Death's Dilemma (DHAD #2)

by Candice Burnett

  We both took a deep breath. He unbuttoned my pants with his right hand, as he made sure to trace his fingertips with his free hand up and down my thighs. He gently tugged at my jeans, taking my panties with them, and slid them down the length of legs. They fell to the floor in a disheveled pile. I lay, for the first time, completely vulnerable, stripped of all defenses beyond what lived inside me. Looking deep into my eyes, he entered me cautiously, letting me take a breath and allowing my body to adjust to him. A shiver racked my entire body, not from being cold but from the utter pleasure of our bodies molding into one, fully connected. I looked at him and felt as if he was staring straight into my soul, binding our minds together as our bodies remained as one. I’d never felt closer to anyone.

  ***

  I nuzzled my face into his chest as I wrapped my arm and leg around his body. Neither of us said a word, just enjoyed the after wave of what had just transpired.

  “Trevor, I—” said Catherine as she opened the door that I hadn’t locked behind me. Shit, but I didn’t know. She froze in place at the sight of us. We tried to pull apart, but that was difficult due to me not wanting to show her my goodies. Her face shot red, and if looks could kill, I’d be a goner for sure.

  “I KNEW IT,” she screamed before leaving. I let out a nervous laugh, and he followed, surprising me.

  “So does that mean you guys are breaking up?” I joked

  “You know we haven’t been dating.”

  “I know. Trevor I… I’m sorry. I just came in to talk about what… uhhh… happened and….”

  “Just stop before you say something that spoils the moment.”

  “Ok.” I listened for once in my life to his advice, knowing he was right. Tomorrow, I would come up with great excuses as to why it happened, and why I would never let it happen again. Tonight, however, I was going to stay here, lying until I fell asleep in the arms of the Guardian who’d saved my life.

  I awoke alone in the middle of the night. I glanced around the room to look for Trevor, but he wasn’t in sight. I put on my clothes and saw a note tapped to the door.

  Didn’t want to wake you.

  Got news about a new location.

  Went to find out.

  See you when I get back.

  I took the note off the door and went to my room. I flopped on my bed and stared up at the ceiling. What the hell had that been about? I’d went to say thank you and couldn’t find the words. Instead, I let my body do the talking.

  “Shit,” I said out loud. There really wasn’t any fixing this now. I’d taken things to a whole new level of complicated, hadn’t I? But I didn’t do it alone. He wanted it too. How could we make it work from here? I’d have to fix this in the morning. Could we go back to what we were before?

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Lifesaver

  “Thank you for saving my life,” I said, and he opened his eyes to look at me. I grabbed a cup of coffee and sat down next to him. His eyebrow rose as a puzzled look spread across his face. “I wanted to tell you that yesterday, but I…got distracted. I don’t know. Just—thank you,” fumbled out of my mouth, but he didn’t flinch. “What?” I asked, not being able to take the glare any longer

  “I’m waiting.”

  “For what.”

  “Your excuse.”

  “Excuse for what.”

  “What happened last night,” he said as he grabbed my hand, but I pulled mine away. He gave an irritated smirk.

  “It’s like that movie we watched. What was it called? Friends with Benefits. We were both very emotional, and things went a little far. Humans do it all the time, I hear, and…” I had no idea what else to say. This was the best lie I’d come up with last night. In truth, I knew things would never be the same again. I knew it would change everything. I would never be able to shake the comfort I’d found in his arms or the look on his face as we became one. The feeling of ease that rolled over my entire being when I finally just let go and let my instincts take over, lose control like they’d wanted to for so long now. But me saying that just would make it all the more complicated. What if he didn’t feel the same? Surely I wasn’t his first, maybe that’s how it always felt, no matter who you were with. Who was I to know?

  “So you’re going to fall in love with me, then?”

  “WHAT?”I squeaked.

  “In the end of that movie, they fall in love. They start off as friends, then they uh...do what we did last night, and in the end, they end up together.” They had, hadn’t they Shit.

  “I—”

  “What’s wrong with you two?” Lacie said thankfully, saving me from uttering anything else.

  “Nothing. Why?”

  “I don’t know. You just look weird. Did something happen last night?”

  “No,” we said in unison.

  “Oh shit! What happened? Was there a Demon attack? Did someone die?”

  “No, nothing. Really. We did get our new location, though. We leave tomorrow.”

  “That sucks, but I get it. Can I at least say goodbye to Myah today?” Lacie asked me.

  “Yeah. I’ll have to come with you though. We’ll drop off Cameron on the way too.”

  “What is going to happen? How will we explain it all?” Lacie asked.

  “Cameron’s mom was killed during a burglary attack last night, and he walked in on it. The burglars knocked him out but killed his mom. When he wakes up, he’ll call the police.”

  “That’s so messed up,” she said.

  “Not as much as the real story is.”

  “That’s true. Well, I’ll go get changed, and we’ll go?” she asked.

  “Yes.” She went back upstairs. I was about to get up when Trevor grabbed my hand again. My breath caught as I looked back and became trapped in his glare. I blinked as my mind gave me a mental picture of what those eyes had looked like over top of me yesterday.

  “Listen, we need to talk about what happened last night. Like really talk about it.”

  “Fine, but after all of this.”

  “Fine.” He let go of my hand and, I went upstairs to wait for Lacie.

  “Be careful while you’re out and about. I doubt another Reaper will try and attack once they find the one’s remains, but the quick one got away. Something I plan on changing really soon.” So John was dead, and Eddie had lived. It didn’t worry me a bit. John was the aggressor; Eddie never had the balls to do anything without direction, and without Drake being around, he’d started to take John’s direction, a mistake that would be fatal if I had any decision in the matter. The way he just stared at me as John hit me over and over again, doing nothing, like we hadn’t grown up together. I’d always known John hated me, but I’d once called Eddie a friend.

  It was hard to wipe and place memories into Cameron’s mind. Something like this troubled a person for a long time, and most usually never got over it. But the truth wasn’t an option. Myah had been easy. Drake had already cleared her mind after he took her home. We just went over to her house, and Lacie told her we went over to Cameron’s, concerned he wasn’t answering the phone, and found him beaten and passed out. We told her we then called the hospital, and he was there now, resting. All of which was true, for the most part. For our story to work, we did have to take Cameron back to his house. Then, we called the police and the ambulance took him away.

  Myah started to cry, and the tears got even worse when Lacie told her that we had to move too. We explained that we just found out today from her parents that they had both been offered and accepted new jobs in California, and we had to leave tomorrow.

  “You can’t leave,” she begged.

  “We’ll keep in touch. I promise,” Lacie vowed and lied in the same, but it seemed to comfort her. She then made Myah promise to take care of Cameron.

  I let out a sigh of relief when we ported back home. It had been an exhausting, draining day. As much as I hated too admit it, Cameron and Myah had grown on me, too. That had been obvious by me saving each of them. The tallies
on my Reaper strikes list just kept adding up. Hopefully, in the end, whatever it had in store for me would be worth it. In reality, I just wanted to get moving and get some rest. The past few weeks had been insane, and I needed a break to think. I still hadn’t really found out anything about my mom, just assumptions that she was obviously from the side I’d learned to fight against as a child. We also had no idea why Mobrolantis wanted Lacie so badly, just that he thought she was a part of some prophecy that was suppose to help him finally tip the scale of good and evil. He thought that she would be his ticket back into invading Heaven, since he was the only Demon to date to have accomplished this once already. No matter what happened, I knew I had to keep her from him.

  “Ready?” Trevor asked when I opened up my bedroom door and saw him sitting on the bed.

  “Sure,” I said as I sat down beside him, and the corner of his mouth tipped up. Heat rose in my face, and I forced myself to look down, not wanting to make eye contact. He caressed the bottom of my chin with his palm, and on instinct, I leaned into the touch. He lifted my head, and my hair fell in front of my face. He tucked it behind my ears, and took a deep breath.

  “I’m so glad you can heal yourself.”

  “About that, thanks for tricking me.” I meant it.

  “I had to, otherwise, Cendall, you were almost gone. Your face was black and blue.” His fingertips traced from my temple and down my cheek. “Your left eye was swollen shut, and you were bleeding everywhere. I could see your abdomen through the cut he placed in your side. I don’t ever want to see you like that again. It was unbearable. And then you couldn’t heal yourself.” He looked away as his hand left my face.

  “I know, but I had to, and you didn’t. I’m thankful, but this is why this is a problem. What if Lacie would have been attacked while you were saving me?” Did I really just say that out loud? Shut up. Shut up. Shut up, I tried to tell myself, but the words of duty kept flowing. “That’s why, whatever happened last night, can’t happen again. We can’t forget why we’re here, why we were brought together in the first, place.” He ignored my words and put his hands on the side of my head, pulling it into his chest. His heartbeat was racing.

  “You didn’t have to go help your friend.”

  “And you shouldn’t have come and rescued me,” I whispered into his shirt, hating myself for saying it out loud. Even though it was true, I was happy he did. He nuzzled his face down into mine, and our cheeks brushed against each other. My chest tightened as my breaths became short.

  “Just as you shouldn’t have saved me, but you did,” he said before bringing his forehead to rest against mine. Neither of us moved, or dared look at the other. We stayed silent, and I just listened to him breathe, waiting for whatever words would leave his lips next. “So, what happens now? As we sit on your bed, both watching our words, wanting to stay true to our duty but not being able to stay away from the other? I tried being your friend, your co-worker even, and none of it worked. Cendall, I…” He took my hands out of my lap and interlocked our fingers. An ease rolled over my shoulders as my fingertips tingled.

  “Please don’t,” I said but didn’t know what I was afraid of hearing. A knock on the door broke us apart.

  “Hey, Trevor, Catherine is here, and she says it’s urgent. Life or death,” Abram drew out and exaggerated the tail end.

  “This is not over,” Trevor said as he got up. “Just, when I get back, stop thinking so much. And can we promise to be honest with one another?”

  “Where is this coming from?” I asked. Why now?” We were kidding ourselves if we tried to say this just came on. We’d been playing this cat and mouse game for a while now.

  “When I saw you the other day, I just can’t….without you knowing the truth. When I saw what they did to you, I—Cendall—I ripped the one called John to pieces. I tortured him. I’ve never done anything like that ever in my life, but I just lost control…you weren’t breathing and…listen, let me deal with this, and then we’ll finish.”

  “Okay.”

  I sat there for an hour when my stomach demanded I go downstairs and get something to eat. I grabbed a bowl of cereal and sat down at the table. Abram sat across from me, reading a paper.

  “You’re not what I expected,” he said, and I felt my mouth fall open. I looked behind me to make sure he wasn’t talking to anyone else.

  “What?”

  “You’re not what I expected.”

  “Yes I heard that. I’m just confused because you’re talking directly to me.”

  “Yes, I guess I’ve been a little cold. It’s just. I don’t know if Trevor told you, but Lacie looks so much like my sister, and she was killed by a Demon and Reaper working together. But that wasn’t fair of me to judge you before I knew you. And now that I know you, you’re okay.”

  “Okay,” I said. Where had this change of heart come from?

  “It’s just, I miss her so much, and well, while Lacie looks like her, you remind me of her too. She was bull-headed and stubborn. Never thought about her actions just did whatever she felt was right. And well, with one person that looks like her and another one who acts like her, I was a little more distant than usual. It just brought it all back.”

  “I get it. I wouldn’t talk to a Guardian if one had killed someone in my family.”

  “It’s no excuse…” A loud crack echoed in the room, interrupting Abram as it shook the dishes in the sink.

  “Is that thunder?” I asked Abram but felt the hair raise on my arms. From nowhere Drake and Dave ported in front of me.

  “What is it?”

  “Demons and a hell of a lot of them, coming now!” Drake shouted.

  “We heard them fly over our realm,” Dave said as a scream from outside confirmed they were here.

  Chapter Thirty

  Funny Seeing you Here

  I walked outside, and déjà vu swept over me as I looked up at the hundreds of Demons crashing into the wards. Each loud crash, rattled the ward, but they still stood strong for now.

  “What are you doing?” Lacie yelled from the center of the yard. Catherine had her in a headlock with a knife pointed at her side. What the hell was this?! Where was Trevor? He was supposed to be talking with Catherine, but she was out here. Catherine’s eyes met mine, and Lacie took the moment of distraction to elbow her in the gut.

  “Go find Trevor.” I yelled to Abram as Lacie ran towards us. Catherine didn’t chase after her but instead flew her hand up to the sky, and I watched her blue light leave her hands and strike the inside of the wards. On impact, the wards began to fall, piece by piece, from where they was impacted until it was enough for the Demons to start rushing in. I ported to where Lacie stood, but I’d been a second too late as an all too familiar Demon held her above his head by her neck. Drake ported next to me, but was then tackled by another Demon, and dragged away.

  “Mobrolantis,” left my lips as an emptiness filled the pit of my stomach.

  “So you do remember me. I thought, after all this time away, you might have forgotten.” No, his face was something no one would ever be able to forget. He still had all four sets of his horns that shined gun metal black. Two of them extended like a large bull’s horns, twisting from the top of his head into pointed tips. The other two were shaped like a ram’s—thick and on the sides of his head, pointed towards the realm that he called home. Underneath were two metal spikes—one on each side of his head. I felt my body deflate as I stared into his skeleton structured face that held black, hollowed out eyes. He let out a smile, and I gasped at the sight of his teeth. I’d somehow forgotten how each canine had a fanged tip.

  “Before we get down to business, I do owe you some credit for being able to avoid me for this long. But, I’m on a tight schedule, so we’ll get to the point. First, I’m going to need you to put your scythe down or she dies,” he threatened, but I didn’t move. He then took his other hand and put one of his fingertips to her throat, and I watched as his nail grew before my eyes and broke through her
skin.

  “Fine,” I shouted and set it down.

  “First things first.” He hit Lacie in the back of her head, knocking her out cold before he set her on the ground next to him. He brought up both of his hands as he screamed, “EXEXPLOEM.” I felt his spell wash over me as I tried to dive for Lacie before it took effect. I grabbed onto her hand, but it was useless; porting was gone. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Trevor and Abram running this way, but they were immediately surrounded by twenty Demons and harpies. I was her last hope. I lifted my hands and put everything into the light that left my fingertips. He held up his hand and smiled as he put up some invisible wall that didn’t let my light touch him. He then waved his hand in my direction and redirected all of the electricity back towards me. I tried to close my hands but found they were frozen in place. The light hit me and seeped through my skin, shocking every nerve in my system, as it electrocuted me and coursed through every vein. He was making me kill myself. Death by my own doing. I felt my body begin to convulse; it wouldn’t be long now. This wasn’t like when I’d shocked John and myself. No, I’d put everything I had into that just now. My ears filled with blood, and I tried to blink away the black dots that were clouding my vision. “Stronger than I thought. Most would already be dead. Again, such a shame that this has to happen. Especially since you possess gifts that are foreign to most Reapers,” he muttered as he kept on electrocuting me.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dave sneaking up. I tried to scream, but he pulled out his scythe and slashed the Demon’s arm that was raised and keeping me in place. Blood started squirting all over me as the Demon let out a shrill scream. My body stopped convulsing, and I was finally able to close my hands, making the electricity stop. I lifted my head up just in time to see him use his other hand to pull out a blade. I tried to get up but found I couldn’t move any of my limbs. He then charged on Dave, and Dave tried to fend off his strikes with his scythe, but within seconds, the Mobrolantis knocked it away from him.