Secrets of the Dead

by Becca Vincenza

  Her gentle footsteps padded back toward me, and I remained on my knees as she crept past me. She put her hands out in a waiting gesture as she walked out of my reach. I clenched my jaw, wondering if I had it in me to use the ghoul to attack her.

  “Hang on.”

  She ran out of the door, and I took my chance to stand though the sparse amount of food I’d had and the recent beating made it hard for me to remain upright. Without one of my arms, it was trickier, but I persisted.

  “Over here! I found him!” she shouted, and I wanted to hiss at her to quiet down. The brothers would know of my escape, and I’d never get out.

  Another set of footsteps rushed down the hall, a massive body filling the doorway before I could even move the ghoul.

  “Abel?”

  “Fuck, I gotta be dreaming now.”

  “Using language like that, you bet you are. Your sister swears, not you,” Indigo said with a smile as he stepped into my torture room. His nostrils flared, his eyes burning bright with his wolf.

  “Calm down. I’m not Rowan. No need to go all wolf for me.” I allowed my powers to drop and the ghoul crumpled to the ground.

  Indigo heard it, his gaze going over my shoulder. When he looked back at me, his eyes dropped to the arm hanging uselessly at my side.

  “You’re still pack,” Indigo growled, clearly struggling with his control. He’d warned me when his wolf came into its Alpha position that he’d have a harder time with it.

  “Where’s Ro?”

  If I didn’t know him, I wouldn’t have noticed the slight dip in his shoulders.

  “She was with me, insisting we come after you. Then when we failed to find you, and my superiors said they didn’t consider you a priority, she left. She sought help elsewhere.”

  I couldn’t help the small laugh of approval. That sounded like Rowan. But what other help she sought out, I wasn’t sure. Knowing her, it would’ve been the worst decision. And probably her last resort.

  “We need to get out of here.”

  “You need to rest, brother.” Indigo stepped forward to help me, but he grabbed the wrong arm and I hissed in pain. “Fuck, your shoulder is out of place. Willow, come here.”

  The little pixie moved in such a way that made it look like she was trying to enjoy every moment of life. What the hell has she been through?

  “Sorry about this, Abel.”

  Before I could respond, Indigo pushed my shoulder back into place. Sweet relief hit me a second before the uncomfortable stiffness did.

  I’d make do.

  “Let’s go,” I grumbled as I took a step forward. Indigo moved to my other arm and draped it over his shoulder. I appreciated his offer.

  “Did she give you hell?” I asked.

  Indigo laughed. “Did you expect anything else?”

  “No, but I had to make sure. You deserved it.”

  “That I did, brother,” Indigo agreed.

  He led me out of the room with Willow in front. She poked her head into all the rooms, jumping back at the fourth one she checked, her cheeks flushed and her lips pouting. Watching her reminded me a lot of a younger Rowan, and that made me smile.

  “There you are, you little wisp. What did I say when we got here?” a voice thundered as a large figure stepped out of the room Willow had just vacated. The giant with wings and horns had a stony expression on his face.

  Willow huffed loudly. “You said not to leave your side, but you were taking forever. And I don’t know why you had to be so cautious. It’s not like I can’t protect myself.” She placed her hands on her hips and glared up at the massive gargoyle with no fear in her eyes. Dangerous feat right there, but her bravery made me smile even more.

  The gargoyle opened his mouth as if ready to ream her out.

  “Cornelius, let it go. Are Stephen and Keller out?”

  Cornelius, the gargoyle, turned his glare to us.

  “Yes. Just came back to grab this little wisp. She ran off before I secured the area.”

  Indigo just grinned and nodded toward the exit.

  As we got closer, I pulled my arm free from Indigo’s supportive hold. Leaving this place felt like something I had to do on my own. Whether I had to prove it to myself or to the brothers, I didn’t know, but I’d walk out of there on my own two legs.

  Sweat beaded over my forehead as we made our way to the stairs. I took each one slowly, Indigo behind me offering quiet support but allowing me to do this.

  At the top of the stairs, I saw the place was deserted. My powers flared, and the room filled with ghosts.

  I flinched as the onyx that remained in my system sparked to life.

  “Abel?” Horace stood in front of all the others, watching me.

  My vision blurred, and the more I tried to keep my attention on my uncle, the worse the pain from the onyx became. I collapsed, the poison taking over as my body started to spasm.

  Chapter 20

  “Release your hold on your magic. Just a while longer,” Horace whispered before he disappeared.

  I forced my powers back down as Indigo stepped forward and offered to help me up.

  “I’m good.”

  “What happened?” Indigo asked, his nostrils flared.

  “They were using refined onyx to suppress my powers. I thought it was out of my system. I was wrong.”

  Standing once again, I worried about the long-term effects of the onyx in my blood. Would it remain for days? Weeks? Maybe even years? In all our Tomes, I’d never heard of necromancers using it against one another. I’d have to warn my family about it.

  I couldn’t help but think about seeing Horace for just a second. Had the girl necromancer allowed him to come to me? Or had he snuck here, able to break her commands because of the power Rowan and I possessed?

  More mysteries that would have to take a back seat. If I was right, Rowan would’ve gone to the vampire coven for help. I’d save her. Just the thought of her bonded like me killed a little part of me. I felt Acacia on the other side of our bond, quietly calling for me. Eventually, I’d have to answer the call, but for now, I’d ignore it.

  Rowan came first. I needed to get her back to a safe place until Acacia and I could find a way to get my sister out of the contract.

  “We have to get back to Alaska. I need to get home.” I stood up and headed toward the doorway, Indigo on my heels and Cornelius and Willow behind him.

  “He’s much more serious than Ro,” Willow whispered.

  “I like him better than her,” Cornelius grunted.

  These two had obviously met my sister, but Willow’s first comment when she saw me told me she knew Rowan well. I wondered how they’d met. Was it when she was with Indigo? What exactly had they been up to while I was away?

  “Abel.” Indigo pressed his hand on my shoulder. His tone was questioning, and I knew he wanted to ask how I’d ended up here.

  “I’ll explain later. Can you take me to Ever’s apartment?”

  “We’ll comp you a flight to Alaska, but I’m coming with you. I need to talk to Rowan.”

  “I figured you were coming,” I responded. Indigo had looked almost lost without her here. How close had they gotten while I was away? Though I doubted Rowan would forgive him that easily.

  Cornelius took the lead and walked expertly through the house. From what I’d read, gargoyles had heightened senses. They weren’t quite as acute as a werewolf’s or shifter’s, but they worked much better than a necromancer’s. Once we entered the ornate living room and entranceway, I breathed a little easier. Outside was mere feet away. It felt like months since I’d taken a breath of fresh air.

  Willow, Cornelius, and Indigo led the way out of the house. The outdoors called to me, crickets chirping and toads croaking. The cool air brushed against my skin; my shirt had been torn away, and while parts of my jeans were still intact, I definitely needed new clothes. I stepped down the front stairs and looked out at the sparce woods surrounding us. The house was deceivingly charming with its white ex
terior and green wooden shutters. The colonial-style home was just a façade for the horrors that waited inside.

  Indigo walked back over to me and handed me a pair of black sweatpants. I nodded my thanks as I took them, stripping off my ruined jeans. At least my boxer briefs made it through the torture. I slipped on the new, clean clothes and wished for a shower. It’d have to wait.

  Breathing in one more lungful of fresh air, I joined Indigo next to their SUV.

  “Keller, Nix, and Stephen left already. They figured we had our own business to attend to,” Cornelius said, folding his arms and his wings.

  “Yeah, let’s head out,” Indigo said. “We can swing by our place. You’ll be able to clean up there, Abel, and I’ll get you some more clothes. It’s on the way to the airport.”

  I preferred to stop by Ever’s apartment, but I had no idea if he was back. If he was, he’d have a few choice words with me before I’d be able to return home. Stopping at Indigo’s might be the quickest route.

  We climbed into the car, Willow in the front, Cornelius in the driver seat, and Indigo and me in the back.

  Indigo sat a little closer than most people would have, his hackles up and his wolf on alert. Knowing a member of his patchwork pack had been tortured and held captive, he’d naturally be a little more protective. Having grown up with werewolves, I knew the behavior, and it didn’t bother me; it actually made falling asleep, even as lightly as I did, a little easier. If there was one thing I knew, it was that you didn’t fuck with an Alpha’s pack.

  The slowing of the SUV woke me a while later. Cornelius sat in the front, mostly scolding Willow for taking off like she had, and how she was untrained, while Indigo growled at his friend.

  The apartment was glamoured so that anyone passing by who wasn’t a Mystic would only see an old abandoned warehouse. A couple of the buildings surrounding it were the same. We headed upstairs, Indigo letting us into the apartment he was sharing with Cornelius and, more recently, Willow.

  I didn’t care as long as I got a shower, new clothes, and then we left for the airport. How long had we been behind Rowan? Would I be too late? I trusted my twin would keep with her stubborn ways and refuse to do anything until I was found.

  “Did Rowan go through with the ceremony?” I asked before I took a shower.

  “No. She insisted we come look for you. But I figured you already knew that.”

  “I knew what she would’ve wanted. I didn’t know if she would get away with it.”

  Indigo shrugged. “It’s Rowan.”

  A very true statement indeed.

  ****

  The shower was short and painful. The spray hit old bruises that were still healing, and I scrubbed at old cuts where dried blood caked onto my skin. When I finished, I found loose-fitting sweat pants and a T-shirt of Indigo’s on the counter next to the sink.

  My face was still a mess, with dark purple circles under both eyes, along with swelling by the left; it looked like a vessel burst in it, completely red. My lip was split, and my cheekbone looked shattered with deep bruising.

  How Willow could see the similarities between Rowan and me when I looked like this worried me. Had she looked as bad? No, Indigo would’ve protected her from anything.

  I stepped out of the bathroom just as Indigo called for me in the kitchen. I headed back through the apartment.

  “We can leave as soon as you want,” he said.

  Willow poked her head around the hallway and ran down to join us. “I’m coming! I didn’t get to see Ro much afterward, and I have to apologize again.”

  My brows bunched together. “What?”

  “Oh, I’m the reason my old Master got her. But with the help of these guys, we got her back out. Oh and me, which I’m so grateful she came back after me. It was the least I could do to come after you.”

  “What?” My voice grew darker, and my glare went to Indigo.

  “There are some things we should discuss on our way back to Alaska,” he replied.

  “I’ll say.”

  We gathered up any last-minute things for everyone else, Cornelius deciding to make the trip as well once he heard Willow wanted to go. We went back down to the SUV, Indigo and me sitting in the front this time.

  “What happened when Rowan was with you?” I asked him.

  “We searched for different leads on where you might’ve gone. Before we left Kodiak Falls, a necromancer attacked us and tried to kidnap Rowan. She fought him off while I took on a grizzly. Unfortunately, trouble followed us, and after a while of searching in the city, she caught the attention of a vampire clan. They got her. I searched high and low for her, and we found her within a few days, but after we got back, she disappeared and told me she was headed home.”

  The rest of the drive to the airport was quiet. I couldn’t blame Indigo for Rowan’s decisions since I knew she was bullheaded, but knowing my sister was in the hands of another vampire clan pissed me off. Rowan was too reckless at times.

  The airport catered only to Mystics, and we were able to get on a flight within the hour with no one questioning the bruises on my face or our desperate departure. Once we boarded, I worried we wouldn’t arrive in time. When Rowan got home, she’d be free game for the Morris Coven to claim her. And my parents wouldn’t, and couldn’t, do anything to stop it.

  The flight seemed to take forever. My leg never once stopped bouncing, and I kept glancing out the window. I was the cool-headed twin, the one who remained calm in all situations, but this was different. I knew firsthand what the bond with a vampire could be like, and I didn’t want that for Rowan. I refused to allow it to happen.

  Acacia’s call was like an itch I couldn’t scratch. A buzzing in my ear that wouldn’t go away even if I tried to think of anything else. I resented the idea of being at her beck and call. Even before her betrayal, I wouldn’t have wanted that.

  As soon as the plane landed, I wanted to get to Kodiak Falls as soon as possible. Only after we got a rental, a Jeep, did I relax a little. The roads and area felt familiar, like coming home for the first time in what seemed like a very long time.

  Willow sat in the back seat with me, watching with her eyes big and mouth split into a giant smile. I wondered how she did it. Had she not been treated terribly? Could the same be said for Ro?

  “Willow?”

  She turned to look at me, still smiling. “Hmm?”

  “Do you know what they did to her?”

  Her smile melted away, and her eyelids dropped heavily as she looked down. Cornelius’s wings tensed, and he glared over his shoulder at me. He could be as pissed as he wanted. We were talking about my twin. A part of my being, the better, happier side of me.

  “She’s strong. And for the most part, she did all right. She just wanted to protect you.”

  Willow looked heartbroken as I asked her to recall those memories.

  I turned away from her. That was my worry, Rowan doing all this to protect me. It was my duty as the older twin to protect her. My parents had drilled that into me from the very beginning.

  Eventually, the roads became achingly familiar, and we arrived at the Kodiak Falls’ town limits. Indigo took this turn and that, going back by heart without the help of any GPS. My family’s house crested over the horizon, the wraparound deck we spent so many summer nights hanging out on appearing as if from a dream. The part of the driveway we had to roll the truck up to until we were sure our parents couldn’t hear. So many seemingly happy memories.

  The tattoo on my hip flared. Rowan was near.

  Indigo stopped the Jeep and gave me a look. I climbed out and walked up the stone gravel driveway, staring at the door for a moment, wondering if I should knock. But this was home even if I felt like a stranger.

  I pushed open the door.

  “What the fuck was that?” Ever asked, stepping away from Rowan. How long had she been home? Had Everette ever left when we both went missing?

  Sherman, Kent, and Wilson stood around her. What surprised me most was Ar
t, who sat by himself away from everyone else. My parents held each other, watching as my brothers crowded Ro.

  Art looked over at me, the only one to acknowledge my presence.

  “Got a little hurt, that’s all. Just need to be careful with the hugs guys.”

  “If someone hurt my twin, I’ll have to kick their ass,” I said, already knowing who I’d be going after.

  Chapter 21

  My brothers stepped aside when they heard my voice and looked back at me. I missed my brothers, but their absence wasn’t anything different in my life. And while I was relieved to see them all, it was the person hiding among them who I needed to see with my own eyes. The whole reason I started this insane mission in the first place.

  Rowan looked exhausted with dark circles under her eyes and her shoulders slumped forward in a fashion that was the opposite of my twin. Ro stood strong through everything—even when she realized Indigo wasn’t coming back as well as from any shit we’d gone through as kids—she was relentless. Seeing her look defeated gutted me.

  “Abel?” Rowan’s face paled. It took her a moment before she got up from the couch and ran to me, wrapping her arms around me. I breathed a little easier knowing she’d made it home safe. I’d have to ask her how she managed it though.

  She tightened her hold, and I held back the flinch of pain.

  “What the hell happened to you?” she asked.

  “You wouldn’t believe me even if you’d lived it,” I said, trying to keep things light.

  Rowan snorted at my explanation and kept her arms around me. She was my best friend and a piece of my soul. I’d been her protector for so long, and knowing she’d been through any amount of pain lit a rage inside of me that I couldn’t contain.

  “How did you get here? Where have you been?”

  A wince ticked at my jaw at the questions I never wanted to answer. I couldn’t tell her. I wouldn’t.