Darker Days (3 page)

“Jesus,” I breathed.

“What happens if they find what they’re looking for? A witch and the person who set them free?” Mom’s face was pale.

“With all seven Sins present, a powerful witch can use the blood of the one who released them to create a potion that will bind them to the human bodies they invaded. They will be free of the box forever, and those whose bodies they’ve stolen will be lost, their essences destroyed.”

“Craps,” I whispered. “Okay, so seven innocent people, five days.” I turned to Mom. “Gotta love a challenge, right? Gonna have to move fast on this one.”

She nodded, turning back to Lukas. “What happens in five days if they don’t find what they’re looking for? The witch and the one who set them free?”

“If they’re forcibly put back in the box
before
the time runs out—the five days—then nothing. Everything will go back as it was and the bodies they’ve stolen will be unharmed. However, the box has a failsafe, and this is where the problem lies. After five days’ time, the box will recall the sins. If that happens, the innocent people they’ve taken control of will be recalled with them. Lost forever to the box.”

“Right, then. So
less
than five days.” Mom ran a hand through her long blond hair and sighed. “We’ve been getting calls like you wouldn’t believe today. I’m guessing our recent flux in business is due to the Sins being free.”

“Hah!” I exclaimed, suddenly remembering the zombie. “I told you I didn’t tease that zombie. I bet the Sins had something to do with it going all Jeffrey Dahmer.”

“Whatever you’ve seen so far is child’s play,” Lukas said, shooting me a sidelong glare. “The Sins were set free in 1959 and after forty-eight hours out of the box they’d destroyed two towns and cost hundreds their lives. It was carnage and chaos the likes of which you can’t possibly imagine.”

“Two towns…1959?” Mom was fascinated. I could tell by the glossy look in her eyes. “The Sins were responsible for the 1959 Penance riots?”

I had no clue what they were talking about because history had always been snoozeville for me. “1959 riots?”

“Penance was founded in the early seventeen hundreds. By the nineteen hundreds, it was a thriving textile town with a high society set that almost rivaled the city.” Mom tapped the edge of her desk. “In 1959, there was a riot at the plant. It spilled into the streets and engulfed the entire town.”
Lukas shook his head. “The riot at the plant was just one occurrence. A single spark in a raging inferno.”

“That sounds ominous.” I was about to make a joke, but Mom glared at me. Sticking the pen back into my mouth, I gestured for him to continue. How dare I interrupt story time!

“The foreman at the mill was one of the town’s most well respected men. On the first night of the Sin’s freedom, he was unlucky enough to encounter Greed. By the time he went to work the next day, he was convinced his salary was unfair and demeaning.”

I snorted. “Everyone in America feels that way nowadays.”

Lukas gave me a strange look and continued as if I hadn’t spoken. “Unfortunately, it was the same day the owner was slated to visit the mill. He came—with his wife and two children. The foreman, having whipped the employees into a frenzy, led the workers in revolt.”

This didn’t sound like a story that ended in picket lines and teamster meetings. “I’m betting it didn’t go well for the owner.”

He shook his head. “He and his family were killed—ripped to shreds and stripped of anything with possible value.”

It was bad enough the guy and his wife had to bite it—but two little kids? “That’s seriously messed up.”

“It was horrible,” Lukas agreed. “And of course, Greed is never satisfied. The survivors of the mill riot wanted more, and they took to the streets to get it, looting and pillaging all the way into the neighboring town.”

“Upping the body count,” Mom whispered, horrified.

“Correct,” Lukas answered. “Enter the other Sins. Lust and Envy ripped families apart, and Sloth decimated the local businesses. Gluttony caused people to consume food in excess, emptying their stomachs only to eat more. In three days’ time, they depleted the town’s food supply and ravaged the economy. The Sins were recaptured soon after that, but of course the damage had been done. The towns were in ruin.”

Something wasn’t right here. Sure, Lukas could be some dorky—but seriously hot—history nerd, but all the detailed intel about the Sins? No human would know all that. He was talking like he’d been there. Like he’d
seen
it all go down. “This stuff is nitty-gritty—no way did you find this sitting between the dusty pages of some history book. How do you know all this?”

“He’s an Otherworlder,” Mom said. “Obviously.”

“Otherworlder?” Lukas looked from Mom to me, confused.

“Non-human,” I supplied. I loved when she was wrong. It gave me warm fuzzies since, sadly, it didn’t happen often. “Which you
obviously
aren’t.”

Mom’s eyes narrowed. She must have realized I was right. “Lukas, tell me how you seem to have such an intimate knowledge of the box’s history.”

He was quiet for a moment before standing, shoulders squared. “I was in the box.”

Chapter Three

“You were
in
the box,” I repeated as a chill crept up my spine.

Expression blank, he nodded. “Yes.”

“You’re one of the Sins,” Mom said, understanding.

“Yes,” he said again.

“Wait. One of the sins? One of the
Seven Deadly Sins
? Standing here in our office?” I sucked in a deep breath and jumped from the chair. Nodding to Mom, I said, “This doesn’t freak you out at all?”

She ignored me and gestured to Lukas. “So, you’ve…infected this body?”

“This body was infected,” he confirmed. His jaw tensed, then twitched. Arms rigid by his sides, he sat back down.

I did the same, refusing to take my eyes off him. It was because he was a Sin. A bad guy. Not because he was easy on the eyes.
Really
. “Which Sin?”

“Wrath.”

Mom’s expression darkened. I knew that look. It was the
Something smells fishy in Freeport
glare. “If you’re one of the Sins, why are you coming to us for help? If they go down, you go down as well.”

“When I said I was familiar with your family, it was because I knew your father, Klaire.”

“How did you know my father?” Mom was queen of the poker face. She might as well have been asking the deli guy for a pound of Swiss for all the urgency in her voice. But I knew her better than anyone in the world. She was thrown by his admission.

“After we were released in 1959, right before the riots began, I tracked down your father and offered my help. Joseph Darker is the one who put the Sins back in the box.”

Mom nodded. “I see.”

She seemed pacified, but I still didn’t get it. “You’re saying you went to Grandpa and offered to help him box up your buddies? Out of what, like, the goodness of your heart?” I folded my arms and laughed. “No offense, but I don’t see Wrath as the tragic hero. It all sounds a little too selfless.”

“You don’t know me.” He scowled. “And it was by no means selfless. I offered my help in exchange for freedom.”

“Your freedom? How would that even work if you have to all be packaged together?” I leaned back and kicked my feet onto the desk. One look from Mom and I dropped them to the floor.

“All seven
Sins
must be inside the box before it will lock,” he confirmed, voice frosty.

“But
you’re
a Sin, right? You escaped the box and infected someone. You can’t change what you are… According to what you told us, the box will recall you if time runs out. How could there possibly be a way around that?”

“My daughter has a point. I’m afraid you’ll need to give us a bit more, Lukas,” Mom said. She was watching him with a mix of caution and awe. We met a pretty weird assortment of non-humans on a daily basis—but Lukas might have been the oldest, most famed one yet. One of the Seven Deadly Sins? There was a possibility Mom was getting ready to fangirl all over herself.

Lukas was quiet for a few moments. When he spoke again, there was an edge to his voice. Something dark, but determined. “There is a way to transfer the Sin to someone else. They could take my place in the box.”

What a tool. Figures. It’s always the hot ones that turn out to be asshats. “Let’s forget for a sec that what you just said makes, like, no sense.” I gestured to him. “You’re saying you’d sacrifice this poor guy so you could be free? Keep the body you stole? Kind of a dick move, don’t you think?”

He whirled around, pinning me with a look that, while dangerous, made my stomach do a little flippy dip. “Why would I think twice? It was done to
me
.”

“You’re saying you’re
human
but still a Sin?” Mom did nothing to disguise her skepticism.

“I’m saying that this body was infected a
very long time ago
—but it was mine. It’s always
been
mine.” He turned to glare at me. “I didn’t
steal
it from anyone.”

Lukas Scott was one big bundle of surprises wrapped in a nice, swoontastic package. But, if he was telling the truth and was in fact human, then that gave us six people to save instead of seven. Not a huge help, but Mom and I would need every advantage we could get since time was a-tickin’.

I was about to mention this as a good thing to Mom, but something hit me. If Lukas had been infected by Wrath, and this was his original body, then how come he hadn’t gotten it back when the Sins were returned to the box? “Hold up,” I said, standing again. “This isn’t adding.”

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“You said my grandfather put the Sins back in the box in 1959. Did he do it in time to save the people they’d infected?”

Lukas hesitated. “Yes. They all survived.”

“Then what’s your deal?” I turned to Mom. “If he was human, and his body was
infected
, how come he ended up in the box if everyone else was saved? Didn’t he say as long as the Sins were returned before the time was up, people got their bodies back? Why wasn’t he freed with the rest of them?”

He glared at me, obviously annoyed I’d poked a planet-sized hole in his story. “My situation was different from theirs.”

“No offense, but that’s what they all say.” I waited, expecting him to continue—but he didn’t.

Mom, apparently thinking the same thing I did, said, “I’m going to need a bit more than that.”

“I wasn’t taken over by Wrath in the same way the others were—I had it
forced
on me. It was fused to my soul by witchcraft.”

“Fused with your soul,” I repeated. “’Cause that doesn’t sound phony…”

His eyes went wide. “Are you accusing me of lying?”

“I dunno—
are
you lying?”

Mom flashed me a warning glare, then turned back to Lukas. “Please continue.”

“In 1882, one of the times the Sins were released, Wrath infected a man. A local farmer’s son. It grew fond of the body it had stolen, and all the
perks
that came with it, so it sought a way to keep them. A local witch devised a spell to transfer his essence to someone else.”

“I still don’t get it,” I said, feeling thick. “How could a witch have done that? How could she have separated him?”

“She made him human by stripping the demonic aspect from his essence and transferring it to me.” He flashed me a look of mock sympathy. “It’s something only a witch of immense power could manage. I understand if it’s too difficult an idea to wrap your head around.”

I opened my mouth—then closed it. I had a feeling I’d just been insulted. Politely insulted, but still. Insulted.

“Wrath and I inhabit the same space.” He tapped his chest. “We coexist here. I’m vulnerable to its weakness—being tethered to the box and the limits that entails—but when out, unlike the bodies the other Sins infect, I’m not a puppet. I maintain control. Mostly…”

Mostly
? That sounded like a warning label in the making. “So is that the only thing that makes you different from the others? That you have control?”

His expression went from annoyed to
I’m about to go postal
. “The thing that makes me different is that I don’t
belong
in that box. I’m
human
. If the time runs out and the Sins are recalled by the box, they’ll take the bodies they’ve infected with them. Those bodies will be destroyed, their souls—their
essences
—fed upon by the Sins. Because Wrath and I magically inhabit the same space, my body is spared. It goes into a sort of stasis until the box is opened again and we’re set free.”

Mom studied him for a moment. I knew what she was doing—looking for tells. A flinch here, a twitch there. Something to show he was lying. “Okay, so back to my father. Let’s say you’re telling the truth and he agreed to your terms. He would aid you in gaining your freedom in exchange for helping him capture the others. What happened?”

Lukas gave me one final scowl, then focused on Mom. “I’m sure when Joseph originally made the deal, he was planning to betray me, but we grew close. Became friends. When it came time to lock the box, we decided to transfer Wrath to the person who’d opened it—a priest who thought he could use the Sins for his own gain. It seemed like a fitting punishment for all the lives lost.”

“I’m guessing,” Mom said, “that this is somehow connected to the Wells family you’re searching for, correct?”

“I was betrayed,” he growled. “Joseph discovered that since the spell which fused Wrath to me was made with blood—Meredith
Wells’
blood—only someone of the same bloodline would be able to remove it. We tracked down a direct descendant named Mary Wells and procured her aid.”

“And she wasn’t able to do the spell?”

“She
chose
not to do the spell. We found her and gathered the items needed with only hours to spare.” Fingers knotted tight, he slammed a fist against the desk. Mom’s pencil holder wobbled and toppled sideways, spilling pens and markers across the surface. “When the time came, she insisted Joseph leave the room. As the pull of the box became too strong, she smiled and said I was destined to rot forever. She let the box take me with a smile on her face.”

“Not to paint my father in a bad light, but how do you know he didn’t set you up? Human or not, you’re still tainted by an unspeakable evil. Something that powerful always leaves a mark. Maybe he wasn’t willing to take the risk.”

Lukas’ eyes widened, and I felt kind of bad for him in that moment. The thought that Grandpa might have duped him had never crossed his mind.

I knew why Mom was asking. Poking the lion, she’d once called it. See if you can push buttons and get a reaction. Any reaction.

Lukas shook his head, resolved. “I don’t believe that.” And he didn’t. I could hear the certainty in his voice. He’d trusted Grandpa completely.

Mom was quiet for a few moments. I could almost see the wheels turning. “Say we agree to help you. How will we find the other Sins? And what is it you truly wish to get out of this?”

“I can find the Sins,” he said. “I’ve spent an eternity in their company. I know their—habits. Also, when close enough, I can sense them. As to what I wish—that’s simple. I want my freedom. I want you to track down a Wells witch and
ensure
she unbinds me from the box.”

Mom frowned. “You’re asking me to condemn an innocent person to take your place. I assume you’ll understand my refusal to pluck a random stranger off the street.”

“I suggest sticking to Joseph’s plan. The person who opened the box and released this hell should be the one to replace me. You’ll see soon enough—it’s what the individual deserves.”

“You said they saw a girl leaving the church the night the box was stolen, right Ma?”

She nodded in confirmation, but Lukas shook his head. “It was a man who opened the box, not a girl.”

“Well, thanks for that, Jonny Sunshine. That puts us back to square zero.”

Mom rolled her eyes. “Do you remember anything about him?”

Lukas frowned. “I’m sorry, no. It happened so fast. I remember he was tall. Also, he had a strange beard. That’s all.”

Mom thought about it for a minute. I knew how her mind worked. She was going over the possibilities. No doubt she felt sympathetic to Lukas’ situation, but could she really trade him for someone else—no matter how deserving they were?

She tended to see more shades of gray than I did. Her take on things was that, if someone did bad, there was a deep-seated reason behind it. Something in their lives had made them that way. She was convinced they needed help, not punishment. Me? Bad was bad. That’s not to say I was strictly black and white, but I didn’t see the range in people she did. Most of the time, I was ashamed of my lack of faith in humanity. Growing up, Mom was the perfect role model for honesty and integrity. I guess I’d just inherited my dad’s
darker
outlook.

“And payment?” I asked to fill the silence. Silence always made me itch. And hey, a girl had to eat.

And
pay for damages inflicted.

Mom kind of glared at me but didn’t object. She couldn’t. With the damage I did on a daily basis, I’d put us into a position that the jobs she’d normally take as
public charity
—the epic kind that prevented massive body counts and uber-bloodshed—were a thing of the past.

Lukas looked shocked. I guess no one had ever told him nothing in life was free. “I—I have no money…”

Mom shook her head. “Ignore my daughter, please. Payment won’t be necessary. This is not something we can ignore.”

Seven Sins.

Six innocent people.

Five days.

Piece of cake…