Death's Dilemma (DHAD #2) (18 page)

“You didn’t have to go help your friend.”

“And you shouldn’t have come and rescued me,” I whispered into his shirt, hating myself for saying it out loud. Even though it was true, I was happy he did. He nuzzled his face down into mine, and our cheeks brushed against each other. My chest tightened as my breaths became short.

“Just as you shouldn’t have saved me, but you did,” he said before bringing his forehead to rest against mine. Neither of us moved, or dared look at the other. We stayed silent, and I just listened to him breathe, waiting for whatever words would leave his lips next. “So, what happens now? As we sit on your bed, both watching our words, wanting to stay true to our duty but not being able to stay away from the other? I tried being your friend, your co-worker even, and none of it worked. Cendall, I…” He took my hands out of my lap and interlocked our fingers. An ease rolled over my shoulders as my fingertips tingled.

“Please don’t,” I said but didn’t know what I was afraid of hearing. A knock on the door broke us apart.

“Hey, Trevor, Catherine is here, and she says it’s urgent. Life or death,” Abram drew out and exaggerated the tail end.

“This is not over,” Trevor said as he got up. “Just, when I get back, stop thinking so much. And can we promise to be honest with one another?”

“Where is this coming from?” I asked. Why now?” We were kidding ourselves if we tried to say this just came on. We’d been playing this cat and mouse game for a while now.

“When I saw you the other day, I just can’t….without you knowing the truth. When I saw what they did to you, I—Cendall—I ripped the one called John to pieces. I tortured him. I’ve never done anything like that ever in my life, but I just lost control…you weren’t breathing and…listen, let me deal with this, and then we’ll finish.”

“Okay.”

I sat there for an hour when my stomach demanded I go downstairs and get something to eat. I grabbed a bowl of cereal and sat down at the table. Abram sat across from me, reading a paper.

“You’re not what I expected,” he said, and I felt my mouth fall open. I looked behind me to make sure he wasn’t talking to anyone else.

“What?”

“You’re not what I expected.”

“Yes I heard that. I’m just confused because you’re talking directly to me.”

“Yes, I guess I’ve been a little cold. It’s just. I don’t know if Trevor told you, but Lacie looks so much like my sister, and she was killed by a Demon and Reaper working together. But that wasn’t fair of me to judge you before I knew you. And now that I know you, you’re okay.”

“Okay,” I said. Where had this change of heart come from?

“It’s just, I miss her so much, and well, while Lacie looks like her, you remind me of her too. She was bull-headed and stubborn. Never thought about her actions just did whatever she felt was right. And well, with one person that looks like her and another one who acts like her, I was a little more distant than usual. It just brought it all back.”

“I get it. I wouldn’t talk to a Guardian if one had killed someone in my family.”

“It’s no excuse…” A loud crack echoed in the room, interrupting Abram as it shook the dishes in the sink.

“Is that thunder?” I asked Abram but felt the hair raise on my arms. From nowhere Drake and Dave ported in front of me.

“What is it?”

“Demons and a hell of a lot of them, coming now!” Drake shouted.

“We heard them fly over our realm,” Dave said as a scream from outside confirmed they were here.

Chapter Thirty

Funny Seeing you Here

I walked outside, and déjà vu swept over me as I looked up at the hundreds of Demons crashing into the wards. Each loud crash, rattled the ward, but they still stood strong for now.

“What are you doing?” Lacie yelled from the center of the yard. Catherine had her in a headlock with a knife pointed at her side. What the hell was this?! Where was Trevor? He was supposed to be talking with Catherine, but she was out here. Catherine’s eyes met mine, and Lacie took the moment of distraction to elbow her in the gut.

“Go find Trevor.” I yelled to Abram as Lacie ran towards us. Catherine didn’t chase after her but instead flew her hand up to the sky, and I watched her blue light leave her hands and strike the inside of the wards. On impact, the wards began to fall, piece by piece, from where they was impacted until it was enough for the Demons to start rushing in. I ported to where Lacie stood, but I’d been a second too late as an all too familiar Demon held her above his head by her neck. Drake ported next to me, but was then tackled by another Demon, and dragged away.

“
Mobrolantis,
”
left my lips as an emptiness filled the pit of my stomach.

“
So you do remember me. I thought, after all this time away, you might have forgotten.” No, his face was something no one would ever be able to forget. He still had all four sets of his horns that shined gun metal black. Two of them extended like a large bull’s horns, twisting from the top of his head into pointed tips. The other two were shaped like a ram’s—thick and on the sides of his head, pointed towards the realm that he called home. Underneath were two metal spikes—one on each side of his head. I felt my body deflate as I stared into his skeleton structured face that held black, hollowed out eyes. He let out a smile, and I gasped at the sight of his teeth. I’d somehow forgotten how each canine had a fanged tip.

“Before we get down to business, I do owe you some credit for being able to avoid me for this long. But, I’m on a tight schedule, so we’ll get to the point. First, I’m going to need you to put your scythe down or she dies,” he threatened, but I didn’t move. He then took his other hand and put one of his fingertips to her throat, and I watched as his nail grew before my eyes and broke through her skin.

“Fine,” I shouted and set it down.

“First things first.” He hit Lacie in the back of her head, knocking her out cold before he set her on the ground next to him. He brought up both of his hands as he screamed, “EXEXPLOEM.” I felt his spell wash over me as I tried to dive for Lacie before it took effect. I grabbed onto her hand, but it was useless; porting was gone. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Trevor and Abram running this way, but they were immediately surrounded by twenty Demons and harpies. I was her last hope. I lifted my hands and put everything into the light that left my fingertips. He held up his hand and smiled as he put up some invisible wall that didn’t let my light touch him. He then waved his hand in my direction and redirected all of the electricity back towards me. I tried to close my hands but found they were frozen in place. The light hit me and seeped through my skin, shocking every nerve in my system, as it electrocuted me and coursed through every vein. He was making me kill myself. Death by my own doing. I felt my body begin to convulse; it wouldn’t be long now. This wasn’t like when I’d shocked John and myself. No, I’d put everything I had into that just now. My ears filled with blood, and I tried to blink away the black dots that were clouding my vision. “Stronger than I thought. Most would already be dead. Again, such a shame that this has to happen. Especially since you possess gifts that are foreign to most Reapers,” he muttered as he kept on electrocuting me.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dave sneaking up. I tried to scream, but he pulled out his scythe and slashed the Demon’s arm that was raised and keeping me in place. Blood started squirting all over me as the Demon let out a shrill scream. My body stopped convulsing, and I was finally able to close my hands, making the electricity stop. I lifted my head up just in time to see him use his other hand to pull out a blade. I tried to get up but found I couldn’t move any of my limbs. He then charged on Dave, and Dave tried to fend off his strikes with his scythe, but within seconds, the Mobrolantis knocked it away from him.

“DAVE!” I screamed right before Mobrolantis whipped his blade through the air at Dave’s neck. “NOOO!” I shrieked as the blade connected with Dave and decapitated him in one clean sweep. His lifeless body fell to the ground as his head bounced off the grass. To my horror, Mobrolantis picked it up and brought it over to me.

“Thought you’d want to say your goodbyes,” he said as he plopped it down next to me. Dave’s eyes were empty, cold, and open, staring at me, reminding me of my failure. I tried to get up again, but found I still couldn’t move.

“This ends today. I have long awaited and calculated a punishment for you, but this will have to do. For taking what was mine, you will now die amongst your enemies. Sad really. You probably would have been a great Reaper, especially with all those powers you seem to be developing. You would have eventually even made it to my level, but you chose to work with the enemy, and now, that mistake will cost you, and any that follow, to die. At first, I found this all amusing, and you made it a challenge. But then, you had to go and ruin my prom plans, with that little trick you can do with your fingertips.” He smiled at his own sick joke. “Then, I had to go through all this business of trying to find you. Almost a years’ time wasted until the answer came looking for me. Funny what a little thing like jealously can do to a person.”

“MOBROLANTIS you promised you wouldn’t hurt any Guardians,” Catherine screamed as she ran to where he stood.

“Ungrateful little bitch,” he muttered. “Give me a second, would you?” he said to me with a laugh as he turned towards her.

“I’ve done what you’ve wanted me to do, haven’t I?” he said, still hovering over me.

“Yes, but you said you wouldn’t hurt them. Your minions are killing my friends,” she screeched.

“Oh, sweetie, I said
I
wouldn’t hurt them, but I can’t be held accountable for what my minions do.”

“You…” Her face lit up in horror as she started to back away slowly.

“Before you go though, don’t you want to pay your respects?” he said as he nodded to where I lay under him. Her eyes lit up in hate as she stalked over.

“I—”

“You’ve already gone this far. Just finish it,” he whispered into her ear. She pulled out a blade and dug it into my stomach. I let out a scream that was cut short as blood began to pour out of my mouth.

“Feels good, doesn’t it?” he asked as a smile hit her lips and she backed away from me.

“I’d run along now. I wouldn’t want one of my minions to harm you since you’ve been such a valuable resource.” He snapped his head back in my direction.

“It saddens me that I won’t get to watch you take your final breath, but nonetheless, I’m a busy Demon, and I’ve got things to do. Wouldn’t want some Angel to get lucky and ruin my plans as I’m sure the backup is well on their way now. Better hope your soul doesn’t end up in my realm, Reaper. I’ll be waiting though. By my calculations on that injury she just gave you, along with the damage that was done earlier, you’ve got about two minutes.” I watched him grab Lacie’s hair as he pulled her off the ground and dragged her away and into the wood line.

Black circles started to appear, blocking my vision. The chaos of Guardians still battling Demons started to come to a low muffle. This was it. I closed my eyes; I needed to concentrate. Trevor had said my healing abilities were a mental thing, right? Well, why did it have to come from my hands if it was mental? I calmed my nerves and tried to take deep heavy breaths as the screams echoed in my ears from around me. It started off as a slow simmer, but I could feel my pulse begin to rise, as my body temperature increased. I concentrated harder, imagining that what I saw leave my fingertips so long ago, was covering my body. I opened my eyes as confirmation when I felt the heat engulf me completely. As the feeling began to come back in my limbs, my whole body sizzled with warm, orange energy, and I stood up on my two feet again. I looked around me at all the limbs and battles that were still raging on. Trevor was still fighting, but four more Demons were about to join the three he was already facing. To his left was Drake, who I watched decapitate a Demon as another one was about to jump him from behind. I felt the rage boil inside me, and I let out a deep bellow as I felt the blue energy leave my body in a massive wave that engulfed all that surrounded me. I watched it leave my body like a Tsunami rolling over a city, taking out all Demons in its path. When the screaming stopped, so did the wave, and I collapsed.

Chapter Thirty-One

Here Pig, Pig, Pig

“Cendall, get up,” Drake called as he shook me. I opened my eyes to see Drake standing over me. He grabbed my hand and forced me to my feet. I looked at the blood bath before me. There were no more Demons left, and Guardians were slowly getting up off the ground.

“How did you do that?”

“No clue. I just—” I looked down at Dave’s head. “Dave is dead. Lacie is gone…what...” I wept as I threw myself into Drake’s arms. I heard a door open, and I snapped my head in its direction. It was Catherine; she was trying to limp away. I ported to the inside of the house just as she turned away from the door she just closed. I grabbed onto the back of her hair, and with a quick thrust, threw her to the ground with a large clump of her hair still tangled in my fingers. As she tried to get up, I balled my fist and put my entire body behind the first punch. I then jumped on top of her and straddled her worthless body between my knees. My firsts started taking turns pounding her face. With every hit, I could hear her skull thud against the floor.

“You bitch,” came out in an unrecognizable voice as I continued to strike her. She squealed like a pig on the way to the slaughter house at first, but with every hit, her voice faded to a low whimper.

“Cendall!” Trevor called out as he grabbed onto me from behind and pulled me off of her. I looked down; she wasn’t moving. Trevor sat on the ground and put his head in her chest, checking for a heartbeat.

“Heal her, Cendall.”

“NO!”

“Don’t look at me like that. You’re better than this, Cendall. Heal her, please.”

“You’re wrong,” I said as I turned away from him.

“Cendall, she’ll have her day, but no one deserves to die like this,” he said as he pulled her onto his lap, trying to stop the bleeding from her head wound.