She grabbed the sheet and quickly wrote her new band's name. Now it was real. She stared at it and swallowed.
"Revenge?" Tarkenton snorted. "That sounds antiauthority."
"I'm not--that's not what our band is about," Lilith said. "Please, give me one more chance."
All she wanted was the opportunity to play her music, to see the Four Horsemen, to stand on a stage and sing and, for a few minutes, forget her horrible life. Performing wasn't something she had even known she wanted before she'd bonded with Jean Rah and Luis, but now it was all she could think about.
After that, Tarkenton and her mom could do whatever they wanted with her.
As they discussed Lilith's future and potential disciplinary action, Lilith looked through Tarkenton's window at the parking lot, where Luc was walking toward a red Corvette parked close to the building. What was he doing here? He slid behind the wheel and revved the engine loudly.
"What is that?" Tarkenton said, and spun toward the sound.
"It's very loud," her mom said, squinting. "Is that...a Corvette?"
Lilith eyed Luc with curiosity. Could he see her through the window?
"Who is that boy?" her mom asked. "He looks too old to be in high school. Do you know him, Lilith?"
Lilith glanced at her mother, wondering how to answer that question. When she looked back at the parking lot, Luc was gone, as though he'd never been there to begin with.
"No," Lilith said, turning her attention back to the sign-up sheet on Tarkenton's desk. "Now can I please be in the battle?"
She watched as her mother and the principal exchanged glances. Then Tarkenton leaned back in his chair and said, "One more chance. But even the smallest screwup and you're done," he continued. "You hear me?"
Lilith nodded. "Thank you."
Her heart was pounding. She was officially a musician.
Approximately 1000 BCE
Cam had been watching the moon for hours, willing it to speed its path across the desert sky. Almost a day had passed since he'd said goodbye to Lilith at the carob tree. It had all seemed so charming when she was making the plans, inviting Cam to meet her again at the river in the moonlight, but to wait all these hours to see her was a new kind of torture.
It wasn't like Cam to let a mortal girl slow him down.
"Pathetic," he muttered, unfurling his white wings and feeling a sense of freedom as they stretched toward the sky.
Who was he, Daniel Grigori?
He despised feeling bound to anyone or anything. But he couldn't seem to help himself when it came to Lilith. She made him want to stay.
Cam took to the sky, flying toward Lilith's village. He landed swiftly and folded his wings out of sight, ducking into a wine tent near the oasis, the last place he might find her. He was considering not keeping their date. He took a seat in a darkened corner, struck up a conversation with two local men, and shared the contents of their earthenware flagon.
By the time Cam and his new friends had drained the flagon, the moon hung low in the sky. He had expected to feel relieved--now there was nothing he could do. Lilith might forgive him, but she would never trust or fall in love with him now.
That was what he'd wanted, wasn't it?
In the morning, Lilith opened her eyes and sat up before memory stabbed her. Why had Cam agreed to meet her if he'd never planned to show up? Or had something happened that prevented him from coming? All she knew was that when the moon was in the center of the sky, she'd been there--and he hadn't.
The only thing to do was ask him, and the only place Lilith could think to look for Cam was at the well. Eventually, everyone in her tribe went there. She hummed as she followed the narrow, dusty path to the center of the village. The sky was clear, the grass was high against her fingertips, and the hot air pressed down on her shoulders.
Where the northbound path met the westbound path sat the village well. It was made of packed, baked mud, with a wooden basket that dipped down to its belly on a thick, coarse rope. The water came up cool and clean even on the hottest summer day.
Lilith was surprised to find two people she'd never seen before drawing the bucket up from the well: a wiry, ebony-haired girl with a wild gleam in her eye, and a dark-skinned boy playing a strange melody on a small bone flute.
"You must come from far away," Lilith said, swaying to the flute's music. "I've never heard a song like that."
"What's the farthest place you can think of?" the wiry girl asked, helping herself to a ladle of water.
Lilith eyed the girl. "I can think of worlds made only of music, where our heavy bodies would not survive."
"A musician, eh?" The boy held the flute out to her. "See what you can make of this."
Lilith took the flute and studied it, fingering the holes. She held it to her lips, closed her eyes, and blew.
An odd song seemed to play itself, as if a spirit were breathing through Lilith's lungs, moving her fingers. She was startled at first, but soon she relaxed into the melody, following its meandering path. When she had finished, she opened her eyes. The strangers gaped.
"I've never--" the girl said.
"I know," the boy agreed.
"What?" Lilith said. "This is obviously a magic flute. Everyone who plays it must sound like that."
"That's just it," the girl said. "We've never met anyone but Roland here who can play that thing at all."
Roland nodded. "You must have a great deal of soul."
The girl put her arm around Lilith's shoulders and leaned against the well. "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Arriane. We've been traveling for a long time."
"My name is Lilith."
"Lilith, have you happened to see a blond kid around here, a boy?" Roland asked. "Pretty new to these parts?"
"Kind of self-righteous and vain?" Arriane added.
"Dani?" Lilith said. She glanced toward the river in the east where she'd last seen him swimming. The carob trees swayed in the breeze, sending their sweet seeds scattering through the grass.
"That's him!" Arriane squealed. "Where can we find him?"
"Oh, he's around here someplace," Lilith said. "Probably followed closely by Liat."
Roland winced. "I really hope he's got a plan."
Arriane punched Roland in the arm. "What he means is that we hope Dani is getting along--you know, prospering. In your midst, as it were. I need some water." The girl dipped the ladle into the well and took another drink.
Lilith looked at the strangers and frowned. "Are you two...lovers?"
Arriane spat out her water in a great burst.
"Lovers?" Roland said, laughing as he hoisted himself up to sit on the lip of the well. "Why do you ask?"
Lilith sighed. "Because I need advice."
Roland and Arriane exchanged glances.
"Tell you what," Roland said. "You teach me how to play that song, and we'll see what we can do."
Lilith's lyre lay on the bank next to the flute, which lay next to most of the clothes the three had been wearing when they met at the well.
They splashed in the Jordan River, floated on their backs, and watched the sunlight dance on the surface of the water. Music and conversation had done their magic, and the strangers were now friends. Lilith found it easy to divulge the painful incident of the night before.
"A guy like that," Arriane said, before spitting a stream of water in a high arc. "Treat him like he doesn't exist. A wise woman knows better than to stop a bad man from disappearing."
Roland let the current carry him closer to Lilith. "There are lots of other fish in the river. And you're a great catch. Might as well try to forget about him."
"Wise," Arriane said. "Very wise."
Lilith watched the sunlight glint on Roland's shoulders and Arriane's face. She'd never met anyone like these two, except, maybe, for Cam.
Just then, something rustled on the bank. "Isn't it romantic?" asked a voice from the bushes.
Cam strode to the water's edge and frowned at Lilith. "Do you bring all yo
ur conquests here?"
"Wait," Arriane said. "This is the boy you've been talking about?"
Lilith was simultaneously thrilled and crestfallen. "You know him?"
"This has nothing to do with you, Arriane," Cam said.
"I thought we were discussing a young man of depth and complexity," Arriane said. "Imagine my surprise to learn it's you."
Cam scowled and dove into the river, his body arcing high in the air before it met the water. When he emerged, he was so close to Lilith that their faces were almost touching. She stared at the beads of water on his upper lip. She wanted to touch them. With her lips. She was angry with him, but that anger paled before the intensity of her attraction.
He took her hand. He kissed her palm. "I'm sorry about last night."
"What kept you?" she asked quietly, though at the touch of his lips on her skin, she had already forgiven him.
"Nothing that will keep me again. I'll make it up to you, I promise."
"How?" Lilith asked, breathless.
Cam smiled and looked around the river, then up at the brilliant blue sky. He smiled at his two friends, who were both shaking their heads. Then he smiled at Lilith, an alluring, complicated smile that drew her body against his underwater and told her in an unspoken language that her life would never be the same.
"A party." Cam wrapped his arms around her and started twirling her in the water. The dizziness was so delightful Lilith couldn't help but laugh. "Say you'll come?"
"Yes," Lilith said breathlessly. "I will."
Arriane leaned into Roland. "This is not going to end well."
Ten Days
"Good morning, students."
Cam leaned back in his chair as the principal's voice crackled through the intercom in homeroom the next morning. "Topping today's announcements, the soccer team is having a car wash after school. Please come out and support them. As you know, prom tickets are available in the cafeteria until Friday, and in a moment I will announce the prom court."
The classroom, which had been buzzing a second earlier, silenced. It had been a while since Cam had seen this sort of undivided attention from a group of teens. They cared about prom. He glanced across the room at Lilith and wondered if there was a deep, hidden part of her that cared about it, too.
When Jean Rah had told Cam yesterday that Lilith had signed up to play at prom, Cam had been so excited he'd pumped his fists and leaped into the air, losing his cool for a whole three seconds.
"Damn, dude," Jean had said with a laugh. "You do realize you're not in the band, right?"
"Not yet," Cam had said, swiping his hair to the side.
Jean had shrugged amicably. "Take that up with the boss. Revenge is really Lilith's band."
"Don't mind if I do," Cam had said.
Today he was going to ask her--not just if he could be in the band, but if she'd go with him to prom. Like a date. Yesterday, in the cafeteria, right after she'd fought with Chloe, Lilith had seemed to soften. She'd let Cam in a little, hadn't shut him down, even when he'd dared to talk a little sweet to her.
He wished she'd meet his eyes now, across homeroom, but she was deep in her black journal.
"The nominees for prom queen are," Tarkenton said over the intercom, "Chloe King, June Nolton, Teresa Garcia, and Kara Clark."
Chloe--who was now wearing her hair shaved on the sides--immediately jumped up from her desk. "The Slights strike again."
Chloe and her bandmates hugged each other, giggling, crying, their pastel minidresses riding up their thighs.
Mrs. Richards crossed the room and pried them apart, urging them to sit back down.
"As for prom king," Tarkenton said, "the nominees are Dean Miller, Terrence Gable, Sean Hsu, and Cameron Briel."
Cam winced as a few kids around him whistled and clapped. Lilith, of course, didn't look up. Cam had made no effort to get to know any of the students at Trumbull other than Lilith and Jean. This prom court appointment was clearly Lucifer's doing; he must have bet that Lilith would be disgusted by anyone who bought in to the pomp of prom court.
Tarkenton went on to list some of the prom court responsibilities, and Cam wondered how many dumb meetings he would have to bail on over the next ten days. But then the classroom door swung open and drew his full attention.
Luc, his tablet tucked under his arm, sidled in and over to Mrs. Richards. He whispered something in her ear.
To Cam's dismay but not surprise, the teacher pointed at Lilith. "That's her, in the second row."
Luc smiled gratefully, then walked toward Lilith as if they were strangers. "Ms. Foscor?"
"Yeah?" Lilith said, startled by the sight of the tall boy standing over her. She covered what she'd been writing in her book.
"This is confirmation that your entry has been received." Luc dropped the envelope on her desk.
"My entry to what?" As Lilith tore open the envelope, Luc shot Cam a cheesy thumbs-up and disappeared out the classroom door.
Cam leaned forward as she unfolded the contents: a single sheet of paper. He was desperate to read it, to be ready to perform triage for whatever trauma the devil meant to unleash on Lilith. He had leaned so far forward that the girl in front of him glanced over her shoulder, wrinkled her nose, and shoved his desk back a few inches. "As if, pervert." Cam felt her study his skin, the age spots near his forehead. "Ew. How many times did you fail freshman year--fifteen?"
He ignored her. He watched as Lilith's fingers began to shake, and the blood drained from her cheeks. She rose from her seat, grabbed her things, and bolted out the door.
Cam bolted after her, ignoring Mrs. Richards's threats about suspension, expulsion, a letter to his parents. He caught up with Lilith in the hall and took her by the elbow. "Hey--"
She whipped his hand away. "Back off."
"What happened?"
"He warned me about you."
"Who?"
"Luc." Lilith closed her eyes. "I'm so stupid."
When she thrust the paper at Cam, he saw it was a printout of his email to Ike Ligon, along with the lyrics to "Somebody's Other Blues." The only thing that wasn't included was the bio Cam had written, the words that had made him cry.
"You stole my lyrics and entered them in the contest," Lilith said.
Cam took a deep breath. "It's not that simple."
"Isn't it?" Lilith asked. "Did you or did you not go through my journal, take my lyrics, and enter them in this contest?"
How could he explain that he had done this to help her? That Lucifer was trying to drive a wedge between them? He watched her face twist with disgust. "I know it was wrong--"
"You're unbelievable!" Lilith shouted. She looked like she might strangle him.
He tried to take her hands. "I did it for you."
She pushed him off again. "You did not just say that. And stop touching me."
He put his hands up in surrender. "I sent the lyrics in as you, not me."
"What?"
"That song is brilliant," he said. "And you said yourself you weren't going to enter the contest. It's such a big opportunity to get your music out there, Lilith. I couldn't let you pass it up."
She stared at the printout. "Luc said--"
"You cannot listen to Luc, okay?" Cam said. "His goal in life is to try to turn you against me."
Lilith squinted. "And why is that?"
Cam sighed. "It's hard to explain. Look, you have every right to be mad at me, but please, don't let it get in the way of your music. You could win this, Lilith. You should win this."
Cam realized then just how close they were standing. Inches separated their shoulders. He could hear her breathing. Lilith had so much pain in her eyes. He would do anything for her to be the happy, carefree girl he'd once known.
"You promised to back off," she said.
Cam swallowed. "I will. But please, just think about what I said. You're too talented not to try."
Lilith blushed and averted her eyes like someone unaccustomed to compliments. He could see
all the little things that made up who she was--the ink stains on her hands, the callouses on her fingertips. She was a huge talent, a bright star. Her music was the one thread that connected her to the Lilith he'd fallen in love with so long ago, which was why he had to make her understand that his intentions in entering her lyrics in the contest were good.
"Lilith," he whispered.
The bell rang.
She took a step backward, and Cam could tell the moment between them had passed. Her body was tense again, and her eyes full of hate. "Why should I take advice from someone who would do something so low?" She snatched the printout from his hand and rushed away as doors opened and students spilled into the hall.
Cam banged his head against a locker. So much for asking her to prom today.
"Ouch," Luc called as he casually walked past. "And just when I thought she was starting to warm to you. It's almost like there's an invisible force working against you at every turn." The devil's throaty laughter echoed in Cam's ears long after Luc had disappeared around the corner.
At lunchtime, Cam found out from Jean, who had found out from Kimi, that Lilith had received another note in third period, this time from the office, which mysteriously excused her from class for the rest of the day. Cam was supposed to take some joke of a calculus test in fourth period, but he had no hesitations about skipping.
He cut out the back exit, slid onto the motorcycle he'd picked up the day before, and made for the rough side of town. Soon he was knocking on Lilith's door. In front of the garage was a battered, grape-colored minivan, its back door open.
"What the--" Lilith said when she answered.
"Everything okay?" he asked.
"What a dumb question," she said.
Lilith's body language was shouting at him to stay back. He tried to respect that, but it was hard. He hated to see the rage that flooded her whenever she laid eyes on him.
It especially sucked because in his pocket were the prom tickets he'd bought for the two of them.
"There's something I've been wanting to ask you," he said.
"You heard about Revenge," she said. "You came to ask if you could be in the band."
Cam couldn't let her bluntness throw him off. He would take this nice and easy, even shoot for romantic, like he'd planned. "First of all, I want to say that I'm really glad you signed up to play at prom--"