Embrace, Entice, Emblaze (115 page)

months back. Some exchange student or something…”

Obviously her cover story to explain who Salvatore was. I

nodded along.

“Anyway”— he took another sip— “I think it’d be a shame if

she didn’t go to the dance. You know what she’s like. Only regret it, probably.”

“Probably.”

Steph had been dreaming about our prom for as long as I’d

known her. The girl had about four dresses on hold for the event.

“So I was thinking, how about the three of us go together?” Jase suggested, his eyes darting away. “Unless you’re already going with someone else.”

Ah…

Why did I feel like he was asking me for more than just a helping hand with Steph? I meant to reply, open my mouth, and spit out

words of some sort, but I couldn’t think of one thing to say.

“Are you?” Jase asked.

Ah…

“Huh?” I finally responded, trying for confused in order to buy some time.

“Going with someone else?” Jase repeated.

184

Emblaze.indd 184

1/4/13 4:14 PM

Emblaze

“Oh.”

Ah…

“No. I mean, I…I wasn’t going to go.” I looked back down and

grabbed Steph’s coffee. “I should…” I shuffled toward the hall and pointed to my bedroom. “I’ll just…give this to Steph.”

I went to my room and darted in, quickly closing the door

behind me. “Steph!” I whispered urgently. “I think your brother just asked me to the dance!”

Steph was staring at a piece of paper.

“Steph! Help!” I said again, trying not to raise my voice. “This is serious!”

She looked up at me and I almost dropped the cup of coffee

when I saw her face.

“I’ve done it, Vi.” She held up the paper.

Suddenly, nothing else mattered. I put down the mug on my

desk and sat beside Steph. “Is it another poem?”

She shook her head. “Not sure.”

I took the piece of paper from her and read it.

At the southernmost point, an island hides the gate,

What once was of Atlas and also Kalliste,

The opening brews what will never cease.

Three to the water to entice the current,

Three to the fire to blast open their fate.

Three at the hand of the highest command,

Three at the hand of the heart of man.

185

Emblaze.indd 185

1/4/13 4:14 PM

Jessica shirvington

Six to the ground, in return for one.

An offering of pain starts the rivers of fire,

And water stands high to cradle the course.

One can be beckoned,

When payment is made.

The Obolus red and blade,

At the hand of the admirer,

With only terrible desire.

“This can’t be good.”

Steph looked grave. “Well, we knew it wasn’t the Scripture

of Happiness.”

We both sat there on the floor, staring at the prophecy that we didn’t understand, until there was a knock at the door.

“Steph, if you need that ride home, we’ve got to go. I have work in an hour.” Jase sounded a little unsure calling out from the hall.

“Oh no,” I said, dropping my head into my hands.

Steph stood up. “Trust me, babe. You’ve got bigger problems.

Just tell him we’ll all go to the dance together, and if you’re actually alive by the time the dance comes around, we’ll deal with

it then.”

“Steph!”

“Just keeping it real.”

Things definitely weren’t looking good and Steph’s remark was

completely true, not to mention dire. But she stood by the door, one hand on her hip, and something in me clicked. Steph must

186

Emblaze.indd 186

1/4/13 4:14 PM

Emblaze

have felt the same way or seen my eyes light up because, simultaneously, we both cracked up.

I’m not altogether sure if we were laughing or crying— both,

maybe— but by the time we came up for air, we were gripping

our stomachs, me on the ground and Steph half collapsed against the wall.

Jase knocked again. “Should I ask if someone’s dying in there?” Steph opened the door while we were still slipping into after-shock bouts of laughter.

“Sorry. It’s just…Violet can be such a comedian.”

Jase looked at me and put his hands in his pockets.
Damn.

He thought I’d been laughing at him.

“I…I hope you have a tux to wear,” I said awkwardly.

Jase relaxed a little and reapplied his easy smile. “Naturally.” He was Steph’s brother and a Morris, after all. Formal events

were standard procedure in his world.

“So…” Steph said, sobered now too, “what did you want to do

about this?” She held the translation up in the air.

“I’ll take it with me tomorrow,” I said, not elaborating. Steph knew I was skipping school and I didn’t want to have to explain to Jase.

She gave me a pointed look. “I’ll meet you in the morning then.” I wanted to argue— she hated missing school— but with Jase

standing there, clearly knowing we were purposefully talking in code, there was little I could do.

I smiled uncomfortably. “Okay I’ll see you then.”

187

Emblaze.indd 187

1/4/13 4:14 PM

Jessica shirvington

————

After I said good- bye to Jase and Steph, I collapsed on the couch.

An hour or so later, my eyes were bleary. I’d read and reread the Scripture hundreds of times and could make little sense of it.

By the time I heard the front door and Dad quietly make his

way through the apartment, it was late. No doubt he had a dead-

line looming.

“I thought you’d be asleep,” he said, startled to see me still up, sitting in the silent living room. He made his way to the coffee machine, firing it up.

I shrugged.

“Nothing on TV?”

“Nah.” I couldn’t remember the last time I’d just sat and

watched TV.

Dad took a deep breath and moved over to sit opposite me on

the coffee table. “I know this grounding stuff is new.”

My focus fixated on my hands, intertwining my fingers and

hoping Dad wasn’t going to try and have some kind of deep- and-

meaningful with me.

“What’s this?”

I looked up. He was holding the prophecy in his hand, reading it.

“Oh. That’s nothing. Just…just an assignment for English.”

“Hmm.” He kept reading and I sat up straighter, fighting the

urge to rip it from his hands.

“Dad, can I have it back?”

“Hmm,” he said again, still studying the text. “Who wrote this?” 188

Emblaze.indd 188

1/4/13 4:14 PM

Emblaze

“I…I’m not sure, can’t remember.”

“I’m surprised they have you studying something like this at a

Catholic school.” Dad’s brow furrowed as he seemed to absorb the words with something that resembled…understanding.

I tucked a few strands of hair behind my ear and tried for

nonchalance. “Do you…know what it means?”

Dad smirked. “Are you trying to get me to do your homework?”

I played along with my own sheepish smile. “Poetry is not my

strongest point.”

“Your mother hated poetry.” His smile deepened. “But I always

enjoyed it. Let me see.” He looked at the words again.

I crossed my fingers under the blanket I’d wrapped myself in.

“Okay…” he said eventually. “‘At the southernmost point, an

island hides the gate, / What once was of Atlas and also Kalliste
.
’

This is a location, setting the scene. If you research the word Kalliste, you might find something there.”

I nodded him on.

“‘The opening brews what will never cease.’ Things that never

cease are the things that are fundamental to existence. You know—

nature, life, death, good, and evil. It would be something like that, but ‘brew’ as a word is not usually a positive so I would guess the thing is not nice.”

“Yeah, that makes sense,” I responded, and then covered the

remark with a light smile.

“‘Three to the water to entice the current, / Three to the

fire to blast open their fate, / Three at the hand of the highest 189

Emblaze.indd 189

1/4/13 4:14 PM

Jessica shirvington

command, / Three at the hand of the heart of man, / Six to the

ground, in return for one.’ This is about sacrifices to elements.

It’s almost like instructions. And then these parts— ‘the highest command’ and ‘the heart of man’ describe who will make the sacrifices. I’m not sure, but ‘of the heart of man’ would imply something to do with love or perhaps…hate.”

I nodded while biting hard on the inside of my cheek.

“‘An offering of pain starts the rivers of fire.’ This is about the emotion of the moment, the investments that will be made. ‘And

water stands high to cradle the course’— I’m not sure, but in history, water has always been the way for travel between worlds or lives.

Water is like a passageway, so maybe it has something to do with change. Sweetheart, this is not a Catholic- school poem,” he said, starting to look more suspicious. “Are you sure you’ve been asked to study this?”

“Yeah, we had to pick from a selection. Maybe I picked a

bad one.”

“Not bad…but definitely disturbing.” He cleared his throat. “Okay, let’s see. ‘One can be beckoned, / When payment is made. / The

Obolus red and blade, / At the hand of the admirer, / With only terrible desire.’ This is talking about calling someone and a payment to be made by the admirer. Red…well, I’m sure you can guess that’s some kind of blood offering, and the last line implies the admirer can have
only
bad intentions. It’s almost as if…” He looked at me carefully and I held his stare as calmly as I could. “If I had to guess, I would say this poem is about invoking some kind of…evil.”

190

Emblaze.indd 190

1/4/13 4:14 PM

Emblaze

I could feel the color drain from my face. I wanted to throw

myself in Dad’s arms and tell him everything. But at that moment, more than any other, I was also sure he
couldn’t
know. I forced myself to breathe. I ran a hand over my face and yawned.

“Wow. Heavy.” I stretched. “Maybe I’ll choose a different poem.” I stood up, trying to ignore my legs shaking under me. “Thanks

anyway, Dad. I think I’ll go to bed.”

I felt Dad watching me as I walked toward my room.

I closed my door behind me, knowing there was no chance I

would get any sleep tonight.

191

Emblaze.indd 191

1/4/13 4:14 PM

chapter
seventeen

“This I will declare and point out to you, that he who created you
will destroy you.”

BOOk OF eNOCH 93:9

Wrapped in my long, black coat, which I’d buttoned up to conceal my lack of school uniform, I walked down the street from my

apartment and around the corner before putting on my beanie,

waiting fi ve minutes, and then doubling back to head in the opposite direction. Dad was so unpredictable at the moment, I couldn’t rule out him spying from the balcony and I really couldn’t have him try and stop me from going to Hades.

I’d texted the translation through to Griffi n and Lincoln

during the night. It took about fi ve messages for me to get all of the words to them and I hoped they’d managed to piece everything together.

Th ey’d both texted back to tell me they would see me at Hades, and when I pushed open the heavy yellow entrance door, I found

Emblaze.indd 192

1/4/13 4:14 PM

Emblaze

everyone already there, sitting around a few tables that had been pushed together in the center of the closed restaurant.

Dapper was passing around juice and there was a tray of cups

and French press on the center of the table.

Spence threw me a croissant as I got close. “Hey, managed your

escape from Fort Eden, I see.”

I smiled. I’d been tough on Spence lately, mostly in training,

but he never wavered; he was always the same. I went straight up to him and gave him a big hug.

“Ah, Eden,” he squirmed. “I thought I’d made my position clear

on this.” He held me back at arm’s length, smiling devilishly. “I just don’t feel the same way,” he said loudly and then feigned a “sorry” smile for me.

“And I was really holding out hope,” I said, playing along.

“Most do,” Spence said, shaking his head solemnly. “Most do.”

I whacked him on the arm and took a seat beside him while

Kaitlin threw half of her croissant across the table, landing it right on Spence’s forehead and making us both laugh. Steph was

standing to the side with Dapper, both speaking animatedly and

over the top of one another. I got the feeling it was going to be a long day, so I poured a coffee and took a bite of my croissant while I cased out who else had been invited to the we’re- all- going-to- die powwow.