I heard the wind before I realized we were no longer in the shelter of the hut. With the first shock of the gritty sand hitting me in the face, I covered my nose and mouth again with the makeshift scarf. I grabbed for Oni's hand and found only wisps of dark smokiness as she fluttered near me.And I was right. We were surrounded by spirits. Some had form and shape, but most were like Oni—billowing and insubstantial.I hated the way this world looked, like film exposed wrong. The sky looked stormy and was tinted with purples and blues, and the ugly trees were nightmarish. It was as if evil had corrupted and twisted it with ugliness.I didn't want to think of having to step through those many wisps of smoke.Stay on the path…Oni seemed to read my mind, and she moved forward, going through the entities that had no solid form. The ones that did have form, like the devil dogs and ghouls, stood their ground, staring at me with desire. Those she went around.I stayed as close to her as
Alexis placed his hands on my stomach. "Is the baby okay?"I nodded. "He's fine, Alexis. We're all fine. I have so much to tell you." We had to come up with a new plan because the Werewolves were now the least of our concerns. There was a chance that we could overthrow the powers in charge of the Neratomay!His eyes met mine again, but Oni arrived before he could speak. Ran pulled her into his arms and hugged her. "Oni…" he moaned. "I thought you were gone.""I am here," she replied while they held each other.I turned back to look at Alexis and was surprised to see that anger had replaced his concern. "I'm sorry, honey," I said quickly. "I went to speak to the Mother, and—""I know where you went," he interrupted. "Why didn't you tell me that you were going to use our child as a means to enter the void?"I didn't want to argue. I had scared him, and I understood that. He had a right to his anger, and I needed to give him his just due."Honey, I'm sorry. I know you were worr
I had messed up so bad. The way he looked at me…I sat on the toilet for a while after relieving myself. Two days I had made them suffer. Two days. As I headed downstairs, I overheard Ran saying, "I know, but she has to understand and this is the only way.""She's hungry and tired," Oni said softly. "She needs to rest. We both need to."I hurried my steps, hurt by Ran's words, but still just as ashamed at what I had put them through. If this was Alexis' way of punishing me then I had to take it like a woman.Alexis turned to me, his eyes seeming only now take in my dirty, gritty clothes and the torn condition of my dress. He blinked, and the severity of his expression began to fade."Do you need to feed?" Ran asked Oni."Yes," she said while still enclosed in his protective arms."I need to feed her," Ran said and guided Oni upstairs."Go home, Kim," Alexis said, his voice no longer cold, but there was no feeling in it. His passionless demand stung. "I've drawn you a hot bath
"No!" I gasped as I woke up in a cold sweat clutching the blanket.I was safe. I was in our bed, in our house, on our beach.I looked over to where Alexis should have been sleeping and saw that his side of the bed was empty. How late was it? I got up, looked out the window, and saw that it was dark outside. He should have been in bed by now, except…he didn't want to be anywhere near me.I rubbed my arms against the chill. How long was this going to last?I went back to bed, and though exhausted, I had a hard time falling asleep.The next morning, Alexis was still not in bed. I pulled on my gown and hurried downstairs where I saw breakfast waiting for me, but no Alexis."This is crazy." Alexis giving me the cold shoulder was childish. Well hell, I'm not going to play. He can talk to me when he's good and ready.I slammed the chair back from the table so I could sit. I scowled because Alexis had come home, cleaned up the mess I had left, and had left the house. I ate warm porridge
I don't know how long I slept, but I was awakened by another nightmare, this one much worse than the first one:I was back on the road leading to the Mother's house. Oni again had shape and form, and I was relieved to see her. The road in this nightmare represented everything that scared me. It was the shadows under my bed when I was a child, the clowns with their painted-on smiles and corpse-like skin. The road was Halloween witches and strangers that snatched little kids. Oni was fearless, leading us to safety, and I fought to keep up with her.I wasn't pregnant, and it didn't occur to me that I should have been. We ran, and Oni checked behind her often to make sure I was still there. Her face then filled with fear because it wasn't me she was looking at from over her shoulder.Werewolves were chasing us.Their gnashing teeth were long and sharp, saliva foamed from their mouths, and they were much faster than our human forms. Fifty or more were behind me, and they were the Omicro
I was back at the house cleaning up the mess I had made when the front door opened. Alexis stood in the doorway. I pulled myself up to my feet. His eyes quickly scanned the mess.He moved forward. "I'll do that. But let us talk, okay?"I nodded.He carefully reached out, and when I didn't move out of his reach, he took my hands and held them tightly. "I don't want you to leave me."I sighed. "Alexis…""Kim, I did hurt you on purpose. But I only wanted you to experience a small bit of the pain that I felt when I thought I had lost you. I didn't know how else to tell you not to ever make me feel like that again."I shook my head. "I didn't do it on purpose," I whispered."I know," he said. He stepped over the food and led me to the couch where we sat side by side. "I was wrong. I was trying to show you something, but instead I was cruel to you. I knew I was wrong, but I was so angry."I looked away. "Are you still angry?""No," he said quickly. "Look at me."I did."I'm afraid
He picked me up, and my arms wound tightly around his neck.Then he placed me on the couch!"Oh," he said. "I stink. I haven't bathed in days." He pulled off his top, losing his headscarf in the process. Then he squirmed out of his pants, and when I saw his beautiful thick cock full and ready, I reached out and gripped it firmly by its base. "Love me…" I whispered.I kissed him, and his lips possessed mine as his tongue gently probed and lapped. I swept off my gown, and he laced his hands on each side of my belly and stared at me reverently, taking in every inch of my body."Forgive me," he begged between kisses. I placed my hands against his cheeks and halted him so that I could look into his eyes. "If you'll do the same."He nodded and then kissed me, lifting me so that my legs went around his waist. He was so strong and hard, his muscles like tightropes beneath his skin. I arched so that I could make room for our baby, and Alexis covered me carefully with his body.His hea
The agony grew until I tasted the distinct copper flavor of blood—my own blood.My body seemed to clench in on itself, as if I was vomiting and being vacuumed into the center of my existence. I wanted to scream and cry but couldn't draw in even the smallest breath. I clutched Alexis with hands like claws and saw him through a haze of red.I was bleeding from my eyes.Alexis carried me swiftly down the beach screaming, "Oni! Oni, help!" He stumbled into their house and met Ran in the kitchen. "Where's Oni?""What the fuck did you do to her?" Ran screamed."I didn't…" Alexis said.Ran grabbed me from Alexis and placed me gently on the floor. He held my face. "Oni!" Ran screamed until I was surrounded by a blur of faces and touches.And then I heard the soothing voice of Oni in my head. Let it go, the thought, the words, even the idea of telling him what you learned from the Mother. Let it go.In the back of my mind, I was still thinking about all the things I needed to share with
"Are you ready, my love?" Alexis asked."I'm not sure," I said. "She's still so little."Alexis kissed the dark curls at the top of our daughter's head. "Tiye is strong enough to travel back to our realm. We've been here a year. Don't you miss home?""Yeah, but a year here is only like five minutes in the Above," I said."More like a few weeks," Alexis said. "The Ladies are anxious to meet their new niece."He gently lifted his sleeping daughter, tucking her blanket carefully around her body. She had just turned three months old and was as round and plump as a melon. Her thick, curly hair was sure to be as wild as mine was when I wasn't wearing the plaits that Oni put them in. She looked like us—my brown skin with Alexis' nose and Mona Lisa smile.Alexis had named her after an ancient Egyptian Queen who was the deity of light. Leave it to him to name his daughter after an angel and a queen.He carried her outside and stood on the porch staring out at a vast sea made by his own h
Paul smiled and relaxed. I led him to the study where Alexis was waiting. Alexis nodded in greeting."Alexis, thanks for agreeing to this meeting," Paul said.Alexis gestured to a throne. "Please, have a seat."Paul looked at the throne and sat. "Mmm, comfy."Alexis moved the other two thrones to form a triangle, and we sat."We saw the gathering video," Paul said. "We didn't know we were being filmed," I said."I figured as much," Paul said. "But you made a good point when you said that one supernatural group cannot rule over another. My Werewolf Council has been meeting for the last few days. We don't want a war with the Neratomay.""And we do not want a war with the Werewolves," Alexis said.Paul nodded. "We have been in discussions with the Alliance of the Supernaturals, and I expressed King's beliefs that if we do not work together then we will all fall together.""That's right," I said."After a lot of negotiation, the Alliance would like to extend an offer for you to
Ran continued. "We asked the Wolves to coordinate their attacks with ours, and that is all they agreed to do.""But what about the carnage that occurred in Epic Cu?" The Councilmember asked."Are you for real?" I asked in irritation. "There were hundreds of Rectors at that gathering! All it would have taken was for one of those Rectors to snap Alexis' neck before he could summon King to close the portal to the Underworld. We had to take out the Rectors and luckily the Alpha aided us or—well we wouldn't be here and you'd still be kissing the ass of your demon master!"Alexis put his hand on mine but Ignacio smiled in amusement. Will you be quiet! Cyrene snapped silently in my head.When has that ever happened? I snapped back.Ladies, Alexis interrupted. Now is not the time. My love, try to be more…diplomatic.Fine, I replied."We won that war by any means necessary," Alexis said, his voice annoyed. "We don't appreciate your line of questioning. Do you want to go back to the way
The Neratomay flashed themselves away once they were outside of Epic Cut. The Supernaturals carried away their dead and injured, and what was left inside of Epic Cu was blood, gore, and ash. Paul left with his pack, and Ran, King, Alexis, and I flashed back to our villa where King fell in an exhausted asleep.Alexis and I watched him with pride. "It could have gone so much different," I whispered."No." Alexis continued to gaze at King's small sleeping form. "Not if we understand King's true potential—this is the way it was meant to be."It was time discover the fallout so we turned on the radio and television. Many countries were in a state of emergency based on what had happened over the last several hours. News outlets and radio stations made announcements that people should stay indoors because there were reports of wild, strange beast attacks. Videos of humans turning into Vampires and using impossible speed to attack the beasts clogged the Internet. Supposed experts in the s
I moved from zombie to Wraith, pushing them through the portal and trying not to think about those they had possessed.The Wraiths will take you…Oni had said.I saw Alexis keeping King in the light flowing from the portal, but the portal had grown smaller.It was working!King was closing the portal to the Collective!As I zapped zombies and Wraiths, I noticed with surprise that the Supernaturals were fighting with the Neratomay to kill the zombies! When they ganged up and killed a zombie and the wraith left the zombie's body, I was able to zap the Wraith and send it back where it belonged."Aleawdat 'iilaa alealam alsuflii!" I chanted loudly along with King. Although I didn't understand the words, I could repeat them exactly.Then Ran, who still stood sentry beside me, began repeating the words. Alexis joined our chant, and that portal began shrinking even more.The larger Wraiths became bottlenecked trying to squeeze up and out of the shrinking portal. They were so freaking g
I stared at the center of the pentagram where so much power was streaming through to seek out vessels, as if that power was a thinking, conniving being. It infused its targets with power so they could fight for it. And Alexis thought that my son should face that? My little boy?"Alexis, he's just a baby!""He is a demon!" he said sternly. "He only pretends to be a baby because that's what you need, Kim. You have to know that it has been many years since our son was a baby."The way King talked to the Wolf Council, the way he seemed to understood so much and so easily, the way he commanded attention whenever he spoke. I didn't want my child to fight this battle, but Alexis and King both knew this was what King was meant to do.Alexis released me and turned toward the pentagram. He raised his hand and began pulling power from the portal in the center, pulling so much that he glowed with the unnatural light that the energy emanated.Paul squinted and stepped in front of me, preventin
Alexis raised his hand. "We learned the truth, secrets that have enslaved us all!" Alexis' nose began to bleed. He stumbled and swiped at the blood angrily and then raised it to show everyone. "Secrets that prevent me from speaking these truths. But you see! You see!"Ran glared out at the group. "We know, even if we can't speak it. But if you can read it in our heads, you will know this secret, too!"The pain was so sudden that I could not have taken a step. I couldn't even see! Buzzing filled my brain as instead of a dozen bees, hundreds of them seemed to fill my head. I had expected it and thought I was prepared, but there is no way to be prepared when someone is inside of you filling your brain to bursting!"Kim!" Paul shook me.I tried to open my eyes then realized they were open. I couldn't see!"Build your wall!" Paul shouted. "Build it now!"I tried to imagine the bricks—white bricks. White…but I could only see black vapors!Then Alexis was inside my head cutting through
I smelled Alexis and Ran, but so had Paul. He was already heading toward them. When we finally met up, I dropped Paul's clothes on the ground before him. He changed quickly back to a man while I stared up at the castle where more Neratomay than ever attempted to enter Epic Cu."Once we're inside we cannot flash ourselves out," I said.Paul narrowed his eyes. "You'll be trapped inside?"Alexis frowned, but Ran and I nodded.Paul slipped his shirt over his head and peered at the castle. "We can blow this bitch up.""Blowing up Neratomay won't kill us," Alexis said. "Not unless our heads are severed or our hearts pierced.""Why does this castle remind me of Hogwarts?" Paul asked.I smiled. "That's what I thought!""How do we enter?" Paul asked. "That entrance is a hopeless bottleneck." "You could enter through the front door once we're inside," Alexis said, pointing at the opening four stories up. "That's how we exited."Paul licked his lips. "I can make that jump.""Not as a
"You're behind this, aren't you? Somehow—"His head exploded. I flinched at the spray of gore. When it turned to ash, I brushed it off me."Which one of you did that?" I asked."He searched my head," Alexis replied."Well, warn a sister next time," I said.Then I felt a loud buzz in my head, and across the room another Elder's head exploded.This created more bedlam and screaming from Council members who flashed themselves away or who sought the aid of another Elder."Do you feel that?" Ran asked."I don't feel anything because these people are screaming and hollering so loudly," I said.They were the most cowardly individuals I had ever seen. These powerful Vampires sat here crying like wusses! The very Council members and Elders who had tortured and murdered other lower level Neratomay could only hide and cry when they met a foe they couldn't overpower. They were the very definition of bullies!Ran turned to me. "It's Paul.""Paul? How…?""I can still hear him from my tim