Falter (17 page)

I closed my eyes and spun in a circle on the balls of my feet, swiping the sword through the air as I turned—determined to exterminate any monsters standing within range. Two loud thuds satisfied my ears. The giant mutated bodies collapsed on the ground. Puffs of ash billowed upward from the open-ended necks of the beheaded corpses lying next to the altar. I pinched my nostrils closed with my thumb and forefinger, squinting to see beyond the clouds of dust. The massive bodies of those still thriving joined in a new circle and drove toward me.
 

They came from all directions, seizing my legs, yanking on my clothes, and knocking me off of the platform. More pain seared my skull when I smacked against the marble floor. I fell so forcefully I couldn’t regain focus this time. Mountains of evil bodies stacked on top of me, heavy and suffocating.
 

Sweet metallic blood drained from somewhere in my sinuses and trickled down the back of my throat. The pressure in my head was nearly enough to make my head explode.

Screeching and deep, throaty grunts rang in my ears. Covetous hunger flared in their black eyes as they sunk knobby claws into my skin and gnawed on me through sealed mouths. Even without the ability to open their lips and take a bite, their ravenous jaws crushed down on my arms and legs through the layer of skin blocking their teeth and tried their damnedest, intent on tearing into my limbs. My body jerked and convulsed as they attempted to eat me, aching numbness filling the bits of flesh pressed too tightly.
 

Groans of exasperation reverberated above my broken body. They stopped; I assumed because they weren’t getting any satisfaction from gnashing me to death without results. My eyes, swollen nearly shut by the beating I took, cracked opened to see the creatures ripping the membrane over their jaws. They pulled and picked the burnt flesh with their sharp, bloody nails, desperate to create the mouths they were denied.
 

The monsters knelt over me, starving, with holes in their leathery skin, yielding glimpses of rotted teeth. One of them pushed an awkward tongue-like muscle through a gash in its flesh. It slowly leaned down on all fours, hovering over me, and trailed its sticky, foul-smelling tongue over the blood oozing from my cheek. The monster sat back on its heels, its evil expression shifting to one of demented ecstasy as it rolled its black tongue against the roof of its mouth and savored every last taste of me. Tremors rolled down my spine at the sight, knowing that the demon would come back for more.
 

My chest tightened, anticipating them all diving in at once to feast on me, but instead piercing screams sounded in unison. A territorial riot broke out over which fiend would get my body first. The massive forms pommeled and threw each other, kicking and trampling me in the process. I attempted to move but didn’t have the strength. My broken body was too weak from the pain and abuse.

A warm puddle spread around me, soaking into my hair, warming the back of my head as it lay on the hard floor.
 

All I could think was,
Where are you? You should be by my side
.
 

My eyelids grew heavier by the second. I fought to stay awake, but the pull was too much. The heartbeat ringing in my ears slowed and was becoming more distant.
 

I grew angry and enraged at the circumstances, yet I couldn’t find the means to voice even the tiniest curse.
 

He could have stopped this.
God
could still save me. If he wanted to.
 

What was the point of so many trials if I wasn’t going to make it any farther than this?
 

I shivered on the cold floor, helpless and limp, the agonizing pain and relentless bleeding dulling my light. Shallow, irregular gasps rushed from my diminishing body.

From some place on the outskirts of the cathedral, floating on the wings I longed to touch, I inhaled his essence, his taste sweetening the copper on my tongue. The familiar sugary fragrance comforted me, beckoning me away from the evil warfare reducing me to ruins. I let go and focused on the peace promised by his energy, fleeing to a safe place within my memories.

A smoldering hand pulled at my leg, yanking me from the group of monsters. The rough fingers burned into my flesh like hot coals, distracting me from my happy musings. My skull banged against uneven slats of marble as the lone demon lugged me away from the protesting horde behind us.

After several feet, the dragging stopped. A moment of relief came in the dark corner, away from the brawling demons, but I knew it wouldn’t last long. I slowly rolled my throbbing head toward the rogue monster, wondering why it hadn’t dragged me to my death yet.
 

Teeth gnawed behind its torn, gnarled flesh, preparing for the meal of a lifetime. Coal-colored eyes landed on the banquet at its feet—me.
 

 
The demon’s concentration wavered, its head jerking toward the ceiling in search of something unseen. It sucked deep breaths in through its bony nose and exhaled puffs of smoke through the rips in its disfigured face. Finally, it noticed the odor that wasn’t native to the church, the incense no longer masking the divine scent of the angels.
 

My leg dropped from the monster’s hand and crashed to the floor. A fresh surge of pain filled my lower body. Clicking and screeching began again, undoubtedly warning the others that they were not alone. Then, sudden silence saturated the air.
 

The pause before the big show.

The demons’ heavy frames stomped toward each other, abandoning me to reunite against the greater threat.
 

A low rumble pulsated through the church, rebounding off the stone like the drone of thousands of hummingbirds amplified. The cathedral’s walls and floor shuddered under the intense power emitted by the angels’ beating wings. A gust of wind rushed through the building, stirring dirt and debris into little eddies around me. I choked on the mouthfuls of grime and dust thickening the blood pooling in my throat.

Majestic roars sang out from the vaulted ceiling as the heavenly soldiers flew out of the shadows. The high-pitched blend of musical notes was beautiful but unbearably sharp. I gritted my teeth as the echoes of their yells built pressure in my head, forcing warm liquid to trickle from my ears.
 

Fiendish screeches from the demons interjected, signaling the start of the other-worldly battle.
 

My eyelids closed. Booms from massive bodies colliding and dropping from above sent shivers down my spine. I hoped that it was the monsters falling, not the angels.
 

The pungent odor of ash and soot wafted into my nose. A good sign I thought, until the occasional wet, sticky fluid spattered against my skin and sunk me back into unease.

A soft breeze traced over my body, soothing the heat of dozens of open wounds. I clung to the breeze like it was my first gasp of oxygen after almost drowning. The heavy, smoke and ash laden air that filled my chest lightened, permitting his honeyed fragrance to permeate each audible gasp.
 

He hovered over my broken body and brush his fingers across my cheek, assuring me that he heard my prayers of desperation. The gentleness of his touch pulled me back from my impending oblivion. His beautiful face beamed down on mine, careful not to hint at how bad the situation was. A quick shimmer of his aqua-blue eyes gave him away though. Sympathy, love, and defeat hid in their depths, his hardened expression doing little to disguise the sorrow and concern he was trying to bury deep inside.
 

I wanted to tell him how I felt, but it was too late for sharing feelings. Many times had passed in our moments together when I should have said something, made my confession and not been so stubborn. Now we’d never know what might have been.

I struggled to keep sight of him, but couldn’t stay awake any longer. Visions of him holding me in his arms enticed me away from reality and lulled me to an endless sleep.
 

I thought I heard a whisper of endearment drifting on the breeze of his wings as he left me for battle. The words, “I love you, Nevaeh,” replayed over and over in my fading thoughts.

Whether it was real or not, I wasn’t sure, but it would carry me into my last moments of this life, and hopefully into the next.
 

Surrender came swift to the unbeatable power pulling me under. My heart was satisfied enough to rest.

CHAPTER TEN

A Moment of Weakness

“Nevaeh? Nevaeh!” Gavyn frantically shouted, stumbling down the stairwell.
 

His knee hit my back when he knelt behind me. Strong, worried hands grasped my shoulders like they were keeping me from floating away. He shook me and yelled my name, but I was unable to answer. I was paralyzed. My ability to feel and hear everything around me was crystal clear, yet I couldn’t speak, see, or move. Gavyn spun me around and laid me across his legs, cradling me in his arms. Quick, shallow breaths warmed my cheek, but the comfort of that wasn’t enough to stop the chaos in my mind.

My head swam with mysterious tableaus of the vision I’d just experienced, yet my failing memory dissipated the images as if my brain was rejecting them. The few scenes that remained faded under a foggy mask, rendering it impossible for me to make out exactly what they were. Momentary flashes of bright lights followed a second’s worth of clear shot, but nothing made sense.

Jumbled voices and sounds narrated the tableaus, similar to a busy street with everyone talking at once from every direction. I couldn’t recognize a single person or thing. The noise, like the vision, faded too, forgotten along with the countless nightmares I’d recently had. My head throbbed from the constant shifting, and I felt drunk with dizziness. I waited for the last of the effects to subside, helpless and comatose.

“Heeeelp!” Gavyn cried out next to me. “Somebody, help! We’re in the stairwell!” The last few words trailed off as he realized no one would hear over the chattering café. He rocked us back and forth, waiting for me to return to him.
 

The passing minutes felt like forever, but slowly Gavyn’s handsome face materialized. I watched for a moment to make sure what I saw was actually him and not another image flashing before my eyes.
 

He held me with his eyes closed, his head turned up toward the ceiling. Panic struck when I saw his mouth moving and no sound coming from it. Maybe this
was
another flash photo.
 

Suddenly, I could feel my arms working to reach for Gavyn, reaching for some minute of grip on reality. He jerked his head down to look at me. His worried eyes filled with relief and he smiled. His strong, protective hand covered my cheek, pressing my head into his chest.

“I thought I was imagining you. I couldn’t hear you talking,” I explained through relentless tears.

“I was asking someone else for help.” He reached up and smoothed my tousled hair. “You might want to try it sometime.” A forced grin curved his lips.

I clung to him and wept until my tear ducts were dry as a bone. My life had become too much for me to handle. I was losing the only man I considered family, my mind was turning into mush, I couldn’t trust my senses anymore, and I certainly couldn’t trust my heart. This release was a long time coming.

With his arms tight around me and his chin resting on top of my head, Gavyn sat in silence, allowing me to finish my breakdown. It was so comfortable with him. I didn’t want to pull myself away. However, the time came when I was drained, and we had to move out of the moment.

I looked up at him through my puffy, swollen eyes and took a couple of deep, shuddering breaths to calm my nerves. I hiccupped between gasps, struggling to gain control of my breathing. “I can’t take this anymore.” My voice was low and shaky. “I don’t understand what I’m supposed to do. I keep seeing things, but not in a way I can make any sense of them. What am I supposed to do, Gavyn?” I opened myself to him. There was no one else to help me and, hey, maybe there’s a chance he won’t think I’m a complete nut and run.

“I don’t know what to do any more than you do, but I’ll be here for you however I can while you try to figure it out.” He quickly looked away like he didn’t want me to see something hiding in his eyes, like he had an answer but wasn’t ready to share it. “When you’re ready to talk about what you’ve seen, let me know and I’ll listen.” He looked back down at me with a smile that didn’t extend to his eyes.
 

His fingers combed through my hair, stopping at the back of my head. His expression softened, and our eyes fixed on each other. The pressure of his hand on my head hardened just enough to guide me toward him.
 

There was no urge to resist. I wanted to kiss him. A bundle of emotions and flutters whirled inside me as he lowered his mouth to my forehead. He pulled back and slid his other hand under my chin. The gentle nudge of his fingertips on my jaw brought our mouths to alignment. He closed his eyes, lips slightly parted, and waited for me to touch my lips to his. I fully intended to accept the invitation this time. I moved in and paused to enjoy the warmth of his strawberry breath on me.
 

The door flew open with a bang next to us, and we jerked away from each other.
 

“What are you doing?” Layla’s eyes sparked with hate and jealousy when she saw us.