First And Last

by Stacey Kennedy

  His words were lost to me—totally tuned out. I didn’t have time for him. We had to get to the scene or we’d be too late. Having one Demon Lord here was enough, and seriously didn’t want two.

  “Listen,” I said to Sabi as we ran down the hall. “Once I get there, come back immediately. It’s not safe for you there.”

  She nodded, breathless. “Gladly.”

  We hit the Foyer, slammed open the door to the portal, and when the world returned to me, we stood near an old farm house, obviously long ago abandoned. The smell of old rotten wood hung in the air. The house was barely standing. The windows were bordered up and the door creaked as the wind brushed by.

  “He’s there.” Sabi pointed to the left.

  I followed her gaze and saw the Demon nestled in between some apple trees. Shadows from the night gave the view an entirely ‘shit yourself scary’ kinda vibe. “Go Sabi, go now.”

  “Be safe.” Then, she vanished.

  “Quinney, Tyde,” I whispered.

  My Demons shimmied into view. “What do…” Tyde’s eyes went wide, then his words died by his laughter. Quinney put a hand over her mouth and shook from laughing.

  “Am I missing something?” I snapped. “What in the hell is so funny?”

  Tears rimmed Quinney’s eyes and Tyde held onto his stomach while he laughed so hard, he nearly fell to his knees.

  “Nexi…” Quinney leaned forward, “where are your clothes?”

  I glanced down, suddenly mortified. “Oh shit, I’m naked.” I wrapped my arms around my chest and crossed my legs in sheer embarrassment. Not like it really helped, it was hard to hide everything. “Well, there’s not much I can do about it now, and a demon is doing the summoning ritual. Let’s go and stop this.”

  Quinney nodded firmly, but Tyde hadn’t stop laughing. Not for a moment. In fact, he was now on the ground dying with laughter. Who knew a demon had the ability to laugh like that, but he did, and he could hardly contain himself.

  “Tyde,” Quinney chastised. It didn’t help any, he still went on and on. She gave a little glare, then grabbed my hand. “Excuse the imbecile.”

  I really couldn’t blame him. In any other situation, I would find this way too funny, but now, all I could do was focus on the demon and hope I could stop him. The breeze was warm, but even still, goose bumps rose along my skin. Walking was slightly difficult as I was doing my best to hide my female bits and pieces and cover my ass at the same time so Tyde couldn’t see it.

  When I heard his laughter grow louder, I glanced back and gave him the look, which only made him laugh harder. Ass! I focused back on the scene. Luckily, the demon had just finished the circle. The human hadn’t been sliced open yet, and even better, he was still alive. Asleep but alive, his stomach was cut open, but somehow he had survived this.

  Only a foot away, I screamed out. “Oh no, you don’t.” The demon spun around and froze. His eyes went wide as he ran his gaze over my naked skin. “Keep your eyes to yourself, you bad demon. Just because I’m naked doesn’t mean it’s a free show.”

  “Drachan, you will stop this,” Quinney said firmly.

  He smiled slow and easy. “You’ll never be able to stop what has been started. I’m just a mere part in this. Destroying me will stop nothing.”

  “Nonetheless,” I retorted. “We are going to stop you.”

  He glared at me. “You don’t speak to me.” His voice was so callous, so cruel. “It’s an insult and one that I won’t have.”

  Before I could react to that verbal attack, Quinney snarled and then shimmed into her black fog, but so did Drachan. High piercing screams came around me as the two battled. God, they were so loud. I couldn’t help notice that I had become used to their screams. They weren’t so sharp, just more of an irritation. Like an annoying mosquito buzzing around my ear.

  But now, I was in a serious dilemma. I couldn’t banish Drachan with Quinney so near. If I did, she’d be banished to the Realm of Dead also. My shield held strong around me, as if I even needed it. Quinney did an amazing job keeping Drachan away from me. She’s powerful indeed. He couldn’t even get close.

  Finally, I huffed in frustration. “Quinney, you need to get back. You can’t be in the rune.” She either ignored me or hadn’t heard. I only had one card to play. As much as I hated to use it, what choice did I have. “As your Lady, I order you to cease this battle.”

  In a millisecond, she shimmed back and bowed before me. “Oh, God.” I reached down and pulled her up. “Stop doing that.”

  Drachan took the chance to attack me. His black empty soul searched for a way into my shield. It wasn’t painful or distressing but flat out irritating.

  “Stop that,” I swatted at his ghostly form. Of course, he didn’t

  This had to be over now. More annoyed than anything else, I drew on my Air Element and send a wisp of air out to Quinney, sent her back with Tyde, and raised my hand quickly to draw the rune.

  The moment I closed it, it glowed before me, then just as before I said, “Banish thee,” I was leveled with power and flown back on my ass as wind poured around us and white light blasted the skies. With a loud bang, it ripped away and the night sky drew dark once again.

  When I glanced over my shoulder, Quinney had somehow managed to remain kneeling, her head bowed. “For Christ sakes, Quinney. Get up.”

  She stood. “As you wish.”

  My irritation ran higher as I heard Tyde’s loud banter. I glanced at him, he hadn’t moved an inch. “Would you stop laughing?”

  He took a deep breath. “You’re…” He looked up at me, then back down my body, and burst out laughing all over again. “You’re buck naked.”

  I sighed, ready to blast him one. “It wasn’t a thought, jackass. Sabi had the vision and I came.” I looked to Quinney. “Can you go and get me some clothes?”

  She nodded with an equally amused smile. “Of course. Tyde, gather up the human, it’s still alive. The Otherworld will know what to do with him.”

  Tyde nodded, still smiling.

  I glared at him. “Some guard you are! You did nothing but laugh. I should fire your sorry ass.”

  Furious, I went to hide behind a tree until I had some damn clothes.

  Chapter Eleven

  The door closed behind me. Kyden grinned up at me from where he sat on the couch. “I’m glad to see less of you.”

  “Look who’s home, the idiot who stormed out of here naked,” Willow said at nearly the exact same time.

  “Hush you,” I snapped at Willow, then met Kyden’s gaze. “Okay, so I forgot I was naked. It sure gave Tyde a good laugh.”

  “I bet it just did.” He gave his devilish grin, stood and approached me in lengthy strides. When he reached me, he took me in his arms and his lips met mine violently.

  Now that we were bonded, being away from each other was difficult, or so I heard. Since it was only a short time, I hadn’t really had the time to miss him. It obviously tore at him—maybe due to the element of danger involved—his concern for me.

  I could feel it in the hard edge of his lips and the tight grip around my back. Even if his tormented emotions weren’t telling me as much, I reciprocated his force with one of my own. Just as the sensual energy ran high, Kyden slid his lips to my neck and that was when the damn book came into my line of vision.

  Fuck, I should’ve left my eyes closed. I sighed deeply and pushed Kyden back.

  He groaned and met my gaze with his usual arched brow. “Problem?”

  “Oh, no. No problem at all. Just a bunch of demons summoning Demon Lords. You know,” I waved my hand dramatically, “nothing out of the ordinary.”

  He chuckled. “Back to work then?”

  I nodded, not a very convincing one, but did follow him back to the couch. Just as I was about to sit, I scooted toward the bedroom.

  “Let me change first.” Not that I minded the jogging suit Quinney brought me, but I always felt so peculiar to be out of
my Guardian gear. I’d become fond of the little kilt and bra, it was like my second skin now.

  “I assume you got there in time?” Kyden shouted from the living room while I changed.

  “Yeah.” I came back out into the living room and sat beside him. “We brought the human back here. I healed him and Zade gave him a new memory.” The convenience of having vampires around, all their mind-warping abilities came in handy.

  “Good.” Kyden glanced back to the book. “Where were we?” He shuffled through the pages. Apparently, he had done some light reading while I was gone, since he seemed to know exactly what he was looking for.

  Why did he have so much interest in that damn thing? I’m no history buff. All I needed to know is which rune would send Mammon back. That was it. All the rest could stay in the past as far as I was concerned.

  “Right, here it is, the rune that reacted to you.” He glanced at me. “Is it still glowing now?”

  I leaned forward. “Yup.”

  “All right, then.” He took my hand and placed it flat down on the page. I giggled a little as the rune tickled my skin, warm and tingly. He placed his hand over mine and took my other one tightly in his, keeping us connected. “Now quiet yourself, Álainn. Rest your mind.”

  I sighed once, then again, to let my mind go blank. Focusing in, I released the elements around me. I let go of Air, that’s cold and wispy, let the burn of Fire within me subside, and focused on the odd new sensation that sat deep within me.

  Suddenly, the rune beneath my hand began to warm. The feeling of power began to come forth.

  “Yes,” Kyden whispered. “Focus on that. Let the power fill you. Speak to you.”

  The light within me began to glow deeper. My blood slowed as calmness spread throughout. The feeling was all the same, the sense of light remained, and I knew this was fueled my magic. What made me different? I’d never felt anything like it or seen it in anyone else for that matter. I still couldn’t indentify or explain it. I was back to square one.

  Just as I was about to open my eyes, the rune began to burn. “Ouch,” I screamed as I tried to yank my hand way, but it was glued to the page.

  “What…” Kyden started, but then his words faded away as I was pulled into a memory. I knew exactly what it was because I’d been in Zia’s before and it looked just like this. Almost as if I were watching a movie, but was in it and could see everything, hear words. Yet, not interact with anyone.

  A witch stood in a dark forest near some large apple trees with the rune I’d just seen drawn in the air, but this one was a little different. Within the inverted pentacle was another symbol. Á Ù.

  Six demons surrounded her and I could immediately sense their power. But even more shocking, it was hers that astounded me. Her strength was unparalleled.

  She was a White Witch, that I could tell, but I’d never met a witch this powerful before, not even Zia. I couldn’t see her face since her back was to me, but she wore a white cloak with a hood. All I could hear was the sound of her soft voice but was unable to make out anything.

  Swiftly, the demons shifted into their black form, and just as they did, she began to chant in Latin, Primoris quod Permaneo, over and over again. Her words smoothed together as she stood strong against the earsplitting shrieks around her.

  Suddenly, a blast of white energy erupted, and with loud piercing screams, the demons evaporated into thin air, then it all went quiet. The witch repeated the line again, but she sounded so sad, like she failed. It didn’t look like she failed to me. The demons were gone, shouldn’t that be a cause for celebration?

  As quickly as the vision came, it vanished, and my eyes opened to Kyden. He looked beside himself, to say the least, which only told me one thing. “You saw that?”

  “Indeed I did.” His voice wavered, not in fear, just incredulous, and that coming from him meant he was very shocked.

  “What the hell was that?”

  He shook his head slowly. “I haven’t a clue.”

  “Holy shit.” I could barely breathe, confused as to what had just happened. “The rune was like this one,” I pointed at the book. “There was an Alpha-Omega symbol in it. Did you see that?”

  “I did.”

  It was hard to get a grasp on anything, to understand what this meant. It didn’t take a genius to know that the witch in the vision was the one who Quinney and Tyde spoke of. The one who held the same magic I did. Who was she? How did she attach the memory to the rune so I would see it? Why did she act as if she failed?

  I had no answers. To focus on these things was pointless, so, I stuck to the stuff I could find out. “What was she saying?”

  “First and Last.”

  Right then, our door flew open and Zia stood, breathing heavily.

  “I saw that.” It didn’t surprise me that she had, our connection was wide open right now, in case I needed her. “Come quickly. I know of someone who might help us here.”

  I jumped to my feet, as did Kyden. Zia stopped him with a hand in the air. “No, Kyden, you must stay here. We don’t want to scare her off by bringing too many. Nexi will be safe. I promise you that.”

  Kyden nodded firmly. As I took off, he gave my ass a hard slap.

  “Ouch.” I hurried to the door, rubbed my butt the entire way. Just as I stepped out, I quickly glanced back over my shoulder. “But I liked it.”

  Kyden winked.

  * * * *

  Snow layered the ground. Evergreen trees and snowy peaked mountains provided the only shelter from brisk winds. Zia started forward quickly toward a small stone home nestled low in a valley.

  “Where are we?” My teeth chattered. “And why didn’t you tell me to put on a coat?”

  Zia glanced back, her nose red with frost. “The Alps.” She shuddered a little and wrapped her arms around herself. “I hadn’t thought of a coat.” She quickened her steps. “Come quickly.”

  I picked up my pace and ran forward. “Frig, its cold here.” This place would be cold with full winter gear. Being half-naked, my body became frostbit with each second that passed.

  Luckily, we weren’t far from the house, and just as we reached it, the door flew open. Zia rushed in, I followed close behind. The smell of flowers and spice danced along the air and the warmth of this cozy home surrounded me, instantly giving relief.

  “Zia,” a soft voice came from beside me.

  I followed the voice to see a Witch. Surprise brightened her violet exotic eyes as her little mouth perched together. She wore an Indian dress with fringe trim and fluffy fur boots that reached her knees. With her long black hair pulled into two low pigtails, she definitely resembled a Native Indian Princess.

  “Hello again, Ember,” Zia said, rubbed her arms in fast movements to warms herself. “We need your help.”

  Ember paid no attention to Zia, her gaze had fallen on me. She slowly stepped in front of me and stared, as if searching for something. Her violet eyes bore deep into mine.

  After a few moments of awkwardness, I wondered if she was waiting for me to say something. “Hi. I’m Nexi.”

  “Nexi,” she whispered with a soft expression that made her eyes all but melt.

  Huh?

  I glanced at Zia, hoped she could shed some light on the weirdness of this situation. She watched Ember with an odd look. Then, she shook her head at me. I played it cool and didn’t put a voice to Ember’s peculiar behavior.

  Ember finally took a deep breath and her gaze broke away from me to look back at Zia. “It’s a pleasure to see you again, Zia.” She walked over to the simple oak benches that sat before a fireplace. “Come and sit, you both look like you’re freezing.”

  Feeling like a damned icicle, I didn’t hesitate. I went straight over to the fireplace, sat down on the bench and put my hands out to warm them. Zia sat next to me just as Ember handed us a thick fur blanket. I hesitated for a moment, feeling yucky about wrapping some dead thing around me, but I was too cold to resist.


  As I wrapped the blanket around me, I studied Ember a little. Witches always had a little pull to them. Black Witches felt raw and wrong while White Witches just expelled brightness.

  Zia was the strongest witch I’d known and she felt nothing like the Witch before me. The power within her almost created a glowing aura.

  Ember took a seat in the rocking chair that rested right beside the fire and as she sat, a wolf sauntered over to lie down at her feet.

  “Werewolf?” I couldn’t sense that he was, but weirder things have happened, better just to ask.

  Ember laughed softly and gave his ear a scratch. “No. Sayer is a pet. Nothing more, but special nonetheless.” She glanced away from the wolf to Zia. “What can I help you with?”