Under Attack

Chapter Twenty-Three

Alex, Vlad, and I were silent, sitting rigid as Alex took the hills of San Francisco with dizzying speed. My heart was thumping painfully by the time we neared my apartment. I thought about Ophelia’s last visit, the tornado of destruction she inflicted in the few minutes she was there. My heart started to beat faster and I gripped the car door, ready to run out the second the wheels stopped spinning.

“Do we have a plan?” Vlad asked.

“A plan?”

“You know, what are we going to do?”

I frowned. “I hadn’t thought much further than blast through the doors with a fallen angel, a human Tupperware, and an ascot-wearing vampire.”

Vlad straightened his ascot and raised an eyebrow. “Who’s the Tupperware?”

Alex jerked his thumb toward me and I met Vlad’s questioning eyes. “It’s a long story.”

“So, your sister kidnapped my aunt, your dad is Satan—”

“Might be,” I interjected.

“And now you’re Tupperware? Man, you’ve got problems.”

I sniffed. If it weren’t for me, Nina wouldn’t be hurting. She wouldn’t be wincing, struggling, her arms and chest singed with holy water.

I caused problems.

My mouth dropped open and I clamped my eyes shut, pressing my palms against my ears. “She’s doing it again!”

Vlad reached over the front seat and cranked up the radio. Alex pushed the gas pedal to the floor and we were all flung back against our seats. By the time I opened my eyes, we were double parked outside of my building.

My stomach was playing the accordion as we lumbered up the stairs. I hoped that the last image I had of Nina was just another one of Ophelia’s throw-offs and that Nina was stretched out on our couch painting her toenails, unscathed; that she had whooped Ophelia into a simpering mess somewhere far, far away. Then we could all go out for a pizza.

No such luck.

The apartment was just as we left it: white grease-stained bakery bag and coffee cups still on the counter, Alex’s backpack full of books on the kitchen table, and Nina, nowhere. We filed into the living room and ChaCha ran out to greet us, yapping spastically until Alex and I gave her the obligatory head scratches. She went to Vlad next, flicked her whiskers as she smelled his pant leg, blinked her big brown eyes at him, and then ran off, wriggling under the couch.

“And there goes the infallible security system.”

“I have a gun, remember?” I groaned, yanking it out of my jacket pocket as Vlad and Alex dove to the ground.

Vlad looked at Alex, panicked. “Does she know how to use that?”

“Unfortunately, yes,” Alex said.

I slammed my gun—with the safety on, thank you very much—onto the coffee table. “Let’s find something out.”

We had all fanned out across the apartment—Vlad checking Nina’s room, Alex checking the windows. There was a knock on the door. I froze.

“Ophelia?” I asked Alex in a low voice.

Alex shook his head. “Not a knocker.”

I rolled up onto my toes and looked out the peephole, seeing the chunky cut of Will’s sandy blond hair in my fisheye view. “It’s Will.”

I yanked open the door. “What are you doing here?”

“And it’s a pleasure to see you, too, love,” Will said, sauntering into the apartment, all smugness and British accent.

I crossed my arms in front of my chest and jutted out one hip. “Look, Will, I’m not in the mood. Ophelia has kidnapped my best friend.” My voice cracked and my vision blurred, the hot tears rushing over my cheeks. “And it’s all my fault.”

Will stepped closer to me, tried to put his arms around me, but I pushed him away, using the back of my hand to wipe my eyes. “And you’re a horrible guardian!”

“Isn’t she a bit old for a guardian?” I heard Vlad mutter to Alex.

“Vessel thing,” he returned.

Then, “Oooh. She’s got the Vessel?”

“She is the Vessel.”

I pushed my palms flat against Will’s chest. “Get out.”

I felt Alex’s palm on my shoulder. “Wait. Lawson, we need all the firepower we can get. As much as I don’t like it—or him—he is the seventh guardian. He’s avoided Ophelia for this long and kept you alive.”

Will grinned, brushing his fingernails on his shirt proudly. “Haven’t lost one yet.”

“You had to put the ‘yet’ in there, didn’t you?”

“Um, guys? Can we just go find my aunt?” Vlad said from behind us.

We all filed into the living room, filling Will in on what we knew. When we got to the table, Alex unzipped his backpack and started handing out books.

“I thought these just dealt with the Vessel,” I said.

“All of these mention the fallen and all of them were stolen from Ophelia. Might give us some insight into where she took Nina.”

Vlad took the book Alex handed him and looked at the spine disdainfully. “I don’t think this is going to help. I’m sure I can sense her or track Ophelia by her scent.”

“You can track a scent through seven square miles?” Alex asked.

Vlad’s lip curled and he huffed into a chair, pulling open his book angrily.

I pushed away from the table and looked out the living-room window, staring into the slate grey of the sky as it edged into night. Everything was still outside; the world stood motionless. I blew out a sigh.

“Everything okay?” Alex asked, coming up on my left shoulder.

I wagged my head, feeling waterlogged and exhausted from the tears I’d already shed. “It’s going to take forever to get through all these books, and even then all that’s going to happen is that we’ll have an idea of where she may have taken Nina. We won’t have Nina.”

“We’re going to find her,” Alex said solemnly.

“I just feel like Ophelia is constantly one step ahead of us.”

“Well, right now she is. But”—Alex gestured back at the guys, Vlad snapping pages angrily, Will silently moving his lips as he read—“we’re gaining on her.”

I looked hopelessly on.

“We need to do more.” I tapped my index finger against my lips and paced. “I think I have an idea. I think I know a way to get one over on Ophelia.”

I took Alex by the hand and led him into the hallway. “You need to get the Vessel.”

Alex raised an eyebrow. “What are you talking about?”

“If you have the Vessel of Souls—if you return it—then Ophelia won’t be after me anymore. She’ll release Nina and everything will be fine.”

Alex put his fists on his hips. “Everything will be fine? We don’t know that Ophelia would release Nina, and anyway, Lawson, you’ll be dead.”

“We all have to make sacrifices.”

Alex grabbed my shoulders and gave me a shake. “Do you hear what you’re saying? No. No, I’m not going to do it.”

“It’s the only way to get rid of Ophelia and keep Nina safe.”

“It is not.”

“Come on, Alex. If we go up against Ophelia, it’s likely I’m going to—”

“Don’t you dare say it,” Alex said between gritted teeth. “Don’t you dare.”

“Maybe this is why you found me.”

“I found you so I could protect you and I sure as hell am not going to let Ophelia win. We’ll figure out another way.”

“I’m beginning to believe there is no other way.”

“This isn’t worth your life.”

“Nina is.”

“We are going to find another way.”

I stepped back, put my hands on my hips. “Okay, so what else do you propose we do?”

“I’m not sure yet.”

Alex followed me back into the dining room, where Will and Vlad were turning pages. Vlad groaned. “Can’t we just go to her house or something? Doesn’t anyone know where Ophelia lives?”

We all wagged our heads.

“So far she’s blown up my father’s house—”

Will knitted his brows. “Oh, I’m sorry about that, love.”

“Don’t be. It wasn’t actually his house. And anyway I think my dad is Satan. Oh, and Ophelia’s my sister.”

Will’s eyebrows shot up. “Now that wasn’t on your getting-to-know-you form. Hell of a family tree.”

“I just need to think,” I said, sitting down on one of the dining room chairs and holding my head in my hands. I tried to concentrate, ran my fingers through my hair. I heard the whisp of a name—Sophie—run through my mind. It’s you... . It’s always been you... . I closed my eyes and saw two pinpricks of light flicker behind closed lids. They came into focus and I recognized birthday candles, a fat chocolate cake, pink cheeks pushed out and ready to blow.... I saw myself on my fifth birthday, strawberry-red pigtails bouncing as I tore the wrapping off a Barbie Dream House.

It’s always been you, Ophelia’s breathy voice came again.

The image warbled and I saw Nina’s face, drawn and bruised. Her eyes were red-rimmed and tears dribbled silently as her head lolled, chin on chest.

Sophie, Ophelia sang, won’t you come out to play?

“I think I know where she is,” I mumbled to myself.

“What was that?” Alex asked me.

“A shower. You know”—I shook myself—“this soot and dirt. I think better near water anyway.”

Alex followed me as I headed to my bedroom. I turned around at the threshold, heart pumping. “I’m just going to clean up. I’ll be right back.” I forced a smile. Alex and I had an unspoken agreement that his angelic mind-reading abilities were strictly off limits when it came to me. He let his fingers trail over my bare arm and I knew that his focus was not on my mind.

Alex brushed his lips over mine. He wrapped his arms around me, pushing me into my room, and kissed me hard. I pulled away, licking my lips.

“That doesn’t feel like the kiss of someone who’s expecting me to come back,” I told him. “I’m just getting in the tub.”

Alex pulled me toward him again and nibbled on my bottom lip, flicked his tongue over my ear. “No, that’s the kiss of someone who not only expects you to come back, but who intends to pick up where he left off this morning.”

I felt a delicious shiver in spite of my fear. When I pulled back I looked into Alex’s eyes. “Good to know.”