Sweet Reckoning

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN DARTS

It was a true testament to how strange my life had become that the best night of my life was followed by the most uncomfortable. Knowing that Kaidan’s father, a guy who was now the same freaking age as him, was leaving a trail of broken hearts all over my college campus made me ill. And not just broken hearts. That would be too tame for Pharzuph. He would push people to do things they weren’t ready for, and all the while he and the whisperers would mess with their minds—filling them with guilt and self-loathing that would plague them for years to come. He wasn’t just a campus player out for sex. He was an evil bastard out to hurt souls. A weapon in a very beautiful disguise.

All night as I sat at the bar, my knee bouncing a thousand miles per hour, I thought about what Kaidan and I had shared—how special and beautiful it had been. And then I thought of Pharzuph. My stomach turned.

Did Kaidan have any idea that Pharzuph had changed bodies? Had he received a call about his father, Richard Rowe, dropping dead at work in New York City or at his posh home in Atlanta? He knew Pharzuph planned to find me and give me the sniff test—trying to catch the scent of virginity. I wished I could call Kaidan and reassure him that it had happened and I was okay.

What a freaking mess.

But at least our plan had worked, and for that I allowed myself to smile into my beer glass. Kaidan and I were momentarily off the suspicion list. Unfortunately, my father was still on it. Big-time.

My smile disappeared.

“Hey, can I buy you another?”

I looked up at the cute boy who’d spoken. The bar I’d chosen had gotten crowded and loud, but it was mostly groups of friends, so nobody had talked to me yet. Pharzuph was probably too busy to keep an ear out on me, but I didn’t want to take any chances. Plus, there were at least six whisperers prowling through town tonight, so I had to work.

“How about this?” I asked the guy. “Let’s play darts, and the loser buys the next round.”

He sucked in air through his teeth. “I don’t know. I’d feel kinda bad making a pretty girl I just met buy my drink. . . .”

“Oho, so it’s like that, huh?” I hopped off the stool, surprised by my own ability to feel lighthearted at the moment, but sometimes boys needed to be taught lessons about underestimating girls.

And so the night passed with me kicking the butt of every guy in the bar. The girls, after realizing I wasn’t interested in their boyfriends, became my cheerleaders. Yeah, I got a few people drunk. Between the beers and shots, I pushed glasses of water their way all night, hoping to keep them hydrated.

I never forgot who I was, or the fact that I wasn’t one of them, but I still let myself enjoy their company and the feeling of being embraced by friendly strangers. We were having a great time until someone turned up the television for a breaking news story. A popular rapper had been shot after his show in D.C. while greeting fans. He had a colorful past, serving jail time, but had turned his life around and become an education advocate—an inspiring American success story. And now he was in a coma, probably going to die.

Everyone in the bar shook their heads, muttering, “What is wrong with this world?”

If they only knew.

The mood was somber after that.

At closing time I managed to evade the cute boy who’d been at my side all night. I slipped the bartender a note to call cabs for my drunken buddies, giving my credit card number as payment.

As I shuffled back to the dorm at two in the morning, a knife in my pocket and the Sword of Righteousness strapped to my ankle under my jeans, I imagined that Kaidan went to school there with me and we were a normal couple. Students. Sometimes it was fun to pretend, but I didn’t let myself long for impossible things, because there were Nephilim who would do anything to have the life I led.

Calling my life blessed was ironic, considering, but when it came down to it, I was loved, and that made life worth living. Just like my mother, Mariantha, said.

As I was having that lovely thought, my dorm in sight, a dark shadow flew into my path on the narrow sidewalk, causing a shriek to stick in my throat.

“Baby . . .”

I pressed a hand to my chest. “You scared me half to death, Dad!” My telepathic voice screamed at him, and I looked behind me, searching for signs of whisperers but finding none. “Pharzuph is here tonight with a ton of spirits!”

“I know. Hurry up and get to your room so we can talk in private.” He flew ahead of me, disappearing into the side wall of my dorm.

I huffed a little, my nerves still on alert, and sped to the entry door. It was strange passing the night-watch girl at the desk. I gave her a small smile and she nodded, oblivious to the gigantic ram-horned demon at her side.

In my room, Dad practically took up the whole space, and I felt too edgy to sit. I told him about Pharzuph coming and how Kaidan and I should be safe from him for now.

“But I don’t understand something,” I said. “I didn’t recognize anything about him—he didn’t even talk the same anymore. Has he been an American before, or did he train himself to have a new accent that fast?”

“No, this is his first time in a U.S. body, but there’s certain knowledge a body retains, even when the souls switch. The brain and body hold on to habits like language and gestures. It’s still going to talk and act the same until you train it otherwise. It’s always strange at first because it’s hard to control, but it ends up being a benefit for us Dukes.”

Yeah, how convenient for them.

I told Dad what Pharzuph had said about him being in trouble. Dad laughed. Always a scary sound, deep and guttural, even in spirit form.

“They would’ve been suspicious of me one way or another, and damned if I was gonna let them capture me. I’ll be hunting for a body next, but I came to tell you that Pharzuph and the others have called for a summit tomorrow night—probably to talk about their findings and figure out what to do next. They’ll be in Switzerland.”

“Switzerland?”

“A ski town. They like to make a vacation of these summits, you know. And since they were just in Vegas, they wanted something different.” Dad, being all business, naturally disagreed with the other Dukes’ idea of mixing fun with work.

My hopes lifted.

“Wait. Does this mean we Neph have a couple safe days?” I asked.

He grunted. “Yes, but be careful. I’d say you have forty-eight hours starting tomorrow afternoon when they’re all traveling. Some will stay there longer than two days, but don’t take any chances. If you need to gather your allies or be in contact with them, this is your chance.”

“And I can see Patti!” I clapped my hands and smiled. This seemed to soften him a little.

“Yeah, you can see her. Give her my regards.”

I wished I could hug him, but all I could do was beam up at his frightening face, making him chuckle.

“And guess what else?” I said. “I got to meet Mariantha.” He became still in front of me. “She came to congratulate me on my marriage. She was beautiful, Daddy.”

He drifted back a little, weightless, whispering, “Yes . . . beautiful, and full of love. You’re so much like her, baby girl.”

I held up a hand, splaying my fingers, and he lifted his big, clawed mass of cloudy hand to mine, overlapping it.

“I love you, kid,” he said.

We shared a long, quiet pause.

“Be careful,” I told him. “Wherever you go, I hope I see you again soon.”

I closed my eyes as he surrounded me with a hug, and when I opened my eyes again he was gone.