The Third Sin Read online

  D’Maeo shakes his head. “You don’t have to get us everything. We’re fine with just drinks.”

  Taylar slams his hand on the table. “Speak for yourself, old man.”

  “There are more important things for us to do than eat and drink, Taylar.”

  “I know, but we could use some fuel. Even if it only fuels our happiness.”

  Vicky turns the cards around and around. “I agree with Taylar. A little happiness is just what we need to keep going.”

  D’Maeo leans back in his chair. “Well, all right then. I suppose you have a point.” He gestures at my list. “Get me some apples then.”

  My eyebrows move up. “Apples? You know eating healthily won’t do you any good, right?”

  “I like them, okay?”

  “Sure.” I write them down and tap the non-existent hat on my head. “I want to check on my mother, too, but I’ll be back soon. If something happens, just…” I think hard about how to finish that sentence and realize I have no clue what they should do if they need me.

  “Yeah, we still have no way to contact you and we still don’t know of any way for you to summon us when you’re not here.”

  “Right.” I stare at the ceiling to gather my thoughts. “So first we save this soul, then we save Vicky, then my Mom, or the other way around, and then we find a way for us to contact each other. Did I forget anything?”

  “Probably,” Taylar mumbles.

  I sigh and turn around. “I’ll be back soon.”

  CHAPTER 11

  The drive home is quiet, but when I park Phoenix in front of my house, my heart goes in overdrive.

  A bright light flashes behind the window of Mom’s bedroom.

  Someone is with her. Someone using magic.

  Not again!

  In my haste to get inside, I trip over the threshold. Light blazes down the stairs and I haul myself up. It takes me only a few seconds to climb the stairs. Before I enter the bedroom, I take out my athame and hold it out in front of me.

  I know the door creaks, but my heartbeat is so loud that I can’t hear anything else. The person attacking Mom must have heard it though, because the light extinguishes before I can push the door fully open.

  “Get away from her!” I yell, charging forward.

  I swing my weapon, but all I hit is a cloud of sparkles. Whirling around, I scan the room. It’s empty, except for Mom, lying on the bed. After a quick check, I conclude that nothing has changed. She is still unresponsive. I cringe at the thought, but I preferred the curse she was under before. The one that has moved to Vicky. At least she was herself between fits. Now she looks like an empty shell.

  I drop my knife, bend over Mom and stroke her hair. The blonde locks have turned a dull color resembling gray.

  “Why won’t you wake up?” I whisper. “Are you even still in there?”

  “She is.”

  My body goes rigid at the sound of the voice behind me. My eyes dart to the spot on the bed where I laid down my athame. Too far away to reach for unnoticed. I’ll have to use my lightning power.

  Shielding my hand with my body, I summon a bolt in it.

  “What do you want?” I ask, slowly turning around to face the intruder.

  “To heal Susan, of course.”

  I frown as I recognize the voice, and extinguish the bolt in my hand.

  “Hey, Dante,” Mona says as I straighten up.

  “Hey, Mona. Was that you just now? With the light?”

  She pushes down the five hairs that have escaped her perfect hairdo. “It was. You scared me, barging in like that. I barely had time to disapparate.”

  A strangled chuckle comes out of my mouth. “I scared you?” I shake my head. “I thought someone was trying to take Mom again.”

  “Oh honey.” Mona steps closer and puts a hand on my shoulder. “I’m sorry about that. I thought you knew I’ve been watching her constantly.”

  Her touch somehow makes me feel better instantly. Still I frown. “Not constantly. I was with you a couple of hours ago at Mrs. Delaney’s.”

  “Yes dear, but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t watching her.”

  I look back at Mom and sit down on the edge of her bed. “I don’t understand.”

  Mona smiles her perfect smile. “I wasn’t sure if you were ready for yet another revelation. You’ve been through so much already.”

  Not this again. I rub my temples. She’s not completely wrong though. There’s so much to process. Not just the existence of a whole magical world and all the creatures in it, but also the rollercoaster of feelings that goes with everything that has happened. Just a few days ago, I was so happy that Mom’s fits had finally stopped after all those years. I found out Dad died, I inherited Darkwood Manor and my Shield of ghosts, fell in love and lost two of my best friends. Another friend turned out to be an angel and I got the wonderful news that I’ve been chosen to stop the Devil from taking over the Earth. I just don’t know what to think or feel anymore, so maybe Mona and all the others are right. Maybe I’m not ready to know everything just yet.

  “Come here for a sec,” Mona says.

  My feet obey her before I even think about it.

  “Close your eyes.” She moves her hands softly over my face. It feels like a summer breeze and I smile.

  “That’s it. Breathe in deeply.”

  I do and as she presses her fingers gently against my temples, cheeks and neck, I feel the tension sliding off.

  “How’s that?”

  I open my eyes and look around the room. It seems lighter, just like I feel. “Much better. How did you do that?”

  “Maybe you are ready to know who I really am.” She walks into the hallway and beckons me. “Come have a cup of tea with me.”

  I kiss Mom on the forehead, grab my athame and follow Mona downstairs.

  “I don’t have much time,” I tell her as she moves around the kitchen. “My Shield is studying the Cards of Death I received.”

  Mona licks her index finger and sticks it in the air. She turns a bit and nods. “There’s still some time. Sit down and relax for a few minutes.”

  These magical performances shouldn’t surprise me anymore, but the question still escapes my lips. “How do you know? What are you exactly?”

  Mona puts a pack of cookies on the table. “I am your family’s fairy godmother.”

  I snort before I can help myself. “Come on, Mona. I really want to know.”

  She gives me that white toothed, flawless smile again. “I am here to watch over you, and protect and help you as much as I can.” She opens the package and hands me a chocolate cookie.

  “Okay,” I say, taking the cookie. “But you’re not really a fairy godmother, are you? Like the one Cinderella had?”

  Her face brightens even more. “Exactly like that!”

  She goes back into the kitchen to fetch the boiling water.

  “So you can turn me into a prince, and a pumpkin into a carriage?”

  Her eyes sparkle as she comes back, carrying a tray with a teapot and two cups. “I can, but in real life we don’t do that. Not anymore.”

  “Right.” I bite into my cookie to keep myself from laughing at her again.

  She pours the tea, humming happily to herself.

  I think of all the times I compared her to the perfect Stepford Wives. For as long as I can remember, Mona has had perfect blonde hair, a perfect body, a perfect smile and perfect manners. When I first met her, I didn’t trust her. Dad always told me no one is perfect after all. Mona was so friendly it felt fake. But she’s been Mom’s best friend for a long time and I can’t deny that I have grown to like her, even though she’s a bit too cheerful sometimes, and too chatty.

  But still, a fairy godmother?

  “Aren’t all fairy godmothers like… plump?”

  “We can appear in any form we like,” she says with a glint in her eye.

  I fold my arms, still not buying any of it
.

  “Okay, Mr. Skeptical,” she says, putting down her cup. “Watch this.”

  A bright light comes to life at her feet and crawls up. Every part of her body it touches, changes into sparkles, just like the ones I saw when I charged into Mom’s bedroom. Her wide smile lingers in the air for a moment, like the Cheshire Cat’s, and then she disappears completely.

  “Bibbidi bobbidi boo,” she yells in my ear and in a whirl she appears again, this time in a white dress decorated with shiny diamonds.

  My mouth falls open. “That spell is real?”

  She giggles and waves her hand up and down along her body. “No silly, I was just kidding.” The dress is replaced by her regular dark blue pants and shirt in the blink of an eye.

  “I don’t need a spell to change something,” she says, leaning towards me as if this is a big secret. “My magic is in my hands.” She wiggles her fingers and my shirt changes into a white royal jacket, with golden buttons and shoulder pieces. “I have always liked Disney’s portrayal of Cinderella’s story. Her fairy godmother closely resembles the real ones and the prince is so charming.” She wiggles her eyebrows at me.

  “Oh, thank you,” I say, trying to sound posh.

  “But all kidding aside…” She snaps her fingers and my royal outfit changes back into my plain American teenager one. “I’ve always been here to protect your family, but fate made it hard on me. I’ve never been able to heal Susan, and I couldn’t save your father, and that hurts me more than you can ever imagine.”

  The tormented look on her face tells me she’s telling the truth.

  “You did everything you could,” I tell her. “You still do.”

  A soft scraping makes me turn my head. “Did you hear that?”

  We both stand up. A bolt of lightning appears in my hand before I consciously summon it. At the same time, sparkles fly out of Mona’s fingertips. I smile, despite the fear thumping in my throat.

  “Nothing can get in, right?” I whisper. “We protected the house.”

  “Did you check all the doors and windows after you barged in here half an hour ago?”

  I want to roll my eyes at her, but she means well. And now that I think back, I can almost see myself tripping over the threshold in my haste to get to Mom. I slap myself on the forehead. “I think I broke the line of salt at the door.”

  As soon as I finish my sentence, the front door rattles. The wind howls like a wild animal. Or maybe it’s a demon. My gaze moves to the crack below the door, through which smoke makes its way inside. This can’t be good.

  CHAPTER 12

  I dive forward to restore the protection. Mona yells something, but a loud whoosh drowns out all sound.

  A carpet of sand is blown inside and pushes away the remaining salt.

  I bend down to gather the scattered grains, when flames rise up around me.

  With a cry of pain, I tumble backwards. The fire reaches for my feet and I kick off my burning shoes.

  Mona drags me away from the door with a simple finger movement.

  I stumble to my feet. “Get some water! I’ll get the salt.” My eyes are already locked on the kitchen cabinet where we keep the salt, when Mona grabs my arm.

  “Too late. We’ll have to fight.”

  I turn and look at the flames. A huge beast fills the doorway. It has the head and upper body of a giant lizard, covered in black-and-beige bands. Grains of sand move like ants from two long arms down to the dozen black tentacles that form its lower body. A second set of arms is holding the burning door. A yellow, split tongue shoots from its mouth. More sand lands on the floor and ignites.

  “It’ll burn down the whole house!” I yell.

  More sparkles appear around Mona. “Not if I can stop it.”

  She vanishes in a cloud of light and a second later the demon almost loses its balance. The arms drop the burning door and ash flies everywhere. The monster growls and hisses and turns its beady eyes in every direction. One of its tentacles is lifted by an unseen force and the demon swats at the air around it.

  I look at the fire, spreading across the room rapidly. A bucket of water is not going to do any good anymore. I need something stronger.

  “Use your powers,” a voice says in my head.

  Relief floods over me. “Quinn, thank goodness.”

  “I cannot fight with you now, I have other orders to attend to, but you can do this. You are strong.”

  I grit my teeth. “How can I put out a fire with a lightning bolt?”

  “You don’t just control lightning, you control the weather, Dante.”

  The demon is swatting wildly at the invisible fairy godmother, while the sand keeps pouring out of it onto the ground. The whole outer wall is already ablaze and smoke starts to fill the room.

  “Come on, Dante. Put out the fire. Use your powers.”

  I grit my teeth. “I’m not sure I like this dominant side of you.”

  “I wouldn’t have to be like this if you just listened.”

  A growl interrupts our bickering. The demon has given up trying to locate Mona. It has turned its attention to me, slithering further into the living room on its tentacles.

  I focus on my power core, near my heart, and think of rain.

  It turns a few shades darker outside, but not a drop of rain falls down.

  The demon reaches for me with its long arms and I duck.

  Rain, come on, rain! My fingertips crackle as power shoots through me. There’s rumbling in the distance. I picture dark clouds and pull the water inside them towards me.

  A tentacle approaches me from the left and I take out my athame to stab it.

  But just before it reaches me, the monster is pulled backwards. It roars and slams its hands down hard behind its back. Tiny specks of light are pressed together into the form of a bent over body. It splits in half when the demon’s hands reach the ground.

  I gasp. “Mona!”

  The demon tilts its head and observes me, its tongue shooting out of its mouth.

  “You bastard,” I fume, pulling at every ounce of power I’ve got inside me.

  Give me rain! I yell in my head.

  A sound like a breaking dam catches the demon’s attention. It turns and bends towards the noise coming from outside, its head tilted in curiosity.

  I pull with my mind as hard as I can.

  The beast shuffles uneasily. It reaches for me with one hand, while sliding sideways.

  I don’t move, even when I feel its rough, hot skin against my leg.

  And then I see it. It’s not rain, although it does fall from the sky. It looks like a wave, but it behaves somewhat like a tornado, turning wildly through the air, before plummeting to the ground.

  The demon yanks me off my feet in its flight and holds me up, but I keep my focus on the energy flowing through me. If the water rages on like this, there won’t be a house left to save. So I put both hands in front of me and slowly push them together.

  The wave obeys and washes through the doorway.

  I move my hands further apart again and the water breaks up into several smaller waves that put out the fire. In another tornado move, two waves hurl themselves at the demon.

  The water rushes past my body swinging upside down. I’m not afraid of drowning. I’m in full control. Just one small finger movement like Mona’s and the swirling water moves around my face.

  The demon is pulled off its feet, or tentacles, and its grip on my legs loosens.

  Before I hit my head on the floor, another wave catches me and puts me back onto my feet. I don’t even get wet. I almost grin, but then I remember Mona getting slashed in half just minutes ago and my anger flares up again. I lift my hands as high as I can.

  The twisting waves rise above the lizard’s head and prepare to squash it. It splashes frantically with its tentacles, making for the doorway.

  “No, you don’t,” I say, bringing my hands down hard.

  The tornado h
its the demon on the scaled head and it goes under, swaying its arms.

  It pushes itself up with it tentacles, so I move my hands in a circle, making the water and the beast swirl.

  A loud coughing breaks my concentration. “Mona!”

  The blonde woman is lying under the dining room table. She coughs up water.

  I rush to her side and support her. “Oh my goodness, I thought you were gone.”

  She spits out some more water.

  “Are you okay?”

  Panting, she lifts her hand and points at something behind me.

  When I turn my head, the demon pulls itself through the doorway.

  I point one finger at it and a wave strikes it in the back, slamming it into the driveway. I stand up, summon all of my remaining power and aim it at the beast fleeing to the street. All the water in the living room turns and slides back outside. But there’s no force behind it anymore. My energy is gone and my legs collapse under me.

  “Watch out,” Mona says gently, holding on to me so I don’t bump my head against the table.

  I try to get up again. “I have to take it out.”

  A sparkle jumps from her hand to mine. “No, you don’t. You scared it off. It’s gone.”

  On hands and knees, I make my way to where the front door used to be. The street is empty. Mud covers the driveway and a small river flows into the sewer.

  I sit down and wipe the sand off my clothes. “You’re right, it’s gone. But it’ll probably come back with reinforcements.” I rest my head against the doorframe and look back at her. “Are you okay?”

  She lifts her shirt. A red gash runs from her throat to her stomach. Her fingers touch it gently and sparks move along the jagged lines of the wound. I watch in awe as the tiny particles heal the gash. Mona closes her eyes while it slowly heals.

  When I stand up, I sway on my feet. It takes all of my concentration to put one foot in front of the other. At the table I halt and touch Mona’s shoulder. “I’m glad you’re still here.”

  She nods. “Me too.”

  “Thanks for saving me.”

  A smile lights up her face. “That’s what I’m here for, Dante. Although my job usually doesn’t include fighting demons.”