by S J Doran
Just how badly was I injured?
It took a few moments, but eventually she managed to free herself from the contraption, then gingerly tilted her head from side to side to test bone and muscle, regretting doing so when the world around her began to spin.
I really should stop blocking my falls with my skull.
She called forth the energy of the realm, knowing the magic of Asurim would answer her, and help regenerate her strength. Yet as she reached for it, none came. Which could only mean one thing… she was in Gaia.
“Those double-crossing boil brained foot lickers.”
Her Dominae had taken her not to Asurim where she could portal her way back to the Nessus, but to Gaia, where she had no access to either divine or infernal energy. No energy equalled no magic, which meant she’d be stranded on the mortal plane until someone came to collect her. By every sense of the word, they had grounded her. The sheer audacity of it had her jolt on up on wobbly legs while straining her dry throat with furious bellows.
“COWARDS, SHOW YOURSELVES!”
Her outburst fell flat when she was forced to clutch the dresser for support as her knees threatened to buckle, barely preventing another close encounter between face and floor.
“Warlock wankers the whole sodded lot of them.”
When she was finally more secure on her feet, she searched for her athame, discovering it cleaned and placed upon the antique vanity. Slipping the familiar steel into the deep pocket of her pajama pants she slowly made her way out of the empty bedroom, gingerly working her way down the elaborate oak staircase to the main floor of the Victorian cottage.
Magic or not, somehow she would find her way back to the Nessus, to her Cassius. The library at her disposal was sparse in inventory when compared to that of Asurim, but surely one of the books she kept here would reveal a solution to her current predicament. With mind made up, she started working her wobbly way towards the study, only to come to a sudden halt when an enticing scent caught her attention.
“Coffee.” Bless the dark gods.
Feet changed course as she followed the call of temptation towards the kitchen. The sight which greeted her simmering her mood from murderous to cantankerous, her stomach growling with approval. Breakfast was served.
Faster than her legs agreed to she stumbled towards the awaiting offerings, eyeing a buttery croissant while her fingers closed around an empty mug. Like a novice hunter on the prowl, she moved in for the pot of freshly brewed coffee, filling her mug while glancing over the quickly scribbled note beside it.
Written in Agate’s frilly handwriting.
-Off to check on the health of the Demon King. Please refrain from killing or maiming anyone in my short absence. Also, coffee is not food.-
Her clever attendant had made herself sparse before Amara had awakened, knowing she’d instantly order her to open a portal.
“Agree to disagree about the coffee… and the maiming.”
She inhaled deeply, pressing warm porcelain to her lips, the aroma rich and earthy, yet lacking. Reaching in the overhead cabinet, she withdrew a bottle of twenty-year-old whiskey from its depths, sloshing a healthy serving into the mug. That cantankerous mood eased to surly as she imagined Agate’s disgruntled objection.
“It’s not daytime drinking, simply fortified coffee.”
The sweet scent of toffee mixed with spicy dark roast hit as her lips closed over the rim. She’d been about to savor that first blissful sip when suddenly the surrounding air rippled, signaling a potent shift in atmosphere — Magic.
The imprint of power that brushed her senses was so strong, it nearly caused her to lose her grip on the mug containing her precious brew. Not only was it potent, but also familiar. There was only one being to whom the darkness clung in such a massive scale, only one who’d be capable of wielding that darkness within the realm of Gaia.
“Gwynn.”
It seemed the Dark Fae King was coming out of hiding for a rare social call.
Prey
She threw open the door, her glare meeting the sheepish grin of one dark huntsman. Gwynn. She hadn’t seen him since… before she died.
His hands came up to cup her cheeks as he walked forward, forcing her back into her house, kicking the door closed behind them.
“You never should have left me.” He spoke as his eyes wandered her body, taking in every injury, lingering on her neck, which was surely still bruised. “What did they do to you?”
She held up her hand and took a step back, his presence clouding her thoughts, his magic a suffocating presence.
“First off — don’t fret. I’m alive.” She took in a deep breath, keeping her thoughts together. She owed him, yes, but she was not a belonging. The Fae tended to forget that. “Secondly. Gwynn. You gave up on us first. Remember? Verity’s infant daughter? The one you thought to betroth yourself to with no thought to any future between us?”
Breathe. She didn’t have the energy to spare to get worked up over this. It had stung, but it was in the past. Cassius needed her now. She needed him.
“I could have kept you safe.” Shadows were thickening in the sunlit room, not a good sign. “Like I did for an entire century before you threw me over for the demon.”
She backed up, putting the counter between them, her hands grasping her coffee cup as though it were a shield. She had her Cassius back. It was all worth it.
Wasn’t it?
“Safe, yes. But not cherished.” The buffer between them gave her courage, despite his eyes glowing gold with madness. “Safe, but not loved. Not your first choice. You would have me give up everything to belong to you. Tell me, would I at least have been given the same consideration as your precious hound?”
“I cared,” he roared, darkness swirling up like a cyclone.
“Not enough to place me first.”
“A mistake. Seeing you hurting like this, a stór, it tears me apart.”
“I’m not what you need, Gwynn. I’m not powerful enough to break your curse.” She downed her coffee-slash-whiskey and poured another healthy serving. Whiskey, hold the coffee. Breakfast could wait.
Shadows choked out the sun’s rays, the magic in the room turning oppressive, Gwynn standing still, vibrating with manic rage. Countless times she had lain beside him, wishing to be the key to breaking him free. Wishes are for powerless fools.
She walked back around the counter and brushed her hand across his brow, calming him as she had in the past.
“Hey. I’m fine.”
Blue bled back into his eyes, shadows receding back to their confines, his madness pulling back as though he hadn’t just been on the brink of complete loss of control. The Huntsman always captures his prey.
“I don’t appreciate what you put yourself through for him. He doesn’t deserve it. Or you.” His fingertips trailed across her neck. “Allow me to prepare you some food. You shouldn’t be drinking like that on an empty stomach.”
She gave him a blank stare, wondering how he knew she hadn’t eaten. With a quirk of a brow, he gestured to the food laid out behind her, untouched. He made quick work of putting a plate together for her, leading her to a chair and setting it in front of her.
He sat across from her and immediately began to annoy her by tapping out a staccato beat with his fingers, watching her take her first tentative bite.
“The crystal did as you planned.” He wasn’t asking. The proof was sitting here, nibbling at the corner of her croissant.
“I didn’t expect to ever escape it. But otherwise, yes. It seems that some of our essence fused together all those years ago. It saved us both.”
“Why is the demon not here with you?”
She shrugged and dropped her eyes back to her plate. “They separated us.”
Gwynn nodded, as if this made all the sense to him. “And put you both on Gaia, in my realms to what end? Punishment? Do they think removing you from the seat of your power will make your people forget? They witnessed a taste of what the two of you are
capable of.”
She lost interest in his words after he mentioned Cass was here. How could she get from her house to his apartment that was surrounded by ley-lines? Gwynn could. She looked him over, calculation plain on her face, his own eyes narrowing back.
“You wouldn’t ask that of me.”
She put a ripe berry to her lips, smirking. “Do you know me at all, Huntsman?”
Instead of answering, Gwynn responded with a snarl, jumping to his feet. Mara didn’t feel the gathering of infernal energy until after he’d unsheathed his scythe.
Agate was visible before the portal fully formed, Azadiel, the traitor following close at her heels. Covered in blood.
Her heart hammered against her ribs, her stomach plummeting. He didn’t have to say a thing, she already knew.
“The good news is that you're about to get your way…” Agate said, looking warily to the Dark King then back to Mara.
“Mara?” Aza walked around Agate, sorrow in every line of his face. “I need you to come with me. Cassius needs you.”
She nearly collapsed with relief. He wasn’t dead, then.
She gave Aza a silent nod, then walked back to Gwynn, giving his hand a regretful squeeze. She wasn’t good with apologies, wasn’t sure why she felt the need to offer him one.
“I’ll see you around, mad Fae.”
She hurried through the portal after Aza with one last look over her shoulder.
Head games
Instead of getting Amara for him, as Cass had requested, Jez went straight to Levistus and told on him. Like he was a child instead of their godsdamned King. Levistus and Azadiel had bundled him off to the mortal realm, to his beloved apartment on Mont St. Michel, where he couldn’t call up a hell-gate without serious repercussions.
It took him all of an hour to get bored with languishing in his apartment all alone. He could be pissed at Jez for telling on him all he wanted, he missed having him at his side, his angelic presence a healing comfort.
He hiked up the cliffs, sword in hand, debating opening a portal to Asurim once he was past the barriers of consecrated ground. He needed her. Not having Mara to turn to — it was killing him. Hurting, anyway. Sadly, it wasn’t killing him. That would mean the hurting was over. Instead, it was a raw open sore that every breath irritated.
He paced the cliffs, sword in hand. Thinking. Contemplating options. Trying hard to convince himself he had reason to be here. They were keeping them apart. He wasn’t sure he could continue on without her.
He could just open the portal. They left him here alone, no one keeping tabs. If he closed it quickly, nothing would bleed over into the material plane.
He swung his sword in an arc, up onto his shoulder. They were showing an awful lot of trust in someone who’d only recently regained his mind.
Lightning flashed across the sky, the dark, looming clouds opening up, dropping fat, heavy raindrops onto his face. He turned up to the sky, blinking away the water drops, feeling the ominous boom of thunder rumble through his feet, the elements raging, matching the storm brewing within himself.
And still, he contemplated. Swung his sword around and up. End it all. Or stay and suffer.
How much more was he expected to take?
Could he just give up and let them win?
Not yet.
He would live, if only long enough to end them all.
He threw back his head and roared into the skies. “You hear that? I won’t stop until the worlds burn around us!”
There would be no one left to keep him from being with his Mara.
None left to use them as pawns.
No fucking game board left.
Lightning flashed and thunder rumbled, right through his bones.
No. that wasn’t what he was feeling. He knew what this meant.
He looked around warily, bracing for the inevitable.
The already low-hanging clouds touched down, obscuring him from mortal eyes... then she appeared.
All the Hells and here he’d been braced for his inevitable end.
His sweet little angel barbie appeared, looking like a furious kitten. Be damned if she was coming to try claiming Jez. He was all he had left.
She lunged at him, sword high, teeth bared.
He barely raised his sword in time, the intensity of her attack completely unexpected.
“I am your executioner, demon,” she snarled and pulled back to strike again. “If you have any last words, utter them now.”
Their swords met, and the ground shook. Holy flame and infernal darkness clashed.
Cass swung his sword down in a vicious arc. Not now. Not when he’d just decided he wasn’t finished…
“Luck be with you then, love. Not even death wanted me.”
He was never to find peace. Born to suffer for his mother’s sins. Lost his daughter, not able to be with his Mara. Agony heaped on pain…
With a shriek of rage, she brought her sword back up, knocking his back and sending a ringing jolt up through to his shoulders.
“They advised me to seduce you and destroy you slowly.” Slam. Their swords clashed.
He laughed. “Seduce me? You?”
Another shriek of rage from angel barbie, another wild full-out swing of her sword. “It wouldn’t take much. Is there a female who hasn’t had a taste?”
Cass snarled back, rage of his own erupting from his chest. “By my choice?”
Her eyes widened and sword arm faltered, briefly, long enough for him to jump to the offensive.
She was standing in the way of his next move.
The realms would tremble. He was about to raze his enemies back into the dust and reform the world to his liking.
No gods. There would be no false hope and empty promises.
The void of darkness inside of him was swallowing him whole.
“Then I will just destroy you and save us all from your corruption!” She shouted as she spun, using her own momentum to give force to her next blow.
Her blade landed across the back of his hand, shattering bones, severing tendons, the Holy Flame burning all the way to the tatters of his soul.
His sword clattered to the rocky ground with an ominous echo, the stones trembling under his feet as he let out an unholy roar.
“Do it then,” he yelled, dropping to his knees. “End this. The only thing that will stop me from tearing the realms apart is if you end it right now.” He leaned his head back and offered up a prayer.
Not to any god ever known to man.
To his Mara.
Begging forgiveness.
He hadn’t been enough.
He heard the very air shift as her blade swung.
It cleaved into the side of his neck with a sickening thunk, agony screamed through every cell in his body. End it. He met her eyes and begged her with his. Just end it.
The sword was stuck, embedded at his bone, her hands shook, her jaw clenched as she tried to push it through, every movement sending a searing pain through him.
Tears streamed down her face, her hands loosening.
Then she was gone. Out of his line of vision.
Jez knelt over him, his hands grasped tight to his neck.
“… I don’t care what your orders were, Ziva. Stop and use some common fucking sense,” Jez was yelling at her. “He’s my friend!”
Her. His angel. His mercy.
Jez shouldn’t be yelling at his sister.
She was here to end his suffering.
“Finish it Jez.” He grabbed at Jez’s hands, trying to pull them away. “No more. The void is all that’s left.”
“Stop talking Cass.” Jez looked down at him, tears streaking his face. “What were you thinking this would accomplish? Death is not an escape for you.”
A sob choked out, blood bubbling on his lips. There was no end. Eternal torment.
They would all fucking pay.
“He’s been sentenced, Jez. I’m only doing my duty.” Her voice again.
She brought deat
h. An end to this suffering.
“Right. Just blindly following orders. One day, sister, you’ll realize just how fucking blind you are.”
She hissed in a breath, then she was there again, looking down at him, her fingers touching his cheeks. Just like Mara…
“He has to be stopped,” she whispered, her fingers pressing against his lip.
Her cheeks flushed, her eyelids dropping. He could scent her desire.
He bared his teeth with a half-hearted growl. She had no right. Mara…
“Don’t touch him like that,” Jez snapped.
Cass focused his gaze on hers. “End this. Please.”
Tears magnified her eyes, the blue brighter than the sky, still clouded by desire.
No. That wasn’t right. She wanted to end him. End his suffering.
He tried to nod. Tried to assure her. He was ready.
Pain shot through his entire body with the movement, an agonized groan escaped.
“Please.” He grabbed for her hand.
She set her teeth to her bottom lip, her brow scrunching and shoulders straightening. She leaned in closer.
Then she was gone.
Jez was pulling her away, Azadiel was in front of him, intent on the wound at his neck. Cass pulled at his arms, trying to get his hands away from the source of the pain.
“Stop moving now Cassius.” Az’s voice was cold.
“Bring her back.” All he could manage was a whisper. “She was going to make it all go away.” His eyes were too heavy to keep open.
“Keep him still Jez, I’ll… be right back.”
His eyes blinked heavily, then Jez was there, his hand burning against his neck, and his angel was back, leaning over him with such sorrow in her beautiful eyes.
“It’s unfortunate that he’s been sentenced to be obliterated,” Ziva said, her fingers tracing around his lips. “He’s damned good with that mouth.”
Jez growled out something Cass couldn’t make sense of and her fingers were gone.
“Cass?” Amara’s voice came from somewhere. His imagination?
“Amara no, it wasn’t her doing.” Jez was angry but Cass could feel his worry and confusion. “What is wrong with you?” Was he speaking to Mara with that tone? Was she really here?
