First And Last

chapter Four



The next night, my body hurt in all the right places and then some.

Kyden sat with his feet up on the coffee table watching a UFC fight. I’d just finished my shower and stepped back into the living room when a knock sounded at the door. Knowing he probably hadn’t even heard it, since he was in ‘the zone’, I walked over and opened it. Misa stood on the other side, smiling from ear-to-ear. “Honeymoon’s over,” she announced.

“So soon?” I grumbled.

“Sooner the better. The challenge is being arranged and you need to learn more about the Underworld before you choose your guard.”

I glanced back at Kyden, pleased to see that he’d taken notice of something other than the television and was aware of Misa’s arrival. He turned off the TV, stood and approached us, grinning. Clearly, he sensed my annoyance that she’d come so soon. “Come on in, Misa,” he said.

Misa happily stepped in, and took a seat on the couch. Who knew this day would come. A demon sat in my living room—bah!

Willow apparently agreed with me. “What is that thing doing in here?”

I chuckled softly, kept Willow’s snippy question to myself and shook my head at her. She took the hint and trotted off to the bedroom, away from the said demon.

Kyden took a spot on the loveseat across from Misa and I joined him. “What do we need to know?” he inquired.

Misa took a deep breath before she began, which only told me, this was a conversation I wasn’t going to enjoy. “To start at the beginning, the stories are quite simple. There was a time that supernaturals lived among the humans in the Earthworld—peacefully. As time went on, two rulers emerged in a way very similar to what we know between our worlds. One ruled for the greater good. The other ruled in darkness. The two were constantly at war with each other and battled repeatedly to make the Earthworld what they believed was right. We know them as God and Satan.” She took another long breath before she continued. “When the battle between the two leaders approached a point of total destruction to the Earthworld, the Fae…”

“The what?” I interjected.

“The Fae. Fairies.” Misa looked completely surprised that I didn’t recognize the term. “You don’t know of them?”

I gave my head a big bewildered shake, and glanced at Kyden. “Another realm I don’t know about?”

He chuckled and nodded.

Misa continued. “When the Fae’s princess, Aaliya, intervened, she constructed two other realms. Now we know them as the Underworld and the Otherworld. She demanded God and Satan take over these worlds in an attempt to stop the long-standing war. But as you know it never ended and still hasn’t.”

Okay, this was just ridiculous. Kyden leaned forward completely enthralled and seemed to believe this. However, I was having a hard time with it.

“Angels were God’s followers,” she went on. “Immortals who believed in his ways. To protect humans, save souls, use magic for the greater good. Satan’s, of course, were the exact opposite, and as we know are called demons. Through time, Black Magic evolved away from the elemental force, and now as you know, White Magic and Black Magic are two completely separate entities.”

“Explain how you’re different then?” Kyden asked. “Why do you deny your instinct to commit evil?”

“My ancestors were fallen angels. Cast out by God for committing sins. They once believed in the way of God, but were weak against the call to the darkness. Over the years and breeding, God’s trait in us has grown stronger.”

His brow arched. “And this happened to all of you?”

Misa shook her head quickly. “No. There’s not many of us.”

“Jesus,” I gasped.

“No, Jesus was God’s son,” Misa retorted. “We’re talking about God here, not Jesus.”

I laughed at the wishy-washiness of words. “So, what happened then? Do God and Satan still exist?”

Misa looked at me as if my head was screwed on backwards. “Have you seen them around here?”

I returned her look with one that said I realized how stupid my question was and that she should move on.

Thankfully, she obliged. “When the battle between them grew, Aaliya was at her wits end. The danger they were putting the worlds in was vast. So, she banished them to the Realm of the Dead to spend their days locked away to rule their realms as they chose.”

My brows shot up. “A Realm of the Dead?”

Misa nodded. “The humans call it Heaven and Hell, but we know it as realms. Aaliya knew this was the only option to end the war. Now the two live as they wish and do what they like.”

“But they can’t come back here?” I asked.

“It’s not easily done, and hasn’t been attempted. Aaliya knew this was the safest choice, and as you’ve witnessed, the right one. But still to this day their legacy lives on.” She winked. “It’s just a little different than humans think.”

I gave my head a shake, and then another. It was hard to wrap my head around this. Could what she be saying be really true? Is this how it all began?

“Anyways, these past events that you have found yourself in have long been in the waiting.”

My mind was still stuck on what she’d just said, I couldn’t process what she was going on about now. “In the waiting?”

Misa’s smile was full of mystery. “It was foretold that a being of mixed heritage would come to the Otherworld, and be the one to lead us into a new world.”

Gulping deep, I managed to ask, “Who foretold that?”

“The Fae, of course. A few of us a couple hundred years ago started to seek each other out. Azar and I were the first.”

“A couple hundred years?” I whispered, suddenly aware of something I hadn’t thought of before. I tended to avoid this conversation. Yes, we’re all immortals, but it still freaked me out whenever I met someone really ancient. “How old are you?”

She winked. “Old.”

It’d probably scare me if I knew the truth, so I ignored the curiosity that lingered and moved on. “But why does Azar do it? He was born into the Underworld—not from a fallen angel.”

“It was Azar who sought me out. With his abilities, he knew my views on the matter. It was his wish to see that the time of Satan’s destruction met its end. We wanted to succeed where God has failed.”

“What did you do next?” Kyden asked.

“After Azar and I committed to the plan, we then went to the Fae for guidance.”

“Why would you not come here to the Otherworld for help?” I asked. “Why the Fae?”

Misa burst out laughing. “They are more powerful than you could imagine. Seriously, she created worlds. That should make it clear enough.”

“Right.” I laughed. Still, it was hard to imagine a being powerful enough to create an entire world. I couldn’t wrap my head around it.

“When we met with the Fae, Aaliya told us there would indeed be change in our worlds and that change was you.” She smiled brightly. “We have been waiting ever since.”

“You’ve been waiting two hundred years?” I exclaimed.

Misa nodded as if the time meant nothing to her, which maybe if she was as old as I thought, it didn’t.

Kyden hummed a moment. Curiously there wasn’t much emotion that crossed through our bond, only intrigue. “How did you get the others to agree? And in such secrecy? If Magnus knew your plans, I have no doubt he would have destroyed you.”

“There were a few others who felt as we did,” Misa answered. “It wasn’t necessary to inform the others until the night of…” she waved her hand. “Well you know that night. We assumed when the assembly recognized Lady Nexi’s powers they would side with us.”

What a huge risk! “How could you be so sure?”

“We knew they would be afraid,” Misa replied.

I glanced at Kyden to see if he knew what she was talking of. He shrugged. I looked back to her. “Afraid of what?”

“You.”

A loud sharp bout of laughter escaped! How ridiculous. “And why would they be afraid of me?”

“We hoped your magic would speak for itself and it did. You shielded our Lord Kyden that night. Do you forget so easily? That has never been done and to see such power is undeniable. If they were to show their alliance to Magnus, then when you destroyed him, they would be as well. They’re not stupid beings.”

“Oh,” I wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that.

“Interesting,” Kyden commented, with a raised brow, but the feeling that shot through me was one of immense pride. The knowledge that he was proud of my strength gave me the warm fuzzies all over. Kyden rested his hand across my thigh and lightly caressed it—feeling the love right back.

“Well that’s the background, which you needed to know.” Misa licked her lips as if her mouth had run dry. “Now, onto the beings. We’re all different and you need to understand that so you can choose appropriate guards to watch over you.”

I sighed and rubbed my temples. “This is giving me a headache.”

Kyden laughed. “Go on, Misa.”

“When the worlds were born and Satan reigned over the Underworld—including Satan—there were seven demons in total that made up his guard and were known as the Demon Lords. Each of them carried one sin to seek out souls. When the human would have a desire to commit one of the sins, the demons would grant their request and steal their soul.”

“Sell your soul to the Devil, right?” I offered.

Misa nodded. “Let’s see, there were Mammon, Asmodeus, Leviathan, Beelzebub, Lucifer, Belphegor, and Satan.” She counted on her fingers as she went along. “Yes that’s seven, each of whom presided over one of the seven sins. You know—lust, greed, envy, etcetera. These are demons’ ancestors. Ones who long ago left our realm to join Satan, but in their place, demons have been born to follow in their duty.”

“You breed?” I snapped out.

She shrugged. “We are destined just as you and Magnus were.”

I cringed at that and Kyden stiffened. The emotions that ran through us both made breathing difficult.

Kyden smoothed his hand over mine, gave me a soft smile in an obvious attempt to settle the pain in my heart. I had to admit, having this bond with him made things between us even stronger. It took the unknown out of the relationship. The wondering what the other person is thinking. Whatever I needed, he would react to it because now he could sense it. Reading Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus was a thing of yesterday.

Misa didn’t notice our little moment and went on. “We’re destined to one that will make our offspring stronger. So, it continues. We seek out humans who are desperate to receive their sin, give it to them with our powers, then drain a part of their life force.”

“Okay that explains that part, but what about the witches and warlocks there,” I stated. “When did they come into the picture?”

“As the battle resumed between the two worlds, Satan’s witches began to breed with the demons and produced warlocks.”

“Oh, I guess that makes sense,” I said with a little shrug. “So getting it straight, demons seek out humans that want to commit one of the sevens sins, and when they do, the demon will give them what they’re after in return for some of their life force?”

Misa nodded.

“Do the humans know?” It was the obvious next question.

She shook her head. “After the life force is drained, the human’s memory is gone with it, and another one put in place to explain the reasons for getting what they were after.” She raised her brows a little and gave a knowing glance. “It keeps our world safe.”

“Hrmph,” I wasn’t at all happy about that. They should know that they’re taking a few years off their life to get that new car, but really, some people would probably do it anyway. I let it go. “What do the witches and warlocks do then?”

“It works in a similar way. They offer souls to the Underworld to give it strength. Before, as you know, it didn’t matter what souls they would take. They would draw the runes and give up whoever they pleased.”

I held up my hand to stop her before she got ahead of herself and left me confused in the wake. “What runes?” She reached back and tapped her back. The indication was clear. My hand touched my tattoo. “They’ll draw my willow?”

Kyden appeared a bit taken back and even placed his hand on top of mine as tension ran through me. His, mine? I settled on, both.

“And Kyden’s as well,” Misa added, her tone casual, as if she were ordering a banana split and not talking about scary things.

Something felt so wrong and dirty about this. Until now, I hadn’t realized why I’d been granted this tattoo, and now knowing it didn’t sit well with me. “So, you’re saying that when they draw either my tattoo or Kyden’s, the rune will activate dark magic?”

“That’s right.”

God, I needed a really long hot shower. “Why do they do it? I mean, what do they get out of it?”

“To be a part of the Underworld, you always have to be giving to it, feeding it. Our magic is driven by human life forces. Witches and warlocks can only remain in our realm if they are doing that. They’re just providing to their world is all.” She stood. “I believe I’ve told you what you need to understand the Underworld better so that you can make an informed decision about your guard. Remember, you need the strongest beings surrounding you. To keep you and our world protected. Choose wisely.”

Just like that she left, the door slammed closed behind her. For a good ten minutes, neither Kyden nor I moved. We sat in silence as our bond swam in emotions.

I finally snapped out of my shock and turned to him. “Well that was certainly a lot to take in.”

He arched a brow. “Indeed.”