by Amy Braun
“You don’t know what it’s like, Dro,” I whispered shakily. “You don’t know…”
I couldn’t go on. Even now, I could taste Ohzlan’s thick, smoky body winding down my throat, burning me as he crawled toward my heart. I could feel the sudden, hard shove as he pushed me aside and stood on top of me. The sharp slices of the net as it was thrown over me, how savagely it cut whenever I moved, begging and screaming for him to leave my sister alone, the tear of his claws in my soul as the angels tried to rip him out–
I jumped when Dro touched my hand. I looked at it, beginning to calm down as she gave it a gentle squeeze. I took a deep breath and looked in her pale blue eyes. They were the only things that were completely familiar to me. Seeing all her kindness, pride, and love was all that kept me from having a panic attack. The pressure and pain in my heart started to fade, and suddenly I was me again.
“I didn’t say I was going to do it,” she assured me when I was more or less okay. “But if it comes down to your life or mine, I won’t hesitate. You can’t keep me safe all the time, Con. You’re human. I’m not. I can handle things you can’t.”
I narrowed my eyes. “I don’t give a shit about pain.”
“But I do.” Dro shook her head. “I’m tired of this, Connie. I’m tired of being hunted and being the reason everything gets messed up. If something ever happened to you…” Dro looked away, blinking rapidly and tightening her grip on my hand. “I wouldn’t be able to live with myself. I’d rather die.”
“Don’t say that,” I told her. “Don’t ever say that. None of this is your fault, Dro. It’s the demons fault. Even the angels are to blame. But not you. I won’t let you slip. I promise. We’ll find a way to stop them. You can start fresh. We’ll get through this, little sister.”
Dro looked at me as if she had hope. She sighed heavily and shook her head. “You make it sound so easy.”
“It won’t be. But we can’t give up. That’s never been us.”
A sloppy half smile came over her face. It was faked for me, but it was progress. I hoped. “No, I guess not.”
I wished there was more for me to tell her, a way to make her believe that both of us would make it through alive. But I couldn’t lie to her, and it would be safe to assume that I might die. I’d refuse to let my sister die, but as she had pointed out, I was human. It was so easy for me to be killed.
“Get some sleep, Dro. Think about everything else in the morning.”
She nodded, finally releasing my hand and starting to tuck herself back into the bed. She glanced up at me. “You need to sleep too, Constance. You look more tired than usual.”
I stifled a laugh. “Thanks, sis. Nice to hear that kind of thing.”
She shrugged. For a second, she looked like a sixteen year old girl again, and not a young woman growing up far too fast in a dangerous life. Dro dropped her head onto her pillow, closed her eyes, and fell asleep.
I watched for signs of a nightmare, but nothing happened. I lay on my back and looked at the ceiling again, resting the hatchet onto my stomach. I closed my eyes, but didn’t feel tired. I was thinking too much about Dro’s willingness to sacrifice herself so the demons could be stopped. It was just like her to give herself up like that for the greater good, but I wouldn’t let it happen. I had fought my possession, and nearly died because of it. Dro wouldn’t fight, and that would be the reason she died. I couldn’t survive if something happened to her.
She was my rock, my purpose and foundation. Without her, I was lost. I was the earth without the moon. Deep down, I was broken. Something inside me had snapped years ago, and the only thing holding me together was my little sister.
Thinking about life without her was impossible. She’d been with me so long I couldn’t even remember a day without her, and I didn’t want to. The irony was that she was the last bit of normality in my life. The last familiar thing. When something threatened her, I was the first one at her defense…
“I don’t think I’m doing this right, little sister,” I said, trying to weave the plastic flowers into Dro’s braid. “They keep falling out.”
She sat patiently on the porch with her back to me, dainty pale hands clasped in her lap on her flower printed dress. Dro was going to be ten years old in a couple weeks, and she was taking advantage of her birthday month by making me braid flowers into her hair.
“You’ll get it,” Dro promised with a smile.
My sister had every confidence in me, even though I had no clue what I was doing. She was in a good mood today. The last few years had been difficult, every day a challenge for our family to cope with Dro’s strange abilities and powers. They hadn’t believed her until she proved them by mentioning things no one could know. We never said anything or looked for help, because we were afraid she would be taken away. Mom and Dad still treated her like a princess, but they were careful around her. I had steadily gotten used to the things Dro could do. They were a part of who she was and couldn’t be changed. Dro always felt like she was a freak, so my acting normal around her assured her that she was just a regular girl.
I just wish I knew how to braid her hair.
“It’s not hard,” she said, as if reading my thoughts.
My fingers hesitated in her hair. I was still learning the extent of her weird abilities. I had thought mind reading wasn’t one of them, but I was never sure of anything when it came to Dro’s gifts.
“Maybe not for you,” I grumbled. “I’ve got butterfingers.”
Dro giggled. I smiled softly.
“What a beautiful little girl,” someone said.
I’d been so absorbed in trying to get the freaking braid right that I hadn’t noticed her walk up. I lifted my head, forgetting the braid and moving to stand in front of my sister.
It was the woman from across the street. Isabel.
Up close, she was even more beautiful. Long black hair was perfectly straightened on either side of her face. She was slim but curvy, and she showed off her body by wearing a black blazer that revealed the top part of her breasts, tight black leggings, and black boots that went to her knees. Her lips were the color of blood, her eyes ringed by black eyeliner.
There was something wrong with her eyes. I’d seen that look from bad guys in movies and the bullies on the streets. There was something dark and wicked in them. I didn’t know what it meant, or why it was directed at Dro, but I didn’t like it.
I didn’t like her.
“Do you want something?” I asked, trying to force her attention onto me.
Isabel’s eyes slid up to mine. A chill went down my back, anxiety coiling around my spine like a snake ready to squeeze the life out of its prey. I balled my fists. Getting ready to hit something made me feel stronger. Even if I wasn’t.
Isabel smiled. “I noticed your sister out here and had to see what all the fuss was about.” Her eyes went back to my sister. “I’ve heard so much about you, little Andromeda.”
I tensed, the phantom snake twisting tighter inside me. Only our parents called Dro by her full name. There shouldn’t have been a way Isabel could have known it.
Isabel went back to ignoring me, bending at the waist and putting her hands on her knees so she could look into Dro’s eyes. That creepy smile hadn’t left her face.
“You truly are extraordinary, aren’t you Andromeda?” she crooned. “So beautiful, so special. But you know how special you are, don’t you?”
I tried to move in front of Dro again, but I couldn’t. Something was keeping me in place. I pushed against it, but I felt as if an invisible force had clamped onto me and rooted me to the ground.
“Do you ever wonder about your parents, little Andromeda? Do you wonder who they really are?”
Dro shook her head. “I have a Mommy and Daddy and sister who love me.”
“But they aren’t your blood.” She leaned in closer to Dro. “What if I could take you to your father? Would you like that, little Andromeda?”
My heart was pounding so loud I could
hear it in my ears. I tried to move again, but that weird invisible force wouldn’t let me.
Dro shook her head again. “No,” she said. “I like it here. I love my family.”
Isabel actually looked surprised, like she thought Dro would throw away everything she knew to meet her birth father, the man who’d abandoned her to die in the woods.
Nice try, lady.
“What’s going on?” my dad’s voice sounded.
We looked over. Mom and Dad stood next to each other, covered in dirt from working in the backyard. They glanced from us to Isabel. The creepy, gorgeous woman straightened up slowly, as if she could use her body as a weapon. Which she probably could.
Suddenly I was able to move again. I scurried in front of Dro to block her from Isabel’s view. Not that Isabel was looking at us anymore.
“Your daughter is wonderful, isn’t she, Luis?”
Dad stiffened at the sound of his name. Mom left his side and stood beside us, wrapping her arm around my shoulder and reaching back to hold Dro’s hand.
“Is there something you want, Isabel?” she asked.
The woman smiled at my mother, but there was nothing friendly about the twist in her lips.
“I just want to make sure that she’s being taken care of.” Her dark eyes found Dro’s again. “She is such a unique girl, after all.”
Dad found himself and took slow steps toward her. “My wife asked you a question. Tell her the truth.”
Isabel gave him a bored look. “Calm yourself, Luis. I’m not here to step on toes.”
“You work for the government, don’t you?” Mom asked, her arm tightening around me. We hadn’t legally adopted Dro. If Isabel was a social worker or knew someone who was, she could file a report and have them take Dro away from us.
“Why are you jumping to conclusions, Carmen?” She looked between my father and my mother. “Can it be you really don’t know what you have? That you don’t know her power?”
Dad was inches away from her. He looked angry, but I wondered how much of it was a cover for how nervous he was.
“If you don’t work for the government, then leave my family alone. Stay away from my children. Both of them.”
Isabel faced him, calm and composed. “My, my, you’re quite defensive over what doesn’t belong to you, aren’t you, Luis?”
My dad had never hit a woman in his whole life. He never would. But in that second, I was almost certain he was going to punch Isabel’s head off.
“Get the hell off my property, bitch,” my dad growled. He was ready to snap.
Isabel backed off instead of continuing to push my father. Maybe she had some survival instinct after all.
“If you insist,” she said with that dark smile of hers. Her eyes moved to Mom, Dro, and me. “Take good care of her.” Isabel looked at Dro. The flash of evil burned in her eyes. “Goodbye, little Andromeda.”
Isabel turned and walked down the sidewalk, moving across the street to her house. Dad walked up to stand beside us on the porch, keeping his eyes on Isabel’s back. Once she was in her house, he sat down next to Dro and put his arm around her shoulder, rubbing her arm.
“You okay, sweetheart?”
Dro bit her lip, but nodded. “She was thinking really weird things,” Dro said.
“Like what, bella?” Mom asked, kneeling down beside her.
Dro hesitated again. Even five years after telling Mom and Dad the truth, she was still nervous about confessing that she had any abilities at all. Dro took a deep breath.
“She kept thinking that she had finally found me, and that her master would be happy.” She looked away. “She thought I was a monster.”
Dad let out a long string of curses in Spanish. Dro couldn’t speak it, but she got the general idea. Mom brushed strands of white hair behind Dro’s ear.
“She’s wrong, bella. She couldn’t be more wrong. You’re not a monster. You’re an angel.”
Mom kissed Dro’s pale head. My sister relaxed. Mom looked at the half braid at the back of Dro’s head, toying with the hair there.
“Did Constance try to braid your hair?” she asked.
Dad glanced at it, tilting his head. “Is it supposed to look like that?”
I pouted and crossed my arms. Dro giggled. Mom turned her so she could fix the braid I’d made a disaster of. My parents were comforting Dro and making her feel normal. I wanted to join them, but I didn’t. I was watching the house across the street, seeing Isabel staring at us through the windows. Even from the distance, I could tell she was looking at Dro the same way that a hungry lion looks at a zebra. I could even tell when she fixed her eyes on me.
That snake around my spine just wouldn’t let go. Isabel wouldn’t listen to Dad’s warning. It might not be tomorrow or the day after, but she would torment Dro again. I thought about the weird power she’d pushed out, how I had been unable to move or react when I needed to. I wasn’t strong enough to protect Dro from Isabel.
For the first time in years, I wondered about who Dro’s father really was, and if he had the same powers as Isabel, or his daughter. The snake tightened again.
If Dro’s father was half as strong as Isabel, then there was nothing I could do to keep my little sister safe…
Chapter 13
The memory had hit me like cold water, assuring I wouldn’t sleep tonight. It had been years since I’d seen Isabel, but the memory of her was still enough freeze my insides.
Suddenly I needed air. I silently pushed myself up from the bed and hooked my hatchet onto my belt, quietly moving for the door. I threw on my lucky jacket and opened the door, gently shutting it behind me so Dro wouldn’t wake up.
I tilted my head back and let the cool night air brush over my face. Standing out here on the second story of a cheap motel seemed like the only place where I didn’t have to worry about my sister, the people trying to kill me, demons, and all my other problems. Until I heard someone else having problems of their own.
“What do you mean you can’t find his body?”
I looked to my left and saw Warrick standing outside the door of his motel room, his back to me and his cell phone pressed to his ear. He was deeply immersed in the conversation on the other end, completely unaware I was watching him. I could have walked away, but the tension in his voice had me standing in place.
“I get that, but there has to be some trace of him. No way he could have bled out that much and then just vanished. If he’d been eaten there would have been leftover bones or something,” Warrick said as he shifted from side to side, gripping the railing. Warrick was suddenly still.
“No, this isn’t about Emma. I need backup. Can you get here or not?” He paused. “I have my sources, and I trust them. I need your help.”
Whoever was talking to Warrick spoke for a long time. Warrick tilted his head to his chin. “No, I haven’t forgotten, but I…”
The voice on the other end was sharp. I couldn’t tell what they said, but it seemed like someone had put Warrick in his place.
“Yes. Yes, I understand… No. I’ll do it myself.”
Warrick hung up the phone and sighed as he shoved it back into his pocket. He turned over onto the railing and ran his hands over his face. Then he noticed me.
He looked just as tired as Dro did, if not more. There were dark circles under his eyes that I hadn’t noticed before, making his irises seem even greener. He rubbed his hands together, staring off into space.
“How much did you hear?” he asked tiredly.
I shrugged and crossed my arms. “Enough. What was that about?”
“Slayer stuff. Nothing I can explain to you.”
I gave him a hard look. “You’re making this whole trust thing very difficult.”
He matched my eyes. “And you aren’t?”
Part of me wanted to walk away from him. Another part of me wanted to push him more, to see what was wrong and if there was anything I could do to help.
Wait, why am I thinking that? I don’t know thi
s guy. He’ll turn me in as soon as he’s held up his end of whatever deal he made with Max.
“Fine. You can do your whole ‘no one understands me’ thing on your own.”
I turned on my heel and started to walk away. I had enough on my plate. I didn’t need Warrick or any of his shit.
“Wait,” he said.
I should have kept walking, but the slight pleading in his voice had me stopping and turning. He had pushed away from the railing, but was still gripping it like he needed support. He hesitated, then let out the breath he’d been holding.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
That caused my eyebrows to ride up my forehead a little bit. I waited for him to go on.
“I’m just stressed out right now. The slayers are moving down to Texas, but they’ve been looking for the demons that escaped the border. They won’t come to help us. We’re on our own.” He met my eyes. “I really did try, Constance.”
He sounded so sincere I almost believed him. But I hadn’t heard the other end of the conversation. For all I knew, he could have been telling them Dro was connected to demons. He said he wasn’t going to hurt her, that he was here to help Max, but I hadn’t been here for the whole conversation. He could have told them too much. He could have said something to make them suspect she was something demonic instead of being a Nephilim. He could have easily betrayed us all.
I changed the subject. “So Drake might still be alive.”
Warrick’s hand tightened on the railing. “Yeah. He might have been wounded by the demons, but his body is missing.” Green eyes blazed. “There was enough blood to suggest he’s dead, but I know him. He’s a fucking cockroach.”
I should have dropped it then, but I couldn’t avoid asking any longer. “What’s your deal with him?”
Warrick looked at his feet. “I’ve chased him for years. We’ve had it out a couple times. He put me in the hospital more than once. Gave me this,” Warrick pointed to the dark brown scar under his left eye.
“But what started it all?” I said, taking a careful step closer. “Why do you hate him so much?”
