Sins of the Innocent: A Novella (5 page)

I glared at him but didn’t speak.

“Eden …” he began.

“Don’t. If you can’t trust me, then I’d rather we just not speak.”

Mom hurried into the foyer just as I reached the stairs. “Eden, what on earth?” she screeched, noticing that I was covered in dirt.

“I’m sure Dad will tell you in three hours,” I snarled at my dad, “after explaining everything in excruciating detail.”

Bex spit out a laugh, but Dad didn’t find it quite as funny.

Dad frowned. “Why did you allow that, Eden? Have you lost your mind? What if he wasn’t just testing you?”

“I don’t know. I just had a feeling that he wouldn’t hurt me and that I shouldn’t hurt him. I can’t explain it,” I said.

“Allow what?” Mom asked. “Who did this to you?” she asked me.

“Leviathan,” Bex said. “He’s been watching her for a while. Don’t worry, Nina. We had it handled.”

Dad shot Bex a death glare, and he winced.

“Who is
we
?” Mom asked, her voice echoing across the marble floors and down the hallways.

Our house had tall ceilings and numerous vast rooms. The wood was imported Italian, the craftsmanship unequaled in the state of Rhode Island, much less the city. It’d been constructed by my grandfather to be strong, to protect my mother who was meant to be the last Merovingian, the descendants of Jesus Christ. She was supposed to be the last … until me.

That fortress was my second home, the first a loft my father had built. But my family had needed to work together to raise me for whatever lay ahead, and that required more room than the loft had offered. Jack Grey’s was the only house I remembered, but it had never felt like home. I wondered if anywhere ever would.

“Samuel,” Dad said.

Mom looked around the room, waiting for an appearance that wouldn’t come.

“First drudens, and now this,” I said. “I told you. Culmination.”

“For the love of … Eden. Try not to upset your mother,” Dad said, his teeth clenching.

It was too late. Mom paled, her lips parting as she sucked in a breath. “Jared,” she said to my dad. Her tone warned him that she demanded an answer before she could ever ask. “What are you not telling me?”

Dad reached out, and she did the same. He pulled her into his arms, as he’d often do when she was rattled by something from our world. “Nothing, sweetheart. It means absolutely nothing.”

My face fell as Dad rested his temple on Mom’s hair, and then he glanced at me. He didn’t want to upset Mom, so he was asking me to let it go.

I trudged up the stairs to my room, leaving behind soiled footprints on the carpet.

Mom touched the banister and called up to me, “Eden, come back down, honey. We’ll figure it out.”

“We’re all liars,” I said under my breath, knowing Mom couldn’t hear.

I lay back on my bed, looking at the ceiling while thinking about the familiar irises hovering above me earlier that afternoon. It hadn’t been murder in Levi’s eyes but curiosity, maybe even a bit of excitement. The book my dad had studied spoke of prophecy, one that included Leviathan and me and a great battle with spilled blood. Levi, the son of Satan, would threaten the balance, and one of two things would happen—I would kill him, or he would kill me.

Levi had had a moment of opportunity, but he hadn’t hesitated. He’d had an objective, but killing me hadn’t been it. He’d admitted that he was unafraid of the consequences, something I could attribute to him being a moronic teenage boy.

But it was more than that.

Levi was right. I hadn’t been trying. I had no intention of showing him my full capabilities. I chewed on my thumbnail. There were so many questions and no answers in our world. One more shouldn’t have been a big deal, and I didn’t want to care, but Levi had left me flustered—a feeling that I wasn’t at all familiar with.

After a soft knock, Claire called my name, “Eden? Can I come in?”

“Yeah,” I said, still staring at the ceiling.

A second later, she was lying next to me, looking up at nothing, too.

“No answers are up there. Trust me, I’ve looked. No answers on any ceilings anywhere.”

“I’m not looking for answers,” I said.

“Yes, you are. We all are. And waiting for them is the worst.”

I pressed my lips together. “Tell me what you know about the prophecy, Levi, and why you think he came today.”

“I don’t know.”

I groaned and turned away from her. “Not you, too.”

She hooked her arm around my middle and pulled me against her. Leaning down, she whispered into my ear, “He’s been sniffing around for almost a year now.”

“I know. I mean … I didn’t know it was him, but I sensed something. Something big.”

“Eden, tell me the truth. Why didn’t you defend yourself when he came at you?” Claire asked.

I didn’t have to see her face to know she was concerned.

I thought about that for a moment. “The truth?”

“Of course, dummy.”

After a short pause, I said the words, not knowing what they would be until they tumbled from my mouth, “I think I know him.”

“How?” she asked.

“It’s just a feeling,” I said. “I can’t explain it, but I know him. And he knows me.”

Claire turned onto her back and stared at the ceiling, looking for answers of her own.

I’d never seen all of my classmates smiling at the same time, but freedom lit the face of every person wearing a maroon graduation gown. Freedom had that effect on people. That was probably why I was the only one not baring all of my teeth.

Grandmother, Grandma Lillian, Claire, Ryan, Bex, Mom, and Dad all took turns with the camera, taking a thousand pictures of me in the same pose, standing with a variant mix of my family.

I carried the hat I’d just tossed, a nice conclusion to the human living experience Mom had insisted upon. It wasn’t that I hadn’t enjoyed them. Something about going to dances, attending high school classes, and even graduation had felt disingenuous. I was mostly human, but pretending for the sake of perspective had been a waste of time.

I looked at Mom. She was dabbing her eyes, laughing, and shaking her head, deliriously happy. Disingenuous or not, making her happy was worth it.

“I guess you’re off to the graduation party?” Mom asked. “Are you coming home to change?”

I unzipped my gown and handed it to her. “Will you take it home for me?”

She nodded.

But Grandmother wore her trademark scowl. “Really, Eden? You had to wear your ratty sneakers with that beautiful dress?”

I looked down at the ivory fit and then flare dress that Claire had chosen for me. My fingertips brushed against the exposed skin from a daring but not risqué V-neck, down to my skirt, falling in between the strong pleats. “No one could see that I was wearing a beautiful dress.”

Grandmother narrowed her eyes at me. “I’m sure they couldn’t guess, only seeing the graduation gown and the dirty sneakers.”

“Sorry,” I said.

Grandma Lillian hugged Grandmother to her side. “But doesn’t it add just enough individuality? I just love her style.”

Grandmother stood politely still until Lillian released her and then discreetly moved further away.

“Okay”—Mom hooked her arm around my neck and pulled me in for a hug—“I’ll see you later then.”

“Remember when I broke your collarbone when I was four? Before I knew to be easier with you than Dad?” I asked, immediately cursing my failure to filter.

Mom released me, pressing her lips together. “Are you trying to make me cry?”

I winced. “I was trying to make you laugh.”

She chuckled and then wiped beneath her eyes. “Sure, it’s funny
now
.”

Claire smiled, her eyes invisible behind her oversized dark aviator sunglasses. “It’s still funny.”

Mom shot her a look, and so did Grandma Lillian.

“Okay then,” I said, fidgeting.

“Go,” Dad said. “We’ll see you later.”

“Okay,” I said, waving. “I’ll be with Morgan.”

Bex began to follow me to the Audi.

I pointed at him. “No.”

“What?” Bex asked, his eyebrows shooting up.

“No chaperone tonight,” I said.

“I’ll stay in the car.”

“Didn’t you hear me? Morgan is coming.”

He shrugged. “I’ll follow on the Vulcan.”

I sneered, knowing Bex would love nothing more than to have an excuse to take out Dad’s ancient—or
vintage
, as he liked to call it—motorcycle. “I’m officially an adult. I don’t want a chaperone.”

Dad frowned. “I think in light of recent events, it’s probably best—”

“Who are we kidding? What could he do that I couldn’t handle?” I asked.

Bex frowned. “Since when does Hell only send one to attack at a time?”

“Still wouldn’t need you.”

Bex’s mouth fell open and then snapped shut. “What did I ever do to you?”

“Enough. Eden, I disagree,” Dad said, his tone final.

“You’ve got to give me some space. If I can’t save myself, how am I supposed to save the world?” I asked.

Dad and Mom traded glances.

Then Mom approached me, tenderly touching my face. “You’re right. Have fun. Be back by sunrise.”

I eyed her, suspicious. “Don’t do that,” I said, pulling away from her. “That’s one of Dad’s old tricks. Don’t tell me you’re going to let me go it alone and then send Bex to babysit me from afar.” I sighed. “I’ve trained every day for the moment when I will have to defend myself. Just … please trust me.”

Mom shook her head, sad. “It’s not about trust, Eden. It’s about responsibility. We love you, and we want you to be safe. We also know what’s at stake.”

I glared at Bex, who seemed surprised at my sudden hostility, and then I trudged to my car.

Morgan was already standing next to it, the excited grin on his face easily erased by my appearance. “Whoa. What happened? Family fight?”

“Kind of.”

I pressed the keyless entry and then opened my door, trying not to yank it out of anger. I’d broken several things in my childhood during a temper tantrum or two.

Morgan slid into the passenger side, reaching for his seat belt. He was reluctant to ask his next question. “Do you want to cancel?”

“Absolutely not,” I said, clicking my own seat belt and pressing the ignition.

Morgan’s mouth didn’t seem to know whether to smile or frown. “Um … okay. So, now what?”

“Now, we do things we shouldn’t.” I turned up the volume on the radio and looked over at my friend. “You ready?”

He shifted in his seat, anxious. “Oh, yeah.”

I gripped the steering wheel and shifted the gear. “One wild night coming up.”

Morgan and I lay on the hood of the Audi, muffled indie rock reverberating through the fiberglass. We were on a dead end road, looking up at the stars while listening to the crickets chirp.

“Sorry,” Morgan said, apologizing for the dozenth time.

“Stop. I like this better anyway. Besides, if we didn’t leave, those guys from Saint Mary’s who came with Lacie were going to find a trash can to stuff you in, and I was going to have to stop them. This is preferable to all that drama, don’t you think?”

Morgan inhaled, his cheeks filling with air before exhaling completely. “Just for one night, I wanted to feel like I belonged, you know?”

“Yeah,” I said, “I know.”

The stars twinkled above us, and Bex’s scent mixed in with the smells of freshly cut grass and salt water from the bay. Besides my uncle, Morgan and I were alone with the lights of the stars above and the fishing boats on the Narragansett.

“I’m famished,” Morgan said. As if on cue, his stomach gurgled.

I took in one last breath of fresh air before my senses were filled with thoughts of after-midnight greasy fast food, but then I choked. I sat up, coughing, and Morgan sat up, too.

“Geez, you okay?”

“Yeah,” I said, feeling the burning in my nose and lungs.

No longer needing the drudens to cover his scent, Levi’s presence was full-strength. I braced myself, ready for a fight.

Levi strolled through the tall grass just beyond a knoll, wearing a white V-neck T-shirt and black jeans. This time, he’d paired it with the predictable black Converse.

“We should go,” Morgan said.

I could sense his discomfort.

“You smell,” I said to Levi.