Like Father,Like Daughter - Hugs.And.Kisses (best novel books to read TXT) 📗

Now, she was just trying to keep out of reach of that knife. Dead or not, if Lock attacked her with that thing, she was going to fall down and her chances of getting back up were slim.

She stumbled, and her chest hit the hard, unforgiving floor painfully. She groaned as felt claws grab her shoulder and flip her onto her back, and something sharp and cold was pressed against her throat. Aubrey's eyes shot open to meet gold ones.

Lock smirked as the girl's eyes shot opened, but then he froze. Her crimson eyes were stricken with fear, and the wings were gone, but otherwise it was her. The girl he had seen earlier in Vanessa's room.

He growled in pain and fell back as Aubrey's foot made a firm connection with his stomach. After putting some distance between them, she shoved herself up. Raising a hand to her throat, Aubrey felt something warm and wet come off on her fingers. Grimacing, she pulled her hand back. Blood was smeared across the pads of her middle and first finger, and she could feel it trickling down over her right collarbone.

"Great." She muttered. Taking a quick look at Lock, who was still doubled over in pain, Aubrey told herself that she was going to have to apologize for kicking him so hard later; she bolted for the door and tugged at it for a moment before realizing it was locked. Risking another glance at Lock, Aubrey saw that he was getting up, and he was NOT happy.

"Aubrey!" Her head, as well as Vanessa and Lock's, jerked up to the balcony to see Barrel standing there, Shock on his back and a thick book clutched in his hands.

"Took you long enough!" She yelled. Lock was slightly confused now; Barrel knew the girl? "What's wrong with Shock?"

Shock lifted her head, smirking. "I'm allergic to white magic." Barrel set her down, leaning her against the wall, before flipping the book open.

Aubrey's eyes lit up. "Please tell me that's what I think it is."

Barrel nodded, his eyes scanning the glowing words on the page. He looked up as Aubrey shrieked. Lock had thrown the knife, embedding it in the door next to Aubrey's head. "Hurry!" She pleaded, running to the opposite side of the room, barely dodging Lock's claws as she did.

Vanessa stared up at the balcony, trying to see the book's cover. Too late did she realize what it was, and her angry yell could do nothing; Barrel had already started the spell.

"I invoke thee; powers of water, fire, earth, and air to lift the veil of lies and let he accursed see truth once more." Barrel stared at the page for a moment, then turned to Shock. "Now I see why you like black magic."

Shock groaned. "Say it two more times!" Barrel repeated the words twice, then looked down at the floor below him. Lock had Aubrey pinned up against the wall, the blade in his hand poised to carve a hole in her chest. Tears poured down Aubrey's face as she attacked Lock's wrist uselessly. The skin on his wrist and the back of his hand had been nearly ripped apart by Aubrey's claws, but Lock hadn't even batted an eye.

"Shock, it didn't work!" Barrel cried.

The witch pulled herself up and stumbled over, using the railing and Barrel to support herself. For a moment of terror, she stared as the blade dove closer to Aubrey's ribcage, but at the last second Lock's wrist turned, and the dagger flew back, embedding itself instead in Vanessa's chest. A choked noise came out of her mouth before her body went slack and her head dropped to her chest.

Lock removed his hand from Aubrey's throat, catching her as her knees buckled. "Sorry about that Aubrey. I didn't want to risk Vanessa casting another memory spell on me."

Aubrey just stared at him for a moment before she threw her arms around Lock's neck and cried into his shoulder. Lock wrapped his arms around her in return, letting her tears soak his shoulder. "I should've listened to you." She whispered. "I'm sorry."

Lock pushed her away and stared at her. "You really think that I'm still mad at you about that? Geez, Aubs. Shock's the one who holds grudges, not me."

"Hey!" Came the protest from above them.

Lock smirked at her over his shoulder before turning back to Aubrey. "Besides, you were right. I was jealous."

"I knew it!"

"Shut up Barrel! You're ruining my moment!" Lock growled. Aubrey giggled slightly, wiping at her eyes. Lock looked back over at her and smiled, brushing away a piece of hair that had fallen in her face.

Shock's yell of surprise made him freeze. "Lock, Aubrey! Vanessa's still alive!" Both of them looked toward the throne to see Vanessa's body gone.

"Over here, lovebirds." Slowly, Lock and Aubrey turned to the opposite wall to see Vanessa standing there, her hand over a large button that had seemingly come out of nowhere, save the fact that one of the dark stones from the wall was laying at Vanessa's feet. "Well, now that I have your attention… bye-bye." She waved at them with her free hand, pushing down the button with the other.

A low rumble filled the room, and then the floor underneath three pairs of feet collapsed. Aubrey let out a scream before Lock grabbed her and pulled her into his chest. The scream was not because she was falling, oh no, it was because, as they began to fall, Aubrey had caught a glimpse of the gleaming edges of the serrated steel spikes that lined the pit far below them. Lock's futile attempt at trying to save her was going to fail miserably, because if they landed on one of those spikes, both would be impaled, and it would be over. For good this time.

A feeling of warmth that started in her leg seeped up her body and to her brain. Without even realizing what she was doing, her mouth was open and forming the words that her mind was supplying. "Nruter ym sgniw ot em!"

A noise that sounded suspiciously like something tearing filled Aubrey's ears, and pain shot through her back. She felt the muscles in her back strain, also painful, as she and Lock's descent slowed to a controllable speed.

That, of course, didn't mean that either knew how to control it.

Ungracefully, she and Lock slammed into the ground, landing in a tangled heap. Aubrey pushed herself up and rolled over to side, making sure not to touch and of the spikes surrounding them. "Well, that could've gone better." She muttered.

Lock looked over at her and grinned. "Not by much."

"What do you mean?" She asked, confused. Lock reached up and tugged something behind her. "Ow!"

Lock held up a long black feather. "Look familiar?"

Aubrey jumped up and looked behind her. "My wings!" Her newly re-grown wings were more demonic looking than her last pair, though they could still be considered almost an angel's. The wings were torn, their span had grown almost three feet, and, though still covered in feathers, looked much more appropriate for Halloween Town.

Lock grimaced as he saw blood on his fingers. "Yeah, but you might want to let them dry out a bit before you try to fly." He told her, standing up. She reached back and felt the wet feathers, a similar look coming onto her face.

"Speaking of bleeding..." She gasped. Lock looked down at his other hand, which was still bleeding from numerous lacerations.

"Crap."

Aubrey smiled apologetically. "Sorry about that."

He shook his head. "Don't worry. Laeh." He muttered. The skin sealed itself together, leaving unmarred skin.

"I'm sorry about kicking you too." She added after a moment, flexing her wings slightly, trying to re-accustom herself to them. "These feel funny."

"They look different." Lock told her.

"How different?" She asked curiously.

Lock walked around behind her. "Well… for one thing, you've got four of them."

"I have… what?"

"Four. As in two pairs. But this pair's still small, about the size of my hand" She felt a slight tug.

"Hey, are you two planning to sit down there all day?" Shock's voice echoed from above.

"Just a sec!" Lock yelled. He spun Aubrey over to him and pressed his lips up against hers. When he pulled back a minute later, Aubrey was smiling and had turned a light pink. "Okay, so now that that's out of my system, how do we get out of here?"

Aubrey smiled at him and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Hold on." Lock held on tighter than she expected. But what could he say? He knew that smile all too well. It was the same one he got whenever he was about to do something that was really going to piss Jack off.

They landed on the balcony next to Shock and Barrel moments later. "Never do that again." Lock told her, stumbling back. She smiled sweetly at him before turning worriedly to Shock.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

Shock nodded, her face still a very pale shade of green. Well, paler than normal anyway. "Oh yeah, I'm fine. Now I'm just a little dizzy." She frowned. "And I have almost no magic."

"Well, you aren't the only one." Aubrey laughed. "That little trick with my wings drained me. And I didn't have much magic to begin with."

"Then I suggest we find Jack and Sally and get out of here." Barrel said.

"Jack and Sally are here?" Lock muttered. But he conjured up a tracker spell nonetheless and everyone ran after it.


Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Rematch

Sally clung to Jack's neck as he ran through the twists and turns of Raphael's dungeons. Something was nagging her at the back of her mind, but she couldn't put her finger on what. That's when she realized it. Jack wasn't going up; he was going down, heading deeper into the dungeons. "Jack?"

"Hm?"

Sally paused, thinking about how she was going to word the question. She decided to go with the direct approach. "You didn't send the tracker spell after the kids, did you?" Jack didn't reply. "Jack?"

The skeleton slowed to a steady walk. "No, Sally. I didn't send the tracker spell after the kids. I sent it after Raphael."

Sally frowned slightly; she wasn't exactly happy with the fact that her guilty suspicions had been proven correct once again. But the next question slipped out before she could stop it. "Why does he hate you so much?"

Jack closed his eyes, his mouth twisting into a sad frown. "It wasn't always like this. We used to be friends; Raphael, Cay, Jacob, and me. But… something went wrong."

He was hiding something,