Bones (The Four #4)

Prologue

PROLOGUE

DUBHLOACH

1690S

D eath lurks near.

And I do not mean my brother.

Unease rippled down my spine to twist in my stomach. The crusty bread and potted meat that had just filled my belly suddenly vanished, and an intense hunger stole my breath until my strides stumbled on the cobblestone.

With my own steps halted, I heard the softer ones that followed me before pausing soon after.

Keeping my back to my mystery shadow, I moved toward the stacked crates at the side of the path and paused to dig in my leather satchel. I pulled free the remainder of my bread and meat before adding the dried, salted cheese I packed for my evening meal.

The senses in the back of my mind said that I would not need it anyway.

A dreaded thought that I did not allow myself to focus on.

I set the nourishment down on the dusty crates and turned my back to them as I pretended to search my bag further.

As I pretended not to hear them being stolen from under my nose.

Only when the rapidly fleeing footsteps sounded did I dare to risk a peek over my shoulder.

For the love of angels… Just a young girl.

Could not be more than five.

Practically a babe and wasting away.

Despite her empty stomach that I felt as keenly as if it were my own, she did not dig into her pilfered treasures with the ravenous indulgence she very well deserved. Rather, she held the prize close to herself as she ran.

Undoubtedly to share when few others had extended that same consideration to the starving child.

An ocean away, and yet the same toxic rot has spread more so.

I find I loathe this time and place.

It did not used to be like this.

I had a wealth of time to compare to. For centuries, I had roamed the Earth with my siblings. Though we had once worked together, we had long ago been forced to separate into territories in order to fulfill our duties.

Keep the growing use of magicks in check.

Keep things fair.

Balanced .

Most importantly, we were tasked to prevent the end of the world.

Even as the humans did their best to hasten it.

Dark magicks were a danger to all—including those who wielded it—but growing greed was the real crux of humankind’s undoing.

For as long as my siblings and I had existed, humans had always suffered from greed and envy. The more years that passed, the worse it became.

Especially in that time and place.

Where death lurked and evil resided.

I shuddered, that darkness entwining in the spot where half a soul resided. My steps resumed with the need to reach my brother’s home.

To be with my siblings after far too many years apart.

No longer caring if my rapid steps drew attention, gossip, or fear, I increased my strides as I followed the connection that pulled at my very being. I paused outside of Thanatos’ door long enough to give a quick knock before entering to find I was the last to arrive.

Thanatos.

Juno.

Lenuson.

Death.

War.

Pestilence.

And me.

Famine.

A feeling of fullness settled in my chest, but it was not whole. It never was. It never would be.

Not until my soul was finally complete.

Not until it found its other half.

My mate.

My one .

“Brother,” Thanatos greeted, pulling me into an embrace. I felt the matching emptiness in him become a little less vast in my presence. “Just in time.”

“Took you long enough,” Juno interjected, tucking her red hair behind her ear.

My brows lowered. “We were just summoned.”

“And I’ve been here for five whole minutes.” She oddly glanced at her bare wrist. “Almost six minutes. And in these scratchy AF clothes, that’s basically an eternity. Haven’t they heard of the joys of fabric softener? I’d settle for a polyester blend.”

My gaze moved over her head to my other brother. Lenuson eyed Juno with the same confusion, clearly also wondering if she was unwell.

Perchance she has picked up an ailment from the islands she patrols. A brain-eating amoeba of some sort.

Lenuson looked as though he wanted to examine her, but she spoke before he could suggest so.

Adjusting her skirt with a scowl, she said, “Explain to me again why we’re here.”

Utilizing his copious and thorough notes, Thanatos started at the beginning. He spoke of the surge of dark magicks. The growing mistrust and suspicion. The fearmongering that had begun to turn violent.

He shared that Absolve was there in Salem.

Soul stealers hiding amongst the church.

Hypocrisy within the righteous.

His discoveries echoed what my instincts had already shown.

The pious had been led to condemn each other, leaving those in need to suffer while they cast judgment around them. Turning a blind eye to the destitute in order to keep tabs on the comings and goings of their neighbors.

Building their worth on the backs of others’ misfortune.

Looking down on them as though they were better for letting others go without.

After informing us of all he had learned during his time there, Thanatos left his notations open to review while we planned.

Juno voted in favor of destroying the entire town.

Though many had done nothing to earn his consideration, Lenuson’s concern lay with the safety of those who inhabited the damned town.

My own opinion fell somewhere between the two. While I didn’t want senseless destruction, I was too aware of the emptiness that resided within many and the potential for catastrophe to make wishful demands of peace.

Despite the bickering and the battle we strategized for, I allowed myself to enjoy being with my siblings. I had missed them almost as much as my soul missed its counterpart.

Even when they would not listen to reason that we should separate once we breached Joseph Martin’s hiding place.

Or when Juno said odd words that made no sense.

Or when Lenuson and I locked in a heated argument about the potential loss of life.

It was a balm to just see the three of them again. To be together in a way we often could not be due to the widespread use of magicks.

While we considered every possibility of attack and counterattack, I prepared what food Thanatos had stocked—serving some but packing most into my bag. If anyone noticed, they did not question it.

Hours later, the sun had fully set. We had gone through the variables. Planned for the unplannable. It was time.

We set out for the church.

Lenuson and I took the lead. As we traveled, I pulled the provisions from my bag and left them in various spots. I did not mind if an animal came upon the little feasts I left in a trail. They were in need of sustenance like any other living being. I only hoped those with stocked cupboards and full bellies did not discard what they did not require.

That kind of waste when so many went without…

It was unconscionable.

“That is a surprising amount of effort and care you are expending forth for the same lives you were just willing to sacrifice,” Lenuson pointed out.

I glared at him. “To save the lives of many, I could be forced to shoulder the loss of few. Not willingly. Nor happily. We would do our best to prevent any deaths. Yet that sacrifice would be preferable to the devastation of all because we were too preoccupied with saving those few. Would it not, brother?”

His clenched jaw and the rapid flipping of the coin between his knuckles were the only signs of his concession.

When simply walking became too arduous, I removed my satchel and left it open near a home in immense disarray. I softly tapped the door before continuing onward, ignoring the calls of gratitude from the inhabitants whose hearts were full despite their empty bellies.

One step at a time.

One foot in front of the other.

One breath in.

One breath out.

Each small movement was a chore that drained my physical and mental energy.

A clear sign we were going in the correct direction.

And that the fight would be all we had overprepared for.

Potentially more.

Once we reached the church, the dark power pulsed over my skin and into my veins. It churned my stomach until it was an effort just to keep it from revolting.

The building of salvation for souls was lacking in both salvation and souls.

Juno attempted to use her magicks to get inside but was prevented.

“I told you,” Thanatos told her. “I have never experienced anything like that.”

“I have.” Juno shared about the wards that protected the holy grounds in her island territory by blocking all magicks, not just the kind rooted in evil.

“Will we be able to defeat him if our powers are useless?” Lenuson asked, echoing my own thoughts.

“Together. As I said.” Shaking her head, she added, “You act like I’m not the smartest one here.”

“And the most bothersome,” I said.

She lifted her hand to playfully swat at me, as though we were normal siblings. When I caught her wrist, I felt it.

Her emptiness.

Her aching desire for her own mate.

Her fear she hid behind arrogance and unusual words.

Her despair at… something .

I did not know what because she also did not know.

I gave her what I hoped was a comforting squeeze as we shared a look.

Releasing her, we entered the building and followed the path of hallways Juno had set on Thanatos’ map. The difficulty of simply walking grew worse the closer we got to the room.

The despair.

The hatred.

The evil.

The emptiness.

I felt it. Tasted it. It invaded my senses and my thoughts so completely that it made me feel hollow. A dried husk with nothing inside. No heart nor soul.

Empty .

With immense effort born of centuries on Earth, I focused on our powers. On our togetherness. On the brightness that filled us like a sunrise cutting through the inky darkness of a long night.

Juno grabbed the door and froze. As Thanatos pried her hand free and checked it for injury, she blankly said what we already knew.

We would not win that day.

We would not lose that day.

We would fight.

Together.

As we should be.

The door burst open, and we rushed in, arms out.

As expected, Joseph Martin was inside, nervously pacing.

Only he wasn’t alone.

Concern pinched Thanatos’ face. “John, you should not be here. You have done your part, dear friend. You have helped me track the leader. Run. Now.”

He did not feel it.

I, however, did.

The emptiness in John’s chest.

The place where his soul should be.

“He is not your friend, brother,” I said.

John’s brows furrowed, and he blinked with earnest and exaggerated innocence. “I am. Your only friend. The only one you can trust with your secrets. Trust to take down Absolve.” He erupted in a cruel laugh. “So easy to fool and beguile.”

Juno tossed her arm out toward him. “Who the fuck is this douche?”

“We will defeat you both,” Thanatos bit out, ignoring our sister.

“It will be rewarding when we succeed. Not because I will get a share of your power, but because I will no longer have to listen to you whine.” A cloud of acrid greenish brown smoke swirled over John’s body. His eyes grew panicked. “No. No!”

And then his body slumped to the floor.

No longer breathing.

“Is he dead?” Juno asked, kicking at him.

Before anyone could confirm, Joseph Martin was moving.

Charging at us.

That same filthy green floated from his hands. It wasn’t magicks. It was something different. Visible.

Powerful.

“The power is mine and mine alone.” The smoke filled the room. Swelled outward still, pushing at the windows. Threatening to overtake the town.

We could not let it happen.

Raising our arms, my siblings and I fought.

Together.

As we should be.

Apart.

As we were never meant to be.

The battle had come and gone.

We did not lose.

We did not win.

My lids shot open. I was not sure how much time had passed. Scanning my surroundings, I saw nothing but heavy woods. Even still, I knew I was no longer in Salem.

No longer in Massachusetts.

I closed my eyes and mentally reached for my siblings. No matter how far spread we were across the continents, I always felt them. That presence had been a reassurance in the face of evil. Yet suddenly I could not find our links. Not even a thin thread of them.

All that was left was three jagged connections that had been violently severed.

They’re gone?

I refused to entertain the thought.

Rather than channeling my focus outward in search of them, I directed it upward to the powers-that-be.

Silence.

I will hunt for my siblings. I do not care how long it takes or how far I need to go. No corner of this Earth will go unexplored.

I will find them.

There is no other option.

Aurora

MODERN DAY, SIX YEARS AGO

“We still going to the mall after youth group?” Annabelle whispered to the group.

I might have been standing with them, but I wasn’t included in the trip or their discussion.

I knew better than to assume I was.

Bethany nodded excitedly. “I have the car and told my mom we’re spending this beautiful Saturday afternoon volunteering at the shelter like good girls.”

A dirtiness at just hearing that lie spread across my skin, but I pushed it away.

“I heard Hunter talking at school yesterday that he’d be there with his friends.” Claire tugged at the buttoned cardigan she wore. “Before we look for them, I’m gonna buy a crop top.”

It wasn’t my business what she bought or wore, but her father was a different matter.

The pastor preached on a pulpit of fire and brimstone about everything, but especially the immodesty of women. Revealing clothes were the modern version of the apple that Eve used to tempt man.

To damn humanity.

If he were to find out his own daughter was exposing her skin—skin that, according to his sermons, belonged to her future husband—she would face his wrath. It would be worse if others from the congregation witnessed her disrespect.

And they would.

Images flashed through my head.

Claire choking on a soft pretzel until she lost consciousness.

Old Ms. Crane as her emergency room nurse.

The retelling of Claire’s worldly clothing spreading through the pews like wildfire.

Pastor Gideon’s violent wrath.

I tried to hold the words in. I swallowed past the thickness of them lodged in my throat like I was the one choking.

This is just my imagination.

This is why I have no one.

Why I’m stuck in the Gideons’ care.

It’s none of my business.

I just need to shut ? —

“Don’t eat any pretzels,” I blurted out in a quiet rush, trying to protect the girl who tormented me.

Despite all the materialistic items she’d been spoiled with, it was never enough.

Despite the cruelty she faced from her own father, it never stopped her from dolling it out herself.

Animal droppings in my lumpy bed.

Added holes in my already worn clothing.

Stolen schoolwork.

Stolen everything .

Gossip and rumors she spoke like truth and gospel until our entire school thought the worst about me.

In the six months I’d lived with the Gideon family, Claire had made my life hell. I could’ve let her face the consequences of her actions. Maybe I should’ve.

Because at my bizarre warning, the three of them glared at me like the freak I was.

“Okay, Satan,” Annabelle muttered.

Claire laughed, but it was nasty. “She wishes. Satan is powerful. He runs hell. Auro- rolf ”—she made the end of my name sound like she was barfing—“is just a little demon. She’s a no one.”

Her words cut.

And those cuts grew into gaping wounds when she leveled me with a demeaning stare. “She’s nothing. It’s why none of her family wants her and why she had to come torture me.” She put her hand to her chest. “If God gives his hardest trials to his most loyal warriors, then I must be truly special since he sent me a weird-eyed freakazoid.”

I didn’t say anything. I couldn’t.

Because for all I knew, she was right.

I didn’t know who I was or where I’d come from. I didn’t know whether I had a loving family searching for me.

Or one avoiding me the same way my foster family did.

Even just the basics, like my favorite color or what kind of personality I’d had, were a mystery. Had I always loved to read? Had I always wanted food so spicy, it gave me the hiccups? My guess was no because, according to Pastor Gideon, that was the devil’s fire at work. But what had my favorite food been before? Had I always been quiet, or was Claire’s treatment of me my own damnation because I’d been a mean girl? Was my… imagination because of the accident, or was it something I’d always been cursed with?

I had no idea.

I only knew two things for certain—or as certain as I could be about anything.

My name was Aurora, and my accident happened on my sixteenth birthday.

Everything else from before that day six months prior was gone.

Try as I might, I couldn’t stop Claire’s verbal blows from landing as violently as her fists might’ve. Actually, I was pretty sure it was worse.

Physical bruises healed a lot faster.

Claire reached out to give my blonde braid a vicious tug before the three of them walked inside, giggling as they went.

I didn’t move.

I squeezed my eyes closed like that would magically change the bizarre color difference of crystal blue and the darkest black.

I inhaled like that would magically bring me peace.

I prayed like that would magically make my real family appear.

For the millionth time in the six months I’d been there, I thought about running. My legs literally tingled with the need to flee into the woods I’d been rescued from. Not that I would. I couldn’t even get near clusters of trees without panic freezing my breath in my lungs.

“You okay, Aurora?”

I jolted at the question spoken from close to my ear. My lids shot open, and I turned my head to see my youth pastor. “Uh, yes. I’m fine, Pastor Jackson.”

He gave a soft chuckle. “I’ve told you, call me Ryan. If you insist on formality, I’ll settle for Pastor Ryan. But Pastor Jackson makes me feel like I’m a decrepit old man.” He grinned. “Which I am, but I don’t want the reminder.”

He wasn’t an old man. Not like Pastor Gideon or the other elder members of the church.

In his mid-twenties, Pastor Ryan didn’t dress in the same stuffy suits the other men wore at all church functions. He favored stylish suits for Sunday service and casual clothing for everything else. His brown hair was always just a little overgrown and messy, even right after a cut. He was six feet tall—towering over my five foot nothing—lean muscled, and… hot .

He was so hot.

It felt wrong to notice it, and I would never say it out loud. Not like Claire. She and her friends talked in detail about how staring at the sexy pastor was the only good thing about attending church and youth group.

But that wasn’t true. He was nice to look at, but everything he said was worth listening to. He was smart. Kind. Sweet . The way he spoke so sincerely made it feel as if he was talking only to me.

It took me an awkward moment to find my equally awkward words. “Right. Pastor Ryan.”

“You sure you’re okay? Is there anything you’d like to share?”

I nodded before shaking my head, leaving me looking like a bobblehead. “I mean, yes, I am okay, and no, there’s nothing to share.”

His jaw clenched. “You know you can trust me, right?”

I didn’t know that.

I didn’t trust anyone—including myself.

How could I? I was clearly insane.

A freak.

“I know,” I lied.

He smiled, but it looked forced. “We better get inside. I’m available to talk later if you change your mind.”

When he gave my arm a friendly squeeze, an image of him kissing me popped into my head.

Unlike the other glimpses I got, I didn’t have to tell myself it was my imagination. I was absolutely certain it was my own sinful creation.

That didn’t stop it from spiking my heart rate and my temperature.

Feeling unworthy in so many ways, I followed the pastor inside.

Maybe today’s topic will help me feel less alone in the crowded room.

I shot awake.

Blinking sleep from my eyes, I sat up and tried to figure out what’d woken me.

A booming shout echoed through the large house, followed by a slam and the squeaking floor.

Claire.

Why wouldn’t she just listen?

A high-pitched cry mixed with the rumble of insults and fiery damnation.

I wanted to hide my head under the pillow, but it wouldn’t help. It wouldn’t stop my imagination from forming the image I’d had earlier that day.

The one of Pastor Gideon shoving Claire to the ground as he screamed in her face, all while Mrs. Gideon watched on in her numbed stupor.

The house quieted, but it wasn’t peaceful. It never was. The air was always tense like shards of eggshells lined every surface, impossible to avoid.

I braced even before I heard the footsteps.

Before she filled the doorway of the tiny room in the back of the large house that’d been designated as my own.

Her pretty brown hair was tangled in disarray, and tears streamed down her splotchy cheeks. Her voice was rough as she seethed, “This is all your fault. I only ate that pretzel because you said not to. And then you made this happen.”

“How? I’ve been asleep.”

“Of course you have. Always early to bed, early to rise. Quiet. Polite. Proper . The shining example of what a good child should be. Always so perfect.” Her face pinched. “If you’re so perfect, why hasn’t your family looked for you? Why don’t they want you? Because you’re a demon, and they know it.”

I rolled over and tried to ignore the hollow emptiness that filled me at her words.

But she wasn’t done.

“And one day,” Claire shouted, “ everyone will know it!”