by Lola StVil
I manage to stick it into the demon’s side, piercing a spot between its ribs. It gives a pained shriek and turns back to me, but I’m ready for it now and I reach out and grab a handful of its hair. I swipe with my knife again, cutting off its other hand. It screams and I spin it around, holding its back against my front, my knife at its throat.
I look up at Sailor again. The remaining demon is running towards her with a war cry, but she is ready for it. She crouches slightly, watching him intently. As he almost reaches her, she springs up and sticks her dagger straight into his eye. She yanks it back out, and blood sprays over the ground and over her arm. The carpet begins to singe and Sailor’s arm bubbles and blisters where his acidic blood coats her.
She doesn’t even seem to notice. She turns to face the demon I am holding, fire burning in her eyes.
“Let this be a lesson to you all,” she says, looking at the demon, who squirms in my hold. I tighten my grip on him, forcing him to be still. “The Paradox is not some scared little girl you can all push around. If anyone threatens me, my team, or my family, death will be merciless and instant.”
CHAPTER EIGHT: BORN FOR THIS
The demon shrieks at her and tells her she will never win. She nods to me and I lift my arm, running my knife across the demon’s throat. I push him away from me as he gargles, choking on the blood that pours from his opened throat. He is already dead when I step over him and pull Sailor into my arms.
“So, you think I should call your dad now?” I say, looking around the broken house with a grin.
*****************************************************
“How much longer do we have?” Aziza asks.
Sailor glances at her watch.
“About half an hour,” she confirms.
I stand back and look around. The house is almost back to normal. After the demon attack, I sent messages to the team letting them know what had happened. By the time I healed Sailor’s arm and established that she was okay, the team and Nexus showed up.
Nexus explained that the demons must already have been inside when she put up her protection charm; otherwise, they wouldn’t have gotten in. She has redone them all and doubled the strength, and I’m confident Sailor’s house is as safe from demons as it can be.
The rest of us have been running around cleaning up the mess the demons made. We swept and scrubbed and cleaned, and all that’s left is for Nexus to use her magic to fill in the holes in the wall and fix the part of the hall carpet where the demon’s blood left scorch marks.
As Nexus moves around waving her hands and fixing things, I hear a shriek from the kitchen. I exchange a look with Sailor and we both dart toward it. Ya-Ya is standing in the middle of the room, her face ashen white.
“Ya-Ya? What is it? What happened?” I ask, running to her side.
She lifts her arm up slowly and I don’t know what I’m looking for. Her arm looks normal and she doesn’t appear to be hurt. Sailor is beside me, and her look of concern turns to one of anger.
“Don’t you dare say this fuss is because of that,” she says, pointing to a small tear in Ya-Ya’s sleeve. The tear is so small I didn’t even notice it until Sailor pointed it out.
“This top is Gucci,” Ya-Ya says, but she looks ashamed of herself all the same.
“Get a fucking grip.” Sailor sighs and walks away.
“I’m sorry,” Ya-Ya calls after her. “It’s just… it’s my way of coping, alright? I focus on material things so I don’t have to think about how close we came to losing you both.”
Sailor turns back to her and the anger is gone from her face. She comes back towards Ya-Ya.
“I know. I’m the one who should be sorry. I guess my way of coping is biting people’s heads off,” she says.
She hugs Ya-Ya. Jinx appears in the doorway.
“You might want to think twice about biting Ya-Ya’s head off.” He laughs. “Imagine how pissed she would be if you got blood on her.”
“Shut up, Jinx,” I say automatically, but he’s already gone.
He comes running back in.
“Adam is walking down the street,” he announces.
“Quick, everyone in the living room,” I shout.
Nexus puts her hand on my arm as I run towards the living room, and I stop for a moment.
“I’m onto something with the tunnel, Rye. I’ll be back later,” she says.
She’s gone before I can ask anything, but we don’t have time to talk now anyway. Adam is on his way up the path. I enter the living room and see Sunday and Mel had everything in hand ready for Adam’s return. Sailor sits in the center of the couch with Mel on one side and Ya-Ya on the other. Aziza, Sunday, and Jinx are the on the other couch. Sailor and Sunday both have big bowls of popcorn on their laps and a movie is playing on the TV, halfway through as though we’ve all been sitting watching it. I drop into a chair just as Adam comes in.
He walks into the living room and smiles when he sees us all gathered with Sailor. She looks up and smiles at him as we all greet him.
“Hi guys, good to see you all,” Adam says, although his focus is only on Sailor. “How are you feeling, Biscuit?”
This gets a snicker from Jinx, earning him an elbow in the ribs from Sunday, but Sunday is smirking too. Sailor gets up and goes to her dad. She hugs him tightly.
“I’m feeling fine,” she says. “Thank you for being amazing today. But we need to talk about the Biscuit thing, dad. Not in front of my friends.”
Adam laughs and holds Sailor out at arm’s length for a moment, looking her up and down. He pulls her back in for another hug and then releases her.
“There’s nothing to talk about. You’ll always be Biscuit to me, and I don’t care who knows it.”
Sailor blushes slightly as she retakes her seat, but she’s laughing. I look at her and then Adam, and I feel a wash of guilt fly over me. My feelings for Sailor are risking his life. And Sailor doesn’t even know what she’s risking by wanting to be with me. I think of how guilty I feel over the death of my own parents, and I know I can’t put that guilt onto Sailor. I have to tell her the truth. Now. Tonight. And if she wants nothing more to do with me once she knows, then I’ll have to find a way to make my peace with that.
“So how’s everyone’s day been?” Adam asks, plonking himself down in the only spare chair.
“Uneventful,” Sailor says with a little smile.
This gets a laugh from the team. Adam looks a little confused, but he shrugs it off and laughs with us. I think he’s just relieved Sailor is okay. He’s not the only one.
“Well I think there’s only one thing we can do now,” Adam says. “Order pizza.”
This gets a chorus of approval from everyone and he laughs. He gets up and pulls his cell phone out. He finishes ordering and stands up.
“I’ll go and get the pizzas. It’ll be much quicker than waiting for them to bring them,” he says. “Sailor, will you be…?”
“I’ll be fine,” she says with a smile.
“Okay. I won’t be long. Try not to do anything wild and wreck the house while I’m gone,” he says.
This gets another laugh from the team. I hand him his keys back and he leaves the room, a pleased look on his face. He’s just happy Sailor is happy I think. I don’t know how happy she’s going to be once I talk to her, but I know it has to be done and I want to do it now, before I can talk myself out of it. I wait until I hear Adam’s car pull away and then I turn to Sailor.
“Sailor. Can we talk in the kitchen for a minute please?” I say.
She nods and gets up.
“Ooh, someone’s in trouble.” Jinx laughs.
“Yeah, you… if you don’t watch it,” Sailor jokes.
She follows me to the kitchen. She steps in and closes the door and then she rounds on me.
“I know what this is about and I don’t want to hear it,” she says. “I know you told me to wait outside, but this is my house, Rye. I w
asn’t going to stand by and let the demons wreck my house. Or hurt you.”
Her voice breaks slightly on the last word, and I reach out and squeeze the top of her arm.
“I hate that you’re so quick to throw yourself into danger,” I say. “But actually, that’s not what this is about. I know better than to think you might actually listen to me about that one.”
“It’s not?” she says, raising an eyebrow.
I shake my head.
“Sit down,” I say, leading her to the table and chairs at the end of the room.
We sit down facing each other, and I take one of her hands in mine. Now the moment is here, I don’t really know how to tell her. She’s starting to look concerned and I know I have to say something and fast.
“Sailor, earlier on, I told you I love you. And I do. Gods know I fucking really do,” I say.
She smiles and tears shine in her eyes.
“I feel the same way,” she says.
“Good,” I say. “But there’s something you should know. Something I should have told you a long time ago. You know how the gods have a habit of killing humans that fall for gods, right? Well, you were right about this scenario. They’re not going to kill the Paradox. But that doesn’t mean there won’t be consequences to us being together. Nexus told me if we defy them and come together, then they’ll…”
I stop, unable to say any more. Sailor’s eyes flash with panic and she squeezes my hand.
“They’ll what, Rye? Tell me,” she demands.
“They’ll kill your father,” I say. “But I swear I won’t let that happen.”
Sailor jumps to her feet and begins to pace the kitchen, staring at me angrily.
“How long have you know about this?”
I don’t reply.
“How long, Rye?”
“Too long,” I finally admit. “I did everything I could to make you hate me, but nothing worked. And as much as I tried to stay away from you, I couldn’t. I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you sooner, but I swear to you I will keep your father safe. The gods could kill me before I would let them harm him.”
“I can’t believe you kept this from me,” she shouts. “What the hell were you thinking?”
“I was thinking you had enough to deal with without another worry being put on you, and I thought I could be strong and stay away from you, but I can’t.”
The anger leaves Sailor in a rush and she sits back down and puts her head in her hands. Finally, she looks up at me.
“It’s not fair that my dad has to be the one to pay the price, Rye. I mean, I’m saving the whole fucking world here and the gods want to repay me by killing the only family I have. What sort of a sick deal is that?”
“One that I won’t allow to happen. I promise you, I will find a way. If you still want me to,” I add.
She looks at me silently for a long time and I’m beginning to think she’s going to tell me to leave, but instead, she nods her head once.
“Yes. I’m not ready to stop fighting for us, Rye. We’ll find a way to beat the gods. Together,” she says.
Her eyes lock on mine and she starts to move closer to me. My heart skips a beat. She’s going to kiss me. I can almost taste her lips before they reach mine, can almost feel her in my arms.
The front door opens and we jump apart. Sailor looks at me and giggles and I can’t help but join her. Adam comes into the kitchen with a tower of pizza boxes in his hands and a couple of bottles of soda tucked underneath his arm.
“What are you two doing in here?” he asks.
“We were just going to get the plates and stuff out,” I say quickly.
Adam raises his eyebrow and he shakes his head. He turns to Sailor.
“I really hope he’s lying to me about that, Sailor, because if you’re with someone who thinks you need plates for pizza? Well, I don’t think I can give you my approval for that one,” he says with a laugh.
Sailor blushes again but she laughs along.
“What if it was my idea?” she says.
“Then you’re disowned,” Adam says without missing a beat.
I think I see the tiniest flicker of pain on Sailor’s face, but it’s gone as soon as it came, and I may well have imagined it. She gets to her feet and takes the pile of boxes from Adam.
“Grab the soda, Rye,” she says.
I do as I’m told and Adam and I follow Sailor back into the living room, where she’s spreading the pizza boxes out on the ground and opening them up. She picks up a slice of pepperoni pizza and sits down. No one else is moving, and she laughs.
“Don’t be shy, everyone. Dig in,” Adam says.
His words have an instant effect and within minutes, we’re all digging into pizza and listening to Adam telling us about a customer in the diner who insisted that the staff was trying to kill her because there were mushrooms in her meal. She hadn’t mentioned a mushroom allergy and had chosen a mushroom risotto, so it was a little hard to take her complaint seriously, especially considering she ate almost the whole plate, and eventually, the owner had asked her to leave. Adam said she was moaning for half an hour by that point after claiming she’d be dead within five minutes.
We all laugh at his story, and for a moment, I let myself pretend this is it. That we’re just normal teenagers living normal lives and nothing else is going to happen to any of us. That the most stressful thing we’ll have to encounter is exams at school. It’s a nice dream and I cling to it, but I know it won’t last. It can’t last. The Horsemen and the Boundless won’t wait around while we play happy families for a few days.
We finish the pizzas and Adam stands up to clear the boxes away, but I beat him to it.
“Let me get them,” I say. “It’s the least I can do to thank you for your hospitality.”
I take them into the kitchen and out through the back door and put them in the trash. As I come back in, I can hear laughter from the living room. Sunday is telling everyone a story about something that happened at school last week. I only hear bits of it, and by the time I get back to the living room, I missed the whole thing.
I take my seat again as Aziza starts to ask Adam about the best way to cook a roast. I look at her, trying to figure out if she is just appeasing him. Since when does she cook? But she’s listening intently to him talking her through it. Maybe she’s thinking of expanding her skill set. It might be a nice change to have a meal that’s not fast food or a microwave meal for once.
“Rye?” Mel says quietly. “Do you think it’s time for us to go?”
I glance across at her and she nods her head towards Sailor, who has fallen asleep with her head on Mel’s shoulder. As much as I don’t want to leave her, Mel’s right. We should go. Sailor must be exhausted because her sleep last night was so broken and then after that there was the demon fight too. The thought of leaving her here alone tugs at my heart, but I know Adam will take good care of her, and nothing demonic will get through Nexus’s protection spells.
“Adam? I think we wore Sailor out. We should go,” I say.
We start to get up. Mel carefully moves herself out from beneath Sailor’s head, but Sailor wakes up anyway. She gives a big yawn and then laughs.
“Sorry. I’m the worst hostess in the world,” she says.
“Not true,” Jinx says. “Remind me later to tell you about the time I was seeing a girl called Mandy. She was a terrible hostess if ever I saw one.”
Sailor nods sleepily and gets to her feet. She hugs everyone, saving me for last.
“Thank you for being there. I’ll call you in the morning,” she says.
Adam walks us down the hallway. Before we reach the door it opens and I tense up, my hand going to my knife. Aziza stops me, grabbing my wrist, and I see that it’s only Raven coming in. She smiles in surprise when she sees us all in the hallway.
“I guess I missed the party. How’s Sailor?” she says, moving to kiss Adam on the cheek.
“She’s fin
e,” he says. “Just tired.”
“I’ll pop in and see her before she goes up,” Raven says.
We file out of the house, saying our goodbyes. Adam thanks us for looking out for Sailor and we all assure him it wasn’t a problem. We head back to the cabin, choosing to walk instead of portaling, and I’m glad for the fresh air. It gives me a chance to think.
Sailor wants to fight for us. The knowledge gives me a warm glow in my stomach and I can hardly keep the smile off my face, although deep down, I’m still worried about her. What if the Boundless make another attempt on the next Soul Gem and she isn’t strong enough to fight the attack next time?
I shake my head. I won’t even let myself think about that, because I won’t let it happen. I’ll find a way to stop it from coming to that.
***
I’m sitting in the cabin drinking my first cup of coffee the next morning when Nexus comes in. She’s carrying a glass bottle filled with an electric blue liquid.
“What’s that?” I ask.
“That,” she says, “is the potion that will allow the team to breathe on the staircase when you go to retrieve the second Soul Gem. I’ve tested it out and it works.”
“Brilliant. Thanks, Nexus,” I say, holding my hand out for the bottle.
She puts it in my hand.
“One mouthful each will be enough, and the effects will last for around three hours.”
“Thanks,” I say again.
I push the bottle into my pocket and go back to my coffee. Nexus raises an eyebrow at me.
“What?” I say.
“You don’t seem like you’re exactly in a rush to get going,” she says.
“I’m not,” I tell her. “We can’t get the gem without Sailor, and it’s too soon to drag her down that staircase into God knows what. She just got out of hospital.”
“I know it’s hard, Rye, but she’s stronger than you give her credit for. And she only ended up in the hospital in the first place because someone was getting too close to the Soul Gem. If they get any closer, she might never recover. This is the only way to make sure the Boundless don’t get their hands on the gem.”
