Pretty Dark Sacrifice (15 page)

“God, Quinn. Look at this!” Jeff turned Kerstin’s cheek so she could see. A red mark stung the skin but would quickly fade. She hadn’t hit her that hard, but Kerstin was out to win an Emmy for best performance with her tears, and the gloating smirk on her face when Jeff wasn’t looking made Quinn want to smack her again.

“I want to go home, Jeff. Please, take me home.” Kerstin sobbed and pulled at his sleeve, a child begging a parent. “Tell the nurse I’m too sick to drive myself. I need to get out of here, I need you.”

“Fine. Go wait for me in the car,” Jeff said.

“Aren’t you coming?”

“I have a few things I need to say to Quinn first.”

“I’m not leaving you alone with her.” Kerstin’s eyes flashed from blue to inky black.

Jeff gave Kerstin a hard look that Quinn had never seen before, his patience running thin. The fog rolled around Kerstin, thick and black, but she didn’t argue. Instead, she turned and stomped down the hall. Jeff waited until she had disappeared around the corner then turned to Quinn.

“Nobody’s seen you for weeks. Reese said you locked yourself away like Miss Havisham from that Dickens novel. The whole school’s been worried. I’ve been worried. Now you show up, and within five minutes Kerstin’s been assaulted. What were you thinking? She’s pregnant, Quinn.”

“Yeah, no need to remind me.” Quinn rubbed the toe of her shoe on the back of her jeans and stared at the ground.

“I don’t even know who you are anymore,” Jeff said.

“Of course you don’t. I’m not the same Quinn you dated for four years and then cheated on, or the Quinn who foolishly fell right back into your arms because she was too afraid to trust herself. You can’t go back, Jeff, and frankly, I don’t want to anymore.”

“I’m sorry, for what it’s worth, about Aaron, about everything.” Jeff rubbed at his temples. “I know those words are a little too late, and not nearly good enough to erase the damage that’s been done. I was running too, from the mess I made. I didn’t know how to handle it.”

“Yeah, well, we’ve all made mistakes.” As much as she should hate him, hate Kerstin, none of it mattered anymore. Jeff was the past, and her future didn’t have room for him. “Let’s forget about it.”

Jeff nodded. “I still care about you, I’ll always care, but I think it would be easier for everyone if you stayed away from Kerstin and me from now on.”

Quinn nodded. “I think that’s for the best.”

A knot twisted in her gut as Jeff disappeared down the hall. Maybe she shouldn’t have let him go without warning him. No, nothing good could have come out of him knowing. He had made his choice, and no matter what Quinn said, he wouldn’t believe her. Besides, she had other things to focus on, and none of it had to do with school.

Aaron’s journal lay beneath his still open locker. She bent to pick it up, along with the photo of him and Marcus. Quinn fanned through the book. The pages were filled with a few other entries along with poetry, guitar chords, and sketches of gardens, angels, and her own face.

The handwriting on one particular section drew her attention. It looked so different than the other pieces of scrawled notes and poetry. The lyrics to “Starlight Memory,” the song he’d written for her, were neatly printed in blue ink, filling the blank space as he had poured his heart onto the page for her, for them. Each lyric had been carefully put on the page, with purpose. She traced the lines of the lyrics with a finger, the haunting melody playing along with the words.

Another page turn revealed a letter in the same hand. At the top of the left corner was her name, printed in blue ink. It looked as if he had written it over and over in the same place, the letters overlapping each other, her name bold against the stark white. Jagged white teeth edged the sheet where it had been ripped from the binder and hastily replaced with a small strip of tape. It looked as if it had been crumpled and then smoothed out again, the author torn on whether or not to keep it. When she looked at the date, she understood why.

September 15
^th
, the night of their first date, the night she stole Marcus’s Jeep and Aaron walked in on her and Jeff kissing. It had been the beginning of the end.

Quinn,

That night under the stars, you said something that got me thinking. You wondered if I had come back from the brink of death for you. What if it’s true? What if you’re the reason I’m supposed to be here?

Quinn remembered curling her body against his, the way he had given her his trust, shown his true heart without hesitation, and how she let herself fall in love so completely in that moment that she had been willing to ignore the demons bent on keeping them apart. Looking back, it was the one and only time she let herself believe their connection was more than a crush, that it was magic, dangerous, and exciting. What if he had been sent back for her? Fate or destiny, all the things the cynicism of adult reality had ripped from her the minute her father had left, the second Jeff had cheated, restored with Aaron’s kiss, his arms around her.

But the spell cast that night faded as the shadows of fear and doubt settled on her, whispering in her ear. She had been so distracted, she never stopped to consider why the demons would fight so hard to keep her away from Aaron if he were nothing more than an ordinary boy. Had they known something she had been too blind to see, or had she been too much of a coward to see the truth?

Such a beautiful little fool,
Quinn thought to herself. Daisy’s statement to Nick and Jordan in her favorite novel took on a frightening new relevance. Rubbing the ache above her chest, she went back to the entry.

I hope today is the day for a new beginning for us. It’s hard for me to put into words how I feel about you, so I decided to do what I do best and say it with a song. I hope you were surprised by Starlight Memory and all that it expressed. Music and you are the only two things that make me feel centered in this world. I don’t know why I’m drawn to you, but I am. Your smile, your happiness, means everything to me. You inspire me.

Yours always,

Aaron

She couldn’t change the past, but it didn’t mean she couldn’t make it right. She could make this right, listen, believe, stop being afraid. The future wasn’t written yet. She flipped to the next page. The entry was short and not so sweet, the handwriting chaotic, angry.

September 16
^th

When I reach out with my ability, there’s nothing there. Not a thought, not an emotion, nothing but an endless black void. I can’t feel her in my mind at all anymore.

Marcus had been right. Proof that she and Aaron had some sort of psychic connection. Heat rose in her cheeks, and she gripped the edge of the journal.

I keep asking myself why I even care, why I feel such a weight of responsibility for her, but there is no reason, only this nagging sense of dread in my gut that won’t go away. I can’t help her. She won’t open up to me, and I can’t read her mind, even with the help of my gift, I can’t see anything clearly. So full of secrets that it’s hard not to want to rip them from her. I keep reminding myself that she doesn’t even want my help. She’s thrown the truth of it in my face enough.

Having read enough, Quinn closed the journal and hugged it to her chest as if it might bring them closer together. Proof that Marcus was right about Aaron’s gift couldn’t be denied. Reese would have to believe her now, they would have to help her look for him. Her heart turned upside down, draining all the sorrow and pain she’d been trying to hold back ever since she’d emerged from the river. Tucking both journal and picture in her purse, she sent Marcus a text.

Quinn: Meet me in the school parking lot in five.

Not wanting anyone else to have access to Aaron’s private space, she closed the metal door and replaced the lock. The shackle clicked into place and Quinn started for the nearest side exit before anyone else noticed her.

Kaemon held firm as they advanced, pushing the girl behind him for safety, but she refused to move, standing her ground in defiance of the darkness destroying her home. Picking up rocks, she started throwing them at the approaching enemy. Kaemon was torn between laughing at her foolish attempt and admiration for her warrior spirit.

Kaemon picked up the girl and placed her under his arm. Nothing but skin and bone, she kicked and screamed, scratching him with sharp nails, but Kaemon held tight. He glanced around for an escape route. The trees above trapped him to the ground, the cave wall was at his back, and the demons had him surrounded on three sides. The only way out was straight through. Suicide, especially with over a hundred gleaming poisoned blades heading right for him. He tensed his muscles and took a deep breath. Spreading his golden wings, he dug in his heels and sprinted forward, the Elite battle cry pouring from his lungs.

Rallied by Kaemon’s battle cry, the Elite warriors of the heavenly host descended on the darkness in a bright mass of wings and weapons. Distracted by the incoming attack, the demons turned, and Kaemon seized the opportunity. Flourishing his blade in a figure eight with one hand, the girl still held firm with the other, he pushed his wings outward, knocking a path through the enemy line. Any left standing found the sharp end of the Qeres sword, their essence shriveling to dust and scattering to the wind.

A war raged behind him as the forces of light and dark collided, but Kaemon sheathed his weapon and took to the skies while the host engaged the enemy. More than a hundred angels dressed for battle descended into the smoke, swords swinging wildly, cutting down the enemy where they stood. Balls of fire rained from above, like comets, destroying everything in their path and setting what was left of the trees on fire.

Linked with his fellow warriors, he understood their rage, knew each movement, and felt every death. And there were many, Qeres eating away at their immortal souls like acid. Need coursed through him, the call of war hard to resist, but Kaemon couldn’t turn back.

Keeping the girl and the box safe was more important. She had stopped fighting the minute they lifted off the ground. Holding her around the waist, they circled high above the battlefield, keeping clear of danger. He thought she would be afraid, but instead excitement and exhilaration pulsed through her as strong and steady as her heartbeat. A smile lit her face, and the wind caught at her long, dark hair. For a moment, Kaemon thought she was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen and regretted that soon he would have to let her go and send her to a new realm with the boy, Adam.

Can we go higher?
Her wish was easy enough to fulfill, and he beat his wings, taking them high into the clouds and across the gardens.

Surveying the damage, he felt the pain bloom inside her, regret and guilt eating away at her happiness.

All because of me.
He heard Eve’s thoughts through their psychic link.

Kaemon couldn’t argue. It was her fault, all of it, but Lilith could be convincing, he knew.

As they flew over a ridge, Kaemon spotted Lilith surveying the devastation of her forces, a black dot on a silver steed. Shadows writhed around its hooves as it pawed the ground. His brethren reduced her army to nothing but ash. Catching his eye, Lilith pushed back the hood of her inky cloak to reveal raven hair and silver eyes so stunningly cold they would freeze the heart of any who dared gaze into them too long.

The dozen or so angels left gave chase at Kaemon’s command. In defiance, Lilith reared her horse. Racing over the ridge, wings outstretched, the angels descended, but she was quicker, urging her steed into a portal and disappearing back into the Underworld.

The boy, Adam, emerged from the cave as Kaemon and Eve landed, and Kaemon wondered how such a coward had been named First Keeper of Eden. No wonder Lilith refused to be bound to him for all eternity, choosing banishment to the Underworld instead.

“What do we do now?” Adam asked, surveying the desert of ash that was once a thriving paradise.

“We can’t stay here.” Eve ran her thumbs over the polished wooden box as if making sure it was still locked tight. “Can’t you feel it? The taint has soaked every inch of soil. Nothing will grow here again, and we are no longer Keepers. We are something else entirely.”

“This is our home.” Adam stomped his foot like a spoiled child. “I told you we shouldn’t eat the fruit from that tree. The Light forbade it.”

Eve glared at him and tapped out an impatient rhythm on the side of the box with her fingers. “And yet you ate it anyway. I didn’t force you to eat it. It was your choice as much as mine. Don’t lay all the blame at my feet.”

“It was your idea!”

“And you were stupid enough to listen to me!”

Adam raised his hand as if to slap her, and she flinched. Kaemon stepped between them.

“That is enough. Look at yourselves, pointing the finger, placing blame on one another. The garden is not the only thing that is tainted. Eating the fruit changed you both and Eden will no longer accept the frequency at which your essences now resonate.”

Eve bowed before him. “I’m sorry. The serpent said the fruit would give me secret wisdom, wisdom I would need to be a good Keeper of the garden. She said Adam and I both needed to eat it. That it would please The Light. Please don’t make us leave.”