Page 85 of Stitches
“No!” Levi cried again. He’d been so close to having Ashmedai notice him. He was certain of it. “Ash! You can’t leave me, please! I’m here! I’m right here!”
Braxton flashed Levi a cold look before turning with a smile to follow Ashmedai’s retreat.
“Ash!” Levi bellowed.
Ashmedai stopped. “The first mound?” He turned around slowly. “That one was already covered. That’s why we couldn’t find it again after Grillo’s accident.”
“Right. I know,” Braxton said. “I just wanted to be certain to ease my mind.”
“He’s lying!” Levi cried, watching Braxton flinch once more, noticeably enough to tighten his shoulders. “You know he’s lying! Ash!”
“Something isn’t right.” Ashmedai headed back into the room. “I don’t know what, but I know something isn’t right.You’renot right.”
“What are you talking about?” Braxton straightened, pivoting to position himself squarely between Ashmedai and the Onyx.
“You’ve seemed strange ever since Brax died. I didn’t notice right away, but I know you’ve been acting different.”
“How should I act? Everything changed last night. I’m simply adjusting like everyone else.”
“What were you doing in the wood?”
“I told you—”
“You’re lying. You’ve never lied to me. What were you doing there?”
Braxton’s tension increased. He didn’t have an answer.
Ashmedai moved past him toward the Onyx.
“No! Don’t touch it.” Braxton grabbed his arm. “You’ll disrupt its power and seal us in again.”
Ashmedai looked at him, and then at the hand tight on his arm.
Braxton let him go with a start.
“Why would you think that?” Ashmedai asked. “You weren’t aware of what Brax was doing.”
“I… was looking over his notes—”
“You weren’t here. You went into the wood. You haven’t been backhere to read over any notes.”
“It doesn’t matter. Don’t you understand? Everything is fine. Everything is perfect. Just leave it be.”
Ashmedai backed toward the Onyx and then turned to face it again. “What if I destroyed this thing completely?”
“No!” Braxton lurched forward. “You’ll condemn everyone!”
“Will I?” Ashmedai glanced back. “Or just you….Brax?”
Ashmedai filled his hand with sudden shadows, faster and more concentrated than any he’d used to smooth Levi’s stitches. Before Braxton could stop him, or Levi could do more than stare in wonder and hope—Ashmedai slammed his hands against the Onyx gemstone’s sides and the shadows burst.
“No!”
Ashmedai
Another blinding flash and explosion threw Ashmedai across the room. He didn’t know if some of what Braxton was saying might be true, but he didn’t care. What he did know was that the real Levi was somewhere else, and the Onyx had to go.
Unlike last night, Ashmedai didn’t hurry to his feet. He was too afraid of what he might find, or worse, that he might have been wrong. When he finally did get up and blinked the spots from his eyes, his fears were realized, because the Onyx was in pieces—and Levi’s body lay limp on the floor.
