Chapter 9

9

ROMAN

" D oes Shadow Guy really have a twin?" I said, catching another candle during a fourth tremor. I'd only been joking, for fuck's sake.

"Information I have no interest in," Darcy replied, hurrying to my side.

His movement reminded me of when he used to scurry up my body to sit on my shoulder.

He'd better not try it now.

Part of the ceiling bowed and split, dirt spilling out.

"We go back up," Xavier said. "I have another place we can hide." He looked at me. "I'll get us to safety."

He deserved another kiss for being so amazing.

The room rocked, as if it were teetering on the edge of a cliff. I lost my balance, tumbling face-first into a sofa.

"Fuck!" I yelled, leaping back onto my feet.

Xavier had the door open, Darcy on his back. I followed them up the stairs, my guts a cluster of uneasy worms. The quaking came from something much bigger than some demonic twin. I kept my fingers crossed we didn't meet it. As much as I enjoyed a scrap, right now I didn't want to be running the risk of wishing for a victory.

Don't think about it…

Butterfly trailed me, Margarite taking up the rear. Xavier opened the hatch into the park, leading us to the dead tree. He paused, checking the route with his senses. After giving the all clear, up we went, taking a spiral staircase two steps at a time until we reached a nighttime desert.

Whoa.

A rolling sea of sand bathed in the light of a full moon spread out before us, glittering with that poxy dust falling from the inky black sky. Blue stars shone as brightly as the moon, the air bitter. I shivered, rubbing my arms to generate warmth.

"Level 87," Xavier said. "We'll keep going north." He charged down the high dune we'd arrived on, sliding through the grains as if he were on a ski slope.

"Onward we march," Butterfly said, following my lover.

Yeah. Great. And shouldn't that be onward we slide?

Man, this place was huge, nothing but sand as far as my eyes could see. No oasis, no hint of an exit. Still, at least it wasn't a daytime desert. Dealing with mega heat would definitely not be fun.

Navigating the sand, the quaking not rocking this place, I shrank my thoughts into a pinpoint focus. Kept my mind on the goal of getting to safety. Well, for like five minutes until I began mulling over Butterfly's conclusions, tossing the wishing option into the fire.

It missed, landing on the edges of the flames. A strong possibility, the easy way out.

Tempting…

Stop thinking!

I took my own advice, giving my mind another clear out and just concentrated on dashing up and down the sand dunes, every inch of me sweaty despite the chill. I fell into the simplicity of it, an empty machine getting from A to B.

Cool. I liked this state of mind.

Thunder rumbled above, a bolt of lighting forking across the night. There were no clouds, no indication of an impending storm. I sniffed the air for the metallic hint of rain. Got nothing, only my own stink.

What the hell?

The sky to the west flickered as if someone threw a stone at a TV screen, a rainbow of pixelated damage slowly snuffing out the stars. I skidded to a halt, staring up at it in confusion.

The thunder sounded once again, those pixels forming all the way down to the horizon line. The sky flickered like it was struggling to maintain itself.

"We have to keep going," Xavier said.

I carried on under the changing sky, a storm raging somewhere up there. The lightning illuminated the desert in bright violet bursts, the thunder growing louder with each subsequent crash.

Oh, God. What now? And where the hell was the exit?

I stayed close to Xavier, pouring energy into my legs. In my line of work, fitness was key, along with decent lung capacity.

For a brief moment, I missed those simpler days of being an assassin and a spy. No complications, my life streamlined to meet the needs of my queen. An empty life of death and servitude. But I also hated its emptiness, its rules, how life rolled past me in vibrant colors while I languished in the gray.

I shook off my whining, tearing up another sand dune. None of that mattered now. Our survival did, along with the end of this madness.

Pixels smothered the sky, turning it into one big, damaged TV screen. The storm thundered on. A droplet of rain landed on my cheek. At least, it felt like rain.

"We're halfway there," Xavier said. "Does anyone need to pause?"

A unanimous no answered him.

Some minutes later, as we cut across a flat section of the desert, the digital heavens opened. Rain fell in heavy sheets, quickly flooding the flat land up to my ankles.

Shit.

Water streamed down the dune before us, a vicious wind tearing across the desert.

"Keep going!" Xavier called over the wailing wind.

Two figures burst out of the sand. Humanoid, covered in sandy-yellow lizard skin. Naked, dicks swinging in the gale. Their hands and feet were webbed, the tips spiky. Five eyes lined each forehead, no sign of any nose, mouths shaped like a rose.

They skied together down the sand, leaping through the air before they met the water. I jumped into action, taking a flying kick at the one closest to me and hit him square in the chest. He crashed into the water, flailing like a fish. On my left, I saw flashes of Xavier taking on the other, Darcy lingering on the sidelines.

The one I'd kicked was back on his feet, hissing like a cat. I rushed him, kicking him in the face. He went down silently, but sat up seconds later, ready for more.

Rage flared in my chest. Damn him. Why didn't he just stay the fuck down?

"I'll peel the skin from your body, human." He spat blood at me. "I'll?—"

Pissed off to the highest degree, I cut off his attempts at monologuing and punched him in his fourth eye, then grabbed him by the head. He tried fighting me off, but I snapped his neck.

Bingo. Nice and dead.

I glanced over to see Xavier kill his assailant.

My dead demon sat back up again, covered in glitter this time. He frowned down at himself as his neck clicked back into place—albeit on the crooked side.

"Sparkles?" he said, then looked up at me. "How can I serve you, human master?"

Oh. My. God. What was happening?

"A new solider," Margarite said, coming to my side. "He can aid you while I count the hours. I'm so happy for you, Shadow."

The demon got to his feet. "Please tell me how I can serve you."

I looked to my bestie and my lover, aghast not a good enough word to articulate my confusion.

"What did you do?" Darcy questioned.

"I…" I didn't have an answer.

Butterfly brushed past me, going to inspect the glittering demon. "Death by Roman makes you a servant, it seems."

Huh? "But the shadowy demon didn't get up…"

"Maybe it works differently if you kill directly verses a consequence of wishing."

My headache threatened to return. This was too much to process.

The pixels in the sky became a blinding white. I covered my eyes, thunder following like a bomb. It shook the ground, the water thrashing around my ankles.

"Xavier!" I cried, the light far too bright for me to uncover my peepers.

A hand locked around my arm. "I'm here."

"What's going on?"

"We're not staying to find out. Come on." He tugged me gently.

"Can you see?"

"Yes. Keep your eyes covered. I'll lead you out of here. Darcy is with me."

"Here!" my bestie confirmed.

Thank God for Xavier's fine arse. "Okay."

The rain fell more heavily, the wind picking up made every step a chore. I tried opening my eyes, my retinas protesting with even the slightest crack.

What the fuck was up with the sky?

I got my answer a few minutes later from Butterfly as a mighty tremor sent me tumbling onto the sand.

"The sky is falling!"