Revelations (Bloodline Series) (23 page)

“What
do you mean, you’re leaving?” Jake asked me.

“I
mean...this is where I get off. I won’t be fighting with you anymore.”

“What?”

A
look of panic swept across their faces, and for a few minutes, everyone was
silent.

“Is
this some sick joke?” Beth asked, confused. “Because if it is Keira, it’s not funny.”

“Eligos,
come on man, tell us this is a load of bullshit,” Tyler said.

“She
means it.”

“What
the...? Why...why are you doing this?” Lily asked, struggling to get her words
out.

“Because
I need to, that’s why. I—” I tried to explain.

“Because
she is turning against us!” Eligos shot out. “She is joining Ballantine!”

“Yeah,
okay,” Lucian sighed. “Nice try…for a minute there I actually thought you were
serious.”

“She
is
serious!” a familiar voice shouted.

We
all quickly turned around; Ballantine was standing only a few feet away from
us.

“Who
the hell are
you
?” Tyler asked, oblivious.

“I
am Ballantine.”

Everyone’s
eyes changed instantly, and Eligos’s sword appeared in his hand.

“No!”
I shouted, standing in front of Eligos. “No! You can’t do this.”

“Have
no fear, Keira,” Ballantine began. “They wouldn’t get close enough to do me any
harm, but I appreciate the concern.”

“You
are NOT taking her away from us!” Eligos thundered.

“I
do believe that would be
her
choice, not yours, and not mine. This young
lady has a mind of her own.”

“I’ll
die before I let you take her.”

“Eligos,
please, don’t…just come with me,” I pleaded.

“What’s
going on?” I heard Danny say as he and the others made their way outside. When
he noticed Eligos’s sword, his eyes turned fire red.

“Keira,
my friend,” Ballantine sighed. “I’m very sorry, but I’m going to have to rush
you. There are things I need to do. If you’re coming, it will need to be now.”

I
looked at my friends’ faces; sadness and horror spread across them. I started
to back away from them.

“I’m
sorry, I really am...but I have to follow my heart,” I said to them all.

Eligos
tried to move forward, but couldn’t move.

“I’m
sorry,” Ballantine said to him. “I promised Keira I wouldn’t hurt you. If I
allow you to try and attack me, I would have to break my promise. I won’t do
that. So I’m afraid you’ll all just have to stay exactly where you are until we’ve
gone.”

The
others tried to move but found that they too were stuck where they were. I
turned my back on them and walked over to Ballantine. My eyes were welling up
with more tears, and a look of genuine empathy appeared on his face.

“I
know this is hard for you Keira, but you are making the right decision,” he said,
putting his hand on my shoulder.

“I...I
know.”

Chapter 28

Marimay

Keira

I
could hear the guys shouting to me, begging me not to leave. Eligos was
fighting as hard as he could, trying to break free of the spell Ballantine must
have used to keep them all frozen in place. I could no longer keep the tears from
falling. Was I really making the right decision? Should this actually be
allowed to happen?

“Hmm.
I have something for you,” Ballantine said. “But, if I give it to you, you must
promise me that once you have finished with it, you will come immediately.”

“What?”

“I
told you not so long ago that I would look into who had disobeyed my orders and
attacked Salem and your friends. Well, I thought you might like to meet them.”

“Now?”

“It
may show your friends that you still care, especially if I allow you to destroy
this person. Also, it is my gift to you for having faith and believing in me
enough to come with me. I know this person has caused you a great deal of personal
pain.”

My
jaw tightened, and I began to shake. “Is it...
her
?”

“Allow
me to show you.”

He
closed his eyes, and a moment later, she appeared a few feet away. Rage, fury,
and pure hatred engulfed me. As soon as she saw me her eyes widened in a moment
of panic. Ballantine grabbed my arm before I was able to lunge at her. I could
no longer hear the shouts from the guys…instead, everyone turned silent.

“Sir,”
she began in a shaken voice. “What can I do for you?” Although she spoke to
him, her eyes never left mine.

“I
believe it was you, Marimay, who ordered the attack on Salem. Is this correct?”
Ballantine asked her. “Also the attack on these young people’s parents?”

“I...I
ordered the attack on Salem, yes. And...I admit, I allowed some of our spirit
followers to possess the bodies of their parents...but—”

“And
can you tell me why, when I specifically said nobody—I repeat,
nobody—
was
to harm Salem, or anyone connected with Keira or her friends, in
any
way,
you decided to take it upon yourself to go ahead and do it anyway?”

“I
just...I thought....” She struggled, still eyeballing me. “I thought...I was
helping you.”

“By
defying me?”

“I’m
sorry, I just...I thought ‘Why delay the inevitable?’ Besides, why keep
her
safe? She’s out to kill you
and
us. Why not take her out first?” She almost
snapped at him.

“Keira
is
not
out to destroy me,” he quickly corrected. “Keira has joined me.”

“What?”
she asked, astonished.

“You
heard him,” I shot.

“Ballantine,
sir, I only did what I thought was right, what I thought would help us.”

“You
disobeyed me; you went behind my back, you could have ruined everything we have
worked for, and you are lying to me now. You weren’t doing it to help me…you
were doing it to try and kill Keira.”

“No...no,
I—”

“You
didn’t want her to get to
you,
before you got to
her
. I also know
you paid her a visit not so long ago.”

“H...How—?”

“How
do I know? Is that what you’re trying to ask? The answer is simple; I watched
you. I saw your face when I first mentioned her name. I knew you weren’t happy
that I wanted to speak with her.”

“I
didn’t want her to hurt you.”

“No,
Marimay, you didn’t want her to hurt
you
. You knew she wanted revenge
for you killing her father, and you felt threatened. Well, here’s the thing. I
will
not
be disobeyed; I will not have you doing what you want, when you
want. You have broken my trust.”

“Ballantine,
please—”

“Keira,
she won’t be able to teleport herself away from us, that you can be sure of...
she’s all yours.”

“What?
No!” Marimay cried.

“If
you survive you can return with me; if you don’t…well, you don’t.”

“I’ve
been waiting for this for a very long time,” I smirked, my eyes turning blazing
red.

Her
eyes turned, and she threw her hand out in front of her. A demon trap appeared
around me, burned into the grass.

“I’m
not afraid of you Keira. I’m a lot older than you; I’ve fought more people than
you can possibly imagine,
and
I’ve
never
lost,” she smirked.

“Well,
there’s a first time for everything.”

“Kill
her Keira!!” I heard Lily shout. “Torture the bitch!”

Ballantine
stepped away from us. I glared at Marimay…she still had the horrible smirk on
her face.

“What
are you going to do, Keira?” she taunted, walking closer to me. “You’re
powerless.”

I
looked down at the demon trap and smirked to myself slightly before looking her
in the eyes once more. Sarcasm took over. “Ahhh, the dreaded demon trap; oh no,
whatever should I do?” I walked to the edge of the circle. “But wait...there’s
something you don’t know. Maybe you should have done your research.” I closed
my eyes and stepped out of the circle. As soon as I crossed its edges I felt
the angel emerge.

“What
the...?” she gasped.

I
opened my eyes wide and glared at her. “We can do this the easy way or the hard
way; personally, I prefer the hard.”

“Keira,
please...I didn’t know he was your father back then. I didn’t—”

“Are
you seriously begging me here? Like anything you could say would save you!” I
threw my hand out in front of me, and two orbs of yellow light—pure, holy power—hurtled
towards her. She seemed to be frozen, either in shock or fear, I couldn’t make
out. Both the orbs hit her in the chest. She screamed out in pain and fell
backwards onto the ground, writhing in agony. “Get up!” I commanded. “I thought
you were tough…I thought you were going to kick my ass, Marimay...now get up!”

She
eventually managed to get back to her feet. I found the longer she took, the
more annoyed I got.

“I’ll
tell you what, I’ll make this fair,” I said, allowing the angel to leave and
the demon to come through. “Demon to demon…how does that sound?”

As
soon as she stood I lashed out at her again, only this time she managed to
dodge my attacks. I ran at her and punched her so hard that she fell back to
the ground. I knew if I allowed the angel to show I could take her life in a
matter of minutes, but I’d suffered all my life because of her, and now I had
the chance to cause
her
some pain and suffering. I wanted to make it
last, and I didn’t want to rely on my power, I wanted to feel my fists connect
with her flesh, I wanted to feel her bones break and hear her scream in agony;
a small price to pay for taking my dad away from me.

She
jumped to her feet and began trying to throw energy balls at me. I laughed out
loud as I dodged each one. She seemed to lose her temper, and a few seconds
later lightning was dancing around us.

“Is
this all you’ve got?” I asked her. “Do you really believe you can take me out?”
I shot towards her, avoiding every bolt of lightning, and jumped on her,
causing us both to hit the ground. I sat over her, punching her repeatedly. “I
want you to feel pain!” I shouted, smashing her head against the stone path. “I
want you to feel fear, upset...everything I felt when you took my father from
me.” I dragged her to her feet by her hair, then punched her again and again
until a blast of energy escaped her body, throwing me backwards a few feet.

“I’m
sick of playing nice now, Keira,” she said, quickly healing herself. “Only one
of us will leave here alive...and it won’t be
you
.”

As
soon as she finished speaking she threw her hands out in front of her. Plasma
and energy came shooting towards me. I didn’t have time to react, and it hit me
full on. I screamed out in pain and dropped to my knees as she continued her
onslaught. I could hear Lily screaming for me to get up and fight, but the pain
I was experiencing was so intense that I couldn’t move. Marimay was right, I
wouldn’t stand a chance against her if I only used my demon power, I wasn’t
experienced enough to take her out. I would have to let the angel free. I had
to defeat her…I couldn’t let her live.

As
soon as I thought it the angel took control. The pain from her attack ceased to
exist, and a feeling of courage and determination took over. She continued to
fire her magic, horror appearing on her face once again when she realized it
was no longer having the desired effect on me. She lowered her hands; it became
obvious that she didn’t know how to continue to fight me. I shot towards her so
quickly she didn’t have time to react, and gripped her by her throat, lifting
her from the ground and squeezing tightly.

“I’d
imagined spending a long time torturing you,” I told her. “But now...I just
want you to kiss your ass goodbye.”

“Keira...Keira,
please,” she choked.

My
hand started glowing brighter and brighter; she screamed in pain as holy magic
and energy seeped into her. “Now
you
die!” I let her fall to the ground and
watched as she turned to look at Ballantine for a moment before she was
engulfed in white fire. Her scream caused my blood to run cold; within a matter
of seconds, she was gone.

I
stood there for a few minutes looking at the scorch marks on the ground. “That
was for you, Dad,” I whispered, hoping he had seen everything and could hear
me. Nobody spoke until Ballantine put his hand on my shoulder.

“Keira—”

“Thank
you,” I said, turning to him.

“It’s
the least I could do,” he smiled. “Now, are you ready to come with me?”

“Yes.”

“Then
say your goodbyes.”

Chapter 29

Goodbye

Keira