“He’s totally unconscious. Might even be in a coma. But Julie Pullman is the one who saw Pete first. She said that the letters S and K were spray painted next to him.”
The Shadow Kings! Was this some kind of warning to Talbot and me to back off? Was this why Jude texted me? Had the Shadow Kings been following us all along when we thought we were tracking them down? Had they seen me at the club with Pete and decided to use him to send a message? I swung my backpack around in front of me and started digging for my cell phone. I needed to call Talbot and warn him that the SKs were definitely on to us.
“The Rock Canyon people called an ambulance and then sent us all back here,” April said. “But when we realized you were missing, Pastor Saint
Moon completely freaked out. He called your dad, and the police came, and … and … I’m sorry. I was really worried about you, so I told him. I’m sorry.”
“Told who what?”
“Grace!” It was Gabriel’s voice, mixed with reassurance and something else I’d never heard from him— anger. He filled the open doorway of the rec center.
“I’m sorry,” April said. “I told him about you and Talbot.”
“How could you?” I snarled at April. “I trusted you.”
Tears welled in her eyes. “I thought I was helping you.”
“Come with me, now,” Gabriel demanded.
I followed Gabriel through the lobby and past the receptionist who tried to stop us. But Gabriel just held up his hand to quiet her, and we kept on walking. He opened the door of a room that seemed designed for conference meetings and motioned me inside.
The second the door clicked shut, Gabriel reeled on me. “Are you okay?” he practically yelled.
“Yes.”
“Were you kidnapped, threatened, or otherwise coerced into doing something against your will?”
“What? No.”
“Then I want you to tell me what your friend meant when she told me that you’ve been sneaking off alone with some boy during the project. And why, if you weren’t even there, was your scent all over the inside of that dojo!” He grabbed my arm. “And then explain to me why I smell demon blood on your clothes”—he wrenched my jacket off my shoulders, exposing the bloody tear in my sleeve and the three bright pink scars on my arm—“and how you got this.”
You don’t have to tell him anything, something said inside my head. It was a mixture of my voice, Talbot’s, and the new voice I’d heard before. It was right.
I yanked my arm out of Gabriel’s grasp. “I don’t have to tell you anything,” I said. “You’re not my father. You’re certainly not my brother. You’re not even really my teacher.”
He’s nothing compared to you, the voice said.
“I’m your friend, Grace. I may not be your brother, but I care for you like I am.”
“You’re nothing to me.”
“So that’s how you regard your friends, as ‘nothing’? I understand that boy who was attacked was your friend. Is he nothing to you, too?”
“Pete Bradshaw isn’t my friend!” He’s a son of a bitch who deserves everything that happened to him. The voice was right; Pete had it coming to him. “He deserved it.”
“What?” Gabriel took a step back, rubbing his ringless fingers. “Did you do this, Grace?” He looked afraid, like he thought I was going to pounce on him.
Gabriel is a coward.
“No. I didn’t attack Pete. He’s not worth my time.” I pulled my jacket back up over my shoulders. “I have more important things to do.”
“Then why was your scent at that dojo?”
“Because that’s where I’ve been training.”
“Training? Daniel told me you two weren’t training anymore.”
“I wasn’t with Daniel. That boy I’ve been sneaking off with, he’s a Hound of Heaven … and the last of the Saint Moons. At least the real Saint
Moons. Not a coward like you, who uses the name but does nothing to deserve it.”
Gabriel’s eyes went wide. “That’s impossible, Grace. Don was the last Saint Moon. All the others were killed when—”
“When you stood by and let Caleb Kalbi kill them. Well, you’re wrong. Nathan Talbot survived. He was three years old when he watched his parents get slaughtered in front of him—all because you wouldn’t act.”
Gabriel’s mouth hung open for a split second. “I was told the boy died from his injuries.…”
“Well, he didn’t. And now he’s a Hound of Heaven. And he’s been teaching me everything he knows. You might be afraid to do anything with your powers, but I’m not a coward like you. I’m a Hound of Heaven now, too. And while you’ve been hiding out here, afraid to get your hands dirty, I’ve been hunting demons. I even killed my first one today.”
“You did what?” he roared. His body shook. He took another step back, breathing deeply. “No. This can’t be happening. You’re losing yourself to the wolf.”
“I’m not losing myself. I killed a demon, not a human or even an Urbat. I know the difference. I’m not as stupid as you think.”
Gabriel winced with pain; he pressed his palms together and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath and then letting it out between his teeth.
“You’re insanely stupid if you think killing won’t change you,” he said softly. “Even killing a demon. It gives you a sense of power—the ability to end something’s existence, to snuff something out with your own hands. And that sense of power becomes pride, if you leave it unchecked. Soon you start thinking you’re better than everyone else. Superior. Or maybe it just makes you feel angry that you can’t do more. But those are exactly the feelings that feed the wolf—make it stronger. And before you know what’s happening, you’ll lose yourself.” He reached out to touch my shoulder.
“The wolf talks to you. I can sense it. We’re losing you already.”
I shook off his touch. “Stop saying that! Why can’t you believe in me? Why can’t you accept that just because you lost yourself to the curse, it doesn’t mean every other Hound of Heaven out there is going to, too?”
“You really want to know?” Gabriel asked.
“Yes.”
“Because in eight hundred and thirty years, I’ve yet to meet a single true Urbat who didn’t eventually fall victim to the wolf.”
His words felt like a punch in the gut. I gasped and took a step back, hitting the side of the table.
“Every single one of us falls, Katharine—and so will you.”
“I’m not Katharine. I’m not your sister. And I’m not weak like you.”
Gabriel growled. “I should have just taken you to Sirhan when I got here, like he’d commanded. I thought if I could figure you out, I could spare you the trip. I should have known better. I’m taking you now, so say good-bye to your friends. I don’t know when you’re coming back.”
“Taking me?” Sirhan commanded Gabriel to take me to him?
They’re coming for you. He makes you think you can trust him but you can’t.
“Are you the one Jude tried to warn me about? Are you the one who’s after me?” I tried to push past him to get away, but he wouldn’t move.
Gabriel put his hands on my shoulders. “No, Grace. That’s not what I meant. I’m taking you to Sirhan so we can help you.”
I swept my arm out and slammed it against his rib cage. He flew sideways and hit the wall. “You’re not taking me anywhere,” I said, and bolted out of the room.
I ran.
Out of the rec center, past the other students on the steps, past the bus and my dad’s car, which was just pulling into the parking lot, and out onto the street. I knew Gabriel was perfectly capable of coming after me, but I
