by K.N. Lee
“Get behind me,” she hissed. “Stay between me and the tree.” She reached to the side, grabbed his hand, and yanked him out of his stupor.
He stumbled behind her.
She inched back until she could feel him against her back. “Don’t move.”
“I won’t.”
She swung in a half-circle, keeping the demons at bay. She lunged, stabbing at the creatures. Her sword simply slid through them. “Holy crows,” she said. “Do you see what’s happening?”
“Yeah.”
She tried again.
Again, her sword simply slid through them, as if they were mere figments of her imagination.
“Crap! It’s like they’ve evolved. The ones who simply split apart last time learned a new strategy. I sent crows after the last ones. The locusts—remember?” She flashed Ace a sarcastic smile over her shoulder. “Oh, wait—you ran away from me when that happened.”
“I’m sorry,” he said, trembling as he scanned the demons.
“What are you going to do?” Ace’s fingers clutched her shoulders.
“I don’t have a clue. Except fight like I was trained to do.” Panic shot through her like knives. “Don’t worry. We can do this,” she said, as much for her benefit as for his.
Her heart beat like war drums, thundering in her ears.
Continuing with the lunge and stab maneuvers felt like fighting air. Finally, her sword connected with one of them right at the sternum and black goo exploded from the hole she’d made.
It fell, like a bag of wet sand, to the ground.
Encouraged, she continued her sword-play. It became a random game of chance. Some of the demons couldn’t be harmed. Perhaps those were the older ones. The younger, less experienced ones seemed to stay behind the others as back-up. She leaped for a Drascatu who hid behind the front ranks. When her sword connected with his sternum, he let out a screeching violin scream and fell with a splat on the rocks. After that, she focused on the ones in the rear guard. Only, it made her work twice as hard to seek them out.
Fatigue made her limbs heavy. Sweat poured from her pores.
As if sensing her weakness, the Drascatu folded around her. They smothered her, pinching her nose and mouth closed with their cool, smooth fingers.
Their skin felt like the trout she and her dad used to catch in the lake when she was a child—like scaly, chilly slime. She let out a muffled scream and pushed them away.
They placed their hands over her eyes and obscured her vision. They poked clawed fingers into her ears.
Crying out, she fought and wrenched against their hold. She bit their bitter-tasting skin and waved her sword like a torch.
“Kara,” Ace called “Let me help!”
“No! Stay put! I’ve got this.” A blow struck her in the back of the head. She fell to her knees, dropping her sword.
The Drascatu surged away.
Relief flooded her, as if they’d lost interest in the fight.
They flew higher, like a jet squadron, then boomeranged around as if to strike again.
“No!” Ace yelled. “Leave her alone.”
“It’s okay,” she said, retrieving her sword. She stumbled to her feet. Her vision swam with stars and lights having nothing to do with the sky overhead. She blinked rapidly, trying to clear her sight.
“You’re bleeding.”
She reached behind her head. Her hand came away wet and sticky with blood. “It’s nothing.”
The demon creatures seemed to twine together as they hurtled toward her. The ones in the lead slammed into her forehead so hard she fell backward.
“Enough,” Ace cried, rushing to her side. He crouched next to her. “Stop this. Take me.”
“No, Ace! You can’t mean that!”
“I can and I do.” He got to his feet and faced them.
For the first time since she’d met him, mere days ago, he stood tall and unafraid. She’d seen him run from the Drascatu. Cower at them. Practically beg her to protect him from them in the hospital. Now he simply faced them, his jaw set in determination.
“Go ahead,” he called in a strong, clear voice. “Leave her alone and take me.”
“No, Ace! I can’t let them take you. You’ll become one of them.” She scrambled to her feet. Her head spun.
“Stay back!” He held out his hand to stop her. “Maybe that’s what’s meant to be. You said yourself—we can’t refuse our destiny.”
“No!” She started to race toward him but several Drascatu wrapped their fingers around her legs, like a black, slimy noose, hobbling her. Bending over, she tried to peel their bony fingers from her ankles. There were too many of them to make any headway.
They seized her wrists and constrained her hands behind her back.
She pulled with all her might. She may as well have been fighting a brick wall. Tears filled her eyes. “Ace, no!”
“Let. Her. Go.” Ace commanded the dark demons. He turned to her, training his blue-gemstone, unforgettable eyes on hers. “You don’t have a choice. Not any longer. I’ve been weak. Running from who I am. Running from these fuckers. Using you as a shield.” Pivoting to face the Drascatu, he put up his hands. “I surrender. Take me.”
A cluster of demons flew around his wrists, guiding his arms behind his back. They dipped and darted behind him, binding his arms together.
Kara cried out. “No! You can’t do this, Ace. You can’t. We’ll both die!”
A frown flitted across his forehead. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, we’ll both...” Her words were cut off as something sharp and deadly plunged through her heart, wielded by a Drascatu.
It trained its black eye sockets at her, stretching its mouth-hole back and seeming to grin.
“No!” Ace roared. “Stop it. You weren’t supposed to harm her!”
A lot of things weren’t supposed to happen. You being captured by the Drascatu Shadespawn at the top of the list. Kara’s thoughts turned into garbled mush, as the life force trickled from her flesh.
19
Strong arms lifted Kara out of the darkness in which she wallowed. She hung, limp, unable to open her eyes, as whoever picked her up took a few running steps and launched into the night sky.
“Which place are we going to?” she murmured. “The good place or the really awful place?”
“We’re going to the place where I’m going to try to protect you from Fraya’s temper,” an amused male voice said.
She opened her eyes. Bork had her tight against him as they soared through the air.
“Bork!”
“At your service.”
“Where’s Ace?”
“We don’t know. We’re searching for him. Now hush and hold tight. Arms around my neck. I need to move quickly through a few dimensions to get you out of Earth.”
She did as she was told, clinging to him. She glanced at the starry sky and the city lights below. Remembering what lead to her being whisked away by the warrior, her heart grew heavy. I’ve lost Ace. He’s going to appear to me as one of those ugly, evil Drascatu and I won’t even recognize him. A tear leaked from the corner of her eye.
Bork grimaced as he glanced at her. “Don’t cry. I’ll get you to the place you need to be.” His face furrowed in concentration. “We have to move swiftly. I don’t have your healing abilities. You’re bleeding pretty badly.”
She glanced at her shirt, spying a dark crimson stain over her left breast. “And where do we need to be?”
“You’ll see soon enough.”
The stars blurred into milky streaks. The city lights disappeared. They appeared to be flying through a void of some kind.
A sense of disorientation swirled through her, like she might faint. “Where are we?”
“In the world between the worlds. Don’t worry. We’ll be in the next dimension shortly.”
Bork descended, pushing through huge, puffy, sun-lit clouds.
A landscape came into view but it didn’t look like any land she’d seen befo
re.
Bork’s massive white wings beat slowly as he dropped into one of the most godforsaken places she’d ever witnessed. His feet touched down in a craggy crater. Lava bubbled between the rocks, flowing like liquid fire.
He chuckled. “Don’t slip or you might lose a foot.”
“Not funny.”
He gently lowered her and positioned her on one of the rocky outcroppings. “Steady yourself with your wings if you need to.”
“Okay...but...what’s supposed to happen here?” Heat surged into her calves from the molten lava.
“Ask the boss.” He stabbed his thumb over his shoulder.
Fraya popped into view like a dark-haired, pissed-off genie. “You’re a piece of work, you know this, right?” She propped her hands on her hips, glaring at Kara.
“Hello, to you, too, Fraya,” Kara said.
“I’ll leave you two to sort things out,” Bork said from behind her.
“What? Wait! No!” Kara’s head swiveled to look behind her.
Bork had already resumed flight, stirring hot wind from his beating wings. He ascended into the sky, looking like a powerful god, rippling with muscles.
She turned back to face Fraya. As she perched on her lava surrounded stone, her gaze on Fraya, she didn’t dare move.
“He doesn’t like to see women get all emotional.” Fraya looked at her with cool regard.
“Who says we’re going to get emotional?”
“Oh, you might put up a fuss when I show you why we’re here.” Fraya’s eyes did that glow thing, like solar flares bursting from her sockets.
“Try me,” Kara said.
“Will do.” Fraya lifted her hand and snapped her fingers.
In the distance, a gaunt figure waded through the lava in their direction. With slow, labored steps he made his way to where she stood. Inky black crows fluttered around his head.
Kara eyed him, her face furrowed.
The man looked like skin draped over bones. His coffee-colored skin hung in folds like weighted cloth. He plowed through ankle deep lava, appearing unconcerned, as if he waded along an ocean shore.
Two crows descended from the overhead flock and settled on his shoulders. One of them pecked at his stringy black hair. The other burrowed its beak into the man’s ear. When it pulled back his head, a squirming worm-like thing dangled from its beak. The bird flicked his head back, opened its beak, and snapped the worm into its mouth.
“Ew,” Kara said, despite herself.
Fraya, watching the whole exchange with her arms crossed, chuckled.
“It’s merely leftovers from the dead,” the man croaked in a raspy voice. He fixed his black eyes on her.
She wanted to step back but didn’t want to lose a foot to the lava. Instead, she recoiled inside, drawing her head back like a turtle.
“They find their way under my skin all the time. It’s part of the business. This guy keeps me clean of parasites and the like.” He reached up one of his bony hands and stroked the bird’s feathers. When his hand fell by his side, the bird ruffled its wings.
It looked at Kara with gleaming white eyes dotted with a black pupil, cocking its head this way and that.
“Go ahead. Say hello to her,” the man cooed at the bird.
The crow eyed the man and made some sort of raspy trill in its throat. Then, it fluttered to Kara’s shoulder.
Twitching backward, she nearly lost her footing. “Don’t go digging around in my ear,” she said, catching her balance.
Fraya rolled her eyes. “Where are your manners? Stop worrying about the bird and say hello to Death.”
She blinked, her eyebrows creasing together. “This is Death?”
“At your service,” he said, same as Bork had said. He bowed deeply. “We need to talk.”
“About? Are you taking me with you?”
He made the same raspy trill the crow had made, only deeper. “Not taking you anywhere, I’m afraid. But we may have lost this war. There’s only one hope left.” His face appeared forlorn, the skin seeming to drip from his face like wax.
“I don’t understand. The war with the Drascatu? My own personal war? Have I already died at Sisters of Mercy hospital?”
He shook his head.
The crow pecked her cheek.
She waved her hand at it and jerked her head away. “Stop it! I don’t have any parasites embedded in my skin.”
It flapped its wings, catching its balance on her shoulder.
The man called Death chuckled. “He likes you.”
“Thanks, bird.” She smiled. “Can you explain what you mean about losing the war?”
“I’m dying.”
“How can death die?” Her head swam with questions.
“It’s not a forever kind of thing. It’s a service. We pass it on to our blood line after several centuries have passed. Unfortunately, there’s only one of my blood line left on earth—the man you know as Ace Diamanté.”
Her skin prickled with goosebumps. “Ace? He’s already dead. He gave himself up to the Drascatu.”
“They haven’t completed the ritual yet.”
“The one they started in the hospital?”
“That’s right. Four Drascatu must perform the ritual, calling forth each of the dark corners of the universe. This is a special moon coming up. It only happens once in a century. It coincides with the Spring Equinox. They know this is their one chance. If they perform the ritual, Ace becomes the leader of the Drascatu.”
Kara’s forehead creased. “He leads the Drascatu?”
“Yes. He’s as powerful as I am. He’s meant to bring sweet death to the planet.” He shook his head. “This ritual cannot happen. They can’t take Ace from his destiny!”
“What will happen?”
“I’ll die, as I must. No one will be left to take my place. No one and nothing on Earth will be allowed to die, ever. Instead, all will wither and age, but they won’t be allowed to cross over—not unless they’re summoned by the man you call Cee-El. Ace will be forced to do his bidding. If they were meant to die of cancer, the cancer remains throughout time. If they crashed in a car, maiming their bodies, they live that way for the rest of time, in horrible pain. They either suffer their existence, or, become one of the Drascatu. The world will fill with diseased creatures of every kind.”
Kara put her hands before her, like she could ward off what he said. She imagined Jaidon, as an old man, becoming a Drascatu after suffering a horrible illness. Her mother and father—all her friends doomed to become one of them—one of those freak-faced, ugly-as-sin demons. And that was after they endured whatever horrible fate meant to take them to the other side. Irritation crawled in her belly like flies. She turned to Fraya. “You sure kept a lot of details out of this whole arrangement. ‘Oh, Kara. I need to fast-track your Valkyrie training, then introduce you to a guy you must save. Oops! Did I fail to tell you when his father or whatever he is—’” She waved her hand at Death. “‘—dies, too, and this fucked up ritual occurs, then the Drascatu will take over the planet with the guy with whom you felt a soul connection. He’ll be in charge.’ This is completely fucked.”
Fraya shrugged. “And how easily would you have stomached all these details as you call them? A few days ago, you were merely an FBI agent. If we would have told you then, you’d have had a psychotic breakdown.”
“I don’t know. But I was trained as an FBI agent to see the whole plan, then make decisions based on the big picture.”
Fraya barked out a laugh. “Good one. You were given details on a need to know basis. You based your plans on what you were given, and what you were given was hardly the big picture.”
Her heart boiled with anger. She let her wings unfurl and took off like a rocket.
The crow fluttered into the air next to her, like it was a flying game. It swooped and circled, diving and soaring, as if playing.
She waved her arms at it. “Shoo! This is hardly the time for fun.”
Fraya caught up to her, grabb
ing her arm and wrenching her mid-air to face her. “Don’t run from this, Kara. You were chosen for a reason.”
Kara yanked her arm away. “And what reason might that be? Because I’m stupid? A fuck-up? Dispensable?”
“No, Agent Falko.” Fraya stared deeply into her eyes. “Because you’re good at what you do. You’re essential. Your FBI team trivialized you. Jaidon stuck up for you, but all he wanted to do was protect you. Konner Levine thought you were a joke, like a distracting side-kick. Agent Richter wanted to get rid of you. Why do you think that is?”
Her stomach felt punched. “I don’t know. Why?”
“Because you’re stronger than they are. You’re smarter. You follow through, even when you don’t trust your abilities. I know none of this easy on you, but you’ve met each challenge put before you.”
“She’s right, you know.”
Kara glanced down from her vantage point above the ground.
Death stood below staring up at her, his hands cupped around his mouth. “We have one last chance. Come on down so I can share it with you and you can make a plan.” He waved her down from the clouds.
“What the hell can I do?” Kara wailed. “I’m a half-trained idiot Valkyrie.”
“Not true. You’re as strong and skilled as they come.” Fraya looked at her with strangely soft eyes.
“You’re only saying that.”
“And you’re too stubborn to believe in yourself.” Fraya shook her head.
Could she be right? Kara filled her lungs with air and slowly let it out. She descended, with Fraya right beside her. They each touched down lightly on a lava-surrounded rock.
Death looked at her gravely, fixing his dark eyes on her. “Tomorrow night is the full moon. They must complete the process then. They rushed things by trying to do it in the hospital. It wouldn’t have worked. But they’d have bound him to them so they could finish the job tomorrow night.”
“How do you know what happened in the hospital?”
“Honey,” Death said, gazing at her with his soulless eyes. “I’ve been monitoring his movements since the day he sucked breath into his lungs for the first time. I knew my time was growing close and I also knew he’s the last of a blood line—my blood line.”