by Jus Accardo
Ava grinned. It looked out of place. A truly disturbing expression on a face that should have been so innocent. “You, Jessie Darker, are about to find out that isn’t true. The hard way.”
She made a move—a flinch really—a simple twitch of her leg, hinting that she was about to run. I didn’t think, only reacted.
My mind sent the necessary impulses to my brain, commanding my legs to move forward, but there was no motion. Instead, something buzzed inside my head. A persistent knocking against my skull. There was a strong feeling of vertigo, then darkness. Something heavy and black, and somehow comforting, enfolded me in its embrace. The scenery dimmed and faded. The next thing I knew, I was standing on the edge of the rock wall behind Ava, heels of my sneakers teetering over the rim and head swimming like an Olympic champion. I reached for her without thought, hand covering her small mouth and fingers clamping down over her nose.
She struggled and fought to throw me off, but Sin or no Sin, she was physically just a child. As soon as her body went limp in my arms, I released her nose and let her slide carefully to the ground below.
When I glanced over at Mom, her face was pale and the look in her eyes scared me more than anything I could ever remember.
…
Like me, Mom never went anywhere without the essentials. Quartz powder, duct tape,…handcuffs.
She pulled the shiny metal cuffs from the small box under the backseat of the Mustang. “Carefully,” she said, handing them to me.
The metal was cool in my hands—a serious contrast to the warmth of Ava’s small arms. I snapped the first brace into place, and then the other, then took a quick look around to make sure no one was watching us. Thankfully the coast was clear. Even I wouldn’t be able to come up with an excuse as to why we were handcuffing a small child and stuffing her into the backseat of our car. “Good thing she stole a kid’s body, eh? Carrying her through the park would have been a bitch otherwise. Help me get her in the car?”
Once we got Ava buckled in and situated, I climbed into the passenger seat. Mom started the engine and pulled away. It only took five minutes. We were both thinking about it—the thing that had happened not once—but twice in less than an hour. Mom was just the one with the guts to say it.
“That wasn’t normal.”
“Normal.” I shuddered. “You have kind of an obsession with that word, ya know?”
She rolled her eyes.
“I thought I’d started sleepwalking again. Now, I’m not so sure. I think I’ve been—I’ve been shadowing.”
Mom didn’t even flinch. “That’s impossible.”
I tilted my head back and gnawed my bottom lip. “Were you there when the guy tried to shoot us? And then with Ava in the park? Apparently, it’s not.”
“There has to be another explanation.”
“Maybe I’m just some uber-special, super powerful hybrid kid destined to save humanity from the forces of evil. A long lost member of the Justice League!”
“I’ll go out and buy you a cape,” she said, voice dripping with sarcasm. “Please try to be serious.”
I wanted to tell her my brain had overdosed on serious lately, but decided to keep it to myself. “Oh! And a mask. That’s important, too. Secret identity and all.”
“Or maybe you were just sleepwalking.”
“Then how do you explain what just happened?”
“Stress? Neither one of us saw you move.” I could tell from her voice that she didn’t believe that. How could she? Mom was nothing if not logical.
“I’ve been waking up in strange places lately. And the other night—the one you found Lukas and I on the couch? That night, I was sitting in bed, then poof. I was downstairs in the kitchen.”
She pulled up to the red light on the corner of Conclave and Main and turned to stare.
Eyes wide, Mom smacked me across the back of the head. “And you thought that was normal?”
“I’m seventeen. Teenagers do weird crap all the time. We don’t analyze. I was tired. I just figured I didn’t remember coming down the stairs.”
A few seconds of silence ticked by. The light turned green and Mom tapped the gas.
“I have something else to tell you, too.”
She gripped the wheel and sighed. “Why does that sound ominous?”
“Don’t be mad at him, but I went to see Paulson.”
“Paulson? Why on earth would you—” Lips pressed in a thin line, she growled, “Jessie, I told you to keep out of it!”
I threw up my hands in surrender. “I know! But it was the only way. I needed to find out why Meredith seems to have a bug up her ass when it comes to us. Plus, I thought he might have some ideas about the location of the box.”
“Meredith—what are you talking about?”
“Our relative Simon Darker figured out who Meredith really was when he tried to help Lukas the first time the box was opened. Only he found out too late. He and some witch—a Belfair witch—trapped her, but not before flinging the whammy that killed him. Somehow she got free, and now she’s got a serious grudge against the Darkers.” I took a deep breath.
Mom knew me too well. “And?”
“And what?”
“Did he have any ideas about the box?”
“He says it’s at the church.” I swallowed. “Which is another confession…”
“You already went to the church,” she sighed again and flicked the blinker. The car veered to the right as we turned down Gingham Avenue.
“Yeah—but we didn’t find anything. Simon says the box is safe, though. The Sins can’t touch it unless a human hands it to them willingly.”
“You’re forgetting something.”
“No, I’m not.” I protested. I’d been over the whole thing a million times in my head. There was nothing I’d missed.
“They have a human.”
I blinked. “They do?”
Mom sighed. “Meredith may be a witch, but she’s still human.”
I didn’t answer. There was nothing I could say that would gloss over that little oversight.
“Anything else—that Simon said? I’ve had enough confessions for one weekend. I’d like to get them out of the way now.”
“The only other thing he said was that we could get help.”
“Help? Dealing with Meredith or help for Lukas?”
“Both, I think?”
“I don’t suppose you know who we’re supposed to get help from?”
“Wouldn’t that just make things too easy? No challenge.”
“I’ve had enough challenge with this to last me a lifetime.”
“I second that.”
We were quiet for a few moments.
“What about the shadowing?”
Mom glanced into her rearview mirror at Ava. The kid was sitting in the back seat sulking like a pro. “I still don’t truly believe that’s what it is. Let’s forget that you’re seventeen. If you were going to start shadowing—why now? But it’s moot. Half-demon children do not inherit demonic traits. My human genetics overwrite them. For now, you tell no one. Not until we have everything figured out.”
“Not even Dad? He might be able to—”
“Especially not your father.”
I wanted to argue, but the fact that we’d just missed our turn caught my attention. “Um, did you forget how to get home?”
She glared at me from the corner of her eye. “We’re making a little pit stop.”
“Oh! Ice cream?” I hitched a thumb toward the back. “What about the Sour Puss? I don’t think she deserves any…”
“No ice cream,” Mom said with a slight smile. “How about some religion instead? I feel it’s my duty as a parent to reinforce your faith in God. Let’s check out that church.”
Chapter Twenty-six
“Twice in one week?” Father Sanders greeted us at the door, then froze. I walked in, followed by Mom—and Ava, who was still cuffed, mouth covered in duct tape. Mom had wanted to leave her in the car, but I’d argued that not only would we
be toast if someone saw her, but the Sins were slippery bastards. There was no point chancing her escape.
“Hello, Father.” Mom stepped up and took his hand. “It’s been too long.”
His eyes went wide, and he took a step back. “What—what is going on? What are you doing to that poor child, Klaire?”
“We’re here about the robbery last week,” she said, ignoring the question.
Father Sanders backed himself to the wall, eyes glued to Ava. I felt really bad because he looked ready to pass out. “I told Jessie the other day. Nothing was taken.”
“On the contrary, Father, something was taken. A box.”
“A box? What kind of box?”
“You’ve known me since I was a child, Father. Let’s cut the crap. You know damn well this is no child, and you know exactly why I’m asking about the box.”
My mouth fell open. “Ma!”
“You knew my father,” she continued, ignoring me. “I know you’ve heard the rumors about my family.”
Father Sanders watched us and said nothing.
Then I understood what she was getting at. “Are you saying he knows about the box?”
Mom was quiet. It was Father Sanders who answered. “It’s been in this church since the early nineteen-hundreds.”
“Simon Darker arranged to have it stashed here,” I said, finally understanding.
Father Sanders nodded. “Indeed.”
“Then you must’ve known why Lukas and I were here the other day. Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Against the rules.” He walked around us, making his way to the back of the church.
“Against the rules?” Mom asked, following him. “What rules?”
“Simon’s rules, of course.”
“I would think those rules don’t apply to future generations of Darkers.”
He turned to glare at us. “Those rules apply especially to future generations of Darkers.”
I threw up my hands and leaned back against the cool stone wall. “I’m confused.”
“Simon didn’t want this life for his family.”
I snorted. “And Lukas thought he was the one who set the Darkers on their career path through Simon.”
Father shook his head. “It was Simon’s death that sealed the Darker family fate. After putting the Seven Deadly Sins back into their box and securing its resting place, Simon went in search of the witch. He managed to trap her, but not before she wounded him fatally. While searching for answers to Simon’s death, his brother Charles took over what eventually became the Darker Agency. He spent his life tracking down demons and such, following leads to his brother’s death. When Charles finally passed on, his son took over. Then, after that, his son and so on.”
I could tell Mom was fascinated—she always had a thing about genealogy, and considering ours was so whacko, I had to admit it was kind of interesting—but we were here for a reason. “If we have any hope of saving the people infected by the Sins, we’ll need the box.”
The priest looked confused. “You already know it was stolen.”
“If our information is correct, the box has returned to its hiding place.”
He didn’t look like he believed her.
“Please,” I pushed. “Could we at least take a look?”
Mom placed a hand on his shoulder. “The Sins have located a witch powerful enough to free them from the box. Permanently. If we don’t find it before they do, there’s a chance she’ll be able to set them free. This is our only lead.” She nodded to Ava who was glaring at the priest. “I’ve been hunting the Sins down, but if I don’t return them to the box before their time is up, six innocent people will die.”
Sighing, he went to the middle of the room and bent down beside the podium. After a moment of searching, there was a metal click, and a loud rumbling. A second later, a rush of cold air filled the room.
Mom and I turned to the back of the church. Behind the altar, a narrow doorway had opened in the old stone.
Mom narrowed her eyes. “I thought you said you checked everywhere?”
I wanted to crawl under a rock. Under a piece of furniture? That was a rookie mistake. I thought about blaming it on Lukas. Saying he’d checked the front room while I’d checked the back, but that was low. Even for me.
We followed Father down a set of dark, narrow stairs to a cavernous stone chamber. Candles mounted along the walls burned to light our way, and I wondered how often someone came down here. They looked brand new.
“Holy Father—” Father Sanders stopped when he got to the middle of the room and fell to his knees, making the sign of the cross. At the other end, sitting on a slab of quartz, was a simple wooden box.
“That’s it?” I’d expected something garish. Inlaid with gems and bright shiny trimmings. This thing looked like it’d been nailed together by a fourth grader, then thrown around a football field for a few months.
Mom stepped forward and reached for the box, but Father Sanders stopped her. “Wait.” He moved to the right of the quartz slab, reaching up into a small overhang. When he pulled back there was a small pouch covered in dust wrapped around his fingers. “Take these.”
Mom held out her hand. “What is it?” She pulled the small string and dumped the contents into her palm. Two jagged bluish-gray crystals tumbled out.
“They’re chalcedony stones. Keep them on you at all times. They will prevent you from becoming infected should the Sins target you.”
Mom closed her fingers around the stones and nodded once. “Thank you, Father.”
By the time we left the church, we had the box, another Sin, and were one step closer to putting the Sins—and Lukas—back.
…
“So how does it work?” We had the box, and we had a couple of Sins downstairs. I was eager to get cracking.
I leaned against Mom’s desk. We’d come home from the church to find Lukas leafing through one of the office magazines. He told us Dad left an hour earlier after getting a report from his boss that there was a disturbance at the mall on the edge of town.
“Only one way to find out.” Mom nodded to the basement stairs. “Shall we?”
I clapped my hands and shimmied in my seat. I was sure she’d make me stay upstairs. “Oh! I get to come, too?”
She rolled her eyes. “If you promise to behave.”
Lukas snorted and grabbed the door, holding it open. “Unlikely.”
Mom snickered and guided Ava toward the stairs. She paused for a moment, looking from Lukas to me. “I’ll give you two a few moments. Meet me downstairs.” She disappeared around the corner.
I took Lukas’ hand and led him around to Mom’s office. She had a separate space from the main room, but she never used it. She said it reminded her too much of her father. It made sense. Everything inside had been that way for as long as I could remember. All the pictures on the walls and the books on the shelves. She’d cleaned off the desk top, but I’d peeked in the drawers once. All of Grandpa’s stuff was still there.
I closed the door behind me. “So, I got something for you.”
Lukas looked genuinely surprised. “Oh?”
When we’d gotten back to the car after chasing Ava, the stuff I’d bought for Lukas was still there. I held it out to him. “Yeah. Supplies. Paper, pencils,…some paint. No big deal.”
His lips split with a smile that lit up the entire office as he took the bag and peered inside. “Really?”
“Thought you might like to mess around with them. You said painting gave you peace and stuff…”
He wasn’t saying anything and I started to feel stupid. He just kept looking from the bag to me. Me to the bag. Over and over again. Of course, a notebook and some stupid pencils weren’t going to make him feel better. He was hours away from being stuffed back into eternal torment.
I shrugged, trying to play it off. “It’s stupid, I know. I just thought—”
He took my hand and pressed it to his lips, then held it tight against his cheek. “It’s
amazing.”
My heart kicked into high gear. “Really?”
He nodded, leaning close. “No one has ever given me anything so thoughtful.”
His smile, the way he smelled, the spark in his eyes…they gave me courage. Forgetting for an instant that I didn’t know how to flirt—much less be sexy—I closed the distance and kissed him briefly. “Is it better than this?” I kissed him again, this time winding my fingers through his hair.
I heard the bag thud softly as it hit the floor. A second later, both his arms encircled my waist, dragging me close. He pulled away for a moment, eyes on mine. “I doubt there’s anything in heaven and earth that could be better than this.”
And that was it. The conversation was over. His lips returned to mine with a vengeance, fingers digging into the skin above the waist of my jeans, trying to pull us closer together. Something tickled my brain. A thought that whispered this wasn’t the time or place for this, but I didn’t care. We didn’t have a time or place for this. Now was all there was.
All there would ever be.
Confidence bloomed in the pit of my stomach and I pushed forward, backing him up against the wall. A small chuckle escaped his lips as the kisses dipped lower. First he was tickling my bottom lip with his tongue, then his lips, warm and soft, were trailing eager, hungry kisses down the side of my jaw.
I gasped, my fingers clenching as he hit the hollow of my neck. Head tilting back, I closed my eyes and reveled in the sharp tingling sensation that spread through my entire body. Hell in a hailstorm. Why the hell had I avoided kissing if this is what it felt like?
A few moments later, he pulled away, breath ragged and face flushed. “I’m—I’m sorry. That was…”
I grabbed the side of his face and tilted it toward mine. “Totally awesome? Hot as hell? Why, yes. It was.”
He grinned. “I don’t wish to disrespect you in any way, Jessie. You are…”
“Amazing?” I said with a nervous giggle. His gaze warmed my skin and made the butterflies explode from my stomach.
“I could lose myself completely in you… Fall from grace and never once look back,” he whispered. Mouth covering mine, he kissed me again—but it didn’t last long. “You are the most amazing person I have ever come across—and that makes you dangerous.”
