by Amanda Ashby
“Jeez,” Nash’s voice came from somewhere behind her. “Are you kidding me with that? That was like something from Star Wars.”
“Nash, I thought the plan was that you stayed inside,” Cassidy panted, her eyes never leaving the next demon that was charging her.
“Yeah, well, it’s lucky that I didn’t,” he retorted as he dropped to his knees and used his Zippo to set both dead demons on fire. Then Thomas’s voice rang out in her ear, once again barking instructions to her.
“Drop your elbow and bring your sword in close to your body. Closer. You need to aim for the point between his collar and his neck. Now.”
She obediently followed his command, and instead of feeling a familiar ache in her muscles, it was almost exhilarating as the third demon fell at her feet. Without being told, she nimbly jumped out of the way as the fourth demon reached her.
This time she dropped her shield and put both hands on her sword to use it like a baseball bat. Blood spurted everywhere as the blade cut through the creature’s thickened neck like it was a Thanksgiving turkey. As soon as it had fallen, Nash was beside it with his Zippo, the flames quickly engulfing the creature before being sucked inward and the whole body vanishing from sight.
Cassidy repositioned herself as the fifth demon charged toward her. She tightened her grip on the hilt of the sword, but at the last moment the creature turned sideways and headed directly for Nash, who was still down on his knees next to the space where the dead demon had been only seconds earlier. For a split second Cassidy just stared in mute horror, her sword dangling hopelessly in her arm before Thomas’s blunt voice brought her crashing back to earth.
“Use your knife,” he hissed, “and aim for the spinal cord at the top of the neck. If you don’t make an exact hit, then your friend is dead.”
Fear pounded in her ears as her leather-clad hands clumsily fumbled for the knife that was hitched into her belt. Finally she had it out, the blade looking blunt and ineffective. She closed her eyes for a moment and tried to remember everything that Thomas had taught her. She took aim, careful to keep her shoulder up, and released the knife. It seemed to move in slow motion as it rotated through the air before finally embedding itself in the demon’s neck. The creature immediately toppled, but as it fell, its blade made a wide arc and sliced through Nash’s arm.
Cassidy hardly noticed as Nash fell to the ground with a sickening thud, a pool of blood flowing out from his injured arm.
“No.” The word was ripped from her throat and the sword fell with a clatter as she raced over to him, trying to avoid the demon lying next to him, its distorted, misshapen body still looking threatening, despite the knife that was plunged into its main artery.
Cassidy wanted to move Nash away from such an abomination, but she didn’t dare do anything to make his condition worse. Instead, she dropped to her knees and forced herself not to cry. His brow was the color of chalk and covered in a fine layer of sweat. Blood was pouring freely out of his arm, and she quickly stripped off her jacket to help stanch the flow while ignoring the chill air prickling her skin.
“I need to get him to a hospital,” Cassidy said in a tight voice, desperately trying to think where her cell phone was. Before she could stand up to look for her purse, Thomas was beside her.
“First you need to dispose of the dead demons and cleanse your blades.”
“What?” Cassidy glared at him as she continued to press the jacket into Nash’s arm while trying not to notice his blood seeping onto her hands. “No, I need to call an ambulance.”
Thomas opened his mouth to speak, but then, as if catching her stubborn expression, he let out an exasperated sigh. “The boy is not fatally wounded. I will ensure that he is healed. But first we need to burn the corpse.”
“You can save him?”
“I told you, he’s not dying, and therefore he doesn’t need to be saved. However, I can heal him a lot faster, after you dispose of the demon.” Once again the muscles around his jaw flickered, and Cassidy reluctantly laid Nash’s arm across his chest and reached for the Zippo that was lying on the ground beside him.
She tried to ignore the stench of decay that was rising up from the demons as she set fire to the coarse garments they were wearing and watched the flames encase their entire bodies, until, as before, the flames were sucked inward. Soon there was no sign that the demons had even been there. Then she retrieved the sword and her knife and ran the Zippo flame along them until the brilliant green flame made way for a more natural color and finally faded away to nothing. As soon as it was done she turned her attention back to Nash.
“So?” She glared at Thomas, demanding that he keep his word. He nodded to the grimoire that was lying on the ground, still glowing faintly despite the fact that the demons were gone. Cassidy scampered to pick it up while trying to ignore Nash’s shallow breathing. “I’ve got it. Now what? Is it something in the grimoire that I need?”
He shook his head. “You don’t yet have the skills. But if you put one hand on the grimoire and the other hand on the boy’s chest, I will transfer the power.”
Cassidy raised an eyebrow curiously, but had learned enough about Thomas to know that he didn’t joke. Instead, she slid one hand over the leather-bound book and rested her other hand on the tattered sleeve of Nash’s white shirt. His breathing was low and shallow, and Cassidy just hoped that Thomas really would be true to his word.
“Okay, no matter what happens, don’t remove your hands,” he instructed. Then without waiting for an answer he suddenly disappeared from sight. Cassidy felt a stab of fear go racing through her. He hadn’t kept his—
But the rest of her thoughts were lost as she felt a surge of energy come up from the grimoire, move along her arm, and flow down into Nash’s chest. The tattoo on her arm heated up and prickled her skin as the energy continued to pour through her. She kept her hand on Nash’s chest until his breathing slowly returned to normal. Thomas reappeared, his mismatched eyes unnaturally dull.
“It is done,” he said simply, but Cassidy didn’t answer. She was too busy pulling away her blood-soaked jacket and inspecting Nash’s arm. The deep gash that moments before had been gushing with blood was gone, and in its place was a small pink line. She stared at Thomas, unable to think of what to say. Then Nash groggily opened his eyes and blinked several times before cautiously wriggling up into a sitting position. The minute he did so, Cassidy immediately threw herself at him and hugged him.
“You’re okay. I was so worried. How do you feel?” she demanded, her hysteria giving way to relief.
“I . . . I actually feel amazing, but I’m not sure why. The last thing I remember was the demon charging at me and—” he said, then paused and twisted his neck to better inspect his arm. When he caught sight of the drenched jacket and Cassidy’s bloodied hands, he let out an astonished gasp. “I felt the knife slice through my arm. There was blood, and then I fell backward. I must have fainted.” As he spoke, his hand flew to the back of his head as if checking for lumps and bumps.
“It’s the grimoire,” Cassidy quickly told him as she reached out and clasped his hand. “Thomas did . . . something . . . through the grimoire to help you. Anyway, are you sure you really feel okay?”
“I am. I really, really am.” He stood up, still flexing his arm as he stared at the pale pink scar that only moments ago had been open and bloody. Then he turned to Thomas. “That’s some trick you’ve got there.”
“It’s not a trick,” the knight retorted in a tight voice, his face chalky pale. “And it’s not something I do on a regular basis, so make sure you don’t get cut again.”
“You’re preaching to the choir on that one,” Nash assured him with a shudder. “Being on the receiving end of two demons is enough for me. Anyone would think that they didn’t like me.”
“They don’t like anyone,” Thomas snapped, his eyes burning like embers against his pale skin. “And you would both do well to remember that.”
“Er, okay,” Nash sai
d before he turned back to Cassidy. “That was some fight. You were amazing. How many demons did you kill?”
“I killed five—” Cassidy started to say before her throat tightened and she let out a strangled gasp. “But there were six to begin with. Which means that there’s still another—”
“It’s gone,” Thomas cut her off. “Look at the grimoire and see for yourself. It’s no longer glowing intensely, which means that the immediate danger has passed.”
Cassidy looked down to where the book was lying and sank to her knees as she reached out and skimmed the leather with her fingertips, still bloody from Nash’s wound. It was cool to the touch despite the faint glow that lingered. “S-so what happens now? Do we go after it?”
“Non.”
“What? But we can’t just sit back and do nothing. It could be out there getting more recruits.”
“Guardians do not chase demons,” he said through clenched teeth, his jaw so tight that Cassidy thought something might snap. “They protect the Black Rose. That is all. Have you found the vessel yet?”
“Unfortunately, yes.” Cassidy was immediately distracted. “And I think we’re going to have a problem because the Black Rose is Celeste Gilbert.”
“It doesn’t matter who the vessel is, you need to do your duty. You need to follow the Black Rose and protect it. Everything else is irrelevant.”
“You’re not listening to me. Celeste is a senior. Following her everywhere isn’t going to be easy. I was thinking that we should tell her what’s happening.”
“Non.” He gave a definitive shake of his head. “That is not an option. You must find a way to protect her.”
“Fine. I’ll find a way,” Cassidy mimicked in annoyance as the mail pressed down on her shoulders. She tried to wriggle out of it, but instead managed to get her hair tangled up in the tiny steel links. Pain raced down her neck before Nash hurried over and helped ease the cumbersome metal cloth over her head. Cassidy panted in relief and quickly slipped off the equally uncomfortable undershirt. “But I still don’t see why—”
“Where did you get that?” Thomas suddenly cut her off as his eyes narrowed in on the carnelian necklace that had swung free now that her armor was off.
“A friend gave it to me,” she said in surprise, before adding, “Why? Is there some stupid rule to say that I can’t wear jewelry while I’m fighting?”
“No, but would you take it off if I asked you to?” he suddenly asked, his voice as uncompromising as the red scar on his cheek that shimmered and throbbed with anger.
“Why, what’s going on?” Cassidy studied his face, since up until now Thomas hadn’t shown any interest in anything that wasn’t the Black Rose. Her fingers tightened around the necklace, unsure whether she should take it off or not.
“Nothing.” He shook his head. “I-I must go. Follow the vessel. Make the protective amulet and ensure that the Black Rose is safe. That is your only mission. I will return tomorrow when the lauds bells ring for your training. Your stance during the battle was not acceptable.”
Then he was gone, and Cassidy and Nash were left sitting in the empty courtyard with only the sword and a couple of feathers to let them know that there had ever been a fight. But despite the fact the dead demons were gone, she could still feel their presence everywhere. Like acid burning through her skin, covering her clothes, clogging her nostrils so that she could barely breathe. And her hands. Stained with Nash’s blood.
“Okay, so that was abrupt even by his standards. And what was with the necklace?” Nash complained before suddenly pausing and studying her face. “Hey, are you okay?”
“No.” Cassidy tried not to look at her hands. “Not really. I mean, there were six of those demons, and Thomas wouldn’t even listen to me when I tried to explain how hard it’s going to be to follow Celeste. Nash, those demons: that was real. You could’ve been killed.”
“You could’ve been killed, too,” Nash said in a soft voice. “And Celeste still could be.”
“I know.” She tried to ignore the way her body was now shaking. “Wh-what are we going to do? What if I can’t stop them?”
“We’ll just need to make sure that we do,” Nash said firmly.
“Thank you,” she said in a choked voice. Nash had always been there for her, but she was certain that this went far beyond the normal job description of best friend.
“Don’t thank me too soon,” Nash warned as he rubbed his arm where the demon’s sword had slashed him. “Because there’s one other thing we can do, but I’m not sure you’re going to like it.”
“There’s a lot of this that I don’t like,” Cassidy said, still refusing to look at her bloodstained hands. “But that doesn’t mean I won’t do it. What are you thinking?”
“You could audition for Romeo and Juliet, and then you would be able to spend all the time you want with Celeste. Whether she likes it or not.”
What?
Cassidy opened her mouth to protest, since not only did she hate acting but the idea of standing onstage made her feel physically sick. But then she closed her mouth and looked at where the five demons had been slain, already knowing that this was one more decision that she didn’t have a choice about.
“Fine.” She slowly got to her feet and looked for somewhere to wash her hands. “I guess we’d better get going if I don’t want to miss the auditions.”
SEVENTEEN
Cassidy stepped out of the shower and studied her hands. Despite scrubbing them for the last twenty minutes, she could still see Nash’s blood running down her fingers and onto her calloused palms. Was it always going to be like this? Then she caught sight of her tattoo. Ever since she had let Thomas heal Nash through her, the tattoo had felt like it was dancing under her skin.
She could ask Thomas what that meant, but right now she was still too mad at him. Not only because of his disappearing act but because he made her burn the demon and cleanse the swords before letting her attend to her best friend. Duty first.
Even thinking about it made her furious, and she bit into the fleshy part of her lip as she hurried back to her bedroom, where the green dress had been condemned to the back of the closet along with the black one. At this rate she would have no clothes left by the end of the week. She grabbed some old jeans and the Snoopy hoodie that her mom kept trying to get rid of, and finished getting dressed while trying to ignore her aching muscles. All she really wanted was to sleep and pretend that none of it had happened. But she’d arranged to go over to Nash’s house to make the amulet.
She just hoped it worked.
Especially since it turned out that trying to audition for Romeo and Juliet after killing five demon knights wasn’t such a bright idea. It was bad enough that she’d been forced to grab the longest jacket she could find from the collection of discarded clothes in her locker to try to cover the worst of the blood, but then there was the whole trying-to-speak-in-front-of-an-audience thing to get over.
Nash had tried to convince her that it wasn’t so bad, but Cassidy knew that even with the help of Travis’s lucky charm, she’d be lucky if she managed to get cast as a tree. The only small consolation was that when they’d gone back into the auditorium, there had been no sign of Travis, something that she was very grateful for, since embarrassing herself in front of cute guys wasn’t her favorite thing in the world.
At least while Cassidy had been auditioning Nash had broken into Celeste’s locker and found her hairbrush, which meant that they had all the hair they needed. After that they had followed an annoyed-looking Celeste out to her car and trailed her all the way back to her house, before deciding that the sooner they made the amulet, the better.
Which was why she needed to get moving.
She slung her sports bag out the window so that her parents wouldn’t see it and then left the bedroom. As she walked down the hallway she could hear her mom in the kitchen, but she continued on to the living room, where her dad was sitting on the couch, his leg stretched out in front of him. He was no
longer wearing the protective brace, and his cheeks were flushed from doing his exercises. Despite the crutches that were still lying nearby, he was looking happier than he had in ages.
“Let me guess, more homework with Nash?” her dad said as he turned down the volume on the television. “Or are you going to celebrate your good news?”
“Wh-what good news?” Cassidy asked in a cautious voice, since she was fairly sure he wasn’t talking about her killing five demon knights this afternoon.
“The play. According to Colin Thompson, you were at the Romeo and Juliet auditions,” her dad said before frowning. “But Cass, tell me the truth, did you audition because you wanted to or because your mom thought it would be a good idea?”
Cassidy groaned. It was one thing to audition so that she could get close to Celeste Gilbert, but it was another thing entirely for her mom to think that she was following her advice. Then she realized her dad was still waiting for an answer, so she let out a reluctant sigh.
“It just seemed like it would be fun. But it was only an audition, and I don’t even know if I’ll get a part yet,” she said. “In fact, considering that I had the lousiest audition ever, I doubt it.”
“Nonsense, everyone can act, even you. You just need to tap into your emotions,” her dad said, and for a moment Cassidy thought of Travis and his haunting performance. What emotions had he been tapping into? Then she thought of the way he seemed to have eyes only for her, and her face heated up. “Besides, Romeo and Juliet is my favorite Shakespeare play, and I would love to see my daughter up onstage.”
“It is?” Cassidy instantly forgot about Travis as she looked at him in surprise. Her mom had mentioned that the other day, but Cassidy hadn’t believed her.
“Sure. Family feuding? Star-crossed lovers? Teenage angst? What’s not to like?” His navy eyes twinkled. “And when you get a part, I’ll help you learn your lines.”
