What was Azrael up to? I had a feeling it had something to do with the veil between worlds thinning before the solstice. But what did that have to do with me? Why was I such a risk to this plan?
So many questions. None with even a hint of an answer that I could think of. None of it made sense.
All I knew for sure now was that the entire moment in the alleyway with Cole had been staged. Which made sense in hindsight. It had felt off when I found him not on the verge of death but only knocked out.
Did Simon know about any of this?
I wanted desperately to say no. When I had met him on the street the other night, he had seemed genuinely confused and concerned. He hadn’t given off any hidden intentions.
But then again, neither had Azrael.
Who knew who else was part of this larger plot. I couldn’t trust anyone. Except Kay.
Poor Kay. She had been dragged into this because of me. Because of what I was.
I had felt responsible for this before. Now, I was sure everything that had happened to her was my fault.
We trudged downtown for a while in silence, until it dawned on me that I wasn’t sure where to go. Especially to keep Kay safe. We were running out of time. The solstice was two days away. It would be our only time to perform the cure.
Xaver, Azrael, Cole, Andre. Who weren’t we running from at this point? There was nowhere safe. Cole was going to be searching for me soon. We needed a place to lie low for a while. A place to regroup and make a plan.
But where?
“Is there any way we can stop at my place?” Kay peeped up from beside me. “I would kill for a shower and maybe some new clothes.”
I wanted to smack myself in the forehead. Of course. It was so easy for me to forget about living necessities. If Kay wanted something as simple as a shower and some new clothes after everything she’s been through, I could do that.
“We have to be quick though,” I said. “I don’t want to stay in one place for too long. For your safety.”
“Agreed.”
“Wait, before we go.” I reached into my back pocket for the small Styx Corp. tablet Azrael had given me on my first day of work. The green light flashed, telling me I had a message waiting for me. Anger coursed through my veins at the thought of him using it as a way to keep tabs on me all this time. A tracker or maybe an audio recorder.
Not anymore.
Gritting my teeth, I threw it onto the ground as hard as I could. The glass splintered, and the blinking green light died out. I stomped on it several times with the heel of my boot. That was more for my own self-satisfaction. Pieces of glass and plastic flew all over the sidewalk.
Only when it no longer looked like tablet did I feel a little better.
I kicked the remaining parts into a nearby sewer and grinned.
Fuck you, you son of a bitch.
When I looked up, I found Kay staring at me with worried eyes.
“You okay?” she asked.
I straightened myself up. “Better now, I think.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
Too sweet. Why was she always so kind? Especially to me. The one who probably deserved it the least.
“Maybe another time,” I told her. “Let’s go.”
We turned down the next block toward Chestnut Street and Oh! Kay’s Pastries. Kay lived in a small one bedroom apartment above the shop. As we came up to the storefront, I noticed the broken windows had been boarded up with plywood. Sorrow filled my chest at the sight of the destroyed store. I glanced at Kay, who sighed heavily.
“That’s what insurance is for, right?” she said with a wavering smile. “It’ll get it fixed.”
As we walked around to the side of the building to her apartment’s entrance, we stopped short. Laurence sat there on the steps in front of her door, his head in his hands.
“Laur—”
My hand shot out to stop Kay from moving and talking. The last time I had seen Kay’s sorcerer boyfriend, he had been possessed by Xaver and had tried to kill us all. Now he was just sitting here on her stoop, waiting for her to get home?
I didn’t trust it.
Gesturing for her to stay put, I crept closer to Laurence. He looked up slowly, his gaze skipping me and going straight for Kay.
He leapt to his feet. “Kay! Oh my God! I’ve called you hundreds of times. I stopped in. I’ve circled town, but I couldn’t find you anywhere!”
When he went to her, I placed my gloved hand on his chest and pushed him back. Since he hadn’t been expecting it, or hadn’t really seen me, he plopped back onto the step he had been sitting on.
He looked up at me in confusion. “I’m sorry. Have we met before?”
“Sort of,” I answered.
It sounded like Laurence. His jittery mannerisms were like the Laurence I had observed Kay with for over a year. Right down to his hokey Hocus Pocus T-shirt. More importantly, the twisted, ugly demon face didn’t spring up when I looked him in the eyes. So maybe this was Laurence—real Laurence.
I had to make sure. I didn’t trust anyone. Not anymore.
Laurence glanced over my shoulder to Kay, who was hugging herself, seeming unsure and probably a bit cold from the nipping bite of the cool night.
“Kay, it’s me. Really me this time. I’m so sorry for what I did to you. And the shop. I’ll help you fix it. I’ll pay for it all.” He was rambling. A very Laurence thing to do, especially when he was nervous. “I couldn’t control myself. You have to believe me. I could see what I was doing, but I couldn’t stop it. That thing—”
“Demon,” I corrected.
He pushed a hand through his hair. “Demon? Well, shit.”
Kay still hovered behind me. “How do we know if it’s really him?” she whispered to me.
“It’s me,” he said, standing. “I swear.”
We both knew swearing meant nothing.
If only I had some of Cole’s Holy Water to test on him.
“Can you touch him with your light? See if it affects him?” Kay asked.
“Only if you want real Laurence possibly blasted into the next town,” I said. “I can’t control it like that yet.”
“Blast me? What? No.” Laurence’s expression turned desperate. “Kay, it’s me. Can’t you see?”
“I don’t see the demon,” I told her. “I could see it before, but I don’t see it now. It may be him. Xaver could have willingly left his body.”
Kay stepped around me. Before I could stop her, she said, “Fine, then tell me. What did I want to name the shop before I settled on Oh! Kay’s. Only Laurence would know the answer to that.”
Laurence smiled gently. “You wanted to name it Abigail’s Kitchen. After your grandmother who raised you and taught you how to bake.”
With that, Kay jumped into his arms. He embraced her, allowing her to cry softly into his shoulder, as he repeatedly told her he was sorry.
I didn’t interrupt. After everything they both had been through—and were going to still go through—it was probably overdue. My chest ached for them.
When they finally parted from each other, sometime later, I said, “We should go inside,” and ushered them up the staircase to the second floor apartment. I made sure to lock every door after me.
“There’s no need for that,” Laurence said as I pushed one of Kay’s heavy side tables in front of the door. Kay went straight for the kitchen to fetch drinks from the fridge.
“There are protection spells all over this apartment. I wanted to make sure that if Kay came back, she would be safe from everyone.” He frowned. “Even me, if it came down to it again.”
“No offense, but I’d feel a little safer if those spells were coming from a level three sorcerer. Maybe even level two.” I closed the blinds to both windows in the living room.
“I’ve been working on it,” he countered. “How did you know I was a level one sorcerer anyway? Better yet, who are you? Has Kay been with you this entire time?”
Guess I was the one
thing he hadn’t seen while Xaver had possessed him. Maybe it was because I had still been in my spirit state and only Xaver himself had seen me.
I was about to open my mouth, but Kay beat me to it. “This is Jade Blackwell.”
She placed three glasses of what looked like orange juice on the coffee table. That was just like Kay. Even in such dire times, she was a sweetheart, thinking about everyone else. Manners for miles.
Laurence’s mouth dropped open at the mention of my name. “The spirit Jade Blackwell?” He gasped. “The one who’s been helping you this past year, who you had me look up towns and names online for?”
“And I appreciate that,” I said, and I really did. “But yes, it’s me.”
“How— How can I see you right now? Aren’t you a spirit?”
“Specifically, I’m a reaper,” I said. “I help souls pass when it’s their time and help them over into the afterlife.”
“That’s why she’s been so good at helping me keep those pesky ghosts away,” Kay said with a smile.
Laurence collapsed on the small blue sofa. “Wow, a reaper. I didn’t know they even existed.”
“That’s how it’s supposed to be,” I replied, “but things have become extra screwy in the past couple of days. On top of the whole you being possessed by a full-blooded demon and getting Kay pregnant with its spawn…”
Kay’s eyes widened in horror, and I wished with everything I had that I could have sucked those words back into my mouth and swallowed them back down.
“Wait, what?” He glanced at Kay’s stomach. “You’re—”
Maybe I should have let Kay explain that one.
She drew in a deep breath to compose herself. “Like Jade said, a lot has happened these past couple of days. I’ll fill you in.”
And she did. Quickly and efficiently, too. She told him about everything, including my newest powers, which he had witnessed firsthand, and how we had to somehow get Xaver’s blood to save her with a ritual.
When she was done, Laurence swallowed a bunch of times, as if he were doing all he could to keep the vomit from coming up. His face paled. “So now we have to find the very demon that impregnated my girlfriend and almost killed me?”
“To be fair, he tried to kill all of us at some point,” I said.
Laurence launched himself up and started pacing across the room. “Even better!”
“It’s how we’re going to help Kay,” I said. “I have all the other ingredients. We just need Xaver’s damned blood on the solstice, and we’re good to go.”
When I turned to my friend, I noticed her looking a bit flushed. “Why don’t you go take that shower, Kay?” I offered. “Laurence and I will keep watch, and then we’ll head out when you’re done.”
She nodded and disappeared into one of the rooms down the hall. Not even a minute later, the water to the shower turned on.
“You really should do a better job at keeping her relaxed,” I said to Laurence. “She’s been through enough already. We have to stay positive for her.”
“So what now? Do you have a plan?” he asked.
“Not exactly… Not yet anyway, but we can’t let Kay see how scared we are for her. It’ll only make things worse.”
He sighed. “Okay. You’re right. I just can’t believe I did this to her.” He dropped his head into his palms again. “I’m the worst boyfriend ever.”
“I wouldn’t say worst…”
Even though he wasn’t exactly my boyfriend, Cole Masters’s name sprang to mind.
As I looked over at Laurence, still whispering to himself and hiding his face, sympathy twisted within me. The guy thought he had sentenced the woman he loved to her death. I’d be distraught, too.
I wanted to comfort him, but I wasn’t the best at emotional situations like this. I never knew what to say or do.
If anything, I was just awkward.
I reached out to touch his shoulder, but then thought better of it and pulled away.
Fumbling for the right words, I said, “Er—you know, if I really thought you and Kay weren’t good for each other, then I would have stopped your relationship a long time ago. I had plenty of opportunities.”
Slowly, he lifted his chin, and a small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “Well, that’s good to know.”
“Hey, all it would have taken was one little touch.” I fiddled with the glove of my right hand. “And lights out forever.”
God, I was bad at this.
Well, at least I was being honest.
“Keep that in mind for the future,” I said.
He swallowed hard. “Heard the threat loud and clear.”
“Good.” I smiled. “What we need to do now is come up with some plan on how to get Xaver here without getting anyone else hurt. Especially…”
The fine hairs on my arms rose, followed by a layer of goose bumps. White light bounced across my fingertips, like electricity, even with the leather gloves on.
Something wasn’t right.
Laurence must have seen the panic in my face because he jumped to his feet, knocking the coffee table and spilling the glasses of juice all over the white carpet.
“What? What is it?” he asked.
My head whipped toward the bathroom, my heart dropping to my toes.
Kay.
Her bloodcurdling scream confirmed all my fears.
Forgetting about everything else, I sprinted to the bathroom and grabbed the doorknob. Shaking it multiple times revealed it was locked.
“Kay! Kay!” I screamed over and over before stepping back, ready to kick the door down with my boot.
Laurence was beside me suddenly, whispering words in an old language and gesturing toward the lock. A spell.
There was a soft click, and I shouldered the door open just in time to see Kay cowering in the bathtub with a towel clutched to her nakedness, the water from the showerhead spraying all over, and the small window busted open with the huge red-eyed demon Xaver trying to squeeze inside. He growled ferociously, his clawed hand swiping for Kay who was just out of reach.
Laurence started muttering more spells frantically, but I didn’t want to stand around and see if any of them worked. I threw myself at Kay and tried to tug her out of the tub. Xaver swiped and his talon met my upper arm, slicing through the flesh like it was paper. Blood bubbled up instantly.
For a minor wound, it stung like hell. Like a giant papercut.
Xaver’s smile was all toothy and monstrous. “She bleeds.” He seemed too excited to have found this out.
Without Cole and his backpack of tricks, the only weapons I had were my hands. The white light and the death touch.
I quickly pulled off my glove and snatched Xaver’s arm. His boney fingers wrapped completely around my wrist, his claws biting down. Pain sliced through me, more blood springing up.
My death touch wasn’t working on him.
Guess that made sense. I couldn’t kill a demon. He was already sort of dead, wasn’t he? Demons didn’t have souls, either.
“I was mistaken,” Xaver drawled, his voice grating across every nerve. “Not only a reaper, but something more.”
His gaze fell on the tattoo on my chest, and for the first time, fear flashed in his eyes. “I never thought I’d see one of you again.”
I needed to summon the white light. That was the only thing that had worked on him last time.
But before I could reach down and pull the power out, the demon used our grip on each other to throw me across the small bathroom. The back of my head slammed against the mirror, shattering it, and the motion flipped me over the vanity sink. My vision blurred, and every bone in my body spiked with agony. I landed in a puddle on the floor.
So much pain. Even with all the fights I had been in these last few days, I still wasn’t used to the shock pain brought me. After a year of feeling almost nothing at all, it was crippling. But I couldn’t stay down. Not when Xaver was so close and Kay was in danger.
I pushed myself up on shaky
elbows, my stomach retching from the movement.
“Stop muttering your nonsense, sorcerer!” Xaver shouted at Laurence. “You’re not strong enough to do anything. Your silly little protection spells couldn’t even keep me out.”
Suddenly a small fire ball shot across the room, hitting Xaver square in the face. He screamed and fell back, disappearing from the window.
I glanced at Laurence, who still had his hands up, breathing heavily. He looked as shocked as I was that whatever he had done had worked.
“Awesome work,” I said, pushing myself to my feet. Touching the back of my head made me wince, and when I looked at my fingers, more blood glistened there. Damn. Xaver had got me good.
“I-I didn’t know I could do that.” Laurence gasped. “That’s a level two spell!” He laughed and punched the air. “Yes! Take that, demon scum!”
I turned to Kay, who was ghostly pale and shaking.
“Are you okay?” I asked her, which in hindsight, was a stupid question. Of course she wasn’t okay. She had just been ambushed by a demon. Again. This time in her own home.
Despite all that, she nodded. “He didn’t touch me,” she whispered. “You guys came just in time.”
I helped her stand up with my gloved hand and shut off the shower’s water with the other.
Clutching her towel, Kay turned to Laurence. “I didn’t know you surrounded my apartment with protection spells. When did you do that?”
Laurence’s cheeks reddened. “The moment I realized I loved you. After our lunch date at the harbor. I reinforced them again before you guys found me on the steps.”
“Not to be a downer, but why didn’t they work?” I asked.
“The best protection spells fortify the structure they’re placed on, but it has to be an enclosed structure. Closed doors. Windows. That’s what keeps the spell at its strongest.”
“So, when I opened the window to let the steam out from the shower…” Kay began.
“It weakened the spell,” Laurence said, but then smiled at her. “But that’s okay. He’s gone now. You’re safe.”
“Not without some blood spilled.” She tossed me my leather glove, and I slipped it back on. “Are you okay, Jade? That was quite a landing.”
Death Wish Page 19