Chapter 28 #2
A wave of dizziness washed over her, and she sank onto the bench. She tried to look around at the yard, where she’d spent countless hours swimming in the pool and playing tennis with Blade and Mace, but she couldn’t see through her tears.
Would they ever be able to hang out like that again?
She had a feeling she knew the answer, and she wanted to vomit.
She had to get out of here. Needed to scream or cry or—
Her wrist comms vibrated, and a message popped up. It was from Amber.
Harvester is awake. She wants to see you. And she’s acting weird, so hurry, okay?
Closing her eyes, Scotty thanked the Fates. She’d needed a distraction, and this was perfect.
Tell her I’m on my way.
Harvester was waiting for Scotty inside Thanatos’s library, a gothic-themed monstrosity that suited a Horseman called Death. Suited Harvester too. She might be an angel, but she liked to say that she had especially dirty wings.
G-ma was so funny.
“Grandma!” Scotty threw herself at Harvester and sank into her hug. “I still can’t believe you’re back.”
Harvester laughed and drew away, but something about her subdued manner made Scotty’s alarm bells chime. “If not for you and your sister, I wouldn’t be.” She frowned. “You’ve been crying. Why?”
Because I’m in a no-win situation, and I’m about to lose my team and at least one of my best friends.
The thought threatened to bring back the tears, but she ruthlessly shoved the problem aside for the moment. Right now, her grandma was back, Eva was safe, and there was too much to celebrate.
Her father had taught her that.
“No matter how badly you lose the battle, no matter how much you lose in blood and treasure, celebrate everything, every chance you have. Celebrating even minor triumphs is a step forward during times when you’ve slid backward. Morale matters.”
“It’s nothing, G,” Scotty said. “I’m just tired.” As if to prove the point, a wave of exhaustion hit her, making her sway hard enough that she had to brace her hands on Thanatos’s desk. Instantly, Harvester whisked her to a chair.
“Sit,” she ordered. “I’ll get you some water.”
Scotty waved her off. “It’s okay. I’m fine.” But it was weird. As an immortal, she felt exhaustion, but usually only after serious physical activity or days without sleep.
Harvester, wearing one of Regan’s black sweatshirts and pink sweatpants with the word Hot on the ass, scrutinized Scotty for so long she started to squirm. “When did it start?”
Scotty shrugged. “It was the ceremony to bring you back. It really wiped me out. Probably wiped all of us.”
“Did you feel anything odd? Like a tug?” The concern in Harvester’s expression made the alarm bells chime louder. “Or like something was being pulled out of you?”
Um, yeah. “How did you know?”
Closing her eyes, Harvester sank down in the chair next to her. “Oh, Scotty.”
The alarm bells were no longer chiming. They were clanging. “G? What’s going on?”
Harvester took her hand, and Scotty’s gut sank. Nothing good would come of this conversation. “You probably don’t remember much of this, but when you were little, you were attacked and nearly killed by demons…”
Harvester continued, each word leaving Scotty reeling in shock, even as they knocked loose memories she hadn’t known existed.
The Harrowgate.
A new memory clawed at her mind. “I opened a gate for the demons. But it wasn’t the island gate.
That was the day I learned to open gates with my blood.
Lilu—she was my invisible friend, wasn’t she?
” More memories crashed through her mind in a flood.
“Holy shit, Lilu told me how to open the gate, and it let all those demons through! That’s why I hate opening gates.
” Twenty-five years of stress over opening gates was finally explained.
But she had so many more questions. “What the hell, Harvester? Why did you take away my memories? Do my parents know what happened? Do they know I didn’t remember any of it? ”
“I didn’t take away your memories,” she said with a defensive sniff. “I just…buried them a little. I wanted them accessible if anyone ever brought it up. And yes, your parents know what happened.”
“What about Lilu? Who was she?” Scotty racked her brain, searching for answers. “She must have been a demon.”
“Not a demon. The demon. It was Lilith,” Harvester said. “I suspect she was behind several attacks on your cousins, as well.”
Of course! “The tempestus demon that attacked Logan when he was little.”
“And, I believe, the attack at the theme park that killed Chaos.”
Scotty blinked. “Blade’s little brother? What would Lilith have against Blade’s family?”
“I don’t believe they were the target. Logan was at the park with them.”
Holy shit. Chaos’s death had wrecked the entire Seminus clan and caused a huge rift between Stryke and his family that lasted for decades. It wasn’t until just a few months ago that the healing had begun…for everyone except Blade. There was still a lot of tension strung between the two brothers.
“All this time, we believed it was a random demon incursion.” They happened all the time. Hence, the existence of The Aegis and DART. “Why are you telling me all this now?”
“Because one of the demons that attacked you that day was a mordaemon.”
“A mordaemon? Why have I never heard of those?”
“They’re very rare, and like the tempestus demon that attacked Logan, they’re usually restricted to the demon realm. They feed off only one thing. Immortality.”
“Meaning…?”
“They steal immortality from immortals.”
Scotty shuddered in horror. “Nasty critters. But I’m still immortal, so obviously it starved that day, right?”
“I wish. Oh, how I wish.” Harvester’s voice, normally forceful and confident, often a bit vicious, caught on little jags of emotion, and a tremor of foreboding shot up Scotty’s spine.
G-ma wasn’t one to get emotional. She hoarded her feelings the way orcs hoarded enemy skulls.
“I didn’t get to you in time, darling. It took your immortality. ”
No. That wasn’t possible. Scotty would have been dead a million times over if that was the case. Harvester was confused. She’d just been reassembled from a drop of blood and a few miracles, so of course, she wasn’t all there.
“You almost died,” Harvester continued, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. “We nearly lost you.”
“Well, obviously I didn’t die, so my immortality is just fine—”
“No.” Harvester reached out and gripped Scotty’s arm. “I gave you a tiny bit of my Grace. Enough to restore your immortality.”
Whoa. Okay, so the demon had gotten a meal that day. Scotty sagged into her chair. This was a lot to deal with. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because what I did is forbidden. But it doesn’t matter now.” The emotional warble was back in Harvester’s voice, and once again, fear gripped Scotty in its icy fingers. “When Raika’s incantation drew my Grace out of Eva…it drew it out of you as well.”
Oh, gods.
Without Harvester’s Grace, Scotty was no longer immortal. Her supernatural healing abilities would be affected, too, maybe even nullified. How could she do her job now? How could she fight demons and protect her team?
“Can’t you give me the Grace back?”
“No,” Harvester rasped. “I’m cut off from Heaven. I might as well be an Unfallen. I have no powers, no ability to transfer Grace to you.”
Panic frayed the edges of Scotty’s control. “Heaven could be closed off for decades! Centuries, even!” This was a disaster, and not just for her. “What about you? How are you going to get Reaver out of his prison if you can’t get into Heaven?”
“We’ll worry about your grandfather and me later. Right now, we need to buy you some time,” Harvester said, sounding more like her usual self, now that she was in planning mode. “You can bond with something that will lend you its life force or lifespan. One of your mother’s hellhounds, perhaps.”
Scotty recoiled. “Those disgusting things? No way.” There wasn’t even a guarantee that it would work.
Not everyone had the genetic makeup required to communicate properly with the beasts.
Scotty’s mind spun as she contemplated her new reality.
“I’ll just be extra careful until you get your powers back—”
“You said it yourself. It could be decades.”
Okay, sure, that would put a dent in her career plans, but she could manage. Maybe she could take more of a supportive role on the team. She wasn’t sure how that would work, but the idea of giving up everything wasn’t acceptable.
“But we don’t know it’ll be decades,” Scotty said. “Heaven could open its gates in a couple of weeks. I say we play it by ear.”
Her grandmother spun away, but not before Scotty saw a tear fall. A tear. In all of Scotty’s years, she’d never seen Harvester cry.
“G-ma?” Scotty pushed to her feet, alarmed by how shaky her legs were. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
“When the mordaemons take immortality from someone, it drains their life force too. My Grace plugged the drain. But now that it’s gone…”
“I’m dying.” Scotty caught herself on the back of a chair as a wave of nausea crashed over her. “I am, aren’t I?” she croaked. “How much time do I have?” When Harvester didn’t answer, Scotty’s blood congealed in her veins. “G-ma?”
Very slowly, Harvester turned to her, her face pale and streaked with tears. “Days, darling. You only have days.”