Dragan Page 12

  “Don’t fucking lie to me, you piece of shit.”

  “I’m not lying to you.” He takes a breath as his hands fist and his jaw grows even tighter. “I don’t trust her.”

  “But you’re fighting it,” I insist while I study him. “You’re still as attached to her as the day you came to me in Geldingstock, asking for my help to get her off the Atacomite.”

  “We’re all fighting it. You just won’t fucking admit it,” he rails back at me.

  “You led me down this fucking path once before and I won’t go down it again,” I spit at him. “I won’t risk my life a second time to watch you fuck it all up for some… for some… demon whore!”

  “I won’t make the same mistake again!” Dragan yells back at me. “And you’re forgetting that even if Eilish is part Succubus, she’s also still part angel!” I glare at him, but when he speaks again, his voice is softer. “I know it’s my fault we lost the war, Cambion. I know that. I was charmed by one of those… things. Lamia took over my mind and I didn’t even know it was happening. But I promise you, I’m stronger now. I won’t make the same mistake twice.”

  “You already have.”

  “How?” he demands.

  I roll my eyes. “Because you’re fucking in love with her, you stupid asshole!”

  “Bullshit.” He shakes his head resolutely and his eyes burn. “That’s fucking bullshit!”

  “Tell me you wouldn’t cave to her will in an instant if given the chance,” I press before I start shaking my head. “You’d cave, just like you did with Lamia. And no one would be able to blame you, because that’s what they do—they charm you, and then they manipulate you. You’ve already been compromised. I trust you as little as I do her.”

  “It’s not like that this time,” he growls.

  “And I’m supposed to believe you? After what you did when Lamia was manipulating you?”

  “Then don’t fucking believe me, I don’t care.” He takes a breath. “Regardless, what do we do now?”

  “I want the Succubus gone.”

  “Gone? What the fuck do you mean?” he asks with the expression of a bad taste in his mouth.

  “Gone as in we leave her somewhere.”

  “Where?”

  I throw up my hands in anger. “Leave her in the forest to die, for fuck’s sake! I don’t fucking care! The sooner we get rid of her, the better as far as I’m concerned.”

  “She won’t be safe on her own.”

  “And we care why?” I demand.

  “Because she’s still angel which means Variant will still be after her.”

  “Unless she’s been working for Variant all along and we were just too fucking stupid to realize it until now.”

  “I don’t believe that.”

  “But you also can’t deny it with any certainty. The point is, we don’t know what we’re fucking dealing with.”

  “I can’t argue that, but I also can’t agree to leaving Eilish to her doom.”

  He forgets I was there, all those years ago. Our attack plan was ready; we’d united our allies against the false king. We were prepared. And then Lamia, queen of the Succubae, entered the scene. She convinced Dragan she wanted to fight with us, she and her daughters. Not long after, she seduced Dragan, manipulated him into believing that he, alone, could defeat Variant. And he turned his back on our plan and on us.

  He turned his back on me.

  When it was finally revealed that Lamia was a minion of Variant all along, it was too late to do anything to stop what was already in motion.

  Variant had won the war and the only weapon he’d needed was a woman.

  “I won’t fail again, Dragan,” I say.

  ###

  Baron

  Mortal Plane

  It was with great reluctance that I returned to the mortal plane after my time with the Transmutation Stone. I’d expected the visions to come at once, for my memories to fill in and for the roaming questions I’d entertained for the better part of a century to be answered.

  Such was not the case. Instead, I’d received an eclectic mix of visions that made little sense.

  It was as though I were falling into a dream—one I had no way of controlling. There was no rhyme nor reason to the images the stone revealed; they were erratic and disjointed. It was like glimpsing someone’s life from the view of their open doorway. Yet, it was addicting.

  If knowledge is poison, it is one for which I have no immunity.

  Perhaps it was due to the fact that I didn’t feel as though the events were happening to me, but I felt no real attachment to the individual, Baron. I found the scenes of his coronation, along with his death, to be two-dimensional and boring. Never did I feel as though it were myself I was viewing. This Baron person was foreign and unknown to me. He still remains as such.

  I’m not Baron.

  I’m Revenant, such that I was when I was pulled back to life and forced to claw my way out of my own grave.

  Of all the memories and images the stone revealed, what fascinated me most were those of Variant. I was given a window into my enemy that allowed me to better understand him. Never before had I seen this side of Variant and now after having witnessed it, I feel better prepared to unseat him. Knowing thy enemy is commandment number one in the art of war.

  Whatever score Baron had to settle with Variant before his murder, I would settle it for him. But such is the extent of my allegiance to him. As far as I’m concerned, Baron died the day Variant stabbed him. And though I was reborn for reasons still unknown, I was reborn as someone entirely different.

  Regardless of what I once was, I am no king now.

  I’m an assassin, but armed with a king’s knowledge, I can and will take down the High Angel, once and for all.

  “I need to understand how you hear the Midnight Queen’s voice,” I say to Eilish as I study her. Even though I’ve resigned myself to a lifetime dedicated only to revenge against Variant, I want her. And I’ve wanted her since I saw her. Of course, I attribute this need to the fact that she’s Succubus, and as such, desirable to all men.

  Even telling myself as much does little to curb my hunger.

  “I don’t know how I’m able to hear her,” she admits.

  “How often does she visit you?”

  She cocks her head to the side. “Usually in moments when I’m in danger, I hear her voice guiding me or advising me what to do.” She pauses and appears introspective for a moment or two. “I haven’t heard from her recently.”

  “Neither have I,” I admit with concern.

  “When was the last time,” she begins but I interrupt her.

  “I haven’t heard the Midnight Queen’s voice since I was roused from my grave,” I admit. “I’m still unsure of the reason why she brought me back.”

  “To defeat Variant?” Eilish asks with a shrug, as though the answer is obvious.

  “Perhaps.”

  “And maybe that’s the same reason she guides me?” she asks. “Maybe we’re both meant to help defeat Variant?”

  I’m not convinced such is the case but I say nothing. Eilish is full of naieve hope and optimism. I am not.

  “You were able to see a vision of the moment I was reborn,” I say as I face her.

  She nods and appears confused as to why I’ve brought this subject up.

  “Why do you suppose that is?”

  She shakes her head. “I don’t know.”

  “Do you feel something between us?” I continue, prying to try to get beneath the layers. I’m not convinced she knows more than she appears to. Unlike Dragan, I trust her. I believe she’s as confused and frustrated as she appears to be.

  “Something?”

  “A connection? Something that exists beyond the vail that’s united us in a common… journey, shall we say?” I ask.

  She inhales deeply and then swallows hard. “Yes,” she answers with a quick nod. “I feel the same feelings towards all of you,” she ads.

  “I don’t feel a connect
ion towards Dragan or Cambion. And I feel no connection to Baron.”

  “Even though he is you and you’re him?” she asks, surprised.

  “Baron was me in another life,” I inform her. “But we’re no longer one and the same.”

  She nods. “When I had the vision of your coronation, it struck me that Baron was quite different to you now.”

  I’m not surprised. “Regardless, I feel compelled to help you though I can’t say why.”

  “Then are you going to stay with us?” she asks and sounds hopeful.

  “Dragan seems intent on sending me away,” I admit.

  “I don’t understand why.”

  “Because he’s jealous and he’s threatened by me.”

  “Why?” she asks and then realizes her response could be construed as rude. I’m not offended. “I didn’t…” she starts.

  I hold up my hand and silence her. “I know,” I say. “He’s jealous and threatened by the connection you and I share.”

  “But he hates me now.”

  “He only believes he hates you,” I explain.

  “I don’t understand why,” she says as her lip begins to quiver. I’m not a man who can handle a woman’s tears. Thus, I am quick to divert her attention.

  “Dragan was nearly destroyed by the last of the Succubus,” I say and explain the brief story of Lamia, as the stone portrayed it to me. “But deep down Dragan knows you aren’t the same as Lamia and her sisters. If he actually believed you were, he wouldn’t still care about you.”

  “And why do you even think he does?”

  “It’s obvious in the way he looks at you, the way he dislikes me.”

  “But what does it mean?” Eilish continues. “So what if I’m part Succubus? I’m still me. I haven’t changed. Dragan can’t hate an entire race of people just because he was manipulated by three.”

  “I think Dragan can and does.”

  “It’s… it’s so unfair.”

  “Such is the way of the world,” I respond.

  “I’m not those women,” she says stubbornly.

  “Aren’t you though?” I ask. “In as much as you share their lineage?”

  “How can that be if Succubae are extinct?”

  “I don’t have an answer for you, Eilish.”

  She nods and then looks at me with hopeful longing in her eyes. “It won’t be much longer before I’m able to hold the stone and it will return all my memories to me.”

  “And then you’ll unlock many of the questions you have… many of the questions we all have,” I add.

  “I’m afraid a little,” she says and the innocence of the angel within her reaches the surface. How Dragan or Cambion can doubt her is beyond me. It’s as obvious as my fangs that the girl has no idea who or what she is.

  “Just remain strong,” I advise her. “And remember, whatever the stone shows you, you can handle it.”

  It’s at that moment that I hear a noise and realize someone is eavesdropping on our conversation. I’m not surprised as Cambion and Dragan are not what I would consider noble. A few seconds later, the culprit reveals himself to be the sprite. Eilish reprimands him and then departs with him to discuss whatever it is he overheard.

  I find my way back to the stone. I’m tired and weak, but a few moments away from the stone have revived me somewhat.

  The truth is, I could feel my energy reserves draining while I was under the stone’s influence. I knew if I remained with it for much longer, my physical body would be irreparably damaged, thus I broke away from the stone’s thrall.

  Even now, I feel less than revived.

  Regardless, I find myself unable to resist the stone’s pull. There’s still so much about myself I don’t know. So much I need to understand. So many answers that still await me. I desire nothing more than to fill in the gaps of a memory that’s been vacant for so long.

  I understand more about my companions now, yes, but I still lack useful information about my resurrector—Morrigan, the Midnight Queen. Why was I resurrected? Who is this Morrigan? Why did I hear her voice only upon my resurrection and haven’t since? And why does Morrigan speak to the angel?

  Light returns to the forest. Time is now of the essence.

  My body suffered twice the damage while I was under the stone’s enchantment, because I allowed myself to be exposed to the sun. Such was a massive oversight and I scold myself for my negligence. I notice with grim acceptance, as I sort through my bag of poisons and tinctures, there’s only one vial left of Essence of Nightshade.

  Logic tells me it would be more prudent to seek cover from the sun and rest. Yet a driving inner voice advises otherwise—it desperately yearns to know more.

  The soft orange glow of the stone is intoxicating, beckoning. Yellow flecks of light shimmer and dance around its surface. Staring at the glimmering face of the rock, I can delineate images.

  As someone who’s been deprived of answers, the stone provides a satiation I could have never found on my own.

  Looking closer at the stone, I see him, the man whose face has haunted every dark corner of my mind since my resurrection.

  Variant.

  He appears younger now, not the man I recognize from my genuine memories. I reach out to wipe away the sparks and see the vision more clearly, but before I can, it’s as though the stone pulls me back.

  I know it’s impossible, but soon, I’m tumbling down the rabbit hole of surreal images and vivid colors. Lost in the ecstasy of knowing.

  ELEVEN

  Flumph

  Mortal Plane

  “The vampire’s back at it,” I tell King Shadow Fuck and King Elf Dick after they finally come back to the fire.

  ‘Course, the jerks won’t take my word for it. Both o’ ‘em turn to look at the stone and, sure ‘nough, the vampire is crouched over it. His face is so close to it, I think he’s about to kiss the freakin’ thing.

  First, both kings don’t say nothin’. They just sit their big asses down; both seem a little more bad-tempered than usual. And that’s sayin’ somethin’, ‘cause the twos o’ them are always gripin’ ‘bout something. I notice they sittin’ way far away from Eilish, like she just let out a ripper fart that stinks somethin’ awful. But I’m sure that ain’t the case. Do angels even fart? ‘Course, she ain’t a full-blooded angel from what’s I just overheared from her convo with the vamp. An’ I be pretty sure demons fart ‘cause why else would they be called demons?

  “That’s not good,” Cambi-yawn says finally. “Did he tell you he was going back?”

  Then I realize he’s talkin’ to me. Not often they ask me anythin’, so I get real tall and stick my chest out, all important-like.

  “Did he tell me?” I ain’t sure what the fuck King Angry Cock is asking me. Did who tell who what? “I’se pretty sure the answer’s no, ‘cause ain’t no one tell me shit ‘round here, and frankly I’se sick and tir—"

  The elf interrupts me. “Fuck,” he say.

  Now I’se extra pissed, ‘cause I had me a whole speech prepared an’ everything. So I turn to King Shadow Taint, figurin’ maybes he wanna hear my story? “If Cambion hadn’t told me to spy on Pretty an’ the vamp, I wouldn’t know half o’ the nothin’ I currently knows!”

  King Elf Ass’ head snaps back my way and he narrow his eyes real mean, like I jist said too damn much. King Shadow Dump’s reaction is similar.

  “Cambion told you to spy on them?” He sounds mad but I ain’t here to protect nobody no more. No way. No how. I did my rescuin’, ‘nough to last me a lifetime. And let me tell you, I ain’t got no intention of doin’ any more hero work unless there’s a mighty big wage increase, if ya catch my drift.

  “So what if I did?” the elf snaps back. “Are you really going to get on your moral high horse after failing to tell me the angel is a fucking a Succubus?”

  I hear a gasp from the lady. Now it’s her turn to look shocked. I let out a burp that tastes an awful lot like that nasty shit Lord Shadow Kitchen cooked up.

&nbs
p; “Cambion, I didn’t know!” Eilish starts, shakin’ her head real determined like. She sounds scared as she face him and her eyes get this big look to ‘em.

  “You think I believe that?” he spits back before he look at the whacked out vamp again. “Who told Baron to return to the stone because I sure as hell didn’t! You saw what it was doing to him, but you told him to go back to it anyway! You’ve been sabotaging us all along!”

  Eilish’s eyes glow bright with tears. “I didn’t have anything to do with Baron returning to the stone! And I didn’t know I was Succubus! I’m not lying to you!”

  I ain’t usually one to interfere but I ain’t never been a fan o’ bullies—an’ if I know one thing, it’s that Eilish is bein’ bullied by Limpy Stick. “I don’t know ‘bout no sabotage, but the angel was with me when Vamp Bat decided ta go callin’ on that stone agin.”

  “She’s no fucking angel!” the angry elf yell with pissed-off eyes.

  “Angel or no angel,” I says with a shrug. “We came back and found the vamp like this. She didn’t tell him nothin’ first,” I assure him. Eilish shoots me a look o’ gratitude.

  “Cambion, calm the fuck down,” Dragan say.

  “Don’t tell me to calm down!” shouts the elf, super not calmed-down-like. “I’m done taking orders from you! You’ve gotten us nothing but captured, hungry, and no closer to defeating Variant than when we fucking started!” The elf’s face get real red an’ it look like steam ‘bout ta come out his ears.

  “Cambion,” Dragan warn, but the elf done lost his damn mind. “We still need to talk to Baron about what he learned from the stone. And we need Eilish’s memories restored to her.”

  “That was when we thought she was on our side,” Cambion nearly yells. He’s shaking, real angry-like. He right scary when he so upset. “Everything was different when we thought she was an angel. Now we know she isn’t, you have no authority to tell anyone what to do.”

  Cambion open his mouth to speak but he stopped short by a crack so loud I think there must o’ been beans in that shit slop Dragan made.

  We all turn to look and see Eilish standing in front o’ the vampire. Baron’s awake, but he lyin’ on the ground an’ in front of him be the stone. But it ain’t orange now, an’ the fire sparks are gone. It’s broken in two pieces, laying there all sad, gray and lifeless. The half angel look down at it, shocked.