Chapter 15

Harvesting comes to one and all when the Autumn Equinox does fall

– The Wiccan Rede

It was fun. For those few hours, I was part of a group, included in the laughter rather than the subject of it, and it was exhilarating. I could suddenly understand how Nova sought inclusion with the popular kids, and how her recent exclusion from them had caused her so much anguish.

After their match was unsuccessful, with Dawson easily beating the optimistic Laurie, they attempted to teach me to play, and the laughter was good-natured and their encouragement genuine.

The other patrons of the bar faded into the background, and I began to understand how Xander and his group were so comfortable in the bar despite them. They didn't try to engage with us, nor us them, and if our noise annoyed them, they gave no sign.

Several times, Xander tried to pin me down one-on-one, but Mal always intervened, skilfully casual so that it seemed coincidental, but I was certain it was deliberate. "Damn it, Nyx. Now you've gone and complicated things," he had said. Was this a consequence of that complication? Was Mal the jealous type? Had his teasing about Ender hidden his real feelings?

"Shit." I certainly had complicated things, I remembered, and Ender would be waiting for me at home. "What is the time?" I asked Fleur.

"Eleven thirty," she told me.

"I have to go," I realized. "I have to go."

"Curfew?" Xander guessed.

"Sort of," I started for the door, but Mal caught me by the wrist, stalling me.

"Don't be a fool, Nyx," he said. "I'll drive you home, and then come back here for the rest of them."

"Are you sure?" I asked him. He had been drinking drink for drink with the other three. "If you've been drinking, Mal…"

"Nyx," he ended his eye roll with a raised eyebrow. "Remember who you're talking to. Come on," he pulled me out of the bar, and past the smoking bikers, opening the door to his Porsche which was surprisingly intact considering where we were parked… Or perhaps not so surprising, I amended as I sagged into the passenger seat and watched him round to the driver's side. Mal was, after all, a demon, and if a demon did not possess ways of protecting their property, they wouldn't be a very good demon.

"I'm very drunk," I realized. Inside, with all the noise and the game of pool, I hadn't felt as intoxicated.

"Yes," he flashed his teeth at me as he put the car into reverse. "I enjoy you drunk. You forget to be wary of people and actually enjoy yourself. When you're not so afraid, Elenyx, you are very entertaining."

"Fuck," I rested the back of my head against the headrest. "What have I done?"

"Recently, or in general?" He speculated.

"You know what I mean," I rolled my eyes his way. "Complicated things."

"Well…" He started up the hill. "I have been giving that some thought, Nyx, and there is a very simple way to uncomplicate this situation."

"Oh, and how is that?" I wondered.

"Invoke me."

"What?" I looked at him in surprise. It had crossed my mind a time or two, but I had dismissed it as I was almost certain Ender would not approve, but I had not expected him to suggest it outright. "Invoke you?"

"Malachar Veridian," he prompted as he turned down the driveway. "It's really very simply done, Elenyx. You just say: ‘With words that bind, and yet set you free, I invoke thee, Malachar Veridian, to come to me. So mote it be.' Simple."

"That's…" I was too drunk, my eyes struggling to focus, for this conversation, I decided wisely. "It's just not that simple, Mal, and you know that," I pointed out. "We have to agree to terms."

"What terms do you want?" He asked me. "Immortality? Done. Power over men? Done. Success in all your endeavours? Done. Wealth beyond your wildest dreams? Done. My eternal devotion and adoration? Done."

"I…" My eyes searched the gardens as we neared the house, seeking the shadow of Ender within them. "I…" I looked at Mal as he pulled to a stop.

"Think about it," he leaned over and caught my chin on his fingers lifting my mouth to his so that he could kiss me. "It would uncomplicate things considerably," he said against my lips and released my seatbelt before getting out to circle the bonnet and open my door.

He offered me his hand and lifted me free, steadying me as my head swam and then settled.

"Don't be afraid of him, Nyx," he said quietly meeting my eyes. "He has no hold on you. You did nothing wrong. She's all yours," he added louder as he stepped back, sweeping his hand behind me as I staggered towards the porch. "Home again safe and sound." He laughed as he turned away.

Even without Mal's words, I knew that Ender stood in the shadows, and he caught me against him, steadying me as I stepped into him. I wrapped my arms around his waist and leaned my face into his chest. His fingers threaded into my hair, cradling my skull in one hand, his other hand resting on my back. I heard the Porsche's engine start, and the crunch of the gravel under the wheels as Mal pulled away.

"I'm sorry," I held Ender tight and cried my tears into his shirt. "I'm sorry."

I felt him sigh and lower his face into my hair until his cheek rested on the crown of my head. "Elenyx," he said softly, and there was a shift of the world around us so that I swayed, dizzy, as suddenly we were in my bedroom rather than standing on the porch. "When the gods play at dice, mortals become the spoils of the divine gamble. Come, you need to sleep," he began to undress me.

"Life is fleeting and fragile," he eased the tartan overall skirt down and then lifted my black top, setting my hair into a craze of static. He paused, touching the memento mori that I wore, opening the locket with his thumbnail to look within before closing it. "Make sure that those who you value, know how important they are to you, and don't waste those precious moments on a demon who is playing a cruel game."

"Ender…" I swallowed thickly. "I need to brush my teeth and drink some water."

He smiled. "I will be here when you return."

I pulled on my robe and padded to the door, looking back over my shoulder. He stood by my desk, looking down at the spell books. I decided that I did not need to warn him to be careful with them and hurried down the hall. I used the bathroom hastily, removing my makeup and brushing my teeth, before tiptoeing down to the kitchen for a glass of water.

The alcohol was beginning to wear off, and as I went back up the stairs, I thought of the conversation coming with dread. He was waiting by the door when I entered, and took the water from my hand, taking a sip before setting it down upon the bedside table. "Things taste so different here," he commented, and reached for the tie that held my robe closed.

"Once upon a time, there was a man," he said softly as he began to loosen the knot. "A poet, who desired greatness, wealth, and fame. He heard of a crossroads, where at midnight, he might encounter a stranger who would grant his wishes. And so he went, and in due course, the stranger came," he let the tie slip from his fingers and reached for the lapels of the robe. "And a deal was struck between them. The stranger would grant him his every wish, but at the end of twenty years the man would die, and when he did, he would not be granted his chance at rebirth, or ascend to the place known as Heaven, for he had have sold his soul to the Devil."

He eased my robe open, sliding it down my arms to pool at the heels of my feet. "The man was happy with the deal for ten years. As promised, he became renowned for his poetry, wealthy and famous. But then, one day, he encountered true love. A decade of life and eternity in Hell seemed so unfair when it meant leaving his beloved behind, and he searched high and low for a way to break the contract with the Devil, to free himself of his debt. But debt is like a weed, it roots deeply, spreads fast, and is a painful harvest."

He slid the straps of my bra down my shoulders and unhooked the front clasp. It joined my robe on the floor. I watched his face, hypnotized by the softly spoken words, by the darkness of his hair against the paleness of his skin that changed opacity in the shifting light showing bone below, and the fire-glow within his eyes. Most of all, I watched the way his lips moved, shaping the words. I wanted to feel their softness on mine, to taste him on my tongue.

"Ender…" I barely breathed the word. "I need to tell you about Mal…"

"I know, Elenyx," he cupped my cheek. "As he knew I would." He sent my underwear to the floor and lifted my chin on his fingers until I met his eyes. He tilted his head and stroked his thumb over my bottom lip. "The man grew increasingly distraught as his time dwindled, and then, tragedy struck, and the man's true love died. He knew that she would be reborn or ascend to Heaven, whilst he would be condemned to Hell, and he would never again see her, in this life or any other."

His fingertips trailed over my chin and down my throat, to the memento mori between my breasts. "He may not have found the answer to breaking the contract however his searches had revealed the secrets to crossing the veil into the underworld. He decided that rather than lose his love, he would enter the underworld in pursuit of her, and return her to the world of the living. There, he would persuade her to make a deal with the devil. There was no Hell quite as terrible as losing his lover, after all."

"So, he crossed the veil. Of course, a living mortal's presence in the underworld was immediately detected, and as such, he was brought to stand before the Lord of the Underworld and explain himself. He pled for his lover with such words of truth and beauty," he toyed with the locket that I wore, centering it on my chest, before lifting his hand to cup my cheek. "That the Lord of the Underworld was moved by the depth and despair of his love and granted him mercy – something which is the Lord's privilege to give, but only rarely and not without cost to the Lord himself."

"The Lord's offer was this: if the man could find his lover amongst the souls waiting to be claimed or reborn, and if he could persuade her to come with him, and then if they walked the way out of the veil without once looking behind, no matter what they heard or thought followed, only then could he take her back into Life, and there he had twenty-four hours in which to strike his deal, or she would be reclaimed by the reapers," he scooped me up into his arms and laid me onto the bed. "An almost impossible feat for a mortal man."

He lifted his top off over his head, a slow slide of black fabric over pale skin, the muscles of his beautiful body flowing beneath his skin as he stretched his arms over his head until the raven made his appearance. He cast the top onto the floor and unbuttoned his trousers. I watched, chewing my bottom lip, sliding one knee up, to press tight my thighs around the ache that looking at him caused.

"He succeeded, for his love shared his belief that better in Hell together, than in Heaven alone." He pushed his trousers down his thighs and stepped out of them, pausing by the end of the bed, looking down at me. "It should have been a win for Hell, two souls for the price of one, but that is not how Hell works. They are not seeking happily ever after within their halls. Immortality with a loved one in Hell defeats the purpose of it."

"What happened to them?" I wondered.

"Hell did not want them, Heaven would not take them, and they did not qualify for rebirth, so there was only ever one place that they could belong. They now serve the Lord of the Underworld."

He lay at my side, propping himself up onto an elbow and looking down at me. "Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, Old-Time is still a -flying, and this same flower that smiles today, tomorrow will be dying," he murmured as he stroked the back of his fingers along my cheek.

"I don't understand," I whispered.

His eyes met mine and he smiled softly. "I promise you, Elenyx, that soon I will explain," he leaned over and brushed his lips over mine. He trailed his kisses along my cheek to the corner of my jaw and my eyes fluttered closed as I sank into the seduction.

His breath caressed my skin, raising gooseflesh and causing my nipples to tighten so that their sensitive points rubbed against the raven as he kissed his way down my neck and along my shoulder before taking his weight back onto his elbow.

I opened my eyes, meeting his, and he smiled and reached across me to take my hand, placing the palm, fingers pointing down, between my breasts. We both watched as he stroked my hand down the centreline of my body to between my thighs. He guided my fingers over my clit, watching as I touched myself, before releasing my hand.

His palm slid down my thigh, encouraging me to bend my leg up and over his hip, and then his hand rejoined mine, taking over the caress, the pads of his fingers bigger and rougher than my own, the change in texture and not being in control making me moan and arch.

"Yes," he whispered leaning over without ceasing the movements of his fingers, his lips caressing mine as he breathed the word. "My beautiful Elenyx. She walks in beauty, like the night, of cloudless climes and starry skies, and all that's best of dark and bright, meet in her aspect and her eyes."

I came, and he stole my exhalation of pleasure from my lips with a kiss, deepening it, his tongue chasing into my mouth as he eased my leg from his hips, and positioned himself between my knees. I stared into the depths of his eyes to where the flame danced deep within the pupil until the pleasure of the press of his cock within me stole my focus.

"The taste of her pleasure on my lips… divine," he stroked his lips across mine before his tongue stole between them. "Her thighs around my hips and I am lost," his hand stroked up my thigh encouraging me to wrap my legs tightly around him as our bodies strained against each other, seeking that point at which promise broke into orgasm. "Her breasts against my chest; sublime…"

It shuddered through me, sparking up from my core, spearing through my heart, and tingling along my limbs, the burn of pleasure heating my core around him so that his words were lost to moans, and his thrusts into me grew fierce, driving us both past that promise and into pleasure.

My heart thudded within me, echoed in the pulse of my clit, and the clench of my cunt. I could feel the cool of his cum spreading within me and imagined that it doused the fire of Mal's seed.

Oh, hex and havoc, Elenyx, I scolded myself. What was I doing, tangling with a demon and a grim reaper, making love to both so that their cum mingled within me like ingredients in a cauldron?

Ender's expression was tender as our eyes met, his breath caressing my lips cooly as he smiled. "I cannot give this up, no matter the cost. She is mine," he whispered the final words of his poem as a vow, and my breath caught, knowing it to be significant, like the bands of braided hair around my wrist and finger, but not knowing what it meant. I knew our relationship was impossible, for he belonged on one side of the veil, and I on the other.

Somewhere, faint music was getting closer, and I frowned. It was late for Nova to be playing music so loud that I could hear it in my room… And then headlights cut through the room, and I heard the driveway gravel spray beneath the wheels of a car. Men's voices yelled, and the crash of glass.

I shoved Ender off me and scrambled across the bed, finding my robe on the floor, and pulling it on as I ran for the window. Two cars had pulled up and men in balaclavas were throwing things at the house. The wards repelled most of the objects, but the tree outside my window was not so lucky and the bark and leaves, dry from the heat of the summer, caught alight when one of the men sprayed it with lighter fluid and threw his cigarette at it.

I opened my window. "By star and moon in the sky, flame to ash, and ember die," I cried out sharply as the flames raced up the trunk crisping the leaves that brushed against the window glass and filling my bedroom with choking smoke.

Ender appeared behind me, fully dressed, and reached past me, gesturing with his pale, long fingers. The flames snuffed out.

A man with a baseball bat smashed through a window, whilst another spray painted in blood red and black on the walls, scrawling lines that followed him as he walked around, maximizing his damage. He paused and wrote on the wall. Even from above, I could make out the word: "Witch."

My bedroom door shook, and I heard Nova call out my name.

"Get out of here! Warren Jackson! I know it's you, and I'm reporting this to the police," Callista's voice rang out from the front door, sharp with anger and fear. "They're on their way!"

"Shit," one of the men exclaimed. "Let's get out of here before the cops come."

"They won't come," another snorted. "Not to the fucking Vossen witches."

"Fuck! Where did you come from!" A third man exclaimed. "What's wrong with you… Oh fuck. Fuck!" was a shriek and there was a car door slamming and engine revving before one of the cars tore off down the driveway.

"Craig!" One of the men yelled in fury. "Where the fuck are you going?"

"What scared them…" I glanced behind me to Ender, but he was no longer there.

"Nyx!" Nova's tugs on the door were insistent. The men piled into the second car and followed the first down the drive as I crossed to open the door, and Nova tumbled into my arms, crying. "Why didn't you answer the door?" She wailed at me in distress.

"I'm sorry," I was instantly contrite. I had been thoughtless, and she had been afraid. "I was extinguishing the tree which was on fire…" I hugged her back as she gripped me tightly. "It's all right, Nova," I soothed her. "They're gone now."

"It's not all right," she sobbed. "It's never going to be all right for us, Nyx, because we're Vossens and they all fucking hate us!"