Path of the Heretic (The Beholder Book 2)

by Ivan Amberlake

  “I’m here to destroy the city.” Tyler lunged at her, his aura painted blood red.

  Debbie closed her eyes, not to let the tears fall. She had no right to show her weakness. For Jason. For Matt. For the sake of the pure feelings she had for Tyler. Not the Tyler who was running at her to take her life, but the one that sacrificed himself to save her from death.

  Tyler sped closer. She didn’t have the courage to attack him, so she raised her hands, forming a dome-shaped shield around her and those behind.

  Tyler didn’t have time to react, so he jumped right at Debbie’s protective shield, and it caved, crashing like glass. Pain, but also rage and desire to kill her were in his eyes.

  The other Darksighted followed him, but the Lightsighted were ready.

  Tyler rammed his fist into Debbie’s jaw, knocking her to the ground. They were in the epicenter of a storm caused by two waves that clashed and caused everything to shake. Good and evil, light and darkness, day and night merged together.

  Tonia hurried to her rescue, but before she had time to attack him, Tyler grasped her by the wrist, and then flung her to the side, leaving Tonia screaming and writhing in pain.

  Debbie wished she could push herself up, but her body wouldn’t respond to the commands of her brain.

  She could see someone’s hand coil around Tyler’s neck. Tyler grasped the hand, and the bones snapped under the pressure of his fingers. With ease, he freed himself and tossed the attacker to the ground.

  Debbie’s eyes opened wide when she saw who it was.

  No, Matt, run! she hollered in her thoughts.

  He would never be able to fight against Tyler.

  As if to prove her fears, Tyler kicked Matt in the stomach. An “Oomph!” escaped Matt’s lips, but Tyler didn’t seem satisfied. He gripped Matt’s hand and squeezed, fingers snapping in his iron fist. Matt yelled, unable to wrench the mess that used to be his hand out of Tyler’s grip. Tyler pulled Matt up by the collar of his shirt then threw Matt over his shoulder as if he was feather-light. Matt went tumbling and rolling, his hand twisted at an unnatural angle.

  “It’ll serve you right, sucker,” Tyler said. “An Unsighted should never mess with someone like me.” He turned his gaze back to Debbie. “You didn’t know he was in love with you, did you? All this time I had to watch him being jealous of you. He suffered a lot, poor thing. Too bad he’ll have to see you die now.”

  A smug smile distorted Tyler’s features. Slowly, he approached her, wincing, as if suppressing the shudder rippling through him.

  His relentless fingers wrapped around Debbie’s throat and started strangling her. Debbie clutched his hand, doing her best to peel his fingers off her throat, but they wouldn’t budge. She tried to scream for help, but it came off as loud raspy choking sounds. Her eyes filled with moisture as she felt cold spreading out through her body.

  The vivid kaleidoscope of colors around her dimmed. She didn’t have time to think. Do something. Do anything!

  With the remnants of her will, she gripped his head. The tips of her fingers buried in Tyler’s long, white hair, generating feeble silver threads that seeped into his brain.

  Memories. He has to see them, she decided. The way he used to be. The first time he’d saved her and Matt from Pariah. Then took them to the underground and the Hall of Refuge. The first time he kissed her.

  Debbie couldn’t believe she stared into the eyes of the same person who did all those things to her, and was trying to strangle her now.

  Through the pain he caused her, Debbie was watching all of her memories together with Tyler. Bit by bit, his features smoothed, the lines on his forehead easing, his expression changing from scorn to a mild surprise in that transient moment of epiphany.

  Tyler’s fingers loosened their grip, and she finally could take a small breath. The air was so sweet it made her head swim. Encouraged, she let more memories flow into Tyler’s mind, more light seeping from her into Tyler.

  Tyler lowered her, and she could touch the ground with the tips of her toes. When she least expected it, his lips twisted in contempt again, and images poured into her mind this time, catching her off guard. She saw him driving a car down a highway. He was driving really fast, his foot flooring the gas pedal. Far in the distance a car showed, getting closer and closer. There were three passengers inside. When they were about to pass each other by, Tyler swerved the wheel and rammed the car. Debbie was sent into temporary blindness. When she thought that was all she’d have, she heard a voice in the distance.

  “Don’t you dare touch her, you son of a bitch,” Matt snarled.

  Tyler let go of her throat, distracted by Matt’s reappearance, and she resurfaced from blackness. Matt kept his broken hand pressed to his chest while punching with the hand that was intact. He sent a punch at Tyler’s face, and it seemed to anger Tyler more.

  “Run, Matt,” Debbie pleaded. The impact her Energy had on Tyler was gone, the scorn and hatred returning.

  “So you want to die first,” he spat.

  Debbie sent threads of silvery light that coiled around Tyler’s limbs and torso, but they were unable to keep him away from Matt. Matt kept backing off, farther and farther, but Tyler would catch up on him and Debbie was scared to think what might happen next.

  That moment, the city went up in flames. It was a pure, liquid form of Energy that spread throughout the streets, bathing everyone with warmth. Hope swelled in Debbie’s chest. Even though the light made her eyes hurt, she raised her head to see where it came from. Squinting, she realized it came from atop the building where Jason had vanished a few minutes before. It couldn’t be anyone but him. Captivated by the Energy seeping in all directions, Debbie got to her feet and let her Sight forward, towards the source of the shining, to make sure that she was right. And indeed there was Jason standing on the roof of the building that was partly destroyed.

  He shined so bright Debbie didn’t notice at first that there was someone in his hands, wrapped in worn-out rags. Emily. Jason had done it. He had found her.

  Everyone seemed to have forgotten about the fight. The Lightsighted hovered in midair, staring at them in fascination whereas the Darksighted shot sideways and clung to the skyscrapers’ walls, cringing in disgust.

  Oh my God! Matt! Debbie suddenly remembered, propping herself up on one elbow. To her relief, Matt was alone, squinting at the bright light with a weak smile. Tyler nowhere nearby. Debbie probed the surroundings with her Sight, and soon found him fleeing towards the entrance, onto the platform and soaring up. A few moments later he was gone.

  Chapter 40

  Emily was too weak to walk, so Jason picked her up and carried her down the stairwell and out of the citadel. The wind brought thousands of tiny icy needles that bit into his skin.

  “Close your eyes,” he told her. “I don’t want you to see it.”

  Emily squeezed her eyes, wrapping her arms tight around Jason’s neck. Trudging up the path, he stared ahead of him, trying hard not to be bothered by the nightmares that he’d encountered the first time. It seemed to take ages for him to finally reach and enter the whiteness. Aaron Sloane stood there on the other side, looking at his pocket watch.

  “Well done, Jason!” the heretic said with a smile. “I already thought I’d have to go in there after you.”

  Jason carefully put Emily on her feet.

  “You can do that?” he asked.

  “Sure, it was I who created the path. Thank God you got Emily out. I’m so glad to see you, dear.”

  “Thank you, Aaron,” Emily mumbled.

  “You don’t have to thank me. You should thank Jason,” he said, stroking Emily’s cheek. “I’d really love to chat with you two, but I’m afraid you have to go back.”

  “How are we—” Jason asked, but then the wound on his right hand tingled. He looked down, feeling suddenly dizzy.

  “I already took care of it,” Aaron said.

  Emily staggered and dropped to the white floor, and Jason followed, void ta
king over him.

  The moment of oblivion didn’t last long. At least it seemed so to Jason. When he opened his eyes, everything was bathed with light. As he got accustomed to it, he realized it was the roof where Pariah had performed his ritual on him.

  The Dark One has failed. To his relief, there was Emily, lying next to him, stirring. We’re back. He pushed himself to his unsteady feet and cut the distance to Emily. He pressed two fingers to the side of her neck to check her pulse, and it throbbed steadily. Where she had cut her throat there was a thin scar along her skin. Jason grabbed her hand that grasped that piece of mirror she had cut her throat with, and it had scars too. What Emily had done to herself in Limbo had an impact on her in the physical world as well.

  Jason scooped her in his arms and walked to the edge of the roof. He didn’t realize that an eerie silence had settled over the City of Tranquility upon their arrival, and when he looked at the city below, everyone waited in expectation.

  The skies rippled as his aura emitted intense light in all directions. Like the first time he’d entered the Sight, everyone’s thoughts slipped into his mind, but this time they didn’t hurt him. They weren’t static; he could hear each thought clearly.

  Emily stirred in his arms.

  “We’re back in the city,” he muttered softly as she yawned. She tensed.

  “Put me down, please,” she said, her expression less calm, her amber eyes taking in the surroundings.

  Reluctantly, Jason obeyed, but then he took Emily by the hand. He’d never expected it to be so easy, after all of the months of being away from her. The inebriation he’d had when he was around her grew in tidal waves, only this time Jason knew her feelings for him weren’t fake.

  Though Emily had lost—or given away—all of her powers to Alexei, Violet, and Alice, her light still glimmered in the same spellbinding way, reminiscent of the Emily who had found him.

  Jason probed the city with the Sight, anxious to find familiar faces, hoping they were all right.

  Matt lay racked with pain from a broken arm; Debbie—Debbie was awake!—squinted at him, and she seemed to be all right. Alice cried, cowering in a dark corner of one of the rooms in the building nearby. Tonia had bruises over her arms, and her left temple was bleeding. She clutched her hand where her fingers were ruined. Even Kyle was here, panting and smiling, rejoicing in his light.

  Whereas most of the Darksighted took flight and hid in the shadows of the buildings, Pariah stood rooted to the spot, his eyes screwed in revulsion. He raised his hand to shield his eyes, but the enormous wave of light got through his cloak, searing his skin.

  Jason noticed that his light started hurting the Lightsighted who were close to him as well, so he took a deep breath to calm down and muffled his aura.

  “We need to go down,” Jason whispered to Emily. She nodded once. He wrapped both his hands around her waist, and they stepped into the abyss. Emily pressed herself to Jason, clinging with her hands onto his own.

  They landed softly a few dozen yards away from Pariah. Jason took Emily by the hand again, and they approached him.

  “It’s time to stop this meaningless war,” Jason said. “No one has to shed blood for all of us—however different we are—to live side by side. You used to be Lightsighted before. You used to be one of us. Why not give it another chance?”

  At Jason’s words a few of the Dark Ones gasped.

  “Never,” Pariah replied, his eyes narrowed in contempt. “There’s no turning back. My soul belongs to darkness. We will never live in peace. This is war that even the heretic won’t be able to stop.” He glanced from Jason to Emily, whose hand twitched violently. Jason squeezed it gently to let Emily know that she had nothing to fear.

  “Let me remind you,” Pariah added, “that I have people you know. Tyler Woods and Violet Jones. They’re still alive. Both have great potential. Both will make brilliant Darksighted.”

  “What do you want?” Jason snapped. He knew Pariah wouldn’t let Tyler and Violet live just out of kindness.

  “Her.” Pariah tilted his head in Emily’s direction. “If you give me Emily, I’ll set both of them free.”

  Jason swallowed hard, giving Debbie a sidelong glance. Tears glinted in Debbie’s eyes as she shook her head, then cupped her face with her palms. Jason turned to Pariah. “That’s not possible.”

  “Well, you’ve made your choice.” Pariah turned around and paced towards the exit.

  For a few moments no one except Pariah moved. Then Catherine darted to her master and grabbed him by the elbow. “What are you doing? You’ll let that bitch live? How can you call yourself a Darksighted?”

  Pariah yanked his hand out of her grasp, then locked Catherine’s throat in a crushing grip. “How dare you?”

  Pariah pushed Catherine down on her knees, the blonde writhing and trying to pry his fingers off her neck, her skin turning a purple shade. As she choked, her throat caved under the pressure of Pariah’s fingers, blood spurting out, and she tumbled to the ground, lifeless.

  Pariah rubbed his bloodstained fingers against his cloak. He paced forward, his Energy billowing in his wake. As if on cue, the other Darksighted landed and followed their leader, scowling as they passed by those who defended the city.

  One by one, they shot up and disappeared into the tunnel, Pariah the last one to leave. In stunned silence, the Lightsighted watched him soar and vanish. Exchanging worried glances, no one dared to shift even after the Dark Ones were gone.

  Jason didn’t expect it to end this way. He turned to look at Emily, conflicting emotion turbulent in the rich amber of her eyes. Even as an Unsighted, she was a mystery to him. She wrapped her arms around him, and he responded with a gentle embrace.

  Before he had the time to say anything to her, they were surrounded by people who hugged them and cheered at their return. Familiar faces flashed before Jason’s eyes, all of them bruised and haggard. Alice ran out of the building and Jason grasped and lifted her in the air, both of them laughing.

  Kyle came over to them as well, and Jason put Alice on her feet. The girl ran into the crowd. Jason gave Kyle’s hand a firm shake.

  “I’m really glad to see you here,” he said.

  “You were right,” the guard spoke enthusiastically. “I couldn’t stay away from this fight. I would never forgive myself if I hadn’t come.”

  “You’ve made the right decision.” Jason nodded, tapping him on the shoulder.

  After a few more people greeted Jason, he told Emily, “I’ll go find Matt and Debbie.”

  “I’ll go with you.” She took Jason by the hand and together they walked through the crowd. Soon they found Debbie sitting on the ground, Matt lying in her lap. Jason crouched beside them.

  “How are you, man?” he asked.

  Matt moaned. “I’ve been better.” He pushed himself up, grimacing.

  “Let’s get you to the hospital,” Jason said, and Matt gave a slight nod as Jason helped him along the streets swarming with more and more people. Tonia joined them on the way, her fingers bandaged. She insisted on taking Matt over from Jason and said she’d stay with him while the others took some rest. Jason didn’t mind, but Debbie seemed upset.

  Jason, Debbie, and Emily went to their apartment without talking much.

  For Jason it was hard to believe everything had come to another end. They’d survived another attack by Pariah and his cohort, and it still amazed him that Pariah was the one to stop the fight, the one to kill a Darksighted and then leave without saying a word.

  Along the way, Jason took a glimpse at Catherine Delacroix’s body. She lay there, her windpipe crushed, her mouth crooked from pain, her eyes wide open, taking in the magnificent ceiling high above where angels and demons kept waging a fierce war. Which is likely to never end, Jason thought somberly.

  Though he perfectly knew Catherine would have never done anything close to what he was about to do, he came over to her body, knelt down and swept his palm over her eyes.

  “Rest i
n peace, Darksighted enemy,” he whispered. “Your battle is over.”

  Chapter 41

  The next few days were the hardest for Jason. He and other Lightsighted arranged the ceremony of burying the victims of the Darksighted attack. Alexei and Catherine were buried together with them.

  Jason didn’t have as much time as he hoped to spend together with Emily. After the burial they were busy cleaning up, both in the underground and above. The rebuilding of Piccadilly Circus and unburying of the Tube station that was filled with tons of sand took great effort from everyone, but in the end Piccadilly Circus looked exactly the same way it used to before. Dave and his friends worked from dawn till sunset for a week, accompanied by Jason and Debbie, who insisted that they help eradicate the Dark Energy still lingering on the streets, in cars and public transport, shops and malls and everywhere else.

  After everything had been done, Dave arranged a brief gathering where he suggested they have a day off and then start getting the Londoners back where they belonged, wiping clean the memories of their stay in the underground. Exhausted after several days of hard work, the Sighted supported the idea.

  After the gathering, Jason, Dave, and a few more Sighted scanned the tunnels once more to check if there was any Darksighted Energy left unattended, but the tunnels had no vestiges of its presence. Jason couldn’t put a finger on why Pariah would act this way, wondering all the time what happened to Violet and Tyler.

  The following day, Debbie told Jason, Matt, and Emily about the memories Tyler had forced her to see. Even Emily had no idea Tyler had been Pariah’s spy. For her it was another blow to find out that Tyler hadn’t only witnessed the accident, but was the one who had rammed into her parents’ car.

  As the days passed by, Jason still found it difficult to get used to Emily being close by. He enjoyed every moment of being together with her, sure of one thing: he would never let her go again.

  From the very beginning he made it clear that he didn’t rush Emily into telling him what she had to say, but before their return to New York, the time came for them to sit and talk. Jason stared into her eyes, his arms wrapped around her. She stared back at him, her lower lip quivering a bit.