by Geri Glenn
Chapter Thirteen
Cyrus
-
My arm is asleep, but I don’t dare move. Emersyn is still asleep in my arms and I don’t want this to end. I know that when we leave this room, it’ll be time to face reality, and right now, reality fucking sucks.
I peer down into her sleeping face and can’t help but smile. Her nose twitches in her sleep, and it’s the cutest fucking thing I’ve ever seen. I don’t know what today’s going to bring for us, or the rest of the world, but after last night, I know one thing for certain—I won’t let her go without a fight. I know we just met, and I know we have a lot to learn about each other, but I feel like I’ve known her all my life.
Dragging her body closer to mine, I shift a little, trying to give my arm a break. With a long, deep inhale, her dark eyelashes flutter as she slowly wakes up. Emersyn’s eyes meet mine and suddenly she’s wide awake, cheeks flaming.
“Morning, sleepyhead. You sleep okay?”
“Better than I have in a long time.” Pride fills me. She feels safe with me. She knows I can take care of her. “Of course, I think almost dying can tire you out more than usual.”
“Don’t talk like that, Em. It’s not funny.”
“I know. I was just kidding. I’m sorry.”
God. Just the mention of her near sacrifice last night makes my heart skip a beat. “Just don’t joke about shit like that, all right?”
Her teeth nibble on her lower lip and she looks up at me through her eyelashes. “All right.”
Seeing her look at me like that, with her big doe eyes, my cock stiffens to an uncomfortable level. She is so fucking gorgeous, and I feel like the luckiest man on earth that I’m the one lying in bed with her. Grabbing onto her face with both hands, I press my lips against hers and take them in a long, slow kiss. My heart continues to pound at an unsteady beat, but for a different reason.
Not pulling my lips away, I lift myself up and position my body so she holds me in the cradle of her hips. Her naked skin against mine sends shivers racing down my spine. Her hands skim along my back, moving lower until she grips my ass tightly. Fuck. This girl wrecks me.
She lifts her knees and presses them against my hips and I feel my hard cock right against her tight entrance. Reaching down, I swipe my fingers against her swollen clit while she moans and pants into my mouth. I can’t get enough of her. Increasing the speed of my finger at her clit, I pull back and catch her nipple between my teeth. Her cry echoes loudly through the room as her pussy quivers under my touch. I pull back and watch as she comes undone.
Her eyes are closed, her cheeks flushed, and when she pinches her own nipple as she comes, I almost embarrass myself by coming across her belly. Before that nightmare can happen, I position my cock in the perfect place. Staring into each others eyes, I push inside.
Lifting up on my knees, I grip her hips in my hands and pound into her, my groans matching hers.
I don’t want this to end too soon, so I slow my pace and spread her legs wide so I can watch my cock as it slides in and out of the woman I can’t get enough of. I take her hand and place her fingers over her clit. “Touch yourself, baby.” I can barely grind the words out as I take in the sight of her beneath me. “Show me how much you like me fuckin’ you like this.”
She does as I say, and moves her fingers in slow, gentle circles. I watch her hand as she starts to move faster and I struggle to maintain my slow, deep thrusts. “Do you like it when I fuck your pussy, baby?”
“Uh huh,” she moans, her fingers moving harder and faster. I feel her pussy start to squeeze, and I can’t control myself anymore. I pound into her, driving my cock in and out as fast and deep as I can. I feel my orgasm rising and continue to thrust. Just as I’m am about to come, I remember that I forgot a condom.
Pulling out as fast as I can, I come all over her flat belly. Seeing my cum on her creamy smooth skin is the sexiest fucking thing I’ve ever seen. As my body relaxes, I flop down beside her and take her lips once more.
A softer moan now escapes her lips and I swallow it down, wanting to make this last as long as I can. I place my hand on her belly, and just as I’m about to move it to her breast, her belly growls loudly.
Pulling back, I stare down at her in surprise. Her cheeks flame, her lips swollen from our kiss. “Did you hear a lion?” I ask, looking around the room.
Her embarrassed look fades as she bursts out laughing, while swatting me on the chest. I’m hungry, okay? I haven’t had anything since yesterday morning.”
“Let’s get you fed.”
I move to pull away, but she grabs the back of my neck and yanks me down, kissing me hard. The kiss is fast, but sweet. I know if I don’t get out of this bed right now, I won’t ever want to leave, and my girl needs to eat.
Pulling back, I grab her hands and pull her out of bed with me. “Come on, baby. You need some food.”
After a quick trip to the washroom and another minor make-out session—which I hated to put an end to— Emersyn and I walk into the bright and cheery kitchen. Joey looks up from where she stands at the stove and grins. “Good morning, lovebirds. Who’s hungry?”
I look from her to Merrick, who’s standing beside her with his ass against the counter, arms folded across his chest. They’re both smiling, and I don’t miss the happy look on my sister’s face that I’ve never seen there before. Is it possible that Merrick isn’t a complete douche nozzle after all? Could it be that he feels for her the way I feel for Emersyn? Is she smiling at him like that because they—
I cut myself off before I go any further. I don’t need that image. Giving my head a shake, I pull out a chair for Emersyn and wait for her to sit down at the table before moving to the stove to look over Joey’s shoulder. “Whatcha makin’, Sis?”
“Pancakes.” Joey turns to Emersyn and smiles. “I bet you’re starving. It’ll only be a few more minutes.” Her eyes move to me and she lifts the spatula, pointing it in my direction. “You, get the syrup and the butter. And you, Merrick, get the coffee and juice.”
Merrick looks to me, his eyebrows raised high. “She always this bossy in the kitchen?”
I smirk. “She’s always this bossy in any situation.”
“I’m learning that.”
Chuckling at her expense, we both turn to Joey and see her standing there with one hand on her hip. “Fuck you both very much. Now, get to work. Emersyn needs her breakfast.”
Still grinning, I wink at Em and move to the fridge to get the things we need. After we’re all seated, Joey sets down a heaping plate of hot pancakes. “Dig in.”
It doesn’t take long for the four of us to demolish the stack. None of us had eaten much the day before, and Joey is an amazing cook. Shoving the final bite of pancakes into my mouth, I look around the table. It’s so quiet. “Not bad, Jo. Much better than that time you served them to me full of eggshells.”
She whips her wadded up napkin at me and it bounces off my nose. “Screw you, Cyrus. I was eight. I’ve come a long way since then. My cooking is fantastic, and you know it.”
Laughing, I look to Merrick and shrug. “Touchy subject.”
He laughs and grabs her hand. “They were delicious, babe.”
She scowls at me, humor shining in her eyes. “Goddamn right they were.” A mischievous grin spreads across her face, and her eyes dart from me to Emersyn. “Did Cyrus ever tell you about the time he caught his shirt on fire?”
Emersyn grins and leans forward. “No, but I need to hear this story. Anything to prove that Cy isn’t perfect after all.”
“Perfect?” Joey scoffs. “Honey, he is far from perfect,” she says with a wink. “Okay. So, Cyrus decided that he was going to cook dinner for me and Father Martin. He had a pot of water on the stove, and when he leaned over to—”
“I hate to interrupt your morning, children, but I have news.” We all turn our heads towards Father Martin, standing in the doorway to the kitchen. His hair is a mess, and there’s blood splattered on his face
. “And you’re not going to like it.”
I look around the table, at my sister and our friends. The lightness of our morning fades as my heart sinks. It’s time. The Old Fuck has risen, and the only thing standing between the world and eternal damnation is me, my sister, and Merrick.
We’re fucked.
-
Joey
-
I look to Cyrus, who’s looking at me with a look of dread, but it’s mixed with a little anticipation. I know he wants to make the Old One pay for having any part in hurting Emersyn, but he also knows what it could cost us all.
Feeling Merrick’s eyes on me, I ignore him and look to Father Martin, who grabs a wash towel and wets it, then starts the task of cleaning off his face. I can’t look at Merrick right now. After last night, along with the feeling of contentment this morning, it feels like it’s all being ripped away from me before I barely get a taste of it. If I look at him now, I’ll see sorrow and longing in his eyes, and it’ll break me. I need to be strong right now, not pitying myself for lost chances or things I may never get to have or experience. The greater good and the world comes first, even if I hate it. Even if it kills me in the process—physically and figuratively.
“Where did you go? What happened?” I ask, trying to disguise the disappointment in my voice. I guess it was too much to ask for, having one normal day. Things were amazing last night, and we were off to such a great and promising morning. But what else did I expect? I was born and raised to fight, so I should have known it was too good to be true.
Father Martin looks at all of us. “I left last night to scout the campus. After we left, Le Vieux came to power, but I needed to know what his plans were, and what he intends to do. I honestly thought there would be panic, something like War of the Worlds happening, but everything was quiet. It left me very uneasy, so I went farther, to where the Old One was raised from the ground, and that’s when I saw it.”
He doesn’t finish, but I can tell just by the way he looks and the unspoken words, that it’s not something I’m going to like. His next words confirm it.
“Things are normal in the city, besides people thinking there was an earthquake. But once you get onto campus, there’s this charge you can feel in the air. Still not horrible, but it’s something, and people can sense it as well because there was no one around. It was like a ghost town. The closer I got to the spot, the worse it got. Demons are running free in their natural form, and they are starting to make factions—teaming up with demons they think are the strongest—and taking out the ones they feel are a threat. They all know what’s coming and what it means. So, not only are we going to be dealing with Le Vieux, but we also have power hungry demons to contend with.”
Standing up, I bypass everyone at the table and open one of the bottom cabinets in the kitchen that I hide a stash of weapons in. “Then let’s go.” As much as I hate feeling the disappointment of not being able to have even one normal day, I have to say that it makes me strong in a way. It gives me extra anger to feed my power. So now, not only do I want to kill these demons because they are pure evil and deserve to be distinguished, but also because I can blame them for everything I feel in this moment, which will just drive me more.
Merrick and Cyrus both stand, their chairs scraping across the floor. Emersyn remains seated, and as one, we all turn to her, finding her eyes wide with fear.
“Are you sure this is wise?” She looks to Cyrus and her eyes fill with tears. “We have no idea what we’ll even be walking into. Last night, they...” Her voice breaks off in a sob, and my heart hurts for her, but we need to get moving.
“Babe, I know you’re scared,” Cyrus says, his face soft as he looks at her, “but we need to do this. We need to go now before they become even more powerful and their factions are made.”
Looking to him, I give him a sad smile of understanding. I know he feels exactly what I’m feeling right now. He doesn’t want to leave any more than I do, but we have to do this.
Her lower lip trembles, but slowly she stands from the table and nods, her eyes locked on my brother.
“Emersyn?” Father Martin calls to her. “None of us want to do this, especially today, but we don’t have a choice. If we wait, it will be too late, and we will lose. We need to go now, slay as many as we can, and move on to Le Vieux. I know your scared and angry, but use that to your advantage. Gather all of those feelings and thoughts of hate, and use them to make yourself strong.”
Emersyn smiles a shaky smile before walking over to where we stand by the kitchen door. Cyrus grasps her hand in his and brings it to his lips, kissing the top. No words are spoken, but my heart clenches when I see the love and trust in their eyes for each other.
Merrick grabs my face before he looks into my eyes, trying to find something in their depths. I open myself up and allow him to see everything I’m feeling. I believe in us—all of us—and we’re gonna kick this evil bastard’s ass.
“Okay, baby. Let’s go.”
I hand him the bag that holds our arsenal and we’re on our way.
Pulling out of the driveway and driving towards the school, it’s just as Father Martin said; no people running, screaming in the streets, or packing up their loved ones and heading out of town. It’s like no one even knows that their world may come to an end in a matter of days, hours even.
As we get closer to the school, I start to notice less people out, and I can feel the energy Father Martin was talking about, but it’s when we pull up to the campus that I really start to feel the evil. It’s so intense and so evil, it makes me gasp for air.
“Joey, what’s the matter?” Merrick asks.
Trying to regulate my breathing, I make myself adjust to the feeling. I can’t afford to have this affect me right now. Digging deep, I feed off of it, trying to tap into it the way the demons seem to be able to. It scares me a little how easy it is for me to do, but I also feel this overwhelming power surge through me, and I kind of like it.
“I’m fine now. Sorry,” I say, shrugging him off as I get out of the truck to walk towards the spot where all the action’s taking place. I need to find a demon so I can test this new power I feel all way to my bones.
“You weren’t fine, Joey. What the fuck happened back there,” Cyrus asks, grabbing my arm and turning me around to face him.
Anger bubbles up inside of me. It’s so hot that I can’t see anything besides my brother in front of me, and a haze of red surrounding him. Moving quicker than I even thought possible, and before I can think of what I’m doing or how wrong it is, I have my knife pulled and I’m lunging towards Cy. Before I get close enough to harm him though, I’m restrained from behind.
“What the fuck?” Cyrus yells as he jumps back.
“Let me go,” I scream, easily breaking away and pinning the person who was holding me captive to the ground. Instantly, I’m on top of him, holding the knife to their throat. I don’t even know who it is, and I don’t care. The only thing that matters is spilling their blood and watching it drain from their lifeless body.
“Baby, it’s me, Merrick,” I hear him say, but it doesn’t break through the haze in my head because the bloodlust is so strong.
As I get ready to slide the knife through the skin of his neck like butter, I look into his eyes, wanting to see his life leave his body. But when I connect with his dark eyes, I feel like someone’s punched me in the gut. Scrambling backwards, I drop my knife and stare in horror at the faces of those that mean the most to me, and I feel shame.
“I’m s-so sorry. I-I don’t know w-what came over me,” I stutter, but there’s no excuse for what just happened.
Pulling himself to his knees in front of me, Merrick takes my face in his hands. “Baby, it’s okay. I’m fine. It’s okay,” he says, trying to make me feel better, but there is nothing he can say or do to make me not loathe myself in this moment. I feel evil, something I’ve always feared, but never thought I’d feel. Being half-demon, I’ve always worried that I wasn’t good, and
I just proved it to myself.
“I am evil,” I choke out in a strangled whisper.
“You are not evil! Do not say shit like that. It’s this place, Joey, nothing more. You. Are. Not. Evil,” Merrick says with steel in his voice. I so wish I could believe that, but I can’t. Not now.
Merrick and I continue to stare at each other, oblivious to the rest of the group, or even the world around us, until I hear Father Martin.
“We’re too late. We need to get home and prepare. Tomorrow, the battle begins.”
Looking around, I notice for the first time that we’re in the exact spot this all started yesterday, where Le Vieux came out of the ground. But today, there’s nothing left besides charred earth, bodies of demons and humans alike. Father is right, we are too late, but not too late to end this once and for all. Tomorrow, I kill the Old One.
Chapter Fourteen
Cyrus
-
What the fuck was she thinking? Joey had gone completely fucking mental. I’d felt the evil oozing from the grounds of that whole area too, but I would never go at Joey like that, ever. What kind of a hold did this fucking thing manage to get on my straight-laced sister to make her act like that?
Stalking straight into the living room, I wait with clenched fists as the others file in behind me. Once everyone is in the room, I spin to face them and pin Joey to the spot with my eyes. “What the fuck happened back there, Jo?”
“I don’t know,” she whispers, clearly still in shock. “I just...I got angry. I couldn’t see anything but you and red, and I wanted nothing more than to fuck you up.” Her eyes plead with mine for understanding, and I can’t stop thinking of the look on her face as she came at me with that knife. It was pure, raw hatred. “I couldn’t stop myself. When Merrick grabbed me to stop me from hurting you, it was like I didn’t even know it was him. I’m so sorry.” She looks to me, then turns to Merrick, her eyes begging for forgiveness.