Authors: Cheryl McIntyre
He makes
it twenty feet before he collapses.
The stars shine brightly here. Brighter than back home. There aren’t as many lights to dilute their brilliance. Nick stares up at them trying to ignore the pain ravishing his body. At least he has something beautiful to look at.
His mind flick
s to Keely. He wonders if she’
s all right. Everything is
worth it if she’
s o.k.
He’s done all he can do. Apophis is out of the way now. He can no longe
r cause her any more pain.
Nick
knows she won’t be alone. She’ll have Bryon. Bryon loves her. He’ll take care of her. He’s good like that. In fact, he’s better than Nick eve
r could be. Bryon never pushes.
N
ever pries. He
’ll allow her to be who she’
s supposed to be. He’ll never judge her. Keely could be happy with him. She could have a nice life with him. A long life.
And that makes it easier for Nick to let his eyes fall shut.
Forty-Three
:
It’s dark here. Keely can’t
see a thing.
She wishes she had a flashlight.
It reminds her of the tunnels of the Demon realm Apophis took her to. She shivers. Forces herself to take the next step. Her ears strain to hear something. Anything. Voices, footste
ps. But there is nothing. It’
s so eerily quiet. Much too quiet. She doesn’t even hear the shrieks and wails from outside.
“Oh shit,” Keely whispers
,
as it dawns on her exactly why this place instantly reminded her of the Demon realm. Because it is a Demon realm.
Instead of the terror she should be feeling, the first place her mind goes is Asmoday. He came through first—without her, and yet, the cord stayed intact. She isn’t sure what this means, but she’s grateful.
And n
ow the terror attacks her. Because now Keely wonders if the reason the bind didn’t break is due to the fact that Asmoday is dead. But surely if he were dead, she would know. His death must be able to snap the cord.
Her brain tries to reason with her emotions, but they just won’t listen. Her heart races. Palms grow sweaty. She has to find him.
Keely takes a deep breath and moves forward.
She takes careful steps, one foot in front of the other
. As she continues on, she reaches out trying to sense Asmoday’s feelings. If she can find his emotions, she’ll know he’s alive. Know how to find him.
The toe of her shoe catches on something and Keely stumbles. Her hands ski
d across the ground and
she stops
herself from
performing
a face plant.
She lies in sticky wetness.
Panic pushes her
up. Hands stretched out in front of her, she rushes forward. Her hair sticks to her and she imagines herself covered in blood.
Asmoday’s blood.
Brilliant blue light shatters the darkness. Illuminates her surroundings. Keely’s eyes adjust and rake over the stone floor. Find a large puddle of blackish liquid, but nothing else. A large empty room. She looks down at herself with a stunned intake of breath. She isn’t sure what shocks her
more, that she’s glowing again
or that she was right. Her clothes are caked in
dark
blood.
“No. Please no,” she murmurs. Her head whips aro
und searching. She runs for a
door. Shoves it open and moves through quickly.
Comes face to face with her
beautiful father. He’
s encircled by his own radiant illumination, looking wondrous as his light hair reflects like a halo. Keely can picture the Angel he once was and the image pulls at her heart. Some part of her wants to love him. Wants him to love her back.
H
e smiles at her, but though it’
s a gorgeous smile, something in it is all wrong. Fake. Evil. She takes a step to the side. Tries to look around him.
“
Asmoday
is perfectly fine. I assure you,” he says in a
deep and soothing voice. “And he will stay that way as long as you do one small favor for me.” The Demon King looks down through his eyelashes as if what he is about to say pains him in some way.
“I’m sure he told you about the Cimmerian Stairway and the role you play. Do your part and I will release him to you. My Keely, I hope you understand I never wanted it to be this way. I had hoped you would join me and Asmoday. I only ever wanted us to be a family. To be toget
her.” He moves in front of her and her body
freezes
with fear
. Her limbs scream to run, but she forces herself to stay put.
“Rega
rdless of what you’ve been told
or what you may beli
eve, I truly do love you. T
here is still time to join me. You can have it all.” He offers her his hand. “Rule with me my daughter. Love me as I love you.”
Keely cl
oses her eyes. Opens her heart. Searches for a sign of life from Asmoday. A small tug inside her chest answers her. Eyes pop open. Hand floats toward her father’s open palm.
His eyes crinkle as he smiles proudly. “Yes,” he whispers.
***
With a limp to his step, Bryon hikes over to the decaying Leech Demon and plucks his star from its chest. Abandons the one embedded in its forehead. “Would you just die already?” He removes the sword from his belt
with disgust
and brings it down heavily.
Separates
the Demon’s head from its body.
Using the sword as a cane, Bryon moves on to the next creature. His shirt is bloody and he sighs. He really liked
this shirt.
As he lifts the sword and swings it like a bat, he
decides
at least some of that blood must be his. The Demon falls. Bryon places his fingers to his chest gingerly. It throbs with every beat of his heart.
He blames the sword.
He hates swords. That’s why he chose throwing stars as his training weapon
. Smaller, easier to handle a
nd they actually use a skill. You have to be precise in your throw. He’s sure there’s skill involved with a sword as well, but he feels so barbaric, hacking away at Demons at such a close proximity.
If he didn’t have to lift something so bulky and heavy he’s fairly certain he’d be o.k. right now
,
too, b
ut h
is stars are practically useless on the Demons with the spell.
Stupid freaking enchanted Demons
.
“I hate Demons!”
“You’re preaching to the choir son,” Israfil calls with a grin. “But I do love killing them.”
Bryon laughs and shrugs. Instantly regrets it. His chest
and shoulder ache with a slow burn. Pain makes him forget his smart ass retort.
“You gonna make it?” Israfil asks. He places a hand on Bryon’s shoulder causing him to wince. “Sorry. We need you a bit longer. Can you push through?”
Bryon nods. Lifts his head high. “This is what I live for
,
man.”
Israfil nods. “It’s a good day to be us
,
my friend.”
“If you say so.” Bryon heaves the sword above his head and lets it fly. Slices through the waist of a Demon. It stops short, its legs dropping to one side, its torso to the other.
“At least we’re not him,” Israfil
replies.
“True story.” Bryon scours the area. They’ve done pretty well for themselves. There are at least twenty Demon bodies on the ground, not to m
ention the several piles of salt
. His eyes are drawn to one bo
dy. His white suit turning a vivid crimson. “Shit. They got Apophis. Guess we’re on our own.”
“We’re never on our own,” Israfil reminds him.
The simple statement brings Bryon up short. He nods, remembering an Angel stands before him.
***
Lila can’t wait any longer for Dustin to come
out.
Coward
.
There are too many other places she is needed. Looking over her shoulder, she notices Elijah circle
d by three Demons. She reloads, but knows she’s too far away. She’s a great shot, but at this distance, the rock salt in her
small, altered
shotgun won’t do more than caress a Demon
’s skin
.
As she runs, Lila aims her gun. At ten feet away, she fires on one. Its head explodes spraying black
goo. Moves her hand a little to the left, fires again. Gets a similar result. Elijah takes advantage of the distraction and sticks the last Demon in the side. It stumbles, but doesn’t fall. Keeps coming at him. Elijah curses and hits the Demon in the face with the handle causing it to take several unsteady steps back. He raises his sword aga
in, swipes it across its neck. It clutches its throat and collapses. A low gurgling sounds from its lips.
Elijah’
s chest heaves with his quick
p
ants. He nods at Lila. “Thank
you.”
“No problem,” she say
s as she reloads. With
a sudden urg
e to go back
the way she came, she turns to find
Dustin
on the stone steps
. Her eyes follow his gaze
, resting on her brother’s body
and she screams. Elijah is right behind her as she runs.
Dustin doesn’t move. He quietly watches Lila fling
herself down beside Nick
. Her hands flutter around him.
Elijah presses his fingers to Nick’s wrist. “He’s alive.”
Lila shoots to her feet. “What did you do to him?” She
rushes forward, shoving
Dustin as hard as she can.
He stumbles back a step
.
“It wasn’t me,”
he says quietly
,
nodding to Apophis not far away. “It was him. I tried… I thought—I didn’t want this.” He shakes his head. “I don’t know why I’m here.”
Lila makes a fist, fully prepared to punch him, but something stops her. Something inside just can’t manage to do it. She turns back to Nick. “Then go,” she says.
Elijah slaps Nick’s cheek twice. With a groan, Nick scrunches his eyes tightly. “Come on, Warrior. You have work to do.”
“Nick? Look at me,” Lila cries. She pulls on his arm. “Please, Icky.”
Nick opens his eyes. Tries to focus on his sister. She looks so scared. He attempts a smile, but the pain is too intense. He grimaces instead.
“Is Apophis dead?”
Lila looks over at Apophis’ still form. Takes in his blood covered suit. Chalky white skin.
“I think so.”
“Good. The bastard betrayed us.”
Lila looks behind her. Dustin is gone. “Can you move?” she asks
,
glancing back to Nick. Elijah pulls Nick up to a sitting position. Nick hisses through clenched teeth.
“I don’t know,” he moans. “It hurts.”
“Stop,” Lila tells Elijah. “Lay him back down. We shouldn’t move him.”
“We need him,” Elijah says, his voice apologetic.
“What good is he if he can’t even move? He’s in too much pain.”
“Help me up,” Nick says quickly
.
Sensing the urgency in his voice,
Lila’s hand flies to her gun. She spins and fires. The shot hit
s one Demon and it howls in agony
. Eight other Demons move past it and keep coming. Lila turns back to
Nick, taking one of his hands. Elijah grips the other and together they pull him to his feet. Nick takes the dagger from his pants, holding it out in front of him defensively.
Elijah unsheathes his sword.
“If they still have the spell, I don’t think we can take this many at once.”
“We have to try,” Nick murmurs.
***
“Where is Asmoday? I’d like to see him. I need to speak to him.” Keely drops her head. “I’d at least like to tell him goodbye.”
“Of course my child. I understand that
. It is a shame the bond you’
ve formed will go to waste. Perhaps you can tempt him into joining us.” His smile is radiant. His eyes soft and almost happy. He thinks he’s won. Keely scowls at his back as he moves
in the direction of
a door. “He’s just this way. I had to lock him up for his own protection
.”
He waves his hand quickly by the handle and pull
s it open. Keely steps
inside the room. Her body brightens the
small space. Asmoday lies
on the floor in the corner.
His body still.
“Asmoday?” Her voice is choked with worry. “What’s wrong with him? Is he hurt?”