by Cara Wylde
Francis knocked on the door a minute later.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, just get in,” I cursed under my breath as a pulled the door open. “What’s wrong with you knocking like that? Do you want to alert the guards?”
His cheeks were flushed. “This was exhilarating. Let’s not do it again.”
“Thank you!” I threw my hands in the air, looking at Paz. “Next time, everyone who can teleport with or without a device, shall do so. And Patty and Joel can do whatever the fuck they want because the Unseelie don’t care about them.”
Paz narrowed his eyes at me. “I did well. You could at least admit it.”
“You did well,” I complied. “Also, you almost gave me two heart attacks.” One for Klaus and one for Francis.
“Okay, let’s go,” said Joel. “Where’s this secret tunnel?” He was the only one who seemed genuinely excited. When I told them all about Francis’s idea and about how there were secret passageways and caves under the Academy, Klaus had been suspicious, and Patty had made her reluctance known loud and clear. She’d always been superstitious, and secret doors and such were on her list of no-nos. I guessed Joel was used to them, since the bottom of the ocean was filled with sunken ships and junk.
“This way,” Francis went to the door, ready to open it. I ran after him and grabbed him by the wrist. He looked at me with wide eyes.
“You need to tell them first,” I breathed. I suddenly felt cold all over. I hadn’t had time to wipe myself well after I’d had sex with GC and Paz, and even the gooey liquid that had pooled in my panties was ice cold now. “They have a right to know what they’re getting themselves into.”
Francis shook his head. “Mila…” He looked at my hand wrapped around his wrist. He didn’t pull away, though. It was as if he didn’t have the strength. That was when I realized the hand that was touching him was the only part of my body that was still warm. “I can’t.”
“Yes, you can. Yes, you can. You told me, and you told Sariel. They have to know. If you don’t tell them, then I’m pulling the plug on this. We’ll keep chatting online and come up with a plan that way.”
He shook his head again, but I could see it in his eyes that his resolve was disintegrating, like threads in an old fabric that had been worn for too long. The secret he kept for his family and his ancestors was his greatest burden.
“Tell us what?” Paz stepped forward. He looked at me, confused. “You two have secrets?”
I sighed. Of course my boyfriends would feel offended that I hadn’t told them the second I’d found out.
“No. It’s his secret, I stumbled into it, so I kept it. It’s not mine to tell.”
“Mila, what’s this about?” GC took my other hand and pulled me toward him. I let go of Francis’s wrist.
“Oh, I knew it! I knew it!” Patty started pacing the floor frantically, running her hands through her long, rich chestnut hair. “Secret tunnels and caves come with… even darker secrets. Always. What it is, Mila? Francis? Did someone die down there? Is it a cemetery? I hate cemeteries.”
I furrowed my brows and shook my head. “For real? You work at Grim Reaper Academy.”
“That’s different. You don’t actually kill people and collect bodies. Oh my God! Did some serial killer collect bodies down there?”
“Calm down, it’s not like that,” Francis snapped.
“Err… it kind of is, though,” I said. That earned me an exasperated look from Francis and a scared glance from Patty. “Why don’t you just tell them? I’m sure they’ll understand.” Tone down the sarcasm, Mila. This is serious. But how else could I have dealt with the terrible truth if not with the help of dark humor?
“No one will understand,” Francis mumbled. “No one ever does.”
“Okay, mate, now you have to tell us,” GC said. He pulled me against him, and I was grateful. He felt warm and safe.
Francis leaned against the door, arms crossed over his chest. I could see how tense his whole body was.
“I’m immortal,” he started.
“Big whoop! Who isn’t around here?” Joel laughed.
“Wait, what? I’m not immortal, and you are?! What the fuck?” Pazuzu was revolted.
Francis ignored them both. “My immortality is not natural, though. I wasn’t born this way, like GC, nor was I made, like Delacroix.” He was talking about the only vampire in the Violent Death Cabal. “To become immortal, I died first.”
“There are many kinds of undead supernaturals,” Klaus said. “What’s the big deal?”
“The big deal is…” He hesitated. “Ugh.” He pinched the bridge of his nose, then took in a deep breath. “The way I was revived is the big deal. And the One who did it.”
“The One?”
“The Great Old One.”
Silence. No one knew what the fuck he was talking about. Apparently, no one had read Mr. Lovecraft’s short stories. I would have expected GC, Paz, or Klaus to know about the Great Old Ones. They’d been on this Earth for so long… Even if the cults worshipping these terrible gods were super good at keeping their secrets, word always got out, right? Wrong.
“You’ve never heard of the Great Old Ones?” I asked. When they shook their heads, I sighed. “I’m human. How do I know more than you? Okay, so these Great Old Ones are like gods. Not like gods, they are gods. Not like God and Satan, and not like false gods, either. They are actual gods. All-powerful, all-knowing, immortal, and indestructible.”
“No one is indestructible,” Patty murmured.
“These guys are.” I rolled my eyes at my own choice of words. “Not guys. Monsters. If I were to describe them in one word, that would be it: monsters. They cannot be killed because they were never born, or at least that’s what I heard. They don’t come from this dimension, so they can’t be killed by beings from this dimension. They come from a place where life and death don’t exist, where duality doesn’t exist. So, they just are. And if they just are, they cannot not be.”
“That doesn’t make any sense,” Joel giggled. How could he be so damn positive all the time?
“What does this whole story have to do with Francis?” Paz asked, more confused by the second.
“Aren’t you paying attention?” Francis snapped again. “One of these beings, one of these monsters, as Mila calls them, made me. I was dead, and it gave me life. As long as the being lives, I live. And it’s…” He lowered his voice. “It’s under the Academy, inside a deep, dark well, sleeping.”
I waited for everyone’s reaction. Klaus and Joel were frozen in place, trying to make sense of what they’d just learned. Patty had started shaking subtly, and I could bet the story had given her chills, too. GC was silent, and Paz looked like his brain was glitching. He was probably still hung up on the fact that Francis was immortal and he wasn’t.
“Guys, we’re telling you there’s a monster under the Academy. If we’re going down in the caves to hold our meetings, you have to be aware of the thing’s existence.”
“I don’t get it,” Paz said. “What makes the… thing evil?” He looked at Francis. “You were dead, and it gave you back your life. Isn’t that a good thing?”
“No, because there’s a price. And I keep paying it every three months.”
Every three months?! Francis took a girl down in that cavern every three months? Okay, it was my own fault I’d never asked him before.
“What’s the price?” Patty asked gravely. She was starting to put two and two together.
“A life. A life every three months. Human, supernatural, it doesn’t matter.” He sounded tired. It had taken all he had to come clean about who he was and how he was still here, among the living.
“Sacrifice. You’re talking about blood sacrifice,” said Klaus in a trembling voice.
“Yes.”
Silence again. If anything, they were all holding up well. Even Patty. I would have expected her to scream in horror and make a run for it. She was shaking visibly,
her chin was trembling like she was about to cry, but her eyes were dry. Pazuzu was the one who broke the silence.
“And how do you know about all this? You said you stumbled into his secret. How does one stumble into blood sacrifice?”
I dragged in a breath. He wasn’t going to like this.
“The monster almost ate me.”
CHAPTER SIX
After the big reveal, it was hard to convince them to follow me and Francis down to the cavern. Not even Joel was excited about the prospect of secret doors and passageways anymore. Patty went silent, which was unnatural for her, and only meant she was in a state of shock, and Klaus let out a torrent of curses and wails. He’d almost lost me! And he hadn’t even known!
“You didn’t tell me that you almost died? How could you? I’m your friend, Mila, I care about you. This was so, so unfair.”
I shook my head in defeat. On the one hand, he was right. I should have told him. But there were so many people who’d almost lost me when the Great Old One wrapped its tentacles around me and dragged me into the well. I couldn’t possibly tell them all! My mom, my dad (as much of an asshole as he was, he probably deserved to know he’d almost gotten rid of me but not quite), my boyfriends, Patty… Corri? Not even Corri knew about what had happened in year one.
Oh, by the way, I didn’t tell them Sariel had been the one to lure me down there. There was no point in stirring shit from the past. Bygones. He’d stopped bullying me and trying to get me killed, and that was all that mattered. Plus, he’d saved my life once. Just because of that, I thought he deserved a break. If GC and Paz found out that Sariel had been behind all of it, they’d kill him. Not just threaten to kill him, but actually kill him. I didn’t need the drama right now.
Pazuzu was the one who decided he wanted to go down there and see the well. He wanted to see where he’d almost lost me forever, and GC was soon on board. When Klaus, Joel, and Patty realized they couldn’t stop us, they joined us. We sneaked out of the room, down the dark corridor, and into the old dorm with the piled-up furniture and the fake bookcase. As we closed the door behind us and climbed down the secret stairs, we took out our phones and used our flashlights. Klaus was kind enough to save our batteries by creating a magic ball of white light. Having a mage around had its perks, even if he wasn’t as powerful and well-trained as Lorna Chiaramonte, my number one rival.
We reached the bottom of the stairs, and I hesitated before stepping into the warm, rusty water. Francis led my friends forward, GC followed them, but Pazuzu sensed my anxiety and stayed behind. Damn him and his telepathic abilities! I couldn’t hide a thing from him these days…
“Mila, I need to tell you something.” He placed his hands on my shoulders, pulled me toward him, and forced me to look into his eyes. But when our eyes locked, he opened his mouth, yet not a sound came out.
“What is it?” I whispered in the darkness. Klaus had moved on with his ball of light. All we had was the flickering candlelight on the still water. I knew Francis went down there regularly to change the spent candles and keep the new ones lit. “I’m sorry. I’m not afraid, I promise. This isn’t the first time I’m coming down here after it happened. As long as Francis is around, everything is under control.”
“You’re not trying to convince me.” He smiled. “You’re trying to convince yourself.”
I nodded. He was right.
“I know you’re not afraid. You’re fearless,” he continued. “But that’s not what I wanted to tell you.” He took in a deep breath, released it with a heavy sigh, then took my chin between his fingers. “I almost lost you, and I didn’t even know. You’re human, you’re mortal, and you face danger every minute of every day. And night. I should’ve…” He shook his head. “But I didn’t.”
“Should’ve… what?”
“Should’ve told you how much I love you. I’ll do better, I promise. Starting right now, I will tell you every morning, and every night before you go to bed.” He leaned in, his lips just inches from mine. I could feel his minty breath on my face. “I’ll tell you that I love you every time I kiss you, every time I’m inside you, every time you come apart in my arms.”
“Paz…”
He wrapped his other arm around my waist and dived in for a kiss. I placed a firm hand on his chest. It was my turn to say something that I should’ve said a long time ago.
“I love you, too.”
His green eyes grew wide. For a second, he didn’t know how to react. He probably thought he hadn’t heard me right. I’d never said the three words before, not to him, and not to GC. He recovered quickly and smiled like a kid who’d just found out Disneyland was his for the taking.
“Mila…”
“I love you, and I love GC. Just so we’re clear. I’ll tell him the next chance I get.”
He chuckled. “That’s fine by me, goddess. You know I can share.”
“Only he calls me…”
“And he’s right. He’s been right all along.”
He pulled me against his chest, and I didn’t resist him this time. Our lips met, my fingers tangled in his long, dark hair, and I thrust my pelvis forward, eager to feel his hard cock, desperate to fuck him right then and there. But we had more important matters to attend to.
“Guys, what the fuck? Are you coming?” GC poked his head from under the low ceiling of the tunnel.
“Mmm… I wish,” I whispered against Paz’s lips. He chuckled knowingly.
“You’re having fun without me. Again,” GC whined.
“Oh, shut up and lead the way.” I stepped into the water. If he kept whining like that, it would take me awhile to tell him I loved him. I liked him more when he acted like a man, not like an abandoned puppy.
We gathered around the round stone well, among stalagmites, pools of rusty water, half-melted candles, and rocks that seemed to be eternally warm. The air was heavy and still. It should have been cold down here, but it wasn’t. The chills that ran up my spine and spread through my entire body had nothing to do with the temperature, but with the memory of the first time I’d been here. I could still feel the slimy tentacles around my legs and arms. I shuddered. Paz stepped behind me and hugged me to his strong chest. GC noticed my discomfort too, and took my hand into his, squeezing tightly.
“Can we see it?” Joel asked in a soft whisper.
“Why the hell would you want to see it?” Klaus yelled at him. The echo of his voice filled the space.
“Shh!” I admonished him.
“You can’t see it,” Francis said, patiently. “It’s sleeping, dreaming… Its body moves of its own accord when it’s time to…” He cleared his throat but didn’t finish the sentence.
“Time to eat,” I finished it for him. “It’s safe, guys. We’re safe. Unless Francis decides to sacrifice us, it won’t attack or anything.” Francis had a strange influence over the god. They communicated at a deep level that I couldn’t even begin to understand, and he’d never managed to explain to me. “Just don’t go too close to the well.” That had been my mistake.
Everyone was silent for a long moment, then Francis stepped aside and sat down on a rock. Klaus and Joel did the same. Patty started pacing the floor, her shoes sloshing through the dirty water.
“Okay, we’re here. We have our secret meeting place. Now what?”
She had a good point.
“Now we talk,” I said. I stepped out of Paz’s embrace and took a central position. They were waiting for me to come up with a plan, and I didn’t have one, but I did have some suggestions. “You have to help me figure out how to retire Morningstar. We need info. On the prophecy, on nephilim and their powers, on… I don’t know, ninja scythe tricks. You saw him in PE,” I looked at GC, Paz, and Francis, “I’ll never be able to beat him. He’s three times my size!”
“Maybe that’s not how you’re supposed to retire him. By killing him with your scythe,” Joel shrugged.
“Someone has already suggested poison,�
� I rolled my eyes. “Won’t work. Do you have other suggestions?” He shook his head. “Thought so. Well, that’s why you all have homework. Find solutions. I can’t do this on my own, I just can’t. I’m stuck.”
“I’ll be in charge of the prophecy,” said Patty.
“You know I still have the family tree I made for you that summer,” Paz said.
Right! I’d forgotten about it. After Francis revealed the secret that I was Morningstar’s daughter, and I told my lovers, Pazuzu had made it his mission to find out as much as he could about my ancestral line. He went to Bulgaria to investigate, and I knew he’d found the names, birth dates, and death dates of my real mother’s relatives, but I never felt quite ready to look at them. Besides, how could they have helped me? Katerina Angelov was human, and all her ancestors had been human, too. Paz should have researched my father’s line, not hers. But that had proved to be impossible even for him. Valentine Morningstar had made sure his history was unbreachable. There were powerful spells in place to protect it.
“Alright, I’ll take a look,” I sighed. “But I doubt we’ll find anything useful there.”
“I’ll take care of the ninja scythe thing,” offered Klaus.
I giggled. “Since when are you interested in fighting?”
“I’m not. I’m only doing it for you. Besides, I’m Merciful Death. No one will suspect anything if I check out all the books on scythe fighting from the library.”
He was right. Neither GC, nor Paz could do it, because if Morningstar found out, he’d know they were trying to help me. At the same time… I crossed my arms over my chest.
