Endure (18 page)

“You’re trying to withdraw empathy from me? You can’t be serious.”

“I’m not trying to destroy the dimensions, Chase. And I’m not trying to steal the Underworlders’ freedom. I want the same thing you do—I want my family back.”

I had prepared to unleash all my anger in a flurry of words, but it was all stolen away.

“I’ve been alive for thousands of years with no people to call my own. I belonged nowhere—greater than the creatures of all the worlds, but less than the gods that ruled them. I never knew my mother. It was her death, her succumbing to Ithreal that created my brother and me. I had Darius and my father, but he was taken from me too. I’m only trying to get him back.”

I had a brief moment where all my hatred for Drake was numbed, but the words that came next shattered that moment and it all rose back up from my soul.

“What would you do to have your mother back?” The question caught me off guard and Drake answered for me. “The answer is
anything
. I’m not here for sympathy, but you’re a part of this and the least I can do is help you understand.”

“Do you think knowing why you’re doing this is going to stop me from putting an end to it?”

Drake turned away from me. He took in a deep breath and his shoulders sagged. “There’s nothing you can do to stop this. You can fight it, but it won’t matter. I think somewhere inside you know that. You’re right; I shouldn’t have come. You’re not ready.”

“I know that I won’t stop. I’ll win, or I’ll die trying.”

A sphere of magic appeared in front of Drake. A black orb that grew until it was large enough for only him. He stepped forward, shaking his head. “No, Chase, you won’t. When this is all over, you will still be here, destined to walk the worlds forever. The gods didn’t put their trust in a mortal; they put it in the Protector—a demigod. Just like me.”

Chapter 16

I felt Rayna’s magic before I heard her screaming my name. The earth shook and a javelin-like blade of rock shot through the air. The earthy spike aimed for Drake, but he anticipated the attack. His magic reached out like an arm. Streams of black and gold spiraled forward in a cascade of smoke and shattered the stone. He didn’t say another word. He offered a curt nod and stepped back into the portal. The dark magic consumed itself when he was gone, leaving his words to echo on the air.

Rayna’s breath was rampant as she skidded to a stop. She grabbed both sides of my face, checking me for wounds. I could’ve told her to stop, I could’ve told her I was fine, but I didn’t. I stared straight ahead, feeling my stomach tie itself in knots. A demigod?

“Chase, are you okay?”

I nodded absently. I focused on Drake’s words. Was he telling the truth? Was he just implanting wild ideas to hinder my progress? I couldn’t be sure, not until I completed the rite. But if he
was
telling the truth…

“Chase, snap out of it!” Rayna smacked the side of my face with gentle force. My train of thought was fragmented at the impact and I shook it away.

“I’m…fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure,” I said, but she didn’t stop searching my face. I reached up and grasped both her hands in mine. “Really, I’m fine.”

Her eyes explored mine as if they held the answer, but I knew they didn’t. Unless he was lying to me, Drake seemed to be the one with all the answers, and the only one willing to share them. I told Rayna everything, and she confirmed what I had thought. Drake did seem to be the only one willing to talk.

“Come on, we need to talk to Marcus.” Rayna pulled me forward but I hesitated, turning back to the frost-licked grass beside me. After a moment I nodded toward it, as though Willy looked back at me. I knew he couldn’t see me, but I hoped he could feel what I felt—determination. He and my mother died for this cause and I would make sure their sacrifice had been worth it.

******

“Well, we can’t discredit him,” Marcus said. “Putting the soul piece into a mortal wouldn’t make much sense.” His hands came up and rubbed his temples. “But I think we need to be careful what we believe. He seems determined to convince you of…something. I just don’t know what.”

“There has to be more to it. He keeps showing up and giving me tidbits of information. It’s not like he’s suddenly developed a conscience; he has a game plan.”

“They
need
you?” Rayna said, but it was more a question than an answer. “They say they can’t kill you, and he keeps saying you’re a part of all this now.”

“We know they need me, but we don’t know why.”

“You must hold some power over what they have to do,” Marcus said.

My head hurt just thinking about it and I couldn’t get the thought of becoming a demigod out of my head. It scared me. “I think…” I stopped to gather my thoughts, looking back at both of them. “I think for now we need to proceed as planned. We can’t waste our time spinning our wheels about Drake. That could be what he wants. Let’s go to Drakar and complete the rite.”

“You still want to go through with it?” Rayna sounded surprised.

“He doesn’t have a choice,” Marcus whispered, and there was something in his voice I couldn’t quite decipher…sadness? “If he doesn’t…”

“Then one of these souls is going to find a way into mine, and I’m going to be gone. Replaced by some…who knows what.”

Quiet enveloped us, and my mind wandered. The thought of something foreign and powerful—if only a sliver of its former self—inside me was discomforting, and it forced me to shudder. To know a piece of a fallen soul could enter mine and take it over, controlling everything I did, was almost too much to comprehend.

“Did we lose someone else?” Tiki asked. His bare feet slapped against the floor and he stopped at the edge of the room. His white pants were stained brown from splotches of blood. Scabbed-over wounds marred the muscular flesh, but he didn’t seem bothered by them. There was sadness in his voice. Although he tried for neutral, I could see tension in his face.

“No, Tiki, everything’s fine.”

“Everything does not feel fine, Chase Williams. Everything feels very…dark.”

“It’s nothing to worry about. I’ll let Marcus and Rayna explain. We leave tomorrow. I need to start getting ready.

******

“Absolutely not,” Vincent scoffed, glaring at me as he reached into the cooler and pulled out a bag of blood.

“And by that you mean, ‘Of course, Chase, I swore an oath to help you, multiple times, you can count on me,’ right?”

“No, I mean I made an oath to help you in your fight against Riley, and I will. Should he return, my family is ready.” Vincent tried to tear into the bag with his teeth, but the lack of fangs made it difficult.

“We’re leaving tomorrow, be ready.”

“I most certainly will not. I have no desire to return to a world where I’m treated as a peasant, nor where I face that blinding heat from the sun. Furthermore, I don’t appreciate your attitude. I am a Taryk—a vampire of five centuries. I should think—”

“Can you just stop being a dick for two seconds?”

Vincent stopped with the bag half hanging out of his mouth, his eyes gleaming.

“You think I care about how the demons of that world make you
feel
? I don’t. We’ve risked our lives for you. Twice. This isn’t something we’re negotiating. I’m not asking you to come with us, I’m telling you the plan. It isn’t up for discussion.”

“Mr. Williams, I understand that the fate of more than our dimension is at hand. Your life itself is at risk. Of course you’re on edge, who wouldn’t be? After losing so many close to you, you want safety in numbers. I can both understand and respect that, but I assure you, I’m of much more use—”

I slammed my hand into the wall beside Vincent. The paint chipped and drywall dust sputtered into the air. A
spiderweb
of cracks spread around my fingers and I leaned in, close enough to smell the coppery scent that lingered on his breath.

“Against my better judgment, I’ve saved you twice. And just a few hours ago, I killed the people you feared most in this world. The people you stayed hidden from because of a pact you made with the Dark Brothers. If you don’t drop the act and get yourself together, I’m going to turn you into a charred bag of demonic flesh, pack you in a crate, and mail you back to the Sovereign myself.”

There was a long, awkward silence and neither of us moved. Vincent cleared his throat and stepped away from me slowly. “Now, Mr. Williams, no need for threats. Surely we can come to some sort of—”

“Sundown tomorrow work for you?”

I could almost feel him clenching his jaw before he finally responded. “Sundown sounds lovely.” He moved past me and disappeared from the room.

Vincent had a knack for getting under my skin, and the frustration that had built up inside me was ripe. I stayed leaning against the wall, willing it to settle. Magic swirled beneath my skin, and alongside it came the voices, slowly growing louder.

This is not the warrior we hoped for.

He is the soul piece. He will not fail us.

Soul piece? He is a terrified boy. Fear will be the catalyst for his failure.

As much as I could hear the voices growing, I could feel them getting stronger. The movements inside me amplified and made me queasy. I closed my eyes, letting darkness fall around me. The energy from each voice was different and as it spoke, I felt the unique vibrations of its power. With a few deep breaths, I tried to take Chief’s advice and push them away, but my mind was clouded with anger and fear. Anger with Vincent and fear that what Drake had told me was true.

“Come on, focus,” I whispered.

I tried to push away all the voices at once, but there were too many of them. I couldn’t narrow down where each one came from.

He is weak.

We need to act now, before it’s too late.

If one of us can break in, we can stop all of this!

“Shut up!” I gritted my teeth and my focus wavered. I reached out with that invisible hand and searched the darkness around my soul. One at a time I pushed those closest to it away. The voices began to fade, but I could hear their faint whispers in the distant shadows. I felt overwhelmed, like there was too much for me to keep it contained. Emotions and magic wanted to burst out of me, but I swallowed them back down. I couldn’t hand it all by myself and thankfully, I didn’t have to. Not when I had all these people around me willing to help. Not while I had her.

******

I stepped into one of the converted bedrooms. Cots lined the far wall and with the Shifters gone, it was near empty. Rayna sat on the edge of a cot, sharpening the blades on her whip.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” she said.

“I just needed to get away from everyone for a minute.”

“Do you want me to leave?” she asked, almost sounding disappointed.

“Gods no.” I kneeled in front of her, taking her whip and sharpening stone and setting them on the floor. “You’re not everybody. I came in here looking for you.”

“You did? What’s going on?” A look of concern washed over her face.

I grabbed both her hands in mine. Her cat eyes looked vibrant, and staring into them made me feel better. “I needed to be close to you. Everything feels so…heavy right now.”

Rayna pulled her hand from mine and ran it through my hair. She leaned forward and kissed the top of my head. It was enough to send a jolt of magic through my body that made me shudder. My muscles relaxed against her touch and I leaned into her.
 

“We’ve both had different roles in this lately,” she said. “But that’s over. We know where we have to go now and we’re doing it together.”

“Can you believe it was only a few months ago we were rolling across the street trying to kill one another?”

Rayna laughed. “I wasn’t trying to kill you. I was defending myself against an arrogant hunter. Although I admit it did feel pretty good to punch that hunter in the face.”

“At least it felt good for one of us.” I laughed, and it seemed a strange thing to come out given our circumstances. “It feels like that hunter was a lifetime ago.”

“You’re not the same person that you were then. None of us are. How could we be?”

“And now I’m going to change again.”

“What do you mean?”

“You read it yourself—I
am
the soul piece. And it only makes sense that what Drake said is true. If finishing this rite means I become a demigod, what does that mean for me?” I searched Rayna’s face but it didn’t hold the answers I hoped it would.

“Maybe nothing will change. Maybe it will just bind the souls to yours, giving you even more power to use against Riley.”

“Regardless, something
will
change. I’ll become immortal, Rayna. I won’t age, I won’t die, I’ll just be forced to exist forever, while everything around me changes.” The words sounded as empty and distant as they made me feel. Was that my future: to watch everything around me wither and die while I stood still in an ever-aging world?