Page 87 of Stitches
“Stay back!” Ashmedai shouted. “We’ll handle this!”
He owed his people that. He only wished he could pass Levi to Grillo and Yentriss and keep him from having to be part of this too, but Levi was who Braxton was after.
“Hurry!” Ashmedai grabbed Levi, leaping through nearby shadowsto ones at the edge of the wood, putting them farther ahead of Braxton, but still ensuring he saw them and would follow.
Follow he did, so Ashmedai started running again, keeping Levi close.
Braxton only had eyes for them, uncaring of the townsfolk, and barreled after them like a force of nature.
“He’s too fast,” Ashmedai lamented, “but if I shadow jump too many times, he might realize what we’re planning.”
“Then we’ll have to give him extra targets,” Levi said, his tears long dried, with a determination settling on his face that belied all fear before it, “because I am not letting him touch you either.”
With a brief squeeze of his eyes shut and a spread of his arms outward, suddenly there were a dozen more of Levi and Ashmedai all branching away and falling behind them to dart off into the trees.
Ashmedai stared in awe—only to spot a swarm of jackalopes headed toward them. He grabbed Levi by the shoulders and held him back so the jackalopes could dart past, thankful they were clearly more interested in escaping Braxton than ramming into passersby with their antlers.
Behind them, Braxton was distracted enough by the copies that he was swatting at any of them he could reach and punching through trees. Upon impact, the copies would disappear, and Braxton would howl and swipe at another. It wouldn’t be long before he spotted the real thing.
Renewing their run, Ashmedai urged Levi on beside him, sparing only an occasional glance back to track Braxton’s progress. The copies were many, but Braxton was no fool. He realized his prize had remained on the road, and he and Ashmedai locked eyes.
A rustle in the trees above made Ashmedai look skyward before he could look forward again. Glider monkeys were also fleeing. With another glance back, Ashmedai even saw a family of gazellians running across the path, and they never ventured this close to town. But then, even on the hunt, no one ever made as much noise as Braxton was now.
Braxton swung outward with two of his formidable gangling limbs, and the gazellians flew like rag dolls into trees before scampering back up and limping in a frenzy to get away.
“There!” Levi called, just as Ashmedai and Braxton locked eyes once more, and Braxton hurtled himself forward that much faster.
Ashmedai looked forward to gauge the distance to the barrier, waited until just the right moment, and then grabbed Levi about the waist and spun them, setting Levi directly behind him as he came to a stop.
“Enough!” Ashmedai held both hands outward with a surge of shadows like he’d used to destroy the Onyx. He stared Braxton down, daring him to continue coming. “Do you hate me so much for what I did thatthisis how you’re punishing me?”
Braxton’s anger flared visibly in his expression, but he brought himself to a stop, his spider limbs planting into the dirt to hold him up as tall as possible. “Whatyoudid? You fool. You didn’t curse this land. Don’t you understand that yet? Don’t you remember where I was when it happened?Ialtered the spell Cullen tried to cast, not you.”
“What?”
The townspeople had followed despite Ashmedai’s warning. They came running down the road after Braxton, wielding magic and weapons, like an army come to Ashmedai and Levi’s aid, but at those words they stopped and stared, just as Ashmedai was.
“My research into the gemstones back then was far from complete,” Braxton went on, “but I was able to manipulate what Cullen tried to do, so that instead of keeping a monster out after he discovered you were a demon….”
Ashmedai would have flinched at his secret being revealed for all to hear, but he couldn’t focus on the stunned faces of his people enough to care. “The Amethyst turned everyoneintomonsters and kept them in,” he finished breathlessly.
“Exactly. I was trying to protect you, to keep you here instead ofletting Cullen banish you like some beast. Sacrificing him to complete the spell was a bonus.”
All this time, Ashmedai had been so certain it was his fault, certain Cullen being taken by the void was because he couldn’t control himself in his grief over being rejected. “But why? Why all this? Why murder and lie and try to take over Levi’s body?”
“Because he’s in love with you,” Levi said softly from behind him.
“What…?” Ashmedai sputtered again.
“Even now it is a surprise to you,” Braxton huffed, stomping with his stolen feet. “I have always been the one who loved you.Me. But you never saw it. You only saw Cullen, which was why I knew you would see him.” He sneered over Ashmedai’s shoulder at Levi. “I needed to manipulate enough parts to look like Cullen but still like me so you would forget whatever parts of me weren’t enough. Then I simply needed to make Levi fall in love with you.”
Now it was Levi who sputtered, “Make me? What do you mean?”
“Your draught wasn’t only to keep your memories at bay, silly boy. It made you susceptible to suggestion. I knew you’d catch Ash’s attention—I’d made you for that purpose—but I had to be sure he would catch yours. The first time you ever took that draught was when I told you about him. Afterward, you just needed to see him. To know him. I even knew he would be compelled to smooth your stitches. You were bound to love him after that, as I do.”
Love. All the pain and suffering these many years hadn’t been suffered by Ashmedai alone, but the cause was the same.
With them at a standstill, Ashmedai couldn’t help feeling sorry for his friend, and he owed him the truth.
