Maker stomps her feet and begins to retreat back into her hole when The Leaders, as a group, stop her, wrapping her in a spell to keep her in place.
“You are never to return topside, do you understand?” the old man Leader threatens. “We only allowed today because we know of your identity now, but you’re nothing but a disgusting cancerous stain on the world. Until your last breath, you’re to stay away from humans.”
Maker narrows her eyes, and, in a flash, the bottom of her staff pounds the ground, the power of her spell knocking us all over. Some Leaders tripping over themselves by her force.
She glares at us, her sharp teeth sneering its hateful glare.
One by one, demons ascend from Beneath, making their way toward us. Ready and willing to fight to the death.
One demon, a girl, younger than me, with dark red eyes, latches onto the Leader with black hair and clasps onto her neck. Blood pours from the Leaders throat and she drops to the ground, her stark white robe now tainted with crimson.
Like a flash on a camera, things become intense very fast.
Declan grabs me, pulling me to the side, twisting his knife in his hand.
Wood grabs onto Candy, cocking his gun, pointing it at anything that comes close to them.
Kai buckles down, producing his ancient knife, standing strong against anyone who might come at him.
Demon after demon come out from Beneath, outnumbering us. I begin to panic, sweat seeping through my shirt.
Declan stabs one in the heart, dropping the body to the ground. Pushing all of my magic out of my hands and into a demon behind us, I stun it, knocking it on its ass long enough for Declan to use his knife, piercing through its chest.
The black in the demon’s eyes disperses.
“Uh,” Kai says, punching a demon in the jaw. “This isn’t looking good for us.”
Declan grunts as Wood shoots one in the leg. “We’re out of options here. We need to go.”
“Probably a good…” but Kai doesn’t have time to finish his sentence. Like meteors landing on earth, angels from the heavens descend, taking no prisoners. They land, creating large holes in the earth.
Within seconds, Gallows Hill becomes a bloodbath of demons, angels and Leaders alike.
Unable to do much, Candy and I attempt to do what we do best. We use our magic to exorcise the demons. At least if I can get them back down there and close the door, I can deal with them later.
Our magic pounds through the sea of people, knocking demons off their feet, their bodies slinking into the ground like water soaking into dirt on a dry, hot day.
“Command your people!” one of the angel’s yells, and I turn to see who he’s talking to.
Strong and menacing, the angel in front of me stares down, willing me to listen to him. “Command your people!”
He shoves his blade into the stomach of a demon millimeters from attacking me. “You are their queen.”
My mouth drops open and I shake my head. “As long as Maker is alive, they’ll never listen to me!” I’m shouting now, the cries of the almost-dead overwhelming my ears.
With a body the size of a tank, the angel, who looks a lot more like the leader of a popular television biker gang, turns from me. His annoyance blatantly clear on his face. He walks to the entrance of Beneath, tugging someone out.
Maker, tattered and bruised, struggles against the angel’s strength. She pulls at his arms and screams when he doesn’t budge.
“Let me go, Gabriel!” she shouts, real fear in her eyes. “You’re commanded by God not to kill me!”
Gabriel?
“God has had it with your procreating and overpopulating. He knows of your plans for war and He is putting a stop to it. He’s done with you.”
And with that, Gabriel shoves his sword into Maker’s chest, allowing her to fall limply to the ground. Eyes devoid of life, mouth open in surprise, Maker takes her last breath, the red from her eyes fizzling out.
As each demon takes note of Maker’s death, all of them evaporate, leaving us alone once again with the remaining Leaders, bloody and tired.
Declan rushes to me, taking my hand. He scrutinizes Gabriel with unforgiving eyes.
Sally rounds up The Leaders and they dissipate without a word.
“Why are you here, brother?” Declan asks, shoving his knife in his pocket.
Brother?
“God heard your prayers and sent me and my army.”
Declan’s eye twitches. “Where’s your army now?”
Gabriel shrugs, studying his bloody sword. “They were to leave the moment Maker was dead. That was our mission.”
“So why stay?” Declan spews. “It’s never been in your nature to fawn over a kill.”
Gabriel tilts his head. “Do you not miss me? You were once my right hand man. Have you forgotten where you came from?”
Declan laughs as Kai, Wood and Candy make their way to us, breathing heavily from the horrendous fight. “You abandoned me a long time ago.”
“We only did as God commanded.”
Declan looks down, sorrowful. “Yeah. Thanks for that. What are His commands now?”
Gabriel looks to me, a bit of mischievousness in his eyes. “We’re to allow McKenna to live and take over Beneath. God believes she can do as she’s promised, and you’re to help her.”
My mouth falls open and Declan sputters. “What does that mean?”
Gabriel shakes his head. “Have all of your memories not come back, Aget?”
“It’s Declan now, and yes.”
Gabriel rolls his head curiously. “And you don’t remember McKenna?”
My head snaps to Declan.
“I—I don’t.” His voice shakes as he blinks rapidly.
Gabriel spears his knife into the ground, touching Declan’s head with the tips of his fingers. “Sally’s magic wasn’t strong enough to rescue your deepest memory, it seems.”
Declan sucks in a breath, stepping backward. As I watch him overcome with emotion, Gabriel does the same to me, knocking me off my feet.
I grab at my shirt, the countless memories encasing my mind. It wraps me in a warm cocoon, and I begin to happily cry.
Finally…
When I turn to Declan, it’s like I’m seeing him for the first time, and then for the millionth time all at once. My entire world snaps into place, no longer feeling off kilter. Like I’ve known him all my life.
And…I have.
“Ah, there it is,” Gabriel says, biting his lip, picking up his sword. “Finally back together.”
“What in the hell just happened?” Wood asks, a dumbfounded look on his face. He shoves his hands in his pockets.
“I shall let them explain,” Gabriel says to Wood, pulling me up to my feet. “Good luck, McKenna. You’re going to need it. I’m sure I’ll see you again.”
He salutes Declan with two fingers. “See you, brother. I’ll check in soon.”
And like that, in the blink of an eye, he’s gone.
Declan hurries to me, his arms around me before I can say his name.
“How could I have forgotten you?” Declan touches my face with his hands, almost as if I’m not real. His eyes search my features, smiling brightly.
I laugh and grab his trembling fingers. “I don’t know. I’m pretty unforgettable.”
Declan snorts, sniffling, tears rolling down his cheeks. “I’m so sorry,” he urges. “I love you so much.”
Tears now streaming down my own face, I smile. “I love you, too. It’s been far too long.”
When our mouths finally collide, the kindling inside my body finally, after centuries of being cold and alone, desolate and lackluster, catches fire. It sets off a domino effect in my blood, opening my heart for the very first time in what feels like forever.
Declan smiles as he pulls away, refusing to let me go. He tucks me under his arm, kissing the top of my head.
Left alone, Kai, Candy and Wood stare at the two of us, flabbergasted. I cover my mouth and giggle.
>
“What in the hell just happened?” Wood asks, again, throwing his hand up in the air.
Declan lovingly rubs my back. “We have a lot to talk about.”
“More?” Candy exasperates, giving us a hard time, and Declan and I laugh.
“So you’re telling me, when Maker created McKenna, God created Declan to balance out the scales? Good and evil?” Wood clarifies for the hundredth time as we exit the car in front of my mom and dad’s house. “Every time McKenna was reborn or reincarnated…or whenever Maker decided to bring her out of Limbo, you guys always somehow found your way to each other?”
“Yes,” I draw out the word, giving Declan a look of vexation and he snickers, bringing my hand to his lips.
Kai chuckles, rubbing my shoulder in a brotherly gesture as he passes us to walk into the house. I watch him with new eyes, so grateful for him.
“And you’ve been together for centuries?” Candy huffs, crossing her arms over her chest next to me. “Maker was such a bitch for making Declan live out all of his days searching for you, never knowing if you were okay or not.”
“Yep, she really was. Thankfully for the both of us, Maker cared enough to at least shove me into the body I’ve always had. My vessel never changed. My time with mom and dad was the only time I was actually reincarnated as a baby. Must have been angel magic that did that. It had to look normal. Regular Strix magic couldn’t do something this hardcore.”
I’d never really thought about how odd that was until now…I look exactly the same as I have for my entire lifetime.
It must have something to do with my soul, the demon and the angel parts, I mean. Together, complete opposites, the magic must have worked together to make me look the same as I always have. Maker gave birth to me. I grew into this body—my body. No matter how the magic was thrown around to preserve it, this body has always been mine. Normal Strix look different every life cycle. My general makeup must not line up with their way of life.
I’ve always been different.
“Wow.” Candy shakes her head, walking fast up the stairs to the front porch. “I don’t know if mom and dad are ever going to believe this.”
“Actually,” I say, taking hold of Declan’s hand. He grins at me and winks, squeezing my hand for good measure. “I think they might.”
THE END
I remember the first time I saw him. The way he looked so strong and so sure of himself. The way the light bounced off the shimmering pond and onto his face to make the most mesmerizing lightshow I’d ever seen in my entire life. I remember the way my heart beat—really beat—for the first time. I felt my blood flow through my veins, sending shockwaves all over my body. The sensation was so different than anything I’d ever felt before.
Maker had sent me and Kai to ambush a group of angels in a forest just outside of New England. It was mid sixteen hundred—maybe sixteen ninety-five. I can’t recall now.
Our exact orders were to stun, not harm the angels and bring them back to Beneath. It had seemed like a simple mission, so Kai and I volunteered out of pure boredom. We did anything for a cheap thrill back then. It was better than being in Limbo. Hell, it was better than being around Maker. We took any mission we could get our hands on. Plus, Maker didn’t know, but a lot of the time, we didn’t even do as she said. We made our own rules and did what we thought was best. Our inner-workings not quite matching up with what she really hoped for when she had us a couple of decades ago.
“Do we really know what we’re doing?” Kai had asked in a muted tone as we spied on the group of heavenly beings just beyond the forest somewhere in the middle of an unknown dwelling.
“Not really,” I had said, giving him a nervous glance. “Maker wants us here and we told her we’d do it. It’s not like we have to kill them.”
“But she will.”
He was right. I knew if we were to bring them back to her, she’d just make examples out of them. It was her way of showing just how powerful she was.
“It doesn’t matter,” I tried to rationalize. “We’re here and we have to do it.”
“Even if it feels wrong?” Kai had asked quietly, his need for insubordination overwhelming him.
I gulped and turned to Kai, the pit in my stomach growing more and more empty. As much as I’d try to hide it, I sometimes felt the fleeting yearn to give Maker the finger and tell her to shove it, too. “I…I think so?”
Kai sighed and we waited for the angels to move closer.
They had apparently been assigned to stake out the area and clear it of all monster activity.
Before the Earth got overpopulated with oceans of people, God made it His duty to scout out places before He allowed humans to live there. That was before His plate got too full.
Eventually, it became too much. Maker’s army became way too big and that’s when Pursuers were brought in to do the job.
You know, to fight the battles the angels were too valuable to do.
It made no sense to me. I steered clear of Pursuers and they did the same to me. It was a non-verbal agreement we had going on and I liked it that way.
“Oh crap,” Kai said, spotting the group of four angels making their way toward us. “They’re coming. What’s our plan?”
I rested my hand on Kai’s arm to hold him back, but instead of giving him instructions on what to do like I normally did, I was stunned silent by one of the angels. Dressed so unlike the mortals, he had on dark black pants and an even darker shirt that buttoned to his clavicle. It was tight enough that I could easily see what was underneath, but not too much where if I ran into him on the street, I’d feel the need to look away. It was subtle and mesmerizing. I caught a glimpse of his legs and I had to gnaw on the inside of my cheek to stop from visibly fanning myself. How can two stubs on a body be so incredibly beautiful? His boots were heavy and a dark brown color, covered in soot and mud, the make of them unlike anything I’d ever seen before. I tilted my head to study him harder. Everything about him intrigued me. Demons didn’t necessarily go with the mortal times either, but we weren’t so far off the scale as this angel.
His comrades weren’t dressed like him. They looked much like what you’d imagine an angel would look like. White, robe-like clothes, immaculate shoes. They bored me, but the other one…the beautiful one…
His beauty, just the raw allure of him, shined brighter than any light I’d ever seen. I almost had to squint. He walked with such purpose and strength.
I knew in that moment we were going to let him go. My decision was made. I couldn’t allow him to be within a hundred feet of Maker, let alone in Beneath for her to do with him as she pleased.
If I was going to do anything that day, it was going to be to save that brown haired, emerald-eyed angel. If Maker found out—to hell with her.
I didn’t care I was a demon made by the worst creature on Earth and he was obviously an angel made by God. I needed him to be safe.
For the first time in my long life, I wanted him. I wanted something for me. Something other than what Maker told me to want. I desired to throw caution to the wind and tell Maker to shove it. Even if it meant Limbo.
My mind reeled with the possibilities of talking to him when a branch snapped under my foot. It took the angels mere seconds to notice us, running in our direction, weapons blazing.
Kai’s nose flared and a look of panic crossed my face.
“Run!” I whisper-yelled.
And we did. Our feet whacked against the hard dirt of the forest, rocks and twigs penetrating the thin soles of my shoes. I picked up the long hem of my dress and attempted to run with a faster speed than my body really allowed. We both gasped for air as our feet took us somewhere and nowhere at the same time. The farther we ran, the closer they got to us.
There was no way out and the outcome wasn’t looking good for us.
Sure, I’d planned my entire life with a nameless angel, but I wasn’t about to let him find out what I was and capture me.
“Halt!” one of the angel
s called.
I heard the buzzing first, something blazing through the air. Then came the white-hot discomfort as I hit the ground, my legs tied with thick rope they shot at me.
I groaned and turned on my back, withering in pain. The sting of my fall didn’t hurt nearly as much as my pride, though. I’d always though demons trumped angels. I was sorely (pun intended) wrong.
“State your presence,” the beautiful angel instructed me, his pristine, gleaming knife pointed at my head. As the seconds ticked by, his posture never wavered. He covered his face from the sun with his empty hand, attempting to get a good look at me.
He was gorgeous, almost grossly so. I silently wanted him to move his hand so I could fully admire his magnificence.
Kai moved into the fetal position next to me as another one of the angels pointed an arrow at him. Two more stood behind them, holding their stance.
“We were just looking for food,” I had said, attempting to look small and meek.
“Food?” the beautiful angel questioned as he bent down to get a better look at me. His eyebrows furrowed. “But you’re a…” He turned to the rest of his group. “I have this covered. Go inform Apolly the area is clean.”
“But sir?” one of the other angels had said, apprehensive, but I was too afraid to look at him in fear he might see my true form.
“Go!” demanded the beautiful angel, his voice booming throughout the woods.
In an instant, the three angels vanished and the beautiful angel untied my binds. “What are you?” he had asked, a look of sheer curiosity in his eyes. Which, of course, made him that much more handsome.
“We’re…mortals?” It came out as a question, and I knew the moment the obscure word came out of my mouth he didn’t buy it, but he smiled anyway. His loveliness hit me straight in the gut. It sucker punched me and demanded my attention.
“I’ve never seen something like you before.”
I thanked him for untying the ropes and helped Kai sit up. Silence grew between us.
“I do not fear you,” he said, tilting his head, giving Kai a meddlesome look, too. “Why do I not fear you?”
Enchanting Wilder Page 29