by Tara Brown
He and Wyatt chuckle.
I swallow hard, look at them both, and turn and walk from the room.
“Screw that!” I storm to the bedroom and touch the star.
The lady is there, not Willow or Fitz. I sigh and sit on the hillside. She comes and sits next to me, “What’s wrong?”
I shake my head, “Nothing. Just having one of those days, weeks, years, lives. You know?”
She laughs, “I do not. I have had a wonderful life.” I glance at her funky style, “How come you have modern clothes now?”
She smiles, “I went out into the world and saw what is there. I am able to make myself appear how I wish.”
I sigh, “You are able to choose your form.”
She nods happily.
I reach up for the star to Fitz’s painting, “Tell Willow I said hi, if you see her.” I touch the painting and end up back in my room, alone.
The Dead
I wake with a jolt, sitting up and looking around the dark room. My eyes do their thing. I can feel something calling me. I slip from the bed and tiptoe down the long corridor in the castle.
I see light under a door. I open it, peeking inside. Liana, Ezara, Maggie and Ellie are there. They hold their fingers to their lips, “Come and see, sister.”
Ellie takes my hand, pulling me down the stairs to a room I didn’t know existed.
I can hear voices and smell evil when I get to the bottom of the stairs. We walk along a dark hallway, all of us hidden by the shadows except for our glowing silver eyes. We pass a mirror and I stop, looking at the five of us. We are like a horror movie. Ellie pulls me to a huge wooden door. Ezara turns the long handle and pushes the door open. No one turns to face us. They don’t see us, I am with the dead. It makes me invisible.
She looks back at us, “Look.”
I see hundreds of people milling about the basement. It looks like a huge tavern from a movie. It looks that way until I look harder. Then I see it.
The evil is coming off of the bleeding people lying on the bar. The men and women who are standing and talking all have black eyes and fangs. Some bend over, sipping from the dying people on the bar.
A woman laughs as dark-red blood drips from her fangs onto her pale skin. She points at the man next to her and shouts something. I can’t understand it, it’s not in English.
A man looks at me, but through me. I feel a shiver as suddenly the back of Constantine’s head is right in front of my face. He turns and looks behind him skeptically. The people stop moving and speaking when they see he is there. They drop to their knees, in respect of him as their leader, their maker. He holds his hands out and speaks in a language I do not know.
Ellie whispers the words in my ear as he says them, “Our time is coming brothers and sisters. We will have our rightful seat at the hand of the ruler; we just have to wait a bit longer. When he calls for us, we will go to him and this will end. We will no longer be ashamed of who or what we are. We will no longer conform to their ways, to HIS ways!”
The crowd cheers for him.
He looks back and shivers again. Several of the most beautiful people I have ever seen are pushed through the doorway and through me. They are men and women, all stunning and completely naked.
Constantine waves a hand, “Have your fun and your fill.” He turns and walks from the room, again through me. He pauses and looks on at the five of us huddled there, as if he sees us but I can tell he doesn’t. He waves a hand in the air, frowning.
The crowd goes nuts and drags the men and women into the room. Blood starts to flow as they are pushed to the tables and bar top. They join the other people as hungry fangs bite down on them.
I turn my face away, “I can’t watch this.”
Ellie lifts my face to hers, “Remember this, Rayne. Remember this, this time. You must try to.”
I nod, “I will.”
Tears pour from Ellie’s face. I know her heart is broken. She loved him more than the rest of us.
They blow on my face and suddenly I am sitting up in my bed. I gasp for air. Wyatt grabs my hand, “Go back to sleep.”
Something is nagging at me. I run for the picture, wondering if that was where my dream was. I look back at Wyatt and have a bad feeling I should bring him. I carry the picture to him, hold his hand, and touch the star.
As we are suddenly standing on the hillside, Wyatt looks down. He’s completely naked. He covers himself, “What the hell, Rayne?”
I shake my head, “Something is wrong. I don’t know what.”
He looks around the garden as the lady runs from the cottage, “HURRY! THIS WAY!” She screams at us. I pull my pajama pants off and drag my tee shirt down to cover my underwear. Wyatt pulls on my pink fleece pajamas I stole from Stella. He sighs as we run to the cottage. The lady grabs my hand, “The picture has been destroyed. You have to flee to the other side and never come back. If they trap you in here, you will never fulfill your duty.”
I grab Wyatt’s hand and touch the other star. Instantly, we are inside of the lady’s house.
He looks at me in the dark, “What happened?”
I shake my head, “I don’t know. It was a dream. I never remember them.”
“Where are we, I can’t see?”
I smile, “I can. Let’s go. We need to find clothes and shit, all over again.”
He kisses the side of my face as we walk to the door. I turn and see the way my eyes glow in the mirror. It all flashes back. I stop and stare at the silver eyes and suddenly I see.
The words leave my mouth in a whisper, “I was in the basement at Constantine’s castle. I was with my sisters. We walked down a hallway and saw a mirror like this one. Our eyes glowed like mine do. We walked to a room where hundreds of vampires fed on people. No, fae. They fed on fae. Constantine is not on my side. Taking the sword from my heart and his has made him a vampire again. He no longer has his humanity.”
Wyatt holds me tight to him, “What do we do?”
I shake my head, “Go to your parents’ house?”
He shakes his head, “No. The other families will have gone there. They may still believe they have to sacrifice you.”
I look down on the ring on my hand, “We need to go to the garden. We need to hide there until we know what to do.”
He kisses my head again, “We need an army.”
I open the door to the house and step out onto the sidewalk. The cold air hits instantly.
He wraps around me as I shiver, “We will find our army.”
I shake my head, “I don’t know if that’s possible. The antichrist has people doing it for him. I have no one.”
He spins me to face him, “You have me. You will always have me.”
I smirk, “Not that I’m not grateful, but babe, you are one man.”
He shakes his head, “I am more than that and so are you.” He nods behind me.
I turn and there is the blonde from the Air Angel Nazi party. She smirks at me, “Is he going to sprout his own wings this time, or will you be carrying him again.”
I scowl, “He’s only half, he doesn’t have wings.”
She winks at him, “He’s a Van Helsing. They’re angels. So he’s more than half and he has wings. He just needs to pop them the first time.”
I laugh and look at Wyatt. He shakes his head. The angel jumps at him, grabs him, and flies up into the air fast. I look up when he screams. She drops him and as he’s falling to the ground and screaming like a girl, huge white wings burst from his back. They catch a breeze and he shoots off to the right, still screaming. I gasp and then laugh. He lands on the road a hundred yards away. He looks back at the wings and then at me. A huge smile creeps across his lips. He jumps into the air, and of course, he is a natural instantly. He lands in front of me, “This is awesome.”
I roll my eyes, “Yeah, so are your extra-tight, pink fleece pants.”
The blonde angel lands next to him. He shoves her. She laughs, “That’s how you learn.”
His che
st is rising and falling as he nods, “Okay.” He is out of breath and still a bit pale, but I can see he is excited. She looks at us, “Ready?”
She jumps into the air without waiting for our answer. Wyatt smiles at me and jumps into the air too.
I follow his pink pants to the palace of the air witches. I don’t look down when we get there. I hate the whole cloud walkways thingy. I hate heights. I hate flying and I hate that they don’t have a regular house on regular ground.
The air witch looks at me, “Your thoughts are so harsh for an angel.”
I cock an eyebrow, “Stay out of my head.”
She bows, “As you wish, sin eater.” She looks cocky. Wyatt looks back at me. I am as always, stunned at the vision of his broad chest, muscles and tats. But adding the wings to the already beautiful man, is devastatingly sexy.
He gives me that grin that makes my stomach tighten, “You like them?”
I nod once. He laughs and struts over to me, “You having the same thought I am?”
I shrug, “Probably.”
His blue eyes light up, “You wanna have sex while we’re flying?”
I make a face, “We are not having the same thought. What is wrong with you? That’s disgusting.” I walk past him, forcing myself to pay attention to the pink pants, and not what I can clearly see outlined beneath them.
He’s worse than the Hamm-aconda.
The white priestess gives me a warm welcome, “Sin eater, we understand you are worried about your army?”
I look at her and smile, “I am.”
She takes my hand and walks me to the edge of the cloud floor. She points below at a hillside. There is a castle made of white on it. I don’t even understand how it isn’t something everyone has seen. It’s huge and obvious. She holds her hand there, “The reinforcements have been awaiting this moment for hundreds of years. Let Lucifer and his little minions gather, they will not touch you!”
She jumps, bursting wings from her back and pulling me with her. We float—well she floats, I dangle until we reach the ground. I drop to the grassy hillside in a heap. She lands like she rode a pillow down. Wyatt does the same. The white priestess gives me a grin, “I hope this is more to your liking.”
I nod, “Thank you.” I point upward, “Sorry about being a judgy whore about the cloud castle. It’s lovely, really.”
She scowls, mouthing the words judgy whore and walks to the castle.
“It is stunning. I wish Mona could see it. It is worthy of a Lord of the Rings reference and beyond what I am capable of retelling.
Wyatt picks me up off of the ground, “You suck at flying.”
I pull my arm from him, “I hate flying. I don’t suck. I just wasn’t prepared for that.” I look down, “You’re wearing girls’ pants, don’t make fun of me until you’re wearing something a little more appropriate.”
He laughs and pulls me along the grassy hillside.
When we get inside of the huge white walls, I am shocked in awe. I stare like a fool in every direction. Thousands of angels, witches, and other things I’m not even sure I can categorize, walk the small city. The castle is the heart and around it is a land like I have never seen before.
“It’s like Narnia.”
Wyatt sighs, “Just don’t say anything that makes you sound stupid, okay? These ones are going to have a hard enough time with the fact you’re actually only a girl from Vermont.”
I fold my arms across my chest and walk after the priestess. The people who see her drop to their knee and wait for her to pass.
She climbs the stairs to the castle with us following along.
When we get inside, I am desperate not to moan in awe at everything I see. It is incredible. The castle is like ivory or something. It glistens and shines at every angle. It’s so clean. It’s weird. Earth witches are not that clean. Air witches are the OCD witches of the world.
She brings us to the main court. A man turns and faces Wyatt and me. He smiles at us like he’s inspecting us. He turns to Wyatt, “Hello, Nephew.” He nods at me, “Niece.”
Wyatt beams, “Michael?”
He nods, “At your service.”
Wyatt gives me a look, “This is…”
Michael walks to me, taking my hand in his, “I am your Uncle Michael. Your parents were archangels with me, long before they fell.” He squeezes my hand, and I have a feeling he is rifling around in my head, like the nixie queen did but without the biting.
I smile, “Nice to meet you.”
He laughs, “You are a strange little thing.”
I scowl and he laughs harder. He looks at the priestess, “Our father has a sense of humor, I will give him that.”
The priestess nods, almost bowing. “I couldn’t agree more, my lord. She is unique, even to her former selves.”
He smiles, “Very.” He nods to several people lining the white wall, blending in with their blonde whiteness. “Show them to their rooms and speak aloud. They are not used to mind talking.”
The men and women curtsey and bow. Michael points, “They will show you to your room and get you clothed in something less, interesting.” He looks at the priestess. She snickers. I hate it when people snicker. The priestess gives me a look and I point at her, “Stay out of my head.”
She laughs harder.
Wyatt takes my hand, gripping it almost painfully and drags me from the room. “Stop, you are so rude. These are the people who want to help you. That’s a friggin’ archangel in there.”
I jerk my hand free, “You stop. Don’t get moody with me, Wyatt. I don’t like the whole mind-reading crap. If I want to think a bad thought, I want to be left alone to do it.”
He sighs and climbs the stairs. The ladies open the doors, and the men fetch clothing for us and lay it on the bed.
They leave instantly except for a lady and a man. I look at Wyatt, “You have to tip them.”
He laughs, “They are our dressers.”
“They hold the clothes?”
He covers his eyes with his hands and takes a deep breath, “They change our clothes for us, undress, and dress.”
I make a face, “Oh, uhm. None for me, thanks. I’m good.”
The lady looks confused. Wyatt smiles, “We can dress each other. It’s a custom where we are from.”
She backs out of the room with the man. They both look lost.
Wyatt cocks an eyebrow, “Are you being horrid on purpose or is it something else?”
I give him a look, “You don’t think it’s funny we have an army, instantly, as we need it? Constantine betrays us after all this time helping us?”
He gives me a look, “It was your dream.”
I nod, “I just think it’s meant to look—what is that word. Serendipitous. But to me it seems too coincidental.”
He smiles sweetly, “My pet. You are just used to being betrayed at every turn. It’s nothing.”
I can see the way he is speaking exactly the way Constantine does and I nod. He wants us to play the part until he can get to the bottom of it.
He walks to me, kissing me on the top of my head, “Let’s take a hot shower and then curl up in the crisp sheets. That bed looks divine. I’m exhausted, you’re exhausted, and we are both dirty. Let’s relax a little and know we are safe here. The air witches and the angels are made of love, they want us to win.”
I nod, letting him pull me to the shower. I can see the look in his eyes. He is being on his best behavior. He is being fake as hell. He pulls my shirt off and kisses my collarbone. I reach for the shower and turn it on. The white room is so clean, I swear every inch squeaks. The shower is a round tube like area with a huge nozzle above our heads. It rains down on us when we step in. Wyatt wraps his arms around me and kisses the top of my head, “I love you. That’s what matters. I’ve always loved you.”
I close my eyes and let it all wash off of me.
The whole thing is too big to sit in my brain. There has been a betrayal at every turn and an injury or death directly behind
it. In my heart I know that dream was off. Something isn’t right about the dream. Something isn’t right about Constantine betraying me.
I close my eyes and let the water wash me clean. I have to have faith; that is the thing I need to get through the rest. Faith that God will show me the answers when I am ready. I need to let go of the things in the past and move forward, and trust that God has my back in this. He wants me to win, he believes in me. That makes me believe it too.
Epilogue
I lay my head against the pillow but my eyes won’t close. I know I’m tired, but I have never gone to sleep on my own before. I lay there, wondering if I should count sheep.
I get up and sip the tea the ladies have brought me. It’s weird, smells like mint, but it tastes like oranges. So bizarre. I finish the cup and walk to the tall thin windows. I can see the moon and the stars, and I wonder if Constantine is looking at them too.
I hear something and move closer to the window as I hear it again, “RAYNE!”
I hear him scream my name but it’s far away. I open the window, but when he screams again it is quieter. I turn and leave the room. In the hallway it is loud again. I run down the hall, my bare feet slapping against the cold white floor. I run to the voice. There is a door made of glass and a white tree in a garden behind it. I open the door. My breath becomes frosty mist. I shiver as I walk into the cold garden. The ground crunches under my feet.
The white tree is beautiful, shimmering in the moonlight above. The garden is like an open spot in the middle of the castle. The tree is the only thing there. I touch a leaf on it.
“RAYNE!” I hear him like he is next to me.
“WHAT?” I whisper harshly.
“TURN AROUND!”
I spin quickly, seeing him in the reflection of the glass door. I scowl, “What are you doing in there?”
“You are in danger.”
I nod, “I know.”
He scowls. I can barely make out his face. “How?”
I take a step closer to the glass door, “I figured as much when I got here and saw the army. The angels and witches here are intense and it’s creepy the way they all look the same.”
