Chapter Thirty-Five: Famine's Betrayal

"I told you I'm worried more this time than the last," Dagon argued. "What are we going to do?"

"I don't care what you do, all I know is I'm going to protect her no matter what," Tydeus replied. "That's all that matters, I don't care who it comes down to. She comes first."

"Guys?" Holly asked as she knocked on the door.

Both whirled at her voice.

"We'll talk about this later," Tydeus snapped.

Dagon ignored him. Now that Holly was in the room she had his full attention. "What's wrong?"

His eyes were narrowed on her, he must have expected the worst.

"I don't think it's anything, but Angel needs help."

Tydeus snorted. "He needs more than help."

"I'm serious," Holly barked at him. "He's trying to set up a barrier to help Quix and Ruby. Famine already went to go help test the strength of it, but he wanted your help Tydeus to strengthen it."

Tydeus scowled. "He doesn't need my help, he's trying to use this as an excuse to get me to talk to him. You could have been killed, I won't do it."

"Dagon, can you help him then? I'm sure you're just as powerful as this guy, right?" she asked.

Tydeus jerked upright. "I'm sorry," he glared at Dagon. "I'll handle this. You make yourself useful. Find a way to stop your brothers."

Holly watched him stomp off. "Why do the new guys have such attitudes?" she shook her head. "Him and Angel are the same. They always talk as if I should always choose their side, but they weren't the ones protecting me or helping me. Eros was and both talk about him as if he's the enemy. Why?" she demanded.

"They can't overlook the fact that he's a sin. To them what he is trumps all else. They'd have you fight him, and kill him."

"Never," Holly hissed. "I'll never fight Eros, he's my best friend in this world."

"I won't let them force you into anything like that as long as I'm alive," Dagon reassured. "But you said Angel needs help right? I don't trust Tydeus to not let his rage get to him and try to start another fight. Let's go."

Holly didn't need any further convincing and followed him back to the room where the barrier was set up. As she entered it she felt a bit like she had walked through a thin layer of jello. "What was that?"

"I decided that having a physical sense to the barrier will help us determine when it fails. If you sit on one of the couches and stare at one of the corners you'll see wrinkles indicating where the barrier is stitched together."

"Where's Famine?" Holly glanced around. The other horsemen hadn't made it yet. "I sent him here earlier."

"No idea," Angel shrugged. "I've been focused on getting this fixed since you said you need it."

"Thank you," Holly said with a sigh. "I hate thanking you for anything, I still don't like you, but I'll say thank you. Those two mean a lot to me."

A world without Quix seemed very dark indeed after all. But Famine not being there irked her. It was as if she was a pet and she was being stroked the wrong way. She didn't understand why she left the barrier, but she did. And as she did so a buzzing she hadn't noticed that had been bothering her, vanished.

I thought you might notice something is off soon.

What do you want?

Great, she'd have to deal with him again. She'd thought he had gotten bored of her already.

I'm not here to stop you, but I sense one of my children isn't exactly behaving. If my guess is right, Famine is after your Eros.

Holly's heart stopped.

No, she couldn't let that happen. She raced down the hallways as she threw open door after door.

No sign of him.

Where?

She didn't care that she was ordering a denizen of hell around. All she cared about was rescuing him. Eros was too important for her to lose. Every beat of her heart pushed her faster. The bad feeling that had nagged at her was making her stomach tie into knots now.

She reached for the next handle to throw it open.

Locked.

Holly threw all her weight into the door. It buckled but still held closed.

Muffled grunts reached her ears.

Holly repeated her attacks, over and over again. Her shoulder was sore by the time the wood splintered.

She didn't care.

Holly kicked at the door and she managed a hole wide enough to stick her hand through where she could unlock the door handle.

Famine had Eros pinned beneath him. The former cabbit was pale, a ghostly white and a black aura flowed from him and into Famine's mouth.

Holly still didn't hesitate. She threw herself at the horsemen.

If Famine was surprised at the interruption, he didn't show it. He backed off a step from her weight but recovered. The black aura didn't vanish but instead thickened. "I expected you would find this out, eventually."

"Let him go," Holly demanded.

Famine bit down on the aura and it shattered whipping back both ways. Eros screamed as it retreated back into his body and his color returned with the barest amounts of color. "This one stands in the way of my brother's plans. If I rid us of him, then Dagon is free to help you take down the remaining sins and you can be free to be with him. No holding back."

"I'll never let anyone take Eros." She put a hand on her friend's chest.

The thump beneath her fingers was erratic. There was no rhythm no pattern at all. Just a weak beat.

Who cared if she was found out. She didn't.

Summoning everything she had in her, Holly grabbed Eros's hand and focused on her power, focused on rewinding time back.

Famine grunted. The black aura that he had in his mouth was expanding and was pushing its way out of him. He tried to slap a hand over his mouth and keep it inside, but it went through list mist and back into Eros's body.

His heartbeat turned steady, his color returned in full, and his eyes opened.

"Eros!" Holly hugged him tight to her chest as she buried her head there. "I thought I'd lost you. I was so worried, so scared." She looked over his head at Famine that was staring hard at them. "You monster," she growled.

"Stop," Eros asked as he put a hand on her arm. "Don't yell at him."

"What?" Her glare turned to him. "What are you talking about? Why wouldn't I blame him? He tried to kill you!"

"I told him to," Eros responded softly. "I wanted to take myself off the board so you don't have to hold back. I want you to be free. Free from having to worry about just a Sin in your way. I can't even stay by your side and protect you."

"Why can't you?" Holly challenged.

Eros held his hands out. "Because I'm too in love with you. I'm in love with you, Holly, I'm in love with Acacia. I'm in love with that soul. Just the whole package. How can I help you if that's true? You hate everyone else who brings up your soul."

Famine pulled away and to the side as he watched the two. "That's the secret you've been hiding. The reason you're so valuable to dear old dad. With that kind of power you can reset anything and everything. You could keep whoever you wished in power forever."

"She could even do that for herself," Eros suggested with a sneer. "She doesn't have to choose to help anyone."

Famine raised a brow at the cabbit. "Didn't you just choose to try to sacrifice yourself to me? Why are you being so pompous?"

Eros chuckled. "Because I didn't like you talking about her like she's a battery for someone else. If she wanted to rule everything, she could."

"You do know that by staying alive you're going to create a timeline where she'll have to make the decision you were so concerned about. I'm still willing to absorb you."

"No," Holly replied with a pointed glare at him. "You will not be touching Eros again. I'll only hold back because he asked me to, but if you ever try this again with him, I swear I will find a way to take you off the board completely."

Famine's head fell back as he laughed. "You're feisty over those you care about. I like that."

"She doesn't need anyone else after her. She's got enough."

"You are aware that I can admire her without wanting to sleep with her, correct?" Famine demanded. "I'm not under the same spell as my brother. I can be on her side without professing things such as undying love."

"Good," Eros replied. "Because you are not on her level."

"Eros," Holly snapped and that man froze. "You are going straight to bed right now. I don't care that I used my power on you, but you are still on bed rest until I know you're okay."

Famine laughed as Eros wilted but Holly didn't care. As long as he was safe, that was all that mattered.