But I’m quick to dismiss it. “On a mystical level, no. But I also wouldn’t put it past him to do something completely insane in order to live out some semblance of his messed-up fantasy. So whatever you do, be safe.”
I look at my friends, ensuring they’re on board, before I say, “Oh, and one more thing…” I snatch Lita’s mask from her head and replace it with mine.
“What are you doing?” She casts a mournful look at her Marilyn mask, clearly not comfortable seeing it clutched in my hands.
“Pretending to be you. Phyre knows Cade’s still into you, so wearing your mask might draw her to me. Cade too, for that matter. I figure it’s worth a shot.”
Lita places a defiant hand on her hip, as offended as she is unconvinced. “Okay … not to be rude, but I’m not sure you have what it takes to pull it off. It’s not all that easy to be me. There’s way more to it than an obsession with Marilyn. It’s not nearly as effortless as it seems.”
“I’ve no doubt.” From behind the mask I sneak a half-grin and start to turn away. “But you know what they say—people tend to believe what they see.”
forty
Dace
“You sure about the mask?” I study Daire with concern. Watching as she fiddles with the strap, adjusting it to better cover her face. “It puts you at risk. Makes you a target for both Phyre and Cade.”
“Believe me,” she says. With the mask firmly in place, she walks quickly beside me. “As both the Seeker and your girlfriend, I’m more of a target without it. Besides, if what you say is true, better me in danger than Lita. At least I have the skills to defend myself with. Still, if it comes down to it, and we somehow end up separated, I’ll deal with Phyre and you deal with Cade. He wants to kill me. She wants to kill you. Let’s not give either one of them the opportunity. And whatever you do, steer clear of Suriel as well.”
“I can handle Suriel,” I say, needing her to believe it. But the firm shake of her head tells me she’s far from convinced.
“Now that you have your soul back, he’ll go after you just as easily as he’ll go after Cade. He doesn’t care which one of you goes down—just as long as the other one follows.”
I could continue to push it, try to sway her to my point of view, but when we reach Leandro’s office and the door is ajar, allowing muted voices to drift from inside, I motion for her to keep watch while I venture a look.
Last time I was here, I made a soul jump into Cade and came away with a stolen piece of his darkness. A souvenir that, once lifted, I ca
n’t seem to shake. And after talking with Leftfoot tonight, I’m not sure I should try.
There are positive and negative aspects to everything, he said, the moment Chepi left us alone in the room. The breeze becomes a tornado—the ocean’s swell a tsunami—a campfire an inferno—a snowflake a blizzard—and man is no different. Perhaps this isn’t a curse like you think. Perhaps you’ve merely become fully human for the very first time.
I’d never thought of it that way. Never thought to view it as anything more than a burdensome mistake.
But now that he’s presented it to me in that way, well, I can’t help but wonder if he’s right.
Maybe the darkness I willingly ingested isn’t some colossal mistake.
Maybe it just makes me normal.
All I know for sure is that now that it’s in me, I have to find a way to use it. If there was ever a time to call upon the darkness within, it’s tonight.
I raise a flattened palm to the door and push hard. Ready to face Leandro on my terms, my way, only to find myself squinting at a desk left in chaos and an empty leather chair. The voices I heard are coming from the large flat-screen TV.
After a quick search of the room, looking for anything that might prove to be useful, and a glimpse of the security monitors that only proves how impossible it is to single out anyone in particular, I exit the room, grab hold of Daire’s hand, and race for the vortex.
Cigarettes at the ready, we’re primed to face the usual beast brigade, only to find the veil wide open and wavering before us, not a single demon to guard it.
No demons.
No beasts.
No Coyote.
No Richters.
Almost like it’s daring me to breach it.
Like it’s some sort of trap.