by Mia Bishop
He rocked back on his heels for a moment. "Yes, there’s a message for her and one for Jack." He let out a long breath. “I didn’t know what was going to happen and he didn’t want me to say anything. I gave my word, and giving your word is a very powerful thing. It’s a bond.”
She ran her hands through her hair after carefully considering what he said about giving one’s word. That stung a bit. There was no going back on her word to Rosa. Redirecting the conversation, she asked, "Jack, really?"
"Yeah, he's already read his." He handed her the paper. “When we find Chloe give her his message.”
She scrunched up her nose after putting the paper in her pocket. "Do you think we can win?"
"I think we have to try." His arm snaked around her waist and drew her closer as he rested his forehead against hers. "You and I have beaten the odds. There's no reason we can't win this fight too."
She smiled. Nico’s growing optimism was contagious. "You're right."
His kiss was slow and meaningful. Saying all those things they never said out loud to each other. Even without the words Abby still felt the tension and doubt draining from her body.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The door to Lobo's storeroom stood open as Abby approached. A shiver went down her spine at the realization that Rosa was already in there, waiting for her. Possibly to get the drop on her, or laying a trap. Maybe Rosa planned to end her right then and there. If she did the Gates wouldn't open, so all-in-all Abby would take it as a win in her book.
She stepped inside the small room and felt the breath rush from her lungs. The door swung shut behind her as she gripped her chest. There was no air. Abby gasped, her mouth open trying to gather one more breath until it dawned on her breathing was a human necessity. As much as she enjoyed the rhythmic movement of her lungs filling with air it wasn't vital to her survival.
Not only did she not need to breathe, her hearing sharpened, she’d noticed it while hunting but now it was honed in on the distant noises coming from the bar. When that realization hit her she stood up and lifted her chin defiantly in the darkness. Her curse might not be such a bad thing after all. She already knew she didn't need the light, but out of instinct she had still relied on it. Now she could see perfectly, better than ever in fact.
Rosa stood across the room with her arms folded over her chest. "See, Creature, if you embrace your curse you can survive almost anything."
Abby glared. "Why do you care if I survive? I know you want me dead."
"Oh, I do. But your death has to be very specific and really it's too much work. Besides, you aren't the only key." Her voice rose just a bit to emphasize the fact. "There's another who would be a whole lot less work. I think your parents screwed the pooch on this whole thing by making it way more complicated than it needed to be.”
“Another key?” Abby’s hands shook as the world spun around here. There was another. Rosa would be willing to ruin another person’s life to further her agenda? "You can’t do this to anyone else. It won’t work, no matter what Nico won’t kill an innocent person.”
Rosa nodded. "I agree. But next time I won’t do things the same. You, Abigail, have been a disaster since day one and more hassle than your worth. But this was your parents’ idea not mine. I would have gone with the obvious plan, not all this cloak and dagger bullshit. This shtick of cursing you so the priest would kill you. I mean," she let out a sigh and looked to the ceiling, "it's all just so overdone."
"So what would the obvious plan be?"
"Meh," She gave a shrug. "Doesn't matter now. We are here because we need to talk about the future, not the past, Abigail."
Abby paced the small room. "What does that mean?"
"It means we sit." The lights flickered and lit up the room as Rosa motioned for Abby to sit at the small table taking up the center of the room. "We talk, and we try to come to some sort of compromise."
"How about I just kill you and get it over with?"
"Well, if you do that," The Whore’s lips twitched, "I won't be able to tell you how to remove the spell that was placed on you."
A jolt shot through Abby’s body. Her voice trembled, "You can remove it?"
Rosa grinned. "Of course I can. It was my magick they used on you in the first place." There was a long pause before she spoke again. "And we both know you want it removed. You would do anything to get rid of it." Her eyes narrowed. "Because we both know Nico will never fully love you, never fully accept you, while you’re a monster."
"He accepts me." Abby said flatly. The conviction she'd hoped would be in her voice wasn’t there.
"Does he, really?" Rosa straddled the chair and tapped the toe of her boot against the concrete floor. "You don't think he prays to God every night to take my spell away so he can have you as a human? As his equal? Don't fool yourself, kid. Nico is a proud man. He'll stand by you, but he will never fully love you unless you’re one hundred percent human."
She clenched her jaw. "Go to hell, you bitch."
"I plan on it. Very soon."
Abby rolled her eyes. Rosa was getting exactly what she wanted. She was under Abby’s skin. She took several deep breaths to quiet the growing rage inside her and finally asked in a level tone. "Why would you bother helping me?"
"You've become an inconvenience to me. It's clear that since you've given Nico a taste of nectar he's never going to do the job. So I've decided to go with plan b. We'll get the other key, go with the easy option and open the Gate with a different priest."
"Yeah right." Abby finally sat in the seat across from Rosa and leaned forward. "I don't buy it, not for one second. If that were true, then why would you bother taking the spell off me? You seem like the type of bitch who'd keep me a vampire just to be spiteful."
"Normally you'd be right. I'd let you wallow like this for eternity, but this decade I'm feeling generous. Just think of me as your wicked fairy godmother." There was a twinkle in her eyes, not the good kind of twinkle either. "I'll do you this one favor, and in exchange, you don't let Nico kill me tonight. Deal?"
"No fucking way. There’s no way I'm turning traitor for you."
"Really? No deal, huh? What if I could sweeten the pot?"
Abby stood up, her nails digging into the wooden tabletop. "There’s nothing you have that I want. Nothing you could say—"
"Chloe?" Rosa's head tilted to the side as she gave her nails a glance as if checking there weren’t any chips in her polish.
"What did you say?"
"What if I could tell you where Chloe is?"
"You know? Tell me right now!" Abby lunged, but Rosa vanished from the room. Abby spun around searching, sniffing the air and waiting to strike.
A disembodied laugh filled the room. Abby snarled like a beast and turned in circles trying to locate where the laugh was coming from. Rosa’s voice danced all around, coming from all directions. "Think about it. Just think about it, Abigail. I will see you on the battlefield."
Abby hurled the chair and screamed in frustration, but absolute silence answered her back.
The groups had already gathered at the cemetery gates by the time Abby met up with them. Nico crossed his arms over his chest but didn't ask what had taken her so long. Jack, however, was staring intently at her. It had taken Abby nearly thirty minutes to regain her composure and another twenty minutes combing every inch of the storeroom and surrounding area for clues to Rosa's whereabouts. It was foolish to think she'd find anything, Rosa was too smart to leave behind any tracks.
Everything was the same as it had been two nights earlier. The group stood together under a shaky alliance. One difference was that Hannah was present with a contingent of Virtues behind her. Tensions were high. The groups gave each other weary glances. A more prominent divide separated the Personifications from the Virtues who were loyal to Hannah and the vampires gave everyone a wider than normal berth.
Red eyes started to dot the shadows like little red lights flickering on. Abby moved closer to Nico and he in turn pla
ced his body in front of hers even though she would make a better shield than his mortal body could. Jack nodded towards the North and Nico waved him on. They would cover the front, Jack would be in charge of the North, Lobo and Meri were holding down the West, and the East was led by Alexander.
Just like before, they felt the ground rumble beneath their feet. Mounds of dirt rose up from the graves and rotting corpses dug their way to freedom. If Abby still had the human inclination to throw up now would have been the time.
Their putrid bodies carried an odor with them foul enough to turn the strongest constitution. All of them were in various stages of decay but the most horrific were the freshly buried ones. They looked almost human. Almost, but not quite. Their skin pulled tight against their skeletal frames, exposing rotting teeth, oozing eye sockets, and long, ragged fingernails.
They didn't walk like the undead in cartoons with arms out straight and doing the mummy moan. Instead their walk was slow, some dragged a broken foot along, but for the most part it was a determined gait. The sounds they made were far more frightening than the zombies or mummies in the movies. They howled, growled, and snarled. Their rotting teeth gnashed together like they were ready to devour the group.
Abby turned to Nico. "Are they going to try to eat us?"
"I fucking hope not."
She wanted to laugh, because really if she didn't find some way of letting out all the tension she was holding she might explode. But a full belly laugh at the onset of battle might unnerve some members of their group. Instead she bit the inside of her cheek and reminded herself she could laugh about it all later. She searched the glowing eyes and undead army to try and find their ringleader, but Rosa was staying hidden for now. Abby knew she'd be tested by The Whore tonight. She would never take the deal just so she could be human for Nico, but what about Chloe's fate? What if Rosa had been telling the truth and knew something about Chloe?
The ranks broke as soon as the dead got within striking distance. Abby tore through rotting bodies while still searching for The Whore. She couldn't ignore the fact that her rival might have another trick up her sleeve. There was no way she was buying her story about another key, if that were the case then why did her parents go to such lengths to ruin her life?
Another wave of creatures rushed her. Abby’s blade cut through the corpses like a knife through butter as she mulled over Rosa’s explanation. She was convinced the Cult of the Little Horn had no other option but to use her, so Rosa's offer to reverse the spell had to be a lie. But why? That was the part that was eating at Abby.
Abby pulled her knife from the skull of another zombie and spun around to face the snap of teeth inches from her face. She moved left at the last moment and the creature’s teeth met nothing but air. It seemed to grow angrier at the loss of an easy meal and lunged again. Abby dodged and brought up her blade, slashing at the face of the monster while keeping her other arm up to guard. This time the corpse whipped its arms out, scratching and clawing at her. Luckily her undead reflexes outmatched those of the rotting corpse. She spun, keeping her blade out and embedded it in the thing’s skull with a sickening thud.
It dropped to the ground twitching and gurgling in its last efforts to make a meal out of her. Another came at her back. Abby knelt down to slash at its leg. The bone crumbled on contact making the corpse stumble towards her. As soon as it hit the ground Abby jumped up and brought her boot down on its head. It squished under her weight sending brain matter and chunks of bone oozing over the ground.
There were undead and demons everywhere. Abby frantically searched for Nico. She had to make sure he was okay. A slow smile crept across her lips when she found him. He was knee deep in a pile of bodies, slashing and hacking at the waves of demons coming at him. He wasn't afraid, he looked determined. She marveled at him, this was his purpose. He was built for this kind of combat. Every muscled rippled, every action was precise.
After a few seconds, Abby noticed the demons were shrinking away. Some flat out ran in the opposite direction while others slowly backed away until they were out of his range. She was beaming, they were afraid of him. Her pride melted away when she met the eyes of The Whore in the darkness.
Nico's head shot up. He saw her too. Or maybe he just felt her presence. Whatever it was, he was already in a full out run coming straight at Rosa and out for blood.
Abby watched as Nico ran for Rosa. His movements were almost unnatural. His speed was no match for Rosa’s but the sheer ferocity of his attack was enough to throw the Whore off balance. He swung his blade, she dodged. She struck him with her long claws, slashing at his chest. Nico didn’t stop, it only seemed to fuel him more. She pivoted leaving herself open for an attack, if Abby could see it from a distance she knew Nico had to see his chance to take her down. He rushed at his target, Rosa raised her arms in an attempt to block the knife but it would be too late.
Abby hadn't intended to save The Whore, but in that moment her body reacted without a second thought. "Nico, no!" She screamed. She moved without even thinking, her speed outmatched his. Before he could make contact she jumped between him and Rosa. "She knows where Chl—"
Her words cut off. Something cold and yet burning hot erupted in her chest. Her body lurched forward as a hot, thick liquid gurgled at the back of her throat. Abby's eyes finally looked down to see Nico's knife buried in her own chest. She raised her head and locked eyes with him.
His eyes were wide, full of shock. "Abby!"
He gripped her arms tight screaming things like "Stay with me." "Don't die." A million and one pleas came rushing from his lips. Tears streamed down his face. Each droplet that splashed down scorched her cheeks as they mingled with the blood bubbling from the corners of her mouth.
Abby shuddered.
As much as Nico's strong arms were keeping her on her feet, so was Rosa. She pressed her body against Abby and whispered, "See, plan b was the easier option."
Rosa moved away and Abby felt a heaviness settling in her bones. Her heart that had been mostly silent for weeks suddenly began to beat, but as quickly as it roared back to life its rushed beats started to taper off. A tightness filled Abby's lungs and the breath she hadn't needed earlier was desperately important now. The realization hit her, the spell was broken. A thick, murky ethereal substance wrapped her up in a protective cocoon. She knew it wasn't really happening but that was what death felt like. Darkness engulfed her.
Nico lowered her to the ground and rocked her lifeless body back and forth. Smoothing out her hair he pressed his warm lips to her forehead. "I'm so sorry, Abby. Why? Why did you try to stop me?"
How in the world was she still hearing all of this when she was clearly dead?
"Abby!" Nico shook her violently as her body went stiff. His sobs filled the air. It was the last sound she heard.
Nico held Abby's cold body, rocking her, making every deal he could think of to God or anyone listening. He'd held out hope for a moment when he felt her heart start to beat, but as quick as it began, it ended. She struggled for breath and choked on her own blood. Nico's eyes burned from the tears. He traced his fingertips over her blood stained lips while he gasped for air under the weight of his guilt.
Why would she try to stop him? What had she tried to tell him? He tried his best to remember, but his mind just couldn't grasp what she'd said.
"Abby, please come back to me. Please." His pleas were met with silence, but he couldn't stop. "Please..."
The knife protruding from her chest made him go cold inside. He could hear movement nearby and figured it was someone coming to help, he wanted to yell at whoever it was. To tell them to go away, or better yet to kill him. After all he was a killer now. The one person he cared most about was gone and she died by his hand, just like Arveda's vision said she would. He should ask for help but instead searing anger engulfed him. There was one person more to blame than himself for Abby's death... Rosa needed to die.
He looked up to see her still standing there, a smug smile plastere
d on her face. She wasn't running, she wasn't taking a defensive stance. She was waiting for something. Nico refocused on Abby. She looked peaceful, like a sleeping angel, if it weren't for the knife sticking out of her chest and the blood drying around her mouth. He gave her one final kiss and whispered, "I'm so sorry, Abigail. I failed you. I failed us..."
"Oh, would you stop with all this sentimental bullshit, Nico."
Rosa's harsh words only cemented Nico's resolve. He slowly raised his head, his hand clenched and unclenched. "I will—"
"You will what? Kill me for something that you did?” She shrugged. “You killed her, not me."
Nico reached down and pulled the knife out of Abby's chest as gently as possible, not that it mattered now. He still wanted to treat her body with care. But it was a courtesy he wouldn't extend to The Whore. He rose up. "We will finish this now."
"You aren't going to kill me."
"Why is that?"
Rosa grinned and pointed to Abby, "Because you will be too busy trying to save everyone from her."
Nico's eyes widened. The curse. Abby would rise as a real vampire and now there would be no cure. "I will still get some satisfaction from killing you. Besides, I know a little something about new born vamps that you must not."
Rosa smirked. "Oh really? Do tell."
Nico wiped his blade on his pant leg and then lifted it back up. He reveled in its weight, spinning it in his hand. "It's all in how you treat them and Abby is loved. I have faith she won't harm anyone."
"You’re a sentimental fool."
His hand flicked, releasing the knife before she could react. Spinning end over end the blade hit its target. Rosa doubled over and gripped the blade protruding from her stomach. Nico rushed her and caught her with his shoulder, knocking her down and skidding across the sandy road. She screamed in pain as smoke rose from the knife blade. "What did you do to me?" Her head slammed back against the ground as she thrashed. "It burns!"