by Juniper Hart
“Who?” Raven scoffed, leaning forward with defiance. “No demon alive would dare defy us!”
“Have you accounted for all your demons—even the Unenchanted?” Theo asked dryly. Raven’s face paled, but she did not lose the look of indignation in her eyes.
“Can you account for all the Unenchanted werebears?” she shot back. “Of course not. That is why they are cast onto the outskirts of society.”
“It is shameful,” Miriam mumbled. “The witches have stopped alienating the less desirables now.”
“Aren’t you progressive?” Raven snapped. “It is easy for you to say when your kind merely dies off. What are we to do when we are overridden with freaks?”
“The politics surrounding the Unenchanted are hardly the issue right now,” Alec chimed in, sensing the subject was getting away from them. “Theo, have you any other information as to where he might have gone or who this demon is he is with?”
“As Raven says, we have scouts searching for him, but for now, all that I can tell you is what we have heard.”
“What was Alaric thinking?” Laurel moaned. “Since when do we attack our own?”
“Helios was a nuisance to all of us,” Theo retorted, angered that Laurel might be feeling pity for the fallen demon. “He made threats, murdered mortals—”
“That was a thousand years ago,” Laurel grumbled. “We have all changed. Perhaps if we send word that the banishment has been lifted, he will simply assimilate into society, live among the Unenchanted, and stop with this lost cause of his.”
“NO!” Raven, Miriam, and Theo exchanged a quick look as the word fell from their lips in unison.
“Helios’ presence might not affect you or the fairies now, Laurel,” Miriam said in her reasonable, even tone. “But one day, when he has finished with his plot to kill off humanity, he will turn his desires on the rest of us.”
“He will start with the witches,” Laurel replied cruelly. The rest of the Council cast her a reproving look.
“And then he will go for the next weakest,” Miriam continued in the same flat voice. “Would you venture to guess who that might be? He is rogue, unstable. He does not represent the other demons, and his mate has been killed. Giving him a pardon will do nothing but bring trouble here for all of us.”
Laurel was finally silent, but Theo could see her lips pull into a firm line.
“Miriam, you will need to find him,” he said after several moments of silence. “It is the only way.”
“No,” Raven growled. “Do not be foolish. If she does that, she will only be putting herself in danger. He will sense her.”
“It is the only way to find him,” Theo insisted. “Let us end this once and for all. We cannot be discussing this every hundred years when someone catches a glimpse of him, just when we think he has died.”
“He will not die until we kill him,” Raven agreed begrudgingly. “But Miriam has a daughter…”
“I will do it,” Miriam interrupted. The Council began to stir.
“Raven is correct,” Alec muttered. “It is far too dangerous for you to cast a searching spell for him. You are a direct descendant of Alaric and are likely already on his list for revenge.”
“More the reason for me to do it,” Miriam replied softly. “I must protect my future generations. I have a daughter, and when she has a daughter… I will not have Helios hanging over our heads for the next millennia. I will find him.”
“Your daughter will not have an opportunity to have a daughter if you do this,” Landon snapped. “This is Raven’s responsibility. He is a demon.”
“This is all of our responsibility,” Miriam argued, but the Council seemed to heed the consensus, and everyone raised a hand in unison.
“No,” Raven said. “No, you cannot put yourself in his line of sight again, no matter where he is. We haven’t a clue how much he knows, who has sided with him… No, we will find another way.”
Miriam opened her mouth to speak again but seemed to think better of it. Instead, she turned her eyes helplessly toward Theo.
I know precisely how she feels, Theo thought. Useless.
“Double down the efforts,” Landon sighed. “I will call the packs together and see what I can learn. This is a matter for all the Council, not only the demons, bears, and witches. We inherited this mess from Alaric, and we must resolve it.”
“He should have resolved it himself,” Laurel muttered almost under her breath. Everyone still heard.
“It is a little late for that now, isn’t it?” Landon snapped back. “Enough squabbling. We will rest the matter for right now, but we will not let it lapse as long as we have in the past. At some moment, the demon will make his move, and we should be prepared for it.”
Theo nodded slowly, the words resonating in his head. Yes, he thought with growing excitement. Landon is right. Helios will resurface if we do not find him first, and when he does, we must be prepared.
“Dismissed.” Alec banged the gavel against the table, and the Council rose to disperse.
“I do not like the expression on your face,” Miriam told him quietly. Theo spun to look at her. He had not realized she had approached until the second she had spoken.
“I am thinking,” he confessed.
“I can see that, but I am unsure if I approve,” the wise Aldwin witch sighed. “There is a resolution, if you will permit me to do it.”
Theo shook his head quickly and smiled comfortingly at her. “The Council has spoken and voted. There is no need to endanger your family now. We will call that plan B.”
“Plan A has gotten us nowhere in a thousand years,” she reminded him unnecessarily.
“I have another plan in mind,” he said slowly, and Miriam stared at him with interest.
“Oh?”
“Yes. But for that, I think I will need to call in some old favors.”
“Favors?” Miriam echoed. “From whom?”
“To start with, Cruz Reyes.”
Miriam’s face registered shock; not that he blamed her in the least. It was a stunning revelation.
“I have not heard that name since that pack moved across the world, his father doing gods only knows what in the Middle East.”
“Nor have I,” Theo replied quietly. He did not admit to her or himself that he had preferred it that way, that keeping Cruz at bay had been a part of the plan all along. It did not help that the senior Reyes had been playing fast and loose with powers which he had no business meddling within, but that had nothing to do with Theo at the moment. For the time, he needed to focus on Helios.
That’s why Cruz was entrusted with the sword, Theo recalled. He was far away from the Council and civilization.
But maybe it was time for both the sword and Cruz to come home. Theo was going to need all the help he could get. He hoped that everyone was willing to play the part they needed to play.
“And when you get the aranium sword, what will you do then?” Miriam pressed, but Theo only smiled enigmatically. Though he was not quite ready to call Cruz home, there was a very vivid scheme growing in his mind, one that might protect them all if and when the time came.
“That, my dear Miriam, is a matter for another decade,” he told her, extending his arm for her to take. Casting him a final, wary look, Miriam accepted, curling her long, slender fingers into his forearm.
“Where are we going?” she asked, cocking her head to the side to peer at him speculatively. Theo could tell she was trying to read his thoughts, but they were on hold for the moment, even if she was able to probe his mind with the same ease as the shifters possessed.
“It is almost teatime, won’t you join me? I would love to hear more about your daughter. Julia, is it?”
Miriam grimaced and nodded, and the two ventured from the charred skeleton of the church they had used for their Council meeting that day. The smell of ash still lingered in the springtime air, and other buildings on the roadway were in various stages of burnt disarray. It was becoming increasingly dif
ficult to find a place in which to have their meetings in San Francisco.
After five great fires in the past two years, it was beginning to look like it was time to move on from the west.
3
The More Recent Past
The blade sliced over Cruz’s fingers over and over, light drops of blood spilling to the floor before the cuts healed themselves one after the other until he did the next.
The wonder he held for the weapon was one that he might never cease to understand since the moment it had been forged and placed in his hand. Perhaps it was the way it did not affect him in the least but could bring a demon to its knees with a swift cut. Perhaps it was the fact that he knew he was holding the most valuable device in the Enchanted, world and it scared him slightly.
Yet Cruz never wanted to let it go.
“People are going to think you’re a masochist,” Yvette jeered as she entered the fencing room. “What is your fascination with that hunk of metal?”
“This hunk of metal can—and has—slayed demons. And it is in my power.”
Yvette sighed and sashayed toward him, her intense eyes drinking him in.
“You have been here too long,” she sighed. “You need to leave Ara.”
“Hm,” Cruz hummed with some indifference. Yvette was the oldest of his three sisters, only a year younger than him, but in some ways, she seemed much older.
“Do not ‘hm’ me,” Yvette scolded him. “You will go mad if you stay here any longer. Father is—”
“I know what Father is,” Cruz interjected. “And I know I need to leave here, but where would I go? What would I do?”
Yvette chuckled and nodded toward the sword in his hand. “It seems to me that you have had that figured out for quite a while now. Perhaps this connection you have to that atrocious piece of metal is truly a calling.”
Cruz scoffed and replaced the sword in its sheath before fully turning to look at his sister. “What are you proposing? That I go after Helios again? Those days are far from over, my sweet sister. I must resign to my fate as the playboy prince of Ara.”
“Mother will be so proud,” Yvette said dryly. “She had such high hopes for you.”
“She has high hopes for Matin,” Cruz replied, and as if he had been waiting for his cue, the door opened, and his twin entered the room.
“Is he wallowing in self-pity again?” Matin asked.
“Of course he is.” Yvette nodded. “He would not be Cruz if he did not.”
“And playing with your sword?” Matin added, his dark brows raising slightly. “How… Machiavellian.”
“Is this an ambush of sorts?” Cruz demanded, folding his arms over his chest. “Because I am truly not in the mood today.”
“An ambush!” Matin and Yvette howled with laughter. “The poor, hunted boy.”
“What do you want?” Cruz growled. “I was about to go for a swim.” It wasn’t true, of course, but he didn’t want to spend another minute dealing with his siblings when they seemed determined to torture him.
“Wait!” Matin growled, and Cruz turned, hearing the serious note of his voice. The younger twin paused and stared at his brother pensively.
“What?” Cruz grumbled. “Did Father send you?”
Yvette seemed to sense the new heaviness in the air and lost the gentle, teasing smile on her face.
“There is word from Theo Veriday in the United States,” Matin explained. “He will be asking for the sword to be returned soon.”
A strange fluttering passed through Cruz’s body as he gaped at his brother.
“W-why?” he sputtered. “In centuries, he hasn’t made mention of it! Has he word on Helios?”
“Oh, dear,” Yvette sighed. “I hope that’s not it.”
But Cruz couldn’t imagine what else it could be.
“Does it matter why?” Matin asked. “If the Council demands, us lowly peasants must oblige.”
Cruz scowled. The sword belonged with him, not Theo or the Council of Seven. But if they wanted it, that could mean that Helios was close, and that meant more than just a turf war for the sword. That meant that all hell would break loose.
A pang of worry shot through Cruz’s heart. He could be heading here for his own revenge upon me.
“Fine,” he said, trying to keep the word from dripping with worry. “I will deliver it to him personally.” The sooner he left, the better. The last thing he needed was Helios coming to the palace.
No matter how much of a bastard his father might be, Jett Reyes was no match for an incensed demon, not one who had been in hiding for eons. Not without the sword.
“I’ll make the arrangements to leave right away,” Cruz said, a newfound resolve in his step. Suddenly, the air seemed fraught with danger. Could Helios already be nearby?
Maybe I should protest the moving of the sword. After all, Helios is more likely to come for me than he is Theo. Even if Theo thinks he knows where Helios is, he doesn’t know the sword like I do. Maybe I should talk to him.
“You’ll have to wait on that,” Matin called out to Cruz’s retreating back. Cruz paused and cast a curious look over his shoulder.
“Why is that?”
“Because I am taking the jet.”
Of course he is, Cruz thought with some bitterness. The kingdom is at his command. He’s being groomed to take Father’s place.
“How long will you be gone?” Cruz asked. Matin shifted his gaze away, his eyes traveling over their sister, who remained silently against the wall, watching the exchange with a peculiar expression on her face.
“I’m… I’m not sure,” Matin muttered evasively. “Possibly a while.” There was something about his tone which bothered Cruz, but he was far too caught up in his own thoughts about Helios and the sword to pursue the vague answer.
“Fine,” Cruz replied curtly. “I’ll fly commercial.”
“You’re going to take an ancient sword on a commercial flight?” Yvette taunted him. “They aren’t going to let you bring that as a carry-on.” She had a point.
“I’m sure one of Father’s business associates can loan us a jet for a week,” Cruz muttered crossly. “Why did you tell me that the sword needed to be returned if you were just going to bust my chops, Matin?”
A grin spread over the older twin’s face, and he snickered. “Because I do love when you have a temper tantrum.”
The twins’ eyes met, and Cruz thought he saw a flash of pain in Matin’s gaze.
“Is something wrong, brother?” he finally asked. Matin opened his mouth to respond but seemed to reconsider as Yvette stepped closer to hear better.
“Of course not. I have to pack for my business trip.” To Cruz’s shock, Matin covered the short distance between them and enveloped his brother in a hug. “See you soon, yeah?”
Before Cruz could respond, Matin disentangled himself and disappeared from the room, leaving his siblings to stare after him. Slowly, Cruz looked back at his sister.
“Is he dying or something?” he joked. Yvette didn’t smile.
“He’s something,” she murmured, her brow furrowing. “Excuse me for a minute. I think I need to find Mama.” Yvette followed the path Matin had taken, and Cruz could only shrug, turning his broad shoulders back toward the sword.
Once more, he unsheathed it and pulled the blade out fully, admiring the intricacy of its forging.
Hundreds of years, he had been bequeathed the honor of caring for the sword, and now, he was being forced to relinquish the power he had been given. Perhaps he had always known that was coming, that one day, he would be forced to part ways with it, but truly, he hadn’t prepared for the end.
“Goodbye, my old friend,” he sighed, knowing it was silly that he had made such a connection with an inanimate object. The sword had been much more than that, though. It had been a piece of him, a part of his history, of shaping who he had become. On some level, he had thought that the part he had played in slaying Carina and banishing Helios would have granted him more respect f
rom his father and the pack.
You’re chasing old ghosts, Cruz realized. Yvette is right. It is time to move out of the Palace of Ara and get on with my life. There is nothing left for me here.
Matin was next in line to the throne in every way possible, and Cruz knew he would remain living an eternal existence as the shadow brother. But where would he go? What would he do?
He had always liked New York… No, that was too close to the Council of Seven. He had no desire to be that close to their rigid rules and constant scrutiny.
Paris! Paris would be perfect.
He replaced the sword in the holder and fastened it around his waist. There were plans to be made, and he didn’t want to waste another minute guessing where Helios might be, assuming the demon had resurfaced.
Matin can have the jet, he thought, trying to keep the bitterness from his thoughts. He can have the keys to the kingdom. I’m getting out of here and moving on with my life.
Of course, life had been so much simpler back then. He just had no way of knowing that.
4
A Few Months Ago
Gena’s hands fell over the swell of her belly, and she exhaled in a whoosh of breath.
“That was quite the sigh,” Arden chuckled, slipping his arm around her waist. “What’s wrong?”
“Absolutely nothing,” Gena said, leaning her head back into the crook of his neck and resting herself there to hear the sound of his heartbeat.
“You’ve been standing here for ten minutes like I did something wrong in putting the crib together.”
“You did everything perfectly,” she insisted. “I’m just admiring it.”
“Then you won’t mind if I admire you at the same time,” Arden growled in her ear. Gena giggled and felt her body melt against his broad frame, but she couldn’t deny that something was bothering her, even if she hadn’t picked up on it earlier.
He knows me so much better than I know myself, she thought, shaking her head. I didn’t even realize that something was on my mind. How does he always do that?