First And Last (14 page)

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Snow layered the ground. Evergreen trees and snowy peaked mountains provided the only shelter from brisk winds. Zia started forward quickly toward a small stone home nestled low in a valley.

“Where are we?” My teeth chattered. “And why didn’t you tell me to put on a coat?”

Zia glanced back, her nose red with frost. “The Alps.” She shuddered a little and wrapped her arms around herself. “I hadn’t thought of a coat.” She quickened her steps. “Come quickly.”

I picked up my pace and ran forward. “Frig, its cold here.” This place would be cold with full winter gear. Being half-naked, my body became frostbit with each second that passed.

Luckily, we weren’t far from the house, and just as we reached it, the door flew open. Zia rushed in, I followed close behind. The smell of flowers and spice danced along the air and the warmth of this cozy home surrounded me, instantly giving relief.

“Zia,” a soft voice came from beside me.

I followed the voice to see a Witch. Surprise brightened her violet exotic eyes as her little mouth perched together. She wore an Indian dress with fringe trim and fluffy fur boots that reached her knees. With her long black hair pulled into two low pigtails, she definitely resembled a Native Indian Princess.

“Hello again, Ember,” Zia said, rubbed her arms in fast movements to warms herself. “We need your help.”

Ember paid no attention to Zia, her gaze had fallen on me. She slowly stepped in front of me and stared, as if searching for something. Her violet eyes bore deep into mine.

After a few moments of awkwardness, I wondered if she was waiting for me to say something. “Hi. I’m Nexi.”

“Nexi,” she whispered with a soft expression that made her eyes all but melt.

Huh?

I glanced at Zia, hoped she could shed some light on the weirdness of this situation. She watched Ember with an odd look. Then, she shook her head at me. I played it cool and didn’t put a voice to Ember’s peculiar behavior.

Ember finally took a deep breath and her gaze broke away from me to look back at Zia. “It’s a pleasure to see you again, Zia.” She walked over to the simple oak benches that sat before a fireplace. “Come and sit, you both look like you’re freezing.”

Feeling like a damned icicle, I didn’t hesitate. I went straight over to the fireplace, sat down on the bench and put my hands out to warm them. Zia sat next to me just as Ember handed us a thick fur blanket. I hesitated for a moment, feeling yucky about wrapping some dead thing around me, but I was too cold to resist.

As I wrapped the blanket around me, I studied Ember a little. Witches always had a little pull to them. Black Witches felt raw and wrong while White Witches just expelled brightness.

Zia was the strongest witch I’d known and she felt nothing like the Witch before me. The power within her almost created a glowing aura.

Ember took a seat in the rocking chair that rested right beside the fire and as she sat, a wolf sauntered over to lie down at her feet.

“Werewolf?” I couldn’t sense that he was, but weirder things have happened, better just to ask.

Ember laughed softly and gave his ear a scratch. “No. Sayer is a pet. Nothing more, but special nonetheless.” She glanced away from the wolf to Zia. “What can I help you with?”

“Do you know what has happened in the Underworld lately?”

Ember’s gaze flicked to me a moment then back to Zia as she nodded. “I know, yes.”

“We have just that learned that demons are forming a resistance and rallying to summon back the Demon Lords to see that their world is given back to them,” Zia explained.

Ember’s violet eyes darkened. “I feared something of this magnitude was happening.”

“How did you know that?” I asked.

She shrugged. “Something felt wrong.”

Her response made me wonder just who and what she was. She was unbelievably powerful, that was a fact, but she felt different. Her power felt close to what I remembered Pye, a warlock I destroyed not long ago, being like. His magic wasn’t elemental, more like an energy, but Ember is a White Witch. I couldn’t sense an ounce of evil in her.

“She’s a very old Witch,”
Zia said, clearly reacting to my thoughts.
“That’s why you’re sensing such power from her.”

“Are you saying she’s a Spirit Witch?”

“Felt dark…” Ember continued.

“Yes. She has the ability to manipulate all the elements.”

“Darkness stirring…”

I glanced at Zia.
“That Witch sitting there is not a Spirit Witch. I can feel it. She’s different, but I can’t quite place it.”

Zia’s brows rose, but was interrupted when Ember said, “Do you know what Demon Lords have already been summoned?”

“Mammon,” Zia answered. “Nexi intervened with an attempt tonight and banished a demon attempting to summon another one.”

Hearing this did not shock Ember. “Is that so?” She only left me confused.

Instead of answering her question, I asked one of my own. “Do you have history with demons?”

She smiled wistfully. “I’ve had some dealings with them, yes.”

As I processed that, a deep sense of longing sank into my soul. After a moment of trying to understand it, I realized it was Kyden. Why hadn’t I felt this before when I left him? I guess it was probably because my mind was preoccupied with the demons and my naked ass to think about anything else.

It was strange really. With Haven and our soul-sister bond, I always felt a need to get back to her. See her. With Kyden, a deep emptiness sunk in heavily and left a profound weight on my chest that we were apart. I did my best to squash the feeling. There wasn’t anything I could do, so why dwell on it?

Zia examined me, sensed my inner mess, then glanced back to Ember. “Nexi is in possession of the Diabolus Somes.”

Ember’s gaze widened, a look of fright crossed her face. “You didn’t bring it with you?” She looked about ready to take her wolf and run.

Zia shook her head. “Of course not.”

“Good,” Ember appeased, then her gaze became curious, as she looked between Zia and I. “What is it you wish me to help you with?”

“A rune…” Zia started.

Rewind! “Hold up a second, why does the book frighten you? I mean, should I be frightened of it?”

“That tome is a reminder of the past, and one I wish to leave where it is. It’s not of any danger to you. I…” Ember hesitated, and after a long pause she finished, “I just don’t want to see it again.”

“Oh. Okay then.” I waved her on. “Carry on.”

“What history does she have with the book?”
I asked Zia.

“That’s a very good question.”
Zia examined Ember a minute, yet stayed off the subject. “As I was saying, a rune in the Diabolus Somes has reacted to Nexi and shown her a vision.”

Ember’s gaze snapped to mine, widened in surprise. “The rune reacted to you?”

I nodded. “I tried to read the damn evil thing, then came across one of the runes. It was kinda glowing. After I touched it, it started to get warm and that’s when the vision came through.”

“What vision?” she gasped.

“It was of a Witch who was doing a banishment ritual, I think. There were six demons with her and she kept chanting, primo qu pero.”

Ember laughed softly. “Primoris quod Permaneo.”

“Yup, that’s it.” I was quite glad she was good with the whole Latin bit, it could have been embarrassing if I had to say that more than once. “She said those words and then poof the demons vanished.”

Ember leaned in, her gaze focused on mine as she whispered, “What did the rune look like?”

“Well,” I hesitated a moment, a little put off by her intensity. I really wasn’t expecting her to be so interested in this part. I mean, most people focused on the fact that demons tried to summon Demon Lords. She accepted it all way too easily, and that unsettled me. “It’s your classic pentacle, but slightly inverted with an Alpha-Omega sign in the center.”

Ember sat quietly and stared at me. It started to become a bit awkward. “Er…sorry, am I supposed to say something here?”

“No. There is nothing further to say,” she whispered.

We sat there in silence. I glanced between Zia and Ember who stared at each other. Suddenly, Ember stood and headed to the kitchen. Were her hands trembling?

I looked at Zia.
“Is she all right?”

“Give her a moment. She’s more aware of this situation than I knew. I came here in hopes that she’d have information and could assist us since she is so old. To be honest, I didn’t expect this.”

We gave Ember a few moments to settle herself, and she eventually returned with a cup of tea in hand and sat back down beside her wolf. “Why have you come here, Zia?” she finally asked.

Zia smiled kindly. “I assumed you’d have some insight into the meaning of this rune. There are not many of us who were around at that time. I assumed since you were, you might have heard of this. We need your guidance. This situation involves us all.”

Ember looked at me and sighed deeply, her expression was steady and strong. “Is it your wish to stand against these demons?”

“I don’t think I really have a choice in the matter,” I said, honestly.

“There’s always a choice,” Ember replied, sternly. “Do you grasp the danger you’d enter into?”

“Danger is my constant best friend.” I joked. “What are a couple demons, right?”

Ember’s look came measured. “The danger you have known is nothing compared to what you’ll be up against. The task you are about to undergo will test you in ways you cannot even imagine. You must enter into this willingly. Understand what’s being asked of you. If you don’t, it will not only destroy you, but you stand to lose everything that has been long built.”

Now, I was confused. What the frig was she talking about?

Zia appeared the same. “Ember, please explain what you mean by that. I’m a little lost as to the point you’re trying to make.”

Ember looked down at her hands as she gripped the mug she held tightly, then looked up and met my gaze, head on. “The vision you saw, the witch who was there…well…it was me.”

My brows literally shot up to my hairline. “It was you…” I glanced at Zia who looked equally stunned. “What? Okay, wait…what does that mean?”

Ember took a sip of her tea. The cup shook as she lowered it away from her mouth. “As you know, long ago the Demon Lords were banished with Satan to the Realm of the Dead. However, they were summoned back, returned to the Underworld to search for a way to help him return. With God’s removal from the worlds, his conquest to overtake and rule was an easy feat.”

“Why hadn’t we heard of this?” I quipped. “Kyden never mentioned it when he read the Diabolus Somes. Even Misa and Quinney never said anything about it.”

Ember gave her a knowing look. “Failures are not written into the Diabolus Somes. When it was discovered what the Demon Lords tried to do I set out on a journey to stop them.”

“All by yourself?” I exclaimed.

She didn’t look proud, her eyes sank in complete misery. “I failed.”

Which is exactly what I saw in the vision, she really did think she failed, but I couldn’t quite understand how she could come to that. “You banished the demons though?”

She nodded. “You’re right. They’re gone, but I couldn’t close off the realm. I didn’t have the power within me to do it.”

Oh, this was just silly. “Don’t you think you’re being just a tad bit hard on yourself? I mean, come on, just sending them back is an accomplishment in itself.”

She smiled at my attempt, but still, her eyes held so much pain. “It’s not enough. I feared for so long that the day would come when they would return. I also feared there would be no one to stop them.”

“But you did it before, why can’t you just do it again?” Hope filled my tone. Maybe I wouldn’t have to do anything. This sounded better already.

She shook her head and my hope vanished. “You only get one chance to use this rune. If you fail, it will no longer react to you. The Pentacle you saw. It’s not just a simple rune as you suggest. The design of the inverted Pentacle is for us White Magic Witches to dabble into dark powers, join them, but not take us in the process. The Alpha-Omega sign in the center is the purest form of White Magic that exists. It’s God’s Symbol.
Primoris quod Permaneo.
First and Last. This speaks of God himself.”

“Holy fuck.” I slapped a hand over my mouth.

Ember laughed. “Yes, that sums it up well.”

“How did you learn of this rune?” Zia asked.

“That cannot be shared, I am afraid, but what I can tell you is when you use the inverted Pentacle your strength needs to be more powerful against the Black Magic. It will drain you and fight against you. When I attempted to close off the realm, I failed because when I was drawn into the Realm of Dead, Satan told me not to close it and I listened.”