brave, and I didn’t want to feel anything when it came to Jared. Not when I knew how easily a guy like him could hurt me.
Lukas wiped the dirt off my face with the edge of his T-shirt. He made me feel safe in a world I didn’t understand, while Jared always left me feeling off balance. Like the way he was making me feel right now.
Heat spread across my cheeks.
I wondered if Lukas noticed—if he thought it was because of him.
Priest rushed over to Jared. “Did you see me take out that vengeance spirit? Don’t tell me it wasn’t badass.”
Jared looked away, breaking the connection between us, and gave Priest a weak smile. “Yeah, it was badass all right. And dumbass.”
“Whatever.” Priest stripped off his shirt and yanked on his dry hoodie, flipping up the hood.
“Here.” I handed Priest the disk.
“That’s what I’m talking about.” He grinned and examined it. “Based on the diagram and the size of the disks, the cylinder should be about the size of a coffee can.”
Alara touched my arm gently. “Are you okay?”
For a second, I was speechless. It was something a friend would do, not the girl who couldn’t stand me.
I rubbed my neck, trying to get rid of the feeling of Millicent’s arm wrapped around it. “I didn’t know spirits could touch us like that. She felt so real.”
“Not all of them can, but she was a full body apparition. Some of them feel as real as you and me.”
“How can you tell the difference?”
Alara stepped behind me, helping me wring the disgusting water out of my hair. “Sometimes you can’t.”
“Damn.” Priest winced, shaking his wrist in the air. “I must have cut myself.”
It was worse than that.
When he pulled up his sleeve, lines were carving themselves into the underside of his wrist like they were being guided by an invisible blade. Deep bloodless indentations remained etched in his flesh.
I gasped. “Oh my god.”
Jared squeezed Priest’s shoulder. “You’re getting your mark.”
What was he talking about? And why was he so calm while something sliced into Priest’s skin?
I pointed at the lines. “Does someone want to explain that?”
“When the original members of the Legion summoned Andras, they carved part of his seal into their flesh to bind him,” Lukas said. “It was supposed to help them control the demon. When a member of the Legion dies, their part of the seal transfers to the person chosen to replace them.”
“Why wasn’t it there before?”
“You have to earn it by destroying a paranormal entity.” Priest stared down at the mark in awe.
Alara twisted her eyebrow ring, pouting. “I still don’t have one.”
Lukas nudged her. “You will. Maybe you can take down a pink milk shake.”
“Eventually our marks will form the seal,” Priest said.
“How?”
Jared pulled up his sleeve and Lukas did the same. The skin on the insides of their wrists was smooth and unmarked. Priest held out his wrist, too. Where there had been deep depressions a moment ago, the skin had completely healed.
I grabbed his wrist. “Where did the cuts go?”
“Wait.” Jared nodded at Alara.
She scooped a handful of salt out of her pocket. The guys offered her their wrists and she rubbed them with the crystals. Within seconds, the indentations appeared in their skin, the lines blackening like they were filled with ink.
I examined the shapes etched into their skin. None of the designs resembled the demon’s seal until they bent their wrists, Lukas and Jared lining up theirs side by side, and Priest pressing the heel of his hand against Jared’s. It created an
“So you don’t have one?” I asked Alara.
She brushed the salt off her hands. “Not yet. My grandmother was overprotective. But I’m not going to be the last person to get one.”
“I don’t think you have to worry about that.” I had almost gotten myself killed again today. I obviously wasn’t ready to destroy a vengeance spirit.
“You still don’t believe you’re one of us?” Priest asked, shaking the water out of his hair. He saved my life. This fifteen-year-old kid that I barely knew.
I looked back at Priest and gave him the only answer I could. “I don’t know what I believe.”
20. A SLIVER OF LIGHT
Priest wiped off the disk, revealing the red glass in the center of the silver ring. I sat on the ground wearing Lukas’ jacket over my wet clothes. This time I was too cold to let my pride get in the way when he had offered.
“We should go back to the van or you guys are going to freeze to death.” Two near-drownings had transformed Alara from hard-core to maternal.
“No way. The clue to finding the next piece has to be out here,” Priest said.
“Where? In there?” Jared stopped pacing and gestured at the well.
“You think?” Priest raised his eyebrows.
Alara shoved him affectionately. “Don’t even joke about it.”
Lukas peered over the edge of the well. “No one’s going back down.”
“Maybe it’s in the house,” I offered.
“At Lilburn, the disk and the clue about this place were together.” Priest sounded skeptical. “The house is pretty far away.” He rolled the circle of glass between his fingers, fascinated. “Whoever designed the Shift must’ve been a genius.”
As he rotated the disk, a slash of light appeared on the side of the well.
“Did you see that?” I pointed at the spot on the gray stones.
Priest looked around. “What?”
“I saw it.” Lukas gestured at the disk in Priest’s hand. “Turn it again.”
Priest rolled the glass one more time. The light caught in exactly the same spot as before, appearing almost fluorescent. He bent down and ran the disk along the stones, and letters appeared like they were written in glow-in-the-dark marker. “No way.”
DYBBUK BOX, SUNSHINE
“What’s a
Alara shook her head. “Don’t ask.”
“Wait. I know this.” Lukas paced in front of the well. “My dad told me a story about one.”
“So what is it?” Priest asked.
“Dad said that in Jewish folklore they believe that if you commit horrible sins when you’re alive, your spirit won’t be able to rest after you die,” Lukas explained. “They call the disembodied spirit a dybbuk, and it wants one thing—a body to possess. My dad talked about them a few times. It always seemed random.”
“You said he told you a story?” Alara asked.
Lukas nodded. “This woman came over from Poland after World War II, and the only thing she brought with her was this wine cabinet. She kept it in her sewing room and called it dybbuk. The woman never let anyone
