“Good choice, my flower. Patience is a virtue…or that’s what humans like to say. Allow me to eliminate things related to trade. There is no need to form a contract with me here. Once I kill you and your friends, I will have more than enough time to extract your souls. But, if you want to save your hunter friend, she may leave at any time…”
“I’d rather throw you into the pit with your pet demons!” Maya yelled.
Lucious stiffened, and Helena felt his apprehension seeping into the link. She jerked her arm out of his hold and shot him a piercing glare.
“Leave the demon to me and Maya. Save Andrew,” Helena ordered, full of confidence she didn’t possess.
With round eyes, Lucious studied her. “Helena, you’ve heard him. You will die fighting a demon by yourself.”
“And you can’t take on two tasks at once.”
“Give us the demon blade,” Maya interjected, “and go save your vampire friend.”
A flurry of emotions fleeted across his face. He let out a grunt of disapproval. Bending down, he unsheathed the Arcanae Mortum, handing it to her. “If anything goes wrong—”
Helena grabbed the hilt that tingled with subtle energy and gave Lucious a peck on the cheek. She and Maya split away from him.
The loud hammering of her heart pulsated in her ears. The only thing that gave her hope was the warm blade she held in her hand. Perhaps, by some miracle, they could finally end this curse once and for all.
As they closed in on the demon, Maya unsheathed her dagger and holstered her gun. “Remember, Helena. Go for the heart.”
Lazarus watched them with eerie patience. Although she held in her hand the blade that could kill him, the demon seemed unfazed—relaxed even—as if she was no more a threat to him than a fly. Her anger sparked at his indifference and warmed her from within. Her grip on the weapon hurt, making her knuckles pale. She ignored the ache in her joints and signalled to Maya.
They separated and surrounded the demon.
Out of the corner of her eye, Helena saw Lucious trying to get closer to Andrew. His body was too far out over the pit. A large claw crept out from below and grasped his ankle. Lucious let out a loud curse as he stumbled and fell into the sea of lesser demons.
“Lucious!” Helena screamed.
“Now where do you think you’re looking, my flower?” Lazarus’ voice surfaced from behind her and darkness engulfed everything around her.
No voices or sounds came from beyond the black sphere she was in. Desperate to find out if Lucious was okay, she punched the walls of the magical trap. Her knuckles met with cold, sticky residue. Moving backwards, her breath fogged, and she shivered.
“Lucious is fine…” she whispered through chattering teeth. “I would die if he did…”
The rationalisation did not stop her from wanting to cry out his name again or hear his voice in her mind. She tried concentrating on the link when the demon materialised in front of her with an unsettling grin.
“I hold the lives of your friends and yours captive, my flower…”
When she launched for him with the blade, his body turned into a shadow and melted away.
“I gave you many chances, and you turned them down—always thinking you could escape me because your guardian was by your side. But, where is he now?” Lazarus mused and his laughter reverberated throughout the bubble.
“Show yourself!” Helena snapped. The hairs on her arms rose with the chill in the bubble. She turned on the spot, searching for him.
“Don’t you want to hear about Daddy dearest?”
Her heart jolted at the mention of her father. So, he did come into the Demon Realm. Why? “Where is he?”
Lazarus’ shadow emerged in front of her, yet she couldn’t stab the see-through vapour he had become.
“Dead,” he whispered.
“It can’t be! Michael wanted to help.”
The demon’s hand brushed her shoulder, making her whip around. “An archangel who lost his wings was never going to help you…”
She shook her head to remedy the trembling of her body. “You’re lying!”
“He knew what your father was, so he helped guide him into my arms. He’s a killer like you. A match made in heaven?” Lazarus hissed into her ear.
“Stop it! I’m not a monster like you.”
More laughter came from the demon, and she clutched her head, praying for this madness to end.
“Who do you think killed your precious grandmother?” Lazarus asked, materialising a few feet away from her. He eyed her with pity. “Your parents didn’t tell you?”
Helena stammered, “No…lie…it’s a lie!”
“A single match, a child’s hand, a burning house…” Lazarus ignored her pleas for him to stop. “You killed her, Helena, and your precious guardian sealed away your memories. But, I will fix that before I take your life.”
Her knees gave way and her head hurt. The blade fell out of her hand. Blurry visions of the past flooded her mind like a tidal wave. She screamed out her agony as her headache gained momentum.
Helena’s nails dug into the skin of her scalp. “Stop this!”
It didn’t, and the visions became clearer.
Her grandmother stood next to the gas stove with her back turned and her bright yellow apron on. She glanced over her shoulder at Helena and beckoned for the child to join her in the kitchen.
Giggling, Helena ran to her and wrapped her small arms around her grandmother’s generous middle. She buried her face in her soft belly. The smell of baking filled her nostrils. Sighing happily, she let go and sat at the small table in the corner.
“Wait here, my sunshine,” her grandmother said in Russian and headed for the door when Helena’s father appeared with a bright smile on his face.
His hazel eyes framed by shaggy, dark brown hair found Helena and a smile stretched his lips.
“Who is the best girl in the world?” he asked with a tilt of his head.
Helena raised her hands high into the air and squealed, “Me!”
The vision reshaped, and Helena was now standing in her dimly lit bedroom in the old house.
She yawned. Covering her mouth with her small hand, she cradled a plush white rabbit to her chest.
“You cannot see them!” her grandmother’s stern words crept through the gap in the door to the entrance hall.
Helena tried to see what was happening on the other side, but her grandmother was strict when it came to bedtime. If she noticed her, Helena would get in trouble.
“I need to, for the final time. I know he is after them, I know, but I wish to see my daughter one last time…” her father responded.
“You are a danger to them. Go. Find the Blood Gate and kill the demon. I gave you what you need. You must do this, Iven, to protect Sasha and her child.”
Helena’s lower lip quivered. The conversation they were having sounded perturbing. Why couldn’t she see Papa? She opened the door and ran outside only to find her grandmother wiping away her tears.
“Why are you not sleeping, Helena?” her grandmother chided.
The vision faded once more…
She observed her grandmother from the living room. The old woman chanted a rhyme, facing a small round mirror on the kitchen table. Grandmother no longer played with her or talked to her. She could not be trusted. Her friend told her she was dangerous. She needed to be erased.
Helena struck a match on the rough side of the matchbox and a tiny flame sparked to life on the end of the short stick. Mesmerised by the dancing light, she watched it scorch the match before it reached her fingers and singed her skin. She winced and dropped it, letting the match fall onto the fluffy carpet in the living room that her mother loved so much.
The flames spread over the rug faster than flowing water. She scrambled backwards and climbed on top of the sofa. The orange blaze engulfed the living room. Soon, the smoke rose. She sucked in a breath and coughed. Tears weren’t far behind when the air grew heavy and hot.
“Oh God, what
is going on?” Sasha screamed and found Helena on the sofa with a box of matches in her hand.
She rushed towards her daughter, avoiding the strong flames that spread to the kitchen entrance, and lifted Helena into her arms.
“Mama? Mama where are you?” Sasha called out.
The grandmother’s face, distorted by the flames, appeared from the kitchen, and she called out, “Save the child, Sasha. Run and do not look back!”
The dream-like sequence ended, and Helena stared blankly at the top of the dark bubble. She could no longer feel her tears on her skin. Her whole life was a lie. She was the one who killed her grandmother, and her mother lied to cover it up. And Michael, he knew what had happened from the start. After all, he was the one to push Richard and her mother together. How much of what he told me was the truth?
She watched Lazarus appearing with mock concern etched on his face. “Do you understand now? Your life is a game. You are nothing more than a pawn on a board, waiting to be taken.”
The string connecting her to Lucious stirred as the demon drew close. She blinked, pushing the horrors away. Lucious and Maya, they were always there for her. They weren’t part of this nightmare…
When Lazarus was close enough, she moved fast. Helena grasped the dagger next to her leg and lodged it in his chest.
Lazarus grunted and burst out laughing. “And here I thought you’ve become docile. I guess there is some fire left in you.”
She gaped at his chest. The blade didn’t kill him and the fear everyone had in the back of their minds came true. There was no escape.
The demon’s smile faded. He extracted the blade from his chest and black blood oozed out of the healing wound. “I am saddened you’ve ruined a peaceful death I was about to give you.”
He tossed the Arcanae Mortum to one side and closed in on her. His hand secured her throat, and he lifted her off the ground with ease.
Helena gasped when her throat was closing. His sharp claws pierced her skin, and she cried out in pain. She had to accept it. They were going to die here. There was no way out. The blade was a dud. Maybe Reaver knew it all along, which was why he had sent them here. It became hard to swallow, and she choked on her spit. Her airways burned and her lungs ached.
“Helena? Are you alive?” Maya’s shouted nearby. The demon’s hold on the trap was slipping as the bubble dissipated around them and the shadows were reabsorbed back into him.
His grip did not relent, and he squeezed harder until dark spots ate away at her vision. Partial words from Father J. R’s journal jumped to the forefront of Helena’s mind. ‘Upon birth, they are branded with a new heart…flowers being the source of their power.’
Maya dove for the blade and was about to repeat the same mistake when Helena forced out, “Stab…flower.”
Her friend frowned a second before her eyes widened. Quick like a fox, Maya lodged the dagger into Lazarus’ right shoulder.
His agonised cry reduced his smirk to dust. His hand came away from her throat, and he collapsed to his knees, clutching his chest. “You!”
Helena gasped for air and scrambled away from him on all fours. “Maya, get away from him!” she screamed when she noticed her friend hadn’t moved an inch.
“I can’t! The blade…it’s wrapped around my wrist. I can’t yank it out!”
Swaying, Helena managed to stand. She made her way over and struggled to make sense of what she was witnessing. The tree roots of the blade’s handle had entwined themselves around Maya’s wrist, expanding and twisting further up her arm.
Lazarus let out another moan when his form melted and the dark shadow slithered along the blade.
“Help me!” Maya yelled, yanking at the blade.
Helena ran around her and grasped Maya around her midriff. She tugged and pulled until Maya whimpered in pain.
“Stop. Unless I hack my arm off, it’s not going to work,” Maya said.
“Helena, get away from her!” Lucious shouted. He laid Andrew’ unconscious body on the dirt and strode to them. Not bothering to ask for her permission, he jerked her away from Maya.
“What are you doing? Help her!” Helena snapped.
“It’s too late…” he replied and imprisoned her in his arms.
Struggling to break free, Helena stomped on his foot with the heel of her boot. He didn’t react. When his shields wrapped around her, her words abandoned her.
“She cannot be helped, my dear,” Lucious said softly.
Maya’s whole face and exposed skin on her arms were covered with black veins. Her irises were changing colour to red as more darkness seeped through the blade and into her body.
Maya collapsed to the ground, and Helena fought her way out of Lucious’ arms.
“Maya, I didn’t know! I’m so sorry…” Helena said, reaching out with a trembling hand.
Maya shook her head and glanced at Lucious. “How bad is it, vampire?”
“You’re dying. I can barely hear your heartbeat.”
Maya rubbed Helena’s wet cheek with her thumb and patted her on the shoulder. “Tell Ben I love him, will you?”
Helena let out a sob. She couldn’t hold back as more tears fell onto Maya’s hand. “I’m sorry, I’m—”
“Take her. Whatever it is, it’s taking over…” Maya instructed, massaging her chest.
A strong arm snaked around Helena’s chest, and she screamed, “Let me go, Lucious! Please, let me go,” as the distance between her and Maya grew.
“I’m so sorry, my dear,” Lucious said. He hit the back of Helena’s neck and her world went dark.
Lucious grabbed Helena’s and Andrew’s unconscious bodies and fleeted out of the cavern as fast as he could. His limbs and chest throbbed from the large gashes the demons left on him before he managed to crawl back out of the pit. In his wake, he left a trail of blood, but he could not permit Helena to remain with that creature any longer. The hunter was becoming a demon and, if Lazarus took her over, they may never escape with their lives.
He burst out of the dark cave and into the mountainside. With his sensitive ears, he identified an animalistic wail from within the heart of the mountain which urged him to keep going.
Lucious sped down the mountain. At the treeline, he carefully laid Helena down and nudged his childe with a single slap to the face. Andrew’s head bobbed around his shoulders—no response. Lucious stuck him harder.
This time, his childe’s eyes slowly peeled open, and Lucious said, “I need to drink from you if we are to get out of this place alive. Do I have your permission?”
Andrew sluggishly blinked and winced when Lucious’ knee brushed his exposed thigh muscle.
“I do not have the time for this…” Lucious mumbled and sank his teeth into Andrew’s neck. Blood rushed to the surface, and he greedily swallowed it.
His childe made weak protests, and Lucious disregarded them as he revelled in the taste he had missed.
When he drew away, Andrew was no longer conscious. For the better. Lucious picked them both up. With his energy returning and his body, once again able to repair itself, he ran towards the Demon Gate.
The gate became visible, and he lowered both of them onto the dry dirt. Searing pain had consumed his legs. He had torn a muscle or two because he ignored his limits to get to the edge of the forest as fast as he could.
Lucious retrieved the viator bijous from his pocket. He could only hope that Reaver did not trick them and the damned crystal was going to work. Lucious bit into the pad of his thumb and smeared his blood on the gem. As if answering the call of the sacrifice, it shone blue in his hand.
“Is it done?” Reaver asked through the crystal, and Lucious let out a nervous laugh. Finally, something is going right tonight.
“Open the gate, we’re coming back,” Lucious ordered.
“Understood,” came a curt response, and the gem turned black again.
Helena shifted on the ground and let out a moan. “What’s happening? Where are we...? Where’s…Maya. Oh God, wh
ere is she?”
“Stop it, my dear. She is gone, and we are going back,” he said, trying to help her stand.
She slapped his hand away and started for the mountain. Lucious cursed and threw her over his shoulder.
“Put me down, you animal!”
“I guess this is bound to affect our relationship…” he muttered, lifting Andrew with the other arm.
Helena hit his back with her small fists. “We have to go back for her.”
He let her rant while he kept an eye on the gate and the tall demon guarding it. Thankfully, the dog-like creatures were no longer gathered around.
The gate activated and turned into a mirror. As it did so, he murmured an apology and fleeted for the exit.
As he neared it, the demon swung his giant scythe at him. Left with no choice, Lucious ducked forwards through the portal along with the others.
They fell out on the other side. Lucious scrambled into a standing position and grasped Helena’s middle to keep her from crawling back through the gate.
Madeline ran towards them and, as the gate was closing, a shadow-like arm emerged through the portal, grabbing for him.
Lucious coiled his arms tighter around Helena and sent them both falling. The arm caught the redheaded witch and pulled.
“She’s out of the circle!” Reaver shouted.
The saint’s expression hardened. “She’s a silver soul. There is no helping her now. Horus, purge the darkness.”
Nadine’s guardian faced terrified Madeline. He strode to the edge of the barrier. Lifting his hand, he mouthed an apology. His palm glowed with a blinding light that forced Lucious to close his eyes. When the brightness subsided, a wave of wind pushed the witch through the portal. It quickly vanished, and Helena screamed and flailed in his arms.
“Madeline!” Helena cried out, and Lucious’ soul tore to pieces at the heart-wrenching sound she produced.
He wanted to take away her suffering there and then, but he knew how helpless he was in this situation. Because of that, he shut away his emotions and picked her up.
“You’re a monster!” she shouted. “Maya was right.”
Demon Gates (Helena Hawthorn Series Book 2) Page 36
