Of Blood and Monsters

by D. G. Swank

  I tried to jerk back, but he held tight. Something deep inside me roared to life, hungry for his soul. Hungry for his blood.

  My eyes flew open in shock. What was wrong with me? The need to kill him was nearly unquenchable.

  “Ah . . . ,” he said, his eyes lighting up with excitement. “You’ve barely tapped into your power. I can feel so much more of it simmering below the surface. You can use it to save Abiel, slayer of demons. You’re stronger than you know.”

  “From the demons Okeus sent to bring him back?” I asked, the power in me jumping at the chance to kill. Consume. “Or from his fate?”

  He grinned and his beautiful features turned dark and ugly.

  I tried to pull away from him again, but his fingers dug into my wrist, pulling me closer until our chests touched. “You hunger for demons. Go kill them.”

  The monster inside me leapt at his words, but somehow common sense prevailed. “He’s fighting Okeus’s elite guards. You think I can fight them? Three weeks ago, I didn’t even know how to hold a sword.”

  A grin played at the corners of his lips and he whispered, “You don’t need the sword.”

  My eyes flew wide as the monster in me confirmed he spoke the truth. In the beginning, Abel had told me I’d develop the ability to bind demons. Up until now, I hadn’t believed him.

  “Take me to a world and I’ll show you how to access your power,” Adonis said. “I’ll show you how to save the son of Okeus. How to save yourself.”

  I was tempted, so tempted, but he’d never be content with simply going to a world. He’d want to control my talent, control me. “No.”

  “Piper,” he cooed with a tenderness that should have been reserved for a woman he loved, but this was Adonis, the god of beauty and desire. He lived to seduce. (Thank you, Mr. Thatcher, for that Greek mythology unit in seventh grade English.) “Think of the things we could create together. And I’ll let you keep Abel as your lover.”

  “Let me? No one lets me do anything, not even Kieran Abel.”

  Impatience filled his eyes. “I’ll ask you nicely one last time, Kewasa,” he said through tightly clenched teeth. “Take me to a world.”

  I glared up at him. “I realize times have changed, but you really need to learn that no means no.”

  He pushed out a sigh. “Just remember you brought this upon yourself.”

  Then he reached into his pocket, and before I could realize what was happening, he slapped a copper bracelet around my left wrist.

  When I tried to break free from his hold, his fingers dug deeper. The monster in me pushed back, trying to shoot power at him, but it stopped at my wrist—at the bracelet.

  “It worked,” he said, looking relieved.

  I grabbed it with my right hand, trying to pull it off, but it didn’t budge. Panic washed through me as I realized what he’d done.

  “You blocked my power!”

  The monster inside me roared in anger and my vision turned red. I finally broke free from his grasp, taking several steps backward and jerking hard on the bracelet.

  “Piper,” Adonis said patiently as he watched me struggle.

  “Get it off!” I shouted, realizing it blocked everything. My ability to sense demons. My ability to create worlds. Would it stop me from seeing ghosts?

  “Piper,” Adonis repeated, but this time with a hint of impatience. “You’re wasting precious time.”

  He was right. I pushed my anger and terror down and tried to focus on him. “What do you want, Adonis?”

  He gave me a pleasant smile. “You know what I want, creator of worlds. You had a bargaining chip and you chose not to use it. I had to up the ante, so to speak.”

  I shook my hand, trying to move the copper band, but it was glued to my skin. “You want me to take you to a world,” I said in an emotionless voice. “Which one and for how long?”

  “I can pick a world?” he asked in surprise.

  “Yes, but I want the answers you promised before.”

  He shook his head. “Nope. You had your chance, which I thought was very generous on my part. I could have put the block on you from the beginning.”

  “So why didn’t you?”

  “I’d far rather use the motivation of giving you what you want versus using fear and intimidation. The results are usually much different.” He gave me a sad smile. “Perhaps this is a good lesson for when you come face-to-face with Okeus.”

  “I can’t create a world if I’m wearing this.” I waved my arm at him.

  “True, which is why I want you to make me a blood oath that you won’t kill me and you’ll take me to worlds whenever I wish it.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding.”

  “Unfortunately for you, I’m not.” He pulled a small dagger from a sheath at his hip.

  Fear stole my breath as he reached for my left wrist. He tugged me close and gave me an evil smile. “I hope you learn many lessons from this, Kewasa. It gives me no pleasure to inflict pain.”

  Then he stabbed my palm, pushing the blade deeper than necessary.

  I screamed in pain before I could stop myself.

  “Piper!” Abel bellowed from somewhere in the building.

  Worry filled Adonis’s eyes before it morphed into determination. He left the blade embedded in my hand, his hand on the hilt. “Agree to the oath.”

  “No.”

  He twisted the blade slightly, sending another spike of pain through me that nearly made me pass out.

  “Come, Piper,” he cajoled. “It’s so easy to say yes.” He twisted the knife again, and my knees nearly buckled as my mouth went dry. “Say yes and I’ll do all the work of the vow. You’ve already done the hard part—volunteering your blood.”

  Part of me wanted to give him what he wanted—anything to make the pain stop—but if I gave in to him, who else would come after me? Who else would torture me to take them to a world?

  Gritting my teeth and holding back tears, I said in a direct, clear tone, “No.”

  “Then you leave me no choice.” He pulled the blade out of my hand and, still holding my wrist in a viselike grip, pressed the sharp tip to my chest, over my heart. “Agree to the oath,” he said with tightly controlled anger.

  Tears stung my eyes, making his face blurry, and terror swamped my head, but I refused to give in. “No.”

  The knife tip dug into my skin, and I screamed again.

  “Abel won’t reach you in time to save you,” Adonis said, lowering his gaze as he withdrew the blade. “Humans are such delicate creatures, and you, dear Piper, are still human, despite the incredibly powerful magic you possess.” He shoved the blade deeper, between my ribs.

  I glanced down and saw that he’d indeed stabbed me. Blood began to soak my shirt.

  “Eyes on me, Piper,” Adonis said, but his voice sounded fainter.

  I glanced up.

  “I can save you,” he said as though he was speaking to a three-year-old. “But I need you to agree to this oath.”

  My head was fuzzy, and my legs were weak. Something in the back of my head confirmed what I’d already suspected. I was bleeding to death. I’d made oaths before. What was one more?

  “I don’t agree to the terms.” My voice sounded far away.

  “You’re not in a position to negotiate!” he shouted in frustration, and I realized he wanted me to live just as much as I did.

  We were in a life-and-death game of chicken.

  “I need a contract,” I said, struggling to make my mouth move to say the words.

  “Just say you agree!” he shouted, giving me a hard shake.

  My knees buckled and I fell to the disgusting concrete floor. Adonis knelt beside me, leaning over my face. “You, Piper Lancaster, Kewasa, shepherd to lost spirits, witness to creation, slayer of demons and gods, creator of worlds, agree to cause me no harm and to grant every request that I make.” His eyes held mine. “Say I will.”

  I stared up at him. “No.”

  “Godsdammit, Piper! Just take t
he godsdamn oath!” he shouted.

  “No.” My eyelids felt heavy and suddenly I was so tired and so cold. I just wanted to close my eyes for a second.

  “Drink!” Adonis shouted, and I felt him press his wrist to my mouth. His bleeding wrist.

  I clamped my mouth shut. Drinking Abel’s blood had linked us, and I would rather die than be linked to this god.

  But the monster in me fought to drink his blood, eager to gain access to another god’s power.

  No! I shouted at the hunger and found the strength to turn my head.

  Abel, I told the monster inside me. Only Abel.

  Adonis cursed, and then his wrist was gone, and I was plunged into darkness.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Piper

  “Piper.”

  I opened my eyes at the sound of Hudson’s voice. Everything around me was gray and foggy. The air felt clammy and stale. “Where am I?”

  “Pippy,” Hudson said, leaning over me. “We don’t have much time. Listen, okay?”

  I nodded as I tried to sit up, but Hudson pushed me back down. “You have to live, Pippy, no matter what. Do you understand me?”

  But then I remembered Hudson was no longer the Hudson I loved, but rather Ahone in a cruel disguise.

  “Get away from me, Ahone!” I tried to shout. I had to evade him, but there was nowhere to go. I was trapped with him in this limbo of nothingness.

  “It’s me, Piper,” he said. “I swear it’s me.”

  But now that I concentrated, I could feel the difference between the image Ahone had used as a disguise and this Hudson.

  “I won’t drink Adonis’s blood, Hudson,” I said, pushing his hand off my shoulder.

  “There’s more to this mess than just you, Piper, and you’re worthless if you’re dead.”

  “You’re not worthless,” I countered. “You may be dead, but you’re here giving me a message.”

  “I’m pretty damn worthless if you won’t listen.”

  I shook my head. “Huddy. I can’t. I won’t.”

  He leaned into my face. “Piper, if you could only see what I see in your future . . .”

  “Then tell me what you see.”

  He shook his head and stood. “Some things are supposed to unfold with time.”

  “Do I at least save Abel?” I asked. “Do I stop the mark from appearing?”

  Sympathy filled his eyes. “Nothing can stop the mark.”

  “No!” I shouted, getting to my feet. “I know it can be stopped. Adonis told me he knew how to stop it.”

  “You refused to give him what he wanted.”

  “The price was too high, Huddy.”

  “Then you made your choice.”

  “No!” I protested. “I don’t accept that.”

  Hudson pulled me into a hug. “You have bigger things to worry about than saving Abel. You need to save yourself, and don’t you dare pull some kind of ‘Life’s not worth living without him’ bullshit for a man you met less than a month ago.”

  If I’d needed proof this was really Hudson, this would be it.

  “He’s not just a guy I met. It’s deeper than that.” But he didn’t need to convince me that I didn’t want to be doomed to hell with Abel.

  Hudson searched my face, and after a few seconds, he said, “I know, Pippy. I know more than you could possibly understand.”

  “Then tell me,” I repeated.

  “The only thing I can tell you is that you need to live, and you need to tap into your power to save yourself.”

  “Adonis bound my power. I can’t.”

  “Adonis bound your demon slayer power. There’s more to you than that.”

  I stared at him as though he’d lost his mind . . . and then it hit me. My witness to creation magic.

  “Good. Now go live.”

  Hudson put his hand on my forehead and gave me a hard shove.

  His push was so hard I fell backward, but I didn’t hit the floor. I kept falling and falling into pitch blackness.

  And then I felt Abel’s presence before I felt or heard him. His arm was at my mouth, his blood dripping into my parted lips.

  “Piper. Come back,” he pleaded.

  My eyes fluttered open, and I saw his worried face hovering over mine. I wasn’t rousing as quickly as I had the first time he’d saved me and I knew why. I lifted my left arm a few inches.

  “Lie still, Waboose. Conserve your strength.”

  He was still worried, and I realized I was still dying.

  “Abel,” I said. “We need Adonis to remove the bracelet on my arm. It’s blocking my power.”

  His eyes widened. “Adonis is dead.”

  Wrapping his hand around the band, he sent a wave of power into it, burning the skin underneath, but I gritted my teeth against the pain. Then he grabbed the band with both hands and pulled, his face straining with the exertion.

  Abel couldn’t get it off either.

  Panic filled his eyes as he gathered me into his arms. “I’ll take you to the seer. She can help us remove it.” He didn’t sound convinced.

  “You don’t think I’ll make it.”

  He stomped down the hall, walking over the body of a police officer.

  “I’m not losing you,” he said as he walked out of the lockup area and into carnage.

  Bodies were strewn everywhere—human and demonic. The stench of death was overpowering. My eyes started to close, but I forced them open when I thought I saw massive feathered wings. Sure enough, they were attached to bodies that looked human.

  “Are those angels?” I asked in disbelief.

  “Shh . . . ,” he murmured. “Save your strength.”

  So many dead. I lifted my gaze to his. “Abel . . .”

  “Piper, don’t look.”

  But I couldn’t help it when I realized so many of the police officers hadn’t yet crossed over. Their spirits were stumbling around, dazed and confused.

  “Abel, stop. I need to help them.”

  “You need to help yourself,” he barked, clearly agitated. “After we remove that damned bracelet, I’m putting you in one of your worlds to recover.”

  “Abel . . .”

  “You can’t help them, Waboose. Even if your power weren’t blocked, you don’t have the energy to send one of them to the afterlife, let alone so many.”

  I let him carry me outside. As much as I hated the thought of leaving them, he was right—if we didn’t leave now, my wounds really would kill me. Once we were outside, I tried to take in a deep breath to clear the stench from my nose, but I struggled to find the energy. My T-shirt was wet and sticky and plastered to my skin.

  My hand began to burn, and Abel tightened his arms around me. Off in the distance, I could see three large animals racing toward us. He cursed under his breath, and I caught the word Botageria.

  “I’m going to run for my car, Waboose, and then I’m taking you far away from here.”

  “Are those things here to collect you for your father?” I asked.

  He hesitated as though he was considering whether to answer, then said, “No. They’re here for you.”

  Horrified, I reached for the bracelet again, but I didn’t have the strength to even grab the thing let alone pull it off. “We have to get it off.”

  But Abel ignored me as he sprinted for his car, reaching the driver’s side within a few seconds. He opened the back door and dumped me onto the backseat, then dropped something on the floor at my feet. He’d started to shut the door when something caught his eye over the roof of the car. His entire countenance changed, his urgency fading.

  Leaning into the car, he held my gaze. “I don’t have time to outrun them.” He sounded anguished and gave me a long look. “Don’t you dare die on me, Piper Lancaster.”

  I gave him a weak smile and lied. “I won’t.”

  But he’d already slammed the door closed and taken off running, presumably to confront the creatures sent to fetch me.

  Several loud roars rent the night air
, and I lay sideways on the seat where Abel had dumped me, partially sitting up. My breathing was shallow, and I could feel my heart slowing down. Even if Abel could get the demons to back off so he could take me to Deidre, I’d never make it.

  How could this be the end?

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Ellie

  “Is that Abel?” I asked as Collin pulled the car to a screeching halt across from the police station. “He hasn’t gotten Piper yet.”

  Abel stood in the middle of the road, facing all three Botageria with only his sword and his anger. They lunged and tried to get around him, but he held them back, getting in several good thrusts that drew blood. The creature to his left appeared more wounded than the others, but they held to their sole purpose—finding Piper.

  “Ellie,” Collin said, grabbing his door handle, “you and David go into the station and get Piper, and I’ll help Abel hold them off. Once we get her out here, Tsawasi will send his army. We need that to happen.”

  I glanced back at David, wondering how we’d break her out of jail. We weren’t criminal masterminds, but David gave me a reassuring smile.

  “We’ll figure it out,” he said. “Let’s go.”

  I nodded, then turned to Collin. I had no idea how this would turn out, and I didn’t want to leave things on a bad note. “Collin, be careful.”

  He shot me a cocky grin. “Worried about me?”

  “Yes,” I answered truthfully.

  His grin faded. “Don’t die on me, Ellie.”

  “I won’t if you won’t,” I teased.

  “Good. Then get your ass in there to save the Kewasa, who’s supposed to be saving all of us, while I give the arrogant demigod an assist before he takes bragging rights for holding off the Botageria single-handedly.” He hopped out of the car, and David and I followed suit.

  “I’ll cover for you guys until you get into the station,” Collin said, his sword and spear at the ready. He looked like a warrior. “If those things figure out you’re going after Piper, they might follow.”