The 13th Prophecy (5 page)

“Thanks to you.”
Eric was still leaning against the wall. His arms were folded over his chest as he glared at Collin. Glancing at me, he added, “You can’t seriously think he’s coming with us?” He spoke as if he forbade it, as if he could tell me what to do. Anger coursed inside of me, but I didn’t get a word in.

Collin laughed and turned around, walking back toward Eric. Eric remained where he was, his confident slump unfazed by Collin’s approach. “You can’t think I’d let her wander off with you. Last time I saw
you,
you shredded a pack of demons and turned their scales into confetti.” More things Eric wasn’t supposed to be able to do.

Eric pushed off the wall, standing eye to eye with Collin. “I wouldn’t bring up that day if I were you. Possessed by a demon or not, you’re the one who killed the Guardian and opened the floodgates of Hell. It was your hand that destroyed her life—her world.” Eric tilted his head to the side, gesturing toward me. He made it clear that Collin fucked up my life. A smile slowly slid across Eric’s lips. “That day things changed, and I ended up fighting for the other side.
Her side.
I protected her. You did not.”

Collin gnashed his teeth. His fists were balled at his sides. The muscles in his arms were corded tight, ready to fight. “I had no choice that day or any other before it,” he growled. “But you did. How did you survive if you didn’t kill mortals? You should have been weak, but you weren’t. What did you do?”

Eric was staring at Collin. His body looked like it would explode. He breathed through his teeth, ready to attack. But when Collin said the last question, Eric’s eyes flicked to my face. It was a split second that wasn’t intentional. But I saw it. Me. I was the answer to that question. He wasn’t weak because of me. He didn’t have to kill because of me.

Rage exploded in my mind. And I shoved myself between them and slammed my fists into Eric’s chest. His fingers crushed into my wrists after the first blow, grabbing my hands hard. “Me. It was me! Wasn’t it? You used my soul. You used my body to sustain yourself!” I looked up into his face and knew my words were true. I knew that I guessed right. Eric’s face made no movement to show remorse. There was no apology in his eyes. If anything, there was laughter—a slight arrogance that he was able to take from me for so long. Collin moved to help me, but I twisted out of his grip on my own. And then I shoved him, yelling, “You didn’t kill anyone, because you took everything you had to have to survive from me. That’s why I felt weak when you searched my memories. You were stealing my soul!”

Anger coursed through me and connected in a sudden jolt. I felt it flare up my arms. I smacked my palms into Eric’s chest again, but this time the force was loaded with power. It sent him flying through the stone wall that separated the stage from the seating area below. The cinderblock cracked as he flew backward into the carnage that was left of the auditorium. Half the roof had been ripped off, revealing the wintery sky. Eric landed hard, ripping out a row of chairs as he slid across the floor. The power of my hit surprised me, but I didn’t stop. He couldn’t keep doing shit like this. And stealing my soul! What the fuck?

I sprang through the hole in the wall and went after Eric, before Collin could stop me. Eric wasn’t mortal. I didn’t know what he was, but I kept making him worse.
More vile.
More deplorable.
And the whole time he’d been draining me, he’d been making me weaker.
Making me more likely to fail.
Before Eric could get up, I slammed my fist into his stomach and pinned him to the pile of rubble, kneeling hard on his stomach.

“You know you liked it,” he hissed as my fist flew. The punch connected with his face and I heard bones crack. Blood poured from his nose and dripped down his chin.

The rage that fueled me allowed me full access to my emotions. And the crimson trail that was on his lip made my back go rigid as the scent of his blood slammed into me. I didn’t expect it. And from the look on his face, neither did Eric. The scent of his blood filled my mind, freezing me in place. It was too much. There was too much raw emotion within me. I wanted a taste.
A drop.
I had to have it. I leaned forward and licked the trail of blood, pressing my eyes closed as I did it.

Before I had more than a tiny taste, Collin grabbed me by the waist and yanked me off of Eric. I went slack in his arms, instantly regretting what I’d done. Eric made me so mad. I just wanted to best him. I wanted to win and show him that he shouldn’t screw with me. And now my message was blurred with blood. My throat tightened as Collin gently lowered me to the floor. Eric’s blood burned inside of me, like
a warmth
that I was missing. It sealed out the coldness, and connected me to him in a way that I didn’t want.

“Enough!” Collin yelled, as he pulled me back. Shock was in his voice. He scolded me, not saying anything about the blood. Not saying anything about the shame plastered across my face. “You have to stop. Ivy, you know about
Akayleah
. You know you can’t let it control you.” I breathed hard, fighting the instincts that were warring inside of me. One wanted to rip Eric’s clothes off and lick the blood from his lips—the other instinct just wanted to rip him apart.
Akeyleah
and bloodlust warring within me.

My voice cracked, “Collin, I…
 
” I wanted to explain. I felt the need to tell him what Eric did to me. Why I acted like that, but he turned on Eric before I got out another word.

Collin’s eyes rimmed. He looked at Eric as he pulled himself up and wiped the blood from his face. Collin approached him, saying, “And you...” Eric’s eyes darted toward Collin, narrowing. “You have two seconds to explain before I kill you. I don’t care why she wants to protect you. Not after this. You’ve been giving her blood! Convince me that you didn’t weaken her. That you weren’t feeding off of her soul...” Collin moved toward Eric. With each step, my heart lurched inside my chest. “Convince me or I’ll kill you myself.” Collin drew his blade. The jagged black edge pointed toward Eric’s gut.

Eric glanced at the blade and back at Collin’s face. “I held my own when you had Kreturus’ power. What makes you think you could possibly kill me now?”

“Wrong answer,” Collin hissed and moved his arm to land the blade in Eric’s stomach.

Before I knew what happened, I was between the two of them, blocking Collin’s blade. “You can’t,” I breathed. “I need the stone. He knows where it is.” This was the second opportunity Eric had to run and save himself, but he didn’t leave. The scent of his blood filled my head, as Collin forced me behind him.

“He’s using you, Ivy. His blood is still filled with demon blood. I can smell it. And I know you want it.” Collin’s eyes were pooling blood red. He spoke to Eric, “I let you live last time. Make no mistake about it. But this time, this time you aren’t leaving this place alive.” Collin’s threat didn’t make Eric move. Instead it appeared to enrage him.

Eric pushed me aside and walked up to Collin. They stood eye to eye. “Valefar need souls to feed off of to survive. When was the last time you ate?” Collin’s anger streamed across his face, but Eric cut him off. “Yeah, well, I didn’t eat much either. But, unlike you, I could control myself. It was a benefit of being Ivy-made. She made me what I am! I wasn’t like the rest of the Valefar. I only took what I needed. I needed her pain, her blood. And yes, I did take some of Ivy’s soul.” He glared at me with vicious eyes. Eric’s jaw clenched as he tore his gaze away. “It was mine to take. She owed me a debt she couldn’t pay. Sound familiar?” he spat the question at Collin.

Collin shoved Eric and moved toward him. Eric remained eerily calm and took the hit without backing down. Collin screamed, “Ivy owes you nothing! You have no blood bargain with her!
 
You have no claim to her soul!”

Eric laughed, causing the pit of my stomach to drop. It was cold and callused. It was the laughter of the crazy Eric that hated every ounce of me. “I have every right to her soul. She took mine. She damned me. It was her action and hers alone that made me what I am. I am hers more than you’ll ever be.” Eric’s golden eyes narrowed on mine. We locked gazes and he wouldn’t let me look away. “She owes me. It goes beyond a blood bargain. She owns me and I own her.” He laughed. “Look at her face. You can see it in her eyes. That’s why she didn’t kill me. That’s why she let me do it. She knew. She felt it, and allowed me to take her power and use it. As long as it suited her …
  
She condemned herself to this fate. It was her doing, not mine.”

Collin turned, searching my face. His eyes met mine. It was as if he saw something within me. Something that said Eric was right. Eric had a claim on me. A claim I didn’t understand and couldn’t deny. There was no way to explain it. We were connected somehow, and it was more than blood and lust. There was something else tying us together. From the look on Eric’s face, I suspected he knew what it was. But I didn’t. And neither did Collin.

Eric’s voice was quiet, menacing, as he said to Collin, “If you challenge me, if you force me to fight, I’ll use her power. I’ll drain her completely. Then the two of you will be screwed. Kreturus will capture her. She’ll go down without a fight and you’ll be Kreturus’ slaves for eternity.”

As Eric spoke, I stood there with my jaw hanging open. He was threatening to use my power against me? Was he that twisted? I didn’t believe it. I finally found my voice, challenging him, “And what happens to you, then? You think Kreturus won’t destroy you?”

A smile tugged the corners of his lips. Golden eyes met mine as he answered, “I don’t care what he does.” Eric’s voice slid down my spine like a piece of ice. My gaze locked on his face. Eric moved toward me. He glanced at Collin once to make sure he didn’t
move,
that Collin wouldn’t stop him. Collin tensed, but remained still, beside me. “The only thing I do care about is making your life as painful as possible.” Eric smiled, the corner of his lips pulling up as he whispered the words in my face.

I tensed, desire shooting through me. Eric’s eyes slid over my body and I let him. I let his gaze linger on my curves. I’d let him do anything he wanted to me. And I didn’t understand. It made no sense. I should destroy him, but I couldn’t do anything except look away. I turned from Eric, not concerned that he was at my back. Any other enemy behind me would be a mistake, but not with Eric. When he killed me, he’d want to see the light fade from my eyes, face to face.

I shook my head, stopping in my tracks and turned back to Eric. I walked to the former angel. “The only reason you can claim anything from me is because I let you. It’s because I’m not completely evil, and you are. Eric, every time your life changes, you’re filled with hatred. Al paired us together because we are the same. Anger was shaping us into what we would become. When you lost Lydia, Al was there. She warned you. I know you remember. I know those memories are in your mind. I know you can see Lydia’s eyes, and hear the screams rip out of her throat as she was slaughtered. Anger made you what you are. Rage shaped what you became and Al was right—we are the same.”

Eric’s expression appeared to be indifferent as I spoke. His slumped shoulders and I-don’t-give-a-rat’s-ass glare would have made me question the point of saying this to him. But I knew he heard me. There were moments when Eric was soft, when he seemed more like the person he had been. And now that he had his soul back, he could reclaim that person—if he chose to.

I swallowed hard, refusing to look away from his eyes as I bared my deepest fears and darkest thoughts, “I was in full crash and burn mode when we met. I watched you and your perfect life—your perfect notes,
your
perfectly pressed shirts, and your perfectly white sneakers—and I envied you. You said I didn’t see you, that I didn’t notice, but I did. It was painful to look at you. It was agony to hear your chipper voice when my world was falling apart. Your smiling face brought me nothing but pain. It reminded me that life didn’t make sense. Bad things happened to good people.

“Anger clouded your judgment.
Even then.
It took you lifetimes to abate your lust for vengeance. And it never healed you. You were never the same. You wore a mask, a fake facade to hold yourself together. And I sat next to you, every day doing the same damn thing.” I laughed, pointing my finger into his chest, looking up into his face. “You and I were so much alike.” I pressed my lips together and shook my head. “But not anymore... I’m done with this. I’m doing what I think is right, and to hell with everyone else.
Including you!”

Eric’s gaze was locked on my glistening eyes. His expression didn’t change while I spoke. I had no idea what he thought. He just continued to stare, taking in my words one at a time until I fell silent. Eric turned his back and walked away. He reached for the metal door to the basement, and tugged it open, not stopping or waiting.