Betrayal (19 page)

‘Let’s go back to the barrier for a moment. I’m disturbed,’ Callum said, the lines around his mouth growing deeper. ‘Eve, the magic we used to seal Deepdene is ancient and extremely powerful. There’s no way you, even with your tremendous power, could have broken it. There has to be another explanation.’

‘Well, here I am,’ Eve told him, flinging her arms wide. ‘I got out.’

‘Callum, Alanna knows the ritual to destroy the barrier,’ Carlos commented, his voice tight with anger. ‘She could have performed it. The dead animals would have been necessary for that.’

‘What you’re suggesting is that Alanna could have betrayed us. That is a serious accusation,’ Callum said.

‘But it fits what we’re hearing,’ Carlos went on.

Callum shook his head. ‘Although,’ he continued, frowning, ‘Alanna has always been the one cautioning us to be wary of the Deepdene Witch. I can’t believe she thought we were wrong to try to contain …’ His words trailed off.

Eve decided to help him out. ‘To contain me. To keep me in a prison.’

‘Only until we were certain you weren’t dangerous,’ Callum told her. ‘That’s the purpose of the Order. To keep humanity safe from demons.’

‘But Eve isn’t a demon!’ Jess exclaimed.

‘A part of her is.’ Callum pressed his fingers to his temples. ‘I’m trying to understand why Alanna would do this.’

‘Callum, no matter what her reason, she’s gone rogue. I know she was Payne’s protégé, but it’s clear that she’s broken with us,’ Carlos said, his voice raised.

‘She knows so much, so many of our secrets. We must—’

‘Something’s messed up,’ Eve exclaimed.

‘A bunch of somethings,’ corrected Jess.

‘I mean about the timing. They said Alanna has been missing since Sunday night, but I took the barrier down on Sunday afternoon. Or I thought I did,’ Eve explained.

‘Which doesn’t make sense. How could Alanna do a ritual to take down the barrier when she wasn’t in Deepdene?’ Jess jumped in. ‘She would have had to be there to kill the animals. Was she in town for a while without us knowing?’

‘And the dead animals had already been in the woods for a few days before the barrier came down,’ Eve said. She turned to Callum. ‘Are you sure I couldn’t be strong enough to destroy it? Or what about another demon?’

‘There was another demon in town on Sunday! A big squishy one!’ Jess exclaimed. ‘Eve and I killed it, but maybe before that it wrecked the barrier.’

‘You fought a demon on Sunday?’ Carlos demanded. ‘What kind was it?’

‘I don’t really know demons by category,’ Eve told him. Luke was trying to get together that database, but they’d only had experience of four different kinds of demons so far.

‘It was sort of warm Jell-O-ish,’ Jess volunteered. ‘And it turned into a puddle of goo when we killed it.’

‘It was gigantic, but it seemed like it was only partly formed,’ Eve added.

‘No matter what type of demon it was, it couldn’t destroy the barrier,’ Callum said. ‘The ritual to remove it is one of our most closely guarded secrets. Alanna only knew it because she was hand-picked by Willem, and he was one of our most trusted members.’

‘You were right to trust him,’ Jess said. ‘He died fighting demons. He probably saved my life. Eve and Luke’s too.’

Eve realized things were more serious than she had thought. ‘You should know that Willem’s sword is missing – the sword he gave to Luke,’ she said. ‘Someone took it from Luke’s room.’

‘Another Alanna connection.’ Callum let out a deep sigh, and he looked older than he had when Eve and Jess had first come into his office. ‘Alanna is one of only three people who know Luke has the sword. I would have kept the information between Carlos and myself; he’s my second in command here in New York. But Alanna came with me to reclaim Willem’s body, and so she found out what had happened to the sword.’ He shook his head, his face distressed. ‘I just have no idea why she would have done all this.’

He stood up suddenly. ‘We have to get to Deepdene. We have to find Alanna immediately.’ He looked over at Carlos. ‘I want to bring an armed squad.’

Luke felt as if the school day had lasted about a year and a half. He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about Eve. If the demon part of her had somehow called those vulture demons to it, then she could be in danger. Everyone in Deepdene could be in danger.

And Jess … Where
was
she? As far as he could figure, she’d taken off right after they had their conversation about Eve. He hadn’t seen her at school all day. Was she looking for Eve? Because that could go very badly.

He turned up the walkway to the rectory, trying to decide what to do. Maybe he should try to track down Eve, but truthfully, he wasn’t sure what he’d do if he found her. She was so powerful, and her power wasn’t really under her control any more.

Maybe it would be better to get in touch with Alanna and strategize. But Alanna was so convinced that the demon part of Eve was taking her over, and he hadn’t made up his mind yet whether he believed that or not.

I have to go after Eve myself
, he decided as he entered the house. He’d drop off his backpack upstairs and check his email. Maybe she’d tried to get in touch. He doubted it, but it couldn’t hurt to check.

Luke trotted up the stairs, then hurried into his room. His eyes widened and he let his backpack fall to the floor. Alanna was waiting on his bed, stretched out on her side with a little smirk on her lips.

‘Uh, I’d say make yourself at home, but clearly you already did,’ Luke said, trying to hide his shock. She’d just made her way into his house. How ballsy was that? ‘Has something else happened? Did Eve—’

Alanna cut him off, her voice sharp. ‘I’m not here to talk about your girlfriend problems.’

Luke took a couple of steps closer to her. ‘Why are you here then?’

‘I realized that I hadn’t said thank you for my beautiful present.’ She reached behind her, and picked up the sword from the bed. ‘I love it.’

‘
You
stole the sword?’ Luke demanded.

‘Of course I did,’ Alanna purred.

Luke’s mind spun. It had been Alanna, and he’d accused Eve.
Eve
. ‘What were you—’

Before he could finish the question, something hard slammed into the back of his head. As he fell to his knees, the world around him went black.

‘We said that the timing didn’t work for Alanna to be the one who destroyed the barrier,’ Carlos said. ‘I keep going back to that. The evidence all points to her, but the pieces don’t fit.’

Eve, Jess, Callum and Carlos were driving towards Deepdene in one of the Order’s limousines. A van with a squad of four Order warriors followed.

‘She could have had assistance from someone inside Deepdene. The ritual is a deep secret, but anyone who has the knowledge can perform it. It doesn’t take special powers,’ Callum replied. ‘If she has found someone to help, the person is probably a loner, someone who doesn’t attract a lot of attention. Quite possibly this person may be emotionally unstable, or might have been acting oddly lately. That would make it easier for Alanna to influence them,’ Callum explained. ‘Eve, Jess, is there anyone you can think of who fits that description?’

Eve and Jess exchanged a look. ‘Simon,’ they said at the same time.

‘He’s this guy at our school, and he’s so like what you said,’ Jess told Callum. ‘He doesn’t have any friends, really. He’s always off by himself in the library. And he got kind of obsessed with me. He was stalking me. So that’s a yes on the emotionally unstable.’

‘We caught him hanging around Jess’s house,’ Eve added. ‘Then we found a dead cat almost right where he’d been. The cat had its throat sliced open, just like the dead animals Luke found around the border.’

Jess wrapped her arms tightly around herself. ‘Do you think he’d been about to bring Pumpkin – that’s the cat – to the border to work the ritual?’

At the word ‘ritual’ a thought hit Eve with the power of a punch. ‘The ritual! It reversed a barrier to keep demons out. Could it have taken down the block I put over the portal too? Because that demon we fought had to come from somewhere.’

‘And the demon birds!’ Jess added.

‘It’s possible the ritual could have removed the protection that keeps demons from coming through the portal, yes. That protection and our barrier serve almost identical purposes,’ Callum answered.

‘What did you mean about demon birds?’ Carlos asked.

‘They attacked at school this morning. They were like vultures, only supernatural. They smashed into the gym,’ Eve said.

‘This is all looking extremely dangerous.’ Callum’s skin had taken on a grey cast. ‘A demon-killing sword stolen. The barrier down. The portal open. Demons invading. And Alanna seemingly having deserted the Order.’

Eve gasped in horror.

‘What’s wrong, Evie?’ Jess cried.

‘Luke! He doesn’t know any of this. He has no idea what’s going on.’ Luke still thought Alanna was with the Order. He wouldn’t have any reason to believe he had to protect himself against her. ‘I’ve got to warn him.’ She yanked her phone out of her bag and hit Luke’s speed dial number.

The phone rang once … twice … three times, and she held her breath the whole time.

‘Hello, Eve.’

Eve drew in a sharp breath. It felt like a layer of ice was forming inside her. That wasn’t Luke’s voice.

‘Alanna!’ she exclaimed, so everyone in the limo would know who she was talking to. ‘You better not hurt my boyfriend. You know what I can do to you.’ She put on the speaker so they could all hear.

Carlos pointed to himself, then Callum, and shook his head. Eve got it. He didn’t want her to let it slip that she was with a team from the Order. She nodded.

‘Are you sure he’s still your boyfriend? There’s gossip going around that he hasn’t been too happy with you lately. That was quite a scene the two of you made in the gym this morning,’ Alanna answered, her voice soft and silky. Eve felt her power flare. She used all her will to shove it down. She wasn’t wasting even a few sparks. She wanted all her fire when she faced Alanna.

‘Thanks to you. You set me up. You made Luke think I was going demon and that I stole the sword. You planted my earring in his room,’ Eve accused her.

‘Me?’ Alanna cried, all innocence. ‘Well, maybe. That sounds like something I might do,’ she added.

‘Let me talk to Luke,’ Eve demanded.

‘You want him, you’ll have to come get him,’ Alanna taunted her.

‘Just tell me where,’ Eve said.

‘The portal. As soon as it’s dark.’ Alanna hung up before Eve could get another word in.

‘We can get there by dark, right?’ she demanded.

‘It’ll be close,’ Carlos replied. By car it took about two and a half hours to travel from the city to Deepdene. ‘But I’ll make sure we do.’ He pressed a button, and the glass barrier between them and the driver slid down. ‘Go as fast as you safely can,’ Carlos instructed him. ‘Ignore the speed limit.’ He slid the glass back up.

‘Jess, she has Luke,’ Eve said miserably. The thought was pounding through her brain over and over.
She has Luke. She has Luke. She has Luke
.

‘I know, sweetie,’ Jess answered. ‘But we’re on our way to save him. We’re going to save him.’

It was so good to have Jess here. Eve didn’t know how she’d get through this without her. And their whole friendship had almost been destroyed by Alanna.

Callum shook his head. ‘She had us all fooled. To me, she always seemed completely devoted to the Order,’ he said. It sounded as if he were talking more to himself than to the rest of them. ‘She was almost always monitoring possible trouble areas or researching.’

‘She definitely spent a lot of time monitoring me,’ Eve muttered. ‘And I even helped! She asked me all about my powers, and I just answered like it was nothing.’

‘We can handle Alanna,’ Jess said firmly.

But she has Luke
. The thought continued to loop.
She has Luke. She has Luke. She has Luke
.

‘You’re going to kick her ass, Evie,’ Jess continued. ‘And I’m going to help.’

Eve held on to that promise all the way to Deepdene. ‘Don’t get too close to the Medway mansion,’ she told Callum as they drove into town. ‘I don’t think we should give away the fact that I have backup from the Order. Not until I see what the situation is.’

‘Something’s not right,’ Jess said, staring out the window. ‘I can’t figure out what.’

Eve leaned towards the window too. ‘The power’s out,’ she breathed. ‘You don’t notice right away, because there’s still a tiny bit of sunlight. But look, there’s no light on in any of the houses, and the streetlights should be on by now.’

‘Alanna,’ Jess said.

Eve nodded. ‘She knows I can get power from electricity. She did this.’ She pulled in a deep breath. ‘Doesn’t matter. I have juice. But it’s not like I plan on using it. Alanna’s still a human. She just better not try to hurt Luke. She does that, I’ll use everything I have.’

‘We’re going to park round the corner,’ Carlos said. ‘The squad will be watching, and be able to get to you in seconds whenever you need them.’ He radioed instructions back to the van.