Path of Night Read online

  Nick shifted in the bed with a murmur, and Sabrina turned away from the window.

  “Nick?” The way she said his name was so sweet.

  Nick kept his eyes hooded as she hurried toward the bed. When she leaned anxiously over him, he clasped her slender silver waist in his hands and tumbled Sabrina down onto bed with him. She hovered over him with laughter in her dark eyes.

  “You think you’re so sneaky, Nick Scratch.”

  “What do you think, Spellman?”

  Sabrina said: “I think you’re a hero.”

  He leaned up and caught the crimson curve of her lips with his own. Sabrina smiled as she kissed him back, wrapped together against white pillows with her fingers stroking his hair. For a moment nothing hurt at all.

  “I’m not,” he murmured after a brief, breathless instant. “Sabrina, I’m so sorry. I know how you must have felt—tricked and—like nothing was real—”

  “There’s nothing to be sorry for,” Sabrina said. “As soon as you made that sacrifice, I understood.”

  “That’s why I did it,” Nick told her eagerly. “Wait, no. It was for you.”

  Sabrina smiled at him. “It can be for us. We’re a team, aren’t we? You’re on my side, and I’m on yours.”

  Nick nodded, a warm feeling unfurling in the center of his chest.

  “You shouldn’t be here, Sabrina,” he whispered. “I hear him in my head all the time.”

  “I’ll chase him out,” Sabrina promised. “I’ll keep you safe.”

  “I’m not worth it.”

  Sabrina framed his face in her hands. “You are to me,” she said, with bright tenderness in her eyes. “You’re everything to me.”

  He was so in love, he could hardly breathe.

  “I’m sure your aunt Hilda doesn’t agree.”

  “Aunt Hilda didn’t want me to come,” Sabrina admitted. “I still came. I don’t care. You and I can get a house together.”

  Wasn’t she upset? Nick thought with some disquiet. With a home like that, which she so dearly loved, where she was so dearly loved.

  Sabrina bit her lip, uncertain in a way she never was with him. “Do you not want to?”

  Nick had an inheritance, which he mostly used for books and travel. Being in a house by himself seemed hideous. A teacher had suggested he could get another familiar, and Nick was almost sick.

  A house with Sabrina would be different. He thought of the long-ago mortal girl, the light in her window. The light in Sabrina never went out. He wanted that light with him always.

  “I do want to,” he assured her.

  “I’m so glad, Nick.” Sabrina sat up, looking down at him fondly. “We might need two places? One on earth, and one in hell.”

  There was a pause.

  “What’s that, babe?” Nick asked.

  “While I was intent on rescuing you,” Sabrina explained, “I may have—accidentally!—become Queen of Hell.”

  Nick took a moment to process. He’d realized this might be a possibility, as Sabrina was technically next in line in the succession. His girlfriend was not an underachiever.

  “You can’t deny, this place needs to be better run,” Sabrina continued. “I was thinking, we should try to save the souls of everybody in hell.” Her face scrunched in a frown. “That might take time. And we should punish really evil souls. Anyway! I’ll work it out.”

  Nick started to laugh. “I believe in you.”

  Sabrina watched as though she liked to see him happy. She leaned over and kissed him. Every inch of Nick’s spine lit up, a line of radiance as joy and desire combined, the way that only ever happened with Sabrina. Nick nuzzled the long pale line of her neck, hiding there for a moment. Safe, even in hell, if he was with her. Sabrina began to undo the buttons of his shirt, and he let her do it rather than using magic. He wanted her to choose this, choose him.

  He could believe in Sabrina as the Queen of Hell, or the Queen of Heaven. The queen of everything she wanted to be. If they were together, and she cared about the world and he cared about her, it was almost like Nick was good too.

  There was a knock on the door.

  Sabrina sighed. “Alas, my subjects await. Get the door, will you, honey?”

  The door was incongruous in that green-and-gray room. It was a cage door.

  Nick looked at the door, then back at Sabrina. The sight of her soothed away his fear.

  “I love you so much, Nick,” she told him.

  “I love you too,” Nick said, full of wonder. He’d never had the chance to say that before. I love you too. It was a different thing from I love you. He’d been afraid he was alone in I love you.

  Sabrina smiled at him, marvelously. “I never really loved anyone else. I see that now.”

  Nick’s whole body went cold. He tore his gaze away from Sabrina.

  “That’s not true,” he told the glittering conquered city outside the window. “This isn’t real. She wouldn’t say that.”

  Everything turned to dust and crumbled away, the quiet bedroom and the shining city and the loving girl. Nick was left alone on the mountain again. He reached for Sabrina, far too late.

  Nick shivered, on his knees as the snow fell. He wished he could hold her one more time. Even though she wasn’t real.

  Instead of the wolves, there was a woman waiting for him on the cold mountain. She had paper-white skin, black eyes with eerie green irises, and a golden crown. He didn’t know her face, but there was something about the curl of her mouth.

  “Lilith,” Nick whispered.

  She smiled thinly. “Clever boy. You always were. Thought yourself the prince of your school. Strutted around pretending to be on the women’s side. All the time you were smugly doing your master’s bidding. Not so smug now, are we, Nicholas?”

  “Not to face-shame you,” said Nick, “but I liked Mary Wardwell’s face better.”

  Lilith waved her hand in a regal fashion. The pain made Nick double over. His skin sliced in four ragged lines across his chest, as though a she-wolf had tried to rip his heart out.

  “Don’t test me, pet. I’ve just had a trying interview with a demon prince. I’m in the mood to work out some frustrations, so you’d be wise to keep your pretty mouth shut.”

  Nick knew how to stay quiet and how to say what people wanted to hear. He’d done it a thousand times: for Amalia, for Father Blackwood, for Satan. For Sabrina.

  “I imagine the prince was sorry he crossed you,” said Nick. Lilith made a small satisfied noise. “What did he say?”

  Lilith paced on the mountain. Frost glittered upon the velvet train of her gown, as though it was embroidered with silver.

  “He claimed he hadn’t noticed any unrest in Pandemonium. While literally standing on a burning ship.”

  “Vexing,” murmured Nick.

  She spared him an approving glance.

  “Then he wanted to know about Princess Sabrina.”

  “About Sabrina!” Nick said sharply.

  Lilith’s next glance was not approving. She felt boys were meant to be shirtless on their knees in the snow and not heard; that was clear.

  “Mmm. I suppose the prince wonders if the Morningstar princess might be like him.” Lilith laughed. “Funny how the most irresistible thing in the world to a man is himself. He will never forgive a woman once he finds out she’s more than a pretty mirror to watch himself in.”

  The winter wind dragged cold claws down his back. Nick shivered uncontrollably. He’d done this so the shadow of hell could be lifted from Sabrina. The idea of a new darkness on the hunt for her was appalling.

  Lilith slapped Nick on the shoulder. Fresh blood dappled the snow.

  “Not to worry, I’m sure she’ll cherish fond memories of you. If you think about it, Lucifer did you two a favor. You will have the most perfect love story in any world, because you didn’t have the chance to disappoint her.”

  Lilith’s hand on him felt like the weight of chains.

  “But what am I thinking,” Lilith murm
ured. “You already betrayed her. After all, you’d known her five minutes.”

  “I’m sorry,” said Nick.

  He wasn’t speaking to Lilith, but Lilith answered.

  “Men always say they’re sorry. But they keep hurting us. Don’t hang your head. It’s not about being men. It’s about having power. In every world, the powerful hurt the weak, because they can. Everything luminous will be put out, everything sweet will be consumed. The only way not to be crushed is to be more powerful than everybody else. And Nicholas, you might have been top dog in school, but—what’s the mortal phrase—you’re playing in the big leagues now.”

  She laid her bloodred lips close to his ear. “Frankly, I think your time’s up. There never was much to you, was there? And it’s almost gone.”

  She rubbed her hands briskly together. His blood turned to red dust and drifted away in the wind. “This has been a delightful interlude, but I’m a busy woman. I’ll leave you to the wolves.”

  “No,” Nick begged.

  Lilith was already gone, melting like a snowflake. He was alone.

  Even if I cannot see the sun, thought Nick desperately, I know that it exists.

  Sabrina was so far away.

  You were at the lowest difficulty setting on our quest, and you had to overcome a smoke dragon.” Theo surveyed the faces of his friends, sitting in a circle under the British flag. “Ohhh dear.”

  “Don’t worry,” murmured Harvey, looking worried.

  Beside Harvey, Roz looked even more worried. She’d been quiet since she gave Sabrina the magic jewel last night. Theo had offered a high five because Roz had completed her quest, but Roz seemed in no mood for high fives.

  “Are you okay, Theo?” Sabrina leaned forward. “Do you want me to … I could try to kill the Lady of the Lake?”

  “Think that might be one of those solutions that only lead to more problems,” said Theo. “Appreciate the offer, though.”

  He punched Sabrina’s shoulder, to reassure her. Theo loved his friends, even when they were totally wilding. He loved them the same way they loved him: no matter what.

  So on the regular occasions when the whites of Sabrina’s eyes glowed and she announced she had a Plan, or the thankfully rare moments when Harvey’s mouth went flat and he became determined, Theo was okay with it. It wasn’t ideal, but life wasn’t ideal. Sometimes his friends engaged in embarrassing romantic drama. Sometimes they got extra about the supernatural.

  Theo’d known them for years. This was just like the time they were eleven when Sabrina lured them into the forbidden depths of the woods and Harvey found a baby bird.

  Theo and Sabrina were climbing too-tall trees and laughing when Harvey’s voice called them back to the earth. The baby bird in Harvey’s hands was fuzzy and gray, with a weird long neck, too-sharp yellow beak, and too-big yellow claws.

  “Sabrina!” pleaded Harvey, eyes huge in his thin kid face, tone effectively conveying he now loved this murder chicken.

  Sabrina’s face hardened into epic resolve.

  “Something Must Be Done,” she declared.

  Roz was the normal one, who had friends outside their group because her dad made sure she ran with the church kids. Poor Roz fretted, “That bird is a vulture, and its wingspan will be …” but Theo said, “Guys, that is a messed-up-looking bird,” then shrugged. He was pretty sure Harvey’s grandpa secretly killed the bird later. If he hadn’t, Harvey and Sabrina would’ve undoubtedly raised a vulture. And that was demented, but okay.

  Stick with your friends and fight your enemies, that was Theo’s motto. The world was full of jerks. His friends were good people.

  New guy Nick Scratch was Sabrina and Harvey’s baby vulture now, and everybody had to deal. Theo wanted his friends to rely on him. He wanted people to think: That Theo, what a guy.

  Still, Theo had to admit this was a freaky situation. Even for them. At least it was Saturday. Theo was thankful he didn’t have to go to school on top of dealing with his hell quest.

  Theo’s dad owned guns, but he would’ve had questions if Theo started regularly carrying around a gun the way Harvey did. This morning, though, Theo woke and knew today he must find a cloak of feathers. He’d grabbed the key to the cabinet from what his dad imagined was a genius hiding place and had taken a gun. Better in trouble with his dad than eaten by demons.

  Their latest meeting of the Fright Club concluded, they went downstairs. Theo remembered to shoulder his gun a moment after Harvey shouldered his. As they descended the split-level staircase of Sabrina’s house, Theo heard the phone ring from their office under the stairs, then the crisp sound of Zelda Spellman’s voice answering.

  “You have a dead body?” Zelda snapped. “Congratulations! Do you want two? That can be arranged.”

  “Aunt Z!” Sabrina dashed down the steps. “Have you forgotten we run a funeral home?”

  Sabrina’s aunt Zelda seemed more on edge than usual, and she wasn’t a relaxed lady at the best of times. Theo blamed her houseguests. Right now, three Academy students were standing in the hall looking up at them. Plus a ghost.

  “Greetings, mortal,” said Melvin.

  “Hey, dude,” said Theo.

  Harvey swung the ghost up into his arms. Sometime in the last forty-eight hours, Harvey had adopted a creepy ghost child. Theo shook his head. Classic Harvey.

  Creepy Ghost stared over Harvey’s shoulder at Theo. When people thought Theo was a girl, they’d expected Theo to automatically think kids were cute. This kid wasn’t. She looked like she’d been drowned, then dragged through a hedge backward. And left under the hedge for a hundred years.

  The Academy students were as unraveled and disheveled as the ghost. Nobody had brought a change of clothes from the Academy of Unseen Arts. Theo supposed witches didn’t go to the mall.

  Theo used to make his own costumes for Christmas and Halloween. He could mend his own clothes, which was handy on a farm. He used to carry a sewing kit around with him everywhere. A few months ago, when everyone still called him by a girl’s name, Theo would’ve offered to help out the witches. Now that he was openly Theo, he wasn’t sure sewing was a Theo thing to do.

  Plus, Theo didn’t like the Academy kids. Apparently many witches pretended they were better than mortals. Why, Theo wondered, could nobody accept people as they were?

  Elspeth sidled over to where Harvey stood. Agatha moved farther away from him, but she was watching Harvey too.

  Certain witches were apparently devastated by Harvey. Since witches lived in opposite land, Theo guessed Harvey was the equivalent of a total bad boy who rolled in on a motorcycle while wearing a leather jacket, and maybe smoked. Theo sniggered. Lock up your daughters, witch moms! Harvey might shyly ask her out for a milkshake!

  This explained a lot about Sabrina’s attitude to Harvey over the years. And her aunt Zelda’s.

  “I’m heading out,” Roz announced. “Lizzie asked if I wanted to go to the mall.”

  Roz hugged Theo at the front door, then made her way down the curving path into the woods.

  Before he could close the door, a grinning demon swung from the lintel of the doorway and launched itself at Theo’s face. Theo was knocked flat on his back, the creature’s jagged teeth snapping an inch from his nose. Elspeth was screaming, Harvey was moving too fast, and Theo could hear the tap of Sabrina’s shoes. Theo wrenched his gun desperately off his shoulder and shot the demon in the face.

  The demon exploded into dust. Theo rolled over, coughing and choking. He saw Sabrina with shadows coiling around her white hair, and Harvey with his gun already aimed.

  If Harvey hadn’t been holding that ghost, he would’ve shot the demon. The Lady of the Lake said Theo was supposed to do this on his own.

  Theo should be able to do this on his own.

  Zelda Spellman burst out of the office, a terrifying vision in amethyst tweed. “Which of you miscreants summoned a demon!”

  The Academy students cringed, far more scared of her than of demons. Theo
felt slightly bad about getting the witch kids in trouble, but not that bad. The witch kids were jerks. He didn’t know why Harvey was trying so hard with them.

  What Theo knew was, he must get out of Sabrina’s house.

  “Off to shower demon dust out of my hair,” he announced, and hugged Sabrina.

  “I’ll come with you!” said Harvey.

  “Don’t go, beautiful mortal,” murmured Elspeth.

  Maybe Harvey was the witch version of that Andrews boy from Riverdale. Last summer, Roz and Theo would go admire the construction site where Riverdale Guy built things. Shirtlessly.

  Then one day last summer, Theo and Roz caught Harvey sneakily playing the guitar, and Theo saw Roz give him—Harvey!—the Riverdale Guy eyes. Even though Harvey was wearing a shirt. Actually, Harvey was wearing two.

  Oh nooo, Theo thought, but decided Roz was smart. She’d get over it.

  Last summer, life was simpler.

  Theo felt better about life now, but the romantic drama was taxing.

  He remembered the winter day Sabrina stunned Theo twice by announcing she was a witch, and Harvey’d broken up with her.

  It was clear Harvey was melting down. Theo couldn’t even think about what Harvey’d done—shot his brother—without feeling his own mind bend around the horror. But Harvey loved Sabrina so much, Theo was certain they’d get past this.

  Only at the sweethearts’ dance in February, Harvey told Theo he’d asked Roz out. And Sabrina showed up with an insanely hot stranger.

  Theo seized Harvey’s sleeve. “Who is that?”

  “That’s Nick Scratch.”

  Harvey intoned this as a farmer might say, “That’s Hurricane Nick, come to destroy my crops.”

  Theo stumbled off to get air. When he went outside, he saw school bully Billy fumble to hide a cigarette.

  “Billy, I’m not a teacher. I don’t care if you smoke. It’ll kill you, though; you’re a dummy.”

  Theo was aware he got too angry when people were jerks. He was making an effort to be more chill, since Billy was trying to be less of a jerk. Theo strongly felt Greendale needed more chill.