Hells Magic (The Armistice Book 1)

by Leslie Vatenar

  At these words, Liam calmed down, his teeth retracted and his harsh breathing resumed its normal rhythm.

  Jayden nodded then turned to me. “Katy, we have to go, I never want to see your friend’s face again.”

  CHAPTER 17

  Once again, we hit the road. This time Liam went behind the wheel to let Jayden rest. He said he was in great, murderous form and I believed him. I rested too. Then, after an hour on the road, I asked him if he wanted me to drive. He refused, claiming that he could sleep when he was dead.

  I glanced at Jayden, who was slumbering, lying in the back seat. Even when he slept, he was sexy. His messy brown hair fell over his closed eyes. Fascinated, I contemplated his face. He looked peaceful.

  I’d faced The Reaper. Now I wanted to do extraordinary things, I wanted to enjoy every moment of my life.

  I looked at Liam who seemed calmer, himself again. I felt like I’d known these two all my life. Coming close to death together brought us a lot closer than I thought. I’d saved Liam and Jayden and they’d done the same for me.

  “What’s going on between you two?”

  The question caught me off guard and I tensed as if he’d caught me red-handed. “Nothing.”

  “Do you like him?”

  “No.”

  He burst out laughing. “It’s horrible how you’re terrible at lying.”

  “I lie very well; it’s you who sees the lies too well.”

  “Maybe. I’ve been lied to so many times I’m almost immune. Or at least I’m very suspicious. So is Jayden.”

  “Would you be willing to explain to me what happened at the library?”

  His hands clenched the steering wheel and his eyes shone. He shook his head, regaining his composure. “I heard you talking in the kitchen. I have pretty good hearing.” He patted his ear with his index finger. “The word he used, I couldn’t bear to hear it again. They also called Jay words like that. Those words are hard for him too, but he has learned to keep calm in any situation, unlike me. I deal with things with an extravagant display of emotions.”

  “Why this particular word? It’s horrible, yes, but to the point of losing all reason…”

  He didn’t answer immediately, and I contented myself with that silence. If he didn’t want to talk about it, it was his right.

  “I’m a necromancer. But they made me something more,” he said in a hoarse voice. “My brother was the only family I had left. My parents abandoned us when we were young. We enjoyed a dangerous and reckless life until we went against someone stronger than us. An overpowered mage, named Michael, who absorbed the vital energy of other mages to make himself more powerful.”

  I gasped. It was already a crime to absorb the vital energy of humans, but that of the mages? It was unthinkable. And, above all, I dared not imagine his power.

  “He caught us and since we weren’t mages, and he only absorbed this energy, he used us for his other hobby. He was building an army against his greatest rival, Leroi. A rather unusual army. He mixed genes to make hybrids between necromancers and shapeshifters.”

  “Hybrids? But it’s impossible; there is a dominant gene and a recessive gene. This is how nature is made.”

  “Katy, he didn’t give a shit about nature. He implanted the modified shapeshifter gene and pushed us to the limit. He did a series of experiments to trigger the transformation. That’s when I met Jay.” He laughed, but his laughter was devoid of emotion. “I was trying by all means to escape; then, one day, I saw Jay come willingly to the operations center. Michael hadn’t fed on him, he recognized his potential. He could satisfy them both. Michael would take the power Jay didn’t want. I tried to warn him to run away, but he refused to listen to me. He wanted to take away his powers at any price; he’d learned that Michael was the best researcher in the area and that he was doing wonders. No one knew the conditions under which his research was being done.”

  “Jayden wanted to take away his powers?”

  Once again, I couldn’t hide my shock. To withdraw one’s powers was to take away a part of oneself for life. How could anyone want such suffering? What could have led him to hate this part of him so much?

  “Yes. At first, it was difficult because he got special treatment. So I had a hard time reaching him. I was sure he could help us. And every day that passed brought me and my brother closer to death. The experiences got raw and harsh. Michael thought we had to go through an emotional shock, so he tortured one of us and forced the other to look. Then he thought it might be more extreme physical pain. Then he thought we had to be close to death. In other words, he had no idea what could activate the transformation.”

  “Every transformation is different, the age is the only thing we know about how the transformation of the shapeshifters’ works.”

  “The gene was changed anyway; the activation was all the more random. My brother and I had a plan. He had to distract the guards, risking punishment, so I could reach the place where Jay was being kept. Once there, I begged him to help us as I’d never done before. I realized what I was asking him too. He wanted to take away his powers at all costs and I asked him to lose his only chance. The sacrifice he made for me is incredible. We tried to form a plan, but it was unfinished because the guards arrived. Since then, they watched the three of us very closely. But the more time passed, the less the experiences worked, the more unbearable they were to live. Jay decided to act, regardless of the plan. I no longer had the strength to fight, but he created chaos, destroying everything in his path. A path he created for me.”

  “For you… But what about your brother?” I asked with a mixture of hope and anticipation.

  “He didn’t survive the last experiment before Jay’s attack,” he muttered.

  His chin was shaking. The unimaginable pain of the loss of a loved one was branded on his heart.

  An avalanche of emotions overwhelmed me. An unconditional sadness for this man whom I liked, a wave of undeniable anger for this demon named Michael, a distaste for the cruelty of certain beings.

  He took a deep breath and went on. I didn’t even understand how he had the strength to tell this episode of his life.

  “The guards were mostly humans, and they called us ‘abominations’ all day long when we weren’t there of our own free will. And the hardest part was that I knew they were right. I didn’t want to become a necromancer-shapeshifter, it’s against nature and I know it. I hated every day I spent on Earth because I hated what he’d done to me. And as soon as Jay released me, the gene activated, and I shifted. And I despised myself because I thought if they’d gotten what they wanted, the monstrous experiences would have ended and my brother would still be alive. Or I could have saved my brother by using my extra strength. After the transformation, I became someone else, something else, stronger, more powerful; the animal feeds on the necromancer and the necromancer feeds on the animal. He could never have stopped me. Well, he didn’t.” His smile mingled with a grimace of disgust. “Jay’s path and mine diverged after the escape. And I lost my grip. I became the monster they wanted me to be. I came back and finished the work that Jay had started, but in a crueler way. Like a soulless animal. A real wild animal.”

  “That Jayden had started? You…”

  I couldn’t bring myself to describe what they’d done.

  He nodded softly. “You must know that neither Jay nor I have any limits. We’re ready for anything and we’ve already shown that. It was the first time I’d done something like this, but given Jay’s coldness during the operation, it wasn’t his first time.”

  I nodded as if I understood, but I didn’t understand at all.

  “Michael wasn’t there when I came back, so I searched everywhere for months, creating chaos wherever I went. I was destroying everything that bore his name, everything that was close or remotely attached to him. So, when I found out he had a family…” He shook his head. “Rage exploded in me; I stalked his family as if they were animals. But Jay had he
ard of my murderous cruise and he stopped me. He told me he’d come to collect his due. I owed him something because he’d saved me. And he wanted me to learn to control myself.” He chuckled. “It wasn’t easy, especially since we can’t agree on a single subject.”

  “Oh really? I hadn’t noticed,” I said to help relax the atmosphere.

  He already seemed more relaxed, but I was also helping myself to recover from all my emotions.

  He grinned. “Believe me; we were worse than that before. Jay welcomed me into his home and he helped me a lot. I’d already become irascible with my transformation, but I was also under pressure because I couldn’t sleep, I had nightmares every night. One day, I made the mistake of attacking Jay, and he bled. I believe he’d never seen his own blood. You should have seen his face.” He laughed. “It just proved he’d received special treatment at the prison where we were being held. I was losing gallons of blood every day there. As you can imagine, he didn’t take it well. I don’t think anyone has ever kicked my butt like that. I saw a side of Jay that scared me. I discovered there was worse than me in this world. I thought I was invincible with my recent transformation. I was wrong. I also understood why he wanted to get rid of his powers. Between the two of us, he was the most frightened of his power, and I was close to shitting myself. That day, he apologized. Jay… apologized.”

  “No… No… Jayden? The proud Jayden in the back of the car right now?”

  “Yes, that Jayden, who had just beaten the hell out of me.”

  “At least he apologized for the fight.”

  “Oh no! Let’s not dream too much. He apologized for not acting fast enough; he blamed himself for not being able to save my brother as well.”

  “Oh.”

  “And this failure with my brother reinforced his idea that he wasn’t good at anything with his powers. He thought his magic led him to act badly as black magic does. After this fight, everything changed. Or almost. I always laugh about it, his head when he saw his blood.” He sneered. “Just. Unique.”

  “He has always been untouchable.”

  “He still is. Anyway, Jay advised me a lot because he’d already been there. Dark thoughts and cravings for murder, he knew. So, I followed his advice to the letter to learn to control myself. From time to time he would test me, and although I did what he said, there was always this recent part of me that surfaced. I’m a terrible student, but I try, and Jay is there in case I slip.”

  “And since then you’ve never left him?”

  “No. I’m still his accredited pain in the ass.”

  “What a lucky man this Jayden.”

  “I wish he’d woken up to hear you say that. He doubts me when I tell him.”

  “Liam, what you’ve been through…” I couldn’t even find the right words.

  “What I’ve experienced is in the past. April showers bring May flowers. I always point out how critical the situation can be, but I know better than anyone that there is always light at the end of the tunnel. If you squint enough, you can even see it too, I’m sure. I suffered, but I met Jay and I love him more than anything in the world.”

  I smiled. The light, I had to learn to see it even in a crisis. It is difficult, in the midst of chaos, to think there is something other than pain, that all this will end one day. Yet that was the truth.

  Suddenly, in the middle of the road, a grim figure appeared.

  CHAPTER 18

  Liam slammed on the brakes and we were both thrown forward, the seat belts as the only protection brought us back violently against our seats. The figure inched toward the car, and Liam’s eyes became bright green again. I called my magic, although it was significantly weakened by the previous fight.

  “I know where your queen is.”

  I recognized her voice. The figure was none other than The Reaper. She had regained her human form and she enjoyed making an entrance.

  Jayden, who had woken up, Liam and I got out of the car.

  “Where?” I asked.

  She seemed to hesitate for a few moments, which worried me greatly. I was about to repeat my question when she answered. “Leroi has her.”

  “Damn it. Speak of the devil and he shall appear,” Liam said.

  My blood drained from my body. All of a sudden, I couldn’t talk, I couldn’t breathe; I could only see black. My stomach clenched tight. Then a few seconds later, it was the opposite. I felt too much. I felt her pain as if I were the one being tortured.

  “I’m going to get her,” Jayden decided.

  He headed for the car.

  “No! You have to get my heart back!” The Reaper scowled.

  “I’m not going to leave her in that dog’s hands.”

  Jayden’s anger filled the air. His rage and determination spilled around us. His power was menacing, and his body was tensed as if he was about to explode.

  The Reaper lunged at him at lightning speed and planted herself right in his face. Her tone was threatening and cruel.

  “If you’re going to save the queen, Craid may destroy the earth during this time and saving the queen won’t help if Craid destroys us all afterward.”

  The information registered painfully in my brain. I wanted to contradict her with all my might because it was my friend we were talking about. The initial plan was to save her because I hoped she’d be safe and that getting her back would be easy. Then we could arrest Craid.

  But everything changed now. Getting her back from Leroi’s hands wouldn’t be an easy task. We gave Craid time to implement his plan. On the other hand, if we attacked Craid, Leroi would have plenty of time to destroy Alice.

  And if we died trying to save her, there would be no one to stop Craid, Jayden was the only one who could do this. But if we died in the attack on Craid, there would be no one to save her.

  She had lost her powers; she was uninteresting to the Order. I doubted they would go to save her. Truce or not, necromancers and shapeshifters were naturally our enemies. They would only replace her for the common good and that was it.

  The Reaper was right; we left the Earth in Craid’s hands in favor of Alice, one person. That wasn’t reasonable. This truth seemed worse than being stabbed by a thousand knives in the stomach. Worse than the suffering The Reaper had brought me earlier.

  Jayden looked at me. He knew we had to choose the common good before Alice’s good and that was what she’d have wanted us to do.

  “We’ll fight Craid, get your heart back, and then find Alice.”

  Or her dead body, murmured a little voice in my head, but I didn’t listen to it. I couldn’t afford to be pessimistic.

  “We must speed up,” Jayden said, immersed in his thoughts.

  “What if I went to save Alice while you confront Craid?” I suggested.

  “Out of the question, you won’t be able to do it alone. Even the two of us had a hard time last time we tried.”

  “Last time?” I asked.

  “We were much younger, our power has tripled in the meantime. I’ll go and get her,” Liam decided.

  “Liam, I can’t afford to lose you and Alice. If you fail, there will be no Katy to give you her vital energy. It’s too risky.”

  “To defeat Craid you must stay together,” The Reaper said. “This plan is already screwed up with three children trying to save the world. I can’t imagine what it’s going to look like if there are only two of you. Defeating Craid is a priority. Speaking of the plan, how do you intend to defeat him? You’re going to challenge him, power against power and pray that you’re stronger?”

  “Praying is part of the process as far as I’m concerned,” I murmured.

  My remark didn’t escape The Reaper, who gazed at me as if I was growing a second head.

  “No. A fight between the two of us would be disastrous. Apparently, we could destroy the city,” Jayden explained to the Reaper in a bored tone. “So we decided to rule out that plan for now. However, if it’s not a fight between Craid and
me that will do it, Craid will destroy the city after getting rid of us.”

  He wasn’t wrong. It seemed that all possibilities led us to the same conclusion. We lose and everyone dies.

  The Reaper turned to Liam. “What about you? Why are you here?”

  “I intend to distract him with my legendary beauty. It’s my most powerful superpower.”

  He raked his fingers through his hair then shook his head with a smirk and a seductive look. Then he licked his lower lip.

  “At this rate, I could do this work myself in my inhuman form of Death.”

  Liam grimaced. “I’m not sure how to take it.”

  “Not very well,” I whispered.

  “The three of us have done a good job of defeating you,” Jayden said. “Craid will only be the next level.”

  The Reaper clenched her scythe, showing her annoyance to Jayden. Despite the loss of some of her powers, she remained terrifying.

  “What is it? Is there a problem? You seem to be mortified.” Liam grinned.

  Then he thought about it for two seconds, frowned and turned to Jayden. “Uh… I was offside, Jay.”

  “Shut up, just take the fame.”

  “Okay.”

  The two men whispered before the stunned gaze of The Reaper, who couldn’t believe her eyes.

  “Craid is the last level, the one who will sign your death warrant. At what age do they become less stupid?” she exclaimed, raising both her arms in the air.

  “It’s not a question of age; it’s a matter of determination. Of what we have in our guts,” I said.

  “That’s right,” Jayden agreed. “But there is no time to waste. Getting to the Armistice will take us a six-hour drive. We no longer have six hours. The sooner we get rid of Craid the sooner we can get Alice.”

  Jayden stalked around us, his head bowed and his eyebrows frowned.

  “All you have to do is open a portal to the Armistice,” The Reaper said.

  “I don’t have that power.”

  “What the hell? You can bring in hellhounds from the Hells, but you can’t create portals? You can create flames that can annihilate everything they touch, but you can’t create portals?” she scolded.