by Sandra Love
I embraced her. “He’s right this way. He needs to rest, darling, but he will live.”
“Was that thing poisonous?”
“No, it wasn’t. He will make a full recovery. I will leave you two alone. I need to go check on other creatures to make sure they are okay from the attack. A lot of White creatures have died.”
My heart felt sad. I wished I could stop anyone else from dying. We said our goodbyes and I walked over to be with Gabe. When I got close to him, I noticed he was sleeping on the ground. He was so pale from all the blood he lost, yet he still looked so handsome. He would have a huge scar on his shoulder, but that wouldn’t take away from his god-like body. I sat beside him and listened to him breathe. I watched his stomach rise and fall, needing that visual reassurance that he was alive.
Chapter Six
Dean
Daniel and I walked toward the castle, thinking about getting revenge on my psychotic wife. I couldn’t believe that she killed Lizbeth and other white angels. I remembered at one point before she had gotten pregnant that she was a loving wife. Maybe it was the fact that we had to hide our marriage from the world. I loved her at one point in my life before she went Dark. I would always try to be as romantic as possible. I remembered the day she told me she was pregnant with our baby girl.
I looked down at the beautiful woman that was lying in my arms; her black hair shining in the daylight, accentuating the blue tones within the strands. Her eyes smiled as she stared up at me. Even though they were a dullish gray color, they were the most beautiful eyes I had ever seen. That day, however, they were missing some of their brilliance. Amelia had been waking up the past few mornings, sick to her stomach. At first, we thought it was just some kind of stomach flu, but she hadn’t showed an signs of improving.
“Amelia, let me call Luna over. She can let us know what is wrong with you. I just want you to feel better.
Amelia sighed. “I guess you may ring her up. While you do that, I want to take a shower.”
After she disappeared in the bathroom, I rang Luna. As I waited for her and Luke to arrive, I sat down in one of the chairs in the kitchen and let my mind wander. I loved our home here and I was ready to bring children into the world, into our home. I just wished Amelia wouldn’t be so secretive. It hurt me that she was keeping something from me. She didn’t know that I followed her to the forest the last few weeks. She never noticed that I followed her. Her behavior confused me. She stared up at the Black Castle. Some nights she would sit and weep, too. I didn’t understand it, and I wanted to tell her I was there. But I held my tongue, because I didn’t want her to know that I had invaded her private moment.
The doorbell chimed and I opened it to see Luke and Luna with my niece, Kaleigh. She wasn’t really my niece, but she always called me Uncle Dean. Luna was pregnant with their second child, which she was sure was going to be a boy. I secretly hoped she was right, because I wanted a little nephew to love and spoil. I offered cookies and milk for Little Miss Kaleigh and she accepted without a second thought. I showed Luke and Luna to the sitting room, where we chatted about Luna being pregnant and waited for Amelia to come down. I hated that she was distancing herself from me.
When she entered the room a few minutes later, she looked even paler and it scared me to death. I ran to her and looked into her eyes. “Honey, are you okay? Do you need to lay down?”
“I know what’s wrong with me,” she whispered. “I’m pregnant.”
My world slowed down around me. How could this happen? I thought I was never going to be able to have children with a witch. It wasn’t that I wasn’t happy to become a father, but I didn’t think it was possible. After that day, she stayed locked away and hardly talked to anyone. It was the beginning of the end of our marriage.
“Dean, what are you thinking about? You seem to be getting upset.”
My brother’s voice brought me back to the present. “I was thinking about the day Amelia told me she was pregnant. I should have done more to save her. Then none of this would be happening.”
Daniel stopped walking and looked at me. “Dean, you had no idea she would turn out to be the wicked witch of all time. Stop blaming yourself and think of your daughter, who is up in that castle waiting for you to be a man and save her. Cordelia needs you. Don’t make me bitch slap you, because you know I would.”
We laughed, and I decided I better man up so I didn’t get an ass whooping from my brother. We started walking toward the castle again when a loud explosion knocked us on the ground. I was knocked on my back and the pain was so bad I couldn’t move. I looked over to my brother and he gave me a thumbs up to let me know he was okay. I laid there watching the fire take over The Dark City. I wondered if it was the white creatures causing all this chaos. Then the screams came. They were so loud it felt like my eardrums were shattering. I covered my ears and tried to sit up to get a better look. That’s when I saw it; I couldn’t believe what was going on. The creatures Amelia had created were attacking and tearing some of the white angels apart. I watched as one of the creatures bit into an angel’s back and ripped the wing right out. It was horrible. The blood sprayed from the back and the angel hit the ground screaming in pain. I crawled over to my brother and urged him to move behind the trees, out of sight.
“Daniel, we need to move or we will be in the path of these creatures. They look like they mean business, and they don’t seem to care who gets in their way.”
Daniel sat up and his face was horrid because I knew what he was about to say. “Dean, we need to save them. We can’t cowar behind a tree. Those white creatures out there are our family. How would you feel if they left us to die?”
“You’re right, Brother. We need to save them. We need to show Amelia that we will not let her win. These Creatures came here to capture us, so let’s give ourselves up and save all the white creatures.”
Daniel chuckled. “Well, I was just talking about kicking ass, but I see you have other plans.”
“I think it’s time I face my dear wife. Time to let her know what she is doing is wrong. She wants to hurt me, not these innocent people. This is mine and Amelia’s battle and not anyone else’s.”
“You know I won’t let you face Amelia alone. She did just take my life away when she murdered Lizbeth. So let’s do this.”
We walked straight into the battle field. The sight up close was horrible. Wings were ripped out of my fellow brothers and sisters, blood on the concrete. The sounds of them screaming for help killed me, because there was nothing I could do to save them. We maneuvered around bodies as carefully as we could. I was prepared to use my powers if I had to. My powers were the strongest of all angels. All of the angels could blast—a strike resembling a lightning bolt. That’s the only power my brother had. I, on the other hand, could be invisible, see into the future when necessary, enter one’s dream, and when I am extremely mad my body has a force field that if anyone touched me they would be electrocuted. No other creature that I know of could do that. Maybe Cordelia had all of my powers because she was who the prophet spoke of, but I wasn’t not sure. I hope I get to her in time to find out.
A witch’s power was different. Amelia was the strongest white witch, but who knew what other powers she picked up on the way. I knew her newest dark power was to teleport, but she also had the ability to heal and see into the future. She was innocent once, but as I looked around at the people that used to be good friends with her, it made me so angry and I wanted to rip her head off for causing all of it.
Arabella was attending to someone, so I walked toward them and was shocked to see who was lying there on the ground, bleeding to death. Half of her arm was missing, half of her face was missing, and she was screaming. But it was still obvious that it was Amelia’s sister, Rain. Her short, raven black hair was wet with blood and tears. Her grey eyes were faded from pain, and her face was creased in agony.
“Please, just kill me,” she screamed. “Dean,” she said when she saw me, “please kill me. It hur
ts so much!”
I bent down to her as a lump formed in my throat “Rain, I am so sorry she did this to you.”
“Why, Dean?” She stopped to cough up blood. She started to shake and her eyes rolled into the back of her head. Arabella stood up and looked at me, and I knew what I had to do. I kissed Rain on the forehead and stood up. “Kill me, please!” I motioned for Daniel and Arabella to back up so I could just get it over with. I held out my hand and blasted Rain with a lightning bolt. I hit her with all my force. Behind me, I could hear Arabella crying, and that was killing me. I watched as Rain’s body went limp. I fell to the ground thinking about what I just did. This was the first person I had ever killed. I felt like I had become Amelia. I sank to her level. I killed.
“Dean, you had to do that. She would have suffered otherwise. I got here too late and I couldn’t save her. I feel like I let you down.”
I turned to a hiccupping Arabella. “I know deep down you tried your best. She was your best friend. Why was she here?”
She wiped the tears from her eyes, and hung her head. “She wanted to see her niece. She was so happy that she was alive. Rain wanted to come along so she could see if she could’ve talked some sense into Amelia. I wish I could’ve been here in time to save her. Dean, we need to stop this. We need to get to Amelia before she kills us all.”
I stood up and walked to Rain. I sat down beside her and remembered the good times in her life. She was the outspoken sister. A little younger than Amelia, but she was full of life. She was a teacher at the school in The White City, and from what I heard she was amazing. I looked at her lifeless body and I knew it was time for me to storm that castle and give Amelia what she wanted. Me.
Chapter Seven
Kaleigh
I lay on Gabe’s chest as he slept on my bed. I could hear his heart pounding away. It sounded so peaceful, and the rhythmic sound of it beating put me to sleep.
The sun was shining in my eyes. It was hard for me to open them because it was so bright. I opened them slowly and tried to sit up. I started to panic. Where was Gabe? Where was I? I looked around and noticed I was in a field of dead flowers. It looked so evil here. I wondered if this was Amelia’s doing. But a hand touched my shoulder and I jumped up. I was surprised to see who it was standing in front of me, and I wondered if I was seeing her because I was dead.
“No, Kaleigh, you’re not dead,” Cordelia said as if reading my mind. “I came to you in your dream. I needed to see if you were doing okay.”
I gave her the biggest hug, because I was so glad to see her, even in a dream. “Oh, Cordelia, I am trying my hardest to save you and Cam. I feel like this is my fault. I saw Cam get stabbed. I don’t know if he’s dead or alive.”
As tears poured from my eyes, Cordelia pulls away from me and smiled. “He’s okay, Kaleigh. I visited him as well. He is locked away in a cell with a girl named Bridget. I know deep down she will take care of him.” The mention of my ex-best friend’s name hit me in the face like a ton of bricks.
I looked at her in shock. “Oh. My. God! Amelia has my best friend locked away. This is getting crazy. Wait, I shouldn’t be worried about her, right now. How are you?
She sat down in the dead grass and I sat with her. “To be honest, I’m terrified. I’m in this room, tied down to a table. The only power I seem to be able to tap into is this one, which keeps me sane. Zane and True bite me every hour and they bite hard. Then there’s Anna and Kale, who are Amelia’s pets. Anna likes to come in the room to crack a whip down on me. Kaleigh, I try not to cry, but it hurts so badly and sometimes I just want to die. I know I can’t and I need to fight her and be strong, but it’s getting harder and harder with each passing hour. I want to save us all and start over, and be with Cameron.”
If I thought my cursed life was difficult and rough after my parents died, Cordelia’s was twice as bad. Not only was her mother a dark witch seeking revenge on her father and using Cordelia as bait, she was also the prophet and a whole land was depending on her to save them all. Even though she didn’t grow up in Ithaca, Cordelia was still one of us and we had faith in her.
“Delia, what are Amelia’s plans?”
“To drain my blood and mix it in a potion and drink it on my birthday, on Samhain. That’s in less than 48 hours. My birthday falls on the blood moon, which means the moon will be full. Which also means it’s the only day she can do this dark magic. A blood full moon won’t be back for 13 more years. I don’t think Amelia wants to wait 13 more years. She is one determined witch.” She sighed and then continued. “I also heard her plans for Dean. She needs a wing from him so she can take his powers as well. She is going to kill my father, Kaleigh. I can’t let that happen. I can’t lose him; I only just got him.”
I’d heard about this blood moon. It was taught to us in school that no one is to use magic on that day. The type of magic Amelia wants to do can throw everything off, and that means we could all die. Not that she cared about our mortality.
“Listen to me, Cordelia—Gabe and I will try our hardest to get to you in time to save you and Cam. Just don’t fight with Amelia and do what she says. Also, do me a favor—if you decide to visit someone else’s dream, please visit your father’s. He is really worried about you.”
“I will.” She looked over at me and smiled. “So who’s Gabe?” We both laughed at her inquisitiveness. I was never one for girl talk, but now I miss the luxury of it.” She squeezed my hand, and I squeezed back. “I miss you, Kaleigh. Please, give me the details.”
It felt good to laugh and see her happy. “He is so hot,” I blurted, making us both laugh again. “He could easily be a god. His eyes are so blue, I could just stare into them forever. He’s also a great kisser,” I added as a blush crept up my neck.
“So, you kiss this Gabe, huh? Kaleigh, you need to be happy and when you were just talking about him your face lit up like a Christmas tree.”
I sighed. “But we just met, and he’s Kale’s cousin so I feel guilty.”
“Kale broke your heart, but you need to move on. Just think, it could be your ultimate revenge to fall in love with someone else, to have him see you are happy. You need this, Kaleigh. You have been through so much and you fought your way through it. You are the strongest person I know. You helped save me from hurting myself.”
“When did you get so wise, Delia? I remember a couple of weeks ago I was saving you from harming yourself, and look at you giving me great advice. I can’t wait to save you from you bitch ass mother so you and I can be great friends.”
“I would love that; you will be my first friend that’s a girl. Thank you for believing in me, and I promise you I will fight until you save me. I love you.”
I started to cry and I took her in my arms to hug her. “Please fight to stay alive. I love you, too. When this is all over, you and Cam will be together.”
“I know, and I can’t wait. Okay, Kaleigh, I have to go.”
My eyes slowly opened, and my cheeks were wet with my tears. I didn’t want to leave Cordelia alone.
“Kay, what’s wrong; why are you crying?”
“Oh Gabe, you’re awake. I was so worried about you.”
He sat up and wrapped me in his arms. “I couldn’t leave you,” he whispered. “But you didn’t answer me.”
“Cordelia came to me in my dreams. We really need to get to her and Cam. She told me Cam is locked away in a cell someone from my past. We need to hurry.”
“We will, now that I am feeling better. Damn, those creatures’ teeth are sharp.”
We laughed, despite the situation. He listened to me as I told him about my dream. When I finished explaining it, he crushed his lips to mine. He was kissing me like this was his last day alive. I ran my hands up his chest and wrapped my arms around his neck. He pulled me until I was on his lap, put his hands under my shirt, and stroked my back. I could feel his excitement, but I pulled away.
“Gabe, I’m not ready for a relationship like that. I hope that’s not what you wan
t with me. I never took my relationship to the next level with Kale. I’m not ready for that. I hope you understand, but if you want to walk away please do.”
I got off his lap and walked to a nearby tree. As I leaned against it, I felt strong arms wrap around me. “Kay, if I have to wait an eternity to be with you like that, I will. I don’t plan on going anywhere any time soon. So you can stop thinking I’m a horn dog, because I’m not.”
I chuckled. “Did you really just say horn dog?”
“Yes, I did. You will soon find out I have a sense of humor. So now that I’m done dying, let’s go.”
We left the house to start our journey over again. We lost a lot of daylight, but we couldn’t give up. Except, when we started walking away from the house, I became even more inclined to quit when an explosion detonated and knocked us both to the ground. If I hadn’t known better, I would have thought I’d been shot with a bullet. The force of the impact was enough to temporarily knock the wind out of me.
“What the hell was that?” We both looked behind us to see flames in the distance.
“I think The Fallen City just got blown up. We need to go save them. They need us.”
I started to run toward the city when I was yanked from behind. “Kay, listen to me: we can’t go back. It’s too late. Please calm down. I know—trust me. I wish we could save them all, too, but we can’t. But we can save Cameron and Cordelia. They’re waiting for us.”
I hugged him tight as the tears kept flowing. “Gabe, I hate all of this. If this keeps up, we won’t have a home anymore. Ithaca will be wiped out.”
“Once Cordelia is in charge of the country, we will rebuild. We will make it better than before. Now, please, we have to go.”
I knew he was right, but it was hard. I nodded at him and we continued to walk toward the castle. We had a duty to do and, damn it, we would do it. We. Would. Win.
Chapter Eight
Cameron
Bridget and I sat there thinking about how we were going to get ourselves out. It’s was cold in there. The walls had mold covering them, and there was very little air to help. As I breathed, the stale air caught in my lungs, making me violently cough. A small window allowed us to look at the sky, which is starless and moonless. I stared at the window and thought about our options. Would it break if I sent a bolt at it? Maybe it would at least loosen the frame so we could crawl out. Bridget looked so tired from her pain. She had to witness her brother’s death, and I know too well how it feels to watch someone you love die. I knew she hurt my sister, but I still felt bad for the girl.