Sins of the Innocent - Jamie McGuire Page 0,20

me.”

Eli rolled his eyes. “Like a fourth grade boy bullying his crush on the playground. Remember him, Eden. You might be surprised.”

“Remember him?” I asked.

But Eli was gone. My arms folded, I stood alone in the empty space, mulling over Eli’s words.

I drove home at thirty miles over the speed limit, my cheeks wet with tears. It was emotionally draining to be around Eli and then for him to leave, similar to the way Eli felt about crossing planes. To also learn that we weren’t on the same team was devastating. I wasn’t fighting for God after all.

My breath caught. I’m not even fighting with my family. I belonged to no one.

The longer I drove, the worse I felt. It was easy not to recognize bad news when Eli had such a flawless delivery, but the awful truth infiltrated me like a sickness. By the time I reached the driveway, bile began to rise in my throat.

Bex’s motorcycle was parked by the front porch where everyone was waiting for me. He’d driven ahead to warn them what I’d done. I wasn’t sure what reaction to expect, but it didn’t really matter. I had too many human emotions clouding everything else.

Dad’s expression matched Mom’s, and even Grandmother looked concerned.

“Eden,” Dad said, holding out his arms.

“I know that I’m neutral,” I said, sucking in a breath. “You can stop pretending. I guess that makes sense. If I’m keeping the Balance, then I would have to be.”

Dad’s arms fell, and Mom covered her mouth. “Is that what Eli said?”

My eyes danced between her and my dad. “She didn’t know?”

Again, Dad gestured for me to come to him. “Come inside, sweetheart. We need to talk.”

I followed him into the foyer and down the back hall into the family room. My entire family took seats on the two large velvet sectionals, surrounded by designer throw pillows and windows covered by thick curtains.

The dark lighting made the upcoming conversation even more ominous. I settled into a middle cushion. Mom sat on one side of me with Bex on the other.

Bex took my hand, seeming sad, as if he was in no hurry for the truth to take something away from me forever.

“Why didn’t you stop me?” I asked. “You knew I was at the warehouse. If you didn’t want me to know, why did you let me go in?”

“At first, I didn’t think he’d come. But since he did … he wanted you to know, and I trust Eli.”

“That’s it? You trust Eli,” I deadpanned.

Bex seemed wounded. We hadn’t been getting along lately, and up until that point, we had been best friends even though I was younger. “Don’t you?”

“Yes, but …”

“I trust you, too,” Bex said, squeezing my hand.

Dad paced for a couple of minutes before covering his mouth and nose with both hands. He sucked in a breath through his fingers and then sat on the opposite sectional, facing me, next to his sister and her husband. Grandmother sat alone in a blue print bergère chair in the corner of the room. She perched her arms on the armrests, like the queen of her castle.

The coffered ceiling was twenty feet high, a large antique chandelier hanging from the center, blasting a thousand colors from the crystal prisms hanging from the gold metal frame.

Each wall was covered in wall paper at least a century old and perfectly preserved, displaying separate floral murals that bolstered the eighteenth-century French motif. It was the one room Grandmother refused to change and where we seemed to gather for serious family discussions.

“What did Eli tell you?” Dad asked.

I shrugged, sitting back against the cushion. “You know what he told me.”

“No,” Mom said, “we don’t.”

“He told me it was a secret,” I said.

“Arch humor,” Bex said. “He knew I was outside, listening. It’s okay, Eden. Tell them.”

“But you”—I looked to my dad—“knew the truth already. He just told me the truth—that the punishment for not keeping the Balance is death. I have very few allies. If I fail, there will be a war, which I’m beginning to think both sides want. The Apocalypse, one final bid for souls. Basically, I’m not as strong as I thought, and it doesn’t look good.”

Mom’s eyes widened, immediately glossing over. She looked up at Dad, her chest caving in, and she tried to keep her devastation inside. “You promised.”

Dad held out his hand. “It’s not always what it seems, sweetheart. You know that.”

Still staring at Dad, Mom reached over to me and held me close