by D. N. Hoxa
“You there. What are you?” I asked because there was nothing in him that my magic could feel.
He swallowed hard before he whispered.
“Warlock. I’m a Healer.”
“Tell me, could you heal someone now if you wanted?”
I smiled when he shook his head, the desperation clear in his face.
“And why is that?”
“Because I…”
The man’s voice broke. I hated this melodramatic bullshit but waited patiently for him to finish for the sake of the cause.
“I can't seem to…connect to my powers anymore.”
“And that by definition is human. Now, the potion does something with dopamine, blah, blah, blah—ask a doctor for details, but bottom line is, you drink the potion, you turn into a human. The superpower gets stripped off you. It’s gone. Poof.”
And then I see it as clearly as I see the brightness of the sun streaming through the curtainless windows of the office. Fear.
It was the most powerful stimulator, in my opinion. And fear was exactly what I was going to use.
“How old are you, anyway?” I asked the once healing warlock, and he shivered.
“Thirty-three,” he whispered.
Thirty-three. Everybody in the room could see that he looked fifty, maybe fifty-five. There was no denying it, and nobody even tried.
“Imagine yourselves if you refuse to work for me…”
Oh, shit. Not again.
“Us,” I amended, “and you are forced to take the potion. Because let’s face it, if Samayan gets his way, you won't have any other option but to obey his every word, as you do now. All you’ll be are humans, never again able to use magic, or shift, or step into the fairy realm. Ever. Also, you’ll die—three times as fast as Mother Nature intended you to—and forget about immortality.”
That was me bluffing. I had no idea what the potion did to immortals. No fairy that we knew had taken it so I wasn’t sure what the aftermath was for them. Still, they were too afraid now to question anything I said. Hopefully.
“The question is simple. Will you stand back and let him take complete control over all of you, or do you like yourselves just the way you are? Because I do—a lot.”
I grinned and shut my mouth after that to give them time to think this over. After all, the decision was a tough one to make. Which option sounded more terrifying: going against Samayan or staying exactly where they were? I didn’t need them to tire their worthless brains over it because I had everything already planned.
“Say that we agree to stop this nonsense. We agree to not let Master turn us all into humans,” Ned started, looking at the poor men behind me in disgust. They were a mirror to one version of his future. “How do you suppose we stop him? You said yourself that he has performed the Binding Ceremony.”
“Yes, and not just once,” I admitted.
“Three times.”
This came from Everett Hapsburg.
He had been as quiet as Gin throughout the meeting, so we all turned to him in surprise.
“Are you sure?” I asked him because, though I’d suspected, I hadn’t been a hundred percent sure.
“Yes,” Everett simply said, not bothering to go into details.
They seemed to be dead set on letting me do all the work so I started again
“Okay. The first one has to be Shaw.”
Shaw was the Nephil of the Council, and he looked like freaking sunshine. Everett nodded his head.
“Second, that Gordon chick. Carey. The one that got killed in a car accident.”
I’d heard about her through Edison the head-shifter. Everett nodded again.
“How? Doesn’t the Nephil need to stay alive for him to be able to control their power?” That had been the confusing part for me until now.
“Not necessarily. He keeps Shaw alive, his first binder. Gordon didn’t need to be alive for him to own her powers. He was strong enough. And by the third time, with another five-hundred-year-old Nephil Shaw was so eager to provide, Master didn’t even need his full approval to perform the Ceremony. He killed him on the spot, right after he took his power.” Everett flinched along with the rest of us when he finished the story.
Sonovabitch. Samayan was much stronger than I thought he was. The disgusting taste of fear invaded my buds. My fingers itched to wrap around the sun-shaped necklace under my black shirt. I needed to read about the Elemental’s power of the sky—and soon.
“What does that even mean?” Gin Thornton spoke for the first time. He seemed the most calm of all of us, but he did have a point. We stood silent for a couple of moments until Everett spoke again.
“It means that even if we gather all our forces, all of us in this room, we’re no match for him. He’s technically three times vampire and three times Nephil. It means we’re positively screwed already.”
Way to put our worst nightmare into words, Everett.
The shifter was right. Samayan was all that power. I was going to have an incredibly bad time dealing with him. But I was quickly forgetting the point. I needed them to promise themselves to me. I was going to take care of Samayan all by myself before they even expected it.
”I can do it. I can kick his vamp-Nephil ass for you,” I said and caused some brows to raise. Don’t know why since I’d said the same thing at the SKO conference in Dakota. “All I need from you is your armies. I need exclusive rights to command each of your armies without any prohibition.”
As soon as the words left my lips, Aaron stiffened visibly. I hadn’t told him exactly what I was going to ask, but then again, he hadn’t given me the time of the day to talk, either. Technically, it wasn’t my fault, and technically was good enough for me for now.
“You’re out of your fucking mind,” Amber Hawk said first, but I saw the desperation in her eyes. That, mixed with fear, made her look like she was on the verge of very big, very warm tears.
I stood up, my chair screeching when I pushed it back intentionally. One look at Aaron and he stood up, too. As did Jack. He made his way to the sups-turned-human and waved for them to follow.
“Well, it was a pleasure conversing with you. Good luck trying to stop your Master,” I said with a nod, and I headed for the door.
“Wait!” Everett called. “You gave me your word.”
It was a sentence filled with desperation. He meant Marie. Poor guy. But I really had given him my word, and no matter what had happened, I was going to keep it.
“Yes, I did. If you could follow me, please.” I could be polite when I wanted to. I had Marie waiting in a car downstairs at the entrance of the building where we currently were. His face almost broke into a smile.
“What about us?” Drean whispered,
I would’ve preferred they all started crying and begging me to stop instead of whispering, but I had to take what I could get. So I faced them again.
“I’m sorry, Drean, but I cannot promise you anything. I mean, we all know I’m the only one who even has a chance against Samayan, and all I’m asking for in return is exclusive access to your armies—and it doesn’t even matter how many people you have. But since you obviously don’t want to cooperate, my job here is done. I’m just glad I had the chance to show you what you really are up against.”
If they weren’t so shitlessly scared, my cheesy lines would’ve never worked. Lucky for me, they did.
“Fine.” Gin was the first to surrender. The others turned to look at him with not half as much as hate or judgment as one would expect. “I accept.”
And so I walked over to the table again.
“I’m going to need to know how, first,” Ned said.
I gladly let him on the secret that even I didn’t know yet.
“With the power of the sky. The power that only an Elemental can control. Don’t think you’ve heard about it. Kind of a secret,” I said, grinning.
“Do you guarantee that you can kill him?” Amber said next.
“I can guarantee that he will be out
of the picture for good, and I guarantee that I will die trying, if needed.” I could laugh all I wanted, but there were no options for me, either.
“It doesn’t look like we have much of a choice,” Ned almost whispered. Finally, they were seeing thing for what they were.
“Good. Now, I need a promise, checked with my lie detector, and then I hope I won't ever have to see your faces again.”
I waved for Aaron to join me again. He looked like he had just swallowed a bee.
“You have exclusive power of command over one thousand and three hundred warlocks that are subject of my Lord, Xean,” Gin went first again.
Xean Whitestone was a powerful warlock, a member of the Council and Gin’s boss. I turned to look at Aaron who had his brows narrowed as he started intently at Gin, until he finally nodded. Bliss.
The others looked at Aaron now as if this was the first time they were seeing him. I was proud of my demon.
“In the name of my Lady Accarea, I give you full command of the four hundred fey under her power to use until this situation is cleared out,” Drean said.
Immediately, the nymph with the bright blue skin and eyes, and long, silver hair, appeared in front of my eyes. She had seemed like a dream to me when I’d first seen her and the rest of the Council in the Fifth Dimension.
Aaron gave me his nod of approval again, and my eyes moved to Amber.
“In the name of Karina, mother of all…”
She couldn’t expect me not to roll my eyes at that.
“I give you the right to command her covens, which include seven hundred witches across the world,” she finished reluctantly.
And then there was Ned. He had his fingers wrapped around his mouth as he looked at me. I smiled in victory. He knew he had no other choice.
“What did you use at the conference?” he suddenly asked, catching me off guard. Veritas, the potion of truth I’d found in Illyon, came to my mind. I had given it to everyone in the Conference unwillingly.
“No matter what I tell you now, my answer will not change the situation. I don’t think you’re stupid, Ned.” And he didn’t think he was stupid, either.
“My personal army, the one that does not take direct orders from Master, consists of two hundred.” It was obvious he wasn’t happy about it.
“Oh?” I wasn’t really as surprised as I sounded. “And here I thought that you were Samayan’s favorite or something. He even gave a nymph more than he gave you! Maybe he doesn’t trust you as much as we all thought he did.”
That earned Ned a lot of suspicious looks from the rest of the group, too. I grinned brightly. This was getting better than I thought.
“The number might be small, but they are better trained than most,” he spit dryly.
One look at Aaron’s pale face and I nodded. “That’s good enough for me.” I turned to Everett last. “What about you, Hapsburg?”
“I have no interest in sharing my commanding privileges with anyone.” He raised his chin as if to show me who the superior was. I suspected he was the only one who didn’t completely buy what I was selling. Thankfully, I knew exactly which buttons to push.
“I bet you’d love for Marie to be with you forever and ever, wouldn’t you?” I whispered as I walked the two steps it took to get to him. His brown eyes grew wide. “I understand, Hapsburg. I promise you I do.”
The indecision in his eyes made me shiver a little. I needed his army most. He had thousands—and most were wolves. I took a step back.
“But it’s fine. I mean, if all you want is to see her, maybe talk to her for a couple of minutes, and then leave, go ahead.” Cheesy, pathetic lines, but I prayed to God they worked. “It was a pleasure doing business with all of you. I’ll summon you once I need you.”
When I left, Everett followed.
“You said that—” he started, but I knew exactly what he was going to say, so I cut him off. I remembered exactly what I’d told him, anyway.
“I said that you were going to meet her in person. Not take her with you. Just see her.” We descended the stairs because I needed to give Everett more time to come to his senses. The elevator would’ve gotten us outside too fast.
As soon as we reached the floor below, three of Everett’s men joined us, walking close by Everett’s shoulders. “You know, I can always tell Master what is it that you plan to do…” he whispered against my neck. I would’ve laughed if I wasn’t so desperate for his word.
“I suppose that’s true. But that would guarantee you never seeing your Marie again. I doubt you want that, Everett. I doubt that very much.”
He’d agreed to show up to the meeting, which meant he went right behind Samayan’s back. Why? For Marie. Of course he wanted to take her with him. He still loved her, and that meant I had him by the balls.
“I can't give you command over my men!” Everett hissed.
“Yes, you can. And you will. You know how I know? Because I would do the exact same thing.” And the truth was, I would. Without a second fucking thought, too, which just proved how vulnerable I still was.
When Everett’s desperate sigh reached my ears, I already knew I’d won.
“Fine. You can command my army if Marie comes with me.” The words I’d longed to hear. Such a beautiful, beautiful feeling victory is.
“Good,” I said grinning.
We walked outside on the streets of Manhattan. Across from the building we’d met in was a black Cayenne with tinted windows and the engine on. I eagerly rushed my steps to it and opened the back door. A very scared Marie looked up at me.
When Jack brought her to my room, I told her that she would be joining me in New York, but I didn’t tell her why. I should’ve probably told her to pack her things, too, because I’d known Everett was going to surrender, but I didn’t think clothes were going to matter that much to either wolf.
I stepped aside when I felt Everett behind me, and Marie’s eyes finally met his. A cry escaped her throat involuntarily, and she no longer looked afraid. Her cheeks were flushed, and she didn’t move a single muscle. Neither did Everett. It was like they were both frozen in time.
“You can take her now,” I said after clearing my throat. As soon as my voice reached their ears, they seemed to come back to life, and Everett shamelessly threw himself at Marie. He was probably kissing her, too, but his back was too big, and I couldn’t see.
“My God…” Everett whispered after a second, and I could swear that he was crying.
“Everett.” Marie’s voice was that of a little girl.
“Star, Marie isn’t for anyone to take. The Elders didn’t agree to this,” Jack whispered from behind me.
The Elders can suck it was what I wanted to say, but since Aaron was there, I held my tongue.
“This isn’t their call, Jack. I’m freeing her, and if anyone has a problem with that, they can come and talk to me.”
“She signed a contract,” he insisted.
“Did she give her word to the fey?” She hadn’t. I’d already asked her. Jack shook his head. “No? Well then, here’s a new job for you. Find all the copies of the contract Marie signed and burn them all. Then see if it exists as a digital copy, too, and delete the hell out of that. Kyle can help.”
Jack did not return my grin, but he didn’t say anything else and that was good enough for me, because I didn’t have more time to lose. I was dying to get to Arsenal.
“Star?”
Marie had gotten out of the car, her hand firmly in Everett’s, his arm around her shoulders. They were both smiling like the world was theirs. It was probably how I looked when Aaron hugged me, and I wasn’t really sure how to feel about that.
“Thank you,” Marie said, her heart on her sleeve.
“What I wouldn’t do for the greater good.” I bowed my head to both of them before I made my way across the street.
Aaron was soon by my side.
“Where the hell do you think you’re going?”
If it had been anyone else but him, he w
ould’ve had a broken nose by now. “I’ve got something to take care of. Meet me by the car in an hour.”
“I’m coming with you.”
I put my hand on his chest and stopped him from walking. “No, you’re not. I have to do this myself. Just meet me in an hour.”
“Star…” he warned but his heart wasn’t into it. He knew I always wanted him with me, and if I said he couldn’t come this time, it was because he really couldn’t.
“I’ll be back before you know it,” I whispered with a wink, and this time, he didn’t follow me.
***
The second the elevator doors opened, I felt Arsenal’s unmistakable energy. Goose bumps covered me from head to toe. Finally, I was going to find out where Samayan hid his pretty face.
I walked slowly in the quiet hallways as I spread my magic around the hotel. I wasn’t going to get caught by surprise—not when the morning had gone so well already.
Only when I felt completely safe from prying eyes and ears, I knocked on the door with the number 143 engraved on it. Not long after, Arsenal’s green eyes greeted me with his version of a smile. He backed up his wheelchair to make room for me to enter, and I silently closed the door before I followed.
“It’s good to see you.” I grinned, only because I was in a very good mood.
“Raven,” was his reply, and he threw in a curt nod, too, for good measure. He then turned his wheelchair, excruciatingly slowly, and went ahead to take his place by a window. I, on the other hand, being equipped with two fully functional legs and feet, walked over to the lush, white sofa and sat down.
“Do you have it?” Arsenal said without missing a beat.
I took out the small flask I’d stolen in Alcatraz and looked at it closely for one last time. I’d been a second away from giving it to Horatio the night before, when the craving for whatever potion had been in there became too much. I’d resisted, though, because this was too important to screw up. If Horatio could ever figure out what Samayan gave me, he would no doubt tell Aaron. I didn’t want that. And I needed the flask for Arsenal.
The man took it in his hands and studied it in awe for a few seconds. “What was in it?” he finally asked.
