“Gran too,” I said. “We probably shouldn’t mention that we made a bunch of demons disappear.”
“What was that, anyway?” Carter asked.
I shrug. “Kriegen says we killed them.”
“Not sent them back to hell?”
I shake my head. The whole thing is odd. Why did she need me?
I see the entrance of the Nucleus House when we turn the corner. We don’t have long to get a story together, and Carter’s right, there are going to be questions.
“Wait,” I say. I pull the black dagger out of my boot and step away from Carter. I have to hide this. I don’t want the Triad to have it, not until I know what it means. If they saw it, I would never get it back.
There’re directional signs that points to various routes for the parking impaired. I use magic to pull up a piece of the ground right next to the sign with the arrow pointing to Lot A on the left. I toss the knife inside, re-cover it, and guard it with a protection spell. I’ll come back for this later and then I’ll put it somewhere safe.
“So what will we tell them?” I ask, turning back to Carter.
“Not that you volunteered,” he says. “That was stupid, by the way.” Glad he’s still snappy even when he’s exhausted.
“I thought they had you!” I said.
He stops walking and presses a kiss to my forehead. “I overslept after being with Poncho in the library all night. Of all the possible scenarios, my mom being a demon wasn’t at the top of my list.” So that’s what Poncho told him. “I didn’t think you’d go to hell to look for me.”
“How did you find out, anyway?”
“Ric,” Carter says. “He was freaked when I showed up. I had to stun him so he wouldn’t try to follow me.”
That sounds like my best friend.
“So the story,” I start. “The demon in the woods was the same one who took you—which I found when I went to meet you and you weren’t there.”
“You called me but our call got interrupted and I came after you,” Carter adds. “The demon from the woods took us to De’Intero and we took it down with its own dagger, and then we fought our way out of De’Intero. Came straight here.”
“They’re going to ask details,” I say.
“Tell them the truth. Or most of it. The best lies are based around truth,” Carter says. “As long as we leave out the bit about your magic and the void and my mom, we’ll be fine.”
I knew what Kriegen said was true. They would never allow someone with that kind of power to exist. Carter’s existing, the direct son of a demon and a Triad leader and filled with two kinds of magic, is dangerous enough. If the Triad found out Mr. Prescott had been lying to all these years, it would make what happened in De’Intero look like a cakewalk.
Add in a girl with the same—except she has unlimited access to the void because her great-great-something-grandmother became a demon and then later some crazy demon stole her essence and left only the void behind? I’d rather them think me Static and be exiled from the witch community. They can’t know what Kriegen said I can do, even if I’m not sure how to do it.
“They’re here,” Carter says, pointing toward the Enforcers charging for us. He gives me a reassuring smile before we’re escorted inside.
I pace around the giant empty meeting room, the ends of my hair sticking to my neck with sweat. It feels like forever since the Enforcers found us. I don’t understand why the mauve demon helped us get out, but I know we haven’t seen the last of it.
I also know I’d kill someone for a cheeseburger.
The door clicks and I stop pacing. Carter enters the room with an Enforcer and hugs me before he takes a seat beside me. The Triad and the council enter on opposite sides of the room, and I guess I spoke too soon. Everyone stares us. No one moves. No one speaks. Ellore is the only one with a friendly face.
Do they know we lied?
Rafe Ezrati stands without looking at his counterparts. He bows to me, and then to Carter. Everyone, and I mean everyone, looks shocked. I feel like I returned to some alternate universe. “Thank you, Miss Grey and Mr. Prescott, for your valiant service and sacrifice. You are the reason my family has always believed in the Enforcer finals.”
Rafe sits down again.
“We have spoken with both of you and your stories match completely,” Mr. Prescott says. Carter meets my gaze and I know his father is in on our lie. I guess it’s his lie too, considering what he has at stake if anyone found out about Kriegen or Carter. “You’ve both done a brave thing.”
“With that in mind,” Sabrina Stone says, “we’ve decided that you both deserve your spots as Enforcers. You won’t have to complete the Partner Final.”
I blink. That’s it? Carter throws his arms around me, and I can’t believe it. They’re just giving it to us?
“The position is yours, if you would have it,” Rafe says.
“Why?” I ask. It’s the shock. The question sort of comes out on its own.
“You two went into De’Intero and took down a major demon. You took down many demons from the sound of it, and kept our people safe,” Sabrina says.
“As an Enforcer, this is your sworn duty,” Rafe adds. “Allegiance to the Triad, to the fight against evil, to the sanctity of magic and purity of life. To serve honestly, uphold the integrity of the badge, to protect and be willing to sacrifice whatever comes for the safety of your promise. These are vows that you will take—vows that you have already proven to value.”
I look sidelong at Carter.
“I’d be honored,” Carter says, avoiding my gaze.
They all look at me, waiting.
But the weight of it is too real. I’m not being honest or serving with integrity. I’m lying. We’re lying. I’ve lived a lie for years, and taking on this role means living the lie longer. Pretending to be someone I’m not, forever. I see it all now. All my dreams. The future. The past. The present. The things I’ve always wanted floating around in my head. To have magic again, to follow in Mom’s footsteps and be an Enforcer, to prove to myself that I am good enough. Then I see Carter’s smile, feel his lips on mine, hear his laugh, remember how hard he fought with me, for me. And I realize that the things I want have changed.
But the things I need have not.
I need to be an Enforcer. Now more than ever. I need the protection, I need Carter, I need to find Azsis, and if the magic I harness is truly related to the void, then it is evil magic and I still need my essence. I have to say yes. I have to keep lying.
Carter squeezes my hand.
“I’d be honored as well,” I say.
Everyone applauds. I smile, Carter smiles, and for once, for the first time ever, it’s good that we’re both so excellent at lying. Gran may have been right all these years: lying may be the only way to stay together, and alive.
I stop by the library on my way outside. Hyde is sitting on the desk, and he perks up when I walk in, his tail swaying. He lets me touch him, which is surprising. Beside Hyde, I notice a little bell and I ding it. Has that been there this whole time? The sound echoes throughout the library.
Only yesterday, I was here seeking answers; now I’ve found some of them. More of them than I expected to find. Now I have to figure out what I’m going to do with them, what they mean for my future—and if I can bear to search for the ones I’m still missing.
“Poncho?” I call out.
There’s a book on the table when I sit down to wait. I smile, because that means he probably knew I was coming. I turn the book to face me and look down at the page. It’s an excerpt on the Restitution, the ritual to return magic that I’d learned about before, but have yet to study. My eyes scan the page and one singular passage jumps out at me.
“Magic is a fine balance, and any tipping of the scales can destroy it all. There is no good and evil in magic, only ability and motive. Only the purehearted can serve the Void and the Essence alike, can treat them both as equal. The Restitution is the epitome of magic, and only those who balance the line in pure heart can succeed in performing it.”