“Time to choose,” the demon said.
“You can’t do this to people!” Valerie cried.
“Valerie, wait,” Troy tugged her arm for her attention. He pressed his forehead to hers, while keeping his eyes on the threat. Whispering, he said, “I would marry you in a heartbeat and not because of a prophecy or to save my own life, but because some things are just known. To answer what you said earlier, if we were normal and I saw you, I’d be smitten. Messy hair, crazy self-taking. It wouldn’t matter. One look and I’d have been yours. In that life, I would have married you for all eternity. I feel that more strongly than I have felt anything in my life. However, if we do what they want, it will never end. They will demand more of us. There is always more.”
“If we were normal, I’d marry you, too. One look when I thought I was normal, and you were all I could think about. I would have loved you for an eternity.”
“I love you now,” he whispered. “Don’t forget that.”
She shook her head denoting she would not.
“Well?” the demon commanded. “I have places to go and much more interesting prophecies to fulfill.”
Troy hugged her tightly. Even with the nearby threat, the feel of him against her was right and safe and perfect. He said near her ear, “Go for the window and get out. Run and keep running. I can fight them off long enough for you to get to your car.”
“I’m not leaving you to—”
“This is not a debate. You are no match for them. I—”
“Shut up. Stop trying to be the alpha with me. I told you, I’m not that kind of woman. I’m not leaving you.” Valerie quickly kissed him. “They’ve taken enough from us. I won’t let them force our fates. Not anymore. I’m not doing what they want. But if we’re going down, we’re going down fighting. Together.”
Troy looked like he wanted to argue. Instead, he nodded. “Fighting. Together.”
With a loud yell, he let go of her. He reached for the podium and flung the wood at the demon and sprite. The demon disappeared before it made contact. Troy surged forward to meet the others head on. She instinctively knew he wanted to protect her, even now against impossible odds.
The sprite leaped forward out of the way. Valerie punched it in the face, hard. Her fingers stung at the impact, and she shook her hand, surprised by how much it actually hurt. The sprite flung against the wall, knocking her head.
The other creatures poured out of the room. Blue fairies attacked by air, grabbing the stones from the dirt floor and dropping them like annoying torpedoes. Valerie swatted one away like a fly. The annoying high-pitched ringing started in her ears.
Bigfoot tried to pull Troy into a headlock while two trolls kicked the man’s shins. When she tried to help him, the fairies yanked her hair. And she couldn’t quite see, but she was pretty sure a garden gnome was using her foot as a punching bag. When she tried to kick him off, the pull on her head caused her to lose her balance, and she fell onto the ground.
“What are you doing?” The sprite yelled like a little commander. “Use your magic!”
“Troy!” Valerie yelled, worried for him.
Bigfoot went flying over her, striking the fairies and forcing them to let go of her hair.
“I’m here,” he answered. “Just let me…”
A troll flew the same route as Bigfoot and then another. The high-pitched noise grew louder.
“Stop that,” the sprite screamed.
“I’m not doing it,” Valerie answered. She pushed to her feet.
Troy reached for her, limping as he went to help her up. Blood trickled down the side of his face. “Let’s get out of here.”
The blue light in the room brightened. The high-pitched noise increased. Valerie grabbed her ears. The sprite screamed in pain.
“What’s wrong with everyone?” Troy asked in confusion.
“You can’t hear that ringing?” Valerie held her ears tighter.
“Stop, stop!” the sprite yelled.
The ringing stopped.
Valerie gasped in relief, slowly lowering her hands.
“Now that I have your attention.” They all looked around to see who spoke. A young girl stood by the opened front door. Her brown hair fell straight to her chin and she wore pink shorts with a white and pink striped top.
“Seri?” Troy whispered. “What trick is this?”
Valerie grabbed Troy’s arm and pressed close to him. The girl looked like she could have been related to Troy. She had the same brown eyes and the same turn of her nose.
“Get out of here,” the sprite warned, charging the child as if she were a stray cat to be shooed away. “This is none of your concern.”
“This is my house,” Seri answered calmly. “You go.” The sprite poofed into smoke and disappeared. She turned her attention to the creatures picking themselves up off the floor. The fairies grabbed hold of the gnome and zipped out of the house into the woods. Bigfoot and his troll buddies looked as if they wanted to go past, but the little girl stood barring their way. With her hand on a girlish hip, she pointed a finger at Bigfoot. “Trolls don’t know any better, but you do.”
“Seri,” Bigfoot said, the word hoarse. He went to her and kneeled down. Seri patted him on the head and he too puffed into smoke. The trolls ran into the other room, the sound of their feet instantly disappearing mid-stride.
When the magical intruders were all gone, Seri turned toward her brother and then Valerie. “You should not be here.”
Valerie put up her hands to stop the child from sending them away. “No, wait.”
Seri giggled. As she walked, the light coming off her cast onto the walls, showing the cottage as it must appear in a young girl’s imagination—pink flower wallpaper and tiny tables with tea sets, stuffed animals in oversized chairs. However, once she passed a section, the light faded and the cottage again fell to ruin.
“Your parents wish you to know they are well, and you are loved,” Seri said to Valerie before coming to her brother. “You will let me play here, won’t you?”
“Seri?” Troy whispered. He held out his hand but didn’t touch her. Slowly, he sank upon his knees to be at her height.
“It is over now. The prophecy is fulfilled.” Seri merely stood before him. “You can smile again, Troy.”
“Over? Do you mean they are all dead?” Valerie asked.
“Why would they be dead?” The girl frowned. “You are married. Balance is restored. I am told it’s not a very interesting prophecy, but it’s important. I did not like dying for it, but I am told what is done is done.”
“We didn’t marry,” Troy said. He looked up at her.
“But we can be,” Valerie said quickly. “You did not die in vain. We—”
Seri laughed. “True marriage is more than cake and parties. Though, you should have a party. You should have a great many parties. In this place of magic, intentions are known. You are married, more so than if you had spoken the words in a church. The soul knows. Magic knows. The cottage knows. Evil took care of the sacrifices. Now, hopefully, good will see to it they leave you be.”
When Valerie looked into Troy’s eyes, she felt it was true. She felt balance with him, a streak of wild and untamed, mixed with steadfastness and safety.
“You will let me play here, won’t you, Troy?” Seri insisted. “They will not kill me a second time.”
“You may have whatever you wish,” Troy said. “Just don’t go.”
Troy lifted his arms as if he would hug her. Seri smiled, the kind of impish look young girls get when they are about to perform a very neat trick. She lifted her arm as if she would hug him but instead touched Valerie’s stomach. Heat fused into her as Seri’s hand slipped past her skin into her abdomen.
Valerie grabbed Troy’s arm as Seri’s soul slipped inside her, drawn into her stomach. When the child disappeared, she covered the heated flesh only to feel it cool.
“What just happened?” Troy asked, covering her hand with his. “Valerie? Are you possessed
? Seri?”
“I…I,” Valerie whispered. “I think I’m…pregnant.”
Troy stared at her for a shocked moment and then smiled. He nodded as if willing her to confirm it again. “Yeah?”
“I feel…” Valerie bit her lip. “Fulfilled.”
Troy shouted in pleasure and swooped her into his arms. “Let’s get you out of here.”
Valerie couldn’t concentrate past the rush of emotions swimming inside her. She held on to him tightly as he carried her out of the cottage, up the path toward the manor. “It’s like you said. We are the product of fate.”
“I love you, Valerie.” He stopped on the front lawn to press his lips to hers. Lightning bugs danced around them, tiny stars in the late hour. He refused to set her down. His eyes filled with hints of red. The demon blood did not go away, but the effects of it had seemed to settle. “Though we had no say in the matter, we are preordained, a joining of both sides, a balance. I feel my balance in you.”
“And I have found the meaning of life with you.” Valerie kissed her husband, knowing that the true meaning of marriage was more than rings and vows. It was a feeling, a need to give, the ability to accept. “For eternity.”
Epilogue
The old demon looked down at the sprite, not caring for the stench of good that came from her. “It is done just as it needed to be. The prophecy is fulfilled, and we remain intact for another thousand years.” He paused, only to begrudgingly add, “The fight was a nice touch.”
“A simple motivator, but fear for your life tends to push feelings to the surface in humans quickly enough.” The sprite sighed, appearing tired.
“I thought you did not like getting your hands dirty.” The demon chuckled. He was invigorated by having won yet again. Another prophecy completed. It was a magical high like no other.
“I prefer talking and reason, but those two are damaged in the brainpan. Nothing to be done for it.” The sprite stepped away from him.
“It often happens with the tainted-bloods,” he agreed. The sprite disappeared and he moved to go. The demon lost interest in watching the kissing couple on the lawn surrounded by lightning bugs. There was no mischief to be had here anymore, and he was a busy man with lots of prophecies to fulfill and many people to see. The demon touched his necklace thoughtfully. “Good riddance to you love birds. I think it’s time I visited the Jeqon sisters. I’m sure they’re just dying to see me.”
About the Author
Natasha Logan believes everyone needs a little enchantment in their lives, and she loves writing about magical creatures both good and bad. Want to see what the prophecy demon is up to with the unsuspecting Jeqon sisters? Check out the new serial, Circle of Six: Slaine starting Jan 27, 2015.
www.natashalogan.com
Renegade
by Jaide Fox
Dahlia knew speaking up for the stranger Eddy and the boys dragged into town could get her killed, but she’d never been one to back down when things got tough. She didn’t know he was a Renegade—a new type of superhuman race that had wreaked havoc upon their already decimated world. Was he there to kill them all? No one who’d ever seen a Renegade had come out unscathed. And all her big mouth earned her was a spot guarding their prisoner and buttering him up however she had to for information to keep their town safe. But Connor’s got plans for Dahlia—she just doesn’t realize it, yet.
Chapter One
Earth 2037
The American landscape forever changed after the big one hit—the earthquake of 2021. Scientists and doomsday preppers had been predicting the catastrophe for as long as anyone could remember. The doomsdayers seemed downright gleeful that the end of the world they’d been preparing for had finally happened. No one should have been surprised at the devastation caused by the west coast breaking off and sinking into the Pacific.
Tidal waves obliterated the Far East. Japan was gone with the first wave along with half of Russia and all of the Indonesian isles; the repercussions were felt everywhere. Displaced oceans took out the Eastern seaboard, Manhattan, Nova Scotia, all of Florida, Louisiana, New Zealand, Bahamas, and more. No land that touched the sea was unscathed. Most were just…gone.
Nuclear reactors burned unchecked. Perhaps the only thing that saved humanity from instant annihilation was the sea swallowing Japan’s reactor into the bottom of the ocean.
The punches kept coming. With the lack of government resources, the avian flu spread unchecked, infecting and killing millions who were struggling to survive.
Knowing the disease could decimate the surviving population, the United States government revealed an experimental program—nanotechnology capable of combating every disease known and unknown to man. It had never been tested on humans. The long-term effects were unknown, but given the circumstances, the project was given the green light to inject scores of US soldiers with citizens to follow.
They created monsters instead of the cure they hoped for.
Capable of immediate tissue regeneration, impervious to disease and harm, highly infectious, and driven completely insane by symbiotic infestation as the nanos imbedded in the glial cells of the brain—mankind was doomed from the start.
Before the blackout, the media called them Renegades. They tried to warn the populace, but it was too late. Pandora’s Box was open, and there was no one left to close it.
Renegades signaled the end of Homo sapiens rule over the world.
Those not infected scattered and hid to die another day.
No one who’d ever seen a Renegade lived to tell about it.
Dahlia was never entirely convinced they were real. For most of her life, she’d been warned not to leave her father’s side. The Renegades would get her.
They were the boogeymen of her nightmares.
But what did she know? She’d been five when the world ended. She couldn’t even remember what her mother looked like except her father said they shared the same black curly hair and olive complexion.
Survival and the real world took precedence over stories of the past.
Dahlia looked at her father, Wallace, and worried how much longer she’d have with him. He wasn’t young anymore. Wrinkles crinkled his face. Gray stained his hair, and he’d lost enough weight that he’d fashioned a belt out of cordage. His shoulders held his patchwork shirt like a thin rod.
The urge to hug him stayed ever present. Not that she would let him know she worried about him. He’d raised her to be a survivor, to keep her emotions in check.
She didn’t want to think of a time without him, but she knew it would happen someday. If the worst happened, no way she’d stay here. There wasn’t a soul in town she considered a friend. Not anymore. Not since Jacob…
Better to be on her own than at their mercy.
As the youngest female in town, she had no delusion that she was safe. The male majority licked their chops whenever she ventured outside alone. Two rapes were enough to convince her she couldn’t trust men. Just because it hadn’t happened here yet didn’t mean it wouldn’t.
Her Bowie knife provided her only sense of security when she wasn’t glued to her father’s side, and Wallace carried a machete sharp enough to shave with.
Threatening with the blades was usually enough to deter their unwelcome advances, but if Wallace continued his decline, they wouldn’t be enough.
He coughed as he tinkered with something he called his wind generator. The cough and machine had both been picked up a month ago on a scavenging mission.
In her mind, leaving town to scavenge was pointless. Despite their low numbers, there couldn’t be that much left to find out in the barren lands. He’d gotten himself sick for nothing.
She spit on her whetstone and rubbed her knife across the surface. The grinding sound that once got on her nerves now comforted her to know she could slice through anyone that meant her harm. “There ain’t no gas. You said those things need gas to run. And what would we use it for anyway?”
“I’ve got my ideas. You’ll see wh
en I’m done. And we have plenty of wind. You should have seen Palm Springs back in the day. Windmills for miles.”
She frowned. “I don’t know what those are, dad.”
He smiled, looking wistful, cleared his throat. “Right; I forget sometimes.”
Shouts from the street ricocheted through the bare walls of their shanty.
Dahlia’s mundane morning disappeared in an instant. Her pulse quickened and sick dread permeated her gut.
She froze and looked wide-eyed at her father. Were they coming for them? Finally? She jumped to her feet, glancing around at what she could grab and take with them. Could her dad even run anymore?
“Shhh! Wait.” He leaned over his worn worktable and flicked the brittle curtain over the sole window just enough to peer outside.
“What’s happening?” Dahlia whispered as the yelling and shouting intensified. Dread continued to coil in her belly, compelling her to action. Holding still took every ounce of determination when her mind ordered her to flee. She debated whether to keep her knife drawn, and decided better safe than sorry and kept it in hand.
“Eddy and the boys are dragging someone—a man—through the street. He ain’t one of us. You can settle down now,” he said, continuing to watch.
“No. I can’t. We haven’t seen an outsider since last winter.” Dahlia moved to the door and grabbed the rusty knob.
Wallace raised his palm and hissed for her to halt. “This doesn’t concern us. Don’t make it our problem.”
She set her jaw and turned the knob. “They killed the last stranger, dad. We can’t let them do it again.” She didn’t add it, but recalled her only friend, Jacob, screaming as the townspeople carved him to pieces. They thought he’d been infected and turned on him because he’d invited the last stranger inside. Neither had turned out to be Renegades.
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