by Megan Linski
He gasps. It’s ragged, and heartless. “I just don’t understand.”
“You’ll be okay, Cairo,” I whisper, more of a promise to myself. “You’ll always have the memories.”
I can’t do this anymore. If I drag this out any longer, I’ll lose my nerve and spill the truth. I’ll unveil the lie.
One last time, I lean forward and kiss Cairo. His tears melt into my eyelashes, and his lips upon me create a crater, a void within myself that will never be mended or filled. I put everything I have into that last kiss. He might not always be mine, but I will always, forevermore, be his.
Until my dying day. And eternity afterward.
I pull away. Cairo looks fully confused… and ripped apart.
Because I want to take a bit of the edge off, I add, “Maybe we can still be friends.”
“That wasn’t a friendly kiss,” he accuses harshly. “It was a goodbye.”
I stand up. I put my hands on my dress and clench the skirt to avoid reaching for his hands. “I’m sorry I hurt you, Cairo. I didn’t mean for it to go this far.”
“Just go, Cassia,” he tells me bitterly, turning his back to me. “Just… go.”
Not everything Eric did to me could ever measure up to the wound Cairo just dealt me.
I bite my lip to keep from sobbing and let him be. That last look he gave me will haunt me forever.
I go to my death knowing that the person I adore most on this earth despises me.
I brush some stray tears away with the palm of my hand, kick my heels off, and run full speed back to the cottage. I kick down the door and sprint up to our… mine… Cairo’s… room.
I rip my dress off. Sobbing fully now, I rip it in half and toss it to the other side of the room and collapse against the wall. I slide down it, losing myself.
I shove a hand over my mouth and stuff the tears down. I said my goodbyes. I have to do what I have to do.
I slip on my jeans, my tennis shoes, and the old owl sweater that was the first present Cairo ever gave to me. It’s fraying and has holes in the thumbs. I love it so, so much.
I throw on a beloved hoodie of Cairo’s before teleporting. As I close my eyes, I inhale. It smells like him.
The cottage vanishes. I take another deep breath and smell the scent of pine, and wet rain.
Michigan. Home. At least I’ll get to die at home.
I will my wings to appear, and my spear. It formulates in my hand like this moment was meant to be. In the distance, a wolf howls. The glow of the Perfect Order’s camp is in sight, nestled underneath the Porcupine Mountains.
Right now, everyone is sleeping. But they won’t be for long.
I nearly turn back. But then I recall the faces of my friends, the lines and patterns and colors that I’ve memorized so well, and force myself forward.
Cairo. This is for Cairo.
I steady myself, grip my spear tighter, and proceed toward the camp silently.
Alone.
Thames and I don’t leave the party until dawn brims on the horizon. We head back to our cottage holding hands and giggling.
“That was probably the best night of my life,” I say, and I rise on my tip-toes to kiss his cheek. “Thank you for taking me.”
Thames pats me on the back. “Anything for my girl.”
“I think I want to show you how much I care,” I say, playfully. I fiddle with the buttons on his shirt. “What do you say, sweetheart?”
“Losing your virginity on prom night?” Thames snickers. “What a cliché.”
I laugh, convinced that’s just what we’ll do, before I notice a figure sitting outside the cottages in the mud. Laughter dies as we draw closer.
It’s Cairo. He’s still in his tux. He’s covered in mud that’s soaked his pants and gotten in his hair. His eyes are red and his face is gaunt. A bottle hangs from his fingers.
“Woah. Bro, what’s up with you?” Thames sniffs, and his eyes pop out of his head. “Have you been drinking?”
Cairo drunkenly slurs, “Cassia broke up with me.”
“What?” both Thames and I ask at the same time. It can’t be. This is impossible. Cass wouldn’t—
“You heard me! She’s gone!” Cairo screams. He hurls the bottle across the road. It hits the brick road and shatters. “She left me! She said she needed time, that she needed space and couldn’t handle being in a relationship anymore. She doesn’t want me!”
Cairo puts his arms on his knees and hangs his head between them. Thames blinks.
Then he grabs Cairo, hauls him up by the collar, and punches him across the face.
“Thames!” I shout as Cairo goes flying. He falls back down into a puddle.
Thames doesn’t listen to me. He snatches Cairo by the front of the shirt again and lifts him to his feet.
“You maniac!” Thames shakes his brother; his eyes are insane. “Don’t you realize Cassia would never say that shit to you!? Don’t you know where she is!?”
Cold, gripping horror squeezes my intestines. Cairo’s realization is slow… when the icy truth hits him, he sobers instantly, and the pain that was there before is in no way close to the terror we all feel now.
Cassia went to kill Roman alone. She broke up with Cairo so he wouldn’t follow.
Thames figured it out. Thames is her best friend. The two of them are more alike than any of us realize. He thinks like her. He knows what she went to do, because if he had gotten the chance he probably would’ve done it himself.
The jewelry. Lavonne’s bracelet. The weird way she was acting at the party. She was saying goodbye.
“When did she leave?” Thames screams. “When?!”
“The last time I saw her was at midnight. That’s when she broke it off,” Cairo whimpers. Never have I seen such a strong man like him become completely helpless. It’s so scary. If Cairo can’t keep it together—
“She’s hours ahead of us!” Thames wails. He pushes Cairo away and says, “She could be dead by now!”
“No,” I say sharply. I step between the two boys and grab both of their arms firmly. “I’m her sister. I’d know if she was dead. I’d feel it. We all would. We need to go and help her.”
“You’ll have an army behind you.”
Lavonne is behind us. The gypsy boy she “befriended” is with her. Lavonne removes her earrings and hands them to him.
“Sorry, baby,” she tells him. “It’s gonna have to wait.”
The gypsy boy frowns and wanders off. Lavonne puts her hands on her hips and says, “We have no choice. The Legion will go to war with the Order now. We’ll stand behind you.”
“How are you going to get the humans there? Michigan is hours away by plane,” Thames moans.
“We have some Nephilim among us. They will teleport as many humans as they can to the Porcupine Mountains before they join the fight,” Lavonne says. “But you three need to leave now. Before we lose Cass for good. I’ll assemble the Legion and we’ll attack the Order’s camp as soon as we’re able. Hopefully it’ll distract Roman long enough so you can get Cass out of there.”
“We’ll see you there,” I promise Lavonne. I run into my cottage to change into a pair of yoga pants and a sweater. When I come back downstairs Thames has already got his jeans and jacket on.
Cairo hasn’t even bothered to change out of his muddy suit. He’s gripping his sword so tightly in his hand that his fingers are white. “If he’s done anything to her—”
“Don’t talk like that,” Thames snaps at him. “We need Athias.”
There’s a problem at the adults’ cottage, however. Isolde, Clara, and Athias are all missing. We search the entire house, but they’re not around.
“I haven’t seen them since they left the party last night,” I tell Thames. “That was hours ago.” Where could they have gone?
“We can’t wait for them,” Thames says. He reaches out to grab my hand. “You ready?”
I take it. “Let’s go save my sister.”
I reach out my other han
d to Cairo. He grabs it, and his fingers shake.
I imagine the place in my mind, the camp at the hollow of the Porcupine Mountains. Roman’s face flashes in my eye, hideous, twisted, and impassive… but not cruel.
Convinced he’s sure what he’s doing is right as he plunges his sword into my sister’s heart.
The image causes me to flinch away. Just before we vanish from the cottage, it’s like I can hear Mala whisper, “Let your ancestors be your guide.”
The early morning is still. Immortal Legion members are positioned around the camp in a circle, hiding within the trees.
I head into the camp alone. Lavonne is with the rest of the troops and waiting for my signal. I can feel Thames’ eyes burning into me as he sits on the topmost branch of a nearby tree. The way he kissed me goodbye… it was like he didn’t want to let me go.
He’ll be nearby if something happens. I’ll be safe. I try to reassure myself of that. It was hard enough forcing him to agree to let me do this.
Cody needs to die. And I need to save Sydney’s soul. If I kill him, I can set her free.
People will be up soon. I have to find Cody. I peek in a few windows before I hear a door click open. It’s him… he’s up for the day, in his pajamas. He steps outside, checks his mailbox and yawns before heading back inside.
So normal it’s weird.
It looks like he’s got his own house. I summon my courage, push down a wave of nausea, and proceed toward it.
I open the door and silently close it behind me. I follow the sound of movement upstairs. Cody is getting dressed in his bedroom. His shirt is off… all he’s got on are a pair of jeans.
When he notices me, Cody immediately reacts. The room gets hotter and the smell of sulfur wells up in my nose. His sword appears, and with immeasureable speed, he sprints to my side and holds it at my neck. “What are you doing here?”
I hold my hands up. “It’s okay,” I tell him. “I’m not here to hurt you.”
Cody lowers his weapon slightly, but he still seems suspicious. “Then why did you come?”
“I’ve given up,” I tell him. “I’ve finally realized it’s pointless to go against my father. He’s going to win. He’ll kill us all anyway if we continue to resist him.”
“What about your boyfriend?” Cody asks skeptically.
“The only way to spare him is to convince my father I don’t love him anymore,” I say. “If I’m with you, he’ll forget about Thames.”
I blink innocently at him. “And it’s what you wanted all along. Isn’t it?”
“You honestly don’t expect me to believe you’ve left him for me.” Cody raises an eyebrow. His hand is still on his sword.
“I’ll do anything to save his life.” I come closer. I lightly brush my fingers across his chest. Cody flinches. He puts the sword between us, but I edge it away. “Come on, Cody. My father will make me a commander. You’re his second hand. We’ll be the most powerful couple in the Perfect Order. Think about how legendary our kids would be, the offspring of a Nephilim and a demon.”
Yuck. The thought makes me cringe. But Cody’s getting interested. He lowers his sword. I playfully push him on the bed. It feels like worms are crawling all over my skin as I straddle his hips.
“I don’t trust you,” Cody says warily. His eyes are crossed with desire, and fear.
“You don’t have to trust me. A girl knows she needs a guy who can take care of her,” I purr. I lean downward and force myself to press my lips to his.
Kissing him is like making out with a sewer. He tastes awful. But it works. Cody drops his sword and plunges his hand into my hair. He flips me underneath him and continues to make out with me, viciously instead of passionately.
This guy really is a piece of work.
Cody’s got his nasty mouth glued to mine. While he’s busy sliding off his jeans, eyes closed, my sword forms in my hand.
Show’s over, jerk face.
I stab the sword upward. When the tip punches into his heart is when he finally rips his lips free of mine.
He looks down at the blade, face etched with surprise. As his mouth drops open, a thin ether slips out, a wisp of white that twirls and dances as it rises. It vanishes through the ceiling and lifts up to heaven.
Sydney’s soul. It’s free.
Cody lets out a painful shudder. I lean forward and whisper in his ear, “Thanks for the fun time, babe.”
I twist the sword. Cody bursts into thousands of particles of ash, spraying me and leaving a pile on the mattress.
“Ugh!” I say. I roll off the bed and brush the ashes off my clothing. “Disgusting.”
Glad to be rid of the pig, I run downstairs and out the door. I take out the flare gun Lavonne gave me earlier and fire it into the air. It makes a loud pop as it explodes in the sky and sprays red sparks everywhere.
The Immortal Legion charges out of the woods. They swarm into the camp and set fire to the houses and every building they can reach.
Order members, still in their pajamas, spill out of their homes screaming. They scramble to fight back. The guards, who are the most prepared, fire bullets into the crowd. Some Legion soldiers go down, but a vast majority of them get inside the camp. They take shelter behind buildings and start firing at the Order members with assault rifles of their own.
The camp dissolves into an-all out warzone. The Nephilim who are with the Order go for the council members. Bullets ricochet off of the immortals and go flying in all directions. Swords and spears clash, ringing out through what was moments ago a calm silence. The white light from the sun blasts through the clear morning, illuminating the battle in a beautiful, but blinding, light It’s like we’re caught in a holy war of epic proportions.
A pair of arms snatch me from behind and carry me into the sky. I yelp— my arms flounder for Thames’ neck as he carries me higher and higher.
Cairo is flying beside us. His eyes scan the ground for any sign of Cassia.
Thames nestles his forehead against mine. “I’m so glad you’re safe.”
“I could handle him.” I smack my mouth. Cody left a nasty aftertaste. “Though kissing him was disgusting.”
Thames seethes at the mention of it. His body grows hotter, as if burning with fever. “Yeah, wash your mouth out with soap later. You have no idea where he’s been.”
We decided that since Cody was basically impossible to beat in his true form, killing him in his human form was the only way… and me selling myself to him to get an opening was our best chance.
I came up with the idea. Thames practically burned down half the forest when I mentioned it to him, but when Cairo convinced him Cassia was running out of time, Thames finally agreed to go along with it.
I only hope we’re not too late and that making out with the dirtbag wasn’t for nothing.
“Down there!” Cairo says. He points to an open courtyard. Thames descends. As we grow closer, I notice a few familiar faces.
“Thames!” I call to him over the wind. “Your mom! Isolde and—”
“Athias.” Thames’ voice becomes weak. A coldness rolls over my body when I see that Athias is lying on the ground… a blade in his chest, lying in a puddle of his own blood. Isolde and Clara are tied up near him, and apparently out of it.
My heart leaps into my throat when I see that Cassia is still alive, but chained up to some weird columns.
Thames and I get to her first. Thames sets me down. Both of us try tearing at the chains, but it doesn’t do any good. They don’t break.
“Why did you guys come after me?” Cassia asks, devastated. “You needed to stay behind!”
“Yeah, I see that worked out perfectly, Cass!” Thames yells as he yanks at the chains. Flames flicker up and down them, but they don’t loosen or melt. This is bad.
“We’re in this together!” I tell her. I plant my feet and wrench at the chains again. They only tighten against Cassia’s skin.
“Let me.”
Cairo’s soft voice comes from beh
ind us. I let go of the chains and step aside. Thames keeps pulling, but I grab his dumb ass and haul him out of the way.
Cairo stands before Cassia. His eyes are filled with relief, but also, pain. Tears fall from Cassia’s eyes when she looks at him.
“I’m sorry, Cairo,” she whispers. “I didn’t want to hurt you.”
He stares. “Did you mean what you said to me? Were you being honest?”
“I didn’t mean a word of it,” she replies. “But I had to distract you. To save your life, Cairo, I did. Please forgive me.”
Cairo accepts this. He steps over Cassia’s chains and puts a hand to her cheek. “There’s nothing to forgive.”
Cairo kisses her. When he does, the golden chains break and fall away. They curl up on the ground, and the pillars crumble.
Cassia throws her arms around Cairo’s shoulders and holds him to her. Cairo buries his head in her curls and doesn’t come out.
They say nothing more.
“No! This can’t be!”
Roman’s voice ruins the cutesy moment. My nose wrinkles in disgust as I face him. His face has gone red with rage, his four wings beating furiously behind him as he exclaims, “I don’t understand!”
“Cairo is the only one who can break my chains. As I am the only one who can break his.” Cassia comes away from Cairo’s embrace, but still holds his hand. “Love, real love, is the only thing that can erase sins, and hatred, and mistakes. It’s the only thing that can make a perfect world. Not rules, or laws, or punishments. Your idea’s flawed.”
Roman takes a deep breath. He settles. His rage disappears for a moment. “I see. Then perhaps we can work together. Modify my plan, so that it’s better for the world.”
He’s still stuck on his stupid ideals. The sounds of battle can still be clearly heard in the background. The four of us separate. We circle Roman until we’re surrounding him on all sides.
“Very well,” Roman says. “Then this is the way it has to be.”
There are no Nephilim or demons to help him out this time. It’s him against the four of us. He’s outnumbered.
But that doesn’t take away the fact that one of us has to die in order to get rid of him.
