by Maya Nicole
"Valentino." Amari came to stand in between me and the tall brunette that was trying to convince me to take her to my bed. I was half tempted. I hadn't been with any woman since Sammy.
"Amari." I finished my wine. "You're supposed to be on guard."
"There's a situation at the pool."
I followed him as he walked out of the house where I had a half-dozen guests gathered. He said nothing as we walked down the gravel path toward the pool. I just hoped whatever the issue was, it didn’t involve Lilith. My father had convinced her to leave us alone through payment of angel blood. But Lilith was greedy and constantly demanded more. I didn't understand why she needed so much blood.
"What is it, Amari? I was about to seal the deal with that-"
He turned and his lips crashed into mine, his arms wrapping around me. His hands slid up my back and he took a handful of my hair, pulling my lips away from his.
I groaned and tried to chase his lips, and he smirked. "Now, why would you be trying to take that woman to your bed when I've been keeping it warm at night?"
My heart thudded in my chest. "We aren't exclusive, Amari. Just having a little fun."
His smile dropped and he looked at my lips. "You call this a little fun?" He walked me backward until my back hit a tree. He pressed his erection into me and put his lips against my ear. "You and I both know it's not just a little bit of fun."
I groaned as he moved against me, his hot breath against my neck sending a shiver down my spine and making my dick come to life.
"You don't want me with anyone else?" I shut my eyes and his lips hovered over mine.
"No." He scooped me up. "You're mine. I'm yours."
"What are you doing? I have two feet." I laughed, but then he came to a stop by the pool.
"You seem a little worked up, Val. I can't have you going back to your friends feeling all hot and bothered." His eyes twinkled in amusement as I squirmed in his arms.
"Amari, don't you dare. This is one of my best-"
He threw me in the water.
Frigid water filled my lungs as I sank. I didn't know which would be worse, being eaten alive by spiders, drowning, or burning alive. Seemed I was going to face all three today.
I was pulled to the surface, and then I was on a crunchy cold surface. Raphael appeared over me and pushed on my chest. I coughed and choked.
I turned my head to the side and spit water. "F-f-fuck." My teeth chattered and my skin burned.
My brain knew it was daylight out, but the sun wasn't visible. It was gray wherever we were. Raphael freed me from the webs that were still wrapped around me. I was about to ask what the fuck we were doing when we landed back in Inferna, this time in the forest.
Raphael jumped up and pulled me to my feet, which were so unsteady that I stumbled. "Where the fuck did we go?"
"Lake Tahoe. It's winter there, so I hoped the sun wouldn't bother you since it was hidden behind clouds." His hands lit up, and he placed them on my cheeks. I felt a warmth burn all over my body.
"You hoped the sun wouldn't bother me?" I glared at him. "What if it had and I burst into flames?"
"There was water and snow. I could have buried you under the snow in no time." He grinned and pulled the sword from his hip. "Would you rather I let the spiders eat your dick off?"
I shuddered.
We ran the short distance back and found Amari and Nico fighting vacants. I searched around frantically for Sammy, but didn't see her anywhere.
"Where is she?" I was handed a sword, which appeared out of thin air.
"She's right-" Kage was at my side, but I couldn't hear the rest of what he said.
Nico roared unlike anything I'd ever heard. He was a little larger than his normal size and partially shifted into his squirrel. It was frightening.
I swung my sword as vacants came at us. They weren't as fast as I'd seen them, but with the mass quantity of them, we were facing an uphill battle.
We ended up in a tight circle as vacants surrounded us on all sides. "We're screwed."
"I can get us to Earth, just hold on to me." Raphael's answer for everything was popping over to Earth. It seemed dangerous to do in the middle of nowhere, especially when it was during the day. "We'll have to swim a bit, but-"
"He took Sammy!" Nico was vibrating with so much energy that it felt like he was about to explode.
"She fucking went with him!" Amari jabbed at a hissing vacant that moved forward.
"What do you mean she went with him?" I put my sword straight out in front of me as a barrier. The vacants were too detached from their brains to come closer.
"She went with him so he'd let us go. Little good that did." Amari's shoulder brushed mine and I hoped we made it out of this so he could hold me in his arms again.
"We have to do something. Eventually they're going to just walk into the swords." Raphael jumped and flew into the sky. The vacants didn't seem to pay him any mind as he began swinging his sword at them.
It was the opening we needed to get through.
"Go! I'll take care of the rest." There were only about a dozen vacants left.
If there were only a few here, that meant there were hundreds, if not thousands more elsewhere, ready and waiting.
Amari took off toward the trees and we followed. They couldn't have gotten that far.
I heard Sammy scream in the distance. My vision narrowed and I shot through the trees with all the vampire speed I could muster.
Chapter 17
Samara
I didn't know what I had been thinking when I traded myself for their lives. I should have known he wouldn't let them go, but they had a fighting chance now. I couldn't risk Taylor hitting them with the black smoke.
We had finished strong against the widows after Raphael had obliterated their spiders. They were weak without them and we easily killed them.
Everything seemed to be fine until Taylor suddenly appeared at the tree line. The next thing we knew, vacants surrounded us.
"Where are we going?" I turned to look over my shoulder at Taylor who was mere feet behind me. It made me uneasy to have him at my back.
"It seems there's an army heading straight for mine." He laughed. "We're going to go watch, sister."
The way he said sister made my skin crawl, and I stopped and turned to face him. He held his scepter in between us to stop me from moving forward.
"What do you want?" My fingertips tingled with a power I hadn't felt before. Would now really be a good time to try to zap his ass? His scepter was within striking distance, and as close as he was, I couldn't outrun the black smoke.
"I want what's mine. What I should have had all along. My family. But no. Mommy dearest had to take that away from me." He spoke with clenched teeth and I backed up a step.
"What are you talking about? We were always your family. You're the one that wanted to go away for school. I'm the only family you have left." I didn't want to believe the person standing in front of me wasn't Taylor, but all signs pointed to him being Carson.
The question was how.
"Once Taylor was out of the picture, sure I was part of the family." He brought the scepter to stand next to him and put his hand on the skull. "Of course, I always keep my twin close by."
Bile rose in my throat. "When?"
Carson looked up as if searching his brain. "Mid-teens? Can't be too sure. He must have stolen the key from our mother after seeing her use it."
I tried to keep myself calm, but couldn't stop a few tears from escaping. "You killed him?"
"Silly sister! He killed himself!" He laughed and pointed the skull back at me again. "It's easy when you have time to really tap into your full dream demon abilities."
He whistled sharply and a horse came running. He motioned for me to get on it.
"No." I backed up.
"No?" He cocked his head to the side. "You'd rather do this the hard way?"
I threw my hands out in front of me, hoping something would come out and take him down.
Nothing happened and he laughed.
"Always were a null. Nothing's changed. I had hoped that we could rule together." Taylor's skull started to smoke, and he moved it to point in my direction.
I took off running, his footsteps following. I could tell he was close by the sound of his breath.
All of a sudden, I heard two bodies hit and Carson grunt. I skidded to a halt to find him rolling around on the forest floor.
"No!" I lunged forward but was knocked backward. "Kage!"
Carson stood and slammed Kage, who was still invisible, into a tree. Kage groaned and reappeared, Carson instantly wrapping his hands around his throat, squeezing.
I jumped on Carson's back and was thrown back again. Kage kicked his feet and made gagging noises.
"Let him go, please!"
Carson laughed and then grunted and stumbled backward, releasing Kage. I scrambled forward as Kage fell to his knees, his hands covered in blood.
"Are you okay?" I examined him, but he looked fine. He nodded and rubbed at his throat.
I looked to the side at Carson lying on the ground, blood pouring from the knife in his chest. Kage must have been keeping the knife invisible.
We stood, and just as soon as we were up, Kage shoved me out of the way. His back went straight and he stumbled back, his hands going to his stomach.
My eyes darted to Carson, who was still on the ground but didn't have the knife in his chest any longer. I screamed as Kage fell to the ground, clutching the knife that was now lodged in his stomach.
"S-S-Sammy." His voice came out strangled.
White hot anger washed over me, and my vision flashed purple. I took a step toward Carson and he scrambled back. I didn't know what I looked like, but it must have been terrifying judging by the look in his eyes.
I flung my arms forward and two bolts of lightning shot from my hands, hitting him in the chest. He fell back to the ground and screamed. I stopped and he laughed, blood trickling from his mouth and ears.
"The show must go on." It was an odd thing for someone dying to say, and I cocked my head to the side. "Too bad I won't get to see you try to defeat my army."
His head hit the dirt and I hit him again with my energy. His lungs stopped and then his heart, but I didn't let up.
"Sammy!" Val skidded to a stop a few feet from me. "Kage!"
I dropped my hands and turned to find Val hovering over Kage, his hands pressed around the knife in his stomach.
I dropped to my knees next to them and took Kage's face in my hands. "Don't you die." His eyes were almost shut and his skin was darkening and starting to look wrinkled. "Raphael!" I screamed.
Val was trembling and was trying not to breathe. There was so much blood. I pushed his hands out of the way and tried sending my energy into Kage to heal him. All it did was push back against me.
"Where's Raphael? Get Raphael!" I was starting to panic and shut my eyes for a moment. "I don't know what to do."
His eyes shut and his breath shuddered before stopping completely.
"Sammy." Nico stood behind me. "Let him go. He's... he's dying." He choked on his words and I shrugged him off.
"No. No, he's not. I just need Raphael!" Tears blurred my vision and all I saw was red.
I was pulled backward by a pair of arms and cradled against a chest. I didn't know who. My sobs came in gasps and I clung to his shirt.
"Sammy." Raphael's soft voice brought me back from the dark chasm I had fallen head first into.
I rubbed my eyes with my forearm and then looked down at his hands soaked in blood and then past him to Kage's body. I choked back a sob.
"He's gone."
I pushed up from Amari's lap and crawled the few feet to Kage. My eyes told me he was gone, but my heart didn't want to believe it. "Let's try together." I looked up at Raphael, who had stood. "Please, Raphael."
"He's too far gone." Raphael looked down at his hands and wiped them on his pants. "I'm sorry."
I stood and shoved him. "That's unacceptable! Try again!"
"Peanut-" Nico grabbed my arm and I twisted away from his touch.
"Don't fucking call me that!" I glared at Nico before turning my glare on Raphael. "You're the archangel of healing! Heal him."
Raphael's sadness hit me in the chest and I put my hands on my knees. So many emotions were coming at me at once.
A noise came from Carson's body and we all turned as his pocket began moving. A tiny hand reached out, using his shirt as leverage to wiggle out.
"Picard!" Nico ran to help him and gently took him in the palm of his hand. "We thought you died!"
Picard squeaked faintly and then looked over at me before pointing to Kage. Nico brought him to us, setting him on Kage's unmoving chest.
Nico rubbed his beard. "He says it's time to return to the castle."
Amari scooped Kage up in his arms. I looked away, my eyes landing on Val, who was standing a short distance away.
"Val?" I took two steps toward him. He turned, the scepter in his hand. "What are you doing?"
"This is how he controls the army." He examined the skull and his eyes met mine. "I can end this."
"Val." I lunged forward to try to grab him but he was too fast. He was gone before any of us could stop him.
Raphael and Nico had gone back to the widow's lair and found horses and an open carriage. Amari and I rode in the back with Kage and Picard. Picard glowed faintly and kept making odd noises, but wouldn't tell us what was going on.
Amari took my hand, and I let him hold it in his lap. "We should be there soon."
I put my head on his shoulder. We had left an hour earlier and were closing in on where Carson had his army stationed. I didn't exactly know what Val had planned, but I feared it was going to end up with him lying beside Kage.
I didn't know if I could handle that.
"He jumped in front of me." I sighed. "I turned my back for a moment and..."
Amari moved one hand to the back of my head and smoothed my hair. "You can't blame yourself for this. You would have done the same had the roles been reversed."
We bounced along through the trees. We had sent a raven for Miles and Tony, but there was no telling how long that would take.
Movement at my feet caught my eye. "Did you see that?" I scooted off the seat and nearly fell on top of Kage and Picard as the wheel of the carriage hit a hole.
"What?" Amari held onto my arm to keep me steady.
"His fingers twitched!" I knelt over Kage on my knees and put my hand on his cheek.
"Sammy, I think it was just the carriage." Amari frowned and then leaned forward. "Mother of hell serpents, stop the horses! His eye twitched!" Amari knelt next to me after the carriage came to a stop.
Raphael climbed into the back. He put his hands on either side of his chest and they flared with light. "He's alive! Barely, but he's alive!"
Picard lifted his head from Kage's chest and squeaked something at Raphael. He passed out seconds later. Kage stirred, a groan leaving his lips.
"Is he really alive?" Nico was trying to lean over us to see, but Raphael was blocking his line of sight.
"Yes." Raphael scooped up Picard. "I think he just used his sixth life."
A painful sound came from Picard and his little tongue lolled out of the side of his mouth. I'd worry about the monkey later. I threw myself at Kage, burying my face in his neck. He brought a hand to my back.
"I thought you died."
He coughed. "I think I d-did." I pulled back and looked into his half-opened eyes. "I'm s-sorry I scared you."
I breathed a sigh of relief and put my hand on his cheek. "Don't you ever do that again." I turned my head toward Raphael, who was trying to heal Picard but cursing under his breath as he did so. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong." Raphael cringed. "He's being overly dramatic."
Picard raised a finger in the air and we all laughed.
My laugh stopped as quickly as it had begun. "Val. We need to stop Val."
Nico to
ok the reins again and Amari joined him in the front. I lay down next to Kage and lightly touched his face, not wanting to hurt him.
"Why are you staring?" He turned his head and his forehead touched mine.
"You came back from the dead." I put my hand over his heart and he shut his eyes. "What does it mean?"
"I don't know." He frowned. "But I need to clean."
It was silent for a few more minutes besides the sounds of the horses and the carriage creaking as it moved along. Kage was sleeping, and I kept my hand over his chest to make sure he was still breathing. His stab wound had closed, but his skin still didn't look right.
"Slow it down. Do you see that up ahead?" I sat up and Amari was pointing in front of us.
I squinted and could faintly make out a long line of men and women standing still. They were facing our direction and I grabbed onto Raphael's arm. "Where's Val?"
We slowed to a trot and then stopped completely. The vacants, some of which I knew, stared straight at us. I knew there were people in there somewhere and felt myself turn red with anger.
"Get us closer." Maybe I could send them light energy, even though I had absolutely no clue how.
"Sammy, what are you-" Before they could stop me, I jumped over the side of the carriage and headed toward them.
I heard a chorus of cursing come from behind me and feet as they ran after me. Nico pulled me to a stop.
"Let me go." I tried to pull out of his grasp, but he held on tight. "Nico, I swear on my soaps."
"What the fuck are you doing?" He started pulling me back to the carriage. "You can't just fucking walk up to them! Do you have a death wish?"
"I can help them like I helped you." I tried to free myself again. "I said let me go!" I shoved at him with my free hand and he flew backward, landing on his ass about twenty feet away.
My eyes went wide, and I looked down at my hand; it was glowing faintly and tingled with energy. I put my hand out toward a vacant and a bolt shot from my palm and hit the vacant in the chest.
It screeched and then fell to its knees before falling onto its side on the ground. Raphael came to stand next to me and took my hand, examining it. "I don't think that did what you intended it to do."
