“Black,” Harley said at the same time.
I groaned. “Not helping.”
I wanted this trip to Hawaii with Gage to be perfect. I could portal us there, but Gage said he wanted me to have the full experience, so he’d booked us first class tickets. We were scheduled to leave for the airport in an hour and I needed solid advice.
Two weeks of Gage, me, and the white sands of Maui. I couldn’t wait.
The past week had been the calmest the academy had ever had. No demon calls, no portals opening. Aurum had dropped in to confirm that the Netherworld was gone, and though there had been a few demon sightings, without Shades to protect them and no way for them to escape back to the Netherworld, most seemed to have gone into hiding.
I was a little nervous that we were experiencing some sort of strange calm before another storm. We all knew there were high level demons still on Earth when the Netherworld collapsed, and there were rumblings and rumors of schemes between them and the now-powerless Shades, but that was a problem for another day. Future Tatum could deal with that because right now I was taking a much-deserved break. Anything short of a multi-world apocalypse wouldn’t stop me from getting on that plane to Hawaii.
Skye popped into the room suddenly, and I grinned. “Hey!”
I wanted to throw my arms around Skye and give her a big hug, but I’d just fall right through her if I tried, and I hated the feeling of Skye ghosting through me. I’d been worried I wasn’t going to see her again since she’d already helped me complete my mission, so this was a treat.
Skye looked at me and waved.
“The black one,” she said, and then turned to Harley, who looked smug that Skye had taken her side.
The red bikini was lying discarded on the bathroom floor, but I guess Skye didn’t need to see it to know it was not her taste.
“Hey, that situation we spoke about last week has escalated,” Skye said to Harley, and my sister’s brows drew together. “You need to get to Shade Citynow. The demons are looking for her.”
“Shade City?” I stood and moved closer. Drea’s gaze ping-ponged back and forth between Harley and me because she couldn’t hear what Skye was saying.
“Demons looking for who?” I asked.
Skye looked over at me.
“I say this with love,” Skye started, and I braced myself. Skye didn’t say anything with love. “I’m not your guide anymore, I’m Harley’s, and she needs to do this without you.”
Wait?Avalon had given Harley a mission and Skye to help her with it? Technically, Harley was still a Shade. No matter how many times I tried to convince her to step through the portal to see Cael and ask for powers, she pushed back saying she didn’t want them and I couldn’t get a clear reason why from her. It was bizarre that she’d be given a mission from Avalon as a Shade who refused to even try to become a Lumen.
“Do what?” I glanced at my sister.
We’d grown really close the past week and she hadn’t mentioned anything about something going on in Shade City, even when we visited Sam together in LA and brought her soul to Tartarus. Reuniting Harley with the mother she’d never met was particularly bonding. So yeah, Harley seemed slightly depressed about not having powers, but otherwise happy.
Harley cleared her throat. “Dash has a little sister. She’s twelve and we were buds.”
I knew Dash had a brother, but not a sister. Dash had never mentioned her before, not even when we were in Shade City looking for Harley. I glanced at Drea. She looked just as surprised as I had to hear Dash had a little sister.
“Demons are looking for Dash’s sister? Why?” Drea asked as she pieced together what was going on from what Harley and I were saying.
Harley nodded. “Every Shade in the world lost their powers when Apollyon died. Except for her.”
My blood ran cold. “How could a little twelve-year-old have Shade powers? Especially with Apollyon now gone?”
You didn’t get powers until you were eighteen, and even then you had to have an Ascension or Descension Ceremony.
Harley shrugged, standing. “I don’t know, but she’s innocent in all this and so we have to go find her and protect her.”
I nodded. “I’ll postpone my trip.” It wasn’t a multi-world apocalypse, but family came first. Always. “We can hit up the armory on our way out and—”
“Tatum,” Skye stopped me. “I can’t say what will happen to the girl, but I do know that this is something Harley and Dash have to do together, and if you or anyone from here gets involved, then Dash’s sister definitely dies.”
It was like she’d punched me in the gut.
“And if we don’t get involved?” I prodded her.
