Hades (48 page)

“What are you doing here?” Gabriel demanded.

Diego stuck his bottom lip out in a mock pout. “Just trying

to have a little fun. Humans are so gul ible—dumb beasts.”

“Not as dumb as you,” Ivy said, while Gabriel moved to

position himself on Diego’s right-hand side, pinning him

between the wal and the doorway. “Looks like you’ve got

yourself trapped.”

“A bit like that little angel of yours,” Diego snarled, though

I could tel by the way he curled his fingers that he was

nervous. “She’s trapped in the pit burning as we speak and

there’s nothing you can do about it.”

“We’l see about that,” Gabriel said.

“We know you’re trying to find a portal.” Diego’s attempts

to stal or distract them were poorly disguised. “You’l never

find it and if you do, good luck getting it open.”

“Do not underestimate the power of Heaven,” Ivy said.

“Oh, I think Heaven has forsaken Bethany by now. Have

you considered that our daddy may be stronger than

yours?”

Ivy looked up and a hot blue fire seemed to blaze in her

usual y cool gray eyes. She raised her chin to match her

opponent. She opened her mouth and a language flowed

out that sounded high and sweet like a hundred children

singing or wind chimes in the summer breeze. The air

around her started to shimmer, like heat rising off the

pavement. Then, without speaking, she thrust her hand out

toward him. To my shock, her hand disappeared straight

into his chest, as though he were made of nothing but clay.

Diego seemed just as surprised as I was and grunted

loudly. Something began to glow in his chest and I realized

that Ivy was literal y gripping his heart. The light shone

brighter, making his skin papery and transparent. I could

see the outline of his rib cage and Ivy’s hand, encasing his

heart in a scalding prison of light. Diego seemed to be

completely paralyzed, but he managed to open his mouth

and let out a strangled scream. Through the screen his

chest had become, I saw the heart begin to swel and pulse

in Ivy’s hand, as if it were going to rupture. Then with a
pop,

like a bursting bal oon, it disintegrated and Diego vanished

in a flash of light.

Ivy drew a deep, shuddering breath and then brushed her

hands together as though she had touched something

contaminated.

“Demons,” she muttered.

The noise of the explosion woke Mol y, who sat upright,

scrambling to smooth down her curls.

“Huh … what … what’s going on?” she mumbled, her

voice slurry. I was amazed that she’d managed to sleep

through the drama.

“Nothing,” Gabriel said quickly. “Go back to sleep. We

just came in to check on you.”

“Oh.” Mol y stared at him wistful y for a moment before

remembering the events of the previous night. Then her

face darkened and she turned her back, wriggling down

under the covers.

Gabriel sighed and shrugged at Ivy while Xavier picked

up the car keys on the bedside table.

“Uh … thanks for taking care of that,” he said. “If it’s al

right I’m gonna go for a drive. I need to clear my head.”

I fol owed him, eager for us to spend some time alone,

even if he didn’t know I was there.

“Hey, baby.” He patted the hood of the Chevy out in the

parking lot and gave a sad smile. “Things are getting pretty

crazy, hey?”

I slid into the passenger seat as Xavier started the

familiar purring engine and pul ed out onto the highway. His

body seemed to relax behind the wheel of the car, flowing

more easily. He looked so beautiful with the worry wiped

from his face. I could stare at him for hours—his strong

arms, the outline of his sculpted chest, his hair fal ing

across his eyes, strands glowing golden in the predawn

light. His bril iant turquoise eyes were half closed as he let

the Chevy leach the tension from his body. His foot nudged

the accelerator and the car responded with an obedient

growl. Xavier never drove fast with me in the car; he was

too conscious of my safety. But in this moment he was

completely free and I knew he needed this time to himself in

order to regroup. The car glided around a bend in the road,

shadowed by the cedar trees that lined the highway. Up

ahead the left side of the road fel away, with nothing but

jagged cliffs below. Picking up speed on the open road,

Xavier rol ed down his window and flicked the radio on. The

station was playing the biggest hits of the eighties and the

chords of “Livin’ on a Prayer” rang out into the air. The song

about a couple whose struggle to survive hard times was

especial y relevant to us.

We’ve got to hold on, ready or not

You live for the fight when it’s all that you’ve got.

Xavier’s mood seemed to lift a little as he mouthed the

words and tapped the steering wheel in time with the beat.

But outside, an unnatural wind was blowing up, scattering

leaves across the highway and down the cliffs on the

opposite side. I knew something was wrong—the presence

of evil had fol owed us. I had to warn Xavier to go back. It

wasn’t safe for him out here alone. He needed to be close

to Ivy and Gabriel so they could protect him. But how could I

let him know that?

When the song ended an idea suddenly hit me. I focused

my energy and used it to interfere with the radio frequency.

The sound broke up until it was just an irritating hum. Xavier

frowned and fiddled with the dials, trying to tune the

channel. I concentrated on gathering my strength and cal ed

out his name. Then out of the blue it was my voice he heard

crackling through the speakers.

“Turn back, Xavier! You’re not safe out here. Find Ivy

and Gabriel. Stay with them. Jake is coming.”

The shock of hearing my voice almost caused Xavier to

swerve the car off the road. He recovered in time and

slammed on the brakes. The Chevy screamed to a halt in

the middle of the deserted road.

“Beth? Is that you? Where are you? Can you hear me?”

“Yes, it’s me. I want you to turn back.”
My voice was

insistent.
“You have to trust me.”

“Okay,” Xavier said. “I do. Just keep talking.”

Xavier shifted the car into gear and made a U-turn. I

breathed a little easier as I sat curled in the passenger seat

with my knees up. Once he was back at the motel he would

pass my message on to Ivy and Gabriel and they’d know

what to do. As Xavier drove my attention was drawn to the

discarded gum wrappers and an empty soda can on the

car floor. It was so unlike him—he was usual y obsessive

about car maintenance. I remembered once how the new

GPS he’d instal ed in the Chevy had left a ring on the

windshield. It bothered him so much that he dragged us to

the auto shop to find a plastic holder to stick on the

dashboard. The memory made me smile.

“Beth, you stil here?” Tapping into the radio waves had

left me drained, but I summoned whatever remnants of

energy I had left to create friction in my fingertips, which I

ran lightly over his cheek, a feather-soft caress. I saw the

hairs on his arms stand on end.

“Do that again.” Xavier smiled.

We weren’t far now from the Easy Stay Inn. The

landscape was becoming more familiar and we had almost

left the sharp cliffs behind. I had just given myself

permission to breathe easy when something unexpected

happened. The Chevy lurched and then accelerated

straight past the turnoff, leaving the low rectangular facade

of the motel behind.

“What the hel ?” Xavier looked around. “Beth, what’s

going on?”

The car seemed to take on a crazed purpose of its own.

Xavier’s foot slammed repeatedly on the brakes, but they

refused to respond. The steering wheel was locked. I slid

over to the driver’s side to help him but my attempts to wil

the car to stop were in vain. Suddenly, I glanced up and

saw in the rearview mirror two eyes like glowing embers

staring from the backseat.

“Don’t do this, Jake!” I pleaded. The car was now veering

crazily from one side of the road to the other. Xavier’s

efforts to steer it back on course were futile. The car

continued to crash forward, branches lashing out across the

windshield, stones crunching under the wheels.

My heart stopped when I saw what we were heading for.

Jake was maneuvering the car away from the woodland

and toward the rocky escarpment. A couple of times the

Chevy teetered so close to the edge I was sure it would

tumble right over and smash against the cliffs. Dust rose in

clouds impairing Xavier’s vision, but there wasn’t much he

could do other than press his back against the seat and

wrestle ineffectual y with the wheel.

I turned and saw Jake sitting calmly in the back. He was

smoking a French cigarette and blowing smoke rings out

the window.

He was playing a game with us.

30

Guardian Angels

“STOP!” I begged Jake. “
Please
stop!”

The accelerator hit the floor and the car lurched drunkenly

as if it were being steered by a blind man. The cliffs fel

sharply away to the right and there was nothing but a fine

metal railing separating the road from the devastating drop.

I needed to manifest—even if only to tel Xavier what was

happening, to see if there was some way I could get him

safely out of the car. But fear crippled my concentration. It’d

require every scrap of energy I had left to appear to him

and even then I wasn’t sure I could do it.

Suddenly I caught sight of his hands gripping the steering

wheel. I saw my promise ring and the trademark leather

wristband he always wore. I knew the feel of both by heart.

Those hands had held mine so many times; they had

comforted me, fought for me, protected me, and anchored

me to the world of the living. I remembered the moment I

first saw Xavier sitting on the pier. He’d looked up at me,

the light of the setting sun picking up the golden strands in

his honey brown hair. I remembered thinking his eyes held

so much depth. I’d wondered then who he was and what he

was like, not expecting I’d ever see him again. The

memories flooded back to me. The two of us sharing

chocolate cake in a booth at Sweethearts—he’d looked at

me as though I were a puzzle he was determined to solve. I

remembered the way his voice deepened when he was

roused from sleep, the way his lips felt against the back of

my neck. I remembered his smel , his fresh clean scent like

the woods on a summer day. I remembered the way the

crucifix around his neck glinted when the moonlight caught

it. I knew everything about him and every little detail was

sacred to me. I realized then that our subliminal connection

could transcend any physical barrier.

Without any warning I manifested right there in the

passenger seat. Xavier nearly yel ed out in shock, and his

ocean eyes widened while Jake pushed his face between

the two front seats.

“Hel o, darling,” he said darkly. “Thought I’d find you here.

Bit of car trouble I see.”

“Beth,” Xavier whispered. “What’s happening?”

I realized suddenly that he couldn’t see Jake. He had no

idea what was going on.

“It’s okay,” I told him. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“Beth, I can’t do this much longer.” His voice almost

broke. “Where are you? I don’t know what to believe