Forbidden (24 page)

He nodded grimly.

“So then … is it against the law for
you and me
to…?”

Alec’s teeth clenched. “Aye. Technically, any relationship between us is against Grigori law.
If
the Elders discover us—which I hope they never will.”

A tear slid down her cheek. “What about me and my mom? You said they were searching for us.” Her eyes flickered with fear. “Helena said my
life
is in danger. Does that mean the Grigori plan to … get rid of me? Or get rid of both of us?”

“I don’t know.” Alec heaved a bitter sigh. He’d hoped he wouldn’t have to spring this grim fact on her yet, but he couldn’t lie to her either. “The truth is, the last time there was an offspring of this nature, there was a lengthy and convoluted trial. The Elders saw the Halfblood as a great risk, and the parents as the perpetrators of that risk. The Grigori mother, human father, and Nephila child were all executed.”

“Oh my God.” Claire turned away, brushing away another tear. Her hands were shaking.

“But that was such a long time ago,” Alec continued quickly. “I believe the Council would be more open-minded today.”

Claire’s knees seemed to give way. She sank down onto a low brick wall edging a garden, crying openly now. It cut him to the quick.
Damn this touch thing,
Alec thought. He sat down on the wall beside her and took her in his arms, pressing her tightly against him, desperate to reassure her. “If the Grigori or anyone else mean you or your mother harm, I’ll watch over you,” he vowed solemnly against her ear. “I’ll do everything in my power to protect you, Claire.”

She pulled out of his embrace to look up at him, wiping tears from her eyes. “Why would they see me as a risk?
Why
was my birth such a sin?”

Alec ran his fingers through his hair, resisting another strong impulse to take her hand in his. “You’re as close to a Grigori as a Nephila can get, Claire. You have the potential to be more powerful than any Nephilim on the planet.”

“All I do is get visions,” she protested.

“Visions of the past and future. A future you’ve proven you can
change
. It’s a mighty gift. Not to mention that you’ve just Awakened. Your gifts will grow in strength as you age, and you may even develop other abilities.”

“What other abilities?”

“Your father would have had a second talent, but I don’t actually know what it was. Any new abilities you’ve inherited will reveal themselves in time. But a true seer is very rare. In the wrong hands, a person with great mental powers could bring a nation to its knees.”

“The wrong hands? Like who? What are they worried about? That I’ll become a spy?”

“I realize this is a lot to take in all at once,” Alec said patiently. “Suffice it to say that, without any ties to bind you to the Grigori, they’ll see you as a loose cannon. My guess is they’ll want to keep you—and possibly your mother—someplace where they can monitor you closely.”

“Keep me?” Another tear ran down her cheek. “You mean imprison me.”

“If they find you.”

“What do you mean? You
have
found me. Wasn’t that your job? Isn’t that why you’re here?”

“No. I’ve just been standing in for the Grigori Watcher assigned to find you. His name is Vincent. He was called out of town for a while, and asked me to keep an eye out at Emerson. When he returns later this week, I’ll tell him about you—without giving away your name. And I’ll assure him that you pose no threat.”

Claire looked at him with half fear, half hope. “And he’ll believe you? He’ll take me off the wanted list? My mom and I will be safe?”

“Vincent is my godfather and my mentor,” Alec answered resolutely. “He taught me everything I know. I’d trust him with my life.”

Alec hoped he could trust Vincent with
her
life as well.

twenty

“A
re you okay?” Alec regarded Claire with concern as they paused on her threshold.

“Not really,” Claire replied honestly.

She felt overwhelmed, both mentally and physically—and as if she were a completely different person than she had been the day before. But in fact, she reminded herself, she was not a
person
at all. She was this paranormal …
being
… who shouldn’t even exist.

Nothing was simple anymore. Her relationship with Alec was illegal. Her birth—her very life—was illegal. Some supernatural police force she’d never known existed might decide to imprison or execute her the minute they found her—just because her father was an angel.

“It’s a lot to digest,” she added, “and it’s all … terrifying.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I still have a lot of questions. Like, who is Helena? If she’s a Grigori and she knows who I am, isn’t she supposed to turn me in? Do you think she already has? But if so, why send me all those warnings?”

“I don’t know. But unless she contacts you again and gives you more information, there’s nothing we can do about it. Meanwhile, you’re exhausted and so am I. Right now I think we should get some sleep.”

“I hope I
can
sleep. Two weeks ago, my biggest concern was how to fit in, how to be normal. Now I know that’s never going to happen and instead I’m afraid for my
life
.”

“Normal is overrated, Claire. And as for your life… I swear, I won’t let anything happen to you.” A weighty pause followed and then a gentle smile lit his handsome face. “After all, I don’t want to sing at the Homecoming assembly all by myself, do I?”

Claire could tell that behind Alec’s smile he was still very worried about her—but the affection in his voice, and the way he was looking at her, made her heart skip a beat. She matched his playful tone, hoping to ease some of his concern. “I forgot all about that. I owe you a rehearsal.”

“How about tomorrow, after school? In the music room?”

“Deal,” she answered, realizing she was looking forward to it.

He fell silent. Claire glanced up at him, catching a sudden, uncertain look in his eyes. She wondered if he was thinking the same thing she was. Here they were, standing just a few feet apart, at her front door. Were they supposed to kiss good-bye?

Remembering their kiss yesterday—at least before it turned disastrous—made her tingle in anticipation. But, she reminded herself, she wasn’t just a girl with a crush, and Alec wasn’t just a boy she had a crush on. There were bigger things at stake now. Did she dare kiss him again, knowing what might happen? And of far greater consequence: If their entire relationship was against Grigori law, what would happen if they pursued it?

“Alec, even if you can convince them that I’m not a threat,” she whispered, her heart seizing, “what would they do if they found out about … us?”

“I don’t know,” he answered, staring at his shoes. “At the very least, I imagine they’d sever all ties between us and send me away. At the worst…” His eyes lifted to hers again, fiercely determined. “Let’s not think about the worst. I believe that anything worth having is worth fighting for. Don’t you?”

“Yes,” she replied emphatically.

They moved into each other’s arms then for a quick, intense hug. Through the thin fabric of her blouse, Claire felt the warmth of Alec’s hands as they pressed firmly against her back. It made her feel comforted, reassured … safe. And then he was stepping back and carefully shoving his hands in his pockets again.

“See you at school tomorrow?” he said softly.

All she could do was nod as he turned and walked away. Claire undressed and turned on the shower, gratefully stepping beneath the comforting warm spray. As she washed her hair, she tried to calm herself, but her mind was in a whirl, her thoughts consumed by all that she’d just learned.

Was her mother aware of her father’s true identity, and the dangerous heritage he’d passed on? Did she dare ask her about it? Claire frowned, nixing the idea. Whatever her mom
did
know, she was finally happy, and she’d even had a coffee date the night before. Alec had insisted he was going to do his best to defuse the situation. What would be the point of disrupting her mother’s newfound harmony? Besides, the woman in Claire’s vision had been so emphatic:
Don’t tell anyone
. Claire had already screwed that up. Twice.

It’d be best, Claire decided, to wait a few days until Alec talked to his godfather. When Alec came back with a report that they were safe, then, hopefully, it would be okay to talk about all this with her mom.

However—her mother’s peace of mind notwithstanding—Claire was still dying to know the truth. Who
was
her father? How and when did they meet? As Claire dried off from her shower and finished dressing, she wondered if she could find proof that he was a Grigori.

She had been tempted many times to look through her mother’s things for some clue to her father’s identity, but she’d always talked herself out of it. Back then, her father had just been a man who’d abandoned her and her mom. Now, he was something else entirely—a Grigori in danger who had to flee to protect them. She just
had
to know more.

Stifling a wave of guilt, Claire opened her mother’s bedroom door and snuck in. The room was as starkly furnished as Claire’s: just a double bed, an end table, and a dresser strewn with a few knickknacks. Matted and framed posters of Paris, London, and other far-flung locations hung on the walls, offering the only hint at her mother’s personal interests.

Claire spent several minutes going through her mother’s drawers. Not finding anything special, she moved to the collection of little boxes on her dresser, which contained an assortment of costume jewelry. Then she remembered that her mom kept her best jewelry hidden in a shoe box in her closet.

Claire methodically searched through every shoe box on the closet shelf, but to her disappointment, she found nothing but shoes.
Come on
, she thought,
there has to be something in here
. As her hand grazed a pair of blue pumps, Claire felt a sudden tingle rush up her arm. She gasped and dropped the shoe instinctively. She’d forgotten her new ability could be triggered by an object and not just a person. Brian’s theory was that it had only worked because the bracelet’s owner—Erica’s mom—was having a traumatic experience, but maybe he was wrong. Maybe if she concentrated really hard, harder than she had with Alec’s lockbox, she wouldn’t have to rely on physical evidence alone to find out more about her dad.

She paused, bracing herself, and then wrapped her fingers around the shoe she’d dropped.
Speak to me
, she implored with her mind, repeating the phrase over and over. To her satisfaction, the tingle grew stronger, and then came a brief flash of a vision:
She was in a store, trying on those very shoes, and admiring the way they looked on her feet. Her mom’s
feet
.

Claire let go of the shoe with a smile and returned the shoe box to the shelf. Any item in this room
might
, if she was lucky, give her the information she was so desperately seeking—and that last vision hadn’t made her feel woozy at all.

On the floor beneath the clothes were a few more shoe boxes. Claire dug behind them and found another box, buried in a deep corner of the closet. When she saw what was inside, her heart leapt. It was the hidden jewelry stash—the one Claire’s mother had shown her once or twice when she was younger—an assortment of tiny boxes and pouches containing various pieces of precious jewelry.

Claire fingered every piece, admiring them and hoping for a vision. One tiny, old box contained a beautiful, antique-looking gold ring with a large, emerald-cut amethyst. Claire had never seen it before. Even in the dim light of the closet, the stone reflected a pure, deep purple light. She took the ring out of the box and studied it. The band was engraved on the underside:
TO L, WITH LOVE, R
.