Iridescent (Ember 2) (28 page)

Candra sniffled and shook off the tears she wanted to shed.
No waterworks
. Unfortunately, it caused the nausea to build. Her mouth watered. She knew what she was doing, trying to talk herself into believing he’d never loved her. It wasn’t true. As much as Candra hated it, Sebastian had loved her once, and she’d loved him.

“I am about to go off,” Lofi warned in a harsh low voice. “You do not want to see me when I go off.”

The door to the library creaked open. Candra peeked up, hoping whoever it was would take the next seat to her so she wouldn’t have to talk. The girl who had the locker next to Candra’s earlier in the year, before Lofi had commandeered it, strolled casually over to the table. Lofi huffed at the disturbance but said nothing. The girl was a mousey little thing, although paler now than Candra remembered. Her eyes appeared sunken with dark shadows smudging them underneath, like a thumbprint. It shamed Candra to admit she couldn’t remember the girl’s name, especially when she handed Candra a folded-up piece of notepaper. Candra was pretty sure they had never been on note-passing terms.

“What’s this?” She waved the page, noticing the stiff quality of the paper.

The girl said nothing, nothing at all. She smiled, revealing a set of partially stained teeth, and swiveled on her heels.

“That’s sort of rude,” Lofi commented and curiously watched the girl retreat.

Candra unfolded the sheet of heavy white paper. Someone had penned two scripted words of elegant swirls across the page:

Tick Tock

“Candra,” Lofi gasped. In the same instant, a loud bang caught the attention of both of them.

Candra spun in her seat to see Mrs. Byrne gaping at her from beside the nearest bookshelf. Her withered hands pressed to her open mouth, and a large encyclopedia lay discarded at her feet. The woman began to tremble—at least, Candra thought she did. She couldn’t be sure, what with the room swimming before her eyes and vomit burning a path from her gut. When she looked at the note again, she knew the reason for the woman’s condition. Her hand glowed brighter than ever in the dimly lit library. Candra didn’t need a mirror to see; her entire body gave off the same radiance. The power was back, coursing through her bloodstream, shooting pulses of electricity through her muscles.

She closed her eyes and swallowed, clenching the warning from Lilith in her fist, battling to restrain the surging energy trying to burst out of her.

“No,” she howled.

Lofi already had the old librarian by the elbow, escorting her to a seat nearby, and whispering in her ear. Candra focused on her lips moving but heard nothing except ringing inside her head. Lofi fixed Mrs. Byrne with decisive eye contact, and the old woman nodded.

Another wave of nausea rushed forth, and Candra wasn’t sure she could hold the vomit at bay this time. Panicked, she looked down to see the light had faded. Without a word to Lofi, she rushed out the door, since she wasn’t about to add vomiting in the library to her list of recent humiliations.

The bell pealed through the corridor as she made her escape, keeping her clammy palm over her mouth and acting like a dam holding back a flood. A few students poured out of nearby lecture rooms, but the library was in a quieter section of the building. Candra barely made it to the bathrooms and burst through the stall door before her breakfast made a reappearance.

A disgusted mumble preceded one of the other stall doors banging. Candra guessed some unlucky student was making a quick getaway from the vile stench. Her stomach heaved until there was nothing left. Candra flushed and then leaned back against one of the partition wall and slowly slid down until she sat in a crumpled heap on the tiled, vomit-speckled floor.

Twice, the outer door opened and closed. She imagined the students repulsed by the disgusting odor but couldn’t find the energy to feel sorry about it, not with her throat burning, her head throbbing, and the note…the final straw and a clear message from Lilith that time was inching away…clutched in her fist.

She couldn’t show anyone. It was cryptic enough that they probably wouldn’t understand, but what if they did? Less than twenty-four hours ago, she’d almost admitted the truth to Sebastian. She was less sure now if that would have been an act of honesty or desperation. Candra’s hands shook as she tore the page into strips and then each strip into a small square before disposing them in the most presently convenient way.

The outer door opened again, and this time, footsteps tentatively crept nearer.

“Candra?”

She buried her face in her hands. “I can’t do this now, Lofi.”

“You are
so
doing this now.”

The door pushed in enough for Lofi to poke her head in. Just as quickly, she gagged and retreated. After about a minute, she tried for a second time and squeezed into the small cubicle. “What in the Arch’s name is going on here? Why do I get the feeling Sebastian didn’t tell you he wants to fall? And what was that about, the note and the girl?”

Candra looked up at her blankly. Fall? Why would Lofi believe he wanted to fall? Lofi groaned and pulled Candra to her feet.

“You’re a mess. Let’s get you cleaned up a bit,” she said kindly.

Candra nodded and sniffled, swiping her cheeks with her palms. She shivered, suddenly cold, drained and, she suspected, dehydrated too. Everywhere ached, and curling up into a ball on the floor seemed like just as good an idea as any. The only consolation was Lofi…any company was better than none when they faced an uncertain future.

Lofi led her out to the washbasins and wet wads of paper towels with lukewarm water. Candra leaned back against one of the basins as Lofi slowly went to work on cleaning her up. Concern shadowed every line of Lofi’s face, from her set jaw to the serious single-mindedness in her eyes.

“He lied to you too,” Candra murmured, feeling a fool for not seeing it before. Lofi would never be so callous.

Lofi’s lips formed a straight line, and her hand dropped by her side, waiting. Candra presumed she must have locked the door, since no one else disturbed them, although she heard people move past the door.

“He gave up on me,” she admitted quietly.

“What?” Lofi frowned.

“There’s more…and I need to tell someone, but I’m not ready yet.”

“Okay.” Lofi tilted her head a little and smiled weakly, seeming to understand. “I’ll take you home, and we can talk later.”

Candra caught Lofi’s wrist as the towel pushed damp hair away from her face. “No, not home. Can you take me to Draven?”

Candra kept her head down in the elevator. It was the first time she’d ever had company besides Ananchel on the journey to Draven’s private floor. Seven Watchers crowed in with her, all beautiful, all tall with a strength and grace that both sizzled through the confined space and comforted her.

One by one, they exited. She was alone by the time the door pinged and sliced open with a smooth swish of metal gliding. Nathaniel stood on the other side, waiting to greet her, and she released a breath. The guy was huge and about as intimidating as Watchers came. His black suit was gone, replaced by black jeans, a fitted black shirt, and some serious steel-toe boots, the soles of which added unnecessary inches to his height.

Candra resisted fidgeting as she stepped out. Her hair stank of vomit, and her clothes were scruffy and crumpled underneath her padded jacket.

Ignoring it or pretending not to notice, Nathaniel smiled a greeting and stepped aside, waving his hand for Candra to move forward down the corridor. Draven had introduced them the evening she had been called to explain her meeting with Lilith, but they hadn’t had a chance to talk. All she knew was the guy had recently arrived from England. They walked down the paneled hallway in silence. Candra actively avoided looking at any of the tapestries as usual. They depicted the early history of the Watchers, the war between the Nuhra and Tenebras, and the slaughter of the Nephilim, many still in infancy. Some of the sword-wielding warriors were among those she now thought of as family.

“Thank you for escorting me,” Candra said as a way of cutting the silence. It wasn’t exactly uncomfortable, but it left her open to thinking too hard.

“Draven thought you might prefer me to your usual escort,” he answered casually.

She adjusted her book bag to her shoulder, thinking of a way to respond. Nathaniel glanced down at her before she had a chance to wonder what Draven had told him. One corner of his lips quirked up.

“Does it bother you that Draven told me what happened?”

Candra shrugged, ready to lie. She didn’t relish anyone knowing, but it seemed inevitable that people would talk. “It wasn’t a confidence. Is she here?”

“She’s keeping her head low, but I’m sure she’ll show up eventually. She always does.”

She suspected by his dismissive tone that he didn’t entirely approve of Ananchel, unlike Draven, who appeared to excuse her anything. “Do you know Ananchel and Draven well?”

He chuckled, a sound that helped Candra’s stiff shoulders to loosen. Her first impression of Nathaniel was that he was a friendly personality, a kind of older-brother-to-everyone type of guy. He smelled of leather and sunshine. Usually, her first instincts were good.

“Sometimes, I wish I didn’t know Ananchel quite so well.”

Her stomach rolled, and she must have grimaced because his smile grew wider.

“Not the way you’re thinking. Not everyone can see Ananchel for what she is.”

She imagined his reference meant Draven, and it surprised her that this Watcher, who barely knew her from a hole in the ground, would share such information. Especially since he seemed to be among a very select few in Draven’s trusted circle. “What is she?” she pushed.

Nathaniel hummed thoughtfully. The muscles in his cheek jumped, and one big hand smoothed back and forth across his bald head. The action seemed a contemplative habit. He appeared to be assessing how much he should say. Candra took that to mean there was plenty he could. They stopped at the room where she’d slept the night before, with Nathaniel still considering.

“Ananchel is not to be underestimated,” he said finally.

She sensed his warning, and the hairs at the back of her neck stood.

“I took the liberty of throwing some clothes and toiletries together for you when Draven told me your friend called.”

“You did?” She wasn’t sure how she felt about that, a strange guy running out to the store to stock her wardrobe. The stores around Draven’s home were expensive too.

“Well, shopping for pretty women is more my area of expertise than Draven’s.”

His comment was matter-of-fact, not a hint of flirtation in it, but Candra’s cheeks grew warm, and she darted her eyes away. She was sure she didn’t look or smell very pretty and wondered what women Nathaniel bought clothes for.

“Thank you.” The desire to shower and change overrode any reservation she had about it being slightly weird, but she hated that it reminded her of Sebastian.

He nodded and opened the door for her, standing aside. “If you need anything at all, I won’t be far away, and Draven asked to pass on his apologies for not being here to meet you.”

“Where is he?”

“Dealing with all the new guests. Almost every free living space in this building and another nearby is occupied.”

“They sense something.”

“Yes,” he replied, but didn’t elaborate further.

Another warning of time ebbing, a tide receding to leave the shore exposed. The people of Acheron, and potentially the world, were the shore. Candra crossed the threshold and spun with her hand on the handle and smiled dryly. “Welcome to paradise.”

He raised an eyebrow and inhaled a deep breath that seemed to cause his chest to grow exponentially. “It may not be paradise, but it’s what we have.”

Candra thought for a moment, staring down at her feet and idly tapping on the handle. The good feeling she had about Nathaniel, she wondered if she could trust it enough to ask for the answers she needed. Could the blade really send them home? Would they leave, knowing the price was leaving the city and the world to Lilith? How could Lilith consume souls, and could she really create enough demons to wage a war? She was running out of time to work out how she fit into the puzzle. How was she made to stop this?