Priest pulled a screwdriver out of his back pocket and elbowed Lukas. “Scoot over. Mathematical genius required.”
“You know you’re about to steal from someone’s grave.” Alara looked disgusted and freaked out.
“Wanna know what’s in here or not?” Priest positioned the screwdriver and picked up a broken brick. He held the brick at the end of the screwdriver like a hammer.
Alara stepped back. She probably wanted to be sure the spirits of Samuel Adams’ relatives knew she disapproved.
Lukas pointed at the stone. “Make sure you hit it right where the lines intersect.”
“I know.” Priest tapped the end of the screwdriver with the brick.
Elle squatted down next to him. “Nothing’s happening.”
“Give it a minute. It’s not a magic trick.” Priest tapped it again. This time, the cornerstone shifted, and the edge opposite the screwdriver pivoted toward us. Priest worked the rectangular stone free, revealing a dark space behind it. “Who’s sticking their hand in there?”
Alara held up her hands and stepped back. “Don’t look at me. I don’t do grave robbing.”
“We’re not stealing anything from the dead people,” Jared said. “Whatever’s in there belonged to Faith, and she wanted Kennedy to have it.”
“I’ll do it.” I pushed up my sleeve and slid my hand into the hole, trying not to think about all of the disgusting and dead things that were probably inside. I walked my fingers forward one at time until they hit a smooth, rectangular surface. “I found something.”
“What is it?” Priest asked.
“It feels like a box.” My knuckles scraped against the stone as I eased it out.
A book emerged, the pages protected by silver-plated covers. Dirt had settled into the symbols and scrollwork engraved on the front. Alara held the umbrella above me, shielding the book. I opened it carefully and scanned the first yellowed page. Despite the tears and water damage, it only took me a moment to recognize the story and realize what I was holding.
My aunt’s journal.
Alara smiled. “Unbelievable.”
Priest nudged her. “How do you feel about grave robbing now?”
“You know what this means, right?” Lukas watched me expectantly. “Your aunt’s passing the torch.”
Jared touched the small of my back. “She wants you to take her place in Legion.”
I wanted to believe it, but I had been disappointed so many times. “I don’t know. Faith wouldn’t even discuss letting me replace her. You were all there.”
“Maybe it was some kind of test to see if you really wanted in,” Alara offered.
“I’m not sure.” I had spent less than twenty-four hours with my aunt. I didn’t know her any better than my friends did.
Elle wedged herself between Alara and me. “If Faith didn’t pick you to replace her why would she give you that crazy math equation and leave you her journal? Aren’t you supposed to pass it down to the next person in line?”
She’s right.
“Seriously?” Alara stared at Elle like she’d just proven the earth was round. “You’re gonna throw that out there like it’s no big deal? Have you been paying attention this whole time?”
Elle flashed her a self-satisfied smile. “Remembering the name of your Electromagnet Ghost Finding gadget isn’t an actual measure of intelligence.”
Alara shook her head and smiled. “You were so close.”
“Close only counts when it comes to horse shoes and hand grenades,” Priest said. “Which means the next paranormal entity that messes with us belongs to Kennedy.” He turned to me. “We’ll stand back while you draw a symbol and use your specialty destroy it. Then you’ll get your mark.”
I touched my wrist.
Is there still a chance?
Jared brought his lips to my ear. “I knew you were part of the Legion,” he whispered.
Hope had let me down so many times. Could I trust it now? I wasn’t sure. But I had Faith’s journal, which made me feel like one of them.
“Open it,” Elle said. “Maybe she left you a note.”
I stood under the umbrella and scanned the first entry, which chronicled the plan to summon Andras. It matched the one Faith’s father had copied, word for word. But there was something different about seeing the writing on the aged parchment.
One line stopped me cold.
There are no innocents among you.
The angel had spoken those words to Konstantin—an angel who couldn’t stand humans. I flipped to the next entry, which consisted of two lines centered on the page.
May the black dove always carry you.
And the white dove set you free.
“You guys never mentioned a white dove,” I said.
“I’ve never heard of one before.” Lukas looked at Priest and Alara. “You?”
Alara shook her head.
“Negative,” Priest said.
“Everything means something.” The last few months had taught me that.
Lukas lined up the cornerstone and slid it back in place. After he brushed away the bits of loose rock, it blended seamlessly into the tomb.
I skimmed a few more entries, my eidetic memory creating a snapshot of each page and filing them away in my mind. Another line caught my attention. “Faith was telling the truth about the protective barrier.”
Raising the Barrier
Only when all five members of the
Legion join hands, and speak these
words as if their voices are one, can
they raise the barrier and hold it fast.
May the bonds of blood and the marks we bear protect us.
As the wings of the black dove carry us.
“I was right.” Priest shook his head, sounding disappointed. “We can make a force field.”
Alara glanced down the path, where another Paul Revere look-a-like was headed our way, with a fresh flock of tourists. “We can figure it all out in the car.”
I slid the journal under my jacket and thought about my mom. Even though she wasn’t a member of the Legion, the journal made me feel closer to her—and closer to destroying the demon responsible for her death.
I tried not the think about the other person the pages connected me to, or where he had been all this time. As we walked along the slushy streets, I squeezed the journal against my chest and tried to pretend I didn’t care. But my father’s shadow still lurked in the back of mind, like a different kind of ghos
t.
After trekking ten-blocks back to the Jeep in the rain, everyone was wrecked.
Jared held out his hand. “I’ll drive.”
Lukas tossed him the keys, and I climbed into the passenger seat next to Jared. Alara and Bear had permanently claimed the third row, so Priest got stuck in the middle with Lukas and Elle.
Elle pulled off her boots and rubbed her wet socks. “I think the bottom of my foot is one huge blister.”
Alara peeled off her coat. “If you had real boots instead of those fashion statements you’re wearing, you wouldn’t be so miserable.”
Elle unearthed a brush from her gigantic bag and dragged it through her hair. “Not everyone shops at the Army surplus store.”
“Not everyone can pull it off.” Alara smiled.
“Let’s save the cat fight for Pay Per View.” Priest sounded a little too excited about the idea.
“We’re all just tired,” Lukas said, trying to make peace between Elle and Alara. “I vote we find a hotel. I need to get more info on the girl who disappeared—”
“Lucy Klein,” I blurted out. She deserved for someone to remember her name.
Lukas gave me a strange look. “And I want to get online and see if I can figure out where the hell Andras is now.”
Priest dried off his headphones and Mp3 player. “I should probably check out the weapons and make sure we’re good on ammo.”
“You don’t have to convince me,” Jared said. “I’m freezing and starving.”
“Me, too.” Elle coughed, and phlegm rattled in her chest. “I think I’m getting sick.”
“Why are you still here?” Alara asked.
“Excuse me?” Elle looked offended.
“Lay off, Alara,” Lukas snapped, before I had a chance to bite her head off.
“Calm down, Romeo,” Alara said. “I didn’t mean it the way it sounded.”
Lukas blushed.
“What I meant was you don’t have to be here,” Alara said to Elle. “If I could leave, I’d be gone.”
Priest turned around in his seat. “You’d walk away from the Legion?”