by Ryals, R. K.
I can feel Conor's eyes on my face. I can even feel the other hybrids watching me, their emotions swirling chaotically. Fascination mixed with fear.
"Children," I spit.
Envy chuckles.
"Ah, you may not look like your mother, but you share her gifts."
He steps closer and Conor and Bruno both move to block him. I step to the side, my eyes meeting Envy's. I am disgusted, my stomach tied up in knots. I had spent most of my life inside of hospitals. So many children on Earth. Blank eyes. Retardation, mental instability . . . all because of him.
"Why children?" I ask.
I know the hybrids have no idea what I'm talking about, but the pain is too fresh to ignore, the images too clear.
Conor edges toward me, his eyes on the Demon. Envy's eyes stay locked on mine.
"Because, Emma dear, it feels good to be so low, to destroy something so innocent."
Envy's words pierce my heart. I don't have time to wonder at his knowing my name. I want only to destroy him. Conor is touching me now, and I know that I am shaking, my hands trembling against my sides. It's like being back in the S.O.S. dining room again, and I know the grief, the pain is too much. I look at Conor from the corner of my eye. He'd told me he would be there as I learned control. Now is the time to prove it.
I concentrate on Conor's hand, emotions sliding down my body and into his. The images are almost disabling. I know he sees them too when he inhales, his blue eyes bright. His gaze moves to Envy, and I see the hate there, the murder. Envy sees it too.
"So you want to kill me now?" Envy asks us, his eyes moving between us.
"Children," I say dully, reaching out with my mind to Bruno, Lyre, the twins, Deidra, Gray, and Fiona. I let the images move to them, through them.
Deidra cries out, and I feel the hatred that suddenly swells among the group.
"Children," Fiona says, her gaze on me.
The twins clench their fists, and I see Envy's eyes widen a moment before he grins. I have no doubt Hesther and Gwenyth want to choke the Demon. I have no doubt they have tried to do just that.
"You won't guide us," Bruno says coldly. "We can do this alone."
Envy laughs. "Such courage hatred creates. Killing me will mean nothing. There will always be another Demon there to pick up where I left off."
Conor clenches his fist, the palm on my arm almost painful. He seems to realize this, and he lets go, his eyes narrowed.
"And still it would be one less Demon like you," he says.
Envy lifts his arms, his hands open as if he is celebrating, exalting in some sort of achievement. I should be afraid, his movements terrifying, but I see only the images of those children, the children of the world whose minds have been destroyed or trapped within their bodies. I want him dead.
It's when Deidra screams that I notice the pain. I look down, my eyes on my shirt. The black cotton tee I have on looks no different than it had before, but it's when I lift the hem of my shirt that I see the sores. Sores on my stomach, open sores that feel raw and uncomfortable. Pain shoots from my stomach into my body, and I realize the sores are spreading.
"Shit," Gray breathes, and I notice him kneeling, one knee against the ground, sores on his hands. His sweatshirt hides the other sores I know are there.
Conor is mostly stone next to me, and I realize the sores cannot touch his skin. He eyes Envy.
"You think pain makes them hate you any less?" Conor asks.
Bruno growls, his hand lifting, and I feel the power before Envy even hits the wall. Lyre is kneeling now too, her beautiful face marred by wounds, and she practically hisses as her hand lifts, flame shooting forth.
Envy snarls, deflecting the flame before rocketing off of the wall. The Demon is angry, the anger so strong, it is like a blanket over the room. When he suddenly transforms, I am not prepared for his abrupt, horrifying appearance. The headless man. The beautiful Envy is gone, replaced by a monster, muscular legs encased in black leather, a honed, built body, with no head. There's no blood, no gaping or hanging flesh. There is only no head.
I look away, my eyes landing on Gwenyth Garner next to me. It's then I realize I'm on my knees as well, the sores I feel on my feet too painful to stand.
Gwenyth's eyes meet mine.
"Children," she whispers, her voice laced with pain.
Hesther repeats the word, and our gazes meet. Their fists are clenched, and I absorb the hate they feel. Hatred. Such hatred. Luther's voice is suddenly in my head. "You may hate the idea of feeding off emotions, but you really don't have much choice. It's the power you were born with. Embrace it."
A tear slips down my cheek. Children. I won't use anger or hatred to destroy most, but I will use it to destroy itself. Envy is nothing but anger and hatred. Him, I want to kill.
Conor calls out to the stone in the cavern, and it opens up, pulling Envy into its hard embrace.
The Demon laughs, the sound odd coming from a headless man. "Stone is nothing to me, Gargoyle. Stone I can destroy."
I know what Envy intends to do before he does it, and I cry out.
"Turn, Conor. Turn!"
The rock entrapping Envy explodes, and I cover my head, my gaze searching. Conor is on the ground now, his body no longer stone, and I know he's turned in time.
I exhale, my relief mixing with the anger and hatred I'd absorbed from the twins. I can feel electricity lifting the hairs on my arms, and I know Fiona has crawled toward the Demon. Her eyes are red.
"Fiona," I whisper hoarsely.
I think there are sores in my throat now, in my mouth. It hurts to speak, to swallow. My chest burns, and breathing in air feels like breathing in fire.
Fiona looks back at me, and I see her hatred, her anger, and I absorb it too. I crawl toward Bruno. He is on his knees near Lyre, and I reach out to him. My hand is red, the sores on it oozing blood.
Bruno's shirt is suddenly in my palms, and I feel him inhale as my fingers rub against his raw skin. I don't apologize because there is no time. I absorb his anger instead, his pain, his hatred, and I push all of it back into him. My anger, my pain, my hatred. I add the other hybrids' emotions to mine, pushing it into him, and I hope he knows what I want him to do with it.
The sudden power makes Bruno raise his head, and I let my hand drop, my body too drained to do anything more than lay still. There's a hand on my waist now. It's painful, and I look up to see Conor kneeling over me. Most of him is stone again, and he lifts me carefully into his embrace, moving backward as Bruno raises his hands.
"Hold on," Conor whispers.
There's no time to take cover, and we all cower as Bruno shoves the power I've given him toward Envy. The Demon is distracted by Fiona, laughing as he uses her electricity against her. She slumps just as Envy stops laughing. If he had a head or eyes, I imagine they would have widened now. Instead, his headless form falls against the cavern's crumbling stone wall.
Bruno stands, the sores' effect lessening as Envy weakens. Bruno looks back at me, and I close my eyes before absorbing as much power and emotion as I can from the room around me. I push them toward Bruno, and I open my eyes just in time to see his eyes darken as he nods at me. He walks away then, approaching Envy where he leans against the wall.
Bruno's hands lift, his expression calm. "For the children," he says.
And then the world goes black.
Chapter 18
Conor
The light that emanates when a full blooded Demon is destroyed is too bright for mortal eyes. It's a light I will never get used to seeing. It is triumphant and disappointing. A full blood Demon does not die. He is merely cast-off, his essence returned to the Abyss of Hell where he is reincarnated and returned in a different body, a different kind of Demon.
Emma's head falls limply against my chest, and I let my body soften, the stone fading away. The images I'd seen in my head still haunt me, and I look down at Emma's face, my hand coming to rest against her cheek. I'm not sure how she knew Envy was the cause of mortal suffering i
n children, his power used to strike them insensible. So many children, so many who suffered from different illnesses, who still suffer. I only wish destroying him would heal them, but it won't.
"Emma," I whisper.
She doesn't move, her eyes closed. She is breathing, and the sores on her face and arms are beginning to heal. I pull her closer, cradling her.
"She drained herself," Bruno says suddenly from next to me, and I look at him. His eyes meet mine. "We weakened Envy, but it was Emma's power that ultimately destroyed him."
"Our power," Lyre corrects as she stands carefully, grimacing from the pain the lingering sores cause. She brushes dirt from her jeans and yellow tank top, her eyes meeting mine and then moving away. Her jaw tightens.
Bruno glances between us, his eyes narrowing. "Our power, Lyre, but Emma gave it to me to destroy Envy. Frankly, I'm impressed she even did it."
I silently agree. Up until this point, Emma had been against using her powers to destroy anything.
"She used it when it counted most," I say as Deidra moves up behind me. The imp's skin seems healed, and she touches Emma's leg tentatively.
"There will be worse ahead," the imp predicts, and I look down at her. Envy's words are haunting now. "I am nothing compared to the horrors you have yet to face."
Gray stumbles nearby, Fiona in his arms. She, like Emma, is out cold but breathing. She'd used her powers to distract Envy, putting herself in danger to save the group.
I glance around the cavern. Hesther and Gwenyth are examining each other before finally embracing, reassured. Ace is on the floor, his body still. He is bound to Emma, and he is unconscious because she is.
The twins move to Gray, patting Fiona who is just now beginning to come to. Their relieved smiles touch me in a way they haven't touched me before. I am seeing the hybrids in a different light.
Over the past two months, I have convinced myself I had made the wrong choice, that I have destroyed my own kind in order to protect the bad guys. But now, I'm not witnessing evil, I'm witnessing a family, a group of hybrids who have had to depend on each other, who have had to build a relationship even with the tension and jealousy between them.
"She's coming to," Lyre says, breaking into my thoughts, and I glance at her before looking down at Emma. I have always thought of Lyre as a mistake. Now I suddenly wonder if part of her hatred is because I've considered her a blight on my past. Maybe Lyre hadn't been a wise choice, but she wasn't terrible.
"Ace," Emma groans.
I search her face, peering into her amber eyes as her lids lift wearily, slowly.
"He's fine," I say. "It's over. For now."
Emma turns her head away, her eyes searching for the other hybrids, for Ace. Ace is coming to. When she sees them, she breathes a sigh of relief before struggling weakly.
The struggling hurts me, not physically but emotionally. The distance between us is my fault. I've let my own fears, my own insecurities come between us. I care about Emma. Seeing her now, injured and tired, is eye opening. It opens up wounds I've tried hiding, wounds I've let fester from killing my own, wounds from Emma herself, and I'm suddenly bleeding out. I don't block the emotions, and Emma's head snaps up, her eyes meeting mine. Words aren't needed, and I'm grateful for that.
"Dude, I knew you had it in you," Gray says triumphantly, his eyes on Emma, as he moves up next to us.
She breaks eye contact with me and smiles as her gaze meets Gray's.
"I'm bad, and I'm perfectly good at it," she jokes feebly.
Gray laughs, and it temporarily breaks the tension.
"Cheat! Rihanna said that first," Gray points out.
Emma shrugs weakly as Fiona tries sitting up in Gray's arms.
"No, the songwriters said it first. Rihanna sang it, Emma copied it."
Gray groans."Taking literal to a whole new level, are we, Fi? Point is, she's a cheat."
Emma inhales, her eyes closing, and I know she's taking strength from the light-hearted moment. A grin plays at the corners of her lips.
"A cheat maybe, but I make it sound cooler."
Lyre rolls her eyes.
"In your opinion only," she says, breaking into the conversation smoothly. "Besides, I'm pretty sure that song is referring to sex."
Bruno grins. "You trying to say you like chains with your good time, Em?"
Emma's face goes red.
"That is so totally inappropriate."
I'm fighting hard not to smile.
"I don't know," Gwenyth says seductively as she and her sister join the group. "It kinda sounds fun."
Hesther giggles as Fiona throws her hands up into the air.
"Oh, my God! Seriously! And this is the group our king has chosen to save our race from annihilation?"
"It could be worse," I mumble. "Marcas could have summoned Superman."
"And you have a problem with Superman?" Gray asks.
I snort.
"Have you seen the old movies, the comic renditions? Manly went out the window when they put the curl on his forehead."
Gray stiffens.
"You're just jealous because you're not faster than a speeding bullet."
I grin, the smile wide.
"You're wrong, Dude. I'm way faster than that."
"Ugh!" Fiona groans.
She is fighting Gray's hold, her strength returning, and she punches him lightly in the chest.
"Superman aside, I'm alright now, you skinny scarecrow. You can put me down," she complains.
Gray grins and drops her. She lands indelicately on her rear, and I wince because I know stone can't be comfortable against her healing backside.
"Damn you," Fiona cries out.
Gray shrugs.
"Call me a skinny scarecrow again, Princess, and see what I do."
"Want us to choke him?" Hesther asks, winking.
I lower Emma carefully, letting her test her strength before finally letting go. She leans on me a moment, and I revel in the nearness. I can't help but wonder if I've lost her, if I've opened up doors for someone else to get close to her. Bruno, maybe? She and I hadn't known each other long enough at the Acropolis to create an inseparable bond, but I find myself wanting to try and create one now.
"Everyone okay?" Bruno asks.
The mood sobers again, and the hybrids nod. Emma lifts the front of her shirt and drops it carefully when she sees no more sores. The healing has been fast with Envy's lingering power shattered.
"Just so you know, that hurt like hell," Gray mutters.
No one disagrees.
"We need to go on as quickly as we can. Something tells me the longer we stay here, the more Enepsigos will send our way," Bruno says.
Again, no one argues, and the group rallies. Emma moves to Ace, checking him over quickly, her hands running over his rubbery skin before nodding at Bruno.
"Let's move," Bruno says, and we step toward the darkness.
Emma is next to me again, Ace awake but sluggish behind her. We walk side by side, each hybrid close enough their shoulders touch. I'm not sure it's a good idea to walk as a group, but it reduces the fear, makes them feel stronger.
"Do you sense anything?" Bruno asks Emma.
Emma's brows furrow in concentration. After a moment, she shakes her head. Bruno glances down the line.
"Anyone else?"
The silence is answer enough. I'm standing on the edge of the group, and I let my hand slide along the cavern's wall, the stone cool and comforting beneath my palm. The energy that seeps into my skin is biting. There's pain in the stone but nothing definitive.
"I think I might hate her," Emma says suddenly.
Deidra looks up.
"Hate who?" she asks.
Emma's gaze stays forward, her eyes on the darkness before us. The tunnel bends continuously, and it feels like we are walking in circles.
"Enepsigos," Emma answers, her voice low.
Lyre grunts indelicately.
"You don't even know her."
Emma doesn
't answer. She walks slightly hunched, her shoulders drooping. Her weariness is obvious, her fear taking a back seat to the feat her birth mother seems set on making the hybrids accomplish.
"I don't think she is doing this to punish anyone," I say carefully.
I'm not sure Emma even sees this as punishment, but I keep hearing Alessandro's voice in my head, the same voice telling me hybrids have to prove their strength to be respected, and I wonder if that's what Enepsigos is doing. Testing their strength. Their world is a harsh world, harsher even than my own. There is no loyalty, no real leadership. There is only chaos. Chaos is how Lucifer prefers to rule. I hope Marcas will be different. I hope his rule will change things.
"Who knows why she's doing it," Fiona says, her voice laced with irritation.
Lyre laughs harshly.
"Who said she's even the one doing anything? This may be her labyrinth, but it was our 'supposed' hybrid king who sent us in here."
Bruno pauses, and we all stop with him.
"You don't trust him?" Bruno asks her.
Lyre's eyes meet his.
"Do you?"
She looks around the group.
"I'm not saying he's wrong. I'm not even saying he is evil or that he's a liar. But, honestly, did we really ask enough questions? Why do this for someone we don't know?"
I lean against the wall, my eyes on the hybrids. This isn't my discussion, it is theirs, and as much as I want to defend Marcas, I know they need this.
"You wait until now to question all of this?" Fiona asks dryly.
Lyre shrugs.
"When is a better time, Fi?"
Fiona gives her an "are you kidding me" look.
"How about before we entered the labyrinth?"
Lyre throws her hands up.
"Look, I'm not saying this is wrong, okay."
"No," Emma says suddenly. "But you're right, Lyre."
Lyre turns to her, startled. Emma doesn't flinch.
"We didn't ask enough questions, but these are Demons we are dealing with. Even Marcas is a half-Demon. Is there really any point in asking questions? No Demon can be fully trusted. All we can do is lean on our own instincts. The hybrid king is offering us peace."
