Chapter 32

Just like before, the magic kicked up and in a moment we were standing back in the whirlwind of catacombs.

"Did you get what you need?" My mom was there to greet us. She looked exhausted.

"Yeah we got it." I said as she hugged me tightly.

"Good, welcome home." She offered, stepping back.

"Thank god." Keith said, he too looked exhausted.

"How long were we gone?" I asked, frowning a little.

"Almost a week." My father said, walking up, "Did you get everything?"

"Yes, we got the blood of a fairy. Don't ask how. You don't want to know. But a week? It only felt like a couple of hours.".

"Time in the Hollow runs different. When magic is untapped, it changes the biological atmosphere, among other things. So the time span is different. One day can feel like an hour." He explained.

I looked at Sarah and I wanted to make a joke. But at the same time, it felt to awkward.

"What have I missed?" I asked instead, eye balling Keith.

"Hades has been sending demons after swarm of demons after us. Sometimes inquisition officers."

"How many?" I asked.

"I don't know. I lost count, but it's wearing us down Khloe. We've already lost a round twenty soldiers and counting. We have roughly fifty injured. Enola is working as quickly as she can to heal, but I don't know how this is going to look when we go into battle." Keith sighed and I cringed.

"He's trying to scare us. He's trying to weaken us." I said instantly, Keith nodded in agreement.

"So what's our response?" He asked, looking at me. "You're our leader, what's the next move?"

"We fight back stronger. I want every potion and spell Enola can come up with, anything that will give us additional strength and power."

"That sounds like a plan." Keith agreed.

"I can do that." Elona was standing there, she looked more exhausted then I'd ever seen her there. "I also have some news."

"What's up?" I asked curiously.

"I think I know how we can weaken Hades." She announced.

"Great. Whatever it is, do it." I didn’t care for an explanation.

"Of course. It'll mean waking the spirit of Persephone. Giving him exactly what he wants."

"Can we do that?" I asked curiously.

"We can, it will need a lot of magic to pull off though and I will be weakened after." She explained.

"What do you need?" I asked.

"I need someone who can help cast a circle and close it as well." She said, "Someone who knows how magic works and can help me return to strength so I can offer my assistance elsewhere."

"Done. I'll find someone to be there and look after you." I told her.

"I'll do it." Keith said, "I'll assist Enola in her spell casting and then once she is back to health I will join you in battle against Hades."

"That's great. That solves that. How soon can we be ready to go?" I asked.

"We can have everyone ready to battle in a day." Keith said.

"I want everyone ready to go bye sundown." I told him.

"We'll use the cover of darkness to give us some extra light and hiding." He nodded in agreement. I turned to look at Scotty, Seth, and Kali.

"Get some rest. We need everyone to be on their top as we head into war."

"What about you?" Scotty asked, looking down at me, "You need to rest to. We can't have our leader falling down from exhaustion."

"He has a point. Rest Khloe, we'll make sure everyone is ready to go." Dad said, giving me a small hug.

"Alright." I agreed. Scotty took my hand and started leading me to a cabin.

"Stay with me?" I requested, looking up at Scotty. He didn't hesitate.

"Of course." He murmured, leaning down and kissing my forehead. I smiled as I lead him into the cabin. He leaned over and touched the lamp, causing it to light.

“Leaning some new tricks?" I asked, laughing softly.

He grinned.

"Elona has taught me a couple things." He nodded, moving to join me. He pulled me onto the bed, and I curled up against him. I sighed contently, feeling the stress of the past couple of days leaving my shoulders. I rested my head on his chest and nuzzled into him contently.

"Thank you." I whispered softly, voice muffled by his shirt.

"For what?" he asked, running gently circles with his hand in my shoulder.

"For staying. You didn't have to. You aren't a witch. This has nothing to do with you." I told him, pulling back and looking up at him so that I could look into his blue eyes. He was smiling.

"Of course I would've stayed. I would've stayed for you if no other reason." He said, leaning forward and our lips met again. I smiled happily. "I know you're in a crazy place right now, but you know how I feel about you Khloe. I'm always right here for you."

"And you don't know how much that means to me." I whispered softly.

"Why do I hear a but on the end of that sentence?" He asked curiously. I sighed.

"Because there is one." I admitted.

"Tell me." He encouraged.

There was no accusation, just a simple request.

"I love Wes. I will always love Wes and I will wait for him. If he comes back, I will drop anything and everything for him." The words took me by surprise, because I didn't think even I realized that I could do that.

"But?" Scotty asked curiously, once more.

"But I can't wait for him forever. He might not come back. And when he does come back, I don’t know if that’ll be as a partner or just friends." I admitted and the words almost stung, though not as bad as they did before.

"You're saying that you'll always chose Wes?" Scotty asked, there was no anger in his voice, just understanding.

"Yes."

"But you also admit there is something between us?” He clarified again.

"Yes. I don’t know what it is just yet, but I don’t want to ignore it either."

"I can live with that." Scotty mused, offering me a warm smile. His hand raised and ran along my chin before pulling upward and he offered a gentle smile. I smiled back.

"Really?" I asked softly, "I would understand if you didn't."

"Of course I don't mind it, Khloe. How many times do I have to tell you that I can't get enough of you? I want you. If I have to be the other man, I can live with that. If Wes comes back, and you decide you want to be with him, I'll let you go. It will hurt like hell, but I'll do it." He assured me, "But for now. I'll take you while I can have you."

I sighed, burying my face in his chest and hugging him tightly.

"Thank you Scotty, thank you so much." I murmured, tangling my hands into his short hair, clinging to him. He was so solid and firm and warm.

"Anytime, Khloe." He kissed the top of his head.

"So does this make me king?" He asked curiously and I couldn't help but laugh.

"I have no idea, but it does make you mine." I grinned, pulling back and leaning up to kiss him. We kissed long and slow before he pulled away.

"You really do need to get some rest. I don't want you passing out because I kept you up all night." He smirked.

I grinned, curling up into him. He ran a hand through my hair and whispered a lullaby that I'd never heard of before. the words were foreign. I laid in his arms and drifted happily off to sleep, dreamless.

---

When I woke up in the morning, Scotty was still there as well, snoozing and snoring lightly. I sat up, watching him carefully. He looked so peaceful, and I realized how happy I was just watching him. I leaned in to kiss his cheek and he stirred. He smiled up at me and blinked.

"Hey. Morning." He mumbled, yawning and stretching. I giggled because it was so cute.

"Morning." I mumbled back, leaning in to kiss him again. There was a knock on our cabin door and Keith entered.

"Enola is making breakfast before we go. We need to make sure everyone knows the plan and knows what's going to happen at sundown." Keith said.

"Thank you, we'll be ready in a minute." I told him.

He just nodded and walk out.

"Hungry?" I asked, grinning down at Scotty. He moaned.

"Starving. I feel like I haven't eaten in ages." He sighed lightly and sat up. He leaned over and gave me another kiss, longer and lingering. I sighed into it before pulling back.

"We should go before people start to question." I chuckled.

"Who cares what people think?" Scotty groaned, standing up.

I nodded in agreement, but I was also starving.

"Let's go." I stood up and stretch, starting toward the door, but he stopped me.

"You ready for today?" He asked, giving me a serious look.

"You mean am I ready to head into battle?" I asked, looking up at him. He nodded and so did I.

"I'm ready to get this battle over with." I told him as we made our way into the club area.

"Ready to get back to normal, whatever that means now." He laughed.

I agreed.

"It's sure not going to be like it was before." I sighed, wondering what that meant. I didn't know if was good or bad.

"Everything's going to be fine." Scotty said, kissing my cheek as we found our way to the table. I just nodded.

"Well, it's about time." Sara snorted.

"What?" I asked, rolling my eyes at her and shaking my head.

"You two." She pointed between me and Scotty.

"Is between me and Scotty." I said quickly before she continued, "Never kiss and tell remember."

"You are no fun." She huffed, sticking her tongue out at me before shoving a piece of toast in her mouth.

"We're going to have a debriefing after breakfast." My father interrupted the conversation and Sara and I giggled, "Yes sir." I grinned at him.

"Keith says after the debriefing we're going to have a party, just to have some fun before we go into battle." Sara said, piling eggs onto her plate. I was doing the same, filling it with piles of all different kinds of food on the tables in front of us.

"That sounds like a good idea." I agreed.

"We'll reorganize an hour before sundown and head into HQ." My mother said. I nodded in agreement.

"I want to charge the team to get Abbey." I said.

"I'll be joining Khloe." Scotty said.

"Me to." Sara agreed.

"We'll head into the cages to get Abbey and then head upstairs to challenge Hades. I want everyone to fall back. Hades is mine and mine alone." I said, turning to look at Scotty, who didn't exactly look happy, but I don't care.

"Scotty, promise me you won't follow me to face Hades." I demanded, setting a fork of uneaten eggs down.

He stated at me for a long moment before answering.

"Fine. I promise." He mumbled, shoveling a plate full of food into his mouth. I nodded, satisfied. Keith stood up.

"Finish eating up everyone, I have some special plans for you guys in the next hour." Keith shouted above the conversation of the crowded club.

"We have more witches coming." Mom said, '"They are coming from all over the tunnels."

"Yes, the tunnels go across the entire country." Seth said, nodding between bites of food.

We chatted and talked over breakfast, asking questions and telling answers. The conversation turned into war stories from Seth and Scotty, Seth recalling the first time I went on a hunt. We ate until we were stuffed and then Keith stood up.

"Tonight we face battle. Tonight we face great challenges. We are under attack. We have always been and will always be a threat to the demonic forces that wish to kill and destroy innocent lives. But war does not come without joy and love so though it is early morning I say we celebrate. Remember the things worth living for, worth dying for. And we remember most of all, what is worth fighting for. So with that said, et ignis in nocte, super nos in operibus suis! Enjoy the show!" Keith raised his hands, pointing to the ceiling above us. The roof the cave turned from dirt red to a deep, midnight blue. Explosions burst into beautiful blasts of colors as fireworks exploded in the sky and music cranked in the background.

"All drinks are free tonight ladies and gentlemen, drink up!" Keith shouted before heading back to the bar. Mom followed after, heading behind the bar as well.

"What is she doing?" Sara asks, confused.

"Your mother wasn't always district attorney." My dad said grinning lightly.

"Mom was a bartender?" I asked, just as surprised.

"No, but she can mix the best cosmopolitan this side of the east coast." He chuckled and made his way to the bar. I shook my head, watching them.

“Who would’ve thought? Mom’s actually cool.” Sara giggled from across the table. The party continued until well after lunch time when Keith fed everyone.

At three, Enola found me and Scotty, we were curled in a corner together, drinks in hand and chatting over the sound of the music.

"Keith says we will begin the debriefing in one hour. I wanted to start on the preparations now. Would you assist?" She asked.

"Absolutely." I nodded in agreement, standing up and pulling Scotty with me. I took my cherry soda and Enola led us into a back room. A small cabin that was more like a workshop then a living space.

"So what is the plan?" I asked, looking down at works and piles of paper that were splayed out.

"All of my work shows me that Hades is already having visions of Persephone. A breakdown of sorts if you will. He’s losing strength and power and it is twisting his mind. What I wish to do will accent this. Make the visions stronger and more violent. Push him over the curb. He will think that Persephone is real, but she will be everything he doesn't love. Angry, upset. She will push him away and over the edge." Enola explained.

"And this can be done?" I asked, a moment later Keith and Scotty walked in.

"Yes it can be done. It will be a very powerful and complex spell. It cannot be interrupted."

"I'll stand guard." Scotty said.

"And I'll watch the circle." Keith said..

"What do you need me to do?" I asked, looking at Enola.

"I need you to cast with me. Your magic is much stronger as the chosen high priestess, your energy will not be wasted as much, and you will recover faster. I wanted to do it earlier then we discussed this way Hades has an hour before we discussed so that you have time to weaken his spirit." Elona explained.

"Sounds great. Tell me what to do."

"I will begin casting the circle, you read the words on the paper." She ordered, placing a paper in my hand.

"I can do that." I agreed. I watched as Elona began to set candles in a circle, lighting them one by one and casting the circle. She casted a circle of protection first, then asked for guidance. I watched her chant and call for the spirits. It was breathtaking. "We're ready." She said finally and looked over at me. I nodded.

"Let's begin."