Darkness & Light: Book 1: Shatter Our Fates [COMPLETED]

16 - Hayley

I am brought to a new room, this one isn't a cell, but a regular bedroom. It's twice the size of the one I'd had back in Noxyk. I step into the lavish, fully furnished room, my bare feet sinking into the thick and plush carpet. The room has a big bed with a red and gold canopy over it, and when I flop onto the bed, my cane clatters to the floor. I'm glad I had it still. But I really wish that I had my tonic.

My mind goes back to the explosion. What caused that? Is Tiber okay? Are the others?

As I lay on the bed, I decide to get up and explore the room a bit more. I pull myself off the bed and limp to the bathroom. There's a big tub, and a faucet that runs into it. I head back into the bedroom and find the wardrobe and I dig through it, searching for something that looks like it'll fit me.

I find a dress and some underthings. Then, I head in to take a bath. The water is warm and feels amazing on my skin, which aches from the amount of pain I'm in. I sigh heavily, my chest throbbing a bit more than my legs.

After I'm done with the bath and I'm dressed in a silky, blue dress, which has slits in the back for my wings to fit through, I walk back to my room and see Lilith. She looks up at me and smiles a little, hiding her fangs a little as she does so.

"Well, you clean up nice," she says.  "Come, dinner is ready."

We walk together down some winding halls made of marble and stone, and when we walk into the big dining hall, I see the demon Prince at the head of the table. He's surrounded by tons of food. More food than the three of us could possibly eat in one sitting.

Lilith sits beside him, and I sit at the other end of the table. I set my cane beside me, and look at the various foods that are spread out before us.

All I can think about is Tiber. How scared he must be. Not knowing where I am, if I'm okay. I take a deep breath in, my breath shaking as I do. Lilith tilts her head, looking at me closely.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine," I lie.

The Prince sets down his utensils. He glares at me. "How about we make a deal to not lie to each other?"

"Why, like you'll keep it?" I grumble.

He narrows his eyes.  "I have not lied to you, Hayley."

I roll my eyes. "How chivalrous, Prince. But you did kidnap me, bring me here against my will."

A low snarl ripples through the room, but Lilith turns to me.  "Hayley, we are not your enemies here. We are here to help you, we didn't realize you had others with you when we found you, we —"

"I thought you said you wouldn't lie to me," I interject.

She sighs.  "Alright. We brought you here for a specific reason, and we need your help with something. And if we do not get your help, well.... bad things will happen."

"Bad things? Like what?"

"Men, women, and children being devoured whole, trapped in a state between life and death, as a part of the beings that swallowed them. They will suffer. They will not all die, but many of them will."

I look at him. "What are you talking about?"

"There is a being that we call a Mimik that is lurking in my kingdom. It cannot be killed by me, or Lilith, and we are the only ones who could. We are the only ones who can fight them. But we cannot kill them. You, however, can."

"How do you know I can?"

"Because of what you are, what we sense you are," Lilith replies.  "You are a Dark Angel. You are a type of demon that can kill many creatures that plague us and our people."

"So, you want to use me."

"You need our help, and we need yours."

I sigh.  "So, you mean to help me learn to control my magick? You want to have me kill these demons that are chasing your people. You do realize that my family will find me. You do realize that I have no way of fighting right now."

Lilith looks at Drecca, who looks at me like he's trying to read my mind. "Why?"

"I ... have chronic pain," I admit.  "And my brother is the one who has my medicine and tonic. That's worn off by now, and I have nothing that I can do to help it fade."

Drecca nods once.  "Well, lucky for you, my mother also suffered from chronic pain. We have a store of her medicine here."

"But ... won't she need it?"

He shakes his head. "A Mimik swallowed her six months ago. She won't be needing it. She's dead." He snaps his fingers, and a big, white box lands before me. I peer up at it, my gaze locking on the contents of the box.

Dozens of small vials of the tonic, and the pills. I look at him. He stares at me, watching me closely.  I turn back to the box, and open a vial. It smells sweet, like my tonic. I take a sip. And it tastes just like it. So, I take two of the small pills, and finish the vial of tonic.

Its sweet, yellow liquid slides down my throat and coats it like honey, as it's supposed to. I sigh and lift my gaze back to them.

"We also should have a staff or two for you to use to walk," says Lilith.  "Do you know how to fight with it? With a cane or staff?"

I nod.

She smiles. "Good. Let's eat, then. We can discuss this later."