Scarred (the Spellbound Series Book 3) (14 page)

              Queen Aileana’s smile broadens, and she says, “You should know better than to lie to royalty.”

              “I… what was that?”

              “I understand some of your folklore describes us as unfailingly honest, and that is only partly true. In Elfame, we are unable to lie at all. But when we leave, our tongues are free to do as they please.”

              I frown, and try to wrap my head around this new information. If I can’t lie here, then I’d better word what I say carefully.

              “Why were you on the run?,” the queen asks.

              “I’ve caused some trouble with the hunters of my world,” I reply. “They perceive me as a threat to the secrets they keep, and think the only course of action is to silence me forever.”

              “Hmm.” The queen leans back in her throne, her amber eyes staring past me. “You have my condolences. The hunters have not been kind to my daughters in the past, so they are no friends of mine.”

              “What did they do?”

              “It is better not to discuss such matters. I have a few more questions for you.”

              “I’ll answer as much as I can.”

              “Do these hunters have any way to follow you here?”

              I think on my response for a moment, and eventually answer, “Not that I know of; I doubt they have the technology or the knowledge.”

              “Good. Are you capable of evading their detection?”

              “I believe so.”

              “And do you pose a threat to me or any of the residents of Elfame?”

              I look around me at the various guards posted throughout the throne room, then back at the queen with a smile on my face. “Of course I do. But only if provoked.”

              The queen’s smile matches my own, and she mutters, “Well spoken, Heather. My court is pleased to receive you and your comrades for as long as you should need shelter.”

              I can hardly believe my ears. Ten minutes ago, I thought we were going to die. But now, the queen likes me enough to offer us sanctuary. It’s tempting, to say the least. But I think of Lily, and her idea to free us from the chains of our fathers. “Thank you… but with all due respect, there is still much to take care of on Earth. We cannot hide just yet.”

              “Understandable. I expect no less from you, Nephilim. One with such fire in her veins cannot sit by while there is work to be done.” Queen Aileana calls over one of her guards, whispers in his ear, and dismisses him before addressing me again. “You and your comrades are free to go, but on one condition.”

              “What condition?,” I ask, though I’m dreading the answer.

              The queen fixes me with a deadly stare, her cool exterior revealing the hardened warrior underneath for just a split second. “If the hunters ever catch up to you, give them hell.”

              No wonder Queen Aileana likes me so much. She’s a kindred spirit. I press my fingers to my lips, and bow once more. “I’ll be sure to do so, Your Grace.”

14

              One of Queen Aileana’s personal guards escorts me back to the prison, where the others are waiting for me. In the few silent minutes it takes to walk all the way back, I reflect on my promise to the queen. Of course, I’d love to strike back at the hunters given the opportunity, but how? Attacking them directly will only bring more problems for me and my family, and I couldn’t kill any of them. So all I can really do is undermine and humiliate them. But how?

              Before long, we reach the prison, and I’m surprised to see that everyone within has been released. My guard bids me farewell, and turns to head back to the palace. “A word of advice,” he whispers to me before leaving. “You may stay as long as you like, but make sure to stay indoors at night. The Wild Hunt would surely try to claim you.”

              “Don’t worry, we’re on our way out,” I whisper back. The guard pats me on the shoulder, and takes his leave.

              I look around at my friends and family, the people I keep saving and damning in what’s starting to look like a cycle. I’m surprised none of them are threatening to run off; I’m a dangerous person to be around. My mom, in particular, should know better than to stick around. She’s just a normal human being who doesn’t deserve to get wrapped up in all this madness. Part of me wonders if I should send them their separate ways, or run off on my own, but I don’t think I have the heart. Apart from Jenna and Emma, the people standing before me are all I have left.

              “Where do we go from here?,” Nick asks when I’m within earshot.

              “I don’t know,” I tell him. To be honest, I don’t have a clear idea of what’s going to happen from here on. I only know that we have to lie low, and I have to get in contact with Lily. The second part should be easy, but I’m having difficulty with the first. Where on Earth could I possibly go that no hunter would think to look? Where would they least expect me to go?

              When the idea hits me, I tell everyone to follow me, and I lead us back through the tunnels to where the nexus point was. I tear open the doorway home, and usher everyone through, without even the slightest inkling of whether or not I’m making the right call. I step through once everyone’s on the other side, and the dim tunnel vanishes behind me, being replaced by grass and trees all around me. I look up, expecting to see a clear blue sky, but clouds obscure the sunlight I was hoping for. What’s more, skyscrapers are poking through the low flying clouds, their tops obscured in a sea of white. We’re home in New York City. The last place anyone would expect me to go willingly.

              While the others begin to notice where they are, I explain what’s going on. “I’m guessing that Michael’s house is guarded, or at least being watched, so we can’t go back there. Same for Rachel and Landon’s apartment. So, we’re gonna have to relocate. Let’s find an empty building that can accommodate us, and then we can worry about reclaiming our stuff.”

              We spend a few minutes wandering through Central Park, hunting for an exit, and emerge a few blocks away from Columbus Circle. We continue moving downtown, and decide on an apartment building in Hell’s Kitchen. While everyone goes off searching for a few apartments near each other that we can all agree on, I pull Alyssa and Nick aside for a moment. “Meet me on the roof after I grab our stuff and get changed,” I mutter. “I need to tell you guys something. Don’t mention this to
anyone
.”

              Neither of them says a word. They share a glance, and go about their way looking for rooms, as if they hadn’t heard a thing.

              As soon as everyone finds an apartment they can live with and settles in, I ask the other spellcasters among us for help retrieving our belongings with summoning spells. Tyrael, Valtiel, and Michael join me, as do Nick and Alyssa. I keep a close eye on Nick as we execute the spell; he’s only been at this for a few months, it should be well beyond his abilities. But he performs well, pulling in just as many of our things as the rest of us. As I watch him, the black veins spreading across his skin grow more defined, branching out as they creep up the side of his neck.

I want to ask if he’s alright, but I already know what he’ll say:
Don’t worry about me
. Even with his soul in danger, Nick prefers to suffer in silence.

Now that all of our things have been retrieved from the Huron house, I retreat to my own room to change out of my blood splattered leather suit. I chose last, so it’s a tiny space with nothing but cluttered furniture and spoiling food. A bunch of open bags in the one bedroom lead me to think this place’s previous owners might have tried to run for it just before things got really bad here. Judging by the pictures left standing, a dark skinned guy and a red haired girl. Just married. My heart goes out to them, but I can’t afford to let myself get depressed all over again. They’re just two more people I couldn’t save.

I inspect my face in the bathroom mirror before I change, surprised by the girl looking back at me. Tiny drops of blood decorate my weary face, some closer to my lips than I like. A thin layer of dirt and sweat coats most of my skin, and the right side of my jaw is already starting to turn purple. And am I hallucinating, or have my emerald green eyes turned empty, and cold? Maybe I’ve just been through a little too much in such a short period of time.

I change into my street clothes, wash my face clean, and stow my suit back in the bangle, before emerging from my room again. My stores of adrenaline have all but dried up, and now that all the excitement is over, I’d love nothing more than to lie down and rest. But there’s yet more to do before I can relax. I walk out into the hallway, and press the elevator call button out of habit, realizing mere seconds later that there’s probably no power being wasted on an empty city. Instead, I teleport onto the roof, and wait patiently for Nick and Alyssa to show.

It doesn’t take very long for the two of them to appear before me, looking unsurprisingly confused. “Alright, Santos,” Alyssa grumbles. “What’s going on?”

I hop onto the edge of the roof, and take a seat with my legs swinging out over the streets below. Any fear of heights I’ve ever had all but vanished after a few weeks of flying. “Sorry about all the secrecy. I couldn’t talk about this with everybody else listening. Especially not my father.”

“Is this about Lily?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, spill.”

I sigh, and jump into the explanation I’d been turning over in my head while changing. “I beat the fear of God into Lily, but when I got the opportunity to finish her off, I couldn’t go through with it. I don’t have it in me.”

“That’s good,” Nick says. “I knew you were better than that-“

“I’m not done. We had a lovely chat after I chickened out… According to her, she was just a pawn in Lucifer’s plan, and
he
was the one that stole every soul in New York City. And I don’t know about you guys, but I believe it. It sounds like the sort of thing he would do.”

Alyssa huffs, and if I know her as well as I think I do, her arms are crossed by this point. “Whatever. Either way, that doesn’t excuse-“

“Still not done. Lily suggested we work together-“

“NO,” Nick and Alyssa shout simultaneously. I’m shocked at how against the idea they are; neither of them could possibly hate her as much as I do.

I turn my head back to watch their expressions. “Guys, I’m going through with this. She can explain it for you, if one of us calls her. I can’t, I ditched my phone.”

Alyssa rolls her eyes, and fishes in her pocket for her phone. “This better be good,” she mutters as she searches her contacts for Lily. I can hear the phone ringing, but can’t make out the voice on the other end when Lily answers. Alyssa cuts her off quickly. “I don’t wanna hear it. Listen, Heather wants to talk to you, so I’m putting you on speaker.”

Alyssa taps her screen, and Lily’s voice is magnified so the rest of us can hear. “Heather! I was worried you’d changed your mind. I figured you would call a lot sooner.”

I swing my leg over the edge of the roof, one touching the rooftop while the other hangs freely in the air. “Why? It’s been like an hour since we saw each other.”

“An hour? Heather, I’ve been waiting for you to call for two days.”

I look up at Alyssa and Nick, confused by the time discrepancy. We definitely haven’t been gone for
that
long. But then again, time gets distorted when we travel from one world to another. Maybe with practice, I’ll figure out a way to minimize the time between departure and arrival. “Sorry about that,” I say. “We got caught up in something. We gotta lie low for a while.”

“Good call. I’d stay out of sight if people were calling me a terrorist.”

“Say what now?”

“Footage of you flying around got leaked all over the place, and they’ve been calling you a terrorist on the news. Some channels are even calling you the ‘Angel of Death.’ They’re saying that YOU’RE the one who gutted New York.”

“But there’s no footage of you?”

“Not that I know of.”

I roll my eyes as hard as humanly possible. I don’t know if the footage got “leaked”, or if the hunters are trying to run a smear campaign to draw me out of hiding. I’m not sure which one I’m more willing to believe. I’m honestly a little hurt; I’m about as much of a terrorist as I am a seamstress. But I have to admit, the Angel of Death would be a pretty cool name for a villain. “Well, they’re not entirely wrong.”

“They are. This is all on me, and I’m so sorry-“

“Stop. Apologizing won’t fix things, and you were just as much a pawn in all this as I was.”

Alyssa looks at me like I’m insane. “Are you fucking
comforting
her? Really?!”

“I miss you too, Allie,” Lily deadpans.

“You mean nothing to me. I made that perfectly clear after-“

“Shut up, both of you!” I hop down from the edge of the roof, and take the phone out of Alyssa’s hands. “We don’t have time for this. I called you for a reason.”

Lily falls silent for a moment. “You’re right. What did you wanna talk about?”

“Explain to Nick and Alyssa why you want us to work together.”

“We’ve come to realize that we’re not enemies,” Lily says. “We’re just being used by our fathers, and we’ve decided that we’re not going to play along anymore. It’s time to put an end to this.”

“And how are you going to do that?,” Nick asks.

“We think Michael and Lucifer are playing by a set of rules,” I explain. “And if those rules are broken-“

“Then maybe they’ll decide to settle things some other way. Preferably, in a way that doesn’t involve any of us, or anyone who could get caught in the crossfire,” Lily finishes.

Neither Nick nor Alyssa raises any objections to our theory. I can see the gears turning in their heads, and wonder exactly what they’re thinking. Half a minute later, Nick grunts, and runs his fingers through his hair. “Well, what are you waiting for?”

“The right plan,” Lily says. “I think I found out one rule we can exploit.”

“Yeah? What’s that?”

“Lucifer’s physical form can’t leave Hell until either me or Heather dies. So if we can trick him into leaving…”

A hush falls over the rooftop while we process what Lily told us. Dragging Lucifer out of Hell will be incredibly tricky. He’s historically one of the most devious beings to exist. Any plan we come up with will be dangerous at best, and downright suicidal at the worst. That’s why I’m surprised when Nick asks, “What’s the plan, then?”

“I don’t know yet,” Lily admits. “I was hoping we could work on that together.”

“Well, I don’t know if you should be working with a terrorist,” I mutter. I’ve been slowly simmering ever since hearing what the media has been saying about me. Now, I’m starting to get a little bitter. I’ve been working to
protect
people, not hurt them. But what can I do to prove otherwise? I can’t exactly combat what the media’s saying without exposing what’s really going on.

Part of me realizes that maybe that would be a
good
thing. Sure, it would piss off the hunters, but I can’t just let them drag my image through the mud. Not without at least a hint of retaliation. An idea starts taking shape; if they want a terrorist, they can
have
one. I tell Lily, “We might have to put tricking the devil on the backburner. We’ve got more important things to worry about.”

“What could possibly be more important?,” Lily demands.

“You’ll see. Just get your gang of Nephilim together, there’s something I need to do first.”

“Heather-“

“You owe me. Besides, this will give us time to work out a plan that’ll work against Lucifer.”

Lily thinks for a moment, and eventually relents. “Fine. What do you have in mind?”

“You focus on your backup plan, and I’ll work on things on my end. I’ll call you back when I have more details.”

“Alright. Later.”

“Bye.” I hang up the phone, and immediately go scrolling through Alyssa’s contacts. I have one more call to make. Both she and Nick are watching me like I’ve lost my mind, but don’t question what I’m doing just yet. I find who I’m looking for, and press the call button. The phone rings twice, and then I’m greeted by a confused, “Hello?”