by Jessica Cage
“Magua? What?” the bear king sat naked on the ground. “How the hell did I get back here?”
“I’ll explain later. For now, stop them!” Magua helped Bukai to his feet and pointed to the tree line at the far end of the field where the bears had nearly met the line of shifters who stood to defend the inner circle.
Bukai stood, shifted to his bear form, and let out a war cry so powerful that it rumbled the ground. The bears immediately took note and halted their retreat. A second cry from Bukai was the confirmation they needed that he was indeed okay. Slowly they backed away, disappearing into the trees.
“Dammit, that was close!” Magua slapped the bear on the back. “Let’s not do that again, okay?”
“You’re going to have to explain to me what happened here.” Bukai rubbed his neck and grunted. “Why the hell do I feel hung over?”
“In time, I will.” Magua pulled Bukai into his arms. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”
“Explanations will have to happen later. The spell is done but we must cleanse this place and end the ritual the right way.” Azalea rolled her eyes. “You know, how you all neglected to do the last time?”
“What do you need?” Nitara asked the leader of the dark witches.
“I need the dragon fire.” She pointed to the canisters that had fortunately remained intact throughout the order. “And I need for you all to get the hell out of here.”
“Gladly,” Rosie spoke for the first time and was rushed by her friends. Their chattering questions gave her a quick headache. “I’m okay, I am. Thanks to you all.” She looked up to Bruto. “Take me home? Please?”
“Nothing would make me happier.” Bruto laid a kiss on her and they disappeared from the altar.
“I can’t believe I almost lost you back there.” Bruto held on tightly to the woman he feared he would never feel wrapped in his arms again. They hadn’t left the bed since they returned home.
“I’m glad that you didn’t.” She kissed his cheek. “Thank you for fighting for me.”
“Of course, woman. You are my everything. You know that.” He paused. “Can you tell me now?”
“Tell you what?” Rosie dropped her head to rest it on his chest as she stared out of the bedroom window.
“What is it between you and Daegal and Genesis? You’ve hinted at things, but I really just need to know. This entire mess nearly drove me insane.” It was a difficult question to ask, but one that he could no longer avoid.
“You’re right. You deserve to know.” Sighing, she pulled away from his hold and sat on the bed next to him. “I told you how Daegal took my family from me. How he murdered them. What I didn’t tell you was that, when he did it, he forced me to watch him swallow the hearts of my children. That is why I felt him so much more intensely than any of you. He has my blood within him, he took in the souls of my children. All this time, I could never heal from that pain. I could never be free of him regardless of not having a vessel. I have felt that evil inside of me, every moment since he took my precious babies from me.” She sighed as the rain began to fall and tap against the window. “Now, Bruto, I am free of him, finally.”
“Rosie,” Bruto sat up and pulled her back into his hold, “I had no idea.”
“It’s okay, I’ve had a long time to come to terms with what happened.” She touched his face. “I was just waiting for the day when I could breathe without feeling him inside of me. There is more though. My husband. Daegal didn’t want him. He wanted to hurt me. So, he simply killed him. Ended his life right before my eyes. But what I didn’t know at the time was that he didn’t kill him. Not really. He released him. He released the demon who had been posing as my husband.”
“What?” Bruto held her tighter, wishing that was enough to take the pain of her past away.
“Genesis. The man I thought was my husband, had been Genesis for so long that I struggled to decipher which man I was really in love with. It was all a ploy so that Daegal could get what he wanted. Immortality through the sacrifice of my children. Three innocent children born to a witch of the light. That magic tied him to my life, and granted him more than I ever could have imagined. That is why the spell worked the way it did. When I stepped foot on the altar, it gave Daegal the anchor he needed. One strong enough to pull him back to this world.”
“I don’t know what to say. I don’t have the words.” Bruto wiped the tear from her face with his thumb and kissed her forehead. “I can’t believe he put you through all of this.”
“There isn’t anything to say. Not really. We all know that Daegal was a fucked-up person. He did a lot of terrible things. Maybe now we can all live our lives without the shadow of him. For the first time, in far too long, I don’t feel him. I don’t have any inkling that he is lingering in the shadows. I really think that we did it this time. He is gone and I hope that he suffers in hell for an eternity for all that he did to us.”
“How do you feel knowing that Genesis is back here? I don’t think he plans to leave anytime soon.” Bruto swallowed the lump that immediately formed in his throat.
“No, I doubt that he will, but I don’t really care what he does as long as he stays the hell away from me.” Rosie bit back the urge to curse the name of the man they spoke of.
“He loves you.” Bruto fought to admit it to himself. Rosie needed to do the same.
“He is a demon, he is not capable of loving me or anyone else. And even if love found its way into his cold, dark heart, it doesn’t change a damn thing. I love you, Bruto. That is all that matters in my mind.” She kissed him and stretched. “Okay, now can we please get some rest? Tomorrow I have to go try to get my babies back here.”
“The birds?” Bruto thought of the penguins who’d ran from her island.
“Yes, that’s if they will ever trust me again. I can’t believe I hurt them all in such a way.”
“Well, they’re not all gone.” The sly grin stretched across his face.
“What?” Rosie looked up at him, eyes full of hope that her babies had returned.
Pointing to the door, Bruto laughed. There stood the stumpy body of her favorite penguin, Pepper. He waddled over to the bed, making a sad, whiny noise, the same one he made when she first found him, orphaned.
“My baby!” Rosie jumped from the bed and pulled the bird into her arms. He cooed and nuzzled his head into her chin. “I’m so glad you are okay!”
“Found him hiding in the closet back there. Seemed he didn’t want to leave. I even tried to free him myself, but he stared at the water and then turned and started trying to climb back up here.”
“Thank you,” she looked up to Bruto, “for taking care of him.”
“Yeah, I couldn’t have the little guy be harmed. I knew you’d be back here and want to have him here with you.”
Rosie lifted Pepper from the floor and brought him to bed with her. Bruto groaned but laughed when Pepper laid the most pathetic pouty look on him. “Yeah, yeah, all right.” He gave in and pet the bird on the head.
“Bruto,” Rosie whispered his name with a contented sigh.
“Yes, baby?”
“Sing for me.” Rosie smiled as Bruto filled the room with the soothing crooning that captured her heart all those years ago.
Cold sweat covered her body as Bruto gently shook her awake. He remembered just how it ended the last time he tried to wake her from a nightmare and braced himself for impact.
“Baby, wake up.” When she opened her eyes, she was met with his frightened gaze.
“It didn’t work,” Rosie sobbed as she sat up in the bed. She dropped her head in her hands and trembled with unreleased tears. “Oh my god, it didn’t work!”
“What?” Bruto lifted her head and wiped the sweat from her forehead. “What do you mean?”
“It didn’t work. He is still coming.” She jumped from the bed. “Daegal, he is coming!”
“Baby, it was a bad dream.” He pulled the cover back. “Come back to bed, we took care of Daegal. He isn’t going to h
urt you or anyone else ever again.”
“No, it wasn’t a dream! He’s coming back.” Rosie climbed out of the bed, and as she did her nude body became clothed. “We have to get the others. I need to see Sybella.”
“Sybella? Why?” Bruto jumped from the bed. “Are you sure you want to do that?” Remembering the pain he experienced when he let the seer inside of his mind, he tried to convince her not to go there. “Let’s sit and think about this. Tell me what the dream was.”
“There is no time. We have to go.” Rosie vanished in a swirl of pink smoke.
Bruto groaned and looked at the penguin, still resting peacefully in the corner of the room. For a moment he wished he could switch places with the bird. Instead, he reached out into the smoke, using it to transport him to where she was.
Sybella stood in the room with Briar by her side.
“Why are we here again?” Briar yawned. “It’s the middle of the night.”
Sybella held her hand up. “Just wait for it.” A moment later the room flooded with swirls of colorful smoke as Jinn, Nitara, Bruto, and Rosie appeared.
“What is this?” Briar spoke, angered by their sudden arrival. “You cannot just pop in here whenever you want!”
“I know,” Jinn attempted to calm her. “I’m sorry, we tried to stop her.”
“I had a vision that told me to come here.” Sybella looked at Rosie. “It is you, isn’t it? The reason I have been drawn here.”
“Yes.” Rosie’s bloodshot eyes turned from the seer to the fairy queen. “I am so sorry to do this, but it is important!”
“It damn well better be.” Briar shot Rosie an angry glare. She couldn’t have just anyone coming into their city’s capital whenever they felt like it. It would set a bad precedent.
“Give me your hand, child,” Sybella called Rosie’s attention back to her. She held her hand out to the worried woman.
Rosie complied with Sybella’s request, and as they touched, they were wrapped in the pink light of Rosie’s magic. Sybella floated in the air in front of her as her mind was consumed with dark visions. It lasted just a few moments before the light fell and so did she.
“Sybella!” Briar ran to her side and lifted her head from the ground. Her eyes slowly fluttered open. “Are you okay?”
The others all ran to circle the fallen seer. The woman had already been through so much. She’d barely been able to recover from summoning Genesis and now, once again, she was being put through the ringer. They waited through her soft groans for her to speak.
“He is coming,” she coughed. “The warlock, he is coming for the child.”
“Child? What child?” Bruto questioned. He looked to Rosie who shook her head and sobbed.
“The one growing inside of you.” Her thin finger lifted, pointing to the belly of the woman who stood directly at her feet. She lifted her head and her eyes lit like orbs of moonlight. “He wants your baby.”
“What the hell?” Jinn moved to Nitara who stared down at her stomach and then back to the Seer.
“What do you mean there is a child growing inside of me?” Nitara finally choked out after the suffocating pause had taken over the room. “How?”
“I would assume you know how,” Sybella answered as she was helped up from the floor and into a nearby chair.
“This doesn’t make sense!” Jinn paced the floor for a moment before he moved to Sybella. He leaned into her face. “Your vision must be wrong.”
“We all know that her visions are never wrong. It makes perfect sense.” Rosie spoke. “He took my children and now he wants yours.”
“I can’t be,” Nitara remained in the same spot. Her hand touched her stomach. Her breaths came at a labored paced. “I can’t be pregnant. How?”
“You have been feeling sick lately. I sense that even before this moment you’ve felt the change in your body.” Sybella provided. “There is a reason for that.”
“Jinn,” Nitara looked to her husband who’d become frozen in time. When he didn’t answer her, she hit him in the shoulder. “Jinn!”
“Yeah, I-,” he looked to Sybella, “What do we do?”
“You’re asking me?” Sybella leaned back into her seat.
“You’re the one who is tapped into the future,” Jinn spoke with a force that would scare anyone other than Sybella.
“All I can say is that we need to get ready.” She straightened and met the angry man head on. “He is coming, and if we don’t prepare, we all die.”
“Well, that’s not too ominous.” Bruto pulled Rosie into his arms. “Are you okay?”
“No,” she trembled, “I thought this was over. I thought we were finally free, but we will never be free of him. I will never be free of him!”
“We will, okay, we put him down before, and we’ll do it again.” Bruto tried to comfort her but his words only made her angrier.
“And then what? He finds a way to return? He always does!” Her body trembled and Bruto tried to hold on to her but he could feel himself losing her.
“Rosie, please calm down.”
“No, I need to be alone!” She pushed away from him, looked at Nitara with a whispered apology and left the room in an explosion of pink.
“We should go after her,” Jinn reached out for the essence of her. He wanted any reason at all to get out of that room but Bruto stopped him.
“No, I think it's best that she is alone.” Bruto watched the last of the pink disappear. “She needs this time. She has to work through this on her own. The last time I tried to force her to do things my way I nearly lost her.”
“What did she mean, he took her children?” Nitara’s voice broke. “Rosie had children?”
“It's not my story to tell, maybe someday she will share it with you all.” Bruto wiped the tear from his eye.
“And until then?” Nitara lifter her eyes to his.
“We get our shit together and prepare to fight.”
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Jessica Cage is a bestselling author from Chicago. She often bleeds elements of her home town into her work. You can find out more about her and her signature Caged Fantasies at www.jessicacage.com. You can connect with Jessica on Twitter at @jcageauthor, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/jcageauthor and you should send him an email at [email protected] if the mood strikes you.
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