by Gabby Fawkes
Aaron prodded the hare. He looked perturbed. “Can we put this away?”
He handed it to me. I stashed it back in my bag.
I wasn’t sure how it fit into the puzzle or whether it even did. But it was definitely significant. From what Aaron was saying, the only way the demon-hare could’ve appeared in the guise of a demon-Vanpari-hare was for someone to have deliberately created an illegal potion to turn it, and crucially it had been done against its will. Why someone would want to create such a potion didn’t take much of a leap of imagination...
“Is everyone thinking what I’m thinking?” I said aloud. “That this has something to do with Geiser?”
All eyes turned to me. It was Nik who answered.
“I wouldn’t put it past him. He’s powerful enough to get hold of a banned potion.”
“And protected enough to use it,” Retta added.
“And crazy enough to want to,” I replied, feeling a shiver creep up my spine.
“Which begs the question, why?” Retta asked.
We all paused, looking from one person to the next.
“He could have used it to make people appear Vanpari so they can cause problems and stir up anti-Vanpari sentiment,” Nik suggested.
“While paying jerks like Trevor to start fights with Vanpari and blame it on them,” I agreed.
“Like a double-pronged attack,” Retta said. “Make everyone jumpy, scared, easier to exploit.”
Just then, my cell phone buzzed. We all leapt a mile.
I checked my phone and saw a message from Mom demanding me home for dinner. The last place I wanted to be right now was back home. If Geiser used illegal potions and hired school kids to beat up Vanpari then I wouldn’t put it past him to have me assassinated in my sleep. But then again, I had Nik’s spell to protect me. A little flame of warmth flickered in my stomach at the thought.
“We’d better go,” I said, realizing the time. I looked around for my bow. “Hey, where’s my…”
“Here,” Cora said.
She’d been so quiet this whole time I’d completely forgotten she was in the room. I looked over and saw her sitting on the battered couch inspecting my bow intently.
I strode over and snatched it up. “Don’t touch that,” I snapped.
She looked up at me with big, scared eyes. “I’m sorry!” Pink seeped into her alabaster cheeks.
I felt guilty straight away. “They’re sacred,” I explained, my voice softening. “We pass them down through the generations. It’s kinda not cool to touch an Elkie’s bow.”
As I spoke, I saw the color drain from Cora’s face. Something I’d said had rattled her.
“What is it?” I asked.
Cora shook her head. “Nothing.”
But it evidently wasn’t nothing. She looked freaked.
“Cora… is there something wrong?” I asked.
Cora chewed her lip as if deliberating. Then finally she blurted, “Bows are passed down through the generations. So they’re connected to the deceased?”
At the mention of the d-word, a cold shiver washed down from my head to my toes. “Why did you say that?”
“Because I’m right,” Cora said. “Your bow is connected to someone deceased, isn’t it?”
I felt my jaw stiffen as I tried to hold in the grief that always overcame me when I thought of Dad.
“Yes,” I said. “So?”
“So whoever it’s connected to is trying to communicate with you.”
Her words hit me like a truck. I felt myself sinking down into the couch beside her. Retta, Nik and Aaron were right there in a second, hovering beside me.
“Why would you say that?” I asked Cora, my heart fluttering in my chest.
She looked worried for me. “I didn’t mean to spring it on you that way. But some Celestials have connections with the other realms.”
My throat was too dry to speak.
“You mean like Heaven?” Nik’s voice came from somewhere behind me.
There are as many theories about what happens after you die as there are types of Demonborn. Everyone has a different opinion. I wasn’t even sure if I believed in the afterlife at all, let alone Heaven itself.
“Kinda,” Cora said. “My specific connection is with Limbo.”
My heart dropped. “Limbo?”
I felt Retta’s hand grip my shoulder. “That doesn’t sound good.”
Cora’s expression of concern seemed to only grow. “It’s not. I’m sorry, Theia. Limbo’s where you go when you have unfinished business on Earth. People’s spirits end up there for a whole range of reasons, particularly parents who have younger kids they feel compelled to protect.”
My voice was suddenly small. “Dad’s stuck in Limbo?”
“I think so,” Cora said softly. “He’s trying to tell you something.”
My mind was spinning. I felt like I could pass out any second. “What do you mean?”
Cora paused, then took my hand. “Have you ever done a séance?”
I shook my head.
“Would you like to? Do you want to speak to your dad?”
I pulled my hand from hers and gripped my mouth. I’d never wanted anything more in my life. “Yes…” I said breathlessly.
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Nik said.
I nodded. Now that the option was on the table, there was no way in hell I couldn’t take it.
Cora held her hands out for my bow. As uncomfortable as it made me to have someone else touch it, I passed it to her.
Cora laid the bow in her lap, her hands spread against it. “Ready?”
I looked over at my friends. They were wearing the same intense expression, like they knew this was a bad idea. But what else could I do? My dad was stuck in Limbo. Possibly because of me. I had to hear his message.
I turned back to Cora and nodded decisively.
She closed her eyes and began to mutter under her breath. Unlike the Latin spells that Mages used, the language Cora spoke seemed even older. A form of Gaelic, I guessed. This was some next-level Pagan shit.
Suddenly, a green swirly smoke began to surrounded us.
“What the…” I whispered.
Retta’s hand on my shoulder squeezed even tighter.
I could feel my heart hammering against my rib cage. This was hands down the freakiest experience of my life.
The smoke thickened, swirling more intensely. It felt like a strange electric storm was forming all around us.
Then, as if coming from a million miles away, a voice began to speak.
The voice felt like a dagger in my heart. It was a voice I hadn’t heard for a whole year. It was my dad.
“Danger,” he moaned.
My heart beat pounded even harder, so hard I felt like it could break a rib.
“Dad?” I squeaked.
“Danger,” his voice repeated. Then, “Geiser.”
I could feel the blood drain from my face. Dad was warning me about William?
“I… I know he’s dangerous, Dad,” I stammered into the swirling green smoke. “I’m going to stop him.”
“Vanpari,” came my dad’s strange, echoey voice.
“Vanpari?” I asked. “What do you mean?”
“Ally.”
Suddenly, through the smoke, a strange face emerged. It looked like Dad but wrong, his expression twisted as if in agony.
I screamed and let go of the bow. The green swirls immediately disappeared.
My heart thudded over and over. I could hardly breathe. All around, the others were watching silently, sympathetically.
“I saw him,” I stammered. “My dad…”
I couldn’t stand it anymore. I grabbed my bow and ran.
14
“Theia!”
Nik’s voice echoed through the alleyway from behind me. But I didn’t stop running. I didn’t know why, I just had to go.
Seeing my dad’s face like that, all twisted like a gargoyle, had royally f’d me up. Him being in Limbo and watch
ing me from beyond the grave was about enough to tip me into psychosis.
“Theia! Just stop!” Nik screamed frantically again.
I could hear his footsteps, close enough behind to suggest he was somehow able to keep up with my Elkie speed. But I ignored his pleas and pushed on, running until my lungs ached.
The sky had turned fully dark now. Back in Harriman, being out at night was no big deal because everyone was Elkie or Fae and all the buildings stayed the same. But in New York City, the darkness meant something else. It meant the streets were filled with Demonborn and moon Mages, Shapeshifters and Vanpari. It meant the buildings transformed from Brownstones and Art Deco towers into Gothic skyscrapers.
Before I knew it, I was in a whole different city than the one I’d come to know. A shiver ran down my spine. I was lost.
My shoes scudded on the sidewalk as I came to an abrupt halt. I looked around, searching for any kind of recognizable feature but coming up completely empty. I might as well have been in Timbuktu.
From somewhere in the shadows, I heard a strange sound. Raspy, heavy breathing. Icicles traveled up my neck, making the hairs stand on end.
“Hello, gorgeous,” came a growling voice.
I swirled, seeing two crimson glowing eyes blinking at me from the darkness.
As the owner of the eyes took a step forward, emerging from the shadows, I felt my stomach turn. Standing in front of me was an Incubus.
If I’d been scared by the Baphomet guard at school, he was nothing on this guy. Baphomets were knuckle-headed fighters. Incubi, on the other hand… well, let’s just say they made perverts look like prudes. This was bad. This was very, very bad.
I went to raise my bow. But in a blindingly fast motion the man slinked toward me. He grabbed my bow with his clammy-looking ice-white hand. He was so close I could see the downy fur covering his skin.
We both held my bow firmly. The feeling of his hands on it made me nauseated.
“Ooh, an Elkie,” he purred, his hot breath tickling my face. “Are you lost?”
“I’m fine,” I stammered, trying to tug my bow out of his grasp.
He kept his grip firm and staggered forward. The smirk on his lips sent waves of revulsion through me. His penetrating glare was cold and emotionless, like he didn’t even see me as a person.
“Elkies aren’t supposed to be out after dusk,” he said.
He leaned in even closer, until there was barely even a gap between us.
“Get lost, Golem,” I said between my teeth.
His mouth cracked open into a horrible grin. “I love a girl who plays hard to get.”
He moved in a sudden springing motion, shoving my bow across my chest and slamming me backward into the wall. I kicked out, the sole of my boot colliding heavily with his bare white stomach. He let out a groan of pain but my blow barely left a dent. A second later, he was flying at me again.
I swung my bow around, cracking it against the side of his neck. Then I twirled it and jabbed him in the gut like it was some kind of bayonet.
This time the Incubus staggered back, clearly wounded.
“HEY!” came Nik’s booming voice.
Relief swelled through me.
From his folded-up position, the Incubus’s head snapped up. “Why didn’t you just say you had a boyfriend?” he snarled. “I wouldn’t’ve bothered trying to seduce you.”
That was meant to be seductive? Jesus.
Nik’s footsteps grew louder. The Incubus skittered off into the shadows and was gone.
Heart hammering, I turned as Nik raced up to me.
“Was that an Incubus?” he stammered, reaching for me.
Without hesitation, he pulled me into his arms. I stood there, wrapped in his strong embrace, feeling an overwhelming sense of calmness overcome me. His cool skin seemed to seep into me like a damp cloth on a fevered forehead. I sunk against him, feeling protected and safe.
“Why did you run?” Nik stammered.
I shook my head against his chest. “I don’t know. Hearing my dad. Seeing him. Everything with Geiser and Trevor. It’s just too much. I can’t handle it.”
Much to my embarrassment, tears flooded into my eyes and out onto Nik’s tee.
But he didn’t pull away. He kept his arms locked tightly around me.
“You can handle this,” his firm voice said beside my ear. “You’re strong, Theia. Brave.” He paused. “Badass.”
I could hear the admiration in his tone. For the first time the thought that Nik liked me the same way I liked him seemed possible.
I moved back, feeling his arms loosen. But he didn’t drop them.
I looked up into his eyes.
Okay, I definitely wasn’t imagining it. Nik’s eyes were smoldering.
All the fear and worry and anxiety I’d felt before seemed to suddenly melt away. Just like when he’d held me in Battle Class, it felt like the world around us no longer existed.
Nik’s gaze trailed down to my lips. I felt my heart spike with anticipation.
He’s going to kiss me. He’s going to kiss me!
Suddenly, a bright flash of light made us pull apart and stagger back, blinded. I brought my arms up to shield my eyes and winced. A car horn blared.
“Is that…” Nik began.
“Retta,” I finished.
I’d never been more disappointed to see a friendly face in all my life.
Retta dimmed the car lights and poked her head out the driver side window. “Guys, come on!”
My cheeks burned as I hurried to the car. Nik avoided eye contact. He slunk into the backseat, his gaze fixed out the window. I slid beside Retta.
Retta looked over at me. She was wearing an expectant expression.
“What?” I asked, my insides squirming.
“Aren’t you going to say thank you?” she said. “I mean, I totally just saved your ass. Five minutes more and who knows what could’ve happened!”
“Thanks,” I mumbled as I slumped down in my seat.
Five more minutes with Nik. Who knows what could’ve happened…
15
If I’d been struggling to get to grips with everything that had happened at school today, the events of the evening had left my mind reeling. I mean, I’d literally communicated with my dead dad in Limbo and then to top it all off, my crush had almost kissed me. I’d need a whole evening of Gus-chat to process it all. What I wouldn't give for my BFF to be freed from fat camp right about now...
Nik remained silent the whole ride home — not hard considering Retta didn’t actually stop speaking. She went on and on about illegal Shapeshifter potions and the creepy-ass séance and my dad’s warning, “Vanpari ally? Like what the hell does Vanpari ally mean?” By the time I walked in the front door, I was actually relieved to have a bit of space from them both.
“Theia? Is that you?”
Mom was calling me from the living room.
I went over to the archway and poked my head in. I was so exhausted I had to prop my shoulder against the wall.
Mom was sitting on the couch with a glossy wedding magazine splayed open on her knees. When she looked up at me, she gasped.
“Good Lord, what happened to your face?”
I’d completely forgotten about the purple shiner Trevor had given me earlier. I must be a mess. Wow, and Nik was still going to kiss this face? He must be really into me.
“A slightly over-zealous competitor in Battle Class,” I told her, only half lying.
She eyed me suspiciously but didn’t push it. “You missed dinner.”
“Sorry,” I said, shrugging. “I had a thing. An after school thing. Extra credits.”
I was a bad liar. Mom added a raised eyebrow to her suspicious glance. But she didn’t challenge me. She’d given up on trying to get me to tell her anything about my personal life years ago.
“Where’s Geiser?” I asked, trying to sound innocent.
“Still at work,” Mom said, sighing. “There’s so much to get done in the run-up
to the election.” She smiled, looking very content with herself. “Just think, in a few days’ time, I’ll be the fiancée to the sun governor of New York City.”
I felt my insides knot. Poor Mom. She was the fiancée to a murderous psycho, more like. And somehow it was up to me to expose him and get us both out of this mess.
“I’ve got a ton of homework,” I said, trying not to let the anguish sound in my voice. “’Night.”
“’Night,” Mom replied, her dreamy gaze already back on the magazine.
I hurried upstairs feeling all kinds of awful. Mom, for all her faults, did not deserve to be deceived by her partner in this way. No woman did.
I hurried inside my room and slammed the door shut behind me. I could just make out the faint shimmer of Nik’s spell. At least I had that.
Quickly, I shucked off my clothes. I left them in a pile on the floor and pulled on a nightdress. Then, with my bow in my arms, I slid under my cover and pulled it all the way up to my ears. Yup, I was sleeping with my bow. Talk about a security blanket.
But even with my bow and Nik’s spell, I couldn’t help but feel afraid.
Seeing my dad today had left me rattled. Drained. If Dad was stuck in Limbo because of this, then there was so much more going on than I’d even fathomed. Geiser wanting me dead was just the tip of the iceberg.
I wrapped my arms more tightly around my bow, trying to feel some kind of connection to Dad through it like Cora had. I yearned for him. If only I had the power to rewind the hands of time, to go back to last year when Dad was alive and my only worries in life were whether I’d graduate and how annoying my mom was.
As my mind raced, it must have only been sheer mental exhaustion that meant I was able to sleep at all.
But even that didn’t last long.
A strange noise woke me. A creaking sound. The sound of my door being opened.
I sat bolt upright, grabbing my bow, and turned toward my door. It was ajar. There, in the crack, I could see the silhouette of a person and the glint of a knife.
My heart flew into my throat.
Whoever was attempting to get inside my room kicked the door. The force was so great it banged open, slamming against the wall.
