Fearless (7 page)

“Ah, Abby. You know, don’t you?” Burrows chuckled and leaned
back in her chair. “Most children conceive of their monsters in the closet,
under the bed, somewhere it’s dark and scary at night. Yet there are a few who
have the darkness in them for one reason or another. And Myrtle had such a
powerful imagination. When she created me, she gave me voice and intelligence.
No regular monster for this little girl.” Smirking, her gaze bore into Abby. “When
one of the Fearless came to kill me, she found she couldn’t take the life of a
child to do so. So I killed her instead. My first kill. My most momentous kill.”

Demetrius’ battle cry shook the little room. He rushed at
Burrows and was hit by an inky black tendril that sent him toppling down the
stairs.

“Children are easy to kill.” Burrows stood up. The shadows
around her so thick the glow from the screen couldn’t penetrate them and the
window was blacked out behind her. “I’m so glad you’re here now, Abby.”

Abby started to move to check on Demetrius, but had to stop
as Burrows rounded the desk. She couldn’t turn her back on the thing no matter
her desperation to know if Demetrius was dead or not. It had killed one of the
Fearless when Burrows was a girl, and she wasn’t a young woman. That meant it
had several years to get stronger.

“I have no qualms about killing Burrows to kill you.” Abby
had several, but she wasn’t going to let the monster know that. Perhaps if Tawa
was with her, she might be able to tell her a way to kill the thing without
killing Burrows too, but she was on her own.

She heard Demetrius then, stomping up the stairs and
growling curses. Warmth spread through her. No, she wasn’t alone. She had
Demetrius.

“I didn’t think you would. That’s what makes this even more
thrilling.” Burrows stopped in front of her desk and pushed her glasses up her
nose. It was a silly human gesture, but somehow chilling in this moment. “I’ve
always wanted to be the villain, the big bad wolf of the world. It’s hard to do
stuck in a pathetic little body.”

“So you want Abby’s? Not going to happen.” Demetrius limped,
but his pride seemed hurt more than anything else. He readied himself for
another charge, but Abby put a hand on his arm.

“It doesn’t want my body. It can’t leave Burrows.” It seemed
easy enough to just kill the host to kill the beast, but Abby doubted it was
going to be that easy. Something else was going on. Something she hadn’t
figured out yet.

“Then let’s get on with the fight.” Patience wasn’t one of
Demetrius’ virtues. He ran head-on again, but wary of the dark tendrils this
time. He dodged two and then Burrows smacked him into the bookshelf with a
third.

There was no point standing around playing Twenty Questions.
Abby used the fae’s distraction and dove in, targeting Burrows’ mid-section.
She was swept back, stopping herself just before she fell down the stairs.

Demetrius and Abby made a second attack together, and then a
third and fourth. Each time, Burrows knocked them back. Neither was able to get
close enough to land a hit on Burrows. The attic was small. There was only so
much room to maneuver, and the monster was aware of every tiny movement.

Abby threw one blade as Demetrius bellowed and swung from
the opposite side. Burrows threw him to the side and caught the glowing sword.
She held it in one hand, examining it with a childlike fascination.

“Interesting. It burns my essence, but human flesh can hold
it. Perhaps it isn’t so bad being trapped in this form.” Burrows gave Abby a
sly look. “Or maybe it’s a sign that you can’t kill me after all.”

Abby recalled her sword and it re-emerged from her palm. “I
don’t know. Let me run you through with it and see what happens.”

“I’m not going to make it that easy for you.” Burrows
laughed and motioned with her hand for them to come at her again.

Demetrius roared and tried to zigzag his way closer to the
writer, but with such little space, there was no way his strategy could work.
Abby held her ground as a slap hit him back again.

“It’s just toying with us.” Why? What was it up to? Abby
knew it was waiting for something. Her usual way to go about it was to think
like a child, but Burrows was no child. The monster had grown as the woman had.
Yet it was still was a monster. It wanted to kill.

“Toy with this then.” Demetrius rammed his club into the
desk and sent it into Burrows.

The writer let out a girlish shriek as the desk pinned her
against the wall. Her face contorted into something ugly and unnatural as the
beast howled. A dozen tendrils smashed Demetrius into the ceiling and wall. The
wood cracked and split as it repeatedly slammed against him.

Abby cried out and leapt at Burrows. Thrown against the
filing cabinet, she landed hard on one shoulder. She didn’t drop her swords as
she sped to Demetrius and sliced through the tendrils to free him. He slumped
to the floor, his breaths coming in shuddering gasps.

“Demetrius, no. Stay with me.” Abby laid her swords down to
put his head on her lap and brushed his hair back from his handsome face. Her
chest was so tight it hurt to breathe. She used her sleeve to wipe the blood
from his eyes. “Please.”

“Abby.” A bubble of blood accompanied his whisper. His hands
curled into fists.

“That’s right. Don’t you dare die on me. Fight. Fight, you
stubborn freakin’ fae.” She couldn’t contain her tears or the trembling of her
body.

Suddenly, Demetrius was yanked away and dragged across the
floor. Burrows grinned as he came to rest before her. She put a foot on the
side of his face and pressed into it with her heel. He barely had the strength
to groan.

“So that’s it. Your weakness. I didn’t think you were that
much into him.” The monster’s gleeful laugh echoed in the room.

Abby swiped at her cheeks and picked up her swords. Her legs
were shaky as she stood up. She wanted to beg, to promise to give the thing
whatever it wanted if it let Demetrius go. Her heart couldn’t take losing him.
She choked back a sob.

“This is what I waited to see. The Fearless isn’t so
fearless in the end.” Burrows stomped on Demetrius’ head and there was a crack.

This time, the beast’s insane laughter made Abby scream.

Chapter 13

The world seemed to shatter around
her, but it was only Abby’s heart. She fell to her knees, shaking her head as
the tears streamed down her cheeks. It was her fault Demetrius was dead. Honor
meant much to him, but she knew the real reason he stayed. He protected her
because he fell in love with her. And she had let him stay because she loved
him too.

“Now I have the mighty warrior on her knees before me.”
Burrows chortled and walked over the fae’s body toward Abby. “Brought down not
by my fighting prowess, but by her own fear of loss. This is better than when I
killed my first Fearless. She was pathetic compared to you.”

Abby didn’t move. She couldn’t take her eyes off Demetrius.
She’d never feel his lips on hers again nor hear his sexy, gravelly laugh.

“Soon the rest of the Fearless will fall just as you did.
Warriors you might be, but you’re all so pitifully human.” Burrows spat onto
the floor. “Then I will rule. The big bad wolf wins in this story.”

“What?” Abby wasn’t sure she had heard the beast’s mad
ramblings, but it was slowly sinking into her head. “All the Fearless?”

“Oh, yes.” Burrows clapped her hands with an excited little
hop and stopped five feet in front of Abby. “Why do you think I wrote all those
books? Do you honestly think I have aspirations to be an author?” She snorted. “No,
no. I want to rid the world of you Fearless and then the monsters can roam
free. I’m seeding the minds of children. Not every one of them will be special
enough, but there are more and more out there with imaginations fertile enough
to create magnificent creatures like me. Children are not as xenophobic as
adults. They will live with us, and we will live off them.”

The children.

No one in this town had protected the children. And if this
beast had its way, there would be no one left in the world to protect them.

Abby’s hands grew brighter, and the glow slowly worked its
way up her arms.

“Powering up for one last desperate attack?” Burrows
smirked, rolling her eyes. “Ah, how you amuse me.”

The light picked up speed. It went past Abby’s shoulders
across her chest and back. The empty ache within her dulled and determination
replaced it. Her whole body glowed as she raised her head.

“This your imitation of a nightlight?” Burrows’ snark wasn’t
as confident as it had been a few seconds ago.

“The big bad wolf never wins.” Abby rose to her feet. Her
purpose had never been clearer. “You will never harm another child.”

“I’ve rewritten the ending.” Burrows hissed and struck out
at Abby. The first tendril that hit her sizzled and melted with no effect. The
monster screeched and lashed out with several tendrils. Each one withered if it
didn’t retract.

“You’re not one of the Fearless. I broke you.” Burrows
shuddered with rage. “I took from you what you feared most to lose. I will take
your pathetic life!”

“I’ve never feared death. And now you’ve taken away those I
care about.” Abby stepped forward, feeling lighter than she ever had. “There’s
nothing left I fear. You didn’t break me. You made me truly one of the Fearless.”

Burrows howled and tackled Abby. The two fell to the floor,
but Abby felt none of the dreadful strength of the monster. The shadows melted
or fled from her touch.

Abby rolled them until she was on top and put her hands on
either side of Burrows’ head. She held her in place with surprising ease.

“I’m sorry, Myrtle, that no one could save you from your
monster. I’m sorry you lived so long with such darkness within you, but you don’t
have to be afraid anymore.” Abby’s voice was tender. The tips of her glowing
fingers dipped into Burrows’ head as if it were made of pudding.

The beast screamed, cursed, and then pleaded. The big bad
wolf would not win this time. Abby would make sure it never won. That was no
world for children.

There was silence.

The monster had been obliterated. Abby was certain not a
trace was left as she removed her hands from the writer’s head. The luminance
faded from her body.

Burrows was breathing. She was unconscious, but she was
alive.

Abby didn’t pause to wonder about it. She crawled across the
room until she could take Demetrius’ hand in her own. She tried to will her
full body glow back, to demand it bring him back to her, but it didn’t come.
The ache in her chest came back, and she could do nothing for it.

For several minutes, Abby sat there hugging his hand to her
chest. When a soft snore came from Burrows, she snapped out of her sorrowful
trance.

“Your debt is paid. Thank you.” Abby kissed the back of his
hand. It twitched, and with her surprise, she dropped it.

“Don’t let go of me yet, darling. I’ve got several other
bits that need kissing too.” Demetrius’ voice was weak, but he was talking. He
was alive.

Abby laughed and scooped up his hand again to kiss it. Then
she bent forward and kissed his swollen lips. Her body tingled with sudden
elation. “I’ll kiss whatever you want. I thought you were dead. That thing had
stepped on your head—”

“Yes, my head.” Demetrius chuckled and winced as he did so. “It’d
take more than a woman stepping on my head to kill me.”

“You are pretty damn hard headed,” Abby said and kissed his
forehead. He was alive. There was still a great mess to clean up and wounds to
heal, but Demetrius was alive. She wanted to laugh, cry, and kiss him all over
at once.

What kept her from giving fully over to her emotions before
was gone. The next time he tempted her into bed, she would say yes. Only if she
didn’t take him there first.

Epilogue

“Are you sure you’re ready?”
Demetrius kept his arms firmly locked around her. Abby didn’t protest. She’d
stay in his arms for the rest of her days if she could.

“I’m fine. I need to work. I have to pay the bills somehow.”
She kissed him and ran her fingers along the side of his face. He needed to
shave, but she wasn’t complaining. She never thought stubble could be such a
turn-on.

“I’m going to ask my cousin if I can work with him. He’s a
park warden not far from here. Then you can stay home—”

“And do what?” Abby kissed him again and smiled. “I want to
work. I like tutoring kids. And the monsters aren’t all going to disappear
because I killed the one inside of Burrows’ head. There’re still children out
there that need me to protect them.” She wouldn’t abandon her duty because she
fell in love. She didn’t have to hear him say it to know he admired that about
her even if he wanted to fight every fight for her. It was going to be
difficult to do without Tawa to guide her, but she wouldn’t let the monsters
take one more child on her watch.

Dang right they need you
. Tawa’s voice was sudden and
loud.
How long have I been gone
?
You better have been out there doing
your duty rather than lazing around in bed with that troublesome fae
.

“Tawa!” Abby cried, freeing herself from Demetrius and
turning around in a circle as if she could spot the stuffed hippo. “Where are you?”

“I’ve been trying to get her to laze around in bed.”
Demetrius smirked.

I’m in your backpack
.
Where else would I be
?
Get
me out of here
. Tawa demanded.

“I can’t believe you’re alive! When you were eaten by that
monster, I thought you were gone forever.” Abby snatched her backpack off the
hook near her front door and bounced around with happiness. She unzipped it,
but there was no hippo inside. She checked all the pouches. There was a pad of
paper, pencils, and a calculator. She frowned. “Where are you?”