6.2 Truth and Consequences

Kneeling on the banks of a sparkling, impossibly blue stream, Dark Dorian rinsed the blood from his hands. Setting suns dipped below the forest-line behind us, sending streaks of red and purple through a star-strewn evening sky. Fairy lights fluttered all around; across the stream, a centaur dipped its head for a drink, tail swishing. We had jumped through the blood window in the warehouse straight into a painting I didn't recognize. I racked my brain for an explanation as to why Dark Dorian would choose such a romantic place to recover but couldn't come up with a cruel enough reason.

"Why did you bring me here?" I demanded.

"To decompress. I thought you'd appreciate the setting." Dark Dorian ran his wet hands through his hair, pushing blonde waves from his forehead as he rose. His face was no longer demonic; though he had rinsed clean, he and I would never be free of the blood on his hands. "It's a painting I acquired from a new artist. Not my taste--utterly useless as is--but I had you in mind."

"You just killed two people and now you're trying to be nice." I shook my head in disgust. "Go to hell."

"If you come with." He laughed. "Do you know why I need the paintings I asked for? The ones that frighten small children and make the boldest men cringe?"

I licked my lips. "Why?"

"Less messy than guns and they don't leave evidence. If I'm to protect myself, I need an arsenal. Starting with yours. Your mind has taken you to some very dark places. I would love to visit."

"How do you know about my paintings?"

"Miriam kept a rather extensive catalog. The old bird photographed every piece you showed her. Tragic, that she would thumb her nose at your talent."

"She didn't. She said I wasn't ready to sell and she was right--I'm not."

"But you are. You're visionary. Your talent exceeds expectation." He came closer, feet treading a field of blue grass; it took all my willpower not to step back. "Like any star artist you'll be greatly compensated. Imagine the money, Amelia, the freedom. Together we can go anywhere, do anything. Once I've dealt with my lesser half, of course."

"Never. I'll never go with you." There was no use lying to him. "All my paintings--I got rid of them."

"You what?" He stepped forward in disbelief.

"I destroyed them. Every. Last. One."

Dorian blinked. "Then you'll make more."

I shook my head, backing away. "I'd rather die."

"Do not tempt me, Amelia. That can surely be arranged." Eyes blazing, his handsome face became hideous as he ushered his demon side.

The skies rolled; violent winds whipped. Forgetting that he needed me alive, forgetting what it felt like to stand and be brave, I turned and ran for the forest.

"You can't run from me, Amelia! There's only one way this ends! Mark my words! Amelia-a-a-a!"

I ran on, Dark Dorian's threats ringing in my ears as I pushed past tree branches and stumbled over roots. His anger and capacity for destruction knew no bounds. Inside the painting, Dark Dorian had complete control.

Above the burning canopies the blood-red skies broiled, casting biblical fireballs from the heavens as he turned the painting to a war-zone. Sprays of dirt leaped on impact, pelting me with ricochets of fragmentation. Heat blanketed my skin as trees erupted in flames around me. I coughed from the ash floating on the air; smoke burned my eyes and lungs.

Silencing my deep, shuddering breaths, I pressed my back against a tree trunk whose purple leaves were singed. Eyes closed, I held my breath and waited. Slow footsteps approached from behind, Dorian's Louboutin sneakers crunching deliberately through the foliage.

"I've seen your art, Amelia, I've breathed them. Like doors to other worlds, I've walked through your paintings, and the darkness was glorious... We're kindred spirits, you and I."

A tree branch lay burning at my feet. I stooped, retrieving it as quietly as I could.

"Stupid girl. Would you let your fears hold you back forever?"

"Not today." I stepped from around the tree, swinging the branch like a flaming club.

Dark Dorian fell on his back. He touched his ugly, bleeding face and laughed. "Full of surprises, are we?"

"Just you wait." I lifted the branch and hit him again.

I didn't have long before he came to.

Dropping to my knees on the forest floor, I brushed the foliage aside, using a stick to draw another window in the dirt. I called for Dorian, banging on the window like it was real. I fell through seconds later, right into his arms. I clung to him for dear life, my face buried in his shoulder as I sobbed in relief.

"You stayed. You didn't leave."

"Of course," he said, my face in his hands. "I would never leave you behind. Where is he?"

I glanced behind me, to the painting tacked on the wall of Miriam's old office. Midnight Dreams was the title.

"I brought him to the warehouse--to save you from the hunters, and instead he killed them. It's all my fault."

"No, it isn't. This ends tonight."

"Dorian! He'll kill you! You'll kill each other!"

"Then so be it. I won't let him hurt another person. Not on my watch."

Behind him, like a nightmare escaping into reality, black smoke swirled from the painting as Dark Dorian stepped through...

The fight was brutal. They trashed the office, turning everything in their path upside down in their fury.

"You're being idiots!" I yelled. "Stop!"

But the violence raged on.

Demon face intact, Dark Dorian grabbed his double by the throat and slammed him on the desk, breaking the glass to pieces. Then he pulled him from the wreckage by his lapels and tossed him, straight through the wooden door into the hallway beyond.

"Are you done?" I demanded.

Dark Dorian blew hair from his bleeding forehead. "Not by a long shot."

A painting came flying into the office like a disk, striking Dark Dorian in the face, knocking him flat. He sat up, clutching his bleeding mouth as his double appeared in the doorway, leaning heavily against the frame.

Growling like the wild animals they had become, they lunged at the same time, coming together in the center of the office in an explosion of fists and violence.

"You don't belong here!" Dorian shouted.

"I'm a tax-paying citizen!" his demon yelled back.

The scuffle continued.

Thinking fast, I grabbed the fire extinguisher from its home on the wall, aimed the nozzle at the meatheads, and fired.

Clouds of white foam cloaked everything in its path. More importantly it stalled the fight. Freed from the spell of their madness, the two morons released each other, staring blankly back at me.

"Kill each other! Be my guest!" I threw the extinguisher in the corner. "Just keep the rest of us out of it!"

No one tried to stop me when I left.

Someone had called the Hunters. I knew they hadn't found us by accident.

"And you think it was moi?" Opal scoffed, lifting her shades as she strode past me into my apartment. "We had a deal, remember?"

Rolling my eyes, I sighed and closed the door behind her, tightening the belt on my kimono robe. After everything that had happened, a hot bath could only wash away so much.

"Leo said someone would betray me," I replied, arms folded. "Maybe that someone was you."

"Then you would be mistaken. You look like hell. What happened?"

"Your friends happened. Then Dark Dorian happened to them."

With a haughty sigh, Opal tucked her sunglasses in her Louis Vuitton bag. "I have no patience for subtleties. Explain."

And so I did, taking note of how much the news seemed to crush her.

"Joshua... He is dead?" Opal rubbed her neck, as if she too had been strangled.

"He wanted me to tell you that he's sorry. And he forgives you."

"Fils de pute! Brûle en l'enfer! Fous-toi!' She strode past me wringing her hands in passionate anger. "Fous-toi!"

"Opal... I'm sorry. He obviously meant something to you."

"He was everything. He hated me... but he was like family." Opal swiped the wetness from her cheeks. "My partner, the one Dorian killed, he was Joshua's brother. Joshua always blamed me for his death. And now Dorian's demon has killed him too... Merde."

"The demon is strong. Even stronger than Dorian. He was shot and he still took the hunters down like it was nothing. Maybe we can't beat him."

"No!" Opal snapped, squaring her shoulders in defiance. "We will send the demon back to hell! If you don't have it in you then kindly stay out of my way!" She stormed from the apartment, slamming the door behind her.

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