Obumbrate (15 page)

Queen? I felt the color drain from my face as I listened, Ari continuing to press him for more information. Flashbacks of the sunny afternoon in Belfast surfaced through my thoughts. He had to be lying, he couldn't be telling the truth. Perhaps there was another Queen who wanted my blood, but it couldn't be the one who had warned me of the dangers herself, could it?

"What does she want with me?" I fearfully asked, feeling my hands start to shake. "Why does she need my blood?"

"I'm not told these things," the Vens spat malevolently, still managing to sneer between his facial contortions of pain. "All I know is one thing; I was instructed to bring you back, alive and intact. If I don't someone else will. Either way,
Queen Lucretia will have you, Nephilim
."

He gave one last shriek of unbridled pain before the fire fully consumed him. Flesh melted away in chunks, dropping to the ground before melting into puddles of putty, then to ash to carry with the wind. When it was finished, all Ari held in his hands were a set of black bones.

I stared at the pile of dark bones in his arms, numb. I wanted it all to be a lie; for someone to say that the Queen didn't hire him, that it was a case of mistaken identity, anything to make it better. I couldn't get over the fact that the same woman who tipped me off of Kayden's plans could be the one to set a price upon my head, payment for my blood. What could she possibly gain from having my blood? As far as I knew, Nephilim gifts weren't transferred from person to person through blood like a vampire bite would work, and my blood wasn't some curious color like green or purple to warrant wanting to bottle and display it for some bizarre and personal collection. So what could the reason be?

Ari came over to me, his arms still cradling the pile of black bones. He visibly winced seeing me closer. I had a good guess as to why; blood covered part of my face, dirt staining both the dress Serena had lent me and any visible skin, and I was pretty sure patches of purple bruises covered parts of my skin too.

"I'm pretty sure you're going to need stitches for that," he said with a sigh, motioning to the outskirts of Charon. "Come on, who knows how many more of them may be looking for you? We need to find shelter."

I had already started walking down the street, eyes scanning the houses on either side for any shady onlookers. The warmth of my fire was swirling inside my stomach, the sensation like I had placed hot rocks in a circle around my belly button on my abdomen. But nothing could offset the pain of my head, the ache in my bones. Bone-weary didn't even start to touch how I felt.

"We could go to Serena," I suggested, glancing quickly over my shoulder to see if he was keeping up with me.

He appeared lost in thought, holding one of the longer bones in his hand like a knife. Where his fingers touched the bones began to turn green like moss, spreading and growing until it covered the it whole. A gasp caught in my throat as I watched budding flowers spring out from the mossy substance.

"Hopping habaneros, what the heck did you just do?" I was caught between amazement and delightful shock.

Ari's eyes looked up to meet mine, all amazement vanishing from my face. He looked haunted, the normal wistful and bright glimmer in his eyes lost to a vacant and hollow stare. It had been as if someone sucked the life right from his own bones and left him to wander alone.

I turned around and came over to him, worried. One touch of his skin had told me he'd gone cold, like an iceberg floating among the Atlantic. "Ari, what's wrong?"

"If I told you," he started to say, then cut himself off with a shake of the head. Strands of hair covered part of his stare as he searched my face carefully. "You should go, Essallie. Find a portal and go home."

I frowned, clearly not on the same level of thought he was. "I'm sorry, I don't think I understand."

"What don't you understand?" He scowled, brushing past my shoulder and continuing down the road in a rigid stance. "You've made your place in this world clear. You have no intent to fight, no intent to do anything but waste away in a mortal world with a half-sibling you know nothing about, now go."

I caught up to him easily, grabbing an upper arm and spinning him around. "Hey, you don't get to talk to me like that. You have no idea what I've gone through to get here-"

"Like hell I don't, Essallie," Ari nearly shouted, the hollow in his stare replaced with a bright and hostile look. "It's always about you and your brother and how your clock is running out. Have you ever thought for one single moment of all the lives placed in danger just to help you succeed?"

"You leave my brother and my personal problems out of this!"

"How about I start when you stop using it like a crutch?" He demanded spitefully, throwing the black bones and green one covered in flowers. "What, do you think I don't know your pain? That I haven't experienced family loss, or friend betrayals, or outcast sensations, too? When are you going to learn this isn't just about you? We're chess pieces in a much bigger plan here, and you're the prized Queen of the opposite color." He pointed a wild and shaking finger toward the main street, chest heaving up and down in sharp breaths. "Lucretia is going to keep attacking you, she wants something from you. No amount of you saying you're just 'waiting to die and spending time with my brother' is going to stop them."

"It's a mistake!" I half-screamed, but I couldn't cut the doubt out from my words. "That Vens was only saying what it could before death, you don't know if he was lied to or-"

"Or what?" Ari challenged with a snap. He dug into a pocket and pulled out a scrap of black fabric, the same the Vens had been wearing. This piece had a patch on it, a thickly embroidered red heart with spikes emanating from the outer design, purple filled in the center. He threw it at my feet bitterly. "So sure he was lying now?"

I picked up the patch, turning it over in my hands. My voice was quiet. "Who's is this?"

"Who else, but Queen Lucretia."

A wave of lightheadedness passed over me, my throat drier than a desert as the sharp realization of things started to set in. Ari was right; no one was going to simply leave me be because my clock was running out faster than others. Going home in the middle of this unfinished would be putting everyone I knew in danger.

I wasn't sure how much more of this truth unveiling I could handle before I passed out. A shaky, ragged breath rattled my chest. "I'm sorry."

Arms wrapped around me, holding me close. "It's going to be okay." His body stiffened, muscles tensing in his arms like tightly bound wire. "We need to leave here, it's been too long. Come on." He let me go, taking me by the wrist and pulling me along the street.

"Wait, where are we going?" The heart shaped pendant around my neck started to glow.

"Just think of it as a safe house," he said in a hushed tone, taking us further out than I had ever been in Charon. The buildings had started to turn to darker and deeper shades of grey. For the first time I saw abandoned and damages homes, garbage scattered among the unkempt lawns. Thorny vines, black and deep red, twisted over any unused fixture.

I nearly tripped on the hem of Serena's dress, and cursed her out. Next time I'd make sure if she gave me clothes to only accept pants and shirts.

"It's right here," he said after what felt like an hour of navigating under the darkened sky. Now it was a striking dark navy blue, stars sprinkling the sky to provide a meager source of light. Against the night, I could barely make out the house, but the silhouette stood loud and clear, and left me breathless by the display.

CHAPTER NINE

ANGELS & DEMONS

"And here I thought the biggest house I'd ever seen was in Maine," I observed in awe at the giant home looming above us.

Ari hadn't been leading us to a safe house, he had been leading us to a freaking
super-huge mansion
. From what I could make under the dark, the building had to at least be five stories tall, stretching on both sides like an oversized rectangle. Small windows held candles inside them, casting an eerie glow within each room.

"It puts Ursula's place to shame, at least for this lifetime," came an all-too familiar voice from the open doorway. I didn't need any magical glasses or super sleuth to tell me who it was.

Kayden was leaning against the frame of the door, his facial expression decidedly amused. Since the last time I'd seen him he looked well; the tan color of his skin had returned, his eyes bright and dancing with the need to be mischievous.

I started to run to him, then stopped. There wasn't a chance that I was ready to forgive him for his actions, not yet. Keeping my composure in check, I made sure to walk with intentional grace and steadiness.

"Going out on a limb here and saying this isn't your place?" I asked Kayden, giving him a minimal acknowledgement. He deserved that much, I guess.

He gave a low chuckle and shook his head. "Not a chance. Lilix called me as soon as she spotted you. She had a feeling you'd come here sooner or later."

I took the four steps leading to the door carefully, but made sure to stop in the doorway and get a closer look at Kayden. He was wearing the same thing I would always picture him in; a black ribbed turtleneck, tan pants, and a pair of black Italian leather shoes. On anyone else it would be decidedly snobbish, but for him it worked.

"Good to know you haven't changed one bit from your lazy ways," I remarked coolly, sniffing with feigned distaste. "At least Ari here gave a genuine damn if I lived or died."

Ari had been right behind me, giving Kayden the same suspicious regard. In the end he said nothing, giving a curt nod before stepping inside. I followed after him, leaving Kayden to trail behind both of us.

Following Ari, we walked down a series of hallways, all with similar decor on the walls. Any door that was open had a completely different mix of things within it; some had weapons both crude and current; some had drawing rooms, old as colonial times in America; some had bedrooms, mixed furniture making it appear caught between two worlds at the same time.

Ari ended up turning into a large drawing room, the furniture reminiscent of Victorian times. A fire had already been started in the grate. Taking one of the seats closer to the fire, he seemed to sigh with relief as he sunk into the cushions.

I collapsed with a thump into one of the chairs across from Ari. Pain pulsed as I moved about against the chair, my back still sore from the beating I had taken today. I didn't even dare ask about my head, figuring that as long as I wasn't passing out there wasn't a problem.

"Where's Lilix?" I looked around, seeing nothing but books and random brass objects displayed on various tiny tables throughout the room. "Is this all real Victorian era furniture?"

"Of course it is," Kayden answered with a laugh, mocking me with a roll of his eyes. "Hasn't your little angel buddy told you how old Lilix is?"

I gave a small shrug of the shoulders and met Ari with a sideways glance. "No, he didn't."

Kayden stood in front of the fire, blocking it from my end of the grate. He waved a dismissive hand. "We can save that for another time, then. I'm just surprised she remembered the first time we met in Greece. Togas baby, gotta love 'em."

My hand twitched compulsively, the pressure of fire budding in my fingertips. I reigned it in, for now. "So why, in the name of anything sacred, are you here?"

He jerked a thumb over his shoulder to Ari, a dull expression on his face. "Rumor has it this twit can't save you from a Vens." He leaned in closer, narrowing his gaze questioningly. "Believe me now about the Queen and her psycho antics?"

"If you're here to gloat, I'm leaving," I snapped, getting up from the chair. Everything around me turned blurry and tilted sideways before I collapsed back into the chair.

Ari moved to get up, but Kayden stopped him. He came closer to me, centimeters left between us. I felt my chest tighten and stopped breathing.

His fingers hovered dangerously close to my skin. "Essie, pull in your fire for a minute. Your head looks like hell."

"Gee," I rolled my eyes. "Flattery will get you everywhere."

"Don't roll your eyes at me. Haven't you read that darker shades book? You'd never roll your eyes again after that."

I made a mental note to figure out what the hell Kayden was blathering about. "Okay, fine. Ari," I leaned over slightly to the side, just to see his teal eyes. "Burn him if he tries anything."

I took a deep breath, feeling the fire flex inside my veins. Pictures of waterfalls, cooled incense sticks, and ice bergs all played in my mind, forcing the fire deeper and deeper into my chest until it was only tightly wound around my heart. I gave a nod to Kayden but warned him, "Go slow."

Very gently, he brushed at the wound on my head. Pain instantly flared down my neck as he did it, and I lost control on the tense coil of power wound in my heart. Fire erupted on Kayden's fingers, singeing him and racing up his arm with speed. With a swear he dissipated into thin black smoke, swirled around and reformed in front of me.

"You might want to get something on that before it festers," he pursed his lips and ran a hand through his black hair. "I'm sure your little golden boy can manage that much."

"Do you mind?" Ari finally jumped in, hands on his knees curled to fists. "You don't hear me mouthing off about you and your demonic spawning."

"Oooh, he's a keeper," Kayden stage-whispered back to me, winking for extra effect. "Really knows how to defend a lady."

"How about both of you are being freaking ridiculous?" I spat, using the back of the chair for support as I stood. "Neither one of you can behave like grown men, can you? I'll talk to both of you in the morning, and you'll both be civil, or I'll char you both to ash."

Against his better judgment, Ari snickered and opened his mouth to speak. "Technically speaking-"

I raised my eyebrows, one fist curled in display. He decided it wouldn't be worth it to make his point, after all.

I nodded, turning sharp on my heels and making for the door. "Right, goodnight to both of you. I'm going to find the nearest bed, pass out in it, and tomorrow morning we can take care of the loose ends."