by Alicia Rades
Not fear, I reminded myself. Anger.
I dodged around another tree and shifted course to the left, hoping to confuse Dorian even if it only put him another second behind me.
My body continued to move forward, but my mind focused on all the things I could possibly think to be angry about.
I was angry at my mom for making us move every year, even though I pretended like I was fine with it. I was angry at Allie for acting like being a Davina was so easy. I was angry at Marek for trying to face Dorian on his own instead of letting Fletcher take care of it.
I was angry at Grace for choosing me and expecting me to do something with her powers when I had no clue, at my father for abandoning me and never coming back to explain any of it, at Clinton for all he did to my mom and our family, and at Fletcher for expecting so much from me.
My skin heated, and not just from running. All these thoughts bubbled to the surface. I thought for a moment that I might have to stop running to let myself puke.
You can’t stop. Dorian isn’t far behind.
I focused my anger on Dorian. If I had anything to be angry about, it was the sadistic pig on my tail. All the anger I felt sent me sprinting forward even faster.
I glanced behind me to see Dorian’s body pass through the nearest tree like he was a ghost. With the curse keeping him from interacting with this realm, the trees weren’t an obstacle for him.
He lunged for me. His solid body slammed into me, knocking me into a thick tree. Dorian fell to the ground. My shoulder ached from the impact, but I quickly recovered and continued running.
A distant scream reached my ears.
Dammit. My friends were still in danger, and I’d abandoned them.
I switched course again. My lungs grew heavy from the sprint. Ahead, a dull glow from the town’s light pollution broke through the dense canopy. I’d circled around and was almost back to the valley. I sprinted out of the trees, tensed my shoulders, and hurled my body into the air.
Over my own labored breathing and the rush of air around my ears, I just barely caught the sound of battle below me. Grunts, screams, and the occasional firecracker pop of exploding essence echoed throughout the valley.
“No one’s going to save you,” Dorian shouted.
He was close. Too close.
He was also wrong.
A white-winged Davina flew high above the valley, surveying the area. Marek immediately dove for us with a white fireball ready in his palm. He hurled it at Dorian, but it only caught him in the ankle. Dorian faltered for a moment, but it wasn’t enough to knock him out of the sky.
Below us, five demons remained, looking like nothing more than shadows in the night.
I noticed an extra pair of white wings. Another Davina had come to join the fight. He smashed a fist into the closest demon, sending him stumbling to the ground.
Beside them, Kyle raised his arm toward a nearby demon. A dagger glistened in his hand, reflecting the light from his essence in his other palm. He slashed downward, and the dagger sank into the demon’s chest. Death was immediate, and the demon vanished from the valley.
The wind picked up, throwing off my balance in the sky. My wings began to tire as I wove a random path to keep from becoming an easy target.
Come on, Marek, I begged silently. Knock him out of the sky already.
The sound of Dorian’s flapping wings grew closer.
Allie let out a scream.
My heart stopped in my chest when I saw a demon had knocked her to the ground and kicked her hard in the abdomen. He rose his foot above her face.
“No!” I cried. I immediately dove toward the demon.
I closed in on him fast, but before I made it, something struck my right wing. My wing seized up, paralyzed. I spiraled the remaining fifteen feet out of the sky and collided with the demon. The wind left my chest, and we skidded across the dirt.
I instinctively pulled my wings into me and quickly got to my feet before air returned to my lungs.
The first thing I noticed was the new Davina fighting a demon beside me. He was older, with graying white hair. His bare torso was toned, and he wore his regular tan slacks.
Fletcher.
I didn’t have more than a split second to consider his presence. Dorian swooped down out of the sky with another ball of essence ready. I realized immediately that’s what had struck my wing, though it hadn’t been enough to knock me out. I threw myself to the grass, ducking out of the way of his next attack. Dorian continued flying with Marek still close on his tail.
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught the moment when Kyle raised his dagger to another demon. The demon lunged for him and seized his wrist. Kyle stumbled back but resisted against the demon’s hold. The demon’s elbow connected with Kyle’s face. He snatched the dagger from his grasp and slashed it in Kyle’s direction. Kyle dodged out of the way.
I scurried to my feet and rushed toward Kyle to offer my aid.
Allie made it to him first. Her weight crashed into the demon, but she wasn’t strong enough to knock him off his feet. The demon grabbed ahold of her and pinned her to his chest. The blade he held pressed into her throat.
I stopped dead in my tracks as time slowed down. It felt as though someone had swung a baseball bat at my gut. Blood pulsed loudly in my ears, drowning out all other sounds.
I couldn’t hear Marek above me shouting obscenities at Dorian. I never heard the pop of the fireball that exploded against Fletcher’s shoulder and knocked him out. I never heard Kyle’s body hit the ground as a demon tackled him and pinned his throat beneath his hands.
All I knew was that my best friend was about to die and there was nothing I could do to save her in the split second it would take the demon to slit her throat.
A panicked shriek ripped out of my lungs. “STOP!”
The valley went dead silent.
28
Electricity sizzled in my palm. A vibrant purple glow illuminated everything nearby—the grass, the demons, Allie.
A moment of clarity struck. I suddenly realized what had been holding me back all this time, why the Power of Grace only appeared intermittently.
Now was the time to use it to my advantage.
I raised my right palm threateningly at the demon holding the blade to Allie’s neck. “Let. Her. Go.”
Dorian’s laughter reached my ears. I turned to find him standing just yards away with his head held high in confidence. His hand tangled in Marek’s hair.
Marek’s head tilted back, and he grimaced in pain.
Each remaining demon had ahold of one of my friends. I was the last one standing.
My knees shook. There was no way I could take them all on at once.
Dorian smiled in amusement. “Finally. You’ve been holding out on us, Little Angel.”
That son of a bitch needed to stop calling me that.
My jaw tensed. “Let my friends go.”
Dorian clicked his tongue and shook his head. “I’m afraid I can’t do that. I told you this would happen.”
It couldn’t. I wouldn’t let my friends die.
“How do you expect this to work out?” I demanded. “You have no power in this realm.”
An evil grin spread across Dorian’s face. “That’s not true. Look around you. Who’s in the position of power here? I call the shots now.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. I couldn’t see a way out of this without my friends getting hurt.
“Isaac,” Dorian called in a commanding voice. He gestured to the demon pinning Allie to his chest. “Over here.”
Dorian forced Marek to his knees beside an unconscious Fletcher.
“Hands on your head,” he commanded. “Or Isaac will slit the girl’s throat.”
Marek did as he was told.
Dorian snatched up a cloak left behind by one of his fallen comrades and tore off a piece of fabric. He forced Marek’s hands behind his back and began tying them together with it.
Fletcher stirred on the groun
d.
One of the demons grabbed him by the neck and forced him to kneel beside Marek. He followed Dorian’s example and tied him up.
Fletcher raised his eyes to mine. He had apology written all over his face.
The remaining two demons brought their hostages over and restrained them.
My hand with the fireball inside of it shook. “Please don’t do this.”
Dorian held his hand out to Isaac, who placed the blade inside it.
Dorian turned toward me with a hard look on his face. “I want you to watch as the life drains from each one of your friends’ eyes. It’s important that you know this is what happens to people who don’t follow my orders.”
He began pacing in front of the line of Davina kneeling at his feet. “Let’s see… which one should we start with? The mentor, the boyfriend, the best friend, or…” His lips curled into a smile, and he pointed the dagger toward Kyle. “What’s this one to you?”
“He’s my friend!” I cried. “And I swear to God, if you touch one hair on his head—”
“What?” Dorian asked in amusement. “You’ll use your powers to kill me? Honey, you’ve had every chance to knock me down, and so far you’ve failed to do so. Why is that?”
I hesitated. The purple fireball continued to glow in my palm, and I still couldn’t bring myself to use it.
Because I won’t stoop to your level.
“It’s because you’re weak,” he barked.
“Then what do you want with me?” I snapped.
Dorian smirked. “You may be weak now, but you have potential. You just need a little direction, a little… motivation.”
Dorian made a quick decision on his target and grabbed Allie.
“Stop! I’ll go with you.” The words shot out of my mouth before I consciously made the decision.
“NO!” Allie and Marek cried together.
“You can’t do this, Ryn,” Fletcher warned.
Dorian paused with the blade to Allie’s throat. “You mean it?”
I didn’t have any other choice. Even if I wanted to kill Dorian, my friends would immediately die at the hands of his recruits.
Allie stared at me intensely and shook her head the smallest bit.
The purple essence in my palm fizzled away. “Yes. I’ll do whatever you want. Just don’t hurt her.”
“Good girl.” Dorian released his grip on Allie and took a step toward me.
“Don’t go with him, Ryn,” Marek objected. “We’re not worth it.”
My eyes fell upon each one of them. In the past few days, they’d shown me a world that didn’t just accept my insanity; they shared it with me. Marek had saved my life more than once. He was definitely worth it. All of them were.
“I’m sorry, Marek,” I whispered. “You were right. There’s no reasoning with him.”
I stepped forward to accept my fate.
“Ryn, stop!” Marek insisted.
A demon kicked him in the head from behind. His face smashed into the dirt.
I drew in an involuntary breath. I made a move toward him but stopped myself when the demon raised his foot again. If I tried to save him, they’d only hurt him more.
“You can’t go with him,” Fletcher said. “Don’t worry about us.”
Marek lifted his head. “He’s right, Ryn. The Davina need you!”
The demon kicked him in the gut, and he cried out in pain.
Kyle cringed beside him, and Allie let out a sob.
I glared at Dorian in horror. “Make him stop! I’m going with you. Let my friends go!”
Dorian grabbed my wrist tightly and pulled me toward him possessively. “I said I wouldn’t kill them if you came with me. I never said I wouldn’t hurt them.”
Marek swung his leg around and knocked the closest demon off his feet. He tried to stand, but a second demon was on top of him a moment later, forcing his face into the dirt.
“Here, Isaac.” Dorian held the handle of the blade out toward his friend. “Have fun.”
Isaac took the blade. He bent beside Marek and pulled his head back by his hair. He laughed as he ran the blade across the side of Marek’s face without breaking skin.
They’re going to torture him. All of them.
“NO!” I screamed. “You can’t do this!”
Dorian wrapped an arm around my waist and began dragging me away.
“Stop!” I kicked my feet out, but Dorian only squeezed tighter.
Suddenly, every muscle in my body contracted. An electric tingle began in my toes. With each inch it traveled up my body, the sensation intensified. Purple energy danced across the surface of my skin, lighting up my entire body like I was made of mystical lightning.
The demons beside Marek shot to their feet in alarm.
The energy grew in my chest, building exponentially each second until the feeling was so strong I couldn’t breathe.
Dorian must’ve released me, but I never noticed. Every inch of my body was being crushed by an unseen force. I urged to cry out in pain, but I couldn’t find my voice. In that moment, I thought for sure the energy would break me.
The next, the Power of Grace burst from my chest. A crack like thunder reverberated around me, and a purple energy wave rapidly swept across the valley in all directions. It blasted the standing demons backward in a single heartbeat.
The pain instantly subsided, and a numbness took over. I could no longer feel my limbs. Without warning, my body crumbled to the ground.
Real thunder roared above me. The first of the heavy raindrops hit my face a moment before the world completely faded away.
29
A bright light shone above me when I opened my eyes. I blinked the world into focus and saw I was lying in an unfamiliar bed. A door stood beyond a half-closed curtain to my right. Sunlight filtered through the window, casting a yellow ray across the tile floor.
My eyes continued to scan the hospital room until they fell upon my mother seated at my bedside. She stared down at the yarn she was twisting into knots. The afghan she was working on nearly touched the floor.
I cleared my throat.
Her eyes instantly met mine. “Kathryn.”
She sounded surprised to see me awake. She quickly set her crocheting supplies aside and leaned forward to take my hand.
“How are you feeling?” she asked.
I carefully considered the question. I wasn’t in pain, but I felt exhausted and hungry.
“I’m okay,” I said in a scratchy voice. “What happened?”
I ran the events of the past few days back through my head. Had it all been a vivid dream I’d made up while in a coma?
Mom handed me a water bottle from the small table beside my bed. “Your friends said you passed out.”
My friends? So it had been real.
“The doctors ran some tests,” she told me. “They were worried about your heart when we brought you in, but your vitals have normalized since then. They wanted to keep you overnight for observation. They have no idea what happened.”
And they never will.
I took a greedy gulp of water.
“Where are my friends?” I demanded.
Had they all gotten away from the demons safely?
“They went home last night. I said I’d let them know when you woke up.”
“I want to see them.” I didn’t even give it a second thought.
“Let’s wait a bit,” she suggested. “We’ll have the nurses check you again now that you’re awake.”
I would’ve much rather jumped out the window and flown back to Eagle Valley to check on my friends.
Mom pressed the nurse’s call button.
I glanced around the room in search of my phone, but it wasn’t on the table beside me or anywhere else within view. I didn’t see my clothes anywhere, either. I wore nothing but a hospital gown.
“Where’s all my stuff?” I sat up in bed, panicked.
Mom stood over me. “Calm down. It’s all in a bag right there.”
&n
bsp; My eyes followed hers to see a plastic bag next to her chair with my clothes in it.
“Give me my phone,” I insisted. “I need to call Allie.”
“After the nurses take a look at you,” Mom insisted.
I huffed and fell onto my back in the bed.
A nurse walked into the room. While she was checking my vitals, I turned back to my mom.
“You saw Allie last night?” I asked. “She’s all right?”
My mom sat back in her chair. “Of course she is. Is there any reason she shouldn’t be?”
I ignored the question. “Who else was with her?”
“Her boyfriend and that guy with the bike,” she answered.
I didn’t bother correcting her that Kyle wasn’t Allie’s boyfriend.
Mom frowned. “I really wished you would’ve told me where you were going. I said you could stay the night at Allie’s, not wander around town at all hours of the night.”
Of course. I was lying in a hospital bed and she still found something to chew me out about. I thought back to my car accident not even a year ago. This reminded me so much of that. Mom acted like she cared in the moment, but by the time I’d left the hospital, nothing had changed.
The nurse removed the blood pressure cuff from my arm. “Everything looks good for now. We’ll get your doctor in here shortly.” She smiled and left the room.
“You’re lucky Mr. Fletcher was working late,” Mom said.
“What do you mean?”
“You don’t remember where you passed out? It was right in front of the school. One of your friends rushed to find help. Another called 911. Your advisor helped keep everything under control. I’m just glad there was an adult around.”
“My advisor?” I couldn’t help but notice her strange choice of words.
Mom tried to hide a smile. “Yes, I signed the paperwork. You’re going to Galen High this year.”
“Are you serious?” I squeaked, shooting upright in bed.
Mom surrendered to the smile. “Yes.”
I sprang out of bed and threw my arms around her neck. “Thank you!”
Maybe something had changed between us this time.
My friends arrived an hour later. The doctor hadn’t come to check on me yet. I guess when you’re not dying, you don’t get the expedited hospital discharge procedure.
