“Ah, but they do,” Hank corrected. “They lost when your kind fell. They lost again when you created the Nephilim race. They can lose again, and they will. All the more reason you should act now. We have one of their own, giving us the upper hand. Together, you and I can turn the tables. Together, boy. But we must act now.”
I sat against the wall and hugged my knees to my chest. I let my head tip back until it rested on concrete. Deep breaths. I’d gotten myself out of a hallucination before, and I could do it again. Wiping away the sweat beading my forehead, I concentrated on what I’d been doing before the hallucination started. Go back to Jev — the real Jev. Open a door in your mind. Walk through it.
“I know about the necklace.”
At Hank’s words, my eyes flew open. I looked between the two men standing in front of me, ultimately focusing on Hank. He knew about the necklace? The one Marcie was looking for? Was there any way the two necklaces were one and the same?
No, they’re not, I reasoned. Nothing in this hallucination is valid. You’re creating every detail of this scene with your subconscious. Focus instead on creating an exit.
Jev raised his eyebrows in inquiry.
“I’d rather not reveal my source,” Hank replied dryly. “Obviously all I need now is an actual necklace. You’re smart enough to know this is where you come in. Help me find an archangel’s necklace. Any one will do.”
“Try your source,” Jev said simply, but with a trace of derision.
Hank’s mouth compressed into a severe line. “Two Nephilim. Your choice, of course,” he bargained. “You could alternate between them—”
Jev waved him off. “I don’t have my archangel’s necklace anymore, if that’s where you’re going. The archangels confiscated it when I fell.”
“That’s not what my source tells me.”
“Your source lied,” he said blandly.
“A second source confirms seeing you wearing it as recently as this past summer.”
A moment ticked by before Jev wagged his head at the floor. He tipped his head back and laughed, almost disbelievingly. “You didn’t.” His laughter died abruptly. “Tell me you didn’t drag your daughter into the middle of this.”
“She saw a silver chain around your neck. This past June.”
Jev’s eyes sized up Hank. “How much does she know?”
“About me? She’s learning. I don’t like it, but my back’s against the wall. Help me, and I won’t use her again.”
“You’re assuming I care about your daughter.”
“You care about one of them,” Hank said with a sardonic twist of his lips. “Or used to.”
A muscle in Jev’s jaw twitched, and Hank laughed. “After all this time, you’re still stoking the fire. A pity she doesn’t know you exist. Speaking of my other daughter, I also heard she was seen wearing your necklace in June. She has it, doesn’t she,” he stated rather than inquired.
Jev returned Hank’s even stare. “She doesn’t have it.”
“It would have been a genius plan,” Hank said, not sounding in the least like he believed Jev. “It’s not like I can torture its whereabouts out of her — she doesn’t know anything.” He laughed, but the sound didn’t ring true. “Now that would be ironic. The one piece of information I need is buried deep in a mind I effectively erased.”
“A shame.”
With a flourish, Hank yanked the canvas off the cage. He kicked the metal box into the light, the base scraping over the floor. The girl’s hair was tangled across her face, her eyes ringed in black and darting wildly around the warehouse, as though trying to memorize every detail of her prison before the canvas blinded her again.
“Well?” Hank asked the girl. “What do you think, my pet? Do you think we can find you an archangel’s necklace in time?”
She turned toward Jev, and there was no mistaking the recognition widening her eyes. Her hands squeezed the bars of the cage so tightly her skin turned translucent. She snarled a word that sounded like “traitor.” She glared between Hank and Jev, then her mouth snapped open with a piercing, howling scream.
The force of the scream hurled me backward. My body smashed through the walls of the warehouse. I flew through darkness, tumbling over and over. My stomach roiled, a great wave of nausea crashing over me.
And then I was sprawled facedown on the shoulder of the road, my hands curling into the gravel. I scrambled into a sitting position. The air was thick with the smell of cornfields. Night insects droned all around. Everything was exactly as it had been.
I didn’t know how long I’d been out. Ten minutes? Half an hour? My skin was covered in a sheen of sweat, and this time my shivers were from the cold.
“Jev?” I called out hoarsely.
But he was gone.
CHAPTER 12
FOLLOWING JEV’S INSTRUCTIONS, I WALKED TO Whitetail Lodge. From the reception desk, I called a taxi. Even if I hadn’t known my mom was at dinner, I might not have called her. I wasn’t in any condition to talk. My head was filled with too much noise. Thoughts whizzed past, but I made no effort to pin them down. I felt myself shutting down, too overwhelmed to sort through everything that had happened tonight.
At the farmhouse, I climbed the stairs to my bedroom. I stripped down. I stretched a nightshirt over my head. I curled into a fetal position under my blankets and fell asleep.
I was snapped awake by the sound of shoes moving at a brisk clip outside my door. I must have been dreaming of Jev, because my first foggy thought was, It’s him, and I clutched the sheet to my chin, bracing myself for his entrance.
My mom flung the door open so hard it slapped the wall. “She’s here!” she called over her shoulder. “She’s in bed!” She crossed to me, clutching a fist over her heart as though to keep it from leaping out of her chest. “Nora! Why didn’t you tell me where you’d gone? We’ve been driving all over town looking for you!” She was panting, her eyes wild and frantic.
“I told the hostess to tell you I called Vee for a ride,” I stammered. Thinking back, it had been an irresponsible move. But caught up in the moment, seeing how my mom glowed in Hank’s company, all I could think of was how my presence was an intrusion.
“I called Vee! She didn’t know what I was talking about.”
Of course she didn’t. I’d never made it that far. Gabe had come along before I’d had a chance.
“You can’t do that again,” Mom said. “You can’t ever do that again!”
Even though I knew it wouldn’t help, I started crying. I hadn’t meant to frighten her or send her chasing randomly after me. It was just that when I saw her with Hank … I’d reacted. And as much as I wanted to believe Gabe was out of my life for good, his implied threat that he wasn’t finished with me was fresh in my thoughts. What had I gotten myself into? I considered how different the night would have turned out if I’d kept quiet and left the 7-Eleven when Gabe had given me the chance.
No. I’d done the right thing. If I hadn’t stepped in, B.J. might not have survived.
“Oh, Nora.”
I let my mom gather me against her and pressed my face into her blouse.
“This was just a bad scare, that’s all,” she said. “We’ll be more careful next time.”
The boards in the hall creaked, and I looked over to see Hank leaning on the door frame. “You gave us quite a fright, young lady.” His voice was light and calm, but there was something almost wolfish in his eyes that caused a chill to tiptoe up my back.