The Haunting (31 page)

He was smiling. I could see the edge of his mouth. But he didn’t turn to face me. “Do you want me to answer the riddle, Nora?”

I didn’t answer, timing myself. I didn’t think it would work. I could pass out, but it could give Neive time to get away, maybe enough time to free Cooper and maybe help Phoebe somehow? After all this, I had to know they were all safe.

My stomach clenched as I waited, my heartbeat racing until it was louder than my own thoughts.

He half turned his body but not his head when he said, “The answer is: Death.”

Without warning, I shoved both my hands out and caught him in the shoulder. Slamming my body weight into his, I pushed, releasing a sudden burst of energy. Somehow, it felt unfamiliar, cold instead of warm, and flowed through me from my feet up through my body.

My fingertips vibrated and every inch of skin stung as the raw energy crackled free.

Damien shouted as he jerked back into the Pit, stumbling as he crossed the threshold. Eyes wide, he spun around to look at me, and I saw the eruption of fury in those reflective eyes.

The aimless souls didn’t seem as sluggish or weary. Their eyes locked onto the demon, and they scurried toward him like savages - hunkered, growling and hissing.

Their hands were curled into fists or claw-like weapons as the first of the grey bunch of people leapt onto Damien’s back. I hesitated before swinging the door closed as I saw a person sink his teeth into Damien’s shoulder. A second, then a third lost soul caught up to him.

Damien collapsed to his knees just as I felt the hot sting of his powers rising. I didn’t have much time.

I mouthed, “Sorry,” before I could stop myself. Was I sorry? Yes, wholeheartedly, yes, though I wasn’t entirely sure why.

I slammed the door shut before he could blast me with his powers.

Behind me, my twin gasped in a deep breath. She’d blanched but had her hands held out, dark circles searing her palms.

I realized the power that I’d felt through me wasn’t coming from me; it had come from her and passed through me.

“Quick,” I said, spinning around. “Get Cooper out of here. Make sure everyone is out! I don’t—”

Before I could completely pivot on my feet to face her, I bumped into a solid chest.

With a yelp, I fell back against the dual doors, caught myself, and stared up at Damien.

Grabbing my arm, he flung me away from the door and himself.

“You’d think I’d show you the
real
Pit?”

Silly me.
I staggered into Neive, who thankfully caught me.

“Nora,” I heard her warn.

As I turned to grab her, a howling wind invaded the darkness.

Snow pelted through my flimsy pajamas like needles. Everything went white, camouflaging Damien and Neive.

The icy wind whipped at my face and hair until I raised my arms to protect myself. I heard Neive shouting but couldn’t make out the words.

I squinted through the wind and made out her dark figure against the white, running towards me.

She shouted something like, “Dis…im.”

“What?” I screamed and started forward, desperate to get to her. I managed to take two steps when my socked feet began to slip back on what felt like ice.

Wobbling, I yelped. The wind pushed me back along the ice, tearing through my clothes and numbing my skin. I wanted to hug myself, but at the risk of my balance, I lowered into a crouch.

As abruptly as the wind and cold appeared, it was gone, leaving me shivering uncontrollably.

Glancing up, I felt my heart stop for a terrifying moment as I searched for my sister. Neive was gone.

As I looked for her, my heartbeat increased with each turn of my head. Melting ice slapped water with each step, soaking through my toes. She wasn’t here.

The white world darkened, becoming something more familiar, but Neive wasn’t back.

Looking down at myself, I saw that I was still visible. I should be able to see her if she were close.

Damien appeared to my left, standing stone still, but he wasn’t coated in ice.

The powers heated my skin, and I broke out into a sweat. The sensation of heat alone could make me sweat, but I was nervous too.

I kept my back straight, shoulders square, and pivoted with deliberate slowness to face him. If I was going to die, I wasn’t going to beg or scream. I was on my own now, and I’d be damned if I appeared weak.

The black eyes flickered to meet mine, and I felt the uncertainty sink talons into my heart.

I’d never see my family. My friends might be doomed. Everything I fought for could be shattered.

And most importantly, I couldn’t beat him. He was the Challenger, a full-blooded demon, the Grave’s
Erebus
. What did I have? A warmth in my stomach that cracked and fizzled?

Swallowing hard, I stared at him. Stared at my own death.

Maybe that was the answer to the riddle after all. Damien was my Death.

My chest felt heavy with the realization, and I adjusted my shoulders. Tilting my chin up, I felt a calm sense of resolve. If anyone deserved to die here, it was me after all.

His obsidian hair fell over his forehead, touching the straight brow that shadowed his equally dark eyes. Against the dim light, his high cheekbones almost appeared sunken as they shadowed the edges of his face.
This,
I thought soberly.
This man has haunted my family. Maybe this is where it should all end
.

“Is she dead?” My voice was shards of glass in the stillness.

He moved for the first time, and I hated myself for jumping. “No,” he rumbled.

I struggled for composure, knowing I’d never get it back completely.

He stalked toward me. I was reminded of a cobra, hooded, graceful, and deadly.

My lips parted, and I realized my mouth felt dry, as if I’d been chewing on cotton. Untying my tongue, I whispered, “I can’t beat you.”

“But,” he asked darkly, “will you try?”

I remembered the Pit and took a deep breath. “I had tried,” I wanted to say. I wished desperately that I had some type of bargaining chip, myself for Cooper’s soul or something that could drive the coldness from his eyes.

Finally, I shook my head as he towered over me. It made my insides knot, and my mind reeled with useless solutions. Part of me wanted to lower my eyes, to avoid his gaze. The other part knew that this was my last bit of bravery left.

“Without me, will you still get your freedom?” I asked after a long silence.

Damien blinked, canting his head. “Without you?”

“Aren’t…” I choked on the words and had to clear my throat several times. “Aren’t you going to kill me?” Despite my mental preparations, my hope produced a feeble squeak of exultation. “Aren’t you going to put me in the Pit, like Cooper?”

I didn’t want to cry. In fact, I promised myself I wouldn’t. I’d be crying for myself alone, and that seemed wrong somehow. My sister was still alive. I should be grateful. The words “should be grateful” echoed in my head, and I tried to distract my thoughts as I felt the wave of emotions strike.

“I’m not going to kill you,” he whispered. His voice soothed me, which sparked my suspicions.

Should be grateful
.

“Why? I just tried to—”

“I can’t kill you now. Everything would be ruined if I did,” he interrupted.

“Why me?”

His face loomed, inches from my own. “Haven’t you figured it out?”

I swallowed audibly. “If I did, would I be asking?”

His breath was cold, which reminded me how frighteningly inhuman he was. His obsidian eyes locked with mine, his lips barely touching mine.

I felt my heart flutter like a panicked bird. I wanted to back away, but my feet wouldn’t move, so I just stood there, staring up at him. “What am I to you?” I asked, wanting and fearing the answer all at once.

“Interesting,” he said.

I was sure the puzzlement was plastered all over my face. He wouldn’t let me speak again. His mouth touched mine, his lips cool but soft. I wasn’t sure the two could even be a combination. I realized that I didn’t feel the heated power from him. With him being so close, I expected it to be him. I expected it to hurt when his lips met mine. Instead, it heated itself as I realized I was kissing him back. My legs felt weak as the adrenaline rocketed through my body.

He pushed his lips against mine harder, wanting more. I felt the sudden rush of fear as something passed between us, a warmth that tingled down my body. Maybe it was only lust, and in that instant, I remembered Aidan, my friends, Cooper in the Pit. What frightened me the most was that I’d forgotten, even just for a second.

Stepping back abruptly, breaking the kiss, I reached up to touch my mouth. My damn betraying mouth.

That was when the blast of heat erupted like a volcano.

Not heat, but power, the raw energy that formed around every crevice of this darkness.

At first, I thought it was him. Maybe I’d offended him and he’d snapped.

The impact seared my skin, and I stumbled back, tripping over my own feet and landing hard on my hip.

Damien had moved to crouch, his body poised and cat-like as he froze in mid-turn.

I heard a hum, distant but familiar. I’d only heard it in our world.

Scrambling to my feet, I saw Neive standing over Damien. Behind her was Aidan. His pale eyes locked with mine, and I understood that he’d seen the kiss. He was supposed to be gone, far away from this place. Something flashed white at his side, and I could see a cast on his forearm. How the heck did he get a cast?

Neive glanced at me. “Thanks for distracting him,” she said. “You didn’t have to kiss him, though.”

That’s
what she said in the windstorm. It was, “
Distract him.
”

I pretended that I’d known all along and chuckled nervously before glancing at Damien. He was rigid and motionless, like one of those creepy wax statues.

“How did you get back?” I asked Neive, then to Aidan added, “What happened to your arm?”

“I had to get some help.” Neive motioned to Aidan.

“Does he have power here, too?”

“He has power over the gateway,” Neive smirked, “and to find you. I had time to recharge in your world. No wonder you were so powerful when you first came in.”

“What do you mean?” I begged.

“It stifles magic, helps the rebuild,” she said, and her dark eyes strayed to the wax statue beside me. “Time is different there, though.”

“It had been a week,” Aidan said.

A week?!

Neive’s gaze sought mine, an intensity sparking. “There isn’t much time before he breaks loose. Do you trust me?”

“Yes,” I whispered hoarsely.

“Hurry.” She reached for me. Her other hand clasped Aidan’s, who no longer looked at me; he was focused on Damien’s frozen form.

Taking three steps towards her, I clapped my hand into hers just when the Ona appeared, sagging grey skin, bat-like ears and all. It snorted, sniffing the air suspiciously.

Neive pulled Aidan and me closer as the Ona caught Neive around the waist.

“Wait!” I shouted.

My plea fell on deaf ears as we all fell into the dark. It was as if we’d ducked behind a shadowy veil, because Damien disappeared.

I felt that momentary tug, the one that I shouldn’t have. It whispered to find Damien again.

Afraid, I began to wonder how much I could trust Neive. Should I have said yes when she asked if I trusted her? If I had to do it over, I would still say yes, but the Ona made me acutely nervous.

In an instant, the atmosphere changed.

Grass sprouted beneath my feet, tickling my ankles as it grew. The ground began to rumble as tombstones burst from the earth, spraying clumps of dirt like a volcano. The wads of dark soil turned to ash and disintegrated in mid-air, never touching the ground.

Trees curled from the earth, starting as saplings before twisting into towering oaks.

Neive created a full moon, brightening the cemetery so I could see.

The Ona released her, and she nodded gratefully while still gripping our hands.

I tried not to wrinkle my nose as it floated backwards, never turning its back to us nor moving out of sight.

“We’re far enough.” Neive leaned against an overly large tombstone that came up to her waist.

“What do we do?” I asked.

“We need to work together on this, Nora. I need all of us to do this.”

I stared at her, dumbfounded, before rephrasing the question. “What about Aidan?”

“It’s okay, Nora,” he said seriously. “I know what I’m supposed to do. Neive prepared me.”

I blinked at him—at the Keeper of the Demon’s Grave. Before, the title seemed flimsy, but somehow he’d absorbed the role, making it whole and concrete. The whole reason I could feel him coming in our world was because of it, and now, I could feel him in the Demon’s Grave, I realized.

“Concentrate,” Neive said, snapping me out of my thoughts.

Neive tilted her head back, allowing her face to bask in the moonlight and her hair to cascade down her back in waves. She was beautiful, and I glanced at Aidan to see him mimicking her, following her lead. He trusted her.

I glanced back at Damien again, searching for something that I wasn’t finding.

Uncertain, I felt like an outsider all of a sudden. I wasn’t with them; I wasn’t with Neive or Damien. Then where did I fit?

“What are we doing exactly?” I asked.

Calmly, Neive said, “We’re breaking down the illusion. Break apart the ground and sky, and you and your friend can be set free.” Her eyes refused to meet mine, and I thought for a moment that she was lying. Glancing between Aidan and Neive, I tried to smooth out the confusion in my head.

Aidan lifted his face to the moon, closing his eyes, just as Neive had done. Together, they looked like they knew exactly what they were doing. They’d had a week to prepare, I suppose.

Neive had been in our world,
my
old world. I tried to imagine what that was like. I’d wanted desperately to keep her in our world with me, to bring her home and mend some of the cracks that had started in my family…
our
family.

“But what about you?” I said quickly and realized I was stalling.

“Nora,” she said, her patience thinning, “this will free Cooper if we do this…”

“But what–about–you?” I cried, stepping towards her.

Neive reached out and grabbed both of my hands firmly in hers, her face drawn tight. “This will ensure that you will never have to come back here again,” she said.

“So you can be the Neophyte?” I asked.

The light I’d often seen in her eyes when I said that word was dulled, empty. What had a week done to her?

“Do you want to come home with us?” I asked.

“Don’t worry about me, Nora. But if you want to save your friend, you have to help me right now. No more questions. You know how to build the energy up. I want you to make it as big as you can. Don’t release it until I say so. Understand?”

Suspicion edged my thinking, but I nodded mutely. “What if I’m still tapped out?”

“You can thank Aidan for helping out with that,” she said.

My eyes snapped to Aidan.

He watched me, saying nothing, doing nothing. “That’s not Aidan,” I protested feebly, knowing it wasn’t true. He was different somehow.

Still holding my hands, Neive’s fingers warmed—growing hot. The warmth radiated off of her skin, heating mine. It had stung before—like standing too close to a stove with a sunburn. It didn’t hurt anymore; it was almost pleasant.

“Aidan,” Neive said, “just as we practiced.”

The same warmth came from the side, twisting around me, and I felt it churn in my stomach, slow and expanding. It was coming from Aidan, I realized.

The powers were circling all around us in a fiery heat.