by Elle Scott
“Ha!” Gabby mocked Tessa. “That’s something a Fallen would say.”
Tessa raised her brows and pointed between herself and her friends. “We are not Fallen. You are. Kiko turned Riley, and he turned all of you.”
Leila frowned. She certainly wasn’t fallen. What made Tessa think that Kiko was Fallen? She was about to open her mouth to say so, when Ren spoke up.
“Actually, I turned Riley. I am not Fallen, I am not my sister.”
Leila’s frown deepened. There it was again. The sister was the Fallen.
Tessa turned her gaze to Makoto. “Does that mean Riley isn’t a Fallen?”
“Maybe,” Makoto replied.
Ren rolled his eyes. “He’s not.”
“Of course he’s not,” Leila scoffed.
“But he destroyed our home, hurt our mother. He ran me out of town…” Tessa’s voice hitched at the last part.
Gabby shuffled herself to stand beside Leila. Leila could feel her eyes on her as she clutched her hand. Piece-by-piece a new past emerged. Leila didn’t like it.
She spat, “He told me you did that.”
Tessa shook her head, and glanced over her shoulder. Leila noticed her then, the cat girl creeping up closer to them all. She had tears streaming down her face. She was pretty, too. And probably smart. Someone Riley would like.
Leila clenched her teeth and repeated, “He told me you did that. He told me you set him up with your friend and distracted him while you became a monster.”
Tessa turned back with downcast eyes. “That’s not the whole truth. It wasn’t my clan that hurt Mom. It was Riley’s, it was yours.”
Leila shook her head. “No. You don’t know him. He is True, he wouldn’t do anything to hurt another soul.”
Makoto shared a glance with Ren. “You have not been honest, brother.”
Ren’s jaw clenched. He turned to Leila. “Where is she? Where is my sister?”
“I don’t know.” Leila felt her stomach drop.
“You must have a vague idea,” Makoto said.
She stared at him. He spoke with authority, like a leader. She fought the realization but it settled anyway—Kiko wasn’t the eldest. He was.
Emotions swirled from her gut to her head. She fought back tears as she said, “She’s gone. Kale’s gone. Riley’s gone.”
“Sadie?” Tessa asked.
Leila could barely get the words out. “We don’t know.”
The look on Tessa’s face made Leila’s heart surge. She had known, always known, that something else was going on. Riley believed that Tessa was a Fallen, but Leila struggled with the idea that one truly existed. Except for maybe Cap. But that didn’t matter. Because right in front of her, was the truth. Riley’s sister was a True.
“I know,” Makoto huffed, pointing wildly at Ren. “I know exactly who has them. I can’t believe you let her get away with this.”
In an almost equally assertive tone, Ren said, “Hey! I’m not the one who abandoned her. I’ve kept her under control. I’m the one who’s made sure it hasn’t gone too far.”
“One life is too far.”
Leila’s eyes danced between the brothers. She wanted to cut in and ask them to clarify who they were talking about, but she knew.
Makoto pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose. “She’s an Imprint again isn’t she?”
Ren just nodded.
Gabby balked. “Wait. Back up! What do you mean again?”
Ren ran his palms up the sides of his mohawk and looked away. He took a deep breath, then turned to Leila. “It’s time you know the full truth.”
Leila
They were the first Guardians ever.
Yes, she knew that, she’d said. Kiko told her. Kiko also told her that Makoto would try to make her look bad, make her look like the Fallen.
Kiko was the first Fallen.
She didn’t know if she could believe that.
I tried to prepare you for the truth.
The revelation rang through Leila’s mind like an alarm. Both Ren and the Elder of the Veil told them stories of the first Guardians. Three siblings, one of them Fallen. She always thought that his stories were meant as a warning for her and Riley, to not let their Imprint power go to their heads. She never realized they were to warn her about Kiko.
Ren sat beside her on a log by the fire pit. Gabby sat on the other side of Leila, clutching her elbow. She hadn’t left her side since the others arrived. Makoto had walked off somewhere, while Tessa and her friends hovered back in the forest to give Leila some space.
“I don’t understand,” Leila said, sobbing. “How can she be the Fallen?”
Ren leaned over, resting his elbows to his knees. He glanced at Leila with mournful eyes. “A long time ago, she fell in love.”
Leila recalled what the Elder of the Veil said. The middle child fell in love and when she turned her lover, they became the first ever Imprints. But somewhere along the way their power became too much for them and they veered away from the Veil’s guidance. They killed people. Turned people against their will.
“Is that why you were scared of what Riley and I were?” Leila asked. “You thought we’d let the strength take us over?”
Ren shrugged and looked away. “Maybe. I was more concerned that she’d become an Imprint again.”
“With my brother?” Leila’s hands shook involuntarily.
“Leila, listen to me. She’s done a lot of things. Coming to Cedar Falls to simply see how quick it would take a small town to fall apart is just a drop in her ocean of misdoings.”
“Oh my god!” Gabby exclaimed. “She turned Cap didn’t she?”
Ren nodded. “I stayed close then. I mean, she turns people often. I try to clean up her mess as she goes, but a few slip through the cracks.”
Leila wondered what he meant by cleaning up the mess, imagining him slaughtering those she’d turned as they moved from town to town. Her heart sank. It all seemed so surreal.
Tears burned her eyes. “I can’t believe it. I just… I can’t…”
Gabby slipped her arm around Leila’s elbow. But it wasn’t enough to comfort her. Leila whipped her arm out and stood. She paced in front of Ren and Gabby, her mind waring against her heart.
“I mean, turning someone isn’t a sin. Not really. Riley did it to Damien, to Gabby, to me. What else did she do that was so terrible?” Leila winced as she asked the question. Did she really want to know?
Ren gave a sympathetic smile as if he knew she was fighting to grasp it. He took a long breath. “There’s too many to list. She’s turned people on both sides of wars. Pearl Harbor? Yeah, that was her idea.”
Leila stopped pacing. She opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. So she began pacing again.
“Once,” Ren continued. “She convinced a boy that his sister who had just become a True, was actually a Fallen. She even tore his house apart and hurt his mother enough to convince him to become a Guardian. I turned him though… I had a feeling that he needed to be a True.”
“Riley,” Leila whispered.
“Why couldn’t you do that with all of those people? Step in before she got her claws in them?” Gabby accused.
Ren shook his head. “You have no idea how tiring it is. She’s the hurricane and I’m always one step behind, trying to find all the scattered debris she’s caused.”
Gabby chewed on the inside of her mouth. She kicked her foot against dirt, scattering dust toward the fire. “Let’s all grab a freakin’ broom then.”
The look on Ren’s face transformed from somber to amused. He jerked his face to Gabby and nodded in approval, as if relieved he didn’t have to do it alone anymore. Turning back to Leila, he added, “Well, her most recent wrongdoing included kidnapping some girls from your school. I think they were sisters of your friends—”
“Summer and Imogen,” Leila interrupted.
“Right,” Ren took another breath. “She arranged it all so you would come out here for safety. It’s all a game to h
er. She gets a kick out of seeing people afraid and vulnerable.”
“Sicko,” Gabby jeered.
“As soon as I heard about the missing girls, I went to Makoto for help. I knew what she was planning.”
Did she plan to mark Sadie? Leila wondered. A small flicker of hope ignited. “But she didn’t mark Sadie, she couldn’t have.”
Ren stared at her with a blank expression. “You’re not getting it.”
She was getting it. She just didn’t want to. She splayed her fingers through her hair, clasping her skull as if trying to control the mass of thoughts swirling.
Kiko was kind and thoughtful. She’d comforted Leila on many occasions. She was her sister-in-law.
Hands knotted through her hair, Leila shook her head. “We all put blood in ointment, it didn’t cure her.”
“Sometimes…” Ren paused, as though choosing his words carefully. “She doesn’t mix it properly. She leaves the vervain out so the cure isn’t complete. She fakes it to throw you off her scent.”
“She’s a weasel not a fox,” Gabby cried. “Think about it, Leila. She threw Sebastian out of the clan because he wanted to keep Sadie safe. She tied me up because she caught wind of me being a Fallen. What a great excuse to have one less person on the right side. She allowed us to separate, be sitting ducks.”
The truth sat at the edge of Leila’s mind. It taunted her. The sound of it was painful.
“I know, Gabby,” Leila cried, letting the tears fall down her blushed cheeks.
The truth finally sunk in. It was Kiko all along. She caused the mess with Cap. She caused the mess with Riley and Tessa. She caused them to run out into the woods and, as Gabby put it, split them up and become easy targets. And Sadie.
“She marked Sadie,” Leila stated.
“Oh, I doubt it,” Ren said. “She gets her clan to do the dirty work for her, so she has an alibi. She does love to turn people though.”
“I’m gonna be sick.” Leila dropped to all fours, her stomach retching. After nothing came up, she wiped her mouth and rolled up on her knees. Still crying, she started, “Kale… ?“ But she couldn’t finish the question. Did that mean he was a Fallen, too?
“I’m sorry,” Ren said, knowing exactly what she meant. “But I’m assuming the answer is yes.”
As Gabby reached for Leila, offering her a hand, she asked, “What happened to them. Kiko and her first Imprint?”
Ren shivered and crossed his arms across his chest. “Makoto separated them and killed him. At the time, I didn’t agree with it, and I don’t want to do that again, trust me. But Leila, you have to know, I swallowed my pride and went to my brother for help because of you.”
Leila took Gabby’s hand and stood. She felt weakened but the look on Ren’s face sent her instincts wild, as though he’d just called her to arms. Her lion was close, she could sense it itching to align. “Me?”
“And Riley—” Ren ’s eye twitched as if debating whether to continue.
Leila straightened. “What about Riley?”
“She doesn’t like other Imprints. She’s killed every set I’ve ever heard of.” He stopped for a moment, keeping his eyes on Leila as if making sure she was keeping up. “She’s truly in love with Kale, so I doubt she’d want to hurt you, his sister… but she won’t like the two of you bonded.”
Leila gasped, her mind taking her to the worst place. Half-shifting and itching to run, she cried, “Do you think she’s already killed him?”
“Show me your mark.” Ren jumped up and reached for her arm.
He pushed her sleeve up and counted the spiral’s rungs. Relaxing, he said, “There are still four. He’s alive.”
“Oh, thank god,” Tessa said from behind them. Cheeks flushed pink, she lifted her phone and wiggled it. “I found reception out near the highway. Sadie texted. Kiko doesn’t have her, she’s with Sebastian.”
Leila and Gabby sighed in unison.
“Have you ever had an assignment?” Tessa asked brows raised. Without waiting for an answer, she continued, “You might be relieved, but I still don’t trust that Sebastian kid. I’m going to meet them.”
As Tessa marched off to her waiting friends, Gabby half-shifted. She clenched her fists and said, “And we go find Kiko and the others, right?”
The sound of metal against metal echoed around the campsite. Makoto wandered over, carrying similar chains to the ones that Riley and Leila used to hold them while they went to the veil. As the chains bounced along the ground behind him, he smirked at Ren.
“I think it’s time you revisited your roots.”
Ren let out a muffled groan. “I haven’t been in… years.”
“I know. They’ll be pleased to see you,” Makoto said, opening the neck clamp. He glanced at Leila. “You too, golden girl.”
For the first time since she woke, Leila felt a sense of peace. The thought of visiting the Veil calmed her. She watched Makoto gently secure the brace onto Ren’s shoulders, giving him a comforting wink the moment the clasp clicked shut. Leila wondered if that was what a True leader looked like.
Confident, she brushed her hair back, ready for her turn. “Let’s do this.”
Sadie
Trees whirred past. Or was that her whirring past trees? Sadie couldn’t quite grasp it. She was on the verge of everything aligning in her mind, senses not quite connecting to her brain. She gazed out the front passenger window of Sebastian’s beat-up old Bluebird at nothing but blurs of emerald and teal and the darkest greens. Trees, trees, always trees.
“How did you know where we were?” Summer asked Imogen.
Sadie kept staring out the window as she heard Imogen reply, “We followed you.”
A spark ignited inside Sadie. She rolled her head to Sebastian, “You did?”
“Yeah,” Sebastian shrugged, eyes on the road. “Gabby took damn near forever to go to sleep.”
The scent of Sebastian, more garden dirt than aftershave, made Sadie’s nostrils twitch. Her eyes drifted down, noticing his letterman jacket around her. She pulled the material across her chest and mused, “You care about me.”
Sebastian gave her a quick side eye. “Duh,” he teased.
In the distance, a gas station came into view. The sight of it sent Sadie’s empty stomach into chaos. The churning grumble resonated through the car.
“You hungry, Shorty?” Sebastian asked, taking his foot off the gas.
Sadie crossed her arms around her stomach, and giving an embarrassed grin, she replied, “I must be.”
Sebastian pulled up in the parking lot. “Any requests?”
“A burger!” Summer yelled, enthusiastically clasping Sebastian’s head rest.
“Yes, burgers,” Imogen repeated, almost as excited.
Sebastian looked at Sadie and with his brow raised he pointed to her. “You want a burger?”
The gesture seemed to tip her over the edge, stomach rumbling again louder than before. She squeezed her arms tighter around her body. “Anything will be great. Thank you.”
Sebastian headed toward the station with Imogen and Summer bouncing behind him. Like a switch, the fog that clouded Sadie’s mind shifted. She blinked a few times, settling into her body, her surroundings, herself. Everything fell into place. Finally.
Sighing, she lifted her hand to her neck and caressed the curve, pulling the jacket off her shoulder. Her skin was rough, flakes peeling off at her touch. Wincing, she returned her top and jacket back in place.
Now that she was feeling better, it was only a matter of time. The spiral mark would come soon. And the signal of it would attract Guardians, True and Fallen.
A low buzz vibrated in the back seat followed by a three note trill. It sounded like her text message alert. She twisted in her seat and saw her phone sitting in the groove next to Summer’s seat belt buckle. As she reached to retrieve it, she saw the notification light up the screen.
I’m on my way, where are you?
Confused, Sadie unlocked her phone. She ignored the
countless texts and missed calls from both of her parents—lord knew she didn’t want to lie to them over the phone about where she was and what she was doing—and scrolled through to the mysterious message. The number was saved under “Tessa”. Sadie knew for a fact she never saved Tessa’s number in her phone, she’d given Tessa’s business card to Summer to keep safe. Above the new message, was one that seemed to come from her own cell.
I’m with Sebastian. We’re heading somewhere away from all of this. Your help and protection would be welcome.
Okay, Sadie knew for sure she didn’t write that. Her jumbled thinking wasn’t exactly up to whole sentences lately. Summer must have sent it.
Sadie read over the texts again, wondering if she should reply. Everyone said that Tessa marked her, but she knew better. It was Mr. Robertson. Since her head became clearer, it was obvious.
As Sebastian and the girls exited the gas station with food in hand, Sadie made her decision and quickly typed in the name of the gas station and noted that they weren’t far from Astoria. Within a second of hitting send, her phone buzzed and a message from Leila appeared.
Tessa isn’t the Fallen, Kiko is. Stay safe. I love you.
Sadie nodded to herself. Relieved that she made the right call. She was half-delusional the last however many days, but she knew one thing, she wanted to be turned. Leila had refused her. Sebastian had refused her. Maybe Tessa would agree?
As soon as she locked her phone, another message from Tessa came through.
I’m an hour away.
Summer and Imogen clambered into the back seat as Sebastian opened his door and threw a burger onto Sadie’s lap. She peered over her shoulder and held up her phone for Summer to see, eyebrows raised in a silent question. Summer gave a nod and a shrug, then glanced nervously at Sebastian as he sat down.
So, it seemed that Summer sent the text to Tessa in secret. Oblivious, Sebastian smiled at Sadie and put the keys into the ignition. Sadie considered telling him that he needed to wait for Tessa to arrive, but Summer was right to hide the text from him, he wouldn’t have a bar of it.
“Can we sit here for a bit?” Sadie asked, unwrapping the paper from her burger. “I get car sick when I eat.”
