Blood Will Tell (Warriors of Ankh #1) (7 page)

Chapter Eight

Unquiet Misdeeds

Despite everything, Eden couldn’t help but feel relieved over her decision to remain friends with Noah. They’d hung out in the cafeteria again and he’d given her a playlist of all the new bands he’d been listening to. Like old times they joked and kidded around, and Eden felt that weirdness again… other people called it contentment.

It was a good idea to keep it secret for now.

Eden had headed home after class, singing along to the radio and her secret music crush
Lady Antebellum
. Eden had been OK with hanging out alone in her room but Stellan had cornered her and pulled her back downstairs to play the Wii. Feeling nostalgic, they were playing tennis.

“
You really suck at this, Eden,” Stellan laughed.

She huffed, shaking her wrist out. “You chose tennis because you know you can beat me. This would be a different story if we were boxing.”

“
We can switch.” He puffed up his chest at the accusation. “I’m willing to prove you wrong. I’m just vastly superior at this game.”

Sighing, Eden flopped down on the sofa. “Change it. I forgot how much it blows.”

Stellan chuckled and put in a disc.
Mario Kart
flashed on the screen. A wide grin replaced Eden’s scowl. Her brother winked at her and Eden nodded gratefully. She rocked at
Mario Kart
.

For a while, as she always did when she and Stellan hang out like this, Eden forgot about her troubles. They were just a brother and sister, hanging out, teasing one another, having fun. Their parents hadn’t bothered them all evening which only made it even better. Eden glanced at the clock. She frowned.

“
Stel, it’s a Friday night. Why aren’t you out with your friends?”

He shrugged. “Sometimes it’s more fun kicking back here with you.”

She glared at him. “Is this a pity hang?”

Stellan grunted, not taking his eyes off the screen. “No. Although I gotta say I am glad you’re not hanging out with that Noah kid anymore. Guy was a freak.”

Noah was a freak?
Eden snorted. They were the ones sucking souls out of people but oh no…
Noah
was the freak. She shook her head and returned to the game.

“
Hey kiddies, what’s happening?”

She immediately tensed at her cousin’s voice behind her. Stellan had gone all stiff too but he shrugged it off and overtook her on the track. Eden bit her lip, trying to ignore Teagan as he moved further into the room.

“
How sweet, Stellan, hanging out with little sis.”

She shivered. He somehow managed to make everything sound perverted.

“
Of course.” He drew to a stop between them, and she felt his eyes bore into her. She refused to look at him. “That’s not exactly a hardship.” His hand slid down her back and Eden jerked away from him before it could slide any further downwards.

Stellan’s hand whipped out and he slapped Teagan across the back of the head pretty hard. Teagan winced and glared at his cousin, while Eden smirked.

“
I told you to back off,” Stellan warned.

Teagan held his hands up a surrender gesture. “Hey, I wasn’t doing anything. I-”

“
NOOO! STOP! NOOO!!” A man’s terrified scream rent the air, cutting off Teagan. The blood drained from Eden’s face as her eyes automatically sought the exit.

“
Oops.” Teagan grinned wickedly, sidling back to the doorway. “Did I forget to shut the basement door again?”

They both knew he had done it on purpose. Eden’s heart was pounding in her chest as she tried desperately to forget the scream.
Stop thinking about it
, she demanded inwardly, fighting back a swell of nausea. She looked up at Stellan for comfort… and wished she’d never done so. Her brother was frozen solid, glaring at Teagan. But there was something there. Something sick. Something envious of Teagan. Did Stellan want to be down in the basement? Did he want to inflict pain and shame on someone? He must have felt her staring, his eyes flicking to her. Her expression gave her away, and Stellan cast his gaze down to the floor, colour flooding his cheeks.

Teagan began to chuckle at the interplay between them, but before he could mock them Celine came hurrying past the door to the parlour. “Teagan, shut that door right now!” She screeched at him. “I’ll be speaking to Ryan about this.”

Her cousin licked his lips. “Uncle Ryan might not be up for a while. He had a twin brother and sister brought in from Ohio. Delicious. Blonde.” He winked and set off across the foyer towards the basement.

Eden was shaking from head to foot. She felt so much. So much anger, frustration, disgust, shame. Too much. Too much to handle. And Stellan… Eden felt his eyes on her, pleading with her. But she couldn’t look at him. She dropped the game controller and walked out of the room, her arms wrapped around herself as if she could somehow contain all her feelings.

Once inside her room, she shut the door quietly and leaned back on it, staring around at the large bedroom with its canopied bed and en-suite bathroom. It looked like a normal teen bedroom. Posters of bands on the wall. Hot guys. Art work by Michael Parkes she found beautiful and twisted and ethereal all at the same time.

But her bedroom wasn’t normal.

It existed in a house with a basement where unquiet misdeeds occurred.

And that was putting it politely.

It was a house of horrors. And she was part of it.

Her eyes blurred with tears. Every time she’d thought she’d come to terms with it… a scream would rent the air and kill her determination.

She wondered what it would be like to be normal.

The pocket of her jeans buzzed and Eden wiped at her tears, as she dug in for her phone.

You were right. Twinkies. I don’t get them either. N.

Eden burst out into tearful laughter, thanking whatever fate had uprooted Noah Valois and landed him at South Salton.

Chapter Nine

I Am Ankh

“
So, we’re just… sitting?” Noah asked her, a teasing smile in his eyes.

Eden smirked back at him, hoping the sadness she felt wasn’t written all over her face. School had been better this week, now that she had decided to stop avoiding Noah. She was supposed to be worrying about the SATs coming up in a couple of weeks, but since she somehow got through the PSATs last October, and considering the Awakening Ceremony was around the same time… she just wasn’t in the mood to care. So she was cutting class. And had enlisted Noah in her truancy. They sat together in his car, having managed to sneak out of the school unseen by her dad’s goons. Noah was fantastic at this spy crap. She wondered where he got that from.

They were parked down by the lake in a near empty parking lot and the rain was lashing against the windscreen. There was a hush in the air that soothed her and slowed her frantic heartbeat. “We’re just sitting.”

He nodded slowly and relaxed back into his seat. As if sensing her mood he didn’t even turn on the radio.

After a while, she sensed the slightest change in his posture, and knew he was going to say something. Eden felt as if she knew him down to his pinky finger, she felt so close to him. “You know when I was a little kid my dad used to do this.” He turned his head on the headrest and smiled softly at her.

“
Do what?”

“
Come and get me when it was raining. It didn’t matter if I was supposed to be with a tutor or with the nanny, he’d stop whatever he was doing, come get me, stuff my feet into rain boots and a mac and take me by the hand and lead me out into the backyard. We’d just stand there, the rain lashing against us, my hand tight in his.”

An ache, a wave of pure loneliness shuddered through her. “Why’d he do that?”

Noah shrugged, smiling at the memory. “He said that no matter how old he was getting, the rain always made him feel renewed; it woke him up and reminded him of why he was here. I don’t think he knew how to explain it. I don’t. But I got it. And even as a little kid he knew I got it, and that it was something for us. Just us. It used to drive my mom mad.”

Eden snorted. “She would be worried you’d catch pneumonia.”

Noah threw her this secret smile and gave a little half nod, like he wasn’t telling her something. “I guess.”

The hush wrapped around them again and Eden thought about Noah and his dad, and his mom all worried about him. It was such a small thing. She bet his life with his parents was made up of all these small things.

“
Noah?”

“
Yeah?”

“
Could you hurt someone to survive?”

She felt him tense beside her, the lines of his body taut, and she held her breath wondering at his reaction.

“
Noah?”

He wouldn’t look at her. “Depends.”

“
What do you mean it depends?”

“
Well that’s a loaded question, Eden,” he snapped, jerking his head around to glare at her.

Eden felt her face flush with anger, and she bit her nails into her hands to control an unexpected flare of temper. “What’s your problem? It was just a question.”

“
It was a stupid question.”

“
It’s not a stupid question!”

His face twisted and suddenly Eden felt as if he knew what she was asking; knew and despised her for it. She flinched back, feeling ill with panic. “If you’re asking me if I think it’s OK to protect yourself from someone hurting you by hurting them, then yeah, it’s an act of survival, self-defence. But if you’re asking me-”

“
Asking you what?” she snarled, her eyes narrowed in suspicion. Why did she feel like he knew? Did he know?
No he can’t.

The colour seemed to leach from his cheeks as he caught her look. Noah smoothed out his expression and leaned back against the chair. “I know this Teagan thing is bothering you, and I know you’re frustrated, but you can’t start having morbid thoughts, Eden. That’s not you. And you can find a way out of whatever your sick parents have planned without hurting the guy.”

Eden’s racing heart slowed as realisation dawned. He thought she was talking about the Teagan situation. She flopped back against the passenger seat and cast him a wan smile. “How did you know I wasn’t just asking a philosophical question?”

Noah smirked. “Because, you never ask questions unless they mean something. So you should know if you ask me something twisted and violent, I’ll pretty much know you’re talking from intent or experience.”

Eden laughed and let the silence fall between them.

But as she thought over Noah’s adamant reaction, the hush grew uncomfortable rather than soothing. He had been so vehement, so disgusted by the idea of hurting someone. In fact his reaction had been a little out there but then… Noah was a little out there. That’s what she liked about him.

But that look he’d given her. The disdain. The disappointment. She hadn’t imagined that.

Who was she kidding? If Noah ever found out the truth about her, she’d be dead to him. And that was the one thing she didn’t think she could make it through.

Throwing him a glare from out of the corner of her eye, Eden tried to concentrate on her breathing exercises. Damn this human who had come into her life and made himself so important to her; had made coming to terms with her inner monster that much more difficult to bear.

“
Let’s go back.” She sighed, not daring to look at him.

***

He watched as Romany slowly stirred, sliding her hand along the sheets, searching for him. Noah knew she was awake as soon her hand came away empty. She grunted and brushed her hair off her face, her eyes sweeping the room until they found him, sitting on the sofa across from the bed. Romany groaned and shuffled up into a sitting position, holding the sheet over her.

“
What’s wrong?” She murmured, her sleepy eyes adjusting to the light, as dim as it was.

“
Couldn’t sleep.”

“
Tell me,” she prompted quietly and Noah sighed, relaxing back into the sofa.

He hadn’t been happy when she’d turned up at his door again last night. It had been a long week, and his and Eden’s relationship had grown quickly estranged again. He had been waiting for his moment to tell her the truth, but he’d messed up that day in the car and now he couldn’t get her alone at school and she refused to meet him outside school again.

As always, Romany helped him relax for a while. She was good at that.

Like Alain, Noah had always taken himself a little too seriously. It was hard to see unless you knew him really well because he was the youngest of the Ankh and was determined to remain so. He kept up with pop culture better than any of them and he enjoyed the freedom of his youthful looks. But when it came to assignments… Noah was tough and unwavering and often hard on himself.

He’d met Romany three years ago when she was eighteen. There was a particularly brutal soul eater terrorising downtown Chicago and Noah had been sent after it when a group of Neith had failed to destroy it. Romany, a member of that group, refused to be thrown off the hunt. This soul eater had killed her father and she wanted its blood. So Noah had let her tag along and had discovered she was tough, funny and… hot for him. As soon as the soul eater was taken out, they had started their relationship. It was casual because Noah had never really wanted anything else, and their
casual
relationship was the longest one Noah had ever had. Romany was straightforward and easy to talk to. But he had the feeling this assignment with Eden was bothering her. She’d never turned up when he was on assignment before. Let alone twice.

“
Eden’s pulling away again,” he told her quietly. “I haven’t had time to explain to her… well about everything. I need to explain so Cyrus can make his move. But I’m worried that we’re going to be too late.”

Romany leaned forward, her dark eyes pinning him to his seat with intent. “You need to remember who you are, Noah. What your duty is. If you are too late, and there is a possibility you’ll be too late, you have to do what you were born to do. You have to take her out, and with her the repulsive son of a bitch who sired her. Remember who you are. And remember what she is.”

Noah glowered and looked down at his feet, searching for the answer.

Boston, Massachusetts 1947

“
Mother, why am I so different?” Noah Valois asked softly, as she tucked him into bed. With a child’s uncanny intuition, even at seven years old Noah felt something within himself - within his parents - that was unlike everyone else. Not to mention the strange friends mother and papa received at the house at least once a week. Or the odd manner his parents would hurriedly arrange a sitter for him before disappearing for entire days at a time. Yes, indeed, the Valois’ were not like other people.

Emmaline Stewart Valois gazed sombrely at her son. His huge violet eyes stared back, clear and expressive, and brimming with more intelligence and awareness than a seven year old’s should.

It was time.

She nodded at him, and then motioned for him to budge over. Lithely, she settled beside him on his bed and tucked him into the side of her body.

“
Shall I tell you a story, Noah?”

“
Will it answer my question?” He insisted, and Emma fought hard to keep from smiling. Her Noah was such a precocious little thing. She just knew the older he got the more of a handful he was going to be.

“
It will,” she promised gravely.

Seeming satisfied with her answer he flicked his wrist regally, indicating she should go ahead with her tale. A throaty chuckle sounded from the doorway and Emma glanced up to see her husband leaning against the doorframe of their son’s room, his large, intimidating figure a reassuring presence. Alain Valois. Her beloved. A force to be reckoned with. Her dark eyes questioned him. Should I tell him? They asked. Alain nodded.

“
Papa.” Noah straightened up. “Have you come to listen to mother’s story?”

“
Non.” Alain shook his head ruefully. “I came to bid my son goodnight.” Like a cat, he sleekly crossed the room and placed a gentle kiss on Noah’s forehead, all the while brushing a loving hand down Emma’s arm.

“
Bonne nuit, papa,” Noah replied softly, a contentedness entering his voice that was solely for his father.

Once Alain left, Emma settled Noah back into the crook of her arm. “Alright, where were we?”

“
We hadn’t started yet.”

“
Ah, I see. Well let’s begin, shall we. This story begins many years ago, thousands of years ago in the sun-drenched, dry lands of the Egyptian Pharaohs-”

“
I like this story.”

Emma shook a little with suppressed laughter. “Good. Now, in the ancient world of Egypt, during the first dynasty of the Pharaoh’s, Pharaoh Djer had a son, Djet, and a beautiful daughter, Merneith. Merneith loved her brother with a jealous intensity and was happy when their father told them they were to be married. N-”

“
Married!” Noah gasped, pulling away to stare at her in horror. “Isn’t that illegal?”

She rolled her eyes at him. “Noah, I really must insist you stop interrupting.”

“
But married-”

“
Yes, it is illegal today, but back then it was the done thing. May I continue?”

He frowned, seeming unsure, and then he nodded firmly. “You may.”

Scoffing at him Emma tweaked his nose teasingly and picked up where she had left off. “Merneith was blissfully happy with her husband until one terrible day she discovered that Djet had been meeting in secret with the beautiful Seshemetka, and even worse that he loved her. Merneith was heartbroken. Worse still, after his father’s death and his own ascendance to Pharaoh, Djet publicly made Seshemetka his beloved. For years Merneith harboured hatred against them both, all the while proving herself a devout worshipper of the gods. When Merneith gave birth to their son, Den, however, the hatred became a paranoia and an obsession. Determined Den would be pharaoh, she watched vigilantly, waiting for the announcement of Seshmetka’s inevitable pregnancy. When it became apparent that Seshemetka was going to have a child, Merneith began to plot. Seshemetka had spent so little time worshipping, Merneith was sure the gods would favour her over Seshmetka. She began scrawling hidden symbols of the evil serpent of Apophis – serpent of the underworld and god of darkness – in Seshemetka’s chamber. Finally, on the night of her plan, she painted the serpent onto Seshemetka’s skin whilst she slept. Merneith then went to the goddess Bat, the goddess of the cosmos and most importantly, the goddess of the soul. She showed Bat Seshmetka’s painted body and informed the goddess that Seshmetka was trying to destroy Egypt through Djet; Djet who was so obsessed with Seshmetka that he could love no other and would listen to no other opinion than his beloved’s. Bat watched the trio over the coming weeks and soon grew convinced that Merneith spoke the truth, and that Seshmetka’s hold over the Pharaoh was a danger to Egypt and its people. Bat took it upon herself to protect Egypt – who loved Djet blindly and completely, believing him a living god - from the darkness he had been touched by, by granting her deserving servant, Merneith, with the power to take and control souls, so she could suck the soul from Seshmetka that so addicted Djet and have him love Merneith as devoutly in her stead. But that taste of power was not enough for Merneith. She wanted more. A hunger for souls grew within her until it could only be satisfied by more souls. She broke her sacred promise to Bat and began to steal souls. Their essence made her stronger, made her immortal. Worse… the children she bore may have been mortal but they were born with her affliction, with her hunger for souls. When the gods became aware of her crime, of the new race of monster she had borne, Merneith fled Egypt, sending her children to the opposite ends of the earth. The race of soul eaters began to grow at an alarming rate.