DARK SOULS (Dark Souls Series) (17 page)

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

I spent the next few days after my double shifts with Derek in the abandoned school, much to Macy’s dismay.

During that time, my unnatural abilities had waned, although they’d stayed with me for a much longer period than they had before. Derek’s frustration with me grew as it started to become increasingly difficult for me to do what he asked.

“Compel me again,” he had demanded after taking a deep breath, mentally preparing for the next invasion.

I didn’t have to be told twice. I liked compelling demons a lot more than I did humans. Unfortunately, the demons presented a tougher challenge. Although it had seemed so simple a few days ago, my attempts to compel Derek were zapping most of my energy and left me trembling and nauseous. But in pure petty revenge at his constant demands, I used what little energy I had left to make him hop on one foot while tapping his right hand on his head, but not before singing the national anthem at the top of his lungs and ripping off his shirt.

After I broke the connection, he would stand there in the foggy moonlight filtering through the windows, horrified as he covered his chest with his arms and glared at me.

“Not. Funny,” he said through clenched teeth.

I smiled in response.

In return, Derek supplied me with more tidbits of the demon realm. I learned that generally, demons couldn’t be killed, either by pure accident or device. If their host human body died, they would merely puff out of the body and search for the next host, rarely returning to their own realm. They liked it too much here. This made me wonder about the demons inhabiting Rob and the girl, and where they went, in case they came after me again. Derek had no answer. He told me he tried looking for them, but couldn’t find a trace.

“They must have moved on to another city,” he said as explanation. “I wouldn’t be surprised, what with the Hunter skulking around these parts.”

This alleged Hunter, who I still (thankfully) hadn’t connected with, was clearly the bane of Derek’s existence. Derek seemed worried about it, constantly babbling about his presence and the fact that demons were disappearing at an increased rate.

“Which is so strange,” he said, “Since the demon population of New York City has increased exponentially at the same time.”

“Well, wouldn’t that explain the increased demon disappearances?” I asked, always unable to resist the chance to mentally best Derek, who seemed like an obnoxious walking hybrid between a Dictionary and Google search engine most of the time. “It would make sense that with a higher demon population, there would be more deaths—or disappearances, or whatever you call it. But that it works out as normal.”

Derek nodded in reluctant agreement, but couldn’t resist trumping my explanation by saying, “Still, this is a big city. It’s easier to hide here. Certainly there are vast amounts of souls to feed on, so there’s no need for our kind to get desperate and show themselves. No, there has to be another reason. I just haven’t put my finger on it yet. They’re coming for something. They must be.”

If there were more demons in our midst like Derek said, I barely noticed, what with going straight from my apartment to Cream before going to Butterfield, then from there to what I’ve dubbed Derek and I’s “Secret Clubhouse,” at the edge of Williamsburg.

However, the more I trained with Derek, the more exhausted I became, and that exhaustion was making it difficult to fight the hunger pangs that were now glaringly present inside me. The clenching pain made me feel empty and tortured, and I would have done almost anything to make it go away. Except for that one thing that would
make it go away.

I couldn’t bear the thought of killing another human being.  

Derek eyed me warily after making this declaration, which I so often did, especially after the stomach pains would overtake me so much that I’d grimace and double over.

“You may have no choice in the matter,” he said after my numerous sharp refusals to harm a human, observing me cautiously as I buckled in pain.

I shook my head in denial, fighting against the temptation of the dark flame with everything I had. And it burned. It burned with wanting, with fury at me for refusing to allow it to come forward. Yet, I was becoming weaker. I was unsure how much longer I could hold the burning flame at bay.

To my additional confusion, Asher was nowhere to be found during this time. I was confused because I didn’t know why that made me so sad. It’s not like I knew him. It’s just that I wanted
to know him.

On Friday, after two days of no Asher, I finally drummed up enough nerve to approach Gwyn, who had seemingly developed an unquenchable thirst for Cream
coffee, and inquire as casually as I could about Asher’s whereabouts.

“Oh, sick with the stomach flu,” she said before grabbing her usual sugar-free pumpkin latte and walking away.

I’d not made a friend in Gwynevere Benedict.

It wasn’t until the end of my night shift at Butterfield on Friday that I finally caught a glimpse of him. He was leaning against a black pick-up truck in front of the restaurant, talking animatedly on the phone with another figure standing beside him, a figure that I recognized as Gwyn. The lights of the intersection were hitting them, bathing their faces in a red glow as Asher talked on the phone and with Gwyn.

What were they doing here?

Concerned, I made my way toward him, telling myself I just wanted to make sure he was okay when really, I just wanted to satisfy my curiosity.

“Asher?” I said as soon as I stepped towards them on the deserted sidewalk. Great. It looked like I’d always be greeting him with a question.  

He turned, the silver in his eyes flashing as they caught the headlights of oncoming traffic. Even in my weakened state, I couldn’t help but be drawn in by those eyes.

“Emily?”

He lowered the phone from his ear and started walking towards me, carefully, as if he were assessing whether or not to get close to me. “Are you okay?”

I must have looked like a wet, orphaned street cat. Today had been especially hard on me. All day I had been consumed with cold sweats, trembling, and a painful roaring in my stomach. It was getting more and more difficult to seem normal under Ettie’s all-too-knowing eyes.

I nodded to him as assuredly as I could. “Sure, fine. Residual effects of the flu, I guess. Unlike you, you seem to have recovered nicely.”

He looked confused for a small second, but quickly smoothed his face over and answered, “Yeah, I’m recovered.”

I tried to quell my shaking hands, which only seemed to become worse the closer he stepped towards me.

“Emily, you really don’t look okay. Should I call someone?”

“I...no, I’m fine, really. I just need a minute. Just lemme sit down for just a second...” I was slurring, though I was trying mightily to stay strong and not embarrass myself in front of him. “What are you doing here, anyway?”

He looked over to Gwyn, who leaned onto one hip and pursed her mouth as she looked back at him. She shrugged.

Before he could answer my body betrayed me. I fell forward. Asher snapped his attention back to me, catching me in his arms and enveloping me in cool, fragrant leather.

I liked to think I fell gracefully, like a quiet damsel who just caught a passing dizziness and needed to rest gently against her courtier for a few minutes before waking up fresh-faced and bright-eyed, but not so. I was all limbs as I fell against him, my sweaty cheek mashing up against his chest as my neck cricked at an odd angle. But I wasn’t given much time to be embarrassed, because black spots slowly trickled into the sides of my vision.

“Emily? Emily!”

It sounded like he was calling me from a distance.

“Oh good lord,” a voice said, the type of voice that could only belong to Gwyn.

“We need to help her. Help me get her into the car.”

“No. We don’t
need to help her. We have more important things to be considering here.”

Gwyn again. She was really not nice. I tried to slur my distaste for her, but all that came out was an indistinct garble between my teeth. And possibly a little drool.

I felt myself being lifted up, and soon I was resting my cheek on his shoulder, feeling his arms wrap around me.

“Asher...” I breathed against his neck.

“It’s okay. You’ll be all right,” he said as I felt him start walking.

“Should we take her to the hospital?” he asked.

“You know that’s not what she needs,” Gwyn said. “Ugh, just get her in the car before anyone sees. Let’s go.”

“I like you. Why’d I like you?” I asked against his neck. His warm, sweet neck. “Not you.” I flicked a weak hand over to Gwyn.

“Feeling’s mutual, princess,” I heard her say before I silently, lazily, drifted away and let go.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

“We shouldn’t have her in this house. We don’t even know what she
is,
” a voice said, panic spiking through it.

“She’s not a threat. I touched her, remember? I felt nothing.”

“You don’t know that. You don’t know what we’re dealing with here. There’s something about her. It’s not right. You’ve seen
her. I’ve never seen anyone decline that quickly.” Then, quietly, “Like…like she’s already been emptied.”

Blurrily, I came to, completely unaware of my surroundings. I was in a bed. Down pillows surrounded me, and I was encased in a light, fluffy comforter the color of the sky on a brisk autumn day. I wanted to burrow back down into them and continue my blissful sleep, but the voices kept interrupting me.

“All I know is that I didn’t sense anything with her. And you know as well as I do that when I touch one, I instantly know. I touched her. There was nothing. It’s something else.”

I recognized the voice as Asher.

There was a long pause before another voice answered, “You actually think she’s one of us?”

Gwyn. Her voice rose with each syllable, her disdain clear. “Don’t be ridiculous. No, don’t be stupid
,
Ash. Why would there be another one already? It makes no sense. We have so much to do before…we can’t be wasting time. We can’t be worrying about—about whatever she is.”

“You mean I have work to do. Yours is done,” Asher said, his words sharp.  

“My work is never done. What the hell, Ash? You think I just sit back and watch you do everything? Think again. Ass. Think about how it’d be without me.” She punctuated the end of her sentence with loud footsteps, her knee high boots slamming against the wooden floorboards before I heard the slam of a door.

I felt a sense of relief at her departure from the hallway, but my relief vanished as soon as my stomach came back with a vengeance.  

I groaned.

I heard a set of footsteps approach my door before hearing a soft knock, the brass doorknob turning hesitantly before the door cracked open.

Asher appeared in the doorway, his beautiful face backlit by the hallway lights as he looked into the gloom.

“Asher,” I said softly.

“Hey. You feeling okay?” He asked as he approached the side of my bed and sat down next to me. He kept the door cracked open, allowing a crease of light to spill into the bedroom and over my bed.

“I’m not sure. What happened?”

“Well, you don’t look so hot,” he answered, smiling. “You fainted. You look really sick, Emily. Do you know what’s going on with you?”

His face took on a calculated stare, his eyes searching as he waited for my answer.

I shook my head, trying to look dejected and hoping I came off as believable underneath his hard stare when really, I knew exactly what was going on: I needed a soul.

With that thought, my stomach roared, growling at me to give it what it wanted. I cringed.

“Emily...do you need a hospital?” Asher asked, though he didn’t look like he believed his own question. Still, his face changed to one of concern. He reached up and put a warm, dry hand across my forehead, and this time, it was his lips that parted as soon as his skin hit mine.

I closed my eyes in pleasure, my instincts finally telling me not to flinch away from him. His hand was a comfort, his warmth seeping into my clammy skin. It felt so nice, so…real. And for once, he was close to me, and I didn’t sense danger. All I could sense was safety, my body relaxing with pleasure underneath his touch, my stomach calming, my chin lowered and my breath hot against my chest as I sighed, finally feeling like myself again.

Too soon, it was over, my forehead cooling as he removed his hand, and my stomach twisting so hard that I thought it was going to rip through my abdomen. I groaned quietly against the pain.

“Maybe I should just try to sleep for a while,” I suggested, my voice trembling. I was suddenly desperate to get him away from me. I feared I couldn’t hold the flame at bay for much longer, and I was terrified that I might hurt him.

“I wish this wasn’t happening to you,” he said, but didn’t elaborate. “You’re right. Maybe you should just try to sleep this off a while. I’m sorry but Gwyn and I have to go. But please, stay here. Try and sleep. I’ll come check up on you later in the night.” His face took on a serious look. “When you wake up, you’ll feel better. I promise.”

The dark flame was calling out to me, yelling at me to listen to it, and I nodded weakly at him, my inner thoughts frantically screaming at him to leave before he witnessed my internal battle.

He stared at me for a few seconds longer, his expression unreadable, but eventually sat up and walked to the door. I breathed out in relief.

“Asher...thank you,” I said, trying to smile and meaning it. “For…actually saving me this time.”

He smiled back, the left side of his mouth tilting slightly. “I’ll see you soon,” he said before shutting the door behind him.

Once I heard his footsteps recede and what could only be the front door shutting, I allowed the cry of pain that I had been holding back to escape my lips.

Cringing and curling up into a ball on my side, I whimpered, trying to fight the hunger and battle against the flame that was so desperately trying to claw its way out of me.