Hidden Worlds

by Kristie Cook

  “Aw, shit! Alexis, back in the car NOW!” Tristan roared.

  But I couldn’t move.

  Evil! Daemoni! Evil!

  Someone grabbed me from behind and held me in a chokehold with one arm against my neck and a powerful hand clawed around my head. I didn’t know if I gagged from the pressure against my throat or from the stench of rotten meat, vomit and feces. Flames exploded in Tristan’s eyes. He swam in my vision, but I thought I saw him take a step toward me.

  “Don’t! Just a little twist of my wrist and she’s dead,” said a sickening, scratchy, barely human voice that sounded far away though it was right in my ear. My pulse thundered in my head, nearly drowning everything else out. Whoever held me stiffened behind me.

  “And one little twist of my wrist and you’re dead.” I had no idea how she got into the closed garage, but I recognized Mom’s voice. It sounded like I’d never heard it before. Low and vicious.

  I was shoved to the ground, cracking my head on the Mercedes’ bumper on my way down. In an instant I was in Tristan’s arms. Each breath tore through my burning throat. I buried my face in his chest, trying to flush the reek out with his scent. There was a stomach-turning cackle and I turned to stare with fascinated horror.

  The sordid creature barely resembled a human. Its eyes glowed red fire in its round, lumpy head and twisted, pointed teeth filled its misshapen mouth. I thought it might have been grinning, but if that was a smile, it was the kind that gives you nightmares. Black blood trickled down its neck where Mom held a blade, the point pierced into its skin.

  “What do we do with it?” Mom asked, ignoring the creature’s cackle, except for a slight dig with the knife.

  “Take it upstairs and we’ll see what it thinks it’s trying to do. I’ll be right behind you.” Tristan carried me up the stairs as we followed Mom, who held the knife at the creature’s throat. My head throbbed with each step and I could feel a lump forming on my forehead.

  A strange popping sound came from the living room and Mom froze at the top of the stairs. The creature skipped away from her, cackling again. Tristan stopped right behind her and stiffened. The creature was not alone.

  “What an excellent gift you’ve delivered, Seth—two generations of Amadis royalty and your heart all at once.” This voice was smooth and clear, possibly appealing if I hadn’t felt the evil rolling off the man who stood in the middle of the dark living room. The creature crouched at his side. “I couldn’t have imagined it being this good.”

  “Your imagination has run away from you if you think you can get away with this, Edmund,” Tristan said calmly. He set me on my feet on the landing and both he and Mom took protective stances in front of me as the man took a step closer to us. Terror gripped my heart as I realized how weak and vulnerable I was, unable to do anything but watch. Moving only my eyes, I glanced down the stairs, wondering if any others lurked in the shadows.

  “I admit it’s risky, but the rewards will be worth it,” the man replied.

  Hurricane shutters blocked out almost all light from the windows, but my eyes adjusted to the darkness. I still couldn’t see the man’s face, but I could see the outline of his hulking figure. He stood nearly as tall as Tristan and much bulkier. I had to remind myself of Tristan’s power because, I thought, if it came down to brute strength, I didn’t see how he could win. My heart raced as I realized the inevitability of the situation—Mom and Tristan would have to fight for our lives.

  “You’re an imbecile if you think you’ll be rewarded for shedding their blood,” Tristan said. “The Daemoni would not welcome the war that would ensue.”

  “Yes, I said it was risky. But after all is said and done, I would be personally responsible for ending the Amadis for good. That will be rewarded.”

  I shivered at the menace in the man’s smug voice.

  “If you live through it,” Tristan said pointedly.

  “Which you will not,” Mom added. “God Himself would not allow it.”

  The man shrank back at Mom’s words and didn’t reply. We all stood in silence and I knew they each calculated how to proceed. The wind picked up intensity outside, shaking the shutters. The storm seemed to be coming faster than expected. It would be foolish to try to escape outside into it. The trapped feeling caused the panic to rise even higher, tightening my chest.

  Edmund’s eyes darted back and forth between Tristan and Mom as he moved a few steps to our right and his creature scurried next to him. Tristan moved, too, while Mom remained still. Edmund and his creature moved back to our left. This time both Mom and Tristan moved with him. They angled themselves to take him from both sides without leaving a wide enough gap for him to get to me.

  “So why don’t you just make this easy for all of us, Seth?” Edmund finally spoke as they continued their macabre dance. “You come with me and I’ll leave them alone.”

  “Never!” Tristan snarled.

  Edmund nodded at me. “You can bring her along, if you’d like.”

  A deep, guttural growl rumbled in Tristan’s chest. He and Mom both took a step forward, their only reply.

  “Then you’d rather fight it out.” Edmund made a tsking sound and the creature’s shape transformed. It fell on all fours, became longer and taller in the darkness. It paced like a guard dog in front of Edmund, its eyes glowing red fire, a low growl in its throat. I shrank back while Tristan and Mom positioned themselves to fight. “Or maybe I just take her and let you chase me.”

  Edmund leaped into the air, seeming to fly over Tristan and Mom. He landed right next to me, as they spun around. Tristan swore profusely. The dog-thing stayed behind them. It crouched to attack. It continued to growl and even in the darkness I could see its lips pulled back, sharp fangs glinting in the little bit of natural light seeping in at the edges of the windows. Edmund grabbed the back of my neck tightly and pulled me to him. My mind and body numbed in terror.

  “NO!” Tristan growled roughly.

  He lunged at the bulky man, knocking Edmund hard against the wall, pulling me with him. My hip smacked painfully against the baluster at the top of the stairs. At the same time, the dog-thing jumped at Mom. She spun at it. Her arms whacked it in the side like a bat hitting an oversized, misshapen ball. It sailed across the room, landing with an inhuman cry. It was back on its feet in a second and charged at Mom. She crouched, ready for it. They simultaneously leaped toward each other. While still in mid-air, Mom grabbed its head and twisted it with a snap. The thing fell to the floor with a thud.

  Mom landed lithely on the balls of her feet and whirled around to Tristan, the hulk and me. Tristan and Edmund glowered at each other in a standoff. Tristan held his hand up, palm facing Edmund but nearly two feet from him. He held the hulk flat against the wall with his paralyzing power. Edmund’s hand still clutched my neck.

  “LET. HER. GO!” Tristan roared. His eyes blazed with bright flames.

  “You are such a traitor.” Edmund smirked, his own eyes glowing blood red.

  He slowly raised his free hand just an inch from the wall, fighting Tristan’s power with evident difficulty. Mom stepped forward. Edmund was just able to twitch his finger. She flew into the loveseat, held there by an unseen force. Anger blazed in her eyes as she struggled against the power holding her, her shoulders and neck straining.

  It pissed me off.

  My heart pounded in terror but the anger rose above it. Just enough to give me the force I needed. It all happened so quickly, but it felt like slow motion as my mind registered every move, every detail. I wrapped my hands around the baluster and yanked it from its anchor. I lifted it as high as I could and slammed it down on the arm holding me. It wasn’t much compared to the hulk’s strength, but enough to distract him. He turned to look at me, his eyes wide. His mouth formed a silent O. He apparently never expected me to fight back. Tristan seized the opportunity and pounced. I freed myself from the hand before it tried to close back on me. I stumbled sideways and caught myself on the opposite rail to avoid falling d
own the stairs.

  Tristan came down on the Daemoni, jabbing his elbow into Edmund’s upper back. His knee landed in the back of the hulk’s thigh. The femur snapped loudly. Edmund fell into a heap on the floor, howling with both pain and rage. Tristan grabbed his dark hair. I turned away as he slammed Edmund’s head against the concrete floor. The crack made my stomach lurch and echoed in my ears. I looked back as Tristan dragged him over to the creature’s body.

  He leaned over and snarled, “Don’t fuck with me unless you can finish it.”

  Pop! Pop! The man and the creature disappeared.

  I thought the world stopped. The pounding in my chest abruptly halted. My breath caught in my throat. I collapsed to the floor, unable to restart my heart or make my lungs work. Mom caught me before I rolled down the stairs. She sat on the top stair and pulled me into her lap, her power flowing through me. My lungs filled with air again. My heart started with a jolt, pounding against my ribs. She held me for a long time, or maybe for only seconds, rocking back and forth.

  I’d nearly stopped trembling when Tristan lifted me into his arms. My tense muscles finally loosened and I fell against him. He carried me over to the couch and sat down with me in his lap. I curled against him and closed my eyes. The recent events started to replay like a horror movie against my eyelids. I couldn’t keep them closed so I stared wide-eyed at nothing in the semi-darkness. The sound of footsteps rushing up the stairs yanked me out of my near-catatonic state.

  My heart raced again with renewed fear. My body automatically prepared for fight or flight. Stefan and Owen flew into the living room, dripping wet. I slumped back against Tristan as they surveyed the scene.

  “Oh, thank God,” Stefan said breathlessly. “We thought . . .”

  “Daemoni were outside,” Owen said. “They started to fight but fled instead. We thought maybe they got to you.”

  There were more. I shuddered.

  “I wondered what happened to you,” Mom said casually. She sat in the loveseat, her legs folded under her, looking, somehow, relaxed. Like what happened was just an everyday pain-in-the-butt, like having to deal with an annoying door-to-door salesperson.

  Owen eyed the broken baluster on the floor.

  “What happened to your stairs, Tristan? Is this what happens when there’s no one to spar?” He chuckled.

  “Alexis did it,” Tristan answered with a that’s-my-girl grin. How can they be so carefree? Owen’s eyes grew wide.

  They traded stories, talking as if they’d just won an exciting football game. Owen knew something was wrong when Mom disappeared from our cottage, so he hailed Stefan. They scoped the outside before coming in and found two Daemoni watching Tristan’s house. They fought briefly before the Daemoni fled. Stefan and Owen ensured they stayed away before coming inside.

  I stopped wondering how people . . . or whatever they were . . . could appear and disappear in Tristan’s house and wondered instead what the point was of it being our safe place.

  “They will come back,” Stefan said, now solemn. I stiffened. “Owen, go out and shield the house.”

  Owen disappeared.

  “They won’t be back today,” Tristan said, giving me a squeeze.

  “You probably should’ve killed them,” Mom said, her voice grim, with a tint of sadness. “There’s no hope for them anyway.”

  “There’s no way to burn the bodies with that storm raging out there,” Tristan said. “If we did it inside, the fumes would’ve killed us. Besides . . . I wanted to send them a message.”

  “They’ll take it as a challenge,” Mom said.

  “The Daemoni won’t officially. These were rogues. Many rogues will take it as a warning. But, you’re right. Some will take it as a challenge.”

  “So they will be back,” Stefan repeated.

  Tristan’s jaw clenched and he nodded.

  The bottom of my stomach fell out and a feeling of despair washed over me. The false sense of safety and security for the past couple months blew away with the raging wind. We were doomed.

  “They’ll never leave us alone, will they?” I whispered. “We’ll never have any peace.”

  Tristan didn’t answer except by wrapping his arms around me and holding me closer.

  “Solomon made a good point that night at Sophia’s house,” Stefan said. “When you two are married by the Amadis, Tristan, you become a member of the royal family. That means we all become loyal to you—not just Alexis. Right now, our first priority is Alexis’s safety. If we had to make a choice, we would have to leave you to protect her.”

  “That’s how it should be,” Tristan said.

  “Yes, but when you are married, we are bound to both of you. We do not have to make a choice. Increased protection is automatic for you both.”

  “We’ve already discussed this,” Tristan said flatly.

  “You have to see the benefits, Tristan,” Stefan pressed. “Once you become a member of the Amadis royal family, the Daemoni may decide to leave you alone. Coming after you would be hardly any different than going after Rina, Sophia or Alexis. It is not allowed.”

  “That doesn’t seem to stop them,” Tristan pointed out.

  “I think they came for you, Tristan,” Mom said. “He definitely didn’t expect me.”

  “How come they don’t just . . . know?” I interrupted. “I mean, you and Rina know things, Mom. If they’re really Hell’s demons, wouldn’t they have some way to just know things, like you coming here—read minds, predict the future?”

  “Some demons have the ability to plant thoughts in humans’ heads, deceiving them that they are their own thoughts. Others can completely possess a human. But none of them can read anyone’s minds—not humans’ and definitely not ours,” Mom explained.

  “They have seers who try to predict the future, but their magic is unreliable and their abilities are limited. Only God is all-knowing,” Stefan said, then he added with a small smile, “and He’s more willing to share with us.”

  This slightly comforted me. Then I had an idea.

  “Tristan, we need to get married immediately,” I said firmly.

  He looked down at me. “We’ve set our date. It’s not that far away.”

  “And we keep that date, because they’ll hear about it and you know they’ll plan to attack before then. They’ll try to stop us.”

  “Yes, they will,” he agreed grimly.

  “So we get married under the Amadis now, in secret. They won’t know until it’s too late.”

  I watched as he clenched and unclenched his jaw while he thought about it.

  “She is right, Tristan,” Stefan said. “It is a good plan.”

  Tristan looked at me, his eyes hard. “We’re not getting married out of fear.”

  I groaned in frustration and left his side, pacing the room angrily. Why is he being so damn obstinate? We knew they’d do everything they could to stop our marriage. The Amadis and Tristan, apparently, had full confidence in their ability to stave them off. But I personally had a problem knowing we could be attacked any time. That tonight’s real-life nightmare would repeat. And what if it’s worse next time? What if they succeed?

  I threw myself at Tristan’s feet. “Tristan, please. You know it’s the best solution. Do it out of love. Love for me. I need it . . . I need the hope that we may be able to live without a constant threat hanging over our heads. I need that sense of peace that they won’t be able to take you from me. Please. Do it for me, because you love me.”

  I gazed into his dark eyes, pleading with my own while holding his hand against my lips.

  “Please? For me?”

  He studied my face as he brushed my hair back from my forehead. He eyed the small, shrinking lump. His eyes flickered with what looked like sorrow or remorse.

  “Okay,” he said quietly. “For you.”

  I threw myself back into his lap and kissed him. “Thank you.”

  He sighed. “You are my weakness.”

  I leaned my head against his sh
oulder just as something banged on the dining room door. I thought it was the wind at first—apparently everyone did because we all stared at it but no one moved. When it really started clanging in its frame, though, Stefan stood up. He stiffened.

  “Somebody’s out there!”

  Tristan jumped up, dropping me to the floor. The bruise that should have been healing on my hip flared with renewed pain. He and Mom were both across the room before I could even think ow, their bodies tense. Not again! Not already!

  “It’s Owen! Open the door!” Mom ordered.

  Tristan pushed a button to raise the automatic hurricane shutter. A dark gray light poured through the glass, Owen silhouetted against it. Rain flew sideways at him as he pressed himself against the wind. Stefan opened the door just enough for Owen to slip in and he had to push with force to close it again. The shutter lowered as I ran to the bathroom.

  “The house is shielded. No one can get in or out,” Owen said as I rushed back with towels for him. “Of course, that meant I couldn’t get back in.”

  “Can someone please explain what that means?” I asked as I handed the towels to Owen. “How you just appear and disappear . . . get in and out when this house is already supposed to be locked down?”

  “It’s just part of who we are. You’ll do it, too,” Mom said lightly. I eyed her, not letting her blow it off. I didn’t accept half-truths anymore. She shrugged. “It’s just natural. We call it flashing.”

  “Owen has placed a shield over the house now, preventing any flashing,” Stefan added. “We did not have it in place earlier in case any of us needed to flash inside . . . which, of course, we did.”

  “Yeah, okay,” I said stupidly, like I understood. Is this for real? I only knew it was because I’d seen it with my own eyes. “So . . . no one can get in now?”