Once everything had settled and the fey had looked over their injuries, Conner pulled Janice to the side. "You know what this means."
"It means we're not safe," Janice said. "It means that you failed in your duty to keep James out of this. He can't leave the forest. If he does, he'll be killed. Those demons will take him out. How could you do this to him? To us?"
"It means that we're going to need your help," Conner said, ignoring the rest. He already knew that James was in danger; they all were. The forest would protect them for now, but not forever. The demons would eventually find a way in. He steadied himself. He'd been attacked by three succubi at the same time. He'd managed to hold them off, but he'd been hurt in the process.
"Are you alright?" Janice asked, concern taking over the accusatory tone in her voice. "Conner?"
"I'll be fine," Conner said. "I'll heal quickly. Janice, we're going to need you to fight with us."
"I can't," Janice said. "What if something happens to me? What about James?"
Conner shook his head. He wasn't going to let her use the child as an excuse. It would be too easy to fall into that trap. He'd already thought about taking James and Janice and running. He couldn't do that to Afterlife, though.
"You're going to help us because of James," he said. "You're right. He's not safe. They're going to come after us. It's only a matter of time before they realize where we went."
Janice looked like she wanted to argue. Conner didn't give her the chance. "I helped you before," he said. "When they took James, I helped you. I didn't know who he was at the time, but I helped you, Janice."
"I know that."
"So it's your turn," Conner said. "We need you. You have good powers, and you can help us fight them off. We need you to keep the demons at bay while we take out Bartholomew."
"Do you think you can?" Janice asked. "From what you described, he sounds incredibly frightening."
Conner shrugged. "I don't know, but we have to try. Because he's not going to give up. We made sure of that. And even if he did decide to leave us alone, he's not going to stop possessing people. Innocent people. I know you don't want that."
"I don't," Janice said. "Okay, fine. You win. I'll help. But if something happens to both of us..."
"Then the fey will take care of James," Conner said. "I'll make sure of it."
"Good," Janice said. "I don't trust him growing up with humans. They won't understand him, and his powers. They won't know how to help him. Not like you do. Promise me we'll make it out of this, Conner."
Conner looked into her eyes, so dark colored, so much like his son's, who he loved beyond reason. He took her hands in his. "Janice, we're going to be fine, alright? We're going to be just fine."
TWENTY-TWO
When Chloe woke up, she was surrounded by fey. She looked specifically for Marissa and Joseph, the fey who they'd helped last time they were in the forest. Marissa was standing near her head, looking worried. She let out a relieved sigh when Chloe came to.
"We were worried about you, child," she said. "You gave us quite a scare, appearing like that. I was not aware that you were capable of transporting in such a fashion, especially with a group of friends like the ones you brought. Our defenses should have kept you out."
Chloe shook her head. "I was in dire need," she explained. "If we hadn't come here, we'd be dead right now. A fairy's need comes before defense. I hope you don't mind that we came here for protection."
"No, of course not," Joseph said. "We have not forgotten what you and your friends have done for the fey. But what has happened? What brought you here?"
"We were being attacked by a group of demons led by one called Bartholomew," Chloe said. "There were too many of them. We didn't stand a chance of making it, so we ran. It wasn't honorable but we lived to tell about it, so I guess there's something to be said for that."
Marissa gave a small laugh. "Better to run and live then stay and die," she said. "You made the right decision in coming home, child. But what of these demons? Will they find the forest?" Her voice became wary. "Will they be able to break through our barriers? Or will our defenses hold?"
"I don't know," Chloe admitted. "I'm hoping that they won't know we came here, and even if they do, they won't be able to find it, but that won't last forever. They'll come here eventually because they have to take us out. We made ourselves their enemies and for a demon like Bartholomew, that won't stand. He'll come here and attack if just to satisfy his own warped sense of honor."
Joseph frowned. "Then we are in danger as well."
"Yes," Chloe said. "But not just because of the fact that we're here. The rains won't stop until he's dead. Bartholomew, that is. That's why we went after him. We weren't expecting him to have quite so many minions beneath him, though. We're going to need your help."
"What? The fey do not involve themselves in the struggles of the outside world," Marissa said. "You know this."
"I don't care," Chloe said. "You're going to help. You owe us. We helped you when we didn't have to, and now it's your turn. If you don't help us, we're going to die, and the rains will flood everything, including the forest. So you have to help."
Marissa and Joseph looked at each other. After a long moment, Marissa looked into Chloe's eyes. "What is you need us to do, child?"
"When we go back into the fight, we need you to hold off the demons," Chloe said. "Get as many of the fey as you can, the ones who can fight. Keep the demons off of us while we take out Bartholomew. Can you do that for us?"
"Yes," Marissa said. "We will help."
"Good," Chloe said. She leaned back and closed her eyes. "Good, because we need you."
TWENTY-THREE
"I don't want to call them," Brittney said stubbornly. "Not after everything they put us through. It's not fair."
"We need them," Harper said. "And Ryan hasn't put us through anything. He's only ever been on our side, and he'll be glad for a chance to repay the favor. Call him, Brittney. I'll call George and Marcia. We need their help and you know it."
Brittney sighed. The last thing she wanted was to get hold of the police and involve them. But Harper was right, as usual. They needed all the help they could get if they were going to go back up against Bartholomew and survive. She took out her phone, glared at Harper briefly, and then called Ryan's.
"Ryan?" she asked.
"Hey, Brittney," Ryan said. "It's good to hear from you. How are you?"
"Well, to be honest, not that well," Brittney said. "We've gotten ourselves into a bit of a situation, and we need your help with it."
Ryan sounded even more surprised. "Wait, you need my help? With what?" His voice lowered. "Is this something to do with the supernatural?"
Brittney smiled a little. Even though she'd been against calling the police in the first place, she had to admit that it was nice to talk to someone who was on their side, truly and one hundred percent. Ryan was a little too eager for her, but she knew he only meant well.
"Yes," she said. "It's supernatural. We've come up against the demon who's causing the rains. We tried taking him on, and we were outmatched. We need your help in fighting him and his lower demons. If you can. If you can't, if you're not into this--"
"Of course I'll help," Ryan said. "Anything to stop this rain. There's been so many deaths. If I can help stop it, I'm going to do whatever I can. Just tell me what you want from me."
"There's going to be a fight," Brittney said. "You'll want your gun. An automatic, if you can get your hands on it. You're going to be fighting demons off while we go after the head guy. He's brutal, and he's got too many under him for us to take on without some support."
"Just give me a time and a place," Ryan said.
Brittney sighed. Was she leading this man into his death? She didn't know, but she hoped not. He deserved to live a long and happy life. He was too good not to. "We'll, uh, send someone for you," she said. "You're probably not going to believe them, but trust them anyway."
She hung up and
looked over at Harper, who'd just got off the phone. "How did it go?"
Harper smiled. "I talked to George. He's ready and Marcia's coming with him."
TWENTY-FOUR
Sarah shook her head at Peter. "I'm sorry, but it's a bad idea. You're still injured, and you can't transform into anything useful yet. I know it's not what you want to hear, but you're going to have to sit this one out, Peter."
Peter frowned at her. "No."
"No?"
"You're not my mother, Sarah," Peter said. "And if you were, I'd tell you the same thing I'd tell her in this situation, which is that I'm not sitting out. I can't. Not while my sister is out there fighting and all of the rest of you too. You know, you may not realize it, but I like you guys."
Sarah laughed. "You like us? You want to go get killed because you like us?"
"Well," Peter said, hesitating. Then he said, "I like you."
"What?"
Peter nodded. "I wanted to wait until all this was over before telling you, but we're probably all going to die, so I might as well get it off my chest. I like you, Sarah. As more than a friend."
"Peter... you're way younger than me," Sarah started to say. She was completely surprised. Whatever she'd expected his argument to be, it wasn't this.
"So?"
"So..."
"Look, I understand you," Peter said. "That's why I was able to shift. Because I can understand your brain and the way it works. I understand it so well that I was able to replicate it. And you understand me too. I know you do."
Sarah frowned at him. She didn't know what to say. This was incredibly awkward for her. Peter was... well, he was Brittney's younger brother. That made him like her younger brother too. Didn't it? But he was right. He understood her in a way that the others didn't. That's why he was able to shape shift, he said. It made sense now that she thought about it.
"I don't know if I feel the same," she finally said. "I haven't given it any thought with everything that's been going on."
"I'm not asking you to reciprocate," Peter said. Then he grinned. "At least not yet. But you have to understand why I can't just sit at home. My sister is out there, and so is the woman that I like, who might like me back."
"Might," Sarah said.
"Besides, I'm not going to be shape-shifting," he said. "The others don't know I can do it yet, and I'm still not ready to tell them. Not till I've got a better handle of it. I still can't do it without losing all my clothes."
"You will," Sarah said. "That part just takes time. It took me forever to learn how to do."
"Anyway, I'll be there, with my gun," he said. "I'll help keep the demons back while you guys take on Bartholomew. You're going to need all the help you can get, after all. If there were as many demons as you guys said there were..."
"There were," Sarah said.
"Then you need me, don't deny it," Peter said. He grinned again. "You need me, at least in this way."
Sarah sighed at him. "You're not giving me much of a choice, are you?"
"I'm an adult," Peter said. "This isn't your decision to make. I'm going, and there's nothing you can say that's going to convince me to stay behind."
"Fine," Sarah said. "But if you get hurt, I'm going to kick your ass. Understand?"
"Yes, Mother."
Sarah rolled her eyes. "Come on," she said. "The others are getting ready. It's time to go."
TWENTY-FIVE
A couple of the fey had teleported to the station and picked up Ryan, George and Marcia, teleporting them back to the forest. They were confused, but not necessarily surprised.
Alec looked at everyone gathered together. The fey, the police, Peter, Janice... "Are you ready?" he asked. "Because this is about to get ugly."
Once everyone had nodded, he led the charge out of the forest. Bartholomew and his minions were waiting just beyond the protective barriers. Bartholomew smiled when he saw Alec.
"So you want to fight again," he said.
"So we do," Alec said. "But this time, we don't fight alone."
Everyone followed him out. Bartholomew's eyes widened.
"So I see," he said. "Then let the battle commence!"
Once again, he transformed into a demon, roaring and tottering above them all. He was vicious in battle. The fey all lined up, throwing potions and pixie dust, and fighting the demons off as best as they could. They were powerful in their own right and were able to hold their own. Marissa led the battle herself, holding a staff in one hand, and casting spells as she screamed out orders.
Joseph took a blow that was nearly fatal, and Chloe had to stop herself from rushing over to check on him. She let one of the other fey do it, and focused on Bartholomew. She cast spell after spell at him, though they just bounced off.
Meanwhile, the three detectives and Peter formed a line, and fired together at the demons. Ryan led the them, and they'd all checked automatic weapons out of the weapons locker. They had been smart enough to bring extra weapons. This helped make a dent in the demons; whenever a bullet struck one in the head, it dropped over dead. Soon the ground was littered with incubi, succubi, limpexes and more. Ryan took a hit to his chest, striking the bullet-proof vest, and Brittney had to face the same choice as Chloe, and not run over to check on him.
Instead, Marcia ran over to him and knelt down. He felt the pain, but was fine.
Peter was on the ground and focused his sniper rifle on demon after demon, keeping aim at the ones that would run over to try and protect Bartholomew. Any that went near Sarah dropped to the ground, dead. His aim was as good as Brittney's.
Meanwhile, Janice was making use out of her witchcraft, casting protection spells to counter succubus or incubus charms alike. She also worked to cast other protective bubbles around people, though she didn't have enough time to protect everyone.
Many of the fairies were falling to the ground, and Marcia took a hit to the head that knocked her out. Ryan, Peter, and George kept shooting, making sure no demons were able to ravage her unconscious body. Marcia ran out to retrieve her.
Harper's job was simple yet complex. She had to keep trying to see what spells Bartholomew was trying to cast and call them out so Chloe could counter them with her magic. This was tiring work, mentally, and eventually, she closed her eyes.
"Ileana! Help us!"
Ileana's ghostly form appeared, and she was able to draw strength from it, and continue seeing. Meanwhile, Sarah, Alec, and Conner fought tooth and nail against Bartholomew physically. He was almost a match for the three of them.
Brittney stood back, firing shots at his head. He was able to dodge around them, but this distracted him and Conner was able to get in a good blow to his left side. Then Sarah lunged forward and bit at his throat with her long, jagged teeth. He knocked her away but not before she'd torn out a good chunk of flesh.
Bartholomew screamed out in pain and anger and threw out his arms. Long tendrils came out, snaking through everyone present. Those hit by the tendrils collapsed to the ground. Soon, everyone was passed out except Alec and the demon.
"It comes down to us," Bartholomew said.
Alec's mind was whirring. Were they dead? Had he led all these people to their deaths? He didn't know, but he knew he couldn't focus on that right now. It was him and Bartholomew.
He lunged forward, attempting to sink his teeth into the demon's neck. Bartholomew, who was bleeding profusely already, threw out an arm, and his wing caught Alec and knocked him over. He got back to his feet, dizzy.
"No!" Alec said, as Bartholomew trundled at him, preparing for the kill. He ducked out of the way, and tripped over a body. It was Brittney's. He fumbled around and grabbed her hand gun. He took aim, fired, and the bullet struck Bartholomew in the head. The demon teetered, faltered, and then fell over.
Alec stood, staring at his body. It shriveled in death, and then became nothing more than dust. It blew away in the wind. Suddenly, as if on cue, the rain stopped and the moon peeked out from behind the clouds.
Akain
appeared. He approached Alec and held out a hand. "You did it," he said. "You killed him."
"Not in time," Alec said. "He murdered them all." His eyes went to the group of fallen people; the fey, the police, Janice and Peter, and his friends. His family. His eyes stung with unspilled tears.
"He killed them! This is your fault! I'm going to kill you!"
"Now now," Akain said. "Let's not be hasty. You have done me a great favor, you've done all of Las Vegas a great favor. The people in this city owe you a great debt. In turn, I owe you one. Now allow me to repay it."
He extended his arms, and just like Bartholomew, long tendrils extended. Unlike Bartholomew's, which had been dark, these were made of light. Slowly, everyone who had fallen woke, their eyes blinking against the light of the moon, which shone for the first time in weeks.
The rain had stopped, the demon was dead, and Alec knew it was time to heal. There was a lot to do still; there was the crooked councilwoman running for mayor, there was Conner and Harper's relationship to deal with, and most importantly, there was a city to clean up.
Right now, though, the important thing was that Afterlife was alive to fight another day. He looked across the sea of awakened faces. He found the Afterlife team banded together, patting each other on the back and being glad they were alive.
"I owe you something," he said, his voice strong and carrying. "I owe you people more than you can ever know. Before Afterlife, before I met you, I was nothing. I was nothing more than a man floating through the world, trying his best and often failing. You gave me purpose. You gave me love. For that, I will be forever grateful."
"Alec," Harper said. "We love you too."
And he saw in her eyes something that meant more than anything else ever could. He saw that it didn't matter what happened between her and Conner. It didn't matter if they moved in together, if they got married, if they had a handful of children, and grew to an old age together. It didn't matter because he saw that she loved him, and that was the only important thing in the world, and he would hang onto that for dear life.
Make it Rain (Afterlife Book 10) Page 11
