by Hadena James
“Nope.” I shrugged at him.
“My head hurts,” Levi rubbed his face with both hands. “Between trying to understand magic and trying to figure out how Brenna’s mind works, I’m exhausted.”
“You should try being me someday.” I smiled at him.
“Maybe it will make more sense tomorrow,” Mammon suggested.
“That brings us to another issue. Where is everyone going to sleep?” I asked.
“Here.” Mammon answered.
“Great, how many of us are there?”
“About sixty.” Lucifer answered.
“See, that’s where my brain gets stuck. I have five bedrooms free. The others have five bedrooms free, but that is only 25 bedrooms. Are we shoving the extras in the basement on cots?”
“Yes,” Elise answered. “Or rather, anyone who doesn’t live here and isn’t mated should go into the basement on cots. That should free up a few rooms.”
“Okie dokie, as long as you guys have it sorted. I am sleeping in my room. Alone. With the door locked. No sex. Pregnancy is contagious and we have three of them in the house. All of you will be pregnant by the end of the week if you start having sex.” On that note, I got up, left the living room.
My family watched me go, mouths slightly open, a few of them smirking. It wasn’t just the bluntness of the statement; it was the ridiculousness of it.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
My room was blissfully silent. The walls were still covered in the artistic design I had created several days earlier while I had slept. I recognized the scene as the place I had met with Sonnellion in my dream.
I closed my eyes as I sat on the couch. Sonnellion on my mind. He had begged me to beat him when the time came. I wasn’t sure it was a trick. He had seemed sad and filled with joy to see me. Witches are very perceptive when it came to the emotions of others. I didn’t think Sonnellion was capable of faking such happiness while radiating hatred as well.
“Still thinking?” Anubis asked as he crept into my room. His feet had made no noise.
“Not really.”
“You weren’t sleeping.”
“No, no I wasn’t.” I agreed.
“So, you were just sitting there trying to clear your mind?”
“I was thinking of Sonnellion.” I admitted.
“Sonnellion. Why?”
“Because he is going to play an important part in my life.”
“Still bothered by it?”
“The fact that I look like him? Not really.”
“That wasn’t what I was talking about and you know it.”
“True,” I lit a cigarette. “I am still in a great deal of pain. It might be getting worse.”
“A lesser Demon would be writhing in pain and screaming the roof down.”
“Oh my god, Ani, I could kiss you. That’s what this is all about. We are getting bogged down by the details.” I jumped up from the couch, staggered for a moment, as I waited for the vertigo to pass and then ran down the hall.
My parents, Eli, Daniel, all my uncles and the Overlords I live with were still in the living room, except Anubis who was running to catch up with me. I was panting when I got there. I held my breath to let it pass.
“Bren, are you all right?” My father asked.
“Wow, I can’t believe we missed it. Has anyone ever read the book or watched the movie The Princess Bride?”
Since I got a lot of blank looks, I was guessing that was a no. I rolled my eyes. Even they still hurt a bit.
“Fine, anyway, in it, Westley and Humperdinck towards the end are going to fight a duel. Humperdinck says to the death and Westley says ‘no, to the pain’. That’s what we are missing. He isn’t trying to kill us, he’s trying to see what we can and cannot endure. He is physically torturing those of us he can get close enough to and mentally torturing those he can’t. He knows he can’t take on Lucifer or Levi or Eli or myself in a one on one, but he can if he has us distracted by trolls and dragons and whatever else he can conjure. Hence the use of my sword, conjuring wyverns and burning down houses. It is psychological warfare.”
“You keep building in psychological warfare, until the group breaks.” Anubis told me.
“Exactly and…” I stopped. My knees suddenly felt weak. The thought I had been grasping at was there, fully formed.
“Brenna,” my father seemed alarmed. Someone reached for me. My knees buckled and only the hands kept me from falling.
“You build towards your goal,” I said it quietly.
“What’s the goal?” Anubis asked.
“What else?” I looked at him.
“I don…” His eyes went wide.
“They burned down Lucifer’s house. Tortured his brother and his children. Cursed one of them to heal at Human speed. All of this has been against Lucifer, we were just the pawns.” I knew it had clicked with Anubis. I waited for it to click with the others.
“Why?” My mother asked.
“To get Dad and the others away from the Chamber.” I sighed. I felt like I had just fallen onto the concrete all over again.
“They are going after the box,” Lucifer stood up.
“Bren, go back to bed, we’ll get it.” Levi told me.
“Oh hell no, I’m coming with you. I have a feeling we will find our Witch there. And if the box is still there, we hide and wait for him. He’s going to show up.”
“Absolutely not, young lady, you still don’t have skin covering parts of your body. You are not going out like that,” my mother scolded.
“That was weird.”
“You can’t even stand,” Fenrir told me.
“Sure I can,” I pushed off of Fenrir and felt myself begin to fall forward. He caught me lightning quick.
“Obviously not.” He retorted.
“I can’t sit here and twiddle my thumbs while I wait to hear from you guys,” I told them all.
“Come here,” Ba’al took hold of me. He wrapped his wings around me. Cocooned in silence, his head peeked in the top.
“I have to go, Ba’al.”
“I think it is a bad idea, but I will help you.”
He unfurled his wings, his hands keeping my feet under me. He looked at the others.
“She comes with us,” he said.
“Why?” Lucifer asked.
“Because we might need a Witch. I think Eli should come as well.”
“Fine, but keep her out of harm’s way. I don’t think I can take her being damaged much more,” my father wasn’t happy, but he wasn’t glowing. He must have seen some reason why I should be there. My stomach turned, I had a fleeting thought that he was hoping I’d kill the Witch.
“Shall we?” Ba’al picked me up and before anyone could answer, he took to the air.
Gabriel joined us. He frowned at Ba’al. He didn’t speak; the wind rushing past us was too strong for that.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
It looked as though the entire world was on fire. Black and grey pillars of smoked reached as far into the sky as the eye could see. Below it, a brilliant glow made the ground look alive.
I couldn’t pick out a single house or building on the ground. The only light seemed to be that of the fires. And there were several.
Ba’al sat us down in what would have once been my parents’ driveway. The flames from the house had gotten so hot, the asphalt had melted and separated.
The structure of the main house was still burning. Molten silver and steel ran across the grass, starting miniature fires as it went. The trees that lined the driveway were on fire. There was a fire truck hopelessly trying to put them out. Another was trying to put out the house.
“This is bad,” Ba’al said.
“Yes, yes indeed.” I told him. I surveyed the house. The fire had gotten so hot that the glass had melted out of their panes. The stonework on the outside had even melted some.
“We should see if we can even get to the Council Chamber.” Gabriel pointed towards the path that concealed the Chamber.
/>
“There is smoke that direction,” Ba’al pointed to another plume that was floating skyward.
“Could be Levi’s house or Mammon’s house,” I offered.
“We’ll do this slowly,” Gabriel began picking his way around the molten metal streams.
I followed just as carefully, making sure I stepped where Gabriel stepped. I didn’t need to catch fire on top of everything else. Ba’al brought up the rear.
It took about 10 minutes to move to the path. One look down it told us that the Council Chamber was not on fire. The trees around it weren’t on fire either.
“That’s a little odd,” I commented.
“Too odd, I think,” Ba’al began to look at a branch near us that was burning.
“Think it is being controlled?” Gabriel asked.
“Hard to tell,” Ba’al answered, he let go of the branch, small droplets of fire rained down to the ground. The grass instantly caught and burst into flames.
“Don’t spread it,” I scolded Ba’al.
“Spreading it seems to be the least of our problems.”
We continued forward. It didn’t take us long once we were on the concrete path. It wasn’t on fire or even hot. I frowned.
“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” Gabriel almost whispered to me.
“Are we sure there was a dragon?” I asked.
“No, no one saw a dragon,” he admitted.
“So, it could be an Elder, like an Elemental, controlling the blaze.” I said what Ba’al had thought.
“Just stop the thoughts before you get there. We have enough to deal with, with the Witch. If we add Elementals, we are just compounding our problems.” Gabriel informed me.
“Sure thing,” I continued to follow him.
The Chamber door was locked. Ba’al took a key and unlocked the door. We entered.
My entire body seemed to sigh with relief when I saw my father’s chair was still there. We walked around the Council Chamber. The chair was even intact. I let out my breath without realizing I had stopped breathing.
“Okie dokie, everything looks good,” I said to break the silence and tension.
“Yes, it does.” Gabriel seemed to be frowning.
“What?”
“What if we were wrong again?”
“Then I don’t know what we are doing and maybe we should go into other lines of work, like playing the flute or something.” I told him.
“I think Brenna is right. I think Pandora’s Box is the target. I don’t know why they didn’t get it when they started the fires though.” Ba’al responded.
“Because of the lock?” I asked.
“Huh, I didn’t think of that.” Gabriel gave me a dumb look.
“Can it be forced with magic?”
“No,” Lucifer’s voice came to me from somewhere near the back of the room.
“See, that would be why,” I turned and saw my father and the rest of the gang back there.
“Who all has keys?” I asked.
“Ba’al, Anubis, Lucifer, Leviathan, and Morgana,” a voice answered for us. “Which was a problem for me.”
“Damn, I hate being right,” I looked and saw our Witch enter the Chamber.
“I’ll just get what I came for and be out of here,” he told us.
“Did you use a dragon?” I asked.
“What?” He stopped and looked at me.
“Did you use a dragon to start the fires?”
“No, not a dragon.”
“Damn, I hate when you’re right,” Gabriel sighed.
“Actually, it was my thought originally,” Ba’al commented.
“What are you arguing about and why?” The Witch demanded.
“Who is the Elemental helping you? That is the only way to keep the Council Chamber from catching fire. Someone has to be controlling the fire.” I was more telling my father and the others than informing our Witch.
“Why would I need an Elemental?” The Witch cocked his head to the side.
“Because you are incapable of controlling this fire,” I told him.
“How would you know?”
“Because I’m a Witch.” It was my turn to give him a stupid look.
“Witches can control fire.” He countered.
“I know, but we can’t control it this well. And you just don’t have the oomph to do it. I’ve felt your spells, felt your magic and you just don’t have it in you.”
“She’s right,” Kagutsuchi stepped from the shadows.
“Figures,” I made a disgusted noise in the back of my throat.
“Kagutsuchi?” Lucifer looked at him like he had sprouted a fifth head.
“Who else?” Kagutsuchi asked.
“Explains where all the stuff from our basement went.”
I spat at him. The Elemental wiped it off and smiled at me. The floor beneath my feet burst into flames.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Being on fire is not the most pleasant thing on the planet. I had once been terrified of burning alive. However, after falling however far I had fallen yesterday or the day before, it was now my second least favorite thing to do.
I didn’t move in the flames. I knew better. If I showed any type of reaction to the fire, it would just make it worse. I grabbed hold of the small crucifix fastened at my neck and said a quick spell. The flames continued to grow, but I no longer felt them. There’s a lot to be said for a mother’s magic.
“How could you betray the Council?” Lucifer asked him.
“I’m not betraying the Council, I am looking after it. Just because you are blinded by your daughter, doesn’t mean everyone else is, Lucifer.”
“He isn’t blinded by his daughter. You are blinded by hate.” Levi stepped in front of Lucifer. “Do you really hate mankind so much?”
“You think that’s what this is about?” Kagutsuchi frowned and shook his head. “It has nothing to do with mankind. Humans are fine. Witches are the problem. Half-breed Witches, like Lucifer’s offspring, those are the problem. All the power of the Elder with all the abilities of a Witch. You think Brenna is the only Witch that concerns us? All her siblings are a problem.”
“All the half-breed Witches?” Anubis made a funny noise in the back of his throat.
“Yes.” Kagutsuchi turned to him. “Look how well she put you under her spell. You should hate her as much as anyone, but you don’t.”
“Just because she’s a Witch, doesn’t mean she is responsible for my curse. Quite the opposite, in fact, Brenna looks for a cure to it and might one day, be strong enough to do it.”
“Perhaps if Lucifer had had a different mate,” Kagutsuchi shrugged. “The Strachans are known for creating objects that can harm Elders. The Strachans are known for madness and hostility towards our Breeds.”
“No, only a few of my ancestors were known for their madness and hostility. I have heard stories about the others, stories about the ones that had parties and cursed rocks and other mundane things to make Humans sprout donkey ears or tails.” I considered that for a moment, “which in and of itself, might be a form of madness, but it isn’t a dangerous madness.”
“Why are you talking?” Kagutsuchi narrowed his eyes at me. It took a second to realize the jig was up, so to speak. I stepped from the flames, whole and intact or at least as much as I was when he set the floor on fire.
“Being a Half-Breed doesn’t make me any different than any other half-breed or any other Elder or any other Witch. My lineage aside, I am still of both worlds. I still feel for both worlds. Your Witch is the one who used the Strachan sword to shred Leviathan and the other Overlords. I have not done that but once.”
“Is this true? Did you use a cursed object against the Overlords?”
“We needed them out of the way. They were protecting her.” The Witch was still in shadows.
“I told you they would be, that is why we made the conjuring potion and gave you the Strachan mark. It was so you could keep the others busy while you went after her and her sibling
s.”
“See, Kagutsuchi, you think I am evil. You think I am bad, but the truth is, you can’t even trust those inside. You think my sister gives a toss about the unnatural order of it? I have news for you, she doesn’t. All she cares about is revenge. Revenge against the family for forbidding her to kill me. Revenge against us for killing Chiron.”
“Chiron was mad, I am not.” Kagutsuchi turned back on me.
“That’s as maybe,” I shrugged at him. “But the truth is, I think you are a pawn in someone else’s game. You know he is conjuring Sonnellion and using his power? He is using the power of the Brothers’ to make himself stronger.”
“That is forbidden,” Magnus stepped into the room. “To conjure the Hanged Man for a purpose such as that, is an offense punishable by death.”
“And would you kill me?” He looked at Magnus.
“In a heartbeat,” Magnus did something with his hands, the shadows melted away. The gaunt figure who was constantly in shadow was intimidating.
The young man in his early twenties, who looked to be having trouble growing a beard, was not. His eyes were a dark green. His skin freckled. His hair was orangish-red. There was nothing intimidating about him except the way he stared at Magnus.
“You would kill me, just like that?” He questioned Magnus again.
“Yes,” Magnus nodded at him once.
“How could you be so cruel?” The young man’s voice broke and it came out as a whine.
“How could you be so stupid?” Magnus now turned on him. He had been holding back his anger, now it washed over all of us. It hit my magic and caused it to flare, like a crocodile exploding from water.
“I’m sorry, I was…” the young man sank to his knees.
“Trying to what? What excuse could you possibly have for this?” Magnus’s voice rose until it echoed throughout the chamber.
“Am I missing something?” Kagutsuchi asked.
“I think we all are.” I told him.
Levi hung his head and shook it, “not what I expected.”
“Why is that important right this moment?” I asked him.
