Lauren Kate: Torment

There was something remarkable about this gathering. It was the liveliest Thanksgiving they’d had since Luce’s grandmother died and the Prices stopped going to the Louisiana bayou for the holiday. So this was her family now: all these people, angels, demons, and whatever else they were. For better or worse, complicated, treacherous, full of ups and downs, and even at times fun. Just like her dad had said: That was life.

And for a girl who had had some experience with dying, life—period—was the thing for which Luce was suddenly overwhelmingly thankful.

“Well, I’ve had just about enough,” Shelby announced after a few more minutes. “You know. Food. Everyone else done? Let’s wrap this up.” She whistled and made a lasso gesture with her finger. “I’m eager to get back to that reform school we all go to—um—”

“I’ll help clear the table.” Gabbe jumped up and started stacking plates, dragging a reluctant Molly into the kitchen with her.

Luce’s mom was still shooting her furtive glances, trying to see the gathering through her daughter’s eyes. Which was impossible. She’d latched on to the Daniel idea pretty quickly and kept looking back and forth between the two of them. Luce wanted a chance to show her mom that what she and Daniel had was solid and wonderful and unlike anything else in the world, but there were too many other people around. Everything that should have been easy felt hard.

Then Andrew stopped chewing on the felt feathers around his neck and started yipping at the door. Luce’s dad stood up and reached for the dog’s leash. What a relief. “Somebody wants his after-dinner walk,” he announced.

Her mother stood up, too, and Luce followed her to the door and helped her into her pea coat. Luce handed her dad his scarf. “Thank you guys for being so cool tonight. We’ll do the dishes while you’re gone.”

Her mom smiled. “You make us proud, Luce. No matter what. Remember that.”

“I like that Miles,” Luce’s dad said, clipping Andrew’s leash to his collar.

“And Daniel is … just remarkable,” her mom said to her dad in a leading tone of voice.

Luce’s cheeks flushed and she glanced back at the table. She gave her parents a please-don’t-embarrass-me look. “Okay! Have a nice long walk!”

Luce held open the door and watched them walk out into the night with the eager dog practically choking on his leash. The cold air through the open door was refreshing. The house was hot, with so many people filling it up. Just before her parents disappeared down the street, Luce thought she saw a flash of something outside.

Something that looked like a wing.

“Did you see that?” she said, not sure who she was addressing.

“What?” her father called, turning back. He looked so full and happy that it almost broke Luce’s heart.

“Nothing.” Luce forced a smile as she closed the door. She could feel someone right behind her.

Daniel. The warmth that made her sway where she stood.

“What did you see?”

His voice was icy, not with anger but with fear. She looked up at him, reaching for his hands, but he had turned the other way.

“Cam,” he called. “Get your bow.”

Across the room, Cam’s head shot up. “Already?”

A whizzing sound outside the house silenced him. He moved away from the window and reached inside his blazer. Luce saw the flash of silver, and she remembered: the arrows he’d collected from the Outcast girl.

“Tell the others,” Daniel said before turning to face Luce. His lips parted and the desperate look on his face made her think that he might kiss her, but all he did was say, “Do you have a storm cellar?”

“Tell me what’s happening,” Luce said. She could hear water running in the kitchen, Arriane and Gabbe singing harmony on “Heart and Soul” with Callie while they did the dishes. She could see Molly’s and Roland’s skittish expressions as they cleared the table. And suddenly, Luce knew that this Thanksgiving dinner was all an act. A cover-up. Only, she didn’t know for what.

Miles appeared at Luce’s side. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing you need to be concerned with,” Cam said. Not rudely, just stating the facts. “Molly. Roland.”

Molly put down her stack of dishes. “What do you need us to do?”

It was Daniel who answered, speaking to Molly as if they were suddenly on the same side. “Tell the others. And find shields. They’ll be armed.”

“Who?” Luce asked. “The Outcasts?”

Daniel’s eyes landed on her and his face fell. “They shouldn’t have found us tonight. We knew there was a chance, but I really didn’t want to bring this here. I’m sorry—”

“Daniel.” Cam interrupted him. “All that matters now is fighting back.”

A heavy knocking thudded through the house. Cam and Daniel moved instinctively toward the front door, but Luce shook her head. “Back door,” she whispered. “Through the kitchen.”

They all stood for a moment and listened to the creak of the back door opening. Then came a long and piercing scream.

“Callie!” Luce took off running through the living room, shuddering to imagine what scene her best friend was facing. If Luce had known the Outcasts would show up, she would not have let Callie come. She would never have come home at all. If anything bad happened, Luce would never forgive herself.

Swinging through her parents’ kitchen door, Luce saw Callie, shielded behind Gabbe’s narrow frame. She was safe, at least for now. Luce exhaled, almost collapsing backward into the wall of muscle that Daniel, Cam, Miles, and Roland had formed behind her.

Arriane stood in the whitewashed doorway, a giant butcher block raised high in her hands. She looked ready to bash someone Luce couldn’t quite see yet.

“Good evening.” A guy’s voice, stiff with formality.

When Arriane lowered the butcher’s block, there in the doorway stood a tall, lean boy in a brown trench coat. He was very pale, with a narrow face and a strong nose. He looked familiar. Cropped bleached-blond hair. Blank white eyes.

An Outcast.

But Luce had seen him somewhere else before.

“ Phil? ” Shelby cried. “What the hell are you doing here? And what happened to your eyes? They’re all—”

Daniel turned on Shelby. “You know this Outcast?”

“ Outcast? ” Shelby’s voice quaked. “He’s not a—He’s my sorry-ass ex—He’s—”

“He’s been using you,” Roland said, as if he knew something the rest of them didn’t. “I should have known. Should have recognized him for what he was.”

“But you didn’t,” the Outcast said, his voice eerily calm. He reached inside his trench coat and, from an inner pocket, pulled out a silver bow. From his other pocket came a silver arrow, which he swiftly nocked. He pointed it at Roland, then swept across the crowd, aiming at each of them in turn. “Please forgive my barging in. I’ve come to fetch Lucinda.”

Daniel stepped toward the Outcast. “You’ll fetch no one and nothing,” he said, “except a swift death unless you leave right now.”

“Sorry, no, can’t do that,” the boy responded, his muscled arms still holding the silver arrow taut. “We’ve had time to prepare for this night of blessed restitution. We will not leave empty-handed.”

“How could you, Phil?” Shelby whimpered, turning to Luce. “I didn’t know … Honestly, Luce, I didn’t. I just thought he was a creep.”

The boy’s lips curled up in a smile. His horrible, depthless white eyes were straight out of a nightmare. “Give her to me without a fight, or none of you will be spared.”

Then Cam burst out in a long, deep belly laugh. It shook the kitchen and made the boy in the doorway twitch uncomfortably.