Death Waltz

by A. M. Hargrove

  Behind us, Jurek!

  Back to back, then.

  Our hands!

  They could both feel each other’s power healing one another as they regained strength.

  The Light! It’s encompassing us, love.

  Liasare hadn’t noticed. It was forming an umbrella and beginning to rain down upon them.

  I’ll face him. You handle the Dark Creatures. I’m the one he wants anyway.

  Be careful, love.

  “Game’s over, Abaddon,” she yelled.

  “It’ll never be over until you’re mine as you were intended to be. The weak one must die!”

  Abaddon sent several fireballs toward them, intending them to land on Jurek. Liasare took a direct hit instead. Her back shoved into Jurek’s and he felt her pain as it ripped into him. He spun and sent a laser beam straight to Abaddon. It shot him into the air, but he floated back down, sending more fireballs Jurek’s way. By now, the umbrella shield had formed, protecting them. Jurek was able to fire more blasts at Abaddon, giving him enough time to drag Liasare through the gate.

  “The key! Liasare use the key! Now.”

  She was so weakened from the blast, she could barely stand, but she held up the key facing the gate.

  “I can’t hold it. You have to hold my arm up.”

  Jurek grabbed her arm and held it steady. The medallion began to glow and lines started forming in front of the gate. They connected so quickly it was impossible to watch precisely how it happened. But an intricate web was formed, where only a pinpoint of light could be seen through the spots that weren’t lines. When it was complete, the grid was almost a solid network of lines. And on the other side they could hear the vicious screams of Abaddon, locked inside of his realm.

  They stared at it for a second and then Liasare collapsed.

  “Liasare!”

  “It’s done,” she rasped. Her voice was so faint; he had to strain to hear her.

  “I need to get you out of here.”

  Jurek slipped his arms under her, but stopped dead in his tracks. Facing them were hundreds of Dark Creatures.

  “Fuck!” He slowly rose to fight again, but before he let his power loose, they all collapsed to the ground.

  “What the hell?” He inched toward them, expecting them to rise and fight back, but they didn’t. He nudged one of them with the toe of his boot, but received no response.

  Jurek dropped to his knees and said, “I don’t know how, but they’re all dead.”

  “Destroy them. All of them,” she mumbled. “I don’t trust that they’re dead.” She had difficulty speaking.

  “No! I need to get you out of here.”

  “Not before you obliterate every one of those vile things.”

  He nodded and turned back to the army of creatures, raised his arms and a tremendous stream of energy flowed from him. Waving his arms across the field where they lay, he turned them into dust. When they were all gone, he turned back to Liasare.

  Then he picked her up and they left for Earth. When they materialized in their headquarters, they heard voices outside, but no one was there.

  “Here, lay still. Let me heal you. Where is it the worst?”

  “Arms, legs, a few gashes on my stomach. My chest is where I took the biggest hit. I think we’re both burned too.”

  “Yeah, I’ll be fine in a bit. Let me take care of you first.”

  He lifted her shirt and saw three long, ugly wounds that he healed. Then he moved on to her chest. While he was working on her, she screamed. The others came running in and as they saw what he was doing, Tak and Marik assisted in the healing. That allowed Jurek to hold Liasare’s head in his lap and to calm her while they cured all her wounds.

  “I need to get her to bed. She needs sleep,” Jurek said.

  “Wait!” she said, stopping her. “What happened here?”

  “It was a blood bath. We kicked ass,” Tak said. “Killed an assload of those nasty things. But then, all of a sudden, mid-fight, they all dropped dead.”

  They all decided it was because of the lost connection between Abaddon and the Dark Creatures.

  “As soon as that gate was secured, the same thing happened to us. They all fell over, dead. I can’t say I’m sorry about that either,” Liasare said.

  “I’m putting Liasare to bed now.”

  “Wait!” Liasare called out again.

  “Christ! What is it this time?” Jurek asked.

  “Every one of those filthy beasts needs to be destroyed. Turn them all to dust. Call in extra Praestani and Guardians to get this job done, but we can’t leave any of them behind to form any type of an army and we need to hunt down every one of Abaddon’s minions. Clear?”

  Tak stepped forward. “Yes. But can we at least rest a bit first?”

  “You can. But the others who haven’t fought need to get on this right away. We can’t risk it.”

  “Understood. I’ll send out the order immediately,” Tak said.

  Jurek nodded. “Thank you everyone. For all you’ve done here. You’ve performed admirably. It won’t go unrewarded.”

  When Jurek had Liasare situated in their bed, he told her they needed to find Abaddon’s main minion here on Earth.

  “Liasare, he has to be found. He has to be a demon and if he’s still at large on Earth. He has great potential to continue Abaddon’s work.”

  Liasare touched the skeleton key that still hung around her neck. Then she brushed Jurek’s hair back from his face. “Do you think he survived? If the others creatures died, isn’t there a possibility he died as well?”

  “Yes, but we can’t take that chance. Without Abaddon’s power, he’ll be weakened so now is the time to strike. I’ll tell the others. But you must rest. Your body needs to rejuvenate.”

  “Yes, it does and I’m so tired right now.”

  Jurek started to leave when Liasare’s voice stopped him.

  “Tell the others not to let their guard down. I can’t help but think this is a time when we will all be vulnerable. We must never let ourselves be in that position again. Oh, and one other thing. Thank you.”

  “How did you figure it out?”

  “What do you mean?” she asked.

  “Abaddon? I thought we were cooked.”

  She chuckled a little. “I had a thought. Every time you get really pissed off and your eyes go all black, the temp drops. I mean crazy drops. I figured if I could get you pissed off, it could buy us some time in that oven. So I knew the one thing that would set you off would be thinking about that bloody fucker trying to mate with me.”

  “I gotta hand it to you. It worked. Like a fucking charm.”

  She looked at him and smiled. “I was only protecting what I value the most.”

  “You were magnificent.”

  “No. You were the one that came through for me.”

  “How could I not?” He bent and kissed her forehead. “Rest now and let me take care of business here.”

  She was asleep before he made it out the door.

  “How is she?” Tak asked when he rejoined them in the main room.

  “Thoughtful. She wants us to look for Abaddon’s chief minion. The one who was leading everything here. She has a point. She thinks he’s a demon.”

  “And what do you think?”

  “I concur. What else can he be? We could never locate him. He’s eluded all of our attempts to find him. Liasare thinks now is the time to strike, because he’ll be as weak as ever.”

  Tak rubbed his chin in thought. “We need an army then. If this is true, we can’t afford to let him slip away.”

  Jurek saw Marik across the room, so he called out to him. Marik walked over to join the two men and Jurek explained the situation. “I want you and Tak to take the lead on this. The two of you have first hand knowledge of him and know what to look for. You can lead this army to seek him out and destroy him.”

  “Understood,” Marik said. “What about all the dead creatures?”

  Jurek looked at Ta
k. “The Guardians can handle that. They can use their annihilators to destroy them.”

  “Do you want to pass that information on?” Tak asked.

  “Yeah, because I need to find out about Liasare’s niece and nephew,” Jurek answered. “One other thing. We’ll have to establish places for the Praestani army to stay while they’re here searching.”

  “Not necessarily. If we have them work in eight-hour shifts, they can go back and forth to Praestan. That will save us from having to establish a huge base here,” Tak explained.

  “That makes better sense. Will you keep me posted? I need to check on Liasare. She needs food and so do I.”

  Tak laughed. “Why am I not surprised?”

  “Hey. She put in her dues today. And we still have the clean up to contend with.”

  Tak reached out for his arm and said, “Why don’t you let us handle this?” He looked at Marik and he nodded. Then he turned back to Jurek and said, “When Liasare wakes up, go home to Praestan and be with Justus. He needs you. The three of you need each other. We can do this and if we need you, we know where to find you.”

  “Are you sure?” he asked.

  The two men nodded. Then Marik spoke up. “You’ve both risked your neck time and again for us. It’s high time we return the favor, my lord. Go home.”

  “Thank you. I shouldn’t have any trouble talking Liasare into it. I do have one other question. How many casualties did we sustain?”

  “The numbers aren’t in yet, but to my knowledge, not many. I know we lost two Guardians. I didn’t know them personally and I don’t think you did either. I’m told there were three Praestani that perished,” Tak said.

  “Do you know how?”

  “Not yet, but I have a feeling it was the demon.”

  “Let me know when you have the final count.”

  He turned and went to his quarters with a heavy heart. Jurek knew there would be deaths associated with the defeat of Abaddon, but it didn’t make it any easier to bear. He sat on the bed and studied Liasare as she slumbered. The lines between her eyes were gone and the tension he’d noticed around her mouth had disappeared.

  “Fuck this,” he mumbled.

  He wrapped his arms around her neck and flashed them to Praestan. When they took form in the sanctuary, he grinned. Curling up behind to her, he closed his eyes.

  ***

  Liasare stretched her arms first and then her legs. She didn’t want to open her eyes just yet. She had no pain anywhere and she had slept well. So well in fact, she couldn’t even remember making it to the bed. She imagined today would be busy, but she was going to procrastinate for as long as she could. Jurek was here with her. She recognized his scent. Rolling to her side, she snuggled close to him.

  “Mmm. I take it you’re feeling better,” he said.

  “Much. Thank you.”

  “I have a surprise.”

  “Oh? What is it?”

  He chuckled. “Welcome home.”

  She raised her head and saw where she was. Then her laughter rang out. “God, I’ve missed this place.”

  “Same here.”

  “Have you seen our son yet?”

  “No. I just woke up myself.”

  “Let’s go.”

  They got up, dressed, and flashed to the main house. When they walked into Justus’ room, he was playing with his toys. They observed him for a few seconds, but then he turned and saw them. Brinna was with him and he giggled.

  “Mama!” he cried.

  Liasare grabbed him and picked him up, laughing. He crawled all over her like a little monkey until Jurek took him from her. They played for a while and then went to eat together. Jurek and Justus sat next to each other with Justus seated in his booster chair. He was growing like a weed, and looked like a two year old. Liasare stared at her two guys and was startled to see how much alike they were.

  “He looks exactly like you, Jurek.”

  “No, he has your nose and mouth,” Jurek countered.

  “If you could see the two of you together, he looks like a miniature you. It’s almost uncanny. His nose and chin—they’re yours.”

  “Yeah, but he has your eyes.” Jurek looked fondly between mother and son.

  “He does have my eyes, doesn’t he?”

  As they were speaking, Justus looked at them, moving his head back and forth, and then focused on Liasare slanting his head in the same manner that his father often did. “Mama, more milk.”

  “Please. More milk, please.”

  “Pwease.”

  She turned to Jurek and said, “And he’s demanding exactly like his father, too.”

  Then Justus blurted out, “Demanding wike Dadder.”

  “See, he agrees with me,” Liasare said.

  “I can’t disagree,” Jurek said.

  They all laughed, even Justus, though it was decided he didn’t know what he was laughing at.

  “Jurek, we need to take him swimming in the pool at the sanctuary.”

  Justus slammed his hands down on the table and screeched, “Swim now!”

  “Dear God. We have our work cut out for us, don’t we?”

  “I think we do.”

  Jurek turned to his son and admonished him. “Justus, stop demanding. You must ask.”

  Justus clearly had no idea what that meant.

  “It’s obvious in our absence he’s been spoiled to death and granted every wish his baby heart has wanted,” Liasare groaned. “This is going to be difficult. I want to discipline him, yet at the same time, I’m inclined to continue spoiling him since we’ve been away for so long.”

  “I agree. We’ll take it one step at a time.”

  Jurek turned to his son and said, “Would you like to go swimming?”

  Justus’ face beamed.

  “Then you must say please.”

  “Pwease.”

  Tommy transported to Praestan to check on them, while they were debating what to do with Justus. Liasare hugged her brother and he was glad to see she was in one piece. He eyed her for a minute and she said, “I’m fine. Truly.”

  He finally nodded, and then said, “We’re still running scans from Lare-Stell to see if we can find Abaddon’s minions, but you two need some family time. I’ll let you know if we come up with anything.”

  He left after a brief visit and making sure she was okay.

  “I guess he needed to reassure himself his sister was fine,” Jurek said.

  “Yeah, he always did look out for me.”

  “I didn’t want to tell you before, but it killed him not being able to come to Earth to help.”

  “That doesn’t surprise me one bit. I hope he and Jaylen can work things out.”

  They took Justus out of his booster and called for Brinna to bring a bathing suit. Then they went back to the sanctuary.

  Seeing Justus splashing around in the pond was as much fun for them as it was for him. The three of them spent the entire day playing and by nightfall, Justus was like an over-cooked noodle. Liasare tucked him into his small bed and he was fast asleep before she could get him in his pajamas.

  When the two of them were alone, she said, “He’s a handful, like you are.”

  “I’m sorry. I wish I could have selectively given him my best parts.”

  “You did. There isn’t a bad part on you. I love every bit of you, Jurek, and I wouldn’t change a thing on you. I’m glad Justus is the way he is. He needs to have spunk and backbone. Besides, one day, he’ll have some large shoes to fill.”

  “Liasare. Tell me something. If you knew then what you know now, would you do it all over again? From start to finish?”

  “You mean everything with you?”

  Jurek bobbed his head.

  “Without a doubt. A thousand times over. I don’t regret any of it. At all.”

  “I’m not ...”

  She cut him off. “You’re much more than I ever hoped for. Have you ever thought about how this all happened. You and I? When I stop and think about it, it’s i
nsane. Talk about how things were meant to be, starting with my search for Tommy on Earth. I could never have made it there without Shandro’s help. And I never knew any of his morbid secrets … the sick feelings he harbored for me. And then you waltzed into my life and ...” she stopped and shrugged. “That was never a mere coincidence, when you sit an analyze it.”

  He flashed her one of his sexy grins, and then stuck his tongue between his teeth. “Yeah, you and I were never a coincidence. No one could put up with my shit the way you do.”

  She ran a finger down the side of his neck. “Oh, I don’t know. I think I give it out just as much as you do. Alaric,” she entwined her arms around his neck, “So, what do you think about expanding our family?”

  “So soon?”

  “Not right this minute.”

  Jurek laughed. “Liasare, I’d love to have a dozen kids with you. I was only worried you wouldn’t survive. Now that I know you will, I’m thrilled.”

  He noticed how her face had tuned the color of snow.

  “What is it?”

  “A dozen? You want a dozen kids? What the hell?”

  “Well, maybe not exactly a dozen. But I’d love a large family. What man wouldn’t?”

  “Of course you would. You don’t have to actually have them! And you don’t have to go through the pregnancy.”

  He did have the decency to look chastised. “True. But the way our species has suffered, I only thought it would send a message to our people.”

  “Well, buster, when you start having these kids, why don’t you send your own damn message. Here I was thinking three, maybe four. And you’re thinking a dozen?” She threw her arms over her head and Jurek began laughing at her.

  “Don’t you laugh at me.”

  “I’m not laughing at you.”

  “Right. At any rate, there’s a reason I brought this up. Maybe we need to do something about getting pregnant.”

  Jurek raised a brow. “You don’t think our sex life has anything to do with it?”

  “Oh my God! Of course it does! What I meant was maybe we need to slow things down.”

  Jurek’s features sagged as he asked, “You want to slow our sex life down? I thought you loved our sex life.”

  Liasare noticed how crushed he looked.