Demonic Angel (A Touch Of Magic) (22 page)

My stomach rumbles and Tessa looks at me in horror. I am a right bitch when I am hungry. Everyone I know, knows that. Oh what I would do for one of my smoothies right now. Or a pizza. Mmm. Pizza. Oh great, now I sound like Homer Simpson.

Without stopping, Edward chucks Tessa and I a Mars bar each over his shoulder which I miraculously catch without hesitation. My reflexes are getting better. Go me. I wolf down the chocolate and regret it because like all girls, I crave more.

              Ten more minutes pass and again, my legs ache so bad. I want to sit down. I want to have a hot bubble bath. Damn mission. If it wasn't Caroline or my life in danger, then I wouldn't have bothered. I would have sent someone else. Edward stops abruptly and turns to us with his finger to his mouth in a shushing gesture.

              “We are here.” He whispers. My heart thumps in my chest and we tip-toe over to the end of the tunnel. Dim light fills the room on the end.

Where the hell is Jaxon?

Edward leads us through and I come to a halt when I see what is ahead. A type of camp or something, filled with sleeping people? No, I feel like I am in a Disney film now because these are
mer
people.

TWENTY
-
SIX

Passing through the camp is easier than I thought it would be. Edward was right about them being heavy sleepers. Tessa sneezed and none of them stirred an inch. I wish dad could sleep that heavily, I wouldn't have been caught sneaking out so much otherwise.

He would always ground me for a week or two and then let me out after two days because I drove him clinically insane with my loud rock music and constant whining about being bored. In the end he would just be like “go out Calissa! You are driving me nuts!” Always worked like a charm. Best thing I used to do during punishments were, if dad confiscated my phone, I would take out the Sim card and put it in an older phone I have stashed around my room somewhere. I would obviously keep it on silent and hidden from dad, but Tessa and I would always have had a means of contact. Now I suppose, we don't need one. She lives with me.

The creatures here are actually beautiful to look at. Each of them have a vibrant colour for their hair. Not a blonde, brunette or black haired person in sight. Pinks, purples, blues, greens, orange, yellows... the list goes on. The only thing that does freak me out is the fact that they have gills on the side of their necks and spikes on their arms. Their hands are webbed too. They are all sleeping on the floor too. I thought merpeople had to be in water all the time. Guess not.

We make our way through a glass tunnel which makes me feel weak at the knees considering there is nothing but water on the other side of the glass. Tiny fish swim passed us and it makes me jump.

We pass through three more camps before we come to a huge rocky building. I am going to take a wild guess and say that this is the castle we are meant to be going to.

              “The dungeon where Caroline will be kept is in the far left of the building. There is a window you can enter through. I cannot go any further little angel. They'll recognise me here. Don't worry though, the entire Kingdom will be sleeping right now so you should be okay, if someone sees you, Tessa, put them to sleep before they sound the alarm. I know you can do that, all witches can. Be fast. Jaxon will be there waiting for you for further instructions.” He places a hand on my shoulder in a fatherly manner. “Good luck girls.” He smiles and walks back to the tunnels.

Oh great, now we are on our own. The same panic I feel is all over Tessa's face when I glance at her. She takes my hand and we silently make our way to the castle.

Edward was correct about there not being anyone around. The place is quiet and creepy as we pass through. Too quiet. Something isn't right. I suddenly feel nervous and am glad I haven't taken the shield down on my mind so Tessa doesn't note how scared I am.

We get to the far left of the castle like Edward instructed and we come to a window. A large window. Big enough to be a door. I am guessing this is where we are entering. The window is about six feet up the wall. I hold my arm out for Tessa and she holds onto my hand. I pull her into me and then when I am sure she is secure, I jump and land inside the ledge of the window. I hop down inside and look around as I release Tessa. I heave.

There is blood everywhere. The smell in here is rancid and smells of burning bodies. Oh Lord, what have I walked into? Tessa gags too and covers her nose and mouth with her hands.

We walk through the bloody room and see Jaxon just outside leaning against a wall casually. He sees us and gives us a grin. “Took your time.”

              “Not everyone can survive on an hours sleep dickweed.” I say harshly. He chuckles. I ignore him and walk passed him. “Where are we going now?”

“I think Caroline is in one of these dungeons, I can smell her. Just unsure which one. There are two guards on duty. Don't be alarmed by their looks either. They are demons like you and I but just can't hide behind a human physique like we can.” Hide behind a human physique? What the heck does that mean? I don't have a chance to ask because Jaxon grabs my bad wrist, and yanks me back into the rotten smelling room. Yes, tears prick in my eyes. It frigging hurts!!! He raises a finger to his lips to shush me and looks through the doorway to see if the coast is clear. His hand is still wrapped around my wrist, squeezing to the point of my hand turning purple and I open my mind to Tessa. “HE IS HURTING MY WRIST!!” I think-cry at her. She jumps at the sudden intrusion in her mind and then looks down at his hand. “He doesn't care! I don't think this is Jaxon!”

              “Jaxon.” She whispers. “Let go of Cally. Now.” She tries to pry his fingers away but it is no use. I have no choice, the pain is making me sick as well as the smell of the room. I raise my good hand and using my teeth, I pull my glove off. I raise my hand to face him. I send a very small spark from my hand to his face and he flinches, releasing my wrist instantly. Surprised that worked actually.

              “What the fuck Calissa?!” He snaps at me in a hushed tone. Tears running down my face, I use my good hand to raise the sleeve of my jacket exposing the now bruised flesh over my still broken wrist. His eyes lower to it then they flick between my tears and the bruises. When he catches on, he closes his eyes in shame. “I am so sorry Calissa. I didn't think. I thought you two were going to make a break for it and leave me if I let go. I- ah shit- Titch, I am so sorry.” He called me Titch. It
is
Jaxon. Thank God for that. I can't handle a Crillin encounter right now. He pulls me to him and holds me tightly against his chest.

We wait in the hidden room until the pain subsides a bit. When it does, I look back at Jaxon who looks so guilty he looks as if he is going to cry. “You okay?” He husks out, I nod, unable to talk yet and he gives me a sad smile, leans down and kisses my cheek.

Yeah and so you should feel guilty you over grown sexy man-beast! Tessa snorts and turns away.

              “Um, Jaxon, why does it smell so bad in here?”

“This is the room where the tortured dead get burnt.” He states shockingly calmly.

              “That doesn't bother you?” Tessa asks, her face scrunching up.

“Of course it does.” He clarifies. “I am just used to it I'm afraid.” He bites the inside of his cheek and turns to the doorway again. “Okay, coast is clear. Let's go.” He creeps out and we follow him. We check the first three dungeons and see that they are empty.

Tessa goes across the corridor to check another three out, I go ahead to check more down this side and Jaxon goes further up on Tessa's side.

The four I check are empty, except for one. A man covered in so much hair he could be a gorilla for all I know, is laying on a blanket on the floor wearing nothing but a pair of boxer shorts and socks. He is laying on his front with his back to me so I can't see his face, but from the back of him, he looks tall and muscular. His skin is so pale; it is translucent.

I hear something that sounds like keys coming this way and I turn away from the door. Tessa looks at me with panic and runs over to me before we sneak into the closest dungeon. I catch a glimpse of Jaxon do the same to one he is closest to. We duck down under the barred top half of the doors so that the guard doesn't see us.

When the sound of keys and footsteps pass us, I let out a sigh of relief and turn around to take in the dungeon. Oh shit on a stick.

We came into the hairy man's dungeon. He is awake. He is looking right at us. With his bright yellow eyes.

“Mike.” Tessa gasps. Yeah, Tessa's ex boyfriend.

“Tessa?” He croaks out as he rubs his eyes with his dirty hands. He looks at me and blinks a few times before looking back at Tessa with his head cocked to the side. His eyes are no longer yellow, they are blue. “Who is that? Why are you here?
How
are you here?” He pulls his knees up to his chest.

              “Mike, this is Cally, you know that. The why and how we are here don't matter right now. Why are
you
here?” Tessa hasn't moved from where her back is flattened against the door.

“I was captured because I bit what I didn't know was an elf. Stupid cretin brought me here two days ago. I haven't yet been seen to, or fed. The guard, the blue haired one, he snuck me in some water last night and again this morning but he isn't on shift yet today.”

              “When you say bit, you mean?”

“I bit him. Cally, this is going to be hard to hear but I am not exactly human.”

              “Ha! Tell us something new mate. I am a wanted blood bank, she's a witch, what are you?” He looks absolutely stunned by my sudden outburst. He looks at Tessa for confirmation and she nods.

“I'm a shape-shifter. A wolf to be exact.” He looks down at his hands which are knotted together. “So, you're a witch?” He asks Tessa.

              “Yeah.” Tessa replies grimly. It must be hard for her to be near the guy she used to be in a relationship with.

“What do you mean by blood bank?” He suddenly asks me. I shrug and decide to not tell him about my angel blood. “Oh shit, I remember you now. The girl Tessa would always be with. The rich one.” My face heats up. I wouldn't say I was rich, financially better off than most people but not rich. “How did you two get in here? The door was locked.” Actually, it wasn't. I don't think. I look up at the door and freeze when I hear footsteps coming this way. I place my finger to my lips to keep Mike and Tessa quiet. The door behind me opens and it causes Tessa and I to fall backwards and land black on our backs. Jaxon is standing over us with a raised eyebrow.

              “You are meant to be hiding, not making friends with prisoners.” He hisses at us. I roll my eyes and get up to my feet.

“Jaxon, meet Mike, Tessa's ex-boyfriend.” The shock on his face is priceless. “He got captured by who I guess was Crillin, too.” I pinch my lips together tightly.

              “Well, in that case, you wanna come with us dog?” Jaxon asks Mike.

“Um, beats staying in here. Where we going?” We quickly fill him in and he gets to his feet. “Okay, I need some clothes.” Jaxon leaves the room and within thirty seconds, he returns with a handful of clothes. A t-shirt, jeans and a pair of trainers.

              “Saw them in the room I was hiding in. Tessa, why didn't you put the guard to sleep?” Mike looks at Tessa in shock and she blushes before turning to Jaxon.

              “I panicked.”

“Well don't. We need you to focus.” He walks out of the room and Mike frowns.

              “He's intense ain't he?” Oh you have no idea fur-ball.

The four of us make our way through the dungeons, not seeing Caroline at all, meaning, she must be with Levi or Vepar. Greaat!

We come to the end of the dungeons where there are two guards sitting down talking. Tessa and I look at each other and she raises her fingers to her temples. Within a minute, they are snoring away. I take them in as we sneak passed them. They are the most hideous looking things I have ever seen. One of them has a bright red head that looks like a spiders face with black straw like hair and yellow fangs dripping with goo. His body is like a lizards but he is or was, standing up like a human. The other one looks like a fish with spikes all over his face and bright orange eyes and a body of an eel, with legs. His skin takes on a green hue and his mouth drools a blue liquid. Eww.

We leave the dungeons and head up some stairs. We manage to not bump into anyone on the way but soon we come to a large room. It looks like a hall with four chairs at the top of a stage like block.

              “Jaxon, I don't like this, it sounds too quiet.” I whisper to him and he takes my hand and gives it a gentle squeeze.

“Me neither Titch. Just don't leave my side, okay?” I nod though he isn't looking at me. I wouldn't leave him if he paid me to.

We cut through the enormous room and come to a dining room where I see someone on their hands and knees crawling with a blanket over their head. Coming this way. The four of us freeze as this crawler gets closer and I look at Tessa. She squints her eyes and places her hands to her head. They fall in a hidden heap on the floor. Jaxon sneaks up and pulls the blanket off.

Caroline!! I check her and sure enough, a small vile is tucked in to her bra. Jaxon and Mike look away while I checked that area. I am a female, I know exactly where to hide objects from men.

I put the vile into my pocket and hesitate. Now what? We all know that Tessa's sleeping spell doesn't wear off for three hours. So, what do we do? We can't carry her all the way home surely.

              “Teleport her home Titch.” I look at him like he has lost his mind. “You did it for us.” I look at Caroline, who is sleeping peacefully on the cold stone floor. She has bruises all over her body, a bloody scar on her left cheek and blood covering her hair. She needs to rest and the floor is not the best place to do that. I think of home, my bed and I hover my hands over her. I try to manifest Caroline back to my house where my mum and Lorraine will more than happily fix her up since I don't have time to heal her.

              “Well, well, well. What have we here?” The voice grates my insides before he even enters the room. It makes me stop what I am doing too.

“Oh Clara, you look nice. Oh I do apologise, Calissa. Not Clara. How silly of me.” I clench my teeth together. “Looks like you found my pet wolf. You shouldn't steal you know. It is a sin.” He cackles and the sound pierces through my ear drums.