Wish - H.R. Davison (best books to read TXT) 📗

DJ

 

I stand in the hall with my back to the closed door taking deep breathes, trying to calm my beating heart. Anger and shame broil my stomach. How could I do that to Kat? I could I cheat on her? I know Lilli will tell her. She wants nothing more than to make my life Hell. Kat will never want to be with me after that. There is no way I can explain to her what Lilli is. Try to reason with her that Nephilim are Sirens, evil progeny of fallen angels, no better than demons. They prey on my kind, magical creatures. They lure us in with their beauty and trap to an everlasting Hell of being their servants. I was lucky to get away from Lilli before she sunk her claws in too deep and now she has ruined me.

 

What did she mean, when I find out about Kat? There is nothing that Kat could do that is worse than what I just did. I know she is hiding something from me, but she promised me she would tell me tomorrow. I know she is pure hearted. Anything that she is hiding will pale in comparison to my transgression.

 

I take off down the hallway to find Armaros. I need answers. He will explain to me what is going on and why he drugged me. Why he let Lilli trick me and use me for her own sick games.

 

Voices coming down the hall stop me in my tracks. I pull my shirt down over my bare chest. I press my back against the wall and silently follow the sound. The voices lead me to a basement. I stand outside an alcove.

 

The room is dim and smells rancid, reminding me of the pit in Munkarit. A woman stands at the center of a room. Her hands hang her side, her head bowed, and lank hair hanging in oily strings on either side of face preventing me from seeing her features. Her clothes are torn and shredded in places, dirty and grimy from dirt and blood.

 

I creep into the room unseen by anyone in the confusion, uncertain and unsure of what to do. I watch in growing horror at the scene unfold in front of me. Who are all of these people? Why is Kat here? Is this what she was going to tell me tomorrow? That she knew about my deal with Armaros. Is she here to stop me?

 

Anger boils in my chest when I see Armaros strike Kat across the face. I shoot forward from my place against the wall. I will not let him kill her.

 

“Put her down!” I shout at Armaros.

 

He flaps his ebony wings, looking at me over his shoulder laughing. “And if I don’t little Djinn?”

 

Instead of answering his question I spring forward to attack. Instead of dropping Kat he curls her limp body to his chest with one hand and bats me away easily with the other. I sail through the air, past the open entryway to the far wall outside of the room. The air whooshes out of my lungs as my back connects with the stone. I slide to the ground momentarily dazed. I hear Armaros laugh at me cheekily from inside the room.

 

I suck oxygen in through my gaping mouth, with a wheeze I call into the room as I stand. “We had a deal Armaros!”

 

“Ahhhh little Djinn, didn’t you parents warn you not to make deals with the devil?” He calls back.

 

I enter the room on shaky legs. Armaros has Kat’s limp body slung over his shoulder. “Chaos!” He shouts spinning around the room in a pirouette. Kat’s legs fly out as he spins. His dress shoes click audibly on the stone floor when he comes to a stop facing me. “I love it!”

 

He tosses Kat to the floor. I can hear her head crack against the stone. Fearing the worse I step forward, wanting to rush to her side but I am unable to move. “Ahhahh DJ. No. I think I like you better… there!” My body is tossed on the wall. My limbs are frozen in place.

 

I concentrate on Kat, trying to see if she is breathing. I think I detect a faint rise and fall of her chest.

 

“Let’s all get introduced shall we?” Armaros says in a jovial tone. “This is DJ.” He says pointing to me, “Kat’s boyfriend. Ooh la la.” He says in a mocking tone. “Well maybe he is still her boyfriend. Tell me DJ, did you have a good time with my little girl?” He asks. Anger boils my blood. I bite down on my lip tasting blood. So Armaros is the one behind Lilli tricking me. Why would I have thought she acted alone? Of course she evils because Armaros is evil. I should have never trusted him. I should have listened to my dad when he tried to warn me. I am so stupid and now Kat is going to suffer. I am sure Armaros brought her here to hurt me. That is the only explanation.

 

“This is Eli.” He says pointing to the man unconscious on the floor. “He was once a great General but humanity has tainted his existence and now… well look at him. He is weak. Useless.” Armaros finishes with a flick of his hand.

 

“And here we have Cody.” Armaros references the young man on the wall across from Andy. “And oh, of course the other twin, Andy.” he points at him. I stare daggers at him without answering. Andy has a twin brother? Yes I can see the resemblance. Why would they be here? Why would Andy be with Kat? I feel jealousy surge through me and I glare at Andy but he won’t look at me. He is starting at Kat as she lays on the floor unconscious.

 

“Ahh yes, you have met.” He says looking back and forth between us. “But…” Armaros chuckles, he placed a finger to his chin in contemplation. “Did you know… that Andy and Kat are… ahhh never mind. It’s not important.”

 

I narrow my eyes at Armaros. What about Kat and Andy? I look at Andy. His eyes are closed and his lips are pressed into a fine line. Jealousy, shame, rage, and resentment cloud my reason and I struggle against the wall, shouting at Armaros. “Release me! We had a deal! If you hurt one hair on her head I swear I will kill you.”

 

“Oh yes…” Armaros continues in a nonchalant tone. “I can see you are unhappy, you are confused. However, if you ever want to see your little angel alive again DJ, you will fight for me. You will fight against Andy, and who knows… if you win, maybe you will get the prize. That is… if you will still want the prize.”

 

What does he mean if I still want the prize? Why wouldn’t I want Kat? That is if she still wants me after learning what I did with Lilli.

 

“The first step has been taken to our liberation. The Fallen have their wings back.” Armaros says with glee, flapping his wings to emphasize his point. “Thanks to Bezaliel. I needed her light. That was the first step by the way. Alas, there is much and more that needs to be done so I must take my leave. I will be taking this with me.”

 

He picks Kat up off the floor and slings her limp body over his shoulder. “I am sure all of you have a lot to discuss, until next time…” He waves his hand in goodbye. “I will be seeing you soon DJ.” And with that final word he vanishes from the room. He is gone and Kat is gone with him. I slide down the wall, able to move and walk again.

 

Cody and Andy are both rushing toward the man on the floor. I lean against the wall. Silent tears slide down my face. I have more questions than answers right now, and the only people that may be able to help me are here right now.

 

“Andy.” I start, my voice cracking with emotion, “What is going on?”

 

“DJ.” Andy says, holding his hands up in a defensive posture. “I...”

 

“Can we discuss this crap later?” Cody calls out, “I think our dad is dying. Let’s go!”

 

“You’re right, let me help.” I say, walking over to the man on the floor I pick him up in my arms. “Let’s go. Lead the way.”

 

We sit in uncomfortable silence on the drive back. I sit in the passenger seat as Andy drives. Cody is in the back with his dad, talking to him mom on the phone in a panicked tone. I keep looking at Andy for answers, waiting for him to explain everything to me. But he sits there silent, staring at the road ahead.

 

Once we arrive a flurry of people I don’t know rush out to the car. They carry the man inside. I slowly follow the crowd into the house. The majority of the people are in a bedroom down the hall. I can hear raised voices but I don’t bother to go down there. I don’t know these people. Honestly I don’t care what happens to the man, or anything of them. All I care about it Kat. Where she is right now, what is happening to her? I need to talk to my parents, but first I need to talk to Andy.

 

I wait for what seems like hours on the couch in the Dominic living room. People walk past me, never bothering to stop. Finally Cody plops down next to me with an exhausted sigh. “He is going to be okay. I don’t know what that guy back there did to him, but according to Noah he will be fine.”

 

“I’m glad to hear it.” I tell him, “Listen, where is Andy? We need to talk. Now.”

 

“Uhhh Andy isn’t here. He left.” Cody says rubbing his eyes with weariness.

 

“He left?” I shout. “Where did he go?”

 

“I don’t know honestly.” Cody replies, “He said he needed to think and he wasn’t ready to face you. Andy is my twin brother and we share a lot, but….”

 

“What do you know?” I ask him. I am ready for some answers, and if I’m not going to get them from Andy, then Cody will do.

 

“Look man.” Cody sighs running his hand over his short cropped hair. “I will tell you what I know, alright?” I nod for him to continue.

 

I wish Cody would get to the point. What I want to know is what is going on with Kat and Andy. “Look Cody, just tell me what is going on with Kat and Andy.”

 

“N-nothing that I am aware of.” He says. “They are friends, if there is more to it than I don’t know about it.”

 

“So…” Cody starts again, “Kat uhh… well she just found out about um… and we learned her mom, uhh… that was her mom back there that died by the way…” She watched her mom die? I didn’t think it was possible but my heart in breaking for her even more than before.

 

That partly explains why Kat was there. But why was her mom there to begin with? She must have been the prisoner that Armaros wanted me to guard. Why was she being held captive anyway? How did she help the Fallen get their wings back. Nothing is making any sense to me. “Cody just tell me the facts.” I tell him.

 

“Okay so… you already know who, er what, Armaros is.” Cody says. “So my dad and Kat’s mom, well they are like him. Fallen angels. They all fell together, eons ago. Kat and us, me and my brother and sister, we are Nephilim.”

 

My jaw drops. I already know about Nephilim, what they are. What I didn’t know was that Kat