The club was the kind of place that can only be described as seedy. Actually, that’s not true. It could also be described as dark, dangerous, smelly, and loud. In other words, exactly the kind of place responsible care-takers did not take fourteen-year-old girls. And although that twinge of guilt once again settled over me, I shoved it down with brutish finality. I’d made the decision, we were there, and that was that.
I led our little group to a booth in the back that smelled of sex and alcohol, and we slid in, risking half a dozen communicable diseases as we did. I took a quick look at Rose, mostly to assuage my guilt, though I wasn’t sure what I was going to do if she looked completely freaked-out. As far as I was concerned, we were there to stay.
Fortunately, guilt wasn’t an issue. Rose didn’t look freaked; on the contrary, she looked fascinated. And, yeah, there was a little bit of guilt associated with that—this was a world I’d never wanted Rose to glimpse—but at least she wasn’t cowering in fear and disgust.
More than that, she seemed truly to be Rose. Her eyes were clear, her body not shaking, and when she looked at me with that soft little smile I knew so well, my heart almost melted. Johnson was nowhere in sight, and even as I celebrated that little tidbit, I also couldn’t help but feel a little uneasy. Because he’d be back. And I figured it would be sooner rather than later.
I reached out and squeezed her hand. Her life was in a complete shambles, and a lot of the blame fell on me. But right then, I was just glad to have my sister back.
“We’re never gonna get a waitress,” Kiera said, sliding back out of the booth. “Tequila for me. Coke for the kid. What do you want?”
“Tequila,” I said. “And thanks.”
She sauntered over to the bar, then squeezed in next to a tall blonde desperately in need of a bra.
I edged sideways and regarded my sister. “You never asked,” I said.
Her head tilted to the side. “Asked what?”
“How come I’m in another body.” I looked over at Kiera to make sure she wasn’t on her way back. “You were screaming, and Johnson was inside you, and you called me Lily. You knew, Rose. How did you know?”
When she frowned, a little crease appeared over her eyes. She shook her head slowly. “I don’t know. I just . . . I just knew.”
“What else do you know?”
She pressed her lips together, and I saw her eyes begin to glisten. “I know a lot of stuff,” she said, her voice drawing down to a whisper. “Stuff I don’t think he wants me to know.”
I fought the urge to hug myself against a sudden chill. “Like what?”
She leaned forward. “He called. That night you died. He called a man named Egan and told him it was time. Told him to go fetch Alice.”
I made a muffled sound and realized my hand was up over my mouth. I was right. Lucas had been playing both sides, helping to fulfill the prophecy so that in the end his boss could use me to find the Oris Clef. I was still a pawn in some massive celestial game, but at least now I knew the score.
“What else?” I asked, but her eyes were wide and she shook her head. “Can’t talk,” she said, then pressed a finger over her lips even as her other hand pressed flat against her chest. “He’s always listening.”
I forced my face to stay bland, refusing to let her see the depth of my disgust that a creature as vile as Johnson was inside her. It didn’t matter, though. That same disgust ate at her already, and when she blinked, two fat tears spilled out. I held out my arms, and she slid into them, then her head pressed against my shoulder.
“Why is this happening to us?” she asked, but I could only shake my head.
“I don’t know.”
“It’s because we’re dirty,” she said, in a voice not her own. A voice that sent chills up my spine. “Dirty, filthy, little bitch-whore girls.”
I pushed away, and when her face tilted up to meet mine, it wasn’t my sister I saw behind scared, weary eyes. I was suddenly lost, wanting to lash out against the thing inside her even as I wanted to pull her close and comfort her. “Dirty girls,” Johnson said. “But worthy. So very, very worthy.”
“Kiera’s coming back,” I said, speaking through gritted teeth and forcing my voice to stay calm and harsh. My words were a ploy, but the trick worked. I could practically see the demon skitter away behind her eyes, and Rose return, ever so tentatively, to the world.
“I don’t like that,” she said, scooting over to the corner of the booth and lifting her thumb to her mouth. She gnawed on her cuticle, her knees tucked up near her chest, and at that moment she looked closer to four than fourteen.