by Mary Ting
Present Eli almost made a jump for him, but I prevented him from moving. “You can’t change the past, Eli,” I reminded him. “He could kill you right now. Then what? You said you keep coming back here; you want to save your mother. What if Cyrus kills you instead?”
We both shifted our attention back to the forefront. Cyrus had a grip on Ikelia’s throat. “For the last time, where is the boy?” he roared. With his other hand, he willed his sword from behind his back.
Ikelia managed to raise her fingers with much effort, just enough. A pitchfork near where we stood went flying through the air, smack into the middle of Cyrus’s back. He released his hold on her and fell to his knees. At the same time, the sword skidded across the dirt. When Ikelia extended her arm, the sword flew into her hand.
“You’re not worthy of this sword, Cyrus. You didn’t earn it. You killed an innocent knight.”
“You’re going to pay for that,” Cyrus muttered in pain under his breath.
As expected, no blood appeared on his body where the pitchfork had stabbed him. Not even black liquid spilled from the wound. With a twitch of Cyrus’s finger, the pitchfork flew out of his back and swung around like a boomerang. Before it could contact Ikelia, she managed to block it with Cyrus’s sword and set it ablaze. But she didn’t see the one behind her.
When the pitchfork penetrated Ikelia’s chest, she dropped to the ground. She mumbled a few words over the sword, and then with one last effort she flung it to Eli. It melted into the bubble of the protective shield. We knew what had happened, but Cyrus didn’t. That’s how he’d gotten the sword.
“Where did it go?” he shrieked, unable to see the sword. Cyrus raced to Ikelia. “You stupid fool.” He took out the same wooden dagger he’d had in the forest. He waited a few seconds to assess Ikelia, and apparently decided not to use it since he then slipped it back into his cape.
Blood oozed from her wound and streamed from her mouth. Cyrus pulled out the pitchfork, got down on the ground next to her, and unexpectedly held her in his arms as if he were mourning. When he opened his mouth to the sky, shadows of demons escaped and a piercing sound boomed. The demons returned, flew into her body, and then into his by his command. As he raised his hand toward the house, it burst into flames in a fiery explosion. This explained why no house had been there in the present time.
I threw myself at present-day Eli and held him tightly for two reasons: one, so he wouldn’t jump in, and two, it was too much for him to see his mother die in front of him. How many times had he come here and seen his mother die? And how many times had he attempted to jump in and kill Cyrus?
The past Eli punched, kicked, and screamed behind the barrier, but it wouldn’t break. Realizing there was nothing he could do, he slid down, looking hopeless and in agony.
“I’m going to kill him if it’s the last thing I do,” present-day Eli sneered through gritted teeth. “Cyrus somehow brought me back here to remind me this would happen to everyone I care about.”
“I’m so sorry, Eli.” I tried to comfort him. His body shook under my embrace, trembling with grief and sadness. He let out a loud, somber moan through my shirt and gripped me tighter, as if somehow he needed to be inside me, to hide there to be safe. Tears welled up in my eyes. My heart ached for his loss.
I didn’t know what it felt like to lose a loved one, but I sort of understood. And I didn’t ever want to feel this depth of pain again. It ate away at him and took the life from his soul. It was no wonder he acted like nothing mattered to him, except for the two friends he trusted, Brody and Milani.
Eli backed away, blinking his eyes to stop the tears. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for you to see this. Once we find the page, I’m going to leave the team. I’m going to have to find a way to stop him, alone.”
“You can’t, Eli,” I begged. “What about Brody and Milani? They need you, and you need them too. They are your truest friends. You will crush their spirits.”
“Better to crush their spirits than have Cyrus kill them.”
“But that’s not fair. You’ve been friends for a long time. Is that why you keep your distance from Abel too?”
“Abel and I are complicated.”
Eli dabbed my tear with his thumb. “My girl with wings, do not be sad for me. I’m not worth your effort...I’m damned.”
I shoved his hand away. “Why do you say that? We all have flaws. We’re all damned the second we are born. It’s what we do to prove our worth, to prove we deserve salvation, that matters.”
“Some of us don’t have that choice.”
“I don’t understand.” My tone went up a notch and then I realized I would get nowhere with him on this topic.
“You don’t need to. Some things are just the way they are.” His expression changed to one of determination.
I changed the subject, desperate to know what his mother had done before she flung the sword to him. “What did your mother do to your sword? Did she put a spell on it? I heard her say something.”
Eli released a sigh. “A curse is more like it. That sword will be mine forever. No one can take it away from me. And if they do, they won’t be able to use it. It’s the reason why it came back to me when I tossed it into the clouds.”
“Oh,” was all I could say. “Why didn’t your mother use her necklace to help herself against Cyrus?”
“Cyrus is too strong. The necklace won’t hurt him the way it did Vince, if you can recall the first time we astral traveled. But it can create a protective barrier against him. I already had mine on. She gave me hers too, just before Cyrus showed up. I’m not sure how she knew he was coming. My mom could see the future but it’s hazy. I just don’t understand what went wrong. I guess I never will.”
I thought I had imagined seeing two lights, but it wasn’t my imagination. “Sometimes there are no answers.”
“Anyway, it’s time to get that page.” Eli broke my thoughts.
“We need to get my uncle and—” I started to say when he placed his hands on me and we were out of there. I hated when he did that without warning me first.
Chapter 25
“Where are we?” I whispered, staring at the houses farther down the road. The only thing unusual was a pile of cinders, burnt wood, and rubble lying on the foundation in front of me. The design and structure of the houses told me we were in the past.
I knew by the smell an act of evil had occurred there. A part of me was mad at Eli for not listening to my wishes. The best thing for us to do was regroup with our team and move forward from there instead of facing unknown dangers without them. After being redirected to different places by Cyrus’s hand, I had no idea what to expect. But I knew this time around it was Eli’s doing.
“Where are we?” I asked again.
Before Eli could answer, Jacques appeared. He wasn’t dressed like a commoner like the last time we’d seen him. Instead, he wore his Knights Templar uniform. It was hard to miss the large red cross in the center of the white tunic. He dismounted and headed to the pile of debris, holding the book to his chest.
It was strange to be in the past, in the middle of nowhere, among deserted houses. There were no sounds to indicate people or animals were in the vicinity. I pondered why Jacques would come there. My question was answered when he stood on top of the wreckage and pulled out a small steel cross.
“Maybe this was a church.” Eli stared at the cross in Jacques’s hand.
“What happened? Why did you bring us here?” I asked, growing more frustrated the longer we were separated from our team.
Eli tugged me to the other side to get a better view of what Jacques was doing. “I backtracked and followed him to his next destination. This is where we were supposed to go. Looks like he’s going to hide the page here.”
“Why here?” I mumbled to myself and watched in silence. Then I remembered while searching the Internet I had learned about a church in France that had burned down. It was the Cathedral of Troyes, and the cause was unknown.
&n
bsp; Jacques held tightly to the book under his arm and sprinkled liquid, which I assumed was holy water, from a white glass bottle in his hand. The earth sizzled and crackled under his feet. He placed the book on the very spot he had doused, then pulled out the paper Ikelia had given him, along with a small Bible from inside his jacket pocket, and started to chant, “From a rib you were born. From ash you shall die. To Hell you have gone to hurt me no more. Protect thy wish. Protect what is sacred. Protect against what is evil. Until the blood of the pure has come to thee. It shall remain hidden until it’s free.”
At the end of his chant, the earth shook and a small opening, just big enough for Jacques to slip a page into, appeared in the ground. After he hid the page, he placed the paper and Bible back into his pocket, held the book to his chest, and got on his horse to be on his way.
“Where do you think he’s going?” I asked, shaking Eli, who fixated on the spot that had opened.
“I don’t know, but we need to get that page out of the dirt.”
I watched Eli take a few steps in the debris. To my horror, skeletal hands popped out to reach for him. When one got hold of his leg, steam rose from the contact. He jumped out of reach and groaned. Everywhere he stepped the hands came at him. He ran back to me in frustration.
“It won’t let me in. I think it can sense evil blood in me. You must retrieve it,” Eli said.
“Nonsense. You have no evil blood in you. How could you think that?” I scolded, but sure enough, when I crossed the territory, nothing came for me. Stunned, I gazed at Eli and wondered why he would have evil blood.
Eli looked behind himself and then back to me. “I think Jacques hid the first page here because this is where he met Cyrus. I’m not sure, but most likely something significant happened here. The town is deserted, not a single creature roams about. No one is coming back here, good or evil. It’s the perfect spot to hide it.”
Absorbing what Eli had said, I agreed it all made sense. “I think you’re right.” I looked at him with admiration until he opened his mouth.
“Pull it out,” Eli ordered, raking his hand through his hair. He paced anxiously.
I tried to stick my hand through the dirt, but it wouldn’t let me. “I can’t,” I sighed. “There must be something I need to say or do.”
Eli tapped his foot on the ground. “Try...praying? I don’t know.” He threw up his hands.
I shook my head. “You have not an ounce of patience.”
“The word patience is not in my vocabulary,” he seethed. “Especially when we need to get going.”
“I noticed,” I mumbled under my breath. I took this awkward time to ask him a question, “Why do you care about Brody and Milani so much? How did you become friends?”
Eli’s brows rose. “Seriously? You’re asking me that question here and now?”
I gave him a challenging stare. “Yes, and no lies.”
“They’re my friends. I met Brody through Abel. That’s it. Milani and I grew up together. Her mother and mine were best friends. Her mother died shortly after mine passed away. I lived with them for a short while. Cyrus got to her when she was hiding me. So I feel responsible for her death too. I promised Milani’s mother I would take care of her daughter if something were to happen to her.”
“How about her father?”
“Let’s just say her father turned out to be a deadbeat dad. I guess human or not, some are not meant to be fathers. I have no idea who he is; I just know he’s not in her life. He left when she was young, so she doesn’t remember much about him. I’d like to keep it that way.” He looked off into the distance. “Our supernatural lives suck. Sometimes I wish I were human.”
I gave him no time to process that hurt and asked him another question. A stupid, jealous part of me was glad he hadn’t said he felt obligated to protect Milani because they had once been lovers. It was the first time I’d ever experienced jealousy so strongly. My uncle was right—if I gave in to jealousy, I would be taken over by it. Luckily, I understood this emotion and pushed it aside.
“What’s going on between you and Abel?”
He heaved a heavy sigh. “He told Vince where my mother and I were hiding.”
“How do you know?” I didn’t want to believe Abel would do something horrible like that.
“He was the only one who knew. I trusted him like a brother, but he told Vince, then Vince told Cyrus.” His tone hid no lie. He was hurt.
“But I overheard him say it wasn’t his fault. That he had been tricked.” Oh, I had said too much.
“I don’t remember us talking about that in front of you, Lucia. You were eavesdropping, weren’t you?” he groaned. “Didn’t your parents teach you any manners?”
That did it. I started to walk out but Eli apologized, “Okay, okay. I’m sorry.” He raised his hands in front of himself as if he could stop me.
“Did you listen to his side of the story? There are always two sides.”
Eli dropped his gaze to the ground. “I guess...”
His tone told me he hadn’t. My tone softened and so did my heart. “Maybe you should look into it. Not everything is black and white; there are always gray areas.”
“Okay,” he finally said after considerable silence. “Could you not waste any more time?”
I scoffed and tried to recall what Jacques had said...until the blood of the pure has come to thee. It shall be granted. Positioning my hand back into the dirt again, I said, “I’m one of the chosen knights. Grant me what I wish.”
The earth rumbled, splitting just enough for the white bones of a hand to appear. I jerked back when the hand grabbed my wrist.
“Lucia, are you okay?” Eli paced and seemed worried. He tried to find a way in but every time he came near, the skeletal hands would reach for him.
“I’m fine. I think it wants to show me—” It happened fast. Visions played out like a short film in my mind. Cyrus, in his true demon form, held Jacques by his throat, demanding to know where the treasure was. Then he threatened to use the same wooden dagger he’d used to kill a priest. In the end, when Jacques escaped, Cyrus sucked that very church underneath the earth.
When the hand released me, I came out of my stupor and had the missing page in my hand. I examined it, stunned and elated that we had it. Dusting the dirt off the page, I walked over to Eli and demanded he take us back.
“What happened to you back there?” He eyed the paper in my hand.
“It showed me what happened here. It was the first time Jacques encountered Cyrus,” I explained and told him everything I’d seen. “Cyrus burned down the church and sucked it underneath the ground.”
“Well, I’m not surprised. That sounds like something he would do. Here.” He reached out his hand to take the paper. “I’ll hold the page for you.”
I scowled at him, placing the page behind my back. “I brought it out. I’ll hold on to it.”
“You don’t trust me?” he asked in a seductive tone, closing the gap between us, and with his thumb, he gently rubbed the length of my bottom lip. I released a soft gasp. Although I liked this feeling way more than I should, I broke out of it and shoved him.
“I don’t trust you. You’ll probably give it to Cyrus so he won’t hurt any of your friends. But don’t be fooled, Eli. He’s going to kill everyone, including you, after he gets hold of this. You’re no more special than his pets that live inside him.”
His hand lightly caressed my cheek and then trailed down to my neck. Why was I letting him do this? Eli chuckled, probably from the lack of movement when I tried to push him away. He was too strong for me.
“You’re wrong. You don’t know what you’re saying.”
“Then enlighten me,” I challenged.
“Some other time. Right now, I need to do something.”
“What’s so important?” I frantically waved the paper at him and then crossed my arms with annoyance. “We need to be somewhere else. Is this another excuse and is—?” I stopped when he placed a necklace a
round my neck that he had pulled from his back pocket. The flower-shaped crystal pendant hung from a silver chain. I couldn’t make out what kind of flower it was, but it was pretty.
Eli’s cheeks flushed a little. This was unreal. Shoving his hands inside his jean pockets, he explained, “It works just like mine. It will know when you need it so you don’t have to worry about any magic words or spells. Cyrus will be able to tell you’ve used it and can easily detect you, like he did when I used mine. It’s … ummm—it belonged to my mother, but I’m giving it to you. Uh, I don’t know if you know the story behind the edelweiss legend, which my mother told me was true...Anyway, don’t even bother to find out about it. I wanted to give the edelweiss pendant to you. It serves a dual purpose.”
I was pretty sure my cheeks were flaming red because the heat blazed down to my toes as I recalled Lana’s words. It was the kind of heat I had felt when he kissed me. Edelweiss flowers meant the suitor was letting the lady know he would be devoted to her. Surely, his only reason was to give me something to use as protection and not anything to do with the meaning of the flower.
“Oh,” was all I could say. “It’s beautiful. Thank you for thinking of me. When this is all over, and I’m not in danger anymore, I’ll give it back.” Oh boy, I sounded like a robot and a dork.
Eli frowned. “It’s a gift. No need to give it back.” Then he had that irresistible smirk. “You were jealous of Milani since the day you first saw us together, weren’t you?”
“I was not,” I said firmly, but my eyes betrayed me. I looked away.
Eli leaned closer, grasping my chin lightly so I had to meet him eye to eye. “I know when you’re lying, Lucia. You can’t look at me.”
“I’m looking at you.” I gave him a bold stare, but butterflies danced inside me in every direction.
“Do you like what you see?” he whispered, his breath touching my lips.
“No.” I gazed at his strong chiseled jaw.
“Another lie.” He smirked. “I like that you were jealous, and I like the way your heart beats faster when I’m near. I know you can feel your heart racing, my girl with wings, and you can hear mine beating faster than yours. I can hear you and feel you, sweet Lucia. How I wish I could make you mine, but we both know it can never happen. I know it’s forbidden for you to be with a demon, though not so much for me with an angel. We don’t have any rules against being with other supernatural beings. But I’m going to make it difficult for you to resist me, ‘cause no matter what I do, I can’t seem to resist you.”