The Girl and The Raven (6 page)

Marcus surveys the room, a look of concentration on his face. He pokes his head inside my closet. “Anything missing?”

I shake my head. “Not that I can tell.” The box I shipped from Lexington containing family photos, post cards, Momma’s old letters and my knife is still on the shelf, taped shut. My clothes and shoes are all there.

Marcus turns to me, looking worried. “You’re meeting with Henry Klein tomorrow, right?”

“How did you know?” What is it with this guy?

“Tell him about this.” He ignores my question as he surveys my room again.

My posture stiffens. Who is he to tell me what to do when he won’t even tell me how he knows all this stuff? Maybe I shouldn’t have texted him in the first place.

Marcus pulls out his cell phone.

“Aiden, it’s me. Is Persephone still with you?” Marcus’ eyes travel from me to the window, his voice low. “Yes, someone’s been in here, but not…” his gaze returns to me, “who we thought.”

I narrow my eyes at him. What does he mean? Who did they think would break into my room? And why are they talking about me behind my back? A flash of heat passes along my palms. I shove them deeper into my pockets.

“It’s a demon. I can feel traces of him, but...”

Demon?
I cup my elbows in my hands, hugging them close to my body in an effort to hide my trembling. “Yes, a powerful one.”

Demon?

“No, she said nothing’s missing.”

I jerk my head up and down in confirmation, trying not to freak out.

“He’s gone. Of course I’m sure.” Marcus rolls his eyes. “I agree…Yes, I’ll do that...I was thinking the
whole
night. Yes, I know what that means.” He clenches his jaw. “Yeah, yeah…I got it.”

Marcus ends the call and roughly shoves his phone into his pocket.

“Demon?” I ask, my voice shaking. “What do you mean… demon?”

He looks at me, trying to figure out what to say. We both whip our heads toward the door at the sound of my uncles’ voices.

“Meet me on the roof.”

“Okay. Now go,” I whisper urgently as I raise the screen and wave him out.

I close the screen as someone knocks on my door. Bernard pokes his head in.

“We’re about to watch a movie. Want to join us?”

I try to look at ease. “Would you mind if I hang out with Marcus on the roof for a little while instead?”

Bernard studies me for a minute. I imagine all kinds of thoughts racing through his mind. 

“I promise I’ll be home before ten.”

His face relaxes. “Fine. Home before ten.”

Five minutes later I’m knocking on Marcus’ door. I swallow hard and remind myself that we’re just going to talk.

Marcus opens the door and my stomach drops. I pause to allow my shuddering knees to settle before I trust my legs to carry me across the threshold.

The living room is modest. Just a brown couch, an armchair the color of hot chocolate and a coffee table. A guitar is propped in the corner between the chair and a low wooden cabinet topped with a TV. Does it belong to Marcus or Aiden? I glimpse the kitchen off to the right, furnished with four mismatched chairs set around a simple square table.

This isn’t a date. So why am I about to hyperventilate? Why can’t I quit picking at my fingernails?

“It’s really cool out here.” Marcus climbs out the living room window onto a small balcony. I follow him. “Come on up.” He says over his shoulder and I watch as he grabs hold of the railing mounted to the brick and climbs to the roof and over the iron railing. I grab the cold metal and pull myself up. I’ve been to the roof many times, but never by this route. He grabs my hand to help me up and I’m disappointed when he lets go.

It’s quieter than I remember. I stand at the ledge and stare down at the street, trying to ignore my quaking insides. Most of the houses on the block are dark and I’m guessing people are either in bed or watching TV. Among the oaks, maples and ash in our front yard, there’s the Japanese maple Gram planted when I was young. It’s weeping branches and ruby red leaves make it my favorite.

“You know about your grandmother and Persephone being witches?”

I nod, eager to hear more and to learn about the demon that broke into my room.

“Well, they’re supernatural beings and their powers are for good.” He watches me, as if gauging my reaction to his words. “Demons are also supernatural beings, but they generally use their powers for evil.”

My temper flares. “Really Marcus? You’re going to stand here and talk to me like I’m stupid?” Marcus looks upset and tries to interrupt me, but I plow ahead. “Why don’t you start off by telling me what a demon looks like? That would be helpful for me to know, since one has broken into my bedroom!” My stomach rolls and my palms tingle. “Tell me something useful. Like…do demons have fangs and claws and devil horns? Do they walk upright or on four legs? Are they hairy or not?”

Marcus sighs, a look of frustration on his face. “First off, I didn’t mean to talk down to you. I just don’t want you to freak out. Second, demons don’t have any of that. They look and act like a normal person. You wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. But don’t kid yourself, demons are very dangerous.”

I shiver. “Why would a demon be in my bedroom? In my closet?” I’m gulping air, but can’t quite fill my lungs. “Is he looking for something or is he just…after me?” Suddenly, this is all too much. Marcus swims in my vision and I reach out for the railing.

Marcus moves closer, pulls me into his arms and I go limp. “It’s okay. It’s going to be okay. Take a deep breath.”

I squeeze my eyes shut and focus on the feel of his warm body against mine. I breathe in his minty, musky scent and it’s like magic. I want to stay pressed against him but I make myself pull away. I have to get some answers.

“What did Persephone say on the phone?” I ask.

“That was Aiden. He wanted to know if I could tell who it was.”

I wave my hands in frustration. “Of course he wanted to know that. And just how exactly were you supposed to be able to tell? Do you have some sort of demon directory?”

Marcus purses his lips. It’s not a difficult question, so I don’t understand his hesitation.

“I have heightened senses. Can we leave it at that?”

I shake my head in disbelief and laugh harshly. “So you’re supernatural, too? Just to clarify, do you use your powers for good or evil?”

Marcus looks annoyed but then so am I.

“Look, just forget it okay? We need to focus on figuring out why someone risked sneaking into your room.”

I laugh. “Sure, that’s priority one with all the other weirdness going on around here.”

Marcus grabs the railing and slides one leg over. His way of saying our conversation is over. “It is the priority and because it is, I’ll be spending the night with you.”

-Persephone-

“You made record time,” I say without turning around. The breeze lifts my hair, chills my skin. I peer over the edge of the roof, searching.

“He’s gone? Marcus is sure?” Henry asks as he approaches. I recognize the strain in his voice. He is afraid for Lucy, like he used to be for Vera. He is never afraid for me. The familiar ache spreads throughout my body. My limbs feel heavy.

“He is, but…” I turn to face him. “Marcus says this is someone new.”

Henry pauses mid-step. His gaze turns hard. “We have two demons to contend with?”

Once I recover from my shock, I climb down to Marcus’ apartment to demand some real answers, but he just blows me off. I insist that we aren’t having a sleepover. He escorts me through his apartment and then shuts the apartment door in my face, right after he informs me that he will see me after my uncles go to sleep. Okay, so it’s not like I don’t want him in my room, because I do, but it’s the
reason
he’s going to be there. As a babysitter. If somebody would just give me some answers, I’m sure I could handle this demon on my own, but nobody trusts me, and that’s what bugs me the most. My whole life I had taken care of myself. Momma, too. Now I have my uncles forcing me to clean my plate like a toddler and some do-gooder rushing in to rescue me at the first hint of a potential problem. So what if Marcus looks great being my knight in shining armor? The point is, I don’t need a knight—shining or otherwise. No way am I letting Marcus spend the night.

Marcus spent the night with me. I had done everything but put actual bars on the window to keep him out. The effort was wasted because he came in through my door. When I asked him how, he just smiled and held up a hide-a-key rock.

Okay, so he only spent part of the night. But it was still amazingly awesome.

As I get dressed, I relive every moment I can remember. The tingling sensation left behind by his fingers as he pulled the sheet over me, his hot skin warming mine, which runs cool. He was annoyingly appropriate, sitting in my desk chair with his arms crossed over his chest. I was too jittery to fall asleep, although I wasn’t sure if it was because of Marcus sitting there watching over me or my fear that my uncles would walk in any second.

“You said you can detect traces of the demon. Traces of what?” I asked.

Based on his delay, I could tell he wasn’t comfortable talking about it.

“His aura,” he said finally. “Different supernatural beings leave behind different auras.”

“What’s an aura?”

“It’s a change in atmosphere that someone leaves behind.” I heard the creak of the desk chair as Marcus shifted. “A change in temperature, smell…even color.”

“So what kind of aura did this demon leave behind?”

Marcus exhaled heavily. “Shouldn’t you be going to sleep?”

“It’s kind of difficult with you sitting there and, you know, with a demon after me.”

Marcus rose from the chair and sat on the edge of my bed. His fingertips slid my hair away from my face. I couldn’t stop the sigh from escaping my lips as he gently massaged my temples.

“It’s okay.” His voice was soft. The gentle pressure of his fingers had a calming effect. My eyelids grew heavy. “You’re safe. I’ll make sure nothing happens to you.”

“You were going to tell me something,” I whispered as sleep tried to take over. “At the mall. Did you know about the demon then?”

“Go to sleep,” he said gently. “We’ll talk about it later.”

That’s the last thing I remember.

Once awake, I bolt upright, hoping to find him still here. The chair is empty. How long did he stay? Marcus spent the night watching over me, protecting me from a demon. I felt safe—never felt safer, actually—and I slept hard and deep. And for the first time in my life, sleep wasn’t simply an escape. I imagine him watching me sleep. What would’ve happened if I’d been able to stay awake? Would we have kissed? I pause, considering that last question for a while. We were alone in my bedroom and he didn’t try anything. That meant one of two things. Either Marcus was being a gentleman or…he’s not attracted to me. I recall the perverted creeps back at Lexington High School. I collapse on my bed, covering my head with my arms and assume the worst.

I’m dying to tell Katie about Marcus. Problem is…how do I tell her about Marcus without revealing that a demon broke into my room. A demon. I’m not even sure I believe Marcus’ theory. Besides, I don’t know if Katie would tell the others—especially Caroline and Ella—so I keep my mouth shut as I slide into the back seat of Mrs. Appleberg’s blue Toyota 4Runner. Katie and Cloe scoot over to make room for me. Suzy volunteers to sit in the rear cargo area. As Caroline’s best friend, Ella has permanent shotgun.

Caroline isn’t used to driving downtown and even with her mom’s GPS, we get turned around twice. Ella keeps cranking the volume up on the stereo, only to get a nasty glare from her frazzled BFF who turns it back down.

We’re five minutes from downtown Chicago when a Lady Gaga song comes on the radio. Caroline turns up the volume and we all sing along. We turn onto Clark and manage to find a parking space on the street.

“Remember, Lucy, make it quick!” Ella snaps her fingers several times as I climb out of the car, feed quarters into the pay box and hand her the ticket.

The tiny hairs at the back of my neck stand on end and my palms start to tingle. I push the desire down deep inside and curl my fingers into my palms. “I will.” I force a sweet smile onto my face.

Mr. Klein’s office is two blocks away according to the map Sheldon drew for me. Since I’m in a hurry, I resist the urge to pause and study the tall buildings surrounding me, to peek in storefront windows and people watch.

The light turns green and the walk sign clicks on. I step off the curb to cross LaSalle Street when a car comes barreling toward me, its tires screeching to a halt within a foot of my legs. A blood-curdling scream erupts from my throat. I lurch backward to escape the car’s bumper and stumble. The air whooshes from my lungs as my butt slams against the pavement.