“What for?” he asks.
“Bringing me back to myself.”
“Oh, no worries. It’s my job.”
“No, it isn’t.”
“Hm, well I think it is. He, well, Lance really terrifies you, doesn’t he?”
“He used to. I guess sometimes I forget that he, the real he anyway, can’t hurt me anymore. Come, they will be returning shortly.” I grab his hand and Astral us into the library.
I love this room. It is about four times the size of my office at home and it is an actual library, with a Dewey Decimal System and everything. If I thought my collection was impressive, my sire’s is like something out of a fairy tale. I used to spend hours upon hours in this room with his books. I pour myself a Scotch and offer one to Cade. He declines and we wait. A few seconds later everyone else turns up and rushes forward and asks if I am okay.
“Yes, I am fine,” I say, pushing everyone back. “Thanks to Cade and CK.”
“You need to tell us what is going on right now,” Devon says, miffed to be out of the loop. He has always been the first to know everything about me, so I understand his mood.
“Sit down and we will explain.” I remain standing, as does Cole next to me, CK, Cade, and Xane.
I make quick work of telling them about the dreams, leaving out certain bits, like my impromptu Shift, and after CK gives those in the room who don’t know, a quick rundown of who Fraser is as I stop, unable to speak, soon everyone is on the same page. I brush away all the concern for my well-being and joy that I am not stuck in some sort of Sleeping Beauty fiasco and turn to Xane and say, “You’re up, Mr. Draconis. Spill.”
He smiles at me “Ah, yes, The Thirteen. The most powerful being in all the Realms.”
“I thought I was the most powerful being in all the Realms?” I interrupt.
“Not yet, my love,” he says, touching my arm. “You haven’t yet accessed your true Power.”
I ignore all the bristling going on over his endearment and touc
h and say, “Oh,” a bit pissed off with that.
“So, what is it exactly?” Devon asks, glaring at Xane’s hand still on my arm.
“It resides in the Spirit Realms. It consists of thirteen…parts, for lack of a better term. Individually they are powerful, but when they come to together, unstoppable. He is the Demon equivalent of the boogeyman.”
Yikes!
“So, the Lance thingy was all thirteen of them?” I ask, not really wanting to know the answer.
He shakes his head. “Four, maybe five at the most.”
Oh crap. “Are you joking?” I ask hopefully.
“No, I’m afraid not.”
“How do we kill it?” CK asks, blunt as ever.
“Kill it? I’m not sure it can be killed. It’s already dead,” Xane says.
“Everything can be destroyed,” CK says, which is pretty hilarious, really, considering up until a few months ago, he couldn’t be destroyed. Or at least no one powerful enough was able to wield the sword until I came along with my Power of One.
Wait, the sword. “Gladius Infernus. You said to get it out. You must know something else,” I say and grab Xane’s arm now, to more agitation from the crowd.
“Only to banish it back to the Spirit Realm.”
“Banish? Banish? No, no. We have to find a way to get rid of it,” CK says forcefully. “I will not have this thing out to destroy Aefre. And furthermore, I will not allow it to pull her into some dream world full of lies.” He is on one now. I placate him with a hand to his arm now. He relaxes slightly but not by much.
“I don’t understand why, or how it is using Lance and Fraser to mess with me,” I muse out loud.