Torn (15 page)

And I didn’t know how to stop it.

I ran my fingers through my hair. “At any rate, on the whole, a successful mission.”

“Where is it?” Clarence said, moving toward me, his hand outstretched.

I hesitated, knowing that in the end Johnson wanted the thing, but when I looked over at Rose, now curled up on the bench and watching me impassively, there was no sign from Lucas that I shouldn’t cooperate. I didn’t know what plan he had for getting the key back from Clarence and Penemue, but apparently it wasn’t thwarted by handing the necklace off to Clarence.

Not that I intended to let him follow through on whatever plan he was hatching. My priority might be getting Johnson out of Rose, but that didn’t mean I was keen on Penemue getting his hands on the
Oris Clef
. And since I was finding the key in pieces, I was beginning to think that the best thing to do was use the third piece to bargain for Rose, then somehow turn the tables on Lucas and Penemue and prevent them from getting the
Oris Clef
altogether.

How exactly I’d do that, though, was another question. What I
did
know was that if Clarence had the pieces, my plan would be more difficult. So I hated to hand them off.

Not that I had much choice.

“There’s more,” I said, as I reluctantly passed the thing to Clarence. “My arm popped on the next location.”

“Did it?” Clarence asked. “Well, let’s see.”

I begrudgingly held out my arm and discovered that the second tattoo was no longer raised. “But it was,” I protested. “It started burning right after I got the necklace.”

“After you
obtained
the necklace?” Zane asked, leaving Kiera’s side to join us. “Or after you put it on?”

I tried to remember. “On,” I said. “I remember I slipped it on, and my arm began to burn again.”

He turned his attention to Clarence, and damned if he didn’t look a little smug. “I’m afraid your time with the relic is up,
mon ami
. If you wish to find the second hiding place, the relic belongs in Lily’s hands.”

Clarence hesitated, then peeled off the necklace and passed it to me. “All right, then. Let’s see it.”

I slipped it back on and felt my flesh begin to sear.

“They’re connected,” Zane said. “Each one untrace able until the previous one has been found. And none discoverable except by the one who holds them all.”

“Lucky me,” I said, but though I’d added sarcasm to my voice, in truth, I was secretly pleased. This new turn of events gave me another level of control. And so far, in this crazy world, control had been seriously lacking in my life.

“What are you waiting for?” Clarence asked. “See if you can get there.”

“Now?” The idea was really not appealing.

“The convergence comes, Lily,” Clarence said. “There is no time to waste.”

And since that was a point I really couldn’t argue with, I let out a loud, annoyed breath and held out my hand for Clarence. “Don’t let go,” I said. Then, on the count of three, I pressed my palm over the tattoo and let the portal suck me in.

Once again, I encountered the same protections, and I couldn’t get close. The bridge didn’t work, and my mission was going to be aborted until Clarence could manufacture another spell to conjure another bridge and get me close to the relic.

This time, however, it wouldn’t be a mystery where I was going. Because this time, even I knew the landmark.

“Stonehenge?” Clarence said, when I’d returned and told him.

“That’s what I saw. But how a piece of the key could be hidden around a bunch of big rocks is completely beyond me.”

Kiera was sitting up by then, still weak, but alive and alert. “Another dimension?” she said, the words clearly costing her. “Maybe Stonehenge really is a doorway to another dimension, like in all those stories you hear.”

I moved to sit beside her, momentarily forgetting that I didn’t trust her. I’d been paralyzed like that before, though I hadn’t been put to sleep as well, and I still vividly remembered the sense of helplessness and fear that had overcome me in that vulnerable state.

“It’s a good idea,” I said. “Except my mystical magical map powers don’t work if the doohickey is in another dimension. It’s there,” I said. “It’s just hidden.”

“And now we build the bridge,” Clarence said, standing and beginning to move around the room. Now that he knew what to do, I assumed it didn’t take a whole lot of prep to put the thing together.

“Hold it,” I said. “We’re wiped. And I told you about warrior dude. I want to get stronger. And Kiera and I both need to rest.” I also needed time to figure out if there was a way to force Johnson out of Rose. If this whole thing moved at lightning speed, there was no way I’d keep up.

For a moment, I thought Clarence would argue. Then he nodded, apparently realizing a rested hunter is a happy hunter. “Very well.” He held out his hand. “The relic, Lily.”

“But—”

“You don’t need it at the moment, and it needs to stay safe.”

I’m not sure why, but I twisted around to find Zane’s eyes. He nodded, and I took the chain off again. “Don’t lose it,” I said dryly, earning me a smile from Clarence that was utterly lacking in humor.

Kiera turned down Zane’s offer to train, claiming she still felt ripped from the paralytic. I, however, was eager for the kill. And though I knew I should get Rose home—though I knew that the last thing she needed to see was her sister impaling demons—I stayed and took them on. Demon after demon, letting Zane release them, then toying with them until I grew bored and stabbed them hard with my knife, then stood there, head back, as the power of the kill filled me and flowed through me.
Glorious.

“It is enough, I think,
chérie
,” Zane said, when I ordered him to send out one more. My count at that point totaled ten, and I was hot and bothered and itching for a real fight, not this pansy-ass shit, where the demons were so easy to kill I could practically do it in my sleep.

“More,” I said, stepping gingerly out of the training arena to get right in his face.

His hands pressed gently on my shoulders, and his eyes were infinitely sad. I looked away, both fearful of getting sucked into a vision, and also oddly ashamed. “Lily. You do not want more.”

“Don’t I?” I asked. “Don’t you want me to have more. Suck more in. Make me a badass warrior?”

“No,” he said, and that one simple word did me in. I released a small sob and clung to him. “I hate it,” I whispered. “I hate the dark.” Except I didn’t. I wanted to—so help me, I wanted to despise it—and yet it called to me. Enticed me. And lured me in with sweet, whispered promises.

He said nothing, merely stroked my hair, but his body was tense. Tight. And I couldn’t help but believe that he hated it, too. I wanted so badly to break down and ask him if he knew who he really worked for. Or if he did know, if he did it because he wanted to, or because he craved the mortality that they’d promised him. Death for a man who’d lived forever, and would otherwise continue on.

But I couldn’t. I wasn’t sure if I was afraid of the answer or of blowing my cover. All I know is that I was afraid, and that I kept silent.

“Take the girl home,” he said. “Rest. Eat ice cream.” He tilted my chin up. “Be Lily for a night.”

I managed a smile and didn’t tell him that I wasn’t sure I remembered how. More than that, being Lily wasn’t my biggest concern anymore. That had shifted to Rose being Rose, and with that problem in mind, I thought of someplace—and someone—who actually might be able to help me.

By the time we’d taken a taxi and retrieved my bike, it was already almost two in the morning. Rose was staggered, the exhaustion so thick in her body it practically leaked out of her. I couldn’t take her home, though. I needed to do this errand. I didn’t know how much downtime Clarence would give me, and I needed all my ducks in their proper order.

“Where are we going?”

“To mark you,” I said, the words surprising me when I realized they were true. I’d had my name—Lily—tattooed on the small of my back not long after I’d found myself hanging out in Alice’s body. And now, yeah, I intended to mark Rose with her own name, despite the interloper inside her.

I had a particular tattoo shop in mind, and when we arrived, I was grateful to see that the
Madame Parrish, Psychic
sign was still lit.
She
was the real reason I’d come. But if I could put Rose on the table with John working his magic on her skin, then I could talk with the strange woman myself and not risk being overheard, by either Rose or the demon who lived inside her.

“Well, look who’s back,” John said, as we walked in. He was doing something in his work area, and I saw Rose go a little pale when she saw the table on which she’d lie.

“Do you want to?” I asked Rose.

For a moment, I thought she’d say no, the thought distressing me more than it should. My mom might not approve, but I wanted her marked. Wanted her
named
.

“My name?”

“That’s right.”

She drew in a breath. “Does it hurt?”

“A little.”

Her lips disappeared, she’d pressed them so tight together. “Let me see yours.”

I shrugged out of my coat and pulled up the back of my shirt, revealing the intricate lily tattoo, along with my name spelled out above.

“I get a rose, right? And my name.”

“Sure thing. Whatever you want.”

She looked at John, whose easy smile calmed her. Then she nodded.

“Come on, then,” John said, holding out his hand. “Let’s get you set up.”

From the shadows near the window, Madame Parrish stood. “And you have come to see me.”

I cocked my head. “How did you know that?” I’d killed a Secret Keeper and absorbed his essence. She shouldn’t be able to get into my head.

She laughed. “A guess. Don’t worry. Your secrets are now safe.” She held out her hands. “It is good to see you, Lily.”

“How do you know about me?” Because I was certain that she did—that she knew even more than what she’d seen in my head during my previous visit. And though I knew I should be wary of her, I wasn’t. I was also certain she was on my side, and if I was wrong, I didn’t want to know it. Having an ally, even one who looked to be ninety and hid in a tattoo parlor, made me feel safe and warm.

“I know many things,” she said, and I knew better than to press. Press, and she might leave, and I’d be stuck there watching Rose get a tattoo. “She is your sister?”

I nodded, watching as Rose climbed onto the table. “She’s why I’m here. Most of it, anyway.”

“I see.” Madame Parrish stood. “It is a lovely night, and there is a bench in front of the shop. Shall we step out and watch the sky?”

I followed her out, grateful she’d understood my need for privacy. I was a little concerned Johnson would peek out and scare the artist, but since I couldn’t think why he would bother, the fear was little more than a paranoid niggle. And even that faded as we reached the door. Rose, I saw, had fallen asleep on the table.

“There’s a demon inside her,” I said once we were settled on the bench. “I need to know how to get it out.”

Madame Parrish put her hand on my knee. “I’m am so sorry. For you and for the child. And I’m sorrier still for what I must tell you.”

“What?” I asked, tamping down on fear.

“There is no removing a demon who does not wish to be removed. Another demon could move in and perhaps engage the first in battle, but your sister’s soul . . .” She trailed off with a shake of her head. “It would surely be a casualty of such a hard-fought war.”

“Oh.” I drew in a breath, determined not to cry. “Then that’s it. There’s nothing I can do except what Johnson asks. And hope that he’ll keep his promise.”

“I would not put much stock in the word of a demon,” she said.

“I don’t. But it doesn’t sound like I have a choice.”

“You cannot get the demon out of your sister, but there may be another way.”

I turned to her, confused, curious, and definitely hopeful. “How?”

She held out a hand, indicating me.

I recoiled, realizing what she was suggesting. “Another body for Rose? But—” Even if I knew how, that would mean killing someone. Forcing another soul out as Rose moved in. “I couldn’t. I—”

“I’m only telling you the possibilities, child. You cannot fight unless you understand all the rules.”

“I couldn’t do that,” I said. “I couldn’t take someone else’s life. Not even for Rose.”

Her smile bloomed bright. “The darkness that consumes you,” she said. “The darkness that you fear . . . I think that it has not yet tarnished your heart.”

“Thank you,” I whispered, and though her words lightened me, there was grief there, too. Because I’d come hoping to find a way to save Rose, and I realized now that I would be leaving with no answers, only the certainty that I had to keep playing Johnson’s game.

“That is not all you came for,” she said, watching my face.

“No. I wanted help. For me. For my visions.” I waited for her response, but she said nothing, and so I continued on. “They’re shared. I don’t want them to be.”

“You wish to move in stealth through another’s mind.”

“I do. Is there a way?”

“There is.”

“How?”

The quick quirk of her lips reminded me of my mother’s easy smile. “Practice.”

I leaned back, sagging against the bench. “That’s it? No demon I can kill and absorb his essence? No secret magic formula?”

She laughed. “Lily, sometimes things must be accomplished the old-fashioned way.” She pressed a hand to my cheek. “Practice. Eventually, your efforts will pay off.”

“Right. Great. Will do.”

She stood. “Let’s go see how your sister is coming along.”

I followed her inside, and we watched as John finished the tattoo on Rose’s back. Once he was done, I woke Rose up and helped her, staggering and groggy, back to my bike.