Ignited Read online

  We were on the verge of something big—I could feel it. We won the talent show the previous month, and now we were playing prom. There was talk of us doing some parties. Every gig counted. Eventually we wanted to move on to dive bars, and hopefully we’d catch a break and get a recording contract. Each practice got us one step closer to high-paying gigs and having enough money to get the hell out of here.

  I looked at the rest of the guys. All of them had eyes wide, like deer in headlights.

  My lips curved into a huge grin.

  “Go ahead—say it,” Paul said.

  I shrugged and held my hands up in mock confusion. “Say what?”

  “You know what,” he said.

  My smile widened. “I told you we could do it.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” Mike said from behind his drums. “Don’t be a dick about it. Besides, it cost me ten sticks to finally nail it.” For proof, he held up another busted drumstick.

  “We haven’t nailed it,” Eric said. “We made it through one time without messing up. Prom is in three weeks, and this song is insane.”

  “Come on, guys,” I groaned. “Opening prom playing the Beastie Boys’ ‘Fight for Your Right’ is going to be killer. I’m telling you, gigs are gonna roll in. Let’s do it again.”

  Mike cleared his throat. “It’s getting late.”

  I looked out the garage door. The treetops blazed orange, reflecting the sun setting behind the garage. I hadn’t realized it was so late. I knew I was going to catch hell for this, but that was nothing new.

  “Tomorrow then.” I take off my guitar and hastily put it back in its case.

  I waved good-bye to the guys and started walking toward home.

  “Wait up!” Paul called as he ran after me.

  I slowed my pace and waited for him. Normally we’d leave the garage together, but in my haste to get home, I forgot.

  “So, Sara asked about you today,” he said.

  I shrugged.

  “Her friend Kate thinks you’re hot, and Sara wants me to set up a double date for us all.”

  I shook my head. “I need to focus on the music now.” We both knew it was a lie.

  It’s just too soon after Mom.

  “Come on,” he begged. “If you say yes, Sara will thank me, if you know what I mean.” He laughed and jabbed me in the ribs.

  I grinned, but my happiness quickly faded. “As much as I hate to cock-block you, I don’t have time to waste on a girl like Kate. She’s not my type.”

  “Dude. She’s hot and easy! What more do you want?”

  I glanced at him, debating on whether I should tell him. I took a deep breath.

  “I want the kind of girl who makes me want to be a better version of myself. Not because she asked me to change, but because I want to. If I’m lucky enough for her to fall for me, I won’t just sit back and take it for granted. I’ll surprise her. Make her fall more in love with me every day because she’s worth the effort and because I’d be devastated without her. She’ll know exactly how deeply I love her. She’ll be there during the good times and when shit gets really bad. And incredibly, she’ll love me even more for it.”

  He whistled. “Dang. Who is she?”

  “Who’s who?”

  “This girl you’re in love with.”

  “I haven’t met her yet. But when I do, I’ll move Heaven and Earth to keep her happy and safe.”

  I’ll do what Dad failed to do.

  . . .

  I put Mads’s father’s guitar back and bury the feelings my past conjured up. Knowing I won’t be able to find answers here, I leave Mankato.

  Moments later I step out of the Veil of Shadows in Atlanta, Georgia, the town where Mads was born, determined to find a way to keep her safe.

  I’ll do what MJ’s failing to do.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Maddy

  The lobby is packed with students chatting about the flooding in the school’s basement—the cover story MJ used after erasing their minds and keeping them home yesterday.

  Before the door closes behind Alexander and me, I’m blindsided by a mop of blonde hair. Arms covered in a black Jon Bon Jovi hoodie wrap around my waist, constricting like a snake.

  “I missed you so much,” Kelli squeals.

  In her mind, we’ve been apart only since Monday afternoon. We go longer than that every weekend, but she’s never been this animated about the separation. But after Justin brainwashed her and I faced the thought of never seeing her again, I’m glad for the hug.

  “Missed you too,” I say, wrapping my free arm around her back.

  One by one, I hug all my friends, and although we’ve rarely done that, it feels good—as if they’ve forgiven me for putting them in a peril they no longer remember.

  A bit of the unease in my stomach disappears, and I don’t feel the need to force my smile—it’s just there.

  Hand in hand, Alexander and I walk the halls between all my morning classes with Kelli glued to my other side. She keeps beaming at me and wiggling her eyebrows whenever she thinks he’s not looking. As weird as this is, I could get used to this . . . with the real MJ, I mean.

  . . .

  After fourth period, I pull Alexander into a nook created by two fire doors. Kelli keeps walking, but not before giving me two enthusiastic thumbs up—which Alexander sees.

  “What’s wrong?” he whispers.

  “I was wondering if I could eat alone with my friends today.”

  “No. That wouldn’t be a good idea.”

  “Why? There are a little over a thousand people here, so it’s not like I’d really be alone. Even if MJ were here I’d ask for this.”

  “You would?”

  “Yes. I mean, don’t get me wrong: I’m falling for him—hard—and I enjoy being with him. But I don’t want to get swallowed up by it. After everything that happened, I don’t want my friends to feel like I’m choosing him over them. They’re important to me too. Even though they don’t know it, I nearly lost them the other day.”

  He sighs. “I get it. But I’m not supposed to leave you until MJ returns.”

  I let out an exasperated breath. “How long will he be gone?”

  “I don’t know. For the most part, time doesn’t exist up there—at least not as you know it. He’s speaking with the Council, and we’re not allowed to disturb him unless there’s an emergency. He’ll contact us when he’s able.”

  “Why did they summon him?”

  “It’s not my place to ask.”

  This time I suck in a deep breath as I recall what Sissy said in the parking lot about the Council. “Is he in trouble?”

  “Relax, Maddy. MJ can handle himself. Besides, he’s in Immortal City. What sort of trouble do you think could come from such a place?”

  “The Perfugae. The Devil. Whoever gave Justin added abilities and the rights to my sou—”

  “He doesn’t have the rights to your soul,” Alexander interrupts. “No matter what happens, MJ and I will not let Justin, or anyone else, take you again.”

  “You’re just like MJ—you don’t get it. You can’t promise any of that! Justin won’t stop after one failed attempt.”

  Alexander’s eyes narrow as he reaches out to hold my arm. “How do you know? Have you seen something with your psychic abilities?”

  My mouth drops, and I pull away. “He told you that too?”

  Alexander’s eyes snap shut as he groans.

  I slide back deeper into the nook, a tightness building in my chest. It increases, scraping along my insides and tearing away all the safety, security, and hope that was bridging the gap between the girl I once was and the mystery I’ve become. All that’s left is emptiness.

  “I’m sorry,” he says. “He didn’t want us to say anything. Not until he had a chance to talk to you about it.”

  Us. So the others know too.

  “It’s fine,” I reply dully. “It had to come out sooner or later. But for the record, I’m not psychic. I just have these . . . dre
ams. And if I had dreamed about Justin returning and forcing me to sign that contract, it would be too late—he’d own me by now.” A violent shudder ripples through me at the frightening thought that he could do that.

  “What do you mean? How do you know you’re not psychic?”

  “I don’t know how I know—I just know,” I lie. Elizabeth told me. But I can’t tell him that.

  He stares at me. His eyes soften as the seconds on the clock behind him tick their incessant tocks continuing to mark each long moment since I last saw MJ and the overwhelming amount of unknown time that exists until I can see him again.

  Emotions are rippling inside me. I’m trying so hard to play my part today, but between the “itinerary,” the erased memories, this charade with Alexander as MJ, and finding out more of MJ’s secrets, it’s nearly too much to bear.

  And the one thing that will help me is the one thing I can’t have right now: MJ. Which only confuses me more. A big part of me is so upset with him, yet a bigger part of me just wants him here so we can work it out. Together. That’s how hard I’ve fallen for him.

  But what I do have now is my friends. They can keep my head treading above water.

  “Please, can I eat with my friends?” I beg. “You could be in the Veil. I don’t care. I need them. To them, I’m just Maddy, not some freak with—”

  “You’re not a freak, Maddy.”

  He stands there, willing me to believe him. He’s so much like MJ that it makes our separation all the more painful.

  “Please,” I repeat.

  “All right.”

  A huge portion of dread leaves me, and in its place moves a feeling I haven’t felt for a few days—normalcy. When I’m with my friends, there will be no talk of angels, demons, Heaven or Hell, my abilities, or any other topic that’s suffocating me. For the next hour, I can be the old me.

  I beam up at Alexander, and he reels just as MJ does when I’m this happy. I roll my eyes and tug him out of the corner before heading off on my own to rejoin the rest of my peers.

  I grab lunch from the cafeteria, then head to our spot beside the entrance door. My friends wave and shift over for me.

  “Where’s Norway?” Kelli asks, looking around for “MJ.”

  “I wanted to have you guys all to myself.”

  “Good—”

  “Because we all—”

  “Wanted to talk to you,” Jake, Kayla, and Maggie say in their usual triplet way.

  Seeing how connected these siblings are makes me miss Hannah, even though we just had breakfast together. She’s here, though, eating lunch in the cafeteria with her friends.

  “Mahd-dee,” Luke says in a strange accented voice, “you got some ’splainin’ to do!”

  I tilt my head and gaze across our oval-shaped group at him. I’ve heard that accent and saying before. “Ricky Ricardo? From I Love Lucy?”

  He flashes me a grin. “I knew you would get it.”

  When Dad has weekends off, he watches old movies and TV shows. Lucy is one of his favorites. Luke knows of the show because of a project we did last year on Latin American actors.

  “So . . .” Mason says, his hand gesturing in the air in a “carry on” motion.

  “So what?” I ask.

  Shawn pushes his glasses up his nose and then looks over at me. “You left school Monday with MJ practically begging for your attention, and now you two are the new ‘it’ couple. What happened between then and now?”

  My friends stare, smiling, waiting for me to fill them in on all the juicy details of my last two days with MJ. They assume my days were spent with MJ, happily falling for him as we created fun memories. They think that because the real events were so horrible, they had to be erased from their memories.

  My own memories stream forward, and I resist the urge to shudder. A tingling sensation builds in my shoulder as an angel’s essence pools there. I’m not sure which one of them it is. As comforting as it is to know I’m not alone, it’s also a reminder of how drastically my life has changed.

  There must be something I can tell them. “MJ and I spent most of Tuesday and Wednesday together. It was . . . nice.”

  “Nice?” Kelli asks. “You can do better than that.”

  Kayla and Maggie nod in agreement.

  “Okay. We went for a run, hung out, and talked forever. I like him. Okay?”

  Kelli bumps into my shoulder. “Why, Maddy, I do declare you’re in love,” she exclaims in her best southern belle imitation.

  I flush. How does she know?

  Kayla and Maggie sigh and lean on each other.

  “Well, good,” Luke says. “But tomorrow, bring him to lunch.”

  “Yeah,” Mason adds. “We need to see if he’s good enough for our Maddy.”

  Our Maddy.

  The words drift in, wrapping themselves around the mass of fear and worry about my friendships with them. The mass reduces until it shrinks away.

  “Thanks, guys,” I reply.

  I grin, feeling lighter. For the moment, they’re fine. We’re fine. I’m glad I got to do this. I missed this—our friendship. Plus, I needed to see they were all back to themselves after everything Justin did to them.

  The fear of losing them is quiet—for now. It’s not gone. It will never be gone. Not after seeing how easily Justin used them to hurt me. It’s a mistake I won’t make twice.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Maddy

  I wave good-bye to my friends as Alexander, Amber, and I walk out to the parking lot. Alexander places his hand on the small of my back. I stop walking. My stomach flutters at the intimate contact. Then everything inside me stills, waiting to see how this point of contact will react.

  His essence flows in and again hits a wall. I frown and notice him do the same.

  “Come on,” he says, guiding me to the stairs, his hand still on my back.

  Even though we barely agreed to hold hands this morning, throughout the day Alexander has progressed to touching my arm, resting his arm on my shoulder, and now touching my back. He’s not being a jerk or trying to hit on me. I think he’s just conducting an experiment, and I’m his guinea pig. Perhaps he’s checking to see if my body reacts the same way everywhere. So far it has.

  I’ve touched five supernatural beings prior to Alexander: MJ, Damien (though thankfully only in my dreams), Elizabeth, Justin, and the masked demon. Alexander’s essence is the first to react this way. Is it him? Or me? From the deep lines of concentration on his forehead, I’m guessing he’s puzzled by it as well. So it must be me.

  I walk to the back door of the truck, but Alexander stops me. “You can have shotgun, Maddy.”

  “What about Amber?” I glance over at her.

  “I have better things to do than waste my evening with you,” she snaps.

  Sissy steps out from the Veil. I move closer to Alexander.

  “Alexander. Maddy.” She nods to us and uses a surprisingly polite tone. “Come along, Amber.” She touches Amber’s arm, and a moment later they’re gone.

  “Where did they go?”

  “You only have to be together during school hours,” Alexander replies. “Unless you feel like joining her on a date with Tom?”

  “Uh, no thanks.” Up until MJ’s arrival, Tom and Amber were usually swapping spit every chance they got. I wonder if MJ is the reason they don’t do that anymore.

  Alexander closes his eyes and tilts his head to the sky. His expression relaxes, as if years of stress and worry vanished from him. For a moment I’m envious.

  “What are you doing?”

  He lowers his gaze and smiles so joyously his brown eyes shine. “Come on. I have a surprise for you.”

  “What?”

  “Get in the truck. I promise you’ll like it.”

  “I don’t like surprises. Just tell me what it is.” I cross my arms and try to glare at him. But it’s so hard not to smile with the excitement radiating off him.

  “Did you know I used to be a cowboy, Maddy?”

/>   His question has me dropping the charade. “No,” I say, smiling at the thought.

  “I was a sheriff—a lawman, as we were called back then—and I was great at it. People learned real quick not to test me. Now, I like you, so I would prefer to do this the easy way, but it’s your choice. I’ve been ordered to take you somewhere but to not reveal the location—”

  “Wait, when were you ‘ordered’ this?”

  “Just now.”

  “By who?”

  “MJ.”

  “How?”

  He cracks his knuckles and grins. “In the words of Tamitha, we have a schedule to keep, and we’re running late. Get in the truck, or I will put you in it. Nicely, I mean. I’m sure the remaining students loitering about will enjoy the show.”

  “Okay. Jeez,” I say, opening my door.

  Inside, the butterflies awaken. If MJ communicated with Alexander, that means he isn’t home yet, but he’s okay.

  . . .

  Alexander pulls up alongside the curb by the jogging path that leads to Hiniker Bridge.

  “I had fun today,” he says. “Though I know it was awkward for you, it was still great getting to know you better.”

  I lean back into my door and stare at him. He’s frowning, and a little indent in his chin mirrors the curve of his lips. “Why does it sound like you’re saying good-bye?”

  “Getting a soft spot for me, eh?”

  I pause. As strange as it may seem, I have actually enjoyed some of our time together. He’s funny and easy to be around.

  “Well . . . you didn’t try to kill me yesterday. I suppose that was nice of you,” I joke.

  “Right. Sissy is truly sorry about that. But just so there are no secrets between us, I was pushing MJ to kill you when he met you. I’m glad he didn’t listen.”

  I snort. “Me too.”

  “You’re going to be fine, Maddy.”

  Again, this sounds like a good-bye. I look down the jogging path that leads to my safe haven. It looks different now—no longer inviting. The barren branches that curve over the path rustle in the breeze, looking as if they’re hands waiting to reach out and trap me. Hold me prisoner forever. Alone. He’s going to just leave me here. By myself. I don’t want him to go.