The Devil's Masquerade: The Remedy

by Jennifer Loren

  “Ryan!” he yells, catching his attention long enough to send Ryan falling to his knees, screaming while an assassin comes at him with a blade to end his life.

  “No!” Nick screams, chasing after Ryan and blocking Savages glare before twisting his own body through the air to destroy the assassin. Ryan lies on the ground, seemingly alright but exhausted and vulnerable to another attack. Nick has no choice but to fight for him and for me, leaving himself open for an easy kill. He fights and fights. We all do, but we are quickly losing our battle. Then, I hear it, a sudden abrupt loud squall erupts throughout the room, and I look up to see the red eyed dragon taking flight and aiming its teeth for Nick. “Nick! Look out!” I scream, running for him and, at the same time, trying to think of a way to save him from the poisonous teeth that are headed directly towards him. There is no way I can get to him in time, but a dark storm passes by me who does make it to him in time, and she unleashes her own scream of terror. Galena’s rapid action cuts off the dragon’s bite from Nick’s neck with her own neck. Rushing to her side, I try to hold her as she cries out in a torturous pain, but her violent seizures are too much for me to hold onto, and Amery is forced to help me. Amery holds her tight in his arms while whispering soothing words to bring her back to calm. Nick is distracted long enough for Savage to send him spiraling into the ground and burying his face away from Savage’s sight. Nick has no way to fight him, and Ryan is still struggling and with that damn dragon flying above. I can only imagine who it will attack next. When it begins to dive again, a million thoughts run through my head. My husband, my brother, or will I risk myself and my child to save them? Before I can decide, Eey comes running in from out of nowhere and jumps into midair, catching the dragon between his teeth and biting down hard as he shakes it to its death.

  Savage still holds Nick down when Nicky walks in, his eyes swirling with anger. “Let go of my Daddy!” A single flick of his hand, and Savage goes down.

  “Eey! Eey come her boy and give me that?” Ryan calls out to the dog. Eey rushes to him and drops the dead dragon from his mouth as it begins to harden and change into something else. I look over at the golden dragon’s hardened form and down its jagged skin to a bright gleaming blade. Ryan manages to get to his feet as does Nick. They both take a deep breath, watching Savage try to battle Nicky. Ryan holds up the blade to Nick. “This is all we need.” Ryan says. Nick looks down at it and nods.

  “Nicky, count to ten, Son, and then let go!” Nick yells. Ryan and Nick stand steady, waiting for the moment. I watch as they both become stronger and more controlled with every breath they take. Nicky counts silently, abruptly stopping the battle when he reaches ten. Savage stands straight up, preparing to rage at us, but Nick runs at Savage, inflicting a brutal hit on him. Nick takes a hold of him and twists their bodies until Savage’s chest is exposed. Ryan never bothers to look anywhere but his target. He races forward and dives in and down. The blur of events is hard to understand until the aftermath. Nick backs away, as does Ryan, while Savage grips the blade in his heart and curses everyone around him. He tries to inflict pain back on Nick and Ryan, but his power is broken. My confusion is made clear when Kamini walks in and towards Savage.

  “It is your time now, Dennis,” she says clearly. He tries to deny her, but in his weakened state, she overwhelms him in seconds. The earth-shattering cries coming from his mouth bring tears to my eyes. Never have I heard anything so awful, or do I ever want to hear it again. The moment Savage is taken away, his so called “army” stop dead in their tracks and look around as if they don’t know what to do now. Nick, however, steps up.

  “Men, stand down and reorganize in formation.” They all gather together and stand, waiting for further orders. I look over at Nick, and then Nicky. Both come running to me. Nick picks up Nicky in his arms and kisses me. We feel good, but the feel good moment is brief. A sudden explosion starts shaking the whole house.

  “Nick ,we have to go!” Ryan yells at us. “We set bombs to go off!”

  “Everyone run! Get out of this house!” Nick yells as everyone begins running. With Nicky in his arms, Nick takes my hand and we run. More bombs explode, and the house begins to crumble around us. In the midst of the madness, we lose the others, and all of our exits suddenly get cut off. Nick hands Nicky to me and begins searching for a way out. I hover over my son as best I can while we become more and more trapped inside this horrible house. Nick returns to us, wrapping his arms around Nicky and me. “Everything is going to be okay, alright?” I look into his eyes, and he nods trying to reassure me.

  “Hey, you guys need some help out of there?” I look up and see Ro looking down at us from large hole in the floor above. “My man, Rabbie here, knows the best way to get out of here. If you’re interested that is?”

  Nick smiles. “I thought you ran out with all the others?”

  “Now, what kind of an assistant would I be if I let my boss die?” Ro says as Rabbie suddenly pops his head out. Together, they lower some tied up sheets they found. Nick and I tie up Nicky in it and watch nervously as our son is raised up above us. Once he manages to get safely into Ro’s arms, I breathe a little easier.

  “Okay, Princess, your turn,” Nick says to me.

  “Can’t we go together?”

  “I will be right behind you, don’t worry,” he replies, kissing me and securing me in the makeshift harness. “We should remember this sheet tying idea for later tonight.” I laugh and kiss him again as they raise me up to them. I take hold of Nicky as soon as I reach him and help them rush the improvised rope down to Nick, but somewhere, part of the roof caves in and causes a terrible vibration within the house. I hover over Nicky once again as walls begin to crumble and pieces of ceilings start crashing in around us. We all take hold of something secure nearby until there is a break in the rumbling.

  “Nick! Hurry up let’s go,” Ro yells. “Nick?”

  I look over, searching for him and find his hand sticking out from underneath some debris, “Nick! Nick!” I cry out. “Ro I need to go back down there.”

  “Are you crazy? Hell no, Nick would never allow it, and I’m not going to either.”

  “He is out cold! Someone has to go down there,” I plead with him until I hear a dog barking. I look over and see Eey, squeezing through a hole and pulling things off of Nick.

  “Eey! Mommy we have to get Eey, too!”

  “Don’t worry. We will, Daddy will get him,” I reassure him. I watch as Eey desperately tries to wake Nick. He suddenly starts barking and going ballistic before letting out a hollow howl, which is not comforting in the least. Damn it Eey! Figure something out.

  Ro sighs, “I’m going down. Can you help Rabbie hold me, Kayla?” I nod, and he looks up to the heavens and then shakes his head.

  “Hey, up there, pull him up.” We all look over and see a strange man. “I tied it around him, and he is good to come up.” Nick is wrapped up, and Rabbie and Ro immediately start bringing him up. I grab him as soon as he reaches us and pull him into my arms.

  “Nick, wake up baby. Please. Please, wake up.” The strange man is lifted up to us shortly after. “What about Eey?” I ask, and the man laughs.

  “Mommy, he is Eey,” Nicky says, shaking his head at me. I look up at him and look over the man more closely. The tall, dark, and handsome man is older but gives me a rush when he smiles at me, similar to …”

  “Dante?” He nods and leans down to look over Nick.

  “He should be fine, right Nicky?” Dante asks.

  Nicky nods and quickly grasps his father’s face. “You’re going to be okay, Daddy.” Nick’s eyes start to flutter, and he looks up at me, confused, and then, he sees Dante.

  He sits up, looking around, “Am I dead?” We all laugh.

  “No, son. You’re not dead, but you might be if we don’t get out of here right now.” I pick up Nicky as Nick takes my hand, still looking at his father strangely but shaking off the oddity long enough to start trying to figure a way out. Rabbie claps,
getting all of our attention, and waves for us to follow him, and so we do.

  “Okay, so you were the dog, and then you helped Nick? And Nick’s body was crushed. I heard his broken bones as we brought him up, so did Nicky …” Ro asks. I simply nod at him since I am not completely sure about all the facts myself. “For real? Dammmmnnn. You know if I could change into a dog and back again, I would be the best criminal ever … especially if could heal myself too.” Nick looks back at him. “I mean, if I still did that kind of thing.” Nicky laughs at him.

  Rabbie leads us to a strange door, opens it, and waves us to go in. Nick and I look into the small dark passage, unsure about where he is leading us to.

  “I know this. It’s fine. My father put it in if another Lord’s army attacked and he needed a quick escape,” Dante says as Rabbie nods. They help me in and hand Nicky to me. “Hold onto him and get ready.” What? Rabbie pushes me and Nicky, and I take off, sliding this way and that until we slide out safely into the back of the house near the gardens. Slightly dizzy, I try to quickly move out of the way for the next person, but I stumble backwards and right into Nick’s arms.

  “Whoa Princess, you can sit in my lap later,” Nick says, winking at me as he helps me up.

  “Daddy, that was fun! Can we do it again?” Nicky asks.

  Nick laughs, “That was fun, huh? Maybe some other time at some other place.” He takes Nicky into his arms as Dante slides out followed by Ro and Rabbie.

  We move away from the house and find a crowd of people watching as it crumbles to the ground. Nick turns to Dante and shakes his head. “How? I don’t understand. What the hell are you doing here?”

  “I asked for one last favor. Well, two if I promised to accomplish what I said I would, so we will see if I did what was expected.” Nick just stares at him until Dante wraps his arm around him, whispering something in his ear that I can’t hear. Dante grabs the back of Nick’s head and kisses his forehead and Nicky’s too. “I love you son, and you too kid.” I smile wide until I see Ryan step out of the crowd and towards us with wide eyes.

  “Dad?” Ryan asks, walking slowly towards us. Dante turns, and forms a bright smile.

  “Ryan,” he says as he walk towards him. “Hi, Son. Oh, how I have missed you.” They stare at each other in awe. “You don’t know how much I have wanted to hold you in my arms and tell you everything was going to be okay.” Ryan shakes his head, looking down at his feet. Dante grabs the back of his head and kisses his forehead, “I love you so much, Ryan.” Ryan breaks down into a loud cry as Dante takes him in his arms and hugs him tight. “I am so proud of you. You have become such an incredible man. I know you have been through so much, Son, and I wish I could have taken all that pain away from you. I just didn’t know how to help you and keep you safe, too.” Ryan wraps his arms around his father and grips him closer. The emotion in his cries melts us all.

  We all feel good. Everyone made it out, even Galena, who sadly couldn’t hold onto her life long enough to be saved and died in Amery’s arms. The poison was too much for her and her body. Amery refused to leave her behind for some reason.

  “Hey Nicky!” Elijah yells, rushing over to us. He starts to hug Nick but instead smacks him in the back of his head. “I want to just let it be known, right now, that you owe me, and I mean you owe me big. The shit I went through for you.”

  “Alright I, will set you up with that girl, Danielle, at the club you have been going on and on about forever,” Nick says but Elijah starts shaking his head.

  “Danielle? Are you kidding me?” Cat says from Elijah’s side. “You really liked her?” Cat looks up at him as Elijah shakes his head at her. “I thought you said you barely remembered her name? How can you go on and on about someone if you barely remember their name Eli?”

  “What are you getting so mad about? That was before you?” He looks back at Nick and rolls his eyes. “Thanks a lot, Nicky. Brothers for life, my ass,” Elijah mumbles, chasing after Cat.

  Nick looks down at me, confused. “I’ll tell you later.” I look around at everyone and realize everything is going to be okay now.

  “What are you smiling about?” Nick whispers in my ear.

  “I am just very happy right now.”

  “Good, then I have done my job.” I jump into his arms and kiss him all the way back to our home, with our family.

  Chapter 34

  Nick

  My father stands up, talking about his sister and the days they spent together as children. He talks about how she risked her life for her only daughter. He talks about the strength she never knew she had until the day she saved his son.

  “I wasn’t sure if I could trust her. After all, I was the illegitimate child brought into the middle of it all. She followed me around, asked me a million questions, and was a constant pain in my ass,” my father says with a smile. “Galena was beautiful, intelligent, and I grew to love her as my sister. I would have done anything for her, and in the end, she did all she could for me.” My father wipes away his tears. “I’ll miss you my dear, beautiful girl.”

  Kayla buries her head into my arm as Lena stands and hands Galen, her newly born son, to Brady. Lena walks up to her mother’s coffin and runs her hand down it with tears in her eyes. I hate this for her. I hate that she never had a chance to really know her.

  “My mother gave me a life. She sacrificed what she had to for me, and because of her, I had a great childhood, and now have a wonderful husband and a beautiful son. I couldn’t be more proud to be her daughter. You will be missed and forever loved, Mom,” Lena says, laying down a single rose on top of her mother’s coffin.

  Everyone takes a moment before Galena is buried in a proper grave, up high on the mountain so she can see everything from a place where she will be forever beautiful and forever remembered. Out of the corner of my eye, I notice Amery standing and quickly leaving.

  I asked Amery why he held her to the end when he was so set on revenge before. He said, “I saw the pain in her eyes and realized it wasn’t her that caused my sorrow but her father. She was an innocent victim, constantly being torn between what she thought was right and what she was told was right, and in the end, she did what she thought was right, and it got her killed. In that moment, she earned my respect and the forever peace she is now getting.”

  I agreed with him.

  The High Council, with good reason, demanded to see Ryan and me personally. Before he died, Savage tried to reverse his plea to have me take over his position. They have to decide, now, whether they make one of us in charge of his high realm or give it to another. Rein Lord Savage is aiming high and doing all he can to move up and take over with the help of an old enemy, Marius Luvis. Marius has been promised a move up as well if he helps Rein discredit us. They make strong arguments against us, one of which is that Rein is Savage’s half-brother and the next Savage son in line. He feels the placement should go to one who understands the duties better and has more experience. They don’t stop with the obvious. Instead, they give more reasoning as to why neither Ryan nor I should take over for our grandfather by telling mostly lies, but Ryan and I stand strong, silently waiting our turn. When it comes back to us, Ryan speaks of me and how he is the most proud to be my brother. He continues talking about my accomplishments as a brother, about me as a husband, and as father. Every word Ryan says is spoken clearly and proudly. I have little to say when it comes back to me I am so taken aback by his words.

  I look over at him, and he whispers back to me, “You know this your destiny, Nick. No one would be a better choice than you.”

  The Council seem hardened and unimpressed, but they call one more witness, my father. Dante steps out to Rein’s furious surprise. My father looks his way and smoothly responds, “Got something to say, Rein?” My father’s hardened stare instantly forces Rein back into his seat. The council turns to my father and asks him question after question about me, Ryan, everything that happened during Savage’s downfall, and how we all reacted. My father explain
s who we are, who we are as Jayzons and not Savages, and he talks of Kayla, Nicky, Brayden, and of our new daughter, Jael. He tells them how strong we are as a family, with me as the leader of them all.