"i was assigned here by my organization."

"wow, your boss must hate you." i exchanged phone numbers with him. "i've got to go figure out a way to get rid of bigglesworth. call me if you need anything."

"take care, lad." maclean paused. "and thanks for the rescue. i owe you one." before i could answer, he closed the door.

i retraced my steps to the library, grabbed a flying rug, and swooped over the balustrade toward the main floor far below. my head spun with new information. illuminati. cyrinthian rune. ezzek moore and daelissa getting it on-gross!

the rug jerked to a halt. unprepared, i tumbled over the side, my cry of terror cut short as i hit the floor. my thoughts had so absorbed me, i hadn't been paying attention. the breath slammed out of me. as i lay gasping on the cold marble floor, someone giggled.

"why, bro-bro, what are you doing here?" asked my dear little sister, ivy.

chapter 19

even as i gasped for breath, i frantically rolled to the side before ivy could do anything horrible to me. she only grinned with amusement.

"don't be silly," she said. "i'm not going to do anything bad to you in front of all these nice people."

i noticed students staring at me, the nerdy ones giving me stern looks, while others stifled laughter. "laugh it up," i grumbled, glaring at the hovering rug. i climbed to my feet. "you stopped my ride, didn't you?"

ivy giggled again. "it was pretty funny."

my jaw went tight. "there's nothing funny about trying to kill someone, much less your own flesh and blood, ivy."

"but, you're evil," she said, batting eyelashes over large innocent eyes.

"and i don't appreciate the little gift you left for elyssa."

"oh, mr. bigglesworth got the doll to her?" she clapped her hands. "i'll bet nightliss was so shocked."

"she didn't see it." a mix of frustration and anger tightened around my shoulders in an iron grip, spreading up my neck and into my forehead. my sister was so messed up. was she beyond hope?

ivy's mouth fell open, and her eyes went wide with disbelief. "but, why? i worked so hard on that." she narrowed her eyes. "are you lying to me? she really saw it, right? i'll bet she freaked."

"no, she didn't," i growled. "it's not nice to threaten people."

"she's not a person." ivy crossed her arms and gave me a stern look. "she's a darkling."

"yeah, yeah, a horrible agent of darkness." i held my hands out like a ghost and moaned. "better watch out, the sweet little angel is going to get you."

my sister's blue eyes went hard. "you are beyond hope, justin."

"you're the one beyond hope," i shot back. "and your bigdaddy tried to suffocate me to death in maximus's underground lair. who's the evil one now?"

"he did?" for the first time, she seemed a bit unsure.

"your doughboy pal bigglesworth tried to kill me today, too. stick that in your pipe and smoke it."

ivy quirked her mouth and raised a blonde eyebrow in a yeah right! look. "i'm sure you did something to deserve it."

i resisted the urge to grab her by both arms and shake her, instead leaning in, a snarl on my face. "nobody deserves cold-blooded murder, especially not family."

she flinched away, and i noticed a pink glow coming from her hand. an orb of energy coalesced in her palm. "don't come at me, bro. i will hurt you."

my anger transformed into acute sadness, like a blade in my throat. i fought back sudden moisture and backed away from her. "you've already hurt me, ivy." i wiped my eyes. "you think i'm evil, and you think killing me is okay." drawing in a deep breath to ward off the pain, i gave my sister one last look, turned, and walked away.

"where are you going?" she said, her voice full of surprise. she ran ahead of me and held out a hand. "justin, come with me. come talk with bigdaddy. maybe he can forgive you, and we can fix you. mommy is there, and i'll be there, and you can be a part of a happy family again."

"i can't."

she squeezed her hands together in supplication. "please? pretty please with sugar and ice cream and your fave berries on top? i just know if you talk to bigdaddy he can convince you. i promise we're the good guys."

"you're not," i said simply. "daelissa is using you to take over the world."

"no, no, no, the brightlings are good, justin." she grabbed my hand. "please, come. i promise you'll see!"

i actually considered it for a moment. maybe talking to jeremiah would help me understand why in the world they thought helping daelissa was a good thing. had she brainwashed them? promised them power? i couldn't think of any other reason why they'd want the seraphim to rule again. "ivy, do you know what daelissa and her people did the last time they ruled this world?"

"oh, they didn't rule it," she replied. "the darklings invaded and almost killed everyone, but then the brightlings fought back and almost won, but the darklings tried to kill everyone by blowing up the grand nexus."

"no, it's the other way around," i said.

"says who?"

"nightliss."

"of course she'd tell you that, silly." my sister flashed a grin. "she wants you to help in her quest for world domination."

suppressing a groan, i said, "ivy, i promise you that's not what happened. daelissa is lying to you."

"no, she's not. besides, she's not the only one who says it's true."

i sighed. "you realize your grandparents are going to say it's true because daelissa told them. that's called circular logic."

"no, my grandparents believe it because another angel told them."

had mom fed her these lies? "and which angel is that?" i asked in a tight voice.

"graeme." she sighed like a lovesick girl. "he's so beautiful. i've only met him a few times, but he's so sweet, too." a girlish giggle erupted. "he brought me a puppy once."

"that's...nice," i said, wondering if graeme was the fourth and unnamed angel maclean had mentioned. "what's your puppy's name?"

her face fell. "oh, bigdaddy wouldn't let me keep him. he said jumpy would distract me from my studies."

i almost made a remark about how evil it was to deprive a little girl of her puppy, but held back. i felt so close to making a connection with her. heck, maybe if i promised to take her to the zoo this moment, she'd rethink her position. if i could only insert a sliver of doubt-no matter how tiny-between her and the lies daelissa burned into her impressionable little brain. i just had to figure out how. "would you like to meet nightliss and ask her questions?" i said. "if you do that, i'll talk to"-i almost gagged on the word-"bigdaddy."

her eyes narrowed. "are you trying to trick me? you know nightliss will only capture and torture me."

"i won't let her." i held up my hand palm out. "promise."

she mulled it over. "i don't know, justin. how can i trust you?"

"how about if i bring her to you someplace you'll be safe?"

"well-" her lips pursed. "maybe that would work, but i wouldn't want bigdaddy or the others to know, because they'd get really mad."

my heart leapt, and i fought to keep from sounding too enthusiastic. "sure, just tell me where."

she mulled it over for a moment. "i don't know where."

i couldn't help but notice how adorable ivy looked when she was deep in thought. or how much she reminded me of mom. it was almost torturous to have her so close at hand and not be able to talk to her like a normal human being. the end of the world might be near, but i felt like i might do anything to have her trust me.

"how about this," i said, resisting the urge to touch her shoulder the way a brother or even a friend might. "let's forget all this end of the world stuff. do you feel safe with me on campus?"

a blonde eyebrow lifted as she regarded me. "i guess."

"i saw a gelato shop down the hall from the cafeteria. why don't we get some ice cream and just talk about normal stuff?"

a grin broke on her lips. "are you buying?"

her smile infected me, and i grinned back. "of course."

she looked around. "well, i kind of sneaked away for some alone time. they're always telling me what i can and can't do, and i'm tired of it."

"i know the feeling," i said. "so, is that a yes?"

her smile brightened. "yes!" she giggled and clapped her hands.

we wove through the crowded hallway. students stopped what they were doing as we passed, some of them staring at ivy as though she might blow them up with a look. she strode blithely past them, talking to me about her puppy, jumpy.

"i only had him for a couple of days," she said, lips pouting. "if they trust me with big things, why not little things?"

i nodded in agreement. "adults can be really stupid," i said.

"totes!" she said, eyes wide with sincerity.

we entered the gelato shop. ivy ordered a double scoop combo of fairy frost with mango unicorn, while i tried the potion master special flavor of the day, gumper's concoction number 101. even though i couldn't readily identify what it tasted like, it was delicious.

"where did you go to school before this?" i asked ivy after we found a seat in the crowded shop.

"the ezzek moore arcane academy for the gifted," she said, somehow licking her gelato in between words without pausing. "i didn't know about, well"-she leaned close, a conspiratorial gleam in her eye-"about mom being an angel." she straightened, licked a dribble of melted gelato from the side of the cone. "i just thought i was really talented."

"i never had that problem," i said. i stopped myself before blurting out how terrible i was with magic. if i ever had to fight her, i didn't want her to know how easy she would have it.