Well, that did seem to be the gist of it, yes. “I think…”
Alexa got to her feet. “I’ve had an earful from all of you and I don’t need it now. In fact, I think I’d like to say my truth for once. And you can all listen.”
Leonardo lifted his gaze to stare at her. Colin would bet money Leonardo didn’t know what Alexa was going to say right now. Of course, the workings of the female heart tended to elude Colin as well so… there was that.
They shared their confusion, it was something they had in common.
“What happened between Leonardo and me is between Leonardo and me. Both of us are going out of our ways to try to make this work. I am not going to endure another lecture, another statement of what I should or shouldn’t be able to do. I simply refuse. We need to win a battle. We’ll win a battle. Screw the rest of it. I’m filled up on holier than thou. I listened, okay? Isabelle spoke and I paid attention. I’m here. I’m not going anywhere. And I’m not interested in hearing you tell Leonardo what he did wrong either. As far as I’m concerned he’s not any worse than the rest of you and your constant fuck-up-ery. I’m very glad you’re all getting shit off your chests. That is great. I’ve got nothing I need to let go of right now. My anger—the stuff I carry all over me—it has made me stronger. I say it’s about time we fucking use it.”
Leonardo pointed at her. “What she said.”
Colin smiled. They were at least… sounding like themselves again. He eyed Gia. They might not get what they wanted here, but maybe this was better.
Kal hated it when Isabelle traveled through time. It terrified him.
Isabelle was constantly nervous Kal was a second from sacrificing himself because he was convinced he was obligated to be the first person to do so.
Charma couldn’t get over that she wasn’t able to fix Alexa.
Jason worried endlessly he would exhaust himself to the point of not being able to heal anyone.
Gabriel blamed himself for not seeing what was happening earlier with Alexa.
Loraine felt like she had nothing left to contribute.
Samuel blamed himself for Eden
Eden held responsibility for all of it.
Christophe was a mess. Colin couldn’t even deal with all the things wrong about how his brother felt. And Ruby… he wasn’t sure what to do with the fact that she’d pointed out the clique problem.
Drew still carried guilt for the years he’d had no choice but to hurt Marina, and she in turn was convinced the entire universe rested on her shoulders alone.
Zane didn’t seem to have any guilt he could come up with except an overwhelming urge to keep Raquel safe, and she was tired of feeling weak.
Colin was pretty sure that covered everyone.
He stepped forward, but Gia spoke, stopping him. “I’m sorry that I’ve never been in full power.”
She stood proud, yet humbled. He could see it in the way she didn’t hold herself as straight as he was used to. “I stayed away too long from you guys in this life. I had my reasons, I thought they were noble, but it turns out it was bullshit. And the shadow I ran from may have saved us. I should have let him catch me so we could have all worked something out.”
Colin cupped her cheek. “Enough with the what-ifs. Our history in this lifetime is riddled with them and I’m sick of it. As far as I’m concerned there isn’t any more yesterday, there is only tomorrow. Or what we do today. We’ve all said it. The things we own and look in the eye, they can’t hurt us the same way as carrying them around like dirty secrets. We all spoke our truths and we’re still here. We didn’t explode into a million pieces or melt into lava. We’re still here.”
Gia put her arm around his middle. “I saw it. I know this kind of sucked but…”
“All of this sucked.” Marina threw her head back, laughing. “I mean this entire existence is like one giant mess of pain. Tell me again why we agreed to this? My memory is fading.”
Gia hugged her. “We had grand ideas of being the strongest, best for the job. Maybe this lifetime has been about… getting our egos in check.”
They’d certainly had them checked. But was it better to fight feeling humbled? Or was this just about getting ready for eternity? Somehow making their souls ready?
Did it matter if there really was nothing left?
Eleven
Gia
Goosebumps broke out on her arms and she rubbed them. She was obviously not the only one who felt something.
Eden grabbed her head. “It’s like visions are trying to come in but can’t.”
Marina grabbed her own head. “So much power all over.”
Leonardo jumped to his feet. “It’s time. The battle is here. Do you want to run or do you want to fight?”
Kal groaned, rushing to the window. “You’re the leader. Lead. You want us to fight? We fight. Where the fuck are we anyway?”
Zane crossed his arms over his chest. “The beach. Somewhere.”
By the ocean. It always came down to the water. The sea. The moon. The basics of the world that were the same everywhere they went. Even if a place had three moons, even if their moon was purple, it spoke to them, protected them. And they always ended up battling near the ocean. It was why Gia’d chosen the desert to hide.
She rubbed her arms. Something other than terror buzzed through her. It was the shadow power. She bit down on her lip. Okay, the battle was coming and she was glad to have the extra mojo. But the truth was—she was an Outsider. That was more important. Or at least it always had been and now that she had a sense of her power…
Gia grabbed onto Colin’s strong shoulders. He was tense. She’d seen him in this kind of battle before. His focus was about to become intense, all encompassing, and he wouldn’t be distracted. She leaned up and kissed him.
“I love you.” Why hadn’t she told him that before every battle he’d ever fought? Why hadn’t she taken the time to do this? “I love you so much I’d do this all again. I’d take every hit, every death, every bit of pain and misunderstanding, to reach this moment now. Do you understand that? Do you feel it?”
His eyes seemed to glimmer. “I do, Gia. I can feel it.”
He pressed his mouth to hers and she shuddered. Yes, he loved her. He always had, but for the very first time he believed she loved him, and that changed everything.
As their love met, flowing together into one beautiful beam of eternity, her powers officially turned on. Anyone getting in their way had better watch out.
Colin
Energy flooded him and Colin smiled. That was his woman. All these years he’d known she was incredibly powerful and now she finally knew it, too. But there would be time to revel in it later. There was a battle happening.
Now.
“All right, listen up.” Kal stepped forward, nodding to Zane. This wasn’t surprising. If Leonardo wasn’t going to lead, it was always the two of them who did. Colin was happy to stay back and attack when needed. He didn’t want to plan. He was more of a blunt instrument when it came to this. Let them sort out where they wanted all the players.
Besides, he was pretty sure that none of that was going to matter.
As the roof collapsed over them, he was sure he was right.
He covered Gia with his body as those around him shouted. The roof never touched him and after a second he raised his head to look up at what was happening. The pieces of the roof floated above them, not falling down.
Alexa had her hand pointed upward. She walked to the center of the room before she waved her hand like she was dismissing something someone said, and the roof vanished like it had never been there. He sucked in his breath. Well, that was a new one.
Leonardo’s soul mate looked at all of them before she shrugged. “It’s not going to be that easy. Not this time. I’m not dying because a roof falls on my head like some distorted version of the wicked witch of the east. That’s just a little too on the nose for me.”
Gia laughed, the sound so strange in that moment that it t
hrew him for a second. Oh, how he loved that sound.
“Good one, Lexie.” She stood, removing herself from under him. “Can I just say how much I love that you just made that reference right now?”
Alexa shrugged. “I still have my moments.”
But they hardly had a moment.
A cold descended on the room and he knew before he saw them that the demon army was there. They were wraiths, unthinking creatures designed to fight without any thought of stopping until they died. They only had eyes for what the so-called Father wanted from them.
They flooded the room and the battle started.
Kal called down the lightning. It was convenient with the roof gone. A buzz as the electricity filled the room zapped him. He needed to be out of this space if Kal was going to start zapping. He grabbed Gia’s hand. She wasn’t going to be separating from him for a while and he doubted she’d object about it. They all had their strengths. This was his.
He nudged his brother. “I’m going out to the water.”
“Power out there, agreed.”
The others would go where they could best fight. At this point there was no more hiding. Leonardo grabbed his arm. “Be careful. Don’t let them push you into the ocean. I’m here to push on your power if you need it.”
Colin nodded. “Thank you.”
He meant that. They all did what they could and Leonardo’s powers made him the most important among them when he was actually on.
Not ending up in the ocean was good advice. Colin didn’t want to dwell too much on old battles but he was pretty sure he’d drowned once or twice before in previous lives. There was no point in thinking about it right now except as a lesson for what not to do.
A mist hit him as he went outside and it burned his skin. He ignored the sensation. This wasn’t a natural occurrence. It had the feel of dark magic to it, but he wasn’t much of a magic user. It wasn’t like he could tell.
Ruby choked before Marina waved her hand, sending away the mist. The dark element disappeared and his head cleared. Fuck if he didn’t hate demons more than anything. With the mist gone he had a clear view of the horizon. He should have known they’d be back in Maine on the coastline. On this planet, all things seemed to lead here. Eventually, the Outsiders ended up here.
Maybe there was some significance his brother could explain when they weren’t fighting for their lives.
Not one second after Colin discerned their location—thanks to the huge, unmistakable boulder that stood out looking like a ship that wrecked, telling him that if he examined the coastline three degrees east he’d just make out the top of the house where they’d all lived, briefly—he wished he still couldn’t see.
The Father was here, right on the beach with them.
Humans made up stories about demons. All the civilizations Colin had encountered in his many lives did so. Usually, they were one hundred percent wrong. But they’d come close in their fearful drawings of what the creature really looked like.
“Stay behind me.” Gia would understand he meant her. She didn’t argue and that was good. His love had always been good at understanding when some things required him and when they required her.
This was his job.
The Father was tall, almost nine feet, and red all over except where he was speckled in green and black symbols. They were tattoos. Or at least he suspected they were. Runes, maybe, placed on the demon’s body.
He was sure they meant something. “Christophe, do you see the markings on his body?”
His brother nodded. “I do. I… I’ve never seen them before on him, not in any representation. If I can get close enough maybe I can make sense of them.”
“Do you think that matters? Now? Or is the time for that behind us?” Gia asked the question everyone had to be wondering.
Christophe cleared his throat. “We won’t know if they mattered if I can’t see them up close.”
“All right.” He nodded to Christophe before he shot a look over his shoulder to Drew. The other man lifted his chin. It was the most agreement he was going to get right now. “Cover me. Christophe, you’re going to get one shot at this.”
“Got it.” Christophe vanished, presumably to send his body toward the Father to take a closer look at those runes.
Colin vanished into invisibility. He couldn’t hold the form forever, but on this trip he would certainly manage it. In fact, between Gia’s love and Leonardo’s powering him up by being nearby, he’d never felt stronger. The zombies and demon armies couldn’t see him. Maybe some of them would feel him as he went by.
Getting as close as he could, he reappeared just as Christophe popped back into sight, too. He trusted his brother, which meant he had to get this done as fast, and with as much force, as he could. Strength was one of his powers. He had to hope that would work against this massive creature.
If anything, his anger would propel him forward.
Colin roared like an animal. He’d never heard himself make that sound before, but as he locked eyes with the Father of all demons he pushed all his force into knocking the creature down. If it bled, it could die. That was just a fact in life, and so help him, he was going to make this son of a bitch bleed. Colin slammed the surprised demon into the ground with a thud. The ground shook from impact.
He wasn’t done. Colin pounded and pounded on the beast whose horned head fell backward. It might have just been the shock of surprise that got him this far. Colin was under no illusion that he was stronger than this demon, but he would strike for as long as possible so his people could do the things they did—the things that would ultimately beat him.
The demon growled, his body lighting up. Fuck. He really hoped Christophe had gotten what he needed. He’d not even looked to see if his brother had been close enough. His hand burned and as a surge of light surrounded the demon, he was ripped backward.
Drew had him by the shirt. “Don’t fight me. You did amazing, my man. Come on. Before he kills you.”
He’d counted on Drew to do this and yet with the adrenaline of the pounding he’d given the demon surging through him, he couldn’t calm down. It was like the side of him that was nothing but rage had awoken.
A flash of lightning struck the Father and he stumbled backward. It lit up the horizon. Standing on the cliff looking down at them was Sebastian. The younger demon did nothing but stand there. He wasn’t helping, wasn’t participating at all. So much for the scum helping them. Not that he’d ever really believed it.
A second pair of hands grabbed onto him. Christophe. “Colin, calm it down. Look. You gave us a great start. I mean, no one saw it coming but everyone is adjusting. Zane. Kal. Gabe. They’re kicking the shit out of him.”
He did see that, a second before Drew popped him away.
Colin wasn’t done. A zombie came by and he threw it aside, tearing the heart out of its chest before he rounded for another. Where they had taken him there weren’t many.
“Honey.” Gia grabbed onto him as Christophe let go. “Breathe. You can’t burn out this early. There’s no way it’s going to be that easy.” He knew that was right. Her arms were steady, her heartbeat regular. He tried to breathe. For Gia, he’d do just about anything. Even this.
Kal
Lightning. It had always been his to command. He struck the demon again and again. The fucker still managed to stumble to his feet. The Father waved his hand and his demon army surrounded him again. That was okay. He couldn’t keep away the electricity. Kal’s body burned with the need to strike again.
“Don’t overdo it.” Isabelle stood next to him. “It obviously doesn’t kill him. We need you for the zombies. For the things you can kill.”
She was right and he knew it. “If I can’t kill it what can?”
“I don’t know. Let me see if I can find out.”
Isabelle closed her eyes and blinked away from him. He sighed. Even in battle, he hated to see her do that. Some time she might go to the future and never come back. It had been his fear from mo
ment one. Still, he had to trust her and he did. He’d keep his concerns to himself and not make this harder on her.
Or at least that was what he tried to do. They were supposed to be telling the truth now. Maybe when she got back he’d go, Isabelle, I hate every second that you’re gone, that I can’t feel you and…
Oh fuck this. He shot another lightning bolt at the demon and stepped back. She was right. That was getting them nowhere. For good measure, he backed up his shot and took out some of the demon’s minions.
Isabelle reappeared. “I’ve got no future yet. It’s not black and over, but gray and unseeing. Either there isn’t one settled yet or they’re just not letting me see it.”
He grinned at her. “They? The ancestors? Is that who we’ve determined shows you the future?”
She rolled his eyes at him. “All right, lightning boy, I don’t want to hear this from you. Where do your powers come from? Should we do this right now?”
He put his arm around her. “It’s the end of the world, babe. I don’t think there’s anything we can say that would be inappropriate.”
“I wouldn’t change any of it, babe.” She leaned her head on his shoulder. “But we’d better retreat to another location. He just spotted you.”
He took her hand. Neither of them could change locations like Drew, Gabe, or now Alexa. “Let’s run.”
They took off together, backtracking to higher ground. In this life, they’d started out running and never stopped. But if it was all coming to this, Kal wouldn’t want to have been constantly fleeing with anyone other than Isabelle.
Jason
No one was hurt. He chewed on his fingernail and waited. This was it. This was the battle and all he had to do was stand here and wait until someone needed him. So far, not one Outsider had gone down. He ran a hand through his hair. That really seemed… off. They weren’t even really fighting back yet. The demon had let Colin pound on him. Or maybe that wasn’t right. Maybe Colin had legitimately taken him by surprise.
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