***Simon’s POV***
I really did like having the whole family at the packhouse. I do wish that Eva would have told me their plan. I feel as if I have been kept in the dark for so long. I can forgive Gran because she was shrouded or else she would have told me about how my parents died, wouldn't she have?
Some of what I just learned helps explain why Sam and I are so different despite us being twins. I have always lingered in the darkness except when I had my mate. She brought out the light in me much like Eva does my brother.
Oh Goddess, if you bestow me with another mate I won't care what species she is. I don't need pups. I just need the love and light that died long ago.
***End POV***
Now that my body is still and extremely satisfied, I can lay here and open myself up to the universe. My mates are all happily snoring around me. It is a sympathy that once may have annoyed me but now I am content getting lost in its rhythm.
A lot has happened in these last few days too and we have another night of this blood moon to endure as well. Even though I think Raven is at a standstill, I know it won't be for long. She will come up with another plan and I hope that we will be ready to counter when she does. I find myself continually glancing to the South as if I expect something to appear in that corner of the room or at the foot of my bed. Little lights are coming because I can feel the babies, especially Guinevere, fluttering inside of me. These lights must have some vital information for us or be strong allies, maybe both.
Suddenly everything becomes pitch black. I am surrounded by nothingness. A man's deep voice says, “I pulled you into this void so that we may speak unobstructed."
“Can I at least see who summoned me here?”
“Of course,” the deep voice replied.
A tall man in a dark cloak manifested in front of me. He raised his head up and slowly pushed back his hood. His eyes were familiar as I had seen them in my dream. I know who is standing before me, “Mormo.”
“Yes, I have watched for so long unable to fully make contact,” he replies.
His eyes are steady and darker than mine but I see my stubbornness staring back at me. I also see my propensity to hate compliments and avoid the spotlight too. He, like me, likes to be hidden and underestimated.
“Why? Why couldn't you fully make contact?”
“Raven has spies in the Underworld. They are like cockroaches. You kill hundreds only to discover a nest of more,” he explains.
“Where am I?”
“The In-between. This is where souls go that have made the ultimate sacrifice and the gods of death can't entomb them in hell just as the gods of life can't grant them rebirth,” Mormo says.
“This is where I freed Gran from and also where Sam's family is. I need to find them and get them out.”
He smiles, “You have a lot of your mother in you. She was brave and selfless.” He offers me his icy hand and I take it. A lukewarm current begins to flow between us, “But you have a good portion of me too. You unlike your half-siblings are equal parts life and death. You can walk freely where others must sacrifice to be.”
“I can bring all of the lost back, can't I?”
Mormo nods, “If you choose to do so, yes. But please be wary of your choices as they will have consequences.”
“They could negatively affect the balance just as they could positively.”
“Yes, the key is temperance,” he says.
I put my free hand on my stomach, “My children.” He looks at me so I place his hand on my stomach and cover it with mine as I say, “Your grandchildren.”
He smiles and I can tell that it is something that he hasn't done in a very long time. I oddly see some of Vincent in him too. He nods, “They are the ultimate keys.”
“Because they are born from the ultimate weapon.”
“Yes, my child. Your mother and I unknowingly made armageddon when we made you. I am sorry that you hold the fate of Earth in your hands, but I trust that you will make the right decisions,” he said solemnly.
“I have always felt odd and now I have an understanding as to why. I am nothing yet I am everything.”Nothing is, everything is becoming. -Heraclitus” I also know that you have been making things difficult for Raven.”
Mormo nods, “I have and so has Hecate. When you untethered a leviathan and awoke a dragon shifter, she sensed it so I had to tell her about you, my daughter.”
I searched his face, “She's not angry?”
Mormo said, “No, we are only lovers, not mates. Your mother was and always will be my only mate.”
Maybe I can change that, but if I can't at least he will be able to know his grandchildren. I need to learn all that I can from him, “Can you tell me about the lights I sense approaching?”
Mormo grins, “Raven keeps light beings to give her boosts. She had a mated pair that she thought were gnomes.”
I see his grin turn into a smirk, “They weren't gnomes at all. What are they?”
Mormo’s smirk widens, “They are a very special type of Sprite called a Qwark because they contain part of the First Particle of Creation.”
My eyes widened, “They were the first life that Mom created for Earth.”
With a fond smile, Mormo nods, “Yes. And now they are coming to aid you and show you everything that they know. Also, I am sending one of the first demons to aid you as well. He will teach you how to harness your darkness while the Qwarks help you harness the light.”
I feel Vincent reach for me, “I need to go.”
“I know. You have some good men as mates,” he says as he gives my hand a squeeze.
“I know and I am so very thankful for it too. Will I see you again?”
Mormo smiles, “You can summon me here anytime until we can meet freely in the Outerworld.” He kissed my forehead before he and the darkness vanished.
Vincent asks, “My love, why haven't you slept?” as he caressed my cheek. So I told him about my trip into the In-between. He pulled me close and kissed me, “Now we know why Raven
didn't try anything tonight and most likely won't be able to for a bit. Did he say what demon he was sending?”
“No, just as I told you he said one of the first ones.”
He chuckles, “I hope that it's one of Vlad's stepfathers.”
“You are evil,” I tease as I smack his chest.
Vincent says, “Only when I have to be.”
In response, I smack him on his cheek. He raises an eyebrow, “Then now it is.” He pulls me close and I think that he will kiss me, but his lips only ghost mine. He grins as his eyes darken, “No cuming until I do.”