the sight of her fil ed me with sadness. I hadn’t realized until
that moment how much I missed her. Mol y had been my
first friend, my best friend, and one of my strongest links to
the human world. Now here she was so close and yet so far
away. I saw the faint dusting of freckles across the bridge of
her nose, her peaches-and-cream complexion, and her
long eyelashes that brushed her cheeks. I was horrified at
the idea of my earthly memories beginning to blur around
the edges and was grateful for the gift Tucker had given
me. It would have been too much to bear if al I could
remember of Mol y was a flash of corkscrew curls and a
pretty smile. With my new sight, I would be able to watch
over her always. Right now, her blue eyes were ful of
accusation. She even had one hand on her hip as she
looked chal engingly around the room.
“It’s good to see you, Mol y,” said Gabriel. He looked as
though he meant it. Her liveliness did have the effect of
dispeling some of the gloom that had settled over them.
“Please join us.”
“Can I get you some tea?” Ivy offered.
“I haven’t come here to socialize. Where is she?” Mol y
demanded. “The school told me she was sick, but it’s been
ages now.”
“Mol y … ,” Gabriel began slowly. “It’s complicated … and
difficult to explain.”
“I just want to know where she is and what’s happened to
her.” Mol y’s voice broke at the end, revealing a glimpse of
the emotion she was struggling to contain. “I’m not leaving
until I get some answers.”
Ivy stood stiffly, her long, slender fingers tracing the
patterns on the linen tablecloth. “Bethany has gone away for
a while,” she said. My sister wasn’t any better than I was at
twisting the truth; honesty was too ingrained in her. Her
voice came out sounding too rehearsed and her face
betrayed her. “She was offered an opportunity to study
abroad and decided to take it.”
“Sure she did. And left without tel ing any of her friends?”
“Wel , it was al very last minute,” my sister said. “I’m sure
she would have told you if there’d been more time.”
“What a load of crap!” Mol y cut in. “I’m not buying it. I’ve
already lost one best friend; I’m not going to lose another
one. I don’t want to hear any more lies.”
Xavier pushed back his chair and went to stand by the
mantelpiece. As he did he took a deep breath and exhaled
loudly. Mol y’s head whipped in his direction.
“Don’t think you’re off the hook,” she snapped, marching
over to him. Xavier didn’t even raise his head as she
berated him. “For months I haven’t been able to drag Beth
away from your side and now she’s suddenly vanished off
the face of the earth and you’re standing here twiddling your
thumbs.”
I winced at Mol y’s words, knowing how much they would
hurt Xavier. He was beating himself up enough without her
criticism to add to his stress. “I may not be a mathlete, but
I’m not a total idiot,” she continued. “I know something’s up.
If Beth had gone away for a while, there’s no way you’d stil
be here. You’d have gone with her.”
“I wish I could have,” Xavier said, his voice ragged with
emotion. He kept his gaze fixed on the floor.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Mol y’s face grew pale
as she assumed the worst. Fearing he’d said too much,
Xavier backed away from her. He looked so overwhelmed
by the situation that Gabriel felt the need to take over.
“Bethany is not in Venus Cove anymore,” he explained
calmly. “She’s not even in Georgia anymore … but she had
no choice in the matter.”
“That makes no sense. I asked you not to lie to me!”
“Mol y.” Gabriel crossed the room in two long strides and
took a firm hold of her shoulders. She stared up at him the
way you do when someone you thought you knew does
something completely out of character. I was standing so
close I could almost feel her tremor of surprise. Gabriel had
never touched her before in al the time she’d known him
and she could see in his eyes that he was shaken by
whatever had transpired. “We think we know where
Bethany is, but we can’t say for sure,” Gabriel said. “That’s
what we’re trying to figure out.”
“Are you trying to tel me she’s gone missing?” Mol y
asked breathlessly.
“Not
missing”—Gabriel
hesitated—”more
like
kidnapped.” Mol y’s hands flew to her mouth and her eyes
widened with alarm. Xavier half raised his head dejectedly,
watching her reaction.
“What’s come over you?” Ivy was at Gabriel’s side in an
instant, positioning herself between him and Mol y. Gabriel
let his hand drop listlessly from Mol y’s shoulder.
“There’s no point in lying to her,” he said firmly. “She’s as
close to Bethany as any of us. We’re not getting anywhere
on our own. Maybe she can help.”
“I don’t see how.” Ivy’s usual y bel -like voice came out
sounding sharp and her silver-gray eyes flashed like shards
of ice. “She has no business here.”
“The hel I don’t,” Mol y cut in vociferously. “If some
psycho’s taken Beth, what are we gonna do about it?”
“See what you’ve started,” Ivy muttered. “Humans cannot
help us now.” She threw a resigned look at Xavier.
“Especial y those who are emotional y involved.”
“We weren’t there that night,” Gabriel retorted. “Humans
are the only witnesses we’ve got.”
“Excuse me.” Mol y stared at them. “Did you just cal me a
human? I’m pretty sure I’m not the only human in the room.”
Gabriel ignored her comment and decided to pursue his
own line of thinking.
“What’s the last thing you remember Bethany saying or
doing on the night of Hal oween?”
I saw the air around Ivy ripple and shimmer slightly and
knew that she was trying to contain her disapproval. She
obviously found Gabriel’s decision to involve Mol y
objectionable. She closed her eyes and breathed through
clenched teeth. I could read my sister’s face. It was as if
she were readying herself for a decision she knew would
end in disaster.
“Wel , she was upset … ,” Mol y began and then
hesitated.
“What about?”
“Wel , we planned to have this seance at the party. It was
just for fun. Beth wasn’t happy about it from the start. She
thought it was a bad idea and kept tel ing us not to get
involved. We didn’t listen and did it anyway. Then things
started to get weird and we al got a bit freaked out.”
Mol y had given her account without taking a breath,
trying hard to sound casual. Listening to her, Ivy’s eyes flew
open and her perfect, pale hands instinctively curled into
fists. “What did you say?” she asked in a low voice.
“I said we got al freaked out and …”
“No, before that. You said you performed a seance?”
“Wel , yeah, but we were just screwing around, it was
Hal oween.”
“Foolish girl,” Ivy hissed. “Didn’t your parents ever teach
you not to play around with things you don’t understand?”
Mol y looked taken aback. “Just chil , Ivy,” she said.
“What’s the big deal? What does a stupid seance have to
do with this?”
“It has everything to do with this,” Ivy said, talking almost
to herself now. “In fact, I would bet my life that the seance is
what began it.” She and Gabriel shared a knowing look.
She was real y only talking to him now. “It must have
opened a portal. Without one there’s no way he could have
returned to Venus Cove after we banished him.”
“Huh?” Mol y asked blankly. I could almost see the wheels
turning in her head as she struggled to put together the
cryptic fragments of information being thrown at her. I
wanted to shout out and tel them to stop—they were giving
too much away. It was unauthorized by Heaven and might
end up adding to their problems.
Xavier suddenly came to life. He spun around to face Ivy
while shooting Mol y a murderous look.
“You think the seance is what raised him?” he asked.
“Raised who?” Mol y interrupted loudly.
“They can be a lot more powerful than most people
realize,” my sister said. “Gabe, do you think this could be a
lead?”
“I think al information is worth considering. It’s imperative
that we find a way to break through.”
“Break through what?” Mol y demanded. She was looking
baffled and hurt at being excluded from the conversation.
My siblings were forgetting their manners and would
normal y never be this inconsiderate. I knew that finding me
was the only thing on their minds. It was so al -consuming
that they forgot about poor Mol y trying to keep up with their
discussion.
“But how do we find a gateway?” Ivy murmured. “Do you
think we could attempt a seance again? No, that’s too
dangerous. Who knows what we might let out of the pit.”
“What pit? Where?” Mol y’s voice had gone up several
octaves.
“Shut up!” Xavier burst out. I’d never seen him this irate.
“Just shut up just for two seconds!”
Mol y looked offended for a moment before her eyes
narrowed in hostility. “You shut up!” she yel ed back at
Xavier.
“Great comeback,” Xavier muttered. “Do you always
have to be so immature?”
“Pretty sure I’m the only sane person in this room right
now,” Mol y said. “You’re al out of your freaking minds.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Xavier said
darkly. “Isn’t there some quarterback you should be chasing
around right now?”
“How dare you!” Mol y yel ed. “Did Tara say something to
you? Don’t listen to anything she says, she’s just pissed
because …”
“Cut it out!” Xavier threw his hands up in frustration.
“We don’t care about you and Tara and your petty
adolescent disputes. Beth is
missing
and you’re not
helping so why don’t you just leave.”
Mol y folded her arms. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“Yeah, you are.”
“Make me!”
“Don’t think I won’t.”
“Enough!”
Gabriel’s deep, stern voice cut through the
escalating argument. “This isn’t helping anyone.” He turned
to Ivy. “Do you see? Mol y knows things we don’t.”
“Yeah, wel , I’m not tel ing you squat until I find out the
truth,” said Mol y stubbornly, and Xavier cast a withering
look in her direction. Ivy moaned softly and pressed a hand
to her temple. Mol y was hard work and my sister found her
exhausting.
“Bethany’s friend or not, this girl could make a preacher
cuss.”
“Perhaps we should try explaining things to her,” Gabriel
said kindly.
Xavier raised an eyebrow. “Go ahead, this should be
interesting.”
“Sit down, Mol y,” Gabriel began. “And try to listen without
interrupting. If you have questions I’l answer them after.”
Mol y perched on the sofa obediently while Gabriel
paced back and forth as he considered how to begin.
“We are not what we seem,” he said eventual y, choosing
his words careful y. “It’s hard to explain, but first it’s
important that you trust me. Do you trust me, Mol y?”
Mol y appraised him slowly from head to foot. He was so
beautiful that I saw her face become wistful as she took him
in. I wondered whether she’d be able to concentrate. Blond
hair framed his sculpted face and his silver eyes gazed at
her attentively. A faint golden light seemed to radiate
several inches around him, trailing after him like a misty
haze.
“Of course, I do,” she murmured. I could see she liked
being the focus of his undivided attention and she wanted it
to last. “If you’re not what you seem, then what are you?”
“That, I cannot tel you,” Gabriel replied.
“Or what, you’d have to kil me?” Mol y rol ed her eyes,
looking drol .
“No,” Gabriel replied in an even voice. “But the truth might
compromise your safety and ours.”
“Does
he
know the truth?” Mol y jerked her thumb in
Xavier’s direction. I got the feeling their relationship was on
a downward spiral and wished I could be there to heal the
rift.
“He is an exception,” Ivy said flatly.
“Real y? Why can’t I be an exception too?”
“You wouldn’t believe the truth if we told you,” Gabriel
said, trying to placate her. But Mol y was defiant.
“Try me.”
“Put it this way, how do you feel about the supernatural?”
“I’m fine with it,” Mol y replied cool y. “I used to watch
Charmed
and
Buffy
and al those shows.”