Winter's War

by G. Bailey

  “Where are we going?” Alex asks me.

  “To see the crystal, I need to know something,” I tell her, and she nods.

  “Why didn’t you tell your mates?”

  “I need to speak with it alone. They won’t let me touch it after last time, and I can’t really explain this feeling I have. I think the crystal is somehow in my dreams, the child-like voice I always hear; I think it is the crystal,” I tell her as we stop and open the doors to the tower. I’m surprised no one is guarding it like they should be, but I make a mental note to sort something out later. I shut the doors behind us and stop on the bottom step of the stairs.

  “Can I be alone?” I ask her, and she looks behind me up the stairs and meets my eyes.

  “I trust you,” she says simply, and I know there isn’t much more that is needed to be said. I climb up the dozens of stairs of the tower and feel the crystal calling to me before I even see it. The crystal is as huge as I remember it being, it lightly glows, and I look around the room to see someone has drawn on the walls and there are tools on the floor. It looks like they planned to put windows in here and the very thought makes me happy. People should be able to see the beautiful light from the crystal. I walk over, whispering quietly,

  “Hello. I know this may seem weird. Okay, it is weird that I’m talking to a giant crystal, but I know you’re alive in here. I feel it. You sing to me, just like the crystal trees in the witches’ city. You have been in my dreams and helping me, is that true?”

  I place my hands on the crystal, seeing the millions of little lights inside swirl around and then rush at the place my hands are, before the light shines so brightly that I can’t see anything for a second.

  “Winter,” the child-like voice says as I open my eyes, and the little lights from the crystal have formed into a ball in the middle, I look only for a second before the loud, sorrow-filled song fills my mind.

  “Child of Winter . . . .

  Child of demons . . . .

  Child of the ancient ones. A child planned to rule, a child planned to save. For all children grow to love, to mourn, but only the child of death will pay the ultimate price. A price for love, for the world. Death and sorrow, death and love, death and wishes for change will never be sought. The prophecy tells the truth, as much as time will pass. Blood will fall, blood will fall, blood will fall . . . .”

  The song drifts off as my hands start to burn on the crystal, but I don’t move my hands away.

  “I understand, I know it’s my life that must be given to save everyone,” I whisper and only a small whisper responds to me,

  “You will understand at the final choice.”

  I pull my hands away, the ball of light breaking into millions of little lights inside the crystal, and the power I felt in the room seems to have disappeared. I look down at my slightly burnt hands as they heal and then back to the crystal, feeling like I’m missing something. Like it knows something that I don’t.

  I shut the door to my room after leaving with Alex, and she hasn’t said a word, the confused look on my face likely says it all. I instantly start pulling the dress off, and when it falls to the ground, I look at my back in the mirror. Despite my underwear being in the way a little, it’s one hell of a massive mark all down my back. The strong phoenix at the bottom, the brave wolf next, then Atti’s beautiful tree is in the middle of the delicate wings. My heart hurts when I think of the trees in the witches’ city, how they are lost to us for the time being. I hope when we get the city back, and we will, we can re-grow them. Their beautiful songs play through my head a million times as I just stare at my reflection. So much has been lost, and so much more is going to be lost. How can I be strong enough to save everyone? To do what I need to?

  “Here,” Alex says, coming over and handing me some jeans and a black top, snapping me out of my thoughts.

  “Your mating marks are beautiful,” she tells me as I pull the clothes on.

  “Thank you. They are.” I reply as I pick the awful dress up and walk over to the fireplace. I chuck it in and look around until I find some matches, before setting the damn thing on fire.

  “It looks better on fire.” Alex chuckles as she stands next to me, and we watch the fire burn the black material. Even the awful smell from the burning fabric doesn’t make me move. I want to watch it burn.

  “What did the crystal say?”

  “Nothing I didn’t already know, I think it’s alive,” I reply.

  “That’s . . . well, I would say crazy, but we live in a crazy world.”

  “A crazy, dangerous world,” I reply, and she nods at me before sitting on the end of my bed and looking down at the ground. Alex never makes much sound as she cries, I know her too well. Alex never cries, it’s just not her way, but the rare times I’ve seen her cry, it’s been for a bad reason, and worry fills me. Nothing else can be wrong, not with my best friend, too.

  “What’s wrong?” I ask, keeping the fear out my voice as I walk over and sit next to her.

  “I know it’s the worst timing, the worst thing that could have happened right now, and I swear we were being safe, but it happened,” she whispers after a long silence. Confusion fills me as I look at her, I have no idea where she is going with this.

  “What happened? Whatever it is, I’ll cover for you. If it’s hiding a body or helping you kill someone, I will, no questions asked,” I say, making her laugh a little as she shakes her head at me. I watch her closely as I take her hand. She shocks me to my core as she places her other hand on her stomach, and I figure out what is going on before she even says it.

  “I’m pregnant,” she whispers, and I sit back in shock, keeping hold of her hand. Alex is pregnant.

  “Oh, wow. I didn’t expect that,” I mutter, my eyes going from her face to her stomach and back again.

  “I know, but it happened, and I couldn’t be more scared. Every time I close my eyes, fear just fills me. I can’t shake the powerless feeling I have,” she admits.

  “Why are you scared? You will make a wonderful mother,” I ask her, knowing for certain she will.

  “We are at war Winter. We could die, and anything that happens to me, happens to my baby. I love her or him already, I know it’s early to feel this way, but I do. I would do anything to save my baby.”

  “No, we won’t die. You will not die, and you will have this baby. He will not win this time. I will fight for our freedom, our lives. The lives of our future,” I say and nod my head towards her stomach. Any doubt I had about winning this war, about giving my life up slips away as I think about Alex’s baby.

  “I want to be at your side, fighting, but Drake won’t have it, and I can’t help but agree with him. Vampire pregnancies are so rare, and everyone I’ve asked says they are difficult to carry for half-turned like me,” she says, and it’s not surprising. I know about the low birth rate all supernaturals have.

  “Someone will need to be with the women and children who can’t fight. Someone needs to be helping the injured and that’s where you’re going to be,” I say, and she hugs me. Neither of us move for a long time, just holding each other and my mind running over the idea of Alex and a baby.

  “I can’t wait to meet her or him,” I whisper to her in the quiet room, only the sound of the fire crackling in the background to listen to.

  “Winter, come now,” Leigha bursts into the room, blood pouring down the side of her head. Her clothes are ripped in various places, and when I see the blue dust on her, panic fills me.

  “Leigha what happened?” I ask, standing up.

  At the same time Alex asks, “Where’s Drake? Where’s our mum?”

  “We’d just got to your mum, and demons came. There were so many, we barely got away. I think they were waiting for us, for anyone to come. Drake and your mum are badly injured,” Leigha tells us as we run down the corridor and down the stairs. Alex makes a strangled sound, and everything goes blurry as I run after Leigha.

  “No, no, no,” Alex mutters, wiping h
er eyes as we follow Leigha through the castle and run past many people, who stop and stare. Leigha slams the door of a room open, it’s full of beds, and I see Dabriel first as he is glowing.

  “Winter,” I hear someone say, but everything seems slow as I walk over to Dabriel and see my mum on the bed in front of him. There are three long cuts in the front of her top, and there is blood everywhere as Dabriel tries to heal her. I look over at the two silver swords at the side of the bed, covered in blood and back to my mum.

  “Mum?” I ask, taking her hand, but she is unconscious. I look over to see another light angel I don’t know glowing lighter than Dabriel and watch as he pulls two daggers out of Drake’s stomach as Alex leans over him. Next to him is a female light witch, three daggers in her arm, and she winces as she pulls them out.

  “Winter, I can’t. I’m sorry, but the cuts are laced with the same poison that killed Atti’s mother, and your mother is too human to survive this,” Dabriel says quietly, his purple eyes locking on mine as he gives me the news I knew from the moment I saw my mum. I can’t lose her, too. This cannot be happening. I’m so stupid, I should have demanded she come here, no matter what she wanted.

  “No!” I shout, pushing him out of the way as he removes his hands, and my mum looks up at me as her eyes slowly open. I push her grey hair out of her face, wincing when I leave a trail of blood on her cheek from my hands.

  “Alex, come and say goodbye,” I hear Dabriel say, and the sound of Alex’s crying fills the room.

  “Go say goodbye to your mother. I’m okay, Alex,” I hear Drake say, and then I hear her move closer as I stare into my mum’s eyes. I don’t look away.

  “I love you both, you know that?” she whispers out, her breaths sounding slower and slower as I brush some hair out of her eyes.

  “I love you, too, mum, please don’t leave me,” Alex begs as she grips her hand.

  “Sing for me Winter, I love your singing,” she mumbles and I nod, wiping my eyes. I don’t know what to sing as I open my mouth, and then a song fills my mind. A song she used to sing to me as a child.

  “Blue, blue rose dancing in the snow. Oh blue, blue rose you have come to say Winter has finally come. Winter brings the cold but the warmth along, too. I can hear the snow falling, I can hear the foxes sleeping, and I can hear the sun setting as Winter comes . . . as the snow falls, and all is clear . . . .”

  “Winter, save us. Save us all, and I’m so proud of you both,” she says as I stop singing. Blood flows out of her mouth, before her hand drops out of mine, and her eyes close. I can’t say a word as I watch her die, every part of me feeling as cold and distant as the very song she used to sing to me.

  “Mum, mum don’t,” Alex whines. Everything seems surreal as I feel Dabriel pull me into his arms and whispers what I’m sure are comforting things. All I can hear is Alex’s cries and the echo of my mum’s last words: Save us all.

  10

  Winter

  “What are you doing?” Jaxson asks me as I throw my dagger, and it lands perfectly in the next target. It’s been a day since my mum died, and I don’t know what I’m doing. Dabriel decided to put off seeing the angels until tonight, and I haven’t spoken to any of them. I can’t speak about it because it will make it more real. It will make it more heart-breaking that my parents have been killed by my grandfather. That my entire family is dead except for him. Him. The evil son of a bitch that hides in his castle and gets his demons to do his handiwork. Everything he has taken from me just continues to add up, he was destroying my life before I was even born. He was destroying everything before the prophecy was even spoken from my grandmother’s lips.

  “Do you need me to answer that?” I ask sarcastically, and he glares at me. I ignore him and pick up two more daggers, throwing them into the target and landing them perfectly on either side of the first dagger. I imagine the evil, red eyes as I walks over to the target and pull out the daggers. I see the eyes of everyone who is training in the room on me, but I ignore them. I can’t deal with being their queen right now; being the reasonable one. Death, just more death, and what else will be left, in the end, if I don’t kill him?

  “Out, everyone, now,” he shouts in the training room, and the twenty or so wolves, witches, and vampires quickly run out the door at Jaxson’s growly words.

  “You didn’t need to do that,” I mutter, and he chuckles as I put the daggers down on the bench and turn my back to him.

  “Fight me, like we used to,” he tells me, and I look over my shoulder, only seconds before he charges at me. I move at the last second, dodging his attack and spin around, running at his back. He turns and blocks my hit, and I slam my leg into his side. He grabs my hip and slams me onto the floor, and I knock his legs out from under him. He slams onto the floor next to me, and I roll onto him, holding his arms down.

  “I’ve always liked you on top,” he says as we both breathe heavily, and I lean down, kissing him. Jaxson groans slightly and flips us over as he deepens the kiss, pressing himself into me.

  “No sex, we need to talk, lass,” he tells me as he breaks away but keeps me trapped under him.

  “I don’t want to talk,” I say, looking to the side, and he grabs my chin, gently pulling my face to look at him.

  “I get it. You want to fuck and kill and do anything to forget what happened. We are far more alike than I want to admit, lass. I know you feel guilty, you feel like everyone you love has died, and you have lost that last part of your parents,” he says, his tone growing gentler with each word.

  “I lost my mum, my sister, and my brother, and I wanted to destroy everything because of that. But I didn’t, you know why?”

  “Why?” I ask quietly.

  “Because I had family left to fight for. You have us; your mates. And Alex, who is like a sister to you. You have so much to fight for. We will be at your side; there to make sure we don’t lose anyone else,” he tells me, and his words crack some kind of barrier I’ve held onto since my mum died. I burst into tears, and he sits up, pulling me onto his lap.

  “You cry now and let it out. Then you are going to hold your head high and walk out that door, and be their queen. They are all scared and need their queen to be strong,” he whispers to me.

  “With you at my side,” I whisper.

  “I will always be at your side, Winter,” he tells me, and gently kisses my forehead.

  “Everything okay?” Wyatt asks as he walks into my bedroom where I’m putting my belt full of daggers on. Wyatt’s blonde hair is as long as when we first met, and his jaw is freshly shaven. Somehow, just dressed in smart, black trousers and a white shirt that is slightly undone, he couldn’t look more powerful with the massive sword strapped to his hip. He couldn’t look more like the vampire king he is meant to be.

  “I’m sorry I shut you out, after mum,” I say, my voice cracking a little.

  “Winter, you can shut me out, throw those daggers at me, or, in general, just ignore me, and I will still be here for you,” he tells me, and I chuckle.

  “You would catch the daggers anyway.”

  “True,” he smirks.

  “We have angels to go see,” I say and walk over, leaning up to kiss him gently.

  “I’m proud of you,” he tells me, and I nod, letting myself have this moment with him before pulling away. Wyatt takes my hand as he leads us down the corridor. The door at the end opens, and Freddy walks out, followed by a boy I’ve not seen before. He has wavy, black hair, with what looks like red tips in his fringe. I can’t tell what he is, but he seems almost familiar to me. I spend way too long meeting the boy’s eyes before pulling my own eyes away.

  “Winter,” Freddy says when he notices me and runs over.

  I hug him, and I’m a little surprised when Wyatt says, “Son, who’s your friend?” I know Freddy is his son, yet it’s still strange to hear him say that.

  “Josh, come here,” Lucifer says as he walks down the corridor towards us.

  “Is Josh your son?” I ask
Lucifer when he places a hand on Josh’s shoulder and Josh looks over at me. The bright-blue eyes are so familiar and clash against the tips of red in his hair.

  “Yes,” he replies tensely.

  “So, you’re an angel? Sorry, for a second I thought you might be something else,” I tell Josh who just crosses his arms and looks at his dad. Josh looks a lot like his dad, I can tell he is going to break some hearts when he’s older, much like I can see Freddy doing. The two of them should be locked away from girls.

  “Yeah, Dad, why is that?” Josh asks, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Josh and Lucifer seem to share a look before looking back at us again.

  “Angels do not get their wings until their sixteenth birthday, and that is why,” Lucifer answers, but Josh surprises me by laughing loudly.

  “Any kind are welcome here, you don’t need to hide anything from us,” I tell Lucifer.

  “Nah, it’s more the issue that my step mum and half-brothers wouldn’t be happy with anyone knowing my secrets, right Dad?” Josh says.

  “Let’s go,” Lucifer demands, and I watch as they both walk away.

  “Your friend is odd.”

  “He’s a half,” Freddy tells me, shocking me a little bit, but some part of me knows the truth in his words as I look over at Josh before he walks out of the corridor.

  “Half what?” I ask, knowing I was right, and there is something strange about that boy.