“Gabriel,” Michael spoke once more, taking another step closer, his voice soft.
“I said leave!” The strength in my voice startled me. It also startled Michael, because without another word, he left. I instantly turned my full attention to Kass.
She looked so ghostly. So sad. Her skin was beyond pale. Her lips were cracked to the extreme. Her whole body bruised and utterly broken.
All because of me. All because of stupid, stupid me. Why hadn’t I listened to her when she said that girl was no good? Because I had wanted to prove that she was wrong. This whole thing was because of me and my selfish reasons.
“Kass…” I grasped her hand once more. It was flimsy and lifeless. If I didn’t know better, I’d say she was already dead, that she left us for a better place. Heaven.
Awe, hell.
A life without Kass would be a life in Hell.
“Kassandra!” I yelled to her, semi-hoping she’d suddenly hear me and come back to me. “You can’t leave me. You have to come back. You have to…”
She had two cracked ribs, a broken nose, a fractured wrist, and three broken toes. And probably other injuries too, ones that Michael couldn’t identify from the outside. Hopefully no internal bleeding.
We couldn’t even take her to the hospital. Damn it! If we were normal people we could have. But then again, if we were normal we wouldn’t be in this mess in the first place. If we were normal…I wouldn’t even know Kass.
A life not knowing Kass would be Hell.
But I’d rather be in Hell if it meant she was safe and alive. If only it were that simple.
“Kass, I bought you something. It cost Michael…a lot.” I handled the box in my pocket. “I know it doesn’t make up for all this, but…please come back, so I can give it to you. Please come back,” I whispered after bringing my face closer to hers. “Please. I need you here with me.”
I looked upwards, my mind wide open for any ideas that would bring my best friend back. Slowly I returned my gaze to her, to Kass. My best friend. My Kass. Though her face was black and blue, she was serene, tranquil, beautiful.
My Kass.
Thoughts that never had entered my mind before surfaced, and my stare fell to her lips as an idea came to me. Leaning over her, I whispered, “You have to come back.”
No response.
“Kassandra.”
Nothing.
My vision started to become blurry, but I blinked it back. “If I could take it back, I would. I would never have asked her out, never followed her into danger…the danger that caused all this. If I could have been more alert back there—I’d give anything to be in your position, trade spots with you, knowing that you’re alive and safe.” And before I completely lost it, I laid a single kiss upon her cold and chapped lips.
I need you.
But it wasn’t a fairy tale. The kiss did nothing but make my lips cold.
And feel like her.
Frustrated and beyond upset, I ran into my room, slammed the door hard, and slid down it. Cradling myself between the floor and the door, I let it all out. I just couldn’t hold it in anymore. I took the box out of my pocket and threw it as hard as I could across the room.
What if she never woke up?
I screamed till my voice wouldn’t come out. I banged the ground till my knuckles refused to move. I cursed myself till I ran out of curses. I broke every piece of furniture in my room until there was nothing left. And, for the first time in my life, I cried.
I cried because I was sad. I cried because I was worried. Most of all, I cried because I was angry at myself.
Chapter Twenty-Five – Kass
“Gabriel,” I spoke as softly as I could, seeing for the first time how hurt he really was by the disaster that happened three years ago. “Gabriel.” I reached over and pulled his face close, hugging him. “Of course it made us stronger.”
I think we were in that position for five minutes before Gabriel said, “Kass, you know your boobs are in my face, right?”
Thank God, the normal Gabriel was back.
I chuckled as I noticed it was true, letting him go. “Sorry.”
“No, don’t apologize. Anytime you want to put your boobs in my face, by all means, do it.” Gabriel grinned back at me.
I glared at him. How quickly this had changed from an emotional moment to a normal encounter. “Go put Malcolm in the Middle on,” I ordered him.
As he did as he was told, I realized that the black box was still sitting on my lap, untouched and unopened. Double checking that Gabriel was still fiddling with the DVD player, I decided to open it, but I could not hold in my amazement.
It was a necklace. A beautiful necklace, to say the least. It was covered in diamonds and consisted of a cross and a heart.
“Someday I’ll tell you what it stands for.” Gabriel knelt in front of me.
It stood for something?
“Gabriel, I don’t know what to say…” My breath was short, reminding me of how I got before John attempted to kiss me. I guessed it’s true; all girls loved diamonds. But I didn’t think it was necessarily only the diamonds.
“You don’t have to say anything.” Gabriel picked up the necklace and moved my hair. He gingerly put it on me, saying, “Not a single thing.”
“But—”
Gabriel shook his head, his natural hair flying in every direction. “No.” He leaped onto the couch, next to me. “Now can we please just watch Malcolm in the Middle without this getting too much weirder?”
I nodded, reclining back as we both began watching the show we loved years ago, remembering our childhood and how everything used to be much, much simpler.
Michael sipped his coffee, grabbed the paper, and was walking into the living room when his gaze landed on two sleeping figures. Us.
“You’ve got to be kidding me…” He hit us with the paper, on both our heads, as if we were animals acting up. “Wake up! Wake up! You’re terribly late for school!”
I jerked awake, followed shortly by Gabriel.
He was totally out of it. “School?”
I was a bit more awake, noticing every little detail. And by every little detail I meant the drool spot on Gabriel’s shirt. Oh, God. That was my drool. Ew. Wait a second. This meant I slept on Gabriel.
Awkward.
I rolled off the couch and ran upstairs, leaving Gabriel to explain why we hadn’t fallen asleep in our beds and decided to stay up all night and watch Malcolm in the Middle. I threw some clothes on and took a swift glance at the clock.
Crap. Third period was going to start in fifteen minutes. I didn’t want to miss a minute of third period because third period was physics, and physics meant John.
And John…I really wanted to see John.
Michael drove us to school, and it was weird. Sitting in the car with him and Gabriel, everyone was silent. Which made me a little uneasy. Was Michael mad that we accidentally fell asleep on the couch last night and we were late to school? Or mad about the part that he had to drive us there? Or maybe he was angry about something else?
But I didn’t know what that something else could be.
Even in a car—a speeding one—we were still five minutes late to third period.
And let me say that I hated walking into a room where the class has already started and the teacher was talking.
Mr. Straum met me halfway in my walk of shame. “Ah, Miss Niles. Welcome. I trust you had a lovely time sleeping in?”
How could he possibly know that? I thought I looked acceptable, but maybe not. Maybe acceptable for me was roll-out-of-bed for Mr. Straum. Although, sometimes, I wondered if he dressed himself in the dark because some of the shirts he wears. They’re just not pretty. Trust me. But, luckily for me, the class was too busy fixing their marble shooters to hear what he said.
Mr. Straum let a laugh loose, one that seemed to echo in the small classroom. “I’m just messing with you. Go take your seat next to John. While you were gone, he has been working very diligently.”
I nodded, moving toward John. His long legs were dressed in tight jeans, his hair sloppily falling over his dark eyes. He looked good. I tried sliding into my seat as snakelike as I could, without making any noises, but for some reason John still heard me.
John winked at me.
Damn. He smelled great, too. And his teeth were so white. He was so…attractive in every way.
“Nice nap?” John asked while tinkering with the screws.
“Yes, actually it was very nice.” I wasn’t about to tell him how I woke up on Gabriel though. I just had an inkling that conversation would end badly and send John barreling toward whatever class Gabriel was in. A fight would surely ensue.
“Well, I got this thing to go two meters,” John said, like he was proud of himself. Like he, himself, had invented it. Even though all the items came in a pack and its average shooting distance was supposed to be eight meters.
“What grade’s that?” I asked, taking interest, since I cannot fail this class. Well, I could, but I really didn’t want to. It would be especially upsetting for me since I’ve learned all this crap before.
“I’m gonna say it’s not an A. Or a B. Or a C.” He stopped and smiled at me. “Possibly a D.”
“Great,” I whined as I dropped my head on our lab station. “Just great. For our first project, we’re going to get a D.”
“Hey,” John rubbed my back, which felt incredibly good. “Don’t be a Debbie Downer. I’m sure he’ll give us an A if we bribe him.”
I looked up at him, my facial expression saying ‘What?’
“Except I already offered him everything in my pocket. Three dollars and thirty cents.”
Enjoying the massage he was now giving me, just for the heck of it I asked, “What’d he do?”
“He shook his head, laughed, and walked away. Still laughing.” Much to my sadness, John started testing out the shooter again, leaving my back to miss his firm touch. That felt really, really good. He should go into massage therapy, or at the very least be my personal massager.
“I hate this class,” I muttered, because it was true. When Koath taught me physics, he hadn’t taught like this. He didn’t teach me horribly, like this guy, making us build stuff without telling us how.
John laughed. “So do I, Kass. Believe me.”
“I wish I didn’t take this class.”
“What?” John appeared appalled. “Then we wouldn’t have any classes together besides lunch! And we both know, lunch doesn’t really count.”
That was true. I liked this class only because John was in it and we goofed off.
But I was in the middle of a whine fest, so I couldn’t exactly stop myself. “I can’t build things! It’s literally impossible for me. I can’t do anything, John. I really can’t.”
I knew that was a lie. I could do things, plenty of things. Things like Purifying and fighting. Things were not the problem. The problem was this particular class. I was having trouble doing things in this class only, so that’s got to be saying something, right?
“Hey.” John took my hand in his, which sent a tingle up my arm. His hands were impossibly soft. “You have me. I can build things. Maybe not get them into working condition like the way he wants them, but I can build things.”
“But building them is only half of it! We need to get them to actually work and do what they’re supposed to do. We are so going to fail this.”
John kept a hold of my hand as he said, “Well if you keep thinking like that, we will. But that’s something I don’t plan on doing.”
“Again. Again. Again!”
I came at Raphael one, two, three times. My arms were tired and this sword was heavy. Why’d Michael go and buy a million pound sword?
After three hours of practicing with it, it seemed to multiply in heaviness.
Raphael blocked every single blow like he was fending off a one-legged dog. Hey, I even think that one-legged dog could have done a better job fighting him than me. “You are good, but I’m better.”
No shit, Sherlock. If I was a better fighter than you, you’d be dead! That’s what I wanted to tell him, anyway.
“And if just one of your opponents is better than you—”
“It’s the end for me, I know,” I interrupted him, mostly because I knew he hated it.
Raphael set his sword vertical and leaned on it. “Do you think this is a game, Kassandra?”
“No,” I answered slowly, for that was the truth.
“Well then, I suggest that you begin to take my lessons seriously. I am only preparing you for the worst. And if you can’t handle the worst, then get out of here.”
I narrowed my gaze at him. “I can handle the worst.”
“Can you?” Raphael took a couple steps closer to me, repeating, “Can you handle the worst?”
“Yes, I can,” I told him, believing it. Of course I could handle the worst. I had only been trained for it since I could remember. Raphael hadn’t been my first teacher.
“You know, Kassandra, I personally do not know if you can. Know why?”
“No, but I’m betting you’re going to tell me.” I tried not to be a smartass, but sometimes it was difficult, especially when I was talking to someone who thought they knew everything, like Raphael.
“You take almost nothing seriously, you—” Raphael’s phone rang. Finding it, he flipped it open. “Yes. Is that…okay. We’ll be there.” Raphael shot a glance at me. “We need to get you home. Now.”
“Now? What—why?” The look on his face was making me worried.
“Michael and I need to search the area for—”
I held up a hand. I knew what he was going to say, and I didn’t want to hear it. “They have it, don’t they? What did it end up being?”
Without delay, Raphael replied, “Ta-Bitjet was never a real person, therefore we assumed they needed the blood of scorpions. And it just so happens that Michael read in the paper all the scorpions in this city’s pet stores have been stolen. An odd crime too strange not to be plastered in the local news.”
Oh, great.
Things the Nightwalkers already had for the Osiris Ritual
(a checklist by, yours truly, me)
1. Blood of Ta-Bitjet/blood of scorpions (Check)
2. Cat’s head (Check)
3. Falcon’s claw (Check)
4. Virgin (?)
Michael switched his glance from me to Gabriel. “No, you cannot come.”
Gabriel crossed his defined arms, and being the stubborn person he was, said, “No. You mistook my statement for a question. I am coming.”
The Englishman stamped his foot down, as if issuing a royal decree. “No. You are not.”
Gabriel immediately got in his face. “If you come across trouble down there, you and Raphael might not be able to handle it. I’m coming.”
“I bloody said no!”
“I think you’re worried about the wrong person here,” Gabriel stated, throwing a glance at me. “I’m not a virgin, so it isn’t like they’re going to come after me.”
While I stood aside, silent, Raphael quipped, surprisingly on the blonde’s side, “Gabriel is right, Michael. Kassandra is the one that was marked by the Hyena Demon. Without her, they cannot complete the ritual.” His light eyes flicked to me. “And as long as you remain in the house, protected by our incantation, nothing soulless will be able to enter tonight.”
Gabriel muttered, “That means don’t leave this house, Kass.”
“I know what it means,” I hissed, annoyed. Even if I went, I was sure I could take care of myself. We’ve faced death before, why not a sacrificing ritual? “And just so you all know, I hate this. I’m not helpless. I could go and—”
“Out of the question,” Michael stated simply, folding his arms. “You are capable of quite a lot, but this is something completely separate from the creatures you and Gabriel face on a nightly basis.”
“So because that damned Demon marked me, I have to stay here, by myself, and twiddle m
y thumbs until you guys get back and hope that you found their nest?”
Raphael nodded, glancing out at the early morning sunrise. “We will have enough time to search all the city’s crypts before sundown. We will return when the mission is complete. You will be safe here.”
Grumbling, I spoke, “I’m not afraid of danger, Raphael.” I stopped as Gabriel set a hand on me, motioning for the two men to go on out and give us time to talk alone. I could only imagine what the boy wanted to say.
He waited until Michael and Raphael had gone, and when the front door clicked closed, he sighed. “I know you’re not happy about this, Kass.”
“Really? What on earth would give you that idea?”
His blue eyes rose to meet my gaze, his emotions splayed across his face evenly. “You’re not the most subtle person in the world.”
I tugged on the ends of my shorts. “What do you want? You’re holding up the mission that’s too dangerous for me.” I was afraid that if I looked at him, I’d punch him.
Gabriel interrupted, shaking his head, “Don’t do that, Kass. Don’t. We both know this is a lot worse than patrolling a cemetery and staking a Nightwalker every now and then. This is…it has the possibility of turning into another situation—a situation like three years ago. Last time, you saved my ass.” He went for his dragon blade, resting against the wall near the giant front door. Lifting it between us as he admired the point, he added, “Let me be the hero this time.” Swinging it aside, his hand went to the back of my neck as he brought me closer to him. Planting a kiss on the top of my head, he quietly finished, “Let me save you.”
Jaw locking, I watched in silence as he exited and joined Michael and Raphael on the steps. I wanted to pound the wall with my fists. I wanted to grab my rose blade and run to catch up to them. I wanted to be in the thick of the fight, adrenaline coursing through my veins, one with my soul.
Save me.
I was a different person than I was three years ago, just as Gabriel was, too. I was stronger. I did what had to be done and avoided stupid mistakes. I was certain I could’ve helped them.
But I couldn’t, so I stayed in that blasted house, didn’t go to school, and watched all the reruns of Gilmore Girls I could handle. As dusk began to settle on the area, an uneasy feeling crept inside me. I snuggled under a blanket on the couch, praying that sleep would take me.
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