Darker Days

The demon’s expression darkened. “It is done. And because I like you so much, Jessie, I’m going to throw in an extra gift.”

“Gift?”

“No,” Mom whispered. She was gripping Dad’s hand, face pale.

“You especially will like this one, Klaire Darker. I promise.”

“I want to leave,” Meredith said, voice shaky. “Can I go now?”

“In a moment, dear,” he answered offhandedly and turned to Lukas. “I’m going to free you.”

“But you said—”

“Ahh, very true. Let me rephrase.” He turned to Dad and made a sweeping gesture. “I’m going to let Damien free you.”

Dad hesitated for a moment, gaze lingering on Mom. Watching Valefar and him, I wondered if there wasn’t some kind of boss-employee demon mind-meld thing going on.

Valefar turned to Meredith, who was standing a few feet away. She was still shaking and had a glazed, faraway look in her eyes. “When I met you, you were nothing more than a spoiled, stupid child. I gave you great power and freedom from your oppressive life by supplying you with the spell and suggesting you use it on Lukas Scott.” He circled her. “I then came to your aid once again by freeing you from Simon Darker’s prison and offering to supply the opportunity to get revenge for the wrongs done to you by the Darker family. You were told that Jessie Darker was off limits. You were about to betray me by condemning her to the box. Our agreement is void.”

“She tried to steal Lukas!” Meredith protested. This was a Meredith I was unfamiliar with. Her voice lacked confidence and spite. Instead of the all-powerful witch I’d been so worried about facing, Valefar’s arrival had reduced her to nothing more than a whining child.

“And whose fault is that? I gave you the tools to succeed—you simply failed.” To Dad, he said, “You’ve been loyal, Damien. You will be hard to replace.”

Everything happened so fast. Too fast. One second, Dad was next to Mom and me, the next he was in front of Lukas, my blade in his hand. In a motion too fast for human eyes to follow, Dad buried the blade deep in Lukas’ gut.

“No!” I screamed, rushing forward. I caught him as he collapsed, face frozen in shock.

Valefar disappeared in a puff of black smoke, his voice lingering for several moments. “All debts have been satisfied. I release you, Damien of the Shadow Clan, from my service.”

Chapter Thirty-six

No.

Someone had pushed repeat on the iPod in my brain. It was the only thing I heard.

No. No. No.

Lukas’ eyes fluttered and rolled back until all I could see was white.

“Jessie,” he coughed and tried gasping for air. All he got was a lungful of blood.

“Shh—you’ll get called back to the box. You’ll be okay.” The tears spilled over and fell with soft plops, some hitting his cheek, others landing on the concrete.

It was like someone had popped a balloon full of acid in my chest. Each moment was more painful than the last, and sitting here watching as he moved toward his last breath was the hardest thing I’d ever done. I’d known I was going to lose him. He was going back in the box. But somehow, the idea that he was out there still—in some form—made it a little easier to deal with. But this…

“I meant it, Jessie,” he said. He was fading. I could see the light dying behind those beautiful brown eyes. “Because of you…it was worth…”

And he was gone.

As unexpected and fast as he’d appeared in my life, he’d left it. Air. There just wasn’t enough of it. Everything was silent. The only thing I heard was an annoying sniffle. Normally, I’d tell whoever to suck it up. Work to do and all that. But this time—this time it was me.

I brushed the hair from his face and placed the tiniest of kisses across his forehead. He still smelled like Mom’s lilac shower soap. “I love you,” I whispered, the tears falling harder now. “I know I’m too late, but I love you.”

Someone pulled me to my feet. Dad. “You need to back away.”

Everything blurred and took on a ragged, red tone. For an instant, I was sure Lukas must still be alive— there was no other way I could feel such anger…such rage. I whirled on Dad, lashing out. In that moment, he wasn’t my dad. He was a demon. One I wanted to strike down. Lukas had been so very wrong. I had anger. A lifetime worth had pushed to the surface and was ready to explode.

I hit him in the stomach, his chest—anywhere my fists could make contact. “This is setting him free? Killing him?” I screamed over and over again.

He let me pummel him for a moment before grabbing my hands and nudging me away like I was made of feathers. “Jessie, this was the only way to keep him from the box. I’m—”

Three things happened at once. On the floor to the left, the box started to shake and Meredith, still cowering in the corner, started to scream. The latch shimmied and rattled until it finally flipped open and the top shot up. In the blink of an eye, Dad was beside Lukas. His stomach had started glowing—a deep pulsing red—while on the other side of the room, Amari began to thrash and scream.

Time was up.

“Get back,” Dad growled, leaning over to retrieve the knife. Even with all the screaming, I could hear the sound it made, wet and wrong, as he pulled it from Lukas’ stomach.

There was a moment of silence. Amari spasmed and with one final scream, her entire body exploded in a shower of violet light. It bounced off several of the walls before diving into the box.

Lukas’ light pulsed but didn’t engulf his entire form. Centered in the middle of his stomach, it flashed twice then shot up the length of his body, out his throat, and across the room.

Right at Meredith.

Right into Meredith.

She didn’t get the chance to scream. I could see in her eyes she wanted to—seconds before the light swallowed her whole. She might’ve even tried, but like Amari, she exploded into a ball of light, ricocheting off the walls before diving into the box. This time, the latch snapped closed and locked behind her.

The Seven Deadly Sins were dormant again.

And Meredith had gotten what she deserved. A lifetime stuck in Lukas’ shoes. It hurt to know he hadn’t been able to see it. He deserved to see it.

Fresh tears trickled down my cheeks as Dad guided me to where Mom was standing. I wanted to lash out, to hit him again, but I had no energy left. All I could do was stand there and stare at Lukas’ lifeless body.

With my blade in his hand, Dad made a small incision at the center of his palm. He was frowning. “You should know I would never do something to hurt you, Jessie. Have some faith in me.”

Positioning his clenched fist over Lukas’ mouth, the blood dripped across his lips. One. Two. Three. Four. Drop after drop of blood. Lifesaving blood.

Of course. Demon blood could heal. We’d been using the Lupkee elixir for years. It was made, in part, with demon’s blood. I dropped to my knees beside Lukas as Dad stepped away. A few moments passed and the knot in my chest threatened to unravel, taking my sanity along with it. What if Lukas was different because of Wrath? What if he’d been dead too long? I knew there was a limit, I just didn’t know what it was.

Just when I was about to start shaking him—because that would have done a world of good—his lip twitched. Then, a second later, his fingers. A twitch here, a flinch there. It was working. Slowly, his eyes opened. He didn’t smile or say a word. He only stared. Liquid brown eyes I’d been sure I’d never see again. I wrapped both arms around him as he struggled to sit up.

“This gift comes with a price, I’m afraid.” Dad stood over us, face grim.

I climbed to my feet and helped Lukas do the same. He looked from me to the box. “I don’t understand.”