Live Like Legends (LIVING LEGEND #3)

Chapter 12

E lise looked out the window and up at the sky, inspecting. Her grey eyes darted from left to right as if she was waiting for something. I leaned up against the dresser staring at her back.

“Is this what you do at Natalia’s house? Stare out the window and wait for bad shit to happen?”

She placed her hands on her hips and swiveled around to face me. The sweater she wore was cropped and exposed more of her stomach. “Nope, the witch makes us do helpful things while we are there because we can’t just live there and be lazy, or however the fuck she explained it.”

“That doesn’t sound like a bad trade in exchange for staying at that mansion of a home.”

Elise gave me an unimpressed look. “Sure, whatever you say. Her rules will be the least of everyone’s worries if that rip in the sky gets any bigger.”

“You know it’s getting worse too, hmm?”

Elise pointed behind her towards the window. “Anyone with fucking eyeballs can see that it’s getting worse. That ripple is a lot of dark magic in one place, Dani. That is so much more than Lilith darkness. That’s Hell darkness and I can tell you that they aren’t having a fucking party.”

I leaned my head back, staring at the ceiling. “There isn’t much I can do until I get things under control. Feeling myself being balanced is one thing, showing the act of balance by not creating a chaotic ball of hybrid magic is another. That kind of issue is why they didn’t want half breeds in the first place.”

“I love a good history lesson, Dani, but we are in the present. Present day says maybe being chaotic is worth it.”

I laughed, shrugging. “Sure, let’s go with that plan and I’ll just burn down the entire realm of Heaven’s Gate. Sounds like a great fucking time.”

Elise clucked her tongue. “Isn’t that basically what Lilith and Dimitri want anyway? You’d be doing them a huge favor, or I could do what I wanted to do in the first place and go by myself and take care of everything.” She swiped her palms together as if claiming that was the best solution.

I chewed on my lip. “Yeah, Nick told me about your little hero act.”

“Not a fucking hero…”

I charged up to her, sticking my finger in her chest. “Let me just say this one time, so that you understand. I will push the light out of the way and shove my shadows down your throat if you ever consider that plan of yours again. You are either in this with us or you aren’t in it at all.”

She grabbed my finger. “If I found you repulsive, I might break your pretty finger, but I actually tolerate you so you can keep this finger bone intact.”

A smile slid across my face, but stopped midway when I noticed her apprehension. “What is it?”

“Let me ask you something, when you broke that wall, do you think your power just dispersed? Became a million tiny little fragments that no one would notice outside of that training room unless they were looking?”

I tapped my cheek with my fingernail while I considered what she said. “I would assume so, why?”

She backed up, so she could drop down onto Nick’s bed. “Do not quote me on this, but what if it didn’t? I mean like what if you creating that much of a frenzy turned into some kind of unwanted calling card? Just enough power to alert, but not enough to retain itself. It will eventually disperse, but not quick enough to go unnoticed.”

“That’s a lot to sit with in a matter of hours, Elise.”

“Your kind of power isn’t something you see every single fucking day. It causes a disruption. I’m pretty sure people in Heaven’s Gate noticed it, but Ariel just told them it’s fine, please go back to putting your blinders on and follow me.”

I stared at the floor. “You think I put a direct spotlight on myself?”

“Ugh, I don’t know. It’s just something to consider. More for your boyfriend to fret over.”

I waved my hands in between us making an X with them. “Absolutely not. I’m not going to have him jump to any conclusions based on a theory.”

She lifted her hands up in surrender. “Fine, but if I’m right it’s only a matter of time before they sniff out where the power came from and find out you’ve been alive and well this whole fucking time. Believe me when I tell you that Dimitri isn’t the nicest when he’s pissed off and that’s saying a lot coming from me.”

I chewed on my thumb nail. “All I have to do is control it. I actually think I’m getting the hang of it, sort of.” I looked over my shoulder at the speckled black marks on the wall. “Only then can we go back together . Garrett can find his family, Beetee can see her moms, and we can end both Dimitri and Lilith, black sky ripples and all that. Find a way to build a better Purgatory or something.”

“Hmm, I doubt Purgatory will be the envy of all the realms, but fine, for some reason I’m with you.” She rolled her eyes. “You don’t have months or weeks though Dani, from the look of that dark magic and the way I feel, you’ve got days.”

“How you feel ?”

“Must you forget that I was born in Hell.”

I nodded. “Right, hence your abnormally large hellhound you refuse to tell me the origin of or admit that you miss.”

She ran a hand down her face, scooting further back so that she could rest her back against the wall, with her legs out in front of her. “Shut up now. And honestly, I can’t take you seriously without pants on. I keep getting reminded that nearly an hour ago you were getting railed by your perfect angelic cock.”

I twirled one of my spiral curls with my finger as I turned around to search for a pair of shorts in the dresser.

“Dani.”

“Mmhmm?”

Elise let out a frustrated sigh. “I said it in Purgatory, and I’ll say it again. Is he strong enough for this?”

I pulled the shorts up my legs. “Who, Nick?”

The demon across from me placed her hands in her lap. “Yes, Dani. The angel that would like us all to believe he is doing just fine and managing perfectly. He may very well be getting his mental stuff together but what about his personal shit?”

“He went to Purgatory with personal shit before.”

“He was still on good speaking terms with daddy Cassial. Those terms are nonexistent now.”

I went over to sit on the bed with her, pushing myself back to match her posture. “I can’t make him talk to him. I’ve tried. I can’t treat it like I did his pain in Purgatory. I took that darkness from him as best I could. Right now, he’s already removed his father from his life, and I have no idea if he’ll let him back in.”

Elise ran her tongue over her front teeth, letting out a humorless chuckle. “If pretty boy loves you as much as he disgustingly claims he does, he will. If it means being by your side when Dimitri and Lilith bring a shit storm upon us…I guarantee his handsome lovesick ass will do whatever it takes.”

Two whole days of focusing and harnessing something I’d assumed would be unwilling to tether to me was proving harder to control. It was always much bigger than me in some way, the power too great. They were like fire to the open air, where one breeze would take it and cause a massive catastrophe if I didn’t get it to back down— and that was without Nick’s added help.

It was a power within myself, but somehow, I didn’t think it understood that. I was opening myself up but maybe I wasn’t being stern enough with how I went about releasing it. Natalia could only do so much each time and I swore Zane was praying to whatever Enchanters believed in that I wouldn’t fuck up any more of their infrastructure.

The ripple was getting bigger and the pressure made me antsy. No one was outright yelling in my face to get my shit together, but every time Morgan came in with Nick, it was like she was silently willing me to admit defeat. I wouldn’t be doing that anytime soon, if ever.

Reese, Elise and I walked into the training room with wide eyes the next morning we met up. “Holy fuck,” I said, impressed with what Natalia had done to the wall of her training room. The interior walls had some sort of translucent moving film over them. I stretched my finger out to touch it, feeling a tiny bite against my skin.

“So, you want her power to just go flying all over the place now? Explain to me how you’re queen again?” Elise questioned, sneering at the moving Enchanter magic around her.

“The forcefield takes her powers into it, anyone with half a brain could piece that together,” Reese explained, giving her an expression that stated that what he said was common sense.

Elise squinted at him. “I’m sorry, are you her mouthpiece, I didn’t think I was talking to you.”

“Ellie, be nice. It’s actually pretty cool, I watched her make it.” Beetee skipped over to Natalia, hopping from one foot to the other.

“I think it’s very cool, Natalia. Don’t mind the grumpy bitch over here,” I said, slapping Elise’s arm.

Elise shoved me to the side. “Oh no, I’m just grumpy because every time I go into your boyfriend’s room, I see fiery, charred things everywhere, which tells me that you are just getting laid all over the fucking place and some of us are in a living situation where they have to refrain from ‘reckless behavior’ .” Elise made air quotes around her last words, looking over at Natalia.

Reese snickered. “Well at least we know Nick is well satisfied meeting with Morgan.” He presented his fist to me, and I connected my own against it, laughing. “Are we starting or are we waiting for another army of lethal Enchanters to come and attack us without notice?”

Zane shook his head, while Natalia patted him on his bicep. Her shoulders were dusted with gold glitter and the magic surrounding the room seemed to make the glitter shine brighter somehow.

“Are we waiting for Nicholas?” Garrett asked, his thick braids were separated down the middle and braided into two separate braids and rested on his shoulders.

“No, Nicholas will be joining us a bit later. Ariel has him attending to other matters.” The irritation in the High Priestesses voice wasn’t lost on me. I felt the same way she did, but something inside of me hoped that Morgan made a move so that Nick could tell her to fuck off. “And no, no army this time. I just want Dani to have her moment.”

Beetee made a hurried motion so Elise would come stand by her and Reese sat his bow down so he could comfortably prop his back up against the wall.

“So, you want me to just have a fight with the wall?”

Natalia opened her mouth, but Garrett spoke instead, “I think she wants you to look in yourself, no distractions, no fights. When it’s just you. You can tell your own power what you want it to do and how you want it to act. The problem with most hybrids from what I’ve understood is that they let it take them over. It’s your power. Yours . You rule it, not the other way around.”

I gave him a curious smile, then looked over at Natalia. She raised both her perfectly arched, dark eyebrows and nodded. “Couldn’t have said it better myself.”

I leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. “Your kids are lucky to have you as a dad.”

He gave me a smile that almost had no happiness in it, it felt lonely. “Let’s hope they still think that, that they don’t think I abandoned them.”

“I have a feeling your kids could never think that.”

Garrett placed his hand at the top of my shoulder and squeezed, silently thanking me before stepping back.

I took a deep breath in and closed my eyes. It was as if everyone around me took a collective breath inward, waiting. I rubbed my hands together stupidly thinking that that might light some kind of spark in me, but it didn’t. I felt like I was being put on display and if I didn’t do something extraordinary then I was useless. My closeness with Lilith and my dagger made me special, but both of those things were no longer a part of my existence, so achieving this one thing was all I had. I didn’t have time to fuck it up and fix my mistakes.

I couldn’t have all these people wanting to help me and then find out I wasn’t worth all the trouble. Nick would follow me until the day I begged him to not, but what if all that commitment came up empty handed. I didn’t want to have faced death at the hands of the one person who only ever wanted the best for me to mean absolutely nothing.

What if I’d worked this hard to find out that I wasn’t deserving of all this power I held?

Without having to look, I knew the caress of wispy darkness skimmed across my arms and up my neck. I knew the shadows danced mindlessly in between my fingertips. This would always be my go-to, my comfortable place, the power I clung to whenever I needed a hint of familiarity.

And that was okay.

It’s your power. Yours. You rule it, not the other way around.

Lilith also had me believe my power, the dark shadows, was who I was. I had a kinship with it, but after all this time basking in the light that was Nick, I decided I wanted a kinship with that as well.

I wanted to be vulnerable with it and let it become a familiar sensation. I didn’t want it to be a foreign spark that only came out when I really needed it. I wanted it to feel free to be present when it wanted; I wanted it to feel wanted.

The room started to feel warm and a small hum echoed against my ears. It was a hum of satisfaction and contentment. The warmth mimicked my darkness, and I opened my eyes watching them chase after each other along my hands. I put my palms together, taking in one big, deep breath. I pulled my hands apart, letting my fingertips touch for as long as they could. A ball of black, highlighted in gold light stared back at me. It hovered between my hands and continued to grow the more I inspected it.

Tiny pieces of light fell off and stung my cheeks, but it didn’t hurt. My skin absorbed the small amount of pain like eventually one day, it wouldn’t be painful at all. Little micro flames puffed off of the ball of power, but nothing like what I’d done the other day. I tried to keep my mind right, trusting myself and the balance I wanted to maintain.

I counted to three in my head, before I shot it out of my hands and towards the wall, willing it to go nowhere else but where I’d aimed.

The ball of hybrid magic flew over to the magically layered wall, bursting into a fit of nothing as the wall puckered and rumbled, consuming the large amount of power. The room shook with the aftereffects when Natalia spoke.

“Do it again.”

I did the next time with more ease, one hand grasping the power and not two. It wasn’t cockiness I felt, although I was allowed to feel every ounce of that, but it was a confidence I could completely call my own. Nick’s light would always be able to make this bigger and more blinding, but I could do just fine on my own.

“Okay, okay, how about a moving target?” I turned around to see Reese notching his bow. He pulled back the string as he aimed the arrow slightly above my head. I noticed him take a breath in and then let the arrow go with his exhalation. The arrow flew and I eyed its precise spot when I sent shadow and light its way. The arrow didn’t stand a chance when it was caught in the crosshairs.

Reese didn’t let up. He sent arrow after arrow, in multiple directions and at various speeds. I was breathing heavier when he slowed down, bringing his arm down so his bow rested at his side. He nodded his appreciation. “I have never been prouder.”

“Your arrows are literally nothing compared to what she’s training for.” Elise scoffed, turning her head towards Beetee. “Go ahead, do your thing.”

Beetee ran her fingers across the shaved side of her head. “What thing?”

“Don’t get shy about your snake sense now.”

Beetee’s mouth formed an O before rapidly shaking her head. “I’m not shifting in here.”

“She is one thousand percent not shifting in here,” Zane agreed with a much more authoritative tone.

Elise gave them both a bored expression before she faced me. Her tail unfurled from behind her back and she snapped it against the air. Her eyes flashed a shade of red before she snapped her tail in my direction. “We both know what the venom does, so let’s try to avoid it, huh?” Her tail lashed out, almost slicing one of my arms. I jumped back, nearly falling backwards.

“Is this a good…” Reese started but snapped his mouth shut when Elise flung her tail a few inches from his face.

She shot her tail over towards one of my ankles, but I darted away from it. I turned my head to look at her when a cloud of reddish-black magic hit my face. I was pushed back, landing on my ass as I coughed.

“You’ll have to use that handy peripheral vision you were graced with.” Elise taunted, flinging her tail at me again, but I scurried backwards out of its grasp.

“Ellie, be nice.” Beetee made a hissing noise over at her friend.

Elise paid her no mind. “Not in my nature.” She created a ball of that same-colored magic in one hand, while simultaneously letting her tail linger and wait for the next time it was to strike.

I placed my hands on the floor, pushing myself up. I flexed my fingers and rolled my neck, as I readied myself. I pushed off the ball of my foot as I ran towards her. Her tail swooped low, but I jumped over it gathering all the combined power of light and dark power that I had as she let two balls of her own dark power out, the red coloring surrounding it sparking every few moments.

I went to reach my hand up and stop one ball of dark energy at me, when I saw that a few inches from touching it, my power reached out to take hold of it all by itself. My power sucked it up and I threw it over to the left. The magical wall Natalia had added encapsulated it and the interior of the room vibrated. I quickly did the same thing with the other ball of energy, throwing it to my right. Garrett swiftly moved Beetee off the side before she got struck by it.

I felt something like a scaly rope wrap around my wrist and found that Elise’s tail was cinching itself around my arm. My body was twisted around, and I landed flat on my back, while my arm was still suspended in the air by her magical appendage. The venom pulsed itself along my skin, the feeling in my arm slowly growing numb.

My teeth clamped together with how the venom burned as it sedated my right arm. Her tail unraveled and started to slither its way over to my other hand, but I snatched it up, feeling my own power eject itself against her tail. I didn’t feel the venom like I thought I would, but I saw lines of golden light shoot down towards the base of her tail followed by dark shadows spiraling.

Smoke flared and she yelped in surprise, throwing out multiple rounds of dark magic as she pulled her tail back. The appendage was wafting smoke flames as she brought it back closer to her body. I was starting to get the feeling in my other arm again as I threw out my magic at her attempt at a counterattack; each one flying into the wall and being absorbed.

Zane went to steady his High Priestess each time, but all she did was simply watch in utter amazement at what she was witnessing. When everything had settled, I felt sweat along my forehead and the back of my neck. I looked down at my hands, creating my own balanced ball of power between my palms and then letting it disappear.

I really didn’t know if in a different setting I could control it again. I didn’t know if the same victory I felt now would be the same for when I was faced with something much bigger than my friends.

I supposed the what ifs were a nonstarter at the moment. Fretting would get me nowhere.

Elise patted her tail, letting it move behind her and then disappear altogether.

“That’s what you get for fucking with her,” Reese scolded, wagging his finger at her.

“Bite me.” Elise did a flicking motion with her fingers, sending a red flaming stream of darkness in his direction that connected with his stomach. He landed against the wall behind him with a grunt.

Beetee started to get in between them, while Natalia strolled over to me, taking my hands in hers. “You really are a sight to see.”

“Let’s just hope everyone else feels that way when it matters.”

Natalia laughed, which like always, came out like the more charming music. “Right now matters just as much as any other time. Every piece of progress you’ve made, every single time you give the light and dark a place to call home, that matters. A round of applause and praise doesn’t make your success any less of a success.”

The door opened causing all of us to halt our conversations. I felt Nick before I saw him, bringing a smile to my face. That smile was immediately eliminated when Morgan walked in behind him. Her eyes darted around the room and whistled.

“Well, this is nice.” She pressed her finger against the magic. “We wouldn’t want any more destruction now, would we?” She blinked over to me with a smile that made my blood boil.

“Heaven’s Gate could use some modifications, so maybe a little destruction is what it fucking needs.” Elise tilted her head to the side, getting a narrowed glance in her direction from Morgan.

Nick pushed past her, taking the longest strides possible to reach me. “So how did everything go?”

“I think I can do this.”

I wasn’t going to wait for whatever was beyond that dark ripple to come to us, even if Elise said it was only a matter of days. I would get Garrett his family back, Elise could have her furry companion she claimed to not think much about, Beetee could protect her moms, Nick would have an entire story to tell his father once they were on speaking terms again and I would take out this darkness, whether that was attributed to Dimitri or Lilith. Or both. Purgatory had been a place where I’d been manipulated, and I wanted to take that back. There would be no thinking when I got there; I didn’t get raised from the dead for any more thinking.

Ariel could think I was doing his bidding and fighting for him to make this realm better, but once it was all said and done, he could kiss my ass. The day that Ariel picked up a weapon or lifted his fucking finger to protect this realm would be the day he got my respect.

He placed his hand on my cheek, letting his thumb slide along my jaw. “I already knew that. I meant like any issues.”

“Oh, no, well I almost burnt Elise’s tail off but that’s not a big deal.”

“Oh, fuck off, it is a big deal,” Elise countered.

Nick opened his mouth to speak again but Morgan cut him off. “Since you seem to be doing so well, Soul Seether, then I’ll be sure to tell Ariel that you are more than prepared to do what you do best. He is eager to know that you are right on track, following directions.”

“I’m sure he is.” I slid my arms around Nick’s body, resting my head on his chest as I stared at her.

She flipped her hair over her shoulder, the translucent shine of the magic from the walls bouncing off the lens of her glasses. She placed her hands on her hips. “Nick, why don’t you let her continue being the most obedient hybrid she can be, hmm?” She motioned for him to back away from me and follow her.

Nick looked down at me and then over his shoulder at the waiting guardian angel. She had already spent the entire morning with him and yet, she still wasn’t satisfied. I caught Reese out of the corner of my eye, aggressively rolling his eyes and I caught my laugh before it tumbled out.

“I think she has done well for today, we can always end early,” Natalia offered. I felt the buzz of pride in my veins.

Morgan hummed, disregarding Natalia’s words all together. “Until I personally see that she’s good enough for today, then you won’t be leaving early. Another hour should suffice.”

“Watch your tone.” Zane stepped up behind Natalia as the High Priestess, pressed her lips together in an unamused smile.

She lifted her hand towards Zane to stop him from having anything to say to Morgan. “Alright. Another hour.”

“You are quite literally the worst.” Reese yelled from across the room, shaking his head.

I pulled away from Nick, after pecking him quickly on the lips. I blinked over to Morgan, innocently. “Fine by me. I would stand back though; I wouldn’t want to hurt you.”