Revelations (Bloodline Series) (18 page)

“What
do you mean?” she asked.

“Keira…something
is wrong with her.”

“She
looks tired,” Tyler added.

“I
agree, but there’s something else. I think she’s lying to us,” I told them,
closing the kitchen door.

“Why?”
Lily frowned. “About what?”

“Where
she’s been today for starters, and think on this…when was the last time she was
herself?”

“What?”

“Her
personality has changed. She’s always thinking, slipping into another world.”

“She
has a lot on her shoulders,” Tyler shot at me. “Cut her some slack, for God’s
sake.”

“Hmm.”
I didn’t rise to his tone. “I think it’s more than that, and you won’t and can’t
say anything to make me think otherwise.”

“Something
is seriously wrong,” Eligos said, entering the room.

“Told
you,” I shot at Lily and Tyler.

“Oh,
like what?” Lily asked him, a slight attitude in her voice.

“She’s
lying to me, you, all of us.”

“About
what?”

“She’s
hiding something. There’s something she’s giving a great deal of thought to…I
think she’s in trouble,” Eligos explained. “I need to try and find out what’s
going on.”

“She
said she’d spent time in Hell this afternoon, that she’d wanted to speak to
Lilith but saw Lucifer instead and that he was busy,” I told them. “So, why not
check with Lucifer?”

“I
will.” As soon as he’d spoken, he vanished.

“Where’s
Keira now?” Lily asked me.

“In
the living room still, I think.”

“I’ll
go and see her, see what she says to
me.
”

“Surely
she won’t lie to Lily,” Tyler commented.

“I
guess it will all depend on what it is she is hiding. Do you think maybe she
knows something we don’t?” I asked.

“I
dunno.”

“Err,
guys,” Lily said, re-entering the room. “Keira isn’t in the living room, or
anywhere else in the house for that matter.”

“What?”
we both replied.

“She’s
outside…look,” Tyler quickly added, pointing out of the window towards her
beloved swing.

Lily
didn’t speak, and a moment later we watched her join Keira.

Everyone
else seemed to be in and out of the kitchen now. Lucian and Danny knew
something was wrong just by looking at mine and Tyler’s faces. Beth and
Elizabeth were currently in the room, helping themselves to some cold drinks.
None of us spoke until they had left. Neither of them noticed anything wrong…they
were far too busy chatting between themselves.

“What’s
going on?” Danny asked. “And where has Eligos gone?”

I
was about to start explaining, but thankfully Tyler jumped in first and saved
me the job.

“Have
you ever thought that maybe, just maybe, things are finally getting on top of
her?” Lucian almost snapped. “She’s been through a lot, more than any of us; she’s
the one we rely on. Do you have any idea how much pressure that can put on a
person? Did you even stop to ask her if she needed help if she wanted to talk,
let off steam—?”

“Lucian,
it—” I tried to interrupt.

“No,
Jake, look; never has she lied to us or misled us, or done anything to harm us.
She is always there. We owe our lives to her,
and
our remaining ounce of
sanity.”

“I
know that, we all do. But Lucian, you didn’t see her. I’m telling you,
something is very, very wrong.”

“I’m
inclined to agree with Lucian,” Danny added. “I think she needs to chill out a
bit, and remember this...she loved our parents too and felt the loss of them,
but has she grieved yet? No! Why? Because she was too busy being a rock for us.
Maybe that’s what is finally making her crack. She was especially friendly with
Evelyn and Sofia, and she couldn’t save them. For the first time in a long
time, she was powerless to do anything about it. Can you imagine how she must
feel?”

None
of us spoke for a few minutes after that. I don’t think any of us really knew
what to say. We made our way into the living room and had just sat down when
Eligos reappeared.

“Well?”
I asked him.

“Lucifer
said she was okay, she just wanted a bit of time away…things are getting to her.”

“And
do you believe him?”

“I
do; Lucifer wouldn’t lie. I just wish she would talk to me.”

“She
doesn’t like putting stuff on people,” Tyler told him. “She thinks she does it
too much.”

A
moment later Lily came into the room; she looked at us all and just shook her
head.

Chapter 21

Evil

Keira

I
stayed outside for quite a while pondering things. Luckily all the guys left me
alone. I had the conversation with Ballantine running repeatedly in my head,
and then on top of that the talk with Lucifer. I didn’t know what to do; my
mind was racing so much that I felt like I needed to scream. This was getting to
be too much. I had enough to deal with already without confusion setting in
too. I wished everything would just go away and leave me alone.

After
about an hour outside I ventured back indoors and found that everyone was doing
their own thing. Lily checked to see if I was okay and offered me a hot drink,
but I refused. I walked into the smaller living room, where Eligos sat looking
deep in thought.

“Are
you okay?” I asked him.

“Yeah,
are you?”

“I
will be.”

“Come
here,” he smiled, patting his knees. I walked over and sat with him…he wrapped
his arms around me and kissed my cheek. “I don’t like seeing you like this,” he
told me. “It saddens me.”

“I
know; I’m sorry, it’s just getting to me.”

“Yeah,
I know darlin’.”

“It’ll
pass.” I snuggled into him, breathing him in. “I love you…you know that, don’t
you?” I whispered. “More than anything.”

“I
do.”

“And
I always will, no matter
what
happens.”

“I
know you will,” he breathed, holding me tighter. “And I will always love you.”

“Excuse
me,” Olivia said, popping her head around the door. “We’re all going to settle
down for the night, put a film on and relax. Are you joining us?”

“Sure,”
we both replied.

There
wasn’t much conversation for the rest of the evening. Elizabeth had returned to
Hell with Vetis to sort a few things out. They would be back again in a couple
of hours. The house was full…it had been since the guys’ houses were destroyed.
I was starting to wonder if I would need to purchase a bigger house to accommodate
everyone.

Everyone
started to get tired, and slowly made their way to their beds. I stayed
downstairs with Eligos, Hecate, and Danny.

“It’s
getting a bit mad in here now,” Danny laughed. “God only knows what we’ll do if
anyone else decides to turn up.”

“I
don’t even want to think about that,” I sighed.

“You
seem a lot happier now,” Eligos said to Danny. “You’re speaking to people more.”

“I’m
far from happy, but my parents wouldn’t want me dwelling on things. They would
want me to carry on as normally as possible and not upset the people around me.
Besides,” he said, wrapping his arm around Hecate. “I don’t want to lose the
people I care most about.”

“You
wouldn’t,” I assured him. “We all understand the loss you’ve had; we all know
how you must be feeling. I know personally how much pain it causes. I was
quiet, moody, and upset for a long time after I lost my father.”

“I
think if I could find out who did it, kill them, and get my revenge, I’d feel
better.”

“I
hope you get your chance,” Hecate said to him. “I really do.”

A
sudden flash illuminated the room, startling us all for a brief moment. Then
the thunder came.

“I
had a feeling we’d have a storm tonight. It’s been unusually warm today for this
time of year,” Hecate commented.

“Let
just be sure,” Eligos said, walking over and looking out of the window. “Wow,
you want to see the rain.”

Just
as he said it, we heard it—the heavens had most definitely opened. Eligos
stayed by the window watching the storm, and a few minutes later I joined him.
It was nice to see a naturally formed storm instead of creating one myself.
Mother Nature did a good job…it wasn’t as powerful as the ones I made, but it
was
beautiful.

We
were about to sit down again when something caught Eligos’s attention. He
turned his attention back to the window, glaring outside.

“Something
is here,” he told us all.

“What?”
Hecate and Danny answered, standing quickly.

A
split second later Vetis and Elizabeth appeared in the room.

“Good
timing,” Eligos smirked to his brother.

“Impeccable,
as always,” he said, returning the smirk.

“Keira,
you should keep your friends inside; this isn’t going to be easy for them,”
Elizabeth told me.

“Why?”

“We
saw it in the viewing pool...it’s....” She looked over at Danny, sadness
filling her eyes. “It’s—”

She
didn’t get time to finish her sentence. A flash of lightning illuminated the
grounds of the house just long enough for me to see them myself. An
overwhelming feeling of nausea swept over me.

“Danny,
you must stay inside,” I urged him.

“No…what
is it?”

“Danny,
please; if you never trust anything I say to you ever again, trust me now. Keep
the guys inside and away from the windows.”

“Keira!”

“Just
do it Danny!”

I
teleported myself outside, just past where we parked our cars. Eligos, Hecate,
Vetis, and Elizabeth soon appeared around me. The rain was getting heavier and
heavier. All of them looked around in disbelief and horror.

In
front of us were seven or eight full blown demons; but worse than that, in
front of
them
were the guys’ parents, all of them with eyes glowing
green. They had been taken from their homes the night of the attack, killed,
and possessed.

“This
is just sick torture,” I choked.

“Keira,
remember…these are not the people you knew. You will not be hurting
them
...it’s
just a shell,” Eligos tried to sympathize.

Looking
at Evelyn and Sofia hurt the most…the two I’d been closest to.

“What’s
going on?” I heard Tyler say.

I
turned to see him walking toward us, with Jake, Lucian, and Danny close behind.
When they looked past us and saw their parents standing there, they froze. I
didn’t know what to say to them. They look heartbroken, devastated, confused.
Hecate and Elizabeth ran to them, trying to offer them some sort of comfort. I
wanted to help too, but I couldn’t move…I could hardly think straight, I was in
so much shock and pain myself. I knew we would have to fight, but how could the
guys kill their parents, even if it wasn’t really them anymore? It would have a
tremendous effect on them. I would have to deal with this without them, with
help from the others.

I
turned to face the attackers again…none of them had moved. They just stood
there still as statues, grinning at us. They knew the effect this would have on
us. They must have thought it would give them the upper hand, distract us
enough that they could at least take
some
of us out.

“Are
you going to be able to do this?” Vetis asked me, his eyes turning ruby red. “We
can handle this if you need us to.”

“No,
I can do this,” I told him, allowing my eyes to change too.

Their
parents noticed our changed appearance and took a few steps closer to us. Were
they waiting for
us
to make the first move? Demons and their followers
didn’t normally do that.

“Keira!”
Lucian shouted. “If you touch my parents I swear to God—!”

“They
are NOT your parents,” Eligos barked at him.

“Keira,”
Danny shot. “Do NOT touch them!”

The
grins on the intruders’ faces grew bigger; this was exactly what they had hoped
for. They were going to try and cause war between
us
. They wanted us to
turn on each other.

“Do
not worry about your friends, Keira,” Vetis told me. “They are just in shock; they
know in their hearts what needs to be done.”

“I
hope you’re right,” I choked.

Beth
and the others were now outside too. Olivia and her brothers didn’t know the
guys’ parents very well, but it didn’t stop them from looking upset about the
situation. Beth was crying…Marley was doing her best to conceal her tears. I
looked at her, hoping she would read my mind. I kept saying,
“Marley, this
has to happen, you must hold them back.”
She’d obviously heard me…I was
relieved when she looked at me and nodded quickly.