“Exactly what I say,” says Grace. “That’s why I’m part of the twenty-first century.” She flips open the lid on her laptop.
Grace clicks a few keys as Tom leafs through his book. “Dante. Chief demon, a king perhaps.”
“I doubt they have a democracy,” snorts Tom.
“King? So he’s a leader?” I ask.
“Yeah, he’s mentioned in a lot of old texts as a mythical leader. He’s a martyr to the cause of the Dark and a symbol of the power they could regain. The ‘good old Dante days’. “
This is worse than I thought. “Which I presume weren’t good?”
“Awesome, if you’ve a Dark soul. Not so great for the rest of us.”
I bristle but bite my tongue against explaining I’m not Dark because I’m Between. “Where is he?”
“Hell, of course. Or whatever your kind call it.”
What the fuck? They want to send me to Hell? “I’m not their kind,” I growl.
“What’s wrong?” asks Tom sharply. “You’ve gone pale.”
“ I think we might be revisiting ‘the good old Dante days’. The guy at the hospital, the doctor, he’s preparing for him to come back.”
“I knew it!” says Tom triumphantly. “Didn’t I say?” He looks at Grace who stares back at him as if he’s a lunatic.
“Yeah, but you say it like it’s a good thing,” she says.
Tom clears his throat. “That’s not what I meant.”
“What’s he planning to do when he gets back?” Grace asks me.
“I thought you might be able to tell me?”
Tom swears under his breath. “No, what you should be asking Alek is how is he getting back?”
That is something they don’t need to know, not until I’ve decided what I’m going to do.
“Thanks for telling me about Dante.” I peel myself from the kitchen bench and head to the door.
“You can’t ask us and then just leave us with half a story!” protests Tom.
“I don’t know the whole story,” I say and lean toward him. “I’m going now before I hurt someone.” Tom takes a step back, and I push my way out of the kitchen. I wouldn’t hurt the guy, but it’s best if his wariness of me borders on fear.
“Will you be able to help Rose?” asks Tom from the kitchen. I pause, hand on the front door handle. “Can you bring her back from wherever they took her?”
“I hope so,” I say quietly, wishing I could say ‘yes’.
Chapter 27
ALEK
The next morning, I hang around the house after a night running my choices over and over in my head. Dante’s from Hell and Finn’s an angel, right? I was never religious, but the ideas came from somewhere. Good conquers evil? This means Finn can help? Finn knows what’s happening, he has to.
Rose’s handbag rests on the table by the front door where I placed it after the party. I pull out her phone and search for Finn’s name. Tempted to read through their messages, I stop myself. Rose was scared of him; why would there be anything between them?
The phone rings once before Finn answers. “Rose?”
“Alek.”
Silence.
“I said I couldn’t help,” he says, voice flat.
“Heard of Dante?” I put in before he has a chance to end the call.
“Of course.”
“You don’t sound so worried.”
“If I do what I need, he won’t come back.”
“What’s that?”
“Leave me alone.” He hangs up.
I stare at the phone in disgust. He caused some of this; he doesn’t get to wash his hands of us. I call him back. No answer. On the tenth call, he answers.
“For fuck’s sake, Alek, I don’t want to see or talk to you.”
“Help me to help Rose.”
“No.”
“What? You care about her.”
“Not anymore, she’s lost now.”
“She isn’t! Finn, I’m going to get her.”
“No! If you go to her, you both need to stay there.”
“Why?”
“Because when you get back, I’ll kill you both.”
His words stun. I’ve spent the last few weeks convincing Rose that Finn intends to kill her. Rose’s protest that he’s a good guy almost had me convinced. Was I right all along?
“You wouldn’t kill Rose.”
“I know they’ve asked you to bring Dante over and I can’t let that happen. Do you understand what chaos he’s bringing with him? If you both come back I won’t know who’s carrying him. He won’t hang around your bodies long, so I’ll have to kill you both before he gets a chance to leave.”
He knows. How does he know?
“You wouldn’t kill Rose,” I repeat icily.
“Wouldn’t I? This is over, Alek. Go to her or stay here, but there’s nothing anyone can do.”
“I was right all along about you,” I spit. “You always meant to kill her!”
“Goodbye, Alek. Again. Stop calling me.” He ends the call again.
I retreat to the kitchen, sit at the melamine table with a beer, and remain there longer than it takes to drink. I don’t have a choice; I never had a choice, not since the day I agreed to exchange my soul for my sister to live in peace after her death. My phone rests on the table next to the beer. Six times I pick it up to call Raven, and six times I put it back down.