EJ nodded. “Yeah, I know, but I’ll hold him as long as I can.”
She nodded. “This will need to be a quick kill. I will not risk a drawn-out battle. Ian, Nehela, if he gets his powers, I want you out of the damn sky. I’ll be damned if I see you all die. The whole point of this was to get Aiden back and kill Trey, not get Aiden back, kill Trey, and lose someone else. Do you understand? If you don’t get out of the sky, I’ll get you down myself.”
They both could see she meant every word, and they knew her way would probably be incredibly painful, so they just nodded, promising they would. “We’re going to have the element of surprise, and I want to use it. There will be no honor in this, no rules of engagement. This is kill or be killed, nothing less.”
“What about the Amanganza Plant?” Aiden asked.
“Can you use it?” she asked. “I know it takes time to recuperate.” He nodded. “Go for it.” Nehela asked if she was going to use the Will. “As soon as I can. Mother?” she asked, looking at where Michelle and Travis were sitting.
“You already know, I’m with you.” she replied. “When do you want to do it?”
“Soon. I want to finish this before he does anything else. I’m tired of having him hanging over my head, the one dark cloud on our horizon,” she said bitterly. It momentarily reminded of how she sounded before they had come back, when she said she was tired of him being able to reach into her life whenever he wanted. “I was thinking we could do it after Christmas, to at least give us peace of mind through the holidays.”
They all agreed, and Ian sighed. “Gods, I’ll be glad when all of this is over once and for all.”
* * *
That night, Mickala sat on her balcony, her robe pulled tight around her slender frame to ward off the chill. They were actually calling for snow on Christmas, two days away. “Are you okay?” Aiden asked, wrapping his arms around her.
“Believe it or not, yes. Now that I have some sort of plan, a time frame, I’m not as afraid, no matter how it turns out.” There was an enormous shadow that passed overhead, and a jet of flame seemed to appear out of nowhere. Mickala laughed. “Show off!” she yelled up at the dragon. She looked at Aiden, and he laughed to see her eyes lit up. “Go ahead.”
She threw some clothes on, then jumped over the railing. Her wings unfurled just before she hit the ground, and with two massive downbeats, she was joining the huge dragon circling overhead. Nehela was perched on Ian’s back, and Mickala flew beside his head, occasionally performing a barrel roll or loop-de-loop around him. Come on, Aiden! Jump, and Ian can catch you.
Aiden grinned, and he jumped straight off the railing. Ian swooped down, and the fox demon landed hard on his back. Nehela grabbed his arm to keep him from sliding off, and he got himself situated with a laugh. Mickala drew level with him and blew a kiss before diving down. Underneath them, Titus and Adelaide broke into a gallop, racing the massive dragon, neighing playfully.
They flew and played for almost two hours, and the sun was coming up before they finally called it quits. The dragon landed in the field, then shimmered into Ian’s human form, Nehela at his side. Mickala landed on her balcony with Aiden, her wings disappearing. Ian and Nehela came up to the house, and Mickala grinned down at him. “That was fun, cousin! We should do that more often!”
A couple of days later, it was Christmas Eve, and the temperatures were dropping through the day, and clouds began rolling in. Victor had every fireplace going in the middle of his usual Christmas party. Mickala and Nehela were stunning in gold and red, both in clinging silk. They were having a blast being with friends and family, then EJ came running in. “Hey, guys! It’s really doing it! It’s actually snowing!”
They all went outside, and sure enough, fat white flakes were falling. It was slow at first, but within minutes, it was falling steadily, and it didn’t take long to cover the ground. Mickala laughed, picking up the hem of her gown in one hand, grabbing Nehela’s hand with the other, and they both ran out in, spinning around. It was almost an hour later before the cold drove them back inside, and Victor went behind the huge bar and began pouring drinks while Mickala turned the radio up.
The party lasted long into the night, not breaking up until almost four in the morning. They had held Chad and Philip hostage, Mickala demanded all her family be there for Christmas, and they were the first to seek their rooms. Ian and Nehela weren’t far behind, though judging from the look in their eyes, sleep would be one of the last things on the menu. Alex was the next to say good night, kissing Mickala and Aiden’s cheeks. Eventually, even Victor gave up, along with Michelle, Ari, and Travis, leaving Mickala and Aiden in the living room. When they went to bed, Mickala was sitting on her couch in front of the fireplace, a huge silver fox with several tails stretched out beside her, his head in her lap, dark golden eyes closed as she stroked his silvery fur. Kita and Ash were curled up at her feet.
It was almost noon before they got up, and they saw the others hadn’t beaten them by much, still being gathered around the coffee pot. They all went into the living room and began passing around their presents. It had been almost three hours by the time they finished, then they went outside and played in the new snow, which had stopped while they were opening gifts, like they were all a bunch of kids. An epic snowball fight broke out, and they spent hours pelting on each other, all of them getting soaked to the bone. They went inside, and after taking long, hot showers and changing clothes, they sat down to dinner.
* * *
New Year’s came and went, and they knew it was time. Toward the end of January, Mickala called Trey. “Hey, Mika!” he answered, and to all of them, it actually sounded like he was excited to hear from her. “I was thinking you’d forgotten about me.”
“Oh, never that, Trey. We’ve just been busy with touring and being in the studio. We’ve actually got a little downtime, and I was just wondering if you’d want to come over so we could catch up,” she said.
“Yeah, sure. Give me about forty-five minutes, and I’ll be there,” he said, and they hung up.
“Where are we doing this?” EJ asked.
Her eyes were dark. “In the clearing,” she said.
“Um,” EJ said. “That’s not very specific.”
Ian was the one to speak up. “I know. The clearing where Aiden died in.”
All of them seemed surprised, but Mickala nodded. Philip asked why, and Mickala’s eyes turned as hard as stones. “Motivation, to make sure it doesn’t happen again.” That they understood, and EJ left to get into position.
Trey arrived in just under an hour, and even though he seemed happy to see them all and he hugged her, she could sense his loathing of her and the others, his hatred of them. He greeted Victor, who just nodded, and they all saw his eyes narrow. After a few minutes of small talk, she asked him to take a walk with her. “Come on, Trey,” she said, pulling him easily to his feet. “It’ll give us a chance to catch up.”
He laughed. “Okay, okay,” he said. As soon as Mickala and Trey disappeared into the trees, Ian went into the field and turned into his dragon form, and Nehela jumped up onto his back. Aiden and Michelle turned into the fox and wolf and began making their way behind Mickala and Trey.
Forty
And the World Will Turn to Ash
Trey and Mickala walked and talked for a while, getting deeper in the woods. They talked about old times, even before she’d known about them, and she even had him laughing a time or two. The sun glowed through the trees, but the birds all fell silent as they passed. Finally, Mickala reached the clearing, which she’d avoided ever since turning time back, and she suppressed a shiver, closing her eyes tightly. “So, I’m glad you called and all, but why in the world did you bring me all the way out here?” he asked.
She had her back to him, but she suddenly spun around, her eyes wide and flashing. “Because Trey, I know all about you.” A blue ball of energy formed in her hand, and she flung it at him.
He wrenched himself out of the way, hi
s eyes wide. Too wide. “What the fuck are you talking about, Mickala? Why are you attacking me?”
“You’ve been after me for a long time, haven’t you?” she asked, forming another ball. Once again, he just barely got out of the way. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the large black wolf and silver fox prowling the shadows, waiting. “You sent Valez after me, time and time again. You gave him Kaldiss, as rare as it is, but it isn’t as difficult for you, is it? I mean, you living right in the swamp it grows in. Then, you used your own brother to kill me before sending Xiden, Aiden’s brother, when they both failed. You even had the nerve to attack my mother and kill my father before I was born this last time.”
She looked at him with a dark laugh, the ball growing in her hand. “Gods, you’re good. I’ll give you that much. Even now, after everything you’ve done, you stand there, looking surprised. You had me fooled for so long, it doesn’t make any sense. It’s people like you who make it so hard for me to trust anyone. But you showed yourself in the lunchroom the day school started back, but then you disappeared.
“It took you almost eleven years to get the courage to come after me, and you took the two people that meant more to me than anything. You murdered my seven-year-old daughter like a thief in the night, then only a few short weeks later, you killed Aiden in this very clearing.” She threw the ball, and this time, it hit its mark.
* * *
He got to his feet slowly, grimacing at the pain in his side. “What the fuck are you talking about, Clarkson?” he demanded.
Mickala snarled, lunging for him. Her hands wrapped around his throat as she slammed him into a large tree. “You took everything I cared about! Why? What did I ever do to you?” Her eyes seemed to flash. “And it’s Miller!”
He sneered despite being unable to draw a deep breath. “Because, I hate human lovers, and you’re the worst of the bunch, Mickala, but I don’t know what the fuck you’re…” He trailed off, and understanding dawned on his face, filling it with a hateful awe. “Ahh, so the rumors are true. Time manipulators. So, I did all of that, huh?” he asked, then with a sudden movement, he brought his hands up and broke her hold on his throat, and a head butt sent Mickala staggering back.
He closed his eyes, trying to turn to his demon form. When it was unsuccessful, his eyes opened, and a faint smile formed on his face. “Oh, I see. So, EJ’s alive after all, and working with you.”
“Yeah, this whole time. See, when you made him attack me in Miami, you thought my friends would kill him straight away, but no. They didn’t, and we found out the truth.”
“Where is he? I would love to see him again.”
Mickala turned to her demon form, her eyes narrowed into golden slits. “He’s out of your reach. It’s amazing how low you would stoop, to use your own brother as collateral damage just to get to me.”
Mickala began letting loose on him, and Michelle and Aiden came from the forest, and Mickala shifted her shape again, and two wolves were standing there, the large silver fox in between them. Ian appeared overhead, his colossal form blotting out the sun briefly, and Nehela rode on his back, her keen eyes steady on Trey, her arrow at the ready.
Trey’s speed was the only thing keeping him alive, being outside EJ’s control, but he couldn’t keep it up forever, especially once Mickala, Michelle, and Aiden turned back to their halfway forms, and they all began attacking him at once. He’d dodge one blow just to get hit by two more. Despite it all, he refused to stay down, although he was getting slower and slower. Keep him occupied, Mickala told the others. Mother, are you ready? Michelle nodded once, and they took up their positions on either side of the clearing. Ian rained fire down on him as Nehela’s bow seemed to sing as fast as she was loosening arrows.
* * *
A quarter mile away, sweat was pouring down EJ’s face, feeling Trey battering at his shield as he attempted to get to his powers. The panic and desperation were making his attacks on his mental shield even more powerful.
Back in the clearing, Trey tripped, and Aiden unleashed his plant. It stuck, but Trey rolled to his feet, losing a shoe in the process. EJ felt the shield crack. Mickala, Aiden, he’s breaking through. I can’t hold it much longer, he said, gritting his teeth.
Thanks for the warning, she said, closing her eyes.
Ian had landed, and his tail whipped around, tripping him, and Ian’s jaws were only a few inches away from him before he got out of the way. Nehela was out of arrows, but she pulled two curved blades from sheaths on her back, and Trey’s blood flowed. Aiden sent the plant again, and it engulfed Trey. Out of the mass of vines and flowers, a dark red light glowed, and there was a high-pitched scream as a pillar of flames erupted from the middle of it.
When the fire cleared, the Amanganza Plant lay on the ground, nothing left but a smoking husk, and the fire demon stood, his chest heaving, his red eyes narrowed. Blood seeped from what seemed like thousands of cuts and gashes on him. Trey was free.
His eyes set on Mickala, who was standing just a few feet away from him, and she was in the beginning stages of calling on the Will. The star was blazing, her wings flared out behind her. Raising a hand over his head and speaking in a harsh language, he called down a column of fire right on her. She was still standing when it raised, but they all could see that it had done considerable damage. Her eyes were silver, but her skin was badly burned, and her wings were all but destroyed. Nonetheless, her concentration never broke, and she began spinning, the huge white ball going from her waist to over her head.
Trey felt her power rising, but that wasn’t what caused him to freeze, his eyes wide. He straightened and slowly turned, finally registering Michelle’s own energy increasing behind him. Just like with the time control, he’d heard rumors of the attack of Solaris, the Solarian Will, and while he didn’t have memories of a past life, he knew well what would happen to him. He blinked at a deafening crash of thunder, and lightning struck just a few feet away, causing a tree to explode in a shower of timber and leaves, some of them still alight.
EJ knew it was drawing to a close, and he jumped from the tree and began making his way to the clearing. He smelled ozone, and he stopped short as a thick bolt of lightning stuck just feet from in front of him.
At the same instant, both Mickala and Michelle stopped spinning, their blue stars blazing for their foreheads, and they hurled their energy balls as hard as they could. Trey knew it wouldn’t do any good to run, and he held his hands up in surrender. “So, I don’t suppose saying I’m sorry will work?” The combined Wills quickly overtook him, and Aiden, Ian, and Nehela had a hard time standing against the massive shock wave. EJ was closing in, and it knocked him back for several feet.
* * *
They floated back down, and Mickala crumbled to the ground with a shrill cry. Michelle was instantly at her side, and she could barely hear Mickala’s heart as it fluttered unnervingly. She took her daughter in her arms, being careful not to touch her damaged wings. Mickala’s star faded, then blazed again before disappearing. “Mickala?” she whispered, brushing her daughter’s cheek, tears in her eyes. Her eyes opened slowly, but they were distant, cloudy, and her skin was quickly growing cool. “You’re going to be okay, baby.”
Mickala barely shook her head, her skin cracked and blistered where Trey’s attacks had landed. “Not this time, Mother,” she replied, and Michelle saw the trace of blood on her lips. “It took too much out of me, but I did it, Mother. I got him. Can you do it alone?”
Michelle nodded, tears spilling from the corner of her eyes as she brushed her child’s hair back from her eyes. “I’ll take care of it, dear heart,” she replied in Solarian.
Aiden looked confused as EJ came bursting through the trees, his eyes wide. “What’s happening?”
“You remember the talk we had in my office in Miami when you first met?” Michelle asked. Aiden nodded. “Well, this is going to be Mickala’s ultimate end. Kristopher’s dead. There’s no way she can be reborn.”
His eyes wi
dened as he remembered the rest of the conversation. “Then, Earth is…”
“Exactly.”
Michelle took Mickala’s hand, holding it to her own cheek. “I promise that you’ll find each other in the next life. I give you my word.”
Mickala took Aiden’s hand in her other, clenching it, but he could feel her energy, her very spirit leaving her body. “The day of your funeral, I told you something, and I’m going to say it now. We will find each other again. I swear to you we will. Mother will make sure we get to Solaris and Elagon, and they’re ready to receive us. The bond we have, it’s too powerful, too strong to be broken by death, space, or time.” Tears filled her eyes, and her voice was growing weaker.
Aiden had to swallow hard around the lump in his throat. “This isn’t how it’s supposed to end, Mika. You came back to save me, but…my life isn’t worth this.”
She struggled to reach up and touch his cheek, her hands trembling violently. “Life wasn’t worth living without you in it, Aiden Miller. I waited three thousand years for you, I’ll wait three thousand more if that’s what it takes. I love you, Aid.”
He kissed the back of her hand, and her skin was growing cold. “I love you, too, Mickala Clarkson-Miller, and I won’t leave a rock unturned on either planet until I find you again.”
Mickala smiled faintly, and her eyes closed as her heart gave a final thud, then was still as her chest settled, never to rise again. For a split second, the entire world seemed to shudder to a halt, and no creature, human, animal, or other moved. The sun and the moon dimmed, and Travis and Victor, who were aware of what Mickala and the others were going against, felt a sudden dread clenching their hearts in a death grip. The two wolves at his feet threw back their heads and howled, and although they were human, they heard their loss in the sound.
* * *
The ground shook, trees toppling over with thunderous crashes, and Michelle and the others were thrown hard to the ground. EJ came to kneel beside Michelle, his horrified eyes on Mickala’s peaceful face. “What’s happening?”
Releasing the Demons: Solarian Chronicles II Page 35