Iniquity (The Premonition, #5)(65)

“My test scores were off the charts. It turns out I have an angel brain.” I give him a doleful look. “My scores allowed me to be bused to this school district. It was a hard transition, though. My only friend was Molly for a long time. She was in the same situation as I. She had amazing scores as well—teachers used to ask us if it was in the water where we lived or something.”

“Was it?” Reed asks with a small smile.

“Umm, no. There was stuff in the water where I lived, but I think it was lead.”

“So you went to a nicer school.”

“I wouldn’t say it was ‘nicer’. Nicer implies kindness.”

“People weren’t kind.”

“Some were. Some thought we were trash being brought in—they felt we tainted the gene pool of their hallowed halls.”

“Who would think that?”

“You’d be surprised at how much money matters to some people. They claim it doesn’t, but the minute they find out you don’t have any, is the minute you become undesirable—a parasite.”

“Those aren’t people you want in your life anyway. It’s okay to let them weed themselves out early.”

“Where were you when I was growing up, Reed?”

“Waiting for you,” he replies, as if it is the only explanation. “So, you and Molly traversed the class line to come to this school district?”

“You could say that. We crossed the line between Detroit and Grosse Pointe for sure. We both had more intelligence than most kids, but not enough money to keep up with them.”

“And then you met Xavier?” Reed asks.

I nod. “He was in a lot of my classes. He transferred in from a school in Germany. His mom was from a wealthy family there, but they both spoke perfect English. She and his father were not together in the traditional sense, at least, that’s what he told me. They were still married, but they hadn’t lived together in years. It turns out that he really doesn’t even have parents, does he?”

“No, not the way you’re thinking. He was born of fire.”

“Rebecca, his fake mom here, wasn’t around much. She was always on her way somewhere, traveling. But I liked her when she was here. She was really kind to me.”

“Was she a Reaper?”

I shrug. “I don’t know. Maybe? It would fit her personality. I never even suspected that she could be anything other than human.”

“Are you sure?” he asks.

“Wait, what?”

“You may have suspected she was an angel. You may have even found out, but they wouldn’t allow you to know it for long.” Reed picks up the white knight from the marble chessboard, toying with it in his hand. “You remember Torun?”

“Yes,” I whisper.

“A lot of things there were completely destroyed by angels. Even in a blizzard, people saw what was happening in their city.”

“You erased their memories?” I ask.

“Not me. I was with you. A host of Cherubim most likely performed the task, putting things back together and making things right once more. The underground bar probably looks the same today as it did before Valentine’s friends crashed through it to pluck you from it.”

I think about all the things I may have witnessed but cannot possibly remember. I have a key to all of it now. It’s in Reed’s hand. I’m just not certain I have the courage it takes to face my past.

“You spent a lot of your time here before coming to Crestwood?” Reed asks. He picks up another framed picture of Xavier and me. It’s from Homecoming our sophomore year.

“Yeah. I spent a lot of time here, mostly as Xavier’s friend. We were friends before we were anything else.”

“Just like in Heaven?”

“I don’t know. I can’t remember that part of it,” I admit. “Do you need me to hum the notes again?”

Reed shakes his head. “I know it. Do you trust Atwater?”

“Not completely, but what choice do we have? I need to know what happened so I can figure out how to kill Emil. He holds all the cards. I want some of my own.”

“I’ll be with you. I’m always with you. Are you ready?” he asks.

“I’m ready,” I whisper. I look at the pictures that line the table next to us. They’re all of Xavier and me. Reed places the boatswain between his lips. The first note sounds like a scream. It raises goose bumps on my flesh. The world around me fades. The next few notes break apart the room, opening it up to pure sky. The final note from the whistles makes the sky collapse in on me. I’m lost in darkness. I fall. The only sound I hear is Reed’s strong heartbeat, until it is replaced by beautiful, mournful sounds from a solitary piano as gunshots ring out in the air.





The smooth ivory-colored piano keys beneath my fingertips are cool to the touch. Forlorn notes float in the air while I play Cannon in D for the monster standing behind me. Emil’s ever-present, oppressive shadow looms nearer, darkening the keys. The scent of his flowery shaving soap is enough to make me physically ill. With it, I smell the acrid odor of smoky gunpowder in the air. Terrifying rapports of guns and bullet shell casings rain onto the floor above us. They taper off as I come closer to the end of the song until the only sound is the achingly beautiful fade of the final note. Then…stillness. The silence is even more frightening then the noise.