by A M Boone
“What’s your name?” she asked.
“Darryl,” he said quietly. “Darryl Phillips. P-pleased to meet you, Your Majesty.” He bowed.
“There’s no need for that. My name is Funany’a, and I’m Ime’Cahina’s mother. As long as you stay by her side, you’re perfectly welcome here.”
Another person slipped into the ballroom, a tall, strapping guy around my age with bright white locs.
“Monica, why did you leave me behind?” he asked.
“Because you take too long to get ready,” she said, glancing back at him.
“Now that the guests of honor have arrived, everyone, let’s have a good time!” Vincent’s mother cried, her voice booming throughout the entire ballroom.
I clapped my hands over my ears.
Slowly, but surely, the room returned to normal, with the dancers dancing, and everyone loving themselves and loving to be themselves… While I stuck out like a sore thumb. Everyone here was mind-numbingly beautiful, and then there was me. Just an average barely-a-witch.
Vincent opened his mouth to speak, but his sister popped up out of nowhere.
“N’naandi,” she said. The contempt in her voice was obvious. “I’m glad you came.”
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” he said, his teeth clenched. “How’s your husband?”
“How’s yours?” she said, giving him a small smile. “Oh, wait.”
Vincent froze.
Felix/Felicia stepped between the two of them, and said, “Hey, hey, let’s not. This is a happy time, right? Right?”
“Right,” Vincent mumbled, his eyes flashing black. If Monica kept this up, she wouldn’t be around for her wedding. Yikes.
Vincent took my hand and turned to leave, but the white haired guy spoke up.
“Do I know you?”
I glanced back. Long, white locs, bright gray eyes… almost like he didn’t have an iris at all, but his face was—wait. No way…
“Dominic?” I asked.
“Eliana! I knew I recognized you from somewhere.” He pulled me into a hug.
“You two know each other?” Vincent and Monica said in unison.
“Yeah!” Dominic beamed at me, and for the first time since Monica showed up, I relaxed. “We went to college together. I was pre-law and she was psych, but we were both in the Black Student Union.”
“Charmed, Mr…”
“Dominic Clayton.”
“Mr. Clayton.”
“You must be Monica—sorry, Ime’Cahina’s—brother. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“Hopefully something good, but I’m not holding my breath.”
Felix/Felicia snickered, and Monica narrowed her eyes.
“Uh… Last time I heard, you got shot by the cops. Like… Swiss cheese shot. How did you survive?” I asked.
“He’s a zombie,” Vincent cut in, and both Dominic and Monica gave him a look.
“Are you serious?” I took a step back. Last thing I needed was for him to snack on my brains. Would explain the white hair and pale eyes, though. Just like me, he was black haired and brown eyed the entire time I’d known him. But he didn’t act like a zombie. If anything, he looked better than before. He was smiling more, his head was held high, and he was even a little taller and buffer.
Magic. Always magic.
“N’naandi, shut up,” Monica snapped, and Vincent glared at her again. “He’s not a zombie. Dominic, you explain.”
He gave us a small smile. “I’m an Innocent. I got killed and was chosen to resurrect. Not a lot to say.”
“So… a zombie,” Vincent said. “Normal people tend to stay dead when they die.”
“Does Imani know?” I asked.
He froze. “No. Doesn’t know, never will know. I finished up law school down in San Diego under a different name. She… she wouldn’t take it well, I know it. So I’m just going to… let her go.”
Vincent cleared his throat. “Anyway. Mr. Clayton. How did you meet my… lovely sister?”
“She was my best friend’s landlord. She and Darryl owned the building he lived in, and after I resurrected, she helped me out a lot.”
Ugh. This might end with an all-out brawl if this keeps up.
Darryl just kept glancing between us, completely silent. Didn’t blame him. He was a normal human thrust into the world of the supernatural. Five bucks said he’d tried to kill Monica once he found out she wasn’t human.
“When are you having Mr. Phillips turned?” Vincent asked.
“Tonight, after the ball.”
Vincent let out some noncommittal noise of approval, running his fingers through his hair. “Well, this was a lovely outing, but I think Miss Delacroix and I are going to take our leave. I’ll be back in another fifty—ow!”
His mother appeared in a shimmer of light and tugged on his ear.
“You’re staying,” she said. “For the ball, for the wedding, and you’re going to support your sister.”
“Right.” He rubbed his ear. “Anyway. I heard High Minister Tina’vuk tried to invade recently?”
She scowled. “It’s not important.”
Ah. So that was where Vincent got his world-class deflection techniques from.
* * *
Dominic took my hand and led me away. “We have to catch up! I haven’t seen you since graduation.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I said, smiling.
“What happened to your eye?” he asked.
“I made a contract with Vincent.”
“Why?”
“Personal reasons.”
I wasn’t going to air my dirty laundry everywhere. Sure, Dominic and I knew each other, but we weren’t close enough that I’d tell him my husband became an abusive piece of garbage. I’d been closer to his girlfriend than him, to be honest.
“Well, I hope you’re happy with your decision. How does Tony feel about it?”
“He’s… no longer in the picture.”
The gears in his head turned, and my dirty laundry aired itself.
“I see.”
Monica popped up behind Dominic and glanced me over. Great. I’d know that look anywhere. To her, I wasn’t just her deadbeat brother’s fuckbuddy. I was a threat. Vincent did say she’d tried to kill Daniel once…
Dominic gave her a look. “Where’s Darryl?”
“Getting prepped for the turning.”
“Is it safe?” I piped up.
She gave me a dirty look, then flapped her hand. “Of course it’s safe. I wouldn’t have him turned if it wasn’t safe.”
Hmm. Still… something about turning someone human into something not, seemed like playing god.
Would I want to be turned? I was already a barely-a-witch. Partially non-human. What was one more step?
Vincent’s voice echoed in my ears. Think about it very carefully, Miss Delacroix. Becoming a demon—any type of demon—cuts you off from the afterlife.
Cuts you off from the afterlife?
We’ll discuss it later, he said quietly. Enjoy the ball.
He popped up next to me. “Let’s dance.”
Heat rose to my cheeks. Dancing? Sure, I’d taken a few ballroom dance classes with Santi and Tony in undergrad to pad out my electives, but dancing with the crown prince of Thoiriele?
“I’m not really a dancer.”
“Just follow my lead.” He took my hand and led me to the center of the ballroom. Hundreds of supernaturals were twirling and floating across the room in unison to the music.
I was going to make a complete and total fool of myself in front of thousands of people, trying to dance with the crown prince in front of royalty and nobility…
But all those pesky thoughts fell out of my head as he pulled me into dancing position. Cubi ballroom dance was a little different than human, but close enough that it felt familiar. Like being in Santi’s or Tony’s arms.
“Did you learn to dance as a kid?”
“I learned everything you need to know to be royalty.” We rocked back and
forth in time with the music. He gently pushed me along with his hands and magic, and we practically flew across the room in unison with the other dancers.
Something about being here, in his arms, was just lovely. He spun me, and I relaxed, falling back into his arms with ease. This Vincent was just so wonderful to be around. He was calm, smiling… and maybe, just maybe, I could see myself with him once the ten years were up.
The music faded out, and everyone paused for a moment.
Vincent’s mother got back on her throne, while Monica left. Good riddance.
He let out a quiet snort of laughter. “Good riddance indeed.”
“I thought I told you to stop reading my mind.”
“You’re an open book.”
In the corner of my eye, I caught Dominic sitting at one of the tables near the edge of the ballroom.
Vincent leaned in close—just closely enough that our lips barely grazed one another’s—and said, “Don’t worry about him, don’t worry about Ime’Cahina… just worry about us. all right?”
“All right,” I said softly.
He grabbed me by the hips, and pulled me close. Was he going to kiss me? Proclaim that I was his in front of everyone here? Something about the crown prince of the cubi going after a barely-a-witch seemed wrong, but it could have been my eternal low self-esteem—
A explosion burst throughout the entire ballroom. My ears rang, and smoke filled the entire room.
Vincent swore and tossed himself in front of me.
“What’s going on?”
“Probably the Shioya army trying to invade again,” he snarled. “Stay near me and don’t get out of my sight. Do you understand?”
“Completely.”
He grabbed my hand and dragged me through the fleeing crowds to the double doors. Screams echoed around me, and acrid smoke that made my nose itch filtered into the room.
Vincent’s mother hopped off her throne and summoned an enormous trident made of fire. “This again? I can’t believe it, during my oldest daughter’s wedding ball…”
Vincent scooped me up and burst into a full sprint.
I glanced over his shoulder. Those… didn’t look like other demons. I’d read that other demons looked monstrous, and only cubi could pass for human without glamour…
Maybe it was that group of supernaturals Vincent said he pissed off? Maybe Monica staged it so she could make Vincent look bad? Maybe Mother of Light cultists managed to make it here? I didn’t know, and I didn’t want to know.
Vincent pushed by the other party goers, but as soon as we got to the exit, it was like we ran into a brick wall.
“What the—” Vincent shoved against the force, but no sell.
“Ime’Cahina!” he cried. “What is this?”
“I had nothing to do with this!” she cried, then got swept through the doors by guards.
Dominic, Vincent’s mother, and Felix/Felicia stayed behind. Dominic summoned a mass of black energy that swirled around his body like water, and his eyes were a blazing white that lit up the room. I swallowed. He really and truly wasn’t human anymore.
“Fine. We’re fighting.” Vincent set me down near the exit and gave me a look that cut me down to size. “Don’t get involved. I don’t want to lose you too.”
Too. Just like Daniel.
“Stay near the exit and don’t do anything rash, like blowing up.”
I gave him a dirty look. “Didn’t plan on it.”
“Good.”
He snapped his fingers, his sword appeared, and he sprinted over to his mother, Felix/Felicia and Dominic.
“Any thoughts on who could have done this?” she said, giving him a look.
He shrugged. “Who doesn’t want you or me dead?”
The smoke cleared, and the perpetrators showed themselves. I swallowed, my throat bone dry.
They weren’t cubi. They were supernaturals with their shadows wrapped around their wrists, mages with their staves at the ready, and espers with rings of psychic energy around their hands…
“Who the fuck are you, and what are you doing in my castle?” Vincent’s mother snarled. “Get out, and never step foot in Thoiriele ever again!”
“We’re just here to settle a debt,” one of the mages said. She had to be the leader. She was tall, with pitch black hair and watery blue eyes. Her skin was a light brown, like Vincent’s, but scarred up. Her eyes though… They were the eyes of, to quote Felix/Felicia, “someone who’d seen some shit.”
There had to be something I could do—no. Vincent was right. I was barely a witch, and without prepping spells beforehand, I was a sitting duck. A sitting duck that could explode without any provocation.
I’d memorized a few spells, mainly healing and protective, but that wouldn’t help at all during this cluster.
Vincent swore. “As much as I dislike my sister, this is not the time.”
“You know these people?” his mother asked, glancing at him.
“About a hundred years ago, I got into a fight with Harriet here, and thoroughly and completely trounced her. She’s been bitter ever since.”
“Shut up!” she cried. “You used me. You treated me like a piece of mage garbage, and you have the audacity to say I’m bitter?” She pointed her bright pink staff at him. “You know what you did—what you are—and you’re going to pay.”
Wait. I’d recognize that voice anywhere. She was the woman who tried to blow me up!
Vincent stepped forward, trembling. “Is it really that? Is it really? Or is it that you’re just angry over something that happened over a hundred years ago? I’m a cubi. A demon. You put more feelings into what happened than—”
She screamed a spell. Vincent teleported out of the way, and the burst of spiraling pink energy blasted a hole in the ballroom wall, directly next to Vincent’s mom’s throne.
“You better explain, now!” the queen cried. “I’m not going to let some rogue mage destroy this castle, not by the memories of my mother, and—”
He shushed her. “This is my business and my business alone.”
“Vincent?” I asked quietly. “What’s going on? What happened?”
He glanced back at me. His face was pale, and his eyes were a dull shade of black. That wasn’t normal. It was like when he fought Santi. Like he was straddling some line between normal and abnormal, and I wasn’t sure if he was going to cross it or not.
He sighed, running his fingers through his hair. “I’m not discussing this now.”
“Who’s the girl?” Harriet sneered. “Another fuckbuddy of yours to discard when you get bored? Or just a replacement for that fucking faggot you were fucking on the side—”
Vincent teleported over to her and wrapped his hands around her neck. This was the Vincent I was talking about. The ruthless one.
But he’d said that mages were the Republican fundies of the supernatural world, and this proved it. No one would be caught dead using that word in the human world in public.
She choked under his grasp, and the quiet snapping of her neck breaking echoed throughout the room.
“Vincent!” Felix/Felicia cried. “Don’t do this, you’ll drop to her level. Killing her won’t bring Daniel back. For the love of the memories, don’t do this…”
But it was too late. He was too far gone. He’d crossed the line. Tendrils of darkness and flesh peeked out from under his robe.
My heart pounded away in my chest, and sweat dripped down my arms. He was really and truly going to do this. Take a life. Again. It was one thing with Elery, but Harriet wasn’t—
No. Her group killed Daniel. She killed the love of his life, ruined everything he had, and…
Maybe she deserved it. What did I do? Was there anything I could do?
“Vincent!” they shrieked, and gave Vincent’s mom a pleading look. She nodded.
“N’naandi,” she said, her voice low and even. “You will not kill a mage in my house. We could start a conflict, and we have enough of those going on already.”
>
But he wasn’t even listening to her. He was too far gone.
Bile crept up my throat, and I swallowed it down, shaking.
“Don’t do this,” I said, my voice wavering. “Vincent, please…”
For a split second, his body swelled up, but went back down. What the hell?
Felix/Felicia’s eyes widened, and they teleported over to me and covered my eyes and ears. “Don’t look. Don’t look, don’t listen. Funany’a, Dominic, leave, he’s about to lose it—”
Screams. They pressed their body against mine. Someone’s footsteps ran past us.
Wet, slapping noises. Clothing ripping. Growls. More screams. I shrank in on myself.
Vincent’s mother let out a choked cry. A quiet thump.
“What’s going on?” I choked out.
“It’s okay. It’s going to be okay,” they said quietly. “Just don’t look and don’t listen. Focus on my breathing. On me.”
“What’s wrong with him?”
“Nothing’s wrong… Nothing’s wrong as long as you don’t look or listen. We just have to let it run its course. It’ll be okay.”
“It’s not okay!” I squirmed in their grip, but they held me firm.
“He’s just having a moment. Let him get over it.” Bitter laughter escaped their lips.
I squeezed my eyes shut and leaned against them. They were right. I couldn’t do anything but try to ignore it. I focused on their breathing, on that scent of smoke and roses… On anything but what was going on.
But it went on for far too long. My mark pulsed and burned, and the noises—dear god, the noises—they wouldn’t stop. Those were the same noises from when he ate Anthony. From when he changed my life forever. I gagged, and Felix/Felicia clung to me even tighter.
I reached out to him. Vincent, don’t do this! Please don’t do this… Please… stop…
I left my body. I reached out for him, but when we connected, it wasn’t like before. It wasn’t normal, wasn’t natural, wasn’t right wasn’t right wasn’t right wasn’t—
“Ellie,” they said quietly, and I jerked back into my own body. “Not now. We need to let it run its course. He’ll tire himself out eventually.”
“Tell me the truth. What’s wrong with him?”
More bitter laughter. “Nothing’s wrong, per se, but…”
Another scream. Harriet cried out a spell.