by Opal Carew
“It’s brutal isn’t it?” Lucifer whispered.
“What is?” Asmodeus snapped as frustration and helplessness swamped him.
“The moment when you realize you’re not worthy of love.”
Heavy silence fell between them as Lucifer looked up at the moonlit sky and the leaden truth of his statement fell over Asmodeus like a shroud. For a moment, just a moment, he’d allowed himself to believe that Kai could be his and that love, real, pure love was within his reach but nothing could have been further from the truth.
When Lucifer finally turned his attention back to Asmodeus, he could swear he saw something akin to sadness in his brother’s eyes.
“We were created to oversee the damned for all eternity. Nothing more. Nothing less. Love is not a sin. It is not an abomination. It’s the kindest, gentlest part of humanity and we were not made to experience it or bask in its glow.” He lowered his voice to almost a whisper. “And if you try to capture it, you will turn that love and anyone who touches it, to ash.”
Before Asmodeus could respond, Lucifer vanished in a flash of fire. As the last wisps of smoke dissipated, Lucifer’s warning ran through his mind but he pushed the hopeless message back. All that mattered was making certain Kai was safe.
Ripping the cork out of the bottle, Asmodeus ran down to the driveway and stood in a ray of moonlight that shone through the trees. Drinking down the sweet liquid, he kept one thought in the forefront of his mind…. I may not be worthy of love but Kai is.
An odd tingling sensation spread across Asmodeus’ chest, and radiated through his body as he watched the beam of moonlight grow. The pale light washed over him slowly, like water spreading on a smooth surface and the odd tingling sensation grew with it.
Out of nowhere, gut wrenching pain flashed around him and it felt as though his chest were being pinned in some kind of invisible vice. The crushing pressure stole his breath and his fists clenched, turning the bottle to dust as the throbbing agony surged. Asmodeus screamed with rage and blinding pain as the world around him exploded in a luminous blaze.
He landed facedown, on the marble floor with an audible grunt and immediately pushed himself up onto all fours. Asmodeus’ vision blurred and he shook his head, trying to bring the room into focus but everything was spinning. Muscles straining, palms pressed against the cool stone, he heard the faint sound of a woman laughing.
“Who’s there?” Something wet spilled into his eyes, further blurring his vision. Asmodeus shoved himself to his knees, and though his body wavered, he managed to stay upright. He pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes and when he pulled them away, he saw his right hand was covered in blood. “What’s going on?”
Squinting, he looked up and found himself face to face with Zemi, the Fae Queen. Asmodeus looked around and swore under his breath because he was in what looked like Zemi’s bedroom. But he didn’t see any sign of Kai.
If he ever got out of this he was going to beat the shit out of Lucifer.
“Sorry, demon,” she said, with a wicked grin. “You’re in my dimension now.”
Asmodeus, struggling to get to his feet, raised his hand to conjure up a ball of fire in an attempt to have Zemi keep her distance. However, much to his surprise, no magic came. Swearing, he tried again but still…nothing.
Asmodeus was powerless, bleeding, and mortal.
Zemi must have seen the look of confusion on his face and it only made her laugh harder. A sudden wave of dizziness swamped him but despite his best efforts to remain upright, he dropped to the floor like a stone.
“Didn’t Lucifer tell you?” Zemi’s amused voice was the last thing he heard, as the darkness closed in. “Demons have no power in the Fae dimension. Welcome to you own personal hell.”
Chapter Seventeen
Dressed in a long sapphire colored gown of chiffon and silk, the woman who looked just like Kai’s grandmother, placed the tray of food onto a small table. Kai, not quite sure she was actually seeing what she thought she was seeing, pushed herself up to a sitting position while she watched the woman unfurl a napkin and arrange the food.
“Y—you’re my…I mean you look just like my…” Kai’s voice trailed off as she struggled to make sense of the latest development. “This is nuts.”
“I’m your grandmother.” The elegant woman dressed in blue turned to face her. “You can call me Kristine and to be quite honest, I’m surprised by your reaction. You already know that you have Fae and Witch blood. You’re sleeping with one of the Brotherhood and you wear the Ring of Solomon. Really, Kai, I thought you’d be happy to see me.”
Large dark, brown eyes and wavy, sandy blonde hair framed a heart shaped face that was strikingly similar to Kai’s mother. Tall, and with the lithe, elegant body of a dancer, she was luminous, beautiful and young. By all accounts, Kai’s grandmother should be eighty or so years old but this woman didn’t look a day over thirty.
“You should really eat it before it gets cold.” She gestured to the lovely breakfast she’d set out on the table. “Come sit on the loveseat and have some breakfast. I believe I made your favorite.”
Unmoving, Kai stared at Kristine like she’d just sprouted wings. Clutching the sheet between her fingers, her stomach rumbled again from the delectable smell of bacon.
“You did.” Kai laughed nervously and shrugged. “Pancakes and bacon is my favorite breakfast.”
“See? I’m not so bad at this grandmother thing.” Kristine winked and clapped her hands. “Come on, now. We have a big day ahead of us, so come, sit and eat.”
“That’s it?” Kai asked with more than a little incredulity. “You show up, back from the grave, looking more like my sister than my grandmother, and you want me to eat breakfast? What’s going on? Where’s Asmodeus?”
“He’s in the mortal dimension or maybe he went back to the Underworld but wherever he is, I’m sure he’s pitching a fit as we speak. Now have something to eat, Kai.” Kristine smoothed the chiffon of her long dress and swept over to the rocking chair before making herself comfortable in it. She waved toward the food. “Come on.”
“You’re a piece of work, lady.” Kai shook her head as she got out of bed and went to the couch because crazy or not, she was hungry. “I tell you what. I’ll make you a deal. I’ll eat this if you’ll tell me what in the hell is going on. For starters, where am I and where have you been all this time?”
“I’ve been here,” she waved her hand around, “in the Fae dimension.”
“I’m in the Fae dimension?” Kai looked around the room and when her gaze drifted over the sunlight peeking in around the shades, it came together. “My dream…”
“It wasn’t a dream. I brought you here using our light travel but you fainted along the way.” Kristine lifted one shoulder. “I would have come for you sooner but you hadn’t tapped into enough of your Fae power and I had to wait and see if you and Asmodeus would…connect.”
“Yeah, we connected but I hope you haven’t been peeking through any keyholes.” Kai’s face heated with embarrassment. “As for the fainting thing, apparently magical travel makes me pass out. Who knew?”
“At any rate, you have to understand that time doesn’t pass here the same way it does in the human dimension.” Kristine pointed at the food. Kai let out a sigh before sitting down, grabbing a piece of bacon and taking a big bite. “Thank you. Now. Where was I? Oh yes, the time discrepancy. Time in the mortal dimension passes rather quickly compared to time here. The mortals exist in dog years compared to the Fae.”
Kai’s forkful of pancake came to a screeching halt. “Are you saying that we’re dogs?”
“No,” Kristine laughed and began to rock slowly in the chair. “I’m just trying to help you understand. One Fae year is like twenty of your mortal years. As far as you’re concerned, I’ve been gone for a little over fifty years but from my perspective it’s only been about two and a half.”
“Okay,” Kai said slowly between bites of the remarkably delicious breakfast.
“That’s all fine and dandy but why did you leave? Why didn’t you come back and teach my mother or me? It would have been nice to have some guidance through this freak show that I now call a life.”
“I tried. I came back for your mother when she turned eighteen.” Her eyes lit up as she recalled the memory. “I was so excited to show Katherine the altar I created for her in the barn and Jacob had kept it up so beautifully. I’d hoped it would please her to see me but it didn’t.” The smile faded from her eyes as she let out a slow breath in a clear attempt to get a handle on her burgeoning emotions. “When I told your mother about being Fae and a Custodian of the Light, she was enraged, furious with me for staying away. She blamed the Fae world for robbing her of a normal childhood, for taking her mother away and for the pain I caused Jacob. Katherine wanted no part of the magical realm. I was, as you can imagine, saddened by her decision and when I saw that she hadn’t discovered the ring and that she wanted to marry that mortal…”
“Watch it, Grandma. That mortal was my father and he was awesome. As for my mom, well, I can’t really blame her for being pissed.” Kai wiped her mouth with the napkin before tossing it onto the plate. She pulled her feet up on to the loveseat and looked at Kristine with thinly veiled disgust. “You left her, Kristine. You didn’t die like she thought you did. You weren’t taken…you chose to leave your own daughter. That’s shitty, lady. What kind of mother leaves her kid like that?”
“You don’t understand, Kai.” Kristine’s voice wavered and she looked down at her hands that were folded in her lap. “I didn’t have a choice. I had to stay away until Katherine was of age. That’s how it’s done…how it’s always been done. Zemi is quite firm on that rule.”
“How what’s done?” Kai scoffed. “Being a crappy mother?”
Kristine flinched but sucked in a calming breath and for a split second, Kai actually felt sorry for her.
“When Fae produce Halfling children, we aren’t permitted to participate in their upbringing. It’s the only way to determine if they truly possess the light of the Fae and Katherine was not only Fae but, part Witch as well. Jacob didn’t know it but he had Witch blood running in his veins.” Kristine looked down at her hands and her voice dropped to a whisper. “That’s why I chose him.”
“Okay. What do you mean chose him?” Kai rolled her eyes and grabbed the mug of coffee off the tray before taking a sip. Part of her wished it that was a shot of bourbon. “And why are you running off to earth and making Halfling fairy babies or whatever.”
“The Prophecy. Zemi has always been obsessed with it,” Kristine whispered as her large, dark eyes latched onto Kai’s. “It could not be set in motion until the arrival of the first Chosen One who we knew would be a Fae Custodian with Witch blood. Though several Halfling children have been born over the years, none had discovered the ring…until now.”
“The Prophecy?” Kai swallowed the lump of dread in her throat and gripped the mug. “Right. I read about that in the spell book,” she said with a gesture toward the nightstand. “How did the book get here anyway?”
“It will always remain with the one who wears the ring.”
“Weird, but okay.” Kai sipped her coffee and stared at the book. “So when I stumbled across that crate and put the ring on, then I kick started this Prophecy. Right?”
“Yes, but you didn’t just stumble across it. You are the first of seven Chosen Ones. There will be one for each member of the Brotherhood.” Katherine rose from the chair and sat next to Kai on the loveseat. She brushed Kai’s hair off her shoulder and trailed one finger down her cheek in a heartbreakingly tender gesture. “You are the first, Kai and we have been waiting for you for three thousand years.”
“To do what? What the hell am I being chosen to do exactly? Because Asmodeus and I were reading that Prophecy and I have to tell you, it sounds kind of sketchy.” Kai’s gut clenched, terrified of hearing the answer but at the same time desperate to find out. “Do you know what Asmodeus and the rest of the Brotherhood think? They are under the impression that Zemi, and the rest of the Fae, wants to use the ring to turn them into slaves or something.”
“No,” Kristine said quietly. “That is not what the Prophecy foretells.”
“I didn’t think so,” Kai said triumphantly. “It didn’t really make sense to me given what’s happened or, more to the point, what hasn’t happened. So, I was thinking—”
Kai was about to tell Kristine about her theory regarding Ben Flaherty but the familiar tune of wind chimes could be heard in the hallway. Kristine stilled as though she was listening to something Kai couldn’t hear and then nodded curtly. The wind chimes jingled again briefly before silence fell over the room.
“What does that sound mean?” Kai asked slowly as she set the coffee mug down and looked from the door to Kristine. “That wind chime noise. I heard it right before you beamed me here, or whatever.”
“It happens when we use light travel. That was Bentley, the queen’s advisor, and I thought he would come in and introduce himself but he was in far too much of a rush.” Kristine forced a smile and patted Kai on the arm before rising to her feet. “We will be leaving shortly for Zemi’s palace. You must get ready to go now.”
“But, how were you talking to him?”
“Telepathy,” she interrupted. Kristine’s entire demeanor had changed. She went from being loving and concerned, to cold and uptight in a split second. “You don’t possess that ability because you aren’t pure Fae. Please, Kai. We have to go.”
There was something about the way Kristine referenced not being pure Fae that sent a chill up Kai’s spine. Without looking at Kai, she went over to the massive white wardrobe, opened it up and pointed to an array of colorful dresses.
“You may select whichever one you like. They are all in your size.” Kristine swept over and opened the door, which led out to an empty hallway that reminded Kai of a hotel. “I’ll be right out here but please hurry as Zemi doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”
“Kristine, wait.” Kai hopped off the loveseat, ran over and grabbed her grandmother’s arm before she could leave. “If Zemi doesn’t want to enslave Asmodeus and the others, then what does she want? I mean, why did you bring me here?”
“To destroy the Brotherhood,” Kristine whispered. “The Chosen Ones are the only ones capable of doing it.”
“Me?” Kai let out a sound of total incredulity. “No way. This is crazy. She wants me to kill them? Asmodeus? Well, forget it. I won’t do it.”
“Yes, you will.” Kristine lowered her gaze briefly before looking Kai dead in the eyes. Her voice dropped low but she held Kai’s stunned gaze as she repeated the Prophecy. “She who wears the ring holds the light for the dark. When the circles of seven are dark no more, the prophecy will be fulfilled and keepers of the damned will roam the earth.”
“I know,” Kai said wearily. “Asmodeus and the rest of the Brotherhood will steal the Custodian’s light and roam the earth. Blah blah blah. I don’t see how that’s destroying them.”
“Kai.” Her eyes, rimmed with sadness, stared earnestly at Kai. “Please, just get dressed.”
“This is crazy.” Kai almost laughed out loud. “If you ask me there’s a lot of room for misinterpretation with the whole Prophecy deal. I can’t get a straight answer out of anyone.”
“Zemi will explain it further to you. My cousin is well versed in the Prophecy.”
“Wait?” Kai stilled. “Zemi is related to you? Er—to me?”
“Yes,” Kristine said quickly. “She’s our cousin and a Custodian of the Light as well, like all women in my clan.”
“Well you and our cousin have it all messed up.” Kai ran over and grabbed the spell book. Using the ring, she opened it and flipped to the correct page. “All this time and you’d think you’d have a clear explanation. Geez”
“Kai, we don’t have time for this,” she said impatiently. “Your destiny was laid out thousands of years ago. Please don’t fight it or you’ll only make i
t worse. Now, we must go.”
“What’s the rush?” Kai grabbed Kristine’s arm before she could leave. “I mean I know Zemi’s got a bug up her ass about the Brotherhood and everything but Asmodeus isn’t even here.”
“Yes, he is.” Her mouth set in a grim line. “Zemi is holding him prisoner.”
***
White-hot pain fired through Asmodeus’ head and he grit his teeth against the unfamiliar and unpleasant sensation. He had no idea how long he’d been chained up like a dog but it seemed like forever. He’d been trying, to no avail, to use his powers but it was futile. He was completely void of all of his abilities.
Talk about being screwed.
Arms stretched over his head, he was chained and shackled by his wrists and ankles to the wall of what could only be described as a dungeon. His shirt had been removed at some point, as well as his shoes, and the jeans he was wearing were bloody and torn.
The dank room was about thirty feet square with various torture chamber type devices scattered about. Light flickered through the cracks of a massive wooden door that was directly across from him and the only other light came from a window to the left that was about ten feet up with iron bars cutting through it.
He could see that the sky was a vibrant shade of lavender and had pink clouds floating in it that conjured up images of cotton candy. Asmodeus let out a wry laugh but winced as bone rattling pain fired through him from head to toe. It was fascinating that so much discomfort could be generated from such a small movement.
A jingling sound of keys and the click of the lock opening caught Asmodeus’ attention. Biting through the vicious pain ripping through his head, he forced himself to stand as tall as possible. The last thing he wanted to do was show weakness because he knew that’s exactly what Zemi wanted.
Two of Zemi’s guards, both men dressed in full silver armor, carried long spears of about seven feet. They stepped in the room and immediately stood at attention on either side of the door. A moment later, Zemi whisked into the room, looking as beautiful and deadly as ever.