while.”
Chapter Sixteen
If I Told You Everything
The rain beat against the window of the classroom, prompting Professor Sawyer to speak louder than her small voice could accommodate. Words squeaked from her throat as she struggled to lecture through the snickers and murmuring of the students.
Her words blurred together as I stared at the blank page of my laptop monitor. The nightmares were absent the night before, but only because sleep never came. The Ryels didn’t return home until just before the sun rose, and even if I could have ignored the worry long enough for my eyes to close for a moment, Ryan’s incessant questions kept me awake.
His curiosity was insatiable. I finally lost my temper and yelled at him to shut up, but he only smiled and sat quietly long enough to think of more questions. For the first time, I was glad that Ryan was no longer enrolled at Brown.
I twirled the diamond ring around my finger, trying to block out images of what Bex and Claire had described earlier that morning. Their clash with Isaac and Donovan was short-lived, but had the Ryel's been human, it would have been lethal. The vision of Isaac was so vivid and frightening in my mind, the thought of coming face to face with him terrified me. He and Donovan had been commissioned to protect the Naissance de Demoniac, and because they were faced with all three of Gabe Ryel’s children, they decided retreat was the prudent option — but not before sinking four bullets into Bex’s chest.
The kitchen was a bloody mess by sunrise, and although Bex’s eyes were wide with excitement, seeing Claire pluck the remnants of bullets from his flesh left me…well…unsettled.
“Oh, to hell with this, class dismissed,” the professor said in defeat.
I blinked, seeing the other students pack up without pause and leave the classroom. Once the doorway cleared, Kim stood with a smirk on her face.
“Why didn’t you come back to the house with the others?” I asked.
She shrugged. “Two papers due today. I still go to class, you know.”
“So how did it go?” I asked, following her down the hall. My feet scampered along her wide strides.
She shook her head, clearly troubled.
“Don’t do that, Kim. You’re the impervious one.”
“Taking Shax, or Donovan and Isaac head on isn't working. We need to think of another way to get the Demoniac. They know when we’re coming. We can’t distract them because they want nothing else more than that book.”
I frowned, wary of Kim’s uncharacteristic concern. “I still say we don't need it. Your family had the book all this time. You have to know what it said. Didn’t you open it?”
“No,” she said firmly. “I was never allowed to open it.”
“What about your uncle? Your father? Between them and Father Francis, can’t we just get enough information for Jared to work with?”
Kim lowered her chin. “I guess you didn’t catch the part about how we weren’t allowed to open the book.”
“You said it yourself!” The words were louder than I’d meant for them to be. I looked around, and then lowered my voice. “We can’t take it when they know we’re coming.”
Kim nodded, but her somber expression melted away as an idea lit her eyes. “There is
I shook my head. “No. No way, Jared would never go for it.”
“We need them to come to us. We need bait.”
“Think about it. He’s not going to risk my life to save me, Kim. And I kind of hate you for even mentioning it.”
“Hey guys!” Beth yelped in her southern drawl. “Ew. That’s a horrible face,” she said, mirroring my expression.
Kim pulled a cigarette seemingly from nowhere, and popped it between her lips. “We were just discussing how we would use Nina as bait to lure demons,” she said flatly.
Beth’s face morphed into revulsion. “What class are you guys taking?”
The corners of my mouth turned up, and I wrapped one arm around Beth’s tiny waist. “Come on. I don’t want to lose our table at the Ratty.”
The three of us carried our trays the corner spot, and I couldn’t help but smile when I saw that Ryan’s chair had been filled. His friends surrounded him with wide grins on their faces. They all talked and laughed, making the dead silence upon our approach that much more noticeable.
“Look who’s back in town, Babe!” Chad said, standing to greet Beth.
Beth's tray slapped against the table when she dropped it to throw her arms around Ryan.
“Hi, Bethy,” Ryan said, giving her a squeeze.
“Yay!” Her pageant-smile stretched to its limit, showing every one of her teeth.
To the others, lunch with Ryan was a celebration, but as the questions about his last days at war, how he got hurt, and why he’d waited so long to tell them came, I grew nervous. So did Ryan.
He stood. “Well! I have to go home…get the old uniform on.”
“I bet you look great in it,” Lisa smiled. “I love men in uniform.”
Kim rolled her eyes. “I’m out, too. Let’s go, Nina.”
“Where are we going?” I asked, looking up at her.
“Yeah. Where’re you going?” Ryan said.
Kim tugged on my arm until I stood. “To class, Detective,” Kim said. “That okay?”
Ryan glanced at me, and then shrugged. “Just asking.”
Kim gestured for me to follow, and we walked to the parking lot. She glanced up once, but didn’t stop to explain why. Her long legs and quick strides had me struggling to keep up, and I was panting by the time we reached the Sentra.
The light sprinkles still falling from the gray clouds gently disturbed a large puddle near Kim's car. She barreled through it, splashing my jeans with dirty water.
“What’s your hurry?” I asked, annoyed.
“I'm taking you to Quincy. We could talk to my father to see what he knows, and if he knows what I think he does — nothing — we present my idea to Jared.”
“But, I have class!” I protested.
“Jared doesn’t show it around you, Nigh, but he’s desperate. He knows something is coming. They’re planning something, and we’ve got nothing. We have no idea how to protect you when we don’t know what we’re protecting you from.”
“Demons,” Ryan said. “Isn’t that all we need to know?”
“No,” Kim said. “And you’re not invited.”
“Well, that’s too bad. Because I’m coming,” he said. He opened the car door behind the passenger side, and slammed it behind him.
Kim looked to me.
“Jared will follow us,” I warned.
“So?” Kim said. “He’ll want to know what my dad has to say…if he says anything.”
I looked around; the Escalade was notably absent. “I haven’t heard from any of them all day.”
