Octavian's Undoing (Sons of Judgment)

by Airicka Phoenix

  “Yessss,” he hissed, tightening his hold until her lips tingled and her eyes threatened to pop out of her skull. “Fight. I love when they fight. I love watching the fire die from their eyes.”

  No! I won’t die here!

  It took all her strength to fumble along the table beneath her for something, anything, she could use as a weapon. Somewhere at the back of her mind, somewhere behind the screaming voices, there was a spark of understanding that if she could just get him off her, she could run. It was that voice she clung to.

  “Such a waste killing something so tasty,” he was saying when she focused. “But orders are orders and mine are to kill you.”

  “W… who…?” she croaked.

  He said nothing and Riley could no longer stand the lack of oxygen to care. Her boots skid off the table with every violent kick. The thudding clashed with the crash of her heart in her chest. The stench of rot burned the skin on her cheeks and the curled her nostrils hairs. Her eyes began to water. The foul odor intensified as his maw opened wider, exposing his canines. Her head was jerked back by the hairs on her crown, exposing her bobbing jugular.

  Oh God, she was going to die!

  Riley squished her eyes shut, focusing on Octavian’s face. The last sight she wanted to remember in the afterlife was jagged teeth. She wanted to remember Octavian’s beautiful eyes and his breathtaking smile and the way his hair glinted in the light. She wanted his laugh and the sound of his baritone voice to be the soundtrack in her ear for the rest of her hereafter.

  Damn it. I didn’t tell him I loved him. And now it was too late.

  “Hey!”

  The voice was the thing of angels. Riley had never in her life been so relieved to hear anything, even if it was slightly unfamiliar. But at that moment, her own voice sounded unfamiliar in her ears as she gasped, choking on the razor sharp bits of serrated blade embedded into every gulp of air as the noose around her throat loosened. Somehow, she managed to roll off the table, landing with an excruciating thud on her injured shoulder. Her scream of pain was swallowed by the grunts and groans only feet away.

  Above her, she was vaguely aware of bodies slamming into each other. Something struck the preparation table, sending everything on top teetering to the ground, nearly impaling Riley with a carving knife.

  Riley stared at it as it struck the ground inches from her nose, disgusted. Where the fuck were you when I needed you?

  Rather than waste time waiting for an answer that would never come, Riley pulled herself together and pushed up with her good arm. Her insides rebelled, roiling, making her want to curl back up on the cold floor. But there was no time for that either. She swiped the back of her hand over her mouth, collecting tears, snot and blood that she wiped dismissively on her coat. Then, with the hand that wasn’t throbbing like someone had replaced the bone with a white hot branding iron, she reached for the blade. Maybe it was because she wasn’t left handed, but the thing weighed a ton in her grasp. She nearly dropped it once before she caught it clumsily and staggered to her feet.

  Valkyrie had the creature in a fierce and impressive power hold. Their fingers, hers slender and delicate, his large and bloody, were interlocked as they fought to throw the other off. The creature was winning. He had Valkyrie backed into the counter, nearly crushing her as he bore down. His back was to Riley, giving her the perfect advantage.

  “Run you idiot!” Valkyrie snarled, giving Riley’s perfect advantage away in a hand basket.

  The creature, having now realized Riley was up and armed, shoved Valkyrie with a force that should have shattered every bone in her perfect body into the wall. Valkyrie struck and bounced off like a ragdoll, landing in a heap on the ground and leaving Riley completely at the creature’s mercy.

  “Do you honestly think you can kill me with that?” he mocked, moving fluidly towards her.

  Riley tightened her grip on the plastic grip. “I’m going to bloody try!” she answered, feeling much braver than she ought to.

  The creature wheezed his raspy laugh. “Mated to a Caster and yet you know nothing of my kind.” He backed Riley into the counter behind her. “You can’t kill me with a mortal weapon, foolish girl.”

  Yeah, that was probably something Octavian should have mentioned, she mused silently.

  The blade was wrenched free of her grasp and twisted around so the sharp point was tucked beneath her chin. It happened so fast, Riley didn’t even have time to blink.

  He smirked at her stunned expression. “If a room full of Casters couldn’t succeed in killing me, what makes you think you can?”

  “Because I have an angelic weapon!”

  The sleek, silver dagger pierced through the creature’s left shoulder, protruding through his chest. The thing howled, whirling around, arm swinging. But he seemed slower in his movement. Valkyrie nimbly ducked the blow, coming up with an uppercut that snapped the creature’s head back. She whirled on her towering boots and planted the rubber sole grips straight in the creature’s gut, sending him flying across the room as though she’d kicked a kitten.

  She paused for only a split second to pin Riley with a stare that could kill a bear. “Get your ass out of here. Now!” Then she stomped to where the creature lay in a tangle of arms and legs and the folds of his crumpled duster. His hat had flown off and he didn’t look so frightening now with Valkyrie standing like an Amazon over him.

  Riley took the command as directed. She ran through the kitchen doors into an absolute nightmare.

  Chapter 37

  There was blood everywhere, blood and the fallen bodies of everyone she loved. They lay crumpled, in awkward angles, across the floors. Reggie was the only one slumped back against the bar, head lulling to the side, blood trickling down the corner of his mouth and drenching his clothes. Gideon was face down on the stage, a spray of blood dripping down the wall above him. Liam was on his back with Kyaerin only a foot away from him, curled onto her side as though sleeping. Riley would have believed it if it weren’t for the thick puddle beneath her from the dark stain in her side.

  Riley stumbled back, her hands flying up to cover her face, but the horror had forever imprinted into the back of her eyelids. A sob lodged in her throat. She choked on it, gasping as she turned, searching, but not wanting to, not wanting to see… too late. She found him. She took three steps past the counter and there he was, facedown, unmoving, covered in blood. It matted his hair and clothes. It glowed angry against his skin.

  “No… no… no!” She had no idea she’d made a sound until the low, tortured whine drummed in her ears, momentarily muffling the buzz already residing there.

  As though her mind no longer controlled her body, it moved without any consent from her brain. It shuffled over to his prone body and dropped, bruising both knees, but not caring. Hands that had been hers her entire life felt foreign as they turned him over.

  He was pale, all the gold leached from his skin. Blood stained his face, splashing up from the four claw marks running from left shoulder to right waist. His hands were raw, the knuckles torn and pulled back from bone. There was a cut running lengthwise across his cheek, but it was shallow.

  “Octavian?” Her voice sounded small and pathetic even to her own ears.

  Her hands reached for him, planted on his chest. She shook him like maybe that might wake him up. Not even the flutter of an eyelash.

  “Octavian!” She shook him harder, fisting his shirt now and using her entire weight. “Don’t you dare die on me! Don’t you dare!”

  Sniveling, she swiped impatiently at the tears tracking down her cheeks with a bloodstained hand. It left a streak of crimson across her ashen face. She didn’t notice. Desperate, she bent down, pressing her ear to his chest, held her breath, closed her eyes and listened.

  “Riley?”

  The familiar voice nearly sent her clean out of her skin. She jumped so high, she lost her balance and toppled over in her haste to see who had snuck up on her.

  There, haloed by the light spi
lling through open doorway behind her, Daphne stared at her, gray eyes enormous against her pale face.

  Stunned into silence, Riley was never given a chance to say a word when a crash resounded from the kitchen, followed by more thuds and a groan. Any hopes that Daphne may have missed that evaporated when the other girl’s jaw dropped. Her eyes darted over the room, taking in the blood and bodies. What little color she’d possessed washed out so quickly, Riley feared she might faint.

  “Daph—”

  The kitchen door flew open and Valkyrie charged out, two silver daggers in each hand, looking ferocious and scary as all hell in her leather getup.

  “Fucker bolted,” she snarled, kicking the counter viciously with the toe of her boot. “Typical coward.” Her blue eyes jumped from Riley huddled next to Octavian’s unmoving body to the open doorway and a petrified Daphne. They bulged a second before they seemed to ignite with fury. “Another fucking human? Are you fucking kidding me? How the… oh you run and I’ll kill you!” she hissed when Daphne looked about ready to bolt. “Who the hell are you?”

  “So in the wrong place…” Daphne moaned, but at least she made no move to run.

  Riley was pretty certain Valkyrie wasn’t joking about killing her, even if it was forbidden for a Caster to kill humans. The girl looked about ready to tear the head off a kitten if it pissed her off. But at that moment, Riley didn’t care about anything but bringing Octavian back.

  “Do something,” she pleaded to the girl. “Forget her!” she snapped when Valkyrie opened her mouth. “Please…” She dropped filmy eyes to Octavian’s face. “Don’t let him die. I’ll do any…” she broke off with a sob.

  Valkyrie stared at her, a look of bafflement on her pretty face. “He’s immortal. He can’t die unless his body is burned. Get some healing ointment and—”

  Riley sniffled. “What?”

  Valkyrie rolled her eyes. “Get the—”

  “Not that!” She smeared more blood across her cheek as she wiped at tears. “He’s not dead?”

  The look Valkyrie gave her was one most people reserved for really stupid people. Riley would have been highly offended if she wasn’t still reeling from what she was being told.

  “He,” Valkyrie said very slowly, “is immortal. He,” she punctuated again, “can’t die unless you set his ass on fire… literally.”

  Trembling with relief, Riley scuttled onto her knees and leaned over Octavian. She pressed her ear to his chest and held her breath. And there it was, soft and steady in the hard cavity of his chest. The sound was the most beautiful thing she’d ever heard in her life. It was like the song of life, the reason for her living. She closed her eyes and drowned in it.

  Valkyrie stomped further into the room and took another survey of the carnage. “Man I would hate to be the one to clean this up.”

  “Can I go home now?” Daphne peeped, still huddled in front of the door, clutching her enormous purse.

  Valkyrie glowered at her. “Sit!” She jabbed at a nearby chair with the end of one of her daggers. “Breathe and I’ll cut your throat out.”

  Riley raised her head off its resting place on Octavian’s chest and glanced at the others. “Will they all be all right?” she asked as Daphne scuttled deeper into the room and dropped into the chair indicated.

  “Immortal,” Valkyrie sing-songed in an aggravated tone.

  Riley wiped her face with the sleeve of her coat. Then, without a word, she leapt to her feet and tackled Valkyrie in a fierce embrace, catching the other girl completely off guard.

  “What the…”

  “Thank you!” Riley said, squeezing her tight. “You saved our lives.”

  Stiff as an ironing board, Valkyrie just stood there, arms down at her sides. “Uh… okay.”

  Riley drew back to peer into her face. “He would have killed all of them if you hadn’t shown up. I owe you everything.”

  Valkyrie shifted back several steps, putting space between her and Riley. The look on her face was comical, like a spooked rabbit. “Don’t… mention it? It’s my job… I think… just… stay there, ‘k?” She motioned to where Riley was already standing. “I’m going to go find the healing ointment… and my sanity.”

  With a last dubious glance at Riley, Valkyrie turned on her heels and marched into the kitchen. The door swung closed behind her and Riley was left alone with a very frightened Daphne.

  Very slowly, Riley turned to the other girl.

  “I know this seems very strange,” she began slowly, keeping her tone light.

  Daphne shook her head, paused, and shrugged. “No, I get it.”

  Riley blinked. “You do?”

  Daphne shrugged again. “You’re part of some cult and everyone but you drank the Kool Aid, right?”

  “Uh… not quite…”

  Thankfully, Valkyrie took that moment to return carrying a familiar basket full of canisters and bottles. She set it down on the counter and shrugged out of her long, leather coat. She dropped that down on the counter.

  Underneath, she wore a short, leather halter with leather bands wrapped around both arms in spirals down to her wrists. She wore impossibly tight leather pants that looked like they could deflect just about any kind of water as well as cut all circulation. The girl really liked leather, Riley mused.

  “All right, you, twiggy.” She pointed to Daphne. “You get the fat head over there.” She flicked a dismissive finger towards Gideon.

  “I’m not twiggy!” Daphne muttered. “I’m naturally slender and I don’t do cosplay, but thanks.”

  Valkyrie ignored her. “Little Miss Touchy-Feely, you get your boy toy and I’ll—”

  “I can’t,” Riley murmured, looking longingly at Octavian. “I can’t touch him.”

  Valkyrie expelled a lungful of exasperated air. “All right, I’ll get him. You get the other one.” She pointed to Reggie.

  She tossed each of them a small, gold canister. It was the size of a compact, sleek and filled with a smooth, white cream that smelled of mint and something Riley couldn’t put a finger on.

  “It’s monkey poop,” Valkyrie said, catching Riley sniffing the cream.

  Riley jerked her arm back. “Seriously?”

  Smirking, Valkyrie started for Octavian. “Could be.”

  Glowering at her, Riley moved to where Reggie sat slumped against the bottom of the bar. Gingerly, she pulled his body down to a more comfortable position and lifted his shirt over the long gashes and the single puncture wound just beneath his ribs.

  “Wow…”

  Riley jumped. She hadn’t heard Daphne come up behind her. “Geez!”

  “Those look so real!” Daphne gasped, starring bug-eyed at Reggie’s beautifully sculpted frame. It wasn’t nearly as impressive as Octavian’s, but it was all right, in Riley’s opinion. “And he is so much hotter without his clothes on!”

  “Hey, keep the girly hormones to a low simmer. Get to work,” Valkyrie shot after them. She already had Octavian’s chest covered in the cream.

  Daphne rolled her eyes. “So are they roleplaying or something? I mean, they’re not going to jump up and scare the shit out of us are they ‘cause I only brought one pair of underwear.”

  “No,” Riley murmured, dipping three fingers into the cream and gingerly applying it to a cut running lengthwise down Reggie’s abdomen. The cut faded, then dissolved altogether so the flesh became as flawless as before.

  Giving Reggie a last appreciative once over, Daphne shuffled over to Gideon.

  “What does this stuff do?” Daphne asked, following Riley’s lead and dabbing cream on Gideon’s shoulder. “Oh hey! That’s pretty cool. It wipes the makeup off.” She leaned in closer, nose nearly touching Gideon’s chest as she squinted at a nasty wound slicing apart flesh to reveal bone. “That looks so real! You can see bone and everything. You guys take playing Dungeons and Dragons to a whole new level of extreme.”

  Riley made no comment, not sure the girl could handle the truth just yet. Plus, she wasn’t sure s
he wanted to be the one to tell her.

  They were nearly done when the front door opened and Magnus marched in. He took one look at the room and cursed.

  “What the fuck happened?” He ran to his mother, dropping down at her side and scooping her tiny body up out of the blood.