Chapter 31
D imitri reached his hand out for Dani, but I reared back, letting Garrett take hold of her. I pulled my sword out from behind my back and pointed it toward him. “She isn’t yours.”
The Son of Hell laughed. “Oh and she’s yours? This isn’t a game of who she likes better, it’s simply a game of what’s best for her. And that’s being the most powerful being she can be. While on a throne.”
Elise snorted, causing Dimitri to sneer at her.
“Back off and let her go,” I demanded, holding the hilt of my sword so tightly that my knuckles were white.
Dimitri let out another laugh and snapped his fingers. The sound of multiple footsteps echoed and black smoke filtered in around our feet. The air became thicker and my vision was blurrier. I could see things, but most of it was distorted and misshapen. Something took a hold of my wrist, cranking it in one direction, making me hiss out in pain before I felt a blow to my stomach.
“Get the fuck off me, you little shit!” Elise yelled. I could make out the whip of her tail through my cloudy vision. A body collided with mine as we both fell to the ground. Reese shook his head, his blonde hair fanning out around him. I rubbed at my eyes, needing my vision to be clearer.
“Let me go!” Dani shouted. I watched as she kicked her legs out, scrambling away from whoever was trying to grab her. For a small moment, when my vision was palpable, I saw the way her fingertips sparked as if her light was brimming at the surface.
I pushed off the ground, heading to her, but my feet were pulled from under me and my face hit the stone floor first sending a painful vibration through my skull. My face was towards the entrance of Dani’s cell and I saw Jasmine and Yuri hiding inside, peeking their heads out ever so slightly. I noticed a small floppy ear near their feet, telling me that Axel was with them.
I groaned, pushing off the ground and flipping over. I felt around for my sword, knowing it was nearby. Once I had it, I pushed every last bit of my light into it, watching it glow within my hold. The guard lunged at me from above, but I held my sword out, watching them fall onto the pointed silver tip. I lifted my legs and shoved them off of me, ripping my sword from their body.
Light cascaded around us and my eyes burned a little less. The blur that shifted my eyesight was gone. I shot my eyes over to Garrett whose hands were covered in bright yellow magic, magic that melted away the fog that loomed. A guard came at Garrett from behind, but Leah lifted her elbow, hitting him in the face. Garrett pressed his magic to another’s face, using their body as a weapon to knock another one down.
Even with her less than healed thigh wound, Dani fought alongside Elise. Her shadows were easier to handle especially with the way she winced. Reese reached for one of his arrows and pierced it into one guard’s leg, ripping it out and plunging the same arrow into their stomach, shoving them away from him.
Elise shot out her dark magic, connecting it to every target she saw, but a wave of dark energy swept her and Dani off their feet. A set of larger guards stalked over to them, their shadowy weapons at the ready. I held my sword out, slashing at them one by one. Elise shot her foot out hitting one of them in the knee. Her hit landed so hard, I heard the crunch of bone.
One of them hovered over Dani and she let her shadows come from her hand, sending them sailing backwards, causing me to shift sideways so I was out of the way. Before they could push off the wall, I turned my sword slicing diagonally across their chest, making my cut deep and deadly.
I heard a tiny groan from behind me. I turned to see the blood that slowly leaked from Dani’s open wound, was bubbling. It was like it was being heated.
“You think I care about any of these demons you’re slaughtering, Nicholas.” Dimitri’s voice rang out.
There was a ringing in my head. I staggered backwards, the hallway we were in fading in and out, while visions of blood and Dani’s screams became more apparent.
Breathe, just fucking breathe.
My sword was strained in my grip. I closed my eyes, nearly tripping over a dead body.
I would never be fully rid of this panic, of this dark thing that still gripped me from the inside out. And I had to remember that I was…okay with that.
Dimitri kept feeding into that part of me, but something else crept in right beside him. Something wriggled its way through the cracks in my mind. It was still dark, but it was a darkness that wasn’t my own, but it was a darkness I knew was safe.
I peeked over at Dani who gripped the wall as she pushed through the pain in her thigh. An arrow sailed by my head while Leah and Garrett were fighting back to back, but all I felt was the simple darkness of a girl I loved.
My light called to hers, so why would I ever think her darkness wouldn’t do the same to mine.
The pain Dimitri tried to put me through felt so minuscule and unnecessary. I held onto my sword as I ran straight for the Son of Hell himself. I rammed into him pressing my side against his, digging my elbow into his side as we both collided with the wall. He shoved me off of him, his usually well manicured hair was now messy and unkempt.
I pulled my sword back to strike him but he grabbed the silver blade before I could pierce his skin. He held on so tight that it cut into his fingers, blood dripping down towards the handle. “She already took one of your hands. Don’t make me take the other one,” I threatened, ripping my sword from his grip.
I felt hands on my shoulders, trying to haul me back, but Elise wrapped her tail around their ankles, pulling. I wiggled out of their hold, before they descended to the ground, letting Elise finish them off.
Something yanked on my neck and it burned. I was lifted up and hurled towards the wall. Dimitri slammed his body against mine, while the tension at my neck held me in place. He extended one of his nails and sliced down my neck. His face was contorting into that thing I had seen for a short period of time when Dani and I fought in his office. The perfectly normal face he had was melting into nothing by gray matter and bone. His eyes sunk in and black whorls of nothing were starting to take the place of his bright green eyes.
“At least you got to see her before she destroys everything. She will create something so beautiful, but it saddens me to know you won’t be here to enjoy it.” His voice was so dark and unholy deep that it made my stomach drop.
He didn’t scare me though. Dani could have given in to what he wanted, but she didn’t. Could Heaven’s Gate be better? Sure, but not like this. If Dani wanted to create a better realm, she could very well do it. He didn’t need to be a part of any of it.
I gathered light in my hand, mustering all my strength as I brought my palm up and slammed it against his face. I wanted to blind him, shove the light down his throat and watch him choke on it. He coughed, still keeping me in place, but he stepped back enough for me to kick upwards, connecting my foot with his stomach.
He let out a guttural sound, holding his middle. I punched him with my free hand, watching as he clawed at his face to remove the remnants of the light I’d bestowed on him. I used the pommel of my sword to hit the side of his head. Flipping my sword around, I stabbed him in the shoulder, pulling out my sword so I could stab him in the stomach as well, before he could hit the ground. I extracted my blade from his body, getting on my knees and turning him over.
I clenched my hand into a fist and started to hit him. My knuckles collided with his jaw over and over again. I wrapped my hands around his neck, bringing his face up and slamming it into the stone floor. He continued to flood my mind with vicious thoughts and I pushed them away, even when my blood was on fire. My arm was getting tired but I needed him to hurt and get out of my head.
I kept going even when he stopped fighting back. Even when it seemed like he had stopped breathing.
“Nick! Nick! Nick, stop!” I heard my name and felt a hand tugging on my shoulder, stopping me.
I blinked up at Reese whose blonde eyebrows were furrowed. I looked from him to a limp Dimitri. His face was bloodied and almost unrecognizable. I tentatively touched my neck, feeling the blood from where he’d cut me. My hand suddenly throbbed from where I’d landed on the stones so many times.
“Nick,” Dani called in a soft voice that still had every bit of confidence as the day I met her. She was hurt and needed more medical attention than this place could ever offer, but her voice still had me wanting to stand beside her in any battle, any war.
“He better be fucking dead.” Elise wiped her face, removing any large remnants of blood.
“Nicholas, we have to go before more arrive,” Garret pressed, gathering his family. Axel let out a huff, jumping into Elise’s arms.
Reese let Dani hang onto his shoulder as I moved away from Dimitri’s unmoving body and shakily got out my portal key. “Beetee, then home,” he reminded me.
I nodded, giving Dimitri’s body one long look before we headed out.
My legs gave out the minute we stumbled out of the portal. Dani rolled out of my arms and onto the grass. She blew out some of her curls that fell onto her face. A numerous amount of collective groans and grunts sounded around me. I made sure everyone was accounted for: Reese, Elise, Garrett, Leah, their children. Beetee, her moms and with a small bark, I knew Axel had come along as well.
My mind was still frazzled from the entire ordeal, pieces of Dimitri’s mental torment still hanging on in my mind. I’d had to focus harder than normal to get us out of there.
We wanted to be out of Hell and back to somewhere safe. I had planned for Oculus.
A voice I recognized as not Natalia’s caused my spine to go straight.
“Nicholas?” Daya called and nearly everyone turned their heads toward her.
I was looking at my dad’s girlfriend, which meant I was looking at my house.
“I told you, you should have let me use your key,” Elise grumbled, picking herself up.
Daya’s eyes widened as she took in our large group. Alex pushed past her mother, a curious smile at her lips. “We really don’t have enough room for this many people.”
Daya shushed her daughter. “Nicholas, what’s going on?” Her whiskey colored eyes found their way over to Dani, who was slowly pulling herself up from the grass. “You found her.”
We heard rustling in the trees, causing everyone to stop.
“He sure did.” A light shone near a collection of trees and Ariel stepped out, his voice giving my head the same throbbing sensation that Dimitri did.
“Oh for fucks sake, not this fucking guy,” Elise whined, placing her hands on top of her head.
Sentries came from around the trees and wings fluttered as they shot down from the sky. Morgan sidled up next to the red headed angel, a bruise along her neck. I saw the way her eyes locked onto Dani. Next to me, Dani let out a low growl towards Morgan. More sentries surrounded us, but none of the people with me made a move to cower in fear.
“You honestly think I wasn’t waiting for you to make an appearance again. The prodigal hero. I’ve been staking out your known locations since the moment I found out you broke out of your cell.” Ariel gave me a disapproving look, almos as if he pitied me.
“Now isn’t the time Ariel,” I said, knowing that this conversation, this discussion would have to happen, but right now wasn’t ideal.
“Break the rules, deal with the consequences. If you don’t like it then you should have remained in your cell rather than do as you please.” He pointed at Dani. “You have caused so many around you a great deal of pain. Are you proud of yourself, demon?”
“ Don’t talk to her like that.” I took a few steps towards him, but the sentries that surrounded him stopped my movements.
“Collect them all. You should be happy I don’t just sentence you all to death,” Ariel said nonchalantly. His nose still looked swollen from where I’d punched him.
Another light flooded around us, closer to my house. It was another portal.
Natalia, my father and Zane stepped out.
My father ran over to me, pulling me in for a hug, before delicately taking Dani in his arms as well. He looked over at Ariel, his tone harsh. “This is my home , Ariel. Have some goddamn compassion for once in your existence.”
“How did you find us?” I asked Natalia, who gave me a knowing look.
“Nicholas, I did once tell you that I can see your portal light, did I not?” The glitter at her cheeks sparkled.
Morgan scoffed. “Compassion for what? Disobedience? You brought back more problems, including a mutt.” She nodded towards Axel who growled deeply, snapping his teeth at her.
Ariel looked around him, his green eyes wide with annoyance. “What did I say! Seize them! Or will I have to do it myself!”
Reese was readying his bow while I pulled Dani closer to me, but then a rumbling against the ground had us all stopping.
“What the hell is that!?” Ariel asked, looking around him.
Elise started laughing, as her grey eyes fell to her pet. Axel’s fur was starting to shed and his floppy ears were decreasing in size becoming more pointed and short. Black eyes turned to bright red orbs and his nails grew longer as his body got bigger and bigger.
Alex cleared her throat. “Umm mom, aren’t you afraid of snakes?”
I brought my head away from Axel and looked to my other side, seeing the Beetee had shifted completely as well. Her black scales gleaming with their pink lining and her hot pink tongue peeking out. Her yellow eyes peered down at Ariel as if he could be her next meal.
Daya had her mouth open, but no words came out. My father patted me on the shoulder and went over to her, his mustache twitching as if he wanted to laugh at her frozen expression.
“You can take us Ariel, sure. If you can get through a hellhound and a reptile queen?” Reese challenged, bringing his bow down. He went over to Axel, patting the side of the large hellhound
Smoke bellowed out of the creature's nose as he leaned towards the ground, ready to pounce.
Ariel regained his composure, swallowing hard. “This is not over , Mr. Cassial. These monstrosities are not allowed at The Skies.” His eyes flicked from Beetee to Axel. “Enchanters stay in Oculus and so do your demonic friends. Including this one.” He waved his hand over at Dani, but I held her closer.
“She stays with me and that’s it.”
“You are not in a position to make demands,” Ariel said through his teeth, but the rest of his sentence faltered when Beetee let out a loud hiss, moving her large reptilian body towards him.
“Fine. Fine ! She can stay with you, in your room as before. The privilege of roaming is gone now, Soul Seether. Dying in whatever prison they had you in would have been better than the lonely life you’ll lead here.” Ariel rubbed his hands down the lapels of his suit jacket and huffed. “I have a ceremony to postpone due to your selfish insolence. One that you will attend happily I might add, Mr. Cassial. I will work you so hard that whatever life you thought bringing her back to will be an afterthought.”
He turned his back to us and was gone. The sentries made themselves scarce and within minutes Axel had returned to his small form, falling into Reese’s arms and licking his face.
“That’s a good boy,” My best friend praised, rubbing the small dog's belly.
“Beetee, please change back before you give the woman a heart attack,” Elise commanded, rolling her eyes as she snickered over at Daya.
Garrett put his hands up. “Wait, she needs clothes first.”
Alex chimed in. “I have some, come on.”
Dani limped over to Beetee, sliding her hand over her scales. I came over to her, placing a hand on her arm. She flinched at my touch almost as if she hadn’t known it was me. Dani took a small step back, replacing my hand with her own, covering up what she could of the gashes Dimitri left along her arm.
“Are you okay?” I asked, knowing it was a question that probably didn’t have a clear answer.
“I will be.” She tucked one of her curls behind her ear, lifting on her toes so she could kiss my cheek.
She was the same person I was in love with but there was something missing. She fingered the wound on her arm again, looking down almost like she was lost in thought.
“Hey, I love you.”
Dani lifted one corner of her mouth. “I love you too.”
Elise took Dani by the arm and led her towards my house. I watched her walk away, furrowing my brow. I believed that Dani could do anything. She could fight anything or anyone and win. She didn’t need me, but for some reason she wanted me in her life. That’s where I would remain, until she told me to go away, but even then I probably wouldn’t.
Something told me that Dimitri somehow still lingered between us. If the way she hugged her arm was any indication, I knew he still did.