by Kailin Gow
Lux tried to put some weight on her aching leg, but instantly winced. Then she remembered the tiny weapon Lucas had created. She reached in her pocket, grabbing hold of a small handful of the destructive pellets.
“What do you have there?” Obsidian said, his eyes narrow with suspicion. He yanked her hand out of her pocket, squeezing her wrist so tight, she had no choice but to open her hand.
In her palm, the small silver spheres sat useless.
Obsidian glared at her and flicked her wrist towards the edge of the ledge, sending the precious marbles down below.
The marbles all exploded at they hit the cement sidewalk and pavement. Thousands of the tiny pellets flew in all direction, lighting the night sky and lighting hundreds of demons on fire.
Even from high above, Lux could feel the heat the blue flames created by the dying demon. Startled, Obsidian looked at Lux.
“Nice trick,” he growled.
Though the pellets had not been helpful in getting her out of his clutches, she was happy and proud to see they had helped all the other slayers and warriors down below.
He leaned in closer and brought a clawed hand to her neck. Adrenaline pumped through her as she fought for her next breath, pumped through her with such potency that it anesthetized the pain of her leg.
She fought him, catching him off guard as she suddenly pushed back, sending him teetering toward the edge for a moment.
“You are dead today, love,” he growled. “Whatever happens here,” he said gesturing to the ledge. “Or down there, you are dead!”
Before he could lunge at her, she charged him, raising a vial of Holy Water high above her head. His eyes widened, and for a moment she saw fear, but it was quickly replaced with resolve as he stopped her in her tracks with a simple swipe of his hand.
She fell back against the clock, her head banging the hard, stone wall. Her knees buckled and the pain of her twisted leg returned, even more intense than it had been.
She was losing it; losing the fight. She couldn’t let that happen. She couldn’t let Obsidian win. She tried to push off the wall, but her head began spinning, leaving her dizzy and disoriented.
Obsidian charged her, pressing his entire decrepit body against hers as his mouth closed in on hers, preparing to suck everything out of her.
She wanted to scream but nothing came out. She wanted to fight, but her limbs were paralyzed.
Just as his mouth was about to touch her lips, he suddenly looked back over his shoulder.
“Romeo,” Lux whispered in disbelief as she saw his stoic and handsome profile silhouetted against the backdrop of continuous blue flames.
Annoyed, Obsidian turned to him, his claw still around Lux’s neck. “Well, if it isn’t fucking Romeo come to join the party. So you’re one of them now?”
Romeo said nothing as he simply stared at his opponent.
“I suppose you want me to let go of your lovely lady,” Obsidian said, giving Lux’s neck a painful squeeze. “Smart,” he turned to Lux. “You’ve managed to get the top guy in charge of the beautiful beings to your side. Romeo was one of the best. Deceptively beautiful so no human would suspect he was really a demon succubus underneath. For hundreds of years he was able to drain thousands of souls, Lux. One of our top guys. The lucky one of us to have the face of an angel. Romeo Romeo, did you finally find your Juliet’s soul in this human woman? After all these years? Was Juliet’s soul reincarnated into this slayer when it was lost? When you were human, you sold out your side to go to the Capulets, but when you died, you became a succubus because you couldn’t get into heaven, having committed suicide. Instead with your pretty face and sexy athletic body, you became a beautiful being doomed to feast on other’s souls. You died for her, didn’t you? Thought Juliet died, so you killed yourself by drinking the poison. Love for a woman was your undoing. Same as it is now.”
Still, Romeo said nothing.
Lux was in shock. She knew her literature. She knew her Shakespeare. Was Romeo really the Romeo from the tragic love story Romeo and Juliet? But not the one Shakespeare wrote a play about, but the real one in history?
And…was she…could she really be that Juliet?
“Maybe this will have you talking.” Obsidian squeezed harder around Lux’s neck and raised her off the ledge. She couldn’t worry about whether she was Juliet, because knowing Obsidian, he would be full of deception and lies too.
Choking, she smacked his claw while her dangling legs kicked back and forth. She felt the darkness of unconsciousness close in on her as her lungs cried out for oxygen.
In an instant, Romeo, roaring with rage, was on Obsidian, smashing his face into the clock wall.
Lux fell to the floor and crawled back to the corner of the column, but this time made it to the corner where the small door to the clock tower was.
Romeo stood strong and stoic, fighting Obsidian with surprising ease.
“Get out of here, Lux,” Romeo called out. “Get out. I have score to settled with him.”
Obsidian charged Romeo who simply grabbed him by the back of the neck and sent him face first into the clock wall again.
“Go!” Romeo shouted to Lux. “I’ll make sure this pathetic creature never bothers you again.”
Before Obsidian could recover from the blow to his head, Romeo was on him, repeatedly bashing his head into the wall.
Lux couldn’t move. Despite Romeo’s order to leave, to save herself, she couldn’t bring herself to leave him to fight alone.
When Obsidian finally crumbled to the floor, no longer showing any signs of life, Romeo turned to Lux.
“You have to leave, Lux.”
“Come with me,” she pleaded. “Leave him.”
But just as she was about to say that Obsidian was dead, he rose behind Romeo and grabbed him by the neck.
Horrified, Lux watched as Romeo’s eyes widened and he clutched his neck. Obsidian flung him up into the air, smashing his entire body against the clock wall. Romeo fell to the floor, landing on his head with a sickening thud.
Lux took a step to help him.
“No!” Romeo grumbled through the pain. “Get out!”
“But…”
“Get out!” Through the blood that ran down his face, he looked at her. “If ever you’ve doubted how much I love you, know now that I would lay down my life for you, Lux. Now go! Go, Lux. Don’t let me die in vain.”
But I don’t want to let you die at all, she wanted to say.
“Go!”
Lux opened the small door, tears streaming down her cheeks as Obsidian delivered the final fatal blow. He smashed Romeo’s head into the corner of the column and even from where she stood, she heard the crack of Romeo’s skull.
With a victorious and demonic cackled, Obsidian lifted Romeo’s limp body over his head and gleefully tossed him over the edge of the ledge.
Before Romeo’s body reached the ground below, Lux entered the small doorway and ran down the spiral stairs of the clock tower. Despite the tears streaming down her cheeks, the shock of Romeo’s death left her both stunned and motivated.
No, she thought. She would not let Romeo’s death be in vain. He’d sacrificed himself for her.
She ran down the stairs, taking two and sometimes three steps at a time. Above her, she could hear Obsidian, swearing and cursing as he made his way after her. Breathless, Lux arrived at the ground floor and burst through the double doors that opened up onto the college mall.
Struggling to catch her breath, Lux emerged to find Romeo’s broken body lying at the foot of the clock tower, while slayers and his students, stood around him in shock.
He had taught them everything they knew. He was one of their best teachers.
Chapter 16
Running to Romeo’s bloodied and beaten body, Lux cried out her frustration and anger. She knew Obsidian had been following her down the stairs. Knew that he would emerge from the doorway any second now.
She turned waiting for him, ready. The instant he appeared
, Lux reached down for Romeo’s dagger and quickly wrapped the gold cross necklace around the handle of the knife Romeo had used to defeat demons so many times. Obsidian grinned, obviously pleased with the fight. But Lux had no intention of giving him any pleasure. Instead of running away from him, she ran to him and while he anticipated her attack and prepared to block the dagger with his arms, she surprised him by sliding between his parted legs, going under him, as if she were sliding to first base.
Obsidian let out an amused laugh as he reached down to grab her. “Stupid move, little girl,” he snarled.
“Are you sure of that,” Lux said as she reached up to plunge the dagger and cross into his underside, burning him while slicing him open from beneath like a pig. “This is for Romeo, you monster! This is for sending my boys to hell, for turning people in succubus, for putting my mom into a coma, and for killing me, my faith, and my confidence in myself!”
He let out a confused and pain-filled cry.
Lux emerged behind Obsidian, keeping the dagger deep inside his rotten flesh as she dragged the blade up his spine and plunging it even deeper still when she reached the back of his neck splitting him in two from the bottom up.
“I send you to hell, Obsidian. I send you back from where you shall never escape again. And take your minions with you. In God’s name, in all that is Holy and good and pure, and with the blessing of Christ our Lord…” She pulled out the dagger. “I banish you to Hell!”
She stepped back as a cloud of black dust filled the air, swirled, then dropped straight down into the ground straight to hell.
Chapter 17
Lux’s victory over Obsidian shock the remaining demons while motivated the fighting slayers to quickly demolished the few stray demons who dared stick around. Some left with Obsidian’s cloud of dust, others as clouds of dust themselves, and others still in a plume of blue flames.
“Let’s all spread out,” Lucas called out when the smoke and dust cleared. “Sweep the entire building, the entire campus. If any of you are in doubt as to whether you can discriminate between a beautiful being and a human being, refrain from going inside. The chances of you being fooled are too high. Those of you who can tell the difference, bring back any beautiful beings you come across. I want to know who they are and deal with them myself.”
The students around him nodded. Sully led a large team into the administrative building, Holy Water in one hand and a crucifix in the other. Many others paired off with more experienced slayers as they headed off in every direction, looking for any stragglers.
“Should we put out the word that Obsidian is no longer?” Lucas said.
Lux looked up at him. Dr. Good and Ida were silent and thoughtful for a moment.
“Maybe hold off for a little while,” Ida finally said. “Let’s wait until the entire place has been deemed clean and clear. Then we can really claim victory.”
“Any word on the other portals that have opened?” Lux said.
“So far,” Ida said, “the news I’ve received is positive. Many places, like Chicago, Seattle and Miami had quick victories. Around the world, Rome, Nice, Budapest; they all appreciated the casings of pellets you and Lucas worked so hard on. Slayers from Tokyo explicitly said they were lifesavers.”
“I’m glad they were helpful,” Lux said. She looked to Dr. Good. “Your son is a genius.”
The first team of slayers who’d swept through the campus dorms came back.
“All is clear,” Brax said, leading his team. “Turns out many of the students, despite incomplete training, were able to slay a good number of demons all the same.”
Ida smiled. “I knew they could do it.”
Sully came back. “All is clear. Not even a beautiful being.”
John and Hector came up to them. “I’m surprised to see how quickly everything quieted down.”
“Obsidian has been obliterated,” Sully said, glancing at Lux. “Thanks to your girl there.”
“Really?” John said.
“We’re just waiting for word from the last teams that went in to make sure all is clear.”
Lucas came running to them. “Good news and bad news,” he said. “All is clear. No demons. No beautiful beings.”
Lux was reluctant to ask. “What about the bad news?”
“Moore,” Lucas said.
“Where is he?” Lux asked. “I haven’t seen him.”
“A band of demons caught him when he first arrived at Shadowlight Academy to fight.”
Lux looked into his eyes, and already knew what he was going to say.
“He’s hurt pretty badly.”
“Where is he?” Lux quickly repeated, ready to go to him.
Lucas put his hand to her arm to stop her. “Brax is with him. He’s bringing him back to the Kingsley mansion. He’ll get quick medical care the moment he arrives.”
“Then, let’s go. I want to see him. I want to be with him.”
Lucas looked at the others. “I can take her.”
“Okay,” Ida said. “Go. We’ll finish up here and let the others know that the status of this portal is officially closed. We’ll meet you back at the house.”
“We’ll also ensure that all injured slayers are safely brought back for medical care.”
Lux nodded. “I’ll call ahead to make sure all the doctors and nurses are ready and waiting.”
They all nodded their goodbyes and Lux followed Lucas to his car. The moment she closed the car door, she called the medical team.
“We’re heading home,” Lux said.
“How did things go?” the chief doctor asked.
“Rough, but thankfully we have mostly minor injuries. Some stabbings, some burns…” She looked down at her leg. Still on an adrenaline high, she couldn’t feel any pain, but suspected it would return soon enough. “Possibly a broken leg and sprained ankle.”
“You said mostly minor,” the chief doctor said. “Anything more serious.”
“A few,” Lux said. “One of them is already on the way and should be arriving soon.” She hesitated and glanced at Lucas.
Seeming to understand her unspoken question, he nodded.
“It’s Moore,” Lux said. “Do you know him?”
“No. Should I?”
“He’s one of our trainers here, and this is his mansion we’re headquartered in. I think I need to tell you,” Lux said. “He’s a succubus.”
The chief doctor was silent a moment.
“It shouldn’t be an issue,” Lux added. “But I thought you should know.”
“Fine,” she said. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
For the remainder of the drive Lux sat silently staring ahead as her thoughts remained constantly with Moore. She had lost Romeo but she couldn’t lose Moore too.
She hadn’t even known that he was back and now he was lying hurt somewhere.
“I know you’re worried,” Lucas said. “But, Brax is with him and he’ll have him under a doctor’s care in no time. He’s probably pulling into the drive as we speak.”
Lux knew the medical team they’d put together was accustomed to the types of injuries slayers often had, but she still couldn’t shake the fear that Moore’s condition was worse than Lucas let on.
They finally pulled through the gate of Brax’s mansion and drove up to the house. The car was barely parked, when Lux opened the door and rushed out.
Once inside, Brax came up to greet her. “Lux, Moore’s been hurt.”
“I know,” she said breathlessly. “That’s why I rushed over. Where is he?” She looked over his shoulder to the wing of the mansion that had been transformed into a medical unit.
“I have to go back to the Academy to transport more injured slayers,” Lucas said.
Brax nodded. “I got her,” he said, taking a hold of Lux.” He turned to Lux. “The doctor is with him, Lux. They’re taking a look at him now.” He took her by the hand. “Come on. We’ll go the nurse’s station and I’ll wait with you.”
She forced a smile. �
��Thanks.”
As they walked through the medical unit, other slayers slowly streamed in. Fortunately, the majority had only minor injuries.
Exasperated, Lux sat down in one of the cushioned chairs that had been brought to create a makeshift waiting room. Her thoughts raced over the events of the night, but continually and quickly came back to Moore. The fact that no one had come to tell them how he was doing angered her.
With a frustrated grunt, she glared at Brax then stood up. “Ah!” she let out as she quickly fell back into her chair.
“What’s wrong?” Brax said, turning to her with concern.
“My leg,” she said through a grimace. “Shit. I’d forgotten about it.”
“What happened? Where does it hurt?”
“Obsidian picked me up and threw me around like a ragdoll. I had a bad landing.”
Shaking his head, Brax looked at her with confusion. “But I saw you walk in. Damn, you ran in.”
“I know,” she said. “Don’t ask me to explain. All I know is that now my leg is killing me.”
“Stay put,” Brax said. “I’ll go get help.”
As Lux waited, Dr. Good’s arrived, escorting two limping slayers with a stream of more slayers following behind her. The more seriously injured slayers were aided by the stronger ones and they were brought into triage.
Brax returned with a wheelchair and a nurse. “Come on,” Brax said. “We’re going to take you in for an x-ray.”
Lux hopped into the wheelchair and was wheeled into a small room with only the basic equipment necessary to make a diagnosis. She lay back on the table while the nurse went into the closet to take the x-ray.
“It shouldn’t take more than fifteen minutes,” the tall male nurse said. “Unless more urgent cases arrive.”
Lux nodded and returned to the wheelchair.
“We’ll be back in the waiting room,” Brax said.
Feeling increasingly agitated, Lux sat waiting for news. She wasn’t sure what worried her more; her condition or that of Moore.
“Lux,” the tall nurse said as he came back to see Lux. “I’m afraid you do have a small fracture just above your ankle. The orthopedic surgeon should be able to see you soon, but in the meantime, please stay off of it.”
