Fire

-Jo-

Stepping into the forest it was suddenly freezing. My breath came out in cold puffs as I helped Bonnie walk through the uneven sticks and stones. I rolled my eyes at her. "Why did you wear those?"

She blushed, looking down at the heels she had on. "Because t-they go with the outfit." She said. I sighed. I knew she wouldn't tell me the real reason. I glanced up and noticed the small flickering flames of the bonfire. The boys were already here.

"Hold on tight." I wrapped her arms around my neck and leaned down, sliding my arms under her legs and lifting her. She squeaked and I walked over the rocks and sticks, carefully stepping onto the path. It'd be a long walk but less chance of us getting hurt.

When we reached the open area where the fire was held, I gently dropped her to the ground and watched her strut over to the logs with a shake of my head. "I swear Bonnie, those heels are a death wish," I muttered to myself as I sat down next to her. The boys glanced up at her, Brandon's gaze lingering for an extra second longer. I rolled my eyes. When will those two figure it out?

Bonnie was one to get dressed up for no reason just to feel confident about herself but even I've noticed a difference between freshman year and sophomore year. We were in our junior year now and half the school was waiting for Brandon, star nerd brother of our famous Quarterback Jackson, and Bonnie the aspiring actress, to get together. If only Bonnie got that clue.

"So, we had an adventure." The boys began with a wide smile on their faces. I rolled my eyes. "You know that new family that moved here for the school year?" Bonnie and I nodded and thought back to Grey Eyes. I shuddered, this time not from the cold.

"Well, their house is in this forest." Brandon's eyes twinkled as he spoke. "We saw them! They were driving away this morning while we were exploring."

My eyes went wide. "Really? How far from here?"

"Maybe a twenty-minute walk from here." They said. I rolled my eyes. That twin thing they did was creepy, and they weren't even twins.

I glanced at Bonnie. After this morning, I'd sat through all of my classes dazed. Something about that family drew me closer. Grey eyes were very interesting and I had no idea why. I just knew I had to figure it out. Figure them out. I cursed Bonnie's heels again.

"What if we went and saw it again?" I asked softly. The boys looked at me shocked. "Bonnie and I haven't seen them," I said, quickly coming up with an excuse. It was lame, I knew but it worked.

The boys stood up and Bonnie stood up hesitantly. "Wait, guys-"

Brandon looked at her, smirking. "Scared?" He asked.

Bonnie bristled. She waddled over to me and rested her hand on my shoulder. I wrapped my arm around her waist, ignoring Brandon's pointed glare at my arm. I leaned down, picking her up and walking towards where Brandon had pointed.

-Muriel-

Dear Mother,

Sister made a scene in school today. The girl has no ounce of control and continues to press her place against mine. I've said nothing but Dagon snapped at her. I think it did enough for her to back down, at least until I can get the entire plan started.

I'm not so sure about headquarters. The place is very dry and little water. Not very stable for our home to be built upon. However, it seems to be well enough to start to take over, a place to begin an army.

Send my best to father.

In waiting,

Princess Muriel, Heir of Lucifer and Successor of the Throne

I set down my quill, rolling up the piece of paper, and calling out to my dragon. The little cub purred, rubbing against my finger. His slick, mid-night scales brushed up against my fingertips slightly and he blew a gentle flame against the paper. It burned and turned into horrible black ash. The burned paper shifted, trailing away from my desk, and flowed through the cracks of the boards of my floor, running between the planks of dark cedar-colored wood.

I stood up, taking Tyson with me. His little head rested on my chest, purring sleepily against me. I smile softly, holding the baby dragon to my body. I laid down on the bed, my hair falling behind me and I stared out my large, open window. The soft little purrs of the little being rumbled through my chest and he tucked his head into my neck as my breathing slowed to a stop.

**

It was cold, so cold. I wasn't used to this, I didn't like it. I need a fire.

As soon as I thought of it, everything exploded into fire and in front of me, I could only see a face. The flames licked at my skin, I could feel a slight burn from them. The bright yellows and oranges scorched against my skin, the blues and purples swirling together in one large inferno. But still, I could only focus on the face.

Her eyes were dark, like chocolate with caramel in it. The best kind of sweet treat, in my opinion. I tried my best to focus but all else that I could see was her tanned skin.

Then the cold rushed back in and my fire vanished. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't bring it back. I breathed, channeling my energy but nothing happened. No fire, no warmth. Instead, it only seemed to get colder. The more I concentrated the colder it got, so eventually, I stopped.

I was gasping for breath by now, my energy depleted and I heard a scream. A girl, young from the sound of the voice. "Muriel!" My name.

"Muriel!"

Who is calling my name? "Muriel!" I scrambled, searching for the source of the voice.

Then the cold vanished as well and the light burned my eyes.

**

"Muriel." My eyes flew open, met with the grey-ish blue of my mother.

"Muriel. Get up." She said. Wait, not my mother. My sister. I sighed, sitting up.

"What is it?" I grumbled, rubbing my temple. She looked at me like I had grown another head.

"Look around you, Muriel. We've been putting out your flame for the past half hour." She said, clearly annoyed. I noticed the bandage around her upper arm, a weird contrast to her extremely pale skin.

"You were burned?" I asked.

She glared at me. "Yes."

I sighed, sitting at the edge of my bed. "Get me something to eat and gather the rest in the parlor." Glasya gave me her 'you're kidding' look.

"Mother wouldn't like that you're exhausting yourself like that." She criticized. I rolled my eyes.

"And father won't like it if we fail this mission before we even truly start. We need to brief for the mission, and I need to heal everyone or people will start to ask questions that we can't afford to mess up on while answering." I said back, reaching for Tyson. "Now go gather the rest of them."

Below, at last, I hovered my hands above my sister's soft wound on her arm. I focused my energy, willing my strength to pout into her. I opened my eyes, watching as her burns slowly disappeared. I leaned back, gasping for breath, and drained. Dagon came up to me and rested his hand on my shoulder. "M, are you okay?"

I nodded, opening my lap as my sister settled another human onto me. A girl this time, her plentiful breasts flowing out of her strapless red bodycon dress. Her pumps made her ridiculously short frame a little taller than my sister and I could feel the thong she wore against my thigh. She smiled at me and I caught her gaze.

Her smile slacked and I spoke, my voice thick and dark. "Don't scream, don't move." She nodded and I shifted her hair out of the way, leaning forward and letting my fangs grow in my mouth. I buried them deep into her neck, drinking desperately. Against me, she groaned and moaned but before I could finish her, I let go, gasping. I waved my hand across her face. "Sleep." She slumped against me and I shifted her in my lap, picking her up and laying her on the couch. I checked the other six girls and three men before turning around.

I heaved a heavy sigh, looking at the stack of files that covered the large dining table. I sat down again, reaching for the closest one. The profile photo that was clipped to the folder looked familiar but I couldn't place the dark-haired girl in my mind anywhere. I set it down and looked up to my team.

Team. I thought. Demons have always worked alone. Not in teams...

Muriel stood across from me, glaring at nothing, though clearly wanting to tear through my skin from her thoughts. Sooner than I'd thought she would, she figured out I was in her head and with a painful shove, pushed me out. I tried again to get past her walls but they were too guarded now. I glared back at her before turning to Dagon. "Dagon, what did you find out about the stones?" I asked.

He leaned down and huffed a large, heavy book onto the table. He opened it and the Demon triplets all swarmed to his side in a fit of giggles. "Leave him be," Muriel ordered. They glanced at me, and with a slight nod, they moved away back to their seats. Muriel sneered at them and they looked down. I rolled my eyes, looking back to Dagon.

"Dagon," I said, annoyed. He nodded softly.

I looked over his shoulder, seeing the disgustingly bright drawings and handwritten words.

The book continued about legends and lores, but at the far end were two peculiar pages that caught my attention.

I, Selene, The Goddess of the Moon, vow to use my abilities to protect the Keys and their sires. I will ensure the safety of the Chosen Child.

"This must be the written vow that the text spoke of earlier," I said softly.

Dagon nodded. "It's the same handwriting, which means the text, must have been written by The Moon Goddess."

Glasya looked over our shoulders, her eyes bright with curiosity. Dagon gently flipped the page.

The devil seeks this book. We are each pouring our energy day and night to protect it. Selene is growing weak, her cloak is fading. How will we protect her without the Goddess's help? Father says that it means the time is coming near where she must use the Key, but no one knows what that means. I asked mother, but she gave me a vague answer which amounted to nothing. How am I supposed to protect her when no one tells me anything?

He draws near, I must hide this. If he finds the book, all of our identities will be exposed. The years of growth and research of the stones, lost. We will lose...

Uriel

I stared at the entry, perplexed. "What's next?" I asked.

Dagon flipped the page, but all we saw was the cover. A glance closer and I noticed the jagged, worn edge of a page, ripped from the binding of the book. "There's nothing. The last page must have been ripped from the book when this Uriel made the entry." Dagon said. I sighed. What could have been on the page?

"That must be how Father gained possession of it. This Uriel must have ripped it right before father stole it." Glasya said. I nodded, agreeing with her. I reached around Dagon, closing the book and taking it in my arms.

"Alright. We know what the Legacy Stones are, these are the things that Father sent us here to retrieve. He's heard word that the Holy Army is searching for these stones. We need to find them before they do."

Lima shifted. "Why?" She asked proudly.

I looked at her. My gaze caused her to cower back slightly and she looked down. "Because one of these stones is powerful enough to bring someone back to life. All of them together could wipe out most of Father's kingdom."

"How do we find them? We don't know who has them, or where they could be." Glasya asked. "All we have is this Uriel."

"We've worked off of far less," I said. "We each have a copy of the files in our rooms. Maybe Uriel will be in of them."

The triplets nodded, Dagon standing up and Glasya turning to look out the window. I focused on her and that's when I heard the noise. Whispers. Too far for me to fully understand, but they were still there. "Someone's here," Glaysa said grimly. "Fan out, search for them. I don't sense any strong auras, so they must be human. Or at the very least, too young to have much power."

I set the book back on the table and followed Glasya out the back door and into the vast emptiness of the forest behind the house.