Marker of Hope (16 page)

“David…” I turned to look back. But he wasn’t
on the spot where he’d been a minute before. I followed the trail
of blood on the floor. With a frantic scream, I called for him
again. “
David!
”

“He’s here,” Dr. Gunn said, a hand appearing
behind the couch. “He’s with me.” When Gunn had come in from the
lab, I didn’t know, but as I stepped closer, I saw he’d removed the
blade from David’s side. His hands were pressed on a white lab coat
covering David’s wound. “He’s lost a lot of blood. He’s
unresponsive.” Gunn’s nervous blink set in. “I-it doesn’t look
good.”

I sank to the floor next to David and reached
for his pallid face, my hand hovering over his cheek, afraid
touching him would hurt him further.

“Why is he still bleeding?” I asked no one in
particular. “Why isn’t he healing?”

“I don’t think he can,” Gunn said.

“But he was able to just a few days ago.”

“Yes, a few days ago, but not today. Not
anymore, it seems. Which means…”

“What?” Galen asked, standing next to Eryx.
“What does it mean?”

“He’s lost too much blood.” Gunn glanced at
the red pond around David. “The wound is fatal.”

My chest caved like a sinkhole, swallowing
down everything in one gulp.

“No.” I clasped David’s face with my hands.
“Oh, please, no.” My tears fell on David’s face. “David, don’t
leave me. You promised.”

A hand touched my shoulder—Eileen’s. Galilea
knelt beside me.

“Isis, don’t worry. He’ll be okay,” Galen
said. “We’ve got this.”

“We?” Eryx asked. “Galen, you look like you
took a nose dive into a flamethrower. I doubt you have the strength
to heal yourself, much less heal someone else.”

“I can do it,” Galen said.

“No, you can’t. Why do you think I came back?
We share a psychic bond, Galen. I can feel how weak you are,” Eryx
said. “You’d only be hurting yourself.”

“I said,” Galen gave Eryx a pointed stare, “I
can do it.”

Galen held out his hand, palm out, to his
twin brother. Eryx huffed, pausing to survey David, before he
touched his own palm to Galen’s. With their free hands, the twins
pressed David’s stomach. I watched as the color on David’s face
turned from a deathly gray color, to a light peach tone.

“Stop.” Eryx pulled his hand away Galen’s.
“That’s enough. You can’t handle anymore.”

“I can finish this,” Galen said, reaching for
Eryx’s hand.

“No, you can’t. You can’t always be the
hero.” Eryx stepped away from him. “You have to know your
limits.”

“He’s our brother, Eryx.” Galen waited for a
reaction, but Eryx said nothing. “We’re losing time. He’s slipping
away. Look at him. His pulse is weakening.”

“Don’t you think I want to heal him?” Eryx
frowned. “But I can’t do it alone, and you can’t do it in your
condition. Can’t you understand? You’re going to kill us, Galen. If
you die, I die. What good will that do David?”

David took a ragged breath. His eyes remained
closed. The color of his skin faded, paling once again.

“He’s having trouble breathing,” Gunn
said.

“Eryx…” Galen raised his brows at him. “He’s
hanging on by a thread. He’s your blood.”

“Can’t we take him to a hospital?” I
sobbed.

“It’s best if he’s not moved,” Eileen said
softly. “We don’t know how bad the internal bleeding is.”

“There’s only one way to save him.” Galen
looked at his twin brother. “
Eryx
.”

“You’re making me choose between both my
brothers.” Eryx rubbed his face with his hands. “Just… Let me
think. There has to be a way I can—”

David wheezed, and I couldn’t help but cry
louder.

“Eryx, please!” I pleaded. “Don’t let him
die.”

“Damn it, Eryx,” Galen said through gritted
teeth. “Give me your fucking hand.”

“No,” Eryx said. “Look, I can hold on to
him—to his life force—by myself. But you’ll have to call Mother.
Tell her to come, and—”

“She can’t replace me!” Galen snapped. “No
one can. You know better.”

“No, but her being a Rune makes her a wild
card. She can supplement what you lack in energy.”

“We don’t have time for experiments,” Galen
growled.

“But Eryx is right.” Galilea stood up. “Runes
have the ability to tap into waves of energy to weaken or
strengthen power vibrations. I can’t help you because my abilities
allow me to tap into brainwaves—that’s how I can distort people’s
vision and memory. But Nyx, she’s a natural healer.”

“And you’re confident she can do this?” Galen
asked Galilea. She nodded.

I pulled David’s phone out of his pants
pocket. My hands shook as I scrolled through his contacts. At last,
I found the name I needed.

“Nyx,” I said as soon as I heard her voice.
“We need you here.” I hiccupped. “It’s an emergency.”

CHAPTER 19

His chest rose and fell slowly, the sound of
his breaths soft, yet deep. David’s eyes hadn’t opened for nine
weeks. The blush on his cheeks pacified my fear of losing
him—somewhat. But feeling his limp hand in mine provoked the panic
I felt every time I had to leave his side.

I smoothed out the white sheet covering him
from the waist down, careful not to touch the side of his stomach
where the lesion continued to heal. The scenes from the night David
lay on the floor on the verge of death replayed in my head. Nyx had
done as Eryx and Galilea predicted; she’d helped David survive the
fatal wound. But her power, compared to Galen’s in full health,
wasn’t enough. Galen had been burned so badly by the demon that his
body was using all the strength it had to cure itself—a type of
self-preservation deities’ bodies had in place. Demon burns were
like a poison to deities, which took longer to heal than other
injuries. Had Galen not been injured, he would’ve been able to
bring David back to consciousness.

At the point David’s vital signs reached a
safe level, Galen and Nyx collapsed. They used every last ounce of
energy to save David. Eryx was drained as well, but not like his
brother and mother. While Galilea tended to them, Dr. Gunn and
Eileen started a blood transfusion directly from Eryx’s arm. But it
wasn’t enough to wake David from his profound sleep. He’d lost too
much blood, and his body wasn’t as resilient any longer. When Galen
recuperated, the twins strived to bring David back to
consciousness, but their intents were to no avail.

“Why isn’t David responding to the twins’
attempts to heal him?” I asked Nyx.

“Because his body is much too damaged to
heal. It’s up to Deus now, may he hear our plea.”

For now, all I could do was wait. And that,
in itself, was the hardest part.

It was equally hard to continue to plant
farces on Claire, telling her lie after lie of what’d supposedly
happened to David, to why David was lying in a bed in his house and
not in an intensive care unit in a hospital. I was too frantic to
speak to her, so it was Eryx who delivered the news. He told her
David had gotten mugged and stabbed at a gasoline station on the
way to our house. Of course, the news threw Claire into a massive
attack of hysteria, thinking the worst happened to me when he told
her I couldn’t come to the phone. After calming her down, Eryx
explained I was too upset to speak, but that I was fine.

Since then, my days had grown long, and my
nights longer, as I stared at David lying there, motionless.

“David,” I whispered, tracing his face with
my fingers. “When are you going to wake up?” I kissed the side of
his head and brushed his cheek with the back of my hand. “You have
to come back to me. I miss you.”

A heavy knock rattled the bedroom door.
Startled, I gasped and withdrew my hand. I let out a sigh and dried
my tears with the sleeve of my shirt.

“Come in,” I said, trying to hide my broken
voice.

“Hey.” Galilea walked into the room.

She studied my face for a moment, and then
browsed the medical equipment surrounding the hospital bed David
lay in. David’s room had been almost empty before, but now, it was
filled with all sorts of beeping machines.

“Did the doctors leave?” I asked.

“Yeah. Eryx took them home. Dr. Gunn will be
back first thing in the morning as usual.” She moved one of the
monitors and propped her elbows on the mattress, next to David. “I
tried again—to see the future with the Stones.”

“And?”

Her mouth pulled down to one side. “I think
something’s wrong with me. The Stones won’t show me anything. It’s
never happened to me before. Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” I said, hiding my
disappointment. “You’re probably too stressed to concentrate.” But
what if the reason Galilea couldn’t see the future was because
there wasn’t a future to see? My stomach twisted in knots. I pushed
aside the notion, blinking away the moisture forming in my eyes.
“Have you been able to hold up your block?”

“Yes, but right now, I’m resting it. Keeping
my fingers crossed we’ll be okay. I’ll only be using it to hide you
and me tonight, as soon as we step out of the house.” She glanced
at David. “I can’t strain,” she said, an apology hard on her face.
“I need to keep my energy up—just in case.”

“It’s okay. I understand.” I hugged myself to
keep from shaking at the thought that David was visible to those
wretched beasts.

“It’s past midnight, you know? Claire was
expecting you hours ago. You shouldn’t have told her you’d sleep
there tonight. We don’t know when or where the next attack will
be,” she said. Her words made my stomach drop. “You’re risking her
safety.”

“I know,” I said. “And I don’t want to leave
David, but she insisted.” I rubbed my eyes. “And I know she’s
worried about me, which makes me worry about her in turn.”

“Me, as well. So we should get going, then.
I’ve got my overnight bag in the car.”

“You’re sleeping over?” I asked, and she
raised her brow at me. “Oh, right. The invisi-block.” I stared at
David. “Galilea, I don’t want to leave him. What if he wakes up? I
want to be here if he does.”

“Isis…” She cocked her head. “His entire
family is here. They’ll call if anything happens. Besides, your mom
is right. You need to sleep. The baby needs it, too. And what have
you eaten today—a bite of an apple?” She motioned to the fruit on
the nightstand. “Do you think it’s enough?”

“I know it’s not,” I said.

“If you start getting strange cravings, my
body is off limits, okay? Are we clear on that?” She studied me a
second. “How’s that going by the way? You still hungry for it—human
meat?”

“I haven’t had much of an appetite for
anything since he…” I glanced at David. “I can’t focus on anything,
much less think of food.”

“This sucks, Isis. I know. I can’t imagine
how you must feel.” Galilea tugged at her earring. “I consider him
family, and it hurts to see him like this. To see
you
hurting like this.” She stared at David for a moment, her eyes
welling with tears. She wiped her eyes with the heels of her hands,
and then put a hand on her hip. She took a deep breath, composed
herself, and said, “So are we going over to Claire’s or not?”

“I have to. It’ll ease her angst, and I don’t
want her worrying,” I said. “But before we go, can you give me a
minute alone with him?”

“No.” She smiled a little. “I’ll give you
five.”

“Thanks,” I said. “I’ll be down in a bit.

Galilea walked out of the room. I closed the
door behind her and locked it, and then turned my attention to
David. My eyes focused on the curves and angles of his face. I
tried to embed them all into my memory. I knew them all too well
already, but I didn’t want to risk forgetting a single detail. In a
few hours, I’d be back at his side. But the anxiety of leaving him
defenseless and unaware would make it seem like an eternity. His
body was present, peaceful, and glorious, but the part that lit him
up was absent, lost within the confines of an abysmal slumber. If
his flame wasn’t lit, how could mine continue to burn?

I kissed David’s cheek.

“David, I have to go spend some time with my
mom. I’ll be back in a few hours,” I told him. “Galilea will be
with me, so you don’t have to worry. I’ll try to be back early, but
you know how my mom is.” I wondered if he could hear my voice. “I
better get going.” I kissed his forehead. “Good night, dream
boy.”

I’d turned to leave, but stiffened when I
heard a loud clatter. I felt my pulse quicken as the bathroom door
opened. I reached for the dagger hanging from the holster at my
hip—an accessory I wore daily now. A blond head of curls and
silver-gray eyes peeked out from behind the door. The dagger shook
in my hand, its sharp edge glinting as I pointed at him.

“Are you planning to use that to eat cereal
or stab me with it?” Eros asked. “Because you’re holding that
weapon like a spoon.”

“How do I know it’s really you?” I said,
adjusting my grip on the dagger’s handle. He gave me a perplexed
look. “How do I know you’re not…s-something else?”

“Something like what—a bill collector?”

“Are you a demon?”

“Are you asking me this in earnest?” he
asked.

I nodded.

“Oh… For a minute, I thought you were just
being crass.” He reached behind his back, his hand bringing back a
golden dagger. “I wouldn’t have one of these if I were a demon,
would I?”

“I—I don’t know. You might’ve stolen it.”

“Then you’ll have to trust me when I say I’m
not a demon.” He turned his attention to David. He walked to the
bedside. Eros tucked the dagger back into the waistline of his
pants. “How long has he been like this?”

I glared at him.

“It’s rude to ignore people.” He waited for
an answer. “Isis, how long?”

“Two months—and a week.”

“Oh.” He frowned. “That’s… I’m sorry to hear
it.” He glanced at the dagger in my hand. “You can put it away. If
I were a Turpis, I’d already have killed you both.” He skimmed me
for a moment. “Or rather, all three of you.”