Lucio laughs. “You see anyone else around here?” He raises his arms, indicating the otherwise empty house, empty buildings, empty campus. Aidan had no choice but to mentor Lucio. There was no one else left to teach him.
I head for the stairs, “You’re the only other luiseach here, right?”
Leaning against the curved metal banister at the foot of the stairs, Lucio nods. “I grew up here. My parents were on Aidan’s side until the day they died.” With his left hand he toys with the tattoo on his right hand, like he’s spinning an invisible ring on his finger.
“I’m sorry,” I say quickly. My birth father may be cold and scientific and my birth mother may be a complete mystery, but at least I’ve always had Kat. When I came close to losing her, it made me sadder and more scared than I’d ever been in my whole life. I can’t imagine how alone Lucio must feel.
“It was nine years ago. I was eight.” He shrugs, but his shoulders look heavy. I do the math in my head: Lucio is seventeen years old. Which means he’s been an active luiseach for at least a year.
“How did it happen?”
Lucio doesn’t answer right away, and I open my mouth to apologize for asking—that’s none of your business, Sunshine!—but before I can speak, he says, “A demon took them.”
I gasp. That means that their spirits were destroyed. That Lucio is destined to forget them. “I’m sorry,” I repeat softly.
“Thanks.” Lucio runs his fingers over his scalp; his black hair is cropped very short. No chance of it falling across his eyes like Nolan’s does. “Now, get dressed. We should get to work.”
“Right.” I take a few steps up the stairs and then freeze in my tracks. If Lucio is a luiseach, that means his parents were luiseach too. I turn around. “I thought luiseach couldn’t be killed by dark spirits.”
Lucio bites his thick—Ashley would call it luscious, but just the thought makes me blush—lower lip. He squeezes his hands into fists at his sides, and I can see the muscles working up and down his arms. “I didn’t know you knew that.”
“Why did you lie to me?” I’m annoyed this boy I hardly know thinks it’s okay to lie to me.
“I didn’t mean to lie. I just . . . it’s easier to believe they were killed by a dark spirit.”
“Easier than what?”
He takes a deep breath. “Easier than the fact that they were killed for what they believed in. The luiseach on the other side of the rift were interrogating my parents in search of”—he pauses—“of some precious information. When my parents didn’t crack under pressure, they were killed for keeping their secret.”
I cover my mouth with my hand. “I’m sorry,” I say once more. I’ve known this guy for less than an hour, and I can’t seem to stop apologizing to him.
“It’s okay,” Lucio says solemnly. “After my parents died, Aidan took me in. Over the years, when the others left, I stayed.” From the tone of his voice it’s obvious this boy really looks up to Aidan. “Go on.” He mercifully changes the subject. “Get dressed. Believe me, you want to get out there before it gets too hot, even if you’re planning on wearing those short shorts.”
Instantly my face turns red and I turn away. Is he flirting with me? It’s not a practice I have much experience with. I decide not to overanalyze it and skip up the stairs, taking them two at a time, even though my legs are still tired from kicking and squirming all night long.
I shudder as I remember my nightmare. I still have a lot to learn about the rift between the luiseach, but whoever’s on the other side, they must be truly evil if they killed that nice boy’s parents.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Lesson One
Lucio leads me into the jungle behind the house and up a muddy path on an even muddier hill. Enormous trees tower around us. I wonder how old they are.
“Don’t worry,” he says, without turning around. “This is all still part of Llevar la Luz.”
“I wasn’t worried,” I pant at his back. It must be a million degrees out here, but Lucio has barely broken a sweat.
The top of the hill is flat and dry and open, like an enormous stage. It’s gotta be the size of a football field. Or at least a baseball diamond. Whatever trees grew up here have long since been cut down. Which means no respite from the sun beating down overhead.
“Welcome to the playground.” Lucio holds his arms out at the emptiness around us. He hops up onto a boulder and perches on it like an agile cat, running his fingers over his closely cropped black hair. “I know it doesn’t look like much, but back in the day this was the coolest place on Earth.”
“Why’s that?”
“Used to be covered with luiseach pulling spirits to them from all across the world. Not just young luiseach in training with their mentors, but experienced luiseach honing their skills, practicing exorcisms, gathering strength. I’d sneak up here and watch, just itching for my sixteenth birthday so I could feel all the action myself.”