Spark X

  “What about Raven and Ian?”

  “If they’re still alive and haven’t been possessed for too long, they can be freed from their possession and go on living a normal life.” He traces circles on my bare shoulder while studying a splatter of freckles on my skin as if they’re the most fascinating thing in the world. “Just like you can.”

  “You don’t know that for sure. No one really knows what happens to the Grim Angel after this is all over.”

  “I’m not going to let you die.”

  “It might not be in your hands.”

  “I don’t care if it is or not. I won’t let you suffer any more for our sins.” He rises to his feet and abruptly changes the subject. “Are you ready to summon Cameron?”

  Sighing, I pick up a brush. “It’s been a while since I’ve done this,” I say as I brush my wet locks. “What if it doesn’t work? Or what if he just doesn’t come?”

  “He will,” Asher assures me as I return his phone to him. “My brother cares enough about you that he won’t turn down a chance to see you, especially when you’re asking him to come.”

  “How are we going to make him stay here?” I drop the brush onto the nightstand and climb onto the center of the bed next to Asher. “Usually, he bails whenever he feels like it.”

  “That part’s a little trickier, but it’s definitely doable.” He grabs a knife from the duffel bag, drags the blade across his palm, and I watch as blood drips out of the open wound as he cups his hand.

  “What are you doing?” I hop from the bed as he wanders over to the door.

  When he reaches it, he compresses his hand into a fist, causing blood to drip onto the carpet. “Because we share the same bloodlines, this will bind him here for a while.” He strides across the room toward the window and drips a few drops of blood onto the sill.

  “How does it work exactly? Like with magic or something?”

  “Honestly, I’m not sure. I’ve never tried it before. My mother told me about it once, back when I was younger. She suggested that maybe I should do it to lock up Cameron. I think it was her way to try to save him from becoming what he is now.” He wipes his hand on his jeans. “My mother took off before I ever got to try this, and I’ve never really had a reason to keep Cameron close to me. In fact, I’m usually looking for a way to keep him away.” His lips tease to a lopsided grin, but there’s tension behind his joking demeanor.

  He sits down with me, stretches his legs out on the mattress, and leans over to give me a deliberately slow kiss. “Thank you for letting me touch you.” he whispers against my mouth. “I know you worry that you’ll lose control and do something to me, but I’ve felt what you carry inside you, Ember, and trust me, you’re not going to hurt me.”

  I close my eyes. “It’s getting easier, but in the beginning …It was really hard.”

  “I know, but you’re getting strong.” He kisses me again, biting on my bottom lip as he draws back.

  I puff out a breath, kneel up on the bed, and clear my throat. “Cameron, I need to talk to you.” When he doesn’t appear, I try again in a more pleading tone. “Cameron, it’s an emergency. I really need to talk to you…” I chew on my thumbnail. “It would mean a lot to me if you came.”

  A couple of minutes later, he still hasn’t shown up, so I sit down and recline against the headboard. “What if he’s been listening to us and knows our plan? If he knows what we’re up to, he won’t come.”

  “Won’t I?” Cameron asks suddenly.

  I jump to the side as my gaze darts to the right. He’s sitting in the chair with his boots propped up on the table and a lazy grin on his face, looking so comfortable I wonder how long he has been there.

  “You rang,” he says in an indifferent tone.

  “Um, yeah.” I climb off the mattress and pull a chair up across from him while Asher remains on the bed, cautiously keeping an eye on us. “I—we needed to talk to you about what happened in the park.”

  His gaze cuts to Asher. “You mean when I saved your ass.”

  Asher folds his arms and glares at Cameron. “Don’t be so fucking smug. I’ve saved you more than a time or two. Remember the time when we were seven and your dumbass thought you could fly before you chose your allegiance?”

  The two of them exchange a death glare before Cameron waves him off dismissively.

  “Fair enough.” He lowers his feet to the floor and straightens in the chair. “I’m guessing you want to know how I knew what was going to happen.”

  “That and how you knew the osculum vitae would save Asher.”

  “I know a lot of things that I choose to share when the time is right,” he replies with a smirk.

  “But why were you there at all?” I lean forward in the chair. “It was like the whole thing with my dad all over again, like you were there to collect Asher’s soul.”

  His expression is unreadable. “Maybe that’s because I was.”

  “Were you there to collect it for Altarius?” I ask. “So he can gain power to break the curse?”

  He steadily carries my gaze. “If I was, then I would be in some serious trouble for warning you, wouldn’t I?”

  I eye him over and notice the dark circles under his eyes and paleness of his skin. “You look tired.”

  “That’s because I am.” His head bobs back, and he takes a measured breath. “I find you exhausting, Ember Edward Rose. You’re always looking for answers. Why can’t you just accept that I helped you and move on instead of searching for the reason why?”

  “Because we need to know exactly what Altarius is up to and how big of a part you play in it,” Asher interrupts. “And if he’ll come after me again.”

  Cameron raises his head and rolls his eyes at his brother. “Isn’t the answer obvious? He wants your soul because he’s our father, just like he forced me to come collect it earlier today. Now that I’ve fucked that up, I’ll pay even more than I already have been. I’ve just cursed my family for several more years, and they’ll suffer for what I did today.”

  “Your family?” Asher laughs sharply. “Those Reapers you call your family are nothing more than the rebels who took you in and showed you how to steal, lie, and cheat.”

  “So what? It’s better than the alternative—a banished Angel still seeking help from a mother who clearly never wanted us,” Cameron counters.

  “At least I still have a soul,” Asher growls, his face reddening with anger as he rises to his feet. “Which is less than you can say.”

  “I have a soul. It’s just tainted.” Cameron pushes back from the table, shoves open the window, and ducks his head out into the wind. “Besides, my tainted soul has bought me some time because, without yours, it’s pretty much useless to Altarius.” Hopping onto the windowsill, he hunkers down, preparing to fly away.

  But as he slants forward, he’s shoved back by an unseen force and tumbles back into the room, landing on the carpet on his knees. As he rises to his feet, he snarls at Asher. “Clever.” Without warning, he lunges for him.

  Asher leaps from the bed and meets him halfway. The two of them collide as their bodies shape into their otherworldly forms. Cameron’s cloak swishes as mist encompasses the room.

  Cameron shoves Asher, and he trips back then slams against the wall. The force knocks a framed portrait to the ground, and a lamp tips over and shatters.

  “Stop,” I hiss, skittering around them as they fall to the ground, punching and kicking at each other. “You’re being too noisy, and it’s going to draw attention to us.” I snatch hold of the back of Cameron’s shirt and tow him to his feet. “Besides, I know you don’t want to hurt him.”

  He rotates his shoulders back, shrugs me off, and storms right back toward Asher. “Yes, I really fucking do.”

  Asher scrambles to his feet and wipes blood from his bottom lip. “Ember’s right. We’re going to draw attention to this place, which means drawing attention to her.”

  Cameron slams to a stop and glances at me with a hint of worry in his eye
s.

  Asher presses on. “Because that’s really what this is about, right? You love her, and that’s why you do all of this. It’s why you saved me, why you keep coming back when it’s clear you don’t want to.”

  If looks could kill, Asher would be dead right now.

  “Love,” Cameron spits the word out like it’s toxic. “Reapers don’t feel love.”

  “But you’re not entirely Reaper, are you?” Asher points out, dabbing some blood off his cheek with the hem of his shirt. “I think you want to believe that you can’t love, but deep down, you know you can, and part of you hates yourself for it.”

  Cameron stalks toward him with his hands clenched at his side. “Watch what you say. You’re in a weakened state right now.”

  Asher lowers the bottom of his shirt back down and crosses his arms. “I’m just saying the truth.”

  Cameron takes one final step toward Asher before backing up with his hands in the air. “Fine, if that’s how you want to play.” He flashes a devious grin at Asher before spinning on his heels and launching toward me. His arms loop around my waist, and he jerks me against him as he shuffles for the door. “Now let me go, or I’ll throw her into the Shadow Realm.”

  “No, you won’t.” Asher sidesteps the bed and positions himself in front of the door.

  “You think so?” Cameron questions with forced amusement.

  Fog begins to encase us, and the entire room darkens as if the sun has set.

  “Cameron, don’t,” I warn. “If you throw me in there, Altarius will take my soul and be able to do whatever he wants.”

  He slides his hand up my body and rests his fingertips at the base of my neck. “And why do I care?”

  “I know you do.”

  A condescending laugh rings out from his lips. “I may want you, princess, but want and love are two different things.” The fog thickens and shapes into a tunnel as he turns back to Asher. “Now let me go or else say goodbye to her.”

  Asher’s eyes bounce back and forth from the Shadow Realm to Cameron then to me. Finally, he steps aside and motions at the door. “If you want to leave, then leave.”

  Cameron shoves me straight into an Asher’s arms and then jerks open the door. The mist around us fades away until it’s gone completely. Instead of walking out, though, he stands in the doorway, staring out into the hallway.

  “I have this theory,” Cameron says quietly. “If our blood can give Altarius power, then why can’t his give us the same?”

  I wait for him to return to the room, but when he doesn’t, I ask, “Is this theory based on anything at all?”

  He finally steps back into the room, shuts the door, and faces us. “I heard a rumor once from my family.” His icy gaze glides to Asher. “Yes, my rebellion family, in case you were wondering.”

  “I wasn’t,” Asher replies in a clipped tone. “What I’m wondering is why it would matter if we had that kind of power. It’s not like either of us are the leader of the Reapers.”

  “Well, I can think of a ton of reasons why that kind of power would be useful, but there’s probably only one that will interest the two of you.” He gives a dramatic pause as he reaches around him and withdraws papers from the air. “The et furabatur de Anima tenebroso.”

  My interest is immediately piqued. “You think getting that kind of power could help us do that?”

  “No, I know getting that kind of power could help us do that.” Cameron clutches the pages in his hands. “In order to perform the et furabatur de Anima tenebroso, you have to have the kind of power of a leader, which means draining his blood and soul.”

  “His blood and soul?” I question. “That sounds pretty much next to impossible.”

  With his eyes fixed on me, Cameron sticks his hand back and fishes something else out of the air—a vial filled with a red liquid substance.

  “How did you get that?” Asher hurries toward Cameron, ready to snatch the vial out of his hand.

  Cameron tucks his hand behind his back and out of Asher’s reach. “How do I get anything? With my amazing ability to fuck with his head.”

  “No, seriously.” Asher eyes Cameron over with distrust. “There’s no way you could have just strolled up to Altarius and taken a vial of blood. He barely lets anyone in your family get close to him, which makes no sense, since you said he sent you to collect my soul.”

  “You know as well as I do that he doesn’t give his orders; he sends someone to do it for him. And this someone was kind enough to help me out.”

  “Yeah, I’m not buying it. It’s too easy.”

  “Who said it was easy?” Cameron’s jaw tightens. “I said I got the blood, not that it didn’t come without a price. And we still don’t have his soul, which is going to be a hell of a lot harder to get.”

  “What was the price?” I ask guardedly. “Because I’m guessing we have to pay one, too.”

  “We?” he says amusedly. “Think you.”

  I shake my head. “I’m not doing this again with you. I won’t give you anything else or be tricked into doing anything.”

  “Who said anything about giving me something?” he questions with an arch of a brow as he hands me the papers. “I think you’re forgetting what you read in that book about the et furabatur de Anima tenebroso and needing a Grim Angel’s soul to pull it off.”

  I crinkle my nose at the realization. “How would that work, though? If I give up my soul, then I won’t be able to make my choice, which kind of puts us right back to where we started, doesn’t it?”

  “Not necessarily.” Cameron stuffs the vial into the back pocket of his jeans. “There may be another alternative.”

  “And what’s that?” Asher and I say simultaneously.

  Cameron hesitates then his eyes land on Asher. “Find someone else who has Reaper and Angel blood in them.”

  “No way,” I say while at the same time Asher argues, “We’re not the same as a Grim Angel.”

  “I know,” Cameron replies, reclining against the door. “But I’ve been doing a little research into it, and it could be possible. Nowhere does it specifically say that a Grim Angel’s soul is the only way to perform an et furabatur de Anima tenebroso.”

  “It said in the book that it was solely to remove a Grim Angel’s soul,” I point out, staring down at the papers Cameron gave me.

  “No, it didn’t say solely. It said it could be used to remove a Grim Angel’s soul,” Cameron clarifies. “I read the book at least three times, princess. I know what I’m talking about.”

  “I don’t care,” I argue. “I’m not going to let Asher offer his soul up for this.”

  “I wasn’t suggesting Asher.” Cameron cocks his head to the side, waiting for me to catch on to what he’s implying.

  “You’re saying you’re going to offer your soul up to save Hollows Grove?” My voice rings with cynicism.

  He shrugs. “It’s not really that much of a soul, anyway.”

  “But it doesn’t make sense why you’d give it up to save a town full of people you don’t give a shit about.”

  “I have my reasons,” he responds through clenched teeth.

  “Which are?”

  “They’re personal.”

  I feel like banging my head on a wall. “It’d be easier to believe you if you told me what those reasons are. Otherwise, how do I know this isn’t one of your tricks?”

  “Guess you’ll have to trust me.” He dazzles me with a charming grin, but the amusement in his eyes lacks luster.

  Sighing, I turn to Asher. “What do you think about all of this?”

  “I think we need to go speak to my mother first before we make any decisions.” He glances at the alarm clock. “And it’s time to meet her now, so we should probably go.”

  “If I were you, I wouldn’t take Ember.” Cameron straightens his shoulders and moves away from the door. “The Reapers are flooding the city as we speak.” He struts across the room, stopping just short of Asher. The two of them are almost the same height
and weight, but since Cameron is a Reaper, and Asher is a banished Angel, on terms of strength, Cameron has the upper hand. “You’re not very safe, either, considering they’re looking for you, too.”

  “And what about you?” Asher challenges. “Are you looking for us, as well?”

  “I actually might be on the wanted list, too, considering I fucked up and didn’t retrieve your soul.”

  “I’m not going to leave you here with her, if that’s what you’re getting at.” Asher collects his knife from the bed.