"Bassma?" King called as he darted toward the house. "House" was a loose interpretation. Bassma's place resembled a treehouse, although there were three levels, the main one being on the ground.Bassma came running out of his place. He had transformed to a child again, just for our son. They hugged each other like true friends, and after so many years they truly were friends. Bassma seemed to enjoy reliving his childhood again with King."King!" Bassma shouted. "I thought you were gone for good!""I came back so that I could give everyone a proper goodbye," King said.Bassma smiled. "Thank you.""I want to tell you everything I saw," King said. "It's not like what you remember, Bassma. It's so much cooler."They talked and sat on the porch, swinging their legs as King told him about the things he had seen and the foods that he had eaten. Ran and Oni said they were going to find a fruit that only grew on Bassma's land. I suspected they were going off to make out.Alexis and I enj
Once I arrived at the park, I smelled several Wolves, including Paul. So he was going to watch and make sure that I didn't sneak my son around BJ. Ridiculous."Mommy!"I turned at the sound of my daughter's voice. My smile froze when I saw her holding her father's hand. Unbelievable. He actually had the nerve to show his goddamn face! I focused only on BJ and went down on one knee to catch her in my arms and shower her with kisses."Hi, Mommy!""Hi, baby.""Hey," Paul said.I nodded. "Hello." I held onto BJ's hand while she chattered."Look, I wanted to apologize about the other day," Paul said. "The way I acted was…inexcusable.""I appreciate you saying that," I replied evenly."Is…your son okay? I can't stop thinking about what I said in front of him. Kim, that's not me. I would never intentionally hurt a child—or you, for that matter. I'm very sorry."BJ pulled my hand. "Let's go see the ducks!"I looked down at her and smiled. "Okay. Come on. Show me the ducks." I look
I contacted Alexis about what I wanted to do. He wasn't happy about it but didn't object. A few moments later, I called King and brought him to me.King gave me a hug and then looked at Paul."Hi, King." Paul gave him a half smile."Hello," King said. I could tell he was uncomfortable."King, the last time you saw me I bet I sounded like a pretty grumpy person, huh?" Paul asked.King nodded after a momentary pause."I'm sorry about that," Paul said. "I took out my frustrations on you and your mom. I don't want you to think that I don't like you. Far from it." Paul glanced at me. "You happen to be related to one of the best people I know."King nodded and then looked at me."King, would you like to meet your sister?" Paul asked. "She's awake now and didn't get a chance to say goodbye to her mommy."King's eyes lit up. "Yeah! Mama, can I play with my sister?"I nodded and smiled. Paul could have waited until next time. There was lots to talk about, but he had shown me with this
Alexis had listened to the entire conversation between Paul and me through our link."We still go on with our plan for the Golden army," Alexis said. "We don't have to tell him everything. And you can guarantee that they won't tell us everything.""You mean in case we have to fight the Wolves, don't you?""Every plan has to have a contingency," he said."Okay," I said. I didn't trust the Wolfpack, but sadly I didn't completely trust Paul, either. The next day we received some bad news.Ran and Monica had been stymied by the Saudi Arabian Neratomay Council who were scrutinizing American Neratomay travelers. Well…maybe not all American Neratomay, but anyone who associated with me and my Council.They haven't looked into our heads yet, Ran said. But they will…Alexis told them to come home. We couldn't afford to start the war without us in the forefront.Alexis was then called by his Elder Council for a meeting. Although they were being cool about it, it had to be about Saudi Ar
The next night King and I flashed to the old Farmhouse that at one time was going to be my home away from home. I was uncomfortable even though the place was vacant. Sam hadn't been kidding when she said that the Pack had uprooted.I could smell the remnants of the Pack, but it was an old smell. They had been gone for a while, but that didn't mean that there weren't some here right now. I sensed less than a dozen, Paul among them.Paul waited for us in the living room. A long time ago I had confronted Sasha in this room, listening to her tell me how many times she had fucked my husband. Three months ago or ten years ago, that didn't matter. You never got over shit like that."Thanks for coming," Paul said. "Hey, King. I appreciate you talking to my Council." He gave my son a smile."Is my sister here?" King asked."Sorry, buddy. BJ is at home." He gestured to the door "I'll take you to the lodge. We'll be holding Council there. This is kind of an official thing.""Wait," I said.
King slipped his hand from Tyler's, put them together at chest level as if he was about to say his prayers, and bowed slightly.The Council members sat in chairs forming a semicircle, and they seemed just as impressed as I was.King looked at Paul, who nodded before taking the empty seat next to Sasha."King, thank you for agreeing to speak to my Council," Paul said. "We have a big decision to make, and they have some questions for you before they can make that decision.""Okay," King said. "I am here to represent the un-living. They need your help—but you need theirs, too."Sasha frowned. "Why do you think we need the Neratomay?""Not just the Neratomay," King said. "My mama calls them Vampires. That includes the Golden ones, too." He looked over his shoulder at me, and I gave him an encouraging nod. "When I was a little boy…"One of the Council members smiled at that."I saw the world as it used to be," King said. "Do you know the symbol of the snake eating its tail?"The Co
Damn. That was pretty damn smart.I licked my lips. We had to do this together. It was the only way that it would work. If the Wolves got rid of only the Elders and the Councils that they presided over, then that still left the OG's and the demons that controlled them."We're taking out the Rectors, and you're taking out the Elders," I said calmly. "All we need to do is coordinate. There's no reason why we can't at least do that."They talked internally, and I waited anxiously. If their prejudice didn't allow them to see that we needed to work together, then we would have to do the most damage that we could alone.Paul sighed. "The Pack agrees to coordinate our attacks with yours.""But we don't agree to align ourselves with the Vampires," Sasha said with a cold glint to her eyes. "Fair enough." I sensed what she was really saying: "After we each clean house, we will be coming for you." I gestured for King. "Let's go, son."King frowned at the Council. "Thank you for listenin
Well, Ran said. We cornered the Rector that had Mr. Wolf, and it turned into the Werewolf right in front of humans! We started fighting. Monica was holding it down. She's a damn good fighter. She spoke directly to the Rector inside of Mr. Wolf. She started telling it about King, that you and Alexis had figured out a way to overthrow them while you were in Limbo and were planning to kill them all.My mouth fell open. Monica was a traitor…No. It was probably the only thing that would entice the OG to leave Mr. Wolf and to enter Monica so that it could, you know…Look into her memories!Right! Ran laughed. Those black smoke ribbons that they turn into? Well, she exhaled it out of her nose just like it was no more than tobacco smoke! The damned thing was probably sitting on its throne with its head blown clear of it's body!This means that the war has begun, I said anxiously. Alexis doesn't think so and neither do I. There's no chatter about it. So either the Rectors are keeping th
"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