Staked!

by Candace Wondrak

  Claire sighed when she sat back down. “That was an amazing play, don’t you think?”

  Max sipped his soda and nodded in agreement. “Who would have thought that would actually work? The chances of that play succeeding was less than fifteen percent. Unpredictable.”

  If I’d been in my right mind, I would’ve said something snarky and sarcastic, probably made fun at Max’s choice of words, but something told me that I needed to be elsewhere.

  I got to my feet and stumbled over Max and Claire’s legs, not bothering to apologize. I needed all the time I could get. I had to get home as quickly as possible. Something was happening there, I felt it.

  I’d felt something similar before when Kass was in deep trouble, and as I hurried through the crowd, I prayed that she wasn’t hurt. The least she could do was wait for me before getting into trouble, right?

  “Gabriel, wait,” Max called after me. But I didn’t stop. He ran after me, chasing me down to ask what was wrong, but I couldn’t stop. I had to keep going.

  I had to keep going for Kass’s sake.

  I burst through the front door, not knowing what to expect. Through some bizarre bond I had with Kass, I knew when she was in distress. So far, it’d only happened a few times: when John first got possessed by Osiris in our driveway, when John went crazy, and now.

  Couldn’t Kass have picked literally anyone else as her first experimental crush? She didn’t have to follow in my footsteps when it came to my first girlfriend, if you could call her that.

  I was a confident dude, and when it came to Kass I was the most confident…but my confidence wavered when I entered our house and immediately saw her sitting on the bottom step, covered in bright red blood. Beneath the red, she was abnormally pale, her skin ashen. Her usually joyous green eyes didn’t even rise to meet me.

  “Kass,” I spoke, skidding to my knees before her. My hands were on her shoulders, gripping her to make sure she wasn’t going to disappear on me. The metal twinge of blood filled the air, and with my peripheral vision, I spotted a lot more blood in the kitchen. Was it Michael’s? “What happened?”

  “He’s dead,” she muttered, emotionless. She sluggishly lifted her gaze, adding, “Crixis killed him.”

  There was an ache in my heart. This blood was Michael’s. Michael was dead. Why would Crixis kill him? I couldn’t focus on the heart-breaking news. Right now, all I could think of was Kass. “I’ll kill that son of a—” I swore, more serious than ever. “For Michael.”

  My assurance did nothing for her. In fact, she looked slightly confused. “Michael?” The way she spoke his name was disconcerting, like it was a foreign, alien name she’d never heard of before. It was then she shook her head once. “No, not Michael.”

  For the shortest second, relief washed over me. Michael wasn’t dead. My Guardian, the man who’d attempted (and failed) to raise me into a couth young man, was alive. Thank God.

  And then, stupid, stupid me, I realized that only one Guardian meant more to her than Michael. If it was Michael, maybe she’d cry. No, only one death could terrify her to the point where she’d be too shocked to cry.

  I was a horrible person to be happy that it wasn’t Michael. So selfish.

  “Koath,” I stated his name in a whisper. Before I was finished saying his name, I wrapped Kass in my arms, hugging her tightly. I didn’t care about the blood on her clothes. It didn’t even cross my mind that if Koath was in the kitchen, dead, where was Michael? All I knew at that very moment was that she wasn’t hugging me back. “I’m so sorry, Kass.”

  Talking to her was like talking to a wooden doll.

  I slowly pulled away, gently wiping the hair from her eyes and tucking it behind her ears. Kass looked at me, but she stared through me. I was going to kill Crixis for doing this to her. I was going to find him and somehow end that Demon for good.

  Standing, I went towards the kitchen. The pool of blood only became larger and larger. How could that much blood come from one person? I went for the phone, seeking to avoid glancing at Koath on the floor, but I heard a crack beneath my foot. The phone was in pieces.

  “I already called. They’re on their way,” Kass spoke from her spot on the bottom step. “Michael’s in the living room.”

  Brows furrowed, I headed into the other room, past Kass and her freaky emotionless face. Just as she said, Michael was in the living room. On the floor, face-down. My Guardian was unconscious, but at least he wasn’t dead.

  “Michael,” I spoke his name lightly, laying a hand on his back. Something odd rose, just beneath the surface of my skin. My tattoos? It was hard to tell, since they were covered up with makeup. I had the urge to heal him, to fix him somehow. It was a ridiculous urge.

  Wait a moment.

  Closing my eyes, I pushed the fact that Koath was dead away. I ignored everything, even Kass, putting all my effort and focus on helping Michael. What would I do if something happened to him? What would I do? I couldn’t think of the answer and that…that was scary. I wasn’t one to get scared.

  If I lost Kass…well, I knew exactly what I’d do.

  “Come on, come on, come on,” I hissed, when it felt as though hours had passed and nothing happened. I was only a Purifier, after all. Nothing special, cool dream Gabriel or not. Healing abilities or not.

  Michael didn’t move.

  The doorbell rang.

  Feeling, for the second time in my life, helpless, I stood and went for the front door. There’d be an entourage of Council workers, I knew. But, as I tossed a quick glimpse at Kass, who still sat on the bottom step, I realized I couldn’t care less about how many idiots came stomping through our house. Why? Oh, the little, teensy-weensy fact that I couldn’t do anything. I was so helpless, it hurt.

  The only other time I was this helpless was when Kass was in a coma. That was the worst time of my life. This was a close second.

  Chapter Thirty-Two – Kass

  Gabriel wouldn’t stop staring at me.

  The Council’s medical examiners were split into two teams, one took care of Michael, and the other had their hands full with the body. Koath’s body. The words felt strange, so I was glad I didn’t have to speak them again.

  I didn’t know what I thought would happen, but I didn’t expect to have a mini-hospital set up right in our living room. They moved him to the couch, attached tubes to his hand that gave him fluids. They said he’d be all right. If only everyone was so lucky.

  I could feel Gabriel’s heavy gaze on me, and I couldn’t bring myself to look at him. I just…I wanted to be alone. I didn’t want to answer one hundred questions about what happened or what I saw.

  But that’s exactly what would happen.

  Short exclamations of extreme blood loss and Dear God, this is the worst I’ve seen came from the kitchen. “The Purifier found him like this?” one whispered.

  “Such a shame,” the other responded, “I heard he used to be her Guardian.”

  The other agreed on how awful it was, especially for me.

  The sounds of a zipper cut through the air, and all I could picture was the body. His open eyes. My hand on the broken chair leg tightened so hard I thought my palm bled. I didn’t glance down to see whether or not it was.

  A woman knelt before me, her green eyes and rose-hued hair familiar. The school’s new secretary. Of course, it made sense that she was a part of all this. They wouldn’t trust a civilian to be in that position after what happened to the last secretary and how brutal her death was. The Council worked in mysterious ways, quick, fast, and efficient. As far as I knew no one knew exactly what happened to the school’s last principal or the secretary. There were rumors, but nobody could say for sure. The Council even managed to keep it out of the news.

  “Hello, Kass,” she spoke. “I’m sorry we’re meeting under these circumstances.”

  I said nothing.

  “Can you tell me what happened?” She had to ask the question three times before I figured out that this would be over quick
er if I cooperated.

  And so I told her everything. I told her about staring up at the house, how it felt different. I told her about the song, and Michael laying on the floor in the living room. I explained how I immediately went for the phone, only to slip, how Crixis sat in the kitchen, thumbing through a cookbook. I told her what he said, how Koath loved me.

  What I didn’t tell her was that Raphael was there as well. As soon as the numbness wore off, I’d go a-hunting, and whether it was Crixis I found or Raphael, I didn’t care. Raphael was a liar either way.

  Cleo nodded along as I spoke, and after I finished, she took a look in the kitchen, now that the body was gone, carried out of the house as I told her my story.

  Gabriel was near, but he didn’t try hugging me again. Maybe he thought I’d break. He probably thought I’d react the same way I did to John’s death. At the time, I hadn’t known what he was, a Daywalker, and I rebelled like the dumb teenage girl I pretended to be.

  I felt too old to act like that now. I’d seen so many more things, lived through so much since then. I didn’t want to cling to Gabriel as I slept. I didn’t want to cry at all. I just wanted to be alone.

  And get my revenge.

  I really, really wanted revenge.

  Soon Cleo was back, sitting beside me. “When did that handprint on the wall come about?” There was a pause before she asked, “Did you fight him?”

  Gabriel’s gaze narrowed, as if he wanted to know the truth, like he was going to read my thoughts. I sent him a don’t-you-dare look and watched as he shifted his stance on the wall.

  When I was certain he wasn’t going to try any mind-reading, I looked at Cleo and said, “I tried. Of course I tried. What kind of Purifier would I be if I didn’t?” My fingers tapped the makeshift stake, which she undoubtedly noticed the instant she saw me.

  “And he didn’t kill you?” she prodded further.

  “No, he wants me to feel pain.”

  “And do you think he believes he inflicted enough pain by killing Koath? Did he know Koath used to be your Guardian?”

  “Probably.”

  “If he wanted to inflict pain, why not kill Michael as well? Why leave him alive? And Gabriel? Surely you would’ve hurt more if it had been Gabriel in there, and not your old, ex-Guardian?” Cleo’s questions struck a nerve.

  “Are these the typical Council questions, or are they specially crafted for me?” I snapped. “This sure feels like an interrogation. Do you think I did it? Do you think I could’ve ripped him open like that?” My voice rose, just short of a shout. “Do you think that I, one of the Council’s blessed Purifiers, am capable of something like that?” The word blessed dripped off my tongue. There was nothing blessed about any of this.

  Gabriel finally stopped staring at me, dropping his eyes to the floor and studying his shoes, which were free of blood. Mine weren’t.

  Cleo was quiet for a long moment before saying, “I think we’ve both been around the block too many times to lie and say that you’re not.” She waited a long while, letting the implications of her words sink in. “AWOL Purifiers can be just as dangerous as Demons. And with what you’ve been through, the Council is watching you very closely. But do I think you did it? No. It’s well-documented that Crixis has a fascination with you.”

  The Council was watching me closely? What did that mean? Did Michael have to do a weekly report on me? I was at the point where I was ready to tell the Council where to shove it.

  And here’s a hint: it’d be a place where the sun didn’t shine.

  Cleo got to her feet, towering over my sitting figure. “The Council is sending an Agent over, along with a new Guardian for Max.”

  “Crap,” Gabriel broke his silence, “somebody’s got to tell Max what happened.”

  Gabriel seriously saying Max’s name and not dork, dweeb or nerd…it wasn’t right. But then again, none of this was.

  “Already on it. A third team is retrieving him from the football game. Until Koath’s replacement arrives, I’ll be looking after Max. I’ll also be taking his position in the school, so if you ever have questions, you know where to find me.” Cleo’s backside buzzed, and as she dug her phone out of her jeans, her expression changed. “I have to take this. I’ll write up a report for now and send it over. There will be papers for you to fill out; I’ll get them to you tomorrow. For now, take it easy. The medical team will remain until Michael’s in full health, and the cleanup…” She paused as she neared the door. “…they’ll leave once it’s done.” The smile on her face was anything but reassuring. “Don’t worry. Everyone here is a trained professional. If Crixis comes back, he’ll have an army waiting.” And then she left, gabbing on her phone as if she went through this every day.

  Biting back a frown, I muttered, “I’m going to shower.” I stamped up the steps. If this were a normal day, Gabriel would make a comment about company. But he knew better than that. I was in the bathroom in an instant, locking the door behind me.

  I stripped down, out of the bloodied clothes, putting them in the granite sink. The water easily turned on, and soon I was standing, letting the hot water rain down upon me, watching as it mixed with Koath’s blood and twirled down the drain, a pinkish color.

  I stood in that shower until the hot water was cold, my teeth chattering.

  Stepping out, I grabbed my towel. I was too lazy to wrap it around me, holding it to my front as I exited the bathroom and crossed the hall to my bedroom. Gabriel wasn’t in the hallway, so it didn’t matter that my backside showed. I closed the door with my foot, moving to the center of my bedroom after flicking on the lights.

  Darkness had crept in. The clock read a quarter to midnight.

  My bedding was an ugly arrangement of old-lady flower patterns; nowhere near as cool as the wine-colored set I had before I woke up covered in blood. Who knew it was a foreshadowing of the blood-coating the kitchen would get?

  Not caring, I dropped the towel to the floor, pulling the first pair of underwear and bra I found in my drawers. As I slipped them on, I noticed the necklaces sitting on top of the dresser. One a beautiful combination of a cross and a heart, and the other a gorgeous set of wings. Once I hooked my bra, I reached for one of them: the angel’s wings. I needed dark Gabriel’s strength, not this world’s Gabriel’s goofiness.

  I swept up my hair and put the necklace on, staring at the wings in the dresser’s mirror, at how perfectly the pendant sat on my chest.

  Within a moment, I slipped on a black tank top and was searching the pile of clothes on the floor for my little pajama shorts when I heard the door open. Gabriel walked in, noticed I was pant-less, and quickly turned around. Yet another thing the Gabriel I knew wouldn’t do.

  As I glared at him, the metal wings on my chest burned like I was betraying him by calling to memory the Devil Gabriel in the other world. “You’ve seen me in less,” I informed him, continuing my search for my shorts. “What do you want?”

  Gabriel was slow to turn around, struggling to keep his eyes level with mine and not look at my bare legs or my plain, red underwear. He held onto something, but for a while he didn’t say anything. He noted the silver chain on my neck, and I hoped he wasn’t reading my thoughts or my feelings. I didn’t want him to know that I left his necklace on the dresser and purposefully chose the other.

  I had a feeling he already knew, though.

  “Cleanup’s done,” he said softly. “They were going to take this, but I thought…I thought you’d want it.” He extended his hand, dropping a chain on my palm.

  Two rings. Simple golden bands, clinging together on the yellow chain.

  I couldn’t look at them. Not right now. I knew who they belonged to. Koath and his dead wife. I was quick to hand it back off to Gabriel, muttering, “Put it on the dresser. I’m a little busy.”

  Gabriel acted like a good boy and did as he was told. As he set it down, he saw the necklace he’d gifted me. Oh, well. I was at the point where I just didn’t care anymore. His fingers
traced the heart portion of the necklace. “He wouldn’t want you to do anything stupid.”

  I froze, twirling around, snapping, “I don’t think I asked you, Gabriel.”

  There was a pause before he added, “He wouldn’t want you to lie to the Council, either.”

  “When I want your opinion on what Koath would or wouldn’t want, I’ll ask for it.”

  Gabriel turned away from the dresser, asking a very pointed question, “What would you have done if it were me in there?”

  My rage faltered. “Good question. When I have an answer, I’ll let you know.”

  “There’s the difference between you and me.” Gabriel started for the door. Before he left, he said, “I’ll let you know if Michael’s condition changes.”

  I watched him go, grinding my teeth at his comment. He closed the door behind him without as much as a backward glance. That’s the difference between you and me? I didn’t have time for riddles, and really, everything was getting too heavy around here.

  My search for my shorts stopped. Like a robot, I made my way to the chest near my closet and opened it, careful of any stray squeaking noises. Various weapons sat in a random pile inside, though one weapon sat on top, different from the rest.

  Intricate roses in the hilt, thorns winding down the sides of the blade.

  As I lifted it up, I sent a prayer to whoever was listening, that my rose blade would see blood tonight.

  God, I knew, wouldn’t hear that prayer. Maybe the other world’s Gabriel would.

  Chapter Thirty-Three – Raphael

  When she left to walk home, I knew something was wrong. I knew too much time had passed before one of his sick games. I opened a rift, the first in many, many years, to arrive before her, to witness something ungodly. Michael had been unconscious. It didn’t worry me. Michael wasn’t the checkmate. Koath was, and by the time I got into the kitchen, I saw Crixis’s unnatural fangs deep in Koath’s throat.