The Rise of the Dark Lord

by Ashley, Kristen

  The Gathering would happen at Red Rock Amphitheater.

  15 July

  So Ash is officially not the most perfect boyfriend in the world anymore.

  He’s the most frustrating, bossy, stubborn, jerky boyfriend in the world.

  This is what happened:

  Obviously, I needed to form a team. Kind of a SEAL squad of kickass supernaturals.

  And seeing as the best kind of leader (imo) is a leader who knows their strengths and weaknesses, my decision was that I wasn’t going to lead this team because being a leader was so not one of my strengths.

  You see, we didn’t need the FWA and the BWC to give us intel.

  We had a vast network of folks from witches to vampires to Fae to practically everyone who didn’t want to see Agatha Darling succeed in her quest.

  It wasn’t only the official entities who could keep their ears to the ground.

  So we got the word out for everyone to keep their ear to the ground.

  But if someone heard something or saw something, we had to be prepared.

  Enter The Team.

  And seeing as I was the Big Kahuna, I not only had to create said team, I had to give everyone their role.

  And I decided Mack would be the leader of the team.

  He wanted to be a general?

  There you go.

  General that, Mack!

  I shared this decision with Ash, and we could just say, this decision did not go over well with Ash.

  At all.

  In fact, he lost his mind.

  Partly because I made Mack the leader.

  But mostly because I made Ash the stay-at-home dude who oversaw things from Command Central.

  Ash didn’t see it as losing his mind.

  He saw it as me losing mine.

  Which was how this all started, when I told him he was Command Control, and he asked (kinda loud), “Have you lost your mind?”

  I stated the obvious.

  “No.”

  Then Ash stated the obvious.

  “Mack’s a graphic designer.”

  “Yes.”

  “I’m a trained soldier.”

  Hmm.

  “You’re also my boyfriend and destined father of my three children,” I pointed out.

  “And?”

  “And I’d like to have those three children at some point.”

  “Well, you won’t, if some lunatic turns the world dark.”

  This was regrettably true.

  But no way was I going to be swayed.

  And I shared this by stating, “You’re not going in the field.”

  “Are you?”

  “Well, yeah, seeing as I’m SuperWitch and everything.”

  Ash’s face got scary hard before he said, “So you expect me to stay home while you go off and fight bad guys?”

  I ignored the squishy feeling him calling my childhood home his home gave me (I mean, man, Ash and I were totally becoming gooey—when we weren’t fighting with each other that was).

  I again pointed out the obvious when I answered his question.

  “Yes.”

  “Mathilda, that is not fucking happening.”

  “Ash, it totally is. You’re Command Control. And I’m the Big Kahuna so you have to do what I say.”

  “I don’t have to do shit.”

  It was at that point I started getting mad.

  “Sebastian Wilding, you’re not going into danger.”

  “Neither are you, if I’m not at your side.”

  “I am.”

  “No, Mathilda, you are not.”

  By the by, he said those five words like his voice could etch them in stone.

  I ignored his tone and returned, “Am so.”

  He didn’t descend into my normal immature back and forth (he never did, which was annoying).

  He got close, bent his neck so his nose was nearly brushing mine, and said low, “I go where you go. End of discussion.”

  And then, like he was the sole being on the planet who could end a discussion, he strolled away!

  Strolled away!

  So, obviously, not most perfect boyfriend in the world anymore.

  Most frustrating, bossy, stubborn, jerky boyfriend in the world.

  Because one thing in all that was swirling around me I knew.

  The love of my life was not going to get dead, again, on my watch.

  No way.

  No how.

  16 July

  Stupid Ash.

  He got to Mack before I could.

  So when I asked Mack to lead my elite squad of magickal badasses, he said, “As much as I’m ready to do my part to save the world, Ash is right. I don’t have the experience to lead an operation. Any operation.”

  He finished with:

  “But I’d follow him.”

  See?

  Stupid Ash.

  17 July

  Convo with Su about situation with stubborn boyfriend (who wasn’t talking to me, so I wasn’t talking to him, which meant we were sleeping together, backs pointed at each other, and there was no sex or cuddling, which made me way, way madder at my stubborn boyfriend):

  Su: I don’t get why you think Mack could lead an operation like that.

  Me: Trust me, he’s got the spiritual chops.

  Su: I get that. But Ash could single-handedly invade Nicaragua.

  Me: Do we need to invade Nicaragua?

  Su: Did we before? We still did it.

  Stopped talking to Su.

  Convo with Viv about situation with stubborn boyfriend:

  Viv: It’s not Ash that’s being stubborn, it’s you.

  Me: Am not.

  Viv: Are to.

  Me. Am not!

  Viv: Totally are to.

  Thus endeth the convo with Viv.

  Convo with my dad about situation with stubborn boyfriend:

  Dad: I cannot possibly convey the strength of my determination that you will go nowhere without Sebastian Wilding at your back. And before you say a word, Mathilda, I will do all in my power to make sure you go nowhere without Sebastian Wilding at your back. Now, you may have a good deal of magical ability. But trust me when I say, you cross me on this, it’ll be a decision you regret.

  And that was the entirety of the conversation with my dad about Ash.

  Convo with Lucy about situation with stubborn boyfriend:

  Lucy: I’d ask if you’re high, thinking you’d do anything without that man at your side. Especially anything dangerous. But I’m sensing it’s something else that’s blocking your logic to the point you’re being irrational. So what is it?

  Pretended I was insulted by the irrational comment so I didn’t have to say out loud the words that were making me (okay, maybe I was getting the gist) irrational.

  Convo with Cystien about situation with stubborn boyfriend (beware, during this conversation, I was slightly (okay, highly) inebriated):

  Cystien: If I was that male, I would make a request of myself to spirit you to the Realm, leave you there and take care of this situation on my own without your involvement at all. So perhaps you should not ask me.

  Me: Are all supernaturals total male chauvinists? (These words, by the by, were slurred so chauvinists came out chauvashits which I kinda like better.)

  Cystien: No. We are beings that can sense a love that is one of the greatest of all time, as your male senses the love is that he has with you and wishes to protect it at all costs. I had a love like that once. And the love I felt for her caused me to give her her way, even when it went against my better judgement. You were witness to the results. Learn from that, beautiful Mathilda.

  Gluh.

  I didn’t learn from that.

  I got up and fixed myself another G&T.

  By the way, Cystien was hanging with us.

  I didn’t know why, and I didn’t ask.

  I just knew he’d taken up residence in the Carriage House, but he wasn’t forming a sex cult.

  I should probably have a chat wi
th him about how long he was going to stay and why he was staying so long without forming a sex cult.

  But I’d do that later.

  When I was not shnockered.

  Of course, all this led to me being drunk and forcing another convo, this one with Ash, this one less a convo and more a confrontation, this happening over the expanse of our bed.

  Him on his side.

  Me on mine.

  There was shouting (both of us).

  There were accusations of being drunk (Ash) and suggestions we speak of this when neither of us (read: me) was drunk (this also from Ash).

  There was some blathering about how I, too, could protect the greatest love of all time (obvs me).

  There were more suggestions we speak of this when neither of us were drunk so the other one who wasn’t drunk could understand what was being said by the one who was (Ash).

  And there was a demand (me) that we were going to sort things out right then so we could go back to having sex.

  Which ended with Ash declaring coldly, “I’m not your prize stud, Mathilda. I’m the man who bought you this.”

  He then opened his nightstand drawer, took out a little box and tossed it toward me over the bed.

  I bobbled it, but I caught it.

  “And I’m also the man who’s going to see to it that you’re buried wearing that, but that will happen many, many fucking years from now,” he finished.

  With that, he turned on his foot and stalked off.

  And that night, he slept somewhere else.

  And by the by, in that box was a cushion-cut Harry Winston diamond engagement ring that was four carats (at least).

  It was completely ostentatious.

  And divinely elegant.

  I loved every carbon atom that made it.

  As I loved every atom that made the man who tossed it across a bed to me.

  Ugh.

  19 July

  Telephone convo with Josie about how to make up with the love of my life and one half of the one of the greatest loves of all times after I’d been a complete idiot:

  Josie: I don’t think it’s escaped him that he died in your arms, Matty. That kind of thing would mark anybody. He’ll understand if you explain your feelings and do it calmly, not heatedly.

  Me: It’s not just that.

  Josie: Then what is it?

  Me: What if I fail?

  Josie: Fail?

  Me: At the mission.

  Josie: Stopping the Dark Lord?

  Me: Yeah, that mission.

  Josie: You’re not going to fail, Matty.

  Me: Yeah, but what if I do?

  Josie: (Nothing)

  Me: (whispering) His mom died for him. And he died for me. Don’t you think he’s been through enough? He doesn’t need to see me fail. He’ll survive. He’s a badass. He’ll make it out and probably lead the rebellion against the dark forces that form, should they prevail, and in a hundred years when all is said and done, there’ll be statues erected of him. But if I fuck things up—

  Josie: You’re not going to fuck anything up.

  Me: I think I’ve been good at hiding this, but honestly, I have utterly no clue what I’m doing.

  Josie: You know right from wrong. You know you have great power, but you only use it for good. You know you face great danger, and you don’t turn away from it. The last Dark Lord who walked the earth did it almost seven hundred years ago. No one knows what they’re doing. But something must be done. And from what I can see, you’re the only one doing anything.

  Do you see why it sucks Josie is now so far away from me?

  Me: I miss you.

  Josie: I miss you. Now go talk to Ash.

  She was right.

  I should just go talk to Ash.

  But, straight up, that kind of shizzle is easier said than done.

  Especially after you’ve been a complete idiot.

  22 July

  Yes, seeing as, until today we had not spoken to each other, you can see from the date that I did not get up the courage to go to my boyfriend (fiancé? I mean, does one get engaged when one’s boyfriend throws an engagement ring at them to end a fight? I didn’t know the etiquette).

  But I’ll get into that in a second.

  First up, I had my first clairvoyant vision in months.

  And it was not a good one.

  You see, I was at Bewitched, selling lotions and potions (okay, yeah, I was there avoiding apologizing and having a heart to heart with Ash) when I had the usual brain freeze and then I was listing this way and that and vaguely hearing people gasp and suggest someone call 911 when I saw it.

  Or didn’t see it.

  Because I was in black.

  Completely incased in black.

  It was cold.

  Very cold.

  I was alone.

  And he was there.

  Or was it she?

  So I was also terrified.

  I didn’t have my wand.

  And he was going to get me.

  Or she was.

  And I was going to fail.

  Fail, fail…

  Fail.

  Now, there is no way to describe through words precisely how colossal it was, not only the terror of pre-experiencing the experience of your imminent death, but more (much more).

  Understanding in that terror that your death meant very bad things for probably every being on the planet.

  In other words, when I finally struggled out of the vision, I was a complete wreck.

  This led to Mom driving me home, putting me to bed and calling Ash.

  Who, even ticked at me and sleeping somewhere else (huh), came right away.

  This did not surprise me.

  That was my guy.

  Mom hovered in the corner while Ash sat on the side of the bed, leaned into me, one hand wrapped comfortingly around the side of my neck, one hand in the bed by my hip, and he did this gently interrogating me.

  This was gentle because I was the other half of one of the greatest loves of all time (ours).

  And also, as I said, I was a total wreck, shivering, glassy-eyed (I could even feel being glassy-eyed) and freaked way the fuck out.

  “Anything, sweetheart, anything you remember could help,” he said.

  “Just black. Cold and black. And scary.”

  “Were you inside or outside?”

  “Cold.”

  “Cold inside or outside?”

  “Inside. Somewhere inside.”

  “Were your feet on the ground?’

  “Unh-hunh.”

  “Was it dirt? Stone? Wood. Carpet?”

  “Stone.”

  “Did you touch a wall? See a door? A window?”

  “No, just black. Though yes. I was…trying to get away. I touched a wall. It was stone.”

  “Cold. Stone. Dark. Does this mean you were underground?”

  “Yes…yes…yes, I was…was, underground. It was underground, Ash.”

  “Castle Noapte?”

  I shook my head. “No. Somewhere else. I’ve never been there before.”

  “Fuck,” he muttered.

  “But I have,” I told him.

  “What?”

  “I’ve been there, but I haven’t.”

  Ash looked bemused. “You’ve been there, but you haven’t.”

  It sounded crazy.

  And it was.

  It was also hopeless, because in order to do something about it, I had to know everything about it, so I could fucking avoid it.

  “I know, it doesn’t make sense,” I admitted. “But that’s what it felt like. Like I knew the place, but I’d never been there before. I definitely didn’t know how to get out because I didn’t know which direction to go to get out.”

  “So it was a building, made of stone. Stone under your feet. Stone walls. But no lights.”

  I nodded.

  “Were the lights off? Or just that there was no light?”

  I shook my head. “I don’t know. The vision started
in the dark and I knew he was there, stalking me. Or she was, but whoever it was, they were stalking me. I was alone. No one with me. I didn’t have my wand. And I was trying to get away from him. It was cold. And I didn’t know where I was, so I didn’t know how to get away. But I still had a destination in mind. I just don’t know what that was.”

  It was then it hit me.

  So I cried, “Up!”

  “Up?”

  “I needed to go up.”

  “To the light?”

  I shook my head. “Just up. He or she was blocking me from getting where I needed to go. Which was up.”

  Ash stroked my jaw with his thumb and murmured, “What did you need to get to that was up, darling?”

  “I don’t know, but that was my only hope. I just had to get past them, without my wand, go up, and with them in my way, or…or, confusing me because I didn’t know where I was going, that wasn’t going to happen.”

  “What was the cold like?”

  His question confused me. “What was it like?”

  “Was it like the heating wasn’t on? Or like there was no heating? Winter? Rain?”

  By the Goddess and all things magical, my man was a genius.

  “It was England.”

  His brows shot together. “England?”

  “The cold of England. That kind of cold, the wet kind that gets in your bones. I’ve never felt it before. Except in England.”

  His face cleared. “The Dungeons.”

  Oh shit.

  He was right.

  “You were in The Dungeons at The Gables,” he proclaimed.

  Oh shit!

  He was right!

  “I don’t know, I’ve never been down there before. Well, at least, not fully down there. But, it could be.”

  I only said “it could be” because I didn’t want it to be because I never, ever, ever wanted to go down to The Dungeons.

  Case in point, Ash lived down there with me in the same house for a year, and I never went down there even if he was down there, and I might not have realized he was the love of my life back then, but he was still the love of my life.

  “I’m screwed,” I muttered.

  “You aren’t, my love, because now we know, we’ll avoid The Gables, and to assure you’re not ever in this fucking situation, we’ll avoid England altogether.”