Beautiful Darkness

  “Ethan?”

  But I didn’t answer her. I pushed her shiny blond hair away from her face and leaned down, our faces only inches apart. She inhaled softly, our lips so close I could feel her breath and the scent of her skin, like honeysuckle in the springtime. She smelled like sweet tea and old books, like she had always been here.

  I pulled my fingers through her hair and held it at the back of her neck. Her skin was soft and warm, like a Mortal girl’s. There was no electric current, no shocks. We could kiss for as long as we wanted. If we had a fight, there wouldn’t be a flood or a hurricane, or even a storm. I wouldn’t find her on the ceiling of her bedroom. No windows would shatter. No exams would catch fire.

  Liv held up her face to be kissed.

  She wanted me. Not lemons and rosemary, not green eyes and black hair. Blue eyes and blond hair…

  I didn’t realize I was Kelting, reaching out for someone who wasn’t there. I pulled away so fast, Liv didn’t have time to react. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”

  Liv’s voice was shaky, and she put her hand on her neck, where my hands had been a moment before. “It’s okay.”

  It wasn’t. I watched the emotions play out in her eyes—disappointment, embarrassment, regret. “It’s no big deal.” She was lying. Her cheeks were flushed, and she was staring at the ground. “You’re upset about Lena. I get it.”

  “Liv, I’m—”

  Link’s voice interrupted my lame attempt at an apology. “Hey, man, nice exit. Thanks for ditchin’ me.” He pretended he was joking, but his voice was edgy. “At least your cat waited for me.” Lucille was trotting casually behind him.

  “How did she get here?” I bent down to scratch her head, and she purred. Liv didn’t look at either of us.

  “Who knows? That cat’s as crazy as your great-aunts. It was probably followin’ you.”

  We started walking, and even Link could feel the weight of the silence. “So what happened back there? Was Lena with Vampire Boy, or what?” I didn’t want to think about it, but I could tell he was trying not to think about someone, too. Ridley wasn’t just under his skin. She was crawling around in there.

  Liv was walking a foot or so ahead of us, but she was listening.

  “I don’t know. That’s how it looked.” There was no point in trying to deny it.

  “The Doorwell should be straight ahead.” Liv held her head high and almost tripped over a cobblestone. I could see how awkward things were going to be between us. How many things could a guy screw up in one day? I had probably set some kind of record.

  Link put his hand on my shoulder. “I’m sorry, dude. That’s real—” Liv stopped so fast neither of us noticed, until Link bumped right into her. “Hey, what’s up, MJ?” Link nudged Liv with his elbow playfully.

  But she didn’t move or make a sound. Lucille froze, the hair on her back standing on end, her eyes transfixed. I followed her gaze to see what she was staring at, but I had no idea what it was. There was a shadow across the street, lurking just inside a stone archway. It was formless, a dense fog, constantly shifting in a way that gave it shape. It was wrapped in some kind of material, like a shroud or a cloak. It had no eyes, but I could tell it was watching us.

  Link took a step backward. “What the—”

  “Shh.” Liv hissed. “Don’t attract its attention.” The color drained from her face.

  “I think it’s too late for that,” I whispered. The thing, whatever it was, shifted slightly, moving closer to the street and to us.

  I took her hand without thinking. It was buzzing, and I realized it wasn’t her hand but the contraption on her wrist. Every dial was spinning. Liv stared at its face, unbuckling the black plastic strap to get a better look.

  “I’m getting insane readings,” she whispered.

  “I thought you made that up.”

  “I did,” she whispered again. “At first.”

  “Then what? What does it mean?”

  “I have no idea.” She couldn’t take her eyes off the device, but the black shadow shifted closer to us.

  “I hate to bother you when you’re having so much fun with your watch, but what is that thing? A Sheer?”

  She looked up from the spinning dials, her hand shaking in mine. “I wish. It’s a Vex. I’ve only read about them. I’ve never seen one, and I bloody well hoped I never would.”

  “Fascinatin’. Why don’t we bolt and talk about this later?” The Doorwell was in sight, but Link was already turning around, willing to take his chances with the Dark Casters and creatures at Exile.

  “Don’t run.” Liv put her hand on Link’s arm. “They can Travel, disappear and materialize anywhere faster than you can blink.”

  “Like an Incubus.”

  She nodded. “This could explain why we saw so many Sheers at Exile. It’s possible they were responding to some kind of disturbance in the natural order. The Vex is most likely that disturbance.”

  “Speak English, real English.” Link was panicking.

  “Vexes are part of the Demon world, the Underground. They’re the closest things to pure evil in the Caster or Mortal world.” Liv’s voice was shaky.

  The Vex continued to move slightly, as if it was being blown by the wind. But it didn’t come any closer. It seemed to be waiting for something.

  “They aren’t Sheers, ghosts as you call them. Vexes don’t have a physical being, unless they possess the living. They have to be summoned from the Underground by someone very powerful, for only the Darkest tasks.”

  “Hello. We’re already underground.” Link didn’t take his eyes off the Vex.

  “Not the kind of Underground I’m talking about.”

  “What does it want with us?” Link risked a glance down the street, mentally calculating the distance to Exile.

  The Vex began to move, dissolving into mist and back into shadow again.

  “I think we’re about to find out.” I squeezed Liv’s hand, trembling in my own.

  The black fog, the Vex itself, thrust forward like angry open jaws. And a sound, loud and shrill, erupted from deep within. It was impossible to describe—fierce and menacing like a roar, but terrifying like a scream. Lucille hissed, her ears flattening against her head. The sound intensified, and the Vex reared back, rising above us as if it was planning to attack. I pushed Liv to the ground and tried to shield her body with mine. I covered my neck, like I was about to be devoured by a grizzly bear instead of a body-snatching Demon.

  I thought about my mom. Was this how she felt when she knew she was about to die?

  I thought about Lena.

  The scream reached a crescendo, and I heard another sound rising above it, a familiar voice. But it wasn’t my mother’s, or Lena’s.

  “Dark Demon a the Devil, bend to Our will and leave this place!” I looked up and saw them standing behind us under the lamplight. She was holding a string of beads and bone in front of her like a crucifix, and they were gathered around her, glowing and luminous, with purpose in their eyes.

  Amma and the Greats.

  I can’t explain what it was like to see Amma and four generations of the spirits of her ancestors towering above her, like the faces from old black and white pictures. I recognized Ivy from the visions, her dark skin gleaming, dressed in a high-necked blouse and calico skirt. But she looked more intimidating than she had in the visions, and the only one who looked fiercer stood to her right, her hand on Ivy’s shoulder. She had a ring on every finger, and she was wearing a long dress that looked like it had been stitched from silk scarves, with a tiny bird embroidered on the shoulder. I was staring at Sulla the Prophet, and she made Amma look about as harmless as a Sunday school teacher.

  There were two other women, most likely Aunt Delilah and Sister, and an old man, his face punished by the sun, standing in the back with a beard that would’ve put Moses to shame. Uncle Abner. I wished I had some Wild Turkey for him.

  The Greats tightened their circle around Amma, chanting the same verse
again and again, in Gullah, the original language of her family. Amma repeated the same verse in English, shaking the beads and bone, shouting to the heavens.

  “Of Vengeance and Wrath, Bind the Suspended, Hasten his path.”

  The Vex rose even higher, the fog and shadow circling and swirling above Amma and the Greats. Its scream was deafening, but Amma didn’t even flinch. She closed her eyes and raised her voice to meet the demonic cry.

  “Of Vengeance and Wrath, Bind the Suspended, Hasten his path.”

  Sulla raised her bracelet-laden arm, spinning a long stick with dozens of tiny charms dangling from it, back and forth between her fingers. She took her hand from Ivy’s shoulder and rested it on Amma’s, her glowing, translucent skin glimmering in the darkness. The second her hand touched Amma’s shoulder, the Vex let out a final gnarled cry and was sucked into the void of the night sky.

  Amma turned to the Greats. “I’m much obliged.”

  The Greats disappeared, as if they had never been there at all.

  It probably would’ve been better if I had disappeared with the Greats, because one look at Amma’s face made it clear that she had only saved us so she could kill us herself. We would’ve had better odds against the Vex.

  Amma was seething, her eyes narrow and focused on her main targets, Link and me.

  “V. E. X. A. T. I. O. N.” She grabbed us by our collars at the same time, as if she could have thrown us up the Doorwell behind her with a single toss. “As in, trouble. Worry. Agitation. Botheration. Need me to go on?”

  We shook our heads.

  “Ethan Lawson Wate. Wesley Jefferson Lincoln. I don’t know what business the two a you think you have down in these Tunnels.” She was shaking her bony finger as she pointed at us. “You don’t have a lick a sense between you, but you think you’re ready to be battlin’ Dark forces.”

  Link tried to explain. Big mistake. “Amma, we weren’t tryin’ to battle any Dark forces. Honest. We were just—”

  Amma advanced, that finger barely an inch from Link’s eyes. “Don’t you tell me. When I get through with you, you’re gonna wish I’d told your mamma about what you were doin’ in my basement when you were nine years old.” He backed up until he hit the wall behind him, next to the Doorwell. Amma matched him step for step. “That story’s as sad as the day is long.”

  Amma turned to Liv. “And you’re studyin’ to be a Keeper. But you don’t have any more sense than they do. Knowin’ what you do and still lettin’ these boys drag you into this dangerous business. You’re in a world a trouble with Marian.” Liv slunk down a few inches.

  Amma whipped around to face me. “And you.” She was so angry she was talking with her jaw clenched. “You think I don’t know what you’re up to? You think because I’m an old woman, you can fool me? It’ll take you three lifetimes before you can sell me a raft that doesn’t float. Soon as Marian told me you were down here, I found you straightaway.” I didn’t ask her how she’d found us. Whether it was chicken bones or tarot cards or the Greats, she had her ways. Amma was the closest thing I’d ever seen to a Supernatural without actually being one.

  I didn’t look her in the eye. It was like avoiding a dog attack. Don’t make eye contact. Keep your head down and your mouth shut. Instead, I kept walking, with Link looking back at Amma every few steps. Liv wandered behind us, confused. I knew she hadn’t counted on a run-in with a Vex, but Amma was more than she could handle.

  Amma shuffled along behind us, muttering to herself or the Greats. Who knew? “Think you’re the only one who can find somethin’? Don’t need to be a Caster to see what you fools are up to.” I could hear the bones rattling against the beads. “Why do you think they call me a Seer? Because I can see the mess you’re into just as soon as you’re into it.”

  She was still shaking her head as she disappeared up the Doorwell, not a speck of mud on her sleeves or a rumple in her dress. What had felt like a rabbit hole on the way down was a broad stairwell on the way up, as if it had expanded out of respect for Miss Amma herself.

  “Takin’ on a Vex, as if a day with this child wasn’t trouble enough…” She sniffed with every step. It went on like that the whole way back. We dropped Liv off on our way through the Tunnels, but Link and I kept walking. We didn’t want to be too close to that finger, or those beads.

  6.16

  Revelations

  By the time I crawled into my bed, it was nearly sunrise. There would be even more hell to pay in the morning when Amma saw me, but I had a feeling Marian wasn’t expecting me to be on time for work. She was as scared of Amma as anyone. I kicked off my shoes and fell asleep before I hit the pillow.

  Blinding light.

  I was overwhelmed by the light. Or was it the dark?

  I felt my eyes ache, as if I had been staring at the sun too long, creating spots of darkness. All I could make out was a silhouette, blocking out the light. I wasn’t scared. I knew this particular shadow intimately, the slight waist, the delicate hands and fingers. Every strand of hair, twisting in the Casting Breeze.

  Lena stepped forward, reaching out for me. I watched, frozen, as her hands moved out of the darkness and into the light where I was standing. The light crept up her arms, until it hit her waist, her shoulders, her chest.

  Ethan.

  Her face was still shrouded in shadow, but now her fingers were touching me, moving along my shoulders, my neck, and finally my face. I held her hand against my cheek, and it burned me, though not with heat but cold.

  I’m here, L.

  I loved you, Ethan. But I have to go.

  I know.

  In the darkness, I could see her eyelids lift and the golden glow—the eyes of the curse. The eyes of a Dark Caster.

  I loved you, too, L.

  I reached out my hand and gently closed her eyes. The chill of her hand disappeared from my face. I looked away and forced myself to wake up.

  I was prepared to face Amma’s wrath when I got downstairs. My dad had gone to the Stop & Steal to get a newspaper, and it was just the two of us. The three of us if you counted Lucille, who was staring at the dry cat food in her bowl, something she’d probably never seen before. I guess Amma was mad at her, too.

  Amma was at the stove, pulling out a pie. The table was set, but breakfast wasn’t cooking. There were no grits or eggs, not even a piece of toast. It was worse than I thought. The last time she baked in the morning instead of making breakfast was the day after Lena’s birthday, and before that, the day after my mom died. Amma kneaded dough like a prizefighter. Her fury could generate enough cookies to feed the Baptists and the Methodists combined. I hoped the dough had taken the brunt of it this morning.

  “I’m sorry, Amma. I don’t know what that thing wanted with us.”

  She slammed the oven door shut, her back to me. “Of course you don’t. There’s a lot you don’t know, but that didn’t stop you from wanderin’ around where you didn’t have any business. Now did it?” She picked up her mixing bowl, stirring the contents with the One-Eyed Menace, as if she hadn’t used it to scare Ridley into submission the day before.

  “I went down there looking for Lena. She’s been hanging out with Ridley, and I think she’s in trouble.”

  Amma spun around. “You think she’s in trouble? You have any idea what that thing was? The one that was about to take you outta this world and into the next?” She stirred madly.

  “Liv said it was called a Vex, and it was summoned by someone powerful.”

  “And Dark. Someone who doesn’t want you and your friends pokin’ around in those Tunnels.”

  “Who would want to keep us out of the Tunnels? Sarafine and Hunting? Why?”

  Amma slammed the bowl on the counter. “Why? Why are you always askin’ so many questions about things that are none a your concern? I reckon it’s my fault. I let you run me ragged with those questions when you weren’t tall enough to see over this counter.” She shook her head. “But this is a fool’s game. There can’t be a winner.”

/>   Great. More riddles. “Amma, what are you talking about?”

  She pointed her finger at me again, the same way she had last night. “You’ve got no business in the Tunnels, you hear me? Lena’s havin’ a hard time and I’m ten kinds a sorry, but she’s got to figure all this out for herself. There’s nothin’ you can do. So you stay out a those Tunnels. There are worse things down there than Vexes.” Amma turned back to her pie, pouring the filling from the bowl into a pie shell. The conversation was over. “You go on to work now, and keep your feet aboveground.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  I didn’t like lying to Amma, but technically I wasn’t. At least, that’s what I told myself. I was going to work. Right after I stopped by Ravenwood. After last night, there was nothing left to say, and everything.

  I needed answers. How long had she been lying to me and sneaking around behind my back? Since the funeral, the first time I saw them together? Or the day she took the picture of his motorcycle in the graveyard? Were we talking about months or weeks or days? To a guy, those distinctions mattered. Until I knew, it would gnaw away at me and what little pride I had left.

  Because here’s the thing: I heard her, inside and out. She’d said the words, and I saw her with John. I don’t want you here, Ethan. It was over. The one thing I never thought we’d be.

  I pulled up in front of Ravenwood’s twisted iron gates and turned off the engine. I sat in the car with the windows rolled up, even though it was already sweltering outside. The heat would be suffocating in a minute or two, but I couldn’t move. I closed my eyes, listening to the cicadas. If I didn’t get out of the car, I wouldn’t have to know. I didn’t have to drive through those gates at all. The key was still in the ignition. I could turn it and drive back to the library.