“That makes no sense. I asked you not to lie to me!”
“Molly.” Gabriel crossed the room in two long strides and took a firm hold of her shoulders. She stared up at him the way you do when someone you thought you knew does something completely out of character. I was standing so close I could almost feel her tremor of surprise. Gabriel had never touched her before in all the time she’d known him and she could see in his eyes that he was shaken by whatever had transpired. “We think we know where Bethany is, but we can’t say for sure,” Gabriel said. “That’s what we’re trying to figure out.”
“Are you trying to tell me she’s gone missing?” Molly asked breathlessly.
“Not missing”—Gabriel hesitated—“more like kidnapped.” Molly’s hands flew to her mouth and her eyes widened with alarm. Xavier half raised his head dejectedly, watching her reaction.
“What’s come over you?” Ivy was at Gabriel’s side in an instant, positioning herself between him and Molly. Gabriel let his hand drop listlessly from Molly’s shoulder.
“There’s no point in lying to her,” he said firmly. “She’s as close to Bethany as any of us. We’re not getting anywhere on our own. Maybe she can help.”
“I don’t see how.” Ivy’s usually bell-like voice came out sounding sharp and her silver-gray eyes flashed like shards of ice. “She has no business here.”
“The hell I don’t,” Molly cut in vociferously. “If some psycho’s taken Beth, what are we gonna do about it?”
“See what you’ve started,” Ivy muttered. “Humans cannot help us now.” She threw a resigned look at Xavier. “Especially those who are emotionally involved.”
“We weren’t there that night,” Gabriel retorted. “Humans are the only witnesses we’ve got.”
“Excuse me.” Molly stared at them. “Did you just call me a human? I’m pretty sure I’m not the only human in the room.” Gabriel ignored her comment and decided to pursue his own line of thinking.
“What’s the last thing you remember Bethany saying or doing on the night of Halloween?”
I saw the air around Ivy ripple and shimmer slightly and knew that she was trying to contain her disapproval. She obviously found Gabriel’s decision to involve Molly objectionable. She closed her eyes and breathed through clenched teeth. I could read my sister’s face. It was as if she were readying herself for a decision she knew would end in disaster.
“Well, she was upset …,” Molly began and then hesitated.
“What about?”
“Well, we planned to have this seance at the party. It was just for fun. Beth wasn’t happy about it from the start. She thought it was a bad idea and kept telling us not to get involved. We didn’t listen and did it anyway. Then things started to get weird and we all got a bit freaked out.”
Molly had given her account without taking a breath, trying hard to sound casual. Listening to her, Ivy’s eyes flew open and her perfect, pale hands instinctively curled into fists. “What did you say?” she asked in a low voice.
“I said we got all freaked out and …”
“No, before that. You said you performed a seance?”
“Well, yeah, but we were just screwing around, it was Halloween.”
“Foolish girl,” Ivy hissed. “Didn’t your parents ever teach you not to play around with things you don’t understand?”
Molly looked taken aback. “Just chill, Ivy,” she said. “What’s the big deal? What does a stupid seance have to do with this?”
“It has everything to do with this,” Ivy said, talking almost to herself now. “In fact, I would bet my life that the seance is what began it.” She and Gabriel shared a knowing look. She was really only talking to him now. “It must have opened a portal. Without one there’s no way he could have returned to Venus Cove after we banished him.”
“Huh?” Molly asked blankly. I could almost see the wheels turning in her head as she struggled to put together the cryptic fragments of information being thrown at her. I wanted to shout out and tell them to stop — they were giving too much away. It was unauthorized by Heaven and might end up adding to their problems.
Xavier suddenly came to life. He spun around to face Ivy while shooting Molly a murderous look.
“You think the seance is what raised him?” he asked.
“Raised who?” Molly interrupted loudly.
“They can be a lot more powerful than most people realize,” my sister said. “Gabe, do you think this could be a lead?”
“I think all information is worth considering. It’s imperative that we find a way to break through.”
“Break through what?” Molly demanded. She was looking baffled and hurt at being excluded from the conversation. My siblings were forgetting their manners and would normally never be this inconsiderate. I knew that finding me was the only thing on their minds. It was so all-consuming that they forgot about poor Molly trying to keep up with their discussion.
“But how do we find a gateway?” Ivy murmured. “Do you think we could attempt a seance again? No, that’s too dangerous. Who knows what we might let out of the pit.”
“What pit? Where?” Molly’s voice had gone up several octaves.
“Shut up!” Xavier burst out. I’d never seen him this irate.
“Just shut up just for two seconds!”
Molly looked offended for a moment before her eyes narrowed in hostility. “You shut up!” she yelled back at Xavier.
“Great comeback,” Xavier muttered. “Do you always have to be so immature?”
“Pretty sure I’m the only sane person in this room right now,” Molly said. “You’re all out of your freaking minds.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Xavier said darkly. “Isn’t there some quarterback you should be chasing around right now?”
“How dare you!” Molly yelled. “Did Tara say something to you? Don’t listen to anything she says, she’s just pissed because …”
“Cut it out!” Xavier threw his hands up in frustration.
“We don’t care about you and Tara and your petty adolescent disputes. Beth is
Molly folded her arms. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“Yeah, you are.”
“Make me!”
“Don’t think I won’t.”
“Yeah, well, I’m not telling you squat until I find out the truth,” said Molly stubbornly, and Xavier cast a withering look in her direction. Ivy moaned softly and pressed a hand to her temple. Molly was hard work and my sister found her exhausting.
“Bethany’s friend or not, this girl could make a preacher cuss.”
“Perhaps we should try explaining things to her,” Gabriel said kindly.
Xavier raised an eyebrow. “Go ahead, this should be interesting.”
“Sit down, Molly,” Gabriel began. “And try to listen without interrupting. If you have questions I’ll answer them after.”
Molly perched on the sofa obediently while Gabriel paced back and forth as he considered how to begin.
“We are not what we seem,” he said eventually, choosing his words carefully. “It’s hard to explain, but first it’s important that you trust me. Do you trust me, Molly?”
Molly appraised him slowly from head to foot. He was so beautiful that I saw her face become wistful as she took him in. I wondered whether she’d be able to concentrate. Blond hair framed his sculpted face and his silver eyes gazed at her attentively. A faint golden light seemed to radiate several inches around him, trailing after him like a misty haze.
“Of course, I do,” she murmured. I could see she liked being the focus of his undivided attention and she wanted it to last. “If you’re not what you seem, then what are you?”
