Enclave

by Brandon Varnell

  What the hell was going on?

  “Ah, Christian. You have once again proven your incompetence to me.”

  Another head appeared in his vision, to his left. It looked like him. It had his face, and his hair, yet there was something different. Its face was pale, pasty, chalk-white in a way that would make vampires envious. Its eyes also frightened him. They were not the one red and one green irises that he had. Both were red, bloody carnelian orbs that glowed with repressed malice. The pupils, slitted like a cat, seemed to seep with amusement at his predicament.

  “Y-you’re...”

  “Ah, ah, ah.” The Thing with his face raised a finger, wagging it back and forth. “There is no need for you to speak. All that you need to do is listen.” Christian would have contended those words, but he was too tired to argue, and speaking hurt. “This is quite the situation you’ve found yourself in.” The Thing with his face grinned at him. “But then, I should have expected as much. You’re always rushing off into danger, heedless of what it could cost you.” The Thing’s face darkened. “This is a bit of a problem for me. I dislike risking myself for others. It is fortunate for you that I have no choice in this matter, for the moment. But rest assured, sometime in the future, I will rectify that. Now,” the Thing reached out to him, “Take my hand, and I shall give you the power needed to slaughter this thing that has raised its hand against you.”

  Christian looked at the hand. The temptation to take it was strong. Very strong. He knew that with the power this... Thing could offer him, he could easily slay the troll. It would be so easy, so simple. All he had to do was take the hand and power would be his.

  Christian raised his left hand.

  And used it to bat The Thing’s hand away from him.

  The Thing hissed, an angry, spitting sound. “So you’re going to spurn my aid, then? After all the times you’ve already accepted it? Do you really want to die? Just take my hand and unimaginable power will be yours!”

  The Thing extended its hand again.

  Christian didn’t take it.

  “Fine then!” A snarl, an expression of rage, was unleashed from between pointed teeth. “I hope you enjoy being turned into a pancake!”

  The Thing disappeared. Color returned to the world, along with his hearing. The troll also began moving again, its hand swinging down faster than he would have believed possible. It was so close now. Just a few more seconds and it would smash him like a tomato being run over by the semi-truck.

  The attack never came.

  Christian blinked.

  A strange sense of calm enveloped him as the troll, its hands now flailing at nothing, batting aside things only it could see, stumbled backwards. He kept the monster in his sights, watching and wondering.

  It was a good thing he kept his eyes open, too, because he also managed to see when a pink blur crashed into it. Another roar emitted from the things mouth before the creature stumbled out of sight. Seconds ticked by. Christian wondered what was going on. He wished he could lift his head, but all the energy he had was gone. He couldn’t even feel any more pain, which was actually a bad thing because it meant he might be going into shock.

  “Christian!”

  Seconds later something, or someone, came into view. This person... thing? Whatever it was sat down next to him, and his wounds flared up when he felt slender hands with sharp claws slide underneath his back and pull him up. It took a moment to realize he was being cradled. The girl, person, thing, had pulled him onto her lap.

  He stared at the creature with a sense of wonder. Her skin was pink, and not just rosy, but actually pink. Soft and lovely, the tone of her flesh complimented her full, dark ruby lips. Baby blue eyes peered down at him in concern, framed by silken strands of blond hair. Even more bizarre than that were the two curved horns that poked out from her hair and curved around her head like a crown. He recognized that hair, those eyes, those lips, and that face. He knew who she was.

  Even if her skin was now pink and she had horns.

  “L-Lilith?”

  “Shh.” Lilith hushed him before he could hurt himself further. “You’re hurt. Just hold on for a second. Let me heal you.”

  Without any prompting, Lilith pressed her lips to his. Having gone for so long without those wonderful lips, without their silken elegance and soft, velvety feel, Christian felt his mind cloud over with a strange, pleasant tingle.

  It was only after a few seconds had passed that Christian realized something. His body was being healed. He could feel his bones crackling and popping as they snapped back into place, could feel the hole in his lungs closing up, and the blood that had welled inside of it being drained. His skin, which felt like one giant bruise, was soothed as well.

  Mere moments later all his wounds were healed. Rather than let go of the kiss, Lilith proceeded to deepen it. Her tongue probed his mouth, brushing against his teeth. Christian allowed her entrance, letting the pink appendage slithered inside. Her tongue was longer now. It also had a point. He let her explore his mouth, enjoyed the feel of her now long tongue coiling around his like a snake, his hand going to the back of her head, fingers threading through locks of hair.

  By the Almighty did he miss this. The feel of her lips pushed against his, her tongue caressing and touching and exploring, the heat generated between their mouths as they exchanged saliva. He hadn’t truly realized how much he missed being with Lilith until now.

  “Lilith,” Christian gasped as he pulled his mouth back. His hand was still on the back of her head. He pulled her to him, pressing their foreheads together. He stared into Lilith’s eyes, those blue orbs that were so deep and soulful. They were most beautiful eyes he had ever seen. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m so sorry. I should have never said those things to you. I don’t know what I can do to make things right, but I want you to know that I’ll do anything I can to make things up to you.”

  “Anything?”

  “Anything.”

  Lilith, her cheeks a little more colorful than the rest of her pink skin, seemed to think on his words. There was a strange noise behind her, like the beating of wings. She regarded him with a steady gaze, as if searching to see whether he meant what he said.

  “Alright. If you want to make things up to me, you can start by giving me another kiss.”

  Christian couldn’t help himself. He laughed. Lilith looked ready to pout, but he quickly pulled her back into a kiss, which she melted against, a slow, sensuous moan escaping her muffled lips.

  They would have continued, but a cough from somewhere to Christian’s left caused them to stop.

  They turned their heads to see Andrew standing there, looking awkward, his head turned the other way.

  “I don’t mind you guys doing that sort of thing on your own time, but could you at least wait until you’re in your room?” he asked.

  Lilith and Christian looked at each other.

  “Yeah, I guess.”

  With a sigh, they both stood up. Now that he was no longer focused on her pretty features, Christian was able to notice that more changes had taken place on Lilith than just her skin color and horns. The back of her blue jean jacket was ripped and jutting out from what he thought were her shoulder blades were a pair of wings, long, black wings that looked both soft and tough. They vaguely reminded him of bat wings.

  “Lilith,” Christian said unsurely. “Did you know that you have wings?”

  “I do?”

  “Yes.”

  Lilith turned to look behind her to see that, yes, she did indeed have wings. Those same wings gave a short flap, as if trying to emphasize this fact. She then looked back at Christian.

  “I didn’t know that. Thanks for telling me.”

  “Um, anytime, I guess.” His shock wearing off, Christian studied the changes that had been wrought upon Lilith with a critical gaze. “So, I’m guessing this is that transformation Clarissa was talking about a while back.”

  “Seems that way.” Lilith looked at herself, frowning. �
�I just wish I knew how I had transformed. All I remember was praying to God for a way to protect you. The next thing I knew, this strange feeling enveloped me, and then I had all this knowledge in my head, telling me what I could do...” She shook her head. “It’s weird.”

  “I can imagine.” Christian held a hand to his chin. “Do you know how to turn back?”

  “I don’t―wait!”

  Lilith closed her eyes. Her brows creased, and she worried her lower lip. A small trickle of sweat trailed the left side of her face as she seemed to concentrate really hard. One seconds passed. Then two. Finally, her features began to morph. Her skin paled back to its original fair color, the horns jutting from her head disappeared back into her hair, and the wings retracted into her back.

  “There.” She smiled at Christian. “Looks like I... like I...”

  Lilith’s eyelids grew heavy. She swayed on her feet. Christian had just enough time to let out a startled yelp before the girl fell into his arms. He panicked for a moment, but he soon realized that she was just unconscious. He theorized that first time transformations used up a lot of energy, and she had healed him on top of that. What’s more, they hadn’t slept together for several days. She must have been exhausted.

  He scooped her into a bridal carry. He then looked over at the troll to see that it was lying on its back, mouth hanging open and its eyes ripped out. He couldn’t see any sign of how Lilith killed it but supposed she had done something to its brain when tearing out its eye.

  A shudder ran through him. Lilith had just killed a full-grown troll. They weren’t the strongest or smartest entities in the world, and Christian had killed more than a handful of those by himself, but they were still pretty tough. That she had killed one so easily was astonishing.

  He shook his head, dispelling those thoughts, and turned to look at Andrew. “Let’s go. I want to be back at the enclave before sundown. I’m beat.”

  “You and me both,” Andrew said, grunting. “Come on. We’ll meet back up with the Valkyries and then head back.”

  CHAPTER 15

  When Christian arrived back at the crash site, he had been expecting most of the Valkyries to have left for the enclave, maybe leaving a small token force behind to gather the supplies from the destroyed trailer.

  What he had not been expecting was to find four familiar faces being surrounded by the Valkyries in what looked like a standoff, the kind people saw just before the situation escalated into an epic battle. He froze as shock rushed through him. For one second, he could do nothing but gape at the individuals as they glared at the Valkyries.

  “Samantha? Tristin? Sif? Leon?” Christian was having trouble picking his metaphorical jaw off the ground as he stared at the four. Despite having an idea as to why they were here, he couldn’t help but ask, “What are you guys doing here?”

  Samantha, who had been eyeing the succubi surrounding her and pointing various types of guns in their faces, turned her head to eye Christian. There was a flicker of emotion within her dark blue eyes, something akin to relief or maybe even joy. The expression darkened when she saw Lilith being cradled in his arms.

  “Christian!”

  While Samantha was the first to notice his presence, it was Tristin who showed the most expressive reaction. A smile, larger and wider than anything Christian had ever seen to date, plastered itself on Tristin’s face. The man’s eyes lit up, brilliant and sparkling like two sapphires underneath the midday sun.

  He began to run toward Christian, his arms held out as if to engulf his friend in a manly bro hug.

  “Christian! It’s been so long! I’ve―eeek!”

  Stillness. Tristin found himself frozen worse than a caveman who had been trapped in a block of ice.

  “Ha... ha...”

  Light blue eyes stared warily at the twin daggers that were almost lovingly caressing his jugular. He let his gaze travel away from the daggers to the delicate, feminine hands that held them, up the forearms and biceps, past lovely shoulders and a slender neck, before reaching the pretty face of the succubus standing before him. Dark, hooded eyes were glaring at him from underneath a fringe of brown hair.

  “Do not even think of moving, swine! You’re lucky enough that we decided not to kill you on the spot, but if you give me one good reason to, I will make sure you never leave this clearing.”

  While Tristin gave a serious gulp, his fear so palpable that Christian could feel it pouring off the man like water leaking from a broken sieve, the other Executioners quickly moved into action. Samantha bent down, lowering her center of gravity as her dominant hand caressed Zaphkiel’s hilt, looking ready to put it to good use on all the succubi surrounding her. Sif appeared in the same boat, except rather than wielding a weapon, she was simply crouched in a low stance, her forearms crossed in front of her, the two clawed gauntlets attached to her hands and ready for action.

  The only one among them who was not ready for action was Leon, and that was because the large, imposing man seemed to have trouble focusing. His eyes were glazed over. Meanwhile, his body had gone slack, tilting from side to side. He looked like he might pitch over any second.

  Not really interested in having to fight another battle so soon after fighting against that troll―especially because he had a person in his arms—Christian opted to use some diplomacy in the hopes of avoiding a fight.

  He moved passed most of the succubus, until he was standing almost in front of Samantha and the others. Andrew was trailing behind him, his large feet hitting the ground. Samantha and Sif must have noticed his presence because they looked over his shoulder, their eyes growing wide.

  “Samantha.” Christian stole the woman’s attention again. Her eyes flicked from his face, to Lilith, then back to his face. She was frowning. “What are you doing here?”

  Samantha shifted on her feet, looking for all the world like she didn’t want to answer him, though she spoke seconds later. “We were looking for you.”

  “For me? Why?”

  “For reasons that I would rather not discuss here.”

  Christian frowned. He flicked his gaze about the clearing, taking in all of the women standing around them, pointing guns and sharp implements at Samantha, Sif, Tristin, and Leon.

  He then looked over at the succubus with raven hair, the one he’d gotten into a spat with earlier. She was standing slightly separate from the others, watching the proceedings with her hip cocked and her eyes narrowed.

  “Would it be possible to take these four with us?” he asked.

  “You want us to take them to the enclave?” She looked at him like he was crazy. “Are you an idiot? There is no way we can allow a couple of humans into our enclave, especially Executioner humans, and definitely not when they’re hanging around that.” She gestured over to Tristin, still acting like a statue as the twin daggers were held close to his throat.

  “Hey! That’s not a very nice thing to say!” Tristin shouted.

  “Be quiet, fiend!”

  “I’m not sure I understand,” Christian admitted, looking between Tristin and Heather’s second in command. “I get that Tristin is something of an idiot.”

  “Not you too!”

  “And he’s a complete lech.”

  “Why you always gotta be dissing me?”

  “But even though he’s a chauvinistic pig, he’s not that bad.”

  “You’re such a good friend, truly. What would I do without you?”

  “You mean you don’t know?” The woman’s dark eyes furrowed at him. She looked over at Tristin, scowling, then turned back to peer at Christian. “That man isn’t human. He’s an incubus.”

  Silence entered the already still clearing. Christian felt like someone had just zapped him with a taser.

  “I’m sorry,” he said, shaking his head. “But could you repeat that? I could have sworn you just said that Tristin was an incubus.”

  “That’s because I did just say that. That thing you are calling Tristin isn’t human. He’s an incubus.” />
  Christian felt his mind blank. He almost lost his grip on Lilith, but he thankfully managed to reboot the organ responsible for logical thinking and decision making and strengthened his hold on her. Despite his brain working again, he still felt confused, his mind jumbled and in disarray. Tristin was an incubus? Since when? And how come he’d never known about this in all the time they had been working together?

  Two eyes, one green and one red, turned to Tristin, who looked like he wanted to be anywhere but there. The man froze with a “rabbit staring down the barrel of a shotgun” expression on his face. He stared at Christian, who stared back, waiting for a response.

  “Um, surprise,” he said somewhat lamely, the tone of his voice making it sound more like a question than a statement.

  Christian stared at him. “You’re an incubus?”

  “Yes.”

  “An incubus?”

  “Uh huh.”

  Sif leaned over to Samantha, her expression stormy. “Did you know about this, Commander?”

  Samantha grimaced. “Not until a few days after we rescued him.”

  “And you didn’t think to tell us this... why?”

  “Because I knew neither you or Leon would take his presence well, and I needed his talents.”

  Sif looked irritated, or as irritated as someone who didn’t express her emotions very often could be. “I suppose I can understand that, but I would have liked to know. I don’t think it’s appropriate to keep something like this from your subordinates.”

  Samantha didn’t have anything to say to that. Maybe she thought Sif was right, or maybe she just wanted to avoid an argument. Either way, she didn’t respond to the much shorter woman’s words.

  Christian felt like pressing his palm into his face to stem the coming headache. Only Lilith’s presence in his arms stopped him from doing so.

  “You are so lucky that Lilith is in my arms right now or I would hit you.” Tristin looked affronted. He opened his mouth, perhaps to give a reason for why he had never told Christian that he wasn’t human, but the young man’s eyes had already turned to Heater’s second in command again. “Regardless of your dislike of Tristin―which I don’t really understand, by the way—I do think we should take them to the enclave with us.”