Incubus (56 page)

my friends and escape from campus. I stopped by my locker to drop off some books and pick up a few

others I’d need for homework. Lucas leaned against the locker bay next to me.

“What a messed up day,” he said.

“You can say that again.”

“I don’t know how she kept it together today.” Lucas shook his head in wonder. “When I heard that

tape this morning, man, I wanted to find Parker and grind his face into the ground.”

“It wasn’t Parker,” I said grimly. Lucas’s eyebrows jerked up in surprise. “It was Amber.”

“What?” He looked genuinely bewildered. “What does she have against Cassie?”

“Nothing,” I answered. “It’s me she’s trying to hurt. She couldn’t go after me directly. So she went

after my friend.”

Lucas’s jaw clenched in anger. “Wow, that’s low. Even for the ice queen.”

“She wants me gone. Out of Coronado Prep.” I closed my locker, keeping my eyes focused on the

lock while I turned the dial. “Do you think... do you think I should leave?”

“No.”

“She’s threatened to make all my friends suffer.” I shrugged miserably. “Before today I just kind

of wrote her off, but if she’d do that to Cassie—?”

“She’s sick, Braedyn,” Lucas said. “I don’t know what’s wrong with her, but it’s—you can’t give

in to her.”

“And if my friends get hurt?” I asked quietly. “Royal? You?”

“I can take care of myself,” Lucas said. “And we can watch out for Royal and Cassie together.”

Lucas offered me his hand and I took it. We walked outside together, huddling closer as a cold

breeze rustled the leaves of the aspens soaring above us.

Cassie was sitting on the stone retaining wall at one edge of the parking lot, hunched over a

notebook. As we drew closer I saw what she was working on. It was a long, elegant gown with a

swirling, full skirt that gathered loosely around the feet. Sleeves hugged the upper arms tightly, then

opened like trumpet flowers from the elbow to the wrist.

“Cass, that’s amazing,” I said, awestruck.

Cassie looked up, slipping another paper on top of the drawing.

“Wait,” I protested. “Let me see.”

Reluctantly, Cassie handed the drawing over. I noticed that the dress was just one of the designs

she’d sketched on this sheet. Next to the gown was a rich tunic, trimmed in faux fur with a sweeping

cloak to match it.

“What is this?” I asked, awe-struck.

“Just doodles,” she said, embarrassed. “I guess I got inspired.”

“Mr. Hart?” I guessed. Cassie blushed but nodded, flashing me a small smile.

“Cassie,” Lucas said. “These are awesome.”

“And when are you going to show them to him?” Royal asked, gliding up beside us and plucking

the drawing out of my hands.

“What?” Cassie squeaked. “No, this is just—doodling.” Cassie quickly snatched the drawing back

from Royal. He crossed his arms.

“Uh huh,” Royal said flatly.

“I didn’t even know we had a new drama teacher,” I said, throwing Cassie a lifeline.

“Yeah,” she said, eager for the change of subject. “Ms. Stevenson had some kind of accident this

summer, she’s going to be out the rest of the semester. I think they said she had a broken collarbone or

something.”

“Yikes,” I said.

“And on that cheerful note,” Royal said, “SAT tutor at my place this afternoon. Who’s in?”

A skinny boy bounded up to us. Rick had been one of Derek’s best friends. I felt a wave of emotion

and struggled to force my thoughts back onto happier ground. Derek had died in my home, killed by

the Guard because he’d been turned into a Thrall. It was yet another reminder of how I put the people

around me in danger. “Yo, Braedyn.”

I forced myself to smile. “Rick, what can I do for you?”

“You see today’s paper?” he asked, beaming. “I took that picture. Pretty kick-ass, huh? You looked

like, I don’t know. Like some kind of super-chick. Like Catwoman or Black Widow.”

“Yeah, it’s a nice shot,” I said, trying to keep the irony out of my voice. It was hard enough

keeping the Lilitu powers in check without an army of teenage boys identifying me with comic-book

heroines.

“Wonder what that lady was looking for,” Rick said. “So weird, right?”

“What?” Lucas and I said at the same moment.

“Yeah, I was watching her. She kept staring at the ground, walking around in circles right in the

middle of the sanctuary. Then you came down and she just lost it. Well, you know the rest of that

story. Am I right?” Rick raised his fist up, clearly expecting me to reciprocate. I bumped my fist

against his with a strained smile. “Awesome.”

“What makes you think she was looking for something?” Lucas asked, trying to get Rick to focus.

“Well, she had that thing drawn on her hand. You know. Like those weird carvings on the floor. I

figured she was looking for something specific.” A horn honked from the parking lot and Rick turned,

waving at a car. “That’s my ride,” he said. “Catch you guys later.”

As Rick raced away, I looked at Lucas. I didn’t even have to ask.

“You drive,” Lucas murmured.

I turned back to Royal and Cassie. “Catch you guys tomorrow?”

“So, that’s a ‘no’ on the SAT prep?” Royal asked.

“We—there’s this thing,” I started.

Royal held up a hand. “Spare me the details.” He turned to Cassie. “Please tell me you’re not

abandoning me, too?”

“I’m actually looking forward to meeting your academic Ken doll,” Cassie said.

Royal smiled and threw his arm over Cassie’s shoulder. He glanced at us and shrugged. “Their

loss,” he said to Cassie. “Toodles.” Royal held my gaze for a moment, and I could see his

disappointment. Then he turned and led Cassie toward his gleaming platinum two-seater in the

parking lot.

While part of me wanted to stay and do my part to cheer Cassie up, I had to go back to the mission.

If the Thrall was searching for something in that sanctuary, we needed to know what it was.

20 minutes later the town was receding in my rearview mirror. We headed across the natural preserve

that separated the mission from Puerto Escondido proper. I stepped on the gas and the Firebird leapt

forward beneath us, shooting down the ribbon of asphalt that wound up the far side of the valley.

We reached our turnoff and I eased up on the gas. The road to the mission had never been paved,

and if you didn’t know where you were going there was a good chance you’d miss it. You couldn’t see

the mission from this point on the road. It was higher up the mountain, shrouded from view by

scrubby piñon trees. Up farther, the trees would thin out, providing that amazing view from the

mission’s front door. I turned onto the dirt road. Dust and small rocks kicked up behind us.

“You know, it’s possible that Rick just saw this woman acting crazy and made up a theory that she

was looking for something to explain it,” Lucas said.

“Yeah.”

“Or maybe she was there to attack us, and she was just walking in circles, waiting for us to come

back down from that balcony.”

“Maybe.” I kept my eyes focused on the road. “Or maybe,” I said, “she
was
looking for something.

Something she didn’t want us to find. Maybe that’s why she didn’t come into the sanctuary until it

looked like we’d left. Maybe that’s why she attacked us,” I glanced at Lucas. His jaw was tight. “And

maybe that’s why she ran away after her fall, instead of coming back to finish the job.”

Lucas looked at me, his eyes full of questions.

I turned back to the road. It curved around in a gentle arc, and as we came out of the turn, the view

opened up revealing the mission. The parking lot was empty. I pulled to a stop in front of the

sanctuary and killed the engine. Neither of us moved for a moment. The last time I’d seen the mission,

I was being escorted into the back of an ambulance by a group of EMTs while Mr. Landon hovered by

my side anxiously. I felt a sudden pang of uncertainty. Maybe we should have told Dad what we were

planning.

“Well, here goes nothing,” Lucas said. I pushed down the doubt.

We got out of the car and approached the building. The doors to the sanctuary were closed but not

locked. There was no lock built into the doors, actually. If you wanted to keep someone out, you’d

have to lay the heavy crossbeam through the metal brackets bolted to the inside of the doors. Lucas

held one door open and I walked inside, scanning the space.

It seemed empty. Darker than the last time we’d been here. The shattered stained glass window

was boarded up, blocking a good part of the late afternoon sunlight. Without the warm glow of

sunlight the sanctuary seemed colder, more foreboding than peaceful. I shivered against a sudden

chill.

Lucas took my hand wordlessly. We moved forward into the space. Walking out from under the

foyer’s coved ceiling, I was suddenly aware of the hidden balcony, unseen in the shadows above us. I

had the creepy sensation that someone was watching. I shook it off.

“Let’s get this over with,” I whispered. We walked into the center of the sanctuary, coming to a

stop before the altar. The floor was stone but not, as I’d assumed earlier, paved. I wandered across the

floor but could find no seams in the rock.

“It’s all one stone,” Lucas said, echoing my thought.

We examined the floor, and discovered that we were only partially correct. The massive stone,

roughly circular in shape, stretched clear across the sanctuary. But smaller stone tiles filled the gaps

beyond the round stone, extending the floor to the edges of the room. The surface of the stone had

been worn down over the centuries, but we could still make out faint marks carved into its face. I

recognized one mark, partially hidden under a pew, and froze.

“Lucas,” I called. “Look.” I pointed down to the mark I’d spotted and heard Lucas’s sharp intake

of breath. “Help me?” Together, Lucas and I pushed the pew back, revealing a string of symbols we

both knew all too well. Symbols that were carved onto the blades of every set of daggers a new

member of the Guard received. The symbols were older than mankind; they’d been handed down to

the Guard from the three angels charged with hunting down Lilitu—Senoy, Sansenoy, and

Semangelof. These symbols were meant to protect humanity in the fight against the Lilitu.

“Why?” Lucas looked up, meeting my eyes. “Why here? Do you think the monks—?”

I stood suddenly, electric fear shooting through my nerves. “Lucas. What if
Puerto Escondido
isn’t

referring to a secret door in the sanctuary? What if it’s referring to a door between realities?”

Lucas looked up at me, brow furrowed, trying to see what had suddenly become clear to me. “I

don’t—” He stood, glancing back down at the ground.

“I think the monks built their mission directly over the seal.” I stared down at the massive stone,

ringed with ancient symbols. “I think
this
is the door they were trying to hide.”

Lucas reacted, grabbing my hand and pulling me off the massive round stone. We retreated to the

side of the sanctuary, huddling against a wall, staring back at the seal with sick fascination. Lucas had

shielded me from the stone with his body instinctively, but as the adrenaline of the moment cleared,

he turned to face me, realizing he had me pinned against the wall. His eyes found my face, but he

didn’t move. Only our breathing disturbed the silence. I knew I should say something to break the

moment, but I couldn’t. Lucas brushed fingertips along my cheek, leaving a warm glow lingering at

his touch. I looked up, finding his eyes. Somehow, even in the dim light of the mission, they gleamed.

“Tell me what you want,” he said. I saw him struggling for self-control.

“What I want,” I breathed. “What I want.” My eyes flickered to his lips. “There’s a caveat,” I said

at last. “To becoming human.”

Lucas drew back a little to get a better look at my face. “What do you mean? What caveat?”

“I can’t lose control,” I said. “Every time I slip and let the Lilitu part of me steal energy from

someone, it destroys another tiny bit of my humanity. If I lose too much, there’ll be no changing what

I am. No chance of becoming human for real. So when you ask me what I want—”