Page 83 of Demon Heart: The Complete Series

ROMAN

D arcy?

I grabbed him, immediately cradling him against the bite of the viciously cold wind.

“I couldn’t…” He didn’t finish.

“Couldn’t what?”

“Never mind.” He snuggled closer to me.

“The talking rat,” Butterfly said. “We meet again.”

Darcy let out an indignant squeak.

Never mind that. My stomach dropped, ice flooding my veins to contribute to the chill of this place. “What…”

Sat cross-legged in the snow, unaware of our presence, Tanith spoke through tears.

Butterfly pressed a finger to his lips.

Past Xavier watched on, keeping quiet.

“I’ve failed you again and again, my dear Ismael.

I try to free you, but Xavier won’t yield.

He won’t use The Word. He is your one true love, yet you still sleep.

He allows you to stay in those cold depths.

” She sniffled. “I hear you. I hear your suffering. You were a true king, a real true force for demon kind. Some called you a tyrant, but I’ll always call you a god.

” She bowed her head, shoulders bobbing with her sobs. “I miss you so much.”

Boo-fucking-hoo.

“Tanith,” Butterfly said softly.

She sprang to her feet and turned as quick as the snake she was. “What are you doing here?” She gave each of us a horrified glance. “Xavier?”

Past Xavier unfroze, dropping to his knees. “Ismael?”

Moments later, I felt the crawling in my hair again.

“Ismael?” Past Xavier repeated.

“What is this?” Tanith interjected. “I?—”

“Watch and wait,” Butterfly cut her off.

She didn’t appreciate the interruption. “How dare you speak to me like?—”

“He… He calls to me…” Xavier whispered. “He suffers. No. No. No.”

Tanith cocked her head. “Did you have a change of heart?”

Past Xavier didn’t register her presence, staring out at the lake. “My Ismael…” Tears ran down his pale cheeks. “This can’t be happening. He can’t be in there.”

I saw the lights of understanding switch on in Tanith’s expression. “This is Xavier from the past.”

Butterfly nodded slowly. “Precisely.”

Another Xavier appeared before me, shifting from tiny spider to eye candy. Naked, a scar on his chest.

My Xavier.

His presence bolstered my positivity for a couple of seconds before sending it crashing. He staggered backwards, hands over his ears. “No. No. No.”

“Xavier? What’s happening?”

Past Xavier wailed, yelling Ismael’s name. “I can hear him! I can hear him!”

Butterfly took my hands. “They hear the voices of the trapped monarchs. I hear them, Tanith hears them. They call out for freedom. They beg for mercy, they promise revenge.”

I looked at the ice, hearing nothing but the wind.

“Of course you hear nothing, witch. No part of you is demon.”

“What about the device?”

“It is not enough to tune you into the voices of the lost.”

“Xavier…”

My Xavier looked at me, struggling.

“It’s okay,” I said. “It’s okay. I’m here.”

Was I enough? Seeing his love in the past might be one thing, but hearing him in the present, knowing he held the power to free him… Oh, God. This was totally fucked.

“Don’t do this,” I tried with Butterfly.

The devious prick. I understood his game.

“If I give into the device, you will?—”

“Silence,” he commanded. “Do not assume to understand me.”

But I did. He was threatening to have the lake opened, unleashing every single demon monarch on this realm and mine. Wouldn’t it be better to remove all magic instead? I mean, Synth was dying, Trace didn’t do much. Losing them was the lesser of two evils.

“I won’t stand for this,” Past Xavier said, getting to his feet. “I can’t take anymore.”

“Is this really happening?” Tanith asked.

I tried to move, Butterfly shutting me down with his magic.

Wanker.

My Xavier boomed some sort of battle cry, breaking out of his stupor. He charged at his past self, swinging a punch before he could use The Word. Past Xavier ducked, retaliating with an uppercut that missed.

The two demons snarled, circling each other.

“I won’t let you do this,” my Xavier warned.

“Don’t you hear him?” the other responded.

“You have no idea what he is now. He isn’t the Ismael you know.”

“Of course he is. He is my heart, my soul, my everything.”

“Once upon a time.”

Past Xavier glowered. “Who are you?”

“You.”

“I would never allow my Ismael to be thrown in there.” He growled at the lake. “Never.”

“But we did. We had to.”

“Because you’re a traitor,” Tanith joined in.

Butterfly kept me quiet, while Darcy shivered in my arms. He needed to get somewhere warm.

“Ismael is the worst demon king to have ruled us,” my Xavier said. “The things he did, the suffering he inflicted. He is the Bloody King. You’ll see it for yourself when you return to your time. He belongs in the ice.”

“He belongs on the throne,” Tanith threw in. “We have no monarch. We need strong leadership after the chaos of the last queen. He can restore us to glory, he can set us free. Rule these lands, claim the human realm.”

“It will be a disaster,” Xavier countered.

The other Xavier glanced back at the lake. “Can’t you hear him calling?”

“Of course.”

“Then how can you…” Past Xavier turned his hurting gaze to me. The pale blue orbs turned white. “You favor this witch over Ismael.”

“Ismael became a monster.”

A growl. “My beloved is not a monster.”

“The demon in that lake is not the Ismael you know. If you free him?—”

Past Xavier shifted, growing in size, eight limbs replacing his arms and legs, those jewels become glistening eyes in a platinum blond spider’s head.

The huge spider version of Xavier, a hybrid of a tiny jumping spider and a tarantula, loomed over us, baring deadly fangs, stomping those pointed blade-like legs.

Oh. Shit.

My Xavier mirrored him, two big arse spiders on the snowy beach.

Butterfly chortled softly. “Do you see the chaos, Roman?”

The spiders clashed in a brutal storm of might and spider limbs. Wrestling away from us, attacking each other with sickening speed. The ground vibrated, snow spraying everywhere.

“Which one do you think will be victorious?” Butterfly asked. “The one to free his love or the one who wants you, Roman?”

I watched on, conflicted as hell.

I had to stop this before it spiraled further.

“I know where my hopes lie,” Tanith said, coming to stand beside me. “If he fails, you die.”

“Get away from my witch,” Butterfly warned.

“You better make sure I get what I want if you want him to survive.”

Butterfly stepped around me, planting himself between me and the snake demon. “I will rip out your forked tongue before I allow you to touch him.”

She took a step back. “I’m not afraid of you. To me, you are already dead.”

“And your king sleeps in the ice.”

She hissed, shifting into a snake the size of the spiders, her scales a shiny dark green, her body coiling up as if to strike. Her head fanned out like a cobra’s; the tongue Butterfly threatened to tear out licking at the air.

Whoa. What massive fangs, dripping with venom.

“I enjoy feasting on butterflies,” she said with a hiss.

Butterfly folded his arms. “From what I saw, you were always the odd one in the friendship. Xavier and Ismael were in love, and you hung around looking for what? Scraps? Validation? A way into that love?”

“How dare you!” Tanith went in for a strike and was met with a face of dust. She recoiled, slithering away a few feet. The dust didn’t seem have done anything to her.

Had it even hit her face?

“We were the Blessed Trinity,” she said. “Xavier broke that.”

Butterfly stepped closer to her, his magical hold on me loosening considerably. “You are irrelevant, a nuisance.”

“And here you are bringing chaos to the lake,” Tanith countered.

“Chaos you enjoy.”

Okay. Here we go…

Option 1: Destroy the device and potentially unleash more chaos and end my life.

Option 2: Give in to the power, end magic, maybe leave a trace of hope. I didn’t know what that hope would look like, though, but I knew I wanted to keep on living.

But giving into the device might kill me anyway.

Hmmm. What about third option? Try taking Butterfly out, sending him back again, doing the same with Past Xavier. Easier said than done. Butterfly wasn’t so easily shaken off.

I kept thinking as the demons argued and the spiders fought on. There had to be a solution to this.

Think! Think! Think!

The device began to whir, a heavy clockwork in my chest. Ticking in my ears, glittering dust puffing to life in my hands. Falling off my fingertips.

“What…”

I touched my chest, the vibration heavy. No pain, the sensation like a racing heart after heavy exercise.

“What the hell?” I questioned.

“Is something wrong?” Darcy asked from my shoulder through chattering teeth.

“I don’t…”

“Roman?” Butterfly said, returning to me. He took my hands, inspecting the falling dust. “Have you accepted the power?”

“No. I didn’t do anything.”

“Then what have you done?”

“Nothing, I—” I lost control of my voice, words not belonging to me falling off my tongue. The device whirred harder, bringing dust up my throat. The volume of the ticking intensified, pain shooting through my ears.

“Roman?”

“What’s happening?” Tanith demanded.

The magical voice took full control, words pouring out, the taste of sour milk in my mouth. “When you deal with fairies, you should always tread carefully.”

Butterfly leaned closer. “Una?”

“In this case, I am protecting my honor. If you’re hearing this message, I’ve been killed because of the object. Whoever you are, I’ve clearly been betrayed. So here is the final word. Boom.”

A fairy contingency?

Butterfly grabbed me by the shoulders, shaking me. “What has she done?”

Laughter, the fairy magic falling off my tongue. My lips ached, my throat bone dry.

Butterfly shook me again. “Una?”

“Roman!” Xavier’s voice boomed. “Get off him!”

Darcy ran to my other shoulder, rearing up to lick my cheek. “Talk to us.”

I couldn’t. The ticking practically shrieked; my mouth pretty much useless. The device whirred, heat growing in my chest.

Harder.

Hotter.

Harder.

Hotter.

Una’s laughter popping off in the corners of my mind.

Never trust fairies…

“Jump…” I managed.

“What?” Butterfly spoke.

“Jump… Darcy… Jump… JUMP!”

The cogs screamed, the device burning up, reaching an end.

Oh, man. This wasn’t good.

My friend leaped off my shoulder, landing on Butterfly. I shoved the stunned demon back just as my chest exploded.