Your Soul to Take (Rise of the Fallen) (21 page)

Darius
turned to the Chosen and bowed low. “I thought the boy called me, but
thank you for inviting me into your home.”

“He
did call you. Or at least I told him how to call you. By the look on your face
you had little choice in the calling.”

“His
power is…unusual. What is it, young one?”

“Clarisse
has been taken.”

“I’m
sure you are mistaken. No one of the Chosen would take–”

“I’m
afraid he is correct. Look into his mind. You will see all that has transpired
as of late,” Mr. James said. I was grateful for his help. They guy was
kind of growing on me.

Darius
strode forward and looked me in the eye. I could feel him rummaging around my
head. I had the sudden urge to kick him out and throw up a mental wall. I don’t
know how I knew, but I did. If I didn’t want him in there, he had little chance
of entering uninvited. However, I wanted to save my friend. I opened up wider
and let him see everything that had happened over the past few days.

I
felt a certain memory of his daughter and I in my bedroom and blushed
furiously. He raised an eyebrow and continued his mental interrogation.

“I
see,” he said simply.

“Do
you know how to find her?”

“No.
You did all that could be done. She is still alive so she still has
purpose.”

“What
does that mean?”

“Whomever
took her, took her for a reason. She is in no immediate danger.”

“Why
would they take her?”

He
looked at me with a sad face. “I assume to get to you.”

My
heart broke. What exactly was it about me that caused people to hate me so damn
much? Why was it always those around me that had to pay the price? “This
blows ass.”

I
looked up and saw the confused look on Darius’ and Mr. James’ faces. “It
sucks,” I repeated in a more familiar phrase.

My
cell phone started ringing in my pocket. Hoping for the best, I dug in and
pulled it out. My sister’s face was on the screen. I swiped my thumb across it
and said, “Hello?”

“Do
you love me?”

It
wasn’t my sister’s voice. “Who is this?”

“Don’t
you recognize my voice?”

I
put the phone on speaker and held it out so everybody could hear. “No. I
don’t recognize your voice. Who is this?”

“I’m
disappointed. I thought what we shared was special…”

The
flash of a kiss in the mall ricocheted across my brain. It couldn’t be…
“Shannon?”

“I
knew you would get it!”

“Why
do you have my sister’s phone?”

“The
more important question is why do I have your sister. Why do I have your Fallen
friend? Why do I have the little vampire? Why am I going to take your
girlfriend? Those are the questions you should be asking…”

“Why?”
I asked the question, really wanting to know the answer. I didn’t have the
slightest clue. “Wait a minute.
You
killed Jenny? Why in the hell
would you do that?”

“Because
she saw me. She saw me when I tried to take your sister.”

“Again,
why are you doing this?”

“Because
I love you. I know you love me, too. I could feel it in our kiss. If you didn’t
have all these damn women around you, I could have proved it to you. But I
couldn’t even get close enough to talk to you let alone prove our love.”

I
felt like throwing up. A lot.

I
looked over at Jess and her face was as red as fire. I could tell she was about
twelve nanoseconds from breaking. Her father held a comforting hand on her
shoulder.

“Where
are you?” I didn’t think it would be that easy, but I had to ask.

“Why?”

“So
I can come save my friends?”

“Wrong
answer.”

“So
I can be with you,” I held up my hand to Jess as soon as the words left my
mouth and made gagging motions. And then I made crazy motions. Hopefully Jess
was good at charades.

“I
don’t believe you.”

“Oh,
believe me. You felt our kiss. You were right. From the moment your lips
touched mine, you’re all I could think about,” I said and rolled my eyes.

“If
you come, you’ll come alone?”

“Of
course.”

“You
will stay and I will let the others go.”

“Sounds
like a good deal to me.”

“Do
you swear by this?”

“I
do,” I said without thinking. Mr. James and Darius made halting signs, but
it was too late.

“Fine.
I will meet you at the mall.”

“But
it’s closed,” I said.

“I
will be in the center by the Winter Wonderland display.”

The
phone went dead.

I
looked up and saw the looks of dismay. “What?”

Mr.
James spoke first. “You just made a verbal contract.”

“Yeah?
So. I didn’t really mean it.”

“It
doesn’t matter, Connor,” Darius spoke. “You promised to trade
yourself for the lives of your sister and friends. You cannot back out…”

“Surely
there is something he can do?” Jess looked frantic and disbelieving.

“Only
through death may the contract be broken. He rushed and accepted without
knowing the consequences.”

“So
I have to kill her or marry her?” I couldn’t believe my luck. I was
getting tired as shit of all the rules I didn’t have a clue about.

Mr.
James held up his hand. “Even though she killed. Even though she called
the Council and told them of Jessie’s change. Even though she set the vampire
hunter upon your sister which damaged your home. Even though she has kidnapped
your friends and your sister, you cannot kill her. You don’t know the
repercussions.”

“What
repercussions?”

“The
end of the peace. You would start the war anew.”

Chapter 29

I
landed at the mall, without a plan, without a hope.

What
am I going to do? What am I going to do?

The
words kept repeating themselves over and over in my mind and had been since I
left the James’. The image of the hurt on Jess’ face when I said she couldn’t
come with me didn’t help either. The truth was, I didn’t trust Shannon. I
wanted Jess safe.

The
door was locked. I held my hand against the glass, pushed with a little power,
and melted it. I stepped through the gaping hole I made into the quiet. It was
weird being in the mall without music playing softly over the speakers. You
never really noticed it while you were shopping, but the mall seemed even emptier
without it.

I
walked past the pretzel shop where this whole mess started and sighed. The
weight of what was to come still rested heavily in my chest. It took only a few
moments to reach the central raised platform of the Cedar Hills Mall. It was
decorated with white flocked trees, Christmas lights, Santa’s village, and
every other commercial representation of Christmas you could imagine. Sitting atop
Santa’s throne was Shannon. At her feet were the unconscious forms of my
sister, Clarisse, and Elizabeth.

I
walked up the green carpeted ramp and stood before her. “I’m here. As
promised.”

“So
I see. I almost doubted you would show up. I’m glad I don’t have to kill these
three, although one of them would bring me pleasure.”

“You
couldn’t kill Clarisse even if you wanted to. Unless you want to restart the
war.”

“I
was talking about the vampire,” she said and nudged Liz with her toe.
“They are the creations of your warped promises. They disgust me.”

“Have
you looked in a mirror lately?”

“What?”

“Nothing.
I’m here. Let them go.”

She
stood and raised her hands. Her eyes glowed softly blue and the three of them
woke from their slumber. “Leave now, before I change my mind.”

The
three of them shook their heads. Cae gave me a look and I motioned for her to
take Liz and get the hell out of there. Clarisse, however, stood and walked to
my side. She made no motion of leaving.

“Go,”
I whispered softly.

“I
can’t. You wouldn’t leave me, so I’m staying.”

“I
apparently made a contract with this psycho. Me for you. Go.”

“No.
We’ll figure this out. I am sooo not leaving you here with her. Alone.”

“But
I’m not alone.”

We
both looked up at her. “You mean you actually found someone dumb enough to
go along with your little schemes?”

She
nodded and then looked confused. “Yes.”

Charles
stepped out from Santa’s Workshop. “You said you had nothing to do with
this!”

He
looked down at me rather smug. “I didn’t. My
sister
did.”

Well
shit.

“This
bitch is your
sister
?”

“You
didn’t know?” Clarisse sounded confused.

“No.
And I can’t believe you didn’t tell me.”

“Sorry.
Forgot you wouldn’t know.”

I
turned toward them. “So let me get this straight. Are you actually here on
behalf of the Council or did you make that up, too?”

“That
was true as well. My sister called and told me Lady Jessica had come into her
power. When I told the Council they were ecstatic, hoping she would take her
father’s place. She did keep from me the fact that she was in love with a
Fallen.” He couldn’t keep the distaste from his voice when he spoke the
word Fallen. “Then I find out my sister is in love with the exact same
beast. I guess it’s to be expected since you’re new. The taint hasn’t reached
your skin yet. I’m sure they both will tire of you after a few millennia. Or at
least my sister will. And now Lady Jessica is free to take her place on the
Council.”

This
just kept getting better and better. They
both
were bat-shit crazy.
“What do we do?” I whispered my question to Clarisse.

“I
don’t know.”

“You
leave and Connor comes with me.”

“I
can’t let him do that,” Clarisse said forcefully.

“You
don’t have a choice. He made the contract.”

“He
could kill you. He could kill the both of you,” Clarisse said deadpan,
seemingly thinking about the consequences.

“And
start a war? I think not,” Chuck answered.

Clarisse
paled. She turned to me. “Whatever you choose, I will follow. I cannot
stand to think of you trapped with her for eternity. If you fight, I will fight
with you.”

“You’d
rather start a war than see me trapped with her?”

“Yes.”

I
gulped. I think I needed to start accepting the fact that Clarisse wasn’t just
a friend. There’s not too many of those that would start a heavenly war with
you. I could see the tears welling up in her eyes. I reached out and wiped the
start of one away with my thumb.

“Don’t
touch her!” Shannon’s screech echoed through the mall like the scream of a
banshee.

Inspiration
struck. “What? You mean like this?” I leaned in and ran my hand down
Clarisse’s cheek. I continued on down over her shoulder and over her back. I
turned as I pulled her into my arms, so Shannon could see the look of false
ecstasy on my face as I wrapped my arms around her and gently kissed her neck.
Mostly
false.

I
felt Clarisse shudder in my arms and the look of fury that crossed Shannon’s
face seemed to suck the warmth from the room.

“Get
away from that
bitch!
”

“Sister,
he goads you. Do not start what you cannot finish.” Chuck put his hand
over Shannon’s arm, visibly calming her.

Well,
damn. Guess I got to up my game.

“Is
this alright?” I whispered so softly into Clarisse’s ear, I doubted that
Shannon or her brother could hear even with their super-hearing.

I
felt her nod almost imperceptibly. I ran my hands down her back and over her
butt. I winked at Shannon as I squeezed. I admit, I felt guilty using Clarisse
like that, but then again I also liked the feel of her butt. I tried not to
throw up as an image of Jess popped into my head. Barfing would just ruin the
whole effect and foil my evil plan.

Shannon
literally shook with rage. Her brother moved both hands to her shoulders, keeping
his sister from attacking and killing either or both of us.

Clarisse
pulled back, looked me dead in the eye, and leaned in for a kiss. I almost
panicked until I saw her wink at me as her lips touched mine. She had caught
onto the game and was working with me. I hoped.

Her
lips parted and I felt her tongue part mine. The kiss turned into more than
just a kiss. Her arms wrapped around me and crushed me against her. For a
moment I forgot about the mall, the bad guys, the problems we faced, life in
general, any thoughts of survival, and pretty much everything else that ran
through my brain on a daily basis. My hands squeezed the flesh of her behind as
her tongue assaulted mine.

Until
Shanria screamed.

I
looked up just as she shattered her human seeming and swelled upward into her
true Chosen form. I had seen it once. Months ago, we had fought to first blood
in the streets outside the school. She stood nearly eight feet tall and had
been the epitome of beauty. It was no wonder that mortals who had seen us in
our true form had thought us gods. Among the most beautiful, Shanria had stood
out beyond them.

That
was not the creature that stood before us now.

Still
eight feet tall, she towered above the rest of us, but gone were her wings of
silver white feathers. Gone was her snow white hair and perfect skin. Gone were
her robes of gossamer silver. Tattered leathery wings of black sprouted from
her back. She looked almost like one of the Fallen, but even in their
supposedly cursed forms they were beautiful. Clarisse had scales that looked
almost like enameled plates in beautiful hues. Her leathery wings were whole
and majestic. Shannon looked nothing like us.

Her
skin was bloated and pocked with scars and wounds. Holes were torn in her
wings. Twisted, gnarled horns sprouted from her head. Her mouth had become a
twisted nest of broken fangs. She was
hideous
and more than a little
scary. Even her brother let out gasp and separated himself from her.

“Sister!”
His words fell on misshapen deaf ears as she screeched again and attacked. Her
once beautiful flaming sword appeared, rusted in her gross-looking claws.

I
stood dumbfounded, not believing what I was seeing. As she swung her sword,
Clarisse’s stopped it inches from my head.

“Connor!
Snap out of it.”

I
shook my head and called my blades. Shannon’s attention had been taken by
Clarisse. She snarled and turned to fight her new opponent. The one who had
stolen the object of her misguided affection.

You
could feel the hatred flowing off of her in waves. She punched at Clarisse’s
blocks with short jabs of her wicked looking blade as her brother stood by and
looked revolted.

I
swung my blade at the exposed flesh between her wings, all thoughts of
contracts and wars forgotten. My blade banished itself before it ever struck
her. I stared at my empty hand in further disbelief.

Tired
of the games, Shanria smacked aside Clarisse’s blade, brought her arm back, and
struck at Clarisse’s chest. I leapt and brought my sword down in a sweeping
arc, meaning to drive her blade aside. My sword and her sword passed through
each other like optical illusions. Shanria’s blade however pierced Clarisse’s
chest and came out her back.

I
screamed. Everything stopped. Clarisse looked up at me with sad eyes and
whispered, “You broke bread with her. You cannot harm her.” Her eyes
closed and she dropped like a sack of flour, pulling herself from Shanria’s
blade with a wet
plop
. She collapsed to the ground.

I
found myself screaming a second time in a matter of moments. I dropped to my
knees, not believing my friend was gone. The blade had gone through her heart.

Tears
streamed down my face. Shannon began chuckling evilly as she wiped the blood of
my friend against her tattered clothes. I looked at her brother at a loss. He
couldn’t take his hatred filled eyes from that of his sister. I could see he no
longer considered her family. He turned and began to walk away, leaving me
alone with the monster she had become.

I
let the hatred consume every thought I had. It started deep within me and
filled me completely. Finally it threatened to overflow human form.

The
burst of magic stopped Cabriel in his tracks and he turned to look at me. His
eyes opened in surprise. I didn’t have scales, but my skin was tinged blue. My
hair flowed white from my head and hung nearly to my waist. My eyes would not
only be glowing red, they would be like rubies embedded within my face, leaving
no whites showing. I could see the smaller blue-spiraled horns protruding from
my head.

I
stood up from the ground, casting one quick glance at my friend. I held out my
hands to my side and channeled my fury, causing them to erupt into flames which
coalesced into balls of torrential fire. With one last scream, I hurled them at
Shanria.

The
explosion that followed rocked the foundation of the mall. Flames engulfed all
of us. Smoke filled the Winter Wonderland and the overhead sprinkler system
came on, dousing the flames and clearing the air.

When
we could see again, Shannon lay on the floor of the burned village. White snow
turned to ash as she huddled in her crumpled human form, two holes burned clean
through her chest. I took a few paces to close the distance between us and
tried to roll her over with my foot. She crumpled to ash.

It
was over.

Or
so I thought. A clap of thunder boomed throughout the mall as several Chosen
appeared, as well as several Fallen. I recognized Agravius of the Sages and Jun
of the Warriors, as well as Darius and Mr. James.

“What
have you done?” Darius was the first to speak as he eyed the remains of
the Chosen. His eyes then settled on Clarisse and he rushed to her side. I
didn’t have the heart to tell him that I had gotten his daughter killed.

The
Chosen gathered all called their weapons forth. Surprisingly enough, Cabriel
held up his hand, staying their weapons. “He did not do this. Shanria had
lost her senses. He merely defended himself. Read his memories if you must.”

I
stared at him like he was as crazy as his sister.

“Is
this true, young one?” Agravius strode forward and looked me in the eyes.

I
opened my mind and let him see exactly what had transpired. He nodded in
understanding.

“Cabriel
is correct. Judge for yourselves.”

So
I stood as Mr. James strode forth, and then the Chosen followed. They all dug
through my mind and got the answers they wanted or needed.