by Maggie Walsh
Castiel rolled to his stomach and got to his knees, coughing, and spitting, as he tried to draw in oxygen. Michael climbed to his feet and attacked, kicking Castiel in the ribs and sending him falling over onto his side as he screamed in pain. Michael stood above him panting heavily. Suddenly his eyes went wide and his mouth opened on a silent scream. He looked down and blood began to pool under his shirt. He raised his head and turned, looking behind him. Gabriel stood there, barely able to hold himself up, the knife in his hand.
Gabriel’s face twisted in pain as he clenched his teeth and brought his arm up again, then swiftly brought it down, stabbing Michael in the shoulder. Michael roared in agony as he stepped away, but Gabriel took an unsteady step and slashed again, this time catching Michael across the forearm as he raised his arm to block the attack.
A loud, ear- splitting roar echoed through the trees before a very large timber wolf leapt off the top of the boulders and crashed into Michael, and both of them went sailing into the stream with a large splash. Michael surfaced and tried to swim away from the creature, but the wolf reached out a big paw, its claws digging into Michael’s flesh in his right calf. He screamed and went under the water’s surface.
The wolf dragged Michael back to the shore and dropped him on the ground, then stood over him growling and snarling. A second timber wolf, not as big as the first, but close, came padding out of the trees and went to Castiel, sniffing him and licking his wounds. Then he turned to Gabriel who was now lying on the ground again, and began licking his wounds.
The first, larger wolf shifted and a naked Micah stood there, chest heaving, jaw clenched, and his eyes filled with fury. “We need to give them blood, Raith,” he stated and dropped down beside Castiel. He bit into his own wrist and placed it against Castiel’s lips, and Castiel began to swallow. Raith shifted back to his human form and did as Micah had, biting into his wrist, placing it against Gabriel’s lips.
“I will see you hanged for this, Lucius. You and Michael both will pay for what you have done here today,” Micah spat.
Lucius started laughing as he coughed, spitting out blood. “You don’t know who you’re dealing with, pup,” he said.
“I know exactly who and what I am dealing with. And when Father finds out about all of this, and what I just overheard, he will make you pay,” Micah seethed.
“Now that will just not do.” Malachi suddenly appeared. And all their eyes went wide as they gasped.
Chapter Twelve
“Who are you?” Micah demanded.
“No one you need to know of…yet,” Malachi answered with a smirk.
Suddenly everything stopped. The gentle breeze stopped blowing, the slight trickle of the stream became still, and the clouds froze in the blue sky.
“Aurora,” Malachi growled.
“You know you cannot interfere, Malachi,” Aurora admonished softly, as she glided across the water’s surface and landed on the shore.
“I am not interfering,” Malachi stated innocently.
“Then you were not going to kill all of them except for your two followers?” Aurora asked.
“On the contrary, my dear goddess. I came to find my good friend Lucius and stumbled upon this…atrocity.”
Aurora smiled at him knowingly. “Yes, now that I do believe. So, tell me then, Malachi, what were your intentions as your gaze fell upon this sight?”
“As far as I can tell, it appears to be four against two, and my friends are injured. I was going to check on them and then make sure they are okay, as well as defend them if the others attacked. Seeing as they are in no position to defend themselves.”
“Yes, they do look rather bad, don’t they? But the two young shifters look worse, do they not?”
“I hadn’t gotten the chance to check on anyone before your arrival, my goddess,” Malachi answered.
“Then it is a good thing that I too…stumbled upon this scene.”
“You are not allowed to interfere either, goddess,” Malachi warned in a tight voice.
“Their fates are in the hands of, well…me, seeing as I am Fate,” Aurora replied.
“But what if they are meant to die here today, my lady? If we allow them to live is that not interfering?”
Aurora looked at him thoughtfully for a moment, then turned and walked to stand beside Raith and Gabriel. She lowered and knelt beside them, then gently ran her fingers through Gabriel’s matted hair. “I don’t know. I could stop time—I should be able to stop this. Maybe I can make it all disappear, as well,” she said and pulled her hand back.
She sighed heavily and placed her hand on Raith’s cheek. “What a mess. How the tides turn in the blink of an eye.”
“So, what should we do with them, my lady?” Malachi asked.
Aurora stood and walked to Micah, then ran her fingers through his hair as she spoke. “Wouldn’t it be nice if we could locate what we seek, by just touching something?”
Malachi looked at her in confusion. “I don’t understand, goddess.”
“Strength does not always come from how many muscles we have, but from within. When you have compassion and empathy for others, you have greater strength than any brawn. When you have a heart full of love and caring, and are willing to accept others for who they are, and stand up for what you believe in, and protect those you love, the strength within you grows.”
Aurora dropped her hand and turned to Castiel, touching his cheek. “Years of self-sacrifice should be rewarded and honored. It is that strength to shield another from pain and suffering, that grows energy, like a bolt of lightning.” Malachi watched her intently, his eyes showing his confusion from her words.
Aurora stood and walked directly to Kia, stopping before him. His eyes went wide as he gasped. She reached out her hand, holding it in mid-air, her palm landing on his chest, but going through at the same time. A soft smile crossed her lips. “But pain, suffering, self-sacrifice, times of hardship and despair, are all a road we must travel. It is a journey through time…and space. A walk through a dream, at times.”
She slid her hand to the right, still up in mid-air and touched Papa Angel. “But whether it be a dream or a vision of what is to come, it is all fate, and fate cannot be interfered with.”
Aurora suddenly turned and faced Malachi. “No one here’s fate was to die today, but I can feel that someone has interfered with fate. Brought great suffering to young Castiel and Gabriel. I wonder who could have done that? I believe it is up to us, Malachi, to put their fates back on track and that is why we have both stumbled upon them today. You are a powerful demigod, Malachi. Put them back on track. You may make them forget, but put them back on their proper course,” Aurora insisted and gave Malachi a pointed look.
“Would that not be interfering with fate, Aurora?” he asked snidely.
The sky darkened as the clouds turned black, and thunder rolled as lightning flashed across the sky violently. The wind blew in gale forces, throwing Aurora’s golden hair around her head as her face turned hard and cold and her eyes glowed. “Do not question me, Malachi, for I can change your fate, as well,” her voice bellowed threateningly.
Malachi cowered away as his eyes filled with fear. “I’m sorry, my goddess. I meant no disrespect.”
“You only mean disrespect, Malachi! Heed my warning. If you do not put this back on its proper course, I will come for you with the full force of the heavens behind me.”
“Is that a threat, Aurora?”
“Do not think you’re better than me, Malachi. Remember whom you are speaking to,” she commanded and a bolt of lightning flashed across the sky, hitting a tree not too far away. The crack was deafening as the tree exploded.
“I apologize, my goddess. I’m sorry. Please forgive me,” Malachi dropped to his knees, shaking as he groveled.
“And I do not make idle threats, Malachi. It was a promise,” Aurora stated, then vanished.
The sky lightened and the sun shone bright, as the soft breeze returned. Malachi touched Luciu
s’s chest and he suddenly moved as his wounds healed.
“Holy shit. Did Aurora just do what I think she did?” Raith asked in amazement.
“I think she did. She touched each of us, including the present Dad and Kia, and gave us our gifts,” Micah answered, awestruck.
“She knew we were here. Her hand went right through me, but she looked right in my eyes and knew we were here,” Papa whispered.
“What happened?” Lucius asked in confusion as he sat up.
“Come, my friend, we have much work,” Malachi said and held his hand out to Lucius.
The scene swirled and shifted. Malachi now stood on the beach beside a healed, Lucius and Michael.
“Are you certain they won’t remember any of this?” Lucius questioned as he looked down on the four bodies lying side by side on the sand.
“Yes. None of them will remember a thing,” Malachi answered.
“Why don’t we just kill them all now and be done with it?” Michael sneered.
“Because to interfere with fate will have consequences that none of us could survive,” Malachi replied.
“Plus, we need them for our plans,” Lucius added.
“I will put the two big ones in their beds and they will wake up, thinking they overslept. These ones are for you to contend with. And you will keep your dark desires under wraps, do you hear me?” Malachi spat at Michael.
“Yes,” he hissed.
Malachi touched Michael’s face and Michael began to shake. Malachi’s eyes turned dark and his gaze bore into Michael. “If you have the need to shred flesh, then find a human and make sure their bodies are never found. You are a good soldier and a major part in our plans. Do as I say and you will be greatly rewarded,” Malachi commanded.
* * * *
The scene swirled and shifted again, and suddenly they found themselves standing in a dark, dank cave. A large table sat off to one side filled with glass beakers of all different shapes and sizes.
“Where are we now?” Raith looked around, his eyes showing his confusion.
“Holy shit. Cass, do you see it?” Gabe asked.
“I see it,” Cass whispered.
Off to the far side of the cave were a line of cages, and in three of those cages sat Gabriel, Castiel, and Raffy.
“Is this when they took the three of you?” Micah asked.
“Yeah,” Gabe answered.
Voices approached from one of the tunnels. Raffy pulled his legs up tighter against his body and pressed back against the bars. His body started to shake.
“It’s okay, Raf. I won’t let them hurt you,” Castiel said, trying to calm Raffy.
“You’re trapped, too, Cassy, and you’re hurt. They shot you with silver. You can’t even shift. I don’t want them to hurt me again, but I don’t want them to do it in front of you either,” Raffy said, his voice shaking.
“Raf…” Castiel started to say but was cut off when Lucius’ voice echoed through the cavern. Castiel’s gaze shot to the tunnel entrance.
Three men appeared at the entrance. The first was clearly Nigel Brighton. The second was Malachi, and then Lucius stepped into the cave. His gaze immediately landed on his sons. He looked over all of them, then his gaze stopped firmly on Castiel. “So, here we are, Castiel. A nice family reunion after all these years. I can’t say that I’m happy about seeing my three daughters again,” Lucius said, then snickered as his eyes bore right through Castiel. Lucius, Brighton, and Malachi chuckled at his father’s words.
Castiel got a cold hard glare in his eyes as he stared at his father. “Lucius,” Cass addressed him coldly.
Lucius’s eyes narrowed at Castiel as his face turned red with rage. “You will show me respect, boy. I am your father and I know I taught you better than that,” Lucius sneered.
“Don’t you mean beat it into us?” Castiel spat.
“You little shits got everything you deserved. Only one of my sons deserved my respect and he was taken from me. But at least he died honorably. Unlike you and your poor excuse for brothers here. You and your brothers will be very useful to us,” Lucius snickered as he moved further into the cave.
Malachi moved to kneel next to the cage that held another man. Malachi put his hands through the bars and stuck the man with a syringe. The man’s body flinched slightly, but otherwise he made no movement and no sound. Malachi pulled the plunger back and the syringe filled with dark crimson blood. He withdrew the syringe and stood up as his eyes fixed on the item in his hands. Happiness filled his eyes, then he turned to Brighton. “It worked, Nigel. It worked. The omega’s blood worked. That damn ocelot is smarter than he looks.”
Brighton walked over to Malachi and raised his hand as he too looked at the syringe in awe. He gingerly touched the syringe with a single fingertip and then withdrew his hand. “Now we can move into the next step of our plan, Malachi. With this, we can destroy the king and his insufferable son. How the ocelot figured out this compound is beyond me, but I am happy that he did. We need to get him back here.”
Malachi shook his head. “It’s too risky right now. His mate will be keeping a close eye on him. But I am working on securing another demon. By the time he is in my control, the wolf will have eased up on his protection of the ocelot and then we will grab him up again.”
“When will you go after the king?” Lucius asked.
“The council is meeting tomorrow night. We should be able to eradicate all of them then. We already have what we need to wipe out the rest of them, but now we have what will kill the vamp king,” Nigel explained.
“Good,” said Lucius. “So, then the paranormal world will panic and they will start fighting against each other and all the work my shit of a nephew put into his friendships with the vamps and the cats will be for nothing. It looks like our reign will start sooner than we thought, my friends.”
Brighton and Malachi gave each other a quick glance and then smiled at Lucius. “Yes, Lucius. Our reign will begin. First you need to get back to our pack so that you will be there when the war begins. We need you to kill Raphael at the exact moment we take out the council. Our other allies are all in place at their packs, prides, covens, and casts. We all must strike simultaneously for this to work. The people won’t realize the death of their leader came from within and they will panic. You will rule the wolves, Tempest will rule the Vampires, Solomon will rule the cats, and Raven will rule the birds, and you will all answer to me,” Brighton said.
“Fucking assholes. Wait, did he say Tempest?” Papa Angel asked and looked to Micah.
“We already checked on Tempest long ago,” Micah answered. “He is loyal to Dante. He didn’t do what they wanted him to do and take out his leader. Another came in to do the job and Tempest fought to save his leader, but he was attacked by a few rogues. We had Taylor go into his memories and show us what happened. Tempest is one of us and I trust him.”
Papa Angel sighed in relief as he nodded, then turned his attention back to the scene before them.
Lucius turned to look at Castiel. “And what of them?”
“Don’t worry about them. I have big plans for your boys,” Malachi said. “The two big dumb ones will become our personal guards and the omega will serve his purpose to strengthen us all. His blood will come in very handy in building our powers. He is essentially a blood bag. Each week we will draw his blood and send it to you four leaders. A pack-birthed omega’s blood is stronger than any omega. And once we have our hands on the guardian Taylor, no one will ever be able to challenge us,” Malachi explained.
“But what of the Heart? He still lives,” Lucius asked.
“His body still lives but his mind does not. He is trapped in his mind forever. If anyone tries to remove my spell, it will only kill him. Either way, Micah will be destroyed. He will be too weak to fight us and his best friend Dante will be gone. He will have no one to help him.” Malachi walked over to the table and laid the syringe down.
Micah growled low and deadly as Malachi spoke of what Jesse had
gone through when trapped in his own mind. Papa Angel placed a hand on his shoulder. “Your mate is safe now, son. Take comfort in that.”
“And these two?” Lucius motioned toward Castiel and Gabriel. “How will you ensure they will guard you and not try to kill you in your sleep? They are loyal to Micah.”
Malachi smiled wickedly and chuckled. “They will be turned into rogues and trained to follow my orders, like the others.”
“Good. It’s about time they finally lived up to their names and became true warriors like their brother Michael,” Lucius sneered. Raffy made a chuffing noise, drawing Lucius’ attention. “You have something to say, boy?” he sneered at Raffy. Raffy shook under his father’s gaze. “I didn’t think so. Michael was the son any father would have been proud of. At least the gods gave me one good son. But then they gave me you three disgusting disappointments.”
“You are such a dickhead and so was Michael. Neither of you knew a damn thing about being a man. You still don’t,” Castiel growled under his breath.
Lucius spun to glare at him. He stalked to Castiel’s cage and slammed his hands down on it. “Don’t you ever speak his name. You are unworthy to speak his name. He was a great man, a warrior. He should have been alpha, not that pathetic excuse for a wolf, Micah.”
“Michael was a horrible person, just like you!” Raffy screamed out. Lucius spun to face him. “He was no honorable man. He put the lives of the other wolves in danger all the time. He was a lazy, selfish bastard who only cared about himself. He blamed others for his mistakes and took credit for others’ victories. He ran and hid during every battle he was supposed to fight. He was their leader, but when the fighting started, he sent them out to do battle while he hid in the nearest hiding spot until the battle was over. He didn’t die honorably in battle. He died being shot in the back of the head while he was down on his knees sucking off his lover,” Raffy yelled out and then covered his mouth with his hands as his eyes went wide in shock over his own outburst.
