Henry retrieved the small, gold key from his pocket and opened the study door. The study was like a dream to me. Henry had told me about it before, but in real life it was more amazing than I could have imagined. The oval-shaped room housed walls entirely made up of rows of books. Behind his large, tidy desk was a line of windows overlooking shady trees that cast gentle shadows. I wished the room belonged to someone else so I could hang out there. The comfortable-looking leather chair would have been perfect for reading.
Henry wasted no time in starting to dig through his father’s things, pulling open drawers and flipping through piles of paper.
“Are you sure he’s not coming back for a while?” I asked, glancing around me, wondering if there were cameras I couldn’t see.
“Not for a while. He’s been pulling overtime lately. They haven’t been at home much.”
In the second drawer down, he dug through hanging folders, and pulled one out that read “Unintended Consequences.”
“What does that mean?” I asked.
Henry frowned and bit his lip as he laid open the file, flipping through it. It contained doctor’s evaluations, x-rays, medical bills. But they weren’t just from Phillip; there were several members of Thornhill listed―Bruce Slaughter, Deana and Cliff Ford, Rachel Reed, and McPherson.
“All their brains are all getting affected,” Henry said, scanning a few of the doctor’s reports. They were from Briggs’s neurology clinic. “Not just Warwick and my dad. None of the others have tumors, but Slaughter’s been having seizures and Ford has been hearing voices.”
There were a few handwritten loose papers in the back. The writing was difficult to read.
“I think my father wrote this,” Henry muttered. I tried to read the distorted letters, but I only made out the gist, that Phillip was just trying to put off all of them losing their minds.
“So, he knows about them all going crazy, and he keeps going?” I asked.
Henry nodded, his face twisting in disgust as he put the paper down. “Appears that way. He must think that they’ll all be okay if they succeed in what they’re planning. And look, it says here that he’s giving them those copper pins because the copper seems to slow the progression of the deterioration.”
Information about Phillip’s own tumor was also included. Stage 4 malignant, frontal lobe, it read. There were in-depth reports from Dr. Briggs, detailing the increasing severity of his condition. The most recently dated report said that the patient had a prognosis of only a few months.
“I can’t believe he made it this far,” I said. “He must be really desperate. He said he only had until May. And the Luminos energy must be stronger than we thought if it’s causing them all to be affected.”
I still hadn’t told him about being descended from an angel pairing. It wasn’t something that was easy to work into the conversation. Hugh was keeping mum about it at the meetings.
Henry shoved the papers back together and stuck them back where he’d found them. “I wish this was enough.”
I studied his complex expression. “Are you sad about your father having cancer?”
He paused, debating the question as he bit the inside of his lip. “I’m sad that I didn’t have a normal father in the first place.”
Our heads shot up as we heard the front door open.
“Damn it,” Henry said, shutting the desk. “I should have known he would be home early this one time.”
He grabbed my hand and we ran out of the hall and down a flight of stairs into the basement, narrowly avoiding Phillip.
“Wait down here until he’s gone,” Henry said, out of breath. “My room is at the end of the hall.”
“Your room is in the basement?”
“Yeah, like yours was. It used to be upstairs, but I like the privacy of this. Don’t have to worry about my dad hearing my every move. We hardly ever have guests down here anymore.”
“We have so much in common, no wonder we like each other,” I quipped in a whisper. He rolled his eyes and kissed me, then jumped back up the stairs.
I wandered around a little. It was unlike any basement I’d ever been in. There was a huge, fully stocked bar with stools all around, a gigantic TV with a wraparound couch in the next room, and arcade games.
I went down the hallway to the door at the end, which was covered in a gigantic World of Warcraft poster.
I didn’t need to flip on the light, it was bright enough inside to see from the green and blue lights of a large aquarium. Exotic tropical fish swam peacefully behind the glass. He had a shelf overflowing with books over his bed. His bed was rumpled and there were clothes on the floor, all of it smelling like his cologne. Much less like the pottery barn catalog I had imagined.
On his desk was a sketchbook, like we’d had in art class. I flipped through it, surprised. I didn’t know he did it outside of class. Many of the pages had drawings on them, and while it wasn’t Theo-level insane quality, his work was good. There were dragons and birds and detailed castles from his books. I caught a drawing of my own face, looking pretty and serene, and I blushed. My name was written underneath it in his familiar handwriting. I shut the book.
On a shelf I caught something that made me snicker. Rows of crystal and metal wizards and dragons were lined up carefully. I picked up one of the wizards, sporting a flowing blue robe and a crystal staff. On the next shelf were boxed collector’s editions of video games that looked like they’d never been used.
I heard the door open behind me and looked as Henry came in. He caught me looking through his things and walked over to me cautiously.
“Are you kidding me with the wizards?” I giggled.
He pretended to grimace and put it back on the shelf. “Hey, this collection took a long time to cultivate.”
“Couldn’t just stick with stamps, huh?”
“These crystals have collector value!” He said. He couldn’t even take himself seriously, though, and broke into laughter, his face turning into the wide, silly grin I had missed. His laughter was infectious and I caught the giggles.
“Why is your father home?” I asked as I was wiping away the tears that had formed in my eyes.
His mood instantly went south. “He said that his business was cut short. He was supposed to have a meeting with a client in Detroit, but the guy didn’t show up.”
I was cautious of keeping my voice down more, even though Henry didn’t tell me to. “How are we going to disguise ourselves at the meeting?”
“I have that part all figured out,” he said. “They’re having a big feast before the meeting, that’s supposed to correspond with the school’ s prom theme of masquerade. They’ll all be wearing masks.”
I thought about my research into Dexter’s Umbra Regnum ritual. A feast was the first step to the ritual. It left me with a sense of unease.
“I didn’t even know that was this year’s theme,” I admitted. “I haven’t been paying any attention. You know I’m not a dancy girl to begin with.”
He pushed my hair behind my ear. “There has been a lot going on lately. It doesn’t matter.” He kissed me gently. “We had a lot of fun the last time, though. That was one of the top nights in my history.”
I wondered what the others might be, but I didn’t ask. “Do you think we’ll make it through this together? What if your father really does hurt me?”
“He won’t,” Henry said in a fierce, pained whisper.
“And if we do make it through all of this, the drama and the life or death, are we going to stay together?” I was on a roll now and couldn’t stop myself. “I really think I’m going to school in Washington. I sent in my letter to Antioch University Seattle.”
“Then I’ll go with you,” Henry said immediately, holding both of my hands. “I told you I applied to school out there. I’m with you until you don’t want me.”
“You have like a perfect GPA. You could go anywhere.”
“That’s why I want to go with you.”
I smiled at him, fe
eling like he was giving up things for me that he shouldn’t. The strength of our connection almost scared me.
“It’s funny, I was starting to wonder where you slept. You’ve been in my room so many times, but I’ve never been in yours.” My comment was meant to be light-hearted, but his eyes darkened passionately instead. The tension in the air was sizzling. The light from the aquarium threw his features into relief, and the lines of his cheekbones and nose stood out attractively.
His hand slipped up behind my shoulder, and he pulled me closer, touching my lips with his. I parted my mouth to let his tongue brush against mine as he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me closer.
I felt my head starting to get light as he kept kissing me. He pressed his fingertips into my hips, raising welcome pressure. I pushed into him, wanting to get even closer.
There was a knock at the door and we broke apart. My heart skipped a beat and I clumsily swallowed a gasp.
“Henry, I need to talk to you!” Phillip called.
“Hide under there,” Henry mouthed, pointing beneath his bed. I dropped to my knees, flattening myself out and slid in the two foot space beneath the bed frame, pressing myself against the wall.
I heard Henry open the door and scoot out into the hall and I held my breath, listening to my pulse thump in my ears. I pressed my finger to my kiss-swollen lips to quite myself as I stared at the bottom of the box spring.
“Didn’t you hear me calling?” Phillip asked, definitely perturbed.
“I heard. I’m out here, aren’t I?” Henry retorted. My teeth clenched in worry for him talking to his father like that. “What do you want?”
“You’d do well to remember who brought you into this world,” Phillip said.
“Like I ever get a chance to forget,” Henry snarled.
There was a scuffling sound, and I almost jumped out from the bed. But then they spoke again.
“Not this time, huh?” Henry said.
“I need to know if you’re going to be at the next meeting. All the children are supposed to attend. Have you reconsidered?”
“Yes.”
“I want you to wear your pin, in a show of solidarity,” Phillip said, sounding much more calm.
“Fine. Whatever you want. But I’m only wearing it that one night,” Henry said.
“Good to see you’ve come around on some things,” Phillip said. I heard his footsteps stomp away from the door and let out a breath of relief. My neck ached from twisting it unnaturally in the weird position I was squished in.
I heard the door close and saw Henry’s sneakers. He leaned down and stuck his hand out, pulling me back out. I jumped to my feet. He was pale, running his tongue bar against his lips thoughtfully. A tiny spark of desire quivered inside me, but I tried to ignore it.
“That sounded like fun,” I said quietly.
“I’m sorry you had to hear that.”
“Did he hit you?” Although I didn’t see any bruises, I was scared to know the answer.
“He raised his hand to me but put it down. It’s like he won’t hit me anymore,” Henry said, smoothing his messy hair down. “So, that was getting a little heavy before we got interrupted.”
I blushed, staring down at my shoes. “Yeah, well. I like you, if you haven’t noticed.” I glanced back up at him through my lashes.
A little smirk played on his lips. “Maybe just a bit.”
His mouth found mine again, warm and inviting. As we kissed, I suddenly felt too warm, too close. There wasn’t enough room. I gently pushed him away. He pouted for a second, but then rustled his keys out of his pocket.
“C’mon, we need to get you out of here and home while he’s preoccupied. He went back out to the store for a minute.” He grabbed my hand. “We’ll use the back entrance.”
Henry drove me back to where my car was parked up at school and kissed me goodbye. During the drive home I tried not to be distracted, but thoughts kept popping into my head, about the seriousness of the impending meeting, and about the growing chemistry between Henry and me. I thought I might snap with tension from either one.
###
The next week passed quicker than normal. We spent more time than normal planning our attack. Hugh was working midnights in a low-paying job as a cook in a restaurant the next town over. But when I came home from school every day, he was up and waiting, talking to Callie and the others over the phone and in person.
“Who are you going to send in?” I asked him on Wednesday.
“Golem and me, and Henry, of course. His father wants him there, anyway. Callie and the Taylors are going to be outside, keeping watch in case of trouble.”
“And me,” I finished.
Hugh sighed. “And you. But you have to be very, very careful, Ariel. I still don’t think it’s a great idea, but you’re the only one of us who has the Sight, and you might be able to offer more insight as to whether there are any supernatural forces present.”
Hawthorne was completely wrapped up, as usual, in planning for prom. The Thornhill kids also talked excitedly about being invited to the feast and the meeting, since they weren’t usually guests. I couldn’t get away from hearing chatter about both of them.
“Do you want to help me scope out furniture for my dorm tomorrow?” Theo asked me on Friday, the day before prom. We were both sitting in the Commons alone, in a rare moment of boredom. Everyone else just seemed so excited that we felt left out. “It’s something to do so we don’t sit at home feeling sorry for ourselves. I’m not buying anything for another couple of months, but I can get some ideas.”
“Sure. Sounds good.”
I knew part of her plan was to stop her from thinking about how Alex was going with Madison. She came over to my house at seven the next night. When she arrived, I was in my sweats cleaning my bathroom. I came out to the living room with rubber gloves on and a toilet brush in one hand, but Hugh beat me to the door.
I blinked. Theo looked like a princess in a short, mint strapless dress with a fluffy skirt. Her hair was flowing in mermaid curls around her shoulders, and her eyes sparkled with glitter liner. Fat rhinestones shined in her ears. In her hand she held a long black garment bag.
“You look pretty dressed up for furniture shopping,” I said, raising my eyebrow as I stripped off the rubber gloves. I indicated the bag. “What’s that, fabric swatches? Curtains?”
“That was just an excuse to keep your plans free,” Theo explained.
She smirked at me. Hugh was standing off to the side, staring at her quizzically.
“Prom is like one of those stupid, once in a lifetime events in a person’s life,” she continued. “And I think we’ve already missed out on enough of the traditional high school experience. I mean, we never made a garage band. We never did an awesome senior prank. All we have is this and graduation left.”
She unzipped the garment bag and pulled out a gorgeous blue dress in the same style as her own. I ran my hands over the silky fabric. Delicate beading and sequins decorated the top half.
“This is amazing,” I breathed. I checked the back for a tag, but didn’t find one. I looked up at her. “Did you make these yourself?”
A light blush colored her cheeks and she looked down. “Yeah. I’ve been taking a break from painting lately to give myself some breathing room. And I had some free time on my hands. I never realized how much I doodled before.”
“How did you not tell me?”
“It’s been my little secret this whole time. I just want us to feel like normal people one more night before all of this goes down.”
I looked to my father, who had an oh-God-here-it-comes expression. “Can I please, please go? I mean, come on now, man, the girl made dresses from scratch and everything.”
Theo held up her hands, which had rainbow colored band-aids on several fingertips. “I even bled a little. Well, not on the dresses.”
Hugh looked back and forth between the two of us, and he let a sigh out through his nose.
“I can’t
be the dad who stops you from going to prom. That’s just too much,” Hugh said. I felt a smile crack across my face. “But you’ve just got to promise me―really promise―that you will watch out for trouble.”
I threw my arms around his neck and kissed his cheek. He squeezed me back in a hug.
“You should get ready,” he said, sounding a bit choked up.
I got dressed quickly, doing my hair and makeup with Theo’s help. She gave me winged eyeliner with her steady hand, making my eyes pop. I wondered if she’d sneaked out some of my clothes for measurements, because the dress fit perfectly.
When we went to the door to leave, Hugh smiled at me. “You look beautiful, hon. Go have fun.”
We rushed out to Theo’s car. There was someone waiting in the back seat. I leaned to the side to get a better peek. It was Henry, dressed up in a tuxedo, holding a corsage in his lap. My breath caught in my throat. When he saw me, he smiled nervously.
“This is the other part of my surprise,” Theo explained to my quizzical look.
“You guys planned this together, didn’t you?” I asked as I slid in beside Theo.
Henry grinned at me. “Yeah.”
“Oh, you’ll also need this.” Theo fished around in her purse and brought out two glittery, feathered masks. She handed me the blue one. “It is a masquerade ball, after all.”
CHAPTER 20
INSIDE THE GYMNASIUM, everyone was wearing the masquerade masks to conceal their identities. The prom committee had given the masks out when they sold the tickets, according to Theo, and it was a requirement. They were even handing out extras at a table when we passed by.
The swarm of dresses was luxurious and beautiful, in every shade of the rainbow. I definitely think Theo’s dresses won for most awesome, but I was admittedly prejudiced. It was dark enough that with the costumes I couldn’t identify anyone, adding an air of mystery. There were purple and green lights strung up on the walls. Purple, green, and gold balls covered in sparkle were suspended from the ceiling. On the long banquet table, glass vases held bouquets of peacock feathers and masks.
Velocity (The Gravity Series) Page 16
