There was a long silence. Xavier’s heart, which had been racing just minutes before, seemed to slow down and thud like a pound of concrete in his chest. But when he opened his mouth to speak, he didn’t betray a hint of emotion.
“I don’t believe you,” he said in a level voice.
“Had a feeling you might say that,” Diego replied, his smiling face framed by dark curls. He reached behind him and produced a rough burlap sack. “So I brought along some evidence.”
From the sack he withdrew something feathered and folded. When he shook it loose I saw it was a section of broken, blood-stained wings. My wings. “You can have this as a keepsake if you like,” he said. What he held up was twisted and bent and the blood had congealed in parts causing the feathers to stick together. Diego waved it like a fan and droplets of blood spattered onto the floor. I saw Xavier draw a sharp intake of breath and lean forward as if someone had punched him in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. His turquoise eyes darkened, like clouds rolling across sky and blotting out the sun.
“Hellhounds,” said Diego, nodding his head in commiseration. “At least it was quick.”
“Don’t listen to him!” I cried, but my words were lost in the void that separated us. The desire to be with him filled me so strongly that I thought I would explode through the confines of my spectral form.
At that moment the door burst open and my brother and sister appeared. For the first time, a look of true fear flashed across Diego’s face. I guessed he hadn’t counted on running into them.
“Did you think we wouldn’t pick up your scent?” Gabriel asked, his voice drenched with anger. His eyes fell on Xavier’s face and then the mangled, bloody wings that Diego’s had dropped on the ground. Ivy saw them too and an expression of disgust settled on her face.
“You really are the lowest of the low,” she said.
“I try my best,” Diego said, chuckling.
“Tell me it isn’t true,” Xavier said, his voice choked.
“Nothing but cheap tricks,” Gabriel replied, kicking the wings aside, as though they were a theater prop.
Xavier let out a low moan of relief and pressed his back against the wall. I knew how he felt. When I thought Jake had run him down with the motorcycle, the grief had been crippling and the relief made me giddy.
“What are you doing here?” Gabriel demanded.
Diego stuck his bottom lip out in a mock pout. “Just trying to have a little fun. Humans are so gullible — dumb beasts.”
“Not as dumb as you,” Ivy said, while Gabriel moved to position himself on Diego’s right-hand side, pinning him between the wall and the doorway. “Looks like you’ve got yourself trapped.”
“A bit like that little angel of yours,” Diego snarled, though I could tell by the way he curled his fingers that he was nervous. “She’s trapped in the pit burning as we speak and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
“We’ll see about that,” Gabriel said.
“We know you’re trying to find a portal.” Diego’s attempts to stall or distract them were poorly disguised. “You’ll never find it and if you do, good luck getting it open.”
“Do not underestimate the power of Heaven,” Ivy said.
“Oh, I think Heaven has forsaken Bethany by now. Have you considered that our daddy may be stronger than yours?”
Ivy looked up and a hot blue fire seemed to blaze in her usually cool gray eyes. She raised her chin to match her opponent. She opened her mouth and a language flowed out that sounded high and sweet like a hundred children singing or wind chimes in the summer breeze. The air around her started to shimmer, like heat rising off the pavement. Then, without speaking, she thrust her hand out toward him. To my shock, her hand disappeared straight into his chest, as though he were made of nothing but clay. Diego seemed just as surprised as I was and grunted loudly. Something began to glow in his chest and I realized that Ivy was literally gripping his heart. The light shone brighter, making his skin papery and transparent. I could see the outline of his rib cage and Ivy’s hand, encasing his heart in a scalding prison of light. Diego seemed to be completely paralyzed, but he managed to open his mouth and let out a strangled scream. Through the screen his chest had become, I saw the heart begin to swell and pulse in Ivy’s hand, as if it were going to rupture. Then with a pop, like a bursting balloon, it disintegrated and Diego vanished in a flash of light.
Ivy drew a deep, shuddering breath and then brushed her hands together as though she had touched something contaminated.
“Demons,” she muttered.
The noise of the explosion woke Molly, who sat upright, scrambling to smooth down her curls.
“Huh … what … what’s going on?” she mumbled, her voice slurry. I was amazed that she’d managed to sleep through the drama.
“Nothing,” Gabriel said quickly. “Go back to sleep. We just came in to check on you.”
“Oh.” Molly stared at him wistfully for a moment before remembering the events of the previous night. Then her face darkened and she turned her back, wriggling down under the covers.
Gabriel sighed and shrugged at Ivy while Xavier picked up the car keys on the bedside table.
“Uh … thanks for taking care of that,” he said. “If it’s all right I’m gonna go for a drive. I need to clear my head.”
I followed him, eager for us to spend some time alone, even if he didn’t know I was there.
“Hey, baby.” He patted the hood of the Chevy out in the parking lot and gave a sad smile. “Things are getting pretty crazy, hey?”
I slid into the passenger seat as Xavier started the familiar purring engine and pulled out onto the highway. His body seemed to relax behind the wheel of the car, flowing more easily. He looked so beautiful with the worry wiped from his face. I could stare at him for hours — his strong arms, the outline of his sculpted chest, his hair falling across his eyes, strands glowing golden in the predawn light. His brilliant turquoise eyes were half closed as he let the Chevy leach the tension from his body. His foot nudged the accelerator and the car responded with an obedient growl. Xavier never drove fast with me in the car; he was too conscious of my safety. But in this moment he was completely free and I knew he needed this time to himself in order to regroup. The car glided around a bend in the road, shadowed by the cedar trees that lined the highway. Up ahead the left side of the road fell away, with nothing but jagged cliffs below. Picking up speed on the open road, Xavier rolled down his window and flicked the radio on. The station was playing the biggest hits of the eighties and the chords of “Livin’ on a Prayer” rang out into the air. The song about a couple whose struggle to survive hard times was especially relevant to us.
We’ve got to hold on, ready or not
You live for the fight when it’s all that you’ve got.
Xavier’s mood seemed to lift a little as he mouthed the words and tapped the steering wheel in time with the beat. But outside, an unnatural wind was blowing up, scattering leaves across the highway and down the cliffs on the opposite side. I knew something was wrong — the presence of evil had followed us. I had to warn Xavier to go back. It wasn’t safe for him out here alone. He needed to be close to Ivy and Gabriel so they could protect him. But how could I let him know that?
When the song ended an idea suddenly hit me. I focused my energy and used it to interfere with the radio frequency. The sound broke up until it was just an irritating hum. Xavier frowned and fiddled with the dials, trying to tune the channel. I concentrated on gathering my strength and called out his name. Then out of the blue it was my voice he heard crackling through the speakers.