Masonian held up a hand. “Soon. First, you must know how you come to be here. The dangers you’ve faced and the ones that will wait for you. Starting with the sky above us. You only know some of the truth. Those that love you have kept it hidden out of necessity. A dark presence descended upon this city, searching for its enemy. Searching for the one that could defeat it. It was searching for you. The Valkyrie that had unwittingly summoned it.”
“Wait, what? I summoned it? How?”
“By using your powers. Shall I show you?”
Alex nodded as Masonian strode forward with an outstretched hand, and with a flash, Alex found herself surrounded by flames and smoke. She jumped and covered her face but realised the flames carried no heat. She glanced sideways to find Masonian standing calmly next to her. Alex was saved from asking where she was as a crash silenced her. A werewolf had just burst into the room. One she recognised. One she had grown to adore.
Nick.
“No…why are you making me watch this?”
“Watch…” he replied.
Nick rushed forward to where Michelle, Nathaniel, and yes, Alex were. The ceiling crumbled down as the room shook. Alex knew the big explosion was a second away. She wanted to scream for Nick to get out, but it was then that time seemed to slow down. Way down. It stopped. Alex’s other version turned around and faced Nick. Her eyes glowing the same colour as in the mirror in the motel room: rich gold. This version of Alex was the only thing that moved and did so over to Nick. Everything else had stood still. The fire around them had gone to a blistering yellow colour. The explosion, the thing that ultimately destroyed the house, was happening right then but time had stopped it right at the point of destruction.
With her golden eyes locked on to Nick, as the Alpha, she extended her hand to gently caress his face. “You’ve been so brave…” she said in a voice that echoed around the room. It carried no weight yet was full of kindness and calmness. “It is not your time yet, sweetheart. You have many more battles to face. I cannot help you, not with all of them, but…” She went on tip toe and kissed his frozen lips, using her thumb to stroke him with a gesture he couldn’t feel. “You will not die today.”
With that Nick was grabbed by her and flung through the broken wall behind them so he sailed far out, dropping into the water. Eyes still gold, Alex grabbed, the both still frozen, Michelle and Nathaniel, and holding on to them, leapt from the window as easy as you like.
The house around them shimmered away and suddenly they were back in the cave. Alex couldn’t speak from the tightness in her throat which she tried desperately to ignore or swallow down. Her fingers shook as both hands found their way to her mouth and nose. She breathed in hard and blew out slowly. “Was that a trick?”
She cringed as she yelled, but every emotion was running through her. She didn’t want to be let down. She didn’t want to be devastated again but when that barest snippet of hope entered her heart, she wanted more than anything to hold on to it.
“No, Alexandra. It was no trick; it was the truth. You say you are no hero, but you’ve gone for so long thinking he saved your life. You saved his. You saved all of them, but this was the night you awakened that dark force. It was that act where your powers surfaced for the first time.”
Alex continued looking at him over the hands pressing into her face. She heard him, the last line but she wanted him to say other words. Just two more. Her body felt flushed. Her eyes stung.
“He lives,” Masonian said softly.
Alex scrunched her eyes as tears fell freely. Her shoulders quaked as the hope burst through her finally. Her boy. Her Nick. He was ok. It didn’t matter that she had done some weird freaky thing. She wouldn’t have cared if he hadn’t leapt into that room and just saved himself. She wouldn’t have thought less of him. But none of it mattered now. All she wanted was to find him and hug him.
“Why then? Why did I go gold then and not before? He was being beaten up and I didn’t do anything. Lauren was being assaulted. Why not then?”
“The answer lies with the act Nicholas performed before the explosion. Where he risked his life to save someone close to you: Michelle Davidson. For no other reason than to show how much you meant to him. That was the night you fell in love with him.”
Alex looked at Masonian. “Huh?”
“Falling in love doesn’t have to be romantic or sexual. In its basic, purest form, love is the foundation for all good in the world. Sometimes there are certain loves that transcend time, space and physics. You have that with him. It is very mutual and your destinies are more entwined than you know.”
“I have to find him.”
“Alexandra, there is more you must know. He still needs you.”
“What?”
“The whole city does. It has hours left. If that. Only you have the ability to lift the darkness that infests the air.”
“But how? What am I supposed to do?” Alexandra replied desperately.
“Become who you were born to be.”
Masonian tapped the end of his staff on the ground, looking directly at Alex. Behind him, the wall of the cave crumbled and disintegrated to form a tall alcove. Alex took a step forward as something glinting caught her eye. When the wall had completely disappeared, Alex stood staring at a set of armour stored in the middle of the alcove. It was the colour of white gold. A red V emblazoned in the middle of the breast plate. The shoulders had two white strips of material attached that went behind it, forming two large hoops that stopped just before the ground. The weirdest cape she had ever seen. A pleated red-brown skirt hung under the chest piece. Wrist gauntlets too. One on each side of the set. How they stood in mid-air was the least of her worries. Lastly, two gleaming boots stood upright underneath the armour.
*
“Fuck…” Nick sneered as he veered away from another tendril swipe. If he thought Lee was worried in the slightest, he would’ve been mistaken. Lee had his legs on the dashboard, whistling an unknown tune. A beep caused Nick to look down. The planes speed was decreasing. A great whine echoed throughout the cockpit and a sickening feeling crept into Nick’s stomach. Nick couldn’t direct the plane. One of the tendrils had caught them. Nick disengaged the thrusters and let the plane drop several hundred feet, then fired them again. It worked. The plane was his to control but for how long he didn’t know.
He had to try the only thing left. Instead of veering to the left and right, he righted the plane and ascended. Directly up the sinister face, as high as he could go, trying to get over the cloud that seemed to never end. As fast as he could. Nick had to bury the thought that it wasn’t enough. Even as he rose hundreds of feet, the plane rattled and bumped as the sinister force came for them again, creeping ever closer.
*
“Why me? Why is it me? Did you choose me? Did you know all those years ago?”
“I do not believe so. My last memory of my physical form was putting…” he said, gesturing to himself as he continued. “This, in these caves. The Draco Knights were engaged in a fierce battle. Women were being killed only to rise again and destroy all around them. Dominus had grown so strong nothing could stop him. I remember creating the Valkyries for the war against him but stopped after realising what it cost the women.”
“What do you mean?”
“The magic of my time was infinite but so dangerous. Whatever was given, something was always taken. In their case, it was the ability to reproduce.”
“So…you mean…if I put this on. I won’t be able to have kids? Why would you do that?”
“It was not I, Alexandra. As a Master of Magic, I cannot reproduce. It is a grave yet common consequence to those gifted by magic. A way of the universe ensuring balance to keep the chance of overflow down. I was one of the rare cases of being born with magical abilities. Most were taught. Magic still exists today though it is much less common place. But the basic law still stands. It always has a cost.”
“So this is my cost?”
Masonian glanced up
as if looking through the ceiling, struggling to get the words out. “Yes. As long as you wear the armour, as long as you wield these great powers, a daughter to succeed you will not be possible. This is the last hurdle that so many before you failed to overcome. Though none before have had your potential. What called the beast to you? That monster took your dignity from you while trying to siphon your powers for himself. It knew exactly what you were and it hungered for you like a parasite. A force for good, in your own right, attacked by evil. Your memory of this is currently held but can be lifted by putting the armour on. With it, your defence is absolute and evil can never take possession of you again.”
Alex looked from him to the armour and reached out to it, running her fingertips along the V. She had no time to admire the sheen of the emblem but caught herself staring at the scarlet shape as images flashed in her mind of it being used in battle eons ago. Women soaring into the sky to face off with unspeakable monsters, protecting the innocent. She was the last of them; this was her reality. “What’s the catch?” she whispered.
“You must only use your gifts to aid those who cannot aid themselves. You cannot use them for personal, or selfish gain. You must keep your identity a secret. This is mainly for your benefit. Advice if you will. For once you are known, your life as you know it will be over. You will find peace to be rare. Your help will not be asked for but it will be expected. You will be criticized for the things you cannot stop and the people you cannot save. You are virtually invulnerable, but not even your shoulders can hold all you will wish they could. Your speed is unmatched. As you may have deduced from the memory I have shown you, you can manipulate the element of fire. This does not mean that water is your enemy though your strength is greatly reduced underwater.”
“Why do I need the armour if I’m already bulletproof?”
“Because your helmet conceals your identity and your voice. But this battle, your first will not be won on the ground. It will not even take place on the ground. Thankfully, for that isn’t where your strength will eventually lie. You are a warrior of the sky. And the chest piece grants you your greatest gift. Your wings.”
“My…whoa…”
“The choice is yours, Alexandra. I understand the burden this is. Truthfully, I would like to rid you of it. Powers or not, life challenges each of us. Yours is the fact the city is doomed without you.”
“What if…what if I win? What happens to the armour? My strength?”
“Should you succeed, the path forward is unclear. There will always be another battle that humans cannot solve themselves and you must be ready. As long as the strong prey on the weak, as long as the innocent are at the mercy of evil, you will always be needed.”
Alex turned her face towards him. “I…if I put it on, what will happen to my memory?”
“It will return. Though there is no set time. By wearing the suit, you make a choice and accept the truth of who you are. Therefore, the truth will be revealed to you completely. Though, I warn you, there is much sorrow buried within the mystery you seek.”
“Yeah. So I’ve been told.” Alex took a deep breath. “I want in.”
“Then approach.”
Alex moved forward, preparing to kneel and silently asked if that’s what she was supposed to do.
“No,” Masonian said, taking her hand gently. “I will look you in the eye as an equal. Alexandra Hensley, there are darknesses in life and there are lights. There is honour undermined by the selfish pursuit of power, but there are those that are willing to stand for the sake of others. To put their lives on the line for justice and freedom. The road is long and treacherous, but we walk it together. We are called Draco Knights. Rise, Alexandra Hensley, and join us.”
Alex was about to reply, to ask what he meant by rise when she wasn’t kneeling, when she let out a gasp. Her clothes were sizzling off her body, and she rolled her head back, giving a soft moan as the warmth spread over her every limb until, finally, she was at ease.
Alex looked down to find herself wearing the suit. She guessed the warmth was the effect of Masonian moving the suit from the now empty alcove to her body.
“A perfect fit,” Masonian muttered with a small smile.
A piece of ceiling fell and smacked in between them. Alex looked up and around. The cave was starting to crack. The piece that fell left a huge hole in the ceiling. It was big enough for Alex to see directly up.
“What’s going on?”
“It’s happening…” Masonian replied.
“What is?”
“The end…”
Rise…so that’s what he meant. “Ok…I’ve gotta do this…ok…” Alex felt herself levitate, her wings expanding unsteadily, lifting her, rising and shaking, towards the hole. The helmet fell from her grasp as she was swept up into the air in a rush. She held her arms close by her side. Just as she came out the other side, she was knocked sideways to her back and surrounded by what sounded like a dozen hurricanes bearing down on her. It crushed her body flat against the mountain. Alex fought to get even semi-vertical, but the cliffside was so steep that Alex slipped and slid her way down the mountain. She looked up as tendrils of smoke reached down from the sky and grabbed her wrists to hoist her in the air. She couldn’t break free. She screamed and fought but it was no use. Her wings flapped but with no strength. She was going nowhere except higher up into the cloud. Suddenly, she felt gravity catch up to her. The tendrils had let go and she plummeted back down, and directly onto the top of the cave. She hit the rock with a crash and fell straight into the blue water below as debris of smoking rock fell down around her.
Chapter Thirty-One
The End Of The World
Dante looked out past his front lawn. Traffic had stopped and people had abandoned their cars, such was the torrential downpour of hail pelting everything. Dante spotted more than one body in the road, blood pooling around the head from being struck. Car alarms were going on and off, people screamed as they ran.
“This is it, isn’t it?” Melina asked, coming up behind him.
“I would say so…” he replied as huge balls of ice crashed around them.
“Alejandro, come away…”
“Do you think Nicholas got out?” Dante asked, not acknowledging her advice.
“I don’t know…I hope so. Come inside.”
“I need to apologise to you.”
“What for?”
“I thought I could help. I always think I can help…” Dante said, turning to her. “But I was sure I could this time. Sovereign had the perfect plan. A way for me to take Nightingale out, perhaps Julian as well, but…it would mean Nicholas would be dead. I couldn’t do that to Nicholas. I couldn’t do that to Alexandra, but it means you are stuck with Go Deo.”
“If Nightingale would’ve killed Julian…Then I would be forced to kill Nightingale. Big loss.”
“You would’ve died,” Dante replied. “Don’t look at me like that. You know it’s true. I could’ve ended it. I could’ve ended so much. Julian wanted Nightingale dead. I could’ve done it and saved you and Alexandra from his tyranny.”
“How?”
Dante held up a detonator in his hand, fished out from his pocket.
Melina looked from his hand to his face. “And just when were you planning on using that?”
“Tonight. It would’ve all been over.”
Melina struggled to get the words out, fury building up inside of her. “You were going to use that…with you being inside I take it?”
“You would be free. My agreement with Julian would wipe yours out. Nightingale would be done for. Sovereign would be dealt a blow. What is my life compared to that?”
Melina slapped him, hard. The ice and quaking meant nothing to either of them. This right now was what mattered.
“How fucking dare you say that to me. After everything we have been through, that we have done to each other, this is how you wanted to end things?”
“Can you think of a better option?”
“Y
es! Fight, damn you! Since when do you give up? What the hell is wrong with you? Suicide? You love the humans. I get that. You feel guilty. I get that too. But she’s gone. Snap the fuck out of it! What was it that made this stupid idea leave your head?”
“You showed up. You weren’t supposed to. You were taking Nathaniel out. You were supposed to listen…but you never do. And then I saw them carry Nicholas in, and I knew that I couldn’t carry it out. Even if I somehow managed to get Nightingale alone…but then Nicholas would be at the mercy of Sovereign and their ridiculous prophecy theory….”
“Alejandro, what are you talking-”
“When I thought I was dying in that water…after Alexandra was possessed…I had a vision. A dream. I saw myself in bright sunlight, on a farm, happy, but with two women. Alexandra and Michelle. For the longest time I couldn’t understand. Why would I fantasise about both of them, when I had only truly opened up to one. It’s only just now I realise I’ve been seeing it all wrong. I wasn’t fantasising. It was showing me the truth. I never let Michelle know my true feelings. I had tried to do the same thing to Alexandra. But somehow she managed to force my heart open. It took a while, but finally, I couldn’t deny it anymore. Even as a vampire, I was capable of loving. I was even capable of falling in love. I risked everything to be with her. To tell her how I felt and to show her. I didn’t want to let her go. I wanted to fight for her. For us. I wanted to learn from my mistakes and ended up making the worst one yet.”
“Alejandro, I still don’t understand…”
“The vision showed me the truth. They both loved me. I understand now that I hadn’t just denied my feelings. I had denied theirs. Michelle was there in that water when we both thought I was dying. Holding me. Loving me. Despite the fact that when she was taken from me, I let her go. I failed her. Yet there she was. Like she always was. And I had never told her how I felt for fear that what I felt wasn’t real. Forget the romantic love. I had never told my best friend that I loved her. Not until I thought I wouldn’t survive. And I had never let her tell me how she felt. We are dead, Melina. What can dead things hope to feel? That’s how I always justified it. Even with you. I finally see that despite my intentions, all I do is hurt the ones I love. And here, on this very night, it continues. I had to do what’s right for everyone else but you. I’m sorry. But I swear to you I will make this right, somehow. None of you will be trapped by Julian or me. I needed you to know that. You…you mean a lot more to me than you know.”
Pack Master (Undeadly Secrets Book 4) Page 19
