“Come on, we’ll be quick,” he whispers.
“I don’t think I can do it. I’ve had my superpowers revoked.” I try and push him away with my foot.
“What’s the matter?” He gives a critical stare.
“I’m anemic.”
“Let’s try,” he insists.
Ellis and his unsinkable spirit. I shake my head and I look over at Chloe’s diary sitting there, in all of its malevolent splendor.
“OK, Let’s try.” I get out of bed and hold Ellis by the hand.
Maybe if I can somehow get us there, Chloe herself can give me the answers I’m looking for.
***
The night air on Paragon, albeit one-year stale, spears through my dress, turns the chains across my back into icicles.
It all feels rather déjà vu-ish. I don’t know if that’s because we’ve been here for what feels like a gazillion times or if it’s because only a few hours ago homecoming was reprising itself.
“Give me your hand.” I take him by the arm and touch his flesh, not waiting for him to respond. “Say something.” I’m so shocked that I managed to land us here—I’m hoping everything is back in working order. I hone in on him and focus on hearing his thoughts.
Ellis raises his brows in a seductive manner.
“You didn’t hear me.” He rakes his fingers through his hair before taking off.
Ellis goes straight to work. He doesn’t bother drawing me into conversations about his duplicate self, hooking up with some girl, or multiple girls from East.
I walk through the darkened house full of partially inebriated bodies.
Usually, while Ellis gets his stash, I’m cowering in the back staring at Logan while he talks to Carly or watching Gage from a safe distance, in the event he tries to make out with me again—although I wouldn’t really mind.
The fireplace hisses like a whispering lion. The mouth—the opening is enormous, easily a person can fall in, burn just like my father did, like those Celestras.
The family room expands before me and I see her sitting on the couch with her bare legs hanging over the edge, bright red polish on her toes.
“Skyla?” Chloe crinkles her nose in amusement. “How’s it going?” The tiara dangles crooked in her hair.
“Congratulations.” I don’t bother answering her question.
A boisterous crowd rushes in. Chloe’s eyes widen at something behind me, and she spins herself to an upright position.
“What’s going on?” A guy with brown wavy hair and giant bee-stung lips, appears by my side.
“Private conversation.” Chloe gets up and pushes him away.
“Aren’t you going to introduce me?” His eyes are dull as coal.
“Holden.” She stretches her hand over him.
Shit!
He looks boyish, harmless, and, of all the things I don’t want him to be—nice.
“And who is this mouth-watering piece of ass?” He sneers in my direction.
That’s better. I’m glad he was able to eradicate some of my guilt, not that I’m looking for justification. It was a total accident. Or, at least, I believe it was.
“No one you need to know.” Chloe sinks her hands in his chest. “Get lost. I think Ellis is running low on supplies, maybe you can conduct business and leave us the hell alone.”
Perfect. He’s a dealer, too. Add that to his growing list of charming traits. Not that Ellis has needed his services for a good long while. That’s what I’m for now.
“I must be dead.” He sweeps his eyes over me while circling me slowly. “Because I think I’m looking at an angel.”
Right on both counts. “I’m not from around here,” I say.
Chloe holds up a finger, advising me to be quiet.
“Alright.” He holds his arms out and backs away.
Chloe turns to collect her shoes from off the floor. She bunches up her baby blue gown and it gives the illusion she’s encapsulated in a giant storm cloud. Chloe is her own weather system—a hurricane—somehow I find this plausible.
Holden comes in tight, grabs my wrist and massages the incision his brother inflicted.
“So nice to see you, Skyla.” He gives the slight hint of a laugh. “We must meet like this again.” He pushes his face into mine and presses his lips on the side of my face.
Chloe barrels over and pulls me out towards the door. I turn around and he’s gone—vanished like smoke.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Into the Woods
I follow Chloe outside as the fog breathes over us in cold jagged sighs. My teeth start in on a violent chatter—I’m not sure if it’s because I’m suddenly beyond freezing or the fact I think I just had a formal introduction to Holden Kragger’s ghost.
We round out the side of the fence and drift towards the thicket of trees to the left of the house.
“What are you doing?” I break free from her grasp. I know what happens in these woods, and I know damn well I can’t stop her from dying thanks to my father’s unfortunate demise.
“Are you crazy walking around in there?” Her eyes flash. “You’re going to impress yourself on all those people.” She continues deeper into the forest.
The shadows of the branches fall to the ground like battling swords.
“I wanted to talk about your diary.” My whisper comes out in a series of hisses.
“You didn’t finish it,” she says knowingly.
“I know you loved Gage.”
“Old news.” She shrugs into the dark. “Does he love you?” The question floats up in the air and circles my head like a wreath. There’s a long pause. “I thought so. I guess the million dollar question is, do you love him back?” There’s a hard glint in her eyes.
I can see Chloe a little clearer now that I’ve read her diary. She’s not the kind of person I thought she was, not even close.
“He gave me Nevermore.”
“How clever of you to avoid the question by letting me know you stole someone else from underneath me.”
“You’re not with us anymore.” There’s just not one nice way to say you’re dead.
“I will be.”
I cast a glance into the forest. I wonder if I should tell Chloe that I’m too weak to give anymore blood—that I’m afraid I won’t be able to bring Ellis and me home tonight.
“You said, Lexy Bakova knew how to bind a Fem,” I say.
“So that’s what you want?” Chloe creates a steady stream of fog with her sigh. “I promise, you will never be able to bind a Fem, Skyla.”
“If it’s possible, then I will.”
“She won’t tell. She’ll take it to the grave.” She progresses deeper into the dark, crushing the brush beneath her feet.
“What do the Kragger’s have on you? Why are you letting them do the things they’re doing to you? Did you kill someone?”
She turns and breathes a steady fog of frustration from her lips.
“Turn the page, Skyla.”
“And what did you mean that this was going to change everything?” If she only answered one question, I’d like for it to be this one.
Chloe reaches up and caresses the side of my face with her hand. Her warm fingers tug down slowly against my cheek as if she were trying to pull my skin off.
“I know that you’ll piece it all together. You’re a smart girl and I’m sure you’ll figure things out. You love me right now and that’s all that matters,” she whispers. “Sometimes you have to take the affection others are willing to give you at that precise moment, before they learn the truth about you and revoke it.”
My name echoes in the distance. It’s Ellis.
“I don’t know if I’ll get back,” I say mostly to myself. “I’ve lost too much blood.”
She pulls her dress up and produces a small pocketknife from a pink frilly garter around her thigh. The blade catches a glint of moonlight before she slits her left arm right up the middle. Without warning, she reopens the slit on my wrist—it peels back effortlessl
y as though it were thinking of reopening anyway. She rubs our arms together hard, creating an uncomfortable friction. It feels unnaturally intimate, obtrusive, horribly invading. A warm rush pushes through me. Something supernatural is happening, I can feel it.
I hear a hiss just beyond the rim of the forest.
“Run, Chloe,” I shout as I head out towards Ellis. “Run!” I scream.
I don’t hear her footsteps behind me.
***
Alone in my bed on Paragon, I’m relieved to hear the rain batter down on my wood-covered window as I shrink beneath the sheets. My arm is covered in dried blood, but miraculously I feel better, stronger—infused. I remember that cut from Chloe’s arm, the one I wear now as my own. I run my finger over the scar that never healed. It was for me, this one.
I flip the light on and pull out Chloe’s diary. Turn the page, she says. So many damn pages to turn and a part of me just wants to go to sleep.
September 7th,
School starts tomorrow. Bleh. Went to the bonfire and made out with Logan like the world was going to end tomorrow. I saw Gage shoot daggers at us from across the way. I hope it burned for him to see me with someone else. I know on some level he must care. There was something in his eyes, although with my luck, it was probably smoke.
Pierce texted me. Today was Emerson’s birthday, would have been anyway. Wish I never knew her—any of them.
OK, so who’s Emerson?
September 9th,
Ellis freaked out. It wouldn’t have been all that bad if he didn’t choose to unleash his tirade in the quad, in front of Gage and Logan. He totally made me look like a royal bitch when he accused me of cheating. Can you believe it? I don’t cheat. I was never with Ellis. You have to be with somebody to cheat.
He pulled me back by the elbow when I tried to flee the scene, told me it was killing him to see me running around with other guys, like there’s some long list of people I’ve been with or something. I think he’s got like this competition thing with Logan. Well, anyway, he lost. But really, he didn’t, I was never his to begin with.
September 12,
I met up with Gage at the mall of all places. He was at the bookstore reading a magazine and I saw that gorgeous onyx hair that puts the color of Nevermore’s feathers to shame. So, of course I stopped in and asked how Nev was doing. We ordered coffee and went out to sit by the fountain out back.
I can hardly breathe. I’ve been bawling ever since I left. I don’t know what happened, but I completely lost it and tried to make him admit to a bunch of stupid shit. I practically begged him to tell me that he wanted me, that he was jealous of the fact I was with Logan of all people, who’s like his freaking brother, but he was relentless.
He said he had a vision of the invisible girl—that he was going to marry her. He thinks he cares about her and that he isn’t really interested in anybody else right now. Right now, as in me I suppose. How could I be so stupid to fall for the one guy on the planet who wouldn’t touch me with a ten-foot pole?
So I asked if he ever had any visions about me, and holy shit was I ever sorry! Get this; I DIE. SOON.
Gage said I was like a caterpillar going into a cocoon. Great. I hope I come back as a zombie butterfly and eat his brain for breakfast.
September 17th,
Mad rush to find another pure me. Handed everything I had, over to Holden, and what I didn’t want to give, he took—couldn’t resist anyway. I’ll always have Emerson to thank for that.
September 18th,
Gage came over. He said he had this vision of my attic room. We sat cutting out butterflies all night long and pinned them to the wall. He says I shouldn’t be afraid, that I would be back, stronger, better.
I cried and told him I loved him. I’m such a loser.
So that’s how the butterfly room came to be. It was Gage’s idea. He made the vision happen.
September 19th,
Finished the butterflies tonight with Gage. He made them flutter and come to life for me. He feels horrible about letting me in on my impending doom—AS HE SHOULD! But, I think I’ve found a unique way to punish him. He will never see it coming.
Thanx to the crazy Kraggers I’ve got a plan in motion, one that involves time and space, a death or two, and of course, the ‘butterfly’ room.
September 20th,
Ellis came crawling into my bedroom to ‘talk’. It’s official, I guess. I have a stalker. He just barged in and sat on my bed like it was no big deal. Said he wanted to hang out a while, see if we’d go on a light drive. I took him to L.A. Couldn’t find Demetri. What a freaking waste of time.
What the heck was Chloe doing in L.A.? And who’s Demetri?
September22nd,
Guess who paid me a visit? The sacred queen herself. Clocked her a good one. If you’re reading this BOO!
Oh yeah, guess who got to pick out the color of Gage and Logan’s trucks? That would be me. Too bad I can’t pick out who I’ll spend the rest of my short-lived life with. Maybe, I’ll spear both their hearts the second time around.
It was me she punched in the face—clocked me. That was the night of my first visit. I’m the sacred queen. Huh.
September 29th,
Major air gap, since the last entry, I know. SO much has happened. I’m losing control of everything.
Sometimes I wonder if I have it all backwards. If I’m really taking revenge out on someone to prove a point or if the future is just playing out the way it should be.One thing’s for sure, I’m determined to change my future and there’s not a damn thing anybody is going to do about it.
Chapter Forty
Gather
Marshall’s community get together in honor of his equestrian school draws the attention of the entire island. The smoky scent of barbeque ignites the air with dreams of summertime, it smells so good—the food alone is reason enough to be here.
“Feeding the masses.” He winks over at me while we walk a decent clip towards the outskirts of his property. “That’s my specialty.”
Miraculously, there’s not a cloud in the sky and the temperature has ratcheted up at least ten degrees. For Paragon, that’s practically a heat wave.
Tad and Mom are fascinated by his estate, and, of course, Mia and Melissa find the horses irresistible. It’s nauseating the way the entire community drools at Marshall’s feet.
“So, I saw Chloe last night, right before she got taken by Fems or Ezrina or Michelle—or whatever the heck happened to her,” I say to Marshall.
“Why do you insist on meddling with the past? You’ll never change the outcome.”
“Can I ask you a question?” I shield my eyes from the sun while looking up at him. “Was she was ordained to die that day?”
“Chloe was at a juncture with destiny.”
“A juncture with destiny,” I whisper, trying to swallow the meaning of his words.
“Your father was ordained—not much of a difference if you ask me. But, I could very well bring him back. It’s a soul for a soul. You could take his place.”
“Me?” Not the answer I was looking for.
“I could immortalize you.”
“Meaning?”
“You die temporarily and I bring you back, then we can proceed with our family. You could have dominion over this world and ours,” Marshall clasps my hand now that we’re alone in the woods.
“This world is my world. I’m not a part of your world and never will be.” I free my fingers from his grip. “And no thanks to the offer. Besides, my dad wants me to be happy.”
“You’d be more than happy with me.” He morphs into Logan just enough for me to see it.
“Stop that. You’re making me uncomfortable.”
We walk along until we hit a small thicket of trees.
“Are you ready to receive your vision?”
“Nope, not going there.” I turn around and see Michelle stalking us from a distance.
“Will the child she’s carrying have dominion?” Maybe he could
live out his psychotic fantasies with Michelle of all people.
“No. Any other child of mine is a useless human spawn.”
“You’re going to make a great father,” I exude the necessary sarcastic inflection.
“I will—and your children are the ones who will reap the benefits.”
***
OK, I don’t want to say that Marshall is starting to creep me out just a little bit more than usual, but his whole kiss me MO, coupled with the suggestion I die to marry him and procreate posthumous is a bit unnerving.
Michelle descends on him like a fly, so I rush back and dive into the crowd looking for just about anybody I know, and the first person I know is Logan.
“Skyla.” He actually looks happy to see me. It’s the first time in a long while he doesn’t greet me with a heavy look. “How’s your arm?”
“Gashed it open again, but it was sealed shut when I woke up this morning.” I leave out the gory detail about there being a giant brown scab covering the area. I’m wearing long sleeves that come down to my thumbs, so the gauze strip I wrapped myself wouldn’t be so obvious. I’m ready to ask Dr. Oliver for a bottle of that adhesive he uses to glue me back together so I can set up a do-it-yourself shop in my bathroom.
Logan clenches his teeth, as if considering how I might have gashed it open again.
“I went time traveling with Ellis—to get his stash.” I add that last part, as if now, everything should make perfect sense. Of course it was innocent, albeit illegal, but that’s beside the point.
We walk until we hit the wall of pine trees, and we’re presented with a labyrinth of overgrown trunks.
“Logan?” I run my fingers over his arm in an effort to slow him down. “Um,” I look back to see if Michelle or anyone else saw us ditch into the woods. For all I know, this place is crawling with Counts. “I know you felt like I was cheating on you.”
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