Night Rises

by Amber Lynn

  He wasn't joking about that pinkie promise. A quiet descends upon the field. After a minute of allowing everyone a chance to think about why they are here, Dad turns to our troops.

  “Stevens is mine, Nyx or Ben has to take on the succubus. Other than that, fight to win, but not to kill. I hope most of their side can be rehabilitated and I don't want to see our former brothers die because of their lack of judgment.”

  That was always in the plan, even if no one said it aloud. I hear a whistle coming towards us and before I can move, Ben pushes Dad out of the way and takes the bullet in his chest.

  “I guess that means it is time to fight. Let's go,” Ben says not worrying about a silly bullet and pulls Dad back up off the ground before taking off in the direction the shot was fired from. I am not sure he knows how to just maim and not kill, but I am not running after him to give him a lesson.

  Cowards. That is what the Collective has made them. I grab a couple of knives and start running off to the right. I keep the Panoptic one sheathed for the time being. There is only one person that it will be used on and I am guessing it will take me a few seconds to get to her. I don't see her running directly towards someone that would actually give her a challenge.

  I am greeted by a large male werewolf and my blade meets his. There are no words exchanged and I have no idea who he is. I surmise quickly that it isn't going to be a very big hurdle for me to get past. I dodge his blade a few times, and a couple of bullets that are making their way through the crowd of people.

  Wanting to move on, I jump over him and then attach myself to his back before snapping his neck. It is the easiest way to get him out of the fight without doing permanent damage. Another wolf takes his place and the dance begins again.

  This one proves to be more of a challenge, but nowhere near an impossible task. I thought we were going up against the best of the best, but either I have gotten a lot stronger in the last hour, or these guys aren't as good as we thought they would be.

  I doubt I have changed, so it is good news that we are facing mostly normal forces. Maybe the gas bombs they let loose had more of an effect than what we thought. I am going to keep trying to come up with a reason why I have met two opponents that aren’t what I was hoping for.

  “Behind you,” someone shouts and I turn to see a sword coming a little close for comfort. I sprout wings and take to the air. This allows me to do a couple sweeping neck breaks before I land back on the ground.

  While in the air I was able to see Dad chop someone's head off. It is a little strange seeing him with that much anger strumming through his body, but at the same time it makes me proud to call him my dad. I assume since the removal of one's head is a killing action, he has Stevens under control. That means it is time for me to do my part. I switch weapons and crack my neck. I am ready to kill me a succubus.

  Chapter 22

  Beyond the bright light

  The fight is swirling around me. I feel no pain so I know my mates are holding their own, which I foresee continuing. I need to get to the heart of the threat against us. Our group can easily defeat any of the vampires or werewolves the Collective has brought into the battle, even if they have a few more in their advantage. They all seem to just be cannon fodder. The only thing that serves as a real threat is Candace.

  Stopping her from doing damage is my number one priority. Finding her proves to be easy as I pick up a swirl of her blonde hair out of the corner of my right eye and I make a beeline in that direction. She is fighting with one of our vampire guards and he is holding up well, but I have a feeling it is just a game for her. Any second she will probably tear him to bits.

  “Why don’t you try to go against someone of your own gender? I think we have something to finish between the two of us and now seems like a good time to have it out,” I say drawing her attention.

  “Great idea,” she replies and waves her hand to throw the guard a good fifty feet away. I am sure he will be fine, so I keep focused on the evil witch in front of me.

  “Not worried that my mommy will kick your butt for trying to kill me?” I have the Panoptic knife firmly in my right hand and Helen in my left. I am ready to slice and dice. I want to be able to use both hands effectively, so Aphrodite will just have to wait to get in on the action, if I even bother to call her.

  “A few years of punishment will be nothing compared to the joy I get out of killing your ass. You may have the rest of the world wrapped around your little finger, but to me you are just an annoying little gnat that needs to be dealt with.” Huh. That sounds just like something I would say.

  “I don’t think you packed a big enough lunch to handle me, Candace. I may still have a few minutes, or hours, before I get my full powers, but I don’t think defeating you will tax my system too much,” I taunt.

  “Bitch,” she wails and makes a move towards me while making a pair of knives appear in her hands.

  I am excited to finally get this fight out of the way. I was disappointed she didn’t try to go head-to-head against me when I was rescuing Sebby and getting zapped back to base last night was just wrong. I am hoping this will make up for that.

  We meet in the middle of the distance that was separating us and start our epic battle clashing our knives together, her right to my left. I make a move to drive the Panoptic knife into her side, but she skirts out of the way. At least it doesn’t seem like this is going to be a one-sided fight. I would have been frustrated if it was.

  “You know they only love you for your power. No man is actually capable of real love,” she says as she tries to kick my legs out from under me. I jump up and land a kick to her gut instead. It knocks her back for a second, but doesn’t really do much.

  “You must not have met any real men before. I promise you, what they feel for me is real in every sense of the word. When you are as connected as we are, you kind of know these things,” I reply and try to slash the killer knife into her shoulder. I don’t know if just a scratch will do her in or if she needs stabbed in a certain location, but I am willing to try anything. I thought I wanted this drawn out and brutal between us, but I have changed my mind. I want to be able to go help the others and I cannot do that with her wandering around.

  “That is just what they want you to think.” She disappears from in front of me and reappears with a knife cutting into my back behind me. I should have expected that little trick. It smarts; I won’t lie. I kick back with my right foot backed by a whole ton of power this time and send her flying away from me.

  “I can tell your mother never loved you as a child, since I didn’t grow up with mine, I do sympathize, but that doesn’t mean you have to be a royal bitch about other people actually finding the person, or persons, that complete them.” It feels nice to actually be able to curse. I don't plan on making it a habit again, but it is liberating. She is still on the ground and I attempt to take advantage of it and run towards her with my knife out ready to go in for the kill.

  I guess she has a similar idea because I see Candace sit up and conjure a ball of fire in her hand. I watch in slow-mo as she hurls it at me. At this distance, I don't think I will be able to get out of the way in time. I just have to hope it isn't something that will do unrepairable damage.

  "No!" I hear someone yell and witness a body fly in front of me. Okay, that was not expected at all. The fire is gone and Candace is looking on in shock while I continue my advance. The distraction works in my favor. I am able to reach her and I quickly drive the knife into her chest as she looks to our side with her mouth hanging wide open.

  “Why would he do that?” she whispers as the lights start dimming in her eyes. “He knew that was my Killing Blaze. It is meant to destroy anything in its path.” Her torso falls to the ground and her body looks to be dissolving around from where the knife is still embedded.

  I pull it out and I can see the earth through the hole. As it continues to grow, I deem her defeated and turn to look at another body lying not far from us. Surprisingly enough, it
is Ben with a large burn mark on his chest. He is a demon, so I doubt a little fire will keep him down for long, but I go check him out anyway.

  “Well, Buttercup, I doubt either one of us saw this coming,” he says when he sees me come close. He doesn’t bother to try to move around.

  “I am sure it isn’t the first time you have gotten a little scorched. Do you want some salve or something for that wound?” I ask.

  “I don’t think it would help me much this time. I saw her conjure up the Killing Blaze and I couldn’t let it hit you. I may be a demon, but there are people in this world that are meant to be protected. You are one of those people, Nyx, and I die willingly to keep you safe,” he says and grabs a hold of my hand. “I guess this means I won’t get to be a daddy, but I hope this makes us even for me keeping that secret about your mom and mentioning to her that you exist. You wouldn't dare remain pissed at me after I die.”

  “What are you talking about? You aren’t seriously thinking a little fire is going to do you in, are you?” I am starting to get concerned that the fire went straight to his brain and caused a little damage.

  “You do understand what a Killing Blaze is, don’t you? It isn’t something anyone recovers from. I am surprised I am still able to even talk. It doesn’t really hurt, which is nice, but I can feel it working through my body. I don’t have long. I want you to know that I do care deeply about you. Not in that lovey dovey way that wolfy and fangy do, but you are one of a kind, Buttercup, and you make people want to be the best they can be. Even a demon like me.” He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.

  I may not agree with him the majority of the time, but I don’t really want him to die. Just thinking of a demon dying is really weird. “Isn’t there anything I can do to stop this?” I ask hoping for some kind of reprieve.

  “No, it is almost done. Tell Alex and Sebastian your care is totally in their hands now. I expect them to keep you safe because we all know you are going to go looking for some kind of new trouble tomorrow.”

  His voice is getting softer and I am not liking this one bit. Especially, the fact that I feel a tear rolling down my cheek. That is really wrong.

  “If this is it, I want to say I forgive you for the little betrayals you stated earlier. I like to hold grudges, but it is the least I can do for you taking a fireball meant for me. I don’t know where anyone, let alone demons, go when they die, but I hope you find a lot of peace there.”

  “Thank you,” he says and his body relaxes. I look up to try to clear the tears from my eyes and I see the fighting has stopped. Everyone is looking at us with saucer eyes. I guess a demon dying is something that you don’t see every day. I never expected to.

  Alex and Sebastian separate themselves from the crowd and make their ways to me. The rest of my family follows closely behind. They move me a little away from Ben, which is for the best. Seeing him not moving makes things worse.

  “So, is that it? The battle is just over?” I ask wondering why things are so quiet. I could use some noise right now to keep me from thinking about my friend just dying. Yes, I said friend.

  “I would have to say that you have turned twenty-three, love. We need to figure out a way for you to tone down the glowing. You cannot really fight a battle with a white beacon blinding everyone.”

  “What?” I ask and look down, not seeing what they are talking about.

  “The hair is what really has me concerned,” Alex adds. “I don’t think she is going to be happy about that at all.”

  “What?” I repeat and grab a strand of my long hair that has fallen down to see that it isn’t black anymore. My previously inky hair is now white. Oh. My. God. Some would call it blonde, but I am going with white.

  “Why did you have to say that? It only aggravated her more and turned the high beams up from just blindness to bore your eyes out of your skull level,” Sebastian says and takes my hand. “Grab her other one and try to calm her down.”

  I feel Alex do as instructed and a calmness immediately washes through my system. Their love does tend to ground me. I am not sure I want that right now. I think being able to grieve over Ben would make me feel better.

  “That’s better,” Smitty says. “I guess this means you passed all the tests.”

  The group isn’t shielding their eyes anymore, so I assume I have stopped glowing. It would be nice if I could see the glow as well to know when I need to adjust myself.

  “I really thought the blonde hair was a dream,” an unknown voice says and I look over to find a man I have never seen standing next to Jake.

  “Hey, who are you?” Jake asks stepping back a little looking surprised to find the man there. He would know the regular guards more than me and if he doesn't know the guy that is a little strange. Maybe it is someone from the other team.

  “What do you mean, who am I? This isn’t the first time we have met Horny Wolf. Did the shiny white lights blind you that much?”

  “I am with Jake here, you aren’t anyone we have ever met,” Jonas supplies.

  “So everyone has gone blind now. Great. I hope that you humanoids can hurry up and clear up your vision troubles. I guess since everyone is done fighting, that means Buttercup is named the new Queen of the World,” the man says and my jaw just about drops to the ground.

  “Ben?” I question. This is not Ben. The man in front of me doesn’t have a hole in his chest, for one, and he has none of Ben’s general looks. He is probably the same height, but he is skinnier and the green eyes and red hair are not right.

  “Duh. Why is everyone looking all shocked to see me here?”

  “Here,” Phee says pulling a compact out of her belt. Seriously, Phee? A makeup mirror is not something you take into battle. What in the world is she even doing here? She was supposed to be off with Sophia's team. I bet Sam let her lead him around by the testicles again. He had been doing so good.

  She hands the mirror over to Ben and he opens it up. “Holy shit. Why am I in my human form? I have not reverted back to this appearance in eons.”

  “The bigger question is why aren’t you dead? You said that the Killing Blaze wasn’t something you would survive,” I say.

  “Oh crap. I forgot all about that little detail. Everyone was so wrapped up in you being a light bulb that I didn’t even realize I shouldn’t have been able to stand up off the ground. What is going on here?” At least now, he is as confused as the rest of us. He starts waving his arms around like a mad man. “Where are my powers?”

  “You are no longer a demon,” Gabe says appearing out of nowhere, just what we need, more confusion.

  “Angel Boy, you better get to the explaining part of your visit,” Ben tells the newcomer.

  “You never were good with patience, Martin. Maybe if you would have learned that sooner, you wouldn’t have ended up serving the Queen of Hell.” Martin?

  “No one has called me that name for a very long time and I still prefer Ben, even if my powers have gone a little wonky,” Ben says and I sense the two of them have met before and they aren’t Christmas card pals.

  “Your powers are gone for good. You no longer serve the Underworld. You are free to do your own bidding once again. This time I hope you choose a little more wisely,” Gabe replies.

  He lifts his hand to silence the words that are about to come out of Ben’s lips. I am just happy to sit back and watch this. I am sure my questions will eventually be answered.

  “Nyx forgave you and, without even knowing it, she offered you redemption for the things you have done wrong in your life. Giving redemption to the truly deserving was her final test and most angel hybrids going through the trials never accomplish it. I tend to leave that part out of my sales pitch. I didn’t want you thinking the chances of her becoming a real angel, instead of the training model, were slim to none.

  “Back to Martin, sorry Ben, you may have done things in your human life all those years ago that would be considered evil, but you giving your life for hers erased all the previous wrongs.
A demon willing to save an angel has no place in Hell. Your soul is your own again to do what you will with your life, but we hope you eventually agree to our plans for you.” Just out of curiosity, I look down to see I no longer have a demon mark blemishing my hand. I never thought I would live to see this day.

  “And what, I am just supposed to live my life out as a human? That doesn’t seem all that appealing to me,” Ben replies. The guy was brought back from the dead and he is complaining? He can just go find a vampire to turn him if he wants to live forever. I don't think drinking blood would faze him.

  “You aren’t human. You don’t have your demon powers, but we did make you an immortal. You have saved Nyx’s life more than once now, if you count the time you rescued her from the deranged werewolf, and we are hoping you would like to continue down that path in life and be a permanent guard for her. We think you will agree to our way of thinking, so we brought back a race that vanished from this plane years ago. They are the best fighters and could probably even give Sebastian a run for his money. I will let you figure out just what you are, but please use your abilities wisely. I am sure Nyx will need them in the years to come.”

  “I cannot believe you won't give me any hints on what you have turned me into, but if you say I am immortal, I can live with that. I will have to make arrangements for the care of my Hellhounds, though. I don’t think I can just bring them topside,” Ben says and his outlook on life seems to have greatly improved. “It will be nice working for Nyx. Sorry to say this, but your mom is a bit of a bitch.”

  “To quote you ‘duh’.” It is my turn to start asking questions. “So what now? I have past the trials and, if the hair is any indication, I have my angel blood kicked into high gear. What are you guys expecting from me?”

  Gabe laughs. “Why would we expect anything? You are stronger than all of us now. I think it is us who should be asking what you expect from us. It will take you a while to realize what has really happened here today. I suggest you go home with your mates and the rest of your family and raise your child. There will be more of them to come and, at least for a while, I think you will have the peace needed to just sit back and watch them grow.