17 Deciphering the prophecy

*** POV – Zagon
All kings rule, one insane
the innocent will get the blame
from the ashes, a feud will fire
friend will call friend a liar
the war starts an immortal switch
begin force the unwilling bitch
her soul rips the double child
a dark mark he can not hide
one survives, one desecrates
a choice impossible his fate

I scan over the prophecy written on the chalkboard, screwed onto the one wall of Stephan’s office – as if I don’t know it by heart by now. With a sigh, I drop my head onto the backrest of the sofa. We’re going through the prophecy line by line … deciphering it; making sense of it. I close my eyes in an attempt to clear my mind.
“Hey, don’t go sleeping now … we’ve already lost Eni,” Luan mumbles and punches me on the shoulder. I wince; my burn wounds are not quite healed yet. Can’t believe my freaking mate tried to barbeque me; she fucking literally set fire to my clothes. Little freaking tyrannic psycho.
When I glance over at her, a smile creeps over my face. She’s fast asleep; her legs pulled up on one of the chairs closest to the fireplace. Beautiful little psycho. Harron was the one that stopped her from frying me, explaining to her that Apollyon was framed and not responsible for any deaths.
I’m still not sure how Nox being my dad justifies me getting set on fire … all I know is that one moment she was kissing me and the next I’m engulfed in flames. What I do know is that I’m missing something crucial … and that the little sprite holds the answers. He’s standing on the ledge of the big blackboard jotting down all our thoughts. The tiny fucker has been avoiding me since our last encounter in the hospital closet, but don’t worry, he’s gonna meow soon.
“At least we know who the innocent is … Apollyon and vamp ex-king Vlad,” Luan says, “but who’s the insane one?”
The eery silence forces me to open my eyes. I swear I can smell smoke coming from my brother’s ears, probably from overusing his brain for once.
“It could be king George … he’s the one that lied for some reason,“ I say and the shrill ‘SCREEEEEE’ of chalk skritching over the blackboard claws on my already frayed nerves, jolting me to sit up straight. Whoever came up with this prophecy didn’t make it easy to figure out, that’s for fucking sure. I get up and stretch my legs. Then I take the blanket that’s draped over the back of one chair and gently cover my mate with it. Note, gently … I don’t want her to wake up cause she might just ignite me again.
“Aw, you’re such a big softy.” The petulant expression on Puck’s face makes me want to smack him, but I take my seat on the sofa again.
“Yeh, yeh … very romantic … but the prophecy is what matters right now.” Luan comes across more like responsible Marrok than his normal impervious self and for a second I wonder what’s wrong with him.
“And the pack will be back from their run any moment, and we’re still at the first line,” he continues. Who cares? I’m not even sure I believe this prophecy crap yet. And I would also much rather let my hound out and go for a run … but with all these alphas around it’s not a good idea. If provoked, my predominant hound might just attack one.
Unlike all wolves, my dog is not instinctively pack orientated … he doesn’t give a shit about ranks and will never submit, not to anyone. So to avoid a fight, I stayed put with Luan. Marrok went cause his wolf, although a very headstrong alpha, should naturally submit to the royals. These things are programmed into each wolf’s DNA, it’s just how it works – the lower submit to the higher.
“From the ashes, a feud will fire - friend will call friend a liar,” Luan reads the next part of the prophecy out loud. I shake my head to get rid of the cobwebs up there. Okay, time to think again … we know that the feud already started … but not who the enemy is. Actually … we know they call themselves the Soulbiters … but who’s their leader? That could be the friend that betrayed his friend … but a friend of who? Apollyon? Vladimere? Who were their friends? Maybe we should start there … find out who their BFFs were.
“We need to find out who my father’s friends were …” Luan starts typing on his laptop, a frown between his brows, his tongue sticking out slightly. Then he stops and his eyes widen; pupils expanding.
“You guys would not believe this …” he says and scratches his temple.
“What?” I ask anxiously and Puck flies over.
“Apollyon’s best friend was non-other than the current demonant … Desmond. Says here they were like brothers,” he looks up into my eyes. I’m disquieted; flabbergasted; appalled.
“The guy who deleted the pictures … and who got promoted and who sent us on the mission … “ Luan gobbles as if I don’t know who he’s talking about. I know very well. It’s the guy who wanted to know who my father was. But the question now is - how much does he really know?
Puck flies back to the board and with another screech writes down Desmond’s name with an arrow pointing to the word ‘friend’.
“Okay, now the next part … the war starts an immortal switch
begin force the unwilling bitch,” Luan laughs softly.
“I’m not sure why the bitch is unwilling … maybe she just hasn’t met me yet,“ he giggles on and I just pull up my shoulders. It seriously doesn’t make sense to me too. And what does some ho have to do with all this … willing or not? And what the fuck is an immortal switch?
“Maybe she’s angry because they’re forcing her … “ Puck tops, his little finger tapping on his lip, “but to do what? Have sex you think?”
“Guys, why would raping some girl cause a war … or even be in the prophecy for that matter?” I put my opinion.
“No idea … “ Puck answers softly, pulling up his tiny shoulders.
“Bitch … “ Luan mumbles to himself … then he types on his computer again. His face suddenly lights up and I know he found something.
“Fuck …” he swears softly and gapes at me, “you know those wolf girls that went missing … they were all classified as wolf bitches … I recalled seeing it when I went through their files last time, but I didn’t think it was important until now.“
“So the bitch must be a wolf … but not just any wolf … one with a little something-something important enough to start a war,” the sprite pulls his lips tight.
“Wars that start because of a woman is usually because it’s some king’s daughter … or wife …” Puck continues thoughtfully.
“Okay, you have a point … let’s say the bitch is a wolf and some princess or queen … the luna queen is dead and there is no wolf princess … so there goes that theory out the door,” Luan sighs and puts his head in his hands.
“Eh, wolf princess … “ Puck’s voice is suddenly strained, and he's staring at Eni with a shocked face. Then it hit me … she’s a wolf … and a princess. Fuck me blindly!
“Do you guys smell smoke?” Luan comments, oblivious to the little enlightening moment between me and Puck.
I sniff the air. Seriously … the smell of smoke is now more evident. Either our minds are frying or … I inhale again.
“Yeh, something is burning guys!” I say just as the door bursts open, making me jolt; my first instinct is to protect Eni. I curse. Damn this mate bond thing.
Blade storms in, dragging the two human girls and Amy behind him. What the hell is he doing here? He’s supposed to protect the girls on Earth … shit!
“They attacked the house … “ the look on his face causes a slight panic in me. He pushes the stunned girls deeper into the room.
“Who?” Puck roars. I notice Enigma waking up … but I know by now that it takes her a minute or so to get her bearings straight and be fully awake.
“No time to explain, we have to go protect the porthole! They’re gonna come through any moment,” he shouts, holding his arm. He’s wounded. The girls look like they’re going to pass out any second.
Enigma looks at her friends, confused about their presence. Then she looks at Blade, discombobulated. He grabs her shoulders.
“Eni, we’re being attacked, you have to protect the girls. Stay here in this room and don’t go out.” Blade orders and we run out the door not waiting for her answer. Puck swings onto my shoulder … a-fucking-gain … but for once I don’t mind that much. I just hope my stubborn mate does what she’s told – for once. I can’t afford to think about her … I have to focus.
“Who attacked you?” I ask while running down the stone hallway of the castle.
“Fays … lots of fays and some vamps too,” Blade hollers back, “I saw a warlock … and I think a demon, but I’m not sure … it happened so fast and I just needed to get the girls out first … the porthole was our only chance.” An attack with different species never happens … not randomly anyway. Species usually tend to keep to their own sort. And why is there always vampires involved? Maybe Vlad isn’t so innocent after all? But how can he still be in the picture if he’s been desiccating in a tomb for almost 20 years? We need to talk to the old vampire king … maybe he has some answers. Yep, we’re gonna bust sleeping beauty from his chamber and wake him up.
“Do they know about the porthole?” Luan asks, pulling my attention back to the present. We’re running into the designated room now and I slack a breath of relief to see the wall is still closed.
“They didn’t see us using it … I closed the magic door Harron fabricated in case something like this happened … but I’m sure the warlock will quickly disperse it." A warlock … fuck … where did he come from? They’re even rarer than demons … since they’re the offspring of a witch and a demon. Powerful magical creatures – so yeh … it won’t take him long to get through the door.
I glance over the guys in a row next to me … eyes on the wall; nether-blades drawn, tensely waiting for what’s to come. Four of us against a horde … actually, three and a finger-sized moth … but who’s counting. He won’t be of much use, but as long as the little man stays on my shoulder, he’ll be rather safe … cause if anything happens to him Enigma might just set me on fire … AGAIN. Blade still clings his arm. Vamps heal faster than demons and wolves … but only when they drink blood. And that’s a rather deep cut he has there.
“Hey, drink up,” I hold my wrist out to him, “we need you fully functional.”
His eyes shoot up; bummed; scanning my face to see whether I’m serious. Yep, I’m sure he never anticipated this … well, neither did I. But, in order for us to fight what’s gonna come through that wall any second now … we need every ounce of strength we can muster. And if that means letting a vamp suck my blood, so be it.
It can only increase our advantages – of which we don’t have much now. Our only trump-card is our nether-blades; a weapon forged from the nether stones unearthed only in the depths of hell. It can kill any species, but only if you stab it through their heart. Another thing that might give us a small edge is that they have to go through the porthole one by one … so we need to kill them off as fast as they get through. But that’s all we have counting for us.
“You do know what will happen if he drinks your blood?” Luan asks concerned and I nod. Yes, I know. Drinking demon blood for a vampire is like injecting him with a huge dose of pure adrenaline … all his abilities increase profoundly, but just for a certain time period, and then he’ll pass out. But that’s just what we need right now, a vamp on steroids. He can sleep it off after the fight.
Blade takes my arm unsurely, his eyes staying on me. Then he sinks his teeth into my vein, sucking. I watch him, knowing I’ll have to force him off, cause my blood is like a drug to him … he won’t be able to stop on his own.
I let him drink a few more seconds, but to my surprise, Blade lifts his head and wipes the blood from his mouth with his hand. His eyes flicker red. Truthfully, this vampire manages to surprise me every time.
“Thanks … I needed that.” I watch the wound on his arm close.
Then the wall opens and the porthole appears. I pull my blade from its sleave with a smile. The moments before a kill … the darkness that spreads through me with each heartbeat … it’s like a drug; a craving - and I fucking love it.