Charade (Heven and Hell #2)(74)
Author: Cambria Hebert

“Kimber!” I gasped. I didn’t have time to be shocked. “Help us!”

Her eyes were vacant and she stared into me without any real emotion. “Kimber!” I screamed, shaking her.

Then I noticed her aura.

It was black.

The same exact color I saw briefly surround Ms. Merriweather at the hotel. It hadn’t been my eyes playing tricks on me. The color was real and it meant something. I didn’t have time to figure it out, but I knew it wasn’t good.

She blinked and looked down. I followed her gaze. In her palm lay an amulet identical to the one Gemma had. I gasped and grabbed for it. She snatched her hand back.

“You have no idea what you’re doing!” I yelled. “Get that thing out of here!”

“I am not here to help you,” she spat.

I heard a scream and turned back. Sam had gotten to his feet and was fighting as best he could to free Cole of the demons. Sam was a great fighter, even in this weakened state, but he and Cole were outnumbered badly.

They needed help.

“Kimber, please,” I begged.

“Give me the scroll,” she said, reaching for it.

I stepped back automatically, holding up the dagger in warning. “How could you betray us like this?”

She laughed.

A flash of light ran by and Kimber screamed. I turned to see Gemma picking her way through the mountain of demons.

Oh, thank God.

Turning my back to Kimber, I ran forward and did what I could to fight off the demons, trying to help my friends. I wasn’t very good with a dagger, so I wasn’t much help. I did manage a few good swipes and was proud to take out a couple of demons.

Gemma managed to get to Cole and lifted him in her arms. I didn’t like the way his body seemed to just collapse against her. Thank goodness she had the superhuman strength of an angel.

“Cole?” Kimber said with more emotion than I heard all day. I turned, taking a hard kick to the side and fell, the scroll falling out of my hands and rolling away.

“No,” I moaned, reaching. Black bugs covered my hands and arms.

Sam picked me up from the ground and I fought him. “Not me, the scroll.”

Suddenly, the demons around us fell to the ground and lay there, unmoving. The black bugs fell from my arms and legs. Sam pulled me up and we all turned to Kimber. She was staring at Cole, who was now leaning heavily against Gemma. His breathing was labored and he had bite marks along his arms.

“Get the hell out of my way,” Gemma growled.

“Cole, are you hurt?” Kimber said, seeming not to hear Gemma.

He made a sound in the back of his throat. Gemma kicked out her booted foot at Kimber, but the hit was deflected by some sort of invisible shield that surrounded her. Harsh, high-pitched laughter filled the tiny room and someone rose out of the hole in the ground.

It was Ms. Merriweather. This time she didn’t bother to disguise her aura—that had to be what she was doing before. Black completely surrounded her, no hints of any other color. We watched as she walked to Kimber’s side, the demons and bugs seemed to part, giving her a cleared path in which to walk. Once there, her façade of the teacher gave way to someone else entirely. Kimber was the only one who didn’t seem surprised. The woman had long, flowing hair of onyx that reached the backs of her legs. She was wearing a dress, more like a robe of the darkest black. A blood-red belt cinched her waist. Her face was unlined, yet I somehow knew she was thousands of years old. Power sparked from her finger tips and sizzled around the room. Her evilness was palpable in the thick air. I noticed how she avoided standing directly in the bright white light that still shone through the room from the wall.

“Hecate,” Gemma hissed.

This was Hecate, Queen of Witches, who was aligned with Satan?

Now I knew exactly what the black meant. It was the color of a witch.

“Kill them,” Hecate ordered Kimber.

Still gripping that damn amulet in one hand, Kimber lifted both her arms over her head and began chanting in some weird tongue. The black in her aura pulsed around her.

Gemma turned to look at me.

“Go!” I yelled.

Gemma ran forward, with Cole firmly in her arms, but Kimber stepped in her path. Gemma tried to fight, but once again was blocked by the invisible shield that seemed to surround Kimber.

“Kimmie,” Cole groaned.

Kimber paused and looked at Cole.

“Please,” he said. “Don’t do this.”

Kimber stepped aside and Gemma ran out, taking my brother to safety. I breathed a deep sigh of relief. Cole had gotten through to Kimber. Maybe together we could take down Hecate. Beside me, Sam stiffened and I felt him try to shift again. He made a sound deep in his throat in frustration, but squared his shoulders. I looked up.

I had been wrong.

Kimber had spared Cole, but she was coming directly at us. I lifted the dagger, preparing to stab my used-to-be best friend if I had to.

Just as she was about to attack, Hecate stopped her. “Come!” she yelled. We all turned to see Hecate standing in triumph near the hole. The bronze scroll was gripped in her hands.

“No!” I screamed and ran forward. Hecate flung her hand and I was tossed against the stone wall. The dagger flew from my grasp and hit the ground with a loud clatter. I slid to the ground in pain. Sam ran to my side.

Hecate laughed and jumped into the hole. Kimber went to the hole and looked down. She turned back and looked at me.

“Why would you do this?” I whispered, my voice cracking with hurt.

“You betrayed me,” Kimber spat.

“I never betrayed you, not like this.” I couldn’t keep the tear from rolling down my cheek.

I thought I saw a flash of the Kimber I knew somewhere in her eyes, but then it was gone. Kimber turned her back on us and jumped, disappearing from sight.

Pain wracked my body, but failure weighed me down. How could I leave this crypt, knowing that I allowed the scroll to fall into the wrong hands?

So close. We had been so close.

Up, sweetheart, Sam said, lifting me from the ground.

We failed Sam.

I’m sorry.

I felt the weight of his apology, the regret. He felt responsible for the way things turned out. I turned to him. “This was not your fault.”

“It wasn’t yours either.”

“No,” I agreed. It still didn’t lessen the fact that we failed.

I lifted my hand, letting it pass into the white light. It was still warm. It was still brilliant and filled the alcove. Didn’t it know we failed? I asked myself.

Would it still wrap my fingers in warmth if it knew it wasn’t getting what belonged here?