Aftermath: Immortal Brotherhood (Edge Book 9)

by Jamie Magee

  Higher and higher the pulse of his soul grew...

  Reveca had felt the draw of a spell pull on her before, it sucked, sure enough. But it never made her feel like the good year blimp riding along on the mercy of a wayward push of air to get her where she wanted to be. For the most part on her arduous journey, King had been quiet. She’d felt his vim gently coast against her, the protective blanket of it, but every time she glanced his way and silently questioned the agony in his eyes he’d look away. Mostly he was tracking the ravens that would take flight only to land further down the path she was on. Other times she could tell his senses were stretched in the direction she could feel the dark core of a spell in play.

  The other part, what some less cynical people might call the white magic, was harder to discern. Reveca felt like it was everywhere not sketched out in some burning pentagram through the next clearing. Unnerving as hell.

  Now Reveca was within mortal sight of where her sister was, that is if mortals could see through illusion spells. Reveca had hesitated, only to question why she had never picked up on this band of energy at Scorpio’s place before. It was structured enough for her to know this was not new. Taking the positive, she assumed her power had grown since the last she had visited here, enough that Scorpio’s backwoods witchery was no longer a shield when it came to the likes of her.

  King had done far more than hesitate. Before Reveca could go any further, she had crashed into a wall of his vim, vim she was not powerful enough to push through.

  “For fuck’s sake,” she groused. “Let me through.”

  “Not a good idea, not now,” King said carefully, instantly regretting the finality in his tone. It was all Reveca needed to fuel her ‘oh no you didn’t’ take on life in general.

  “The fucking ravens are all for it, what’s your issue, Pricus.”

  “Enough with the Pricus shit,” King said pulling her flesh against him. “You want me to show you who I am? Right here, right now?”

  A burning blush shot through Reveca, she felt her soul pick up a throbbing rhythm. Any other time she might have melted against him and been nothing more than a desperate woman chasing her next gasm. This barrier bullshit was starting to show some perks! She may not feel swooned, but she could feel his power, power he had assured her more than once belonged to her.

  With a greedy grasp, she sucked all she could into her soul with one massive pull. Then she ran. Smacked right through King’s barrier, then through the illusion wall that was hiding a log palace. Her cackle of laughter echoed hauntingly through the woods. She laughed so hard she bent forward and braced herself on her knees.

  It felt fucking good to laugh. To be able to one up someone when they were looking at you like you had already lost the game. Reveca hadn’t lost shit. She was just catching her wind, as far as she was concerned anyway.

  The look on King’s face, how grave it was when he stepped through the same barrier only made her laugh all the harder. The big bad dark angel, said to be rising god, had the willies in the swamp. Now she had seen it all.

  “I told you,” she said catching her breath. “The ravens were in agreement.” It was as close as she would come to admitting that even after all this time, her coven, more importantly, her ancestors still reigned over her. She wasn’t going anywhere tonight they didn’t care for her to go.

  Never a fan of Reveca’s dare King wasted no time gripping her arm once more.

  “Whoa, chill the fuck out, Romeo. I believe you now. It was King’s vim I jacked, sure enough.”

  King cocked his head to the side questioning why she was still referring to him in the third person if she truly did understand he was legit. “We need to work on this,” he said glancing between them. “The rest can wait.”

  This. By this did he mean that it felt like he was a million miles away? What in Creator’s name did he think she was trying to do? Hang with Saige for the fuck of it? Hell no, they did not roll that way. Saige was needed to break the air around this swamp. Set Reveca free and well on her way to finding that fucking blade before Toril came like a thief in the night she promised to be.

  “Follow my lead,” she said as she vanished then appeared at the front door. It was a foolish move to make, a bit boastful. An error she recognized right when the wave of dizziness that was screaming ‘you’re runnin’ on E’ washed down her. There was nothing she could do about it but charge forward.

  King had reached her side right as she gathered her senses of the place she was in. There were scents that bent her mind crisscrossing all over the place. Scorpio and Dust, check they’d been here. But Reveca’s niece, Skylynn? That chick should still be honeymooning it up with the jackass that was all about solving his own issues. Then there were traces of the rest of her coven, the youngest generation. Reveca sneered, sure they were all there to learn—see this witch, don’t fuck up like her.

  Well, then sweet babies, let me show you how a real witch kicks adversity in the balls, Reveca thought as she moved toward the stairs.

  King appeared before her. She expected to lose every step she had gained and find herself right back on the shore of the swamp. When it didn’t happen, when she saw the rage in King’s eyes, the roaring cackle of hers was daring to rise. Instead, she chose a cooler front. “In agreement,” she said again glancing to the raven at the top of the stairs, the two others landing beside it.

  When King could do nothing to stop her, he decided to take it out on the decor, BOOM, SMASH. He even yelled her name.

  Reveca sneered. “I’ll help you jack up the crib as soon as I’m done.”

  More banging. An outright hurricane was put before Reveca by King. Still, she walked through it untouched. Reveca was amused by it all. She hoped it scared the shit out of Talon and Saige. She could just imagine their faces. Her day had finally turned around, what was meant to destroy her would be her salvation, mark her words she was going to make it fucking happen!

  “Are you fucking kidding me,” King roared when he tried to whoosh by her, to meet the dangers before her head on, most assuredly, but was blocked by an unseen force.

  Every other word he tried to yell was muted. Reveca halted and gave him a once over; maybe he was not her King, but a very nice rendition. Faulty as ever. At least, that was what she was hoping for, if this house was rigged by Scorpio’s jacked up magic she may not be laughing when she finds Saige, and she can’t hear her. Those experiences are worse than the nightmares where you speak, but no one hears you.

  “Let’s go outside and talk,” King implored glancing hastily toward the dark path Reveca was on.

  “King or not King, like everyone else, you are not on my level right now.” Her words assaulted King. He paled as he braced his hand on the banister. “I have a plan, it will prevail, if not what I see exactly in my mind, something better. It begins with my roots. Roots that have taught me to use sacrifice as a weapon a thousand times over.” She sneered. “Trust me, by now I have learned to play with the fire thrown my way.”

  It was hard to walk by him when she saw how troubled his visage was, but time was of the essence. She could pick up the pieces left behind once all was set right again.

  As Reveca rounded the corner to the last leg of hallway that she would have to traverse before coming head to head with Talon and Saige, she did her best to prepare herself for the fight before her. In general, her hopes were high, and mainly because the pair of them were so close. Neither of them was good company for any amount of time.

  In the beginning, it was fun for Reveca. Toying with people was her game, it passed the time. As the years went on it became more trying at times. She’d either have retracted passed accusations or amp them up just to make sure Talon and Saige were where she liked them—at each other’s throats.

  When they were just right, Talon was sure Saige was the devil and Saige thought the same of him, both of them despised the other enough to step up when Reveca needed them. It was a show of power, a show of control. There were times when they had
understood the game Reveca was playing, but by then, they were so invested in the roles she had created for them that the outrage never lasted long.

  By now, Reveca was sure there was nothing left of this humble abode Scorpio had hidden from her. King had made damn sure to break everything in his path. Reveca prepared the perfect undercuts when the others looked on at her and King with accusation.

  She stopped short on the threshold of the bedroom. It was pitch dark, but she could see the undisturbed room. For a split second, she doubted her senses once more. Then the ravens soared into the room, one then two landing at another doorway.

  Reveca pulled her shoulders back and charged on, expecting an office or sitting room, more than likely with a view of the battlefield, sound and magic proof—which would explain why no one had come to investigate the storm of her arriving with her mate.

  When she reached the door, she found it open, her eyes drug across the light cast on the floor then into an impressive bathroom. It was what she saw on the vanity that slapped her where she stood.

  There Saige was, in all her youth and beauty, with her legs wrapped around Talon like a fucking street whore, her arms were draped over him like she owned him. It was a sucker punch right to the gut. What ripped her heart open was Talon. She had kissed him a million ways, more glances than she could ever count had been shared between them, more touches and not once had he ever held her the way he was holding Saige, like she was the most delicate thing he had ever laid his lips on.

  Worse, worse than all that bullshit was knowing the core of their vim was on another plane.

  There were only certain lovers who could reach such a place with such ease.

  Her whole fuckin’ life was one way when she walked in this house, and now years were being flipped back in her mind, so many clues unseen, unquestioned moments lingering at the end of every fall out she had ever had with Talon.

  Reveca could not have stopped herself if she was in the sanest of mindsets. All that was left of her slammed her vim forward, its intent was simple, to destroy.

  There she fucking was fighting for her life, fighting to overcome bullshit she never stirred up on purpose, and this is what they chose to do? No wonder her family was turning on her, they had replaced her!

  As she watched Talon and Saige’s bodies flying apart and the rich vim between them fall back to earth, she set her mind to seeing this through. If she were to die, she’d die making those who had made a fucking fool of her regret they ever did.

  And then she’d come back and fucking haunt their ass for all of time!

  Shit just got real.

  Season Three: Volume Three

  Episode Twelve

  Chapter One

  Like every other course of November Scorpio’s life, each blessed mind clearing moment was followed by a nightmare, the kind of hell that tested and pushed him past any limits he might’ve had.

  Yes, Toril had uttered something about not loving her unless he was ready to fight himself. He’d like to think he was paying attention to such words. He remembered them, sure enough. He was also pretty sure he had a passing thought about the matter. But he’d be damned if he took them as seriously as he should’ve.

  The fear he had was amplified simply because he had already fought this phantom Toril was saying was his power or some shit. He had fought and lost, then spent the decades grieving for a family that was robbed from him. It took him centuries to get his life on the level; even then he was a sorry asshole waiting for when his time of glory would spin right back around to his place setting in life.

  It was easier to fight an enemy for the first time. In those battles, you go in with all you have and you never back down, because for all you know you are one punch away from victory, your opponent may have had a strong start.

  The second time, and every time after, you face the same enemy you go in with your ego flanking your right, your doubt flanking your left. The pair of them dual far more than you and yours. Most fights are won in lost in the mind of the warriors.

  Scorpio knew this—knowledge is not always power. Not when emotions are running wild! He was a fucking empath for Creator’s sake. Emotions were his gig.

  “Go, go!” he yelled at Toril.

  She may have had the power to manifest far ahead of where she was, but she had no idea what was there. Slamming into a cave wall would stun anyone.

  “Right, Right!” he yelled telling her where to go, the dead snakes had given her pause, more like a total freak out, she was not a fan! The idea so many were so close to her for so long had nearly made her puke.

  The mountain rumbled and growled as the coldest blast of air Scorpio had ever felt shot through the passageways. He was sure by now, no matter the outcome this shit was over, falling stones—any number of things—had surely destroyed the foundation of the spell.

  “Stop!” he yelled when Toril made it through the snake tomb. “Sacred. Ledge to the left if you can’t make it all the way across.”

  Every word he said was useless, Toril wasn’t listening to him she wasn’t doing anything! Scorpio took it as a sign to catch her then manifest her far from this mountain in general then figure out what the fuck to do next. When he reached her, he too stood frozen in shock.

  The gentle waters below were glowing and rising. Alone it would’ve been soul-seizing, with the figures of ancient ancestors emerging in watery images as they angelically moved higher and higher was terrifyingly beautiful. No matter how powerful you are, what you think you can or can not do, no fool disrespects ancestors. The ones before you who have seen more, done more, understood more. No, you bow, you humble yourself and pray you will be as great, or greater than the ones who came before you.

  Both Toril and Scorpio stood frozen against one another as the souls of lives long gone rose. Each time the mountain trembled and Scorpio was positive evil was breathing down his neck the arm he had around Toril stiffened pulling her even tighter against him. His mind may have been humbled, but the soul of the warrior in him was plotting his way. If worse came to worse, he’d toss Toril to the souls he honored then turn and fight.

  Toril’s hand rested on where he held her, in the insanity of the moment she was emanating calm, happiness. All her emotions struck Scorpio—these strummed even deeper inside of him. There was no question this female was majestic. Power and glory were not wasted, for her heart was forever humble to powers greater than her.

  It was finding himself lost in the wonder of her that claimed him all the further, evil was still at his back, glory at his front, the unknown hovering richly over him, but he felt as she felt. The souls rose and rose then without warning one reached for them pulling them into the haunted waters.

  The footing was solid. It was entrancing, more strangely it was empowering, step-by-step they moved across the bridge of souls, once on solid ground, the pair of them turned then took a knee. The humble feeling that washed over them stilled time, calmed hearts and empowered the majestic strengths within.

  All short-lived.

  The blast of cold from the other side nearly knocked Scorpio down, his heaving breaths were a fog, worse yet he could feel the phantom draining him. The wicked nausea turning his gut as his head felt like it was splitting open were a sure sign it was.

  He roared then grabbed Toril, a beat later they were outside the mountain in general. If he had the choice, he would have manifested her to a distant island and hide out for all of eternity. He didn’t. The long and short of it was he had to honor the ground he was on, face his past, then, if he was still standing finish what he started in New Orleans with the gray witch, mother to his outlaw family.

  “Run,” he whispered. Zapping around these lands would be an insult to the tribes that had roamed before. The spirits of nature would mistake them for evil and drain all the power they had gained. Instead, they had no choice but to move with stealth and grace. Their speed quieted the forest around them, but no real alarm stung the air.

  Scorpio refused to lead.
He wanted to be the first the phantom came upon when it followed them. With his hand touching the small of her back every other second he guided their supernatural sprint through the lands, all the way to the most sacred patch. A clearing that had honored the Gods for generations. Where the spirits were rich and just.

  It was a wild choice. One that Scorpio didn’t make until the river of souls. He was betting on his ancestors fighting for him, with him. And if he failed, it would be failing to protect his queen the way the tribes had done so long ago.

  Halfway into their journey the earth trembled, and the night air nearly turned to ice. There was no question the phantom could and would travel far faster than the pair of them, still, keeping to his humbling pace was the card Scorpio played, even when Toril glance back at him like he was the biggest fool she had ever crossed.

  Finally, they’d made it.

  The clearing was far more overgrown than he remembered it to be, but he’d know the large surface stone anywhere. It was stretched across a thirty-foot opening between two massive trees that were just as wide. Some in his time were sure this was the passageway the Gods used to enter the world. More than a few claimed Scorpio had fallen from the gateway at the peak of the trees.

  Scorpio had no say on the matter. He had stopped to rest on his long journey once he found his way into this world, sleep stole him and when he woke a holy man was standing above him. His resting place just happened to be between the roots of the tree. It was warm, safe from predators all simple choices that had led the boy he was there.

  Even when he learned the words of his people and explained the holy man who had become a father figure, their opinion on where he came from never wavered.

  Tonight, Scorpio wished they were right. He wished all it would take to bring him back to his true home was to scale up these trees. Toril would’ve loved his home. There she would not have been taunted with so many uneasy emotions, and restless thoughts and choices. She would have had the peace to rise to the divinity Scorpio’s mother was. They would have ruled an ageless era full of spiritual growth and balance.