Unholy War

Unholy War 5

Chapter5: Genesis

Someone once told me that damaged people are dangerous because they can survive. I've survived against many odds. I've battled with demons in the pits of hell. I've dined with angels. I HAVE TRANSCENDED. There was greatness to be seen at times. There was sadness as well. There was love at points but that was always trumped by the hate. There was patience. There was distraction. I've survived so much and always wanted to get to the point where it wasn't just about survival. I wanted happiness. True happiness.

Was that too much to ask for?

Was I damaged?

"In 25 minutes...every family member you've ever known will be dead."

Vivienne Williams was never wrong. When the youngest daughter of the Divine 9 warns you of something you ought to listen. She acts as a leech sucking in the abilities of her older sisters. Each of them sees a glimpse of the future. The next sister will see just a little bit more. And they share all of those visions with Vivienne. In her mind she puts them together like an old lady knitting an ugly quilt but finding it the most beautiful thing in the world.

Today we had 25 minutes.

However, a man could change the world if he could only look 25 minutes into the future. Sometimes 25 minutes was all it took.

"Please. Help me..." Innocent says, "I called everyone's phone multiple times. No one is picking up. I need to contact them somehow. We need to help them!"

He hands Vivienne back her cellphone. Innocent is panicking. He looks like his father. He looks like the man that I loved. He looks like the love that I lost. Innocent sits there looking vulnerable and lost. He's pitiful. The beautiful should be the strongest. He's not like me. He's flawless and amazing, yet somehow he has convinced himself that he's weak and useless.

"Vampires are attacking your family. What can I do? Moreen Island is hours away by flight..."

"You can do something, right. You're Genesis after all..."

This isn't my concern.

I gave my coven the chance to fight alongside me. Innocent was the only one who took my offer. It was dog eat dog world out there. I just happened to be a much meaner bitch at times.

"I don't know how..."

Just at that moment the shelf shakes a little bit. Something falls to the ground. Innocent doesn't notice but I get up and see a book has fallen to the ground. I turn to see that the book has opened on a specific page. I look down at the page. A spell.

We weren't alone in this room. There was a spirit in here with us. I can feel it.

The spirit is trying to tell me something.

"Please Genesis. I'm begging you," Innocent states, "That's my family. That is our family."

He's wrong when he says it's our family. I don't have family. I was alone in this world. In the end though, I knew some things better than most. When you're hungry and someone gives you a piece of meat to eat...you never hesitate to bite down. Maybe this was an opportunity here. Maybe I could gain somehow from Innocent's desperation.

Maybe this was my chance to bite down.

"There's always something that can be done," I state looking at the strange spell that had opened up in the book, "But everything requires a sacrifice."

This spell.

It would require a large sacrifice.

"I'll give you anything."

There it was! That is what I needed to hear.

When a desperate man says they'll give you anything, you take from them everything. I've learned that over the years.

"Let's begin."

~

Innocent wakes up screaming. He's sweating. He is sitting in a pool of pig's blood. He looks over at me. He's completely naked when he stands up. He's so fucking handsome it's hard to look at him. It's almost painful. I have to say the kid is well endowed...just like his father. He has that protectiveness that Mason has as well. That sense of duty and pride that Mason's has. Just like Mason he is a man's man who does what it takes to protect his coven at all costs. I love that quality in him.

"What happened?"

25 minutes have passed.

"I did a spell," I tell Innocent.

Innocent realizes that his legs are weak. They are almost like Jell-O beneath him. He collapses. I run over to the bath just in time and catch him. I help him out of the tub. He's too weak to stand. Together we make our way to the shower to rinse off all the pig's blood.

"What happened? I don't remember anything," he tells me.

The water cascades down his hard abs. He has a hard chest. After turning on the water I stand back away from the clear shower. I watch as he leans up against the wall still too fatigued to stand. He leans his head up slightly and takes short gasps of breath. His energy has been drained. He's so beautiful standing there though even looking so weak. His tight abdomen and his long powerful looking legs make him look powerful even though he needs to lean. There is so much youth and beauty in Innocent.

"You sent them a warning," I explain.

"Me?" Innocent asks, "I don't know magic."

"Yes. You. You did it all by yourself."

"Did they receive it?" he asks before adding to clarify, "The warning, I mean. If I sent it, did they get it? Did they receive it?"

"I'm not 100 percent sure," I respond, "Magic doesn't work that way."

"I should call them."

"I tried to call already. No response," I state.

"What if they are dead?" he asks.

I smile at him. Innocent wasn't just a name. It was a description as well. He was a childish boy who had fallen in love with me at first sight. He swore I put a spell on him but that wasn't the case. The boy had inherited his father's pension for foolishness. He couldn't stay out of trouble. Even now he had just literally done something that he wasn't even sure about.

He had trusted me. He had put all his faith in me. He had done a spell and made a sacrifice that he couldn't even fathom.

"There are worst things then death," I explain to him.

"Not for me."

I smile at him. I don't like to comfort people. Comforts aren't my thing. They never really have been. Comforts make you weak. They take your guard down. You aren't ready when you are comforted. When you stay ready, you don't have to get ready. I preferred not to comfort, but Innocent was emotional right now.

"I'm sure they will be fine..." I explain.

"Thank you Genesis."

"The magic you did...it requires sacrifice. I think the pig was just a part of it. It required more. There is something you must give to the spirit who helped you. Did the spirit ask you for something?" I ask Innocent.

Innocent smiles, "I told you. It doesn't matter. I'd give anything."

"Innocent, this is very important. What did the spirit ask you for in return for sending your family a message? What deal did you make?"

"She said she'll tell me when the time is right?"

"She?"

"Her name was Lilith."

The spirit had come to me before. She had made me younger. She had given me back abilities that I had given away a long time ago. She had given me information about Eden: a city where witches wouldn't have to live in fear of being hunted by humans any longer.

She wanted something in return though. All magic required a sacrifice. My sacrifice was simple, fortunately.

She wanted a conversation with Innocent.

This was good news for me.

Now that she had spoken with Innocent my debt to Lilith was done. I owed her nothing.

"You should go to sleep. Get some rest. As soon as I get any news from Moreen, I'll let you know. OK?"

I let him sleep on my bed. It beats the bed that he was laying on before. He'll be asleep for a while. The amount of magic he just did was a lot.

Before I can finish what I'm saying Innocent is asleep.

~

I leave the room and go into the hallway. As soon as I walk into the hallway I realize that I am not alone. The Divine 9 are there. They are all different shapes and sizes. Some are too fat; some are too skinny. Some are very old and some are very young. They all have one thing in common though. The Williams sisters are dressed in white and they all seem somewhat concerned.

"We felt something. Some magic..." Vivienne states.

"I taught the boy Innocent how to do a spell. He wanted to send his family a warning about the upcoming vampire attack. Do you see any visions from Moreen?" I ask.

One of the sisters shakes her head, "Not yet."

"Keep an eye out for it."

I start walking away. I can see the sister's eyes following me. I can feel the concern in their eyes. For some reason they just keep looking at the door. I walk back to the door. I don't like how they keep staring at the door with Innocent. I walk over to the door and I lock it. I put the key in my pocket. There was no way I was going to let any of them in that room.

"Is there a problem?" I ask the Divination sisters.

Vivienne shakes her head, "Genesis...we felt magic we've never felt before coming from that room. We saw something..."

"That boy Innocent..."

"He's not normal..."

They are afraid. They aren't afraid of me. They are afraid of Innocent. I am not quite sure what happened in that room myself. I don't remember all of it. The spell required me to cover Innocent with Pig's blood. Luckily for me I kept pigs around to feed my wolves. I don't recall much after the pig's blood.

"He is special, isn't he?" I ask the Divine 9.

"That boy..."

"He's powerful..."

"Too powerful..."

I'm getting annoyed. The sisters have always had a connection. They feed off one another finishing one another's sentences and thoughts. They all share this same common look of worry. For some reason they are all looking at Innocent's room and they are all scared. These are women who have seen vampires, werewolves and all sorts of other devastating things. None of that scared them, but for some reason they are scared of a little boy?

I shake my head, "There is no such thing as too much power. That's like saying you've had enough air! Just because you are satisfied now doesn't mean you'll never have to breathe again."

Vivienne shakes her head, "What happens when he becomes too powerful for you to control?"

"Vivienne, don't hold your breath."

~

Three days have passed. Innocent is still asleep. That magic must have been taking a toll on him. I'm not quite sure what sort of signal he sent to Moreen Island or how that had worked but I know that I don't have the time to really wait around and find out.

I'm in a room with the Divine 9. Each of the 9 sisters gather around. I've seen them use this magic spell before. I was getting desperate. Innocent wasn't waking up and for some reason the sisters didn't know what happened to the Moreen coven.

One sister drops a stone in a bowl. It causes a ripple. Another sister walks over and drops a smaller stone. They keep doing this on and on.

Finally, Vivienne walks over to the water. She sticks her head in the water with the stones her sisters had dropped. They call it a Ripple Pool. It supposedly helps Vivienne with her visions. They have other techniques that we've tried as well, but this one supposedly was more effective. She opens her eyes underneath the water. The lights flicker. There is magic in that water. I wait patiently as Vivienne holds her breath under the water for 3 whole minutes. It's longer than any normal human could. When she comes out her hair is dripping wet.

"Are they alive?" I ask her.

Vivienne looks over to me, "I don't see anything..."

"Try again..." I state.

Vivienne looks uneasy, "Genesis, I told you, I don't see anything."

I point to one of the sisters, "Her. What's her name?"

Vivienne looks over to the sister I'm pointing to, "That is my sister Evie."

"Well Evie was barely trying," I state, "She didn't even seem focused. You all need to focus and try again!"

The sisters all seem a little uneasy. Evie was a little younger than most of the other witches and a lot more shy. She is clearly intimidated by me especially when I raise my voice. Maybe that's why she takes a step back and hides behind her other sisters as though all of a sudden I wouldn't be able to see her.

"We're tired, Genesis. We've been searching for the Moreen coven all day," Vivienne whines.

"Find them."

The sisters all look at Vivienne. I knew why. The Divine 9 coven felt like she was the one who was closest to me. Vivienne was the one who saw the visions. They just gave them to her. For some reason Vivienne wasn't getting her visions. Something was wrong with the spells they were using to see the future. Something was interrupting it and I didn't understand what it was.

"If any of them were alive I would have seen their futures," Vivienne explains, "I'm sorry to break it to you Genesis, but they are all dead. Every last one of them..."

Micko. Mason. Mickson, Angelica, Whyte, Asa. There was no way that they could all be dead. It couldn't have been that simple. It couldn't have been that easy.

Mason.

My heart drops at that moment wondering if it was true. For the first time in a long time I felt completely hopeless. I felt pain. I hated the feeling.

"It could be a mistake. They could still be alive," I argue, "No. They have to be alive."

How do I explain to Innocent when he wakes up that the spell he cast was a waste? He'd promised Lilith god knows what and it was for nothing. The coven was still dead. The warning had gone in vain.

The Divine 9 are playing games. They look at me with fatigue. I'd trusted these women and now all of a sudden they couldn't see the visions? There was something off about this. Something was wrong here and it was pissing me off.

It's Vivienne who apologizes for their failure, "I'm sorry."

"FIND THEM! Or freeze..." I warn the sisters.

The lights flicker. The Weather Witch has been sitting down behind me. She sees that I need her. She can always see. She walks forward. Today she has on a black jumpsuit with black eyeshadow. She stands in front of me. The Weather Witch shakes her head. She doesn't speak. She never has. I didn't know her name. I'd found her in New Orleans. The humans had chopped out her tongue, hoping to stop her magic. I guess they felt like if a witch couldn't speak her spell then it couldn't be cast. They were wrong about this particular witch. This witch had been damaged...just like me. This witch had the ability to survive...

When I saved her from the humans she learned to use her magic without speaking a single word. Her thoughts were enough to create storms.

I didn't know what the Weather Witch wanted but I knew she was strong and that was enough for now.

"Please Genesis," Vivienne begs.

They were playing me. There was no way the coven could be dead. There was no way Mason could be dead. Not that easily.

"Show them what it means to fail," I tell the Weather Witch.

The sisters gather around, holding each other clearly afraid of the Weather Witch. It's useless. In a matter of seconds, the Weather Witch casts her spell. Her eyes get white and the room drops in temperature.

The Divine 9 begin to freeze at that moment. Their lips go blue. They shiver. Frost begins to build up on their ligaments and clothing. Soon they stop moving all together. Soon they are beginning to freeze. I think about stopping the Weather Witch but I know something is wrong here and I wanted to find out what it was...one way or another.

Just at that moment a wolf walks into the room.

A white wolf. The color of snow.

He growls at the Weather Witch, interrupting her spell and bearing his teeth in a threatening way. All of a sudden the wolf begins to change. The white fur becomes a tall, tan Native American man. He's covered in tattoos. He domes over the rest of us.

He is 6'2" with a hairy chest and tattoos. His skin is a light tan color. As the wolf becomes human his dick begins to form. It's a long dick that must grow to at least 11 inches when hard. He knows he has a big dick and he walks like it as well. He is confident. As his dick swings between his legs he could care less about the fact that he is surrounded by all these women. His confidence is infectious. His body is like a brick wall and his handsome face is highlighted by emerald green eyes.

"Walid..."

It's rare that the werewolf interrupts me. Matter of fact I think this is the first time that it's happened. When he comes in the room though I can see members of the Divine 9 get so warm that the frost they were being covered with melts. Even the Weather Witch has been reduced to being just another woman fascinated by the long stick this man has between his legs.

"Send them away," he tells me.

He's strong. Confident and sexy. He isn't asking me. He is demanding me. For a moment I'm a little bit amused.

"You work for me Walid, not the other way around."

Walid walks over to me. He grabs me up. I'm not much of a challenge. Even if I wanted to struggle I couldn't. He grabs me and pins me up against the wall. He presses his long dick up against my pants. He manhandles me, wrapping my legs around his waist.

"Send them away," Walid says looking specifically at the Weather Witch before adding, "All of them."

I want to argue. I don't want him to get the better of me but I have to admit I'm intrigued. Walid's hard dick is growing between his legs. It presses up against the seat of my pants. He is breathing heavy like some sort of animal. The strength he has is like some sort of wild beast.

"Get out," I tell the witches.

The witches don't hesitate to leave for the most part. All of them except the Weather Witch however. She looks at Walid as though she doesn't trust him. She eyes him down and leaves the room reluctantly, shutting the door behind her.

When Walid and I are alone he continues to pin me up against the wall. He stares at me with those emerald green eyes of his. I'm lost in them for a moment.

"You need to focus on this war," Walid tells me, "Why are you turning against your allies because of some old coven?"

"Vivienne been complaining to you?"

"No. I just know things," he tells me, "Answer my question."

Someone has been complaining to Walid about the last few days. Maybe it's Vivienne. Maybe it's someone else. It didn't matter. Walid knew what was going on and there was no point in trying to hide it. I was desperate at this point to find out what was going on.

"The Moreen Coven can help us."

"Bullshit," he responds, "You told me yourself that you asked them to join you and the only one that came was the kid."

"They might change their minds."

Walid stares at me hard.

"You care about them?"

"Bullshit."

"That's it," Walid says laughing, "You care about that coven from your past. Admit it..."

"No..."

"ADMIT IT!"

Walid puts his hand around my throat. He's choking me. His hands get tighter and tighter. I try to push him off but there's no way I can do it. His muscles tighten. The more I attempt to push him off me the stronger he seems to become. The werewolf inside of him is powerful and it's dangerous. His eyes glow as he sees me fighting. I feel so vulnerable. Maybe that is what Walid wants right now. Maybe he wants to me to feel weak.

"Do you know who I am?" I ask him.

"I know exactly who you are...and I know you like it," Walid says.

Just at that moment Walid licks my face. Like a fucking animal! He licks my face like a dog would. His rough tongue starts at my chin and makes its way up, past my lips, across my nose and then over my eye. He stops at my eyebrows and slowly works his way back down, slowly he bites at my neck.

I can't help it anymore.

I kiss him back. I kiss him harder.

"Dammit," I give in.

"No. I run this," Walid tells me.

Walid grabs me and turns me around and presses me against the wall. I struggle. I am one of the most powerful witchdoctors in the world but right now I am being manhandled. Right now I am giving into him.

I turn and elbow Walid directly in the nose. I hit him so hard that I expect him to drop.

"I'm not Yaser," I warn him.

I wouldn't be his bitch.

"That's what I like about you. You got some fight in you," he laughs, "You'll submit though."

"Like hell I will."

Just at that moment he slams me hard into the wall. I try to fight back but he slams me harder. He pushes me so hard against the wall that I feel my nose getting bloody. Within the next seconds he begins to remove my pants, sliding them down forcefully. I push back attempting to elbow him again.

I slam my own head on the wall several times. It was a sacrifice I was making. It was a sacrifice of my own blood and pain.

"What are you doing?"

"Little black girl. Little black girl. Little black...."

I begin to chant for the spirits to help me.

"See if you can focus on your magic with a dick in you," he tells me.

Without warning he spits on his hands, lubes his hard dick and shoves it inside of me!

"FUCK!"

The pain I feel at that moment is distracting to say the least. Whatever spell I was about to cast goes out of the window. At that moment all I can do is feel his heavy meat entering me. It pushes up against my walls like a heavy sledgehammer. He pummels me repeatedly. The whole time I can feel his hot breath on my neck. I can hear his grunting.

"TAKE! THAT! DICK!" he grunts, "Call me Daddy!"

"No. Fuck no."

I wasn't his bitch and I never would be. I was Genesis. I was the beginning. I was the thing nightmares were made out of. I would NEVER belittle myself to a dog.

He begins to massage deeper inside of me. His entire 11-inch dick grows inside of me. He pounds me, letting my ass go numb. I feel so much pain that for a moment I swear I pass out. When I come back to myself completely he is still fucking me.

~

I almost forget where I am when I wake up. He's taken the water the witches were using to see the future and dumped it on my head to wake me up. He's still pummeling my ass with his thick long heavy meat.

"Wake up," he growls.

I wake up just in time for him to turn me over. As soon as he turns me over he begins to nut on my face. Streams of his wolf juice smears across my face. Walid growls when he sees what he's done. It seems to turn him on to see me covered in his nut. It turns him on so much that he bends over towards me and licks it all off with his rough wolf tongue.

After he is done he lays down next to me. I can't feel my ass.

I'm breathing heavy, but it doesn't compare to the werewolf. He's grunting, barking and snarling as he lays next to me.

"You were better the first time you fucked me," I tell him.

I get up. I can barely stand. I manage to get to some herbs. I would definitely need to call on some healing spirits to heal my butt. It was embarrassing asking a 300-year-old dead woman to come back from the grave just because you had extremely rough sex.

"I didn't hear you complaining when you were passed out for 20 minutes," he tells me.

I shrug, "Child's play. I passed out three times the first time. You're losing your greatness Walid. I'm going to have to find another toy. Maybe one of the other werewolves..."

I know how to get right underneath Walid's skin. I can see him get up and try to grab me. His dick is hardening again as though he has something to prove. Nothing gets underneath Walid's skin more than challenging his manhood.

I push him off before he gets too close. Walid laughs.

"You're a raging bitch," he tells me, "That's why I love you..."

Hearing the way he says it makes my stomach turn.

"Stop it."

"Stop what?" he asks, "Saying I love you? I love you. I loved you the very first moment I saw how powerful you were. Do you remember the night I found you? Do you remember the night we battled for 5 days? We'd fought until neither of us could stand. Then we collapsed next to each other. Then I had the best sex I had ever had in my life. From that moment on I knew I loved you. I fell in love with my enemy. I fell in love with a man that I should have hated."

I look over at Walid. He's so fucking handsome that it was uncomfortable. I could bear him being handsome though. I could bear the good sex. What I couldn't bear was the word. Love.

"Love doesn't exist," I tell him, "I've known this thing called love. Do you know how many times I've learned from it? It only takes one heartbreak until you realize that all you have is your ambition. Ambition fills that hole."

"That is a big hole to fill."

"Well I have a lot of ambition," I answer him, "I've seen what love can do to people. I've seen how it has hurt me in my past. Love is blind but luckily regret comes with hindsight."

"Hindsight? You are worried about the past. Right here right now I'm telling you that I'm here for you. Aren't I?"

"For the war. Not for love. You've said you loved me a million times since we first met. I told you I don't want your love. I'm not one of those betas competing for your affection. I just want your help in this war."

"And I promised I'd help you, didn't I?" Walid asks me.

I remember the long fight we had. Walid had some willpower. I had taken his pack and he wanted to get it back. I'd called the spirits of every witchdoctor that had died in the last several centuries to help in that fight. They'd beaten Walid to a pulp and every time I thought I would finish him off the werewolf would just get back up and keep fighting. He was relentless. I'd never met someone with so much vigor.

"Your help I need," I respond, "Save your love for some idiot."

"Like Yaser?" he asks me.

"Exactly."

"Yaser is dead. I betrayed him for you," Walid explains, "I betrayed him because I love you."

There he was again. There he was saying that word again. It was annoying as fuck. It was annoying me.

I turn away attempting to leave him.

Walid grabs me. He pulls me close. He manhandles me. He enjoys showing me just how strong he is. He enjoys showing me the brute strength of a werewolf. It would take me a while to summon a spirit. A minute...maybe more even as an experienced witchdoctor. For him to manhandle me it just took a second.

"Love isn't real," I tell Walid, "It's something people tell themselves because they lack the ambition to find the real meaning of life."

"And what is the real meaning of life?"

"Power."

It's short. It's simple. Power. That's all I wanted. That's what I would get.

"Who hurt you?" Walid asks me, "Who stole your love."

"I don't know what you're talking about," I respond.

"His name is Mason, isn't it?" Walid asks, "Innocent's father. He's a part of the coven. You loved him and he married someone else. That's the reason why you were so upset with the Divine sisters. That's the reason you won't allow me to get close. Because you are scared I'll hurt you like Mason did. Like Mason and all the other men in your life."

All of a sudden I'm panicking. Walid knew way too much about my past. He knew things that I didn't share with him. I didn't talk to him about Mason. I hadn't even mentioned Mason's name to him. How did he know these things?

I'm panicking, "Who told you? Who..."

"It doesn't matter," Walid explains, "Mason is dead. I'm here now. You will fall in love with me..."

I look at Walid. Why is my heart thumping so hard in my chest? Why am I getting butterflies? I knew better then to develop feelings. Walid was right. Regardless of how much I didn't want to believe it the coven was gone. The witches would have known if they were still alive. The vampires had killed them all.

That included Mason.

But Walid was here and he was strong. He has these strong arms. Maybe I didn't have to be so strong if I had someone like Walid in my life. Maybe Walid would keep me safe. Maybe the werewolves were there.

"I don't know..."

"We are alike. You and I," he tells me, "You want to be loved, just like I do. But you're scared to say it. Just like me. And I want greatness as well. We can be great together."

"How?"

"I have a gift for you..."

It made me uncomfortable that I was smiling right now. It made me uncomfortable that I knew what was going on.

Still Walid changes into his wolf and he leads me out of the building. I follow the white wolf into the streets of Harlem.

~

It's 12 am at night. New York is cold. There is a hotel below us. At first I'm a little confused but I am at the top of a building. Below us is the nightclub.

"What's the point of this?" I ask the wolf.

Walid changes into his human form. He is butt naked in the cold but it doesn't seem to bother him. From the rooftop he grabs my hands. He pulls me close to the edge of the 12 story building and points.

Below I can see a limo pulling up. Just at that moment these men in black surround the limo. The door opens and what I see at that moment blows my mind.

"The Royal family," I state.

The vampire Royal Family were in Harlem. This was rare. I had heard they never left Eden. Sure enough however I see King Nero and his husband Santos exit the limousine. They look like they are worth a million dollars. Right next to them are a train of council members. Security is surrounding them. I can see the look of the security. They are all vampires. Every last one of them.

"They left Eden. I could smell them from miles away as soon as they arrived. They are looking for Justice."

I'd almost forgotten about Justice. I was so sidetracked with Innocent and the Moreen family that I had forgotten I'd made a promise to them to release Justice.

"I'll release their son," I state.

"Already done," Walid explains, "I released Justice to the vampires."

"You did what?" Genesis asks.

"I let Justice go earlier today. They are here to personally meet him and escort him back to Eden," Walid explains.

"Fine. Let them go. A promise is a promise."

"Are you serious?" Walid asks, "After they killed your coven?"

Walid had a point. The vampires had attacked the Moreen coven. Regardless of whether the witches of Moreen liked me or not didn't matter. Regardless of if they were pissed I took Innocent didn't matter either. The Moreen Coven was my coven. It was the coven where I learned who I was. Maybe I wasn't a part of them any longer. Maybe they saw me as 'the other'. It didn't matter.

I wouldn't let their death go in vain.

"We'll plan another attack," I state.

"I've already done that as well..." Walid explains, "Did you think I'd just release Justice for the sake of it? No. They'll never make it back to Eden. I planned an attack. For tonight."

I look over at Walid. I can't help but to smile.

"What attack?"

"My pack has surrounded the hotel for you," Walid explains, "We were going to attack but I realized that one of the vampires doesn't smell like the others."

"Santos..."

Walid nods, "The one who threatened you. He's dangerous. We can take out the vampires but we need a distraction..."

"From me?" I ask.

"Who better?" Walid smiles, "You go in there. You distract Santos. You give us a signal and we kill the other vampires."

"Just that simple?" I ask him.

It was rare to have someone who I didn't have to give orders to. Walid was a leader in his own right. He had already planned this. He had already come up with an elaborate way to win this war very quickly. I was shocked that the Royal family were so desperate to get Justice back that they left Eden. They were completely vulnerable outside of Eden. Even with all the security they had they were vulnerable. In Eden they had thousands of vampires protecting them. Outside of Eden they just had at most two dozen.

It was now or never. Walid was right.

Walid smiles, "Just that simple. Here. Take this phone. Once Santos is distracted call it and let us know that we should attack."

I take the phone, "Fine."

"Oh...and Genesis?"

"Yes?"

"Be careful," he tells me, "I know you are difficult but I was wondering. Do you ever think you could love me...being who you are."?

I dig in my pocket at that moment.

I take out a piece of hair. The hair is the hair of Santos. I close my eyes and swallow the hair fiber. When I turn back around to Walid he doesn't even realize the person who I've become.

Instead of my face I am Santos...

Walid looks shocked and appalled. Right in front of him my face has transformed into the face of Santos. The magic spell wouldn't last forever but it would last long enough. It'd last long enough to cause a little chaos. It'd last long enough for Walid's pack to head in there and destroy the Royal Family.

I'd end this war before it'd began. And who knows? Once I have power I may be able to finally let my guard down. Maybe I could learn to love again.

Maybe I could learn to love Walid.

As he looks at my changed face in amazement, I smile, "If you play your cards right, Walid. There is no telling how I might change."

~

"King Santos...I thought you were already inside," an escort says, "I could have sworn you were at the bar getting a drink just a minute ago."

Santos was at the bar. Good. I would have a little bit of fun.

Changing my face was hard but masking my smell was slightly more complicated. I walk up to the door. My walk is different from Santos. Everything is different. I'm a little concerned that the vampires might figure me out.

"Take me to my room please..." I explain to the escort, "I must have forgotten where it was."

The escort walks me into the hotel. The royal family must have had a lot of money. God knows how the vampires made money but I had a feeling it wasn't all legal by the looks of this lavish hotel. Here I was renting out some old broken down warehouse while the vampires were living like kings. I didn't get it. I was Genesis. I deserved to get as much respect as they got if not more.

I am taken up to the bedroom. There are two guards outside of the bedroom. They were definitely attempting to protect Santos. I watch as they open the door for me to the master suite at the rooftop of the hotel room.

I walk into the master suite.

It's beautiful. There is no roof. As I walk in the first thing I see is Justice. He's sitting in the common area of the suite. He isn't alone. Nero is sitting with him. The two of them are facing each other and having some sort of serious conversation. I don't know what I walked into but Justice looks like he's a little pissed.

"You need to be more careful!" Nero screams at Justice, "What the hell were you thinking? You don't just leave Eden."

"I'm not a child anymore. Look at your reflection," Justice argues, "We are the same fucking age as far as I'm concerned."

"I'm still your father!" Nero screams.

"Is everything OK here?" I ask.

Nero and Justice look over at me. They seem surprised to see me. For a minute I think they can see right through my disguise and realize that I'm not Santos. The two of them are glaring right at me at that moment without any sense of understanding who I was.

"Santos, baby...I asked for a few minutes alone with Justice," Nero explains.

"I was getting a little bored at the bar," I state.

Justice throws his hands up.

"Santos it doesn't matter," Justice states, "You can stay here. I'm going down to the bar."

"You better not leave the hotel," Nero warns Justice.

Justice ignores his father. He walks out of the room and slams the door. It's really weird seeing the relationship between Nero and Justice. They looked like brothers. Hell in certain lights they looked like twins. The only difference I really saw between the two was that Justice had a lighter skin tone. They both had those beautiful silver eyes and these plump pink limps.

Looking at Nero I had to admit that Santos was a lucky man. As I take a few steps closer to Nero I can see he is even more attractive now that he is upset. He is definitely some man candy. I watch as he takes off of his tuxedo jacket and throws it on the chair. He goes to the bar in the expensive suite and pours himself some whiskey on the rocks. He drinks it down completely before pouring another one.

"He hates me," Nero states.

He looks over at me. He's worried. I can see the look in his eyes. They are full of concern. Who knew these monsters had feelings?

"He doesn't hate you," I tell him, thinking of something that Santos would say, "Things are just confusing..."

"Maybe so. I'm just glad he's back. I'm surprised Genesis released him."

"Maybe he isn't as bad as people say he is," I respond.

"A part of me thinks we can work the issues we have with Genesis out through diplomacy. Maybe he wants something else."

I stare hard at the Vampire King. He is a fool if he believes that I want anything less than Eden.

I cross my arms, "Genesis seems like he was pretty set."

"You're right. Regardless even if I wanted peace it wouldn't work. The council wants blood. So does your father. As soon as Justice gets married to Aiden, they are going to be really judging me. Justice will be seen as a full grown man once he's married. I wouldn't be surprised if one of them demands I step down. I have to destroy Genesis to prove I'm a good king."

I start laughing at that moment. I can't fucking help it.

"You? You think you can destroy Genesis?" I ask.

I almost lose it. I almost forget that I'm in the body of Santos. For the moment my laughter gets so hard that I almost fall over myself. I stop though, catching my breath and realizing that I am indeed in the presence of a king. Nero wasn't to be taken lightly and neither was Santos.

"You're laughing at me?" he squints his eyes.

He is suspicious.

I walk over to him and grab him by his back. I give him a light massage, "No. Of course not, baby. I'm sure you will...try your best. Some things are just hard to kill. You know?"

"You don't think I can do it?"

"I'm sure you can. Look. Let's change the subject. Sit. Let's take your mind off of things."

Just at that moment I sit Nero on the couch. The guy is handsome. I was here to cause a distraction. Maybe this was a little mission but this was definitely something I wouldn't mind. I climb on top of Nero and cradle him with my legs. I sit my crotch down on him. He's so fucking handsome and so strong. I can't help but to glide my hands on his abs.

Nero looks up at me.

"The baby is back in Eden," Nero states, "There's no distractions now..."

He's flirting with me. It's cute. The way he looks at me at that moment as he puts his hands over on my butt feels so...different. There is an emotion there. It's an emotion that I haven't really felt before.

The way Nero looks at me makes my heart stop.

I forget where I am.

I forget who I am.

He leans over and kisses me. It's the softest kiss that I ever felt. He stares in my eyes and he seems to be trying to see my soul. He smiles with his white teeth.

"Love..." I state.

"What?"

This was love. I'd lived so long. I was so much older than I looked. I wasn't immortal but I was given my youth back. Back when I was young I had felt this feeling. I had felt love.

Then I remember. Nero isn't looking at me like this. He is looking at Santos.

No one looked at me like this. No one looked at me the way that Nero looked at Santos. This wasn't infatuation like Innocent's stare. This was something else. This was the way that Mason looked at Micko. This was a love deeper than any ocean. It was more vast then space. This love was a canyon love. It was the echo of history.

Who would love me like this?

Who would share an eternity with me?

For so long I wanted power but truthfully I wanted something more. I wanted love. For some reason I'm thinking about Walid.

Could I have it with Walid?

"Everything OK, Santos?" Nero asks me.

"I'm fine," I respond...

Nero kisses me. His tongue goes down my throat. He rubs my ass. He puts his hands down my pants letting him rub on my butt. I feel my heart race. It isn't because Nero is doing it. My heart is racing because I'm thinking about Walid.

I want this to be Walid. For some reason I want him instead.

"You getting me hard baby," Nero says, "Make love to me..."

"Wait..."

"Don't be shy now baby. I want to make love to you..."

Make love.

For just a second I wonder what I'm doing here. I'm seducing a man that I had no emotions towards. I was stealing a city. For power. Just because it was there for the taking. What if I wanted more?

What if Walid was offering me more? What if he was offering me the thing that Mason could never really give me?

Why don't I take it?

"Wait..."

I have to stop him. I am emotional for some reason. I can't do this right now. I needed to clear my head. I needed to get out of here.

Just at that moment as I'm about to take Mason's hands out of my pants the door of the suite opens and I see him.

Santos!

"What the FUCK!" Santos says.

I've dropped my disguise in the same second that Santos walks through the door. He looks over at me and at that moment he doesn't see the reflection of himself. He sees me as myself sitting on top of his husband.

There is a fury inside of Santos at that moment that I've not seen before. I've seen demons. I've seen the worst sort of devils but right now Santos had surpassed all of those.

"Baby?" Nero says.

He turns to Santos. Then he turns to me. All of a sudden Nero freaks out and throws me on the floor. I slide away from him. I'm not concerned about Nero though. I'm concerned about Santos. I'm concerned because something is happening with him. His eyes get black at that moment. I can see an aura all around him that I haven't felt before not even when I call on my spirits. The energy grows bigger and bigger. I can see it as clear as day.

Santos is so angry that he is changing. He gets bigger. He goes from 5'9" to about 6'5"! His fangs grow so large they hang outside of his mouth.

The vampire is becoming something scary.

He grows wings at that moment! FUCKING WINGS!

The wings are large. They take on the shape of a bat. Just at that moment he begins to approach me. I realize at that moment I've just awoken something that I didn't quite expect to. I wanted a distraction but I think my plan worked a little too well. Santos was pissed and he was facing me. He was ready to rip me to shreds.

I grab the phone. I need help. I needed the wolf pack at that moment.

I start dialing frantically.

Pick up Walid. Pick up Walid.

"WALID! I need you..."

Just then I realize something. Walid doesn't pick up! HE DOESN'T FUCKING PICK UP THE CALL! It goes straight to voicemail. He's abandoned me. The man that I was getting butterflies for just a few minutes ago has abandoned me. I get another hard lesson in life.

I call again and again.

Walid never picks up. Santos is approaching me. The monster gets close. It's clear Walid has set me up. He has betrayed me. I was a fool to trust him. If I die today than it was my fault. I'd never make this mistake again.

I get a text message.

It's from Walid.

It's a picture message.

"Fuck..." I whisper under my breath.

Walid is in the bed. He's taken a picture of him fucking one of the Divine 9. The girl named Evie. I was right about her. My instincts were right. Something was up with her. No wonder Vivienne's vision wasn't clear. Evie wasn't focusing.

I needed Walid and he was fucking one of the Devine witches. And he is sending me this message to prove that his words meant nothing.

Santos gets close, "Are you ready to die, witchdoctor?"

I didn't know what Walid's intentions were, but he had betrayed me.

I felt damaged. I felt betrayed. But this wasn't the first time I had been betrayed. I throw the phone to the ground. Someone once told me that damaged people are dangerous because they can survive. I've survived against many odds.

I'd been left to die and maybe this time I deserved it. I had to relearn a lesson I thought I'd learned a long time ago. This time my heart breaking doesn't nearly feel as bad.

You were born alone.

And you die alone.

Love is blind but luckily regret comes with hindsight.

To read the next chapter in advance go to www.crushedcrown.com