Chapter 13

Elijah - Chapter 13

She was here. All he could focus on was that Helenia was here. Trent moved to stand beside his brothers and sat down. They were all their wolves for this, and he prayed to God this worked. As she stood there, her entire demeanor terrifying, he kept his mind focused on one thing. This was going to work.

"Noah, I want my alpha." Noah was there, but in the shadows. He'd only come out when it was necessary. And he said if it was necessary for them to run for cover, it was going to be bad. She looked at them, all eight of them, standing there. Even his dad and grandda had joined them. "Which one of you is the one that I killed for?"

"You can't tell, Helenia? Well, that's really too bad. I thought—well, I guess we all thought—that you'd be able to tell which one of these men you planned to murder." Myra looked at them, then back at Helenia as she continued to taunt her. "Come now, there is only one of them that you marked, correct? You're supposed to be this great and powerful...whatever you are. Pick him out and we'll be done with this."

"I'm more powerful than you will ever be." Trent had been worried about that as well, the difference in power between the two women. But when Chris Bentley had shown up with her mate and his family, he'd felt a little better. They had lined up behind Helenia and were now waiting for the word to attack. "Where is my alpha? He and I will be the greatest threat to mankind that they have ever known."

"Oh, come now. You really think that you're going to take over the world? With a wolf? I mean they are strong—and this particular family is one of the strongest I've ever had the pleasure of working with—but all of mankind?" Myra looked at him again and winked, this time before looking at the she-devil in front of them. "I'm thinking that you've lost something with him, haven't you? More than what Noah and I took from him. You've lost...well, you're not as strong as you once thought you were, are you, Helenia?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." But he heard it in her voice. Her uncertainty. "I'm going to take him with me or kill them all. Tell me which one is mine."

"None of them are yours." The hardiness of her voice was in direct contrast to the comical way that Myra was dressed today. "You will not take any of them."

Her outfit—because that's what he'd begun calling her outlandish clothing—was all camo. Even her hair was greens, browns, and black. There were even dark smudges under her eyes and along her cheeks. He's asked Joe once if she thought the woman's panties as well as bra changed with her clothing, and they'd laughed for nearly an hour trying to outdo one another as to what color she wore with each outfit.

When Helenia moved toward them, Trent stood up with the rest of them. Sterl was right beside him, and he could feel his fear. This was going to be good for his brother if things turned out the way they had planned. If not...well, he was pretty sure that they'd all be dust if it didn't. Immortal or not, it was going to be difficult to live through the kind of power this woman had on her worst days.

"Come to me, alpha. You belong to me." None of them moved and Myra laughed. Helenia turned to her, the anger she felt toward the witch palatable. "What do you think you're even doing here? This is no concern of yours. Leave before I kill you as well."

That was the cue, the one that they'd hoped for. Chris Bentley came out of the house and stood at Myra's side. When she pulled out a list and began reading the names from it, Sterl sat back down, as did the rest of his family.

"Helenia, I'm Chris, the Grand Witch of all witches. Catchy title, don't you think?" Trent watched both women as Chris continued. "You've killed a few witches in your lifetime. I'm here to collect on their debt."

"So? I don't owe you anything. Not for killing for power. It was necessary to strengthen myself. Not that I needed all that much more. When I was created, I was already more powerful than anyone." Chris nodded. "You have no stand here either. Be gone. I have business to conduct and you are in my way."

"Actually, I do have business with you. A lot of it, as a matter of fact. You killed witches, as I have pointed out. And while some of them you received power from, others you did not take what should have rightfully been yours." Helenia said nothing. "And as such, it is my duty to take a percentage of what you have now in payment for the family. I was thinking one quarter of a percent of what you have now. For each of them."

"So you think to charge me for not taking the power of a witch that I killed? No. I won't allow it." Chris only smiled at her. "You cannot take what does not belong to you. I won this magic by rights of your own laws."

"So you did. But you did murder others for no other reason than to kill them. That is against all bylaws, even the ones that you rarely follow of your own kind. And as such, it is well within my power to take it back. One quarter of a percent for each of them."

"There are no others like me. I am the first, the strongest." Chris said nothing. "How many are you talking about? There cannot be that many that you needed to come here, at this time, to take it from me. I have things to do, and as I have pointed out, you are in my way."

"You'll be dead soon enough, and I want to finish this." Helenia laughed. "You don't believe me? Well, I suppose you can do that should you want. But I'm taking what is rightfully the family's. Now."

Helenia staggered to her knees. Then when it was apparent that she was going to be sick too, she lay down, holding her body much like one of them did when they were shot with silver. As she lay there, Chris turned to Trent.

"When she is gone, you will need to be prepared for what will come to you." He asked her what that would be. "Everything minus what share I will receive. Your family will...I'm not sure what it will do to you as a wolf, but it might be painful for a few minutes." She looked at Sterl then. "I should like to advise you on something. Strike quickly and hard. And when you have done so, back away. Do not leave, but back away from her."

As one the leap of panthers turned and left for the woods. Chris moved to her car, but Myra stayed with them. Trent wasn't sure what was going to happen now, but he knew that whatever it was, Sterl had to do it. He looked at his brother and nodded.

The shift was quick. When he pulled on his pants that had been just behind them all, he moved forward and kicked Helenia in the face, causing her nose to bleed. As soon as he did, he stumbled back and fell to the ground. Before Trent could go to his aid, the ground shook beneath them.

The...he supposed the being that seemed to come up from the swollen ground looked like every nightmare he'd ever had. He was pretty sure that he'd think about this thing more so now that he'd seen him. But almost as soon as he was ready to turn and have his family run, the being turned into a man, complete with a suit and tie. Then he turned to Trent.

"If you would be so kind as to turn to yourself, I would be appreciative. I have made myself...easier, I guess, for you to see. If you would be so kind, I will finish this." Trent wasn't sure what he was to do, but let his wolf go and stood before the man. He was dressed too, in the jeans and tee he'd had on before this started. "Ah, not the wolf I was looking to find. I'm looking for the one that she called her own."

"That would be me. But I belong to no one." Trent and the others, all men, moved to stand beside Sterl as he continued. "I hurt her first. She has to leave. I want you all gone from here now."

~*~

Elijah stood by Sterl and the rest of them, ready to do whatever was necessary to keep them all alive. When Joe and Noelle, along with his grandmother and mom, came out to stand with them, Elijah took Noelle's hand and held it tightly in his. Whatever happened now, he was ready to go out with the people he loved. The man looked at him.

"You have it right." Elijah said nothing, but he seemed to be okay with that. "I am Richard. Not a very sexy name for a demon, but there you have it. I have come because you have injured someone that I created. Helenia."

"She hurt my brother more than he did her. You have no idea what sort of suffering he's had to endure because she decided that she wanted him to father her minions." Richard looked down at Helenia as Elijah continued. "If you want to take us on because of this, you're going to regret it."

"I already do. But not what has happened today." He snapped his fingers, and Helenia stood up. "A fine creature, don't you think? When her parents summoned me all those millennia ago, I thought it would be simple. Help them create a child to give their magic too. But alas, they tricked me. Not only did they summon me for a child that had been born of hatred and lust, but they wanted for her things that were not of this world and should never have been. But I was trapped and had to comply. The only thing I was able to do was take them, which has worked out well for me, and to put a stipulation on her body. She knew of this from the very beginning. I'm sorry that it has taken so long for it to happen."

"Wait a minute. You helped them make her this way? Then you regretted it? You know that makes no sense whatsoever. Why not just kill her from the start and be done with it?" Helenia started to leap at them, but with another snap of his fingers, she was brought to the ground again. "She's mad."

"She is at that. Power and hunger can do that to someone." He sat down on a chair that had not been there before. "You are Elijah, are you not? And your pack master is Trent."

When he nodded, everyone but him, Trent and Sterl disappeared, including Helenia. "They are unharmed and they are safe, and when we are finished here, I will return them to this ground. But I should like to speak to the three of you for now, to explain what happened. I should hope that…well, if what I tell you is spread about, I will return and bring a hell down on you that you will never survive, immortal or not. Have a seat."

Looking around, Elijah saw that they each now had a chair like the one that Richard was sitting in. When Trent sat down, Elijah and Sterl followed suit. A scantily dressed woman brought them drinks, which they all declined. Richard assured them that there was nothing in them that would harm them.

"If it's all the same to you, I'd just as soon get this finished. She was injured, and from what we were told, she was to be taken from this world." Richard nodded at Trent. "And yet here you are making small talk as if this thing you made didn't try to kill my brother. She also murdered some very nice people because they were in her way."

"I need to tell you a story. It's important that you understand it all before we can complete this ritual. And it is one. Without it, she or someone like her may return." Trent nodded. "Thank you. Her parents were a witch and a vampire. Neither of them were in love…I'm not even sure they were mates. But they bargained for a child, one that I could give them in exchange for the opportunity to take them when they were no longer useful to her. I should have been more careful in my agreeing with them. But as I said, they trapped me. I shan't tell you how, but in the end, it was them that suffered the greatest for their deeds." Sterl asked if he had been the one that had given her the magic. "Some, not all. The earth cradled her into its power, a dark black place that only a few can enter and live. When she was born, I killed her parents, took them with me, and put her into the earth to mature and grow. She was dead by then, the dagger that I used more powerful than any other forged then or since."

Richard pulled it out of the air and it moved to Elijah's hands. Elijah wasn't sure why he had it, but he put it on the ground beside him, not wanting to touch something so vile. Richard laughed at him.

"You should have died when it touched your flesh. I would not have allowed you to die, but since you have lived, the dagger is now yours. It will no longer be of any use to me." Elijah told him he didn't want it. "I did not give you the dagger, my young pup, it came to you. I thought perhaps it would have gone to the injured one, but it picked you. It is your magic now."

"As I said, I don't want it." Neither the knife nor the man moved. "What is it you're stalling for? Why haven't you left us and taken her with you?"

"I will, in good time." Richard looked at Trent. "You are a good pack master. I have, over the decades, seen what you have become. Not just you, but your family. You see, I knew that someday we'd meet and that one of you would be hurt by her. It was the way things fell in place. It would never have been your death, as she planned, but things have to play out or nothing can be solved. You understand that more than most, I think."

"So you knew all along that she was going to try and take my brother?" Richard nodded and said that he was right. "She's a monster. And so are you for making her."

"You are right on both points." Richard looked around, then back at them. "The dagger was made to kill. That's important to know. And the one that touched it, or in this case, the one that it chose, must kill Helenia. I thought, as I said before, that it would have been either Trent or Sterling."

"Gladly." But before Elijah could say anything else, like bring the bitch back so I can do it, the demon spoke again.

"To kill her you must first know how to do it. And where to stick the blade. Do you know her story? Where she was first stabbed with it?" Elijah said it had been her heart. "Correct. But she no longer has a heart. When she was turned into what she is, the heart in her chest, along with her blood, spilled upon the ground to nourish her. You must stab the place where it is."

"I don't understand." Richard nodded as if he knew he was going to say that. "You're saying that I have to find this black place, stab this dagger that should have killed me into it, and then she'll be dead."

"Yes." But before he could ask him how that was possible, Sterl put his hand on his arm to still him. Richard looked at him, directly at Sterl, when he spoke. "You do know that he must do this for you, do you not?"

"I do." Sterling stood up and Elijah had a feeling that Sterl was going to tell him he had to stab him. Sterl turned to him and smiled. "The earth. She's poisoned the earth where she was."

They all looked at the ground where Sterl had kicked her. The ground was black, and a boiling sort of tar-like substance was popping its liquid as it grew. It was all Elijah could do to pull his eyes away from the ground that had been poisoned.

"She did this?" Richard nodded. "And you want me to stab this dagger into that mess? What will it do?"

"First, it will cure the ground. I've never liked the way the earth can spew forth its troubles like this, but I am not in charge of such things. But you must be careful of the poison. Secondly, it will end Helenia for you all. And me as well. She will belong to me for longer than she was a creature of this plane."

Elijah was ready to do anything, but he knew there was a catch. "What do I lose when I do this?" Richard asked him what he meant. "You say this, that I'm to kill her for all of mankind. That it'll end her life and our suffering here. You'll gain her as whatever you have prearranged for her. Yet I think there is more to this than you just being a nice demon and telling me how to do this."

"So untrusting." Richard spoke to Trent. "Is all of your family this way? So ready to think that I could not be doing this because I'm, as he called me, a nice demon?"

"Are you?" Richard laughed and told Trent that he was far from it. "Then I think that Elijah is right. You need something more. Or something is going to hurt us in some way for doing this for you. What is it that you're going to gain, exactly? As well as what is going to happen to us should Elijah take the knife to the ground?"

Elijah felt the first touch to his mind and waited. Noah laughed then. It was so full of humor that he had to smile. And when he spoke, Elijah was sure that the man was having a hard time holding his mirth about something.

You have frustrated him badly, my friend. And you are right to question him. He does know something that he's not telling you. Elijah asked him what it was. I don't know. Not yet at any rate. Myra is beside herself for not realizing that he'd take her away from your group. But I can be there, and while he might know it, he cannot touch me.

Do I want to know why? Noah assured him he'd tell him later. Should I do as he asks then? I'd really like to get this shit over and done with. I want to have fun with my mate. Raise my child in a place where this she bitch shit hole isn't breathing down my neck every time I take him out to swing on the swing. Nor having a demon ready to pop in whenever he has a favor to ask of me.

That's it. He waited for Noah to explain but again, he was laughing. Oh my, Elijah, you are brilliant. Yes, tell him that is what you want in agreement for doing his job. A tree that will grow long after you have left this earth, and that will have many seedlings that will grow just as strong and healthy.

But I'm an immortal, right? Noah assured him that he was. Then I don't understand why.... You know what? I don't care. And this will work? This will end it so that we're all happy?

Happy might be a term that I'd not use with the demon, but he will comply. Tell him like I said, you want a tree of oak that will live long after you have left this earth, and that its seedlings will be just as healthy. Do it now while I watch his face. Elijah told him he was nuts. I am, but this will work.

"All right, I'll do this but I want something in return. I mean, this is benefiting you, so I'd like some reassurances. For my own peace of mind. And if you don't follow it, I'll take the dagger and destroy it. If I can." Richard nodded and stood up when the rest of them did. "I want you to put an oak tree here where I cure the earth. I want it to be here, strong and steady, long after I leave this earth. As well as its seedlings…all of them must be as strong as this one, and healthy."

Elijah wasn't sure he was going to do it. Anger was evident on his face, but while he was pissed off, he never took his anger out on them. When he laughed, hard and hearty, Elijah wasn't sure what to think. Then Richard bowed before them.

"As you wish. A mighty oak to grow in the place where once there was death and poison. Children of such tree to propagate and make more of the same. It will only die, not from disease nor another other element, but a cut to the body that would fell it. The same with the others. Is this what you want?" Noah told him to say yes it was. "Good, then you shall have it. Take the dagger, young pup, and cure your earth, and I will take Helenia from this place to my own."

"Thank you." He wasn't sure if he should shake the demon's hand or not, but put it out for him to take should he want. When he gripped his thick hand around his, Elijah felt the power of it all the way to his toes and then back up again. "You are a man of your word. And I of mine."

Taking the dagger into his hand, Elijah asked Noah if he was going to be all right. You will be wonderfully fine. As will your family, all of them.

The dagger felt warm in his hand, the power of it, because there was little doubt to Elijah that it was power that hummed up his arm. And when he plunged it into the earth, the dark liquid screamed and the ground once again trembled. As he was ready to ask Noah if he had done it right, he was thrown back, his body lifted up and tossed away from the area like he'd been nothing more than a leaf in the wind. Then there was nothingness.