"We'll see." My conversations with Jake always seemed to go the same way. He started by propositioning me with something and when I fended him off, he turned vindictive. We seemed to go around in circles. It was time to try a different strategy.

"Too much would have to change for me to even consider it," I added. I hated that I was getting caught up in his manipulative games, but I had no other choice.

Jake's face lit up with anticipation.

"Such as?"

"For starters you'd have to start respecting my privacy. I hate the way you barge in here unannounced whenever you feel like it. I would like a key to my own room. If you want to see me, you need to ask first."

"Fine. Consider it done. What else?"

"I want to be able to move around freely."

"Beth, you don't seem to understand how dangerous it is out there. But I can tell the hotel staff to back off. See? I can compromise." He trailed a finger along my bottom lip and smirked, pleased with the new developments.

"There's one more thing. I want to go back-just for an hour. I need to tell my family and Xavier that I'm all right."

Jake laughed. "What kind of idiot do you take me for?"

"So you don't trust me?"

"Let's not play games. We both know each other too well and you're no good at lying anyhow."

I noticed a shift in his countenance and knew I shouldn't have mentioned Xavier. It always set him off.

"Have you noticed that time's passing and nothing's happening?" Jake asked. "I don't see a rescue team on the horizon. Want to know why? Because it's an impossible mission. It might take them centuries to crack the right portal, if they ever do. By that time, Xavier will be nothing but a maggot-ridden pile in the ground. So you see, Beth, you don't have a choice. If I were you I'd seize the day, make the most of the opportunities in front of you. Everything down here is yours for the taking. I'm offering you a chance to be queen of Hades. Everyone would bow down to you. Think about it, that's all I'm asking."

My stomach twisted into a knot. I didn't know how long I could hold out against Jake. He was so unscrupulous. I had no idea what tactic he'd spring on me next. He'd been around too long for me to have any hope of outsmarting him. I just had to make sure he didn't get into my head. It was my only weapon. I had to stay true to myself and remain spiritually stronger than him. I closed my eyes and focused on inviting positive thoughts.

I tried to visualize how my release from Hades might come about. I imagined Gabriel and Ivy storming through the gates of Hell and carrying me to safety. Their enveloping wings, soft as satin yet powerful enough to crush through walls, would shield me. I imagined Xavier with them, only transformed as an angel so that he had his own beating wings. They reared behind him vibrating with his power. Xavier was glorious in the form of an immortal. Any man who saw him would pledge his undying loyalty. The vision of the three of them, glowing agents of Heaven coming for me, was the only thing that worked to calm my fears.

On the downside, it made me painfully aware of my own wings, bound tight beneath my clothing. I'd been so caught up in my troubles that I'd neglected to think about them. I wriggled uncomfortably, longing to set them free. Jake regarded me with a suspicious gaze.

"You will succumb to me, Bethany," he said, sweeping toward the door. "It's only a matter of time."

14.

Messenger THE next time I managed to project it was raining heavily at Byron. The noise of the rain on the roof drowned out all other sound. It filled the eaves and poured off them in streams. It flattened the grass as if someone had been out there with an iron and turned the garden beds to slush. The noise woke Phantom from his sleep and drew him to the French doors to see what the commotion was about. Satisfied it was nothing that required his intervention he returned to his beanbag and sank down with a prolonged sigh.

Some sort of meeting was taking place. Gabriel, Ivy, and Xavier sat around the dining table. It was littered with pizza boxes and cans of soda-something rarely seen in our house. They must have run out of napkins because they were using a roll of paper towel. It told me that no one could muster the motivation for the usual routines, and cooking and shopping had been the first to go. Gabriel and Xavier sat across from each other, both as immobile as stone. Suddenly Ivy rose from the table and began to stack dishes and put the kettle on, flitting from kitchen to dining room, her white-gold tresses swinging in time with her movements. Whatever they'd been discussing it was clear they'd reached an impasse. They were all waiting for inspiration-for someone to come up with an idea that hadn't yet been considered. But their minds were as exhausted as they were, and it seemed unlikely. At one point, Gabriel opened his mouth, as though a new idea had struck him. But then he changed his mind about sharing it and his face became distant once again.

Everyone froze when the doorbell broke the deafening silence. Phantom pricked up his ears and would have rushed to the door if Gabe hadn't ordered him to stay with a silent gesture. Phantom complied, but not without registering his protest with a low whimper. Still no one moved and whoever was at the door rang again, longer this time and more impatiently. Gabriel bowed his head and sighed when his celestial gift gave him a sneak preview of the visitor.

"We should probably get that," he said.

Ivy gave him a questioning look. "I thought we agreed-no visitors."

Gabriel frowned for a moment as he zeroed in on the thoughts of whoever was waiting on our front porch. "I don't think we have a choice," he said eventually. "She's not planning to leave without an explanation."

Ivy looked as if she weren't entirely comfortable with Gabriel's directive and would have liked time to consider it further, but the tension in the room was so great that she pressed her lips together and went to get the door. My sister still moved with swanlike grace, her feet barely touching the floor. In contrast Molly stomped into the room with her face flushed and her strawberry curls bouncing on her shoulders. When she spoke, it was with her usual direct candor.

"Finally," she said angrily. "Where the hell have you all been?"

I was happy to see that Molly hadn't changed a bit, but the sight of her filled me with sadness. I hadn't realized until that moment how much I missed her. Molly had been my first friend, my best friend, and one of my strongest links to the human world. Now here she was so close and yet so far away. I saw the faint dusting of freckles across the bridge of her nose, her peaches-and-cream complexion, and her long eyelashes that brushed her cheeks. I was horrified at the idea of my earthly memories beginning to blur around the edges and was grateful for the gift Tucker had given me. It would have been too much to bear if all I could remember of Molly was a flash of corkscrew curls and a pretty smile. With my new sight, I would be able to watch over her always. Right now, her blue eyes were full of accusation. She even had one hand on her hip as she looked challengingly around the room.

"It's good to see you, Molly," said Gabriel. He looked as though he meant it. Her liveliness did have the effect of dispeling some of the gloom that had settled over them. "Please join us."

"Can I get you some tea?" Ivy offered.

"I haven't come here to socialize. Where is she?" Molly demanded. "The school told me she was sick, but it's been ages now."

"Molly ... ," Gabriel began slowly. "It's complicated ... and difficult to explain."

"I just want to know where she is and what's happened to her." Molly's voice broke at the end, revealing a glimpse of the emotion she was struggling to contain. "I'm not leaving until I get some answers."

Ivy stood stiffly, her long, slender fingers tracing the patterns on the linen tablecloth. "Bethany has gone away for a while," she said. My sister wasn't any better than I was at twisting the truth; honesty was too ingrained in her. Her voice came out sounding too rehearsed and her face betrayed her. "She was offered an opportunity to study abroad and decided to take it."

"Sure she did. And left without telling any of her friends?"

"Well, it was all very last minute," my sister said. "I'm sure she would have told you if there'd been more time."

"What a load of crap!" Molly cut in. "I'm not buying it. I've already lost one best friend; I'm not going to lose another one. I don't want to hear any more lies."

Xavier pushed back his chair and went to stand by the mantelpiece. As he did he took a deep breath and exhaled loudly. Molly's head whipped in his direction.

"Don't think you're off the hook," she snapped, marching over to him. Xavier didn't even raise his head as she berated him. "For months I haven't been able to drag Beth away from your side and now she's suddenly vanished off the face of the earth and you're standing here twiddling your thumbs."

I winced at Molly's words, knowing how much they would hurt Xavier. He was beating himself up enough without her criticism to add to his stress. "I may not be a mathlete, but I'm not a total idiot," she continued. "I know something's up. If Beth had gone away for a while, there's no way you'd still be here. You'd have gone with her."

"I wish I could have," Xavier said, his voice ragged with emotion. He kept his gaze fixed on the floor.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Molly's face grew pale as she assumed the worst. Fearing he'd said too much, Xavier backed away from her. He looked so overwhelmed by the situation that Gabriel felt the need to take over.

"Bethany is not in Venus Cove anymore," he explained calmly. "She's not even in Georgia anymore ... but she had no choice in the matter."

"That makes no sense. I asked you not to lie to me!"

"Molly." Gabriel crossed the room in two long strides and took a firm hold of her shoulders. She stared up at him the way you do when someone you thought you knew does something completely out of character. I was standing so close I could almost feel her tremor of surprise. Gabriel had never touched her before in all the time she'd known him and she could see in his eyes that he was shaken by whatever had transpired. "We think we know where Bethany is, but we can't say for sure," Gabriel said. "That's what we're trying to figure out."

"Are you trying to tell me she's gone missing?" Molly asked breathlessly.

"Not missing"-Gabriel hesitated-"more like kidnapped." Molly's hands flew to her mouth and her eyes widened with alarm. Xavier half raised his head dejectedly, watching her reaction.

"What's come over you?" Ivy was at Gabriel's side in an instant, positioning herself between him and Molly. Gabriel let his hand drop listlessly from Molly's shoulder.

"There's no point in lying to her," he said firmly. "She's as close to Bethany as any of us. We're not getting anywhere on our own. Maybe she can help."

"I don't see how." Ivy's usually bell-like voice came out sounding sharp and her silver-gray eyes flashed like shards of ice. "She has no business here."

"The hell I don't," Molly cut in vociferously. "If some psycho's taken Beth, what are we gonna do about it?"

"See what you've started," Ivy muttered. "Humans cannot help us now." She threw a resigned look at Xavier. "Especially those who are emotionally involved."

"We weren't there that night," Gabriel retorted. "Humans are the only witnesses we've got."

"Excuse me." Molly stared at them. "Did you just call me a human? I'm pretty sure I'm not the only human in the room." Gabriel ignored her comment and decided to pursue his own line of thinking.

"What's the last thing you remember Bethany saying or doing on the night of Halloween?"

I saw the air around Ivy ripple and shimmer slightly and knew that she was trying to contain her disapproval. She obviously found Gabriel's decision to involve Molly objectionable. She closed her eyes and breathed through clenched teeth. I could read my sister's face. It was as if she were readying herself for a decision she knew would end in disaster.

"Well, she was upset ... ," Molly began and then hesitated.

"What about?"

"Well, we planned to have this seance at the party. It was just for fun. Beth wasn't happy about it from the start. She thought it was a bad idea and kept telling us not to get involved. We didn't listen and did it anyway. Then things started to get weird and we all got a bit freaked out."

Molly had given her account without taking a breath, trying hard to sound casual. Listening to her, Ivy's eyes flew open and her perfect, pale hands instinctively curled into fists. "What did you say?" she asked in a low voice.

"I said we got all freaked out and ..."

"No, before that. You said you performed a seance?"

"Well, yeah, but we were just screwing around, it was Halloween."

"Foolish girl," Ivy hissed. "Didn't your parents ever teach you not to play around with things you don't understand?"

Molly looked taken aback. "Just chill, Ivy," she said. "What's the big deal? What does a stupid seance have to do with this?"

"It has everything to do with this," Ivy said, talking almost to herself now. "In fact, I would bet my life that the seance is what began it." She and Gabriel shared a knowing look. She was really only talking to him now. "It must have opened a portal. Without one there's no way he could have returned to Venus Cove after we banished him."

"Huh?" Molly asked blankly. I could almost see the wheels turning in her head as she struggled to put together the cryptic fragments of information being thrown at her. I wanted to shout out and tell them to stop-they were giving too much away. It was unauthorized by Heaven and might end up adding to their problems.

Xavier suddenly came to life. He spun around to face Ivy while shooting Molly a murderous look.

"You think the seance is what raised him?" he asked.

"Raised who?" Molly interrupted loudly.

"They can be a lot more powerful than most people realize," my sister said. "Gabe, do you think this could be a lead?"

"I think all information is worth considering. It's imperative that we find a way to break through."

"Break through what?" Molly demanded. She was looking baffled and hurt at being excluded from the conversation. My siblings were forgetting their manners and would normally never be this inconsiderate. I knew that finding me was the only thing on their minds. It was so all-consuming that they forgot about poor Molly trying to keep up with their discussion.

"But how do we find a gateway?" Ivy murmured. "Do you think we could attempt a seance again? No, that's too dangerous. Who knows what we might let out of the pit."

"What pit? Where?" Molly's voice had gone up several octaves.

"Shut up!" Xavier burst out. I'd never seen him this irate.

"Just shut up just for two seconds!"

Molly looked offended for a moment before her eyes narrowed in hostility. "You shut up!" she yelled back at Xavier.

"Great comeback," Xavier muttered. "Do you always have to be so immature?"

"Pretty sure I'm the only sane person in this room right now," Molly said. "You're all out of your freaking minds."

"You don't know what you're talking about," Xavier said darkly. "Isn't there some quarterback you should be chasing around right now?"

"How dare you!" Molly yelled. "Did Tara say something to you? Don't listen to anything she says, she's just pissed because ..."

"Cut it out!" Xavier threw his hands up in frustration.

"We don't care about you and Tara and your petty adolescent disputes. Beth is missing and you're not helping so why don't you just leave."

Molly folded her arms. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Yeah, you are."

"Make me!"

"Don't think I won't."

"Enough!" Gabriel's deep, stern voice cut through the escalating argument. "This isn't helping anyone." He turned to Ivy. "Do you see? Molly knows things we don't."

"Yeah, well, I'm not telling you squat until I find out the truth," said Molly stubbornly, and Xavier cast a withering look in her direction. Ivy moaned softly and pressed a hand to her temple. Molly was hard work and my sister found her exhausting.

"Bethany's friend or not, this girl could make a preacher cuss."

"Perhaps we should try explaining things to her," Gabriel said kindly.

Xavier raised an eyebrow. "Go ahead, this should be interesting."

"Sit down, Molly," Gabriel began. "And try to listen without interrupting. If you have questions I'll answer them after."

Molly perched on the sofa obediently while Gabriel paced back and forth as he considered how to begin.

"We are not what we seem," he said eventually, choosing his words carefully. "It's hard to explain, but first it's important that you trust me. Do you trust me, Molly?"

Molly appraised him slowly from head to foot. He was so beautiful that I saw her face become wistful as she took him in. I wondered whether she'd be able to concentrate. Blond hair framed his sculpted face and his silver eyes gazed at her attentively. A faint golden light seemed to radiate several inches around him, trailing after him like a misty haze.