Celestra Forever After (49 page)

“Technically I’m an angel.” Demetri spouts off from behind, and I consider clocking him for a second.

Wes charges and pulls me in so fast our foreheads knock. “You want to know why you look like me?”

“No, but since you’re so hot on letting me in on the big family secret—go ahead before your head explodes.” And I might arrange for that to happen anyway.

His features soften as he slips his hands off my shirt. “It’s because he went into the future.” Wes takes a step toward the woods and stares out catatonically. “He didn’t know it was Skyla then—but she was a contender, along with Chloe. He pried into their minds through a waking dream and had them imagine the perfect someone.” He looks back at me. “And here we are. The spare parts and pieces of all their desires—according to him—Skyla’s was the most prominent. That was his first clue. Chloe Bishop was just a ruse. But it was too late, right pops?” He smirks at Demetri. “You fucked that one up by giving in and becoming her supervising spirit.” He averts his attention back to me. “But you and I are golden. Skyla, Chloe—they both approve of the final product.” He holds out his arms out as if mocking me. “And now here we are, one to love her, one to serve. Tell him why, Daddy Dearest.” Wes spears Demetri with a look of hatred.

It hits me like a ton of dumb bricks.

“Because you knew I wouldn’t do both,” the words stream from me, stale as the air in a tomb. I soak in Wes with his twin face to mine and groan. “I know why you’re here. It’s not just to serve—he could have spawned a dozen heirs to do that, probably has.” My heart crushes because the next few words feel heavier than heaven and hell combined. “It’s to remind Skyla of what she’s lost once I’m gone. You’re only here to bring her pain, Wes. And if you choose to serve him, you’ll bring Laken pain, too. She doesn’t want to see you like this, man. She still cares about you.”

Wesley’s gaze hits the ground, and I know I’ve struck a nerve. Not that she’d ever leave Coop for him, but as long as Wes is buying the delusion, the world is in a hell of a lot less danger if only for a moment.

Demetri steps between us as if settling a fight. His wheels are turning. He’s looking for a way to reel Wes back in again. Maybe, deep down, Wes knows that nothing Demetri can ever offer him will be worth it.

“You’re right”—Demetri lets the words swim through the air, wrapped in mystery—“Wesley is here to remind Skyla what she’s lost, once you’re gone. The sight of him will bring her pain—and only he can uniquely heal it.” Demetri adds as if it were a sane thought.

“It’ll never happen.” That’s one thing I’ll never lose sleep over. Skyla would never be with Wes. I know for a fact Wesley will grow to be nothing more than a thorn in her side. “You lose, Demetri. I’m not having any children with Skyla. I won’t propagate your demented lineage.”

“Gage”—Wes calls out as I start to take off—“side with me. No one belongs in the Steel Barricade more than the two of us. You’ll have until Sunday at midnight to decide your fate. Should you join the effort, you’ll be part of the inner sanctum, an elite group that oversees the Barricade.” His brows arch as if he’s trying to lure me in. “I will divide my authority with you. You have my word. Not one decision will ride until we both agree on the outcome.”

“And if I break faith with the Barricade—and flood the world with your filthy secrets?” I hold back a laugh because he has to be shitting me if he doesn’t think I’d tell Skyla. My wife is the world to me.

“Then the heart of one you hold dear will turn against you—and everything you think you stand for. The price of breaking the covenant with the Steel Barricade is high, but the punishment won’t be dolled out by me.” He glances toward Demetri. “Only he can impress wickedness onto another’s soul.” Wes turns to me. “Only he would do that to his own grandchild.”

Grandchild? And if we never have children, I’ll have nothing to lose. I consider it a moment before staggering off into the shadowed woods with its blackened trees, its thorny branches. A velum-like fog seeps between the tree trunks, gliding over the forest floor like river snakes.

The words I shouted at Demetri come back to haunt me.
I’m not having any children with Skyla.
In hindsight, it was probably an accurate declaration on my part, considering the odds of me having
breakfast
with Skyla seem highly improbable these days. I’m not too worried about breaking faith with the Steel Barricade because I have no desire to toss my soul willingly into hell, and if I’m not siding with Skyla that’s exactly what it would feel like—hell.

That’s another reason I’m not having children with Skyla—not only would it give the Fems dominion, it would make Demetri a grandfather. And that would put any poor kid through hell.

I should know—I’m his son.

Logan

The sky above the Tenebrous Woods spins with a nest of dark ominous clouds in unnatural hues of red and turquoise.

Skyla folds into my arms as we stand at the forest’s edge.

“Do you believe what you heard? It’s true, Skyla he loves you,” I whisper tenderly into her ear as if it were a sweet nothing. But, in truth, I’m vying for Gage, for their love to grow and flourish not mine.

“Yes.” She sags in my arms a moment. “Ironically, I probably wouldn’t have believed it any other way.” She chokes out the words as if holding back tears. “I’m not ready though. I can’t do this with him right now. The wound is too fresh and my priority is getting Laken back home safely.” She picks up my hand and leads us out of the woods toward Wes and Demetri who are locked in a heated debate.

Gage heads for us, and Skyla tenses up once again.

“Skyla, I want to help you find Laken.” His hand stops just shy of touching her shoulder. He’s afraid of any more rejection. I can see the pain in his eyes just begging for mercy. It kills me to see Gage dejected, afraid of losing the one person he cherishes more than his own life, and, in truth, I’m afraid for him, too. I’m terrified Gage might be desperate enough to do something outrageously foolish to try and hold onto Skyla, to
protect
Skyla. Not that there’s anything wrong with that—it’s the reason I’m dead to begin with, and I don’t regret a thing.

“Then let’s get to the root of the problem.” She bullets ahead toward Wes just as Demetri disappears in the shadows.

I pull Gage back a second. “You’re good with Skyla. I promise. Don’t fuck this up by doing anything stupid.” I dig in with a look that asserts how serious this is. “I love you man, just as much as I love her. Think things through before going off half-cocked. Go easy. I know you two can work things out. We’ll get Laken. Dudley is with Coop, scouting out the backwoods. We’ve got this, dude.”

Gage doesn’t say a word. His jaw tightens as he gives a stealth nod, but I can tell his thoughts are racing a million panicked miles an hour. He’s all amped up and nowhere to go which makes him a danger to himself whether he admits it or not.

We catch up to Skyla and Wes just as she snatches him by the shirt and pulls him in.

“Where the hell is she?” Skyla’s voice shakes with anger.

“She’s right behind you.” He gently removes her hands from his chest. “Turn around and see for yourself.”

We turn to find Laken dressed in some oddball dress comprised of black roses with a train that eats up the forest floor behind her.

“I’m safe, Skyla.” Laken holds out her hands. “I want to be here. My new home is with Wesley.”

“Laken?” Skyla steps toward her.

“Come with me, Skyla. There’s something I need to show you.”

Skyla takes up her hand with reservation and her body jolts as if she were electrocuted. She rakes her hand across Laken’s face and four neat crimson lines appear, each with a seam of blood pooling to the surface. She gives Laken a violent shove to the ground just as Coop darts over from the woods.

“What the hell?” he shouts, dropping to his girlfriend’s side.

“That’s not Laken,” she pants. “But I have a feeling I know where she is.” Skyla bolts into the woods, and Gage and I run after her. She flits through the forest like a deer, and it’s near impossible to keep up—just dodging the trees proves to be an obstacle.

“Skyla!” I shout after her, but my voice deadens. Gage and I both stumble to a stop as we hit a barren field. “Go to her,” I pant to Gage. If anyone can find out where the hell she went it’s him. Now that’s he’s one of them, there’s not a whole lot he can’t do.

He slumps over his knees and closes his eyes just trying to catch his breath. “Can’t—binding spirit.”

“Shit.
Skyla!
” I roar it out, and the Tenebrous Woods ignite with the sound of my voice crashing all around it.

Then a thought comes to me. Skyla and I have both been here on more than one occasion. We were held captive here for a while.

“I think I know where she might be.” I lead Gage down the twisted road toward the area where Celestra is taken for sacrifice. We pass the row of caged structures that line the border to our left while cries for help emanate from somewhere far away. The sob of a young girl permeates the air with a palpable desperation.

“I can’t take this, dude,” Gage says it weak as if he’s about to pass out. “I can’t stand the fact these people are down here and that creatures who share my lineage are responsible. We need to get them all out, tonight.”

“That’s noble, but let’s get this straight.” I yank his arm. “I’m the one with a trace of Countenance in me, not you. The Fems aren’t shit down here. The Counts opened these tunnels before you or I ever existed. Got it? The last thing I want is for you to go off the deep end.” I step in and whisper, “Gage, you have to get a grip and realize there’s not a thing you did to cause this.”

“That’s where you’re wrong.” He shakes me off and treads past the rows of burnt out Eucalyptus with their long, lean trunks, looking like a series of badly charred legs. “Logan, come here.”

I jog over and pause at the sight.

A nest of skulls rise into the night at least twenty feet high while resting on a large granite stone. Stacks and stacks of eerie grimaces—hollowed out eyes—it’s a thing of horror, a holocaust of our people for nothing more than the greed of the Counts. A ring of fire crackles around the base of the expansive stone altar with black petals sprayed out around it. The entire area is thinly veiled with an iridescent fog.

“Celestra,” I whisper.

“He’s a murderer.” Gage steps in wide-eyed and dazed. “I’m a part of this.”

Shit.

“No Gage. This is ages of killings. It’s just that now they’re flaunting it. This has nothing to do with you.”

“It has nothing to do with either of you.” Dudley steps out of the fog like an apparition, his eyes transfixed on the horror. “This is where the New Moon festival will be held Sunday night. It will be a ceremony like no other. A shift of power is about to transpire.”

Skyla steps out of the fog behind him, her chest expands with a breath locked in her lungs. She holds out her hands toward the gruesome sight as if her whole body were issuing an apology. A nest of lightning appears from nowhere and crowns the top of the macabre sculpture. It touches down over the top of the skeletal skyscraper and ignites each one of those skulls a brilliant shock of blue. The lightning spears out toward Skyla and her head knocks back as a blast of light illuminates her from the inside in one atomic blast. Skyla rockets into the air and floats above the tower of skulls with her arms spreads wide, her head cocked, eyes closed. She rotates and spins in a spectacular flash, ten thousand times brighter than the sun.

Then in a clap of thunder, she disappears.

16

Now or Never

Skyla

A pain so viral, so necessary, explodes through each cell in my body—snapping and sizzling along my nerves like a blowtorch. They say pain is a good thing—a warning to let you know something is very fucking wrong. My heart aches in my chest to the point of collapse, every inch of my flesh is alive and on fire. I’m pulling through time as far back as the first Celestra abduction—and watch as a girl runs through the familiar woods of Paragon. Her long, blonde hair trails in the wind. Her eyes mirror the sky, and, alarmingly, she looks a lot like me. I bear witness to one abduction after another until it’s nothing more than a dizzying blur. I see them all—feel their dread as if a part of me were locked in their bodies. A virulent terror drills through me. Then, in a moment of unrivaled agony, I experience their demise right along with them. Their final pleas for mercy fall on deaf ears—their appeals for justice go unfulfilled.

The visions come in flashes—in jags, in one torrential downpour of misery and grief until the tower of skulls I float above—the Tenebrous Woods, it all disappears.

“Laken,” I murmur as I come to.

An elongated black and white checkered hall forms around me. I’m slumped against a cold marble wall, struggling to get a hold of my senses.

A trail of necrotic rose petals scatter down the hall, and the familiar cackle of a girl emanates from the same direction.