First And Last

by Stacey Kennedy

  His laughter resumed.

  Just as it drifted away, without any sense of warning, he possessed my body. I fought with all I had to push him away from my soul. Satan’s power was unrivaled. Sure, I had enough in me to stay true to myself, but having the ability to push him away was never going to happen.

  “My darkness wants you,” he whispered into my mind.

  “I don’t want it.” This was becoming tiresome. Again and again, I was tested by Black Magic. Sure, it was rich with power. Yes, it could give me an endless amount of strength, but it was dirty, soulless. The fact that the Devil’s magic was purer, it actually came as a blessing. Did I want this type of power? Hell no.

  The Devil’s voice poured out from inside me. “You don’t know what it could give you.”

  “I know exactly what it could give me. I didn’t want it before and I don’t want it now.” Point and point.

  “You will not close the realm,” Satan ordered. “You will leave now.”

  Oh, shit, this was surely a test. And it tested me to my fucking limits. Did I want to say no? Part of me did, but the other was strong. All I’d been through and seen made me fight against this. In the dark world, I couldn’t get any stronger. I was their leader. What more could I want? They all knew I didn’t want that position either. Denying this was a cinch. With every ounce of strength that lived in me, I screamed at the top of my lungs, “Get the fuck out of my body.”

  The pressure building inside of me eased slightly, but he still lingered there and kept a hold on my soul. Sickening in every sense. His presence in my body was more than wrong, it was a pure product of evil. Nothing good lived within him and the horror of that was cold and frightening.

  His voice was amused. “You’re strong. Not like the last, but I’m confident that this will change your mind?”

  The Devil withdrew from my body and I gasped, relieved he was gone. Once I opened my eyes, breathing was lost to me. “Oh dear God…no.” Horror fled through me as I now stood in an empty, dark-walled room with Drake, Tyrianna, Gloria and Frank in flesh and blood.

  My heart sank and a wave of nausea washed over me. I gulped back the vomit that rose in my throat and found the strength to talk. “Why are you here? You’re supposed to be in Heaven. You’re not supposed to be here!”

  They never answered me, which told me this wasn’t real. It wasn’t them. If it was they would’ve said something to me, told me how much they loved me or how much they missed me. They couldn’t speak or feel because they’re illusions.

  Fucking Devil was good, I’d give him that. I gritted my teeth and got right back to business. “Quondam patefacio.”

  Just as I started the words, Gloria gasped and cried out loudly. “No, Nexi, don’t send us back there. We’re not in Heaven. Please, you must save us. You don’t know what it’s like for us here.”

  My mouth clamped shut. Oh God, it sounded just like her. Her eyes filled with tears and poured down her cheeks. She trembled, her eyes afraid. Revulsion sank deep.

  I was wrong. This was the fate they received, to spend eternity to rest in the depths of this place? My stomach turned again with sickness.

  Before, I had the chance to vomit, Drake stepped forward until he was just a few steps away. “We have missed you terribly.” He glanced to the others. “She has come to save us.” He smiled.

  I gave my head a shake as tears filled my eyes. “No this isn’t real, you’d be in Heaven. I know you would.”

  “The Devil captured us,” Tyrianna said in a soft tone that I’d only heard in Zia’s memories. “He stole us while we were crossing over. He knew this day would come and prepared for it.”

  I gasped as I stared into the face of the mother I never knew. “That can’t be true.”

  “Sadly, this is all very true.” She wiped a tear away from her eyes and looked utterly dismayed. “The others have not been here as long. It has been much longer for me.” Fear crossed her face and she reached forward to take my hands, her eyes pleading. “You cannot leave me here. You must take us with you. He has promised that if you leave, we can go with you. We can be free from here. We can come home with you.”

  Tears trickled my cheeks. My Mother in the flesh. I needed to feel more of her. Without hesitation, I wrapped my arms around her. She was so warm. I sank into her embrace. Finally feeling just what it was like to be wrapped in her love. It felt so good.

  Something gnawed at me, made me hesitate. Why hadn’t I agreed yet?

  Tyrianna pulled me away from her chest, her eyes so soft and very loving. This had to be real. It just had to be. Anything that was dark was always seen in their eyes, shadowed with evil. None of that lived in her. Her light hazel eyes glowed with happiness.

  Just then, Gloria latched onto me, took me in her arms as she trembled. I gripped her tight, remembered just how this felt. How I missed her hugs. She smelled like she always did, like freshly baked cookies. “Mom…I’ve missed you so much.”

  “I have missed you too,” she whispered beside my ear. “I love you, Nexi. I love you so much.”

  After that, I was passed onto Drake and Frank, who both embraced me in their love. I was back in their arms, a place I thought I’d never be again. It felt so good, too good. I didn’t ever want to let go.

  Frank made the decision for me and stepped back as he said. “My darling, Nexi. Your Mothers are right. You cannot leave us here. It’s terrible, horrible in the worse ways. Your poor mother, what this is doing to her.” His voice sounded so heartbroken, so worried for her. “You need to take us with you.”

  My guts were being ripped apart. Here were my parents, who begged me to save them. Trapped in this purgatory hell, and I was the only one that could free them. I shook my head in an attempt to get a grasp on this. My only choice was to save them, I couldn’t let them continue on this way, but something kept nagging at me. Why was I hesitant to do this? This was my family who I loved and missed terribly. Why were the words to free them trapped in my throat?

  Drake cupped my cheek and I sank against his hand. “Free us from here and we will return to the Otherworld with you. You’ll no longer be without us. You won’t feel the pain you have suffered from our disappearance from your life.” He wrapped an arm around Tyrianna, gave the same strong look that I’d seen from him a thousand times. “We can help you defeat the Demon Lords. Your mother and I will stand by you as we fight against the darkness. We may not defeat Satan now, but we will in time.”

  There it was…the Devil’s mistake.

  Drake would never say those words to me. Just one simple statement changed it all. This wasn’t them. Drake was a Guardian. They are by far the most protective beings and I knew him well. He’d never tell me to go and fight against dark ones. Ever. He’d be raging mad that I even attempted such a thing.

  With that came a whole lot of clarity. This is what Ember had said, and not until this moment, did I remember her words. “He’ll try and tempt you. You have to fight him hard. Trust me when I tell you, it’s not any easy task.”

  Well, luckily for me, he fucked up and said the wrong thing because she was right. I was this close to giving in. Now seeing this for what it was, it was really almost comical. How could I have even believed my family was in Hell? They were the essence of what was good. God would have taken and protected them. I believed that.

  I began backing away from them, and they all started to sob and scream for me to help them. Oh yeah, the Devil laid it on thick.

  “Please Nexi, I love you. Save me,” Gloria cried out.

  Tyrianna’s face streaked with tears. “I need to know you. I have missed you, my sweet baby.”

  Now, I was getting pissed. Fuck the Devil. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and covered my ears. I couldn’t do this any other way. Sure, they weren’t real, but their pain still felt like it was.

  With all that existed within me, all the power that I learned I had, I screamed. “Quondam patefacio, iam propinquus!”
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  Roars of rage came around me, and I was blasted with power, which sent me flying across blackness. I never hit a wall or slowed down, just continued through a dark tunnel of horror.

  A loud bang rattled into my soul, and with it came the awareness that it wasn’t only the Devil with me now. They were all here. All seven Demon Lords locked within this darkness. The rage among them sucked my breath away, but just as it became too much to bear, something touched me. It wasn’t dark, not in any way.

  This was salvation.

  It pulled at me as if it grabbed my soul from the inside out, then I was dragged from the darkness into a bright white light. It swirled around me, tossed me head over heels. Nausea sank in as I felt like I’d become a sock in a dryer.

  Blessedly, as quick as it started, it stopped. I clasped my stomach, forced the barf to stay where it belonged. Within seconds, the dizziness settled. I opened my eyes to a white space that was everything Heaven should be—love, peace and eternal happiness.

  I blinked slowly and gasped as the love around me grew. A love that was all too familiar. My family. They weren’t here in physical form. There was nothing in front of me or around me, but I could still sense them here, feel them all around me. Touching me.

  Tears filled my eyes. “I’ve found you—you are here.”

  I closed my eyes and relished how close their love and happiness surrounded me and touched everything.

  But just as the euphoria within me peaked, I was blasted from below, pulled down hard enough that my breath immediately sucked back into my body. I entered a never-ending portal again. Moving fast through time, but also suspended. Moving, but not really. Bizarre couldn’t even explain it.

  I hit the ground, hard. When I opened my eyes, everyone circled around Aaliya and me, the rune still glowed. In fact, it appeared to be brighter and even a little larger.

  Kyden was close. His warmth and protection engulfed me. I glanced over my shoulder, and his smile filled me with so much love. I glanced around to see everyone else was around me too, safe. They were all here. Face after face of those who I’d come to love and consider family stood victorious and proud.

  Those of the Underworld all bowed to the ground. Obviously, with the demise of the Demon Lords they weren’t feeling all that confident anymore.

  Cowards!

  Aaliya squeezed my hands, drew my gaze back to hers. “You know what to do.”

  I nodded softly and focused on the power that this rune held, the magic that was born within it and what it represented. “You’ve guided this journey, haven’t you?” I shouted to the skies above. “Your big ole masterful plan. Well aren’t you lucky that it actually worked. I could have made a real mess of things.”

  Laughter spread around me.

  I returned my gaze to Aaliya just as she said, “Remember what I told you.”

  “I’d never forget. I will never forget any of it or anyone.” I closed my eyes and began to invoke power from the magic that I not only knew was right, but my destiny. It was there bone deep, and I didn’t doubt the outcome for a moment,.

  Just as the magic reached its full potential inside my body, I mentally sought out Misa, Quinney, Tyde and Azar, demanded that the power filling me grant my request. It didn’t deny me and reached out to search for them.

  They weren’t difficult to find. Beings that were born within evil and darkness, but denied it. They stood out like a sore thumb. I grabbed onto their beings, brought them into myself, and provided a shield to protect them from the impending danger.

  With Aaliya’s hand tight in mine, I shouted high to the heavens above. “Primoris quod permaneo.”

  It was only said once before the rune exploded and we were all blasted with wind, energy and just a rush of pure power. My entire body tingled as the power washed over me. I expected screams, sounds of pain, but it was so quick there just wasn’t time for that.

  A millisecond later, the power that consumed me vanished.

  Kyden groaned beside me and rose. “Álainn,” he shouted, then scooped me up in his arms and into his lap. “All right?”

  I groaned a little. “Oww, that fucking hurt.” My body was exhausted, left with no energy whatsoever. Moving would have been nice if I was capable of such a thing.

  “Zia,” Kyden called out.

  A second later, she was there, her hand on my arms, and blasted me with a pure rush of Spirit.

  I felt like a new woman again. “Ahh…that is much, much better.” I raised my head from Kyden’s chest and saw everyone begin to regain themselves.

  As my gaze drifted along faces, it suddenly became aware to me that we were back in the Otherworld, resting just outside the castle. That shocked me. What stood in front of me made me jump to my feet. “Holy, fucking, fuck.”

  My eyes went wide as my Guard of Demons had large feathery wings attached to their backs. Each of them shared an equally bemused expression as they stared at their new extremities and made them flutter through the air. “Er…what happened to you?”

  Misa’s smile was so bright and elated. “You’ve done it.” She flapped her wings. “You closed the realm and saved us. God has freed us and given us back our wings.”

  She flew toward me and landed right in front of my face. The move was so fast I didn’t have the chance to prepare for it. “Bah.” I swatted at her. “Slow and steady. I gotta get used to that.”

  Of course, I wasn’t given the chance to. Zia ripped me away from Misa. “What have you done?”

  Every gaze was glued on me. “Well…” I glanced over at Azar who was testing his magic. He had now gained White Magic and looked enthralled with his abilities to use the Elements. “Azar was right. I did know what I always wanted. It just took a little push from Aaliya to see it.”

  “See what?” Zia urged me on. “What is it that you wanted?”

  “The end of it all.”

  Zia mouth dropped open and the rest of the crowd closed in around us. “So, what does that mean?” Her voice was breathless.

  I couldn’t help but laugh at how ridiculous they all looked, wide-mouthed like that. “I banished the Underworld into the Realm of the Dead and locked it away forever.”

  “The whole thing?” Talon gasped.

  “Well yeah.” I shrugged.

  Zia laughed loudly, then everyone else followed suit.

  Zade shook his head at me. “She just sent an entire world there and closed off the gateway.” His shrug mirrored mine. “You know, not a big deal or anything.”

  “What?” I snapped out, a little irritated at his very bad impression of me. Or I hoped it was a bad imitation. “It was the right thing to do.”

  “You’re right.” Zia still laughed, but kissed my cheek. When she backed away, her eyes were brimmed with tears. “It was the right thing to do.”

  Kyden took my chin, drawing my gaze to him. “Why were the Fae with you?”

  “Oh yeah, that was just another shit-kicker. You’ll never guess where this special power in me comes from…”

  Zia had an ah-ha moment and it showed clearly on her face. “You’re Fae?”

  Kyden arched a brow. “Are you now?”

  “Part Fae, well…Fae, Guardian and Witch.” Quickly, I gave the short version of my conversation with Aaliya, and the truth of my past. Everyone was stunned silly by the end of it and mouths formed a giant O.

  I burst out laughing, unable to hide how stupid they all looked. “Yeah, that was exactly my reaction too.”

  “A nice thing, no? “ Zia finally said after a few long moments while everyone processed the news. “To finally know your true heritage.”

  “I guess it’s good to know the why’s now, but I’m not sure it really changes anything.”

  Kyden chuckled, brushed a hand across my cheek. “Knowing this changes nothing?”

  “Not really. Just explains the power I guess. But I’m still me—just plain old, Nexi Jones, bonded to Kyden.”

  That
caused another sound of laughter.

  “Do not move.” Zia moved. “I want to hear everything that happened in the Realm of Dead, every single juicy bit of it, but I’ve got something to attend to.” I’d never seen her move so fast, as she ran like a bat out of hell to wherever it was she was going.

  Kyden wrapped his arms around my waist, brought my gaze back to his and leaned down to kiss my lips softly. Just before our lips touched, he said, “Álainn, you’re anything but plain.” He claimed my lips and I melted into a big pile of lustful Nexi.

  When he pulled away, I could barely breathe. My eyes slowly opened, and his stared deep into mine as his emotions ran high. Pride, lust, happiness, the list was endless. Too many to even say. He gave me his devilish grin. “You do know you’ve done it, don’t you?”