“Showtime,” he whispered
We shifted to the edge of the shadows so we had a clear view of Claire. She was too far away to see us there in the darkness, but her eyes kept flickering up, searching the space between headstones. Did it comfort me that she was looking for me? Yes and no. It was good to be her rock in the ocean of fear, the one she put her faith in. And then, what if I wasn’t worthy of that faith? What if, after all those times of failing Volpert, now I would fail her? Her delicious soul was shimmering like a star, brightening her tense features. Hunger echoed in my stomach as I watched her from a distance.
“Mouthwatering,” Volpert commented.
I shoved my impulse to agree back into the depths of my demon-being. Right now I needed a clear head. Instead of the soul, I focused on her emotions. Her determination was equally as fierce as Volpert’s, but she was anxious. Not so much for herself, I could tell, but for Sophie. Her sister was the only family she had left in this cruel world, and there was no way I was going to let Volpert kill either of the two. Neither of them should have to live without the other. They had already suffered too much. There was a shred of hope left in her that she would make it out of that graveyard alive and I intended to not let that hope be in vain.
Claire stopped right by the statue, under the swaying branches of the willow, and looked up at the mourning angel. It reminded me so much of that one moment I’d laid eyes on her for the very first time. It was a timeless memory—now that I had it back—the moment my life had finally begun.
She glanced around, screening the graveyard for us one more time before she turned to the angel. Volpert and I were still in our hideout at the edge of the shadows, near the marble door. It would only take a couple of steps and she would see us. I raised an eyebrow at Volpert, asking if it was time, but he held his hand up, indicating for me to stay put, and cocked his head as if he was listening hard.
“Mom, Dad, I hope you can forgive me for what I am going to do,” she talked to her parents, the same way she had when we’d met. Just this time, it was to say goodbye. “You know it is for the best. I love you.”
When he stepped out of the shadows, he held his finger to his lips, and I remained where I was. The need to step in between him and Claire was almost tearing me apart. He glided toward her, looking more dangerous than ever in his silence.
“How precious,” Claire jumped at the sound of his voice and I almost teleported to her side, the knowledge that that would be our certain death being the only thing holding me back.
“I am sure they will forgive you for giving yourself up,” he spoke, smiling victoriously as he watched her shiver and shudder.
Something about her aura wasn’t right. I could sense doubt there. Was she rethinking her decision to come to meet Volpert? It was a little late for that.
“It really wasn’t that hard to guess,” Volpert continued, indicating he saw right through her. “You have lost everything. Your parents, your trusted friend Lucas, your angel—”
I didn’t need to see Volpert’s face to know he was gloating over her misery. What he didn’t know was that she had her angel back…even if it was a dark version of the original one.
Claire’s face was clearly visible from my angle now, and rage was written in her features. She wasn’t even attempting to hide it.
“The question is—will they forgive you if you give yourself up for nothing?”
Volpert, the master-manipulator, was already twisting things to go his way.
“You didn’t think I would spare your sister just because you came here willingly,” he mocked, dropping his false politeness.
“You can’t—” Horror was replacing the anger in Claire’s face. “We had a deal.”
“We had nothing. I didn’t agree to anything.”
He was right. He hadn’t. I bit my tongue, and clenched my fists, preventing myself from attacking him verbally or physically, while Claire’s eyes spoke books of fear. She knew the moment was getting close. We were all just waiting for her signal.
“And now it’s time for my revenge—James Albert Thompson’s last descendants,” Volpert spoke softly, icily, and turned toward me, lifting a hand to summon me.
It was time for my grand entrance. My last act as a demon in Volpert’s clan. I took a long look at Claire’s face while her eyes were still searching for me in the dark. There was hope shimmering behind the layers of fear. And I followed Volpert’s call, never looking away, face composed and focused on my task.
As I stood next to the demon leader, Claire studied my expression. There was another emotion reflecting in her searching eyes. It was concern, and this one didn’t have anything to do with Sophie or herself. It was concern for me. I almost broke out of the role by letting a smile escape the prison I had locked my emotions up inside. I couldn’t, I wouldn’t endanger the love of my life plus my entire family just because I couldn’t postpone the urge to smile at Claire. Focus.
The longer she stared, the harder it got, until her concern for me eventually turned into doubt. Apparently, I was convincing enough, not only for Volpert, but for her too. If I hadn’t already stowed my emotions away into the depth of my dead heart, it would pain me that she’d think I’d betray her that easily. But then she was right. I was a demon, and beyond her pretty eyes laid her soul, which I still craved with all my being.
“Such a shame, he doesn’t even remember who you are,” Volpert continued his cruel game. “One would think a love as strong as the one you shared couldn’t be forgotten.”
Again, I had to focus. Volpert had just addressed the fact that Claire and I had been in love—still were, as far as love was possible for a demon like me. How much did he know? Had he figured out I could remember everything? Did he guess I had turned on him?
He compelled both of us to face him, voice cold and calculated. “Isn’t it ironic that you will die at the hand of the person you were once willing to die to protect? He will kill you and not even know what he lost.”
With another gesture of his hand, he motioned me closer and I stepped to his side.
“Kill her.” Two almost inaudible words, sealing Claire’s fate.
I looked up at her, lifting my hand as slowly as I could, stalling, giving her time to call the others in. If she didn’t, and if I didn’t kill her, Volpert wouldn’t let much time pass before he’d end her himself. The longer I faced her, fingers ready to hook into the strings on her soul, the more tempting the thought became. Just a little taste. I didn’t need to kill her, did I? Just enough to make it look authentic to Volpert, to stay in my role as his obedient servant.
His eyes weighed heavily on me as he observed my every move. He didn’t trust me to finish her. I could feel it. Something was fishy about this. Something rustled in the bushes by the marble door and just when I was about to turn around and check behind my shoulders, Claire took a deep breath and all her fear fell off of her as if she was dropping a piece of clothes.
“You don’t know what love is,” she defied him and glanced at me with emotions so strong they almost knocked me over. “And I still would die for him.” She took another deep breath and gave the signal. “NOW!”
My demon senses made it possible that I caught on to the movement behind me while seeing Dad, Jenna, Ben, and Jaden fade into the scene, all of their palms raised at Volpert, framing him in a circle. At Jaden’s nod, a flood of light erupted from their hands, making it difficult for me to see anything, but I caught a glimpse of Volpert’s agonized face as he screamed under the impact of the angelic attack. For a fraction of a second, I thought it was over, but the shadow behind me was still there. I turned in an instant and found myself looking into Maureen’s dark eyes.
“Traitor,” she whispered and lifted her hand with a smirk.
It was too late when I realized she wasn’t aiming at me but at Claire. A ray of silver light left her fingers. It was Ben who stood closest to Claire and had realized what was happening. He threw himself in front of her and took the blow. H
e immediately dropped to the ground. It all happened so fast, Claire wouldn’t even stand a chance to see what was going on.
While Maureen was already aiming again, I spread my wings, buying us a moment of surprise, just enough time to grab Claire and launch into the air. I didn’t turn around to check if Maureen was still trying to strike. I didn’t dare glance back at Ben, fearing what I would see, so I just held Claire close to my chest, and flapped my wings, hoping I’d be strong enough to carry her to safety. Maureen had appeared out of nowhere. Had Volpert brought her for backup? Had he actually known I’d betray him? Or had Maureen acted on her own?
“Where are we going?” Claire pulled herself up trying to see over my shoulder, disturbing my center of gravity.
“I am getting you to safety,” I said between gritted teeth, balancing both of us through the air with wings which weren’t remotely as cooperative this time as they’d been when I had flapped them in our living room. The flesh hurt around the roots, reminding me how little an angelic artifact belonged in a demon body.
“Why?” she interrupted my concentration once again.
It was impossible to focus on both flying and talking. As handy as my demon senses had been a minute ago when I had spotted Maureen behind me, they were useless now, when my demon-self was sabotaging my angel powers. Feeling Claire so close to me made my stomach jolt with hunger, another soul was right there. But I couldn’t think that way, or we both might plunge from the sky—an event I would most likely survive, but her…
As I was getting back on track, forcing my attention on the rising and dropping of my wings, Claire tore me out of it again.
“Adam?”
I took a deep breath of night air, inhaling the scent of Claire’s shampoo as I prepared to speak. “I really need to focus on flying, Claire. I haven’t done this in a while. I am out of practice.” It was a lame excuse. The truth was, I was fighting my urge to devour every last flicker of light from her. My arms clenched around her in reflex, securing my prey.
As if it wasn’t already bad enough, she snuggled into my embrace, misunderstanding the situation. It was as if an electric current was running through my body, starting where her hand was holding on to the skin under my torn shirt and leaving where her face was resting on my shoulder, breath heating my neck. Another hunger joined my confused system.
I couldn’t tell how long I’d been going without looking down, without checking if anyone might have noticed the alien creature in the skies, but when I finally screened the ground for a landing space, my eyes found wide fields beneath us.
Seizing the opportunity, I descended and set Claire down beside me. The electric current was there, even when she lifted her head and my hunger was going stronger—both of them. Her hair brushed my arm as I moved my hand up along her back, feeling every inch of her fragile spine and neck. It was a miracle she was still alive, that none of my attempts to kill her had snapped her bones. It was only when she moved away from me with a sigh that I realized how tightly I had been holding her. I had been clinging to her almost as if scared to drop her, even now that we were safely on the ground.
“Where are we?” she wanted to know, having returned to reality faster than I had.
Did it matter? We were miles away from the city. No human, and most likely no demon would set foot on this land until it was time to harvest. The crease on her forehead made me want to pull her back into my embrace, and I reached my hand out for hers, securely enclosing her fingers. No one would take her away from me now. Not Maureen, not Volpert—he was most likely dead—not the devil himself.
“We are safe here.”
She studied my face, and the crease deepened.
“What happened? Why didn’t we stay with the others?”
Of course she would ask. Her weak, human eyes hadn’t seen…
“Everything went according to plan—” I started, building up the courage to speak what I didn’t want to be true.
“If everything went according to plan, why are we here—alone?” She interrupted, impatient as I remembered her.
“Let me finish.” I suppressed the urge to let all my emotions creep back into my words and actions. For now, until we knew Ben was alright, it was better to keep them bottled-up.
Claire tore her hand out of mine, boring into my gaze with a look that demanded the truth.
“Everything went well. Dad, Mom, Ben, and Jaden hit Volpert.” I flexed my fingers, embracing the emptiness of my palms.
“That’s good, I suppose.” She didn’t blink.
“Almost at the exact time my family teleported in, Maureen showed up. Volpert must have brought her in as a backup in case I would fail to kill you—again.” How many times had I attempted to kill her? It was unspeakable that I had even considered it… A surge of hunger aching in my stomach reminded me why exactly it was unspeakable, and why it wasn’t at the same time. The truth was, besides all the things she was to me, she was also food to me. She looked like food, she smelled like food, she triggered hunger and desire like a gourmet meal would for a human. I ground my teeth and pursed my lips with an apologetic look in my eyes. I needed to get myself under control or I would never stand a chance to return to her side. And there seemed to be another angel in line, waiting to take his place at her side. That was if he was still alive.
“But the others got Volpert,” Claire reminded me we were having a conversation.
“Maureen directed a blow at you, that’s why I took you away.” A blow that I should have taken, not Ben. How could I have missed that she’d been aiming for Claire?
“There is more—” she demanded, and I couldn’t deny her.
“Ben took the hit.”
As her face fell and her emotions stirred with anxiousness for Ben, I knew I’d been right. Something had definitely been going on during my absence.
“Oh my God—is he okay?”
As she was fighting a small internal battle, smothering whatever feelings she had for Ben with guilt for having them, I lost control over my emotions. They seared to the surface, hysteria top of the list, next to jealousy and rage.
“I honestly don’t know,” I managed one sentence before I looked away.
“We need to go back,” she ordered. “We need to help them.”
“I can’t take you back there right now—not before I know it is safe to go.” I remembered the look on Jaden’s face. He would kill me on the spot if I returned with Claire in the middle of a battle. If Volpert had brought Maureen, who knew who else he had installed as a backup. “I promised Jaden I would get you out of there and make sure you are ok—in case anything went wrong.”
Claire frowned. And I shoved my hand in my pocket, playing with the phone Jenna had given me.
“How long before we’ll know?”
I didn’t look away this time, emotions or not.
“They’ll be in touch. They know how to reach me.”
I pulled out the phone and held it up, hoping for a message, a missed call, anything.
“When?”
“Soon.”
We stared at each other in silence, both sweeping through our own personal nightmares in our minds.
“What if they don’t?”
“They will.” I didn’t give her the opportunity to speak the thought out loud.
For the moment, I couldn’t think of it…but my mind was already there. If Ben hadn’t survived the blow, I wouldn’t have a rival. It would be hard enough to regain everyone’s trust once they realized just how dependent I was on feeding off of living creatures. And Ben had already caught a tiny part of Claire’s heart, I could tell. It would be easy for him to win her over in time…if he survived.
Claire’s stare shamed me. What was I thinking? Had I just actually wished for my brother to die so I would have an easier time with Claire? Was that how I was going to be from now on? Dark and unpredictable? Wishing harm upon those who threatened my position? If I turned out that way, how would I be different from Volpert? From Maureen? From
any demon?
“What do we do now?” Claire asked when I didn’t speak for a while.
“We wait.”
With a flap, I retreated my feathery attachments back into my body. I wasn’t worthy of them, even if they were dark as the night.
“You must be tired,” I changed the subject, hoping she hadn’t noticed the fine line I was walking. “It’s been a long day for you.” She looked exhausted, despite the adrenaline.
“For all of us,” she corrected.
True. Even if for me it seemed to have been a long night I had finally woken up from.
I watched Claire, as she shivered from physical and mental strain, and decided it wouldn’t be inappropriate to take my shirt off. It was already torn and it would benefit Claire more as a blanket to sit down on rather than a prop to make it seem as if I needed protection from the cool night air.
She didn’t seem to notice my naked chest as I laid the fabric out on the ground and dropped on the grass, leaving the shirt for her to sit on. “Please,” I gestured for her to sit down.
She followed my lead and wrapped her arms around her knees, deep in thought. The bright light of her soul had dimmed, showing me just how much the tension affected her. A strand of her hair floated in the breeze, the moonlight making it appear silver. She was beautiful beyond measure.
My phone buzzed, halting any thought of beauty and pulling my attention back to the worries of the present.
“Dad,” I answered before the first buzz had ended.
“Adam,” he said, voice full of relief. “Ben is alright. Maureen hit him in the chest but it wasn’t full force. Enough to kill a dozen humans, but not an angel as strong as Ben. His injuries are minor. He’ll have to spend a couple of days in bed to recover.”
I could feel his relief mirroring in my own emotions. Ben was alright.
“Maureen got away though. Did you know she was going to be there? You should have warned us.”
“I am sorry. If I’d known, I would have warned you.”
Fire Page 28