Death's Dilemma (DHAD #2)

by Candice Burnett

  “I don’t really think so, seeing as that’s not going to happen.”

  “You really think you can...” And I didn’t let him finish, not wanting another tirade of how he was “oh so powerful”. I flung up both arms and watched as the electricity left my fingertips and hit him right in the chest, sending him flying into the trailer behind him. He hit it with a loud thud and collapsed to the ground. I walked over and with one, downward swipe of my scythe, slashed his head off. With one more swipe, I cut open his heart, threw it on the ground next to me, and smashed it under my boot. As my foot came down upon it, the juices squirted from the sides as it burst. Trevor had taught me that, along with cutting off their heads, it was always a safe bet to crush their heart as well. I put my hand on his chest to see if I could feel anymore pulsing as sometimes Demons had more than one heart. He hadn’t. I looked back behind me where he’d dropped Myah during his flying lesson. I could feel she was still alive, but she had bruises all over her from the Demon dragging her away. I put my hands on her chest and tried to channel the healing, but nothing came out. I put my hand to her head and pulled the memories of the fair. I then called out “Home”, and ported her body to the bottom of the stairs at her house. Her parents would find her soon and think she just fell down the stairs.

  I walked back over to where I’d left the other Guardians. Lacie was nowhere in sight; she must have already left with Trevor.

  Abram was the first one I saw.

  “Did Trevor take Lacie back?” He looked at me and begin to open his mouth but shut it quickly

  “Are you serious?! I need to know NOW! I understand you hate me for what happened to your sister, but I’m not that Reaper or that Demon. How many more Demons do I have to kill for you to understand that?”

  “Demon? There were no Demons. Only you lurking.”

  “Inside the wards, yes, but if you’d like proof, scrape off a sample,” I said as I lifted my leg and put my boot up to his face so he could get a whiff.

  He opened his mouth and gagged as he hit my foot away. “Where? What happened?”

  “You answer my question first.”

  “Yes, Trevor took a vehicle and drove her home.” I let out the breathe I had been holding. It was a pain that guardians couldn’t just port souls like we could, then I wouldn’t have even had to ask. Guardians could only port themselves or another guardian. I use to see this as an advantage Reapers had over Guardians, but now it was just more of an inconvenience. “Was there more than one Demon? Did anyone see you? Do they know where we are now?” he asked frantically

  “No, there was just one. He didn’t recognize me at first. He figured out who I was once Myah woke up, but I killed him, and there were no others, so we’re not compromised.”

  “Yet,” he said, and I rolled my eyes.

  “So you saved that girl, I assume?”

  “Yes.”

  “Hmph,” he grunted.

  “See? Was that so painful?” He rolled his eyes, flicked me off, and left. Guess we were going back to the no talking thing.

  ***

  “We need to leave ASAP,” I said to Trevor as soon as I ported home.

  “I know.”

  “With Reapers and now a Demon showing up, we can’t take any chances.”

  “I know, but it’ll take time. And until it’s properly set up, the safest places for her are at the house and school”

  “We can do as we did before, when you were injured.”

  “No we can’t, we won’t have the wards protection then.”

  “So we’re just going to wait here like sitting ducks?!”

  “You said yourself the Demon had no idea who you were. If Demons knew we were here, they would have already attacked,” Trevor said.

  “But the Reapers can get past your wards set up here and at the school.”

  “Well, they’re after you, but it does give danger to her as well.”

  “They wouldn’t be stupid enough to attack at the school again or here, would they?”

  “We have over thirty Guardians here, and they only attacked you at school after my Guardian team left. So, until we are able to move, it’s just here and school. No more surprise destinations. To the school and back. Can we agree to that, Lacie?” he said as he stopped talking to me and turned to her.

  “WHY does DEATH follow me EVERYWHERE!?” She screamed. I grabbed her in a hug. “I wanted one freaking week. Just one week,” she sobbed.

  “You’ll have your week. It hasn’t begun yet, remember? Tomorrow is Monday.”

  “Just one week,” she sobbed again as she left my arms and went upstairs.

  “This is starting to take its toll on her, huh?” Trevor said, and I nodded.

  “You think?”

  “I get it. I mean, since I’ve been with her, it’s like the second she gets comfortable, we have to leave for some reason. I can’t imagine having to just constantly leave people I grew to care for all the time,” he said.

  “I can.” And I got why she was upset. It did suck, but there wasn’t anything I could do to help her or myself for that matter. Lacie and I had both lost many people we cared about in the last year. It wasn’t fair, but when was life.

  “It’ll take us at least a week, probably more, to set up another location as tight, and with as many wards as we have here. So, we’ll carry out this week as planned?” Trevor asked

  “That’s what I said, wasn’t it?”

  “Yes, but I thought that was just to comfort her.”

  “It was, but I’d figured it would take you guys time. Always does. You should probably call on more help while we’re waiting.”

  “I’ll put in a call for more of us. It’s just a week, Cendall. We can make it through a week, right?” Who knew?

  Chapter Fourteen

  Time to get Lei’d

  “Time to wake up and get lei’d,” Lacie said as she dangled the Hawaiian lei in front of my face. I batted it away and turned on my side.

  “Come on. Wake up. It’s day one of spirit week!”

  “Spirit week? Seriously? We can only go from here to school. How can we do spirit week.”

  “It’s at school. We just won’t be able to help build the float now. No big deal. I already let Myah know. She’s still recovering from ‘falling down the stairs’, so she had to drop out too. She probably won’t be back ‘til Friday. Now, wake up and put this on with whatever black ensemble you come up with.”

  ***

  Paper palm trees lined the lockers as leis were wrapped around every student’s neck. “This looks so ridiculous.”

  “Perhaps, but it’s fun and makes this place a little brighter, doesn’t it?”

  “Hello,” Cameron said as he came up to us in an oversized dark blue shirt that was covered in hibiscus flowers. My lips cracked a smile as I looked down at his floral swim trunks and flip flops.

  “When you’re in, you’re ALL in.”

  “School spirit is nothing to mess with,” he laughed. “Isn’t this shirt hideous? I got it as a hand me down from an uncle a few Christmases ago.”

  “It really is terrible, but make-me-smile-all-day terrible.”

  “It’s perfect then. We’ve got to get going or we’re going to miss what Mr. Mullen drank on Sunday Funday.”

  “Wouldn’t want to miss that. Do you know what we’re supposed to do during gym class?” No way they had all that cleaned up already.

  “No idea. There is yellow caution tape covering the entrances.” The bell warning us that we had three minutes to get to Mr. Mullen’s class rang in my ears. We rushed to class and quickly took our seats.

  “Good morning,” Mr. Mullen said after he weaved in and out of the rows, taking attendance. “Today is going to be a free day. Read whatever you want. Go on your phones. I don’t care. I’ve got to go talk with the principal in regards to this gym situation,” he said before leaving the classroom to probably go take a nap in a bathroom stall somewhere. We all knew it only took five minutes to walk to the p
rincipal’s office and back, but none of us would call him out in risk of losing a free day.

  “Jaeger bombs.”

  “Hold on,” Cameron said as he stood up and looked at his cell phone. “Yup, she’s right,” he said as he pulled up a picture of Mr. Mullen doing a Jaeger bomb that he posted on Facebook last night. Apparently, the guy thought changing his last name to “Cullen” would be good enough for his student not to find his page. Everyone looked at the picture and let out a sigh in defeat. I guessed that because he didn’t have his usual Red Bull at his desk, and I’d caught a whiff of licorice when he walked past to take attendance. Trevor took a seat at the desk in his absence. I walked up to the desk, pretending to be dropping off a paper.

  “Everything okay?” I mouthed, and he nodded his head. Normally, he hung just outside the classrooms. He probably just wanted to get closer because of the events that had happened on Friday and Sunday.

  “So what are your plans for tomorrow?” Cameron asked when I took my seat again.

  “No idea. You know I’m not running that show. She’s the event coordinator,” I said as I pointed to Lacie who was talking to Brad.

  “That’s nice of you.”

  “What can I say? I live to please others.” He laughed

  “You two are so different. I have no idea how you came from the same family.”

  “I know, but yet, we did. I’m surprised to see you here today. I thought mono lasted longer than a weekend.” I’d tried calling him to go to the fair on Sunday, but he answered saying he had mono.

  “False alarm. Just a cold that had me in bed for two days.” He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. He was lying.

  “Since you’re participating in spirit week stuff this week, does that mean she’s dragging you to the dance too?”

  “I believe so.” Not that I wanted to, but that silly little free will thing was always getting in the way.

  “You know, if my mom wasn’t taking me on vacation this Saturday, I would have asked you to the dance,” he started, and I was stunned. No, I didn’t know that. “Don’t look at me like that,” he laughed. “I would have asked you as a friend so neither of us had to go solo.” I let out my breath. “With the look that was just on your face, you’d think I just asked you to kill someone for me.” No, that would have been much easier. “Am I that bad?”

  “NO, it’s not that. I just thought… I don’t know. I don’t date.” Humans, or who was I kidding? Demons, Guardians, or anyone for that matter. I was here for one thing. “Sorry, no you’re hot. Are you serious? I just always thought we were friends. That’s why I looked shocked, not disgusted.” I smiled big to reassure him. He really wasn’t ugly, just not my type if I was looking, which I wasn’t.

  “Alright I’ll take that,” he said with a sincere smile. “But since I can’t go to the dance, will you at least wear my jersey Friday?” he asked.

  “Uh… sure.”

  “Thank you,” he said genuinely. “Maybe we’ll win this week with you wearing it.”

  “I’m not a good luck charm if that’s what you’re hoping.” Quite the opposite actually. Unless, maybe I took the souls of the other team, then they’d have a chance.

  “You never know. I’m going to go smoke. I’ll see you later. ”

  “You know those things aren’t good for your health, right?”

  “Yeah, yeah, I’ll quit tomorrow. If Mullen comes back, have Lacie text me where I need to go.”

  “Got it.”

  “Brad officially asked me to the dance,” Lacie said as she leaned over with a smile. “Did Cameron ask you?”

  “Not to the dance. He’s not going, but he did ask me to where his jersey Friday.”

  “Nice.”

  “It’s not like that.”

  “I know. I’m just happy you’re finally getting into this spirit thing, at least a little bit. Maybe you’ll bring the team luck.”

  “I really doubt having death wear your jersey would bring good luck,” I laughed.

  “You’re not death anymore, Cendall.” I tapped on my boots where the scythe lay hidden inside. “Well, not technically anyway. It’ll be fun, you’ll see.”

  Mr. Mullen staggered back into class and sat his desk, almost missing his chair completely.

  “Yes Cendall?” he asked as I raised my hand

  “So where are we supposed to go.”

  “Good question. No one knows. Just go outside for the hour.” He never asked, but whatever. We could at least say we had permission now.

  “Ready to get out of here?” I asked Lacie, and we got up and went into the hall. Before we made it to the exit to go find Cameron outside, I was pulled into a closet.

  “What the hell?” I asked Trevor as he put a finger to my lips.

  “She’s going to…”

  “She’s covered. Abram’s got her for the next thirty seconds. Listen, so I’ve been asking around and I might have a lead on who your mother was.”

  “What?!” came out as a squeak.

  “Yes, well I found out that the Angel, Alicia, who pushed for you to be on the assignment, has actually been like really working at it but didn’t want to come tell us because she said she has to be absolutely sure. She doesn’t want to get your hopes up and it turn into nothing.”

  “Okay.”

  “Well, yeah, so anyway, she has it narrowed down to like four people, and three of them were Angels, Cendall. Freaking Angels! Do you know what that means!?”

  “That I could become stronger than you,” I laughed, and his eyes narrowed.

  “Never.”

  “Why all the secrecy?” I asked.

  “You really have to ask? You do see how half the staff stares at you, right.”

  “Oh yeah… that.”

  “And the fact that news like this is going to rock whoever’s family you’re related to. No Angel or Guardian, to date, has ever been with a Reaper, and your mom broke that barrier. Alicia doesn’t want to start making statements about people’s dead loved ones if it’s not true. News like this isn’t light.”

  “Bahhh.”

  “Bahhh?”

  “Yes I’m about to become some family’s black sheep.”

  “No, you won’t be.”

  “Don’t lie to me, Trevor.”

  “I’m not. I would be shocked, yes, but Cendall, no one even knew a Reaper and Angel could mix and create life.” He started laughing. “Angels literally bring life to this world, while a Reaper destroys them, and yet, here you are, a mix of polar opposites.”

  “Don’t get your hopes up. We don’t know yet that I’m part anything. Us Reapers could just be evolving you know. Haven’t you ever heard of the evolution theory?” He rolled his eyes as a loud knock got our attention. I twisted the knob, and we walked outside to a crying Catherine.

  “Trevor what were you doing in there?” she accused.

  “Catherine, we talked about this. You can’t be here unless you’re on the schedule to fill in for someone or your assignment is here, and I know, for a fact, he’s outside.”

  “I know but, Trevor, I’m just worried about you. She’s poisoning your mind,” she said as she pointed at me, and I took this as my cue to leave.

  “Stalker,” I said under my breath as I walked past her to find Lacie.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Awkward

  I quietly made my way through the connecting closet to tell Lacie goodnight. I’d asked her to clean this last week, but of course, it remained a mess. How one person could have so many shoes was way beyond my understanding. When I asked her if I could have some space in here, you would think I’d asked for her first born. Eventually, she gave me three feet of closet space. We called it a compromise and moved on.

  The door was cracked, but I didn’t hear anything. She was probably already sleeping. I started to turn around when a slight shudder rolled over my shoulders—a Reaper. I immediately looked down at my spear. Lacie wasn’t vulnerable, as it wasn’t glowing, but a Reaper was in her ro
om. I tip toed over to the opening and peaked through. Drake was hovering above Lacie, just staring. I was about to break in when Lacie opened her eyes and kissed him. He pulled away at first, and his eyes went wide in shock. She smiled, and he went back in.

  This was awkward, but I couldn’t leave, for if he changed his mind and decided to kill her, I’d be the first line of defense. I felt my cheeks burn. I really shouldn’t be a part of this moment. Was this a moment? Had he been here before, and she didn’t say anything?

  He finally pulled away, probably finally getting a clue what was happening.

  “How can you see me?”

  “It’s not nice to stare you know,” she said with a laugh.

  “You…” he stumbled over his words, and I held back a laugh. Who would’ve thought a simple kiss could silence that Reaper? I wouldn’t have bet on it.

  “I was right. You taste as good as I thought you would, but you’d better leave before my Guardians come rushing in. I know Cendall already beat you once.”

  “She got lucky,”

  “Like you did tonight.” She smiled wickedly, and his mouth dropped. I put my hand over my mouth so the laugh couldn’t escape. Seeing Drake like this was amazing.

  “What do you mean?”

  “You got to kiss me, duh. I really was just curious, but now that I’ve tried it, well…. ehh, I don’t know. I guess you Reapers aren’t good at kissing. Cendall was right. ” Ouch.

  “What are you talking about?” he asked, looking seriously disappointed.

  “Well, I just thought since you were ‘godlike’ creatures, that you’d be the best kiss I’d ever had, that’s all. Guess it’s my fault for having high expectations.”

  “I doubt you have that much experience to know that as a fact,” he spit back at her. “I kiss just fine,” he paused, “…it had to be you.” Ah, there was the Drake I knew.