“You didn’t fail me,” I whisper, as the tears that I have been holding back finally break free. Once they start, I can’t stop. My pain floods out, dripping from my cheeks and splashing onto my shirt.
Stubborn Angel! Stubborn..... stubborn Angel!
It may have taken me awhile to see it, but Jaxon Lux never failed me. If anything, I failed him. Every single thing that he has done since the moment that we first met has been to keep me safe.
A job that I don’t always make easy.
There is no failure in that. Just love. Jaxon Lux loves me, and it is about time that I start letting myself love him back. I don’t need a special bond to seal what we have. It was sealed from the moment I first saw him.
He is mine, and I am his. The rest are just details that time will work out.
∞
We are still standing in the middle of the floor, foreheads pressed together, when Braxton finds us. His ice blue eyes sharpen on our position, and a faint hint of a smile folds the corners of his lips into a soft smirk.
“Sorry to interrupt,” he says, coming further into the room. “We have company. Our mommies are back,” he says with sarcasm. “Oh....and they have a guest. A demon guest.”
“A demon?” Jax questions, taking my hand and pulling me closer to the door. “Why would they bring a demon here?” he demands, stopping in the doorway. My tiny body slams into the muscles of his back. Jaxon quickly throws on a clean shirt before mumbling an apology. I roll my eyes. He has nothing to apologize for.
“Who knows,” Ryker answers, appearing out of nowhere. “At least we know who tripped the wards. Better a demon you know than a demon you don’t....Am I right?” he says in that corny way of his that I have come to know and love.
“I guess we are about to find out,” I whisper, taking a step around Jaxon. I am done hiding. I will not hide from whatever suckage is about to come my way. Hiding solves nothing. Whatever this demon wants. Whatever the reason that our mothers brought it here. I will just deal with it.
I take a step, but a large hand grabs the back of my shirt, pulling me to an abrupt halt.
“I know that you are a badass Princess. I get that,” Jaxon says softly. “But badass or not, no woman of mine is walking into a dangerous situation with me behind her.”
His eyebrow arches, a humored grin tugging at his lips as he stares at me with exasperation. Behind him two other grunts of acknowledgement follow, letting me know that the brothers are serious.
“Fine,” I complain, pouting just a little. “Whatever happened to ladies first?”
“That is for dates and doorways sweetheart,” Jaxon says, taking a protective step in front of me. “Murderous situations....not so much.”
Braxton takes a step closer to my back, sealing me between the two brothers. I don’t even try to argue. Besides, they are right.
I don’t even want to go first. I just want to know what is going on. I want to find a way to help Ash, and standing here arguing isn’t helping me.
“Ok, I’ll behave,” I relent, just wanting to get in there and see what is going on.
“Somehow I don’t believe you Princess,” Jaxon laughs, as he takes my hand and pulls me out of the room.
∞
~ Chapter 11 ~
I don’t know what I expect to find when I walk back into the living room. It is not what I see. My mother. My brief case carrying, business suit wearing mother, holding a dagger to the throat a very real and scary looking demon is definitely not it.
The headmistress looks on with boredom from her perch on the sofa, like having a demon over for brunch is an everyday thing for her. The slight gleam in her eye makes me think that she might actually be enjoying herself.
What has the world come to?
The demon looks like a man, but his skin is a scaly midnight blue, that glimmers in the light. I would dare call it pretty under any other circumstance. His eyes are an endless black, with red flames where a human pupil should be. His clothes are torn to tatters, and smudged with dirt and other things that I do not even want to inquire about. The most human feature that he has is his hair. It is a soft blond that falls in waves to the tips of his shoulders. Despite the state of his clothes, his hair looks neatly kept.
My mother is still dressed in her Wall Street best, not a wrinkle in sight as she holds the shiny blade to the demon’s throat. He doesn’t fight her, but he also doesn’t show any sign of submission either. That is.... until I walk in.
I don’t know what changes when he sees me, but the flames in his eyes grow larger as he slowly meets my gaze. All fight leaves him, and to my astonishment and that of everyone in the room, the demon takes a knee. He bows his head once, before looking at me again.
“Uhhhh.....why is there a demon here, and why is he acting like that?” I ask, taking a step behind Jaxon. Coward move. I know, but a girl has her limits.
A smile stretches across my mother’s face, making her look more like a demon than the monster bowing at my feet. “Maci dear. I would like for you to meet Cain. Cain is a demon Prince. A very bad demon Prince. You see, Cain has always had everything he ever wanted, but that wasn’t enough for him. Many years ago, Cain took the one thing that no demon can have,” my mother says, pulling Cain’s chin up so that he is forced to look at me.
Cain....Cain....Where have I heard that name? Wait....
“Lila’s Cain?” I ask. At the sound of her name, a roar of primal fury rips from the demon’s throat, so terrifying that my fingers dig into the back of Jaxon’s shirt.
“Do not say her name,” he seethes. He jumps up, but a ball of blue energy smacks into him before he can take a single step, dropping him to his knees once again.
Zane steps from the shadows, a look of rage dancing across his face. A darkness that I have never seen before. His hands are still outstretched. The whispered words of his spell still heavy in the air.
“Thank you,” my mother says, nodding at Zane as she turns her attention back to the demon.
“Why is he here mom? What does this have to do with anything?” I ask, feeling a little sorry for the demon. All he is guilty of is loving the wrong person. I can relate.
“He is here child, because he is the reason that my Ashlee is dead!” Wanda pipes in, rising angrily to her feet. A rare hint of emotion plays across her normally icy face as she says Ashlee’s name.
Interesting.....
“I don’t follow,” Ryker growls, and thank God he spoke up. I don’t follow either.
“I knew that...that horrid thing that came back was not my daughter,” Wanda says, her face growing pale as soon as the words leave her lips.
“She wasn’t your daughter anyway. We had a mother. Her name was Lucinda. Lucinda Lux, and you are not her!” Braxton growls, fixing Wanda with a look that could freeze hell. Wanda looks to my mother, who smiles and nods her head.
“Oh son. How many times have I told you? Not to see with just your eyes,” she says sadly, dropping her head.
Before I have time to be confused, the air charges with a bright white light. I shield my eyes, the intensity temporarily blinding me. Little stars dance across my vision as the world slowly comes into focus.
Wanda is no longer there. In her place stands a woman I have never seen before. She is wearing the same white pantsuit the headmistress had on moments before, but looks nothing like the ice cold head mistress.
Where the headmistress was all harsh lines and cold beauty, this woman is all soft curves and sunshine.
Her caramel colored hair falls in soft waves to her shoulders, and her eyes are the softest brown. They almost look like melted caramel. Her skin is tan, and she is tiny. Like maybe five foot five.
“Mmmmm....mom?” Ryker asks, staring at the woman like he has seen a ghost. Which if this really is Lucinda Lux, I suppose he has.
“It is me Ry Pie,” she laughs, holding out her arms and waiting. I don’t know if it is the term of endearment, or just a sense of knowing, but the entire atmosphe
re of the room changes as Ryker launches forward, pulling his mother into his arms. The others are quick to follow, whispers and tears pouring out of them as they embrace someone that they all thought they would never see again.
I don’t know how this is possible, but in this moment, I am nothing but happy for them. To get her back after years of thinking that they never would; that is a true miracle.
“How?” Jaxon asks, burying his face into his mother’s shoulder. His shoulders shake with the effort to hold back his tears, as he asks the one question that everyone here is thinking.
Lucinda Lux has been dead for years. This....this should not be possible.
“You remember my angel gift?” she asks, eyeing each of her boys and waiting patiently as realization sinks in. Braxton is the first to get it.
“This entire time!” he booms, an edge of anger rocking his voice as he looks at his mother like she is the scum of the universe.
“I am sorry...I had no choice....he was going to kill me. He almost did. Hiding was the only way. Pretending to be Wanda and injecting myself back into your lives was the only way that I could be close to you without risking myself.” The apology pours from her, her bottom lip trembling as she all but begs her son to believe her.
Me?
I am still confused.
Pretend?
How can you pretend to be a person?
“Father. You are speaking of father,” Jaxon says, demanding an answer with his tone.
“Yes.” Wanda...Lucinda... whoever she is says, shaking her head. “That night he did almost kill me. It was only because of Maci’s mother here that I did not die,” she says, nodding at my mom.
“My mom? What does she have to do with this?” I ask. My confusion growing the longer this conversation goes on.
“Your mother may be a demon Maci, but she was my friend long before I ever knew what she was. She has many powers, but necromancy is her true gift. She sees death, and in some cases can intervene. “
“Necromancy....like you....bring back the dead?” I ask, turning to my mom with a look of complete disgust on my face. I draw the line at Zombies! Zombies I cannot believe.
“No Maci. I don’t bring them back. That is impossible,” she says with a laugh, like I am somehow supposed to know these things. Well...sorry mom, I was absent in my how-to-bring-back-the-dead-class.
“I just have a gift that allows me to communicate with the spirit world. Travel the void. I can sense when death is close, and sometimes I can reach into the void and help to guide souls back before they cross over. Always before Maci. Never after. Once a soul has crossed, they cannot be saved,” my mother says, adjusting her grip on the dagger. Cain now looks at my mother with a little more respect.
“You are Lilith?” the demon says, like all the pieces are finally clicking into place for him.
“Yes. I am. So, it would benefit you to be helpful to my daughter Prince Cain,” she seethes, and something in her voice must scare him because his entire demeanor changes.
He hangs his head, but says nothing else.
“So, Lilith helped you? How?” Jaxon demands, pulling the story back to his mother.
“Tell us mother. Tell us what happened that night, because I am trying really hard to understand how you could do this to us. Make me...please,” he finishes weakly, the desperation a plea in his voice that I pray she does not deny him.
“As you have come to see with age, Gabriel is not a kind man. He is not good, like he leads the world to believe. I defied him, and my punishment was paid by my blood. He put serpent’s root in my tea so that I would not heal, and then he beat me. He beat me until my life left me. I used a charm that Lilith had given me to call her for help, and she pulled my battered soul from the depth of the void. She used a spell to replace my physical body with a copy, making him think he had possession of my remains. I watched from the shadows as my children mourned me at my own funeral. I knew that I had to do something or that one of you would be next.”
“That is why you did it? Why you came back as her instead of yourself?” Ryker asks, holding onto his mother’s hand for dear life.
“Yes. My angelic power is shifting, and I used it to trick Gabriel. I shifted into the exact opposite of the person I once was, and I seduced him. An immensely powerful witch gifted me a new Angelic power. I chose fear, knowing that Gabriel would not be able to refuse it.”
“I had to be close to my boys, even if that meant letting that monster touch me. For years, I have protected you in silence. I have let you hate me, all in the name of keeping you safe. No more. It is time that you know the truth. It is time to end the rule of both Gabriel and Xavier. The Angelic world needs new leadership, and they will find it in you two,” she says turning to Jaxon and myself.
Oh no! I have a very bad feeling that I know where they are going with this. It is all starting to make sense. All the missing pieces starting to fill in.
Wanda and Lucinda are the same person. Gabriel tried to kill her, and I am honestly not surprised. He may be the king of the Divine race, but he has always given off a bad vibe to me. I recognize a bully when I see one. Even if they are hidden behind charming smiles and a fancy title.
The triplet’s mother was crafty, using her shifter power to shift into someone else. Inject herself back into their lives. She watched them, protected them, and no one suspected a thing, because she not only changed they way she looked. She changed the way she acted.
She cloaked her kindness under a mask of cruelty, and used the distance that created to protect her true identity.
I dare to call her smart.
It had to have killed her to let her own sons hate her.
All three boys wear different expressions after their mother’s explanation. Ryker wears a look of total love and forgiveness, and I have no doubt that at least in his eyes his mother’s sins are already forgotten. He does a decent job of pretending to not care about anyone, but I am quickly learning that Ryker’s heart is much like his ability. An illusion. What you see is not what you get. His walls are thick, but once you get through them, the center is soft and full of so much hidden emotion that you consider yourself lucky.
Braxton— Braxton has the same bored, detached look that he always wears, but if you look harder you can see the pain hidden beneath the surface. He wants to forgive his mother, but he isn’t sure how. Pinky has trust issues, and I don’t know the reason behind them, but they run deep. In this case, deeper than blood.
Then there is Jaxon. My Prince. More than the others, he looks at his mother with understanding and a small dose of pity. My mind flashes back to the way I have seen him interact with his father. The way he closes off, and tenses up whenever he is around.
I think Jaxon knows first-hand just how much of a monster that Gabriel is. I think he doesn’t blame his mother for running, but I think that he is angry that she left him behind.
Sensing that the time for family bonding really needs to wait, and still wanting to know what Cain has to do with any of this, I decide to change the subject. It is a talent of mine. Avoidance.
“Ok. Now that caring and sharing is over,” I say sarcastically.
“What does he have to do with this?” I say aloud, pointing to the sparkly blue demon.
“Still impatient I see Maci,” my mother laughs, walking over to Cain and tilting his head up so that I can see the dancing flames in his otherwise inky eyes.
“Cain is here because he knows something that you need to know daughter. He knows what really happened to Ashlee, and he is going to tell us. Aren’t you boy,” my mother sneers, her voice taking on a demonic edge that I have never heard before.
Cain laughs, and I secretly wonder if he has a death wish. Genny Madison is scary on a normal day. A demonic Genny Madison...yeah. Down-right terrifying.
“I will tell you nothing,” Cain growls at my mother, his upper lip curving in a snarl. His eyes snap to me, locking on and not letting go. “I will tell the girl. Only the girl.”
“No way in hell,” Jaxon growls, taking a step in front of me. I roll my eyes, nudging him to the side and taking two steps closer to the demon in question. I don’t know why, but the demon does not scare me.
“Ok,” I find myself saying, even as the others curse in the background. Jaxon grabs my arm, gently spinning me toward him.
“Princess. I can’t let you do this. Demons are tricky and dangerous. They can’t be trusted. They are un-natural,” he says, and as soon as the words leave him, he tries to take them back.
“That’s not what I...” he starts, but I shake my head, cutting him off.
I get it. He isn’t wrong.
Demons are bad. He is just forgetting that I am half demon. His words hurt, even if he didn’t mean for them to.
“I’m not asking permission.... She is my best friend!” I say, pulling away from him.
“And she is my sister Maci. Don’t you think that I want answers! Dammit! I want answers just as much as you, but I won’t risk you! Not again!” Jaxon yells, stepping closer to me and blocking my exit.
“It isn’t up to you. I don’t care what you say. I am doing this. Nothing short of the devil dragging me to hell is going to stop me,” I say, charging around him, only to slam into a wall of immovable muscle.
Zane.
His arms come up, cupping my elbows gently as he steadies me. His eyes shine as a slight grimace flashes across his face. His hand leaves my arm, cupping my cheek as the whispered words of a spell that I don’t recognize filter through the air.
My limbs start to feel heavy just as the world starts to spin. Zane’s lips move again and this time I can make out the words over the yelling that has started in the background.
“I am sorry.”
Then darkness pulls me under.
∞
~ Chapter 12~
You know that moment?
That moment right before you open your eyes, when you forget, just for a second how awful everything is. That one peaceful sliver of time when your world is still perfect, and all the bad things can’t touch you. I wish I could live here, in the moment before. The moment before I open my eyes and the reality of life crashes in on me. Crushes me. Suffocates me with her truth.
Avenge (Hillcrest Book 2) Page 10
