Chapter 12
Alyssa
The daughter meant to harness the great will be one full of light and dark. Her powers will war within her, struggling to know which side to fight for.
In the darkness, there will be only one there to truly guide her. In the light, there will be those who wish to betray her. Light will surround her power, her magic, and her life, until she falls for her dark lover. He will be one who has descended from the greatest of his kind; one with unprecedented power that almost rivals hers. And his strength will only fuel hers.
He'll represent power thought to have never existed, and she will gravitate to him until at last their eyes meet. The sparks will ignite a flame that will never fizzle, and their love could be the only way to save us all when the darkest hour comes to break the light. She won't be strong enough without him. As long as their love is embraced, accepted, and most importantly, never doubted, she'll have the strength she needs. She'll be the hope amongst the hopeless times. If doubted, chaos could ensue inside her light, destroying what little purity that remains once the darkness consumes her, decimating the stability of light and dark.
The balance will shift, opening the door to the side of darkness she never knew she possessed. Together, their powers will grow, surpassing all fathomable predictions, and jading them both if this happens. But the war within her will only rage on stronger with each day until she either trusts her dark lover or gives into the power that will swallow her. The balance of light and dark is needed.
If she denies the love, denies the heart's intended, then she'll destroy us all.
The words are there, clear and spoken. The scroll is real, blessed and chanted. The content is obvious, painful and bleak. It's all here. Everything says I'm supposed to be with Gage. But I can't. I won't. I was willing to give him up when I thought he would help me destroy the world, but I'm not willing to be with him to save it. I love Kane. I refuse to accept this. I'll wage a war with destiny before I cave to its demands.
"This is complete and utter bullshit," Kane says, making me relax a little. Thank God he feels the same way. "I've never believed in all this prophetic crap our world constantly spews."
His fingers thread with mine, and I smile lightly as something deep inside me stirs. I glance up to Gage, and he sucks in a sharp breath.
"You should," he whispers, making my smile grow.
"Alyssa," Chaz whispers, keeping a wary stance away from me.
"How the hell—"
Amy's words are cut short when she goes flying out the window. I don't feel like listening to her right now. Whatever she was going to say wasn't worth our time.
Kane sits beside me, not seeming as freaked out as everyone else.
"Do you see what's happening?" Gage asks, his eyes still wide with fear. Fucking coward.
"I see she's learning control. I get sick of Amy as well. You should leave. You stink like fear, and that'll only feed her predatory side. Me? I'm going to teach her how to control it better."
Kane stands and I willingly go into the arms of my fearless night stalker.
"Control?" Gage almost whispers, not raising his voice above the level he needs to reach the ears of my beautiful killer. "You call that control?"
I turn, but Kane tugs at my arm, guiding me back to his glorious body. "You'd all be dead if she didn't have control. Leave. I want to be alone with my girl," he says, making me smile as he leans down and presses his lips to mine.
"Silver eyes without the red moon. This is bad. Very bad," I hear the incubus say from a distance, but I've already lost interest in everyone else as I fall into the clutches of the creature I love.
"I think it's good," I chuckle, letting the ominous ring flow through the house.
I'm sore. Damn, I'm so sore. How long have we been in here?
I glance at the clock and groan. Three hours?
I look over to see Kane sleeping peacefully, and I'm torn between smiling and frowning. I feel like I'm at war with myself, and I'm worried Kane is eventually going to become collateral damage if I don't find a way to get myself under control—full control.
I run my fingers through his dark hair, debating about whether or not I should wake him up. We need to talk about this. This could get dangerous if the prophecy is real. But if he can keep bringing me back, we can make it work. I can't just give him up because I might become this deadly, destructive, crazy fey.
I decide against waking him up and toss on my clothes. I see Thad's necklace staring at me from the drawer, and I take a deep breath before pulling it on, giving it a place to reside that seems better suited than a forgotten drawer.
I head through the empty living room to the outside to be engulfed by the dark night air. It feels good. The red moon isn't supposed to be out tonight, so that's comforting. It's also the only reason I'm not locked in a cage.
I hear a phone ringing before I sense a presence, and I turn to see Chaz in the distance, talking quietly so as not to let me overhear. I don't strain my ears. I'm sure he needs some privacy just as I do.
"Alyssa," Gage says softly, materializing beside me.
"Don't. I don't want to discuss this."
He breathes out heavily, probably silently cursing me. He's so convinced I have to be with him. I can't though. Every day I care about him less.
"We need to talk about it at some point. You'll eventually lose yourself, and God knows what you'll do once you lose your light completely. I love you. Don't you see? I'm trying to save you."
I turn to face him, watching my blond locks stay untainted. "You have no faith in me. How can you love me and doubt me?"
His eyes fall down to cast their shadows to the ground.
"I'm just worried. How can you be so indifferent? You used to be full of worry and concern. Now you don't care. Don't you see—"
Screams break our conversation apart, and vicious snarls erupt from beyond the woods. Chaz materializes beside us, staring out into the woods just as we are.
"Lycan or Were?" he asks, trying to cipher the sounds of the growls, and then a roar breaks free, confirming what it is.
"Lycan," Gage mumbles before sending a shock of power my way to knock me far back from him.
I bounce to the ground, though it doesn't hurt, and I feel the necklace break. I search for it, but I'm distracted. My eyes widen, my jaw drops, and my heartbeat quickens to the point of exhaustion, as the most monstrous beast of a lycan I've ever seen steps into view with its huge glowing orange eyes.
"Son of a bitch," Chaz whispers, seeming as shocked as I am.
"Gage!" I yell, needing him to back the hell away from it before I freak out more.
"You might want to go grab me some help," he says without looking, keeping his attention focused on the beast who seems to be alone. Dear God, let it be alone.
Chaz vaporizes, but my feet are cemented to the ground.
Howls break free as two lycans join us, but they're friendly lycans—well, sort of. One of them is Amy after all. But Amy starts yelping and whimpering when her eyes lock on the beast in front of us, and the male lycan snarls, sniffing the air as he stares in her direction.
He paws at the ground, and I swear that fucker smiles. Amy rolls to the ground and bows her head, seeming submissive. Now is so not the time for her to be a coward. Where is the bitch-from-hell side of her when you need it?
Sierra rushes to be in front of her, snarling and pawing the ground as she paces in warning, turning her body but never her head. They resemble wolves right now—hairless, huge, crazy, orange-eyed wolves with a thirst for bloodshed.
Kane's arms are suddenly around me, pulling me behind him before he releases me and shields me.
"Oh fuck," he says just as the rest join us, night stalker eyes beaming from Deke and Zee, glittery trails following Chaz, and Dice's aura beaming his incubus promise—not that it's a very intimidating promise.
"What?" I ask, trying to peer around him to assess the scene.
"Get out of here, Alyssa. Now," he orders, taking a step toward the rest of the group, ready to fight.
"No. What the hell is going on?"
He shakes his head, just as Zee tries to start pulling Amy away. I gasp when she contorts and shifts back to her naked human form.
"It's him—Amy's sire. Go. Go now," he says again, just as he joins Deke and Zee in a sudden attack.