Sweet Temptation

I pull my disgusting clothes back on, though they’re bearable now that I’m back to normal temperature. Then I open another blanket and lay it across the girls for good measure. Kope dresses, too, and when he turns to leave the cabin, I grab his arm. His jaw clenches as we meet eyes. I drop my hand.

“I’m . . . sorry,” I say lamely. I can’t bring myself to say more. I just remember how he was in Syria, how I admired him as a friend, and I want to put this behind us—to get back to that place.

He stares at me, lips pursed, and slowly nods. “As am I.”

We say nothing more. We both glance down at the sleeping girls and leave them to rest.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

No Good-Byes

“Sunshine upon my face, a new song for me to sing,

Tell the world how I feel inside, even though it might cost me everything.”

—“Alive” by P.O.D.

When we made it back to L.A., we brought Z to the convent where Anna was born. Belial thinks she’ll be safest there. Then we took Kope to the airport, and saw Blake off, back to Santa Barbara. We tried to keep things light, but I know we were all thinking the same thing as we parted: the Dukes knew something was up. The prophecy could happen tomorrow or years from now—we had no idea what to expect or when we’d all see one another again. These were bittersweet thoughts, but for the first time in our lives we had a reason to hope for something more. Something different.

Something better.

Life without the demons.

I take Anna home with me, but Belial shows soon after. I grit my teeth as he struts in, remembering the last time we were together, and his warning to me after the summit. I respect Anna’s father as much as I can, since he sympathizes with the Nephs’ plight, but I refuse to grovel to him or any Duke any longer. When he walks in I remain standing, crossing my arms over my chest. If he tries to order me out of Anna’s life again, he will not get the answer he wants, not this time.

Belial’s face turns deadly when Anna tells him that the other Dukes know about the prophecy, that we heard them talking about it on the island, and how they suspect Anna could be “the one.”

“Tell me exactly what they said,” he orders. As Anna rehashes last night, Belial eventually sits, but his presence in the room doesn’t get any smaller. His eyes are like darts and I can practically see the wheels turning in his mind as he works out possible strategies to keep his daughter safe.

“You’re going to have to move, Anna,” he tells her, and I hold back a nod of agreement. “I can’t have you in Atlanta anymore.”

He can’t have her near my father is what he means, and I couldn’t agree more. Anna’s heart is broken at the thought of not living with Patti anymore. Belial looks like he can handle Anna’s tears about as well as I can, which is not well at all.

“Everything I’ve done has been to protect you, Anna,” he says. “Sending the whisperers to haunt you that night, this thing with the two boys, making you move. All of it. I hate to see you upset, but it’s all been for the best.”

I inwardly wince as Anna’s ears perk up.

“What thing with the two boys?” she asks pointedly. She picked up on the exact phrase I was hoping she’d skim over.

Belial stares at her, then glances at me. “I thought he’d tell you.”

“Tell me what?” Anna asks sharply.

I shake my head and drop my eyes. This is the last thing I want to deal with, especially now that I’ve begun to make amends with Kope. I want to move past it, and I know Anna will be hurt and furious when she finds out her father hoped and planned that she’d get over me and fall for Kope, so she could find love with someone safe.

Standing abruptly, her face ashen, she calls him out on it.

“You told this to Kai when you commanded him to stay away from me, didn’t you?” she asks. My girl’s eyes are blazing with indignation.

“Yes,” he says unabashedly. “I told the son of Pharzuph—”

“Kaidan,” Anna says. “His name is Kaidan.”

No one has ever stuck up for me before, and I’m betting nobody has ever spoken to Belial like that. He stops and works his jaw side to side, speaking through clenched teeth.

“I told Kaidan. At the time, he agreed it was best for you.”

“What was he supposed to say?” Anna shouts. “You’re a freaking Duke!”

“No, Anna,” I say heavily. “I did agree with him at the time.” I’d become resigned to it. I had felt that Kope was safer and better, and I thought I could handle it, but I was wrong. Theories that work on paper don’t always sit well in reality.

“Yeah, and you were both wrong!” Her chin pinches and quivers, and I realize for the first time that I wasn’t the only one tortured by this year and a half apart. From the look on her face now, her heart had been broken as much as mine had.

Was it worth it to try to keep her safe by keeping us apart? I’m not so sure anymore. There must be a better way. We’re all trying to navigate this strange sea of danger, trying to suck some semblance of life from the salt along the way.

“Things are gonna change now,” Belial says to us both. “I won’t try to keep you two from communicating, but I will tell you this. You will only see each other when I tell you it’s safe.”

Slowly, I look over at Anna and we both nod. Though he’s under suspicion, Belial will have inside information from ally spirits about where the other Dukes are at any given time. This could work.