“Mouse, stop!”
“You stop!” I tug harder and Weldon drops us out of a shadow, feet away from Gavin.
I swear time stops as I watch Gavin slit his palm while chanting in Latin. I’m too late. The summoning has already begun. My hand flies to my mouth as Weldon grabs me by the waist and pulls me back into a shadow, depositing me behind a tree a yard away from Gavin as black smoke begins to swirl around Gavin’s feet.
I try to scream at him to run, but Weldon spins me around and clamps a hand over my mouth. “Please, mouse. Please, just trust me.”
Every cell in my body wants to attack, but the pleading look in his eyes is the white flag I needed to see. He’s still in there. Hesitantly, I nod, and then he lets go of me.
“You have to cloak us,” Weldon says against my ear.
I manage to weave the cloaking spell around us despite my thoughts and fears circling overhead like bats dipping in and out. When I turn back around, Bael appears in a black tux, a wide smirk eating up the whole of his face. He clicks his teeth, hand casually in his pockets. “Gavin and Charlie Gramm. Like father, like son. Come to make a deal?”
“I want her back,” Gavin says, his chest a solid wall. His words swimming in a pool of anguish and pleading.
Bael looks to Charlie, his grin seeming to grow larger. The white of his teeth gleams like the sharp edge of a blade against the shadows painted across his face. “Those were your exact words, were they not?”
“You want souls. He’s offering his. Help him,” Charlie says evenly, as if he isn’t talking about his own flesh and blood. I feel like someone has snuffed out all the light in the world. Like I’ve fallen into a nightmare where monsters are more common than decency.
How could a father push his son to do something like this?
“True,” Bael says, head tilted slightly. His eyes flicker back to Gavin. “And you are a coveted soul. To have not only your father’s, but also yours as well…” He waits a second, and then opens his hand. “This is going to hurt.”
A blue, flickering flame appears within the center of his palm.
“Touch it,” Bael says, his words hypnotic and calm. “Touch the flame.”
Gavin reaches out. Dips a finger into the flames.
My voice is a strangled cry in my throat.
A second later, Gavin drops to his knees as a screech of pain rips through his throat, echoing off the trees.
The air is a thick, white blur as anger and fear throb behind my eyes. “Gavin!” I shout, dropping the spell as I rush toward them. His screams crest around me, swallowing all rationality.
This can’t happen. I won’t let it.
Bael looks up as I rush him, already pulling on his power. Everything has fallen away from me. The trees, the snow, the world, it’s all been sucked into a vacuum of fear. The memory of my mother moments before he pulled the trigger surfaces.
The image of her face revives the monster inside me. The one who greedily took Clara’s life. The one who has imagined what I would do to him over and over. My power expands, filling my veins.
It’s my turn to shoot.
“You again. Come to save your friend?” he says, amusement dancing off the tip of his words as I stop in front of Gavin, closing him off from Bael’s view. With a subtle flick of his wrist, a ring of fire coated in the heavy, sulphurous scent surrounds the three of us, closing us off from the others as the blue flame in his palm disappears. “I was hoping I’d get another chance with you. We have so much unfinished business left. Do you not agree?”
I can see the power he wields formed around him like an electric, barbed-wire fence. It’s a thick fog I have to shove my magic through like ironed fists, but when I’m through, I tug hard, bracing myself for the fiery pain I remembered the last time I tried to drain him.
It slams into me like a wall I ran full force toward. It’s white hot, consuming, crippling even, but I am stronger than I was before. I know what death feels like, and I’m not afraid.
With shaking hands, I grab the pain by the throat and plunge it down inside me as far as it will go. Just long enough to turn my emotions off. To cap off the agony.
“Playing your little parlor tricks again?” he says as he takes a step forward, eyes sliding over me. He is a pillar of control. A monument of arrogance, but I notice a small twitch in his eye. A minuscule tick of annoyance that tells me he feels it too.
I tug harder.
His step falters, but he shakes it off, the smile disappearing from his mouth. The fire in my blood is all-consuming, ripping at every inch of me, but I don’t stop, even when I feel my legs shaking, begging me to quit before they give out. I won’t let him take anyone else from me. Even if it means killing myself in the process.
He will die with me.
“You can’t win this,” Bael says, visibly struggling now as his steps slow. His eyes have flames in them as he reaches out, as if the gesture alone could stop me. “I will take his soul, and the soul of everyone you love for this.”
“No… you won’t,” I manage to get past my clenched teeth.
His human form sheds away like a layer of dead skin as his demon form takes shape, horns growing and wings spreading before me. He lets out a giant roar, and then grabs me by the throat, lifting me into the air.
“I am the king of hell! I will not be deterred from taking his soul by a mere girl.” He roars again, the sound like a lion calling to his lionesses. A second later, demons appear, popping up along the snow, circling around the ring of fire.
I’m trying to remain focused on his power, still ripping and clawing at it, refusing to let go as Weldon and Charlie make their way around the forest, taking out what demons they can. I feel The Seven appear somewhere close by, and pray they will be enough to help Weldon.
Charlie appears within the circle of fire behind Bael, holding up a sword.
He has a shadowblade—the one weapon that can kill a demon indefinitely.
He’s urging me with his eyes to understand. To help him do what we both want. I try to nod as I fall back in Bael’s fiery gaze and send a blast of power through him, just enough to make him stumble back a step.
“I’m going to finish you, once and for all, and then I’m going to take the Gramm’s soul,” Bael screams in my face, spit flying past me. He brings me closer, until I can smell his acrid breath, and adds, “And there isn’t a damn thing you can do to stop me.”
“Except this,” I say, slamming my fist full of volation and demonic power across his face.
It happens so fast I barely have time to register it. Bael drops me as my volation wraps around him, binding him as Charlie moves in behind him with the shadowblade.
He doesn’t hear Charlie’s footsteps. Doesn’t sense when Charlie lifts the blade that pulses with angelic power into the air. But he feels it when the blade is plunged straight through him, the pointed edge of the sword coated in black tar-like blood staring me straight in the eyes.
Bael drops to his knees as Charlie pulls the blade out, and then kicks him in the back, knocking him facedown into the snow. I let up on the drain I had on Bael as I watch his skin begin to sallow. The layers of every one of his forms fall away, leaving a rotting corpse steaming, melting the snow around him.
“It is done,” Charlie says, offering me a hand.
I barely have the strength to take it, but manage to reach up, placing my palm in his. His skin is warmer than I expected it to be. He attempts a smile by the time he pulls me to my feet, but the movement doesn’t fit well against his lips. Like a broken record trying to play.
I turn and find The Seven plowing through what demons remain as easily as if they were taking out the trash. Weldon has stopped, watching them with his mouth slightly parted in wonder.
They move as if they’re on air, feet never touching the ground, muscles rippling with power as they shove bare fists through stigmas and watch bodies turn into ash.
“Why did you do that?” Gavin says behind me, the dark edges of
his voice sparking fear inside me.
Charlie’s face darkens. “I’m sorry, son. It was the only way we could get him out in the open without a posse surrounding him.”
Gavin looks up, and the emptiness in his eyes is so deep, so prevalent, I fear I might fall into it and never be found. “You used me?”
Charlie takes a step for him, but Gavin recoils from him. “Gavin… I would have never let you go through with it.”
It’s like Charlie’s words were a torched pressed against Gavin’s skin, because Gavin jumps to his feet and is in Charlie’s face quicker than a blink. “What if I wanted to go through with it?” he shouts, a vein popping out on his forehead. “I want her back, damn it! And you took that chance from me! He was the only one with enough power to bring her back, and now he’s gone!”
“Gavin, Cassie wouldn’t have been the—” I try to say, but am stopped when Gavin loops around Charlie and gets in my face.
“Don’t you dare say her name!” he seethes, nose flaring.
“Take it easy, Gav. She means well,” Weldon says, pulling on Gavin’s elbow.
Gavin tugs away. Turns his rage on Weldon. “You all did, right? That’s why you played on my weakness? Tortured me with his opinions so I’d come here and make an ass of myself?”
Shame fills Weldon’s eyes. “Gavin, I’m sorry. We had to take him out.”
Gavin rears back his fist and Weldon flinches, bracing for the blow, but it never comes. He drops his hand, lips curled in disgust. “Take me back to the city. I’m done with you. All of you,” he says, making sure to look me in the eyes.
Weldon holds his arms out, waiting for us to grab a hold of him. The Seven make their way over to us, fists stained in blood, as Charlie grabs Bael’s body and tosses him over his shoulder.
And then we all latch on and head through the shadows, back to Ethryeal City.
CHAOS FOLLOWS ME WHEREVER I go.
Mack is in Charlie’s opened cell with two Elites searching every inch of the room when we cross through the other side of the shadow. Seamus is right behind him, still in a night robe, tugging at the silver strands of his beard.
But Jaxen is the first to see us. He kicks off the wall he was propped against, rushing me as he pulls me against him. “I was so worried when I woke to you being gone. Where did you go?” he asks, eyes scanning every visible part of my body.
I don’t have to answer the questions because when Jaxen’s eyes move past me and land on Gavin, Weldon, and Charlie, I see the final piece of the puzzle click into place.
I feel the immediate shift in him… the way his body goes rigid as he’s stabbed with realization. The way a storm rolls over the green in his eyes, turning them almost black as he bares his teeth at Charlie.
“What did you do?” he asks him, his fingers digging into my shoulders. The air feels charged and unstable.
Charlie moves around Weldon with Bael on his shoulders just as Mack and Seamus rush out of the cell, staring mutely at us. He drops Bael’s decrepit body at Mack’s feet, the sound harsh and conclusive, cutting through the questions pulsing like charged particles through the air, and then steps willingly back into his cell, eyes clear.
Jaxen can’t take his eyes off him. His eyebrows pull in, his face a mask of confusion.
“Jaxen, let me explain,” Weldon starts to say, but his words can’t be heard above the hurt stirred between them, drumming in the air like cries of war.
“Explain what?” Gavin says, his face as hard as stone. “That you used me? That you let him use me?”
There’s a rippling current of too many words unspoken swirling around us, pulling each of us into its tormented cyclone. It swallows Weldon whole, dumping him back out with only the ugly parts of him left to grasp onto. “You know what? I’m about sick of you running around pointing fingers at everyone, making all our lives more miserable than they already are. When are you going to stop blaming everyone else for her death, Gavin?” He gets in his face, anger pulsing behind his eyes. “We all know Faye isn’t the real reason she died. You are.”
Gavin’s fists rears back again. This time, I’m sure he’s going to do it.
Weldon stands there, eyes daring, maybe even begging him to do it, as everyone waits, holding their breath. “Go on. Hit me. Don’t face your pain. Give it to me instead. Deflect. Let it keep eating at you until you’re nothing but an empty shell walking around in someone’s skin. Cassie would be so proud of you right now.”
Gavin slams his fist into Weldon’s face, sending Weldon flying back into Mack’s arms. “Fuck. You.” His eyes rage with a painful clash of emotions as Weldon picks himself back up, rubbing his jaw.
“Feel better? Did that fix anything? Did that bring her back?” Weldon continues, not giving up. “I know what it’s like, man. I lost my girl too, and you know what… she didn’t come back the same. She didn’t… She doesn’t love me anymore. You think that wouldn’t happen to you? You think you’re above reality?” He leans in, eyes narrowed. “I’ve got news for you, buddy. The world sucks. It’s better you deal with it now. If you can’t, then, by all means, slit your wrist and call it a day. But don’t count on reuniting with Cassie with where you’ll be heading if you choose to take the easy way out.”
Gavin drops his arms down to his side, shoulders shrinking. The destruction is clear now that the storm has passed. It’s rattled at Gavin’s door. Shattered windows and knocked down the iron walls he had built around himself until there was nothing left but the man left alone in the dark inside.
I feel like I’m breaking right along with him. Like my bones are splintering, shattering until they cave around my heart, burying it underneath all that has gone wrong.
When he looks up, my heart fractures into a thousand pieces. Agony is shackled around his glassy eyes, ghosts passing through with every blink. “I just wanted her back. You said I could get her back. I can’t… I can’t breathe without her,” he says as his breath hitches in his chest and his knees give out underneath him. He grasps onto the wall for support as Jaxen crosses the room in two strides, pulling him into a hug. “I can’t breathe,” he cries against his brother’s shoulder, his cries cutting through every one of us.
“How could you do this to him?” Jaxen says through his teeth, eyes pegging Weldon, and then Charlie.
Weldon’s eyes shift to the side. “We needed bait,” he admits, the shame in his voice loud. The air is sour now. It feels heavy, clotted with the echo of bitterness and truth from the words still so vibrant in everyone’s minds.
Jaxen shakes his head as Gavin pulls out of the hug and straightens his shoulders, sucking in an encouraging breath. Thawing out like snow in the spring. “You did what you had to do to get the job done,” he says, sniffing hard to clear his breathing. His eyes drift down to Bael’s lifeless form. “He’s dead. That’s all that matters.” He nods to Jaxen, an understanding passing between them, and then he shoulders past Charlie, disappearing around the corner.
“Is that my shadowblade?” Mack asks a second later. I stare openly at him. He had to have lost his mind because I know he just witnessed what happened. I know he felt the pain passed around this hallway.
“I told you I had a plan,” Weldon says, keeping his gaze forward. “We needed a way to take him out, and you had the weapon available to do it.” He looks down to the shadowblade gleaming in his hand and adds, “I must say… ever since I saw this in your arsenal, I’ve wanted to use it. It’s a shame that mouse had to show up, giving Charlie all the fun.”
“What happened?” Seamus asks as Mack calls for Elites to move Bael’s body. Weldon gives a quick recounting of the story, and then waits as four Elites pick up Bael’s body and haul it through the double doors leading further into the correctional facility. Seamus rubs at his forehead as he processes the information. “We must alert the Divine. We should celebrate this victory. This… this is monumental. This is just what we needed to keep hope alive.”
“The king of demons is dead,” Mack
states, almost as if he doesn’t believe it even though he’s seen the body. He looks at me, the clouds in his eyes parting. “We might be able to end this war before it can even begin. We might have a real shot.”
Weldon grunts, rolling his eyes. “That’s encouraging. Even the High Priest didn’t believe we had a shot.”
Mack smiles, just barely, almost as if warning Weldon to push him further tonight. He turns back around to Charlie’s cell and stops in the doorway. “I suppose a thank you is due for aiding Weldon in successfully capturing the king of demons.”
Charlie is sitting on the metal chair in the middle of the room, arms leaning on his thighs. He doesn’t look up when Mack addresses him. Doesn’t carry the same excitement or worry or fear that the rest of us do. He’s looking at his hands, fingers linking and unlinking. “Don’t thank me for something that was done out of self-interest. I had a vendetta that needed remedying, and taking Bael out was the key to it.”
I think of Evangeline and the deal gone wrong that Charlie made for her.
“No matter the circumstance, it is still a great service to this Coven and its coming success in the war against the Darkyns,” Mack finishes with a quick nod. “And, if you continue this welcomed path of cooperation, you can bet you will be released back into society so you can make up for time lost.”
This gets Charlie’s full and undivided attention. He lifts his head, a fleeting sliver of emotion shining through the inky darkness of his pupils as his gaze makes its way to Jaxen. Even from where I’m standing, I’m startled by the clarity in his eyes. Maybe there’s more to him than I thought. Maybe he isn’t a soulless memory of a great man. Maybe that great man is still in there, buried under six feet of sacrifices he’s just now realizing he can climb his way back out of.
“But that’s a big if,” Mack continues, finger pointed in the air. “I want to see full cooperation during interrogations. I want names. I want details. All of it.” He points to his head, and then flashes an empty smile.