Authors: Cheryl McIntyre
Bryon wears the
look of a deer caught in headlights. “We’re here,” he says, pulling her car beside a curb.
“Coward.”
“You say coward. I say smart.”
“O.k. How about liar? Fake? Phony?” She shoves her door open and heads for the large apartment building. Doesn’t know where she’s going.
Stops. Crosses her arms in front of
her chest.
“Keely? It’s this one,” Bryon calls.
Keely turns to see him pointing across the street. Stomps
after him. Nick pulls his old blue C
hevelle behind her
Honda. Joins them and they all walk through the yard and down the concrete steps to his apartment.
Nick unloc
ks the door. Steps aside in order for
Keely
to
go first. She looks arou
nd the one room and
di
als her mom’s cell. P
uts it
on speaker. It rings four times before going to voice mail. “Mom, it’s me. Where are you? Please call me.” She e
nds the call. Dials her dad, a
gain on speaker. Has the same result. Leaves a similar message. Tries them
both once more.
“Well, I’ve been delivered. You can go now,” she announces coldly to Bryon. A knock at the door stops Bryon from replying.
Nick
pulls something from his belt and stands to the side of the door. “Yeah, who is it?”
“It’s me bird brain.”
Nick’s body relaxes
. He slides the dagger back into his pants
and opens the door
. Keely thinks it’s a stupid place for a knife.
“You told me to come over,” Lila says annoyed.
Keely shakes her head. Narrows her eyes.
“So, she one of the
‘
none of us
?
’
”
Bryon’s facial expression is completely neutral, showing no emotion, but he nods in acknowledgement.
“Unfreakingbelievable,” Keely squeaks.
“Uh, what’s going on Icky?” Lila asks. Her eyes dart over Keely, a quick check for injuries. She notices the bags by the door. One is
spilling over with clothing. She r
aises an eyebrow and gazes at her brother.
Nick is at a loss. He doesn’t know where to begin. Keely laughs. Not like it’s funny—although to her, it
kind of
is—but a quiet, slightly hysterical laugh.
They all stare at her.
“Is she all right?” Lila whispers.
Keely stops abruptly. “Am I all right? Really?” She begins to pace. “There is something seriously wrong with you people. Of course I’m not all right!” She is shouting now. Tears sting her eyes. She does not want to cry. “My parents may be dead. Someone wants
me
dead. But nobody is willing to tell me why. And I am stuck here, in this crappy little apartment with people I’m pretty sure I shouldn’t trust. And believe
me,
if I were in any better of a position, I
so
would not be here. I’d be calling the cops on you fricking people.” She flops down on the futon. “Oh, and let’s not forget that I was sick all day and then nearly attacked on my first day of school. This h
as been the day from hell
.”
“She’s a little cranky, isn’t she?” Lila flips her pink-blond hair over her shoulder. Keely’s eyes bulge.
Cranky?
Bryon scratches his head uncomfortably. “True story.”
“Come on. You need to soak in a hot bath. Then we’ll get you settled so you can rest.”
Keely is so taken aback by Lila’s obliv
ious reaction to her manic rant
that she allows her to pull her to her feet. Willingly follows her into the bathroom. Watches quietly as she runs the hot water into
the surprisingly clean bathtub. Lila hands her a towel and wash cloth. Keely
takes it. Nick is there, giving Lila Keely’s back pack. Lila passes it to Keely before backing out of the room and pulling the door shut behind her.
What the hell?
Although she’s pretty sure she was just Jedi mind tricked, Keely decides she wants the bath. Despite the heat, she is frozen. Chilled through her skin, straight to her bones.
And the muscles in between ache.
She locks the door.
Kicks off her shoes, she doesn’t even remember putting them on.
Undresses and s
ubmerges herself in the hot water.
The scrapes on her hands sting.
She slides down so that only the small oval of her face is above the steaming water. Stares at the ceiling. Does this for a very long time. Her eyes trace the shape of the exhaust. Follow the circle of the heating vent. Trail the fine lines of the cracks in the ceiling.
There is a soft knock at the door. A muffled voice. She pushes hersel
f up. Notices the water
has turned cold
and gray
. Hair dye. It will fade
away in a few more washings.
She really wishes her mom would let her use permanent dye.
“Keely? Are you all right?” Nick sounds slightly panicked. Keely figures she better respond before he kicks the door in. She rolls her eyes.
“Yeah. Fine.” Her voice is
as icy as the water
has become
. She reaches over to her back
pack. Pulls her shampoo out and b
egins washing her hair.
Keely’s head is fully lathered with the sweet smelling shampoo when she hears whispering. Her hands freeze. Ears strain to listen. Someone is whispering at the door.
“What? I can’t hear you,” she calls. The whispering cuts off. Begins again. She leans over the side of the tub trying to hear better. Why is he whispering?
Just say it already
.
Suddenly the whispering is in her ear. In both ears. All around her. Keely doesn’t move. Doesn’t blink. She is much too scared to do anything.
“In three plus a day.”
“You’ll be his.”
“Find your way.”
“To where your mother is.”
“Trade her for you.”
“If she you want to save.”
“If your love is true.”
“You must be brave.”
The whispers die down once again. As they start for the third time, Keely slowly looks around the room. She is alone. She scrambles out of the tub. Wraps the towel arou
nd her and escapes the bathroom leaving the voices behind.
Nick is sitting on the futon when Keely bursts from the bathroom. Sh
ampoo is dripping down her face
threatening to trickle in
to
her eyes. She swipes her hand at
the soapiness on her forehead.
Nick is on his feet and
in front of her immediately.
“What’s the matter?”
“In there,” Keely says, nodding toward the bathroom. Nick pushes
past her. Looks inside the
room. “What was it?” He peers over his shoulder at her.
“Voices. Whispering. Rhyming.” She shivers.
Nick comes back to stand beside her. “
Sussurro D
emons. They’re gone now. Don’t worry, they’re harmless.
They aren’t strong enough to do anything more than insinuate.” Nick frowns at her. “What did they say?”
“That I should trade myself for my mom if I’m brave enough.” Kee
ly wraps her arms around her elbows
. “Where is everyone?”
Nick seems distracted. “They left.”
Obviously
.
“I’m going to rinse my hair in the kitchen sink. I am not going back in there.”
“They’re gone. I promise. They gave you the message, that’s all they can do.” Nick begins to pace. “What I find amazing is that they knew you were
here. That they found you this
quickly.”
Keely can barely hear him. She h
as her head under the faucet, b
ut she decides when she’
s
finished,
she is going to get some answers from Nick Wallace.
Her Guardian.
“Hey, do you have a towel?” Keely asks loudly. Nick
quickly hands her a kitchen towel and she wraps what she can of her hair. She turns around and he is very close. “Uh, thanks,” she says quietly. “I need to get dressed.”
“Keely, they’re gone. You can
go in
there.”
She shakes her head. “I really don’t want to.”
He sighs. “What are you going to do when you have to use the
bathroom?
I mean really need to go? Besides, they can do that anywhere. It has nothing to do with the room. That’s just where you were when they came.”
Now Keely sighs. “Are you positive?”
“I wouldn’t lie to you,” Nick replies seriously.
Keely laughs without humor.
“I have never lied to you, Keely.
Don’t forget, until today, I’
ve
never spoken
to you.”
This is true now that she thinks about it, but does it
mean she can trust him? As if hearing her thoughts, Nick says, “You can trus
t me, Keely. My only intention is
to keep you safe. I promise you, those things are gone. And if they were to come back, I promise they cannot hurt you. And I am here if anything else comes.”
Right here would be the perfect time to delve into her hundreds of questions, but she’s naked. Well, under the towel anyway. So she pulls clothes from her bag and goes back to the bathroom. She doesn’t close the door all the way, just in case. She looks around before dropping the towel and dressing. Exchanges the kitchen towel for the big bath towel that can actually hold her mass of hair and goes to sit by Nick on the futon.
“O.k. I’m ready.”
“Ready for what?”
“The part where you tell me everything.”
“Everything?” He says the word as if it
burns him. As if it
was
harmful to him in some way.
“Everything,” Keely confirms. “Or I walk,” she
adds firmly. Nick smiles,
finding her amusing
. And o.k.
,
she’s totally bluffing. Like she’d go anywhere after the crazy whispering poets. She narrows her gaze and crosses her arms. Nick becomes serious again.
“All right. Where do you want me to start?”
“The beginning.”
“Of time? Be
cause that could take all night
and it is getting late.”
“You’re stalling.”
“You’re perceptive.” He chuckles.
“This is my life. My parents lives. And you’re laughing.” She stares at him. His features morph. Become solemn.
“You’re right. I’m sorry.” He turns side
ways on the couch facing her and c
rosses his legs. “You have a choice, no matter what. That is the first thing you need to understand. It is ultimately your decision what happens.” He gazes at Keely. She can feel the intensity of his words.
“Your mom and dad tried for years to have children. Test
s
confirmed that your father was sterile. Having her own child was import
ant to your mom
. She decided she wanted to be artificially inseminated. Your dad, feeling badly that he couldn’t give her a child, agreed.” Nick looks Keely in the eyes. Makes sure she understands the implication. Her shocked expression confirms she does.
“There were many donors to choose from. Your mother chose a man that was good looking. An artist.” He pauses. Allows that to sink in. “He was also an accomplished musician.
Talented in many ways. Superficial ways.
“She could have chosen a scientist, or a doctor, a lawyer. Instead, she chose beauty. Your father is the same as
Asmoday’s father. The king of D
emon
s. Just as Asmoday is a prince,
you are a princess.
“Several women were inseminated by the Demon King. All of their daughters were beautiful. All blond.” He incl
ines his head toward her. “Several are
dead.
Possibly all of them.
E
xcept you.
“The man that attacked you, Keely, that man
was also your brother. Also a
Prince of Demons. We aren’t sure why he tried to kill you, or why
he killed all t
he other girls. All we do know
is it has something to do with your eighteenth birthday. That’s when whatever power you possess will bloom. Apophis is one of the oldest and most dangerous
D
emons we know of.”