“I need to go and get some more of this salve from where I’m staying. And I want to get him something else that should help. Can you stay with him until I get back?”
“Sure.”
Gemma looked over at Cole and it looked like she wanted to say something, but she didn’t.
Cole felt her stare. “I’ll still be alive when you get back.”
She made a face and walked out of the room. Just as the door was shutting, I heard words that I was sure were only meant for her. “You better be.”
It was silent for a few long moments and then suddenly Cole thrust out his hand. “We never did get to shake on that truce.”
I put my hand in his and shook. I couldn’t help focusing on the long scratches on his forearm. He seemed to notice my stare and pulled his arm back. I cleared my throat.
There was a knock on the door and I jumped up. “Attendance,” Mrs. Britt called from the other side. I grabbed up a small blanket that was on the end of the bed and draped it around Cole’s shoulder’s to hide the worst of his injuries and he let out a low swear.
“Sorry, man,” I whispered and went to the door opening it, only partway.
“Cole and I are both here,” I told the teacher, hoping she would go away.
“What is that awful smell?” she asked, recoiling from the room.
“Uh, Cole caught that stomach bug and he’s been throwing up.”
She tried to look past me into the room so I opened the door a fraction and looked over my shoulder. Cole was still on the bed with the blanket around him, head bowed and the bucket in his lap.
“Would you like to move to another room?” Mrs. Britt asked me, clearly convinced.
“Nah, I hardly ever get sick, and besides, I’ve already been exposed.” I pulled the door back around once more.
“Well, all right. Cole…” she called out, but I didn’t bother to open the door again. He made a sound and she took that as a response and she continued, “You’re excused from dinner. If you are better tomorrow, you can join in the last day here, if not, get some rest so you won’t be sick on the plane home.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She moved off down the hall and I shut the door. Cole tossed the blanket away like it was on fire.
“Did Gemma say how long you would be sick?”
“Depends on my body, I guess.”
I sat back down on the bed and wondered if he was going to be able to sit during the very long flight home.
“I guess Heven told you about my angel status?”
“On the plane.” Cole was a Supernal Being—not technically an angel, but not quite a human either. “Think that will help your body heal?”
“I sure as hell hope so.” He made a motion like he might vomit again and I snatched the bucket and held it out. He swallowed back his illness and took a deep breath.
I kept the bucket ready.
“Guess my almost—angel—status and your hellhound status is the reason we instantly disliked each other.”
I hadn’t thought about it that way before, but he was right. I guess we should be natural enemies if you consider where we both came from. Still, it bothered me that he would be the “good” one and I would be the “bad” one. “You know, I’m not really from Hell. God created me, it’s just that part of me was… twisted by Hell, by Satan, but I try to be better than that.”
Cole looked up at me. “I didn’t want to believe that at first. I wanted you to be the bad guy. But now I know that I was wrong.”
His words meant more to me than I thought they would. I always told myself that what Cole thought never mattered. But I think maybe it did. I didn’t need his friendship, but it would be nice to have. “Once you stopped hitting on Heven, I realized you weren’t as bad as I thought either.” I grinned.
He grimaced. “I knew there was a connection there, with her. I just couldn’t figure out what it was and the only thing I could think of was that we were… well, you know. I never in a million years thought she could be my sister.”
He didn’t just get a sister, though. He got pulled into an entire supernatural world. His life would never be the same. “You cool with everything that’s been going on? It’s been pretty crazy.”
He sat there for a minute, his breathing slightly ragged, and I figured that while he was battling his pain and sickness, this wasn’t the best time to talk about this stuff. I got up and grabbed a clean change of clothes out of my bag, a pair of shorts and a dark-colored T-shirt, thinking a quick shower before dinner would help wash away some of the day’s worst.
“It’s kind of strange. Even with everything that’s happened, I still feel like I am where I belong, you know? Like this life was meant for me.”
I turned back to him. “Yeah, I do know.”
It was a little strange to realize that the person I’ve been hating for months turns out to have a lot in common with me. But what would happen now? “Now that the scroll is gone…” I said, “who knows what will happen.”
“What do you mean?”
I turned away from my suitcase. “I mean, Heven died. Airis gave her life back and in return we had to return the scroll, only we didn’t.”
“You think Airis will take Heven’s life back?” Cole said, alarm making his eyes wide.
“I won’t let that happen.” But if Airis wanted a life debt, she would take one. “I need you to promise me something.”
Cole’s eyes narrowed. “What?”
“If something happens to me, you’ll take care of Heven.”
“You’re going to make Airis take your life instead,” he said flatly.
“If I die, she won’t be the same. Our Mindbond… when it’s severed, it might be too much for her.” I didn’t say what might happen. She might die anyway, and if she didn’t, she might go insane. Mindbonds weren’t made to be severed.
Cole’s chin lifted. “I’ll take care of her.”
I didn’t expect him to talk me out of what I planned to do. I knew he would sacrifice me for his sister, just as I would sacrifice him for her. I turned away, the answer I wanted mine, but instead of making me feel better, it made me feel worse.
The idea of being separated from Heven left me with an ache in my chest.
“What if we got it back?” Cole said quietly.
I turned around.
“If we got the scroll back? No life debt would need to be paid.”
Was it possible that I could correct what happened down in those catacombs? For the first time since we got back, I felt a surge of hope instead of just trying to accept what was.
Cole must have seen the change come over me and puffed up with excitement. “They probably took the scroll to Hell, right? Isn’t that where that witch lives?”
I nodded, thinking. “Hecate most definitely lives in Hell.” She reeked of evil.
“Going there might be hard for some people, but not for a hellhound.”
My eyes snapped up to Cole’s. “Exactly.” I might try to be better than the darkness in me, but it was still there and I would let it out if it meant saving a life. It wouldn’t be the first time—or the last.
I felt a smile curl my lips. “You’re pretty smart for an angel.”
“Supernal Being,” he corrected.
I waved his words away with my hand. “How will I get into Hell?” I said, already trying to formulate a plan in my head.
The door opened and Gemma came in carrying a small sack and a plastic water bottle. Her eyes went straight to Cole, but she didn’t waste time butting into the conversation. “Find a portal.”
“A portal to Hell?” I asked.
“They’re all over the place. How do you think those demons get around?”
I vaguely remember Airis mentioning the portals to Hell a while ago, but with everything going on, it had slipped my mind. The demons started coming around and I became too busy trying to rip their heads off. “But where?”
Gemma sat the small bag she was carrying on a small table in
the corner and pulled out a white water bottle and unscrewed the cap. “I can’t see them. You should be able to feel them though, being a hellhound and all.”
“Here, drink this,” she said, handing the water bottle to Cole.
“What is it?” He eyed the bottle dubiously.
She rolled her eyes. “It will speed up the healing.”
Cole grabbed it and took a long swig then began coughing. “That shit is nasty!” He spat, setting the offending substance on the bedside table.
Gemma snatched it up and sat down across from him on my bed. “Don’t be a baby.”
“What do you mean feel them?” I asked her.
“Just think about it,” she said, holding the drink back out to Cole. “Haven’t you ever been anywhere that you have been drawn to for no apparent reason? That’s where it would be.”
Cole reluctantly took the water bottle then glanced at me. “Looks like we got ourselves a plan.”
I grinned. It might be a crazy plan, but I was good with crazy. “I’m taking a shower. I’m supposed to meet Heven at dinner in a few.”
“Fine.” Cole lifted the bottle and began drinking, my attention once more caught by the nasty scratches on his arm. Why were they so familiar?
I shut myself in the bathroom, but left the door unlocked in case Cole needed in here for something and submersed myself under scalding-hot water. I thought about our new plan, about getting the scroll back. It was my only hope to keep Airis from taking back a life—my life. I would still be here with Heven. With Logan.
I froze.
Oh. My. God. Logan.
Cole’s scratches. They were familiar because they were exactly like the ones I had seen before… that day in the second hand shop.
On my brother.
* * *
I chose a table away from the Mrs. Britt in the hotel dining room just as Heven walked in. I took a minute to enjoy the view, how truly beautiful she was to me. She was wearing a long, dark blue cotton dress that brushed her toes as she walked. It was sleeveless and her slender arms were tan from all the sun we had been out in. Her hair was down, brushing against her collar bone, and my skin tingled with the memory of how it felt when it brushed against me.
She caught my stare and smiled.
Hey, beautiful.
Handsome. But then her face cleared of the moment. “Where’s Cole?”
“He’s not doing so good, Hev,” I said, taking her hand and pulling her into the chair next to me. When I came out of the bathroom after my shower, Gemma had finally gotten him in a comfortable position lying down, but I knew he was still in pain.
“I should go see him.” She got up from the table.
“Gemma’s with him. He needs to get some sleep.” She still seemed torn so I said, “I told Mrs. Britt he must have caught whatever Kimber had.”
“If Gemma’s with him, I guess he’ll be okay.” She sighed and sat back down.
“She made him drink some nasty drink. He complained like a girl.”
Heven laughed. “You two are getting along better.”
“He’s not so bad.” I got up and snagged her hand. “Come on; let’s get some food before it’s all gone.”
After we filled our plates at the buffet overflowing with Italian goodness, we sat back down and began eating. “I’ve been thinking,” I said, leaning closer to her and lowering my voice. “What if we went after the scroll?”
Heven blinked. “We have no idea where it is.”
“Hecate probably took it to Hell with her.”
“You want to go to Hell?” She dropped her fork in her plate of pasta.
“I want that scroll back.” I didn’t go into the whole life debt thing, but I realized that it was something she probably already thought of.
“He wanted me to open it,” Heven whispered, her voice far away.
“Who?”
“The Dream Walker. He doesn’t know how to open it and he thinks I can.”
I glanced at the necklace hanging around her neck. The key that opened the scroll.
Of course! “So they haven’t gotten it open.” A smile spread across my face.
Heven smiled back. “You really think we could get it back?”
“Oh, I’m going to get it back, baby.” I said it with renewed energy and attacked my pasta.
“Might be worth a shot,” she said, digging into her food as well.
I didn’t want to spoil the mood with my thoughts, so I kept it to myself.
Getting that scroll back was our only shot.
Heven
By the time I fell asleep that night, Kimber was still a no-show. I was saved earlier when we got back from explaining why she wasn’t here because once I opened the door to the room, Mrs. Britt assumed Kimber was inside, marked us both off on her sheet and kept moving. But that was hours ago and now I was beginning to think that maybe she wasn’t coming back. I wondered how I would explain her absence tomorrow when we got on the bus for the airport, but then I remembered that I didn’t have to. Kimber and I weren’t friends anymore. She betrayed me. Because of her the Treasure Map was gone, Cole was hurt and people were in danger. I didn’t sleep well, tossing and turning, unable to find a comfortable position that didn’t hurt my back. I was lying in the dark, thinking about getting some pain reliever from my bag, when I heard the lock on the door click. My entire body tensed and I lay as still as possible, listening. The door creaked open and then swung closed. A shadow swept across the wall as the person moved farther into the room.
I sat up and switched on the lamp.
Kimber stopped sneaking toward her bed.
“You’re back,” I said.
“Yep.” She didn’t turn around to face me, but her shoulders tensed the minute I spoke.
“You’re a witch now?”
She shrugged. She didn’t have to say anything, the black cloud around her said it all.
“You have no idea what you’ve done,” I spat.
She turned, her face livid. “Me? What about you?”
“I’m not working with Hecate.”
Kimber tossed her red hair over her shoulder. “She’s been honest with me. She’s taught me stuff.”
“Like how to betray your friends?”
She jerked like I slapped her. “You stopped being my friend the day you slept with Cole!”
This time I jerked. “Slept with Cole?”
She rolled her eyes. “Don’t play stupid with me. I know.”
I laughed. “You don’t know anything.”
For the first time, her confidence wavered. “I saw you.”
“I don’t know what you saw, but it wasn’t me sleeping with him.”
“So he wasn’t at your house a few weeks ago in the middle of the night?”
I thought back to that night he came by, half drunk. “You were there too?”
Kimber turned smug, like she caught me. “Of course. I was with Cole; then he ran off and I followed him… right to you.”
“If you had told me you saw us, I could have explained.”
“Spare me your lies, Heven.” She went across the room to her bags.
“He’s my brother.”
Kimber stopped in her tracks and looked at me. “You’re lying.”
I shook my head. “He couldn’t say anything because his mom isn’t handling it all very well and she doesn’t want anyone to know.”
Kimber didn’t say anything, but sank down into a nearby chair. I pulled the blankets up over me, covering my legs. “My dad is his dad. Gran kind of freaked the first time she saw him and had a DNA test ran without anyone knowing. That night you came out to the house and we were on the porch hugging? That was the night that she told us.”
“Sam knows,” Kimber said.
“Yeah, he was there when Gran told us.”
She looked up at me. “You didn’t sleep with him.”
“No. I would never have done that to you.” I let the unspoken accusation come through in my words.
“Yo
u still lied to me,” she said coldly.
“I couldn’t tell you about Cole. He asked me not to.”
“I’m not talking about Cole.”
I shoved the covers back and stood, angry. “Yeah?” I spat. “You’re right. I didn’t tell you that my boyfriend turned out to be a hellhound and his crazy old roommate is the one who messed up my face. I didn’t tell you that an angel came to us and asked us to return a sacred document where it belonged. Sorry for my omission, Kimber, but none of that was about you and it was dangerous! I didn’t want you to get hurt.”
“A sacred document?”
“Yeah, you know that thing you helped Hecate steal?”
“She said it belonged to her.”
“Of course she did. I guess I wasn’t the only one who lied.” I began gathering up a few things to shove in my bag.
Kimber rushed across the room and grabbed my wrist. “It wasn’t hers?”
“Of course it wasn’t!” I yelled. “But now she has it and innocent people are going to die!”
“No.”
I don’t know why, maybe it was the disbelief in her eyes or the complete chill in her aura that wrapped around us both, but I took a minute to tell her about the Treasure Map. I explained how we got it and what it was for. I told her about the training that Sam had been doing to be able to fend off all the demons that had been attacking us. Finally, to drive the point home, I told her how Cole interrupted me getting attacked and it was the only reason we told him. I didn’t tell her that Cole is a Supernal Being. I already told enough of his secrets for one night.
“I had no idea,” Kimber said, almost to herself, when I was finished.
“You’re right. You didn’t. And maybe I should have told you, but I was trying to protect you. I tried to tell you that I was still your friend and things weren’t what you thought. But you didn’t believe me. Instead, you aligned yourself with Hecate, Queen of Witches.”
Kimber’s eyes rounded. “Queen of Witches?”
“Yeah. She works with Satan, you know.”
“No,” Kimber said, backing away. “I knew she was someone powerful, but she didn’t say…” Her voice faltered and I almost felt sorry for her. Almost.
Charade (Heven & Hell) Page 29
