“And you would’ve called the symbol the All-Seeing Eye,” Alara added. “Only Illuminati members refer to it as the Eye of Providence.”
Dimitri’s hazel eyes flickered with amusement, and he raised his hands in surrender. “Well played, Miss Sabatier.”
Alara stepped back, stunned. “How do you know my name?”
“I know all your names. Jared and Lukas Lockhart. Alara Sabatier. Kennedy Waters.” Dimitri ticked off our names until he reached Priest. “And you’re Owen Merriweather. But I understand you prefer to be called Priest.” He stopped in front of Elle. “Now, you I don’t know. Have they added a sixth member to the Legion?”
“No.” Elle swung her red hair over her shoulder and crossed her arms. “And my mother told me never to talk to strangers.”
“Good advice for a young lady.” Dimitri didn’t sound condescending, but that didn’t stop Alara from being offended.
She took a roll of pennies out of her tool belt and curled her hand around them. “Strangers aren’t an issue for young ladies who hit hard enough.”
“I stand corrected.” Dimitri glanced around the warehouse. “I’m surprised Andras followed you in here. In his weakened state, Andras needs a body at all times. I would’ve expected him to stay in crowded areas.”
I shuddered, remembering the way the demon had jumped from body to body, while he’d chased us through the streets. “He has to possess someone all the time?”
“Don’t ask him questions,” Alara snapped. “He’s Illuminati. We can’t trust him.”
Dimitri studied Alara for a moment. “We’re on the same side, Miss Sabatier. Whatever stories you’ve heard about the Illuminati are probably from hundreds of years ago.”
Priest turned to Dimitri. “Like the story my granddad told me about two guys wearing rings just like yours, who beat him up in college and stole a grimorie from a library at Yale? That wasn’t hundreds of years ago.”
Dimitri unwrapped a pack of Dunhills. “I’m familiar with the incident, but I didn’t realize your grandfather was involved. I understand he was a brilliant inventor and mathematician.” Dimitri lit the black cigarette. “Those men were part of a rogue sect of the Illuminati—one that was not accepted by the Grandmaster. Your grandfather was attacked at Yale shortly after the Order was formed. But Gabriel and I are not affiliated with the Order or its members. We want to stop Andras as much as you do.”
“You guys never offered to help the Legion before.” Jared asked. “Why now?”
“Andras is free, and that affects us all,” Dimitri said. “If he opens the Gates, the world as we know it will cease to exist.”
Jared eyed Dimitri, suspicious. “You guys show up out of nowhere and give us some speech about how we’re all playing for the same team, and expect us to just take your word for it?”
Dimitri walked toward Jared until they were standing eye to eye. “We saved all your lives. If we harbored any ill will toward you, don’t you think we would’ve let the demon finish you off?”
“We were doing fine on our own,” Priest said.
Dimitri laughed. “Are you referring to what you were doing when we arrived? Holding hands while you waited for your Wonder Twin powers to activate? You don’t even know why it didn’t work, do you?”
Jared’s eyes darted from Lukas to Alara and Priest.
“You need all five members of the Legion to raise the barrier,” Dimitri said. “Without Kennedy’s aunt, you’re one person short.”
“My aunt is dead.” Considering how much he knew about the five of us, I probably wasn’t telling him anything new. “I took her place in the Legion.”
Dimitri’s smile faded and a worried crease formed between his eyes. “Well, that explains why your little hand-holding demonstration failed.” He looked right at me, his eyes searching mine. “You can’t be the fifth member of the Legion, Kennedy.”
I was sick of people telling me what I could and couldn’t do—and tired of being judged because my family had kept the Legion a secret from me. “Why is that?”
Dimitri’s eyes clouded over, and he hesitated as if he was choosing his words carefully. “You can’t be a member of the Legion, because you’re one of us.”
19. BATTLE CRUET
Alara stepped in front of me protectively, her tool belt rattling around her waist. “If you want to con someone, do your homework first. Kennedy didn’t know anything about the Illuminati until she met us.”
Hearing Alara defend me took some of the sting out of Dimitri’s accusation. I didn’t understand why he was lying about me.
Dimitri watched me over Alara’s shoulder. “That might be true, but her mother certainly did.”
“I already know the story,” I said, heading him off. “My aunt told me how the Illuminati sent some guy to pretend he cared about her, when he was really spying on my aunt the whole time. She said my mom was the one who figured it out.”
“Your aunt didn’t tell you the rest of the story, did she? About what happened after she left the Legion?”
“I don’t know what you’re trying to imply, but—”
Dimitri cut me off. “The best way to hide your own guilt is to point the finger at someone else. Especially if the person you’re it pointing at expected you to blame him, because it was part of the plan. Faith’s boyfriend wasn’t the only Illuminati member spying on your aunt.”
I wasn’t sure where he was going with this. “What are you saying?”
“When your mother revealed the truth about Archer, she earned your aunt’s trust. Your mom was a smart woman, one of the Illuminati’s top operatives.”
“Liar.” Elle pulled me away from him. “Don’t listen to him, Kennedy. He’s messing with your head.”
Dimitri took a step closer. “Didn’t you ever wonder why your father left?”
The words cut through me, re-opening my oldest wound.
Judging from the look on Dimitri’s face, he knew it, too. “He left when you were five, if I’m not mistaken? Out of the blue, without any explanation? Your father left because he figured out the truth, Kennedy—that not one but two Illuminati spies had infiltrated his family. Archer was the first, the sacrificial lamb.
“Your mother was the second operative, the one the Illuminati was counting on all along. The plan was genius.” He dropped his cigarette on the floor and ground it into the concrete with his boot. “What better way to get close to Faith than by marrying her only brother?”
I didn’t know why this guy was lying about my mom. He had to have a motive, but I was too angry to care. “My mother would never do anything like that. She loved my dad, and it destroyed her when he left.”
My mind pulled up an image of my mother sitting on her bed, surrounded by a sea of tissues. She was holding a framed photo of my dad, her eyes swollen and red.
“I have no way of knowing how your mother felt about him, but I do that she was Illuminati.” Dimitri turned to Priest. “Which, correct me I’m wrong, means Kennedy can never be a member of the Legion. What is it you say in the Legion? ‘No ties to darkness or Illumination’?”
Priest shifted his weight from one leg to the other. Usually by now, he’s be pacing It was probably killing him to stay in one place.
“You’re pretty impressed with yourself for knowing that, aren’t you?” Jared said. “But Kennedy’s aunt knew it better than anyone. And Faith left Kennedy something a Legion member passes down to the person they choose to take their place. Faith would never do that if Kennedy’s mom was Illuminati.”
Priest turned to me and nodded, as if he was saying, I’ve got your back.
Dimitri walked toward me. “Then maybe you can answer a question
for me, Kennedy. If you are truly the fifth member of the Legion, why couldn’t the five of you raise the barrier? It should’ve been easy.”
A sinking feeling settled in my stomach.
“We probably screwed something up.” Priest said. “We do it all the time.”
Alara shot him a warning look, and I stifled a smile.
Lukas crossed his arms. “If that’s all the proof you have then none of us believe you, any more than we trust you.”
Dimitri shook his head. “You kids are loyal, I’ll give you that. You would’ve been valuable additions to the Illuminati.”
“I’d rather be dead.” Priest spoke the words with more hate than I’d ever heard from him before.
Dimitri walked over to the leather doctor’s bag. “There’s only one way to find out if I’m telling the truth.”
He reached inside and lifted out a mason jar, with what looked like voodoo symbols painted on the outside of the glass. A thick layer of red wax covered the lid and dripped down the sides. Dimitri held the jar up in front of Alara. “You know what this is, don’t you, Miss Sabatier?”
“Where did you get that?” Alara whispered, backing away.
“We use Battle Cruets all the time. The Illuminati embraces the knowledge of any culture which has surpassed us when it comes to dealing with spirits and demons.”
“What the hell is it?” Lukas asked Alara.
“We call it a War Jar.” She didn’t take her eyes off the jar. “Bokors, voodoo priests who practice dark arts and sell their services, use them. One the most common services they offer is hexing people. There are different ways to do it—dolls, spell bags, using photos or items that belonged to the person you want to hex. But the War Jar is one of the worst.”
“Your grandmother taught you well.” Dimitri sounded impressed.
“My grandmother would never have touched one of those. Torturing people isn’t part of our religion.”
“I should’ve clarified.” Dimitri sounded apologetic. “I retrieved the contents of this cruet from the home of a person who was being tormented by it.”
Elle eyed the jar suspiciously. “What’s in there exactly? I don’t see anything.”