Still resolved, he leaned closer. "Tell me your birthday."
"March seventeenth," I said with a little irritability. "Please, let's not go down this road. We're here to have fun tonight and-"
"My birth date is March seventeenth," he barely said above a whisper. His hands slipped from my grasp and cupped them instead. "At 4:35 in the afternoon."
I shook my head and started to speak over his increasing protests. "I don't even know what time I was born. Listen, Kayden and Ursula are going to come over here and get the wrong idea."
"What idea would that be?" Ursula snapped from behind me. Her face looked livid, as if someone had lit a roman candle under her behind. She reached out past me and took a hold of Leo's arm, pulling him to her side. "That you're flirting with him yet again? You'd better be damn thankful I don't have anything heavy to swing at you with tonight, Essallie."
"Would you just get the hell off your high horse?" My voice grew as I stepped closer, fists clenched tight. One good shot in the face and she'd never have to worry about any male ever loving her again, least not physically. "He was sharing an idea with me about finding my Watcher. You know, that person I'm supposed to bind to and save my soul from burning alive?"
"Quite frankly," she seethed between her pearly whites. "I don't give a damn if you find your person and live or burn to a crisp like a piece of processed fish stick. Let's go, Leo." She pulled him up the steps and out of sight, my last glimpse of Leo being his pitiful stare as he looked over his shoulder, mouthing something to me.
"Essallie, have a minute?" Kayden came over, his expression neutral. I wondered if I had pissed him off somehow, too. "There's someone I'd like to introduce you to."
A tall, thin dark haired woman with skin as fair as buttermilk came around Kayden, dressed in a long flowing gown of fabric that reminded me of the midnight sky. Her dark brown almond shaped eyes matched the perfect pout of her lips and light blush on the tops of her cheekbones. Black hair spun in a perfectly slick braid coiled like a tamed snake over her shoulder and down to her hips. While her body appeared frail and dainty her presence was one that commanded power without question.
"So you must be the Nephilim, a first in over three hundred years. What a curious race, one foot in the realm of immortals, one in the realm of death," the Queen lamented with a kind smile that didn't touch her eyes. She gave a small nod and turned swiftly to head up the stairs, the train of her dress flowing. "The show's about to start, let us go."
"Come on, let's get to our seats," Kayden took me by the arm and led us into the fabric just past the stairs. We found ourselves at the top of a staggeringly high set of stadium seating. A small space halfway down, two empty chairs, awaited us.
We took our seats just as the lights were dimmed, a single spotlight trained on the center ring of the circus stage down below. Trumpets blaring an intimidating opening fell quiet as drums pounded. A gentleman, the balding man who owned the Apothecary, stepped out to the sound of rigorous applause and whistles. His emerald green suit went against the bright red shoes and checkered print blouse he wore.
"Greetings all to the Circus of Bizarre, an annual tradition here at Charon! I am the great Ringmaster Rooney here to show you everything that will go wrong, silly, and downright mischievous," he finished with a twist of his mustache. "Be patient ladies and gentlemen, for a surprise waits behind our door, like our residential lion full of roar!"
A light came to life in the far left end, spotlighting a woman in a nude suit and a fake crest of hair framing her face. She gave a sultry little pose before morphing into a full-sized lion. The crowd started to clap enthusiastically as I seemed to be the only one confused.
Leaning in to Kayden's shoulder I did my best to whisper as quietly as I could. "They're using shape-shifters instead of real animals?"
He nodded enthusiastically as he kept his eyes glued to the circus floor. "That's our version of a circus. In case you haven't noticed, we don't really follow a standard protocol."
I sat back in my seat, frowning. A circus was supposed to be about animals doing tricks, knowing that at any given moment they could snap and eat the ringmaster or go insane and stampede through the crowd. But who was I to judge? It had been obvious from the start that nothing ran like it did in the mortal half of the world. It was only fitting a circus would be as perversely weird and as unusually different than anything else in the world.
The acts continued one by one, each animal starting off as a beautiful woman dressed in a nude suit with a piece of their animal to decorate with. Lions, tigers, rhinos, even elephants all came to life on the stage, each performing a couple of tricks before returning to the dark shadows of the floor.
After several displays of boa constrictors spelling words in the ground, the ringmaster spoke as loud as he could over the wild applause. "And now, for the grand finale I give you the beautiful Cassandra and her half-demon lover Chase as our entangling trapeze duo!"
I felt my blood turn to a cold sludge and thunder in my ears. Immediately I started shaking Kayden violently and searching for the nearest exit. "We have to leave right now. If Cassie's here that means she's going to see me and her and Chase will kill me and- Kayden?"
Kayden hadn't moved an inch despite everything I had said. His eyes looked permanently frozen in a gleeful stare to the center of the circus stage. One look around confirmed it; hundreds of faces all had the same cheerful smile and doll-eyed wide eyes focused on the floor down below.
"Pity, isn't it? That your little precious boy toy is unable to help you need it most," a catty voice sounded from above. Cassie sat on one of the trapeze swings as it gently rocked back and forth. "I can't imagine what that could be like. Oh, wait."
I stood up from my seat, taking in more frozen faces. "You're supposed to be dead. Kayden killed the two of you that night in the apartment, I saw it!"
"Please." She jumped off the swing and landed soundlessly onto a couple of steps below. "You watched Chase die, we both did. He never killed me."
She looked nothing like the Cassie I had remembered from our days of sharing secrets in class, of sleepovers and shopping excursions. Her uncut knee-length black hair had been traded in for a short violet bob. Patches of colors randomly appeared on her skin, making her look bruised one minute and colored in with a sharpie the next. This wasn't my Cassie, not any more. The Cassie I knew had long since been swallowed alive and offered like fodder to her inner turmoil to look forever young.
"Must be so proud, being a necromancer and all," I said slowly, calling my inner fire to every inch of my body. Like Kayden, if she touched me she'd be engulfed in flames in a matter of seconds. "How is Chase?"
"Why don't you ask him for yourself? I'm sure he'd love to chat before ripping out your heart like that demon did to him," she hissed but stayed in place. "Are you surprised to see us? Shame we had to catch you off guard like that, but it's really all for Chase over there. You see, he loves the taste of fear in blood."
Taking another step backward I nodded, encouraging her to keep talking. I could feel the sensation of my fire just under the fingertips of my skin, ready for action. "How did you know where to find me? Charon isn't exactly a high-traffic area."
"But it is for supernaturals like yourself," she skittered closer, closing the gap I'd been creating between us. "You needed to find your calling, a little place to call home. Chase said it would only be a matter of time before you showed yourself asking about what you were." She shook her head and laughed. "Such a silly little freak."
The pendant around my neck began to glow in spurts and flash like a warning signal. Cassie looked down for the smallest second, taking her eyes off of me. My arm jerked up as fire burst in a violent stream in her chest. She toppled backwards, shrieking as the flames covered her chest and arms, spreading faster than I'd ever seen it.
"Now that was a truly stupid move, Essie," Chase's voice loomed overhead. I looked up into the pitch black top of the tent in shock as dozens of demons dropped dow
n from the ceiling, each one exactly like the one I had seen in my dream. "You made me go and use my new little pet on you."
"Come out and show your face!" I screamed as the demons charged for me claws extended. I ran over to Kayden's frozen form and did the first thing that came to mind. Shoving my hand onto his face, I set him on fire too.
The effect was instant. Kayden screamed, exploding into smoke. The second he re-formed he started to swear at me until he saw the others heading our way. I didn't need to tell him that if they took a hold of me, everything would be over.
Kayden opened his mouth and exploded again into black smoke, trailing through the whole room. People started to stir, instantly recoiling and screaming in horror as they took in the sight of a burning corpse and demons scrambling about.
A figure blocked my sight of the demons and smoke, Chase's newly mangled form even more grotesque than when he'd been alive. He gave me his best dagger-toothed smile before reaching out and wrapping his hands around my throat.
"Let her go!" A familiar voice soared from above. Abigail swung her feet into Chase's face, sending him flying into a crowd of screaming people. She landed with grace and pulled out four sharp ninja stars from thin air, flinging them straight for Chase. "Essallie, get out of here now!"
I didn't need to be told twice. Scrambling up the steps I got halfway there when someone grabbed the back of my dress and punched the back of my spine, hard. Cassie's voice whispered in my ear. "What a weakling. Is that the best you can do, conjure a little firework with your power? Such a sad excuse for Nephilim."
I rolled over to give her a kick in the shins when I saw the silver knife in her hand plunge straight into my rib cage. Pain shot through me and I screamed. Then, for good measure she twisted it. My eyes rolled back into my head as I fought to stay awake.
"Get her out of here!" Someone shouted through the haze. Arms slipped under my shoulders and dragged me up more steps. "It's going to be okay, Essallie, I promise it's going to be okay."
My eyes fluttered open to find Leo hovering above me, eyebrows bunched together in worry. Blood smeared the front of his tuxedo.
"Hope that was a rental," I made a weak joke and gave him my best smile, surprised there wasn't any pain where the knife had gone through my body. I looked down to see blood, lots of it. "I'm so screwed though. Was that really Abigail I saw or did I hallucinate that?"
"I'll tell you later, I promise," Leo gave a weak smile and placed a hand to my cheek then pulled me in for a hug.
"How touching, a last minute embrace." Chase said with mock awe. Claws flung out towards us, each tip covered in venom. I threw my hands out in front of me to create a shield of fire, burning off his claws. Seeing the claws fail he then flung himself straight through the wall of fire, a knife in one hand poised for my heart.
Leo spun me around, keeping me tight in his arms as the blade sunk into his back. He shuddered then collapsed the floor, unmoving.
"Leo!" I shrieked in horror, sinking to the ground and placing my hands over the wound. Blood poured faster than it was supposed to, bubbling and spreading in a smeared pool around him. "Leo, you listen to me. You hold on, god dammit, you hold on. Ursula loves you way too much for you to die like this." I removed my bloody hands from the wound and cupped his ashen face. "You do not get to die like this."
He opened his mouth and coughed a bubble of blood. "Do you trust me?"
"Yes, yes I do." I sobbed and hugged him closer. I didn't care how much blood I got on my dress, as long as he lived.
Eyes drifting shut, he spoke in the faintest of whispers. "Then go out...there and kick ass. Trust you-yourself because, I trust you..." A final breath escaped his lips. I let out a guttural scream and stood up, shaking from head to toe.
All around the stadium seats and stage floor was a picture of hell. Fire burned in patches as people tried to escape the big top. Demons leap through the packs and slashed at whatever they could consume, Kayden, Abigail, and Ursula all fighting their own set of the demons.
Something inside of me snapped like a rubber band stretched too thin. Rage bubbled under the surface as I looked down to Leo's body and the surrounding chaos. Enough was enough. Fire spread from my hands up and down my body, bathing me in a blinding blue light. I reached further down into my power, a shimmering silhouette of angel wings spreading from my back.
I am Nephilim, created for war, built for destruction.
I sprinted down the steps and sent bursts of flame at any demon that got in the way, incinerating them on the spot and leaving only a puff of brimstone behind. Light bulbs crackled and burst overhead, raining shards of glass. In two smooth jumps I cleared couple of chairs, using the cushions for a little bounce to land right behind Kayden and pierce a demon through the heart.
"About time you opened that vein of magic," Kayden called over his shoulder as he twisted his arm into a makeshift sword, slicing through one of the demons. "What kept you?"
"Where's Chase?" I screamed as I killed two more with a single shot of fire.
"Look up, lovely," Chase shoved his face in front of mine, twisting his smile back to his ears. Grabbing onto my shoulders he flung me into the air and I collapsed onto the small plank of wood connecting the wire in the center to both ends of the tent. Chase balanced on the center of the wire, beckoning me forward.
But I was one step ahead of him. I flung my hands out and released spirals of fire, wrapping it around him as I had with Kayden when we practiced. He only laughed as I drew him in closer and closer until he was hanging right in front of me.
"What a foolish little girl," he sneered with a gleam to his teeth. Already the flames were doing their work of lacing up his body and burning him to death, piece by smoldering piece. "Go ahead and kill me," he said. "You've already marked your own grave with your Watcher lying dead in cold blood."
I tightened my grip on the flames to make them burn more intently. "He wasn't my Watcher. He was my friend, and now he's going to be avenged."
Rather than weep or beg for mercy, Chase laughed. His face was beginning to crumble, breaking off in sharp chunks that sailed to the ground beneath us. "You'll be with me sooner than you know. I hope you like the taste of demon poison because it's spreading through your body right now."
I stared at him, horrified, as he continued to break off in dying chunks. My hands moved down to the stab wound I had received earlier and examined the fabric. Dried blood meshed with new blood, only this time it was darker and starting to sludge. I only had to wait another second before I watched my veins turn black under the skin and overwhelming pain filled my body. I felt myself free fall to the ground and collapse in a screaming heap, my wings having been the only thing that saved me from broken bones. Not that broken bones mattered much when death was trying to break down your door with his steel-tipped boots.
Kayden stabbed the last of the demons and rushed to where I laid, just in time to watch me arch my back and let out a violent, chilling scream. He pinned me down, encasing my thrashing body in an iron-clad grasp. He looked past me to someone else, pleading. "What do I do? Can Nephilim survive this kind of poison?"
I snapped my head to the side to see Ursula and Abigail standing side-by-side, unable to take their eyes off of me. Ursula's dress was torn in several places, dry blood covering half of her face and chest as tears ran down her cheeks. "I don't know," I heard her say to both Kayden and Abigail. "I've never seen it actually used on someone. It's a forbidden poison because of how fast it spreads."
Another scream ripped through my lips, startling the three of them. Abigail reached down and grasped my ankles while Ursula paced back and forth, running her fingers through the mess that was left of her hair. Suddenly she stopped and plunged her hand in-between her breasts, pulling out a small vial of red liquid held around her neck by a thin silver chain. "Here, take this," she said quickly, shaking heavily as she stood in front of him. When he didn't accept it right away she shook even harder. "A- a medicine woman gave it to me years ag
o. She said I would know when the right time would be to use it."
Kayden reached out and took it, popped off the small cork and poured it down my throat without a second thought. I tried to pin-point the taste, metal and bullets and spray paint all at once, just as I closed my eyes and prayed to wake up in the morning. "For yours and hers sake I hope so."
F I F T E E N
I was dreaming.
Spoils of perfectly cut, fresh grass laid out before me like an evergreen sea. Flowers in the forms of roses and daisies and tulips in every size and color imaginable sprouted up from the dirt, petals in a dance for sunlight. I hadn't the faintest clue of how I'd gotten to such a lovely little meadow and not destroyed it thoroughly but I didn't question it either. For the moment I felt safe, at peace.
Staring up into the endlessly perfect blue sky above I picked a purple rose from the meadow and brought it to my nose, breathing in the fresh, clean scent.
I rolled over on my side to pick another flower when I stopped. Apparently I wasn't the only one in my private field. Kayden laid just liked I did on the ground, hands resting behind his head as he lazily observed the sky above. The second I turned to look at him did he turn to look back at me, an incomprehensible look on his face. Gently he reached out to place a hand on my cheek, resting his cold skin against mine as he sighed.
"Do you know what it means to truly be alone, Essallie?" His voice lingered in the air like smoke in a parlor room.
I came up with a dozen different retorts, each one more wounding to his ego than the last. Yet I found I didn't want to say them; instead, I just wanted to stare into his eyes. We lingered there, his question hanging in the silence for an immeasurable amount of time. His eyes burned into mine, the muddy brown turning into an enchanting hazel, shimmering like a desert in the sweltering heat. Inside each other’s eyes, we exchanged tales of our pain. I was surprised to see just how much his hurt echoed my own.
Illumine Page 11