Chapter 41

I often wonder if I always knew that my darker side might end up being targeted. Perhaps this part of me was aware that my father would return and want me to be like him.

There were even times since I’d met Rayne when I felt like I leaned toward that side more. But I don’t believe that any of us expected him to appear as he did or take over the body of someone like Camille.

The room had turned bitterly cold, yet I could only feel the heat coursing through my veins. Rayne continued standing with me, his hand over the crystal.

He was trying to keep its power at bay, though I could feel the struggle inside of me, and it was becoming painful. Camille’s yellow eyes were as wide as her smile as she regarded us.

“Do you truly believe you have more power than me over my own blood?” the Fallen goaded him. “You may have claimed her, but you can never overtake what I’ve given her.”

“Luna is free to be who she wants! Your bloodline doesn’t mean she’s in your power!” Rayne shot back. I wanted to declare that too, but it was hard to say anything when I felt like I was struggling just to focus.

Lucille stepped closer to Camille, her hand on her chest and her eyes looking desperate. “Please,” she begged, “please let my mother go. I know she has done some terrible things, but she is old and frail and has nothing to do with this fight.”

“Now what makes you think that?” the Fallen goaded her. Camille’s body slowly stepped down from the bed, standing two feet from her.

“Certainly you could not have been that naïve to believe she didn’t dabble in the darkness her entire life. How else do you believe she gained as much as she did? Because she was refined and beautiful? Don’t make me laugh!”

“It is unfortunate, but those who choose to consult with devils do have to pay their dues eventually,” Emelio stated.

“That was not my mother! She never would’ve turned to any devils simply to have what she desired!” Lucille swore.

“Denial will only make things worse for you. You cannot deny what you have seen with your own eyes, especially that mirror. All know what a black mirror represents, especially when it is hidden within one’s bed chambers.” Lord Jekia informed her.

Lucille appeared to be at a loss as she gazed at where the mirror hung. Lord Jekia was right.

There was no way she couldn’t have noticed that at some point, especially when Camille had become so ill.

The Fallen within Camille chuckled. “Such a devoted daughter, even if you hated her at the same time for all she did. Did you honestly believe that you could chalk such things up to nightmares? You were even willing to go along with framing that devilish half-sister of yours to get her away from becoming a vessel, weren’t you?”

“You were…trying to use Hailia?” I managed.

The Fallen’s gaze moved to Lord Jekia. “I would thank you for allowing her back, but I have the sense that it was for a more secretive reason than you let on. Not only did you wish to exonerate her, but you hoped to lure me out, did you not? You have aimed to do that for centuries now, all because of the deals I made that you feel affected you,” he continued.

“What is he speaking of?” I heard Rayne ask him.

“The destruction of the Luna Dog clan and continued assault against the only one left,” Emelio answered for Lord Jekia, who was now glaring at Camille.

“Sadly, when there are those who wish for unlimited power, some will turn to the darker ones to obtain it. The Golden Queen was originally one to do so, and she originally contracted with a Fallen both for the immense power she craved and to do her bidding. In return, she would give it what it wanted.

“All this for whatever twisted end goal you wished for. She used you to influence the Lycans against my clan and then to attempt to dethrone me using my sons. Even now, you still do so for a goal that remains unseen.” Lord Jekia scoffed.

“I have always kept my goals to myself, although I will say that my main one has always been slightly out of reach. There just never appeared to be a good candidate. For that, I needed to create one,” the Fallen responded evenly.

My legs gave out from under me as a haze filled my mind. I swore I could hear the blood rushing through my veins as my frantic heartbeat filled my ears.

It took all of my strength to focus on what was around me, and even then, it felt muffled and distorted. It felt like Rayne tried to dig his nails into my skin around the crystal, but heat like fire erupted around them.

“You cannot remove it!” I heard the Fallen declare. “My blood will ensure it!”

Everything faded as I heard that, and when I next came to consciousness, my head was aching and I was lying on a hard floor. My eyes opened slowly, and it took me some effort to raise my head and focus on what was around me.

I was no longer in that bedroom. Instead, the area around me looked like part of an old cathedral.

I sat up, taking in the sight of the gray stone walls and high ceiling. There were murals painted up there, although they depicted what appeared to be a great battle between angels and demons.

“What is this?” I whispered, feeling my collar. The crystal was still there, pulsing under my skin though not feeling as hot and painful as before.

“Ah, yes, I’ve long awaited the day that I would be able to bring you here,” I heard the Fallen say. I looked toward where the voice was coming from, realizing now that there was what appeared to be an altar about ten feet to my opposite side.

It was lined with black candles and blood red carpet, and there was a huge black cross hung upside down over it. Camille’s body stood in front of this altar, her bright yellow eyes shining in the dim light.

But I noticed that she looked torn up. The front of her dress was shredded at the waist and covered in blood, and part of her left arm was missing from the elbow down.

“What…what is this?! Where are we and where are Lord Jekia and Rayne?!” I demanded, though it came out a little more frightened than I wanted as I looked around us again.

“There is no need to think any more about them. This is not a place they can easily get to, even with those Sumarians and that Mage on their side.” Camille held out a hand toward me. “Come. Why not join me in praise to the one you will help come to this world?”

I held the lump from the crystal as it burned, cringing at the pain.

He was trying to control me again, but I desperately wanted to fight this. It was bad enough that I hadn’t felt able to before we’d ended up here.

“I won’t! I don’t even want to be close to you!” I declared.

“Ah, you are such a fighter when you wish to be, though I blame some of that on that dog of yours.” The Fallen sighed in resignation.

I looked at Camille’s body as he spoke, taking in the large pool of blood on the floor beneath her. It looked dark and coagulated, and her skin was sickly pale.

“How long can you keep this up in that body anyway? Wounds like that weaken and kill most creatures. You won’t stand a chance in it if they manage to get here,” I informed him.

“I cannot deny that one. Perhaps it is time to shed this skin now that we are here.” Camille’s head tilted back and thick black smoke began to billow out of her mouth.

Her body fell to the ground as it formed into a thick cloud over her, crumpling like a rag doll. That cloud floated to the ground in front of her, forming the same male figure I’d seen in the town.

Dressed in black, he was tall and pale with matching dark hair. His eyes were yellow much like Camille’s had turned, and he regarded me solemnly.

I slowly stood up, doing my best to show no fear or intimidation as we faced one another. “It’s been eighteen years, and you’re finally showing yourself to me,” I stated.

“I did need to wait on a few things, though you haven’t disappointed me. You have turned out as beautiful as I anticipated,” he responded.

“I don’t take that as flattery.” I decided to move on with this. “Are you going to tell me what your endgame is here? Why did you involve yourself with Lord Jekia’s struggles for so long, and why create me?”

The Fallen shrugged. “Isn’t it obvious? I was called on, and I did what was asked of me. That is how contracts with the likes of us work.”

“Don’t evade the subject!” I argued. “I know better than to believe this was all simply because some power-hungry creatures called on you! You wouldn’t have kept coming back or created me if it was all because of that! What was the real reason behind all of this? Was it really to take over the Northern Lands within the Veil?”

The Fallen’s shoulders moved as he chuckled to himself. “You do not miss much, do you? But then, I would expect nothing less from my daughter, and I suppose I did let some of it slip back there, even if you weren’t in a position to understand it that well.”

He brought out his black wings, flying behind me and embracing me while whispering in my ear, “While one like me would never pass up an opportunity to wreak a little havoc in this world, I have always seen a bit more opportunity in it all. Not only to upend the hierarchy they’ve worked so hard to set up, but to advance our own. While I’d originally intended for that so-called Golden Queen Faerie to serve the purpose, her weakness proved a bit too much, so I needed to scout out better.”

I remained still, looking up at the mural again. “You intended to allow the Fallen to invade the Veil by using her and the Lycans to start a war?” I guessed.

“Not at all,” the Fallen corrected. “My only intention has ever been to serve my queen, and to do so, I intend to give her what she desires most.”

“Queen?” I repeated. He couldn’t have been talking about the Golden Queen now, and I couldn’t imagine he was referring to Camille.

She was most certainly dead. The Fallen chuckled, letting me go and taking a step back as I turned around.

“Yes, our queen, whom you will serve perfectly by the use of your body. You should feel grateful, my dear. You are to be the vessel for Lilith, the queen of the lustful damned.”

I stiffened, a vision of Lilith overtaking me as he said this. She was standing in the dark bowels of the Abyss, her blue eyes glowing along with her long golden hair, which had massive black horns curving out of it.

The black dress she wore was little more than lace, barely covering her large breasts and gracefully curved hips. “My new body…”

I jumped as my mind came back to reality, frantically looking around me for any sign of her as my father laughed.

“Are you that frightened of your fate? You should be thankful. After all, none of them actually wanted you here. They all thought of you as a monster simply for my blood in your veins. Now our queen can teach them what a monster truly is and how to show her respect.”

“I’m not, and they all didn’t think of me as that!” I countered, still holding my head as I tried to pull myself together.

“They did not, you say?” The Fallen held up his hand to me, and all of the whispers about me filled my ears. “You realize that those rumors didn’t take much of any effort. They will always judge you because you are a succubus, so why not give up this idea of acceptance and be what you are?”

I held my head as my body burned. “I’m not like you! I’m not evil and I’ve never used Rayne!” I declared.

“You cannot keep fighting this! You are one of us!” the Fallen countered.

“No! I’ll never be one of you!”

“Then perhaps you need a bit more convincing.”

I stiffened as I heard this, opening my eyes and slowly lifting my head.

The Fallen had flown back to the altar, and he wasn’t alone there. He had Lucille sitting on the floor beside him, her hands tied behind her back and ankles also bound by rope.

She was looking at me with frightened eyes, only able to make small frantic sounds with the cloth gag in her mouth.

“What are you doing?! Why is she here?!” I asked in shock.

“I decided I could use a failsafe in this, so I brought her with us. After all, she was to be my original offering from that female who called on me, although I much preferred having you as the vessel I needed,” The Fallen stroked the top of Lucille’s head, making her close her eyes and shiver in fear.

“But perhaps I can still make some use of her too. She is quite beautiful, and I do enjoy indulging in one like her.”

“Leave her alone!” I commanded.

“Ah, a bit sensitive about such things, are you? Well, why don’t we settle this then? Give yourself over to our queen and I’ll let her go without so much as touching her anymore,” the Fallen offered.

I took a few steps forward, remaining cautious. “How do I know you’ll do that? One shouldn’t trust one like you. That’s the first rule any should heed about a Fallen,” I countered.

“Touché.” The Fallen nodded, a pleased smile on his face. “But I can assure you that I will keep my word. After all, my greatest wish is for you to hand your body over to my queen, so I’m willing to sacrifice what I must.”

His demeanor suddenly became more aggressive, and he grabbed the back of Lucille’s hair, making her let out a muffled cry. “Or perhaps I can simply make do with handing her body over to my queen instead! Even if she destroys it, she will have time to choose more for herself!”

My wings came out as anger bubbled inside of me. All I could think was how I wanted to tear his arm off so that he’d stop hurting her.

It was bad enough that Lucille was put through this because of her selfish mother. Now he was mentally torturing her.

No, wait. This is what he wants from me. He wants my anger so that I’ll give in to my darker side.

The realization hit me hard, and his connection to my blood confirmed it. He’d schemed in this world for centuries now, even back when the Veil was first separated from the mortal world.

This Fallen had both enjoyed the destruction he helped cause through his influence and been scouting for the perfect host for Lilith. His first pick had been the Golden Queen, the powerful Faerie Lila.

She had called on him for power, and he in turn had felt she could be a good candidate for Lilith’s new body. He’d enjoyed helping her manipulate the Lycans into their violent actions, including murdering Lord Jekia’s entire clan, then goading him even more after Lila was sealed away by having them kill off various creatures throughout the centuries and try to kill Lana and his children.

But even when Lila had been defeated and killed the year before, he’d already long had other plans in order. Namely, me.

Once I was old enough, I could serve as her new body. I would be the perfect host because I was born half succubus. I carried their blood, his blood.

Even now, it felt like I couldn’t make myself attack him, no matter how much I wanted to. The connection we shared through that alone was too strong, and I wouldn’t let him manipulate me into doing that.

So what could I do to fight him? “The Fates will do what we must do, and none say for the Creator or Lord Azrael may dictate what we decree. Remember that as time passes and things are realized.”

I stood still as the old hag’s voice echoed in my head. The Fates, that dream. It had to have been real.

I’d seen Sionn that night he’d helped save me. But I still didn’t understand what they’d been trying to tell me.

The Fallen raised his hand to me. “Now, be a good girl and come here, lest I start becoming impatient and take out my frustrations on this one,” he warned me.

I slowly stepped forward, not wanting him to hurt Lucille. She may have been foolish to ignore what her mother had been doing, but she was still mostly innocent in this.

She didn’t deserve to be hurt. Neither had all the other victims he’d left in his dark path.

Neither did Lord Jekia, nor Rin or Aurora. Neither did Rayne.

Rayne. I stopped as my mind filled with memories of Rayne and all of the time we’d been together.

From the moment we’d caught eyes, it had felt like destiny intervened. I was meant to meet him and love him, and he’d been meant to love me.

The Fates will do what we must do.

“What are you doing?!” the Fallen’s voice cut through my thoughts. “Are you that inclined to watch her suffer?!”

I shook my head, the resolve rising within me. This had to be the answer I’d been seeking, and it was so simple that I couldn’t believe my own stupidity toward it.

“I won’t watch her suffer, and I won’t give in to you,” I quietly stated. I lifted my head as I stepped closer, looking into his eyes. “You can’t control me and never will again. I’ll never belong to you because I am now a beta. I’ll always be connected to Rayne alone!”

The Fallen’s eyes narrowed, and he let Lucille go, stepping forward as he held up his hand toward me. I could feel the crystal within my collar burning as he did, that fire trying to move through my veins again.

“It does not matter that you have been claimed by him! Your blood will always bow to me!” he affirmed.

“I’ll never bow to you!” I shot back. The heat was increasing now, but I managed to fight through the pain, reaching to my collar and clutching the lump there as I dug my nails into the skin around it.

“I refuse to ever be a devil!”

I felt blood pouring over my chest as I gouged into my collar, pulling at the crystal. After a few seconds, I heard a wet popping sound as I tore it out of me, and I fell to the floor in shock, still clutching it in my hand.

I could see through my tears of pain that it was bloody and glowing, but it didn’t affect me anymore. My body and mind were now free.

My father stood over me, and I could hear him growling like a beast, though I couldn’t bring my head up to look at him.

“You useless girl! You would dare mar this body to spite me?!” he bellowed.

I heard Lucille let out a muffled cry, and instinctively knew that I was about to be struck, but the blow never came. Instead, there was the feeling of a dense breeze whooshing past me from behind, and the splatter of something warm on my cheek.

It took me a second to realize that it was a black liquid.

~Blood?~

My bearings were finally coming back, and I managed to lift my head, my eyes widening as I saw that the Fallen was now pulling himself up from where he’d hit the wall near the altar so hard that he’d left an indent in it.

Lord Jekia stood in front of him, his right hand and claws dripping black blood where he’d cut into the Fallen’s chest.

“You’re safe now, Luna,” I heard Rayne say. I looked to my left to see him kneeling beside me, and he took the crystal from my hand, squeezing it in his own to smash it before tearing a piece of his shirt to hold over my wound.

“You…you’re here…,” I whispered.

“Yes, we finally got in,” Rayne held me against him. “It’s okay. You’ve done what you needed to, so let us take care of this from here.”