I unfolded the paper, and my heart felt like it stopped beating. The black ink was smeared, but I still recognized the image—and who had drawn it.
Jared.
In the center of the page, he had drawn a black dove. Exactly like the one tattooed on his arm.
Black Eyeliner Girl gestured at the drawing. “So what does it mean?”
“Where is he?”
She crossed her arms, indignant. “Are you gonna tell me who he is?”
I stepped closer, stopping only inches from her face. “Where is he?”
The girl shrank back against the wall. “Relax. Did you skip your meds today or something? He’s behind Anderson Hall.”
I pushed past her and raced down the hallway.
Nineteen days had passed since the last time Jared and I saw each other, but it felt like forever. I thought about him every day, and every day I fought the urge to take off and look for him. But now he was here.
Finding him was the only thing that mattered.
By the time I reached Anderson Hall, my wet clothes were clinging to my body like a second skin. Behind the dormitory, the woods stretched into a sea of black. But for the first time since the night I spent hidden in the back of my mom’s closet as a kid, my chest didn’t tighten from the surrounding darkness.
My only fear was not finding Jared.
“Jared?” I whispered. “Where are you?”
Please be here.
Between the rain battering the roof and the wind rustling the leaves, I couldn’t hear anything except the sound of my heart pounding in my ears.
“Kennedy?”
I spun around and collided with Jared’s chest. My feet slid out from under me and he caught my wrist. It started to slip through his wet hand, the same way it had nineteen days ago as we ran from the crumbling prison.
But this time I didn’t fall.
Jared lifted me and slid his hands under my arms, his thumbs pressing against the tender flesh just below my shoulder bones. I let my hands trail up his arms, the muscles tense beneath my touch. He stared down at me, his blue eyes even paler in the sea of black around us.
For a moment, neither of us moved.
“I found you,” he whispered, bringing his hand up to touch my face.
The words wouldn’t come. I reached out and grabbed the front of the heavy, green utility jacket he was wearing on top of his army jacket, clenching it up in my fist. Jared’s hand slid down my jawline and through my hair. When his fingers reached the base of my neck, he pressed gently, urging me into his arms.
“Talk to me, Kennedy.”
I let my forehead drop against his chest and choked back a sob.
“Just tell me if you’re okay,” he pleaded.
“As close as I’m going to get.”
Jared lifted my chin, and I could make out the faint outline of his face. His strong features and long eyelashes, the scar above his eye, and the boyish good looks hidden underneath a Fight Club exterior. His lips grazed mine, tentative at first. My breath caught, and he pulled me onto my toes deepening the kiss.
I felt everything at once—the happiness of seeing him again and the shame for allowing myself to feel it, the pain of missing him and the fear of losing him.
He leaned his forehead against mine. “God, I missed you.”
“Me too.”
Jared guided me toward a cluster of towering evergreens, and we ducked beneath them.
“How did you find me?”
“Elle helped us.”
“Elle?” I hadn’t spoken to my best friend since the day I called her weeks ago and told her about the Legion, and my role in it. That was before I released Andras and the prison fell, before my aunt had me shipped off to Winterhaven.
Jared wrapped his arms around me, tucking my head under his chin. “She tried to get your aunt to tell her where she sent you, but the only thing Elle could get out of her was that you were somewhere in Pennsylvania. Luckily, it was enough to get Lukas started. He hacked into the admissions records of every boarding school in the state until he found you.”
“There must be dozens.”
“Seventy-four. That’s why it took so long.” He sounded apologetic, as if this was somehow his fault instead of mine. “We started with the most logical schools, then Luke hit them alphabetically. None of us thought she’d send you to a place like this.”
“My aunt thinks I ran away.”
Jared took my hand. “Then let’s prove her right and get out of here.”
I stiffened. “I can’t leave.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll be more careful this time.”
“I’m not afraid of getting caught.” I closed my eyes, dreading the next part. “I don’t belong with the four of you.”
The real members of the Legion.
“You belong with me. No matter what,” he said.
“I could’ve gotten you all killed. And who knows how many people Andras has hurt already. Dozens by my count.”
“It’s not your—”
“Then whose fault is it?” My voice rose. “Because someone let him out, and I was the only person in that cell.”
“You didn’t decide alone. All five of us were there, and we told you to put the Shift together.” Jared’s hand tightened around mine. “Come on. You’re not staying here.”
I wanted to leave with him more than anything, but the stakes were too high. What if I made another mistake and Jared or one of my friends paid the price?
A sick feeling settled in my stomach. “You guys have to find a way to stop Andras. If I screw up again, someone could get hurt.”
Or worse.
Jared let my hand slip from his. “There’s something I need to tell you, but I don’t know how.”
“You can tell me anything.”
Jared didn’t say a word for what felt like minutes. When he finally spoke, his voice sounded far away. “Your mother’s death was a mistake. It never should’ve happened.” He still couldn’t forgive himself for accidentally leading the demon to my mom and the other Legion members.
“It was an accident,” I said. “You have to let it go.”
“You don’t understand,” he said quietly. “You were right all along.”
He wasn’t making any sense. “About what?”
“Your mother was never a member of the Legion.”
4. DEMON SLAYER
The ground seemed to shift beneath my feet.
“You’re wrong.” I doubted the words, even as they left my lips. “A vengeance spirit killed my mom on the same night the other Legion members were murdered. And she died exactly the same way.”
“I wrote your mother’s name on the list with the other Legion members. That’s the only reason Andras hunted her down. It’s my fault.” Jared slammed his fist into the tree next to him. He punched it over and over, a hit for each word. “Everything. Is. My. God. Damned. Fault.”
I caught his arm. “You’re not making any sense. Where is this coming from?”
“We figured there had to be a reason why you didn’t get your mark after you destroyed Darien Shears’ spirit. Lukas started digging and realized I made a mistake. When I found your mom’s name and she fit the profile of the missing member, I stopped looking. But there was someone else. Lukas found a birth certificate.”
It felt like I was rubbing salt on my wrist and staring at my unmarked skin, all over again. I had doubted my mom’s involvement from the beginning. I still remembered the first time Lukas and Jared told me she was part of secret society—and that I was destined to take her place.
“At least we know why I didn’t get a mark.”
Because I don’t belong.
Even though I’d spent the last nineteen days repeating those words in my head, I wasn’t ready to say them out loud.
“Listen to me.” Jared grabbed my shoulders, looking down at me. “You didn’t get your mark because the fifth member is still alive. It’s someone else in your family.”
“But the
re’s no one—” The words slipped away from me, as the realization untangled itself in my mind. If my mom wasn’t a member of the Legion… that only left one possibility.