Book of Life

Who was he talking to?

  “And how many did Emily take?” Another pause. “Uh huh. Just one. Does she have more?”

  Was this magick?

  “Okay, well, bring them when you come. I have a guest with me I had wanted you to meet,” he finally looked at me. “But, I think your dilemma comes first. I’ll see what I can do about finding Max.”

  He dropped the device from his ear and slid his finger across the surface once more. He dropped it back into the area between us.

  I couldn’t take my eyes off the device. I wanted to try it. Perhaps it could connect me with the one I was supposed to find.

  Jake looked amused by my curiosity. “I’m still taking you to my house. I don’t want you going anywhere but something came up. I’ll set you up in my room and I want you to stay there for now.”

  I tried to look upset but my attention still peaked with the illuminated device between us—I wanted to touch it.

  “Leave it alone. It’s just a phone.”

  I tried to ignore it. A phone? I felt I should know that.

  “Hell-o?”

  He snapped me out of my trance, forcing me to think about what he’d said instead. He had promised me he’d take me to these people he knew, why was he delaying that? I allowed him to hear the question.

  “It’s not the right time for you to meet them, unfortunately. I have to do this delicately. Besides, it’s Max I really want you to meet and he’s not here right now. I’ll try to get him to come. When he shows up, then I’ll introduce you to everyone, okay?”

  I looked outside. I suddenly wanted out of this car. I didn’t have the time to waste waiting for Jake. If he wasn’t going to help me right now then I could do it on my own.

  He touched me, a burning touch that make me jerk away. “Please trust me. Whatever you’re looking for isn’t going to be found any faster on your own.”

  I clenched my jaw, finding I had to give in. What was I really going to do, anyway? Open the door and jump out? I need to meet this guy, I expressed.

  Jake nodded with a discreet roll of his eye. “I know. I get it. You will, okay? What happened to patience? I swear . . .”

  I pouted and stomped my foot.

  Jake shook his head. “Really? Was that warranted?”

  I ignored him, thinking I’d let him take me as far as Winter Wood, but from there I wasn’t keeping any promises. I was going to find this man, and I was going to do it today.

  WES:

  When we arrived at Jake’s house it had begun to snow. Emily looked noticeably upset as a gust of cold wind whipped over her when she opened the car door. I shut off the engine, watching for a moment as the snow fell and melted against my windshield.

  Emily reached for her backpack. “Are you coming?” she asked with a frantic pitch to her voice.

  I looked at her. She had one hand clasped around the collar of her fake, fur-lined pink plaid jacket that clashed with the pink striped sweater she wore underneath. Snow fell into her auburn hair, melting just as it had against the windshield. Her face was pale and drawn, looking the way it did before I’d convinced her to get off the prescription drugs. How easily that sad look had returned after just one pill. I nodded, placing my hand on the door handle and pulling the keys from the ignition.

  I popped out of the car, looking at Jake’s red Audi in the parking spot beside mine. His engine was still ticking and the hood warm as the snow melted immediately off of it—he’d just gotten home. We stepped up onto the sidewalk. There was a line of cars all as nice as Jake’s parked in front of the five row houses on this block of Winter Wood. Across the street five more identical row houses faced us. It was well known that this particular block was something like vampire row. It was a hit during Halloween, or that’s what I’d heard from others in town.

  I shoved my hands in my pockets and walked briskly to the red door of Jake’s house. Emily followed behind me. I knocked once, jumping up and down to retain warmth as I quickly shoved my hand back in my pant pocket. A few moments passed and no one answered. I tried the handle this time, finding it unlocked. Pushing the door open, I poked my head in, met with a gush of warmth I couldn’t pretend to hate.

  “Hello?” I looked into the living room but no one was there. I opened the door wide enough to step in. I knew Jake well enough to ignore manners and invite ourselves in. Besides, the warmth of his house felt good and I was certain Emily longed for it, too.

  “Yes, please!” she replied behind me, answering the thought on my mind. “It’s freezing out here! I’ve been locked in the warm house for weeks; I’m not used to the cold.” She was rubbing her arms and shivering dramatically. I could tell she was trying to act like her old self, but I sensed her weakness all the same.

  “Hey!” I heard Jake’s voice from upstairs.

  “Hey! What are you doing?” I asked, grasping the railing and setting one foot on the first step.

  “I’ll be there in a minute!” Jake replied. “Don’t come up.”

  I thought to go on up, anyway, and see what he was up to, but then again maybe I didn’t want to know. I turned to help Emily instead.

  Emily shut the door behind her and reluctantly removed her coat to hang it on the hooks in the entry. I could hear mumbling from upstairs. It was all Jake’s voice, as though he were talking to himself, but my animal instincts sensed more than one person— a female. Perhaps he’d found a girlfriend, but I doubt I was that lucky, it was likely some freaky vampire cousin, and I couldn’t handle another one of him around. I removed my own coat and hung it next to Emily’s, noticing the perplexed look on her face as she, too, seemed to be distracted by what was going on upstairs and who Jake was talking to.

  “Can you hear who’s up there?”

  Her brow creased. “Not quite. The pill still seems to be fogging my long distance abilities. I just hear what you do, I’m guessing?”

  I shrugged. “Mumbling?”

  She nodded, “Whatever. I’m sure it’s not my business anyway.” She seemed to let the whole thing fall off her shoulders as she looked too exhausted to care. She shuffled into the living room and plopped down on the red velvet couch. I followed and sat on an identical couch facing her.

  “Where did you put the pills?” I made idle chit chat while we waited.

  Emily sighed and pointed back at her bag in the hall. I reluctantly stood once more and went to retrieve them, just as Jake descended the stairs. “Sorry. I just have a friend in town and wanted to get them situated.”

  “A friend?” What I really wanted to ask was if it was another vampire. The whole vampire thing still put me on edge. Who’s to say I couldn’t easily catch the fever, too?

  I wasn’t being super careful about the thoughts I was hiding today. Jake gave me an annoyed look and brushed past me into the kitchen, next to the living room. He opened the fridge and grabbed what looked like a soda, though I knew it was something far more sinister than that.

  He held it in the air. “I’d offer you one, but . . .”

  “Yeah. But . . .” I teased.

  “It’s not really your flavor. Though I do have some you may like given your somewhat animal taste. There’s bovine, antelope . . . want to try?” He snapped the top of the can and took a few sips. I saw blood on his lip when the can dropped away.

  Just seeing him like that gave me a sudden aversion to anything animal, though that seemed an unlikely thing. “No thanks.”

  Jake shrugged and walked from the kitchen to the living room, plopping on the couch opposite Emily where I had sat just moments ago. “So, what are these pills we’re talking about? Where are they?”

  Emily looked over her shoulder at me. I reached down and rummaged through Emily’s bag until I heard the pills rattle inside the bottle. A moment later I had them in my hand and was headed back to the couch. This time, I took my spot beside Emily.

  “Here,” I tossed the bottle to Jake, seeing Emily’s eyes follow it as it flew through the air, much in the way a trained dog followed a tennis b
all—that scared me, but I hid that thought from her.

  Jake looked at the label before deducing it useless and opening the lid instead. He brought the bottle to his nose and took a gentle sniff before wrinkling it and jerking away. “That’s Angel Blood alright. And you just had this lying around?” He was addressing Emily.

  Emily nodded timidly.

  “I can’t believe you had this lying around and didn’t take it sooner. I’m actually surprised Max didn’t find it on his sweep. Dreadfully addictive thing this is.”

  Again, I felt another twinge of fear rake through me, but I hid it from Emily. A relapse had always been a concern of mine, but I’d hoped it wouldn’t happen—perhaps stupidly hoped. I wasn’t sure I was really prepared to worry about her every minute of the day as I felt I’d have to now, knowing that she had the capacity to relapse—I thought she was stronger than that. How would I sleep wondering if she wasn’t hiding a renewed addiction behind my back? Mind reading would be a useful trait to have—another reason to be jealous of Jake and the connection him and Emily shared despite my desires to ignore it.

  Jake could read her thoughts if she let him. Jake could easily slide into a place of need to her.

  Emily wasn’t looking at either of us anymore. I could see concern on Jake’s face replace the amazement he’d previously had to the fact of the pills. For some reason I hated that look on him. It made him seem sappy.

  “At any rate, my guess is that this isn’t just a generic, this is the real stuff, straight from our favorite twin brother.” He rattled the pills out of the jar and into the palm of his hand, inspecting them. “I’ve sometimes heard that when you ingest the blood of another being,” he looked at me. “And sometimes even animals, you get a glimpse into their souls.”

  Emily’s attention was shamefully fixated on the pills in Jake’s hand. Was it really so hard for her to suppress the craving?

  “I’ve only had human blood once. They make us taste it to show us it doesn’t taste good—it doesn’t—but you definitely get a hint of soul in it, old thoughts, strange desires and dreams. And it’s true you do get a hint of the animal’s soul when you ingest that, when it’s fresh, but they’re simple thoughts from simple minds.” He gestured to the can in his hand. “This blood is so processed there’s no hint of anything anymore. Sad really.” I could tell Jake was trying to act as though that bothered him, but for some reason a small part of me thought otherwise. “I’ve never had Angel Blood before, a little too narcotic for me. I’ve heard the effects are wild, though. I suspect this is what you experienced? I’m personally not into that trippy kind of stuff. It’s bad for you, and stupid.” He was taking a less compassionate approach than me but I was grateful for it. “But the stuff out there on the market is usually synthetic or harvested from a dead angel, if they can find one—hence the richy rich reputation of it. Potent as Hell—I would imagine.”

  Emily recoiled beside me in assumed shame.

  Jake went on. “I remember how I felt after having that human blood—I felt horrible. My mind was a wreck of thoughts that weren’t mine. It wore off after about fifteen minutes, I believe, but it was the strangest fifteen minutes of my life.” He directed his attention toward Emily. “Didn’t you feel this when he fed it to you before?”

  Emily drew her gaze out of her lap. “I don’t remember. I don’t really want to remember.”

  All I could think about was the way she had been, completely dazed. I couldn’t blame her for not remembering, not when I saw for myself the blank look in her eyes. They had been ink wells of nothingness, blackness to where there was no end.

  “Well, that has to be what’s happening to you, but in this case, the blood you’re taking isn’t from a person who is dead. You must be getting clean, up to date thoughts like a Twitter feed on auto-post.” I could see the excitement in Jake build, but I beat him to the question I assumed came next.

  “So, what did Greg say?” I asked as respectfully as I could, hoping she wasn’t too traumatized to tell us. I hadn’t bothered to ask in the car, I was too frightened of what she’d tell me and how I’d handle it while driving.

  Emily seemed to collect herself as best she could. She tore her gaze away from the pills Jake was guiding back into the belly of the orange bottle, lifting her chin. “He was talking to Avery.”

  Jake and I both steeled as she said this. Now I was a little upset she hadn’t filled me in in the car.

  “You heard Avery, too?” Jake gushed.

  Emily nodded. “It was a little harder to hear what she had to say, but I still heard it. Probably the last voice I ever wanted to hear right now . . . even worse than hearing Greg’s.”

  I touched her gently. I could literally feel her arm hairs rise under the contact, indicating she was more on edge than she shared. “And you know for sure it was her?” I asked.

  Emily nodded more confidently. “I’m positive it was her,” she snapped, seemingly angry that I’d questioned her. Her eyes were clear as they bore through me. “I could never forget that voice, not when it haunts every unsupervised thought in my head. They were talking about Winter Wood. They were talking about gathering the Black Angels and heading this way. They were talking about a war.” Her angered gaze dropped from mine and she looked back into her lap.

  “They’re coming this way? From where? How long do we have?” Jake sat forward in his seat.

  Emily looked distressed over Jake’s line of questions. She dropped her head even deeper into her hands and rubbed her forehead. “When I came into the conversation they were discussing conquests over the eastern priories.” She looked up. “I would guess from the east, then? How far east are these priories? Is he talking about the east coast?”

  I shook my head. “East, east, I believe,” remembering what Max had mentioned at Jane’s funeral. “I mean, we’re talking Asia, but that doesn’t matter. It can’t take them long to get here, not when you’re an angel. Any time would be spent organizing and planning, not traveling.”

  “Hopefully they’re as unorganized as Greg,” Jake added.

  Emily ignored Jake’s attempt to lighten the mood. “I don’t like the gravity of this,” Emily mumbled, playing with her hands in her lap.

  I looked over my shoulder toward the front window, seeing that the snow had really begun to fall. My mind flashed with images of blood against the stark white of snow. I imagined myself in the middle of all that, fighting for my life. This was hardly a season for something like this—I didn’t like this idea any more than she did. Then again, it wasn’t an idea or notion we could ignore or control.

  I turned back to face Jake and Emily. “We need to make sure this is really happening. How can we prove that what Emily heard is really true?”

  Jake began biting his lip, his gaze darting about the room. They reflected light from every source and pulled energy from each shadow. “We need to go to the priory. They would be able to find out. They probably already know.”

  “I don’t like the priory.” Max’s distrust had me convinced. It was someplace I had never been. Government had never been something I trusted, whether in the human world or not.

  “Either do I, but it’s the only way we’re going to get answers—unless you’re willing to waste time trying to find Max?”

  I shook my head. At this point there was no knowing where Max was. I couldn’t call him up because it’s not like he had a cell phone. He was too above it all for that.

  STELLA:

  After going through the gate into Winter Wood, it wasn’t long before we arrived at what I assumed to be Jake’s house. We got out of his car as the cold wind hit me and made our way to a red door.

  Jake’s hand paused on the handle. “So, listen. My friends are on their way over here right now. I’m taking you to my room and you need to stay there. They shouldn’t be long. I’ll come get you when they’re gone, alright?” He narrowed his gaze, unlocking the door. We walked in. I was met with a blast of warm air that was briefly enjoyed as he grabbe
d my wrist and yanked me up the stairs. What was his rush?

  Upstairs, he dragged me down a long hallway and into a room to the right. “So, here it is—my room.” He rattled the keys in his hands before grabbing the handle to his door. “I’m serious. Stay here. I’ll be right back.”

  I was looking around his room, my gaze popping between him and my unfamiliar surroundings. It was dark in here, and the smell in the air was admittedly dank and humid. Things were neat and tidy, not a surprise given what I’d learned about him so far and the clean appearance of his car. There was a single mattress on the floor. The sheets there were made, pillows set up more like a lounge than a place to actually sleep.

  “Sit down and relax. You look like you could use it,” he guided.

  I backed toward the mattress, trying to sit but finding myself half falling as the mattress was so close to the ground. Landing abruptly, I found it was surprisingly soft. I bounced on it a little to test its limits. I knew, from somewhere in the back of my mind, what a mattress was, but a part of me felt I’d never really slept in one while the other part welcomed it like an old friend. The last few weeks had been fine as an owl. I was used to a cozy branch and fluffed feathers, nuzzling my beak under one wing. The human part of me craved comfort, though.

  Jake was looking at me strangely, the same way he’d been looking at me since he picked me up off the side of the road. “Remind me to get you some of my sister’s clothes later, too. That outfit is just not working for anyone. Where did you even find it?”

  I didn’t bother to allow him into my thoughts. I probably never would again. I couldn’t and shouldn’t trust anyone, not when I barely knew who I was to begin with. I left him without an answer.

  He shook his head. “Doesn’t matter anyway.” He suddenly perked up, turning so that his ear was better positioned to hear through the opening of his bedroom door.

  I myself heard a mumbled voice downstairs, my own senses now perking to the sound.