Living Hell

by N. L. Hoffmann

  He smiled as his chest began to heal from the wounds of the stake bullets. “You can’t escape. This will happen.” He grabbed me by the hair. I kneed him in the groin. When he buckled over from the pain, I punched him in the face.

  “You bitch!” he snarled, coming at me.

  I kicked him hard, using all my strength. He flew backwards, hitting the wall. Dust bloomed everywhere, the walls and ceiling cracking. I looked for a weapon again, still not finding anything.

  Roark came flying toward us. He tackled Desmos to the floor, punching him in the face several times. “Get out of here, Sophie! Save your children!” he shouted.

  I turned around to find a way to protect myself. Seeing a sword near the entrance of the living room, I grabbed it. Carlos came over, swiping the blade across his arm. “Demon hunter blood, in case you have a chance to kill the asshole.”

  Carlos suddenly went flying through the air as Desmos walked toward me. Roark, battered and bloody, lay on the floor, motionless. We were no match for this demon, no matter how many of us there were. Most of his demons were already dead, bodies scattered across the floor. Still, I knew he would be able to beat us all.

  Just as Desmos reached for me, he stiffened. His eyes widened and he fell to his knees, then the floor. When I looked up, I saw Ethan standing there. Grinning, he wiped blood off his face with the back of his hand as the knife in his grasp dripped with it.

  “It’s done. He’s dead.”

  Happy, I jumped into his arms, kissing him hard.

  Hands suddenly grabbed me by the shoulders, tearing me away from him. Ethan shouted, then his eyes widened and he looked down. A sword protruded from his chest. His mouth gaped open in surprise as he began to fall to the floor.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  I cried out and fell to my knees at Ethan’s side. Maybe I could save him. I bit down on his neck, secreting my venom into his bloodstream, but there was no heartbeat, nothing to circulate the blood. I tried more, but still nothing.

  Desmos grasped my hair and started dragging me away from Ethan’s body. I screamed from the pain as I struggled, but he kept moving forward.

  “Stupid woman. You think you can save him? You thought you could destroy me?” Desmos laughed, dragging me along the floor as I struggled.

  I felt helpless. My Vampire strength was no match for him. I saw Carlos and Mikey lying on the floor. No one could save me now.

  “Dead demon hunter blood is what can kill me. The books don’t tell you that, do they?” He chuckled, dropping me into the circle again.

  I was several feet away from Ethan. Staring into his lifeless eyes, I began to sob. This was how it ended?

  Out of nowhere, something flew toward us, blowing fire. Taco. I stared, worried something terrible would happen to him. Magic swirled around, a man forming. Then he shifted into a giant dragon. My mouth fell open as he towered over us. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Taco was not a tiny Taco anymore. He was strong and extremely powerful. He roared, swinging his claw at Desmos, missing when the demon leapt back.

  I scrambled to get out of the way, narrowly missing Taco’s claw coming down on the floor. Desmos slashed with a knife, leaving a red gash across the dragon’s chest. The dragon roared, angry. He reared back and blew fire, but Desmos reacted quickly, using magic to block the flames. Not that they would kill him, but it would leave him out of commission for a short while.

  Taco swept out with his tail, trying to use the spike at the end as a weapon. Desmos leapt over it and swung his knife at the same time, stabbing into Taco’s back and holding on. I screamed. As Taco shifted, trying to loosen his attacker, the knife sliced down his hide, blood flowing out of his wounds.

  I got up, climbing onto Taco’s tail, but it was too late. He fell to his side, no longer able to move.

  “Asshole!” I screamed, trying to climb over Taco, ready to strangle him. The demon grinned at me.

  “I’ve slayed a few dragons in my day. This one isn’t any more special than the others.” He leapt off, walking in my direction.

  Taco’s body started to shrink, going back to his tiny size. He lay still, silent.

  When I tried to run around the demon, he anticipated it, grabbing my arm and throwing me to the floor. The wind knocked out of me, I tried to kick out at him, slamming my foot into his chest. He sliced my leg, making me scream as blood poured down it.

  He stood over me, the knife in his hand. I started kicking out again, attempting to push him away, to no avail.

  “I’ll let you struggle, since it’s so much more fun!” He slashed down with the knife, but I managed to get out of the way. I scooted to the side when he attempted to slash at me again, stabbing into the wood flooring.

  Growling, he grasped my neck, holding me down and staring into my eyes. “The pain will only be for a minute.”

  He stabbed into my stomach. I screamed.

  When a circle slowly appeared above us, it reminded me of a wormhole you saw in the movies. It swirled with different colors, the movement so quick, the wind started picking up.

  Desmos grinned. “The gate!”

  “Call the Ancestors, Sophie!” someone shouted.

  “I can’t!”

  “Yes, you can.”

  When I glanced up, I saw Dan and Eric standing there, a few others behind them, unable to do anything to help me.

  “I call to you, Ancestors! Come help me in my hour of need!” I shouted.

  Desmos’ eyes darkened as he stared down at me. “They will not come. I’ve blocked–”

  The room began to light up as the necklace started to shine. Demos stumbled back. Ignoring the pain, I crawled over to Ethan and grabbed his sword. I slid it through his blood, trying not to think about him lying there. Desmos growled, charging at me. At the last second, using my remaining strength, I lifted the sword. His momentum carried him right into the blade, slicing through his heart.

  Eyes wide, he looked down at his chest. “No. This can’t be,” he whispered. He started shaking hard, his whole body beginning to turn black, like it was about to crumble to ash.

  I heard chanting from behind me, but I didn’t want to take my eyes off Desmos. I felt something changing inside me. My body was weakening.

  Maybe from lack of blood? Can I heal? What about the babies?

  There was an abrupt burst of light, magic exploding around me. The swirling hole above me disappeared, the light in the room vanishing, blackness surrounding me. I saw Mikey standing over me. His mouth moved, but I couldn’t hear anything. Unable to keep my eyes open anymore, I succumbed to the darkness.

  “SHE NEEDS TO GET TO the medical room,” someone said.

  I blacked out again.

  “I DON’T KNOW WHEN SHE’LL wake up. It could be any minute or it could be months. She has a lot of healing to do.”

  DARKNESS... ALL I SAW was darkness around me. As I started to panic, shapes came into view.

  “Sophie?”

  I looked around slowly, trying to figure out who it was. Drake’s face appeared in front of me. I opened my mouth to scream, but he placed a finger over his lips.

  “The babies and your lover are sleeping.”

  “Drake?” I croaked, my throat dry.

  He nodded, moving away from me and holding his arms out. He was in ghostly form. “Here in the flesh.” He smirked. “Well, I guess not really. But you know what I mean.”

  I laughed, unable to contain myself. Tears started falling down my face. I couldn’t control them. “You’re a fucking ghost! I wouldn’t have thought that possible.”

  Drake floated around to my side, placing his hand over mine. “The power of the Ancestors was able to do a lot of things. In their last moments, the magic changed so much.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  Drake frowned. “The Ancestors are gone, Sophie. The Mages used the Trials to close the gate. By using the power of the Ancestors, they destroyed it. At the same time, a lot of other things happened. The babies lived.
Ethan lived. I was allowed to live in the afterlife instead of dying with the demon.”

  My eyes widened. “My babies are alive? Ethan is alive?” I tried to sit up, but the pain made me slump back down. My body still needed to heal.

  “I mentioned the babies and Ethan earlier. You must have been too out of it to hear.” He chuckled, sitting on the edge of my hospital bed.

  I shook my head, refusing to believe any of this happened. It had to be some kind of dream. Everyone died. I was stabbed in the stomach. I saw Ethan’s lifeless eyes, felt his last heartbeats. I saw Drake’s body turn to ash. How was this possible?

  The Ancestors... I couldn’t believe they were actually gone. Destroyed. I didn’t know if that made me happy or not. What did that mean for my power? They were my backup plan most of the time.

  Drake cupped my cheek in his hand. “I couldn’t leave without talking to you. I wanted you to know you did the right thing by killing me. The demon had taken over my body. There was no other way to save me.”

  I wanted to pull him close and tell him how much I loved him. But he was dead. I killed him. The guilt consumed me completely. Could he ever forgive me?

  As if reading my expression, he pressed his ghostly lips to my forehead. “There is nothing to forgive. You saved many lives by killing the demon. You killed him to save our children.”

  “But I couldn’t save the Ancestors! What if they hadn’t come back to me?”

  “Sophie, had you not done what you did, the babies wouldn’t be alive now.”

  “What about you? I killed you, Drake. I couldn’t save you. I tried so hard, but nothing worked! There was no defeating that demon.”

  “Sophie, breathe. You did what any High Mistress would have. You tried to do what you could for me until there were no other options. I love you and always will.” He attempted to wipe away my tears, to no avail. Sighing, he dropped his hand. “You’re going to be a wonderful mother. I’m glad our child has you.”

  “Come on, ghost husband,” someone said from behind Drake.

  He scowled. “Your mother found me. Now she thinks we should be married.” He didn’t seem pleased with that at all.

  “Merlin went from mother to daughter. Why can’t you go from daughter to mother?” My mother appeared next to him, cackling when he gave her a horrified expression.

  Turning back to me, Drake sighed. “Just know I will be here for you and the children. If you ever need anything, let me know and I’ll tell Roark.” He smiled. “I will always love you Sophie. Please know that you and the baby are the world to me. I’m just happy I can at least be around in some form.”

  My mother started humming the “Wedding March”. When Drake gave me a pleading look, I couldn’t help but laugh. As they began to disappear, I heard someone moving around in the room. I looked over to my right, finding Ethan’s hand searching for mine in his sleep. I hadn’t realized his head was lying on the bed.

  Running my fingers through his hair, I sighed. Ethan blinked and lifted his head, eyes widening.

  “Sophie, you’re awake.”

  “You’re alive.” I ran my hand down the side of his face. “And you have a beard.”

  Grinning, he nodded.

  I gasped. Fangs! He had freaking fangs. “Ethan...” I pointed to his mouth.

  He touched them. “After you attempted to save me, the Ancestors’ magic was strong enough to start my heart again. The venom started flowing through me, then the change happened.”

  “Holy shit. I can’t believe this.” Shaking my head, I ran a finger down one of his fangs, tempted to let it prick my finger. “How long have I been unconscious?”

  Ethan frowned. “Three weeks. It’s been touch and go. Nobody knew why you weren’t healing. The Mages said the Ancestors’ magic had been torn from you and caused a lot of internal damage that wasn’t repairable, despite your Vampire healing.”

  “How did they do the ritual with Heather? I thought that had to be completed first?” I was confused.

  “Some of your blood was left at the scene of the car accident. It was enough to revive Heather. She’s human, just like she wanted. I know it sucks that she lives, but she promises to stay out of your life.”

  I laughed. “I doubt becoming human will redeem any of her wrongdoings, but whatever. I’m glad they were able to complete the Trials to destroy the gate.”

  I looked around. “Where are the babies? I need to see them,” I said, eager to hold them in my arms.

  Ethan stood and pulled over a baby bed where the twins slept quietly. I leaned over to look at them, smiling. Relief filled me at seeing they were completely fine. Shaking my head, tears fell down my cheeks. I failed them as a mother. I failed my people. Even worse, I failed Drake.

  “You did what you had to, Sophie. Drake is still around...in a way. Just know you did all you could.”

  One of the babies moved, revealing a scar on the side of his face. “What’s that?”

  Ethan shrugged. “I have no idea. He was born that way.”

  Then it dawned on me. “When Desmos stabbed me in the stomach...”

  Shaking his head, Ethan brushed the baby’s cheek. “This is Drake’s son.”

  “Did a lot of people die?” I asked.

  Nodding, Ethan sat again. “We can talk about that later.”

  “Tell me. I need to know.”

  He scowled. “So you can blame yourself?”

  “I need to know, Ethan. They’re my people.”

  Sighing, he stared at the babies. He ran a finger over the girl’s head. “Carlos barely lived. How he managed to survive what happened to him, I have no idea. Jenna and Roark are fine. They had a lot of injuries, but with Vampire healing, they’re okay.”

  “Brian?” I asked.

  Ethan looked away. “He’s fine. He was in a coma up until yesterday.”

  Relief filled me. “I’m so glad they’re okay.” When Ethan didn’t say anything else, I furrowed my brows. “What aren’t you telling me?”

  “Maggie–”

  “Please tell me she’s okay.” I felt tears welling.

  Patting my hand, Ethan smiled. “She’s okay now, but she suffered a lot of injuries. The scars are going to be bad, Sophie.”

  “We can use magic to make it better,” I told him.

  “Sophie, it was demon magic. There’s no repairing that.”

  I let the tears fall. It was too exhausting to constantly be brave in the face of danger. When all was said and done, I just wanted to let go. Just let the tears wash away the pain. At least I had Ethan and the babies. They were okay. I didn’t know what I would have done if I were the only one who lived.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  “That poopy diaper is yours,” I said, shaking my head.

  Ethan screwed up his face. “I changed the last one. I think I’m losing on the deal of ours.”

  I shrugged. “Still not feeling well enough to do more than one a day. Hand cramps... You know how those are.” I shook my head and grimaced, rubbing my hand as if I were in the middle of one.

  Chuckling, Ethan picked up Roxy. We named Drake’s son Dylan. So far, there hadn’t be a problem with magic between them, but I felt it pulsing just beneath the surface. It was strong.

  Just as we planned, we bound Dylan’s magic. He cried for an entire week afterward. I felt bad, like I took a little piece of him away. We did the same thing to Roxy, but she seemed less upset about it.

  “Oh, you bound his powers!”

  Both Ethan and I turned to see Merlin standing in the doorway of the living room. We decided to live on the Witch campus for a time because we weren’t sure about the new house as of yet. Maybe we just needed some time away from it. I hoped that was all it took, considering Ethan spent a lot of money on it.

  “We had to. The prophecy,” I said.

  Merlin nodded, then rolled his eyes. “You should let him choose his own path. Your grandmother may think she knows everything, but–”

  “I do know everything, just
like I know I can kick your ass.” Mary appeared behind Merlin, making him yelp.

  “You’re a Witch!” He glared at her, then moved a few feet away.

  Mary walked over. Diaper changed, Ethan laid Roxy next to Dylan again so Mary could see them. “They are so adorable. You will be strong magic users, won’t you? Yes, you will. Yes, you will!” She clapped her hands and blew raspberries at them. The babies just lay there, not reacting. I didn’t expect anything else out of them.

  Sitting next to me, Mary placed a hand on my thigh. I felt the need to move away because I still didn’t know her that well, but I sat where I was, forcing out a smile. She sighed happily. “Where is Taco? How is he liking the kids?”

  Frowning, I looked around for him. He was still upset at himself for not being able to save me from Desmos. I told him it wasn’t his fault, but he refused to accept that. However, that didn’t stop him from tearing into food. A few nights ago, the little asshat managed to get into the fridge and eat the cheese I had left in there for dinner.

  “He’s okay with them. He doesn’t spend a lot of time in the same room. When they have a poopy diaper, he gets really pissed off and leaves the room for an hour.” I rolled my eyes.

  Mary laughed, tossing back her blonde hair. “He wants to be the baby. Poor little man. He is used to getting all the attention. Now he has to share it.”

  “That’s his problem?” Ethan asked, surprised. “I wouldn’t think it’d bother him that much. He seems to want his independence and hates when we bother him.”

  “He’s an old man, but he likes the attention. Don’t let him fool you.” Mary turned to Merlin, who held Dylan.

  I played with the necklace around my neck, thinking about how it no longer connected me to the Ancestors. But it still held a lot of power. I sensed some of their magic still inside. I was relieved to know I could rely on it if I ever needed the extra boost. I also had the object Ethan had allowed Mikey to use when tracking Drake. Knowing my life, things could become complicated in a moment’s notice.