Everlasting (Night Watchmen, #1) (25 page)

“This way then,” Gavin says. He takes my hand in his and pulls me down the hallway. We make it to the back, and he pauses and sticks his head out the door. “Clear.” We make our way around the corner and toward a hidden door kept behind a line of bushes. We’re so close to getting away. I can almost taste it.

But then a pair of red eyes appears in front of us. A Demon. A knife plunges into Gavin’s stomach.

“No!” I shout, blasting the Demon away from us with volation. Lightning crackles through the air, alerting anyone close of our whereabouts. The Demon crashes against the wall of the gymnasium and slides to the ground. I don’t wait around to find out if I’ve killed him. I lift Gavin to his feet, heat pressing behind my eyes. He tries to pull the knife out, but it won’t budge.

“It’s a cursed blade,” he strains to say. He coughs and blood shoots out from behind his lips. My breath constricts as fear and horror paralyze my mind and limbs. He
topples forward onto his knees, still coughing, staining the snow with his life force. “Poisoned,” he manages to say through a moan.

I’m by his side, rubbing his back and asking him what I should do, when four more Darkyn Witches come around the corner of the building. Dark fog swirls up around them. My heart stops as panic works its way into my power, weakening the pull I have on the energy around me. What the hell am I doing? Doubt streaks through my mind, crippling my confidence.

Gavin rolls to his side, his blood blending in with the murky slush of snow.
No
, I think to myself,
get a grip
. I slowly stand and step forward, focusing on the group of Witches. I’m the only one who can protect us now.

“Join us,” the light, malicious voice of one of the Witches says.

I don’t respond. I don’t want them to hear my fear, though I’m sure they can smell it. The power within me grows as I count the seconds, praying we will make it through.

“If you don’t join us, Gavin will die. He’s without his Witch,” the man continues as they both stalk toward us without fear. “You can’t counter poison with magic, and I’m sure you don’t have the antidote handy.”

“Faye,” Gavin groans, grabbing onto my leg. His hand is covered in blood, soaking through my pant leg. “Run.” The plea in his voice tears at my heart. I can’t leave him.

“No,” I say firmly, ignoring the pleading in his steely blue eyes. I won’t play the coward any longer. I look back to the Witches who are steadily growing closer, and see red. My hands shoot out to my sides. Lightning streaks down my arms, and white light fills my palms.

All of the Witches laugh, but I tune them out, not allowing it to affect me any longer. As the laughter dies off, the leader of the four clicks his teeth in mocking. “That’s a dumb choice,” he says behind a black mask. “The Demon I work for asked us to keep you alive, but never said anything about unharmed. Let me show you how the Darkyn Coven deals with pesky little girls.”

He lifts his hands, and dark magic shoots past me, connecting with Gavin’s chest. He cries out in pain as he rolls over into the snow. Rage unlike anything I have ever felt stirs within the very depths of me, just waiting for my command to lash out. I let everyth
ing unleash on them, but they’ve strung some form of dark shield around them that sucks away every bit of my magic, leaving me swaying and dizzy.

I drop to the floor next to Gavin, feeling like I have just been through a marathon.

“I’ll only ask one last time,” one of them says while the other Witch keeps on with torturing Gavin. He stops inches away from us.

“You’re wasting your breath,” a stranger’s rough voice says from behind me. I roll to my side, trying to see through the hazy blur. Whoever he is, he’s standing beneath a shadow. Golden eyes flash in my direction. “They’re both coming with me.”

Both of the Witches behind me laugh again, but their laughter ends abruptly when the mysterious man disappears and reappears behind them. His hands plunge through their chests and rips out their hearts. He drops them, and then turns around just as the other two try to respond with dark magic. He tackles them to the ground with a demonic growl, plunging his hands through their chests. His face is hidden by darkness when he turns back to me. Blood rolls down his arms, their hearts still beating in his hands.

I lose the battle with nausea and quickly move from Gavin’s eerily still body to empty the contents of my stomach. Dry heaves rack my body as my vision waivers. “I’m not...I’m not going...anywhere…with you,” I manage to say, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand.

“Gavin will die if you don’t. That part, these two,” he says, dropping the black hearts, “were right about. He won’t make it without an antidote. You can trust me. I’m a friend of Jaxen’s.” He smears the black blood across the front of his button down shirt. A strong arm reaches down to me, offering me aid, but darkness has woven itself around my mind.

The last thing I remember is seeing a black cat appear from out of the shadows as I collapse on Gavin’s chest.

“F
aye?”
It’s my mother’s soft
voice I hear, calling me to awareness.

“Mom?” I sit up and look for her, but all I see is darkness. There’s a chill in the air that makes its way to my bones, sucking the heat from my fingers and toes. I shiver against it and pull my arms around myself to save my diminishing warmth. A coppery scent trickles through the air, turning my stomach sour.

“Mom,” I say a little louder.

Nothing. I hea
r nothing and I see nothing. I’m in a black void, smelling the vile stench of blood and reliving the last moments of my life before it was robbed from me behind the gymnasium.

“Mom…please, don’t leave me. Don’t leave me here. Please.”

Silence. It’s so thick that it closes in on me, depriving me of oxygen, of sanity. Yellow eyes move closer to me, glowing and swirling. A sob tears from the depths of my soul as I scream out in terror.

“Faye! Wake up! You’re safe.” My eyes flitter open. They desperately try to adjust against the harsh orange-yellow light slanting in through the blinds. “I’m here.” It’s Katie’s voice I hear as her hand grips mine. I pull my other hand up to my face, rubbing the crust from my eyes.

“Where am I?” I ask, my vision finally settling on her. Her shoulders are slumped over, and her eyes are puffy and red. Her hair is a tangled mess around her face, partially shielding the frown marring her pouting lips. She looks exactly how I feel on the inside; broken and tired.

“In the infirmary.”

“Gavin?”

“He’s okay.”

Relief rushes out of my lungs. He’s okay. Everything is okay. We made it out alive. Yellow eyes surface in my mind, of the man who saved us. I look around my room, but it’s just Katie. He isn’t here. The image of hearts beating in his hands sends a shot of acid up my throat. I look back at Katie, swallowing thickly.

“The Elite Watchmen arrived right after the Darkyn Witches and fought most of them off. Luckily, only one novice was injured, and it was minor,” she explains.

Memories of our last encounter crash the sleepy daze my mind is in. A war of conflicting emotions catches fire within me. My jaw clenches, yet my heart seizes up at the sight of her. My mind wants her to leave, but my heart wants her to stay. I want to say I’m sorry, but think she should say it first.

“Anyway, I brought this for you. He wouldn’t leave your door, and when I opened it, he jumped on the bed and started licking your face,” she says faintly. She turns and points to a black cat on the windowsill. It’s the cat I saw before I passed out. “I think he needs a home, and I think he’d be good for you.”

I don’t say anything. I don’t think my lips can even form words, at least none that are suitable, none that I won’t regret. I look down at my tingling hands. My pale knuckles are streaked with red from gripping the sheets so tight.

She covers her face with her hands, and all at once her shoulders shake with silent sobs. I’m up and off my bed before I can even blink, hugging her to me. “I’m so sorry, Faye,” she says in between sobs, her words shadowed with guilt and sorrow. “I don’t know why I said all those awful things to you. You didn’t deserve it. You were just being a good friend.”

An uncomfortable weight settles on my heart. Why did I drag that out? Why did I push her to this point? I hate seeing her so upset. I hate being the reason she’s upset. I rest her head on my shoulder and squeeze her tighter. Guilt and resolution slide down my cheek and drip onto her shoulder.

“I shouldn’t have reacted the way I did either,” I say, my voice unsteady. “I was just trying to help. I realize now that not everything in our lives has to be done together. Not every path we walk is conjoined, but to think that he hurt you…that he would continue to hurt you…” I stop, my lips pressing into a thin line. I inhale composure and pull away to look at her. Understanding pools in her eyes. “I couldn’t help it, Kat. You’re my sister.”

Her face turns red, her eyes erratically scrunching in and out as she tries to fight back the need to cry. I have to look away from her. If I don’t, I know that I’ll completely break…something that can’t happen. Not now. Not if I want a chance to repair myself.

“You were almost abducted the other night, and I had treated you so badly,” she says, her voice a quiet tremor. “What if you had been taken? What if you had been hurt? Can you ever forgive me?”

My brow dips low. “Only if you promise to make up for it with chocolate ice cream.” I stare at her for a moment. The beginning of a smile forms, but never fully surfaces. She rubs at the tears staining her face, her silent sobs subsiding into snivels. I move back to my bed, wincing when I climb on it. Every muscle in my body feels like it’s been overworked. The movement alone left me out of breath.

“How long have I been out?” I ask, rubbing at my shoulder.

She gets up and comes around my bed to stand behind me. After smacking my hand away, she starts rubbing my shoulders with the right amount of pressure. My head reflexively falls forward as my eyes roll back in my head.

“You’ve been out for two days,” she says, working her thumbs up my neck. “The Witch nurse gave you a sleeping potion that would allow your body to rejuvenate. Whatever you went up against, I was told you shouldn’t have survived. They had some form of dark magic that hasn’t been seen since Mourdyn’s time. I guess, when you hit their spells, the magic they use sucked every bit of magic from you. If it hadn’t been for Weldon…”

“Weldon?” I ask, my head bobbing back up.

Her hands still. “Yeah, he’s the one who saved you and Gavin. You just missed him. He stayed until he was sure you and Gavin were going to wake, and then was escorted off campus. You know what’s strange?”

“He has unnatural golden eyes?”

Her nimble fingers move, working out the large knots in my shoulders. “Well, yes, that is strange, but I was going to say that he almost looks like Elder Maddock. Weird, right?”

“He’s Mack’s twin.”

“No way!” she says, letting go of my shoulders. Her head appears from around my shoulder, her nose almost touching mine. “You know, I asked him, but he totally denied it. He actually seemed offended that I even asked.”

“
Hmph,” I mutter, my thoughts drifting off. A flurry of questions floats behind my eyes, rapidly shooting off. How did he know to come that night? Why did he help us? Why didn’t he stay? Why did he deny being related to Mack? And how is he a friend of Jaxen’s?

“…but I told them you’d probably want to wait, since Mack and Jaxen are on their way back from Ethryeal City,” she said. “Right?”

“Huh?” I ask. “Sorry, I only caught the tail end of that.”

She stops rubbing my neck and cracks her knuckles before moving to sit in the chair in front of me. “I just said Cassie and Jezi wanted to question you about what
happened, but I told them to wait for everyone to get here, everyone meaning Elder Maddock and Jaxen. They left Ethryeal City as soon as they heard.”

Heat flares up at the mention of Jaxen. What will he say to me? Will he even speak to me? “Good,” I say, forcing out a smile. I pull my hair back to keep it out of my face and use one of her bands to tie a messy bun up on top of my head. I’m glad she’s come around, even if it took this for it to happen. I’ve missed her. “How are you? Really?” I ask, not wanting the focus to be all on me.

She shifts in her seat, tucking some of the fallen hair behind her ear. She inhales deeply, and then words spew from her mouth. “I’m…well, actually, I’m a mess. I haven’t fit in as well as I thought I would. I mean, we were so kick ass in high school…I kind of thought it would be the same, but how can it be, without you by my side? Thelma isn’t Thelma without her Louise. And then everything with Chett. I took all of my frustrations out on you. I know I did. You only did what I would have done for you. Then there was the whole scare with the Darkyn attack and finding out you were hurt. It’s been a wild and shaky first couple of months.” Her hands fly with every word until her lungs constrict her ability to speak. She gasps, sucking in air, and then exhales heavily, like every pent-up worry has finally been released.

I squeeze her hand. “I’m sorry, Kat. It hasn’t been easy for anyone, I don’t think.”

The cat hops up onto my bed. He rubs his face against my chest, purring and flicking his tail. I pet him, enjoying the soft feel of his black fur. “I guess you need a home,” I say to him. I look up at Katie and smile, and then back down at him. “And a name.” I rub behind his velvet ears. He leans into the rub as if agreeing with me. “How about…Mr. Kitty?”

The cat jumps off me, his yellow eyes almost scowling. I laugh.

“No?” I think for a moment, trying to think of something with meaning, but I don’t even know him. I haven’t learned his habits.

“You’re black,” I say, thinking out loud. “Maybe I should stick to that. How about…Raven?” The cat takes a hesitant step toward me, but doesn’t come all the way. Maybe I’m on to something. “Ebony?” I say with a laugh.

Katie joins in. “Ebony and Ivory. Ooh la la.”

The cat doesn’t move. He just squints beady yellow eyes at me.

“What about Midnight?” The cat leaps back onto my chest and settles, resuming his purring. “Midnight it is,” I say, yawning again.

A Witch nurse opens the door. “
Ahh, you’re awake,” she says, pausing in the doorway. Her eyes graze over the cat, but she never says anything about him. Her gray hair is pulled back into a tight bun. Soft wrinkles frame her mouth. Her gray eyes find mine, comfort and curiosity speckling through them. “Feeling any better?”

“Yes, thank you,” I say, adding in a smile.

Her lips take the shape of a warm smile, the kind I imagine a grandmother would wear. “You’re quite welcome,” she says. “You should be back to full strength once you meditate. We were just waiting for the effects of the potion to wear off. I’ll let the other Elders know you’re up.”

I smile, and then she shuts the door.

“I’m glad you’re better,” Katie says after a moment. I nod and lean back in the bed, shutting my eyes for a moment. There’s so much to sort out…so much confusion to unscramble. It’s almost overwhelming.

Another knock sounds on the door, and my eyes flick open. Gavin’s head pokes through. The cat hops down and back up to the windowsill.

“Hey!” I say, jumping off the bed. I rush over to him and throw my arms around his neck, squeezing him to me. He laughs and squeezes me back, wincing on his side. The moment I realize what I’m doing, I let go, stepping away from him. My face burns as bad as a sunburn. “I’m so glad you’re okay,” I say, looking to the floor.

“Same to you. We got lucky, right?” He smiles and looks past me to where Katie sits. “Is this your friend?”

“Yep.” I look over at her. “Katie, this is Gavin Gramm.”

“Nice to meet you, Gavin Gramm,” Katie says, smiling at him.

Gavin returns a small smile and moves closer to the foot of my bed. “I came by to talk to you about what happened the other night. Do you know why they came here?”

“No,” I say honestly. “Other than my unique powers, I have no idea why they’d want me or what they’d want me for. Or how they even know about me for that matter.”

He shifts his stance, scratching the dark stubble along his jawline. “I figured as much. According to Weldon, there’s been talk that they’d be coming for you. I guess whatever you did at the Culling was like a calling card to everything evil. I don’t know how they slipped past the protective barrier around the Academy, but Weldon followed them in the moment he knew something was going down. Thank God.”

“Yeah,” I say, shuddering from the thought of what would have happened had he not been there. It’s an image coated in blood, an image I want to scrub from my brain

“I’m going to ask if Weldon can be added to our circuit of trainers.” His head hangs a little, and he rubs the back of his neck.

“You are?”

“Yeah. Hopefully Mack will say yes.”

The door opens again. My heart stops at the sight of Jaxen. Memories of our last encounter, our last argument, pulse through my mind and heart. Mack steps in behind him. I see him, but I don’t take my eyes off the one who’s had me in an emotional limbo.

“Say yes to what?” Mack asks as he shuts the door behind them, the sound hollow and loud. I snap out of it and look over at Mack. He looks mildly irritated and overwhelmingly curious with a book clutched in his hand.