Back in the house, I headed up the stairs. Behind the closed door of Nathaniel’s and Lauren’s room, I could hear the TV on and see light flickering around the doorframe. I felt awful every time Lauren was around a fight. As a psychic, she had her own incredible talents, but superhuman strength wasn’t one of them. I couldn’t even imagine how vulnerable she felt when reapers turned a brawl into a demolition derby. I found Will in the upstairs bathroom washing his hands. The white sink was stained red with blood that wasn’t his.
“I’m sorry,” I said weakly.
He didn’t look up. “For?” His voice was dry, low, and empty of emotion.
“For a million things.” I sighed and leaned against the wall. “For not telling you that I knew Cadan is your brother. I was afraid to tell you. I’m also sorry that I didn’t tell you that Cadan took me to Antares. And I’m sorry he came over tonight.”
He turned off the faucet and set his hands on the counter on either side of the sink. At last he looked up and his gaze caught mine in the vanity mirror. That green was so very dull. “I understand why you didn’t want to tell me. I wouldn’t have wanted to know.”
“I would’ve told you when…” My voice trailed off. When would I have told him? Under what circumstances would I have had the balls? “I just wasn’t sure when was the right time. I would have told you. I swear.”
“I know you would’ve.”
He turned around and scooped me into a hug. I clung to his iron grip, soaking in his heat like I’d been freezing to death. I buried my cheek into his chest, breathing in his scent and smoothing my hands over the hard contours of his back beneath the soft cotton of his shirt.
“I just wanted you to live,” I whispered against him. My tears melted into his shirt. “You’ve saved me more times than…than there are stars in the sky. I had to do whatever it took to save you in return.”
He squeezed me tighter and nestled his face into my hair and I felt his warm breath. Then we just held each other in that still and quiet place.
9
AFTER AN INTENSE LAST FEW DAYS OF HIGH SCHOOL, I passed my exams and guaranteed my admission into Michigan State in the fall. The night before commencement, Kate and I had a sleepover at Nana’s house with angelic reapers prowling the area on full alert, as danger these days was extremely imminent. Kate and I did the lame girl things I once loved, like giving each other a mani/pedi, flipping through magazines, and scrolling through gossip blogs. But I hadn’t realized until then how much I’d changed since last fall. While Kate showed off the new designer dress she bought to wear beneath her graduation gown, I realized that I didn’t really care. I had just grabbed the first dress I found in my closet and a pair of heels that would match, feeling no excitement at all. I hadn’t even wanted to go shopping. Dresses and shoes didn’t matter. The only excitement I felt about graduation was getting to be with my friends and family, because I understood now how limited our time with them was. If only I’d known that before it was too late. Maybe then my mom would’ve been able to watch me receive my diploma.
I was, however, a little excited about Josie Newport’s Blackout Graffiti Party after commencement. Kate had bought a giant bag of highlighters to doodle all over ourselves and our clothes. The white tank top I would wear would inevitably be covered in vulgar sayings and genitalia by the end of the night. I wasn’t sure I’d ever understand boys’ obsession with drawing penises all over everything, including other people.
In the morning I rode to school with Kate to prepare for commencement. The grounds were packed with my rowdy classmates and most of the faculty—who were either beaming with pride or grinning with relief to see us go. We filed into lines to head out onto the football field and take our seats. Cheers roared through the stadium and everyone looked up into the bleachers to spot their families. Kate’s mom whistled at her from where she sat with Kate’s dad, grandparents, and other family members. Sitting close to the Green family was my own. There was Nana, and beside her sat Will, Lauren, and Marcus. They were here partly as my bodyguards and backup while Ava and Sabina lurked within the Grim, watching the perimeter of the school. Kate grabbed my arm giddily as she blew a kiss to Marcus, who playfully stuck out his tongue in disgust, to which Kate flipped him off, much to my Nana’s shock. If she had pearls, she’d be clutching them.
Commencement was hellishly boring. I picked at my nail polish while we sat through a bunch of faculty and student speeches. Kate was busy dirty texting with Marcus, having somehow snuck her cell phone in by tucking it into her bra. I kept myself occupied by looking around at the equally bored faces of my classmates. After tonight, I’d probably never see 95 percent of them again. After tonight, things would stay about the same for me: hunt, kill, and fight for my life. If I was lucky enough to survive and defeat Sammael, then maybe I could move into a dorm with Kate in the fall.
When I was called to get my diploma, I shook the hands of my teachers, got my photo taken, flipped my little cap tassel, and went back to my seat. I looked up to grin at my family. Will, Lauren, and Marcus weren’t just my friends. They were honest-to-God real family. Even Kate’s mom, practically my second mom, was on her feet roaring with cheers for me. She would never know what I’d been through to get here, but she clapped and whistled like she did. It was a while before everyone finished receiving their diplomas, but when it was over, the principal congratulated our class on graduating and then hundreds of caps were tossed high and flying through the air. I might have used a little bit of my Preliator power to throw my own cap the highest.
That night at Josie’s Blackout Graffiti Party, I’d managed to avoid having any highlighter boy parts scribbled onto my white tank top—so far. Landon and Chris had managed to draw genitalia on most of the partygoers, targeting the cuter girls the most. I felt like I’d need to bust out my Khopesh swords to deter them. To my dismay, my angelic reaper backup team were here to protect me against the demonic, not pesky human boys. When I caught them sneaking up on me for a third time, Kate grabbed me and dragged me into the bathroom. I should have ditched the stupid tank top like she had. She’d also made it clear to everyone that if anyone scribbled on her glittery purple leopard dress, she’d stab their eyes out with her stilettos.
“Let’s do my hair!” she squeaked in rabid excitement. She was a little drunk already, which made me feel even more sober than I actually was.
“Are you serious?” I hesitantly accepted the handful of highlighters she stuffed into my palm.
“Let’s make rainbows.” She plucked the cap off a blue marker and began tracing streaks through her blond hair. She skewed her Egyptian-style highlighter-outlined eyes in the mirror. This was clearly a daunting task for her.
“I don’t think this is what the magazines mean when they talk about ‘highlights.’”
“You’re funny, bitch.” She handed the blue marker to me. “Do the back.”
I sighed and did as she’d asked. I highlighted her hair in blue, purple, green, yellow, orange, and pink. Her rainbow hair clashed with her purple disco leopard dress and monster stilettos. She looked like a hooker Rainbow Brite about to be sent to rehab.
“We should wash it out,” I suggested dismally, picking at the mutilated strands of rainbow hair.
Kate gasped and swatted my hand away. “Oh, hell no. Let’s go marvel at my amazing hair!”
She dragged me out of the bathroom and back out into the cavernous room Josie’s parties took place in. The black lights made the neon graffiti splashed over everyone glow in the dark as they twisted and jumped to the music. I had to admit, Kate’s hair looked ridiculous and awesome at the same time. We took a break from dancing over by the hors d’oeuvres and were immediately descended on by Landon and Chris like marker-happy vultures.
Landon squeezed between Kate and me and threw his arms around our shoulders. “The two hottest chicks at the party!”
“You’re like girl-next-door hot,” Chris said to me. “Kate is like supermodel-hot. You’re like the two h
ottest options in a porn buffet.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Thanks a lot.”
Landon wiggled away from us and began to compulsively scribble dirty images on Chris’s cheek like he’d missed a spot. “You guys should think about a webcam. You’d make so much money. You could get a Ferrari or something.”
Kate gave them a sugary sweet smile. “How did either of you graduate high school?”
Chris’s expression exploded as a lightbulb seemed to click on in his head. “Landon, dude. Don’t you think it would be hot if Ellie and Kate had a baby?”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Kate snapped.
I put a hand to my forehead and scanned the crowd, hoping to find a distraction. “I’m so disturbed right now.”
Landon examined both of us a little too thoroughly with his gaze. “You mean if they banged? Yeah, man, two chicks is always hot.”
“No, no, I mean like if they banged and had a baby together. It’d be the hottest, most perfect baby ever.”
Landon looked like he was about to barf. “Babies aren’t hot, dude. That’s sick.”
“Well, it’s got to grow up first. But right? They would make the perfect baby together.”
I stared at them both. “You two are the dumbest people I have ever met in my life.”
“You don’t mean that.” Chris grinned.
“Yeah, I do actually. Good-bye.”
I grabbed Kate and dragged her onto the dance floor. There were so many people packed together that I lost her in the crowd in minutes, but managed to locate Will keeping guard by one of the exits. When I saw his bored face and nothing written on his skin, my fingers suddenly itched to scribble with a highlighter.
“Hey.” He greeted me with a warm smile.
I stood close to him, my shoulder touching his arm. “I’m ready to go when you guys are. I think I’ve made enough of an appearance. I really just want to go kill stuff.”
“Me too,” he agreed.
I frowned at him. “You didn’t let anyone write on you? How does that happen?”
He gave me a disapproving look. “Seriously, Ellie?”
“Ah,” I said. “You must have glared at them just like that. I’m the only one who’s not afraid of you. Maybe I could draw over your tattoos so they glow and write BADASS on your forehead. All I’ve got is pink, though. Hope you don’t mind.”
“Please, don’t. I beg you.”
I laughed and kissed him, standing on my toes to reach him. “You’re looking a little green there, homeslice. You going to pull through?”
“Not if you draw on me in pink highlighter, I won’t.”
I laughed even harder. “Okay, okay. You’re safe, I promise. Let’s get out of here. I’ll try to find Kate and everybody and say good-bye. Find Marcus, okay?”
He nodded and moved through the crowd. I pushed my own path through the dancing mob, hoping to spot Kate’s rainbow hair over the sea of bouncing heads. I really needed to get a leash on that girl, or some kind of tracking device for long distance. I passed by Evan and Rachel, who seemed to be having a blast dancing. I hadn’t seen much of either of them since they began dating, but it was good to have hung out with them tonight. To be honest, I wasn’t sure how much more of my friends I’d be able to see. There were some serious missions about to go down.
A pang of hurt hit my heart. I ought to be relishing every moment with them, living those moments to the fullest, and not wishing I were somewhere else. Once this was all over, I promised myself, I’d try to spend as much time with my friends as I could.
A girl screamed. I looked around, hoping the screams were just from kids goofing around, but the crowd seemed to have gone still. A few people were still dancing to the music, but in seconds all heads turned in one direction. When I followed their gazes and spun to the right, I bumped into the giant body of a demonic reaper.
Merodach.
I wasn’t breathing. I blinked a few times, hoping the mirage would go away, but it didn’t. He was difficult to see beneath the black lights, but his dark form blocked out a large number of highlighter-covered people. His horns spiraled toward the ceiling, his wings folded tightly to his back, and his moonlight eyes gleamed, the dim light reflecting off his pupils like an animal’s. It took me that long to realize he wasn’t in the Grim, and everyone else could see him just as well as I could. They were all staring at him, but he was only staring at me.
“No,” I whimpered, but the word was only an exhale. I doubted anyone could even hear me speak.
“Hello again,” Merodach said, his heavy voice like scraping gravel. “Gabriel.”
“If you have any honor at all, then you and I will take this outside.”
He smiled, an unsettling gesture. The crescent scar I’d given him was bright, gnarled, and angry-looking. “And let all these souls go to waste?”
Before I could respond, more screams erupted. My head snapped around. There were more demonic reapers in the room. They shoved through the humans, grabbed at them, and then all hell broke loose. Everyone was screaming now, darting in every direction, most fighting their way toward the exits. I saw one of the demonic reapers grab a girl and bite into her neck, splashing blood over himself and the bodies of other kids. Beneath the black light, the blood was like a bucket of neon paint tossed through the air.
I took off like a shot to help the girl, leaving Merodach at my back. The demonic reaper took another chunk out of the girl before I got to her and he bared his bloody teeth at me. He dropped her; legs tripped over her, bodies slammed into him, and I called my swords. Angelfire lit up the dark room like a bonfire and more shrieks echoed off the walls. I heard two voices screaming my name in the distance.
The reaper slashed his claws, catching my tank top and shredding a long tear through the front. One of my swords took off the arm that clawed me and the limb disappeared in flames as the reaper screeched in pain and fury. His remaining hand lunged for my throat, but I jammed my blade into his chest and ripped it back out sideways, turning his heart to giblets, and the rest of him erupted in angelfire.
The panic only grew worse. People trampled each other, bodies hit the floor, and more reapers filled the room. I spun around, breathlessly surveying the chaos, and my shoe tapped the body of the girl I couldn’t save. She stared wide-eyed up at me, dead, half her body eaten, her soul surely in Hell. An explosion of energy made me look to my left. Will had another demonic reaper cornered. I let my swords go and dug out my phone. I texted to Cadan “HELP!” I prayed he’d check his messages immediately and get over here.
“Ellie!” Kate seized my arm. “We have to get out of here!”
I looked over at Will, who was now battling a different vir, and I faced Kate again. “You go. I have to help Will.”
“No way!” she shouted. “I’m not leaving you here! What are those things?”
I shook my head. “You have to go. Trust me, Kate, I can take care of myself. Just go!”
Marcus appeared, taking Kate securely by the arm. He dragged her toward the exit as she fought him, screaming my name, and her frightened gaze didn’t leave mine until we were separated in the crowd. I silently prayed that she would make it out all right. I had to stop the demonic reapers from taking anymore souls.
I called my swords again and jumped back into the fray. Shoulder to shoulder, I pushed my way through the scrambling crowd as they went in the opposite direction toward safety. I stepped over another body. I held my breath and didn’t look. I didn’t want to know who it was, if it was someone I knew. A firm hand took my shoulder and I raised my sword, but it was only Marcus.
“Kate’s out,” he assured me. He was out of breath and a gash was healing on his cheek. His sword was completely red. “I don’t know about your other friends. I couldn’t find them. There has to be at least seven or eight demonic vir left in here, Ellie. This doesn’t look good.”
“I know,” I said. “They’re here for me, but they’re distracted by the humans. We have to kill as man
y of the vir as possible and even our odds more. Get to work.”
Marcus left me and I caught the eye of one of the vir a ways down the wall. His lips, corpse-blue against his ashen skin, curled into an ugly grin. My heart pounded as I looked around. The crowd was thinning, allowing for a little more maneuverability. A little was all I needed.
The demonic reaper called a sword of his own and the blade shimmered into his hand out of thin air. He charged at me. I raised mine just as we were about to collide, and I jumped high. He slowed, his head tilted as his gaze followed me in confusion, but it was enough to throw him off. My shoe touched the wall and I kicked off. My blade swept down in an arc and cleanly through the reaper’s neck. He and his flinging skull were gone in seconds. I landed hard, my knees folding on impact. A crescent of blood from my sword strike glowed neon in front of me beneath the black light, as did the splashes of gore across my white tank and skin.
I looked up into Landon’s face and my heart stopped. Instead of having fled, he stood staring at me as I held my swords, covered in blood. Bodies streaked behind him, some darting in terror, some falling to the ground.
“Landon,” I rasped and rose slowly.
His brow creased as he tried to piece together what he was seeing. “Ellie, did you just—?”
Then his face smashed into the wall with an earsplitting crack. I choked on my tongue as I watched the demonic reaper lift Landon up by his shirt collar and bare her fangs to bite. I moved so fast that I don’t think she saw me coming. I reeled my arm back and swung my sword. The fiery blade buried right into the side of her skull, splitting her head in two. The white flames drowned her and she was gone, letting Landon crumple to the floor. I collapsed with him, letting my swords disappear and helping him to roll onto his back. My entire body went numb and my stomach churned. Landon’s face…He was dead. Landon was dead.
Someone grabbed a fistful of my hair. I screeched as I was dragged across the floor, away from Landon’s body, kicking and tearing at hands that gripped me like steel. The pain made it hard for me to open my eyes, but when I did, I caught the silhouette of an enormous horned shape.