Beautiful Creatures - Chapter 33

2.12
Silver Lining
I looked at my cell. It was broken.
The time still read 11:59.
But I knew it was well after midnight, because the fireworks finale had started, even though it was raining. The Battle of Honey Hill was over for
another year.
I lay in the middle of the muddy field, letting the rain wash over me. As I watched the small-time fireworks attempt to explode in the still drizzling
night sky, everything was cloudy. My mind just couldn’t focus. I had fallen, hit my head and a few other places, too. My stomach, my hip, my whole left
side ached. Amma was going to kill me when I came home, banged up like this.
All I remembered was, one second I was holding onto that stupid angel statue, and the next second I was lying flat on my back in the mud, here. I
thought a piece of that statue broke off when I was trying to climb to the top of the crypt, but I wasn’t really sure. Link must have carried me out here
after I knocked myself out like an idiot. Aside from that, it was like my mind had been wiped clean.
I guess that’s why I didn’t understand why Marian, Gramma, and Aunt Del were huddled near the crypt, crying. Nothing could have prepared me
for what I saw when I finally stumbled over there.
Macon Ravenwood. Dead.
Maybe he had always been dead, I didn’t know, but now he was gone. I knew that much. Lena threw herself onto his body, the rain drenching
both of them.
Macon, wet from the raindrops for the first time.
The next morning, I pieced together a few things about the night of Lena’s birthday. Macon was the only casualty. Apparently, Hunting had
overpowered him after I lost consciousness. Gramma explained that feeding on dreams was much less substantial than feeding on blood. I guess
he had never really stood a chance against Hunting. Still, it hadn’t stopped him from trying.
Macon always said he would do anything for Lena. In the end, he was a man of his word.
Everyone else seemed to be all right, at least physically. Aunt Del, Gramma, and Marian had dragged themselves back to Ravenwood, with
Boo trailing behind them, whimpering like a lost pup. Aunt Del couldn’t understand what had happened to Larkin. Nobody knew how to break the
news to her that she had not one but two bad seeds in her family, so no one said a thing.
Mrs. Lincoln didn’t remember anything, and Link had a hard time explaining what she was doing in the middle of the battlefield in her petticoat
and pantyhose. She had been appalled to find herself in the company of Macon Ravenwood’s family, but had been civil as Link helped her to the
Beater. Link had a lot of questions, but I figured it could wait until Algebra II. It would give us both something to do when things returned to normal,
whenever that would be.
And Sarafine.
Sarafine, Hunting, and Larkin were gone. I knew that because when I came to, they had disappeared, and Lena was there, leaning against me
as we walked back toward Ravenwood. I was fuzzy on the details, like everything else right now, but it appeared that Lena, Macon, all of us had
underestimated Lena’s powers as a Natural. She had somehow managed to block out the moon and save herself from being Claimed after all.
Without the Claiming, it looked like Sarafine, Hunting, and Larkin had fled, at least for now.
Lena still wasn’t talking about it. She still wasn’t talking much at all.
I had fallen asleep on the floor of her bedroom, next to her, our hands still intertwined. When I woke up, she was gone and I was alone. Her
bedroom walls, the same ones that had been so covered with writing you couldn’t see an inch of the white walls underneath all the black, were now
completely blank. Except for one, the wall that faced the windows was covered from floor to ceiling with words, only the writing no longer looked like
Lena’s. The girly script was gone. I touched the wall as if I could feel the words, and I knew she had been up all night, writing.
macon ethan
i lay my head down on his chest and cried because he had lived
because he had died
a dry ocean, a desert of emotion
happysad darklight sorrowjoy swept over me, under me
i could hear the sound but i could not understand the words
and then i realized the sound was me, breaking
in one moment i was feeling everything and i was feeling nothing
i was shattered, i was saved, i lost everything, i was given
everything else
something in me died, something in me was born, i only knew
the girl was gone
whoever i was now, i would never be her again this is the way
the world ends not with a bang but a whimper
claim yourself claim yourself claim yourself claim
gratitude fury love despair hope hate
first green is gold but nothing green can stay
don’t
try
nothing
green
can
stay
T. S. Eliot. Robert Frost. Bukowski. I recognized some of the poets from her shelf and her walls. Except for the Frost, Lena got it backward, which
wasn’t like her. Nothing gold can stay, that’s how the poem goes.
Not green.
Maybe it all looked the same to her now.
I stumbled down into the kitchen, where Aunt Del and Gramma were talking in low tones about arrangements. I remembered the low tones and the
arrangements when my mom died. I hated them both. I remembered how much it hurt for life to go on, for aunts and grandmothers to be making
plans, calling relatives, sweeping up the pieces when all you wanted to do was crawl into the coffin, too. Or maybe plant a lemon tree, fry some
tomatoes, build a monument with your bare hands.
“Where’s Lena?” My tone was not low, and I startled Aunt Del. Nothing could startle Gramma.
“Isn’t she in her room?” Aunt Del was flustered.
Gramma calmly poured herself another cup of tea. “I believe you know where she is, Ethan.”
I did.
Lena was lying on the crypt, right where we had found Macon. She was staring up at the gray morning sky, muddy and wet in her clothes from the
night before. I didn’t know where they had taken his body, but I understood her impulse to be here. To be with him, even without him.
She didn’t look at me, though she knew I was there. “Those hateful things I said, I’ll never get to take them back. He never knew how much I
loved him.”
I lay down next to her in the mud, my sore body groaning. I looked over at her, her black hair curling, and her dirty wet cheeks. The tears ran
down her face, but she didn’t try to wipe them away. Neither did I.
“He died because of me.” She stared up at the gray sky, unblinking. I wished there was something I could say to make her feel better, but I knew
better than anyone that words like that didn’t really exist. So I didn’t say them. Instead, I kissed all the fingers on Lena’s hand. I stopped when my
mouth tasted metal, and I saw it. She was wearing my mom’s ring on her right hand.
I held up her hand.
“I didn’t want to lose it. The necklace broke last night.”
Dark clouds were blowing in and out. We hadn’t seen the last of the storm, I knew that much. I wrapped my hand around hers. “I never loved you
any more than I do, right this second. And I’ll never love you any less than I do, right this second.”
The gray expanse was just a moment of sunless calm, in between the storm that had changed our lives forever, and the one still to come.
“Is that a promise?”
I squeezed her hand.
Don’t let go.
Never.
Our hands twisted into one. She turned her head, and when I looked into her eyes, I noticed for the first time that one was green, and one was
hazel—actually, more like gold.
It was almost noon by the time I started the long walk home. The blue skies were streaked with dark gray and gold. The pressure was building, but it
seemed a few hours from breaking. I think Lena was still in shock. But I was ready for the storm. And when it came, it would make Gatlin’s hurricane
season look like a spring shower.
Aunt Del had offered to drive me home, but I wanted to walk. Though every bone in my body ached, I needed to clear my head. I jammed my
hands in my jeans pockets and felt the familiar lump. The locket. Lena and I would have to find a way to give it back to the other Ethan Wate, the one
lying in his grave, just as Genevieve had wanted us to. Maybe it would give Ethan Carter Wate some peace. We owed them both that much.
I came down the steep road leading up to Ravenwood and found myself once again at the fork in the road, the one that had seemed so
frightening before I knew Lena. Before I knew where I was going. Before I knew what real fear felt like, and real love.
I walked past the fields and down Route 9, thinking of that first drive, that first night in the storm. I thought about everything, how I had almost lost
my dad and Lena. How I had opened my eyes to see her staring at me, and all I could think was how lucky I was. Before I realized we had lost
Macon.
I thought about Macon, his books tied with string and paper, his perfectly pressed shirts, and his even more perfect composure. I thought about
how hard things were going to be for Lena, missing him, wishing she could hear his voice one more time. But I would be there for her, the way I
wished someone had been there for me when I lost my mom. And after the past few months, after my mom sent us that message, I didn’t think
Macon was really gone, either. Maybe he was still out there somewhere, looking out for us. He had sacrificed himself for Lena, I was sure of that.
The right thing and the easy thing are never the same. No one knew that better than Macon.
I looked up at the sky. The swirls of gray were seeping across the flat blue, as blue as the paint on my bedroom ceiling. I wondered if that one
shade of blue really kept the carpenter bees from nesting. I wondered if those bees really believed it was the sky.
It’s crazy what you see if you aren’t really looking.
I pulled my iPod out of my pocket and turned it on. There was a new song on the playlist.
I stared at it for a long time.
Seventeen Moons.
I clicked on it.
Seventeen moons, seventeen years,
Eyes where Dark or Light appears,
Gold for yes and green for no,
Seventeen the last to know.

Categories: Beautiful Creatures

Beautiful Creatures - Chapter 32

2.11
The Claiming

Casters cannot be with Mortals without killing them.
It all made sense now. The elemental connection between us. The electricity, the shortness of breath whenever we kissed, the heart attack that
had almost killed me—we couldn’t be together physically.
I knew it was true. I remembered what Macon had said, that night in the swamp with Amma, and in my room.
A future between the two of them is impossible.
There are things you don’t see right now—things that are beyond any of our control.
Lena was shaking. She knew it was true, too. “What did you say?” she whispered.
“That you and Ethan can never really be together. You can never marry, never have children. You can never have a future, at least not a real
future. I can’t believe they never told you. They certainly kept you and Ridley sheltered.”
Lena turned to Macon. “Why didn’t you tell me? You know I love him.”
“You had never had a boyfriend before, let alone a Mortal one. None of us ever dreamed it would be an issue. We didn’t realize how strong your
connection with Ethan was until it was too late.”
I could hear their voices, but I wasn’t listening. We could never be together. I’d never be able to be that close to her.
The wind began to pick up, whipping the rain through the air like glass. Lighting tore across the sky. Thunder crashed so loud the ground shook.
Clearly we were no longer in the eye of the storm. I knew Lena couldn’t control herself much longer.
“When were you going to tell me?” she screamed over the wind.
“After you Claimed yourself.”
Sarafine saw her opportunity and took it. “But don’t you see, Lena? We have a way. A way you and Ethan can spend the rest of your lives
together, marry, have children. Whatever you want.”
“She’d never allow that, Lena,” Macon snapped. “Even if it were possible, Dark Casters despise Mortals. They would never allow their
bloodlines to be diluted with Mortal blood. It’s one of our greatest divides.”
“True, but in this case, Lena, we would be willing to make an exception, considering our alternative. And we have found a way to make it
possible.” She shrugged. “It’s better than dying.”
Macon looked at Lena, and countered, “Could you kill everyone in your family just to be with Ethan? Aunt Del? Reece? Ryan? Your own
grandmother?”
Sarafine spread her powerful hands wide, luxuriously, flexing her powers. “Once you Turn, you won’t even care about those people. And you’ll
have me, your mother, your uncle, and Ethan. Isn’t he the most important person in your life?”
Lena’s eyes clouded over. Rain and fog swirled around her. It was so loud that it almost drowned out the sound of the shells at Honey Hill. I had
forgotten we could get killed, by either of the two battles being waged here tonight.
Macon grabbed Lena by both arms. “She’s right. If you agree to this, you won’t feel remorse, because you won’t be yourself. The person you are
now will be dead. What she’s not telling you is that you won’t remember your feelings for Ethan. Within a few months, your heart will be so Dark, he
won’t mean anything to you. The Claiming has an incredibly powerful effect on a Natural. You may even kill him by your own hand—you will be
capable of that kind of evil. Isn’t that right, Sarafine? Tell Lena what happened to her father, since you are such a proponent of the truth.”
“Your father stole you from me, Lena. What happened was unfortunate, an accident.” Lena looked stricken. It was one thing to hear that her
mother had murdered her father from crazy Mrs. Lincoln at the Disciplinary Committee meeting. It was something else to find out it was true.
Macon tried to turn the odds back in his favor. “Tell her, Sarafine. Explain to her how her father burned to death in his own house, by a fire you
set. We all know how you love to play with fire.”
Sarafine’s eyes were fierce. “You know, you’ve interfered for sixteen years. I think you should sit the rest of this one out.”
Out of nowhere, Hunting appeared just inches from Macon. Now he looked less like a man and more like what he was. A Demon. His slick black
hair stood up like the hair on a wolf’s back before it attacks, his ears sharpened to points, and when his mouth opened, it was the mouth of an
animal. Then he just disappeared, dematerialized.
Hunting reappeared in a flash, on top of Macon, so quickly I wasn’t even sure I had really seen it happen. Macon grabbed Hunting by the jacket
and tossed him into a tree. I had never realized how strong Macon really was. Hunting went flying, but where he should have slammed against the
tree, he barreled right through it, rolling to the ground on the other side. In the same moment, Macon disappeared and reappeared on top of him.
Macon threw Hunting’s body to the ground, the force cracking the earth open beneath them. Hunting lay on the ground, defeated. Macon turned
back to look at Lena. As he turned, Hunting rose up behind him with a smile. I yelled, trying to warn Macon, but no one could hear me over the
hurricane building above us. Hunting growled viciously, sinking his teeth into the back of Macon’s neck like a dog in a fight.
Macon screamed, a deep guttural sound, and disappeared. He was gone. But Hunting must have hung on because he disappeared with
Macon, and when they reappeared at the edge of the clearing, Hunting was still locked onto Macon’s neck.
What was he doing? Was he feeding? I didn’t know enough to know how or if it was even possible. But whatever Hunting was taking, it seemed
to be draining Macon. Lena screamed, ragged, bloodcurdling screams.
Hunting pushed away from Macon’s body. Macon lay slumped over in the mud, rain battering down on him. Another round of canisters rang out. I
flinched, rattled from the proximity of live ammo. The Reenactment was moving toward us, in the direction of Greenbrier. The Confederates were
making their final stand.
The noise from the rounds muffled the growling, an altogether different, but familiar sound. Boo Radley. He howled and leapt into the air toward
Hunting, bent on defending his master. Just as the dog sprang toward Hunting, Larkin’s body began to twist, spiraling into a pile of vipers in front of
Boo. The vipers hissed, slithering over each other.
Boo didn’t realize the snakes were an illusion, that he could run right through them. He backed away, barking, his attention on the writhing
snakes, which was the opportunity Hunting needed. Hunting dematerialized and appeared behind Boo, choking the dog with his supernatural
strength. Boo’s body jerked as he tried to fight against Hunting, but it was futile. Hunting was too strong. He tossed the dog’s limp body aside, next
to Macon’s. Boo was still.
The dog and his master lay side by side in the mud. Motionless.
“Uncle Macon!” Lena screamed.
Hunting ran his hands through his slick hair and shook his head, invigorated. Larkin wound back through his leather jacket, into his familiar
human form. Between them, they looked like two drug addicts after a fix.
Larkin looked up at the moon, and then his watch. “Half past. Midnight’s comin’.”
Sarafine stretched her arms up as if she was embracing the sky. “The Sixteenth Moon, the Sixteenth Year.”
Hunting grinned at Lena, blood and mud on his face. “Welcome to the family.”
Lena had no intention of joining this family. I could see that now. She pulled herself to her feet, soaking wet, covered with mud from her own
torrential downpour. Her black hair whipped around her. She could barely stand against the wind, and leaned into it, as if at any moment her feet
would leave the ground and she would disappear into the black sky. Maybe she could. At this point, nothing would have surprised me.
Larkin and Hunting moved silently in the shadows until they were flanking Sarafine, facing Lena. Sarafine moved closer.
Lena raised a single palm. “Stop. Now.”
Sarafine didn’t stop. Lena closed her hand. A fire line shot up through the tall grass. The flames roared, separating mother and daughter.
Sarafine froze in her tracks. She hadn’t expected Lena to be capable of much more than what she probably considered a little wind and rain. Lena
had taken her by surprise. “I’ll never hide anything from you, like everyone else in our family has. I’ve explained your options, and I’ve told you the
truth. You may hate me, but I’m still your mother. And I can offer you the one thing they cannot. A future with the Mortal.”
The flames shot higher. The fire spread like it had a will of its own until the flames surrounded Sarafine, Larkin, and Hunting. Lena laughed. A
dark laugh, like her mother’s. Even from across the clearing, it made me shiver. “You don’t have to pretend you care about me. We all know what a
bitch you are, Mother. It’s the one thing I think we can all agree on.”
Sarafine pursed her lips and blew, as if she was blowing a kiss. Only the fire blew with her, shifting its direction, racing through the weeds to
surround Lena. “Say it like you mean it, darling. Put some teeth into it.”
Lena smiled. “Burning a witch? That’s so cliché.”
“If I wanted you to burn, Lena, you’d already be dead. Remember, you’re not the only Natural.”
Slowly, Lena reached forward and thrust one hand into the flames. She didn’t wince, but remained completely expressionless. Then she stuck
her other hand into the blaze. She lifted her hands above her head and held the fire as if it were a ball. Then she threw the flames as hard as she
could. Right at me.
Fire smashed into the oak behind me, igniting the spray of branches faster than dry kindling. The flames raced down the trunk. I stumbled
forward, trying to get out of the way. I kept moving until I reached the wall of my invisible prison. But this time, it wasn’t there. I dragged my legs
through the inches of mud, across the field. I looked over and saw Link falling alongside me. The oak behind him was burning even brighter than my
own. The flames reached into the dark sky and began to spread to the surrounding field. I raced toward Lena. I couldn’t think of anything else. Link
stumbled over toward his mom. Only Lena and the fire line stood between Sarafine and us. For the moment, it seemed to be enough.
I touched Lena’s shoulder. In the darkness, she should have jumped, but she knew it was me. She didn’t even look at me.
I love you, L.
Don’t say anything, Ethan. She can hear everything. I’m not sure, but I think she always could.
I looked across the field, but I couldn’t see Sarafine, Hunting, or Larkin beyond the flames. I knew they were there, and I knew they were probably
going to try to kill us all. But I was with Lena, and for just one second, it was all that mattered.
“Ethan! Go get Ryan. Uncle Macon needs help. I can’t hold her much longer.” I took off running before Lena could say another word. Whatever
Sarafine had done to sever the connection between us, it no longer mattered. Lena was back in my heart and my head. As I ran through the uneven
fields, that was all I cared about.
Except for the fact that it was almost midnight. I ran faster.
I love you, too. Hurry—
I looked at my cell. 11:25. I banged again on the door of Ravenwood and pushed frantically on the crescent moon above the lintel. Nothing
happened. Larkin must have done something to seal off the threshold, not that I had any idea how.
“Ryan! Aunt Del! Gramma!” I had to find Ryan. Macon was hurt. Lena could be next. I couldn’t predict what Sarafine would do when Lena refused
her. Link stumbled onto the doorstep behind me.
“Ryan’s not here.”
“Is Ryan a doctor? We gotta help my mom.”
“No. She’s—I’ll explain later.”
Link was pacing on the veranda. “Was any a that real?”
Think. I had to think. I was in this alone. Ravenwood was a virtual fortress tonight. No one could break in, at least no Mortal, and I couldn’t let
Lena down.
I dialed the only person I could think of who would have no problem tangling with two Dark Casters and a Blood Incubus, in the middle of a
supernatural hurricane. A person who was a sort of supernatural hurricane herself. Amma.
I listened to the phone ring on the other end. “No answer. Amma’s probably still with my dad.”
11:30. There was only one other person who could help me, and it was a long shot. I dialed the Gatlin County Library. “Marian’s not there either.
She’d know what to do. What the hell? She never leaves that library, even after hours.”
Link was pacing frantically. “Nothin’s open. It’s a freakin’ holiday. It’s the Battle of Honey Hill, remember? Maybe we should just go down to the
Safe Zone and look for the paramedics.”
I stared at him as if a bolt of lightning had just come out of his mouth and hit me in the head. “It’s a holiday. Nothing’s open,” I repeated back to
him.
“Yeah. I just said that. So what do we do?” He looked miserable.
“Link, you’re a genius. You’re a freaking genius.”
“I know, man, but what does that have to with anything?”
“You got the Beater?” He nodded.
“We gotta get outta here.”
Link started the engine. It spluttered, but caught, like it always did. The Holy Rollers blasted out of the speakers, and for the record, this time they
sucked. Ridley, she must seriously rock the whole Siren gig.
Link ripped down the gravel drive, and then looked over at me sideways. “Where are we goin’ again?”
“The library.”
“Thought you said it was closed.”
“The other library.” Link nodded like he understood, which he didn’t. But he went along with it anyway, just like old times. The Beater shredded
down the gravel drive like it was Monday morning and we were late to first period. Only it wasn’t.
It was 11:40.
When we skidded to a stop in front of the Historical Society, Link didn’t even try to understand. I was out of the car before he could even turn off the
Holy Rollers. He caught up with me as I rounded the corner into the darkness behind the second-oldest building in Gatlin. “This isn’t the library.”
“Right.”
“It’s the DAR.”
“Right.”
“Which you hate.”
“Right.”
“My mom comes here like, every day.”
“Right.”
“Dude. What are we doin’ here?”
I stepped up to the grating and pushed my hand through. It sliced through the metal, at least what looked like metal, leaving my arm looking like it
was amputated at the wrist.
Link grabbed me. “Man, Ridley must’ve put somethin’ into my Mountain Dew. Because I swear, your arm, I just saw your arm—forget it, I’m
hallucinatin’.”
I pulled my arm back out and wiggled my fingers in front of his face. “Seriously, man. After all the things you’ve seen tonight, now you think you’re
hallucinating? Now?”
I checked my cell. 11:45.
“I don’t have time to explain, but it’s only going to get weirder from here on out. We’re going down to the library, but it’s not, like, a library. And
you are going to be freaking, most of the time. So if you want to go wait in the car, that’s cool.” Link was trying to absorb what I was saying as
quickly as I was saying it, which was rough.
“Are you in, or not?”
Link looked at the grating. Without saying another word, he stuck his hand through. It disappeared.
He was in.
I ducked through the doorway and started down the old stone stairs. “Come on. We gotta book.”
Link laughed nervously as he stumbled after me. “Get it? Book? Library?”
The torches lit themselves as we scrambled down into the darkness. I grabbed one out of its metal crescent holder and tossed it to Link. I
grabbed another and jumped the last stairs to the crypt room. One by one, the wall torches ignited as we stepped into the center of the chamber.
The columns emerged, along with their shadows, in the flickering light from the mounted torches. The words domus lunae libri reappeared in
shadow on the entranceway, where I had last seen them.
“Aunt Marian! Are you here?” She tapped my shoulder from behind. I almost jumped out of my skin, bumping into Link.
Link screamed, dropping his torch. I stomped on the flames with my feet. “Jeez, Dr. Ashcroft. You about scared the pants offa me.”
“Sorry, Wesley—and Ethan, have you lost your mind? Do you have any recollection who this poor boy’s mother is?”
“Mrs. Lincoln’s unconscious. Lena’s in trouble. Macon’s been hurt. I need to get into Ravenwood, I can’t find Amma, and I can’t find a way inside.
I need to go through the Tunnels.” I was a little boy again, and it all just came tumbling out. Talking to Marian was like talking to my mom, or at least
like talking to someone who knew what it was like to talk to my mom.
“I can’t do anything. I can’t help you. One way or another, the Claiming comes at midnight. I can’t stop the clock. I can’t save Macon, or Wesley’s
mother, or anyone. I can’t get involved.” She looked at Link. “And I am sorry about your mother, Wesley. I mean no disrespect.”
“Ma’am.” Link looked defeated.
I shook my head and handed Marian the nearest torch from the wall. “You don’t understand. I don’t want you to do anything, other than what the
Caster librarian does.”
“What?”
I looked at her meaningfully. “I need to deliver a book to Ravenwood.” I bent down and reached into the nearest stack, and randomly pulled out a
book, singeing the tips of my fingers. “The Complete Guide to Poisonous Herbiage and Verbiage.”
Marian was skeptical. “Tonight?”
“Yes, tonight. Right away. Macon asked me to bring it to him personally. Before midnight.”
“A Caster librarian is the only Mortal who knows where to access the Lunae Libri Tunnels.” Marian looked at me shrewdly and took the book
from my hands. “Good thing I happen to be one.”
Link and I followed Marian through the twisting tunnels of the Lunae Libri. At one point I counted the oaken doors we passed through, but I stopped
after we got to sixteen. The Tunnels were like a maze, and each one was different. There were low-ceilinged passageways where Link and I had to
duck to walk through, and high-ceilinged hallways where there seemed to be no roof over our heads at all. It was literally another world. Some
passages were rustic, adorned with nothing but their modest masonry, while others were more like the hallways in a castle or museum, with
tapestries, framed antique maps, and oil paintings hanging from the walls. Under different circumstances, I would’ve stopped to read the tiny brass
plaques under the portraits. Maybe they were famous Casters, who knew. The one thing the passageways had in common was the smell of earth
and time, and the number of times Marian found herself fumbling for her lunae crescent key, the iron circle she wore at her waist.
After what seemed like forever, we arrived at the door. Our torches were nearly out, and I had to hold mine up so that I could read Rayvenwoode
Manor carved into the vertical planks. Marian twisted the crescent key through the final iron keyhole and the door swung open. Carved steps led up
into the house and I could tell from the glimpse of ceiling above that we were on the main floor.
I turned to Marian. “Thanks, Aunt Marian.” I held out my hand for the book. “I’ll give this to Macon.”
“Not so fast. I’ve yet to see a library card issued in your name, EW.” She winked at me. “I’ll deliver this book myself.”
I looked at my cell. 11:45 again. That was impossible. “How can it be the same time that it was when we arrived at the Lunae Libri?”
“Lunar time. You kids never listen. Things aren’t always as they seem, down below.”
Link and Marian followed me up the stairs and into the front hall. Ravenwood was just as we had left it, down to the cake left out on plates, to the
tea set, and the stack of unopened birthday presents.
“Aunt Del! Reece! Gramma! Hello? Where is everybody?” I called out, and they came out of the woodwork. Del was positioned by the stairs,
holding a lamp over her head as if she was going to whack Marian over the head with it in another second. Gramma was standing in the doorway,
shielding Ryan with her arm. Reece was hiding under the stairs, brandishing a cake knife.
They all started to talk at once. “Marian! Ethan! We were so worried. Lena has disappeared, and when we heard the bell from the Tunnels, we
thought it was—”
“Have you seen Her? Is she out there?”
“Have you seen Lena? When Macon didn’t come back, we began to worry.”
“And Larkin. She didn’t hurt Larkin, did she?”
I looked at them in disbelief, taking the lamp out of Aunt Del’s hands, and handing it to Link. “A lamp? You really thought a lamp was gonna save
you?”
Aunt Del shrugged. “Barclay went up to the attic to Shift some weapons out of curtain rods and old Solstice decorations. It’s all I could find.”
I knelt down in front of Ryan. There wasn’t much time, about fourteen minutes to be exact. “Ryan. Do you remember when I was hurt, and you
helped me? I need you to come do that right now, over at Greenbrier. Uncle Macon fell down, and he and Boo are hurt.”
Ryan looked like she was going to cry. “Boo’s hurt, too?”
Link cleared his throat in the back of the room. “And my mom. I mean, I know she’s been a pain and everything, but could she—could she help
my mom?”
“And Link’s mom.”
Gramma pushed Ryan back behind her, patting her on the cheek. She adjusted her sweater and smoothed her skirt. “Come, then. Del and I will
go. Reece, stay here with your sister. Tell your father where we’ve gone.”
“Gramma, I need Ryan.”
“For tonight, I am Ryan, Ethan.” She picked up her bag.
“I’m not leaving here without Ryan.” I held my ground. There was too much at stake.
“We can’t take an Unclaimed child out there, not on the Sixteenth Moon. She could be killed.” Reece looked at me like I was an idiot. I was out of
the Caster loop again.
Del took my arm reassuringly. “My mother is an Empath. She is very sensitive to the powers of others and she can borrow those powers for a
time. Right now, she has borrowed Ryan’s. It won’t last for very long, but for now she is capable of anything Ryan can do. And Gramma was
Claimed, obviously quite some time ago. So we’ll go with you.”
I looked at my cell. 11:49.
“What if we don’t make it in time?”
Marian smiled and held up the book. “I haven’t made a delivery to Greenbrier, well, ever. Del, do you think you could find the way?”
Aunt Del nodded, putting on her glasses. “Palimpsests can always find ancient lost doors. It’s just brand new ones we have a little trouble with.”
She disappeared back down into the Tunnels, followed by Marian and Gramma. Link and I scrambled to keep up with them.
“For a bunch a old ladies,” Link panted, “they really know how to move.”
This time, the passageway was small and crumbling, with speckled black and green moss growing in sprays across the walls and ceiling. Probably
the floors, too, but I couldn’t see them in the shadows. We were five bobbing torches in otherwise total darkness. Since Link and I were at the back
of the pack, the smoke was wafting into my eyes, making them tear and sting.
As we got closer to Greenbrier, I could tell we were there by the smoke that started seeping down into the Tunnels, not from our torches, but
from hidden openings leading to the world outside.
“This is it.” Aunt Del coughed, feeling her way around the edges of a rectangular cut in the stone walls. Marian scraped off the moss, revealing a
door. The lunae key fit perfectly, as if it had opened just days ago, rather than hundreds of thousands of days ago. The door wasn’t oak, but stone. I
couldn’t believe Aunt Del had the strength to push it open.
Aunt Del paused on the stairwell and motioned to me to pass. She knew we were nearly out of time. I ducked my head under the hanging moss
and smelled the dank air as I made my way up the stone steps. I climbed out of the tunnel, but when I got to the top, I froze. I could see the crypt’s
stone table, where The Book of Moons had lain for so many years.
And I knew it was the same table, because the Book was lying on it now.
The same book that was missing from my closet shelf this morning. I had no idea how it had gotten there, but there was no time to ask. I could
hear the fire before I saw it.
Fire is loud, full of rage and chaos and destruction. And fire was all around me. The smoke in the air was so thick, I was choking on it. The heat
was singeing the hair right off my arms. It was like a vision from the locket, or worse, like the last of my nightmares—the one where Lena was
consumed by fire.
The feeling that I was losing her. It was happening.
Lena, where are you?
Help Uncle Macon.
Her voice was dimming. I waved the smoke away so I could see my cell.
11:53. Seven minutes to midnight. We were out of time.
Gramma grabbed my hand. “Don’t just stand there. We need Macon.”
Gramma and I ran, hand in hand, out into the fire. The long row of willows that framed the archway leading into the graveyard and the gardens was
burning. The brush, the scrub oaks, the palmettos, the rosemary, the lemon trees—everything was on fire. I could hear the last few canisters in the
distance. Honey Hill was wrapping up, and I knew the reenactors would be on to the fireworks soon, as if the fireworks in the Safe Zone could in any
way compare to the fireworks going on out here. The whole garden as well as the clearing was burning, surrounding the crypt.
Gramma and I stumbled through the smoke until we neared the burning oaks, and I found Macon lying where we had left him. Gramma leaned
over him and touched his cheek with her hand. “He’s weak, but he’ll be all right.” At the same moment, Boo Radley rolled over and jumped up onto
all fours. He slunk over and lay down on his belly next to his master.
Macon struggled to turn his head toward Gramma. His voice was barely a whisper. “Where’s Lena?”
“Ethan’s going to find her. You rest. I’m going to help Mrs. Lincoln.”
Link was by his mom’s side and Gramma hustled in their direction without another word. I stood up, scanning the fires for Lena. I couldn’t see
any of them, anywhere. Not Hunting, Larkin, Sarafine—anyone.
I’m up here. On top of the crypt. But I think I’m stuck.
Hold on, L. I’m coming.
I made my way back through the flames, trying to stick to the pathways I remembered from being in Greenbrier with Lena. The closer I got to the
crypt, the hotter the flames were. My skin felt like it was peeling off, but I knew it was actually burning.
I climbed on top of an unmarked gravestone, found a foothold in the crumbling stone wall, and pulled myself up as far as I could. On top of the
crypt was a statue, some kind of angel, with part of her body broken off. I grabbed onto its—I don’t know what, it felt something like an ankle—and
pulled myself over the edge.
Hurry, Ethan! I need you.
That’s when I found myself face to face with Sarafine.
Who plunged a knife into my stomach.
A real knife, into my real stomach.
The end of the dream we had never been allowed to see. Only this part wasn’t a dream. I know, because it was my stomach, and I felt every inch
of the blade.
Surprised, Ethan? You think Lena’s the only Caster on this channel?
Sarafine’s voice began to fade.
Let her try to stay Light now.
As I drifted away, all I could think was if you stuck me in a Confederate uniform, I’d be Ethan Carter Wate. Even down to the same stomach wound,
with the same locket in my pocket. Even if all I had ever deserted was the Jackson High basketball team, rather than Lee’s army.
Dreaming about a Caster girl I would always love. Just like the other Ethan.
Ethan! No!
No! No! No!
One minute I was screaming, the next, the sound was stuck in my throat.
I remember Ethan falling. I remember my mother smiling. The glint of the knife, and the blood.
Ethan’s blood.
This couldn’t be happening.
Nothing moved, nothing. Everything was frozen perfectly in place, like a scene in a wax museum. The billows of smoke remained
billows. They were fluffy and gray, but they went nowhere, neither up nor down. They just hung in the air as if they were made of
cardboard, part of a backdrop in a play. The tongues of flame were still transparent, still hot, but they consumed nothing and made no
sound. Even the air didn’t move. Everything was exactly as it had been a second before.
Gramma was hunched over Mrs. Lincoln, about to touch her cheek, her hand hanging in the air. Link was holding his mother’s hand,
kneeling in the mud like a scared little boy. Aunt Del and Marian were crouched on the lower steps of the crypt passageway, shielding
their faces from the smoke.
Uncle Macon lay on the ground, Boo crouching next to him. Hunting was leaning against a tree a few feet away, admiring his
handiwork. Larkin’s leather coat was on fire and he was facing the wrong direction, halfway down the road toward Ravenwood. Predictably
running from, rather than toward, the action.
And Sarafine. My mother held a carved dagger, an ancient Dark thing, high above her head. Her face was feverish with fury and fire
and hate. The blade still dripped blood over Ethan’s lifeless body. Even the drops of blood were frozen in the air.
Ethan’s arm was stretched out, over the edge of the crypt roof. It hung, dangling, down toward the graveyard below.
Like our dream, but in reverse.
I hadn’t fallen through his arms. He was ripped from mine.
Below the crypt, I reached up, pushing aside flame and smoke, until my fingers interlocked with Ethan’s. I was standing on my toes, but I
could barely reach him.
Ethan, I love you. Don’t leave me. I can’t do this without you.
If there was moonlight, I could have seen his face. But there was no moon, not now, and the only light came from the fire, still frozen,
surrounding me on every side. The sky was empty, absolutely black. There was nothing. I had lost everything tonight.
I sobbed until I couldn’t breathe and my fingers slipped through his, knowing I would never feel those fingers in my hair again.
Ethan.
I wanted to scream out his name even though no one would hear me, but I didn’t have a scream left in me. I had nothing left, except
those words. I remembered the words from the visions. I remembered every one of them.
Blood of my heart.
Life of my life.
Body of my body.
Soul of my soul.
“Don’t do this, Lena Duchannes. Don’t you mess with that Book a Moons and start this darkness all over again.” I opened my eyes.
Amma stood next to me, in the fire. The world around us was still frozen.
I looked at Amma. “Did the Greats do this?”
“No, child. This is your doin’. The Greats just helped me come along.”
“How could I have done this?”
She sat down next to me, in the dirt. “You still don’t know what you’re capable of, do you? Melchiz-edek was right about that, at least.”
“Amma, what are you talking about?”
“I always told Ethan he might pick a hole in the sky one day. But I reckon you’re the one who did that.”
I tried to wipe the tears off my face, but more just kept coming. When they reached my lips, I could taste the soot in my mouth. “Am I—
Am I Dark?”
“Not yet, not now.”
“Am I Light?”
“No. Can’t say you’re that, either.”
I looked up in the sky. The smoke covered everything—the trees, the sky, and where there should have been a moon and stars, there
was only a thick black blanket of nothing. Ash and fire and smoke and nothing.
“Amma.”
“Yes?”
“Where’s the moon?”
“Well if you don’t know, child, I sure don’t. One minute I was lookin’ up at your Sixteenth Moon. And you were standin’ under it, starin’
up at the stars like only God in Heaven could help you, palms raised like you was holdin’ up the sky. Then, nothin’. Just this.”
“What about the Claiming?”
She paused, considering. “Well, I don’t know what happens when there’s no Moon on your birthday on the Sixteenth Year, at midnight.
It’s never happened before, far as I know. Seems to me there can’t be a Claimin’, if there’s no Sixteenth Moon.”
I should have felt relief, joy, confusion. But all I could feel was pain. “Is it over, then?”
“Don’t know.” She held out her hand and pulled me up, until we were both standing. Her hand was warm and strong, and I felt clearheaded.
Like we both knew what I was going to do. Just as, I suspect, Ivy had known what Genevieve would do, on this spot, more than a
hundred years ago.
As we opened the cracked cover of the Book, I knew immediately which page to turn to, as if I had known all along.
“You know it’s not natural. And you know there’s bound to be consequences.”
“I know.”
“And you know there’s no guarantee it’ll work. It didn’t turn out so well the last time. But I can tell you this: I’ve got my great-great-aunt
Ivy downtown with the Greats, and they’ll help us if they can.”
“Amma. Please. I don’t have a choice.”
She looked into my eyes. Finally, she nodded. “I know there’s nothin’ I can say that’ll keep you from doin’ it. Because you love my boy.
And because I love my boy, I’m goin’ to help you.”
I looked at her and I understood. “Which is why you brought The Book of Moons here tonight.”
Amma nodded, slowly. She reached toward my neck with her hand, and pulled the necklace holding the ring out from inside Ethan’s
Jackson High sweatshirt, which I still was wearing. “This was Lila’s ring. He had to love you somethin’ fierce to give it to you.”
Ethan, I love you.
“Love is a powerful thing, Lena Duchannes. A mother’s love, that’s not somethin’ to be trifled with. Seems to me, Lila’s been tryin’ to
help out, as best she could.”
She ripped the ring off my neck. Where the chain broke, I could feel a mark, cutting into my skin. She slipped the ring on my middle
finger. “Lila would’ve liked you. You have the one thing Genevieve never had when she used the Book. The love a two families.”
I closed my eyes, feeling the cool metal against my skin. “I hope you’re right.”
“Wait.” Amma reached down and pulled Genevieve’s locket, still wrapped in her family handkerchief, out of Ethan’s pocket. “Just to
remind everyone that you’ve already got the curse.” She sighed uneasily. “Don’t want to be tried twice for the same crime.”
She laid the locket on the Book. “This time we make it right.”
Then she took the well-worn charm off her own neck, and laid it on the Book, next to the locket. The small gold disc looked almost like
a coin, the image faded with wear and time. “To remind everyone, if they’re messin’ with my boy, they’re messin’ with me.”
She closed her eyes. I closed mine. I touched the pages with my hands, and began to chant—at first slowly, then louder and louder.
“CRUOR PECTORIS MEI, TUTELA TUA EST.
VITA VITAE MEAE, CORRIPIENS TUAM, CORRIPIENS MEAM.”
I spoke the words with confidence. A certain confidence that only comes from truly not caring whether you live or die.
“CORPUS CORPORIS MEI, MEDULLA MENSQUE,
ANIMA ANIMAE MEAE, ANIMAM NOSTRAM CONECTE.”
I called out the words to the frozen landscape, though there was nobody but Amma to hear them.
“CRUOR PECTORIS MEI, LUNA MEA, AESTUS MEUS.
CRUOR PECTORIS MEI. FATUM MEUM, MEA SALUS.”
Amma reached for me, taking my trembling hands in her strong ones, and we spoke the Cast again, together. This time we spoke in the
language of Ethan and his mother, Lila, of Uncle Macon and Aunt Del and Amma and Link and little Ryan and everyone who loved
Ethan, and who loved us. This time, what we spoke became a song.
A love song—to Ethan Lawson Wate, from the two people who loved him most. And would miss him the most, if we failed.
BLOOD OF MY HEART, PROTECTION IS THINE.
LIFE OF MY LIFE, TAKING YOURS, TAKING MINE.
BODY OF MY BODY, MARROW AND MIND,
SOUL OF MY SOUL, TO OUR SPIRIT BIND.
BLOOD OF MY HEART, MY TIDES, MY MOON.
BLOOD OF MY HEART. MY SALVATION, MY DOOM.
Lightning struck me, the Book, the crypt, and Amma. At least, that’s what I thought had happened. But then, I remember it feeling that way
to Genevieve, too, in the visions. Amma was thrown back against the wall of the crypt, her head knocking against the stone.
I felt the electricity course through my body and relaxed into it, accepting the fact that if I died, at least I would be with Ethan. I felt him,
how near he was to me, how much I loved him. I felt the ring, burning on my finger, how much he loved me.
I felt my eyes burning, and everywhere I looked, I saw a haze of golden light, as if it were coming from me somehow.
I heard Amma whisper. “My boy.”
I turned toward Ethan. He was bathed in gold light, just like everything else. He was still motionless. I looked at Amma in panic. “It
didn’t work.”
She leaned against the stone altar, closing her eyes.
I screamed, “It didn’t work!”
I stumbled away from the Book, into the mud. I looked up. The moon was there again. I raised my arms above my head, toward the
heavens. Heat burned through my veins where there should have been blood. The anger welled inside me, with nowhere to go. I could
feel it eating away at me. I knew if I didn’t find a way to release it, it would destroy me.
Hunting. Larkin. Sarafine.
The predator, the coward, and my murderous mother, who lived to destroy her own child. The gnarled branches of my Caster family
tree. How could I Claim myself when they had already claimed the only thing that mattered to me? The heat surged up through my hands,
as if it had a will of its own. Lightning streaked across the sky. I knew where it was going even before it hit.
Three points on a compass, with no North to guide me.
The lightning exploded into flame, striking its three targets simultaneously—the ones who had taken everything from me tonight. I
should have wanted to look away, but I didn’t. The statue that had been my mother a moment before was strangely beautiful, engulfed in
flame, in the moonlight.
I lowered my arms, wiping the dirt and ash and grief from my eyes, but when I looked back she was gone.
They were all gone.
The rain began to fall, and my blurred vision sharpened until I could see the sheets of rain hitting the smoking oaks, the fields, the
thickets. I could see clearly for the first time in a long time, maybe ever. I made my way back toward the crypt, toward Ethan.
But Ethan was gone.
Where Ethan’s body had been lying moments before, now there was someone else. Uncle Macon.
I didn’t understand. I turned to Amma for answers. Her eyes were enormous, frightened. “Amma, where’s Ethan? What happened?”
But she didn’t answer me. For the first time ever, Amma was speechless. She was staring at Uncle Macon’s body, dazed. “Never
thought it would end like this, Melchizedek. After all those years, holdin’ the weight a the world on our shoulders together.” She was talking
to him as if he could hear her, even though her voice was tinier than I had ever heard it. “How am I gonna hold it up on my own?”
I grabbed her shoulders, her sharp bones digging into my palms. “Amma, what’s going on?”
She raised her eyes to meet mine, her voice barely a whisper. “You can’t get somethin’ from the Book, without givin’ somethin’ in
return.” A tear rolled down her wrinkled cheek.
It couldn’t be true. I knelt next to Uncle Macon and slowly reached out to touch his perfectly shaven face. Usually, I would find the
misleading warmth associated with a human being, fueled by the energy of the hopes and dreams of Mortals, but not today. Today, his
skin was ice cold. Like Ridley’s. Like the dead.
Without giving something in return.
“No… please no.” I had killed Uncle Macon. And I hadn’t even Claimed myself. I hadn’t even chosen to go Light, and I had still killed
him. The rage began to well up inside me again, the wind whipping up around us, swirling and churning like my emotions. It was beginning
to feel familiar, like an old friend. The Book had made some kind of horrible trade, one I didn’t ask for. Then I realized.
A trade.
If Uncle Macon was here, where Ethan had been lying dead, could that mean that maybe Ethan was out there alive?
I was on my feet, running toward the crypt. The frozen landscape tinted in that golden light. I could see Ethan, lying in the grass in the
distance next to Boo, where Uncle Macon had been just moments ago. I made my way over to him. I reached for Ethan’s hand, but it was
cold. Ethan was still dead and now Uncle Macon was gone, too.
What had I done? I had lost them both. Kneeling in the mud, I buried my head in Ethan’s chest and wept. I held his hand against my
cheek. I thought of all the times he had refused to accept my fate, refused to give up, to say good-bye.
Now it was my turn. “I won’t say good-bye. I won’t say it.” It had come to this, just a whisper in a field of smoldering weeds.
Then I felt it. Ethan’s fingers began to curl and uncurl, searching for mine.
L?
I could barely hear him. I smiled as I cried, and kissed the palm of his hand.
Are you there, Lena Beana?
I laced my fingers through his, and swore I would never let them go. I held up my face and let the rain fall upon it, washing away the
soot.
I’m here.
Don’t go.
I’m not going anywhere. And neither are you.

Categories: Beautiful Creatures

Beautiful Creatures - Chapter 31

2.11
Family Reunion

Once my dad was safely in the hands of the reenactment medics, I couldn’t get back to the party fast enough. I pushed past the girls from Jackson,
who had ditched jackets, and were looking skanky in their tank tops and baby tees, gyrating to the music of the Holy Rollers. Minus Link who, to his
credit, was right on my heels. It was loud. Live band loud. Live ammo loud. So loud that I almost didn’t hear Larkin’s voice calling me.
“Ethan, over here!” Larkin was standing in the trees just past the reflective yellow rope that separated the Safe Zone from the You-Could-Get-
Your-Butt-Shot-Off-If-You-Cross-This-Line Zone. What was he doing in the woods, past the Safe Zone? Why wasn’t he back at the house? I waved
to him and he motioned me over, disappearing behind the rise. Usually jumping that rope would’ve been a tough choice, but not today. I had no
choice but to follow him. Link was right behind me, stumbling, but still somehow keeping up with me, just the way it used to be.
“Hey, Ethan.”
“Yeah?”
“About Rid, I should’ve listened.”
“It’s okay, man. You couldn’t help it. I should’ve told you everything.”
“Don’t sweat it. I wouldn’t have believed you.”
The sound of gunfire echoed over our heads. We both ducked, instinctively.
“Hope those are blanks,” Link said nervously. “Wouldn’t it be crazy if my own dad shot me out here?”
“With my luck lately, it wouldn’t surprise me if he shot us both.”
We reached the top of the rise. I could see the thicket of brush, the oaks, and the smoke of the artillery field beyond us.
“We’re over here!” Larkin called, from the other side of the thicket. By the “we,” I could only assume he meant him and Lena, so I ran faster. Like
Lena’s life depended on it, because for all I knew maybe it did.
Then I realized where we were. There was the archway to the garden at Greenbrier. Larkin and Lena were standing in the clearing, just beyond
the garden, in the same place where we had dug up Genevieve’s grave a few weeks ago. A few feet behind them, a figure stepped out of the
shadows and into the moonlight. It was dark, but the full moon was right over us.
I blinked. It was—It was—
“Mom, what the heck are you doin’ out here?” Link was confused.
Because his mom was standing in front of us, Mrs. Lincoln, my worst nightmare, or at least in my top ten. She looked strangely in—or out of—
place, depending on how you looked at it. She was wearing ridiculous volumes of petticoats and the stupid calico dress that cinched her waist way
too tightly. And she was standing right at Genevieve’s grave. “Now, now. You know how I feel about profanity, young man.”
Link rubbed his head. This made no sense at all, not to him, and not to me.
Lena, what’s happening?
Lena?
There was no response. Something was wrong.
“Mrs. Lincoln, are you okay?”
“Delightful, Ethan. Isn’t it a wonderful battle? And Lena’s birthday, too, she tells me. We’ve been waiting for you, at least, one of you.”
Link stepped closer. “Well, I’m here now, Mom. I’ll take you home. You shouldn’t be out past the Safe Zone. You’re gonna get your head blown
off. You know what a bad shot Dad is.”
I grabbed Link’s arm, holding him back. There was something wrong, something about the way she was smiling at us. Something about the
panicked look on Lena’s face.
What’s going on? Lena!
Why wasn’t she answering me? I watched as Lena pulled my mom’s ring out of her sweatshirt and grabbed it by the chain in her hand. I could
see her lips move in the darkness. I could barely hear something, only a whisper, in the far corner of my mind.
Ethan, get out of here! Get Uncle Macon! Run!
But I couldn’t move. I couldn’t leave her.
“Link, Angel, you are such a thoughtful boy.”
Link? It wasn’t Mrs. Lincoln standing in front of us. It couldn’t be.
Mrs. Lincoln would no more call Wesley Jefferson Lincoln “Link” than she would streak through the streets naked. “Why you would use that
ridiculous nickname when you have such a dignified name, I cannot imagine,” she’d say every time one of us accidentally called her house and
asked for Link.
Link felt my hand on his arm and stopped. It was starting to register with him, too; I could see it on his face. “Mom?”
“Ethan, get out of here! Larkin, Link, somebody, go get Uncle Macon!” Lena was screaming. She couldn’t stop. She looked more frightened
than I’d ever seen her. I ran toward her.
I could hear the sound of a shell being released from a cannon. Then a sudden flurry of gunfire.
My back slammed into something, hard. I felt my head crack and everything sort of went out of focus for a second.
“Ethan!” I could hear Lena’s voice, but I couldn’t move. I’d been shot. I was sure of it. I fought to stay conscious.
After a few seconds, my eyes came back into focus. I was on the ground, my back against a massive oak. The gunshot must have thrown me
backward into the tree. I felt around to see where I’d been hit, but there was no blood. I couldn’t find the bullet’s point of entry. Link was a few feet
away, propped awkwardly against another tree. He looked just as out of it as I felt. I got to my feet, stumbling forward toward Lena, but my face
slammed right into something and I ended up back on the ground. It felt just like the time I had walked into a sliding glass door at the Sisters’ house.
I hadn’t been shot; this was something else. I’d been hit by a different kind of weapon.
“Ethan!” Lena was screaming.
I got up again and stepped forward slowly. There was a sliding glass door there all right, except this one was some kind of invisible wall
encircling the tree and me. I banged on it and my fist smacked against it but it didn’t make a sound. I slammed my palms against it over and over.
What else could I do? That’s when I noticed Link banging on his own invisible cage.
Mrs. Lincoln smiled at me, with a smile more wicked than anything Ridley could muster on her best day.
“Let them go!” Lena shrieked.
Out of nowhere, the sky opened up and rain literally poured out of the clouds, like it was being dumped from a bucket. Lena. Her hair was
waving wildly. The rain turned to sleet and fell sideways, attacking Mrs. Lincoln from every direction. In a matter of seconds, we were all soaked to
the bone.
Mrs. Lincoln, or whoever she was, smiled. There was something about her smile. She looked almost proud. “I’m not going to hurt them. I just
want to give us some time to talk.” Thunder rumbled in the sky over her head. “I was hoping I would get a chance to see some of your talents. How
I’ve regretted I wasn’t there to help you hone your gifts.”
“Shut up, witch.” Lena was grim. I had never seen her green eyes like this, the steely way they were set on Mrs. Lincoln. Flint hard. Resolute. Full
of hate and anger. She looked like she wanted to rip Mrs. Lincoln’s head off, and she looked like she could do it.
I finally understood what Lena had been so worried about all year. She had the power to destroy. I had only seen the power to love. When you
discovered you had both, who could figure out what to do with that?
Mrs. Lincoln turned to Lena. “Wait until you realize what you can really do. How you can manipulate the elements. It’s the true gift of a Natural,
something we have in common.”
Something they had in common.
Mrs. Lincoln looked up at the sky, the rain running down beside her as if she was holding an umbrella. “Right now you’re making rain showers,
but soon you’ll learn to control fire as well. Let me show you. How I do like playing with fire.”
Rain showers? Was she kidding? We were in the middle of a monsoon.
Mrs. Lincoln held up her palm and lightning sliced through the clouds, electrifying the sky. She held up three fingers. Lightning erupted, with the
flick of every manicured nail. Once. Lightning struck the ground, kicking up the dirt, two feet away from where Link was trapped. Twice. Lightning
burned through the oak behind me, cleaving the trunk neatly in half. A third time. Lightning struck Lena, who simply held up her own outstretched
hand. The flash of electricity ricocheted off her, landing instead at Mrs. Lincoln’s feet. The grass around her started to smolder and burn.
Mrs. Lincoln laughed and waved her hand. The fires in the grass died out. She looked at Lena with a glint of pride. “Not bad. I’m happy to see
the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”
It couldn’t be.
Lena glared at her and turned up both palms, a protective stance. “Yeah? What do they say about the bad apple?”
“Nothing. No one has ever lived to say it.” Then Mrs. Lincoln turned to Link and me in her calico dress and miles of petticoats, with her hair
braided down her back. She looked right at us, her golden eyes blazing. “I’m so sorry, Ethan. I hoped our first meeting would be under different
circumstances. It’s not every day that you meet your daughter’s first boyfriend.”
She turned to Lena. “Or your daughter.”
I was right. I knew who she was, and what we were dealing with.
Sarafine.
A moment later, Mrs. Lincoln’s face, her dress, her whole body literally started to split down the middle. You could see the skin on either side
pulling away like the crumpled wrapper of a candy bar. As her body split down the center, it started to fall like a coat being shrugged from
someone’s shoulders. Underneath was someone else.
“I don’t have a mother,” Lena shouted.
Sarafine winced, as if she was trying to look hurt because she was Lena’s mother. It was an undeniable genetic truth. She had the same long,
black, curly hair as Lena. Except, where Lena was frighteningly beautiful, Sarafine was simply frightening. Like Lena, Sarafine had long, elegant
features, but instead of Lena’s beautiful green eyes, she had the same glowing yellow eyes as Ridley and Genevieve. And the eyes made all the
difference.
Sarafine was wearing a dark green corseted velvet dress, kind of modern and Gothic and turn-of-the-century, all at the same time, and tall black
motorcycle boots. She literally stepped out of Mrs. Lincoln’s body, which fused back together within seconds, as if someone had sewn up the seam.
Leaving the real Mrs. Lincoln collapsed in the grass with her hoopskirt flipped up, revealing her knee-high support hose and her petticoats.
Link was in shock.
Sarafine straightened, shaking free of the weight, shuddering. “Mortals. That body was just insufferable, so awkward and uncomfortable.
Stuffing its face every five minutes. Disgusting creatures.”
“Mom! Mom, wake up!” Link pounded his fists against what was obviously some kind of force field. No matter what a dragon she was, Mrs.
Lincoln was Link’s dragon, and it must have been hard to see her tossed aside like a piece of inconsequential human trash.
Sarafine waved her hand. Link’s mouth was still moving, but he wasn’t making a sound. “That’s better. You’re lucky I didn’t have to spend all my
time in your mother’s body over the last few months. If I had, you’d be dead by now. I can’t tell you the number of times I nearly killed you out of
boredom at the dinner table, droning on about your stupid band.”
It all made sense now. The crusade against Lena, the Jackson Disciplinary Committee meeting, the lies about Lena’s school records, even the
weird brownies on Halloween. How long had Sarafine been masquerading as Mrs. Lincoln?
In Mrs. Lincoln.
I had never really understood what we were up against until now. The Darkest Caster living today. Ridley seemed so harmless in comparison.
No wonder Lena had been dreading this day for so long.
Sarafine looked back at Lena. “You may think you don’t have a mother, Lena, but if that’s true, it’s only because your grandmother and your
uncle took you from me. I’ve always loved you.” It was disconcerting how Sarafine could move so easily from one set of emotions to another, from
sincerity and regret to disgust and contempt, each emotion as hollow as the next.
Lena’s eyes were bitter. “Is that why you’ve been trying to kill me, Mother?”
Sarafine tried to look concerned, or maybe surprised. It was hard to tell because her expression looked so unnatural, so forced. “Is that what
they told you? I was simply trying to make contact—to talk to you. If it hadn’t been for all their Bindings, my attempts would never have put you in any
danger, a fact they knew. Of course, I understand their concern. I am a Dark Caster, a Cataclyst. But Lena, you know as well as anyone, I had no
choice in that matter. It was decided for me. It doesn’t change the way I feel about you, about my only daughter.”
“I don’t believe you!” Lena spat. But she looked unsure of herself, even as she said it, like she wasn’t sure what to believe.
I checked my cell phone. 9:59. Two hours until midnight.
Link slumped against the tree, his head in his hands. I couldn’t look away from Mrs. Lincoln, lifeless in the grass. Lena was looking at her, too.
“She’s not, you know. Is she?” I had to know, for Link’s sake.
Sarafine tried to look sympathetic. But I could tell she was losing interest in Link and me, which wasn’t good for either of us. “She’ll return to her
previously unappealing state soon. Nauseating woman. I’m not interested in her or the boy. I was only trying to show my daughter the true nature of
Mortals. How easily they can be influenced, how vindictive they are.” She turned to Lena. “Just a few words from Mrs. Lincoln and look how easily
this whole town turned on you. You don’t belong in their world. You belong with me.”
Sarafine turned to Larkin. “Speaking of unappealing states, Larkin, why don’t you show us those baby blues, I mean yellows?”
Larkin smiled and squeezed his eyes shut, reaching his arms over his head like he was stretching after a long nap. But when he opened his
eyes again, something was different. He blinked wildly, and with each blink his eyes began to change. You could almost see the molecules
rearranging. Larkin transformed, and there standing in his place was a pile of snakes. The snakes began to coil and climb onto each other, until
Larkin emerged once again from the twisting heap. He held out his two rattlesnake arms that hissed and crawled back into his leather jacket until
they became his hands. Then he opened his eyes. But instead of the green eyes I was used to seeing, Larkin stared back at us with the same
golden eyes as Sarafine and Ridley. “Green never was my color. One of the perks of bein’ an Illusionist.”
“Larkin?” My heart sank. He was one of them, a Dark Caster. Things were worse than I thought.
“Larkin, what are you?” Lena looked confused, but only for a second. “Why?”
But the answer was staring right at us, in Larkin’s golden eyes. “Why not?”
“Why not? Oh, I don’t know, how about a little family loyalty?”
Larkin swiveled his head, as the thick gold chain around his neck writhed into a snake, tongue flickering against his cheek. “Loyalty’s not really
my thing.”
“You betrayed everyone, your own mother. How can you live with yourself?”
He stuck out his tongue. The snake crawled into his mouth and disappeared. He swallowed. “It’s a whole lot more fun being Dark than Light,
cousin. You’ll see. We are what we are. This is what I was destined to be. There’s no reason to fight it.” His tongue flickered, now forked, like the
snake inside of him. “I don’t know why you’re so worked up about it. Look at Ridley. She’s havin’ a great time.”
“You’re a traitor!” Lena was losing control. Thunder rumbled over her head, and the rain intensified again.
“He’s not the only traitor, Lena.” Sarafine took a few steps toward Lena.
“What are you talking about?”
“Your beloved Uncle Macon.” Her voice was bitter and I could tell it wasn’t lost on Sarafine that Macon had all but stolen her daughter from her.
“You’re lying.”
“He’s the one who has been lying to you all this time. He let you believe your fate was predetermined—that you didn’t have a choice. That
tonight, on your sixteenth birthday, you will be Claimed Light or Dark.”
Lena shook her head stubbornly. She raised her palms. Thunder rumbled, and the rain began to pour, in thick sheets and torrents. She shouted
to be heard. “That’s what happens. It happened to Ridley and Reece and Larkin.”
“You’re right, but you’re different. Tonight, you will not be Claimed. You will have to Claim yourself.”
The words hung in the air. Claim yourself. Like the words themselves had the power to stop time.
Lena’s face was ashen. For a second, I thought she was going to pass out. “What did you say?” she whispered.
“You have a choice. I’m sure your uncle didn’t tell you that.”
“That’s impossible.” I could barely hear Lena’s voice in the shrieking wind.
“A choice afforded to you because you are my daughter, the second Natural born into the Duchannes family. I may be a Cataclyst now, but I was
the first Natural born into our family.”
Sarafine paused, then repeated a verse:
“‘The First will be Black
But the Second may choose to turn back.’”
“I don’t understand.” Lena’s legs gave out from under her and she fell to her knees in the mud and tall grass, her long black hair dripping around
her.
“You’ve always had a choice. Your uncle has always known that.”
“I don’t believe you!” Lena threw up her arms. Clumps of earth ripped up from the ground between them, swirling into the storm. I shielded my
eyes as bits of dirt and rock flew at us from every direction.
I tried to shout over the storm, but Lena could barely hear me. “Lena, don’t listen to her. She’s Dark. She doesn’t care about anyone. You told
me that yourself.”
“Why would Uncle Macon hide the truth from me?” Lena looked directly at me, as if I was the only one who would know the answer. But I didn’t
know. There was nothing I could say.
Lena slammed her foot against the ground in front of her. The ground began to tremble, then roll beneath my feet. For the first time ever, an
earthquake had hit Gatlin County. Sarafine smiled. She knew Lena was losing control, and she was winning. The electrical storm in the sky flashed
over our heads.
“That’s enough, Sarafine!” Macon’s voice echoed across the field. He appeared out of nowhere. “Leave my niece alone.”
Tonight, in the moonlight, he looked different. Less like a man and more like what he was. Something else. His face looked younger, leaner.
Ready for a fight. “Are you referring to my daughter? The daughter you stole from me?” Sarafine straightened and began to twist her fingers, like a
soldier checking his arsenal before a battle.
“As if she ever meant anything to you,” Macon said calmly. He smoothed his jacket, impeccable as usual. Boo burst out of the bushes behind
him, as if he’d been running to catch up. Tonight, Boo looked exactly like what he was—an enormous wolf.
“Macon. I feel honored, except I hear I missed the party. My own daughter’s sixteenth birthday. But that’s all right. There’s always the Claiming
tonight. We’ve a couple hours yet, and I wouldn’t miss that for the world.”
“Then I suppose you will be disappointed, as you’re not invited.”
“Pity. Since I’ve invited someone myself, and he’s dying to see you.” She smiled and fluttered her fingers. As quickly as Macon had
materialized, another man appeared, leaning against a willow trunk, where no one had been standing a moment before.
“Hunting? Where did she dig you up?”
He looked like Macon, but taller and a little younger, with slick jet-black hair and the same pallid skin. But where Macon resembled a Southern
gentleman from another time, this man looked fiercely stylish. Dressed in all black, a turtle-neck, jeans, and a leather bomber, he looked more like a
movie star you’d see on the cover of a tabloid rag than Macon’s Cary Grant. But one thing was obvious. He was an Incubus, too, and not—if there
was such a thing—the good kind. Whatever Macon was, Hunting was something else.
Hunting cracked what must have passed for a smile, to his kind. He began to circle Macon. “Brother. It’s been a long time.”
Macon didn’t return the smile. “Not long enough. I’m not surprised you’d take up with someone like her.”
Hunting laughed, raunchy and loud. “Who else would you expect me to take up with? A pack of Light Casters, like you did? It’s ridiculous. The
idea that you can just walk away from what you are. From our family legacy.”
“I made a choice, Hunting.”
“A choice? Is that what you call it?” Hunting laughed again, circling closer to Macon. “More like a fantasy. You don’t get to choose what you are,
Brother. You’re an Incubus. And whether you choose to feed on blood or not, you are still a Dark Creature.”
“Uncle Macon, is what she said true?” Lena wasn’t interested in Macon and Hunting’s little reunion.
Sarafine laughed, shrilly. “For once in your life, Macon, tell the girl the truth.”
Macon looked at her, stubbornly. “Lena, it’s not that simple.”
“But is it true? Do I have a choice?” Her hair was dripping, tangled in wet ringlets. Of course, Macon and Hunting were dry. Hunting smiled and lit
a cigarette. He was enjoying this.
“Uncle Macon. Is it true?” Lena pleaded.
Macon looked at Lena, exasperated, and looked away. “You do have a choice, Lena, a complicated choice. A choice with grave
consequences.”
All at once, the rain stopped completely. The air was perfectly still. If this was a hurricane, we were in the eye. Lena’s emotions churned. I knew
what she was feeling, even without hearing her voice in my head. Happiness, because she had finally gotten the one thing she had always wanted,
the choice to decide her own fate. Anger, because she had lost the one person she had always trusted.
Lena stared at Macon as if through new eyes. I could see the darkness creeping into her face. “Why didn’t you tell me? I’ve spent my whole life
terrified I was going to go Dark.” There was another crash of thunder and the patter of rain began to fall again, like tears. But Lena wasn’t crying,
she was angry.
“You do have a choice, Lena. But there are consequences. Consequences you could not understand, as a child. You can’t really begin to
understand them now. Yet I have spent every day of my life pondering them, since before you were born. And as your dear mother knows, the
conditions of this bargain were determined long ago.”
“What kind of consequences?” Lena looked at Sarafine skeptically. Cautiously. As if her mind was opening to new possibilities. I knew what she
was thinking. If she couldn’t trust Macon—if he had been keeping this kind of secret all this time—maybe her mother was telling the truth.
I had to make her hear me.
Don’t listen to her! Lena! You can’t trust her—
But there was nothing. Our connection was broken in the presence of Sarafine. It was like she had cut the phone line between us.
“Lena, you can’t possibly understand the choice you are being pressured to make. What is at stake.”
The rain turned from a patter of tears to a screaming downpour.
“As if you could trust him. After a thousand lies.” Sarafine glared at Macon and turned to Lena. “I wish we had more time to talk, Lena. But you
have to make the Choice, and I am Bound to explain the stakes. There are consequences; your uncle wasn’t lying about that.” She paused. “If you
choose to go Dark, all the Light Casters in our family will die.”
Lena went pale. “Why would I ever agree to do that?”
“Because if you choose to go Light, all the Dark Casters and Lilum in our family will die.” Sarafine turned and looked at Macon. “And I do mean,
all. Your uncle, the man who has been like a father to you, will cease to exist. You will destroy him.”
Macon disappeared and materialized in front of Lena, not even a second later. “Lena, listen to me. I am willing to make the sacrifice. That’s why
I didn’t tell you. I didn’t want you to feel guilty about letting me go. I have always known what you would choose. Make the Choice. Let me go.”
Lena was reeling. Could she really destroy Macon if what Sarafine said was true? But if it was true, what other choice did she have? Macon was
only one person, even though she loved him.
“There is something else I can offer,” Sarafine added.
“What could you possibly have to offer that would make me want to kill Gramma, Aunt Del, Reece, Ryan?”
Sarafine tentatively took a few steps toward Lena. “Ethan. We have a way the two of you can be together.”
“What are you talking about? We’re already together.” Sarafine cocked her head slightly and her eyes narrowed. Something passed across her
golden eyes. Recognition.
“You don’t know. Do you?” Sarafine turned to Macon and laughed. “You didn’t tell her. Well, that’s not playing fair.”
“Know what?” Lena snapped.
“That you and Ethan can never be together, not physically. Casters and Lilum cannot be with Mortals.” She smiled, relishing the moment. “At
least not without killing them.”

Categories: Beautiful Creatures

Beautiful Creatures - Chapter 30

2.11
Lollipop Girl

Lena and I were still swaying to the music when Link elbowed his way through the crowd. “Hey, man, I’ve been lookin’ for you everywhere.” Link
bent over and put his hands on his knees for a second, trying to catch his breath.
“Where’s the fire?”
Link looked worried, which was unusual for a guy who spent most of his time trying to figure out how to hook up and hide from his mom at the
same time. “It’s your dad. He’s up on the balcony a the Fallen Soldiers, in his pajamas.”
According to the South Carolina Visitor’s Guide, the Fallen Soldiers was a Civil War Museum. But really it was just Gaylon Evans’ old house,
which was full of his Civil War memorabilia. Gaylon left his house and his collection to his daughter, Vera, who was so desperate to become a
member of the DAR she let Mrs. Lincoln and her cronies restore the house and turn it into Gatlin’s one and only museum.
“Great.” Embarrassing me in our house wasn’t enough. Now my dad had decided to venture out. Link looked confused. He probably expected
me to be surprised that my dad was wandering around in his pajamas. He had no idea this was an everyday occurrence. I realized how little Link
actually knew about my life these days, considering he was my best friend—my only friend.
“Ethan, he’s out on the balcony, like he’s gonna jump.”
I couldn’t move. I heard what he was saying, but I couldn’t react. Lately, I was ashamed of my dad. But I still loved him, crazy or not, and I couldn’t
lose him. He was the only parent I had left.
Ethan, are you okay?
I looked at Lena, at those big green eyes full of concern. Tonight I could lose her, too. I could lose them both.
“Ethan, did you hear me?”
Ethan, you have to go. It’s going to be okay.
“Come on, man!” Link was pulling me. The rock star was gone. Now he was just my best friend, trying to save me from myself. But I couldn’t
leave Lena.
I’m not going to leave you here. Not by yourself.
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Larkin coming toward us. He had untangled himself from Emily for a minute. “Larkin!”
“Yeah, what’s up?” He seemed to sense something was going on, and actually looked concerned, for a guy whose general expression was
disinterest.
“I need you to take Lena back to the house.”
“Why?”
“Just promise you’ll take her back to the house.”
“Ethan, I’ll be fine. Just go!” Lena was pushing me toward Link. She looked as scared as I felt. But I didn’t move.
“Yeah, man. I’ll take her back right now.”
Link gave me a final jerk, and we were tearing through the crowd. Because we both knew I might be a few minutes away from being a guy with
two dead parents.
We ran through the overgrown fields of Ravenwood, toward the road and the Fallen Soldiers. The air was already thick with smoke from the mortar,
compliments of the Battle of Honey Hill, and every few seconds you could hear a round of rifle fire. The evening campaign was in full force. We were
getting close to the edge of Ravenwood Plantation, where Ravenwood ended and Greenbrier began. I could see the yellow ropes that marked the
Safe Zone, glowing in the darkness.
What if we were too late?
The Fallen Soldiers was dark. Link and I took the steps two at a time, trying to get up the four flights as quickly as possible. When we got to the
third landing, instinctively, I stopped. Link sensed it, the same way he sensed when I was going to pass him the ball when I was trying to run out the
clock, and stopped alongside me. “He’s up here.”
But I couldn’t move. Link read my face. He knew what I was afraid of. He had stood next to me at my mom’s funeral, passing out all those white
carnations for folks to put on her coffin, while my dad and I stared at the grave like we were dead, too.
“What if… what if he’s already jumped?”
“No way. I left Rid with him. She’d never let that happen.” The floor felt like it dropped out from under me.
If she used her power on you, and she told you to jump off a cliff—you’d jump.
I pushed past Link, up the stairs, and scanned the hallway. All the doors were shut, except one. Moonlight spilled onto the perfectly stained pine
floorboards.
“He’s in there,” Link said, but I already knew that.
When I entered the room, it was like going back in time. The DAR had really done their job in here. There was a huge stone fireplace at one
end, with a long wooden mantel, lined with tapered wax candles, dripping as they burned. The eyes of fallen Confederates stared back from the
sepia portraits hanging on the wall, and across from the fireplace was an antique four-poster bed. But something was out of place, disrupting the
authenticity. It was a smell, musky and sweet. Too sweet. A mix of danger and innocence, even though Ridley was anything but innocent.
Ridley was standing next to the open balcony doors, her blond hair twisting in the wind. The doors were thrown open, and the dusty, billowy
drapes were blowing into the room, like they had been forced inside by a rush of air. Like he had already jumped.
“I found him,” Link called to Ridley, catching his breath again.
“I can see that. How’s it goin’, Short Straw?” Ridley smiled her sickly sweet smile. It made me want to simultaneously smile back and throw up.
I walked over to the doors slowly, afraid he might not be out there. But he was. Standing on the narrow ledge, on the wrong side of railing, in his
flannel pajamas and bare feet. “Dad! Don’t move.”
Ducks. There were mallard ducks on his pajamas, which seemed out of place, considering he might be about to jump off of a building.
“Don’t come any closer, Ethan. Or I’ll jump.” He sounded lucid, determined, and clearer than he had in months. He almost sounded like my dad
again. That’s how I knew it wasn’t really him talking, at least, not on his own. This was all Ridley, the Power of Persuasion in overdrive.
“Dad, you don’t want to do that. Let me help you.” I took a few steps toward him.
“Stop right there!” he shouted, holding his hand out in front of him to make his point.
“You don’t want his help, do you, Mitchell? You just want some peace. You just want to see Lila again.” Ridley was leaning against the wall, her
lollipop poised and ready.
“Don’t you say my mother’s name, witch!”
“Rid, what are you doin’?” Link was standing in the doorway.
“Stay out of this, Shrinky Dink. You’re way out of your league here.”
I stepped in front of Ridley, putting myself between her and my dad as if my body could somehow deflect her power. “Ridley, why are you doing
this? He has nothing to do with Lena or me. If you want to hurt me, hurt me. Just leave my dad out of it.”
She threw her head back and laughed, a sultry and wicked sound. “I could care less about hurting you, Short Straw. I’m just doing my job. It’s
nothing personal.”
My blood ran cold.
Her job.
“You’re doing this for Sarafine.”
“Come on, Short Straw, what did you expect? You saw how my uncle treats me. The whole family thing, not really an option for me right now.”
“Rid, what are you talkin’ about? Who’s Sarafine?” Link walked toward her. She looked at him. For a second, I thought I saw something pass
across Ridley’s face, just a flicker, but something real. Something that looked almost like genuine emotion.
But Ridley shook it off, and as quickly as it came, it was gone. “I think you want to go back to the party, don’t you, Shrinky Dink? The band is
warming up for the second set. Remember, we’re recording this show for your new demo. I’m going to take it around to some of the labels in New
York myself,” she purred, staring intently at him. Link looked uncertain, like maybe he did want to go back to the party, but he wasn’t sure.
“Dad, listen to me. You don’t want to do this. She’s controlling you. She can influence people, it’s what she does. Mom would never want you to
do this.” I watched for some sign that my words were registering, that he was listening. But there was nothing. He just stared into the darkness. You
could hear the sound of bayonets clashing and the battle cries of middle-aged men in the distance.
“Mitchell, you have nothing to live for anymore. You’ve lost your wife, you can’t write anymore, and Ethan will be going to college in a few years.
Why don’t you ask him about the shoebox full of college brochures under his bed? You’ll be all alone.”
“Shut up!”
Ridley turned to face me, unwrapping a cherry lollipop. “I’m sorry about this, Short Straw. I really am. But everyone has a part to play, and this is
mine. Your dad is going to have a little accident tonight. Just like your mom did.”
“What did you say?” I knew Link was talking, but I couldn’t hear his voice. I couldn’t hear anything but what she had just said, replaying over and
over in my head.
Just like your mom did.
“Did you kill my mother?” I started advancing. I didn’t care what kind of powers she had. If she killed my mother…
“Settle down, big boy. It wasn’t me. That was a little before my time.”
“Ethan, what the hell’s goin’ on?” Link was beside me.
“She’s not what she seems, man. She’s…” I didn’t know how to explain it so Link would understand. “She’s a Siren. It’s like a witch. And she’s
been controlling you just like she’s controlling my dad right now.”
Link started to laugh. “A witch. You’re losin’ it, man.”
I didn’t take my eyes off Ridley. She smiled and ran her fingers through Link’s hair. “Come on baby, you know you love a bad girl.”
I had no idea what she was capable of, but after her little demonstration at Ravenwood, I knew she could kill any one of us. I should never have
treated her like she was just some harmless party girl. I was in over my head. I was only just beginning to realize how far.
Link looked from her to me. He didn’t know what to believe.
“I’m not kidding, Link. I should have told you sooner, but I swear I’m telling the truth. Why else would she be trying to kill my father?”
Link started to pace. He didn’t believe me. He probably thought I was going crazy. It sounded crazy to me, even as I was saying it. “Ridley, is that
true? Have you been usin’ some kinda power on me this whole time?”
“If you want to split hairs.”
My dad let go of the railing with one hand. He extended his arm like he was trying to balance on a tightrope.
“Dad, don’t do it!”
“Rid, don’t do this.” Link was walking toward her, slowly. I could hear the chain from his wallet jingling.
“Didn’t you hear what your friend said? I’m a witch. A bad one.” She took off her shades, revealing those golden feline eyes. I could hear Link’s
breath catch in his throat, as if he was really seeing her for the first time. But only for a second.
“Maybe you are, but you aren’t all bad. I know that. We’ve spent time together. We’ve shared things.”
“That was part of the plan, Hot Rod. I needed an in, so I could stay close to Lena.”
Link’s face dropped. Whatever Ridley had done to him, whatever she had Cast, his feelings for her were bigger than that. “So it was all crap? I
don’t believe you.”
“Believe what you want, it’s the truth. As close to the truth as I’m capable of, anyway.”
I watched my dad shift his weight, his free arm still stretched outward, swaying up and down. It seemed like he was trying to test his wings, to
see if he could fly. A few feet away, an artillery shell hit the ground outside and a spray of dirt burst into the air.
“What about everything you told me about you and Lena growin’ up together? How you two were like sisters? Why would you want to hurt her?”
Something passed across her face. I wasn’t sure, but it almost looked like regret. Was that possible?
“It’s not up to me. I’m not the one calling the shots. Like I said, this is my job. Get Ethan away from Lena. I’ve got nothing against this old guy, but
his mind is weak. You know, one biscuit short of a picnic.” She licked her lollipop. “He was just an easy target.”
Get Ethan away from Lena.
This whole thing was a diversion to separate us. I could hear Arelia’s voice as clearly as if she was still kneeling over me.
It’s not the house that protects her. No Caster can come between them.
How could I have been so stupid? It wasn’t a question of whether or not I had some kind of power. It was never about me. It was about us.
The power was what was between us, what had always been between us. Finding each other on Route 9 in the rain. Turning the same way at
the fork in the road. It didn’t take a Binding Cast to keep us together. Now that they had managed to separate us, I was powerless. And Lena was
alone, on the night she needed me with her the most.
I couldn’t think clearly. I was out of time, and I wasn’t going to lose one more person I loved. I ran toward my dad, and even though it was just a
few feet, it felt like I was running through quicksand. I saw Ridley step forward, her hair twisting in the wind like Medusa’s whole head of snakes.
I saw Link step forward and grab her shoulder. “Rid, don’t do it.”
For a split second, I had no idea what was going to happen. I saw everything in slow motion.
My dad turned to look back at me.
I saw him start to let go of the railing.
I saw Ridley’s pink and blond strands twisting.
And I saw Link standing in front of her, staring into those golden eyes, whispering something I couldn’t hear. She looked at Link, and without
another word, her lollipop went sailing over the railing. I watched it arc down to the ground below, exploding like shrapnel. It was over.
As quickly as my father had turned away from the railing, he turned back toward it, toward me. I grabbed his shoulders and pulled him forward,
over the railing and onto the balcony floor. He fell in a crumpled heap, and lay there looking up at me like a frightened child.
“Thank you, Ridley. I mean, whatever that was. Thanks.”
“I don’t want your thanks,” she sneered, pulling away from Link and adjusting the strap of her top. “I didn’t do either of you a favor. I just didn’t feel
like killing him. Today.”
She tried to sound menacing, but she ended up just sounding childish. She twirled a pink strand of hair. “Though that’s not gonna make some
people too happy.” She didn’t have to say who, but I could see the fear in her eyes. For a second, I could see how much of her persona was just an
act. Smoke and mirrors.
Despite everything, even now, as I tried to pull my father to his feet, I felt sort of sorry for her. Ridley could have any guy on the planet, and yet all I
could see was how alone she was. She wasn’t nearly as strong as Lena was, not inside.
Lena.
Lena, are you okay?
I’m fine. What’s wrong?
I looked at my father. He couldn’t keep his eyes open, and he was having trouble standing.
Nothing. Are you with Larkin?
Yes, we’re headed back to Ravenwood. Is your dad okay?
He’s fine. I’ll explain when I get there.
I slid my arm under my dad’s shoulder, while Link grabbed his other side.
Stay with Larkin, and get back inside with your family. You’re not safe alone.
Before we could even take a step, Ridley sauntered by us, back through the open balcony doors, those ten-mile legs stepping across the
threshold. “Sorry, boys. I gotta jet, maybe head back to New York for a while, lay low. It’s cool.” She shrugged.
Even though she was a monster, Link couldn’t help but watch her go. “Hey, Rid?”
She stopped and turned to look at him, almost ruefully. Like she couldn’t help what she was any more than a shark could help being a shark, but
if she could…
“Yeah, Shrinky Dink?”
“You’re not all bad.”
She looked right at him and almost smiled. “You know what they say. Maybe I’m just drawn that way.”

Categories: Beautiful Creatures

Beautiful Creatures - Chapter 29

2.11
Sweet Sixteen

Leave me alone! I told all of you! There’s nothing you can do!
Lena’s voice woke me from a few hours of fitful sleep. I pulled on my jeans and a gray T-shirt without even stopping to think about it. About
anything other than this: Day One. We could stop waiting for the end to come.
The end was here.
not with a bang but a whimper not with a bang but a whimper not with a bang but a whimper
Lena was losing it, and it was barely daylight.
The Book. Damn, I’d forgotten it. I ran back up into my room, two stairs at a time. I reached up to the top shelf of my closet, where I’d hidden it,
bracing myself for the scorching that went along with touching a Caster book.
Only it didn’t happen. Because it wasn’t there.
The Book of Moons, our book, was gone. We needed that book, today of all days. But Lena’s voice was pounding in my head.
this is the way the world ends not with a bang but a whimper
Lena reciting T. S. Eliot was not a good sign. I grabbed the keys to the Volvo and ran.
The sun was rising as I drove down Dove Street. Greenbrier, or the only empty field in Gatlin to everyone else in town—making it the location of
the Battle of Honey Hill—was beginning to come to life, too. The funny thing was, I couldn’t even hear the artillery outside my car window, because of
the artillery going off in my head.
By the time I ran up the steps of Ravenwood’s veranda, Boo was waiting for me, barking. Larkin was on the steps, too, leaning against one of the
pillars. He was in his leather jacket, playing with the snake that curled and uncurled its way around his arm. First it was his arm, then it was a snake.
He Shifted idly between shapes, like a dealer shuffling a deck of cards. The sight of it caught me off guard for a second. That, and the way he made
Boo bark. Come to think of it, I couldn’t tell if Boo was barking at me or Larkin. Boo belonged to Macon, and Macon and I hadn’t exactly left things
on speaking terms.
“Hey, Larkin.” He nodded, disinterested. It was cold, and a puff of breath crept out of his mouth, as if from an imaginary cigarette. The puff
stretched out into a circle that became a tiny white snake, which then bit into its own tail, devouring itself until it disappeared.
“I wouldn’t go in there if I was you. Your girlfriend is a little, how should I put it? Venomous?” The snake curved its length around his neck, then
became the collar of his leather jacket.
Aunt Del flung the door open. “Finally, we’ve been waiting for you. Lena’s in her room and she won’t let any of us in.”
I looked at Aunt Del, so muddled, her scarf dangling lopsidedly from one shoulder, her glasses askew, even her off-kilter gray bun coming
unraveled from its twist. I leaned in to give her a hug. She smelled like one of the Sisters’ antique cabinets, full of lavender sachets and old linens,
handed down from Sister to Sister. Reece and Ryan stood behind her like a mournful family in a grim hospital lobby, waiting for bad news.
Again, Ravenwood seemed more attuned to Lena and her mood than to Macon’s, or maybe this was a mood they shared. Macon was nowhere
to be found, so I couldn’t tell. If you could imagine the color of anger, it had been splashed over every wall. Rage, or something equally dense and
seething, was hanging from every chandelier, resentment woven into thick carpets padding the room, hatred flickering underneath every
lampshade. The floor was bathed in a creeping shadow, a particular darkness that had seeped up into the walls, and right now was rolling across
my Converse so I almost couldn’t see them. Absolute darkness.
I can’t say for sure how the room looked. I was too distracted by how it felt, and it felt pretty rank. I took a tentative step onto the grand flying
staircase that led up to Lena’s bedroom. I’d gone up those stairs a hundred times before; it’s not like I didn’t know where they went. And yet
somehow, today felt different. Aunt Del looked at Reece and Ryan, following behind me, as if I was leading the way into an unknown war front.
When I stepped onto the second stair, the whole house shook. The thousand candles of the ancient chandelier swinging over my head
shuddered and dripped wax down onto my face. I winced and jerked back. Without warning, the stairway curled up beneath my feet and snapped
underneath me, tossing me back onto my butt, sending me skidding halfway across the polished floors of the entry hall. Reece and Aunt Del made
it out of the way, but I took poor Ryan with me like a bowling ball hitting the pins at County Line Lanes.
I stood up and shouted up the stairs. “Lena Duchannes. If you sic those stairs on me again, I’m gonna report you to the Disciplinary Committee
myself.”
I took a step onto the first stair, and then the second. Nothing happened. “I will call Mr. Hollingsworth and personally testify that you’re a
dangerous lunatic.” I double-jumped the stairs, all the way up to the first landing. “Because if you do that to me again, you will be, you hear me?”
Then I heard it, her voice, uncurling in my mind.
You don’t understand.
I know you’re scared, L, but shutting everyone out isn’t going to make things any better.
Go away.
No.
I mean it, Ethan. Go away. I don’t want anything to happen to you.
I can’t.
Now I was standing at her bedroom door, leaning my cheek against the cold white wood of the paneling. I wanted to be with her, as close to her
as I could get without having another heart attack. And if this was as near as she would let me get, it was enough for me, for now.
Are you there, Ethan?
I’m right here.
I’m afraid.
I know, L.
I don’t want you to get hurt.
I won’t.
Ethan, I don’t want to leave you.
You won’t.
What if I do?
I’ll wait for you.
Even if I’m Dark?
Even if you’re very, very Dark.
She pulled the door open and pulled me inside. Music was blasting. I knew the song. This was an angry, almost metal version of it, but I
recognized it all the same.
Sixteen moons, sixteen years
Sixteen of your deepest fears
Sixteen times you dreamed my tears
Falling, falling through the years…
It looked like she had been crying all night. She probably had. When I touched her face, I saw it was still striped with tears. I held her in my arms,
and we swayed while the song played on.
Sixteen moons, sixteen years
Sound of thunder in your ears
Sixteen miles before she nears
Sixteen seeks what sixteen fears…
Over her shoulder, I could see her room was in shambles. The plaster on her walls was cracked and falling and her dresser was overturned, the
way a thief tosses a room during a break-in. Her windows were shattered. Without the glass the small metal panes looked like prison bars from
some ancient castle. The prisoner clung to me as the melody wrapped around us.
Still, the music didn’t stop.
Sixteen moons, sixteen years,
Sixteen times you dreamed my fears,
Sixteen will try to Bind the spheres,
Sixteen screams but just one hears…
The last time I was here, the ceiling had been almost completely covered in words detailing Lena’s innermost thoughts. But now, every surface
of the room was covered in her distinctive black handwriting. The edges of the ceiling now read: Loneliness is holding the one you love / When you
know you might never hold him again. The walls: Even lost in the darkness / My heart will find you. The doorjambs: The soul dies at the hand of the
one who carries it. The mirrors: If I could find a place to run away / Hidden safely, I would be there today. Even the dresser was marred with phrases:
The darkest daylight finds me here, those who wait are always watching, and the one that seemed to say it all, How do you escape from yourself? I
could see her story in the words, hear it in the music.
Sixteen moons, sixteen years,
The Claiming Moon, the hour nears,
In these pages Darkness clears,
Powers Bind what fire sears…
Then the electric guitar slowed, and I heard a new verse, the end of the song. Finally, something had an ending. I tried to put the earth and fire
and water and wind dreams out of my head as I listened.
Sixteenth Moon, Sixteenth Year,
Now has come the day you fear,
Claim or be Claimed,
Shed blood, shed tear,
Moon or Sun—destroy, revere.
The guitar died out, and now we were standing in silence.
“What do you think—”
She put her hand on my lips. She couldn’t bear to talk about it. She was as raw as I had ever seen her. A cold breeze was blowing past her,
surrounding her, and exhaling out through the open door behind me. I didn’t know if her cheeks were red from the cold or from her tears, and I didn’t
ask. We fell onto her bed and curled into one ball, until it would have been hard to sort out whose limbs were whose. We weren’t kissing, but it was
like we were. We were closer than I’d ever realized two people could be.
I guess this was what it felt like to love someone, and feel like you had lost them. Even when you were still holding them in your arms.
Lena was shivering. I could feel every rib, every bone in her body, and her movements seemed involuntary. I untangled my arm from around her
neck and twisted so I could grab the pieced quilt from the foot of her bed and pull it up over us. She burrowed into my chest and I pulled the quilt
higher. Now it was over our heads, and we were in a dark little cave together, the two of us.
The cave became warm with our breath. I kissed her cold mouth and she kissed me back. The current between us intensified and she nuzzled
her way into the hollow of my neck.
Do you think we can stay like this forever, Ethan?
We can do whatever you want. It’s your birthday.
I felt her stiffen in my arms.
Don’t remind me.
But I brought you a present.
She held up the cover, to let just a crack of light in. “You did? I told you not to.”
“Since when did I ever listen to anything you say? Besides, Link says if a girl says not to get her a birthday present that means get me a birthday
present and make sure it’s jewelry.”
“That’s not true of all girls.”
“Okay. Forget it.”
She let the quilt drop, then snuggled back into my arms.
Is it?
What?
Jewelry.
I thought you didn’t want a present?
Just curious.
I smiled to myself and pulled down the quilt. The cold air hit us both at the same time, and I quickly pulled a small box out of my jeans and dove
back under the covers. I lifted the quilt up so she could see the box.
“Put it down, it’s too cold.”
I let it fall, and we were surrounded by darkness again. The box began to glow with green light, and I could make out Lena’s slender fingertips as
she pulled off the silver ribbon. The glow spread, warm and bright, until her face was softly lit across from mine.
“That’s a new one.” I smiled at her in the green light.
“I know. It’s been happening ever since I woke up this morning. Whatever I think, just sort of happens.”
“Not bad.”
She stared at the box wistfully, as if she was waiting as long as she could to open it. It occurred to me that this was possibly the only present
Lena would get today. Aside from the surprise party I was holding off telling her about until the last minute.
Surprise party?
Whoops.
You’d better be joking.
Tell that to Ridley and Link.
Yeah? The surprise is, there isn’t going to be a party.
Just open the box.
She glared at me and opened the box, and more light came pouring out, even though the gift had nothing to do with that. Her face softened and I
knew I was off the hook about the party. It was that thing, about girls and jewelry. Who knew? Link was right after all.
She held up a necklace, delicate and shining, with a ring hanging from the chain. It was a carved gold circle, three strands of gold—sort of rose
colored, and yellow, and white—all braided into a wreath.
Ethan! I love it.
She kissed me about a hundred times, and I started talking, even while she was kissing me. Because I felt like I had to tell her, before she put it
on, before something happened. “It belonged to my mom. I got it out of her old jewelry box.”
“Are you sure about this?” she asked.
I nodded. I couldn’t pretend like it wasn’t a big deal. Lena knew how I felt about my mom. It was a big deal, and I felt relieved that we both could
admit it. “It’s not rare or anything, like a diamond or whatever, but it’s valuable to me. I think she’d be okay with me giving it to you because, you
know.”
What?
Ah.
“You’re gonna make me spell it out?” My voice sounded weird, all shaky.
“I hate to break it to you, but you’re not that great at spelling.” She knew I was squirming, but she was going to make me say it. I preferred our
silent mode of communication. It made talking, real talking, a lot easier for a guy like me. I brushed her hair off of the back of her neck, and attached
the necklace at the clasp. It hung around her neck, sparkling in the light, right above the one she never took off. “Because you’re really special to
me.” How special?
I think you’re wearing the answer around your neck.
I’m wearing a lot of things around my neck.
I touched her charm necklace. It all looked like junk, and most of it was—the most important junk in the world. And now it had become my junk,
too. A flattened penny with a hole in it, from one of those machines at the food court across from the movie theater, where we had gone on our first
date. A piece of yarn from the red sweater she had worn to go parking at the water tower, which had become an inside joke between us. The silver
button I had given her for luck at the disciplinary meeting. My mom’s little paper-clip star.
Then you should already know the answer.
She leaned in to kiss me again, a real kiss. This was the kind of kiss that couldn’t really be called a kiss, the kind that involves arms and legs
and necks and hair, the kind where the quilt finally slides down to the floor, and in this case, the windows unshatter themselves, the bureau rights
itself, the clothes return to their hangers, and the freezing cold room is finally warm. A fire burst into flame in the small, cold fireplace in her room,
which was nothing compared to the heat running through my body. I felt the electricity, stronger than what I’d become used to, and my heartbeat
quickened.
I pulled back, out of breath. “Where’s Ryan when you need her? We’re really going to have to figure out what to do about that.”
“Don’t worry, she’s downstairs.” She pulled me back down, and the fire in the grate crackled even louder, threatening to overpower the chimney
with smoke and flame.
Jewelry, I’m telling you. It’s a thing. And love.
And maybe danger.
“Coming, Uncle Macon!” Lena turned to me and sighed. “I guess we can’t put it off any longer. We have to go down there and see my family.” She
stared at the door. The bolt unlocked itself. I rubbed her back, making a face. It was over.
The day had turned to dusk by the time we made it out of Lena’s room. I had thought we’d have to sneak down to visit Kitchen, around lunchtime,
but Lena simply closed her eyes and a room service cart rolled through the door and into the middle of her room. I guess even Kitchen was feeling
sorry for her today. Either that, or Kitchen couldn’t resist Lena’s newfound powers any more than I could. I ate my weight in chocolate chip pancakes
drenched in chocolate syrup, washed down with chocolate milk. Lena had a sandwich and an apple. Then everything dissolved back into kissing.
I think we both knew this could be the last time we lay around in her room like this. It seemed like there was nothing else we could do. The
situation was what it was, and if today was all we had, then at least we would have this.
In reality, I was as terrified as I was exhilarated. But still, it wasn’t even dinnertime, and it was already the best and worst day of my life.
I grabbed Lena’s hand as we headed down the stairs. It was still warm, which was how I could tell Lena was in a better mood. The necklaces
sparkled at her neck, and silver and gold candles hung in the air, as we walked through them and beneath them, down the stairs. I wasn’t used to
seeing Ravenwood looking so festive and full of light, which for a second made it feel almost like a real birthday, where the people celebrating are
happy and light-hearted. For a second.
Then I saw Macon and Aunt Del. They were both holding candles, and behind them, Ravenwood was shrouded in shadows and darkness. There
were other dark figures moving in the background, also holding candles. Worse, Macon and Del were dressed in long, dark robes, like acolytes of
a strange order, or druid priests and priestesses. It just didn’t seem like, well, a birthday party. More like a really creepy funeral.
Happy Sweet Sixteen. No wonder you didn’t want to come out of your room.
Now you see what I was talking about.
When Lena reached the last stair she paused and looked back at me. She looked so out of place in her old jeans and my oversized Jackson
High hoodie. I doubted Lena had ever dressed like this in her whole life. I think she just wanted to keep a piece of me with her as long as she could.
Don’t be scared. It’s just the Binding, to keep me safe until Moonrise. The Claiming can’t happen until the moon is high.
I’m not scared, L.
I know. I was talking to myself.
She let go of my hand and took the last step down from the landing. When her foot touched the polished black floor, she was transformed. The
flowing dark robes of the Binding now hid the curves of her body. The black of her hair and the black of the robes blended into a shadow that
covered her from head to toe, with the exception of her face, which was as pale and luminescent as the moon itself. She touched her throat, my
mother’s gold ring still hanging at her neck. I hoped it would help to remind her that I was there with her. Just as I hoped it was my mom who had
been trying to help us all along.
What are they going to do to you? This isn’t going to be some freaky pagan sex thing, is it?
Lena burst out laughing. Aunt Del looked over at her, horrified. Reece smoothed her robe primly with one hand, looking superior, while Ryan
started to giggle.
“Compose yourself,” Macon hissed. Larkin, somehow managing to look as cool in a black robe as he did in a leather jacket, snickered. Lena
smothered the giggles down into the folds of her robe.
As their candles moved, I could see the faces nearest to me: Macon, Del, Lena, Larkin, Reece, Ryan, and Barclay. There were also faces that
were less familiar. Arelia, Macon’s mother, and an older face, wrinkled and tanned. But even from where I stood, or tried to stand, she looked
enough like her granddaughter that I instantly knew who she was.
Lena saw her at the same time I did. “Gramma!”
“Happy birthday, sweetheart!” The circle broke, briefly, as Lena ran over to fling her arms around the white-haired woman.
“I didn’t think you would come!”
“Of course I did. I wanted to surprise you. Barbados is an easy trip. I was here in the blink of an eye.”
She means that literally, right? What is she? Another Traveler, an Incubus like Macon?
A Frequent Flyer, Ethan. On United.
I could feel what Lena was feeling, a brief moment of relief, even if I was only feeling stranger and stranger. Okay, so my dad was certifiable, and
my mom was dead, sort of, and the woman who raised me knew a thing or two about voodoo. I was okay with all of that. It was just, standing there,
surrounded by the actual card-carrying, candle-bearing, robe-wearing Casters, it felt like I needed to know about a lot more than living with Amma
had prepared me for. Before they started in with all the Latin and the Casting.
Macon stepped forward in the circle. Too late. He held his candle high. “Cur Luna hac Vinctum convenimus?”
Aunt Del stepped up next to him. Her candle flickered as she raised it, translating. “Why on this Moon do we come together for the Binding?”
The circle responded, holding high their candles as they chanted. “Sextusdecima Luna, Sextusdecimo Anno, Illa Capietur.”
Lena answered them in English. Her candle flared up until the flames almost seemed like they would burn her face. “On the Sixteenth Moon, the
Sixteenth Year, She will be Claimed.” Lena stood in the center of the circle, with her head high. The candlelight was cast across her face from all
directions. Her own candle began to burn into a strange green flame.
What’s going on, L?
Don’t worry. This is just part of the Binding.
If this was just the Binding, I was pretty sure I wasn’t ready for the Claiming.
Macon began the chant I remembered from Halloween. What had they called it?
“Sanguis sanguinis mei, tutela tua est.
Sanguis sanguinis mei, tutela tua est.
Sanguis sanguinis mei, tutela tua est.
Blood of my blood, protection is thine!”
Lena went pale. A Sanguinis Circle. That was it. She held the candle high over her head, closing her eyes. The green flame erupted into a massive
orange-red flame, exploding from her candle to every other candle in the circle, lighting them as well.
“Lena!” I shouted over the sound of the explosion, but she didn’t answer. The flame sprayed up into the darkness overhead, so high I realized
there couldn’t be a roof, any ceiling at all in Ravenwood tonight. I threw my arm over my eyes as the fire turned hot and blinding. All I could think
about was Halloween. What if it was happening all over again? I tried to remember what they were doing that night, to fight off Sarafine. What had
they been chanting? What had Macon’s mother called it?
The Sanguinis. But I couldn’t remember the words, didn’t know the Latin, and for once I wished I had joined the Classics Club.
I heard a pounding on the front door, and in an instant, the flames were gone. The robes, the fire, the candles, the darkness and the light were
gone. It all just vanished. Without missing a beat, they became a regular family, standing around a regular birthday cake. Singing.
What the—?
“—Happy birthday to you!” The last few notes of the song ended, as the pounding on the front door continued. A massive birthday cake, three
tiers of pink, white, and silver, sat on the coffee table in the center of the parlor, along with a formal tea service and white linens. Lena blew out the
candles, waving the smoke away from her face, where seconds before there had been billowing flame. Her family burst into applause. Back in my
Jackson High sweatshirt and jeans, she looked like any other sixteen-year-old.
“That’s our girl!” Gramma put down her knitting and started to cut the cake, while Aunt Del scurried to pour the tea. Reece and Ryan carried in
an enormous stack of presents while Macon sat in his Victorian wingback chair and poured himself and Barclay a scotch.
What’s going on, L? What just happened?
Someone’s at the door. They’re just being careful.
I can’t keep up with your family.
Have some cake. This is supposed to be a birthday party, remember?
The pounding on the door continued. Larkin looked up from his thick triangle of red velvet cake, Lena’s favorite. “Isn’t anyone goin’ to get the
door?”
Macon brushed a crumb from his cashmere jacket, looking calmly at Larkin. “By all means, see who it is, Larkin.”
Macon looked at Lena and shook his head. She wouldn’t be answering the door today. Lena nodded and leaned back into Gramma. Smiling
over cake like the doting granddaughter she really was. She patted the cushion next to her. Great. It was my turn to meet Gramma.
Then I heard a familiar voice at the door, and I knew I would rather face anyone’s gramma than what was waiting outside the door right now.
Because it was Ridley and Link, Savannah and Emily and Eden and Charlotte, with the rest of their fan club, and the Jackson basketball team.
None of them were wearing their daily uniform, Jackson Angels T-shirts. Then I remembered why. Emily had a smudge of dirt on her cheek. The
Reenactment. I realized Lena and I had missed most of it already, and now we were going to fail history. By now, it was all over, except the evening
campaign and the fireworks. Funny how an F would seem like a big deal on any other day.
“SURPRISE!”
Surprise didn’t even begin to describe it. Once again, I had allowed chaos and danger to find its way to Ravenwood. Everyone crowded into the
front hall. Gramma waved from the couch. Macon sipped his scotch, composed, as always. It was only if you knew him that you knew he was about
to lose it.
Actually, come to think of it, why had Larkin even let them in?
This can’t be happening.
The surprise party, I forgot all about it.
Emily pushed to the front of the group. “Where’s the birthday girl?” She held her arms out expectantly, like she was planning to give Lena a big
hug. Lena recoiled, but Emily wasn’t that easily deterred.
Emily looped her arm through Lena’s like they were long-lost friends. “We’ve been plannin’ this party all week. We’ve got live music and
Charlotte rented these outdoor lights so everyone can see, I mean the grounds of Ravenwood are so dark.” Emily dropped her voice as if she were
discussing selling contraband on the black market. “And we have some peach schnapps.”
“You have to see it,” Charlotte drawled, practically gasping for breath between words because her jeans were so tight. “There’s a laser machine.
It’s a rave at Ravenwood, how cool is that? It’s just like one a those college parties over in Summerville.”
A rave? Ridley must have really pulled out all the stops for this one. Emily and Savannah throwing Lena a party and fawning over her like she
was their Snow Queen? This must have been harder than getting them all to jump off a cliff.
“Now, let’s go up to your room and get you ready, birthday girl!” Charlotte sounded even more like a cheerleader than she normally did, always
overcompensating.
Lena looked green. Her room? Half the writing on her walls was probably about them.
“What are you talkin’ about, Charlotte? She looks just gorgeous. Don’t you think so, Savannah?” Emily gave Lena a little squeeze and looked at
Charlotte disapprovingly, like maybe she should lay off the pie and put some effort into looking that gorgeous.
“Are you kiddin’? I would just die for this hair,” Savannah said, winding a strand of Lena’s hair around her finger. “It’s so amazingly… black.”
“My hair was black last year, at least underneath,” Eden protested. Last year, Eden had dyed the underside of her hair black, leaving the top
blond, in one of her misguided attempts to distinguish herself. Savannah and Emily had teased her mercilessly, until she dyed it back a whole day
later.
“You looked like a skunk.” Savannah smiled at Lena approvingly. “She looks like an Italian.”
“Let’s go. Everyone’s waitin’ on you,” Emily said, grabbing Lena’s arm. Lena shrugged them off.
This has to be some kind of trick.
It’s a trick all right, but I don’t think it’s the kind you’re imagining. It probably has more to do with a Siren and a lollipop.
Ridley. I should’ve known.
Lena looked at Aunt Del and Uncle Macon. They were horrified, as if all the Latin in the world hadn’t prepared them for this one. Gramma
smiled, unfamiliar with this particular brand of angel. “What’s the rush? Would you children like to stay and have a cup of tea?”
“Hiya, Gramma!” Ridley called from the doorway, where she was hanging back on the veranda, sucking on her red lollipop with an intensity that
made me think if she stopped this whole thing might fall like a house of cards. She didn’t have me to get her through the door this time. She was an
inch away from Larkin, who looked amused but stood directly in front of her. Ridley was spilling out of a tightly laced vest that looked like a cross
between lingerie and something a girl on the cover of Hot Rod magazine would wear, and a low-slung jean skirt.
Ridley leaned against the doorframe. “Surprise, surprise!”
Gramma put her teacup down. She picked up her knitting. “Ridley. What a pleasure to see you, dear! Your new look is very becoming, darling.
I’m sure you’ll have lots of gentlemen callers.” Gramma flashed Ridley an innocent smile, though her eyes weren’t smiling.
Ridley pouted, but continued sucking on her lollipop. I walked over to where she was standing. “How many licks does it take, Rid?”
“For what, Short Straw?”
“To get Savannah Snow and Emily Asher to throw a party for Lena?”
“More than you know, Boyfriend.” She stuck out her tongue at me, and I could see it was streaked with red and purple. The sight was dizzying.
Larkin sighed and looked past me. “There’re maybe a hundred kids out there, in the field. There’s a stage and speakers, cars all along the
road.”
“Really?” Lena looked out the window. “There’s a stage in the middle of the magnolia trees.”
“My magnolia trees?” Macon was on his feet.
I knew the whole thing was a farce, that Ridley was bringing this party to life with every suggestive lick, and Lena knew it, too. But I could still see
it in Lena’s eyes. There was a part of her that wanted to go out there.
A surprise party, where everyone in school shows up. That must have been on Lena’s regular-high-school-girl list too. She could deal with being
a Caster. She was just tired of being an outcast.
Larkin looked at Macon. “You’re never gonna get them to leave. Let’s get this over with. I’ll stay with her the whole time, me or Ethan.”
Link pushed his way to the front of the crowd. “Dude, let’s go. My band, the Holy Rollers, it’s our Jackson High debut. It’s gonna be awesome.”
Link was happier than I’d ever seen him before. I looked over at Ridley suspiciously. She shrugged, chewing on her lolly.
“We’re not going anywhere. Not tonight.” I couldn’t believe Link was here. His mother would have a heart attack if she ever found out.
Larkin looked at Macon, who was irritated, and Aunt Del, who was panicked. This was the last night either one of them wanted to let Lena out of
their sight. “No.” Macon didn’t even consider it.
Larkin tried again. “Five minutes.”
“Absolutely not.”
“When’s the next time a bunch a people from her school are goin’ to throw her a party?”
Macon didn’t miss a beat. “Hopefully, never.”
Lena’s face fell. I was right. She wanted to be part of all this, even if it wasn’t real. It was like the dance, or the basketball game. It was the
reason she bothered to go to school in the first place, no matter how horribly they treated her. It was why she showed up, day after day, even if she
ate on the bleachers and sat on the Good-Eye Side. She was sixteen, Caster or not. For one night, that was all she wanted to be.
There was only one other person as stubborn as Macon Ravenwood. If I knew Lena, her uncle didn’t stand a chance, not tonight.
She walked over to Macon and looped her arm through his. “I know this sounds crazy, Uncle M, but can I go to the party, just for a little while?
Just to hear Link’s band?” I watched for her hair to curl, the telltale Caster breeze. It didn’t move. This wasn’t Caster magic she was working. It was
another kind altogether. She couldn’t charm her way out from under Macon’s watch. She would have to resort to older magic, stronger magic, the
kind that had worked best on Macon from the time she first moved to Ravenwood. Plain old love.
“Why would you want to go anywhere with these people after everything they’ve put you through?” I could hear him softening as he spoke.
“Nothing’s changed. I don’t want anything to do with those girls, but I still want to go.”
“You’re not making sense.” Macon was frustrated.
“I know. And I know it’s stupid, but I just want to know what it feels like to be normal. I want to go to a dance without practically destroying it. I want
to go to a party I’m actually invited to. I mean, I know it’s all Ridley, but is it wrong if I don’t care?” She looked up at him, biting on her lip.
“I can’t allow it, even if I wanted to. It’s too dangerous.”
They locked eyes. “Ethan and I never even got to dance, Uncle M. You said it yourself.”
For a second, it seemed like Macon might relent, but only for a second. “Here’s what I didn’t say. Get used to it. I never got to spend a day in any
school, or even walk through town on a Sunday afternoon. We all have disappointments.”
Lena played her last card. “But it’s my birthday. Anything could happen. This might be my last chance…” The rest of the sentence lingered in the
air.
To dance with my boyfriend. To be myself. To be happy.
She didn’t have to say it. We all knew.
“Lena, I understand how you feel, but it’s my responsibility to keep you safe. Especially tonight, you have to remain here with me. The Mortals will
only put you in harm’s way, or bring you pain. You can’t be normal. You weren’t meant to be normal.” Macon had never spoken to Lena like this. I
wasn’t sure if he was talking about the party, or me.
Lena’s eyes shone, but she didn’t cry. “Why not? What’s so wrong with wanting what they have? Did you ever stop to think they might have
gotten something right?”
“What if they have? What does it matter? You’re a Natural. One day, you will go somewhere Ethan can never follow. And every minute you spend
together now will only be a burden you will have to carry for the rest of your life.”
“He’s not a burden.”
“Oh, yes he is. He makes you weak, which makes him dangerous.”
“He makes me strong, which is only dangerous to you.”
I stepped between them. “Mr. Ravenwood, come on. Don’t do this tonight.”
But Macon had already done it. Lena was furious. “And what would you know about that? You’ve never been burdened with a relationship in
your life, not even a friend. You don’t understand anything. How could you? You sleep in your room all day and mope around in your library all night.
You hate everyone, and you think you’re better than everyone. If you’ve never really loved anyone, how could you possibly know how it feels to be
me?”
She turned her back on Macon, on all of us, and ran up the staircase, with Boo trailing after her. Her bedroom door slammed, the sound echoing
back down into the hall. Boo lay down in front of Lena’s door.
Macon stared after her, even though she was gone. Slowly, he turned to me. “I couldn’t allow it. I’m sure you understand.” I knew this was
possibly the most dangerous night of Lena’s life, but I also knew it might be her last chance to be the girl we all loved. So I did understand. I just
didn’t want to be in the same room with him right now.
Link edged his way to the front of the crowd of kids still standing in the hall. “So is there gonna be a party or not?”
Larkin grabbed his coat. “It’s already a party. Let’s get out there. We’ll celebrate for Lena.”
Emily pushed her way next to Larkin, and everyone else trailed after them. Ridley was still standing in the doorway. She looked at me and
shrugged. “I tried.”
Link was waiting for me by the door. “Ethan, come on, man. Let’s go.”
I looked up the staircase.
Lena?
“I’m gonna stay here.”
Gramma put down her knitting. “I don’t know that she’ll be coming down anytime soon, Ethan. Why don’t you go with your friends and check in on
her in a few minutes?” But I didn’t want to leave. This might be the last night we spent together. Even if we were spending it in Lena’s room, I still
wanted to be with her.
“At least come out and hear my new song, man. Then you can come back and wait for her to come down.” Link had his drumsticks in his hand.
“I think that would be best.” Macon poured himself another scotch. “You can come back in a little while, but we have some things we need to
discuss in the meantime.” It was decided. He was kicking me out.
“One song. Then I’m going to wait out front.” I looked at Macon. “For a little while.”
The field behind Ravenwood was crammed with people. There was a makeshift stage at one end, with portable lights, the same kind they used for
the night portion of the Battle of Honey Hill. There was music blasting from the speakers, but it was hard to hear over the cannon fire in the distance.
I followed Link to the stage, where the Holy Rollers were setting up. There were three of them and they looked about thirty. The guy adjusting his
guitar amp had tattoos covering both arms and what looked like a bike chain around his neck. The bass player had spiky black hair that matched
the black makeup around his eyes. The third guy had so many piercings it hurt just looking at him. Ridley hopped up, sat on the edge of the stage,
and waved at Link.
“Wait till you hear us. We rock. I just wish Lena was here.”
“Well, I wouldn’t want to disappoint.” Lena walked up behind us and wrapped her arms around my waist. Her eyes were red and teary, but in the
dark, she looked just like everyone else.
“What happened? Did your uncle change his mind?”
“Not exactly. But what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him, and I don’t care if it does. He’s being so awful tonight.” I didn’t say anything. I would never
understand the relationship between Lena and Macon, any more than she could understand the relationship between Amma and me. But I knew
she was going to feel terrible when this was all over. She couldn’t stand to hear anyone say anything bad about her uncle, not even me; for her to be
the one saying it made it that much worse.
“Did you sneak out?”
“Yeah. Larkin helped me.” Larkin walked toward us, carrying a plastic cup. “You only turn sixteen once, right?”
This isn’t a good idea, L.
I just want one dance. Then we’ll go back.
Link headed for the stage. “I wrote you a song for your birthday, Lena. You’re gonna love it.”
“What’s it called?” I asked suspiciously.
“Sixteen Moons. Remember? That weird song you could never find on your iPod? It just popped into my head last week, all in one piece. Well,
Rid helped a little.” He grinned. “I guess you could say, I had a muse.”
I was speechless. But Lena grabbed my hand, and Link grabbed the microphone, and there was no stopping him. He adjusted the microphone
stand so that the mic was in front of his mouth. Well, to be honest, it was more like inside his mouth, and it was sort of gross. Link had watched a lot
of MTV over at Earl’s. You had to hand it to him, since he was about to get rolled off the stage, holy or not. He was pretty brave, all things
considered.
He closed his eyes, sitting behind the drums, sticks poised in the air. “One, two, three.”
The lead guitarist, the surly-looking guy wearing the bike chain, hit one note on his guitar. It sounded awful, and the amps began to whine on
either side of the stage. I winced. This was not going to be pretty. And then he hit another note, and another.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, if there are any a either around.” Link raised an eyebrow and a ripple of laughter moved through the crowd. “I’d like to
say Happy Birthday, Lena. And now, put your hands together for the world premiere of my new band, the Holy Rollers.”
Link winked at Ridley. The guy thought he was Mick Jagger. I felt bad for him, and grabbed Lena’s hand. It felt like I had plunged my hand into
the lake, in the winter, when the top of the water was warm from the sun and an inch below that was pure ice. I shivered, but I wouldn’t let go. “I hope
you’re ready for this. He’s going to go down in flames. We’ll be back in your room in five minutes. Promise.”
She stared up at him thoughtfully. “I’m not so sure about that.”
Ridley sat at the edge of the stage, smiling and waving like a groupie. Her hair was twisting in the breeze, pink and blond strands beginning to
loop around her shoulders.
Then I heard the familiar melody, and Sixteen Moons was blasting out of the amps. Only this time, it wasn’t like one of the songs from Link’s
demo tapes. They were good, really good. And the crowd went wild, like Jackson High was finally getting to have a dance after all. Only we were in
a meadow, in the middle of Ravenwood, the most infamous and feared plantation in Gatlin County. The energy was amazing, surging like a rave.
Everyone was dancing and half the people were singing, which was crazy, since nobody had ever even heard the song before. Even Lena had to
crack a smile, and we began to sway with the crowd, because you really just couldn’t help it.
“They’re playing our song.” She found my hand.
“I was just thinking that.”
“I know.” She laced her fingers through mine, sending shivers through my body. “And they’re pretty good,” she said, shouting over the crowd.
“Good? They’re great! As in, the greatest day of Link’s life.” I mean, it was crazy, the whole thing. The Holy Rollers, Link, the party. Ridley
bobbing on the edge of the stage, sucking on her Ridleypop. Not the craziest thing I’d seen today, but still.
So later, when Lena and I were dancing and five minutes came and went, and then twenty-five, and then fifty-five, neither one of us even noticed
or cared. We were stopping time—at least that’s how it felt. We had one dance, but we had to make it last as long as we could, in case it was all we
had.Larkin was in no hurry. He was all tangled up with Emily, making out by the side of one of the bonfires someone had made out of old garbage
cans. Emily was wearing Larkin’s jacket and every now and then he’d pull down the shoulder and lick her neck or something gross. He really was a
snake.
“Larkin! She’s, like, sixteen,” Lena called over toward the fire from where we were dancing. Larkin stuck out his tongue, which rolled further
down toward the ground than any Mortal’s could have.
Emily didn’t seem to notice. She untangled herself from Larkin, motioning to Savannah, who was dancing in a group with Charlotte and Eden
behind her. “Come on, girls. Let’s give Lena her present.”
Savannah reached into her little silver bag and pulled out the little silver package that was sticking out of it, wrapped with silver ribbon. “It’s just a
little somethin’.” Savannah held it out.
“Every girl should have one,” Emily was slurring.
“Metallic goes with everything.” Eden could barely stop herself from ripping off the paper herself.
“Just big enough for, like, your phone and your lip gloss.” Charlotte pushed it toward Lena. “Go on. Open it.”
Lena took the package in her hands, and smiled at them. “Savannah, Emily, Eden, Charlotte. You have absolutely no idea what this means to
me.” The sarcasm was lost on them. I knew exactly what it was, and exactly what it meant to her.
Stupid to the power of stupid.
Lena couldn’t look me in the eye, or we both would have burst out laughing. As we made our way back into the crowd of dancers, Lena tossed
the little silver package into the bonfire. The orange and yellow flames ate their way through the wrapping, until the tiny metallic purse was nothing
but smoke and ash.
The Holy Rollers took a break, and Link came over to bask in the glory of his musical debut. “I told ya we were good. Just one step away from a
contract.” Link elbowed me in the ribs like old times.
“You were right, man. You guys were great.” I had to give him that, even if he did have the lollipop on his side.
Savannah Snow sauntered up, most likely to burst Link’s bubble. “Hey, Link.” She batted her eyes suggestively.
“Hey, Savannah.”
“Do you think you could save me a dance?” It was unbelievable. She was standing there, staring at him like he was a real rock star.
“I just don’t know what I’ll do if I don’t get one.” She gave him another Snow Queen smile. I felt like I was trapped in one of Link’s dreams, or
Ridley’s.
Speak of the devil. “Hands off, Prom Queen. This is my Hot Rod.” Ridley draped her arm, and a few other key parts, around Link to make her
point.
“Sorry, Savannah. Maybe next time.” Link stuck his drumsticks in his back pocket and headed back onto the dance floor with Ridley and her Rrated
dance moves. It must have been the greatest moment of his life. You would’ve thought it was his birthday.
After the song ended, he hopped back onto the stage. “We got one last song, written by a good friend a mine, for some very special people at
Jackson High. You’ll know who you are.” The stage went dark. Link unzipped his hoodie, and the lights went up with the twang of the guitar. He was
wearing a Jackson Angels T-shirt with the sleeves ripped off, looking as ridiculous on Link as he intended it to. If only his mother could see him now.
He leaned into the microphone and began to do a little Casting of his own.
“Fallin’ angels all around me
Misery spreads misery
Your broken arrows are killin’ me.
Why can’t you see?
The thing you hate becomes your fate
Your destiny, Fallen Angel.”
Lena’s song, the one she wrote for Link.
As the music swelled, every card-carrying Angel swayed to the anthem targeted at them. Maybe it was all Ridley, and maybe it wasn’t. The thing
is, by the time the song was over, and Link had tossed his winged T-shirt into the bonfire, it felt like a few more things were going up in flames along
with it. Everything that had seemed so hard, so insurmountable for so long, just sort of went up in smoke.
Long after the Holy Rollers had stopped playing, even when Ridley and Link were nowhere to be found, Savannah and Emily were still being
nice to Lena, and the whole basketball team was suddenly speaking to me again, I looked for some small sign, a lollipop, anywhere. The lone,
telltale thread that could come loose to unravel the whole sweater.
But there was nothing. Just the moon, the stars, the music, the lights, and the crowd. Lena and I weren’t even dancing anymore, but were still
clinging to each other. We swayed back and forth, the current of heat and cold and electricity and fear pulsing through my veins. As long as there
was any music at all, we were in our own little bubble. We weren’t alone in our cave under her covers anymore, but it was still perfect.
Lena pulled back gently, the way she did when something was on her mind, and stared up at me. Like she was looking at me for the first time.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I—” She bit her lower lip nervously, and took a deep breath. “It’s just, there’s something I want to tell you.”
I tried to read her thoughts, her face, anything. Because I was starting to feel like it was the week before Christmas break all over again, and we
were standing in the hall at Jackson, instead of in the field at Greenbrier. My arms were still around her waist, and I had to resist the urge to hold her
tighter, to make sure she couldn’t get away.
“What is it? You can tell me anything.”
She put her hands on my chest. “In case something happens tonight, I wanted you to know—”
She looked into my eyes, and I heard it as clearly as if she had whispered it in my ear, except it meant more than it ever could have if she had
spoken the words aloud. She said them in the only way that had ever mattered between us. The way we had found each other from the beginning.
The way we always found our way back.
I love you, Ethan.
For a second, I didn’t know what to say, because “I love you” didn’t seem like enough. It didn’t say everything I wanted to say—that she had
saved me from this town, from my life, my dad. From myself. How can three words say all that? They can’t, but I said them anyway, because I meant
them.
I love you, too, L. I think I always have.
She settled back into me, resting her head on my shoulder, and I felt her hair warm against my chin. And I felt something else. That part of her I
thought I would never be able to reach, the part she kept closed off to the world. I felt it open up, just long enough to let me in. She was giving me a
piece of herself, the only piece that was really hers. I wanted to remember this feeling, this moment, like a snapshot I could go back to whenever I
wanted.
I wanted it to stay this way forever.
Which, it turns out, was exactly five more minutes.

Categories: Beautiful Creatures