Sweet Reckoning(17)

Ginger turned, and Marna twisted out of her grip. “I’m not going!”

A vicious, crazed scream tore from Ginger’s lips. Marna tried to reach for her, but Ginger slapped her hand away.

“Gin, please,” Marna sobbed.

Ginger turned to me, and I froze. “You! Fix this. Pray.”

“I am,” I promised her. “But I don’t get everything I ask for, Ginger.”

“You’re His little prodigy child, aren’t you?”

“No. I don’t have any more access than you or anyone else! Maybe we could all pray together?”

I reached for her hand, but she yanked it away.

“I am not praying. He let this happen! He bloody hates us!”

Ginger made a sound that broke my heart, and then reached for her keys and ran from the room. Marna covered her face. I pulled her to me and we hugged, both of us crying. My heart was in shreds.

“Give her some time,” I whispered. “She just needs a minute to herself.”

I glimpsed at Jay, who’d backed himself against the wall. Marna and I pulled away and faced him. He didn’t look scared anymore. He didn’t look anything. Just kind of blank and pale, like it’d been too much for him and he’d shut down.

“Jay?” Marna whispered.

We didn’t step any closer to him.

In a robotic voice, he asked, “Can you please tell me what’s going on now?”

Marna and I looked at each other. She gave me a nod. I turned to Jay’s guardian angel, half expecting him to shake his head, but he only watched me sadly.

“It’s going to sound crazy,” I told Jay. “Even worse than the conversation you just heard.”

“It could not get any crazier. Just tell me.”

I took a deep breath. “There are angels on earth, Jay. And demons, too.”

He didn’t move.

“Most of them are in spirit form, and you can’t see them,” I continued. “But twelve of the demons are in human bodies. They’re called the Dukes.”

I looked at Marna’s pinched face, and she nodded for me to keep going. Jay was still in zombie mode.

“Our fathers are two of the Dukes,” I whispered. “Same with Kai, and Kope, and Blake. We’re children of demons.”

No reaction whatsoever.

“We’re called Nephilim,” Marna said. “But we usually just say Neph.”

Still he was unresponsive, eyes glazed. Marna looked worried.

“We can prove it to you,” I said. “Come with me. We’ll leave our cell phones here. Marna, you stay here and listen, okay?”

She nodded. I motioned for Jay to follow, and he did. We got into my car and drove down the street, almost a mile away. I felt his eyes boring into the side of my face the whole time. I stopped the car and parked.

“Tell me something nobody else knows,” I said softly. “When we get back to your room, Marna will tell us what you said, because she can hear us right now.”

“How can she hear us?”

“We have supernatural abilities—heightened senses.”

At first I didn’t think he’d play along. His eyes widened, but he was silent.

“Uh . . .” He finally spoke, and his voice came out quiet and dry. “Okay. I used to dream of Marna when I was with Veronica. I always woke up feeling guilty, but I couldn’t help it. And I’m pretty sure I’m still dreaming now. Only it’s not such a good dream anymore.”

Oh, Jay.

“I know this is a lot to take in. I only found out when I was sixteen, and it’s still hard for me.”

He looked at me now, really looked at me.

“Angels and demons aren’t real, Anna. They can’t be.”

“They are,” I whispered.

He stared at me. “I just don’t get it. You’re both sweet. How can you be . . . part demon?”

“We have urges, Jay. Worse than any human could understand.”

“Urges.” He continued to study me.

“Drugs and alcohol for me.” He sort of swayed backward as understanding rocked him. I kept going. “The twins deal with adultery—cheating. We’re meant to hurt people.”

His brown eyes swelled while he pieced everything together. “The night I was deejaying . . . New Year’s Eve . . . when we . . .”

“Yeah,” I said. “She saw a bond between you and Roni. There were demon spirits there watching, and she worked on you, but she liked you. Genuinely. And it says a lot that she loves you, now, completely single.”