That includes Ryker’s reckless ass.
“Promise me,” I whisper, refusing to let him go until he does. His hand comes up, patting mine softly as he smiles. “I promise Cherry. I will behave. Just this once.”
I nod, satisfied with that for now. I turn back to the cave, my eyes searching the room. Waiting for the shit to hit the fan because I have zero doubt that it will. It always does.
“We need to hurry. Does everyone remember what they are supposed to do?” Zane asks. The question is directed at everyone, but his eyes are only focused on me.
I nod, wishing that I could forget my part in this little plan. The brothers do the same, and we all stay close as we make our way closer to the sword.
Zane explained that he could keep us hidden until the moment that I touched the sword. The energy inside the blade is spelled with the strength of the gods. The moment that I touch it, his spell will disintegrate, and we will be exposed. If we are lucky, we will have seconds to stab the evil witch through the heart and free Ashlee. That is if the magic in the blade or Zane’s brother doesn’t kill me first.
Piece of cake.
“Let’s kick some witchy ass,” I say, taking the first step into the cave. The brothers follow me without hesitation, something that I am noticing that they do a lot. They never hesitate to follow me, no matter what stupid actions on my part land me in trouble. The Lux brothers are always there, protecting me. They are my safe place, in a world where nothing has ever felt safe for me. In the mist of the pain and chaos that is my life, the Lux brothers have become my home. My family, not by blood but by choice. Some might argue that choosing your family means more than the one you are born into.
I choose Jaxon, Ryker, and Braxton.
I would rather die fighting beside them than live safely beside anyone else.
It only takes twenty steps to reach the sword. Well...twenty steps and a big jump. That river of blood still freaks me the hell out.
It is kind of ironic how your life can be reduced to twenty steps.
Once there, I don’t waste any time. If I start thinking about all of the things that will probably go horribly wrong, I will never do it.
I reach out, gathering every ounce of my strength and courage. My hand wraps around the handle of the blade. The bone smooth and cold beneath my touch, but only for a moment.
I have one perfect moment of calm, and then everything explodes. All around me the brothers are knocked back by a surge of magic. The only thing keeping me upright is my grip on the blade, or maybe I should say its grip on me.
The coldness from before is replaced by an intense heat. My eyes widen as the turquoise crystal begins to come to life. Magic the same color as the blade pouring from the crystal and into me. I wait, just like Zane told me to.
I have to wait for the magic to choose me. He said that I would know when it did, but right now I don’t know anything.
The sound of fighting clashes around me, and I know that the others have discovered our presence. That time is running out.
Panic sets in as nothing happens. The blade just continues to pour magic into me, but I don’t feel stronger. I don’t feel anything. I feel the same.
Stupid! I was so stupid to think that Zane would actually help us. That I could trust him after all that he did to me. He probably set me up......
I am silently cursing Zane in my head when it happens. The blade starts to hum, a soft melody that is both as haunting as it is beautiful. A calmness settles over my soul, and I just know.
With a battle cry that would make a warrior proud, I pull on the handle of the blade. I am thrown off balance when it slides free from the rock.
The weight of the sword pulls me sideways. It takes two tries before I adjust to its weight. Then I am moving, a girl on a mission, with only one goal.
To stab my fake bestie right through the heart.
My eyes make quick work of my surroundings as I charge forward. I am satisfied to see that my boys are holding their own. It is nice that they are so un-killable.
It makes what I have to do a little easier.
I see her, at the edge of the cave. She is slinking back into the shadows like the coward that she is. She doesn’t know, but I do.
Running won’t help her.
I reach her in moments, feeling pretty damn good about myself. That is....until I see her face. The smile she is wearing is my first clue.
Hecate wasn’t running. She was baiting me, and I walked right into her trap.
“Always so predictable,” she laughs. I turn, just as another figure steps from the shadows. A cold sweat breaks out across my brow, as the memory from my last encounter with him slams into me.
“Zander,” I say softly, hoping to reach the goodness that still exist within him. The goodness that Zane was willing to let me die to protect.
“You don’t have to do this. Zane is here. He can help you. I can....”
“You,” Zander laughs, stepping in front of Hecate and blocking her from my attack. “You can never help me. Zane can’t either. Don’t you see,” he whispers angrily. He takes a threating step closer to me. I grip the handle of the sword tighter. I don’t want to hurt Zane’s brother, but I will if he makes me. I will kill anyone that gets between me and Hecate.
“See what?” I ask, trying to distract him. Hecate is against a wall. If I could just get around Zander, I could trap her there. It is my best shot.
Hell....
It is probably my only shot!
“They took it! There is no saving me now. They took it!” he yells again, his voice frantic as he charges me.
I duck under his arm, barely missing a fist to the head. Hecate laughs behind me, and I have a very bad feeling about where this is going.
Still, Zander is not my problem. The bitch behind him is. He swings at me again, this time clipping my jaw hard enough that I stumble back. A roar comes from my left, and Jaxon almost takes a knife to the neck. I nod that I am ok, needing him to concentrate on his own fight.
I can take care of myself. I think....
Hecate laughs again, and my anger spikes. “Do you always get other people to fight your fights witch? Why don’t you come over here and see if you can make me bleed?”
She doesn’t take the bait, lounging against the wall as Zander charges at me again. I try a different tactic. He said that they took something from him. Maybe if I can get him to talk to me...to trust me, then I can make him see reason.
What is that old saying? Ah yes....the enemy of my enemy is my friend.
“Zander? What did they take? Maybe I could help you get it back. We could work together.” I try to keep my voice soft, hoping that kindness will turn him to our side.
His eyes flash with hurt, and a look of horror crosses his face. My not-so-best-bestie laughs, the sound sending chills down my spine.
I swear. A laugh should not sound like that.
“My soul. She took my soul,” he whispers brokenly.
Ok. I was not expecting that. What is it with Hecate and stealing souls? Does she eat them for breakfast or something?
“Now son. Finish her,” Hecate the soul-eating-witch says, and everything about Zander changes. Any life that he had left in him fades as he pulls a wicked looking sword from a sheath on his back. He lunges forward, and I close my eyes just as his blade makes a path for me.
This is it. This is how I die. Shish kebabbed by a soulless zombie witch.
Something warm and wet splatters against my cheek, and my eyes snap open. I look down, expecting to feel some kind of pain. I mean...people normally feel pain when they are dying right?
Except, my clothes are not cut. My skin is still intact. The blood.....
It isn’t mine.
That is when I see him. He stands over the body of his fallen brother, chest heaving as tears stream down his face. Blood is caked in his golden hair, and for the first time since knowing him, he looks lost.
Zane’s eyes find mine, nodding once as he drops hi
s bloody sword to the ground. He kneels beside his brother, whispering words that I cannot hear, and have no right to.
I was about to die, and Zane saved me. He killed his own brother to save me.
“Why?” I cry, unable to think of anything else. Not the mission, or the evil witch that I still need to kill. I can’t think of anything except for the fact that he killed the one person that he loved most in this world to save me.
He doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t give some profound speech or go into detail. He just says the one thing that I need to hear. The one thing that this horrible moment has made me forget.
“Do not let it be for nothing.”
My eyes slowly rise, a venom taking root in my heart as I look at the demon that wears the skin of my best friend. Power sparks to life inside of me, and I grip the sword tighter as I take a step closer to her.
“Well....this has been fun, but I am afraid that my time here is done. I will see you soon Maci,” she taunts. She spreads her arms and calls her powers to her.
A portal. She is making a portal.
Wait.....
Time.
Why did I not think of this sooner? Time! The answer has always been time!
“You are right,” I smile. “Your time is done.”
I throw my arms wide, calling forth my Tempus power. I smile as the world freezes around me, like someone hit pause on a remote.
Hecate’s face frozen in horror, the way that I think I will always remember her.
I have no idea how long this spell will last here, or if it is different here than topside, but this won’t take long. I walk up to the woman who wears Ashlee’s skin, cupping her cheek. The words are not for the demon that has taken over, but for the sweet soul of my friend that has been trapped inside.
“I release you from this life. Arise Ashlee Lux, daughter of Gabriel. May Paradise be your final resting place, until we meet again.”
My sword drives forward, slicing into her chest. I almost throw up, but manage to keep my composure. I know that I am not killing her, but she still wears the skin of my friend. It isn’t easy.
The sword begins to glow, and I hold it still as its magic does its job. My eyes water as a shiny gold light rises from Ashlee, swirling once above me. It shapes into the face of my best friend, a soft thank you whispered into the wind before she floats away.
Then a different kind of mist begins to form. A black sticky magic that smells like death. I watch in awe as the blade absorbs it, pulling Hecate into the magic crystal. It isn’t until all of the blackness fades, that Ashlee’s body falls at my feet. It flakes away piece by piece until the only thing left is ash.
I crumble to my knees, pain pulling a heaving sob out of me and then another as the blade falls in front of me. Tears clog my vision as I reach for it. I know that no matter how much I never want to see that damn sword again, losing it now would ruin everything. Bile rises in my throat when my hands slide through the chalky remains of my best friend. I push it away, saving every ounce of pain for later. There is a time to cry and a time to be strong, and all tears will get me now is dead.
Ashlee died a long time ago. Today I helped her to find peace. The thing I stabbed...the life that I took, it wasn’t her. I just have to remember that.
I take a deep breath, before pulling the sword closer to me and whispering a spell under my breath. A spell that Zane taught me, just in case we made it this far. A spell that will send the blade and Hecate’s soul to the one place that no force of evil can ever find it.
A direct line to the Creator.
I almost refused at first, knowing that the sword is the lock that keeps all the nasties in the Underworld. It was only after multiple reassurances from Jaxon that Zane had a plan to keep them in that made me agree.
I was hesitant to trust him when he told us this. I mean, who would blame me? It was Jaxon who changed my mind. Jaxon recognized the spell from one of the many books that he has studied over the years. He promised me that it was true. That it wasn’t a trap. That if I whispered the words the blade would travel to the Heavenly realm.
It is that promise that allows me to whisper the words now.
“Ego eram concludens in carcerem et revertetur hoc animo clausum est stricta ad firmamentum luminis.”
Roughly translated.....
“Return this soul, lock it tight, I imprison the to the vault of light.”
I close my eyes, expecting the sword to vanish, but that isn’t what happens. Instead, the blade heats up, lifting straight into the air. I hold tightly to it as a blast of power explodes from the end. As quickly as it happens, the light disappears. I jump back as the blade once again falls into the ash at my feet.
I squint my eyes, trying to recover from the temporary brightness. I reclaim my hold on the blade, and the moment I touch the handle a vision pours into me.
A man more glorious than any I have ever seen stands by a golden gate. His body covered in armor, like the kind that gladiators once wore. In his hands he holds a box, made of black onyx and adorned with rubies. He holds it open, and I watch in awe as the same black tarry magic that soaked into the blade flies into his box.
He quickly slams the lid shut, his face splitting into a smile as he looks right at me. I know it is impossible, but it feels like he can see me.
“Thank you daughter. You have done well. Hecate will no longer be a threat to you. Her soul is now secure. This box is called the box of Ponea. I think todays translation would be the box of punishment. The souls who enter here are imprisoned forever. They will repent for their sins. Now go. Your family still needs you.”
With his words, I am thrown back to reality. The moment my eyes open, my hold on time shatters. While Hecate may no longer be an issue, Xavier and Michael still are.
This needs to end here. They need to die. That is the only way that I will ever be safe. If there is such a thing as safe for me.
Braxton and Ryker are tag teaming Michael, but even two against one, they are barely holding their own against the older Angel.
Beside them, Jaxon fights Xavier. He matches his blows with a fierceness that makes me proud, but the evil look in Xavier’s eye tells me that he is just playing with him. That he has something nasty up his sleeve.
The selfish part of me wants to see this through until the end, but we achieved what we came here for.
We won.
If this life has taught me anything.....it is to stop while you are winning.
I have a gut feeling that someone I love will die here today. As much as I want vengeance, I want them to live more.
I have already avenged Ashlee. They are a problem for another day.
Zane still kneels beside his fallen brother. He has not said a word or moved since the moment his brother fell. I want to give him time, but I can’t. Zane is our ride out of here, and I need him.
I reach down, my hand touching his shoulder softy. His head slowly rises, taking in my bloody sword and my ash stained face. A hint of a smile pulls at his lips.
“You did it?” he asks, looking at his brother one last time before rising to his feet.
“We did it,” I clarify, reaching out a hand to help him the rest of the way up. He doesn’t let go once he finds his footing. He nods, his eyes looking everywhere but at his fallen brother.
“I suppose you are ready to go?” he asks, knowing me well. He knows that the safety of the brothers is all that I care about.
“Yes.”
“You know they will not approve. They want to kill the threat to you.”
“They will get over it,” I whisper.
“Very well,” he whispers, nodding his head.
“Thank you Maci. My life was better having known you.”
Wait...what?
He whispers words that I cannot hear, and then we are moving. Floating through space and time.
Everything a blur of shapes and colors, as the void fades away.
Jaxon is going to be pissed that I didn’t let him
kill Michael and Xavier, but at least he will be alive.
I can live with that.
∞
~ Epilogue~
“Zane! You asshole! You could have.....”
“Zane?” I question, my feet touching down in the Lux brothers living room. A living room that is noticeably absent of one Zane Zelikos.
I turn, making sure that the others are here. Jaxon steps forward, followed by Ryker and finally Braxton. They are all a little bruised, which will heal quickly. They are also a lot bloody. Thankfully though, they are all here.
“Where did he go?” I ask, turning to Jaxon. It does not escape my attention that all three brothers wear identical guilty expressions.
Suddenly, his final words to me make sense. What was it he said? My life was better having known you. I didn’t realize it then, but he was speaking in past tense. He was saying goodbye! He was saying goodbye and I didn’t even know it.
No. No...no...no! I still had so much to yell at him for. To say to him. I still had a million things that I wanted to tell him. The main one being that I forgive him.
Oh Gods! I forgive him, but he’ll never know.
I don’t know when I start to cry, but I must. I am in Jaxon’s arms before I can take my next breath. His voice soft and steady as he tells me the part of the plan that everyone else knew about.
The part that he knew I would never agree to.
“Princess. Zane isn’t here. He isn’t coming. He....” he starts, looking to his brothers for help. As always, it is Braxton who comes to his rescue.
“He felt guilty for putting your life at risk. We almost killed him when he told us what he had done, but we understood it. Granted, had he told us all of the details, we might have. We hate him for what he did to you, but a small part of me gets it. There isn’t much that we would not do to protect each other. How could we fault him for doing the same?”
“And face it Cherry. He didn’t know how awesome you were when he signed on. He wouldn’t have otherwise,” Ryker says with a boyish shrug.
“He came to us when he left you, and he told us where you were,” Jaxon starts again. His hand rubs a soothing circle on my back.
Avenge (Hillcrest Book 2) Page 19
