“But—” I started, and she held up a hand, stopping me.
“I do not wish to hear it, Gabriel. I don’t care who started it—” It was like she knew exactly what I wanted to say next. “—but I am going to be the one who ends it.” She twirled in her tiny heels before saying, “If I hear another peep from either one of you, I swear…” Her voice slowly disappeared as she walked back up the stairs.
Sighing, I looked to John to see if he was still on the brink of going all black-eyed and sharp-toothed. To my surprise and irritation he was fine.
John remained firmly planted where he stood. “I did not come here to start a fight.” He dug his hands in his pockets, probably to conceal his curled fists.
I felt my facial muscles twisting and contorting. It took every ounce of my willpower not to sock him in the face right there.
He continued to stare at me, glaring long after I gave him the middle-finger salute.
Chapter Eighteen – Kass
Biting your fingernails was a terrible habit. Fact. One could always argue that terrible was a subjective word, but whatever. To me, biting nails was a terrible habit, one that I should stop doing. Right now.
Could I stop? Yeah, sure. Theoretically, I could stop chewing on them any moment now.
Would I stop? Nope. No freaking way. There was no way that I could physically force myself to stop biting my nails. I, personally, blamed it on the stress that my life had been racking up.
What else could I blame it on?
Taiton hovered over my shoulder like my own private dark defender.
Huh. Look at that crack on the kitchen table. How long had that been here? I decided to tear my nail from my teeth and play with the crack I freshly discovered, picking at it absentmindedly. A movement in the corner of my eye disrupted my anxious table-picking. Alyssa sat quietly across from me, dark eyes digging through me, like she had something important to say.
“Your friend—”
I interrupted her without a second thought, “Claire.”
She straightened herself out, correcting herself, “Claire is not doing well. From what I already know, I was able to slow the poison, but I’m afraid that she doesn’t have much time left.”
A tense hand ran through my hair and before I knew it, I said, “Well, couldn’t you do some research or something? Don’t you know of anything that could cure her?” I watched her shake her head.
“I’m sorry, Kass,” she was quick to say, “I slowed the poison’s path, giving her more time—another day, at best—but I could do nothing else for her.” Alyssa shook her head, creating a whirlwind of curly black hair. “I’ve never encountered anything like that. If you don’t mind me asking, what was it that did this to her?”
“Crixis,” I stated the simplest answer.
She blinked. “Crixis? Who’s that?”
I could have said many different things. One: the insane psychopath who’s been after me since I was born. Two: the guy who’s nearly killed me on multiple occasions. Three: the root of the whole Osiris thing. Four: the Daywalker who killed my mother and my father. Five: the evilest monster around.
I chose to say the most obvious thing. “The reason I put on the ring,” I said, fiddling with the ring that was still on my ring finger. I supposed I could take it off now.
“What is he?”
Alyssa was just one with the questions today, wasn’t she? It was natural, since she’d been gone for a while and she basically had no freaking idea what went on around here.
“He’s a Daywalker,” I paused, not knowing how else to describe him. “An ancient one. But he’s not normal. He can gain the power of anything he eats. His bite’s venomous because of that.”
“I’ve never heard of anything like that,” Alyssa was measured to say. “And, um—” She gained her awkward Alyssa charisma that I used to know so well. “—who is that?” Her small finger lifted nonchalantly toward Taiton.
I glimpsed at Taiton, stone-silent once more. If you didn’t know him, he would seem intimidating. Who wouldn’t feel threatened when staring up at Taiton as close to eye-to-eye as you could get?
“He’s my bodyguard.” Hearing the phrase out loud, my eyebrows furrowed.
She shifted in her seat, eyes falling to her lap. “And does he know—”
“That you’re a Witch? Yes, I know,” Taiton spoke plainly, glancing at Alyssa for only a moment before turning his eyes to me. “I also know about the other greater Vampires.”
I was off to defend the guys without realizing it, “What Vampires?”
“There are three currently in this house. Don’t try to hide the truth from me. I can sense them.”
“Amazing.” Alyssa had a look of wonder in her brown eyes. “How is that possible?”
“It’s what I do” was his answer.
I bit my lip. This wasn’t good. The Council Agent knew about the Daywalkers and the Witch. “Are you gonna—” My voice stopped when I watched Taiton shake his head.
“I am contracted to purify Crixis,” he paused, “and only Crixis. I will do nothing against your Vampire friends for now.” Friends was a bit of an understatement/overstatement, depending on which Daywalker we were talking about. “But I do have to write it in my report. The Council will do with it what they want.”
I feigned a smile, my inner self knowing that the Council was anti-Demon all the way. There were no good Demons. Claire, Alyssa, Rain—they’d all get purified before the world could rest and the Council thought itself was no longer needed.
Great.
There was a knock on the door, and I went to answer it. I already knew who it was.
“Where is she?” Steven commanded while I was still in the process of opening the door. His white hair sat ruffled, sticking every which way, and his brown eyes held apprehension. Didn’t surprise me, considering what I told him over the phone an hour or so ago.
For some reason, I couldn’t formulate a response, so I simply turned and led him down the hallway that, until recent times, I had barely known. Now I knew this hallway like Gabriel knew Star Wars.
The metal doorknob was cold on my hand, and I wanted with all of my heart to pretend that this wasn’t happening. But it was happening, and I had to face it, just like everyone else did. Breathing in slowly, I turned the handle and pushed the door open.
“Claire” was Steven’s only uttered word as he walked around Max and gently sat on the foot of the bed.
My feet took me to his side, my hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry,” I whispered, eyes falling to the sweat on Claire’s brow. Right now she was in a peaceful state, meaning that she wasn’t shivering in seizure-like fits.
“How did this happen?” Steven blinked, stunned.
“Remember the Vampire you saved me from?” I watched the recognition dawn in his eyes. “He came here and…attacked Claire.”
His dark stare rose above my own as he stood. “He came here to attack Claire? Why?”
“No,” I said, shaking my head. My voice shook a bit, guilt overtaking me. “He came here for me, but Claire stepped in and…” I paused. “It all happened so fast.”
“I’m sure you did all you could,” Steven was hasty to say, though it didn’t sound as though he really believed it.
“This is my fault.”
“Don’t blame yourself. Those who want to hurt others always find a way.” He seemed to speak from experience. “You are her best friend, remember that.”
I winced.
I was her best friend. Yeah, right. If I was her best friend, I should have done something to save her.
“Kass.”
Hearing my name whispered creepily multiple times, I sat straight up. I blinked to get my eyes used to the absolute darkness in my bedroom. Truthfully I couldn’t see a thing. That was always a good sign, wasn’t it?
Panic overtook me, causing me to fly to the nearest lamp and twist the knob. The dim light created scary shadows that made my room appear like it was taken directly from a horror
movie. With this terrible lighting condition, everything looked a thousand times more unsettling and disturbing.
I spun, hoping to find Taiton in his usual spot in the corner by my bed. But he wasn’t there. He wasn’t anywhere. I didn’t know where Taiton was, and I didn’t know who was breathing out my name in the weirdest way.
“Kass.”
It was a man’s voice.
A loud creak broke the stillness of the room, making me skip to the wooden culprit. Seconds later the door was firmly closed and I was in the process of walking back to my bed when I noticed the window curtains flowing in the wind.
The wind that came in through my open window.
With haste I pulled the window down and locked it. It was like my room was possessed.
“Alone. Finally.”
The elongation of the last word was the last piece of the puzzle I needed. The voice in my room belonged to Crixis. I should have known. Who else would be this chillingly creepy?
As the moonlight hit my face, I couldn’t help but curse in my head. I tried moving my legs, but they refused to listen. Just like that time when I got the piss beat out of me all those weeks ago.
“No running—” I felt the tingle of his breath on the back of my neck. “—no interruptions—” He ran his index finger along my arm. “—no tricks.” With a harsh motion, he grabbed my arms and jerked me closer, so that my back was flat against his front.
His lips brushed my ear, “It’s just you and me now. I don’t know about you—” There was a pause as he bent his head down, giving his eyes the opportunity to stare down my shirt. “—but I like it.”
The stupid creep.
“Go to hell,” I managed to say, between my failed attempts to struggle and break free. I couldn’t move a muscle; it was like he controlled me, stopping me from doing any physical movement. It was tough to even talk.
Crixis laughed shortly, saying, “Don’t you have anything new to say to me? After all this time, I would have pegged you as a quick-witted, silver-tongued girl. So far, you’ve been a little disappointing.”
“Why don’t you let me go?” I said, mock seriousness, “And then we’ll see if I still disappoint.” I knew it was a long-shot, but sometimes those long-shots paid off.
“Ooh,” he whispered in my ear, his hot breath warm on my neck, “that is tempting, I’ll admit, but I’m afraid I can’t do that. I have all the power here, and I’m not keen on letting it go.”
“What have you done with Taiton?” I demanded, wishing furiously that the answer would be nothing to do with torture. I’d rather have a quick death, if I had a say.
“You don’t get it, do you?” Crixis was swift to say, “The pathetic assassin isn’t here. He never was.” I opened my mouth to say something, but he continued, “Because this isn’t real.”
“What do you mean?” I stuttered, mixing up my words. This was getting creepier by the minute, not to mention Twilight Zone-y.
“Kass,” he made my name last longer than it should have, “if I tell you, it’ll end our intimate moment. You have to figure it out on your own or disregard it entirely. Now, I didn’t bring you here just so we could trade threats.”
My eyebrows went together. How could he bring me here, in my own house? That made no sense.
Crixis softly moved my hair to my other shoulder, creating a hair-free space for his chin to rest on. “Heed my words very carefully: your Morpher friend is dying, and there’s only one thing you can do to save her from turning into a mindless lesser Vampire.”
With his gaze inflexibly locked on me, he slowly made his way to my front and stood, which put less than a centimeter between us. For some odd reason, I couldn’t look away from his bright green eyes that were far too vivid for this darkened room.
The images of his murdered wife and child flashed in my mind, and the vision of him falling to his knees came soon after.
For a split second, and before I realized what I was doing, I felt sorry for him. Then I remembered everything he’d done, and that he was the root of all trouble in my life, and that feeling rapidly subsided.
“What?” My question came out as a whisper.
Our faces were so close that his nose brushed mine. “I can save her…but only if you help me in return.”
The proximity of his lips near my own made it extremely hard to focus. What happened if he kissed me—or worse—and I couldn’t do anything to stop him? I’d rather die.
It took me a while to reply, “Help you with what?” If he could save her, if he wasn’t lying to me—would it be worth putting my hatred aside?
Not that I believed him, or anything he said. I trusted him about as far as I could throw him, and just because I had abnormal strength didn’t mean I was that strong.
“For the time being, we need to unite.”
“Unite?” I inhaled sharply, feeling his finger traveling up my arm and down my back.
“We have to unite against her.”
“Her?” I spoke the word faintly, softly.
“Your interruptions are forcing us to run out of time,” Crixis muttered, placing his hand on my lower back. Tingles shot through my spine, sending chills to my every nerve. “Think about it—” His hand drew me closer, the closest I could get to him without being inside him.
This wasn’t going as planned. My stupid hands wouldn’t even form fists. The only thing that wasn’t failing me was my mind. My body—apparently I couldn’t count on it.
“—but not for too long, because tomorrow night, she will die,” Crixis finished, “unless you do the right thing and agree to assist me.”
“If you step foot in the house, they’ll kill you.”
His eyes traveled downward once more. Talk about awkward. Before a little while ago, I had no inkling what it felt like to have an evil monster check me out. Oh, wait; wrong again. I had John.
“You have to give me more credit than that.” His emerald eyes returned to mine. “No one can kill me. I will give you until three. Be prepared to stick with your decision for the rest of your life.”
My mouth opened to say something about three, but he shushed me by saying “We’re out of time.”
The last thing I remembered was him smirking and lowering his lips to mine.
The cold. So, so cold.
I sat upright in my snug covers, jerking awake. Trembling fingers reached to my lips and tried wiping the memory away.
Taiton’s large figure was beside my bed in an instant, creating a giant shadow that engulfed nearly my whole bed. “What’s wrong?”
“Um,” I paused, glimpsing around, “nothing.” There was nothing eerie about my room anymore. Everything was normal, to a point. It still looked as if a bomb exploded, moved my furniture, and blasted my knick-knacks everywhere. “Nothing at all,” I repeated confidently when I realized that it was all a dream.
It was a dream. Just a terrible, weird, awful dream that I never wanted to experience again.
Still…something wasn’t right here. The feeling of Crixis touching me was far too real to be just a dream. There had to be something else going on. There had to be.
I raced out of my sheets, left my room, and ran down the stairs. I turned into the living room to find Gabriel, Liz and Michael deep in conversation and Alyssa, Rain and John in their own. Gabriel and Max weren’t at school today, since, well, Gabriel was here and Max was probably with Claire. Did they sleep at all?
Tapping Gabriel’s shoulder and ignoring the eyes of Rain and John, I asked, “Where’s Raphael?”
Gabriel rattled off the answer without a second thought, “The library.” His insanely blue eyes glistened as I spun on my heel to walk back up the stairs. I heard him say “Wait. Why?” But I was too far gone to bother answering.
I had a twinge of guilt for Taiton, who followed me to the dime, but then remembered that he was beyond fit, so he was used to running up countless of flights of stairs all the time.
“Raphael,” I spoke after I entered the library’s do
ors. Glancing around, I found no one, so I repeated his name at a louder level, “Raphael?” A movement to my left caught my eye. The certain Daywalker/ex-priest-cloth-wearing man I was looking for walked toward me with a curious glint in his eyes.
The sight of him in his normal, everyday clothes was something I still wasn’t used to. It’s true that it’d only been a few days, but still. Raphael in a regular shirt was definitely a sight to behold.
“Good morning, Kass.” Raphael glanced at Taiton and nodded in his direction, which was his way of acknowledging his presence. “Is there something you wanted?”
Yes, because we weren’t friends or buddies. I only spoke to him when I wanted something from him.
Nodding, I came up with my reply, “I wanted to know if there’s a record that details the—” I lowered my voice so Taiton couldn’t hear me. “—types of Demons Crixis has consumed.”
Raphael took hold of my arm and dragged me away from Taiton, who stayed put, hopefully because we were still in the same room and he could still watch me like a hawk. “And why would you want to see something like that?” He posed a good question.
“Because,” I dragged the word out for a long as I possibly could, “I’m curious.”
Squinting his green eyes, he responded, “You are far too curious for your own good, you know that?”
A genuine, albeit small, smile formed on my face. “You’re not the first one to tell me that.”
“Somehow I’m not surprised.” Raphael’s light haired head motioned for me to follow him. “I actually think I know what it is you want to see.” As he made his way through the shelves and shelves of ancient books, I kept my eyes firmly glued to his back.
Raphael and I had a bipolar relationship lately.
“Ah.” Raphael stopped without a warning, causing me to walk straight into his back. “I do believe this is what you’re looking for.” Breaking eye contact, he put a finger on the binding of a leather-bound book, pulled it out, and handed it to me.
It was a smaller book, compared to the others it was surrounded by, covered with dust and cobwebs. Clearly no one had gone looking for this book in a while. The front cover was marked by two words, Demon Directory, in extremely fancy and hard to read writing.
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