by Megan Linski
“That’s so stupid.” I cross my arms. “And he talks about Cairo being obsessed with rules.”
“Thames and Cairo are more alike than different, I’ve found,” Cassia muses. “I was wondering how you guys were doing. I apologize if you think I’m being nosy.”
“You just want the play by play on Thames’ moves in bed,” I tease, and she chuckles. “Look at you! You’re wasting away from a magical poison and all you can think about is getting some.”
“Like you can talk,” Cass scoffs. “It’s hard not to be obsessed when it comes down to Cairo and Thames.”
“Yeah,” I say dreamily, and I put my chin on my hand. “You can say that again.”
My stomach growls. Cassia looks up and says, “You’re hungry.”
“So?” I shrug. “I’ve been hungry a lot lately. We haven’t gotten many chances to sit down and eat.”
“Go eat. There’s stuff in the fridge.” She gestures toward it. “I’d make it for you, but… you know.”
“Aw. How sweet. But your sickness isn’t an excuse for me to pack my fat ass,” I argue. “I’m fine.”
“There’s always an excuse. And your ass is not fat,” she rebukes. “You just like to eat.”
“I do. I do love to eat.”
I give in and head to the kitchen and Cass puts on some cheesy vampire movie. Not how I’d want to spend my last few hours on earth, but I figure since she’s the poisoned one, I’ll let her have the TV. I come back with a bag of cheese puffs, a package of cookies, a sandwich, and two pops, just in case, I finish the other.
“I’m not hungry,” Cass says, mocking an impression of my voice. I throw a cookie at her to get her to be quiet.
With my mouth full, I say, “I should head back soon. Continue helping the guys.”
“I don’t want to think about it,” Cass says quietly. “I just want a day to be normal.”
I have trouble swallowing. Cassia is so determined to get away, just for a little while. She wants to pretend that none of this bad stuff is happening.
And I’m not about to leave her by herself when she needs me here.
“Then I’m not going anywhere,” I say. “I’ll spend the day with you.”
She smiles. “Thanks, Lena. I… I didn’t want to be alone today.”
“You’re never alone,” I tell her. “You have Emalee looking out for you.”
“You’re right.” Her frown deepens, gaze becoming distant. “I just… I wish we could’ve spared some time to grieve. Both her, and Sydney.”
“Me too.”
With all the chaos, we haven’t gotten to say goodbye to Sydney. The Immortal Legion buried her in its graveyard without us being there. We’ve been too busy trying to save the world… and now, save Cass… to plan a funeral. We haven’t even notified her parents— they’re probably sick with worry that their daughter has been gone for months. Nobody wants to give them the horrible news she’s gone.
Cass and I didn’t get to say goodbye to Emalee, either. We had to flee to Texas before her parents had even picked a date for her viewing.
“What was the point of all that?” I ask Cass blatantly. “We kept Sydney’s body alive for months and months, hoping we’d get our chance to kill Cody and get her soul back, and we never did. She just… died. And we couldn’t do anything.”
“I don’t know if there is a point,” Cassia says softly. “We did everything we could to save her, and in the end, we couldn’t. There was nothing we could do, yet we tried anyway. We didn’t give up. That’s the important part. It wasn’t a wasted effort.”
“Was it?” I ask angrily. “It seems—”
“It wasn’t,” Cassia says sharply. “I for one aren’t willing to throw sick people away just because the end is certain. Unlike our father.”
I nod. “Yeah. You’re right Cass.”
I guess there aren’t any answers. Sometimes, bad stuff just is.
I just hope my sister doesn’t meet the same fate.
I eat the whole package of cookies. I try to make Cassia laugh by shoving cheese puffs up my nose (I’m so mature) and we crack up at all the stupid parts in the vampire movie. We talk about girl stuff, like clothes, and where we want to travel someday, and our boys.
We don’t mention that she’s dying and I can’t do anything about it.
This is how it would be if we weren’t fighting demons and battling Nephilim. Just Cass and me. Normal sisters. Happy.
After we’ve gotten through the second vampire movie (which was even more terrible than the first, but, strangely, addicting and a guilty pleasure) there’s a knock on the door. Lavonne comes in. She hasn’t been sleeping, either.
“Hey, Cass.” She crosses the room and sits in front of the couch. She glances at the TV. “This movie? Crappy choice.”
“The crappiest,” Cassia croaks.
Lavonne attempts to smile, but it doesn’t shine through. Her attention is on me. “Have Thames and Cairo gotten anywhere with their research?”
The look on my face is apparently enough of an answer for her.
“Let’s go back over Christopher’s words. Maybe there’s a hint there, or a clue,” Lavonne suggests.
“Guys, can we drop this?” Cass snaps. “I don’t really want to talk about it.”
“Hold on,” I say, slowly. Something’s coming to me. “Lavonne might be onto something.”
“Onto what?” Cassia asks, frustrated. She slams the remote onto the couch, pouting. I hate that I’m shoving reality into her face on a day when she just wants to disappear, but this… it just might save her life.
“Christopher said that the cure might lie with another immortal,” I say, thinking back on his words. “But what kind of immortal can cure poison?”
Lavonne taps her chin. “None that I know of. But there is one immortal that might have the answer to a cure— a gorgon.”
It’s like a lightbulb goes off over my head. “Yes. Yes, I’ve fought them before. Lavonne, that’s perfect!”
“What’s a gorgon?” Cass asks curiously.
“Gorgons are truth-seekers,” I tell her. “They’re familiars that spend their time learning, when not hunting humans. They spend centuries in study. If anyone has the recipe for an antidote, a gorgon will.”
“But where do we find one? We don’t have time to go searching for one,” Cass argues.
“Simple. We lay a trap,” I say.
I stand up, put my hands on my hips, and look at Lavonne. “You thinking what I’m thinking?”
Lavonne grins. “Oh, hells yeah. Let’s catch ourselves a demon.”
The woods outside the village are calm, peaceful. We’re past the Legion’s borders, but only just, so if we get into too much trouble we can call for help.
Lena had to push me in a wheelchair to get me up here. It’s near twilight. Even the birds are quiet, as if they know what we’re going to do.
“Shouldn’t we have told your boyfriend where we are?” Lavonne asks me. She sets a noose made of thin, jagged wire on the ground, and covers it up with dead leaves and debris. If it gets close, the trap will snag its foot and the demon will be caught.
I shake my head. “I don’t want to get Cairo’s hopes up if this plan goes wrong.”
“It’s not going to go wrong,” Lena says scathingly. “I’ve handled plenty of gorgons.”
Yeah, when you were at the top of your game, I think, but I stay silent. Lavonne, a mortal, is the only one out of all of us who can really fight anymore. It doesn’t give me much hope.
“When she shows up, don’t look her in the eyes,” Lena tells me. She’s got her sword out already and is crouched beside me, hidden in the bushes. “If you do, you’ll be turned to stone.”
“They’re like Medusa?” I ask.
“Yeah.” Lena nods. “Exactly.”
“A gorgon can only be lured by the blood of her sisters,” Lavonne says, and she pulls a vial out of her pocket. “Luckily, I’ve fought enough of them that I have a good supply.”
Lavonne crouches downward. She spills the gorgon blood over the noose. It has a reeking, rich smell that makes the Nephilim in me curl inward.
“Now,” Lavonne says, “we wait.”
She joins Lena and I and takes hold of her shortswords, taking a similar position to Lena. A few minutes pass… the sun falls, bathing the earth in an orangish glow, and the world grows cold.
Then, just before the sun vanishes, Lavonne points. “Look.”
A demon emerges from the wood, in human skin. At first, she appears beautiful… a lovely Grecian woman, wearing a clean white toga, with long blonde hair that flows down her back. She has a perfectly contoured face, red lips, and darkly shadowed eyes.
Then I realize that the beautiful female is only a mask to hide what really lurks underneath. I look closer, and my Nephilim eyes reveal the truth. The demon’s true form appears.
Her face is still beautiful. But the rest of her is not. Her milky skin is now green and scaly, like a snake’s. Boar tusks protrude from her lips, and brown bat wings curve in an arc behind her head. Her hands are tipped with sharp claws, like bird’s talons. The strands of blonde hair have turned into dozens of poisonous vipers, hissing and displaying their fangs.
The gorgon scans the forest, looking for enemies. She turns my way and I instantly look down. We can’t make eye contact. If we do, I won’t have to worry about death by poison, because I’ll be a statue instead.
When nothing emerges to attack, the gorgon seems satisfied. She stoops down and sniffs the spilled blood, taking a step closer and knocking over the trip wire.
That’s when the trap goes off. The metal snare catches, wrapping around the gorgon’s leg and sinking in to draw blood. The gorgon emits a guttural screech and attempts to take off, flapping her wings frantically. Though she rises into the air, the snare holds. It slices deeper into her ankle as she twists and turns in an attempt to break free. The gorgon lands, screetching and wailing.
“Cover her eyes!” Lavonne hisses, and the two girls spring out from the bushes. Lena tackles the gorgon from behind and onto the ground. Lavonne pulls a blindfold from one of the many pockets in her combat suit and ties it over the gorgon’s eyes, while Lena fastens the gorgon’s hands and wings to its sides using iron chains.
The gorgon hisses and spits as the girls tie her. The snakes on her head lunge out to bite, but my friends manage to dodge the blows. They only step back when the gorgon has been sufficiently subdued.
“Let go of me at once!” the gorgon spits. The snakes shoot venom, and the girls jump back. “You are making a very big mistake!”
“We’ll let you go if you answer our questions,” Lavonne says. “We’re not here to hurt you.”
“Oh, really?” the gorgon sneers. “I can see that, as your trap nearly hacked my ankle off.”
“You’ll heal once we release you. Tell us what we need to know,” Lena says bluntly.
“Ask it, then,” the gorgon says snidely. “Any question you have, I will answer, but you will never be able to implement that knowledge once you let me go free, for I am Persis, slaughterer of mortals and immortals alike.”
“Familiars rarely have names,” Lena replies.
“I am very old, Nephilim girl. I have earned my name,” Persis says hatefully. She struggles against the chains. “Ask the question, and prepare for doom.”
Lena opens her mouth to ask. But then Lavonne puts a hand on her wrist, and holds her back. “Wait,” she says. “There’s something wrong.”
Lena pauses, and I do, too. Something in the woods is different than before.
The air. It’s hotter— I smell smoke.
“You need to let me go.” For the first time, Persis seems scared. “Please, unbind me.”
Sulfur and ash. I can smell it. “Lena,” I say, and I rise from my wheelchair. I open my hand and my spear appears, though I can barely hold it up. “He’s coming.”
Two hell hounds bound from the trees, mottled and burning flesh clinging to their terrifying skeletons. They ignore Lena and go for Lavonne. My friend slashes her blades at the hell hounds. Her movements are so quick she’s able to keep them at bay. The dogs snap their jaws at her, but they’re unable to get close enough to deliver a bite.
I stumble out of my wheelchair and into the clearing. As I do so, another figure appears. I recognize his stupid, evil mug the second he gives us that ridiculous smirk of his. It’s Cody. My sister’s tormenter.
I so want to punch him in the face.
“You,” Lena hisses. She raises her sword. “Ready for another ass kicking?”
Cody laughs. “If I remember correctly you haven’t been able to kick my ass yet.”
“That changes today.” Lena charges at him before I can hold her back. She sweeps her sword to the side and attempts to cut Cody in half, but he repels her weapon to the side with his own easily.
Lena tries hitting him again and again, but Cody’s movements are too quick and fierce. His blade burns with fire, intensifying as Lena continues her hits.
My sister breaks out in a sweat, and I open my palm to summon my weapon. I hobble toward the fight with my spear held up lamely, but already, the forest is spinning around me. I can’t fight. He’s not even in his full form and he’s toying with her like she’s an amateur. With Lavonne tied up with the hell hounds, and me being poisoned, we can’t help her.
In a quick movement I hardly see, Cody disarms Lena. He tosses her sword to the other side of the forest and grabs her with one arm, pinning her to his chest.
He leans down and delivers a nasty kiss to her lips. “Did you miss me, babe?”
“Let her go,” I growl. I lunge at him with my spear, but trip and fal. I collapse on all fours, looking up at my baby sister. I’m so useless right now. I can’t protect her.
Cody laughs, tugging Lena away. “I’ll just leave you two here to die while I take your sister back to Daddy, sound good?”
“Like hell you will!”
As if he’s a savior risen from hell, Thames comes down from the sky— along with Cairo. Both boys have their wings out and are flying above the scene, weapons drawn.
With her captor distracted, Lena brings her elbow back and rams it into Cody’s balls. Cody collapses. Lena scampers over to me and leans me against her chest. “Cass? You okay?”
I lean forward and throw up. Black bile, sticky and hot, sprays out of my mouth and onto the grass.
“Cass…” Lena grabs me by my shoulders and steadies me. Through vision that’s fading in and out, I watch the scene.
Cairo handles the hell hounds. He joins Lavonne’s side and uses his sword to chase them backward. Thames isn’t messing around— he’s in his full demon form, his ashen, flaming body raising the temperature in the area by ten degrees. He rams his blade into Cody’s again and again.
“I thought I told you to stay away from my girl,” Thames snarls. He dodges a punch from Cody and delivers a harsh kick to Cody’s stomach. The demon staggers backward, but recovers quickly.
“I’ve always loved a challenge,” Cody growls back. “You being in the way only makes her more attractive to me.”
Thames roars, and rams his arm into Cody’s chest. Cody goes flying backward, into his hell hounds. He tumbles head over heels, bleeding from a cut lip.
Then he smirks. “Thanks for confirming things for us, guys. You just made my job a whole lot easier.”
Cody vanishes, taking his hell hounds with him and leaving the gorgon behind.
His laughter echoes around the woodland even after he’s gone.
“What did he mean by that?” Lavonne says, panicked. “What did he mean?”
“Cass.” Cairo drops his weapon. He runs across the length of the clearing to me. Lena’s still holding me up.
I waver. Cairo drops to the ground and holds my face in his hands, despite it being covered in black puke. That’s true love, folks.
“This is bad. This is really bad,” Lavonne worries. “No demon has ever figured
out the location of the Immortal Legion before. They know where we’re hiding.”
“Screw the Immortal Legion! Cassia’s dying!” Thames shouts. He’s back in his human form, pacing around us nervously.
The gorgon is silent and still. Her snakes stand at attention. Listening.
I search for blue eyes. “Cairo…” I whisper. My breath fades, and I fall forward. Strength fades, and hope flickers. We were too late. The poison is taking me.
I say his name one last time before I pass out into sweet and sanctified darkness.
Cassia is limp and frail in Cairo’s arms. He shakes her and yells so she’ll regain consciousness, but she doesn’t waken.
She’s running out of time.
The gorgon is snickering. That’s it. I’m done playing around.
I stomp over to her and grab a fistful of snakes, then haul her up by her hair.
“You,” I snarl. “Tell me how to save my sister!”
I let her go as the snakes lunge for my hand. Persis laughs again and says, “The cure for Jikininki venom cannot be found on this earth. It can be only located in one place— Purgatory.”
“Purgatory,” I breathe. The in-between for souls ferried from earth to heaven.
It is a place meant for mortals— not for angels, nor demons.
“Beware,” Persis breathes. “A Nephilim may only enter Purgatory once, and never again. If you fail to find the cure before you leave, you will not be able to go back.”
“Okay. Easy,” Thames says, though it doesn’t sound easy at all.
Persis laughs. “Not so. Purgatory has a time limit. A living soul will only be able to visit there for a period lasting no longer than three days. Any longer will cause the soul to become trapped there, forever.”
Cairo gently lies Cassia onto the ground, then stands. “We don’t have three days.”
“There’s a major issue. If we enter Purgatory there’s no way out,” I say, and the gorgon remains silent. “None that I know of, anyway.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Cairo says firmly. “I will go.”
“Bro, hold on,” Thames starts. “Let’s think about this.”