One by one, the witches sink into the ground, back into their graves, and soon we are alone aside from Anya’s spirit. Delaney murmurs to her, words of love and devotion, and we watch as slowly, Anya’s form dissipates before our eyes.
Delaney joins us, wiping tears from her eyes. “She’s gone to rest. I think… I think she’ll be at peace now.” The other necromancers pull her into a hug, and she seems to gain strength from it.
Pulling back, Mad frowns. “Where’s Runner?”
Runner… shit, in all of the commotion I hadn’t had a chance to…
I take off at a run, and they follow, tramping through the underbrush, thin tree branches whipping at us as we race by. We burst into the clearing in front of Trivia’s house to find it empty aside from scattered piles of ash where the fallen Haunted lie, no longer marching for a witch stripped of her magic.
I take the porch stairs two at a time and burst inside, only to hesitate at the door underneath the stairs.
“What, where is he?” Mad pants. “Why are we waiting?”
“There may be two magically-rabid dogs down here,” I say. “You might want to charge up some of that mojo.”
Kara, Bex, Delaney, and Mad stand at the ready, palms lit, and I yank open the door to reveal… nothing. An empty stairwell. Single-file we descend and I lead them back down the tunnel toward Trivia’s chambers. The space feels lighter, without the weight of her dark magic pressing down on me anymore.
We cross into her conjuring space to find the doused torches strewn by the altar and Runner sitting cross-legged on the floor. Trivia’s hellhounds have their heads propped on each of his knees, and he’s scratching both of them behind the ears. “Thanks for leaving me with the angry pooches,” he says drily. He’s still pale, and his hair is plastered to his forehead with sweat, but his eyes are silver again, and his skin is less ashen.
“Thanks for trying to kill me,” I toss back.
“What?” Kara says. “Him?”
“I… wasn’t myself,” he responds.
“They didn’t hurt you, though?” I ask, pointing to his new friends.
Runner shakes his head. “I was under Trivia’s control and not a threat, I guess.”
“We shouldn’t have let you come,” Mad says. “With her controlling the dead…”
“You couldn’t have stopped me,” he says. “It’s my own fault.” There is unfathomable sincerity and remorse in his eyes when he looks at me and says, “I’m so sorry. I could’ve killed you.”
I crouch down, petting the pooches as I lean close and say, “Not a chance you’d have succeeded, Phantom,” and pull back, smiling.
He smiles in return, and Kara snorts. “All better? Good. Now for the real question: how in the fuck are you wearing that ring, Gray?”
Runner’s eyes go wide when he sees that I’ve got the Dead Hex on my finger. “You found it? You’re wearing it?”
“Guys, I have no idea,” I say, rising to my feet. “Lucifer told me I wouldn’t be able to touch it.”
“Liar,” they all say in unison. “Not you,” Runner adds quickly. “Him.”
“But why? Why lie about something that ridiculous?” I ask.
“You need to stop listening to Lucifer. Period,” Runner says, and I’m taken aback by the anger in his voice. “How many times do you have to hear he’s a liar to believe it? How many times do you have to see it? If he didn’t want you to touch that ring, it was for his own gain. Trust me.”
“Forget the whole touching it thing,” Mad says. “You have it. He wants it. Use that. Don’t give it to him.”
“I don’t have a choice,” I say.
Kara coughs under her breath and I’m pretty sure I hear the word bullshit.
“Don’t you?” Runner stands, and I can’t help but notice that he’s shoulder-to-shoulder with the witches. I’m alone on my side of Trivia’s chambers. It’s me versus them. “You’ve told me that before, and when you kept your end of the bargain where did you end up?”
“Right back in Counterfeit City,” I admit. “You don’t understand. This isn’t even about me.”
“Enlighten us, then,” Bex says, her hand resting on one cocked hip and her eyebrows arched.
I don’t want to talk about David. Seeing the love and pain shared between Delaney and Anya has brought everything I felt for him, everything I felt when I lost him, to the surface, and I am an exposed nerve. My throat tightens as I picture his beautiful face, and I bite the inside of my cheek to keep the tears from my eyes.
They wait patiently, and I don’t think they’re going to let me out of here unless I give them something.
“You helped us,” Mad says. “We wouldn’t have beaten Trivia without you. So let us help you. Please.”
“When Lilah had me murdered, I wasn’t the only one who lost my life. She killed my fiancé as well. David.”
Delaney’s hand flies to her mouth to stifle a gasp, and even Kara looks taken aback.
“Lucifer promised me that if I brought Lilah back to him along with the Dagger of the Fallen, he’d give me a chance to leave Counterfeit City. To live out my life on earth in the normal, human realm. And if I could make up for my past, maybe I’d get a chance to reunite with David someday.”
Anger at Lucifer’s betrayal bubbles within me, and I work hard to tamp it down. “Obviously, I did my part. Lucifer did not do his. So I’m stuck in this loop, taking on these missions, and biding my time until I can figure out a way to get away from him. It’s only been a couple of weeks. I just need time.”
“You can’t beat the Devil,” Bex says quietly.
“Maybe I can’t,” I say, “but I will spend eternity trying.”
“Wait,” Kara says, “wait, wait wait. You brought him the Dagger of the Fallen?”
I nod.
“And now he wants the Dead Hex?” Her brow furrows. “So once you deliver that to him, he’ll have the one weapon that can turn an army against him, and he’ll have a ring that can control and manipulate demons? Can’t he already do that? Isn’t he, like, the lord king on high of demons?”
Bex’s eyes widen. “Lucifer is a demon himself. If someone had enough power to back it up, they’d be able to use the Dead Hex on him.”
“He’s playing defense,” Mad says, waving her hands excitedly. “He’s sending you to get the things that could keep him in check.”
“He could be plotting an uprising,” Bex says, her voice laced with horror. “If he’s got all of the things that could keep him locked in Pandemonium in his possession, they can’t be turned on him…”
“No, no way, that can’t happen,” Kara says.
“Shit,” Runner breathes. “You can’t give that to him, Gray. You can’t.”
“If I don’t, then this is the last we see of each other. He told me if I don’t complete my missions he’ll toss me out into Pandemonium where I belong, and you know what? He’s right. I do belong there for the things that I’ve done. So I have to give him the ring.” I start to pace. “What else would he need? These can’t be the only two things.”
“I don’t know,” Bex says, and the others shake their heads.
“Then I keep doing what I’m doing, and we figure out a way to stop whatever he’s plotting before he gets a chance to carry it out. I’ve dealt with shitty bosses before. I’ve learned my lesson,” I say, turning my gaze to Runner. “You don’t have to tell me he’s a liar again. I believe you. We’ll figure out a way to stop Lucifer.”
Tears well in Mad’s eyes, and she rushes toward me, pulling me into a fierce hug. “Be careful, okay? I can’t lose you again, not when I just found you.” With her body pressed against me, I feel something hard against my chest. I move l back from her and search the inside pocket of my jacket.
Behind her, Runner rolls his head around to stretch out his neck. “My head is killing me, and I’m already dead. I thought not getting headaches might be a feature of not being alive. I’m gonna need to hit up a White Skull when we get back to the cit
y and get myself fixed up. Get something that’ll bring me back to life, so to speak.”
I produce the silver vial of liquid we took from Lilah’s estate. Her blood mixed with water from the river Styx. The metal is cool in my hand, but his words about the White Skull echo in my ears and my blood feels like it’s on fire as I realize what I have here.
My gaze burns through Delaney as I hold up the vial. “I have a proposition for you.”
19
A HEARTBEAT
I’ve spent nearly a decade putting my safety and my life on the line. I’ve gone into situations that rightly should’ve killed me many times over. I’ve been to Pandemonium and met the Devil. And yet, standing here in The Boneyard with Mad, Bex, Kara, Delaney, and Runner, I’m not sure I’ve never been more nervous than I am right now.
When I told them all my plan they were stunned silent, and the first to find their voice used it to shoot me down.
“No, absolutely not,” Kara sputtered. “That is possibly the worst idea I’ve ever heard.”
“Could you really do that, Gray?” Delaney’s eyes had been wide with confusion and hope.
“I don’t know,” I replied, and I meant it. It was a total flier of an idea.
Lilah had used the elixir I held in this small silver vial to raise her army of the undead. Unlike her, I don’t plan on using the Codex Malum to turn anyone against Lucifer, but with a coven of necromancers at my side what’s to say we couldn’t use it to bring Anya back to life? And not a mindless zombie, but Anya back to the way she was. The way I want to be.
I’d like to say I’m magnanimous and that the first thought that came to mind when I realized what I had in the vial wasn’t me drinking the potion myself, but that would be a lie. I’m not free of Lucifer yet, and therefore this liquid is no good to me. There’s no point in getting out of Counterfeit City and back to earth if the Devil is just going to destroy me as soon as I get there.
“Yes, I want to do it,” Delaney had said quickly, her eyes darting to each of her sisters. “We have to do it.”
“No,” Kara repeated, turning to Delaney. “We’ve all felt the pain of Anya’s loss, but you, Delaney… you’ve come so far. When she died I didn’t know if you’d be able to put yourself back together again. And you have. You’re here, and you’re whole.”
“I’m not, though,” Delaney said. “I’m here, but a piece of me is missing. And if there’s a possibility I can have Anya back, the only answer is yes.”
“Every ritual has an uncertain outcome,” Bex said. “There is always a slight chance for disaster.”
“A chance I’m willing to take,” Delaney said.
“Me, too,” Mad had added. “When we were battling Trivia, I felt the change in myself. My magic… it held hers off. I rivaled her. With everyone’s help, we defeated her. We can channel that again. Don’t you want to try?” She had looked to Bex. “Don’t you want Anya back?”
“Of course I do, it’s just…” She had searched for a reason and then landed on the truth. “I’m scared.”
“We’re all scared,” I’d said, and Runner had chimed in, “Me especially, let’s be honest. And I’m in. I’ll help however I can.”
He’d put a comforting hand on my shoulder as all the witches had turned to him in surprise, and then he’d said perfectly what I’d been struggling with. “I lost someone too. If I had the chance to bring them back, there would be no hesitation.”
I was terrified, but every single second since I’d been in Counterfeit City had had the potential to spin out of control, the unknown was everywhere, so why not embrace it here and see if something wonderful could come out of it?
Now here we are, standing in a circle around Anya’s exhumed coffin, and the reality of what we’re about to do is hitting me like a gut punch and suddenly I’m not so sure this was a good idea.
“I feel very awkward saying this,” Runner says, “but… what are we going to find when we open the lid?”
“She will look the same as she did the day she died,” Bex says. “We’re strongly connected to the magic that runs through all things, especially nature. Trivia practiced her conjuring underneath the earth because that’s where we as necromancers are strongest. Burying Anya, it will have kept her in a kind of stasis. It takes us a very long time to fade away.”
“Her spirit was only weak when we saw her last because of what Trivia did to her,” Mad adds.
“She’ll have returned to her body to rest,” Delaney says quickly. “Now that Trivia can’t hurt her anymore… you saw the others, they had already started to strengthen once Trivia was sent to Tartarus. We have a chance…”
The hope in her voice is heartbreaking, and it only strengthens my resolve not to fail her. Lilah was nothing but evil, and I’m hoping like hell that the magic she’s done with this liquid in my hand will result in something good. It has to. If this works, then deep inside me I feel like I can make getting back to David work too, despite all the evidence to the contrary.
“When Lilah used this, it was on humans. They reanimated, but they were not themselves. Not the same as they were before they died. When she used it on herself, her injuries healed. It restored her. With Anya being a Counterfeit, I’m hoping that that’s what happens here as well, but I don’t have any guarantees.” I look to Delaney. “Are you absolutely sure you want to try this?”
Fresh tears spring to her eyes as she nods and says, “Yes. I know nothing is certain, but I have to see…”
“If this doesn’t work, it will destroy her,” Kara whispers into my ear, “and then I will destroy you for hurting her.”
“Join hands,” Bex says, and though I know it doesn’t beat anymore I swear my heart thuds anxiously in my chest.
Everyone creates the circle except for Delaney, who kneels at the foot of the grave and begins carving a symbol into the wood of Anya’s coffin with a thinly-bladed dagger.
Runner leans over to whisper, “What is that shape…?”
“A sigil,” Kara hisses. “Be quiet.”
Bex, Mad, and Kara begin to chant, and Runner and I both gasp when our hands, locked with theirs, begin to glow blue. Mist rises from the ground, swirling around us, making it feel like we’re in some gothic dream.
I don’t understand the words that fall from their lips but I open myself to what they might mean, and I can feel a warmth spread through my chest, a hopefulness, and an emptiness. I want to cry and scream and laugh. Instead, I clench my jaw and will Anya to return to us, whole.
Their words die out and the mist hangs, the sounds of nature in The Boneyard gone silent as if each creature is holding their breath and waiting to see what happens next.
“Help me,” Delaney says, sliding to one side of the coffin. Mad quickly moves to the other, and they slide the top to the side.
Inside, Anya lies with her eyes closed, and even in death, she is breathtaking. Long lashes. Tumbling hair. Her cheeks are hollow, though, as if she’s malnourished. That’s Trivia’s doing, I’m certain.
“Rise,” the witches say in unison, and Anya’s eyes flutter open, at first unfocused, and then darting around in confusion until they land on Delaney. She struggles to draw herself up.
“Here,” Delaney says with all the love in the world and helps lift Anya into a sitting position.
Anya coughs, a harsh, scraping sound, clearing years of silence from her throat. “What’s wrong?” she asks, and it seems it’s all she can muster. Her breath wheezes in her lungs, and it’s clear that the energy Trivia drained from her has devastated her. “You wouldn’t have raised me unless something terrible…” Her eyes dart around, painfully bloodshot. “Trivia. Is Trivia back somehow?”
Delaney smooths Anya’s hair back. “No, sweetheart, Trivia’s gone for good.”
“And good gods damned riddance,” Kara adds. As she takes in the state of her friend, her smile wavers as she fights to control her emotions. “It’s good to see you again, Anya.”
Anya smiles back, and despit
e her exhaustion, she is radiant. “How long do I have?”
“Well, here’s the thing,” Bex says, crouching next to Anya’s coffin. “We’re not sure.”
Anya’s brow furrows in confusion. “I’m lost. Will somebody please tell me what’s going on?”
I hold out the silver vial, and the glint of it catches her eye. “I took this from Lilah’s estate after I killed her.”
“Lilah’s dead?” Anya’s jaw drops.
“And if what we’ve got planned works, I’ll have all the time in the world to tell you about it. All you have to do is drink what’s inside here,” I say, shaking the vial. “With the magic in here, and the magic these fine ladies plan on conjuring up for you…” I take a deep breath and hope that I’m not full of shit, “I think we could bring you back from the dead. Permanently.”
Anya breaks into a grin, but it doesn’t quite wipe away the hesitation and fear in her eyes. “Seriously?”
“Seriously,” Runner says. “I took out dozens of zombies that Lilah resurrected using that stuff. Not that you’re a zombie. You’re a very lovely witch.”
“They were human,” I interrupt. “Lilah used it on herself as well, and all it did was heal her injuries. It… rejuvenated her. Made her strong, stronger than she already was. The Daughters here have already brought you back to life. I just want to help keep you that way.”
I expect her to be overwhelmed. To need to take her time to process what I’ve said. Instead, she whoops with glee. “Give it to me.”
Mad claps with delight and Delaney is nearly incandescent with joy.
I want to be as happy as them, but I’m so scared that this won’t work. “I’m not certain what will happen when you drink it…”
Anya holds out her hand. “Then I absolve you of all blame if this goes wrong. You’re giving me the chance to be with my sisters again. To be with Delaney. I would do anything for that. Please,” she wiggles her fingers, “give me the vial.”
HELLION: THE DEAD HEX: (Hellion, Book 2) Page 11