Rise of the Lycans: Shadows And Secrets

Chapter 33 – Obelisk

Maeve

“It’s time,” Remington returned.

“Time for what?”

“I thought it would be a few more weeks, but this is an interesting development,” he seemed to be speaking to himself. “I might be able to collect her sooner than I thought.”

“What development?” I asked. Jinx jumped up on the bed, eyeing my uncle just as curiously as I did. “Who are you collecting?”

“This is just what we need,” he turned to me. “When he finds you, you will be sure to ask him for the ring of life.”

“When who finds me?” I hesitated. “I’m not going with the Alpha King.”

“Everything will be okay,” he replied, reaching for my jacket. “Come on, put on your shoes. We need to get to the church.”

“And why are we going to church? I thought you weren’t allowed in church.”

“I’ll explain when we get there.”

A few minutes later, Jinx was pressed against my legs, and Remington wrapped his arms around me. The familiar feeling of floating surrounded us, and Paris monuments came into view. The iconic rose window of Notre-Dame was shrouded in darkness and shadow. Remington leaned forward, and I realized we were standing on the small balcony below the beautiful stained-glass window.

“Is it still the same night from the obelisk?” It was hard to keep track of time between the realms.

“Yes, and the same night as the locker room,” he chuckled.

“My dream wasn’t real.”

“Daydreams are also dreams, and demons have the ability to move through that realm.”

“I don’t have demon power… do I?”

Remington smiled. “One of you does.”

“It can’t be Rex.”

“I never said it was Rex,” he grinned and nodded in the direction of my belly.

He meant the baby. The baby kept bringing us together. “Is my child going to be a demon?”

“No, that’s a lycan pup for sure, but there may be some inherited talent from the handsome uncle.”

A gifted lycan pup.

Something moved in the courtyard below, and I noticed Flaym’s red hair first.

I counted the number of males with jet-black hair and couldn’t tell who was who. A loud shriek sounded, and Jinx shifted into his full hellhound form. He stood in front of us, ready to attack anything or anyone that approached. We were shrouded in a shadow, so I knew no one would see us, but I wasn’t sure about the flying gargoyles that started swooping down at Flaym and the others.

“Gargoyles are demons, aren’t they?”

“They are,” Remington told me just as Storm ripped a horn off the first one and sent it crashing into the cement. Remington waved his hand, and I saw the creature's shadow rise from the shattered remains and evaporate into the night.

“What was that?”

“Gargoyles can regenerate and come back stronger,” he told me. “I’m sending them back to a prison in the Dark Realm so they don’t keep attacking your friends.”

“Are all gargoyles perched on churches demons?”

“No,” he waved his hand repeatedly, banishing each gargoyle they destroyed. “Demons can be sentenced to a few hundred years or a millennium to serve in stone if they displease the Demon King. Not all gargoyles are demons. Some are crafted by humans and used as rain gutters.”

“Whose flying monkeys are these?” I heard Flaym yell.

“That’s a good question,” Remington mumbled. “I believe Asmodeus is behind this, but we’ll need to wait and see how this plays out.”

Some of the gargoyles were downright frightening. There was a lot of screeching and smashing, lightning strikes and tree limbs swinging, but I knew Remington wouldn’t let the demons win. Not when Storm was down there. I may be young and na?ve, but I knew she had caught his eye, and for both of their sakes, I hoped it would pass quickly. Storm would eventually find her soulmate, and I knew he’d be a possessive Alpha.

Remington sent the last demon back to the Dark Realm, and he had done it with little effort. I remembered how he easily defeated the unseelie faeries and had no doubt he was a high-ranking Demon. He had to be a Special Enforcer or General to the Demon King.

“Those two have been inseparable since birth,” he murmured.

“Storm and Rex?”

He gave a slight nod and narrowed his eyes in their direction. “Well, well, well… what do we have here?”

Storm held something in her hand that was glowing, and I couldn’t tell what it was.

“What is it?”

She handed it to Rex, and it stopped glowing. It looked like jewelry… something on a gold chain.

“My necklace!”

“Have you ever seen it glow before?” He asked.

“No. I lost it on my eighteenth birthday. Rex has had it all along!”

“That necklace is the key we’ve been looking for. It holds the last of your mother’s Fae magic.”

“I haven’t felt any magic,” I said quietly.

“I think it’s been dormant until your eighteenth birthday,” he told me. “Every time I saw you at The Kilted Scott, you had the necklace on. I was surprised when you showed up on the flight without it.”

“You were at the restaurant when I was a girl?” I thought back to all the visits to the café with my parents. We visited the first Sunday of every month, but I don’t remember seeing Remington there.

“Balor was friends with Cormac… he visited just after you were born with a baby gift and discovered what had happened. He took you home to Elizabeth and raised you as their own. They knew who I was and visited my café in Glasgow for occasional visits.”

“I… I don’t remember seeing you.”

“That’s because I can change my appearance,” his eyes held amusement. “Once you moved to the Moon Realm, I visited you in animal form.”

“The hooting owl!” I remembered the dark owl that would appear in the dead of night in the big tree outside my window. He sat in the shadow, hooting until I appeared in the window.

He let out a low chuckle. “I remember the dead fish you once left me on your window ledge.”

“Why didn’t you show yourself to me?”

“I made a deal with the Moon Goddess,” he said, then paused. “Come on, they’re leaving. Climb onto Jinx.”

“I’m not getting on his back. I’ll hurt him.”

“Jinx is a hellhound,” Remington reminded me as he scooped me up. “He can triple in size and pick up a car with one mouth.” He set me atop the beast, and I wasn’t sure which neck to wrap my arms around.

“What if I fall off?”

“You won’t.” Remington seated himself behind me and secured me with his inner thighs. “Jinx will glide through the shadows behind them.”

The dark mist wrapped around us, and Jinx seemed to be floating in the nearest shadows of the tree-lined street at the banks of the Seine River. We listened as they talked about breaking into the Louvre. They suspected that Demons were involved, dark magic was being used, and it was all happening at the Louvre. LaRue Enterprises provided the leading-edge security system at the Louvre, and Flaym had it disarmed with one phone call.

“Security system is down,” Flaym announced as we reached the museum. “Try not to break anything, and let Zander know when we’re out.”

A shrilled screech sounded, and I cupped my ears—another owl-looking gargoyle with claws was ready to attack. A demonic cherub came to life and took flight just as a fish-looking dragon with wings swooped low.

“Why are they coming to life?”

“Someone really wants that necklace,” Remington said with a low growl.

“Are you kidding me?” Storm snarled as she took off at a sprint. She jumped onto the roof of a parked car and hurled herself into the air to punch the ugly cherub in the face. It shattered into stone, and Remington quickly sent it to the Dark Realm.

“So much for not breaking anything,” Flaym grumbled.

“She’s incredible,” Remington murmured.

“And she’s beautiful,” I replied, feeling him tense behind me.

I looked up to the sky and listened to the flapping wings growing closer.

Lukas let out a frustrated snarl. “We don’t have time for this again.”

“Everyone inside,” Zeus called out.

“They’re going inside.”

“Yes, and I can’t interfere.”

“But if there’s a Demon in there…”

“I’m sure there is,” he nodded. “But the source of the problem is over there.” He pointed in the direction of the gardens, and I saw the golden glimmer of the obelisk.

“The Luxor obelisk?”

“The old gal was right,” he said as we moved closer to it. “The obelisk is a talisman, and someone is drawing power from it.”

“Can you stop it?” I knew he was powerful and had the magic to do so.

“Yes, but I can’t interfere just yet,” he told me. “The Demon King has agreed to remain out of the war between his grandmother and her sister.”

“His grandmother?”

“Anubis was the ancient God of The Underworld and part lycan. Eos was jealous and wanted to destroy Selene’s werewolves with a stronger lycan she could control. She seduced Anubis and produced a demon daughter instead of the powerful lycan she wanted.”

I was beginning to understand what he was telling me. “That would make the daughter of Eos and Anubis a Goddess of The Underworld.”

“Yes, but Anubis was part lycan and honored the Moon Goddess above all others.”

“So, the Demon King is the grandson of Anubis,” I made the connection. “That would make him the current God of The Underworld.”

“Yes, Khaos is a God and prefers to be called King of The Dark Realm.”

“Khaos?” Just saying the name out loud sent a shiver down my spine. “You’ve been hiding me in the Dark Realm under the nose of a Demon God named Khaos!”

“It’s really not that bad,” he chuckled.

“Is this Khaos a malevolent or benevolent demon?” I shoved the fear down that threatened to consume me.

“Both. A King should always be equally both,” he said.

“Did the King send the gargoyles to steal my necklace?”

“No,” he answered with certainty. “Asmodeus sided with Eos, and I believe he’s been influencing some of the malevolent demons to help with his cause.”

“His cause?”

“He wants to overthrow the Demon King.”

“Why?”

“Because the King has not produced an heir.”

“Surely, he can’t be that ugly,” I shot out without thinking. “I mean… if he’s a God, there would probably be a line of willing women.”

“He doesn’t want any female,” Remington chuckled. “He wants his soulmate for offspring.”

The air grew heavy with static, and I recognized what was happening. Someone was controlling the elements, and lightning was about to strike.

“They’re coming,” I saw Storm, Rex, and Flaym running faster than humanly possible toward the obelisk. “Should we be standing so close to water?”

We were hidden in the shadow of a large water fountain near the granite monument.

“We’re not in solid form, so we should be fine,” he assured me. “Besides, we’re not the target here. The obelisk is.”

“What happened to the flying gargoyles?” Flaym asked.

“Who cares? Let's get this thing taken care of so we can get out of here,” Rex replied.

“Got a hot date after this?” Flaym taunted.

“Stand back,” Storm called out as a bolt of lightning struck the golden-tipped top of the pillar, and a rumble of thunder vibrated through the air.

“She needs to hit a few times to crack it open,” Remington whispered.

“What happened to the gargoyles?” I asked.

“I’m standing too close. They won’t come while I’m here,” he told me, never taking his eyes off Storm. “Using an elemental gift drains energy, and she needs to focus on the obelisk.”

The clouds pushed together quickly, and the wind started to whip around. Another flash of lightning hit the obelisk, and a clap of thunder shook the ground. She hit it again, and the booming wave caused the streetlamps to shatter.

“That was awesome,” Flaym cheered. “Can you get the obelisk to do the same as the streetlamps next time?”

“You’re fireproof, Flaym, not lightningproof,” Storm growled in warning.

“I mean this from the bottom of my heart, Storm, but you really need to get laid more,” Flaym roared with laughter, and the ground beneath us rumbled angrily.

I looked up at Remington, who had narrowed his gaze at my friend. That darkness surfaced again, and his eyes burned bright with fire. He was angry and for Flaym’s sake, I hoped he was resistant to demon fire.

“That must have been Lukas,” Rex said, looking down at the ground.

“That demon has his mate and pup,” Flaym announced. “Lukas will lose all control if he doesn’t find her fast.”

I sucked in a quick breath of air. “Selena’s pregnant?”

“Yes,” Remington replied.

“That was fast,” I rubbed my belly.

Now that I thought about it, this would have been the second new pup in the pack. There had been so few pups born in the last decade or two... What were the odds? Had something changed?

Lukas and Rex were lycans. Maybe it was easier for lycans to reproduce pups than werewolves? If Rex continued to mate with other females, he could produce enough pups that the Alpha King wouldn’t care about mine. Something pierced my heart at the idea, causing my eyes to sting.

“Are you okay?” Remington asked, and I noticed he was studying me.

“Pups are hard to conceive,” I started to say and felt my bottom lip tremble. The idea of Rex having babies with other females was unbearable.

“Lycans can only reproduce with their fated mates,” Remington told me. There was an expression etched on his face that looked like frustration, but I couldn’t understand why he would be frustrated.

I blinked several times, thinking about what he had just said. It wasn’t possible. I knew I wasn’t his mate. There was no mate bond between us… Then again, there was no bond between anyone. I had told Remington that Rex didn’t want me. That he had rejected me several times.

It never happened. That’s what Rex had said. A low laugh caught in my throat as the baby gave a quick kick. Yeah, and this never happened either.

“There’s a supercharge in the air,” Storm said. “Stand back.”

“What about us?” I worried if we should move back.

“It’s okay. You’re protected in the shadow,” Remington assured me again.

Rex and Flaym moved behind Storm as she lifted her head and arms to the sky. She looked ethereal, with her silvery hair blowing in the wind and her eyes swirling. Silent tension passed as she took a deep breath and channeled her energy. I felt Remington tense as she lowered her arms and struck the obelisk in three successive strikes.

CRACK!

CRACK!

CRACK!

A sonic boom exploded when the obelisk finally split open, and a scream escaped me.

A wave of violent energy burst from the top in golden light, shooting for the sky. Glass windows in the surrounding areas shattered, and debris from the obelisk shot in different directions. Rex, Storm, and Flaym were knocked backward but seemed protected in a bubble of dark mist.

I jerked my gaze away from them and turned to Remington, but he was gone. I watched as the black fog swirled around them, almost caressing Storm before moving to Rex. A moment later, the mist evaporated, and Remington appeared beside me. He had shielded them from the blast.

“That was… nice of you,” I smiled, having almost called him benevolent.

“Thanks, I try,” his lips quirked, and Remington lifted his hand, revealing my necklace. He had managed to pick it out of Rex’s pocket.

“You got my necklace back,” I reached for it and felt the power pulsing through it.

“The Goddesses could start a war here at any moment. We need to get you somewhere safe,” Remington told me urgently as the shadow wrapped around us.

“Am I going back to the Dark Realm?”

“No, we’re going back to Scotland.”

I expected to be back at the pub in Edinburgh, but to my surprise, we stood beside Loch Lomond in the shadow of my family home.

Panic surged through me. “The pack will know I’m here.”

“It’s okay,” Remington soothed me. “I’ve cast an enchantment that will keep everyone away. The place will look uninhabited day and night,” he explained as he pushed the front door open. “Jinx will stay with you, and Kit-kat will be here soon enough to get you settled and bring food.”

“Are you leaving me?”

“Of course not,” he said gently. “I have a few things to take care of, and I’ll be back in the morning with Doctor Ross.”

“What should I feed Jinx?” I looked down at the hellhound who had returned to cat form.

Remington smiled, “Jinx can take care of himself. There’s a lake full of fish outside.” He waved his hand, and a roaring fire crackled in the stone fireplace.

I spent the next hour pacing, thinking about what had transpired tonight. Then, I sat on the cushioned window ledge and watched Jinx devour his second trout from the lake. I wasn’t sure when Kit would be here, so I decided to run a hot bath.

I entered the bathroom and looked under the cabinet for the lavender bath bubbles. Everything was still here, and I squeezed a generous amount into the water. Dimming the lights low, I removed my clothes and stepped inside the bathtub.

I was just about ready to lower myself in the soothing heat of the bath when I noticed the scar on my butt cheek was tingling. Without thinking, my hand reached for it, and I felt a warm wave of emotions shoot through me. All I could think about was Rex.

I gripped the edge of the large copper tub and started to lower myself in the water.

A low possessive growl rumbled from the shadow in the corner, and I heard the one word I now knew was true.

“Mine.”