Dark Cotillion (First in the Brenna Strachan Series)

by Hadena James

  Chapter Nine

  She was smiling. She looked younger when she smiled. Her eyes were even sparkling.

  “At that moment, I knew that life was going to be different for you, but that it would be well protected and enjoyable,” she smirked a little. “Once you got over yourself that was.”

  “Got over myself?” I gave her an incredulous look.

  “Please, Brenna,” she moved into the room and scooted Anubis out of the way. She took a spot next to me. “In ten thousand years, I will still love your father, but I do not intend to be monogamous for eternity. I’m trapped in it, just like you, straddling both worlds. Eternity is a long time.”

  “Ewww,” I frowned at her, “Mom…”

  “Listen to me and don’t interrupt. I will never take lovers that are yours, no worries there. My Humanity tells me that’s just weird and wrong. And I will always come back to Lucifer, but I’m sure there will be others along the way. Anubis is right and wrong, true love is magical in itself. It doesn’t recognize time or anything else for that matter, but it does get boring.”

  “Please, just stop.” I closed my eyes. “It’s bad enough to have these guys talk to me about it. You include my father and that’s just… yeah.”

  “Fine,” she stopped for a second, “Just remember that these four men will always be with you. Even when you think you can’t trust anyone, you can always trust these four and your parents. When you think you are so alone that it hurts, they are always just a phone call away. You will not suffer eternity as your father did. Ultimately, you decided who you wanted and they consented. In the history of Witchcraft, it has only happened once before. When the binding Witch died, the Elders she had bound to her died as well.”

  “What?” I asked. There were a whole lot of things I didn’t know.

  “One of your great ancestors mated with an Elder. They didn’t have children because they didn’t live long enough. However, she ended up binding three Elders to her. She picked, they consented, and when she was murdered, the three Elders died with her, including her mate. So, while we are all immortal, there are chinks in the armor. If you die, these four men will likely die with you. Luckily, for all of you, being bound together as immortals will help. It is unlikely you will be killed after the Maturing, and it is very possible that their immortality will assist you during the Maturing. I believe that is probably why they felt you die and why you started to live again.”

  “How was she murdered?”

  “The Strachan Family Sword, her father put her to death.” My mother frowned. “She would have been a great, great, great, great, great, great, great aunt. She shared the same father as your grandmother of long ago. There are reasons for Elders to fear Witches to some degree. And any Elder who has a Human mate, has an immortal mate, it is the loop-hole to Human mortality.”

  “Informative, odd, and tragic.” I told her. “Who all knows about the binding?”

  “The Overlords, myself, and Magnus. Even he couldn’t break the spell,” my mother said.

  “So Chiron knew that sentencing me to death would likely kill the other Overlords.” Suddenly, pieces began to fall into place. “The death sentence wasn’t actually about me, it was about them. That is why they were so nervous.”

  “No, the death sentence was intended for all of us,” Anubis corrected. “Chiron fears you and your magic, and that is before you Mature. However, to kill four Overlords would give him significant sway in the Council.”

  “Not to mention the effect it would have on Magnus and your father,” Fenrir added.

  “Why Magnus?”

  “Because Magnus is expecting that I will succeed him on the Council.” My mother smiled at me. “Does that surprise you?”

  “I thought you were number three on the most powerful Witch list?”

  “I am, you are number two, but you have a conflict of interest being that you are also half Demon.”

  “Oh,” I pursed my lips, “again, informative, odd, and tragic.”

  “Perhaps,” Anubis touched my hair, “but at least you understand a little more about who you are.” He said “you” very pointedly.

  “Meaning?” I asked.

  “Meaning you might be the offspring of me and Lucifer, but you are your own individual, Brenna. I couldn’t have done what you did. Magnus doesn’t even think he could have bound four Overlords to him even with their consent. Lucifer could bind me with my consent, but that’s it. No one else, I got special privileges because I’m his mate. You can always bind a Human mate, especially a powerful Witch, but our powers combined could not unbind the five of you. Our powers combined, including those of Lucifer, are far less than what your powers combined are. That is why you are frightening. You might get some mythical, unknown power when you Mature, but it is far more likely that you have already gained it when you bound the five of you together. The Lycan, The Vampire, The Angel, The Gargoyle, and The Demon, the first of the Beings,” my mother looked at me. “You managed to bind together the first Lycan, the first Vampire, the first Angel, and the first Gargoyle ever created. That is impressive. More impressively, your binding healed the hatred that they felt for each other because of the Elder War.”

  “When you bound us, Beal and I were still not on speaking terms, except as matters of business,” Anubis admitted.

  “Your father and I gave birth to you and Danny,” her eyes were sad even though her mouth was smiling. “What you have never understood is that you do not stand in the recesses of our shadows. Our mating created you, and Lucifer will always be considered the First, but you will never be in our shadow, have never been in our shadow. You are your own woman and that woman is both a powerful Witch and a Demon Lieutenant. That woman is a force to be reckoned with. And if, by some chance, you do come into amazing power when you Mature, it will only make you even more mystical and awe-inspiring. But you are young and you do not see it as the rest of us do.”

  “Mom,” I took hold of her hand, “what if everyone is wrong?”

  “Honey, we already have proof that they are not wrong. The prophecy never mentions whether your power will be Witch or Demon. While you are not as powerful as Magnus, you bound four Overlords to you. Four Overlords, Brenna, do you have any idea what that means? Four Overlords with will as strong as Lucifer’s and powers just as great and terrifying. Four Overlords who were fighting and hated each other. You brought them together, soothed the wounds, and began their healing. If that isn’t proof that you are incredibly powerful, nothing is.”

  “She’s right,” Fenrir looked at Gabriel. “We all blamed each other and hated each other for what had happened during the War. Now, we can all sit in the same room and be friends, joke about sex, love, and life. Reminisce about the past and share the hurt and pain without the anger and hatred. That’s exceptional power.”

  “Someone who can heal not just our physical wounds, but the emotional scars that we have carried for centuries,” Ba’al said.

  “The Demon is greater than that,” Gabriel gave a long sigh. “I feel her touch.”

  Everyone turned to look at him as if he had just sprouted a second head. He stared at the floor.

  “The first time I held her in my arms, as an infant, she reached up and touched my face, and I felt that tiny hand and all the tiny fingers and the sensation that went with it…” He finally looked up. “It was something I hadn’t felt since the beginning of my life.”

  Slapped again. I sat, with my mouth open and stared at Gabriel. Anubis was the first to react.

  “You feel her? Truly feel her?”

  “Yes, so far, she’s the only one, but I have wondered since her birth if she can heal me, change that.” Gabriel looked at Anubis. “It hurts to have my wings torn off, but the first time Brenna laid hands on me to heal a wound that I had received during an apprehension, well, it took every bit of me not to scream. I couldn’t give away the secret, but when she started to
heal me, I could feel the pain of the wound as well as her hands.”

  “Come here,” Anubis told him. Gabriel stood up.

  “Touch him,” he ordered me. I was still sitting with my mouth open, but I took hold of Gabriel’s arm. “You can feel her?”

  “Yes.”

  Anubis took hold of his other arm, “You said you could suddenly feel pain.”

  “I can feel you as well,” Gabriel told him. “Brenna let go.”

  I let go.

  “Now, the sensation of your hand is gone.” Gabriel frowned. “I don’t know how it works or why, but it does. If she is touching me, I can feel everything. The moment she lets go, I go back to being numb.”

  “That’s,” my mother stopped and seemed to be searching.

  “Miraculous,” Gabriel finished for her. “That’s what I call it.”

  “Uh, yeah,” my mother stood up. “As much as I would love to sit and discuss this and teach my daughter a thing or two about herself, I was actually sent over to put some protection spells on the doors and windows.”

  “Sure,” Gabriel walked out of the room.

  “See, even Gabe will think about sex with you,” Fenrir smiled, bringing us back to our conversation when my mother appeared.

  “That again?” I frowned at him.

  “What else?” He smiled. “Brenna, we are all bound to you. You make Gabriel feel sensation. Now, we are going to think about it even more and let’s face it, it isn’t as if we have anything better to do for the next month, so we might as well desensitize you to sex.”

  “Fen,” Anubis gave him a smile, “we should do it a little at a time.”

  “Forget it, Ani. I’m first in line.”

  “Stop!” I glared at them.

  “Actually, I think Gabriel should be first,” Ba’al told everyone and no one. “Since he hasn’t been able to feel it in several billion years, it’s just a thought.”

  “Damn,” Fenrir frowned. “I guess you’re right. Gabe should be first.”

  “This is not ‘take a number to have sex with Brenna after the Maturing.’ We are supposed to be worried about my safety.” I reminded them.

  “I think the numbers have been distributed, we just have to get you to agree,” Fenrir stood up. “I will go home. Elise is busy bespelling the place. Ani needs some sleep and I imagine Gabe does as well. Actually, Beal looks like shit, too. Perhaps I should stay and let all of you sleep.”

  “I think that would be acceptable, as long as Bren does not get out of bed.” Anubis stood up and yawned. He stretched his arms wide. “I will sleep on the couch. I imagine Jonathan is doing something interesting.”

  “Ominous and vague,” I responded.

  “He’s a Vampire, you don’t want to know what they do when they are bored,” Beal gave me a smile that should have meant something but was completely lost on me.

  “They Vamp out and stare into the dark,” Gabriel enlightened me, “they see souls.”

  “Oh, gotcha.” I only sort of understood.

  “They watch the souls rise over the city and count the dead, Brenna. Sometimes, they talk to them,” Fenrir added.

  “Oh, now I get it.” I nodded a couple of times.

  “I don’t,” Anubis responded.

  “You can’t Vamp out.” I told him.

  “Doesn’t stop me from seeing souls, I just find it sad to count the dead.”

  “I would agree,” I told him. “So what’s the plan?”

  “Beal and I are going to sleep in the guest room. Luckily, the bed is big enough for both our wings and us. Anubis is going to sleep on the couch with the creepy Vampire and Fenrir is going to become your beck and call boy.”

  “You’re going to leave me alone with Fenrir?” I gave Gabriel a frown.

  “I promise not to eat you,” Fenrir gave me a smile.

  “That doesn’t ease the discomfort, it makes it worse somehow.”

  “Would it help if I promised to remain fully clothed throughout the evening?”

  “Uh, why would you undress?”

  “At some point, you are going to fall asleep, and after you fall asleep, I will probably do the same. I will wake when you do.”

  “Creepy and disturbing. I think I would rather watch Jonathan count the dead.”

  Fenrir gave another of his bellowing laughs. He shook his head, eyes smiling.

  “You really are a prude.”

  “Yes, I really am.”

  “Good night, Children, behave Fen.” Gabriel left the room. The others followed with Anubis giving one last glance over his shoulder at us. Fenrir waved, I frowned.

  “Alone at last,” he smiled at me.

  “Please don’t smile like that. I get the impression you are undressing me in your mind and it bothers me.”

  “Brenna, I am not that disrespectful.” He stood up. “You were going to watch something when Beal started your history lesson, what was it?”

  “Monty Python’s Flying Circus.”

  “A staple of modern comedy, good choice.” Fenrir pressed play on the remote. The TV came to life and the menu came up. “Play All?”

  “Yes, please.”

  “How bad is the leg?” He asked as the music began.

  “Pretty bad, I can see through it.” I pulled the sheet back and showed him.

  “Yeah, that’s bad.” He frowned at me. “I’m going to make you uncomfortable, but it is with the best intentions.”

  “Oh no,” I closed my eyes. I was waiting for him to do something untoward. Instead, he gently placed a hand on either side of the gaping hole. I could feel his face go down, his breath against my thigh. I opened my eyes.

  “What exactly are you doing?”

  “Inspecting the bone growth,” he told me flatly. His face was almost flat against my thigh and he was staring down my leg. That made me feel better. If it had been facing the other way, I would have wondered about the validity of his statement.

  “Does it hurt?” He asked.

  “It’s bespelled not to hurt.”

  “Good,” he stuck a hand inside it and began feeling around.

  “Uh, should you be doing that? I don’t know where your hands have been.”

  “They are sterile enough for this.” He continued his prodding. It didn’t hurt, but it felt weird to have someone poking around inside my leg.

  “The artery is missing as well,” he said as he came up. “Do you still feel your foot?”

  “Yes,” I told him.

  “Hm, hold on.” He left the room. I could hear a conference going on outside the door. He came back after a few minutes. I wasn’t sure who he had been talking to. The voices had been too low. Anubis appeared in the room as the second episode came on TV.

  “You are supposed to be sleeping and growing fur back.” I told him.

  “Well, Fen noticed something important. No artery, the limb will start to shrivel. You are getting some blood flow, but not enough.” To emphasize this, he pulled back the sheet. My foot, which is normally purplish, was even more so. “I’ve brought an IV line that we can use temporarily.”

  He sat down on the bed and moved all the blankets and sheets. I felt completely exposed. A flimsy nightshirt and black panties in a room with a Lycan that had already expressed sexual interest, and a Vampire who was about to do some sort of odd surgery on my leg. It wasn’t just exposure as much as it was vulnerability.

  “This might actually hurt and would be better with a Demon and a Witch on hand, however, we are not calling your parents. And I am not filling up the house with more people.” Anubis gave me a grimace. “You aren’t going to like this, I suggest you look away.”

  “What am I not going to like?”

  “Everything that is going to happen in the next ten minutes. Fen, could you help?”

  “What do you want me to do?”

  “Distract her, significantly.”

  “Uh, Ani…�
�� I started to speak. Fenrir grabbed hold of my hair at the base of my skull and tilted my head up towards him. He moved in close, too close. I couldn’t struggle away, there was too much pressure being exerted. His eyes changed colors, the muscles began to move, and the flesh looked like it had things crawling under it. The longer I stared, the more entranced I became. The nose began to elongate. The teeth became sharper and longer. I tried to look down, but his grip was too tight.

  “Just concentrate on me,” Fenrir said quietly. “Concentrate on the bones, on the muscle, on the flesh, and on the eyes.”

  “Fen…”

  “Concentrate only on me, Brenna.”

  “Ow, fuck, what the hell.” Something happened in my leg, it hurt as I had never imagined. My entire leg was suddenly throbbing with pain. It burned.

  “Brenna,” Fenrir said my name but he sounded like he was underwater, or like I was underwater.

  “It’s not working,” Fenrir said. I was guessing it wasn’t meant for me. “Brenna, concentrate on me.”

  “I’m trying. Stop changing, it’s freaking me out and what the hell is that pain?” Needles were suddenly pricking my skin.

  “Not working,” Fenrir said again.

  “I need more time, Fen. Do something.” Anubis’s voice was even further away. I was drowning in something and I didn’t know what it was.

  “Forgive me,” the change stopped, the eyes were still wolf eyes, but the muzzle was back to being a regular nose and mouth. He kissed me. Hard. His teeth pressed against my lips, forcing me to bleed or open my mouth. I opened for him. His tongue darted inside of my mouth, explored it.

  Even more suddenly than the demanding kiss was the feel of Anubis. Everywhere he touched set me on fire. Not lustful fire, painful fire. Then I felt the brush of his soul. His true soul. It had holes in it. It was old and damaged. It was sorrowful, mournful, and forlorn.