The Two Kings (Afterlife Saga) (93 page)

“Yes I could
,
but I wouldn’t, not even t
o make it so that
you do not fear me. I wouldn’t put you through that again
.
” He said bitterly and I felt ashamed, bring
ing
on another
over
flow of tears. Here was the man I loved saving my life again and he could hear my fear of him, what must he think of me!

He put me down gently, checking I was steady on my feet before leaning me back on the side of his car. He lifted
my head as though I would break
if he applied to
o
much pressure. I refused to meet his eyes
,
being too ashamed of myself.

“Keira don’t.... Please look at me
.
” He pleade
d and on hearing his voice break,
I did also. I looked up to find eyes full of pain and almost crumbled.

“I...I...I’m...so
...
rry” I managed to say but he just shook his head and told me
,

“Ssshhh
, be still
.
”
He looked down at my bound hands. I had become so used to that I had forgotten the manacles they were still in. He raised them up to inspect the markings and he mouthed some words I couldn’t hear. He then raised one of his own hands to his mouth and bit down hard enough to draw a stream of blood. I let out a little scream but he didn’t meet my eyes, as if he has been prepared for my reaction. He rubbed his bloody palms together so that both were fully covered and circled both my metal bound wrists. The fastening made the same hissing noise once they had finished spinning and unlocked, then falling from me but turning to dust before hitting the ground. He examined the skin underneath before being satisfied enough to let them go. 

He then held me tightly by the waist
to keep me up, and then
he pinned me to the car with his hands leaning on either side of me. I could feel the tears roll off my chin to the ground and like a flash of light his hand caught one mid motion. He opened his palm as if to show me. It glittered purple sparks before disappearing into his own skin and then he raised the same hand to check my injuries. He moved my hair and little strands had dried and stuck to the blood. I
couldn’t help but wince when he
pulled them, which made him stop and growl.

“He will pay for this!” He said as he let the rage flow back into him. This gave me the courage to raise my hand to hi
s face and touch him cautiously; l
ike stroking a lion that had been ready to pounce. However the effect was different, instead of getting my hand ripped off, he turned his face into my palm and closed his eyes. He seemed to be breathing me in, as if taking the essence of me to help in calming him down.

Whatever it was doing, it seemed to be working as the flex in his jaw relaxed against me, the bulging vein at the side of his forehead disappeared and his heartbeat resumed its normal rhythm. I just wanted us to get in his car and keep driving until we couldn’t get any further away from this nightmare. I wanted him to take me away from this madness and wait for normality to take us both.

“That’s not going to happen my love, normality can never exist in my world, it just isn’t possible and nor can it happen in yours...not when you belong to me
.
” He said in a deep husky voice like he found it hard to form the words I already knew to be true. I forced the tears back deep within myself and swallowed the bitterness at how so unfair the whole situation was. How many times is my life going be faced with this type of thing and survive?

“I won’t let them get you, I won’t let them hurt you,
do you hear me?
I...I will keep you safe, I swear it!” He pulled away from me and clenched his hands into tight fists
,
causing the skin over his knuckles to turn a paler purple and then white. Hearing my thoughts were bringing back his anger and I mentally scolded myself.

“Dom
!
” Leivic was approaching and the cause of our situation was brought back into view. He came from around the corner with a writhing Agnomen in tow and the last shreds of control crumbled around Draven as he let out a growl so blood thirsty, you could taste the air
change. It was like charged demonic static!

He turned his back to me and
I closed my eyes as the feel of his folded wings brushed gently across my skin. I knew I wasn’t going to want to see this and I wished I could have just kept them closed and curled into a protective ball to hide but I knew I couldn’t. I opened my eyes and saw the man I loved ignite into raging flames and the sight had me gasping for air. His wings lost their soft feathery texture and were repl
aced by flickering purple flames licking the
tips. Then they opened to their full wing span giving the dark, grey skies a new light source.

“AGNOMEN!” Draven’
s Demonic voice said his name like he was at that moment the Devil
’
s right hand man. I hated hearing Demonic voices bu
t to hear it spoken from Draven’
s lips, made it close to unbearable.

“Draven
.
” I said his name in one last attempt to keep him with me but he was far too gone now to hear my idea of reason. His only response was to turn his head slightly and give me an order I knew better than to defy.

“Keira
,
get in the car
now
and don’t watch this
.
” At least his voice had turned back to normal to tell me this. At that moment the sound of the car unlocking made me jump. My nerves were shot to
Hell
and I was just a bag made of skin still holding my bones in one piece.

I opened the door
after trying to control my shaking
hand and almost fell
on
my weak knees into the seat. The door closed on its own and t
he door locked for extra measure
. One of the two orders I had complied
with but there was no chance of
me not watching what was about to happen. I had never known what was good for me and I wasn’t about to change now. I knew full well what the consequences of my actions would be but it didn’t mean I cared!

I was going to see this nightmare through to the end, just as I had done with Morgan and how I would keep doing
for the rest of my life
even if it killed me. It was my nature and sometimes no matter how we try, there is just no changing, even if you know it to be wrong.

So
,
with this in mind
,
I rubbed the last tears out of my eyes and sat there to watch as Draven walked over to the man Leivic was dragging on the ground. The side window was down slightly from where I had opened it earlier and I was glad because now I could add words to what my eyes would witness.

It had stopped raining now but the black clouds threatened more. What was left was a sidewalk of dirty puddles and two bodies on the floor. One of which still hadn’t moved.

Now Draven had grabbed hold of Agnomen and was dragging him
closer to one of the larger puddles. I couldn’t understand what he was doing but one look at Draven told me
that
I was the only one. I could tell he had a plan and I wasn’t sure if I noticed a dark, madness creep upon those lips of his that I loved invading my own.

“Tell me
,
bounty hunter, who holds your contract?” Draven pulled him up by the
hair so that his face was above
from the floor. That was
when I had my first good look at
the man behind my attempted kidnapping. I gagged down the bile rising in my throat at the sight of one of the most disgusting faces I had ever seen.

He had dirty
,
red hair that stood in one point at the back of his head that was currently in Draven’s hand. His face looked as though made of chalk, hard and cracking around the edges. His lips were overflowing with blood and the corners came high up his cheek bones giving him a sadistic l
ook. His nose was missing, as if
it had been chopped off with only the two elongated holes and bone in the middle
remaining
.

But believe me when I say that none of these were his worst features...oh no, it was his eyes. Or at least where his eyes sho
uld have been. There instead were
two gaping holes that were filled
with moving darkness which ble
d outwards onto his face. It was only when I squinted my eyes that I noticed why it looked like the darkness beneath them was moving. I saw that they were
,
in fact
,
made up from hundreds of big, black flies that
had
all found
a
home there. Every time he winced in pain as Draven pulled him this way and that, one would fly away and retreat
from
the cruelty.

“Answer me!” Draven was losing his cool and with one hand still in his hair the other grabbed his neck and started to squeeze, releasing even more flies from hiding. He coughed out spilling even more blood to the ground
,
but no words would form.

“Your refusal to talk means signing your
sentence to
death, NOW TALK!”

“Tal...talk..ing....al
...also....signs it!” He spat out
,
just as Draven let go of his throat to allow him to speak. He dropped him to the floor and Agnomen’s hands automatically went to his neck.

“This is your last chance to give me a name
.
” Draven crossed his arms across his chest as he towered above the Demon at his feet. Like this the King in him could be easily seen. Power flooded his veins with every breath he took and with every breath I took, I knew I should not have been watching this.

“If I give you a name, you won’t kill me?” This question was not received well, the evidence of that was found in Draven’s dark laugh.

“You mistake me, your refusal to talk only signs
how
your death will happen...for it will happen! You signed it when you try TO TAKE HER FROM ME!” He demonically screamed o
ut this last part which made Agnomen
cower closer to the ground.

“But your death
, you can choose. T
ell me what I need to know and it will be swift. It is far more than you deserve. However
,
if you choose the other, then be prepare
d
to start praying to a God you do not worship. For nothing but he could save you the pain!” He did not give him long to decide. He walked over to one of the largest puddles
, knelt
down and placed his hand in the murky rain water.

“
IN
nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Emitte Spiritum tuum et creabuntur: et benedic hoc aquam manuum Dei
Amen.”
( Means “
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Send forth Thy Spirit and they shall be created and bless this water by god’s hands.
Amen.
 
» In Latin) 

The word
s of perfect Latin flow
ed
out of Draven with a pride I have never seen before. He circled his fingers through the water and it soon turned crystal clear then sealed itself with a
n icy top. Draven removed
his hand
just in time as the frost worked
its
way into the middle. He then got up from
one knee and walked back to his prisoner.

Agnomen tried in vain to worm away but Draven was quickl
y above him once more and took
hold of his
head to
drag
him towards the
frozen puddle
of Holy Water
. I watched on, wide eyed and curious as to what he planned to do. 
Agnomen saw
his doom and started to twist and claw at
the pavement. Before long he was
leaving thin trails of blood after his fingers,
as his nails had
filed dow
n to the bone
.

Draven
soon
dragged
him to the spot, despite all his painful efforts
and held
his face above
the icy glass that mirrored Agnomen’s
terrified face.

“You have chosen your fa
te...NOW FACE IT!” Draven shouted
in anger before forcing his head down
wards. The last of the flies ca
me out at once
in a black swarm,
f
orcing his head backwards slightly but onc
e they had all scattered, nothing wa
s left to prevent his strange torture from being inflicted.

I watch
ed
on in horror as his head smash
ed
through the ice
and as soon as contact was made the water started
to
rise and bubble around him. He writhed
around in pain
, but Draven held his head firm. His body wa
s desperate to b
reak
lo
o
se and his sticky folded
wings tried to open. Draven simply reacted
by holding the back of his head with one hand and gripping one wi
ng with the other. He then yanked back taking
the wing with his arm, ripping
it from the Demon. More pain could
be heard but Draven
was
unmoved
and just threw the wing
aside like a piece of trash.