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“Does everyone...?”
“Know about your demon side?” she finished. The muscles of her arms tensed beneath my fingers. “Not yet. It’s only on a need-to-know basis. They all think you’ve been part of a special training program with Manuel—an isolation training program.”
I nodded. Good to know not everyone hated me. Yet.
“And Gabe?”
I wasn’t sure if I could handle seeing him right now. Not with the way things had ended between us. My body ached for his touch. I wanted nothing more than to talk to him again. To see his face light up with that smile reserved only for me. And his lips—how I wanted to press mine against his. Just the thought of it brought heat to my stomach. But those were no longer privileges I deserved. Until this dark entity inside my soul was scrubbed clean, we couldn’t be together. That was that. Seeing him would only make it harder on the both of us.
“He’s on patrol,” Ashley whispered. “With Adam. They’ll be gone until late this evening.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. One less thing to worry about.
The girls led me into the massive manor dining hall. A few dozen circular tables dotted the room, alongside a line of rectangular tables loaded up with a tantalizing selection of food. My mouth began to drool at the sight of them. The scent of the buffet hit my nostrils and I moaned. The aroma of every herb and spice danced in my sinuses, followed up by the scent of baked goods for dessert. They hadn’t exactly starved me in the dungeon, but there was nothing compared to a Nephilim buffet line. My stomach growled at the sight of it.
“Good to have you back,” a voice said behind me. “We were worried Manuel had tied you up in the forest somewhere.”
I turned to see my friend Bree striding toward me, her curly hair flowing past her elbows and dozens of metal bracelets clanging on her arms. Beside her, Dominic gave me a sly smirk, humor lighting up his eyes. They’d just become full-fledged warriors this summer. That meant they were acting gatekeepers, responsible for their own patrols in the forest teaming with ferals. My heart had ached for them, feverish with worry. Compared to many of the Nephilim in this room, they were only babies. Could they handle themselves out there?
If one of them got hurt, I’d never forgive myself.
“Nah, but he’s definitely a task master.” I sucked in my cheeks, unsure how far this lie had traveled. “Be glad you’re not under this thumb.”
“I thank the stars each and every night.” Bree’s lips curled into a smile. “I’m getting enough action as it is, with patrols increasing. Not sure I could keep up a rigorous training schedule with all the fighting we do during the day.”
I frowned, picking up a white dining plate absentmindedly. It really was getting bad out there, despite the fact that I hadn’t come close to the Hell Gate in over a week. My mother had to be responsible for it. She was evil, after all. And all her talk about releasing the Prince of Hell wasn’t reassuring.
With all my attention devoted to thoughts about destroying the demon inside my head, I hadn’t allowed myself much time to think about the return of my dead mother. Maybe it was a defensive mechanism, because just the mere thought of her made me want to vomit. That was a problem I’d have to leave to Luke. He’d known her better than me, after all. Or, at least, he thought he did.
“Grab one of those multigrain bread rolls. They’re so good,” Raquel said, shoving me with her elbow and bringing me back to the present. She stuffed one in her mouth and began piling her plate full with scoops of food.
I smiled at her. It was good to be around my cousin once again.
My eyes drifted across the room and made eye contact with someone I hadn’t expected to see again in my lifetime. A young woman with long wavy blonde hair and giant brown eyes stared back at me. She stood next to a round table, an empty plate in her hands.
“Kate?” I set my plate on an empty spot on the table and took a step toward her. My heart skipped with joy. “Is that you?”
A few dozen heads turned in my direction and I realized that Kate was surrounded by several people from Hanna. That must’ve been the small group who’d moved into the manor to escape the attacks. The welcome sight of Kate helped me swallow down the flaming disappointment I held in my heart at their presence here. This was my new home. They’d tried to kill me. They didn’t deserve to walk these floors. But that didn’t matter, because Kate was here. My very best friend in the whole world. The person whom I missed with such an acute ache that it felt like I’d sprained a muscle in my chest.
She blinked at me, shock turning to joy. Taking three steps to the side in an effort to circumvent the table, she was stopped suddenly by someone’s arm. It belonged to a plump woman in flannel, the back of her frizzy gray head clearly visible from across the room.
Granny.
She stood next to Kate and leaned in to whisper something in her ear. Kate’s face went red and her jaw slackened. I tightened my hands into fists, just imagining all the things Granny could be saying to her at that very moment. Rage filled my head with white noise, blocking out my surroundings. Kate glanced back at me, her lips puckered into a sorrowful frown, and then she returned to her seat and stared down at the table.
I could feel Granny watching me. Our eyes met and she raised one eyebrow, as if in challenge. She wanted me to charge, I could feel it. If I made the first move, she could prove to everyone that the demon inside of me had taken over and that I was dangerous. That I deserved to be burned at a stake. It was a deadly game she was playing, one that had my heart doing somersaults. My fingernails bit into the palms of my hands, until warm blood trickled from my hands.
“Are you alright?” Ashley leaned into my side. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her reach for her hidden dagger. “Are you in control?”
“I’m fine.” If I didn’t get out of here soon, that wouldn’t be the case. Already, I could feel the demon on the edge of my consciousness. It was much easier to recognize her these days, now that we’d made official contact. “But suddenly, I’m not hungry anymore.”
My feet marched from the dining hall, through the empty lobby, and down into the dungeon. It was the only place I could go. The only place to keep everyone safe.
I would’ve locked myself in if it hadn’t been for the fact that that I was no longer alone. Silvia, Oscar, Manuel, and Gabe all sat at the table, their eyes somber. They turned toward me when I strode in.
“What’s happened?” The anger fizzled in my brain and was immediately replaced by panic. Something bad had happened, I could tell.
“We have her.” Gabe stood up and my heart did a little leap. He looked so good, as if he were handling our split up with ease. The thought sent a sliver of sorrow through my chest.
