by AJ Mullican
How the fuck did they find us? I don’t spare it a second thought, because she reaches with a second blade in her other hand to try to slice my neck. I bend back, taking half her forearm with me, and as her radius and ulna snap in my grip, Kalen lashes out with a measured strike on her throat, cutting off her air.
It would have taken out a normal human, but since the being in charge of her body doesn’t need to breathe, she just continues her arc with her unbroken arm and snags Kalen’s arm, slicing through his bicep.
Kalen’s scream echoes in my ears, and I drop my weight, taking the woman with me. I let go of her shattered arm and roll backwards, coming to rest on the balls of my feet. I grab the blade she dropped in the scuffle and use it to pierce the heart of the body.
The red light dissipates, and the woman lies still.
Screams from the lobby reach my ears, and I realize what this must look like to everyone who was just minding their own business, chowing down on the continental buffet.
Shit.
While Oren heals Kalen’s arm, Lena’s hands flash, and a pulse of light flows through the lobby. The screams stop, and the motel patrons blink blindly before going back to their breakfast. A thin sheen covers the lobby, and I rub my eyes to clear them. Nope, still there. This fucking migraine will be the death of me, I swear. “What is with the lights today? Everything looks weird.”
“Huh?” Lena sends another pulse out, seemingly oblivious to the sparkling glow she’s leaving in her wake. “What are you talking about?”
I wave at the lobby. “That. Everything’s all glittery. Is that normal?”
Lena squints at me. “You shouldn’t be seeing anything.”
Aistan flicks a wrist at the dead body, and with a flash of red light and a burst of hellfire, it disintegrates into a pile of ash.
“There it is again! Why is everything all bright?”
“Okay, fae, get her in the van. I’ll clean up here.” Lena waves at Finn, Oren, and Kalen, and they grab my arms and lead me out to where Kamran idles the van in the parking lot.
I cover my eyes with my hands, but the lights won’t go away. “Oren, this migraine is killing me! Can you do anything about it?”
His hand brushes my forehead. “Molli, there is nothing wrong. You are healthy.”
“Nothing is wrong, no, but something is … different.” Finn’s voice brings with it a purple light. “Her spirit is the same, but changed.”
My spirit is changed? What does that mean?
Before I can ask, the van rocks as Lena gets in, followed by Callie and the other three incubi. “Gun it, Kam. We’ve got company.”
“Arman?” I reach out blindly, hoping to contact with the right demon but afraid to open my eyes to check. “Hey, maybe you can heal me. I keep seeing these weird lights, even with my eyes closed. What gives?”
A hand catches mine, and an orange-red haze fills my vision. “I find no injury, Molli.”
Lena’s voice drifts back to me. “Her ears … Molli, open your eyes a sec.”
“Are you kidding? Everything’s too damn bright as it is!”
“Just open ‘em.”
I squint against the multitude of lights in the van, but even when Lena directs Kam to pull into a dim parking garage, the interior glows. Much as it irritates me, I open wide when Lena puts her hand on my chin and tips my face up to hers.
“Holy shit!”
“What? What is it?” That kind of exclamation does not instill confidence at the moment.
“Molli, your eyes were brown, right?”
“Were?” What the fuck is she talking about?
A man’s fingertips take the place of Lena’s hand, and I blink against the lights to see Oren staring at me. “By the Gods! Lena, what do you think happened?”
“Check out her ears, dude. Something’s going on here.”
My hands fly to my ears, and as I round the cartilage I feel a slight tip, almost a point like … like … No way!
“Callie, do you have a mirror in your bag?”
I reach out and take the small object Cal hands to me. With a snap, the pocket mirror opens, and I risk a glance. Opal eyes stare back at me where brown eyes used to be, and when I angle it just right, I can see a slight pointed tip at the tops of my ears. “Holy shit! I’m a fae!”
“But what kind of fae?” Callie asks.
Good question. “I don’t know. What kind of fae sees lights everywhere?” I turn to Oren. “Is there such a thing as a light-touched fae?”
He shakes his head. “No. But you are not wholly fae; you do not have our markings, nor our full coloring. Your eyes, yes, and your ears are similar, but … this is not possible. Humans do not just become fae.”
“Not without some kind of intervention, I’m guessing.”
Lena’s wry comment strikes a chord with something in my memory, and I freeze. “You don’t think your Father-in-law has something to do with this, do you?”
“I don’t see how, but the timing is sure suspicious. He did show up right before the attack yesterday, after all.”
I stop to focus on the lights I’m seeing in the van. Threads of light connecting me and my fae, other threads connecting Lena with her sister and the incubi, threads between Lena and her child and Arman …
Threads of life.
Shit.
“God damn it, Asmodeus, this isn’t what I meant!” I shout into the air, not knowing if He can hear me or not, and not really caring.
“What are you talking about, Mol?”
I look to Lena, who glows brightest of all of us. “I told Him we’d do better if we had a life-touched fae among us. He said He’d make the ‘arrangements’ with Queen Una. My guess? This was Their compromise.”
Chapter 9
“Jesus fucking Christ!” Lena sits back in her seat and slams her hands against the dash. “I can’t believe this is the shit Asmodeus decides to drop on us!”
I roll my eyes and lean my head back against Oren. “Can we please just get out of here?”
“Leaving will not ease your pain, love.” Oren brushes a stray lock of hair out of my face. “The life-touched see the lights that bind wherever they go. You cannot escape them by changing locations.”
Ugh. “Well, closing my eyes doesn’t help, either. At least if we go to the apartment we can be doing something other than just sitting here. If the possessed can find us in a random motel, then they could find us there, they could even find us in this parking garage. Just get me home, where I can take a shower in my own shower and get dressed in my own clean clothes.” I close my eyes with a sigh, watching the life-lights of my friends and lovers illuminate the van’s interior. “Then we can go warn Cherry and the gang that the demons haven’t forgotten us.”
Some of the lights in the van dim for a moment.
“I doubt very much that Cherry’s forgotten the demons.”
Okay, fine. I’ll shut my trap. Geez.
The ride to our apartment is brief, thankfully, because I don’t know if I can handle the awkward tension in the van much longer. Kalen, Oren, Finn, and I file out and bid the others goodbye, and I look at our apartment with my new eyes. No red lights. Good. I don’t think I have it in me for another damn fight right now.
We get in and start gathering up our stuff. After showering, changing, and finding my sunglasses, I grab a backpack and start shoving random stuff in there: razor blades, deodorant—Do fae sweat? I can’t remember—hairbrush, toothpaste, underwear … At one point, I lose track of what I’ve got in there, and Finn has to stop me from packing the coffee filters. How did I end up in the kitchenette area, anyway?
Once we’re all packed, I pick up my phone to call Lena for a ride back to the Hunter house, but I hesitate to press her icon.
I’m done with handouts. Done taking charity. We’re going to do things on our own.
“Guys? How much cash do you have?”
They dig in their pockets and gather up enough for a cab ride out to the woods. I dial a Ryde driver,
and we wait outside the complex for the car. At this rate, we’ll get to Cherry’s before Lena and the others, but that’s a good thing. I need to talk to my friend—bartender, whatever—alone for a few minutes. I feel like I’ve abandoned her, like we all have. To go through such a terrible loss and have all your friends just leave … I can’t imagine.
I don’t care what Lena says; I don’t care if Cherry did send us away. She clearly didn’t know what she was talking about. Besides, I haven’t gotten a chance to apologize for failing to save Geiger, for hesitating when the hellbeast reared its ugly head. If anything, I need to do that much.
“Molli, you’ve been quiet this afternoon. Are you all right, my love?” Finn brushes the hair off my neck and nuzzles close.
“Hm? Oh, yeah. Fine.”
Oren steps in front of me, fingertips stroking my cheek. “You do not seem fine. What troubles you?”
Kalen puts an arm around my waist, and with that they have me surrounded. My knees buckle, and I fall into their arms. It’s just too much to deal with. Geiger’s death. My new abilities. The end of the fucking world. How can anyone live like this? I bury my face in Oren’s shoulder and cry out my frustrations.
“Why is this happening? Why is everything falling to shit?”
Finn wipes tears from my cheek. “Because someone desired what they did not have.” His purple light engulfs me, the spirit of his magic filling the holes in my fragile psyche. “Because a God decided to play favorites. He separated His subjects and showed compassion to some while others saw only retribution.”
“Well, it’s bullshit.”
“Agreed.” He kisses my forehead. “But we are in the thick of it now. There is no turning back from here.”
“But how can I do anything about it? I don’t understand how this life-touched stuff works. Why couldn’t Asmodeus have Una send us someone who was born a fae? I don’t know how to use this weird sight to solve our problem.”
Kalen cups my cheek with his hand. “We will teach you.”
“How? None of you are life-touched.”
“It matters not. We are fae, and we know fae magics better than anyone in this realm. Now close your eyes.”
“Why?”
Oren removes my sunglasses and presses his fingertips to my lids. “Just do it.”
I close my eyes as ordered, and, as before, the new lights continue to shine in my vision. A hand comes to rest on my knee, and though I’m tempted to look, I keep my eyes shut. “Now what?”
“Whose hand touches your knee?” Kalen asks.
My brows furrow as I struggle to understand what he’s asking. How am I supposed to tell without looking? A hand is a hand is a hand. Right? Only … only when I “look” at the lights, the light surrounding the hand has a purple tint to it. “Finn?”
“Good! Now…” The bodies around me shift, and for a moment I feel a breeze as they all separate from me. “…tell us who touches you next.”
A brief pressure lands on the back of my neck, the barest of touches, and then it’s gone. Not there long, but…
“Kalen?”
His light flares, and a pair of arms wraps around me from behind. “Excellent! She can be taught!”
Despite my distress, I smile at the loving tease. “So how does this help me solve our problem?”
“Pay attention to the lights.” Oren takes my hand. “Learn. Study. Perhaps you will see what none other could, by virtue of seeing through new eyes. Perhaps no fae-born being could complete the task because us fae-born do not understand humans. Perhaps, Molli, you were meant to be the one to solve the riddle.”
Hm. I guess that’s one way to look at it.
The lights that bind us take on a rosy glow, and the love I feel—the love I see—strengthens me. Just before our Ryde arrives, I gather myself and stand up with the help of my guys.
“I know! We shall test you with the driver.” Kalen grins, and he tugs at my arm as Oren and Finn put our bags in the trunk. “You will sit in the back, eyes closed, and once we reach our destination, you will tell us all that your new magic has told you about him.”
I roll my eyes and climb in the back. “And how will you know if I’m right?” I whisper as he slides into the seat next to me.
“Perhaps that is too much to begin with. How about we start with something easier?”
Oren gets in on my other side, and Finn takes shotgun. Finn twists around in his seat, and he winks. “Good driver,” he says. “May we indulge ourselves in a little game while you drive?”
The freckle-faced dude yawns. “Whatever, man.”
Kalen pokes my side. “Close your eyes, Molli.”
With that, we play the strangest game of Twenty Questions I’ve ever played. Each of my fae takes a turn asking a question of the driver, and when he answers, Kalen nudges me and asks if he’s telling the truth or not. After a while, I get into a rhythm, and I notice that the driver’s light flashes when he tells the truth and dims when he lies. It’s not much of a difference, but enough that I start guessing correctly more often than not.
At first, I have no idea how they know if he’s lying or not, until I peek and see Finn thumbing through the guy’s wallet. After a mad scramble to get him to put it back before he gets caught, they stop cheating and go with my gut.
As I predicted, we beat Lena and the others back to the Hunter house. I hesitate when I get to the front porch; the plywood where the front door should be is a painful reminder of yesterday’s tragedy. With my new fae vision, I gaze past the plywood into the house to see all five remaining wolves in the living room, their lights muted by grief. I knock with a little trepidation, and I notice something interesting about Cherry’s lights as she gets up to answer my knock.
The plywood creaks out of the way, and a weary Cherry greets me on the other side, her hair gathered in a messy bun on top of her head. “Molli! Hey. What’s with the sunglasses?”
I want to tell her that pregnant women are too damn bright for me right now, but that’s too much explaining for my addled brain. “Yeah, migraine or something. Um, can we—can we come in? I mean, I understand if you need a little more time, but…”
“Oh! I’m sorry. Sure.” She stands to the side, allowing me and my guys to pass.
Once inside, I remember whose room we had been using. Shit. “Um … Where’s Rick and Billy’s room? Y’know, so we can put our stuff down.” The four of us might have to split beds in that room—I don’t know yet—but I’d rather not try to take back Geiger’s room after yesterday.
A small sigh of relief takes some of the tension from Cherry’s shoulders, and she smiles. “Thanks, Molli. This way.”
We follow her down the hall, and I try to hide my expression when we pass Geiger’s room. I don’t know yet if she’s had a chance to clean up in there, and—
“Your laundry’s in the dryer, by the way.”
Shit. There’s my answer.
“I’m sorry, Cherry. I should’ve cleaned up before we left.” Guilt weighs heavy on my chest, and I look again at the lights emanating from my friend. “So … since one of the babies is a boy, will you name him Geiger?”
She pauses with her hand on a doorknob. “What do you mean by ‘one of the babies’?”
Oops. “I, uh…” Shit! What do I say?
Oren steps up behind me. “Molli has been given a great gift! The Queen has gifted her with fae life magic.”
“What?” Cherry frowns. “What is he talking about, Mol?”
With a heavy sigh, I take off my shades, tuck my hair behind my ears, and look Cherry in the eye. “This is what he’s talking about. See? This is Asmodeus’s idea of helping us. Isn’t it great?”
“Y’know, I can smell your sarcasm; you don’t need to put it in your voice, too.” She touches my ear-tips. “Is this permanent?”
“Dunno. I don’t even know if I’m done changing.”
Her nostrils flare, and the silence as she sniffs the air around me lies heavy and awkward. Finally, she stops he
r inspection and stands back. “So … ‘Babies,’ plural?”
Chapter 10
“Cherry’s having twins?”
After being asked umpteen times already, I kind of want to smack Holden, but I give him a sliver of leeway for the grief of the past day’s events. “Yes. I see two life-lights connecting Cherry’s heart to her belly there.”
Holden places his tattooed hand over Cherry’s abdomen. “I’m going to have two nephews…”
“Ahem.” All eyes turn to me, and heat rushes to my cheeks. “A niece and a nephew, if I’m reading right. This is all new to me, so I could be wrong, but … yeah.” I dip my head and look down at my hands folded in my lap, wishing more than anything that everyone would just stop staring already.
Once Cherry finished her wolfy inspection of me, I subjected myself to four more sniff sessions as each of the remaining Hunters took their turns checking out my “new” scent. I guess fae magic smells different from demon or even witch magic, and they all had to make sure the changes to me were real, or something. Sweet-smelling, they say, and I wonder if I concentrated hard enough if I could conjure my own magic berries.
I also wonder if I could’ve saved Geiger if this transformation had happened just eighteen hours earlier than it did. I mean, could life-touched magic have brought him back from that kind of destruction? We’ll never know now, but I can’t be the only one thinking it.
“I don’t suppose a fae could get a beer in this joint?” Half-joke, half-serious question, because the tension in here could choke a moose.
“Yeah, sure.” Cherry gets up out of her seat, brushing away Holden’s hand. “One for each of you?”
“Please.”
Rick and Billy just about fall over each other getting up to stop Cherry from exerting herself, but she stifles them with a low growl. “I’m a bartender, boys. I can get the beers myself.”
Matt, Cherry and Holden’s Omega, leans forward and runs a hand through his sandy hair. “So, as far as you know, is this permanent? Will you change back after Hell on Earth is stopped, or will you be like this forever? Will you age?”