Inner Demons

by Amanda Strong

  Kory grimaced as his eyes narrowed. “You’re a bigger damn fool than I’d thought. I couldn’t care less what that old man thinks,” he growled. “You leave me no choice, Blake. If you aren’t going to join my cause, you’ll only get in my way.” He scowled. Looking at Kalepe, he commanded, “Do what must be done.”

  “No,” I gasped, shrinking back at Kory’s hard stare. He waited, and I stuttered, trying to formulate my thoughts. “Maybe he will change his mind if he sees what these Defenders can do. He’s only been around his brother. He hasn’t seen how different they are from what his brother became.” Funny how the straight-up truth was the best answer I could come up with at the moment.

  Kory’s lips twitched, his eyes darting between Blake and me, a smile spreading across his face. “You know, you’re right, Jocelyn. Take him down to the cages, Kalepe. Maybe spending some time by the unchanged will help him see how different my Defenders are.”

  “Yes,” I agreed, even though I wasn’t so sure anymore that I’d saved Blake from a worse fate. Hoping to convince Kory he’d want Blake alive, I added, “Blake could influence Tonbo’s followers. Get more on your side.”

  Kory glanced over at me, his expression hard to read in the fire-lit night. “Perhaps he can.” There was something in his tone that sent the hairs on the back of my neck on end, but I couldn’t focus on what it was. Kalepe forcing Blake away captivated all of my attention.

  Two additional Defenders had to manhandle Blake’s struggling form before he was contained enough to fly away. It sickened me, but it delighted Kory, who clapped like it’d been the evening entertainment.

  Chapter 35

  Just have to make some lame excuse to Kory when he gets back, and then get down to those cages, I told myself. I’ll free Blake, and we’ll get the heck of out here. This undercover idea had turned into a full-blown mess. Instead of getting a sneak peek and coming back, we were thrown into a battle we were ill equipped for. Although, I thought with dread trickling through me, how could we possibly have prepared for this? We can’t just wipe out the Defenders. They aren’t evil killers. Dangerous beasts who appeared to be in control of themselves, yes. Malicious murderers, no.

  The only hope I had was to figure out how my blood helped them and do the same thing for Jaxon. Then try to persuade all the Defenders not to follow their creator, Kory. Should be easy enough, right? I inwardly groaned. One glance at the Defender staring down at me, and I could sense the hopelessness of it all. There was something manic in their devotion to Kory.

  Shortly after Blake had been taken away, we’d returned to Kory’s hut, where Kory had excused himself, saying he had some business to attend to. I could only hope that didn’t mean torturing Blake. Anxious to finally have a moment alone, I had been readying myself for ditching Jocelyn’s form so I could fly out of there, when a Defender had entered the room. Apparently, either Kory doesn’t trust me, or he doesn’t trust the rest of this island. Either way, an enormous bug staring down at me made my skin crawl.

  The Defender, who up to this point had remained silent, cocked his head to the side and said, “I know your scent.” His voice rumbled from deep within his chest.

  “Oh, really?” I asked with forced brightness.

  “You are not what you seem,” he continued, echoing the other Defender’s sentiment from earlier this evening.

  Crap. They must be able to tell I’m not my sister.

  Kory re-entered the room and saved me from responding, but the blank expression written across his face only deepened my dread. He mumbled something quietly to the Defender, who promptly left, shutting the door behind him. Kory’s eyes met mine, the intensity in them setting me on edge. Suddenly, coming up with any excuse to leave seemed impossible. Perhaps I can pretend my appendix has burst…

  He wasted no time and marched across the room to me, yanking me by the wrists, pulling me to him.

  “Oh, Kory,” I yelped, not entirely sure if this was an attack or merely a passionate gesture.

  When his lips crushed mine, I decided the latter. Even though I was never fond of kissing the enemy, there was something different in the way he pressed his mouth on mine this time. I felt no love in how he pinned my body against his, his unshaven face scraping my skin while he refused to let me come up for air.

  I struggled to find any excuse that wouldn’t blow my cover. When he shoved me up against the wall, almost knocking the air out of me, I snapped, thrashing to free myself.

  I don’t care what he thinks anymore. He’s acting psycho!

  Managing to pull my lips away from his long enough, I shouted, “Kory, stop it!”

  He chortled, “Aw… come on, baby. Thought you liked it rough, Jocelyn.”

  I sickened at the way he said my sister’s name. Does he know? Either way, I had to get away. Twisting, I attempted to knee him in the crotch, but our bodies were mashed too tight for me to get the right angle or leverage. Leaves only one last weapon to use.

  I turned abruptly, my mouth seeking his. After I felt him stiffen with surprise, I bit down on his lips, hard. The metallic taste of his blood entered my mouth, turning my stomach.

  He gasped, his head rocking back, but he still didn’t let my body go. He grinned, blood lining his teeth. “Oh, come on, Sammy, I know you want to come out to play.”

  “Sammy? What are you talking about? You’re scaring me!” I screamed back at him, trying in vain to shove him off me.

  “That’s the whole point. I have to scare you, so Sammy will rush in to save the day. So,” he hissed, leaning in too close, “let’s stop pretending you’re Jocelyn because I know you’re not. Question is—are you Sammy yet?”

  “I’m not Sammy!” I spat, feeling validated to say the words aloud. “You’re crazy! Let go of me!”

  Did I see a flicker of doubt flash through his eyes? Maybe I can still pretend…

  He threw me back, my head smacking the wall with such force that it left my vision swimming.

  “You’re nothing like your sister,” he growled, his hands finally releasing me. I fumbled to make a run for it, but found myself falling instead. With ears ringing and my equilibrium swaying, I blinked rapidly, trying to clear the horrible fog encasing me as my body hit the ground with a thud.

  “There you are.” Kory knelt down next to me, and to my horror, brushed the hair back off my face.

  I couldn’t stop him; the room was spinning too hard, too fast. As my wings burst through the back of my shirt, I knew the gig was up. I was me again, no longer my sister. Was that why Kory had knocked me nearly unconscious? So I’d transform?

  Rubbing his mouth with the back of his hand, he cleared away the remaining blood from his lips. “So who do we have? Samantha or Sammy?”

  “How could my sister ever love you? You’re a monster,” I mumbled back at him. Still unable to climb to my feet, I massaged my throbbing head with my fingers. The pain was nauseating.

  “Ha. I’m not the one pretending to be someone I’m not. Tell me, Samantha,” he leaned close, his voice dropping to a whisper, “did you enjoy kissing me?”

  I groaned, trying to pull myself to my knees. “Don’t flatter yourself,” I spat. “You disgust me.”

  He chuckled. “I seem to recall you getting into it.”

  He reached out toward me, and I smacked his hand away. “Don’t touch me!”

  Finally managing to get upright enough to kneel, I became aware of my quivering wings. Trust me; I want to get out of here just as bad, I thought.

  Kory jumped to his feet. Before I could stop him, he grabbed me under my arms and scooped me up with him. I didn’t care if his hands were the only things holding me upright at the moment. I’d rather fall to the floor again than have him touch me.

  “Let go of me,” I growled through clenched teeth.

  To my shock, he complied, even backing up a few steps. “Okay, okay, but just know, Samantha, that hurting you was never the end goal. I just need Sammy here. Not you. It’s nothing personal.”

>   I snorted back at him. “So what… the plan is to torture me until she arrives?”

  He shrugged. “If that’s what it takes.”

  “You are a monster. Why do you need Sammy so bad, anyway? You already got her blood. You have your precious Defenders now.”

  He sucked in a breath. To my surprise, he walked over to his hammock and sat down. This was it, my chance to escape, but sensing he was about to actually answer my question, I couldn’t leave. I had to know. What was the connection between Sammy and Kory?

  “I have questions for her,” he simply said.

  “Join the party,” I grumbled.

  He grunted, giving me a crooked grin. “Must be frustrating not to know what your other half has been up to.”

  “You have no idea,” I said, realizing the longer we kept talking, the more my head cleared. Better for flying. “I just can’t figure out why on earth she would ever help you?”

  His grin widened. “I like your tenacity, Samantha. You aren’t afraid to fight back, even though I have Defenders standing outside this door, ready to rip you to shreds if needed.”

  I swallowed. Okay, that wasn’t the answer I was hoping for. I tried to act brave. “You still didn’t answer my question. Why did Sammy give you her blood? What’s in it for her? And don’t try to feed me your propaganda crap.”

  “You might think it is propaganda crap, but it’s not. The need for an army is real. Sammy saw that too, obviously. Why else would she offer her blood to me so readily?”

  His words stirred something within me. A question lingering in my mind… Yeah, why else?

  “So what are your questions for her?” I redirected, not wanting him to think on his own rhetorical question. “According to you, your Dragon Defenders are submissive and perfect. Why do you need Sammy now?”

  “Because your little stunt has opened a whole new world to me.” His eyes lit up, and my stomach turned. “I had no idea you could transform yourself like that. I admit, everything about you has thrown me off, but your scent most of all. Jocelyn’s scent is so different from yours, and I know yours, Samantha. But I couldn’t figure out how she could possibly be you. I mean, no one has ever been able to do camo like that. Luckily for me, I wasn’t the only one with doubts. My Defenders, with their heightened senses, knew you were a fraud when they transformed. Don’t ask me how that works, but as soon as Kalepe told me down by the beach when the Irukas brought Blake to me, I knew. Blake would only have come to rescue his precious Samantha.”

  Crap… this was a bigger mistake than I’d thought.

  “Of course, I wasn’t entirely convinced so I went and talked to the ancients about it. They said it was plausible with the octopus DNA they found.”

  So that was why he had left me with a babysitter. At least that means he hadn’t been torturing Blake all night.

  He pinched the bridge of his nose as he frowned. “Just wish I could find that blasted Kate. She’s the one who helped make Sammy’s original formula, for crying out loud.”

  Taken aback by Kory’s seemingly honest statement, I asked, “Wait, she’s not here with you?”

  He eyed me for a second, and then said, “No, why? Did you think she was?”

  “I figured she busted out of her holding cell to join your forces, like the four ancients had.”

  “No. I should’ve grabbed her while she sat like a sitting duck, but I had the ancients. I didn’t think I’d need her. Then this past week, with… what’s been happening… I went to find her and discovered she was already gone.”

  “What do you mean? What’s been happening?” I asked, not really expecting him to tell me.

  “Nothing,” he murmured under his breath, taking a step closer to me. “Look, nothing against you, Samantha, but I really need Sammy right now.”

  I didn’t like the way his eyes raked me up and down. What does he think? Sammy’s hiding somewhere on my body right now?

  “Well, in case you haven’t noticed, I don’t exactly have control over when Sammy decides to pop up,” I said with forced calmness as my muscles tightened. My wings screamed for release. Even knowing Defenders stood outside this room, I readied myself to bolt. Now or never.

  I met Kory’s gaze. “So I guess you’re stuck with me, Kory.”

  With my last words, my wings jumped into action and I shoved past him, flying toward the door. Pretending to be Jocelyn for so long had left them feeling stiff and unused.

  Kory didn’t even bother to follow me, only laughed at me. “Go ahead. I was going to hand you over to them anyway to see if they might be able to scare dear Sammy out of you. You just made my job that much easier.”

  I didn’t open the door, scanning the room around me for anything that could be used as a weapon. Maybe I can force my way out there with Kory as my prisoner. I knew it was a ridiculous hope, but it was all I had left.

  The door swung inward before I had the chance to grab anything. Within seconds, Kalepe’s monstrous form was wrapping his arms around me, squeezing the air out of me.

  Chapter 36

  I struggled against Kalepe, although it did nothing but leave me feeling bruised. Finally deciding he wasn’t actually going to squeeze me to death right then and there, I stopped fighting and let him fly me away. At this point, I’d prefer anywhere over being in the same room with Kory. I hate him! If Blake doesn’t make him pay for all he’s done, I will. Thinking of Blake, my heart throbbed. What had Kory’s goons done to him while he’d messed around with me?

  I cleared my throat. Trying to be heard over the roar of air surrounding us, I shouted out, “Kalepe!”

  The dark, enormous head turned to peer down at me. He said nothing, but I knew he’d heard me at least.

  “Where’s Blake? Is he… okay?” I asked. When he didn’t say anything, panic shot through me. “Kalepe, he didn’t do anything wrong! He just came to check on me!”

  Again no answer, just black eyes peering down at me with the strangest of expressions. It wasn’t exactly hostility I sensed, more curiosity. I could only hope some part of Kalepe could still be reasoned with. Being alone with him now, flying, this felt like my only hope.

  “Please,” I cried, my voice breaking as tears sprung to my eyes, “Please tell me Kory didn’t turn you into a real monster… a murderer.”

  A deep rumble came from Kalepe’s chest as he said, “He’s not dead.” I couldn’t stop the sob that racked through me as the reality of almost losing Blake crashed down on me. Of all the places to have a breakdown! I should be acting strong—in control. Instead, I’m bawling on a bug’s shoulder…

  Kalepe’s eyes glanced down at me for a second, and then he was back to navigating through the thick trees we’d entered. I sniffed back my tears, peering around. I wasn’t too surprised to see the squat, stucco building up ahead. Kory had said to put Blake with the unchanged Defenders. Just hope that doesn’t literally mean in their cages.

  Since the building wasn’t large, it didn’t take us long to fly down the short corridor that led to the open room with one entire wall made of glass. Kalepe didn’t stop to gaze at the Defenders still hooked up to IVs, just continued to where the unchanged Defenders still sat, caged up, waiting their turns.

  He veered to the right. Within seconds, the metal door loomed before us. Even though Kalepe had said Blake wasn’t dead, bloody and mutilated were still very real possibilities. My insides constricted, nerves tightening the muscles across my neck and shoulders as Kalepe gave the door a push with one monstrous palm. The weight of the door was no obstacle for him and swung in with a bang.

  With our noisy entrance, Defender heads popped up from within their confines. A roar issued from the imprisoned as my eyes sought out Blake. Where is he? Did Kalepe lie to me?

  My panic to find him outweighed the monsters trying to reach me from within the bars. I hardly noticed my clothes being yanked on until Kalepe let out a horrible growl. When it ended, the room went dead silent.

  His eyes honed in on the beasts surround
ing us, shouting, “Dragon Defenders, back off! This one is not for you!”

  Did that mean Blake was? I tried not to overanalyze Kalepe’s statement and took their calming down as a chance to finish my search.

  That was when I saw him. He was in the back of the room, in a cage by himself. I wanted to cry for joy, but the stillness of Blake’s body lying on the ground, curled in the fetal position, made my mouth go dry.

  Still, I managed to croak, “Blake!”

  There was no movement from the last cage.

  Kalepe landed down. With my body still held tightly against his, he marched me toward the empty cage next to Blake. I went willingly; I needed to be near Blake. I had to make sure he was okay. Passing the quieted, but hardly pacified, Defenders, the hairs on the back of my neck rose. Chills shot down my arms. Unlike Kalepe, whose eyes even in bug form had the look of reasoning behind them, every pair of these black eyes had only one thing written on them. Destroy her.

  Kalepe didn’t shove me into my cage, which I was grateful for. My body was still sore from Kory’s manhandling. In fact, it seemed the longer I’d been held by Kalepe, the gentler his grip had become. I guess he sensed I wasn’t going to make a run for it.

  I didn’t pay attention to Kalepe. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I heard the scraping of the key, locking me in. All my focus was on Blake. I scooted as close as I could to his body, reaching through my bars, hoping I could span the space that separated our two cages.

  “Blake!” I hollered. “Wake up! Come on… Blake, wake up!”

  Nothing. I scanned his body. There was dry blood on his clothes, where I could only assume injuries had already healed. His wings appeared unharmed; nothing seemed to be broken from where I sat. So why isn’t he waking up?

  “Blake!” I yelled louder. “You’ve got to be okay! I need you! Please! Please wake up!”

  Still nothing.

  Sensing someone watching, I glanced up to see Kalepe still stood over me, his black eyes once again taking on a very quizzical, almost confused gaze. It reminded of someone… someone else who’d given me the same look. Jaxon. When he’d been begging me to tell him what I’d done to him. I was sure it had to mean something, but right now, I didn’t care. I didn’t care that Kory’s damn bug army was going to wreak havoc on the world. I didn’t care what Sammy had done, or might still do. I didn’t even care if she took over, if only it meant Blake would be okay.