As Darkness Falls by Riley Storm
Chapter Fifty-One
“We are gathered here today,” I began to the assembled group, “to hear all about how Dani fucked shit up.”
There was a mixture of wry snorts and nervous laughter from around the room.
We were back in Kellar in Aaron’s loft, condo, super apartment. Whatever it was called. There was no table big enough to house us all, and I made a mental note to give Aaron shit about that later.
So instead, the eleven of us were gathered in his common area. The giant sectional in the middle of the room housed many, while dinner chairs had been brought in for a few more. Aaron was up and about now, so he sat calmly on the stone mantle against one wall, the electronic fireplace flickering gently behind him.
Johnathan was awake, though still not fully healed, so Fred had taken a chair from one of the bedrooms for him to lounge back in and rest with the group. He’d insisted on being here for the talk. Aaron had caught him trying to crawl across the floor to join us; he was that determined.
And now, everyone was staring at me.
“Jo,” I said next. “A lot of this is going to come as a shock to you. Well, almost all of it is going to come as a shock to you. And you’re going to have a million questions along the way. I’m gonna need you to hold them until the end, okay?’
My best friend smiled from where she sat in one of the dining room chairs next to Aaron and my parents. “I think I know what you mean. Translation: you want me to sit down and shut the fuck up while the adults talk. Don’t you?”
A chuckle ran around the room as I shrugged helplessly. “Pretty much, yes.”
“I can do that.”
“Ten bucks says she can’t,” Aaron muttered.
“You’re on,” Jo said eagerly, reaching out to shake his hand.
I watched the two of them, rolling my eyes. “Anyway, here’s the laydown of everything we know to make sure everyone is caught up.”
The group stared at me, silent and waiting. Some of them knew it all. Some knew a little. Jo knew nothing.
“Where do I begin?” I muttered, mostly to myself, trying to figure out how to start my spiel.
“The beginning,” Fred suggested.
“Shut up,” I said, deadpan. “Okay, so here’s the background of it all. My father spent decades searching for Shuldar, a mystical ancient shifter city where legend says our kind used to live in peace and harmony. They were together, not dozens of packs spread out across the continent and world. We could never find proof of it until recently. Everyone good so far?”
Everyone nodded.
“Now, my parents here disappeared, and I followed my dad’s last instructions to find Aaron and his team and locate Shuldar. However, being the super genius that I am, I inadvertently led Lars to the city as well, something my father had managed to avoid doing. Now, Lars had all sorts of magical do-dads at his disposal, but none of them did anything. Until I screwed up again and discovered that the ancient gods were real and so were their powers. Which I demonstrated by accidentally pulling Vir through the impenetrable barrier between the Direen and Earth.”
Jo’s mouth was hanging wide open at this point.
“After that, I–also accidentally–activated the temple of Amunlea, which apparently activated her relic, the Idol of Amunlea. Lars stole the Blade of Death from the Temple of Irr, another shifter god, and apparently the only other one still alive. The reason he’s still alive is because Irr went to the Underworld, stole Souls from Hades, and used them to invade the Direen and kill all the other gods. We know this because we went there, and Hades told us himself.”
My parents were staring at me slack-jawed as well.
“So now we have Vir here with us, while Irr, we believe, is helping Lars. We have no idea why Irr did what he did or what his plans are, but if the barrier between the Direen and Earth falls, then Irr will likely invade or do something else. Whatever it is, I think we can safely assume that it will be bad. Right?”
“Yup,” Fred said cheerfully from in front of me. “Go on.”
“Thank you,” I said, rolling my eyes at the irascible character. Nothing ever seemed to faze him.
“Anyway, now Lars has some magical do-dads that will allow him to use a shifter ritual at the next Wild Moon and turn himself into a god on Earth to do who knows what. Our job is to stop him.”
The room was quiet.
“So there you have it, folks. We, well, I, created an evil god on earth, and there’s not a single being that can stop him.”
I opened my mouth to ask if there were any questions when I caught movement at the side of the room. Turning, I saw Aaron mouthing something at Vir, who in turn shook his head, glaring angrily at the vampire.
“Boys?” I said, feeling like a teacher in class. “Is there something you’d like to share with the class?”
“No,” Vir said, his eyes blazing with anger as he glared at Aaron.
I turned my gaze on the vampire. “Aaron,” I prompted. “Please explain.”
Aaron looked up at me. “There may be someone who can stop Lars,” he said tightly.
“You don’t know that,” Vir shot back.
“Tell me you have a better idea, then,” Aaron hissed. “We need to try anything.”
“Who?” I asked, cutting them both off. “Who are you talking about? What power on Earth is there? Tell me. We can go find him, see if he’ll help.”
Vir sighed. “It’s not a he.”
I frowned. “Okay, well, who is it?” I asked, looking at them both.
Vir and Lars both responded together.
“You.”
To Be Continued…
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Next Book: Fate Unbound (Soulbound Shifters Book 3)
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