Stephan’s shoes came into view. How he always seemed to dress so immaculately and keep everything so pristine and clean was beyond me. “I know that you did not try to tap into my mind and ask me to come out here,” he said, helping me stand.
“I did, but I couldn’t figure out how to not call you when I was calling all of your kind.”
“At least you took care of all of the vampires in one fell swoop.” He looked around at the piles of ash. “You’re forgiven. Now let’s go and—” His body tensed. “Oh, hell. She’s back.”
“From hell, actually.” Carmen sneered. “It’s good to see you again, Stephan. Let’s see. When was the last time I saw you? Oh yes, now I remember. It was when you wined and dined me then snuck out of my hotel room that morning.”
“Aww, yes, the walk of shame. I remember it but not fondly.” The vampire glanced at me and in a mock whisper said, “Full disclosure, she did not look like Barbie’s little toddler sister that night. Don’t judge me.”
Carmen glared, and I had no words. “Ugh. Please. We did not sleep together.”
She had brought an army of demons with her, and thanks to Stephan, she appeared ready to fight. At least forty demons were fanning out behind her, making a semi-circle.
Stephan whistled. “Look. They are all big, red, and horny. They came to party!”
“Stephan, please.” The vampire was going to get us killed. I looked at the little girl in front of us. “Carmen, you must hate being summoned. Wouldn’t it be nice if Merek was eliminated? You would never be summoned again.”
Carmen studied me. “I want a new body.”
“Um…” I looked to Stephan for help.
He flicked a speck of imaginary dust off of his suit. “Tired of attracting pedophiles?” At her glare, he sighed. “What if there was a body here that you could have?”
Pigtails swung as her head turned towards me. “That would be terrific.”
“Nope, sorry, not this one,” he said. “But there is a red-headed witch in there that is all yours—if you can get to her before the ogre kills her. While CG and his wolves are taking out most of the rogue werewolves, the ogre has taken a strong dislike to witches. There are very few left.”
I knew the reasoning behind that. It was witches that took him to the portal and tossed him on a plane he didn’t deserve.
“You will not fight me on this?” Carmen asked, and we both shook our heads. “I’ve run out of time. I have to obey his command. Try not to kill my father’s demons but if you must, aim for the heart.”
Wait. What? I thought we had worked out a deal. Carmen sat on a bench, swinging her legs as the rest of the demons ambled towards us.
Stephan let out a dramatic sigh. “With my strength, speed, and just overall greatness, I’ll come out of this alive, but the last time I checked, you’re not immortal, correct?” When I didn’t answer, he said, “Just try to stay out of my way.”
I watched him flash in front of one demon. He grabbed his horns and broke them off, causing the demon to fall to the ground. There was no way he was going to be able to stop all forty demons. I could run and hide, or I could stay and fight to the best of my abilities. As they were closing in on me, I made my decision. I let my wall down. Completely. Something Ariana had suggested I not do, but it was my best option right now. I gathered Camden’s aura to me. I was going to taste the rainbow and pray it didn’t kill me.
A demon wielding a sword tried to sneak up behind me. I turned to face him, dodging his sword at the same time. Using Camden’s power, I jumped into the air and kicked him on the right side of his face. He hit the ground. Without thinking, I relieved him of his sword and stabbed him through the heart.
I looked at the bloody sword and remembered when I had accidentally tapped into Jo. This was the very scene that I had foreseen. But like she had said, it could always be worse. At least I wasn’t dead. Yet. That thought spurred me into motion. There were more demons to take care of. I glanced at the sword in my hand and channeled Chron’s ability to control objects. I imagined the sword cleaving the demon in front of me and then returning back to my waiting hand. His top half separated from his torso, both pieces hitting the ground.
The demons were smarter than they looked. They had just realized maybe I was more powerful than they initially gave me credit for. I didn’t have the option of a fair fight. They were about to ambush me. I needed to do something fast. Stephan was breaking horns from one demon just to flash in front of a different demon, stabbing them through the heart with their comrade’s horns. The vampire was completely savage. Just as we were helping to dwindle the demon population, more smoke swirled off to the right of Merek’s house. More demons were coming. This was not good. Stephan uttered a four-letter curse word then yelled at me to run, but I couldn’t leave him. At the same time, he was having a hard time fighting the huge demons because he was worried about me. If the cool, level-headed vampire was flustered, then we were in trouble. With Camden’s hearing, I knew that between him and Kong, they were about to bring the house down. I could hear Camden grunting as he fought multiple supernaturals. I couldn’t call him for help. It would distract him. I wiped my nose. I’d been steadily bleeding for the last five minutes. If I tried to control all the demons at once, it would kill me. We had run out of time.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
I teleported in front of Stephan, who fought two demons at once. Grabbing him, I teleported him into the house, where the battle appeared like it was winding down. Body parts were strewn everywhere. I took a moment I didn’t have to calm my breathing. I could have a panic attack later.
Stephan glanced around with a half-smile on his handsome face. “Please tell me that a girl did not just rescue me.”
“I just delayed the inevitable. Those demons will be in this house within seconds. We need to find Merek and fast.”
We stepped over bodies as we ran through Merek’s estate. He had been building quite the army. My feet tripped as I recognized one of the bodies. It was Garren. Bile rose to my throat.
Stephan gripped my elbow. “The dead don’t need your sympathy. We need to save the living by finding Merek.”
“He has locked himself along with his children in a steel bunker.” Camden came around a corner, bloody and bruised. “It’s in the basement. You can manipulate the steel door. Use Chron’s abilities and bend it to your will, Sadie. You can make the door open.” He finally made eye contact with me and let out a curse. “You’re already bleeding.”
“Yeah, I might have borrowed your powers. Right now is not the time for a lecture. Let’s finish this, so I can finally get some rest and heal.”
I could tell he wanted to argue. He warred with his emotions as one hand cradled his ribs. He was obviously in some pain as well. Finally, he turned his back on me and started moving down the hall. “Follow me.”
We heard a crash. “The demons are in the house,” I said.
“We will deal with them when we have to. All seventy-five witches are dead. Kong obviously had some issues there.”
I kept quiet. It wasn’t my place to tell them what I had witnessed. “The werewolves?”
“All are dead, except for the few that keep running from me. They won’t be able to get out because of the demons, so eventually they will have to face me.”
After we ran down the steps and into the basement, the three of us halted in front of a door that looked like it belonged to a bank vault. Carmen had somehow managed to beat us down here and was biting on one of her nails as she paced in front of the door. Her braids swung with every step she took.
“I’m supposed to kill you. It is taking everything I have not to try,” she said without glancing at any of us.
“Get out of the way, and let Sadie try to open this door,” Camden said. “Then you will be free of his power.”
She moved, and I began concentrating on manipulating the steel. There had to be a way to keep my walls up partially as Ariana suggested. Too bad she didn’t just come ri
ght out and tell me how to do that. No, that would have been way too easy. I dropped my walls and peeled the door back with my mind. Blood flowed freely. Camden shouted at me to stop. He promised we would find another way, but like him, I could hear the demons coming for us. The door flew open the same time my body sagged. He grabbed me from behind, preventing me from collapsing.
He placed a kiss on top of my head. “You did it.”
Five shocked faces glared at us. Like rats trapped in a corner, they ran out of the safe room that was anything but safe. Carmen pounced on Celia. The girl shrieked as Carmen took over her body. Celia’s body started convulsing. Her eyes rolled back in her head and drool covered her chin. Taking over one’s body was not a pretty sight.
There was a commotion to the right of us. Merek made a run for it. He almost reached the bottom of the steps when Camden set me on my feet and went after him. Merek didn’t have a chance. Camden grabbed him by the throat and pinned him to the wall. With one squeeze he broke the chubby man’s neck just as the demons came down the stairs.
As if their mission had been aborted, they looked at their princess. Carmen, in her new body, gave them all an eerie smile. “Go back to Hell. We are done here.”
Stephan had quickly disarmed and killed the two werewolves who were in the safe room with Merek.
When he stepped out, his pristine shirt was covered with blood. I would wager that none of it was his own. Cecil was crouched low to the ground. His arms covered his head and he whimpered.
Stephan took two long strides towards the coward but Camden intercepted him. “We have been ordered not to harm him. Ariana said it’s not his time.”
This gave Cecil hope. He bent down and picked up one of the dead wolves’ guns and took aim at my chest. As the gun sounded, a blurry image appeared before me, wrapping me up in their arms as we both hit the cold cement floor. Everything that followed seemed to happen in slow motion. Stephan removed the gun from Cecil, smacking him in the head with the butt of it. Cecil crumpled to the ground, still alive but motionless. I rolled Camden over. Why wasn’t he moving? The bullet had gone through his heart.
Stephan voiced what I already knew. “His heart is not beating.”
I laid my forehead against his, as I cradled his upper body in my lap. Then I remembered Ariana’s words about what I would see that wasn’t so. He wasn’t dead. He couldn’t be. Even Camden told me the only thing that would temporarily kill him was leaving the bullet to penetrate his heart. I ripped his T-shirt in half, so I could get a better look at his chest.
“This has been fun,” Carmen said. “But I really should be getting back before blondie here goes all crazy and starts carving her name in his flesh.”
“Rot in hell.” Stephan smirked, as she began to disappear in a cloud of smoke.
“Stephan, I need you to go upstairs and check on Kong. Camden is not dead, and I’ll wait here with him until he wakes up.”
He ran a hand down the back of his neck. “I hate to break it to you, but—”
“Leave us!”
He looked like he wanted to say more but decided against it. I waited until his vampire hearing would no longer reach us. No one could know Camden’s secret.
As I placed my palms on either side of the hole in his chest, I concentrated. Tears fell from me as I imagined the bullet moving upward. After what seemed like an hour, but was only seconds, the bullet exited his body and floated in front of my face. I reached out and grabbed it. Why I wanted to keep it was beyond me, but that’s exactly what I did. I pocketed the silver bullet in my jeans. Then I waited.
Blue-green eyes met mine with confusion. A calloused hand gently reached up to my face, wiping the last of the tears away. “Why are you crying?”
Still cradling him in my lap, I said, “Happy tears.”
He rubbed his chest and then looked around him. “That weasel hit me in my sweet spot?”
“Yeah. Another bone I have to pick with Ariana. If she hadn’t told you to keep him alive, you would have never gotten shot trying to protect me.”
“I would die for you,” he said. At his admission, a look of horror washed over his face. He rolled off my lap and climbed to his feet. My heart clenched. He loved me. It was written all over his face, but he didn’t want to admit to it.
The moment was over. I ignored the extended hand he held out for me. My heart squeezed like it was in a vise. No matter how much he wanted me, he would never choose me. He was so caught up in the past, in what had happened to him and his brother, he wouldn’t give love a chance. I stood up and dusted off my pants.
“Thank you,” he said, his voice quiet.
I shrugged his gratitude off. “What do we do about him?” I pointed at an unconscious Cecil.
“Leave him.”
“He tried to kill me and shot you, and we’re going to leave him?” My feelings were hurt, and I was spoiling for a fight.
“Ariana said—”
I threw my hands up. “Ariana said this and Ariana said that. Ugh. I’m so over it. You’ve got your key. You’ve upheld your vow to Merek and your promise to Ariana. You won’t harm the precious Cecil. I think we’re done here.”
As I was marching up the steps, I heard him softly say, “Ariana never said that Cecil wouldn’t die; she just needs him to set someone else on their correct path.”
I turned on the top step. “And what is your story, Camden? To live in the past?”
I didn’t wait for him to respond. I stormed through the house searching for Kong. He ended up being outside with Stephan. The ogre I had grown so attached to appeared forlorn.
“Kong, what is it, buddy?”
He held up his gigantic hands for me to see the blood on them. “Kong crushed.”
“I know and it’s okay.” I held both of his hands in mine. “You saved us. Don’t ever regret saving your friends.” When he finally made eye contact with me, I said, “Listen, buddy, I have to go and where I’m going, there isn’t any ogres. If you come with me, life isn’t going to be easy for you.”
Camden had exited the house, but I pretended not to notice. There were only four of his men left, and they all gathered outside, looking battered.
Stephan said, “I can look after him.”
“Or he can stay with me,” Camden said from behind me. “I have plenty of acres where he can run through the woods.”
Kong shook his head. “I go with friend.”
“Are you sure?” Please say yes. I selfishly wanted him to come with me. “You would probably be happier here.”
“You go. I go,” Kong said.
I gave him a big smile. Glancing around at the men, I said, “Boys, you’ll have to excuse us.” Trying to act like my heart wasn’t breaking in two, I winked at Stephan. “Take care, vamp.” He hugged me.
With a deep breath, I turned to face Camden. “Please tell Lil I said goodbye.”
“Don’t go,” he begged.
“Why would I stay?” When he didn’t reply, I had my answer. I would use my powers one last time for the night. Then I would pass the hell out. Turning back to the ogre, I held onto him tightly as I pictured the shabby, little pink trailer I had lovingly called home. Even though I felt like I would break from my decision, it was the right one. Camden had issues. Ones that he needed to work on without me.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
The moment our feet touched down in front of the trailer, Jo was waiting outside on the porch with a smile. “Dude, I’m loving the new pet. I mean, I was all for a cat, but this is so much better.”
“Do you know who this is?” I asked her as she bounded down the steps.
She nodded. “I get little blips here and there. The scenes play out like a movie reel in my head, and since I don’t get to pick and choose what comes to me, there are some deleted scenes. But yeah, I saw enough to know you were coming here with him.”
Kong walked over to her and patted her head so hard I thought he was going to drill her in the ground. “Friend.”
&nbs
p; Her short black hair, always so artfully arranged, was now a mess. “Dude. Control your pet.”
I laughed. “Kong, be easy, buddy.”
Kong nodded. “Pretty.”
Her blue eyes roamed his gigantic body. “Anatomically speaking, that could never work.” She studied him in a calculating way. Her hand stroked her chin. “You know, though, I will allow you to be my bodyguard. Anytime I say the word, ‘Timmy,’ I want you to growl.”
Kong tilted his square face to the side. “Timmy not friend.”
“Good Lord, no,” she said as she turned to me. “How are we going to fit him in the trailer?”
“We can’t. But we will have to think of something.”
We both watched as Kong went over to the flower beds and did three circles before lying down in the mulch. He closed his eyes and murmured, “Sleep.”
I followed my best friend up the steps to our little trailer where I spent the next three hours laughing and then crying. I was a rollercoaster of emotions. I built my walls before she hugged me because now more than ever, I realized what a burden my friend carried. The last thing I wanted was any visions of the future. I would never search for her aura because that was one gift I did not want.
She caught me up on what had happened the last week of school and how life had been treating her while I had been away. She tried at first to stay away from anything concerning Camden, but he had been a considerable part of my life since I started on this adventure; we might as well not talk about anything if we avoided talking about him. So, I told her everything she didn’t already know, until I had cried every tear from my body. Then I went to bed utterly exhausted.
Someone was in my bedroom. I pretended to be still asleep. There was a creak in the floorboards right next to my bed, and my eyes shot open. A scream tore from me as I gazed up into the weathered face an inch from mine. Jo flipped the lights on as I pressed myself into the mattress to get away from the creature hunched over me.
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