Dark Resurrections (Book Three in the Brenna Strachan Series)

by Hadena James

“Yes, but…” she stopped, horror dawned on her and she covered her mouth with her hand.

  “Exactly,” I said.

  “That’s bad,” Nick said.

  “Well, at the moment, it is just a theory, but it seems like an apt theory,” I added.

  “We’ll have to deal with Magnus at another time, let’s solve the baby-problem first. I know our baby doesn’t have a soul or didn’t when I left the hospital. Hannah suspects that. Do we know everyone that is pregnant?” Eli asked.

  “I’m sure the Overlords could figure it out,” I responded. “But that also means that someone else knew about Samuel’s special gift. If they didn’t, the spell would have been pointless because we breed so slowly.”

  “I haven’t told anyone,” Samuel said defensively.

  “I’m not accusing you,” I told my older brother, “I’m just stating that someone else knows. I don’t know who that someone else would be. If I had to bet money, I’d say it was Magnus. Or rather, is Magnus, if he is still alive. And Jasmine,” her name slid from between my lips in a whisper.

  “But I didn’t tell Magnus,” Samuel was still sounding defensive.

  “I’m not sure you had to tell anyone, it could just be one of those things. Magnus hushed up some stuff for me when I was Maturing. He could have put it together and kept quiet about it,” I answered.

  “If it’s a spell, we can do something about it. We’ll deal with the Magnus issue later,” my mother was using that tone of voice that left no room for discussion.

  “We need something to break an unknown spell that may or may not exist,” I said with faked optimism.

  “This is not the time for your sharp tongue, Brenna Nicheven Strachan,” my mother glared at me. I flinched under the weight of her eyes and looked at the table.

  “I’m kind of with Brenna on this one,” Rachel spoke up. “Without knowing what spell or even for sure that it is a spell.”

  “What else could it be?” Samuel asked.

  “A curse, a cursed object, who knows,” Rachel shrugged.

  “A cursed object would have to be around when the person gave birth,” my mother shook her head.

  “Sorry, I’m going to interrupt and change the topic. Magnus wasn’t burned alive. He and his coven were put inside Pandora’s Box,” Vera spoke up.

  “Oh,” I frowned. Pandora’s Box was safe and secure, buried on my property, under twelve inches of concrete and seven feet of dirt. It had been buried within twenty-four hours of the floor of the new Council Chamber being poured. We had even had guards watching the Box while we waited for the concrete to be built and then set-up.

  “I hadn’t considered that,” my mother said looking at the ceiling. “The Magnus problem is solved, it can’t be him.”

  I didn’t have my mother’s confidence. After all, my younger brother had magically produced a body for my Uncle Sonnellion when his soul was brought forth from the Box. I didn’t know all the functions of the Box. Also, I was unwilling to bet that the Box was in fact safe. Scenarios flew through my brain where the guards were bespelled and Magnus was brought from the Box.

  “What about the problems on the Island?” Vera asked.

  “I’m not sure what…” My mother stopped and thought for several minutes. “Let’s think about this as a whole. The babies, the attacks on the Great Houses, the gremlins in the Prison and the other things going haywire.”

  “All of it screams ‘Magnus’ to me,” I spoke up.

  “But Magnus is in the Box,” my mother reiterated.

  “That may be, but what about someone that Magnus left in charge,” I said.

  “Well hell,” my mother sighed heavily. “Ok, so perhaps Magnus was part of a much larger conspiracy.”

  “Why gremlins? Why not just repossess Pendragon’s mind?” Samuel asked.

  “Because Vishnu and I created something for Pendragon and anytime someone tries to invade his mind, Vishnu knows,” my mother set her head on the table.

  “Are you all right?” I asked.

  “Fine, just fine,” she said from her position. “I am suddenly having a sense of exactly how you feel all the time. It’s very tiring.”

  “Yep, I agree,” I told her.

  “If Magnus isn’t the head of the conspiracy, who is?” Nick asked.

  “Beats me, it would have to be someone that really hated Elders,” I shrugged at him.

  “Why?” Vera asked.

  “Because the Great Houses sided with the Elders in the First Elder War. The alliance is still there, albeit at times tenuous, it is getting stronger. Especially with cross-breeding becoming more frequent,” I told her.

  “I know dear, I was there, but why now?” She countered.

  “Magnus and Brenna,” my mother still had her head on the table. “Magnus was harboring resentment for years probably, then Brenna Matured and he helped save her as well as helping to cover up the fact that she had cast the Double Soul spell during one of her encounters with death. I imagine that he had been plotting it for a while, but during the Maturing, he was confronted with both worlds and went from there.”

  “Wow, you are that old?” Nick blurted out after my mother stopped talking.

  Vera gave a small chuckle, “yes, I am that old.”

  “Nicholas Strachan!” My mother scolded him.

  “She looks good for her age,” Nick defended himself.

  “I stopped aging around thirty-five,” Vera told him.

  “Back to the point, has anyone tried to invade Pendragon’s mind?” I asked.

  “No, which is what I find it very stressful. Aside from Vishnu, Uther and myself, Magnus was the only one who knew we were even going to try. He wasn’t part of the spell making, thank goodness, but he knew about it,” my mother finally picked her head up and looked at me. “How do you do this every day?”

  “It helps if you aren’t pregnant,” I answered.

  There was a crash above us. Vera and I both made for the stairs. I outran her by only a few steps. We bounded up the stairs with my brothers behind us.

  Stephen Nickolai, better known as Spring-Heeled Jack was in the store. He had crashed through the window and was now covered in what appeared to be very thick pink taffy. He was giggling slightly.

  “Get out of my store,” Vera yelled at the madman. “What are you doing running around anyway?”

  She cast a spell and threw a potion at Stephen Nickolai. The pink taffy-like substance got thicker and he fell to the floor, struggling against the stuff. My brother, Eli, cast a different spell. Nick was searching for his cell phone.

  “Dear lord,” my mother said exasperated, “Brenna, go to the Prison and see if you can figure out what is going on there.”

  “But make sure you stay clear of Mad Stephen when you leave dear,” Vera told me. I stared at the writhing Elder on the floor. My feet didn’t move.

  “Get a move on,” my mother shooed me with her hand.

  “I’m not walking past him,” I told her.

  “He’s not getting loose,” my mother scolded me.

  “I’m not taking your word for it,” I gave her an incredulous look.

  “Well,” my mother seemed to think about that.

  “Exactly,” I looked at Nick.

  “Don’t look at me, I’m not powerful enough to help Pendragon,” Nick shook his head at me.

  “Why does he keep showing up?” I asked.

  “Who knows, it’s Mad Stephen,” Vera shrugged and cast another spell.

  “Do those work on him?” Rachel looked as nervous as I felt. I was guessing someone had told her about his reputation as well.

  “Unfortunately, not long term. We will need a security force here pretty soon,” Vera answered. She was doing something complicated behind the counter of her shop.

  Eli walked over to him and as if proving Vera’s point, Stephen’s hand busted through the pink taffy and grabbed his ankle. Eli plummeted to the ground, taking a shelving display with him. The shelving display spilled potions on
to both of them. Eli sprouted a tail and turned completely white. Stephen’s ears grew to roughly the size of an Elephant Plant Leaf. His nose disappeared completely and he began barking like a dog.

  “That was unexpected,” my mother stifled a giggle. “If it had been you, I would have expected it, but not Eli.”

  “And that’s why I wasn’t going to walk past him,” I looked at her and back at Eli. Eli was now turning pink.

  “If it had been you, it would have been worse,” Rachel smiled.

  “That’s true,” Daniel gave me a solemn look.

  “The security force is on their way,” Vera told us. She cast another spell. Eli’s skin turned yellow and he became enveloped in the pink stuff along with Stephen.

  “Oops,” Vera gave a sheepish grin.

  “He’ll be fine,” I dismissed her embarrassment.

  Stephen continued to bark, I was pretty sure that it was the result of his maniacal laughing. A very burly Centaur walked into the shop. He looked at Stephen, shook his head and walked back outside.

  The Centaur shouted at some beings on the outside. A few more Centaurs came into the room accompanied by a handful of Demons, Angels and Lycans. They pulled Stephen and Eli apart. Eli was stood up and Vera removed the pink stuff from his arms. Stephen wasn’t released from the pink stuff. The security force removed him from the store. His barking continued as they walked away.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  The city had been built up, not out. After leaving the store, it only took me about twenty minutes to get to the walled border of the city. Giant obsidian stones were perfectly fitted together to create the wall and I could feel the magic held in the stones. The gate itself was a giant, about four stories tall, and made of pure silver. It too was filled with magic.

  A Djinn sat on top of the wall. He looked down at me and frowned. I looked up and returned the frown.

  “We can’t protect you outside the wall young lady,” he finally shouted.

  “I know, I believe there is a chimera on the outside though that will help protect me, I need to get to the Prison, I’m supposed to meet with Uther Pendragon,” I replied.

  “Ah, Demoness Strachan, it is a pleasure to meet you.”

  “Thank you,” I frowned harder.

  “My name is Hatchi, Vishnu speaks highly of you and I have orders to help you get out of the city safely. I believe Gregorian is going to escort you to the Prison.”

  “Well, Hatchi, it’s a pleasure to meet you as well. How do I get out?”

  “Right,” Hatchi stared at the door, I felt the push of magic and the door opened.

  Gregorian was outside the gate. He looked at me, laid down and let me pet his nose. I smiled at the giant chimera.

  “Gregorian take you to Prison,” Gregorian thought to me.

  “Thank you…” I was interrupted by Gregorian grabbing hold of me gently with his giant mouth and tossed me onto his back. Once secure, Gregorian stood up and began lumbering down a path.

  Outside the wall, the Island was a beautiful sight. The path was white marble slabs, as perfectly fitted as the stones in the wall. There were rolling hills with green grass and smatterings of trees. The trees didn’t look like any I had ever seen before. In the distance, mountains were visible, stretching into clouds that seemed to be formed by the mountains.

  Birds flew by overhead. They, like the trees, were unknown to me. A large herd of unicorns walked past me. Behind them, I could see strange deer-like creatures grazing on the grass. It was hard to believe this was also the Island that housed Cerebus, harpies, dragons and other things that would eat you.

  The city also seemed to border the ocean. We were moving towards the interior. The smell of the salty air was departing, leaving a smell of fragrant flowers and grass.

  We passed a large copse of woods where the sunlight didn’t seem to penetrate. I stared into the darkened forest and a shiver went down my spine. The darkness was the result of Cerebus, we were passing his lair and I could feel him.

  If he could feel me, it didn’t show. The darkness never came towards us as we continued past it. There was no rumble in the air like giant beast’s paws drummed against the ground.

  The woods disappeared, replaced by prairie lands. Again there were animals grazing, including a herd of elephants. I thought it strange that elephants lived on the island, but something in the back of my mind told me there were other endangered species and therefore, on the Island.

  Finally, the stone structure came into view. The windows were reinforced glass with bars over the windows and magical spells on them. The doorway was no different. I stood outside the door and shouted.

  Pendragon popped out. His face was red. He was shaking all over. He visibly relaxed when he saw me.

  “You wanted to see me?” I asked.

  “Good grief, took you long enough,” Pendragon pushed open the door and a gremlin ran out.

  “What is going on?” I gave him a suspicious look.

  “That’s a good question, one that I don’t have an answer for. I’m hoping you can help. The spell protection to keep the imps out is still in place, but not the gremlins. They keep unlocking cell doors of prisoners that aren’t really dangerous, just disturbed.”

  Pendragon walked in. I followed him.

  “Why don’t you have gremlin protection in place?” I asked.

  “There’s no reason. The gremlins don’t normally like the Prison. They are actually afraid of most of the inmates. Including Mad Stephen, who likes to eat them, which makes their presence here even stranger.”

  “Ok,” I looked for magic and found it. All of it had Pendragon’s brilliant nearly white glow.

  “What do you think?”

  “I think nothing at the moment, except the magic is all yours.”

  “So it’s still here?”

  “What?”

  “My magic, of course.”

  “Yes, it’s still here.”

  “Then why isn’t it working?”

  “That I don’t know,” I looked around.

  “Let’s see what we can do about the gremlins,” Pendragon’s shoulders drooped.

  “I don’t know what to do about gremlins.”

  “You’re a Demon, they’ll run from you,” he informed me.

  “Why?”

  “Gremlins don’t like Demons either, afraid of them.”

  “Don’t you have Demons here?”

  “Of course, which is another reason I can’t figure out why the gremlins are here. They avoid the cells with Demons and Lycans, they also tend to avoid some of the nuttier inmates. But they keep opening Mad Stephen’s cell and a few others. We’re going to go see if there is anything special about those cells,” Pendragon began leading me through a labyrinth.

  From the outside, the Prison looks like a prison. Inside, it really is a labyrinth. As we moved down the stone halls, the walls would move behind us. He took a left turn and another gremlin skittered past us. It appeared he was running from something. I was afraid of what that something was.

  Pendragon must have been too. He stopped and held up his hand up to me and then motioned for me to be absolutely silent. I did as he said, standing as still as possible, even stopping breathing.

  No sound seemed to penetrate the walls. Even the scrambling, crawling run of the gremlin was lost. We waited, my heartbeat ticking off the seconds.

  There was a booming sound that made me jump. Pendragon didn’t flinch. Instead, he took position against one of the walls and pointed for me to do the same.

  As I flattened myself as much as possible, a half-breed Centaur came stampeding around the corner. Her hooves beat against the stone with a loudness that I associated with Centaurs. She had fangs and pointy ears, not something normally associated with Centaurs.

  “Melodica,” Pendragon said the name as if it was a warning. The Centaur stopped moving, her eyes leveled on him. Pendragon is not a small man. He wasn’t as big as my father, but no one was. However, he still stood over seven
feet tall and looked like a man in the prime of his life with bulging muscles and immense magic that flowed in and out of him.

  The Centaur was just as large, but didn’t have the magic that Pendragon had. Her chest was large with powerful muscles in her arms and legs. Her horse half was a creamy beige color with just a touch of chestnut. The hair on her head was the same chestnut color. Her eyes were a darker brown tinged with hazel.

  She stared at Pendragon for a few seconds, but the large man didn’t back down. He stood his ground, staring back at her. I waited for the Centaur to charge, but she didn’t. Instead she folded her legs and lay down on the stone.

  “Did the gremlin let you out?” Pendragon asked.

  “Yes,” Melodica answered. Her voice was quiet, but firm.

  “Did you have a plan?” Pendragon continued to prod her.

  “To get out,” Melodica answered.

  “Ok,” Pendragon seemed to shrug it off. “Are you going to go back to your cell?”

  “Yes,’ Melodica sighed and stood up. She turned around and Pendragon began to follow her. I reluctantly began to do the same.

  We finally came to a staircase. Melodica, Pendragon and myself walked up it and the cells became visible.

  They were not cells like I had imagined. They were more like bedrooms with bathrooms built onto them. Each was built to hold a single individual, but they were designed for the specific breed being held.

  Melodica’s cell was large with a large door. It had a giant bed with pillows and blankets piled onto it. There were framed canvas paintings on the wall depicting different scenes from the Island.

  Pendragon shut the door and I heard locks fall into place after Melodica entered the cell. She moved to the easel and began painting a new picture. I waited for Pendragon to move. He took a deep breath and let his shoulders drop again.

  “Are you alright?” I asked him.

  “I suppose,” Pendragon turned to look at me, “it’s just been a very long week. Well, do you see anything?”

  I opened myself to the magic again. The door was missing Pendragon’s magical marks. There were no symbols, no glaringly bright magic, nothing, just stone.

  “Can gremlins remove magic?” I asked.