Blest (12 page)

Claire stayed in place by the window. What had her mom seen? What should she say?

Gloria smiled. “Michael’s son is getting pretty handsome.”

“You—” Claire started. How did Gloria know Jim’s dad?

Her mom put her hand in the air. “I’m not going to tell anyone, honey,” she said quietly. Her eyes flashed to Claire’s. “But you need to end things with him. Soon. Otherwise . . .” Her voice trailed off.

“Otherwise what?” Claire asked, her mouth dry. A tangle of anger and fear twisted in her stomach.

“Otherwise, someone’s going to find out. And that someone won’t keep your secrets like I do. They’ll want to report it. I’m sure you’ve heard by now that . . . angels and demons have fallen in love before. Centuries ago. But their children . . . the love . . . it all turns horrible. The only thing that angels and demons agree on, that the Tribunal all agrees on, is that an angel and a demon can never be together. If anyone else finds out . . . you’ll have all of the angels and demons on the Field coming after both of you.” She inhaled, a sharp, quick sound. “And it will all be over.”

“Why?” Claire asked, her voice shaking. “Why can’t we just be together? Things are going to be different between us. We’re not the same as some storybook romance from hundreds of years ago!”

“The Tribunal would say differently, honey.”

“That’s not a good enough reason!” Claire slammed her hand down on the windowsill, surprising herself with the force of her anger. She lowered her voice. “And why should I listen to you, anyway? You’ve been lying to me and Gunner our whole lives.”

Gloria’s eyes glistened. “Claire, I’m so sorry. I thought I was doing the right thing—I thought I could keep you safe.”

“And clueless!”

“I always meant to tell you sooner, but I was afraid. I thought I could just keep running and somehow save you from what being a demon meant.” She rubbed tears out of her eyes. “But it was foolish of me. You can’t run or hide from who you are.” She rose from the bed and reached out her arms hesitantly. Claire hesitated for a moment, then stepped forward and let her mom hug her.

“You’ve grown up into such a beautiful, strong woman. I’m so proud of you,” Gloria said, her voice catching. “Please. Promise me you’ll end things with Jim, before it’s too late.”

“That’s a promise I can’t make,” Claire said.

Her mom frowned, kissed her once on the forehead, then turned and left her room without another word.

“I won’t do it,” Claire said to the empty space. She took a shaky breath, listening to the heavy silence around her and the noise buzzing in her head. “I won’t.”

Before the Drop, the angels met on top of Sydney’s roof and watched the sun set over the lake, turning the water into ripples of pinks and purples. Jim was the first one to get there. He heard Sydney approaching from her attic—he didn’t even need to look now to see which of the angels was coming; they all moved in such distinct ways. “Hey,” he said, without turning around.

“Hey.” Sydney settled next to him, swinging her legs in a companionable silence.

“Okay, so the Drop,” Jim said slowly. “Can you tell me what it is now?”

“Fine, okay. I just didn’t want you to worry about it last night. Things were already crazy enough.” She shuddered. “I swear, Shane just wants to break the Pact and make it seem like it was our fault so the Tribunal doesn’t step in.”

“But the Tribunal doesn’t care about a Drop?”

“No, because you’re not really violating The Pact. People might get hurt, but it’s not—”

“Hurt
how
?”

Sydney tossed her blond braid over her shoulder, her hands clasping the roof and squeezing hard. Her eyes reflected the peach-orange sunset. “You know the game ‘Chicken,’ like when two cars race at each other full speed, and whoever turns away first loses?”

Jim nodded.

“Well, this is like that. An angel and a demon ‘drop’ from the tallest thing they can find, a building or a cliff usually, and they don’t use their wings. Whoever spreads their wings first is the one who loses.” Her voice dropped to a deadly whisper. “Last time, I lost. To Shane.” Sydney’s eyes focused somewhere on the distance.

“Did anyone get hurt?” Jim asked anxiously.

“Not last time, no.” Her face turned grim. “But—and this stays between us—I’m a little worried about Leo.”

“Has he ever done a Drop before?”

Sydney shook her head. “No. And he’s not the best flier, you know that.”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” Jim said. “After all, angelic durability, right?”

“Well . . .” Sydney said uneasily. “We’re Durable up to a point. Not a Drop like this. Shane said the Sunner Tower, downtown. It’s more than forty stories high.”

Jim started to reply, but the rest of the Feather appeared. Leo told everyone that he had just come from dinner, and had barbecue sauce smeared on his face as proof. “My dad says chicken wings are the best way to prepare for a Drop. Lots of spicy stuff to get your blood flowing, plus if you weigh more, you fall faster.”

Miles raised an eyebrow. “And getting lots of barbecue sauce all over your face? Is that part of the strategy?”

Leo grinned and wiped the sauce away. In the far distance, the skyscrapers of downtown St. Louis poked up against the sky. “Great,” he said. “This will be a good warm-up flight.”

“Come on, guys,” Sydney said, standing up. “It’s time to go.” She jumped off the edge of the roof and started off toward the distant skyline.

“You know,” Miles said to Jim, “Sydney and Shane did a Drop last summer.”

“Yeah, she told me,” Jim started to say, but Miles cut him off.

“Did she tell you
why
?” Jim shook his head, and Miles pressed on. “Their parents organized it. They wanted to see
whose kid was better
. I think losing that Drop really screwed with her,” Miles went on, whispering now. “I know General Lumen wasn’t too happy about—”

Nora swatted him. “Miles! Quit gossiping! And you call me the nosy one.”

Miles shrugged. “Someone’s got to throw Jim a freaking wingbone here.” He grinned. “And Leo ate all of his.” Leo rolled his eyes and jumped off the roof to join Sydney. Miles laughed and took off after him.

“Who knows,” Nora said, looking at Jim. Her face was somber, like she was already expecting the worst. “Maybe you’ll be good luck.”

• • •

The first building Jim noticed as the Feather glided over St. Louis was the Gateway Arch, which was glowing a platinum blue that shimmered on the waters of the Mississippi River behind it. He had been to St. Louis once or twice before, but never at night. All around the enormous arch were the skyscrapers of St. Louis, their lights glittering. For a second, Jim almost felt like he had entered his mural on the water tower. Even flying through the sky made him feel like the figure in the middle of the painting.

Sydney pointed. “The Arch was a Portal to Glisten once. That’s why there are so many angels and demons around St. Louis. There were a lot of battles here once upon a time.”

“Hey!” Miles whirled around at them, his wings flapping furiously. “The demons are already there.”

The Sunner Tower stood right beside the water. As Jim flew to it, he could see figures standing on the roof. He could tell which one was Claire right away. She was talking with some blond girl he had seen a few times before, mostly as she came out of the bathrooms, smelling like cigarette smoke. He hoped that Claire wasn’t actually making friends with anyone in the Scale. He couldn’t imagine that any of them would be a positive influence.

The Feather landed on the opposite end of the roof from the demons. Shane and Gunner stalked up to them immediately. Shane rolled on his feet cockily, while Gunner’s fists were clenched in rage. Jim tried as hard as he could to keep his eyes focused on the two of them and not let his eyes skip to where he knew Claire was standing.

“Leo, I’m amazed that your wings can even hold up your freaking fat body,” Shane said. “Are you sure you won’t just drop like a brick?” His gaze slid over to Sydney. “Then again, maybe if Sydney had weighed a little more, she wouldn’t have lost so badly last year.” He turned to Gunner, as if conversationally. “It was sad, really. In front of her mom and everything.”

“Watch it, Shane,” Leo thundered.

“Let’s just do this thing,” Gunner said, and stormed toward the edge of the building. Leo followed.

The wind tore over the roof, howling in their ears. They were so high up that Jim could barely see the pavement below, where one lonely streetlight was flickering. The streets were deserted, which he decided was a good thing. You couldn’t really invent a better way to give away the angel’s secret than by jumping off a skyscraper and then magically floating up at the last second.

“My dad had people disable all the security cameras around here,” Shane said, looking at Sydney, “so there’s no need to snitch to the Tribunal about this.”

“They don’t care about Drops!” Nora said. “Shows what you know.”

Shane snorted. “Sure, they don’t care about Drops when they’re proposed by angels. They have kind of a double standard for demons, if you hadn’t noticed.”

“I’m sick of talking,” Gunner said. He looked pointedly at Leo. “Ready?”

Leo puffed out his chest. “Let’s see how much you’ve learned in the past month, man.”

All the other angels and demons flew down to the sidewalk, where they could watch the Drop from below. It took almost a minute just to glide to the ground. The wind from the top of the skyscraper seemed to chase after Jim as he flew down, roaring in his ears and pressing like cold glass against his face. Miles decided to go headfirst, diving off the roof and cutting up right at the last second. Halfway through his own descent, Jim caught a flash of dark brown hair to his left and saw Claire fly by him. His eyes widened as he watched her dive through the air alongside Julia. How had she gotten so good at flying so fast?

He flushed as he floated the rest of the way down, coming to a cautious landing on the sidewalk. Claire caught his eye and gave him a smile that disappeared so quickly that he almost thought he’d imagined it.

Jim craned his neck so he could squint at the roof of Sunner Tower. It seemed almost impossibly high. Nora and Miles gathered next to him. A few feet away, Sydney paced back and forth, tugging at her braid.

“Is it true, what Shane said?” he asked, trying to pinpoint where Gunner and Leo were standing.

“Is what true?” Nora asked. “That stuff about the Tribunal having a double standard?” She shrugged. “I’ve heard stories that demons can get banished to Slag for stupid things, things that have nothing to do with the Pact, but those are all myths that the demons make up to make themselves feel legitimate about their cause.”

“Right,” Jim said. It was hard to know whether the angels or the demons were telling the whole truth about anything. Obviously Shane would exaggerate anything that could give credit to the demon’s cause. But what would happen if the Tribunal found out about him and Claire? Would it be worse for her? Would she be banished to Slag while he was left on the Field and stripped of his wings?

“There they are!” Miles exclaimed.

Everyone followed his finger. Leo was little more than a lump against the tattered clouds of the night sky, his white wings a blur. Gunner’s crimson wings reflected the tower’s lights, looking like two bloody teardrops. Jim held his breath. No one said a word. The street was silent. In the distance, he could hear traffic and murmured voices of people far away.

With almost no warning, Gunner and Leo both took steps from the ledge—and fell, their wings furled tight against their bodies. He heard Claire gasp sharply. He wanted Leo to win, but he didn’t want anything to happen to Gunner, for her sake.

Gunner and Leo fell at almost the same exact speed, shooting like bullets toward the earth, headfirst. Gunner’s dark hair wavered and rippled as the wind tore through it. Both of them had their wings tucked tightly behind their backs, accelerating faster and faster in complete free-fall.

“Let’s do it, Leo!” Miles shouted. Jim tried to join in, but his mouth was dry. He felt the urge to cover his eyes, but he knew everyone would laugh at him for it.

“Get him, Gunner!” Shane roared.

Gunner and Leo came into the flickering radiance of the streetlight, their faces grim and shiny with sweat. Thirty feet . . . twenty feet . . . fifteen feet . . .

“Leo’s going to break soon!” Maria said gleefully.

At what seemed to be the very last instant, Gunner’s wings burst out behind him, unfolding and catching the air, blasting him up a few feet. Leo did the same, but about a half-second later. Jim could barely believe it. Leo had beaten Gunner.

“You freaking did it!” Miles howled, jumping off the ground and flying to Leo, smacking his hand in a high five.

Leo thanked him breathlessly, wiping his forehead with the back of his arm. “It was about as easy as it looked,” he panted.

Jim flew up to join them. “Great job, man,” he managed, his voice almost a squeak.

“That was so freaking stupid!” Shane shouted, grabbing his hair. “No, no, no!” He didn’t even look at Gunner, who seemed to be in a state of shock that he had lost, drifting quietly to the sidewalk and staring at nothing.

“You!” Shane called, his finger aimed like a lance. “You, I challenge you to a Drop!”

Jim realized Shane was pointing at
him
. He turned pale and felt like the world suddenly shrank, as if there was only just him, Shane, and Shane’s pointing finger.

“What, too scared?” Shane challenged. “Gunner’s had his wings just as long as you have.”

Jim fluttered back to the sidewalk. He could feel everyone’s eyes burning into him. “I’m—” His palms were sweaty.
No
, he thought. He couldn’t do it. But he had to. “I’ll do it. I can do it.”

“I’ll do it for Jim,” Miles said, flapping to the sidewalk. “There’s no way he’s ready yet. Just like Gunner wasn’t ready.”

“No,” Jim said. “I—”

“Fine, Miles!” Shane said. “I’d rather it be you, anyway—I want it to really mean something when I win.”

Maria clasped her hand around Shane’s arm. “Babe, are you sure you want to—”

“Yes!” he snapped, tearing his arm away. “Gunner hasn’t had his wings for very long, he’s still training. But me?
Me
?” His voice grew frantic.

Maria stepped away from him, mumbling something.

Miles took a few steps toward Shane and stretched his arms. “You’re in a rush to lose, huh?”

“Just shut up!” Shane shrieked. “Let’s do this!”

Shane and Miles jumped into the air. The rest of the Feather and the Scale watched as they disappeared up to the roof. Sydney walked over to Nora, Leo, and Jim and gave Leo what looked like a bone-crushing hug. He grunted in surprise.

“Great job,” she said. She turned to the Scale. Claire and Gunner huddled by a bench. Claire hovered over her brother, her hand on his shoulder. Gunner sat on the bench, his head in his hands. Julia, Erik, and Ben looked back at the Feather evenly. “Are you guys sure you can handle two losses tonight? Gunner and Shane are kind of the leaders, right?” Sydney challenged. “What happens when they both lose to angels?”

“Leo got lucky, there’s no way an angel would beat a fully-trained demon,” Erik said. “Everyone knows that.”

“Yeah!” Maria added. “Shane is totally going to—”

“They’re falling!” Julia exclaimed.

Everyone turned as Miles and Shane jumped off the ledge, their shadows flitting past windows like wild ghosts. Miles bellowed a long, drawn-out cheer as he fell. Shane was locked in place, looking down at his feet as the pavement rushed up to meet them.

Halfway down, Miles stopped making any sound. The wind rushed through Jim’s ears, as if he was falling to the earth, too, as if the air was trying to tell him some big secret.

“They’re going fast,” Maria whispered. “Too fast!”

As they came closer to the ground, Jim could see that Miles and Shane had no expressions on their faces except grim determination. With thirty feet left to go, they showed no signs of slowing. Or moving their wings.

“Come on, Shane, come on,” Maria whispered. It sounded more like a prayer than a cheer.

Fifteen feet
. Jim stopped breathing. The wind made him go deaf, screaming all around him.
Ten feet
. His heart hammered in his chest. Surely they would pull away now.
Seven feet
.

And then both figures hit the ground. One pulled away at the last second, screaming, and rolled away onto the sidewalk. The other figured stayed still, in a heap.

The silence lasted for an eternity.

Then everyone started moving at once. “Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!” Sydney dashed to the screaming figure. Miles. Miles was the one screaming, Jim realized. Shane wasn’t. They had both hit the ground, but Miles had managed to spread his wings and turn away just in time. As for Shane—