by Diem, J. C.
Leo crouched down when I reached the end where he was waiting. “Your eyes have stopped glowing,” he told me. “How do you feel?”
“I’m starting to get tired. Apart from that, I feel okay.”
He debated about it then offered me his hand. “You can get out now.”
“Gee, thanks,” I said dryly. He hauled me out effortlessly and I walked over to join Sam. He’d waded through the snow over to the balcony, leaving a deep pathway that I followed. He was staring at the city, mesmerized by the view. If it had been nighttime, it would have been even more spectacular.
I used my hands and legs to push the snow away so I could stand beside him. “Who does this building belong to?” I asked Leo when he carved out a spot on Sam’s other side.
He leaned his elbows against the wall, not at all bothered that he was standing waist deep in snow. The cold didn’t affect me as much as it had before I’d become a receptacle for evil souls, but I was dripping wet and started to shiver. He shrugged at my question. “I have no idea. I spied this pool during one of my patrols and thought it might be of use to us in an emergency.”
Sam slanted a look at him. “You knew that Violet and Nathan would require your intervention?”
“Sophia warned us that it could become necessary.”
I grimaced at that, wishing she’d given me the same warning. “Do you know what that thing was that stabbed me?”
He shook his head. “I have never seen anything like it before.”
“I think it was a Wraith Warrior,” Sam offered.
“That sounds ominous,” I said. “What do you know about them?”
“Not much. I have heard that they are only used very rarely,” the imp said. “They are the Princes’ personal assassins. It is rumored that they are conjured up from their unholy essence.”
“How can we defeat him if he’s made of demon essence?”
Sam’s expression was solemn. “I do not think he can be defeated. He will remain in existence until the Prince merges his minion back inside him, or so I have heard.”
“They must be very afraid if they are going to such lengths to try to frighten you away,” Leo mused. “How is your wound now?”
“It’s gone,” I replied and lifted my shirt to show him.
His grin dropped away at whatever he saw. Sam blanched in horror. With dread, I looked down to see what they were staring at. Instead of unblemished skin, I had a ten-inch scar running across my abdomen. Black tendrils spread outwards from the necrotic looking edges.
Feeling faint, I staggered backwards in a futile effort to escape from my own body. Sam and Leo caught me before I could flounder deeper into the snow.
“The others need to see this,” Leo decided. Before I could form a protest, he waved a hand over me to instantly dry me off then teleported us back to our base.
Brie had returned with Nathan sometime during our absence. They were sitting at the table with Sophia. All three of them looked at us when they realized that we had appeared. Nathan was pale and haggard. Forgetting my own problems, I hurried towards him. Brie left her seat to intercept me. “That is close enough,” she said, barring my way when I was still two yards away from him. She was glaring at me as if I was a cockroach that she wanted to squish beneath her heel.
“What’s wrong with him?” I asked.
“ You are what is wrong with him,” she replied icily. “Every time he heals you, he gives up a part of himself. This time, you nearly drained him of his essence.”
Appalled by that prospect, I met his eyes. “Is that true?”
Dropping his gaze to the tabletop, he refused to answer me, so I turned to Sophia. “How close did I come to stealing his grace?” I hadn’t even known it was possible to do so, but I could see the evidence sitting right in front of me.
“Perilously close,” Sophia replied. “If we had not separated you when we did, there is a very good chance that he would have become like me.”
My eyes filled with tears of remorse and self-loathing. I loved him more than anyone else on the planet and I’d nearly destroyed what made him so perfect.
“Do not blame yourself,” Nathan said hoarsely. “I gave you my essence of my own free will.”
Brie sneered, but her ire was aimed at me rather than him. “You have lost the ability to be objective when dealing with Violet. You have no free will when it comes to her. She has bewitched you.”
I knew she disliked me, but calling me a witch was taking things a bit too far. “You’re the one who casts spells,” I reminded her. “If I’m a witch, what the hell does that make you?”
“What do you think you are doing when you use demon runes?” she said archly. “I use my holy grace to cast my spells. Tell me,” she eyed me in distaste, “what type of power do you think it is that you use?”
We all knew the answer to that and I fell silent. The demons inside me gave me the only power I had. Without them, I was as helpless as any normal human.
“You need to show them what has happened to you,” Leo said, reminding me of why we’d rushed back here. I wasn’t looking forward to revealing this development. Brie would no doubt take it as further proof that I was evil to the core.
“Show us what?” she said suspiciously.
My answer was to lift my shirt up to reveal the ugly black scar. She recoiled as if finding out that I had the plague. In a way, I did. I carried something horrible inside me and I didn’t know what it was yet.
Nathan sucked in a breath and dread filled his face. “The being that attacked you was a Wraith Warrior?” he asked.
I nodded and dropped my shirt. My number of scars was growing and they were getting uglier each time. “He was sent by a Prince. I don’t know which one it was yet.” Silence reigned and I sensed that they wanted to have a discussion without me listening in. “I’m going to take a shower.” Sam followed me into the kitchen and the others started whispering even before we’d reached the stairs.
Following me into my room, Sam hovered there uncertainly while I gathered some fresh clothes. “I know it looks bad, but I am sure that you will be okay,” he said with as much confidence as he could muster.
“Will I?” I asked softly. Somehow, I doubted that I would ever be okay again. He dropped his eyes and his posture slumped in defeat. I hated to cause him more misery, so I bumped my shoulder against his. “Is there anything good coming on TV?”
He brightened at my attempt to cheer him up. Glancing at my watch, he nodded. “One of my favorite shows will be starting in fifteen minutes.”
“I’d better hurry then,” I said with a forced grin. I headed for the bathroom and tried not to look at the mark that stretched across my abdomen as I showered. I could almost feel the evil insidiously spreading through me. Glancing down when I’d dried myself off, I blanched when I saw that the tendrils that emanated from the scar were slowly moving.
It took a couple of minutes before the color returned to my face. I was almost back to normal by the time I took a seat on the couch next to Sam. He didn’t question me when I sat close enough for our knees to touch. He simply put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me in closer. He pretended not to notice when I wiped my tears away with my sleeve.
₪₪₪
Chapter Fifteen
I lay awake when I went to bed. Staring up at the ceiling, I brooded about the future. Sam was across the hall, watching TV with the volume turned down low. The others were still downstairs. They were most likely discussing our options, not that we had many.
I let out a shuddering sigh, willing my tears away. Nathan had saved me from death dozens of times and in repayment, I’d almost drained him of his grace. The thought of making him less than the majestic being that he was filled me with horror. Sophia was only a shell of who she’d once been, thanks to the demons stripping her holy essence away. Most of her power was gone and she’d only been left with a touch of clairvoyance.
Despair overwhelmed me. It clung to me like a stench that I couldn’
t get rid of when I finally drifted off to sleep. I was drawn to the shadowlands inside my mind where the legion was waiting for me.
Morax studied me when I appeared before him. “You seem different,” he said in his guttural voice. Lesser demons were ugly, but he and his fellow Demon Lords were even more hideous than their minions. They stood head and shoulders above all but the captains, who were half a foot or so shorter than them.
“I ran into a Wraith Warrior,” I said despondently. “Or into his sword, to be more precise.”
Shocked breaths were drawn in and my hand strayed to my midsection involuntarily. Morax reached out and yanked my jacket up to reveal the new black scar. “He marked you,” he said in a strangled tone.
He’d done more than mark me, he’d scrambled my insides as well. “Gee, what gave it away?” I said sarcastically and stepped back out of his reach. I’d dreamed myself to be wearing my favorite black jacket with the skull buckles and a pair of ratty blue jeans with a few too many holes.
“You do not understand what this means.” His tone and expression were ominous as whispers swept through the crowd. Gossip was already spreading to everyone who was standing too far away to hear us.
I learned firsthand how annoying it was to be left hanging when he didn’t continue. It was no wonder Brie always got so annoyed when I did this to her. “Spill it,” I ordered.
“No matter how powerful a demon is, a wound from a Wraith Warrior means instant banishment back to the first realm of hell. Marking a living being such as you can have only one outcome.” He let the tension build before he finished. “Death.” He drew the word out dramatically.
“Wow, don’t sugarcoat it for me or anything,” I said, trying to hide the flutter of terror that rose inside me.
He staunchly ignored my sarcasm and his gaze went distant as he looked through me rather than at me. “I sense that you have been infected with evil. It is likely to spread through you until your insides rot and become putrid. I am amazed that you are still alive.”
I heaved a deep sigh that travelled all the way up from my toes. Nathan’s infusion of grace had slowed the process, but it hadn’t stopped it completely. Maybe I wouldn’t have to worry about the Wraith Warrior turning up again. One stab was apparently enough to kill me. Then again, the shadowy being had already guessed that I wouldn’t die straight away. Why else would he have warned me to stay away from his master? “Is there a cure for this sort of wound?”
Morax looked at me pityingly. “Only the Prince who sent the assassin after you would have the capacity to undo this dark spell. Considering that they all want you dead, it is highly unlikely that the one who is responsible will agree to do so.”
“You’re just full of good news, aren’t you?” He was used to my snarky attitude by now and took no offence. “Do any of the new arrivals know where a portal to the seventh realm of hell is?” I was pretty sure I already knew the answer, but I had to ask.
Glances were exchanged and Morax shook his head. “No. We are as in the dark as you are.”
“Great. I guess I’ll just slowly rot and die and take you all down with me then.” They blanched at my malicious remark. Ignoring them, I turned on my heel and stomped over to the house that I’d created for Heather.
She opened the door before I could knock and ushered me inside. “Hi,” she said brightly. Shifting her weight from foot to foot, she fidgeted nervously.
“Hi.” I eyed her as she wrung her hands together. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing!” Her eyes cut to the side, a sure sign that she was lying. With her blond hair and green eyes, we looked enough alike that we could have been sisters.
Spying movement behind the couch, I narrowed my eyes in suspicion. “Are you hiding someone in here?” She didn’t answer and I cast my memory back to the crowd outside. I belatedly realized that someone had been missing. “It’s the scribe, isn’t it?”
I heard a sigh then he popped up from behind the couch. He was the only demon who wore a black robe. Now that he was busted, he slunk around the couch to join us.
“Don’t be mad,” Heather said in a forlorn voice. “It just gets so lonely being here all by myself. The other demons were picking on him, so I offered to let him stay here as long as he doesn’t try anything funny.”
“Has he tried anything funny?” I asked.
He sent me an indignant look. “I have no interest in a human,” he said then sent Heather an almost apologetic look. “I mean no offense, of course.”
“That’s okay,” she said. “I have no interest in you either.”
I would have been very surprised if she had. A Demon Prince had defiled her and she’d bled to death in his bed. “I’m not mad at you,” I said, to her surprise. “This is your house. You can invite anyone you like inside.”
She shuddered at the thought of letting any of the other demons in. “I’m sure one is enough.”
“How have you been?” I asked rather lamely. “Do you need anything?”
“I’m doing okay,” she replied and cut a look at her companion. “Sy has a request, though.”
“Sy?” I said blankly then realized she was talking about the scribe.
“My name is Sytry,” he said. “Heather has shortened it to Sy.”
He didn’t seem particularly amused when I smirked. “You know us humans, we’re always giving things nicknames.” Heather smiled back at me. I was glad that she had someone to keep her company, even if it was one of the hell spawn. Sy was timid in comparison to the other demons. Like Sophia, he was more of a scholar than a warrior. “What do you need?” I asked him.
He ducked his head almost shyly, hesitant to make his request. Heather elbowed him in the side to prompt him to speak. “If it would not be too much trouble, I would really appreciate it if you would provide me with some sketchpads and pencils,” he said at last.
His runes had come in handy a few times now. I didn’t see any reason to deny him his request. I concentrated and a stack of sketchpads appeared on the dining table. A range of pencils materialized in a mug beside them. “The sketchpads and pencils will keep renewing themselves if you run out,” I told him. Or so I hoped. I was still learning about what I could do with the construct that I’d made inside my own mind.
His crimson eyes lit up in happiness. “Thank you!” He rushed over to the table, took a seat and snatched up one of the pads as if expecting me to make them disappear again.
“That was really nice of you,” Heather said to me softly. “You didn’t have to do that.”
“It didn’t cost me anything,” I shrugged.
Sneaking a look over her shoulder to make sure he wasn’t listening to us, she leaned in close to whisper. “Now maybe I’ll get a break from his non-stop gossiping.”
We shared a hushed giggle and Sy looked around suspiciously before returning to his drawing. “Did he tell you anything interesting in his gossip?” I wasn’t sure which realm he was from, but I knew that he’d lived in one of the palaces.
“Just a lot of bitching and moaning about how horrible demons are and how much they tease him for not being a warrior,” she replied. “Nothing that will help you, I’m afraid.”
I hoped someone would be able to shed some light on where the next portal was soon. I had even more reason to hurry now that I’d apparently been doomed to death by the Wraith Warrior’s blade.
₪₪₪
Chapter Sixteen
Several days passed with little of consequence happening. Nathan, Brie and Leo had resumed their patrols once the snow had been cleared. Leo took me with him a couple of times and I went out with Sam on the other days. I could no longer count on Brie to have my back and no one trusted me to be alone with Nathan. Not after I’d come so close to draining him of his grace.
We learned that the demons were back to eliminating their rivals when a pack of souls came knocking at the door, so to speak. Sophia discovered them when she opened the door to head outside for food. I was in the middle of train
ing with Leo and turned when she sucked in a breath. The black demon essence tried to flow past her, but were repelled by Brie’s spells.
Even in their pure spirit form, our enemies still couldn’t enter our domain. It was disturbing that they’d tracked me here. It was lucky they hadn’t been followed by curious demons. Then again, they tended to stay on their own turf rather than venturing out to explore. The evidence that rivals were often cut down was floating right in front of us. Humans weren’t able to see them. Apparently, only those of us who had been exposed to the supernatural world could.
I knew they would find their way inside me the moment I left the safety of the store. There was no point in delaying the inevitable, so I might as well get it over with. Sophia shifted aside when I approached her. The moment I stepped outside, I was bombarded by souls. I braced myself for the inundation of memories when their oily, yet insubstantial essence boiled inside me.
Leo’s expression was hopeful when I returned to train with him after the barrage ended. “Did you pick up anything from them?”
Well used to being invaded by now, I adjusted to the influx of a dozen new souls with barely a pause. “Nope. Just more mayhem and dismemberment stories to add to the collection.” He shrugged philosophically and we resumed our mock fighting. The new arrivals had been two captains and ten lesser lackeys. They weren’t high enough on the demon hierarchy to know anything that could help us.
Nathan was sitting at the table with Brie. His eyes were on me and it was all I could do not to stare at him in return. He’d finally regained his energy and was back to his usual strength again. He’d lost the haggard look that he’d gotten from having his essence depleted. It seemed that angels could replenish their grace as long as enough of it still remained inside them. If I’d taken even a little bit more, he’d have become permanently depleted of his power.
