Endure (37 page)

******

A thin layer of snow covered the ground and cold air rolled over my bare torso. The tree stood in the center of the forest, and even inside winter’s grasp, it bloomed. It created a serene image that seemed out of place given our circumstances.

There was unspoken tension that drifted in silent waves around us, as though the coming battle was at the forefront of everyone’s thoughts. I tried not to think about it and I focused on getting back to the warehouse. I had to know if Marcus was okay.

Everyone trudged into the forest, and a sense of sadness tugged at me. I stopped at the edge and looked over the clearing again. This was where it would happen—the place where it all started. I wasn’t sure if I had expected the Brothers and Riley to be here already, but this seemed wrong. It was peaceful and unnerving like an empty cemetery on a winter’s eve. This place might never be the same again. Win or lose, this was it. This was where the road ended.

******

The screen on Rayna’s cell phone was in rough shape. Black ink pooled beneath a spider web of cracks, but when she flipped it open and dialed Marcus’s number, it rang. We had already started our walk down the gravel road that edged the forest, and I kept my eyes focused on her, but she didn’t talk. Her skin paled, she stopped in her tracks, and her eyes locked on me.

“What is it?” I asked.

Rayna shook her head and when she pulled the phone down, her hand trembled. “It’s for you. It’s…him.”

Reaching for the phone, my arm felt like it carried the weight of the world. Everything seemed to slow and flashes of heat moved through my body. I wasn’t ready for this. Not to speak to him, not to face him. I needed more time. “Hello?” I asked, my voice was breathy and trembling.

“So good to hear from you, son.” Riley could have been miles away, yet his voice made my stomach flip and chest tighten.

“Where’s Marcus?”

“He’s here waiting for you, as we all are. Well, most of us. It appears that little wall that surrounds the city does have a purpose.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means my pure bloods are unable to enter the city. Darius is taking care of that for me now. But do not fear, I have not exposed Stonewall, nor do I have plans to. As it stands, the mundane of this world remain oblivious to the existence of such monsters. After all, we want to stop the fighting, stop the hate, isn’t that right? Exposing our world to the humans would not be in our best interest.” Riley laughed and it startled me. “You know why I’m here, don’t you?”

“Because you’re a power-hungry douche bag?” I didn’t feel as confident as I sounded, but the more he talked, the angrier I became.

“We’ve come this far together, yet you still speak like a juvenile. Just another reason you don’t deserve the power inside you.” Riley cleared his throat. “No, Chase, I am here because you are a part of this. You have a power inside you that eludes me, and I need it. I’ve sent an escort to pick you up. Don’t be foolish. We wouldn’t want Marcus to suffer the same fate as your stuttering friend, now would we?”

“Screw you, Riley. You and—” A loud click came and silence filled the line. The phone shook as I pulled it away from my ear. “He has Marcus, and he said he needs my power.” My voice sounded distant, even to me.

“I thought he needed mine?” Rayna asked.

“What do you mean? Why does he need either of you?” Vincent turned to Rayna. When she didn’t respond, his gaze panned between us. “Have I missed something?”

Rayna explained things to Vincent and I walked down the road with both eyes closed. My hands shook and I called out to Drake with my mind, picturing his face. I reached out with that invisible hand, trying to find our connection in the air. I wanted to summon him. He’d give me the answers I needed. Wouldn’t he?

Vincent’s eyes had grown wide as Rayna explained everything to him, and as the sound of fire crackling on bark snapped on the air, his attention was drawn to Drake Sellowind. Vincent roared, charging toward the Dark Brother with Tiki and Rayna right behind him.

“No!” I shouted. They all came to a skidding halt, confusion warping their faces. “Just give us a minute.”

Drake didn’t seem fazed by their reaction. His gaze was all for me, and a half-smirk pulled at his lips. “Chase,” he lowered his head in a short bow. “How can I be of service to you?”

“What does Riley want with me?”

Drake’s smirk turned into a full-fledged smile and he walked past me, clasping his hands behind his back. “After our last encounter, I hardly see the point in telling you anything.”

Anger pounded in my chest but I took a breath and held it at bay. “Please,” I whispered.

The Dark Brother kept his back to me. His short hair glistened in the moonlight and he shrugged. “I’m afraid even my brother’s power is no match for the soul pieces inside your father. We have yet to inform him of your role in all this. In other words, he does not know that when he invokes Ithreal’s power, he will invoke the god himself. If I’m to be honest, I’ve no idea what your father wants with you at the moment.”

“You’re lying.”

Drake turned abruptly and stepped into me, his nose just inches from mine. “Am I? I’ve tried to help you every step of the way. I wanted to make all of this as painless as possible, but you’ve fought against me and thrown everything I’ve told you away as lies like ashes in the wind. Why should I help you now?”

“Because if I hadn’t fought you all this time, I’d never be the Protector.”

Drake put his hand up, opened his mouth to respond, but his words were lost. He watched me a moment before the smile returned to his face. “Touché. But alas, I truly do not know why your father calls for you. But we shall find out soon, won’t we?”

******

The portal opened on the gravel road leading to the warehouse. Pale light reflected off the glass doors and the distance between the warehouse and us seemed too familiar. It wasn’t long ago I had been running down this road. I had thought it was one hundred yards between victory and me—a football field between success and failure. In hindsight, those hundred yards had represented the distance between life and death for Willy. A pang surged in my chest but I pushed it away. Willy was in a better place now. He was happy. And best of all, I could have my memory of him. As much as I wanted the pain to be gone, I’d take pain over nothing.

Snow and gravel scuffed beneath my feet. Stones rolled to the left and right, sputtering across the road. Rayna’s hand was locked in mine and Vincent and Tiki walked on either side of us. The tension was corporeal. It felt like the battle all this had been leading up to was on our doorstep. But part of me knew that wasn’t true. This wasn’t the end. Not yet.

Drake pulled the doors open and ushered us inside. Our footsteps were wet from the snow and the squeaks from our shoes echoed off the walls, breaking the haunting silence. Marcus was tied to the chair at the end of a table. His head sagged against his chest, but his shoulders rose and fell with mild breaths. Riley stood behind him, both hands on his shoulders and a disturbing smile upon his lips. His fingers clenched and Marcus rasped a weak and exhausted sound from his lips. He tried to lift his head, but it fell back down to his chest. Riley gripped it and pulled it back, showing his face marred with wounds: wide gashes, swelling around his eyes, and dried blood that colored his chin.

“Marcus…” Rayna ran forward but Drake held her back, warning her with his eyes and shaking his head.

“I can feel the power already,” Riley said, moving around the table. His eyes were black, dark veins rippling beneath the skin around them and disappearing beneath frayed blond locks. “Incredible.”

The door behind us slammed shut, and Darius Sellowind pushed past me. “What the hell is he doing here? He has no purpose with us yet.”

“Silence!” Riley’s voice became something far darker than I’d ever heard. The sound held power and it struck out at Darius.

Darius winced and stumbled back, grabbing his chest. A splotch of blood seeped through his tight white t-shirt. Darius cast Drake a glare, but his brother’s expression remained neutral.

“Is it done? Can the demons pass over the threshold of the city?”

Darius pulled his bloodstained fingers away from his chest. The bleeding seemed to have stopped but he didn’t look pleased. “Not yet, but it won’t be much longer.

“Good.” His eyes were fixated on the Brothers. “You know, with all this power comes knowledge.
The
knowledge actually. The things you’ve been keeping from me.” Riley paced in front of Darius. “At first it was an overload of thoughts and memories pouring through my mind. It took time to piece them all together in the proper timeline, but now I see what you both have done.” Anger filled Riley’s eyes and in the blink of an eye, he stood behind Drake. His lips were next to his ear and his voice an angry whisper. “You thought to use me and throw me away, but instead you gave me the power to destroy you.”

“I’m not sure I understand what you mean.” Drake’s face hadn’t changed. He was cool and collected as though having an ordinary conversation.

Riley’s head tilted to the side, arms of power rising from his back. I had the thought to try and move to Marcus, but something wasn’t right. Riley held a crazed look on his face that seemed too intense, even for him. And with the Dark Brothers here, we didn’t have enough people to put up a fight, especially if Marcus was incapacitated.

“The final piece to this puzzle is an interesting one, isn’t it? You cannot be so stupid as to think I will move forward with the plans you’ve laid out. Sacrifice myself so you can have dear old daddy back?” Riley’s voice was sharp and magical, coiling on the air like a dagger flying rampant. It cut across my arm, but the wound closed almost as quickly as it opened. He paced back and forth, his face contorted with rage.

Rayna’s hand had grown clammy, but still she squeezed tighter against mine. Vincent and Tiki remained silent, standing beside us. They both looked ready to fight should anything happen, but I knew there was nothing they could do. We weren’t ready.

Riley’s laughter broke the silence and he threw his hands in the air. “I had plans to make this world a better place. To unite all creatures under a single banner, and I thought you were with me in that vision. But then I come across your plans and they’re selfish and juvenile. Trusting demons! How could I be such a fool?” Riley stormed toward the Brothers. “I should kill you both right now.”

Darius and Drake had stepped back, and although Darius looked somewhat distressed, Drake remained neutral.

“I’m afraid that isn’t a possibility,” Drake said. “You are not a god. In fact at this juncture, you’re not even a demigod. I doubt very much you would be able to overpower us. I think it’s in your best interest to keep to the plan.”

Riley’s eyes were crazed and the strings of power swayed behind him. He smiled at Drake and let his magic respond. A single tendril lashed out, striking both Brothers and throwing them into the wall. He stepped toward me and the room darkened. His power swelled, the lights dimmed. The only sound came from his shoes tapping along the floor.

“The Brothers dove into my mind once upon a time, their magic infiltrating the depths of my will. I remember, but I have no regrets. My cause is valiant and in the end, will save lives.”

“How can you believe that? Look at yourself. You’re a monster.”

“Is that what you believe. I’m the big bad man who stole everything from you? If I’m not mistaken, it was you who interfered time and time again. If you had stayed out of my way, you’d have lost
nothing
. The way I see it, you were the bullet that killed your mother and that pathetic halfwit who followed you around like a lost puppy.”

The emotions inside me churned, magic bubbling over the edges of my soul, but I kept it contained. He was using them to get to me. I wouldn’t let him.

“You can see it any way you want, because guns aren’t responsible for death,” I said. “The people who used them are, and at the end of the day, you’re the one pulling the trigger,
Dad
.”

“Trigger man.” Riley grinned. “I like that.”

The Brothers were back on their feet and rushing forward. Riley didn’t even look, his magic cut back toward them, but this time it didn’t connect. The tendril stopped just above their heads, the Brothers’ magic pooling together in streams of purple and gold and holding it at bay. Riley growled and his magic flexed, but as his power swelled, his growl turned into a cry. He dropped to one knee and grabbed his chest. The room became impossibly bright as his power vanished and the lights buzzed above us.

“What is this madness?” Riley’s face warped with pain.

“It’s too late,” Darius said. His hair swung down around his waist. His lips arched into a smug expression and he let out a laugh. “Just as your son had to bind the souls to his, you too must bind yours.” He lashed out with a streak of purple and black, knocking Riley to the ground. “We have hidden our true power from you long enough. We are not your servants, Riley Williams. You are but our pawn.”

“I will die before I give your father command over me.”

A smirk moved over Darius’s lips. “Yes, you will.”

“That is enough, Darius.” Drake stood before Riley. “Ithreal only needs a vessel for a short time. Long enough to destroy one of the gods and weaken the chains that bind him. When he’s free in his true form, you will be released from your duty.”