Page 90 of Living Legend

“I can’t help someone I don’t trust,” I finally said, my heart starting to slow its rhythm after what I’d been harboring in the pit of my stomach was finally said.

“But you trust them?” Ariel said with as much disgust as he could muster.I didn’t say anything to that. Ariel carried on without my answer. “You trust their judgements and their words. You value their opinions over Jonah’s. You think that wise, Nicholas?”

“Do you think it wise I should trust someone who isn’t telling the whole truth? It makes me believe that nothing is true.” I bore my eyes into Jonah’s. “You brought them here, which makes sense. You asked me to work alongside them, which I have, only to find out that they aren’t the problem. I don’t know what Lilith has promised you. I don’t know why you would want to do all of this, go to these lengths, but give me something or that’s all I will believe. That’s all I’ll go on.” I was practically pleading with Jonah now and he knew it.

“I brought them here to help us, Nicholas. You must know that.”

“I don’t know anything!” I exclaimed, the words practically flying out of my mouth before I could stop them. It was too late for that. “You want her here for a reason; maybe you’ve kept that reason to yourself, or others are in on it with you to some degree.” I looked over to Markus, thinking about when he asked me if Dani had brought anything with her, almost coaxing me say it was her dagger. I could point fingers at any one of them, but Jonah was their leader. He was our leader. If I couldn’t fathom trusting him anymore, how in the hell could I trust any of them? “I won’t let you use her for anything you’ve got planned. I won’t let you ruin our home.”

Reese eased himself away from the table and stood with his arms crossed over his chest beside me. Both demons sat calmly in their chairs, patiently assessing. Natalia had her index and middle fingers placed gently over her mouth as she leaned to one side of her chair.

Jonah let out a long breath and looked out the window to the rain. The storm was causing the wind to whip the trees violently, and it looked as if it was just the beginning. “Nicholas, I don’t know what you need me to tell you. It seems as if you have already made up your mind about this, but you need to really look at me and see I am not your enemy. I have cared for you as if you were my own. I would not put your home, my own home, at risk.”

“But I’m not yours. I’m not your own. I’m my father’s son and he doesn’t seem to think so much of you.” Jonah was almost startled by my words. I was making this entire meeting about myself, and it was wrong, I knew it was wrong, but maybe everything connected.

Jonah sighed. “Your father and I have nothing to do with what’s happening in Heaven’s Gate right now. That should not factor into your feelings about this or about me.”

“It does though! It factors into my entire life! It looks like you have spent some time planning this so meticulously, there has to be a reason. Why did you and my father stop speaking? Was it because you knew Lilith too closely? Why am I so important to you, why is Dani so important to you, because if you tell me it’s because of this portal bullshit, I will literally put my sword to your throat!”

“Nicholas!” Markus shouted, but Jonah stopped him.

“Does Dani have something that you want? Is that it?” I taunted, hoping that he would tell me something about the dagger, that he would tell me anything at all. “Does Lilith have something over you? If she does, we could work on that together. Did she force you to kill Keegan? Does it have something to do with your own father all those years ago? Did he make you seek Lilith out because you had nowhere else to turn?”

Jonah licked his lips and pressed them together. His eyes looked almost sad, as if he knew that anything he said was useless. I needed to know. I had to.

“Does it have anything to do with my mother?”

Jonah didn’t move, almost as if he stopped breathing. I was about to question him more when I heard athud. Reese grabbed my forearm and looked past me to the door. I followed his gaze, noticing Dani and Elise doing the same. Natalia had risen from her chair, her back turned to us, listening for the noise again.

Thud,thud,thud.

They were quick but loud, as if someone had fallen onto the stone floor outside. No, not fallen,thrown. Yanked around and chucked in the opposite direction.

“What was that?” Markus asked, pushing back his chair.

“Nothing good,” Reese said, confidence faltering.

I looked down at Dani who sat in her chair, but not with the ease I had seen a few seconds ago, her shoulders stiff. I could see goosebumps prickling on her skin. Elise had the same tense way about her, but she cracked her neck and just seemed to wait.

Another thud, this one a bit closer.

Silence ensued, enveloped us and tightened its grip around my bones. I shook my head, thinking maybe it was all in my head when—

Thud.

A body hit the window. The rain made it hard to make out who it was, but the white wide wings with blood spatters on them made it clearwhatthey were.

“What in the fuck?” Reese said, backing up a little and picking up his bow as he made his way to the opposite wall.

“What is going onnowin your fucking realm?” Elise said, propelling herself out of her seat when a pounding noise came from the door and split it wide open.

I blinked once, twice, three times to take in what I was seeing. Small, dark waves tumbled into the room, small waves followed by larger ones and then smaller ones again. It covered the floor around us, like a sharp burn when it touched my skin. I grabbed my sword from where it leaned against my chair, steeling myself.

Dark shadows started to fill the room now. I could see flowing hair and arms, fingers. The shadows weren’t so dark that they were completely shrouded, but it covered them as if part of them.

“Oh shit,” Elise said. I saw that her right hand was cupped upward and a growing ebony ball of smoke there. Dark ropes of magic shot down Dani’s arm as she got up from her chair and kicked it over to the waiting guests.

“You have no business here!” Jonah yelled, moving past me and Reese. “You must leave at once.” His voice was unwavering.

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