Witch's Bell Book Five, page 23
part #5 of Witch's Bell Series
“We had a deal, a contract, I helped you, now you help me.” Legion raged from behind her.
No doubt all of the officers and witches were trying their very hardest to fight it. No doubt they would have absolutely no chance, though.
Legion was, well, legion. It wasn’t as if they were fighting one demon; it was as if they were fighting all of them.
Grabbing hold of Nate’s arm, pulling it from her, and holding onto his hand as tightly as she could, Ebony turned.
She was aware of how injured she was, but she forced that to the back of her mind as she looked up to face its glinting eyes.
It was angry, and it was a rage the likes of which Ebony had never witnessed.
It was backed up with the kind of power that could see a city shudder and crumble under its foot.
“You say you understand, but you do not; you hide from us, you turn from us, you take our own power, but you never give back.” Legion, its thousands of voices peaking high, stepped toward her, the city shaking as it did.
Nate tugged desperately on her arm.
Ebony would not be pulled away.
She had won against this demon. The contract was well and truly broken. No matter how much it bullied her, she knew that if she held her ground, it would not take hold of her.
Because that was not how embodiment worked, was it? It had to be a decision. She had to give herself to it freely. She had to choose to share her will with the demon. Only then would it work.
So while it blustered, and the force of it shook the city, it would not destroy it, and neither would it destroy her.
She still had to decide, though.
She held onto Nate’s hand with a strength that was beyond her. That came from whatever magic and power remained beyond death.
“You saw us, you claim to understand, you claim to help. You turned toward the ghost, you faced the possessed, you promised the ruins, and yet you broke your word. We helped you, and yet you refuse to help us.” Legion stepped toward her again, unfurling its incredible wings. They stretched up to the sky and blocked out any silvery moonlight that managed to break through the clouds.
“Ebony, we need to get you out of here,” Nate begged.
No. She didn’t need to get away. The demon would not harm her. She was sure of that.
It was time to decide.
Would Ebony Bell, the good witch, the proud witch, agree to the demon’s demands? Allow herself to be possessed, no, embodied?
It felt like a suicidal question to be even considering. Several days ago, there would have been no doubt in her mind. The answer should be a resounding and forceful never.
Ebony Bell would never let herself be possessed by a demon.
Here she was facing it, that question playing through her mind.
This was bigger than her. Way, way bigger than her. The Portal, Vale, everything. Ebony knew that if she wanted to protect her city, she would have to make decisions, hard decisions, the kind of decisions that nobody else would have had to make in the past, because nothing as big as this had ever been on the line.
She had faced those creatures; she had made those promises that Legion now talked of.
Did that mean that she was forced into letting this incredible creature embody her?
“Ebony, come on, I don’t want to lose you again,” Nate said, voice nearly silent.
She didn’t want to lose him either.
Then again, neither did she want to lose Vale or the world or the rest of the darned universe.
It was all on the line.
Maybe not today, and maybe not next week, but as the force behind the Portal grew, so would the threat. War was looming, a devastating one, and unless Ebony acted in every way she could to preserve peace now, to marshal her forces, she would lose. They would lose.
“Ebony, please.” Nate looped an arm around her middle, trying to pull her backward.
Ebony looked right into Legion’s eyes. At that moment, she fancied she understood it. She fancied she saw past the bluster, the hatred, the dark flesh.
From the beginning, it had tried to make her understand, tried to make her change her view of the dark races of Vale. And despite herself, she had.
“Ebony, please,” Nate tried one last time.
“It can’t hurt us,” she said, voice low.
In response to that, Legion flung itself forward, planted its hands into the street, crushed a car, and brought his massive face right up to hers.
Yet it didn’t crush anyone, it didn’t do any damage, save to the car of course.
It just faced her in its own unique way.
Nate pulled out his gun, trying to pull her back, trying to save her.
There was nothing to save her from, though.
“I understand, I know you need me to choose freely.” She looked deep into its eyes as she spoke.
Legion didn’t swat at her, and neither did it open its massive mouth and try to eat her on the spot.
It reeled back slightly, and maybe for just a second its eyes, which had been filled with nothing but hatred and power, opened wide with something else.
Uncertainty, fear maybe. For a creature that was used to getting its way through violence and hatred, to face a situation where it could not force its way would no doubt bring with it fear.
Ebony didn’t let its reaction move her.
She understood what she had to do.
Even if she knew Nate never would.
Ebony Bell made her choice.
She chose Vale. She chose the world; she chose the universe. In a way, it was a pretty simple decision to make. However, in practice, it would be a hard decision to live with.
Ebony pulled free of Nate. She faced Legion. She stared into its eyes. “Fine. We’ll do this together.”
That was all she said. She didn’t take a moment to prepare a speech about treaties and embodiment and the dark working with the light to save the universe.
Legion reeled up, leaning back on its chest, looking exactly like a lion at rest. “Once your decision is made, it is final. There is no turning back.”
“Ebony, what are you doing? What are you doing?” Nate pleaded from behind her.
She wanted to turn to him, desperately wanted to explain her reasoning, but she didn’t have time.
She just opened her arms wide.
This was beyond her. She was only one little witch. If she wanted to defeat the dark forcing its way through the Portal, Ebony would have to open up to the universe and whatever help it sent her way.
Because she had to accept something. She couldn’t save Vale just for the good, the light, the right – she had to save Vale for all. For the dark and the light.
“Ebony,” she heard Nate call her name one last time.
But Ebony kept her arms wide.
She waited. Expecting the demon to rush into her, embody her with all the fanfare of a henchman of Hell.
But it didn’t do that.
She slowly stared up at the creature.
It didn’t move.
“What are you waiting for? I’ve made my decision.” She kept her arms up despite the pain.
The demon merely considered her; it didn’t move forward, didn’t strike, didn’t rush into her with the full fury of Hell.
Perhaps it was looking down at her and thinking that its enormous body simply couldn’t fit into her svelte form.
The demon finally moved. It brought its head back down to face her, eyes lining up before her, its gaze piercing within.
At that point, everything kind of slowed down. The world tipped upside down, inside out. She felt like she fell through the ground, rushed to the center of the earth, and popped up again.
As the incredible moment of vertigo took her, the demon moved in, so close that its face almost touched hers.
People screamed behind her, yet she didn’t hear.
She did feel. Feel as the incredible wound in her side began to heal.
Fast, faster than anything she had ever felt before. It was a rush of energy so deep and powerful and bristling that it took her breath away.
The blood over her clothes disappeared too. Any indication that there had been anything wrong with her melting under that demon’s gaze.
As she looked up at it, their gazes locked, time stretched. It hinted at eternity.
“We will fight alongside. When times dictate, Legion will come to you.” With that, it started to draw back.
Ebony stared at it.
It didn’t race up the side of the church and sit back down on its favorite seat. Instead Legion took off, launching itself into the sky, its enormous wings blocking out the moon and racing clouds above.
It was an incredible sight to watch it leave, to see that enormous form dwindle into the distance.
Legion was gone.
Though it could not be said that it left Ebony.
It was still with her. Its promise ringing in her ears. In times of need, Legion would come to her side.
Because Ebony Bell had just made a pact with a demon, and not just any demon, one that appeared to be the hive-mind of all demons.
Ebony was not entirely sure whether she should ever share this story with her mother.
But before stories could be shared, there was something Ebony had to do.
Her injury gone, she turned.
There was Nate, right behind her. Presumably he’d just seen her make a pact with a sodding great demon, and presumably he would not have anything to do with her ever again and was probably getting ready to handcuff her and take her to the police station.
The presumption was wrong.
Because Ebony Bell, though she fancied she understood Nate, could not appreciate the effect she had on him.
Now that effect was made apparent.
Despite the fact they were in full view of everyone on the street, all the officers, all the witches, Nate rushed toward her. He brought his hands up, he rested them on her cheeks, and he kissed her.
It was possibly the most desperate kiss in the history of the universe. It was fumbling, it was tight, and it was relieved.
Ebony cried all the way through it. She never pulled away, though. Because she was in the arms of her very own white knight.
The only man who had seen her through her ordeal. The memory of him, the vision of him.
Nate.
Epilogue
A lot had happened to Ebony, in fact, it had been a monumentally busy week. After her adventure in the in-between realm, she had spent a very long time explaining to everyone else what had happened. If it wasn’t for the fact that Harry had been with her the entire time and was there to back her up, no doubt no one would’ve bothered to believe her.
Her story was true, though. Every last word of it.
What was more, she had made a pact with a demon – the hive-mind of all demons.
She knew hardly anyone understood. They hadn’t shared her experiences, hadn’t met the dark races she had, and could not appreciate why Ebony had chosen to give up a part of her fight to accept the power of the dark.
Yet they trusted her.
Which was incredible.
Her mother and the Coven certainly did question the hell out of her, though. They didn’t punish her, though. They didn’t strip her of her title, magic, or life. They did, however, promise to watch her. If Ebony Bell ever took another step toward the dark, they would come down on her like a ton of, well, very angry and old witches.
For now, she had their trust. It raised Ebony to a height she didn’t think was possible.
More than that, she had his trust.
Though Nate clearly, clearly didn’t understand what she’d done, that didn’t change the fact she was by his side, sitting far closer than he’d ever previously allowed as they faced Harry.
“You should see what the wizards have written about you in their paper,” Harry said as he raised a finger and waved it Ebony’s way.
“Do I really want to know?” Ebony frowned at him.
“Yes, unlike your blasted witch coven, you’ve really won friends with this whole Demon Treaty move amongst the wizards. We, because we are men and we are smart, recognize power and force. We understand that, though technically, your average demon is considered evil, evil is just a state of mind. Power is what matters. If you can exercise power with the correct amount of control, then, well, you can save the universe and the Portal,” he concluded as he crossed his arms and nodded his head several times.
Ebony paused to stare at him pointedly. She was about to point out that Harry himself had tried to call her off making a pact with the demon on more than one occasion.
It didn’t matter now.
It was done.
Nate shifted, his arm banging into her leg. He didn’t move back. He did look down at her, though, shifting his jaw as he ran his hand along his chin.
He was so close that she could feel his breath buffet against her cheek, pushing her fringe lightly. And if that wasn’t enough, he reached in and gently pushed her loose hair behind her ear.
She smiled, the move sending exactly the right kind of tingles through her stomach.
“Oh, come on, seriously, we’re sitting at the kitchen table about to have dinner, I’m not going to watch you kiss again,” Harry snapped as he crossed his arms tighter and started to float above the table, looking at them pointedly, almost like the vision of an Indian Brahma ready to use his astounding powers to turn them into dust.
“Grow up, Harry,” Nate replied without turning from Ebony.
She giggled at that.
“Grow up? I’m very grown up and hundreds of years old, I’ll have you know.”
“Fine, then shut up,” Nate concluded.
Harry blustered again, shooting a little higher above the table. “Shut up? How can you get angry at me? I’m not the one who made a pact with that demon,” he pointed out. “Though I and all the enlightened wizards all agree it was a fantastic idea, I know it must annoy the hell out of you knights. The very idea of marshaling the dark to fight the creatures through the Portal… it must be eating you up inside.”
That touched a wound with Ebony, and she turned sharply to Harry. “I—”
“Trust you,” Nate said as he leaned in. “I trust you.”
Those three words, they meant everything to her.
All of the anger and frustration that had built suddenly flowed away like dust in the rain.
She turned to him.
She had been through a lot. So had he; she’d seen it.
Now they were looking at each other.
Even though Harry bemoaned the fact, they were finally together. Last night Detective Nathan Wall had held Ebony Bell in his arms, and it had seemed as if he’d stared at her the entire night long.
It seemed the detective felt that if he ever looked away, he would lose her again.
As she looked at him right now, nestling further into him, smiling as she angled her face up, she didn’t look away either.
She could not control him. She’d learned that. She couldn’t dictate how he felt; the memory of him destroyed in his car repeating to himself that she could not control his grief would remain one of her deepest lessons.
While she could not control it, while she could not reach into Nathan and assure him that she would never leave his side, and that if she ever did, he could move on with her, she could look at him.
She could be with him. She could see him.
Ebony Bell had learned that most important lesson.
If you can’t do anything else, then face it.
So that’s what she did.
She faced him.
Then she kissed him.
Because Ebony Bell was now with Detective Nathan Wall – regardless of the Portal. They weren’t going to wait until it was fixed to get together. They were going to solve this hand in hand, side by side, and nothing was going to get in their way.
Thank you for reading Witch’s Bell Book Five.
Book Six is currently available.
Witch’s Bell Book Six
Dead witches, irritating clones, and a glimpse into the dark – Ebony’s Destiny will no longer wait.
Witch’s Bell Series Information
Witch’s Bell Book Two
Drop-dead-gorgeous wizards, sinister criminals from the past, men with agendas, and a certain jealous knight – can Ebony survive when something rises from the past to swallow her?
Witch’s Bell Book Three
Broken realities, legendary enemies, and crows at her window – who wants their dreams to become real?
Witch’s Bell Book Four
Forbidden time spells, ghosts from Harry’s past, and an unsolved mystery – this is why you shouldn’t get up on a rainy day.
Witch’s Bell Book Five
Brushes with death, a demon of Legion, and only Harry to keep her company – it’s time for Ebony to find out what she means to a certain Detective Wall.
Witch’s Bell Book Six
Dead witches, irritating clones, and a glimpse into the dark – Ebony’s Destiny will no longer wait.
Witch’s Bell Book Seven
The writing is on the wall; the end is here. Will Ebony save Vale, keep Nate, and – importantly – live to tell the tale? Or will this ending need a sacrifice…?
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