Beautiful Darkness (58 page)

“I'm going to try to help you get inside, but from there you'll have to find Lena. You are the Wayward, after all.” Help us get inside? Was he joking?

“You're making it sound like you aren't going with us.”

Macon slid down the rock until he was sitting on the overhang. “That assumption is correct.”

I didn't try to hide my anger. “Are you kidding? You said it
yourself. You think we're gonna save Lena without you — a Siren who's lost her powers, a Mortal who never had any, a librarian, and me? Against a pack of Blood Incubuses and enough Vexes to take down the Air Force? Seriously? Tell me you have some kind of a plan.”

Macon looked up at the moon. “I am going to help you, but it will be from here. Trust me, Mr. Wate. This is the way it has to be.”

I stood there staring at him. He was serious. He was going to send us in alone. “If that was supposed to be reassuring, it wasn't.”

“There is only one battle that awaits down there, and it doesn't belong to me or to your friends. It's yours, son. You're a Wayward, a Mortal with great purpose. You've been fighting as long as I've known you — the self-serving ladies of the DAR, the Disciplinary Committee, the Sixteenth Moon, even your friends. I have no doubt you will find a way.”

I had been fighting all year, but it didn't make me feel any better. Mrs. Lincoln might look like she could suck the life right out of you, but she couldn't actually do it. What waited below us was a different story.

Macon drew something out of his pocket and pressed it into my hand. “Here. This is all I have, as my recent trip was rather unexpected, and I didn't have time to pack.” I stared down at the small square of gold. It was a miniature book, held shut with a clasp. I pressed on it, and it sprang open. Inside, there was a picture of my mother, the girl from the visions. His Lila Jane.

He looked away. “It happened to be in my pocket, after all this time. Imagine that.” But the charm was worn and scratched, and I knew without a doubt it was in his pocket today because
it was every day, as it had been for who knows how many years. “I believe you'll find this is an object of power for you, Ethan. It always has been for me. Let's not forget, our Lila Jane was a strong woman. She saved my life, even from the grave.”

I recognized the look on my mother's face in the photo. It was one I thought she saved for me. It was the look she gave me the first time I read the road signs out loud through the car window, before she realized I could read. It was the look she gave me when I had eaten one of Amma's buttermilk pies by myself and slept in her bed with a stomachache as fierce as Amma herself. It was the look she saved for my first day of school, my first basketball game, my first crush.

And here it was again, staring out from inside the tiny book. She wouldn't abandon me. And Macon wouldn't either. Maybe he did have some kind of plan. He had cheated death. I pushed the book into my pocket, next to Lena's necklace.

“Wait a second.” Link walked over. “I'm glad you have that little gold book and all, but you said the whole Blood pack was gonna be in there, plus Vampire Boy, and Lena's mom, and the Emperor, or whoever this Abraham guy is. And last time I checked, Han Solo wasn't around. So don't you think we need more than a little book?”

Ridley was nodding behind him. “Link's right. You may be able to save Lena, but not unless you can get to her.”

Link tried to bend down next to Macon. “Mr. Ravenwood, can't you come with us and take out a couple a guys for us?”

Macon lifted an eyebrow. This was the first real conversation he'd ever had with Link. “Unfortunately, son, my incarceration has weakened me….”

“He's Transitioning, Link. He can't possibly go down there.
He's incredibly vulnerable.” Liv was still holding Macon up, for the most part.

“Olivia is right. Incubuses possess incredible strength and speed. I'm no match for any of them in my present state.”

“Luckily, I am.” The voice came out of nowhere, and she ripped through the darkness even faster. She was wearing a long black coat with a high neck and wrecked black boots. Her brown hair was blowing in the wind.

I recognized the Succubus from the funeral right away. It was Leah Ravenwood, Macon's sister. Macon was as shocked as the rest of us to see her. “Leah?

She slid her arm across his back, supporting him, looking deep into his eyes. “Green, eh? That will take some getting used to.” She laid her head on his shoulder, the way Lena used to.

“How did you find us?”

She laughed. “You're the talk of the Tunnels. Word on the street is my big brother's taking on Abraham. And I heard he isn't too pleased with you.”

Macon's sister — the one Arelia took to New Orleans when she left Macon's father. The Sisters had mentioned her.

“Dark and Light will be what they are.”

Link caught my eye from behind them, and I knew the question. He was waiting for me to make the call. Fight or flight. It wasn't clear what Leah Ravenwood wanted from us or why she was here. But if she was like Hunting, and she fed on blood instead of dreams, we had to get away fast. I looked at Liv. She shook her head, almost imperceptibly. She wasn't sure either.

Macon smiled one of his rare smiles. “Now, what are you doing here, my dear?”

“I'm here to even the odds. You know I love a good family
feud.” Leah smiled. She fluttered her wrist, and a long staff, made of polished wood, appeared in her hand. “And I carry a big stick.”

Macon was at a loss. I couldn't decide whether he looked relieved or concerned. Either way, he was stunned. “Why now? You don't usually concern yourself with Caster affairs.”

Leah reached into her pocket and took out a rubber band, pulling her hair into a ponytail. “This isn't just a Caster battle, not anymore. If the Order is destroyed, we may be destroyed with it.”

Macon gave her a meaningful look. I recognized it as his
not in front of the children
expression. “The Order of Things has stood since the beginning of time. It will take more than a Cataclyst to bring about its destruction.”

She smiled and swung her staff. “And it's about time someone taught Hunting some manners. My motives are pure, like the heart of a Succubus.” Macon laughed at the thought. From where I was standing, it didn't sound so funny.

Dark or Light — Leah Ravenwood could go either way, but it didn't matter to me. “We need to find Lena.”

Leah picked up her stick. “I was waiting for you to say that.”

Link cleared his throat. “Um, I don't wanna be rude, ma'am. But Ethan says Hunting's down there with his Blood pack. Don't get me wrong, you seem pretty badass and all, but you're still just a girl with a stick.”

“This” — in a split second, Leah extended the rod straight out, inches from Link's nose —“is a Succubine Staff, not a stick. And I'm not a girl. I'm a Succubus. When it comes to our kind, the females have the advantage. We are quicker, stronger, and
more clever than our male counterparts. Think of me as the praying mantis of the supernatural world.”

“Aren't those the bugs that bite off the heads of the males?” Link looked skeptical.

“Yes. Then they eat them.”

Whatever reservations Macon may have had about Leah, he seemed relieved she was going with us. But he did have some last minute advice. “Larkin has grown up since you last saw him, Leah. He's a powerful Illusionist. Be careful. And according to Olivia, our brother keeps his mindless hounds with him, a Blood pack.”

“Don't worry, big brother. I have a pet of my own.” She looked up at the ledge above us. Some kind of wild mountain lion, about the size of a German shepherd, lounged on the rocks, its tail hanging over the side. “Bade!” The cat leaped to its feet and opened its jaws, flashing rows of razor-sharp teeth, and jumped down beside her. “I'm sure Bade can't wait to play with Hunting's pups. You know what they say about cats and dogs.”

Ridley whispered to Liv. “Bade is the voodoo god of wind and storms. Not one you wanna screw with.” It reminded me of Lena, which made me feel a little better about the hundred and fifty pound cat staring down at me.

“Stalk and ambush is her specialty.” Leah rubbed the cat behind its ears.

At the sight of the wild cat, Lucille ran over and swatted her playfully. Bade nudged Lucille with her muzzle. Leah bent down and picked her up. “Lucille, how's my sweet girl?”

“How do you know my great-aunt's cat?”

“I was there when Lucille was born. She was my mamma's cat. My mother gave Lucille to your Aunt Prue so she could find her way around the Tunnels.” Lucille rolled around between Bade's paws.

I hadn't been so sure about Leah, but Lucille had never let me down. She was a good judge of character, even if she was a cat.

A Caster cat. I should have known.

Leah tucked the staff under her belt, and I knew the time for talk was over. “Ready?”

Macon reached out his hand, and I took it. For a second, I could feel the power in his grip, as if we were in some kind of Caster conversation I couldn't comprehend. Then he let go, and I turned toward the cave, wondering if I would ever see him again.

I led the way and, motley or not, my friends were right behind me. My friends, a Succubus, and a mountain lion named after a volatile voodoo god. I only hoped it was enough.

6.20

W
hen we reached the base of the cliff, we hid behind a rock formation a few yards from the cave. Two Incubuses were guarding the entrance, talking in low tones. I recognized the scarred one from Macon's funeral. “Great.” Two Blood Incubuses, and we weren't even inside. I knew the rest of the pack couldn't be far away.

“Leave them to me, but you may not want to watch.” Leah signaled Bade, who loped to her side.

The staff flashed through the air like lightning. The two Incubuses never saw it coming. Leah had the first Incubus on the ground in seconds. Bade lunged, catching the other by the throat and pinning him. Leah rose, wiping her mouth on her sleeve, and spat, a bloody spot marking the sand. “Old blood, seventy, a hundred years. I can taste it.”

Link's mouth hung open. “Is she expecting us to do that?”

Leah bent at the neck of the second Incubus for barely a minute before she was waving us on. “Go.”

I didn't move. “What do we — what do I do?”

“Fight.”

The entrance to the cave was so bright, the sun could have been shining inside. “I can't do this.”

Link looked into the cave nervously. “What are you talkin’ about, man?”

I looked at my friends. “I think you guys should go back. This is too dangerous. I shouldn't have dragged you into this.”

“Nobody dragged me anywhere. I came to —” Link looked at Ridley, then turned away awkwardly. “To get away from it all.”

Ridley flipped her muddy hair dramatically. “Well, I certainly didn't come here because of you, Short Straw. Don't flatter yourself. As much as I like hanging out with you dorks, I'm here to help my cousin.” She looked at Liv. “What's your excuse?”

Liv's voice was quiet. “Do you believe in destiny?”

We all looked at Liv like she was crazy, but she didn't care. “Well, I do. I've been watching the Caster sky for as long as I can remember, and when it changed, I saw it. The Southern Star, the Seventeenth Moon, my selenometer that everyone at home teased me about — this is my destiny. I was supposed to be here. Even if … no matter what.”