She pointed inside the office. I raced inside without another word, weaved through the procession of golems and gurneys, until I reached the ward.

Ivy looked up as I entered, her hand on Nightliss's chest. White light glowed beneath her hand. "This feels like a terrible mistake," she said.

"Where's Jeremiah?"

"I told him I was going to help your friend." She frowned. "I thought he would be furious, but he just looked at me and said, 'You and those you love will have to live with your choices.'"

"That's it?" I asked, completely confused.

Ivy's brow furrowed in concentration. The light between her hand and Nightliss's chest flashed bright. "This is a terrible curse," Ivy said, lifting her hand.

Filmy white fluid oozed from Nightliss's pores. Every inch of skin emitted the milky substance. The angel's back arched. She screamed. Ivy swirled her hand over the angel's body as the sickly white poured from Nightliss's skin, her mouth, her nostrils, and even her ears. One last drop hung reluctantly to the tip of her nose before drifting up into the swirling mass now hovering beneath Ivy's hand.

Sweat formed on Ivy's brow. She took her other hand, placed it on the opposite side of the mass, and spoke a word. The substance crystallized with an icy crackling sound. She directed the orb to float and land in a biohazard disposal container.

Nightliss coughed.

Ivy looked at Elyssa. "You're very pretty."

"Thanks," Elyssa said, her a confused look on her face. "You're very pretty, too."

Ivy grinned, but it faded quickly. "I don't like making these kinds of choices, Justin. It's scary. Grownups usually tell me what to do." She looked at Nightliss. "I mean, what if she's really evil, and you're lying to me?"

I embraced my little sister, and kissed her on the cheek. "I'm not lying, and I want you to trust me. Will you stay with me, and not go back to the Conroys?"

Her eyes went wide with horror. "No, I can't do that. Mom is there, even if she is in an astral prison, and I love my grandparents. Please, don't make me make that choice."

They're not your grandparents! I resisted the urge to emphasize the point and simply nodded. "You can visit me any time, okay?"

She smiled. "Maybe I will." She stood on tiptoes and gave me a kiss. "Goodbye." With that, she blinked away, vanishing in a cloud of shadows.

"Whoa," Elyssa said, mouth hanging open. "Did she just teleport out of here?"

"Sort of," I said, my attention elsewhere at that moment.

"She did it," said Meghan, who'd apparently been standing in the back of the room, her voice soft with wonder. "Leave the room, please. I need to feed her." She opened a cabinet, and withdrew a mason jar filled with glowing white soul essence. I'd seen her feed it to the angel before, and did as she wished so my demonic side wouldn't try to hog it.

Moments later, the healer stepped out. "She's exhausted, but her skin, her muscles are already filling out again."

"Do you have any chocolate?" I heard a weak voice ask within the room.

"Are you kidding me?" Meghan said, laughing. "I have tons of chocolate!" She vanished somewhere and returned with an armful of dark chocolate bars.

"Can I go in?" I asked.

She nodded. "I think Nightliss would like that very much."

The angel was sitting up. Her face still looked gaunt, but her olive coloring was back. Elyssa approached her, trepidation in every step. Nightliss smiled and held out a shaking hand. Elyssa smiled back and took it. I wondered if that meant Elyssa trusted Nightliss, or if she was just playing nice.

For now, I decided, it didn't matter. We had a brief moment of peace, and I intended to enjoy it. It wouldn't be long before the real storm arrived.

Chapter 49

A week passed. Nightliss grew stronger. The rest of us licked our wounds and regained our sanity. The university canceled classes while they investigated the rampaging stone golem. The golem had killed two members of the Arcane Council by the time Michael was able to free the others.

Zagg's girlfriend, Kayla would be released from prison within a few days, along with all of the other people wrongly imprisoned due to Jarrod Sager and Daelissa's plot. Zagg could hardly contain himself. He was even being nice to Shelton for a change, but I wasn't sure how long that would last.

I called a meeting and invited everyone, including those friends of mine who hadn't been involved in the latest adventures of Justin Slade. Felicia, Adam's sister, appeared, a new boyfriend in tow.

"Justin!" she said, wrapping her arms around me, and giving me a firm kiss on the cheek. "This is Larry."

Larry looked human. I shook his hand and smiled. He didn't seem troubled by the company I was keeping, however. "Are you a nom?" I asked him.

He nodded. "I'm in the Overworld rehab program." A shrug. "I was attacked by vampires, but Felly here saved me and kicked their asses."

She smiled. "I turned over a new leaf, Justin. I want you to be proud of me."

I couldn't help but smile. "I am proud of you," I said. "But, if you take pride in yourself, that's even more important." Bella had told me that once. I hoped she didn't mind me stealing it from her so I could sound wiser than the typical eighteen-year-old.

Felicia leaned close. "He's such a nerd, but he's so good to me."

"Aren't you tempted to drink his blood?" I asked.

She gave me a sheepish smile. "I am, but I'm on the wagon. The Templars have a great blood bag program as an alternative to drinking live." She grimaced. "It doesn't taste very good, but it keeps the hunger at bay." She looked back at her date. "Larry's been begging me to introduce him to Cinder. Do you know where he is?"

I glanced around and spotted the golem sitting in a corner, mimicking the expressions MacLean made as he told Zagg a story. "There he is," I said, and pointed him out. Larry looked a little disturbed as Cinder's eyebrows waggled above a maniacal grin.

"Thanks!" Felicia kissed my cheek again, took Larry by the hand, and led him to meet the golem.

A hand rested on my shoulder. I looked back to see Adam Nosti, Felicia's brother, a grin plastered on his face. "Isn't it amazing?" he said. "She's a different person, man."

I nodded. "I'm really happy to see her coming along so well."

"You've done so much for us—" Adam looked away for a moment as emotion overwhelmed his voice. "You helped us find out who killed our parents and why." He took a deep breath. "If you ever need anything, we're here for you. Meghan, too."

I didn't know what else to say, so I simply said, "Thanks. Maybe we can all survive to enjoy happier times."

He laughed. "True. Guess we'd better be glad for the time we have before the crap hits the fan."

Nightliss appeared in the doorway alongside Katie Johnson, and a hush fell over the group. The angel smiled. Her cheekbones still showed a little, but the glow was returning to her skin. I excused myself from Adam and greeted the two women.

"Justin!" Katie nearly cracked my back with a hug. "I'm so sorry I missed out on everything. I didn't even find out until Nightliss told me."

I laughed. "You're starting college, right?"

She nodded. "Yeah. I was hoping to attend Arcane University, but they don't admit noms." She made a sad face. "Anyway, I'll give you some alone time with Nightliss." She looked across the room and waved at Meghan. "I've got some catching up to do."

"You're looking better," I said to Nightliss after Katie left.

"Thanks to you," the angel replied, her voice still sounding a bit weak.

"Thanks to my sister," I said back.

The angel nodded. "She is a puzzling girl." Her dark eyes softened. "We will save her, from the Conroys, Justin. Your mother too. I promise."

"Baby steps," I said with a grin. I pulled a chair from the table. "Have a seat. I'm going to start."

She touched my hand for a moment, eyes welling with tears. Nightliss wiped them away, and nodded, taking the proffered seat.

I clapped my hands to get everyone's attention. Shelton and Bella entered the room, their faces blushed, and clothes looking a bit rumpled. They looked at each other and laughed, like two kids. I hadn't seen Shelton look so happy before, though he seemed to realize his slipup and reigned in his smile before too many people noticed he wasn't being his usual grumpy self. He had a reputation to uphold, after all.

It took me a while to go from beginning to end of the story. Larry's eyes went round as saucers, and my super hearing overheard his whispered questions to Felicia. "Is this guy for real?"

That guy was gonna need balls of steel to hang with this crowd.

"If Jeremiah Conroy gave the rune to Daelissa, why haven't we heard reports of angels storming the world?" Ryland asked. He stood with his felycan girlfriend, Stacey, who regarded me with her trademark sensual smile.

"Maybe they're still preparing," I said.

"It is unlikely they will invade immediately," Cinder said. "They require time to return the Alabaster Arch to full functionality."

"Daelissa might want to visit her home for a while, too," Zagg said. "From what you said, all this time in the mortal realm was slowly driving her crazy. Maybe she needs some downtime before marching in an army of Seraphim."

"She's unpredictable," Bella added. "Let's hope whatever she's doing will give us enough time to stop her."

"I've got something to add," MacLean said, his voice rising above the hubbub. "But I don't think you'll like it."

"Can't be much worse than Daelissa having the rune," Shelton said.

MacLean ignored him. "It concerns Foreseeance Four, Three, One, One."