Rise of the Fallen (19 page)

He was taller than I had expected, not as handsome either. His bright red hair, with his unusual height and thin build made him seem like nothing more than an awkward teenager. Harmless, really.

“I'm Emilie, I'm a fire elemental just like you,” I said, not taking my eyes off him, despite appearances I knew better than to turn my back to him.

He glared at me and shook his head, “Prove it, then I'll believe you.”

He was far too demanding for someone who I doubted could be very strong at all. He was nothing, a puppy. More bark than bite. Regardless, I held out my right hand and a ball of deep red flames ignited just above my palm. I made sure he saw them for at least a few seconds before I extinguished the flames and walked towards him.

“Happy?” I asked, the attitude clear in my voice.

He shrugged and sat down on a small bench seat on the opposite side of the small lookout post. “Why'd you come looking for me …?”

“The demons told me to, I assume you know about them,” I spoke honestly, almost laughing at the awkward way he uncrossed his lanky legs.

“Why did they tell you to?” he asked, coughing to cover yet another break.

“They want you to join them,” I replied. There was no point in me sugar-coating it for him; he'd have to find out eventually.

“Yeah well, tough,” he said blinking, “I'm kind of with the angels.”

“They don't exist anymore,” I retorted, shaking my head at his naivety.

I wished that they still existed, but I had to let go of that childish belief and come back to reality. They don't and won't ever again.

“They do … My name's Eric, by the way.” His voice broke
again.

Strangely enough the name Eric suited him perfectly. I could already tell that he was stubborn enough to refuse to come back with me, I also knew Dorian wouldn't accept it. I wasn't to take no for an answer. Eric seemed like a nice guy – if not completely clueless – but he was hardly deserving of having to spend an eternity with demons. Of course, he wouldn't have to for very long if he stayed on his best behaviour, what with Soul's impending mutiny.

“So you're with the demons then?” Eric asked with curiosity in his eyes.

I looked at him incredulously. “Just follow me, please …” I said turning and walking quickly back towards the path. I was less than comfortable in the current setting. I wanted to return to the car … if Soul had come back yet, of course.

I looked back a few times to make sure he was still following, and sure enough he was walking close behind, shadowing my every move. As we reached the entrance and I looked out at the car park I felt annoyance and abandonment. Soul's car wasn't there and now I was alone. Eric was still here, but that was as good as alone.

“Doesn't seem like they stayed for you,” he said with a slight smirk on his face.

I turned around and answered with sarcasm oozing from my voice. “Thank you so much for pointing out the obvious, I don't know how I've lived without you.”

“I hope you realise that you walk incredibly fast.” Markos' loud voice shocked me. I spun around.

There he was in all his glory, standing behind Eric, who seemed frozen in place.

“What are you doing here, Markos?” I asked quietly, walking over to him. I pushed past Eric and hugged Markos lightly.

Markos laughed and looked towards Eric. “Dorian told me to come get you. By the way, what's with the kid?”

“He's a puppy,” I explained.

He chastised me, “Play nice.”

“Fine, Eric is the elemental you all wanted me to find.”

Markos nodded, “I want to get back, so let's go. Are you coming, Eric?”

“No I'm not! I already told her that I'm working with the angels,” Eric said, exasperated.

Markos turned to me, “I take it back, treat it how you want. He's annoying.”

I started out the entrance gate and Markos followed, but Eric's voice stopped me.

“Hey Emilie, wait.”

I spun around and sent him an impatient glance.

“I hope you realise you're making a big mistake,” Eric said.

I took a step towards him, but Markos' hand on my shoulder pulled me back.

“What are you doing?” Markos asked.

“I want to know what mistake he thinks I'm making,” I replied
instantly. I thought that was obvious.

He shook his head, “It's not worth it.”

I sighed and looked away from Eric, who was staring at me with impatience.

“Let's just go, please,” I said.

Markos nodded and walked me across the parking lot and onto a dirt road. There was a large SUV parked on the side of the road and Markos unlocked it quickly, opening my door for me.

He drove at the same speed that Dorian drove on the way there, taking the same shortcuts and finding the same flaws with the inane human drivers as Dorian had. He pulled into the driveway of Dorian's house and walked me up the porch stairs. Phebe forced a smile as she answered the door, though her eyes seemed wary.

“Markos, how lovely to see you again,” Phebe said politely, hesitating as she reached forward to touch his arm.

“And you,” he replied with a smooth voice, gesturing for me to enter the house first.

Phebe stepped aside and shot me an almost apologetic look as she brushed her hair behind her ear. Markos followed me inside and I heard the door shut quietly behind him. Phebe stepped around Markos to walk beside me. She watched me uncertainly.

“What's wrong?” I asked, stopping just before we reached the staircase.

She hesitated again, biting her lip. “Dorian is absolutely livid, he's saying you've ruined everything. I've never seen him like this.”

“I probably have,” I replied.

I knew I could handle one of Dorian's mood swings, but I couldn't handle the tension. Surely Lilith was aware of everything, aware of the pending mutiny, and she hadn't done anything yet. I couldn't lose Soul; he was all I had now. I couldn't handle being alone again.

“Look, don't worry about him, I'll handle it. Just trust me.”
Markos said, snapping his fingers in front of me to get my attention.

“Oh right, trust you. Because that turned out so well last time! You shouldn't even be here, you traitor,” Phebe all but shouted.

“Stop arguing, Phebe, you're making a mess. Do something about it, won't you?” Dorian's calm voice made me jump. I looked towards Phebe.

She had bitten through her bottom lip, a thin stream of blood ran into the corner of her mouth before dripping to the floor. Phebe quickly raised a delicate hand to try and stop the blood from running any further. Dorian's eyes were glued to me; I could feel it. As I looked back to him, his expression puzzled me. He didn't seem at all angry, nor did he seem to be repressing any violent emotions or thoughts. In fact, he smiled at me.

“I'd like to speak to you alone, Emilie,” he said, the smile still plastered on his face.

Neither Markos nor Phebe moved, even as Dorian's eyes turned cold and leering.

“That means you two are going to join Soul and Bato upstairs in the game room. Now.”

Silently, Phebe and Markos passed Dorian on the staircase and disappeared down the upstairs hallway. Dorian gestured to a small room underneath the staircase. I hesitated momentarily before opening the door and entering. Dorian followed. It was a cramped room, hardly big enough for one person, let alone two. He said nothing, just smiled. It wasn't a threatening I'm-going-to-kill-you smile, it seemed to be a genuine one. After a moment he leaned back against the door with a loud sigh.

“What?” I asked quietly.

Dorian was breathing heavily. “Lilith is going to kill me,” he mumbled, standing up straight and closing the small gap between us.

“For what?” I didn't even want to ask.

“Well … I might have let it slip that I thought I loved you, and that Soul was a smart man,” he said with an impish smile on his face.

I blinked in confusion, “What?”

Dorian chuckled, “She knows what you're all planning, Emilie.

And about the first statement – it is difficult for me to even admit that, but I have a feeling it's true. What other possible reason could there be for you still being alive?”

“That's not because of love … it's because I'm lucky. But that's not important, what's important, Dorian, is how much does Lilith know?”

“She knows you've planned a coup d'état. She doesn't know the details, which is again lucky for you because I think you'd be the first she'd punish. But don't worry, my dear, I'll protect you,” he added with a somewhat serious tone.

I couldn't help but laugh. “You wouldn't protect me, Soul's the one who's protected me.”

“Are you sure about that? If I hadn't told Soul to tell you to be careful around that brat
Holly
, you would be dead.” Dorian showed disgust in even speaking her name.

“Why bring her up? She's dead,” I said; I was beginning to feel claustrophobic as the closet heated up.

He laughed, “You think she's dead? Why would Lilith kill her? Even she hasn't sunk to that level yet.”

I frowned in confusion, there was absolutely no reason to believe him.

“I recognise that look in your eyes, Emilie, the disbelief. You've always had a problem with trust. Yet you would trust two bloodthirsty demons like Soul and Markos over me. I'm a tad hurt,” Dorian smiled.

I pushed away from him, but he pulled me back gently and leaned down to kiss me. The door opened behind him, revealing a furious Soul. He pulled Dorian back by his arm and pushed him
into the foyer. I stepped out of the tiny cupboard of a room to see what Soul was going to do.

“Calm down,” Dorian said brusquely, smoothing out his designer jacket.

Soul sighed loudly and looked towards the top of the staircase. Phebe turned the corner of the upstairs hallway and lingered at the railing to stare down at us in silence. Bato walked up behind Phebe and placed a hand at her waist. She turned back to him and smiled, stretching up to kiss him on the lips. Quite frankly I would never have pictured them together, yet they looked like the perfect couple. Markos walked past them to the top step of the staircase.

“Emilie, we're leaving,” Soul whispered to me.

“Why?” I asked.

He didn't answer, just leaned forward, kissed me on the lips and led me to the door.

“Taking her away from here won't stop anything, Soul. She
knows
, and I'll do what I can to stop her from doing anything irrational. But my reach only goes so far,” Dorian said, from the top of the stairs.

“Maybe you should trust him, Soul.” Markos said, despite Phebe calling him a traitor.

“Why thank you, Markos, at least one of you is seeing sense.” Dorian said appreciatively.

Even I had begun to have my doubts about Markos. There were things that didn't fit, that didn't make the slightest bit of sense. How could he trust Dorian now? What had changed? Bato's loud laugh echoed through the now silent house.

“You are all pathetic!” Bato said, letting go of Phebe's waist. “Phebe, Emilie, Soul, Markos and I are leaving. We have things to discuss and don't worry, Dorian, we won't do anything without talking with you first.”

In seconds, Bato had taken control. Dorian was speechless. Soul
led us quickly to the car, and opened the front passenger door for me, while Phebe, Bato and Markos got into the back seat. He sped away – his mood had clearly soured.

I looked back briefly to see Phebe holding Bato's hand in hers. It was a sweet gesture, especially for someone who wasn't supposed to feel or want anything other than chaos and hate.

Markos looked utterly bored as he stared out the darkly tinted windows. Forests of pine trees sped past at a rapid rate as Soul accelerated. I looked out the passenger window and once again I saw it, the green light approaching us.

“Soul, what is that?” I asked, not daring to take my eyes off it. Soul looked over at it and sped up.

“It's nothing you need to worry about,” he said, gripping onto my hand a little tighter. “It won't reach us.”

I wasn't convinced. He seemed far too tense for it to be nothing.

“What the hell are you two talking about?” Bato asked looking out the window, clearly not seeing what we were seeing.

“Can't you see it?” I asked, my heart pounding in my chest.

Soul focused all his attention on the road ahead.

“I can't see anything,” Phebe whispered.

“Nor can I,” Markos agreed.

I looked over to Soul. Why wouldn't he tell me what it was, I mean what's so bad about it? Soul didn't look at me but shot a look at Markos in the rear vision mirror. He looked irritated with him, as though Markos had done something wrong, or had done something to offend him. He continued to hold my hand tightly, bringing it up to his face to kiss it. No one else said anything for the remainder of the trip, until Soul pulled onto a dirt road, slowing the car down to a speed that felt like we were barely moving.

“Haven't been here in a while …” Soul said loudly, as if to break the silence.

“Why would you? Your new house is much nicer than this dump.” Phebe said in a bored voice.

Bato pinched her arm and shook his head.

“I, for one, like this place, always have. Though I have to admit your new house is much more you,” Bato said with a chuckle.

“I hate coming out here now,” Soul said with a sigh. Soon we reached a creek and Soul drove along the bank until we reached a small cabin. The walls were made of thick logs, with a few dusty windows in the centre. The front porch seemed well kept, though the yard was overgrown and weeds shadowed the three front steps.

Soul threw the house keys to the back seat where Bato's hand waited. Bato exited the car first and was followed by Phebe and Markos. I opened my door to get out but Soul's hand stopped me. I turned back to him.