Purgatorial

The barn was surrounded by an open landscape bigger than the garden around their house. Cameron said the wooden fence delimited the holy ground perimeter. He drove us up the small hill where the bar red-copper barn stood. The outside looked taken care of, the wood looked polished and strong. Then again, it was their property, I shouldn't have expected to see a frail old shack. It was tall, with a window over the garage door. It wasn't nearly has wide as the Leale mansion, which was fine by me. Their house was cool and stuff, but every time I wanted to walk somewhere it felt like a decade.

Cameron followed the dirt path, stopping in front of the big door. He slid out, walked up to the tall double doors and pulled them wide open. Garage it was. This one was big enough for only one vehicle, we wouldn't have been able to fit Phill's Ducati anywhere. Speaking of Phillip and vehicles... He said my car was taken to the local repair shop. I should really swing by and see if it was fixed. That car was the last thing I had from my family. I wasn't going to let it go.

Getting out, I fanned myself. It was hot. It felt like spring had blown up all over.

"It's hot in here." I walked over to the trunk as Cam slung a bag with his clothes over a shoulder.

"This place gets a lot of sunlight exposure because of the lack of trees. Which is good, there's no heating."

"Fireplace?"

"Did you see a chimney?"

"No."

"There's your answer." He leaned over to peck my cheek. "You know... We should probably clean before we take this inside." He lowered the bag back onto the trunk.

Cameron retrieved a bunch cleaning products from the back seat, along with a broom, mop and buckets.

Fun.

Cameron pulled out a single key from his jacket, unlocking the front door. An electrical current surged his skin, cackling softly, and soon the lights were alive allowing us to see clearly. Turning on the power without needing to flick a switch. Crafty, I thought smiling. Cam stepped further into the ground-level floor. I edged behind carefully, searching every nook for a cobweb or worse... spiders. The front door was seven steps away from a small kitchenette. Two cabinets stood above a stainless stove, washer and sink. Next to the sink, was a refrigerator about my height. Further into the single room was a large living room with a U shaped couch dark leather, below it, was a bear fur skin and the TV was big and heavy. A large window stood at the end of the room, closed.

Cameron was quiet, which got a part of my brain itching with worry, but my eyes were curious with awe as they found wooden stairs. Baring a sigh, my boyfriend marched up to them. They led to an ample second floor platform. Cam led me up and I allowed myself to enjoy the simple, yet amazing decor and design. The barn's second floor was the bedroom/study, and there was a small bathroom off to the bed's right. If you were standing outside the bathroom, though, you could see inside the shower space since its wall was a multi-colored glass block wall. The bed was the main event. Big and sturdy, almost as large as the one back in Cam's room. Only this one was a four-poster bed. Behind it, was the large window I'd seen from outside. To the left, was an old desk, worn from use. It was too tidy, though. Not far from it, was a big vanity with four large drawers.

"Your idea?" I asked, thumbing the pretty glass wall. I knew how much he loved his seamless shower. I knew he'd love for us to use it together even more.

Absently, he shook his head. Frowning, I turned, reaching up to cup his cheek. Distant eyes met mine.

"What's wrong?"

Cameron's eyelids fluttered as he looked away for a second.

"I've never actually been here." I gagged a dry laugh once I saw it wasn't a joke. "I've been here, like outside because I came to open the door for the cleaning people, but I never... I'd never been inside. At least not since I was six."

"Why?" it sounded a callous question, but Cameron didn't mind.

"My parents used to come here."

"Okay...?"

A dark eyebrow arched down at me, "They came here. Alone." He made sure to punch some emphasize into the word. Oh. Oh. "Rory used to come visit a lot and during those visits, sometimes, my parents left her in charge of babysitting Phillip and me. They came here to..."

I put up my hands, shaking my head.

"I got it." He dropped the explanation, relieved. "So... This was like their... huh... place?"

"One of them." I knew another was probably that clearing Phillip took me to, the one where we'd kissed for the first time. He told that's where their parents met. "What job do you want? Dusting, mopping—"

"Swiping and moping."

"Spiders walk on floors too, lovebird."

"Maybe I'll leave the door open, see if I can get a snake to slither inside." I said as I trudged downstairs.

A groan left him.

***

I wanted to borrow Cameron's speed. Seriously. I'd barely swiped the ground floor before a blur rushed around the living room, sending particles of dust floating, cleaning the TV set, walls and ceiling. He even opened the window in a brisk motion. I jumped just as something warm and soft touched my neck, heaving a long breath, I realized he'd just zoomed in, standing beside me.

"Dusting downstairs complete. Killed two spiders." I shoved him away. Cam laughed richly, a hand shot for my arm and he whirled me—broom and all—against his chest. "Okay, okay. I'll stop now. I swear."

"You better," I tapped the broom handle on Cameron's shoulder. "If you know what's good for you."

His smile stretched and for the first time, in a very long while, his dimples greeted me. And I couldn't contain a smile of my own. Cameron had ditched his jacket before we began our spring cleaning, he was wearing a cotton T-shirt that left little to anyone's imagination. I pressed a hand to his side feeling the hard, lean muscles. Okay. Maybe touching was a mistake, even if I had intentions of pushing away to carry on with my Cinderella duty.

"The couch is dusted off..." his eyes slid slowly to the U shaped sofa, letting the suggestion hang between us, clear as water.

The smile faltered due to crazy-monkey lust on his part. Reigning in a deep shudder, I managed a glare. Pouting after a minute, Cam shrugged, leaving a whoosh in his wake, gone to clean upstairs. Taking several breaths and thinking about non-sexy stuff, like tests, those stupid war video games Henry liked playing and Zombie apocalypses, I got work done. Things would've been much easier with a vacuum. We hadn't hung around the mansion for long, only packing some food for today, our clothes, toothbrushes, shampoos, Cam's laptop and his... guitar. I wouldn't necessarily call it an essential, but he seemed to think so. Essentials were things like my book on herbs and plants, plus the remaining Azure Dagger we had. By the time I was finishing dusting off the kitchenette's floor, Cameron was busy cleaning the fridge's inside, and my thoughts gravitated to Etna. Not just her, Lucas, too.

Back in Valley of Shadows, once Serena had morphed open the Ethereal, my ancestor had woken up in a flash. Almost like she'd been waiting to be set free. And... who knows? Maybe she had. She'd sputtered on about listening to the last thoughts of immortal souls. It seemed a likely scenario since when I'd touched a Crystal my Power had gone wonky and free, throwing me into hundreds of dozens of memories. Of death. If I could see memories from the people who'd died, their last thoughts could've entered Etna's head since she was encased in the solid soul matter.

She'd looked totally bonkers. Enough that she promptly killed a Warlock, Marx. I still didn't know how she knew he was lying about selling us out to Angels. Etna could phase her hands into a person's chest, touching the soul. She could see all the wrong and good deeds, she had the ability to redeem Fallens. Give them their wings back.

"Kitchen's clean and appliances are up and running. I'm going to get our stuff." I nodded swiping extra hard, lost in thought.

There were so many things I didn't know. We didn't know. I wanted to know them, though. I wanted to call my step-brother and ask about soccer, let him know I hadn't dropped from the face of the Earth. I wanted to catch Michael and demand what he'd done to my friends. I wanted to see Jade and know I'd made the right call bringing her with us from Hell, that she was having a chance of normalcy in New Orleans. I wanted to hunt down this Cain douche-canoe and force him to give us a cure for Dawn's love potion decease, plus knock out some teeth until he lowered the bubble keeping us prisoners in Haven Hills.

But if wishes were fishes we'd all be throwing nets.

Cam dumped our stuff by the couch, only handing me the food bags. On auto-pilot I began fishing out eggs, milk, some food cans with winners and others with mushrooms... I froze, staring down at a box of unopened pop tarts. The first time I went to their house—to work on an English paper with Cam—Phillip made a big deal out of Cameron having eaten the last pop tart. A fond smile wanted to find a place to shine, but every time Phillip breached into my thoughts I felt sad. Worried. Sighing, I placed the pop tarts in the middle shelf, kicking the door closed. Cam was putting away packages of pasta, a bottle of salt and two Oreo boxes. Finished, he closed the cabinet and looked at me, leaning on the sink.

Now that we were moved in, we'd have to discuss the purple eyed elephant in the room.

"He's the guy from my dream. The one with all the crows." Way to break the ice, Cortez.

"The purple eyes gave him away, Nina, but thanks for the reminder." I raised an eyebrow, arms crossed.

"Why are you getting all pissy at me? It's not like I invited him to Haven Hills."

"I didn't say that..." he dropped his head, massaging both temples. Cam groaned. "Look, we're shaken up. Tense. I don't want to fight with you."

He walked for the couch, shaking out his shoulders to drop invisible brick weights of guilt and anxiety.

"I don't want to fight, either." My voice softened an inch. "But we need to talk about this... situation. I mean, he has us trapped in our town. He fed a love potion to Dawn—God knows why he did that for—and he has unleashed three Cambions." I huffed a long breath, pushing away from the closed fridge, walking over to the couch, taking a seat beside Cameron's wired body. "Plus, he has Power and he can do Magic. What the hell is he?" There was no answer. "Do you think... Whatever Cain is, he can enter here?"

Cameron draped an arm around my waist, pulling me along as he leaned back.

"I have no idea. I hope he can't." I wished he could be more reassuring, but without knowing what label to put on Cain there was no way to know. "I don't know what to do about Dawn, or this bubble he's got us quarantined in, but I know I have to kill the Cambions."

I didn't like the sound of that. But I rarely liked Cameron's plans.

"There's three of them." I whispered. A Cambion's bite was deadly to Nephilim. Cambions were also immortal since they consumed their human parent's soul at birth. "The last time you went up against a Cambion..."

His arm muscle bulged as he held me closer.

"I didn't know what the dude was. I didn't know a bite could kill me. This time, I do." The fact Cameron seemed too calm scared me. He was very volatile when he appeared calm, which led him to do something incredibly stupid. "Why do you think he wants Etna?"

"Beats me. As far as I know, she can reach into peoples' chests and touch their souls. If she reaches into a Fallen's chest she can redeem him or her. Cain's not a Fallen." My head was starting to hurt from all the speculation and problem-facing. Times like these made me want to crawl into bed and bury my head under a pillow. "I think Cain was at the Wastelands, in the Rebels hide out. There was this big door—the same I saw in my dream. And I remember feeling an awful fright from being near it, but at the same time, it pulled me closer. Before I could open it Helena showed up." I shook my head as flashes from my time under Lyra's spell surfaced. I palmed Cam's chest softly assuring myself he was in one piece. "It's scary to think someone like him was so close to us and we had no idea."

Cameron nodded, dropping a kiss on my head. I could tell he was faraway, though.

"Why do you think he did it?" I flicked my eyes to Cameron's unseeing black orbs. "He ordered the Rebels to kill our families. Why?"

"I... have no idea and I'm not sure I want to know."

His jaw flexed and he stated gravely, "Me neither."

***

My brain felt like a whole lot of mush. The last few nights I'd barely slept. Too preoccupied with Cain showing up. I spent most nights blinking in and out of dreams. Dreams of chasing after Cameron but losing sight of him. In other ones, I saw my reflection and blood bubbled from my mouth as a shrill laugh echoed the air, my veins and every last nerve ending in my body, until I numbed and withered away.

Two days had passed since Cain's stupid deadline. Today we went back to school. Cambions hadn't attacked from the shadows, but that was probably because we'd spent our time inside the barn gathering our wits, enjoying each other's company and trying to get in touch with Phill or Serena. Both cells were non-responsive.

Cam made a detour for the Lighthouse before driving us to school. He bought two large coffees, mine came with cream and everything. Stocking up on sugar and caffeine kept my mind off the Cambions for about five minutes. Haven Hills wasn't that small of a town. Plus, I hadn't been here for such a long time. Cameron's eyes prowled the streets and driveways we passed, this morning he'd told me I wasn't allowed to stray more than four feet away from his sight. Obviously he couldn't apply said rule to classes.

Though, he wanted us to skip school, for like, the rest of the semester. Hell to the no. Cain had Dawn under his thumb, who knew what he could do to her? We needed to keep an eye on her. That was what I was thinking of right before Cam made a turn for Julian Ivory's parking lot.

I lurched forward in my seat. The seat belt tugged my chest hard, sending me into the passenger's seat with a oof. Cameron's abrupt stop became clear when I saw a sea of people standing outside school, gathered in front of the main entrance.

"What in the name..." I clicked the seat belt, leaning forward, squinting my eyes at the school's roof where all eyes were. Against the early morning sky I saw a shape, a skinny silhouette. It wasn't a guy...

"It's Sam."

I jerked to face Cameron.

"What the hell is she doing up there?"

His eyebrows pinched together, "Whatever it is, can't be good." We both bolted outside, Cameron didn't even complain when I forgot to slam the Camaro's door.

I couldn't push past the thrall of students. I saw teachers up ahead and one of them seemed to be trying to talk Samantha down. I saw her shaking her head with fierceness. I couldn't make out her face against the early sunlight. I could make out sobs, the kind that wrecked havoc across your body. The kind you couldn't control. The kind I'd been immersed in when my family was killed and the days that followed.

Cameron grabbed my elbow, pulling me in, he whispered, "She's whispering something. A bunch of mumbles..." he frowned, face scrunching in focus as he channeled more Power to sharpen his hearing. "She's saying 'I killed him, I'm a monster, I killed him'..." Our eyes locked up. "She remembers."

"No. That's impossible. Vanessa compelled her to forget. Any memories from her time as a host..."

"She remembers, Nina. I'm not making this up."

"But how?"

"I—"

I pushed Cameron out of the way as I caught sight of the road.

Dawn was standing in the middle of the street, a car was speeding down the school's lane, totally uncaring of any stop signs or red lights. Unconcerned for the teenage girl standing motionless in its destructive path.

"Dawn!" I yelled out.

She didn't turn. Not an inch to the sound of her name. The people kept whispering, stunned but it wasn't about Dawn. Everyone but us had their backs to her.

A male voice I knew called a name I also knew very well. Sam's name.

It all happened in seconds.

I glanced over a shoulder to see Samantha wobbling awfully close to the school's main building's ledge. I had no idea how to get the roof, but there she was, wearing her cheerleader uniform. Daren screamed her name again, along with others, she shook her head—I squinted harder. Her cheeks looked red. She looked very distraught and...

Tires screeched causing my head to whip back around.

It happened.

"No!" I screamed nearly throwing myself into the road's middle.

The Humvee didn't stop. Dawn didn't move.

Just as my brain played out the whole scenario—her body flying off the car's hood, blood painting the pavement—a blur rushed past me. Past the zooming car.

My heart squeezed ten fold with relief.

Cameron was beside me, holding a thrashing Dawn in his arms.

"Dawn..."

Then the loud shouts got my attention. I turned to where the other crazy stunt was...

"Someone call 911!" several people called out at once.

"Ohmygod..."

"...is she breathing...?"

"Ugh... blood's coming from..."

"She cracked her head!"

Those were some loud murmurs. Many more flashed by. I couldn't quite understand them all, what I could understand was that Sam wasn't flaying on the building's edge, not anymore. She'd thrown herself right off it. Landing on the stairwell. Blood was leaking from her head, her ears...

I knocked into Cam, startled.

"Holy shit." He breathed.

Samantha was...

"Dawn," Cam grunted, annoyance quickly covering shock and disgust. "Stop squirming. You crazy chick."

Heart slamming its way up my throat, I felt myself coil as the strange tainted feel littered the air. The Humvee had stopped a few feet from where Dawn had stood. I knew who the driver was before he climbed out. Cain stepped toward the scene and us, steel-toed boots clapping on the asphalt with a menacingly. His shirt was black with a giant spider logo in red. I took a long, deep breath. One more reasons to hate spiders.

Dawn stopped moving in Cam's arms so much as she spotted him smiling.

"Don't feel too bad, man. At least you saved one of them."

"That was you?" I growled barely registering the panicky voices in the background.

He let out a dry laugh.

"It was more of a the-devil-made-me-do-it sort of thing. I thought it up and your Vampire friend helped undoing the compulsion."

Vanessa.

My heart chilled.

"What did you do to her?" Cameron gritted relinquishing his hold on Dawn, pushing her into me. In seconds he was grabbing Cain's shirt, propelling him close. "She wouldn't just help you destroy someone. What did you do?"

Smirking at Cameron's raging attitude Cain patted his wrists.

"I might have threatened to kill her boyfriend. Garth... Garfield..."

"Garry." I pushed out through building panic.

Cain's purple eyes jumped to attention.

"Yes! That's it. Gary. I told her I'd kill him if she didn't undo the compulsion. Sammy's consciousness did the rest, guess guilt's a bitch, huh?"

Cameron's fist pulled back, crashing into Cain's cheek full force. The blow caused Cain's head to loll to the side. In stricken horror, we watched as he turned slowly to face Cam moving his jaw sideways, then he did opening and closing motions.

"Wooh. You pack a punch." Cameron snorted aiming another hit. Cain ducked with the agility of a cat from Cameron's grip, coming up quickly. "My turn."

Cain's fist was faster than a lightning bolt. He struck Cameron's left cheek and sent him flying into the parking lots' fence. Holy molly. Dawn and I stared, speechless. Although she had a disgusting dreamy glee in her eyes.

"Where's Vanessa?"

Cain cracked his knuckles one last time before answering.

"Well, after she undid the compulsion I stabbed her boyfriend in the shoulder. Which reminds me... She didn't look too in control when blood poured out." A chuckle shook his chest.

"You what?" I deadpanned.

Cain said with a maniacal smirk, "Are we having fun yet?"