First And Last

by Stacey Kennedy

  Finn gave her a hard look. “It will not be safe for you here.”

  “Stop treating me like that,” Haven retorted. “I’m fine. I’m not breakable, you know.”

  “That is my youngling that rests in you. Mine to protect.” Finn’s voice came stern. “That is the end of it.”

  Haven scowled and complete anger filled her and ran through my blood then grew beyond measure. “Haven…no.” She didn’t hear me as rage consumed her. Finn’s eyes went wide just before she slapped him across the cheek.

  I instantly burst out laughing. Who knew she had that kind of strength. She was so tiny, so not usually a physical type of person. Yes, I resorted to violence when my anger overtook me but she never acted like this.

  “I told you to stop bossing me around, you big bully.”

  Without any hint of warning, she bent down and touched the ground, blasted him with her magic. To my utter shock, she moved the ground beneath him. He bounced around like a basketball, then went sailing through the air to crash against the wall—hard.

  My smile vanished.

  “Bloody hell, Haven,” Kyden shouted. “What have you done?”

  “What does it look like I’ve done?” she replied, quite proud of herself. “Big lug got what he deserved.”

  I ran over to Finn, who still hadn’t moved. I nudged him a little and gave him a shake, but he still didn’t move. “Haven, you knocked him out cold.”

  She nodded, unconcerned. “Being bossy—I warned him to stop doing that to me.”

  I laughed, unable to stop myself. This was so not funny, but then again, it kind of was. I reached out and gave Finn a jolt of Spirit to revive him.

  Instantly, he jumped to his feet and scowled at her.

  Haven’s loud shout echoed through the room, “Don’t ever do that again.” With that, she stomped off.

  Finn followed behind, more pissed than I’d ever seen him. Couldn’t really blame him there. Good grief, she’d become Haven the Avenger.

  Sabi interrupted my laughter. “I’m not needed anymore then, right?”

  “There’s no point for you to warn us of the summoning rituals, but you’ll need to let Nexi know once the demons have all regained their strength.” Quinney answered.

  “That, I can do.” She took Ryker’s hand and they left, too.

  “The Demon Lords will plot against you,” Misa said to the Council. “Once they have gained their strength. They’ll plot against you all. Seek to destroy the Otherworld.”

  Zia nodded. “It was an obvious assumption.”

  “Sabi will know of it and then we’ll stop them.” I added.

  “You,” Talon said quietly. I glanced to him in confusion. “You will stop them,” he clarified, but didn’t look at all happy about it. Sending his daughter-in law to fight a bunch of scary-ass demons wasn’t exactly ideal.

  I felt the love.

  “No,” Kyden interjected. “We.” Then, he motioned for Quinney and she began to approach him.

  “Wait,” I shouted, taking a step forward in front of Kyden to stop him. “What if it doesn’t hold?”

  That stumped her. Clearly she didn’t know what to say and said nothing.

  “Start small at first,” Kyden offered. “Then, if it fails, Nexi can heal me. If it holds you can increase your power slowly.”

  Quinney nodded.

  My stomach sank with fear as Kyden stepped around me and approached her. He stood strong before her, I’d give him that. No emotions surged through our bond except determination. He obviously wanted the support, but no way in hell, would he let me do this alone. He needed this to work and would see that it did.

  Quinney slowly withered away to black smoke and began to circle around him. The shield held. Her essence couldn’t find a way through. Kyden had no fear or hesitation. Just the determination that this wouldn’t fail.

  Quinney started moving faster, quicker around him. Her piercing scream came loud, but the shield held strong and never wavered. Suddenly, Tyde joined in.

  “No.” Fear spread through me.

  Two demons, this was ludicrous! Down deep, I understood the need to do it, even if I didn’t like it. They were two Supreme Demons. If the shield held against both their strengths, it would hold against the Demon Lords. It had to be done.

  Tyde and Quinney combined their strength together as one. I’d never witnessed anything like it before. The black smoke grew to twice the size and darkened. Within the smoke, flames erupted. Orange and blue spirals circled around Kyden, yet he never faltered.

  As they released more of their power, horror began to sink in through our bond. For the first time, Kyden experienced Black Magic. The wrongness of it, the evil that crept through every part of it. Quinney and Tyde’s screams grew louder. We all sunk to our knees to cover our ears, Kyden included.

  Emotions poured through our bond, his fight against such evil, the need to stop its existence and the helplessness he felt knowing there was nothing he could do. His revulsion slammed into me as he saw the truth to Black Magic. To understand exactly what it is and means.

  I understood his dismay. God, had I been there. I never closed my eyes. Never stopped watching, but the shield was unbreakable. He was safe, and I was relieved.

  Only a second later, the shrieking ceased, then Quinney and Tyde appeared, looking proud.

  “That was brilliant,” Tyde exclaimed.

  Kyden lowered his hands, as did I, and sadness flew straight through me. His sadness.

  I rushed to him, sank down in front of him and ran my hands along his body, searching for injuries. I grasped his face and pulled it down to meet his gaze. “What’s wrong?”

  Never had I seen such misery. “You have faced that alone.” He gave his head a shake, although it didn’t move much in my grip. “You shouldn’t have ever faced that alone.”

  My breath left my body as I realized his sadness was for me. He was upset that he wasn’t there to help me through this, to feel this with me. I leaned in close to his lips. “Well, I won’t ever have to again, will I?”

  He closed the distance between us. “No, you will not.”

  His mouth met mine.

  Chapter Thirteen

  The following night, we were in Brooklyn, surrounded by an apple orchard. Big surprise!

  Good thing my magic could give a little jolt or I think everyone would be in serious trouble. With all that had happening, no one was getting much sleep, including me. We were all running on empty and everyone looked tired. But not anymore, who needed caffeine with witches around.

  The night was dark, almost two o’clock the last I checked. That part wasn’t unusual, I’d become so used to vampire hours, it didn’t even wear on me. Still, sleep was necessary. Staying up all day worrying about what was to come didn’t help much.

  A farm house sat about a mile in, indicating just how large this apple orchard was. On most days, I assumed this farm was filled with happy memories of families coming from the busy city to pick their own apples when fall hit. Now, it was anything but happy.

  “Quinney, Tyde, Misa,” I called out. My demons appeared instantly.

  Quinney glanced around as she took in the surroundings, then looked back to me. “Another summoning?”

  I nodded. The call had come in from Detective Garver. I’m sure Sabi had witnessed it, but what did it matter. We needed this to happen, as crazy as that sounded.

  Zia stepped out in front of us and raised her hands. We all waited, her abilities gave her the same gift as Haven. Being that she and Finn where probably still in a squabble, Zia agreed to come and release the vision.

  Only a moment later, the image was before us. Mammon stood outside the pentagram with his athletically defined body, slender face, short black neatly cut hair.

  Of course, he stole that body, he was probably nasty as shit under there. The other demon, Armeaous, Ameros…oh hell, whatever his name is, sat on the outside of the rune, looking wea
k.

  Shockingly, this scene was far worse than the last. Being that there were four bodies lying within the pentagram, and the twenty…

  After a second count, I had gotten it right. Twenty demons surrounded the outside of the pentagram, each of them with a deep slash across their wrist, blood dripping within the circle. Horror consumed me as my assumption came true. The bodies that lay lifeless on the ground rose as four Demon Lords possessed the humans’ bodies.

  “Fuck,” I gasped. Kyden’s handed tightened around mine. “Holy fuck, does everyone see this?”

  No one answered.

  The vision faded. We stood, shocked, our gazes quickly searching each other out, tried to find words for this. The power that exuded from the Demon Lords was shit raving scary, the fear evident on every single face here, including Kyden’s.

  “That,” Tyde finally sputtered, but hesitated, a little lost for words. “I wasn’t expecting him to gain this much power so quickly.”

  “To summon the last four…at once…” Quinney agreed.

  I interjected at that. “The last four, but wait, that’s not seven.”

  “You’re right,” Misa said in a hushed tone. “That’s only six with the last being Satan.”

  Holy fucking fuck!

  I figured there’d be more time. This wouldn’t be now…couldn’t be now. Did they expect me to banish them? I needed more knowledge, more time to understand all this.

  I wasn’t ready. It took a second to respond appropriately. “This is fucking insane. Why have I been drawn into this craziness? What the hell is it with me? Why do I have to face these freaks? Why can’t it be someone else?”

  Everyone stayed quiet while I yelled and had a Nexi meltdown. “I’m not doing this, by the way,” I told them in a very stern voice. “There’s no way in hell. Let them have the Underworld. I’ll give it to them. I’ll send a note, I’m not going there. Did you feel them? Did you sense their strength? They’re going to kill me.”

  Kyden opened his mouth.

  “Oh no, you just shut it.” I stopped that immediately. “No way. I’m going back to Carson City and forgetting all about this. Yep, that’s what I’m going do. None of this is real. There, I said it, it’s all made up and I don’t believe in it.”

  Suddenly, Zia grabbed my hand and the world went black around me.

  * * * *

  My eyes slowly opened, the haze of sleep drifted away. I yawned, stretched, then the memory of what happened came back to me.

  I shot straight up in bed. “I can’t believe you did that.” I shouted.

  Loud laughter came from the living room and Kyden’s rush of amusement coursed through our bond. I stormed out and pointed directly at Zia. “I can’t believe you did that to me.”

  She gave an unashamed smile. “You needed to calm down.”

  “Don’t ever do it again,” I snapped with a firm stomp of my foot. “That is so not right, using your magic to knock me out. I won’t forget this, let me tell you.”

  She didn’t even seem to be listening. In fact, no one did. Everyone focused elsewhere. As I looked around, I noticed why. Sabi was in Ryker’s arms, drenched in sweat, looked utterly despairing.

  “Jesus, are you okay?” I gasped, hurried forward and knelt by the couch.

  She shook her head and grabbed my hand. My mind faded away as I was lost in her premonition. It was a little jumbled. Flashes of the Demon Lords using the rune, but then it would flash to my smiling face. It wasn’t clear.

  When the vision faded, I gave her the exact befuddled look I was feeling. “Okay, that made zero sense.”

  “It’s because it hasn’t been decided,” Sabi replied, breathless. “It will go one way or the other, but I’m not sure which one because it keeps changing. The visions just won’t stop.”

  Aw, poor Sabi. I was kind of glad at this moment I didn’t have her gift, it looked utterly exhausting.

  “Are you feeling alright?” Kyden asked.

  I glanced at him and smiled. “Better.” Which was true. The hysteria had faded, but I was still scared silly.

  Demon Lords were nothing I’d ever felt before. One of them wasn’t all that different from Pye. Six of them together was impossible. How was I going to do this? Doubt flew through me.

  “Don’t doubt yourself,” Kyden said sternly. “You have the ability here.”

  “How do you know that? No one knows that. It’s just a big guessing game, and what if they’re wrong. I don’t want to die.”

  “You won’t.”

  “And you know this how?”

  He shrugged. “I just know.”

  I sighed and rubbed my hands over my face. “I just want this all to be over.”

  Why me? Why couldn’t somebody else do this—scratch that—I wouldn’t want anyone else to deal with this. Why did we have to deal with it all? Why did evil have to exist in the first place? Couldn’t we all just play nice?

  Suddenly, hands grabbed mine. I looked up at Haven. “You’ve got this.”

  I was glad to note that she was herself again, not this crazy kick-ass woman who I’d never met before. Still, her words didn’t ease me. “How do you know?”

  “I feel it in you, it’s there. I’ve felt it since the moment you came here. There’s something strong within you, Nexi. If only you could see it and believe in it, these Demon Lords have nothing on you.”

  I snorted. “I’m not so sure about that.”

  “Of course they don’t.” Her smile came sweet and sent warmth right to my heart. “Because you have something they don’t.”

  My brows rose. “Which is?”

  “Us…this…,” she rubbed her stomach, “you have reasons to make everything right. That’s why you will overcome this. I believe in you.”

  “She’s right, you can do this.” Zia added.

  “Get in and get out,” Finn said next.

  From there, the others followed suit with encouraging words. Kyden was the last to speak.

  He knelt down in front of me and took my face in his hands, massaged my cheeks gently. “You’ve been gifted with an ability to stop this. This needs to be done and I truly believe there’s something within you that’s bigger than any of us know. I agree with Haven, I feel it in you. It will protect you.”

  “I’m scared.” There, I admitted it.

  “Of course you are,” Kyden whispered, in a tone I rarely heard from him. “But it’s a fear that has no merit. You can do this. I do not doubt it for a moment.”

  I looked into his eyes, into the eyes of everyone around me, I couldn’t disappoint them. Not now, not ever. Haven was right. I did have reasons to make this right. If it meant my life, over theirs, then there was only one choice.

  Did I want to die? No. Did I think it was possible? Yes. I didn’t come this far to see all the people I love, who I’ve fought so hard for, to be lost now.

  “I love you all,” I said, looked from face to face. “You all know that, right?”

  Every head nodded.

  Kyden smiled, sweetly. “We’re going then?”

  “Yes, we’re going.”

  * * * *

  Twenty minutes had passed and my nerves still hadn’t settled. We waited in the Council’s Hall, and everyone I loved was huddled around me, focused and standing strong. None of them doubted me here. I could only pray it wasn’t misplaced. What if I failed?

  A little shuffle at the doorway caught my attention. I glanced toward it as Ember stepped into the Council’s Hall. “I came as fast as I could.”

  “Thank you for coming,” Zia said. “We’ll be leaving shortly, but we have some questions.”

  Ember stopped in front of me, her smile warm. “All set to go?”

  “No,” I responded.

  She gave a knowing nod. “We never are.” Then, she glanced to Zia. “What is it you need of me?”

  “Please go over the ritual with Nexi again,” Zia replied. “We need to be sure she�
��s completely prepared.”

  Ember looked back to me, serious. “The biggest concern will be how to keep the demons away from you. You need time to draw the rune. I can promise they will attack instantly.”

  “That is of no concern,” Kyden interjected. “We’ll guard her.”