Charade (Heven & Hell)

by Cambria Hebert

  Instantly, I shifted to full hellhound form. I watched the Lucent Marbles go rolling across the ground when my jeans tore from my body, but I didn’t stop to pick them up. Heven rushed after them, scooping two up and shoving them in her pocket.

  I launched myself at the demon, teeth exposed, ready to rip out his throat. I would tear him apart for what he did to my brother. He knocked me away with one swipe of his arm, but I wasn’t done. The gash in my arm burned, but I ignored it. I focused completely on this vile creature before me.

  Heven was pacing behind us, then stopped and squatted next to my brother. She touched his cheek with her hand and she frowned. Her tenderness distracted me and earned me another hard hit from the demon. Heven shot to her feet at the same moment I did and she began to look around wildly. She wanted a weapon so she could join the fight. I prayed she didn’t find one. Moments later, she ran out of my line of sight and I was relieved. I didn’t want her anywhere near this.

  I took a chunk out of the demon’s side, listening as it roared in pain and I lunged again, taking another out of its thigh. But on my third lunge, he kicked me and I went flying, landing hard against the large rock formation. I felt something crack and I wasn’t able to spring right back up.

  The demon moved fast, coming to stand over me, a manic expression on its face. It was holding the dagger that it tried to stab me with earlier. The very one that I had stabbed my brother with. It raised the blade above its head and I jumped to my feet as I saw the edge rushing down toward me.

  “NO!” Heven screamed from close by and then she was in front of me shoving another dagger—Gemma’s dagger—in the demon’s chest. He stumbled backward, shock marring his nasty face.

  Run, Heven, I urged.

  Heven looked toward Gemma, who yelled, “You know what to do.”

  To my dismay Heven reached out and grasped the dagger and pressed the jewel on the hilt.

  Then something remarkable happened.

  The demon opened his mouth, but no sound came out. He dropped to his knees and fell forward as I pulled Heven out of the way. Bright light seemed to fill the inside of the demon. Pure, white light. We all watched as the demon writhed in pain as the light shined out from his eyes, ears and nose. He writhed for a long time. It was hard to watch because the more light that shined the more pain it obviously felt. He tried to scream, but it was as if his pain was so great, he couldn’t manage the sound. He was trapped in a world of pain with no escape. Finally, I realized something and stepped forward.

  Using my teeth I reached down and tugged the dagger free.

  The light died instantly and so did the demon. He was left lying on the ground, blackened as if he had been charred in a fire, with smoke curling from its ears and mouth.

  “It’s like he was burned from the inside out,” Cole said, now fully awake. There was a trail of blood down the back of his neck that curled around his ear and disappeared into his shirt.

  “Cole! Did you break anything? How are you even awake?” Heven said.

  Cole smiled. “Gemma has some serious mojo and fixed me up.”

  Gemma didn’t seem to want to talk about her “mojo” and she motioned toward the dead demon at our feet.

  “That’s exactly what happened,” Gemma said, taking the dagger from my mouth. “That vile creature was no match for the pure light of Heaven, which is exactly what just killed him.”

  We all looked at the dagger clutched in her hand with awe.

  “I saw an image on the wall of the catacombs… it was of that dagger. That’s how I knew what to do,” Heven said, sounding shaken.

  I morphed immediately while Cole stepped in front of me, yanking some pants out of the bag he was carrying. I hurried and shoved them on and ran to my brother, kneeling beside him.

  “Logan,” I choked out.

  The dagger wound in his chest was gaping and blood soaked the front of his torn and dirty shirt. He was so pale and small. Smaller than he had looked since he first found me. I realized that the demon had made him look bigger, had somehow swelled his looks so he appeared stronger than he was. In truth, his shoulders were narrow and his body was thin. He seemed to have a hollow look about him and I wasn’t sure if that was because his body was suddenly more empty than it had been or because he was so close to death. His dark blond hair fell limply over his forehead and beneath his closed eyes were purple smudges. He was so frail, so achingly fragile that I was afraid to touch him in even the smallest of gestures. His chest was rising and falling slightly, so I knew he was hanging on to what life he had left and I sat there, hunched over him, trying to think of a way to somehow give him some of my own life.

  “Let me see him,” Gemma said, pushing me aside and holding her hands out, palms down over his chest. The air between her hands and his wound began to glow. The wound magically began sealing itself up and the skin knitted back together.

  “You can heal?” Heven asked from beside me.

  “Like I said, she has serious mojo.” Cole leaned close to Heven to whisper loudly.

  Gemma nodded. “They might have taken my wings and banished me from Heaven, but I still have some powers. This is one of them.”

  “Will he live?” I asked, desperate.

  “I don’t know. But this will help him,” Gemma said, standing up.

  “Take him out of here. Take him back to my apartment, please,” I asked.

  Gemma nodded. Heven reached into her pocket and pulled out two Lucent Marbles. “I only found two; the third one is gone.”

  “It’s all we need,” I said, staring down at Logan, who was still unconscious. What would this do to him when he woke up? Would he remember what happened? Would he ever be the same?

  “I’ll get him home safely and watch over him,” Gemma promised. She looked at Cole.

  “I’m staying with them. They’re going to need the help.”

  “Be careful. Beelzebub is very strong. If he is who you are up against, I would recommend just coming with me.”

  “I’m not giving up. This guy has taken too much from me. He’s hurt too many people.” Heven placed her hand in mine.

  Gemma nodded. She knew that I would never run from a fight.

  I crouched beside Logan and brushed his hair from his forehead. “I’m so sorry. You’re going to be okay.”

  He didn’t respond as I knew he wouldn’t. But something did happen. The ground began vibrating beneath my feet and there was a shrieking in the sky.

  What now?

  Heven gasped and pulled my arm, pulling me up away from Logan.

  “Get back!” Gemma yelled, pushing at Cole.

  I stared in shock as a humungous dragon lowered itself from the dark, ominous sky and landed on the ground beside Logan.

  Heven

  “No,” I whispered and started forward.

  Sam pulled me back. “Are you crazy? Do you see the size of that thing?”

  Yes, but if he understood what it wanted, he wouldn’t be pulling me back. I twisted free and ran forward. Sam followed with a muffled curse. The dragon seemed to ignore us as it leaned over Logan’s limp body and began opening its massive jaws. The whirring noise and a light sucking pulled at my clothes.

  “No!” I yelled, coming to stand in front of the dragon.

  Its golden eyes flicked to me. It opened its mouth wider.

  “No!” I yelled, again, with all the force and strength I could.

  Amazingly, the dragon closed its mouth and looked at me again.

  “Good boy,” I said, feeling silly.

  “Heven, come away now,” Sam begged, grabbing my hand. “I’ll get Logan.”

  The dragon shrieked and roared, its putrid breath blowing us back. I pulled my hand away from Sam’s. The dragon eyed us suspiciously.

  I watched it to see what it would do.

  It nosed Logan’s body as if testing me.

  “No!” I told it again.

  It growled.

  “Give me the bag,” I said to Sam.

 
; “Heven…”

  “The bag, Sam.”

  He handed it over. Without taking my gaze from the dragon, I fished around inside and found what I wanted. I dropped the bag at my feet and loosened the wrapper around what I held.

  “Are you serious, Hev?” Cole asked. Then to Gemma he said, “Is she serious?”

  “I have no idea,” Gemma answered.

  The dragon stared at me as I held up the prize. With a quick flick of my hand, I sent the Snickers bar at him. The dragon caught it and, without chewing, swallowed it whole.

  “Good dragon,” I told it.

  It opened its jaws and made a sound, almost like a response and showed me his teeth.

  I stared at it as it turned and lumbered toward the dead demon’s corpse. It nosed it and then crouched over it and opened its mouth. Amazingly, its golden eyes looked up.

  I nodded and stepped back toward Sam who was already running to scoop up his brother from the ground. “Watch,” I told everyone.

  The dragon did his thing, opening his mouth and sucking what was left of the demons soul right out of him. When he was done, he looked up.

  “What is that thing?” Cole asked, amazed.

  “The Devourer,” I whispered.

  The dragon looked at me before it flew away.

  “It was going to do that to Logan?” Sam asked, tightening his hold on his brother and looking to the pile of ash that used to be the demon that used Logan’s body as a façade for its sinister identity.

  “Yeah.”

  He turned to Gemma. “Get him out of here.”

  Gemma swiftly took Logan from Sam and asked me for a Lucent Marble, which I held out to her.

  “Take care of him,” Sam told Gemma.

  “Don’t worry about Logan. Take care of yourselves. At the first sign of real trouble, get out.”

  Sam nodded and, without another word, Gemma threw the Lucent Marble down and it shattered. A swirling portal of fog appeared. Gemma didn’t hesitate to walk right through.

  And then they were gone.

  Sam, Cole and I looked at one another.

  “I’m so sorry this happened,” I told Sam, feeling just awful about his brother.

  “I suspected a demon since we got home from Rome. I brought him down here, hoping for some answers. I hadn’t expected all this though.” He sounded weary and I couldn’t blame him.

  “Me either. I keep wondering who this Beelzebub guy is and why he’s gone to such great lengths to torture us.”

  “That demon said he wants you, Heven. It isn’t just about the scroll anymore, but you too,” Cole said, his voice grim.

  “Yeah, well, this guy is about to get a rude awakening,” Sam said, grabbing my hand, and we started walking again.

  Nerves knotted my stomach as I anticipated the one I knew was waiting for me just beyond the rock. When at last he came into view, my breath caught. He wasn’t at all what I was expecting.

  I knew him.

  I watched as a fly circled his head and landed in his hair. I gasped in horror as I realized exactly what we had been missing this whole time.

  Beelzebub was Henry. Henry was Beelzebub.

  My mother was dating a demon.

  * * *

  Sam let out a roar and lunged at Beelzebub. He only laughed, flinging out his hand, and sent Sam flying backward onto the ground. Sam rebounded and stood, racing toward him again, but I caught his arm. Stop, he’s more powerful than we realized.

  Sam didn’t lunge again, but I knew that he wanted to. I felt the restrained need in him to shift right there and fight.

  “Are you the one who’s been in my head?” I asked.

  He laughed. “Thought you were clever by breaking that thread, did you? Guess you didn’t really break it after all.”

  “That’s only because I’m here, in Hell,” I said, wanting him to realize that I knew more than he thought I did.

  He cackled again and the hair on my arms rose. “Is that what you believe? Silly girl. I can still get into that head of yours anytime I please. That thread may have been broken, but it wasn’t the only thread that I left in your mind. I’ve been leaving you alone because you were going to Rome. I wanted you to have a false sense of security, so that taking the Treasure Map would be easier.”

  “There’s a demon in my head,” I said, realizing that things were much worse than I had thought. I watched what that demon had done to Logan. Would the same thing happen to me?

  “Demon is such a derogatory term.” Beelzebub smirked. “I’m far above a lowly demon.” He motioned with his hand and two demons, the kind he deemed lowly, came into sight carrying something.

  A body.

  Cole, Sam and I watched in horror and shock as a white twisting cloud rose out of Beelzebub, whose body—Henry’s body—immediately dropped on the ground, lifeless and unmoving.

  I realized it was his spirit. His soul.

  It floated with purpose toward the body the demons were carrying and began traveling up his nose, and into his ears… then suddenly the body’s eyes popped open and he stood.

  This was the man from my dreams. Dark hair, pale skin and blood-red lips. This was the man who pulled me into Hell when I slept.

  I have been being tortured by the same man who had the ability to change his form—his body. That explained the day I almost drowned, why I never saw a demon in the water with me. He wasn’t using one.

  “I am the Prince of Demons, The Lord of Flies! I am Second only to Satan!” he roared triumphantly.

  The three of us stood there, not really reacting because we were all in shock. Besides, his title didn’t scare me. His actions did. And really, the Lord of Flies? That’s nasty. And pathetic.

  It seemed to make him angry that the three of us didn’t react or run away screaming. “Have I not done enough to make you fear me?” he said, his voice was deadly quiet, which was much more frightening than when he was screaming.

  Of course I was afraid. We all were, but none of us were going to give him the satisfaction of admitting it.

  He sighed dramatically. “I guess that’s what I get for sending a worthless demon to get between you. The only thing he had been good for was giving me information about you, which I managed on my own by letting myself into your head. If he had done his job, you would have realized that you belong here and would have come running. It’s a pity you already killed him. I would have enjoyed it.”

  I was feeling a little weird… shaky. The Lucent Marble in my pocket felt heavy, reminding me our time was running out.

  “It’s time I took matters into my own hands. I tried the nice way, the civil way, but no more!” he screamed and lifted his hands to the sky.

  Purple lightning whipped through heavy clouds. It was so cloudy and hazy that the lightning looked florescent as it flashed. Sam pulled me behind him, placing his body directly in front of mine and Beelzebub laughed.

  Then, like an orchestra conductor, he brought down his hands, a quick sweeping motion and with them came the lightning. It hit the ground with such force that the rocky floor exploded around us. Sharp pieces of shale flew everywhere and dust blew in my eyes. A loud booming sound filled my ears, the ground shook and I was falling…

  Everything went black.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Heven

  I heard my name being called. The voice was urgent and pleading. It was a raspy voice, a voice I liked, so I opened my eyes.

  “Thank God,” Sam groaned when I looked up at him.

  “What happened?” I said, blinking and looked at Cole, who was leaning over Sam to stare down at me.

  “We all blacked out and he locked us up in here,” Cole answered, grimly.

  I sat up, my head swimming. “Easy,” Sam said.

  “I don’t feel right,” I moaned.

  There was a light tug in the center of my chest and I wondered if it was my soul starting to separate from my body. I glanced at Cole to see if maybe he was feeling the same way and he nodded once. His eye
was swollen and beginning to blacken and the rest of his face was covered in soot and dust from the explosion. It was a stark contrast to the rust-colored trail of dried blood running down the back of his neck.

  “We have to get out of here,” I said, pushing to my feet.

  Then I realized where we were.

  In his castle. In his dungeon.

  We were locked away behind iron bars. How long would he try to keep us here? My only comfort was that we had the Lucent Marble, so really, we weren’t trapped.

  “I know where the scroll is.”

  Even though the voice was raspy and low, it was familiar. Stunned silence froze us all for one long second. Then, Sam and Cole whipped around and I looked past them to peer into one of the dark cells across the hall. Kimber stood in the shadowed doorway, behind the bars. Her hair was matted and dirty, hanging around her gaunt, white face.

  “Kimber?” I whispered.

  “Turns out you were right. I chose the wrong side,” she said, the words seeming to scrape from her throat. It was painful to watch.

  “That day at the airport…” I said, thinking of the dark car she was climbing into—how I hadn’t seen her since.

  “I tried to get it back. I tried to make it right. I’m sorry.”

  They made her a prisoner here. They used her and then turned on her. Pity and sorrow filled me. Our friendship might be over, but I didn’t want this for her and I still cared about her.

  I rushed toward the bars. “How do we get out of here?”

  She shrank back into her cell, darkness enveloping her and I wanted to scream out in frustration. But then I realized she wasn’t trying to tease us.

  She was hiding.

  Beelzebub appeared, followed by a figure dressed in a blood-red robe. The hood was pulled forward, hiding the person’s face, but I knew it was Hecate. She stopped in front of Kimber’s cage and turned toward us. I couldn’t see her stare, but I could feel it and I shivered.

  Beelzebub looked completely unruffled and not the least bit dirty from the explosion as he stepped in front of our cage. I stumbled backward.