The Devil's Masquerade: The Remedy (The Devil's Eyes) (30 page)

I glace down before looking back up at him with a bright smile. “Well, because you can’t kill me without my permission,” I say, causing him to laugh ferociously.

“And why is it that I need your permission to do anything? You have nothing to bargain with, or have you not noticed your ridiculously small army of people are completely disabled. I think you are delusional, my Dear. You have no one here to help you, and you certainly cannot take me on by yourself,” he says, enjoying this moment.

I cock my head innocently. “Who said I was by myself?” I ask as his smile disappears. I lay my hand on my stomach and look down. “I do believe I have at least one more to help me.”

“No!” he screams, cringing in the most awful way. “Whose child is that?” I can’t believe you would cheat on your husband,” he says, alerting Nick.

“I didn’t cheat on him. I would never cheat on Nick,” I say, calmly causing the whole room to gasp.

“This can’t be Nicholas’s child?”

“Oh, but it is. Nick has been seeing me these last couple of months, and we weren’t just talking.” Savage looks to a man at his side who steps forward and looks me over to verify if I am telling the truth. “Yes, I am pregnant with Nick’s child.” With that confession, the man steps back and nods quickly to Savage before moving out of the way of his fury. Savage breathes his fiery anger upon anyone and everyone near him, killing several innocent guards in the process. “Someone is feeling a little powerless today,” I say with a smirk and a glance towards Nick, whose eyes remain focused on me.

I can’t see Ryan’s face, but when Savage looks down at my side, he growls, “I will kill you first, you illegitimate bastard!” He begins to pace, obviously thinking, “Galena, kill her.” Galena looks up at him in shock.

“I can’t, you know that!” she yells at him.

“Do it for the good of the family?” he asks with a soft tone. “Do it for me, and make me proud.” My confidence is suddenly shaken except Galena steps back, shaking her head. “What do you mean, no? You do it or I will disown you for good.”

“Fine, I am disowned. I would prefer it, rather than kill mercilessly for you and live in this wretched hell for my eternity. Disowned? By you? I couldn’t feel better about my life,” she says, stepping back into the shadows of the big hall and away from everyone.

Savage begins to search the room to try and find someone to do his dirty work and sacrifice their eternity if anyone finds out. I begin to feel confident until one steps forward with a smile. “I will be honored to do this for you, sir.” Nick and the man exchange curious glances between each other as the man steps forward and looks down at me with a gratifying expression.

“Ward, you are the son I wish I had. My proud warrior, you will be immortalized for this, my son,” Savage says happily. “Now, do what you must with her. Nicholas and I will handle the rest.” I gaze over at Nick and notice him staring hard at me, seeming to tense more with every passing second.

Ward chooses a blade to tear open my heart with and begins to tease me with it, slitting my dress here and there, trying to humiliate me. “I remember him talking about you, and I wondered how incredible it would be to wrap my hands around your sweet neck,” Ward says, grabbing my neck and pressing his face against my breasts as he begins to cut the ties holding my dress together. I gaze over at Nick and notice him taking a slight move towards us. Ward knocks me to the ground, causing Ryan and Elijah to jump forward with threats as Amery holds Catriona back from stepping in front of me.

“You sick fuck! I will find a way to kill you. I will find a way!” Ryan screams, fighting with everything he has to get to me and breaking through. Ryan and his ferocious anger head straight for Savage with no concern for his own life. Savage holds him off easily and puts him on his back and readies himself for the kill. Before he delivers a final blow, he changes his stance, “Not yet, I will let Nicholas enjoy your death.” He says with a bright smile but in the process he misses Nick stepping to his side.

“You’re the evil King,” Nick says suddenly, looking Savage over.

“What?” Savage asks him as we all stop and stare, but Nick turns and looks down at me.

“You’re the evil King, and I am the Prince,” Nick says with a tear in his eye.

“Sure, Ma Joie, whatever you want. Ward kill her, and do it mercilessly.” Ward nods as he begins to perform in dramatic fashion, seeming to generate as much strength as possible before plunging the knife into my heart.

I look to Nick as he mumbles something, but I can’t make it out until he lifts his head high, “You’re the Princess that needs rescuing, like in your story, and I’m your Prince.” My eyes grow wide as he drops his jacket to the floor and moves forward with nostrils flaring and eyes swirling. “And I will always be there to save you, Princess.” He remembers,
he remembers.
My fantasy dream, he remembers …
me
. I close my eyes with a smile as Ward raises his blade, but when a breeze flies in front of me, I am forced to open my eyes. Nick slides in front of me on his knees, taking Ward’s legs out from under him and sending his blade flying into the air and back down into Nick’s hands. Nick takes hold of the blade and forces Ward to the ground on his back, and with a powerful plunge, he sends the blade deep into Ward’s chest before pulling it back and slicing his neck, nearly taking his head clean off his body. Nick stands with the dripping blade still in his hands. Stepping forward, Nick takes a fighting stance in front of me against his grandfather. “If you want to kill my wife, you will have to kill me first,” Nick says, and with a simple twist of his hand, he sends the blade spinning across the throats of the guards holding
our
allies down. Savage quickly changes his position and takes a stance against Nick. Savage’s army begins to rush in on us as Nick and Savage go toe to toe. All I can do is fight my way through to protect Nick’s back while he fights Savage. Nick keeps his steps with Savage in sequence, always making sure to stay in between me and him. Galena calls out my name and tosses me a weapon before stepping back and giving no more assistance to anyone. Nick’s newly acquired skills are masterful, thanks to his grandfather, but Savage won’t give in easily. Despite his age, Savage is as nimble, and is at least as strong, as Nick. However, Savage’s powerful stare has little effect on Nick’s heart this time. “Thanks to my father, I prepared for you well,” Nick says with a beaming smile. I watch carefully, trying to find a point in which I may help give him an advantage, but their actions are so quick and so precise it makes me dizzy to try and follow them. I turn to check on the others and find Ryan is easily handling himself against every attack. Catriona and Elijah are backed up against each other, making sure no one can get to the other. And Amery, Amery is snapping every man’s neck that comes at him. He does nothing more than wait for them while eyeing Galena. He wants her, and from the expression on her face, she knows it. She stares him down but stays planted and uninvolved. Amery, for now, seems to allow her to stay that way. A game of chicken perhaps? The first one to move, the first one to blink … loses their life. Meanwhile, Nick pushes back on Savage, knocking him on his back. Nick acts quickly to grab his throat, but Savage jumps up again and spins out of reach. A twist of his cane and Savage knocks Nick off his feet. On the ground, Nick twists from one direction to the next while Savage throws blow after blow his way with his destructive dragon cane. I find a practice sword from the wall and toss it through the air. Round and round it goes with a whistling wind, crashing into Savage’s chest and flipping back into his jaw, knocking him back and giving Nick an opportunity to regain his footing. The angry, red, swirling eyes turn to me and singe my skin but do not penetrate, as hard as he may try. He calls for some guards and aims them in my direction, cutting off Nick’s access to me and me to him, while Savage refocuses on Nick. The two men draw guns on me, and I hear Nick scream for me, causing my attackers to look up at him. He forces a death wish on them before they can reach their triggers. More guards come at me, and I do my best to fight them off. The numbers are gaining, and Nick is growing more tired by the minute, trying to fight for me and for himself. I look for any help I can, but everyone is growing tired with their own battles. Savage’s army of guards never seems to run thin, and our few are quickly becoming a number that can easily be killed.
Think Kayla! Think!
I take a step back, grabbing a dead man’s gun and fire it, killing the man in front of me, and then, I scream. I scream as loud and as piercing as I can. The stunning noise causes the room to stop, even Savage loses his focus, allowing Nick to jump feet first into his chest and send him flying backwards into a screaming gasp. Nick comes to me, takes my hand, and stands his ground in front of me again, forcing the guards to think twice about coming after me. Savage jumps to his feet and glances towards Ryan and smiles.

“Ryan!” he yells, catching his attention long enough to send Ryan falling to his knees, screaming while an assassin comes at him with a blade to end his life.

“No!” Nick screams, chasing after Ryan and blocking Savages glare before twisting his own body through the air to destroy the assassin. Ryan lies on the ground, seemingly alright but exhausted and vulnerable to another attack. Nick has no choice but to fight for him and for me, leaving himself open for an easy kill. He fights and fights. We all do, but we are quickly losing our battle. Then, I hear it, a sudden abrupt loud squall erupts throughout the room, and I look up to see the red eyed dragon taking flight and aiming its teeth for Nick. “Nick! Look out!” I scream, running for him and, at the same time, trying to think of a way to save him from the poisonous teeth that are headed directly towards him. There is no way I can get to him in time, but a dark storm passes by me who does make it to him in time, and she unleashes her own scream of terror. Galena’s rapid action cuts off the dragon’s bite from Nick’s neck with her own neck. Rushing to her side, I try to hold her as she cries out in a torturous pain, but her violent seizures are too much for me to hold onto, and Amery is forced to help me. Amery holds her tight in his arms while whispering soothing words to bring her back to calm. Nick is distracted long enough for Savage to send him spiraling into the ground and burying his face away from Savage’s sight. Nick has no way to fight him, and Ryan is still struggling and with that damn dragon flying above. I can only imagine who it will attack next. When it begins to dive again, a million thoughts run through my head. My husband, my brother, or will I risk myself and my child to save them? Before I can decide, Eey comes running in from out of nowhere and jumps into midair, catching the dragon between his teeth and biting down hard as he shakes it to its death.

Savage still holds Nick down when Nicky walks in, his eyes swirling with anger. “Let go of my Daddy!” A single flick of his hand, and Savage goes down.

“Eey! Eey come her boy and give me that?” Ryan calls out to the dog. Eey rushes to him and drops the dead dragon from his mouth as it begins to harden and change into something else. I look over at the golden dragon’s hardened form and down its jagged skin to a bright gleaming blade. Ryan manages to get to his feet as does Nick. They both take a deep breath, watching Savage try to battle Nicky. Ryan holds up the blade to Nick. “This is all we need.” Ryan says. Nick looks down at it and nods.

“Nicky, count to ten, Son, and then let go!” Nick yells. Ryan and Nick stand steady, waiting for the moment. I watch as they both become stronger and more controlled with every breath they take. Nicky counts silently, abruptly stopping the battle when he reaches ten. Savage stands straight up, preparing to rage at us, but Nick runs at Savage, inflicting a brutal hit on him. Nick takes a hold of him and twists their bodies until Savage’s chest is exposed. Ryan never bothers to look anywhere but his target. He races forward and dives in and down. The blur of events is hard to understand until the aftermath. Nick backs away, as does Ryan, while Savage grips the blade in his heart and curses everyone around him. He tries to inflict pain back on Nick and Ryan, but his power is broken. My confusion is made clear when Kamini walks in and towards Savage.

“It is your time now, Dennis,” she says clearly. He tries to deny her, but in his weakened state, she overwhelms him in seconds. The earth-shattering cries coming from his mouth bring tears to my eyes. Never have I heard anything so awful, or do I ever want to hear it again. The moment Savage is taken away, his so called “army” stop dead in their tracks and look around as if they don’t know what to do now. Nick, however, steps up.

“Men, stand down and reorganize in formation.” They all gather together and stand, waiting for further orders. I look over at Nick, and then Nicky. Both come running to me. Nick picks up Nicky in his arms and kisses me. We feel good, but the feel good moment is brief. A sudden explosion starts shaking the whole house.

“Nick ,we have to go!” Ryan yells at us. “We set bombs to go off!”

“Everyone run! Get out of this house!” Nick yells as everyone begins running. With Nicky in his arms, Nick takes my hand and we run. More bombs explode, and the house begins to crumble around us. In the midst of the madness, we lose the others, and all of our exits suddenly get cut off. Nick hands Nicky to me and begins searching for a way out. I hover over my son as best I can while we become more and more trapped inside this horrible house. Nick returns to us, wrapping his arms around Nicky and me. “Everything is going to be okay, alright?” I look into his eyes, and he nods trying to reassure me.

“Hey, you guys need some help out of there?” I look up and see Ro looking down at us from large hole in the floor above. “My man, Rabbie here, knows the best way to get out of here. If you’re interested that is?”

Nick smiles. “I thought you ran out with all the others?”

“Now, what kind of an assistant would I be if I let my boss die?” Ro says as Rabbie suddenly pops his head out. Together, they lower some tied up sheets they found. Nick and I tie up Nicky in it and watch nervously as our son is raised up above us. Once he manages to get safely into Ro’s arms, I breathe a little easier.