Savior (Starlight Book 4)

by D. N. Hoxa

  “I’m usually a pretty great judge of character, and I would have bet a lot that you’d have come around by now. So you’re either bluffing, or you were tortured more times than you could handle and you’ve completely lost your mind. Can’t decide which right now…”

  His voice trailed off as he raised a perfect brow, his eyes now darker than they were before, if that was even possible.

  “How did you get Azazel to join you? I mean, everyone can see through your bullshit by now. Was he that weak, or did you make him do your bidding, the way you’re trying to do to me?”

  There wasn’t much I could think of that could force a demon to do anything, but it was a possibility. I was willing to give the Elder the benefit of the doubt.

  “And here I thought you to be smart,” Samayan said. “When you realize how much value power truly has, that’s when you’ll be able to understand how the world and everything in it works. But, since you’re set on being a spoiled little brat, I’ll tell you what I came here for and let you decide how you’re going to surrender.”

  On purpose, he let his words sink in for a second.

  “As you already know, I have your sister. I have your lover. I will have your father and all of your dear friends by the time another day has passed, and unless you come to your senses and agree to read Illyon for me—which I also have—they are all going to be dead tomorrow, by midnight.”

  Flames and ice fought inside my chest, threatening to tear me completely apart. Samayan was not bluffing like me or so said the mad spark in his eyes. Suddenly, all air left my lungs, and I couldn’t bring myself to breathe. Ella. Aaron. Dead.

  “You know how to reach me,” he added, that awful smile reflecting on all sides of me, taking away my last thread of will.

  18

  ——————————

  The sun fell on my face, its rays stronger than I’d ever felt them before. Had it not been night the last time I was awake?

  “Star!”

  The voice that called my name was familiar, but I couldn’t put my finger on it, especially since it was coming from far away. I looked around me and my fingers closed around the freshly cut grass blades under me.

  “Star! Come on, now. The tea is ready.”

  A big lump formed in my throat. The voice was coming from much closer now. And I recognized it.

  Breathlessly, I jumped to my feet and looked behind me. The house was two stories high, mostly white but with lots of wood decorating the windowpanes and the roof. Lots of flowers, too, hung on the walls and around the patio. And on the patio, right across from me, standing behind the small, round table, stood my mother.

  A cry escaped my lips, but no matter how much I wanted to start running already, I couldn’t move for the longest second. My eyes wouldn’t blink as I took all of her in, her blond curls, half tied behind her head with that beautiful golden clip, the white dress she was wearing, the smile that stretched her lips…

  At some point, my legs began to walk on their own towards her, as I watched her wave me over. The closer I got, the more real it all seemed, and when I finally entered the patio, I saw we weren’t alone. A small head filled with some more blond curls took whatever breath I had left from me. Baby Ella played with one of her favorite toys, a doll made of cloth she would later call Dolly, and gave her tea to drink with her small toy cups.

  “Sit down,” my mother said and patted the chair next to her. Mesmerized, I turned my eyes on her again, and I did as she said. The white cups she drank her tea in were on the table. She waved for me to take mine, and she turned her loving eyes towards Ella. “You know, I always thought she was going to take after you. I don’t think you ever even owned a doll. Lots of toy trucks, though. You used to make your father proud.”

  My voice wouldn’t work. Tears wet my cheeks. She was there, my mother, right there within my reach, and I couldn’t even raise my arms for the life of me. I wanted to touch her so badly. I wanted to hold onto her and never, ever let go. For a second, I hoped I’d died, that Samayan had found a way to kill me, and this was heaven.

  “But she won’t let go of that thing,” my mother continued with that laugh of her that warmed me all the way to my toes.

  “Mom,” I breathed. The word tasted like a nectar of gods on my tongue.

  “Yes, honey. I know. I should let her do whatever she wants. It’s just so hard not to impose sometimes. We mothers always think we know best.” She put the cup to her lips and met my eyes as she slowly sipped. The same eyes that taught me what love was with just a look.

  “I missed you.” My whispers were weak, but she heard me. And she looked surprised.

  “I’ve been right here, honey.”

  “No, you weren’t. You left.” I regretted the words as soon as I said them. She was there now. Why on earth would I go and ruin it, or waste time talking about stupid things?

  “Well, if I did, I returned.” My mother turned to baby Ella again. “Your father wanted a boy, but between you and me, I’m glad she’s a girl. You’re going to always have someone now. You’ll never be alone.”

  Another cry escaped my lips. I almost asked her if she remembered that she hadn’t given birth to me, but I stopped myself. I didn’t want to waste precious time.

  “Tell me about you,” I said as my body slowly began to unfreeze. I could even feel the tips of my fingers now.

  “What about me?” my mother said.

  “Anything. Everything.” I knew so little about her. She’d left us at the worst age possible. I had no idea who she was growing up or as a little kid. I had no idea what made her angry, sad, nervous. I wanted to know what she thought about the world around us, because I’d been a kid, then a teenager, and I hadn’t had the time to ask or pay attention before she passed.

  My mother laughed, the sound probably made in heaven by the hands of the most beautiful angel. “I wouldn’t know where to start. But you shouldn’t concern yourself with things like that. You have a decision to make.”

  A shiver went down my back. “No, I don’t. I’m staying right here. I’m never leaving your side again.”

  Her eyes poured pure love into me as she smiled. “It’s okay, honey.”

  I tried to move my hand, but it was so heavy. I wanted to touch her, to feel her skin under mine, but my body just wouldn’t obey me. “What’s okay?”

  “Anything,” she said. “Everything.”

  I shook my head. “I don’t understand.”

  “Star!”

  My head turned back, even though all I ever wanted to look at was my mother’s face for the rest of eternity. And when I found who’d called me, I almost passed out.

  Aaron and Ella stood in the yard, right where I’d first woken up. My brain nearly shut down. Wasn’t baby Ella there on the patio with us, playing with Dolly? Yes, yes, she was. I double-checked.

  But then, grown up Ella—vampire Ella—was also there, standing right next to Aaron. They were both waving me over.

  I squeezed my eyes shut for a second. Maybe I was just seeing things. I hoped I was just seeing things.

  Unfortunately, when I looked up again, Aaron and Ella were still there, and so was my mother and baby Ella playing with her doll.

  “Mom?” My mother would know what to do. Now that she was there, I had nothing to worry about. She always knew what to do.

  “It’s okay, Star. I promise you.”

  “Mom, please. Just stay here, okay?”

  “I’m not going anywhere, honey. But I really need you to know that it’s okay.”

  “I don’t want it to be okay! I just want to stay here with you!” Why was that so hard to understand? Why was it too much to ask?

  “You’re always with me.”

  When she put her hand above my motionless one, I cried out again. I cried out because I saw her touch me, but I couldn’t feel anything. I was completely paralyzed.

  “Star, come on! How much longer are we going to have to wait for you?” Aaron called, but I didn’t d
are turn my head his way. I just kept my eyes on my mother.

  “Something’s wrong.” Something was very wrong.

  “But you don’t have to make it right,” my mother said. “Unless you want to.”

  She completely lost me. “Just don’t go anywhere,” I warned her again. If she did, I didn’t think I would be able to follow her. My body was not my own.

  “Mama?” Baby Ella had finally looked away from her doll, and she seemed confused to see me there. She looked exactly like I remembered her, barely a year and a half old. The most beautiful baby I’d probably ever see.

  “Hi, little girl,” I said, half laughing and half crying. But Ella didn’t react to my words the way she used to. Instead, she turned to Mom again.

  “Mama?”

  “She doesn’t know me.” But my mom did. Why?

  “That doesn’t mean she won’t need you.”

  But Ella didn’t need me. She was a vampire now. She could protect herself, couldn’t she?

  Not against Azazel. He’d gotten to her anyway. And no matter that I had two Ellas around me now, I knew deep down in my bones that she was in trouble.

  “But I want to stay here.” I wanted to stay with my mother. I missed her so much. Was that so bad?

  “That’s okay, honey. It’s okay.”

  Okay, okay, okay. I was sick of that word. What was she trying to tell me, and why couldn’t she just say it?

  “Star, please. I’m bleeding,” vampire Ella called, and despite myself, I looked at her. She really was bleeding. Both her hands were pressing hard on her stomach, and blood poured through her fingers.

  Suddenly, my body was mine again, and I jumped to my feet. “Help her!” I called to Aaron, but instead of doing anything, he grabbed his head with his hands and just shook his head.

  “I’m always with you, honey,” Mom said. And Ella fell to her knees. Aaron wasn’t doing anything. Instinct took over. I ran towards my sister, but the way to her became…longer. The more I ran, the farther they seemed.

  But then Ella stood up again. Her hands were at her sides, and there was no blood on her stomach. I stopped running. She looked at me, as motionless as Aaron. It was like they were judging me.

  When I turned around to look at my mother, she was there on the patio with baby Ella on her lap. She smiled at me, then waved her fingers like she was saying goodbye.

  And then I fell.

  ***

  I was on my feet even before my eyes had the chance to open. The image of my mother waving at me with Ella on her lap was still so vivid in my mind.

  A dream, I said to myself. It was just a dream.

  “Whoa, there,” Frosty said as he appeared at my side and grabbed my arm. “Are you okay?”

  I jerked my arm away. “I’m fine.”

  We were still in the same room, and I’d been lying on the only sofa. At least they hadn’t put me on someone else’s bed. “Where’s Jack?” I asked when I didn’t see the vampire.

  “Phone call. He’ll be right back.” Frosty’s brows narrowed as he analyzed my face. “What happened? You just passed out.”

  “I’m fine,” I insisted. Not that I didn’t want to tell, but how could I describe my meeting with Samayan or the amazing, terrible dream I’d had? My mother’s face was crystal clear in front of my eyes. She’d been so young in the dream, so full of life. God, I’d give the whole world to see her like that again for real.

  The door opened and Jack walked in. He’d probably heard us talk because he didn’t look surprised to see me awake.

  “There’s a way to break the bond,” he said, the words rushing out of his mouth.

  Finally, I thought. Some good news. “How?”

  “In order to sever all ties of a demon to earth, he has to die by the hand of a Nephil.”

  “Arturo,” I whispered. He was the only Nephil strong enough who was going to fight with us.

  Jack grinned. “Already called him. He’s on his way.” I could have kissed the vampire had a million other things not been as fucked us as they were. “One other thing.”

  “Good news, I hope.” I was craving some good news, as much as I was craving water.

  But Jack flinched. “Tytania wants a one-on-one with you.”

  “Forget it,” I hissed. It was her fault that Azazel had betrayed us. He’d done it right under her nose! No way was I wasting time with her now.

  “Exactly what I said.”

  “You did?” Jack was a very respectful vampire around the Elders. Everyone was, in fact.

  “The exact words,” he said with a nod.

  Maybe I was as bad a company to the Red Rebels as I always feared I would be.

  “So what happens now? We’re nowhere near finding anyone. Everything’s still pretty much a mess up here,” Frosty said, touching his temple. Jack rolled his eyes.

  “Samayan has your vampires. He has my sister and my boyfriend, too. He’s going after the rest of the people I care about, and unless I find him by midnight tomorrow, everybody’s dead.”

  Both vampires opened and closed their mouths before Frosty could finally speak. “How do you know that?”

  “Doesn’t matter.” I made for the door. The walls of the room were starting to close in on me, and I really needed some water. Maybe some tequila, too. Lucky for me, the bar was right downstairs.

  “So she just knows things?” Frosty asked Jack as they followed me downstairs.

  “Pretty much,” said Jack. “You’ll get used to it.”

  There were no vampires or humans in the building, which I appreciated. I jumped over the bar, grabbed a bottle of warm water and drank it all in one sip. Then, I went for the bottle of tequila. Jack and Frosty sat on the stools, their arms crossed on the counter. I felt like a bartender. What an easy life that would have been…

  “So, what’s the plan?” Jack asked reluctantly.

  What’s the plan? The plan hadn’t changed at all. We were simply on a new deadline.

  “We’re going to war.”

  19

  ——————————

  I often say that my mother always knew what to do. She knew what to do even in a dream. I’d needed her before, a lot of times. Needed her advice, but never as much as now that I felt between two giant fires that could turn me into ash before I could blink. So, aside from anything else, she knew exactly when to come to me.

  I’m not delusional. It could have very well been just my conscience trying to help me, but I chose to believe that it was really her. Her words, her smile. And to be honest, I would’ve never told myself that it was okay if I chose to surrender. No, it was definitely her.

  But surrendering now was the last thing on my mind. Like I said to Jack and Frosty, we were going to war against Samayan and all of his followers. Yes, he had my little sister and he had Aaron, but if I decided to do what he asked, the world would be gone. The time had come to put myself and my own last. The fight was going to cost me my life, anyway. It wasn’t hard to come to terms with that. Good thing I didn’t have too much time on my hands to think about everything in detail before Everett Hapsburg called.

  He’d found where Samayan was holding the thirty vampires and probably Ella and Aaron, too. I’d been ready to bet it was somewhere in the Fifth Dimension, but no. The fucker had taken them all to Necterram, the no man’s land in the fairy realm. Which could mean one of two things: he was either full of shit and he didn’t technically have Illyon in his hands, because the book couldn’t exist outside of Earth, or he wasn’t there. But Everett was certain that there were a few thousand soldiers taking shelter in Necterram, everything from shifters to vampires to witches and warlocks, and if a man kept his army in one place, it was only logical to assume he would be there, too.

  Yes, Samayan was full of shit. And I was walking right into his fanged mouth without knowing what to expect, but he did give me a deadline. I had a little over twenty-four hours to find him if I was going to have any chance to save Ella and Aaron.

&nb
sp; Adrenaline pumped through my blood as I listened to Jack reach out to all our allies. This was it. The day had finally come, and I was even less prepared than I always feared I would be. Without any idea about the power of the sky Illyon promised, I was no better equipped to fight Samayan than the next person.

  I dialed Kai’s number with shaking fingers. I didn’t think she’d join us, but I did feel like I owed it to her to tell her what was going on.

  “Are you fucking mad?” she hissed as soon as she picked up. “You can’t just—”

  “It’s happening, Kai. We have a location. We’re going in at noon.”

  The time had been Everett’s suggestion. The sun was funny in the fairy realm, but noon was always light. We needed light because we had no idea what would be waiting for us there.

  “Fucking hell, Star,” she whispered with a loud sigh.

  “We leave for Necterram through fairy portals,” I said. Courtesy of Kyahen, forced by Tytania, who hadn’t had too much to say to Jack when he told her what was about to happen. “Join us.”

  “A goddamn mistake,” she said. “You’re not going to find him that easily.”

  “It was never easy and it’s never going to be easy. This is the best shot we’ve got before everything goes to shit.” Before he killed Ella and Aaron and God knew who else. Before he released the potion and everything was destroyed.

  “I’m telling you, your best bet is Lyndor. I know the portal in the office leads to him.”

  All of a sudden, Kai sounded desperate. And I wanted to believe her, but going through a portal without a direction meant disappearing from everywhere forever. Or ending up in hell. It wasn’t a chance I could take.

  “I thought you should know what was about to happen. You’re welcome to join us, Kai.” I hung up the phone before she could say anything else. “I hope you will,” I whispered to myself.

  Everyone was alerted, including Ned, Drean the fairy, and Sam’s daughter, Amber Hawk. They all had some kind of a complaint. Not ready. Too short a notice. Blah, blah, blah. Jack had to remind them of the pledge they’d made. Their armies were mine to command against Samayan’s, and each soldier counted.