Revelations (Bloodline Series) (37 page)

“What
if it doesn’t?” Olivia asked.

“Young
lady, I have fought more battles than you’ve had hot meals in your lifetime. I
speak from experience,” he told her. “When we arrive wherever this fight is to
take place, you will look in front of you, see your enemy, and instantly
believe you will be defeated. You’ve never fought anything like this before. I
won’t bullshit you…there are going to be hundreds of thousands of people out to
kill you. You will wonder how you’ll ever defeat so many. Remember this…you are
not alone. You have all the demons you’ve already met fighting by your side.
Eligos’s army—that’s sixty
legions
of demons—will surround you, all of
them fighting
with
you. I would also like you to meet someone.”

As
soon as he finished his sentence another man appeared beside him. He was of
human appearance and looked around the age of thirty. His long, dark brown hair
was tied in a ponytail. His eyes were huge, and from a distance appeared to be
a pale shade of grey. He was tall and well built.

“Everyone,
I would like to introduce you to Buer. He and his army will also be fighting
beside us.”

Buer
nodded to us all but remained silent.

“Do
we need to call out to you when the time comes?” Hecate asked.

“Eligos
will take care of that,” Buer coldly responded. “You’ve all seen my face, you
know who I am now, so I’ll take my leave. I have things to do,” he added before
disappearing.

“Wow,
talk about rude,” Marley shot.

“Take
no notice; he’s never been any different. He’s just very...to the point. He’s
extremely anti-social, but he is an amazing fighter, and extremely loyal,” Hecate
told her. “I’m glad he’ll be with us.”

“Seems
like an arrogant shit to me,” Lucian snorted.

“He
can come across that way, but if he can do something to help you he will. His
bark is a lot worse than his bite.”

“Well,
the important thing is that you met him, even if the meeting was brief,” Vetis
spoke. “Now, where were we? Ah yes. So, please do not panic when you see the
amount of people in front of you;
we too
have high numbers. Remember to
use your weapons…they will come when you call for them. Use your power to
protect yourselves and each other, don’t just use it to attack. Defensive magic
is just as important as offensive. You will find that your instincts will take
over a majority of the time, and your power will do what is necessary. Don’t
try to stop it…it may just save your life. Your training will pay off, but you
will also do things you haven’t done before—”

“So
to summarize,” Tyler snapped. “Stay calm, don’t panic, fight, defend, protect
yourself, protect your friends, don’t run away, use your training, use your
power, let your power use itself, wield a weapon...oh yeah, and don’t die! Hey,
why not stick a broom up my ass too? That way, I can sweep the floor while
doing everything else. What’s one more thing, right?”

Vetis
glared at him, but didn’t respond. I think everyone expected Tyler to be
punched in the face or worse, and we all breathed a sigh of relief when Vetis
chose to ignore him.

“I’ve
never been good at shit like this. That’s all I can tell you. I’m sorry I can’t
offer more support,” Vetis ended.

“You’re
standing by us, that’s the best support you can give,” Danny told him.

“I
wish Keira was here,” I thought I’d said to myself, but had actually said out
loud.

“So
do I,” Tyler added. “She could always keep us calm and hold us together. I
could really do with her being here right now.”

“I
wish you’d all just get over her already,” Olivia spat. “Jesus, she’s just a
girl, for Christ’s sake.”

“That
girl,” I shot, “happens to be my best friend.”

“Really?
Well, with friends like her
who needs enemies?”

“Keira
saved all our lives,” Jake told her. “She died so Tyler could come back to us.
She protected us, loved us, supported us...she always listened, she was our
rock—”

“Yeah,
she also left you, joined the person who wants to kill you, who killed your
parents...oh yeah, and let’s not forget she tried to kill us all, and actually
DID kill my brother!”

“I
hope she knocks your head off your shoulders! I hope I’m standing right next to
you when it happens!” I shouted, before storming out of the room.

Jake
chased after me and dragged me into the kitchen. “Lily, calm down.”

“I
hate her. If Keira doesn’t kill her, I will!”

“No,
you won’t.”

“Oh
yes I will. Snobby cow…I’ve never liked her. I don’t trust her, and I wouldn’t
miss her if she left right now. In fact, I’d pack her bags for her!”

“Lily,
I love Keira too, but you have to understand it from Olivia’s point of view.
She didn’t know Keira like we did. She didn’t spend much time with her—”

“No,
but Keira took her and her brothers in. She made them feel welcome.”

“And
she killed Marshall.”

“I....”
I couldn’t think of anything else to say. Of course I knew he was right, and I
knew that would change Olivia’s views on Keira. But even though Keira had
attempted to kill us too, I still loved her like a sister.

“Maybe
you two should just stay away from each other? Tensions are running high right
now. Everyone is on edge and irritable,” Jake suggested.

“I
think you’re right. One way or another, once this is over, I never have to see
or speak to her again.”

He
wrapped his arms around me and held me close to him. “Try not to think about
her. There are far more important things going on right now.”

“I
know.”

Chapter 48

Army

Keira

It
was the day everyone was going to get together to listen to Ballantine. He’d
decided to have everyone meet on the planet Decorum…he thought it the safest
place. Demons had already swept the planet a while back, looking for us; they
wouldn’t go back again so quickly. I’d been dreading this moment for the last
two days. I’d hardly slept, eaten very little, and spent most of my time alone.
Ballantine had occasionally checked in on me, or sent Tina to see if I needed
anything, but he knew I needed to be alone. I wouldn’t have been good company
for anyone.

I
was sitting under a large tree with Tina and Mason, watching thousands of
people appear in the field opposite us. I’d never seen so many people.

“Wow,”
Mason gasped. “I knew our numbers had grown dramatically, but...wow!”

“Lost
for words?” Tina chuckled.

“Yeah.”

“Can
you feel the buzz?” she asked me. “The whole atmosphere has changed.”

“Yeah,
I feel like the hairs on the back of my neck are standing on end.”

“Do
they all know why he’s summoned them here?” Mason asked.

“I
don’t know.”

“I
don’t think so, but I don’t know for certain,” Tina said, shaking her head. “I
wonder when he’ll send us?”

“I
would think in the next day or two. He wouldn’t have brought us all together
now if it were going to be longer.”

“Are
you nervous?”

“A
little…you?”

“A
lot.” She sighed.

“How
about you, Keira?” he asked.

“I
don’t know how I feel right now. I was panic stricken the other day, but now, I
don’t know. I guess I feel kinda numb.”

“I
think I understand what you mean.”

We
watched as more and more people appeared. The fields were now a sea of bodies.
After about twenty minutes, Ballantine called for me to join him.

“I’m
going to address them all. I’d like for you to be by my side. I want them to
see that you’re still here. That should erase any doubts they may have where
you’re concerned. Will you do that for me?”

“Yeah,
of course I will.”

We
rose up onto a large boulder, and Ballantine shouted for the people’s
attention. The fields fell silent.

“My
friends,” he started. “Thank you all for coming. It’s nice to finally have
everyone together. It’s been a long time since I last saw a lot of you. I just
want to say thank you for staying and believing in me. Now, some of you will be
wondering why I have called for this meeting out of the blue. Others will have
probably already guessed what I’m about to tell you.

“As
you will all most likely be aware, only two days ago we were attacked. I say
we
because I believe if someone attacks one of us, they attack us all.”

The
whole crowd muttered, and a lot of people nodded in agreement.

Ballantine
raised his hand to quiet the crowd. “We lost a lot of good people. Friends.
Family. I cannot put into words how this loss affected me. It broke my heart...but
it also made me realize that we have to make our move. We can’t just hide in
groups waiting for the army’s of Hell to find us and wipe us out. We have
enough people here to be able to make this happen. And I think we’ve all waited
long enough.”

This
time the crowd cheered.

“My
friends, I’ve never lied to any of you, and I certainly don’t intend to start
now. This will not be easy for any of us. I would love to be able to tell you
we will all be able to live happily ever after, but we won’t. Lives
will
be lost. This is a war, and there are always casualties. I don’t want to lose
any of you, but I cannot possibly keep you all from harm. Believe me, I wish I
could. What I will do is my absolute best for you. I know some of you are
scared. That is only natural. I want you to know that you are free to leave. If
you have lost faith, self-belief, determination, or you simply do not support
our cause any longer, you can leave. Nobody will think any less of you. Nobody
will hurt you. I don’t want anyone to feel that they are being forced to fight.”

I
studied the sea of people, waiting to see if the numbers depleted, but I didn’t
see one person leave. They all continued to stand in silence, listening to
Ballantine’s every word.

He
turned to look at me. “I’d like to now draw your attention to Keira. I know
some of you were unsure of my decision to approach this young lady. I believe
some of you may have even thought I’d lost my mind. But I have never regretted
it. She’s stood by me, and helped to harvest bodies for you to possess. She’s
listened to me, encouraged me, and she will fight by our sides.”

Once
again the crowd cheered. That was something I certainly hadn’t expected. I was
so shocked that I was actually speechless.

“Let
me tell you about this young woman. She believes in our cause. She too has
loved ones she wishes to be reunited with. She believes people should be
allowed to be happy…that innocent people shouldn’t have to suffer the loss of a
loved one for eternity, just because one of them made a mistake. Her heart lies
with us. She is incredibly powerful. The daughter of Lilith herself, a demon
princess, a witch, and she has been bestowed with the power of an archangel. As
soon as she joined us I realized something; we could win this war! We had the
help we needed. She will stand by my side and help me to fight, but also, to help
protect as many of you as we possibly can; and for that,” he said, taking my
hand. “I want to thank you, from the very bottom of my heart. You trusted me,
and I feel like we’ve become good friends. I’m very grateful for this.”

“I
don’t really know what to say,” I said shyly.

“You
don’t have to say anything. Just know that I’m forever in your debt.”

I
smiled slightly, and then he returned his attention to the crowd. “No more
waiting, my friends. Tomorrow morning, we go to earth. Tomorrow morning, we
begin the fight of our lives! The fight for freedom! For peace! And for love!”

Chapter 49

The
Beginning of the End

Tyler’s
Story

Hecate
and Danny had finally managed to force some food down us all. I must admit I
felt better for eating it, more energized, but I didn’t enjoy a single
mouthful. I don’t think any of us did, really. We were clearing the dishes when
Eligos appeared in the kitchen.

“Is
everyone okay?” he asked.

“Yeah,”
I sighed. “I wish you wouldn’t just turn up like that. My stomach cramped…I
thought it was time.”

“Sorry.
Just checking in.”

“Have
you heard anything? Anything at all?”

“Not
so much as a whisper. I thought they’d have launched a full offensive by now.”

“What
do you think they’re waiting for?”

“I
wish I knew.”

“Hey
Eligos,” Lily said as she walked in the room. “How are you?”

“Same
shit, different day.”

“I
know that feeling.”

“I’ll
leave you to it—”

“Why
don’t you stay for a while?” Lily suggested. “It might do you some good.”