“You have more pressing things to worry about right now.” He grinds his erection into her belly and covers her mouth with his, forcing his gross tongue in her mouth. Don’t react. Don’t react. Stall this bitch. Don’t gag, oh goddess this is disgusting, don’t gag! Selena turns her head, struggling not to wipe his saliva off her lips. “What did you do with Kya? I need you to talk to me first, Gabriel. You said you have things to talk to me about. What are they?”
He looks hard at her and then drops her. “Fine, it will be better if you start out knowing just how things are going to be. From now on my word is law for you. As long as you do as I say, as pleases me, you will get to keep your daughter. I took her once and I can take her again. There is nothing you have that I can’t take from you.” He pulls her close by one arm and grabs her belly, “You are going to have lots more of my babies. You will never escape me. We will be married Monday, and then you can tell everyone not to expect to see you any time soon as you will be too busy serving me.” He starts pacing, elaborating all the things he plans for her. Selena feels her phone vibrate in her pocket. She pulls it out slowly, as he turns away from her in his pacing rant, she opens the message. It is a picture of Kya safe in her mother’s arms. With that she hits the button to dark the screen again and tosses her phone toward her truck. The sound stops Gabriel mid-rant and he turns to see what she is doing only to find that she is done with compliance. The sparks from earlier cover her body once again and the sky begins to darken.
He laughs, “What? What is this? Are you going to try to fight me? Perfect.” Selena lobs a bolt of energy at him but he isn’t there any more. Her bolt hits a building and he hits her in the arm knocking her sideways as he flies past. The shock of the charge running over her skin stuns him and he falls, sliding a few feet on the pavement. He stands and laughs maniacally. “That was a good one Selena! You’re going to pay for it but it was a good trick.” She adjusts her energy so it isn’t coursing over her skin anymore and throws another bolt at him, hitting another building as he sails off. He is moving so fast! She fires a few more shots at random knowing she can’t hit him. He swoops past her, slapping her so hard she hits the ground. As he circles her in the air he takes out all the lights in the parking lot. She raises up on her hands, spits blood and gets to her feet. Fine. I can’t hit you with energy but I bet I can taunt you into losing control. Hope you hit a building head first fucker. “I’m not surprised you won’t stand and fight. That never was your thing. Always a shady little backstabber. I saw the things you did when we were teens, but I made excuses for you. I was sure they must have done something to deserve the things you did. Now I know better. You are just a spoiled little boy that lashes out when he doesn’t get his way. When was the last time you brushed? The taste of your tongue in my mouth was disgusting.” He swoops by her slapping the other side of her face this time, laughing as he flies back up to continue circling her. Selena spits blood again and stands. Smiling, she bares her blood covered teeth, “You hit like a bitch.” She throws her arms out, “Why don’t you come down here, try hitting me without running away? You scared? That’s it isn’t it? You been scared all your pathetic little life. Can’t even come down and fight a woman by herself.” Where are they?
23
Luna looks at the address Apophis has just handed her. “She is here?”
Apophis runs a hand through his hair and says, “Yes, she is alone and drugged. I think he has traps laid but I couldn’t tell. I would have laid traps. Considering the expense he went through to hide her I am sure he has laid traps.”
Linnette turns from Hayden in surprise and says, “What do you mean the expense he went through?”
Apophis shrugs, “I mean he can’t do that himself. He is inherited his wind ability from his father but nothing from his mother. He can’t do the simplest of spells and never could. He has been buying charms and things from a voodoo priest in Louisiana. I had him thoroughly investigated when I found out they were dating. I got to his guy and I pay him to keep me informed about what he buys. Nothing more. That is how I knew what to use to find her. He has bought some nasty little surprises at different times and he may have another supplier as well. Be prepared for that when you go get Kya. Now, where did Selena go?”
Dwayne answers, “She went to the parking lot behind the Main Street buildings.”
Apophis smacks his own forehead lightly, “Of course he would want her there. The address I gave you is about two miles from the downtown area of Main Street. You all get there. I am going to find Selena. Message me when Kya is safe. If Selena went alone she means to stall him for Kya. Hurry, go now.”
Everyone files out of the house except Bath and Zethes who stay behind to care for Aspen and Nathan, Apophis stops to speak to the butler, “Get things ready in case we need to heal Selena or Kya. If I don’t come back then you assist Selena in taking it all over.” He turns and starts to walk away.
“Yes sir. We would miss you sir.”
Apophis looks back surprised, “You would miss me?”
“Yes sir. If you will forgive me for speaking plainly, you are a better employer than most and since the wreck you have been even better. Especially for those of us that are magical in some way and have problems hiding it.” He points at his own ears.
“Ahem, um. Yes. Thank you, I will endeavor to come back.” He strides out the door forgetting to close it in his flustered state.
Luna, Dwayne, Linnette, Hayden, and Samara take two vehicles so there will be space for Kya. On the trip over Luna and Linnette drive while Dwayne and Hayden maintain a call so they can plot on the way. It is finally decided that Samara will take aim at anything moving, Linnette and Hayden will combine talents to unravel any spell traps, Dwayne will shield Luna as she goes in the house for Kya and the both of them as they come out. By the time they have decided on a plan they are arriving. Stopping in front of the house they park in the street. The whole house has a forbidding look to it, like no one has so much as glanced at it in years and it has grown angry. Luna whispers at the house to reveal its secrets. The windows glow, as does the door and the yard. The glow fades quickly, but it lets them know Apophis was right.
Linnette and Hayden get to work creating a spell to open a safe path for Luna to Kya and back. Samara is staring at the house, she takes a step closer and then another. Her toes touch the dead grass of the yard. Explosions happen throughout the front yard, they all duck as dirt and grass fly everywhere. When the dirt stops flying they straighten and look at the yard. There are animated corpses standing and starting to shuffle at them. “Samara you’re up. Linnette, how are you two doing with that safe passage?” Dwayne looks to them as Samara starts firing at the corpses, fire at the heads and ice at the feet.
Hayden looks up from the paper, “Almost, we just need a few more minutes.” More bodies are shuffling around from the back yard, Samara is whooping for joy as she shoots the creatures. Luna eyes her youngest with pride, “Goodness, you’re as wild as your Aunt Hecate.” Samara grins as she freezes a corpse’s head then hits it with a ball of ice and screams in delight as it explodes.
“Ready! Here we go, this is going to move things to the side. Kind of like that story about the guy that parted the water? But it is limited. It will flow with you through the place while you find Kya and you will be able to walk into whatever he has around her and pluck her out. But your time is limited. You have 5 minutes, tops. You need to move fast. When the last of the colors fade you need to be out here, Got it?”
Luna nods. Dwayne pops a barrier around her, Linnette and Hayden work their magic, weaving a four color drape over the shield. Black, red, white, and yellow hang in the air around her as they finish up, “Go now!” Luna takes off, running between corpses to the door of the house. It doesn’t open when she tries the handle so she steps back and kicks it in. Stepping in Luna quickly scans what she can see and moves with a superhuman speed through the house as she searches for Kya. At the top of the stairs she finds a pink door to
her left, she turns the knob as the colors around her fade just a little. There she is! Kya is laying on the floor, a dirty blanket under her and newspaper covering her. Luna runs to her and grabbing her up she runs out of the house making it to the sidewalk just as the colors fade away altogether.
She looks down at Kya’s sweet face and tears fall freely. Kya wakes up, “Grama, you’re dripping on me.” Luna laughs and turns to see how everyone else fared. Dwayne is dripping sweat but okay, Linnette and Hayden are clutching each other and crying in relief. Samara is kicking corpse parts back into the yard. Luna raises an eyebrow at her. “Some of them got close, there was a lot of them. Little bastard must have been robbing graves for a long time to pull this off.”
“Luna, I need to send her a picture, face me please.” Luna turns to Dwayne and he snaps a picture of her and Kya. He hits the send button, “Let’s get out of here. We need to get her back to Apophis’s house.”
24
Gabriel swoops down and kicks Selena in the stomach sending her flying back. She hits ass first and falls back clutching her stomach trying to convince her body that breathing should happen. She can hear Gabriel laughing as she struggles. Fuck this guy. She gets herself rolled over onto her hands and knees, slowly getting herself back on her feet. She sees Gabriel hovering not far from her. She creates a small and weak energy ball and pretends to be throwing it at him while making sure it fizzles and make a low slow arc to the ground as if she was running low on power.
Gabriel laughs long and loud at her, flying round and round, making her dizzy with the speed of it. Focusing elsewhere, because she still feels like her lungs aren’t working right and her stomach wants to empty, she sees her father peeking around a building. “Gabriel! You too scared to come down here? Can’t stand and face me? How are you going to force me to marry you if you can’t even fight me like a man?” Dad, I hope like hell you are a better shot than I am because that is going to make him lose his damn mind.
“What? Fight you like a man?” He lands lightly just a few feet away in front of her, “Are you joking? Look at you! You’re bleeding all down your face, you still look like you’re about to puke. The last shot you fired at me—”
The shot of chaos laced with venom hits him in the left shoulder. It spreads across his body with a terrifying speed, Selena steps farther out of his reach as he stretches toward her. Apophis walks across the parking lot. “He was incredibly long winded wasn’t he?”
Selena stands there staring for a minute till what Apophis said registers, “Did you just make a dad joke?” He looks at her deadpan, “I did.” Selena starts laughing and then the tears arrive, “Oh Dad, why did he have to do this?” Apophis wraps her in a hug and rubs her back while making soothing noises as she cries herself out. When she is calmer she steps back and is horrified at the blood, snot, and tears on his shirt. She looks up wild-eyed, “We can’t let Kya see us like this”. Apophis takes out his phone and calls his butler. Telling him where they are he asks him to send a couple of the security detail with shirts for each of them, wipes and mouthwash, and a few large garbage bags.
He walks over to Gabriel, masks his wounds with magic and makes it appear as though he were bitten by a snake on his left shoulder. Selena walks over and picks up her phone, entirely grateful for the case that kept it safe when she tossed it across the parking lot. She pulls up the last message from Dwayne, smiling and tracing the lines of their faces in the picture. She sends Dwayne a message, ‘Be there soon.’ She walks over to where her father is standing, looking down at Gabriel’s body. “I don’t know what you ever saw in him. He still looks like a putz and he’s dead.” Selena laughs, “I wondered the same thing earlier. Do I look really bad?”
Apophis looks her over very seriously, “You look like a vampire with poor table manners.” He grins at her and she laughs a little more. The security guys pull into the lot and turn the headlights off, parking with the trunk nearest the body. They get out of the car with shirts and wipes in hand, after handing them off they open the trunk and take out the large black bags inside. While Selena and Apophis change shirts they bag up his body and place it gently in the trunk, so as not to mark it. Apophis marvels at women’s maneuvers that allow for the changing of shirts in public without taking the first off before putting the second on. Selena starts dabbing at her face with the wipes. She is wincing, looking closer he can see that her face is swollen and bruised. He looks at Gabriel’s body, almost wishing he was still alive so he could pay again for what he had done. Selena painstakingly cleans herself up using her phone’s camera as a mirror. Apophis tells his security guys to go ahead and go home but pick up his car on the way. He hands over his key fob and they leave. Selena is perfectly clean but still looking at her face in the camera. He waits in silence as she does this. When she finally hits the lock button on her phone he says, “Are you ready to go home?” “Yes, I am. I don’t want Kya to see me like this but I can’t keep it from her either.” She turns toward her truck but then turns back, “Hey Dad, could you drive this once?” Apophis chokes up a little. Clearing his throat and grateful for the dark he agrees to drive them home.
25
Arriving at the house Selena is looking at her face in her cell phone camera as they cruise slowly down the driveway. “I don’t want Kya to see how bad I look. What if I scare her?”
“As someone that has kept things hidden that maybe shouldn’t have been hidden, I think you should let her see your face as it is. Bruises and all. She can handle it. And she will probably handle his death a lot better knowing how much he wanted to hurt you.”
Selena is silent for a moment, “I was planning to ask you some things about that. There just hasn’t been a right time yet. I want to hear your side of what happened and why. But I think right now isn’t the right time either. Will you tell me when I do ask?”
He stops the truck in front of the house, “I will. And though you didn’t request it, I will tell you the truth.”
“Thanks Dad.” She reaches over and gives his hand a squeeze before turning to get out of the truck. They walk in the door, Selena stepping gingerly because her stomach is very tender from the kick and every move she makes seems to radiate from there.
The two walk into the library where everyone is waiting anxiously for their arrival. Selena heads directly toward her mother and Kya. Kya is sleeping peacefully tucked into her grandmother’s lap. Selena gets to them and using the nearby table to help her, she kneels down on the floor. Luna waits for Selena to be settled and the expression of pain to ease on her face before she wakes Kya, “Little one, your mama is here.” Kya’s eyes open slowly, she moves her gaze to find Selena. She finds her and sees darkening bruises forming on both sides of her face, crazy hair from the wind and the fight, “Oh mama, he hurt you so much.” Selena starts to smile, winces, and smiles through the pain anyway. “It’s ok baby, it will heal up soon enough. I am just so glad you are home. Can I have a hug sweet girl?” Kya’s leans forward and hugs her mom so gently, Selena holds her tight and then remembers Bath and Zethes. She lets go of Kya and struggles to get to her feet. Dwayne steps over and offers his arm which she accepts gratefully. Once she is up, she releases his arm and walks over to Bath and Zethes at the fireplace.
“Gabriel is dead and I am so sorry. He wouldn’t let it go any other way. Can you ever forgive me?”
Bath hugs her, “Oh child, we knew this would be the way of it. I have always known his life would be shorter than I hoped. He had so many opportunities to change his stars and he always chose not to. We feel lucky that we still get to share in yours and Kya’s lives. Don’t feel a moment of sorrow for us, ok? We know there was no other way.”
Selena cries on Bath’s shoulder, causing Bath and everyone else in the room to cry or tear up a little. When everyone is recovered Apophis breaks the silence, “There is one detail we must handle. I didn’t leave Gabriel’s body lying there on the pavement because it would attract attention and questions. There are no marks on him
and I made it look like he was bitten by a snake. If you will allow it Bath, Zethes, I would like to have him put out in the woods as if he had gone camping, got snakebit and fell into a ravine. There is no need in my mind for anyone to think ill of him in death.”
Bath wipes her eyes, exchanges a look with Zethes, “We would like that very much. Thank you Apophis.”
He clears his throat of all those pesky emotions, “Well then, I will have it done. You will need to report him missing in a few days. Someone will need to handle the girlfriend as well…” Hayden pops up out of her chair, “We can take care of that. She will remember that he left to go camping a few days ago and none of the rest of this.” Linnette nods in agreement, “Yeah. We will get that done in a bit at the house. Speaking of which, we are going to take our daughter and go home. We are exhausted.”
“Everyone is welcome to stay the night here. I have plenty of rooms and food, a whole barbecue’s worth of food languishing.”
Linnette looks looks at Hayden and shrugs, “Ok, we are good with that. Save us a drive for tonight. What room? We are so tired. Come to think of it, we will do the spell in the morning.”
“Let me call Tim in here, he will get anyone that wants a room settled in.”
Everyone decides to stay, including Luna and Samara. They are given the rooms next to Selena’s on the right while Dwayne and Nathan get the room on the left. Linnette, Hayden, and Aspen take the room to the left of Dwayne. Tim leads them to their spaces for the night and gets a list of any needs they might wish sent up.
Selena and Kya hug Apophis and then they too begin the long trek up the stairs to Selena’s room. Left alone, Apophis walks to his office, pours himself a drink and stares out the window.
26
Three months later…
Selena Rose: Daughter of the Moon Page 13