Dark Descent

by Nicole R. Taylor

  His eyes went to Greer, who was lying on the floor, the cold iron dagger protruding from her chest. He looked to her before he turned his attention on me, and I couldn’t help the pang of jealousy from twisting my stupid heart. So not the time.

  “Scarlett Ravenwood,” the Balan declared with a smirk.

  “That’s my name, don’t wear it out.”

  “You’ve grown into such a lovely young woman,” he went on, “ripe and ready to—”

  “Puke,” I declared. “I like my men with one set of teeth and only a slight murderous intent, thank you very much.”

  The Balan glanced at Wilder.

  Wilder gritted his teeth. “Just get it over with.”

  “I’m not here for you, Natural,” the Balan declared. “But you will make a perfect host.”

  Wilder tensed and attempted to rise, but the lesser demon forced him back down again.

  “Watch him,” the Balan commanded, turning his focus back on me. “I have work to do.”

  The lesser demons circled us as the Balan grasped me around the neck and lifted me like I weighed nothing at all. I felt the fight bleed from my limbs as his touch overwhelmed my senses. I just… There was nothing I could do to stop him as he bore into my mind.

  “Scarlett!” I heard Wilder’s voice but it sounded so far away.

  The lid of the box opened, and I cowered in the corner as the Balan appeared. He stood over me, a fake smile on his lips.

  “Get out of my head!” I shouted.

  “Here she is,” he crooned. “C’mon, sweetheart.” He reached out and grasped me under my arms, then plucked me from my hiding place.

  As I was lifted out of the box, I saw my parents lying on the ground. It was exactly as I remembered it. They were covered in blood, their eyes unseeing. Dead meant forever.

  The Balan’s hands dug painfully into my sides as he shook me. “Where is Arondight?”

  I screamed in terror and thrashed, trying to break free. He was manipulating my mind, using my worst memories to torture answers out of me. Too bad I didn’t know squat.

  “Tell me!” he roared. “Don’t make me hurt them, Scarlett. You love him. Do you want me to kill him like I killed your parents?”

  “Eat shit, arsehole! You’re all talk, you know that?”

  “What do you know of Human Convergence?”

  I gasped as hot pincers buried into my brain. “Nothing.”

  “Lies.”

  “I can’t tell you what I don’t know,” I cried. “How about you tell me what it is? Then we can compare notes.”

  The Balan roared and buried its hooks deeper. “Human Convergence. Tell me.”

  “Your Infernal buddy mutated my best friend.” I kicked, and I felt my heel smashing against a pair of rotten demon balls. “Converge that, arsehole!” That’s for Jackson.

  The Balan cried out in anger, then lifted his fist. As his knuckles collided with my face, I was pushed to the ground. I landed on my side, stars exploding through my vision.

  This isn’t real, Scarlett, I told myself. He’s in your head. Fight back!

  “I was there,” the Balan murmured into my ear. “I know what happened to them. Your parents died at my feet. Do you want to know why?”

  I tensed as he pushed another vision into my mind. My parents lying on the ground, covered in blood, their eyes open and unblinking. Shut up, you little shit.

  “I can tell you everything you want to know,” the Balan crooned. “All you have to do is give me Arondight.”

  “I don’t know where Arondight is.”

  “Yes, you do. You’ve seen it, Scarlett. You’ve been touched by its flame.”

  “I don’t remember,” I muttered, tears welling in my eyes. “I don’t…”

  “That’s okay. You will. I can help you.” The Balan towered over me, his hand outstretched. “Just reach out and take my hand, Scarlett. That’s all you have to do. Then you’ll be at peace.”

  I stared at his fingers, almost expecting them to have clawed tips, but he was normal enough if he didn’t open his mouth.

  He knew what happened to them. He knew why they died. He knew all the answers I longed for. Everything I’d ever wanted was within my grasp, all I had to do was reach out and take the Balan’s offer.

  But…

  If I didn’t fight back, the Sanctum would fall and the Codex would be corrupted. Greer, Romy, Wilder, and the others would be possessed and mutated into super soldiers, enslaved to the very enemy they’d pledged to destroy.

  But…

  Let go of your past. Embrace your future…

  “No,” I said. “The price is too high.”

  The Balan roared and I was lifted into the air, his fingers tightening around my neck, choking the life from me. The price was too high…

  I was wrenched to the side, my consciousness tearing away from the vision. The world splintered and the ruined library materialised.

  I gasped as I focused on an arondight blade protruding through the Balan’s chest. The demon let me go and my knees hit the ground, my flesh tearing on the rubble underfoot. The creature wailed, its jaws opening wide with a picture of fury and pain.

  My arondight blade was lying within reach and I snatched it. The moment my hand curled around the hilt, it burst into life with a shower of purple sparks and I struck. The blade arced through the air and sliced through the Balan’s neck, severing its head from its shoulders. The body fell to the ground with a thud and my gaze met Wilder’s. It’d been his blade that’d severed the demon’s connection. He’d freed me.

  I stumbled back a step as a mass of inky black smoke oozed from the Balan’s neck, and another tendril snaked from its head as it rolled across the floor, the open wound leaving smears of blood on the posh carpet.

  The smoke rushed together, creating one giant mass, then surged upward and collided with what remained of the ceiling. The plaster cracked, then splintered as the Balan struck again, showering shards over the assembled Naturals, who were now conscious and witness to everything.

  The smoke rolled across the ruined ceiling before spilling out into the night, the remains of the pillar sucking it up. A moment later, the light flickered, and then the portal vanished, plunging the library into silvery darkness.

  Wilder grimaced, his hand slapping against his side. I dropped the arondight blade, the sword clicking back into the hilt as it clattered onto the rubble, and I caught him before he fell. Steadying his bulky frame, I was hardly aware of the assembled Naturals, or Greer, who was bundled in Aldrich’s arms.

  “Careful,” I murmured, my palm landing over Wilder’s heart. I could feel it thrumming, most likely from the adrenalin. Yeah, Scarlett, it’s the adrenalin. Pfft.

  I glanced at his side. “You’ve been stabbed…”

  “Is that where all that red stuff is coming from?”

  “Wilder.”

  “You did good,” he whispered, his voice strained.

  “You’re complimenting me? After I rushed in like that?”

  “Yeah… But don’t let it go to your head, Purples.”

  As the library erupted into chaos around us, we smiled at one another, hardly aware the other Naturals were circling us.

  We’d won, but at what price? I guessed only time would tell.

  21

  The day after a disaster was the eeriest thing.

  I walked through the Sanctum, stepping over piles of rubble, weaving around wet floor signs, and watching crews of tradesmen file into the building. The mammoth clean-up had commenced at first light, mere hours after the demon incursion was defeated.

  The Naturals didn’t mess around—talk about laser focus.

  As I climbed the wrought iron stairs that led up to the conservatory, I was surprised to find it untouched by the chaos. The dome was intact and there wasn’t a speck of dust on the crimson carpet. There must be some serious wards protecting this place.

  I stopped at the top of the stairs as I spotted Greer standing within the glass encasi
ng the Codex. She turned a page, the air shimmering as the paper leafed over. The vibration pulsed through the air and tickled the edges of my Light—the Light I was well and truly aware of now—pulling me towards the pedestal. This time, I listened to the call and approached.

  Greer’s head lifted and she smiled. “Do you want to see?” she asked, gesturing for me to come forward.

  “Really?” My eyes widened. “I’m not sure—”

  “Come.”

  I took a deep breath and rounded the glass, angling myself so I could see the open Codex. I didn’t have the courage to enter the protective enclosure, but here was perfectly fine for now.

  “This is all the Naturals know about Arondight,” Greer said, looking back at the page before her.

  It was a single leaf of images and text, an illuminated medieval understanding of the blade the Naturals lost. It was written in Latin, or something close to it, so I had no idea what I was looking at. I’d left my translated copy on the roof.

  “Only one page?” I asked.

  “Yes. You can understand why it pains us that it has been lost for so long.”

  “Oh.”

  “I wanted to thank you, Scarlett,” she said, exiting the glass enclosure. “Wilder told me what you did last night.”

  “I did what I had to do,” I replied uncomfortably, unsure of Greer’s standing in all of this. I decided to test the waters. “The Balan asked me what I knew about Human Convergence.”

  Greer tensed. Man, I really hoped there wasn’t a twist coming. The bad guys had been defeated—for now—and the good guys relax… then POW! They’re cut down and there’s an epic cliffhanger. Yeah, I really hoped this wasn’t one of those moments.

  “Now it is my turn to confess,” Greer said, lowering her head. “A long time ago, I was part of Human Convergence.”

  I gasped. “Greer… no.”

  “I was young, idealistic, and stupid. I believed it would make the Naturals stronger and tip the balance in our favour, but I was deceived. I was unknowingly aiding the enemy. When I found out the truth, that they were experimenting on Infernal demons, I did what I could to destroy the project. I thought I was successful and for years, I heard nothing… until you arrived with Jackson.”

  That was why she was so interested in him, I thought. It was personal, but not romantic.

  “The Infernal who possessed Jackson,” I began.

  “Was likely a subject of the Human Convergence Project,” Greer confirmed. “When it came into contact with your friend, it altered his DNA.”

  “So…” I didn’t want to bring it up, but the thought was on my mind. If Jackson was a victim of Human Convergence, then it might mean his end.

  “We have to bring him in,” Greer said. “We have to understand what’s happening.”

  “I know Jackson,” I said, shaking my head. “I know he wouldn’t willingly do any harm to anyone.”

  “Scarlett, Ramona stopped the mutation from spreading. If we can understand how his DNA was altered, we might be able to reverse it. In him and anyone else who the demons harm.”

  She had a point. I nodded, squirming over the inevitable grovelling at my best friend’s feet I’d have to do.

  “It seems whoever has resurrected the research has made advances beyond what the project originally achieved,” she went on. “Someone who wants the demons to win. This new age of technology… It’s a war like none we’ve ever known.”

  “And they need to neutralise Arondight to succeed,” I added.

  “It would seem so. They believe it’s resurfaced. With it in our grasp, they would be powerless to stop Light from winning the war, even with their advances.”

  “So, what will you do now?”

  “Every day I do what I must to atone,” she murmured, placing her hand on the glass. “I’ve been entrusted to protect the Codex.” She glanced at me, her eyes brimming with sadness. It took me a moment to realise she was asking for my forgiveness.

  I shook my head. “If your intentions weren’t pure, the Codex would have outed you. I know I’m still new here, and I’ve got a long way to go, but that’s enough for me. The Codex already decided, and as a Natural, I will abide by its choice.”

  “Yes,” she said, her lips curving into a smile, “you are a Natural.”

  I smiled, a surge of something that felt a lot like belonging pumped through my veins. This was home—the Sanctum, the people within it, the things we fought for… I belonged to them now. They were my burdens, too. Being a Natural was my calling.

  “Will you explain something to me?” I asked, tucking my hair behind my ear.

  Greer nodded.

  “Where did the Balan go? I thought Infernals were the only kind of demon who were made of smoke.”

  “No, they’re not the only kind,” she explained. “The Balan can possess, but it can also construct its own body. Their kind is arrogant, so it’s likely hiding someplace, reconstructing what you took from it, so we have time before it resurfaces.”

  “Reconstucts from what?”

  “Corpses.”

  “That’s kind of gross.” I shuddered, regretting that I’d even asked.

  Greer smiled. “Yes, it is.”

  The Balan didn’t look like a mouldy corpse, so I assumed it used its version of Light to hold himself together. I didn’t want to know more about Frankenstein, so I shoved away the repulsive image and focused on more lingering problems.

  Glancing at the Codex, I asked, “Was it harmed?”

  Greer shook her head. “No.”

  “Were you?”

  “The Infernal didn’t alter me,” she confirmed. “If it had—”

  “You wouldn’t have been able to touch it.”

  “No.” She glanced at me. “But you and I know the Codex wasn’t their main target.”

  “The cat is out of the bag, I guess,” I drawled. “I hate to break it to you, Greer, but I know less about my funky Light than you do.”

  “You’ve been touched by Arondight,” she declared.

  “You sound so sure about it.”

  “It’s the only logical conclusion. Your parents died to protect you, and the whereabouts of the blade.”

  I sighed, the weight of all the revelations pressing down on my shoulders like a tonne of bricks. Where did it all end? Would it end? The Naturals had been fighting a war that was over a thousand years old. It was likely I’d never in my lifetime see its end. The thought was rather depressing, but if Wilder and Greer were right and I had come into contact with Arondight, then maybe I could help end the violence and banish demon-kind forever.

  “What now?” I asked, glancing at Greer.

  “We need to destroy the Human Convergence Project, find Arondight, then put an end to this war once and for all.”

  I made a face. “That’s a tall order.”

  “Small steps, Scarlett,” she said. “Wars aren’t won in a day.”

  “No,” I murmured, glancing at the Codex, “no, they aren’t.”

  The Sanctum was a hive of activity as I made my way from the conservatory to the infirmary.

  Naturals and tradesmen were busy cleaning up the mess—thankfully the demon corpses were removed before the builders came in with their crews—and repairs were slowly being made. I wasn’t sure how letting in outside people worked, but I assumed Light had something to do with it. That alteration thing would be getting a hammering at the end of the workday, though.

  The infirmary was buzzing when I walked in. The medical staff was a skeleton crew as it was, and they rushed back and forth, tending to everything from small lacerations and broken bones, to full-blown possession checks. It was a sight, that was for sure, and it didn’t even include the Light-enhanced antibiotics for cuts that’d been infected with lesser demon gore.

  All the Naturals who’d been present in the library were enduring scans and blood tests to make sure they hadn’t been possessed, and everyone else had turned up to make sure they weren’t infected, either. After Jackson�
��s mutation, no one was taking any chances.

  Ramona waved at me as I made my way down the row of beds.

  “Scarlett,” she said, “how are you?”

  “Fine. Thank you for the…” I rubbed my neck, grateful the bruising from the Balan’s choke hold had faded. “Whatever it was that you did.”

  She nodded and gestured to the end of the room where a blue curtain surrounded a bed. “He’s still there. Or at least I think he is. He’s got a terrible habit of defying doctor’s orders.”

  “I think it’s just orders in general,” I said with a smile.

  I made my way towards the back, surprised to find I was slightly nervous. After all we’d been through? Nerves were the last thing I should be feeling.

  Peeking around the curtain, my gaze locked with Wilder’s. He was laying on the bed, his shirt off and a thick white bandage wrapped around his middle.

  “You can come in,” he said with a rasp to his voice.

  Sliding through the curtains, I stood beside his bed, staring at the bandages.

  “I’ll be fine,” Wilder said. “Ramona stitched me up.”

  “How many?”

  He shrugged. “Fifteen.”

  “Cool. Chicks dig scars.”

  His lips quirked.

  “I see they washed you,” I declared with a pout.

  “I got a sponge bath,” he retorted with a sly wink.

  “I brought you a present,” I declared, ignoring the reemergence of his sharp wit. “Ramona said you’ll have to stay in bed a while, so I thought you might need some company.”

  Wilder narrowed his eyes as I tugged the toy out of my pocket. I set the troll doll down on the side table, angling it so its plastic smile was aimed right at Wilder’s head, then smoothed the tuft of purple hair into a point.

  “Seriously?” he asked.

  “I’ve never been more serious about anything in my life.”

  He stared at the troll doll so long, I was beginning to wonder if he’d hit his head during the fight.

  “Scarlett… I was wrong,” he said haltingly. “I believed—”

  “I know what you believed,” I declared. He’d thought Greer and the others had sinister motives, but in the end, we were all on the same wavelength. “It doesn’t matter anymore. We’re all on the same side now. Or is it ‘the same page of the Codex’?”