by Kailin Gow
“Think you could do another?” he said.
“Try to stop me.” She reached into the bucket and pulled out another good sized rock and brought it to her work table. Soon it was smashed to pieces, and before long she’d smashed every rock in his bucket.
“Well,” she said, clapping the dust off her hands after she’d handed him the last smashed rock. “My work here is done. I think I’ll call it a night.”
“Hey!” Lucas said. He set down the casing he’d been filling and stood. “Not so fast. There’s still a lot to do.”
With a playful and teasing smile, she looked up at him. “Did you really think that I would leave you to do all this alone?”
Grinning, he sat back on his stool with relief. “Good. Now, come help me fill these casings.”
For the rest of the night, they worked together. Lux found Lucas to be a patient teacher as he showed her the very tedious task of assembling the powerful pellets into the casings. But even once she understood what she had to do, she wasn’t able to assemble nearly as many of the casings as Lucas did. For every one casing she put together, Lucas assembled four.
“I’m afraid I haven’t been much help,” Lux said as the clock on the wall chimed midnight. She got up to massage Lucas’ shoulders, before he turned around to grab her to hold her in his arms, when he bent to kiss her.
Smiling, he looked at her. “Just being here keeping me company is helpful. This is pretty dull, tedious work. I’d be sleeping on the job by now if you weren’t here to keep me awake. I love spending any time I could get with you, Lux. We’ve all been so busy with these battles, but I’m still constantly thinking about you, wanting you.”
Lux leaned in to kiss his cheek. “You’re really a special guy, you know?”
A light blush came to his cheek. It was incredibly endearing. He was so handsome, so sexy, so strong and so smart, yet he seemed oblivious to it all. Or, at the very least, he didn’t find it important.
They continued to work until the sun came up and then packed the pellets into small boxes and sent them out to Seattle, Chicago and Miami.
Chapter 12
“We just got word from Miami,” Dr. Good said as she walked into the kitchen where Lucas and Lux, after catching a few hours of sleep, were having a late breakfast, even though it was now dinner time.
“Did they get the package?” Lucas asked.
“Yes,” Dr. Good said with a smile. “And just in time. They were overwhelmed by the sheer number of demons coming out. And just when they thought Miami was under control, Daytona then Orlando blew open.”
“Orlando?” Lux said sadly, thinking of the happiest place on earth and all the children, young and old, who may have been hurt.
“Yes, but the pellets you guys put together did the job. Brax and Asher and their team were able to destroy bands of demons with one quick sweep. In Orlando, it took all of five minutes and everything was under control.”
Lux sat back, relieved. “That makes the night we stayed up making these things all the more worthwhile.”
“And I’m glad that you did,” Dr. Good said.
“Does that mean that Brax and Asher should be on their way home soon?” Lux said hopefully
Dr. Good smiled. “They’re already on their way.”
“And John and Hector?” Lux said.
“They’re back at Moore’s house. They arrived about an hour ago.”
“Do you think this is the end of it?” Lux asked.
Dr. Good sat at the table with them. “I wish I could say yes. I wish this was the end of it. Unfortunately, I’m more apt to believe that this is only the beginning.”
They looked at one another, their gazes filled with dismay and fear.
“There you are!” Sully said, bursting into the room.
Lucas, Lux and Dr. Good jumped at the sudden disruption.
“What’s the matter?” Dr. Good said, instantly alarmed by Sully’s tone.
“The portal at the San Francisco Shadowlight Academy,” he said breathlessly. “It has opened.”
“Fuck,” Lucas said, throwing his fork to the table and pushing his plate away. “Are you kidding me?” He rose from the table and angrily raked his fingers through his disheveled hair.
“Afraid not,” Sully said.
“Damn it,” Dr. Good said. “We didn’t even have time to rest up.”
“Or get more provisions,” Lucas added.
“I went down to that cathedral this morning and got a lot of Holy Water,” Sully said.
“Good,” Lucas said. “That’s good. I’ve been so caught up with my project that I hadn’t even looked at our inventory.”
“We should have enough for this battle,” Sully said. “But if there’s another one in a day or two, we’ll be in trouble.”
Dr. Good’s phone suddenly sounded. She looked at them, consternation on her face. She looked at her phone.
Then Lucas’s phone sounded, then Lux’s and Sully’s.
“Holy shit,” Lucas said.
“What does this mean?” Lux said as she looked at the blinking red lights of her ap.
“Looks like the app is going berserk,” Sully said, looking at Lucas. “Is this normal?”
“The app is working as it should,” Lucas said. “It’s the huge build-up of demons that’s sounding this alarm.”
Dr. Good looked to Lux. “Call your father at Moore’s house and let him know we’ll need him and a few teams.”
“That won’t be enough,” Sully said. “We’ll need everyone.”
“Everyone isn’t back,” Dr. Good said. “We’ll have to make do with what we have for now. Try to hold them off as much as we can until Brax and Asher and their teams come back.” She looked at her watch. “If all goes well, they should be here in an hour or so.”
“The good news is,” Lux said, trying to sound optimistic, “Brax is an expert sealer. There’s no way that portal in Miami is going to open again.”
“Yeah,” Sully said dryly. “At least there’s that.”
Chapter 13
Lux followed Lucas back to the shed where they had worked all night.
“Shit,” Lucas said as he entered the shed and slammed his hand on his worktable. “I thought we’d have more time. We shouldn’t have sent so many of these things everywhere.”
Lux looked at the remaining box of pellet filled casings. “There’s plenty here, Lucas. If we just give everyone a handful of these things… They’re so powerful. It won’t take many.”
Still angry, he nodded. “Okay, let’s get this box back to the car.
They reached the waiting cars just as Sully packed all the bottles of Holy Water that he had into the trunk of his car. With Dr. Good and Ida and the few other slayers who were at Brax’s house, they got into their cars and headed to Shadowlight Academy where the Kingsley portal had opened.
Even from a distance, it was clear that it was mayhem. Students ran in every direction while demons and beautiful beings gave chase. Several slayers were already on the attack, keeping a small group of demons away from younger students who were in a panic.
The moment the car pulled to a stop, they all opened their doors and ran out of the car and headed to where John and Hector stood.
“How bad is it?” Ida said, breathlessly.
“Bad,” John said simply. With his hands on his hips, he took in the horrible scene. “We have too many inexperienced slayers.”
They all turned to the sound of a young woman screaming. Three demons were carrying her off, their devilish eyes hungry and murderous.
Without even thinking, Lux ran after them. Fifteen feet away from them, she jumped, flying in the air and landing each foot on two of the demons’ chests. They fell back, releasing their hold of the young woman.
But the third demon refused to let go. Lux pulled out her vial of Holy Water and tossed some in its face. He growled, snarled and almost bit Lux as it lunged toward her, but she threw more Holy Water in his face.
This time it was too much. He re
leased the young woman and covered his melting face with his clawed hands.
The young woman ran off just as four more demons came after Lux.
“Watch out, Lux!” Sully called out. He’d taken on another small group of demons nearby, but his eyes were on Lux.
“I see them,” Lux called back. One of the demons was carrying a teacher on his back, but when Lux faced him, he dropped him.
The older man grumbled his appreciation and ran off while the demons ran straight for Lux. She pulled out another vial of Holy Water and sprayed them with it, but most of the valuable liquid landed on the ground between them, barely touching the demons.
They laughed, an ugly cackling sound that spoke of evil and death.
Four more demons joined them, then three more.
Lux looked around her, hoping to find reinforcements, but Sully and Lucas were already battling increasingly larger groups of demons themselves, while Brax and Asher, who’d just arrived, had their hands full as well.
She was on her own.
Chapter 14
Lux pulled out one of the pellet casings. She’d never used one before. She’d never even seen it in use. Was it really as effective as Lucas had said? Would it really work?
As the growing band of demons closed in on her, she had no other choice than to pray that it would.
She kissed the small marble like weapon. “It’s all on you now,” she whispered. She threw the casing at the demon in the center of the group.
Nothing. The casing didn’t break and didn’t disperse the pellets inside. All she succeeded in doing was amusing the demons who laughed their ugly, maniacal laugh.
Lux hurried to pull out another casing. If this one didn’t work, she’d be in a sorry position. She threw it at them, but instead of aiming at a demon, she threw it to the cement sidewalk at their feet.
This time the casing exploded and the tiny pellets, now lit up from the explosion, flew in every direction. Not only did they hit the demons that had been attacking her, but even the nearby demons who’d been fighting Sully.
As Lucas had described, the demons were quickly engulfed in an intense blue flame.
Smiling, she turned to shout her success to Lucas, but noticed John, Hector and Dr. Good in a circle of demons.
For a moment the trio were winning. They had the upper hand. Dr. Good had a small sampling of Lucas’s weapon and demons were burning up by the dozen, but when a quick band of demons flew in from above, the experienced trio were overtaken.
Lux ran to help them, grabbing a handful of pellet casings as she approached them, but Asher and Brax were thrown in front of her, each with three demons charging them.
They were back from Miami and already fighting at the Kingsley portal. She was so happy to see them back.
For a moment she hesitated, wanting to help them, but she soon realized that they had everything under control. With their angel power, they dominated any demon who dared come close to them.
“Help me get to John, Hector and Dr. Good,” she cried to them once they’d taken care of their attackers.
They all turned to rescue the experienced trio, and with the angel powers, the demons didn’t stand a chance.
“Lucas!” Dr. Good cried out, her face contorted with the pain only a mother could experience.
Lux turned to see Lucas pinned to the wall of the Academy. Even from a distance, Lux could see him try to reach inside his pocket for the pellet casings, but the demons on him restricted his motions so much, that he couldn’t do much of anything.
Sully ran to his rescue, his sword high and his death cry filled with the love for his brother. But as he landed amidst the angry demons, he, too, was overtaken and rendered helpless.
“This can’t happen,” Dr. Good cried out. “We can’t let this happen!” Running, she led the experienced trio to her imperiled sons.
Asher and Brax follow them, prepared to enter the battle, but as Lux ran behind them, eager to play her part in the battle, she was suddenly raised off the ground from behind and tossed about like a ragdoll by an unseen demon.
Crying out, she tried to warn the others, but they were focused on Sully and Lucas. Without fully comprehending what had happened to her, she landed hard on the ground, her leg in a twisted position.
She struggled to get up, then looked up to see who had so easily tossed her around.
“Obsidian,” she whispered, looking at the large looming black mass of a demon shaped with horns on his head like a bull, red eyes, and a monstrous hulking body. “Shit.” This was the one who had ripped her throat out in their last fight, and pushed Brax and Moore into the portal to be sealed there. He was also the one who caused her to lose her biological mother for years, putting Ida into a coma.
Obsidian rushed to where her experienced team were all congregated. They were all there, in one place, all preoccupied with freeing two of their own.
They were an easy mark, an easy target.
Lux tried to warn them. “Watch out!” she shouted but her voice was lost in the sounds of ripping, clashing, and screams across the football field that had now become a battleground. She hobbled to her feet, and tried to stand, but pain shot through her ankle. Her ankle was twisted, but she gritted her teeth and limped toward the small group of people she loved so much, but Obsidian was already upon them.
He slashed John’s leg, almost severed Hector’s arm off, then strangled Dr. Good, leaving her limp on the ground. He then turned his attention to Brax and Asher, breaking their angelic powers, overriding their strengths and special abilities.
Lux cried out, “It’s Obsidian! He’s behind you!” But it was already too late. While being distracted by the lesser demons attacking the slayers in groups, Obsidian had surprised them, attacking them from behind. Lux was immediately injured from his tackle that left her unable to move as quickly as she could.
“Damn it,” she muttered. “I didn’t even get started…” Angry beyond belief at how her fellow slayers who were now like family to her were being beaten so brutally, Lux cried out, “You stinky ass bastard! Stop picking on those slayers. It’s me that you really want. Obsidian, now’s your chance! So, come and get me!”
Obsidian turned his attention to her.
“Run, Lux,” Sully said, knocked to the ground after charging Obsidian, trying to stop him.
But it was no use. In a second, he was on her.
Chapter 15
His claws dug deep into her skin, clamping tight on her shoulders as he carried her off and up. For a stunned moment, as Lux watched the ground below her fall farther and farther away, she hung limp in his clutches.
Fighting him now would be futile. He’d release her, sending her falling to her death.
Obsidian rose up higher and higher, finally landing on the ledge of the clock tower that overlooked the school’s mall. With a disgusting laugh, he set Lux down in a heap.
“We meet again,” Obsidian growled with devilish amusement. “It’s been a long and tiring road finding you again.”
“Go to hell,” Lux spat as she struggled to sit up but was too dizzy.
“In due time, my love. In due time.” Obsidian looked down at the chaos below. Battle cries reached them, but also the painfilled shouts of students, teachers and staff caught up in the battle.
“You must feel right in your element,” Lux said. “Chaos and death.”
Obsidian chuckled as tar-like drool drizzled from his mouth. “You’ve surrounded yourself with an interesting cast of warriors. Smart,” he said. “Smarter than I gave you credit for.”
Lux tried once more to sit up, but Obsidian pressed a clawed hand to her chest and pinned her down to the ledge. Her leg shot out waves of pain while every pinprick wound his claws had caused oozed blood.
Three demons arrived on the ledge, hungering for Lux. Snarling and drooling, they tried to get closer to her.
“Find another target,” Obsidian cried out, possessively grabbing Lux by her busted up leg and pulling her closer.
She cried out in pain, but he ignored her. The intense pain brought a wave of nausea and she was barely aware as the three demons once again tried to grab at her.
“This one’s mine,” Obsidian said. “All mine.” He spit at the demons who finally relented and headed back down to the melee below.
With his attention momentarily on the departing demons, Lux kicked her good leg up into Obsidian’s crotch. He doubled over then fell back just long enough to give her time to get to her feet.
But her busted leg refused to accept any weight at all. Hobbling on her good leg, she backed up to the huge clock behind her and leaned against the wall. Thick cement columns flanked the clock, creating a nook. She hopped back until she was in the corner of one nook and as far from the edge of the ledge as possible.
“Where do you think you can go?” Obsidian said with a demonic grin. “Look around you, dear. You’ve reached the end of your rope.”
Lux gazed at the ledge, barely four feet wide. Falling over would be the biggest risk in fighting him. She looked at the wall of the clock. In her corner there was no escape, but before the other column on the other side of the clock, there was a small door that led inside the clock tower.
If she could make it to that door.
Obsidian stepped closer, taking his time as he approached her. “Are you scared, little girl?”
“Ha!” she let out. “There’s so much about me that you don’t know. I’m so much stronger than you could ever imagine.”
“Spoken like a true slayer,” Obsidian said. “But if I remember correctly, the last time we met, I killed you.”
Lux just glared at him.
“And I managed to kill you quite easily. Master slayer, indeed,” he said with a sardonic chuckle. “You’re a little weakling just like all other humans. Weak of mind, weak of body, weak of faith.”
With only a few feet between them, Lux could smell his rotting skin, his putrid breath. Each drop of drool that fell from his lips carried a potent and nauseating stink.