Daring Hearts: Fearless Fourteen Boxed Set

by Box Set

  "Navi, nothing in that statement is easy."

  Her face fell and I felt like I'd kicked a puppy. "But easy won't save my life, right? I'll be okay, Navi. Just try to figure out what's going on with your—your Death friend."

  She snorted.

  "We need to have a conversation, Alec. Because if you’re hitting on Navi while you have a girlfriend—" Bryson started.

  I cut him off. "I don’t have a girlfriend."

  Navi’s eyes looked like big dark pits in her pale, tired face. " You—you haven't been spending weekends with your blond girlfriend?" This time it was her voice that shook.

  I know there was a demon chasing us, but at that point in the conversation, I was unable to drive and talk. I slammed on the brakes and pulled the truck off the side of the road, turning in my seat so I faced her. "I don't have a girlfriend."

  "You haven't always secretly hated brunettes?" she whispered, biting her lip and fingering the tears in her jeans. Pink stained her cheeks.

  "Navi, look at me."

  Slowly, she raised those gorgeous eyes to meet mine. And I was lost. "I haven't been able to function without you. I've been working eighty hours a week and spending the weekends with my little brother. There's no girlfriend. There's no getting over you. And given that I've had an obsession with your hair"—I reached out, tugging a strand free from her messy braid to slide through my fingers, something I thought I'd never get to do again—"since the day we met, I most definitely do not hate brunettes."

  "But I—"

  This. This thing I had to say might possibly be the scariest thing I'd ever said in my life. I knew what Konstanz said. I knew how intense and volatile Navi and I were. I knew how scary her life was. It didn't matter.

  "Navi, I know you hate me, and you have every right to. I know I don't deserve another chance with you—not after I screwed it up twice. But I'm still in love with you and dammit, I'm going to fight for you. Until you take me back or I die trying."

  Her mouth opened and closed like the most adorable fish on the planet. Her eyes filled with tears and she leaned back, blinking and rubbing with the long sleeve of her pink shirt. "But you... you hurt me, Alec. A lot." She was whispering again, which I was realizing she did when she was trying not to let her voice shake.

  "I know, Angel. And I'm so, so sorry. I can't ever make that up to you. But I can promise I won't do it again. I can promise to beat the hell out of anyone who tries."

  The barest hint of a smile broke as a tear traced its way down her cheek.

  "Navi, he hurt you. Way more than you hurt him." Bryson glared at me and I wondered if, even though he was in love with her roommate, he might not still have a thing for her, too.

  But she didn’t seem to notice. Navi, the girl I'd realized was stronger than Hercules, looked up at me like a small, lost kitten. "Is... is that true?"

  "No. It's not true and he knows it. He lives with me. He knows how much pain I've been in."

  Bryson threw up his hands. "I was trying to protect both of you! How do you not see that? I could see how much you hurt each other. Hate is easier than pain, isn’t it? I was trying to protect you both!"

  I could only blink at him. In slow motion, I thought back to how he’d tried to hide Navi’s presence from me, but how he was always asking if I was okay, if I was forgetting. How he’d picked me up from the bar when I’d get too slammed to drive home. I guess in some crazy ass way, what he said made sense. But that didn’t mean it was right.

  Elizabeth delicately cleared her throat from behind Navi, standing mostly in the door. "Your mother arrives, Navi. And darkness falls soon." She turned that milky blue gaze on me and smiled encouragingly, like there was something hidden she and Navi shared that I didn't know—something about me. And if she hadn't been a ghost, I would have hugged her. "Perhaps this conversation would best be continued when things are not so tense."

  Navi sniffed, sucked in a breath, and nodded, pulling that bad-ass persona back on. "Okay. Okay, we'll revisit this in the morning. When we're all still alive."

  A sleek black jaguar pulled up in front of us and her dad got out. He was a huge man, towering over my six foot frame. Now I understood why—he had to be to survive their line of work. One day I would ask Navi how he'd survived with his eyes open so that he was hunted 24/7. Because I intended to survive the same way.

  If she'd have me.

  "Hi Dad." Navi threw herself into his arms like a little girl, hugging him tight. By that time, her mom was there too—an older version of Navi. Slight build, barely over a hundred pounds, and yet I could see the bands of steel running through her veins. She was undefeatable. Just like her daughter.

  "Alec." Joanna said as I approached them. "It's been a while. Welcome to our world."

  I chuckled. "Thanks."

  "Joanna hasn't fought for years, but she still trains. You've got nothing to worry about."

  "Thank you." I handed my keys to Navi. "Be careful, Angel."

  She glanced at her parents, blushing again, and grabbed my hand, leading me back to the truck. "Alec, I don't—I don't know what will happen. Tonight, tomorrow, with us, with the world. But in case I don't make it back, I need you to know. I never stopped loving you, either. Please stay safe." She leaned up on her toes and brushed the barest of kisses across my lips. It took everything I had to not pull her against me and keep her there.

  Instead I had to stand back and watch as she drove off in my truck to face hell alone.

  Chapter 50

  Navi

  Where Elizabeth was wise and comforting on the path through the lava tunnels to meet Death, Bryson was scared and very talkative. "What if he tries to steal my soul?"

  "He's not going to steal your soul," I said. "He doesn't want your soul."

  Bryson hung his head. "Maybe he should want my soul. I have a good soul. Konstanz says so all the time."

  I smiled half-heartedly at him as I stopped to ghost-pat his shoulder. "I know, Bryson. I share a room with her."

  "It doesn’t bother you, does it? I don’t know if we ever asked—does it bother you that we’re together?"

  I nearly choked. "No, Bryson. It does not bother me." Quite the opposite, really. About as far opposite as one could get.

  "It’s not that I don’t still have feelings for you—"

  I started walking again, faster this time. "I don't have time for this."

  At that exact moment, my ghosts were fighting. Without me. I'd warned them—I couldn't be there. They wouldn't think I'd abandoned them. But there was no Elizabeth with them. No me. They were facing the demons alone and it killed me. I felt like my insides were all squiggly and messed up, being here while they were out there.

  "Right. Sorry."

  Thank the sweet heavens he fell silent then, and we walked through the paths to hell in peace.

  "Navi. I didn't expect you." Death rose up in front of us like one of my ghosts, and I, in all my demon-hunter strength and courage, screamed like a little girl and danced around in a circle. His red eyes crinkled in amusement. "I take it you didn't expect to see me, either."

  I put a hand over my rapidly beating heart, trying to keep it in my chest. "Well I did, but not right here." I motioned to Bryson with my other hand. "I need your help."

  Bryson made a sound that was a cross between a scream and a whimper and floated backward so fast I thought he was going to escape clear out of the cave. Right. I forget that to people not used to seeing Death on a regular basis, he could be a little scary. Heck, even to people used to seeing him on a regular basis, he was scary. Evidenced by my little freak out. "Bryson! Bryson, come back. It's okay! He's friendly!"

  "I serve tea," Death said helpfully.

  I smiled over at him, but Bryson only stared in horror and refused to come closer. "Bryson," I started, trying not to be impatient because he was totally justified in his fear but I so didn't have time for his panic attack right now. "You knew we were coming to see him. It's not like he's here to take your soul."


  "I'm not?" Death asked with a wicked gleam in his red eyes.

  "You're not helping." I twitched my lips at him, trying to decide whether to laugh or scowl. "Bryson, I already told you, Death can't take you if you're in limbo."

  "He's in limbo? Then how is he here?" Death gave up trying to lure Bryson closer and instead turned to me. And then I heard the hell hounds coming.

  "Oh dear." I shot Death with my best pleading eyes. "They'll scare Bryson to death—er—to... to I don't know."

  Death sighed, raising two fingers to his mouth. An ear-splitting whistle nearly shattered my skull and the ground stopped shaking. As much as I adored those dogs, now was not the time.

  "Thank you." I nodded, couldn't figure out why I was nodding, and quit abruptly. "So here's the thing. Bryson was attacked by an asuwang. There are no physical wounds on his body but he can't get back in. And he opened the eyes of my..." Alec. What to call him. The boy I loved and had left in danger? The boy who broke my heart repeatedly and I didn't seem to care? "My friend, who is now a target. We can't figure out how to get his soul back in his body."

  Death lost all hint of friendliness, crooking a finger at Bryson and glaring when Bryson still didn't move. "Come here," he snapped, and against his will Bryson's ghost self slid forward to Death's hands. I held my breath, waiting to see what would happen. I knew Death wouldn't take Bryson if it wasn't his time, but maybe it had been his time and something had gone wrong?

  "The asuwang—did you kill it after the attack?" Death asked, somewhat distracted as he spun Bryson in a slow circle, scrutinizing him like the world's most terrifying tailor.

  I nodded, relieved to know why I was nodding this time. "I think so, yes."

  Death straightened, eying me. "You think so?"

  I winced and ran a hand through my tangled hair, working out knots instead of meeting his gaze. "Well, I didn't exactly see Bryson. He was pretty sure I killed it though."

  Now it was poor Bryson's turn to be under that gaze. Again. "How sure are you?"

  Bryson finally found his voice. "I'm pretty sure, but there was a lot going on."

  I closed my eyes. "Holy crap." Three asuwangs had escaped me. I'd killed the one that had attacked Bryson—or so we thought. But what if the one that had attacked Bryson was really one of the other two? "Is there a piece of his soul missing?" I whispered.

  "Yes." Death pointed, a low beam illuminating from his fingertip like a flash light. Well that was a handy little trick I hadn't even known Death possessed. There, lit up under the glow, was a torn piece of calf. It wasn't gory or icky—it was like a piece of paper when you tear a little bit off. Just a ragged edge against the smoothness of the rest of the soul. "If you'd killed the asuwang that took it, the piece would have been freed and he would have been allowed to go back into his body."

  "But I killed one of them, and by now the second should be dead—and the other one was chasing Alec."

  Death shook his head, dim red eyes lighting the rest of his face inside his hood. "If the piece isn’t freed by their deaths, then there must have been another—another that took the piece straight back to their witch because they sensed that he was important to you. The only way to free your friend is to kill the witch." His eyes brightened. "Which is convenient, because she's on her way to land now."

  "What?" I gasped, stumbling backward like he'd punched me. "I have to go. I have to get to my souls!" Blast it all, I knew something big was coming, what with the massive attacks and constant deluge of bad guys every night. I knew she was creating a shell to come to land. If she made it to daylight, we were all screwed. She'd devour the entire town and there wouldn't be a thing I could do about it.

  I turned to run, but Garmr rose stoically out of the lava in front of me, just as Death had. There was no puppy playfulness in him or his sister this time. "Get on. They will take us to the surface." Suddenly in Death's hands appeared his scythe, glowing red hot and angry. "I will ride with you this time."

  "Umm, yeah. I can't ride your dog. I'll die."

  "Don't be ridiculous. Your agent blood protects you." Death sounded utterly exasperated as he leapt astride Garmr's sister. "They're only lethal to humans."

  I didn't need to be told twice. My souls were in trouble. The entire city—maybe the country if we didn't stop the sea witch—was in trouble. I clambered up Garmr's side and settled on his back, gripping the poisoned fur. "Bryson! Stay out of her reach!" I yelled as Garmr leaped forward, bounding through the lava tunnels so fast it blurred my vision, and all I could do was follow Death.

  "Gwendolyn," he yelled over his shoulder.

  Confused, I sat up and smacked my head on the jagged edge of petrified lava. "What?" I winced as the blood soaked down my temple, but I could already feel it healing. Thank you, moon.

  "Her name," Death motioned easily to the giant, flaming dog he was riding. "Is Gwendolyn."

  We burst from the cave. Bryson was already there, waiting anxiously just beyond the entrance. He backed away and pointed silently down the beach.

  Toward Devil's Gate.

  My army was there, fighting valiantly, holding the demons at bay. But more arose with each wave, crawling toward them. And the sea, where the gate dropped and I knew the doorway to be, bubbled and steamed and hissed.

  I could barely speak around the horror in my throat. "She’s rising."

  Chapter 51

  Alec

  "So I hear you've been giving Navi quite a bit of trouble lately." Joanna raised a perfectly arched eyebrow at me as I paced in front of the truck. There was nothing for as far as I could see but rolling hills and yellow grasses. And us. And our cars. And a lot of dark. No ghosts, no demons, no Navi.

  "I have." I nodded, not about to piss off her mom. "I'm sorry."

  She studied me with those wise, wise brown eyes—more wise than they should have been for as young as she was. And then she nodded. "I know."

  I turned to Blair, Navi's dad, the one picking his fingernails with an overly large pocket knife. He'd scared the crap out of me in high school, and that was before I'd broken her heart.

  Twice.

  "Can... can I ask you something?"

  He looked up from his knife. "Yep." He had black hair and light brown eyes, and they were kind eyes, so even though I worried a little that he would hurl that knife at my face, the rational side of me knew he wouldn't.

  "How—how do you survive? You're a constant target, right? Since you can see them... how do you not die?"

  He tipped his head to the side, considering me with the same wisdom Joanna had. He pursed his lips and set his knife aside, pushing away from the car. "If you really want to make a life with her, Alec, you have to realize something." His eyes were infinitely sad as he laid a hand on my shoulder. I wondered how he saw right through me so easily, how he knew I wanted her for forever with just that one question. "You will always be a target. You will never be safe. You'll move farther inland, which helps, but as long as the sea witch is out there, you'll be a target. They'll hunt you, even more so because the sea witch will realize that you are a tool to hurt the thing she hates most. The Soul's Agent."

  I swallowed hard. "But—... but you're still alive."

  Joanna smiled gently, sliding an arm around my waist and leaning her head against my shoulder. "He traveled a great deal. To stay away from the ocean and out of her reach while I fought her from here. When I retired, we became less of a threat. I don't hunt them anymore, but they still hunt me." She nodded slowly, breathing deeply before she continued, "But remember this when considering your choices." Her voice was so similar to Navi's it made my heart ache. "Navi is ten times more powerful than I ever was. Each generation becomes stronger, and one day we will rid the ocean of the sea witches and we'll be free."

  "And one more thing to consider." Elizabeth, who had faded away a while ago so that I thought she'd left us, appeared in front of me. "Navi is the only agent in the history of them all to have ghosts give up their freedom to fight beside her."<
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  Her words, so quiet and so calm, nearly knocked my feet out from under me. "The only one—ever?" She nodded. I knew Navi was sweet. I knew people loved her. I just hadn't, until that very moment, realized there were people out there that loved her as much as I did.

  Joanna tensed and then left me, stalking over to the car and pulling swords and a rifle out of the trunk. Of a jaguar. My life had gotten so surreal over the past two days that it the insanity of it all barely fazed me. She handed the gun to Blair, and both of them studied the road leading west.

  It was coming.

  But it wasn't here yet. I could tell by the way her shoulders relaxed and she resumed pacing like a caged lion—sleek and deadly and beautiful. "Our weapons can't kill it. But we can weaken it and make it easier for Elizabeth."

  Elizabeth waited a little in front of the rest of us, like she was eager for the fight. She wasn't much of a talker. I got the feeling she didn't like people much, except Navi. And for her, she seemed willing to protect us all.

  "Can I ask you one more thing—one thing I should have asked years ago?" I approached cautiously.

  Blair cut me off. "There's a baseball bat in the car."

  "I'm really good with guns." I looked pointedly at the one in his hands. "And that wasn't my question."

  "Sorry, kid. This one's mine. Hopefully we'll keep it away from you so the bat won't be necessary."

  Joanna frowned at him before turning to me, but I could tell I only had half her attention. This was too important to wait until a better time, though. "Every night since I met her, in seventh grade—" I could see dread building in Joanna, by the way she curled in on herself like she knew what was coming. But I couldn't stop talking now. It was like a flood gate was opened and the horror came flooding out. "I have these nightmares where I watch Navi being killed and I can't stop it. I can't do anything about it. Every night, except when she's with me." I finished in a rush and prayed the pain in her eyes was because I'd endured a lifetime of watching the girl I loved die every night.