“I see a table,” Cassie said. I followed her back to a sheltered alcove.
Lucas and Seth sat on one side of the booth while Royal sat on the other. Between them, 17 flickering candles adorned a beautiful cake artfully accented with red rose petals. Red velvet.
“Surprise,” Cassie said.
“Guys?” But my voice felt thick, and I couldn’t say much more.
“Happy birthday, Braedyn,” Lucas said. His eyes twinkled with warmth. So they hadn’t forgotten after all.
“What are you waiting for?” Cassie nudged me with her elbow. “Sit!”
I scooted into the bench beside Lucas while Cassie slid in next to Royal.
“I know it’s abysmally low-key, compared to last year,” Royal said. “But all my ideas got vetoed.”
“I love it,” I said. “This is exactly the way I wanted to spend my birthday.”
“You might want to hurry and blow this sucker out,” Seth said, eyeing the wax dripping into little pools at the base of each candle.
“Don’t forget to make a wish,” Cassie said.
I felt Lucas squeeze my hand under the table. There was one thing I wished for every day. I closed my eyes. Let me become human soon. I blew out the candles.
“Excellent,” Royal said, clapping his hands. “Now, let’s eat. I’ve been staring at this thing for half an hour.”
“Right?” Seth echoed. “It’s like an exercise in pain.” Royal smiled, giving Seth an appraising look. I felt a warm hope kindle in my chest. Seth hadn’t had much time to get to know Royal or Cassie. Yes, he’d been eating lunch with us, but he’d kept his thoughts mostly to himself, only really opening up to Lucas and me when we were alone. It was encouraging to see him engage with my other friends.
Lucas handed me a knife. “You want to do the honors?”
I cut five generous slices of cake and we dug in. While we were eating, a waitress appeared with five mugs of steaming hot chocolate. Sabrina’s specialty. The hot chocolate was laced through with cinnamon and a dash of red chili powder. The combination was a delicious one-two punch, leaving a subtle fire on the tongue after each sweet sip.
Cassie pulled a gift bag from under the table. “Happy birthday.”
I felt a twist of regret for the things I’d said to her earlier in the day. “Cassie, you didn’t have to do this.”
Cassie gave me an eager smile. “Open it.”
I pulled the decorative tissue paper aside. Gingerly, I lifted a simple black dress out of the bag. “Cassie?” My eyes swept over the dress. Another elegant Cassie Ang creation. The lines were sleek. A shimmering spray of tiny iridescent beads sparkled indigo around the hem. “How in the world did you find the time to do this?”
“She practically lives in that costume shop,” Royal said.
“I had a little side project,” Cassie explained.
I held it up to my body, but I already knew it would fit perfectly. “It’s gorgeous,” I breathed.
“I hate it when you go first,” Royal said with a sigh for Cassie’s benefit. He handed over a box. Judging by the heft, it was a pair of shoes. “Here. They don’t compare to Cassie’s magnum opus, but they do compliment it nicely.”
I opened the box, revealing a pair of elegant heels. They were dyed a deep indigo that picked up on the sheen of the beads Cassie had hand-sewn around the hem of the dress. “I love them,” I squealed, my voice jumping up an octave of its own accord.
“I hope we don’t have to discuss what you’ll be wearing to junior prom,” Royal said.
“I’ll cross that off my list.” I took another moment to admire the beautiful clothes. It was with great effort that I pushed aside the thought that junior prom was a long way off, and so much could happen between now and then. If the final battle had begun, no one would be attending junior prom. Not in Puerto Escondido.
It was a wonderful afternoon. We stayed in that booth for almost two hours, talking and laughing, ordering food to share until we were pleasantly stuffed. As five o’clock rolled around, I got a call from Dad.
“How’s it going?” he asked.
“You knew?”
“Of course I knew.” I could hear him smiling over the line. “Were you surprised?”
I looked at my friends, laughing over something Royal had just said. My heart was full. This was what it meant to be content. “Yes,” I answered.
“I just wanted to let you know, Hale’s giving you and Lucas the day off from practice.”
“Oops,” I said. I’d forgotten all about practice.
Dad chuckled. “Happy birthday, sweetheart. Enjoy it.”
I tried to hang on to that sense of well-being, but as we gathered our money to pay the bill, I could feel it slipping away. How long would it be before we were all together like this again, safe and happy?
Royal offered to give Cassie a lift to her place, and they said their goodbyes in the cramped entryway of Sabrina’s.
“Thank you,” I murmured into Cassie’s ear as I hugged her goodbye. “It was perfect.”
“I’m glad,” she pulled back. “Once this play is over, things will get back to normal. You’ll see.”
I smiled, not trusting myself to speak. After they’d left, Seth pulled something out of his backpack.
“I’ve got a present for you, too,” he said. He handed over a manila envelope stuffed with papers. “Sorry it’s not wrapped.”
I pulled the papers out of the envelope and flipped through page after page of photocopied notes. Angela’s notes.
“What did you do?” Lucas asked Seth, frowning.
“I figured,” Seth looked at me, confused. “I thought you guys wanted to know whatever Mom found out about the ritual.”
Lucas glanced at me, uncomfortable. I knew he was torn. He respected the hierarchy of the Guard, and disobeying Hale wasn’t easy for him. But if this ritual could help me become human sooner, he’d want to know.
“Has she figured it out?” I asked.
“I don’t know. I didn’t have time to read everything. But look.” Seth took the papers out of my hands and flipped to a photocopied image of a small vase. “She calls this the vessel. I think it’s a part of the ritual.”
“The vessel?” Lucas asked.
“Yeah. Does that mean anything to you?”
“Let me see it.” Lucas took the sheet out of Seth’s hand and reacted.
“Do you recognize that?” I asked.
“No.” Lucas studied the image with a thoughtful frown.
“Are you sure?” I asked. I could tell something was troubling him.
“I’m pretty sure I would remember a funky metal vase,” Lucas said. “But there is something familiar about it. Weird.” He shrugged and handed the sheet back to me. “Don’t let Hale catch you with that.”
“Right.” I put the research into my school bag, meaning to hide it in my room when I got home.
But once I started to read it later that night, I couldn’t put down. Angela was convinced the vessel was the key to locking the seal for good. She’d painstakingly reconstructed the history of the vessel through her research. There was an image in the carvings from the mission that she believed to be the vessel, which placed it at the mission for the fight with the incubus and his sister. Later, it had shown up in Boston, around the time of the revolution. Still later, it had resurfaced in California. Present—if her research was to be believed—in San Francisco during the earthquake of 1906. From that time on, it had been in the Guard’s safekeeping, though she wasn’t sure exactly where.
I became obsessed with her notes. I took them to school with me. I pored over them in my spare time. I stared at the grainy image of the vessel, trying to make out the details of its surface. Some part of me became convinced that this small metal vase would be my salvation.
I hid my obsession from the rest of the Guard. Not even Lucas knew how much of my time I spent thinking about the vessel. There were moments where I could push it out of my mind for a little while, but like
a homing pigeon, it always found a way back into my thoughts.
Training seemed to keep the thoughts at bay better than anything else in my daily routine. Matthew and Gretchen had stepped up our practices. Lucas and I spent three hours after school every day in the basement, training. Hale would check in on us, but he’d left our training in the hands of Matthew and Gretchen while he helped get the new Guardsmen settled.
One afternoon, a few weeks after my birthday, we were training in the basement as usual when the door opened at the top of the stairs. I expected to see Hale or Dad, but it was the newcomers: Chris, Paul, Jason, and Max. Matthew and Gretchen halted our training session.
“Mind if we practice down here with you guys?” Max asked. They didn’t wait for an answer, simply walking deeper into the basement and spreading out. Their practice was fast and brutal. Lucas and I stared, transfixed.
Gretchen was the first to pull her eyes off the soldiers. “Back to work, kids. We’re not done yet.”
Matthew waved for my attention. He didn’t rely on the forms, like Hale and Dad did. Matthew believed you trained in the basics, but fights were about reacting in the moment, as effectively as you could.
“You ready?” he asked. When I nodded, he came for me, shooting a fist toward my face. I knocked the punch aside, launching a fist for his stomach in counterattack. We struck at each other, each trying to land a blow, each fighting furiously to keep from getting hit. I sensed rather than saw an opportunity; Matthew had overcompensated in blocking one of my punches—he was off balance. Acting purely on instinct, I moved. My fist connected with his cheek, rocking his head back with a meaty thunk. He took the punch and danced back, blinking tears of pain out of his eyes. “Good one.”
From across the basement, I heard Jason and Chris laughing. They had paused in their sparring to watch us.
“Damn,” Chris said. “She tagged you pretty good.”
“She’s had good teachers,” Matthew said with a forced smile. He turned back to me, putting his hands up. “You ready?” he asked again. There was an edge to his voice. He didn’t like getting bested in front of his comrades.
“Yep.” I didn’t take my eyes off of him. He threw himself into the attack, not holding back. It was all I could do to defend, but I managed to keep him from landing a single punch. He pressed the attack. It was the first time I’d been pushed so hard since we’d started training again. I felt my breath coming faster, my lungs working to keep up as my body demanded more oxygen.
I heard a low whistle and was dimly aware that the newcomers were all watching us spar. Matthew feinted and, distracted, I fell for it. As he dodged out of my way, I realized I’d stumbled into a trap. I dropped to the mat and swept out my leg, knocking Matthew clear off his feet before he’d had a chance to strike. Matthew hit the ground with a loud ooof!
But it was Lucas who cried out in pain. I looked up. Lucas was reeling back, clutching his nose. Gretchen dropped her fighting stance immediately.
“Oh, Lucas. Let me see.” She moved toward him but Lucas drew back. “Let me see,” she insisted, when he wouldn’t let her get close.
“Just—just give me a second,” Lucas said. He took his hand away. Blood streamed freely from his nose.
“Crap,” Gretchen said. “Tilt your head back.” She reached for Lucas’s nose, but he jerked away.
“You ladies are a force to be reckoned with,” the Guardsman named Paul said.
“Hey, kid. Come here,” Max called. “I know a trick for bloody noses.”
Lucas glanced at Gretchen, then walked over to Max. Max probed at Lucas’s nose gingerly. I heard Lucas suck in a sharp breath, but he didn’t protest.
“Doesn’t look broken,” Max said. “Let’s go get you some ice.” Max led Lucas out of the basement. Chris and Jason turned back to their practice.
Gretchen sank into a chair, running her hands through her hair. She looked twisted with guilt. Paul, partnerless now that Max had left the room, walked over to us.
“That was stupid,” Gretchen said.
“He wasn’t paying attention to his fight,” Paul replied. “You did him a favor.”
“How do you figure?”
“If he’d been fighting a Lilitu, he’d be dead.”
Gretchen nodded slowly, her eyes flicking to my face. Paul glanced at me with a spreading smile.
“Though I totally get the distraction. If she was my girl, I’d be keeping an eye on her, too. I’d better go help Max. He’s got the bedside manner of a warthog.” Paul tipped an imaginary hat at me and headed up the stairs after Max and Lucas.
Hale appeared at the top of the stairs a minute later. “Gretchen?”
“Yeah,” she asked, as if expecting this.
“You want to tell me what happened?” Hale walked into the basement, pulling Gretchen aside for the debrief.
Matthew glanced back at me. “We’ve still got an hour left. Want to try another round?” I didn’t, actually. I wanted to go check on Lucas. Matthew seemed to read the conflict in my face. “How about this,” he said. “You land three punches, you’re free to go to Lucas.”
I tried, I really did. But Matthew wasn’t holding back. After an exhausting five minute bout, we broke, breathing heavily. A thin sheen of sweat covered Matthew’s brow, and I felt dampness spreading down the back of my shirt. I grabbed a bottle of water from my school bag and downed it.
Hale finished with Gretchen about the same time. “Go check on him,” Hale said. Gretchen, relieved, nodded. She hurried up the stairs and was gone. Hale glanced at us. “How’s it going?”
I shrugged.
“She’s doing pretty well one on one,” Matt said.
“Let’s step it up,” Hale said. “Time for another session of two on one.”
I groaned inwardly, but once Hale got something into his mind you’d better just deal with it. “Fine.”
“Don’t worry,” Hale said with a smile. “Practice makes perfect.” Matthew and Hale took up positions on either side of me.
To say that my heart wasn’t in it would be putting it mildly. But when two skilled fighters come after you, you learn to move. I might heal quicker than the normal girl, but that didn’t make the punches hurt any less. The problem was, as soon as I turned my attention to fight off one of them, the other would attack from my blind spots. I’d spin around to defend, only to open up my back to the first.
30 minutes of this had left me sore, irritated, and exhausted. Hale finally took pity on me and called an end to the session.
“Better.”
“It’s nice of you to say,” I said, scowling. “But I think we all know that’s a load of crap.”
“It’s not complete crap,” Matthew said with a smile. “Just 90 percent crap.”
I grabbed another bottle of water out of my school bag, accidentally pulling it off the table in the process. My bag hit the ground and Angela’s photocopied notes shot out. I dropped to scoop them up, my heart thudding in my throat.
Hale bent to help. I looked up quickly. That was a mistake. Hale might have handed everything back to me without even looking at it. But when he saw my face, he glanced at the pages in his hands. And his expression hardened.
He stood, glancing down at the image of the vessel.
“Wait. I can explain,” I said.
“Get Thane,” Hale said to Matthew. His voice was quiet. His eyes didn’t leave my face. Matthew snapped to attention and sped up the stairs.
“Hale,” I started.
“Don’t.”
His calm scared me more than if he’d lost it. “I didn’t mean to disobey,” I whispered. Hale simply looked at me. Chris and Jason were still training behind us. Hale clearly didn’t want to alert them to this conversation.
Thane entered a few moments later. “Yes?”
“I need your expertise.”
Thane walked down into the basement, glancing at Chris and Jason. They were focused on each other, sparring. They didn’t pay any attention to him. Thane joi
ned us, looking at me curiously. Hale handed him the notes. Thane glanced at them, flipped through a few pages, then found the image of the vessel. He stopped and looked back up at Hale, unsettled.
“I take it this is Angela’s research?” Thane asked. He and Hale shared a significant look. I got the distinct impression that they knew something they weren’t saying.
“Do you know what—?” I started to ask.
Hale cut me off. “Thane?”
“I need to consult with Ian,” Thane murmured.
“Go. I’ll handle things here.” Hale turned back to me, his eyes snapping. He waited until Thane had closed the door at the top of the basement stairs. “I asked you to leave Angela’s work alone.”
“I know.” I felt excruciatingly small under Hale’s glare.
“You gave me your word.”
“I know. I’m sorry.” When he didn’t answer me, I drew in a ragged breath. “I didn’t ask for it, Seth just—”
“I don’t think you understand.” Hale took me by the arm and steered me toward the rack of daggers against the back wall, farther from Jason and Chris. “Braedyn, we’re going to have to tell the rest of the Guard about you. You know that, right? And I’m afraid it’s going to have to be sooner rather than later. There are Guardsmen who will see you as the enemy. In their eyes, you will be guilty until proven innocent. Don’t give them any reason to doubt you.” He held my gaze, his eyes piercing. “You can’t afford to make the same mistakes as other kids your age. If you make a promise, you have to keep it.”
His words stung. I nodded.
“Okay.” Hale bent and picked up my bag, handing it to me. “Go wash up. Dinner’s almost ready.”
Thane left the next morning, taking Angela’s photocopied research with him. Dad wouldn’t tell me where he was going, only that he had to speak with another Guard archivist.
Lucas showed up on my doorstep early. For someone who’d never been too excited about school, Lucas couldn’t wait to get to campus. Hale had chewed Lucas out after I’d left to get cleaned up the night before. Whether or not it was fair, Hale made it clear to Lucas that knowing about the research and saying nothing was as bad as taking it in the first place.
Incubus (The Daughters Of Lilith) Page 14
