I blew out a long sigh. I hadn't thought about our mutual friends much over the past couple of days, but it was time I started. Coach Burgundy was probably wondering where I'd vanished to and his threat against my friends hung heavy on my conscience. In a nutshell, he'd told me if I didn't play football, bad things could happen to my friends. Elyssa and I didn't have much to worry about, but Nyte and Ash were mortal and vulnerable. And if Maximus truly had allies at the school, he might tell them to go after my friends. Maybe kidnap them or worse.
"I'm sick of threats hanging over my head. I think it's time we go back to school and take care of Maximus's goons. Maybe we'll figure out how to handle Coach Burgundy and his thugs too."
My phone rang, scaring the crap out of both of us. I pulled it out of my pocket and looked for the caller ID but it came up as blocked. Could it be my mom again? I answered.
"Justin, it's Felicia," Smith's sister whispered. "Something terrible is about to happen."
Chapter 31
"Felicia? Why did you go back to Maximus? Smith told us about it and—"
"Quiet!" she said. "Listen to me. I came back to spy on Maximus for you. He's up to something big. Something nasty. I'm trying to find out more."
My stomach clenched. "And he took you in, no questions asked?"
"I told him you kidnapped me, which is technically true. He hates you with an unholy passion. Ever since you busted out your dad, he's been trying to find you."
"Felicia, I really appreciate you doing this. It's very brave, but you should come back to us, to your brother. If Maximus finds out what you're doing, he'll kill you."
"He won't. I know what I'm doing."
Famous last words. "Please. Come back."
"No!" she hissed. "I've got to go. I'll let you know as soon as I have something. Just be careful. Maximus has eyes all over the city looking for you."
The line went dead.
"Crazy stupid girl," I said.
Elyssa shook her head in disbelief. "I heard everything."
"What do we do?"
"Tell Smith for one thing. Then we play it by ear."
"Aren't you supposed to be the planner?"
She shrugged. "I can't think of everything."
I slipped back into my shirt and went into the common room but Smith and Meghan were gone, probably outside setting wards on the perimeter. Shelton was still busy with my dad, and Stacey and Ryland had also vanished. Looking at Shelton reminded me of our earlier argument. Elyssa had been certain he was hiding something from me and it occurred to me what it might be. But now wasn't the time to confront him. I was so tired I could hardly see straight.
I went back into the bedroom and found Elyssa wearing a pair of short-shorts and a black tank top. Her curves pressed against the fabric, offering a tantalizing preview of what treasures they concealed. I stopped dead in my tracks and gazed for an awestruck moment before remembering something I'd wanted to ask her earlier. "You packed enough clothes for school?"
She looked up from fluffing her pillow. "Since when have I ever gone anywhere unprepared?"
"Yeah, yeah, stupid question, I know." I slipped out of my clothes and into a pair of shorts from my duffel bag while Elyssa made appreciative comments and wolf-whistles. My face burned by the time I hopped into the bed.
"Aw, are you shy?" she said, snuggling up to me under the covers.
A certain part of my body reacted immediately to her soft warmth.
She giggled. "Ooh, something's not shy."
"That's not under my control," I said, trying to think about baseball, chess, or even Coach Burgundy to banish my embarrassing situation.
"I wish we didn't have people with preternatural hearing outside the door," she whispered, a pouty frown tugging at her face. Her lips found mine as she pressed harder against me.
My inner demon slammed against its cage and I pulled away breathing hard. "That's it. I'm getting us a hotel room."
She rolled her eyes. "How romantic. Maybe you can get us one of those places that charges by the hour."
"As if this place is more romantic?"
"It's naughty for sure."
"Not with my dad in the next room." A yawn cracked my jaw.
"Poor baby. You must be exhausted."
I snuggled against her and decided cuddling with Elyssa was better than anything else in the world. "I am." My heavy limbs seemed to sag even further against the bed.
She kissed me on the forehead. "Goodnight, sweet prince."
I snapped awake just before six in the morning. The alarm on my cell phone hadn't blared its morning greeting yet so I switched it off. Elyssa lay on her right side, facing me and breathing gently. She looked so beautiful asleep. Technically, she looked beautiful to me all the time, but there was something about the peaceful serenity of her sleeping face that reclaimed the lost innocence being a Templar had stolen from her.
My finger reached out to trace her cheek. Her hand snapped painfully tight around my wrist and she sprang to her knees, the other fist cocked and ready to fly.
"Good morning?" I said uncertainly.
Her wide eyes went back to normal. She released my wrist and offered a sheepish laugh. "Sorry. Reflexes."
"What in the world was that? A ninja wakeup assault? Your parents must have done evil things to you while you were asleep."
She shuddered. "Templar training is not kind. Although the Divinity grants supernatural gifts to noms and preternaturals alike, you have to hone those skills razor sharp."
"You and Underborn spoke a little about this Divinity being. He said people blessed by the Divinity can't die."
"Not of starvation or thirst or natural causes. We can still die by plenty of other means as you should know."
My mind flashed to the cave where I had almost lost Elyssa. Where I'd almost killed her by draining her essence. I remembered seeing the light in her eyes flicker out and a knife seemed to twist in my heart. Somehow, I'd pushed essence back into her and brought her back.
"Do you remember being dead?" I asked.
She shook her head and got up, heading for the shower. "I—I don't remember a thing. I don't think I was dead anyway, just very close to it."
The way she stumbled on her words made me wonder if this was the truth. But why would she lie about such a thing? "Is there something you're not telling me?"
She pulled clothes from her knapsack and smiled reassuringly. "Why would you think that?"
I blurred from the bed and gripped her shoulders. Stared deep into the ultraviolet glow in her eyes I had almost snuffed out. "I remember someone telling me to never lie to them. Ever. Hiding something counts as a lie, in case you're wondering."
A large tear welled like a shimmering crystal and tumbled slowly down her fair cheek. "Please don't make me say it," she said, another tear falling down her other cheek. "If I don't say it, it won't come true. It was a dream. Just a dream." Her voice faded to a whisper.
"Saying or not saying something won't make it any less true, my love." My own eyes burned as salty tears tried to force their way out. Seeing Elyssa like this swelled my heart with tenderness and pain.
"When I was…dead or unconscious, this beautiful blonde woman came to me. The way she carried herself reminded me of a queen. And she wore this fake angel outfit, with white wings and a wire halo. Everything around me was black as pitch except for this huge marble slab I was sitting on. The woman glowed pure white." Her brow furrowed and she shook her head.
"What?"
"I don't know. It's just—her glow would dim and look kind of orange, and then it would come back. I don't know if it matters, but it was so strange. So surreal." She looked at me. "A dream, right? I mean it was so loony and all."
"Did she say anything? Say why she wore an angel costume?" I didn't see what about this made her so sad.
"She told me you would die. She said our love was never meant to be."
A trap door opened under my heart and it dropped like a rock into an abyss. "Hopefully it was just a dream." I smiled—fake as a three dollar bill—and kissed her. "I wouldn't worry about it."
She pressed her face to my chest, wetting my skin with her hot tears. "I won't let it happen, Justin. I won't."
More than anything else, I wanted to believe my fierce warrior girl could prevent it from happening. But deep inside I knew it was wishful thinking. And keeping her close to me might spell out her death warrant. But I was feeling greedy. Selfish. If I was going to die, I wanted to spend every last minute with her. I knew such wishes weren't possible either, but I planned on being with her as much as I could until whatever happened, happened. Screw Foreseeance 4311.
I kissed her on the forehead. "Where did we put the folder Underborn gave us?"
"I tossed it."
I felt my eyes expand. "You what?"
"I took the sheets from it and folded them up. Easier to carry."
"You enjoy giving me heart attacks."
A smile broke through her tears. "You're too easy." She withdrew several folded sheets of paper and flattened them on the bed. "Are we going to school or looking at this, because I need to get ready."
"Yeah, we're going to school," I said. "We'll figure this thing out later."
I glanced over the sheets of paper. One was a list, the others filled with rambling sentences. Despite my doubts, I was curious to go over them at length, so I refolded them and jammed them into the pocket of the jeans I planned to wear. I spotted the crumpled shopping bag from the Grotto as well and slipped a few of the spider marbles into a pocket, just in case I had the chance to bust one over Principal Perkin's head.
Elyssa headed for the bathroom, stopped, and winked as she closed the door behind her. I slipped on a shirt and shorts and went into the common room. Dad stood at the counter, cooking some breakfast.