Demon's Daughter: A Cursed Book (36 page)

“Why?”

He was silent for a long time, and then he said, “Because Dro isn’t safe. I was a brother once. I loved my sister the way you love Dro, and my sister died. I don’t know if I could live with myself, knowing Drake is still out there and looking for you both.”

I can’t really explain why I was disappointed. Warrick had told me the truth. Now that he knew Drake was on our tail, he was taking his chance for revenge. But a small, strange, girly part of me had hoped for something more intimate. That maybe he was staying because he cared about me.

I pushed the thought down quickly. Despite how much he’d proved himself, I couldn’t trust Warrick in the end. If we survived the demons and the angels and things went back to normal-ish, he could still turn me in for the Marshal bounty. It was a pity, because he was everything I wanted.

“Thanks for the honesty,” I said. I pushed myself up from the floor. “I’m gonna go check on Dro.” I started walking away.

“You still don’t trust me, do you?” Warrick said, making me turn around. “You can, Constance,” “I won’t be anything but honest with you.”

Let’s test that theory.
I crossed my arms over my chest. “Really?”

He nodded once.

“Then tell me why you kissed me.”

I never expected to see a demon slayer blush. He lowered his head, trying to hide it just the way I’d tried to hide all of mine from him. He composed himself and lifted his head.

“Because I thought Drake was going to kill me, and I wanted to go out with at least one good memory. Kissing a beautiful woman is always a good thing to remember.”

Words escaped me. I clutched my arms tighter around my upper body, as if it would keep my heart from bouncing around my ribcage. No one but Dro had ever called me beautiful before, but Warrick seemed to have been telling the truth. His eyes glittered as the sun shone on them, sincere and open. I wondered if he was thinking the same thing I was, how glad I was to have him here, even if it wasn’t because of me.

I hated and loved what he was doing to me. The way he was making my heart race, building up the desire to kiss him again. But I couldn’t focus on that now. Getting distracted would get me killed. I couldn’t afford to die until Dro was safe, and never hunted again.

I left the room before I decided to be impulsive and stupid, feeling Warrick’s eyes on my back until I was out of his sight. I made my way up the stairs and cleared my head from thoughts of Warrick. I walked to the only room with a closed door and gently rapped on it. No one answered, so I turned the doorknob and gently pushed the door open.

The curtains were drawn, making the room just a little darker, but I could see Max lying on the sheets of a large mattress with his back to me. I could see another shape by him under the covers. I made my way over to the mattress and checked to see if either Dro or Max were awake.

My eyes found my little sister first. She was sleeping heavily, her face ghost white. But she looked at peace. I walked around the mattress and dropped into a sitting position on the floor next to my sister’s head, looking at the two sleeping teenagers.

Max was next to Dro, his forehead resting against hers. One of his hands was holding hers level with his chin. I smiled a little. Max was in love with Dro. He’d suffered so much– losing his father, being shot, struggling to manage his gifts, and nearly dying. Despite that, he still loved her. He had earned my approval.

He sighed and shifted on the bed, slowly blinking his eyes open. He jumped when he saw me.

“Holy shit, Constance, you scared the crap out of me!” he whispered harshly.

I chuckled. “Relax. I’ve only been here about a minute.”

Max frowned. “That doesn’t make it less creepy.” He propped himself up on his elbow, still holding Dro’s hand.

I jutted my chin to her. “How is she?”

Max looked down at her. His thumb stroked the top of Dro’s hand. “She hasn’t woken up yet. Been sleeping like the dead. You were sleeping too, so I decided to stay with her in case she woke up.” The fingers of his other hand combed through the top of her hair. “I didn’t want her to be alone.”

Yeah. He had definitely earned it.

“I never had a chance to thank you,” I said. “For everything. Sticking with us, staying strong. Caring about Dro. I’ll never be able to thank you enough.”

He looked up and blinked at me. “Can you repeat that so I can put it in writing?”

I narrowed my eyes. “Nice try. One offer of gratitude is all you get.”

He grinned. “I’ll just have to log that in my brain somewhere.”

I wished I could have smiled. Instead, I looked down at Dro. “Did you know what was going to happen to her?” I asked. “With Lucifer?”

Max shook his head. “No. All I saw was that shadow again. I didn’t even know whose it was until Lucifer showed up. If I’d have known, I would’ve said something.”

I believed him. It wasn’t hard, considering how much guilt was in his voice. “Can you see what’s going to happen to us?” I asked.

He had a hard time meeting my eyes. “No luck there either. I mean, I’ve tried, but every time I try to see what happens to you or to Dro, all I see is Lucifer’s shadow.” He swallowed nervously. “But the basic instincts are kicking in. It’s gonna get worse, Constance. A lot worse. I don’t know what will happen, but it won’t be anything good.”

I hadn’t expected anything less, though it would have been nice to have the worst behind us for once. To think that maybe God was on our side, even if I didn’t believe in Him. But God was on the side of the angels, and there was only one angel who didn’t want to kill us.

“Do you want some time alone with her?” Max asked.

I nodded. Max tucked Dro’s hand back under the covers, pulling them up to her shoulders. He quickly kissed her forehead, then slid off the mattress.

“It’s polite to ask a girl permission before you lie in bed with her and kiss her in her sleep,” I chided when Max was at the door.

He grinned. “She’d have said yes. I’m too charming for her to say no.”

Max winked at me and left the room. I shook my head, knowing he was probably right. I sat with Dro for a long time, remembering how I had always been able to protect her when she was scared. I never let anyone hurt her. If they did, I hurt them worse. I had killed men and monsters for Dro.

But Lucifer wasn’t just a monster. He was
the
monster. The King of Hell. The Devil. I wasn’t sure there was a way to kill him. I would keep Dro as safe as I could and at any cost, but I had already failed her once. She’d been captured, tortured, and nearly killed. If I failed her again, she could die.

Or worse.

I let out a heavy sigh and pressed the back of my head against the wall. I hadn’t really cared when Dro and I had no idea what she was. It had been easier just to think she was gifted. I hadn’t even minded so much when we thought demons were hunting her just because she was a Nephilim.

But protecting her from Lucifer and his demons, as well as the archangels and the Heavenly Host? I wasn’t sure I could do that. Didn’t mean I wasn’t going to try, but I wasn’t nearly as confident as I had been a couple years ago. I was human. There was just so little I could do…

When the car ran out of gas, I didn’t know where we were. I’d driven onto the main road until the car sputtered and died. We were alone on the road, the camp far behind us. My hands were shaking as I gripped the steering wheel. Grief was a lump in my throat. Tears I hadn’t known I’d cried covered my cheeks.

Dad… Mom…

Dro held back on crying for the drive, but as soon as the car stopped, she shivered and broke down. She’d never cried this hard before. I undid my seatbelt and reached over, putting my arms around her. I couldn’t tell who was shaking more, her or me.

“What happened?” she sobbed out. “Why did I burn?”

“I don’t know, little sister.”

“What were those things? Why were they after us?” She cried harder. “Why did they kill Mommy and Daddy?”

Pain twisted in my stomach, like I had been punched in the gut. Tears blurred my eyes. “I don’t know,” I whispered.

Dro trembled. “It’s my fault. They were looking for me. They killed Mommy and Daddy because of me.”

I pulled back to look at my sister. Half of me wanted to lie. To tell her that it wasn’t anything to do with her and that it was a mistake. But that wouldn’t bring Dro any more comfort than it would bring me. We were completely alone.

“It’ll be okay, Dro. We’ll be okay.”

Fresh tears spilled down her cheeks. “No we won’t. They’re gonna look for us. I know it. They’re gonna kill you, Connie. They’re gonna kill us both.”

I flashed back to the slaughter at the camp. Dad having his throat cut by a madwoman. Mom being torn apart by monsters. Dro exploding into white fire.

The things looking for her were bigger than I was. They were stronger. All I had was my attitude and Dad’s hatchet. That wasn’t going to be enough. Dro wasn’t a fighter. She was too nice to everything and everyone. Someone had to be nasty and mean to beat the monsters, and that wasn’t her.

It was me.

I took her hands and looked her in the eyes. “I won’t let them get you, Andromeda. Not ever. I’ll keep you safe. I promise.”

Dro stopped crying for a second to read my eyes, so different from her own bright blue ones. They were filled with hope. She believed me. I even believed myself.

“But we have to run,” I told her, “keep running and never ever look back.”

She nodded. “Never look back…”

Dro breathed out a sleepy sigh and turned on the mattress, pulling me out of the memory. She blinked her eyes steadily, staring at the roof and looking around until she saw me. For a moment, she just stared, like she couldn’t believe I was here. Dro didn’t hesitate or seem to care about her injuries. Before I could tell her to lie back down, she pushed herself up and threw her arms around my neck.

“I thought you were dead,” she whispered.

I hugged her tighter, scared that I would lose her again if I let go. “I could say the same thing about you,” I replied. Guilt ached in my heart as I remembered how Isabel and Lucifer had tortured her. How I hadn’t–

“Stop thinking about it, Connie,” Dro breathed. “Stop it.”

“Sorry,” I said, remembering that she could sense my emotions. She knew me too well. “How are you feeling?”

Dro pushed back from me, looking down at her left side. A bandage was wrapped around the area where her rib had been torn out. There wasn’t any blood on the cloth, but Sephiel and Rorikel hadn’t been able to regrow her rib. It was probably going to cause her pain for the rest of her life. She slowly sat up on the mattress.

“I can feel the piece of me that’s missing,” she said quietly.

I almost broke down right then. I had to clench my fists and dig my nails into my palm and focus on the pain to stop.

“I’m so sorry, Dro,” I said, too ashamed to look at her. “I should have stayed with you. This wouldn’t have happened if I’d been in the room, but I…”

“Don’t blame yourself for this. Please, big sister. You couldn’t have known what would happen. None of us did. But I knew you would be looking for me. I knew you’d find me. That was what I kept telling myself when…”

Dro stopped and bit her lip. I noticed the tears in her eyes, just as I noticed how she was starting to shake. I scooted onto the bed and pulled her into my arms. She clutched my body and cried for a couple minutes. I joined her.

I didn’t say anything to try and make her feel better. There was nothing I could say. I wasn’t going to lie to my little sister and tell her everything was going to be okay.

Everything was
far
from okay.

Once we had calmed down, Dro leaned back and looked at me. “He did it, didn’t he?” she asked. “He opened both the Gates.”

I wiped my eyes, looking at her seriously. “Yeah.”

Dro slumped and shivered. “I felt it,” she said, pulling her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. “I was barely awake, but I still felt it. That power that rushed through me, the Gates opening,” her eyes shone with fear. “Lucifer in my head, promising to find me again and take me home…”

I reached out and took one of her hands. “He’s not taking you anywhere, Dro. We’ll figure out how to stop him.”

She lifted her head. “You don’t get it. I know I’m his daughter. I can feel the connection in our blood. The angel in me might be able to hold him back for a bit, but he’s too strong for me, Constance. If he wants to find me, he will.”

I didn’t try and tell her she was wrong. I squeezed her hand. “I won’t let him take you, Dro. Never again. We’ve beaten the odds before. We can beat them this time.”

But she was already shaking her head. “You don’t understand how strong he is. He’ll hurt you to get to me, and I’ll give in to make him stop. We can’t win against him, Connie–”

I took her other hand. “Andromeda,” I said, holding my fear down as best as I could. “Please don’t give up. I need you to be strong, because if you can’t, then neither can I.”

Deep down, I think Dro always knew how afraid I was of the things and the people hunting us. But I don’t think she ever understood how intense that fear was for me. I was going to have to overcome it if we were going to live through this, if we were going to fight back. I wouldn’t be able to do that if she gave up. Dro had always been my anchor. Without her, I drifted out to sea.

Dro started crying in earnest when she saw how scared I was, but that I still refused to give up. Once she saw that in me, she wouldn’t be able to give up either. She couldn’t stand to lose me anymore than I could lose her.

I’m not the only one who needs an anchor.

I pulled Dro close again and held her as she continued to cry. She was the only one of her kind, but I let her know that she wasn’t alone. That she would never be alone, even if neither of us knew what we were going to do.

I once said I’d burn the world to a cinder to keep Dro safe.

Now I was wondering just how true that promise was going to become.

THE END

Acknowledgments