Page 114 of Legendary

“No! I was trying to help her because I fucking care, but I didn’t think she would just up and disappear because of it. If I had known she was going to leave, obviously I would have made different decisions.”

“I saw her leave last night,” Garrett announced over our voices, his own booming throughout the room. Elise swiveled her head towards him. Reese stepped forward getting closer to him. “You saw her? Do you know where she went?” Garrett shook his head, his braids slowly flinging back and forth.

“Hey guys, I want you to meet some people,” Beetee said as she opened the door to the hostel, two women coming in behind her. One of them had pale skin and short red hair, cropped into a pixie cut. The other one had brown skin and white hair that fell into ringlets around her shoulders. Circular framed glasses hung around her neck. They both looked about the same age as Leah and they took Reese and I in as if we were just another set of bodies in the room. They had the looks of two innocent demons having fled from Lilith’s grasp, but there was something about them that instantly made me think there was more to them then they let on.

I wasn’t always the inquisitive type, but after learning about Dani, I figured some things couldn’t always be as they seemed. Beetee’s face fell as she took in the room. She wiped her hands down her bright green dress and ushered her parents to the lounge area. She said something to them in a hushed tone and walked back over to us. “What’s going on? They already feel weird as it is.”

“Dani’s missing. No thanks to the angel boy here.”

“Excuse me? It’s not like I pushed her to leave. If I know Dani at all, I really don’t think there was anything we could have said that would have changed this outcome.” My chest puffed out and I felt light-headed from how much energy I was giving this conversation.

“She had…” Garrett started, placing his hands on his hips. “She had this look in her eyes, like determination. I tried to get up and follow her, but by the time I was out the front door she was gone. I’m pretty sure she flew.”

“Flew where?” Reese asked.

“Lilith,” I answered under my breath.

“Yes, Lilith, Nicholas. She went all by her fucking self because somewhere in that very dense but clearly vulnerable mind of hers she thought she had to,” Elise pointed out. She was clearly upset, but I didn’t know if it was entirely aimed at myself. There was something that told me that she was also outraged at Dani, but not in the way of wanting to ring her neck but upset because Dani did this without her. “What exactly does Dani expect us to do now?”

“If I were her, I’d probably want everyone to go home since theburdenis gone.” Reese put air quotes as he said burden and shrugged. “Listen I like the girl, I don’t think she’s a burden, not that much at least, but that’s what I’m thinking. And we can all agree that everything that’s gone on could put a toll on someone who doesn’t want anyone else involved in their issues.”

Elise crossed her arms over her chest. “Oh yeah, well fuck that. If she really thinks she’s just going to do this fight all on her own, then she’s a fucking idiot. We all came here knowing that we were putting Lilith shaped targets on our backs, so suck it the fuck up.”

Leah huddled next to Garrett. “So, what now?”

“We go on with the plan as usual,” she looked over at Beetee who had broken away from the group to go be with her parents. “Get your parents ready for a little meeting of the minds. With or without Dani, we are getting to Lilith and then when we find Dani, I’ll kill her myself for freaking me—us—out.” She cleared her throat and looked anywhere but my face as I tried to catch her eye and acknowledge her slip up. As much as she was angry, she was also worried—that made two of us. I looked over to where Beetee had settled down next to her moms, determination in her eyes. Leah and Garrett followed her as they listened to what she had to say.

I was about to head over there when Reese bumped my shoulder with his own, gaining my attention. “She didn’t say anything to you before she left? Leave a note? Nothing?”

“No, she…” I cut myself off when the ghost of a whisper came through mymind. Her breath caressed my ear as her voice flooded my thoughts. The last words that she’d wanted me to hear. Just for me.

I want every second of every minute, of every hour, of every single day with you too. I’m sorry.

I felt her kiss on my skin and then the memory was gone. Her voice was nothing but the still air around me and I blinked seeing my best friend waiting for my response. I cleared my throat and shook my head, lifting my shoulders. “No, no she didn’t.”

DANI

Iplunged my dagger into one demon and then another. Blood was dripping over my eyes, and I could hardly see, but I didn’t need to see when I was this full of rage. One of the shadows twisted around my ankles, pulling me down and I kicked forward trying to get it to remove me from its clutches. I was being dragged and the jagged edges of broken stone clawed at my back. I used my dark magic to shadow a hole in the floor and dug my dagger into it, ripping the floor of the castle as I went. I used the hilt of my weapon to slow the shadow down and it whipped its head around and looked at me, stunned, when I lifted up and sliced across its wispy body. It disappeared altogether, but the hisses didn’t stop, the pounding of footsteps and so much powerful energy didn’t stop. I wiped my hand down my face, blood coating my hand. It was black and dark red, sticky and warm.

It shouldn’t have been a surprise to me that getting inside Lilith’s domain would have been easy. She knew I was coming; she was just biding her time until I did. The doors opened wide when I stepped foot on thepremises and I noticed the demons circling above, I could feel their eyes on me. I heard my own footsteps when I walked through, a wave of memories flooding me, as I scanned every wall and passed every open door. Nothing came at me, there was no instant fight. There was just silence as I held tension in my shoulders. The Skies and Lilith’s castle had similarities in its structure and its need to pretend like it was so much better than everything else. I had never been on this floor for long, but I did remember the thick stone doors that lined the walls on either side of me and the broken lanterns that still seemed to hold just a small bit of flame.

There had been a large staircase that greeted me, one that had a tattered carpet running along it as if it should have been replaced decades ago. I knew the second floor was where Lilith had her chambers and whatever the fuck else was up there. It had smelt like fire and pain when I really took in my current surroundings. I had followed that smell past the large staircase which had led me to an opening with a curved top and a darker staircase within. I felt a pull to whatever was in—down—there and I tilted my head from side to side, cracking my neck. I wasn’t afraid of it because I knew what was there for the most part, I’d lived down there. I’d tortured the fuck out of people down there. When I’d come back from Leviathan all those times, I knew what would likely be waiting for me when I got back.

I had thought about Nick for one more minute and then I’d descended the stairs into so much darkness that my eyes had to adjust. Fire lit sconces suddenly lined the walls of the decrypted looking hallway that I remembered so well and then I felt a hand around the back of my neck and my body being shoved into the stone wall. Demons had sprung from everywhere and my first and only instinct was to fight back. That’s what I’d been doing for what felt like hours. Fighting demons and shadows, wanting to beg for a moment of reprieve but I couldn’t do that. If this was her way of making me feel small, punishing me for taking so long, then I would accept the punishment…like I’d always done.

I elbowed a demon behind me and kicked my foot out, knocking one back with a shove to the stomach. I whirled around and sliced one through the chest with my dagger and then I heard a laugh. It was littered with malice and a bit of crazy. Scratch that—a lot of crazy. It suddenly felt like wind was rushing past my ears and then like a body moving too fast in front of my eyes. They were on either side of me, so I swung to the left then to the right. They were in front of me, so I swung upward, but then I felt a whooshing behind me, so I spun around and struck there. Another miss, again and again.

That cackling, maniacal laughter was back. It was close to me, so close I could feel their breath. And then there was a buzzing in my head, likesomething had turned my brain up in frequency. I felt more demons circling around me and I lifted my arm to fight, but whatever was fucking with my head stole my focus. My vision started to blur; it was like I was drunk. Or better yet, like I was being fucked with by magic.

Heels clicked on the stone floor as my knees landed on the ground with a cracking pain I didn’t even register. “Does that hurt, Soul Seether?”

I willed my dagger away and forced my head up to look at Isabel. Her blonde hair swished near her ears and her earrings shined in the firelight. Her icy blue eyes were stuck on mine as she grabbed my face and kept me in place. I flinched as she forced her magic further into my head, letting it seep into my veins. “I would think you enjoy a little pain, seeing as you sure do you love dishing it out? Or are you too good for a little torture nowadays?” She looked over her shoulder and nodded towards me to whoever she had acknowledged.

In a matter of seconds, I felt a hand on the back of my neck and restraints made of shadows around my wrists. The hand against my neck applied pressure, so much pressure that my airway was getting smaller and smaller. Their nails, which were pointed and sharp, dug into my skin. Isabel moved out of the way so that I could be pushed forward, landing on my face. I sucked in a harsh breath, catching remnants of gravel into my mouth.

“Get her up,” Isabel commanded. I felt shadowy hands around me pulling me up and facing Isabel again. Whoever had pressed their nails into my skin was gone. They hadn’t been a shadow demon, so who the hell were they?

My hair was matted in my face, and I could taste blood in my mouth. “Where is she?” I demanded, gritting my teeth through the pain. Isabel was a pain in my ass, but she wasn’t who I wanted. I wanted vengeance on Lilith for my own benefit, but I found that I also wanted it to keep her away from everyone else.

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