As far as my cousin, Athena was a completely different person from who I used to know. She used to be weird, too smart for her own good, a knowledge show-off, and a fashionista. Now she looked serious, wore leggings and t-shirts, could use a saber, and could fight. She had a hunger in her eyes I had never seen before either, although I wasn't sure what she hungered for. She moved differently, too—she used to be heavy-footed, clopping around the house so loudly our moms yelled. Now she was quick and soft on her feet, nimble and inaudible. She struck fast and dodged faster.
I took a final look in the mirror. My face looked okay, but my arms, torso, and legs were littered with small bruises. She might have been little, but Athena hit hard.
Sebastian's house was big and small. He only had two bedrooms, a living room, a home office, a kitchen, and a dining room on the bottom floor, but the rooms were spacious. They also were bare. Sebastian had nothing personal in the rooms to suggest he actually lived here. If it hadn't have been for Athena's touch—a pair of shoes by the door, a hoodie slung over a chair in the dining room, a bright green fuzzy blanket over the back of the sofa, a picture of her hung up on the door to his bedroom—I would've thought that this was his passer-by house: a house he only came to when he was moving through Missouri.
It did, however, feel safer than any other place. It was ducked off down a street by itself, and no one could get in unless Sebastian or Athena wanted them, too. The only issue was the silence. I heard nothing, which meant I had too much time to think and panic.
"Clare."
I squeaked, almost jumping out of my bones as Luca's mouth wrapped around my name lovingly. I placed a hand over my heart and looked up to where he was laying on the bed, a concerned look on his face.
"I didn't mean to scare you," he said, sitting up. "I thought you heard the door open and close."
Nope. I had been lost in my thoughts, unaware of anything except the dread at having to go downstairs and face Athena and Sebastian alone. They weren't rude, but hanging with just the two of them made me feel… like I was intruding.
I shook my head, dropping my hand and smiling at him. "You're here early."
He shrugged. "I might have rushed a few things to come back to you." He opened his arms for a hug, and I gladly strode over to him, depositing myself into the safe cocoon that was his him. "Are those bruises?" He buried his face into the side of my neck.
His lips sent a thrill running from the side of my neck down my spine. I resisted the urge to shudder. "Yeah. Athena was teaching me a little self-defense," I answered. I shifted so that I was straddling his waist, my feet hanging off the bed.
"How did that work out? You feel like you can defend yourself?" He moved his lips from the base of my neck to the middle. My intertwined fingers tightened against each other.
I tilted my head to the side, allowing my hair to fall back for easier access. "Nope," I laughed. "She kicked my ass."
He chuckled, his breath fanning against my ear and smelling like cinnamon. "Want me to beat hers?" he teased, pressing a kiss right at the base of my ear.
This time I did shudder. I also almost answered 'yes,' but, to my defense, I would've answered 'yes' to anything he asked me. My mind was far away from Athena and bruises and more on Luca, who was running a hand up my back, fingers dancing along my spine. "That's okay," I murmured, feeling the tip of his tongue against my skin.
"Is it?"
He wasn't talking about Athena anymore. I made a noise of agreement because words failed me. A fire built in the pit of my stomach and spread through every last inch of me. I had been waiting on Luca to kiss me for weeks now, much to no avail. Of course, I understood why he didn't at first, but I had known for almost a week and a half, and he still hadn���t done anything but hug me or stroke my hair. I had begun to think he wasn't attracted to me. Or, at the least damaging to my confidence, was so focused on keeping me alive, he couldn't think about anything else.
Luca smiled. I couldn't see it, but I could feel the way his lips pulled apart, and his teeth flashed. A little dangerous, a lot sexy.
Trust me, I was thinking of other things, his mind whispered, his voice as seductive in my mind as it was aloud. Like this.
He grabbed my face between both of his hands, holding it gently enough that the tips of his fingertips felt like flower petals, but firmly enough that I would need a little force to move my head.
Luca tilted his head to the side, moving way too slowly for my liking. My blood rushed to my ears. My heart fluttered in my chest, a hummingbird. I didn't move a single inch—I couldn't—though I wanted him to kiss me.
"Patience." His voice was so soft I barely heard it. I only way I knew he had spoken aloud because I could feel his lips move in the short distance between our mouths. The build-up is the best part, in my opinion.
It was definitely not the best part of mine.
His lips curved into an amused smirk. Everything about Luca was sexy. Every move he made, every word he spoke. Even the way his chest rose and feel when he breathed, emphasizing the broad shoulders and hardened pecs, the v-line abs, was sexy. I was sure that I would combust if he kept this build-up thing and didn't kiss me.
Just when I thought the fire in my belly would burn me alive, Luca kissed me.
His lips were soft and warm, perfect.
You know that moment in every love story or movie where fireworks explode behind the couples' head? The moment where their favorite song starts playing and the audience knows they're meant to be? The couple know they're meant to be? There's fire and romance, lust and love, perfection and imperfection. The moment every author, writer, and director tried to capture in a way that made the audience say 'awww.'
Well, this was better than that moment.
I couldn't get close enough to Luca, and it seemed he couldn't get close enough to me. He released my face to tighten his arms around me and lay down, pulling me on top of him. With one hand, he unhooked my bra, pulling it off of me in a fluid motion. I heard a soft thump as it collided with something, but my mind could care less about the bra. I wanted everything off.
Luca pulled away from my lips, both of us inhaling.
He was definitely Lust personified. I had never been kissed, touched, or set afire by anyone else like this.
"And you never will," he growled, unbuttoning my jeans swiftly, kissing every bare piece of my skin below my lips. Just so you know, he added in my mind because his mouth was otherwise occupied, this isn't any supernatural charm. This is me before the powers came.
I had figured. There was something natural about this moment, something that felt so inherently right.
Sliding my hand underneath his shirt, I brushed my fingers against his rock hard abs. Everything about him was solid and sturdy, warm and enticing. I trailed my left hand down, slipping my fingers into the waistband of his sweats with full intentions of pulling them down.
He grabbed my wrist. "The build up," he repeated, laughing and raining kisses down my side.
I groaned, rolling my eyes as I removed my hand.
Instead of responding, he flipped me over so that he was on top of me, my legs wrapped around his waist. A move so quick it caught me by surprise.
The power, the pure masculine energy, and command behind his touch and words.
Luca kissed the back of my ear. Then the side of my neck. The base of my neck. Between my chest. He kept a hand around my throat, just enough to make my breathing raspy but not enough to scare me.
His lips skimmed my belly button, his fingers pulling my jeans down and off. I wriggled out of them and had the pleasure of Luca's breath fanning against my lower abdomen as he chuckled.
His mouth hovered just below my waist when he looked at me, a question in his eyes.
Please, I thought and had his answer when our skin connected.
A little over an hour later, I entered the living room with Luca a half-step behind me, still pulling his t-shirt on.
Voices and laughter guided us from the hall. Sebastian's quiet, husky voice with a foreign accent. Griffin spoke over him with his normal but filled with charm voice. The two of them bickered, but it didn't seem serious. Underneath the two, like a spider's web weaving the three of them together, Athena's mildly irritating voice and trilling laughter. Every few sentences she snapped, "Stop!" but sounded amused.
When I rounded the corner, I saw that Griffin sat in one of the recliners, legs kicked up, a hoodie pulled over his head. Like the rest of us, the space underneath his eyes were covered in bags. None of us had slept in weeks, it seemed.
Sebastian laid on the sofa, his back leaning against the arm, his legs stretched in front of him. Athena laid on him, her head in his lap, a blanket wrapped around her, a family-sized bag of chips sitting on her chest.
When they saw me, all three stopped and stared. Athena was the first to speak. She looked over with a glimmer in her eyes. "There's pizza in the kitchen. I was gonna come to get you but you were…. occupied."
Occupied, indeed. I glanced at the last available recliner, big enough for two. It had a red blanket thrown over the back. A movie about superheroes played in the background. "I'm fine," I told her, sitting down. I wasn't hungry. In fact, I felt more than satisfied.
"Oh okay. Cool. So."
Luca sat down next to me pushing me over with his hip. The feeling of his arm against mine was almost too much. My body had yet to cool down, despite the twenty and some change minute nap we had taken before coming out here. I could feel the heat spreading from my arms. "What are we talking about?" he asked.
Griffin smiled, his lips pulled up like a cat. "I've been trying my best to not read emotions the past few days, but even in my drug-and-alcohol induced haze, the desire rolling off the two you. Well, it's unmatched." He chuckled. "I mean, seriously, this is unreal how strongly you two feel post-coitus—"
Athena snorted. "Coitus."
Sebastian cracked a smile. "Call it what it is: good, old-fashioned fu—"
"No, no," Griffin interrupted as my face turned a nice shade of red, "did you hear the speed? Frequency of her moans? That was definitely lovemaking."
I frowned. "I think I want some pizza after all." I stood up, just to escape the talk about my sex life. "You want something?" I asked Luca.
He didn't have a chance to open his mouth before Griffin interrupted. "I think my brother has had all he's wanted. Except for a second round, of course. You know, I have never, in the history of knowing this man, seen him knock out after one round. He's always a multiple round guy, especially during our orgies. Seriously, Lust could go on and on and—"
Athena shook with silent laughter, her shoulders trembling.
"Anyway," Griffin continued, turning his sharp-eyed gaze to me in a way that made my stomach flip, "tell me, Clare. Was it good? We all heard just how well it went, of course, but I want details." He clasped his hands together, eying me expectantly.
I wasn't about to give him—or anybody else—a detail about my sex life. I did, however, give him a dark look.
Athena came to my rescue, however, sticking her head from underneath the blanket to wiggle a finger at him. "Ladies don't kiss and tell."
"She did more than kiss."
Luca huffed. "Greed, enough." I heard him stand up behind me. "I agree, pizza does sound pretty good."
Griffin blew out a disappointed breath. "All I want is details, especially when I feel the satisfaction rolling off the two of you." He waved us forward. "Fine, I'll wait until these two finally reach that point."
We left the living room to Athena and Sebastian sputtering, both denying what everyone knew to be inevitably true. The two would, at the very least, hook up once or twice. Friendship be damned, Sebastian watched her like she was a buffet of his favorite foods cooked exactly how he liked, while other times he watched her like she personally pulled the sun into his life every day. Athena looked at him like he was moon, the stars, and every comet in between. They were totally in love. So what was taking them so long to get together?
In the kitchen, eight boxes of pizza were stacked on top of each other, but upon further inspection, I realized five were empty.
"Would you believe me if I said Athena ate three of those herself?" Luca asked, amusement in his tone. The flush on his cheeks mirrored mine.
I could care less what Athena had eaten or what she hadn't. My mind, body, and soul were all reeling from what we had done. I had had sex before, of course, but what we did wasn't sex. That was… otherworldly. It was like all the best feelings in the world combined, multiplied by infinity if that was possible. It was explosions dancing across my skin, underneath my skin, and fire coursing through my veins. It was…awesome, for lack of a better word. Some things were indescribable. Having sex with someone who was your soulmate and the sin of lust combined? Super indescribable.
Luca had left not a single part of me untouched, whether it be my body or my soul.
I smiled at him, racking my brain for the question. "Yes," I answered when it wouldn't appear.
He tilted his head to the side, slightly confused, and I knew my answer hadn't made sense. "Pepperoni, supreme, or cheese?" he asked, sliding two pieces of supreme pizza onto his plate.
"Pepperoni is fine." I looked into the living room, where I heard explosions on the television. Athena's head was tucked under the blanket, and it was good to know some things hadn't changed. She hated guts and gore.
He nodded, and a weird silence passed between us. Not tense but weird, as if there was something neither of us was saying. For the life in me, I couldn't figure it out considering I had nothing I wanted to tell him.
"Actually," Luca said suddenly, his voice breaking through the quiet, "there's something I need to say, but I've been waiting on the right time. I kind of wanted to do it before we had sex, but you came out of the bathroom looking so…. delicious…." His voice trailed off a little, and the way he looked me up and down sent a full shiver through me that almost made me drop my pizza.
It definitely sent a few satisfying images and feelings to the front of my mind, making that fire comeback to the pit of my belly.
"You're babbling," I pointed out.
He ran his free hand through his hair, grinning. "Yeah, well, usually I'm not nervous."
Nervous? For what? I arched an eyebrow as I waited for him to elaborate. My stomach danced inside my body, half-anticipatory, half-hungry.
"It's just that I've never asked before, but—"
Griffin stuck his head inside the kitchen. "Just get on with it," he announced, breezing through for a slice of pizza. He opened the mushroom and pineapple combo and grabbed a slice, leaning against the table. "Despite the miniature break we've all taken the past three days, the world is still ending, and only we can save it."
Irritated, I glared at him. "Griffin, can you please?"
He held his free hand up defensively as he backed out of the kitchen. "I just wanted to remind everyone, amidst the love and sex in the air that you came to Missouri for a reason, not a vacation." He gave us a serious look that didn't match the sparkle in his eye right before he disappeared.
Griffin had a point. We hadn't come here for vacation, and Mother was still trying to gather our blood to free herself. We didn't even know who she was, yet I was here with Luca, using the first spare moment we had together to have sex. Athena and Sebastian had the right idea. Save the world now, figure the relationship out later.
I felt Luca's eyes on me, even though I was still staring through the door after Griffin. "Athena and Sebastian are fools," he told me, his voice quiet, even though I didn't think he cared if they heard him or not. "They're reluctance to admit their feelings has less to do with saving the world and more to do with cowardice."
Oh. "But Mother—"
"Whatever happens will happen whether I kiss you, have sex with you, or ask you be my girlfriend." His voice was passionate, but my mind stopped processing at the last option. Ask you to be my girlfriend. Was this why he was so nervous? "We might have a week left to live or less, and the last thing I want is to die without—"
I felt like Luca was going to go on and on, trying to convince me to take this time out for us. I shut him up quickly. "Yes, I'll be your girlfriend." My voice didn't sound as excited as it should've been, and this wasn't the romantic, written in sands, pre-proposal ask I had always dreamed about, but somehow it was absolutely perfect.
Romance wasn't just flowers and candles and darkened rooms with perfect guys. It was actually the world ending and sex with your demon boyfriend. It was standing in the kitchen with so said boyfriend holding pizza while he unsuccessfully tried to ask you to, officially, be his girlfriend. It wasn't ideal, and I for sure wouldn't be trying to write it into any of my books' plot lines, but it was just right for me.
He chuckled. "It's okay for right now," he teased. "After all this is over, I can truly wine and dine you."
"I'll hold you to that." I held up my pinky, and he hooked his with mine. "We should get back in there before Griffin comes back."
I didn't want to go back in there. I would have much preferred to be alone with Luca, even among the mushroom and pineapple pizza. Going back in the living room with him felt like I was telling the universe I was ready to deal with Mother again. I wasn't, not really. I wanted to laze around another day at the very least.
That, and in the living room was Griffin, and Griffin was annoying me. His not-so-funny remarks, along with his intrusive questioning and prodding, was getting under my skin.
I can handle him for you, Luca told me as he led me out of the kitchen, a hand on the small of my back. I felt his fingers curl into my sweater, holding it possessively. Those same fingers brushing against my skin went through my head, and I forgot about my annoyance briefly. The thought of him roughing Griffin up for me put a smile on my face, though.
"—exhausted all our options," Sebastian was saying as we entered the living room. "There's literally no other solution."
"But there has to be," Athena argued. "We still have thirty minutes left of the movie, and every movie ends up with the good guys finding a solution at the ninth inning."
"Hour," Griffin corrected. "It's 'the ninth hour.'"
Everyone ignored him. "Well, that's not realistic," Sebastian countered.
Luca snorted. "You better hope for our sake this particular trope rings true." He took a bite of his pizza, olives rolling from underneath mushrooms and bell pepper and down his shirt. "Because we are the at the ninth hour with no idea what to do."
Athena furrowed her brows. "I would like to think this was more of the seventh hour. A quarter till eight, if we want to be specific."
I laughed. Personally, I felt like we were closer to the ninth hour than the seventh. We had no idea when Mother was coming. She could show up right now, and we'd be unprepared. Would we fight her? Of course. Would we win? Probably not. Would we give it a valiant effort? Hopefully. Although, if God was listening, I hoped He gave me a few more practice runs with my saber before He let Mother use her free will to send forth her army of demons for my head.
Sebastian cracked a smile. "Are we the good guys, though? We have three demons and two Guardians."
"I think," I answered after swallowing a huge slice of pizza, "that y'all count as the good guys. You're trying to save the world, right?"
"Technically," Griffin countered, "I'm trying to save the world. Luca is trying to save you, and Sebastian is trying to save her. Saving the world is really just collateral damage to those two."
Luca didn't bother to deny it. "It's true. While the world ending would suck, I'm more concerned about keeping you alive. My world would end if something happened to you anyway." He shrugged, finishing his pizza.
A little zap hit my heart right in the romantic feelings. My other exes hadn't been too romantic, not how I liked it—the big grand shows of romance along with declarations of love. The dramatic stuff, but also the little things like just now. The casual announcement of a life-changing feeling.
Another moment of silence. Almost awkward, almost exasperated. Athena wiggled in her seat, looking uncomfortable.
Sebastian coughed. "Well, I think we should redirect the conversation to something more productive. Do you two have any ideas about who Mother could be?"
I let Luca answer as I nibbled on my pizza.
"Everything you know, we know, my brother," Luca answered. He had already finished his pizza. "Where does that leave us?"
"Back at square one."
It wasn't so bleak actually. We knew a lot more than we did when it first started. For example, Athena and I were Guardians, and we knew now why she needed us. And with Athena knowing how to fight, her powers, and my powers (that is, if we learned what they were and how to use them before then), and with me learning, that took a little bit of the burden off of them. It also gave us a little bit more of a fighting chance. It was still a small chance but a bigger one than we had before.
Or not. I was kidding myself. We had no chance because we had no idea who Mother was.
The idea made the pizza unappealing. I sat it to the side as the food into my belly turned into sludge.
"Time is running out," Luca pointed out as if none of us knew.
Griffin arched an eyebrow. "You weren't concerned about time running out when you had Clare running from your—"
"Enough, Griffin," Athena snapped. "How on Earth did you manage to relate that to sex?"
"I've been alive for almost two centuries. You pick up a few skills."
I rolled my eyes, glad she had snapped at him instead of me. "That's your skillset? No wonder Mother laughs at the thought of us fighting her." I leveled my gaze at him. "I'm at my least productive when I'm irritated, so stop with the jokes and questions about my sex life because I'm getting really annoyed."
"Just one more?"
"No."
He held his hands up defensively again, and I got the feeling he did that a lot.
Luca wrapped his arm around me. He squeezed my shoulder. You okay? I can knock his ass flat on the ground if you want. Or I can hold him as you punch him. I could command him to be still and then sick a hundred rabid, hungry wolves at him. Suffering or no suffering? It's your choice.
I smirked, deciding to humor him. Which would you choose?
Personally, I'm more a one-and-done guy myself when it comes to kills. I like to get it over with, simply because murder brings such negative energy. The sooner it's over, the sooner I can go back to my nap.
Giggling, I leaned into him. The movie playing had come to a conclusion; the good guys had found this magic artifice that was the only thing in the world that could defeat the villain.
"See?" Athena said, looking up at Sebastian with hopeful eyes. "There's always a solution, even if we don't see it at the moment."
He just gave her a look that said this is a movie.
"Don't be a pessimist," she grumbled, tossing the blanket off of her and standing up. She stretched, and the fabric of her shirt rose just the tiniest sliver, showing a small line of her belly. Sebastian watched it as if it was still provocative. She didn't even notice. "I'll be upstairs."
For a second, I wondered if I should follow her. She hadn't said why she was going, and she hadn't called me to come with her. I didn't want to impose on her space. I also didn't know if she was going to take a nap, and while we had showered together as toddlers, sharing a bed now would be a bit awkward. I didn't want to leave Luca either. He was warm and solid, and, despite the buzzing under my skin, I felt safe. It was hard to give that up, considering I hadn't felt safe in weeks.
Sebastian ran his fingers through his hair. "We're going to have to hit the books again. The only person that has the slightest idea of Mother is dead. Has been dead a long time." His dark hair was in waves around his shoulders, and his green eyes were a little darker than the last few times I had seen him.
"What books? We've exhausted our books." Luca's arms tightened around me. "Hillary can't offer us anymore help. We have no idea who Mother is, and it doesn't seem likely we'll find out."
I thought about Mother. The last thing she had said to me. Something about freedom and… I couldn't remember. It felt like a clue, though.
Actually, I had forgotten a lot of what I had known about Mother besides some of my dreams. Unfortunately, my time had been spent learning more about myself, Guardians, and a whole new world.
"We have enough clues. We just need to think about it."
"Or," Griffin interjected, "we can use an ouija board. Throw a salt circle around us to keep the spirits contained. I have some crystals in the car—"
"Does anyone have any actual ideas?" Sebastian snapped.
Well, the only other 'anyone' in here that hadn't spoken was me. "I actually think that Griffin isn't too far off," I admitted, even though he hadn't been serious. "My great aunt Patricia was a medium. Athena and I used to….. yes?" I stopped talking. Sebastian looked like he wanted to hit me. Griffin held in his laughter. When I turned to look at Luca he looked half-exasperated, half-amused.
Griffin gave me a patient look, a half-grin on his face. "Clare, I know we don't know each other well, but learn not to take my suggestions seriously. I never have anything worth a damn to add to the conversation."
I didn't need to be told that.
Clare, Griffin was just kidding. We don't take mediums and witchcraft seriously, Luca said, his voice apologetic. I could tell by the tone in his voice that he thought my aunt was a crockpot full of shit.
Fine. If that was how they felt, they could come up with their own solution. "I'm going to see what Athena is doing," I snapped, pushing myself up and stalking down the hall. It took them a full five seconds to start arguing again.
They literally had no good ideas, no good solutions, but the fact that I wanted to take an alternate route and talk to some ghosts amused them? Witchcraft was taken pretty seriously by Sebastian when he got a witch to put protective wards all over his house. Witchcraft was taken seriously when Hillary was using it to predict the future. But when I mentioned it, everybody had to laugh.
It was a slap in the face, especially coming from Luca.
I pushed open the door to the training room, expecting Athena to be in motion, but instead she was sitting cross-legged in the corner, a book in her hands. Next to her were two pens, two notebooks, and another book. When I opened the door, she didn't bother to look up, just say, "You lasted three whole minutes with them. You have the patience of a saint." She patted the spot next to her. "You're frowning."
"They laughed at my suggestion."
She didn't ask what it was, just put her book down. There was small writing, and the format reminded me of a religious text. I didn't have my glasses on nor my contacts in, so I couldn't make out more than little squiggles across the page. "Don't take it personally. In their minds, we're still two weak little humans girls that need protecting." She marked her page with the pen and closed it. Across the cover, in big gold letters, was Bible. Underneath it, Standard English Version. "They don't see us as Guardians. Or potential world savers."
I wasn't sure if she was offended or not. She sounded resigned but not disappointed or upset. "Do they laugh at you?"
"They wouldn't dare." She smiled at me. "They laugh at me sometimes. Other times, they talk over me. You either get used to it, or you spend the rest of the day being irritated, and then they don't even allow you in the conversations."
I looked away from her. Athena had so many aspects to her. The fake polite version I met when I first arrived. The serious, stern-like teacher that taught me a few moves. The fiery, passionate fighter who had taken my words incorrectly and attacked me but still didn't try to hurt me. The playful Athena who leaned against Sebastian and stuck her head under the blankets when someone got shot or stabbed. This Athena, who seemed unafraid and confidently sure of herself and reserved. The Athena I hadn't seen yet, the person she was when she was alone with Sebastian. Somewhere amongst all of them was my cousin from when we were younger.
"How is it? Living with the two of them?" I asked. Luca had mentioned that Athena stayed with Sebastian. He only had two bedrooms, which made sense because Sebastian didn't seem like the type of guy to have too many friends over.
She took a deep breath before answering. "I only live with Sebastian technically. Griffin comes and goes when he pleases—mostly goes, though." She looked away from me, toward the wall. Her saber wasn't attached to her for once; it hung on the wall beneath an identical one, except this one had an all black blade. "It has its ups and downs, though. Sometimes I'm glad they're always here because the one time they weren't, I was almost attacked. Other times I want to burn this house down because I feel cooped up. If it wasn't for the five day a week distraction that was school, I probably would've gone to Mother myself begging for her to take me out."
Even though she laughed, the thought sent a chill through me. Mother would be quick, I was sure, because she really wanted out of wherever she was. I just couldn't stop stomach the idea of Athena being dead. "I can't picture being tired of Luca," I muttered, drawing my knees to my chest. I wanted to live with him. Get married to him. Have awesome sex every day, or at least six times a week. Have children for him. Grow old while he still looked young. Pretend to be his sugar mama while we were out in public.
Not that I had given our future much thought.
She gave me a rueful smile. "We have a different relationship than you and Luca."
I wanted to ask her why that was. Who was being difficult and not admitting their feelings and why? In due time, I thought. "So… what are you working on?"
"I was trying to figure out who Mother was. There's a religious connection in everything so far. I was hoping she would be one of the women of the Bible."
"How's it going?"
She shrugged. "Not good. I thought that Mother is, like, the mother of all demons. Maybe she didn't give birth to them physically, though. So I thought about that one story—the one about the queen and her servant or something that had a baby on the same day as her?"
I wasn't too up-to-date on the bible stories that didn't directly involve Jesus, so I motioned for her to elaborate.
"Basically, they both had a little boy on the same day. The queen's son died, though. She was crazy with grief, so she declared that the servant's son actually belonged to her. Well, the servant argued that it was her baby, and this fight ensued or whatever." She took a deep breath to collect herself before continuing. "Well, the king—or maybe it was a lawyer, I don't recall, I didn't go to church—decided that he would tear the baby in half so they both could get a child."
My face wrinkled up. "That's a weird solution, but go off."
"That's the thing, he never had intentions on hurting the baby. His goal was to find the real mom through sacrifice. The real mom would love her child so much that she would literally give him up to keep him alive, whereas the queen would gladly take half of the baby because he wasn't hers."
By the time she had finished her explanation, I remembered the story for what it was. It was in 1 Kings. I wondered where she got it from that the mothers in question were a queen and a servant—in the story, both women lived in the same house, but they weren't mentioned to be royalty. In truth, the babies were born three days apart, and the woman who Athena called the queen rolled over on her baby in her sleep and killed him. While the other woman slept, the baby-killer switched the babies. They went to Solomon yelling and carrying on about the baby, so he asked for a sword. The rest of Athena's story was correct. He gave the baby to the real mom, and everyone was amazed because Solomon had been gifted with the wisdom of fair judgment by God.
"And you think the queen is Mother?"
She shook her head. "No. I just think it's a cool story."
We laughed.
"I am, however, going to put down this Bible. If the guys are so determined to figure out who Mother is, we should let them do it their way. I did find something else, though," she told me. "Can't figure out what it means, but it's in our journal. A second part to the first prophecy: when the seven sins meet virtues' heart, one will sway the fate, or the world be torn apart."
I blinked because there was no way she had missed that. Knowing what I knew now, the answer was obviously. "Do you seriously not know?" I asked because I couldn't believe my genius cousin hadn't cracked the code. It wasn't even a hard code.
Athena looked confused. "Do you?"
"Of course. It's about love."
"Love?"
���Yes. The first line is saying the seven deadly sins fall in love with us—meeting the hearts of the seven virtues." I paused, thinking of the next lines. "One will sway the fate, or the world be torn apart. Sounds like everybody is gonna be on board with taking down Mother except one person. The last line is self-explanatory."
Athena was silent for a few seconds before muttering, "It can't be that easy."
I shrugged. "You're so logical, you wouldn't think it would be something as easy as someone falling in love." I knew we were the seven virtues because we descended from the seven archangels. "The first part is harder to crack."
"'Both sides consist of seven, if love shall fail, then so shall Heaven,'" she quoted. "Wait. Clare!"
I arched an eyebrow.
"The both sides—the Seven Deadly Sins and the Seven Archangels. If the part part is about falling in love, then so is the second! Listen—if we don��t get each of them to fall in love with a Guardian, then it's over with for the world. We need them."
Excitement bubbled inside of me. We had cracked the prophecy. We had figured—nothing. Knowing what we had to do made no difference considering we didn't know how to use the Sins to defeat Mother. As quickly as the excitement came, it went. "This means nothing, though, does it?"
She side-eyed me, not like she was annoyed but like she was seeing me in a different light. "You know, Clare, even though you totally just killed the mood, I'm glad you're here."
I grinned at her. "I'm glad I'm here, too." Even if I did have trepidation about it. It was the best thing to do to protect my family. That didn't mean I was ready to jump headfirst into it, though with no worries. So far, everything seemed to be working out. "Let's get cracking."
We were deep into the Bibles, writing down women and the roles they played—although, so far I hadn't gotten anything that even remotely resembled someone talking about freedom or doing something wicked besides premarital sex—when something sharp struck my skin. It didn't hurt. It felt kind of good actually, like a cool front when you were outside sweating. Or the feeling of cold water when you finished running.
I wasn't the only one that felt it, though. Athena put her book down and jumped up, head tilted to the side. "Someone's knocking," she stated. As soon as she said it, I felt it more than I heard it.. "Nobody is supposed to get close enough to knock."
Athena sounded worried, so I started to panic a little bit. "Do I need to get my saber?"
"Only if you think you'll be able to use it without hurting yourself or one of us," she replied, grabbing Trespasser off the wall. As soon as her hand closed around the hilt, the blade seemed to light up just for a second. I could see the energy of the saber traveling through her, running underneath her skin.
I would grab Truth-seeker from the guest room. I might not have known how to use it well, but it was mine. The saber bought me some kind of comfort.
Athena was already out the door by the time I got up. I jogged behind her catching up while she was midway down the stairs. I could hear arguing. Griffin was asking Sebastian why he didn't tell them the wards had gotten weaker. Sebastian's voice was too quiet for me to hear a response.
Ahead of me, Athena paused. She turned her head in front of the guest room. "You getting your saber?"
I nodded. I didn't have to go in there, though. I closed my eyes and stuck my hand out, a trick Samuel had taught me. Truth-seeker, I thought, searching for the chord that connected me to my First Blade. It was a thin white cord, and when I pictured in my head, I tugged on it. The air around me whistled, and then I felt it in my hands. It was solid and warm, as if I had been holding it this entire time.
When I reopened my eyes, Athena was grinning. "You have to show me how to do that."
Finally, something I knew that she didn't. "Of course." There would be plenty of practice sessions between us. There had to be. We were twin Guardians. Or, not twins exactly, but we were two of one line.
In the living room, the knocking persisted. Sebastian and Griffin kept arguing. Luca turned to me with wide eyes.
Go back upstairs.
I would've listened had he not laughed at me. Maybe if Athena hadn't told me what they thought of us, I would've turned around. If I hadn't been a Guardian, a daughter of an angel-blessed family line. If I didn't have a saber that forced people to tell me the truth. If this had been me from two months ago, hell, even two weeks ago, I would've gladly went back upstairs to cower while he solved the problem.
But this was today, and things had changed. Chloe had almost died twice because I didn't know how to protect us.
Mother was coming. I couldn't let Luca fight her on my behalf without pitching in something.
So I ignored him and followed Athena .
The boys sputtered. She took a deep breath, preparing herself for what was on the other side, and opened the door.
I should've been terrified to open the door, but I wasn't. I gripped my saber tightly, hands shaking. I didn't want to use it. I trusted this woman, whoever she was. Before we came down here, there had been this feeling pushing me forward. It was like two split atoms returning to each other. The sun rising again for the Earth. Water to a flower. The feeling of something lost returning. I felt the same way now, except more at ease that I was seeing her and not someone else.
The "her" was a tall woman—she was a few inches taller than me, long and willowy with sinewy muscles. She had dark, dark brown skin with a wide smile, pleasant smile and full lips. Her black hair was straight and thick, cut to her shoulders without a strand out of place. She had wide lovely baby blue eyes that looked a little threatening. "Blessed protector, angel of Gabriel, defender of evil," she greeted, dipping her head at me.
How did she know? Who was she? "Uh, hi," I muttered, dropping my saber slightly. She wasn't a threat.
She didn't respond, but the way she looked at my saber dropping was disapproving.
Behind us, I could sense the guys move into place rather than see them. When I looked back, I saw that Sebastian had a hand curled onto Athena's back, ready to pull her back at any moment. Luca didn't touch me, but he was close enough to me I could feel his body heat radiating off of his skin. Leaning against the wall to the left of Athena was Griffin, lips pursed as he watched her curiously. Defensively.
Maybe I should be more cautious, if everyone else was on alert.
Athena held the saber loose at her side, but I had the feeling she would attack in a second. I didn't bother to do anything with my saber because I didn't know how to use it yet anyway.
"Feared destroyer," the woman continued, reverence in her tone, "angel of Gabriel, defender of evil. Soul taker."
The way she said the last two words made goosebumps appear on my arms. I wasn't afraid, per se, but it didn't sound good. I watched Athena to see how she responded to being the destroyer. Her face didn't move a muscle. "And you are?" she asked.
Instead of answering, the woman glanced down at Trespasser with a nostalgic look. When she looked back up, her eyes were dark brown, more wise than threatening. "How has your training been progressing?"
"I could kill you if I need to," she responded confidently.
The woman grinned. "I was hoping you would say that." She looked behind us then, as if just noticing the guys. "I wish these two no harm. Please, allow me to come in."
Sebastian's answer was quick. "No. Not at all."
The woman sighed. "I'll only ask one more—"
"And I'll say 'no' as many times as it takes," he cut off.
I saw Griffin's hand move to Sebastian's arm, a warning.
The woman just kept smiling. "Oh, Sebastian. I remember when you were young and desperately clinging to the idea your family would love you," she replied softly, gently as if she was breaking news to him. "You know, I've always wondered what would've happened had your siblings not rescued you. You were already growing so big you parents could barely afford to get a new cage every other—"
Athena inhaled sharply. It was quiet, and I was sure no one had noticed but me.
Cage?
Luca edged forward. I noticed the way he casually shielded me from the woman. "I think it's best if you—"
"And you, Luca," she said joyously. "The extent to which you love Sebastian, yet you go through such great lengths to make sure he hates you and you him. Tell me, does he know about the nights you watched him from shadows while he murdered everything in his path. Or, does he know about how you worry night and day about how he enjoys torturing—"
"Enough," Griffin growled.
The woman laughed. "Oh, Griffin, don't get me started on you. The most well-behaved of your siblings, so sacrificing because you so desperately don't want to be who you are. You crave to be loved so bad, you'd take your own brother's soulmate just to—"
The next few seconds happened quickly. Griffin lunged at her at the same time Sebastian pushed Athena out of the way and unsheathed his sword. I saw my cousin skitter to the side, surprise on her features. Luca grabbed my shoulder and pushed me out of the way, too, but he didn't go for the woman—instead, he went for Sebastian, who seemed to be in another place. The look on his face chilled me to my bones.
I tripped over something, probably my own two feet honestly, and hit the ground. Truth-seeker remained in my hands. Athena recovered instantly, and her attention was torn between them and me.
But she had nothing to fear. Neither did the woman at the door.
She lifted her hand in the air, stopping the guys where they were. "Now," she said, all pretenses of politeness gone, "let me introduce myself. I am Samia Walker, Disgraced destroyer of the angel Gabriel. I have walked this Earth for three hundred years and watched generation after generation of my children fail to become Guardians."
I heard Samuel's voice through my saber. Samia. Relief. Forgiveness. Happiness. All three of those sung through his tone.
She closed her hand, and the boys dropped to the ground. Sebastian clutched his throat, unable to breathe. Griffin's eyes rolled to the back of his head. Luca shook on the ground, gasping for breath.
"I cannot give life, but I can take it away," she continued. She brought her hand down, and the boys were still.
I scrambled up, my heart pounding in my chest as I rushed to Luca. I heard the faintest heartbeat in his chest."Stop," I muttered.
Athena stood to the side, watching the woman with narrowed eyes.
"Gabriel shook the Earth to destroy Jerusalem, but our power is much simpler—and more complicated." She turned to Athena with a dancing grin. "I have come to see the children of my children's children."
She took a deep breath, eyes on Athena. "And to die."
Athena remained still, watching her. Waiting. Her hands curled around her saber with a tightness.
I had no such problems.
Without a second thought, and while ignoring the protests happening in my head from Samuel, I shoved my saber right through Samia's stomach.