B00AO57VOY EBOK (39 page)

Weirdest.  Experience. 
Ever.

Feeling very proud of
myself, I let my head fall back and looked up at the women I had been and the
men who had been forced to kill them.  But, it was the beautiful face at the
forefront of the hurricane of ash that I really saw.  Gabriella was staring
down at Bastian, her expression sad but determined.  It was to that face, the
face of the woman the demon had once loved, that I whispered the last of the
incantation.

Ducti
per
virtus unita
,

eos
iam illa
hora.

Haec
spiritus
numquam
libero
,

Id enim
volumus
, et sic
fiat semper.

Or, as we like to say in English…

Guided by our united power

take him now, this very hour

never again to be set free

for such is our will, and so mote it be.

“It is over
now, mon ami,” Gabriella’s voice whispered around the room.  “At long last, I
can rest.”

An
earsplitting shriek filled the room as the words faded away and our circle
finally broke as everyone hurriedly clapped their hands over their ears in the
hopes of keeping their eardrums from exploding.  The glass in the windows
shattered and sprayed us all with tiny glittering fragments and the floor
beneath us began to quake violently again as the dead descended in a sucking
whirlwind of suffocating ash and stinging bits of bone.  Squinting against the
onslaught, I peered into the dark cloud and watched as Bastian finally got what
was coming to him.

The ash
people drifted over and around Bastian, their blank expressions almost as scary
as the demon they were there to take.  Bastian’s mouth opened in a silent
scream, his face a mask of stark terror, as Gabriella’s arms reached for him. 
He wasn’t going down without a fight, however. 

I understood
Tyler’s explanation about the merging of the demon’s essence and that of my
friend as I watched the ashes try to take him.  I would see the outline of his
true shape drifting away from Jack for a few seconds and then it would snap
back into its host only to be pulled forth again and again.

And, in the
process, they were killing my friend.

Without
thinking about what I was doing, I ran into the dark cloud of ashes.  I heard
the others shouting at me to stop, but all I could see was Jack’s pale gray,
sweat-drenched face.  His eyes were rolled back so that only the whites were
showing and he was convulsing violently.  He was going to die and I was going
to have stand there and watch it, knowing that, in part, it was my fault. 

That was
something I just couldn’t do.

I grabbed
hold of him and pulled with all my strength just as the ash people managed to
pull Bastian forth again.  It was the ultimate game of Tug-O-War.  The harder I
pulled on Jack, the harder the ash people pulled on their prey.  Bastian’s form
was suddenly revealed in horrifying detail as they began to win their war
against his bond with his host—thanks to me.  His eyes found me, and I saw his
claws extend as he opened a mouth that was full of razor-sharp, pointed teeth
and let out a howl of rage.

The six inch
talons on the tips of his fingers dug into my back and I screamed in agony as
they ripped at my skin as he tried to anchor himself to me instead of his
host.  The ash people didn’t care that he was trying to rip me apart, though. 
If they had to, they would take me and Jack right along with the demon they had
come for.  It was what we had commanded them to do, and they were bound and
determined to see the job through to the end.

No matter
the cost.

Within
seconds, I knew I was in serious trouble.  Like Jack, I was starting to choke
and it felt like something was…pulling away from me.  There was a sucking
sensation in my chest, in my head, everywhere. 

As the
whirlwind of ash closed in around us, cocooning us from the rest of the world,
I saw a sight I will have nightmares about until the day I die.  At the top of
the ash cyclone, a portal began to open.  A long tunnel of monstrous-looking
creatures waited to greet our arrival in the lost plane.  Their too-pale faces
looked grotesquely misshapen.  They watched us approach with eager, hungry eyes
and reached out to take us as the ash people directed us toward their world and
away from ours.

I knew in
that moment, that I was going to die.  I would never get to hug Grams again.  I
would never get to see my friends again.  And I would never be held in Nathan’s
arms again, would never get to see the love in his eyes when he looked at me,
would never get to give him all the love I had kept from him for so long.

As my eyes
filled with tears, I felt my mark begin to throb like it never had before.  It
felt like a hummingbird had somehow gotten trapped beneath my skin and was
trying desperately to get out.  Then, I felt this wonderful warmth fill me from
my head to my toes.  It was the warmth of Nathan’s touch, the warmth of his
love.

Close
your eyes, baby,
Nathan’s calm, silky voice whispered suddenly in my mind. 
Close your eyes and listen only to my voice.  Follow it back to me.  Please,
baby, don’t leave me.  Come back, Em.  Come back to me.

I let my
eyes drift closed, glad to have an excuse not to see those hungry souls
reaching for mine.  As I listened to Nathan’s heavenly voice, I saw a silvery
stream of light form in the darkness behind my eyelids.  It was dim at first,
but as my mark continued to throb and burn, it got brighter and brighter.  I grasped
at that light with everything inside me, I held on to it, my only light in the
darkness.  As I grasped at it, following it back to the sound of that sweet,
encouraging voice, I felt myself drawing away from that terrible tunnel and the
monsters waiting to devour me.  I felt myself drifting back to the world I
knew.

Back to the
man whose love had just saved me.

With
Bastian’s claws still sunk into my shoulders, I started tugging myself
backwards.  The pain was excruciating and I screamed in agony, feeling warm
trickles of blood streaming down my arms.  And then, with a terrible wrenching
sensation, something inside of me ripped away completely.   I felt myself go
weak as a pair of strong arms wrapped around me, lending me their strength just
as mine gave out completely.  For one second, I could have sworn I was wrapped
in something warm, something soft and silky.  Something that felt like…wings.

Holding on
to Jack with everything I had left, I let those arms tug me away from the demon
ripping me apart in his effort to save himself and the ash people sucking away
my very essence as they tried to take him.  Bastian’s claws literally scored my
shoulder blades—and probably left inch deep gouges—as with one final yank my
savior, Jack, and I all went flying back, landing in a pile.

Another
ear-splitting howl drew my eyes to the demon, and I watched, feeling oddly
disconnected from the whole scene, as each of the ash people latched onto part
of him.  Then, with a mighty pull, they ripped him apart, each taking their
piece of their tormenter.  A ghostly blue-black light shot into the portal his
victims had opened for him and, those monstrous creatures latched onto it,
fighting each other for every particle.  And then the portal snapped shut,
trapping Bastian on the last plane once more.

This time,
hopefully for good.

I had to
close my eyes against the swirling ash as, with another hurricane force gale,
the ghosts of the dead returned to their rest, taking a little piece of justice
with them.  The silence that followed was so loud it was deafening.  For almost
a full minute, nobody moved.  Then, with a groan that seemed to come from the
very depths of his soul, Jack lifted his head and gave me a bleary look.

“Ember?” he
croaked out, peering at me through narrowed eyes as if he couldn’t see me
clearly even though we were so close we were practically nose to nose.  “Is
that you, Em?”

I nodded and
gave him a weak smile, not feeling so hot all the sudden.  It was like I was
watching it all from a distance rather than being an active participant.  When
Jack groaned again and pushed himself away from me, though, I felt an agonizing
pain in my right shoulder that was so intense that the world grayed out for a
second. 

I just
barely managed to swallow the scream that rose in my throat, not wanting to
scare him anymore than he probably already was. 
When his lips quirked
up in a lopsided grin, though, I decided playing human suit for a demon really
must
cause brain damage.

“What did we
drink
?”
he asked, finally, trying to get to his feet and collapsing again before he
even made it to his knees. “I don’t remember a damn thing.  Must have been some
party.”

You have no idea,
I
thought as my eyes drifted closed. 
No idea at all.

I heard movement around me,
heard a soft cry of denial from somewhere beyond the darkness waiting for me to
fall into it.  I heard Tyler whispering to me, but nothing he was saying was
making any sense.  His arms were still wrapped around me, and I realized he was
the one who had pulled me out of the ashes.  Despite that, I couldn’t bring
myself to thank him for saving me.  Because, for some reason I couldn’t
explain, I didn’t think he actually
had
.  Not all of me anyway
. 

I didn’t feel right.  In
fact, I felt a hundred different kinds of
wrong.
  I had saved Jack.  Bastian
was gone.  But I still felt like I was trapped in a nightmare. 

Or, maybe I had just fallen
into a new one.

I felt Nathan enter the room
and run to my side, heard him suck in a horrified breath, but I couldn’t seem
to force my eyes open again.  Even when I heard Grams start to sob, I couldn’t
bring myself to force my lids up.

“Ember?  Baby?  Open your
eyes, Em.  Look at me,” Nathan whispered, hoarsely, his fingers caressing my
cheek.  I couldn’t help but notice that they were trembling.

“You…saved me,” I whispered,
mustering up enough energy to lift my hand to cover his.  “You brought me
back.”

“I tried to stop her,” Tyler
said, quietly, and I heard the tears in his voice.  “I tried, Nate, but she… 
I’m so sorry.”

“Why…sorry?” I whispered, forcing
my eyes open.

I meant to look up at Tyler,
but instead my gaze locked on an unfamiliar face hovering over the crowd
gathering around me.  He was…well,
hot
.  Not as hot as Nathan, but
definitely running a close second. 

The first thing I really noticed
was that he was dressed all in black—black t-shirt, black jeans, and a long,
black trench coat that made him blend into the shadows almost effortlessly. 
His golden blonde hair looked windblown—and not in that fashionable
I’m-too-cool-to-brush-my-hair kind of way, either, but like he’d been running
through hurricane force winds himself.  He was almost as big as Nathan and his
face had that same chiseled quality.  But, where Nathan’s hazel eyes always
seemed so warm, so welcoming, this guy’s emerald green eyes were cold and
remote.  Honestly, he looked almost…bored. 

You would think, after what
I had just been through, that I would have been at least a little uneasy.  But
I wasn’t.  I knew who he was.  I knew it deep down, in that place we all visit
when it’s our time to check out. 

Death was an underwear
model.  Who knew?

“No!” Tyler whispered behind
me.  I looked up to find him staring at Death with a look of pure hatred. 
“No!  You can’t have her!”

“It’s her time,” Death told
him, his voice as smooth as silk—and cold as ice.  “You know the rules, so
please don’t try to play the hero.  We don’t make exceptions.”

With that, he dismissed
Tyler like he was about as significant as a gnat and gave me his full attention
again.  We stared at each other for a long moment as the people around me
started to panic.  I had stopped breathing.  Weird.  Death just smiled at me,
though, and started to take a step forward.  Then, just as suddenly, he stopped
and turned to look behind him as a geeky little guy in a bad suit and glasses
appeared out of thin air.

Taking his arm, the Nerd
King pulled him a little ways away and started jabbering away a mile a minute. 
The blonde god guy turned and looked at me and his eyebrows rose in a way that
clearly said, “Oh,
shit
.  Sucks to be you, babe.”  Then, shrugging, he
started to walk away.  Before I could blink, he was gone.  His friend stayed
behind another second, giving me a pitying look.