Daddy's Little Angel (5 page)

“Come on, he can’t be . . . ” She stopped herself. Her voice got softer. “Did he . . . Was he . . . I . . . He . . . ” She finally managed to get out a full sentence. “Did he break the law or something?”

“
Yeah.
All of them. That’s what the devil does.”

“Angel—”

“No, Gabi. I’m telling the truth. I swear. I wouldn’t lie about something like this. He really is Lucifer.”

“Okay, okay.” She stood up and put her arm around me. “Why don’t we call your mom? I think you’re in shock over your dad coming back. Maybe you can go see the doctor.”

I stood up and glared at her. “I don’t need a doctor. I need you to believe me.”

“I do,” Gabi said. Only she glanced down when she said it.

“No, you don’t. I’m being serious.”

She squeezed my shoulder. “It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not. Gabi, he’s the devil. You know, the guy with horns and a pitchfork.”

“Right.” She dropped her arm from around me. “And did I tell you? We just found out that Rori is a superhero.”

This was getting frustrating. How was I supposed to get through to her with such a Crazy Train claim? “Can’t you just take my word for it?!”

Suddenly, there was a burst of smoke, and before I knew it the devil was standing next to me. “Maybe I can help shed some light on the subject,” he said.

Gabi let out a shriek so loud I thought it was going to break the mirror over her dresser. Not that I could blame her. Having the devil pop up in your bedroom was pretty horrifying. I knew that one first hand.

“What’s wrong?” Gabi’s mom called up.

“Spider,” I yelled back, trying to stay calm.

But Gabi wouldn’t stop. “Gabi.
Shh.
Please. It’s okay. You need to quiet down before your mom or Rori come in.” If the devil took her voice away, she’d lose her sanity.

The noise stopped, but I could still hear her breathing. It was way louder and faster than usual, and her eyes were practically shooting out of their sockets. Gabi quickly backed up until she was plastered against her door. I reached out to put my hand on her arm, but her whole body convulsed, and she turned away. My best friend wanted nothing to do with me. I was Beelzebub’s child. If I could have run away from myself, I’d have done it, too.

After what seemed like a year and a half, she slowly turned back to me. “How . . . how . . . did he do that?”

“He’s the devil,” I said quietly. At least this time, I knew she’d believe me.

“Please,” he interjected. “I asked you to call me Lou.
The devil
sounds so negative. And I’m really not such a bad guy.”

I had plenty to say to that, but I bit my tongue. Gabi was already spooked enough.

“Pleasure to meet you,” Lou said, putting his hand out to Gabi. I pushed it away.

Gabi didn’t budge. Instead, she stood there gawking at Lou. Overall, I thought she was handling it pretty well. Considering I passed out when I first met him. “He looks like you,” she whispered.

“You mean Angel looks like me,” Lou said.

“Whatever,” I responded. “What are you doing here, anyway? You promised you’d give me my space.”

He winked at me. “If I did that, then how would I give you your birthday gift?”

And then he snapped his fingers and before I could respond, Gabi and I were standing front row center at the Mara’s Daughters concert.

Gabi reached out and grasped my arm. I did the same right back to her. Then we looked at each other and screamed our heads off. And not in some scary I-just-saw-the-devil way. These were screams saved for moments you only dream about. Like winning a shopping spree at Bloomingdale’s or kissing Cole. We weren’t the only ones going nuts. Everyone around us was on their feet and cheering. The band was just taking the stage—or in this case, the football field.

Beleth, the youngest sister, ran over to the drums. Her superlong, wild, black curly hair flew around like crazy in the wind. But it didn’t faze her. She just sat down and rocked out on the drums for a quick solo. Her silver bangles moved up and down with every move.

Right when she finished, her sisters, Vinea and Vale—they are twins—started up on the guitars. They both had black hair cut in a Pixie style with spiky bangs—only Vinea had a streak of blue dyed into her hair, while Vale’s bangs were dyed blood red. Other than that, they were identical. They even dressed alike. Today they had on matching black mini-tank dresses with combat boots. When they started to play, it was almost like they were competing to see who could come up with the most unique sound.

“Welcome to Mara’s Daughters,” Vale shouted into the microphone. She was also the band’s lead singer. “This show will change your life.”

Thousands of screams ripped through the crowd. They got even louder when the band started playing their first song. The beat was mesmerizing and Vale had the most velvety voice. Before I knew it, I was dancing along with everyone else in the audience.

When the band finished their third number, Gabi looked over at me and said, “I changed my mind. I love your dad. The devil is awesome.
This
is awesome.”

I had totally forgotten that we got there by the Evil Express. What if Lou wanted something in return? I didn’t want to deal with him on any level, even if it did get me really cool things, like front-row seats to Mara’s Daughters
.
I knew what I had to do, even though I really didn’t want to. “I have to go.”

Gabi said something, but the music was so loud, I couldn’t hear what it was. That was probably for the best, since I didn’t want her to change my mind. As I started to exit, a hand reached out and grabbed my shoulder. I assumed it was Gabi’s. But then I noticed the red, blue, and silver snake ring that spiraled up the middle finger. I knew that ring. Everyone in the band had one. I slowly turned to see Vale herself standing in front of me. She pulled me up toward the stage, and up I went. I was so in shock, she could have told me to moo like a cow and run three laps, and I would have done that, too.

“We have a special guest to help us with our next song,” she said into the microphone. “Let’s put our hands together for Angel Garrett.”

The entire stadium broke into a round of thunderous applause. It was un-freaking-believable. I felt like I was in an alternate universe. A really cool one where everyone knew who I was—even celebrities like Mara’s Daughters. It was like standing on top of the Empire State Building, or a cloud, or whatever was higher than that. I felt so powerful. Then a thought flashed in my mind.
How did Vale know my name?
The realization sent me crashing back to Earth. Getting picked by the band wasn’t some fabulous twist of good luck. It was Lou. It had to be.

I didn’t know what to do. I took a step toward my seat, but Vale latched onto my wrist. “Just go with it,” she whispered to me. Then she put the microphone in front of my face. “Say something.”

Say something?!
I thought I was going to die right there. What was I supposed to say? Everyone was staring at me. My thoughts instantly shifted from Lou to my outfit. Why hadn’t I worn something cooler that day, something more like Beleth? She totally had that rock ’n’ roll look I wished I could pull off. I, on the other hand, looked like Strawberry Shortcake in my boring jeans and stupid pink and red striped T-shirt. Vale nudged me as the band started up on the intro to the next song. “Go on, introduce it.”

My head was buzzing so much I couldn’t think of the title. “Umm, hi everyone,” I said into the microphone. I must have had it too close to my mouth or something because it let out this horrible screech. I heard a few groans. This was taking a very bad turn. I scanned the crowd. I knew Cole was there somewhere. I didn’t want him to see me freeze in front of everyone, so I forced myself to keep talking. “How about giving it up for Mara’s Daughters?” Even though I felt like a total spaz, I must have said the right thing because everyone started cheering again, which, luckily, got my memory going. “Here they are with ‘Caught in My Web.’”

I caught Gabi’s eyes. “AWE-SOME!” she mouthed, and then shrieked with the rest of the crowd.

The band played, and Vale and Vinea circled around me. I couldn’t help but laugh. Then before I knew it, I was shaking my hips alongside them. It was so much fun, I didn’t even feel nervous. Not even when Vale moved the microphone between us for the chorus. I was up there singing at the top of my lungs:

I searched the crowd for Cole again, but I didn’t see him anywhere! I wanted so badly for him to see me and be impressed.

When the song ended I was actually sweating like a pig. My pits were definitely sweat-stained. I decided I’d better be safe and head to my seat before anyone noticed them. I wanted to be known as the Mara’s Daughters chick, not the armpit princess.

“Wait a minute,” Vale said into the microphone. “Don’t go anywhere yet. We have a surprise for you. Everyone, it’s Angel’s thirteenth birthday today, and since she’s a special friend of ours, we thought we could all sing to her. Hit it Bel, Vinea.”

They played a fast-paced version of “Happy Birthday” and everyone—the band
and
the audience—serenaded me. It was by far the coolest thing to happen to me—ever. The girl nobody paid any attention to was at the center of everything. I loved it, even if evil was what got me there in the first place.

When they finished singing, Vale walked me back to my seat and told the crowd to give me one more round of applause.

My head was buzzing. It had been the craziest day—the whole ticket drama, meeting my estranged dad for the first time, discovering my evil beginnings, performing in front of thousands of people—and it wasn’t even nine o’clock yet.

Gabi could not stop jabbering as we left the concert. “You’re so lucky. I wish my dad were the devil.”

“I’ll trade you,” I said.

“Seriously? Then I’d definitely get straight As and the lead in
Charlie Brown
.” She clapped her hands together. “Or even better—my own CW dramedy. Something like
High School Musical,
only I’d be a witch and my boyfriend, a ghost, but I wouldn’t find that part out until season two. And my—”

“Earth to Gabi. Having the devil for a father is not a good thing. You’re forgetting that he’s evil, and that I probably am, too.”

She waved me off. “You totally need to watch more TV. Then you’d understand. There’s free will. In every show that has a magic element, the main character gets to
choose
between good and evil and—”

“Gabi. This isn’t TV. This is my life.”

“I know. I’m so jealous. Everyone at school will be, too. You’ll finally get your wish to be the most popular girl.”

“That’s not what I . . .” Even I couldn’t finish that sentence. We both knew I’ve wanted that forever. “Besides, it’s not like I can tell anyone. It’s not exactly the kind of thing you want getting around. They’d be doing exorcisms on me during study hall.”

Gabi didn’t even try and disagree with me. That’s how true it was. “But,” she said, “you can still get what you want without telling anyone. Lou will help you. Think about it. With his powers, he can convince everyone to adore you, throw you parties that make the ones on
My Super Sweet 16
look low budget, give you the best clothes and music equipment. Even your own recording studio, which you, of course, would share with your best friend. There’s absolutely no limit.”

The flurry of excitement in her voice was kind of contagious. For a brief moment, okay, two, I was tempted to take advantage of my lineage. Anything I ever wanted was right there for me to take. I could see Cole and myself ruling the school with Gabi right by my side. There’d be no homework and field trips to Great Adventure, Hawaii, and wherever else I wanted to go. Lunch would be a dessert buffet, and there’d be a whole period where people could tell me how cute Cole and I looked together. But, I came to my senses. “I don’t want people to be my friend because they were tricked into it. I want them to actually like me.”

“Well, now, after that concert, they’ll at least know who you are. That’s a start. But I still say it’s a waste not to let Lou help you.”

I shook my head. “Good-bye, Gabi.” We hit my street, and went in opposite directions. As I continued on my way home, who should have appeared out of nowhere again, but none other than Daddy Dearest. He startled me, but this time there was no screaming. It was weird. The crazy power stuff was actually starting to seem normal.

“How’d you like the concert?” he asked.

I stared straight ahead. “It was good. Thanks.”

“Tomorrow, I was thinking, we—”

“No,” I interrupted. “I appreciate the concert, but that’s it. I can’t continue accepting gifts from you. I mean, you’re the devil.”

He put his hand on my shoulder and stopped walking. “Look, Angel, I just want to get to know you. I’ve been waiting for this for years.”

“I’m sorry, but—”

“Don’t say it,” he said. Lou got down on his knees and looked up at me. “Just think about it. Let me be your father. It’s all I’ve wanted since you were a baby. Please, Angel. You’re the most important thing in my life. You’re my daughter. I love you. I always have.”

I don’t know why, but my eyes actually filled up with tears. It was stupid. It wasn’t like I even really knew him. There was no reason for me to care. But I did.

“I don’t know.”

Lou grabbed onto my hand. “Isn’t this what you used to wish for?” he whispered.

“That was before.”

“But I’m here now. Let me be a part of your life.”

I was completely torn. Part of me wanted to scream, “No way. I want nothing to do with you.” But the other part had a harder time saying no. I just thought about how envious I’ve always been of Gabi’s relationship with her dad. Mr. G helped her with her math homework after dinner every night, and was always telling anyone that would listen how amazing his daughters were. Every year they went to some supercorny father-daughter square dance. Gabi pretended like it was all lame, but I knew she loved it. And last year when she took her bow at the end of
Oliver!
, her dad screamed her name and whistled so loudly, it was almost embarrassing. But it wasn’t. Because it was so sweet.