Noru 5_Ways Of The Wicked Read online

  “Telling me that Key and I will break up someday is cruel, Pry.”

  “I’m just trying to warn you.”

  “No, you’re trying to scare me, and you know what? I don’t have to be here for this,” Randy declares as he heads for the door.

  “Randy, wait!” I shout as I run after him.

  He doesn’t stop or even slow down. He makes for the steps, takes Key’s hand, and the new couple storms out of the house. Great! Just great! Now Randy’s pissed at me and soon I can add Bex to that list.

  Seriously, what else can go wrong?

  My cell rings, and according to the caller ID, it’s Bex on the other end. I want to send him to voicemail because the guilt of what I have done makes it hard to talk to him. Yet sending him to voicemail feels much like adding insult to injury. I pick up and hope he can’t tell that I’m holding something back.

  “Hey, what’s up?” I ask.

  His reply shocks me. I hang up quickly, run out of my room, and shout for everyone to get their things.

  “Where are we going?” Swoop asks me.

  “To the clinic—Diana just tried to kill herself.”

  Chapter Three:

  When You Love…

  We fly over to the clinic that we have come to know so well. It’s not surprising that Bex would be called; since angel suicides are rare, the Kon is informed at once. As soon as we land, we see him and a team of Healers wheeling Diana from one room to the next. Her eyes are closed and her skin is pale. Right away we think she is dead. The Healers quickly inform us that they finished treating her and are now taking her to the recovery room.

  “So she’s going to be okay?” I ask.

  “Physically, yes, but for her to have taken Troup, I’m afraid your friend is far from okay,” the Healer says.

  “What’s Troup?” I ask.

  “It’s a mixture that shuts down the body,” Key says.

  “Can we go in and see her?” Randy asks.

  “Just as soon as we get her settled,” the Healer replies.

  “Thank you so much for taking such good care of her,” Swoop says.

  “It’s not me; it’s the Kon. He ordered specialists from all over the world to look after her. Although we assured him we were capable of handling everything,” the Healer with salt-and-pepper hair replies.

  “Martin, I know you and your staff are capable, but I called a specialist because Diana is a personal friend. It’s no reflection on you,” Bex assures him.

  We turn to face the king of Paras. Seeing him ignites pangs of guilt in me right away. I can’t begin to imagine how hurt he will be if he finds out what happened between Hunter and me. I wish I could undo what I did.

  Bex has been good to me and he doesn’t deserve this. In fact, he’s been more than good to me. He made me feel something I never thought I would feel again: safe. And even though it was only one night, it was one that I will always cherish.

  I know it’s wrong to feel this way given everything that’s happened, but it would be nice to be in his arms again. I can’t help but flash back to that night in the cottage. I remember how his hands felt against my skin, soft yet strong. A wave of sensations spread through me. Yes, right now, being held by Bex would feel so good.

  Now is not the time to think about that stuff, Pryor. For one thing, Diana is lying on a table unconscious, and there is also the little matter of your having slept with Hunter. And even if all the above didn’t happen, it would never work with Bex because he wants the very thing that you are running from—commitment.

  “Kon, I assure you no offense was taken. I will go and check on the patient now,” Martin says as he enters Diana’s new room.

  “What happened?” I ask Bex.

  “A Healer found her sitting on a bench in the park a few blocks away from here. She was passed out, and when the Healer pulled her eyelid back, there were grey spots in her eyes. It’s a residue of Troup,” he replies.

  “I know losing Sparks was devastating, but how could she try to end her life?” Swoop asks.

  “Honestly, I don’t think she wants to die, I think she just needs a reason to keep living,” East counters.

  Martin comes back out to the waiting room and signals to us that we can enter. He warns us that we can’t stay too long, as Diana needs her rest. We all quietly enter the room and find Diana in a white robe, looking out the window. Small purple lines coat her lips. The lines move in small circular patterns. Randy asks Key what the lines are and why they are on Diana’s lips.

  “It’s called a Dimer. It stops the patient from drinking any mixture at all. She can talk, but she can’t ingest anything. It’s for her protection.”

  “Do they think she’ll try again?” Swoop asks.

  “I guess so,” East replies.

  “She won’t try again. We will make sure of that,” I whisper as we walk up to Diana’s bed.

  “Diana, your friends came to see you,” Martin says.

  I place my hand on her knee and call out her name, but she barely moves.

  “Diana, why didn’t you come to us?” I ask gently.

  “You can’t bring my baby back. No one can,” she says in a small voice.

  “I know, honey, but you don’t have to face this alone,” Key says.

  “She’s right. We’ll stay with you every minute of the day. We promise,” Randy says.

  “Twenty-four hours of Randy and Key making goofy eyes at each other? Isn’t that more of a punishment?” East jokes.

  “You’re just jealous that we’ve found happiness and all you’ve found is Internet porn,” Key teases.

  “Diana, you should have come to us. We want to help you,” Swoop says, taking her hand.

  “I just want it to end. I want it to stop,” Diana replies.

  “What do you want to stop?” I ask.

  “The emptiness. I thought it would get better with time, but…”

  “Time does nothing to stop it from spreading,” I reply, mostly to myself.

  “I didn’t think I could love anyone that much, and now that she’s gone…” Diana begins to cry softly. Key sits on the bed alongside her and places Diana’s head on her shoulder.

  “Diana, we miss Sparks too. She became a part of the team. You don’t have to mourn her alone,” Randy promises.

  “Pry, can I see you outside?” Bex asks.

  I signal to the team that I will return and head outside with Bex. As I close the door behind me, I thank him for taking care of her.

  “You don’t need to thank me, Pry. You know I’m glad to help.”

  “I didn’t know that Diana was so depressed. I really thought she was getting better…” I sigh as I lean against the wall.

  “Diana is going to be okay. It’s just that losing a child doesn’t stop hurting in a few months, or years even.”

  “I should have seen it. I should’ve known she wasn’t okay.”

  “It happens, Pry.”

  “No, Bex, it doesn’t just happen. Diana isn’t here because she got hurt in a battle. She’s here because she tried to harm herself. That means I failed her. I fail at a lot of things lately.”

  “While Diana is a major concern, there’s another matter we need to discuss.”

  “What is it?” I ask.

  Please don’t let it be about us. Please don’t let it be about us.

  “There’s an emerging evil that is making its way through the demon world, and I think it’s going to mean trouble for you and the team.”

  “What kind of evil?” I ask.

  “A demon with unequivocal powers and unparalleled strength.”

  “What does he want?”

  “The demon is female. She’s known as the Raven.”

  “Okay, so we should be on the lookout for her, but why is she more dangerous than the others who are out to get us?”

  “She’s not out to get the team, she’s out to get the last vial.”

  “Wait, what would she want with the last vial? She would need the first fou
r vials.”

  “She already has them.”

  “The Raven was able to get the four vials away from Malakaro?” I ask.

  “Yes.”

  “How the hell was she able to do that?”

  “She killed her way into Malakaro’s lair and was able to render him still for ten seconds. That’s all she needed to get the vials.”

  “Malakaro would have played with her mind before she even got close.”

  “That’s just it—she is immune to his mind control.”

  “How is that possible?”

  “I don’t know, but now there’s a new evil we know nothing about and she’s going after the final vial.”

  “We can put her under surveillance. When she goes after it, we can follow and take her down before she can do any harm,” I reply.

  “Great idea, but we can’t follow the Raven.”

  “Why not?”

  “We have no idea who she is,” he admits.

  “How could that be?”

  “Everyone who has come in contact with the Raven is dead.”

  “She eliminated everyone?”

  “Except Malakaro. While she may be a match for him, she couldn’t take him out as easily as she did the other demons.”

  “This is bad. At least we knew what Malakaro was after, but we know nothing about the Raven.”

  “My thoughts exactly. I have a few spies roaming the demon world, trying to find out what they can, but so far, that’s all the info I was able to get.”

  “What are her powers?” I ask.

  “You name it, she seems to have it.”

  “That’s crazy! How can that kind of evil just spring up? Where has she been all this time?”

  “I don’t know yet. I’m working on that,” Bex says.

  “Can you please keep me posted? I don’t like not knowing what we’re up against. The only good thing is that the five vials together won’t work without the Blue Rose. And the only ones who know that Randy is the Blue Rose are the members of this team.”

  “Yes, it’s the only lucky break we have,” Bex confirms.

  “Still, we can’t let this crazy woman get a hold of the last vial. Malakaro is looking for her as well. So now it looks like there are three teams in this race,” Bex says grimly.

  “And no one knows what the Raven is after?” I ask again.

  “No. But she has shown interest in the restoration of the bridge that leads to the light.”

  “Why would she want that?”

  “I don’t know. However, my sources tell me there are rumors of a reward to whoever can restore the light.”

  “Is she trying to get into the light and destroy it altogether?” I ask.

  “Maybe, it makes sense.”

  “Well then, we don’t need to worry; that damn bridge may never get built. It’s been well over a year,” I reply.

  “The creation of the bridge took years to happen, and putting it back together is proving to take just as long. I’m sorry.”

  “Me too.”

  “I wish I had better news for you.”

  “Bex, seriously, thank you for everything. Is there anything I can do for you?”

  “Yes, you can promise me that I won’t get another SOS from the team telling me they can’t find you,” he says.

  “I’m sorry they bothered you.”

  “Pryor, they called me because they’re worried, and had it not been for Hunter texting me to say that he found you, I would have had to call in the entire Para world to come find you.”

  “I just needed to clear my head,” I reply.

  “And partying does that for you?”

  I look back at him, shocked that he knows what I’ve been doing.

  “C’mon, Pry, you’re the First Noru. Wherever you go, someone is bound to know about it but there’s something else I want to talk to you about.”

  “You mean aside from a great new evil that rivals my brother? And my need to self-destruct?” I reply cynically.

  “Yes,” he says with a smile.

  “Okay, I’m listening.”

  Please don’t let it be a question about us. Please don’t let it be a question about us…

  “I know this is hardly the time for it, but I need to know, where are we?”

  Crap.

  “Bex, you and I are friends.”

  Friends who have oral sex…

  “I know that Silver is still fresh on your mind. Honestly, when I saw him this morning, I wanted to kill him for everything—”

  “Wait, Aaden was here?” I ask.

  “Yeah, I guess he was calling to check in with Diana. When she didn’t reply, he called over and over again. I picked up and told him what had happened and he came by. He talked to her for a while. He only left when the Healers assured him she was out of danger.”

  “Oh.”

  “He seemed stressed out. I mean, even before he heard about Diana. I asked him what was going on, but he wouldn’t say. Do you have any idea what he’s up to?”

  “Nope. He only calls the other team members to let us know he’s alive. And if Diana is having a bad day, he calls her a few times a day to check on her,” I inform him.

  “Whatever’s going on, it’s big, because he didn’t even have time to take shots at me.”

  “Did he say anything?” I ask.

  “The answer to your unspoken question is no,” he says.

  “Um…the question?”

  “You want to know if he asked about you, and the answer is no.”

  Aaden was here and didn’t even ask about me? I knew he wanted distance, but how could he not even inquire about me? How long would it take to ask if his ex-girlfriend is alive or not. Ex-girlfriend…

  Stop it, Pry, enough about Aaden. You are here for Diana. She needs you. Aaden couldn’t care less about you, what’s it going to take to get that into your head? He never loved you. You were a fool to think he did. You were dumped and now you are paying the price for your stupidity. You have a new evil to focus on, so just stop it! Stop feeling hurt that he didn’t ask about you. Stop feeling anything at all.

  “Pry,” Bex calls out.

  “Yeah?”

  “What about us—and don’t say we’re just friends. You know I’m in love with you. We don’t have to get married or anything, but I don’t want to pretend like I’m okay with us being apart. I’m not. I want to be with you. The question is, what do you want?”

  Before I can reply, the team enters the waiting room and informs us that the Healers will not allow them to stay any longer. Bex and I inform them about the Raven. The mood goes from bleak to outright dark. The team feels the same way I did. Not knowing who the Raven is makes things worse. We saw what Malakaro could do, but this new evil is a mystery, one we really don’t need.

  “I can start looking online when we get back and see if I find anything on her,” Randy replies.

  “I can ask around; someone somewhere must know who she is,” Swoop replies.

  “No offense, but I don’t care about what new evil has surfaced. We can’t focus on that now. Diana almost killed herself. What are we going to do about that?” Key asks.

  “Martin said we could come back and see Diana in the morning. She may be in better spirits by then,” East suggests.

  “I thought she was getting better. After she got her wings back, she seemed to come out of her depression. I should have seen something was wrong,” Key says.

  “Key, don’t blame yourself,” Randy says.

  “Diana went through hell to get me to come back after I found out I was raped. She was there for me and how do I repay her? I neglect her,” Key replies.

  “We all have to do better when it comes to checking in with each other. It’s not just you,” East says.

  “The last time I saw Diana, she was doing pretty well, considering. There must have been a setback. Has something major happened to the team?” Bex asks.

  “No, not really,” I reply.

  “How would you know?” R
andy says under his breath.

  “Excuse me?”

  “Pry, you haven’t exactly been around. Unless we’re in a battle, you’re nowhere to be found. How would you know what’s been going on with this team?” Randy accuses.

  “I’m doing the best I can, Randy. What do you want from me?”

  “Your attention, for one,” Key says.

  “Hey, can you guys get off my damn back already!” I snap.

  “You can’t run this team part time, Pryor!” Randy replies.

  “This isn’t about the team. You’re pissed off at me because I said you and Key would break up.”

  “You said what?” Key demands.

  “Pry thinks that you and I are doomed to fail because her and Silver flamed out. She’s miserable and she wants to spread it around.”

  “I was just trying to warn him.”

  “Warn me about what?” Randy shouts.

  “Love! Run away from it. Run fast and run very far because it will destroy you. There will be nothing left,” I blare.

  “Just because you and Silver ended doesn’t mean that Key and I will.”

  “Okay, Randy, you’re right. You and Key will go on to get married and have lots of kids. You’ll grow old together and nothing bad will ever come between the two of you; because the angel world is a world of sparkling candy-coated magic. Nothing ever goes wrong and everything is perfect. There, happy?”

  “Pryor, you can just go to hell,” Randy shouts back.

  “Whatever, Randy, please just shut up!”

  “Don’t tell him to shut up!” Key counters.

  “This has nothing to do with you, stay out of it,” I reply.

  “Do not yell at her.”

  “WHY DO YOU CARE, RANDY? SHE’S GOING TO BREAK YOUR HEART; DO YOU GET THAT? THERE IS NO GOOD WAY FOR THINGS TO END. WHEN YOU LOVE, YOU GET HURT!”

  “What in the name of Omnis is taking place out here?” the Healer asks as he exits Diana’s room and enters the waiting room.

  “We’re sorry,” East says.

  “Well, sorry or not, this is not acceptable. Diana needs to rest. The Kon informed me that you all were her teammates, her family. He assured me that having all of you come here to see her would be a good thing, but I have yet to see that.”