“Why’d you do that?” I asked pinching his arm.
“I have to have some fun out of this. And you two are blowing it.”
The band played another cover of Snow Patrol. This time, it was ‘Just Say Yes.’ And the irony of the lyrics weren’t lost on me.
I’m running out of ways to make you see
I want you to stay here beside me
I won’t be ok and I won’t pretend that I am
So just tell me today and take my hand
He held a hand out to me.
I stood there unmoving. I couldn’t give him what his eyes begged me to. My heart was being torn in two. His hand dropped but then it cradled the back of my head and pulled me against his chest.
I couldn’t say yes. And then I could hear him even though the music was blaring through my soul. “It’s okay. I know he’s your choice.”
It wasn’t okay. I knew that even though I couldn’t give Flynn the love he wanted, I could save his life. And I would do it. “Flynn,” I said craning my head up. He waited expectantly. “I’ll do it. I’ll do whatever it takes to save your life.” And I meant it, even the dreamwalking.
He closed his eyes tightly before he placed a kiss on the top of my head. His hands cradled my head and he leaned in to whisper in my ear. “You already have. I never thought I would feel this way.” He kissed my forehead. “But I love you in a way that I can let you go.”
“What?” I asked. “You won’t die. I won’t let you.”
“You breathed life into me, Mercy. You don’t have to worry about me after tonight.” What was he saying? I hadn’t saved his life at all. He was still near death.
I opened my mouth, but he kissed me so tenderly, taking away my protest. “Dad’s taking me away. It’s too late for kisses, Princess. What I need from you, you can’t give.”
With one last look, he walked away. I stood for a second with my vision blurring. I turned to see Luke and Nina still dancing. He spoke to her. She nodded. My heart broke again. Jealousy was a nasty bitch. I took off after Flynn. Emerging from the dance floor, Flynn wasn’t in sight. I did see one of the doors that led into the school closing. I headed through it.
I called his name but Flynn didn’t answer me. I ran as best I could in my floor length dress down each hall but it wasn’t Flynn who I found. “Luke,” I said, tears still streaming down my face.
“What’s wrong?” he asked. I saw you run out of there. “I swear nothing is going on between Nina and me. I was just trying to convince her that we weren’t back together.”
“It’s not that,” I said, meeting his eye. “It’s Flynn.” It wasn’t until the words escaped my lips that I looked back up into the swirl of his eyes.
“I’ve lost you to him haven’t I?” He sounded defeated. “It was a risk.”
“No,” I said. “I love you.” I took his hands in mine. A jumble of words left my mouth before I ended with “He’s dying.” Luke stared at me. I’d told him about all the times I feed him and that nothing I was doing was working. I sobbed, “He said it was too late. That kissing me wasn’t enough.”
“I’ll find him,” Luke said looking determined. I knew that Luke was hurting at the prospect of losing his friend who was as much as a brother to him.
“And what if that’s the only way,” I hedged. I didn’t quite say sex, but he understood.
He kissed me with a ferocity much like the determination he had to find Flynn. “We won’t let him die.” And he took off. I couldn’t help but love Luke that much more that he was willing to sacrifice as much as I would in order to save Flynn’s life.
Long moments after Luke disappeared down a hall, I turned. Nina stood there.
Chapter Sixty Three
She didn’t bother with any pretense. “So this was some type of game you guys were playing.” She clapped her hands. “Bravo, you and Flynn had us all fooled. Although I think you have Luke fooled, too. You, demon girl, are playing both sides. You are trying to defy the odds and have them both. Not that I can blame you. Flynn is something heavenly to look at. He ought to be an angel with that face. But that body of his is 100% made from hell. It’s sinful to look at.”
Her demeanor was calm but her eyes turned black reminding me of the demon inside me. The black didn’t fill in all her eyes like I was told happened to mine, but there was something nasty that lurked there. Not that I could blame her. I’d be totally pissed if I’d have been used too. In fact, if so many lives hadn’t been relying on our deception, I would have never agreed to the plan. There is something to be said about the needs of one versus the needs of many. In fact, I was dealing with that very issue with Flynn. His needs outweighed Luke’s and mine at the moment.
“Why couldn’t you just stay with your kind?” Her voice began to rise. And although the music seeped into the halls, it was muffled and didn’t cover her ranting. “Luke is too good for you. You don’t deserve him. He should be mine,” she squealed sounding more childlike.
Then her eyes widened over my shoulder. I turned in time to see something just before it cracked on my skull. My knees buckled just before my legs gave way to gravity. I never felt the ground that was rushing at me before I fell into the pit of unconsciousness.
~
The knocking on my door turned out to be the pounding in my head. I opened my mouth to moan out my pain when I heard another voice. It came back rushing at me, the blur and something hitting me with enough force to cause me to black out. For a second I thought I had a concussion before I concentrated on the voices, since everything was dark. Either my vision hadn’t cleared or I was in some sort of pitch black room.
“What made you change your mind?”
The voice was far away. I barely heard the words let alone make out who said them. “The plan has changed. Get ready, they will be here for her soon.”
“Why let it live?”
“Because, I want her to see her death coming,” the muffled voice said.
There was a shifting of feet. And within the muted voices I heard noises that gave away where I was, at least in the abstract. Birds and bugs, sounds you wouldn’t hear inside a building unless the windows were open. And these noises were far too close for me to be inside. My eyes adjusted, I saw my prison walls move. I was in some sort of supper tent on a cot. When I moved just the tiniest bit, the cot squeaked, giving me away. So I stayed still until I could figure this out.
My head hurt so much, I wasn’t sure if I would be steady on my feet. I assumed that the ‘they” were referring to would most like be at least Luke or Flynn or both. My eyes closed. Flynn wouldn’t be good in a fight. He would never admit it, but he was a dead man walking. How many more people would get hurt over me?
With my eyes shut, I put a few things together. I was sure I was being held by humans. Something about being alive and in a tent didn’t scream demon attack. Therefore the demon hunters must have me. They’d been too quiet the last few weeks. Hunter girl hadn’t returned school either. I’d taken it for granted that they’d given up. I bet Flynn and Luke hadn’t. At least knowing this, I had a fighting chance. I almost called for Sebastian but he’d changed. Would he now bargain with me for my safety? Would he only help me if I chose him? I knew that my death was not the end for him. It would only be the beginning. So I held his name at bay. If things got really bad, I’d call for him and hope he’d come.
My only ally resided inside me. If I wanted out, we would need to work together. I felt the movement inside me. It was always so odd when she did that. Sharing space in one body was crazy at best. I felt her take over my limbs as I shrunk into the background. Seeing through her eyes now, I got a better picture. We were definitely in a tent filled with crates and a lone table. We rose to our feet barely making a sound. We crouched behind a table as we made it to the tent flap.
Our night vision was better than Army issued goggles. We could see people moving about as if preparing for war. There had to be at least twenty if not more. Luke was amazing, but these hunter
s carried weapons like crossbows, swords, and even a few guns. They all looked around our age or a few years older. That’s when we spotted her. Nina.
Upon seeing her, the muffled voice I’d heard earlier matched. Nina was the angel behind the demon hunters. How could she do this?
Someone rushed up to her, bouncing on the balls of their feet with excitement, “He’s here,” the girl said with animated hands. And together after Nina nodded, they took off. When everyone watched Nina head away, we slipped out and around the tent. We were in the woods somewhere. Running lightly, my demon managed not to step on any fallen branches. She crept parallel to Nina’s movement shrouded in shadows. Her stealth and speed showed me what my body was capable of.
Stopping, we watched as Nina, dressed in combat gear, met a furious Luke along with my other friends, Flynn, Maggie, Brent, Tom, and even Doug. Luke, Maggie, Brent and Flynn were still dressed in what they’d worn to prom with the exception of their tux jackets. How long had I been out? If Tom and Doug managed to get with them, it must have been an hour or longer. That’s when I looked down and caught the sight of my own dress. The bottom was muddy and ruined. My demon was thinking about the shoes and clothes I wore and if they would work in a fight. I was glad she was thinking because I hadn’t thought about any of it.
Luke held a hand out to our friends when Nina stepped away from her hunters which left them meeting in the center alone. I didn’t have super hearing. But my demon was adept at reading lips. Luke was asking her what the hell was going on. Even with Nina in profile from where we stood behind the tree, she guessed Nina told him she wasn’t the fool he had made her out to be. That she knew he lost his way but he had a choice, to die along with the abominations he’d brought with him or choose to be at her side when she cleansed our town from the scourge that consisted of me and my friends.
Being the standup guy he was, he tried to change her mind. He argued with her telling her she was going down the wrong path. It wasn’t their place to judge anyone. Nina went on to say something like he was wrong about that, and that I would be the first to die.
Luke told her that they’d been tasked to protect my well-being. But I’d seen enough. We rushed forward, stumbling to a stop next to Luke’s side. He briefly glanced at us before returning his attention back to Nina. We had to give it her. She didn’t look at all surprised by our presence.
“Yes, the witch will die,” she said to Luke but kept her eyes on us.
“This has nothing to do with them,” my demon said. “Let’s you and I battle this out.”
That glint in Nina’s eye came back and twinkled at us. My demon recognized the evil within her. “She’s made a pack with the devil,” my demon said.
Nina pointed a sword at our face, nearly touching our nose. Luke tugged us back a little out of her reach. But we didn’t fear her. “Blasphemer,” she yelled.
“Nina,” Luke begged. “Don’t do this.”
“Ah, but it’s too late. They’re coming for you.”
We turned and so did our friends who followed our movement. The clearing was vast. Nina had picked out the perfect spot—hidden from public view but free of the trees that surrounded us on all sides. Where the heck where we? There was no time for that question. Far out in the distance, four figures larger and taller than any human were headed in our direction. They were still far enough away, yet it was easy to see that they were dress as if they were extras off a Roman Historical film set carrying swords.
Luke turned back to Nina and said, “What have you done?”
And I knew. They were the Angels of Death. And if I had control of my body, I would have cried out my fury at this situation. Instead, I said one word in my head before we leaped out of Luke’s embrace and into action. Sebastian.
Lunging at Nina, we curled our fingers around her neck in a death grip before she even knew we were coming for her. Chaos erupted all around us. Our foes behind Nina, moved in slow motion arms raised with battle cries as time slowed for us. We felt our fingers dig into Nina’s skin one by one before she lifted the sword and stabbed our side. Our grip loosened and she breathed in before a faint glow seeped out of her skin.
Moving, we spun her around and kicked her to the ground. Just before we fell on her to break her deceitful neck, we were struck with an arrow in the shoulder. The force of the blow sending us backward The pain screamed before it was muted. And the beast within me pulled the arrow out and tossed it like it was nothing. I didn’t want to kill the human but my demon craved their blood. In the end, it was kill or be killed. And that was the only option. With no weapons, we would be forced to take possession of those our enemies had as they fell. Our arms pulled at the hunter as they lined up the sights. We yanked the bow from their hands before we inhaled. It was a slow taking of life force. We seemed to suck it in like a vacuum. Our prey’s eyes dulled before they turned lifeless and their body fell to the ground. When we looked up, Nina was up and running for the trees.
Sebastian materialized with two figures on either side of him. One was Rune, the vampire. The other was a guy just as tall with dark shoulder length hair and beautiful as the rest of them. The newbie looked all around frantically, eyes taking in every detail as if he was truly surprised to be here. Rune, on the other hand already leapt into action. Who was the new guy? We looked to Sebastian in a fraction of a second, he nodded at us, and we took off unable to take the time to find out. We knew with Rune’s and Sebastian’s speed, the hunters would be taken care of. My friends, specifically Maggie would be safe. I wasn’t sure why she’d come. She was human. And I forced my demon to look back as we ran. And I found her in the mist of the meelee standing with her feet slightly spread apart taking aim with a gun in a formal length dress. I watched blood kick out of a leg of a hunter after Maggie’s shot held true. And it gave me some peace. I just didn’t think she’d be able to live with herself if she killed anyone.
More hunters poured out of the trees as we ran after Nina, the coward. We clothes-lined those in our path, taking them out of the fight. My demon would have liked to finish them off, but I needed to face Nina.
When we made it back to the base camp, we didn’t see her. We saw several tents and a set up that would suggest the hunters had been living out here for some time. We walked quietly while listening for any signs of movement. Nina was Nephilim, or now a half fallen angel, was my guess. And because of this she didn’t have to make any noise until she spoke right behind me, “Well, we meet again.”
Whipping around, Nina held a gun pointed at our head from twenty feet away. “This is it I guess,” she mused. We felt the power from the life force we’d stolen. Our senses were heightened. We felt like we could fly. “I must admit, a part of me wants to send you to hell where you belong.” She laughed to herself. “But what would that do? Another member of your fan club, like Sebastian would just go and get you, now wouldn’t he.”
My demon opened her mouth to speak, but in a quick exchange, I spoke. “Nina, you can’t be doing all of this for a boy. Why would you want someone who didn’t love you?”
“He would have loved me,” she cried out sounded demented. “But no, they came for me.”
“Who?” I dumbly asked.
But she answered. “The angels. They gave me a choice, him or me.” Her voice drifted off as if she was remembering. “They said that they were charged with killing all Nephilim but they would spare me if I just gave them Luke.” She was gone in a faraway place in her mind. We poise ourselves to move and hopeful be faster than her aiming at us again. But then she came back to herself. “When he asked me to be with him, I believed we had a chance. I even stopped my campaign to kill you because it would hurt Flynn and thus, Luke. I told the Angels nothing about Luke. But it was all a lie, wasn’t it? It was always you he wanted.”
I heard it before I felt it. Still, we managed to get the gun out of her hands and with a vicious shove up, our palm connected with the bottom of her nose and shoved it down her cranium, or at least we hoped. S
he went down and didn’t move. Blood gushed from her face and we didn’t wait. Kicking the gun far away, we headed back into the fight. We were bleeding, but we had to help Luke. Well, I did.
When we made it back to the clearing, the first thing I noticed was blood everywhere. My eyes flashed wildly to my friends. Maggie stood blowing out knee caps with her shooting skills. I’d forgotten that she’d learn to shoot alongside her brothers. I hadn’t wanted to hear much about it, so I didn’t ask her. I was against guns, but I was thankful at the moment she had the training.
Past her, we saw Luke fighting a giant at least two times his height. Flynn and Tom were each battling with one, too. We turned just in time to see the mysterious boy hurled backward several yards and slammed into a tree. But when he hit, he landed crouched with fist on the ground. Neither his beauty nor the look in his eyes told of lineage. The way he moved and recovered suggested he was some kind of demon. The ground began to tremble and he looked ready to charge the hunter when another appeared at his side, blindsiding him. The demon hunter sword that had been aimed for the guy’s heart became wedged into the oak tree behind him. The wood splintered in the air as the demon boy simply disappeared. Many yards away Sebastian let go of the boy’s arm and disappeared again. Sebastian was all over the place. He was fighting one, but popped in and stopped a killing blow against one of my friends just in the nick of time. We picked up a sword and ran for that fight, figuring the Rune and weres could hand the humans. I had no idea how to wield a sword, but my demon did.
Before we got there, a hunter stepped in our face. One my demon remembered. We inhaled, drinking deep the mist that fed us. Then she uttered a word to the Crew Cut and he froze. “Go to the camp, watch over Nina. Make sure she doesn’t get away.” I think this was one of the hunters she’d given hidden instructions to. But there was no time to ask about it. She was helping me save my friends. That was all that was important now.
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