For all the time I’ve spent here the past few months, I momentarily forgot this was not supposed to be my new permanent home. I enjoyed it, despite the horrible family. The time with Asher has been everything. Working together, even for such a strange life-or-death goal, was more meaningful than anything I’ve ever done.
I throw Asher’s jacket over my bodycon dress and sit on the back of the bike. I’m wearing my favorite steel-toed boots for luck. He sits in front of me and I hold on as he drives us to the building I’ve only been to once. It’s familiar to Asher, an office he visited multiple times as a child before he realized who his family is. Before they started to hurt him in the process, too. Now we have a shared memory of murder there. Hopefully, this new memory we’ll build, will be about our freedom.
I won’t admit it to Asher, but I’m nervous, too.
We park in the covered garage and make our way past the lobby, through the elevators, and get out on August’s floor. We walk down the hallway hand in hand, hearing murmurs ahead of us and passing the offices that occupied my first visit. I shiver at the memory. At the end of the hall are double doors—our destination. I hold Asher’s hand tighter and we move forward, opening the doors.
Everyone is already waiting inside, seated in the same pattern as the first and only dinner we’ve spent together in the past two and a half months. A person I don’t know stands on the edge of the room, holding an iPad clutched to their chests. They glance up at us quickly when we enter and then back down, her hair covering her face.
“Welcome, Asher, Kiera. Let’s see how you did,” August says without preamble.
“No big speeches, August?” I ask, only partially joking.
“None are needed, dear Kiera. We had a bargain and that was all we needed to say.” August gestures to the iPad stranger, presumably an intern? Can demons have interns? She gives a jerky nod before pressing some buttons on the iPad to screencast it up to the monitor.
“Mother fucker,” Levi says the second the chart loads.
On the X axis is the month of the year, and the Y shows the volume of energy. Each demon is tabled by color. Asher is green, Evan pink, August blue, Levi yellow, and Felix is red. August, Levi, Felix, and Evan have stayed relatively close to each other each month, with Asher at the bottom of the axis nearly every month. Until we met, then it steadily shoots up, still behind, but in a closer range. At this month’s data, I see our green line shoot straight to the middle of the bunch. Levi stands below it all, a noticeable difference between the fourth and fifth spots.
The new ranking is…
- August
- Evan
- Asher
- Felix
- Levi
We did it. We made it into the pack. Evan’s last con saved us. And possibly sacrificed Levi and Violet in the process. The deal was to protect us if we made it into the same averages as the rest, not to keep a death from happening entirely.
“They cheated!” Violet yelled, pointing at us. The brothers stand from their chairs. Levi and Felix are the loudest. Melody is holding onto Violet’s hand, speaking to her in what appears to be a consoling manner. Marlow has yet to speak, but she stands, exchanging a glance between August and Asher.
“Don’t do this, brother,” Levi pleads, “I’ve been loyal since birth. And my girl is not a bitch like this new fucker.”
“Your mother is on their side! You can’t trust them! She even gave them the ring!” Violet yells, pointing to me. Melody echoes her, also sighting the stupid fucking ring.
“There was only one way this was ever going to go. I think we all knew that,” August says and pulls a gun from his suit faster than I expect. Just as quickly, Marlow puts herself in front of the barrel. He smiles at his mother wickedly. Asher reaches out for her and I try to pull him back. Surely, August won’t shoot his mother. He’s just throwing a tantrum. We upset the balance, that’s all.
“We don’t need to continue this way. We can all stop now and no one will have the power to keep it going,” Marlow says to August. She stretches her hand out as if to accept the gun. I hold my breath, waiting to see what he will decide.
I take a tentative sniff of the air and find the room drenched in animosity. No, he would not turn. August is without any good in him.
“I know this won’t hurt you for more than a second, but I want you to know that I want it to hurt you and I’ll delight in killing the abomination that is your existence once I figure out how,” August snarls at his mother and pulls the trigger.
Marlow grunts and falls, her long auburn hair falling into her face.
“No!” Asher screams and pushes past me, crouching by his mother. She looks up, tears falling from her face.
“I’m sorry that I’m your weakness,” she says to him and I don’t understand why until August turns the trigger in glee to Asher, shooting again.
The world is an ice storm, and Asher, a fire beaten by wind, winking in and out of existence. I fall beside him, not caring that means the gun will fall on me next. I push my hands onto his stomach, putting pressure to keep as much blood in his body as I can. My throat closes and I hear nothing but the rush of my heart. My hands are losing the battle and puddles of Asher are leaking from all sides.
There is a shuffle around me, but it falls away. Sounds and conversations I should listen to, all gone. I distantly hear another shot but don’t know where it lands. All I see is Asher looking at me, his eyes clouding and confused. He opens his mouth to say something, but he can’t make it out. The floor beside me feels sticky, warm, and I know why but I can’t look. I need to keep my eyes on him, my love.
There, I admit it. My love. I should say that out loud. I think I do, I’m not sure. But his eyes twinkle briefly, the left side of his mouth tugs up as if to smile, and then his eyes close.
The scream tearing from me when I’m pulled from Asher’s body rips a hole in my existence, echoing like the sound of the universe expanding in its painful birth.
“Kiera, Kiera, stop,” a familiar voice tells me. I shake in their arms, ripping from their grip to fall back to Asher.
“They won’t be gone long. We have to go,” the voice says, filtering with more familiarity into my reality.
“What?” I gasp, looking up. Evan is crouched beside me.
“The others went to secure Marlow. We only have maybe half an hour to get him out of this building before they come back. That’s the first time she has gone completely against their wishes, so we can take advantage of that time. They’ll probably try and torture her a bit, they like to do that and see what gets a reaction out of her. I said I’d wait here until he died, so we have to hurry if we don’t want that to happen.”
I gasp, his words helping me realize Asher hasn’t died, not yet. I look down again, staring at his bloody body. Evan was right. There is shallow movement on his chest. He’s breathing. He must have passed out from blood loss.
“What do I do?” I whisper. Ice storm.
“I’m going to pick him up. You open every door we need to go through, okay? That’s your task. Focus on that,” Evan says and positions his hands to pick up Asher. I bite my lip until it bleeds. Evan stands and walks to the double doors. I shake myself and take the task he gave me, running ahead to hold it open. I finally see where the other shot landed: the body of the intern by the doors. She must have tried to leave.
We run down the hall, red trailing where we walk, my hands marking each door with Asher’s blood. As we reach the elevator, I hear August’s laughter behind us. I jump and turn— he isn’t there. It’s distant, likely from his office and that disgusting chained corner. They are having fun torturing their mother. My nostrils flare and anger pulls me back to reality, melting the ice that had covered my body in fear.
“Come, Kiera,” Evan says, “Mom would want us to use this opportunity. She’ll be fine.”
I look back at him, realizing he’s waiting for me to press the elevator button. I did and dare to look at Asher’s face. He’s ashen, a shadow, no longer the golden hero. He wouldn’t think of himself as a hero, but I do.
“Take the phone out of my pocket, code 7777 to unlock. Call the first number on favorites. Put it on speaker.”
I numbly follow his directions. The number answers on the first ring.
“Report,” a feminine voice responds.
“Ambulance to the office, demon injured, discrete needs, side entrance.”
“On the way,” the voice says again and the line drops.
“It’s going to be okay, Kiera. Keep strong for him. Focus. Program your number in there and call me so I have yours. Tell me when he is settled in a room.”
I nod and do as instructed, making no complaints, stubborn remarks, or commentary. A blood drop hits the floor with a splat.
We exit the elevator, Evan nodding to security as we walk covered in blood past them as if it were a normal day. He tells me where to go to get to the side exit he spoke of. An ambulance is waiting for us, sirens off.
Evan helps get Asher into the stretcher with the emergency crew and I let the tears fall.
“What about you?” I finally say, looking to Evan.
Evan keeps his face trained on Asher, the EMTs hooking him up to monitors.
“Breed,” one of them calls out as they record his vitals.
“Chaos demon,” Evan answers back.
The EMT nods and takes a vial from a box and a needle, shooting Asher with whatever is contained in the vial.
“Whoever is coming has to get in now,” one of them tells us.
“Go, Kiera. I’ll be fine. I’m always prepared. Text me.” Evan walks back into the building and I jump into the back of the ambulance. We race away. I stare at the wound as they clean and apply pressure, the pit in my stomach growing into a monstrous mouth that eats me whole.