Sinful Things

30

He hesitates. “Callan hates demons, as you know. His half-brother Ekariel was killed by them as a kid, and then there was Michael’s murder… Plus Jonah kept talking about duty and honor, and you know Callan is all about that shit.”

I nod. “I get why Callan would be on board with getting the Staff, but what about Bastien? I’ve never gotten the sense that he hates demons.”

“No, he doesn’t, or no more than he hates people in general, anyway,” Marcus says with a snort. “But Bastien is a scholar at heart, and the thought of retrieving the Staff and being able to study it proved irresistible. He warned Jonah of the dangers, but ultimately encouraged him to go.” I shake my head. "This is bullshit. The three of you should have stopped him.”

Marcus sighs and slumps his shoulders. "Even if we wanted to, we couldn’t have stopped him. The Order found out somehow that Jonah could change his appearance, and then they were determined to use him. And he agreed, all too easily.”

Angela brings us some sodas, and then I ask, “So you are all members of the Order?”

“Yeah, we are. Jonah was too.”

I already knew all that, but it’s good to hear it from Marcus’s mouth. “How did they find out about his power?”

Marcus shrugs. “I don’t know. He wasn’t exactly careful about hiding it. Maybe someone saw him. Maybe he told someone.”

I believe it. He was so proud when he showed off his new skill to me, and then he went missing not long after.

“But why would Jonah want to get the Staff anyway? He doesn’t want to send the demons back to Hell.” Not the Jonah I knew, anyway.

He pokes at his soda with a straw. "At the time, I thought he did. He was dating Grace, who is a true believer in the Order and their purpose, and he kept talking about duty and honor and how it was the right thing to do. He said he had to do this, and that it had to be him.”

That doesn’t sound like Jonah at all. And then there’s Grace… I'll have to talk to her at some point to get her side of the story.

Our food arrives, and it’s just as delicious as Marcus said it would be. I can see now why he and Jonah came here all the time. My chest clenches as I think of Jonah, and how he’s been gone for so long now.

“Letting Jonah go to Faerie is one of many things I regret when it comes to your brother,” Marcus says. “I want to do whatever I can to make things right. With you, and with him. So if you have a plan for rescuing Jonah, I want in on it.”

I push around a piece of waffle on my plate. “What makes you think I have a plan?”

He grins at me. “Because I know you, Liv. You always have a plan.”

True that.

Chapter Twenty-One

Olivia

A

fter my dinner with Marcus, I invited him back to my room, but he gave me a chaste kiss and declined. When he saw my surprised look, he stroked my cheek and said, “I want to show you what we have isn’t just about sex.”

Naturally, that only made me want him more.

A few days later, we had dinner again, this time in my dorm, and then we slept together. Now we’ve fallen back into our old groove, and with both him and Bastien giving me regular s*x, I have more energy than ever before.

Somehow it’s already the beginning of June. This school year is flying by, and I’m no closer to finding my brother. It’s frustrating, to say the least. But when Family Day arrives, I jump out of bed with hope for the first time in weeks—hope that Araceli’s dad will show up and provide the answers I need about how to get into Faerie and rescue Jonah.

I quickly shower and throw on a cute outfit, one that’s not too sexy in case Father comes today, and something I can fight in, in case the Order makes a move against Araceli’s dad. I need to be prepared for anything today.

When I head into our little kitchen to grab my coffee, Araceli is already there looking miserable as she eats a banana.

"What’s wrong?" I ask, as I pour coffee into my mug, the one Marcus got me after the Princes broke my mug from Jonah. This mug has a little cartoon devil on it with the words, “Coffee fiend,” and even though it doesn’t replace what I lost, it still makes me smile.

"It's Family Day,” Araceli says with a groan. “I’m worried my dad will show up, and I’m worried he won’t. I can’t decide what’s worse.”

“Everything is going to be fine,” I try to assure her. “If he shows up, then it will give you a chance to reconnect. If he doesn’t, then we don’t have to worry about him getting kidn*pped or anything. Either way, just try to enjoy it, and spend some time with your mom too. I know she’s proud of you.”

Araceli smiles at me and tugs on her purple streak. “Yeah, she is. It’ll be good to see her. But what about you? Are you excited to have Gabriel follow you around all day?”

"Not really.” I lean back on the counter and sigh. “I'm afraid it will become a spectacle. I'm one of a kind, and if Gabriel shows up, people will whisper. If he doesn't, they'll whisper even more. Either way, I'll be the center of attention, which isn't my favorite place to be."