Invidious

by Bianca Scardoni

  “How, Trace? How are we going to do that?” Breaking out of his grip, I turned to face him. I needed to see those eyes. I needed them to bring me back to my happy place. My safe place.

  “We don't even know where the Amulet is and we’re running out of time.”

  “There's still time.”

  “Even if we figure out where it is, we have no way of getting there. Just like you said, remember?”

  “We'll figure it out.” He tried to pull me in again, but I put out my hands and stopped him.

  “I need to get out of here.”

  “Okay.” He nodded, taking my hand into his. “I'll take you home.”

  “No.” I pulled my hand free and looked away. “I need to be alone. I can't be around you right now.”

  “Jemma.”

  “I’m serious, Trace! While we were busy rolling around in your bed last night, Taylor was out there all alone—waiting for us to remember her.”

  “It wasn't like that.” He shook his head, trying to dissuade me. “There's nothing we can do until we get the Amulet back,” he reminded me, but it was useless. I was already beyond that point.

  “We're not getting the Amulet back, Trace. It's gone and there isn’t a goddamn thing I can do about it anymore. It’s time to accept it and move on to plan B.”

  He looked over his shoulder and then back at me. “What are you talking about? What plan B?”

  I still hadn’t told him anything about Dominic or how we’d been working together on a plan to kill Engel. And now definitely wasn’t the time to open up that can of worms.

  “What plan B, Jemma?” he asked again.

  “I'm still working on it.” I squared my shoulders and hardened my backbone. “The only thing I know for sure is that I have to take Engel out, and I have less than two weeks to do it. I can't do that if I’m busy wasting time with you.”

  He flinched back at my words, his expression creased with hurt. “Wasting time?”

  “You know what I mean,” I said and instantly felt a pang of guilt for being so harsh with my words. He didn't deserve it, but I wasn't sure how else to get through to him. “Look, I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean it that way. I just meant that I have to stay focused right now.”

  He nodded once, slow and tempered, like a sunset bowing down to the world. “It's all good,” he said, but I could see that it wasn't. “Do what you got to do, Jemma. I won’t get in your way,” he added, and with that, the armor he once wore like a second skin reappeared.

  Something told me I’d regret this later, but I didn't stick around long enough to contemplate it.

  14. THE TIME TRAVELER

  The Blackburn Estate was as quiet as the Hollow Hills cemetery when I tore through the front door. My uncle had already left for work, or errands, or whatever it was he did when I was away at school. Rushing upstairs, I barreled down the hallway and into my bedroom, slamming the door shut behind me.

  The rain hammered down against my balcony window like a rabid creature clawing and scratching at the glass. I paced back and forth in front of my bed as tears ran down my face in bold streaks of hopelessness. My thoughts were racing, sweeping, spiraling through my mind like a tornado. Everything had fallen apart, busted wide open, and the pieces that remained were leading me to one horrible, godforsaken place.

  I had to kill Engel, and I was going to have to do it without the Amulet.

  But how? How the hell was I going to go up against a Revenant that had already killed four generations of Slayers? How was I going to defeat him with no experience, minimal training, and no one to back me up?

  Gabriel was an immediate dead-end, if for no other reason than his loyalty to Tessa. Dominic was a wildcard, and even though we had a shared goal, I still didn't know if I could fully trust him. And then there was Trace...

  Trace was strong, capable, and he cared about me. He would be there by my side if I asked him to, without question. But Morgan's vision alone was enough reason for me to not involve him in this. I couldn't risk letting him know when or where this was going to happen or he would be there with me, ready and willing to walk into his own demise.

  I couldn't let that happen.

  I had to do this alone. I had to kill Engel and bring Taylor home by myself, and even though it very well may be the last thing I ever did, I would go to my death trying.

  A hard knock at the door jolted me out of my thoughts.

  I circled back to the balcony door and pulled back the curtains. A soaking wet Trace stood on the other side, dark strands of hair sticking to his beautifully defined jaw.

  “God, you look beautiful.” Even though his voice sounded muffled through the glass, I could still hear the longing in his words. “Can I come in?”

  I unlocked the door and pulled it open. “What are you doing here, Trace? I told you I wanted to be alone—” I stopped cold in my tracks as he pulled out the Amulet from his pocket and dangled it in front of my eyes.

  “I think you should let me in.”

  “Where did you—” I shook my head. “When did you—”

  “I don't have a lot of time.” Ignoring my half-baked questions, he walked inside and quickly locked the door behind himself as though he were being followed. “Please sit down.”

  “How did you get it back?” I asked and watched as he closed all the curtains, isolating us from the outside world.

  There was no way he managed to get the Amulet back in such a small time frame. I had just left him at school less than an hour ago. “You had it all along, didn't you?” I couldn't believe what I was seeing. “You were lying all along!”

  “It's not what you think,” he said, shaking his head.

  “The hell it isn't. Give it back,” I snapped as I reached out and tried to grab it from his hand, but he moved it out of my reach before I could make contact with it.

  “Please, just sit down, Jemma.” He slipped the Amulet back in his pocket and waited for me to do as he asked. “I'll explain everything,” he said, checking his watch.

  Gritting my teeth, I took two slow steps backwards and sat down on the edge of the bed, ready and willing to tear him a brand new one.

  “Do you know who I am?” he asked, surveying me from across the room.

  “Is this a joke?” I could feel the rage prickling through my blood as he waited for an answer. “Yes, I know who you are. You're the liar who's been playing me since day one.”

  “I'm the liar who's been protecting you since day one,” he quickly shot back.

  I snorted at his convoluted retelling of the past. “You're in serious need of a new dictionary.”

  He cracked a smile as though amused by my indignation. “I'm not from this Timeline, Jemma.”

  “Excuse me?” I leaned forward to get a better look at his lying face. “Are you seriously trying to tell me you're not the same exact Trace I just left at school not even an hour ago?”

  The hell he wasn't. They looked identical and not a single day older.

  “That's exactly what I’m telling you.”

  I snorted my disbelief. If he really was from the future, why would he take the Amulet from me and leave me for dead only to show up with it a few days later? None of this made any sense. He had to be lying. Again. But why? What the heck was he up to?

  “I don't know what kind of sick game you're playing—”

  “I'm not playing any games,” he said emphatically.

  “Yeah? Then prove it,” I dared him, my gaze hard and unrelenting. “If you're from the future then prove it to me. Show me something with a date on it, and I’ll believe you.”

  He tapped his pockets and then shook his head. “I don't have anything on me.”

  I crossed my arms. “Then go get something.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “You're a Reaper, Trace.”

  “Yeah.”

  “So mosey on back and grab a newspaper.”

  “I can't. I've been Bound, Jemma.” His eyebrows pulled together in frustration. “This is a
one-shot deal.”

  “How convenient,” I scoffed. “If you've been Bound, then how did you get here?”

  “Another Reaper.” He took a step forward as though trying to command all my attention, as though trying to distract me from his blatant lies. “I needed to come back one last time.”

  I wasn't buying his story for a minute. He was the same old trickster that had already shown me his true face at the church, and this time, I wasn't looking away from the truth.

  “What you need to do is get out of my house before I do something we both regret.” I shot up from my bed and stepped towards him, ready to make good on my promise.

  “Hang on a minute,” he said suddenly, shucking off his wet jacket and tossing it over my dresser. Grabbing the edge of his shirt, he yanked it up over his head, pretty much undressing himself in my bedroom. “Maybe this will help.”

  His bare, glistening chest stared back at me like a steamy scene straight out of my daydreams.

  “Um, help with what exactly?” Despite my outrage, my cheeks were burning hot. “If you're trying to distract me, it's not going to work,” I said, though my mouth was still unhinged, and I felt pretty damn distracted.

  His dimples appeared as he sprouted a smile. “Is this proof enough for you?” he asked and then lifted his arm up over his head, exposing the entire left side of his torso.

  I couldn’t believe what my eyes were seeing. Right down his ribcage, from his armpit to hipbone, was my name tattooed in elegant, black ink. Bold, thorny vines weaved in and around each letter and then disappeared around the side, presumably to another tattoo that continued on his back.

  “Oh. My. God.” I shook my head as I struggled to make sense out of what I was looking at—at what it all meant.

  “Like I said, I'm not from this Timeline,” he repeated, dropping his arm. “I came back for the Amulet five days ago.”

  “You're actually telling the truth.”

  The ink was dry. There was no denying it. I finally had my proof—I finally knew for certain that present-day Trace wasn't lying. Every word he'd said to me was the truth and it only made my feelings for him soar to indescribable heights.

  Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said for the Trace standing in front of me.

  I narrowed my eyes at him like two angry missiles. “So it was you. You're the one who left me for dead.”

  “It had to be believable, Jemma,” he explained though his words seemed shrouded in regret. “If Dominic even suspected we were working together, he would have killed Taylor.”

  “And me? What about me?”

  “I knew he wouldn't hurt you.”

  “You couldn't have known that.”

  “He's as obsessed with you now as he was then.” He slipped his shirt back on and flexed his jaw muscle. “Engel was the only risk, but I knew as long as he tasted your blood, you were safe.” He ran his hands through his damp hair, clearing the view to his beautiful face. “I knew I could slip in, get the Amulet, and then slip back out without putting you in any real danger.”

  “What do you know about real danger?” All the hurt and anger I felt that night came bubbling back to the surface like a boiling cauldron. “You didn't stick around long enough to see it! You just left me there.”

  “I had to—”

  “Why?” I cut in, my voice shaking from inside. “What was so important that you would do that to me? Was it for Linley?”

  His eyes steeled. “Linley's gone, Jemma.”

  “I know, but...” Wait. Had he given up on bringing Linley back? If that was true, something must have drastically changed his course, and as scary as it was, I needed to know what that was. “If it wasn’t for Linley, then why did you do it?”

  “I had to stop you from giving the Amulet to Engel.”

  “What are you talking about? I didn't give the Amulet to Engel.” Of that I was sure.

  “You would have.” He said it matter-of-factly and then began recounting a history I'd probably never live through myself. “You gave it to him to save Taylor's life, and with your blood in his veins, and the Amulet in his hands, Engel became invincible. There was no stopping him.” He sat down on the chair by my desk and pushed his hands through his midnight-black hair.

  I thought back to what Dominic said about Engel's plans for the Amulet. That he wanted to control the undead and come out of the shadows. I shivered at the thought of him being successful; at the very notion that I might have had a hand in it.

  “So what happened?” I asked, swallowing the choking ball at the back of my throat, my head throbbing from the merry-go-round I couldn't seem to get off of.

  “The Uprising happened.” He moved his chair in closer, and I couldn't help but notice the dark circles under his eyes. He looked tired—worn out. “It was the beginning of Hell on earth,” he explained as grim as a Reaper could be. “Revenants roamed the streets freely, feeding off of humans in the open like it was nothing. There wasn't anything anyone could do about it and it was just the beginning of what was coming.”

  “What about the Council?”

  “Gone. The entire Order was overthrown,” he said, shaking his head in disgust. “The factions were at war over power and couldn’t get it together long enough to setup a new leader.”

  A wave of nausea swiveled through my stomach as I pictured this alternate world I wanted no part of. “That's horrible.”

  “You have no idea.” He ran his hand down his face as though trying to erase the images. “Everything was a mess, Jemma, and it was only getting worse. They were taking over. I had to do something. I had to stop them and this was the only way.”

  “I understand. I get it.” I nodded into it, finally understanding why he did what he did. The picture had become crystal clear to me, and it was hideous to look at.

  “Once I stopped the Uprising, the High Casters got wind of what I was doing and Bound me.”

  “Why? Why would they do that?”

  “To stop me from changing...anything else.”

  “Like what?” I asked, starving to know more—to know all of it. “If you stopped the Uprising and everything is okay now, why would they think you'd want to change anything else?”

  “Because not everything is okay, Jemma.” He seemed hesitant, unsure of how much he should say. It was clear he was still hiding something from me; something he was afraid of telling me. “It's far from okay.”

  My body trembled as I filled in the missing pieces. “You didn't just come back to warn me about what would happen if Engel got the Amulet, did you?”

  He shook his head and his eyes glimmered as they caught the light. Sadly, there was no spark left in them, no sign of life.

  “You came back because I'm not okay, am I?”

  He shook his head again, and my heart sank.

  “Am I alive?” I asked quietly, watching him as he dropped his telling eyes to the ground. I knew the answer even before he said it.

  “No, Jemma. You're not alive.”

  15. DEAD GIRL WALKING

  The rain battered down hard against the window as Trace and I sat across from each other in my bedroom. I had so many questions to ask him, so many things I wanted to know about the future—about my death—but I didn't know where to start. It was too much to stomach; too much to process in one short lifetime.

  “Taking the Amulet that night stopped the Uprising,” said Trace as a clap of thunder reverberated outside my bedroom window. “But it cost me you. Everything we went through together. Every kiss, every conversation, every moment, it was all wiped away as if it never happened.” The devastation in his words was almost palpable. “The world was back to normal but everything that ever mattered to me was gone. You were gone.”

  Hearing him speak about me that way—about our life together—steered my heart to an unrecognizable place. I had yet to know this place for myself, yet somehow, I felt the loss right along with him. I wanted so bad to live there with him, to feel it for myself, but I couldn’t help but wonder if
I was still meant to.

  “What if that's the way it’s supposed to be now?” I asked him, my voice shaking as each word made its way out. “There’s only one Amulet. What if we can't have it both ways?”

  “Then I’ll unleash Hell on earth again to bring you back.”

  “Don't say that,” I hissed, afraid the outside world would hear his promise and turn on us.

  “Why not? It's the truth.” He pushed forward until his knee was touching mine. “I can't live in a world where you don't exist, Jemma. I'll raise the dead myself if it means I can have you back. I swear I will.”

  “No! God, no.” I shook my head, afraid of his words—of the lengths he would go to keep me alive. “You can’t do that, Trace. Don't even joke about it.”

  “Does it look like I'm joking?” There wasn't the slightest hesitation in his eyes.

  “Listen to me, Trace. I don't want this. Promise me that if it comes down to it, you'll make the right decision. You'll let me go and do what's right.”

  “I can’t make you that promise. I won’t.”

  “I don't want to be the reason that everything good in this world ends. I wouldn’t want to live in that world.”

  “Then take this back,” he urged, digging the Amulet out of his pocket. “Put it back on and never take it off. Never let Engel get his hands on it. If you keep it on like you were supposed to, everything will be okay. I know it will,” he said, but I could hear the uncertainty in his voice. It was as though he were trying to convince himself right along with me.

  He was as unsure of the future as I was and coming back here only made it more ambivalent. There was no telling what kind of world he would find when he returned to his Timeline.

  I slipped the Amulet back on. I wasn't sure why but it felt right around my neck, like I was always meant to be its wearer.

  “You can never let Engel know what you are.” His voice resonated in my ears like a promise no one else was supposed to hear. “Your blood is the key to everything, Jemma.”

  “I don't understand.”