Flynn and I scuttled along the ballroom wall. Despite the large space, people bumped into us on every side. So many Clunaics and Kingsmen, all to be honored for their brave work. The buffet spread was impressive, but my stomach twisted too much to eat. I had to watch for…well, whatever an assassin looks like.
The King and Monik sat upon a dais, several kingsmen and the rest of my Parish behind them. My father stood beside the King. My heart beat fast as he stared out at the crowd, watchful eyes dark. I ducked out of his sight.
Despite all the people, Mavie stood out. She wore a bright yellow dress and spun from group to group, likely in search of her brother. Her gaze passed over me and she did a double take. A big grin stretched across her face and she skipped over to me. She couldn't know it was me, could she?
"Hello, fellow lady. How are you on this wonderful day?" Her eyes twinkled and she bit her lip, on the verge of laughter. Oh, she knew. I don't know how she recognized me so fast, but she better not blow my cover.
"Ah, um, I'm doing well," I stuttered. "How are you?"
"Well, I love parties so I'm doing marvelous!" She hooked her arm through mine. "Come on, I'll show you around."
I shot a desperate look to Flynn. I didn't want to be dragged into the middle of all this. Mavie followed my gaze and her grin stretched impossibly wider. "Oh, your friend can join us. I'm sure she will have a great time."
"Thanks so much for the invitation," Flynn stated dryly as Mavie dragged us into the crowd. She flitted through the crowd with expertise and introduced us to so many people their names swam and mixed until I couldn't remember a single one. It was good to meet so many people, it gave us more opportunities to look for anything off. Didn't make it any more pleasant, though.
"Mavie," A deep voice called. Mavie squealed, literally squealed, and dropped my arm as she spun around.
She ran into the arms of a man with a blond ponytail and green eyes. "Kivani! Oh angels, it's been so long!"
He pat her back. With a chuckle he said, "I missed you too."
"You must be the infamous brother." I reached out a hand. "Nice to finally meet you."
He took my hand and gave it a firm shake. "Guilty. And you are?"
Thankfully, Mavie stepped in. "This is my friend Falia, and this is her friend Flyona. They've made the Center so much more enjoyable. I'm so glad you get to meet them!" I did not appreciate the way she continued to giggle over the word 'her' but there wasn't much I could do about it. Flynn elbowed me in the ribs and I remembered to smile.
"Speaking of meeting people, I have someone I'd like to introduce you to," Kivani said to Mavie.
Mavie gasped. "Did you finally find yourself a girl?" Kivani's red cheeks were answer enough. Mavie squealed. Was anything ever not squeal worthy? "That is too perfect! I'd love to meet her!" She glanced back at me. "Will you be alright on your own?"
"Of course, go enjoy yourself." It had been nice of her to help us out, but we didn't need a babysitter. She waved as she scampered after Kivani, in the direction of the buffet.
Flynn shook his head. "She has…so much energy."
"She's great," I scolded.
He raised a hand in surrender. "I never said she wasn't." He dropped his hand and his playful expression fell from his face. "What should we do? I don't exactly know what an assassin looks like."
"Well, we've scoured the crowd without luck. Let's get closer to the Monik. If something happens, it'll be over there."
It was as good a plan as any, so we wove our way closer to the dais. Halfway there, a man in a Clunaic uniform who smelled of too much wine grabbed Flynn's arm.
"Come here, gorgeous," he said, his words slurred. The ball had barely started, he had a lot of nerve to arrive so drunk. "You look like you need a real man in your life." His brazenness startled me out of motion. I didn't know how to handle such a situation. Luckily, Flynn was not dissuaded.
"And you think you're that man?" Flynn asked. His feminine voice was as perfect as his looks.
"Goddamn right I am." He puffed his chest, hand still tight around Flynn's arm. "I killed 22 demons this year alone. The Monik himself promoted me to Holy Knight this morning."
Flynn twisted his arm free. "Unfortunately, I have something to attend to."
"Oh come on, I deserve a little reward for all my hard work. I'm out there putting my life on the line for people like you, show a little respect." The man lunged forward, grabbing at Flynn again. He dodged out of reach.
I stepped in front of Flynn. "Keep your hands to yourself," I snapped.
The man regarded me for a second, then shook his head. "Maybe if you smiled more, you'd be pretty like your friend." He took a step closer and I refused to move.
"Back off," I barked. Flynn touched my shoulder.
"Is this Clunaic bothering you?" a new voice asked. A few Kingsmen glared at the drunk man. Flynn nodded and the Kingsmen stepped in to escort the drunk away. Flynn tugged my wrist and we stepped back into the crowd. There were more cries as other Clunaics protested the removal of their comrade, but that only caused more kingsmen to join in. It wasn't violent, but better to get away from the whole mess.
We strode towards the dais and stopped about ten feet away. I scanned the crowd. My father walked straight for us, a large piece of cloth in hand. I braced to be recognized by him, just as Mavie had. Maybe he'd ask to speak to me privately and I could finally get the answers I needed. I clinched the skirt of my dress.
My father's gaze flitted over my face without pause. He strode past without a second glance. I stared after him.
Flynn released my wrist. "I'll be right back." He took off towards the dais, and tapped my father on the shoulder. I narrowed my eyes, sure my father would shrug him off. But he didn't. My annoyance grew into concern. My stomach twisted and knotted. I didn't want Flynn around my father. Nothing good could come from it. But I couldn't make myself go interrupt. Flynn was probably arguing the case for the Island, it would be odd for me to insert myself. They chatted for a full minute or two. When they parted, Flynn returned to me and my father took the steps up the dais.
"What the hell was that?" I asked under my breath, as the King announced his gift for the Monik.
"Nothing, just had to ask the King's advisor something," Flynn said. If it were about the Island, he'd just tell me. I glared at my father, who unrolled a tapestry before the Monik's feet. It was a large circle with various symbols. The paint was flaky and crumbly.
"That man is dangerous. What were you doing with him." My father could not have Flynn. Not in any way.
"How would you even know that? He's been perfectly helpful." The King stared at the tapestry in confusion, as did the Monik.
"He's my father," I hissed. I didn't exactly mean to say it, but the look of shock on Flynn's face was worth it.
"Your father is the king's advisor?" He repeated. My father bent down to adjust something on the tapestry.
"Yes. Try to keep up. Now, tell me what you were talking about."
Flynn studied me for a second, and I hoped my desperation didn't bleed through on my face. But I needed to know what my father was doing with the boy I liked— even if it was just as a friend.
Flynn sighed. "Fine. He helped me awhile back with my magic and I was asking-" A boom shattered the air. I jolted into a defensive position, and reached for my absent sword. My father stepped back, off the dais and into the crowd. A bolt of lightning sizzled through the glass ceiling and struck the tapestry. The king's daughters shrieked but no one had time to move before a dark tear appeared on the ground beneath the tapestry. A tear, here? But it was too round, too perfectly shaped.
I didn't have time to ponder these mysteries as a large demon who looked almost human burst from the tear. With a sweep of his arm, long claws extended from fingertips, and he sliced through the Monik's gut. The Monik stared in shock at his middle, a shredded and bloody mess. His head lolled to the side. Leith leapt forward to grab the Monik before he could collapse to the ground.
Screams filled the air as the demon turned towards the king. Arawn, Torin, and Maddox sprang into action. The Kingsmen trembled in their boots, unsure how to handle demons.
"Get the King out of here," Arawn shouted at them. They surrounded the king, swords out and eyes wide with fear. Bodies slammed into me as people fled.
The demon laughed, a gravely and rough sound. "You think a few humans can stop me?" He reached over to the wall behind the throne and drew a rune with the Monik's blood in a few quick strokes. A new tear ripped through the wall, and demons burst through in droves.
I'd never even know it was possible for demons to summon demons. He must be an incredibly high level. My Parish immediately began to battle the mongrels. Flynn and I pushed our way towards them but the crowd pressed us back. The general turned towards the king. We had to get up there.
Someone shouted, "Ara, get out of here! Help people evacuate!"
Ara? I spun to see Kivani, the blond Clunaic, and a girl with chestnut hair and brown eyes. My brain stopped and my breath caught. Everything slowed and all I could see was her. Samara. Alive. I took a step towards her.
"Zinerva!" Flynn cried, shaking me. I blinked at my sister, as though waking from a trance. Flynn shook me again and I looked at him, still dazed by the revelation that my dead sister was not, in fact, dead.
Flynn had shed his wig and held his largest dagger. I quickly followed suit and slashed a cut up the side of my dress, ankle to hip. We had to move. We had to get to Ara–no, our Parish. But Ara was just ahead. We could pass her on our way.
I watched Ara as we ran and caught her voice, lower than when she was ten, but still very much her. "We need to smear the rune to stop the portal!" I turned my gaze to the rune behind the throne.
I stumbled when the powerful demon disappeared, only to reappear right in front of Ara. A scream built in my throat but I was still too far away to help. Flynn tugged me toward the dais. I struggled and the demon smacked Kivani back. He flew at least ten feet, into a pillar.
Ara had a sword, though I have no idea where she'd got it. She struck at the demon to no avail. He evaded her with the ease of a parent playing with a child.
"What are you doing," Flynn screamed in my ear.
"I have to help her," I cried, eyes never leaving Ara as she fought. She was alive, through some miracle, but if this went on she wouldn't be for much longer.
"The Monik is our mission, not that demon," Flynn said. He didn't understand.
"That's my sister!" I tore from his grip. My heart leapt to my throat when the demon struck a deadly blow, but Ara teleported away, towards Kivani. I stopped. Teleported? My sister couldn't teleport. She had illusion magic.
Flynn grabbed me again. "Fallon, your sister is dead. That can't be her."
"But she is," I whispered. Wasn't she? The girl who had to be my sister, because there was no other explanation, stood there as the demon crept towards her.
People shoved against us, but far fewer. Mongrel demons prowled through them. They tore at flesh and bone as they went. There were hundreds of Clunaics and kingsmen, it shouldn't have been a slaughter. But it was.
There wasn't time to help everyone. Mavie's yellow dress drew my attention as she slipped through the room. Thank the angels. We pressed forward, we had to get to the Monik.
Samara furrowed her brow and wings sprung from her back. Horns poke through her hair. I gaped as her hair turned black and her eyes golden. This had to be a hallucination. I shook my head and pressed my palms to my eyes. Nothing changed. Samara stood there, in all her demonic glory. What the hell had my father done?
I couldn't help her. Maybe she was still Samara under all that, but I would just be in the way. I followed Flynn numbly as he tugged me toward the dais, where our Parish tried to stop the flow of demons that poured through the circular tear. There were too many. I shook my head. I had to focus.
The rune the first demon wrote in blood on the stone wall. My Parish fought near it. If we could get to them–
A mongrel demon leapt at me and I caught it on my sword. Flynn ran another through the throat as we passed. The floor was slick with blood and layered in bodies.
I grabbed the sword of a fallen Clunaic at the base of the dais and leapt up the stairs. I swung the blade and slice clean through the neck of a mongrel. Several other Clunaics had joined the battle upon the dais.
We had to smear the rune. The rune, far behind dozens of demons. We couldn't get to it. But, maybe we could break it. I turned to Flynn. "Watch my back."
I didn't wait for a response. I crouched to the ground and dropped my sword and dagger. I gritted my teeth and pressed my palms to the rock. I fed my mana into the stone floor and urged it to spread out and take control. Demon blood sprayed the side of my face but I didn't open my eyes. Deeper, further, I commanded it. Sweat coated my face but I didn't let up. My control stretched up the wall, inch by inch. I strained my hands as they cramped with effort. I'd prepared for this my entire life. I wouldn't fail now. Just a little further…
My mana swirled behind the rune. With a scream, I jerked up and lifted my hands as high as I could. The stone the rune was painted on exploded into a fine dust of rock. The rest of the rock I'd fed my mana into crumpled and cracked into large stones. I made sure to protect the ground my comrades stood on. Dozens of demons tripped and shrieked as the floor crumbled and tore out from under them. The tear shrank and disappeared.
Arawn took advantage of the demon's confusion and rushed forward. Leith shot arrows to cover him. Maddox accompanied him into the fray without hesitation, axe swinging. The other Clunaics followed a moment later.
I slumped onto my butt, exhausted from the mana it took. My reserves were completely depleted. Flynn pressed close to me and warded off any demons that managed to get too close. He was soaked in blood.
"Are you alright?" I croaked. My throat was dry and sore. Everything was sore.
"Never better," he huffed.
I picked up my dagger, my grip so weak it trembled. But I didn't need a tight grip to absorb its stored mana. I closed my eyes and welcomed the extra mana. It flowed in and helped. Not by much though, daggers could hold only a little mana.
I heaved and pushed myself to my feet, dagger in hand. I swayed and Flynn wrapped his arm around me.
A shatter echoed through the room, followed by raining glass and a form falling to the ballroom floor. Dark wings beat uselessly in the wind and my throat stuck. Please, not Samara.
It wasn't my sister. The powerful demon groaned on the ground and flailed in a feeble attempt to flee. Ara appeared next to him and placed her foot on his chest. She stared down at him as blood streamed from her gut. She stabbed her sword into his chest. With a shriek, he began to decay into ash.
A few mongrel demons kept the other Clunaics distracted, but I tried to get to her. Flynn held me back, eyeing the demon that was my sister. He wouldn't trust a demon, and I probably shouldn't either after what happened with Gwenn. But this was different. Samara was still in there.
Kivani said something, and Ara moved towards him. I slipped from Flynn's grasp and took off towards Ara. She fell to her knees atop the tapestry. Blood dripped from the hand that held her stomach together, down her forearm, and slipped off her elbow.
I was just close enough to hear Ara say, "I'm sorry, I just…" when a new tear opened behind her, round like the first one. I froze in my tracks. Flynn stopped beside me and grabbed my hand. We couldn't handle another fight.
What stepped through the tear was worse than I could have ever imagined. A pale man with jet black hair and bright red eyes stepped smoothly out. He stepped over a corpse, shoes silent on the stone floor. He radiated lethal power. I didn't even have a mana affinity that could read these things, and I knew.
He said in a steady, icy voice, "My dear Samara, it's been too long." His voice morphed into a growl. "I think it's past time you came home."
He took my sister in his arms. She didn't even have the strength to struggle when he ran a dagger through her heart.
I screamed her name. I just found her, this couldn't happen. Kivani stared, jaw dropped and unmoving, five feet from the most powerful demon earth had ever seen.
Ara turned to ash that drifted to the floor. The demon looked down at her dress, still in his arms, and tossed it to the ground without ceremony. I didn't dare move. No one moved. When his eyes landed on the streak of ash, all that remains of the first demon, he sighed.
"A shame. Azazel was a loyal follower. But there's something more…important in the air." He took a deep breath. "Hmmm. Yes. Someone here has a little something extra in their blood."
His eyes fell on Flynn. Flynn trembled and I clutched his hand tight. All I had was my dagger, but I'd die before the demon touched him.
The demon smiled, pointed. "You." The floor opened up beneath Flynn's feet.
"No!" I screamed as Flynn fell. My dagger clattered to the floor and I clung to his hand with everything I had, which wasn't much. He dangled into the void, and I lay over the edge on my stomach. I slipped further and further over the edge. I tugged at him and skirted a bit further over the stone flood. The edge of the void dug into my stomach. My muscles trembled. I'd done too much, given too much earlier. I was spent. I slipped again, only my waist remained above the void. He couldn't fall, he wouldn't fall, I wouldn't let him. I wouldn't lose him too.
He met my gaze. In a voice that was only for my ears and far too calm, he said, "You're going to fall too. Let me go."
"Never. We're here for each other," I shot back.
"Zinerva." He scanned my face. "I love you." My heart skipped a beat. Tears pooled in my eyes. How dare he say that, now of all times. "I won't let you fall for me." He let go of my hand. I struggled to keep my grip on his fingers.
"Flynn, I—" A gust of wind against my side blasted me away from the void. Away from Flynn. I screamed and landed in a heap.
Flynn appeared in the demon's grasp, right in front of the tear. He struggled, but his efforts were nothing compared to the power that irradiated from the demon. As if to prove he was beyond reality, the demon snapped a finger and Flynn froze. I pushed myself up on shaky arms. Flynn met my eyes. So close. Maybe ten feet away.
"As fun as this has been, it's time for us to go," the demon said. No one moved to stop him. I pushed myself along the floor, broken glass sliced into my palm.
The demon took a step back, into the tear. He dragged Flynn with him.
"No!" I screamed as Flynn's body fell to the ground with a thump. Inside the Demonic Realm, within the demon's grasp, his soul glistened in a way real people never did.
I would follow him, I would get him back! The tear began to shrink. "No!" I repeated,. Tears streamed down my face. The tear winked out of existence. Arawn held up the tapestry my father had created. He'd torn the fabric in half and trapped Flynn in the Demonic Realm.
I reached Flynn's body. Maybe it had all just been a mistake. His eyes were closed and his mouth was fixed in his familiar smile. He couldn't be dead. This wasn't what dead people looked like. I rested my head against his chest. There was no movement. No heartbeat, no breath. Torin stumbled up beside me. He dropped to his knees.
"Fin?" He asked slowly. But he'd seen what happened. He knew as well as I did. I couldn't stop the sobs that tore through me. I didn't try.
There was still fighting going on around us, but I didn't spare it a thought. I remained slumped over Flynn's corpse, until the sounds of fighting turned into that of mourning.
"They have his soul," Torin murmured. I'd forgotten he was even there. "They can't keep his soul."
They had his soul. Demons had Flynn's soul. No no no. I scrunched my fist in the dress Flynn wore. They'd torture him. For as long as they wanted. And when they grew tired of it, they'd lay eggs in his soul and turn him into one of them. That couldn't happen.
"Ara," I said as the idea took shape. "She's…maybe she can help."
Kivani, who I'd forgotten still sat a few feet away, perked up at this. "You know how to contact her?"
"Why? Was watching her die once not enough for you?" I sneered. He had looked at her like she was the filth beneath his feet. She had looked at him like he was a precious gem. And he just sat there when the final demon came and killed her.
"I-I need answers," he said. "Do you have a way to contact her or not?"
"I don't. But I may know someone who does."
Torin struggled to his feet. "Then what are we waiting for?"
*****
In a dark room beneath the castle, I slammed the bloody dress onto a stone table. "Ara is alive," I snarled at my father. He stared at the bloody dress, unmoved by my revelation. "She's a demon."
This got his attention. "A demon? I saw her at the ball. She wasn't a demon."
Kivani cut in. "That's what I thought. For months. But she transformed, and we want answers."
"We want a way to contact her," Torin clarified. I was glad to have the help, I wasn't ready to face my father alone. But I would have done it, for Flynn.
My father ran his hand through his hair. "Why should I help you?"
"Why should you help us?" I shrieked. "This is your fault. You're the reason Ara's in whatever state she is. And I'll bet you're the reason that super powerful demon was so interested in Flynn!" My father perked up. I waved my dagger at him. "What did you do to Flynn?"
He raised an eyebrow. "The boy? Just a little experimentation."
Torin slammed into my father. He pressed him against the wall by the throat. "What the hell did you do to my brother?"
My father sputtered and Torin eased his grip. "I added a little angel blood to his system. But he came to me, I warned him there could be side effects."
Kivani brought us back to our original goal. "How can we contact Ara? We need her help." My father gave Torin a pointed look and Torin slowly backed away. His hands balled into fists at his side.
My father straightened his collar. "You could summon her, but she may not answer."
"Then summon her," I demanded.
He cocked an eyebrow. "Right now?"
"Yes."
He raised a finger to his chin. "Tell me about this most powerful demon, and in exchange, I'll summon her."
"Fine. But summon her first."
He shook his head. "Tell me while the dress soaks. We can't make a summoning circle with dried blood." As much as it pained me, I relented. As long as we got Ara, as long as we got Flynn, it didn't matter.
Within an hour, the blood was ready and I'd told my father everything. On a sheet of white fabric, apparently made of angelite, he painted a summoning circle in my sister's blood. Another round tear popped up. We waited in a strained silence.
After an eternity, I snapped, "Why isn't this working?"
My father shrugged. "She might not want to return."
"But we need to talk to her," Kivani stated, as though that fact alone meant there had to be a solution.
"We need to get my brother's soul back." Torin's hand hovered over his blade. My father noticed and swallowed hard.
"There is another possibility," he said slowly. "It's purely theoretical, but a lot of my theories pay off." I gestured for him to continue. His theories only ever benefited him, but I was desperate so I listened. "If a human injects demon blood into their own veins, they should be able to enter the Demonic Realm without dying. They would have to continue injecting the blood every couple of hours if they remained in the Demonic Realm, but they would survive."
"Have you tested this?" Kivani asked.
My father shook his head. "But if you're interested, I can provide the blood." He gestured to our unanswered summons. "And you've already got the portal."
I glanced at Torin and Kivani. They stared back at me. This was my father, my call. I took a breath.
"I'll do it," I said. The boys gave mumbles of agreement. My father smiled. In the moment, I knew this was a terrible idea. But I didn't change my mind.
*****
Several hours later, we were ready. Any good-byes had been said, weapons gathered, and bags packed. We stood in my father's laboratory and I held my arm out to him for the first injection. We had lots more in the bags. We would need it if we planned to travel through the demonic realm long enough to find Flynn and Ara. Flynn was priority number one. He was the casualty, the victim. We weren't sure what Ara was.
The needle slipped under my skin with a pinch I didn't fully register. Demon blood pumped into my veins and the needle retracted. No turning back. I waited, expecting agony to burn through my veins, or to just fall over dead. Nothing happened.
Kivani received his injection without complaint. Torin took his well, but a sweat broke out across his brow after the demon blood entered his veins. He grimaced but said he was fine. I left it at that.
The portal shone before us, dark and dangerous. I would go through first. If I died, I wasn't sure if they'd know. I guess we could all wind up dead on the other side of this portal.
Before I could step through, the door to the laboratory burst open.
"This is a private operation," my father bellowed.
Leith stood in the doorway, out of breath. He shook his head at me and Torin. "Don't do this. Please."
Torin crossed his arms. "How'd you know we'd be here?"
"Mavie," Leith answered. Torin shot me a glare, but I gave him one back.
"That's my fault," Kivani clarified. "I told her it was a secret, but I should have known she doesn't like to keep them."
"Guys. This could kill you. And even if by some miracle you survive, what's the best case scenario?"
"We come back with our friend and my sister." Wasn't it obvious?
Leith shook his head. "Come back to what? You'll be deserters. Arawn won't want to hunt you down, but he's loyal to the Clunaics. He'll do it."
"Well, I guess that'll be a problem for if we come back," I said. "Sorry Leith. But I have to try."
I took a deep breath, the last breath of earthly air I'd have for a while, and stepped into the Demonic Realm.