Dancing With Monsters (22 page)

“
As much as I hate to
agree with an archangel,” Yolanda’s husband said as he stepped from
the shadows of the gardens outside. “We need to come up with a
solution because demons aren’t waiting.”

“
Greetings,” Yolanda went
up to her husband and lovingly gave him a kiss on the cheek. “I
don’t think you’ve been properly introduced. This is Rusul, my
husband.” Yolanda smiled back at us. “He presides over our haven
here in southern Shangri-La.”

“
So as protector of the
southern hemisphere, how do you propose to deal with the demons?”
Edan asked with a conceited look on his face as he stretched out
with legs crossed, wine glass empty in front of him, and hands
clasped together. He looked like a fat cat soaking up the
sun.

Rusul tilted his head to the side and
with a wave of his hands over the grey, stone table that sat in the
middle of our circle, a map, transparent, formed in
midair.

“
This is a map of the
Shadowlands that the demons have already taken over. They have the
orb, though they don’t know how to use it, and they have the serum,
but no means on how to create more.”

“
How did you get a map of
the Shadowlands?” Edan asked Rusul. “Earth angels have no
connection to the Shadowlands.”

“
You don’t know your
history.” Rusul stated. “Earth angels were the engineers of the
Shadowlands and we gave it light—our light—so the shadow children
of humans had a place to go before going through the mist.
Therefore, I know enough to make a map.”

I glanced over at April sitting next
to Malachi. She looked up at Rusul with relevance, and then shifted
her eyes to me. They were dark—Ezra. She smiled and looked
away.

April blinked her eyes and rubbed her
forehead as Malachi noticed and even though I didn’t hear his
words, he was asking if she was alright. April answered with a nod
as Yolanda watched with curiosity as well.

Rusul went on to tell us that there
was one hidden portal that went directly to the Shadowlands. It
could only be accessed by one way, and that was here in Shangri-La.
There were three demons that had consumed the serum, Eveie being
one, and two others.

“
Demons are not stupid,
but they have tendencies to follow their instincts rather than
reason. To battle them is fruitless; they will never tire until
they’ve won. So, I’ve come up with a plan. We will lure them here
with not only Eveie, but with the one ingredient they lack.” Rusul
set his eyes on April as she paled. “You have a light in you that
I’ve never seen before in a monster. It’s like looking at treasure
that’s been buried and denied the light of day for centuries.” He
smiled bending down in front of her.

April looked frightened, and I hoped
Ezra had the ability to calm her nerves as she looked like she
wanted to run. Rusul took her arm that had the hexmark on it, and
turned it over exposing it. He ran his dark fingers over her pale
skin like a black storm cloud covering the sun.

“
The gypsy woman has done
a good job.” He continued to study her hexmark. “You are a gem to
us here, April and Ezra. Both of you will be the bait we need to
capture the renegade demons.” He smiled at her.

“
Who’s Ezra?” Edan asked
looking from April to Yolanda. “Is that what you meant by two in
one?”

“
She’s done a Taking—and
she has another powerful monster’s life force in her. She will do
us good and she will be the one to fight the demons.”

“
She’s scared, but she is
strong, and I remind her of that often,” April said, but it was
Ezra I was talking to. “She has an ancient connection to our
past—our monster heritage. She desperately wants to find her
mother, but like everything right now, she is frightened, almost
too frightened to move or even think. Malachi is good for her; I’ve
seen it written in the constellations. He is to protect her and
guide her. Rusul’s plan will be an effective one, but April can’t
fight the demons alone.” She looked up at me with her dark
eyes.

“
We will be there to
protect her. Rusul is just using her as bait,” I said as she shook
her head.

“
Demons can communicate
telepathically, even if in different realms. Eveie can give them
information, and the longer she’s here, the more information she is
giving them. Rusul needs to know this, but when April is frightened
it is hard for me to speak. I’ve been in the Shadowlands, and I’ve
seen demons.” She pulled herself closer to me. “They are strong
when appearing weak. They manipulate and control at their own
amusement.” Slowly Ezra’s dark eyes were fading. “I have to let go
or April will only weaken with each time I surface, and I can’t let
that happen.”

As much as I wanted Ezra to stay, I
knew it was a risk to April. I held onto her, and she to me until
her arms went limp falling to her sides and her eyes
closed.

9

April

“
Ben and I were going to
have dinner when Eveie came in and,” I hated talking about things
that hurt me, and over the years, I’ve learned to bury them, but
this time I couldn’t. Rusul needed, no, wanted information. “She
revealed who she was to us.” Detach myself—that’s what I needed to
do.

“
Give her a rest, Rusul,”
I heard Yolanda gently plead as my eyes popped open.

“
No,” I said sternly as he
turned back to me with a smile.

“
Go on,” he said softly as
we sat in a rose garden with the sound of trickling
water.

“
Ben tried to save April
from demons and her past,” I said, speaking in third person, or was
it Ezra. I felt her strength as if she was sitting next to me
holding my hand. “They were going to have a celebration dinner—they
were going to be married, and live in a promised sanctuary. He
didn’t mean to create the serum—it was by accident, and never meant
for demons. He gave you, Yolanda, a copy, but it wasn’t complete.
He had never written it down and kept it in here,” I pointed to my
head. “And he gave April the secret ingredient. Even if more is
made by demon, angel, or monster, it will be incomplete without
this.” I held up my ring—my engagement ring. It sparkled back at me
like sun glistening on water. “Benjamin Marsh died protecting April
Snow from Eveie not only to protect something that was too powerful
for anyone to have, but he died because he loved her.”

I felt like a veil had covered by
whole body. I was here and knew what was going on, but felt numb to
any of the pain I knew I should be feeling.

“
His name should be
cleared,” I said not knowing why I did. “His acts were reckless,
but he died trying to redeem himself. Don’t hold his promise to you
against him. He didn’t know who he could trust with the serum for
he knew it was something too great for any creature, noble or
wicked, to have.”

“
I assume I have the
pleasure of speaking to Ezra.” Rusul looked into my eyes as if
searching for something.

“
No, you have the pleasure
of addressing both of us. I, Ezra, am speaking, and April is
listening. Our thoughts and feelings are melting together, though I
try not to. She needs my strength if you are to kill the three
demons that are gaining strength. Eveie is getting stronger, even
in your restraints; she is communicating and gaining
strength.”

“
We have contained many a
creature in them, and besides, the demon was caught in a
puzzlestone. It will take some time for her to do anything but
wallow in her own waste.” Rusul seemed amused, but Ezra and I
weren’t. I felt her determination mix with mine.

“
The way of many realms
depends on your actions, Rusul, and I wouldn’t take them lightly.”
This time, it was Ezra speaking for herself and warning the earth
angels that sat in front of me.

“
I brought you something
to eat,” Malachi said, standing in the doorway.

“
These rooms are amazing,”
I said with a chuckle from him. “They practically have no walls or
ceiling.” I pointed up at the arched roof with panels of glass
sandwiched between the triangular shaped supporting beams. “It
really is beautiful. I feel like a fairy princess that lives in a
gazebo surrounded by gardens. I feel like I’m in a
dream.”

Malachi sat next to me on the bed that
was layered in thin, silk sheets.

I shook my head. “I’m sorry, I sound
like an idiot. It’s just that—”

“
No, you’re not an idiot,”
Malachi sat the tray down. “This is an amazing place and I just got
done telling Seth the same thing about my room.”

“
You feel like a fairy
princess too?” I asked with a smile.

“
No,” he said, gazing up
at the ceiling that reflected the warm and cool tones of twilight.
“Maybe a fairy prince, in fact, that was my exact words to
Seth.
I feel like a fairy prince, Seth!
Don’t you?
” He smiled. “Really,
those
were
my
exact words.”

He handed me a slice of bread that had
what looked like honey slathered on it.

“
You didn’t say that,” I
said, taking a bite of the sweet bread with even sweeter
honey.

He took a slice of bread and bit off a
large section. “No, they were actually Seth’s, I lied.”

“
You’re just trying to
make me feel better for acting like a dork.”

Malachi shook his head in agreement.
“Yes, but you’re a fairy-princess-feeling-dork, and that’s
different.”

“
How is that different?” I
asked turning to him.

His eyes met mine, and even in the dim
light they still sparkled like the blue water in a magazine showing
a photo of some far away tropical place. I leaned closer, and like
an attracting magnet to metal, I felt the pull that drew us
together.

“
Here, try these,” Malachi
suddenly pulled away, and grabbed something off the tray. “They are
tiny, but good for you.” He opened his palm revealing two tiny,
white dots that looked like pills. I cringed. “Don’t tell me you’ve
sampled them before, because I can tell you they never leave
Shangri-La—they don’t even make it to the night market in
Nethopania.” He shoved them closer to me. “Try one, they are made
from the flowers here and are a dessert—though tiny, but they melt
in your mouth.”

“
I don’t like pills,” I
said, gazing at what Malachi called a dessert.

Malachi looked down at them. “Pills?”
he questioned.

I looked from his palm to his eyes. He
didn’t understand what I meant.

“
They look like
pills—medicine. You’ve never heard of pills?” I asked in
disbelief.

He shook his head.

“
Well,” I started. “Since
I was little, I’ve lived in many homes, and when I got older I
ended up in a place that housed all of the unwanted children. They
gave us pills—bitter ones—to make us calm and easier to deal with.”
Malachi gave me a sympathetic look. “I spit mine out every night
and to escape, I acted as nicely and reasonably as I could. I
gained their trust, and one night, I escaped.” I let out a deep
breath as Malachi looked down at the two white dots that I’d call
pills.

It seemed like years since I was at
Sunrise Acres. I thought I would catch a ride from some sympathetic
truck driver and head out west. Never did I think I would end up
meeting a monster in the woods that not only saved me, but opened a
world I never knew existed.

“
I know what it’s like,”
Malachi said, still gazing at the pills. “My family was murdered by
demons.” He stated with a sigh as if he had to say it to make it
final. “Seth’s family took me in, and he’s been like a brother to
me, but I never felt I was part of the family. They welcomed me,
yes, but the ground I walked on, the air I breathed, felt
incomplete. They tried to nurture me with kindness and
understanding, never pills.” He clenched his hand containing the
pills until they were crushed to powder.

Malachi then went to the doorway and
blew the dust to the pink, bell-shaped flowers that grew outside.
“There,” he said, brushing the remaining powder from his hands.
“April Snow, you will never have to take pills when you’re with me
to make you calm or otherwise easier to deal with.”

I began to laugh. “Yeah, but what
about you? How am I supposed to deal with you?”

The smile fell from his face, and I
thought I had insulted him when a sly smile returned to his lips.
“I guess you will just have to charm me, April Snow, without the
assistance of little, white pills.”

I never planned on taking a liking to
Malachi, but I had. I felt safe and happy around him as if there
were no threat of demons. For the first time since Ben died, I felt
a spark inside of me, except this time, it was something that I
created, not a spell.

“
You need to speak to
her.” Rusul dressed in a long silver robe with black markings that
looked like someone had taken a thin paintbrush and randomly marked
the edge of the shimmering cape. “The demon will not communicate
with us, and she is gaining strength, but not enough that she is a
threat.”