But if I’m not a vampire anymore . . . how can I do anything? The thought of being human scared her. To live without the incredible abilities given by the un dying blood . . . to be so frail and weak . . . and absolutely powerless.
Do your best. That is all I ask of you, her mother told her.
“Where are you going?” Bliss asked, using her voice now.
“Somewhere no one can follow. But do not despair. We will meet again, Bliss Llewellyn.”
“Allegra, before you leave . . . can you tell me . . . what is my name? I mean to say, Mimi is Azrael and Jack is Abbadon. But I don’t know my real name. I never have. Do I even have one?” Bliss asked.
“Names are forged in Heaven. Your father named you Azazel, the Darkling. But I shall name you Lupus Theliel, Angel of Love, and my Wolfsbane.”
SEVENTY
Schuyler
During the ride to JFK, Schuyler kept to herself.
She was still exhausted from yesterday’s events, but there was no time to rest. The documents Oliver had found, which he had been so excited about, were a small package of notebooks that he had discovered in files kept by Christopher Anderson, Lawrence’s Conduit.
Fifty-five notebooks detailing everything her grandfather had found concerning the Van Alen Legacy, and every possible lead. The keepers of the third gate, the Gate of Promise, were most likely still in the city of Florence, which was where they were headed now.
Last night, when she finally came home, Oliver was waiting for her in her apartment. When she walked in, it took him a while to accept the fact that she was truly alive and standing in front of him. He had been convinced he had lost her forever. They hugged each other close, but Schuyler was still too distraught and confused about everything that had happened with Jack, to give Oliver much of her attention.
She listened as he filled her in on what had happened to everyone else during the attack and the aftermath; most of the Blue Bloods had gone to hide in the Force Tower, as they had been instructed by the Conclave. They had all come out safe.
But for how long?
The cab pulled up to the terminal, and Oliver unloaded their bags. He had been quiet too, during the trip. And he looked at Schuyler so intensely now, as if he were trying to memorize her face.
“What?” Schuyler asked. “Do I have something in my teeth or something? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“I’m not going to Florence,” Oliver said as the cab pulled away.
“What do you mean you’re not going to Florence . . .” Schuyler said, just as Jack Force walked up to the terminal.
Yesterday, Mimi had finally come back to the church, and had taken her brother away. Jack had been too weak to speak when Schuyler saw the two of them off in a cab. From the possessive way Mimi had held on to Jack, Schuyler knew they wouldn’t get a chance to say the things they wanted to say to each other anyway.
There were no traces of the lost, broken girl that Mimi had been when she’d returned. And Schuyler understood that the struggle for Jack’s heart was far from over. Maybe she and Jack just weren’t meant to be, and the two of them would just have to accept it. It was enough to know they had risked everything for each other. Maybe the memory of their love was all that they were allowed. She didn’t know. She only knew that she had so much to do. And if she had to leave Jack as part of it, then there was nothing she could do about it anymore. She had to fulfill her legacy.
But when she saw him, and they looked at each other, she knew she would never be able to leave his side. He had recovered well; he looked tired, but then so did she. They had been through a lot in the last twenty-four hours.
You’re here, she sent. My love.
I wouldn’t be anywhere else.
“I came as soon as I got your message,” Jack said to Oliver.
Oliver handed him his own backpack. “Your flight is leaving soon. I suggest you guys get in there—security’s a pain these days. Especially for international.”
“You called him? Oliver, what’s going on?” Schuyler asked.
“I asked Jack to meet us here. I told him you were going to Florence. I asked him to go with you.”
“Oliver!”
“Sky . . . stop,” Oliver said. “And don’t interrupt me, because I have to say this. I know you would never leave me. I know that. I know you would never be able to make a decision, so I decided for you. You have to go with him.”
Schuyler found her eyes filling with tears. “Ollie . . .”
“You cannot choose between us. So I chose for you. Jack can protect you in ways I cannot. Yesterday, when Leviathan took you, I’d never felt so helpless in my life . . . and I knew . . . I knew I couldn’t be there for you, not in the way that he can.” Oliver gulped. “I would rather have you safe, whole, and alive . . . than with me.”
“Oliver . . .”
The Van Alen Legacy
Melissa de la Cruz's books
- Alanna The First Adventure
- Alone The Girl in the Box
- Asgoleth the Warrior
- Awakening the Fire
- Between the Lives
- Black Feathers
- Bless The Beauty
- By the Sword
- In the Arms of Stone Angels
- Knights The Eye of Divinity
- Knights The Hand of Tharnin
- Knights The Heart of Shadows
- Mind the Gap
- Omega The Girl in the Box
- On the Edge of Humanity
- The Alchemist in the Shadows
- Possessing the Grimstone
- The Steel Remains
- The 13th Horseman
- The Age Atomic
- The Alchemaster's Apprentice
- The Alchemy of Stone
- The Ambassador's Mission
- The Anvil of the World
- The Apothecary
- The Art of Seducing a Naked Werewolf
- The Bible Repairman and Other Stories
- The Black Lung Captain
- The Black Prism
- The Blue Door
- The Bone House
- The Book of Doom
- The Breaking
- The Cadet of Tildor
- The Cavalier
- The Circle (Hammer)
- The Claws of Evil
- The Concrete Grove
- The Conduit The Gryphon Series
- The Cry of the Icemark
- The Dark
- The Dark Rider
- The Dark Thorn
- The Dead of Winter
- The Devil's Kiss
- The Devil's Looking-Glass
- The Devil's Pay (Dogs of War)
- The Door to Lost Pages
- The Dress
- The Emperor of All Things
- The Emperors Knife
- The End of the World
- The Eternal War
- The Executioness
- The Exiled Blade (The Assassini)
- The Fate of the Dwarves
- The Fate of the Muse
- The Frozen Moon
- The Garden of Stones
- The Gate Thief
- The Gates
- The Ghoul Next Door
- The Gilded Age
- The Godling Chronicles The Shadow of God
- The Guest & The Change
- The Guidance
- The High-Wizard's Hunt
- The Holders
- The Honey Witch
- The House of Yeel
- The Lies of Locke Lamora
- The Living Curse
- The Living End
- The Magic Shop
- The Magicians of Night
- The Magnolia League
- The Marenon Chronicles Collection
- The Marquis (The 13th Floor)
- The Mermaid's Mirror
- The Merman and the Moon Forgotten
- The Original Sin
- The Pearl of the Soul of the World
- The People's Will
- The Prophecy (The Guardians)
- The Reaping
- The Rebel Prince
- The Reunited
- The Rithmatist
- The_River_Kings_Road
- The Rush (The Siren Series)
- The Savage Blue
- The Scar-Crow Men
- The Science of Discworld IV Judgement Da
- The Scourge (A.G. Henley)
- The Sentinel Mage
- The Serpent in the Stone
- The Serpent Sea
- The Shadow Cats
- The Slither Sisters
- The Song of Andiene