First And Last

by Stacey Kennedy

  Kyden shifted me in his arms, sat down beneath my willow, and gazed deeply into my eyes. “Please do not cry. It kills me.” It did, I could feel the fierce torment running through him.

  “I just can’t take this. My God, Kyden, you came close to dying tonight. Too damn close.”

  He sighed, a long troubled breath. “Yes, I realize I may have acted stupidly, but loving you drives me to such things. When I saw the magic coming toward you, fear drove me to act. It was without thought that I jumped in front of you.”

  I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him tight. “I can’t lose you. Do you hear me? I cannot go on without you. You can’t act so foolishly.”

  “I’m sorry.” He pushed me away from him a bit so he could look into my eyes. “But I also don’t believe we’ll have to face such a thing again.”

  I wiped my tears. His apology settled my remaining upset with him. He never apologized, ever. It meant a lot to hear it come from him.

  “I’m still in shock that you’ve gained my ability. Does that mean you can use magic then?”

  He shook his head, and ran his hands over my damp cheeks to dry them. “I went to see Zia when I got back. She identified that I indeed have been gifted the ability to shield magic, and therefore, send it back like you can. I cannot produce it on my own though.”

  “And just how did she identify that?”

  He grinned. “She sent a tidal wave my way. It was a quick test to determine the protection and it did indeed prove that I held the power to deflect.” He winked. “She was soaked in the process.”

  I laughed, then sighed deeply. “I just wish everything was normal again. You know, no Underworld, no demon scary talk, just kicking some serious ass.”

  He leaned forward and kissed my cheeks. “I agree with you, but it is what it is.” He kept my face in his hands, cradled me in his strong grip. “There will be a time, Álainn, when the danger around us will cease.”

  “God, I hope you’re right.”

  Suddenly, a loud scream came from behind me. I glanced over my shoulder to see Haven running down the hill, with Zia, Talon, and Finn following. “Is it true? Is it really true?” Finally her words became more than screaming nonsense.

  “It is.”

  She came to a skidding halt on her knees in front of us. “I can’t believe that! Giving your ability to a Guardian,” she shook her head, awe danced along her face. “That’s unbelievable.”

  Zia came closer. “Work it all out?”

  “Yeah. I was just really scared, that’s all.”

  “I imagine you were, but it’s a pleasant thing to know this long-standing fight between you two will finally be over. Hmm? Now, he can join you and those worries are put at ease.”

  I hadn’t really thought about the fights between us being over finally. It really made him crazy when I went fighting without him. I guess it did come as a relief to know that I’d never have to have this argument again with him. I also knew the problem was going to be letting me fight. If he saw I was in danger, he’d probably act just as he did tonight and take control of the situation. This argument wouldn’t never entirely be put to bed. He wanted to protect me and I wanted to fight my own battles. The problem was neither of us would give in. Ever.

  “Kyden told us the jist of what happened, but he said that there was something you needed to tell us. So, what is it?” Haven interrupted my thoughts.

  I glanced directly at Zia, needed to see her reaction when I told her. “I can draw runes.”

  Yep, got the reaction I thought it would. Her jaw dropped.

  After she found her voice, she asked, intrigued. “Is that so? It’s quite unusual and I’ve never heard of that before. Did Misa have any answers for why you would possess this trait?” She cocked her head, curiously. “Maybe it is from the bond with Magnus.”

  I nodded. “That’s what Kyden thought, too. Quinney is searching the devil’s book thingy they have, which holds their history, to see if there are any other situations like this in the past. Said she’d come if she found anything.”

  Zia gave an approved nod.

  “Kyden also told us how you handled the witches and warlocks tonight.” Talon’s voice was full of pride. “Sounds as if they didn’t stand a fighting chance, well done.”

  I sighed and rubbed my face. “Well, I was angry.”

  Zia knelt down in front of me and took my hand in hers. “I know you’re going through a lot now, Sweetie. You have gone through too much for any one person to handle. But just keep believing it will all become right again. Keep positive. Don’t let this wear on you.”

  “It’s just so tiresome, Zia.” I dropped my hand from my face to look at her. “I’m so sick of the death, the danger—just all of it.”

  “I can understand that. But there’s great responsibility here. You need to set right what has begun. In the end, peace will find you. Try and focus on that.”

  I sighed, the deepest, most exhausted sound that had ever come from my mouth. “I’m taking a moment and throwing a pity party. I’m entitled.”

  She leaned in, kissed my cheek and said aloud, “Yes, you are entitled. Just keep what I said with you.”

  Kyden arched a brow. He hadn’t heard the conversation between Zia and I, which didn’t surprise me. We’d learned that he could intrude on our conversations. It had something to do with the Spirit Element, or so we thought.

  Just then, a loud growl came from atop the hill. My gaze snapped toward it to see Brax running down the hill in his wolf form. Not something you see every day, which was exactly why Zia, Kyden and I jumped to our feet and ran toward him, the others following behind.

  His shift came halfway down the hill, and when he returned to human form, he shouted, “There’s been another attack.”

  “What’s happened?” Talon demanded as we met up with him.

  Brax was breathless. “I was just contacted moments ago by Detective Garver. They’ve come across another scene where the body has vanished.”

  Kyden and I exchanged alarmed glances. One case was bad, two was catastrophic. Our peace that I longed for wasn’t about to start now.

  A thought rose to my mind that needed to be voiced. “How do they know someone has been killed?”

  “They got an anonymous tip and Garver is a wolf. He said the scent of the human’s blood still lingers there.”

  Another anonymous tip—something fishy is going on here. Who would know of this? Dark ones for sure, but if there were more on our side, then why hadn’t they come forward?

  “Garver is waiting for you at the scene.” Brax was still short of breath. “Go now and quickly.”

  Chapter Eight

  Rotten apples layered the ground, which was almost in contradiction since the apple trees at the small farm in New Jersey flourished. “What in the hell is with all the apples?” I asked Kyden.

  He shrugged in return.

  Tonight, Detective Garver resembled a ‘made man’. Dark gray trench coat, designer suit, and even the classic homburg hat, he looked impressive and handsome.

  Just because I was bonded, didn’t mean I was dead. When a man looked like Garver did, a woman took notice.

  Kyden cleared his throat loudly. I glanced toward him to see his brow arched—not in a pleasant way either. He’d noticed my ogling the suavé detective. Either felt or saw it. Either way, he didn’t like it.

  Oops!

  “What was that you said?” Kyden asked, apparently moving on.

  I laughed a little at his briskness and kicked an apple. “The apples. They were at the last scene too.” I looked back up to the group, which included Detective Garver, Kyden and I, plus Haven and Finn. Of course, Finn wouldn’t be left behind now knowing what we were involved in. “Wonder if there’s some meaning there, or if it’s just a coincidence.”

  Kyden grabbed an apple and tossed it in the air. “There are no such things as coincidences, Álainn.”

  He tho
ught so. Me, I still believed some things just happened with no reason for them. Now wasn’t the time for such a conversation.

  Haven stepped up in beside me. “Ready Freddy?”

  I looked at Kyden. He threw the apple into the bushes, then nodded at her. She raised her hands to the sky, and in a blink, the demon was before us. It was a complete replica of the last scene. Normal looking guy—who was anything but—same rune, same human body lying the center. Yep, the exact same scary shit.

  Right on cue, the demon began to circle around the black ash, spread the blood within it. Suddenly the scene took a different turn.

  Just as the demon began to start to chant, he gasped and fell to his knees. Slowly, the rune began to twirl, spin—fast. Then, a black figure grew from the ground and just as it formed, it flew straight into the human’s body.

  This was something out of a horror movie, but the difference being, this was real. The man jerked, screamed, then went dead quiet. His eyes slowly opened and he stood.

  This was no human. His eyes were dark, the essence of pure evil. The man turned toward the demon that was bowed, then he inhaled deeply and smiled like the devil himself. Then, poof—they were both gone.

  The vision froze.

  “Holy Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,” I gasped.

  Kyden arched a brow. “Why does this trouble you?”

  I had to laugh. “Ahh, hello, why does this trouble me? Did you not just see that?”

  Kyden glanced back to the rune, his face a mask of confusion. “I saw what we saw before.” His gaze fell back to mine. “Why is this different?”

  Clearly, he could sense the fear that shivered through me. He knew this was different, but the question was, why was he asking such a ridiculous question? My gaze dragged to Haven. Even she looked confused, which only seemed to intensify as she looked around. Where these people blind?

  “Did none of you just see that?”

  Finn gave me an equivocal look. “The demon and the guy disappearing?”

  “No, the black thingy that went into that guy’s body.” Every face stared back at with a blank expression. “You really didn’t see that?”

  Kyden answered. “I saw what I did before. The demon did the rune, then he and the human vanished.”

  Oh, this couldn’t be good. Why was I seeing things the others weren’t? I needed help and needed it now. “We need to get Quinney here, I’m not sure…”

  Before I even finished, Quinney appeared in a pink negligee. “Bah,” I screamed, startled. Then, I glanced at her attire. “What are you wearing?”

  “You called for me…” she glanced down at her perky breasts, which were clearly visible through her nightgown, “I was in bed.”

  “Er…ahh…sorry about that.”

  Her form shimmied a little, then a black pant suit appeared on her body. “Being a demon has its advantages.” She winked. “I’m actually glad you called for me. I have just found the information we were looking for, but first, what is it you need of me, Nexi?”

  “The short story, we were called to another one of these demons rituals. But this time, when the demon closed the rune, a black figure formed, then took over the human’s body.”

  “You all saw this?” Quinney asked.

  Her face was like Kyden’s—unreadable, which only annoyed me. I needed to learn that trick. I couldn’t hide anything, ever. Maybe I was a tad envious they could.

  “No, none of us witnessed it, only Nexi.” Kyden replied.

  Intrigue flashed across Quinney’s emotionless face. Then, it went blank again. “Would you mind showing me the vision again? It is important I see it.”

  “Righty-o.” Haven raised her hands back to the sky.

  Within minutes, the vision came before us and ran through the same events. That was just the handy part of it all because it was a moment in time that could replay repeatedly if needed. But who would really want to watch these types of events again? Not me.

  By the end of it, Quinney stood stunned. Speechless. We all glanced at each other waiting for something to happen or be said, but it never came.

  Kyden cleared his throat, broke through the thick air of silence. “Quinney, are you all right?”

  She glanced to him, an O formed on her moth. She shook her head.

  My patience began to wear on me after a few minutes as she tried to regain her composure. “For Christ’s sake, say something already. What is it?”

  Quinney gave her head another shake as if coming back from wherever it was she went to. “I…I…”

  “You’re sounding like Elmer Fudd.” I grabbed her arms and shook her. “Get on with it. Did you see it too?”

  “Yes, I did see.” Her voice came out in a whisper. “And what that was, was a demon summoning another.”

  “For what?” I managed.

  She shrugged, looked back to the rune on the ground, tension filled every part of her. “That is the question now isn’t it?”

  “Do you know who he summoned?” Kyden inquired.

  Quinney paled. She glanced up and looked right at me. “Mammon.”

  “Mammon!” I squeaked. “Like one of the seven original demons, Mammon?” This could not be true.

  Quinney nodded.

  My mouth recovered faster than my fear. “Why and how could he do that?”

  “The history of the Demon Lords is far different than the history of Satan,” Quinney explained. “When Aaliya banished him to the Realm of the Dead, the Demon Lords went willingly with him.” She rubbed her hands together. Was she shaking? I sure as hell was. “They were deathly loyal, but since it’s Satan’s realm, they’re not trapped there like him. They can be summoned back. The human here,” she waved, “was given up as an offering—as a vessel for the demon to take shape.”

  “Why would anyone want to bring a Demon Lord back?” I didn’t understand any of this. The whys and hows weren’t adding up in my mind.

  “That I cannot answer, but it’s in no way good. Why Lyrn—the demon—would summon Mammon is only something he can answer. I would suspect it is for personal use, but since this is the second incident, I’m afraid it must be something more.”

  “But this didn’t happen at the last scene?” I observed.

  “Not everyone has the strength and power to summon a Demon Lord. The last scene you were at the demon must have failed. Therefore, the human was destroyed in the attempt. At the time, I didn’t see that this is what anyone attempted to do. But now, it all makes sense, doesn’t it.”

  Pure protectiveness suddenly ran straight through me. Kyden latched onto my waist and pulled me tight against him. “Why was Nexi able to see this when none of us could?”

  Quinney’s gaze examined me, curiously. “Must be her connection to the Underworld, the bond she had with Magnus. But that is all just guesses at this point.” She glanced back to the rune on the ground. “Just before you called for me, I stumbled across the rune you drew. It’s a summoning rune.”

  I snorted. “Which is now old news.”

  Quinney nodded. “We will need to look into this further before we go after Mammon. I’m not quite sure how to defeat him. Even a weak Demon Lord will be a strong offender. Let’s get back to the Underworld, maybe Azar or Misa will know more.” She glanced between Kyden and I. “Besides, you are both needed there soon anyway.”

  My brows rose. “We are?”

  “It’s time for you to deal with those who have betrayed your new laws.” She twinkled a little. “I’d recommend you taking this as an opportunity to read into these betrayers.”

  Oh joy!

  Quickly, we used the portal to get back to the Otherworld and picked up a few stragglers on the way. Of course, no one would miss this. Then, we transported to the Underworld. It was a good thing I’d become more adjusted to these portals or I might be a little winded. Okay, maybe I still had a hard time with it, the world had spun for a moment, but I wouldn’t admit that since everyone else seemed fin
e.

  As we headed past Misa’s house towards the auditorium, I asked Quinney, “So explain to me how I said your name, then voila, you appeared?”

  “I’m your Guard, Nexi,” she answered as if that should answer my question.

  “Yeah, so?”

  Weird!

  “If you have need of me, I’ll come to you.”

  Once we arrived at the auditorium, Kyden and I sat in the ridiculous throne chairs. The room once again filled with Witches and Warlocks alike. Sure, it was a little less since I destroyed a bunch of them, but still, a good many.