A cold sensation trickled down her spine, then the earth began to move. A groan escaped the ground as full-grown trees were uprooted. Once lifted above the earth, they flew, crashing into the other trees. Elizabeth flinched against the noise echoing through the woods. When the trees finally settled, a clearing remained.
Then something out of her nightmares dropped from the sky. He rode a winged beast. Elizabeth saw many visions of the future, but never this creature. How could a demon be free outside the pentagram? Looking into the eyes of the beast, she realized they were human eyes, not pitch-black like a demon. What was this thing? Some sick creation of Lazaro’s?
Remembering the last time a magician played with her, Elizabeth grabbed the knife and inched backwards. Maybe she’d saved lives by leading Lazaro out here. She hoped she did, but if Lazaro got his hands on her a lot more people would die. He would use her like a tool or a weapon. She couldn’t let that happen.
Lazaro slid down off the beast. He didn’t look dangerous, with sandy hair and small goatee. “It’s nice to finally meet you in person, Elizabeth.”
Frozen with the task in front of her, she didn’t say a thing.
He stepped closer. “You don’t have to be afraid. I won’t hurt you. I’ll treat you like the princess you deserve to be. I heard what Ryma and your uncle did. I’m truly sorry. Seers are worth their weight in gold.”
Elizabeth blinked, trying to clear her head. Why was he being so kind and understanding? Why was she so scared of him before? He wouldn’t hurt her. She lowered the knife. She didn’t need it. Part of her knew something wasn’t right, but she couldn’t figure it out. Maybe he could help.
“Come with me and I’ll protect you.” He held out his hand, a kind smile on his face.
Her head felt cloudy, maybe she was sick. He would take care of her. “Alright.” Slowly she lifted her hand and realized she had already dropped the knife. Why was she even holding the knife?
Before she joined him, a flash of something crossed her vision and ripped him away from her. A demon or beast of some kind. Fear and confusion struck Elizabeth, who searched for her weapon. Picking up the knife, it shook in her small hand. By the time she stood back up, the demon had dragged him up into the air. Elizabeth shook her head, wondering what had just happened.
The man’s beast roared in protest. Startled, Elizabeth covered her ears at the noise, dropped the knife in the process. It started to rise, those massive wings flapping and stirring the dirt underneath. Then someone else came sprinting through the woods at an unnatural speed. With a long knife, it jumped up on the beast, already several feet in the air, sliced its wing and then flipped off, landing on one knee.
“Becca?”
Becca turned at the sound of her name. A flood of relief came as she saw her sister whole. She knew Elizabeth had to be close when they landed the plane nearby. While Becca could sense Elizabeth, it wasn’t exact, but the Queen had no problem tracing Lazaro’s magic, especially in an empty forest.
“Becca?” Elizabeth called out, drawing the beast’s attention.
No. It wasn’t going for Elizabeth. Becca ran, using his tail and jumped on his back. She landed in the leather saddle and buried her blade deep in its flesh. It roared in protest and rose up on its hind legs. With magic, she subdued the beast.
A motor sounded in the distance.
“About time you joined the party,” she told Darion as he arrived.
He slid the bike to a stop. “Get off,” he yelled to Becca.
“No.” She shook her head. “Take care of my sister. I’ll be back.”
Becca delved into the beast’s conscious to control him. Unlike any creature’s or human’s consciousness that she had ever touched, this beast had a darkness, twisted and confused, and was directly tied to Lazaro. Yet she had a power stronger than most. She didn’t have to speak a spell, but magic wove through her intentions and she commanded the beast towards the fight.
The Queen held onto Lazaro, and they drifted to the ground, a good distance away from the others. While Becca had expected Lazaro to be a bloody pile of bones, she was surprised to find he remained in one piece. His gaze locked with the Queen.
Becca jumped off the creature, rolled, and was in fighting position in mere seconds. The scene before her made her pause. The Queen had her long nails carved into Lazaro’s upper arms. Blood trailed down past his elbows, but he didn’t seem to register any pain. In fact, his face took on a wanton look of desire with his eyes wide.
Becca would have thought the Queen had him in some sort of thrall except for her furrowed brow and bloodshot eyes. Lazaro wanted the Queen with such a strong desire, and judging by the anger pasted on her face, Becca worried he might get her.
Could it be possible that he was stronger than the Queen? He did carry the power of her people. Just how many demons did he have under his control? Becca never would have guessed he could outpower the Queen herself, but she was just one demon compared to the hundreds Lazaro had.
Gripping her knife, Becca strengthened her shields and charged Lazaro. If he beat the Queen, then nothing could stop him in either realm. When she was barely a few feet away from him, he finally glanced in her direction with mere annoyance. And in a flash, Lazaro and the Queen disappeared.
Darion stood in front of her. Though her rational mind knew this was a trick or illusion, instinct came in and she stopped just short of stabbing him.
“You did this.” He glanced down to his bloody chest. “You killed us all. You hated me for my magic from the beginning, and now you take it from me when you want. Your selfishness and recklessness has killed us all.”
The truth of his words stung, and she tried to fight against their hold. Yet there were powers at play bigger than her. Lazaro’s magic invaded her mind. She couldn’t force him out, because he was everywhere, a part of her very soul. Against her will, she raised her knife and slowly turned it on herself.
She couldn’t fight this. As the dagger inched towards her, Darion nodded in encouragement. “This will make everyone safe. Your death is for the best.”
The sad thing was, part of Becca agreed with him. A small part of her knew that from the beginning she had caused just as much trouble as she solved. Death didn’t scare her anymore, not after what she had gone through. She had willingly offered her life for Elizabeth. And if she truly thought everyone would be safer, she would gladly sacrifice herself again.
She didn’t fight against Lazaro’s hold anymore, because she believed his words. She would kill herself and have no remorse, just like Lazaro wanted, but not before she truly made everyone else safe first. She wasn’t sure if it was this belief or something the Queen was doing, but his hold on her faltered a fraction, and a fraction was all she needed.
As the tip of the knife bit into her skin, she thrust it downward. It sliced along her belly, but it wasn’t deep. And for a moment she knew what she had to do, even if it went against every instinct, every facet of her perception of the man before her. With everything she had, she thrust the knife forward, burying it up to the handle.
For a moment, her nightmare prevailed, and she was sure that she had made a mistake. Darion stood with the knife in his chest, tears pooling in his eyes. “Why?” he asked.
My God, what have I done? She fell to her knees, wishing she had buried the knife deep in her instead. Before she could grasp the handle though, Darion began to flicker. Like some sort of hallucination, he dissolved before her eyes and the picture changed.
Larazo had the knife buried deep in his side as he faced the Queen. Instead of lust on his face, blood dripped from his nose and eyes. He stood in horror, mouth slack.
“How dare you use my own people against me?” The Queen dug her claws deeper into his arms.
Becca pulled the knife out, but the only sound he made was a grunt. The Queen had taken control of his mind, and he deserved everything he had coming to him. Becca wiped the blade on her pants and offered it to the Queen, head bowed.
“Do you want the honors, or do you want me to kill him?” Becca never was one to take a life in cold blood, but with Lazaro it would be a pleasure.
“A simple death is too kind for this man.” The Queen released her hold, and he crumpled to the ground. “He is sufficiently broken for now. I will take him as an example for the others.”
Stepping back, Becca bowed her head again. The Queen had lost thousands of her people and deserved to do with Lazaro what she wished. The Demon Queen picked him up by the neck and, without another word, was off.
Once they were both gone, Becca realized that the beast she rode on was no longer present. Darion and Elizabeth. They couldn’t be far. She took off in their direction, and it didn’t take long to find them. The dragon-like beast stood in front of Darion, but it was obvious the beast was injured and wouldn’t last long. Elizabeth remained a safe distance back.
Hands extended, Darion looked as if he was going to set the beast ablaze. Instead, he just stared at it, confusion and disgust evident on Darion’s face.
“What’s wrong?” Becca noticed the wound from where she stabbed the dragon earlier was now bleeding freely. Part of its face was blistered red. Why wasn’t Darion finishing it off? Even the saddle was already burned to a crisp.
“It can’t be.” A touch of regret or sympathy were found in Darion’s eyes.
Becca slowly walked over to him. “It can’t be what?”
“I think this is Peter.”
“Peter, your old friend from school that wants to kill you, Peter?”
The beast blinked as if in recognition. Was Peter still in there? Or just a tool like a twisted Soultorn?
Staggering around the small clearing, the beast fell to the ground. At this point, she felt bad for the creature. With her new powers, she could have killed it already. It would have been a mercy.
“Yes, it’s Peter.” Grief flashed on Darion’s face.
Looking at this beast with its large pained eyes, she wondered what he had to go through to end up this way. Sympathy struck her, but she knew it couldn’t live. This wasn’t a demon or a man anymore. Becca tried to sense a consciousness, but it was so twisted and bound with dark magic that the physical pain it was enduring meant Becca could no longer communicate with it.
“Do you want me to do it?” she asked. “It will be quick and kind.”
“No. It should be me.” Darion stepped up.
“I can make sure he doesn’t suffer,” Becca offered. It took effort, but she forced the beast to sleep, and managed to dull the pain in its mind.
Then in a breath, the beast rose up in flames. It had been through too much to fight back, or maybe it didn’t want to live anymore either.
Becca turned from the flames to find her sister. “Elizabeth, are you okay?”
She hadn’t moved from her place by the tree. “It’s my foot.” Elizabeth was dirt-stained with twigs in her hair, and Becca wondered how she managed to end up out here alone with Lazaro. But all that could wait.
As Becca headed towards her sister, the Queen’s anger rang through Becca’s mind. She was taking her revenge, but it wasn’t going to stop with Lazaro. The Queen planned on killing every magician that had ever used magic. Anyone that had been tainted with the blood of her own.
That meant thousands of deaths. Andre, Nikki, Nevada, Richard, and the list went on and on. If Becca didn’t stop her now, they would all die.
Chapter One Hundred Eighteen
Caleb sent Nikki off the battlefield with her uncle and her father’s body. Leon should survive if the compound fracture in his leg was treated right away. Caleb recalled Leon’s words as he was carried off. Focus and fight. Even if they had to retreat, they needed to give the others as much time as possible.
Caleb’s small team regrouped inside the store and headed out to join the fight. Even with Lazaro gone, his men continued to fight. Lazaro wasn’t dead, just injured. After Caleb got a good mile towards the fight, Nikki reappeared at his side.
“I’m pretty sure I sent you back with your uncle,” he told her, keeping his gaze straight ahead. He couldn’t get distracted, couldn’t afford distraction.
“I’m pretty sure you don’t get a say.” Anger edged her voice.
Revenge was a familiar bedfellow for him, so he understood. As they approached the fight, he pulled out his weapons but stopped when another winged creature appeared overhead. A deep purple that was almost black. But this one was a she, almost the shape of a human, but clearly not. Her large wings kept her afloat while her claws dug into Lazaro’s shoulders. He looked like a limb doll while blood stained his clothes.
She spoke, her voice louder than humanly possible. “This man is your leader. This man who has killed thousands of demons and used them all as tools for his gain. My demons are no longer your tools. I’ve made a bond not to kill all of you, so I will limit it to those whose hands are stained with the blood of mine own.” In a quick moment, Lazaro’s head was no longer attached to his body and spun to the earth, soon followed by his lifeless body.
Caleb shuddered as it hit the ground. What was this thing? He couldn’t help the relief he felt at Lazaro’s death, but who was taking his place?
Then one by one people—no, Soultorns—fell to the ground, crying out in pain. By the looks of it, it was mostly Lazaro’s men that fell. What did she say, ‘those whose hands are stained with the blood of mine own’? Did she mean those that had demons would die?
He grabbed Nikki’s hand. “We need to go now.”
They didn’t make it two steps before Nikki collapsed in pain. Biting her lip, she tried not to cry out, but whimpers of pain escaped her pursed lips.
“What is it?” He looked for an injury, but with no outward sign, he assumed it was magic. Glancing up, he wondered if this was caused by the demon in the sky.
If this beast cursed all magicians, then who was she with? Did Lazaro let her loose on the people? The fact that Caleb wasn’t affected confused him even more.
Sitting down, he laid Nikki’s head in his lap. “Come on, Nikki. Fight, Nikki.”
Arching back, she screamed in terror. It mixed with the other sounds of pain surrounding him. His heart tore with every one of her screams, helpless he ached to tear down that witch from the sky.
He had known the odds of them surviving this war were slim, but he never imagined having to watch her die with nothing he could do about it. “Hold on, Nikki. Don’t you dare let go.”
Finally, the screams stopped. Nikki stilled in his lap, her breath ragged. “I’m still here.”
He cupped her cheek, staring into those beautiful eyes. “You better be.”
Glancing up, he saw the winged creature hadn’t left yet. Fear boiled in his gut as he wondered how far he’d need to take Nikki for her to be safe. Watching the bloodlust in the creature’s face, he wasn’t sure anywhere on Earth would be.
Becca left Darion and Elizabeth behind and raced ahead. On the outskirts of the battle she found a man on a four wheel all-terrain vehicle. She knocked him off, careful not to kill him. There wasn’t time for manners.
The Demon Queen was out for blood, but Becca couldn’t let her take everyone. Once on the battlefield, the path became too full of bodies to drive. Was she too late? As she ran through the wreckage, she realized not all the people were dead, though their lives hung by a very thin thread.
The Demon Queen hung in the air, a revenging angel out for blood. Her horns grew massive as her wings gently flapped to keep her afloat. A beauty and a terror to everyone there.
Becca walked towards the Queen. As she maneuvered through the throngs of bodies, guilt and worry flooded her. She used it as fuel and focused on saving those she could.
“You can’t kill them all, Your Majesty.” She didn’t shout, but she didn’t have to. The Queen could decipher her thoughts just as well.
“Why not? They would kill me and mine without a second thought.”
Becca knew she made a point, and a couple years ago, she might have agre
ed. Killing them all along with all the knowledge of magic would make the world safer for Mundanes and those that didn’t have magic. But now she knew better. “They are ignorant, and many are still tied to your kind. If you kill them, demons will still be hidden in the ground or closet, trapped in pentagrams to suffer until someone else comes along.”
Wings out wide, the Queen dove towards her, talons bare. Becca braced herself. If she died, she died, but the Queen would go with her. She backhanded Becca, sending her flying back. Pain shot through her jaw, but it didn’t slow Becca down. Standing up, she wiped the blood from her lip and noticed the Queen had the same wound.
“We can beat each other senseless or die together, but neither will help our people.” Becca moved towards her.
The Queen hissed, displaying her sharp teeth covered in blood. “Your people deserved to be slaughtered.”
“Maybe, but what happens in fifty years when the next idiots with magic entrap your people? I won’t let you kill them all. You can kill us both or…”
“Or what?”
“Our enemy is dead. Let’s recover our injured. Sever any remaining bonds with Soultorns. Take your people home. Then we can talk.”
“Talk? These wrongs are beyond talking. They deserve to be avenged.”
“They will, but I won’t let you kill those that are innocent or ignorant. We will find a way to protect your people and mine.”
The Queen’s fury rippled through Becca’s body, but Becca could sense her other thoughts. Thoughts of finding those of her people that she lost. She had sorrow and guilt for all those left in this world, and if she died now, they would be left here helpless.
“Let me help you. Let us help you, Your Majesty.” Becca lowered her head in submission.
“Give me back those that are mine, and we will talk.”
Chapter One Hundred Nineteen
Dark Rising Trilogy Page 79