Chapter Seventeen: Dagon

"Dagon?" Holly whispered. She remembered that name and that voice.

"Are you really Dagon?"

He nodded. "I am, and as I told you, I'm here to save you." He frowned at Quix. "First of all, I'll take care of that trash for you."

Holly's arms came around Quix as she pulled him closer to her. "He's not trash, he saved me."

Dagon stepped closer his eyes narrowing. "Saved you? Let me see you, take that cover off."

Holly flushed and shook her head. "No way, I-"

She was interrupted as Dagon took the corner of the blanket and swept it away leaving her huddling against Quix for warmth.

Dagon's lip flared seeing the reaper's state of undress but if faded away as his eyes roamed over Holly. His dark blue eyes shimmered like the depths of the ocean as his fist clenched. "Those marks, tell me what happened to you, right now."

Holly swallowed, she didn't even want to remember a single moment of that. "I was captured," she whispered instead. "And, he, he hurt me."

Dagon's teeth ground against each other, so loud that even Holly could hear it and she tensed. "You're talking about one of my brothers, aren't you?" he demanded. "If it was that guy you wouldn't be wrapped around him. I guess it's good to see that part of the spell is working as it should."

"Brother?" Holly winced. "Are you taking me back to him? Please, please don't do it. I couldn't survive that again. Have mercy on me, please!"

Her cry made Quix's eyes open and his dark silver orbs stared at her for a moment as he found sleep. "What's wrong?" he whispered.

"I would like to know why one of her protectors let her be caught by one of the Four Horsemen, would you care to explain that to me?" Dagon's voice was a growl.

Quix whirled and shoved Holly behind him as he turned to confront the intruder. "How did you get in here?" he demanded. "It should be impossible!"

"Her soul," Dagon responded. "No matter where she is, I will follow that brightness, that warmth, and I will find her. I will protect her."

"Why?" Holly demanded. "I don't even know you."

"Don't get me wrong," Dagon replied. "I'm here to save you, and I won't let any of the others put a finger on you anymore, but here's the thing. This isn't for some altruistic purpose. I want you to be my Queen and help me take the throne from my father. His reign is over, and I want the Queen I've chosen by my side."

"She's not going anywhere with you," Quix growled. His brow furrowed and he broke into coughs as he bent over. "I can't teleport yet."

Dagon chuckled. "That's your power little one?" He frowned. "Wait, now that I see you, you're not a human. You're one of Death's creations." His eyes darkened once more. "I will never allow you to take her to him."

Holly bit her knuckle. Hearing those words gave her such a relief, but she didn't want anything to happen to Quix either. "He saved me from Death, please, don't hurt him."

Dagon shook his head. "I suppose I should have expected this. That irritating Lust was the same way. If one of mine could fall for her, why wouldn't one of his? Here me, Reaper, you've done a crappy job keeping her safe. At least you were able to save her, but now you're useless."

"He's not useless!" Holly glared at him. "Why are you being so mean to him? I would have still been tortured if it wasn't for Quix!"

"Which is why I'm not killing him for failing to protect you," Dagon replied. "I will tear apart anyone that hurts you. How did you end up with Death anyway? He's too lazy to look for you on his own."

Holly bit her lip. Should she tell him about Krim? He just told her that he would kill them, and she didn't want anything to happen to Krim, despite his betrayal. She didn't know if she was capable of being that cold. Even if he deserved punishment.

"Another reaper, he goes by the name of Krim," Quix replied.

Holly stared at him. "Why?" she whispered.

"I'm not going to defend him, true we were companions once, but he betrayed us. I'm not kind enough to forgive betrayals, and neither is Rubes."

"Rubes?" Dagon leaned against the wall as he studied them. "Who is Rubes? Another betrayer?"

"No!" Quix sat up and winced from the pain. "She's got nothing to do with it, she was trying to protect Holly too."

"Holly," Dagon spoke her name then came closer, almost kneeling on the bed. "Tell me exactly what happened to you. If I'm going to get revenge for you, I want to make sure that it applies to everyone that deserves it."

"I can't do that," Holly whispered. Once more she couldn't bring herself to name names. Besides she didn't even know the name of that servant that had put her through so much pain.

"I can," Quix replied. "From what I've gathered, Krim took her away from us and escorted her personally to Death's side. While there he tried to make her confess her power. But she doesn't know what it is yet. He used one of his servants to torture her, I don't know how long it was before I could save her."

Dagon nodded to the news. "If we don't know which one it was, I'll just kill all of them then."

"You can do that?" Holly whispered.

Dagon smirked. "I'm one of the Four Horsemen as well, I can be just as deadly at my brother."

"Are you War?" Holly asked. If he was as strong as Death he had to be an important one.

"No," Dagon frowned. "War is an odd one. If Death has found you, War is not too far away. But I won't let them near you. Just trust me."

"No," Holly replied. "I barely know you. For all I know, you could just be trying to trick me."

Dagon scowled then looked around their surroundings. "Why are you two here anyway? Are you having some sort of tryst away from the others?"

"Tryst?" Holly whispered as her face flamed. "No, we were just recovering."

"Why not recover where the rest of your defenders are?" Dagon demanded. "You're always surrounded by a ton of them. Just depending on one is dangerous. If I can find my way here, Death can as well."

"I know that," Quix answered. "But, as you said, he's too lazy to do so."

Dagon quirked an eyebrow. "Did one of my brother's minions just call him lazy? Maybe you're not too bad after all." He nodded at Quix. "I'll allow you to live awhile longer. But why are you still here?"

"I ran out of power," Quix answered. "Teleporting is something that I've only done solo up to this point. Taking her with me not only drained me, but it's done some damage I need to recover from."

"Then I'll take her with me," Dagon announced.

"No," Quix replied glaring over at him. "I know you can kill me without effort, but I'm not about to let her just walk off with you."

"You can't guard her while you're here. Maybe my brother won't come, but he could still send one of his other servants. What if he sends that Krim reaper? You can't defend her if you have no power left."

"I'll come up with something. I'm not completely helpless without it," Quix all but growled out. "I'll take her back when I can."

"And just end up putting yourself in the same situation, or worse." Dagon sighed. "Your stubbornness is irritating me. I will take you both out of here. I have more than enough power for that. This form is quite a bit stronger than my last."

Holly just wanted to go back to sleep with Quix's arms around her again. Returning to the others frightened her. She could only imagine if Ruby betrayed her next, or what if that Lachesis woman hurt her to try to bring out her powers?

"Don't worry," Quix whispered. "No one will hurt you again."

"That's obvious," Dagon snorted. "You two, grab my arm. I'll teleport you straight to that irritating Sin."

"Sin?" Holly shook her head. "I can't fight, I don't know how!"

"Not that one," Dagon shook his head. "The one that makes me want to rip him apart when he smiles that dorky smile of his."

Holly didn't get a chance to ask about it further because Quix grabbed her arm and they both latched onto Dagon. The world swirled around them once more as they teleported out of the safety she had already adjusted to, and straight into the center of the others.

"Where is your shirt?" Eros demanded as he hissed at Quix and his pristine body.

"I would think that you would be greeting your master first, Lust," Dagon scolded.

The cabbit froze and shifted back into a human as he bowed low with his eyes clenched shut. "Sorry, I'm glad to see you again, Dagon. I need your help on this one."

Dagon crossed his arms over his chest as he smirked. "I know."