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Poison.

That’s what I always thought of when I saw Julius. He was poison. Everything--everyone--he touched was destroyed. And to him it was a game, something done simply for his amusement, and I had told myself more times than I could count that I would never trust this monster. Yet…

I found myself standing beside him, watching the dark horde below us. His toxic eyes were alight with glee, as if this too was just entertainment for him. But I knew there was danger for him, as well. Everything he had worked for could crumble if the horde succeeded. And that was why I was here. To help him.

When he had asked me to help him, I had laughed in his face. It had just been so absolutely ridiculous. Him and me? Working together? No. I had seen that venomous touch of his destroy April. He had worked her with his lies, whispering sweet things in her ear, while he slowly disintegrated everything that she was. When he’d finished, she’d been nothing but a hollow woman, as if he’d crushed her very soul. I would never help him.

But, of course, I had to. Destroying the horde wasn’t only beneficial for Julius, but me, as well. And April. Everyone, really. Once the horde reached the city, it would destroy everything.

“Phelan.”

I glanced at Julius. His face was blank and inhumanly beautiful. Looking at him, I knew why April had so easily given into his lies. Why she had made excuses for him and let him poison her.

“Are you ready?”

I closed my eyes. Ready? Not really. I didn’t think I’d ever be ready for this, but there wasn’t any time. Soon the horde would reach the city. It was already so close, brimming with murder. It had to be stopped now to limit the possibility of casualties.

“Yes,” I said. “Let’s do this.”

Julius flashed a venom smile and turned his gaze to the horde. He rose to his full height, and I followed suit.

The horde began to take notice of us. It slowed its trek towards the city to face us. Hundreds of hungry eyes, full of desire. And I saw that they were poison, too. Like Julius, the horde existed to lay waste to everything it touched, infecting those with an incurable disease.

“Are you sure you can do this?”

I shot a scathing glare at Julius. “Of course.”

His noxious eyes were filled with laughter. “You’re nothing but a child, Phelan, and your bleeding heart will get in the way.” The humor left him, and his eyes narrowed. “You have to be ready or we’ll both die.”

“I’m ready.”

He studied me a moment longer then turned away. The horde was closer to us. I could feel the ground trembling from the many footsteps reverberating through the earth. It was now or never. No turning back. Kill or be killed.

We leapt to the ground and the horde was directly in front of us. Hands reached forward, but before any could touch us, Julius’s sword was slicing through flesh. I watched him do the only thing that he was good at: destroy things.

I drew my own sword and hacked away at the horde, thinning its numbers. But there were still too many. There was no way only two people could win against so many. It was impossible. Impossible.

Julius was deep in the middle of the horde, his blade swinging in an arc, over and over again. I saw the horde’s members dropping around him and a crazy smile stretching across his face. This was his element; he was enjoying himself.

Disgusting.

I continued to attack the horde, desperate to stop them. If Julius and I were to fail and the horde were to reach the city, everyone would die. April would die. She would be destroyed again after all the time it had taken me to pull her back together after Julius had ruined her. I couldn’t let anything happen to her again.

Cold fingers closed around my wrist, stopping my attacks. More hands grasped me, pulling me to the ground. I struggled but knew it was pointless. There were too many, and I was only one human. I stood no chance against the horde. Why had I even attempted such a fruitless feat? Why had I set myself up for such a torturous death?

Blood splattered against my face, and the hands fell away. Julius stood above me, holding his hand out. I grasped it, and he pulled me to my feet.

“Don’t let your mind wander,” he said. “I won’t save you next time.”

I nodded, and we stood back to back, cutting down the horde, one by one, two by two, however many we could in one blow. And slowly, slowly, the horde began to dissipate. We were winning.

Finally, the last one fell and the horde was no more. I sank to my knees in exhaustion, trying to catch my breath. Julius was beside me, but he wasn’t even breathing hard. His toxic, lying lips were twisted into a smirk. His hand was on my shoulder, and he leaned forward, whispering in my ear, “Tell April I said hello.”

He got to his feet and made his way past the fallen horde. I glared at his back, angry that he had the nerve to even say April’s name after what he’d done to her. He was a monster. A disgusting monster.

I closed my eyes. I would protect April from him. I would save her from Julius’s poison.