The Girl and The Raven (26 page)

“You went back on your word and he changed the stakes,” I mutter.

Mr. Douglas stares vaguely at Aiden. “Lucy is Jude’s daughter?”

“She is.”

“How is that possible?” Mr. Douglas reaches into his pocket and, catching himself, rests his arms on his thighs. “Jude told me it was impossible.”

“It’s true.” I sigh.

“Lucy,” Mr. Douglas interrupts, his voice pleading. “You’ve got to help me. Please don’t let him hurt Ethan and Brandi.”

“It’s you he wants,” Aiden says, his eyes piercing mine.

“What do you mean?”

“Aiden, forget it,” Marcus growls.

“You know what you need to do,” Aiden says, his voice firm.

Slowly, I nod. “I have to offer myself in their place.”

Marcus meets me after school on Monday to take me to the hospital. He cuts an impressive figure leaning against my locker, since he’s taller than most other kids here, and wears an attitude that says he’s above it all. And he’s gorgeous. I just wish my opinion wasn’t shared by so many other girls.

“Maybe we should meet in the parking lot from now on,” I suggest.

He smiles and pulls me to him. He chucks me under the chin at the same time his head dips. I close my eyes as his lips press against mine.

I eventually pull away. “People are staring,” I whisper, my cheeks flushed. “I thought you weren’t into PDA.”

“You’re right. They are. You’d better get used to it, now that you’re my girlfriend.” He glances behind me and grins. “Oh, and about my ‘no PDA’ rule? I was teasing.”

My knees turn to Jell-O and my hands fumble so badly, it takes several tries to get my locker open. I load my backpack and move to close my locker door.

“What’s this?” Marcus catches it, holding it open. I nibble my bottom lip, embarrassed for him to see the photo Katie took of the two of us at my birthday party taped inside. But after a moment, I realize he’s asking about the black and white photo of Momma. Bernard took it when she was eight months pregnant with me. It’s the only photo I have where she looks happy.

“Your mom,” he says gently.

I nod.

He points to a photo of me and Gram kneeling in one of her flower gardens, trowels in hand as we planted begonias and petunias. Sheldon took it the year before she died. “This one is great, too.”

“I was pretty nervous about starting school here,” I explain. “These are my favorite photos. They helped me get through the first couple weeks.” I’m surprised by his frown. “What is it?”

“You can call me anytime. You know that, don’t you?” His voice rings with concern. “I know I haven’t always been around when you needed me, but promise if anything comes up, you’ll call or text me.”

“What’s got you so worried?”

He glances at the people walking past. “Let’s talk in the car.”

I shut my locker and Marcus takes my backpack and slings it over his shoulder. The walk to the car is excruciatingly long. Marcus has more bad news to deliver. Have Persephone and Henry determined they can’t protect me against Seamus after all? Or is it Lola? What if Persephone can’t get a read on her anymore? Once in the car, Marcus stares off, looking troubled.

“I told Aiden what you said about Jude, his hypnotic powers.” He frowns. “We talked about it after you and Mr. Douglas left. Aiden said that Jude does that to a lot of people.”

I remember Mr. Douglas saying he thought Jude had hypnotized him.

Marcus continues, his voice hollow. “Over the years, he’s used it as a means to seduce women in his quest to have children.”

“Does Jude have other children besides me?” I ask, while my mind travels off in another direction. Jude pursued Momma for a while before she finally gave in and agreed to date him. Was it of her own free will?

“Jude’s demon genes don’t—can’t—successfully create human life. You’re the exception.” Marcus turns the key in the ignition and his car roars to life. “Lucy, the thing is…Aiden said that with all those women, after a while the hypnosis messed with their hardware…their brain.”

My chest is too tight. I roll the window down and allow the gentle breeze to wash over me. I turn back to Marcus. “What are you saying?”

His expression is grave. “You know better than any of us, Lucy. You saw what he did to your mom. Promise me…if anything weird starts to happen, even just a little, you’ll let me know right away.”

“I promise, but really…his effect on me isn’t that strong.” Marcus looks at me a moment longer. He doesn’t believe me. And he’s scared.

I turn and focus my attention out the passenger side window. It’s Ethan and Brandi I’m worried about. He shifts the car into gear and pulls out of the parking lot in a huff.

At the hospital, Marcus takes a seat in the lobby waiting area. Once I exit the elevator on the fifth floor, it’s not hard to tell which room is Dylan’s. It’s the one that all the laughter is coming from. I consider coming back another time, not wanting to face Dylan’s friends. Instead, I grit my teeth, continue down the hall and knock.

“Come in.”

I push open the door and am relieved to see Dylan sitting up in bed. Two fellow football players stand at the foot of his bed, their bulging arms folded over muscular chests. Rachel is there, too, sitting on the edge of Dylan’s bed. Her eyes narrow as I enter.

“Hey Tennessee!” Dylan grins. He gestures at his friends. “That’s Nick and Chad, and this is Rachel. Everyone, this is Lucy.”

Nick and Chad’s greetings are friendly enough, but when I say hello to Rachel, she ignores me. I return the favor and focus on Dylan.

His smile lights up the room. It’s aimed straight at me. “How are you?” I ask.

“Pretty good. I’m tired, but honestly I haven’t felt this good in a while.” I wonder if he’s putting up a good front for his friends. Behind his smile, he looks exhausted.

Images flash through my head from my last visit. I wish I could sit next to him and hold his hand. Rachel’s hateful stare nixes that idea. “When are you getting out of here?”

“One more round of tests, then I should be out of here tomorrow afternoon. I can’t wait to sleep in my own bed.”

“I bet,” Chad says. He and Nick laugh and punch each other in the arm. Rachel smirks but Dylan blushes. I blush too.

“Hey, I want to thank you, Tennessee,” Dylan says after shooting a dirty look at his friends. “I got all your texts and voicemail messages. I appreciate how worried you were about me.”

“Stalk much?” Rachel mutters under her breath, staring at her manicured nails.

“Shut up, Rachel,” Dylan snaps. “Where were you this whole time, huh? The only messages I got from you were the ones telling me I’m an asshole for not calling you back.”

The room falls silent.

My stomach quivers and I clear my throat. “Well, I just wanted to stop by and make sure you’re doing all right,” I say quickly.

“Hey, will you be watching Ethan and Brandi on Saturday?”

I nod, surprised by his hopeful tone. He’s probably eager to visit with his brother and sister, without Mrs. Douglas around.

“Good. I’ll come by.” He grins. “We can catch up then. I owe those little pipsqueaks a visit.”

“They miss you,” I tell him, trying to ignore Nick and Chad, who elbow each other, knowing grins on their faces.

There’s no way I’ll admit that I’ve missed him too.

As I turn to leave the room, Rachel refers to me as a hillbilly and Dylan yells at her. I’m about to let the remark go, just like I’ve always done. Without thinking, my arm reaches out to stop the door. I walk back into the room.

“What did you call me?” Heat burns through my chest straight down to my palms. I should’ve kept walking. What am I doing?

“You heard me,” Rachel says.

I feel all eyes in the room on me, but my gaze never leaves her face. I could toast her.

“I did.” I allow a small smile to play on my lips. “I would be careful if I were you.”

Rachel’s eyes glitter. “You’d be wise to follow your own advice.”

“Rachel, knock it off,” Dylan scolds her.

“She started it,” she fires back.

Nick coughs in his hand. “You did.”

Rachel shoots him a nasty look before turning back to Dylan to argue some more.

Rachel thinks she’s better than me. Better than everyone. Her voice rises as Dylan defends me. I see the dark circles under his eyes. He doesn’t need this stress. My fingers itch and tingle. Then it hits me. If I could move Jude, a grown man, halfway across a room with my mind, what can I do to a willowy sixteen-year-old? I focus all my energy on her face, specifically her nose. I imagine flicking it as hard as possible. I replay it in my mind over and over, allowing my anger to build, spin out of control.

Rachel shrieks and leaps up from the bed, her hand reaching for her nose. The room falls silent. With her hand over her nose, she cautiously looks at Dylan, then over her shoulder at Nick and Chad, then at me. I match their looks of curiosity and surprise. She lowers her hand, revealing a red nose.

Dylan looks at her with wide eyes. “Uh, Rachel?”

She blinks her watery eyes and sits back down on the bed. “It’s nothing,” she grumbles.

I shouldn’t have done it. It was wrong. What’s worse…I enjoyed it. Does that make me like Jude? I need to leave before I burst out laughing.

“See you Dylan.” I wave at him.

He grins and waves back.

Marcus looks surprised when I meet him in the lobby.

He sets aside his magazine and rises from his chair. “That was quick. Not that I’m complaining.”

“He has a room full of friends, including a girl who’s particularly nasty to me.” I make a face. I skip telling him about the exchange that took place and the fact that I’m walking on air, strangely energized.

He rolls his eyes. “Geez…I wonder why.”

Ignoring my scowl, Marcus takes my hand as we exit the hospital. “How does he look?”

“Really good, actually. He has dark circles under his eyes and he’s lost weight, but otherwise, he seems like normal Dylan. He goes home tomorrow.”

He also seems kinder. It surprised me that he defended me to Rachel in front of his football friends.

As we reach his car, Marcus pauses and turns to me. “Lucy, if you have any second thoughts about meeting with Jude, you should cancel.”

“Don’t try to talk me out of it, okay? There’s no way I’m going to let anything happen to Ethan and Brandi.” It’ll also give me a chance to look for Lola, but I can’t tell him that. He’d insist on coming with me if he thought I was going to do anything that might make Jude angry. And I don’t want Jude anywhere near Marcus.

“You shouldn’t go alone.”

Marcus unlocks the passenger door and holds it open for me. I reach out and touch his arm. “I’m not afraid of him.”

I get in the car, ignoring his look of irritation. Going around to the driver’s side, he gets in, slamming his door harder than necessary.

“Maybe you’re crazy and just don’t know it,” Marcus says. He speeds out of the parking lot and I yell at him to slow down. We’re in a hospital parking lot, after all.

The ride home is silent, each of us unwilling to budge. Once we arrive home, we hug each other stiffly. I hear him stomp up the stairs as I let myself in.

Bernard and Sheldon are watching a movie so I give them each a quick kiss and head to my room.

I have a History test on Wednesday and a paper to finish for English, which is due on Friday. I like all my classes for the most part, but it’s hard to focus on school when there is so much other stuff going on. In Lexington, school was my escape and I threw myself into it completely. Now it takes a lot more effort.

There’s a click against my window. Getting up from my desk, I go to the window and slide it open. I’m not surprised to see Marcus.

“I want to come in for a minute.”

I don’t want to fight anymore. Not tonight. “I have homework to do.”

“Just for a minute. Please.”

“Fine.” I sigh and push up the screen.

He climbs inside and steps toward me cupping my face in his hands. “I need to tell you something.”

I look at him expectantly.

“I love you.”

I wasn’t expecting
that
.

My eyes grow wide as my lungs and heart swell so big, I fear they might burst.

“I love you and I know you don’t want to hear this, but the thought of you going to meet with Jude on your own scares the hell out of me.” I’m about to interrupt, but he presses a finger to my lips. “Please stop being stubborn. Let me help you come up with another plan.”

Marcus loves me?

A slight heaviness tugs at my stomach. Darkness tries to smother my happiness as a nasty voice pipes up reminding me that Momma didn’t love me, so how could he? I tell the nasty voice to shut up.

No matter what else happens, I will always remember this moment.

I take hold of his hands and smile. I know with every inch of my being that I’m in love with Marcus.