Night Rises

by Amber Lynn

  “When you say 'our daughter', can you clarify that?” A brave voice says among the group of men. I glance over at the little girl in question. Even so young, I can already see one of my glares making itself known on her face. Boys are going to be in so much trouble around this one.

  “If you believe the rumors, you know I am both Sebastian's and Alex's mate. I don't think it is hard to figure out whose daughter she is. We aren't here to discuss stupid stuff like that. Let's start with someone telling me who I have to kill to live a life of peace,” I say tired of introductions. I don't even care who is who in the room.

  “I will remind everyone that Nyx is my daughter and strangling her would be frowned upon,” Dad feels the need to add.

  “Don't forget that the guards standing in the room are actually for her, so if you want to start something you are fixing to become minced dog food,” Hilda says pointing at one man in particular. I have been studying the others a little and I didn't notice anything that would indicate a troublemaker, but I guess she did.

  “A witch is not going to tell me what to do,” the man says. “Your little friend swept in and kidnapped my leader not that long ago. No one has seen him since.”

  At least Alan's flunky doesn't dress in a cape with a healthy dose of red lipstick. I haven't checked in on the elder vampire in a while. Last I knew, Sebastian was dealing with him so I wouldn't get blood on my hands while I was pregnant. I don't know if we have holding cells in our new home, or if Alan is still sitting cozy back in the old digs.

  “If I felt I could trust Alan, he would be sitting in your chair right now, Santino. Let me know if you think his cell would be better suited to hold both of you and I can make that happen,” Sebastian growls.

  The upstart settles back into his chair and quiets. “The question we need answered to begin our quest is where is he currently hiding out? Last I heard he was sitting pretty in Rome.” Alex is gritting his teeth as he speaks. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know he is talking about the top guy in the Collective.

  “I heard he is taking a week to sightsee in the Scottish Highlands. There is some kind of Highland event going on where they are allowing paranorms to compete with the humans. I would love to be a fly in that field if he gets beat in his events. Aside from that foolishness, he has been living large lately doing his European adventure. I think it is a great time to knock his dick in the dirt,” someone answers.

  “Thanks, Cliff. Anyone else heard anything different?” I see a lot of heads start shaking in response to Alex's question. “Great. Any intel you can gather following this meeting on the exact location would be appreciated. I knew we would have to venture overseas as Stevens hasn't dared enter this country in the last decade.”

  “I heard he had a cow when he found out Slaughter didn't actually kill Aaron. Your line was supposed to be wiped out long ago and it just keeps growing. Pretty soon he is going to think you are a cat instead of a wolf.”

  I wonder if the people around the table would volunteer to wear numbered name tags, so I don't have to worry about figuring out what to call people. One of them already seems to hate me though, making me think the request will only make them more hostile.

  “Is the plan to just go after Stevens? What about all of his flunkies here in the states?” I know this questioner is from the vampire contingent. He has a nice middle aged feel to him. Maybe in the three to four hundred span of ages.

  The fact that I don't know squat about the behind the scenes movements of the Collective irritates me, but that is why you keep the guys surrounding us around. You can be busy doing something else and they can be your eyes and ears a thousand miles away.

  “It is going to be complicated. Stevens is the main target, but there are others,” Sebastian says. “There is always the hope that they will meet the missus here and she is angelic enough to stop any more bloodshed then necessary. I know this will get cold reviews from this room, but Nyx's mother is actually the Devil herself. While that might make it sound like she has strong ties to Hell, she is working to make it big Upstairs instead and we all know how strong angels can be. Within the week she should be coming into her full powers so the Collective will probably try to make a move to obtain her before that.”

  “Just what can she do now?” Alan's flunky asks.

  I would love to answer that question, but I have no idea. I have done a healing trick and I supposedly made my dad teleport, and as of about five minutes ago I can call a sword to my hand. Not great skills to have in a battle, if you don't know how to use them, so it is a good thing I can kick butt without them.

  “With her abilities changing every day, the list isn't important,” Alex says. “She doesn't need her angel powers to be useful in a fight. Anyone that has ever sparred with her before can tell you that. We don’t need to go into the details of the over one hundred people she has killed either.”

  “Can we get a demonstration? I am still having trouble believing she could be part angel.” I figured that would happen. It is going to be a while before anyone believes I am an angel on words alone. None of them appear to be dying, so I guess magic sword appearance is going to have to do.

  Aphrodite appears in my hand the second I think of her, but this time it is a little bit different. She is glowing bright pure white and there is a humming sound echoing through the room. I think my sword is mad about something. She didn't do anything like this earlier and if she is mad at anyone, it should be Ben.

  “Buttercup, I would put her away. This phenomenon should probably be talked about behind closed doors.”

  Good enough for me. I lock Aphrodite back up and make a note to scold Gabe for not including an owner's manual. I wouldn't have had a chance to read it yet, but it would be handy.

  “Sophia, just so you know, the best presents in the world don’t need owner’s manuals.” I might as well start teaching that to her now. No matter what her dads think, I know she is one day going to be hounded on by the boys and they will buy her lavish gifts, but the best gifts come from the heart, not the credit card.

  What a sap I am turning into.

  “Is that enough proof for you?” I ask. “Now, what can anyone tell me about this Stevens guy? I don't think I have ever heard of him.”

  My father is the first to speak. “If you look up scum of the earth in the dictionary, you will find a very unflattering picture of Graham Stevens. There was a time he was known to me as Uncle Graham, but he turned his back on my father, his best friend. He killed both of my parents and established the Collective to protect him from my wrath, since he wasn't able to also take me out. Thankfully, my dad had people he could really trust with my life.”

  He glances back and nods towards Jonas. I believe he is tipping his hat to Jonas' father and not Jonas himself. have I don't think Jonas would have been old enough to protect Dad back when this was all going down. At least I have always thought Dad was older than Jonas, but with paranorms it is hard to tell.

  My only question is why this Stevens guy is still breathing. In all of that time, not one of the people in this room or the ones milling around in my living room got close enough to take the sleazebag out? I have never heard of the guy, but if I knew he was responsible for trying to wipe out my family line, I would pick my sharpest axe and go lumberjill on his limbs.

  “He moves around every week and travels in an entourage of no less than fifty very well-trained guards, probably almost as good as your own,” Alex explains. “He has also employed body doubles in the past. Not many apply for that position these days. I think it has been a good two or three years since I have heard of him having one. We are really good at killing them.”

  “First, we are going to need confirmation on location. I don't want to go continent hopping with a baby in tow. Once we know more about that, we can start planning the logistics of who is going where and fighting who,” I say realizing this meeting is not going to get me to my goal as quickly as I want to get there. I had hoped the big cheese would be h
ere in town and I could just run over to his house and be done with this. I realized it was a false hope, but that just made me wish for it even harder.

  Chapter 6

  I still think demons are just weird

  The meeting breaks up and the little ants scatter to find more information. By the end of the day we should have a more concrete idea of where we need to be. Gabe might have mentioned something about taking my time for this mission and as hard as that is for me, I will try to heed his advice.

  “Why don't we take our group back to our quarters and have a little bit of a debrief on that subject,” Sebby suggests. “Jake, run and bring Ryan back with you. If Phee and Sam aren't too busy entertaining, you can grab them as well.”

  “Will do,” Jake says and runs off.

  “You do intend to include me in on this meeting, right, Buttercup?” Ben asks as we start vacating the room. I grab Sophia from Alex so I can make faces at her as we walk. I don't know why it sounds like a good idea to me, but it does and it makes her laugh.

  “You have to at least explain what happened back in that room. A humming sword isn't the stealthiest of weapons, so knowing what triggers the sound effect would be good.”

  “Easy question, which I will answer for you gladly. I think I liked your old digs better. Why do you need this many hallways?”

  “Don't be knocking on my new house. Hilda has probably cursed it to shock anyone that speaks ill of it. I don't really know how many hallways make up the place. I am pretty sure there are stairs somewhere, but I haven't ever used them before.”

  “There are a few spells in place, but they are mainly for protection. There is one to keep people's language clean around Sophia and one to keep wandering eyes away from Marcus, but other than that they are all for protection. If you want any added, like sending a shock to any guy that doesn't put the toilet seat down, let me know,” Hilda says.

  That would be pretty funny. I would want to put a video camera in the bathroom to watch, but I am afraid I would see a little more of the guys than I want to. “Good suggestion, but for now, let's just keep things the way they are.”

  “Would this be on all toilets, or just the ones a female may use in the house?” Will asks sounding a little concerned.

  I would be too if I had large amounts of testosterone and a habit for leaving the seat up. I have a feeling that when Hilda gets an idea, it doesn't just go away when someone says no.

  “Nyx said no, so you don't have to worry, baby vampire.” We have twisted and turned our way back to our more intimate location. There is a definite cutoff point when you can no longer hear all the chaos going on back in the main part of the house.

  Part of me likes that added privacy, but at the same time I like to hear when someone is sneaking up on me.

  “I will explain how that all works later. Sophia, do you need to go to the bathroom before we start?” Alex asks. He is working on his good daddy points.

  “Yes, I think that would be a good idea. Who wants to take me?”

  “Me, me, me,” Phee says joining us. “I so want to see how she does this.”

  It is really bad when a baby about a day old acts more mature than a mostly grown-up. I hand Sophia over with a hesitant look. I don't know if Phee is old enough to potty train another person.

  “There is a potty chair set up in our room's bathroom. It shouldn't be that difficult to figure out. You just have to hold her up and rinse her off when she is done,” Sebastian explains. “Don't expect any crazy trick shots. We leave those to Clyde.”

  “Cool. I can handle that. Talk amongst yourselves while we take care of business.” I can tell she has had her hostess hat on. The large gathering of people has to be a natural high for her.

  “Before I get into my angel story, Ben, start spilling,” I say and settle on the couch. Most of the group is stuck standing with our lack of seating areas. That should deter anyone from staying too long.

  “Your pretty little angel sword has many bells and whistles for just being a piece of steel. Gabe or one of his golden winged friends will have to fill you in on the full options list, but I know that she will sing like a canary any time someone in the room wishes you harm. The good news, I have heard anyway, is that the person that wants to inflict the damage isn't able to hear that frequency. If you study the faces of those around you, you should be able to tell who is hearing it and who the enemy is.”

  “That sounds pretty cool. What sword are we talking about?” Sam asks.

  “Nyx was paid a visit from Gabe in her dreams and he gave her a new toy,” Sebby says.

  “Don't forget about Michael. He was there too. Not a very cool dude at all, but if you get in a fight, the guy is probably a machine.”

  “You are joking. You were introduced to Michael? I didn't think anyone lower than Warrior Angel First Class got to see him. I knew you were da bomb, but it still surprises me.” Ben is getting really worked up. Over an angel. That is funny.

  “Gabe called Michael in because he couldn't objectively scare my sword out of me. Michael shows up, whips out a blade bigger than me, even during pregnancy, and then proceeds to attack me. It wasn't exactly a happy get to know you type meeting.”

  “What was Gabe's problem with doing it himself? The dude didn't seem like he would mind taking part in a good fight. Were the boobs an issue?” Walt asks.

  “I have no doubt that he likes a good fight like any of us, but he did have a conflict of interest. Other than the hair color, I am told me and Lucy looked like twins at one time and before she swan dived to Hell, her and Gabe were an item.”

  Ben starts laughing. If it wasn't my mom we were talking about, I could see myself joining in. It is bad enough having to think about her and my dad, but imagining her with Gabe is worse. Dad I can see having a healthy appetite in the bedroom. Yes, I did just think that about my father. I still have problems thinking of angels as more than celibate Goodie Two-Shoes.

  “I am going to have to tease Lucy about that one. Did he seem like he was still pining after her? She would love to hear all about it. If you wouldn't kill me for the suggestion, I would ask if she could come over so you could tell her the story yourself,” Ben stops giggling long enough to get that all out.

  Inviting the Devil into my house is happening just as soon as I enjoy going on a shopping spree, for clothes.

  “Moving on,” I say ready to do just that. “The group of people we just met with, how many do we actually trust?” I didn't get great vibes off of any of them. The iciness and glares in the room made it feel more like I was on my way to the guillotine instead of sitting with people that will be fighting beside me very soon. I don’t think any of them are really a threat, but I still want to know where I stand.

  “Why on earth would you have to ask? I thought you and Santino hit things off,” Dante claims and it takes me a second to even remember who Santino is. I only learned two names, I think, during the meeting and since it is Dante doing the talking, I have to believe Santino was Alan's flunky.

  “I was just on my way to bake him a big batch of cookies. I think someone told me ultraviolet flavored was his favorite.” That gets a couple snorts from the group.

  “Here is your daughter back,” Phee says with a big grin on her face. “She is amazing. Do you think all babies are like her?”

  “They are not, so get the idea out of your head.” I check Sophia to make sure Phee didn't sneak any make-up on her. She looks clean, thankfully.

  “As far as trusting those at the table, we are all working towards the same goal, but they would prefer we take your approach to it and just hit the Collective with an atomic bomb,” Aaron says. “They have been bottling up their need to fight for years now. I was hoping that giving them the green light to go to war would keep them from paying attention to the elephant in the room that seems to follow you around, Nyx. It only worked for a few of them, though. Your reputation needs a little work.”

  I don't care what people think of me. I am anti-social
enough that seeing people turn the other direction when they see me walking down the street makes me happy.

  “Is it odd that Stevens is hanging out in Scotland when just yesterday we were talking to a Fae that was reminiscing about hanging out around lochs? I have learned coincidences don't really exist.” The second someone mentioned Scotland, my senses stood at attention.

  “I agree that it is the last place I expected this journey to take us, but I doubt we will run into any Fae on the trip. I think Queen Adeline is going to need more than one day to come up with a magic potion to make our world a safe place for her people,” Sebby says.

  “I wouldn’t put it past the old bird. She can do some amazing things with the right motivation. She had been in a coma for decades, if not centuries. I think that is some strong motivation to flick the dust off of her wings,” Hilda supplies.

  “The Knights looked like they would be helpful in a fight and I wouldn’t mind fighting beside them again,” Ryan adds. “Aaron, have you called the doc in? He would be a big help dealing with the genetic issues we will be going up against.”

  “He is on his way and he hinted that he has had a major revelation to share with everyone.”

  “What are the plans for Sophia?” Smitty asks. “I don’t see her aging enough to be able to help during the fight. Someone is going to have to stay behind with her. I would actually suggest quite a few for her protection.”

  I don’t want to leave her behind in the states while we are gone. The fact that she is nursing plays big into that, but I would prefer her being within a few minutes jog.

  “The decision on her guards is still being discussed. Nyx doesn’t need all of you anymore. We still want some backup for her, but Sophia is going to switch to being your main focus,” Alex says. “I know everyone is going to want to be in the battle, but Smitty is right. I would like at least ten people to stay behind and keep our daughter safe.”