Curse of Shadows and Light (35 page)

He nods.

“
I guess right now I feel a weird mix of things.” I shrug.

“
Like what?”

“
Well, relief that we’re free and safe from the Belith, of course. Sadness, like something’s missing. Something important. But I assume that’s because Kieron left. Right now, though… I feel mostly happiness, I guess.”

“
Happiness?”

I nod and pick at some blades of grass. “Being by you makes me happy. I like waking up this way, and even if you were with Liora first it’s okay, I don’t mind.”

He takes a deep breath and looks at me. “Do you remember
anything
else?”

“
Did something happen that I should know about?”

He raises an eyebrow and cocks his head. “You’re going to have to tell me.”

I stare at him, confused. “Look, I don’t know anything. I remember a big fight, but I don’t know what’s real and what’s not. Because there’s
no way
that some of the stuff I’m remembering actually happened. I don’t even know how I ended up here next to you. Not that I’m complaining,” I add with a chuckle.

Vincent rests his hand on mine and takes a deep breath. “Well, then. I suppose I should fill you in.”

********

Several minutes later, I’m still trying to digest what Vincent is telling me.

“
Liora
killed them? After all this time, it winds up being
her
who wastes the Amazèa?”

He slowly shakes his head. “I’ve seen a lot in my day, but I’ve never seen anything like that. She was practically inventing new powers as she went along. Anastasia and Tatiana helped by way of a tandem spell, but still… she kicked some major butt.”

A part of me is angry that I didn’t get the satisfaction of killing the Amazèa myself. All I’ve wanted to do every single day for the past five years is hunt down and destroy those treacherous monsters, and
Liora
did it? I can’t help feeling a bit pissed off that she stole that chance from me. But I also have to admit that if she hadn’t done it, I wouldn’t have lived to have another chance anyway. Apparently, the fact that I’m even still alive is only because of her.

“
What
is
she?” I whisper.

Vincent stares at me with an intensity that almost scares me. “Don’t you know?”

I shake my head. “Know what?”

“
She is
you
. She has
always
been you. And you are her.”

I shake my head again. “Maybe at one time, but not anymore. Not now.”

“
Now more than ever.”

“
What does that even mean? I’m the same as always.”

“
Are you sure? Are you sure nothing has changed?”

“
Well, obviously Liora has some newfound wicked powers. Guess she’s the Betty Badass in the family now.”

He pauses and takes my hand. “No, like she’s not
there
anymore.”

“
What do you mean,
not there
?”

“
She’s gone. She did Anastasia’s spell. Killing the Amazèa changed nothing. The curse still remained. So she did the spell to remove her humanity and leave only you. She was sitting beside me, and just before the sun went down she left and went to the mansion. I was still sitting here when she… you… whoever, returned a few minutes later and sat down beside me.”

I frown. “But if that was me, wouldn’t I remember walking out? I don’t remember any of that. Maybe she didn’t do the spell after all.”

He shakes his head. “No, she
must
have. When she came back, it’s like she was different. There, but not there. She just sat down quietly and leaned up against me. And a few moments later you woke up.”

I’m still confused. “Well, I don’t know what she did, but I know she’s still here inside of me. Liora hasn’t gone anywhere. I can guarantee you that.”

“
You mean you have her memories?”

I shake my head. “No, I mean nothing has changed. She
is
there. I feel her presence just as strongly as I do every night. Sleeping, yes, but she is very much still alive. So whatever spell she said she was going to do, either she didn’t do it, or it didn’t work.”

Vincent considers this a moment, then shakes his head again. “I dunno. She was hell-bent on going through with it. I don’t see her backing out. So maybe it didn’t work.”

But now as I think about it, something makes me believe that Liora
did
try the spell. I seem to feel a certain residual determination and resignation from her, as if she had accepted that she was a liability and knew the only solution was to sacrifice herself.

So... The Amazèa are dead, Anastasia is obviously a very powerful witch, and Liora was willing to make the sacrifice.

Why didn’t it work?

I stare out at the churning sea, wondering what it all means. For so long I was convinced that killing the Amazèa would change things. We both were. But obviously it hasn’t. Liora and I are still split, and that means we are still in danger. As long as she can handle the Boumeaux and enter Thiberoux she’ll be a huge target for the Light-angels. We’ll never be safe, even from other demons who wish to harm her to get to me.

Suddenly, a horrible thought flashes through my mind – one too terrible to even consider.

No
… that can’t be…

“
Lucky, what is it? Are you okay?”

I jump to my feet and shake my head, frantic to escape my thoughts.

Vincent gets up and puts his hand on my arm. “Lucky, what is it?” he asks again. “What’s wrong?”

I stop and look at him. I can’t even answer – afraid that merely speaking the crazy possibility will somehow make it true.

Because it can’t be right.

Yet somehow, deep inside, I know it is.

Oh, Hell. How could I have been so blind?

“
Lucky, what is it? Tell me!” I hear the concern in Vincent’s voice, and my eyes fill with tears.

My lips quiver as I take a deep breath.

“
It’s me,” I whisper.

“
What? What’s you?”

I stare at him, my eyes wide. “It’s me.
I’m
the one who has to go. I’m the cause of all of this…”

He frowns and takes my hand. “What are you talking about?”

I take another deep breath. Then I pull my hand away and walk toward the edge of the cliff. I stare out at the eternal abyss as the truth sinks in, deeper and deeper. Everything is clear now. It all makes sense. My blinders are finally off, and I realize just how wrong I’ve been.

Vincent comes and stands beside me.

“
It’s me.” I say the words so quietly I can barely hear them myself. “
I’m
the curse. It’s my existence that is causing all this turmoil and has thrown everything off balance. Think about it. Liora is only in danger because of
me.
Of who and what I am. As a normal human girl she faces no threat from Light-angels. Zero. And very little from other demons.
Certainly
less than she does now.”

“
What are you saying?”

“
I’m saying—” My voice breaks again, and I have to take another deep breath to steady myself. “I’m saying that I’ve been looking at this all wrong. I kept thinking that she was the weak one, the one that made my life so unbearable. But in reality, I’m the one doing it to her… and I’m
worse,
because I put everyone else in danger too. Kayla and Michael—”

A sob escapes my throat, and Vincent gives my hand a reassuring squeeze.

“—
They died because of me. The Amazèa had come for
me
that day. I’d used my powers and they must’ve been in the area and sensed it. I fought them off at first, but knew I couldn’t beat them. So I ran and hid to save myself, and they killed Kayla and Michael instead. That’s why they died. That’s why the split happened.”

Vincent shakes his head, his mouth firm. “Well, that may explain why you had the curse in the first place, but it doesn’t explain why you think you have to go away now. Why you’re the cause of these problems—”

“
Don’t you see? My being a demon is what gets us in trouble. If I go, and Liora is just a regular human girl, then this all ends. Demons are only after me, and as a normal human she’ll be useless to the Light-angels. If the demon in her dies… if
I
die… then these problems go away. Otherwise… otherwise we’ll be in this purgatory of constant danger forever, or until we and everyone else we love dies.
I
am the reason for all this suffering, not Liora. And only I can end it.”

Vincent stares at me. He doesn’t argue, or tell me I’m totally wrong, or point out a different solution. He just looks at me quietly. And his silence breaks my heart.

“
I’ve been alive for a long,
long
time,” he finally whispers. “And I’ve seen a lot of crazy, unbelievable things. I thought nothing could really shock or surprise me anymore, and that I had a lot of things figured out. But are you trying to say that you, as a demon, are considering possibly sacrificing your entire existence for the sake of others? For humans?”

I stare at him without blinking, then shake my head. “No, I’m
not
saying I’m going to possibly give up my existence in this world…”

I reach out and pull him to me, and surprise him by pressing my lips on his in a fiery, passionate kiss. He quickly recovers and returns in kind. His mouth melts against mine, and he runs his hands through my hair as I press my body closer to his. Then I break away and look him in the eyes.

“…
I’m saying that I
definitely
am.”

I turn and run across the lawn before he can stop me, and before I can stop myself. And I hit Anastasia’s magical barrier full force. The electrical energy sends me flying backwards.

“
Come out, Witch!” I scream as loud as I can. I struggle to stand, but my legs feel short-circuited and wobbly. So I stay seated on the cool grass and yell again, “Come out, Witch! Come and do what you’ve always wanted to do! Get rid of me once and for all!”

A moment later Anastasia appears, as if from thin air. One moment she’s not there, the next she’s standing by the rose bushes several feet away staring at me.

“
What do you want, demon child?” Her voice carries across the night air.

“
Did Liora really do the spell? The one to make her humanity disappear and leave only me?”

“
Yes, she did.”

“
So why didn’t it work? Why is she still here?”

“
Only you can know the answer. And you
do
know the answer.”