Page 8 of Blood and War
“I saw that.”
“Shut up, Jace.” His laughter exploded, filling the cool night air and she couldn’t help but smile at the sound. “You coming with me?” She asked, motioning toward the familiar building close to the front gates of the community. The boarded windows were never a deterrent for her. She’d been the one to put them there.
“Of course.” He gestured for her to lead the way. With a smile, she disappeared through a wide doorless entrance, coming into a large, open room nearly empty aside from a few wooden crates spaced throughout. An old steel ladder attached to the far wall led to a hatch in the ceiling. She took a running jump, hands latching onto the rungs as she pulled up with ease and climbed, pushing the door open at the top. Jace followed quickly, emerging into the cool night air behind her.
There was nothing on the roof but a sealed container that she’d spent a painstaking amount of time bringing up more than a year ago. It wasn’t big, but it held a few items and managed to protect them from the rain. Taking the tattered blanket from the box, Demitria spread it across the ground, letting her body sprawl along it as she lay down, staring up at the glisteningexpanse above. Jace sidled in beside her and she welcomed his warmth as the two of them gazed out into a sky of endless stars.
“Do you ever miss it?” She wondered out loud. “When it was just you and I? Before the community. The responsibility.” She thought of the days when the only people they needed to keep safe was themselves. For so long it had just been the two of them after their parents had died. Moving from one hellish town to the next, trying their best to avoid the nightmarish creatures that now plagued their world. They’d had far too many close calls along the way where both had nearly lost their lives. She’d lost count how many. But they had been just kids when the world had gone to shit. They didn’t know how to survive or who they could trust. It was a miracle in itself they’d made it this far. But they did, and had the many scars to prove it.
Mesmerized and unable to tear herself away, she continued staring up at the glittering sky. It was a rare beauty that she hadn’t been able to appreciate for a while with the duties of a Guardian, and she reveled in it. The simplicity of laying out underneath them.
“Sometimes,” Jace hugged her body in closer, voice near silent. “But I like the safety of it here. Knowing we have a better chance…” He didn’t need to say the words, she’d known exactly what he was getting at. They had a better chance thantheyhad. Their parents. Demitria didn’t know if this was the life they wanted for them, but at least they were alive. It had to count for something.
“Are you worried? About the attacks?”
“Would you believe me if I said no?”
“No.” She didn’t want to tell him that she’d had nightmares about it since they first found out. That she’d woken up nearly every night in a pool of sweat, reliving their own nightmare. Waiting. Wondering if that night would be the one they were attacked, and she truly would lose everything.
“If Solis is going to fall, you and I will run. We’ll leave all of this behind, and it’ll just be the two of us again. Know that I won’t let anything happen to you. Wherever you go, I will follow. Always.”
“We can’t abandon everyone here.” They had a duty. To this place. These people. When he’d decided to found this community, they had lost the ability to run. She knew if he did, it would be something he regretted every day for the rest of his life.
“Sometimes the ones we care about come before duty and honor.”
Five
DEMITRIA
The bright light of the sun’s first rays slowly trickled through the makeshift windows of Demitria’s home, caressing her face with its warmth as it stirred her awake. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d gotten a full night’s sleep and her body protested the early rise. She was aware of every ache in her heavy limbs, but it came with the territory. As a Guardian, the days were long. She didn’t patrol beyond the wall often, but there was always work around the community. Someone always needed help in some way, or something always needed fixing.
Being stationed inside the gates was boring but necessary. You were the last line of defense should anything go wrong. But by then it would be too late anyway.
Demitria couldn’t help the loud groan as she finally left the warmth of the bed. Sometimes it was the small trivial things that were the hardest. With one last longing look toward the blanket, she dressed in a hurry, pulling the form fitting dark pants up her legs, followed by a similar fitting black shirt. They didn’t have uniforms as Guardians, but anything dark was usually worn, especially on patrol at night. Anything to help them blend in. Unseen. It was easier to gain the upper hand if they didn’t know you were there. Despite the creatures’ impeccable sense of smell,the dark clothing seemed to work in their favor most nights. But the demons were always still waiting. Because they were nothing but darkness and shadows with taloned fingers and razor-sharp teeth, some walked on two legs while others traveled on four. She hated those ones the most. Vicious, rabid things that swarmed like predators, tearing their way through anything in their way as blood and gore dripped from their snarling maws.
The sword weighed heavy on her hip. Always be ready. Always be prepared. Demitria was quick to pull the leather boots on her feet, tying them in one swift motion. Fastening the cloak around her body she made her way toward the gate where she knew Jace would be waiting.
Outside, the air was still. Quiet. She had risen early, but someone would usually be milling about. The stillness of the community around her was an odd sensation, but she shrugged it off. The sun was just beginning to emerge over the mountains, slowly spreading its light through the rest of the community.
Demitria wasn’t sure what shocked her more, the crowd at the gate or the fact that its doors hung wide open, beckoning the world in from miles away. Picking up the pace, her legs moved into a run.Something had happened. Jace was standing there, raking his hand through his hair. Brown leather jacket discarded to the side. He’d donned a similar outfit to her own, dark fitted shirt hugging his toned figure.
Had she slept in? Should she be angry that he hadn’t woken her?
“What’s going on?” She asked, coming to a stop beside him.
“Sam set off a flare.” Jace’s green eyes met her own, and her body turned to ice. The blood in her veins ran cold.
“Why didn’t you wake me?” She shouldn’t be angry, but she was. The fact that he’d had the time to leave his house and come here without getting her on the way was infuriating. Theyalwaysdid morning patrol together. He knew that. “Why was Sam even out there? I thought Braun was on patrol last night?”
“Braun said he couldn’t keep going, and Sam offered to go out. You’d already fallen asleep. He just set the flare off moments ago. I was passing the gate when I saw it.” Demitria could tell he was worried. Jace tried not to show it as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other, but she knew him too well. The look in his eyes had given him away. Wide and seemingly looking through everyone around them. The way he spoke.
“Are you going out there?” Positioning herself to stop him, she readied her body. He wasn’t the one that should be investigating. It should be her. She was expendable, and as their leader, every single person in their community needed him more than they needed her.
“Will beat me to it.” Jace sighed, and she understood his frustration. Knowing full well that the twin had broken a rule to find his brother. The warning wasn’t to call for backup. It was to alert the community of an oncoming threat that they needed to prepare for within the walls. It meant something was coming. Demon, angel or otherwise.
“That idiot.” Muttering a string of curses under her breath, she peeked out the gate into nothingness. She couldn’t see the twins. Couldn’t see anything, actually. Just dirt for what seemed like miles and miles. “Where’d they go?”
“I don’t know.” He answered through clenched teeth. Jace glanced out the open gate then back to the community, repeating the movement several times. She knew Jace warred with himself over the decision to close the gate or not. To keep their own, and whatever else beyond the safety of the wall, out. Did they risk something coming in to wait for them? Losing two Guardians would be a blow that they couldn’t really afford, but if they lost the entirety of Solis?
