Villain (Starlight Book 2)

by D. N. Hoxa

  “Tytania.”

  The blood froze in my veins. My already immobile body froze a little more. I squeezed my eyes shut and prayed that all this was a dream, because I knew that voice. I hated that voice with a passion.

  It was Samayan.

  How was that possible?

  This isn’t right, I said as my heartbeat tripled. I wasn't prepared for the Master yet. I wasn’t prepared for anyone in those moments—I couldn’t even move!—and I didn't want to die before he did. I couldn’t…

  “Samayan.” Grandmother’s voice pierced my ears. “How is this possible?” She sounded more curious than surprised. “You’re not really here, are you?”

  Sweet, warm relief. Only for a second.

  “My dearest Tytania. There are some things that even you cannot understand. I might not be physically here, but…I am.” Every word coming out of his mouth sounded like a threat. And like nonsense, too. I’m not here, but I am? Seriously?

  “Well, aren’t you surprised to see me?” A mocking smile played on Grandmother’s lips as she spoke—I was sure of it.

  “Thrilled, yes. Surprised, not likely,” Samayan said. “I always knew you were alive, but I can’t say I was entirely sure you’d want to continue living after I dethroned you and locked your powers away.”

  My mouth opened, and I stopped breathing altogether. Shit. Now, it was really important that they didn’t see me there.

  Samayan had locked Grandmother’s powers? How the hell was that possible? The woman was a Fairy Queen, for God’s sake!

  “Mock me all you like, Samayan. My time will come.” Grandmother’s voice had completely transformed.

  “It will?” Samayan said as if he really were surprised. “Do tell me, do you really believe that having the White Book of Wisdom is going to give you some sort of an advantage in this game, Tytania?”

  I stretched my senses far and wide, but I couldn’t feel him. I couldn’t feel anyone from where their voices were coming from.

  “Do you not?” Grandmother replied, just as coldly. “You think you’re the only one who’s figured out how to harness its powers?” Footsteps, though my senses were telling me still that there was no one there. “Do you really believe that the tables will not turn once I get my hands on the book?”

  I always knew that Grandmother could kill without a thought. Hell, she’d spoken about her own son as if he were nothing but a lowly servant. But I never imagined those words coming out of her mouth because I really had believed that she and the rest of the Elders wanted what was best for the supernaturals of the world. Stupid.

  “I am no fool, Tytania. We were all born to think of ourselves first. I have no doubt that you will use Illyon to write your own history and make your own changes in the world.”

  A moment of silence.

  “That wasn’t so hard to admit, was it? I’m going to get that book sooner or later, Samayan.” Grandmother’s voice was filled with pride now.

  I closed my eyes because it hurt. Because I was fighting on her side. Because she would never do the things that the Council did—I’d really believed in that.

  What a fucking joke. Anger coursed through me, bringing me back to the living, breathing movement back into my body. I slowly rose on my elbows, and I dragged the book by its cover until it was right in front of my face.

  “I think not,” Samayan said. “And even if you do, you’d have to overcome me, my dear Tytania. And there, you will surely fail.”

  Even if you do, he’d said. What did that mean? Did Samayan not know that I had the book? Hadn’t he seen Jespersen’s dead body together with the rest of his Royal Guards?

  But it didn’t matter. Nothing else mattered, in fact, except for one thing.

  No one could have the book.

  “Find her.” Grandmother’s voice came crashing onto me.

  “This one’s still alive,” Azazel said. He could only be talking bout Arturo. Hopefully.

  I squeezed my eyes shut and searched my brain for answers as I held the book by its leather covers tightly. I couldn’t let anyone near it. Not Samayan and not Grandmother. But how the hell was I going to do that?

  The answer seemed to come to me from the book itself. The energy that buzzed through it suddenly tingled on the tips of my fingers. It searched for something. A connection. With me—its Guardian. Wasn’t that what Illyon said I was?

  It was worth a try so I freed my mind and let the vibrating energy of the book have it.

  But the covers—the yellow pages were only a cover. Illyon was much more than a book. It was everything, simply disguised as a book with leather covers.

  And its disguise could be anything.

  It could be a flower. It could be a tree. A mirror, even a shirt.

  It could be a necklace, too. One I could keep with me without attracting any attention. And that is how I pictured it.

  Footsteps behind me.

  “Over here,” Azazel’s voice reached my ears. I had to hurry.

  My eyes were already closed, and my mind had connected with Illyon. It pulsated with its energy as if I now had a second heart beating within me. The energy enveloped me, filling me, inviting me. And I imagined it—a beautiful golden necklace shaped into a small sun, small enough to fit in the palm of my hand, its energy undetectable by anyone at all—except me.

  “Star?” Grandmother was behind me.

  Panic. My eyes popped open, and blood rushed to my ears as Illyon’s energy kept whispering to my ear.

  Had it worked?

  My fingers were curled into fists under my chest. Something was in my right hand. Something alive and breathing. I slowly opened my fingers, and my breath caught in my throat.

  A golden, sun-shaped necklace lay innocently in my palm.

  The world could have been mine—that was how powerful I felt. No one was going to touch the book again for as long as I lived.

  And apparently, I was going to live forever. If I didn't die fighting first.

  I looked up just as Grandmother stepped next me. Then the pretend game began.

  “What…” I whispered as I looked up, blinking rapidly like I couldn't see clearly.

  “Are you okay?”

  I nodded with the best confused look I could muster on my face. And when I stood up, I faked dizziness, too. Just to make sure.

  “Are…are you really here?” I asked because if I had been really unconscious until that moment, that would've been the first thing I would’ve wondered about.

  “The book, Star. Where is Illyon?” she asked instead, her green eyes filled with impatience.

  “I…” Fake realization hit me. My eyes grew wide, and my mouth opened. “It wasn't here!” I said. “It was just a setup, all of it. They wanted to get me to Samayan. They even sent a Council member to fight me.” Panic, panic, panic.

  Grandmother’s hands curled up in fists, and anger filled those strange eyes of hers. And she looked exactly like she did in the fifth dimension—like I could touch her if I wanted to.

  A second later, she sighed and turned to Azazel, who was standing a few feet away from me and watching me with those dark, mysterious eyes like he knew all of my secrets. He was taller than I’d imagined him, and the energy coming off him was the darkest I'd ever felt. Black smoke surrounded his feet and ankles, then began to appear around his knees, like a genie coming out of a fucking bottle. I had all the right in the world to be freaked out by him.

  “We need to leave,” Azazel said to Grandmother.

  “The place is clear. Fairies will be here to transport you back soon,” she said to me, her voice filled with disappointment. I didn’t mind. She’d disappointed me a whole lot more. “I expect a full report of everything that happened here tomorrow.”

  Not even an I’m glad you’re alive or well done with Jespersen and the Royal Guards. Nothing. She just walked behind Azazel, and I was too stunned by the new developments to even try to stop her. I didn't want to stop her.

  They both moved so gracefully
, it looked like their feet weren't even touching the ground. I stared at them until they walked out. It was over—or maybe it had really just begun. But Illyon was securely locked around my neck, the sun pendant resting comfortably against my chest. And nobody, not one soul—literally—knew about it.

  Without another look, I hid it under my torn, bloody shirt next to the one Grandmother had given me, and I began to search for Arturo. It all just seemed like a dream, or rather like I was waking up from a long dream and I was still high from it. A little relief washed over me when I saw that Arturo was really alive. He was breathing but unconscious. It took a few slaps on his face to get him to open his eyes and look at me in surprise. Not a second later, he jumped to his feet and took his fighting position until he saw that there was nobody else left alive in the Cathedral.

  “Are you okay?” he asked me with a whisper. I had so many things on my mind and so many wounds on my body that I didn't even get the meaning of okay—and that’s not even counting Thomas. Arturo didn't look too good himself with his torn shirt and bloodied arms, but he was far better than I was.

  Still, I nodded and went to Thomas’s body. I watched his lifeless face and remembered his last words. Reluctantly, I put my arms under his body and tried to pull him up.

  “Let me,” Arturo said, but I shook my head.

  “No, I got it.” With one last deep breath, I pulled Thomas’s body up. He was very heavy and my knees were shaking violently, but I had to do this for him. For Aaron. So I made myself walk ahead without thought until I finally made it outside.

  Arturo held the door open for me, and the cold, fresh air almost sent my senses into overload. Everything felt more there. I was far more aware of all the elements: the humming air around me, the ground I was walking on, the water from inside the Cathedral. I wondered where whoever was supposed to guard it was. Probably dead in a corner somewhere. And what would people think when they saw the massacre inside in the morning?

  But all those thoughts dissolved when my eyes found him.

  Aaron.

  He was standing right outside the Cathedral grounds with his mouth open and his eyes wide. He was looking at the body in my arms with so much pain and desperation that it felt like fighting Jespersen all over again just to get to him. It was still dark outside, though it had felt like days had gone by.

  I pushed my legs forward with the weight of the universe on my back the whole twelve steps. I stopped in front of him as my traitorous tears kept on falling. He was frozen in place, only his fingers shaking.

  I gathered my courage and my voice.

  “I’m…I’m sorry.” There really was nothing else I could say.

  If I could've only seen Thomas sooner. If only the Guard would have been a little slower.

  But you couldn't escape death, no matter how hard you tried.

  Aaron’s chin started to shake, and my heart broke into a thousand pieces, because I knew exactly what he was feeling. It was the worst feeling in the world because no matter what happened after that, you knew that you couldn't go back anymore. Turning back time was impossible, even for supernaturals.

  Aaron slowly raised his arms to ask without words for his father’s body. I reluctantly leaned in and placed Thomas in his son’s arms. The gesture seemed so intimate that I didn't even think there was a world outside the bubble around us. When I let go, Aaron’s gasp made me want to crawl in some hole and never come out. I couldn't stand the feeling of seeing him like that. So broken, so vulnerable. I watched him break down in front of me, and there was nothing I could do about it.

  “My services are needed again, I see.”

  Kyahen’s annoyed voice came from our side, but neither of us looked up at him. Aaron kept his eyes on his father, and I kept mine on him. I hoped Kyahen would keep his comments to himself because in those seconds, I would send politics to hell, and without them, I was not a patient person.

  Thankfully, Kyahen was wise enough not to say anything when he saw Thomas’s body in Aaron’s arms. He stepped behind him instead and grabbed his shoulder.

  “Where to?” he asked, and I said Kentucky Base the same time Aaron whispered Chicago.

  Maybe he wasn’t thinking straight, or maybe he just needed time before going back to the Base. I didn’t ask.

  “Back to my hotel room in Chicago,” I said to Kyahen and kept my eyes on Aaron’s face until he disappeared from in front of me.

  A sigh escaped me, or was it a cry? I could see the three nymphs from the corner of my eye. They were three because we had been four. Just a few hours ago. I reached out my hand in their direction, and one of the blondes stepped up to take it, her green dress waving seductively around her legs. I held my breath and shut my eyes, and then I was flying.

  24

  ——————————

  Kyahen disappeared with his fairies when Arturo and I arrived. Aaron was still standing with his father’s body in his arms, looking at his lifeless face. He mumbled something about being in his room. Arturo helped him with the doors until he disappeared from my sight.

  “I’m going to get a room,” Arturo said and disappeared without waiting for a reply, closing the door behind him.

  I sat on the edge of my bed for a second. Everything was playing in slow motion as if I were in a fight. Like ever piece of furniture in the small room was alive and looking at me with a confused expression. Like they were trying to say something to me, but their words couldn't reach my ears. Like I was still inside a dream.

  Maybe I was going insane. I went to the bathroom to wash the blood off my face and my hands. I needed stitches in several places and I was bruised in that many more, but I didn't care. The wounds would have to wait for later. For now, I settled for vomiting my guts out until my own body couldn’t handle itself anymore, and I fell on the floor. The cold tile pressed against my cheek eventually calmed me down. I didn’t know for how long I stayed like that, but a knock on the door brought me back to reality.

  I managed to drag myself over to the door, and when I opened it, I wished I hadn’t.

  Aaron was standing in front of me with his head down. “I…I just…” he started to say, but his chin was trembling again. The tears in his eyes made my heart shatter.

  Without thought, I jumped forward and put my arms around him. I hugged him because I wanted to tell him that he wasn't alone. I wanted to share his pain, and I wanted to cry it away with him. He buried his face on the nape of my neck and hugged me to him, too, so without waiting for another second, I pulled him inside my room. I swung the door closed with the tips of my fingers and showed him the steps, until the back of his knees hit the frame of the bed, and I slowly pushed him down.

  I lay down next to him and put his head on my chest. We cried together as our hearts broke and mended, only to be broken again. We shared the pain together and didn’t let go, at least for the night. Tomorrow would be different.

  But tomorrow would be the same, too.

  Something bigger than I could have ever imagined was coming, and I was sitting in the front row. Aaron’s cheek touched the small sun of gold resting on my chest, and I shivered. There were so many things to be done and that much more to be said. So many make-ups and break-ups that were going to change the way we looked at the world around us.

  But for that night, I was Aaron’s. I would deal with everything in the morning. For that night, I was his with my heart and my mind and my body. I only thought of him and his pain. The life that would start in the morning. The broken heart he would have to learn to live with. His warm tears on my chest, each breaking the already broken pieces of mine.

  I thought about everything we’d done together and everything we’d have to do still, but no matter what, I was going to die before I let anything happen to him. Because I loved him, so much, it hurt. And I was his, that night and forever.

  So let the world bring on its best.

  I am ready.

  ——————————

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  Also by D.N. Hoxa

  ———————————

  Morta Fox Trilogy

  Heartbeat

  Reclaimed

  Unchanged

  Chronicles of the Demon Hunter Trilogy

  A Soul's Worth

  Book Two (Coming Soon)

  Book Three (Coming Soon)

  Starlight Saga

  Assassin