Hades Sent : Book One of the Sent Series, page 13
Her chin rises as I place my fingers underneath. “There are two people in this world I care about. One of them is you.”
“Who’s the other one? Yourself?” Ireland sneaks a smile. She’s coming around finally.
I smile back at her. “Funny. No. The other person would be my mother. Maybe you can meet her sometime if we ever get out of this. After all, I’ve already met yours.”
“Lucky you. You got to meet her before me.”
My smile fades. “Yes, well … back to that. Help me learn to help you. What can I do to make this easier for you?”
“Make it go away,” Ireland replies. She leans in closer to me and rests her head on my shoulder.
“I can’t. We are both trapped in this hell.”
“Then help me forget. Even if forgetting only lasts few minutes.” Ireland looks up at me, tears still shining in her eyes.
I’ve never seen anything so beautiful. God, I just want to forget the demands and stress. I don’t want to worry about people’s lives being in trouble. For once, why can’t time stand still?
I lean in close to kiss her. Ireland joins me halfway and when our lips connect, it feels as if we are both on fire. The heat spreads across our bodies, forming a flame so strong, I doubt it will ever go out.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Ireland
Greve hesitates to let me go. Our lips disconnect slowly, forcing reality to surround us again. Greve looks at me with soft eyes. “That’s better,” he says as more of a statement than a question.
“A lot better,” I agree. When Greve kisses me, I get lost in him. His scent captivates me. His warmth comforts the most eradicated places within my mind. He is my escape. But even when you escape, reality comes back to find you. And it doesn’t take long for me to remember why we are here.
“Are you okay?” Greve asks while still holding me. “Do you understand why I’ve got to ask you to learn?”
I understand … I’m terrified. I nod. “Yes, I get it. What if I lose myself completely? What if I can’t find my way back? This might upset my balance too much.”
“No, it won’t. I do not believe for one second that this will hurt you. Mentally you are capable. Ireland, you were meant to be more than what they have allowed you to be. What’s the worst that can happen if you do shoot? They kick you out? It’s already happened.”
“I’m just scared,” I whisper into his shoulder. “Promise me that if something happens and I start to forget who I am that you will try to save me. I need your guarantee that you will try to bring me back.”
“We’ve already made it this far,” he says. “You will be okay.”
“That’s not what I want from you. I want you to say to me that you will promise to do what I asked. You don’t understand. I feel like a nut! My mind is constantly going back and forth between feelings and emotions. One minute I want solitude and peace and the next minute, I crave negativity. This can’t be what my life is meant to be.”
“Alright,” Greve says while taking my face in his hands. “I promise to do everything I can to ensure you will not go crazy. And if you make it back to heaven as you want, I will promise you something else. If we get past this, I will help you get your wings.”
I smile. “So you are saying that you believe we have a chance of beating them? Of beating our parents?”
Greve shrugs. “It’s possible, but you’ve got to learn to shoot. Even if you won’t hit anyone, just being able to use one as a threat will come in handy.”
“I will try.”
Greve bends down and lightly kisses me. “Good, because I know you can get past this.”
He has forgotten his own rules. His rules consisted of not getting close to me. Greve wanted to stay as distant as possible because he was scared to let anyone else in. If he can get over some of his fears, then I can too.
“I need to get past my doubts about everything,” I say more or less to myself. “It’s time for me to accept certain things.”
Greve looks at me before placing his hand on my right thigh. He comes to me slowly, timid that his touch will be too much. The heat from his hand travels to my face. I blush from the contact, but it feels too right to pull away.
“What do you have to accept? Me?” Greve asks while staring at me. The beginning of a smirk rests on his mouth.
“I … hmm …” I stutter. Get it together, I order myself.
“There are so many things that don’t include just you,” I retort, knowing full well he is one of the things I have to accept. Not just him, but the idea of becoming close to someone who I thought was going to hurt me. How can I accept that what Greve does is okay? He works for the people who want to hurt me.
Greve nods. “I know where you are coming from. It wasn’t too long ago that this situation was reversed and I had a guy telling me how to live. He told me what to learn and what my life was going to be like. It doesn’t matter that he was my father. He brought me up to take his place. And here I am, focused on training and changing hybrids into what I’ve become.”
“Which leads me to exactly my next concern,” I say. “If we are being open with each other, tell me that what you are doing with me is different from all the others. Make me believe that you aren’t playing me. How do I know this isn’t just part of the game? How do I know you haven’t repeated this same stuff to all the other hybrids?” I take his hand that’s still on my thigh and hold it up to my face. “Tell me you care more about who I am than what I am.”
Greve places his other hand on my face and kisses my forehand. “Damn it, Ireland. I don’t know how to do convince you. I’ve never cared about the others like I do you. You have changed me. Before, I didn’t care because all I saw were shells of people. You fought back against everything I’ve told you to do. You keep me grounded and focused. All your actions have woken up the human part of me. I was lost for a long time. Maybe it wasn’t the other hybrids that were shells. Maybe I became the shell after years of living in hell. Your spirit has cracked open my bitter remains and I’m finding my way back. Even the girl you saw before in my head couldn’t do that.”
“She was your friend though,” I whisper.
“Yes, she was. She was a friend I wasn’t strong enough to save. She died because I was still too far gone. I’m not making that same mistake again.”
Suddenly and without warning, the security system blares. The lights flicker and go dim as the sound of a door slamming echoes around us. Someone is here and whoever it is wants to make a scene.
“Get behind me!” Greve orders, while offering his body as my protection.
My heart hammers in my chest from shock. “I thought this place was locked up?”
“It is locked from humans,” Greve whispers while feeling the floor for the gun he put down. He would have had it if not for me.
A pair of footsteps run down the hall and into the range. The silhouette of a man fills the doorway. He is burley and broad shouldered and his voice sends chills down my spine when he finally speaks.
“Is there ever going to be a time when you won’t disappoint me?” The man steps into the room as the alarm shuts off. The lights come back to full power as he stands there, arms crossed over his chest. Tattoos cover his neck and trail all the way up to his skull. His chin and lip are covered in black hair arranged in a defined goatee.
Greve’s father. I recognize him from seeing inside Greve’s head. This also means he is a demon. And for someone who has always lived in heaven, the sight of a full-blooded demon is enough to make my skin crawl. However, it’s not just his outer appearance that scares me. His tone of voice and his body language terrifies me more. This is a man who’s come to destroy what’s left of his son.
His eyes burn red as blood, as he takes in the sight of me. “You are definitely a child of Jade. Even if you are a weak, watered-down version of your mother, you are still of value.” He looks at his son next. “You, however, are of no value. I’m tired of trying to teach you. I’m taking over this endeavor.”
I shift around to stand beside Greve instead of behind. We will face this monster together. Greve’s eyes lock into mine. It’s hard to say what I see behind them. He reminds me of a scorned, battered child who has suffered from years of abuse. His eyes also show that for the first time, he is ready to be more than that.
“Edgeman, I’m taking care of her,” Greve says to his father with as much will as possible.
Edgeman?
His father laughs at him. Even his laughter sounds evil. “It’s about time you call me by my real name instead of calling me Dad. You and I both know I am not father material. Nevertheless, I was made to breed. Thus, here you are … another child in my way. You all have always been a pain in my ass. None of you ever took the hint that I don’t give a shit about you.”
Edgeman shifts his feet, scooting a little closer to us in the process. “Ireland is it?”
I stare at him, waiting for him to continue, only to realize he means for me to reply. I nod because I can’t quite make myself speak.
“The spy is concerned. He’s worried that my son doesn’t have the skill or ability to teach you. And now I’ve seen all I need to know that it’s true. Greve is more concerned with sex than he is the cause. Of course, you’re not the first hybrid he’s fallen for, so don’t flatter yourself too much—”
“That’s enough!” Greve interrupts. “The only thing that comes out of your mouth is hatred and lies!”
My heart flutters in my chest. It hasn’t always been just me, this I know. Greve has taught hundreds to be the slaves their parents want them to be. Somewhere along the line, he was bound to develop feelings for others. However, there is a part of me that had hoped he cares for me more than the other girls.
I clear my throat. “We don’t keep secrets from each other. Greve has told me everything about the other hybrids so your tactics aren’t going to work with me.” Greve grabs my shoulder in warning, but I pull away. I don’t care if Edgeman knows I’m the one lying. Greve hasn’t told me much about the others. And he certainly hasn’t told me about the mysterious girl I’ve seen in his head.
Edgeman pulls his lips tight into a forced smile. “I really hoped you were smarter than that, Ireland. After all, your mother has expressed a heightened interest in you. Usually she doesn’t care about her spawn.” He comes closer to me while ignoring his son. Edgeman bends down so that we are eye-level. His breath stings my face. “If you were anyone else’s child, I would have already taken you. Your mother demands you to be unharmed, which is a pity because keeping you unharmed is no fun at all. I like to play with little hybrids like you. Jade allows me full control of the ones that fail and believe me, there’s not much left after I get through with them. So, you see … your mother is actually doing you a favor already. She ordered me not to harm you, so I won’t. Not a lot of hybrids get an option as sweet as that.”
My eyes try to shift to Greve, but I find they won’t move. My eyeballs snap back into place so that Edgeman never leaves my line of vision. Edgeman looks at me while licking his lips. My heart beats nervously as I wonder if he is going to try to force me into kissing him. Then a familiar tickling sensation starts in my head. The feeling starts slowly at first, like a light brush across my skin. After a few seconds, the tickling feeling becomes more of squeezing sensation. A sudden wave of nausea hits me and my knees give out.
Greve shouts, “Get away from her! You’re not going to fucking do this again! You’re not going to control her. Not like this!”
I see a movement of shadows on the floor, and that’s how I know Greve means to come toward me. His words terrify me. So this is what it feels like to have a full demon read my mind? Edgeman has merely scratched the surface of my thoughts and yet … I feel like I can barely keep it together. Greve wasn’t like this. He was gentle, even in mind control.
Edgeman takes his focus off me to face his son. His shadow moves farther away to meet Greve. “If you come any closer to her, I will kill you,” Edgeman declares in an icy tone. “We are past the courtesies. I am past giving chances and seeing my spawn fail. I’m the laughing stock of all demons because they think I can’t control a hybrid nitwit.”
I try to stand up, only to fall again. He is still reading me even from over there. My stomach rolls and I begin to dry heave. Pressure fills my head as Edgeman continues to caress my inner thoughts. God … please me it stop! I hear Greve mumble my name, but I can’t make out all the words. He wants me to stop moving. That should be easy enough because I can’t even tell what’s up and what’s down anymore.
Greve turns his attention back to his father. “You’re the laughing stock of all demons because it is you who fell for love. They consider you the freak. You ride me because I care? You ride me because I loved before? Guess what?! I’m the half-human! You are full demon and yet you still managed to love my mother. She’s the only one who did it to you. The only one you care for still to this day. The demons call you a freak and call you weak because you fell in love. I am the product of your obsession with my mother, it’s true. But I am tired of taking the blunt of your cruelty!”
“Just SHUT UP BOY!” Edgeman shouts. His body moves closer to the other side of the room. The air around them becomes charged. It won’t take much more for one of them to attack.
All I can think about is the gun on the other side of the room. Edgeman is slowly moving closer to it. Why can’t Greve see what his father is doing? I feel a slight release as Edgeman leaves my brain to shift all focus of Greve. It’s in that split of time that I’m able to look at him and mumble, “Gun. He’s going for the gun.”
Greve whips his head in my direction as he father makes a break for the weapon. He looks at me with concern before running after his father. Before Greve can get to him, his father picks up the gun and points it at Greve’s chest.
“I’m going to kill your mother first before I kill you,” Edgeman says through clenched teeth. “You can watch her die in agony before you leave this earth. Then you will know exactly what type of distress and anger you’ve caused me. You know what? Talking about all this makes me even more frustrated. I’ve changed my mind. You’ll die first.” Edgeman pulls the trigger, releasing two bullets into Greve’s stomach. Greve drops to the floor, red blood dripping off of him as he falls completely down. His head makes a loud crack as it hits the floor. His shadow moves no more. His father’s, on the other hand, moves closer to me again.
“No,” I cry, weakly. “You killed him,” I say a little louder. Edgeman picks me up by my hair and tugs me upright. I scream at the pain shooting down my neck. His harsh eyes find mine.
“The only person responsible for this is you. He’s falling for you,” Edgeman hisses. I feel a sharp pain at the back of my skull as he tightens his grip on my hair. “You’re not the first and you won’t be the last. You will do good to remember that he has loved before and in the end, you mean nothing to him. You mean nothing to me or Jade. No one will save you here.”
My body starts to shiver and convulse from the combination of pressure in my head and the feeling of pain from my hair. This is what he wants. Edgeman wants to see me die in front of his eyes. While I look into his face, there is a moment when I want to oblige to him. Why not die? Why not let it be all over?
Then I remember what he said about my mother protecting me still. “You said Jade wanted me unharmed. Are you really going to kill me against her orders? You are hurting me. You are damaging me,” I say as my throat burns from the effort of talking.
Edgeman releases me slightly as he lets my words sink in. Power turns to fear in his eyes. “Perhaps I got carried away.”
“Yes, you have,” says a voice that doesn’t belong to either Edgeman or me. “Drop her,” the voice commands from behind Edgeman’s back. The sound of the person talking brings me immediate relief. I know who this person is. I just can’t believe she’s here.
Edgeman waited too long to respond to the woman’s command. Suddenly, a huge gush of water surrounds him and he releases me in frozen shock. The water makes contact with him, causing sudden weakness in his body. I drop to the ground and Edgeman stubbles over my body as water continues to pour on top of him.
My head feels weak and tired, but I make myself hold on. My eyes find Greve’s still body on the floor and that’s all it takes for me to start moving again. I don’t care what’s happening with Edgeman. All I want to do is get to Greve. I want to save him even if I don’t know how.
Slowly, my body finds itself beside Greve. I touch him, hoping to feel his body hot under my touch. His skin is not hot anymore. I lay my head on him and cry. He can’t be dead! It’s all too much to take. My brain is tired. My body is weak. I collapse onto Greve’s body, not even caring if I wake up.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Greve
The next time I wake, I am surrounded by flames. The heat has charred away my clothes. A cold sweat forms on my lips as the smoke circles all around, flowing straight into my nostrils. I breathe in through my nose as the scent fills me with relief. However, the relief doesn’t last long and when it’s gone, the feeling of fear and panic come to take its place. Where am I? Most importantly, where is Ireland?
I try to shift my head around to see where I am. It’s a useless thing to do because my head is in so much agony. I can’t stand to lift it an inch off the ground. If I can’t lift my head, maybe I can use my arms as a means to move around. I try to move them with no success. No matter what I try, I can’t move from this place.
I remember my father being at the range. How he got in is a mystery. How I got here is even more so. My whole body hurts, but nothing hurts and bothers me more than the thought of losing her.
If he did something to her, I will kill him. The sick son of a bitch hasn’t seen the last of me. A sound close to a growl escapes my lips. He threatened my mother, too. He said he was going to kill her and make me watch. My stomach gets queasy because he means what he says. All he has to do to destroy me is kill my mother. He knows my weaknesses and I’m tired of him using them against me.
