by G. Bailey
The demon king is standing next to her, his hand on her shoulder. I don’t look at him for more than a second as Winter ignores us. I’ve never seen her look like this, the way she looks at me. Her eyes are silver, completely silver, as she rests her hands on the crystal, and she is glowing blue, the way she does when she uses her power, but it’s darker. The blue almost looks unnatural compared to the light colour it usually is. The way she looks at us all makes me wonder if she recognises us at all.
“Winter,” Atti shouts, moving forward and banging his hands on the blue barrier which is stopping us getting to her. Atti’s hands glow white as he tries to break the barrier, but it doesn’t work. I can tell that nothing happens after a minute. If Atti could break this, he would have by now.
“She is mine, now,” the demon king laughs as the crystal cracks in half. Both pieces fall to the ground, and the cave shakes. The screams from the city get louder, just as I hear a loud roar. What the hell is that? Winter lowers her hands almost robotically, still staring at us with an empty look. A witch appears next to the demon king, placing her hand on his shoulder, and he smiles down at her.
“You betraying, little bitch, I will kill you for this!” Atti shouts at the witch, and she shrugs a shoulder.
“You let my daughter die. Taliana should have lived and been your queen!” the witch shouts back, and everything makes a little more sense.
“Trust me; when I get my hands on you, you will beg for the same death as your daughter,” Atti promises, and the witch pales a little.
“Winter, Winter, snap out of it,” Jaxson shouts, banging on the barrier, and he growls loudly. Winter doesn’t move, she doesn’t even blink as she stares at us. For a second, I think I see a flicker of blue in her eyes, but it’s gone the moment the demon king steps next to her. We need to get him away from her as he must have some way of controlling her. I’m surprised we didn’t think of it before. She is his blood.
“You are no kings, you can’t even protect your queen,” the demon king laughs, and Jaxson growls as I step forward.
“You will die, and I will kill you,” I say the words slowly, and the demon looks at me with a smirk that reminds me of my father. I know it’s not my father, but it’s his body still, it’s him still.
“I enjoyed killing your ancestor, he was always the best fighter. Vampires have speed but rarely brains, I believe you have neither. Ah, but children do dream, don’t they?” He laughs.
“Things have changed in the years you were locked away,” Dabriel says in a clipped tone, his eyes never leaving Winter.
“And your ancestor. I liked him...but he was stupid as well. He tried to kill me and save Elissa,” the demon king tells Dabriel.
“You killed your mate, how could you do that?”
“She stole my child, my child!” the demon king spits out. “But it doesn’t matter. I have Winter, my grandchild, which is even better,” he says with a dark laugh and nods at the dark witch. I watch as he disappears, taking Winter and the witch with him.
“Winter!” Atti shouts, but it’s no use. The barrier falls, and the city shakes harder as the ward falls. Screams fill the night as I look at my friends, my brothers.
“We need to save our people and then Winter. She will never forgive us if she comes back to everyone dead or if we kill ourselves trying to get her now,” Dabriel tells us all, and we nod, not liking the idea but knowing he is right as we listen to more screams.
“He won’t hurt her, he needs her,” I tell Jaxson who looks close to shifting. Jaxson looks over at me and nods. “Let’s save the city,” I say and walk out of the cave with my brothers. Each one of us is broken but willing to fight. First, the city, and then we will save our mate.
Seventy-Four
Dabriel
“Is that everyone?” I shout after healing a little girl, and her mum nods at me as she holds her close. A bundle of crystals is at her side, and I think back to the crystal trees that the demons burnt down. That’s all we have left of the most beautiful and magical trees in the world, just those crystals. I don’t hear anyone shout out after a few minutes, but I take the time to look around the infirmary at the witches here. There is only a fraction of the ten thousand that lived in the witches’ city. Thousands have died today, and when the barrier dropped, the demon king sent two dragons to kill the rest of the witches and burn the island. It makes sense that he would have creatures like dragons, but knowing of them and seeing them is another matter. We just managed to pull a couple hundred injured witches out of the fires before we had to leave. By now, there will be nothing left of Atlantis. I walk out of the room and look over as two wolves carry a dead witch wrapped in sheets out of the room. So much death. The castle is out of control with witches being brought in, and surprisingly, the vampires and wolves are trying to help. There aren’t that many witches though, not compared to the ten thousand we knew lived on Atlantis.
“How many?” I ask Wyatt as I walk into the entrance hall where he is talking to a vampire who doesn’t look impressed. They are talking in French, which I don’t understand a word of, and Wyatt changes the conversation to English when I stop next to them.
“The witches need help, and as your king, I’m saying you will help them. They are mainly women and children, are you that heartless?” Wyatt shouts, and there is silence as the old vampire bows his head and walks away. I’m surprised he didn’t use his power to command them, but then he has never been that kind of vampire. Or king.
“Atti called,” Wyatt taps the side of his head, not answering my question, but I can tell from the little witches that are here that it is bad. The demons must have killed thousands today, and Winter is gone. How did a day of celebration of Atti becoming the king we knew he was meant to be and mating with Winter, become a day we and the witches will never forget? I follow Wyatt up the stairs, stepping over the witches sitting huddled up, and watch as they bow their heads to us as we pass. They shouldn’t bow to us, we have done nothing but let the demon king take our queen. Plus, their city has been destroyed. We go up the four flights of stairs until we get to our rooms that are on one long corridor. Wyatt walks straight to Winter’s room, and I shut the doors behind us. Jaxson is sitting on the bed speaking quietly to Freddy, who looks over at Wyatt and nods at him.
“I can’t be long as more people need to be healed,” I tell Atti who turns to face us with Milo on his shoulder. Milo has some strange, green outfit on that looks made of leather. I bet some doll, somewhere, is missing an outfit. Milo almost makes me smile until I look at his blue skin and memories of Winter come to me.
“We have a way to get Winter back. Well, Milo does,” Jaxson says.
“Me,” Milo replies and points at his chest.
“Freddy and Milo were talking about the ward around the vampire castle,” Atti says, and relief fills me as I see Atti’s nod. The annoying little creature who eats Wyatt’s Oreos is a demon after all, he might be able to help us. We haven’t been able to think of any way to get her back at all. It’s seeming hopeless, as we can’t fight the demon king while he hides behind his army and the ward.
“Tell me how,” I ask Atti.
“I can walk through my blood ward,” Milo says and then flies over to sit on my shoulder. He’s not making much sense, as he hasn’t quite learnt how to put sentences together right yet.
“What Milo means is that he can pull one person through the ward around the vampire castle,” Jaxson says, standing up and walking over with Freddy following.
“Who and what’s the point? We can’t fight the demon king and his army on our own. He could hold a knife to Winter’s throat, and we would put our weapons down for her,” I say and groan when I realise Freddy is young to be hearing this about someone he loves.
“Winter is going to be okay, right, Uncle J?” Freddy asks Jaxson who puts a hand on his shoulder.
“We are going to get her back, we love her as much as you do. Why don’t you go and watch some movies?” Jaxson suggests.
<
br /> “I’m not a kid, I’m not watching movies when everything is going wrong,” Freddy snaps, pushing Jaxson away.
“No, you’re not a kid. No kid should have to live what you have gone through already at such a young age. Jaxson only wants to protect you,” Wyatt says to him.
“I don’t need advice or sympathy from you,” Freddy growls out, and Wyatt steps closer, not one bit fazed by his show of aggression.
“Look, Harris and the others are going to need some help sorting out the witches and finding them rooms. Why don’t you go and help the beta?” Wyatt suggests, and I see Jaxson nod.
“I will send a message to him. They need help,” Jaxson says, and Freddy looks down at the ground before meeting Wyatt’s gaze.
“Fine, but save her. I won’t forgive you if you don’t,” he says and walks out of the room.
“The kid is growing up and getting balls to speak to all of us like that,” Atti says, making us laugh a little despite the situation.
“Balls? Do humans have balls?” Milo asks, and Atti laughs.
“One day I will explain that, but not now,” I tell Milo, who nods with an innocent face. I bet the little demon is winding us up.
“Right, I have an idea for Winter. I’m going; as her mate, I can try to push my magic into her, and hopefully it will snap her out of it. It’s the best chance we have, but I’m going to need a distraction,” Atti says, making it clear it will be him that goes in after her. I want to suggest I should, but I know it’s not what’s best for Winter. I have no way of getting her out of his control, whereas Atti does, and I trust him to save her.
“I suggest we take fifty wolves and vampires, and attack the castle,” Wyatt says, and we all nod. It’s the best way to make a distraction, hopefully the demon king won’t take Winter with him.
“I can get fifty witches to appear and take everyone back to the castle after twenty minutes,” Atti offers.
“If we time it right, that should be all you and Milo will need to get Winter and get out,” Jaxson says, pacing the room.
“She might not come willingly, and you might need to knock her out and bring her here,” I say, remembering how she looked at us, how she reacted. She is under his control, and it’s going to be a fight. I can’t even think about what the demon king might be getting her to do, even in the one day he has had her. If we attack tomorrow, that’s two days she will be alone with him and completely under his control. The thought just makes me want to kill him.
“I will save her,” Atti promises, his words strong, and I know he will.
“I should go and see the angels; see if they will come here to be safe. I have a feeling the demons will attack them next,” I say, but it’s more than a feeling. I haven’t had any visions; the future seems blocked to me. The last one I had was just a storm. A tornado in a storm, and there was so much fire. I don’t know what I was seeing, but I don’t want to be around to see that in real life. I still hold on to the vision of Winter and all of us by that lake in the future, but it seems so far away, and I know the future can change in a second, making my visions useless.
“They won’t come,” Wyatt warns, knowing my race is stubborn, and nothing will make them leave their precious home. They wouldn’t want to live with other races, as they see them as inferior.
“Well, at least, I can get some of the healing herbs and bring them here as I can’t keep healing everyone,” I say, knowing that my old room there has a wall full of jars of herbs laced with my magic.
“Go, brother, and we will plan the attack for tomorrow morning,” Jaxson says and pats my shoulder.
“A lift, Atti?” I ask, holding out a hand as Milo flies off my shoulder and goes to sit on top of Winter’s bed. Atti grabs my arm and moves us instantly, and when I open my eyes I’m outside the council. The large, white building is so different from the normal houses that line the streets of the village. No humans live in this village, but they do drive past it, believing it’s just a field thanks to a witch’s ward.
“I’ll wait,” Atti says and goes to sit on the seats outside as everyone stops moving to stare at us. I’m sure we look a sight with our burnt clothes, and both of us covered in blood and blue dust. I don’t care what they think, this is their future if they don’t leave. There aren’t many angels left to begin with, being that the war with the witches killed so many of us. The idea of even asking the angels to now come and live with those very same witches seems like a disaster, but I won’t let them die just because I don’t want to ask.
“How dare you bring a witch into the council?” Zadkiel says as he walks down the stairs and smirks at us. Zadkiel’s hair is completely shaved off now, and he has decided to wear a royal cloak that I believe our father used to wear. I don’t even know where he got it from. At least, he isn’t wearing the royal crown; I don’t think I would hesitate to kill him if he were.
“I suggest you shut up, brother, before I lose what little control I have and kill you,” I tell him. He doesn’t move or speak as I open the doors to the council and walk in. My brother was always the coward. My marks appear on my skin without me calling them, because I’ve been awake so long, and I’m tired. I want my mate safe and need to rest. I don’t know how many witches I’ve healed or demons I’ve killed in the last day. The council is speaking to each other when I walk in, and only one of them is missing. They might actually listen to me when there are so many of them here.
“The witches’ city has fallen. Queen Winter of the witches, wolves, and vampires has been kidnapped, and I’m begging you to move our people to the goddess’s castle. It’s the only place that is safe and our only chance,” I say loudly, and the room goes silent. I look around at the aged angels, seeing the sympathetic look on Lucifer’s and Gabriel’s faces, but not many others seem that upset about the loss. Thousands of witches and people have died, and they almost look pleased.
“Dabriel, I am sorry for your loss and the loss of the witches’ city,” Veja says, a dark angel who is old but one of the kinder ones.
“How many died?” Gabriel asks me.
“Thousands, there aren’t any more than two thousand witches who escaped,” I say, and there’s silence around the room. They know how many witches were on that island, they know how a loss like this would be told in history, and that what they say here will be remembered. If the demons killed that many witches, who are powerful, in their own city, the angels will struggle. We don’t have the numbers that the witches did, and at least twenty percent of our population are old. We lost a lot of our younger generation in the war.
“Then many demons would have died, and the demon king’s army will be smaller. I feel we are safe here,” Gabriel says, and dread fills me. They can’t be serious. The demon army will be bigger than ever, because he wouldn’t have just killed the witches, he would have taken some of them back to the castle and turned them.
“No,” I reply, and there’s a hushed silence around the room.
“You are thinking with your emotions for your lost mate and not what is best for our people. We have four thousand angels that would not be easy to move without a reason.”
“Isn’t the death of an entire city reason enough? The witches had ten thousand!” I shout, and it’s Melan who speaks.
“Not our city,” he says. He must be the oldest angel here, a light angel who has scars from the war, from losing his four sons when the witches killed them. I understand why he would never feel sympathetic to the witches, but this isn’t about him and his own desires, this is about the fate of the angels. I don’t want my entire race to be destroyed.
“You are all fools,” I spit out.
Lucifer stands up. “I side with Dabriel, and I’m taking my family to the goddess’s castle. I suggest you do the same and stop being fools,” he says and walks around the council and out the doors, nodding at me before he walks out.
“I side with Dabriel. I may believe the demon king army is smaller, but I’m no fool; I know we will not win the fight
here. I sincerely hope you choose to follow the rightful king,” Gabriel says, shocking me a little, but he nods at me before walking out.
“We will discuss this and wish to have you come back here tomorrow at midnight,” Veja says, and I give him a look of shock. I had hoped he would be another to side with me on this, he has a young family.
“It will be too late,” I say, knowing if we get Winter back, the demon king will attack the next place he can. I can’t tell them we are going after Winter because I cannot trust any of them. They could be working with the demon king, and I wouldn’t even know. I won’t risk our rescue plan for Winter for anything.
“When our people look back at the history of the biggest war of supernaturals, this will be remembered. It will be remembered how you sat in your chairs and made the biggest mistake that cost lives,” I tell them, but not one replies as I turn and walk out of the room. When I get outside the council building, every single angel outside stops and bows their head to me. Atti stands up and walks over, wordlessly placing his hand on my shoulder.
We have our Queen to save.
Seventy-Five
Winter
Darkness and snow. Darkness and Winter. Darkness and love. Darkness and life. Which one saves the queen? Which life will end for the queen?
The child-like voice sings through my mind, the sentence keeps repeating and getting louder and louder. I want to scream for it to stop, to stop the song but everything feels cold, and words don’t seem to leave my lips when I think them. I blink my eyes open, and there’s nothing but blackness. An endless black smoke that fills an empty place. Emptiness and darkness, and I don’t know why I’m trying to escape. What is out there in the darkness?
“Wake up, Winter. Winter, you must wake up and wear the crown.”
“What crown?” I whisper to the female voice I barely recognise. It’s Elissa, my grandmother.