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I lay on my bed, face-first, staring at the silk embroidery of my pillow. Occasionally, I pushed my hand up under my face. My jagged nails snagged a few threads. I always lovingly pulled them back down. Other than that, I just lay there and stared. My mind... it should work, but it wouldn’t. It kept jerking back to Sonos as if someone had now anchored me to him and no matter what I did for the rest of my life, I would always return to him like a frigging carrier pigeon.
I suddenly beat my pillow hard with a fist. I almost let a few charges of magic spill over my palm. I wouldn’t take my aggression out on this beautiful cushion, though.
With a sigh, I pushed up. I was in a right state. I hadn’t even bothered to change out of my clothes. That meant I was transferring dried blood all over my expensive covers. They would clean. I wasn’t certain my mind could ever be repaired, though.
“Because I’m broken.”
I pushed off my bed. I was tired – but this was no ordinary fatigue. It felt as if a great wall had descended in my mind.
I was known for being bolshie, pushy, and forthright. I’d made a name for myself because I’d been one of the best bounty hunters out there. I was relentless.
“But today,” I pushed off the bed and padded over to my dresser, “you were plain stupid.”
My mind ticked back and forth over the details of the fight. I quickly palmed my face, locking my fingers in tight against my forehead until I could’ve clawed my skin from my cheek.
“You were damn stupid,” I spat again as I formed another fist and tapped it hard against the polished walnut veneer. I soon let my hands collapse open. I dragged my fingers over the top of the dresser until I grabbed hold of that box. I did not dare try to open it. If I had proven one thing to myself today, it was that I was not ready.
Barney had promised that I needed to be powerful before I tried to open this thing. He’d also said that within were memories.
“Whose?” I asked as I trailed a finger over the carved top. It was smooth and made of various inlaid timbers. The varnish shone, collecting the light.
It was midmorning. I heard a few wolf howls. They became my background music as I continued to trail my fingers over the lid of the box. While I was intrigued by it, I was using it as a distraction. Because I’d brought something else home that I couldn’t quite fathom.
That was the cross.
Not knowing what else to do with it, I’d put it on the hook inside my wardrobe door.
I went to it now. Securing the box under my arm, I walked over to my wardrobe, plucked open the door, then stared at the cross. It was a legitimately good piece of jewelry – but its fine metalwork paled in comparison to its feel. Even from here, without stretching a hand out and trailing my nails down the gleaming metal, I could feel its power.
“Just how long did you lie in that crypt for, undisturbed?” I whispered at it as I patted it fondly. And yeah, you read that right – I was patting a cross – a symbol of the church – fondly. I couldn’t help it – it gave me immeasurable calm that I needed right now.
I sighed again, scratched my head, and went to flop back on my bed. “This is all too confusing. I’ve got too many questions.”
Almost as soon as I said that, I heard something rustle from downstairs. It was not a wolf. I could tell that, because it belched.
I swore I could even smell the fumes from here, despite the fact none of the windows or doors were open.
“Hey, you’ve got a message,” that drunk pigeon from yesterday blared. It flew up and hovered in front of the balcony, just beyond the force field. “Oy,” it belched again. “Get your little ass out here and take this off my leg. Do you think I’ve got all day, lady?”
I made a face. Putting the box back down, I turned around, opened my balcony door, walked out, and crossed my arms. “Is this from Sato again? I’m not interested. He sent me on a wild goose chase. He—”
“The way I hear it, you were an idiot. You went in gung-ho, and you lost. This was not Sato’s fault. Now take the damn message, lady.” He proffered his leg.
Reluctantly, I shoved a hand through the force field, grabbed the message tube, and pulled a little piece of parchment paper out.
“Now fortify me before I get back on the road,” the pigeon snarled.
“I’m sorry?”
“We birds don’t fly sober. Where’s your beer?”
I placed my hand on my hip. “I’m not your employer. And if I were, I would not let you fly with that much alcohol on board. Now get out of here.”
“Old crone,” the pigeon spat.
He got out of there long before I could splutter at that insult and pluck his damn wings off.
As he flew in an erratic path off toward the forest, I frowned and opened the message.
“How are you?” Writing appeared on the page.
“Pretty damn pissed off, Sato. Surprised to hear that?” I said sarcastically, dropping the paper. It didn’t fall under my feet. It hovered in front of my face, even when I turned away from it in a huff.
“This is not Sato.”
“Barney?” I frowned. “You tell Sato that he’s even further in the shit than he was yesterday.”
“This is not Barney.”
I opened my mouth to ask who the hell it was, but my lips froze open. There’d only been one other magical creature I’d been in regular contact with recently. “Sonos? You prick. This is a trap—”
“I would hope that by now, considering everything I have done for you, that you would stop thinking every time I contact you it’s a trap.”
I snarled at him. I took several steps back and crossed my arms, but the parchment maintained proximity with my face. If the parchment had been Sonos himself, he would be within kissing distance.
... I’m sorry – what did I just think? Kissing distance? Was that even a thing? And critically, was it a thing I would ever associate with that demon bastard?
More in a reaction to my mind and the idiocy it was spewing up than Sonos himself, I opened my fingers and let magic build in my palm. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t burn this parchment right now?”
“Because you don’t know what happened back there in that snow globe. And because you will die if you don’t know what happens next.”
The way Sonos delivered that line was so damn direct, it was like a punch to the gut.
I spluttered. “Are you threatening me—”
“I’m telling you the truth. Things have become serious. They always were, but considering recent events, they have become more so. Time is quickening.”
I would not let myself get creeped out by that. Quickening was usually only a word used by those too enamored of prophecies and scripture.
“Just get out of here, Sonos.”
“I am not anywhere near you. This is but a message. However, we should meet.”
I let my mouth deliberately and slowly drop open. “You think I’m gonna do that?” My voice was low and threatening.
“It would be better to answer your questions in person.”
“It would be all the easier for you to attack me. No way.”
“Don’t you want to know what you are, Eve?”
I stared at those words. For a while, I couldn’t quite take them in.
Did I want to know what I was? Yes. A thousand times over – a million times over. I needed to know what I was right deep down in my soul. I had this lingering yearning that stayed with me every hour of the day, no matter what I was doing. Even when I was entrenched in the height of battle, I wanted to know why all of this was happening. Why me? Why had I been cursed like this? What had I done to deserve this kind of fate?
“I cannot see you, but you have become silent, which means you are thinking this offer through. I will tell you everything. We should meet in person.”
“Why?”
“Because things will start happening to you – and you will need to learn how to control them.”
I ticked my head back and laughed as hard as I could. “What do you mean things will start happening to me? Crap has been happening to me every day of my life, ever since you,” I growled at that, “showed up. And as for learning how to control myself? I’ve never bothered.”
I delivered that line like I was some sassy warrior. And I was. But even at the back of my head, I understood the use of control. If you didn’t have it, you were a walking liability. Which, incidentally, was exactly what I was today.
Knowing full well that the parchment didn’t have the capacity to see what I was doing, I indulged in jamming my thumbnail into my mouth and chewing on it hard. I also let my shoulders drop. “I don’t need your help, Sonos. I never have, and I never will.”
“And how about Sister Mary Frederick?”
I stared at the page until both my eyes started to water. That... that was a name I hadn’t heard in years.
I’d already admitted that I had hated everything to do with Saint Fredericks. No one had liked me. I’d had a miserable time. I’d also been against everyone. I’d been a mess. There had been one person who’d tried to shine light into my darkness, however.
“Sister Mary Frederick?” I shouldn’t have whispered that out loud – especially in the shaking voice I used to utter every tortured syllable – but I couldn’t control myself.
Tears even touched my cheeks. “Wait – you captured her, you bastard?”
“No. But she would like to meet you. Here is the address.”
I recognized it as a bar in New York of all places.
“I’m not going to fall for this trap, Sonos,” I said, but there was precisely no force in my words whatsoever.
“You will get curious sooner rather than later. So come to me sooner rather than later. Remember, things are quickening.” With that, the parchment curled up on itself. It formed a ball of paper, then sought out the closest bin and threw itself inside.
I jammed my thumbnail back in my mouth again, but I couldn’t distract myself from the fact that tears were trailing down my cheeks. It was all at the mention of the sister’s name.
I hadn’t heard about her in years. I’d stopped thinking about her after I’d been struck with the resurrection curse. She’d promised me that I had a good heart, a heart smiled on by God. That maybe I’d start off with a rocky life, but in the end, if I stuck to following my heart, I would shine – for that is what I was meant to do.
“But I didn’t damn well shine, did I? I guess this heart,” I thumped a hand on my chest hard, disturbing the ragged remains of my top, “is no good after all. I’ve done things that would make your toes curl, Sister.”
I knew full well that she wasn’t in the room with me, but I continued to converse with her.
Though I’d only glanced at the address of the bar once, I found myself muttering it as I walked back over to my bed and intended to flop face-first on it again. But I had to question whether that was a good idea. So I would sleep? So I would beat my pillow? So what? What would that achieve? What would it change? Nothing.
Hilliker was still out there. And though I really didn’t want to believe a word Sonos had said, it... it did feel as if something was quickening.
I’d already chewed off a good chunk of my nail. I kept going until my skin protested. Wrenching my thumb out of my mouth, I began to pace. “There’s no way I’m going to that bar, Sonos. I’m not gonna face you again.”
As if in reply to that thought, I subconsciously reached into my subspace pocket and pulled out the snow globe. I didn’t activate it. I let it fall on the ground in front of me. And I just... stared at it. If I touched it, I’d be pulled back into that spell with him, right?
Though maybe it was safe to have a conversation with him inside that strange realm, I didn’t want to. There was something special about it. I didn’t know how long that realm would work for, either. And though this was really hard to admit, it was useful. If it stopped me from ever having to be resurrected again, I would use it – even if it meant dancing hand-in-hand with him.
“Your thoughts are going nowhere. You’re a complete mess. You have no direction. You’ve got to find out what Hilliker wants. You’ve got to do something before he does something to you.”
I closed my eyes and stopped in the middle of the room after I returned the snow globe to my etheric pocket. I thought of the way that Hilliker had stared at me. The greed and anger had been there – flaring in his gaze, burning like damnation fire.
I opened my eyes. Clarity overtook me.
I couldn’t just wait here. Hilliker would not be waiting. He’d caught a taste of me, and like any shark, he wasn’t about to let go now there was blood in the water.
“Shit. You shouldn’t do this, but Sonos...” I hissed to myself. No matter how much I protested, it couldn’t count. There was nothing else I could do.
As I caved and accepted the inevitable, I muttered to myself. “I can’t frigging believe you’re going to do this,” I hissed as I marched up to my wardrobe. I dumped my ripped clothes on the floor. I selected a new outfit. All the while, that filigree cross glimmered on the hook. I went to close the door, but I couldn’t. At the last moment, my hand shot out, wrenched the cross off the hook, and threw the necklace around my neck, all before I was really aware of what I was doing. As I flattened my palm down on the filigree, I became calmer and more certain of what I had to do.
Turning around, I closed my eyes, my fingers still clutching the pendant.
I wasted no more time in heading toward the hole in my bedroom floor. I jumped down it, reached my library, scooted over to my chair, and sat. It was only then that I realized I was moving quickly as if.... “As if I really want to see Sonos.” I clutched the armrests, driving my nails in. One last time as I closed my eyes I repeated to myself that this was suicide. Then I twirled my finger around and forced my chair to shoot toward the correct atlas. I plucked it off my bookshelf and lay it on my lap as the pages fluttered to a detailed map of New York. I didn’t need to remember where the bar was. It was a common magical haunt. It was an old building right in the middle of the city. Art Deco in style, it had nevertheless been a popular joint since the founding of New York. It had been added to, changed, and redone almost every year since. Rather than alter rooms, it simply added them on. I’d heard tell that it was so labyrinthine, even minotaurs would scream in confusion. There were at least a thousand rooms. That made for a lot of bars and a lot of customers.
“I hope you’re somewhere obvious.” Letting magic race around my finger, I tapped it on the correct location. Fortunately, considering the popularity of the bar, there was a portal node very nearby. I wouldn’t have to stride through the streets for particularly long.
That was usually not a thought that set my teeth on edge, but I couldn’t forget that Hilliker and his nasty priest gang were out there, just waiting for a chance to tie me up and kill me for eternity.
As my magic sunk into the intricate streets of New York, I felt a portal opening up behind me. My chair tipped backward, my hair ruffling. My clothes rustled, too. The only thing that did not move and stayed steadfastly pressed against my chest was the filigree cross.
I clutched a hand to it as I was tipped back into the opening mouth of the portal. Magic rushed around me, and I had a chance for one final thought. This really was the stupidest thing I’d ever done.
With that warning ringing in my mind like a klaxon, I landed down on my knees in front of the New York portal.
I dusted myself off. Beside me, revelers were arriving.
It didn’t matter that it was the middle of the day. They looked as if they were ready for one hell of a night.
There were quite a few of them. I made a confused face. Was I forgetting something? Was there a festival going on?
Oh wait, there was.
“It’s the damn Day of the Dead,” I whispered to myself as I brought up my wrist and checked my watch. Sure enough, my magically encoded clock had changed all the clock hands to little skulls.
How the hell had I forgotten that?
Yeah, okay, so I know I had a lot of other things to think about. But the day of the dead was one of the most important days in the Gregorian calendar. When it came to dark magic, anyway. All Hallows’ Day was good, don’t get me wrong, but the Day of the Dead had that little bit extra. It promised you that ghosts would rise out of their graves and walk the streets, searching for supplications from their families.
And other ghosts would show up, too. The nasty kind. But I shouldn’t have to tell you that, ha? You’ve been paying attention, haven’t you? For every good ghost – for every good practitioner – there is always a bad one.
I ignored the costumes of the surrounding revelers. I pushed into a trot immediately. I quickly ran out across a busy street. Cabdrivers in bright yellow taxis leaned out of their windows, banged their hands against their doors, and hollered at me for getting in their way.
I usually had some sassy remark ready in reply, but I stowed it. With my hands in my pockets, though all I really wanted to be doing was clutching that cross, I quickly made my way downtown through Madison Square. From there, it was just one more street away until I found The Saints.
The Saints was the bar in question. You’d think, considering it primarily catered to the darker side of magic – though everyone was welcome if they wanted to keep their merchant license – they wouldn’t be called something so ostensibly religious. You’d be wrong. They’d kept that name since their founding. And it did not simply celebrate the saints of the Abrahamic religions. Heck no – it celebrated those from the dark, too. Any general or denizen of Hell who had achieved something great had their picture prominently displayed in the main hall. As I walked through, after I’d proven my magical credentials by making my hand turn to flame, it didn’t take me long to stop underneath a picture of Sonos himself. I wasn’t the only person staring up at him. Several tourists from around the globe were snapping pictures of him on their phones. He was by far the most popular portrait.
“Handsome, isn’t he?” I heard a couple remark with rich British accents. “Those green eyes and dark hair make him look so roguish.”
Green eyes and dark hair?
I caught sight of a couple of other people’s photos. In each one, Sonos looked different. For he looked however he wanted to look to whoever he pleased. He had the power to reach into someone’s mind, figure out what they thought was the hottest thing in the world, and offer it up on a plate to them.
“Because he is manipulative to the core,” I mouthed to myself, not stupid enough to say that out loud lest I attract the ire of Sonos’s loving fans.
With my hands still in my pockets, I went up to the main desk. There was a grim-looking lady there. While one half of her face was painted with a skeleton motif, no doubt to keep up with the festivities, the other half of her face was far darker than any deadly depiction. She had the kind of glower that would be able to strip someone of their secrets in a few seconds. “What is it?”
“I’m....” I closed my eyes and sighed. “Here to see Sonos. I’m Eve marigold.”
“Everyone is here to see Sonos.” She snapped her fingers up and gestured at the adoring crowds underneath his photo. “Do you really think I’m stupid enough to tell you which booth he’s in? Get out of here. All drinks are half-price until 4 o’clock,” she added, probably because she was forced to.
“Look, lady, I really am here to see Sonos. And he wants to see me.”
She pointed a stiff finger at the front door and another finger at the door that led into the establishment, obviously telling me to make my mind up. I could leave or go, but she wasn’t going to tell me where Sonos was.
I opened my hands wide in surrender. “Fine, whatever.”
I walked away. I briefly thought of leaving, but I decided I’d already come this far.
Grumbling to myself, I walked in past the crowds through the main entrance.
I was met by the amazing foyer. It was huge. It was this massive, football-field of a room. Above it were all these mezzanine levels. There were about 100 – and you read that right. 100 damn levels. They had hotel rooms, sidebars, and pumping clubs. There was everything from beach resorts to ski lodges. Saints had it all. If you wanted a drink, you could have it in any area you wanted to.
“Now where the hell would I be if I were Sonos?” I tilted my chin all the way back and stared up at the expanse above me. Meanwhile revelers broke around me like water flowing through a raging river. There were hundreds of them – and those were just the ones I could see in the foyer. The others would have peeled off to one of the hundreds of bars. Who knew how many people were in The Saints right now?
“It could take me a year to find Sonos. Why didn’t he give me his direct room number? Because he’s screwing with you, Eve,” I quickly answered my own question as I shoved my hands further into my pockets. Grumbling and scraping my teeth over my lips, I decided to start with the beach resorts. I didn’t know why. Sonos – at least my version of him – was pleasantly tanned and didn’t need any more sun.
As for prejudices, I didn’t have them about demons. Demons as denizens of the dead didn’t mind roasting their toes under the glorious midday sun. Even vampires enjoyed it. Which meant Sonos could be anywhere.
Trudging to the first beach bar, I walked out onto an open party in Goa. It was pumping. The glorious, golden sand was filled with lit pyres. It was night out here – because it was night at most of the bars regardless of the actual time of day in New York. Women sashayed past in long beaded saris while bare-chested men sipped piña coladas and played beach volleyball.
The scene looked like it was right out of a film. Off to the side was a band that would play anything anyone wanted. That ostensibly meant that there was a massive cacophony. Because they didn’t decide to play one song after another but all the songs on top of each other. They then handed out selective little magical earbuds that would allow the listeners to pick whatever song they needed to hear. If they were truly off their faces, they just listened to all of them at the same time and gyrated on the spot in a mad sea of spasmodic limbs.
Suffice to say, there was no hint of Sonos. If he’d been here, the somewhat crazed dancers would’ve lost their little minds. I saw more than a few demon tats, suggesting these revelers preferred the dark pleasures of life.
I quickly exited before a barman brought over a tray of brightly colored drinks.
With my hands firmly in my pockets, I continued. I headed to a broken-down bar. It was made out of the guts of an old, crashed plane with a few mangled buses around for any spillover of guests. It had the usual kind of crowd you would expect for torn-up remains like this. Ghosts and ghouls spilled down the sides of the broken plane, ghastly drinks and snacks in hand.
I walked through the guts of the plane, ignoring the tables that were filled with the kinds of snacks ghouls adored. There was everything from mashed-up remains to.... Let’s face it – it was all smashed-up body bits. These were ghouls, after all.
I quickly exited that place. The stench was terrible.
I made my way to another bar. This one was set in a ski lodge. As soon as I opened the door that led to it, I felt a chill wind race across the barren landscape. There were a few pine trees that were so covered with snow, it looked as if they were being driven back down into the earth like tent pegs. The lodge itself was amazing. It was massive on the outside and even bigger on the inside. Before you question how a room within a building could have an outside ski area and a lodge that was also full of rooms, don’t even bother. When magic is involved, ordinary physics takes a back seat.
There were snow coats lined up outside the lodge. I grabbed one quickly and pulled it on. You would think that the lodge itself would be warm and that there’d be raging fires and whatnot, but you’d be wrong. It was as cold as the outside world. Tables were made out of piled-up snow, and seats were carved right out of drifts.
I was tempted to grab one of the drinks of warm eggnog as waiters walked by, but I declined. I did a quick tour around the lodge, listening in to a couple of conversations, but quickly decided that Sonos couldn’t be anywhere near here. I was relatively certain that he would have an entourage wherever he was, and every single patron who’d seen him would be spreading the news like crazy.
I exited the lodge and gave up the jacket.
I walked around on the first floor of The Saints. If I was Sonos, where would I be?
It didn’t take me long. I clicked my fingers and rolled my eyes. That grim lady at the reception counter had inadvertently told me. She’d said that she wouldn’t let me know which booth he was staying in – which at least narrowed it down to booths. When I said narrow, however, there were hundreds of bars with private rooms.
“But which one would you be in, Sonos?”
Again, I could technically contact him by calling on my snow globe, but it just didn’t feel right. So I had to do this the old-fashioned way.
I went to the first bar I could think of, but he wasn’t there. I went to the rooftop bar, too, but that proved to be a bust. The only other bar I knew of with booths that would be fit for a demon was also one a demon otherwise would not frequent.
It was the light bar. It was right in the middle of the building, and it had a single theme – lamps and light fittings. Every table had multiple different kinds of lamps, and chandeliers hung from every centimeter of the ceiling.
I’d automatically discounted the light bar, despite the fact it was one of the more well-to-do bars, because Sonos wouldn’t go there.
Right? It was anathema to him.
“I’ll try it anyway,” I commented to myself as I scratched my neck. My fingers trailed down to my top. I’d already hidden my cross underneath my T-shirt. You could technically see the shape of the pendant pushing out, but if anyone stared at it, they’d be forced to get up in my face. I still became far more self-conscious of the cross as I headed to the light bar.
It was one of the few bars you couldn’t just walk into. You had to get past the bouncers at the front. Which is another reason that Sonos wouldn’t be here.
... Right?
I stopped myself from saying I didn’t know shit anymore. Instead I pressed a pretty little smile over my face and tried to act good.
The two bouncers – who were predictably dressed completely in white – looked me up and down, and their frowns said it all. One quickly jammed her thumb back in the direction of the hall. “Pick another bar, bounty hunter.”
“Or pick a dive,” the other said as he looked me up and down, obviously not liking what he saw.
“Just checking to see if a friend is in there, that’s all.” I smiled.
“Your kind doesn’t have any friends around here. Now beat it.”
I rolled my eyes. I turned around but stopped. “What would it take to get inside?”
One of them scowled. “Do we really look like we’re the kind who can be bought?”
I looked them up and down and shrugged. “Yes.”
“Your kind can’t get anywhere near here—”
A concierge walked up, placed a hand on the bouncer’s shoulder, and whispered in her ear.
The woman quickly became pale. She took a step to the side, opened her arms wide, and bowed.
I made a face. “Why the change in tune?”
“Please enter,,” the same snide bouncer who’d told me to beat it and I was better off in a dive said that in the kind of voice that suggested I was royalty.
I really did make a face now. “What—”
“Please come with me. He’s waiting,” the concierge said. She was a pretty lady with flaming red hair. She smiled wide and gestured to the side.
As soon as she said he, my stomach clenched.
So I was right?
What the hell was Sonos doing here?
It took until I walked in to realize that not only was he in this bar, but he had the staff under his thumb.
The concierge led me politely through the sea of lamps. I’d only seen this bar from the outside, but I secretly liked the style. It might be overly obsessed with the light – and any obsession that placed one’s shadow and light out of proportion was bad – but it sure as heck was cute.
There was one little table ensconced on the side that was completely surrounded by lamps that were shaped like flowers. They let out this glorious ethereal glow. A couple kissed behind a globe shaped like a rose.
I strode right past the main section of tables over to a staircase. I was led up to a long corridor with five doors. Above them were distinct lights. I stopped under one that was shaped like a cross of all things.
“He’s waiting inside. What would madame like to drink?”
I briefly thought of ordering some lethal alcohol, but I thought better of it. “Beer – whatever you’ve got. Actually, just water,” I corrected quickly, knowing that I needed a clear mind to deal with the Seventh General of the Damned.
Fortunately the concierge didn’t open the door for me. It meant I had the time to get myself in order. I spent a few seconds just chewing on my lips as if I was trying to train my mouth not to say anything stupid. But it was my brain I really had to worry about. It kept questioning what I was doing. Worse than that, it kept questioning if Sonos... if he really could be on my side.
He’d saved my life twice. He....
“Don’t lose sight of what he did to you.” I growled that as I opened the door without knocking.
There was Sonos sitting back on a leather couch, his arms spread over the back of it, his posture about as casual as anything I’d ever seen.
In front of him, seated in a recliner, her ankles crossed, her habit always neat, and with a gold fob watch in her lap, was none other than Sister Mary.
As far as I was aware, she was the only other person who’d survived the orphanage fire.
... And she was sitting next to the main perpetrator.
I became cold and white-cheeked. My past caught up with me in a chaotic jumble of memories. I couldn’t recall the exact details of what had occurred all those years ago. But the deep-seated feelings of trauma were the strongest sensations my body could withstand. Whenever I was stupid enough to close my eyes and recall my sixteenth birthday, it felt like swallowing acid.
“You’re finally here,” Sonos said as he leaned forward, snapped his fingers, and waited for a drink to appear in them. Judging by the color of the golden liquid, it was my favorite beverage. But unlike with me, it would not take years off his life span. He didn’t have one.
“You didn’t tell me where you were. There are thousands of bars in The Saints,” I shot back.
Mary rose slowly. She was getting old now, but she still had a grace about her body. She held onto her fob watch tightly. It had always been with her. She’d used it to keep the time in her classes. She’d also used it as a morality prop. Whenever I’d gotten out of hand – which had been most of the time – she would point to the clock face and say that I had a limited time on Earth to make up for my sins. Unlike a lot of the other sisters, however, she hadn’t just focused on everything I did wrong. Her favorite saying by far was that I had a limited amount of time to do good.
I wondered how very disappointed she would be in me. How much good had I actually done? Yeah, I took down Hell gangs. Sure, I’d taken on some pretty nasty bounties in my time, too, but what had I actually done? Survived. That’s it. Everything I’d done I’d ultimately done for myself.
“Child,” she said, her voice wavering as her hand shook. She placed her fingers on my cheek. They had a warmth about them – and it was one that almost kindled my old memories. “It is good to see you.” A deep smile parted her lips.
“Sister Mary, why are you here with him?” I didn’t beat around the bush as I let my eyes slice over to Sonos.
He was still seated all the way back against the couch, one of his large, strong arms propped up along the back. He drummed his fingers on the plush leather. “Just how long is it going to take you to trust me?”
“I’m never going to trust you,” I said through clenched teeth.
The sister suddenly grabbed my hands, clenching them tightly. With wide, wide eyes, she searched my gaze. “You have to.”
I understood that Sister Mary was here with Sonos, but I still wouldn’t have guessed that she trusted him. Maybe he’d kidnapped her – maybe she was here for some other reason. But there was no way in Hell – or Heaven – that the sister would ever be on his side.
“He destroyed the orphanage—” I began, my voice shaking with repressed anger. Okay, it wasn’t even that repressed. I sliced my gaze over to him, and I let hellfire build up behind it. I didn’t really care what he was doing – that he was nominally helping me. I would never forget what happened that day.
The sister simply held my hands tighter, squeezing her fingers in until she could’ve cut my circulation. “You must.” She pried away one of her hands to brush the hair from my face.
Though Sonos still looked casual, and he sipped from the lethal liquid in the expensive led tumbler he was holding, he never let his gaze deviate off me. I got the impression as Mary let her fingers trail down my cheek that he wouldn’t mind doing the same.
... As soon as I thought that, I shoved the thought away. I almost thought of pushing Sister Mary away too as I caught up with what she was saying. “Sister, he—”
She pressed her finger against my lips. “Do not say it, for it is not true. Sonos was not behind the horror that day.”
I’d had a lot pulled out from under my feet over the past several days. But this was a bridge too far. I finally pulled back from her. I shook my head. There was a flighty quality to it as my hair jerked around my cheeks. “I was there,” I hissed. “I remember everything. Every scream,” I sliced my gaze over to him, “every damn flame. How could you say that he wasn’t behind it?”
“Child, a lot has happened to you in your short life, and not all of it... not all of it may be as it seems.”
As far as explanations went, that wasn’t one.
I let my gaze search hers. And for the first time, I tried to decide if she really was who Sonos said she was. She could just be a copy, right? Sonos could have just taken one of his lower demons, spelled the guy, given him a habit, and told him to act like the only teacher who’d ever respected and loved me.
Maybe that suspicion was somehow playing in my eyes, or perhaps Sister Mary was now a mind reader, because she shook her head as she trailed her fingers down my cheek again. “I assure you it’s me. I managed to survive these long years since the accident all so I could get in contact with you like this one day.”
“Sonos,” I growled. “I don’t know what you’re playing at. I don’t even know what you’ve done to the real Sister Mary, but this ends now—”
“Have you opened the box yet?” he asked, his tumbler halfway to his lips. I wouldn’t say that there was a smile marching over his mouth, but there was something close. Whatever it was, the look in his eyes was by far the most important thing. It was intense on a level I’d never seen before – and when it came to Sonos, every damn thing he did was intense.
My gut kicked. I went to shake my head, but I thought better of it. Why share this information with Sonos?
There was really only one thing I should do here. I turned to leave, but Mary wouldn’t let me. Wrapping her hand tightly around mine, she locked me to the spot.
She went to touch my face again, but I leaned back out of the move. I stared at her with open suspicion now. “I don’t know who you really are, but there’s no way you’re Sister Mary—”
“You used to come to me when you were a young child – no more than six. It would be the middle of the night, and you would’ve woken from one of your terrifying dreams. You would curl up in the chair in my room, and I would read you stories until you went to bed. Do you remember what the stories were?”
Of course I did. My gut kicked. I tried not to let my fear show, but I knew it played in my eyes.
“Around the World in 80 Days. That was your favorite. You were fond of Jules Verne’s stories, but you loved the adventures of that particular tale. Whenever I read it to you, the horrors of your dreams would just slip on by. I gave you a copy. Do you still have it?”
Yeah, I still had it. But this proved nothing. I frowned hard. “Anyone could’ve found out about that—”
“It was during one of those nights that you admitted to me that you feared you’d killed your parents.”
I completely froze. Despite the fact that I’d only been six years old, I recalled that event. It was the only time in my entire life I had uttered that particular horrifying thought out loud.
“I tried to assure you that it hadn’t been you, but you still feared your power, even then.”
I tried to shake my head, but my neck simply wouldn’t allow me to follow through with the move. Instead it kind of just shuddered there, making me look as if I was a doll someone had pulled all the stuffing out of.
She touched my face again, and this time I let her. I wouldn’t have been able to stop her. I couldn’t even lift a finger, let alone open my mouth.
“You did not kill your parents, Eve. Someone far darker than you is responsible for that particular horror.”
I immediately turned to face Sonos.
“No, not him.” Sister Mary stepped in close. “There’s much that’s been kept from you – much that must be finally revealed.” She dropped her hands and clasped mine tightly. She took in a deep breath. It was as if she was encouraging me to do the same, but I was still far too suspicious.
“We don’t actually have all day, Eve,” Sonos said as he pinched the bridge of his nose then let his hand flop over his eyes. He pushed it up his brow and stared at me from underneath his palm. “Hilliker hasn’t stopped. He now has quite a number of your possessions. It won’t be long until he uses all of those expensive Santini charms to try to attract you to him. There’s only so much I can do for you if you can’t do anything for yourself.”
“What exactly do you want me to do for myself?” I snarled through white lips.
“Just listen to him – and trust him. He is the only reason you’re safe.” Sister Mary looked so damn honest as she said that. And as she squeezed my hands tightly but not too tightly, it reinforced her sincerity.
I went to try to shake my head again, but I just gave up. My shoulders deflated.
“There we go. Finally. Getting through to you is like hammering nails into coffins,” Sonos grumbled.
“What exactly is that meant to mean?”
He rolled his eyes. “Before you go on about this being a trap again, it was simply an analogy – clearly one you do not understand. Now, can you take a seat? I don’t mind if you stand there – but you have had a rather big week, haven’t you?”
I snarled at him. I didn’t really want to take a seat, but Mary gave me no option. She pulled me over and pushed me down. While she was technically old and frail now, that didn’t matter – if she wanted you to follow her will, she could still force you to, no matter what.
When she was done, I just... I sat there. For several seconds, no one said anything. Both of them stared at me. While Mary did so with loving fondness, Sonos... I didn’t know. He just looked at me. I wanted to tell myself that he’d always looked at me in that specific way, but maybe he hadn’t. Because maybe his intensity had never really shone through before. I’d always been too intent on either running away or screaming at him to notice.
He stared at me briefly from over the top of his tumbler again, then finally dropped his attention to his lap as he finished the liquid.
He settled the tumbler into the air beside him, and it hovered there as if there was an invisible table. “I didn’t destroy the orphanage,” he said blankly. “And when you are strong enough to access the memories in the box, that is what you will find out.”
“You—” I began. But I was the one to stop myself this time. I sliced my gaze over to sister Mary.
It really was her – I’d confirmed that now. That meant that... what? She was telling the truth? That, for my entire life, I’d been carrying a false memory about Sonos?
“But you’ve promised to kill me on multiple occasions,” I rose to my own defense as my reason caught up with me.
He chuckled. “Did I really promise to kill you? Or did I promise to remove your resurrection curse?”
“It’s the—” I began, about to tell him for the fiftieth time that it was the same thing, but he leaned forward.
He locked that intense gaze on me, and boy, now it was like the power of a thousand stars combined. “It is not the same thing, Eve,” he said, slowing down every word so I could hear them – so they could sink in like bullets. “Trust me on that.”
I almost retorted that I would never trust him about anything, but Mary scooted forward on her seat. She sat right on the edge of it as she stared at me entreatingly. “He did not have a hand in the destruction of the orphanage. But he did save who he could – you and me,” she said, regret in her voice.
I could barely move my lips. “What?” I managed after a lengthy pause, my breath turning to a wheeze as it shook out of my mouth.
“He saved us. He did not kill everyone else,” she repeated. She stared at me entreatingly. If her gaze could’ve conveyed anything, one would automatically assume it was the truth. But I knew so much better.
Mary had only just managed to get me in the seat, but I shot up. My heart began to beat hard, powering around in my chest as if it would rip from my rib cage and kill me on the spot.
I headed straight for the door. Thus far, Sonos had remained seated. He looked relaxed too – or at least, his posture was. The skin around his eyes was a little too tight. Now he pushed to his feet. He spread a hand toward the door. I expected that he would lock it and keep me trapped in here with him, but he didn’t. Clearing his throat, he briefly looked down at his feet. “What she’s saying is the truth. I know you don’t want to hear—”
“I think about it every single day,” I said in a cold, haunted voice that could barely shake from my lips. “All the screams, all the blood, all the fire.” On the word fire, I collapsed my arms around my middle. I started to shake as those horrifying memories blasted through me. I felt like they were roasting me, as if I was back there on that day, the flames leaping high, racing through the building, burning everything in sight.
“You were lied to, Eve,” Mary tried in an entreating voice.
“These are my memories,” I spat. My lips were now so white, it felt as if someone had tied them up. “I don’t know what you two are playing at. I don’t know why you’re doing this, Sister,” I added in a shaking, betrayed voice. “But you cannot just take away my memories and pretend they’re not true. I know what happened that day.”
“Your memories were replaced. That’s why it’s important for you to open that box – one day,” Sonos said, a clear warning shaking through his tone.
I didn’t want to turn to him. And I certainly didn’t want him to see the tears trailing along my eyelashes. I couldn’t help it as a blast of anger took me. Whipping my head around, one or two of my tears fell from my eyes.
They splashed onto the carpet between us. I was surprised when his gaze deviated off me and locked on them. But not nearly as surprised as when he actually seemed disappointed, as if the sight of a lowly human crying could ever tug at the heartstrings of such a powerful, evil demon.
“Just listen, Eve. Do yourself the justice of hearing this out. You have been waiting to find this out your entire life. Now the truth is at your feet.” He stared down at the tears again and fell into a meaningful silence before turning around, flopping back on the couch, and grabbing his tumbler. He didn’t take a sip. It looked like it was more of a prop for his strained, white-knuckled hand.
The last thing I wanted to do was remain here and have my traumas dug up and reworked before me as if the most horrifying memories of my life were nothing more than unsatisfying elements of a story to someone else.
Mary pushed to her feet again. She knew me well – much better than Sonos. She could see the need to retreat dancing deeply in my pupils. So she stood between me and the door.
“Get out of my way, Sister.”
She shook her head in a flighty move that saw her veil tumbling over her shoulders.
“I said get out of my—”
“Hilliker was there that day. You wouldn’t remember that,” Sonos said as he stared at the liquid in his tumbler, “but he was. Along with many other representatives from the church. Or at least his branch of it.” Sonos took a drink. At first, he just pressed his glass against his lips as if he was looking for something to rest his mouth – and truth – against. Only when he confirmed that I wasn’t about to retreat did he bother to actually swallow down the liquid – though he didn’t look as if he was enjoying it much.
Sister Mary started to drag her hands back and forth over her legs. It wasn’t clear if the webbing of her fingers was sweaty or if she was trying to clean herself of something else – some traumatizing thought or memory.
“Everything Sonos said is correct. Hilliker and his priests were there that day. They had come for you.”
I sneered. It was nowhere near as strong a move as I was usually capable of. It made my cheeks all fat and crumpled. It would’ve made the look in my eyes all the more confused, too. I tried to hold on to my anger for as long as I could. Because without it... without it I’d have to start believing what was being said here, and it just couldn’t be true.
“I remember everything, though,” I began again.
Mary grabbed my hand. With tight, shaking fingers, she held onto me for dear life. “You will not be able to remember the truth until that box is opened.”
“If that’s the case, then I’ll bring it here. You can open it right in front of me. There’s no way—”
“You don’t want to know what you are until you’re powerful enough to accept the truth,” Sonos said. His voice was somewhere between forceful and completely submissive. It wasn’t submissive to me, though – just to the fact he was repeating. If I didn’t know better, I would almost believe that he was saddened by this.
“But I thought you brought me here today on the premise that you would finally tell me everything?” My voice was empty.
“All those years ago, the orphanage was attacked by Hilliker. He was intent on killing everyone. And using you to—” Mary began.
“That’s enough,” Sonos said in a rumbling voice that reached through the room like a strong hand.
Mary immediately looked at her feet as if she’d done something wrong.
I just let my wide, angry gaze lock on Sonos. “Who are you to tell her that that’s enough? Who are you to sit there and—”
“You will have a few days at most before he comes for you. I tried to slow it down by—” he stopped abruptly but nodded at my ring finger and the engagement ring thereon, “but it didn’t work. I shouldn’t have underestimated Hilliker. He has been planning this since the day you were born, after all.”
“If you expect me to believe any of this,” I said in a weak voice, “you’re fresh out of luck.”
“Exactly how much you believe is up to you. However, it’s time for you to understand exactly what the stakes are.” He dropped the glass. The magic spell that usually made it float wasn’t quite quick enough. The tumbler tilted to the side, and most of the golden liquid threatened to spill onto the floor, but at the last second, every drop remembered they were under a spell, and they retraced their steps back into the glass. It sloshed as the tumbler floated beside him.
He slowly reached his hands down and placed them on his knees. “Hilliker wants to use you as an endless sacrifice to the Banished.”
On the word Banished, Mary looked as if she’d lose it. She became as pale as a ghost. She also quickly grabbed her cross and muttered the Lord’s Prayer.
I knew a lot about both Heaven and Hell. It was my work – so of course I did. There were quite a number of creatures that had been banished over the years. Heck, the Devil himself was a fallen angel. But I’d never heard of one particular soul being referred to as the Banished as if their banishment was somehow more important than everyone else’s.
Sonos’s gaze flicked across my face. “I see that means absolutely nothing to you. So let me help you out. Have you ever heard of Beelzebub?”
I made a face. “Yeah, of course I have. He’s—”
“Not what you think. He has no place in the current Hell. He has never had a place there.”
“Are you trying to rewrite history now?”
“Just you’re incorrect perception of it. Beelzebub was a name – one of many – given to the Banished.” The way he said the Banished was the same every time. It was as if he would only allow himself to utter it in a single vocal range in case being too loud or too quiet would somehow call this Banished to his side.
Mary clutched her cross again, her fingers even whiter this time.
“The Banished was ousted both by the Devil and God.” Sonos sat further back but never shifted his gaze off me once.
I’d been listening to his tale – though reluctantly – until that revelation. I snorted. “I’m gonna stop you right there. God would never work with the Devil.”
“Unless something were to threaten this entire realm. Unless there was someone – or something – out there that, if it were allowed to grow, would destroy everyone – every realm – every planet – every soul.”
As Sonos listed every one of those, my heart skipped a beat. I quickly shook my head. “No such creature exists. And God and the Devil—”
“Did work together, thousands upon thousands of years ago. As one, they dealt with the Banished, thrusting it from the realms of the living for good,” Mary hissed as she kept a hold of one of my hands.
“And the realms of the dead,” Sonos added with a growl.
I just looked at them. “And what, you think that Hilliker is going to use me as an eternal sacrifice to bring this Banished back?”
Mary clutched her cross again. Once more she muttered the Lord’s Prayer.
Sonos just looked at me, his gaze as steady as a spirit level. “Yes. That is exactly what Hilliker plans.”
“Earlier, you said that this Banished, whoever the heck he is, would get rid of everything – every realm, every soul,” I repeated, subconsciously using his exact tone. “That would include Hilliker.”
“No. The Banished can create a new realm. One where his favored would live in eternal happiness forever.”
“Heaven?”
He laughed. There was an all-knowing quality to it as if what I’d just said was the most naïve thing he’d ever heard. “I think you’ll find that paradises are objectively defined as good places. Whereas realms where the twisted hearts of men can play out their every dark desire are the precise opposite. They are places of brutal fantasy, not havens for the soul.”
“What’s in it for this Banished, then?”
“The same thing that’s in it for any god – omnipotence.” Sonos delivered that line with a completely straight face.
It took me a while, but I let out a shaking laugh. “If you expect me to believe any of this, then you’re mad. Such a creature does not exist. And there’s no way I could be used to bring it back into existence even if it did.” I wanted to ensure that my voice was full of certainty and passion, but all it was was loud and boisterous. Anyone would be able to tell that my tone was poisoned with uncertainty. Though I didn’t want to admit this, there was something... there was something about the way that Sonos was looking at me. There was also something about the way his words hit the air. They were doing something – doing something to me on a fundamental level I was not willing to admit to, let alone show.
I pulled back from Sister Mary, stepped away defensively, and crossed my arms. “So this is the story you are going to use to make me believe that Hilliker was responsible for the orphanage fire when I know full well that it was you?”
“To call back the Banished, you need a sacrifice like no other. That is you.”
“That’s it? You just need to kill me over and over again? If it were that easy to bring back this Banished, then why hasn’t someone done it before? I’m not the only person in the world who’s ever been cursed with a resurrection hex.”
“Your resurrection curse is different,” Sonos said, a vacant edge to his tone. I doubt that he’d lost interest in this conversation. It was the exact opposite. This particular topic was obviously so emotional for him that he didn’t want to reveal that, so he was controlling his tone with everything he had.
“Why?” I hissed.
“Because it is a gift from the Deep.” Sonos couldn’t even look at me as he said that. He tilted his head back as he spread his arms wide along the back of the couch. He closed his eyes as if he would never open them again.
My lips wobbled open. “The Deep? I’ve never heard of that. Is that a fancy term for Hell?”
He opened his eyes and settled his blazing gaze on me. “It is what is at the heart of Hell.”
My cheeks paled as what he was saying caught up to me. “So you’re telling me that this,” I beat my chest twice with a tense fist, “was a gift from the Devil after all? I’m not a child of God but a child of—”
“The Deep,” Sonos interrupted.
There was something about his gaze – something that held onto me, even though all I wanted to do was look away.
It gave Mary the time she needed to shift in close and pluck up my hands. Her fingers shook, and they were slicked with sweat. “You are good, my child.” She gently brushed the hair from my eyes. “You always were.”
I just stared at her. “But I come from the heart of Hell—”
“The Deep is more than that,” Sonos tried.
“You just told me it was the heart of Hell,” I spat through stiff lips. “Which means I’m a demon’s child, after all. I should probably just go and hand myself over to Hilliker—”
Without warning, Mary suddenly slapped me.
It took me a few seconds to realize what had happened. I slowly brought my head back around and faced her as I palmed my cheek.
“Never suggest that again, child. Do not give that monster what he wants.” Mary’s grip tightened on my hand.
Sonos hadn’t freaked out and slapped me, but it was clear my offer to go and hand myself to Hilliker had affected him too. He’d gone back to clutching his tumbler. He was doing it with such stiff fingers, he could’ve broken through a mountain. “Do not act or think about anything until you understand everything. Hilliker is a madman, despised both by the dark and light. He intends to bring this world out of balance and use the Banished to rewrite reality. And he’s going to use you to do it. I have a question for you, Eve.” He pushed forward and settled his elbows on his knees.
The last thing I wanted to do was ask him what that question was, so I just stared at him, my lips pulled back in an angry sneer.
“Are you just going to hand yourself over to Hilliker? Or are you going to go down fighting?”
Fighting. Every time. Every single bad thing that had ever happened to me in my life had only precipitated more fighting from me. I had not yet faced something that I could not overcome. No matter how bad – no matter how harrowing – I would always rise.
I didn’t bother to answer Hilliker – my gaze said it all.
He leaned back and nodded once. “You’re gonna go down fighting. Though, hopefully, not at all,” he added in a quiet voice.
I clenched a hand into a fist and slowly pulled my lips open. “So this is it? This is the story you expect me to believe?”
“Like I said – it’s ultimately up to you what you want to believe. However, you must do everything you can to stay away from Hilliker. And before you point it out, yes, I was the one who sent you after him. I thought you would have more of a chance. I thought you would be more powerful than this by now.”
“So what happens now? I just hang around at home under my covers and never go out again?”
“You know full well that we do not have that luxury. He still has many of your personal possessions, and he still has the Santini charms. He will be coming after you sooner rather than later. So we will have to be proactive.”
“There is no we, Sonos. I have no clue if what you’re saying is true – but I don’t want to believe it. It doesn’t ultimately matter, anyway, because there is no we,” I repeated that through stiff white lips. I further made my point as I tried – but failed – to pull my engagement ring off.
Sonos’s expression became impossible to read. I thought his cheeks hardened at the sight of me trying to yank that diamond ring off, though. It was almost as if he was disappointed. He didn’t actually think we were engaged, did he?
Sister Mary grabbed my hands and held them in place. “You have to leave that engagement ring on. It is helping you in more ways than you can recognize. I would not have suggested it otherwise.”
My head shifted quickly to the side as if I’d just been slapped. “Sorry, what?” My voice shook badly. “You were the one to suggest this thing?” I gestured with the ring, the light catching the diamond and sending glimmers dancing around through the room. “Sister, you were meant to care for me. You were meant to—”
“She does care for you. So do not do her the indignity of questioning that fact,” Sonos snapped quickly as if he actually cared about Sister Mary’s feelings.
“I’m done playing all of these games,” I snarled. “I’m getting out of here.”
I turned. I hated myself for it, but I stopped at the door. It was almost as if I was waiting for Sonos to prevent me from leaving.
“You need to think about more than yourself,” Sonos said quietly. “If Hilliker gets you, every single soul in the three realms could be jeopardized.”
“Fine, so what should I do, Seventh General of Hell?” I spat.
He rose. I could see the outline of his wings – it was getting more and more visible as if he was about to unfurl them and start hunting right here and now.
My stomach kicked.
“Stay by my side—” Sonos began.
Those words had a chance to ring through the room, then blinding pain stabbed through my head.
I grabbed my face, screamed, and lurched to the side.
“Eve,” Mary hissed as she clutched my arms tightly.
Searing agony continued to dart between my temples, getting quicker and hotter as it burned through my brain.
“It’s begun,” Sonos hissed as he pushed past Mary, grabbed me, and completely unfurled his wings. They were massive – too big for this room. They bunched up against the walls.
Out of one half-open, wincing eye, I stared at their deadly black outline and waited for him to cut me through with them like a knife through butter. That’s not what he did. He furled them around me. He didn’t place them on my shoulders – but he did form a cage around my body.
Just as fear pounded through me and told me he was about to crush me, the pain stopped. It happened so suddenly, I couldn’t keep myself steady. I flopped against his chest. He settled a hand on my back, his wide grip spreading out and creating more points of contact as his warmth pushed in and thawed my fear.
“What—” I began.
“Hilliker has started to use the Santini charms. You just felt the first wave. You’ll be able to fight it – for a time. But soon it will become impossible.”
“I... figured out that much. But where did the pain go?”
“His charm can’t reach through my wings – yet. But you can’t stay here.”
I looked up at him as I clamped a hand on my brow and sunk my fingers in.
I couldn’t stay here, but.... It was hard to admit, but I was gonna do it anyway – a part of me wanted to remain right here, pressed up against his chest, safe under the protection of his wings.
If my mind had been working – if even the smallest scrap of my psyche had been functioning – I would’ve thrown that thought out like unwanted trash. Yet there was nothing in my head right now but the sweet reverie that comes after blinding agony.
Mary was still standing close by. Her face was pale with dread. “We need to get her somewhere safe.”
“Get the door,” Sonos said. He leaned forward.
I knew exactly what he wanted to do. Judging by the way his arms angled toward me, it was clear he was about to push one of his strong biceps under my legs and wrap the other around my shoulders to pluck me up.
I placed a hand on his chest, trying to ignore the exact rigid touch of his muscles.
“I have to get you out of here,” he tried to explain.
“Why bother?” I hissed. “If you’re... if you’re right,” I said after a massive, belly-shaking sigh that suggested I was finally accepting the inevitable, “then Hilliker has only just begun. We need to take this time to attack him, not run.”
“It’s too dangerous,” Mary hissed.
Sonos didn’t say anything – he just stared at me steadily as if the rest of the world dropped away. It was like... it was like he knew my mind when no one else dared fathom it.
I held his gaze until he darted his head up and stared at the door. “Perhaps you’re right.”
“General,” Mary hissed, her surprise obvious as it made her cheeks twitch. “There’s no way she can face Hilliker. She doesn’t have the power.”
“We need to remove those Santini charms from him. The rest can wait. It will buy us time. But if we—”
“If we don’t, I’m a goner, anyway.” I still had a hand on Sonos’s chest for some reason. I said for some reason, but my body was fully aware of what it was. It wasn’t just his warmth... it was... this need inside me. I’d never directly shared my burden with anyone in all my life. I’d always kept people at arm’s-length. Now, even though I was actively trying to push Sonos away, he would not leave my side.
“How can we even begin to find out where he’s practicing?” Mary began.
Sonos didn’t jump in to point out the obvious, so I did. Never letting my gaze deviate off him once, I managed a light laugh, though the greater situation certainly did not allow for one. “Use me. Follow me, and I’ll lead you straight to him.”
“That’s an incalculable risk.” Mary locked her hands together, the white knuckles protruding as she ran her thumbs desperately over one another. “We cannot fight him by giving him exactly what he wants.”
“Just... just how far are you willing to go for me?” I asked Sonos. And yeah, you heard that right – I had just pushed that question from my lips.
Did I believe him? Could I even comprehend how it was possible for him not to have been the perpetrator of the orphanage attack?
I didn’t know. But I did know this. For whatever reason – at this point in time – my body wanted to trust him. I had no one else to rely on. So I would... I would see what would happen next. If the inevitable occurred and he betrayed me, so be it. I’d fight him to the death.
While I was prepared for that eventuality, I had no way to prepare myself for its opposite – for the endearing, entreating look in Sonos’s eyes to be as real as it seemed.
Using Sonos’s chest as purchase, I pushed up. I was damn wobbly. I felt like my knees had been replaced by springs.
Slowly but surely, Sonos stood. He kept his wings unfurled and locked around me in a circle. They were large enough that they didn’t touch me – and yet they were close enough that their proximity made me aware of their every rustle.
Still looking at him, I rolled my tongue around my teeth until I closed my eyes. “Open your wings. I’m ready.”
I could say those words. I could push them and any number of others from my lips. But actually being ready – truly being prepared for what would happen next – was another matter entirely.
For the end was starting to near.
