Dark Calling (67 page)

“Perhaps.
  There was a struggle, but I assured he
live
d
.”

Keely stands over him.  Watches him breathe.  A rush of feeling takes over her
.  Pulls her mind away from this place
.  Takes her somewhere else.  Suddenly it’s like she is in a dream.  Like she is dream visiting, only she’s awake.

Asmoday stands before her.  His lips move without sound, but Keely understands him.  Her eyes stick to the gash on his head.  It’s deep.  She can see the white of bone.  His skull.  Tears pierce her eyes. 
Why isn’t he healing?  He’s in a Demon realm.  Either
he should heal or die.  There’
s no in between here.  Not for him. 

His hands grip her arms.  Fingers dig in painfully as he tries to get her attention.  Forces her to focus.  Blood trails down his head.  Runs into his eye.  Keely can’t take it.  She tries to pull away.  She wants to help him, but he holds onto her tighter.  Repeats his soundless words.  She nods.

Blinking, Keely is back in the room as if nothing has ever happened.  She turns to her father.  “I thought you said he was alive.  He isn’t breathing…”  She trails off trying to summon the courage.

The Demon King takes a knee beside her.  She has to stand because even on his knees
, he’
s so
much
tall
er than her
.  He stares at Asmoday.  Watches his chest rise and fall steadily.  “He breathes
,
my daughter.”

Keely’s hands shake as she stretches the talisman in her hands.  As her father turns to look at her, his eyes go wide wi
th surprise just as she drops the necklace
around his head.  Simultaneously, it falls to his neck as he tries to get to his feet.  She p
ulls the dagger from her pocket
and Asmoday rolls over.  He grips part of the necklace, pulling the King’s head back.  Keely has one shot.  She raises the dagger as she whispers, “
Ego expello lux.”

A bright white aura surrounds his heart.  Keely pitches her arm, bringing the blade down at his chest.  He falls back against Asmoday before she can make cont
act. 
Asmoday’s head hits the stone floor with a wet thud.  Her father
kicks out at her and Keely hears the pop in her leg as her knee is forced in the wrong direction.  She screams as she tumbles to the ground.  The dagger slips away from her fin
gers.

The Demon King breaks away
from Asmoday.  Thrusts
forward
,
throwing himself on top of Keely.  Though his strength is
weakened from the talisman, he’
s still stronger than Keely.  He presses down on her and grabs the necklace.  Yanks it off with a snap of the lanyard.

“No,” Keely squeaks as she slaps at him.  He blocks her blows easily. 

“
Do not think I need you, daughter.  I waited this long, I can wait again.  I can do it all over.  Have another daughter.  One that will obey.  One that will not disappoint me.”  He takes a handful of her golden locks.  Brings her face to his as he leans over her.  He kisses her cheek.  “It is a shame, though.  I will miss you.  I thou
ght I’d seen myself in you, but you’
re too much like them.”

Her father stares into her eyes.  A cruel smirk twists his features
from beautiful to repulsive.  His lips move quickly, his
gaze on her intense.  She can’
t move.  Her blood boils
beneath her skin.  A scream of agony
escapes her lips and a
tear slides from her eye.  She’
s dying. 
He’s killing her,
somehow taking her life.  Her soul.  She tries to fight.  Tries to scream.  Tries to make him stop, but her body is useless.

Blood spurts from the Demon King’s mouth.  Specks Keely’s face. 
She inhales a few drops as she screams again. 
A shadow passes over her, slams into her chest
like a rush of wind
and she can move again.  Her father’s gaze breaks away from her and his head slowly lowers.  He looks down at his own chest.  His shirt sticks out
to a point
from his body where the light flickers.  Blood forms a circle
,
growing bigger and bigger.
 
“Daughter?”

Keely shakes her head and skitters
back away from him.  T
he glow from his body goes dark
and he falls forward face first.

Asmoday’s hand is still extended.
  He drops the dagger.
  Keely pulls
herself forward, hugging him tightly.
  “We’re free.”

Forty-Four
:

Asmoday smiles sadly at Keely.  She squints at him and pulls on his hand.  “Come on.  Let’s get out of here.”

He moves his hands over her leg and Keely feels a second pop as Asmoday twists her kneecap back into place.  She stifles a moan and bites down on her lip. 
He closes his eyes.  Blood drips onto his shirt.  “I cannot go with you.”

Keely shakes her head vehemently.  “Yes you can.  My father’s dead.  He can’t do anything now.
  We changed it.
”

Asmoday opens his eyes and stares at her.  The pain in his gaze scares her so badly, Keely looks away.  She shakes her head again.  “You have to come with me.”

“Nothing has changed.  You still have to go.  I still need to stay.”

“He’s dead.  I don’t understand.  He can’t hurt us anymore.  P
lease just come with me.”  She’
s shaking.  She can’t seem to stop.  Her nose is running and her eyes burn with hot tears.  This isn’t real.  She’s dreaming again.  She must be. 

Asmoday’s voice is a choked whisper.  “I did not understand until the dream visit with Apophis.  It all started to fall into place then.  The prophecy, the Angels may have seen it in a literal sense, but it was metaphoric
, Keely.”

She speaks through chattering teeth.  “You aren’t making sense, Asmoday.”  She wipes her nose with the back of her dirty hand.

“It was all meant to be exactly as it is.”  He touches her cheek. 
“
The Demon King always meant for us to fall in love.  At least for you to love me.  That is why he betrothed us.  He wanted us to be connected
as one. He needed you to be unable to leave me for you to fulfill his prophecy, but God had another plan.  In His,
I was always supposed to fall in love with you.  Y
ou, no one else.  With your father’s prophecy, the girl’s were interchangeable because he just needed them to care for me.  But he didn’t realize that I would actually be able to return the feelings.  He underestimated the affect you would have on me.  He didn’t realize it was you, had to be you.
”  His thumb skims over her lips.
 
“
So you could change me.  We were always meant to kill your father.  This is the plan.  We did not change anything.  We did exactly as we were meant to
do
.”  He smiles at her.  “There will be peace now because I will stay.  I will be King of Demons.  I will make sure they never hurt anyone again.”

“No.  Apophis is supposed to be King.  You gave him the thrown.”

He shakes his head.  “Apophis is no more
by now
.  It has to be this way, Keely.  Please try to understand.  If Apophis were to h
ave the thrown, there would
be
no
peace.  Only more war.  You would always be in danger.  It has to be me.  It is the plan.”

“You’re wrong.  I’m supposed to walk up the steps.  I’m not supposed to look back.  That’s the prophecy.”

“You said it yourself, h
ow does walking up a set of stair
s bring peace?
”

“It doesn’t, so just come back.  You can be the Demon King from Earth.”

“No.  I have to stay.  You have no idea how hard it is to control a Demon.  There are too many that can slip by if I’m not here.  This is the part about not looking back.  You have to let me go.
”

“I’ll stay with you.  I’ll help you.”

Asmoday flinches.  His hands begin to shake.  He looks away.  “No.  This is not the life you want.  This place, what it does to people…  And you want children.  You cannot raise children here.”

Keely reaches for his hand.  He shifts away.  Moves to his feet.  “I don’t need children.  I need you.  I love you, Asmoday.”

He drops his head.  Runs his hand through his hair. 
It’s the first time she said those words.  He hates himself for what he
is about to do, but that’s good.  She’ll feel his anim
osity through their bond.  It’
ll be more convincing this way.  He turns back to her, his face blank.  “You will only be in the way.  This is what I always wanted.  What I waited years for.  I never wanted to love you.  It was forced on me by your father
.  By
this tie that binds us.  I need to be free of it now.  I am
a
King, Keely.  I cannot have you around distracting me from m
y duties.  I
do not want to share the power
with you.  I want it to myself.”

Keely stares at him until his image blurs. 
“You’re lying.  You have to be.”

“This is precisely what I mean.  I do not have time to nurse your feelings.
I have Demons to manage.  Don’
t worry, because of this bond, I will assure your safety.  You will always be
protected
.”

Keely glares
at him.  Tries to understand his emotions.  He’s furious.  Rage and hatred fill his heart.  The tears spill from her eyes.  Run down her cheeks.  Drop to the floor.  She pushes herself up.  Her leg screams
in pain.  Asmoday looks at her
and she swears she
feels something in their bond, like a quiver on the chord.  Swears she s
ees concern pass over his face, but she blinks and it’s gone.

“You told me you would never leave me.  Never hurt me.  Never lie to me.  But you did lie, because you’re hurting me now.  Look me in the eye and tell me it doesn’t matter.  Tell me you do
n’t care that you are breaking my heart
, and I’
ll
…I’ll
go.”

Asmoday closes his eyes.  Takes a deep breath
.  He opens them
slowly
and moves in front of her.  Bends his knees so he’
s eye level with her and h
olds her gaze
steadily
.  “It does not matter enough.  I want the thrown more than I want you.” 

Keely’s eyes go big.  H
er head feels light
.  She nods.  “O.k.  O.k.  I…
”  She squeezes her hands into fists.  “I’m going to go then.  I just…”  She shakes her head.  The tears won’t stop and it’s hard to see.  She can’t even concentrate.  “I don’t know where to go.”

Asmoday swallows hard.  He points at the door.  “Back the way you came.”

“But the stairway-
”

“It is a metaphor.  Walking into darkness.  Now you must leave it. 
Go back into the light.  Go be the
Doyenne.”

Keely blinks tears from her eyes and nods again.  Her throat is dry and the agonizing sadness is ripping her heart in half.  She turns an
d limps through the door.  T
ells herself over and over not to look back.  At the last second, she fails.

Keely glances over her shoulder at Asmoday.  In that moment, she sees it.  The lies he
’
s told her.  His anguish.  His loss.  She sees the love he still has for her and it gives her the strength to make it to the next door.  Words he once spo
ke to her replay in her mind. 
I cannot wait until
the
day it no longer surprises you.  The day when you know without a second thought that I would lay
my life down for you.

Keely steps back into chaos.  The screaming.  The fighting.  The horrible smell of decaying Demons.  She reaches for her dagger and remembers Asmoday still has it.  Something hits her hard from behind and
she falls forward.  H
er knee
explode
s with agonizing pain
as she lands hard on it.  She doesn’t have time to react before she is struck again.  Her vision is blurry while she fights to keep her eyes open. 

Something grips her ankle and drags her across the stone walkway.  Her shirt bunches up around her chest and her stomach i
s skinned raw.  Keely kicks out
attempting to cease the movement, but it’s no use.  Her foot swings idly in the air.

She’s rolled over
and now she can see him.  Sees the disgusted look on his face.  Cringes at the pure revulsion he regards her with.

“Why are you doing this?”

He laughs coldly.  “Why?”  He removes his glasses and rubs his forehead.  Grips the front of her shirt and yanks her up.  Leans her against the building.  “You took everything from me.  I want—no, I
need
you to die.  I need you to suffer.  Slowly.  I hate you, Keely.  I hate you so much, I can taste it.
”
 
He throws his arms out and spins in a slow circle.  “
Because of you,
all of this happened. 
I don’t know who you think you are.  I don
’t know what they see in you, b
ut I am not fooled.  Not for a second.  You stole my life.”  He shrugs.  “So now I’m going to take yours.”