The Innocent

by Michelle K. Pickett

  “And here we go,” I whispered. “Nope,” I called to Jake. “I’ll come down there.”

  I knew it meant a fight if I went into the yard. But I didn’t want him anywhere near my house. He was on public property where he stood and that was where I preferred him to stay—as far away from my house and family as possible.

  I walked into the yard, Chay next to me. Muriel, Drew, and Xavier followed. Jake met us halfway between the road and the house, his entourage close behind him.

  “What?” I asked, leveling him with my worst glare.

  “It’s been a long time, Milayna. No hello?” Shayla asked.

  Ah, nope.

  I didn’t take my eyes off Jake. He liked hitting girls and I was on the top of his favorites list. So I kept my eyes on him. I could take Shayla and Lily. I wasn’t scared of them. I could probably take Stephen without too much trouble. I wasn’t sure about the demi-demons, but I knew Jake out-skilled me. He was bigger, meaner, fought dirtier, and was pure evil. While I wasn’t scared of the others, I was very scared of him.

  Not Jake, please, anyone but Jake. I’m too tired for him tonight. I’ll surely find myself on my back looking up at the sky… that is, if I’m even conscious. Most of the time, I’m not.

  We all stood there silently assessing each other, deciding who we could take in a fight and who we couldn’t. It seemed like forever, and I had to force myself not to fidget. I didn’t want to show anything that might be seen as a sign of weakness. So I stood still and stared at them while they did the same.

  Oh, come on. We know we’re gonna fight. Just throw the first punch already so we can get on with it and get it over with.

  As demi-angels, we couldn’t throw the first punch in a fight. We were passive. Fighting wasn’t something we enjoyed, unlike the demi-demons and Evils who thrived on it. They used fighting as a way to distract us so demons could snatch one or more of us or another victim. Usually, there’d be two or three fights before they’d make a run for their target. This served two purposes, in my opinion. First, it kept us from knowing exactly when they were going to make their move; we had to keep our eyes on the target—if we even knew who it was—and on the fight. And second, it fed their need for violence.

  “So?” Drew said, rolling his eyes.

  Muriel elbowed him in the ribs.

  Stephen made the first move. A side kick aimed at Drew, who blocked it easily. It got the party started, though.

  A bleached-blonde demi-demon and Lily rushed Muriel. Stephen and a demi-demon went after Drew. Xavier and Rod were paired together. Chay made a play toward Jake, knowing Jake would come after me. A demi-demon tackled Chay from the side, knocking him to the ground. Shayla kicked him hard in the gut while he was down. Momentarily forgetting I should never, ever, take my eyes off Jake, I punched Shayla hard in the jaw. It killed my hand, but I smiled a little, knowing it’d leave a nasty bruise on her otherwise perfect face.

  Jake’s backhand across my face brought my attention back to him. “It’s been a while, Milayna. I’ve missed our little dates.” Another hard smack aimed for my face. I blocked it.

  I just have to tire him out. Block the hits until the police get here. Please don’t let it be a busy night and let them get here soon.

  A kick to the side. I blocked it, but I took a hard hit to my forearm. A second quick kick. I wasn’t expecting that. Turning, I took it hard on the back. The force pushed me forward three large steps.

  I turned to face him, ready to block a hit. He threw a kick. Blocking it easily, I kneed him in the groin. I always loved the look on a guy’s face right after you kicked him in the bat and balls. It was priceless. But I had to give it to Jake. He didn’t even flinch.

  He jabbed my side. I tried to block, but he got a good hit in. The breath rushed out of my body with a whoosh as pain flooded it. He smiled as he backhanded me hard across the face. Stars lit up in front of my eyes.

  I hit him under the chin with a palm-heel strike, feeling his teeth clamp together. He grabbed a handful of my hair and kicked me in the side, and I crumpled to my knees.

  He jerked me up by my hair. I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from crying out. He got off on that.

  I felt the earth start to vibrate. A low rumble filled the air.

  Oh, no.

  I knew what was coming. A portal straight to Hell. A hole with a yellow, glowing light at the bottom. The smell of rotting meat and burning flesh.

  Jake wrapped my hair around his hand and jerked my head back so I was bent backward looking up at him. “Hear that, Milayna? He’s coming.”

  “And?”

  “And you’d better have decided because it’ll be you or the boy going down that hole. Someone will be leaving with him tonight.”

  “Go to Hell, Jake.”

  He bent his head low. His lips touched the hollow behind my ear. “You first, sweetheart,” he murmured before kissing my neck.

  “Milayna!”

  I strained to turn my head. “Ben, go in the house!”

  “I can’t. He has me.” He was crying and screaming.

  “Where’s Dad?” It was so hard to talk the way Jake had my neck bent.

  “With the other men…” Ben said something else, but he was crying too hard for me to understand.

  The ground broke open. A large crack spread across the yard. A hole started to form in the dirt, like someone was drilling from beneath us. I suppose that was exactly what they were doing. The hole opened. I could see the faint yellow light shining from the bottom. The stench smacked me in the face and made me gag.

  Jake pulled me to the hole by my hair. I kicked my feet, trying to find something to hook them around. Scratching, I pried at his hands, but they didn’t budge.

  “Chay!” I looked for him. He was in his own fight and couldn’t get to me. I looked around, searching for anyone who could get away, there was no one. No one but Xavier. He was missing. “Xavier!”

  “I’m here, Milayna,” he said calmly.

  I craned my neck to see, gasping when I saw him standing next to Rod and Jake. “Why?”

  He shrugged. “Why not?”

  “I told you I didn’t like him,” Ben said, crying as he struggled to get out of Xavier’s arms.

  “Put him down. He’s just a little boy.” Tears welled in my eyes, and I willed them not to fall. I couldn’t look weak in front of them. It would be the worst thing I could do. They thrived on it.

  “See, I’d like to, but I can’t,” Xavier said, shaking his head. “Benjamin isn’t always going to be this cute little boy. He’s going to grow into a teenager. Eventually, his eighteenth birthday will roll around and he’ll mature as a demi-angel just like his big sister. And that creates a problem for me and my new friends.

  “If you and Ben are allowed to both mature as demi-angels, you’ll be the strongest pair alive, untouchable by any demon in the underworld. They don’t like the idea of that, so it can’t be allowed to happen.” Xavier tightened his grip on Ben.

  Keep him talking. Just keep him yammering until Chay can help or the police get here. Someone will help. Hang on, Ben.

  “If Ben were to side with Azazel now, before he reaches the age of accountability, it puts everything on an even playing field. When he turns eighteen, Ben’s power will be absorbed by Azazel, making him just as strong as you. Things will even and that will appease Azazel. But what would make him happy is for you to switch sides—”

  “Why?” I interrupted. “It doesn’t matter who switches.”

  “Because Ben is young. He’s a wild card. You’re a sure thing if you switch now. Plus, Azazel would absorb your power instantly instead of waiting around until Ben turns eighteen. But the real reason is that he wants to see you suffer.” Xavier shrugged a shoulder and grinned. “He knows you’ll be miserable if you switch sides and that makes him extraordinarily happy, thrilled beyond words. But if you decide not to switch sides, he’ll kill you and take the boy. Then he’ll have the best of both worlds. Seeing you dead an
d still getting Ben’s power.”

  A dim shadow fell across me, barely visible from the dull, yellow glow coming from the pit of Hell. I strained to move my head to see who it was. I prayed it was Chay or someone else to help. I knew it wouldn’t be.

  “Oh look, Milayna, here he is now,” Xavier said in a singsong voice.

  “Let her go,” Azazel said quietly.

  Jake let go of me and I stumbled forward, nearly falling on the ground. I stood and adjusted my clothes, smoothing invisible wrinkles out of the fabric. Turning to Jake, I smiled. He smirked.

  What are you smirking about, idiot? Do you think my smiling is some form of flattery? Or that we’re buddies now?

  I reached up and punched him hard across the jaw. Pain ricocheted through my hand. I forced myself not to show it, even though I was fairly certain I’d just broken a finger or two. “Don’t ever touch me again,” I said, enunciating each word carefully so someone of even Jake’s lower intelligence could understand them.

  Jake raised his hand to hit me. “Don’t,” Azazel ordered. Jake unfisted his hand and let his arm drop to his side. “So, Milayna, nice to see you again. You’re looking well.”

  “I can’t say the same. On either counts,” I said.

  Azazel laughed. It was an ugly sound. Not at all what a person imagined a laugh to sound like. “I assume they’ve told you your choices.”

  “They’ve tried, but none of them are the brightest crayons in the box. It’s been hard for them to use polysyllabic words.” He laughed again. I cringed at the sound.

  “Well then, let me spell it out for you just to make sure they’ve covered all the finer points. You have two choices. Switch sides, come with me now, and save your brother… or die knowing I’m taking him with me. Either way, one of you is coming with me. It’s just a matter of which one.”

  “How do I know you’ll keep your word, Azazel? If I go with you now, how do I know you’ll leave my brother alone to live his life in peace? Never touch him?”

  “I suppose you don’t, do you?” He arched a thin, black eyebrow. “But I’ll give him a dagger—one that can kill me. If I don’t keep my word, he’ll be able to end my life.

  “What do I have to do?”

  “Just follow me. It’s rather easy. Your friends can attest to that.” Azazel indicated Jake and the others.

  I snorted a laugh. “They aren’t my friends.”

  “Milayna, what are you doing?” Chay whispered.

  “I have to, Chay. It’s the only way to save Ben. Besides, I’m dead either way.”

  “So is Ben! Azazel won’t keep his word. He’ll take you and then as soon as he has the chance, he’ll take Ben, too.”

  Chay, trust me.

  “Do I get to say goodbye first?” I looked at Azazel. He shrugged, indifferent.

  I hugged Chay first. “Trust me. Get Ben as soon as I put him down after I hug him. I love you.” I started to pull away. Chay grabbed my hand and pulled me into a kiss.

  “Don’t do this,” he murmured against my lips.

  “Shh, trust me.”

  I turned and held out my arms to Ben. “You can say goodbye from there,” Xavier said, not letting go of Ben.

  “No. I want a hug before I go.” I stood waiting with my arms out for Ben.

  Xavier started to tell me no when Azazel lost his temper. “Damn it, give her the boy and let’s finish this.”

  Ben scrambled out of Xavier’s arms and into mine. I held him close. He smelled of peach shampoo and fresh laundry detergent. I buried my face in the bend of his neck. “When I put you down, you run to the house as fast as you can. Chay is going to go with you. Don’t stop for anyone but Chay, okay?” Ben nodded. “No matter what happens, I love you, Ben. Never forget it.”

  “I love you, too, Milayna, even though you sucked at bumper bowling.” I smiled at the memory and brushed Ben’s hair off his forehead, letting my hand slide down the side of his face.

  I hope we have another day like that when this mess is over.

  I looked over Benjamin’s head at Xavier. “How could you betray me like this, Xavier?” I whispered.

  “It was never gonna be me, Milayna. You never would have loved me. So I had to hedge my bets and take care of me.”

  “So you side with Azazel against my family, against me? We treated you like family.”

  “He offered a better deal.” He shrugged.

  “He’ll give you nothing. He won’t keep his word—”

  “Like you kept your word?” Xavier asked through clenched teeth.

  I hugged Ben closer to me. “What are you talking about?”

  “Your kisses. They had a story to tell and damn, did they tell a good one. You made me believe you and I… well, you get the idea. You gave me your word that way. You told me I meant something to you.” He sounded pathetic.

  “You do mean something—”

  “Oh, shut up,” he ground out.

  “I’m not sure what you thought we had or what you thought we were going to have, but I never lied to you, Xavier. You knew about Chay and you knew how I felt about him. You can’t say the same thing to me. You’ve done nothing but lie to my family and me. Remember my friend Jeff? Remember what I told you Azazel did to him?” Xavier’s face paled. “He broke his neck. Whatever he does to you, you deserve it.”

  “Wow, Milayna. That was a bitchy thing to say. Maybe you belong on my side after all,” Azazel said with a laugh.

  “You know, grabbing Ben wasn’t my first assignment,” Xavier said.

  “What?”

  “When I came here, I’d already switched. I was working for Abaddon then. My first assignment was to get close to you and kill you. I was your assassin, Milayna,” he said with a laugh. “Isn’t that ironic? Your assassin.”

  Wow, he’s gone loopy. I’m completely lost.

  “I don’t see the irony.”

  “I fell in love with my target. I was supposed to be getting close to you so I could kill you. Instead, I wanted to get close to you just to be with you. It became clear very quickly that I wasn’t going to be able to complete my mission. So I picked someone else to do it for me.”

  Xavier shook his head, jabbing his finger in the air. “The problem was I couldn’t pick someone I thought would actually go through with killing you. That defeated the whole purpose of not killing you myself. I needed someone who would put up a good fight, but in the end wouldn’t kill you.” Xavier talked like we were talking about the weather, not my life… or death.

  “So I picked the one person I knew loved you as much as I did. Chay. He was the perfect choice, really. It killed two birds with one stone. It got me off the hook of killing you and it got rid of him as your boyfriend, opening the door for someone else, namely me. So I forced visions, manipulated him, cursed him, all designed with one purpose—to make him think he was supposed to kill you… to make him want to kill you. And, like I knew he would, he fought it and won. And then he left, opening the door for me. But you’re too damn stubborn. You waited for him like a fool.”

  I looked at Chay and smiled. “I told you so.”

  “Now? This is the conversation you want to have now?” Chay rolled his eyes.

  “No, I don’t want to have a conversation. I just want to tell you I was right. I knew it wasn’t you.”

  So now, no matter what happens, you can stop blaming yourself and be at peace. It wasn’t you trying to kill me. You could never do something like that.

  “Okay, okay, you were right,” Chay said with an exasperated sigh.

  “Okay, we’ve had our bonding for the evening. It’s time to get this done with. Make your choice, Milayna,” Azazel said.

  “Okay, Ben, here we go. Give me a kiss and get ready.” Ben kissed my cheek. I bent down and put him on the ground. Before anyone could stop him, Ben was running toward the house, Chay closing in on him fast.

  Run, Ben, run. Take care of him, Chay. Please.

  Xavier tried to push me out of the way to chase them. I ra
ised my leg up just as he stepped around me. He stumbled and fell.

  “Milayna, you never cease to piss me off,” Azazel said with a smile. “But you do make things more fun.” He clapped his hands in front of himself once.

  “Well, I’m glad one of us is having fun.” I heard sirens in the distance. Azazel cussed violently.

  “I’m really sorry to do this, Xavier, but it can’t be me tonight.” When Xavier started to stand, I planted my foot in the middle of his back and pushed as hard as I could. He fell headfirst into the pit, sliding down and screaming all the way.

  I cringed while listening to Xavier shrieking. A lump lodged in my throat for the friend I was losing, or, rather, the friend I thought I was losing. I guess I really didn’t know Xavier at all.

  I’m sorry, Xavier.

  Azazel watched, shrugged, and looked at me.

  “This isn’t done,” he promised.

  “How’s Ben?” Chay asked for the thousandth time.

  “He’s fine. Just a little shaken up and really confused by what happened, but what kid wouldn’t be?” I doodled on the kitchen table with my finger. “Dad, what do you think happened to Xavier?”

  “I don’t know.” He sat across from me, drumming his fingers on the kitchen table. When Xavier took Benjamin, it took four demons to hold back my parents. Demons were strong, but they lost some of their power when they entered our house because of the protective barrier shielding it. My dad fought hard, but four demons, even with his limited power, were still dangerous.

  “What happened, Dad? Shouldn’t you know things like this? He was a fallen angel. Don’t they let you know when things like this happen?”

  He flattened his hand on the table and glanced at me. “Honey, it’s not like I live there anymore. How am I supposed to know what goes on?”

  “I don’t know! Can’t your friends call and let you know?” I asked, sounding ridiculous even to myself.

  “Yeah, well, cell service isn’t exactly great up there.”

  I rolled my eyes. “It just seems like we should have picked up on a sign, or something he said.”

  “Don’t dwell, Milayna. Look at the bright side. Ben is safe. Xavier is gone.” My mother set a plate of cheese and crackers in front of us, insisting we eat.