Almost Demon (The Sigil Cycle) (17 page)

“I’m glad to see you joined the squad again.”

“How did you know?”

She pointed to the window behind her that overlooked the football field. 

“Charlotte’s been a big help,” I said. “And Morgan.”

No shame in taking the time to brownnose for my friends
.

“That’s good to hear,” she said, leaning back in her chair. She didn’t say anything else and the silence was beginning to grate on me.

“So,” I started. “About college. I’m not too sure what I’ll be doing. I promise I’ll set aside some time this weekend to do some research. I don’t really want to go too far.”

“I understand.”

Yeah right.

“Can I go back to class?” I asked.

“Gemma,” she said, “I didn’t really ask you here to talk about college. Knowing your father, he’s probably already planned out that part.” I noticed the slight derision in her voice. “I’m not sure if you know this but I was very close to your mother.”

“No, I didn’t. But then again, I don’t know much about her. She kind of picked up and left.”
Now it was my turn to make snide remarks about my own parent
. “And my dad tries his best.” 

“I’m concerned about you.” She leaned in closer and reached for my hands, which were clasped on the table. “I’m concerned about this,” she said, pulling back my sleeve and revealing the sigils.

“I don’t think my body is much of your concern,” I said, yanking my arm out of her grasp.

“Your mother and I practiced together. We were part of a coven of witches. I know better than anyone what those markings are. You are playing with fire.” Her voice was strained and I could see the petrified look in her eyes.

“I’m fine, Principal Kelly,” I said. “Is that it?” 

“Gemma, I am begging you to stop. Whatever it is, it’s not worth the risk.”

“Like I said, I’m fine. Can I have that pass now?”

She took out a pink slip of paper, checked the time and signed. “For you mother’s sake, I am pleading with you to stop whatever dark magic it is you’re doing.” She held out the slip and I snatched it out of her hand and headed straight for the door.

“I owe my mother nothing,” I said. My blood boiling at Principal Kelly’s presumptuousness, I stormed right out of there and straight into Thom’s chest.

“Where were you, Miss Pope?” he asked. The sleek leather jacket suited him well.
Was anyone ever going to tell him how god-awful his shoes were?

“Here,” I blurted, shoving the pass into his hand. “Can we go now?”

He unfolded the crumpled slip of paper and nodded. “Yeah. Let’s go.”

We walked in silence side by side until we reached the parking lot, where he unlatched the helmet from his bike and tossed it to me. 

“Put that on.”

I caught it in my two hands against my stomach and then dangled it away from me by the strap like a dead animal. “Uh-uh. No way. Not happening.”

“Come on. It’s safe.” He straddled the large leather seat and patted the small cushion behind him. He turned the ignition and kicked the bike into gear, sending out a plume of smoke that soon evaporated as the bike warmed up.

“You don’t understand.”

My eyes are open. I can’t hear a thing. There is a sharp pain coming from my leg and I see bone jutting out from my thigh, tearing through flesh and fabric. I take a deep breath.

I turn my head and Brian is still out. I frantically search for the door handle amidst the layers of ballooned nylon and take a deep breath to keep back the wave of nausea that is threatening to drown me in terror.

I hobble out of the car, keeping pressure off my injured leg. Using the car as a crutch, I hop my way around to the driver’s side. I look up and
at the top of the cliff, there are people jumping up and down, waving in panic. None of them are looking at me. I tear at the door until it gives and Brian’s arm slinks out. There is blood caking his shirt and pouring down his shoulder. I grab his head and send my fingers dancing around his neck for a pulse. I can’t find one. I pull on his arms until his upper body is dangling out the side. I drag the rest of him out. His cellphone lights are blinking and I stare at the texts. I bash it against the rocks until it dies and toss it as far as I can. 

I can’t let Brian die like this. I open his mouth and breathe in. I beg him to open his eyes and I punch his chest. I look up again and see no one. I still can’t hear. With a burst of adrenaline coursing through my veins, I start pulling Brian out and drag his limp body to the passenger side of the car. I don’t stop until he is sitting in my seat and I hear the clink of the seatbelt. I rest my head against the pebbles on the floor and pass out.

“Gemma. Gemma?” Thom’s voice was loud, breaking through my panic.

“I can’t get on that.”

“Tell me.”

“I just can’t. I can’t. I can’t.”

I fell to the ground and curled up in a ball, shutting my eyes tight against the memories that were flooding back and the deluge of blood that plunged me into my worst nightmares.

“Tell me, Gemma.” His voice held a mixture of authority and compassion.

I wiped my eyes free of tears. He was sitting beside me, cross-legged and waiting.

“It comes back every night. The blood.”

“What blood?”

“Brian’s. The accident. It was so awful.” As hard as I tried not to cry, I couldn’t stop the heaving.

“Relax.” He put a hand on my back and I was filled with warmth. It soothed every muscle in my body and just as it was starting to burn, he took it away.

I looked at him, trying to find a sign of what he truly was but whatever mask he wore was firmly in place, and I didn’t see a hint of him sharing that part of himself.

Maybe if I opened up, he would too?

“It was the beginning of summer. It was me, Brian, Jenny, and Mimi. I forgot whose idea it was but in the end, we headed to Jenny’s lake house. It couldn’t have been any lazier. We did nothing but lie in the sun and eat junk. On the way back, it all went to shit. The truck came out of nowhere and we were tossed over the side of the highway like a tin can.“

“Your brother. He was your twin.”

“Yeah. He was my best friend. I know that sounds weird. We fought like cats and dogs but it was all a joke to us.”

“Sounds nice. To have had a brother like that.”

“Had. That’s the operative word. He’s gone. I’m alone. And can’t seem to get myself back on the horse,” I said motioning to the bike. “Can’t get in a car, bus. Train. When I try, the blood fills me until all I see is red and I think I’m going to choke on it.”

“Do you trust me, Gemma?” he asked.

“I’m not sure.”

“Smart girl.” He smiled. “But I’m telling you that in this case, you can.”

“Yeah?”

“If I told you that you are going to put on that helmet and get on the bike with me and that I will protect you, would you believe me?” All the humor had left his face, leaving an intensity that made him seem wise beyond his years. 

“Do I have much of a choice?” I asked.

“If I gave you one, would you do it?”

“Probably not.”

“Then I won’t.” He stood, bringing me up with him, and placed the helmet over my head. He pushed open the visor and stared. “Your job is to get on the bike and hold tight. I’ll protect you. I give you my word.”

He turned the ignition back on and I took my place behind him, wrapping my arms around his strong back and resting my head against his shoulder blade. I felt the power of his muscles as he put the motorcycle into gear. Then, with a turn of his wrist, we were off.

C
HAPTER
F
IFTEEN

We started off slow. I could tell that he didn’t want to jump the gate and scare me. As I loosened my vise-like grip on him, he went a bit faster. I alternated watching the blur of trees go past and squeezing my eyes shut so that I couldn’t see a thing. Before I knew it, we were in front of my house and Thom was rolling the bike up the driveway. When we came to a stop, he jumped off, helped me down and gently removed the helmet.

“We made it.”

“We did.” I smiled, proud of myself that I had taken the chance. 

“Now, take me to your spirit.” He took the grimoire out of the black leather saddlebag, tucked it under his arm and handed me a plastic bag. “I brought the candles just in case you hadn’t any.”

“This way,” I said and led him to the back of the house.

We set up all our supplies on the patio table. Ghosty moved from his spot on the lounger to hover behind us as we flipped through the pages of the grimoire.

“How are we going to find the right demon?” I asked. “All their powers overlap and on top of that, not everyone is cooperative.” 

“Do not despair. We will find him or her soon enough.” 

The leaves rustled in the background and I watched a squirrel race across the ledge onto an overhanging branch. Ghosty was starting to sway back and forth in the breeze, something I had never seen it do before. When it caught me watching, it darted to the stairs and began its descent then paused halfway. I stood up and looked down. It continued down to the grass and headed towards my running trail.

“Not now,” I yelled back at it. “I’m busy.”

“You’ve been talking to it, I see.” Thom crept up behind me. We watched as Ghosty waited by the first tree of the dirt path.

“Should we follow it?” I asked.

“Might be a good idea.”

“Might be a bad one,” I said. “But it hasn’t bothered me yet.”

“Then let’s go.” 

We dashed across the yard and as we reached Ghosty, he darted away into the woods. When we got to the fork in the trail, Ghosty went left.

“I usually go right,” I said through heavy breathing.

“It wants us to follow.” He leaned against a pine.

“No. I don’t think so.”

“Why the hell not?” he asked.

“That place gives me a bad feeling. Always has. Forget it.”

“Oh come now. You’re an all-powerful summoner in training. Scared of the dark, are you?” He laughed.

“Fine. Come on. Before we lose it.”

At the end of the densely-shaded path, there was a clearing where we found Ghosty hovering in the center of a ring of boulders. The ground was mostly mulch that smelled like fresh organic decay and the recent rain. The canopy of branches that extended overhead had dimmed whatever sunlight was left to the day. The large rocks, however, shimmered with a blue incandescent glow. 

“What is this place?” 

“It’s the shit hitting the fan,” Thom answered. He walked over to the boulder closest to him, knelt beside it and brushed away a layer of moss.

“You see, I was right. This place is bad news. Wait,” I said, seeing a familiar arrangement of lines and circles. “Isn’t that a sigil?”

“Unfortunately, yes,” he said.

“Care to elaborate?” I said in my best fake British accent.

When he looked at me, his eyes were stone cold.

“This is no joke, Gemma. This is a chamber.”

“And a chamber is?”

He frog leaped from stone to stone, revealing each one’s markings.

 “It’s bad news. It means that Harrisport is in danger. A chamber is the only way for demons to get back onto this plain without being summoned. If they know about this, they can have someone open the chamber, releasing whatever demons are tied to it.”

“So it’s like a portal.”

“What do you know about portals?” he said with a chill in his voice.

Proceed with caution, Gem.

“Suppose, hypothetically, that I had traveled through one.”

“Then I would, hypothetically, kick your arse and tell you to stay the hell away from them.”

“Then it’s a good thing this conversation is all theoretical.” I turned away and pretended to examine one of the etchings.
The sooner I shut up, the better
. 

“
It better be.” He kept his eyes on me and it took all my energy to resist the urge to tell him about Ian, the club, and the new necklace.

“Does that mean there’s more than one chamber?” I asked.

“There are seven, each one closing off a different sect of the Otherworld. Open all of them and you’re basically creating a hell on Earth.”

“Maybe it’s a coincidence. I’m sure no one knows about it. I’ve been living here all my life and it’s the first time I’m seeing this.”

“And your Dybbuk over there got us here in a matter of minutes.”

“I see your point.”

“I’m hoping that means no more arm-twisting when it comes to the summonings. I need you on board. Fully committed.”

“You got it.” I walked to the center of the ring. The ground felt no different from the surrounding area. “So how do you get one of these chambers open?”

“That’s a mystery in itself. I doubt many know.”

“So we stay on course,” I said. “We summon the right demon and get rid of the Dybbuk. Whatever this chamber needs seems to stem from them. No Dybbuk, no problems.”

“I hope you’re right,” he said brushing the loose soil from his knees.

Me too.