Within The Darkest Hollows, page 15
part #2 of The Demon Hunters Series
Cass would not be happy with my decision. It’d probably be best to wait to tell her.
I needed to clear my head now that I had made up my mind. I opened the door and yelled, “Cass, I’m going for a run. I’ll be back in an hour.” I wasn’t sure she heard me.
The land in Homer Glen was flat with mild hills, making it an easy course. The landscape was mostly plots of farmland with an occasional subdivision and crop of trees here and there. I ran until I felt my heart pounding hard in my chest, and then I turned around to continue back to Cassidy’s home.
Cassidy was probably still sitting on the floor, staring out her window with her door locked. I slowed when I saw the old farmhouse to allow myself a moment to cool down. As I turned to walk up her gravel drive, I saw a figure dart off the porch and into the trees.
I took off in pursuit, weaving in and out of the trees, hurdling stumps and fallen branches. I was gaining on them. The runner turned briefly to see who was following; it was long enough for me to make out that he was a young male with red hair. What the hell did he want at Cass’s and why was he running away?
Closing the gap between us to just a few yards, I grew confident that I would catch him, especially once I could focus on speed and not on dodging the fallen limbs around me. He ran out of the woods into a small field that led to a road. Here was my chance. The moment I cleared the tree line, I broke into a sprint.
Not a moment later, a red four door car screeched to a stop, and the punk jumped in and got away. I memorized the license plate number and would have a Juncture run the plates later.
Taking a moment to catch my breath, I turned back toward the woods I had just emerged from. I needed to check on Cass, but was gassed out from all the running. Still, I jogged back as quickly as I could. The house looked quiet and still. I tried the front door handle and it was locked, just as I had left it. Maybe the creep didn’t manage to get in the house? I walked the perimeter to see if anything seemed out of place. Nothing was out of the ordinary, so I took out the house key and opened the back door. Everything inside was where it had been prior to the run, so far so good. I jogged up the stairs and knocked on Cassidy’s locked door.
“Cass, you okay in there?”
“Yeah.”
“Can you open the door a second?”
Footsteps approached, and she opened the door. Besides looking slightly annoyed, she seemed fine—untouched. I felt there was no need to alarm her of the potential intruder, especially since she was barely keeping it together as it was.
“What do you want?”
I passed her, grabbed the breakfast tray, and came up next to her. “Come on. I need your help with something downstairs.”
“What is it?”
“Just come with me and I’ll show ya.”
She let out a puff of air and reluctantly followed me. I continued to the kitchen and set down the tray so I could rinse the dishes. The kitchen was small, but the great big windows on the back wall gave the illusion that the room continued to the outside. As I scrubbed the bowls, I noticed her peeking around the corner. She looked like a timid bunny hiding in the grass. “What are you doing?”
“Do you need me in there?”
“I do. The mail is on the table. Some of the envelopes are marked PAST DUE.”
She muttered something.
“What did you say?”
“I said I need you to close the drapes and double check the door before I go in.”
“Are you feeling okay?” I shut the water off and approached her. She appeared agitated, fidgeting with her shirt hem and sucking in her bottom lip.
She nodded. “Just a headache. The light bothers my eyes.”
“You can do them later if that helps?” I suggested as I pushed a stray hair out of her eyes.
“How about you hand me the bills, and I’ll go lay down for a bit? If I feel better, I’ll pay them and we can mail them later today.”
She seemed anxious to return to her room, and I didn’t want to push her too far. I grabbed the bills and walked back to her. “It’s nice to see you up and around. I’m sorry you aren’t feeling well. I’ll come check on you after a while.”
She took the bills from my hands and then turned to head back to her room.
***
Two hours later, I checked on Cass. I knocked and waited for her to unlock the door.
“Any better?”
She held up a finger to me and closed her eyes. “Just wait…” Her lips moved; the sound was barely audible. “192…and four makes 196 times eight feet is 1,569. The same.” She looked up at me and let out a long breath. The tension that, moments ago, seemed to suffocate her, now easily unraveled before my eyes.
“What was that about?”
“I was just checking the room.”
I looked around the room—it looked the same as it had earlier. “What did you mean when you said, ‘the same’?”
“It hasn’t changed size.”
“What? The room?”
She nodded.
“Cass, why would the room change size?”
She didn’t answer, her eyes fell to the floor. She seemed ashamed.
“Cass,” I stepped closer and took her hand in mine. I didn’t want her to feel alone in this. “Was this something you did while imprisoned?”
“Sometimes the room feels too big.” She looked up at me and her eyes welled up with tears. “And sometimes it’s so small, I can’t breathe.” Her voice grew weak with emotion at this confession. I pulled her close and wrapped my arms around her. She allowed it at first, but soon began to pull away.
“Cass, what happened at Rya’s fortress?”
“Nothing.” She headed to the window and peered past the sheer drapes that filtered the sun and lit her face up. “Nothing at all, and yet I feel like I’m losing my grip on my sanity. I thought coming home was the answer, like somehow everything would go back to the way it was before you and Rya. But it’s only a little better.”
“Cass, you’ll get better. You already are; you said so yourself. But it takes time, and you’ll have to fight for it.”
She came over to the bed and plopped onto it.
“Was being downstairs hard for you?”
She looked up at me.
“You seemed agitated and anxious to get back to your room.”
“It was hard. I thought I’d be alright, but the downstairs felt too big.”
“And me holding you?”
“Suffocating.”
I sat beside her on the bed. “Okay, I got a deal for you that you can’t pass up.”
“Oh yeah, what is it?”
“The deal is, you work on getting out of this house and I will work on getting Tyler back.” I knew the risk, and I knew the longer that Tyler stayed with Rya, the farther gone he’d be. But for now, I hoped it was enough to motivate Cassidy. “Deal?”
“Deal.”
“Really?”
She nodded her head in reply.
“Okay, well then, today’s challenge is to not lock your bedroom door. If you can make it through the whole day without locking it, you’ll be rewarded.”
“A reward? Like what?”
“I don’t know. I’ll have to think of something.” And for the briefest moment, I saw her. My Cass smiled back at me, and it gave me hope that I could get her back.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Tyler
Rya and Jace led me to the top of the large black mountain that her fortress was built into. I couldn’t be sure what type of stone made up the mountain, possibly obsidian, but it could also be something the Human Realm had never seen before. “Rya, how exactly do you intend on getting my wings to emerge?”
She turned around and came to my side, lacing her arm through mine. “The same way all my demons get their wings,” she leaned her head against my shoulder and whispered, “by jumping off the mountain.”
“What?” I pulled away from her to check if she was joking, only she didn’t laugh. I’d honestly thought she’d work some spell or do something amazing like she’d done with my tats. This seemed like a sure fire way to die. “And if it doesn’t work?”
Jace chuckled at my question.
“Well, my love, I suppose you’d be dead.” She said it so matter-of-factly, as though I was just any one of her minions, not her mate, and it pissed me off.
“One can only hope,” Jace muttered a few feet away.
“You see, if you jump on your own, the odds of your wings emerging are greater than if we have to push you. Free will plays a big part in this…and courage.”
“I didn’t hear a definite ‘jump and your wings will appear’ from you. Sounded more like it’s still up to chance.” I didn’t like my options, and the odds sucked. There was no guarantee that I’d grow wings no matter which way I chose.
Rya shrugged, letting me know I did not misunderstand what she had said. “If fear gets the better of you, Jace has volunteered to give you a proper shove.”
Jace turned to continue up the mountain, but I didn’t miss the wicked smile that crossed his face. The tool hated me because of his little crush on Rya. Well, the feeling was mutual.
“What if I’m not ready? What if I get up there and decide I need more time?”
“Tyler, this is happening today, one way or another. You won’t be any more ready in a day or two. Besides we have other tasks to get on with, and this must happen before we can complete them. Now, man up, because Jace is anxious to take your place beside me.”
“He won’t get that chance.” I flipped Jace the bird. The asshole answered with a wink.
“That’s my boy,” Rya said with a smile.
We continued up the mountain for another hour till we finally reached the top. I glanced down to see what kind of death I might face if no wings grew. That was a mistake. We were very high up, and the ground beneath was a sea of jagged rocks. Jace stood to my left waiting for his orders like an obedient little demon.
Rya walked over to me and took my hands in hers. “We were meant to be together, Tyler. You were made for me, and you are mine to love. Together this world will bow before us and do our bidding. Find your courage, and choose us.” She sealed her lips over mine and kissed me passionately.
My worry transformed into a need to please her, a need to be her everything. She pulled back and looked at me as if she had read my mind. Smiling, she released my hands and backed away. I took a few breaths as I watched the stunning demon look at me with pride.
I could do this. Rya loved me and wouldn’t trick me. She wanted me by her side; she had said so herself. I could feel her love in the passionate kiss we had just shared. I stepped to the edge of the mountainside.
Jump or be pushed.
I looked back and saw Jace standing near Rya, arms folded across his chest begging me to chicken out. Not today, jerk. I turned back to face the precipice. Closing my eyes, I envisioned the kiss I had just shared with Rya. If I were to die, let that be the last thing I remembered.
As my knees bent to jump, Rya screamed, “No Jace! Stop!” And then I was airborne, only I didn’t know if it was because I had managed to jump or because Jace had pushed me. As I fell, Jace circled above on full black demon wings, watching me plummet toward the rocks below.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Cassidy
Knock, knock
I opened the door, and Killian stood there holding a dinner tray.
“No lock? You did it. Let’s celebrate.” He set the tray on the bed and went over to the alarm clock, messing with the dials till he found a station playing alternative rock. After adjusting the volume, he cleared the small table next to the window then pulled it over to the bedside.
“What are you doing?”
“Getting us a table.” He set a large tea towel on the table and put our plates, cans of soda pop, and silverware on the makeshift dining setting. He even lit a candle in the center. Then he raised his pop can. “To baby steps.”
I clinked my can with his and watched his serious face change into a timid but cheerful look. Killian didn’t seem like the type to set up intimate dinners for two. I’m sure this took him well out of his comfort zone.
“This is really nice. The perfect reward. Thank you for thinking of it.”
His eyes met mine and the smile he wore was appreciative. “I’m really proud of you.”
“Baby steps.” I repeated before taking a sip from my can.
Killian and I enjoyed light conversation during the meal, which consisted of Hot Pockets and a salad—foods that were safe to prepare without the risk of Killian burning the house down. He may be a master Demon Hunter, but I doubted he had much training in a Human Realm kitchen, and without me there to guide him, it could end badly. Once we finished our meal and conversation, Killian turned off the radio, returned the table to its place next to the window, and put everything on the tray.
“Congratulations on baby step number two.”
“What do you mean?” I hadn’t left the room. How could I have completed baby step number two?
“You successfully sat next to me for over an hour without exploding.”
This made me chuckle. He was right. And I wasn’t uncomfortable with it.
He smiled as he picked up the tray. “Tomorrow we’ll eat dinner at the kitchen table.”
My eyebrows shot up at the big plan. “Baby steps Killian, not giant steps,” I cautioned him.
He chuckled as he trotted down the stairs and said, “Goodnight Cassidy. I’ll be up for a while watching TV in case you care to join me.”
“Night, Killian. Thank you for dinner,” I answered before shutting my door.
***
The next morning, Killian came to my room with the breakfast tray but didn’t stay to eat with me. He seemed agitated and said he needed to go for a run. I was disappointed, but I wanted him to do what he needed to feel better. Killian was always busy in the Clan compound, but here in Homer Glen, he was probably crawling the walls with boredom.
When he brought me lunch, I asked him to stay and talk for a moment. “Killian, maybe you should go back to the Clan. You must be worried about them and wondering how things are going.”
“They haven’t notified me, which probably means everything is fine.” He crossed his arms across his chest and leaned against the door frame. “Still, it’s hard to be away for so long.”
“Then go.”
“But Cass, your still…” He stopped his sentence. He didn’t need to finish it because I already knew how messed up and incapable of simple tasks I was in my current state. “Listen, what if I crossed after lunch and made it back for dinner?”
“Yes. I could even manage on my own longer if need be.”
“No.” He smiled at me as if my comment was ridiculous. “I’ll be back for dinner. At the kitchen table.”
“But…”
“Baby steps Cass.” He bent his head close to mine and kissed my forehead. My eyes closed at the tender affection while inside a silent war broke out between my feelings for Killian and the walls of neglect and loneliness that surrounded my heart and mind.
“Please be sure to lock the house doors when you go.”
He smiled and said, “And be sure to not lock yours.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Killian
Cassidy looked uncomfortable at the thought of me leaving for a crossover, but that was even more reason why I should do it now. A quick check in would allow me time to return for a few more days. I crossed to the Clan Center and headed straight to the med unit where I knew I would find my sister.
“Siobhan, you’re still here?” The mortal had wanted to return home ever since the demon left her body. I was sure our Clan could help return her to the Human Realm, yet she was still here at the compound.
“Killian. I wanted to repay you all for helping me." She pointed to the Shaman’s book on a nearby table. “I’m gifting his book to your Healers and Casters and helping translate a few sections.”
“Thank you for the generous gift.”
“How is Cassidy?” Lena gave me a hug.
“She’s improving but still has a way to go. I plan to return for a few more days if all is settled here.”
“Has she told you what happened in there?”
I shook my head; I didn’t want to push Cass too far too fast. “What’s been going on here?”
“Jackson’s patrol caught a pair of demons outside of the binding chamber yesterday.”
“They escaped?”
“No, the binding chamber was intact. We think they were trying to figure out how to break a hole in it. The new spell seems to be doing the job of creating a stronger binding on the chamber.” Lena leaned against the nearby table. “They caught them and bound them.”
“That’s great news.” She looked like she was less pleased with the events than I was. “What aren’t you telling me?”
“Casper’s squad saw Tyler and Jace in the cemetery. They were a decent distance away, so they chose not to attack.”
“Could they tell what they were doing there?” Lena shook her head. “Ok, I’ll find Casper and get the details from him.”
“He’s in the training room,” she offered.
As I searched for Casper, Clan members greeted me. The mood of the Clan had returned to one of confidence. It was a huge and welcome difference from where we were after the attack on the compound a few months ago.
“Casper, I’m not your friend. I’m a demon. Now try that move again.”
Inside the training room, Casper came up behind Jax and put him in a headlock. Jax reached around, pulled Casper’s head down, and attempted to deliver a punch to his face. Casper’s speed helped him dodge the attack. The young warrior lunged for Jax’s mid-section and managed to flip him onto the ground and pin him. It was an impressive move, especially for Casper who had been struggling with his offensive attacks. I clapped my hands. Their attention turned toward me and Casper helped Jax up.
