Falling Under (30 page)
Having six people in the small one-room cabin was beginning to make me claustrophobic. And nobody seemed to be getting any closer to finding a way to save Haden.
“Varnie, if you don’t want to invoke Haden here—can you send me back? It was a realm called Under,” I said.
Donny and Ame chimed in with a resounding “no,” but Varnie just stared at me like I’d sprouted a second head or something.
“I can’t let him stay there alone. I just can’t.”
Mike finally spoke. “Is there anything to eat?”
Donny shot Gabe an exasperated look.
Gabe seemed to understand what that expression meant, and that if he didn’t get Mike out of there, Donny was going to blow a fuse. “Well, it looks like the prank went really well,” he said. “So I guess I’ll drive Mike back home now. Thanks for playing along, Varnie. We totally punk’d you, dude. I can’t believe you really thought we were bounty hunters.”
Gabe clapped Varnie on the shoulder and Varnie flinched. “Prank?”
“Taking Mike home is a great idea,” Donny said. “See you tomorrow. Thanks for your help.”
Gabe kissed her hand. “I’ll be back in an hour,
honey
.”
honey
.”
She snatched her hand away. “No need,
sweetheart
. We’re all fine here. See you tomorrow at school. We’ll lock up when we leave.”
sweetheart
. We’re all fine here. See you tomorrow at school. We’ll lock up when we leave.”
“Sixty minutes,
sugarplum
.” He leaned in for a kiss.
sugarplum
.” He leaned in for a kiss.
“Get your pleather-wearing long-haired paws off me—”
Gabe kissed her soundly, cutting off her protest. When he pulled back, she was quiet. “Don’t burn the cabin down.” He brushed his thumb across her cheek. “Be careful, okay? I’m coming back.”
Donny nodded. Her fingers lingered a touch too long to be considered uncaring as he brushed past her.
The door clicked behind him.
Varnie glared at Donny. “The thug is your boyfriend?”
“Hell, no.” She had her hands on her hips. “But, Ame, when this is all over we need to have a serious discussion about Mike. I think he has way too much frosting on his flakes.”
“I know, I know,” Ame answered, her cheeks a little pink.
Varnie turned to Ame. “The other one is
your
boyfriend?” he asked incredulously.
your
boyfriend?” he asked incredulously.
“No. Not yet,” Ame answered.
“You like him?” Varnie looked a little … angry.
“The mullet is a just a wig.” Ame crossed her arms in front of her. “Besides, who I like has nothing to do with anything right now.”
“I don’t care if he’s bald. He’s practically mute.”
Donny and I exchanged glances. The kind that said, “Well, isn’t this interesting?”
“He’s not mute. He’s shy. And why do you care who I do or don’t date?”
Varnie threw his hands up. “I don’t. I just think you could do better.”
“At least he isn’t a cross-dresser.” She clapped her hand over her mouth, ashamed and embarrassed that she’d let that slip out.
He shook his head ruefully. He started to speak, then stopped twice before he finally said, “You have a natural talent, Amelia. And your life is just going to get stranger as it grows. Guys like that won’t be able to keep up with you.”
Donny sent me another wary glance. “So, guys … how about that demon summoning? Ready to get started?”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
H
aden watched the snow fall outside his window, knowing the weather portended his mother’s state of mind. He wasn’t looking forward to whatever came next, as icicles fell like daggers alongside the snowflakes.
aden watched the snow fall outside his window, knowing the weather portended his mother’s state of mind. He wasn’t looking forward to whatever came next, as icicles fell like daggers alongside the snowflakes.
At least she’d locked him in his own room this time, rather than the dungeon. And thankfully, Theia had gotten away somehow.
He missed her. He would always miss her. The gaping crater his heart once claimed would forever feel her absence. Something stirred inside him. A strong desire to go somewhere unnamed came upon him and grew until it became an urgent need. He was being called … nay, summoned. He clutched the bed post as a terrible searing overtook his internal organs and he choked on air. It wasn’t possible… . Surely nobody would … Again, a seizing pain clawed at him.
He gasped as he saw his flesh become transparent, fading into a mere whisper. It was true, then. Someone was invoking him. He prayed it wasn’t Theia—but he had no business praying, did he?
He damned himself for not warning her about this. It was too late for damning, though, and she would know that soon enough.
His body disappeared, and the invoking had been accomplished. Unfortunately for whoever had called him, Haden remained in Under.
Anticipation battered us with stinging whips of sensation. Would it work? Did I want it to work? By the look on Varnie’s face, I most decidedly did not. The last chant was spoken, the air stilled, the flame of each candle sputtered, and we waited.
The rain outside pummeled the cabin and the wind roared ferociously, whistling through cracks in the not very sturdy walls. Lightning cracked the sky and where there had been nothing, there was now Haden.
“Hello, lamb. Miss me?”
Donny jumped up. “I’ll get the lights.”
Varnie put a stilling hand on my arm as I instinctively moved towards Haden. “Wait.”
An overhead fixture lit the room and my eyes sought Haden. He was so beautiful it hurt to look at him. I swallowed, relief overwhelming me. “Thank God you’re okay.”
Haden stared into my eyes. “I don’t think we have God to thank for this, do we?”
I started towards him, needing to be in his arms, hear his heartbeat, but Varnie pulled me back. Haden didn’t avert his gaze; instead he narrowed his eyes, as if he were looking at me for the first time. And then he smiled. The wicked smile. I straightened my spine despite its reluctance to do so. Something wasn’t right.
Haden pushed himself up from the floor and out of our circle. “How fortunate I am that you’ve rescued me. Thank you all for this
lovely
turn of events.”
lovely
turn of events.”
An uncomfortable static picked up, and a humming din thrummed through the small room. Haden’s predatory mask overcame his handsome features, and he picked up Amelia’s hand, kissing each knuckle with mischief. My heart plummeted as I realized he was using the Lure on my best friend.
Varnie yanked her away from Haden, putting himself between them, standing up slowly.
Haden tsked. “Ah, she is spoken for, then? Too bad—all that power would be refreshing right now. I could fight you for her, I suppose, but it seems like a lot of work for a snack.”
I stood up on shaky legs. “Haden, what’s going on?” He let down his mask when he looked at me, so I stepped closer. “Do you know who I am? Do you remember me?”
“Of course I do, my little poppet. You’re the one who saved me.” He touched my hair carefully, reverently. “You’re lovely, really you are … but you’re rather … Well, let’s just say your essence isn’t as robust as your friends’. I’m sure I’ll get to you eventually.”
With each ugly word, my heart broke into more pieces. “Haden, I don’t understand. I thought … I thought you had feelings for me.”
He laughed and gazed across the room at Donny like she was a treat in a sweet shop. “I’m a demon. Have you learned nothing? Demons don’t love; they especially don’t love silly little girls who hide from anything that isn’t
careful
or prescribed as safe by Daddy. Your pragmatism bores me to tears. You were a fun diversion, for a while, but that is all you will ever be.”
careful
or prescribed as safe by Daddy. Your pragmatism bores me to tears. You were a fun diversion, for a while, but that is all you will ever be.”
I looked down at the ball gown I still wore, and I felt so intolerably stupid. Had he been playing me this whole time? No, surely not. But his words crushed me and his face no longer resembled the boy I’d kissed.
Maybe he had.
I’d enabled him to come here, to my world, and wreak his havoc. When I thought of what an easy mark I’d been, I felt shamed. All he’d had to do was tell me he found me enchanting and dangle me on a string. I really was his little poppet. And now, the way he eyed Donny, he was going to hurt the people I loved most because I was an idjit with a dangerously foolish heart.
Why had I stopped listening to my father? He was right—about me, about everything. And now I was trapped in a cabin with the devil because I was reckless just like my mother.
“It’s possible that this whole thing is my fault,” said Varnie, very carefully keeping Ame behind him while he edged towards the door, where an uncharacteristically quiet Donny still stood by the light switch. “Perhaps we should have used some more-specific wording in the evocation chant.”
“Ya think?” Donny answered back.
Haden grinned, and my legs turned rubbery with fear. There wasn’t a trace of the person I thought he was in that smile. “Perhaps you are right, sir. It seems you brought forth your demon … but you forgot something.” He waggled his finger as if Varnie were a precocious child.
Varnie rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Yes, yes. I see my mistake very clearly now.” He’d worked his way across the room so that now he stood in front of both Donny and Amelia, leaving me in the center of the room with Haden. Perhaps there was hope that he could get the two of them out safely.
I had a feeling I was doomed.
Then Varnie, the self-professed coward, looked Haden in the eye and said, “Sit down on that chair.” He pointed to a worn wooden dining chair.
Haden complied immediately with a confounded expression.
“I’m new. I’m inexperienced. But did you really think I would call you to my realm without the caveats?” Varnie practically spat the words at Haden.
Haden was stunned into silence. We all were.
“You are here by
my
edict only. You will do nothing unless I command it.” Varnie didn’t generally project leadership qualities, and yet Haden swallowed whatever he would have replied with. He hadn’t been commanded to speak, it seemed, so he would not.
my
edict only. You will do nothing unless I command it.” Varnie didn’t generally project leadership qualities, and yet Haden swallowed whatever he would have replied with. He hadn’t been commanded to speak, it seemed, so he would not.
Varnie called me over. I didn’t understand the dynamics of what was going on, but at that point I was more than ready to escape. I picked up the hem of my gown, prepared to prance across the room as quickly as I could. Instead, I stopped cold. The shadows of my friends disengaged and fled across the wall.
No, not again.
Not my friends.
I watched the forms race across the wall. Something was coming.
“Get outside!” I called to them all. “Run!”
Donny resisted, but Varnie and Amelia seemed to understand the change in the atmosphere of the cabin. They had to drag her, but they got Donny out the door before it slammed closed like the lid of my coffin.
I flinched at the sound, but I couldn’t move my legs to join them. It was as if I’d been bolted to the floor.
Haden hadn’t moved from his chair either. I don’t think he was able to do anything against Varnie’s wishes—a side effect of the summoning that I hadn’t understood. He didn’t seem worried. It was probably his mother coming to rescue him, after all. He smirked at me, and I wanted to hate him.
But I didn’t.
A whisper of brimstone reached my nose, and I waited for the scraping noises. But no skeletons came through a portal in the wall this time; instead, I blinked and found myself instantly back in the empty banquet room of Mara’s castle.
Alone.
While the experience of traveling between the realms was much more pleasant this time than incinerating had been, I dared not be relieved to find myself back in Under. Especially without an ally.
The pain of Haden’s betrayal stung again as I remembered he had never been an ally. I looked at our empty seats at the long table, remembering how to fool his mother he’d pretended so stoically that I meant nothing to him. What an actor my demon was.
I wondered why he hadn’t joined me.
I waited a few minutes for Mara to summon me somewhere. She had brought me here, after all. Every time I blinked, the writhing creature on the platter was projected across my mind’s eye, the ghouls masquerading as revelers. I couldn’t stay in that room any longer. I took my chances in the corridor.
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