by Kailin Gow
“But, what about Brax and Moore and Asher and…?” He rolled his hand in the air indicating her numerous suitors.
Lux stopped his hand and smiled as she thought of the men in her life. “Sully, my boys, I love them all. They’re all a part of me, an important part of me. And then there’s you and Lucas. Of course, I care about you two, too. Of course, I love my time with you. But, are you asking me to choose?”
He just looked at her.
“You know you’re asking me the impossible. We’re young, Sully. Maybe you feel ready to be exclusive, but I feel that I’m still too young for that. I love everyone for who they are, and I love all of my guys in their own way. I can’t choose just any one of you yet. If you want to be with me, you’ll have to accept that I have a special relationship with Asher, Brax, Moore, and even Lucas and you. Maybe someday I’ll be able to choose, but I can’t right now.”
Sully nodded and reached for her hand, giving it a tender squeeze. “Well then, I guess I’ll have to accept that.”
Nodding, she smiled, “Good, because I do want you in my life, and I want more of you after what happened today…a lot more.”
Sully grinned, “So you like my moves then?”
“Very much,” Lux said as they both got out of the car. Sully reached into the back seat, found a t-shirt, and pulled it on before they headed into the house.
“What are you guys up to?” Lux called out to Asher and Lucas seated in the living room.
“We had a disagreement about something and pulled the Book of Angels out to settle the matter,” Asher said getting up.
“Oh,” Lux said with a smile. “So, who was right?”
“Never mind that,” Lucas said, avoiding the topic as he rose and came around to greet them. “How did your lesson on sealing portals go?”
“Okay,” Lux said, pulling cobwebs out of her hair.
“Just okay?”
“We got there in time to slay a few demons,” Sully said.
“Damn,” Lucas said. “That mine shaft portal again?”
“Yeah. We have to find a way to seal it more permanently. We went in and sealed the major cracks, but we’ll have to keep a close eye on it.”
Lucas turned to Lux. “So why aren’t you happy with your lesson?” He glared accusingly at Sully.
“Don’t blame him,” Lux quickly said. “Sully was great. It’s just that…”
“Turns out she never learned a single prayer,” Sully finished for her. “Romeo didn’t show her a single prayer in all that time. Can you believe that?”
“Considering everything that’s happened, yeah, I believe it.”
“Lux,” Asher said. “I think we should sit down together sometime soon to look over a few key Latin phrases from the Book of Angels. There are a few commands in here that go hand in hand with the new powers you’re going to get.”
“New powers?”
“Yeah,” Asher said. “Your angelic powers. You’re going to have more and more of them. You’re going to be stronger and soon you’ll be able to slay several demons at once just with the power of your inner light. But, first, we have to unlock all that power and strength, and one of the ways we do that is through the power of words; the right words. That’s why we have the book here. We need to say the right words that will help you.”
“Despite all of my years out there fighting demons, I suddenly feel like I’m getting a crash course in slaying. I had blindfolded combat with Lucas this morning, then sealed a portal with Sully and now I’m going to learn about my angelic powers with Asher. Between the three of you, I’m starting to question why I have to go to the Academy at all.”
“Your classes at the Academy are still very important,” Lucas said. “There may be a few classes that don’t seem important now, but you’ll find them all helpful at some point or other.”
“And with Ms. Angelo, you’ll learn a lot of Latin. She’s a great teacher,” Sully said.
“Not to mention how she can help you with your spiritual gifts,” Lucas added. “She can do a lot to help you understand how to use them.”
“We believe you have even more gifts than we expected,” Asher said.
Lux looked at Lucas and Sully before turning to Asher. “Well, I hope you weren’t planning on teaching me any of this tonight because between these two and my regular classes, I’ve had enough for today.”
“Fair enough,” Asher said coming around the sofa to pull her into an embrace. “We’ll start tomorrow.”
She smiled up at him and nodded.
“I’ll admit that it’s a little late in the day to start on this now, anyway.” He leaned in to kiss her, a kiss that was surprisingly passionate and filled with longing, especially considering that Lucas and Sully were standing right there. “I’ve missed you,” he said when he pulled away.
“I’m right here,” Lux said with a grin.
He smiled. “I realize now why you haven’t visited me at the guest house for so long. Initially I thought it was just because you missed Brax and Moore so much, but I know now that it was because you were under Romeo’s spell. Now that your head is clear, now that you are fully aware of everything that is happening around you, I want you to know that I love you. I’ll always be there for you. My biggest disappointment will always be that I wasn’t there for you; that I let Romeo control you the way he did. I didn’t want to intrude on your personal life, but I should have.”
Lux ran her fingers through his hair. “You know that what happened with Romeo wasn’t your fault. Besides, what could you have really done? If you’d tried to force me away from him, I would have simply resented you. No. I had to learn the hard way. I had to have the truth thrown in my face. I’m the one who should apologize to you for being so weak in front of Romeo. He was so attractive, so seductive; all I wanted to do was to be with him. My body felt on fire when I was with him, having sex with him. It was like I couldn’t get enough of him. Sorry I neglected you because I was too blinded by my need to be with him; a need that turned out to be empty and worthless.” She leaned in to hug him and never wanted to let go. “You’ve always been there for me and you’ve done so much for me.” She looked up at him, gazing into his loving eyes. “And, in the end, in those final moments in the portal, you were there for me, Asher. You were right there, protecting me and pulling me out of there.”
Lucas walked back to the coffee table, gathered his books and turned to the stairs. “I’ve got an early class tomorrow.” He headed up the stairs, sullen.
Lux looked expectantly at Sully.
“Yeah,” he said after a moment. “I have a class, too.” He headed to the stairs. “Who doesn’t?” Stomping his way up, he went upstairs and into his room.
“Good,” Asher said. “I thought they’d never leave. Now that we’re alone, I want to show you just one quick thing.”
“Oh, Asher. It’s late and I really am tired. I’m not in a good state of mind to learn anything.”
“Give me three minutes and then I’m out of here.”
She tilted her head tiredly to the side then glanced down at her watch. “Okay. Three minutes. Go!”
He laughed. “Okay. Watch this.” And fell silent and breathed and after a few moments, his breaths came hard and fast and he opened his eyes wide. Then he began glowing, faintly at first, just a warm orange glow, but it increased to a brilliant yellow light. “Do you know when you started glowing last time?”
“Um,” she muttered, trying to think. “I think the first time it happened was in the portal with Romeo. He had me in his arms and, all of a sudden… I could see the glow emanating from me reflecting on his face.”
“And how did you feel in that moment?”
“Confused, I guess. I think I had just blacked out and I was just regaining consciousness when I glowed.”
“What else?”
“Scared. We were falling into the portal. Other beautiful beings were coming around. The Thompson twins were there. I guess I felt surrounded, cornered… helpless
.”
“Exactly. And without knowing it, you called upon this new power of yours. It occurred in conjunction with your natural adrenaline kicking in.”
“Huh, yeah. I guess that makes sense.”
“Well, that’s how it is for me. When I’m in trouble, when I sense danger, adrenaline levels go up and I begin to glow.”
She looked curiously at him. “Asher, but you’re glowing now. Do you sense danger?”
He smiled and shook his head. “No. And that’s what I want to teach you. I’ve learned to call on these angelic powers at will. I’ll admit that most of the time, adrenaline will kick in on its own, but sometimes it helps if you can call on it.”
“You think that I can make myself glow whenever I want?”
“It takes a bit of practice, but, yes. You can call upon it at will. This way, you can better anticipate danger. If you don’t practice calling on it, it can sometimes kick in when it’s a little too late.”
“So, how do I call on it?”
“Think of something that gets your adrenaline going. Think of something that scares you. Not just something that startles you like a loud bang, or something that makes you squeamish like a snake, but something that really scares you, like you feel that your life is in danger.”
“I guess I could think of that moment with Romeo.”
“Whatever it takes. Think of that memory and make it come alive. Live it, breath it and let the fear take over until you’re glowing. It’s using your basic fight or flight instinct and tweaking it a bit.”
Lux nodded. “I’ll try that.”
“The only thing is that you may have to change the memory that sparks such fear. Over time the effect tends to fade away and you need another fear.” He put his hands to her shoulders. “That’s your assignment for tonight, or tomorrow if you prefer. Make yourself glow, girl. Make yourself glow.”
Chapter 9
Lux squirmed and turned over as the blackness of the portal pulled her in. The heat was stifling and the dry hot air burned her nostrils.
Romeo was there, standing straight and strong with his hands clasped behind his back. He was as handsome as ever, his eyes smoldering with passion as he pulled her closer and closer to him.
Just behind him, Brax and Moore. The real ones? The imposters? She couldn’t tell at first, but as they laughed, maniacal and horrific cackling laughs, she realized they were the demon posers.
“Too bad you came for us so late,” the Brax poser said. “You missed your chance to save us. You call yourself a slayer, but you couldn’t even save us.”
“You’re not the real Brax,” Lux said.
“Really?” he said with a demonic grin. “How do you know? How will you ever know? You don’t know anything anymore.”
“The more time we spend down here, Lux,” the Moore imposter said. “The less human we become.”
“I barely have any human left as it is,” Brax said. “Why didn’t you save us in time, Lux? What kept you so busy that you couldn’t help your friends.”
“You were too busy fucking that succubus, weren’t you?” Moore shot out. “Like a fucking whore, you had to fuck him while we were down here burning, burning, burning.”
“No,” Lux cried out, refusing to believe that she was responsible for their time in hell.
“You would probably fuck him again if you had the chance,” Brax said with a sneer.
“Fuck him,” Moore shouted. “Fuck him! It’s too late for us anyway!”
“What an enchanting idea,” Romeo said, coming closer to her. “I’ve missed fucking you, Lux. And I know you’ve missed fucking me. Believe me, no matter who you fuck in your life, it will never be as good as when you were with me.” He reached out to pat her cheek.
“Leave me alone,” she said, backing away from his touch.
“Ah, yes,” Romeo said with a sneer. “The standard defense. Leave me alone. Oh, Lux. You naïve and innocent little child. Do you not realize just how easy you are to manipulate? I needed only to smile at you and you were wrapped around my little finger. It was almost boring seducing you. It was that easy.” He yawned as if to prove his point. “I winked, snapped my fingers and called your name and you came running, begging. I couldn’t have trained a dog better.”
“That’s not true,” she argued. Or was it? Oh, my God. Was it?
“In fact, I became bored with you so quickly that I enlisted the twins to torment you. I had to find some way of getting a bit of amusement out of you.”
“You bastard,” she hissed, lashing out at him with flimsy hands. “You fucking bastard.”
“Ah. Isn’t that precious?” Romeo chanted with mock sympathy as he avoided her attempts to strike him. “The little girl is pulling out the big words now. Too bad you didn’t say anything earlier. We were all there, Lux; world renown slayer. We were right under your nose, and you – never – saw – a – thing!”
Romeo, Moore and Brax laughed, laughed so hard and with such humiliating intensity.
“You know, kiddo,” Moore said. “I’m beginning to think that you might just be more of a succubus than you are a slayer. I mean, really. You’ve had sex with us so many times…”
Lux gasped in horror. No. She couldn’t be. She was a slayer. She’d momentarily lost her way, but she was on the right path now. She was a slayer and she’d prove it to them. She was a slayer; a good one.
Wasn’t she?
Moore came around Romeo and leaned in closer to her. Who knows? Maybe I was draining you as well, Lux. Did you ever think of that? Maybe I deceived you the same way Romeo did. Every fucking time we had sex…” He loudly sucked in air. “I was taking a part of you.”
“Me, too!” Brax shot in. “Me, too. You fucked everybody and everybody fucked with you. We fucked with you, Lux. And you made it so easy. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.”
Romeo shoved Moore aside. “Maybe I need saving, too, Lux. Ever think of that? Let me join your harem, Lux. Let me join your succubus harem. You could fuck Brax, fuck Moore and fuck me all you wanted. Hell, fuck us all at the same time if you want. I don’t care. Save me, Lux. Save me.”
She looked at him, into his smoldering eyes.
“I love you,” Romeo sing-songed with a complete lack of sincerity. “I love you no matter what. You have the power, Lux. You have the angelic powers that could put all of this misery to rest. Save me. Save us. You owe it to us.” He leaned in closer and whispered in her ear, “You know, they’re closer to you than you think.”
“No!” She sat straight up in bed, her heart pounding and her breath coming in painful short pants. Sweat rolled down her chilled back and the bed sheets were bundled up in her fists. “It’s just a dream,” she said to herself. “Just a dream.” But why did she feel like someone…Brax, Moore, or even Romeo was trying to get through to her by this dream?
Chapter 10
“Are you decent?” Asher called from behind the bedroom door as he knocked.
Already dressed and ready to go, Lux opened the door. “What are you doing here?” she said. “It’s two o’clock in the morning.”
“I heard you scream.” He looked down at her attire. Wearing dark denim pants, a warm shirt and knee high boots, she stood with her jacket in hand. “And what are you doing up and dressed? Where the hell are you going?”
“Now that’s an aptly put question if ever I heard one.”
“What do you mean?”
“Brax and Moore. I’m tired of putting this off. It’s time I got them out of hell.”
“Lux, hold on a minute. It’s the middle of the night. We haven’t had time to go over the prayers, and you barely know how to use your new powers.”
“I don’t care, Asher. I’m tired of sitting around waiting.” She looked pointedly at him, her dream still so real in her mind. “I’m going out there to get them. Are you with me or aren’t you?”
“Lux,” he started.
“Asher, you’re not going to talk me out of this,” she said firmly as she took a step to head o
ut of her room. “Now, are you with me or not?”
“Okay,” he said, blocking her path. “You’re sure about this?”
“More than anything,” she said pushing past him. “Are you with me?”
“Yeah. Of course. I’m not going to let you go out there alone.”
“Good. Let’s go.”
“How about we get Sully and Lucas to come, too. The more slayers you have on your side the better your chances of getting Brax and Moore out of there.”
After a moment of reflection, she nodded. “Okay. Go wake Sully and I’ll go get Lucas.”
“Okay.”
Asher headed to Sully’s room at the far end of the corridor, while Lux headed to Lucas’s room.
She knocked lightly. “Lucas. Are you awake?”
No answer.
She slowly cracked the door open. “Lucas,” she whispered loudly. “I’m sorry to wake you, but I need you.”
Nothing, not even the sound of snoring or gently breathing. She flicked on the light to find his bed empty.
“Lucas,” she called out loudly. “Lucas, where are you?”
She emerged from his room and almost ran into Asher.
“Sully’s not in his room.”
“Yeah, neither is Lucas.”
“It’s two o’clock in the morning. Where in the world are they?” Lux said.
Chapter 11
Pacing back and forth in front of the window, Lux looked to Asher. “Where could they be? Where could they have gone all night?”
“I have no idea,” Asher said, bringing her a hot cup of coffee. “Here. I figure we won’t be going back to bed tonight.”
“Thanks.” She took the coffee and took a sip. “I can’t believe that I woke up after dreaming of the urgency of getting Brax and Moore out of hell, only to find Lucas and Sully missing.”
“I’m sure there’s a reasonable explanation. Maybe they decided to let loose for a night and are out on the town.”
