Chapter 118: Truths Revealed
The vampires weren't alone. Within moments, the Chosen appeared on the borrowed ride of another group. Nicholas crashed the party with a scowl as the leader let my father settle to the grass, still trapped in his bubble.
Dad lunged to the edge, his mouth calling for Mom, but no sound emerged. She turned and saw him. Reached for him. I felt their pain and longing even from where I stood. She sagged with the weight of her understanding, a slow and crippled motion bending her forward like an old woman. I saw it in her face when Mom realized Dad wasn't there to save her, that everything had gone to hell. Her whole being crumbled and she buried her face in her hands to cry.
Dad's power lashed out inside the bubble, knocking him to his knees.
"Yes, excellent," the man in the white robe said. "Using your power will only soften you for us. As you can see, your position is quite hopeless. Please, continue."
Dad just glared at him.
I couldn't bear to watch. But I didn't have a choice.
Nicholas swung the man around. "Where is he, Annick?" His hiss traveled despite the quietness of it. "Where is Demetrius?"
"He'll be here," Annick said, pulling his arm free, looking at the vampire with great distaste.
So Demetrius was alive after all. Or was he? Maybe white cloak was bluffing? No, it made sense someone so evil would still be alive. Like a cockroach after you tried to squish him.
"That's my cue." I jerked my head around as Benjamin opened his eyes and looked at me with those pale blue eyes, that horrible smile.
And I finally understood. There was a very good reason I couldn't stand him. As Benjamin's face began to age slowly, his whole body growing and changing while Quaid and I just stared, I figured it out it at last.
Demetrius looked back at me from where Benjamin had been. "Hello, Syd," he said. "Surprise."
Son of a... Quaid lashed out at him, but the power just rippled over the smiling man and back at Quaid. He grunted, the shield wavered. It couldn't be.
"I thought you were normal." I felt around him again, found nothing. "How?"
His smile widened. "You'll see."
Demetrius stood up and walked into the center of the clearing. "You were looking for me?"
Nicholas growled under his breath. "Finally. Where have you been?"
"Entertaining myself," he said. "Come along, then."
Mia's eyes shot open, still asleep and unseeing. Before I could grab her, my magic sliding over her, she shot to her feet and went to his side.
"I found this lovely witch all blocked up." He patted her cheek. "She'll make an excellent addition to our ranks. Oh, and let's not forget," he spun and did something with his hand. Quaid's shield collapsed. "The lovely Miss Hayle and her charming protector have joined us."
Quaid looked baffled. I tried to help him, but as I reached out with my magic, I felt something pushing against me. It was subtle and hard to feel, but definitely not of witch magic origin. Or any other magic I knew of. It had to be the same power Demetrius used to disguise himself, something none of us recognized.
But what could it be?
"What have you done?" That came from Mom, a wavering sound, but still full of defiance.
"Nothing, witch," Demetrius said, "except alter the rules of engagement."
At least my friends were still asleep. That much of the magic held. I climbed to my feet and moved forward. Not like hiding was doing much good anymore. "You're such a hypocrite," I said. Demetrius's smile never wavered. "You hunt and kill witches when you're one yourself."
"My dear, dear Sydlynn," he said, "who better to hunt the evil than those who know the evil first hand? Besides, not all of us are witches."
"You have magic," I said. "That makes you one of us. Unless you turned undead when I wasn't looking. And there's no way you're a demon or Sidhe." Was he?
He laughed. "Of course not," he said. "I'm as human as you... well. I'm human. But there are more types of magic in this world than you can imagine."
"Sorcerer." Mom spit the word out like it was evil itself. And as far as I knew, she was right.
But he couldn't be a sorcerer. That brand of magic died out before I was born. Before Mom was born, even. The ability to use the power inside animate and inanimate objects was no more.
"Why yes," he smiled at Mom while he took a step forward, standing over her. "A five element sorcerer to be precise. And you will speak to me with respect, witch." White teeth flashed as he faced her, his cherub perfection all the more terrifying because I knew he was insane and purely evil. His tone stayed light and kind as he planted his foot in her side so hard she almost lifted from the ground.
Mom crumpled as my rage let loose. I gave him no warning, just lashed out at him with demon fire. It engulfed him, sheeted off and dissipated. He still stood there, perfectly fine and smiling at me.
"Too bad demon magic is based so strongly in fire," he said. "Since I happen to control all combustibles, it's not possible for your power to harm me. Unlike my vampires."
Nicholas flinched away from the attack. Now the hopeful, eager look in his eyes, the one that told me he wanted Demetrius dead as much as I did, was gone.
Annick stepped up and handed Demetrius the crystal. The same one that turned my dad into a bubble boy. I had to steal it from him somehow.
Distraction might do it. I didn't wait to see what he would do, just marched forward and went to Mom, kneeling beside her to hug her. "I thought you were dead in that crash," I said to him as I sent Mom a thread of healing power.
"Syd," she whispered, that one word carrying all of her grief.
But I wasn't listening to her.
"Ah yes, your demon's little rebellion. How quaint." He shrugged. "A few of my people were badly injured. A pity. But I of course was unscathed." Demetrius's smile broadened. "Were you surprised to see me just then?" He hugged himself, gleeful grin so tight his eyes were almost closed from it. "I was so sure you would find me out. You're not as clever as I thought."
"Why did you bother?" I glanced at Mia. Right. He recruited her.
"Yes," he said, gazing with adoration at my friend, "I did it for her. But there was another reason, far more personal. Did you want to know what it is?"
I almost didn't just to piss him off. But my curiosity won.
He giggled. Like a girl. Disgusting. "Because of you, Syd," he said. "I wanted to ruin you. To tear away from you everything that made you happy in your so-called normal life. Like you destroyed my happiness."
How could he blame me for the night his people were slaughtered by Cesard? Wasn't he burning me at the stake at the time?
Demetrius bounced on the balls of his feet in his pure delight. "And I won, didn't I? I won."
I hated him so much at that moment I would happily have killed him and laughed as I did it. He didn't give me the chance. His glee settled and he returned to business.
"I wanted to hurt you. For all the pain you caused. But this was different. I knew you and your family were evil, Sydlynn. In that moment when you lost control and your demon half took over, I understood at last. You and your family were not only the very thing I needed to destroy, but the tools I would use to purge this world at last of all forms of unholy magic."
"So sorcery is holy, is that it?" Whatever. He wasn't doing anything to change my mind about how insane he was. "And if that's true, what about the witches who work for you?" I pointed at the zombie Mia. "What about her?"
"Exceptions are made for the exceptional." He shrugged. "I made you the same offer once."
"Just before you tried to burn me at the stake." I was still pissed about that one.
He smiled. "I'm so happy I failed."
Sicko.
"I've done as you asked." Nicholas stepped up, cutting off our little conversation. "Fulfilled my part of the agreement. It's time you did the same."
Demetrius's bell-like laughter hurt my ears. I was growing very sick of it. We should have been surrounded by reinforcements by now, cutting that laughter to the quick.
Where was Erica? Better yet, where the hell was Sebastian? Was I wrong? Had I just imagined seeing him following me? If ever I needed a deathly angel, it was now.
"Nicholas," Demetrius said with a shake of his head, cherub face pink from his laughter. "Did you really think I would just let you go? You're a vampire, the lowest and darkest of the evil. Even demons are above you, my dog. You I will hold onto until you are no longer needed and then I will stake your heart personally with a silver spike and watch you burn."
Nicholas shook with rage. I could tell by the way he held himself he wanted to attack. But something held him back.
The crystal. It glowed. Was this the core of Demetrius's power? The other Chosen used it as well. Was it some kind of sorcerer's key?
Nicholas finally backed off as I realized the truth about our situation. Erica should have beaten us here. There were coven members far closer than me to the site. If they were coming to the rescue they would have been here by now. Even if Celeste somehow managed to convince the others to stay away, Erica and the Vegas would have come anyway.
And there was no sign of them, not even a touch of their magic.
For whatever reason, they weren't coming. And since Sebastian was also absent, no rescuing undead whatever he was becoming in sight, I had to believe the inevitable.
We really were on our own.
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