by Ciara Graves
“Dad,” I whispered.
My father shook his head. “I will see you both again one day,” he told us. “Protect your brother, Rafael. Protect him.”
Antonio hadn’t moved an inch, tears streaming down his cheeks as his lower lip quivered.
The mage snapped his fingers and Dad’s neck snapped. Antonio screamed, and I rushed to grab him, tackling him to the ground this time to stop anyone else from being killed because of his actions. The mage released Dad’s body, and it crashed to the ground like a limp doll, his eyes wide open in death. Antonio struggled to get out of my arms, but I dug my nails into his arms to stop him.
“Move on!” the mage called and turned around, leaving the dead bodies of our parents in the street, next to the fallen mage.
Demons came out of their homes to help. Two carried Dad, and another two carried Mom. Someone grabbed a torch and set the mage’s body on fire. Antonio kept fighting against me, screaming for Mom and Dad, until I hauled off and smacked him to break him out of his sorrow.
“Enough. Mom and Dad are gone. Understand? They’re gone, and they’re not coming back.” I yelled at him, voice strained with my own raw pain. “It’s just you and me now, and you have to listen to me. Promise, Antonio, promise you will do as I tell you.”
He wiped at his face. “Raf… I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…” He clung to me.
I held him close.
Suddenly, I was standing outside the scene, and there was a door right behind me. I walked through it without looking back and found myself back in that in-between place.
Antonio stood across from me, glowering at me.
“You were the reason our parents died that day,” I said, though not angrily. “You were a kid, Antonio. You didn’t understand what you were doing.”
He gnashed his jaws at me. “You could have stopped me.”
“I tried, we both did, but you were so determined to save Mom. I forgave you that day. Looks like you never forgave yourself for it.”
The second door appeared behind Antonio, and I walked toward it. He snatched at my arm, but I dragged him through it with me. We were going to face the truth together. I shoved him through then stumbled in behind him to find ourselves on the street again. I closed my eyes and was transported into the body of my memory self again. I raised my hand and knocked on Matthew’s door as Antonio’s soul had no choice, but to follow alongside me. This was my memory, and he was only a bystander now. He was stuck with me, whether he liked it or not.
The door opened, and a demon nodded to me then stepped aside. I hurried down to the basement and shook hands with Matthew.
“I was worried you wouldn’t make it. Anything wrong?” he asked.
“Antonio, I can’t find him,” I said quietly. “I told him to go with the other kids, but he wasn’t there when I went to check on them.”
“We’ll find him. But right now, we are running out of time to act.”
“I know. Where are we with the plan?”
“Ready to go,” Matthew told me. “We have to time it perfectly in order to get to the armory. Without real weapons, we don’t stand a chance in this fight.”
“The patrols have switched their pattern the last two days,” another demon chimed in.
“And you’re just now telling me this?” Matthew asked sharply. “Why would they change? They never have before.”
“Lucas must know something,” another demon said sounding frightened. “We shouldn’t do this. He knows we’re coming. He has to.”
“If we keep putting this off, he’ll continue to win,” Matthew said, slamming his fist on the table. “Our time to act is now while we have a plan. We have to make a stand.”
“I stand with Matthew,” I said.
“And what of our families?” the same demon asked. “We can’t hide them away forever.”
“If anyone here does not wish to take the risk, leave now,” Matthew said. “But if you aren’t brave enough to attack now, when will you ever be? Our people are dying, and we are quickly running out of time.”
A couple of demons exchanged worried glances.
The door slammed open upstairs, and we stilled. Matthew reached for the hunk of wood we’d hammered a bunch of nails into for a weapon. He placed a finger to his lips and moved slowly toward the stairs. There were no voices overhead, no sound at all. My pulse rocketed. I held my breath, waiting. The door was blown open, and a bright flash filled the basement, momentarily blinding us all. Matthew commanded us to attack, and we moved to do so, grabbing what weapons we could and throwing ourselves at the mages. The fight was short-lived, three of our number fell instantly. Another two were run through, their bodies tossed aside like trash. One by one, we were grabbed and dragged out of the basement, out of the house, and shoved to our knees in the street.
“Well, it appears your information was correct after all.”
I turned toward the voice and froze. Antonio stood in Lucas’s grasp. His face paled when he saw me.
Matthew spat at him, cursing him for what he’d done.
“Antonio…” I was at a loss. My brother betrayed us all. “Why?”
“Don’t take all your anger out on him,” Lucas said, and Antonio hung his head in shame. “He thought he was saving you. Not every demon is as strong as they claim.”
Antonio didn’t look hurt, but if they threatened to torture him, he would’ve given in. Ever since our parents’ deaths, he’d lost the hardness in him. The inner strength that made a demon what he was. He whispered my name, but Lucas grabbed hold of his shoulder, and he clamped his mouth shut.
Flames crackled as Matthew’s house was set on fire. The conversation between Lucas and Matthew ensued, much as it had before. I chanced a glance at Matthew’s hand and saw the dagger there. He shifted, readying to make his move. He caught my eye. I nodded that I was with him. As Lucas spoke, Matthew yelled and threw himself toward the mage while I jumped to my feet and attacked the mages behind us. They tackled me to the ground as Matthew plunged the dagger in Lucas’s chest. For a second time in so few moments, I watched as Lucas withdrew the blade from his chest then stabbed Matthew, killing him. His dying words were directed at Antonio, though. Not me.
“Traitor.”
Antonio’s eyes went wide as he shook his head. “No, I didn’t have a choice.”
“There’s always a choice.” I snarled as I was hauled back to my knees. “You… how could you do this to us?”
“Silence him,” Lucas ordered.
One of the mages placed his hand over my mouth. When he pulled it back, no sound came out of my mouth. Nothing. I glared at Antonio, not understanding why my brother would’ve betrayed us.
“Now, what to do with you, Rafael?” Lucas asked.
I growled, but even that had no sound.
“I hoped watching your parents being killed was enough to drive home the message, but it appears a more direct approach is needed. Remove his shirt!”
A mage ripped it off my body and threw it aside. Lucas moved out of my view and behind me. I tugged on my arms to get free, but the mages held me fast.
“Let this be a warning to all!”
Silence hovered over the street, and I wondered what he was doing when pain exploded at my back. I ground my teeth, back throbbing. A second hit struck. Each one was worse than the last. Warmth spilled over my back, but he didn’t stop, not for a long time. I opened my mouth to bellow in pain, but there was no sound, no release of the agony. Instead, it bottled up inside me and made it so much worse. Each strike drove me to the ground until I was lying there, waiting for it to be over.
“Return to your homes,” Lucas finally yelled, and my voice returned.
I grunted at the anguish flooding my body. A set of boots appeared in front of my eyes, and I lifted my head as much as I could to see the bastard looking down at me.
“The next time we meet, you better behave yourself, or the same fate will befall your brother before I kill you. Do we understand one another? Good.
”
He walked away with his mages. Antonio rushed to my side as several demons helped me up. More carried Matthew’s body inside my home. I was placed on the pathetic excuse for a bed, on my stomach, holding Antonio’s hand tightly in mine as he cried. One of the demons tended to my back as I snarled and cursed.
“These wounds will scar,” the demon told me. “His magic will leave a taint on you forever.”
“I’ll live,” I muttered.
“Raf,” Antonio murmured. “I didn’t mean to. I’m so sorry. He found me, and he said he was going to kill you all if I didn’t tell him what I knew. He was going to kill the kids. I… I’m not strong like you, and I panicked.”
Despite the agony, I lifted my hand and cupped his cheek. “I understand.”
“But Matthew is dead.”
“He gave his life for the cause,” I said quietly. “A cause that will now grow stronger from his sacrifice. You might not be strong yet, but you will be. Go on, get some rest in the other room.”
He hurried away and then I was torn from my body once again.
I looked down at the wounds on my back, the scars itching as they remembered each and every lash. This was only the first time Lucas hurt me. There would be another two times over the years leading up to my rebellion.
“I forgave you that day, too,” I told Antonio as he stood in the corner of the house. “You were still a kid. You thought you were protecting the others.”
“You should have hated me then,” he seethed. “Why didn’t you just hate me?”
“There was enough hatred in the slums,” I explained as the third door appeared behind him. “Hating you would have gotten me nothing but more heartache. You blamed yourself for my pain, but pain fades.”
“You were scarred because of it.”
“And? What’s a few scars to remind me what I’ve overcome? Antonio, it’s time you forgive yourself and let go of this anger.”
“No,” he snarled and threw himself at me.
I grabbed hold of him, and together we fell through the third and final door. There was no stop in the in-between this time. We landed right in the last memory. Immediately, I found myself in my body, directing the other demons on our plan to take down Lucas for good.
We went through the entire plan from start to finish then set out into the night. The distraction at the gate worked, and we broke into the armory. Along the way, I watched Antonio out of the corner of my eye, his eyes darkening impossibly more as he shook with fury. His anger was never meant for me. After so many years, he found a way to shift blame onto me, but it was himself he was furious with. Himself for killing our parents and Matthew. He was the reason I was punished that day in the street. My forces pushed into Lucas’s home, taking down the mages with our blades and claws, not giving them a chance to use their magic. We burst into the main hall to find Lucas surrounded by his guards.
“Lucas.” I growled like a wild beast as I approached the front of our fighting group. “You have lost the fight this night. You will take your mages and yourself and leave Sector 2 forever. This is your one chance to leave peacefully. Otherwise, I will have your head.”
“Is that so?” Lucas asked, not sounding worried.
“It is. I will show you mercy where you gave us only death. What’ll it be?”
Our other forces had attacked from the main gate. Any second now, they’d be been coming in through those doors, proving to Lucas he’d lost.
An explosion split the air.
I smiled, believing we had won the night. Shouts reached us from outside the doors and then there was utter silence. The doors burst open, and my heart sank. Those were not demons, but mages. Our attack failed. We were outnumbered now, and Lucas lived. The demons behind me growled furiously with the knowledge that so many of our number had fallen. With any luck, our friends and families were able to escape through the transports while our attack served as a distraction and drew most of the mages here.
Of course, now, I knew they had, and it was that reason Governor Rickshaw arrived in Sector 2, to begin with. All because of this night.
“It would appear you are wrong about winning this night,” Lucas commented as he stepped closer. “I am sorry to say you have failed, Rafael.”
I gripped the sword tightly. If I could get that ring off his finger, I could kill him. I could end this. “It’s not over, not yet.”
“If you want your brother to live, I believe it is.”
“Rafael.”
“No,” I gasped as a mage dragged my brother, bruised and bloodied into the room.
“It would appear he did not stay behind as you hoped. He was spared, if only so you could watch his death. Don’t worry,” he added as he reached to his hip for a dagger, “you’ll join him soon enough.”
“Antonio,” I yelled.
My brother’s eyes glimmered with determination. He yelled and twisted out of the mage’s grip. He grabbed for the dagger in Lucas’s hands, and the fight was on again.
“Get away from him.” I charged forward, killing two mages who got in my way as my brother and Lucas fought over the dagger. I reached them and dropped my sword to deck Lucas in the face.
He staggered away from Antonio who held the dagger in his hand.
“You will not touch him.” I hit him again and again, driving him backward into the wall with my fists.
Blood dripped from his face, and when his magic began to manifest, I punched him as hard as I could. His eyes rolled back, and he collapsed to the floor.
“You’re nothing without your bloody magic.” I grabbed my brother, checking him over, but there was no time to stay here.
We had to get our people and make for the transports. It was our only shot. We turned toward the door when the air crackled with magic. Knowing what came next, I willed myself not to be blinded by my rage and to finish the job. To take Lucas’s ring before it was too late. And to kill him. But there was no changing the past, and my mistake was laid out before me once more.
“You are not leaving.” Lucas’s voice vibrated with power, his white and gold flames lifted him off the floor. “You demons, you will never be anything more than slaves.” He clapped his hands together, and a shock reverberated through the air.
Antonio and I were thrown back into the other demons.
“You believe I am cruel? Perhaps you should see what the true meaning of cruelty is.”
I pushed to my feet, eyes wide as Lucas’s power intensified, growing into a large swirling orb between his hands. But he wasn’t looking at me.
“Antonio,” I breathed, searching for my brother. “No.”
I sprinted with everything I had to take that hit for my brother. I skidded to a stop right in front of him. The light from the orb blinded me, and I braced for the impact, except it never hit. I opened my eyes and then suddenly I was no longer in front of my brother. Time seemed to speed up, and the orb crashed into Antonio. His jaw dropped in shock, and his eyes widened in confusion.
“Raf?” He stumbled forward into my arms.
I caught him, and we went to the floor in a heap.
“I feel cold.”
“No,” I begged. “No, you have to stay with me. Antonio? Open your eyes.”
“Too tired. Sorry, brother,” he murmured. “I’m sorry.”
“You can’t leave me, too. You can’t.” I shook him.
His body shuddered, and then there was nothing. His final breath puffed out. His eyes remained closed.
I tapped his cheeks, doing anything I could to wake him, but my brother was dead. “I will avenge you, brother,” I promised, the words adding a physical weight to my soul. “I will kill every mage I ever find, and I won’t stop until these wrongs are righted.”
“Take them all to the cells,” Lucas ordered. “They can await their deaths there.”
I closed my eyes and found myself standing over the other version of me holding my dead brother.
The mages yanked my brother’s dead body away and took the
rest of us to the cells. Our deaths would have come in a week, but Governor Rickshaw arrived in time to save us all from that fate. As the room disappeared around us and we ended up back in the in-between, I let out a heavy breath, releasing more of the guilt I’d carried for so long that wasn’t mine.
“I did fail to save you,” I whispered to Antonio’s anger. “And that is something I have not forgiven myself for. But you were never meant to be there.”
He was growling as I approached him.
“I made that oath out of anger, Antonio, you have to understand that. All these memories, they’re your failures. No one blamed you for them. No one held them against you except yourself.”
“You should have.” He stalked toward me, hands fisted at his sides. “You were too perfect. Do you have any idea what it is to live up to a brother like you? Not so perfect after all, though, when you can’t uphold your oaths.”
“I won’t do it.” I stood to my full height and squared my shoulders as I spoke. “I can’t go around killing innocent mages. It’s time to let go.”
“Let go? You want me to just let it all go?” He sucked in a deep breath and the grey in-between burst to life with fire. His body became encased in it as his demon rage took over, contorting his face and making his muscles bulge. His black eyes promised this was not going to be an easy fight. “You are weak after all, brother.”
There was no more talking to him. In confronting my past, I showed him his own fear and pain. He hated himself for the pain he caused, clung to it like the lifeline it could never be.
“Antonio, please,” I tried, one final time.
He said nothing, merely bellowed loudly and charged me. I held up my arms to block his attack and ducked under a punch as fire sprouted around us.
As the fight intensified, the other me appeared to the side and tapped his wrist, mouthing Mercy’s name.
A door appeared near him, and after blocking another hit from Antonio, I sprinted toward it.
“Oh no,” he snarled, grabbing my leg, and swinging me back around. “You’re not going anywhere. Not yet.”
The door shimmered in and out of view.
