by Hadena James
Chapter Twenty-Six
The couch was the same as it always had been. The wall was missing all of its windows again. The front door was gone. The roof was a skeletal frame. The marble tiles on the floor were mostly cracked and disintegrating.
It was raining, but not inside the house. A feat considering the roof was gone. I had the suspicion that the lack of rain had something to do with Daniel. He was sitting on the couch next to me. His leg propped up on the table just like mine. He was doing a puzzle in a book. He hadn’t spoken to me for the three days I’d been awake, but that was okay, he had been my shadow the entire time.
My father was talking very heatedly with a bunch of people. I recognized one as the Mayor of KC and one as the Governor of Missouri. They were both very anxious, but then, I suppose that was normally the case when the President of the United States was on his way.
I had died, again. I was done with it. It wasn’t a pleasant experience to say the least. Luckily, Lucifer and my uncles were all strong enough healing Demons to save me. They had saved the Overlords as well. We all sat in states of disarray around my parents living room, recovering.
I was black, blue, and purple all over. More purple than normal. I didn’t know how the battle had gone. I hadn’t been around for it. It hadn’t gone real great or the President wouldn’t have been on his way. I had slept for 22 hours after killing Chiron. When I woke up, Cerebus had still been outside. My mother and Levi had kept me in the room for another three hours while the Elders convinced it to return to the island. There were masses of dead things outside, most of them mortal creatures. A few though were immortals, some of them beings. So much for immortality.
Chiron really was dead. A new Centaur had come into power and with him, a new order. The Djinn were working with any of the Elders that had been captured in the battle. They were making a list of conspirators. So far, the list included eight names that weren’t already in custody.
Someone handed me a soda and I took it and drank. It tasted like liquid gold. I love caffeine and sugar. A donut also seemed magically to appear.
While my soul was back in my body, my leg was still busted up. They had been able to heal the blood loss, the collapsed lung, the damaged spine, and keep my soul from fleeing, but they had not been able to heal the bone in my leg. Magic can be an odd thing. My mother and Magnus had magicked up a cast that encased it from thigh to toe.
I still had two weeks to go before the Maturing ended. However, with the danger over, it wasn’t looking nearly as terrible. Well, except for the fact that my father and mother were insisting I stay at the house. By insisting, I mean holding me hostage.
Gabriel stood up from his chair. He moved as if he felt his age for the first time and frankly, he was ancient. Even sitting, he seemed slumped, bent, and dreadfully uncomfortable in his own skin. Standing and moving looked like pure torture.
An Angel appeared at his side to give him a hand. Together, they walked towards the hallway. They all had lieutenants and underlings around to assist them. They all seemed to need it. They looked like they had gone through blenders. Ba’al’s wings were shredded with bits of bone peeking out from the spines. Anubis was nearly furless again, his hands both swollen and unusable. Gabriel looked as if he might have actually aged and his body refused to allow him to stand upright. Fenrir had been stuck in wolf form and the wolf kept licking at different wounds and then glaring at me. I guess I was transferring injuries onto them to keep myself alive during the duel with Chiron, right until I stabbed myself like an idiot. My mother believes the only reason it didn’t kill me, is because I’m a Strachan and the sword doesn’t like taking the blood of its own kind.
“You were warned,” Levi’s voice entered the room. “We told you weeks in advance that this could happen.”
One of the men replied, but I decided not to listen. I didn’t care. I was still coming to terms with the fact that I had killed someone. The thought still made my stomach roll.
“But you survived,” Mammon whispered in my ear.
“How do you do that?” I asked him.
“Read your mind?” Mammon smiled. “I can hear your thoughts. They come to me in stereo. I can hear Lucifer’s too, and Levi.”
“Just us three?”
“Yep, everyone else comes to me in bits and pieces. It’s my added gift.” He shrugged and touched Daniel’s head, mussing his hair. “Except this guy.”
“Do all the brothers have an extra gift?” I asked.
“Or curse, depending on how you feel about it.” Mammon kissed my head. “Glad you lived, kiddo.”
“So am I,” I told him. “Mammon, what happens now?”
“Now, you Mature, you convince the Chimeras to go home and you continue with life as you had before. But with a few added complications,” he grinned at Fenrir.
“That’s it?” I frowned.
“Did you expect something else?” He asked.
“Well, yeah, but I don’t know what.” I shook my head.
“And stop breaking your horns. You know they grow back a little smaller every time you do it, right? At the rate you’re going, you aren’t going to have any horns in a few centuries.”
“Meh,” I gave him a grin. “How am I supposed to feel about Chiron?”
“You aren’t, niece. You did what needed to be done, nothing more, and nothing less. He forced you into it and he lost. End of story.”
“No, we will not!” Lucifer’s voice broke into the conversation. He was shouting.
“I think I’m needed,” Mammon got up and walked over. His voice was quiet and soothing. Levi gave me a wink over his shoulder and went back to work.
“Well?” My mother asked as she sat more donuts down on my lap.
“Well what?”
“Ready to be all that you can be?” She grinned.
“I’m not joining the army,” I told her.
“No, but after the Maturing, you’ll go back to work and be a bit stronger.” She handed me a donut. “Eat, you need your strength.”
“What are they fighting about?” I asked her, hooking a thumb towards my father.
“Oh, death, devastation, and destruction,” she frowned at them. “Seems the Humans were under the impression that nothing bad would happen to them if we had a problem during the Maturing. About half of the KCs are severely damaged and a couple hundred Humans and Elders died in the chaos when it hit the city, they are demanding compensation and removal of Elders from the cities.”
“What? Can they really toss us out like that?” I asked.
“That is why the President is on his way.” She looked at the missing ceiling. “That should be a very interesting conversation.”
“How long before he arrives? I’m not sure the brothers can keep dad calm much longer.”
“Any time,” she pointed up. In the distance, a helicopter was coming into view. It seemed like it might land in our yard.
“Brenna!” My father yelled my name.
“Yep,” I answered, turning to look at him.
“Come here,” he told me.
“Come help me,” I told him. He seemed visibly to calm some. I gave a quick smile to my uncles. My father walked over to me, picked me up, and carried me back to the men.
“This is my daughter,” Lucifer told them. “She died, three times, during this ordeal. She has always lived here, among the Humans and she will die to protect them. That is why she challenged Chiron. To spare more lives.”
“Hi,” I gave them a finger wave as men stormed into our house. The helicopter was getting closer. “I think this would be better in the Council room and with me in a chair.”
“Agreed,” Levi led the way. The other Overlords followed him. My father and I brought up the rear. We were all seated when the President walked into the Council chamber with a battalion of Secret Service, not all of them Human.
�
�Lucifer,” he nodded.
“Mr. President,” my father nodded back.
“So, gentleman and ladies,” the President took a seat in a gallery chair instead of a chair at the Council table, “what the hell happened?”
“Mr. President,” the Governor began.
“Nope, I’ll explain,” I interrupted. “I voted for you by the way.”
The president smiled at me, “And you are?”
“Brenna Strachan, sir, Lucifer’s daughter and the cause of this mess. What do you know?”
“I know that FEMA has declared KC a disaster area,” he told me.
“Ah, well, I haven’t had a chance to look at the city, but I’m sure it’s pretty bad. Cerebus alone would have been really bad.” I stopped talking for a moment. “I’m sure you are aware of The Maturing and what not?”
“I am,” he told me.
“Good,” I sighed and thought. “It happened because of fear. Chiron, the Centaurian Overlord was afraid of me, afraid that I might get incredible power after the Maturing, afraid that I was different and not like the other Elders, and he decided to kill what he feared.”
“Racism?” The President gave me a look.
“Breedism actually, and part of some dumb prophecy. Chiron believed I would get incredible power and he was afraid of it. He wasn’t a big fan of anything that wasn’t beneath him. And I’m a member of Demonnation, not the Centaurian Herd. So, he decided that I needed to die. Only, he couldn’t risk doing it himself and exposing his own fear, it would have made him look weak. He sent others to do his bidding. Like when a person trains a pit-bull for dog fights and the pit-bull ends up getting loose and killing a couple of neighborhood children… same concept. He sent dangerous pit-bulls to kill me, but they were out without a leash and killed others along the way.” I let a tear slide down my face. “So, I challenged him to a duel while the rest of the Elders went to war with Chiron’s army, and I…”
“And you survived,” Mammon interrupted and finished the sentence for me.
“And is it over?” The President asked me.
“Yes, sir, it’s over.” I responded letting myself cry a little more.
“Then I’m satisfied,” he stood up. “The Elders have always been more help than hindrance to the United States and its people. This incident is unfortunate and horrible, but it was not their intention and the person that orchestrated it is no longer a threat to the community. We rebuild, together.”
“Yes, sir,” the governor did not look happy.
“And where do we get the money for that?” The Mayor asked.
“FEMA, donations, the state relief funds, wherever,” the President responded.
“Give me an estimate on the damage,” Lucifer told him.
“About a billion dollars, not to mention the loss of life.” The Mayor glared at him.
“I’ll give you half of it,” Lucifer said.
“No, the Elders will give half of it,” Morgana interrupted. “It was all of us, our fight. If we had lost, if Chiron had killed Brenna, who knows what would have happened.”
“I do,” Daniel came into the room. “Chiron would have become drunk with power and started slaughtering Humans and Elders alike. He would have unleashed his army of supernatural creatures onto the planet itself and made himself its sole protector.”
“I’m sorry, this is my son, Daniel,” Lucifer stood up.
“The Prophet?” The President asked.
“Yes,” I held a hand out to Daniel.
“Then it’s a good thing she didn’t lose,” the President looked at me. “Miss Strachan, you have done us all a great service. I commend you for your actions.”
“Daniel, how do you know that’s what would happen?” I asked him.
“Because, it was part of the prophecy.” He looked at me. “Now, there is a different part. It has been written with you as the victor.”
“Luc,” the President turned to my father, “I have a question for you, but feel free to tell me to fuck off if you don’t want to answer.”
My father laughed, “What, Robert?”
“Well, it’s a bit delicate,” he blushed.
“Come on, out with it,” my father was still smiling.
“How do you do it?”
“Do what?”
“Keep everything together.”
“It takes effort,” my father winked at me. “Luckily, I have a strong wife, strong children, good friends, good family, and a whole nation of support.”
“Demon, politician, and family man,” the President smiled.
“Oh, you forgot Catholic,” I added.
“Catholic?” The President grinned at me. “I didn’t realize Lucifer was a Catholic.”
“Had to be, my mother wanted to be married in a church.” I raised both eyebrows.
“And I thought my job and life was difficult,” the President sat back down in the chair he had vacated. “When is this Maturing party?”
“End of the Maturing,” I told him. “We had to move it because I started a couple of days early.”
“I think I sent my RSVP, but I’m not for sure,” he took a deep breath, “normally, my wife takes care of that.”
“I’m sure if you show up, they will let you in,” I whispered to him.
“Miss Strachan, it was a pleasure to meet you,” he stood back up. “Luc, you have permission to stay exactly where you are and if the mayor or governor has a problem with it, they can take it up with the Supreme Court.”
“Thank you, Robert.” My father nodded to him.
“Ah hell, what can I say,” the President shrugged. “I’m a softy, besides, I kind of like having the Elders around. Makes me feel safe.”
“Tell that to the hundreds of dead,” the governor sneered.
“Consider Cerebus and the minions of Chiron’s army to be a force of Nature, Governor Thomas. Besides, we all know what hatred brings. We’ve done this in our own history more than a few times.”
“That’s diff…”
“How is what happened in KC any different than what happened during the Civil Rights Movement or what happened in Germany in the 1930s and 1940s? We have always thought Elders were above such pettiness, turns out that most are, some aren’t, just like the rest of us. Refusing to let them stay in your state, makes you no different than Chiron or any other insane person who tries to send people to slaughter, and besides, they are citizens and you can’t throw citizens out.”
“Of course, sir,” the governor hung his head, indicating he was accepting the fact that he lost.
“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have other matters to attend to, but I’m sure you guys can work out an agreement.” The President left. The Overlords went back to arguing with the officials and my uncles helped me out of the Council chamber and back to the couch.
Epilogue
My mother awoke me with a flourish of light and what not. She was beaming from ear to ear. I struggled to wake up and try to figure out why she was so enthusiastic.
“Rise and shine, sleepy head. You only have an hour before people start showing up. I can’t believe I let you get in the habit of sleeping like this. I only hope it goes away now that you are full immortal again. How’s the leg?”
“What on earth are you going on about?” I finally asked as she handed me a soda and a box of donuts.
“Maturing Party in one hour,” she chirped.
“Oh fuck,” I groaned.
“Language,” she scolded me.
“Sorry, Mom. Can’t you guys go to the party and just let me sleep? Demon still in the healing process. This mortal healing sucks.” I had tripped and fallen down some stairs a few days earlier. Fortune smiled on me though, because the next morning, I felt myself healing. Yesterday, I had reached full immortality again. I was a full-grown Demon.
Turned out all the cool pulling of power and what not I had experienced during the Maturing was still there. It was just plain ol�
� Witch Magic and the ability to share it again. As for Demon powers, I had gotten a little more powerful. I could heal without touch and I could take the wounds of one and inflict them on another. Except for the not touching thing, nothing new or exotic. My father and all his brothers could heal without touch and inflicting wounds was a standard Demon trait; it was called transferring. A Demon who was healing another being could take the wounds upon themselves, which was the usual case or they could inflict them onto another being, usually that person had to be a volunteer for it. That wasn’t the case with me. I didn’t need the person taking the wounds to be a volunteer. It still wasn’t new, exotic, special, or great. It was just Demon magic.
Of course, like any rule, there were exceptions and I had four of them. I could use and manipulate the power of the Overlords that were bound to me. I could share magic between them or take it from them and make it my own. I could channel it or force it into other things, but we were keeping that a secret.
“Now, out of bed, lazy bones,” my mother yanked the covers from the bed and put a dress in their place. I raised an eyebrow at it.
“It will look fine on you,” she told me, noting my disapproval. “Hurry up, we have the President coming and the King of England has RSVP'ed. In fact, since the whole incident with Chiron, I’ve had thousands of RSVPs. I have no idea if we have enough food for all of them. Some of them can really eat. Plus, there are Chimeras on the lawn. Gregorian insists on doing security.”
“Let him,” I told her, standing up and trying to wiggle into the dress from hell. I managed but felt very exposed. My shoulders were bare, but the dress had a collar. It clung to all the right spots and all the wrong spots, in my opinion. It was almost black. In reality, it was such a dark blue that unless you were really looking at it, it did look black. I frowned at her. There was no back. Just a collar at the top that hooked closed and material that suddenly formed into a skirt just above the waist. I wasn’t sure whether I looked like a stripper, a hooker or something worse. My mother seemed to think I looked excellent. She called down the hall and a woman appeared with a case. She opened it to reveal make-up and hair stuff.
“I have horns, you just can’t see them,” I warned her as she went to touch my hair.
“Not a problem, do you want to hide them?” She asked.
“Yes,” I sat down in a chair. She began doing complicated things to my hair. Sometimes it hurt and sometimes it just felt weird. Within twenty minutes, she announced she was through with my hair and began trying to swipe on make-up. I frowned at her as she barked instructions on what to do with different parts of my face. She wiped it all off and started again, this time with different colors. I took a deep breath to keep from trying to turn her into a newt. I was positive I couldn’t do it, but I really wanted to.
“Perfect,” she purred as she finished torturing me. My mother checked a clock.
“Ten minutes to go,” she announced. The woman left. My mother continued to beam at me. “You look stunning.”
“I feel like a hooker,” I responded.
“Call girl sounds so much better,” she chided me. “And you don’t, you just think you do. I do have some wonderful shoes for you.”
“Oh great,” I groaned. My mother is one of those women that can wear six-inch stilettos all day long and never think about it. I have trouble wearing anything with a heel.
She brought out a pair of boots that matched the dress. They were knee high riding boots without a heel. I nodded approval as I slipped them on and zipped them up.
“Now, I really do look like a hooker,” I said admiring the shoes.
“Call girl and no, you don’t.” She kissed me. “I imagine the guests are all here, we’ll wait a few more minutes.”
“Making an entrance?” I asked.
“Of course, we have Kings, Presidents, Prime Ministers, and Overlords downstairs. It is always good to make an entrance with that much power in a room, because it puts them off their game.”
“Really? I just thought it made them cranky because they were too important to stand around waiting.” I quipped back at her.
“Bren,” my father stepped into the room, “wow, you look stunning.”
“Thanks, I feel like a hooker.” I gave him a hug.
“I can’t believe you are all grown up,” he gazed at me with tears in his eyes.
“Don’t cry. If you cry, I’ll cry, and then the torturer will have to come fix my make-up.” I warned him. “I’ll make her put it on you as well.”
“Still the tough girl,” Lucifer gave a deep sigh, “but always my little girl.”
“Dad.” I didn’t know what else to say.
“I hate every time one of my children go through the Maturing,” he confessed.
“So do I,” my mother grinned. “You start talking about wanting more children.”
“More children would be nice, sometime in the future.” Lucifer took hold of my mother’s hand. “Hard to believe another one has grown up.”
“Come on, Luc,” my mother took him from the room. “She needs an escort and that isn’t you.”
“Who is escorting her?” My father looked at her.
“Whichever of the Overlords won the card game.” My mother shrugged. “Last time I heard, Fenrir was winning.”
“They are playing cards to see which one is going to escort me downstairs? Sort of lame,” I squinted at my parents.
“Yes it is,” Uncle Levi walked in, “which is why I am going to escort you.”
“Oh man, it’s prom all over again,” I sighed and stood up. I didn’t have a date to prom. My parents had still insisted I go, so they called Uncle Levi to escort me. He was my date that night. It had been creepy and weird. If I hadn’t been a complete social pariah before, I had been after that night. Luckily, high school ended the next week.
“This is far less weird and more acceptable than prom,” Levi held out his arm. “We all drew lots to see who got the honor.”
“And that’s more acceptable than playing cards?” I raised an eyebrow at him.
“They were playing poker, have been for the last twenty hours. Yes, drawing lots was more appropriate.”
“Great, let’s get the fiasco started.” I took his arm.
“With pleasure.” Leviathan followed my parents from the room, me on his arm. I felt like I had three heads when I got to the bottom of the staircase. Everyone turned to look at me. I bit my lip.
“I think I liked fighting Cerebus better,” I whispered to Levi.
“It won’t be that bad.” He swept me into the room and the crowd swallowed me.
Twelve hours later, I had finally found a chair. My feet hurt from dancing. My stomach ached from eating all the food. My head hurt from talking to everyone under the sun. I wanted nothing more than curl into a ball and fall asleep. Of course, that wasn’t going to happen. There were still presents to open and people were still milling around.
“Holding up?” Anubis said from behind me. It was the first time I’d talked to him all night. The four had been avoiding me as if I had plague. Maybe I did.
“Just barely,” I admitted.
“Levi told me that you were having flashbacks to prom.”
“Well, he escorted me to prom and now this… so yeah, maybe a little.” I responded. “And I’m tired of dancing and being nice to people.”
“Remember what else happened at prom?”
“Look, I don’t remember much about prom. Levi went with me. That’s about it.”
“You ended up at my house, drunk out of your skull, uncle in tow.” Anubis grinned at me.
“Are you suggesting I ditch my party and go get drunk?” I frowned at him.
“Yep, pretty much.” Anubis handed me a glass of amber liquid. I took a sip. The Good Stuff, my father’s private stock.
“How many bottles of this stuff does he have?”
“Of h
is personal stash? Oh, 12 thousand or so, and it is always expanding. He rarely shares with anyone outside of family and Overlords.” He took a sip out of his glass.
“It’s nice to be privileged.” I grinned.
“Yes, yes it is.” Anubis stood up and held his hand out to me. “And we don’t have to go anywhere to get drunk. The others, including Lucifer, have already started in his study.”
“Most excellent,” I stood up and followed him.
All the Overlords were gathered in my father’s study. Included with them were the King of England, the Prime Minister of Canada, and the President of the United States, as well as my immediate family, even Daniel, who had a glass of juice.
“Ah, my lovely,” Fenrir got up and crossed the room to me. “Have you been introduced to everyone?”
“Yes, and you have a huge head start on me.” I told him.
“Yes, I do.” He grinned and went back to his seat. It had taken nearly a week for him to take Lycan form again, but he had made peace with his inner wolf.
“When do you start work again?” Lucifer asked.
“In a week, she will need that much time to open all those presents that seem to fill the Council Chamber,” Anubis answered for me.
“I’ve hired someone to write thank you notes.” My mother was sipping on her glass. It was half filled with red wine.
“That’s useful,” I told her. I went and sat down on the edge of my father’s desk. This was normally a huge no-no. The desk was older than the country of England. However, since my mother was sitting on it, I guessed I would also be allowed.
“Well, it will be nice to have you guys back at work,” President Robert Philips told me. “The police community has noticed your absence, particularly during the time when you were needed most because of the problems created by your Maturing.”
“Nasty business,” the King of England said, “nasty business. But tonight is not about those things.”
“No, no it isn’t.” Lucifer stood up. “Brenna Strachan, you have another oath to take.”
“I took the Demonnation Oath,” I gave him a confused look.
“Yes, but now you take the Oath of Protection,” the President responded. “You see, the reason this whole arrangement works out is because we are all sworn to protect one another. You have a double dose and therefore, a stronger duty. Your status as both a Demon Lieutenant and a Great House Witch means that you have more to gain and more to lose.”
“No, Robert, let me explain,” King Linus interrupted. “As Humans, we are at the whims and mercies of the Elders. This business with the Maturing is just one example. So, a small group of Elders swears an oath to protect Humanity even if it means their own death. What you did with the Centaurian Overlord might have been a matter of life and death for you, but it was also life and death for us Humans. You earned the right to join the club.”
“Club?” I frowned at him. “Okay, what am I swearing and to whom and etc?”
“You are swearing to lay down your life to protect and preserve life on Earth. Not just Human life, but all life,” King Linus replied.
“That is sort of innate in Demons,” I pointed out.
“True,” my father responded, “but oaths forged in blood and magic hold more weight than just innate feelings.”
“Ah, gotcha,” I nodded once.
“Ready?” President Philips asked.
“Sure.” I sat my glass down on a coaster and stood up.
“Repeat after me, I, Brenna Strachan, Demon and Witch vow to protect life on Earth even if I must exchange my own life in return.”
I repeated the words. Magnus and my mother began chanting something strange, King Linus slit my wrist and drained some blood into a cup.
“I don’t have to drink that, do I?” I frowned at the cup.
“No,” King Linus laughed and tossed it into the fireplace. It burst into flames. Something tugged at the inside of me as the flames danced. I was bound to the oath with blood and magic. It was an interesting sensation.
“All done,” Prime Minister Sevier told me. He raised his glass and toasted to our continued partnerships. I drained my glass to the toast and Gabriel refilled it from an antique looking bottle.
“Now then, I have to go, but the rest of you can stay, drink heavily and enjoy yourselves enough for me.” President Philips stood to leave.
“I’m afraid I need to go as well,” King Linus echoed. Prime Minister Sevier issued the same. They began to shake hands with everyone.
“The decay has begun, forged in blood and bound by magic.” Daniel suddenly began to speak. His eyes were rolled into the back of his head. “Death will come. War will come. Defeating Chiron was just the beginning. More conspirators lurk in the shadows, waiting to rise up. Two more will betray. One has begun tonight. So many Elders died because Brenna Strachan lived. They have blinders on to Chiron’s fear. They do not believe that more would have died if she had. Three Overlords will be replaced, one has already been replaced, and one will be replaced during a time of peace, one during the time of War.”
Daniel paused. We all waited with bated breath. He did not disappoint.
“War unlike any other will come to the world. The Four Horsemen will come to Earth. They are not Divine. They are not God’s will. They are unnatural, created by the evil that lurks in the hearts of Humans and Elders. They will wear masks; they will seem to be alive. The first to rise from the dead will be The Great Divider and he will be The Conqueror. The second will be The Wicked Temptress and she will become the embodiment of War. The third will be The Judge and he will bring with him Greed and Famine. The fourth will be The Tenth Brother and he will be Death. Together they will create a group of followers and together they will bring about the Great War. If they can be discovered to be false before they take positions of power, war can be prevented. If not, then war will be inevitable and only Humans and Elders working together can bring peace back to Earth. There are to be nine signs before the first will rise, three have happened. Six more will come.”
He fell silent again. Again, we all waited in absolute silence. His eyes went back to normal and he grinned at us.
“You want to know the signs,” he gave me a look.
“No,” I frowned at him, “I think I know the three that have happened.”
“Really?” Anubis looked at me.
“Yes, really.” I sighed and continued to stare at Daniel. “If I’m correct, prophet, will you tell me?”
“Yes,” he nodded to me.
“One, the Binding, two, the Hanged Man materializing and three, Killing Chiron.”
“Close,” Daniel responded, “You got two of the three.”
“The Binding isn’t a sign,” Lucifer said to me, “number one is wrong.”
“Correct. Number two and three are correct, but number one is wrong,” Daniel said in a singsong voice.
“Is it important to know the three signs?” President Philips asked.
“Yes, it may provide clues to the other signs,” Lucifer answered.
“The Council Chamber,” Pendragon said. “Our vote in the Council Chamber to let Brenna live, afterwards, Daniel came in and revealed he was a True Prophet. That was the first sign.”
“Very good, Pendragon,” Daniel turned to look at him, “that was the first sign. The Revelation of the Prophet.”
“If Revelation of the Prophet is the first sign, death of the prophet will be the last,” Fenrir seemed to have sobered up considerably.
“Yes, Fenrir, Death of the Prophet is the last,” Daniel answered.
“Fifteen years,” I frowned.
“No,” Daniel corrected me, “I will not die at the Maturing.”
“Good to know,” I looked at him, “I think.”
“Can you reveal anything else about the signs?” Lucifer asked.
“I can only say them after they have been spoken aloud,” Daniel replied.
“So, we have 4 of the 9 figured out.” Anubis looked at me. “Any suggestions?”
“I know less about prophecy than anyone in this room. Do we know who the Horsemen are? I mean, of course, we know who the fourth is, but what about the other three?”
“Yes,” Lucifer sighed. “The Great Divider is an Elder that once preached of separation between Humans and Elders. His name was Elijah. He was an Angel.”
“I killed him after Anubis was cursed,” Gabriel told me. “He played a huge role in dividing mankind from Elders.”
“The False Prophet isn’t dead yet,” Pendragon said. “Christ has been returned to the prison after the battle with Chiron.”
“And my mate is the Wicked Temptress,” Anubis answered. “Bitch is going to come back to life, how irritating.”
“Then the death of Christ is one of the signs,” my mother told us.
“Yes,” Daniel nodded.
“5 of the 9, we are making progress,” Lucifer answered. “We know who the Horsemen are and over half the signs.”
“We have Revelation, Manifestation of Death, Death of an Overlord, Death of Christ, Death of the Prophet,” Pendragon looked at Lucifer, “I see a pattern.”
“They all involve Death or the Prophet,” Lucifer responded.
“The Prophet.” I looked at Daniel, “one of the signs is that the Prophet will survive Maturing. His prophecy won’t be finished by then.”
“Good, Demon,” Daniel answered, “you have six.”
“Death of an Overlord during a time of peace,” Fenrir said loudly. “Too easy, I think.”
“Seven,” Daniel responded.
“Why the Four Horsemen?” Gabriel looked at us. “That’s pretty heavy into Christian theology. We’ve already proven Angels and Demons are not what is written in the Bible, so why are the Four Horsemen in there?”
“Really?” Lucifer gave him a look. “Just because the Bible was compiled by a bunch of fruitcakes doesn’t mean there wasn’t some prophecy in it. Some of it has already come true.”
“Wait.” I closed my eyes and tried to remember my days in Catholic Church. “Okay, if parts of the Bible are true, the Four Horsemen are a part of the breaking of the Seals. There were only seven seals. One was the raising of the dead.”
“Zombies can be made all the time,” Gabriel responded.
“Zombies yes, but reanimated corpses are not the same as a resurrected soul,” my mother informed him. “The Horsemen are all resurrected souls, why not the Dead that happens with the seals?”
“Eight, Witch, although I do not think you actually grasp the concept.”
“Probably not,” my mother agreed. I agreed with her silently. I didn’t have a clue what it meant.
“That only leaves one,” King Linus said.
“Death seems to be the common thread,” Lucifer looked at Daniel. “We were discussing death when the first sign happened.”
“But in what order?” I asked. “We know eight of the nine signs, we know the order of four, but we don’t know the order of the other five. While it is nice to know what they are, it would be even more helpful to prevent them if we knew their order.”
“I cannot tell you the order, I only know the signs,” Daniel replied.
“Great, just great,” I threw my hands into the air. “Who speaks when the Prophet is talking? You called me Demon and my mother Witch. Those are not the labels that would be given to us by my brother.”
“A voice from Beyond,” Daniel answered.
“A voice that occupies his head but comes from the aether” Vishnu finally spoke. “An all knowing being. We do not know if it is God or the voice of the dead who know the future. It is knowledge that the Djinn cannot penetrate, it protects itself and the prophecy.”
“Fuck,” my mother cursed under her breath.
“Language,” I responded just as quietly. It dawned on me.
“Oh fuck,” I rolled my eyes, “the other sign. The Four Horsemen. War, Death, Conquest, and Famine. Someone or something has to bring them into existence.”
“That’s a lot of magic,” my mother responded. Magnus seconded her.
“Incorrect,” Daniel replied.
“Not incorrect, just on the wrong track,” Lucifer suddenly smiled. “All of them have been about death and revelation, the missing sign is about life. Someone or something has to be born with enough magic to raise the dead and actually bring back their souls, not just their bodies.”
“Wrong,” Daniel looked at Lucifer.
“Someone is strong enough to raise the dead?” I narrowed my eyes at Daniel. “No, not someone, and not something, but someones, as in multiple beings. The Nine have the power to return the soul to the body. They did it to me.”
“Not one of the signs.” Daniel looked at me as if he was bored.
“No, it isn’t, but whatever causes them to raise the dead is,” I responded. “For some reason, the Nine Brothers are going to raise the dead.”
“No,” Daniel yawned, “you should let someone smarter talk for a while.”
“Why would we resurrect the dead?” Mammon asked me.
“You did it to me,” I responded.
“Yes, but you are different,” Levi answered.
“I give up.” I threw my hands into the air again.
“The missing sign,” Nick spoke suddenly. We all seemed surprised, like he had just materialized from thin air. Vaguely, I remember him being there when I walked in, but just barely.
“The missing sign is the betrayal, someone will bring about the death of another because of their betrayal, and someone will break the Oath of Protection.”
“Correct.” Daniel smiled at him.
“The death of whom?” I asked Nick.
“I don’t think it matters, Bren,” Nick responded. “I think it is the act of breaking the Oath that is the sign. If everyone in the room has taken the same oath as you, they are bound in magic and blood to protect life on Earth, all life. Betraying that oath, breaking it, will take a great amount of will and strength. I imagine it will go very badly for whoever breaks it. That’s why it is a sign. The first of the conspirators will come to light if they aren’t strong enough to cover the fact that they have broken the Oath.”
“Oh, God.” I looked around. Someone in the room was strong enough to break the Oath. “If someone broke the Oath, what sort of magical ripple would that create?”
“It would be huge,” Magnus told me.
“Big enough to resurrect the dead?” I asked.
“I don’t know. The Oath has never been broken,” Magnus answered. “Theoretically, no, it wouldn’t work that way, but thousands of years of tamed, untamed, and Elder magic have gone into it. That tug you felt was the weight of all that magic, bound together, binding itself to you. In theory, once you take the Oath, you can use some of that magic to protect Life on Earth.”
“In theory?”
“It has never been used,” Lucifer admitted. “We didn’t start it until after the Elder War.”
“So in theory, if someone broke the Oath, they could use the magic for their own purposes.” I said instead of asked.
“No, it shouldn’t work that way. If you break the Oath, you can’t use the magic,” Magnus responded.
“Then how does someone resurrect the dead?” I reiterated the question.
“That answer is...” Lucifer looked at his brothers.
“Unfathomable,” Leviathan finished the sentence for him.