by Lola StVil
“Talk? Summit, Silver doesn’t talk. He kills.”
Lucas takes to the air and goes after him. Pryor and Death enter the house. I’m about to update them, fearing Lucas may need help in stopping Aaden from killing my ex foster dad. But judging from the look on their faces, they have news.
“The Collective made contact with the council, didn’t they?” I ask.
“Yes,” Pryor says.
“Tell me, please. Look, my best friend, Milo, he’s my whole world. I couldn’t stand the thought that something could happen to him and his family. What can we do to stop humanity from ending? What’s the offer?” I plead.
“They want to send you and rest of the Toren team on a quest to find the lost pendant of Marcon. It’s an artifact as old as time itself. It was worn by Omnis but broken into three pieces while in battle. There’s an angel by the name of Oslo who was obsessed with the pendant. He looked for it but never found it. It’s become a myth in our world,” Death says.
“How long has he been searching for it?” I ask.
“Seventy-six years,” Pryor says gravely.
“What?! And how many years do we get to find it?” I ask Death.
“One.”
“So what happens if we actually find the Marcon Pendant?” I ask.
“If you and the rest of the Toren team are successful, the human world will be saved,” Pryor replies.
“Why would they even give us this chance?” I ask.
“They are certain you will fail,” Death says.
“And what happens if I fail?”
“In addition to the humans’, the Angel world dies too.”
CHAPTER FOUR: HOME
I’m struggling to get my head around the fact that not only does the fate of my whole world seem to depend on me finding a pendant, but the fate of the angel world too. A pendant I can no longer remember the name of at that. It doesn’t bode well for any of us. I’m the sort of girl that has trouble finding two matching shoes that aren’t even lost.
I can feel myself sinking into despair. Why me? It should have been Milo. He would know what to do. He’d rush off, find the pendant, and save the world. Me? Not so much.
Pryor’s voice pulls me out of my despair for a moment.
“Where’s Silver?” she asks, glancing around the room. She seems to notice he’s missing for the first time.
“I…,” I start.
I pause. How do I tell her that within minutes of meeting me, her husband has gone off on some murderous mission? At least it takes my mind off the fate of the world. That’s too big, but the fate of one man? Maybe I can actually do something about that one.
“He’s gone to look for Erick,” I say. Pryor’s confused expression tells me that wasn’t enough.
“My old foster father. He hurt me. I told Silver and he left. Just flew off before I could stop him.” Her face has gone pale at my revelation.
“Oh no,” she says quietly. “Why would you tell him that?”
Because I have to live with the pain of what Erick did to me every day and I won’t have some supernatural being swooping into my life and telling me everything he did was the right choice. Because I wanted him to hurt like I do.
“Because I didn’t think he’d care,” I tell her.
“Lucas went after him,” I add as an afterthought.
“Lucas won’t find him. Even if he does, he won’t be able to stop him killing Erick. Let’s go.” Pryor holds her hand out to me. I eye it warily, but make no move to take it.
“How will we find him if Lucas can’t?” I ask.
“Because I know where your foster parents live. Your father and I kept an eye on you all of these years you know.”
The half smile on her face looks vulnerable for a moment. So vulnerable that I bite back my question: Where were you when he was hurting me? Instead, I reach out and slip my hand into hers, which is still held out, waiting for me to take it. “Hold tight,” Pryor says.
Her smile is different this time. Confident. Mischievous even. Before I have a chance to speak, I feel myself swept off my feet and up into the air. We fly out of the same window Silver flew from only minutes earlier. We soar above the rooftops of the city. I’m absolutely terrified. How is this even possible? I try to tell myself I’m dreaming, but I know better.
I grip Pryor’s hand so tightly it must be hurting her, but she doesn’t wriggle or show any sign she’s noticed. I’m holding on so tightly that my fingers are going numb. My eyes are screwed tightly shut as we fly at a dizzying speed.
I hear Pryor’s gentle laugh. “Open your eyes, Summit. It’s beautiful.”
I don’t know why I do as she says. Maybe it’s her reassuring voice, or maybe I want to prove to her that I’m not afraid. Regardless, I force my eyes open. I look down and watch the city whizz past. I can see people and cars, so tiny they look like toys. A startled bird squawks its indignation as we pass it. I feel myself smile. She was right. It is beautiful. And just like that, I’m no longer afraid. We enter a cloud, its white fluffiness enveloping me in a cool dampness that dries instantly as we leave it. I hear myself give out a whoop of joy as the adrenaline courses through my body.
I cringe, remembering where we are going and why we are going there. We start to slow down and Pryor pulls me back down towards earth. I feel a sudden sick feeling in the pit of my stomach that’s nothing to do with the flight.
I’m back here. Outside of the Robertsons’ house. Somewhere I vowed I would never return to. I glance at Pryor.
“Are you okay?” she asks me. I nod. What else can I do? I’m not about to have a mother-daughter bonding moment with the woman who didn’t want me right here on the sidewalk. “You can wait here if you want to,” she says.
I shake my head.
“Let’s go.”
We enter the house through the door that’s blasted off its hinges. There’s no mistaking the fact that Silver’s here. I say a silent prayer that he hasn’t killed anyone yet.
“Silver! Stop!” Pryor calls out just in time as we enter the lounge. I see Erick and his wife, Milly, standing in the center of the room. Their hands are clutched tightly together. Surrounding them is a circle of blue flame. They both look understandably terrified. This huge man, whom neither of them recognizes, has just ripped their door off its hinges and trapped them in a circle of fire.
How do you like feeling helpless and at the mercy of someone else?
The flame burns brightly. I can feel the heat in the room even from here, yet it doesn’t spread or burn through anything it comes into contact with. Instead, it remains in a low circle, effectively trapping the Robertsons. Coming face-to-face with Erick, I expected to feel something. Anger. Hatred. I’m not sure. Instead, I feel pity. I can see the fear in their eyes. They know they’re going to die here. Silver lowers his palm at the sound of Pryor’s voice. The new flame that was bursting from it flickers and goes out.
“Do you know what this monster did to her?” Silver says, his voice tight and controlled but seething with a barely concealed anger. “Do you know what he did to my daughter? To our daughter?”
“This isn’t the way,” Pryor says.
“No?” Silver asks, his voice dangerously low. He steps into the circle of flames. “Then how about this?”
His fist shoots out and connects with Erick’s nose with a sickening crack. Erick falls to the floor. I hear myself gasp as I see his nose bent to the side, flattened at an awful angle. The blood cascades down his face.
“Get up!” Silver roars at him. Small blue sparks flicker from his palms as he shouts.
Erick drags himself to his feet, only to be knocked back down again by another blow. A shower of blood droplets connect with Silver, leaving him splattered red.
“How could you do something like that to a child? A child in your care, who trusted you? A person like you doesn’t deserve to live.”
I can see the haunted look in Milly’s eyes. I see in that look that she knew. She’d believed me all alo
ng, but she loved Erick too much to let him go. She is as much a victim in all of this as I almost was.
Silver drags Erick to his feet again. One of his eyes is blackened and swollen closed. He sways slightly on his feet. A small whimper comes from him. I see him now as he is rather than what he represents to me. And what I see is a man who is pathetic. Worthless.
Silver is better than this.
Before Pryor has time to speak, before I have time to really think about what I am about to do, I step into the circle. I notice in an abstract way that the flames lick at my legs but they don’t burn them. I step between Silver and Erick.
“Please don’t do this,” I plead with him.
I look into his face. The anger there should scare me. I have never seen such an intense anger before, and I have seen first-hand what Silver is capable of. But my instincts tell me that he would never hurt me. Even his flames didn’t burn me. I hope I am right.
“Move,” Silver commands, his eyes locked on mine.
“No,” I say in a voice I hope sounds calm and confident. “You’re better than this. Better than him. Walk away.”
I feel a wash of relief as his face softens, some of the anger drifting away. It is replaced by something I can’t quite read. Regret? Hurt?
“He hurt you, Summit,” Silver says simply. The anger is mostly gone from his voice, replaced with a profound sadness that touches me in a way I didn’t expect.
“He did,” I agree. “But he can’t hurt me again. Not now, not ever. Because I have you to look out for me.” I can see I am getting through to him, but I need to say something else. I reach out and touch him arm.
“Please, Dad,” I say.
That does it. Silver pulls me into a hug that is so tight I fear my ribs will crack.
Slowly, tentatively, I reach out and give him a quick hug back. I don’t know what this means for us. I’m not ready to play happy families, I know that much, but I have to admit that his need to protect me, to avenge me, touches me in a way I can’t quite explain.
Silver lets me go. He gently pushes me to one side and steps around me. The tension in the air is gone, and I make no move to stop him. He grabs a handful of Erick’s bloodstained shirt.
“You’re lucky I love her more than I hate you,” he says. With that, he is gone and the flames disappear. They don’t sputter out or burn down. Just one minute they are there, and the next they are gone.
“Let’s go home,” Pryor says.
I can see the tears in her eyes. I know there is more to be said, but now isn’t the time.
As we land back down in Death’s living room, I realize Pryor thinks I’m going home with her and Silver. My thoughts are confirmed once Death has been updated on what happened at the Robertsons’.
“It’s been a long day, huh?” Pryor says to me. Pryor has done all of the talking. Silver is strangely quiet, standing off to one side. He knows what I know. I’m not going with them. I nod my head at her statement. It’s an understatement really. Before she can say anything about me going with them, and I have to outright reject her, I get it in.
“I think I should go home,” I say.
“Of course,” Pryor agrees, missing my point altogether. “Your room isn’t ready yet, but we can get it right in no time. Can’t we, Silver?” Silver crosses to stand behind Pryor and places his hand on her shoulder.
“That’s not what she meant.” He directs his gaze at me. “Is it?” I shake my head slowly.
“Oh,” Pryor says, the disappointment rendering her momentarily speechless.
“Look, I get it,” Silver says, walking towards me. “But everything else aside, you won’t be safe alone. That’s the bottom line.”
I don’t know what to say. He’s probably right, but I’m just not ready to go with them. Not yet. Maybe not ever. We both skirt around the fact I called him dad earlier. We both know why I did it.
“He’s right,” Death pipes in from her place across from me, beside Pryor. “Why don’t you stay here for a few days until we figure something out?”
“Okay,” I agree hesitantly.
They’re not just going to let me waltz back to my old life; that much is clear. And Death seems nice. Practical. Someone I can get along with.
And she’s not the one who abandoned me.
“That’s settled then.” Silver nods.
He looks across at Pryor. She nods too, though she looks a little bit more reluctant to let me go. Silver crouches down in front of her and takes both of her hands in his.
“We can’t force her to accept us, Pry,” he says gently. “We know she’ll be safe here. And that’s all we can hope for right now. The rest will come with time.”
His words seem to get through to her, and she nods again, this time with a little more conviction. I exchange goodbyes with my parents. They tell me to get some rest and they’ll see me tomorrow.
“They’re right, honey. You should get some rest,” Death says when they’ve gone. “Your room is the third one on the right. Make yourself at home. Good night.”
She’s gone before I can respond. I sit in the silence, my mind racing. How has all of this happened? And how have I accepted it so readily?
My mind won’t stop spinning, and it keeps coming back to one thing now that I know Erick will live a long, full life he doesn’t deserve. The pendant.
How am I, Summit Case, supposed to even begin to find something like that?
I don’t have any solutions. I’m so confused, even my questions have questions. A noise pulls me out of my thoughts. I look up and feel my face break into a smile when I see Lucas standing before me.
“You found him in time,” he says. I think it’s a statement rather than a question. I nod.
“Erick gets to live another day and make someone else’s life hell,” I say bitterly.
Lucas fiddles awkwardly with his hand. Why did I say that?
“How did you know?” I ask. I’m hoping I’m right that it was a statement not a question. I need us to get past this awkwardness. It’s important to me that Lucas likes me.
I watch as Lucas’s cheeks flush a light pink color.
“I followed you.” He shrugs.
“You followed me? Why?” I ask.
He shrugs again. “Well by saving your life, I guess I kind of got you into all of this, so the least I can do is keep an eye on you.” I feel bold suddenly.
“Is that the only reason?” I ask, avoiding looking him in the eye.
“Well that and the fact that all of our fates rest on you, so we need you alive a bit longer.”
I feel a surge of disappointment at his words.
What where you expecting? A declaration of love? As if that beautiful creature could love me!
It’s my turn to blush slightly. Lucas ignores it, which I’m grateful for. He moves to sit beside me on the couch.
“So you’re staying here then?” he asks, gesturing around himself with one hand.
He’s sitting so close to me that I can feel his body heat. My stomach is doing flips at his almost touch. It’s crazy how I can feel like this in the middle of the demon apocalypse or whatever this whole thing is.
My calm acceptance of what’s happened today bursts as surely as if Lucas had reached across and pricked me with a pin. It’s all too much. I can’t do this. I can’t save the world. I can’t pretend all of this is normal anymore, and I can’t sit this close to Lucas without wanting him to lean over and kiss me, which it’s clear he doesn’t want to do. On the spur of the moment, I jump to my feet.
“No,” I tell him. “I’m going home.” I didn’t know that was my plan until the words were out, but it’s so obvious. I need Milo. He’ll know what to do. I run out of the apartment, Lucas’s voice calling my name behind me. I run until I reach Milo’s family restaurant and I don’t look back. Not even to check if the hot guy cares enough to tail me.
I burst through the restaurant doors, seeing as I do that the place is in darkness.
“We’re cl
osed,” Milo says, not looking up from the floor he’s mopping.
“Even to regulars?” I ask, closing the door behind me. Milo turns around and grins at the sound of my voice.
“Well, well, if it isn’t the soon-to-be homecoming queen,” he teases me.
I wonder what he means, and then it comes crashing back in. My date with Ashton, who I now think is dead. “Yeah, that didn’t go so well,” I say.
How’s that for the understatement of the century?
“Sit down and wait here,” Milo says. He rushes off in a whirl of excitement. I smile to myself. I don’t know how he does it, but Milo can always make me feel better. I hop up onto a bar stool and wait for him to return.
I don’t have long to wait before he comes back through the swing doors that lead to the kitchen. He’s carrying a large tray loaded with all kinds of greasy delicacies. My stomach growls at the sight of it, and I realize I can’t remember the last time I ate anything. He places the tray in front of me and sits down beside me.
“Leftovers,” he says, nodding towards the buffet I’m already digging into. We eat in silence for a couple of minutes.
“So, what happened?” he asks when I’m just about full. I continue to nibble away as I think about how exactly to answer that.
“I need a drink first,” I say.
Milo shakes his head firmly.
“Spill first, then you get a drink.”
I sigh. What am I going to say?
“This is going to sound crazy, but I met my birth parents today, and they’re angels. Apparently, so am I, and now I know that, the fate of the whole world rests on me. Oh, and I found that out because Ashton is apparently working for a secret society that wants me dead, but he failed to kill me because Lucas, the hottest guy I’ve ever met, who’s an angel as well, rescued me.”
It bursts out from me in a rush.
“Look, I know it sounds like I’ve gone mad, but I swear it’s true. There are beings out there, Milo. Beings with powers – and I think I’m one of them. You have to believe me.”
I look down at the half-eaten fry in my hand. I can’t look at him.
