Devon still looked doubtful. So did Felix, Deah, and even Oscar, still riding in my coat pocket, but my friends trusted me enough to get out of the vehicle. Devon and Felix each grabbed one of the bags of black blades, and we left the alley.
It was after midnight now and the streets were dark and deserted. Then again, we weren’t in the nice, tourist part of town anymore. Far from it. Instead of the busy restaurants, food carts, and souvenir shops of the Midway, row houses, deserted storefronts, and abandoned warehouses stretched out as far as even I could see. Streetlamps were spaced down the block, but most of them only flickered with weak light, if they worked at all. The street itself was full of potholes, the sidewalks were cracked, and bags of trash were heaped at the corners. The sharp, pungent scents of greasy burgers, sticky soda, and other rancid food made my nose twitch with disgust, as did the black swarms of flies, mosquitoes, and other bugs buzzing around the bags.
We were the only people out on the street, but we were far from alone, given all the monsters prowling around.
They slithered right up to the ends of the alleys as we hurried past, peering at us with their jewel-colored eyes, debating whether or not we would make a good meal. Devon, Felix, and Deah pressed together in a tight knot in the middle of the sidewalk, their knuckles whitening around their swords as they picked up their pace, but I stared right back at the creatures that were watching us, even though it was so dark that all I could really see of them were their glowing eyes.
Monsters are your friends. Never forget that. Seleste’s voice whispered in my mind.
I wondered what she’d glimpsed of the future that had made her say those exact words to me. Had she been trying to tell me that the lochness would save us from Blake tonight? Or was there more to her message? Some hidden meaning that I wasn’t understanding? Or were her words as simple as they seemed? That I paid the tolls and that the monsters respected me for it. I didn’t know, but I wasn’t afraid of the monsters anymore, not even the ones watching us right now.
Oh, the monsters could still spring out of the shadows, attack, kill, and devour me and my friends. I wasn’t so foolish as to think they would suddenly become tame and lovable and let me pet their furry and scaly heads like they were cute, wiggly puppies just because I gave them a few quarters and some candy bars. They were still monsters, after all. They had all those sharp teeth, talons, and claws for a reason, and they had to eat just like the rest of us did. But I wasn’t afraid of them anymore.
Seeing them . . . it almost felt like . . . home.
Ever since I’d started working for the Sinclairs earlier this summer, I’d been counting down the days until Victor was defeated and I could finally leave town and all the ugly memories here behind. But now, I wasn’t so sure I wanted to go. The mountains, the monsters, the magic, even the bad memories . . . it was all part of Cloudburst Falls.
It was all part of me.
Just as it had been part of my mom before me. Serena had worked for the Sinclairs, and she’d dealt with the monsters, paying the tolls and respecting the creatures, their quirks, and their territories. She had been happy to do it, to follow the old ways and traditions, and she’d taught me to do the same. More than that, she’d instilled her love of all the rituals in me as well. I liked carrying around quarters and chocolate bars and knowing that I could communicate with the monsters in a way that other people couldn’t or simply didn’t take the time to. It was my mom’s legacy to me, and I couldn’t have left it behind even if I’d wanted to—and I didn’t want to anymore.
Sure, my mom had been murdered here, and I’d spent four years hiding and just trying to scrape by. Not exactly fun times. But I’d also found Devon and Felix and Oscar and Deah, and I wasn’t about to lose them now. Not to Victor Draconi or anyone else. I wasn’t about to abandon Mo, Claudia, and all the other captured Sinclairs when they needed me most. I was going to stay and fight for all the things I cared about—and for the future I wanted for myself.
My friends remained tense and quiet, but I started humming a soft tune, the same one that my mom used to hum whenever she was packing her coat full of monster supplies. Despite everything that had happened tonight, despite all the loss and grief and heartache, this was still exactly where I wanted to be.
The others gave me strange looks, wondering why I was humming, but they didn’t say anything. A couple of minutes later, we rounded a corner and stopped in front of a brick building that took up this particular block. A stack of splintered books adorned a faded sign planted in the lawn that read CLOUDBURST FALLS LIBRARY—WESTERN BRANCH.
Devon grinned and let out a low chuckle, realizing exactly what I was up to. “Only you would think to come back here. Brilliant, Lila. Bloody brilliant.”
I grinned back at him. “I do try.”
Deah shook her head. “I don’t get it.”