Marcus/Rocco
"Rocky." My eyes snapped toward Valen. His golden eyes
weren't even looking me but at the tear.
"Tell Seraphina to run." For a moment I thought I'd
misheard him. "What?"
Valen's jaw tightened. "Toward the manor." My stomach
dropped. Toward the manor? Not away? Not off the estate?
The giant silhouette moved again. The entire clearing
shook. Trees bent under the pressure. The tear widened another few feet. And
instantly realized Valen wasn't joking.
Whatever was inside that thing, even he didn't want to
face it. I turned. "Sera!!"
Seraphina was still staring at the tear. Trying to
understand what she was seeing. "What?"
"RUN!!" Everyone looked at me. Callie, Noah and Riley.
Even Darren and Livia at the edge of the clearing. Confusion flashed across
Seraphina's face.
"What are you talking about?"
"The manor!" another tremor shook the ground. "The
manor! Now!"
Something un my voice must have convinced her. Because
Seraphina's expression immediately changed. "Move!"
Nobody argued. We ran. The retreat was chaos. Demons
still lingered around the clearing. The giant tear continued growing.
Red lighting ripped through the clouds overhead. The
pressure only increased. Every step felt heavier than the last.
Callie stayed beside me. Noah and Riley covered our
flank. Ahead of us, Seraphina ensured Darren and Livia kept moving.
The manor was visible through the trees now. Still
distant. Still too far away. Then everything became quiet.
The kind of quiet that makes your skin crawl. I
slowed. Every hunter instinct I possessed screamed that something had changed.
Around us, the lesser demons stopped moving. Stopped
attacking and chasing us. They simply stood there. Waiting.
The woods fell silent. Then a woman's voice drifted
through the darkness. Soft, amused and far too calm.
"Well." My stomach tightened. I smelt it before I saw
it. A figure stepped from between the trees.
Long black hair. Black dress, pale skin and crimson
eyes. Demon eyes.
She looked completely untouched by the battle raging
around us. Like she'd simply wandered into the middle of an apocalypse.
Her gaze swept across the clearing. The tear and the
dead demons, the ruined training grounds. Then she sighed. "Cassian always
manages to turn simple assignments into disasters."
Nobody spoke or moved. Then her eyes landed on me and
she smiled. "There you are."
The chill that followed those words settled deep into
my bones. I tightened my grip on my blades. The woman tilted her head. Studying
me.
"When Cassian asked for my help…" a small laugh
escaped her. "I wasn't expecting to find you here."
I didn't like that. Not one bit. "Do I know you?" that
actually made her laugh. A genuine laugh.
"No." she took another step forward. "But I've known
you." Something about the way she said it made my chest tighten. Then her gaze
narrowed slightly.
"Oh." She smiled wider. "You look much better awake."
The world seemed to stop. For a brief moment I couldn't hear anything. Couldn't
breathe.
My pulse pounding. Just hoping it isn't what I think
it is. She noticed my expression and smiled. "You slept through most of our
meeting."
"It's officially nice to meet you, I'm Vespera."
Callie immediately noticed something was wrong.
"Rocco?" I barely heard her.
Vespera continued speaking casually. Like she was
discussing the weather. "Your adoptive mother begged so much for you to be
spared."
Every muscle in my body locked up. The air vanished
from my lungs.
"Such a brave woman." The words shattered whatever
self-control I had left.
"You." She blinked.
"Yes." My vision narrowed. All I could see was her.
The demon. The one from that night. The one who had taken everything.
I moved before anyone could stop me. My blades
flashed. Vespera casually stepped aside. The strike missed by inches. She
looked almost surprised.
"Oh." I attacked again and again and again. Steel
blurred through the darkness. Every strike carried years of anger behind it.
Every loss. Every memory. And she avoided every single
one. Not easily but smoothly.
A shallow cut
appeared along her arm. The first time my blade connected. She glanced down.
Interested, then looked back at me. "You've improved." I attacked harder. She
sighed dramatically.
"Still rude though."
"Shut up!" the next exchange was faster. Much faster.
My blades scraped across her shoulder. Her claws tore across my side. Pain
exploded through my ribs.
I barely felt it. The wound was beginning to close.
Vespera seemed to have noticed. Her crimson eyes narrowed. "Interesting."
I swung again and missed. And again. This time she
caught my wrist. Not hard. More like stopping a child. I ripped free and
attacked again.
The frustration only made me faster. More reckless.
Exactly the way Seraphina always warned me not to fight.
"Rocco!" Callie's voice. Ignored.
"Marcus!" Noah. Ignored.
Vespera simply kept watching. Studying. Learning. Then
Valen appeared beside me. "Rocky." I ignored him.
My blade sliced through empty air. She stepped aside
again.
"Rocky." Still ignored. Valen sighed. "You are
fighting with your emotions."
Good. I wanted to be angry. Wanted her to hurt.
"Unfortunately…" my next strike missed. "Emotions does
not get the job done." I hated that he had a point.
Then Vespera suddenly paused. Her head tilted
slightly. Like she'd heard or sensed something.
Her eyes narrowed. Not at me, but past me. Toward
something only she could perceive. Then she laughed.
"That's interesting." I froze. So did Callie and
Seraphina. Vespera's smile widened. She wasn't looking at me anymore. She was
looking at Valen.
"Boss is going to love this. You practically brought
it to him!" Valen looked visibly annoyed, then he groaned.
"I dislike this one."
That would've been funny under literally any other
circumstance.
A ripple of darkness spread through the clearing.
Vespera stopped smiling. "Finally." The shadow parted and Cassian stepped out.
expression immediately settled on annoyance.
"You are taking too long." Vespera placed a hand over
her chest dramatically.
"And hello to you too." Cassian ignored her. His gaze
found me. Then the tear.
"Leave him… for now." Vespera frowned.
"Really?"
"Really."
"Aww, we were just bonding." She sounded genuinely
disappointed. "You're no fun."
He looked seconds from killing her himself. "This
wasn't the objective." She sighed.
"Fine."
Vespera turned toward us one final time. That
unsettling smile returning. "Until next time."
I took a step forward. But the backlash of overworking
myself hit me.
Then Vespera paused. Like she'd remembered something.
She glanced toward Cassian. "Though…"
The clearing went still. She pointed at me. "Doesn't
he smell like him?" Cassian's gaze
flickered toward me. The away.
"That's what I said." Which made her even more
delighted, then darkness surged and just like that, both demons where gone.
Leaving only silence and the pressure from the tear.
And hundred unanswered questions.
I turned toward Valen and he was staring at the place
they'd disappeared. Completely silent. No joke, smirk or sarcastic comment.
That always terrified me more than anything. Because
Valen knew. Whatever 'him' meant…
And for the first time since I'd met him, he looked
very worried.
He turned toward the distant manor. "Rocky?" I
followed his gaze.
"What?" Valen's expression remained unreadable. But
his voice was firm. Urgent.
"Get everyone underground." The words sent a chill
through me. I looked toward the distant manor. And I suddenly I knew.
Whatever answers we'd been searching for…
We were about to find them.