Unholy Sundering

by DeAnna Browne

The soldier nodded and turned down the tunnel.

  Darion quickly leaned on the soldier with an “umph.”

  “Are you sure you should be out of the medical wing?”

  “Just keep moving.” Darion tried to tell himself this wasn’t Becca’s doing. He gritted his jaw, and tried to hurry.

  They arrived at the door, and everything was quiet.

  The guard relaxed his stance. “Good. Everything’s fine.”

  Darion noticed the small, unconscious lump hiding in the shadows. “Then why is Jemi unconscious on the ground? Open the door. Now.”

  A power radiated through the door that twisted Darion’s insides. Something was terribly wrong.

  “I can’t open the door.” The guard looked dumbfounded.

  “What? Look, idiot, open the door, or I’ll burn it down.” He opened his free hand, and sparks jumped out of them. There was no time to waste.

  Fear flared in the guards eyes. “I can’t. I don’t have access.”

  “Then go get Andre,” he ordered. “Run!”

  The guard took off, sprinting down the hall. Darion tried to focus beyond the fear building inside of him. He had to keep his head. A voice boomed inside, and a surge of magic pushed its way through the door. Bael.

  Forget control. He raised his hands high overhead, sparks turning into flames. He screamed a spell and shot his magic straight through the door.

  Power pulsed through his body, and the door blasted open. Fire clung to the frame. He extinguished the flames as he passed through. Taking in the scene before him, Darion sank to his knees.

  It was Bael. The demon hovered in the air over the two sisters, its shape slowly emerging. Part man, part beast, this demon stretched his inhuman limbs, and a few heads even. The dark shape twisted and turned, changing shape as it grew in size.

  A scream clawed its way up Darion’s body. “No!”

  Below him lay Becca in a pool of blood. It wasn’t supposed to end this way. He wouldn’t let it end this way.

  Darion tried turning his pain into a sacrifice, giving anything and everything he had to stop this demon. But he was an empty vessel, hindered by his wounds and fatigue. He couldn’t stop it. Bael spoke powerfully in a language Darion didn’t recognize, the words reverberating through his mind, and the creature continued to grow in size. It absorbed Darion’s attacks, almost feeding off his pain. He caught himself on his hands and knees, black dots filling his vision.

  Shouts erupted behind him, and a cool wave of energy pooled over him. Andre approached, keeping his eyes focused on Bael, with Jemi at his side. One look at Becca, and Darion feared their help was too late.

  “Save her,” Darion pleaded, but wasn’t sure if he spoke aloud. His side ached, and his body and magic were exhausted.

  Andre shouted curses, his palms opened towards Bael. The cabinets lining the walls shook around them. Debris fell from the ceiling. Darion crawled towards Becca’s body. The pentagram was broken from Bael’s strength. The demon now focused on Andre and left Becca to bleed out below.

  Darion moved slowly, the magic in the air thick. He moved another foot closer. He ached to touch her one more time. He realized she must have opened herself magically to Bael. Becca had presented a willing sacrifice to entice the demon out and save her sister.

  A blast of power pressed down on Darion, flattening him on his back. Darion turned his head to see Bael explode into a black vapor. Andre had vanquished the demon. Its black miasma settled throughout the room on the wreckage. Both girls remained unmoving.

  Bael might have been gone, but it didn’t ease the pain as he watched Becca’s still frame.

  “Help her,” he tried to shout, but it came out weak.

  Doc ran past him with his black med bag. He yelled for Andre. The scene unfolded in slow motion. Doc pounded on Becca’s chest, then breathed in her mouth. Muffled voices bounced off the wall. Nikki appeared at Doc’s side, handing him a large needle. He uncapped the needle and slammed it into Becca’s chest.

  Darion’s vision blurred, but somehow he crawled to Becca’s side, across from Doc. Doc and Nikki continued working on her. She moved Becca’s chest while he breathed air into her mouth. Darion reached out for her hand, and wished he had more power to give her.

  “Fight, dammit,” he whispered to her. As soon as he touched her skin, relief rushed through him. She was alive. Though her skin was cold to the touch, a small spark of magic thrummed inside her, tiny but there. Was it enough?

  “She’s alive,” he told them.

  Nikki looked at him with disbelief. Andre kept speaking over her body.

  “She’s still in there.” He squeezed her hand.

  CHAPTER 21

  A dark mist surrounded Becca as she dreamed. She struggled for footing amid tall trees in an unfamiliar forest. Her throat tightened as a panicked scream struggled to escape. Before she could say anything, Elizabeth appeared beside her. Her sister didn’t appear startled, or even frightened. Her large blue eyes held an empty look. Blue eyes. Demon-free eyes. Becca grabbed Liz’s hand.

  “At least we are together,” Becca told her sister.

  Liz didn’t turn or even acknowledge that Becca spoke. Pushing down her fear, Becca moved forward. It didn’t matter that they were alone or lost. She held her sister, not Bael or some other demented demon. Her sister.

  Becca slowly began hearing things, voices calling for her. Darion. She leaned into his warm touch, though part of her felt guilty for leaving her sister. But that was just a dream, she told herself. This Darion, flesh-and-blood Darion, was real. He continued talking to her. A bright light burned behind her closed eyes.

  Darion brushed back her hair, speaking to her. “Come on, Becca. Fight for me.”

  She put forth the effort and slowly turned her head. Squinting against the bright lights, she struggled to pry open her eyes.

  “You talk.” Her words were rough, her throat parched. “More than a girl.”

  Darion laughed, his eyes glistening. He spoke to another person in the room, and then gripped Becca’s hand tighter. “You had us scared there for a while.”

  “Me too.” She closed her eyes again. “Is Liz okay?”

  “She’s alive.” He must have come closer, because she could smell his warm breath. “You terrified me, Becca. I’m not sure if I should throttle you or just tell you how much I love you.”

  A weak smile tugged at her lips, while debilitating exhaustion threatened to drag her down. “Tired,” was the only thing she managed to say. What she really wanted to say was “I love you too.”

  The next morning, tucked into a white bed in the med unit, Becca remained unconscious while Darion clung to her free hand.

  “She’ll be okay.” He looked up, pushing Doc to agree with him.

  Doc wrapped up the black blood pressure cuff. “Her blood pressure’s better, but she’s not out of the woods yet. We’re not sure what Bael did to her.”

  Darion cringed at the reminder of Bael and what could have happened. At least he got a chance to tell her how he felt yesterday during the few seconds she was awake. Even if it was returned with an “I’m tired.” He planned to give her hell for that soon.

  Caleb burst through the door. “Rebecca?”

  “She’s out again,” Darion said.

  Caleb’s face fell slightly. “But she woke up? Was coherent?”

  “Briefly, a few times.”

  Caleb approached and sat at the foot of her bed. He laid a hand on her foot, as if making sure she was safe and whole.

  Despite Darion’s better judgment, jealousy reared its ugly head. He wouldn’t have been able to keep her alive these past months without Caleb. He knew that, but he also knew the two friends had a bond that ran deep.

  “She’s said your name,” Darion told him. “A few times.”

  “Really?” Caleb’s brows raised in surprised.

  “Yes. Nikki wasn’t too happy about it.” Darion lowered his voice, even though Nikki wasn’t on shift.

  Ca
leb shrugged. “We’re friends.”

  “With who?” It wasn’t Darion’s business, but he couldn’t help himself. Staring at the white walls of the med unit hadn’t been good for his mental health.

  “Both, I guess.” Caleb watched Becca with an intensity that said something more than friends.

  Darion couldn’t blame Caleb if he was still in love with Becca. He just wanted to know what he was up against. Hard to compete against a damn saint.

  “Obviously, I love Becca, but not like you think. As a kid, I was in love with her. She was my future.” Caleb shifted slightly on the bed, keeping his eyes on her. “But when she left, things changed. I couldn’t save her, wasn’t there when she needed me. I still love her. She’s the only piece of my old life I have left. She’s changed so much and so have I, but in some ways we’re the same. We still need each other.”

  “I never know whether to thank you or hate you,” Darion muttered.

  “She may care for me, but she loves you.” Caleb looked up at him.

  “I hope you’re right.”

  Caleb didn’t seem to mind Darion’s irritable mood. “Did Andre say what happened?”

  “Surprisingly, he isn’t quite sure himself. At thirty years old, magic is pretty new, and the connection Becca and Elizabeth share isn’t anything Andre has seen before.” Darion hadn’t even heard of the type of connection he held with Becca, but he wasn’t going to bring that up now.

  “So their connection helped Becca call Bael and survive?” Caleb asked.

  “I don’t think so. Bael was called because of Becca’s sacrifice. Bael had tasted Becca’s magic when she offered herself up to him. I’m not sure there has ever been such a willing sacrifice before. It was Andre who saved her, saved me too. He banished Bael, and then Doc brought her back from the dead. For a Mundane, he is very gifted.” A dark dread of what could have happened hung in the recesses of his mind. Darion swallowed the knot in his throat.

  “Why?” Caleb’s initial relief that she was okay appeared to morph into fury at what could have happened. “It was a suicide mission, and she couldn’t even tell us goodbye.”

  “We wouldn’t have let her otherwise. Don’t get me wrong. I’m furious at what she did. But if the roles were reversed, and Becca was the Soultorn, wouldn’t you have done the same?” Darion watched Caleb, and the answer was obvious.

  “Yeah.”

  “That’s what you do for those you love.”

  Becca sat up in a white bed in the med unit, slowly eating a bowl of applesauce. She kept glancing over to Elizabeth in the neighboring bed and watching for every little movement. Becca scooped up another bite to eat.

  The last time she had applesauce, she was a child, being fussed over by her mother. Now, instead she had Darion watching her like a hawk. It was her first morning awake, really awake, not wading through the dreamlike state of unconsciousness—such weird dreams. He glanced at her bandaged left arm again, his scowl deepening the lines in his face. Despite the pain meds, her arm ached fiercely.

  “I’m okay,” she told Darion again. “Really.”

  “Don’t lie.” Darion narrowed his eyes.

  Becca swallowed another bite, knowing Darion had every right to be angry. If he did the same thing without telling her, she’d be beyond furious. She would understand, though, and hopefully he soon would too. She had not worried about dealing with the aftermath of her actions, but given that Elizabeth was still alive, she’d take the consequences.

  “How are you feeling?” She changed the subject, worried about the tiredness in his eyes. Especially since he was still recovering from his gunshot wound.

  He wore the loose-fitting cotton clothes of a patient, though he sat in the chair next to her bed instead of his own bed. “Fine, unless Doc and Nikki ask.” He lowered his voice a bit. “Then I’m really sore, and warm on occasion.”

  She raised an eyebrow.

  “That way I get to stay in these killer outfits.” He motioned to the pale shirt.

  Nikki, who had been cleaning, approached for the now-empty bowl on Becca’s lap. “Are you done?”

  “Sure. Thanks.”

  Nikki nodded and headed out of the room, probably back to the kitchen.

  “What’s up with her?” Becca watched the door swing shut.

  Doc continued reading at his desk.

  “Nothing that matters,” Darion answered.

  “It’s not nothing.”

  “I said nothing that matters.” He huffed in exaggeration. “She’s upset that you endangered the community. And it didn’t help that you said Caleb’s name a couple times while you were out.”

  “I did?” Becca draped the blanket up around her. What else had she said while out? Embarrassment warmed her face.

  “A few times.” Darion’s face showed nothing.

  “I was having the weirdest dreams about my family.” Becca couldn’t shake off the dreams. They were of home, but home after she had left. And the conversations with her sister were so real. She tried to push them aside. “How is Caleb? I hope I didn’t ruin anything between him and Nikki.”

  “He’s good. He’ll be here after dinner to check on you.”

  Becca wanted to give Darion an explanation. Not that she had to, but she wanted to. “It was these dreams. They were so vivid of my past, my home, my parents, Elizabeth, and Caleb too. I’ve never dreamed like that since...” She trailed off, unsure of how much she could say without sounding crazy.

  Darion leaned forward. “Since when?”

  It took Becca a few moments to answer as she slowly pieced it together. Since at the cabin when she’d started training? No, it was before that. She glanced over at Elizabeth, lying unconscious. Doc had said it may take her a bit longer to wake up—if she did at all—due to the trauma.

  “Becca?” Darion sat on the foot of her bed. “What are you thinking?”

  She tried to straighten out her muddled thoughts. “I’ve had these dreams since my tattoo was taken off. There was so much going on, so I never gave a thought to them. But they seem connected to my sister. How could that be?”

  “I’m not exactly sure. You two shared a blood bond that was created with old magic when you were young. Even Andre hasn’t read much about it.”

  Becca only vaguely remembered the day Elizabeth hurt her arm on their tree house. Once the blood had started, Liz was so scared, crying nonstop. Becca had cut herself with a pocketknife and told her sister they could become blood sisters, trying to dry Liz’s tears. It cheered her up for a bit, before their mother caught them. Becca realized that she saved her sister this time with a similar blood sacrifice.

  “Blood bonds are powerful. Compelling another magician to do another’s will can influence their thoughts, and more. That’s how covens work. Blood oaths. That’s why Andre is so against them in his community.”

  “Yeah.” Becca was only half listening, watching her sister’s pale and almost frozen form.

  “What’s wrong?”

  She shushed him. “Give me a second.”

  She recalled how she shared a telepathic connection with Liz back at Ryma’s when they were awaiting their fates. They’d spoken to each other then, so why not now? Maybe it was Elizabeth in her dreams this whole time. If Becca could reach her, maybe she could wake her.

  Becca focused her magic, which was still weak, but tried to project out to Elizabeth. Becca glanced at her still sister. When nothing happened, she told Darion, “I thought maybe I could wake her.”

  He reached for Becca’s hand. “It doesn’t mean you can’t. Give it some time. It took me a while to get through to you, and she’s been out for a while.”

  She gripped his hand, grateful for his touch. Emotions built in her chest as she realized how much she owed him. “Thank you, by the way, for saving my sorry hide.”

  “I recall a good tongue lashing I received a while ago, about not facing threats together. Remember?”

  Becca gulped. The fight on the cliff side. She remembered.
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  “I promised you that I’d never leave you behind. That we fought together or not at all.”

  She nodded, knowing where this was going.

  “Promise me you’ll never do that again. We’re in this together, okay?”

  Becca wanted to argue that this was her fight for her sister, her battle to win. She didn’t want him to get hurt. But he did, trying to save her.

  “Promise,” she said. “We fight together.”

  He leaned down, and his lips brushed against hers. The quick movement surprised her, giving her no time to react before he pulled back. She raised her fingers to her lips, an electric sensation still present from his touch.

  “Good, now get some rest.” He smiled that devilish smile of his that she loved.

  Before she could agree, a scream pierced the air, sharp and frantic. Elizabeth, eyes wide open, shrieked as if the hounds of hell themselves were chasing her.

  CHAPTER 22

  D oc raced over to calm Elizabeth down. Her screams tore at Becca. Against Doc’s order to stay put, Becca and Darion went to Liz’s side. Becca laid a hand on Liz’s arm, but it was quickly thrown aside as she began thrashing around.

  “Hold her,” Doc yelled as he ran to grab a needle.

  Darion and Becca pinned Liz’s frail frame down.

  Her screams continued, conveying a pain and fear that Becca never wanted to hear from her sister again.

  Doc returned and injected something into her arm. Seconds ticked past, and then the fight slowly drained out of her. Her screams turned to moans. Soon, her eyes closed, and she sank into unconsciousness.

  “What did you give her?” Becca gripped her limp hand. Her eyes burned with unshed tears.

  “A sedative,” Doc said between heavy breaths.

  “What’s happening to her? I thought Bael was gone.”

  “I don’t know, honestly. I need to go see Andre. He wanted to know if anything happened. Maybe he’ll have answers.” After a few minutes to make sure Liz would remain unconscious, Doc left the unit.

  Alone and both sitting next to Liz, Becca turned to Darion. “Do you have any ideas?”