by Sean Stone
James watched on in confusion as her eyes filled with blue light, radiating out of her. The light spread down her body, her veins glowing silvery-blue through her skin. Soon her whole body had a blue shine to it. Then she let out a hideous scream of anguish and doubled over.
“Dad, help!” Dean shouted frantically, his face torn with fear and a longing to help.
“Kayla’s dead,” James said as he realised. He’d known ever since they’d connoted the plan at the tower that Kayla meant to get herself killed. He hadn’t anticipated what would happen when she died still connected to Clara though.
“What?” said Dean, on his knees trying to steady Clara who was writhing about in pain.
“Her power is flowing into Clara but it’s too much for a mortal to handle.”
“What does that mean?”
“The magic will destroy her.”
“Get her to Arthur then!” Dean screamed. Outside the park vehicles were screeching loudly as reinforcements arrived.
“Arthur can’t help her.” Even as he thought about what he was going to do he knew that he’d be in trouble. He’d been told to keep their presence in town a secret, but Clara would die if he didn’t help her. “She needs warlocks.” James slung the bag over his shoulder, grabbed Clara and Dean and teleported them to his house.
“Dad, what are we doing here?” Dean demanded just before he saw the answer to his question. Kristen was sitting in the living room talking to Lucian and Julian. “Oh, you’re shitting me!” he near-shouted.
“Not now,” James snapped, fixing him with a stern look. He knew a difficult conversation was coming, but this was hardly the time for it. More than one difficult conversation was coming for James.
Clara cried out again and the three warlocks jumped to their feet.
“What is happening to her?” Lucian asked, gazing down with curiosity.
“I think she’s absorbed too much power. It’s killing her,” James explained.
“Clara Winters indulged in a spot of warlockry?” Kristen said, smirking.
“No. Kayla’s power is in her.”
“Can you save her?” Dean screamed and all eyes fell on him.
“It’s possible,” said Julian in his usual tone of boredom. “But why would I?”
“Julian, please,” James said quietly.
“She’s the only one who can kill Apophis,” Dean replied.
Julian turned to James. “Is this true?”
“According to Kayla.” James chose not to tell him that the prophecy dictated that any Winters could be the one to do it. It had been Kayla who had designated Clara for the task.
“Very well,” Julian said drily. He knelt beside Clara and grabbed hold of her head, holding it still. After a brief examination of her eyes he placed his hand over her chest and James knew he was feeling her magic. Julian had done it to James numerous times during his training.
“Come on!” Dean said in an almost pleading tone as Clara’s eyes began to glow brighter.
“There is a combination of ancient and jinn magic inside her.”
“Kayla was a hybrid of both races,” Dean explained. He looked on the verge of tears. James wanted to hug him but knew it would do no good and his son would never let him, not in front of all these people.
“Mhmm,” Julian replied. “Our options are limited. She either becomes an immortal which would make her body capable of holding the magic, but I think it is too late for that.”
“Why’s it too late?” Dean demanded.
“She’s too far gone. Trying to make her immortal now would likely only kill her.”
“What’s the other option?” asked James.
“She has to give up the magic.”
“She’s in no state to give up anything. Can’t you take it?” Dean asked.
“Not without killing her,” James answered. There was only one person who could take magic without killing and he was now out of their reach.
“Let her die. We can kill Apophis ourselves,” said Kristen lazily.
“No we can’t,” said James. He turned to Dean.
Dean looked about himself frantically, searching for an answer. “How can you just give up magic? It’s impossible.” he turned to Julian, the expert.
“It’s not. Especially if you’ve only just taken it.”
“Do it,” Dean said and nodded.
“I can do nothing. It all relies on her,” said Julian. Once again he grabbed Clara’s head and forced her to look at him, pulling her into a sitting position. James wondered if she could even see through the glowing light shining from her eyes. “Clara, I need you to listen. In a moment I am going to place an object in your hands. You must channel the magic you have taken into the object. You needn’t give up all of the power, just so much so that the pain goes away.” Julian looked around the room and saw the paperweight sitting on the table to the edge of the room. It was clear glass pyramid that James had bought at a museum in Liverpool. He summoned it to him and then forced it into Clara’s hands. She made no attempt to grip it and it fell noisily to the floor. “For goodness sake, girl. You have literally minutes to live. Do as I say.”
“Let me,” Dean said, though it was no question. He shoved Julian out of the way and picked up the paperweight. “Clara, it’s Dean,” he said. His voice was cracked and weak. “You’re going to die if you don’t listen to me and I really want you to live. Hell, we all need you to. You have to put some of Kayla’s magic into this pyramid. It’s the only way. Clara, please.”
“Dean…” she said weakly. She’d gone horribly still, as if she wasn’t strong enough to move anymore.
“Here,” Dean said softly and pushed the pyramid into her hands. This time she gripped, though her strength was so depleted that Dean had to help her. “Concentrate. Put your magic inside. Just until the pain goes away.”
Clara did as Dean told her. James saw the pyramid glow with bright blue light as the power transferred. Watching his son guide her through the process brought a pang of jealousy to his heart. He’d never had a moment like that with anyone. Not his ex-wife and not Kristen. It was in that moment that James realised he’d never been in love. He thought he had been, but really he had not. He’d never had that bond with someone. A bond so strong that you could break through their pain and reach them even on the brink of death. It was clear to him now that Dean did not fancy Clara, he loved her and she loved him back. How they could have fallen in love in so short a space of time was beyond him when in all his life he’d never found true love. He looked over at Kristen and wondered if she loved him. Looking at her dark, emotionless eyes made him wonder if she was even capable of love. Something in him had shifted. The way he felt towards Kirsten was not the same. There was an odd kind of loathing he now held for her. She looked over at him and then nodded toward the door before leaving the room. James glanced back at his son and the now recovering Clara before following her.
“What a touching scene,” she mocked as he arrived in the kitchen.
“Don’t mock my son,” he said quietly. A wave of his hand closed the door behind him. “Where are the others?”
“Looking for weapons in Set’s old shop.”
“That’s…” He couldn’t believe that nobody else had thought of that.
“You shouldn’t have brought them here,” she said haughtily.
“I wasn’t going to let my son lose his friend.”
“I told you to find out if they knew anything useful and make sure they don’t know we’re here. We don’t need to be fighting them too.”
“They wouldn’t attack us. They’d welcome our help,” James protested. “And for your information they did know something useful. Kayla did anyway.” James took the bag off his shoulder and dropped it heavily on the kitchen counter. He then proceeded to tell Kristen everything about the jinn that Kayla had told him and the others. By the time he was finished she was grinning broadly.
“Oh good work, good work indeed,” she said mirthfully. She reac
hed out for the bag but James instinctively pulled it away. “What are you doing?” she demanded.
“Clara will need these to kill Apophis,” he said.
“Whose side are you on?”
“I’m on my side, Kristen. The side I think is most likely to keep me alive. All you care about is avenging Nick. You’re not thinking clearly. Not like Clara will.”
“Clara! Think clearly! The girl who runs around leaping into danger without so much as half a plan? Don’t be stupid. Give me the bag.”
“Clara might not think things through all the time, but with Arthur and the rest of us around her we can help her do what she needs to do. We can guide her. Why don’t you help rather than making things difficult?” said James. He tightened his grip on the bag.
Kristen’s eyes narrowed. “This isn’t about Clara at all. Or Apophis,” she said in a deadly tone.
“Yes it is,” James said, confused as to what she was on about.
“No,” she chuckled without humour. “This is about Dean. He’s told you to abandon me hasn’t he?”
“No, he hasn’t” James said in disbelief. “Listen, you’re being delusional.”
“Don’t call me delusional,” she snapped and James flinched reflexively.
“Kristen, this isn’t about Dean. It’s about surviving.”
“You need to choose,” she said. “Now. No more sitting on the fence.”
“Kristen I’ve never been on the fence. Do not do this,” he warned.
“Me. Or him.” She folded her arms and stared threateningly at James. Looking at the angry little woman standing before him made everything so much easier for James. He’d worried that she might force this choice on him and he was scared of what choice he’d make, but now it was the easiest choice he could ever have made.
“Him,” he said without hesitation. “It will always be him.”
James ignored the shock look of outrage on her face and turned away to head back to the living room. It was like a huge weight had been lifted. As he opened the door he felt her hand on his back and then a cold knife like sensation piercing him. It punctured his back and worked right to his heart. As he tried to turn to face Kristen his legs buckled and he crashed to the kitchen floor. He tried to rise to fight back but the pain in his heart was too much.
“What have you… done to me?” he gasped.
“How could you betray me?” she spat the words like poison. “You were supposed to be loyal to me no matter what.” The words were hateful but there was pain in her eyes.
“You never loved me… you made me choose…” he stammered.
“Oh, I do love you,” she whispered as she squatted before him. “But you rejected me for a boy who ignored you for half his life.”
“…My son.”
“We should’ve been together for eternity. Just me and you. You broke my heart. Now you can feel your own heart literally break in your chest.” She grabbed the duffle bag from the floor next to James. He tried to stop her, but she batted his arm away. “Goodbye, James.” She leaned forwards and kissed his forehead before vanishing.
James let out a sob as he rolled onto his front and began dragging himself to the living room. The pain in chest was growing exponentially. With each second it felt like a piece of his heart was crumbling away. He had to see Dean. Had to tell him where the bottles were. He reached the doorway to the living room and saw his son locked in a deep kiss with Clara.
“James?” Julian said in confusion.
“Kristen’s calling?” Lucian said to Julian in confusion.
“Dad!” Dean cried and ran over to James. He grabbed his father and pulled him into a sitting position against the wall. He barely even noticed Julian and Lucian vanishing from the room. “Dad what happened?” he asked frantically.
“I chose you,” he said weakly. His face was draining of colour. He groaned and his hand went to his heart.
“You’re immortal, you’ll be fine,” Dean said pleadingly.
James shook his head. “Not if my heart’s… destroyed.”
“Clara, help him,” Dean begged.
“I don’t know how,” she admitted shaking her head.
“Son it’s f-fine,” James said, holding Dean’s arm, but there was no strength in his grip.
“No, it’s not fine. Clara you’re powerful enough to cure this, right?” Dean was desperately pleading for his father’s life even though he knew the truth of the matter.
“Power isn’t the same as skill,” Clara said, still shaking her head sorrowfully.
“She’s right, Dean. Kristen has centuries on her. She’d never be able to break… this curse,” James’ speech was punctuated by waves of pain radiating from his heart.
“Why would Kristen do this?” Dean demanded.
“The bottles…”
“Oh, fuck she has the bottles,’ Clara said in despair. Everything they’d gone through was for nothing.
“I’m not going to give up,” Dean said stubbornly.
“Listen to me. Listen… I’m so proud of the man you’ve become.”
“Shut up, Dad,” Dean said.
James laughed, but it caused him great pain. “I’m glad you moved away… because I think… you might not have turned out… this way if you’d stayed. You would’ve ended up like me. Always acting out of fear… always making the wrong choices… Never… give in to fear. Don’t be a… coward. Don’t ever… don’t ever be like me.”
“Dad…” Dean said sorrowfully. “Don’t say that. I’m proud of you too. I wouldn’t want you any other way,” he said, though he wasn’t sure if his dad heard him before his heart broke completely and he died.
Chapter 35
Arthur and Kegan were just about to enter the nightclub when the first roll of thunder boomed across the sky. They both turned and looked toward the dark clouds that had gathered above Cedar Park. Every other section of sky was clear, but above the park a storm had appeared out of nowhere. Arthur’s hand went up to his bald patch as he fretted over Clara.
“What do you reckon that means?” Kegan asked, staring up in wonder.
“Hopefully, that Clara found the bottles,” he replied with a heavy sigh. It took a great deal of will to turn away from the park and his daughter, but he had to trust that she could handle things. He had his own job to do. Kayla had faith in Clara. That had to mean something. If an ancient believed that Clara could get the job done then Arthur needn’t worry over it.
They were met inside the nightclub and escorted below into the manor. It was not Arthur’s first time in the manor, he’d been once before during the cursed years. He’d come to ask Victor, who was ruling in Richie’s absence, for help fighting the council. He’d been turned away. Back then the building had been less heavily-guarded, especially during daytime hours. Richie was taking no chances. Ever doorway had two vampires either side of it. There was no chance that anybody was going to be able to move through the manor undetected. The sight of so many vampires brought hope to Arthur’s heart. Richie had more than enough soldiers to fight Eloise and her army. They just had to move fast enough to avoid their weaponry.
Arthur and Kegan were brought to the throne room. Inside Richie was standing at the bottom of the dais observing his empty throne, his expression was hard to read, but Arthur thought he looked regretful. A short way away stood Jacob and an older vampire Arthur believed was named Charles. Each of the three doors had two guards stationed either side. Arthur approached Richie slowly. When he reached him he stood silently next to him and waited to be acknowledged. Richie seemed not to notice him and for a long time he continued to stare at the vulgar throne that stood above them.
“Power,” he said at last. “It was all I cared about. I built this room to show everyone who was in charge. I sat in my throne and looked down on everyone. Even my friends.” The last he said with sadness. “When Nick destroyed my throne I had this one built to replace it. So stupid and pompous was I. All the power I thought I’d gathered. Useless. I couldn’t u
se it to save my friends. Power is so fickle. It abandons you without a moment’s notice. But then, you already know that. You was robbed of yours for thirty years.”
“I’m sorry about your friends, Richie,” Arthur said. He hadn’t liked Victor very much, but he knew what it was to lose a loved one.
“Victor and Isabella were family and I betrayed them. I always suspected that Victor was trying to take over, you know. Ever since I came back from being imprisoned I was paranoid that he wanted my title. My position. I cared so much about ruling this town. And does it really matter? No. Nobody can ever truly rule this town. As soon as one king is crowned another is already planning to depose him. But that’s another lesson I don’t need to teach you. Your coven ruled in the past, before you ran it. My clan ruled more than once. The council did too. The only ones who never managed to climb to the top were the wolves.” Richie turned from the throne and his eyes fell on Kegan. “Speaking of which, you seem to have taken one as your bodyguard. Peculiar times, eh?”
“Very peculiar,” Arthur said. “But Kegan isn’t my bodyguard. He’s a… fellow fighter.”
“And you want to be sure you can count on me as a fellow fighter also,” Richie said. He climbed the dais so he was looking down on his throne. Suddenly he tore the chair from the ground and launched it across the room where it smashed against the thick stone wall and fell down making a deafening crash. “I don’t care about ruling this town anymore. I do care about my people, though. As their leader I have a duty to look after them. But more importantly I want to make Eloise Cultrum suffer as I did. So yes, Arthur, you can count on me to fight.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” said Arthur truthfully. “That isn’t what brought me here, though.”
Richie’s look darkened and he descended the dais so he and Arthur were on the same level once again. “Go on,” he said, dreading the worst.
“Eloise is planning to kill everyone. Her soldiers are planting bombs all over the town ready to blow everything to pieces.”