Torn (Demon Kissed #3) (16 page)

Lies suddenly tumbled out of my mouth in an unstoppable wave, “I was there when Eric died. That’s why he remembers me. He was covered in brimstone dust and left him to rot. By the time I found him, he was nearly dead. I tried to help him, but it was too late. There was a Valefar there, someone I didn’t know. I thought he killed Eric. I tried to fight him off, and I did. But it was too late. Eric was dead…” my voice trailed off. Looking down, I wrapped my arms around my waist, and I pulled tightly, trying to hold my mouth shut so I wouldn’t spew more lies. Why couldn’t I just tell him that I was the Valefar who drained him? I kissed Eric.

Collin wrapped his arms around me. “Ivy, you’ve been through so much. I wish I was there to stop it. I’ll never let anything like that happened to you again. I promise.” He kissed the top of my head as I cringed inside. I was scum. I had to tell him, but I couldn’t. When he released me, he asked, perplexed, “But then why is Eric hunting you?”

The question came fast and loose. It sucker punched me in the stomach and I felt my jaw flap open, but no words fell out. Why was Eric stalking me? Oh yeah, he thinks I tossed brimstone on him and then demon kissed him. I was the one who pulled the trigger on his immortal Martis life and turned him Valefar.

I squeaked before clearing my throat and saying, “Who’s not hunting me?” That statement was true enough. The bond wouldn’t register it as a lie. There were tons of immortals looking for me…and one angel waiting for me to attack Collin, drain his soul, and return with my soul intact. I cringed at the thought.

Collin reached for me, gently brushing his fingers against my cheek and brushed back a stray curl from my face. “I know. I know everyone is after you. We can do this Ivy, but you need to tell me things like this.”

“I didn’t know…” I started to say, but Collin cocked his head sensing the lie. I let out a rush of air, “Fine, I did know. But I didn’t think he’d find me so fast. And I kind of hoped he’d remember me a little bit. Isn’t he supposed to? My sister has memories of me.” I’d told him about Apryl as we were walking out of the Underworld. I wanted to take her with us, but Collin said she was bound to the Pool of Lost Souls and there was nothing I could do to help her leave that horrid place. So we left without her. My throat constricted thinking about it. I pushed down the feelings before rage overtook me. I hated that she was trapped there.

“That’s different. She remembers bits and pieces of you because it was put there to haunt her. It reminds her of the life she had—the joys of the life she lost when she was turned Valefar. I’m sorry Ivy, I know you don’t like to talk about it, but they aren’t the same anymore. They need their souls back to recover, but you already know that’s not possible. Once a Valefar acts like a Valefar, there is no way for the soul to rejoin the body…there is no way for them to go back to who they were before it happened. I’m sorry.” His words felt like rocks dropped on my chest, one at a time until I couldn’t breathe.

Stepping away from him, I looked up at the sky. “So Eric didn’t spare me because he remembered me?” I looked back at him. “That’s what you’re saying, right? That he knows I was there when he died and is going to kill me when he catches me?”

“Right,” he replied, “he can’t kill the Valefar who bound him—you already did. So he’s coming after you, the only other person who was there. It’s revenge. But, I don’t understand why he didn’t just kill you or why he used that kind of magic with you. It was risky.”

Curiosity spurred within me. I realized that Eric used some weird kind of Valefar magic, but I was afraid to ask Collin about it since he didn’t seem keen to talk about such things. I took the opportunity to ask him, “When Eric effonated, I had no choice but to go with him. How did he do that?”

Collin’s gaze turned from mine, his eyes widened. “He didn’t make you effonate next to him? It was his power that pulled you? Not his?” I shook my head. “Tell me everything he said and did when he found you.” I told Collin about everything from Eric forcing me to swallow his blood, to his taunting words and how he used people to cause us to run out in different directions. When I was speaking, Collin pressed his fingers to his temples and closed his eyes. When I was done he asked, “Did you swallow? Did his blood go down your throat?” I nodded. Collin let out a rush of air like something heavy fell on his stomach. He turned away from me, pressing his fingers to his eyes.

“Collin, please tell me how he did that. I had no idea he could do any of those things. It caught me totally off guard.” I walked up behind him, and gently touched his arm. He turned toward me. I looked up into his eyes and said, “I can’t protect myself if I don’t know what he can do.”

Collin started to speak and stopped. His arms folded tightly to his chest as he tilted his head. His voice was cautious. “Valefar can intensify their magic if they use blood. There are things that can be done with their blood or their victim’s blood.” He paused, staring at me. “He was able to effonate with you because he made you swallow enough of his blood to take you with him. It only works once, but he could have forced you to do it again. The blood allows the same magic that the Valefar wields to be used on the victim. It’s helpful when fighting immortals. Most of the Valefar have forgotten how to do what Eric did, which is making me wonder how he knew to do it.” Collin looked to me for answers, but I didn’t know. Eric didn’t say much, besides that he managed to nab Shannon, too. He probably baited her out and caught her the same way. And I’d turned her into something that I wasn’t certain of at this point. Shoving a Martis through an evil mirror would have some seriously weird side-effects.

Collin continued, “If he wanted to kill you, he could have done it before I got there. If he wanted to kidnap you, you wouldn’t have escaped. He knows what he’s doing, and you don’t—which is why I’ve been trying to protect you.” Collin shook his head, and laughed hollowly, “When I realized you effonated I thought the bastard was going to slaughter you after he toyed with you first.”

I shook my head. “That’s what I thought, but he healed me after he realized what effonating did to me.” Collin’s fingers wound around my curl with a thoughtful expression on his face before dropping it and shoving his hands in his pockets.

“That makes no sense whatsoever,” was all he said about the matter. He was right about that. It didn’t make any sense, even considering that Eric wanted to torture me and have fun watching me die. He still could have done that, and I was so weak that I couldn’t fight back—but he didn’t. Collin’s sapphire eyes bore into me, waiting for me to reveal something more, but I didn’t.
 

“I know. It really doesn’t make sense. Al reminded me that he isn’t Eric anymore.” I shook my head, trying to shake off the guilt that crawled out of my stomach. Collin sensed it. He tilted his head, but I shoved those feeling back down to where they were hiding, and asked, “Have you ever heard of the Satan Stone?” He shook his head. “Al thought it could heal the poison in my chest.” Collin went white as his jaw locked. I wanted to comfort him, and tell him it was going to be okay, but for all I knew—it wasn’t.

“Apparently,” I continued, “it’s a forgotten
Martis
fable from a really long time ago. Al’s one of the oldest living Martis and said she barely remembered stories about it. She said that Satan’s Stone can give its owner power, so it can heal me.” I didn’t really believe the words coming out of my mouth. It was a rock. What could it do? But, I learned not to question immortal objects. After walking through the Lorren, nothing would surprise me. So Satan hid all his power in a rock—I’d seen weirder things. I looked over at Collin, “But no one remembers the fable, anymore. All the documents containing mention of it are gone—except one. Al said there is a letter from the first Angel Demon War documenting how it ended—someone held up a stone and the fighting stopped.” Collin arched an eyebrow at me. “I know, right?
Sounds weird.
But that document is the only trace left of the legend of the Satan Stone. And I know where it is.” I took a deep breath. “Someone else had heard about it too, while he was tracking me down for the Martis. Al said he had the letter…”

Collin shook his head in disbelief. “Eric? You’re telling me that Eric’s the only other person who could have helped us? And now he’s…”

I finished for him, “A crazy-ass Valefar. Yeah.
Sounds perfect.”
I explained to Collin that we needed to go to Eric’s old apartment and steal his book. I only hoped that I could find it and that Eric’s stuff was still there. Turns out I should have hoped for something else altogether.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Eric’s apartment was in an old three story brick walk-up. We were listening at the door and didn’t hear anyone when a neighbor came out. A short round woman folded her arms and glared at me from behind thick glasses. Her black hair was smoothed back into a ponytail where it frizzed into a massive puff. Her shirt was a size too small and rode right at the top of her jeans.
 
Startled, I gasped like I was up to no good, but quickly explained that we knew Eric.

Sympathy instantly diminished her previous perception of us. “Oh, I’m so sorry for your loss.” Her eyes shifted between us as she rubbed her palms together. “I can’t image knowing someone who died like that.”

Wide-eyed, I glanced at Collin. He nodded in agreement and laced his arm through mine. His thoughts brushed my mind,
Play along.

“It was,” he agreed, “Ivy’s known Eric since they were children, and wanted to say goodbye.”

The woman nodded, with her mouth hanging open in an O, before saying, “Oh, that’s right. There was no burial, because the body…” she cut herself off before she said anything else. “Oh, dear-heart, I’m so sorry.” She blinked back a tear and wrapped her arms around me in a bear hug. I stiffened and tried to wiggle out of it, before Collin mentally chastised me to be more mournful.

When she released me, Collin continued, “As you can imagine, it’s very difficult to get closure when things end like that…”

I shot a thought at him;
Do
you even know what you’re talking about? What did the Martis tell her?

But Collin ignored me and kept talking to the woman as if he knew, “I suggested taking her to his apartment one last time to see where he lived, but it seems that it’s already been rented and we didn’t want to intrude.”

The woman had her hand over her heart and looked at me with huge weepy eyes.
“Of course!
I know the girl who moved in there, after his accident; in fact we’re good friends. I suppose I could let you in, just for a minute. Tahlia isn’t home. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind.” Collin nodded somberly and thanked her while she ran off to fetch the key.

I arched an eyebrow at Collin, “How do they think Eric died?”

Collin shrugged, “Beats me, but the Martis must have covered Eric’s tracks well, because this woman didn’t expect to see anyone. Asking to see the apartment was the best I could do. Do you think you can find the book quickly, if it’s still there?”

“It’s worth a try. I saw where he hid it. I just hope it’s still there.” There was a niche in the wall where Eric withdrew the book before he thrust it under my nose. Eric was irate that night. He said that I undid a lifetime of work. He didn’t like me then. And he detested demon blood to the point that he didn’t treat me the same way once he found out I was tainted. But, his actions were different than his words. He saved me. I saved him. It happened so many times that I was beginning to think that we were friends. Eric had changed after our descent into the Underworld. I pushed the memory away, as Collin’s fingers laced through mine.

“Pretend you’re sad.” He squeezed my hand.

I squeezed back, “Don’t have to.”