathetic expression stepped out from inside. "Joshua, we're so sorry to hear about your mom." I couldn't get used to people calling him that.
"Thanks," he said. "This changes everything."
Inside the sparsely decorated house were another woman and five men. They all looked haggard, as if they hadn't slept in weeks.
"We need to move fast," Alec told them.
"Can we trust this information?" a man with a scraggly red beard asked.
"I don't know. It seemed to come too easily. But even if it's a trap, if we move carefully, and do it right, we can outsmart them. We should check the warehouse out while it's still dark outside."
The woman with short black hair wearing army fatigues said, "We've been watching some buildings and we think the two most likely places are the warehouse or an old dairy out on road 250. Both are abandoned."
"Any other abandoned buildings in town?" Alec asked.
The bearded man said, "An old wood mill and a school on the west boundary of town, but a construction crew has set up at the school, so I doubt they'd be there."
"Let's carefully check the warehouse first," Alec said. "That seems more likely than the dairy. Then we can check out the mill." Alec studied a map on the table.
They discussed the plan.
After several minutes, Alec said, "All right. Let's move
out. Sam, you stay here with Crystal. We'll be back as soon as we can. We'll know how to proceed then."
The group left the house and headed out in their vehicles.
Appealing to Alec had been useless, so I decided to try Sam. "You don't need to watch me."
Sam glanced at me with his dark brown eyes. "I'm not. I'm protecting you." He flipped his stringy, light brown hair from his face while maintaining a staunch expression.
"I don't need protection. I need to find my parents."
With his gaze on the window, he said, "Do you have any idea what Vincent could do with your Light?"
"Nothing. Unless I allow him to use it."
He sniffed and then shook his head. "You've never met anyone like Vincent. He's harnessed a lot of Darkness over the years. Makes him very powerful and very bad." He pulled a knife from its sheath and the lamplight glinted off the blade.
Trying not to think about what he planned to do with the knife, I asked, "Have you been doing this long?"
Sam glanced at me. "About ten years."
"How did you get involved with it?"
"My sister," he said, looking back down at the knife. He replaced it in its sheath and handled his gun. "Sweet girl, full of life. Loved animals. Wanted to be a veterinarian." His face softened.
I swallowed. "Did they kill her?"
"Not right away." He paused and checked to see if his gun was loaded. "Not until she'd given everything up."
"What do you mean?"
He sat on a wooden chair, laying his gun on his lap, not even trying to hide the pain in his eyes. "She was in college. Met a kid she liked. She didn't know he was one of Vincent's groupies. He talked her into doing little things first. Cheating on her tests at school. Stealing answers from professors and selling them to other students. Shoplifting." Sam cleared his throat and continued, "Then it was drugs. First a little weed. Then harder stuff until she was hooked on cocaine. By the time I found out, she was too far gone."
A lump climbed up my throat. I wanted to comfort him, but had no idea how.
"She had to have money to buy the drugs, so she became a prostitute. One day, her body washed up on a beach near L.A. I knew I had to do something to save other girls from the same thing happening."
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