Death & Fire

by King Ellie

  I ran a hand through my hair scratching my scalp as if that would help the situation.

  “I know dammit! You don’t have to remind me. How the hell would I know I would be a creature that has never existed. The question here is who the fuck told father or Uncle? I love the two bastards, but if they know, then they are going to want to stay and run my life. I’m too old for that shit, and I am NOT fighting another battle for them. Ever!”

  Asar nodded, “I know. The last damn part of the prophecy says the same shit. The protector turns into the same shit which we’ve both witnessed. Who said I wanted to be a damn Lycan and vampire along with being goddamn Magni’s son!” Asar yelled, and it was my turn to look at him as though he had lost his mind. He took a deep breath and cleared his throat, “we’ve got to make sure those two psychos don’t make it here or else, back to royal shit we don’t care for.”

  “You don’t have to tell me twice, now let’s go talk to Cin and find out what happened to her. I have a feeling someone knew about this prophecy and tried to fuck it up. I wouldn’t have cared to be something else, but I do care that they did something to her, and we lost our daughter because of it. I want to know who put the idea of wanting to find her parents in her head too, she never cared before.” I thought about a lot yesterday.

  “I can tell that someone messed with her mind or her memories rather. There are things she doesn’t remember even from before. I noticed when we were coming back from dinner. I’ll get into contact with some folks and see what I can find out.”

  I smirked at Asar, “When I find who did it, they will have hell to pay. I haven’t tortured a soul in so long.”

  “Neither have I and speaking of dumbasses, why is your ex downstairs with your wife?”

  If I weren’t so invested in hearing what happened with Cin, I would fight Asar, and he knew it.

  “Please, don’t make me mess your ugly-ass face up some more.”

  Asar laughed as he stood walking towards my bedroom door. He opened the door walking out and just had to be even more annoying,

  “Jesus, Xáne! I’m your cousin, stop trying to get with me. I told you I don’t want you, but if you give me Cin, I promise to let you kiss my cheek.”

  “I hate you so damn much Asar, I should bash your face in right now.” I teleported in back of him and punched him hard in the back.

  Asar fell to the ground from the impact and because he was caught off guard. He laughed hard as he vanished. I knew he teleported to where Cin was because I felt the moment the shock registered that he had spooked her.

  Only Asar could have a serious conversation with me and make me want to knock his ass out in the next breath. This was what family was for anyways.

  ****

  I stared at Cin waiting for her to start talking, well, we all were. Asar sat in his sweats and tee across from me with Cin next to him. Jaya sat on the left side of me on the ottoman wearing her all black sentinel uniform. She kept looking at me as though I had a solution for her, but I didn’t. I told her yesterday that I couldn’t be with her and had she not flipped out, I would’ve thought she was nuttier than she already was, so I let her throw her weak punches and then I told her ass to get the fuck out. Jaya thought I didn’t see the way she looked at Cin, she envied her, but there was nothing I could do to change how much I loved Cin even if I wasn’t with her at the moment. I wasn’t a cheater so there was no way I was going to have both of them plus it wouldn’t have been fair.

  I didn’t want to hurt Jaya of course, but if I even thought of hurting Cin, it would kill me. I could never make her cry because of me.

  “Do I have to?” Cin glanced at Asar, and he nodded.

  “Hey! Friend… ” I called out to Cin knowing she was not going to like being referred to that, even though, she suggested it. When her eyes set on mine, she glared at me like she imagined killing me so many times in her mind.

  “What, friend?” She gritted through her teeth, and I almost laughed in her face.

  I cleared my throat, “I’d really like to hear about how you did out there and how you survived and all of that.”

  Cin side eyed Jaya, then she looked back at me, “Does she need to be here for it?”

  “Not if you don’t want her to,” I answered without much thought.

  I took in Cin’s appearance. She seemed like she went through a lot and didn’t want to say it out loud, so I did what she asked of me. I faced Jaya, “You’ve got to go.”

  Jaya had the nerve to be offended.

  “Are you serious right now? You called me over here!” She raised her voice.

  “I did, and now, you’ve got to go,” I glared at her. “Go do your job.”

  Jaya stood taking her exit. I faced Cin, “Come here, baby,” I didn’t wait for her to come to me as I teleported her to me.

  Cin’s face was priceless as she stared at me, bug-eyed.

  “What the fuck was that?” She was either fascinated or scared. I wasn’t sure which one yet.

  “That’s a story for another day… right now, we have to see what happened. Since you don’t want to talk, I have no choice but to get the memories another way.”

  “What wa-?” Before she could finish her sentence, I pulled her in for a kiss. There were other ways that I could’ve gotten to her memories, but this was the way that I felt most pleased to do it.

  Cin gasped granting my access to both her tongue and her mind; all three of us, Asar, Cin, and I were in her memories.

  ****

  Lucinda

  I couldn’t think straight when Xáne kissed me. This wasn’t the same as it was before, and I should’ve known. When he kissed me, a fire buried so deep within me ignited traveling and spreading throughout my body. If I thought I was hooked on him before then now, I was obsessed. I leaned into his kiss letting him devour me as I wrapped my arms around his neck straddling him in the process.

  The deeper the kiss, the more my memories were conjured up. I was lost in him as it took over.

  I was running after I escaped through the wall. Someone watched my back, a woman, but I couldn’t remember who. She was helping me, and she called herself a friend. I met her before this but where? I couldn’t remember. My breath hitched, I stopped for a moment feeling Xáne’s tether, something was wrong. I turned around to go back, but a voice spoke so loud, “Keep going! Don’t look back!”

  I cried out feeling myself being turned away from Xáne. It hurt so bad to leave, my body was physically shaking.

  “It’ll wear off! Just keep going.”

  I was sweating bullets by the time that I made it far enough that I couldn’t tell where the border or the invisible wall was.

  “Xáne… ” I whispered not able to hold it in anymore. I dropped to my knees on the dirty ground ruining my all black attire, crying my heart out as if I buried him. My fingers itched to touch him again. I couldn’t stop the tremors that broke out through my entire body.

  I wanted to feel him through our tether, but something prevented that, and then, it was as if someone struck me on my back. I cried out dropping to the ground clutching my head as pain so excruciating took over. I have never had anyone else in my head but Xáne and Asar, and they were gentle hums, but this one wasn’t. This felt like someone was plucking pieces of my mind apart, someone that didn’t have a physicality to it yet, it was being ripped apart, and I felt it all. Sounds of agony escaped my mouth as my flames changed colors. I didn’t know before, but I knew now that it was because I left Xáne that the orange in my flames became blue.

  My memories didn’t go in chronological order. It was as if everything was jumbled up, but one memory that did not escape was the way that I protected our baby as I killed those Lycans.

  It was as if I was walking Xáne and Asar down memory lane as they both held my hands. The next scene was gruesome as I woke up from being knocked out by an unknown person. I couldn’t see their faces, but I knew there was more than one person. I cried out for my child wanting to protect it. />
  “No! No! Don’t, please!” I begged, but they just stared at me as if I was speaking a foreign language.

  A woman came in a face that I saw clearly. She wasn’t sick nor puking those green things out of her mouth. She was healthy as ever; her brown skin shined brightly, her hair was braided down into two big braids, and she looked to be my age. I wondered what she was doing on this side, but I didn’t get the chance to ask her that as I was hit with contractions again. She ran over to my side, holding my hand so tight and she whispered in my ear, telling me I would be okay. Then, she said something I never remembered… until now.

  “No matter what, I will help you get out of here. You don’t deserve to be here. I will make sure you and your baby get out.”

  “Hey!” the faceless man yelled at her, and she began shushing me and stroking my hair.

  I could never forget her big brown eyes as they gazed into mine. She wasn’t human, and I could tell by the way she was keeping my flames in check. What was she and why was she helping me?

  ****

  That night was a night filled with regret as I lost my daughter because she wasn’t breathing. I didn’t stay awake after I passed out from carrying my daughter in my arms. When I came to, the same girl was dressing me up.

  “Hey! Hey!” She whispered harshly. I wanted to stay awake, but I was slipping again. She slapped me hard, and that woke me up. Her eyes that once were brown now resembled an ocean. “You need to go! I’ll take you away from here but don’t come back. Go as far as you can! Escape for the both of us!”

  I slowly got up not sure what she was talking about, but I was going to do as she asked.

  “Why are you helping me?” I asked her as she led me out watching her back the entire time.

  “Because you call his name in your sleep. You’ve been doing so for months, go back to him.” I turned to look at her, and she had unshed tears in her eyes. She’d lost something. I could tell.

  “What’s your name?” I asked her.

  “Hina,” her soft voice replied to me.

  “Like the great Nephilim, the moon goddess? The one we read about in books?”

  She looked at me with a sad smile on her face.

  “Yes. My mother was a great woman. She’s gone, and this is why I am here. Get out before they find out you are one of a kind as well.”

  “Is that how you knew what I was?” I asked her as she led me towards a dead-end, but we crossed through it.

  “Yes, now go… ” I began to walk away from her slowly. “Wait!” She called me back, “If you had a son, what would you name him?”

  “A son?” I tilted my head.

  She nodded, rubbing her belly as if she was pregnant. I tried to keep my sadness to myself as I felt tears escape my eyes, “I’d name him Ezra but spell it E-x-r-a in remembrance of his father.”

  She smiled at me, “Exra… that’s beautiful. I will take care of Exra and return him to his rightful owner.”

  I didn’t get what she was talking about. Thinking that maybe they had driven her crazy, but she wasn’t that crazy because she helped me escape. When I left, I roamed the dying side of the earth, fighting, killing, and looking for my parents. I never found them, and after three miserable years, my heart yearned too much for Xáne. It was as if my heart began beating for him not understanding why I was so far from him again. So, I trekked my way back to him hoping he’d have me back because I didn’t understand why I left to begin with.

  Chapter 8

  Xánur

  When I stopped kissing Cin, my body shook. I was angry as we slipped out of her memories and came back to our reality. I sat back on the couch with her still straddling me, none of this made sense and yet made all the sense in the world. I should’ve known that there was no way Cin would’ve willingly left me like that, but then again, what was this going to prove? What was all this meant to be about? Was she not supposed to come back? So many questions were swimming in my head, and I couldn’t get a grip to answer any of them.

  I felt Cin’s hands on my face as she made me focus on her. I looked at her, but I couldn’t see past my anger or her memories. I was so mad at myself for not seeing it, not feeling how she felt when she left and on top of that, I moved on from her. I chose to stop searching for her. I did this to us. If I had found her sooner, she wouldn’t have gone through all of that.

  “Hey,” she tried to get my attention, but I avoided her eyes. I was ashamed of myself.

  Asar stood, “I’ll give you guys a minute. I’m going to clear my head, and I’ll be back to talk about it all.”

  When Asar teleported out of the house, Cin was still trying to make me look at her, yet I couldn’t.

  “Baby… ” she called out to me. I shook my head. “Look at me.”

  “I can’t love. I really,” I sighed my hands forming fists. “I can’t fucking believe I gave up on you like that, and I blamed you for shit you didn’t even do on purpose. How the fuck could I be so stupid!” I didn’t even know where the rage was coming from, but I had to calm down.

  I didn’t even have time to think as Cin slapped the shit out of me.

  I was in shock as she spoke, “I don’t care, Xánur! None of that matters anymore! Don’t you get it, baby? Now, you can’t be mad at me anymore, and you can hold me like you used to. I’m not even mad that you tried, emphasis on the tried to move on, even if the bitch looks like she has brass balls.”

  She cocked her eyebrow at me, “Open your big ass ears and hear me well, nothing matters anymore except finding our son, you hear me? As long as you and I are okay, I don’t care about anything that happened during those three years. Granted, I’m going to still kick that Amazonian bitch’s ass for talking reckless, but for now, I want a hug, Xáne. Please, just love me.”

  I gazed into those eyes that I loved so damn much before pulling Cin into the tightest hug ever. I’ve loved her since I could last remember, and I was glad that the love never actually stopped because had it stopped, then I wouldn’t be here with her again. I kissed her neck loving the feel of her skin on my lips. I’ve missed this for too long.

  “Did you just slap me?” I asked her as I wrapped my arms tighter around her.

  Cin had the nerve to giggle.

  “Yeah, sorry, baby.”

  I sighed as I buried my nose into her neck. AHH, cinnamon and brimstone.

  “Say it again.”

  “Baby.”

  “I thought I’d die without hearing that come from your lips. I love you Lucinda Helson.”

  I felt her lips on my shoulder, “I love you, too. Now, let’s call Asar back so that we can talk about what to do with these headaches, the bastard who made me leave, and where Hina and my son are.”

  “You mean where Hina and our son are right? I still can’t believe we have a surviving child. That means you were pregnant with twins, but because you passed out, you didn’t see the birth of the second one,” my chest swelled with pride. “Exra Helson.”

  We need you to come back Asar, we’ve got people to hunt and kill… and we need to find our family.

  I communicated to Asar. I knew he was flying, and I felt him smile.

  I can’t believe I have a nephew and when we do find those responsible, let me rip them to shreds. It’s been so long since I’ve last ripped someone’s lungs through their throat.

  I found myself smiling and not because I was happy. No, I was smiling because I knew that whoever was responsible for the loss of my wife, my daughter, and the disappearance of my son had hell to pay, and since I was a Helson, it only served right that I, the son of death, ripped their souls from their body. It was never too late to go back to my old ways of torturing a soul, instead of the body they inhibited in.

  ****

  Lucinda

  Asar was livid. Usually, he kept his emotions in check even around Xáne and I, but we both could tell that seeing everything that I went through had made him mad as hell. He sat there across from Xáne and me fuming like he needed to punch so
mething or else he’d target either of us in the room. I had seen Asar pissed off before, and it was a scary sight. I needed Asar to calm down because if he didn’t, then he was going to fuel Xáne to be on his level, and that was a bad combination. If ever I wanted to see our side of the world blow up, all I had to do was piss Asar off long enough for it to transfer over to Xáne, and when that happened, together they’d lay waste to it all. I was sure each of them could do it on their own, but the sick smiles they had on their faces when they were doing something mischievous still made me shudder till this day.

  “Asar,” I got off the couch and made my way to him. I kneeled in front of him waiting for him to look my way. “I’m going to need you to look at me before I smack the dog shit out of you like I did Xáne.” I joked.

  That got him to crack a smile as he now met my gaze, “I think the whole world heard it,” Asar glanced at Xáne and then back at me. “You know I’ve always imagined you on your knees like this before me.”

  I knew what Xáne was going to do before I turned around. I ducked so fast as Xáne’s fist swung. Shit! Asar’s mood was worse than I thought. The impact of the punch caused the back of Asar’s head to leave a big dent in the wall.

  “Asar!” I yelled out.

  “No!” He yelled back. He rolled his shoulders as he stood to face off Xáne.

  I knew what he was doing. He was getting Xáne angrier instead of talking. Asar wasn’t a talker, if he were in a rage, he would fight it out, and it was always with his cousin. These two were going to break everything in the house. I backed up, all the way to the corner of the living-room that I knew they weren’t going to come near. They always seemed to know where I was, and they never got closer to me.

  I watched in horror as Asar and Xáne threw punches at each other; Asar’s fists sounded like thunder every time he connected with Xáne’s jaw and Xáne’s fists, well they were an anomaly. If ever there was a sound to what it felt like when your soul was being ripped out of your chest, then that was it. It was a scary sight to behold because two gigantic Nephilims were fighting. They had both transformed as their wings came to life; Asar’s was the opposite of Xáne, his wings matched the color of Xáne’s hair while Xáne’s wings matched the color of Asar’s. Asar had fangs and talons just like his cousin. I was so lost in the transformation that I almost missed the next moment.