Chapter 4
Four
DEMITRIA
T he room erupted with boisterous laughter that echoed off the walls of the building. The other patrons around the makeshift establishment shot glances toward the back of the room, as if startled by the sudden outburst at the table. Along the walls, a number of oil lamps and candles lit the tavern, high enough along the walls should any foolery happen, they wouldn’t be knocked over and cause a fire.
“If you don’t do it, I will!” Demitria’s hands lay flat, fingers splayed across the wooden table beneath her as she shouted. From the chair beside her Jace laughed, shaking his head as the chuckle left his lips.
“He’s terrified, he won’t do it.” From her left another Guardian spoke up. His unkempt, wavy red hair peeking out from under the hood of his dark cloak.
“I’m not scared.” Tyler piped up. Demitria knew he was. Could tell in the way he carried himself. From the way he nervously thrummed his fingers along the table to the way his blue eyes darted back and forth around the group. She knew he didn’t want to come across as afraid, especially with the twins, Will and Sam, present. She knew it was a losing battle and felt bad for him.
Almost
“Prove it.”
His smile contorted into that of a sneer, and Tyler stood. Not before taking a large swig of the ale in front of him. He wouldn’t admit to himself that he was nervous, and she knew the mouthful of liquid courage was a necessary feat.
Snaking her gaze from side to side, Demitria eyed the men around the table. Cory and Jace sat on either side of her while the others sat adjacent around the small table. There were five of them tonight, plus herself. The other three Guardians were on duty, staggering their nights off. One stationed beyond the wall, the other two inside. The night off was greatly welcomed. Especially among the company surrounding her. Most of them, anyway.
“I still say he’s going to chicken out.” Sam laughed, leaning back in the chair as he crossed his arms behind his head. Nearly identical to his brother, his chestnut-brown hair fell disheveled around his face.
“Give the guy some credit, Sam.” The redhead spoke up once more. “At least give him a chance to man up.” Never one to truly get into the nonsense that usually followed the twins, this night had been different. Once in a while, Cory would let loose.
“If he backs out, you’re taking his place then.” Sam shot him a challenging look. Demetria knew Cory would without a doubt. He trusted the group, her especially. Knowing she would be the first to volunteer. Demitria was sure he could see the glint in her eyes.
Tyler stood quietly, as if hoping that by keeping quiet the others would forget. She already knew they wouldn’t.
“We need an apple.” Demitria grinned, shouting as her mug hit the table after downing the remainder of her drink. Tyler groaned, and she mentally apologized for what she was about to do. “What, would you rather we shoot at your head?”
“No!” He shrieked, voice rising louder than intended, cheeks taking on a pale shade of pink.
“Gods help me.” Tyler muttered, positioning his body against the wall, Sam balancing the apple atop his head.
“There are no gods.” Demitria said as the dagger left her outstretched hand and the blade struck the old, rotting wood a hair’s breadth from Tyler’s cheek. A small yelp escaped before he had the chance to muffle it, causing a round of vigorous laughter to explode from around the table. She could see the raw fear in his eyes as he watched her. Too terrified to move. At least he’d trusted her enough to keep still and refrained from flinching. She took a step back, stumbling slightly as she did so. Another round of laughter coursed, and this time, an audible gulp passed through the clenched lips of the Guardian standing in front of her.
“Are you sure you’re coherent enough to uh… do this?” Tyler asked, having just watched her guzzle two full mugs of ale only minutes before. Knowing she was never one to back down from a challenge, no one made a move to stop her.
“I’m fine.” The giddy laughter escaped as she fumbled the remaining two daggers in her hands, dropping one to the floor as it slipped through her slender fingers. “Oops.”
Jace shook his head again at the look on her face. He knew her all too well, especially when she was fully prepared to scare the absolute wits out of Tyler as she played up her drunken state.
“Jace…” Tyler whimpered, flashing the whites of his eyes as Demitria closed one of her eyes, teeth biting into her tongue as she focused on the dagger and lined up her shot. She stumbled once more, and Tyler winced at her movement.
“Ok, now you’re just messing with him.” Jace finally broke, sitting himself up in the seat, eyes hovering in their direction.
“You ruin all the fun.” Demitria groaned. Before Tyler could react, her posture straightened. Both eyes opening as her daggers flew simultaneously from her outstretched fingers. His body frozen in shock, mouth hung ajar as his eyes bulged from his head when the apple tumbled to the floor at his feet. Both of her intricately designed blades stuck side by side in the center. “Told you I was fine.” With a wink she sauntered over, plucking the apple up off the floor and her remaining blades from the wall behind the boy before resuming her seat once more. She silently cut into the fruit, taking a piece off the tip of the dagger slowly into her mouth, offering another to Jace sitting beside her as he laughed.
“Show off.” Sam grumbled from across the table. The glare had been instinctive. Something she couldn’t help. She toyed with the idea of saying something she would more than likely regret in the morning, but with the way Jace had been looking at her, an almost silent plea in his gaze, she wavered. It was a known fact that she and Sam did not get along. His twin brother had been no different. Finally, she let it go with a sigh, hopping to her feet.
“With that, I’m off to bed. You boys enjoy the rest of your night.” With a nod at Jace and Cory, Demitria turned to walk away. Leaving before things could escalate was the right move. When it came down to the twins it was only a matter of time before fists or other objects would fly, and she’d hate to be the one to destroy one of the community’s only establishments that brought the residents joy.
“I’ll walk with you.” Jace was on his feet, his hand warm on her back before she could manage a step or protest his departure. She wanted to tell him to enjoy his night off and leave her be, but he hadn’t given her a chance.
“I can walk myse—” He’d cut her off with a hiss in her ear, and she knew when to keep her mouth shut. They were silent as they weaved their way around the remaining patrons and tables. Some nodding or congratulating her on the impressive throw. Demitria didn’t break until they hit the cool night air. It stung her cheeks, and she was thankful for the drinks she’d had less than an hour before, the liquid tingling her body with a fiery warmth.
“I’m fine, Jace.” She huffed, shrugging out of his reach.
“It wasn’t you that I was worried about.” He chuckled, remaining close but not touching her. She didn’t look at him. “I know how you are when you get mad at those two.” Jace knew her too well. Demitria would have been the first one to throw a punch. Without a doubt, no questions asked. Years of bad blood lay between the twins and her. From the way Jace seemed to favor her around the community, to their opposing ideals on how patrol should be done, they agreed on almost nothing. Nearly every conversation they’d shared would turn into an argument.
“I’m not actually going to bed.” She caved, changing the subject before letting herself get even more irritated at the thought of the twins. “I just wanted to walk. Maybe go up on the roof?”
“I figured.” He sighed, already leading her in the direction. It was where she always ended up, even on days when she didn’t want to tear into the twins. It gave her a good vantage point above the community. But it was also calming. Being up high enough, away from the other residents, she was able to just… breathe. “I was ready to leave, anyway. Going to do my rounds.”
“Aren’t you off duty today?” She questioned as they continued on down the cracked concrete streets that lined the community. They passed a few rundown buildings. Some with boarded up windows with whatever solid material they could find, while others sat open, their doorless archways beckoning inside. Most of the buildings around Solis were used to house supplies they’d scrapped from the rubble of the larger cities that had fallen in the early years of the Ascension. A few of the residents had staggered their living quarters around the small town, but most tended to gather at the far end. Everyone helped one another. It was why they liked to live in such close proximity.
“I’m never off duty.” He sighed.
“Not even for one night?” The street was nearly dark aside from the small lanterns that lined the road every ten feet. Flames shielded from the wind by thin panes of glass that surrounded them. They flickered slightly, the design not quite perfect as the chill breeze still found its way inside.
“Do I really need to answer that?”
He didn’t. She knew as well as he did that a night off just didn’t exist for them, despite how badly they wanted and truly needed it. In the hellish world that was now their home, a day off could mean death for everyone around them.
They quieted once more as they pushed on. Listening to the world around them. Something scurried far off in the distance, and her hand instinctively attached to the hilt of her weapon. Demitria couldn’t help the laugh that echoed into the night, knowing full well that the noise had been nothing more than a mouse.
Right, some night off.
Always watching. Listening. Scouring the community for any sign of a threat. An attack. It was never an if they came back. It was a matter of when . The war wasn’t over. At times, it felt as if it never would truly end, and that thought scared her more than anything. Spending the rest of their lives just struggling. Fighting to stay alive?—
She often wondered why they’d even come after their home. Why earth? Why had the angels followed after? As far as she knew, no one had truly figured it out. All the creatures did was slaughter her people and the creatures that had lived here first. Had taken over and lived as if it was their home, and the humans were the invaders. They’d decimated massive cities in mere hours as that terrifying darkness took over. Killing and eating their fill of any being that wasn’t like them. And when the angels came? That was when she’d known the world had truly fallen. They waged their own war against each other, and it didn’t matter what, or who, got in their way. The angels may not have eaten her kind, but they fought just as hard for the vast lands around them. Fought the demons and humans until there was nearly nothing left.
With a sigh, she slowly lifted her hand from the weapon, dropping it back to her side once more.
“I saw that.”
“Shut up, Jace.” His laughter exploded, filling the cool night air and she couldn’t help but smile at the sound. “You coming with me?” She asked, motioning toward the familiar building close to the front gates of the community. The boarded windows were never a deterrent for her. She’d been the one to put them there.
“Of course.” He gestured for her to lead the way. With a smile, she disappeared through a wide doorless entrance, coming into a large, open room nearly empty aside from a few wooden crates spaced throughout. An old steel ladder attached to the far wall led to a hatch in the ceiling. She took a running jump, hands latching onto the rungs as she pulled up with ease and climbed, pushing the door open at the top. Jace followed quickly, emerging into the cool night air behind her.
There was nothing on the roof but a sealed container that she’d spent a painstaking amount of time bringing up more than a year ago. It wasn’t big, but it held a few items and managed to protect them from the rain. Taking the tattered blanket from the box, Demitria spread it across the ground, letting her body sprawl along it as she lay down, staring up at the glistening expanse above. Jace sidled in beside her and she welcomed his warmth as the two of them gazed out into a sky of endless stars.
“Do you ever miss it?” She wondered out loud. “When it was just you and I? Before the community. The responsibility.” She thought of the days when the only people they needed to keep safe was themselves. For so long it had just been the two of them after their parents had died. Moving from one hellish town to the next, trying their best to avoid the nightmarish creatures that now plagued their world. They’d had far too many close calls along the way where both had nearly lost their lives. She’d lost count how many. But they had been just kids when the world had gone to shit. They didn’t know how to survive or who they could trust. It was a miracle in itself they’d made it this far. But they did, and had the many scars to prove it.
Mesmerized and unable to tear herself away, she continued staring up at the glittering sky. It was a rare beauty that she hadn’t been able to appreciate for a while with the duties of a Guardian, and she reveled in it. The simplicity of laying out underneath them.
“Sometimes,” Jace hugged her body in closer, voice near silent. “But I like the safety of it here. Knowing we have a better chance…” He didn’t need to say the words, she’d known exactly what he was getting at. They had a better chance than they had. Their parents. Demitria didn’t know if this was the life they wanted for them, but at least they were alive. It had to count for something.
“Are you worried? About the attacks?”
“Would you believe me if I said no?”
“No.” She didn’t want to tell him that she’d had nightmares about it since they first found out. That she’d woken up nearly every night in a pool of sweat, reliving their own nightmare. Waiting. Wondering if that night would be the one they were attacked, and she truly would lose everything.
“If Solis is going to fall, you and I will run. We’ll leave all of this behind, and it’ll just be the two of us again. Know that I won’t let anything happen to you. Wherever you go, I will follow. Always.”
“We can’t abandon everyone here.” They had a duty. To this place. These people. When he’d decided to found this community, they had lost the ability to run. She knew if he did, it would be something he regretted every day for the rest of his life.
“Sometimes the ones we care about come before duty and honor.”