Death (24 page)

"He came?"

Hanna nods, "He's pretty mad about the lab."

"I feel bad. I just couldn’t think of another
place."

Sam laughs, "He just wants to kill some people."

Shane points up to the wall around the castle, "Well I
guess that’s lucky. Look."

"Frig. Reinforcements."

Lorri growls, "Where did you think they all were. The
whole army is here. I have a slight fear that the stupid snow globe was glamour
and she hasn’t ever really left here. I am not sure she was ever in
Alaska." I don’t say anything but I have a terrible fear Jonathan was
telling us the truth. The only thing stopping her from taking over and
destroying everything was Jonathan.

Aleks shoots Lorri a glare, "Thanks for the heads
up."

She shrugs, "Wouldn’t have helped. I have the Asian Roses
and the African Roses coming now. The European ones are already here."

"I feel like the Power Rangers." Ben mutters and
phases mid air.

I laugh, "You totally stole that from my lips."

He sniffs at me and runs up ahead. He hides in the bushes. I
look around and try not to let the beauty of it all overwhelm me. We are at a
huge brick and stone castle with a wall all the way around it and turrets. The
extensive grounds lead up into the hillside, which turns into a thick forest.
It's stunning and everything is emerald green.

"This castle is built on a forest the Fae believe is
guarded with magic. They believe it's where the Fae originally came from. If
Lillith is evil, she tricked the strongest of the Fae just to be here."
Marcus says skeptically.

We follow Ben into the woods and look around.

Lorri starts the lecture, "The army is inside. Shifters,
Fae, Witches, Vamps, Nephilim and god only knows what else. There will be no
Ari, Aimee, Hanna and even the succubuses aren’t like Giselle. But everything
else exists inside of there. This is the real deal." She points to a
turret, "The other side of the castle is where everyone else on our team
is hiding in the woods. I don't think Lillith is expecting us. They will likely
think Jonathan has finished us off or tricked us once again. If we catch them
off guard we should be able to take them down before the sunsets completely. We
move in five minutes. Aimee, Aleks, Sam and I are going for the Shifters. Be
right back. Don’t move."

Confusion fills me, "We're going for the shifters?"

She looks distant. "We are since Henry joined the ranks
of the deserters."

Hanna points to the castle, "What if Lillith is good and
there is something else in there?"

Lorri snaps, "We take our chances. No matter what we end
the magic." She flashes a picture of where Lucas and Ben are from but I
remember it all. We wink and flash and the whole council is there ready. We
each grab our maximum and flash them back. At least fifty, maybe seventy-five
shifters fill the woods around us. The chatter grows with all the new people.
They shift quickly. I glance at Ari and grin, "Yay. The wolf council.
Janine is here."

She bursts into a laugh, "I'm pissed at you. Don't make
me laugh." I grab her and pull her in.

"I love you."

She sighs, "I know. I still hate you. I get to hate you
for like ten minutes."

"I'll be dead in ten minutes."

"Five minutes."

"Dude, think about the world we live in. All those
Nephilim kids are orphans. It's no life for a kid. Besides what would we do
without you?"

"Shut up."

I laugh and pull away, "Okay. Five minutes. Then we
wrestle."

Shane pokes his head into the conversation, "In
Jello?"

Ari grins, "I don’t actually like Jello. I ate lots of it
at the orphanage." She shivers. I do too. I can't help it when she talks
about that place.

The dusk lighting is perfect. Most of them see better in the
dark. Ari, Hanna, Giselle and I don’t.

"Is this the pow wow for girls who don’t fit in?"
Hanna and Giselle walk up. I laugh, "Pretty much."

"Stay close to each other okay."

Giselle takes a deep breath, "I just want you guys to
know if we die. I love you bitches. This shit is the best shit that ever
happened to me."

We stare at her and laugh. We do the big group hug. It feels
fake. I still hate Hanna in a twisted way, but we hug anyway.

"Henry healed me before he left." Ari whispers.

We all look at her, "What if he hurt you?"

She shakes her head, "He told me he was healing me
because he could feel the pain inside of me and he felt badly. He said he knew
what they did to me and it wasn't kind. He seemed disgusted. He said that the
poison they put in me was slow. They wanted to get my power from me or learn to
control me. If they couldn’t I would have died anyway. If not for Henry. He
also said he met my mother. Even knew her a little."

The look of remorse lifts from my eyes, "What?"

She nods, "He was there. He was there when I was born. He
went with Marcus. Marcus knew Dorian had reproduced, even though Dorian didn’t.
Marcus had to see me, he knew I would be different. He was the reason my uncle
left with me. He convinced him to take me and runaway. He saved my life. Henry
was there with him."

"He could have saved your mother?" Hanna says
astonished.

Ari shakes her head, "No. He said she was dead already
when they got there. He had seen her before. When she was pregnant. She was
newly pregnant then. Dorian didn’t know but Henry could tell. They broke up
before she ever told him she was pregnant. He said Dorian really liked my mom.
Not love, but he really liked her a lot."

I grab her hand and look for something in the black eyes.

"You okay?" Giselle asks sweetly.

Ari nods, "It made me feel better."

Lorri snaps her finger. We all look.

"Let's do this." She holds her hand in the air with
three fingers. Two. One.

I grab Giselle, Hanna and Ari and wink. We are standing on top
of the roof of the castle. I see the guards roaming, "Them." I point
to the men on the wall of the castle.

I wink us again. We start the fight fast. Fists fly at me. A
gunshot hits me in the gut. I wince and rip the souls fast. Blood sprays and
splatters. Giselle is wooing and leading a group of them like the pied piper. I
shake my head. As she walks them to me I flash my hands past and rip their
souls out. Ari is doing the same by pinning the men to the stonewalls. Only
Hanna is just ripping heads off and tossing bodies down below. Shots are fired
at us. I pull an arrow out of my thigh. My black blood spills into my red boot.
I see the archer. I wink behind him and rip his soul.

Screams are everywhere. The shifter Fae are biting and
gnashing. Lorri is biting throats out. Several of the shifters are hurt. I
can't see if it's Ben and Lucas. Things like Shane are everywhere. He and
Marcus fight like it's UFC.

Aleks is with Sam. They're doing the ever annoying
winky-flashy-fighting-thing that pisses everyone off.

The Asian Roses are obvious. Beautiful Vampires and Nephilim.
One girl makes a light with her hands and blinds a group of people, until one
of the witches shoots lightning at her from a window. I feel the ground rumble
beneath my feet. I wink into the window and rip the witch's soul, just as
spikes shoot up from the ground. Lighting is striking everywhere. There is dust
and chaos and blood in every direction. The last bit of daylight is gone and as
if strengthened by it, the vampires and wolves start going savage. I see less
and less. I snap my fingers making snaps of light.

There is a flash of something. I duck against the wall and
wait. Someone is in the hallway with me. I wink out to the roof again and then
instantly back in. I grab and spin the person. Aleks plants a huge kiss on my
lips, "Ass." I shove him. He flashes us again as light fills the dark
hallway.

"What was that?" I whisper from the corner where we
hide.

"The witches. We need to stop them. They'll help Lillith
and Tristan." He grabs my face, "If one of us dies, god let it be me,
we swear to not hurt ourselves. No sinking depressions and soul eating pain.
Instead, we live with joy and happiness. Promise me it's what you'll do."

I nod. I won't promise that. He'll hear the lie in my voice.

"If I die I need you to know that I am there. The warm
breeze will always be me. Holding you and loving you."

He presses his lips into mine and I have a sinking feeling
that he knows he's going to die. He flashes us back to the dark hallway.

"Fucking Nephilim. They keep winking."

I freeze. I know the voice.

"Phillip." I mouth. Aleks nods. He flashes and comes
back holding Phillip's in a headlock. Phillip is struggling. I look out the
window and wink us to where Ari is holding some men against a wall.

"Push him!" I shout.

She pushes Phillip and knocks him out.

Aleks drops him and winces. His arms are covered in dark
spots.

"What's that?"

He shakes his head, "It's his thing. He can push darkness
into you. To poison you."

Ari grabs his arm, "I watched him do it to someone at the
witch's village. It'll kill you."

I roll my eyes, "That speech better not have been real,
you son of a bitch."

He laughs and shakes his head, "Nothing can kill me
Aimes. Nothing but you."

I see a man about to decapitate Shane. I wink and suck the man
as Shane spins. He stabs his hand into the man's chest as the man dies.

"I had him." He grins. His face is covered in blood,
red and black.

"Whatever."

I wink to the group. Hanna is carrying the dead body of a man
with her. I look harder. It's a guy they met at Rose's training.

"Oh my god." I hear someone shout.

Ben runs over and whines and nuzzles against Hanna. She lowers
the dead man.

Giselle looks shocked. I know the look. She slept with the
dead guy. It's so obvious. She digs her hands into Ben's coat and rubs his fur.
He rubs against her. I don’t really know the guy but I recognize him. Sam
flashes to us, "Shit, is that Don?"

Hanna nods and makes weird monster noises.

I look at the castle grounds. The dirt has become mud with the
blood of the dead littered everywhere.

"This is disgusting. I need to take a picture for Blake.
He's gonna shit. It's like a real raid."

Everyone looks at me in horror.

"What? We just killed a lot of people. This battle is
done. This was pathetic."

"Like a diversion?" Aleks says. He has actually been
to battle.

Lorri winks to where we are, "They're in the back. Now.
Hands in." She looks panicked. We all touch her and Sam. She winks and Sam
follows. We arrive at the real party. The other Roses are not there. I see
Tristan. He's sitting on a stone bench with his head hanging down. I wink to
him and grab him, but when my skin touches his I shoot off the roof. I see the
ground and wink back to where everyone is. I look around but the tall gorgeous
blonde, I am assuming is Lillith, and the other witches never noticed my little
indiscretion. They don’t seem to be paying attention to Tristan. I wink so
fast, they miss it.

Lorri scowls at me, "Yeah, they never thought about the
fact we all wink and flash about like faeries."

I sneer, "It was worth a try."

Sam points, "She is the one making the guard."

Henry isn’t there. But Lillith is.

Lorri whispers and points across the massive stone balcony,
"I go for Lillith. Aimes, you get the one who is making the guard. Sam, you
get Tristan. Aleks come with me for Lillith. Everyone else stay here just in
case. Go."

We wink. I grab the guard witch, as Sam grabs Tristan. I wink
to the lab and dodge a hellfire blast from her fingers as I wink back out.

I feel sick suddenly leaving her there. My voice cracks when I
am with the group again, "I think I just screwed up. Hanna, tell your dad
and Roland to get the kids and go to your house. Now." My voice is
panicked.

Hanna texts Roland. "Done. He says they already did that.
They aren’t there. He hates Marcus's house. Why?"

I sigh, "Oh my god. I just left a witch who can do
hellfire in the lab."

Marcus turns his face and snarls, "My lab? My
house?"

I open my mouth but shut it as a giggle escapes.

His face pinches. He puts a hand up to the bridge of his nose
and does the yoga breathing again. "Aimee, have I wronged you in some way
that you feel the need to ruin all my shit? Is this penance for my misdeeds?
Did God himself ask you to do it?"

I grimace, "I'm sorry."

I look around and realize Lorri, Aleks and Sam are all still
gone, "Where are they?"

I speak too soon. Aleks shows up. His side is burning.

"Hellfire?" I shout.

He shakes his head, "No. Regular fire. Lorri is fighting
her. She's too strong for me. Lorri sent me back to help here in case it's an
ambush or more glamour. She wanted me to make sure Tristan still had the
power."

"Do we have Tristan?" I panic when I see Aleks's
face paling. Sam flashes back with the limp Tristan in his arms.

Sam shakes his head, "It doesn’t matter now. He's
drained. She has it."

Aleks looks at him, "Lorri is with her fighting right now
in some place Lorri called the Garden of Eden."

I feel my eyes light up, "I know that place." I look
back, "Marcus can you wash Phillip's mind so he remembers shit again? Then
we go to the Garden and kill Lillith?"

He nods, "Really? A favor? After what you just did? A
favor? Aimee, I am not happy with you right now."

Giselle grabs his face and plants a huge kiss on his lips,
"Please." She whispers.

He nods like a robot. Giselle looks back and winks at me.

"I know. I owe you a new castle."

He grabs Phillip and looks at me harshly, "You replacing
the priceless art as well?"

He speaks softly to Phillip who sputters and sits up. He looks
at us all and then past us. He's up like a shot, "Trist." He winks
across the patio to where Tristan is being held by Sam. His eyes well. Phillip
grabs him and kisses him but his face is sallow and soft.