The Gateway Through Which They Came (34 page)

e meet Trevor and Evan outside Trevor’s house. We have to bide our time until Father Martin and the families are no longer in the church. I need a plan, but the problem is: How does someone sneak up on and kill a Dark Priest? I’m sure there’s no handbook for something like that. It’s either strike quick or die. Can’t say I’m a fan of the last option.

“Maybe we need some type of distraction,” Evan suggests as he keeps a safe distance from Koren’s unnerving presence. I can’t help but notice the way he looks at her, like he’s ready for her to go rabid any second.

She’s haunting in a way, standing beside us as if she’s any other girl, but inside she’s battling a yearning for the darkness to overtake her. It’s this that makes us so alike. I may not be a Bleeder, but I know what it feels like to fight a part of you that is beyond your control.

Trevor considers this idea, and says, “He’s right. We can’t just go in there guns blazing and have no backup plan.”

“Wait.
We
?” I fail to see what good it would do to bring them along. “You guys are not
we.
Koren and I are going together. That’s it. We don’t have a clue what to expect once we get in there. The last thing we need is to worry about you guys.”

“He’s right.” Koren cuts in, her matted blonde hair draped over her shoulders. The frame of her body looks fragile, but the energy radiating off her says otherwise. We’re cautious of her, observant of her every movement. “You’re only gonna distract Aiden when he needs to focus. The Dark Priest will be expecting him, but he won’t be expecting me. He thinks I’m long gone.”

“How do you know?” I ask.

She shrugs. “I just do. Now that Aiden has proven himself, I don’t feel the lifeline between us anymore.”

That explains her deterioration, I realize.

“Fair enough,” Trevor says, like her explanation is perfectly normal. “Still. You’re thinking about going through the door and then what?”

“Well, like she said. He’ll be expecting me. Raimi has already offered to take me to the tunnels. All I have to do is accept.”

“So why go down there at all?” Evan pushes his way into our circle, wincing as his elbow nudges against Koren. “If you already know what to do to get rid of him, why let him drag you into some dark hole that you might not come out of?”

He has a point.

I say with certainty, “Because I have to know what’s down there.”

In their faces, I can see that Trevor and Evan don’t understand. If I could run from this, I would. But how can I run from something more powerful and capable than me? This has to be done right. Otherwise, I’ll always be running.

“Trevor, I need you watch over my mom. Make an excuse. Park outside the house. Whatever you need to do. If he’s going to do anything, he’s gonna use the people I care about against me.”

I hope they understand what I’m saying in such little words. With the three of them together, I can only hope they’ll stay safe. My mom, Trevor, and Evan; they’re my family, my humanity. Without them, I don’t want to think about it.

“And what do we do if something happens?” Evan asks. It’s a question I don’t have an answer for. Not one he wants to hear anyway.

“You run. Do you hear me? You take her, you get in the car, and you run.”

After what feels like the longest pause in the history of pauses, Evan says, “Okay.” He pats Trevor on the shoulder, and instantly Trevor relaxes under his touch. It dawns on me that even if Evan doesn’t see Trevor in that way, they’ve still got each other. That’s the only thing that matters.

“It’s almost time,” Koren says.

I look around and see that she’s right. Night has finally graced the sky, leaving us under the bright streetlights. It’s now or never.

“Do you have the book?” she says.

It’s the first time she’s asked about it since the day in front of the church. I nod my head toward Izzie. “Yeah. Why?”

“Because that’s going to be your ticket to get on his good side. You have something he needs. That book is like their Bible.”

An image of Father Raimi holding the book in the church strikes me then, the way he welcomed it like an old friend. There’s something about the way he connected with the words and its pages.

“How do you know about his attachment to that book?” There seems to be a lot of things Koren knows that she’s chosen to hold back until now.

Her eyes soften with concern, sensing my distrust. “I spent a few months being his puppet. You’d be amazed what he’ll tell someone when he thinks they’re on his side.”

“And why aren’t you on his side again?” Evan looks between us, as if this is something we should all be wondering but are too afraid to ask. He’s spot on.

Three sets of eyes watch her, waiting for an answer.

Koren stands confidently, a sneer on her face. “Because of the Dark Priest, my parents, the people I trusted most, killed me. You tell me. Is there a better reason to turn against him?”

“Well, I think that about answers that question.” Trevor’s nervous attempt at softening the mood goes stale.

My phone vibrates in my pocket. I’ve been so distracted I haven’t noticed my mother trying to reach me. I glance at the others before turning, heading toward the sidewalk.

“Hello?”

“Aiden Peter! Where are you?” She’s not as mad as I imagined. Her voice is strained, fighting back frustration and worry.

“Mom, do you remember when you told me to do the right thing?”

The silence on the other end makes me unsteady. I stare at the ground, counting the cracks as I pass.

“I don’t understand,” she says.

“There’s something I need to tell you, and I swear I’ll tell you if I make it through this.” I say this last part quietly, quiet enough that maybe she won’t hear.

She did. “Something’s happened, hasn’t it? Aiden. Tell me!” Her voice trembles through the receiver. I can almost feel it vibrating through my ear down to my spine.

I sigh. “Yes. And I’m gonna fix it, okay?”

“Aiden, please.”

“I’m sending Trevor and Evan to stay with you until this is all over. If you don’t hear from me by midnight… Mom, I need you to listen.”

Her soft sobs put an ache in my chest.

“If you don’t hear from me, I want you to go with them. Get out of here, okay? Are you listening?”

Her voice is weak when she says, “Yes.”

“I’m gonna keep you safe, I promise.”

It’s the only thing I could tell her that isn’t a lie. I can’t promise that I’ll be safe. I can’t promise that I’ll come home. This is the only thing I can give her to make things right.

“I love you,” she says, and those words, they say everything.

“I love you, too. I have to go now.”

“Aiden!”

“Mom, I have to go.”

When she says no more, only the sound of her cries echoing through, I hang up.

Please, dear God, don’t let her call the cops. I take a deep breath, pushing back the burning in my eyes, and face the others, who’ve been watching the whole time. They don’t look away. They don’t try to hide that they heard everything. They only look back at me with respect.

Koren steps to the end of the driveway, reaching her hand out for mine. “It’s time to go, Aiden.”

“I know.”

My feet are moving, but I feel like I’m floating. None of this seems real. With Koren’s hand in mine, I give my friends one last glance.

Trevor and Evan are speechless, but with Evan’s arm over Trevor’s shoulders, I know they’ll be all right. Trevor’s glazed stare is exactly what I expect from my best friend. As much as he must want to hold me back, he gives me a simple nod. And just like that, I know what he’s saying:
You better come back.

As Koren leads me away, I look over my shoulder and tell them, “You know what to do.”

They both nod in agreement, and I have no doubts that they’ll see it through.

When Koren and I hop into Izzie, I turn to her and say, “Let’s go get your parents back.”

he church looks especially creepy tonight,” I say as I pull Izzie toward the curb.

Koren looks around me at the Church of Saint Christopher, which seems to have grown in size. The building is the same, but the unpleasant energy surrounding it tonight makes the structure ten times more intimidating.

“Unfortunately, every church seems to creep me out lately,” she says.

“Are you gonna be okay going in there? You could hardly handle the chapel.”

“This one’s different.” She looks again through the window, observing the building. “There’s darkness beneath the soil. It overpowers the energy that keeps us out.”

“Well, that doesn’t sound too promising. No offense.”

She laughs playfully. It sounds out of place considering what lies in front of us, but I can’t help but smile along with her.

It’s short lived. Her face goes flat, her cold hand covering mine. “You know I can’t stay. When it’s done, I have to go.”

“If we can get your parents back, you’ll be able to stay. There has to be a way.” I turn my hand over into hers.

If the Dark Priest has the power to keep her here, why can’t there be a way to bring things back to how they were before? Koren and her parents, alive and well.

“There isn’t a way, Aiden. I can feel it. The resentment. The anger. All those things that make us turn. They’re already embedding themselves inside of me. I’m trying so hard to push it away, but I can’t. There’s no telling what will happen after, if I’ll be the same. Or if they’ll even be the same. No one can come back from something like that.”

Ashamed, she looks down at our hands as if she can’t stand to read my face.

“There’s always hope,” I tell her. “I can’t let you go, Koren.” Not again.

Her eyes dart to mine, desperate. “You have to! You don’t understand what he’ll do to me. He needs you. He doesn’t need me. As far as he’s concerned, I’ve done what I’ve been sent here to do.”

“What’s that?”

Koren searches my face before staring into my eyes. “I’ve brought him you.”

I brush my fingers against her cheek, my thumb wiping away her tears.

“Let him think that. If that’s what it takes to keep you safe, to bring your parents back, let him believe you turned against me.”

A soft sob escapes her as she says, “I’m sorry—”

But I don’t let her finish. I pull her gently into me, my lips soft against hers. It’s the one thing I’ve wanted to do my whole life, and now, I’m finally capable of taking the chance. She doesn’t pull away, she doesn’t tell me to stop. With her fingers curled in my hair, she holds me in place. Her lips are everything I’ve imagined. Fitting so perfectly with mine. Our kiss softens as it nears its end, from our desperation for each other, to goodbye. A memory of what’s come and gone fading into the last trace of her lips against mine.