Through the Windshield Glass (30 page)

I kept
replaying the events of the day. It was all too much to take in. I could handle
Kinga being dead, it wasn't easy, but I was able to forget about it for the
most part. I just couldn't stop thinking about Michael. My heart hurt with the
desire to run to Michael and apologize for how stupidly I'd acted, but my brain
was telling me I'd done the right thing.

I knew if I let
myself enjoy what had happened I wouldn't be able to go through with the plan
if Michael asked me not to again.

I slept for
maybe two hours before Bridgette called into our tent to wake us all up,
"We're eating as we walk," she called in, "Get up and let's go.
Yours is the only tent we have left to pack."

At that early
hour Bridgette's voice was the most annoying sound I'd ever heard, I wanted to
roll over, throw a shoe at her, and go back to sleep.

I wouldn’t even
look at Michael all day, he didn't attempt contact. I was exhausted, I was
nervous, I was hungry, and I was terrified that if I talked to him I’d mess
everything up. Every part of me was screaming that what had happened the night
before was bad, it was like a war captain falling in love with a prisoner, it
wasn’t supposed to happen and yet it had.

I had done my
best to keep myself from coming up with reasons not to go through with the plan
we had come up with, and now the one who had been key in implementing me in the
plan was the reason I didn’t want to do it any longer.

I was half
tempted to beg Michael to come up with another idea, one that was less
confrontational and would give us both a more likely chance of surviving, but
it was selfish and would involve actually talking to Michael.

Still, every
step I took was agony. Michael kept looking back through the half asleep group
to where I was, but I averted my eyes and tried to help Leigh teach Maria more
words.

We finally
stopped around lunch time to pass around more apples and a canteen that was
very low on water. Everyone was getting a little cranky, so it was decided that
we would rest for an hour and then not stop until we could see the palace.

Everyone
gratefully dropped their packs on the ground and soon sounds of snoring were
echoing off the trees. Not one person seemed afraid that we would be ambushed
by another demon, either that, or they knew they wouldn’t be able to fight
decently in their current state. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to sleep, but
I decided to try anyway.

I found my
bedroll in the pile of supplies we had dropped and had just finished unrolling
it when I felt Michael’s hand on my shoulder.

I knew it was
Michael’s hand, no one else’s felt like that; my chin tingled in remembrance of
its last touch. I took a deep breath and looked slowly up at him. The sun was
falling almost straight down on him; it illuminated his face and made his eyes
stand out even more than usual.

“We need to
talk,” Michael said. I nodded; I had known it wouldn’t be long before he
confronted me about not looking at him for so long. I had just hoped it would
be later rather than sooner or not at all.

Michael sat
down next to me on the bedroll and I subconsciously started playing with a lock
of hair that had fallen out of my braid. I always did that when I got nervous,
Michael must have noticed because he gently took my hand from my hair and held
it in his lap.

I cleared my
throat, pulled my hand back and looked around to make sure no one had seen.
Thankfully, everyone seemed to be asleep.

“Why have you
been avoiding me all day?” Michael asked. He looked embarrassed, “Did I do
something wrong?”

“Yes,” I
replied, “I can’t even explain it. If you'd kissed me under different
circumstances, if I were still alive, I’d be home right now calling Maria to
tell her everything and then writing in my journal about it like some giddy
little girl. But I’m not excited, I’m terrified.”

“Do you think
I’m going to hurt you?” Michael whispered. He sounded truly afraid that I was
going to answer yes, but I shook my head.

“Not at all,
but I’m afraid your brother will try to hurt both of us. He’s already got Leigh
and Maria to use as leverage against me; I don’t want him to have any more
weight behind him than he already does.”

“Daman is not
going to hurt me, Alice,” Michael replied, “He did it once and I’m not going to
let it happen again, and I’m not going to let him hurt you either. That’s why I
keep trying to get you to change your mind.”

“Well, I wish
you would stop. I don’t need more people dying because of him. He wants me, and
if I end up like Kinga then at least I will know that I tried and I won’t have
to see the effects of my failure.”

“Alice, don’t
talk like that,” Michael said, “You’re not going to end up like Kinga. If we’re
lucky you won’t even have to see Daman, you just have to wait for him to
contact you in your head again and then take him by surprise,” I knew Michael
was trying to help, but it wasn’t doing any good.

“You’re acting
like there’s something special about me besides this stupid ring on my palm.
I’m not a superhero, I don’t have any hidden powers, I'm not stronger than
Daman, I'm not different, I'm just Alice!”

Michael and I lapsed
into silence for a few minutes. I wished he would hold my hand again, his
fingers had been so warm against my terror filled, and icy ones, but I pushed
the thought away and focused on a tiny sprout struggling to find sunlight.

“I need to
rest,” I told Michael finally.

“Okay,” Michael
said. He stood up, but he didn't leave.

I stared up at
him, unsure of what to do, but a heavy snort from Roman followed by Scarlett
waking fitfully from a nightmare saved me. Michael went to go check on her and
I was left alone to stagnate in my thoughts. Somehow, I fell asleep.

Chapter Forty-two

I dreamed I was
back in my old house. It was the morning of the day I died. Everything happened
as I remembered. My phone woke me up, I read Maria’s text, and sped over to
Maria’s house. I had the same feelings, and saw the same things, but something
changed in Maria’s house.

Just as I had
in reality, I pulled back the sheet over Maria’s face. She looked exactly as I
remembered, but this time I noticed a reflection in her glassy eyes. It was
subtle and hard to see, but it was clearly the reflection of something on her
ceiling. I looked up and screamed in terror when I saw Daman sitting lightly on
the chandelier above my head.

“Look at my
beautiful future bride,” Daman said. He looked normal, his eyes were human, and
he looked like the broken boy I had fallen in love with because of the doors’
manipulation, but I knew better this time.

I backed away
from Daman and looked around me for any kind of weapon; I hit the wall by the
door and scanned the ground around me frantically. I noticed one of Maria’s
ridiculously high heels on the floor near me and lunged for it.

When I stood
Daman was inches away from my face. I bit back another scream and tried to lash
out with the heel, but Daman easily deflected the blow.

“I see my
brother didn’t teach you anything useful,” Daman taunted, “It’s no matter, when
you are my wife I will teach you.”

“I am not going
to be your wife,” I protested angrily.

Daman laughed,
“I don’t believe that’s up to you anymore. I’m a free man now, and I’m a king,
what I say goes or I can have you executed.”

“Then execute
me.”

“Where would
the fun in that be?” Daman asked, “No, I think I’d rather have your dear Maria
murdered, or perhaps have the little blonde girl tortured.”

My brain
screamed for me to run, but I couldn’t. The world around me had frozen again;
the EMTs were blocking the door with Maria’s body on the stretcher.

“Wh—what little
blonde girl?” I tried. Daman just laughed again.

“You are a
terrible liar. That will make marriage easy; I will always know what you’re
thinking about. You’re so trusting too; my brother played his part perfectly,
didn’t he?”

“What do you
mean?” I questioned.

Daman shrugged,
“I’m sure you’ll discover that for yourself soon enough, but it’s time for you
to come see me now.”

I didn’t have
time to respond before something was forcing me awake. I blinked wildly in the
sun as my vision adjusted. Purple eyes were staring down at me.

“He said I
would have a hard time waking you,” the demon said, “That wasn’t so hard. Let’s
go.”

“I’m not going
anywhere with you,” I spat. The demon grabbed my wrist and began squeezing. I
stood up in a vain attempt to ease the pain.

“I believe you
are,” Purple Eyes said, “Unless you want Red and Goldie to get hurt.”

I looked to my
right and saw that two more equally terrifying demons held Maria, bound and
gagged, between them. At first I didn’t see Leigh, and then I noticed a large
sack at Maria’s feet that was thrashing about wildly.

“Let them go,”
I said testily.

“Whether that
happens or not all depends on you,” Purple Eyes said lazily.

I looked from
Maria to the sack and back again, “You will let both of them go and not hurt
anyone else if I come with you.”

“Of course,”
Purple Eyes responded.

“Let’s go
then.”

I knew it was
hopeless to scream, Purple Eyes had probably frozen the rest of the group in
place long before he woke me up.

Purple Eyes
motioned for his men to follow him. One picked up Leigh’s bag, the other forced
Maria forward.

“You said you
would let Leigh and Maria go if I came with you!” I shouted.

“I never said
when. Didn’t you ever use that trick on your siblings growing up? You should
have, it results in fewer obligations,” Purple Eyes said in an uninterested
way.

I planted my
feet defiantly, “I’m not going anywhere with you until you let Leigh and Maria
go. You can have me, but they stay here.”

The sound of
metal scraping against metal caught my attention and I turned around to see one
of the demons holding a knife to Maria’s throat. It looked more deadly than
even Bridgette’s and I didn’t want to see a demonstration of what it could do,
especially not on Maria’s neck.

“Are you done
arguing yet?” Purple Eyes asked, “We don’t want to keep the king waiting, he
doesn’t like that.”

I swallowed,
weighed my options, and started walking again, “I knew you would choose
correctly,” Purple Eyes said, “You may call the man holding the little girl
Pryor, and the other, Lucian. I am Stephano, please relax, we are not going to
hurt you.”

I glared into
Stephano’s eyes with all the hate I could muster, “You look tired,” Stephano
said, “We’ll take the quick way.

Stephano
grabbed my arm, nodded to Pryor and Lucian, and then everything went dark. I
knew we were still standing in the forest, but it was different. There were no
stars in the darkness, there was no light. I almost asked what was going on
when Stephano started moving. He took one step and I felt the ground speed away
beneath my feet. I fell into Stephano and clutched at his shirt to give myself
some kind of anchor.

Stephano
laughed heartily, “You aren’t going to fall, Alecsander wouldn’t be pleased if
I brought back damaged goods. Just do as I said and relax, we will be at the
palace soon. You will have food, clothes, and a nice bed to get your beauty
sleep in before you wed in two days.”

“I’m not
marrying Alecsander,” I replied, but there was no conviction in my voice. I
knew there was no way around it; I just didn’t want to admit it yet.

Stephano nearly
guffawed at my resistance, “I would stop being so difficult now, Alecsander
does not take kindly to insubordination.”

“I don’t take
kindly to being pushed around by power hungry villains,” I muttered. I don’t
think Stephano heard me over the sound of his own rushing feet.

Five minutes
later I saw lights glowing through the trees, a minute later we burst out of
the forest and I was staring up at a twenty foot stone wall stretching left and
right as far as I could see.

“You may want
to close your eyes if you’re afraid of heights,” Stephano warned. I didn’t have
time to question him. He jumped and we flew over the wall without even a little
struggle.

I gasped as we
fell faster and faster towards the ground, but at the last second our speed
slowed and Stephano’s feet hit the ground with barely even a sound. Pryor and
Lucian landed on either side of us. Maria looked terrified and Leigh was
shouting unintelligible things through the fabric of her bag.

“You know where
to put them,” Stephano said to his two accomplices. The captors nodded at
Stephano and began walking away with Leigh and Maria. I closed my eyes and took
deep breaths to keep myself from calling out to them.

“As for you,”
Stephano breathed into my ear. He took a moment to relish the feel of my hair
on his face before continuing, “there’s someone who’d like to see you.”

Chapter Forty-three

Stephano
escorted me to a large, completely empty room. There weren't even curtains on
the windows. The floors were carpeted in soft, plush white and the walls were
flowery gold.

It was obvious
the furniture had recently been removed; there were still impressions of
various pieces throughout the room. I guessed everything had been taken to
prevent me from acquiring a weapon.

I was left
alone for nearly an hour with only the growling of my stomach to accompany me.
At one point someone came in to offer me food. They looked normal and not
demon-like at all, I almost accepted the food until I noticed a pomegranate on
the cart of delicious looking foods.

I remembered
the story of Persephone in Hades' court, not to mention the story of how Daman
came to be a demon.