by P. C. Benson
I could feel her body and soul. I moved vigorously and pulled her legs up to get deeper. Her moans got louder, and it felt like our souls touched and molded into each other. She clenched harder, and her walls quivered. “Fuck, Alec!” she screamed as her nails dug into my skin.
She convulsed and quivered. She milked me further, and I slammed into her and threw my head back as I felt my own intense release. Our souls completed their merge, then a bright light lit up the dome.
I dropped on top of her and noticed that the blinding dome was singing. “Do you hear that?”
“Yes, it’s the energy. It’s so potent that there’s sound. It’s beautiful.”
“You’re beautiful. That was beautiful.”
She smiled and leaned over and kissed me. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
☈ ☇ ☈
I couldn’t help the grin from my face as I walked down the corridor. My mind kept flashing back to how Gabrielle felt underneath me. I paused as I saw Daemon sprinting down the hall. “Daemon!” I called.
He skidded to a stop. “Alec.” He ran towards me.
“Look about yesterday…”
“Never mind that. Something’s wrong. Where’s Gabby?” His pupils were dilated, and his energy was barely contained. I had never seen Daemon rattled, even as a Dark one.
I was immediately on high alert. “What’s going on?”
“It’s Celeste.”
I stepped forward, crowding him. I wanted to grab him and shake him. “What about her?”
“She’s missing. I have a very bad feeling.”
“What do you mean, she’s missing? Are you sure?”
“Yes!”
“Okay, you’re mates. I trust your feelings, but it doesn’t make sense, as you know, no one can enter the compound, and she wouldn’t leave.”
“That’s the thing. She might have left.”
“What the fuck do you mean? She might have left! Tell me the whole fucking story!”
“When I saw her this morning, she said she had a bad feeling about Ti and Vik. She tried to stop them from going on patrol, but they wouldn’t listen because everyone was spread too thinly. She made them promise to be careful and to check-in. She even made them take extra weapons. She told them to check with you for back up.”
“They didn’t check with me.”
“We need Gabby.”
“She’s with the Regent. They are reinforcing the shields. It will take too long if we go and get her. We need to go to Celeste right now. We can call them on the way.”
“Okay. Where do we start?”
“I know where Vik and Ti were supposed to be patrolling. I’ll take you.” I grabbed his arm and disapparated. We appeared just outside the compound.
“Here?”
“No, two more stops.”
When we got to the secluded building located in the mountains that overlooked the city, just at the edge of the San Fernando Valley, I knew something was wrong. The lights were on, and there was too much noise coming from the building. I gestured for Daemon to go right and for me to go left to take out the guards. He shook his head.
I erected a soundproof barrier. “What the fuck are you shaking your head for?”
“There are guards on the roof as well. We need to take those out first, or they will alert the lieutenants.”
“How did you know the lieutenants are in there?”
“These are their guards. It looks like they are all in there.”
“How many?”
“Three, including Amy.”
“Fuck and Vik is in there?”
“Yes, and about fifty guards. Most likely all the guards are out here, and there are only the lieutenants inside.”
“Would the brotherhood be in there?”
“Not if Lilly isn’t. They will be with her.”
“So, we can go about it two ways. We either go with stealth, or I can just take them all out and deal with a drop in energy. How much will I need to deal with the lieutenants?”
He was quiet for a moment. “Between the two of us, we can take them. I’ll take the ones on the roof. You take the ones around the building. I don’t think stealth is best. Quick and easy would benefit us in this case.”
I acknowledged the plan and dissipated the shield. I moved outward and saw Daemon edge around the building. We were by the mountains, and the wind was blowing strongly, a form of solar energy around us, I could tap into. I needed to make this quick without using too much energy. I manipulated the wind to circle the building. I could feel the people-sized rifts, where there were blocks in the wind flow. I then heated the air around those areas to three times the heat of boiling water. I heard the Fallen gasp for air and squeak in pain. A handful fought my assault, but eventually, I got through their barriers, and they dropped. I then headed to the entrance, passing by the bodies of Fallen. I pulled more solar energy around me, since there was an abundance of it, and formed a sword. I sliced through the door with it and burst through the threshold. Vik, Ti, and Celeste were bound to chairs.
Vik was bloody, and his eye was swollen closed. Ti looked irate. Celeste had tears running down her face. Amy and two others stood in front of them.
“Guardian, it’s nice of you to join us,” Amy purred.
“Save it, Amy. Your shit doesn’t work on me.” I raised my sword and stepped forward.
One lieutenant had a fireball ready, and the other took on a fighting stance. I briefly glanced at Celeste and Ti, but I didn’t get any hints from them. I couldn’t attack outright because they would get hit. I would need to get close.
I kept moving forward to even out the playing field. I need to take out Fireboy. Where the fuck was Daemon?
I heard something behind me, and everyone’s eyes moved to the door. I used that opportunity to blast fireboy with raw energy, which took down his shield, enabling me to use my sword, which went through his chest. I briefly glanced behind me and saw Daemon. Perfect! Now we were even.
The other man bellowed an angry cry.
Amy, on the other hand, smiled. “Daemon. I hoped that you would show up. I missed you.”
Celeste thrashed on her chair.
I braced for an attack as the guy threw lightning my way. Great, he wasn’t an elemental. I had expelled too much energy already, and I felt myself weakening.
“Don’t you miss our good times together, Daemon? How about we give everyone a show. What do you say?”
“How about we give them a different kind of show, Amy?”
I moved closer to the man with shoulder-length black hair and beady eyes. When I was just a few feet from him, he snarled, and we circled each other. I produced another energy sword and saw his eyes grow wide. I slashed with my sword, which he dodged and countered with a zap of lightning. This wasn’t going to work.
Daemon and Amy were still trading jabs. “Quit flirting and do something!” I yelled over my shoulder.
I slashed to the right and quickly raised my sword and slashed downward. He wasn’t able to block, but his shield saved him. He twisted out of the way, but his strength was waning. I needed to overpower his energy. He didn’t have much left. I moved faster, slashing forward, then sideways, before twisting in another downward slash. In quick succession, I danced back, added lightning with my right hand, and blasted fire through my sword. He sizzled and was a burning torch for a few seconds before his shield gave out, and I slashed my sword and took his head off.
“No!” Amy screamed and was hit by Daemon’s lightning energy. She stumbled and looked up at him with venom in her eyes.
Momentarily, a dark, ominous energy followed, and Abaddon apparated into the building. Abaddon’s energy wasn’t dark like Lilly’s—it was gray like dark clouds.
He quickly disarmed me, disabled my shields, and then wrapped me with the same energy bind as the rest. He turned to Daemon. “My protégé. I am deeply disappointed in you.”
“Let them go,” Daemon said in a steady voice.
/> “What will you do? Are you forgetting that I had taught you everything you know? And how do you repay me? You betrayed me to these people! The guardian?”
He then looked at me with disdain. “You are always in my way, guardian. You need to be dealt with.”
“You will pay for all the pain you caused, Abaddon.” I seethed with a hate I had never felt towards anyone.
Abaddon raised his hand but was pushed back as Gabrielle apparated in front of me with her hands thrust out.
“Savior. Nice of you to join us.”
“Abaddon. At last we meet. I believe you have something I want.”
His eyes narrowed, and he clutched at his chest as he quickly realized what she meant. His nose flared, and his gaze flicked to Daemon.
Gabrielle erected a shield around Daemon as Abaddon blasted him with dark energy.
Gabby smirked at him. My heart thundered as I struggled out of my restraints. Please don’t antagonize the big bad wolf. I knew what he was capable of. I don’t know how he managed to disable my shield, but I wasn’t mistaken.
Abaddon narrowed his eyes at Gabby, and his lips turned up. He flicked his right arm towards her and dark energy shot out of his left arm.
Gabby’s eyes grew wide in surprise as Abaddon successfully disarmed her shield. Impossible. He was more formidable than we had initially thought. My heart stopped, but she was fast and countered with her own blast. Their energy collided. If she hadn’t shielded us, we would have been crushed by the amount of power in the air. Even Abaddon protected Amy by pulling her behind his back.
Gabby erected her shields back up, this time stronger. She didn’t wait and blasted Abaddon with her own raw power. He stumbled back and struggled to hold her at bay. While he was occupied, Gabby sent Vik, Ti, Celeste, and Daemon away. Thankfully, I remained.
Abaddon took my shield down and had his hand ready to throw massive energy my way. I gathered what energy I had left and erected my own energy, since I was still restrained, but Gabby blasted my restraints off.
Gabby sent a concentrated amount of energy towards Amy and overpowered her shield. Abaddon blasted his dark power to protect Amy, but she still crumpled to the ground. Gabby’s energy did not recede, and Abaddon clenched his jaw, using two hands to push Gabby’s blinding white energy back.
“You are wasting your time on Amy when your precious sister is exercising her new talent on your precious innocents,” he taunted.
I joined my energy with Gabby’s, ready to eliminate this fucker, but I jolted in shock when I heard her in my head. Alec, get ready to grab the amulet. I glanced at her to make sure she hadn’t intruded on my shield. Holy hell, the true mate bond was complete! We could speak with our minds and hear each other’s thoughts!
I had been waiting for us to be able to do that since the ritual.
“Okay,” I responded—my heart beating in excitement despite our predicament.
I glanced at her, and she had a small smile on her face.
“What are you talking about? Are you stalling for time, Abaddon?” Gabby had her hands on her side as she stood in front of me.
Abaddon bellowed in laughter.
Gabrielle didn’t wait. She blasted Abaddon with power. She pulled some of mine and some from outside and added her own. There was so much that it lit the whole room up. Abaddon fell to his knees.
“Now, Alec!” Gabby screamed as she kept her hold on him. I disapparated and appeared by his side, snatched his necklace, and appeared back at Gabby’s side.
She glanced my way and cut off her assault. She waved her hand and sent me back to the mansion.
“No!”
“What happened, Alec?”
“Where’s Gabby?”
People were talking around me, but I didn’t listen. I was severely depleted from my own battle and from Gabby taking from me. I couldn’t get back to her.
Celeste shook my shoulders hard. “What happened?”
“Gabby sent me away. I need to get back, but I’m too weak!”
I paced back and forth.
Gabby, get back here now or take me back! I screamed in my head.
“How far can you and Ti telepathically communicate?” I asked Vik.
He shrugged. “Pretty far, then after a certain distance, it’s still a clear feeling, so you can often still understand the meaning.”
I nodded and projected anger.
Now, Gabrielle!
“Okay, geez.” Her hands were raised as she materialized. “I was right behind you. Abaddon just delayed me a little.”
“Are you okay?” I grabbed her face. Her forehead was bleeding.
“Yeah, he took down my shield again and hit me with lightning. That was not pleasant, by the way.”
“What?” Several of us exclaimed.
“That’s not important. We need to find out where Lilly is. He said she’d attacked innocent people.”
“We’re all drained. We can’t go to battle like this. We need to rest,” Vik said.
“Leave that to me. Just find out where she is. We need to get there fast,” she called on her way out.
I followed her out. “Where are you going?”
“You’ll see.” She winked.
Fourteen
Chapter 13: Attack
Gabby
“Tell me,” Alec asked Celeste.
“They’ve attacked the Regency, and there were a lot of casualties, including humans.” She said with a faraway look.
“What? I just reinforced their shield.” My brow furrowed.
“Is the attack ongoing?” Alec asked.
“Yes, they called for reinforcements.” Vik walked in followed by Ti.
“But we are all tapped out,” Ti interrupted.
“I’ve got you covered.” I moved towards everyone. “I will juice everyone up and then take us there.”
“Can you do that?” Daemon asked.
“Where did you get the energy from?” Ti looked hesitant but determined.
“How did you learn to do that?” Vik asked
“One question at a time, guys,” Alec said.
“Okay, we don’t really have time for this, but I see that you need answers, so long story short. I just kind of figured out how to pull energy and transfer it. Alec and I do it to each other all the time. I’ve never really tried it on anyone else, but I’m pretty sure it will work on others as well.” I shrugged.
Everyone looked skeptical, so I waited for them to approach. When they tentatively came closer, I placed my hand on their forearms and projected healing energy.
“It tingles, but we must hurry. I need to get to the troops,” Vik said.
“Are you sure you should be going with us?” I asked Celeste before I placed my hand on her arm.
“Yes, I need to be there,” she said stubbornly.
I eyed Daemon. He gave a small nod, which conveyed that he wouldn’t let her out of his sight.
“Remember, Amy is still out there, and she is on a mission to get to you and Vik.”
“That bitch is mine.” Ti seethed.
“If I don’t get her first,” Celeste said coldly.
I warned her to stay away, and she didn’t listen, so she is mine, I thought.
“Everyone ready?”
Alec nodded, and I took us to the Regency headquarters. It was like a war zone. Bodies were everywhere.
“Daemon and Celeste, check and see if anyone needs help and get them back to the compound,” Alec directed. “Ti and Vik, take command of the troops.” The two took off in different directions.
“Let’s go.” Alec pulled me towards the front. I couldn’t look at the carnage we passed. It was horrible. When we got outside, the sight almost brought me to my knees. Bodies were littered everywhere, this time, civilians, women, and children. I stopped and stared in horror. It was one thing seeing soldiers crumpled on the ground, but it was another seeing a woman clutching her child and a man shielding both. I saw Lilly and the Brotherhood fighting soldiers, the Regency, a
nd Mr. St Clair.
Alec tugged on my hand, and I moved.
“You take the brotherhood, and I’ll take my sister,” I gritted out. I’d warned her not to do this again. All these deaths were on me because I did not have the strength to stop her. I should have taken her down as soon as I confirmed that she was evil: her and the Brotherhood. I was a coward, and all of these lives had been lost.
No more! My anger was consuming, and it sucked up any energy around me like a vortex. Wind whipped my hair, and the ground trembled as I walked. Both Fallen and Nephilim got out of my way—I didn’t care who was in my path. I only had one target. Lilly.
“Lilly!” I said, my voice naturally amplified because of all the energy I carried.
She turned around and dropped one of the Nephilim she had trapped in her dark whip. The body twitched on the ground. She glanced at it one last time with a satisfied smirk.
She faced me with a defiant look. The Brotherhood looked terrified. I didn’t bother with them, as I was certain that Alec would take care of them.
“I warned you.”
“Oh, these.” She shrugged. “My naive sister. Do you really think these Regents are innocent?”
“How about the women and children?”
She waved her hand. “Casualties of war.”
I blasted her, but she was ready and met my blast with her own. I shielded everyone around us and noticed that Alec engaged the Brotherhood while Vik and Ti battled the Fallen soldiers.
Lilly tried taking my shield down. I felt the vibration of her efforts, but I was too juiced up for it to work.
“Been taking pointers from your boss?” I showed her my teeth. “He wasn’t able to beat me, dear sister, do you think you can?” I taunted.
I saw the hesitation in her eyes. Her jaw clenched, and she changed tactics, turning to Alec, but I was ready for her. I blasted her, and her shield fell, and she was hit.
Jake called out to her. Hmm, the bastard actually cared for her. Lilly stirred, got up, and looked over to where Jake was. Their eyes met.
With Jake distracted, Alec amplified with his own energy, came down with his sword on Jake’s neck—his head rolled several times.