“Got it.” I shoved the keys in my pocket and took off down the hall. Nothing could stop me from finding the truth now.
Chapter 16
A thunder rush of wind and metal blew in my face as another train raced into the station. The blast whipped my hair around me. Suddenly I felt eyes all around me, staring. The world went black and gray.
An inky fog rolled in, moving and breathing with a life of its own.
Hazy shapes emerged from the shadows. I tried to pry my eyes open, but my eyelids wouldn’t budge.
Two figures came into focus, in some sort of library. One of them was James. I stood across from him, on the other side of a giant mahogany table, and noticed a wall of bookshelves behind him. The shadows were filled with blinking eyes, watching my brother’s every move. The darkness closed in, a gray mist suffocating like fog around us.
Colors filtered through the mist, and the subway station reappeared.
The world was right again.
The vision vanished as quickly as it came on.
“Clumsy girl,” Tony gripped my arm, hoisting me to my feet. “Someone’s got to look out for you.”
I blinked until the fog cleared. Better play it cool, like nothing had just happened. That strange vision just made me feel like I was finally on the right track.
I climbed up the stairs from the subway to East 103rd Street in Harlem with the rest of the Guardians. We were a trio of two-by-two ark buddies on a pilgrimage ordered by our fearless leader. When I snuck a peek at Bryan, his lips were twisted, his eyes skittering over everyone and everything on the crowded sidewalk.
The overcast sky dimmed to a darker shade of gray, Brooke following right on her brother’s heels as he led the way past eclectic New York shops and beautiful old brownstones to Lexington Avenue.
Tony lagged behind with me as we shuffled down the crowded street. We turned the corner into a construction zone, which lasted until we reached 104th.
“Smell that. It’s heavenly.” Laura inhaled, lingering in front of a fragrance shop on the corner.
I caught a whiff of exotic sandalwood. “If only the rest of New York smelled this good.”
“True dat. No time for window shopping, little sis.” Lenny shoved her down 104th as Tony pulled me along the sidewalk. “Pick up the pace.”
“Hey, I go at my own speed,” she cried, punching Lenny’s bicep.
“Yeah, why don’t you stop and smell the sandalwood?” I twirled my dark hair into a rope and whipped it at Tony. “We could pass for brother and sister, I guess.”
“Funny.” He pursed his full lips that any girl would pay to have. Under the glare of the streetlights, his dark hair really contrasted against his features.
“Wow, your skin is paler than mine. Anyone ever tell you that you look like a vampire?” I hissed at him.
He jerked his face toward me as he bared his teeth. “If I was, you wouldn’t be around long enough to tell anyone.”
A large Latina passed us, covering the eyes of her two kids and huddling them to her side.
I cracked up so loudly both brother and sister pairs turned around. “Watch out, Tony Cullen is scaring the locals.”
Laura and Brooke busted out laughing, but Bryan and Lenny furrowed their foreheads like I’d asked them to multiply square roots.
Tony just hung his head. “You don’t want to know.”
It felt good to smile, even laugh again. Things had been way too heavy lately. Maybe this so-called initiation trip was just what this little group needed. Even Mr. Tall Dark and Skeptical might have a little fun. I knew I had a mission, but it could still take a page out of my brother’s playbook and have a little fun, right?
We crossed Third Avenue into the residential area of 104th Street. Circles of light haloed the gum-dotted pavement every few feet as the street noises died down. Tall brick buildings covered with evenly spaced windows sprouted on our right, then on both sides of the street. I scooted closer to Tony. “Are these the projects?”
He shrugged, eyes darting around. “Not the scary ones you see on TV. These are mostly remodeled co-ops. Don’t worry, there’s a police station a couple of blocks over. It’s perfectly safe.”
I bit my lip, trying not to let the shivers crawl up my spine. From our spot in the back of the group, Tony and I herded the sheep forward until we crossed Second Avenue. We passed a few oddball shops and brownstones that screamed old New York. Then we came to our final destination.
“Beautiful.” I whistled out all the pent-up air in my lungs.
A massive circle of stained glass glowed in the gathering dusk from several stories up. We stopped in front of the enormous stone church. Above the door it read St. Lucy’s Church and School. “Awesome, I have a church and a school. Does that mean I’ll have to become a saint to get my full inheritance?”
Bryan ignored me and checked his watch. “Good, we’re on time. I told Father Patrick that we’re doing a paper on St. Lucia and we had to interview a priest. I know. I hate lying to a man of the cloth, but it was the only way to see the library.”
I glanced over at Tony and he shot me a quirky look. We followed the siblings up the steps to the church. In the doorway, I stopped.
A strange sensation of utter sorrow mixed with determination submerged in the pit of my stomach, but I pressed on. You don’t get a church named after you for happy reasons.
A hush fell over us as bright soprano voices feathered the air of the grand stone foyer. A long high note pierced through the cracks of the sanctuary door, then faded to silence. I tiptoed across the tiles after Brooke and Bryan.
“Choir practice, ugh,” Tony whispered to
