My Immortal (17 page)

She looks at me and nods, feeling the same
way. For the first time I feel like maybe we have some camaraderie
going on. Could we ever be friends?

No, I don't think so. I can't ever forgive
her for being with Shadow in a way that is reserved for only
me.

But maybe someday I can like her.

Get in the room!

I cross my arms and stare down into his red
eyes defiantly.
I'm not letting you do this alone!
His eyes
soften a little, and I notice the Hell-Horde swarming and fighting
behind him. One of the evil, dark creatures swoops down headed
straight for Shadow and my eyes widen with horror. “Shadow! Look
out!”

The vile demon aims it's poisonous arrow at
Shadow and releases it, Shadow has only just turned around to see
what I am worried about as the arrow flies too close to him.

But suddenly, Xavier is there, in front of
Shadow. Taking the arrow for him.

“Oh gods,” I almost sway with relief, and my
heart lurches thinking about Xavier doing that for Shadow.

I jog down the stairs towards them as the
boys engage the eyeless, creepy looking Hell-Hordian and others of
it's kind.

Jezebel and I reach Xavier. I fall to my
knees beside him looking at the damage. “Oh no,” I say.

He shakes his head, as if dis agreeing with
my panic and disappointment, and smiles that sweet smile at me. He
grabs my hand with one hand and brings it to his lips and kisses
it. “It was my duty, and my honor. It...will....not
be...in...vain,” he says as the rest of his breath escapes his
lungs.

I ease him back down and shut his eyes. Anger
and rage infuse my body and I shake with it and grit my teeth.

The arrow his him right in the heart. The
little sucker knew where to hit, whether the arrow was poisonous or
not, he would never have made it.

And my first experience with a human, a kind
that I was taught was extinct, was more heartfelt and empowering
than any experience I have ever had with any other kind.

I decide that from here on out I will
befriend all of the humans. In Xavier's honor and just because I
want to. I will share his story and everyone near and far will know
of his bravery.

“Alexia, you better stand up...I'm afraid hes
gone and we are just open targets,” Jezebel says, surprisingly
soft.

I nod and transfer my weight to my feet and
push off of my knees to stand.

I look around at the damage that has already
been done to this village, and we brought them here.

An arrow whizzes right between us and I gasp,
jumping back. “Come on, let go help the wounded,” I say to her and
she pauses a minute to think before nodding and following after
me.

We make our way slowly down the rock steps
and make sure the coast is clear from any flying freak-o's before
choosing out victim.

Gabe is engaged on the ground with one,
battling it out with the sword. I glance to Jezebel and she is
watching raptly. “He will win, I have no doubt” I tell her. She
breaks her eyes away from his movements just long enough to catch
mine and smiles.

Wraith is at Gabe's back, guarding his six
and warding off any oncoming arrows from the high flyers with his
sword and shield. I hear him yell out duck, and to your right, a
few times for Gabe's benefit, and notice how nicely they work
together. A Captain and his Commander.

It sort of makes me feel a little jealous
that my poor Shadow gets left out and I glance back to him. I am
always aware of where exactly he is at, it's a part of this whole,
being one thing.

Shadow is up in the air, and for some reason
more than a handful of them circle him, but they seem sort of
hesitant, like they are afraid of him.

They take turns swooping in like they are
going to engage him and then they flap back out into their circle
and continue taunting him.

He jerks forward in one motion and severs the
last one to taunt him.

I hear their horrible screeching from here
and to my amazement I hear Shadow speak in a language that I have
never heard before. And it's not the demon language.

And even more shocking, but they speak back,
understanding him.

Oh my gods, are you talking to them?

I am more or less threatening them. They
know who I am.

H-how do you know their language?

Honestly, I'm not sure. I know a lot of
languages now that I didn't know before they experimented on
me.

Well, what are they saying?

They are just trying to persuade me to
join them, in many different ways. You know Lucifer made the deal,
hold on-
he pauses explaining something to me to kick one
behind him and then he does a three-sixty and punches the
Hell-Hordian. It falls out of the sky and crashes into the ground
with a sickening thud of bones breaking.
So, as I was saying,
you know how Lucifer made a deal with the Overlord that if he
healed the survivors of the war and the plague then he would only
start a small city and live there with all of us, while the
Hell-Horde could roam the world free and own it all?

Well that's a lot to take in but I do
remember hearing about this.
Ah, yes.

Well I told them there's no way that I am
joining them, and that I am going to kill them all and Lucifer and
then free everyone in the city.

Sound good to me,
I say.

It's not right that the Overlord has
sacrificed two boys and girls every month for them to feed off of
and rape. They will be punished!

He says, ending our mind-link before he
starts killing them swiftly and efficiently.

Even Jezebel's attention is on him now in
amazement, and I find that I'm not even jealous because his skills
are so flabbergasting.

He is awful to see, moving with natural grace
and power. He is swift and cunning, agile and deadly. He takes them
out one by one and makes it look so easy and effortless.

After all of the Hell-Hordian are defeated,
and the wounded are taken care of the the dead (which were few,
actually) are properly buried and spoken over, Shadow slants his
his head down and deepens our kiss.

“We will be back soon,” he tells me tenderly
as his lips leave mine.

I nod but try to hold onto his hand as long
as possible as he turns and walks away. When my arm and his are
completely stretched his fingertips slide slowly off of mine and he
turns away to meet Gabe and Wraith and the others that agreed to
fight under his lead.

This is his new army. The free kinds army,
and he is their leader. They are going to free everyone in the
Grand Mecca while Shadow finds Lucifer.

I worry for his safety against the most
powerful known Hell-Horde leader. But if the prophecy is right,
which it has been so far, I have nothing to worry about because it
clearly says that Shadow defeats Lucifer.

I watch his beautiful, black wings grow
farther and farther into the distance until I am probably imagining
that the tiny spec way off in the distance is still him.

• Epilogue
  

Three days later...

It's just before sunset, and I lay on my back
with my hands folded behind my neck staring up at the stars,
knowing that Shadow and the free army are somewhere under the same
stars. It makes me feel better to know that he could be looking at
the same bright start that I am right now. I feel closer to him
thinking that way.

“Well, another day has passed,” Kaia sighs,
“they probably won't travel at night with all of the kinds from the
city, so much for hoping.”

“You never know,” Jezebel says. “Just don't
give up hope in them.”

We are silent for at least half an hour, all
staring up into the sky, thinking about what's on our minds.

Off in the distance I hear a strange noise
and I an't quite put my finger on it.

Kaia sits up and Jezebel and I join her. I
squint my eyes to try to see but I never did have good vision in
the dark.

“Can you see in the dark, Jezebel?” I
ask.

“Of course, I can shift into anything that
can, but actually with my diamond eyes I can anyways, it refracts
the light.”

I just nod, not really listening as the noise
grows louder. It sounds like, I dunno, a disturbance in the wind?
Echoes off of the trees?

Jezebel gasps and we look to her
intently.

“What?! What?” Kaia sounds panicked, but I
know that there is nothing else bad around here.

“It's them,” she whispers, shocked to her
core.

She stands up and claps excitedly. “It's
them, it's the army!”

We stand up to join her and can see them
coming into view now. Thousands and thousands of kinds. Wow.

“I didn't know there were so many!” I
say.

“Me either,” Kaia agrees.

“I wonder if we will see our parents,” I
ask.

Jezebel looks at me with a stranger look, but
she frowns and then turns away.

“My parents were killed a long time ago,” she
says a minute later.

That's what I was afraid of. I knew that look
well from seeing it in Shadow's eyes. “You have Gabe now,” I say,
making her smile slightly. “And us,” Kaia interjects.

I nod.

A tear escaped down her cheek and she wipes
it away, staring straight ahead.

Either of us act like we noticed it.

The army lands followed by all of the free
kinds and Gabe runs up to Jezebel and Kaia spots Wraith.

The free kinds wonder off separate ways and
make themselves at home, speaking fondly among each other, getting
to know each other. Intermingling, something that they were not
really allowed to do in the City.

Gabe hugs Jezebel tightly and he looks over
her shoulder at me. I smile at him but notice the distraught look
on his face.

“Oh no,” I say.

“Shadow-”

He shakes his head, “No, its not
Shadow...it's my father.”

My heart drops and I gulp a breath. So
thankful that it wasn't Shadow but still upset for Gabe.

“Did he get killed?” Jezebel asks softly.

Gabe looks down at her, his lip wobbling and
he nods. “I killed him,” he whispers very quietly. “Oh baby,” she
says as she draws him close.

This is a very private moment so I let them
have it.

I wonder off looking for Shadow, but knowing
that he is not here. He still feels far off, but I can still feel
him.

I need to see him now, to hold him.

Aeron comes over to me and gives me a hug.
“He will return, My Sweet, do not worry. Of this I am sure.” He
kisses the top of my head. “Did you know that everyone is talking
about painting you with gold and dressing you up as the queen of
the free people?”

“Ah, no. Why would they do that?” I ask.

“It is a great honor and a symbol of
interlacing the kinds traditions before the war. The spirits would
paint white streaks in their queen's hair, the Wraiths would glue
gold flecks on her skin, and the Fae would cover them in gold dust.
They want to do all of these things to you,” he replies.

“Wow,” is all I can say. “That sounds
beautiful...”

He nods. “It will be, on you.” He bows to me,
before turning and walking off to settle down for the night and I
am left alone to think about this and many other things, yet
again.

My panic grows as the hours tick by and
surely the sun should be up by now. Everyone has long since found
their place here, in their new home, and settled in for the night,
but I lay out here under the stars by myself, thinking of my
lover.

“Please, please be okay. Please come back to
me,” I mutter to the stars. My breath comes out in a cloud of white
puff and a shiver racks my body.

It's been way too long. The army has been
back for two days now and still no sign of Shadow. It's bad, bad
news.

“I can't live without you...” I say in a
broken voice.

“And I don't ever want you to have to again,”
a voice that feels like home to me, says softly.

I let my eyes shut and this feeling swamps
me, and I want to cry and
scream
at the same time.

I want to jump around like a crazy person and
let out all of my stress and worry and just scream and cry in
relief.

I jump up from where I was laying and turn
around. I am greeted by my very cut up, very beautiful, red-eyed,
demon-angel.

I run towards him at full speed, tears
streaking down my cheeks, mouth open in a silent cry until I slam
into his chest and his arms wrap around me.

Home,
is all that I can think.

This feels like home to me.

“We are home, Bayla,” he whispers in my ear
as he holds my trembling body with his strong arms.

“Did you kill Lucifer?” I ask.

“I did, horribly. He is horribly dead.”

I smile into his cut-up, blood stained chest.
It's not awfully bad but it looks painful and sore.

“You're dirty,” I say leaning back and
looking at the bloody, slick chest.

He laughs. “Yes, I am dirty. And I need a
bath. But first I need your blood.”

The bluntness and frank authoritative way
that he says this heats my blood. He knows that he owns me
completely and what a turn on that is. My heart sparks to life with
even more love and passion.

“Yes,” I manage to choke out. “It has been a
week since you fed and you have lost a lot of blood and energy...I
suppose that you could have some of my tasty blood,” I tease.

“Yes I have,” he says voice gruff, as he
leans down and I tilt my neck. He kisses my right on the vein and
it throbs to life under his ministrations. “I love you, Alexia,” he
says.

I press his head into my neck at those words,
and he bites me. Relief and so many other, fantastic things flow
through my body and mind and soul. “I don't know if love is a
strong enough word for what I feel for you, Shadow,” I whisper,
grasping his big shoulders.