The 13th Prophecy (4 page)

Eric pressed his fingers to his head. His eyebrows pinched together as if he didn’t believe me. But the shock that was so clearly plastered across my face made it impossible to ignore. Eric turned toward the Pool. He fell to his knees and glanced at his reflection. His voice came out in a shallow puff of air, “Well, what the fuck does that mean?”

Eric’s eyes were wide. For a split second, I could see fear behind them, fear which was quickly masked with anger. He practically snarled at me, but I didn’t understand what happened. Souls couldn’t merge with a body, not if the soul was good—which Eric’s was—and the body was corrupt. The two became separate, acquiring different characteristics that made them impossible to fuse. That was what happened to Collin. That was why his soul was damaged and miniscule. Kreturus destroyed it, twisting it, trying to force it into a body that had done heinous things. Confusion lined my face. There were only two logical reasons—I was able to do what Kreturus couldn’t—or Eric never drained a soul from a mortal.

I turned to Collin with my mouth hanging open, and my brows at different shocked heights, asking the questions that were running through my mind. “How could this be? He was a Valefar. He had to kill to survive. That wasn’t optional, was it?” Collin shook his head. I stared at Eric as his irritation grew as he listened, gazing in the water at his smooth skin. “I didn’t think his soul would even go back into his body after what he’d done, but the two bonded like drops of water.”

Collin stepped toward Eric. The movement made Eric stop staring at his reflection and jump to his feet. It didn’t matter what he was—he didn’t trust Collin. Collin glanced at Eric and then back at me. “It shouldn’t have. Something’s wrong here. It appears that he’s no longer claimed by anyone. That’s what the mark and scars are—a claim of ownership. You broke my blood bargain with Kreturus, but my scar is still on my head. It changed, but it’s not gone. This is suspicious.” Collin touched his chin with his fingers and circled Eric. Eric remained silent, as tension built within every muscle of his body. Eric’s eyes narrowed into slits, watching. His fingers curled into fists at his sides. “The only way for his body to accept his soul would be if he failed to perform his basic Valefar right.” Collin folded his arms. A surprised expression moved across his face. He asked Eric, “How’d you survive if you didn’t kill? That’s the only way for a Valefar to live. We have to demon kiss a victim, and steal their soul. If we don’t, we die. So how’d you avoid it?”

Shock slammed into me again. Eric was an evil bastard. I made him that way. He killed lots of people. He did. He had to. But, as I stared at him slack-jawed, I wasn’t so sure. Was it even possible? Shaking my head, I stepped between them and said, “It doesn’t matter. We have to leave.
Now.”
A frantic feeling was creeping up my spine.

Collin nodded, “I didn’t take you before because you seemed hell-bent on having him with you. If he’s mortal, he can’t
effonate
with us. And it’d be suicide to try to walk him out of here. The portal is on the other side of the Pool. The Pool spans through half the Underworld. As soon as Kreturus realizes his beast is late, he’ll send another—if he doesn’t come himself.”

I turned to Eric. His body was still rigid. “Can you
effonate
? Do you feel any of the power you had before?
Any of mine?”
Collin’s lips parted as if he was going to say something, but he snapped his jaw shut instead.

A smug smile crossed Eric’s face, a smile that made me think the next words out of his mouth were less than truthful. He looked down at me, shaking his head. “No. It’s gone.” His eyes never left mine. We couldn’t leave him.

Collin reached into his pocket and was about to cut his hand with his black blade when I stopped him. Resting my hand across his, I looked into his eyes. “No. Eric has to realize that he’s an ally. He can’t do that if he’s blood-bound to you.” Collin’s jaw twitched. He looked past me, at Eric. “I’ll take him with me.” I turned toward Eric, but Collin grabbed my arm.

“I can’t let you do that! You’re too weak.” He looked down into my eyes, pleading with me, “Don’t do this. There are safer ways...” He stroked his thumb along my cheek. I wanted to take his hands and press them to my cheeks, my lips...

Eric moved toward me. He was standing behind my shoulder by the time Collin stopped speaking. The two of them had always hated each other. And I didn’t have time for a debate, or jealousy, or anything at the moment. Eric slid his arm behind my back, and Collin tensed. Eric said, “I’ll walk out of here before I let one of you feed me blood.”

I didn’t shake Eric off. I slid my arms around Eric’s waist, and pulled him against me. His muscles were tightly wound. The tension rolling off his body was scary—especially if he was human—which I didn’t entirely believe. With a deep breath, I said to Collin, “We’ll meet up with you. Go to the place where I first met you. Okay?” Heat snaked from my stomach, slowly filling my limbs. Fire coursed through my veins as I waited for Collin to reply. He met my eyes for a moment, and nodded. Then Eric and I were engulfed in a surge of heat and the world blazed around us.

CHAPTER FOUR

This wasn’t the first time I
effonated
with Eric. His body was pressed against mine tightly. I could feel the curve of his chest beneath my cheek, and his hands pressed firmly to my back. Heat surrounded us, making it impossible to speak. Normally, the pain would have made me cry out, but I locked my jaw and focused on where I was taking us. I didn’t say the exact location, because it was possible that Kreturus heard us. I hoped the place was still standing. I hoped I remembered correctly—that the school basement was an unused bomb shelter. It had the faded gold fallout shelter sign on the rear exit that went into the school parking lot. If it really was a bomb shelter, we should be safe there—at least for a little while.

The drain of
effonating
with Eric began to take its toll and we weren’t there yet. The flames felt like they were ripping through my throat and cracking it apart in a fiery blaze. My body tensed under Eric’s arms as I tried to swallow the pain.
Effonating
two people hurt like hell because it was double the pain price. His fingers pressed into my back. I could feel ten points of contact infuse my body with a burst of cool water. His lips pressed to my forehead and the pain abated.

I didn’t have time to wonder what he did or how he did it. If I didn’t focus, I’d kill both of us. Whatever Eric did, made it possible for me to control the
effonation
again. I pressed my eyes closed, trying to see the dark corner of the stage, the spot behind the curtain where I first met Collin. As soon as I remembered the cinderblock walls, the burgundy velvet curtain tucked in the corner, and the catwalk that was overhead, we were there. The space appeared as if a dream materialized before my eyes.

Eric and I released each other and gasped. Collin wasn’t here yet. I leaned against the cold wall, sucking in deep breaths of air. The large deep red curtain still hung across the wooden stage. We were in the shadow of the right wing, hidden between the curtain and the wall. The black curtains hung in tatters between the door to the basement and where we stood. It looked like they burned in random places. They resembled Swiss-cheese more than curtains.

Eric stood across from me, unfazed. Shadows fell across his eyes, making him look more dangerous. I panted, trying to resume a normal rate of breathing. I walked toward him, looking up at him. Eric stood a head taller than me. His hair was a mess, and dangling in his eyes. Blood and dirt clung to his arms, marring the smooth surface of his skin. Eric stared at me, blank-faced, as I asked, “How’d you do that?”

What did I do to him this time? What was he? There was no way he was a mortal, not if he could help control the
effonation
. A mortal might not even survive it. I reached for his hand, and he let me take it this time. He watched as I turned his palm over and traced the lines with my finger. Staring at his palm, I felt his warm hand in mine. What did I do to him? What was he?
A demon with a soul?
A fucked up angel?
I didn’t know. My finger glided across the surface of his hand. I looked up into his face. He looked like the same messed up version of Eric that I made in the Lorren. He was acting the same. But he was different somehow. After he was silent, and made no move to respond, I said, “You’re not going to tell me, are you?”

Eric watched me. His eyes darted between my face and my grip on his hand. Finally, he replied, “I realize that you think I know everything, but I don’t know what happened with this. My mark’s gone. I can lie, so I’ve not reverted to my previous angelic form. And yet, I still have some power.” He shrugged looking down at me. “But I don’t know whose power it is, or why it worked. Maybe it’s some of your power. Maybe it’s something new. You changed me.
Again.

“And when you asked me if I could
effonate
before, there was no way I could harness the power to start it.
But now?”
He shrugged. “I might be able to. It’s hard to tell. Maybe slamming my soul back into my body didn’t mix well. How the hell should I know?” I stared at him, willing him to give more of an explanation. But Eric shook his head, saying, “What do you want from me, Ivy? I couldn’t
effonate
before, but with you—after it started—I could lend to it …
  
and remove some of the pain you felt.” He tilted his head, his eyes searching my face. Pain had fascinated him, especially my pain. His action didn’t jive with crazy evil Eric, but the placid expression on his face did.

“So, you’re not
hellbent
on torturing me anymore?” I asked.

A wicked smile twisted his lips, “I didn’t say that. Make no mistake—nothing has changed. I still want to watch you cower as I tear you apart.
Pain and pleasure, Ivy.
Your pain is my pleasure. However, I’m not stupid enough to allow it to destroy us both. I can siphon pain off, if I choose to do so. And at that moment, I would have reveled in watching you cry out as you burned, but I wasn’t going to go down with you.” He jerked my hand to his chest, placing it over his heart. “Feel that?” His heart was racing. I swallowed hard, staring at his eyes, leaning in closer. Bloodlust was overpowering me. My mind was growing hazy, my eyes unfocused. I nodded slowly. “That’s what you do to me …
  
Every time I see you, my pulse shoots through the roof at the thought of watching you suffer for everything you’ve done to me.”

My throat was tight. It felt like I could barely breathe. The dried blood on Eric’s face smelled so good. I couldn’t pull away. It didn’t matter that he was crazy. I leaned into him harder, pushing my body against his, leaning on my tip toes. He watched me with delight, as I flicked my tongue across his cheek. I pressed my eyes closed, savoring the taste of him in my mouth as he laughed. “Do you want more, little slave?” A beautiful smile lined his lips. The blood I’d tasted held little power. I wasn’t sure why I did it. Why I didn’t try to control the urge.

I shoved away from him, fighting the haze from being too close to him when Collin appeared next to us. We broke apart like we’d been caught doing something we shouldn’t have been doing. I had difficulty hiding my hatred for Eric. The way he used me and manipulated me, without fear, made me nuts. He didn’t think I’d fight back. He should be afraid of me. I was stronger than him! And yet, he dared to do this to me over and over! And knowing Collin was coming right behind us. He made me lick dried blood! Disgust rushed through me. Eric had a cocky smile on his face. He lifted his eyebrows once, as he folded his arms over his chest to taunt me. My fists balled at my sides as I glared at him.

Collin sucked in a gasp of air, and coughed. He glanced at us, knowing something happened. Whether he saw it or not, I didn’t know. And I didn’t want to admit I’d swallowed Eric’s blood. Or that I was addicted to it. The more demon blood I had in me, the more I became like them.
The demons.
I was losing myself. I could feel myself being drowned out by his blood, being forced to be something I was not.
 
The worst part was
,
I felt nothing looking at Collin. He was so close, but he might as well have been a lamp pole. I felt nothing around him. Eric used his blood to play on my emotions. That was the only time I felt anything.

Collin looked at me. I smiled at him, trying to ignore Eric. Collin said, “I remember meeting you here—how you didn’t even give me the time of day.” He smiled, remembering me blowing him off. He looked around at the rest of the theater, moving toward the center of the stage. Turning back to me, he said, “We’re lucky this was still here. Most of the places we used to go are gone.”