by Hadena James
Azreal lumbered down the stairs. He looked at Lucifer and then the rest of us. His eyes didn’t show any of the amazement that the rest of us had felt at the sight of our Overlord being restrained. Of course, Azreal wasn’t entirely all there so to speak, so I didn’t take it as a sign of anything.
“The Brothers asked me to look over you lot, make sure nothing happened,” he took a seat in one of the chairs.
“Fun,” I responded.
“You look about as happy as a whore in a town full of eunuchs,” Azreal replied.
“That happy, huh?” I frowned at him.
“That’s better,” he gave me a smile. “The Brenna we all know and adore.”
“Stop frowning, your forehead will wrinkle,” my mother issued the scolding that so often left her lips around me.
“Mom, I’m not going to change. The frown lines I had ten months ago are the same as the frown lines I’ll have in ten thousand years. It is fine,” I reminded her.
“You still shouldn’t frown so much, it makes you look unfriendly. Look at your…” She stopped.
“Yes, my father is a great example as he lies chained to a table with magic, possessed by an unknown entity.”
“You’re right, he’s a terrible example at the moment, but most of the time, he is a good example. He is always happy.”
“Maybe she frowns because she can’t have children,” Azreal said.
“I don’t think that’s it,” I told him. “I think I’m just one of those people.”
“By one of those people, she means the kind that stays confused all the time,” Rachel joked.
“There’s some truth to that,” I admitted wryly.
“It’s sexual frustration,” my mother said after about ten minutes of silence. “If she’d just put out, she’d smile more and be happier and I wouldn’t have to worry about frown lines appearing on her forehead.”
“Wow, really?” I said to her.
“Really,” she sighed at me and went back to staring at my father.
This seemed to effectively end all conversations and we sat in the basement silently. My brother Daniel kept a hand on Eli, Eli didn’t scream as long as Daniel was touching him. However, my father seemed immune to the touch.
“Rach, touch dad,” I said as he let out another long bellow.
“Why me?”
“Why not?” I countered. She didn’t seem to have an answer for this, so she stood up and walked over to our father. Carefully, she put a hand on the large man’s arm. He stopped bellowing. Her eyes turned to me with a terrified look.
“What?” I asked.
“He feels weird, come feel him.”
This was actually on the list of things I didn’t want to do. Especially if there was even the remotest possibility that my irritation was due to someone trying to possess me. However, I conceded to the pleading look of my sister and stood up.
My father felt electrically charged, as if someone had plugged him into a wall outlet. It wasn’t a really strong current; just enough to let you know it was there. I closed my eyes to feel the magic without the interference of my eyes.
There it was, somehow missed in the confusion and devastation of seeing my father possessed, a magical signature mixed in with his own black magical aura. They were brilliant streaks of almost pure white. They reminded me of Pendragon, but somehow, they seemed more pure.
I opened my eyes and looked at my sister, “can you see the white streaks of magic?”
“No,” she responded.
“Does anyone?”
“I do,” Daniel said, “but on Eli, not dad.”
“Do you see any in my magic?” I asked.
“No, there is something else blending with your magic, something dark.”
“Something dark is not helpful, Daniel,” I admonished him.
“I don’t know what to tell you,” Daniel snipped back, “there is something there that shouldn’t be, but I don’t know what it is and I’m not entirely sure it is magic.”
“What else could it be?” I asked, still testy.
“Beats me,” he pursed his lips and glared at me.
“Magic sickness?” Rachel asked.
“Magic sickness doesn’t leave a mark,” I told her.
“It might if it is magic sickness…” She stopped and looked at me.
“What?” I asked.
“I was just thinking maybe you leeched too much off of Spring-Heeled Jack or Jack the Ripper or…” She frowned.
“She’s frowning, scold her,” I told my mother.
“Or what?” My mother said instead.
“Cerebus,” Rachel said the word quietly.
“I don’t think I can leech magic from Cerebus.”
“Think, but don’t know for sure,” Vera told me.
“Ok, there is a slim possibility, but it seems far more likely that it is someone else’s magic that I came into contact with,” I thought back. How long had I been irritated? Hours for sure.
“Who have you had contact with dear?” Vera asked.
“Everyone,” I responded.
“That really narrows it down,” Nick slumped in his chair. “Could you have been leeching magic at the Prison? What about the magic of the Succubi or Incubi?”
I thought for several minutes. I couldn’t think of anyone who had dark colored magic except the big man lying on the table. I tried to recall all the magical signatures I had seen recently, none jumped out.
“Could it be dad’s?” I asked.
“Maybe, but why can’t you see it?” Daniel prodded.
“That is the million dollar question,” I frowned harder, “why can’t Rachel see the white in Dad’s? Or I the white in Eli’s? Or you the white in Dad’s?”
“Then it would have to be someone we all came into contact with,” Rachel said.
“That means Cerebus and the people in the cave and the people in the prison,” I said.
“Yeah, that’s still a lot.”
There was a crash upstairs and Spring-Heeled Jack came bounding down the staircase. He looked as mad as ever. Azreal stood up and grabbed the madman.
“Wait, someone look at his magic,” I said.
“It’s yellow,” Rachel said.
“Not what is in you,” Daniel said.
“Why does he keep popping up?” Azreal asked my question from earlier. His grip tightened on the terrifying Elder. Jack began laughing in response.
“I don’t think he talks,” I told Azreal. “I think that laugh is all he can do.”
“We need a Djinn,” Azreal said.
“I’m sure there are plenty around,” I answered. “Why can you restrain him by yourself but the rest of the Demons needed help?”
“Because,” Azreal gave me a dumb look and wings spread from his back. “If Gabriel were around, he could do it, but since he is healing, I’m taking his spot temporarily. Think of it as an Overlord fail-safe.”
“I didn’t realize you were half Angel,” I told him.
“My mum is half Angel, I’m more like a quarter, dad is full Demon. Mum is half demon, half angel, but there’s none stronger except Gabriel and the Brothers and maybe you lot. But as Temporary Overlord, I can control him because he’s half Angel.”
“Oh,” I said this as if it cleared everything up. It didn’t, it just confused me, may be Rachel was onto something with the frowning problem. “How is Gabriel?”
“He’s healing, still not in any kind of good condition, but he’ll get there. Doctors and Demons think it will take a week or so. I tried to heal him and couldn’t, but he transferred power to me during the process.”
“I didn’t know Overlords could do that,” I admitted.
“From necessity arises solutions,” Azreal shrugged and left the basement with the half-breed from Hell.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
It seemed like an eternity before the Overlords and Brothers returned. Anubis carried Pandora’s Box like it would explode. Pendragon kept eyeing it nervously. Everyone
else seemed fine with the Box’s presence.
“Well?” I asked.
“You got onto me for that,” Anubis said.
“Sorry, what do we do now?” I reworded the question.
“Now we open the Box and see if we can bring Magnus from it,” Sonnellion paled about three shades as he spoke.
“Sonnel?” Mammon turned his brother’s name into a question.
“Fine, I’m fine, I’m just concerned,” Sonnellion answered.
“About going back into the Box or what might come out of it?” Mammon answered.
“Both,” Sonnellion admitted.
“I’m with Sonnellion on this, do you think it absolutely necessary to open it?” Pendragon asked.
“What is the worst that could happen?” I asked, smiling.
“Don’t smile like that, it’s disturbing,” my mother told me.
“I can’t frown, I can’t smile. What would make you happy?” I asked.
“For you not to look like a madman,” she responded, glaring at me. I wilted under the stare and broke eye contact with her. I didn’t want to argue with a pregnant Witch who was also my mother, it was an argument I would lose.
“Who opens it?” Vishnu asked as Anubis set it down on a counter.
“That is a good question,” Anubis answered. “Who can keep their minds the clearest?”
“Not me,” I immediately answered.
“You opening the Box would be a disaster,” Vishnu answered. “It was never an option.”
“How about the third most powerful Witch in the room?” Nick piped up.
“Me?” Daniel looked at him.
“Well, you’re a Witch, a Demon and a Prophet, for some that would be confusing, but you make it work,” Nick answered.
“He might have a point,” Pendragon blushed. “The mind of a Prophet is often clear.”
“You make me sound brainless,” Daniel took his hand off Eli. Eli instantly began bellowing. I took Daniel’s place at Eli’s side, he quieted again.
Daniel stood in front of Pandora’s Box for several minutes. His chest didn’t move. His pulse didn’t throb in his neck. His aura seemed to change ever so slightly, if I hadn’t been watching, I wouldn’t have noticed.
He flipped open the lid. Magnus came out of the Box. His face was enraged, his mouth was working, but he was only making a mewing sound. Rachel instantly cast a spell to bind him.
My father didn’t bellow. The glow slowly began to fade. His horns stopped creating fire. We all watched in wonder, Magnus was frozen in time, but Lucifer was recovering.
Daniel pulled another being from the Box. This one was worse, much worse. Jasmine suddenly stood in front of us. She tossed her head back, laughed and stunned Daniel with a touch. He was completely still for a second, then shook his head and blinked at her.
Her smile faltered for a second. I let go of Eli. He didn’t make a sound. Jasmine plastered the smile back on her face, then Daniel froze her.
“Um,” I said, shaking my head.
“Is everyone else as confused as I am? How did Jasmine get into the Box?” Morgana asked.
“That is a good question,” Anubis seemed pensive. “I don’t think she was. I think she was using Magnus to get out of the Prison through the Box.”
Souls began to surge from the Box. They filled the entire room. I recognized a few.
“I didn’t think anyone had ever been trapped in the Box?” I looked at Pendragon.
“They haven’t,” Pendragon’s eyes were wide. He was staring at Nick. Nick was glowing. The ground in front of him was forming bodies faster than Demons healed. John the Demon’s form took shape. A soul dashed towards the body and entered it. The form shook from head to toe then it exhaled deeply.
John the Demon stretched, yawned and turned to look around the room. His eyes were wide. He seemed confused.
“What the hell?” Mammon asked.
“I don’t think it’s hell,” I told him. “I think it’s Pendragon’s magic.”
“What does that mean?” Pendragon turned on me.
“Well, we knew they were using magic beyond their means, maybe they’ve been using yours and Sonnellion’s,” I tilted my head sideways, “but they would have had to use the magic in the Box because we can’t leech from you, but the Box had been locked up, so how did they get access to it?”
“What should we do? I can’t hold them like this for long,” Rachel said.
“I’ll take Jasmine back to the prison, the rest of you interrogate Magnus and figure out what’s going on with my magic,” Pendragon picked up Jasmine and carried her out of the room. I felt like a weight had lifted after she left.
“Go ahead and unfreeze him,” my mother said.
Rachel released the spell. Magnus blinked a few times and looked around. His eyes fell on my mother.
“Elise,” Magnus nodded to her.
“Magnus,” my mother responded politely. “Have you been fiddling with the magic of the Box?”
Sometimes my mother could be terribly blunt. She has this command about her, a woman in charge of not only her own destiny, but the destinies of many. It showed in the way she carried herself and her speech.
“Possibly,” Magnus seemed confused. “I don’t know for sure. Do you have any idea what it is like in that Box? Death would be better.”
“You don’t know?” My mother gave him a stern look. It would have wilted my father. Magnus, as it turned out, was no different. He shuffled his feet and looked at the ground.
“I don’t know, Elise,” he finally said quietly. “It’s like being asleep, but only partly asleep and having nightmares that you can’t wake up from.”
“Did you dream you were fiddling with the magic?” Elise continued.
“No.”
“Did you dream that anyone else was fiddling with the magic?” She pressed forward.
“I don’t think so,” Magnus screwed up his face and looked confused. “Time doesn’t exist there. Nothing exists there except what I think about.”
“Could you have done it without realizing it?” Elise asked.
“I don’t know,” Magnus finally looked up. “I will go to the Prison, but I don’t want to go back into the Box.”
“I don’t think Pandora’s Box is a good plan,” Daniel said, he was still staring into the depths of it. Souls were still marching out of it.
“That is unexpected,” Levi narrowed his eyes at me.
“This has nothing to do with me,” I told him.
“There is probably a lot of truth to that, but it is still unexpected,” Levi answered. “Daniel, how many souls do you see?”
“Thousands, but not all of them will come out.”
A small hole was appearing at Nick’s feet. The dirt had formed two more bodies. They had taken shape and were now staring at us in confusion.
“Did I die?” An Angel that had come from the Box asked.
“Yes,” Anubis told him, “but it appears that you are back now. How are you Hawthorne?”
“Confused,” the Angel, Hawthorne, answered.
“Us too,” Anubis admitted.
Nick seemed oblivious to us. Another body was taking shape in front of us. He was tall with large horns. As the dirt finished molding, a soul rushed to it. He took a deep breath and looked at Nick.
“We should destroy the Box,” Daniel brought our attention back to him.
“Why?” I asked.
“Because there are dark things inside of it,” he said as if I should have known.
“Will that help Dad and Eli?” Rachel asked.
“It can’t hurt,” Daniel turned and looked at me. “Of course, Pendragon and everyone else who contributed to the Box will get their magic back.”
“That’s a problem,” Anubis told him.
“I know,” Daniel shut the lid on the Box. Total, five souls had been formed into beings, the others had gone back into the Box when the lid was shut. I knew a few of them, they had been dusted.
M
y mother interrupted us with a long, low groan. We all turned to look at her. Her face was contorted, her eyebrows drawn together. I had seen that face before.
“You have got to be kidding me,” Rachel palmed her face. “Magnus, confused souls, Nick, Daniel, The Box, half crazed Demons and now mom is in labor.”
“You forgot about Jack the Ripper and Spring-Heeled Jack,” I reminded her.
“Why do you seem calm?” Rachel gave me a look.
“Because I always expect another complication,” I smiled at her. “I’ll go with you and Olivia to take mom to the hospital. The boys can stay here with Eli and Dad. The Overlords can help and sit on Magnus until we can return.”
I looked around, Olivia and Rachel were already helping mom up.
“And Daniel, no more playing with the Box,” I told the youngest as we began marching upstairs with Vera in tow telling us the best way to get to the hospital.
Pendragon and two Succubi suddenly crashed through the doorway. They looked awful. Blood was pouring from them.
“Jasmine.” Pendragon seemed to take a deep breath, “gone.”
My blood ran cold. Jasmine was free. That was not a complication I could deal with.
Chapter Thirty
My uncles were scouring the country-side for Jasmine. My father and oldest brother were still being held prisoner in the basement. My mother was in labor. Olivia had fainted. Rachel was trying to get help for Pendragon and his daughters, but that was causing its own problems. This meant I was in yet another delivery room.
Elise grabbed my hand. If she had been more than a Witch, she would have crushed my hand. Luckily, she wasn’t.
“Just a few more,” I told my mom.
“I hate this,” my mother shouted.
“I can believe that,” I answered, jiggling my hand out of her grasp. “And if you really hated it, you’d stop getting pregnant.”
“Not that,” my mother said through clenched teeth.
“Oh,” I frowned at her. “What?”
“All these complications. Like it isn’t enough that we have a serial killer and a nutter on the loose, we have your father and brother to deal with, now your sister has disappeared, and I’m in labor. It couldn’t have waited one more day?”