Dark Calling (42 page)

Nick raises his
eyebrow
s
and follows Keely to the front door.  “I’ll pick you up at eleven tomorrow.”

“What should I wear
?”  Just the thought fills her with nearly as mu
ch dread as facing t
he Hierarchy
.

“You can wear whatever you’re comfortable in.  We don’t have a dress code.”
  He kisses her cheek and waves at her dad.  “See you tomorrow.  I love you.”

“I love you too.  Be safe.”

“You too.”

She shuts the door behind him and stomps up the stairs to her room.  “What the hell was that?”
she hisses.

“
Do not
ever do that to me again,” Asmoday says through ground teeth.

Keely shuts her door and stares at it.  Gives herself a moment to find her own emotions.  Yep, she’s still pissed.  She spins to confront him and is surprised at how close he is
.  “I didn’t do that to you,” she breathes.
 
“
That was between me and Nick,” she says much less confidently than she had planned.

“
Can you even fathom
what that was like for m
e?” he whispers.

“I didn’t do it purposely.  Once I realized, we stopped.”

He glides a finger
,
brushing a strand of
hair behind her ear.
  “I know you will say I have no right, but I do not want you to feel like that unless I am the one making you feel that way.”

“You’re correct
.  You have no right.”

Asmoday puts his hand on the door behi
nd her and leans his body into
her
s. 
“Why is that again?”  His breath blows sweetly across her face.

Keely’s mind spins.  “Why?” 

He places his other hand on the other side of her.  Brings his mouth near her ear, his lips touc
h her hair.  “Yes, why do I have no right?
”

Why?  Why?  Why?
  She tries to remember why.  His body presses her against the door.  Her stomach somersaults
.  “You’re
…you’re
my
—my
brother,” she whispers.

Asmoday pushes off the door with the smallest of smirks.  The cord hums as if it were
plucked like a guitar.  He
feels vindicated
,
making everything else seem insignificant.
“
That’
s the only reason
?”  He chuckles softly.  “
Good night, Keely.”

Twenty-Six
:

After a very long and sleepless night, Keely rises with the sun.  She removes the polish from her fingers and toes meticulously.  Showers slowly.  Brushes her teeth
as if she were going to the dentist.  She even flosses.  Takes extra time on her hair, deciding to dry it straight today.  As she runs the brush through her locks, she is startled at how blond she is.  It’s been a long time since her natural color showed.  She swears it seems lighter than before she started dying it.  And the length
,
when it is all dried and smooth
,
astounds her.  She had no idea there was so much hair on her head.

Keely continues to get ready, refusing to let the nerves get the best of her.  She lightly powders her face. 
Applies a coat of mascara.  Glosses her lips.  She examines her face in the mirror.  She doesn’t look like a thr
eat.  But Keely is pretty sure t
he Hierarchy is smarter than to judge her on her appe
arance.  Just in case,
she decides to dress the part. 

Keely shoves her clothes to one side of the closet so she can reach the few outfits she’
s kept from her old life.  An above the knee pink, pleated skirt with a bow at the waist.  A soft white scoop neck blouse.  She trails her fingers over the silky pink ribbon that gathers the waist of the blouse.  It matches the ski
rt perfectly.  Keely’s mom loves
this outfit.

It costs her ironing, but she welcomes the extra distraction.  Anything to eat up the time.  When every imperfection is smooth, Keely changes and takes the brush through her hair one more time.  She is a stranger.  A former Keely.  If she couldn’t see the scar on her neck so clearly, she would think she is looking at a picture from two years ago.  Not her reflection.

Keely goes back to her closet and fishes out the pink flats she used to wear with this outfit.  She sits on her bed and slides them on her feet.  They feel strange.  Not like her Converse.  These squeeze her toes uncomfortably.

“You look beautiful
.”

Keely jumps from the bed wit
h a squeal
.  She hadn’t felt a difference in the cord.  Didn’t see him coming at all this time.  “You can’t do that to me.  I must be getting used to this or something because you caught me totally off guard.”  She puts her hand over her racing heart.

“I am sorry, but th
is is your own fault.  I have not
been able to rest all nigh
t.  You a
re nervous.  It makes me nervous.”  He eyes her bed longingly.  “This is very early for me.”

“I can’t help it.  I didn’t ask for this.  Any of this.  I can’t choose how I feel and I can’t stop you from feeling it.”

“I did not ask for this as well.  It
is very difficult for me.  You’
re changing
me.”  He looks at her pillow
.  “You truly do look beautiful,” he says and lowers himself to her bed.  He
lie
s on his side and hugs the pillow to his head. 

“Make yourself comfortable.”

“You are a little more
relaxed now.  I need sleep.”

Keely realizes that his presence has
relaxed her.  Probably the simple
fact
that he’
s occupied her thoughts.  Taken her mind off things for the moment. 

Her eyes trace his body repeatedly from head to toe.  Lying in her bed.  His appearance is very impressive
.  Nearly perfect.  She picks up her sketch pad and pencils and crawls carefully up on the bed.  She slips her shoes off and sits on her legs as she begins to draw his outline. 
Keely nearly sighs with the gratification this brings.  Asmoday does sigh and snuggles closer to her pillow.

“It would be easier to sleep if you did not watch me,” he mumbles.

“Just one picture.  I promise.”

He opens one eye.  Looks at her hand moving effortlessly over the page. 
“Beautiful,” he mouths before falling a
sleep.

Keely has never been one to break her promises, but he’s sleeping so peacefully.  Her sketching is
not bothering him in the least
,
so she keeps going.  This one just of his face.  Though Apophis makes her want to vomit now, before he tried to murder her, Keely thought he was very handsome.  Asmoday puts him to shame.  Every single feature is pleasant to look at.

Keely flips to the next
sheet of paper to draw another
picture and stops.  This page is already taken.  Filled with a rendering of Nick.  She looks at the alarm clock on her nights
tand.  It reads ten minutes to
eleven.  Where had the time gone?  She looks back through her pad.  Page after page is of Asmoday.  Her hands are black from lead.  S
he slides off the bed cautiously.  If she gets her skirt dirty she won’t have anything to wear.  After scrubbing her hands, Keely touches up the powder on her face.  Her mom knocks at the door.

“Keely, are you ready to go?”

“Uh, yes?”

She opens the door and looks past her mom to her bed.  There is a distinct Asmoday impression in her pillow, but no Asmoday.  Keely lets out a breath and almost laughs.

“You look nice.  I haven’t seen this skirt in ages.  And your hair is so pretty.”

“Thanks, M
om.  You look nice too.”

Kimberly touches Keely’s hair.  Hugs her tightly.  “Everything will be o.k.  We will get through this.”

“I know,” Keely says.

*
**

Nick opens the car door for Keely and takes her hand.  She looks up at the massive school.  The building is made from stone, reminding her of a castle.  But in no other way
does it
resem
ble
a castle
.  It’
s in
the shape
of
a humongous sideways rectangle
and three stories high.
  There’s a large arc of a sign above the main double doors.  Deus Lucem Academy.  This could be her school
soon.  That is, if she doesn’t die first.

“It’s big,” she says.

Nick smiles at her.  “I’ll be with you the entire time.”

Keely nods and tries to smile back, but it doesn’t quite work while she is fighting the urge to throw up. 
She takes a deep breath.  She’
s lived through people trying to kill her before.  She can handle this. 

Kevin and Kimberly join their daughter at the doors.  “Let’s get this over with.” 

Keely grips the Demon Grimoire to her chest like a school book.  Gratefully, there is nobody in the main hall.  They make thei
r way to the office where they’
re told to sign in and take a pass.  It reminds her of her high school.  Only, after they sign in, they are lead to the back of the office where they take an elevator down to the basement level.  It doesn’t look like a basement, however.  The walls
are
paneled in a rich dark wood, the floor carpeted in red.  Iron sconces line the walls every few feet lighting their way down the hall.  They stop in front of a door and are instructed to go in and be seated.

Keely was expecting something similar to a court room.  It’s nothing like that.  There is a spacious glossy wooden table with nine high back leather chairs on one side.  On the other side of the table is one smaller version of the other chairs.  Along the walls, there are several groupings of chairs you would find
in
anyone’s house.  Very casual.  As if you could sit and read a book.  The walls are paneled the same as the hallway, but the room is brighter.  Lit by florescent ceiling lights.  Again, like her high school. 

Nick
moves to the chairs along the wall and gestures for them to sit.  He stays standing, which makes Keely anxious.  She crosses her legs and bounces her foot nervously.

“Do you need a pill?” Her mom leans toward her and whispers.

Keely shoots her a look.  She stopped taking her pills.  “No.  I’m fine.”  She forces herself to sit still.

The door opens and several people come in.  Three guys and two girls.  Nick nods his head in hello, but doesn’t go to speak to them.  They take seats on the other wall and talk amongst themselves.  Keely hadn’t thought there would be an audience.  The door opens again as two girls shuffle in.

“Good luck, Nick.”  One of the girls flashes a smile before she and her friend sit down.

Keely scrunches her bows.  That girl seems to like Nick more than Keely is comf
ortable with.  And she realizes
all these people know him.  They went to school with him.  Probably grew up with him.  And she doesn’t know anything about this time of his life.  She doesn’t know a whole lot about Nick period.

Ugh
.  She hates when her mom is right.  But that doesn’t mean she can’t still love him.
  She loves him for who he is when he’s with her.  Not his past.  But she is curious about it now.

The room fills quickly as the noon hour approaches.  A man comes in and walks straight up to Nick.  Before he says a word, Keely knows he is Nick’s dad.  Nick is a younger, slightly smaller version of him.

“Dad.”

“I wanted to let you know
they decided I cannot vote
on your case.  Conflict of inte
rest.  But I will be mediating t
he Princess’ case.”

“Dad, this is Keely.”  Nick takes Keely’s hand and pulls her to her feet.

“I’d shake your hand, but I don’t want anyone to think my judgment is skewed
in any one direction.  But it’s a pleasure to meet you, Keely.”

“Thank you.  Nice to meet you too.” 
Please don’t vote to kill me
.

“I need to take my place now.  Good luck to both of you.”

Keely’s eyes follow Nick’s dad up to the front of the room where he sits in the second chair.  In the first is an older man, maybe in his sixties.  He’s wearing a gray checkered suit jacket and bright yellow bow tie.  He has principal written all over him.  The third chair seats
an older woman who appears bored already.  In the fourth,
a pretty young woman with mocha skin and silky black hair
smiles at Keely
.  She’s one of those women who tries for conservative, but makes even the blandest business suit look sexy and exotic.  Keely’s eyes move past her
, the fifth chair is empty, but in the next seat, Keely sees someone that causes
a lump
to settle
in her throat
. H
er eyes meet Coach’s
and she gasps
.  Her
salt
and pepper hair is down, just the sides held back in small clips.  She looks different, but Keely has no problem recognizing her.  Coach holds her gaze for several seconds before Lila’s voice interrupts.