The New World

Sol watched as Demonio left, his own anger blazing. Demonio had no right to attack, we all knew that and it was even more clear by how Sol was acting.

“You didn’t need to provoke him, Fire.” I shrugged and turned to Grayson who was smiling.

“Maybe not, but it’s in my nature,” I replied.

“He knows we won’t back down,” Grayson added, watching the mist that was left behind from the other God’s disappearance.

“He’s a strong one, stronger than I gave him credit for.”

“And that is something you never should do, underestimate him. He could have killed you, Fire. You are strong, there is no denying that, and you could have done damage, yes, but you need the triforce, not just one force,” Sol told me and I bristled at the fact that yet again, my babies were going to have to be part of this, although I knew he was right. I just didn’t want to hear it. My gaze looked at the thin air now, my anger simmering. The fucking God didn’t know who he was dealing with. “Stop, you’re not doing yourself any favors. Save your anger and set it aside. There are other issues we need to address for the moment.” I looked at Sol who looked back at me. “Don’t try to get tough with me, Fire; I’m still your dad.” I rolled my eyes while Grayson laughed. “And I’ll expect a ‘thank you’ at some point for saving your ass.”

“You might be waiting a while.” With that, I took Grayson’s hand and walked back into the building, Sol taking the easy way and misting up to the room.

-----

Mariana watched the exchange from the window, her heart in her mouth. She was surprised to have seen Demonio, even more, surprised to see Fire stand up to him, but the biggest shock came from seeing Sol. When Fire asked her to do the spying game, she knew what side she was taking. She had heard the talk, of course, and she was often questioning if she was picking the right side. Fighting against Demonio didn’t seem wise to her. Even worse was taking a stand with Fire, a person she thought was her enemy. But she could see now that maybe Fire wasn’t.

But seeing Sol, seeing his power, it struck her. What if Fire had something similar? Mariana knew Fire had some powers, but maybe there was more that was untapped. But regardless, she knew now she was on the right side, as painful as it may be. She also knew, hard to say it, that she was going to need some help. Because she did not doubt that Demonio would come after her once he found out she betrayed him. She looked down at the two little figures that stood beside her, watching the scene as well. It was almost comical to her that the one thing Demonio wanted was right under his nose but he was so focused on Fire and Grayson that he never bothered to look around. Had he looked up, he would have seen the twins and there was no mistaking whose kids they were.

“Mommy and daddy are brave, little ones,” she told them, watching as they left the scene.

“They will need to be.” Mariana jumped and quickly turned around, seeing the vampire God in the doorway. She glanced over her shoulder but didn’t bother asking how he got there. For all the mystery that shrouded around Sol, those that believed he existed knew he wasn’t a regular vampire.

“Sol,” was her breathy reply and he smiled as he walked further into the room. I walked in with Grayson, and sat down on the couch, looking between the two.

“My dad,” I told her and Mariana nodded. “What are you doing here, Sol?”

“You mean besides protecting you,” he offered, turning to look at me. “Demonio is, as you saw, a powerful being, and he is certainly not dumb.” Sol took a seat and looked back at Mariana. “Don’t assume he doesn’t know about your betrayal. Something that works in his favor is the ability to pick up essences of species, that’s how he rules his realm. He can pick up on who is there and what they want to need to the dark side.

“So, by his being here, even though his focus was on you two, he would have sensed Mariana. And I hope you have no need to go back, Mariana because he will kill you. He doesn’t take to people betraying him.” I watched Sol, seeing that there was something swirling inside him and it left more questions. Did he betray Demonio? If so, how and why? What had happened between these two brothers to set up this path? Could this war have been prevented? But try as I might, me getting answers to those questions wouldn’t be now, if ever.

“Don’t worry about Mariana, we will protect her. I didn’t ask this of her without means to make sure she wouldn’t be okay. The twins, and us, have powers. We were able to protect the group as we needed, we can protect her,” I said and Sol narrowed his eyes slightly and then shook his head.

“I see you have come a long way with reading and understanding the book, Fire.”

“The team I have working on it has helped, yes, but so has some Gods. It had seemed, when we needed answers the most, the Gods have helped.” I took Grayson’s hand and nodded. “It’s how we came to terms with knowing that the twins were just as important in this war as we were.” Mariana glanced down at the two kids playing, so simple in their act, and then back at me.

“He isn’t sure about their blood, isn’t sure about them, really. He’s onto the idea that your blood helps his demons and he’s figured out that you and Grayson have special powers for his demons. But if he got their blood, what more could it do? Would we be powerless to stop him?” I stood up and walked over to her. She wasn’t scared, which was odd to see to me because in tight corners, like this, I often saw that scared look in her eye.

“That’s what we believe, Mariana. This is why we cannot allow him to get his hands near those kids. And why you have helped us so much and why we will return the favor. Sol is right, he very well could attack you and you would be powerless.” I felt the wind of the mist and glanced behind me to see that Sol had left. He came to do what he needed to do and that was it, at least for the moment. It was fine, for now. I grabbed the kids and then Grayson’s hand and formed a circle around Mariana. “This won’t hurt,” I started, “and it will only protect you against the God, not his demons, but something tells me he won’t send someone to do what he will do.” With that, we started chanting. And it didn’t escape my notice that though the twins stuttered when talking, or trying to find the right words, they had no problem speaking any type of spells.

-----

Three days later, I walked around the park with Mariana and the twins while Grayson was looking at the land for our future home, which he still wouldn’t show me yet, just kept saying it was the perfect place for his family. In his mind, he didn’t want a castle, but rather a big enough house with land to use for training areas split into various sections for wolves and witches, and a darkened section for vampires. Some areas were for fighting or for spell casting, which went beyond what was taught in the families, covens, or packs. I had to give him credit, he thought about most things than I had as a ruler.

I paused in my walking and grabbed the kids, quickly moving behind a bush. I had felt him long before I had heard him and I was not going it let him see the kids. Mariana glanced at us and then paused as she felt the hand on her arm. She stiffened but turned around to look at the man before her if you could really call a God a man.

“Mariana, how lovely it is to see you. I have been trying to get a hold of you.”

“I blocked The General’s number; I no longer have anything to say to him.” Mariana watched as the God smirked before taking a step closer to her.

“That may be, but I’m not done talking to you. I have many things I want to discuss.” Mariana stiffened her spine and swallowed down the fear she had. She had to believe in the spell, that it would protect her.

“And I have nothing left to discuss with you. Our business is done.”

“It’s done when I say it’s done,” he roared, trying to push her and failed. “Did you think I wouldn’t notice that you betrayed me? That you were there the night I visited Fire? And here I thought to believe your lies of hating her,” he cried out again, once more trying to hit her and unable to. It was as if his hand, though it touched skin, wasn’t causing her any harm. “You bitch!” he screamed.

“I’ve never claimed to be anything different. You will be stopped, they will stop you.”

“You think so, huh? Tell me,” he said and I watched as his tactics changed on her, “what army do they have to stop me?”

“I won’t tell you anything anymore. You will just be surprised when the time comes. But I will be laughing when you are beaten.”

“No, Mariana, I will be laughing as I stand over your cold and lifeless body. Make sure they protect you well, little devil of a vampire because I am brutal with those that betray me.”