Kellan silenced her with that, then we felt the presence from whoever was coming.
I felt its darkness before it said anything. It was evil, and powerful, and I was trembling. I would’ve fallen back or run if Kellan hadn’t been touching me. He wasn’t keeping me in place. He was enabling me to stand there and tolerate what was coming. It was pure evil. I began clawing at his arm. I didn’t want to be there.
“Shay,” he said softly. His hand left my stomach and caught my hand. Our fingers laced together and I was beginning to cling to him like a lifesaver.
Black smoke began to waft in. It coated the ground, filling all around our feet and slowly rising up to cover our knees, our legs, our waists. It rose up to my face, and I began choking. I couldn’t breathe.
Kellan saw what was happening and uttered a word, “Aysh.”
The smoke combusted into fire. Again, we were unharmed, and then the smoke was gone. Giuseppa coughed, falling over behind us. She clutched at her stomach. “What did you do?”
But she didn’t matter. I felt his presence. He was there, right on the other side. I couldn’t talk or move. I could only hold on to Kellan, but I sensed his fear, too.
Black tentacles began to come through the hole, like black snakes, but they were all attached together. A thin sheen of skin covered them. They slithered all around, feeling the ground, the remaining wall of the shed until they touched the bottom of our feet. Instead of heat, I felt cold. Ice plunged through me, and I began violently shaking now.
Kellan bit back a curse, then suddenly, the snakes/tentacles left. They moved past us, leaving a perfect circle in the ground around our feet. They went to Giuseppa and a shrill scream came from them. It wasn’t Gus. It was the snakes/tentacles. Immediately, the rest of them swarmed, overcoming Giuseppa.
I didn’t want to watch, but I couldn’t not watch.
She had been my sister, then half-sister, and now she was an empty vessel of someone I was supposed to have loved as family. I felt none of those feelings anymore, not after seeing her murder Matt and knowing she had been the one to bring forth whomever this demon was. The snakes/tentacles writhed over her body. She didn’t say a word. They swarmed inside her throat, and when that happened, I couldn’t look anymore. I pressed my head into Kellan’s arm.
Then, I heard a hiss, “Son. You are here to greet me?”
Kellan didn’t say a word. His hand had a death-like grip on mine. His entire body was like stone. He was tensing up and I knew something more was going to happen.
“No.” Another hiss. “You’re not here to greet me. You’re here to kill me…for her? You are betraying me for that monster?”
Again, no sound from Kellan. I looked up and saw the torment on his face. His father was in his head, and Kellan’s face had drained of blood. No. His father was assaulting Kellan’s mind, how the snakes/tentacles were still assaulting Giuseppa. They were loving it, whatever they were doing to her. I wondered if Kellan’s father was doing the same to him. Loving whatever torture he was inflicting on his son?
I turned to face his father, and I said the first thing that came to mind. “Stop.”
“It’s you.”
As he spoke, the ice plunged deeper inside of me. I cried out from the pain, almost doubling over. That was him, he was inside of me like he was inside of his own son. “You are what my son loves above all else, why he refuses to return to my side.”
The rest of him stepped through the hole. He wasn’t corporeal. The snakes/tentacles were a part of him as was the ice he had inflected upon us both. The smoke had been a part of him, too. Everything about Kellan’s father was to bring suffering and pain. He was thriving on ours, and I could see that he was getting stronger because of it.
I closed my eyes. I had to block out the pain, somehow. I could get a footing then.
“You think to fight me?” He was laughing. “You are nothing. Even the great Shazaam couldn’t take me on. I am Darkness. I am Evil. You are a small shadow underneath a rock in my world.”
The ice burst through new layers inside of me, tunneling all the way to my core. He was going for my soul. That was the ultimate destination for him.
“No.”
I felt more than heard Kellan’s protest. He knew what his father was doing to me, and he was rallying against it.
‘What did you say?”
“I said no. Let her go.”
The ice was ripped out of me. I screamed, falling to the floor and I felt myself being pulled away. There was a vacuum effect going on, yanking me backward. Kellan stuck his foot out, maintaining contact with me, and as soon as he did, the world righted itself. He anchored me again. Without Kellan’s touch, I would’ve been swept back, and I glanced over my shoulder. Damien and Aumae were on the other side of that barrier. Both had wide eyes and paled features. Damien’s hands were curled into fists. He’d been trying to break through the barrier, but paused, seeing that I was looking back. Aumae clutched at a blanket over her shoulders. Tears fell down her face, and she never flicked them away. She just let them fall, like she knew something we didn’t, like she knew this was our goodbye, like she knew I was going to die.
“NO!” Kellan roared, hearing my thoughts and feeling my pain. He broke free from his dad’s hold a little bit more, enough so he could lean down and grab my shoulder. I lifted my arm up and he caught my hand. There. As soon as our palms were next to each other, it sealed our connection. A wave of strength surged through me, going through him, too, or maybe it had been his in the first place. Maybe he loaned it to me. Either way, I felt a tiny bit stronger.
His father had pulled all the snakes/tentacles back. He stood in front of us in a corporeal form wearing a black suit, buttoned in front of him. His body looked like Brad Pitt, and he cocked his head to the side, a genuine curiosity alighting his eyes. “Well. That was interesting.” He studied us closer, sniffing the air. “You two are bonded, but not enough. You’ve not taken her completely, son. What are you waiting for?” He gestured to me. “She is willing. Even her messenger is silent, knowing it needs to happen.”
My messenger—she wasn’t fighting for me. I tried to waken her, use her power, but nothing. It was like kicking around an empty can.
“Ah.” Kellan’s father smiled at me. “You’re not used to being as one with your messenger, are you? I put her to sleep. I won’t have a half-messenger trying to kill me and only killing herself before I’m done with you.” He swung his head back to Kellan. “Why have you not fully bonded with her?”
I wanted to die. He was talking about sex. If I weren’t so scared, humiliation would be coloring my face red.
Kellan’s eyes closed to slits. “Are you joking? What we do is none of your business.”
“It is my business. That’s why you were sent here, for her. You’re supposed to take her power. I want her power.”
What? I needed to know more, feeling that this was important, but Giuseppa coughed from behind us, rolling to her hands and knees. Her body was black and blue now, with red splotches all over. There were marks that looked like rug burn, like she had been dragged behind a car. I cringed just looking at her.
“Vespar?” she croaked out, one eye looking to the left as her right tried to focus on Kellan. “Where is he?”
Kellan’s father walked around, gazing down at Gus. “Ah yes. This is the foster sister that I sent you to be with.”
She wasn’t looking up at him. Her head hung low, and her back was spasming from trying to breathe. He kicked her, flipping her over. The front of her looked the same as her back, black and blue with red splotches all over except blood had broken through her skin. It was trickling down her body, making a path among the soot, markings, and dried blood that had already been there. Her head fell back to the ground. She couldn’t move. She could only look up at him, and she said, hoarsely, “They did something to my brother.”
“Ah. Your brother.” Kellan’s father knelt down, shaking his head as he took in her form. “You’re a mess,
aren’t you? What did my pets do?”
Pets? I didn’t want to think about that. I shared a look with Kellan, who frowned and glanced away.
“Son.” His father swung back around. “Your foster sister was kind enough to call me forward. And I have to fulfill part of my end so where’s her brother?”
Kellan still didn’t say anything.
“Did you kill him?” Giuseppa spoke with such vehemence, she spit out the words. She sat up, her entire body still taking gulping breaths. “Did you?”
Kellan shot her a dark look, but he looked more bored with her question than angered.
“Son?”
He transferred the look to his father. “Are you fucking kidding me? Of course, I killed him. They called you here.”
“They have our mom and dad!” Giuseppa exclaimed. She tried to rise, fell, and remained sitting, wrapping her hands around her legs, balled in fists. “Because of you. They took Mom and Dad. Do you care?”
Mom and Dad… My surrogate mother, the one that was human but had her insides carved out from living and loving her demon husband. The ones that I didn’t want to see so I cast a spell so I never saw them. Those parents.
“They were taken captive?”
“Yes.” Gus huffed at me. “We’re the ones who sent the demons after you guys before.” Her nostrils flared. “You’re not the only ones who have some juice. We can do a freaking tracking spell.” She looked to where Matt’s body was, now under a pile of wood and soot. “That’s how they got the jump on us. I didn’t know the exact words to say, but Dylan did. Asshole. We spilled a little blood, he said the magic words, and then I woke up and I was tied to a freaking bed. When I woke up, Dylan said they followed through with the rest of the spell, hoping the two of you would be taken care of and they wouldn’t have to deal with you, but they were going to ‘deal with Vespar and me.’” She glared at Kellan. “I’m sorry, okay! But they took our parents. Apparently, you were cloaked somewhere—”
The magic house.
“—and they needed us to find you, so we did what we had to do.”
“And it didn’t work, huh?”
She sneered at him. “You kicked their asses. We had to try again, so yeah, I did what I had to do just now.”
“You had to kill Matt?” I asked.
“Yes. The spell required a sacrifice. It was him or the owner of this place, but Kellan moved him so…” she trailed off, shrugging again. She regarded Kellan’s father. “You said to deliver your son and Shay. They’re here. Where are my parents?”
“They’re fine. They’re back at your home, packing.”
“What?” She grew wary. “Packing for what?”
“Packing to leave. They can’t stay here anymore. Too many people know what they are, so they’re off again, with little demons to raise all over again.”
“What?”
Giuseppa wasn’t the only one confused. I asked, “What are you saying?”
He swung those dark and hypnotic eyes my way. I gulped, feeling the full force of him again. I felt my soul being sucked out of me as he began to glide toward me. “I gifted them with more children, more demons to raise. I didn’t pull them in to take to hell with me. I pulled them in to give them a job. They work for me now.” He glanced to Giuseppa, speaking to me, “As does your foster sister now.” He lingered on Vespar’s body. “And your foster brother would’ve, but oh well. My son did what he does so well. He killed.” He patted Kellan on the shoulder. “I’m quite proud of you, but don’t take this rebellion too far. You were given a job.”
Kellan’s eyes narrowed. His father pulled back some of his power, freeing Kellan and me even more. I could see the wheels turning in his mind. He was going to do something. I felt his intentions like a timer counting down. In three—Kellan smiled at his father. “I have to thank you.”
“For what?”
In two—“For letting me come find Shay. For letting me fall in love with her.” He paused one second, his eyes sliding to mine. “And for letting her give me a little bit of humanity.”
And one—Kellan pulled out the dagger I recognized from earlier, when he’d been about to use it on the messenger who my father was channeling. I started to fling my hand out. It killed Dylan, but it wouldn’t have killed the messenger. It would’ve only given him power. I worried it could do the same to his father, but instead of thrusting it into his father, he twisted around and threw it toward Damien.
I held my breath.
The invisible barrier was there—the knife sailed right through it, breaking it, and Damien caught it in the air. He paused, staring at Kellan’s father, then a cruel grin spread over his face.
Damien and Aumae were back in the fight.
Kellan’s father started laughing.
The brief joy I experienced shriveled up and burned away. He wasn’t worried, not at all. In fact, he sounded even happier. He pointed at them, turning to Kellan, “You think they’re going to help you? You’re a demon, son. You’re my demon. Those two are hybrids. They would never help you—”
His words choked off into a gurgle.
Damien leapt in the air, plunging the dagger through his back. He backed away after, waiting to see what happened. Everyone did, except Kellan. He didn’t seem shocked, amused, anything. He was watching his father with a hard expression in his eyes, like he knew what was going to happen wouldn’t work.
I held my breath, and then his father started laughing. He looked down at the end of the dagger. The tip of it stuck out of his chest. “This was supposed to kill me?” He reached for it and began to pull it the rest of the way out of him, through his front. “Kellan, you couldn’t have thought that would work—”
“No, but this will.”
While we were distracted, watching his father start to pull the dagger out of his chest, Kellan had gone to Giuseppa and held her up by her arm, literally lifting her in the air. She was too weak to fight and new blood poured from her throat. Kellan was covered in it. His father realized what was going to happen and he sucked in his breath. His hand fell away from the dagger, and he started forward. “No, Kell—”
He was too late.
Kellan threw Giuseppa through the hole, and as he did, another explosion like when the hole was created occurred once again. “NO!” Then, just as quick as it happened, it was done. This time, instead of exploding outward, it imploded. Giuseppa vanished, and so did his father.
Kellan’s father was gone. The hole in the air was gone, and everything was in shambles around us.
“What just happened?” Damien asked.
Aumae started to murmur to herself, stepping forward, clutching her blanket over her shoulders, “One sacrifice to call him—”
Kellan finished, “—one sacrifice to expel him.” He stopped, closing his eyes, and hung his head for a moment. He hurt. I felt it from him and because he did, so did I. I was aching. I started forward. “Kellan.”
He stopped me, holding a hand in the air. “Don’t, Shay. I don’t deserve any comfort you’re going to give me.”
His words hurt, like a knife twisting in my chest.
He added, “She called him forward. If I threw her body in there, he’d have to go. She was the reason he was here and I don’t deserve any kindness from you. I murdered Vespar and Gus. They were our brother and sister. That…you’re right. I do care and they meant something to me. They don’t mean what you mean to me, but they meant something and…” He stopped again, drawing in one more ragged breath. “You were disgusted when you watched her kill Matt. You can’t pretend otherwise.”
“She murdered him. Killing and murder are different. One’s in cold blood, and that’s what she did. She planned it, and she executed it. That was different.”
“No.” He shook his head. “It wasn’t. I executed her. I executed Vespar.”
“But they called your father here. They sent those demons after us.”
“And Matt helped torture Vespar and Gus, too. He was human, just like half of G
us and Vespar were. No, Shay. I know you’re going to turn a blind eye because that’s what you do for me, but I can’t let you this time.”
“Kellan.” I couldn’t hear anymore. He was twisting that knife in my chest, over and over again. Tears threatened to spill from my eyes. “Stop.” He was going to leave. I felt his withdrawal from inside of me, and I couldn’t do a thing to stop it. “Kellan, don’t go.”
And he walked away…
“I don’t get it.”
I was sitting at the kitchen table with Aumae and Damien later that night. The owner, whose name was Kent Ocean and that Kellan had moved to the basement without telling anyone, sat with us. He was cradling a mug of hot tea between his hands, clenched with white knuckles and shaking arms. Aumae brought him out of the basement and coaxed him to sit with us. He hadn’t been tied up or anything. There’d been nothing keeping him down there, except pure fear. When he realized Kellan wasn’t with us, he noticeably relaxed, but he was still cautious and every now and then, like just now, his arms began shaking. He couldn’t seem to control them, but he offered a trepid apology, “So sorry. So sorry.” He kept repeating those words until Aumae reassured him enough times that we weren’t going to hurt him.