A Darker Past (The Darker Agency #2)(48)
There was a wicked gleam in her eyes. “Why don’t we just ask Lorna?”
“No way. Paulson won’t help me. Not after last time.” It was a great plan, and if I hadn’t used up that ticket already, I would’ve been down for it, but Mom threatened to cut off specific parts of his anatomy if he ever summoned someone for me again without her permission.
“Nah. That’s not what I meant. I’m not sure a regular necro could summon a witch, anyway. We’re a little trickier to get on the line than the average soul.”
I had a bad feeling about this. “Then what are you suggesting?”
Smokey picked his head up, alternating his attention between Kendra and me. Like he was waiting for her answer as much as I was.
“Meet me at the Archway tomorrow. I have an idea.”
…
Mom kept me home from school again the next day. No complaints from me, but it did feel a little cramped in the office. Dad sat in the corner, at my usual desk, while Mom was hunched over hers. They were going through the remainder of the Darker journals we had in storage in hopes of finding out how Lorna and Charles trapped Gressil. I stole Kendra’s idea and suggested we ask Paulson to call up Charles, but Mom cut me down. She didn’t like asking him to summon for us. He seemed to be leaving town more often since Dad returned. I kind of felt bad for the guy. He’d been crushing on Mom since grade school, and I didn’t think it was until Dad stepped back into the picture that he truly understood there was no chance for him.
Lukas, who hadn’t left my side since arriving that morning, eyed me from the other end of the couch. He was supposed to be going through Verdi’s Demonic Encyclopedia to dig up possible weaknesses for Gressil, but he hadn’t taken his eyes off me. I thought about moving up to my bedroom, but I had a feeling he’d follow me. Normally I wouldn’t have minded, but everyone was so on edge, and it was making me twitchy. Plus I knew exactly what we’d end up doing—and it wasn’t research.
I yawned, not bothering to hide it as I grabbed the next book in my pile. This was getting us nowhere, and I wished for something—anything—to break up the monotony.
You know what they say. Be careful what you wish for… I jumped from the couch as I felt the tug, not bothering to fight it this time. “Um, I guess I’ll be—”
“—right back,” I finished, not to Mom and Dad, but to Valefar, who was now standing in front of me. I was in his office, and this time I hadn’t been summoned alone. “Lukas?”
“I spoke to Damien,” Valefar said with a wave of his hand. “We agreed the two of you came as a package deal until you get the situation under control.” He folded his arms and leaned back against his desk. A moment of clarity flashed, and the thing twitched, all muscle and tendon, and the pancakes I’d eaten for breakfast threatened to make an encore performance.
“I go where Jessie goes,” Lukas confirmed. He was watching Valefar like at any moment the demon might jump out and try to rip me apart limb by limb. Val didn’t seem to mind. In fact, knowing him, there was a good chance he got a kick out of it.
“I have a simple errand for you to run. I need you to retrieve a soul for me.”
“Okay,” I said. There sounded like a but in there someplace, not to mention I had no idea where one would retrieve a soul from. “Please tell me it’s at least in the United States.”
He laughed. “You are so delightful. Yes. It’s in the United States—in a manner of speaking. The soul is here. Dunked.”
“So you’re essentially asking me to fetch an item out of your creepy soul storage closet?”
He rolled his eyes and held out his hand, palm up, and a small wooden box appeared. “Go three blocks from the front of my building. Stand on the edge of the river, in front of the large monument, and repeat these words. I summon thee, Samuel Darker.”
The bottom of my stomach dropped out. “Samuel Darker? You have another one of my relatives dunked? What are we, like Matchbox collectables to you?”
He continued as if I hadn’t spoken. “You are not to communicate with the soul in any way. Box it up and bring it back to me immediately. We crystal?”
Communicate? I hadn’t realized there was a way to talk to the dunked souls. “What did he do?”
Valefar froze. “Excuse me?”
“Samuel Darker. What did he do to get dunked?”
His brows rose, and he tilted his head to the left, watching me carefully. “Why?”
“For starters, the last relative you dunked is what got me into my current predicament. If Samuel ended up dunked, it’s because he made a deal and welched, right?”
Val folded his arms. He was amused by my questions, which was probably the only reason he hadn’t kicked us out yet. “Indeed.”
“Why is it starting to look like you’ve targeted my family over the years?”
Some of the humor drained from his expression. “And why is it that you assume the deal Samuel Darker neglected to pay on was with me?”
“Was it?” I challenged. He’d have to tell me the truth. Demons were unable to lie.
He sighed. “It was.”
Another Darker that made a deal with Valefar. Once was a coincidence. More than that? There was more to this whole thing than we were seeing. I made a mental note to do some digging when we got through this whole Gressil mess. “What did he bargain for?”