He opened his mouth, but Kellan appeared behind him. He jerked him backward and threw him down the stairs. As Vespar fell over the last step and stopped on the second floor, Kellan stood above him. “Do not say anything more. You should’ve been there, and you know it. Go to her. Take care of her now. At least do that.”
Vespar looked at me, angry, as I stood in Kellan’s bedroom entrance.
“Don’t!” Kellan warned again and then swept back up the stairs. He took my hand, dragged me inside, and locked his door behind us.
“Why are you—” I started to ask.
He threw me onto the bed. “You don’t either. We are going to sleep. Do nothing, say nothing.”
My mouth hung open, but I closed it when I saw his eyes in the moonlight. They were stark, in pain. Then he threw his clothes to the corner and started to come to bed. His eyes caught mine, saw something in them, and then he cursed before he grabbed a pair of boxers. Slipping them on, he crawled underneath his sheets and then lay there. Fatigued.
It didn’t feel right being there, so I started to get up. “I’m going to my room.”
He caught my hand and pulled me back. “Don’t. Please. I need you here tonight.”
A note was in his voice that I’d never heard before. It pulled at me, and I found myself crawling under his sheets with him. His hand held mine, and he turned his head to rest on my shoulder. As his eyes closed, I felt him fall asleep almost immediately. I stayed awake, watching him for the rest of the night.
No one left the house for four days. We weren’t on lockdown, but all of us seemed to respect the need to recuperate before we headed out and assessed the damage, if there was any. Then I broke the uneasy quiet as I packed my bag and headed toward my car.
Kellan stopped me outside the door. “Where are you going?”
“I’m going to school.”
Vespar came out behind him at that moment. He passed us by with only a look as he headed down to the river. Gus followed, but she kept her head down when she walked around us. She hadn’t talked to us since that night; neither had Vespar. They sat with us at meals as we ate the little bit of food our human sides needed, but no one spoke. There were a lot of looks. Vespar looked anywhere but at us. Gus mainly only looked at Vespar or at her hands. Then there was Kellan and I. We stared at them, at each other, everywhere, but still no one said anything.
I’d had enough, and the urge to paint was strong. I had taken to drawing in the privacy of my room, but it wasn’t the same. I needed the large canvas. I needed to shut off everything and let the painting come forth. I couldn’t do that in my house, with my siblings there.
I reached for my car handle again, but Kellan took it instead. I glanced up. “What are you doing? I’ll be fine.” I waited to see if he’d say something about my messenger side, but he didn’t. He hadn’t spoken one word about that, and neither had I. With Vespar and Gus around, I was always fearful they could overhear our conversations. I didn’t trust them, especially since Kellan told me they couldn’t find out.
His eyes were trained on our siblings, and he nodded toward them. “What are they doing?”
“They’re going swimming.” I saw that he wasn’t going to say anything about it anytime soon.
“They’re not.” He frowned. “Let’s follow them.”
“Kellan, no.” I stood my ground as he tried to pull me behind him. “I’m going to school. Someone has to, or they’ll send the cops out here to make sure we’re all still alive. It’s weird that all of us haven’t gone back for a while and no one’s called.”
Kellan let go of my hand, but trailed behind the other two.
“I’m going to school,” I called after him. Did he no longer care?
He waved, dismissing me.
“Fine. I’m…” I stopped since he’d gone too far.
When I parked in the lot, I knew things were different. It wasn’t the same as before when we had changed Matt. And I wasn’t sure if this was because Dylan was dead, but as I walked inside and down the hallway, there was no grief in the air. I should’ve sensed it. His death should’ve been known. Then, as I got to my locker, my hand reached up to open it, but I froze when I heard Dylan’s laugh in the hallway. It had always been distinct, but it was even more so now.
Everything in my body went numb as I turned. I felt like it was in slow motion when the crowd parted and Dylan was at his locker, laughing at something Matt said in his ear. The two stood close with their hands on each other’s shoulders, giving their sign of bonding and approval to the other. Leah smiled beside them, eager for their attention.
It was how it had been a month ago.
I had thought… Oh God. I had no idea what to think anymore.
Leah caught sight of me, and her eyes widened in anticipation. She skirted over and clasped her hands together. “Is Kellan here? I haven’t seen him in a while.”
“Do you—wha—how’s your stepdad?” I had no idea what to say, but I needed to know what else he’d done.
She froze. All the liveliness died, and she backed away a step. “I don’t have a stepdad. You know that, Shay.”
“She doesn’t even have parents.” Matt laughed, coming up behind her. He rested both of his hands on her shoulders and drew her against him. She tensed, but looked away, biting her lip.
“You don’t have parents?”
“Foster homes, Shay. Get with the program.” Then he winked. “We haven’t seen you in a few days. How’s it going? Where is the rest of the Braden foursome?”
I narrowed my eyes and sensed into Matt. Everything we had done was gone. I looked at Leah and then at Dylan. I thought Kellan had killed Dylan, but now I cursed myself for not realizing it before. He’d gone back and wiped all of their memories. Somehow, the death of Leah’s parents hadn’t been changed, and it was now known that she lived with foster parents.
Kellan cleaned up all of our messes.
I remembered the exhaustion he’d felt when he’d gotten home that night. He’d been tired before, but he’d been depleted of all energy. He’d slept through the night, then the next day. I hadn’t thought about it, but I gave him some of my energy. In fact, I’d given it the very moment he’d reached for my hand that night.
“Shay?” Matt asked again. His voice had a husky flirting note to it, and I knew that he was their leader again. He was the same guy who had thrown me against the locker two weeks ago. He’d always pushed too far, edging too close to Gus and me, rebelling against Kellan’s rule.
I ignored him and walked away. He didn’t call after me, and no one said a word. They parted for me, and I kept walking. When I got to the art room, Mrs. Ullen perked up in surprise. “Shay! Are you here to paint?”
“Where can I find the guy who painted those canvases of Kellan?”
She frowned. “I’m sorry. What paintings are those? I don’t seem to recall any of your brother.”
“They were here two weeks ago. Someone painted them of Kellan, but he looked like a demon. I got upset. You said you’d take them down… Any of this sound familiar?”
“I’m so sorry, dear. I’m drawing a blank. I’ve only kept your paintings in the back.”
“They weren’t in the back. You hung them up on the wall. Right there!”
She looked where I pointed, but still shook her head with a hand now resting on her nape, looking nervous. “Shay, honey, I never hung any paintings up unless they were yours or a student’s. I only hang student paintings up in the studio. Yours either stay in the back or go in the studio downtown. That was our agreement. Are you feeling okay, dear?”
I threw my hands up in frustration. “They were there. Where did they go? How did you meet that guy?”
She kept shaking her head. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. I really don’t. I’m so sorry.”
“I need to check the back room.”
Hesitant, she handed over the keys, but after I opened the door and looked through all the paintings, I didn’t find the ones I wanted.
They were gone, as if they didn’t exist. How could all of this have happened? Did Kellan know about the paintings, too? Did he wipe her memory?
Then I cursed and headed back to my car. Of course, Kellan knew. He’d known the whole time that I had been painting. He knew what I had painted. He knew the painter, whomever he was. Kellan cleaned up everything and what perfect timing. The messengers would get there and find nothing. There weren’t even any traces or lingering trails where magic usually remained after a spell had been done. I’d felt them before, but somehow Kellan had obliterated them, too.
How?
He’d have to have phenomenal powers to do that. Vespar and Giuseppa could only have done one or two memory wipes, but they still left traces behind.
I got in my car, ready to drive home and demand answers when I stopped. Two weeks ago, I quaked in fear of Kellan, too. There’d always been something more between us, like he was my protector, but I had still known how dangerous he was. Now I was ready to ask him anything, ready to tell him anything.
“He’s good, isn’t he? He’s the best I’ve known.”
I jerked my head up and around. The painter sat in my backseat, at ease, dressed in a white polo and khaki shorts. His hair looked shorter, and his eyes were so blue, so bright, they seemed to look through me. I felt like they, alone, were trying to give me a message that I couldn’t receive.
“Did you take your paintings, or did he?”
He flashed a smile. His teeth were perfectly white, blinding. “I did.” Then he laughed softly. “You thought he did, didn’t you? I will admit that I only took them because I knew eventually he would. Then he’d interrogate your teacher and find out more than I would want him to know.”
“Like what?” My lips were so dry.
“How long I’ve been here. How long I’ve known what he’s doing. Your brother knew it was only a matter of time before I stepped forward. He knew it was coming. You are, after all, part of me, too.”
“Part of you? What do you mean?”
“You come from a messenger, Shay. I know he already told you. Did he tell you which one?”
“Why would it matter? Aren’t they the same?”
“A demon is a demon. The same as messengers—I can see why you’d assume, but messengers are special. They have special gifts that run through their blood. Your father is important.”
“Is?” My father was alive? I kept forgetting about the parentage…about the parents I never saw at home. “Do I share the same mother as the rest?”
“The rest of your siblings?”
I nodded.
He frowned for a second and then nodded. “You have the same mother… It’s the only reason why you were born to them.”
I could sense he wasn’t saying everything. He chose his words carefully, too carefully. I frowned. “What aren’t you telling me?”
He hesitated. “Your father will be coming to town. Too much has happened here. The Braden twins have done too much damage. They must pay. You can tell Kellan it won’t matter if he makes everything how it was, if he erases their mistakes. He couldn’t erase Leah’s parents. He didn’t have enough in him to do that. He didn’t have you with him, so he altered her life story. That’s much easier than actually bringing the dead back to life. She would’ve been fine after you left her. She would’ve buried the memory of her parents and gone on to college, knowing they were okay and away from her for some reason. She would’ve been a nurse or a teacher. Now, she has baggage that she can’t live with from the foster system, the mistakes that were made by social workers. She’ll kill herself before the end of the year. He did that.” He reached for the door and then stopped suddenly. “He did that for them. Not you. He didn’t change anything for you, just them. And you might want to ask him about who his parents are. It seems to be the biggest lie he’s told you so far.”
I had bent my head, listening to him. Now, it snapped up. “What are you talking about?”
“The only real Bradens in your household are Giuseppa and Vespar, the twins.” Then he got out of the car. By the time I clambered out my door, he had already vanished.
I stood there, half out of my car, frozen in shock. Had that just happened? Had he really showed up and turned everything upside down? Then I thought about what he said, and everything started to burn in me. He was right about Kellan. My brother—or not brother now—was the best I’d seen, too. His power reverberated out of him. He was a walking, living, breathing weapon, and I’d fallen for his hook. I’d slept with him, comforted him, trusted him. And now I was furious.
I turned my car around and sped back to the house. With a quick sweep of the house, I knew he wasn’t there. Then I headed toward the river and found Vespar and Gus swimming around, laughing. They shut up as soon as they saw me walk down the bank and to the edge.
“What is it?” Vespar asked, cautious.
“Kellan!” I yelled and then turned around with my arms spread wide. “Where are you? You said you were coming down here, to watch them. You wanted to follow them. Where are you? Come out and face me. I know you can smell him on me.”
Vespar and Gus swam to the bank. As he roughly pulled his shirt over his face, Vespar demanded, “What did you say? He was coming to watch us?”
I ignored him. “Come on out, brother—are you my brother? Are you our brother?”
Then Kellan appeared. He stood at the top of the bank, looking down on us. Furious. And yet, he was so still. It was like he’d been ready for this, waiting for this. When he didn’t move to us, we went to him. Fine. We’d give him that. We deserved answers that he was going to give.
Vespar growled, leading the way up to him. “Is it true? Did you come to watch us?”
Kellan’s eyes held mine, ignoring his brother. There was a dark promise in them. As a shiver went down my spine, I ignored it and lifted my face in a challenge. I warded off the chills and stepped around Vespar. “Are you really surprised by that? He’s been fixing your messes. I’m surprised he hasn’t always watched you, making sure you didn’t do something so stupid that you’d attract the arrival of messengers.”
Our sister gasped.
Vespar froze. His eyes snapped to mine.
Then Kellan narrowed his and asked, calm, quietly, “Is that what he said?”
“Among a lot of other stuff.” I glared at him and then looked to Vespar. “I’d run if I were you. You killed too many. You’ve done too much.” Then I looked at Gus and saw the guilt in her eyes. I wondered if she had even told him the magnitude of what she’d done, how many bodies there had been. “They’re coming, and they’re coming for you two. I was told that you ‘must pay.’”
Vespar scoffed, “Who told you that?”
“A messenger.”
The smirk vanished.
Then I smiled. “Maybe you should pack your bags.”
He scowled. “We’re not going anywhere.”
Giuseppa shifted uncomfortably beside him.
And then Kellan stepped around them so it was just me and him. His back was to them, effectively warding them from our conversation as he asked, “What else did he say?”
The way he moved, how sensual it was, how unperturbed he seemed to be, made me uneasy. I hesitated to ask what I really wanted to, but I murmured, with less heat than I’d had in the beginning, “You changed everything. Matt’s the same. Leah doesn’t know she had parents. Dylan’s alive…”
Gus gasped and jerked forward. “You did?” Her hand clamped on to Kellan’s arm, but he glared at her. Her hand jerked back in the next second, but she tried to act like that little exchange hadn’t happened. She smiled and shifted on her hip. “That’s great. I don’t—you did something to him?”
“I wiped his memory. I wiped all of their memories—every one of them.”
Vespar was quiet, which said a lot. I narrowed my eyes at him. “No thanks for your big brother?”
He lifted frosty eyes at me, but didn’t say anything.
Kellan frowned at me, but a
lso didn’t say a word.
That told me everything I needed to know—they both knew Kellan wasn’t related to us. If he hadn’t insisted the other two would kill me if they realized my blood roots, I would’ve assumed that Vespar also knew about my messenger parentage. I wanted to say something, judge their responses, but I held my tongue. If they didn’t know, I wasn’t ready to fight my real brother and sister any time soon.
Kellan seemed to have been assessing me the whole time. He saw my surrender and swooped in to turn toward Gus and Vespar. “I’m sorry. I have been watching you, but only the last day. She’s right—you two did a lot of damage and they’re coming. I didn’t want to give them any more against you than they already have. I did what I could, but you still upset the balance. We’re not supposed to use our magic that much, and we’ve been using way too much. The consequences are coming our way.”
Then he looked at me with eyes that held a dark promise. It slithered down my body and wrapped tight inside. Kellan was furious, and he wasn’t going to be quiet. I only had a matter of