6 Under The Final Moon (22 page)

Lucas seated himself at the dining table and knitted his fingers, looking up at me. “I’m sorry if this is awkward. But”—his eyes slipped over me, taking me in from head to toe, his expression curious—“I just can’t believe how much you look like her.”

My breath hitched. “My mother?”

Lucas nodded and I steadied myself against the counter. I knew very little about my mother even though I had grown up with
her
mother.

“Your eyes, your smile.” He clucked his tongue and shook his head. “Looks like all you got from dear old dad is our red hair.” He patted his head.

Oh,
I wanted to shout,
and eternal damnation
!

The coffeepot dinged and I poured two cups, sat down across from Lucas, and slid one to him.

“Do you want to ask me anything?”

I wanted to ask him why. I wanted to ask him if he was sorry for leaving, or sorry for having me. I wanted to know if he really had killed my mother. I wanted to know what had happened that day, if he ever thought about me, if he really was who they said he was. The questions kept percolating but lodging in my throat, and all I could do was stare. Outside, a war was being waged on me by a warrior race of fallen angels. Outside, a trickster god was fooling people—children, even—into doing things, evil things. But in here, across from me was just a man with my same red hair and the same unfortunately Vienna-sausage-like fingers bringing a coffee mug to his lips.

“Are you him?”

Lucas sipped, his eyebrows going up over the rim of the cup. When he put it down, his lips were ruddy from the heat and twisted into a hint of a smile.

“My little Sophie, always so inquisitive.”

Fire shot through me. I wasn’t his little anything. He didn’t know if I was inquisitive or not. I felt my fist tighten around my coffee cup.

“Why did you come here?”

Lucas frowned, looking immediately sorry. “I thought it was time. The guilt—leaving you alone for all this time—it was eating away at me. I should have come sooner, but I was a coward.”

“Sooner?” I spat. “You shouldn’t have left at all.”

“Things were different then.”

I looked away, gritting my teeth against the hot tears that rimmed my eyes. I wouldn’t let him see me cry.

“Some things never change. Like a daughter needing her father.”

Lucas shook his head. “I was in no position to be a father to you, Sophie. Your mother knew that, I knew that.”

“My mom was in no position to be a single mother, either, but you didn’t give her any other option now, did you?”

The anger that had been simmering over the last thirty-three years was at a full boil now, and I could feel that hate welled up inside of me. I could see my mother’s sad, exhausted eyes and my grandmother as she tried to do something to help. To pat my mother’s back, or say soothing things, but my mother was always there with those sad, hollow eyes and Lucas was—where?

“I was hoping we could start fresh. We are family, you know.”

“No, we’re not. I have my own family.”

Lucas’s lips crept up and I could see the evil in his smile, the darkness in his eyes. “And what family would that be my dear, dear child?”

“The family I chose. The one who chose me.”

Lucas pressed his palms together and cocked his head. “The Underworld Detection Agency, hm? That your little family? A collection of misfits, the undead, my castoffs?” He took a step closer, and I was rooted to the ground, somehow cowering in his shadow. He drew his index finger along my jawline, his touch making my skin crawl.

“Get away from me.”

Another step closer and I was inexplicably drawn to him. Fire shot through my body and I felt alive, I felt the breath of life—and death—tear through me. I felt my father’s power.

He grinned. “You like that, don’t you? This is family, Sophie. This is what you are born of. Me.”

Lucas’s face shadowed and then swirled into a grotesque kaleidoscope of horrendous images. The tongue that slid out of his mouth was serpentine and forked. He wasn’t moving his lips, but he was still talking, advancing on me, and I was bending backward, my spine protesting.

“You were the seed of evil born into humanity. You took root and grew. You infected this world.”

I tried to close my eyes, but they were pulled wide open and I could see my friends—Nina, face contorted in agony as her soft, human features edged out and hardened, her teeth growing and sharpening. Vlad glared up at me, his mouth glossy with fresh blood, the broken flesh hanging from his teeth as the woman beneath him writhed and bucked until she paled, her life force gone. Alex was next, moving fast, the darkness wafting from his shoulders and legs as he walked, decimating everyone in his way—stomping out the light, tearing at the throats of the saved.

“Please stop.”

A much younger Will was next, hanging back as a woman before him struggled and reached for him. There was a man on top of her, his hands tightening on her throat. Her lips didn’t move, but I could hear her begging for Will to intercede. He stood there, rooted, watching the light leave her eyes. Her killer looked up and locked eyes with Will, his grin maniacal, pure evil—the grin that was looking down on me now.

“You did it to them. You made all of this happen,” I spat.

“You can’t be damned without the King of the Damned, Sophie girl. They all gave in to the darkness. They all gave into the power. The strength. Just like you will. You think your wisp of goodness will protect you?” He gnashed his teeth. “I stomped your mother’s genes out. You snuffed out her goodness.”

“She was good. They’re all good,” I managed to whisper. “They’re good. Free will. They can choose. We all can choose.”

That made Lucas smile. “How about you choose this then, for your little family—all their souls for yours.”

My head snapped up. “And Oliver?”

He grinned. “My little protégée. There is no goodness in him. No humanity. There never was.”

“He’s a child.”

Lucas’s smile was smug and horrible. “He’s a new breed. One of many. One of legions. Evil is winning out. So I ask again, daughter—all their souls for yours?”

I pinched my eyes closed, the images burning behind my closed lids. “They’ll all be freed? Every one of them?”

“And you will have everything you’ve ever wanted. Power. Prestige.” He raked his fingers through my hair. “And I’ll have everything else.”

My mind exploded with the sounds of millions of voices, lost souls, waiting to depart.

“The Vessel.”

Lucas snapped his fingers and my spine snapped, the pain shooting from both ends. I was sure the bone was sticking out, could feel the blood as it oozed and poured over my skin as the back of my head met my ankles.

“Give it to me.”

I gritted my teeth, the pain unbearable in my ruined body. “No.”

“Didn’t anyone ever tell you that you should always, always obey your father?”

Blood gurgled in my mouth and trickled out of my nose.

“Please, no.”

Lucas was enjoying himself as every image I had ever seen—every depiction of the devil—came to life and leered over me, changing one from the other like a heinous slide show that would never end. He used that serpentine tongue to lick his lips, his saliva spitting onto my face. “Give in to the darkness. Give in to who you are. To what you are.”

I tried to avoid looking at Lucas, tried to break his gaze, but he kept grinning and I was mesmerized.

“You always had the darkness inside of you, waiting to get out.”

I felt his palm close against my forehead and my whole body went into a spasm, my lungs on the verge of collapse. I was back in my grandmother’s home, in that attic room. I could see the grain of the wood floor, could see my mother’s bare feet as she stepped on the ladder and wrapped the noose around her neck.

“Oh, God, no,” I was whimpering, crying. “God, no.”

And inside the image I pushed myself to my feet, and watched the ground move as I stepped closer to my mother, closer to the stool, closer to her bare feet. I saw a hand reach out—my hand, plump and young—and I gripped the edge of the stool she stood on and pushed.

“Sophie!”

Nina was on the floor beside me, pulling my broken body to her, crushing me to her chest. I couldn’t see her, couldn’t focus my eyes or move my head. I was there, I was awake, but I was floating, free of my body, watching over.

“Will!” Nina screamed. “Vlad! Alex!”

The image tattered and shook like a Super 8 reel, and then Will and Alex and Vlad were surrounding me. I tried to push them away. I tried to tell them that Lucas would be back, that they had to save themselves, but they weren’t listening. They were moving me and yelling, and I could barely hear them, floating high above them.

And then you were at the door.

Lucas.

Hat in hand, looking meek and apologetic.

Trickster.

I woke up on my living room floor gagging and clawing at the carpet, desperate for breath. My body and was tight and tense, but I was okay and Lucas wasn’t there. I crawled on hands and knees to the phone and pulled it toward me.

“Nina. Get Alex, Will, and Vlad. Get everyone and meet me at the Underworld Detection Agency. Get there as fast as you can.” I hung up, made one last call, then headed out the door.

I took the stairs two at a time, constantly looking over my shoulder for my broken spine or the horde of Grigori that I knew would be attacking me at every turn. I slammed myself into my car and stepped on the gas, not worrying about traffic lights or red lights, driving like Nina on her worst day. My heart was slamming against my rib cage and I knew what he was doing, I knew that he was picking them—my friends, my family—Lucas was plucking them each to torture until he got to me, until he got what he wanted from me.

And for the good of my friends, for the good of all humanity, I was going to give it to him.

I pulled into the police station parking lot and yanked the balled-up sweatshirt that I had stuffed under my seat. I pulled out the first sword, the dagger of the Grigori, and admired the razor sharp blade. It hadn’t taken much for me to slip it out of Alex’s trunk and right back into my purse the night he “took” it from me. After all, I had grown pretty slick under Alex’s tutelage—a fact that he failed to recognize.

When I saw Abelard cross the parking lot, I slid the dagger in my pants and went directly down to the UDA. Nina was there, as were Vlad, Will, Alex, Kale, Lorraine, and Sampson. There was a hint of a noxious odor, and Steve stepped from the doorway, little lichen-covered troll arms crossed in front of his barrel chest.

“Steve will not let him take you,” he said defiantly.

I felt the prick of tears at my eyes. “You guys—”

“We’re in this together,” Sampson said defiantly. “We’re part of you just as much as you’re part of us.”

“Well . . .” Feng stepped out from the other side of the group. I gaped.

“Feng?” I looked from her to Sampson, another wave of fear crashing over me.

Sampson held up a hand. “We have an unofficial twenty-four-hour truce.”

I raised my eyebrows and Feng nodded. “I can kill him any day. But you and Satan?” She shook her head, clucking her tongue. “You’re going to need help.”

I blinked back tears. “This isn’t your fight. I love you all, but I brought this on. Lucas will never stop coming after us—the Grigori, they’ll never stop coming after us.”

“Then we’ll keep fighting. Every day if we have to,” Alex put in.

“Twice a day,” Will rejoined.

“I’m just here for the show,” Vlad said, blank faced.

Nina jabbed him in the gut and he rolled his eyes. “I’ll stand up for you, too,” he finally groaned.

The elevator dinged and we all turned in a single mass toward it. The heavy doors slid open, and Lucas was standing inside, hands clasped in front of him, hat pinched between two fingers. Once again he looked like a man, a weak, pitiful man. And then he smiled.

“Oh,” he said, nodding appraisingly. “This is nice. This little grouping of demons and rejects. Cute. But useless.”

He flicked his hand, and Vlad and Sampson doubled over, holding their middles and moaning in agony. My breath hitched when I saw the blood clouding their eyes, dripping red-black from their sockets.

“Stop!” I said.

Lucas did, and as quickly as it began, Vlad and Sampson straightened, looking no worse for the wear.

“You can’t stop me, Sophie girl. I am so much more powerful than you’ve ever imagined. You never knew, but I was always there. That voice in the back of your head. That fleeting thought of killing, of destroying? It was me. It was you.”

“I’m not going to stop you,” I said, taking a step forward. “Why should I? You’re my father. You’re back. You offered me everything I’ve ever wanted.” I glanced over my shoulder, gazing at the demons behind me with disdain. “You’re my family. You’re my father.”

Lucas breamed like a nurse had just handed me to him. “The Vessel?” he said, his tongue slipping in and out over his lips. “Bring me the Vessel.”

I stopped. “The Vessel? You didn’t ask for that. You asked for me.”

“I want both. We’ll have both and we’ll control everything.”

I paused for a beat, then nodded. “Yeah. Okay, yeah.”

“Lawson! ” Alex said. “Don’t do this!”

I turned to him. “Why not? So that we could continue on with this little game of ours? You pull me in, you push me out? Shampoo, rinse, repeat? Uh-uh.” I shook my head. “Tired of that. I want to be protected. I want to be revered.”

The power pulsed through me and it made me smile, made my every fiber vibrate and hum. “You can come with me, Alex. It’s all you’ve ever wanted, isn’t it?”

His lips pressed into a hard, thin line, and I wavered an equal distance between The Underworld Detection Agency and Lucas Szabo as the legions began to surround him. Dark forms, dark warriors who appeared out of nowhere.

“They will do anything you ask, daughter.”

“God, Sophie, don’t you remember us? Think about us!” It was Nina now. Her voice was high and tortured, and it pulled at something deep inside me. I didn’t want to hurt her, but the pull of the dark side—of a family and a home—was too much.

“My daddy wants to be with me, Neens,” I said, blinking. “You understand, don’t you?”

Will was behind her, not looking at me. I went to him. “You’re awfully quiet, Will. Don’t you care whether you live or die?”

He sucked in a deep breath and seemed to rise up before me. “I’m a Guardian of the Vessel, love. My job is with that, not with you.”

He gripped me by the arms and yanked, but Alex raced forward, trying to break in between us.

They were jostling me. I knew Lucas was watching carefully, and then he was right beside me. I could feel the heat when he laid his palm on my arm.

“We’re going now.”

I snapped toward him. “But the Vessel.”

“Come on, Sophie girl. We can leave them all. We can.” He flicked his fingertips and the ground started rumbling. The walls started to buckle; bits of ceiling and debris started to fall. Lucas grinned. “Ashes to ashes,” he said.

“But the Vessel!” I shouted.

“I just need you,” Lucas said, taking a step closer.

His face continued to reflect every hateful image of Satan, of the trickster god, that I had ever seen. I reached out and yanked the Grigori dagger from my pants. Lucas’s eyes went to it and his smile broadened.

“Are you going to fight back now? Going to stab me with that?”

He ran his finger along the blade, making a clean slice on his index finger. He watched the blood bubble, then pushed the injured finger to his mouth. His forked tongue made a grotesque sucking sound, and he lapped up the blood.

“Go ahead. You can’t hurt me.”

I nodded, the weight of everything that Lucas had said crashing over me. I took one last look over my shoulder at my friends, all assembled, all at the ready—and I drove the Grigori dagger straight into my gut.

I felt my skin pucker and split as it took in the sharp end of the knife. I felt it cut smoothly, right through me. I felt Abelard’s hands as he reached out and removed the dagger before I fell to my knees.

There were flashing lights everywhere, and sound. Popping and cracking and screaming and sirens and a bright white light. It was blinding and beautiful. It hummed with comfort and warmth. I wanted to go toward it, but something was holding me back. Something was keeping me tied down, close to the noise, the trauma, the screeches and the sirens. I wanted to go toward the light.

Trickster.

When I woke up I was in the hospital, pinned down in a stark white bed, tubes and wires taped to my hands and arms, and something uncomfortable shoved up my nose.

“Where am I?” I asked and blinked as the room slowly came into view.

I heard the snap of a magazine and saw Nina sit upright, her coal-black hair glossy against the sun that filtered in through the blinds.

“She’s awake,” I heard her say. “Guys, she’s awake.”

I struggled to sit up, but just as quickly Nina pinned me back down to the bed, throwing her arms around me.

“You’re alive! Oh, thank God, you’re alive! Vlad! Vlad! Come here, you don’t have to eat her now!”

“Vlad was going to eat me?”

Nina held her thumb and forefinger a half inch a part. “Just a little bit. This much. So you could stay with us forever.”

The sentiment was incredibly sweet even if the follow-through was unbelievably creepy. I tried to move and winced, pressing my hand against the enormous bandage at my waist. “Ow.”

“Don’t you remember what happened, warrior girl?” Alex said as he came through the door.

“You stabbed yourself,” Vlad said, more life in his eyes than I’d ever seen. “You were like, ‘wah!’” He made the motion of me stabbing myself. “And Lucas was all, ‘nahhh’ and then that weird monk guy was all, ‘
sayonara
!’ and then Will was all, ‘me too!’”

“Wait, what? What did Will do?”

Nina’s eyes clouded. “Sophie, you know that you’re no longer the Vessel of Souls anymore, right? You kind of handled that with all the shish-slice stuff. And Will—well, Will goes where the Vessel goes.”

A sob choked in my throat. “So he’s gone?”

Alex looked at me, his eyes soft. “You didn’t know it would happen that way?”

I shrunk back into my pillow. I had known that it would happen that way. Abelard had told me that was how it would happen. Will had told me that was how it would happen. But I hadn’t expected he’d really go.

“Where—where did he go? Did he leave a number or—or . . .” I leaned over on the bedside table and shifted stuff around, looking for my cell phone. “I can just call him.” I hit the speed-dial button and immediately, the triple dial tone came up telling me that I had reached a number that had been disconnected.

My heart broke.

Alex came to my side and took my hand in his, giving it a gentle squeeze. Nina touched my shoulder softly, and Vlad stood at the foot of the bed, looking at me with alternating gazes of respect and good old teenage-boy annoyance.

“I just didn’t think he’d really disappear.”

Alex looked away and coughed, then fished a folded-up piece of binder paper from his pants pocket. He gently laid it in my palm, then walked to the foot of the bed and sat in a chair, avoiding my gaze.

I unfolded the note.

I folded the page and looked at Alex, my eyes wet with tears. “You—you could have gone back?”

He stood and came around the bed, taking the hand opposite the one Nina was holding. “No,” he said shaking his head. “I really couldn’t have.” His eyes were a bright, intense cornflower blue. “I tried not to love you, Sophie Lawson. I tried. But there was no Heaven—no grace without you there.”

“Oooh!” Nina sighed at my left shoulder. Alex squeezed my right hand. Vlad groaned.

“Look, we successfully averted Armageddon. Sophie shoved her father back down to Hell with her inner evil.”

I blinked, slightly sheepish. “Like kind. Feng told me.”

Alex’s eyebrows went up, but I batted explanation away.

Nina threaded her arms in front of her chest and pinned Vlad with a glare. “So what are you suggesting, Vlad?”

He looked around, shrugged, unaffected. “I don’t know. We saved the world. There should be cake.”