chapter TWENTY-NINE
Anxiety laced my erratic movements. I shoved my hands in my pockets as I walked through the doors of the church and came to a screeching halt. Black scales lined the floors, strewn about as if they were confetti. My jaw dropped as I turned my head, taking in the scene. It was so bizarre. It was so wrong. My eyes shifted through the shadows. No noises emanated from within the building. Carefully, I called out “Eric?” When there was no reply, my throat constricted and I called his name again, “Eric!” The only answer I received was more silence. Something was wrong. The scales, I knew what they were, but they couldn’t be. They couldn’t be what I thought. It wasn’t possible.
My head whipped side to side as I searched, frantically running through the building looking for Eric. The glimmering black scales littered the floor throughout the entire church, and clung to the seats on some of the chairs and tables. I rounded the corner and flung open the doors to the auditorium. Eric sat on the wooden altar, staring at the patches of colored glass as if nothing was amiss. More scattered scales lined the aisles and pews.
My voice echoed through the room before me, “Eric. What happened? Are these… ” I couldn’t say it. The thought. What it meant made my blood freeze in my veins.
He turned toward me, golden eyes rimmed in scarlet. The front of his shirt was torn, hanging off his body with bloody gashes across his chest. “Yes. They got out. They came looking for you… The demons are here, Ivy.”
My feet crunched over the black scales until I threw myself into Eric’s arms, surprising myself and him. I pulled him to me, holding him tightly. The warmth of his body reassured me that he was all right. When I pushed him away, the red ring around his irises faded. His forearms were lined with pink welts from lacerations that had started to heal. Eric tilted his head as his brow pinched. I had hugged him. The gesture confused him. That was fine, it confused me, too. I stepped away from him, eager to ignore what I just did.
“How’d they get here? Are the gates of the Underworld really open? That’s the only way they can get out, right?” My eyes darted around the room. There wasn’t a section of the carpet that wasn’t covered in demon scales. Eric seemed sedate. His gaze remained affixed to the floor, occasionally glancing at my face. “What did you do to them?”
He stared at my face, and arched an eyebrow. “Do you really want to know?” I shook my head. I didn’t want to know. I didn’t want to know how many demons there were or exactly how they died. It was apparent that he skinned them somehow. I gagged back the stomach acid that climbed up my throat. I didn’t need details.
Eric slid off the altar, looking down at me still somewhat baffled. I looked away, my eyes searching for more carnage, more signs of a fight. But there was nothing else. He said, “That’s all that remains of that pack. There were more than I could handle. So I… did that to them. It was the only way to survive.” He glanced at me. “They want you. They came here looking for you.” Eric moved his arms over his chest, as he pushed his toe through a pile of shining black scales. “Do you believe me now? Do you believe he’s after you?”
“No, this wasn’t Collin,” I replied staring at the room. My ribs were ready to splinter into a million pieces, as my heart raced in my chest. An eerie calmness protruded from my thoughts. “This was Kreturus. He’s done waiting. We’re out of time.” Eric was standing in front of me. My gaze shot up to his face. His lips were pressed tightly together in a thin line. “The Guardian must be dead.”
“Why would the Guardian be dead?” Eric shook his head, his eyes coming back to life as I spoke.
“Apryl said—something happened. She was attacked. I found her wandering through the Underworld alone. She couldn’t remember what happened. They did something to her. But she thought they did something to the Guardian, as well.” I turned to Eric. “If the Guardian’s dead, then what’s holding the demons in Hell?”
“Absolutely nothing. And there’s more than demons down there that will come racing out.” His arms unfolded, as he walked toward me. “We need to find Satan’s Stone now. We need the last memory. Let me take it before it’s too late.” His hands slid around my waist as he pulled me closer without waiting for me to answer. The look on his face, the depth of the sorrow in his eyes was different. I didn’t have time to consider it, or even agree to his demands. His lips were pressed to mine and he was kissing me.
As the kiss deepened, I tried to think about the things I’d learned about Satan’s Stone. But it didn’t seem to help. Eric’s kiss didn’t lighten and end as quickly it usually did. Instead, he pulled me closer, causing my waist to bend as our bodies pressed together. I could feel the heat of his skin as he pressed himself to me. His fingers tangled in my hair, pulling me nearer, tighter, as his tongue stroked mine. A chill ran down my spine. It felt like we were being watched. Breathless, I pushed him away. My fingers brushed the taste of him off my lips as I breathed through my mouth, looking up at Eric.
“Did you get it?” I asked.
He shook his head, but as Eric started to speak, another voice rang out. “So, this is what you do when I’m not around?” Collin. Collin stood there at the end of the rows of pews. Demon scales were everywhere, but he didn’t seem to notice them. He glared at me. Me in Eric’s arms. Me wiping away Eric’s kiss from my lips.
Eric tensed at the sound of Collin’s voice, and slid his arm around my waist. He jerked me back toward him tightly. His heart pounded in his chest. Eric’s muscles tensed, as he spoke, “She’s mine now, Smith. Leave before I make you.”
Collin stepped towards me, and with every footfall my heart jumped up my throat another lurch. I didn’t pull out of Eric’s grip. It felt like time had frozen and thawed, and the only thing I could look at was Collin’s eyes dripping with anger and envy.
Collin laughed. The sound made me skin crawl. “You think so?”
Eric’s grip around my waist was crushing me, but he didn’t release me. If anything he pulled me tighter. He whispered in my ear, “He seems off… ”
And he did. Collin’s body was tense, rigidly lined with tight muscles that were exuding power. The air seemed to take on a different life as he passed through. The most unnerving part wasn’t that the air hissed as he neared us, it wasn’t that the demon scales burned into oblivion under his feet—it was his eyes.
Ruthless, dead, wax blue eyes that fixated on my throat.
“Leave,” Eric hissed in my ear. His arm loosened around my waist as he started to shove me behind him. “I’ll give you a head start.” I began to protest, but he only shoved me harder, “Go!”
Collin’s eyes were two pools of burning fire. The slant to his shoulders, the step of his foot—none of it seemed like him. I’d seen Collin fight. I knew him, but this boy, this thing walking towards us… I didn’t know at all.
I ran. Turning on my heel, I ran out the preacher’s entrance and up the back stairs of the church. My feet slid across the floor as I tried to get traction and failed. Demon scales were everywhere. What did Eric do? I didn’t have time to think about it. There was no time. The black glass appeared in front of me, as I called it, and I dove through head-first.