Chosen Magic (Demon Bayou Book 3)

by S Lawrence

I cup her cheek in my hand, rubbing my thumb over the smooth skin. She shakes her head.

  “You believed in me when I didn’t. When no one did. I believe in you.” She steps into me, wrapping her arms around me and hugging me tight. Turning her face up, I kiss her deeply, pouring my faith and love into her. Pulling back, I hold her face in place forcing her to keep looking at me. “You can do this, Lali. Save her. Not just for yourself but for us all.”

  I feel the shift in her powers before she does. Calming power floats through the room. Unlike the death tendrils, this side of her power wraps you in soft warmth.

  It wraps around Sitara, healing her a small amount. Whatever Theon has done will take more than one session from the looks of it. But she will live.

  Chains clank from behind us, and I turn, leaving Lali to help the woman that raised her. Zeph is pulling Celine to her feet, determination on his face.

  “You can’t kill me, Zeph. You never could.” She grins while pushing her hair from her face.

  “You’re right. I’m not going to kill you.” I frown at his words. I frown deeper when he unchains her. “Avalon won’t let you leave, Celine, so prepare to fight. There will be no one coming to save you this time.”

  She manifests her blade, and I stiffen as she spins to face me but before she can move, I feel Zeph unleash the full force of his power just as mine also breaks free.

  I watch as she raises her blade and slits her own throat just seconds before electricity flows into her, bowing her back and flinging her arms wide.

  He had made her cut her own throat. Suicide.

  See you in Hell, bitch.

  Chapter 35

  CITLALI

  They saved me. My life. My soul.

  Zeph reached my brain, showing me the truth of our duality. Arkyn reached my heart, reminding me that everyone is both good and bad, righteous and evil.

  I’m both the Angel of Life and Death.

  It is a great responsibility. One I’m not sure I want. Can you return your destiny?

  “No, you can’t.”

  Goddamn it, Zeph.“Get out of my head, asshole.”

  Arkyn glances at his friend while Sitara reaches out and grabs my hand.

  “You have to control your temper, Citlali.” Her voice is paper thin. “I’ve been fighting that battle your whole life.” She smiles at some memory.

  “I bet you have stories.” His tone begs her to tell him some.

  “Don’t you dare,” I grumble, hundreds of my escapades playing through my head.

  “All I’ll say, Arkyn, is her teenage years were something close to a second apocalypse. Honestly, I’d take God’s wrath any day over her then.” She chuckles, but it turns into a wracking cough.

  “Let me try again.” I reach for her with my power, but she shakes her head.

  “I’m fine.” She’s not fine.

  Far from it. I glance over at Theon’s body, wishing I could kill him again. Slower. Painful.

  Could I bring him back?

  “Lali?” Arkyn’s voice drags my eyes back to him; he’s frowning. “You are good and light.”

  Is he reminding me or himself?

  “It wouldn’t work anyway, Citlali.”

  I glance at Zeph.

  “I wasn’t in your mind, didn’t need to be. You could kill him every day for eternity, and it wouldn’t make you feel any better. I promise.”

  I feel tears pool in my eyes. I had judged these men, their brokenness, but here they are trying to save me from myself when I’m supposed to be saving them.

  “We can save each other, Lali.” Arkyn moves into me, pulling me against him and holding me tightly. “You gave me what I needed, and I will do the same for you. Every time you get close to the abyss, I will be there between you and the darkness.”

  Zeph comes near, his pale hand reaching for my cheek as I look at him over Arkyn’s shoulder. “I will show you how to control and balance both.”

  I feel Arkyn smile against my neck and I smile at Zeph. I can do this with these men and the rest that wait outside.

  “Sitara, do you know how we can get Avalon to drop the wards?” I realize it’s been a very long time since Arkyn came into the temple. The others are most likely going crazy.

  “Long ago, I knew the spell, but Theon has changed it. Maybe they should ask, like you did.” She smiles at the thought.

  Lucifer asking for permission. I grin at her, and she grins back.

  “Is Avalon alive?” I ask her watching her face very closely. “It seems like it is very aware.”

  “I didn’t think so before, but it’s been thousands of years and you’re right. It seems something more now, somehow.” Her eyes travel around the temple, and I know she can see the original Avalon. “I wish I had stopped him. That day. I should have stopped him and the Fallen that day. Protected those that had protected me.”

  “Who were they?” Arkyn’s words draw her eyes away from the walls.

  “Honestly, I don’t know. I had heard of them long before we angered the Creator.”

  “I remember when they appeared on Earth, for it caused quite an uproar in Heaven. Many angels wondered about them and why God had allowed them entrance to His playground.” Sitara looks over at Zeph as he murmurs mostly to himself, “No one, not even Evander, or as far as I know, Caliel. Luc didn’t either or at least, he didn’t say.”

  “Doesn’t that seem weird? The most favored of God didn’t know anything about a group of beings moving to this planet.” I look at both the men and then down at Sitara.

  Zeph and Arkyn look hard at each other before spinning on their heels and marching down the hall. Literally marching.

  “Go with them, Lali.” Sitara’s voice is quiet. “Convince Avalon to let them out and then to let the others in, if they want.”

  I nod once, turning to follow the men, listening to her talk to Avalon and doing her best to undo the wards.

  Arkyn and Zeph walk right out through the wards; they don’t even slow down. Avalon lets them and I follow, trusting it… She will let me back in.

  Dagen joins us first, his hands held gently at his side. They are burnt horribly, and my power reaches for him instantly, wrapping him in healing light. His hands start to turn pink, the charred flesh falling free. Then it goes a little deeper, healing some of the wounds festering on his soul.

  A soft sigh escapes his open lips as he looks over at Charlie. So much love shines in his eyes and is reflected back at him from hers. It is beautiful.

  “See, my love, I told you. You are light,” Arkyn whispers from where he’s stepped behind me. “You are strong enough for this destiny.”

  “You are my strength,” I whisper back.

  Chapter 36

  ARKYN

  Her power ebbs away, but I still keep hold of her. Luc watches from a slight distance. Crossing the clearing to him, I stop a few feet away.

  “She is alive, but it was close.” I say it low, not wanting to draw the others’ attention.

  “Who?” Good grief, how could the ruler of Hell be such a bad liar.

  “Sitara,” I clarify, barely keeping myself from rolling my eyes like a teenage girl.

  “Good.”

  I don’t miss the subtle relaxing of his shoulders. I’m not wrong; I haven’t been wrong about his interest in the woman. I’ve never seen him interested in any woman.

  I will see her safe for that reason, above all else.

  “Sitara suggested you all ask Avalon for entrance,” Lali says, loud enough for everyone to hear. She looks hard at Dagen. “But please take it slow at the barrier. You should feel it waiver if she will allow you.”

  “She?” Luc perks up paying very close attention now.

  “Avalon,” Lali confirms.

  “She?”

  My girl nods slowly. “We think either she always has been or somehow now is sentient.”

  “The house?” Torryn stares at the temple.

  “Yep,” I answer him as Lali turns to look at what was once
basically her home.

  “I can’t explain it; I just felt something there. I think maybe she has been waiting for Sitara to find her.” Citlali shrugs. “Waiting to be saved...by us.”

  She looks around the clearing at all of us gathered here then focuses back on the temple. I wonder what she sees there exactly.

  “We can, you know, Avalon. We can save you.” She stares at the wards. “You can keep us safe. Even Lillian, who you hurt for so long.”

  We all see it then, the shimmer, like the being let out a long sigh. Lillian stiffens at the mention of her years of captivity, and Torryn glances at Lali, his eyes hard. A warning.

  Lali ignores everything.

  “You kept Sitara safe for a very long time before the Fallen came and Theon helped them. He’s gone now, and it’s time for us to pay them back for your years of servitude.” Her voice grows hard on the last.

  I look at Lillian and watch as her hand comes to cover her open mouth. We hadn’t thought of that. Hadn’t thought of how Avalon, if it is sentient, has been held as a slave for thousands of years. Forced to do things by those insane bitches and Sitara’s maniacal brother. Looking at the rest of my brothers and Luc, I can see they hadn’t thought of it either.

  Luc walks forward right up to the barrier and speaks low, barely a whisper that even I have a hard time hearing his words.

  “I promise I will do everything in my power to protect you and her.” He steps through and keeps walking straight inside.

  We all stand watching until Torryn speaks. “She let Caliel in.” He looks at Lillian and then at Dagen. “That asshole kept going on and on about how powerful he is, and she let him in.”

  “Because of Grace.” We all look at Lillian as she practically floats forward staring at the temple. “You let him in to try to save her.” Tears stream down her cheeks. “Thank you.” She steps through next.

  “I’m with her,” Torryn says blandly as he steps forward, and I can’t hold in my laugh. He turns his head and winks as he steps through.

  Dagen and Charlie stand looking at the temple with me and Zeph. Lali moves to stand in front of me, reaching up and cupping my cheeks.

  “I love you. I’m okay now. I’m going to help Sitara some more, but you need to go find that woman,” she whispers against my lips before kissing me deeply.

  When she breaks away, she looks at the others. “Keep him safe. I don’t know if the woman can track you somehow or if Avalon let her see and hear me. Maybe she sensed Sitara on or in me and thought this was her best chance at freedom. Either way, you all know the Fallen will be looking for revenge, not just for Celine but for the loss of Theon.”

  “We have been fighting them for a very long time,” Dagen reminds her.

  “According to Sitara and Luc, this is like nothing that has happened before. This is Revelations.”

  “Well, I for one hope Jesus doesn’t come down here,” Dagen grumbles and both women turn and stare at him. “I mean I doubt it will happen. He disappeared with God.”

  “Jesus.” Charlie gapes at him.

  “Yes, and knowing what humans do in his name already, can you imagine what would happen if he showed back up now?”

  I shake my head at him.

  “I didn’t mean actual Revelations, like in the Bible, Dagen. I just meant the end of the world as we know it. Everything will be different, if we win this war or if we lose it.” She actually rolls her eyes before turning and stepping through the wards. She stops a few feet away and glances back smiling.

  “I love you.” I grin like a fool when she blows me a kiss. “Call or text me.”

  “Every few hours, I promise.”

  “The jet is waiting for us,” Zeph calls as he walks away toward the truck that’s sitting under the low-hanging vines of one of the tall trees.

  “We’re coming too.” Charlie turns and starts sprinting. “Shotgun.”

  “Dammit.” Dagen sulks as he follows her.

  Starting that way, I pause and look back. Lali is at the entrance, leaning against the ancient stones, smiling at me. Her hand comes up and she waves; she has that smile on her face. The one that says she knew I’d look back. Power is a heady thing.

  Boy, does that woman have all the power over me.

  “Get in, loser. We’re going on an adventure,” Charlie screams out the window, and I shake my head, turning back toward the truck.

  My brothers are all laughing when I climb in the back. It suddenly dawns on me just how much these women are changing us. I can't remember when I last saw Zeph chuckle. Dagen seems different, lighter somehow, less worried, I think. Torryn...well...Torryn is Torryn, but everyone else seems better.

  I’m better. Whole. At least, I’m getting there. Frowning, I flash on Evander. We need to get Grace fixed.

  “We need to go to Hell.”

  This is the time to go. Luc is busy, and so is everyone else. We just need to get there, since Luc usually takes us.

  “Have you ever gone by yourself?”

  Dagen nods. “Haven’t you?”

  I shake my head.

  “Really?”

  “Yes, Dagen, really.” I shrug. “I’ve only been back once.”

  “Once.” Dagen leans across the seat looking at me closely. “In over two thousand years, you’ve only gone back once?”

  “How many times have you gone?” His disbelief screams many more than one.

  “Hundreds and hundreds.” He looks up locking eyes with Zeph in the rearview mirror. “You?”

  “Same.”

  “I mean shit, Arkyn, even Lillian’s been more than that.” Dagen flops back against the seat.

  I look at them both confused. Luc has never asked me to go back. No one has. Why?

  “Why haven’t I been asked to go back?” Forced back. Needed back.

  They didn’t trust you. You weren’t strong enough, my self-doubt murmurs to me.

  “Luc didn’t want you to spend time there,” Zeph answers.

  Charlie turns sideways, looking between each of them. “Good God, you two, you have to explain better than that. Can’t you see that he thinks it’s his fault?”

  “You are too good for Hell, Arkyn. You always have been.” Zeph glances back at me. “Luc and I agreed a long time ago.”

  My mouth drops open as I stare at the side of his face.

  “Did you take my place?” The whispered words are loud in the truck. “Did you do things in my place?” I don’t say torture or kill, although I know that’s what he would’ve had to do.

  Stains on his soul...for me.

  He doesn’t answer, but his knuckles turn white as he grips the steering wheel tight.

  “Why, Zeph?”

  The muscle in his jaw flexes as he stares ahead. He doesn’t answer, and I look over at Dagen, who shrugs. Charlie reaches back over her shoulder, and her fingers close over my hand. I didn’t even realize it was gripping the back of her seat.

  “Why?” I say it louder.

  He draws a breath. As he releases it, he makes a slight growling sound. “Because out of all of us that died that day, you were truly and purely good. You had not killed in His name, you had not coveted another’s position, nothing. You, Arkyn, were exactly as God intended angels to be. Love. For all His wisdom and knowledge, He didn’t understand that the roles He gave us would change the very mesh of our being. Or maybe He did. He sent you right to your tribes, and you flourished. It was bad luck you were even in Heaven that day.” He shakes his head at the memory.

  “I was called back.”

  He hits the brakes so hard my head bounces off Charlie’s headrest.

  “Dammit, Zeph.” Dagen is rubbing the back of his head, and I see the glass is cracked where he crashed into it.

  “Sorry, man.” Zeph turns as he speaks and looks at me. “Who called you back?”

  “He did. He asked for a report.”

  “God asked you to return to Heaven THAT day?” Zeph’s face is red with rage.

  Instantly, I get
it but have no idea why the Father would do that to me.

  “Maybe He knew we would need you.” Charlie tries to offer a kind explanation.

  “Fuuuuuck,” Dagen murmurs, looking at me.

  God wanted me dead.

  Chapter 37

  CITLALI

  Fear and anger slam into my brain. Arkyn.

  Death raises its head.

  ‘You okay?’ Even in our minds, my voice sounds dark.

  I can feel him trying to calm himself. ‘I’m fine, my love. I just found out something that surprised me.’

  Do I press or let him get away with the lie? Then I feel his resolve, not to hide something from me but to be strong enough that I don’t think he needs rescuing. Shit.

  ‘I’m sorry. I was just worried.’

  ‘I love you for that.’

  I can feel that love and try to send the same to him.

  ‘Okay, text me later. Or not.’

  I can feel his laughter. ‘Text or mind meld, I promise. I love you.’

  I love you too.

  “He’s good for you. Balances you.” Sitara smiles up at me from her actual bed where Luc had moved her.

  “You knew, didn’t you?” She blinks unconvincingly up at me. “You knew I would need him. Is that why you’ve watched him specifically for so long?”

  Her eyes flick to Luc, who is sitting in the corner, a baby held in his arms. He might appear to be not listening but he most assuredly is.

  “I’ve watched them all, not just Arkyn.”

  Luc’s eyes raise and narrow on her. “You were the one outside the desert house.”

  It’s not a question.

  She nods. “I was so surprised to see the baby that I got too close.” Sitara smiles at the little girl.

  He looks back down at the girl. “She calms Grace.” I look at the doorway where Lillian and Torryn stand. “Yes, Lillian, I know you told them all. I’m sorry... I shouldn’t have put the burden on you.”

  Lillian crosses to him and kneels at his feet, her fingers curving around the baby’s head as she looks at Luc’s face.