Infernal

Cam's POV

Sunlight crept in, or what passed for sunlight in Hell. I closed my eyes. Then, heaving a short breath, I rolled over. My eyelids fluttered, spotting a curled up girl near the other side of bed. In the dimness her hair looked much darker, not the blond-brown mix—but it made no difference. Even if she decided to puff her hair, paint it in all the rainbow colors, she'd still make my heart pound. Nina's fingers dug into the comforter, like she was afraid someone would snatch it. Pft, like it was possible. She was a hogger.

My arm muscles strained against stiffness as I stretched them above my head. Down below, I could hear servants running around, fixing breakfast and opening the windows. I extended my hearing further, trying to deduce if Romeo and Rory had come home last night. Guess not.

They were old enough to take care of themselves. Plus, the day I worried about that dickwad Earth would implode.

Grabbing a series of clothing, I stepped into the adjoined bathroom to wash up. There was an excitement fueling my movements, making me quicker than ever before. I was feeling like an eight-year old before riding a roller coaster for the first time. Today was the day I was getting my brother back—I could feel it. That presence in the back of my mind had been soft on Earth; here, it was solid, something I could trust.

Exciting the bathroom, I halted.

"Hey you," she whispered, rubbing sleep out of her eyes.

Feeling my lips kick up, I murmured back, "Hey you. Slept enough?"

"More or less..." Nina yawned, rubbing a shoulder. "I had this really weird dream—" my eyes widened and she laughed. "About being Candy Land Champion. Is that even a thing?"

I relaxed. Just a random dream. I cracked a grin, zipping my backpack closed.

"Maybe it's your future. Candy Land Expert." Nina laughed, warming my insides. She stopped once I sat beside her, nose brushing hers. "You still want to take her with us?"

Pulling on her big-girl-pants, she nodded letting out a heavy, decisive exhale.

"Then she's coming to the Games with us." She heard me, but her head was somewhere else, like her eyes. On my lips. It took everything I had to pull away. "Pack everything, okay? I'm not planning on coming back here."

"Yeah..." she said. I could hear the deception in her voice. I hadn't kissed her since she'd told me those three words. "You're really confident about this, huh?" I nodded, slinging my bag over a shoulder. "I know you don't want to hear this—"

"Then don't say it." I knew what she meant. What if Phillip wasn't at this arena? "I have to find him, Nina." I flexed my fingers.

"I know," she touched back. "I'll go get ready."

"I'll talk to Jade about leaving and leave Rose a message in case Romeo and Courtney come back here."

I knocked on Jade's door. It cracked open and her mute green eyes filled with surprise. I didn't blame her. Nina was the nice one coming into her room every fifteen minutes, not me.

"How are you feeling?"

"Good," she squeaked. "Thank you, Master—"

"Don't call me that." I pushed inside, she let me. "It makes me feel old."

"Oh, okay..." I could see that was going to be a hard habit to break. "Is there something I can help you with Mas—"

"Cameron." After slumping on a chair, I realized how much of kid she truly was. Almost as tall as Nina, which wasn't very tall. The white top stuck to her, but there was barely anything underneath—and beneath her eyes and on her nose there were cute freckles.

"Right. Cameron..." she tested it out. "Can I help with something?"

"Not really. I'm here to help you."

"Me?" She touched her chest.

"What would you say if we—Nina and I—took you with us? To Earth, I mean." I figured it was better to ask rather than saying 'you're coming with us, no questions'. "You wouldn't be a slave anymore. You'd have your own life—do whatever you like."

Jade looked pale. I was worried about her falling over. Mouth-to-mouth wasn't on my agenda.

"You would do that?" she mussed eyes wide. "You'd take me with you—?" My mouth clamped and I nodded. "That would be... that would be a dream come true. To make my own choices... to be free..."

"It's decided then," I declared, getting up. "You're coming with us. If you have anything you want to take—pack it up."

"Are we leaving now? What about your brother?"

"We're making a stop at the Games."

"He's... there?"

"I think so." I caved to my curiosity. "Why so surprised?"

"Because... Well, he has to be very powerful to survive the Games. Especially for such a long time." Looked like Nina had rattled everything to this little Psychic-teen.

"My brother is stronger than anyone gives him credit for." My eyes fell down. Sometimes even I underestimated my brother. He always struck everyone as lazy and carefree, but below all those laid-back mannerisms... was something very dangerous. "We leave after breakfast."

Several servants including Rose had stared, rather jealously, at Jade during breakfast. All 'cause she was eating with me and Nina. After living through it, we packed our two backpacks into a coach and climbed in. Jade kept looking back to the mansion as it disappeared.

I uncrossed my arms, leaning forward, taking Nina's hand in mine.

"Think it's okay if I take it off?" I traced the cold metal with the tips of my fingers. "We'll be done here soon."

She hesitated.

"I don't think I can pass for a Cambion." Her fingers curled on mine. "I'm don't have that strong beauty you do."

I snorted. She had plenty of it. But one thing she didn't have, was the strong presence. Her amount of angelic blood was too small to be noticed if not used.

Cambions and Nephilims were different. Not to mention Angels and Fallens.

"Keep it on 'till it's over then." I looked over at Jade's bronze cuff. "Romeo said only the person who put it on could twke it off... But when I killed Stephan everything that was his became mine. So, won't I be able to open it?"

Jade glanced at me like a baby rabbit looked at a fox. Unable to move.

"Here," I said, taking her cuffed wrist and opening the bracelet. Ta-da. "I love being right."

"Cocky."

"You have no idea," the tips of her cheeks burned. "It'll stay on like Nina's. Okay?" She nodded.

Outside, I saw those strange clouds Nina had been so worried over yesterday. But my head wasn't interest on the mystery they held. I played with the ring on my finger, twisting it, turning it, thinking how we'd get out of the city. Phillip wouldn't be tip-top-condition, Nina had an Azure Dagger but I couldn't rely on her for heavy fighting and Jade... well, seeing ribbons that connected souls wouldn't help anyone.

A whole city against one. Hmm. My brain did the math and my body didn't like how it added up. I ground my teeth, I'd be damned if I gave up now.

An elliptical amphitheater came into view and my heart beat faster. Built of stone and concrete it was a perfect copy of the one in Rome. Only this one wasn't destroyed in any way. Exiting the coach, I stood in the shadow of the giant copy-icon of the Roman Empire. I'd never felt so close to Italy in my whole existence.

"Christ..." Nina breathed.

Not because of the sight. Because of the chanting inside—loud yells and bloody screams. I tried not to think how many people this thing could hold.

"Keep quiet," I murmured to both of them. I gave Jade my bag, and Nina carried hers as we walked to one of the entrances. My pace didn't waver as I went past the guy at the tunnel, holding up my ring. I saw him nod.

The girls didn't stop, either, or lift their eyes off the ground. I made a turn, going up a few stairs, and breathed deeply. We were inside, on the front row.

"Oh boy." I muttered watching an abnormally amount of people cheering of balconies above ours and on our own—and all around the arena.

I pulled Nina and Jade to a more isolated place, where people wouldn't throw us off the balcony with all the euphoria. From the front row I didn't need to amplify my vision, though. I had no idea who was fighting down below. Only that the girl was human. She didn't have a Power-blocker anywhere, she was panicking and I couldn't feel the tiniest bit of Power—and oh. She was using a sword.

"Cam that's a—"

"A Possessor, yeah." It was the first Demon Nina had seen. The worm-like-thing could change its size. When they crawled inside human hosts they were smaller than my pinky finger. But you couldn't kill them that way—you needed to make them come out and play. "This is their true form and size."

I looked with disdain at the black worm. Its slimy tentacles snapped at the girl, toying, and its yellow eyes shone with hunger. It was all a game. A spit of acid headed for the brunette. She flung herself to the side—too late. The ball of acid caught her ankle, she screamed in pain letting the sword handle go.

Then the tentacles covered her legs, pulling its meal closer to its circular mouth, where several fangs dripped, waiting—

The human girl grabbed sand throwing it into the yellow eyes and for a minute, she had an opening, grabbing the sword again and with a heavy thrust it went through the Possessor's head. Clean stab. It hollered before collapsing, leaking very dark—almost black-blood. The tentacles were the first things to rot away.

Everyone in the coliseum protested against the victory. The poor young woman was still checking on her brunt ankle when a barred door, leading into another tunnel, lifted. I thought another Demon was going to come through. I knew they weren't finished with this one—but it wasn't a Demon.

The hair was matted, covering his forehead and its color less alive, but I'd know it anywhere. And there was stubble. A lot.

"Phillip..." It was Nina who whispered next to me. Because I couldn't move a muscle. "Cam, it's... it's him."

His clothes were bloody. His hands were bloody. Looking down below, I saw my brother, but I didn't recognize him. Because Phillip had never looked so determined in his life. Determined to kill. A human. An innocent.

I saw a Golden cuff on him. He couldn't use Power.

I watched my brother getting closer to the girl and felt parallelized. He was here. Phillip was here.

My daze broke when Nina screamed—I covered her mouth before anything else—then looked down at the arena. Where my brother had snapped the girl's neck, expertly. I swallowed.

This was wrong. My little brother didn't do this—

The gates around the stadium opened and more came in. Two Vampires. One Possessor. My blood pumped furiously—he couldn't call on Power. They were going to kill him.

***

Nina's POV

I thought this was a really bad nightmare. Phillip couldn't have killed a human, right? But then her neck got broken and I... I screamed into the wind. Cameron stopped me and I realized I wasn't dreaming, that it was true.

Down there, I didn't see any of the boy who'd kissed me for the first time. The person who I'd fallen for in the first place. I just saw a person willing to fight for his live. No matter what the cost. But then more came in. Not human, a Demon and... Vampires by the looks of it.

Phillip grabbed the sword from the dead human fending off the Demon's tentacles. A Vampire didn't waste time, charging at him, taking his shoulders and flinging him against the round wall. Phillip rolled over, avoiding a kick to the stomach, but he was slow. Too slow without any Power. The Vampire pinned him by the throat...

A strange noise came from beside me. I looked down, where Cam's hand was gripping the stone rail. The stone broke in his grasp, it was so strong he crushed it slowly. He didn't even know he'd just turned hard stone to dust. All his black eyes saw were the sandy arena. His twin.

Static filled my lungs when I breathed—the sky opened with a lightning show. Thunder rumbled preparing for battle, colors of blue and purple flashed across the orange sky, the strange clouds scurried away afraid of what was to come. Everything in the coliseum had gone deadly still, quiet, even the Vampires below, I noticed with fascination.

All because of Cameron's ability?

But everyone was looking to a place at the head of the coliseum. A place where a throne with black velvet rested. The chair was empty, though. All the Dominion residents seemed to understand that too, and began to look everywhere as more and more lighting and charge rode the air.

Some eyes fell on Cameron, having traced the source of Power. It wasn't hard. The air next to us was thick I could practically choke on it. I took Jade's hand—she was transfixed staring at Cameron like he was some God—and pulled her back. My eyes slit when white light swirled his body; his onyx hair moved, sticking out in several directions. His muscles swelled as he moved closer to the edge, bracing his hands there—more railing crumbled away.

Okay. Maybe Jade was right to look flabbergasted. I'd never seen Cameron so pissed off. With this kind of Power... he could kill everyone here. The debris from the rail floated around him, static crackled destroying it. The talk we'd had about him creating magnetic fields came back—he was doing it!

Cameron glanced at me and I knew. He was going to cause trouble. At that precise second, thunder boomed fiercely. While all seemed startled by his show of Power, he jumped over the mural.

"Jade," I grabbed the fifteen year old's hands. "Stay here, okay? Don't come out until we come get you!" I yelled over the ruckus.

She nodded very quickly.

I had to find my way down. Running down a flight of stairs, I cursed. Many people were taking off thanks to Cam's ongoing rebellion. I ran down a large corridor, seeing light up ahead. I almost threw myself into the arena to catch a glimpse of both boys. Phillip had seen Cam, no doubt, but he was busy slashing a Vampire's shoulder.

Ouch.

Cameron was frighteningly quick and lethal. Phillip swayed back from the Vamp, the guy was probably standing on miracle and stubbornness.

The Vampire girl went for Phill's back—about to yell for him, I saved my breath. Or Cam stole it by sending a charged bolt her way. Hitting the bitch square in the chest. Cam stood over her with an incredible predatory ease, slamming a boot into the girl's stomach.

Over the booming light show he'd created, he said four words, I heard them clear as day. Cold, arrogant and pumped with conviction:

"Don't touch my brother."

Power crashed into the stadium's walls, leaking from him like an open wound. His words didn't stop there. They echoed on as whispers. I was finally inside the arena and another girl came from the shadows—at me! I reached into my pocket for the Azure Dagger, only I didn't need it.

Bolts came, slamming her away. All around me bodies hit the sand, twitching in heavy pain, the smell of burning flesh took up the air.

I'd never seen so much lightning. I'd never been so unafraid of it, either. It was because of him. Cameron, stood in the middle of the storm, angry, but focused and tamed. This wasn't like the Cambion fight, the scene I'd dreamed off since moving to Haven Hills. He wasn't wild. He knew his targets.

"Oof," my limbs tangled with heavier ones, crashing to the ground. I closed my fingers on the hilt—stopping. "Phillip!" I yelled over the racking thunder.

All the lights made his beautiful blue eyes burst in size and enchantment. Even with cuts, bruises and bloody features he was breathtaking. Ran in the family.

"Nina," he whispered softly. "You're here... really here." He mussed and I felt myself break as a finger traced my cheek.

God—he was here! We'd found him. This wasn't a dream.

Launching my arms around his neck, I felt relief when he lost no time hugging me back. Not like he'd done in my dream.

"I can't believe..." his words trailed off; he buried his head into my shoulder. His stubble tickled my skin. I clutched his shoulders, silently saying what he wanted to hear. It was going to be okay, we were going home.

Slowly, the heat of his embrace became more noticeable. I understood why when I opened my eyes. There were no more lighting strikes. It was the calm after the storm. Everybody was on the dirty ground. Either dead or very knocked out. There were some with skin peeling away—brunt skin. They deserved it.

It wasn't until I pulled away, looking over a shoulder, that I saw why Phill was so still. Cameron was standing roughly three feet from us, expression blank and chest heaving savagely.

They stared into each other's eyes.

Me and Cam shared a special connection through our souls; their connection was written in blood, though. And family was stronger than anything. Especially the bond between brothers and sisters. They're the people you could always turn to in troubled times, the people who'd never give up on you. So, right now, I had no clue what they were feeling.

Letting Phillip get up, I watched in the background as Cameron flexed his jaw. Then, he stepped towards his twin, embracing his brother in the biggest way I'd ever seen. I was half-afraid he'd crush his ribs or something. Phillip drew his arms around Cam's back just as hard. The whole thing was mute, no need for words.

We'd actual done it. We'd found Phillip.

In one small moment, the moment I saw Cameron hugging his brother, smiling with his eyes closed, I knew I'd do it all over again. And so would he.

An unbreakable bond. That's what they had.

"Isn't this a happy family reunion." My eyes turned to the still open tunnel. Out came Romeo, walking in a dark shirt and leather pants.

I frowned. What was this? The sixties?

"Romeo!" The emotions were running really high for me to yell his name.

"There's nothing that me more tears than having to do this."

What?

"Where have you been—wait!"

I saw him vanish and reappear beside the twins—briefly, I saw horror and hate on Phillip's face. Then Romeo knocked him aside.

What. The. Hell.

"Hey, douchebag—"

Cam's hand shot for Romeo's throat, but Romeo took Cameron's hand—twisting. Like the day they'd met, Cam fell on his knees, overpowered.

"Aww, come on," the Cambion said. "That's pitiful. Did that little trick wear you out?"

I moved forward when Cam growled to cover a moan of pain. The bastard had just popped his wrist out of place!

"What's the matter with you? Where's Rory?"

Nothing was making sense! Phillip's glanced between all of us, then down at his wrist where the Golden bangle was. He couldn't get it off. Cringing as he sat up, he turned blazing eyes on Romeo.

"You tricked them into coming here?" They knew each other? Because the level of loathing in Phill's tone was personal. "Did you come here with him?" He turned to me when the Cambion gave no answers. Just a smirk.

"I... yes... Rory she, she knows him." Rory. Where was she? Had he—

"Leave him alone!" Phillip yelled, fists tightening at his sides.

I stared with dismay as Cam fell over, gripping his mid-section.

"You..." I whispered. "You lied to us. All this time. You wanted us to get to Phillip."

Turning slowly, Romeo regarded me with cool eyes.

"It had to be done. Nothing personal."

"Why...?"

"Because he really wants both of you, love. I've never let him down."

Him.

The Cambion that had been sent to Haven Hills had mentioned a 'him', but he'd been talking about Felix. So...

"Who are you talking about?"

Suddenly, my dream-talk with Phillip came to mind. He'd warned me to stay away. That he wanted me and Cameron.

Smiling shortly down at Cameron, he crouched. My heart thundered as his hand grabbed Cam's chin.

"Sorry about this, chap. I don't have anymore of those Golden bracelets." Crack.

A shudder crippled my heart as Cam went limp. Like before, my soul went nuts not feeling our connection. Just a broken neck, I chanted, it'll be okay.

Phillip got near his brother, touching his shoulder.

Again, I asked, "Who wants us?"

Romeo tilted his head at me. Like I was retarded.

"You still haven't figured it out? Him." Romeo glanced at that velvet throne. Still empty. My body shook as more people pored into the arena, people to help Romeo. "Lucifer."