Down in Flames

by Jennifer Siddoway

  Dad released Caleb from the hug and gazed back and forth between us. “I can’t believe this! When did it happen?”

  I blushed, remembering the passionate night that had brought us back together. “Um, just a few days ago after the reception.”

  Dad’s lip trembled as he tried not to cry in front of us. “Wynn, I didn’t know if the day would ever come that you’d be ready to settle down, you’ve always been so independent,” he chuckled happily. “You’re like your mother, do you know that?”

  I balked and pretended to gasp, saying, “You take that back!”

  “It’s true,” he insisted. “You got her fearless ambition and never-say-die attitude. That’s a good thing, you should be proud of it. For all your mother’s faults, she is fiercely independent and I’m glad she passed that on to you.”

  I gazed up at him and smiled. “You know what? So am I. It served me well while I was down there and it will continue to do so as Caleb and I build a life together.”

  “What date were you two looking at?”

  My eyebrows puckered with uncertainty as I glanced at my fiancé for assistance. I hadn’t even thought about any of the logistical things to be considered. A mild anxiety started creeping up inside me and I worried that our decision might be a colossal mistake. “Uh, I don’t think we’ve gotten that far.”

  I quickly started doing the math in my head to consider how much time it would take to plan. We hadn’t even discussed a date, the whole concept of planning and organizing a huge party like that was overwhelming to think about. I didn’t want anything fancy, I didn’t need anything fancy, I wanted him. Would ten months be enough?

  “Maybe in the spring?” I offered hopefully.

  “A spring wedding!” my father cheered. “That sounds lovely.”

  I collapsed onto the couch, exhausted from social etiquette and rested my head against his shoulder. Caleb’s arm was behind me, tracking feather light patterns on my shoulder. “Why spring?” he asked me curiously. “Is there any particular reason?”

  I grinned, looking up at him as I wrapped my arms around his waist. “Because that’s when you came into my life. It’s when I fell in love with you.”

  He smiled, kissing me on the forehead and said, “Spring it is.”

  Maya sat on the couch listening to our conversation while she sorted through my nail polish.

  Her long, black hair was painfully straight and shiny, like the feathers of her wings. Her raven feathers folded neatly behind her back, so as not to intrude on the living space and occasionally her bluish aura would spark and sizzle from leaving the Order’s clutches.

  The electric charge came from the shift in alignment, a disconnect from the path she was intended to follow. Angelic beings were never meant to break from their sacred calling, and by casting her blessing aside, it negatively affected her ability to tap into Divine magic. Her soul kept passively trying to harness angelic power, but it came back corrupted, thus causing her to spark.

  “I can’t figure out which color to use,” she complained to no one in particular. “And I don’t really see the point.”

  “Maya, if you don’t want to paint your nails, then don’t. I’m not going to have this conversation with you again.” Her bottom lip jutted out in a pout as I scolded her, looking up at me with her yellow, cat-like eyes.

  Turning back to Caleb, I rolled my eyes dramatically and whispered, “God, it’s like having an angsty teenager.”

  “I can still hear you,” she responded with a sing-song voice, and he and I both sighed.

  There was a knock at the door and everyone else in the room tensed or reached for a nearby weapon, just in case. We hadn’t developed a secret knock, but most everyone was accounted for. “It’s probably just my brother,” I told them sheepishly.

  The others relaxed slightly and I went to get the door. After working at unlatching the extra chains, bolts, and latches that had recently reinforced it, I opened the door for Nathan, who was patiently standing in the hallway with two boxes of pizza. “Hey, guys! How’s it going?”

  I let him in and glanced over at Maya on the couch, who had finally settled on electric green nail polish and focused her yellow eyes intently on painting. Her clawed nails were sharpened to a point and looked downright dangerous, even from this distance. “Slowly,” I grumbled.

  Nathan followed my gaze to Maya and his jaw fell slack. “That’s her?”

  “Yup.”

  He grinned, repositioning himself to look at her more clearly. “You didn’t tell me she was hot.”

  The words came falling out of his mouth unfiltered and I snorted at his bravado. Nathan had never been a brash flirt, and rarely expressed interest in dating to begin with. It seemed comical that of all the girls we knew he would take an interest in the one who hated me.

  “Thank you,” Maya responded from across the room, without looking up from what she was doing. Her aura sparked intermittently and was somewhat off-putting.

  She’s got the hearing of a bat, I grumbled to myself.

  Turning my attention back to Nate, I slapped him upside the back of his head. “No. Off limits, do you understand?”

  Nathan laughed and rubbed the back of his scalp protectively. “Alright, I get it. I’m just saying!”

  He set the pizza on the table and we each grabbed a slice for fuel before delving in to future plans. “What’s your name?” she asked him in a voice as smooth as butter.

  “Nathan.”

  “And you’re Wynn’s brother … interesting.”

  She was clearly enjoying my discomfort and milked it for all it was worth, flirting with him shamelessly. I scoffed at them and grabbed a piece of pizza from the box, taking a bite before I said something that I’d live to regret. Maya reached up and touched the scar along his temple, grinning to herself slightly. “How’d you get that, Rocky?”

  Nathan chuckled. “One of the cherubim got me with his sword as we were leaving the Garden of Eden. It stung like hell for a while, but now it’s something I live with.”

  Maya nodded, her grin widening with every word. “That’s kind of hot.”

  “Maya!”

  She laughed, grabbing a slice herself and then dancing off towards the living room. I sighed, turning to Nate and said, “Look, Caleb and I have to go out. Can you guys keep an eye on her while we’re gone?”

  “Sure.”

  Caleb patted him on the shoulder as we walked past him to the doorway. “Good luck.”

  HJ

  A few days later, Ryan and Charlene returned from their honeymoon and we invited them over to discuss strategy. When they arrived, both he and Charley froze at the sight of Maya in the kitchen.

  “What is she doing here?” Ryan demanded. “We talked about this earlier. In case you forgot, the last time she and I crossed paths it did not go so well.”

  I remembered the incident clearly, when Maya took it upon herself to hunt me down as an assassin and try to kill me. At the time, she still thought of me as a weapon that needed to be destroyed. Ryan had inadvertently been caught in the crossfire and almost died. Charlene had only been able to rescue him with the lifesaving elixir I won from Mammon in one of the trials. It bound their souls together and now here we were, one big, happy family.

  The edges of his watercolor tattoo extended the entire length of his arm as he motioned toward her in frustration. His wife’s was the same, with the characters from Alice and Wonderland sitting down to tea. On her forearm was the White Rabbit, checking his clock to know the time, just as her hourglass necklace counted down her and Ryan’s time together.

  I couldn’t help but stare pointedly at Maya as she began polishing her sword on the coffee table.

  While Maya had spent the intervening time since attacking Ryan in an angelic ice prison, all Charley and Ryan could do was try to forget about the events of that particular afternoon. Which was why returning home to find her lounging on my couch brought up many anxious and painful memories, the specter they th
ought was gone. Ryan was more vocal about his distress, but it was clear that Charley felt the same.

  “Oh, I see you made it through all right.” Maya smirked.

  “You almost killed me.” His voice was flat, which squelched the fire beneath – dulled by the effort of having to suppress perfectly righteous anger and indignation. His yellow aura swelled out in response to his strong emotions, and Charlene tried in vain to calm him down.

  Maya shrugged and magicked an emery board into her hand and began filing her nails. “Yes, but you’re still here so….?”

  Caleb sighed, obviously sympathetic to their plight. “I know, but we need all the help we can get. Especially if we’re going to take on Aidan. She’s a powerful fighter and I promise she’ll behave.”

  “What will you do if I don’t?” Maya challenged with a smile.

  I hissed at her and stepped in between the two of them, baring my teeth in warning. “Maya, we talked about this. Knock it off! Look, I know she’s a real piece of work, but right now we’ve got to deal with it okay? I need her.”

  “I’m nervous,” Charlene whispered. “Do you really think you can lure Aidan out into the open?”

  I chuckled. “Aidan is many things, but as you’ve reminded me before, he’s the Lord of Pride – he’s arrogant. When it comes to me, he isn’t rational,” I told them stubbornly.

  I wasn’t sure anymore who I was trying to convince, them or myself. It was a desperate plan and sometimes I felt the need to justify my actions.

  “If you kill him, then you're creating a power vacuum,” Charlene insisted.

  “How do you know?”

  “Because it happened before,” she responded flatly. “Sathanus is not the original Lord of Wrath. She overthrew her predecessor, Baal, and trapped him inside the magic doll. She draws on his power from time to time.”

  I cringed at the mention of the demon child. She’d been the one who assisted Aidan in plotting my sister’s death. She carried an antique doll around with her that never left her side. I’d always considered that a quirk of her adolescent persona, but considering it may be a source of her power made perfect sense to me.

  “And none of the other Demon Lords chose to intervene?” I asked her curiously.

  Charley laughed, sitting down on one of the chairs, and threw her arm over the side. Her pale arm curved around the back of the seat as she reclined. “No, they saw his downfall as a sign of weakness. There was a long transitional stage while Sathanus asserted herself as the new ruler, but eventually the rest all fell in line.”

  I nodded. “That’s fascinating and all, but it’s not really my problem.”

  “I’m not looking forward to another fight, but if it comes to that, I will not back down. I’m going to fight.”

  “What? No!” Ryan responded in alarm.

  Caleb looked at him like he was crazy. “Why? What’s going on?”

  Charlene hid her smile well, but I already knew what they were hiding. I could smell it on her. The billowing looseness of her shirt and delicate way her hand was placed across her belly – she was glowing. Ryan was unusually defensive, which wasn’t like him. We both knew Charley didn’t need defending; she was completely capable of protecting herself ... unless I was right.

  “She’s pregnant,” I told him simply. “Ryan doesn’t want her or the baby, getting hurt.”

  Caleb’s eyes grew wide as he turned to her in surprise. “You are?” She blushed, giving a subtle nod as he wrapped his arms around her in a hug. “Congratulations! I had no idea.”

  “Thanks, it was unexpected. We found out a couple of days ago. It’s still very early, I don’t know how Wynn knew though.”

  I shrugged. “I just felt it.”

  “It doesn’t change anything, except it gives me one more reason to fight.”

  Ryan scowled at me behind her. “Honey, don’t be ridiculous. You’ve got terrible morning sickness and a whole myriad of other symptoms. I know you want to, but you’re not in any shape to be out there with them. Even if you were, who would protect you on the battlefield? You need to stay as far away from that as possible.”

  Charley scoffed at him. “I don’t think anyone was asking you! This is bigger than us, the entire world’s at stake, and I want our child to be born in a place that’s safe. Besides, I know more about the Demon Lords than anyone, and frankly I’d like to see you try and stop me.”

  “Wynn,” he pleaded desperately, “talk some sense into her, will you? She’s not being rational.”

  I put my hands up in surrender and laughed. “Whoa, don’t drag me into this! That’s something you and Charley need to decide yourselves.

  He ruffled the back of his hair in anger, feeling helpless and frustrated at decisions that were being made about his family without his consent. There would obviously be a long discussion between the two of them when they got home, but I didn’t want to have anything to do with it. Without her to count on in the fighting, it would change our plans.

  Caleb picked one of the flowers from the vase on the side table and tucked it behind my ear in the plaited strands of my braid. It was a small white blossom like that of a dogwood tree and smelled positively delightful.

  “It’s getting pretty late, and I’m tired. I might actually turn in early,” I told them

  He smiled, patting me firmly as I got up from the couch and prepared to go upstairs. “In that case I’ll probably set up here on the couch. Do you mind if I stay here over night? It’s a bit of a drive back into town…”

  “Of course not,” Dad insisted. “Nate, can you run and grab Caleb some linens from the closet?’

  “I’m on it,” he called, running up the stairs in front of me.

  I chuckled, slowly placing my hand on the railing.

  “Goodnight, honey,” Dad called after me.

  “Goodnight.”

  HJ

  My eyes flew open in the wee hours of the morning, I’d been awoken by the feeling of my stake being slowly tugged from my chest. It was secured to my skin with duct tape and the deliberate pulling swiftly woke me from my slumber. I threw the blankets off and ripped it away, arming myself immediately as I clutched the weapon in my hand. Cleo hissed at the intruder from the bed beside me while swatting at the darkness, her feline intuition sensing the danger we were in.

  I screamed to wake up the boys in their bedrooms down the hall while throwing on some easy clothing. Caleb was downstairs on the couch. Either he or one of the others would come running once they heard me and barge in to help me fight the intruders. “Guys! I need you in here, something’s happening,” I called out loudly.

  “She holds the key,” the raspy voice of the demon whispered. “Take it from her!”

  “No, the others will be here soon. Wait for them to claim our prize.”

  One of the demons sneered. “Why should we share the bounty with our brothers, when the child is yet unarmed?”

  “Fool! The Earthwalker cannot be trusted.”

  The cat arched her back and spat defensibly while barring her teeth and claws. To my surprise she jumped off the bed toward them and landed on one of their faces, clawing and biting to the best of her ability. My eyes flitted around the room, watching the shadows move as I breathed out nervously through my mouth. “NATE!” I called out gruffly. “Nate, I need you now!”

  “He isn’t coming!” the demons laughed.

  The demon pulled Cleo off him and threw her against the wall, causing her to emit a heartbreaking yowl of pain before running from the room. My panic rose as I finished getting dressed and braced myself for the attack. “Caleb! Dad! Somebody get your ass in here!”

  One of the demons laughed at me, his gravelly voice cutting through the moonlit darkness. “Tsk tsk tsk … they aren’t here, mistress. Master has already claimed them.”

  Before I could even think, the demons pounced on me. Four of them. I roared out in fury, releasing the glamour on my body, and threw them off. One of them went crashing into the bedside table
and the other knocked down an antique bookshelf. “Augh!!”

  I grabbed another by the wrist and flipped it around to pin him effectively behind the back. He cried out in pain and I twisted farther, breaking his elbow like a chicken wing. The bone shattered with a distinctive crack! and I kicked him to the ground while he screamed.

  The demon that had landed on my bookshelf stood up from the rubble and teleported right behind me. I snapped my fingers and felt the spirt of blood as his head exploded. Two of them still fought against me and I roared out furiously in a blood rage as they came charging. Each of them carried a weapon in their hand and snarled viciously when I raised my hands and crossed them to force their weapons upon each other. My telekinetic control was careful and precise, bringing their arms down with full force to slay each other, their confusion and rage twisting their faces in demise.

  I had managed to defeat the four shadowy demons, minions really, distractions apparently to slow me down and waste precious time, and more would be sent soon. I had to move fast; my family was gone, already having been taken somewhere, so I breathed out heavily and searched the magic void to where my blood bond with the last decoy stake was intact.

  The call was faint, but I could feel it responding to my tracking magic. I closed my eyes and teleported, letting the connection tug me like a bungie cord: tightening slowly, until my spiritual inertia snapped and I felt the vertigo of being pulled to another location. My feet hit the sand and immediately sank into the soft terrain. I looked around and saw the rest of my family standing next to me, with Charley and Ryan beside Caleb. Everyone was here, including Maya.

  Caleb took my hand and glanced around at the demons surrounding us. The beach was covered in a literal horde of demons that covered the ground in thick purple smoke. There were too many to count; all I could see were the dark silhouettes of their bodies and blood red eyes as they ambled forward. I could hear the clank of weapons as sharp points rose up around them, along with the spark of fireballs being summoned. This was not the battle I’d been planning, all carefully laid out. This was an ambush: an open, one-sided brawl.