“I appreciate your concern,” I said, turning a grateful smile to the women. “But I’ve got this.”
“Donna, if you’re even considering keeping this guy around, I will disown you.”
I turned to my mother with a wide smile.
“Oh, you won’t have to worry about that. Clyde here is gonna be a little busy.”
“B-b-busy? On the contrary! It seems you’ve ensured I will certainly not be getting busy!”
“I said you’d be busy, not that you’d be getting busy,” I corrected. “How many heirs do you have, Clyde?”
“I don’t even know. I lost count long ago.”
He actually had the audacity to puff out his chest as he spoke.
“I see. You know, Clyde, it wasn’t easy growing up without my dad around. It’s not something I’d wish on any child. In fact, I kind of feel as if it’s my duty to help some of those kids become reunited with their father. What do you think?”
As the realization of what I was suggesting hit home, Clyde gasped and strained at the bindings.
“Surely you wouldn’t!”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“Can we…” he swallowed hard. “Can we talk about this?”
“You know what, Clyde? I’m kind of tired of talk. It’s time to take action,” I said with a snarl.
“That is completely unfair!”
“Is it? But it’s not unfair to impregnate an unsuspecting woman, throw her life into discord, and leave her with a child she may or may not have the ability to take care of? No, I think it’s time you step up and do the right thing.”
He turned desperately to Desmond.
“Warrior! Are you not required to destroy me?”
Desmond’s grin was predatory.
“I’m required to keep the likes of you from wreaking havoc in my realm and I’m inclined to agree with the lady.”
It was pretty obvious Clyde wasn’t expecting that answer. His eyes turned to everyone in turn, but as the outer circle closed in, it became clear that no one had any objection.
“Um, you guys don’t have to stick around for this part,” I said, mostly to the men present. “I just need the coven to take over the binding triad.”
Seth handed the binding cord to Louise and tapped Jem on the shoulder. The latter was looking slightly confused and more than a little green as he followed the others out of the glade.
“Now then,” I said as I took the lead position in front of the altar, “let’s start with a basic tracker and we’ll move on to the Maury special.”
“Donna, please, please, please reconsider, love…” Clyde begged.
“Don’t you dare try and butter me up,” I warned.
“That’s right,” mom scolded. “This Rose has thorns.”
I let out a snort, but Louise groaned.
“So that’s where you got it.”
“Got what?”
“Your sense of humor,” she answered, rolling her eyes. “If you can call it that.”
Chapter 13
The End Begins
I can’t say that I was too happy with the idea of sending Donna’s sire back to the realm. This was not the same as allowing Discordant anomalies like Bogie and Mort to live. Fa Be’yoh was still an active threat to Order. Sure, his house had been disgraced and it was not likely that any of the incubi in his stable would be offered any lucrative assignments, but they would still be in operation and it took everything in my power not to voice my objection.
Ultimately, I had to agree with the decision made by the Rose women. Removing the incubus from Donna’s head and nullifying his power served not only to dispatch a dangerous Discordant. It also took a lifetime of strain and pressure from Donna’s shoulders, and we were going to need all of her focus on the impending war.
As everyone filed out of the clearing, I hung back, just outside the protection of the circle. It wasn’t that I had no faith in the power of the witches, or Myrna for that matter, but a Discordant’s greatest weapon could be its tongue. I wanted to be on hand should Clyde try to talk his way back into Donna’s heart.
I needn’t have worried.
Hell hath no fury might be something of an understatement, though I cannot truthfully admit any sympathy for the incubus. The women had barely ended the tracking spell and already it seemed he was being pulled in several directions by past paramours. I turned away, intending to regroup with the others on Myrna’s patio, but a few feet away, Seth stood in the shadow of a large pine.
We had much to discuss and it would be hypocritical of me to expect Donna to resolve all of her personal emotional issues before the battle began while I left my own unresolved. Yet as I opened my mouth, my own conflicted state left me dumbstruck.
“Walk with me?” Seth’s own voice was quiet, cracked, and filled with just as much uncertainty as I was feeling. With a nod, I followed him through the woods, staying within the boundaries of Myrna’s property, but away from where the others were gathering. The silence stretched on between us, but I was powerless to do anything about it. At the edge of the tree line, but still distanced from the others, he stopped.
“I’m um… I’m sorry,” he said, just loud enough for me to hear. “We didn’t get a chance to finish talking earlier, but I just wanted to let you know that I… well, I’m aware that I’ve been acting like an ass and I have no excuse.”
“No, Seth, I should be the one apologizing. You had every right to be upset,” I said, daring a glance at him. “I should not have hidden the truth from you. I thought I was doing the right thing. Obviously, I was mistaken.”
“Perhaps,” he said with a shrug, turning away from my gaze under the guise of studying one of Myrna’s creations. “Or perhaps everything truly does happen for a reason.”
At that, I raised my eyebrows and let out a chuckle. “You sound a bit like the Creator,” I chided.
“That was a bit cliché, wasn’t it?” he said with a smirk. “Of course, don’t tell the Creator I said so.”
“I’m rather sure it already knows.”
“Point taken.”
“But you were saying?” I prompted.
“What I was saying is that maybe you were right to keep the truth from me,” he said, turning back to look at me with eyes narrowed in thought. “I was upset, yes. I felt betrayed and hurt that you found me untrustworthy, but had you told me when you discovered the truth… Well, I can’t rightly be sure that I would have taken the news any better back then. Given the state I was in…” he trailed off with a grimace. “All I’m saying is that I don’t want there to be any more strain between us. I’ve grown to accept who I was. Who we’ve always been, for that matter. And perhaps in time, I might… Well, let’s just get through the war. If we survive that, we’ll have all the time we need to figure out the rest.”
“I think that’s a solid plan,” I said and meant it, feeling at least one immense strain lifting from my shoulders. I didn’t have to say much more as Seth felt the same shift in my emotional state. “However, we really should be preparing for the inevitable,” I said as the ground rumbled again. “I don’t know how much longer we have.”
As if to answer, the ground gave another great pitch and I turned back toward the clearing. I thought perhaps Clyde had given the witches a fight, but the women were already making their way out of the woods.
“That one wasn’t us!” Donna called as they filed past us.
“Come on,” Myrna said, beckoning us to follow her back to where the others congregated. “I’ve got a bad feeling that was just a warning shot.”
“You don’t think…” I began, but Myrna cut me off.
“I won’t know what I think until I have a chance to get to my glass.”
“Well, it’s a good thing we’re already gathered,” Louise said loud enough for everyone to hear as we came up on the group. “We should start planning.
“Eurgh! Do we have enough time for a nap at least?” Donna asked. Although she looked relieved to be shod of the
incubus, there was no denying the whole experience had taken its toll on her. “I’m pretty much wasted after that last spell.”
“Go lay down, dear,” Myrna told her daughter in a soft voice, ushering her into the house before turning back to the rest of us. “There’s tea on the kitchen counter and something stronger in the cupboard over the sink for those who need it. You’re welcome to stay in the garden or come inside, but I’d appreciate it if no one left just yet.”
I was inclined to agree with Myrna, though I didn’t think we really needed the consultation of a divining glass to know what was happening. The pieces were falling into place and there was no time left for strategy. We needed an endgame and we needed one before Chaos could play their hand.
“There’s still the imbalance created by the soul walker’s death,” Harry reminded us. Though I was reluctant to take stock in the game of numbers, I could not deny that Myrna had presented compelling evidence that Blackbird was not immune to the very real effects of such superstitions.
“I don’t think we have to worry about that,” Seth said with a thoughtful frown. “I’ve got a strong feeling that we’ll have the balance we need to have a fighting chance against what is coming. But I’m afraid I can’t shake the feeling that it is going to come at a cost.”
“Agents of Order have sight now?” I asked, but kept my tone light as not to put any strain on our relationship. This was not the first time that Seth had made odd and cryptic comments. I wish I could have easily dismissed his feelings as nothing more, but even I couldn’t deny that what was once black and white was no more.
“I’m beginning to wonder,” he said with a small, strangled sound. “I’m not having visions, exactly,” he clarified, “but these gut feelings have been coming more and more frequently and I have to say, I’ve never had intuition that was quite this… insistent.”
“You ain’t the only one,” Harry added, but shrank as everyone’s eyes turned to him. “I mean, I’m not claiming any psychic mumbo jumbo,” he amended.
“But something told you to give Donna that book of spells,” Betty prompted.
Harry just shrugged. “Eh, mighta just been one of those things.”
“Yeah, but I think we all need to acknowledge that too many of these things have been happening to write it off as a statistical anomaly,” Eller noted. Turning to me he added, “Didn’t you have a vision not too long ago?”
“Donna had a vision that she seems to think I had a hand in,” I corrected.
“Yeah, see; methinks the Warrior doth protest too much.”
“Excuse me?” I turned to where Bogie was standing, still wearing the ridiculous getup of the high priest. “What does that mean?”
“Des, you ain’t foolin’ no one,” he said, shaking his head and sighing as if I was an errant child. “That vision were your vision, not Donna’s.”
“Regardless,” I started, but before I could formulate a protest, the ground tremored once again and I couldn’t help but wonder if we’d actually headed off the outcome that everyone thought I’d envisioned. Or if we had, were we just making way for something worse. In fact, I had a very strong feeling that the war was no longer coming. It was already here.
Were it not so disturbing, I might have laughed at the irony of having a strong gut instinct in the midst of protesting my ability to do so.
“I hate to say it, but I should have expected the quakes.” Betty looked up from her phone with a frown. “The rally did no good. The council gave Down to Earth the go ahead to move back within the city limits earlier today. These quakes are just gonna get worse.”
“Speaking of Down to Earth Energy,” Seth turned to me. “I’d nearly forgotten. I was able to get to the fracking records earlier. Does the name Astor Roth mean anything to you?”
“Astor Roth? No. Should it?”
“Astor Roth is the name of the head of the fracking company. It just seems familiar for some reason, but I can’t put my finger on it.”
“Ah, seriously?” Bogie said with a wince. “Astor Roth? Astor Roth? How is that not obvious to yous guys?”
“How is what not obvious?” I asked, but rather than simply answer, Bogie stared at me so hard that it would not surprise me if his already bulging eyes didn’t fall out of his misshapen skull.
“Astor Roth, Des! Ajhtyraeth! Geez! Could it be any more obvious? Somethin’ like fracking is right up Ajhtyraeth’s alley.”
I’ll be damned if the little runt wasn’t on to something. There was no question in my mind that the connection between fracking in Blackbird and the rise of the Discordant activity was not coincidence. Until now, though, I’d had no way of proving the connection. Ajh being behind this made sense on many levels. Unfortunately, it didn’t make the job of defeating the Discordant any easier. The ruler of the demons was no slouch, despite having dominion over some of the lowest creatures on the Discordant hierarchy.
The ground below us gave another violent pitch. I was about to use this to punctuate the fact that we needed to begin putting a plan together, but as I took my breath, Seth collapsed to the ground, clutching his head in his hands.
“My god, Seth! Are you okay?” I asked as I dropped to my knees next to him.
“Eurgh! Give me a moment,” he groaned, sitting up slowly. “Do you feel them?”
I had no idea what he was talking about and started to say as much, when I realized he was not speaking to me. Nai had her hands over her ears and a pained expression on her face.
“Kinda hard to miss,” she hissed, falling to her knees and looking as if she was about to become physically ill.
“Please tell me this isn’t…” I began to ask, but just as quickly, I shut up. Though I did not have the same sensitivities as Seth and Nai, I felt them as well. Discordant, by the thousands, were flooding into Blackbird. There was no longer time to plan. The barrier beneath the mill had opened.
“Anyone got the time?” I heard Myrna ask behind me.
“Midnight,” Eller said with a snort. I didn’t even have to ask what that had to do with anything.
Midnight.
Happy Halloween, Blackbird.
The battle for Blackbird is upon us. Will Order prevail? Or will the Discordant rise again. Find out in Frack You, the final installment of the Rise of the Discordant series!
Coming in 2016!
About the Author
Christina McMullen is a science fiction and fantasy author who prefers to put a nontraditional spin on these two beloved genres. All of her books are available in digital format worldwide through Amazon’s markets. Paperback copies of select titles are also available through most retailers.
Christina also maintains a blog called Vampires & Robots, which offers book reviews, amusing looks at both the past and future of technology, and insights on social issues as they pertain to science fiction. She currently resides in Texas with her husband and their four legged children.
For more information on new releases, upcoming projects, contests, monthly free book giveaways, or discounted book promotions, please consider following Christina on Facebook, Twitter, or you may also send her an email at [email protected].
Acknowledgments
Thank you for reading Friends without Benefits, the fourth book in the Rise of the Discordant series. If you are inclined, please consider leaving a review. Where you leave it is entirely up to you, but preferably somewhere on the internet and not scrawled across a restroom stall somewhere off the interstate. (Though seriously, I appreciate and welcome all feedback.)
Thank you once again to everyone who took an early look and providing me with helpful feedback. I am forever grateful.
As always, my husband, Jason, continues to provide more support than I could have ever asked for. In addition to putting up with me forcing my early drafts onto him, there is usually some additional oddity that he is unaware he has contributed to. This time, his decision to sign us up for pottery lessons allowed me to add the part where Myrna comments on the impuriti
es in her clay.
And again, thank you very much for reading!
Friends without Benefits (Rise of the Discordant Book 4) Page 17
