Legions (20 page)

A large group of people
were making their way down the street, passing right by our home
waving things that were on fire, going who knows where. My hands
began to get clammy. I didn’t understand what was going on. We were
set to fight the Legion members, privately in our home - tonight.
Instead, it looked like the Legions were set on messing with the
humans, persuading them to take to the streets. Seeing the
strangers’ images reflecting from the faint streetlights holding up
their arms chanting, made me almost more frightened of them than
the demons themselves.

“Do we really stay inside
and do nothing?” I asked Athen. “I don’t like the thought of Cyril
and Arie out there in this mess. Lord knows what could
happen.”

“They will be home soon,
sweetie. I think they want to check on everything, scope it out so
we know what might be next. They won’t put themselves in danger.
There is only so much we can do.”

His words did little to
calm me as I waited for Cyril and Arie to return to our home while
watching the mobs of people walking and chanting, with fists full
of fire.

Chapter 23

“Looks like my vision
struck out.” I announced rather deflated at the breakfast
table.

“Doubtful.” Arie looked up
from her oatmeal. “My guess is the timing was just off. We need to
stay vigilant, keep an eye out. I think what you saw, here in the
house is still a high possibility. If you saw an attack in the
house, I’d count on an attack in the house.”

“Not exactly what I wanted
to hear.”

“Will the city go back to
normal?” I was afraid to go into town for what I might see. The
destruction that Cyril and Arie described sounded horrible and, in
some cases, irreparable. Hearing the screams over the phone and
seeing the mobs of flame-carrying people was more than I could
understand, especially when thinking about this quaint little area.
The worst part was knowing this was all being orchestrated by the
demons.

“The Legions know what they
are doing. They are definitely stirring it up and keeping us off
guard.”

“I’d say it was working.” I
looked directly Athen, hoping he would chime in, and he
did.

“You’re right. It is
working, and it shouldn’t be. We’ve got to stop falling for their
traps.” His voice was angry. “No more being reactive. We’ve got to
start being proactive, or the battle is already lost.”

“Yeah, I get it, but we are
trying… Right? Here we thought we were going to trick the demons
last night that were supposedly waiting for us to fight me in the
house. Well, that didn’t pan out. We can only play the game when
the rules are somewhat consistent. As of now, nothing is off
limits, and the rules keep changing. Hard to be proactive with
those factors.” I was incensed at being accused of not being
proactive. Under the circumstances, we were all doing our
best.

“We’ve got to figure out
what they really want.” Athen chided. “Or maybe admit that we
already know.” He said looking at me.

“Well, yeah.” Cyril rolled
his eyes. “If it were that easy we wouldn’t be talking about
it.”

“Or are we all gonna keep
dancing around things like Ana can’t handle the facts. It’s her
truth for crying out loud.” Athen was full-fledged yelling now.
Anything to do with me, and his emotions seemed to come unglued. I
wasn’t sure if it was because of the process he just barely went
through or what.

“I thought you guys had
told me everything?” My interest level now up tenfold. “What’s
Athen talking about?” I stood up and went to stand behind Athen’s
chair glaring at Arie and Cyril.

“What aren’t you telling me
this time?”

“It’s not for sure. That’s
why we didn’t tell you.” Arie’s voice was almost
unintelligible.

“Well, might as well now.
Don’t you think?” I asked, this time looking directly at Cyril. He
looked at Arie and nodded his head.

“It has to do with a
relationship of sorts, at least that is our theory.”

“My dad?
Remiel?”

“Partly, but there’s more.
It was a complicated relationship and seemed to have far-reaching
consequences.”

I knew, yet again, I was
going to be in for a long conversation. I only hoped it would
provide some answers that I so desperately needed.

“You’re actually more like
your mother than your father.” Athen began.

The weight of what he
implied hit me hard. Wondering what my mother had to do with any of
this, my head began shaking in confusion. We weren’t really ever
aware of our mortal parents, and I didn’t see the significance of
what he was trying to tell me. The mortals were often extinguished
right after our births.

“I don’t understand what
you’re getting at. There’s not a reason in the world that’s
relevant.” Still shaking my head in confusion, I looked over at
Athen hoping to see doubt in his eyes about what he was about to
say. There was none.

“What we are facing is
something deep-seated in the mythology. We were all hoping it
wasn’t pointing to it, but there is no way around it.”

“Well, I’m not going to
live in fear. Why don’t you tell me where you’re going with
this?”

“Your mother was very
captivating, to say the least. Just like you.” Athen whispered.
Catching Cyril roll his eyes, I couldn’t help but chuckle, even
though I knew what I was going to be told would change
everything.

“Alright, keep truckin’…”
My eyebrows seemed to be stuck in a perpetually confused state and
the strain was wearing me out. I needed to hear it, whatever it
was.

“Your mother was involved
with your father. She chose him from many. Their love was like no
other. There was one individual who we all have come to find out
about recently, who wasn’t accepting of that. He felt your mother
should have been with him. Your mother never intended for that
scenario to even be in the picture. She was quite disgusted by his
persistence, and your father stepped in. He had no choice. Your
mother’s life was in danger.”

“Why is that coming back to
us now?” I was worried for what was going to come next.

“Because it was Azazel who
was in love with your mother. He has never forgiven your father,
and apparently you’re the next best thing.”

The words Athen finished
with shook through my body, carrying with it the weight of the
world. Things were beginning to make a lot more sense now and at
the same time making absolutely no sense at all.

Not wanting to speak the
words going through my mind over and over again, I shut my eyes,
pretending I was by myself and wouldn’t hear the answer. Mind games
could always be counted on to cover up for my
weaknesses.

My voice left my body. “Can
we end it? Do we even have a shot if it’s me he’s
after?”

Athen reached over and
pulled me to him.

“We won’t give up, if
that’s what you mean.”

That’s not what I meant,
but the answer would have to do for now.

***

After roaming our home in a
zombie-like state, carrying the burden of the knowledge I now had
haunting my every move, I decided a change of scenery was
definitely in order. Hoping that a trip back to Whistler would
bring me the comfort I longed for, remembering all of the wonderful
times I shared with Athen during the entire reintroduction process
I went through, and the amount of love that we had shared made me
hopeful that was the exact place to be to get my mind
sorted.

I was able to convince
everyone that a trip to Whistler was in order. It didn’t take much
effort. We had wanted to check on everything and everyone who was
up there. Things had been very rough on us all, but the main
excitement it seemed for Cyril and Arie was the thought of more
training, flying and shapeshifting. The thought of one, let alone
both, freaked me out.

The Sea to Sky highway
taking us up to the village was going to be pretty much free and
clear of snow. There was still snow on top of Whistler Mountain,
and the diehards were up there soaking up every last second of
skiing, but down in the village, it would be almost
spring-like.

Athen had already gotten
what few belongings he had at the other place where he was staying
all this time. I wasn’t really positive if I wanted to come back to
Victoria, but I felt that the away time, even though short, would
be good. Maybe, I’d be able to return to the home in Victoria with
a fresh slate, Athen by my side. Those words alone were enough to
make me float away.

Having him back was my own
form of ecstasy. His beautiful green eyes always shining kindly at
me along with his amazing thoughtfulness would probably never get
old. It was as if we never missed a beat, the last few months were
turning into a distant nightmare, or at least that’s what I told
myself.

Athen had taken Matilda out
for a walk at the local park, and I was getting the rest of the
things packed up. Trying not to let my mind wander to a place I
didn’t want to go, I found Cyril and Arie in the living room to
distract me. They seemed a little distracted themselves, which
struck me as odd, but they had their bags all ready and waiting by
the entry.

“Well you look a little
nervous.” Arie said, teasing me. Not really being in the mood, I
glared at her, shoving away the guilt for doing that to such a nice
person.

“Too soon?” She asked,
grinning.

“Alright, yes, I’m scared
to death that Lilith will sink her teeth into him while he’s out
and about.” It felt kind of good to get it out in the open. “Blah,
blah, I know I don’t need to worry about it, but it’s hard not
to.”

Right on cue, Athen opened
the front door with Matilda leading the way. Scanning the room,
Athen darted over to me, whipping an entire bunch of white roses
out from behind him. My fears instantly melted away, leaving
nothing but a dose of foolishness in its trail for letting my
paranoia get the better of me. Hoping Cyril and Arie would keep
quiet, I did my best at shooting them a stare as Athen grabbed
me.

“I thought you needed more
than that spindly one you had hanging upside down on the wall.” My
cheeks immediately filled with the blush that only he could
produce.

“Thank you, my love.” I
whispered.

Matilda was already
standing back at the door, obviously waiting for her next
adventure, and having missed her for so long, it was fine with me
if she got to call the shots as we all proceeded to the door for
our trip up north.

***

Whistler greeted us with
the warmth that I’d missed so greatly while down south. The
familiarity was plastered all over the buildings, statues, and
sidewalks creating an excitement for the days to come. But that was
knocked down as we turned onto the drive leading us to our home;
that’s when, unexpectedly, my nerves began to surface a bit. I
wasn’t sure what exactly was signaling for me to be so cautious,
but I began to feel that a lot of things had shifted far more than
we realized.

“You feeling that?” I
asked.

“Sure am.” Cyril
answered.

We pulled into our garage
full of uncertainty. Athen grabbed my hand for a quick squeeze
before we all got out of the car. Matilda was still sleeping hard
so we let her stay behind.

“Let’s go check everything
out before we grab our bags, okay?” Arie suggested.

“Sounds like a plan.” Athen
nodded.

As the door swung open, a
wave of cold air blasted us all. The demons had been there, and
recently.

“I thought they didn’t come
inside our homes much?” I asked, perplexed.

“They tend not to, but I
think it’s safe to say that they’re on a mission and being that it
involves us, the rules are changing quickly.” Cyril said, as he
went through the pantry cautiously.

Cyril and Arie’s movements
were very calculating and deliberate. They weren’t taking this
latest violation lightly, which signaled that I shouldn’t either.
Following their lead, I lightened my footsteps and did my best to
become noiseless. Athen was right behind me, quietly closing the
door.

As I was making my way to
the kitchen, Athen’s hand grabbed mine, jerking me to a complete
stop. Confused, I turned to look at him, realizing he didn’t want
me in front of him, I rolled my eyes jokingly and let him move
ahead of me. Being that he had only recently come back to us, it
was hard to fathom that his skill and strength far exceeded mine.
There was a small part of me that was secretly relieved, because I
knew, for whatever reason, his fighting level was far
better.

Cyril went to the right
towards the living room with Arie following behind, and I followed
Athen up the stairs to our bedrooms. With every step leading us
higher up the stairs, the chill became more and more evident. Once
we reached the top, Athen signaled for us to go to our room first.
The door was closed, which I knew was different from when we left
at the holidays.

Athen grabbed the door
handle, turning it slightly, able to open it only a few inches
before a crunching sound stopped the movement. Athen jiggled the
door a few more times with no success. He shook his head at me, and
I reached for the handle myself, moving the door back and forth a
few times.