N-no... no. Kade hadn't really...
Did he?
My suspicion was answered when he tightened his hand around Maeve's throat and caused her to gasp and croak for his release. Odis had snapped back to reality and tried to throw a punch at Kade, his eyes full of guilt and regret as he did. Kade dodged it swiftly and, with his free hand, returned the punch and landed a clean hit on Odis's jaw. It must've been pretty heavy because he started to stumble backwards and shook his head with unfocused eyes. Kade spread his fingers and Odis became pinned against the rail by some invisible force. His eyes held defeat but I could tell his heart didn't. He was only focused on Maeve, proving that he had some kind of special connection with her; I'd always felt that. At this rate though, it seemed Kade was going to kill her.
I was the only hope.
I approached him from behind and said his name quietly, thinking violence might not be the best approach. I didn't see it coming until it was too late, though. Kade slapped me... and he slapped me hard.
I stumbled back and already felt my cheek burning, from the hit and from anger. It wasn't a blow that was meant for defense or whatever... it was meant for humiliation. I could almost... feel it. I touched my hand to my cheek and allowed my mouth to fall open in shock as I felt the slightest formation of a handprint. Kade glared at me over his shoulder and snarled.
"You need to learn how to shut your mouth and back down, Isabella," he growled in that demonic voice that hid the gentle, normal one. "I'm not your puppet!"
I took a deep breath and almost began my argument. It was altered when I noticed Maeve's eyes beginning to droop shut. "Kade, you're gonna kill her! Let Maeve go!" I yelled. When her eyes fully closed, he dropped her like she was nothing.
"You wanna take her place?" he asked. It was slow, but my head nodded. Better me than her.
Before I could process it, Kade's hand was around my throat and I was pinned to the balcony doors. He kept me on my feet but it really didn't help with the asphyxiation I was receiving. It was official... everything wanted to choke me to death.
"Kade... this... isn't you!" I croaked. His black eyes dug into my soul but I stayed focused and hurried with my attempt to stop him. "Do you... really want to kill your friends? Why... are you... submitting to this?!" I was already seeing spots and feeling my last bit of air go.
"Have you not been listening, Bella?! I've always been like this! I've just kept it hidden away all these years!" he answered.
"Exactly! You know this side isn't really you! You know... it's something you need... to get rid of! Fighting it shows... you're not a bad guy!" I wheezed. "Don't become what they think you are, Kade. Don't become a... a monster."
"It's too late for that. How can a descendant of Satan not be a monster?" he responded. Was it weird to say I could see hurt even in his black eyes?
"Don't forget you... have another side. Pursue your inner warlock. Don't choose your demon side," I said. After another pointless attempt to suck in air, I felt my tears start to flow. "Please... K-Kade. If not for yourself... then do it for me."
His grip lightened slightly but not enough to give me an opportunity to breathe. "Why would you care?! You'll be gone soon anyway!" he yelled. Even with his aggressive tone, I heard the bit of hesitance.
"Don't... give me that bullshit. You know I care about you, whether I'm here or not. I... would rather die than watch you suffer like this. Hell... if that was all it took, I'd eat a bullet instantly," I whispered, since that was all I could do at the moment. Confusion struck his face.
"Why are you so willing to die? Especially for something like me?" His voice was a whisper also and the disbelief was completely audible.
"You're not a something, Kade. You're a someone. And I told you already... I care about you, truly I do. And if you cared about me, you'd continue fighting this dark side of yours until we figured out how to stop it completely. Please don't submit. Please stop this madness!"
My hands went from pulling at the one around my throat to gently holding his face. My vision was so dark I was surprised I hadn't passed out yet. Luckily the fight in me wasn't gone yet.
For a split second, Kade's expression was gentle. Then it turned cold again and he slapped my hands away. He let go of my throat, and before I could get a clean breath in, he slammed a hard fist into my cheek and sent me to the stone floor gasping for air.
"What a pitiful attempt to save your and your friends' lives! Did you honestly think I'd give in to something like that?" he growled. There was a small chuckle that came from Salazar and Xur's corner of the balcony. It was obvious they were enjoying this.
"The army's still waiting for your signal, sir," I heard Xur say.
"Let them wait. This is priceless!" Salazar responded with a laugh.
"I'm tired of you guys feeling the need to tip-toe around me. I'm not some child," Kade snapped, bending over and grabbing my throat again. "You have no idea what I went through as a child. The kind of suffering and torture I had to endure! As a child... I was so convinced my father was Satan. He always put me through hell and he's the one who turned me into this monster! Why was I so loyal to the man? Why didn't I just let him die without wasting energy to put up a fight?" He was beginning to talk to himself... to ask himself questions that I couldn't possibly have the answers to. My heart ached for him... while my cheek began to swell from his punch. He was right, though. I couldn't possibly begin to imagine what he went through as a child, but it was obvious nothing good came out of it. He was lost and hurt and... sad. How could I fix what his father broke?
"If you dwell on the past... you won't be able to see the light of the future," I whispered. He had let go of my throat when questioning himself, but I was still unable to suck in air properly. "Your father was a jerk, don't let his creation dominate you. Who cares if you've always been part demon? You're letting his actions control the part of you that shouldn't see the light. Push it back down and be the great warlock that everyone loves."
"Did you not hear me? My father tortured me! Day in and day out! He pounded on me ever since I was able to walk! My mother was no prize either. She let it all happen. She didn't try to save me... her oldest son. How come Trent got to walk away without a scratch? Was it because he was the baby? Maybe it was because he was born a full warlock. Or maybe it was because I was the only abomination born into my family and I didn't deserve the love he received!" Kade sounded as if he wanted to cry... I was already past that.
It was obvious talking to him wouldn't do any good. I slowly climbed to my feet and sent as much of the tingling sensation into my hands as possible. My blackened vision gradually focused as I gazed heavily into Kade's black eyes. He seemed to lose focus and drift as I wearily approached him and placed my hands on his cheeks. Odis was free from whatever force was holding him captive and focused half on us and half on Maeve. Based on his calmer look, she was probably still breathing.
"It's okay... we're here for you," I whispered. "I'm here." I closed my eyes and felt Kade's cold cheeks starting to grow warm. The aggressive aura he carried was beginning to ease off but almost telepathically, I felt all his hurt and pain. I felt his suffering and his madness... like I was actually connecting with his mind. And although I hated how it felt and the chill it sent up my spine, I withstood the torture it brought to my own head since it seemed to calm Kade. It was almost like I was absorbing his emotions... taking the bad and leaving the good. The agony and insanity I started to feel after a few seconds made me tremble and fall to my knees. It was so much to handle... I just couldn't withstand the amount of pain...
Whatever I did and whatever I was feeling gave me a splitting headache and made my head spin. I fluttered my eyes to keep them open but they continued to close no matter how hard I tried. My tears stayed flowing as I gripped my head and cried from all the madness and depressing emotions. There was so much confusion and so much shattered love... how did Kade keep all this bundled up? I was so lost and unfocused, I hadn't noticed him sitting beside me and pulling me into a tight hug. I managed to open my eyes and was glad to find his blue ones. They squeezed shut as he buried his face into my neck.
"What have you done?" he whispered painfully as I cried into his shoulder.
"She absorbed half of your madness," Salazar answered from his corner. "The sadness is just an after effect. It'll wear off, don't worry." He sounded bored and uncaring of the people around him. I too couldn't care less about his presence at the moment.
"Bella... I'm so sorry," Kade whispered, also uncaring of the demon watching over us. His voice was back to normal but his tone said otherwise. It was like back at the Chamber when he wept for my forgiveness. "I lost control again. I didn't mean... I didn't want..." His voice trailed off in a lost for words.
He pulled his face in front of mine and examined the handprint on my left cheek and the swollen mark on my right. His eyes then looked down at my neck which I could only assume had his hand's outline around it. "What have I done?" he whispered to himself. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry."
The sadness and (emotional) pain was beginning to wear off like Salazar had said, but my head still spun with what I could only guess was the madness. "I... f-for...," I mumbled. My words were slurred and I couldn't gather them completely.
"What?" Kade asked desperately.
"I... I for...give you. I forgive you... Kade," I managed to say. I wanted to say more but that was all I could do at the moment. He seemed unconvinced and remained staring with that familiar distant look, as if having a personal conversation within his mind. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply.
"Ah, great. You know, this is fun and all but I'm getting kinda bored. You've already ruined my nephew with your sweet talk and teen love so can I just kill everybody now?" Salazar groaned. I focused only on his red eyes as Kade stood to his feet and turned snarling.
"Stop calling me your nephew. I want no relation with you or your people!" he yelled.
"My people? Now that's new. You think these things are my people? You haven't met my people, boy. They're lying in wait. It's too dangerous on earth at the moment for them to rise... all of them at once, I mean. The gargoyles are just cleaning up the mess that you people have created," the demon responded, earning a slightly baffled look from Xur. Apparently he didn't get the memo.
Kade growled as he raised a fist to Salazar's face. But Salazar raised his fingers and snapped crisply, another crooked smile forming on his face.
"Oops...," he said. "There goes the signal."