Betrayal (The Divine, Book Two) (34 page)

“My mother? My mother is dead because of you, her soul trapped with yours. Better for her to be one with the universe, than to be enslaved.”
 

She took the sword and turned over her wrist. It was awkward with such a long blade, but she managed to make the vertical cut that would bleed her out. The blood poured from the wound, down into the Grail.

“
No
,” Josette said, her frantic panic turning to resolute strength. I felt her power overwhelm me, her energy taking hold of my body. She couldn’t be controlled by the Beast. Her power came from somewhere else.

She pushed me forward, reaching out and grabbing the sword, pulling it from Sarah’s hands and throwing it away. She tackled the girl, throwing us both out of the fountain and onto the floor, moving my hand so that it locked around the wound, putting pressure on it and stemming the flow of blood. The geometry broken, the Grail fell to the ground with a soft clang, and the collected blood began to spill out into the pool.

“No!” I heard Ross cry. “It has to be all of it.”

I heard the boots on the floor, Rebecca coming for us. Sarah wriggled beneath me, trying to get free.

“Sarah, listen to me,” Josette said. Her voice was coming out of my mouth. I don’t know how she was doing it, but she couldn’t have picked a better time. “Listen to me.”

I was laying on top of her. Tears were streaming from her face, and I could feel the warmth of her blood below my hand. She stopped struggling.

“Landon didn’t kill me,” Josette said. “I gave myself to him. I saved his life, so that he could protect you. I sacrificed myself so that you would be able to live a normal life, a mortal life. It doesn’t matter why your father did what he did. To me you were a gift. You have always been my gift.”

Rebecca was nearly on top of us. My body moved like lightning as Josette grabbed the dagger at my side and flung it into the demon. It planted itself right between her eyes, and she fell backwards. It wouldn’t keep her down, but it bought us more time.

“Sarah, I love you,” Josette said. My own face was getting wet, my body responding to her emotions. “I’ve always loved you. I’ve tried so hard to protect you. I know it hasn’t been easy for you. I know you’ve suffered, and I’m sorry. I’ve given all that I could. I’ve done all that I could. Please, it isn’t too late.”

The tears continued to fall, and she began to whimper. “Mother,” she cried. “Mother, I’m scared. It hurts so much. It all hurts so much.”

“Help us,” Josette said. “Help Landon. Stop the Beast, or your hurt will never end. He knows nothing of love, or sacrifice. He knows only destruction. Please.”

She flailed beneath us, her body writhing in an invisible agony. A piercing scream escaped from her then, a sound that reverberated from the walls and rocked the entire enclosure. Even Ross trembled at the noise. Then she stopped struggling, and I could feel the change.
 

“Landon,” she said. “Help me.”

I still couldn’t move, the Beast wouldn’t allow it. Josette could. She tore my shirt and quickly wrapped it tight around Sarah’s wrist, staunching the flow of blood. We looked up. Ross had moved over to the fountain. He grabbed Charis’ unconscious form and flung her like a sack of potatoes. She landed motionless on the floor.

“He’s regaining his power,” Sarah said. “I’m sorry. It was enough to set him free. It is too late.”

“No, it is not too late,” the newcomer said, appearing right in front of us. It was Dante. “You have freed some of his power, but it is not complete. Not while you live,” he said to Sarah. He looked at me. “I am sorry, signore. I should have seen this sooner, but the leak was so small. I only found it because his power is being pulled through so strongly. He fooled me.”

“He fooled all of us,” Josette said for me.
 

Ross leaned down and dipped his hand in the pool of light. An inky blackness washed off and began spreading through it. At the same time, I could feel his energy growing. He looked up at us, his face menacing, his eyes crackling with dark power.

“Dante,” he said. “My friend. Stay a while.” He reached out, and Dante’s body contorted into a sitting position. “We have a lot to talk about. A lot to plan. You can definitely be useful. In fact, I could never have gotten this far without you.”

The poet groaned in pain, the stress evident on his face. He settled back and relaxed, easing himself straight, overcoming whatever Ross was doing to him. “I’m afraid I’ll have to decline, signore,” he said.
 

Josette got me up and reached out, pulling Sarah to her feet. The motion drew Ross’ attention.

“You! I trusted you!” he shouted. “How could you?” His voice boomed throughout the entire structure, shaking the walls. The blackness was still spreading slowly through the rivers of light. He held out his hand and creased his brow in concentration, but nothing happened.

“He can’t affect you,” Dante said to Sarah. “Not without his full power. We need to get out of here, now. Landon, get closer to Charis and I will try without touching.” He didn’t sound too confident, but he did sound determined.

“
Josette, we have to get Charis
,” I said.
 

She launched us forward towards her. Her eyes had opened, and they burned with a fierce red intensity. As we approached, she held up her hand.

“I am in control,” Vilya said. “Do not touch me.”

“Dante,” I cried,”We’re ready.”

He nodded and took Sarah’s hand. He had just closed his eyes when the sword point blossomed through his stomach.
 

“You aren’t going anywhere,” Rebecca said, pulling the blade out and shoving him to the side with her foot. “Not until the Beast is free.”

I glanced back to Ross. He removed his hand from the pool and started walking towards us. “Thank you, my pet,” he said. “Now, we have some uninvited guests who are gumming up the works. I think it’s time to remove them.”
 

He held up his hand, and I felt Josette twist inside of me, her cry of pain exploding in my soul. My body was instantly frozen again, and I could feel her being ripped away. I focused, desperate to hold onto her, doing my best to ignore the searing agony.
 

Rebecca held the sword point up to Sarah. “If you won’t kill yourself, I’ll do it,” she said, reaching out and taking her by the hair. She pulled her towards Ross, ignoring her screams and struggles.

My eyes were the only thing I could move. I swung them desperately from left to right, in search of anything that I could use, doing my best to stay conscious over the double whammy of Josette’s extraction and my efforts to use the Beast’s power. Was he feeling the same pain? My eyes finally found it, Malize’s sword, resting on the ground only a few feet from Sarah.

“Sarah,” I cried, forcing my lips to move, forcing air through my lungs. I could only pray that she would know what to do.

The sword teetered, then launched from the ground towards her. She stopped her struggling, reaching out and catching the hilt, swinging it wildly over her head at Rebecca. The demon let go of her and ducked away, coming to her feet and deflecting the first of Sarah’s strikes.

I had taught her what I could of her mother’s skill with a blade. She had been a fast learner, but her lessons were nowhere near complete. She put up a good fight, the sword a strong extension of her arm, moving and flowing along with her as she put all of that practice to the test. Rebecca had a lot more experience, and it showed. She easily outmaneuvered Sarah, twisting and bringing her blade up and across, using it to rip the sword from Sarah’s hands and send it tumbling away.

“Enough,” she said, hissing in frustration. She reached out to grab Sarah again. “Let’s get this done with.”

“No,” Sarah said. Her voice was calm and composed; the scared young girl replaced by someone strong and confident. Rebecca froze, as though she had been turned to stone. “You will not harm me,” Sarah said. Rebecca lowered her sword.

“What are you doing?” Ross asked. “Bring her here.”

Rebecca’s arm started to rise again.
 

“No,” Sarah repeated.
 

“Rebecca, do it!” Ross cried.

“No,” Sarah said a third time. Rebecca’s hands dropped as she heeded the Command. “Kill the Beast.”

Her eyes widened, but she was powerless to resist. She turned on Ross, raising her sword and charging. Ross barely had a moment to react before the vampire was on him. The distraction set me free, and I pulled back on Josette and started running towards Dante at the same time. Charis followed my lead, and we all reached the stricken poet together.

I leaned down over him. “Dante,” I said. His eyes fluttered and opened. “You’ve got to get us out of here.”

I looked back at Ross and Rebecca. The Beast had flipped her over and pinned her to the ground. One hand was tight against her neck, the other was holding Malize’s blade. Her head flopped over, and I saw the pain and fear and sadness in her eyes.

“Landon, help me,” she croaked, her voice half curse, half sob. “Help me, please. I love you.”

Again, she wasn’t lying. My heart pounded as my pulse quickened even more. Dante had closed his eyes, and was murmuring and tracing runes in the air. One effort, one strong pull, and I could bring her to us. Except… she couldn’t make the trip. I winced when Ross brought the sword down into her heart, causing her body to arch up and a horrible moan to escape from her lips. As she took her last breath, he looked at me, and smiled - a smile I’d never forget.
 

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, hoping beyond hope that she could hear me. For the second time, I felt my heart shatter.

“See you around, kid,” Ross said. The air shimmered around us, and everything went black.

The world faded back into view. We were grouped together in a field, surrounded by stalks of wheat. It was nighttime, and I could hear a cacophony of crickets calling out in the darkness. Dante lay on the ground below me, coughing up blood and breathing erratically. His shirt was a sopping wet mess. Sarah and Charis kneeled on either side, their hands still on his shoulders.

“Dante?”
 

He opened his eyes. “Did we make it, signore?” he asked.

I nodded. “Yes, thanks to you.”

He tried to take a deep breath, and wound up coughing again. I leaned in and put my arm behind him, helping him to sit up.

“I think you won’t be thanking me soon,” he said between coughs. “The Beast may not have his full power, but he has enough to start wreaking havoc on this world. He will not rest until he has finished what has been started.”

I figured as much. “How long do we have?”

“It will take him some time to collect the energy that has been released, and I have cut him off from Purgatory. A few weeks? A few years? Who can say? He cannot launch an assault on the other realms without his full strength. He cannot get his full strength while any of you live.”

“So, we have some time to figure out how to destroy him?”

Dante tried to laugh. It was a miserable failure. “You can’t destroy him, signore. He
is
destruction. No, we must find a way to entrap him once more. There is no other choice.”

I wasn’t relishing the thought. “What are the odds that we survive this?” I asked.

He shook his head. “What are the odds that you will want to?” he replied.

The question gave me chills. I tried to shake it off. “Will you be okay?”

“I will be fine. The wound will heal as soon as I return home. It takes more than a demonic edge to put down Dante Alighieri.”

“Then you should head back,” I said. “I’ll be in touch soon.”
 

“Yes. I will rest, but only just long enough. Time is not on our side, signore.”
 

“Dante,” Charis said sharply, before the poet could disappear.

“Yes, my dear,” he replied.

A tear dropped from her eye, onto the old man’s shirt. “Thank you.”

“For you, anything,” he said, and then he was gone.

I got to my feet, rising up above the wheat, and looked around. We were in a huge, open expanse, but there was an old stone farmhouse about half of a mile away. I recognized the place. It wasn’t an exact match, but it was close enough. Dante had delivered us to Tuscany.
 

“I guess he’s still afraid to go back to Florence,” Charis said, putting her hand on my shoulder.
 

“It seems that way,” I agreed.
 

“I’m going to go check out the farmhouse,” she added. “I don’t know about you, but my head is killing me.”

She wasn’t alone. Ross’ efforts to extract Josette had taken its toll. I focused, finding the threads of our souls. Right now, they were in tatters. “We’ll be along soon,” I said, taking her into a strong embrace. “Thank you, for everything you did.”

I didn’t hold her long, but when I let her go she was crying. “Thank you, Landon. You saved our lives.”

I shook my head. “We all did our part, together. Besides, the Beast is yet to come.” I gave her a stupid smile, trying to ease the moment. She couldn’t hold back her laugh.
 

“That was really bad,” she said.

“So bad it was good,” I replied.

She didn’t say anything else. She just started walking towards the farmhouse.

Sarah’s empty eyes were already soaked before I lifted her up in the biggest hug I had ever given anyone.
 

“Landon, I’m so sorry,” she cried. “I’m so sorry.”

“Shhh,” I said. “It’s okay. It’ll be okay.”

“I ruined everything. I killed so many people. I was so angry. I just wanted the pain to stop. I just wanted the world to stop. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” She clung to me tightly, burying her face in my neck. I held her close and stroked her hair.

“It’s okay,” I repeated. “We’ll make it right. Don’t worry.”

“I’m evil. I’m so evil. I don’t deserve to be alive. I don’t deserve to have a brother like you, or a mother like mine.”

Her words twisted the knife that was already planted in my heart. I picked her up and kept her close, carrying her all the way back to the farmhouse. In that moment, she was ten years old again, and all she needed was someone to protect her, to look out for her, and to care.