Luminosity (Gravity Series #3) (The Gravity Series) (35 page)

My mother was willing to sacrifice me to get into Thornhill. My worst fears were real. “How could she?”

“Because your mom isn’t your mom,” Ambrose said, licking his dry lips. “Those meetings that they have, the ceremonies they perform…it weasels into their brains. Changes things.”

I should have felt relief, but at the moment, it only made me more horrified. At least it was an explanation.

“Warwick was the one that cut Jenna. I told her she’d be just fine, because that’s what they told me. Phillip told me that all they needed was to bleed her and that they’d let her go with no memory of the event.”

“And you believed him?”

“You’ve met him. He’s very persuasive.”

“Go on.” I was watching a pair of shadows in the room across from us. They were hunched so low over the unseen patient in the bed that they could have been one.

“Jenna wouldn’t die, but they wouldn’t let her live. I helped Warwick drag her to Mr. Ford’s, all the while telling myself that I would find a way to let her go. Mr. Ford and Warwick were the ones who put her in the boat and took her off in the water. They made me drag her to the boat, kept threatening to tell Phillip and his gun that I was disobeying Master’s orders. She was still alive the last time I saw her, and the whole time afterward, I kept expecting her to crawl out of the lake and come home to me.”

I could barely see his face through the haze now, except to see that his eyes were almost entirely coal black. But he didn’t stop talking, even if I had to struggle to hear the garbled words.

“I spent the rest of my life drunk and high, on anything I could get my hands on. I couldn’t face being alive without her. I’m not going to be here much longer.”

It was as though he wanted reassurance, his tortured black eyes boring into mine.

“Are you scared?” I asked in a small voice. Even the solidity of his arm was becoming less real.

“No, I’m not scared. It’s what I deserve. I cheated on all my tests. I’ve lost everything.”

Part of me wanted to offer him some comfort. He had been the one to help me the most, after all, and below all of the bullshit that had formed his tough exterior was a real person inside. I wracked my fevered, bloated mind for something to give him in return.

“Your father was heartbroken when you died. He couldn’t stop crying. He stopped doing his commercials. It seems like he hasn’t been the same since, because of how much he misses you.”

“My father?”

I nodded. Even through the haze, his eyes were full of intense emotion. Then a gurgling erupted from his throat, the buzzing growing uncomfortably loud, and it went down his throat.

I felt suddenly desperate for him not to leave.

“What was your favor?” I asked helplessly.

He struggled to move his mouth, and the dark cloud flew in and around his mouth and eyes. “Tell her I love her.”

“Wait!” I cried out, but it was too late. I let go of his arm, barely there anymore, and stepped back. A swirling wisp of smoke, and then he was gone, and I was alone in the nightmarish hospital.

The shadows instantly noticed, abandoning the shriveled corpse on the bed. My heart pounded out a single, frightened beat.

And I opened my eyes back at St. Joseph’s, screaming for help.

CHAPTER 30

HUGH’S APARTMENT WAS
supposed to feel like home. Nothing about it did. There were no familiar details, few personal possessions. He’d bought a row of cacti in clay pots and lined them up on the snack bar; I didn’t even know he liked cacti. I twisted them around, frowning and wanting to toss them out the window.

He already knows…
Briggs’ words kept echoing in my ears. Even as drugged up as I’d felt at that moment, I was sure that was what he said. So we hadn’t kept our secret, after all. I thought of the times that I felt watched, the car in the parking lot, the door shutting below us when Henry and I were in the stairwell at school. My paranoia had a solid basis.

I secluded myself away in the little guest room. My joy at merely being alive had been replaced by anxiety. I felt pissed that the necklace was gone and also almost like I was going through withdrawal. Patches of burnt nerves were all over my skin. I felt tired and dehydrated, and I kept sipping water, holding it in my parched mouth before swallowing. Whenever I thought about the fact that I might never see the necklace again, my anxiety flared.

“We’re better off without it,” Jenna said, coming up behind me.

“No, we’re not. Not if it has wound up in the wrong hands. You’ve said it yourself, the necklace could be evil. I certainly had a strange reaction to it; I felt like I had to carry it all the time or I’d panic. Look at me now.”

“Who do you think took it?”

“I have a few guesses. All roads lead back to Phillip Rhodes.”

Jenna groaned. “Was the pun necessary?”

I turned to her. “Why did you follow Ambrose?”

She staring down at the floor at her flip-flops. She looked ashamed, which wasn’t a common emotion for my friend, curls falling over her eyes. Her voice was soft and eerily sentimental. “Because it was the first time I’d seen him. Then I lost him again.”

“It’s getting really bad, isn’t it?” Even I could make out the way none of the shadows in the room were standing still. They hadn’t formed human shapes yet, but the transformation was beginning. Already, I could almost make out arms and legs. I jumped on the couch and turned on both of the table lamps. The shadows withdrew, but still wavered faintly.

“I keep hearing birds crying out in the distance. The shadows are brushing against me,” Jenna admitted. “I can definitely feel them now when they get close. I don’t think they can hurt me, yet, but I don’t know how long that’s going to last.”

Of all I’d seen in the last few days, the image that most haunted me was the frightened, utterly human look in Ambrose’s blackened eyes before he disappeared. I felt a strange stab of misplaced compassion that made me uncomfortable. He wasn’t my ally, I’d told him myself…but he had helped me more than anyone in my discovery.

Feeling like I owed it to her, I told Jenna about what happened to Ambrose. As I was talking to her, I saw a darkness pass over her face.

“And there’s something else. He asked me to give him a favor. He wanted me to tell you that he loved you.”

Jenna’s eyes went big and soft, as though invisible tears had formed. She opened and shut her mouth, as if searching and failing to find words.

I felt the weight of everything pushing down on me, making my aching body hurt worse. I laid down for a nap, wrapping my arms tightly around one of the couch pillows. Shutting my eyes, I could still see the fairy glow of the lights in the alley. I had flashes of the bag being held over my head. I woke up on the couch yowling and sat up, clawing at my cheeks. Tears burst from my eyes, and I felt like I’d never be normal again.

###

Hugh came into the doorway later when I was in the guest room, rapping on the open door with his knuckles. He had blankets under his arm, even though I had a pile of them on top of me already. “How are you feeling?”

“As well as can be expected, I guess.” I swallowed hard. It still felt like there was a tight band around my throat. The bruises on my face had only just begun to fade. “Where are your tacky Christmas sweaters? It’s only a week away.”

He tried to smile, but his lips gave up on him. He hadn’t spoken to me much at the hospital, keeping a somber distance like I was too fragile to handle. “I’ll get them out, if you want.”

“It wouldn’t be the holidays without the ugly sweaters. It’s bad enough we’re not home.” I looked down at the lumps of my toes beneath the blankets so he wouldn’t see the sadness that had suddenly stricken me. I’d never spent a Christmas away from my house before.

“I’m so glad you’re okay, Ariel,” Hugh said. Out of nowhere, he began weeping. He held his arm over his face, but I could still see the trails on his cheeks. He pressed his hand to his mouth, drying his tears.

“I am, you know. Okay,” I said gently.

He wiped his eyes with his sleeve. “Between this and the car accident…. I think we were much better off when we were watching you like hawks.”

“I don’t know about that.”

“I was hoping I could talk to you, if you’re feeling up to it.”

“I guess,” I said, shrugging.

He came in and set the blankets down, taking up a seat beside me and hugging me. “Do you remember anything about your attacker? The sound of their voice, or anything physical? Hair color, eye color, weight, anything?”

I shook my head. “I didn’t see anything. I was just standing there, and he put a bag over my head. I didn’t even catch a glimpse of him.”

“What were you doing in the alley by yourself?”

“I was following a friend,” I said quickly. “We got separated. The alley was strung up with lights, I was just admiring it. I didn’t think it was dangerous to be alone.”

There was a knock on the door. Hugh frowned, and I followed him out through the hallway. He checked in the peephole and then opened it. Detective Stauner was standing in the walkway, holding a golf hat in his hands. His clothes were casual, suggesting he’d come during his off time.

“What’s going on?” I asked. “Did you find out who attacked me?”

“Possibly,” Stauner said. I stepped back so he could come in. Hugh led him to the couch as he continued to speak. “Our department just received word that Edgar McPherson went missing. Also missing is his daughter, Charlotte Gary. No one has seen either of them in two days.”

“McPherson has a daughter?” Hugh asked, surprised.

“I think Ariel already knew about that,” Stauner said, observing my unchanged expression. “We’ve been watching him for some time, on suspicion of fraud in money at the school. But not just that. We caught him on camera a few weeks ago at the local strip mall, following young girls around.”

The timing made me uncomfortable; I’d been attacked two days ago. McPherson was suddenly a very likely suspect. After all, he had shaken down my locker. I just hadn’t thought about him since he was fired.

“Who reported them missing?” I inquired, still floored by the news.

“Charlotte’s mother. She said it isn’t unusual for Charlotte to be gone for long stretches, even overnight. But she always checks in, even the times when she’s run away. She feels an obligation to her younger brother.”

“So, why do you think he left?” I asked, swallowing with my raw throat.

“We think that he was a partner in Warwick’s murders, just like you claimed, Ariel. We found some evidence at his place of work that seems to link him. Apparently, he’s been seeing a therapist, though we don’t know for what yet. His coworkers reported a change in personality. An increase in paranoia, like he thinks someone’s out to get him. I think they skipped town because we were closing in. We haven’t found a sign of your necklace, though.”

“Necklace?” Hugh asked, looking at me.

“Yes,” Stauner said, consulting his flip-up notebook. “Ariel reported that she was wearing a necklace that the attacker stole. A green stone with a silver chain.”

Hugh’s eyes widened and he turned to me. “The one Claire gave you for your birthday?”

“Yes. I was wearing it beneath my coat. Why?”

Hugh looked panicked and rushed to grab his coat. “We need to leave, detective. There isn’t time to explain.”

“Hugh, what are you talking about?” I asked, jumping up.

“There isn’t time,” Hugh repeated. “Ariel, stay here. Don’t answer the door.”

He ran to the neighbor’s apartment and banged on the door. He spoke with the man quickly and came back to me.

“Mr. Forester knows that I’m going out. He’ll keep watch over the apartment, if you get scared or you need anything, let him know.”

“Why? What’s going on, will you tell me already instead of being so cryptic?”

“I’ll tell you when we get back. Detective?” He nodded in Stauner’s direction. Stauner looked just as confused as I felt.

He and the detective rushed out and to the police car parked in front of the apartment building. I ran out into the lot, but the car zoomed past me with Stauner behind the wheel.

I rushed to the phone myself. Obviously my father knew something, and it was bad news if McPherson or anyone else had my necklace. Theo was out of the question. Even if she hadn’t been angry with me, she and her mother had gone back to Chicago for the holidays. I dialed Henry instead.

After explaining the mess that had just happened, I said, “We need to go check out McPherson’s house.”

“Why us? Why not just wait for the cops?” Henry reasoned.

“What are we going to tell them? ‘Hey, there’s this supernatural world that’s invading ours? And the adults are somehow involved?’”

“Okay,” Henry relented with a sigh. “I’ll get Alex, too. He owes me a favor for paying for that buffalo wing tray from Blind Devil.”

“Bring your taser. The one your dad bought you.”

“I told you, it’s always in my glove compartment.”

After I’d gotten off of the phone with him, I hesitated, running through my contacts. I had no idea if Madison would be interested, but it was worth the attempt to extend the offer. I figured we could use all the help we could get, even if it was from a prissy girl like Madison.