Darker Days

“Look who has finally decided to grace us with her presence,” an annoying, sing-song voice said on the other end.

“Who the—” The venom might’ve been making me slower, but at the sound of her voice, it all clicked. That knot in my stomach exploded and the air got caught in my throat. “Where are they?”

Laughter.

Gripping the edge of the desk, I let myself sink to the floor. Things were still a blurry mesh of shapeless blobs of color, and it was starting to make me nauseous. If I hadn’t sat down, I probably would have fallen down.

“You have—” My mind went blank. I had to concentrate. The venom was making it nearly impossible to focus. Mom. Dad. Trouble. The chill in my spine spread throughout my body. This couldn’t be happening—the venom was making me hallucinate. “If you hurt them—”

“Here’s how it’s going to work,” she said, all business now. “You bring your spunky self to a location of my choosing—along with Lukas, the box, and the three Sins you’ve got—and Mommy and Daddy go free.”

“I wanna talk—”

More laughter. “I don’t care what you want, sister. This is all about what I want now.”

“You said this wasn’t about the Sins. Why do you want the box?”

“One more question and one of your parents doesn’t see tomorrow,” she warned.

I pinched the bridge of my nose hard. Meredith’s elevator didn’t go all the way to the top. Arguing with crazy never got you anywhere good. Thinking about Mom and Dad, I bit my tongue. If I pushed her, she might really hurt them. “Where?”

“Some place festive. Give me a bit. I’ll call you back.”

“How—”

The line went dead.

…

Lukas squirmed a little in his seat. “You’re quiet. Are you okay?”

“Well, I’m not feelin’ the double rainbow, but I’ll live.”

“She said nothing else?”

I poured thick pink liquid onto the towel and blotted Lukas’ neck. Made from demon blood—which ironically had healing properties—and an obscure herb in the wilds of Australia, the Lupkee elixir was given to Mom by an Aborigine woman we’d helped once. We used it sparingly—worst cases only. Most Otherworlders, if they got enough salvia into a human’s bloodstream, caused serious infection. The Lupkee elixir was sort of supernaturally charged penicillin. We’d never had any serious after-effects from a bite, so I guessed it worked.

The lamiae bite foamed and sizzled, and Lukas took it like a trooper. The crap stung—I knew because I’d complained like a baby when he’d cleaned mine.

“She was vague,” I said, slapping white medical tape across the gauze. “Wouldn’t give me any info. Said she’d call back.” And in the meantime, I had to sit on my thumb and hope her particular brand of nuts didn’t explode all over my parents. Freaking awesome.

It was after midnight—we must have been out for hours after the attack. Stepping back, I fished into my back pocket for my cell, but what I pulled out wasn’t a phone. It was a key.

“What’s that?” Lukas took the small key ring from me. “Guardian Self Storage,” he read aloud.

I took the key back, examining it closer. “I found this under the couch the other day. Totally forgot about it.”

“What does it go to?”

I shrugged and pocketed the key. “No clue. It’s not mine, and it’s not Mom’s, which means it had to belong to Grandpa. He must’ve had a unit at the place a few blocks over.”

“A unit?”

“It’s like a locked room you keep stuff stashed inside.”

“And it’s not here?”

“No.”

“Why would someone keep their belongings someplace else?”

“A lot of reasons. Maybe they ran out of space, or maybe they wanted to keep something hidden.”

“Hidden?”

I nodded. “Yep. And knowing us Darkers, I’ll bet that’s exactly what it is.”

“You think Joseph had something to hide?”

I smiled. “Everyone has something to hide.” Grabbing my hoodie, I pulled it over my head. There was no way I could sit here in the dark waiting for Meredith to call back. My mind would come up with too many scenarios. Mom’s sharp tongue and Meredith’s random temper flares.

“Let’s go find out what. Knowing what I know of my grandfather, maybe we’ll find something useful.”

…

After making sure any calls to the office phone would be rerouted to my cell, Lukas and I set off for the storage place on Gateway Drive. Three blocks of brisk walking, and we stood in front of the darkened gates.

“It doesn’t look like you’re allowed entry at this late hour.”

A crooked smile slipped across my lips. “I know we haven’t known each other long, but do I really seem like the kinda girl to let that bother me?”

I dragged him away from the front gate and around to the back. I knew for a fact that the cameras attached to the perimeter fencing were there for show only. They didn’t even have night security.

Once we hopped the fence, I pulled the key out for another look.

Lukas peered over my shoulder. “Which one is it?”

Flipping the key over, I squinted against the dark. I had to lean back because Lukas was blocking my light. “Looks like it’s unit number seventy-five.”

Mom’s birthday was July fifth. I hadn’t gotten to meet my grandfather, but the stories Mom told were of a gruff man with an ooey-gooey center. Apparently, Grandpa had been the sentimental type.

The sign above us pointed to the lower numbers at the back of the lot. “That way,” I exclaimed and took off. I could hear Lukas’ footsteps behind me. In and out, I searched the rows ’til I finally found seventy-five. Holding my breath, I slipped the key into the lock. It was a perfect fit! Pulling up on the handle, I slid the door up and froze.

“Hell in a hail storm…”

It didn’t take me long to figure out why Grandpa kept this stash a secret.

A collection of the most dangerous tools and artifacts I’d ever read about. That’s what Grandpa had been trying to hide. Mom would be speechless if she could see this.

Speechless and drooling.

“What’s this?” Lukas held up a small black stone.

“Oh my God! Put that down!” I snatched the rock from him and gently laid it on the box it’d come from. “Shaking that stone will summon a demon of death.”

“That sounds bad.”

“Um, hello? Demon of death? Yeah. Just don’t touch anything.” Once I was satisfied he could be trusted not to get us both obliterated, I went to work.

As far as organization went, there wasn’t any. Mom must have gotten her pack rat mentality from Grandpa. There were piles of unlabeled boxes, stacks of old books—I even scoped out what might have been a rotting apple core. Or it could have been half a sandwich. I couldn’t tell, and honestly? I didn’t want to know.

“Here,” I said, picking up a pile of books. “Go through these and see if you can find anything useful.” The chances were slim, but at least it was safe. He couldn’t accidentally curse us or summon something ugly.

Actually…

“And don’t read anything out loud.”

While Lukas set to work on the books, I started on the first pile of boxes. The first few were smaller than the rest and stuffed with rocks.