by E. S. Moore
“Why?” I asked. “Why are you doing this to these people? This isn’t a real place, is it?” I made a sweeping gesture with my arms. “This town isn’t really here.”
I don’t know how I knew, but I was positive Delai wasn’t what it appeared to be. Beligral’s Sight didn’t show me, though it might have aided in my understanding.
Levi smiled. It was as cruel of an expression as anything I’d ever seen.
“I help people here,” he said. “Those that wish for help, that truly wish to be saved, receive it. Those that do not . . .” He shrugged. “They leave.”
“I seriously doubt that.”
His expression turned neutral. “You know nothing about me or what I do. I was so close to curing you, to separating you from your demonic blood. And now . . . now you are nothing to me.” He spat. “You cannot be saved.”
“You weren’t helping me.” I took a step toward him despite the fact I knew he could crush me. He was taller now, so I had to look up to stare into his eyes. “You were turning me into one of your zombies. The people here aren’t people anymore. They’re just empty shells. I’ve known it all along. It just took me a while to realize it.”
Levi met my stare for a few seconds before looking away, indifferent. “They are no longer the creatures they once were,” he said. His eyes met mine again, and the intensity of his glare forced me back a step. “I’ve cured them of their taint. I am fixing what has been unleashed here one demon at a time. You cannot fault me for that.”
I laughed. “Then why hide what you are if you are so confident you are doing the right thing?”
Levi’s eyes widened for a heartbeat before he resumed his neutral stare. He looked deep into my eyes, seemed to be looking for something. Apparently, he found it.
“I see,” he said with a sigh. “You accept the gifts of a demon over what I have to offer. I knew you were damned. I didn’t realize how much of a hold it had on you until now.”
“You are no better than he is,” I said. “Don’t pretend you are.”
Levi waved a hand dismissively and started to walk away. “Leave,” he said. “You are no longer wanted here.”
“Not without Sienna,” I said, drawing my sword. I doubted I could take him, but I sure as hell was going to give it all I had. I owed it to the girl to at least try to save her.
All it took was a wave of his hand and I was slammed up against Jeremy’s car. The air was pressed from my lungs, expelled in a huff. It felt like a vise was slowly squeezing the very life out of me. My sword fell from my hand and clattered to the ground. I dangled there, my feet inches from the pavement, trapped by a force I couldn’t see.
Levi turned to face me, anger blazing in his eyes. It was like an actual fire, burning deep within his sockets.
He wasn’t a beautiful vision, the kind of thing read about in books. He wasn’t the angel spoken of by those in prayer. He was a destructive force, a demon in his own right. He cared nothing for me or the other Purebloods or supes he might harm. He only wanted to get his way and would stop at nothing to get it, even if it meant killing everyone in the process.
“Your blood sickens me,” he said. “It taints the air I breathe. I only wanted to help you. I thought you wanted it, thought you were ready. I let you into my home, my realm, in the hopes I could pull you away from the darkness that consumes you.”
He grunted and shook his head. “Go back to your home, go back to the monsters to kill and maim, because that is all you know how to do.”
The invisible vise squeezed harder. Blood dripped from my nose. I could taste more of it in my mouth. My eyes felt just about ready to pop from my head.
“But things like you never truly go away, do they?” He took a step toward me. One of my ribs groaned in protest. “You’ll keep trying to come back. You’ll think you’re doing the right thing when all you’ll really be doing is ruining the good work I’ve done here. I cannot let you destroy what I’ve worked so hard to accomplish.”
Another step and the rib didn’t just groan this time. It broke with an agonizing snap.
“Dad!” Sienna called out from the house. The door was standing wide open. I could just make her out through the haze in my head.
The vise was suddenly gone and I fell to the ground. I sucked in a painful breath and starting coughing. My lips were flecked with blood. My eyes burned so badly, I was afraid I was bleeding from them as well.
“What is it, sweetie?” Levi said. I glanced up, thinking I’d see the big, hairy man again, but he still looked like an angel to me. Even his voice sounded flat, emotionless, though I knew that’s not what Sienna heard.
“Don’t hurt her,” she said. “Please, let her go home.”
Levi stopped in front of his adopted daughter, putting himself between her and me. “Why would I hurt her?” he said. He put a hand on her shoulder and she flinched as if she was afraid he might hit her.
I wondered what kind of monster he thought she was. As far as I could tell, she was just a Pureblooded girl, trapped in this place like so many others. If Levi thought he was curing her, then what was he curing her from?
Not that it mattered, really. I knew I’d have to save her somehow. I just wasn’t sure how I’d ever manage it.
Movement by the door caught my eye. Eilene stood there, bathrobe pulled tight against her shoulders. She gave me a sad, resigned look that said more than words that she wished I’d never returned. I wanted to call out to her, but as soon as she saw me looking, she turned and walked back into the house.
Sienna said something I couldn’t hear past the ringing in my head. She looked so scared, I wanted to get up and just shoot the bastard in the back of the head. I doubted my bullets would do a damn bit of good, but it sure as hell would feel good, giving me that one last glint of enjoyment before he squashed me like a bug.
“Go back inside,” Levi said. “We’re just talking. Kat will be leaving shortly.”
Sienna glanced past him at me. It was obvious we hadn’t just been talking, but she nodded anyway. I’d do anything in the world to save her and I hoped she knew that. I might be no match for her adopted father, but somehow, I’d do it.
“I’ll come back for you,” I mouthed, hoping she would be able to read my lips.
She seemed to understand. She gave me a curt nod before running back to the house.
Levi stared after her before giving a heavy sigh. He turned back to me and stalked toward where I lay. I fully expected the pressure to return, but it didn’t. He just knelt beside me and shook his head. He knew I couldn’t hurt him. He had nothing to be afraid of.
“You are lucky,” he said. “Against my better judgment, I will let you live.” He reached out and I cringed. It only made him laugh. “Let me help you up.”
“I can do it myself.” I spit a glob of blood at his feet.
Levi stared at me, and for a moment, he looked genuinely sad before shrugging and standing. “Suit yourself.”
I used the car to help me work my way back to my feet. There was a huge dent in the driver’s side door. My sword was lying a few feet away. I walked over to it. It hurt like hell to bend over to pick it up.
“I want you to get in your car and drive,” Levi said. “I want you to go straight down the road and out of Delai and never return. I will have eyes on you. If you so much as hesitate, I’ll know and I will come for you.”
I so wanted to bury my blade right between his eyes, but instead I sheathed the sword and staggered over to the car door.
“If you are thinking of trying to take my girl from me, you can stop right now. She is mine. If you insist on hounding me, I will make sure there is nothing left for you to save.”
My teeth ached from clenching my jaw to keep from saying something stupid. He was threatening a girl he was supposed to care for and it pissed me off to no end. What kind of creature was he?
“I’ll leave,” I said, putting as much venom in my voice as I could. “But I will be back. Remember that. Someday, when
you think you are safe, I’ll be there.”
I was hoping for disdain, but instead I got a smile. “No, you won’t.”
And with that, Levi turned and walked back to the house.
I watched him go, wanting to fight him with every fiber of my being. I didn’t care that he was an angel. I didn’t care that I’d probably die in the process. I just wanted to shoot him, to stab him, to make him regret ever threatening Sienna in that way.
But I didn’t do anything. I knew I was being weak, but I was also being smart. I needed more than my demon-forged weapons, my demon-tainted blood.
What I needed was the demon himself.
I squeezed my eyes shut, hating myself. Leave it to me to side with a demon over an angel. If Sienna hadn’t been involved, who knew what I would have done.
I fumbled with the car door, my fingers not quite working right. The metal handle was warped, making it that much harder to grip. I managed to get the door open, though it popped and groaned with every inch. I slid into the driver’s seat and slammed the door closed.
Or at least I tried to. The door popped right back open and I felt like screaming. I reached out and yanked it closed with all my might; this time it stuck.
The station wagon was still running, so all I had to do was put it in gear and turn around. I could see a face in the upstairs window, watching me. I hoped it was Sienna and I silently promised her I wouldn’t let her suffer any longer than I had to.
I drove away from the house, vowing to return. No matter what Levi thought he could do to me, I could do so much worse. He might be an angel, but I had a demon on my side.
My stomach flipped. What was I becoming? I might as well give in to my monster now and forget any pretenses of trying to do what was right.
All eyes watched my passing as I made my way through town. I refused to look at them, knowing Levi would know and would take pleasure in it. It felt so much like running away. I felt sick to my stomach, wanted to just crawl into a hole and die.
Right then, I needed someone to tell me everything would be all right, that they’d do whatever it took to help me. I couldn’t do this alone anymore.
The last stretch of the road was empty, but I didn’t slow down. I drove right past the sign, hoping I was doing the right thing in leaving without Sienna. I glanced back once, but there was nothing more to see.
25
The Luna Cult parking garage felt colder than usual as I parked Jeremy’s beat-up car in one of the spaces. I really just wanted to go home, to curl up into a little ball and let the pain and misery pass. But with what had just happened with Levi, as well as the discovery of the body that meant The Left Hand was in town, I needed to see Jonathan.
My ribs hurt horribly and I couldn’t stop shivering as I made my way through the snow toward the old library. I pulled my coat as tight as I could without making my ribs ache any more than they already were and hunched my shoulders against the bitterly cold wind.
I felt horribly alone out there, walking in the dark. I could see lights from the part of the campus that still functioned, but they were distant, barely worth noting. Debris poked out of the snow where someone lost a shoe or a branch had fallen. There were no howls this night, no animals crying out. Everyone and everything was safely tucked away in their homes.
Or so it seemed to me at the time.
I was so wrapped up in my own misery, I was nearly to the front steps before I noticed the lights. The entire Den was lit up. I stared at it in awe, wondering why the glamour had dropped. Had something happened to Jonathan while I was gone?
My heart rate picked up, but before I could do something stupid like go charging in screaming his name, I realized it must still be the Sight working. It was allowing me to see through this glamour just as it had helped with Levi’s.
I stepped back so I could get a better view of the Den without Jonathan’s magic concealing it. It looked far better with the lights on, though they hadn’t done much to the outside. Why bother when no one would ever see what truly lay beneath the glamour. Faded graffiti marred much of the lower portion of the wall. A few bricks were busted, but otherwise the place didn’t look half bad.
I shook my head as I trudged up the stairs. How powerful was Jonathan, really? If he could conceal all those lights, keep the glamour up indefinitely, did that make him stronger than he tried to appear? Or were glamours really that easy to maintain? Perhaps it was time I asked him.
I had a fleeting thought of asking Jonathan’s help with extracting Sienna and Eilene, but squashed it immediately. I had barely been able to shrug off Levi’s influence, and even then, I had help from the demon’s magic, so what would happen if I took the wolves there? Would Levi gain control of them somehow? I really didn’t want to find out.
I paused just outside the doors to the Den and peered in through the glass. Pablo and a few other Cultists were sitting near the stairwell, a card table set up between them. They were all wearing their robes and were engrossed in their game, so they hadn’t seen me yet.
No one was coming down the stairs to let me in either. I’d seen guards haul a man away who’d wandered onto their property before, knew they had cameras hidden all around the green, yet no one even bothered to come out to show me in.
And for some reason, that pissed me off.
I pushed open the door and stepped through. It was strange entering the Den and not being blinded by the sudden light. It was actually quite refreshing, and I hoped the demon’s Sight would last more than a few days. It could really come in handy.
“You,” Pablo said, rising. His crescent moon tattoo seemed to pulse in the middle of his forehead as he glared at me. The big Mexican had never liked me, and I was pretty sure he never would.
“Yep, me.” I looked around casually just to irritate him. “Where’s Jonathan?” While I might be a wreck inside and my ribs hurt like hell, I didn’t want to show weakness in front of Pablo or the other Cultists. I didn’t know who might be able to take advantage of it some way. Hell, if someone was reporting to Adrian, I definitely didn’t want them to tell him I’d nearly been crushed.
Pablo continued to glare at me, refusing to tell me a thing. Thankfully, one of the female Cultists behind him spoke up.
“He’s upstairs in his rooms,” she said, her bald head gleaming in the light. “We can send someone for him if you want.”
“No,” I said. “I know the way.”
Pablo opened his mouth to protest, but I pushed past him and climbed the stairs before he could utter a word. I think he might have fought me before, but after being scolded by his Denmaster a few times about harassing me, he seemed to have finally gotten the message. I was a part of this Den whether he liked it or not.
I could feel his hateful eyes on my back as I headed upstairs. I grinned at him and gave a little wave as I reached the top, solely for the purpose of agitating him more.
As soon as I was out of sight, I leaned against the wall and took a few deep breaths. Good God, I hurt. Levi had nearly crushed me with a thought. I was just glad he’d decided to make me suffer rather than squishing me all at once. I might hurt, but at least I was alive.
Breathing was painful and it took me a few minutes to catch my breath. Once I was sure I could move without wincing, I straightened my shoulders and walked the last few yards to the gilded doors that led to Jonathan’s sitting room. While I knew there were other rooms upstairs, I was sure he would be there.
I considered knocking, but decided to hell with it and opened the door myself. There were no guards posted outside tonight, which made me feel a little better. Having wolves standing on either side of the door meant things weren’t good at the Den. It appeared they no longer feared that Baset would come in and abduct anyone for a while.
Jonathan was seated on the couch and started to rise as the door opened. He eased back down when he saw me and set a glass of wine on the table in front of him. He marked his place in a book and set it aside.
“I didn’t expec
t to see you tonight,” he said.
It took me a moment to formulate an answer to that. I stared at him, at the slope of his head, at the scarred flesh where I’d taken part of his skull back before I knew who he was. It was unsettling to see him without his glamour, though I was pretty sure it was still up.
“We need to talk,” I said once I could speak. I would have liked to remain standing, but I hurt too damn much. Just the act of supporting my body’s weight was wearing me out. I strode across the room, doing my best to keep the pain off my face. I sat down in a chair across from Jonathan, probably a bit slower than I should have.
“You’re hurt.” He frowned and nodded to a Cultist who was standing by the wet bar. The Cultist gave his Denmaster a quick nod and hurried out of the room.
“It’ll pass,” I said.
Jonathan’s frown deepened. “What happened?”
I winced as I tried to relax. Breathing was harder while I was sitting. I prodded my rib where it was broken. It hurt like a bitch, but I was pretty sure it would heal okay. I hoped it was merely cracked rather than a full-on fracture. The latter would take too long to heal.
I opened my mouth to tell him about The Left Hand, but all that came out was a sob.
I didn’t know where it had come from. I’d been certain I’d be able to do this; that I’d just walk in, tell him how it was, and then ease my painful way back to Jeremy’s car where I’d drive home and collapse in bed for a few days.
But for whatever reason, I just broke. Jonathan was up and off the couch in an instant. He knelt in front of me, put a hand on my arm, and forced me to look him in the eye. He studied me, his face full of concern.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
I started to nod but shook my head instead.
“Tell me what happened.”
I didn’t know where to start. The Left Hand was bad enough, but now with Levi and Delai thrown on top of it all, I wasn’t sure what was important anymore. I hated myself for not being able to save Sienna when I had the chance. The girl didn’t deserve to suffer, and I’d left her there to do just that.
