Angelbound (40 page)

“I needed to keep you safe. From Armageddon. From the ghouls. From everyone. I knew what they’d do if they found you.” Her hands tremble beneath mine.

I give her fingers another gentle squeeze. “That’s
not
going to happen.” Fear rattles in my stomach. Honestly, that could totally happen.
Focus, Myla.
Remember what the igni said. You need answers and sitting around scared won’t get you any. I refocus on my task, my brain whirring through information. “Besides you and Walker, who else knows I’m the Heir?”

Mom lets out a long breath. “Verus. She saw it in a vision.”

I bite my thumbnail. “Everyone calls Verus the oracle angel.”

Walker shakes his head. “Her visions don’t always come to pass. Sometimes
she fights against a particular future. In other cases, she works to ensure it happens.”

Rising to my feet, I plunk into the high-back leather chair across from the couch, my forehead knit in concentration. With all my energy, I sift through everything I’ve learned. “I don’t get it. The angels attend Arena matches. Why didn’t they have me awakened and angelbound before?”

“The awakening part is fairly easy.” Mom forces a smile. “You breathe in angelic stardust and it’s done. But you didn’t get near angels very often, except for Arena matches. And Walker guarded you there.”

My eyes grow wider with understanding. “So that’s why you had a coronary whenever I was called to serve. If I got too close to an Angel, one could toss stardust my way and activate my Scala powers.” I picture the white cloud at the Adair’s Scala initiation ceremony. The air tasted so sweet. That was the moment I awakened.

Walker steeples his fingers under his chin. “On the other hand, being angelbound is incredibly hard to do.”

Mom nods. “You can’t fake your way around it with magic or angelic influence. The Heir must feel genuine, intense love for someone with angel blood. Most often it’s a parent.” She shoots me a sad smile. “But you never met your father.”

I half-roll my eyes and let out a high-pitched ‘ooooh.’ “So
that’s
why you didn’t want me anywhere near angels, thrax, or the Scala.” It seemed completely insane at the time, but actually, she had a pretty good plan going there. Most likely, I’d never have gotten angelbound if I hadn’t met Lincoln.

Mom’s mouth forms a thin line. “Out of all the threats against us, angels were the worst. I lived in terror that you’d get angelbound.” She wags her head. “The way you hated thrax, I thought you’d be safe at that winter tournament. You loathed Prince Lincoln in particular. Then when you released demons at a royal dinner, I thought it was to antagonize him further.”

My mouth curls into a sneaky grin. “No, Lincoln was my partner in crime on that one.” Thinking about him gives me a nice jolt of positive energy. “So years go by, then the angels raise the question of the Scala Heir.”

Mom groans. “Yes, Verus asked my permission to do that. Like a fool, I agreed. I figured some simpleton would crawl out of the woodwork for the title, and that could only deflect attention from you.”

My head tilts to one side. So, Verus set all that up. I’ll have to come back to the topic of her sneakiness later. “I get why you did it, Mom. But the ceremony awakened
me
, not Adair. My powers should’ve started after that.” I remember the lightning whenever I felt strong emotions for Lincoln.
Hey there, I was the one who set off those lightning strikes.
It was all Scala power. Excitement balloons in my chest. “And that’s exactly what happened. I think I set off a lightning bolt or two.”

Walker clicks his tongue. “If the ceremony didn’t name Adair, it was an amazing forgery. Her eyes changed blue in front of everyone.”

Mom rubs her forehead with her fingertips. “When Walker told me about it, I hoped there were two Scala Heirs.” She exhales slowly. “Wishful thinking.”

I close my eyes.
Think, Myla.
My brain nervously churns through facts about
Adair. A minute passes before my eyes pop open again. “Gianna.”

Mom leans back on the couch. “Who’s Gianna?”

I scratch my temple, my mind still whirring. “She’s a Great Lady of the thrax who’s a powerful conjurer. The House of Striga is known for witchcraft; they breed enchanted horses. Gianna stood right beside Adair throughout the ceremony, whispering to her. I bet she was casting spells to change Adair’s eyes. And then to fake her Scala powers.”

“So foolish.” Mom’s mouth melts into a disapproving frown. “Lady Adair knew all along that she wasn’t the real Scala Heir.”

“She’s the type.” I stare hard at my palms, trying to think through what’s an already unthinkable morning. A new question emerges in my mind. “Did Verus also ask your permission to send me dreamscapes?”

“Yes, I appreciated that she wanted to help us rebuild our relationship.”

“It
was
helpful.” I grimace.
Here it comes.
Time to revisit the whole question of Verus and her sneakiness. I drum my fingers on my knees. “Let’s recap here. Verus talks
you
into letting me go to Adair’s initiation, but
I’m
the one who’s actually awakened. Then, she gets you to agree to dreamscapes and, sure, those help us get along, but they
also
prepare me to become the Scala Heir. What’s up with that?” My stomach churns with anger and frustration. Mom, Walker, Verus…Who
hasn’t
been lying and manipulating me for years?

Mom purses her lips, choosing her words carefully. “Angels don’t lie exactly, but they do tell just enough truth to achieve their goals. Take the initiation ceremony. Verus said a fake Scala Heir would be falsely awakened and
angelbound. She didn’t say you
would
be awakened as well.”

Walker groans. “Angels. I’ll never understand them.”

Mom rises, walks over to my chair, and takes my hands in hers. “I’ve been so overwrought, I haven’t said I’m happy for you. If you’re angelbound to Lincoln, that means you love him, deeply.” She pulls me to my feet, wrapping me in a warm hug.

“It does, doesn’t it?” I rest my head on her shoulder. “Thanks, Mom.”

Wow…a semi-normal mother-daughter interaction. Sure, it’s about my part-angel demon-fighting maybe-boyfriend, but it’s still progress.

Mom retakes her seat on the couch. I curl back into my chair as well. “Let me get this straight.” I tick off the chain of events on my fingertips. “First, I’m awakened and get some basic Scala abilities, like setting off lightning strikes. Second, I get angelbound to Lincoln. Now my powers are stronger, like how I can create igni around my hand. Then, third–”

Mom finishes my thought. “Once Maxon dies, his powers pass on to you.” She rubs her forehead. “You’ll become the full Scala.”

I inhale a breath so deeply, I feel it in my toes. Full Scala. That means everyone in the five realms will be
fully
focused on controlling
me
. Suddenly hiding out doesn’t seem like such a sucky idea. I turn to Mom, ready to say just that, when the igni’s advice reappears in my mind: I need to understand everything before deciding what to do. I press my palms into my eyes, trying to think, think, think. My brain almost hurts from this much concentrating.

I frown. “There are still some things I don’t get. Lincoln said angels invited the
thrax to Purgatory; they’d never have left their homeland otherwise. This may sound crazy, but I wonder if they wanted me to meet Lincoln. If they wanted me to be angelbound to
him
.”

Mom bobs her head. “Could be. Although, it was only a matter of time before you fell for a quasi boy.” She smiles. “I always hoped it would be that Zeke Ryder, but Cissy got him first.”

Okay, I just threw up a little in the back of my throat. Quasi boys? Zeke Ryder?

I shoot a plaintive glance at Walker. He’s biting his lips together, trying not to laugh.

“Trust me, Mom. I wasn’t about to snuggle up with a quasi boy any time this millennia. It’s too convenient that right after Verus puts out a call for the Scala Heir, she orders a gaggle of thrax boys to park their carcasses at our doorstep.”

Walker nods. “I’m sure Verus wanted you to connect with Lincoln. You’re too perfectly matched.”

True. But what does that
mean
? Anxiety tightens my skull. I rub my temples with my fingertips, trying to release the pressure as well as some new insights. Finally, some appear. “That leaves two big questions. Why Lincoln? And why now?”

“Why Lincoln?” Mom pulls a few frayed threads from the armrest. “Angels are always hatching secret plans to fix the universe, Verus especially. If you’re in one of her visions–and that vision says you must love Lincoln–you’ll never know the reason until it’s too late.”

I nod. That sounds true. Incredibly depressing that I may be Verus’s next
vision-victim, but true.

Walker folds his long arms into his longer, loopy sleeves. “And why now? Perhaps the angels want to launch a war. It’s no secret they want ghouls out of Purgatory. Having a Scala with a backbone would help them in their fight.”

“To battle the ghouls, angels would attack an unarmed foe.” Mom frowns. “That they’d never do.” Her jaw drops slightly. “But they
would
prepare for a counter-attack if they thought demons were about to invade.”

I picture the angels giving advice to our headmaster, training my gym class and sending me one awesome dragon-scale fighting suit, free of charge. I point to Mom. “That’s it. The demons must be preparing to invade. Soon.” The moment the words leave my mouth, it’s like the temperature in the living room drops below zero. Another war? I’ve seen what Armageddon can do. Fear twists in my belly. This is a new level of suck.

Walker lets out a frustrated sigh. “They’ve been saying that since Armageddon’s War ended, and it’s never happened.”

“I don’t know Walker, there’s been strange stuff at school.” I wince. “Extra inspections. Teachers being attacked or even killed. It’s bad out there.” I picture the pile of ash that once was Miss Thing and shiver.

Mom taps her cheek. “We need an exit plan.”

I raise my hands to shoulder height, palms forward. “I won’t run and hide.” Despite my best intentions to sound badass, the words come out as more of a question.

“Think about it, Myla.” Mom rises to her feet. “Only angels have blue eyes like
yours. If you stay here, the ghouls and demons will figure out who you are, fast. They’ll try to control you. Unlike Adair, you don’t have an army nearby for protection. It’s me and Walker, that’s it.”

I can’t help but smile. Something in that speech reminded me of the Senator Lewis I saw in so many dreamscapes. I slump into my high-back chair, thinking through this crazy morning: finding out Xavier is my father, that I have Scala powers, how Verus connected me with Lincoln, and that demons could invade Purgatory any minute. I suppose I now know what happened to me and why, as the igni instructed me to do. Grim determination seeps into my body. Unfortunately, my next step is all too obvious.

Mom moves closer, her fists on her hips. “What do you want to do?”

I look up and meet her gaze. “Get the hell out of here.”

Mom grins. “Yes, but where to go?” She paces the room. “Earth, Heaven, Antrum, somewhere else?”

I tilt my head from side to side, weighing the options. I’m about to run away and leave my entire life behind. The worn-out gears of my mind spin, circling back to the same name again and again. “Verus can be sneaky, but I’d go wherever she said it was safe.”

Walker laces his fingers together at his waist. “It will take a bit to get an audience with Verus. You’ll need a safe place to hide in the meantime.” He taps the pads of his thumbs in a fast rhythm. “There’s a bunker from the old quasi regime, a secret place where leaders went in times of trouble. It’s in the Gray Sea.” He turns to Mom. “We can take Myla there now, then I’ll portal to Verus for
advice.”

Mom nods. “I know that bunker. It’s right under a–”

I finish her thought. “–wall of black stone.” Unholy Hell. That’s the very spot where all my dreamscapes have started. My body turns cold. That can’t be a coincidence.

Walker eyes me carefully. “You know this place?”

“I see it in my dreamscapes all the time.” I hug my hands against my body. Suddenly, I’ve never been so cold. “That’s a good sign from Verus, I guess. I’ll go there, no problem.”

Mom sits up straighter. “Agreed, but not now. You have a match tomorrow. If you don’t show up, the ghouls will look for you right away. Walker is right. We need time to contact Verus and come up with a plan. I don’t want you rushing off into worse trouble than you leave behind.”

I try to meet Mom’s gaze, but can only stare at the floor. Worse trouble, right. Not sure what that would be, but with my luck, it’ll find me. “Agreed. I’ll hit the match. With my hood on, no one will see my eyes have changed.” Plus, that’ll give me a chance to say my goodbyes tonight. A grim weight sets in around me. All my friends, school, Arena battles…Everything is about to change.

“It’s settled then.” Walker grips his hands behind his back. “I’ll portal Myla right after the match.”

“Sure thing.” I give Walker a half-hearted nod. Tomorrow morning at 5 AM I’ll be suiting up to leave Purgatory, possibly forever. I blink hard, trying to keep up with events. I just went from being an Arena fighter and homebody to ‘Scala Heir
on the run’. I grab a blanket from the couch and wrap it around me. Suddenly, I need a nap like it’s my job.

Mom smoothes back her hair. “I remember that bunker from my days as a Senator. It takes some time to set up and at least four people to open. Is there any way I can get there earlier?”

“Another ghoul could portal you,” says Walker. “How about TIM-29?”

I pull my blanket around me and roll my eyes.
TIM-29 is a dip.
“This plan has enough stupid in it without inviting that guy around.”

The look on Mom’s face says she agrees. “I haven’t seen Tim since before Myla was born.”

Walker shrugs. “But do you trust him, Camilla?”

She pauses. “Yes, completely.”

“Then I’ll approach TIM-29.” Walker frowns. “You still need two more people.”

My eyes half-open. My overwhelmed brain has just enough functioning cells to spit out one last idea. “If you only need folks to open a door and transport back, Cissy and Zeke can help.”