Darker Days

Dad took Mom’s hand and nodded to me. “Out. Now.” He was losing his temper. Leaving seemed like a pretty good idea.

They turned and started for the door, and Lukas and I followed—but so did Officer Barnes. In a move I would never scrub from my brain no matter how hard I tried, he reached out and slapped my mom across the ass. The sound was like a gunshot echoing through a churchyard. He whistled and said, “Hot damn, baby’s got back!”

I thought the riot had been bad. It was nothing compared to the look of fury in Dad’s eyes when he whirled on the guy. His hand shot out, and he had Officer Barnes pinned to the wall across the room before I could even blink. “If you ever touch her again, I’ll snap your bones like twigs and feed them to the armies of hell.”

“Twigs,” Officer Barnes nodded like a bobble head. “Armies of hell.” His head swiveled back to Mom and he smiled. “Hands off the hot—”

Dad grabbed two handfuls of Barnes’ uniform and jerked him closer. Judging from the look in his eyes, Officer Grabby Pants was about to be paste.

Beside me, Lukas went rigid. There was a flash of red and a sharp intake of breath, and I knew we were teetering on the verge of a meltdown. I rushed forward before Dad could take it any further. “You need to chill.” I hitched a thumb back toward Lukas who was starting to twitch. “You’re going to set Lukas off. This is all the work of the Sins, right? Maybe Officer Barnes was hit by Lust.”

For a moment, I didn’t think Dad would leave it at that. I held my breath, waiting for the blow that thankfully never came. With a final shake, he stepped away and rejoined Mom across the room, never taking his eyes from Officer Barnes.

I stepped back to where Lukas stood, still stiff, but looking much less like a balloon ready to pop. “You okay?”

He gave me a slight nod.

Voice still laced with anger, Dad said, “Jessie, take Lukas and go back to the office. Your mother and I will clean up here.”

I wanted to argue but decided against it. Going head-to-head with Mom over little stuff was one thing, but Dad? Hell no. “Kendra was here. She was affected, too.”

Dad nodded. “We’ll find her. Go.”

…

“You didn’t tell them about Vida. Why?” Lukas asked.

We’d cut back through the field and crossed the train tracks in record time. I didn’t know how long Mom and Dad would be and had no intention of pushing my luck. Back at the office, Lukas settled in the main room while I went upstairs to take a shower. Soda and long hair did not mix well. Plus, I hated the smell of root beer. The only thing keeping me from burning my clothes was our serious lack of funds.

The phone kept ringing, but I let the voicemail get it. If I picked it up and something juicy popped, I’d be way too tempted to hop a bus and go out on my own. That would only add to the hot water I knew I was already in.

“I didn’t think right then was the perfect time to tell her I’d gone head-to-head with lust at school.” I picked at the edge of the couch. There was a small rip in the end cushion that I’d systematically made bigger over the last few months. It wasn’t on purpose—just habit. “I’ll tell her later. No sense in making her worry more than she needs to right now.”

Lukas stood and began to pace the length of the room. “Any witch powerful enough can free them—they’re not bound to the box by a specific bloodline like I am. That scene at the store was deliberate.”

“Deliberate? Yeah, they deliberately wanted to cause trouble.”

He shook his head. “You don’t find it odd that it was so close to your home?”

I shrugged. “Penance is a small town. Everywhere is close to home.”

“No,” Lukas insisted. “That place we were this afternoon—that would have been a much stronger feeding ground. There was a lot of negative energy and they could have done maximum damage there. This was done to draw you out.”

I stood. “Well, they didn’t try very hard, did they?”

“I believe they’re still testing the waters. They need to know what they’re up against. What your limits and weaknesses are. They’ve underestimated the Darker family in the past. I don’t believe they’ll make the same mistake again.”

Lukas, not paying attention, ran right into me. His hands shot out to steady me, fingers grazing the bare skin of my arms where I’d rolled up my sleeves.

Even with just the dim light shining in from the other room, I could see him flush. He pulled away in a flash, like he’d just gotten caught copping a feel or something. “I’m sorry.”

I grabbed his arm and placed his hand back on my bare forearm. It was pleasantly warm in contrast to the chilly air and, guiltily, I liked the way it felt there. “You gotta get over this stone-age mentality. It’s not like you’re grabbing my boobs or anything!”

“Am I interrupting something?” Mom came through the door, followed by Dad.

Lukas pulled away so fast he lost his balance and landed on the couch, eyes wide. “Klaire, I—”

She looked from him to me and sighed. “Do you mind if I talk to Jessie for a moment?”

“Of course.” He climbed to his feet and scampered out the door without another word. Dad turned on his heel and followed. I hoped he wasn’t going to go all demon-Dad on the poor guy. Arm contact must have been equal to ass grabbing back in his day. He was seriously freaked without an added lecture.

Mom waited till the door closed, then turned to me, expression grim. “Your father went to his boss Valefar to request an extended stay.”

I swallowed. They had to be worried if Dad was willing to request shore leave. The lower ranking demons needed special permission from their bosses—AKA masters—and it never came cheap. If they weren’t here on official business, they needed special permission to stay for any length of time. Dad used to visit me on my birthday every year. But on my seventh one, he brought uninvited company in the form of a party crashing fire demon. After that, Valefar revoked the birthday visit privileges. “And?”

“He has permission to stay until we get this all sorted.”

“Not that I’m not glad to have Dad around—and the extra help would be great—but is it really safe for him to be running around town with the Sins lose? I mean, they need him, right? For the spell? Without his blood, they can’t be freed…”

She shook her head. “I said that, too, but truthfully, I need his help. And you know your father. Stubborn as the ocean is deep. Don’t worry. He can take care of himself.”

I settled across from her, unsure what I should say next. The silence that hung between us was, for the first time I could remember, uncomfortable.

“What about Kendra?”

Mom sighed. “We found her a block from the store and brought her home. I explained to Cassidy what was going on.”

“You told her about the Sins?”

Mom’s lips twitched. “I didn’t have any choice. They’re one of the few families I know with permanent residence in Penance that could do serious damage if affected. They’re more dangerous if unaware. Plus, I need her help, too.”

“Her help?” Cassidy Belfair wasn’t the helpful sort unless she was getting something out of it.

“Lukas says the Wells family is local to these parts. The Belfairs are, as well. Witches keep detailed histories. If anyone can help me locate a Wells witch, it’s Cassidy. Considering my time limit, I didn’t see another option.”

I wanted to argue, but couldn’t. I wondered how the conversation had gone. Mom and Cassidy had never really clicked.

“What about Kendra? She’ll be okay?”

“Your father believes it will wear off in a day or so. She’ll be back to normal.”

“Oh, good… Lukas said pretty much the same thing.”

Mom shifted in her seat. “Yeah…” There was more coming. I could tell by the way she tapped her right foot