Cian

For the next few hours, I drifted in and out of consciousness. At least a pint, maybe two, of blood had been taken right out of my veins, and I was feeling the effects. I didn't seem to be able to focus my thoughts—they wavered at one topic, then moved on to another, and took a leap to yet another. The sheets stuck to me; I was supremely uncomfortable, writhing in my own clammy skin as if searching for escape somehow.

I was regretting this.

I was definitely regretting this.

I heard the door to the room open, and managed to lift my eyes. An unfamiliar face stared back at me, one of the Silhouettes, a girl that didn't look much older than me. "Cian Horne, right?"

I groaned out a reply: "Yours truly."

The Silhouette nervously adjusted her necklace. I wondered distantly if this was yet another one of Nick's brainwashed minions. "Someone's asking to see you," the girl responded. She saw me raise my eyebrows, adding briskly, "Um, in the front part of the Destiny."

Away from here. Where I had wanted to be since my arrival. What was this? "Nick doesn't have any objections to this visitor?"

"Nick's preoccupied," the girl replied. "He's conferring with an old friend."

"Old friend?"

"I don't know the details. I've just been sent to fetch you."

"By who?"

The girl gritted her teeth, storming away from the door and to my bedside, tugging me out of bed and to my feet. "No one. Just come on already."

I swayed a little on my feet, my head spinning from moving too quickly. "Geez, woman—I'm up, I'm up."

We went down the hall, to the tunnel-like corridors Nick had led me through the first night I'd shown up here. It took a moment for my feet to fall back into rhythm, and my head still pounded, but I was feeling a whole lot better than I had been yesterday. Regardless, unease still plagued me. Who was this 'visitor,' and what could they possibly want with me? And, considering how Nick had been watching me like a hawk for these past twenty-four hours or so, why was he suddenly preoccupied?

I didn't like the look of this, especially not when a hand reached from the dark and tugged sharply at my collar.

I stumbled backwards with a yelp, just as a voice hissed: "You scream like a little girl, Cian. Quiet."

The unease within me subsided. I'd know that voice anywhere. Whirling, I gasped, "Muffin?"

Lucie stood before me, her dark eyes shining like jewels in spite of the lack of light, her uncontrollable curls piled in a bun on top of her head. I heard the click of a flashlight before the beam shone in my face, blinding me. "It's you? Really?" she asked. Her tone sounded wary. "Not...like, demon you?"

I shook my head, using my hands to shield myself from the bright onslaught. "No, they haven't done anything to me, besides drawing a ton of my blood—"

"Where's my money?" asked the Silhouette that had brought me here, brushing my past my shoulder. She held out a greedy palm, levelling a glare at Lucie.

To my surprise, my brother stepped from the shadows. It was odd to see him in such a place like this, where darkness and danger seemed to press in from the walls. What was even stranger was the cool collectiveness in his eyes, the precision with which we whipped out a wad of twenty dollar bills and shoved it in the girl's palm. "Go, and don't tell anyone we're here," he ordered. "If you do, you'll regret it."

The girl nodded, and ran off.

I watched with both fascination and complete confusion. "You both...bribed a Silhouette to get me here? What's this about..." I trailed off as Lucie stepped forward, dropping the beam of her flashlight from my face and closing me in her arms. I sighed, pressing my lips fleetingly to her head, tugging her closer. My head seemed to stop spinning.

"I'm so glad you're okay," she exhaled. "Oh, thank God, thank God. I was worried you'd be gone already...just like Dempsey..."

"I don't give up that easily," I whispered to her. Over Lucie's head, my eyes met Vinny's, if only for a moment. He looked away just as our gazes connected, and I frowned, not sure what was irking him.

Lucie released me, stepping back and folding her arms. "Look, Caprice is talking to Nick, but she can't hold him off forever. That's why you need to talk and you need to talk now."

"How'd you know to come find me?"

"Because we know you, Cian," Vinny cut in. "We know you and we know that you were doing something else when you handed yourself in to Nick. All we needed was a way to talk to you."

"So here we are," Lucie said. "Thanks, sort of, to Caprice. So you can thank her for that. Now tell us, already—what does Nick want with you?"

I sighed, resting against the wall to keep my balance for another moment. "Nothing good," I told them, reaching out of habit to brush hair back from my face, despite the fact my recent haircut eliminated the need. "I'm his metaphorical key, which I told Vinny already, and he finally told me what I'm opening."

Lucie and Vinny shared a fearful glance. "What?" Lucie pressed.

"The demon world," I answered with an exhale, hiding my face in my hands. I could hardly believe it myself, that such a horrible place had the capacity to be merged with this plane, and that my own blood was the only way to do it. Running in my veins was the ultimate weapon of mass destruction, and I hadn't known it until now. "Nick's opening the door to the demon world, and he's using my blood to do it."

My little brother was looking quite green. All three of us had had experiences with those dark creatures—one had taken my wings from me, one had shredded Vinny's ethereal form to pieces and not to mention possessed him, one had nearly killed Lucie and corrupted her brother. We had all seen them, smelled them, known them, and we all wished we hadn't.

Vinny pinched the fold of skin between his eyebrows, closing his eyes as if this information hurt him. "Why your blood? Why not use his, or literally anyone else's?"

"I'm the only mortal angel in existence, Vince," I answered him. "My blood's...ideal for this kind of thing. Worst of all, I don't know how to stop him. I thought I could figure something out if he was just planning to change me into a fallen angel, but that's not the case. He just wants me as his sacrifice, and I'm not sure how to weasel my way out of this one."

Lucie frowned, her eyebrows furrowing. I had always been intrigued by the look on her face she always got when she was thinking—the keen gleam in her eye, sharper than a knife, the slight pout at her lip that she did without even noticing, her fingers as they grazed her chin. She was both amazingly smart and beautiful, and at the same time. "How long do we have?"

I shrugged. "Can't be sure. He said as soon as my blood tests come back, as soon as he knows the demons will be happy, or something like that."

"Blood tests take a while," Vinny said hopefully. "Maybe a couple days? A week?"

"These aren't regular blood tests," Lucie cut in, raising an eyebrow at Vinny. "These are, like, voodoo blood tests. We shouldn't expect them to be confirmed in a usual time frame."

"That is true," I commended. "Look—just talk to Caprice. It looks like we might have to get the Order involved in this. They'll know what to do."

Lucie's expression soured. "The Order? You mean those people that took your wings away, haven't even checked back? Cian, if they hadn't been so stupid, you'd have your wings back, and this wouldn't be such a big deal in the first place—"

"Lucie," Vinny warned. His eyes met mine again, an unsaid message hidden in them. "He knows that already. He's right, too. They would know how to deal with the demons, with Nick."

I nodded in agreement with Vinny's comments, then risked a wary glance at the hall beyond them. The last thing I wanted was to leave the both of them, to go back to being probed at by Nick, but I didn't have any other choices. I couldn't have him getting suspicious, not when we were so close. I turned, pressing a light kiss to Lucie's cheek, ruffling Vinny's hair. "Get the Order, and if you need me again, just send Caprice. I can't have you two wandering here; it's too dangerous."

Vinny opened his mouth to protest. Lucie shut it for him, ignoring the narrow-eyed glare he bent on her. "Okay," she said, her worry written all over her face. "Be careful, alright?"

"Always, muffin," I replied. I held her gaze for a moment longer, not wanting to leave her yet. Finally, I exhaled, beginning to make my way back towards where I came from. Over my shoulder, I called, "I'll come back to you."

Nick was waiting for me when I made it back to the room.

My blood jumped a little within my veins, especially at the dubiety ever present in the way he looked at me. He was leaned against the dresser drawer, one eyebrow risen, his glasses pushed to the edge of his nose. "Ah, Cian, nice to see you back again. Where had you gone?"

"I was just taking a stroll," I said, making sure to keep my tone steady. I smirked at him, raking a hand back through my hair as I stepped further into the room, shouldering the door closed behind me. "You don't think I'd—I'd leave, do you? By golly, Nick, I'm not an idiot."

"That's arguable."

I scowled. "Can I help you? Do you need more of my blood, or something?"

"About that," said Nick. He steadied himself away from the dresser, taking a few long steps in my direction. His eyes fell to the shirt on my chest, the same dress shirt I'd been wearing the night he brought me here. Eden's blood was still a splash of color against its pallid blue color, and he wrinkled his nose. "First of all—we should really get you a change of clothes."

"Like the demons will care what I look like?"

"Well, you should always dress to impress," he countered, then cleared his throat, folding his arms. "I'm happy to tell you, Cian—we've finished with the tests."

My stomach flipped over. The tests couldn't be over...because that would mean... "The...tests? With my blood?"

A grin grew on Nick's face, as toxic as the contents of his blackened heart. "Yes, and best of all, they were all successful. In other words, your blood's perfect for the sacrifice. So, Cian, I'd prepare yourself."

I tried to wipe the stunned look off my face, likely failing. All I could manage to say was, "Huh?"

He laughed. "The demon world will be opened tomorrow."