The red brick fa?ade, black-shuttered windows, and bright red front door of my house cause my throat to tighten and close. I have to take shallow breaths—I can’t afford tears right now. “Someone replaced the net,” I murmur, gesturing to the basketball hoop affixed to the detached garage. I open my door and step out of the car; Reed is by my side immediately. “We always kept shovels in there.” I point to the small potting shed beside the garage as I walk up the driveway that has been snowplowed recently.
Reed goes to it and finds a shovel inside. Taking it, he follows me to the fenced-in backyard. After I open the gate, it’s immediately apparent that we’re too late. A hole and small pile of dirt beneath the base of the enormous oak tree makes that painfully clear, not to mention the tracks in the snow leading to and from the house. The back door of the house opens and Xavier steps out onto the deck wearing the ring that I haven’t seen since high school.
Reed takes my hand and we turn to go, but there are at least ten Powers walking up the driveway toward us. None of them display their wings, but I know them to be Powers—Dominions. It’s in their stride, the military way in which they carry themselves. All of a sudden, it feels like the house itself is bearing down on me. I turn back to face Xavier and find my father has joined him. Tau’s gray eyes, so much like my own, are on me and I’m struck by our resemblance to one another, though we look more like brother and sister than father and daughter. I had thought once that I shared my Uncle Jim’s eyes. I was wrong. They’re my father’s.
My heart gives a lurch and I panic. I drop Reed’s hand as I raise mine. I let energy pulse out from it, the force of which connects with Tau. The smell of burnt cotton is in the air at the fury I unleash on him. The railing in front of him cracks, and then explodes, shattering. Tau cringes upon impact, but he absorbs the energy that should’ve easily lifted him off of his feet and thrown him back. He staggers a step, but then holds his ground as the windows behind him are blown out. As Tau’s hands curl into fists, I notice the wink and shimmer of a platinum ring on his finger. I can’t be sure, but from this distance it looks very similar to the one that Xavier now wears—like the ring that I buried in the yard.
“They work,” Tau growls through his teeth to Xavier.
Cole materializes from the house and stands beside Tau. With his crimson Seraphim wings out, he’s ready to defend his leader. Assessing the situation, he frowns at Tau. “Stings, huh?”
Tau exhales a deep breath. “A bit.”
“EVIE!” Xavier barks my name. I flinch at his obvious censure, my panic doubles. I raise both my hands with my fingers spread out wide, whispering a hasty spell. Closing my fingers, I pull my fists toward me. I wait a second hoping to see them drop to the ground as magic squeezes oxygen from their lungs. Xavier, Tau, and Cole each grasp their chests, struggling to take a breath, but none of them fall to the ground as I’d intended. Inhaling deep gulps of air, they manage to stave off my charm. It only serves to infuriate them.
Reed has moved behind me to protect me from the Powers who continue to approach us with cautious strides. He pulls the spade-shaped blades from his pockets, gripping the notched handles in his fists. I close my eyes, pushing energy outward. It creates a barrier surrounding Reed and me; the Powers come up short when they bump into it, becoming unintentional mimes. A flood of relief swamps me that my spell works on them, rendering them useless in this arena. Reed, recognizing the shift in power, turns and faces the Seraphim, moving in front of me to protect me from them.
“So those rings protect you from me?” I want to scream at how unfair that is.
Tau holds his hand up, displaying a platinum band fashioned into an intricate sword over a shield, much like Xavier’s ring. “They’re divine; they make us impervious to all types of magic. Do you know where I found mine?”
I shake my head.
“It was outside your window at school, lodged between the wall and the rusting hull of your fire escape in Crestwood.”
“How did it get there?”
“I lost it when I ascended—the day you moved in. It must have fallen off me right after you cut your hand. Cole’s was harder to find. It came off him in the front yard of this house. Someone found it and pawned it. We suspect one or more of the Murphy boys next door. It took us awhile to track it down. Then, all that was left was to find Xavier’s.”
I school my features to reflect Tau’s blasé mask. “Can’t leave that stuff laying around.”
“Come inside, I’ll explain it to you.”
“No, thanks. We’re good right here.” I cross my arms in front of me.
“What I need to impart requires secrecy for your protection,” Tau says with a neutral stare.
“I don’t want to hear anything you have to say.”
“You’re still such a child,” Tau sighs. He gives me a dismissive look before speaking to Reed in Angel.