by Lilly Pink
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Olivia
Olivia was trying to enjoy the news that she was going to be a mother, but she couldn’t get her mind off the fact that Diocholos was still out there. She knew that they had not heard from him and the Diochantis for the last time.
“What’s wrong, babe?” Greg asked her.
His voice was groggy from sleep. They both laid in bed, it was early and the sun had barely broken the horizon, but Olivia struggled to sleep as she worried about everyone’s safety. Greg gave her a small squeeze and kissed her forehead lightly.
“Just thinking about the fact that Diocholos is still out there. You know he’s planning something horrible.”
Greg pulled her even closer to him and Olivia pressed her face against his chest. “Hey, we will figure it out, okay. We have done a pretty good job against them so far and I am sure we can fight them off again.”
Olivia nodded, but she wasn’t so sure. Sitting around and waiting for their enemies to attack or turn the world into total chaos didn’t seem like such a good idea to her.
“Now, let’s try to get some rest, okay?”
“Okay,” she replied, and she lifted her head to give Greg a quick kiss before laying back down and trying to concentrate on the sound of his heartbeat underneath her to lull her to sleep.
“YOU WILL ALL BOW DOWN TO ME!”
Diocholos stood before thousands and used his powers to force everyone to kneel before him. The world around him was on fire, literally. Wherever the fire had gone out, nothing but ash was left. The Diochantis were dancing around a large fire, chanting and throwing potions or something into the blaze. Just beyond that blaze Olivia saw several members of her pride and their friends chained up, and being bled dry. The Diochantis’ chanting got lower, and the flames grew larger and larger.
“Hahahaha!” Diocholos’ laughter was evil. “Come forth my brothers. Join me and we shall rule this world like gods!”
The flames turned black and parted. From the center of the flames, demons emerged; hundreds of demons were crossing the barrier from hell to earth. Olivia looked around trying to find anything left that would help distinguish where they were. They were in a valley between two mountains and Olivia noticed what could be hot springs behind Diocholos.
“Bring them forward,” commanded Diocholos.
A few Diochantis entered a cave behind Diocholos and when they emerged they were carrying Greg and Olivia.
As she looked on, Olivia gasped, not sure how she could be seeing herself being pulled from the cave.
Diocholos forced them both to the ground to bow before him, then made them look up at him as he spoke.
“Before you both die I wanted to thank you for your help making all of this happen. Your pure blood was the key to our freedom,” he gestured out towards the other demons who had emerged from the fire, “but we have no use for you now.”
Diocholos nodded at the Diochantis who stood close by. Four of them raised their hands in the air and muttered something. When they pushed their arms out in front of them red sparks shot from their hands and Greg and Olivia’s bodies hit the ground, stiff and lifeless.
Olivia shot up in the bed panting and covered in sweat.
“Greg!” she screamed. Her chest was rising and falling rapidly as panic settled in her heart.
“Olivia, baby, I’m right here,” Greg had his arms wrapped around her in no time, rubbing his hand up and down her arm in a soothing motion. “It was just a nightmare. Everything is okay; you’re safe.”
Olivia shook her headed repeatedly while her tears fell and sobs were beginning to rack her body. She tried to speak, but her words were coming out jumbled between her sobs, making it hard to understand what she was saying. “You … they killed … everyone … dead … fire … demons … oh, God …”
Greg cradled her head in his hands and ran his hands through her hair. “Shh, it was just a nightmare. I’m right here. No one is dead.”
There was a knock at the door just before Marissa entered without waiting for Olivia or Greg to grant permission.
“Olivia,” Marissa rushed over to the bed and grasped one of Olivia’s hands in her own, “are you okay?”
Olivia shook her head because she wasn’t ready to speak yet. She was still too upset from her dream; it had felt so real.
“You were not dreaming, Olivia,” Marissa told her. “I saw it too. Somehow my gift allowed me to tap into your vision.”
Greg looked back and forth between the two women with his eyebrows drawn together in obvious confusion.
“Wait, Olivia had a vision?”
Marissa didn’t take her eyes off of Olivia when she answered Greg, “Yes, she did.”
“How can you be sure? Isn’t it possible that you just witnessed her dream somehow?”
Marissa looked Greg directly in the eyes when she answered again, “No, it was not a dream. My gifts wouldn’t have been triggered by a dream, nightmare or not. Looks like your mate has yet another ability.”
Olivia took a deep breath. She was forcing herself to calm down. It was one thing to lose it in front of Greg, but something completely different in front of Marissa, the leader of the panther-shifter. When Marissa looked back at her, Olivia found her voice.
“If this was a vision, then can it change? Is there any chance that we can change what I saw, Marissa?”
Olivia was desperately hoping Marissa would say yes. She was not willing to accept that the future she had just witnessed was written in stone.
Marissa squeezed her hands and offered a small smile which gave Olivia a little comfort. “No, the future is not written in stone,” she said. “The future is ever changing and evolving. Nothing is certain until it actually happens. Every small decision we make, every time we change our minds about something, the future gets altered.” Marissa’s smiled widened as she spoke and watched Olivia. “If I have learned anything since meeting you, Olivia, then I am pretty sure we are about to change that future before it can come to actualization. Hell, just by having that premonition that future had likely already been altered slightly.”
“We have to find a way to stop them,” Olivia said a little frantically. “If we don’t stop them, not only will it be the end of us, but the whole world.”
“Get dressed and come downstairs,” Greg told Olivia and Marissa. “I will wake Joseph, Edmund, Jane, and Jessica, and have them meet us in the kitchen so we can work out what to do.”
Marissa stood up to leave the room and said, “Okay. I’ll see you both down there in just a minute.”
Olivia just said, “Alright,” and got up from the bed.
Greg threw on some clothes and gave her a quick kiss, then he was out the door to wake up the others. Olivia got dressed and rushed downstairs. She hadn’t been able to tell when all of this was going to take place in her dream, or premonition. For all they knew right now, the Diochantis could be on their way to kidnap them all at this very moment.
***
“We have to find a way to stop them before they can capture any of our people.” Jane was in full leader mode when she spoke, the position she had been accustomed to holding in the Wilds’ pride for so many years, and no one questioned her whenever she went into her take charge mode.
“Marissa, is there a way we can use your gift of sight to figure out when the Diochantis plan to strike against us again, so we will be prepared when they come to defend ourselves?” asked Edmund.
Marissa nodded when she replied, “Yes, I should be able to find the window. With Olivia’s help, I can explore the premonition more thoroughly to narrow down a time frame. As long as they don’t alter their plans after that we should have a solid lead.”
Everyone began talking all at once, planning and scheming different methods of protection. Olivia couldn’t get over the feeling that their plan was not going to work. The Diochantis had already attacked them here and they would undoubtedly come better prepared the next time. Sure, they would have the benefit of kno
wing that they were coming this time, but that didn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things.
“I think we need—,” Olivia said. She was trying to make a suggestion but everyone was so busy talking over each other that they were not paying any attention to her. She stood up and leaned over with both of her hands placed on the table shoulder width apart. “Hey!” Olivia shouted, and everyone went silent and finally turned to look at her. “I don’t think we should just sit back and wait for them to attack again.”
Everyone looked around at each other except for Marissa who smiled knowingly.
“What do you think we should do then?” asked Edmund. “It’s not like we can run away, Olivia. They are sorcerers so they will always find us.”
Olivia hadn’t missed the slight sarcasm in his tone. “No, Edmund, I don’t think we should just run away,” she said with a bit of a sarcastic tone of her own. “I am suggesting we go after them before they come for us. Wouldn’t that give us a much better element of surprise?”
“And just how are we supposed to do that? We have no idea where to find them.” Edmund was still being smug and if he wasn’t shut up soon, Olivia was going to lose her patience.
“Did you miss the part where Olivia had a premonition?” Jessica spoke up. She was scowling at Edmund now, clearly not happy about the way he was speaking to Olivia. Olivia smiled at her and Jessica gave her a quick wink.
Edmund straightened up in his seat and looked around the table. Olivia did the same and realized Jessica wasn’t the only one scowling at the Forester’s pride leader. When she looked at Greg he was grinding his teeth and she could tell he was working hard to hold back his temper.
She sat back down and took his hand and squeezed. When he looked at her, she smiled and mouthed I love you to him. She loved how protective he was of her, but she also knew right now was not the time for them to begin fighting amongst each other.
“Well, no,” was all Edmund said in response to Jessica.
“That means she has seen where the Diochantis are,” Jessica finished once Edmund had finally responded to her question.
Greg squeezed Olivia’s hand and she turned her attention back to him. “Can you describe where they were for us?”
“Yes,” she said. That whole scene was permanently imprinted on her brain. Considering that it hadn’t stopped repeating through her mind since she woke up, Olivia was certain that she would be able to describe every detail.
“I can help with that too,” Marissa spoke up again. “Actually, I can just show you what Olivia saw since I was pulled into her vision.” She held out her arms. “You all just need to touch me while I recall the vision, and you will be able to see what Olivia saw.”
Everyone placed a hand on Marissa, except for Olivia. She did not need Marissa to show her a recap.
Olivia could see the fear on their faces when they saw the horrors of her premonition. When Jane screamed and yanked her hands away from Marissa, placing them over her mouth to cover up her escaped sob, Olivia knew that they had all just seen her and Greg’s murder at the hands of the Diochantis and their leader, Diocholos.
Olivia got up to hug her mother-in-law and felt Greg wrap his arms around both of them from the back. After a few minutes, they sat back down, but Olivia was still offered the comfort of her spouse and his mother who held one of her hands in their own.
Everyone had to take a few minutes to come to terms with what Marissa had just shown them before they were ready to discuss the situation further. Olivia wasn’t surprised, considering every one of them had been in her vision. Every one of them had been chained up while they were being drained of their blood, so that the Diochantis could bring dozens of demons to earth.
After a moment, Greg spoke up to get them back on track. “Okay, I know that the area they were located in was all on fire or burned to ash, but can anyone narrow down where it might be?”
“It looks familiar, but I can’t quite place it right now,” said Jessica.
“Marissa, can’t you just take us to the location like you did to find Jane?” asked Edmund.
“No,” she said. “I didn’t take anyone to the mountain where Jane was being held. I was able to see where they had gone with her, but it was our knowledge of the waterfall’s location that told us where to go.”
“And it was Joseph and the rest of the Whytes who actually transported us there, so that we wouldn’t have to waste time getting there,” Greg chipped in.
Joseph spoke up next. “Yes, and if we can figure out their location now we can send everyone there as well.”
“Alright,” said Greg, “Edmund and those of us from my pride can work together to determine the location in the premonition. We have the most knowledge of the wilderness in this area so we should be able to come up with something together.” Edmund, Jane, and Jessica all nodded and gave their agreement.
“Marissa, you said that you could use your sight to figure out a time frame for Diocholos’s plans. You, Olivia, and Joseph can work together on putting that timeline together, that way Joseph can get it relayed to the rest of the Whytes to let them know when they should be present for the move.”
Everyone uttered their acceptance of Greg’s plan. Olivia was just sitting there waiting to watch Marissa and Joseph get to work. She had absolutely no idea how she’d conjured the premonition in her sleep so she was sure that she couldn’t actually help them figure out when everything was going to happen.
She figured Greg just paired her with Marissa and Joseph because he knew that she wasn’t familiar with enough of their lands to pinpoint the location of Diocholos and the Diochantis. Therefore, when Marissa said she needed Olivia to help her, she was shocked.
“We need to go into your premonition and expand it. Basically, go backwards from where your vision started so that we can figure out when this is going to happen,” Marissa told Olivia when she looked at her like she was crazy.
“I have no idea how I had the first premonition; I thought I was just dreaming. I have no idea how to force one or if I even can.”
“Don’t worry about any of that, Olivia,” Marissa said trying to comfort her. “I can guide you. I will be able to tap into your psyche and guide us back to your vision and move us throughout it to find what we need.”
Olivia calmed down. She had witnessed enough to know that Marissa was very gifted and if she said that she could do this, then she could. Marissa took her hand to make the connection and Olivia closed her eyes and breathed in deeply to calm her nerves. She knew that this had to work for them to take out their enemy, survive, and basically save the world from Hell itself.
Within a minute, Marissa had pulled Olivia back into her vision, and then they were moving back from the time the premonition took place. They were going so fast that Olivia couldn’t make sense of what she was seeing, but Marissa wasn’t having the same issues. It felt like only a few minutes had passed when Marissa let go of Olivia’s hand and she was finally released from the hail storm of the vision.
Turned out that it had actually been more than a couple of minutes and Greg was hovering over Olivia with a worried look on his face. He brushed her cheek with the back of his knuckles and Olivia leaned into his touch. The comfort of his touch and love was just what she needed to calm down and get herself back together.
“Any luck?” Greg asked Marissa after he sat down and wrapped his arm around Olivia’s shoulders.
“Based on the changes in the climate we have about two weeks before Olivia’s initial vision becomes the reality, and they will take us captive about three days before then.”
“Okay, then we don’t have any time to waste,” said Greg in response. “We need to start preparing our attack right away.”
Olivia turned in her chair so that she was facing Greg full on. “So, you guys figured out where they are?” she asked her mate.
“Edmund brought in Nate and Glenn to help. Apparently, they like to go out roaming the pride lands regularly and are very familiar with
every nook and cranny. We were able to describe the location to them and they knew exactly where it was.”
“I would like to talk to them,” said Joseph, “so that I can take a few of my people and make a test run there. I don’t want the day we are going in to fight to be the first time I head out to find it.”
“I can help with that too,” said Marissa as she stood from the table. “Let’s go find Nate and Glenn and get this taken care of right away.”
Olivia was feeling a little bit better knowing that they had been able to get the information needed to take action and fight to save their families and friends.
“We can beat them,” she said looking up into Greg’s eyes. He scanned her face and offered her a smile.
“Yes, we can,” Greg paused and Olivia heard the hesitant tone in his voice.
“What aren’t you telling me, Greg?” Olivia asked him.
Greg sighed. “Don’t get mad,” he started. Olivia knew that whatever he was about to say was undoubtedly going to piss her off. She crossed her arms and looked at him with her eyebrow raised while she waited for him to finish. “I think you should stay behind with the children and the others who will not be going to fight.”
“Why the hell would I do that, Greg?” she asked. Her tone was a little sharp, but he knew she wasn’t going to like what he had to say before he said it.
Greg reached out and placed his hands on her shoulders and massaged her arms up and down. “Babe, you are pregnant.”
“I know that,” Olivia responded.
“I need to know that you and our babies are safe,” Greg said as he placed the palm of his hand against her stomach.
Olivia put her hand over his. It was hard to stay mad when she knew he was only trying to protect her and their unborn children because he loved them. “I know you want that, Greg. I want that too. We may have only learned about my pregnancy, but I already love our twins more than anything.”
Greg looked her in the eyes and she could see the hope written in his gaze. “So, you’ll stay out of the fight then?”
