by Trina M. Lee
I spotted Arrow at the back of the crowd. He watched us with blatant contempt. He was alone. His gaze swept over the stage, landing on me. I was tempted to give him the same finger gun he’d given me, but I didn’t dare risk a fumble by taking my hand off the guitar. For just a moment his eyes changed. They’d flashed red so fast I almost second-guessed whether I’d really seen it or not. Red.
So Dash was here. He was just conveniently hiding out inside of Arrow.
With a big solo coming up, I couldn’t let my gaze linger. Distractions would pull me out of the moment and steal this win from us. I refocused my attention on the crowd gathered closest to the stage, and I let the solo rip from me with a staggering force.
This was my moment. It was my brief time to shine, to share this magical moment with my closest friends. Dash was not going to take it from me.
The power of the solo drove me to my knees. My long, black hair fell into my face, but I didn’t need to see. My fingers flew over the frets of their own accord. I was vaguely aware of Jett leaping into the crowd, surfing on raised hands. Tash was standing in front of the drums, whipping her hair in time to Rubi’s beat. Fuck, yeah.
Our set came to an end much too quickly. I wasn’t ready for that last note. We ended on screams and applause that bordered on deafening. I knew no feeling in the world could compare to what I felt right then. Amazing.
“We got this.” Jett dropped her mic and threw her arms around me. We shared a sweaty hug that got a few whoops and catcalls from the crowd.
The emcee returned to tell the crowd that the bar would be serving two-dollar shots for the next half hour. Then the winner would be announced.
“Dash is inside Arrow,” I said as we retreated from the stage. “At least, I’m pretty sure he is.”
Jett’s brow creased in thought. “Why? What’s he trying to achieve by doing that?”
“I don’t know. I think I’m going to find out. Help me keep the girls away from him, ok?”
“Of course.”
I searched the crowd for Koda and found him backed into a corner near the restrooms by Cinder. The fact that they were both in corporeal form indicated to me that Cinder was trying to deal with Koda as peacefully as possible.
The girls and I swept through the room, receiving high-fives, handshakes, and hugs. Jett, Tash, and Rubi dispersed to join the party. Rowen stepped out of the crowd and caught me in his arms, lifting me off my feet. The kiss he planted on me was dizzying.
“Dash is possessing Arrow.” I pressed my lips against his ear, ensuring he heard me.
Rowen took it in stride, completely unfazed. He was already more at home in his skin as nephilim than I was. “That explains a lot actually. So what do we do?”
“We drive him out. If we can.”
Rowen slipped an arm around my waist and guided me toward the bar. “Let me buy you a drink. Play it cool, or he’ll know we’re onto him.”
I let Rowen steer me along until Arrow appeared in front of us with a wicked smile and eyes that flashed red. I sputtered, “I think he already does.”
“This doesn’t have to get violent,” Arrow said in Dash’s voice. “In fact, I prefer that it didn’t. You’ve already seriously harmed one of my people.” Harmed. Not killed. So Michelle had lived. My heart soared. I hadn’t killed anyone.
My gaze traced the bruises marring Arrow’s face. “Looks like you’ve already gotten violent. What the hell have you been doing to him?”
“I’m not here to talk about him,” Dash snapped. “I’ve waited patiently until now. I’m here to speak with the two of you. Is there somewhere we can go? It’s rather loud in here.”
Yeah, that didn’t sound like a trap or anything. I thought about the Midnight Star upstairs where I’d left it, safe in my guitar case. I couldn’t very well use it when he was possessing Arrow. Still, if we could drive him out of Arrow, I might get the chance.
“Outside?” Rowen asked, likely thinking it would be safer there.
“No.” I shook my head, knowing this was a risk. “Upstairs.”
Arrow’s eyes flickered again, becoming hazel. He shook his head and uttered, “Rowen, don’t.”
He was fighting it, which meant that unlike Michelle, Arrow was not a willing participant in this possession. His fight was as terrifying as it was reassuring. Dash wrestled for control, and Arrow’s eyes turned red once again.
Though I couldn’t rely on him to always come to my aid, Cinder’s presence gave me courage. He was right where I’d last seen him. If Rowen and I didn’t deal with Dash now, he would keep coming back. That’s how demons worked.
“Let’s go.” Rowen took my hand, and we went upstairs with a demon wearing our friend’s skin. This could end terribly in so many different ways.
The dressing area was empty. Everyone was downstairs partying. I wished I was among them.
“Let’s not play games or waste time,” Dash began as soon as it was clear we were alone. His red stare fixed on Rowen. “It’s you I wanted all along. I still do. Arrow was a means to an end. Since he failed, now he’s useless. I’m willing to offer you a deal. A good deal.”
Rowen made a sound of disgust. He backed us away from Dash, putting the length of the room between us and him. “Go to hell. I’ll never make a deal with you.”
Dash looked out through Arrow’s eyes. Something about it made my skin crawl. He looked at me and very calmly said, “What about you? You’re not my first choice, but you’ve got a few things going for you. You’re female. Rare. And the keeper of the Midnight Star. Actually, the more I think about it, the more useful you could be.”
“Forget it,” I spat the words at him. “I’m not negotiating with you. You don’t even have the balls to face us yourself. Let Arrow go.”
Dash nodded and slowly advanced on us, stopping in the center of the room. “I intend to. Since he betrayed me, I also plan to kill him. But because I can be a nice guy I came to offer his brother the chance to save him.”
Rowen and I exchanged a look. A demon was always up to no good. Dash had likely spent the week cooking up this scheme, knowing how to get the response he wanted.
“Ok, I’ll bite,” Rowen said. “What do you want?”
Those red eyes were so wrong on Arrow. The cackle that followed was equally foreign. “I want you, Rowen. The son Rhine was never supposed to have. Join my coven in Arrow’s place, and I will let him live. You too, sweetheart,” he said to me. “Feel free to get in on this.”
“Never.” The word came as a ragged breath, but Dash heard me. Rowen stood silently at my side.
“Well, you have the right to exercise your free fucking will. As do I.” Suddenly Dash materialized beside Arrow who wobbled unsteadily as he regained control of himself. Venom seeped from the demon. “Arrow dies.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Rowen didn’t wait to see what would happen. He flung himself in front of Arrow. Dash circled the two of them with the slow stride of a predator sneaking up on prey.
I eyed the guitar case in the corner. I had to just go for it. As soon as Dash turned his back to me, I dove for the case and flung it open. Nothing.
“Oh, is this what you’re looking for?” Holding out a hand, Dash produced the sword. He never touched it though. Instead it hovered above his open palm. I suspected that he couldn’t touch it, that whatever law that made it mine somehow prevented him from using it.
Rather than waste words on the demon, I projected a stream of fire that thrust him against the mirrored counter, causing my sword to clatter to the floor. Rowen quickly joined me. He cast a circle of light that surrounded Dash, but it didn’t hold the demon long. I’d just wrapped my hand around the hilt when he broke free.
Wearing a grim smile, Dash attacked all three of us at once. He barely moved, barely so much as twitched a hand, but we all fell to the floor, writhing in pain. Heat swept through my limbs, threatening to scorch me from the inside out. Hellfire burned inside me as I screamed.
“I’m
sure this is the part where you think Cinder will rush to your aid.” Dash stood over me, watching me try desperately to hold tight to the sword. “Koda makes a very good distraction, what with his obsession with you and all.”
“Koda?” I gasped. “Fuck Koda.” I was in too much pain to get anything else out.
Dash leaned down closer. “You’ve spurned his advances too many times. His soft spot for you has hardened.”
Of course Koda was going to take any shot at revenge that came his way. I wouldn’t have expected otherwise from a demon. Summoning as much strength as I could muster under Dash’s assault, I wildly swung the sword. I missed, but he did step back, out of my face.
Too busy sneering at me, Dash failed to notice the shadow that coiled itself around his ankle. It jerked him off his feet and flung him into the ceiling half a dozen times before slamming him on the floor. A demon could withstand loads of physical damage, though eventually they would weaken to the point of having to return to the other side to regain their full strength.
Arrow rose, dragging Rowen up with him. Though he had a head start on Rowen and I in developing his gifts, his quick recovery definitely made a good argument as to why one should not delay making a choice.
“Well, look at you, biting the hand that feeds. It’s too late to pretend you’re better than you are, Arrow. You’ll always be a piece of shit.” Dash chuckled as he pushed to his feet. A gash on his forehead healed up as we looked on. We would tire long before he did.
“Rowen is light. You couldn’t torture him into choosing dark, and you won’t coerce him into it now. Kill me if you want. I don’t even care.” Arrow held his arms open wide, inviting further attack.
I regained my footing, thanks to Arrow, but I felt faint and mildly confused. Being undecided made me the weakest one here. I was very much aware of what my hesitation could cost me.
Dash and Arrow glared daggers into one another. I didn’t want to watch Arrow die, and from the distress on Rowen’s face, neither did he. The only way to drive Dash to the other side was to impale him with the Midnight Star. If we simply tried to out power him, it would never happen. He could run circles around us in a power match. Even at three on one, we were outnumbered.
“As you wish.” Dash’s smile faded. With eyes vacant of emotion, he merely stared at the dark nephilim.
For a moment nothing appeared to happen. Then Arrow coughed, and blood ran from his mouth. Then from his nose. As I looked on, his eyes turned scarlet, and blood seeped from them too.
Rowen hurled himself at Dash. He crashed into the demon with a body check so hard I cringed. The two of them went down. Rowen’s body lit up with a brilliant light, as if the sun itself burst from inside him. He held tight to Dash and fed him punch after punch. I quickly realized that Rowen would tire before he could cause any serious damage.
I hurried to Arrow, who had dropped to his knees. I’d seen him come back from this before. He could do it again, couldn’t he? A closer look showed me that he was much worse off than he’d been last time. Dash had truly intended to kill him.
“Arrow? Stay with me, ok? We’re going to take care of you.”
He shook his head. He tried more than once to speak until he croaked out, “No. Take care of Rowen.”
Because I didn’t know what to say or do, I grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him until his eyes focused on me. “In twenty minutes, one of us is going to win the opportunity of a lifetime. Don’t you dare die and let me win by default.”
The corner of his mouth curved up like he was trying to smile but failing. “You deserve it more anyway.”
“Shut up.”
He was giving up, and I couldn’t just step back and watch it happen. Blood dripped from his face. It splattered my hand before trickling between my fingers to slide down the blade of the sword. The silver-coated blade seemed to glow in response to the dark blood. Its energy field grew substantially, until I could feel it demanding more. The Midnight Star was hungry for demon blood.
Dash and Rowen grappled on the floor. Tired of tolerating Rowen’s repeated blows to his face, Dash had taken the upper hand. He pinned Rowen to the floor, one hand tight on his throat. In the other he dangled a live snake over Rowen’s head. The snake bared vicious fangs that dripped venom. It wriggled inches above Rowen’s face.
Without thinking twice, I merely reacted. With the sword firm in my grip, I lunged forward and swung.
Thanks to hours of training with Cinder, my aim was dead on. The blade sliced the snake’s head off, sending it flying. It landed on the carpet with a wet plop.
Immediately, I swung again, this time at Dash. The blade caught his hand, slicing off his fingers. Not good enough. I swung a third time, but he sent me flying. I crashed into the mirror and hit the floor. Miraculously, the mirror only cracked rather than raining shards down around me.
I knew what I had to do. I had been told repeatedly all night. There was no more time. To hold off any longer would mean death for all of us.
“I choose the light,” I said, the words were barely audible as I spoke through clenched teeth. Louder, I repeated, “I choose the light.”
Dash forgot Rowen then. He came at me with his bloody hand outstretched as if he could grab me without fingers. I wasn’t sure if he planned to kill me or merely to silence me. He never got the chance to do either.
A bright white light struck me and surrounded me in a comforting warmth, like a fireplace on a cold winter night or a hot shower after a cold rain. The light offered such assurance that I felt safe. My entire body began to tingle. The warmth spread through me, filling my extremities. My hand clenched on the Midnight Star as the light shot down the blade, making it gleam as if lit with an inner fire. Though no audible words filled my ears, I heard a whisper telling me that I’d done right by embracing my destiny. Destiny. Such a strange word, filled with so much promise and so much left unknown.
A sense of expansion filled me. My lungs swelled, and my heart raced. Deep within my psyche, a sudden and new awareness jolted through me as my talents increased in potential and skill. For just a moment I knew who I was supposed to be with perfect certainty, something I’d known all along despite my confusion and fear.
The light slowly faded, and I turned on Dash with a fierce cry. Fire exploded from my hands to crawl along the Midnight Star engulfing it in flames. When I swung the mighty sword, the flame lashed out to strike Dash, knocking him further from Rowen.
Rowen stood unsure, wondering if he should come to my aid or his brother’s. Being the empathetic person he was, he knelt down beside Arrow and helped him stay upright.
The demon had blazing red eyes only for me. “You just made a huge mistake,” Dash hissed. He advanced on me, each step calculated.
“Oh, I don’t think so.” I held the sword out in front of me, daring him to take a run at me. I stood ready to lop his head off.
Dash was enraged. He flung a psi ball at me, an orb of energy meant to maim. I deflected it with the sword, sending it right back to him. Unfortunately, he simply reabsorbed it.
His next attack tried to wrench the sword from my grasp. He used his demonic power and why not? If I had the kind of power that Dash had, I’d never use my hands either.
When I refused to let go of the hilt, the force dragged me off my feet. It slammed me into the couch before tossing me onto the coffee table. Dash grabbed me by the back of the head, tightly clutching a handful of my hair.
Jerking my head back so he could glower into my face, he snarled, “I have way too much at stake to put up with more nephilim bullshit. I’d rather not kill you. Having Cinder up my ass for the next decade doesn’t really appeal to me. But I have no problem killing these two. Choose your next move very carefully.”
He held my head at a precarious angle. I was sure he could break my neck with just a twist of his wrist. I couldn’t see Rowen from where I sat, but I could feel his worried gaze.
Instinctively, I reached back with one hand to grasp Dash’
s wrist. My breath caught as a force flowed between us. I didn’t understand what was happening, but Dash did.
He jerked free of me, releasing my hair in the process. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. You’re a replicant? A thief? I know who your father is.”
A thief? I felt the slither of a demon inside me in answer to my silent question. Thrusting my hand toward him, Dash was thrown off his feet and dragged around the room, exactly what he’d just done to me. I’d stolen his power.
I had no time to marvel at this new talent. I knew about a plethora of powers and talents, but I wasn’t familiar with this, whatever it was. Yet. I’d have to figure out my moves from moment to moment.
“Good for you,” I said. “At least somebody does. Can’t really say Daddy and I were close over the years.”
Dash landed flat against the wall. His big, black wings unfurled, spreading wide behind him. He regarded me with curiosity that became disdain.
“Spike.” My name was a ragged sound on Arrow’s bloody lips. Pale and weak, he extended a shaky hand to me. “Take it. Rowen’s too.”
Thief. My mind raced to put it together. I’d stolen Dash’s power, but what I’d taken I’d already used. This wasn’t a gift with much longevity, but it could come in handy if I could learn how best to use it effectively.
I dropped down beside the guys. They grabbed my offered hand, first Arrow, then Rowen. After a brief wave of dizziness that passed as fast as it had come, shadows crawled through my mind while light lit up my focus. Awesome.
Rowen and I stood up together. His silver wings flared as a shelter over Arrow. I stepped forward to meet Dash as he came toward me. But his eyes weren’t on me. He was looking at Rowen.
“I don’t want to kill you,” Dash said, hands up in feigned surrender. “Your father is my brother. Rhine and I fought side by side many times. It would be a great honor to have you among us. Please, consider it.”
Confusion filled Rowen’s face. He blinked a few times and shook his head. “My father… Then that means he wasn’t an angel when I was conceived. He was a demon.” Shock took the place of confusion, followed quickly by anger.
