by R. Getsee
“We gave up hope of finding them for a reason,” Orion stated and he rolled his eyes. “We searched the Earth for years, and we never found a trace of them.”
Tyrion scoffed in his direction, “We gave up because we were tired… We fell to mortal indulgences; you should remember, seeing as you have indulged more than most.”
“You have done plenty yourself, brother,” Orion sneered. “As I recall, it was your fae brethren who slaughtered a village of innocent nephilim.”
“You mean the fae who were ridding the Earth of powerful nephilim influenced by his darkness?”
“Enough,” Lucian spoke quietly, but it was enough to bring the heated argument to a head. I sighed in disappointment. Had they been talking about the creature in the shadow-land? “We came here today to broker a peace between our races so the Earth may heal and our children can grow up without living in fear of war. We did not come here to squabble like the youngest of our kin.”
The men looked at each other, breathing heavily as I stared, dumbfounded. There were other races of supes? I’d heard stories of the fae and angels and a whole host of other supernatural beings, but that’s what they were meant to be—just stories. What happened to them if vamps were the only ones left?
“Lucian is right.” I arched my brow. Orion definitely seemed the most defensive of the group, so it surprised me that he caved first. “Our people have been at war for far too long. We must find a solution to end their fight before the world is in ruins and the First’s work is undone.”
Tyrion shot him a sad smile. “Perhaps this is why He forbade us to live among the humans. Our descendants have only a fraction of the power we hold, but it is enough for them to tear down the world with their feuds.”
“As long as they have knowledge of each other, they will continue to crave each other’s power, continue to fight each other for it.”
Everyone turned to Lucian with questioning looks.
“We must wipe their minds of the knowledge of each other; make it so each thinks they are the only race besides the humans. We must spread them out so they do not stumble upon each other before it is time and they are ready to live in peace with each other.”
“That may work… if it were not for the fact that it would take an exponential amount of power from us. It would destroy us.” Orion didn’t look pleased at the suggestion.
“We failed the First in our inability to find the stones, we betrayed his decree that we would live apart from the humans, and this is what has become of our selfish desires. We are at fault for the war that is tearing the world apart, and we must make this sacrifice to make amends for our selfish deeds.”
Tyrion nodded in agreement. “Then we shall.”
“And what of the prophecy?” Orion asked. “If everyone forgets and we are no longer here, then who will find the stones of power and stop that thing from breaking free?”
I stopped dead, my ears pricked, afraid to even breathe. I knew exactly what they were talking about when he said that thing—the creature from the shadow-land. I was pretty sure that was the only thing which would make the men around me look so worried at the thought of it getting free.
“We failed to find them ourselves, and the world needs our sacrifice,” Tyrion pressed.
“Then perhaps we must put it into the hands of mortals.” Lucian looked around the small group calculatingly. “If they are to find the stones and defeat him, then they should remember.”
“But if the humans remember, what is to stop them from attacking our children out of fear? The war cost just as many human lives as supernaturals.”
“Then we only tell one.” Lucian raised his hands, and a human materialized out of thin air in front of me, making me yelp and jump into Orion. As I studied the human who fell on his knees, probably not expecting to be transported into a circle full of supes, I cried out in shock.
“Roman?” I asked in disbelief.
Looking closer, I saw that I was mistaken. The man in front of me held a strange resemblance to my brother’s best friend, though he was older and his hair was lighter—a warm chocolaty brown that matched his eyes, instead of the striking blue eyes that I had memorized like they were my own. Whatever reason he looked like my brother’s friend, I couldn’t find any reasonable explanation as the man was also incredibly human.
The man looked around in surprise and awe. As soon as his eyes landed on the men in front of him, he bowed his head deeply. “Ancient ones,” he said in a reverent tone, his voice just as rich as his doppelganger, “how may I be of service?”
Ancient ones? Though I already figured that these men were the Ancients that the creature had spoken of, it was still jarring to have it confirmed. I leaned closer, desperate not to miss a single word, knowing that this may be the key to answering all the questions that had been building in my mind.
“Rise,” Orion commanded. The resemblance between the human and Roman again struck me, though he lacked the trademark intense stare and jet black hair. “As you know, the war between the races has been hard-fought with many casualties on all sides. This war is seemingly endless, and we have lost faith that our kin will never see the senselessness in the fighting. The only thing that is certain is that if this continues, thousands of more innocents will die.”
The human looked star-struck as he looked between the men as if they were gods. “Forgive me, I am grateful that you wish to intervene, but I am just a simple man. What could I do to help that beings such as you cannot?”
“We need you to remember,” Lucian said.
“Remember what?” The man looked equal parts confused and terrified, and honestly, I couldn’t blame him.
“To stop the war, we must wipe the memories of everyone so that all supernatural races will live in secret from each other,” Tyrion began.
“And we will sacrifice ourselves in the process,” Orion added, clearly not pleased with the outcome of the meeting.
“But we ourselves had a mission far greater than that of this war, something entrusted to us by our creator that we failed to complete.” Lucian placed a hand on the trembling man’s shoulder. “Something is coming for this world, a being of pure evil and darkness. We call him the Jet. He is the first being to roam the universe that submitted himself to the dark energies of this world, which is why there is so much horror in it now. He was once our brother, but when he destroyed our creator, he damned himself to a plane where he is imprisoned.”
“With his last breath, our creator proclaimed a prophecy that only three that hold the power we were created from will unite to stop the darkness from swallowing the world.” Tyrion had taken over the explanation. All eyes, including mine, were glued to him as he continued, “We failed in our mission to find these chosen three, but perhaps humanity will succeed. As we take the memories of our brethren, we shall give you ours. We have chosen you to be the vessel for our memories, the key to find the three. They will be passed down through your blood until the time is upon us for the chosen to rise. Do you accept the burden we place on your shoulders to become the first of the Watchers?”
The human bowed his head and nodded, whispering the words, “I accept.”
The Ancients looked to one another, a silent moment passing between them as they raised their hands in unison, and I was suddenly thrown back by a wave of power.
A brilliant white light blinded me, making my ears ring as I felt a pulling sensation, and I bolted upright. My vision swam as I saw a white ceiling in front of me.
“She’s awake!” Someone yelled before I flung myself to the side and emptied my stomach onto the hospital floor.
14
Alex
My head pounded like a jackhammer as people talked around me. Cool hands reached over to hold back my hair as I heaved, before I flopped down onto the bed with my eyes closed. When I finally forced them open and sat up, I was overcome by another wave of nausea.
As people crowded around me, I held my hands out in an attempt to ward them off. I des
perately tried to remember why the hell I was once again in the hospital before memories rushed back, and I gasped, jerking upright.
We had been in the mall before Emi and I had been attacked. The headache and throwing up made sense now. In my disoriented state, I thought it had been because of my latest vision, but as I reached to probe the back of my head, I winced as my fingers grazed over a large lump of tender flesh.
I obviously had a concussion from someone hitting me over the head with what felt like a large building. I’m getting really sick of getting knocked out and waking up in the damn hospital.
“Miss Morgan?” Someone reached over, lifting my eyelids as they shone a flashlight in my eyes, making me flinch at the sudden brightness. “Can you tell me what your name is?”
“Alexia Morgan.” My tongue felt thick in my mouth, and my words came out jumbled.
I tried blinking a few times to clear my vision before my eyes landed on a man standing over my bed in a white doctor’s coat. He turned to the nurse behind him and murmured a couple of things to him, which he quickly jotted down on a chart in his hands before he turned to leave.
“Miss Morgan, I’ll be back soon with the results of your scan. Please try to rest. If you need anything, press the call button beside your bed,” the doctor said before he exited the room, leaving me alone with a pile of questions.
I whipped my head around as I heard a loud screech, like a cat being strangled.
“Alex!” The high-pitched shriek sounded again as Emi came into view in the open doorway.
She practically ran into the room before throwing her arms around me in a tight hug that restricted my airways. I choked as I tried to pry myself from her arms. The girl was freakishly strong, though, and held on until I was pretty sure my face turned red from lack of oxygen.
“Sorry…” She cringed, loosening her grip a little to allow me to breathe. “Are you okay? Please be okay.”
“I’m fine,” I croaked out, wincing at the raspy whisper of my parched throat.
Grabbing a plastic cup from the bedside table, I took a long drought of water to quench my thirst as I looked around at the stark blue and white of the sterile walls and listened to the hustle of busy workers and the beeping of monitors in surrounding rooms.
Clearing my throat, I tried once again. “I’m alright, how about you? The last thing I remember was a couple of guys jumping us in the mall parking lot.”
Emi settled into the uncomfortable looking plastic chair next to my bed, her face pale and expression pinched. “Two Elementals attacked us.”
I choked on my water. “What?” I spluttered, gasping as she reached forward to pound on my back. “Are you sure that’s who they were?”
She nodded, her hair whipping around at the motion. “One of their shirts tore in the struggle and I saw his tattoo, it was the mark of the Elementals.”
“But why would those crazies attack us?”
“I think they were after you,” Emi said, looking back at the door as if to make sure we weren’t overheard as she lowered her voice. “Remember what Professor Carlisle said about them believing that the fifth element was the key to ultimate power?”
I stilled, blood leaching from my face. “How would they even know about me?”
“Well, it not like it’s a secret that you can control all the elements,” Emi said. “And anyone from school could secretly be one. They’re masters of deceit and most are raised into the cult.”
I fought back the urge to be sick again as I realized she was right. I could have been in the same classroom as any number of Elementals.
“I can’t even think of that right now,” I said with a shiver. “Tell me what happened after I blacked out. How did we get to the hospital?”
“Roman,” Emi said. I raised an eyebrow, urging her to continue. “They must not have hit me as hard as you, cause I wasn’t out for long. When I woke up, they were trying to drag you to a waiting truck. I tried to fight them off, but I was too disoriented to do much.”
I felt a pang of sympathy as her eyes shone with unshed tears and I took her hand.
“I know that you did your best, and that means the world to me,” I said. “But what does that have to do with Roman?”
“Roman and Jared were at the mall, I think that they were checking up on us to make sure we were okay. They arrived just in time and Roman sort of went nuts,” she said, a little smile forming in the corners of her mouth. “He was holding out on us—he’s actually crazy powerful, it was insane.”
I shot her a pointed look as she drifted off, her eyes taking on a dreamy quality. It was ridiculous that I felt a little pang of jealousy. I knew that my bestie was hard into my brother and the leader of what she had creatively dubbed the ‘Team Ralex’ fan club, yet I couldn’t help the surge of annoyance as I tried to get her to focus on the story.
“Anyway,” she finally said, snapping out of her daze, “Roman went totally crazy. He set one of them on fire and started to beat the other guy until they bailed and jumped into the truck and sped off. The guys wanted to follow them, but you were unconscious, and we couldn’t wake you up, so we rushed you here instead.”
She turned to me as she finished, her eyes shining with emotion before she burst into tears. “It’s all my fault,” she sobbed.
Shocked, I wrapped my arms around her, squeezing tight. “How is it your fault?” I asked. “You didn’t make them attack us.”
“No,” she cried, “but I forced you to come shopping for that stupid dress. Even with all the crazy shit that I knew was happening, and the fact that we knew Elementals wanted control of the Fifth… Then you get attacked, and I was too useless to do anything but watch my best friend almost get taken.”
My heart swelled for the girl in front of me. “Don’t you dare blame yourself. You couldn’t have done anything. They got you first to make sure that didn’t happen. And that dress was well worth almost being a virgin sacrifice.”
My cheeks burst into flames as I realized what I’d said, but as Emi let out a choked laugh, I couldn’t regret my little confession.
“So,” I said, my cheeks still on fire, “how long was I out for?”
“About eight hours,” Emi said, wiping her eyes with the tips of her fingers.
I let out a rushed breath. What the hell did they do to me that it had taken so long for me to heal? Then with a start, I remembered what had happened while I was under.
“I had another vision…”
“What?” Emi leaned forward again in her seat. “Spill.”
The concern in her eyes grew as I filled her in on what I had witnessed in the clearing. We both sat in stunned silence once I had finished, contemplating what I had learned would mean and how it involved me.
“So basically there are other supernatural races out there, descended from these Ancient dudes. The devil is basically going to be coming to unleash hell on Earth, and only three uber-powerful people will be able to stop it?” she said, ticking off her fingers as she listed everything.
I shrugged. “Yeah… Pretty much.”
“At least we know what to call that thing now,” she said. “Evil Creepy Murderous Thing was kind of a mouthful to say.”
We started to chuckle, and within minutes, we clutched our sides, gasping for breath as Jared and Roman entered the room.
Roman looked at Jared with a what-the-eff expression, and my brother just lifted a shoulder in a shrug. “They do that sometimes.”
“You okay?” Roman asked, his eyes dark with concern as he stared into mine. His gaze was so intense that it took me a few seconds and a couple of swallows before I could answer.
“Yep,” I smiled softly, “I’m all good.”
“Are you sure?”
I nodded as I met his gaze once again. “I’m fine. It seems I owe you another thank you for the save, though. This hospital must be getting tired of you hauling my ass through the doors.”
He shot me a killer smile that made my heart squeeze painfully. “They
might, but I’ll never get tired of saving you. I kind of like being your personal hero.”
“So now you’ve appointed yourself my personal hero?” I snorted.
“Well, you seem to need one; you’re starting to make a habit of getting yourself into trouble. And I do look good swooping in and saving the damsel.”
“Oh, so I’m a damsel now?” I raised my brow in challenge. “You might need to check yourself before your ego weighs you down and you can’t swoop in the next time I need saving.”
Was I flirting with him? And more importantly, was he flirting back? I gave myself a mental shake. I wasn’t even doing a good job of it, and he was just being his usual charming self. I’m totally blaming my complete lack of game on the head injury. I really needed to get over my crush before it became painfully obvious how into him I was.
“Seriously, though,” I said, “thank you. I don’t even want to know what would have happened to us if you hadn’t been there.”
Emi shivered. “I don’t even want to think about that.”
“Hey,” Jared said indignantly, “where’s my thanks? I saved you, too.”
“We know,” Emi snorted. “Thank you for saving us, Jare. You’re my hero.”
He turned red as she pecked him on the cheek lightly, looking extremely pleased with himself even as the three of us laughed. We all sobered up immediately, all jokes forgotten as the doctor from earlier entered the room.
“So, Doc, what’s the prognosis?” I asked, trying to keep my tone light as the worry from earlier came back full force.
I had been trying to keep from thinking about what had happened that took me so long to heal from. I fought a shiver as I thought of what those weirdos could have done while we’d been unconscious and completely defenseless—the ideas alone sent a chill through me.
“Well, Alex, you’re one extremely lucky girl,” he said. “If you had been a human, you may not have come out of this scrape in such good form.”
I winced, realizing that I’d obviously gotten more than just a bump on the head.