Firstborn (The Legacy Series) (22 page)

I remembered being in that room, confronting my father. I remember him inject himself with drugs to boost his powers. I remember the fighting. Then
, I remember nothing. I blacked out. I only have a vague memory – of a tree in a red desert and a figure calling my name.

Offering me help. Offering me power.

Then, I came to and found the lab in the Mansion’s basement destroyed and Dad in ruins. He was dying and no drugs or magic could change that. I remembered Gil fainting and Mephisto telling me to run.

There was another monster chasing after me and I could lose control again.

I had to run away, so that Gil could stay out of all this.

“Yeah. I remember.”

As you can imagine, this wasn’t the most comfortable subject for me to talk about.

Mephisto kept going, completely oblivious to our feelings.

“And Master Gil came into her power shortly afterwards, when she killed your Father –”

“Mephistopheles!”

Gil’s sudden scream made all of us jump. He eyes were wide with panic and her poker face completely shattered.

“
Oh dear,” said the dog, in the most insincere tone possible.

“You did what
?” I blurted out.

I had killed our father – I had done it, not Gil. I went all crazy and left him in a raw mess. I had shouldered that fact for years, never regretting it once. But it was my burden to carry, my sin – not Gil’s.

She wouldn’t meet my eyes.

“I killed Dad, right Gil?”

She didn’t answer me. She just kept staring at her shoes. “No.” Her voice was barely a whisper. “You just left him for dead but the drugs he took kept him alive. Barely, but alive.” She actually shook. “So, once you left, I grabbed a piece of glass and I– ” There were tears in her eyes now. “I dragged it across his throat.”

There was stunned silence.

It all made sense now – her sense of duty, taking up the Mansion’s business, trying to make it better and more humane but keeping the Warlock way of life still alive. She was atoning for Dad’s mistakes – for all our ancestors’ mistakes.

For years I had thought that I was the one with the burden – turns out my sister was making amends for our entire ancestry. I thought she had become a cold
-hearted bitch. Turns out she was a real hero.

And on that pier I did
something I hadn’t ever thought I’d do again − I hugged my sister. Not the leader of the Ashendale mansion or some businesswoman, my sister.

It was a brief hug, but enough to reconnect us. After all those years, after all we had been through, it took this moment of understanding to finally reconcile
us.

“So
, what now?” I asked after I had backed away.

“The both of you need to awaken your powers, but that might not be sufficient,” said Mephisto.
“You are two halves of a whole. You must both act as one entity.” He let out a laugh. “Personally, I would wager my money on the Sins right now.”

That was the last straw.

“Leave,” said Gil in a tone that suggested pain.

“I’m sorry
, Master. I apologize for speaking out of turn.”

He wasn’t. Gil knew it.

“Again,” murmured Amaymon.

“Leave,” she repeated. Mephisto turned tail and disappeared inside a portal.

Once he was gone, Gil turned to me. “He is right, though. We need to understand ourselves and fast.”

“Do you
already know what your power is?”

She blinked once, then again. “No.”

Even I knew that was a lie.

“But you can return to the Mansion if you want,” she said before I could say anything.

“Yeah,” said Amaymon. “You guys should stick together for now. You only defeated Lilith cause she deviated from the big, bad boss. Next Sin ain’t gonna be so easy. Mephisto is right – you got no chance unless you act together.”

He cracked his neck. “Besides, y
ou ain’t got no office. And a warm shower would be nice.”

They were all valid points.

But I couldn’t bring myself to leave that office. It meant my independence and my growth – I had literally constructed that place nearly from the ground up. It was my home in a way that the Mansion never was.

“Thanks
, but no thanks,” I said. “We may be allies now but I still got a business to run. I’m not a Warlock, Gil.”

Gil held her hand up. “I get it. Just promise me we’ll work together
, OK?”

I smiled. It was like I was glimpsing the little girl I grew up with again.

“Sure thing. We’ll stick together.”

She nodded and turned to leave.

“Oh, Gil, wait,” I called out.

She stopped behind the open limo door.

“When you were unconscious on the boat, I remember feeling something,” I said. “My black shadow stuff reacted with your aura and there was something like – like fog or smoke.” Her face remained impassive. “Was that your spell?”

“Not
that I recall,” she replied shortly.

“How come you knew about my inheritance?” I asked. “Seems to me like you had a couple of hints. And if you knew what was gonna happen to me, you must have taken note of what was happening to you. You know, since we’re twins and all that.”

“Is there a point you’re trying to make, brother?”

“Yes,” I said.
“What are you hiding?”

I saw her shake her head a little. “You know, you’re not as clueless as you seem,” she muttered.

Maybe it was the sun – but I could swear her body shimmered in white fog for a second, like a thin winter’s breath.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she said, before winking and disappearing into the car.

Son of a –

“Hey
, Gil,” I called but it was too late. The car drove off, followed by the van.

“Too late,” said Amaymon.

“I know.”

“Think this is gonna come back to bite y
ou on the ass?”

“You know it.” I turned to where the angel had stood quietly all this time. “Hey
, Jehudiel – where’d he go?”

“He left a second ago,” replied Amaymon.

Figures. He was done with his duty. From here on, we were on our own.

We started walking towards the rental car.

“Back to the office it is, then,” I said.

“Yep. Back to lickin’ myself clean.”

“Admit it – you love it.”

“Yeah
, but where’d you think I get hairballs from?”

“
Ew.”

29

This was supposed to be the happy ending
− where the hero gets a steamy kiss from the damsel in distress, answers to all the questions, and a new power and responsibility to contend with.

Hey
, one out of three isn’t bad – I got the power, a crap load of new responsibility and even managed to get a hug.

When we came into her line of sight, Abigale wrapped her arms around me and started crying. I guess it’s to be expected given the trauma she went through, but would it be too much to ask
to have a woman who touched me not break down in tears?

Amaymon got the kiss
, instead.

He jumped out of the car in kitty form and the girl pressed him on her chest. He purred delightfully and she kissed his little feline head.

Lucky bastard.

And after dying
so many times on this case, the last thing I wanted was to enter my office and be surrounded by damage, debris and utter destruction.

“No rest for the wicked,” I heard myself murmur – the same retort I spewed at Lilith.

Guess the Universe it taking a liking to my jokes now.

I decided to procrastinate a little further by digging up my cell
phone and calling Gracie Valdez. I mean, she did hire me, after all, and I suppose they both deserved a tearful reunion.

“Abi!”

Wow – she did say she was an Adept but I didn’t think she was this good a clairvoyant.

Gracie appeared out of thin air and the two girls were busy exchanging hugs, tears and squeaks.

I stood back, giving the best friends some privacy. I laid down on the single stair on my porch and just stared at the ground.

Something was not right.

Gracie’s shadow was out of proportion and it was not a trick of the sun. The sun doesn’t make you look like a bulky, six foot figure with large wings on your back.

“Ah, crap!”

It was more of a moan rather than a warning. I got up and went towards them – they were both staring at me as if I had snapped. My hand swiped the coat upwards and I pulled out Djinn in a swift, practiced move. Not that I had the strength to fight an angel at this point. Most I could do was distract him with some jumping jacks.

Maybe that would be enough to save the succubus.

“Mr. Ashendale, what is the meaning of—”

“Shut up,” I snapped. “I know you’re an angel.”

Abigale gave me an
increase the medication
look.

“The shadow,” I said
by way of an explanation.

She must have noticed because she sprung away from Valdez like a frightened cat.

“You’re either ready to pounce and didn’t bother with a good disguise,” I said, “or you’re just an idiot.” Djinn quivered in my hand. “Either way, you’re not getting her.”

Gracie Valdez laughed.

Her body began dissolving in a glow of light and Jehudiel’s form stood in her place.

“Or
, I could be making your life easier,” he said in that melodic tone of his.

I pushed Djinn back in its sheath. “Unless a bunch of you angels are gonna put on hard hats and help out with that disaster, I don’t see how much help you can be,” I said as I pointed at the remains of my office.

Jehudiel put on his helmet, which promptly changed into a hard hat. “I’ll see what I can do.”

He snapped his finger and there was an intense flash of light. The office began repairing itself. Holes in the wall filled up, furniture was back to its
proper form and even the doorbell that Amaymon had bent out of shape was repaired.

A familiar buzz of magic indicated that all the crystals were back in their position inside the walls, allowing me to use magic.

Whilst I was busy fawning over my office, I heard Abigale weep.

“How?” she asked the angel.

“I had to trick you,” he said. He bowed deeply. “I am very sorry to have manipulated you. I hope you understand it was for your own benefit.”

“Then
, she never existed? My Gracie, my best friend – she was just an illusion?”

Jehudiel nodded slowly. “Yes. A faked memory which I placed. I am so sorry. I had to gain your trust early on and keeping secrets from me would have hastened your death. I hope you can forgive me.”

I’m not sure what her forgiveness method is, but Abigale stepped forwards and slapped the angel in the face.

“Never do that again,” she said angrily. “Not only did you invade my mind but you also gave me a false friend. Never do it again, ever.”

Jehudiel fell silent. Abigale gave him one last glare and pushed past me inside my office.

“Point
, redhead,” muttered Amaymon.

Jehudiel entered the office
, too. Okay then, everyone is invited apparently. The angel managed a smile at us. “Heaven thanks you for your service.” He waved his hand and on the coffee table appeared a silver tray with burgers and cakes. On my table, stacks of paper money were piled on top of each other –more money than I had ever seen in my entire life.

Enough to buy each of us an office and maybe a mansion
, too.

“We take care of our own,” said the angel as he beamed at each of us. Abigale glared at him. Amaymon flicked his tail and muttered
showoff
.

I just put on my best poker face. “You take care of your own?”

“Yes.”

“And since when am I one of your own?”

Jehudiel’s eyes remained blank. Not that he ever wore an expression, but usually he was more human than the others. Now, he had reverted back to his Terminator face. “You and your sister have pledged your services to Heaven’s forces. Please, wait for our call.”

There was a moment of silence as I digested that piece of information and read in between the lines.

Then, I punched the angel in the face.

“Are you fucking kidding me?!”

It’s generally not a good idea to yell at an Archangel – particularly one who made money and cake appear.

“Pledged our services?” I kept yelling. “Who the fuck are you to say that? When did I pledge my services? I took your case as a human, not as an angel. You wanna go off an
d fight for eternity in an impossible battle – go ahead. Just leave Earth out of it.”