Nova: Daughters of Darkness (11 page)

Kyna just looked at Branna with a small, sad smile. "The dead always deserve our grief." she said, hiking the strap of her bag up on her shoulder.

Branna looked at Kyna for a long moment, thinking about what she had said. Finally, she nodded in agreement. Once Decklin and Rían came through the portal, they moved toward the castle. Calling air, Branna began to kick up a major wind storm. "Hang on to your hats, peeps. This is going to get ugly." she said with a grin, feeling a rush of adrenaline that she used to feed her fire element.

Nova noticed the wind howling outside as she came out of the bathroom, freshly showered. Thinking they were in for a nasty storm, she went to the closet to find something to wear. She absentmindedly pulled on jeans and a soft hoodie; her mind consumed with thoughts of how badly she needed to get out of there. There was nothing she could do here without her sisters, and if she was being completely honest with herself, she was no longer sure she was capable of killing Drake and surviving it emotionally. Inside of him was a man needing to give and receive love; this monster he portrayed to the world was a veneer to cover who he truly was. Nova knew it, but she had no idea how to make him recognize the fact within himself. Hell, she was barely coming to terms with the fact that she was developing feelings for him. It had to come from within in order for it to be real for him, otherwise he would always wonder if he truly felt what she convinced him was real. Shaking herself out of her deep thoughts, she was headed out the door of her room when she saw Drake coming down the hall toward her.

"Nova," Drake said, stopping a few feet from where she stood, her hand still on the handle of her door. "Please, listen to me. I need you to understand, I don't think you realize how I feel where you are concerned." He walked back and forth in the narrow hallway, clearly agitated. "Just come downstairs, let's have dinner, and we can...talk, like, normal people. No ghosts, or magic, or age old prophesies."

Nova closed her door and leaned back against it. "Seriously, Drake, we aren't
normal people.
You are, ya know, you, and I'm me. This whole situation is complicated and I'm not sure we can be anything more than what we are now." Standing straight, she went to brush past him.

Drake grabbed her arm, spinning her back to face him. "So, what. You aren't even willing to hear me out?"

"Hear what? Tell me you
know
how you feel and you
know
how to fix this, because
that
is what I want to hear."

Lifting Nova up and tossing her over his shoulder, Drake opened her door and marched into the room, slamming the door behind him. "Fine," he said. "You won't hear me, but by god you'll feel me." Stopping at the foot of the bed, he tossed her onto it.

Nova landed with a bounce and quickly tried to scramble off the side. Drake grabbed her legs and hauled her back, coming down on top of her, pinning her there with his body.

"I know how I feel and I know how to fix this." He said, throwing her words back at her. Kissing her face, he moved his hand down and ran it across her belly. Lifting her sweatshirt, he gently cupped her breast, teasing the nipple to a peak. Nova gave one last halfhearted push on his shoulders, and with a moan of pleasure, arched into his hand.

Dipping his head, Drake took her hardened nipple into his mouth, his tongue swirling around, causing electrons of pleasure to shoot below Nova's waist.

Another moan passed Nova's lips and she reached out, wanting his bare skin beneath her palms. Sitting up she lifted his shirt over his head and before he could blink, tore hers from her body; throwing it across the room. Coming back together, their mouths fused, tongues tangling; both of them trying to take as much as they could. Saying with their bodies what they couldn't say with words.

Lost in each other, it was a minute before they noticed a mighty rumble coming from the front of the keep. Jumping up, they gathered up their discarded clothing, throwing on their shirts as they ran toward the sound. Descending the stairs, Drake stopped short when the solid oak front door blew in. Nova, still running, ran straight into his back. Righting herself, she saw a huge ball of fire coming through what used to be the main door and heading straight for Larkin, who was running in from the drawing room. Thinking fast, Nova tossed up a wall of water to stop the fire from reaching him. She wasn't the least bit surprised to see Branna come through the broken doorway with Kyna, Granda, and Rían on her heels.

"Well, you sure know how to make an entrance, little sister." Nova said.

"Nova," Branna and Kyna exclaimed together. Hurrying to meet them, the girls crashed together in the middle of the foyer; squeezing for all they were worth.

"I felt you get burned." Kyna mumbled, her face buried in Nova's neck. "What happened? How are you healed?"

"Larkin," she said, pointing over her shoulder. "He's Drakes brother, he has some pretty awesome healing powers and was able to reverse the damage."

Kyna looked skeptically toward Larkin and immediately recognized him. "You're the guy from the plane!"

Branna turned to see who she was talking about and realized there was the blonde surf God in the flesh. "Holy shit, it is."

Nova, having already made the connection, decided to ask, "Why were you on the plane with us?"

Being the first he had heard of this, Drake turned a narrow eyed stare on Larkin. "Yes, this I have to hear brother."

Realizing there was no way out of this one, Larkin decided honesty was best. "I knew that these women were important to our mission where you are concerned." he began.

"You must be referring to the fact that they are meant to kill me." Drake drawled sardonically.

"Well, that's not exactly true," Larkin continued. "They aren't actually meant to kill you. They are meant to bring you back from the precipice you seem to enjoy hovering on."

Everyone now seemed confused, but continued listening, waiting to hear what he had to say.

"All those years ago, when you had fallen in love with Aideen, Valkala was stunned. For one of us to fall for a human was unheard of. And yet, there you were, pledging your life to hers." Shaking his head as if he was still trying to understand it, he went on. "So, we thought we would let it play out and you would become bored with her, especially when there had never been a coupling between you."

At the use of the word coupling, Branna and Kyna looked at each other and giggled like two school girls.

"Coupling?" Branna laughed out. "Is this guy for real?"

"Jesus, Branna, can you just shut up for once?" Nova ground out, irritated and embarrassed with her sisters interruption.

Branna had the good graces to look apologetic. "Sorry," she mumbled.

Kyna elbowed her in the side but continued to grin in amusement. "Please, continue." she said to Larkin.

Looking less than thrilled to do so, he held Kyna's gaze for a moment longer than necessary, then turned back to Drake and began again. "As I was saying, due to the lack of sexual intercourse," he paused and looked at Branna, daring her to comment. Luckily, she refrained and he continued, "we assumed you would tire of the infatuation and move on after the battle had been won. But then she was killed, and you went crazy. You were so filled with hate and anger, and had begun slaughtering the humans as if they were nothing." Larkin's voice dropped off for a moment, lost in the memory of Drake's downfall. "I knew I had to do something before humans and Valkalans alike were calling for your head for the travesty against their people. So, I chose the lesser of two evils, and banished you to the Underworld and made you the Underlord."

Nova stepped forward. "So, if you banished him there, how come you gave him a loophole? Why create us?"

Both Kyna and Branna nodded, also seeking the answer to that question.

"Ah, you see, the Universe must have a balance. I did not create you, the Universe manifested you so that Drake would have a chance to redeem himself when the time came."

"What if it is not redemption I seek but revenge?" Drake said, sounding unconvincing even to himself. He avoided Nova's eyes, not wanting to see how his words were affecting her.

"Do you really still believe that is what is necessary here, brother?" Larkin asked, hoping Drake could see the useless pursuit of revenge for what it was.

Drake looked unsure but said, "I do, brother. I promised her I would avenge her death, so that is what must be done."

Nova couldn't believe what she was hearing.
How could he still feel that way after what had just happened in her room?
Her chin went up and she set her shoulders, brushing past Drake she looked at her sisters, "I think we're done here, let's go."

Branna and Kyna each threw an arm over Nova's shoulders and Nova wrapped hers around their lower backs. Together they marched out the front door, Nova not willing to look back.

Decklin, having observed the emotional byplay between Drake and Nova, looked at Drake and said, "Ye can strip away her power and ye can separate her from the family she loves so dearly, but ye canna take that girl's heart and stomp on it. I'll warn ye only this once, lad. Dinna hurt what's mine if ye value your existence."

Rían and Decklin followed Nova, Branna and Kyna out the gaping hole that used to be the front entrance.

Chapter 18

Drake stood there, wondering what had just happened. Not only had he lost Aideen and failed to avenge her death, he had just lost Nova, whom he knew he was falling in love with.

"Brother, it looks like you are in quite the conundrum here." Larkin said, patting Drake on the shoulder, "So, my work here is done, for now." He stepped back, preparing to teleport to Valkala. "Oh, one last thing, Drake. Round up the demons and clean up your mess before I have to do it for you." With a burst of white light, he was gone.

Drake went to the bar and poured himself a drink; life was just easier when you were the evil one. Now he was floundering, trying to find where he fit in to this changing world. Deciding that he wasn't going to find the answer at the bottom of the whiskey bottle, he tossed back what was in his glass, and figuring a cold shower was in order, headed to his room. Tomorrow was another day, and he would figure out how to stop Felken and avenge Aideen's death at the same time, because that was the only way he could live with himself.

Back at the cottage, Nova recounted the tale of how she had come fully into her powers. The electric feeling and infinite knowledge that encompassed her body and mind.

"I'm telling you, it was like nothing I have ever felt before. One minute I was running from the fight and desperately seeking a way to help, and then bam! I was picking myself up off the ground and I knew that I could communicate with the Dryads, the tree faeries. I was filled with knowledge, like I knew there were no longer limitations on my abilities." Nova described excitedly. "Seriously, it was as if the goddess herself came down and just slapped me with knowledge."

Kyna, being the one who always had to know,
why
, was taking it all in and trying to understand how something like that could have happened; she was just trying to make sense of it all.

"I can hear your mind working from across the room Kyna, let it go. This is magic at its best, and I for one am going to embrace it and hope it happens to me." Branna said, excited at the prospect. She had always loved everything about being a witch and never stopped trying to learn new things.

"Oh, I agree, but it would still be nice to know what triggered it." Kyna said thoughtfully.

Rising from the couch, Rían addressed Kyna. "Each one of you is capable of magic beyond all imagination." Turning so everyone could hear him, he said, "You were born of the dark Underworld, but you are also made of so much more. As Larkin said, the Universe commands balance, so you cannot have the dark without the light."

"But what does that mean for us, especially relating to the prophecy?" Nova asked him.

"The prophecy was written that you bring destruction to those who stand against you. It does not speak directly of Drake, so it could mean Felken instead. Your dark powers will strengthen you for a fight against him, but it is the light within you that will allow you to make the right choices and direct those powers where they are needed most." he finished.

Nova thought about this for a moment. "So, is it the light within me that allows me to feel, what I feel for Drake?" She was still conflicted over her feelings for him. While she thought she loved him, there was a tremendous amount of guilt that came with those feelings. Especially after he decided to pursue his revenge for Aideen's death.
What about me?
She thought.
Where do I fit in his plans?

"It could very well be, Nova; we cannot know for sure. You are the only three of your kind, super witches if you will. You could be completely unstoppable for all we know." said Rían with a healthy dose of respect in his voice.

Decklin cleared his throat, "But girls, ye must all stick close together for now. We doona want any repeats of what happened with Nova. Ye ken what I mean lasses?"

All three girls affirmed that they would be careful and alert, then rose to give their Granda a hug and kiss before retiring for the night.