by Tara Brown
I shook my head, still mesmerized by her eyes. “Why? What does the magic do?”
“Tips the balance.” Her words were a whisper. “We need Henry.” She was gone.
We stood in the garden of the burning mansion and gaped at each other.
“I don’t get it.” I was lost.
Sam crossed his arms, his face was still burning with anger. “The balance was everything. The end of days prophecies are about the tipping of the balance, in the favor of the darkness.”
Lucas whined and rubbed against me. I sighed. “Just switch back. This isn’t Lassie. I don’t know what you're trying to say.”
“I do.” I peered up to see Henry standing beside Lorri.
Henry was paler than normal. I'd always seen him as a proper English butler in a bowler hat. But now his ageless face was dazed and sickened. He licked his lips in spurts. “Sam is right. Fae hold the balance. It’s our job, balance on Mother Earth. It’s why Lydia was right before. If I had murdered Marcus, I would have taken in the darkness. As of now my soul’s pure. I’m part of the balance. Lillith's magic was given to each of her babies when she gave birth to them. The magic was never hers. It was always ours. She called it into her to fill the void of the pain and the suffering. The reason our king wouldn’t go to her wasn't that she wasn’t pure in virginity, but because she wasn't pure of heart. She was the darkness in the balance. Too much light is the same as too much darkness. But we believed her to be on our side.” His accent was so weird I couldn’t even place it. His English was muddled.
Giselle chewed her lip. “So, uhm, I don’t get it. Are Jonathan and Lillith working together or not?”
“No. They still both want the same thing, the dark power.” Henry shook his head. “We always believed she wanted to stop Jonathan. Not ruin the world. Always believed she was sorry for what she had taken.”
“Is it possible Jonathan doesn’t understand what she’s going to do?”
He nodded. “Yes.”
Lorri interrupted him, “No.”
Henry ignored her and continued, “He was seventh angel of God. He was good until he let the darkness take him. Lillith’s darkness.”
Lorri sighed. “We don’t know the whole story. We know he loved her or lusted after her power anyway. We know he coveted her magic and powers. The problem is the prophecies come from them. She’s the oldest thing alive and the strongest.”
“Not while Tristan has the magic,” Sam said.
Aleks sighed. “Which ends tomorrow.”
Giselle looked sick. “What does it look like if the evil tips the balance?”
“We don’t know.” Lorri shook her head. “Not exactly. All we have is Revelation as a best estimate.”
I burst into laughter as I had a flashback of the dream I had before, when my mom was dead. It was alarming and impossible, I couldn’t imagine it being true. Everyone gave me the same horrified look.
“Aimee, jeez, not really the right time.” Aleks winced.
“She’s lost it.” Lorri pinched the bridge of her nose.
It took me several moments to stop. “Sorry. I just can't believe this is all true. This is the biggest disappointment I have ever suffered. And that is saying a lot.” I paced. “HOW DOES THE SYSTEM FAIL SO BADLY? HOW DO YOU PEOPLE GET TRICKED SO EASILY? JESUS.” I squatted down and sat on my heels and rocked. I held my face in my hands to think.
“When Aimee is done having her breakdown, she can kill them both, right?” Sam asked. Ben nudged me with his dried-blood-coated muzzle. I wrapped my arms around his huge neck.
“No. She can't kill Lillith,” Lorri said. “It has to be Tristan or maybe Henry, if we are lucky.”
I stared up at Henry with hope. He shook his head. “No. If she gets magic, I cannot kill her. I barely believe this is true. She is mother to fae.”
Lorri made a face. “We kill them all today. We kill all of them now. We start with Jonathan.”
“We need a plan.” I stood up.
“I will take us somewhere.” Henry offered a hand.
I put my hand in. Ben touched me with a paw. Giselle put her hand in on his paw. She didn’t look so hot. I wondered if I had the same look on my face.
Lorri's red eyes were freaking me out. We flashed as one to the same dark hallway.
“Where are we?”
“Ireland,” Henry whispered. The wolves scouted ahead. I winked to keep up with them. We rounded the corner.
“At least Hanna has the whole place stunk up,” Aleks whispered. “They won't be able to smell us.”
We stood outside the massive room that resembled more of an underground hall.
Lorri gave the go signal. I grabbed Giselle and Ben and winked in.
Jonathan was bleeding from the lip and panting heavily.
Hanna laughed her menacing beast laugh. She looked psychotic. Her clothes were torn and a large chunk of hair was missing. Sam and Shane fought themselves not to attack her. Lorri slapped Shane and brought him back around. We surrounded them.
Lillith was gone.
Jonathan realized he was surrounded, but he didn’t move. He looked up, snarling. “Something is wrong with your siren, Lorri.” His eyes were ablaze.
I laughed somewhat nervously. We'd waited so long to catch him. Lorri had been setting traps and baiting him to no end, but he knew her better than anyone, except maybe Dorian. Jonathan had always been one step ahead of us or so well armed we didn’t stand a chance.
“Yeah, she’s broken.” Lorri winked a creepy red eye at Hanna who chuckled her monster laugh.
Jonathan scowled at her, winking but not going anywhere.
Henry held his hands out; no doubt the reason Jonathan wasn't winking out.
Jonathan shook his head. “Always the last to know, huh, Lorri? If you do this now she wins. I am the only thing stopping her.”
Lorri looked at me. “Do it.”
I swallowed hard. The spark was filling me. I stepped forward, reaching out for him. His hand swung at me. His nails cut into my throat. The warmth of my black blood dripping down my neck and chest tickled.
“Aimee, if you kill me, she wins.” His eyes grew desperate.
A low growl escaped my lips.
His eyes sparkled. “I've always been trying to help you, Lorri. It was always you.”
“Cut that liar’s tongue for me, Aimes.”
He glowered at me with daggers but it didn’t matter.
He swung again but I caught his hand and ripped as hard and fast as I could. I didn’t savor it. Black blood shot across the room. I dropped to my knees, overwhelmed.
The Hanna monster clasped the bracelet, still chuckling to herself. The guys stopped acting like savages. Lorri stepped toward me. A single tear left her eye. “He was lying. You did the right thing.”
“It felt wrong. In the end, it felt wrong.” I winked to Marcus’ mansion.
He was pacing outside his lab. The thing inside was slamming and bashing the door. His stormy mood was savage and evil. He saw me and leapt. I caught him and held back the suck. He slammed me into a wall and screamed at the same time I did.
“You’re ruining my life!”
“I don’t mean to!”
Defeated, he started to laugh his bitter and twisted laugh. It was scary and hideous. His robe was disheveled and stinky. He shoved me and walked back to the lab door. He pointed. “Fix this. You fix this.” He sounded as if he was at his breaking point. I was out of breath and slowly healing. I couldn’t take watching something as strong as him lose it and cry.
“You fix this, Aimee. Goddamn you. It was designed to keep your kind out.” His hand trembled as he pointed. I walked to him. He flinched but I pulled him in. I wrapped myself around him and held him.
He sobbed. It filled me with dread and terror. If he could cry and be broken, the rest of us were doomed.
His huge body almost crushed me as he slammed me back into the wall. “I killed him. It was me. It was my fault. He was my brother.” He spat on my neck
when he said “brother.” “He was once my best friend in the whole world.”
I couldn’t imagine how it felt. How painful it all was to have it forced like that into you. “I’m sorry,” I offered.
“It’s fine.” He straightened up and sniffed. He wiped his eyes and pivoted back toward the door. “Please kill that thing before it destroys my lab.”
“Okay.” I nodded. “Before I go, I think maybe we need to be prepared that it has destroyed the lab.” I winced when I said it and hoped we didn’t have to fight anymore.
“No. That is unacceptable.” He shook his head. “I am going to kick your ass one day when it doesn’t hurt me quite so much.”
“Deal.” I winked into the room and peeked. I winked back out. “It's ruined.”
He inhaled sharply and exhaled like he was yoga breathing.
Sam and the others flashed into the hall.
“I put the witch in there,” I muttered.
They frowned. Lorri asked, “Witch?”
“The witch that Jonathan told to stay at the house. The plan was for her to shield the bad guys while we were blown up on the third floor. She was working for him.”
Lorri cringed. “Is—was that the lab?”
Marcus’ jaw tightened.
Lorri’s eyes widened. “Wow. Aimee, that was an intense move. How bad is it in there?”
Marcus answered, “Done. Gone.”
Hanna walked to him and put her hand on his arm. “You okay?”
“No.” He shook his head and looked at Henry who sported a severe expression.
Marcus walked away from Hanna and past them all. We all stared at Henry. He laughed. “You didn’t feel for him when he was killing people and making this one evil.” He pointed to Shane.
Shane offered, “He had no soul; it was gone. Soulless. Cursed. It’s not exactly the same thing as him just running around killing shit for no reason.”
Henry gave us a disgusted look and walked away too.
“I need you to come with me,” I muttered to Aleks.
He took my hand. “Okay.”
I winked us in and instantly Aleks was gone. He mustn't have been able to pass through the walls Marcus had built to keep things out. The witch pointed at me through the smoke, flames, and dust and shot me with a bolt of lightning again. I flew back, crying out. I coughed and winked behind her. As my skin touched hers I was shocked again, but my hand clamped down on her neck. I took her to the ground and sucked fast. Her blood exploded out of her. It was almost greenish in the dull light.
I flicked it off me and shivered as I winked out. Everyone in the hallway made a disgusted face. I walked like Frankenstein would and muttered, “Going home. Shower. Save Tristan in a bit.” I winked home.
My dad's home.
I froze, finding him home and in his room, whistling. I stepped back and winked to the front door. I opened it gingerly, trying not to get dead witch all over everything. I walked in and slammed the door good and hard. “Hey, Dad,” I yelled and winked to the bathroom downstairs.
“Aimee?” he called out.
“Hey!” I shouted at the bathroom door, “Just showering and getting clean. I got home a while ago with Giselle and just need a shower.” I had no idea what I was saying. I just needed to be at home. This was a pivotal moment. A painful one.
Jonathan was dead in the most anticlimactic murder of my life. I’d killed hobos with more pizazz.
All the years of being a Rose, fighting to stop Jonathan, and the witch in the lab were more exciting.
And it had felt wrong to kill him.
But home cured those things and cleaned out my head.
The smell and the surroundings were everything. I turned on the water and undressed. I tried not to think about my boots possibly being ruined and stripped and flung everything out onto the tiles. The water was hot and soothing, and if I closed my eyes hard enough I was at home and everything was normal for a few minutes.
I finished in the shower and wrapped in a towel, winking to my room to get dressed. My mom opened the door as I pulled on a new pair of blood-red boots.
“Hey, you.” She smiled.
“Hey, Mom.” I leapt into her arms, hugging hard. She smelled like home and love and safety.
Dad came in after her. I pulled from her and jumped into his arms.
“Hi, kiddo. How’s it going? I didn’t know you were home for the weekend.”
“I’m not.” I hated lying to them. “I have a busy weekend.” I pulled back, smiling. “You know, regular weekend shenanigans.”
“Can we squeeze in dinner?” They looked disappointed.
“Yeah. I’ll message you.” I kissed them both. “But Giselle is waiting for me.”
“Giselle?” My dad puzzled.
“Yeah, who knew? She’s not so bad.” I laughed and headed past them for the door.
“Love you. Make good choices,” Mom called after me.
When I got outside I walked for a block before ducking behind a truck and winking back to Marcus’.
Lorri strode past me, also wearing her blood-red boots and frowned seeing mine. “Aimee. I know I called you Aimes and told you I love you, but that doesn’t mean I want to be the Sisterhood of the Bloody Boots and shit.”
I crossed my arms. “Lorri, how was I to know you would wear them too?”
“You shouldn’t have even bought them,” Lorri snarled and headed to where Abbey was.
Abbey smiled and they disappeared.
“Wow,” I said as Aleks entered the living room. “I just can’t get past how gross the Lorri and Abbey thing is. Abbey’s like eighteen and Lorri’s like a million.”
“Yeah, I don’t have an opinion. But I did hear Ari’s awake.”
“What?” I winked to her room. “Ari, you’re awake!”
She was sitting in her bed, pale and weak. “Yeah.” She sounded like death.
Aleks flashed into the room behind me. “Hey, Ari.”
“Hey, Aleks.” She offered a weak wave.
Lucas sat beside her, all stinky and gross.
“Go get cleaned up.” I wrinkled my nose.
He snarled at me.
“Aleks, make him go.”
“With pleasure.” Aleks flashed them both out.
“Yuck.” I sat in his chair. “Smells like wet dog in here.”
Her lips attempted a pathetic smile. “You get used to it.”
“I gotta get that baby out, Ari.” I went straight for the throat.
“No.” Her eyes widened.
“Yeah. You can hate me all you want, but I have to.”
“You can't. It'll kill me too.”
“No, it won’t.” My heart hurt with the words that were about to leave my lips. “I lied when I said I starved on the streets in the beginning when I crawled out of the harbor. I didn’t starve. Not completely.”
She looked confused.
I wanted to look away but her black eyes held me hostage. “A girl fell on me. I was lying, cold and alone, in some garbage. She was young, maybe fifteen or sixteen. She fell on me in the middle of my hunger. Her belly landed on my hands. When I finished pulling she was still alive.”
Ari's face looked like she understood where the story was going. After a second she shuddered as if horrified. “You know, Aimes, sometimes friends share shit they could have kept to themselves.”
A broken laugh burst from me.
She gripped my hand. “I want this baby. I want to try. I want it to heal me and make me comfortable around kids.”
I wrinkled my nose, involuntarily.
She laughed again. Her eyes watered. “I just want to feel something so big that no one can ever take it away from me. Not even me.”
I hugged her so hard I trembled. “You saved my whole family, Ari. My entire family.”
She shook. “It cost us Lydia.”
I pulled back. “Didn’t they tell you about Dorian?”
Her face crumpled. “No.”
“Oh.” I couldn’t figh
t the tears or attempt a lie. “I am so sorry. It was my fault.”
She seemed disgusted. “You killed him? Why?”
“I didn’t kill him.” I stroked her head and told her all about Momma Holt in Blackwater Bayou.
Chapter 28
Power Rangers
Aimee
She was a sobbing mess. The pain I'd caused her was killing me. Her face hadn’t changed since the story started. She couldn’t meet my eyes. “Did you know?” she asked quietly. “That he loved you?”
“No.” I shook my head. “Not until he did it. Momma Holt gave me everything. Every stolen glance, every moment he had with me in it. She showed me the way he saw me and how he felt every time.”
“You never loved him.” It was more of a statement than a question.
“No.” I bit my lip. It wasn’t a completely true statement. “There was something. We made out all the time. I cheated on Aleks all the time. Shane too. I couldn’t stop myself. I knew there was something. He made me feel like someone I might have been happy being. He was an amazing man who sacrificed everything for everyone else.”
Tears streamed down her pale cheeks. “I loved him. He was crazy and weird but he was my dad. I never got to tell him that.” Her black eyes glistened like pools of despair. “Do you think he knew?”
“He knew.” My heart was broken. I clutched the white feather in my hand selfishly. I didn’t tell her about it. I couldn’t part with it. I knew I should; she had nothing of him. But I couldn’t. I hated myself for it.
“I can’t believe he’s gone.” Her eyes sparkled, suggesting she was wondering who she could push to bring him back.
“Ari, we need to talk about something else.”
“No, I can’t do anymore.” She shook her head. “I need to be alone, Aimes.”
I put my hands on her belly. “I made Dorian a promise I have to keep.”
“No!” Her black eyes grew wide. I pulled before she had the chance to stop me. She pushed at the same time and knocked me out.
I woke to the sobs of Ari and the consoling voice of Lucas. I didn’t open my eyes. She was going to hate me, but I’d had to save her, even from herself. I listened to the heartbreak in her cries and I clutched my feather.