She shook her head. “It was only after I gave birth to you that your father and I got to witness your abilities—the amazing things you could do—and we realized that it hadn’t been my blood all along. It was my unborn child’s.”
Trace tightened his arm around me. I hadn’t even noticing him walking up to me, but I sank into his protective warmth just the same. He was my safe place in a world that only sought to devour my existence time and time again.
“In that moment, we knew what had to be done. I knew. I couldn’t turn myself over to the Council…they would’ve tested and prodded me until they put two and two together, and we couldn’t allow that to happen. I had to keep up the pretense that it was me and not you that was cursed with the bloodline and I had to make sure they couldn’t test my blood anymore to prove otherwise.”
“So you Turned anyway, even though you didn’t want to…to deflect them.”
She nodded solemnly. “I needed to keep their suspicion on me so that they never looked twice at you. And that worked for a while, but your abilities continued growing stronger, and slowly, they’d begun to take an interest in you.” She blinked tiredly as she revisited a part of her life that she had locked away for a very long time. “Thomas and I couldn’t let that happen. Not after everything we sacrificed to keep you safe.”
A clap of thunder pounded against the front door as though the hunters from both sides had arrived to settle the score.
“We spent one last wonderful night together as a family and the next morning, I ripped this town to shreds, taking as many of them down with me as I could.” There was fire in her eyes that hadn’t been there earlier. “I had to make them believe I turned to the dark side; that I was overcome by bloodlust and the urge to kill—so much so that I left your father with no other choice but to pack his bags and take you girls away from here.” A sad smile touched the corner of her lips. “You were Cloaked the very next day, and that day was the first day of the rest of your new life.”
A thickness pressed in at the back of my throat, but I forced it back down.
“Thomas and I still saw each other on rare occasions when fate would allow it, but it was too dangerous to stay close to you girls and so I watched you and Tessa grow up from a distance—away from you, but never too far away. And when the Order got too close, I never hesitated to keep my promise to you, right until the day they finally caught me.”
A quiet sob escaped my throat and I realized I had been crying. I couldn’t believe how much she had given up so that I could live. How much she and my father went through so that I would be safe. And now here I was, being hunted by the Order and revered by the Dark Legion—my veins split wide open for all of my enemies to see. Everything she had done had been in vain, for nothing! I grew up motherless and now I was fatherless too and we were right back where we started.
All because of them.
A deep rooted loathing broiled in my gut, festering its toxins into my bloodstream until the only thing I saw was red. A vase shattered on the console table by the door and my mother quickly covered her face to avoid the shattering glass.
“Breath, Jemma,” he whispered into my ear to calm me.
My mother lowered her arms and looked up at me. “I see your powers are alive and well.”
“I wouldn’t know,” I said somberly. “I have no control over any of it.”
Her expression twisted with concern. “That’s something you have to learn to do, Jemma. You need to be able to harness the power inside of you or it will consume you.”
Oh good, just what I wanted to hear.
She tilted her head to the side. “I can stay and help you—I can teach you…if you’d like me to.”
Trace tightened his hold on me, anchoring me to the here and now so I didn’t run off into never-never land. But I wasn’t that naïve. My childhood fantasies about having a mother to braid my hair and drive me to cheer practice had long since tumbled by the wayside. Even now, as she stood right before me, every bit as real as I was, I didn’t forget my place in the world. I knew what she was…and I knew what I was…and I knew what lay ahead for us both.
My intentions had not shifted and my goal remained steadfast.
“You’ve already given up everything for me,” I said as I let go of Trace and moved closer to her, finally feeling as though I were strong enough to stand up on my own. “And maybe I don’t have the right to ask you to give up anything more, but I need your help,” I pleaded with her. “We have to bring the walls back up or innocent people will continue to die, and your blood is the only way for us to do that.”
“And that’s…all you want from me?”
“Right now, yes,” I said and lowered my head. I already had enough attachments clouding my judgement. I didn’t need another reason to stop me from doing the awful things I was going to have to do—the things that had plagued the dark corners of my subconscious, but that I never fully allowed to come to light.
She looked at me for a long moment, her expression as unreadable as the fine print on a contract with Death. “Will this help keep you safe?”
“Yes,” I lied. This was only the very tip of the carnage that lay ahead of me, but I couldn’t let that that stop me from doing what had to be done right now.
“And what about the prophecy?”
“I can only put out one fire at a time,” I answered, avoiding the conversation entirely.
“But they’ll continue to hunt you.”
“They can’t hurt me right now,” I said as I raised the Amulet from around my neck, letting the chandelier light hit it at just the right angle. “Not until I let them.”
“Let them?” Trace and my mother asked at the same time.
“I’m not going to be the reason this world goes to shit.” Of that I was sure. “The way I see it, I have two options right now. I either lock myself away in Hell like the Order wants, or I do what you did and Turn.”
“What are you talking about?” snapped Trace, hearing this for the first time. His eyebrows rutted together as a cocktail of emotions swirled in his eyes. None of them good.
“You heard her, Trace. Turning makes the bloodline useless to the Dark Legion and if I’m useless to them, I’m no longer a threat to the Order. It’s that or sealing myself in a tomb with Lucifer.” At this point, I wasn’t sure which one was worse because by the look on Trace’s face, it was obvious that he hadn’t signed up to date a vampire—the very thing that he hunted. The thing that killed his sister. I was probably going to lose him either way. The only question was, which way would be easier for me to bear.
“We still have time. We’ll find another way,” he whispered softly though his words were urgent—forceful.
“He loves you very much,” said my mother, interrupting us and steering my focus back to her. It wasn’t a question though. It was more of an observation—a statement of undeniable truth. “And you love him too.”
“More than anything.”
Trace tightened his hold on me and dropped a kiss on the top of my head.
A sad smile slid across her face again, like she knew our love was just as doomed as hers had been.
My heart ached to tell her that it wasn’t; to defend ourselves against her unspoken assumption and tell her that we didn’t need her sad smiles or her pity, but I couldn’t muster the energy needed to tell the lie. The future for Trace and I had gotten bleaker than the Hollow Hills sky, and every time I found myself looking out into the horizon for signs of hope, the only thing I saw were more storm clouds headed our way.
“Okay,” she said suddenly and tipped her head like a promise. “If this is what you want, then I’ll do it. I’ll help you in any way I can.”
I wasn’t sure what changed her tune, or how much of it was based on pity for us, but I also didn’t bother questioning it. I was willing to accept whatever help was coming my way.
Even in the form of my once-dead mother’s blood.
39. LIFE UNEXPECTED
After supper, I
retreated to the guest room to lay down while Trace brought everyone up to speed downstairs. I didn’t want to be around to hear Gabriel’s cautionary objections or Dominic’s snide remarks and I definitely didn’t want to listen to any more bickering between the three of them. My mother had agreed to help me—to give us her blood so that Arianna could close the portal tomorrow and that was the only conversation I’d wanted to hear.
Tomorrow was the first step in restoring the world as I had once known it and when we were done with that, I was going to have to weigh out my options and finally commit to what my next step was going to be—what my future would be. The way I saw it now, I only had two options and neither of them were any good.
The first option was to do the very thing my uncle had tried to trick me into—eternal damnation by willingly entering Hades and taking myself out of the game entirely. That meant not only leaving my entire life behind and all the people I loved, but the very body I occupied as well.
The second option was for me to do what my mother had done and Turn. On the plus side, I wouldn’t have to give up my entire life and I’d still have my body and soul occupying the same space. But I would most likely lose Trace and any hope for having a future and a family with him some day. I’d have to watch him move on, fall in love with someone else and live a normal beautiful life without me.
I honestly wasn’t sure which fate was worse.
A soft knock at the door interrupted my dangerous thoughts. “Come in.”
Trace opened the door and stepped inside the shrouded darkness of the room. “You’re awake.” He smiled and then closed the door behind himself. “You want some company?” he asked, hopeful.
“You never have to ask me that.”
His grin widened and two dimples made a brief appearance as he strutted to the bed and then dropped down beside me. Reaching under me, he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me into his chest.
“Everything okay downstairs?” I asked as I listened to the steady thrumming of his heart.
“Arianna’s gone back to Hawthorne to get her sisters.”
“And my…and Jaqueline?” It felt strange referring to her as my mother out loud, without a motive, so I didn’t.
“She’s resting. Dominic and Gabriel are keeping watch.”
I wasn’t sure how I felt about them watching over her like she was some sort of criminal.
“That’s not how I meant it,” he whispered into my hair and then kissed my head. “They’re just making sure she’s safe.”
I nodded, realizing it was probably a little bit of both.
I closed my eyes and let the hum of his body soothe me as the wind howled vociferously outside the window, smacking the rain against the glass like falling rocks.
“Did you mean what you said earlier?” he asked after a few beats of silence.
“Which part?” I had to ask because, well, with my mouth, I could never be sure.
He hesitated to answer. “When your mom said you loved me.”
Smiling, I looked up and met his gemstone eyes. “Of course I meant it. You know how I feel about you.”
“I guess so, but…” He didn’t finish.
“But what?”
“I don’t know,” he shrugged like he wasn’t sure where he was going with it, even though I knew that he was. “It’d be nice to hear you say it sometimes.” He met my gaze again—his eyes vulnerable. Pained.
“That I love you?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ve said it before.” I was sure that I had…hadn’t I?
“Nah. I’d remember you saying that.” His dimples pressed in again, though there was no accompanying smile.
I wasn’t sure why I’d never said it to him when I knew I’d felt this way about him since forever. Maybe it was another one of those words I was afraid of…like home and safe and happily-ever-after. Maybe I was scared that if I said it out loud, the Angels of Destruction would hear my words and take him from me to spite me.
“No one in this Realm or beyond could ever take me from you,” he promised, kissing the tip of my nose.
And in that moment, I believed him. I cupped his cheeks and kissed him full on the mouth, sinking into him like two halves of a whole. “I love you, Trace Macarthur. I’ve only ever loved you.”
His beautiful heart-shaped lips pulled into a grin, popping off both of his dimples at once. “Then marry me, Jemma.”
“What?” I choked out a stunned laugh.
“I’m serious,” he pulled back and sat up on the bed, dragging me right up with him. “Marry me.”
“You’re crazy!”
“Yeah,” he said and licked his lips. “I’m crazy about you.”
“We’re still in high school!” I shrieked, unable to even out the piercing pitch to my voice or wipe the goofy smile off my face.
“I don’t care. Marry me anyways. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I don’t care how young we are or how much time we have. I want you to be my wife.”
“I want that too, but—”
“No but’s. No excuses. Just me and you.” His jaw muscles popped as he grazed his thumb against my cheek. “What you said to your mother, about not having any other options. You were wrong.”
“What do you mean? I don’t—”
“I could take you away from here, Jemma. We could disappear together the way we’d always planned. We’d never have to come back here and no one would ever find us.”
I remembered the night he’d said that to me as though it were yesterday. We were at Caleb’s party, dancing together in the corner of a packed room that had felt empty. He asked me if I’d go away with him to a place where the sun never set and I told him that I’d go anywhere with him. And I still would.
“Then come with me. We could leave tomorrow after the wall goes up.”
“But the Dark Legion…the Council…” I shook my head hopelessly. “They’ll hunt me. They’ll hunt you. We’ll never be safe. We’ll never be able to stop running.”
“It won’t be like that.” His eyes were filled with certainty, with determination.
“And Dominic? The bloodbond…” My eyes welled up with despair. I wanted so bad to leave all of this behind and go away with him.
“I have an idea. I’ve been looking into it and I think it’ll work.”
“What idea? Since when?”
“Since Taylor.” His eyes remained unreadable and my heart fluttered with nerves. “Do you trust me, Jemma?”
“I trust you.”
“Tomorrow then.” He leaned in and kissed me again softly—tenderly, and I curled into the space between his arms where I have always belonged.
He lay us back down on the bed and played with my hair as I rested my head in the crux of his arm. My body hummed with love and hope as I imagined a life with Trace, just the two of us, away from this awful place. I wasn’t sure where he was taking us or what he had planned, but I trusted him with every cell in my body.
I turned on my side and faced the window, watching mindlessly as the rain pelted against the window. The moon was full and hanging low in the distance, it’s eerie crimson glow not far away. Tomorrow would be different—better—because tomorrow was going to be the first day of the rest of our lives.
I closed my eyes and fell asleep to the soft lulling of his heart.
A hard push against my arm startled me awake. I turned to my side, expecting to see Trace there, but instead I found Arianna leaning over me. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail and her eyes were screaming with alarm.
I bolted upright as a wave of nerves punched through my stomach. “What’s wrong? What happened?”
“She’s gone!” she shouted in a panic, shaking her head frantically. “She took him with her!”
“Who’s gone? My mother?” I tried to blink the sleep from my eyes, but I couldn’t seem to make sense of her words.
“Yes, your mother! You need to get up. Get dressed!” she ordered, pulling me up from the bed.
/> “Where’s Trace?” I said as I grabbed my jeans from the dresser and shook them out once.
“He’s gone! Dominic and Gabriel were unconscious when we got back and Trace and your mother are both missing.”
I tripped on the pant leg and fell to my knees. “What do you mean he’s gone!” The words tore from my body like a hurricane. I jumped back onto my feet and flicked on the light switch, searching for clues. There had to be a note. Some kind of explanation. He wouldn’t leave. She wouldn’t take him. This wasn’t happening!
“There’s blood,” she said, pointing to the spot where Trace had been laying.
I crawled onto the bed frantically and pulled back the blankets. There was blood on the pillow and blood on the sheet. He was hurt. Bleeding. Maybe worse.
I couldn’t get my thoughts to run straight.
“This doesn’t make sense! Why would she do this?”
Arianna clamped her mouth shut, but I could tell she was keeping something from me.
“Tell me!” I demanded.
Her eyes closed briefly before she said, “She may have heard us talking about Engel last night. About how you vanquished him. It slipped out. We didn’t realize—”
“No,” I shook my head, not accepting her explanation. “She wouldn’t do this to me. She knows how much he means to me. She told me she wanted to help me.”
“He sired her,” she whispered the words like a dirty secret.
The pieces fell together slowly and then everything crashed down on me at once.
She took him.
She never had any intention of helping me, she was just trying to save her own ass from being put back in that box. And now that she found out I was the one that killed her precious dead boyfriend, she was going to return the favor by killing the one I loved.
But not if I found her first.
My cold eyes turned to her as an angry fire surged through my heart. “Can you track them?”
“I think so,” she said with a nod. “We can try a locator spell with his blood.”
Iniquitous: A Dark Paranormal Romance (The Marked Book 3) Page 26
