by Izzy Shows
I didn’t waste time. I ran after him. When I was within range, I activated the tattoo on my ankle. It doubled as a focus imbued with the power of strength, quite like the cuff I wore on the same wrist as my chain. As soon as the tattoo activated, I pushed off the ground and flew into the air.
I came down on him, activating the cuff on my wrist and plunging my fist deep into his side. It took a hell of a lot of force, and even more to get my arm back, but the gaping wound proved it’d been worth it.
He let loose an ear piercing howl and whirled around to face me head-on.
His maw gaped above me. My stomach dropped, and for a second, I was certain in my bones this was how I was going to die.
Not yet.
I lifted the ice wand and pointed it directly at his heart.
“Glacio.” I said the word as calmly as could be, but it wasn’t a regular ice sickle I called forth. It was a spear of pure ice. I didn’t pussyfoot around. I pulled my power from deep inside my core and lent it to that which was already stored in the wand.
It hurt like hell. Every inch of me felt like it was dying, but I gritted my teeth and bore it. Just a little longer. Only had to keep it up for a little bit, and then this fucker would die.
The ice slammed into his chest and kept going, spearing out the other side and leaving him impaled on it like a shish kabob.
His head drooped down to his chest.
He was done.
Chapter 18
We’d popped out of the dreamscape right after the ice speared through the demon, but Emily hadn’t spoken a word to me since. I’d asked her if she was all right because getting tackled by a giant demonic bat dragon wasn’t exactly a normal thing to go through, but she was giving me the cold shoulder.
We stopped for the night, and the silence continued. I made it all the way through her stripping off her outer armor and laying down our sleeping bags before I couldn’t take it anymore.
“All right, no. Just no. I’m not putting up with this anymore. You have to talk to me.” I worked hard to keep my tone neutral. Pushing her hard right now would only make things worse.
She gave me an icy look as she settled on top of the bag.
“You can’t tell me you have nothing to say.” I crossed my arms and made no move to sit.
She shrugged. “What is there to talk about?” I arched an eyebrow. “You had plenty to say during the last trial.”
“I thought you didn’t want to talk about anything.”
I winced. “Well, you were the one who said we had to talk about our feelings and not bury them.”
She looked at me long and hard. “You know power corrupts, Blair. You shouldn’t be willing to even talk to a demon about such things.”
“Gods, Emily. Power is power. It doesn’t matter where it comes from, just how you use it. It can be used for good or bad, depending on the choices of the person. Power itself doesn’t corrupt, but corrupted people are drawn to power.”
“You cannot possibly believe that having power doesn’t change a person.”
“I had demonic power before, and I didn’t turn into the devil. The first time we fought together, I had the power. All the other times we worked together, I had it, too.”
“And we didn’t do anything until you’d lost it,” she said evenly.
My heart pounded. “What does that mean? You wouldn’t love me if I still had it?”
“I was not willing to grow close to someone who might lose themselves.”
“That’s not what I asked. Would you love me if I still had that power?”
She looked away, a muscle near her jaw pulsing.
“Answer me, Emily!”
“I don’t know!” The words exploding out as if she didn’t have control over them.
“Do you think I would have gone bad?”
“We have no way of knowing what might have happened if you’d kept the power any longer.”
I stared in disbelief and took a few paces away.
I’d been worried about the power when I’d had it, too. It’d been impossible to tell if it had fed my bloodlust.
I never felt more alive than when I was in the middle of a fight to the death. There was nothing on earth that compared to that adrenaline rush you got when you knew your next move could be your last. There was nothing more euphoric than winning a hard-earned battle.
Had the mark made me feel this way? Or was it just who I always was?
There was no way to know for sure.
Did Emily think this side of me was residual corruption from the demon mark? Would she have turned away when I kissed her if Malphas hadn’t removed it yet?
I took a deep breath in through my nose and out through my mouth, then counted down from ten.
“You honestly think I would have gone dark side.” My pain was audible when I spoke. “You think that little of me.”
“That isn’t what I said,” she whispered.
“Maybe not in so many words. But you might as well have.” I shook my head. I didn’t know what to think now.
If there were some magical phrase that would fix this and let us go back to normal, I’d never been taught it. I felt sick to my stomach. I didn’t want to be around her.
“Did you just come to hell to keep an eye on me?” I asked. “Is that why you’re here?”
“What, no! I came because I care, and I wanted to protect you. Because if you have to face Malphas after all the pain he caused you, I didn’t want you to go through that alone.”
Pretty words, but were they true?
There was a bitter taste in my mouth and the feeling she wasn’t telling me everything.
Was I paranoid or intuitive? I hated not having the whole story.
“I don’t know if I believe you.” I choose to be honest with her, even though I had doubts she was doing the same. Her eyes brimmed with tears. “Blair, please believe me when I say I didn’t follow you to hell because I don’t trust you.”
“How can I when you think the worst of me?”
“I don’t!”
“You know what? I’m done with this.” I cut my hand through the air. “I’m going to bed.”
I stalked to my bedroll and crawled inside, squeezing my eyes tight as if I could somehow ignore the sound of her crying if I just didn’t see it.
My heart had never felt so heavy.
Chapter 19
The apology burned on the tip of my tongue for hours. I had never been good at swallowing my pride and admitting my faults. It was even more difficult when I wasn’t a hundred percent convinced I was at fault.
The next border between realms was visible when I finally snapped.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered so softly the wind threatened to steal the words before they could be heard.
Emily jerked, as if surprised, and paused. I stopped as well, not wanting to carry on without her. This was me bending to meet her in the middle. I couldn’t take back the apology now.
“You’re sorry?” She frowned.
It occurred to me this might have been the first time she’d heard those words from my mouth. I didn’t say them often, and we hadn’t fought before this trip.
“Yes. I shouldn’t have yelled at you last night or put words in your mouth. I should have just listened.”
“Thank you. I’m sorry, too. It was wrong of me to doubt you, especially when you’ve never given me a reason to think you would ever…turn. I was afraid.”
“I know. I’m scared, too.” I tried for a smile, but it was weak. “We come from very different worlds. It’s bound to cause friction now and then.”
“And we have rather different views on morality.”
Panic threatened to swarm me. “That doesn’t mean we can’t agree to disagree.”
“You’re right,” she said, nodding. “I admit I have…hang-ups about power.”
I quirked one eyebrow. “Any particular reason behind that?”
She laughed. “I’ve fought scores of demons for years and seen so many
men and women give in to the power offered them. I’ve watched unable to stop what happened to them after.”
“Like the woman who died.” I kept my words quiet, fearing that bringing this up would drive her further away.
“Yes, that has a lot to do with it.” She looked as if she was struggling with it all over again. “But that’s not all there is to it. That was just the first straw. I should have remembered, though, that you’d made your own deal with a demon, and you didn’t turn out anything like any of them. It goes against everything I’ve learned.”
My brow furrowed. “Really? That can’t be right. I can’t be the only person in the world capable of taking on demonic power.”
She looked thoughtful. “That I’ve seen, yes. But, of course, I haven’t observed every case out there.”
What she said didn’t sit right. There had to be more people like me out there. I wasn’t anything special, just a girl who had stumbled into power and learned how to handle it. At the end of the day, I was nobody.
“There’s always an exception to every rule.” “And you just happened to come across the exception? Seems too much of a coincidence.”
She shook her head. “God has a hand in everything, and he always has his reasons for the way things happen. It’s possible he made you with the intent to allow you to house such power so that you could use it for good. You’ve never done anything other than what’s best for the people of London. You’ve never clamored for more just to have it. And after the vampires submitted to you, you didn’t try to take that position away from the baron. You used it to give him his political power back.”
I shifted, uncomfortable. “I don’t want to lead legions of vampires.”
“Exactly my point. I should’ve had more faith in you based on your actions, not my bias.”
“It’s not abnormal for your experiences to weigh heavily on your mind.
She smiled. “But you are part of my experiences now.”
I took her hand and gave a squeeze. “Thank you. And thank you for not…rubbing it in when I apologized.”
Her eyebrows shot up practically to her hairline. “Why would I ever do that?”
“I don’t know…I guess it’s an irrational fear. If I apologize, I’ll end up worse than I was before.”
“Oh, Blair.” She pulled me to her and wrapped her arms around me. The steel of her armor pressed into my chest. “I would never.”
“I don’t know what I was thinking. You’re not that kind of person.”
She pulled back and smiled. “Irrational fears don’t heed logic.”
I laughed. “You’re right about that.”
We walked hand in hand, taking comfort from each other until we reached the next border.
Emily gave a nod of approval, and I stepped across, bracing myself for the stomach flip-flopping that came with being pulled into a dreamscape.
We stood in what looked like an office, and someone was seated at their desk going over paperwork.
“Ah, Miss Blair, Miss Emily. A pleasure to have you here. I’ve been waiting for you.” He looked at us over horn-rimmed glasses. “Please, make yourselves comfortable.”
He gestured to the chairs across from his desk, but we made no move to sit. We were ready for whatever he was going to offer.
At the very least, this didn’t look like the kind of place a battle would go down. Maybe he would accept our rejection and let us go without a fuss.
He sighed. “No matter, we can converse just fine without being on the same level.”
“Might as well go on and get your offer over with. We won’t be taking it,” I said, my voice firm. Emily had a weary look on her face. My gut clenched thinking she might not be able to handle this trial.
“This does not concern you, Miss Blair,” he said, shaking his head. “You are, of course, allowed to listen to the offer. If it interests you as well, I will extend it to you. But it is the paladin I wish to speak with now.”
I took Emily’s hand and held it tightly. “She’s not interested in anything you have to say.”
“We shall see.” He turned his head to look directly at Emily. “I understand you are a holy warrior. You have fought long and hard to defend the Innocent.”
She inclined her head slightly. “That is true.”
“It has been a difficult path for you. Your soul has born the weight of many others’ pain. This has no doubt taken a toll on you. I say to you, paladin, it is time to reap the rewards of all of your hard work. Lay down your arms and rest at long last.”
I expected her to tell him to fuck off, but in more delicate words, since profanity wasn’t exactly her style.
But she hesitated.
“Emily?” I frowned at her. “Tell him no.”
“I’m so tired, Blair.” Even her voice sounded weak. “I just…so tired. Always fighting, no end in sight and God forgive me, I want to rest.”
“Emily, no. This isn’t you. You would never give up the fight.”
“I’m not like you, Blair. I don’t…I don’t have the strength you do to fight forever.” She shook her head, but her eyes remained trained on the demon.
“Your rest will come in Heaven.” I tried to sound confident, even though I didn’t believe what I was saying. “God will give it to you when it’s your time. It’s not right to take it prematurely. Especially not now, not here. I need you.”
“You don’t, not really.” A tired smile curled her lips. “You’re strong enough to do this on your own.”
“Emily!”
“Miss Blair, I ask you to please remain neutral during this negotiation. You have no place in it,” the demon said stiffly. “Miss Emily, I can promise you will never have to fight again, and no harm will come to you. We have a realm prepared, all for you. You will not be interrupted by the other denizens. You will not even have to see them.”
“My family…” she whispered, finally saying something sensible. She couldn’t turn her back on her family, at least. “I’d never see them again.”
He shook his head. “That is where you are wrong. We have a special realm for you, but you would not be confined to it. You can visit your family. We would prefer to recommend visitation times so you can avoid conflict. Your spirit’s rest is our top priority.”
Her eyes sparked. “I wouldn’t be confined?”
“Of course not. You have done so much for the world. It is only respectable you be given all you desire in your retirement.”
“Emily, he’s a demon!” I couldn’t believe she was entertaining this after all she’d said yesterday to me. “You are agreeing to stay in hell forever.”
“Actually, she’s not.” The demon turned a steely look on me. “The realm is outside of hell. We would never insult a paladin of her caliber by asking her to remain here.”
“Why would you offer her anything at all? She’s the antithesis of everything you stand for.”
He arched one eyebrow. “Having one of her caliber no longer hunting us is quite beneficial, wouldn’t you say?”
“Emily, don’t listen to him. He doesn’t care about you.”
“There are others to take up the fight,” she said. “It wouldn’t be so bad to rest…”
“Emily!” I grabbed her arm and tried to drag her away from the demon.
She shrugged me off. “I’ll go.”
The dreamscape closed. I was alone.
Chapter 20
I was on the other side of the border.
He’d offered me the same, but I’d refused. I would never give up the fight or abandon my people. Just like I wasn’t going to leave Emily in hell. Even though she had accepted the demon’s offer, I didn’t believe it.
She didn’t really want to give up the fight. It had to have been some magic he’d worked on her. Something that made her give up because she wouldn’t have otherwise.
Right?
I looked around, hoping to see Emily somewhere, but the only thing I saw was a stronghold in the distance. I pulled out my map t
o double check, feeling a surge of hope. This fortress was the only one in the circle, which meant if Emily hadn’t already crossed over to the exclusive realm, she was inside there.
I refused to believe it was too late.
I dashed toward the stronghold. It wasn’t much farther than the distance I ran every morning. I could reach it without getting winded.
I fought against visions of Emily taken by demons and them going back on their word and killing her.
There was no way to know that the offer hadn’t been a trap to get her to stay long enough for them to harm her.
Hell, it had been good enough to get her to lay down her sword and take off her armor. She’d be a sitting duck.
I gritted my teeth. The dark thoughts remained like a shadow in my mind, taunting me as I ran.
I slowed down when I just a bit as I got near the stronghold. I needed to be careful. There would no doubt be a shit ton of demons crawling around this place, exactly what I’d wanted to avoid this entire trip, but there were no other options.
I wasn’t going to leave Emily. Not even for Malphas.
Two demons guarded the gates. I approached cautiously. They were tall, taller than any human could hope to be, and garbed in medieval armor.
“Mortal. You have no place here.”
“I’m getting inside, one way or another,” I said. “Let me through, or I’ll end you. I don’t particularly give a damn either way.”
They s snarled at me, grasping spears that glowed with a sickly black color.
Death it is.
I shook out the wind chain at the same time as I pulled the ice wand from its holster. I aimed and activated both at the same time, sending a gale of ice flying at the two demons.
They had no time to react. They flew backward through the gates. The ice tore into them a thousand different times, turning their bodies into pin cushions.
I stormed past their carcasses, but the commotion had alerted the rest of the stronghold to my presence. Ten demons exploded out of doors and filled the courtyard.
They looked from me to the bodies of their fallen comrades and then back, wariness reflected in their eyes.