“Who are you?”
He lifted his eyes to me, and I saw nothing but him. “You know who I am.”
I had to try to tell them apart. Though John had told me there would be no difference between them, I hoped that mentally they’d be able to distinguish themselves. This was my final opportunity to try and decide who was who. Then I would bite the demon and prove it.
“I need to ask you a question.” My eyes flicked to the other Riley. “Both of you.” I took a breath, and asked my question. “If I was being attacked, but I appeared to be taking care of myself, would you try to save me, or would you leave me to it?”
I figured the real Riley knew what I was and that I didn’t need saving. Perhaps this was information the demon didn’t have.
“I know you’re strong,” said the Riley standing in front of me. “I know you wouldn’t want me to rush in and help you.”
“No,” said the Riley who’d come in through the changing room. “I wouldn’t leave you to be hurt. I’d always try to save you.”
I turned back to the others. “I’ve figured it out,” I said, pride swelling within me. I locked my eyes on the man in front of me. “That is the real Riley.” I pointed at the Riley to my left. “Which means you are the demon. Prepare to go to back to hell.”
“You’re wrong, Icy,” begged the demon. “Please. You must be able to see that. I’m—”
But I didn’t let him talk any more. The possibility of blood had descended across my vision, my instinct to bite taking over now I’d opened up the part of me that wanted to feed.
I lunged for him, grabbing his jaw with one hand and his shoulder with the other, wrenching the two apart, exposing his throat. My mouth felt full, my teeth sharper than they had, though I lacked the distinctive canines of a full vampire. Soft skin met my lips and I sank my teeth into his flesh, my instincts over taking, despite expecting to get a mouthful of demon juice, whatever the hell that would taste like.
But instead of vile fluid, sweet nectar coated my tongue and I swallowed. Blood. It was blood. Riley’s blood.
I sucked, drawing the blood deeper down my throat and swallowing with a hunger I’d been fighting for so long. Loosening my grip on his throat, I re-latched to get a better hold. I bit deeper, swallowing hard, sucking with every inch of strength I had.
I was vaguely aware of John cry, “It’s the other one!” And a scuffle broke out beside me as they lunged for the demon.
The demon Riley let out a yell of fury. “You haven’t won!”
From the corner of my vision, I saw it change, Riley’s cream skin peeling apart to reveal black limbs, and a naked scalp, and over-sized eyes. It appeared alien-like, and I had the clarity to wonder if this was where our belief in an alien kind had originated from. The existence of these demons walking among us.
But the pull of Riley’s blood was too great.
Flynn had lifted the water from the pool, and it spun in a whirl above space the water had previously occupied. But instead of the blue tile, a gaping black chasm was revealed. The demon screamed and struggled, but Dana and Laurel’s spell prevented it from running. John lifted both hands and held them toward the demon. An illumination glowed from his palms and a sudden flash of white light made me squint. The light hit the demon in the chest, blasting the thing into the darkness. Within a second, Flynn allowed the water to crash down, and the demon vanished beneath the waves.
Even as all this was happening, I couldn’t stop feeding.
The vampire in me had risen and taken over. I no longer had control.
“Elizabeth! Stop!”
Hands grabbed my shoulders, but I snarled and threw them away. Even as I felt Riley go weak beneath me, and I knew I was draining him, I couldn’t stop.
Only when the blood flow pattered out to the point of stopping did I let him fall from my grip.
I stared at him in horror, the desire I’d been unable to control draining from my body.
The man I loved was dead.
And I had been the one to kill him.
Chapter
24
Abruptly, I turned to one side and vomited the blood in a powerful rush that streamed from my mouth and clogged my throat. Red streaked across the tile, mixing with the pool water that had splashed over the sides. It leaked into the pool itself, turning the water pink. The swimming pool was how it had always been, only blue tile at the bottom instead of a black hole, the water slopping at the edges. There was no sight of the demon.
I didn’t care about that right now.
I sank to my knees beside Riley’s body and a wail of anguish escaped my mouth. I leaned forward and placed my forehead against his chest, trying not to see the open red gash across his throat. My hands clutched at his clothing, wringing them, as the enormity of what I had done washed over me. I would never be able to live now. I no longer cared what happened to me. How could I go through life knowing I had killed the man I loved? I willed my heart to shatter into a thousand pieces, for the pain clutching at my soul to end.
A hand on my shoulder tried to pull me away.
I shoved them off. “Leave me alone!”
Dana’s voice came from behind me. “Give me some space. I can bring him back.”
I spun to her, unable to believe what she’d said. “What?”
“You heard me. The ascendance wasn’t a bust. I got my gift.”
“You can bring him back?” I almost didn’t want to hope, didn’t want to believe. I didn’t deserve to be given such a gift, not after what I had done, but this wasn’t about me. It was about Riley being given the chance to live. “How …? What …?”
She pushed me to one side, and this time I let her, so she took my place. “I don’t have time to answer questions. Just move back.”
I did as she asked, shuffling backward on my backside on the cold tile. I bumped into legs and looked around to find Laurel behind me. I thought she would hate me, would treat me with the same disgust and revulsion as she’d done at the hospital, but instead she gave me a sad smile and crouched at my side, her hand on my shoulder.
Flynn and John stood, side by side, watching and waiting. Both wore equally stern expressions, though Flynn looked pale and drained. The control he’d needed to create the whirlpool had taken it out of him.
They both appeared more worried about Riley than fearful or repulsed by me.
Dana leaned over Riley, and pulled his body so he lay on his back, before tilting his chin up. I thought she was going to give him mouth to mouth. She leaned over him and did exactly that. She placed her lips against his, and I tried to ignore the absurd stab of jealously that went through me, but instead of blowing air into his lungs, she sucked. A deep rasping came from within her lungs as she inhaled the death from his body. Please work, I begged in my head. Please, please, please work. I wanted Riley back. I would never bite anyone again, I vowed, and I meant it this time, no matter what the circumstances.
Riley remained pale and inert, but as I watched, Dana’s alabaster skin began to change. The veins in her hands, arms, and face became visible, threading beneath her skin like a network of miniscule worms burying beneath. But the veins weren’t blue or purple, as expected, but black. As I watched in horror, they became thicker and more prominent, until they spread across her beautiful face like cracks on a china teacup. Beside me, Laurel gasped, her fingers digging painfully into my shoulder.
And still Dana kept inhaling.
Laurel glanced over her shoulder at Flynn and John. “This is going to kill her,” she cried. “We have to stop it!”
“No, please!” The words burst from my lungs.
Dana’s skin between the cracks began to turn grey. Her normally bright green eyes, focused on Riley’s face, became a milky white.
The fingers of Riley’s right hand twitched.
“Oh!” I cried. “He moved.”
Abruptly, Dana moved her face from Riley’s and, in much the same way as I’d done with the blood, vomited a sea of black tar all
over the floor.
Laurel got up and rushed to Dana’s side, holding Dana’s red curls from her face as she choked and spluttered the last of the dark death she taken from Riley’s body.
I wanted to know Dana was all right, but Riley was my main concern.
He took a sharp inhale of breath and then coughed it out. Instantly, I was back at his side, helping him as he gasped, his eyes wide with shock and fear. Was it me he was scared of? Would he remember what I did and send me away? But he paid no attention to me. Whatever had caused the haunted expression on his face had nothing to do with me being beside him. I couldn’t image what he’d seen on the flip side of life that was death.
I almost expected the wound in his throat to heal, in the same way one of my injuries would heal, but it remained open and bloody. I reached down and tore the bottom of my t-shirt off, exposing my stomach, and used the material to hold over the gash. Riley barely seemed to notice. He didn’t speak, but continued to stare with fear in his eyes.
Anxious, I turned to John and Flynn. “Is he okay?”
Both men gave me an awkward shrug.
I turned my attention to Dana. Her skin had started to turn back to normal, the network of black veins fading, her eyes returning to green.
“Is he okay?” I asked again, this time directed at Dana.
She turned to me and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “He’s seen death, and been brought back from a place no one is meant to return from. You can’t expect him to snap back to his usual, cocky self. Give him some time.”
“Are you okay?” I asked her.
“As I can be. Ever since that night on the beach, with the lightning, I’ve lived with one foot in the afterlife and one in this life. It’s been hard to adjust and come to terms with my gift. I didn’t even understand at first, I just thought I was haunted, but then I found Brooke and I understood exactly what I needed to do, the reason I’d been ascended to my new position.”
I frowned, my stomach flip-flopping with nerves. “You found Brooke? Brooke is dead!”
“No, she isn’t. At least, not anymore. I was following you, because I wasn’t sure how much I trusted you. I saw when you found her, and then left her again.”
“But I called the police!”
“By the time they got there, I’d already brought her back and gotten her off the beach. They assumed it was a prank call, especially because Melissa had already been found dead in the same place. They must have thought it was a sick joke.”
Tears filled my eyes. “So Brooke’s alive?”
“She’s still coming to terms with what happened, but yes, she’s alive. I’ve been keeping her at my house until she returns to normal.”
I glanced at Riley. He was sitting up now, still confused and frightened, but very much alive. We’d made it. Despite everything, we’d lived, and it was over now.
Suddenly, Laurel lifted her face to the sky. “What’s that smell?”
The moment she spoke, the wail of an alarm sounded across campus.
We froze, looking at each other.
“Oh, God,” I said. “What now?”
“That’s smoke,” said Flynn. “Something is on fire.”
John shook his head, looking in the direction of the alarm. “The demon said we hadn’t won. This must be what it meant.”
I remembered what John had told me about demons doing things on a much bigger scale, crowds of people, huge tragedies, and the reality dawned on me.
“The fire must be in the Great Hall. The demon set its tragedy.”
Chapter
25
Helplessly, I looked toward Riley. I didn’t want to leave him where he was, but if I was right about what the demon had started, others needed help more.
John must have understood my distress. “He’ll be okay. The fire isn’t here, and we might need your strength.”
“I’ll stay with him,” offered Laurel.
“No,” said Dana. “We might need your magic.”
“I could stay,” said John, “but I’m the only one in authority here. I need to be there.”
What was I supposed to do? Flynn could stay, but we might need as many people as possible. I couldn’t put more people at risk.
Some of Riley’s blood—the blood that had made it into my system before I’d vomited the rest—gave me a strength which burned through my muscles. I felt stronger than I ever had before, perhaps because Riley had powers himself.
“He’s coming with us,” I decided. I bent to slip my arm around his back, wedging my shoulder under his armpit, and hauling him to his feet.
Flynn moved to help me, but I shook my head. “No, I can manage. He’s my responsibility.”
Riley wasn’t completely helpless. Though I didn’t think he understood what was happening, he moved his feet compliantly. My sense of urgency built, the acrid tang of smoke growing heavy on the air. The others raced onto the campus grounds. Smoke hung like a thick, grey cloud directly above the Great Hall and cries of fear reached my sensitive ears.
Realization dawned on me. “They’re trapped.
John whipped back around at me. “What?”
“I can hear them. The students inside. I don’t know how, but they’re locked in.”
I glanced down at Riley and made my choice. I lowered him to the grass and kissed his head. “I’m sorry, baby. I’ll be back. I love you.”
He didn’t even acknowledge I was there.
I turned to the others. “We need to hurry!”
Though it broke my heart to leave Riley on the grass, I ran with the others toward the Great Hall. The moment I pushed open the door to the main building, heat blasted toward me. Several doors led onto the hall and pounding came from the others side, combined with screams and yells of fear.
“Someone has locked the doors,” yelled Flynn.
“Impossible. There are no locks on the doors,” John called back.
I looked around, frantic. “Did the demon do this? Is it magic holding the doors shut?”
John shrugged, a helpless expression in this situation. “Possibly.”
“Shouldn’t it end now the demon has gone?”
He shook his head. “No, not necessarily.”
I turned to the witches. “Dana, can you do something?”
She nodded. “I’ll try. Laurel, hold my hand. We need to do an opening spell.”
Laurel took Dana’s hand and they both stood back, their other hands raised at their sides, while they chanted Latin.
I couldn’t stand by and wait, and hope the spell would work. Instead, I channeled my strength, focusing on the vampire inside me, though I had sworn to myself I would reject that part of me forever. I needed that brute strength now. I remembered the things my father had done—turned vehicles, busted through stone walls, lifted people as though they were no more than dolls—and connected with that side of myself.
I bulled my shoulder and charged, slamming into one of the doors. My shoulder crunched, the bone shattering and pain blinding me. Though I had a vampire inside me, my body was still human and suffered the injury of the blow I had dealt it. It didn’t matter. I knew I would heal. The door felt hot against my skin. I was terrified to think of the poor students inside, trapped and desperate to get out. The temperature would be suffocating, the smoke clogging their lungs. I prayed there had been no casualties yet.
I stepped back and glanced over my shoulder toward Dana and Laurel. “Are you any closer?” I begged them.
Dana shook her head. “Another type of magic is blocking ours. The doors won’t open!”
“Damn it.”
I had felt the door bow beneath my weight and the power behind me, but it hadn’t busted open. But there was no other way than brute force. Flynn and John were working on the door farther down the corridor, their shoulders smacking against the solid wood, but the door didn’t budge.
Time was running out. I couldn’t fail.
Lowering my other, uninjured, shoulder, I let out a roar an
d ran forward as fast as I could, slamming my entire weight into the door. Something in the door cracked, and my shoulder popped. Fresh waves of pain powered through me, making my eyes roll and my head swim, but I couldn’t stop. The arm hung uselessly at my side, but I took hold of it with my other hand and wrenched the joint back into place. Immediately, the pain lessened. I couldn’t stop now. I was sure I’d weakened the door.
The cries from inside had grown faint, and I knew this wasn’t a good thing. The smoke and heat was overwhelming them. Students would be on the other side of the door when I managed to smash it open, but I couldn’t worry about the injuries that might cause. The fire would do worse damage.
I moved back and then ran forward again, the door cracking and splintering as my channeled strength hit it. I was almost there. I retreated and repeated the process, ignoring the pain shattering through my body. One more time, and the wood burst inward, splinters flying. Smoke billowed out into the corridor, heat hitting me in the face. From the gasps of my friends behind me, I knew they’d felt it too.
A number of people lay in crumpled heaps on the floor, but the other students ignored their fallen comrades. Blind with panic, they surged forward, their booted and heeled feet connecting with their fallen classmates faces and bodies as they pushed and shoved each other to get out. They would be trampled to death if I left them.
Barging past the flow of students, I reached down and grabbed the nearest person on the floor—a young man I didn’t know—and pulled him out from under their feet, and into the corridor. Dana and Laurel rushed to help him.
I was partially blocking the exit and people pushed and shoved to get past me. But I could see more bodies beneath the sea of feet, and I needed to reach them. Moving against the flow, I pushed past those trying to escape. I reached a girl, and bent to her. Her face was bloodied, her nose broken, and eyes bruised but closed. The heat was intense, the smoke filling my lungs and making me cough. The flow of students had begun to ease. I lifted the girl in my arms, concerned only with getting her out.
Twisted Magic (The Dhampyre Chronicles Book 2) Page 19