Ashes and Ice (21 page)

I rub my temples. Yes, I must be going crazy.

“Ahem.”

I snap my head up to the sound of a strange voice. An old man with white hair sits quietly on my desk chair. Legs crossed, a fancy walking stick balanced on his lap.

I scramble to my feet. “Who the hell are you?” I say, “Get out of my room.”

“Babe? Everything ok in there?” Mom calls.

The man puts his index finger to his mouth. I narrow my eyes at him.

You have questions, young man. I have answers.

I hear a low voice in my head and I stumble back against the wall. I stare at him. His mouth didn’t move at all. I swallow hard. I open my mouth to yell, but the man transforms, morphing into a huge pointy eared cat, lunges and blocks the doorway. The cat slowly shakes his gray head. I bite back a scream.

“Hon?” I hear my mom taking a step onto the stairs.

“Yeah, yeah Mom. Everything is fine. I just—stubbed my toe.”

The cat’s head cocks to one side.

I roll my eyes and shrug, hands up as if to express,
What am I supposed to say
?

He nods.

“Okay hon. Just let me know if you need anything.”

“Sure thing, Mom.”

In a flash, the cat is an old man again sitting in the chair. I stare at him and take a few steps back. What was happening to my normal, depressing life?

“Your mother loves you very much.”

“Don’t talk about my mother.” I say in an angry whisper. “Talk about why the hell you are in my room. And, and…” The words are a jumbled mess in my throat. What do you say to an old man who turns into an animal in your room?

“Your concern is understandable. You see, we have a very similar interest and I am here to offer you answers and, in turn, ask you for a favor.”

“I have no clue who you are. I am not making any deals with you.”

“I am Lynx.” He says.

I roll my eyes and slap my palm to my forehead. “Of course you are. How original.” An old man who turns into a big cat called Lynx.

“And I knew your father.” Lynx says.

Okay, now I’m paying attention. “You knew my father?”

“Yes. And I know he left you a message. A very important message.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because, I’m the one who told him to write it.”

“
She’s coming for you
? You told him to write that? You knew about Jade?”

“He wasn’t speaking about Jade.” He says, “Jade is someone both you and I care about. He was warning you against an evil.”

I snort. This is crazy. “What? Jade is evil or possessed or whatever. Have you not seen the whole black eyes, trying to kill people thing? How could you care about something that does terrible things? Evil things?”

“ It is a very good question, Connor.” He leans his elbows on his knees, “How do you love someone like that?”

“I have no idea.” I shrug, trying for nonchalance.

The old man purses his lips. “You and I both know that isn’t true. She left her mark on you and, no matter how hard you try, you can’t erase it. There is a part of you that still loves Jade just as there is a part deep inside of her that loves you.”

“That’s ridiculous. First off, I could never love a potential murderer. And secondly, she’s off with Dominic now. He can deal with her craziness.”

“So, when you see Dominic kiss her, you don’t feel anything?”

“No.” I snap.

“No?” He raises his eyebrows and waits. The silence is heavy.

“I—I—that is irrelevant.”

“Is it?” He taps three fingers on his lips.

“Yes it is. Now are you here to tell me anything important? Or should you be on your way?”

“I have many important things to tell you.” He sits back in his chair.

I wait, impatient. “Well?”

“What are your questions?”

“I don’t know… What did my Dad try to tell me? What the hell is happening? Why the hell did—” I stop myself, unable to say the words aloud.
Why did I fall in love with a monster?

“All very valid questions. Your father wanted to tell you something was coming. Dejanira is coming.”

Huh? “Wait, who the hell is Dejanira?”

“Dejanira means the Destroyer of Man. Upon the seventh sacrifice, under the shadowed blood moon, the choice will be made. Dejanira will be strengthened and unleashed. The demon legions will rise to her command. And from her wo—”

I raise my hand. I have no idea what this man just said. “Hold on there, Catman. Remember I am just a kid from the Bayou. I don’t have a freakin’ clue what you are talking about. Who the hell is Dejanira? And, well,” my eyes blink, wide for emphasis, my hands gesturing in a wild confused motion, “Demon legions? Like demons, real demons, will be just prancing about having a good ol’ time.”

“Demons don’t prance.” Lynx says smoothly. “They destroy.”

“Okay, well, I wasn’t being literal…”

“And Dejanira is the name Lilith, the Queen of all Demons, gave her daughter before freezing her in Hell’s lake.”

I roll my eyes. “Sounds like some serious family issues.”

Lynx nods. “Dejanira was released from Hell’s lake years ago when Lilith first sought to use her as a weapon against humanity. That is when I met her. That is when I hid her.”

Lynx stares at me and waits. I stare back. “So, what does this have to do with me?”

“Dejanira is Jade, Connor. She just doesn’t remember.”

His words slap me across the face. Jade? Jade? I think of fishnet stockings and sexy smirks, black eyes and hellish fire. Jade is Lilith’s daughter? A demon queen’s daughter?

“Whaaat?” I jump to my feet and slam my head against a board and fall back down onto the chair. “Jade is Dejanira? The daughter of this Queen Demon? The freakin’ weapon in Hell’s arsenal? The ‘Destroyer of Man’?” My head throbs.

“No.” He says crisply. “There is Jade and then there is a distinct being within Jade which is evil. Jade is Chimera—of two entities, two forged beings split in half, battling each other. Jade almost won once, a long time ago, but now the battle has restarted. Now Dejanira is winning. And if Dejanira wins, both Jade and the world will be in jeopardy.”

“Wait, what do you mean the world?”

Lynx shook his head. “We don’t have time for that now. I have given you some answers, and now I have a request for you.”

I raise my eyebrows.

“Tell Jade to come to me. We have so little time and I am afraid the Change is already in motion. She is blocking out my voice. She isn’t listening.”

I think of Jade and Dominic kissing next to the lockers. “She’s been distracted.”

Lynx cocks his head.

“She’s—she’s met someone.”

“A man?”

“No a leprechaun.” I deadpan.

“Does she love him?”

“Dammit, I don’t know. They sure like to suck face, though.”

“Hmm, well. Love would be something that would call her heart back to her. But, lust…”

“Wait, what do you mean about her heart?”

Lynx looks surprised. “Her heart. She doesn’t have one. Not one that’s alive and beating.”

“What are you talking about?” I say, “Of course she has a heart.” But then when I try to remember ever hearing the beat of it, I can’t.

Lynx’s sympathetic look unnerves me. “Well, whatever, what about the lust?”

“Lust not associated with love is a sin and will feed Dejanira’s strength. If she gives herself fully to it, she could easily Turn.”

Just then, Lynx snaps his head to the side, listening to something I can’t hear. “I have to leave.” He says, standing up. “Your father found sacred texts, which not only told of the Final Prophecy, but also included vital secrets. He wasn’t aware of his Sight, of his heavenly gift until he became ill.” Lynx pulls out a leather bound book with pages slipping out. “The translations belong to you. You are his blood. You may even have gifts of your own. Even if not, this will answer more of your questions and help you prepare for what’s ahead.”

“I—I really don’t know what this means… I—I never wanted any of this.”

“Neither did I, Connor. Neither did I. But fate is fate.” He looks at me. “Jade wants to be good, Connor. She wants the heart she was denied. The girl you love is inside the body that is rotting and changing. We have to pull her back out, because we are losing her and soon she will be lost forever.”

“I—I can’t love her anymore.”

“You don’t want to love her, but you do. Only your light can save her now. Please, please don’t let her go. Not yet. Because, I love her too, but she has forgotten me. But she hasn’t forgotten you. Not yet.”

With that, his image wavers and breaks into a thousand pieces chiming like bells.

Dozens of gold orbs skitter on the ground. When I pick one up, dizzying warmth wraps around me and I am sitting on a couch watching a movie with Jade laughing beside me. I drop the marble and the memory flits away. I pick up another and see us in the quarry, her body tucked in my arms. Each marble is a memory. I fall in the center of them all, passing my fingers over them, seeing the flashes of laughter, of smiles, of her crinkled nose, of everything about her that made her real and mine.

So many marbles. So many memories.

I squeeze my eyes shut. Why did loving someone have to hurt so much?

She told me once she would never let me go. If the Jade I love is still alive, then I won’t let go either. At least, not yet.

With a loud creak, the car door is yanked open and I feel the mass of Dominic dragged off of me. My eyes snap open, desperate for his contact.

“Real classy, Dominic.” A voice says outside the car. “It’s not like you can’t afford a hotel room.”

“Some things are more fun in public.”

I shift on the seat and pull my legs outside the door and see Connor waving his arms at Dominic. “Whatever, Dom. I need to talk to Jade.”

“If you didn’t notice, Jade is busy at the moment.” Dominic smirks at him and I smirk too.

Connor cuts his gaze to me and his eyes grow wide and his mouth falls open. I look down at myself and see my button-down shirt is completely open and nothing but my black bra and breasts exposed to the humid air. I smirk at him. “Like what you see?”

Connor flinches and walks over to me, tugging the sides to my shirt closed. Pink colors his cheeks. “Leave us, Connor.” I leer up at Dominic. “I have some unfinished business to attend to.”

“Jade, this isn’t you!” Connor says. “He is just using you for the sex, you have to know that.”

“Is that so?” I say to Connor, amused. “Did it ever occur to you that maybe it was the other way around?”

Connor’s face flushes. I giggle at his shocked expression. Dominic looks just as amused as I do. Connor stutters, before words start to make sense. “Ja-Jade, I need to talk to you in private. Now. Please.”

“Hmmm, no.”

“There you have it, Connor. The lady knows what she wants.” Dominic moves to close the door and so I lift my feet into the car. “I told you, Connor. I told you I was going to be inside her before you ever would and that she would want it.”

Connor grabs Dominic and spins him around. His punch to Dominic’s jaw is a loud pop. Dominic doubles over just as Connor lifts him back up and punches him again.

I get out of the car. A flush of desire toys with me. Violence and strength are delicious.

Connor knees Dominic in the groin. Dominic lets out a groan.

While Dom is bent over, Connor turns his attention to me. With one swift motion, he jerks me up and over one shoulder and starts pounding down the sidewalk.

“What are you doing?” I growl.

“Carrying you away from unwanted pregnancies and STDs.” Connor says, “And bringing you home to Nanan. She’ll set you straight.”

Irritation grates against my nerves. Why isn’t Dominic following? I want to finish what we started. We are only a street over from the house so it only takes a couple of minutes to get to Nanan’s gate. “Jade, listen. Lynx has been trying to get through to you.”

“Lynx?” I take a vague interest before settling my eyes on a group of kids across the street. They are holding hands and singing Ring Around The Rosie.

Ring around the rosie, a pocket full of posies. Ashes, ashes. We all fall down.

“Dammit, Jade, Listen to me.” Connor waves his hands in front of my face. “Lynx says you have been ignoring him and it must be because you are changing into someone else.”