Almost Demon (The Sigil Cycle) (22 page)

Good. Now I can think without any pressure.

Thom’s voice echoed through my thoughts, telling me that I was stronger than anything. I imagined myself once again clutching to his body and relishing the road and the freedom of the ride.

I opened the passenger door, sat down and clicked my seatbelt shut. Charlotte put the car into drive and we pulled away from my house, listening to the esteemed Mrs. Harris yap away about dresses for the upcoming fundraiser while I tried very hard to ignore the throbbing sigils at my wrist.

Charlotte bombarded me with questions as soon as my fingers were soaking in a tiny bowl of lemon-scented water.

“Tell me everything,” she said as she pulled off the stacks of rings she wore on her right hand. More good luck charms, she claimed.

“He took me to his house.” Just fudging a little bit. 

“So does he have an indoor pool or what?”

I tried to think of a real world equivalent to the lagoon.

“Nah. Outdoor jacuzzi.”

“Wow, Gem. That’s like
Bachelorette
behavior.”

“You should have seen him. I’m still drooling.”

“So did you do it?”

“Shush,” I said, eyeballing the manicurists who were filing away at our nails. “No. But I really wanted to,” I whispered.

“Squee!”

“Char, quiet.”

“Yeah but it’s a good thing you’re holding off. Makes it better.”

“You think?”

“Totally. Did he care?”

“He was pretty cool about waiting.”

“Which of course made you want him even more,” she answered.

“Too true.” I sighed.

“Oh I forgot. I got you a ticket for Saturday. It’s opening night of the revue. And I want to squeeze in another practice tomorrow during gym. There’s a pep rally Thursday night and Friday is the game so we don’t really have much time.”

“I’m so excited for you. Will the Senator be making an appearance?”

“We’ll see. If he can find a way to make it worth his while, I’m sure he’ll be there.”

“This is nice. I’m happy we’re normal again.” 

“Yeah it is,” Charlotte said and leaned her face against my arm.

After a quick bite at McCloone’s, Charlotte dropped me back home. I was surprised to see Ian sitting on the couch with my father, who seemed more relaxed than I had seen in him in a long time. The two of them were laughing. 

“Hey pumpkin,” my dad said as he saw me coming from the coat closet.

“Hey. What’s going on?” I asked.

“Ian here was just filling me in on the Knights. Thought maybe I’d come to the game this week. You’re cheering again, right?”

“Yeah.” I was dumbfounded but excited to see that someone was getting through to him. Thom might have been able to settle the Dybbuk down a bit but Ian was the one who was drawing him out of whatever downward spiral the accident had set him off on.

“Thought we could go out,” Ian said. He was looking even yummier in a soft blue shirt. He grabbed his leather jacket from the armchair and headed straight towards me, not even giving me the option of answering. “I’ll bring her home soon, Dr. Pope.”

“You kids have fun,” he said and raised the volume back on the television.

Ian ushered me out the door and thrust his jacket at me.

“Put that on. We need to be quick.”

“What’s going on?” I said, pulling on the jacket that held the distinct smell of Ian that had me almost begging to go somewhere alone.

“Sam. He said he has some news. I told him about Thom. He said it’s not good.”

“What is it?”

“He wouldn’t say. Said we needed to head back to the club now.”

“He didn’t give you any hints?”

“Nope. If he needs to tell us in person that means it’s big. It means he can’t trust outsiders hearing what he has to say.”

Our pace went from speed walking to a brisk jog. I expected some kind of post-storm clean-up effort by the city but there were no woodchoppers or garbage trucks to be found. Lots of people were milling about, looking lost and bored, until we reached the knee-high grass of the abandoned lot. When the gold handle came up, I shivered with excitement. 

Traveling through the Drifts was feeling like second nature now. There was where I started and within a few heartbeats, I was in the familiar frozen lake. It was as if I had always been here. We trekked together, side by side, dropping into the ice and coming out into the pulsating room. 

The room was even more crowded than usual, both on the dance floor and the balcony above us. All the tables were filled and whatever the capacity was for, it was definitely maxed out. 

I couldn’t resist the pull in the room, grabbed Ian by the waist of his jeans and dragged him into the undulating mass of people.

“We don’t have time.”

I gave him puppy dog eyes and a big pout. “Just one dance,” I yelled over the thrumming bass.

He stood still amidst the throngs of people.

“Please,” I begged.

He held up his index finger and replied, “Just one.” He smirked and rocked his hips to the music until he was firmly planted up against my body. He spun me around and set me on his thigh.

Power filled every cell in my body. The pulsating music filled my mind as my chest swelled, taking in more of the energy that lay thick in the air. Our bodies moved as one and I could feel the heat of desire rushing up like a deluge, threatening to drown me.

I was reluctant to meet with Sam just yet. I didn’t want to know what he had to tell me. I wanted to stay clutched within Ian’s strong hold until I lost myself but when he stopped on a dime at the transition of the next song, it was hard to ignore what had now become my responsibility. 

We walked past the bar towards Sam’s office. Mr. Muscle, as I now referred to him, was guarding the door again. His sigils had now crept up his neck and if the strobe lights hadn’t been flicking on and off, I could have sworn the tattoos were moving across his skin like they had a life of their own.

“Good. You’re here,” Sam said when we walked in. “You. Sit.”

As Ian and I sat down, Sam walked around us and closed the door, shutting out the noise. When he came back, he sat on the desk in front of my chair and placed his hand on my shoulder.

“I need to know that whatever I tell you stays between us.”

“Um. Sure.” I gulped.

“I’m serious. No one can find out about this. I’m in hot water just asking around about it.”

“Yeah. I get it.” I shifted, trying to loosen his hold on me but he stayed firm.

He brought his face closer to mine and looked into my eyes, checking for something. When he appeared satisfied by what he saw, he let go. 

“I did a little background check on your Mr. Flynn. Seems he’s not what he appears.”

“I figured that much.” I scoffed at the lack of credit I was getting in the intelligence department.

“There is much subterfuge about who he actually is so my hands are tied for now.”

“That doesn’t help me much.”

“True. But patience is a virtue. Is it not?”

“What now?” Ian interjected.

“I’ll keep digging. But Gemma, you need to keep going along with whatever Mr. Flynn wants. We don’t want him thinking you don’t trust him anymore.”

But I do trust him. I think.

“So you want me to keep going along with Thom’s ideas and really just listen to you.”

“That’s the idea, sugar.”

“And why should I do that? I barely know you.”

“I’m trying to look out for you.”

“Why?”

“It’s complicated.”

“I’m sure but that’s not getting me to jump onto your bandwagon.”

“The necklace. Have you tried it?” he asked.

I put my finger to the stone.

“Yes,” I answered.

“Feels good, right?” His smile revealed a pair of super sharp canines. “Coming here also helps.”

“It does?”

“Sure. You think all that energy out there is just for show? People pay good money to sit up on the rafters and indulge in a bit of soul sucking. Literally.”

“Is that safe?” I thought about all those people dancing their hearts out to no end.

“Don’t worry about them. They belong here. They chose it. It was better than any other alternative they had. They get to stay here under my protection and, in exchange, they provide rejuvenating energy for the paying clientele you saw out there.”

It sounded awful and I had to ignore my conscious at the knowledge of how much I enjoyed feeding on the masses myself. 

“Is that how my scar went away?”

He nodded.

“So when you find out more about Thom, you’ll let me know, right?” I asked.

“You have my word. And do me a small favor, will you?”

“What’s that?”

“Try using your powers. Practice makes perfect and all that jazz. You might surprise yourself and see how much Thom has been withholding from you.” Sam’s parting words left me more confused than ever.

When we left Sam, I had a newfound appreciation for the club. I saw everything now with new eyes and watched the interplay between the two factions of people. 

“Wanna stay longer?” Ian asked.

“No. I think we should head back.”

“Sure.”

We rode the elevator back up.

“Are you going to try them? Like Sam said?” Ian said, tracing his finger along Ronwe’s curlicued sigil.

“What do you think?” I asked.

“I think you should. You need to watch out for yourself. Don’t ever rely on anyone else to keep you safe.”

When the doors opened up onto my front lawn, Ghosty was waiting for me at the front door.

“What about him?” I asked.

“You’ll figure it out.”

“You think so?”

“Yeah. You’re the smartest person I know.” Ian brushed his lips against mine and I could feel his smile widen. I thought I could feel Ghosty’s tendrils sweeping in between us. 

“See you tomorrow,” I said, uncomfortable at the thought that we had an audience.

“Yeah,” Ian said. “Call me if you need me.”

I watched Ian walk away until his silhouette turned the corner and I could no longer follow him. Ghosty still hovered on the top stair like a faithful guard dog as the trees rustled in the strong wind that brought in the cooler autumn air. The rumbling in my stomach had me throwing an egg and cheese on a biscuit into the toaster oven. When the timer dinged, I coaxed the sandwich out with the tips of my fingers onto a paper towel. I sat down on one of the breakfast stools and flipped through the pages of the paper already laid out in a haphazard mess.

More and more bad news kept piling up. Ms. Halle was arraigned and charged with multiple counts of attempted murder and child endangerment. They even threw in kidnapping for good measure. The prosecutor wasn’t letting her slide off without a super long jail sentence. Rescue teams were still trying to find several people reported missing during the tornado.

Freaky weather. This stuff is going to make me paranoid as hell.

Everything was happening around me and I had no control. That wouldn’t last for long. I was going to try to fix things now. Thom wasn’t helping at all. We were wasting time trying to find out whatever it was he wanted to know. No one was going to help us rid the town of the Dybbuk. I was going to have to take matters into my own hands. Next time I was provoked by one of them, they were going to wish they had never been born. Or died. Or whatever they were. 

I trudged through enough homework where I felt comfortable that I wasn’t going to piss off any one particular teacher. I pulled out my uniform from the back of the closet and hung it back up on the top of my door. Maybe tomorrow I would try it on. Make sure it fit before Friday. It was just terribly cruel how my personal life was just starting to come back together while the rest of the world was going to hell in a hand basket.

C
HAPTER
T
WENTY

I flicked the play button on my new pepped-up morning routine playlist. The abrasives tones of Crystal Castles pumped through the small dock speaker and I jumped to the beat as I picked out my clothes - leggings and a flowery tunic. 

“Morning, Dad,” I sang as I passed my father in the hallway on my way to the shower.

“Good morning, pumpkin,” he said, raising his mug of steaming coffee as he walked back into his bedroom.

I finished my morning routine in a flash and was back in my room having missed only two songs. 

New record for me. I usually find a lot more to fuss about.

After getting dressed, I went through my books, trying to lighten the load for school and carefully folded the cheerleading uniform into my bag with the plastic still on.

“Hey, Dad?” I said, as I peeked into his room. He was standing at the large window, staring out onto the porch where Ghosty was still hovering.

“Hmm?” he asked before taking another sip of his drink.

“Can you give me a ride?”

That got his attention. “Sure. Yeah. Just give me a minute.” He pulled his briefcase out of the closet and arranged some of the files that were sitting on his nightstand into the accordion folder in the side pocket.