Dark Calling (37 page)

“There’s nothing there.”

“What do you see?”

“I see an empty page.  That’s all.  What does it look like to you?”

She stares at the page.  “Creepy.”

“I’m serious.”

“O.k.  O.k.  There’s seriously messed up pictures here.”  She runs her finger along the side of one page.  “And there is a spell here.”  She points to the center.  “Here there are what I think are names.”  She trails her finger down the other side.  “Can I read this aloud to you?  I won’t cast some kind of Demonic spell, will I?”

“This is a first for me, believe it or not.  Maybe
you should read it to yourself
then give me the summary.”

The page seems to call to her as she reads it several times, trying to understand it’s meaning.  Images flash through her mind vividly like memories.  A flash of a shallow silver bowl, old and dented as if it had been dropped many times.  Another flash, an elegant gold dagger with ruby incrusted handle.  And yet another flash, three teeth dropping into the bowl
,
followed by a drop of blood.

“It’s a spell for mind control.  It’s so weird.  It doesn’t say mind
control.  I
t doesn’t tell you that y
ou need the person’s teeth you’re trying to control
or a drop of your own blood.  All it says is the words you chant while casting, but I saw it.  As I read it, it gave me the instructions
in my thoughts
.  This thing is like triple protected.”  Keely shivers.  She isn’t comfortable that a book can enter her head like that.  That anything can make her envision things.  And she doesn’t like that Demon’s are able to control the minds of humans.  She supposes it isn’t much different than possessing a body though.  However, this is how Demons gain control over the strong minded.  Always the cheaters.

“Is that it?”
Nick asks.

“For this one.”

“Read more.  I’ll go make us something to eat.”

“I feel like I’m going to pass out.  Can I just sleep for a couple of hours first?”

He
runs his hand through his hair
and looks at the clock.  “Sorry.  Yeah, I could use some sleep too.” 

“Nick?”

“Yeah?”

“Will you lay with me?  I just need the closeness.”  It sounds so strange coming from her mouth, but it’s true.  What she really needs more than anything right now is for Nick to hold her so she can feel safe and secure, even if she isn’t.  A girl can dream, right?

Nick
lies
down beside her and pulls her back against his chest
, wrapping his arms snuggly around her.  He tucks his nose into her hair.  Keely sighs. 

“I lost my cell phone,” she says through a yawn.

“I know.  We’ll take care of it later.  Sleep.”  And she does.

Keely nearly starts crying when she rolls over and
feels the silky softness of the
nightgown against her body.  The next thing she feels is the cord.  It drums
in her chest happily.

“Good morning.”  His voice is like velvet and she hates that sh
e doesn’t hate it.  “I know you a
re exhausted
and do no
t want to be here, but he wants to speak to you.”

“A really good brother would tell him to leave me alone and let me get some much needed sleep.”  She stretches, trying to find the energy to s
it up.  “Are you my big brother
or little brother?”

“Time is different for me, but in human years, I am older.”

“By how much,” she asks propping herself up on an elbow.

Asmoday’s eyes rake over her.  He brushes the hair off her shoulder and raises the thin strap that has slipped down on her arm.  “Two years and some months.”

Keely nods.  “So you’re twenty.”
  She works herself into a sitting position but doesn’t get out of the bed.  “Is your mother human?  Or another angel?  No, you’re part Demon, right?”

He pulls her up, his hands very gentle on hers.  “You shouldn’t keep the old man waiting.”

Keely laughs.  “How old is he?”

“Old,” he says as he
opens the door.

Her father is sitting in his usual spot, eyes probing as they examine her injuries.  “You do well in battle, my child.  Please, sit.”  He gestures to the chair across from him.  Keely knows it’s better not to refuse him
.
She
sits quietly.  Asmoday takes a seat beside their father, the picture of ease.  However, she has a sixth sense the jittery nervous feeling in her stomach doesn’t belong
entirely
to her.  “Are you healing well?”

“Yes,” she says.

“And your a
ccolades, they are improving?”

The room is warm, making it hard for her to
keep her eyes open.  The chair is
really comfortable too
,
though you can’
t tell by looking at it with its high back
and wooden arms that curl like claws.
“Improving?”

“You are growing accustomed to them?  Learning how to use them?”

She waves her hand sleepily.  “I guess so.  I glowed last night.  That was weird, but we needed the light.”  As she says it, in this place, with her father, it all clicks.  Suddenly, she is a little more awake.  “You glow too,” she realizes aloud.

He bows his head in what she assumes is a nod.  “And your heightened senses, those are not bothersome?”

“No, I got used to those pretty quick.  It came in handy with Dana too.”

“D
ana, she is from Apophis’ Guard
?”

“She’s not now.  Coach—oh, crap.  I forgot about coach.”

“Has she struck her head?”  Her father gazes at her
,
slightly put off.

“I do no
t believe so.  I think it is a lack of sleep,” Asmoday explains.  His lips twitch as if he would like to smile, but he doesn’t.

“Perhaps we shall hav
e this conversation after you’
ve rested.  I have very little tolerance for insolence.  One last question before you take your leave.  Do you have any idea of Apophis’ whereabouts?” 

Keely yawns
and slaps her hand over her mout
h.  He just called her insolent
and she’s pretty sure that means rude.  “I’m sorry.  I’m very tired.”  He doesn’t look amused or forgiving.  “No, I have no idea where he went.  Sorry.”

Keely knows she is back at Nick’s
,
though she can’t manage to open her eyes.  She feels his warm embrace, smells his Nick scent.  Content, she falls back into a deep, dreamless sleep.

The
car feels congested with Keely’s many emotions.  She is excited to go home to be
with her dad, but
reluct
ant to deal with her mom.

Nick skims the back of his fingers across her cheek.  “It’ll be fine.
  If you want, I’ll go in with you.”

A piece of shadow lifts itself from Keely’s mood
.  “I do.  Than
k
you.”  She opens her door and drags her book bag out.
  It’s heavier than it’s ever been before, her sh
oulders not willing to carry the
extra weight.  She sighs.  Why is she acting like one of
those girls
?  The kind that’
s always gotten on her nerves.  T
he kind she can’t stand.  Needy
and so dependent on a boy.
  As if she is incapable of anything if she doesn’t have a strong hero of a boy to save her.  This isn’t Keely
.
  She doesn’t even like boys.
 
In general, anyway.  She does not want to have that weak of a character
.  She tugs the overflowing duffel bag from Nick’s hand
a bit too aggressively
.  “You know what?  I think I need to do this
myself.”  She tugs again when
Nick doesn’t release the bag to her.

Raising his eye
brow
s
, Nick mildly asks,
“Can I at least take this to the door for you?”

“No.”  She takes a deep breath, organizing her thoughts.  “It’s better if I go alone.
”  She blows the hair out of her face deciding to reword her premise.
 
“
If you come to the door, then it will be that much harder for me.  I mean, you come to the door, then what’s
one more step inside?  You come inside, what’s a few more feet to the living room.  You come to
the living room-
”

“What’s a leap into moving in?”

Keely laughs.  “Well, I was thinking I would hide you in my clos
et until my parents fall asleep
and then sneak you into my bed.”  She pulls the bag from his hand and tries not to tip over.  “I just need it this way.  So I know I can
do it on my own
.”

Nick nods his head.  He looks past her at Kimberly
who is
peering out
the window.  He lifts his hand in a hello, but she has al
ready le
t the curtain drop back into place.
  “You’ve never had a problem doing things on your own.  You’ll be fine.”
 

Ke
ely stands on tip toes to give
Nick a kiss on the cheek and turns toward the house.
  “I’ll get a hold of you later,” she calls.

Nic
k waves to her back.  When she’
s inside, he walks slowly back to his car, taking his time.  He doesn’t do this because he doubts Keely’s ability to handl
e her home life.  He knows she’
s strong and can de
al with anything.  The thing is
,
Nick doesn’t have a clue as to what to do with himself.  No.  This isn’t true.  He knows exactly what he should be doing.  He just really, really doesn’t want to do it.
  Drumming his hands on the roof of his car, he knows it’s time to man up.  It’s time to face Bryon.

*
**

The light tap on her door means the end of the reprieve she was given to put her things away.  Keely would know her mom’s k
nock anywhere.  Swallowing hard
and smoothing her shirt, Keely turns the knob.

“We need to have a talk,” K
imberly says.  Her hair is down,
none of her usual clips holding it off her face.  Her eyes are red and puffy, the make-up unable to cover the sure sign of crying. 

Keely wrings her hands.  She will not accuse.  She will not blame.  She will not attack her mom.  She will remember how worried she was about her less than twenty-four hours ago, and she will quietly listen.

Kimberly sits on the edge of Keely
’s bed and pats the space beside
her.  As she sits, her mom begins.  “I’m sorry, Keely.  I want to say that first.  I’m sorry for all of it.  I should have protected you better.  I should have been more open with you.
  I should have—well, I should have done a lot of things differently, let’s just leave it at that.  But I am going to
try to
be better, I promise.”  She looks down at her hands and clears her throat.  “When I was your ag
e, I made the decision to leave this life
.
  I lost both of my parents because they chose to honor the Angel.  They were great Guardians, but it left me alone.  And it wasn’t easy.  I wanted better for you.
 
I was stupid to think I could just walk away from it.”  She s
hakes her
head;
her hair falls
over one green eye.  She tucks the strand behind her ear and continues.  “I tried to leave it all behind.  I left my boyfriend at the time.  I enro
lled myself in a normal college
and I met your da
d.”  She smiles with the memory
and Keely wishes she could see what her mom sees.  Wishes she could see a younger version of her mom and dad as they fell in love all those years ago.

“Your dad was so handsome and so sweet.  He was funny
and understanding.  And completely normal.  I needed the normal more than anything.  If I had just kept everything normal, I could have saved all of us so much heart ache.  You
r dad couldn’t give me children
and some stupid, selfish part of me wanted my own child.  A special child.  I wanted to carry on our lineage.  P
ass down the gift of the Angel.  You see, if I had just been happy with the normal life I had made for myself, I would have adopted.  I wouldn’
t have you though, Keely, so I’
m so mixed up how I feel about that.  Yes, I could have saved you from this life, but it wouldn’t have been you.  It would have been some stranger.

“The point is, I made so many mistakes, but some led to good things.  Like you.”