Crossings: A Sovereign Guardians Novel (28 page)

I shook my head from side to side, still unable to believe the person I thought was my best friend wasn't even a person.

"You, you, want my youth. I know you feed off young souls. You might like the game, but you could have had my soul years ago, yet you didn't take it. Why? At least explain that to me."

Faith's long fingers reached out, and her nails which had grown inhumanly long, ran down the side of my face. I reached up and batted them away. I guess I should have learned more about demon etiquette before I faced one, because I quickly learned trying to evade a demon's touch was not a good move.

Faith reached out with one, strong arm and punched me in the stomach. I doubled over as I fell to my knees. I blinked my eyes rapidly, trying not to pass out from the pain.

"Don't you ever touch me!" she screamed. "I have had to endure your insipid remarks and your vile human world for weeks. I will carry you to the underworld this night, and reap your soul. I am sick of you and everything about this place."

Breathing hard, I rose up onto my knees, and then finally stood back up to my full height. I may not be able to fight a demon, but I would not go with her groveling and begging.

"Then what have you been waiting for? If you wanted so badly for this to end, why not kill me before now?"

Faith looked at me as if I were stupid. Maybe I was. But I wanted to know why.

"Didn't you ever wonder if you could always feel me watching you, then why didn't I simply take you? You and your guardians are clueless if you can't even figure out why I was waiting. At least your father, poor suffering soul that he was, had enough sense to realize you shouldn't ever come home."

The gasp I made was loud in the room.

"So, he was right? The curse on my soul is connected to Fairvue."

Faith shook her head, causing the rest of her blonde hair to fall down around her shoulders. The girl I had once thought so beautiful looked nothing but evil now.

She reached out and grabbed me by the hair and starting dragging me around the room. I screamed in pain as she pulled my hair harder.

"It had to happen here, you stupid girl. Don't you get it now? You had to invite me here to the place it all started, just like your father invited me all those years ago, and tonight you finally invited me in."

I jerked away from her touch, and surprisingly, she let me go. My gaze flew around the room.

"It was here? This was the room where I was born."

"Bingo!" Faith hollered. "Give the girl a prize."

The pieces were all staring to fall into place. The evil had stayed close to me, had even tried to kill me, but it had finally realized it had to happen where it had all begun.

No wonder my father had kept the door locked to this room. No wonder he'd extracted a promise from my grandmother for me to never come in here. How could I have been so stupid? This time, I caused this. Just like my father, I had invited the demon into our home.

Then another terrible thought came to me. If we were both here, then why wasn't I dead yet?

Unless she wanted something else, too.

"This isn't just about me anymore, is it?"

Faith's wicked grin cut me to the core. "Oh, little Pagan is all grown up and catching on fast."

I shook my head, denying what I knew she wanted. "You want revenge on everyone for that night. You aren't just here to hurt me. You want to hurt Keller, too."

Hysterical laughter rang from Faith's throat and bounced off the walls of the room. I pressed my hands over my ears to block out the unearthly noise.

There was a loud bang, as the front door to Fairvue burst open, and then the sound of feet rushing up the stairs brought me out of my stupor.

"No, Keller! Get back; it's a trap!"

"I told you not to interfere again!" Faith's arm reached out, and she slapped me across the face. My body flew across the room, and by some miracle I landed on the bed, breaking my fall.

My face was on fire, but I pulled myself up and tried to rush to the door to shout another warning. Too late, the door swung open and there were my guardians. I cried out at the sight, knowing that because of me something horrible was about to happen to them both.

Keller's eyes traveled over me, seeing the red mark on my face, taking in everything in an instant. The muscle in his jaw moved furiously as he turned his deadly gaze upon Faith.

"It's time for you to die, demon."

"Oh, I think not, guardian."

Faith's arm reached out and grabbed me before I had a chance to move. She had the strength of a thousand men, and there was no way I could break free.

"If you come any closer, I will snap your precious love in two and her guts will be all over this room. But then again, maybe that wouldn't be such a bad thing. I'm sure you've told her you love her for what's on the inside just as much as you do for what's on the outside. It'd give us a chance to find out if that's true."

Granger put a restraining hand on Keller's arm, warning him not to make any sudden moves, despite how infuriated he was by the demon's threats.

"She's trying to get you to do something crazy, Keller. You know she wants to take Pagan's soul with her. She won't have time to harvest her essence if she carries out her threat. She's bluffing, and we all know it.

Faith's eyes swung to Granger, and she laughed hysterically. "Yummy, yummy for my tummy! Oh, how I'd love to eat you all up, Granger. Always such the know it all. Always so sure of yourself. Maybe you're right now, but can you really chance it? After all, we all know you both love her. There's nothing quite so romantic or so pathetic as a love triangle. It's been the only part of my time here that I've enjoyed. Watching the three of you has been like watching one of those soap operas humans love so much. Only I've had front row seats."

Keller's eyes kept glancing at me and I wanted to give him some sign that I was okay, but I didn't know what to do. I needed to talk to him, but I wasn't sure how much Faith would let me say.

It was worth the risk to try.

"You two need to leave. We all know my time is over." I was so angry that more tears were forming in my eyes. Hadn't I cried enough for one day?

"She's already told me she wants to hurt you. Just leave and let me go." I turned to Faith then, squirming under her hold. I was surprised when she loosened her grip, but she didn't let me go.

"Please, please," I begged her. "Take me now, but let them go."

Faith's head slanted toward me, and for a moment she looked like my old friend. "You love them?"

"Yes," I cried. "I love them." My eyes reached for Keller's, hoping he understood, knowing the love I felt for him was different than what I felt for Granger. Knowing I would rather die than have anything happen to him, to either of them. Before the demon killed me, I needed him to know how much I loved him.

"Keller," my voice broke as I said his name. "I want you to know that what I'm telling her is true. I love you. Let me go with her now, please."

Keller's face looked stricken. His eyes were huge. He opened his mouth to speak, but Faith's roar cut him off.

"Enough!" She pitched back her head and laughed. "See what I mean? This is
so entertaining, but now I've had enough!"

The demon turned her gaze back to the guardians. "I know you're wondering how you didn't sense me there all along. You're probably beating yourself up about it, but you shouldn't. Taking over the form of a human helped camouflage so many things. Then becoming a trusted friend covered the rest. Whenever you sensed something, you thought it was your own shields being faulty. Even Pagan didn't understand what she was feeling when she invited me inside. Sweet, little dear was worried about my safety the entire time I was here."

Faith reached out and pinched my cheeks, and I screamed and tried to bite her hand.

"Now, now, young lady. There will be plenty of time for writhing and screaming later. After all, your soul was promised to me, and we have a date to keep."

"Keller, no!" I screamed when I saw the look in his eyes, knowing he believed it was now or never if he was going to try and stop the demon from taking me.

In her arrogance, Faith was taken by surprise. She dropped me to defend herself from the guardians who were coming at her with everything they had.

I had never seen my guardians in their full glory. The light beaming from them was blinding. I had to hold my hand over my eyes to block the radiance of their beings. Faith, a true demon, could not handle their light. She screamed as it burned her skin, but she was not without powers of her own.

Her face began to contort and take on the shape of my worst nightmares. Her mouth opened wide and hellfire came from deep within her. She blew it straight at Keller and Granger. Screams ripped from my throat, knowing they would be burned alive.

But I was wrong.

The light protected the entire room from the demon's fury. Knowing now she could not easily defeat the guardians, Faith frantically looked around the room until her eyes landed on me. I knew in that moment that this was only going to end if I went with her. For this to stop, I
had
to leave.

She required a soul.

A bargain had been made the night of my birth. The debt had to be paid.

"Stop!" I screamed. "Please, all of you, stop."

My sudden outburst caused Faith to let down her guard. The fire blazing near Keller dimmed slightly. In that moment, Keller ran to me and wrapped me in his arms. "No, Pagan, don't you do this. Don't, don't say the words."

He knew I understood everything now. He was shaking his head back and forth, begging me not to say anything, but I understood everything clearly. My father had spoken the words to make the deal. All I had to do was agree to go, and all of this would end.

Sensing my acceptance, the demon did nothing for the moment, but a small smile crept across her face, knowing she had won.

"I have to go, Keller. It's been about me all along. You saved me. You gave me a life here. I was able to stay here for seventeen years and meet you, and I was even able to fall in love."

I pulled his head down to meet my lips, and I didn't even care that heaven and hell were watching. I kissed him as I'd never kissed him, knowing this was goodbye.

"You didn't want to tell me what you and Granger had figured out. You knew what I know now, that all I have to do is agree to go and it's over."

Keller's jaw was clenched. He shook his head back and forth denying the truth. "No, you're wrong. There's always another way. We were sent here to save you, and we will. Don't give up. Please, don't give up."

My eyes looked over at the picture of my mother and father, shattered on the floor. They'd loved each other so much. I understood now what that kind of love meant. It meant keeping those you love safe.

"Forgive me?"

I held my hand out to Faith and before Keller could move I said, "I'm ready to go with you. A deal was made, and today that debt is paid."

Keller jumped up to stop me from placing my hand in Faith's. His light waivered as he rushed forward, giving her the opening she needed. The demon reached out and used the same power she'd used to throw me across the room and flung his body to the ground, holding him in place the same way she'd held me.

"Stop!" I screamed. "You're going to kill him."

Faith placed her hand on my arm and roared with all her might.

A portal opened in the floor.

It was our transportation to the next world. I was terrified.

Keller was still pinned to the ground, and he yelled at her to stop. Granger stood at the side, continuing to use his light to block the fire she somehow kept going. The look in his eyes showed his desperation. Unlike Keller, he was blocked in by demon fire and couldn't reach either one of us. I could barely make out his face through the flames, but I could see that not being able to help was killing him.

"You won't see me again," Faith spoke to the guardians. "The deal is complete."

As Faith pulled me towards the portal, her own power lifted from Keller, and the firewall she'd created lost its power. Both Keller and Granger rushed forward, trying to pull me from her grasp. It was Keller who reached me first.

Using all his strength, he pulled me from her hold. Faith screamed, reaching back through, and using her own powers to create a giant wind strong enough to pull everything in the room into the portal with her.

Keller held me in his arms, pushing with his feet against the floor, trying to stop us both from falling into the pit. He screamed over the wind. "I can't let you go with her, love. I promised to protect you, and I will."

"What are you doing?" I asked him frantically, feeling his fingers loosen their hold, his body being pulled closer to the portal as he shifted me further away from the gaping hole in the floor.

"She needs a soul, Pagan. I can give her that. But she will never have yours."

Realizing his intent at the same moment I did, Granger rushed for his best friend. He tried to stop him from jumping into the portal at the same moment Keller pushed me to safety.