Revelations (Bloodline Series) (32 page)

Occasionally
we would see a person running for their life only to be taken down by a demon
follower and murdered. We all desperately wanted to help those left alive, but
we knew we wouldn’t be able to keep them safe while fighting; there were too
many of these creatures. It was taking all our time to protect ourselves, never
mind anyone else. In every war, sadly there are casualties. This was no
exception.

When
we eventually reached the center of town we were surprised to see nothing…nobody.
It reminded me of something I saw in a movie once. A whole town had been
deserted after a nuclear plant exploded. This was so similar. Cars lay around
the streets, some smashed up while others were in perfect condition but left
empty in the middle of the road, doors wide open. A couple still had their
lights on and music playing on the radio. The buildings looked charred and yet
there was no sign of any fires. Streetlights flickered on and off, which played
tricks on our eyes. We would see shadows all around us and think we were about
to be attacked. We were all spooked, to say the least.

“Spread
out a little,” Eligos said, his swords disappearing. “She’s close.”

We
looked inside some of the buildings, checked the cars and down little side
streets for her, but she was nowhere to be seen. We would occasionally have an
encounter, but they were outnumbered, and we were able to deal with them rather
swiftly. Most of our enemies were behind us, trying to push their way further
through the city, but being taken care of by Eligos’s army.

“Where
the hell is she?” Tyler raged.

“I’m
right here.” We all heard Keira reply. “Why are you looking for me?”

It
took us a moment to answer her. She was standing around twenty feet away from
us, leaning against one of the abandoned cars, arms folded across her chest and
her hair dancing in the slight breeze. Her face was emotionless, but she seemed
to be looking for something…or
someone
.

“I’ll
ask again, why are you looking for me?”

“Why
do you think?” Eligos answered, stepping out of one of the ruined stores. It
seemed it was
him
she was looking for.

“You
had your chance to come with me,” she said after a moment’s hesitation. “It’s
too late now.”

“Do
you think that’s why we’re here, to try and join you?”

“Isn’t
it?”

“Have
you lost your mind?”

“That’s
debatable.” She paused. “If you’re not here to join me, then why have you come?
You know you won’t be able to kill me.”

“Keira,
just stop this!” Lily shouted, stepping closer. “This isn’t
you
.”

“Actually
it is. I’ve never felt so alive, so free...so untouchable. It’s amazing.”

“
Nobody
is untouchable,” Hecate added.

“Really?”
Keira grinned. “Try your luck. But I warn you, it won’t get you very far.”

I
studied Keira for a moment while she spoke. Her whole personality seemed to
have changed. She was cold, passionless, but also...she seemed empty. She hadn’t
moved an inch since she’d appeared, and every time she spoke, no matter who it
was directed at, her eyes never left Eligos.

“Keira,
how can you do this to us?” Lily cried. “I’m your best friend. These guys are
the closest thing you have to family, and Eligos gave you his heart.”

“People
change, Lily; things don’t stay the same forever, no matter how much some of us
wish they could.”

“You
mean how much
you
wish they could?” Lucian asked.

“No,
not me. I’m happy with what I’m doing.”

“Yeah,
you look
real
happy,” Tyler snorted.

“Look
around you! Look at how many lives you have destroyed! How the hell can you be
happy with that?” Eligos snapped at her.

“I
don’t really care.”

“You
have just murdered thousands of people, and you don’t care?”

“They’ll
all thank us in the end. They will live in a world without suffering or
heartache. They will be at peace with the people they love most...forever.”

“That
is
not
the way it works!”

“Says
who?”

“God!”

“So
where is He? Why isn’t He here stopping me? Why did He give me the power of an
archangel? Ever think it was because He believed in Ballantine and wanted to
send help?”

“That’s
crap!” Danny spat. “You know full well you were given that power to destroy
Ballantine.”

“And
again, says who? You only have Lucifer’s word for that,” she smirked.

“There’s
no reasoning with her. You’re wasting your time,” Beth spoke.

“I
have to agree with her,” Keira nodded.

Eligos
lowered his head, and a moment later his swords appeared. I looked quickly at
Keira. I could have sworn that for a brief second, I saw a rush of panic cross
her eyes.

“Your
mind is set then?” he asked her.

“It
is.”

“You
said you would stay with me that you would love me forever; I didn’t realize
forever came with an expiration date.”

“I
gave you the chance to come with me, to stay by my side, but you refused. You
let me go alone.”

“Keira,
please don’t do this,” Lucian and Tyler begged.

“I’m
not doing anything; I’m simply standing here.”

“This
is the way it has to be,” Eligos said in a bitterly cold tone, stepping closer
to Keira and raising his swords.

“No,
no please…please Keira! Eligos, please no,” Lily cried, attempting to run
towards them. Danny and Hecate took hold of her, and she fought to no avail to
get free.

Eligos
was only a few feet away from Keira now, and she stepped forward from the car.
Her eyes were glowing, the brightest of blue. Just when I thought nothing else
could surprise me Keira spoke.

“Eligos,
I’ve already torn your heart apart; don’t let your body and soul suffer the
same fate,” she taunted.

I
heard some of the others gasp in shock. How could she be so cold towards
someone she was supposed to have loved? This was not the person we had grown to
love…this was not the Keira we all adored.

Eligos
was now only a few feet away from her. She grinned before raising her hand in
front of her and sending a blast of blinding white energy at him. He flew
backwards, crashing into one of the abandoned vehicles, clutching his chest.

“Don’t
make me tell you again,” Keira shot.

Hecate
and Danny lunged forward, but before they could get close to her they fell to
their knees, covering their ears and screaming in agony, yet nobody else seemed
to hear anything.

Eligos
gathered himself as best he could. Still, he looked as though he was in a great
deal of pain. Lily and I tried to run to him, but Keira wouldn’t allow it. We
couldn’t move our legs; I felt paralyzed. When the others tried to move to
either help Eligos or Danny and Hecate, they were bombarded with energy balls.
Keira stood laughing at us. Eligos found his strength and shot towards her
again, but this time before he reached her she disappeared. He looked around
for her, but she was nowhere to be seen. Then we heard her laughing.

“Show
yourself!” he demanded. “Stop playing games.”

She
reappeared directly in front of him, slamming her hand into his chest and
knocking him to the ground. He quickly jumped to his feet and attacked her with
his sword. She raised one of her hands and another sword appeared just in time
to block him.

“It
seems your present to me will come in rather handy,” she smirked. A blast of
energy rushed from her body, sending him crashing into Tyler and Beth. “I
thought you were going to kill me, and yet you fight so poorly. You’re not the
one to bring me down. Your love for me is your weakness.”

I
heard a commotion behind me and turned, only to see Vetis, Oroan, and hundreds
of members of Eligos’s army charging towards us. I looked quickly at Keira; she
was smiling wickedly.

“All
of you in one place…well, that makes things a lot easier for me,” she smirked.
Her sword disappeared, and she raised her arms on either side of her. The
ground began to tremble and a deafening, indescribable noise forced me to cover
my ears. “Goodbye, my friends. I’ll see you in the afterlife,” she shouted
before vanishing.

“Oh
my God!” Hecate screamed. “Grab the humans, quickly!”

I
felt Vetis grab my arm just before I saw a huge tsunami racing towards us,
destroying everything in its path. Everyone panicked. Lily and Marley were
screaming as the towering wall of water came ever closer. This was it…we were
all going to die.

Chapter 40

Report

Keira

I
arrived back in the underground cave, in the realm of Libido, where Ballantine
was waiting. Others who had been in Ohio with me slowly returned and made their
ways back to their living spaces. Ballantine took my hand and led me down the
narrow tunnel so we could talk in private.

“Well,
tell me how things went,” he began. “Leave no stone unturned.”

“We
arrived, your followers did as ordered, so did I, and then I left.”

“Keira,
details please.”

“You’re
not the sadistic kind; you don’t want full in-depth details of the attack and
how people died. So why don’t you just cut to the chase and ask me what you
really want to know?” I said, raising my eyebrows at him. “How did I cope with seeing
Eligos and my friends?”

“I
didn’t want to be so blunt. But now you’ve mentioned it, feel free to tell me.”

“It
wasn’t as hard as I thought it was going to be. I can’t make out if that’s a
good thing or not. I admit when I first saw my friends it twinged a little, and
I found myself looking for Eligos. I won’t lie, when I saw him it
really
hurt.
My heart was crying out for him, and every inch of me just wanted to wrap my
arms around him.”

“It’s
only normal to feel that way. You do have a warm heart; nobody expects you to
try and turn it into ice.”

“I
know, but then everything seemed to change.” I sighed. I found myself pacing a
few feet in front of him for a moment before continuing. “The more they spoke
to me, the more they told me what I was doing was wrong...the more I began to
resent them. It seemed to touch a nerve. I don’t like being bossed around…I
never have, and so to hear them trying to tell me what to do made me really
mad. That’s when all the dread I’d felt about seeing them left me. I found it
easier to defend myself, to show them I’m not to be messed with.”

“How
are you feeling
now
?”

“Honestly,
I feel a little guilty. I didn’t at the time, but now—”

“Again
Keira, this is perfectly normal. The time to worry is if you realize you
don’t
care. You have spent a lot of time with these people, and one of them owns your
heart. Nobody said this would be easy. But you know in your heart you are doing
the right thing. Who knows, maybe they will come around to your way of
thinking.”

“I
doubt that; they all seemed pretty set in their ways.”

“It’s
a shame.”

“Plus,
I think Eligos may be trying to turn his feelings off. He attacked me…he tried
to kill me.”

“He
did what?” he seethed.

“Don’t
worry, I wasn’t harmed. He didn’t fight with full strength.”

“He
loves you; it will be as hard for him to attack you as it is for
you
to
attack
him
. However, I do not like the thoughts of anyone attempting to
kill you, half heartedly or not.”

“Don’t
worry about me, I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself.”

“Did
you hurt any of them?”

“I
don’t know.”

“How
can you not know?”

“I
left them in a rather precarious position. I don’t know whether there were any
casualties. That’s another reason I feel guilty.”

After
explaining how I had used the water from the nearby lakes to create a large
tsunami and let it rip through the entire town, he decided to leave me alone
for a while. He wanted me to let everything sink in, and told me if I needed
him, just to shout…he would be close by. He also wanted to speak to some of the
others who’d returned just after me to see how many followers he had lost in
the battle.

I
walked to the end of the tunnel and slid down against the rocky wall, staring
outside. Storms were still raging, and lava was pouring down the sides of a
nearby volcano. The never ending rage, which seemed to dominate this planet,
was frightening. However, it also fit my current mood. I hadn’t wanted to worry
Ballantine; he had much more important things to deal with without worrying
about my mental state. I’d told him I’d hardened to the situation, only feeling
slightly guilty, but the truth was I was an emotional wreck. It took every bit
of strength I had to be cruel to my friends. I was also annoyed and sickened
with myself for being so heartless towards Eligos. “I’ve already torn your
heart apart; don’t let your body and soul suffer the same fate.” Those words
were repeating themselves over and over in my mind, haunting me. Each time I
heard them I felt as though I was being stabbed repeatedly through my heart.
Where had they even come from? The words were so cold, something I wouldn’t
have believed I could ever have said to him. I couldn’t imagine how much they
must have hurt him.

As
for the guys, I didn’t know what state any of them would be in, mentally or
physically. I’d left them in a perilous situation and vanished before their
eyes, seemingly unconcerned about their fates. What must they think of me now?
I sat there, hoping and praying Eligos and the other demons had gotten them to
safety before the wave hit. Surely they would have...wouldn’t they? All I could
do was hope.

Chapter 41

Narrow
Escape

Lily’s
Story

The
wall of water was getting ever closer. I watched, frozen in terror as buildings
crumbled and large slabs of concrete came flying towards us, carried by the
enormous wave. The noise was deafening. I wanted to scream, but no sound would
come out. I covered my head and closed my eyes, waiting for the wave to hit me
and crush the air from my lungs. A watery death at the hands of my best friend…that
was something I’d never imagined.

I
felt someone wrap their arm around my waist, but I was too afraid to look and
see who it was. A moment later, everything was silent. I opened my eyes and
found myself standing in our living room. Vetis was standing beside me, still
with one of his arms around me. On the other side of him was Marley. Within
seconds the others started to appear in the room, and I could hear voices
coming from the hallway. I breathed a sigh of relief; it seemed we’d all been
rescued. I ran into the hall to find Jake standing with Danny, Elizabeth, and
Jared. I flung my arms around the back of his neck and hugged him tightly.

“Thank
God you’re alright,” he breathed. He kissed my cheek before cupping my face in
his hands. “I love you.”

Just
as I was about to repeat the words to him, Olivia started to scream. She ran
from room to room. “Marshall!” she cried, searching frantically for him. “Marshall!”

Eligos
then appeared directly in front of us; he had brought Beth back safely. She ran
over to Marley and hugged her. Oroan returned, soaked to the bone and
empty-handed. He looked over at Eligos and shook his head.

“What’s
happened?” I asked.

Oroan
turned to face me with sadness in his eyes. “I’m afraid we’ve lost someone. I’m
truly sorry.”

“Where
is my brother?” Olivia almost screamed.

Jared
stood beside her. “Tell me where Marshal is!” he spat.

“I’m
very sorry,” Eligos began. “We couldn’t find him.”

“I
searched for him through all the rubble under the water. I couldn’t find him
anywhere. I cannot begin to tell you how sorry I am,” Oroan told the siblings.

“No…no,
I don’t believe you,” Olivia sobbed.

“Erm,
where are Hecate and Lucian?” Danny asked.

“Maybe
they’re bringing Marshal back,” Jared said, a glimmer of hope returning to his
eyes.

As
he finished his sentence, Hecate appeared in front of us. “I can’t find Lucian,”
she panicked. “I need help.”

Danny
and Eligos went back to Ohio with her, leaving the rest of us on pins waiting
for their return. Nobody spoke; the only sound was that of Olivia crying. Beth
walked into the kitchen, obviously worried to death about Lucian. They were so
close these days, and clearly cared deeply for each other. The rest of us were
simply lost for words, standing around in various rooms in complete silence,
worried to death that two of our friends had been lost.

****

After
what seemed like a lifetime of waiting, but, in fact, was around ten minutes,
Oroan reappeared with a lifeless Lucian over his shoulder. He laid him on the
floor and I instantly began performing CPR. Beth ran over to us and kneeled by
his side, sobbing and shouting at him to wake up.

“Come
on!” I shouted, compressing his chest. “Wake...up...now!” Lucian remained
lifeless, his lips a pale shade of blue.

“Lily,”
Oroan said, placing his hand on my shoulder. “Lily, he’s gone.”

“No,”
I snapped, continuing the CPR.

“Lucian,
baby, come on, breathe!” Beth cried.

“We’re
not losing him.”

“No,
you’re not,” a familiar female voice said.

I
looked up to see a woman who looked frighteningly similar to Keira. “Lilith,” I
gasped.

“Stand
aside, quickly,” she told us before crouching beside Lucian. “His soul has not
yet risen, which means....” She placed her hand over his heart. A bright white
light shot down her arm into his chest. His eyes flew open, and he instantly
began to choke. Water spilled from his mouth as he gasped for air.

Beth
raised his head and tried to comfort him, tears of relief running down her
cheeks.

Danny
approached Lilith. “Thank you.”

“My
daughter is responsible for this?”

“I’m
afraid so.”

“I
don’t know what to say to you…to
any
of you,” she said sadly. “I must
leave; I can’t stay long as you know. I’m so sorry.”

“Wait!”
Olivia cried. “Where is my brother? Can you find my brother, please?”

“I’m
sorry, I can’t…I can’t stay on earth. I’m so, so sorry.”

“Eligos
and Hecate are searching. They’ll find him,” Vetis interrupted.

“I
have to leave.”

“Thank
you, thank you so much,” Beth and I said, just before she faded away.

Jake
and Jared helped Lucian to the sofa. He wasn’t fully lucid, but the color was
returning to his lips and cheeks. Beth sat beside him while I lit a fire to
keep him warm and to help him get dry. He was in no state to be wandering
upstairs to get changed out of his wet clothes.

“What
happened?” he croaked, pulling a blanket around him that Marley had fetched.

“You
don’t remember?” Elizabeth asked.

“I
remember seeing Keira. I vaguely remember her saying something to Eligos, but
that’s it. I can’t remember anything at all after that. Somebody needs to tell
me what’s happened, and why the hell I’m the only one who is soaking wet.”

Jake
and Beth began to fill in the black spots for him. He looked at them in
disbelief. They had just reached the part where Keira attacked us all when
Eligos and Hecate reappeared, both of them soaked to the bone.

“Where
is my brother?” Olivia cried, as soon as she realized they were alone.

“Olivia,
I’m so sorry,” Hecate began. “We’ve searched everywhere. There’s no sign of
him.”

Jared
hugged his sister while she sobbed uncontrollably. Her legs gave way, and he
lowered her to the floor. “Where the hell is he?” he asked.

“There’s
only one explanation,” Eligos answered. “He’s been taken.”

“She
killed one of us...she actually murdered one of us....” Tyler broke off, shock
and disbelief spreading across his face. “She was supposed to care about us.
How...? I just—”