Changeling (Black Petals Book 2)

by Marie, Tarisa

  “I healed you,” he assures me. “Another secret talent of mine.”

  I gawk at him. Are there any limits to what he can do? Aria and Crispen return with two unconscious elders and set them down beside me. I find that I have no urge to take any souls. I mean I always feel an urge, but it’s not one that I need to satisfy at this moment. It’s manageable.

  “Those are for me actually. Well, part of one of them should do,” Aiden explains to his siblings who looks me over as if they too think they may have lost their minds. Aiden takes in a little bit of the soul showing me the vast amount of restraint the man has. I envy this.

  Crispen settles is a chair looking torn between snatching the humans and getting them out of here to safety and forcing his brother to finish the one he started off. Aiden looks pale and ill.

  “Are you okay?” I ask him in a shaking voice.

  He nods. “Yes, just a little weak yet from the hellfire.”

  “Then take that soul,” I state as if it's obvious.

  He shakes his head. “Megan, taking a soul won't help. It's beyond that. Hellfire takes time to heal from. It's not something that can be fast tracked by souls and I only take what I need.”

  This confuses me at first but then a trickle of humanity reminds me that it's morally wrong to take people’s souls. They aren't just for our sustenance.

  Aiden picks up the knife I pulled from myself.

  “It's Terry’s,” I croak and clear my throat.

  Seeing the question in my eyes, Aiden says, “Yes. He stabbed me with it when I was determined to fight with my people against the rebels though I was still injured and in no shape to fight. He said it was in everyone's best interest for me to stay out of it and hide, but I don't hide. I didn't think he'd actually stab me, but…” Aiden flips the knife in his hand. “He did.”

  Speaking of Terry. I begin to panic. “Terry, Forrest, Mason, and Landon,” I ramble. “Maxwell said Forrest and Terry were dead and Forrest said Landon's missing.”

  Crispen and Aria look agitated.

  Aiden puts a hand on my shoulder reassuringly. “I know Terry and Forrest and if they're dead, then the whole damn demon population is dead. He probably just told you that to scare you. Landon, well, he's safely studying alchemy elsewhere trying to figure out who's soul is locked away in that jewelry box and why it's there. I sent him away secretly since it’s a confidential matter.”

  “Tamzen was killed, Aiden,” I inform him.

  He nods. “I figured as much with all the bodies lying around. I'm sorry, Megan.”

  I recognize that this is no time to fret on those already dead when others’ lives are in danger. “I have to go back and find Mason and the others.”

  Aiden scowls. “Definitely not. Do you have a death wish?”

  “No, but they're in danger and we're just sitting here,” I explain and stand carefully. Since when am I so eager to risk my life? Since I realized that I'm not scared of death. I just stared death right in the face and actually begged for it to come. I just faced reality in such a harsh way that I never have before. I see life not differently but from more than one angle now. Maxwell tried to make me weaker, but he only made me stronger. He tried to scare me but he only made me fearless.

  “Maxwell is dead. Not only is the rebel’s leader dead, but Terry’s eldest son, Forrest’s brother,” Aiden mutters to himself, ignoring me.

  Crispen laughs darkly. “He was a fucked up guy. Don't fret it. I'm the one who killed him. Let the wrath be on me.”

  Aiden sighs. “I need to get ahold of Landon.”

  Aria places her hands on her hips. “You're not going anywhere. It's not safe.”

  Aiden chuckles. “Since when would rather keep me alive than kill me?” he jokes.

  Aria scowls and her mouth drops open. “I'll have you know that the attacking you thing was the boys’ idea, not mine. I just went along with it. I never really wanted you dead.”

  Crispen half smiles. “Yeah. We kind of forced her along. She thought we were stupid to follow you all over the world. Eventually she left and moved to Australia.”

  Aiden looks amused. “Whatever. My people are under attack. I need a plan.” He slumps down onto the couch.

  “From what we've been told, this is a matter for Crispen and I to handle. They're mostly changelings. No royals with special powers who can forcibly make us demons, right?” Aria sits next to Aiden as if she is completely comfortable doing so.

  Aiden's eyebrows pull together. “No royals. They would never agree with changelings getting a say in anything. It's suspected there is a pure helping them pass through the portals. Probably a pure who's been cast out by the law and wants revenge on me.”

  “Then Crispen and I attack them. We will probably get caught, but we can knock down their numbers before you send your soldiers in,” Aria offers.

  Aiden thinks this over.

  “It's the only thing we can do right now,” Crispen urges. His use of ‘we’ makes my heart pump harder. He considers us a ‘we’, a team?

  A breathless Terry comes barging through the door with someone in his arms.

  Aria and Aiden stand promptly. Aiden approaches his friend quickly.

  Terry drops the man he carries onto the floor. “A rebel. Still alive. Seems to be a pretty highly ranked one. Anyone up for some torture?”

  Crispen snorts. “Leave it to me. I need to do some demon torturing.”

  Aria punches his chest hard and screams, “Crispen!”

  He laughs and shrugs. “What?”

  Aria glares at him as Terry seems to notice all the blood on his floor and the broken wall. Well, he must notice the knives in his walls too and the shattered window. He cocks an eyebrow.

  Crispen starts to explain but Aiden interrupts him. “Maxwell came through the portal and attacked Megan and tried to kill her. She fought back as you can see but he sliced her throat with a brass blade and stabbed her multiple times in the abdomen. Aria and Crispen returned from fetching some souls from the mainland and found him on top of her as she bled and he continued to torture her. Crispen acted against him, trying to stop him but he was determined and Crispen had to kill him to get him to stop,” Aiden explains calmly, his eyes not moving from Terry. He looks both apologetic and annoyed. Terry’s facial expression is stone, giving away nothing.

  “If it counts towards anything, I didn't know he was your son,” Crispen adds quietly, looking nervous. He's likely aware that Terry could kick his ass any day. Terry has millennia on Crispen.

  Terry nods once. “Very well. What's done is done. It had to be done. Where is the body?” he says seriously.

  Aiden nods to the bathroom where Crispen threw it and Terry saunters off towards the bathroom stopping to say, “I'm glad you're alright, Megan.”

  Awkward silence ensues as the four of us stare at each other.

  “Let's give him some privacy,” Aria whispers and heads for the door.

  The rest of us follow quickly and go sit on the deck. Aiden reaches for Forrest’s pack of cigarettes on the table and lights one before tossing them to Crispen. Not him too. Do all demons smoke?

  Aria scowls at both boys. “You two! That is disgusting!” she shouts in a harsh whisper.

  “My brother just killed my best friend’s son for attacking the woman I love,” Aiden whispers back. “A cigarette being disgusting is the least of my worries. My people are under attack. The world is in danger and I'm supposed to save it.”

  Aria seems to let her argument go. Aiden and Crispen look between Aiden and I. At first I'm confused but then I remember that they don't know that Aiden knows about Mason and I.

  I nod at them and they seem to get what I'm silently telling them. Aiden is quick and doesn't miss our exchange. “Yes, I know about her and Mason,” he assures them.

  “Aria thinks Megan has a thing for us brothers. She's taking her turn with each of us,” Crispen teases, trying to lighten the mood. He winks at me playfully.

  A small grimace
forms at Aiden's lips but then he smiles and a small laugh escapes him. “Maybe,” he agrees teasingly.

  I glare at the boys as all three siblings laugh.

  I'm surprised that the tension between Crispen and Aiden is so low. Just days ago Aiden was torturing Crispen and probably planning on making him a demon so he could kill him. They haven’t even talked things over yet. Maybe Crispen has decided that the torture Aiden put him through in hell was some sort of payback for the centuries of havoc he, Aria, and Mason wreaked on Aiden. Maybe they consider themselves even.

  “So now what?” Crispen wonders, looking to Aiden.

  Aiden's look darkens. “Now we wait until Terry comes out here and tells us how bad the damage is back at the castle.”

  Crispen takes a draw from his cigarette and exhales a cloud of smoke. Aria scoots away from him a little.

  “That burns my nose and gives me a headache,” I complain even though it's far from the right time to complain about a little smoke.

  Aiden immediately begins putting his out. Crispen looks at me. “Seriously? Get over it, Megan. You know you're a demon and you don't really need to breathe, right? Can't you just hold your breath for a few minutes?”

  I guess I never thought about not having to breathe. I stop breathing and an uncomfortable feeling arises. It's not that I have to breathe but it just feels wrong not breathing. It's better than the smoke though.

  Aiden cocks an eyebrow. “You're right. We don't have to breathe but it's certainly more comfortable to breathe. It's a reflex that we don't lose when we become demon. It'd be weird to just not breathe all the time.”

  Soft footsteps have me looking to the door where Terry stands in the doorway. “I've finished mourning,” he states.

  Aria looks confused. “You were only in there for five minutes. I'm sure more time can be spared for you to mourn your son,” she offers.

  Terry smiles kindly at her. “Thank you, but it's not needed. I've lost many sons and daughters in my life. Many friends and lovers as well. When you live as long as I, you learn that death is something to celebrate and not mourn. I will celebrate Maxwell’s life, not mourn his death. His struggle, his fight it's over now and he may rest.”

  We're all silent as we take in Terry’s wise words.

  “Forrest will be here shortly. He was just finishing something up. We reacted quicker this time and the rebels’ numbers have fallen. The hit was smaller this attack,” Terry tells us calmly. I can't help but wonder how much strife the man has been through in his life.

  Crispen goes off to see if he can get any information out of the rogue changeling and the rest of us wait impatiently on the porch. We're all edgy. Except for Terry of course who takes this all as if it's completely normal and everyday stuff.

  “Terry, may I ask you something?” I ask eventually, breaking the silence.

  Terry looks to me and smiles with warmth. “Of course, child.”

  “What do you enjoy?” The reason I ask this is because Terry never seems to enjoy anything. He seems to have had all amusement taken from his eyes.

  He ponders my question. “I enjoy this island and I enjoy my family.”

  “Do you have family other than Forrest?” I ask him, aware that I might hit a sore spot.

  “Forrest has no children and neither did Maxwell or their older sister. Demidemons cannot procreate. I had my three demidemon children with the same woman years ago. After she gave me children, she became a changeling and later was killed on duty. We were together eighty years. Before her, I had many other children with different women all changeling. All have since died except for four who are guards. I have many grandchildren. I'm related to many changelings and probably many demidemons, but most are such far relatives that I couldn't even point them out. I'm basically their ancestor. Most don't know I'm even related to them. I consider Aiden and Forrest my closest family.”

  A small twitch of Aiden’s lips is enough to tell me that he’s happy to hear Terry say this. I know he feels the same way about Terry.

  The moment is interrupted by Forrest’s sarcastic voice. I didn’t even hear him approach so either he’s really sneaky or I wasn’t paying enough attention. “Yeah, sometimes I think he likes Aiden more than me.” Forrest’s jaw clenches then and a more serious look crosses across his face. “Have you disowned Maxwell, father?” he asks. The grim look on his expression tells us that he already knows the answer to his question but he needs reassurance.

  Terry looks to Forrest and shakes his head. “Maxwell is gone, Forrest. He tried to kill Megan so he had to be taken out.”

  Forrest winces and closes his eyes for a moment as he comprehends this. In some way I feel guilty for Maxwell’s death. We’re all quiet as Forrest mourns his brother. I don’t expect Forrest to be as strong as his ancient father when it comes to losing someone he cared so much about, but Forrest sighs. “I guess there are more important things to worry about right now. I’ll have to mourn my brother later,” he announces, pulling himself together. I can still see the sadness and pain in his voice and see it in the lines of his face though. He’s not alright. “Our numbers haven’t fallen much unlike theirs. They seem to be running out of people to send at us, unlike us who just keep recruiting more. Without Maxwell I guess they won’t be making their army much bigger.”

  Aria nearly leaps from her seat. “Mason?” she asks with worry. “Is my brother alright?”

  Forrest nods. “Yes, Mason is fine. He’s quite the little fighter,” Forrest claims and begins pulling off his bloodied blue t-shirt. It’s ripped in a couple places where it looks like someone grabbed him harshly.

  I glance over to see Aria staring him down like he’s some sort of masterpiece and I find myself smirking. Aria does like Forrest.

  Terry smiles warmly as if he knows exactly what I’m thinking.

  “What? Like what you see?” Forrest asks, motioning to his body and smirking at Aria.

  Aria’s light laugh is full of amusement. “Of course not. You’re my enemy, remember?”

  Forrest’s grin widens. “Technically I’m only your half enemy.”

  “I don’t think it makes a difference.”

  “No? You want to test that out?” Forrest flirts. His smile falters a moment later and he looks to Aiden. “Where is Maxwell’s body?”

  Aiden nods to the house and Forrest disappears inside after assuring Aiden that if he needs anything, to come get him.

  Chapter 14

  Later that day, after Aiden’s rounded up as many guards as possible, Crispen and Aria take off to raid the rebel’s hideout. Crispen obtained its whereabouts from the changeling he tortured for hours in the basement.

  I am flown to the mainland and then put on a plane to where Landon is for safekeeping. Mason comes along with me since he is assigned to be my guard after all. We land in the UK and rent a car so Mason can drive us to where we’re heading. Apparently he knows exactly where this place is that Landon is because it’s right where he grew up years and years ago.

  We pull up to a very old-looking house and Landon ushers me around the back to where there is a small hatch in the ground. It appears to be an old cellar. Instead of jumping through the hole like Mason does, I take the stairs at a near human pace.

  “Jesus, Megan. You’re being a slowpoke,” Mason groans. “Do you even have demon speed or did that shit Landon fed you make you slow as hell?”

  I send a glare his way as I reach the old dirt floor. It smells gross down in this room and I have trouble breathing at first before I manage to push away the strong scent into the back of my mind and focus on other things. I’m getting much better at these things.

  With my enhanced vision, I can see through the dark to where Landon works at a table. He pulls a pair of headphones from his ears and turns to us.

  “Megan, Mason, he greets us excitedly,” he removes his gloves and comes to wrap me in a hug.

  I can’t help but punch his shoulder in anger. “That’s for not telling me Aiden was better
and letting me think he was still crazy,” I explain. I can’t be mad at him long because I know he did it for my own good like Terry and Forrest also did. “Don’t those hurt your ears?” I ask him, nodding to his headphones connected to his phone.

  Landon rolls his eyes and shakes his head. “No, I’m used to living topside where shit is always loud and my hearing isn’t as good as Aiden’s.”

  I can’t imagine sticking a pair of headphones in my ears. It’d be like walking into a dance club with blaring music times ten on the lowest setting of my phone’s volume.

  “How long does it take to be able to handle sounds again?” I ask him.

  “A few months and you should adjust much more. It’s just all so new right now.”

  Thank god. I look to his desk and the huge tables around the barely candlelit room. “What are you working on?” I ask him, already knowing the answer.

  A strange look comes over Landon. He throws down an ancient, thick book on the dusty table and points to a passage. It’s in Latin so there’s no chance of me reading it. Mason however begins translating it for me. Apparently I’m the only one out of the three of us who can’t read Latin.

  I don’t understand much of what Mason tells me because although he’s translating it, the translation makes no sense to me. It’s like reading Shakespeare. I’ve never been able to understand it.

  Mason looks intrigued when he’s finished. “This is your mother’s book?” he assumes.

  Landon explains that it’s Aiden’s mother’s book. He then goes on to point out what seems to be some sort of code on the inside of the jewelry box with the pearl inside. Then he goes back to the book and points out what looks to be a key to a code but I can’t be sure. My mind doesn’t work as fast as theirs seem to.

  Landon then hops over to another table and grabs a piece of paper. He goes over how he took the letters from Aiden’s mother’s book and the letters from his own mother’s book as if they were some key to a code. On the paper he holds out to us a short sentence is written upon it. A prophet’s eye.