Fifth Essence: A Reverse Harem Tale (Lovin' the Coven Book 5)

by Jacquelyn Faye

  The gem I held in my left hand as I pulled the enchanted twig out of the leather bag with my right, whispering, "Dúisigh."

  Awaken it did. There was no slow growing, or sudden transition. With a pop, there was a witch's broom in my hand. Remembering Nana's battle with the demon, I shook it and focused my intent. Nana's scythe had been wicked looking, the one in my hand looked like it had come from Death's hand itself. Wickedly curved and gleaming blackly in the darkened streets.

  The gem began pulsing in my hand. I opened my fingers and turned my head against the red glare emanating from it. "Woah."

  The angels stopped fighting and stared at the light from my hand. Simultaneously, they strode forward, ignoring everything and everyone else around them. The one with a hellhound clamped on its arm started dragging Dar across the asphalt in a drive to get to what they wanted.

  Take up my mantel, Daughter.

  Look. I don't know what the hell fireplaces have to do with it, but…

  I could hear his mental sigh. Mantel. Not mantle. My quintessence. My power. Take my power…

  I now understood what the gem was. Every being was made from four separate and distinct elements. Essences. The fifth was power, magic, whatever. The gem was my father's fifth essence. His godhood. How?

  Make it part of you.

  Ew, I thought to myself. Hopefully, he couldn't hear me.

  I brought the gem up to my face. There was no way in hell I could swallow it, not without a drink. I stared at it instead, trying to get some reaction from it, but nothing was happening, nor did it feel like it would anytime soon.

  "Damn it!" In my anger, I crushed it in my fist, pissed off beyond measure.

  Something inside me snapped and clicked into place. The world around me took on a reddish hue, even the hand I was still staring at in frustration. When I opened it, my palm was empty. The gem was gone.

  You did it, Daughter.

  The angels stopped moving turned to me in confusion. Shea stepped from the shadows beside me, staring at me in adoration and completely ignoring our predicament.

  "Shea?"

  "I felt it…"

  "Felt what?"

  "You. Stepping into the shadows…"

  "Great. Little busy, can we talk about this later?"

  He made no other movement, didn't even nod, just stared at me like I had grown an extra head. Ignoring it for now, I turned to face the three assholes with wings. Yuki and Dar had completely stopped fighting and were staring at me much the same way Shea was. The effect was very Children of the Cornish and more than a little creepy. I focused on the angels instead. "Sorry, fucknuggets. It's gone."

  They began wailing in sorrow. At least, that's what it sounded like. I could almost feel a sense of overwhelming loss from them until it turned to anger and hatred. They came at me, all at once. With my other hand free, I gripped the scythe in both hands. The first one reached me a fraction-of-a-second before the others. Without thinking, I sidestepped and brought the curved blade down over its outstretched arms, reaching for where I had been standing just a moment before. It sliced through them cleanly. Instead of gushing with liquid silver, black smoke poured from the wounds like the exhaust of a diesel engine. The aura of anger shifted into the spectrum of pain. I could feel what they were feeling, and I hoped they could feel my satisfaction.

  Even wounded, it lurched at me, jaws outstretched and evil looking teeth looking to steal the flesh from my bones. It was too close to hit with the blade, so I bashed it in the face with the ebony handle of the scythe. It fell to the ground, grinding the stumps of its arms against its face in agony as the other two grabbed me from either side.

  The one on my left suddenly became engulfed in shadows. Waves of frustration poured from it as it was dragged to the ground and swallowed by the street beneath us. The other angel spared it a glance as its cries were suddenly silenced and it was gone in a puff of shadow smoke. I gave Shea a silent thank you. I'd really show him my gratitude later.

  It was a good enough diversion for me to grab it by the neck with my left hand. My intention had been to hold it enough to pull the blade through its shoulder, but the creature began thrashing in my hand. It clawed my forearm, leaving angry gouges of wet flesh as my blood poured freely from the wounds. Its flesh began to smoke and decay beneath my hand.

  "What the fuck?" I stared in horror as it stopped clawing at my arm and began rending the flesh from its own face and neck, trying to end its own suffering. I let go and stepped back from it as it fell to the ground at my feet.

  I wasn't a fan of torture, and that's what she was going through. The black welts from my hands slowly spread across the thing's neck. More black smoke poured from the wounds until the angel shoved her own fingers into the soft flesh of her neck, pulling the wound open and sucking in a lungful of air in through the hole it had made. It gurgled as silvery blood washed into the open wound, too. I stared in horror until my conscience stepped up and brought the blade of the scythe down in an overhand arc, cleanly severing her head and exploding her into another cloud of dust, ending her agony.

  Well done, Daughter.

  Father? Father? Aodh?

  "Father?" I chanted his name over and over, falling to my knees in the middle of the street in dismay. He never answered. That feeling of despair drove everything else away.

  ∞ ∞ ∞

  I was sitting on my couch, a steaming mug of coffee in my hand, when I finally snapped back into reality. I blinked, noticed the coffee, took a sip and looked around. Everyone but the mayor was sitting around me, staring at me in hope and worry.

  "What?"

  "Are you in there?" Chief stepped forward.

  "Yes. How did we get here?"

  Everyone took a sigh of relief. Candace got up from her spot next to Josie, pushed Yuki out of the way, and threw her arms around me, refusing to let go.

  "You gave us quite the scare," Jimmy said from the loveseat across the way.

  "What happened?" I started rubbing Candace's back with one hand while she sobbed silently into my stomach, sipping coffee with the other.

  "You kind of lost it after you killed the last celestial. You started sobbing and calling for your father, then you kind of…checked out. Pardon the expression."

  "Sherry and Chief took charge of the situation. They had the fire department and ambulances at the diner faster than you could say Hassenpfeffer," Jimmy said and smiled at Chief. Obviously impressed. "They treated the injuries from all the glass exploding." He held up his hand when he saw the worry on my face. I nodded and he continued. "Nobody was seriously hurt at all, which is a miracle."

  "Thank the goddess. But… All those people. How the hell are we going to explain a fucking angel? They're going to burn us all in the center square."

  Chief chuckled. "First of all, it's a circle, not a square. Second of all, we don't have to. The mayor did."

  "She did?"

  He nodded. "Quite well, I might add." He paused to smile at Jimmy.

  "She told everybody there was a gas leak and an electrical fire. Anything they might have thought they saw, was probably a hallucination from breathing in the gas and that everybody should thank their lucky stars they weren't hurt when the electrical fire ignited it. The electrical fire also caused the blackout and the explosion blew the front of Lambresco's to high heaven." Jimmy gave me a grin.

  "We probably shouldn't use that expression anymore."

  "Hmm. Good point. Anyway, she covered for us."

  "Me."

  "You, too."

  "I like your cousin."

  He gave me a wry chuckle. "No more exploding pants?"

  "Technically it wasn't your pants that blew up…" Everybody was looking back and forth between Jimmy and me, not knowing the story. I was happy to leave it that way. "But, no. I'm an asshole for not trusting you. I'm sorry."

  Chief started clapping. I shot him a dirty look until everybody else started joining in. I guess I might have sort of kind of deserved that a litt
le. Just a little.

  Jimmy got up and took my cooling coffee. "I'll get you some fresh." He leaned down and gave me a soft kiss that left me sitting there with my eyes closed, staring up at nothing and grinning like a fool.

  When I finally came out of my happy place, I noticed Shea, Dar, and Yuki still staring at me. "Okay, now that all that is over, what the hell is up with you three?"

  Of course, they all just turned and looked at each other, not saying a word.

  "Spill it. You've been like this since the fight. Shea, you said I stepped into the shadows?"

  He nodded, slowly and unsurely. "Yes. I was at home…and I felt you. You were in the shadows around me."

  "What about you two? You were staring at me in the exact same way."

  "You became darkness. You were the Night." Yuki put a strange inflection on the last word.

  "Night?"

  "The Night." She bowed her head, reverently. Witches worshipped the goddess. I'd heard my vampire mention the Night, but never asked her about it. I wasn't so sure I wanted to. That was a conversation better left when we were alone.

  "What about you?" I looked at Dar. He was in his demon form wearing jeans and a T-shirt, calmly sitting next to Shea and staring at me thoughtfully.

  "You felt like home."

  "Here?"

  He shook his head. "You felt like a cool night standing upon the plains of Gehenna, wind in my hair, stars above me, and the thrill of a hunt. You felt like my home."

  I looked down at the fae blooded personification of sunshine in my lap. "What about you, Candace? I feel any different to you?"

  She nodded, not lifting her head. "You smell different, too."

  Dar tilted his head at her statement, and shifted into his Shepherd form, wiggling out of his clothes and walking over to me. He brought his nose to my arm and started sniffing.

  I'd been so wrapped up in the feeling of home, I did not notice.

  "Notice what?"

  Your normal smell of sunlight… It's gone. You smell like the night.

  "So, the darkness in my father's gem drove out the light?"

  "It is not gone, merely overpowered by what she truly is," Candace said with an otherworldly voice. She lifted her head and smiled at me. "Welcome back, old friend."

  "Old friend?"

  She nodded and stood, eyes glowing gold. When she straightened herself up, she lifted from the ground, arms out to her sides. "You have taken what was your father's into you. You are so very much like him."

  "Aodh?"

  "One of his many names, yes."

  "He's still imprisoned, isn't he?"

  Candace nodded sadly.

  "How is he texting me? How is he speaking to me? I heard him repeatedly last night, but then when everything was over, he was gone," I said, voice cracking and tears streaming down my face.

  "As I have my familiars, elements, and worshipers, so does your father," she answered and cocked an eyebrow at me, daring me to make the connection I didn't want to.

  "My father is a god? A friend of yours?"

  Candace shrugged and the light faded from her eyes as she settled back to the earth. She had finally told me something about my father. Something I didn't want to know. Growing up had been hard enough knowing your mother and grandmother were the most powerful witches in town. To hear that your father was so much more was…

  I got up from the couch and ran to the sink in the kitchen, emptying the miniscule amount that had been in my stomach.

  "Holy fuck. Your dad is the Nightbringer," Yuki said with more than a little fear in her voice.

  I spit the last of it into the sink, flipped on the faucet, and rinsed my mouth out. "What do you mean?" I managed to ask through watering eyes.

  "The Bringer of Night, god of the underworld," Yuki spoke reverently.

  Shea nodded. "Aodh the Shadowless."

  Dar shifted back into his demon form, ignoring the clothing behind him and stared. "Aodh, master of Fáil Inis. A hound-welp said to be the father of the hell hounds and barghest. No wonder you smell of home."

  "Why are you all still standing? Why haven't you passed out from telling me all of this?"

  Dar stepped forward and bowed his head. "Because you have taken up his mantel. It is of you we speak…"

  All I could do was stare in shock at the three of them. If I'd had anything left in my stomach, I'm sure I would have brought the last of it up.

  "No. I'm just Dot. My father can't be a god. I'm not special. I'm kind of stupid. I make mistakes all the time. I hurt the people I love. I'm a jealous, sarcastic, fuck up. I'm just a witch and not a very good one at that!"

  Yuki, Shea, and Dar, Chief, Jimmy, and Josie all just stared at me incredulously. Candace was the only one who could move. She crossed the room and walked behind the kitchen counter. I dropped to my knees, expecting and needing another hug. Candace thought I needed a crack across the cheek. You could hear the slap echo off the walls of my kitchen.

  "Ow." I brought my hand up to my cheek.

  "No!"

  "No?" This conversation was seeming very familiar. I'd had it with more than one member of my coven, but it was the first time anybody had ever turned the tides on me.

  "No. You do not get to say these things about yourself. Nobody is perfect. Not even the gods."

  "But I'm only half."

  "And half witch. But, you're totally amazing. Sorry for slapping you."

  "Meh. I needed it. Don't do it again," I said seriously and cocked my eyebrow at her, not really meaning it. Next time I was being a fool, I hoped she used a two-by-four.

  "I am sorry!"

  "Teasing, Candace."

  She blushed and gave me the hug I wanted to begin with.

  Chapter 14

  "So, what's the plan?" Chief took a swig of his beer.

  "Tomorrow morning, I'm going to rescue Jaeren and deal with the dark elves. After that, who knows. Maybe the angels are done with me now that the gem is gone." I sounded a little too hopeful.

  "Who's going with you?"

  I could tell from his voice that he wanted to go, but I needed him here. "Myself, Delron, Glabrielle and her guards. Shea and my familiars."

  "You don't want me to go?"

  "It's not that I don't want you to, Chief. It's that you can't. You're the anchor for the coven. Where I tread, you cannot follow. That way if something happens to me, you can keep everything together until somebody better than me wanders into town."

  He scoffed like a good boy. "Fine. But there are two things wrong with your plan. First, there is nobody better than you. Second, you can't die."

  "Um. Pretty sure I can. Not even full gods are truly immortal."

  "That's not what I meant." He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around me. "I mean you can't die. It would absolutely destroy me."

  "Oh." Tears slowly slid from my closed eyes as I turned my head and pressed my face against his chest.

  "Not just me, Dot. It would kill everybody if we ever lost you. So be careful. Please. For all of us, not just me. But mostly me."

  "I will. Promise not to purposely blow parts off, either."

  "Thank you." He pulled away before I could get snot all over him. "I'm going to get going. I have work in the morning, and you have a houseful. Have dinner with me when you get back? Just the two of us this time. No angels, either."

  "That sounds gloriously wonderful."

  "Yes, it does. Get some rest," he said, leaning in to kiss me. Tears, snot, and all. "Love you."

  "Love you more."

  "Yeah. Don't think that's possible."

  "Sure, it is. Close your eyes and think about how very much you love me. Now picture just a little bit more."

  "You're a snot," he said with a chuckle, giving me one last kiss, and heading for the door.

  "I'm going to head home, too." Jimmy caught my lips as I turned around.

  "Aw. I thought you were going to stay?" At least, I was hoping he was. Chief was more of a one on one kind of guy. Jim
my didn't care who was around.

  "I have to give my deposition in the morning. Sherry is filing a grievance with the court tomorrow."

  "Ah. That makes sense. Tell her I said hi. And that I'm sorry…"

  "For the angel attack? She knows you are."

  "I meant everything. She's really cool, but I should have known she was if she shares DNA with you."

  "Well, good luck in Faerie. Let me know when you get back and I'll share some DNA with you, too," he said and wiggled his eyebrows.

  I couldn't help it, I busted out laughing. He was such a smooth talker. "Deal."

  "Night, Dot."

  "Night, Jimmy." He gave me a kiss that wasn't subtle, wasn't soft, and I totally didn't want to let him leave. "Woah."

  "Yeah. I ever mention how totally kissable you are?"

  "Nothing compared to you," I said and dove in again.

  He pulled back with a soft, throaty chuckle. "Yeah. Yeah. Keep that up and I'm going to miss my court appearance."

  I sighed. That had been my plan… I wouldn't have minded if he weren't a fireman anymore. If he never got horribly hurt again at work, I would be a happy little Dot. "Fine. Make me dinner when I get back."

  He got an evil little grin on his face and leaned in closer. "Oh, I will. Then you can spend the night," he whispered in my ear before giving it a little lick. "I didn't get a chance to tell you," he continued whispering. "Dennis and Alista broke up…"

  "What? Why?" I wanted to feel bad, but the shiver that ran down my spine spoke my true feelings on the matter.

  "Just weren't made for each other, I guess," he answered with a chuckle.

  "He okay?" This time I pulled back and asked with genuine concern.

  "Yeah. Just don't think he ever got back into the relationship the way she wanted him to. That and she spent more time with her brother than him. It got old, he said."

  "Understandable. Give him a hug for me. No tongue," I added with a grin.

  For the first time in our relationship, Jimmy blushed.

  "Yes!"

  He looked around to see if anyone was paying attention. They were. "Fine. You win this round, Moriarty. But the game is afoot."

  "See ya later, Holmes." I chuckled and pushed him in the direction Chief had gone, watching him as he slipped out the door. I sighed when it clicked, thankful he had forgiven me for not trusting him. Jimmy was a part of my life I didn't want to live without. Ever. We were too compatible, which was rare for people who were so much alike. It was usually the opposites that attracted. Like Chief and me.