Velocity (The Gravity Series) Read online

  It was a likely possibility.

  Instead of taking the direct route to the hill, I changed course and took the longer way around. It would add ten minutes, but hardly anyone used the old back roads. If it was someone just driving in Hell to another destination, they’d certainly turn.

  I flicked on the blinker, but the Cadillac didn’t. That made me feel a little foolish. I turned onto the road, and for a second thought I was alone. But then the Cadillac swerved onto the road too. My heart started to thump in fear.

  I took another turn, now not really thinking as much about getting to my destination as I was about getting away. The black car turned with me, keeping a maddeningly even pace.

  There was a little gas station ahead. I turned on the blinker and slowed down. The car sped up for a second; it was going to hit me. I swung into the gas station and the Cadillac rushed by. I pulled up into a parking space, beginning to hyperventilate, and shut off the car. I stared down the road, breathing hard. I wondered if I should text Henry and cancel the whole thing.

  My phone vibrated in the console, as if in response my thoughts.

  I picked it up with shaking hands.

  Where are you?

  On my way, I texted back. Got delayed because of snow.

  I wanted to tell him in person.

  Back on the road, I navigated back to the main street. Maybe I really had imagined it. Or maybe, still in my driving infancy, I had made some stupid mistake that had irritated the Cadillac driver and he’d just been expressing some road rage.

  Or maybe it was another of Phillip’s threats.

  Henry was sitting cross-legged on the hood of his car when I arrived, watching the snow. Music was playing from inside the car. I noticed he had a little bit of scruff on his chin. As I came around, his face was still emotionless. But when he saw me, his eyes softened.

  “Hi, gorgeous,” he murmured, holding his arms open for me. I went and wrapped my arms around him, breathing in his woodsy scent. This was my Henry, after all, not Phillip Rhodes’ clone. He nuzzled his face into my hair and sighed.

  “I think someone was following me,” I told him as I pulled back.

  “Really?” He was instantly on high alert. “Where? What kin of car?”

  “A really nice Cadillac. It followed me pretty close for a long time.”

  “Did they see you turn onto the road to come here?”

  I shook my head, rubbing my arms from the sudden chill. “No. I pulled into a gas station and they drove away. I didn’t want them finding this place. It’s one of the few safe places left.”

  “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah.” I paused, biting my lower lip. “I’m not just being a paranoid freak?”

  “Of course not. It was probably someone sent by my dad.” He ran his hand through his hair, walking with his back to me. “I’m sorry, Ariel. I never wanted you in danger. Between this and the eviction and the threats…maybe you really should get out of town.”

  “I’m not leaving and neither is my dad. We’re fighting back against Phillip.” This wasn’t going the way I had planned. I mentally prepared myself to get back in my car. “You can either be with us or against us.”

  “Ariel…” He crossed the distance between us.

  “I don’t want to lose you,” I said, growing uncomfortable with just how emotional I was getting. “I love you, but I’m not going to let Phillip win. He is about to bring evil he doesn’t even understand into the world.”

  “I’ll always be on your side,” Henry said. He looked like he was in pain. “I promise. Tell me what you know.”

  We sat on the hood of his BMW, and I explained what had happened from the time we went to Georgia until now. I only left out two things―my apparent angel-infused blood, and my connection to Dexter. I hadn’t told anyone but Theo about that yet. He listened, not saying a word, the entire time.

  “Phillip tried to do this ritual back in his high school days,” I concluded. “It was like a test drive, but it failed. He looked and acted so much like you, I guess it just threw me off.”

  Henry ran his thumb across his lip and stared at the ground. “You really saw into the past? Like time-traveling?”

  “I don’t know if it’s exactly like time-traveling. More like reading a living memory book. I can’t change anything, I can only observe it.”

  His hand sneaked across the hood and grasped mine. “I’m not him. I’m never going to be him. I’ve never been as close to anyone in my life as I am to you. You’re my everything. And I don’t want to lose you.”

  I smiled, his words flooding me with warmth. “I know, Henry. I know you’re not. It’s just all been too much.”

  He brought his lips to mine and kissed me. I leaned back against the hood of his car and the kiss deepened. I had missed him so much more than I’d let myself feel. The nerves in my body seemed to electrify as he pulled me close. His hips pressed into mine and fire stirred in my belly, racing through my limbs.

  He finally sat up, smiling down at me, and smoothed back my hair. “I love you.”

  “I love you, too,” I murmured.

  “But we should get going,” he said, sitting back.

  He was right. Dad would surely be coming home from Erasmus soon, and he might check in with Lucy if I was gone too long.

  Around us, the shadow-creatures stirred, reminding me of their presence. “We need to figure out our options,” I said, toying with a piece of my hair. “It’s getting closer, I can feel it in the air.”

  We stared down at Hell, so innocuous in the heavy March snow, the sky an innocent shade of periwinkle. It harbored so many secrets behind the twinkling lights. The glitter and charm, the whimsical decorations, the smiling people…it was all a distraction. A lie.

  CHAPTER 13

  HUGH WASN’T THERE when I arrived home. I locked the door, remembering Hugh’s strict instructions not to answer it, period. Settling in, I picked up Eleanor’s diary again. I wanted to reread it and look for more clues.

  The lamp beside me started to flicker. I looked up from my book and frowned. The lightbulb stayed on. I went back to my book, shaking my head. Maybe my eyes were getting bad.

  The light flickered again. I paused, looking up slowly, and the light burned out with a sizzle. As I stared at it, I noticed the shadows rustling in the corner. My pulse started to speed up.

  I hit the switch on the lamp, but it stayed out. I moved to the other side of the couch and turned on the lamp on the table there. I looked back over my shoulder and the shadows seemed to stay in place.

  I sat closer to the other lamp and opened Eleanor’s diary again. No sooner did I tilt my head down to read, the lamp next to me flickered once and went out. My heart leaped into my throat, and I jumped off of the couch. The rest of the lights in the apartment burnt out at the same moment. Something shuffled around me in the dark and fear shot through my veins. The room had suddenly gotten much colder, a chill nipping at my skin

  I stumbled backwards, watching the shadows draw toward me again. Then I noticed a red glow from the window. I turned my head and slowly walked toward it, feeling mesmerized. I pulled up the blinds, and saw a woman in a red dress floating outside in the dark, still air. It wasn’t just her dress that was red―a red, turgid glow encircled her. Her beautiful face was twisted in a hateful glare, and her eyes burned into mine. It looked like there was a lightning storm in her crimson irises. As I got closer to her, heat emanated from her, like she’d sucked it all out of the room into herself.

  I felt like I was going to pass out as her furious eyes bored into mine, but I pressed my hands to the glass for a better look. It felt like she was drawing me to her, and I couldn’t fight her force. The darkness gathered around, close and suffocating.

  The door unlocked behind me and the spell was broken. The lights came back on with a flash. I turned my head. Callie and Hugh came in, chatting benignly.

  “Hi, Ariel,” Callie said, but then she caught my bewildered look. “What happened? You
look upset.”

  I glanced back at the window, but the woman in red was gone. The snow fell peacefully outside the glass.

  “I think I just saw the woman in red,” I explained in a voice that sounded too fast.

  “The lights went out and she was outside, floating right by the window.”

  “You’re sure of what you saw?” Hugh asked as he went to investigate the window.

  “Definitely. You can’t really mistake some red lady hanging out fifteen feet above the ground.”

  “Is that a good sign or a bad sign?” Callie queried as Hugh put down the blinds.

  “She looked like a demon,” I said, shivering and pulling my sweater closer. “Do you think she’s from Luminos?”

  “It’s possible, but I wouldn’t jump to conclusions,” Hugh said softly, starting to unpack the groceries he and Callie had just brought in. “We still don’t know much about Luminos or the beings there. She might be someone else entirely.”

  ###

  Hugh had gotten Erasmus down and dropped the key into Thornhill’s office mailbox. His lack of emotional attachment scared me. The gallery had been his baby, and he just gave it away.

  On several more occasions, I tried to use the grounding stone again to see Thornhill’s recent plans. But every time I hit a wall. I couldn’t even drop far enough to get a glimpse at them. I followed a few of their meetings in the past, but didn’t learn anything that I didn’t already know.

  When I’d open my eyes on the couch, seeing Hugh and Callie trying to hide their eager looks, I hated to let them down. I didn’t know what was blocking me from seeing them, but it didn’t seem like a fluke.

  “I’m sorry to let you down, dad,” I said, lowering my chin to my chest.

  “You’re not letting me down, please never think that,” Hugh pleaded. “I’m expecting too much from you.”

  I stood up and shook my head. “No, like you said, I’m the only one that can do it.” The shadows shifted in the corner and I stared them down. The Dark energy was definitely getting stronger again. It had seemed to settle after my mother’s death, but it was getting hungry.

  ###

  At school, kids had taken over McPherson’s announcement duties. I usually didn’t pay attention, but they caught my ear one morning.

  “The Hell police department has announced an eight PM curfew for all people under the age of eighteen.”

  “Are you flipping kidding me?” Alex asked from beside me, scrunching his face up in irritation. I couldn’t help but think Thornhill had something to do with it.

  In study hall, my pencil lead snapped and I got up to sharpen it. Lainey and another girl were hanging out at the front of the room, grousing about the schedules. Their copper pins gleamed on the collars of their shirts.

  “She wouldn’t let me switch because the year is more than halfway over,” the other girl whined.

  “Guess even you special Thornhill people can’t do whatever you want,” I said, wiggling through and sharpening my pencil.

  They glared at me for a moment, then continued talking. “I hope this stupid curfew isn’t because of what happened with that stupid girl Charlotte Gary,” Lainey said. “At least she did us a favor by dying.”

  “You really are a disgusting person,” I said, glaring at her. “Are you even human?”

  Her cold brown eyes flicked to me and narrowed. “Can’t you just shut up?”

  I rolled my eyes. “Nope. Can you?”

  The other girl bowed out, looking like she sensed an impending fight.

  Lainey glared at me. “I really hate you.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh a little. “I know. Believe me, the feeling is mutual.”

  Instead of the argument I’d expected to come, she just went back to her seat. As I turned, I saw Harlow Briggs pass by my table. I glared at her and she glared back. All of the Thornhill girls usually occupied the front of the room, while my seat was at the back, as far away from them as possible. What had she been doing?

  Suddenly, I saw a flash of red. My heart skipped a beat. As my eyes focused, I saw that it was just a red poster another girl was carrying back to her desk. It had science terms on it. I scurried back to my seat, trying to calm myself down.

  I looked over my stuff on the desk, but everything seemed to be there, my binder and my books. I tried to get back into my homework, every once in a while glancing up at where Harlow and Lainey sat, wondering what they were up to.

  My thoughts drifted back to the woman in red as I stared at the poster again. Who was she and what did she want? I didn’t know if I was more scared of the truth or my own theories.

  ###

  Alex and Theo actually had a civil talk at lunch. They were joking a little like old times. I dug around in my backpack for my phone, meaning to call my dad.

  “Did you see me drop my phone anywhere?” I asked, frowning as my search came up empty. I took out all of the books and random junk inside my messy backpack, but I didn’t find it anywhere.

  “No. You should tether it to yourself,” Alex joked. “Then you wouldn’t have that problem.”

  “Not everyone has their phone surgically attached to their body,” Theo teased. He blew his straw wrapper at her and then stuck out his tongue. “Just because you think you’re funny doesn’t mean you are.”

  “Yeah, but everybody else thinking I’m funny does.”

  I felt a little bit of hope for them. But it didn’t last long.

  In English, I arrived at my table witnessing Alex and Madison with their heads bowed together, smiling and seeming to be participating in an intimate conversation.

  “Yeah, we should definitely hang out later,” Madison said. A worm of unease crawled in my belly. She ran her finger across his chin, then got up, greeted me, and left.

  “So, are you two getting serious or what?” I asked him as I sat down. His expression was flat, not the normal easy good humor that he often displayed. “Why were you getting flirty with Theo at lunch?”

  “I wasn’t. No reason we can’t talk and goof around.”

  “I mean, no judgment, but…no, you know what, lots of judgment. What the heck are you doing?”

  “I’m just trying to move on.”

  “Did you have to move on with the person that would hurt Theo the most?”

  “Theo dumped me, Ariel. She doesn’t care.”

  “I’m not supposed to say anything, but Theo still likes you.”

  “Did she tell you this?” His face was still impossible to read, free of expression. I’d never seen Alex so emotionless and serious before.

  “That she likes you, yes. She just didn’t know if she wanted a relationship.”

  “And that’s entirely the problem. I don’t know where I stand with her. With Madison, I know what she wants.”

  I raised my eyebrow at him and he laughed, shaking his head.

  “Not saying I’m going to give in,” he said, still with the goofy smile on his face.

  “Not saying you’re not,” I argued, and he didn’t answer me.

  ###

  In science class, Mr. Golem caught up with me. We hadn’t spoken one on one since I got back from Georgia.

  “Your brother was very helpful, but I got the sense that he wasn’t entirely a willing participant. He was nice enough, but he just seemed…edgy,” I said.

  “He wanted to distance himself as much as possible from Hell. He and Marnie were especially close. After she died, we both kept thinking of ways we could have saved her.”

  “I’m sorry about your sister.”

  “I’m sorry about your mom, too.”

  “You told me before that you had a hard time believing in the spiritual aspects. Do you still feel the same way?”

  He straightened the papers on his desk. “I’ve always been conflicted. My brother found his sanity in religion, but I found mine in science. That hasn’t changed. I think all of us in the opposition feel that way. Madison’s parents don’t really think that Dark is coming. But t
hey know that what Phillip is going to do is evil, even if it just means killing innocent people. How do you feel about the grounding stone? I worry about you using it, honestly.”

  I felt touched that he cared. “I understand why Marnie was hurting. It feels like it’s so real. I went to see my mother, not thinking it would really work, and I wasn’t prepared for how much it would make my heart ache.”

  He put his hand on my shoulder. “Just don’t let it lure you away from what you went back to see.”

  CHAPTER 14

  “YOU STILL CAN’T get back there, huh?” Hugh asked that weekend as I was attempting to use the grounding stone again. It was just Hugh, Callie, and I in the apartment. Crates of paintings waiting for auction were stacked up, limiting the space.

  I sat up, shaking my head. I felt dog tired and all the bones in my body were heavy. “Nothing but blackness if I try to go any time past the eighties. I really think there’s some kind of block that stops me. That or the cloud of hairspray.”

  “Can you feel Luminos?” Callie asked, handing me a glass of water that I drank greedily.

  “I wouldn’t even know what to look for or to feel. I dreamed about a crack in the sky, but that could have just been a normal dream.”

  “How do you know the difference? Between what’s a dream and what isn’t?” Callie asked. She’d shown an interest in my visions, having grown up in a superstitious household herself. Taking the seat beside me and clutching a mug of tea, she drew her long hair over one shoulder.

  “I don’t, really, I guess. I haven’t completely figured it out yet,” I admitted, shrugging. “Sometimes they just seem more vivid than other times.”

  Hugh was unpacking one of the crates of Erasmus cast-offs next to the TV. He pulled out a painting of a red landscape with black trees. “I have no idea what I’m going to do with all of these.” He set it next to him and kept digging.

  “I could definitely take a couple off your hands,” Callie piped up, smiling at me.

  Hugh studied one of the big painted canvases, holding it on his lap. The image showed gray smoke shapes on a red, polluted battlefield. “Once this is over, and we’re out of Hell, if I keep painting it’s going to be all kittens and flowers.”