Night Rises Read online

  Night Rises

  By Amber Lynn

  Copyright © 2013 Amber Lynn

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  This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.

  Warning: This book is the musings of a foulmouthed female assassin with Violence for a middle name.

  Life is a journey. There is no disputing that statement. When we are born that journey begins and it makes us who we are. I never dreamed my journey would lead me to writing books. I have had ideas in my head since as far back as I can remember, but completing my concepts never seemed possible.

  This is the final book for this plotline and I am really excited to have actually completed it. Sparks of ideas for other books have kept my mind divided and I was afraid that I would put Nyx away and get caught up in something else. But as in my books, Nyx’s character was strong enough to keep me going.

  I have to thank everyone who has stuck this story line out. I know the early works may have been hard to get through. I hope that as time went on things started making more sense and it was less like me just rambling about anything that came to my mind.

  I didn’t know where things would end up when I started this plot. There were things along the way that weren’t planned, but the story wouldn’t have been right without them. I think the ending of this book is one of those instances. It has been a lot of fun watching Nyx grow and I cannot wait to get back to her in the months to come to see where her journey in life has taken her.

  Chapter 1

  A watched pot never grows three feet overnight

  “I am positive it was just yesterday that you were complaining about Sophia keeping you up all day, and yet here you sit watching her sleep,” Sebastian says as he joins me in the nursery. I still haven’t really looked around the room. My only focus in coming in here was to watch Sophia.

  “Does she look like she is getting bigger?” I ask from the rocking chair I relocated next to Sophia’s crib. It has been at least an hour since I started my watch and I have almost convinced myself that she is perfect. I am just stuck on how fast she will grow. “I am afraid if I go to sleep, I will wake up and she will be taller than me.”

  Sebastian moves next to me and leans over to rub our child’s head with tenderness only a father can show his daughter. He finishes by giving her a small kiss before focusing in on me. “In the hours since she was born, I haven’t noticed any abnormal growth. I am pretty sure you can get a couple of hours sleep without causing any worry wrinkles.”

  “It took me a day or two to figure out Clyde grew like a weed and he isn’t my flesh and blood. If I don’t get ahead of this, I will feel bad about missing a phase in her development later.”

  We have been home from Faerie for only five hours. In that time, I have successfully graduated to a full-on basket case. Anyone who thinks I have been at that level for a while now can just bite their tongue. Being a mom is a job that has so many responsibilities that I don't know if I am cut out for it. I want to be, but it is a little overwhelming.

  “You won't miss a thing. Why don't you come back to bed? Waking up with Alex trying to cuddle with me isn't my idea of a great way to start the morning. It felt like he was very eager to give Sophia a sibling and he was barking up the wrong tree letting me know it,” Sebastian says as he tries to lift me out of my chair. I am a little sad that I missed witnessing their first cuddle. I knew it would happen sooner or later and I was hoping to have video proof of it in case one, or both, of them missed it.

  “Do you think we should have Sophia sleep in our bed with us? I have read different views on the subject and I don't know which is best. They say it promotes breastfeeding because of the easy access, but there are so many things in the against column that I just don't know if there are any benefits.”

  “I think you will have a tough sell trying to convince either of the men that share your bed that cosleeping is a good idea. I did mention you have a wolf waiting in bed for you with a redwood forest in his pants, didn't I?” I am still fighting to stay in my chair, but his brute strength is too much for me and he separates me from my post. No fair.

  “A redwood forest, seriously? You do know I have stuck my hand down below to get a feel before. A single redwood I would agree with, but there isn't any forest going on,” I say trying very hard not to envision what it would look like if there were multiple male appendages hanging in between Alex's legs.

  I am a little ashamed of the fact that I am finding the notion appealing. Not because I want to actually experience the weirdness of what that would be like in bed, but because it would be like a train wreck or a sideshow act that you cannot look away from.

  “It is bad enough I crave you all day, every day,” Alex says from the other room. “If you keep thinking dirty thoughts, I will be forced to act on them.” It is their fault dirty thoughts even make their way to my mind. I think they should have to deal with whatever uneasiness they feel from them peeking in my brain.

  “I think I am going to have to invest in some blow up dolls for you guys, or maybe you missed it when I said I was only going to have one kid a century.” Sebastian has me cradled in his arms and we are making our way towards our big bed.

  Alex is propped on his side facing us with the blankets dipping just below his waist. He is wearing boxers, something I have insisted on with the baby in the next room, but his beautiful torso is exposed for the world to see. Am I jealous of it? Yes. My dreams and hopes of my body instantly snapping back into shape after Sophia crawled her way out were dashed when I found a bit of a pouch hanging around.

  So, not only do my regular clothes not fit, but neither does the maternity versions. Am I pissed off about this? Do you really have to ask? I can understand the top part of my chest staying bigger than normal now that I have become a milking station. I also understand that it is probably unrealistic for me to expect five hours to make a big difference in how trim my belly is, but this is my crazy fast forward world we are talking about.

  “Believe me; I don't have to get you pregnant to enjoy the things I am thinking about. I will wait a few months before pushing my case, though. I want to make sure everything has knitted itself back together and Sophia may be on a schedule by then so I can slip in some one-on-one time while she plays with her other daddy,” Alex says and lifts the blanket up, allowing Sebastian to deposit me in the bed. Alex quickly moves us over to give Sebastian room.

  He climbs in and rolls over so he is facing us. “I like the little bit of added weight and your pre-pregnancy clothes fit fine. You only gained about twenty pounds while you were pregnant and there is maybe five of those left. The 'pouch' you think you have is just your stomach no longer caving in. There is nothing wrong with you looking healthy. Maybe if you can keep it like that, the guards won't tease us about doing the tango with a skeleton.”

  I highly doubt any of the guards said something like that, even the ones lacking fully functional brains. They don't have that big of death wishes. I decide to let the comment slide and focus on more important things.

  “We need to make plans for how we are going to get rid of the Collective once and for all. I am hoping to have that taken care of by the end of the week.” Everything in my life these days happens quickly, so I see no
reason why my request would be denied. We have already taken out one of their big lieutenants and captured a mess of their troops. I know they have thousands of others, but there has to be a way to beat them.

  “We will have to see how things go. I am calling a meeting of the troops for tonight, after we all get a decent day's sleep. There are a lot of factors to take into consideration. I expect your angel will be popping in from time to time to make sure you are doing whatever needs to be done before your birthday. If we can hold out until then, I doubt the Collective will put up much of a fight. A full-blown angel would be hard to go up against,” Sebastian says.

  “I don’t even want to think about the trials. As far as I am concerned, I have gotten through life just fine without the extras I will gain from whatever they want to put me through and there are things a lot higher up on my list of priorities.” Gabe can just forget he even found me. I don’t need any special angel power to take out the head honcho over at the Collective. All I really need is for someone to tell me who my target is and I will take care of the problem.

  Even after working for the Collective most of my life, the secrets of how the place was run never crossed my desk. I knew some names of high level officials, but not the full hierarchy.

  Sebastian takes his left hand and brushes the side of my face. “They keep the man behind the curtain a well-guarded secret. It will be one of the things we talk about in the meeting tomorrow.”

  I don’t know why we can’t just get up and talk about it now. I don’t need any stinking sleep. I was able to get a quick hour in while we made the trip home. Once Sebastian carried me and Sophia out of Faerie, taking the quickest route out of the odd land, everything has been pretty calm and quiet.

  We arrived home and got the pixies situated in their new home before even taking Sophia inside. They continue to only be civil towards me, which I continue to relish. The atmosphere seemed to be working out for them the last I saw. None of them were getting the shakes from being around iron. Of course, we are a little off the beaten path with all of the land Alex purchased around us and the garden area is massive. I only lasted about a minute before I had to run out of there. Hopefully, the pixies aren’t expecting a lot of visits.

  “Who is going to be invited to this meeting?” I ask relaxing into Alex. Surprisingly, those rock hard abs are kind of comfortable.

  “As soon as we got back, Marcus and Smitty put out the calls for all the leaders in the non-Collective vampire world to report for duty. The little bit of time your dad hasn't spent staring at you or Sophia has been used to work on the wolves. Hilda has called in the witches and is working on the paranorms that don't fall into the three big categories,” Sebastian explains. “They won't be in on the meetings, but they will be kept apprised of the situation.”

  “I am hoping we can leave the demons out of this fight. Chances are they would all turn against us at some point anyway,” Alex adds.

  I know the next demon I see is getting stabbed first and questioned later. Hate is probably too mild of a word for what I truly feel about the species in general. The no cursing law is still in place so my true feelings will not be known for the next eighteen years, or however long it takes for Sophia to grow up.

  “I still don't understand how Ben could have let the goat woman out of Hell. He always did such a good job of pretending to be Team Nyx.” All he really wants is to have a baby with me. Maybe he realized it wasn’t going to happen and wanted to get back in Candace’s good graces. He is an idiot that way.

  “I have thought about that since we first heard the thing was let out. The conclusion I came to is there is no way Ben would have allowed her out. Even if he has finally come to terms with you not being his incubator, you are his ruler’s offspring. A ruler, I might add, that he kept you a secret from. He wouldn’t dare let you be threatened,” Sebastian says. I find it odd that it surely sounds like he is coming to Ben’s defense. Out of my two mates, Sebby is the one that absolutely hates demons.

  Nothing he says is putting Ben on my Christmas card list, so I think it is best if we just change the subject. It will only make me grumpy and if I am in a sour mood that may make for some sour milk for Sophia. Yes, I know that makes absolutely no sense.

  “Time for baby momma to go to bed. I promise no major decisions will be made while we sleep and unless a natural disaster hits we won't leave the bed without you,” Alex states.

  “I will go to sleep if you sing me a lullaby. You have done it before and I would find it really comforting right about now,” I tell him.

  “Your wish is my command,” he claims and proceeds to start into a song about the moon. I don't listen closely to the words because it sounds sad and my waterworks have been going off too much lately. I think I am currently in a funk where I would cry at commercials, as I have heard that is something people do. Good thing there are no televisions around.

  Chapter 2

  Is that sword regulation sized?

  “I cannot believe how long it takes you to fall asleep sometimes. You had to have been exhausted from all that child birthing,” my jerk of an angel tutor says before I even realize I have fallen asleep. I sometimes think he has a death wish. I doubt there is anything I could do about that.

  I really need to get Sebastian or Hilda working on figuring out a way to ensure my dreams are my own. I know I will wake up feeling refreshed like I actually slept, but it is the principle of things that I am taking into consideration.

  “I hear you have a really big sword, can I see it?” I ask not caring why he has brought me to my least favorite meadow in the world. The ones in Faerie are close on the list, but this one has been giving me headaches longer. There aren’t even any new features to divert my attention from being mad at him. A new tree or something would be nice to see.

  “The words that leave your lips always surprise me. I have been doing this mentor gig for a while and I haven't had a pupil as entertaining as you before. There are many things that make you unique, Nyx. The Fae Queen was correct when she said you would be leading the masses before long. Every seer has foretold of the event happening, which makes your trials even more important,” he replies.

  “Can I choose not to accept?” I have no desire to be a leader to the masses. I am not even curious to find out the numbers and species included in the masses.

  Gabe laughs and I have my answer. Does Fate have a cell phone? Because I would really like to give her a call right about now. Maybe his group of seers consists of only two people and I can find one that thinks something completely different, like me defeating the Collective and then settling down for a quiet life.

  “I am sorry I had to leave before Sophia was born earlier,” he says changing the subject away from me trying to get out of whatever he has planned. “I wanted the succubus gone before you arrived. Sophia and your safety were more important than me being there to bless the event. I am pretty sure that wouldn't have been welcome by you anyway.”

  It sure would have been funny having the offspring of the offspring of Lucifer blessed by an angel. “I think we will both live without it.”

  “Don't fool yourself. I said I couldn't be there, not that Sophia wasn't blessed. Upstairs we thought it was important to make sure to push her towards the side of good. The people you hang out with aren't all great influences.” Before I can comment, because you know I have one for him making decisions for my daughter, he continues, “I have called in a friend to help with the trials. I didn’t think I could complete this one subjectively, so Michael here is going to help us.”

  A large man, a very large man, appears out of nowhere next to Gabe. I didn't think someone could be bigger than Uncle Walt, but I was wrong. It looks like this guy's muscles have muscles overrunning them. I am going to bypass the fact that an angel named Michael appeared in front of me. He was mentioned quite a few times in the books I have been reading and I don't want to think about what this trial is going to be with a warrior like him being introduced.


  “Has he been hanging around invisible this whole time, or did you call him?” I ask. You would think it impossible for someone that big to be capable of cloaking themselves, but if anyone could do it, I am putting my money on him.

  Michael flexes his jumbo size wings that go with the rest of his body and cracks his neck. Crap. That doesn't bode well for me.

  “I wanted to get a feel for my opponent, so invisibility sounded like a good idea. If you were half the angel you are supposed to be, you would have been able to see me standing here.”

  His voice is deep, thankfully. If he had a high pitched, squeaky voice I would have laughed and I don't think that would have been good for my health. Nothing about this guy screams softness. He has a rectangular face with a strong chin. His eyes and hair are both as dark as midnight. He looks more devilish than angelic.

  “I assume you are here to show me how easy it is for a full-blown angel to kick the crap out of someone with only a little angel blood.” Waking up refreshed doesn't sound like a very likely possibility anymore, but maybe the bruises I receive here won’t make it to my normal world. I have to have something to dream about. This guy looks insane.

  “No one is going to be kicking the crap out of anyone. He is going to help prepare you for the big trial that awaits you. Since we are out of time, we are condensing everything down to mostly one trial. We aren’t one hundred percent for sure what you will run into on your journey, so we have to teach you to fight like an angel,” Gabe informs me.

  Great. There better not be more dragons involved. What am I thinking? I don’t want to do the trial at all and what does he mean he doesn’t know what awaits me. It always seems like he knows exactly what is going to happen.

  “Why don’t you guys just send me home now and save us all from what I am sure would be tremendous headaches. I don’t have time for a trial, whether it is one or many. You were practically there when I had Sophia today, Gabe.”