Dark Cotillion (First in the Brenna Strachan Series)

  Dark Cotillion

  Hadena James

  All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without prior written permission of the author.

  This book is a work of fiction. Any names, places, characters, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination and are purely fictitious. Any resemblances to any persons, living or dead, are completely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2012 Hadena James

  All Rights Reserved

  Smashwords Edition

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  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Epilogue

  Acknowledgments

  Also By Hadena James

  About the Author

  Find Me!

  Prologue

  The Overlords sat at a large wooden table. It was built in the shape of a “u” with square corners. The open end faced east as it had since it had been built. The table had been in existence for about two million years and it showed the wear and tear.

  Inside the open part a man stood. He was wearing a drab uniform with nothing particularly notable or striking, except the pins on the collar. The pins were a stylized double-s. The double-s looked like two lightning bolts. He spoke English fairly well, occasionally throwing in a German word, and then looking concerned, as if the Council members wouldn’t understand them.

  “The Wunderwaffen, um.” He shook his head. He was very nervous. He wasn’t sure why he had been picked to stand before this conglomerate, except that he didn’t want the war to continue. He had been picked by “them,” and plucked from his home in the middle of the night by something with wings. The something sat at the Council table, looking at him intensely.

  “The wonder-weapon, Die Glocke, uh, the bell, as Fuhrer says, is almost complete. If it does do everything they claim, more will die.” He shifted nervously.

  “I have done what I could to…” the German SS scientist searched for the right word.

  “Sabotage it,” the figure that spoke was impressively tall, toweringly so, even from a seated position. He had fair skin, blond hair, and green eyes. The scientist was sure that his wings were a very light green.

  “Yes, break it,” the scientist agreed.

  “That is why you are here,” the large one who sat in the middle of the back table finally said. “That is why you are all here. We have been shown a future that is very bleak.”

  Lucifer stood. His horns were full size, jutting from his head with a slight s-curve to a full seven feet tall. This made his entire frame almost fifteen feet tall. His skin was a dark red with tints of burgundy and copper. His eyes were slit like a cat’s, only the irises were red with a very fine line of lilac at the edges. It made them both beautiful and frightening to stare at.

  There were three other Humans in the room. All were heads of state, one spoke Russian, the other two, English. Lucifer was addressing all four Humans as he spoke.

  “As we have seen it, the United States of America will resort to using nuclear weapons. Germany will complete and use Die Glocke, and it will be horrifying. England will be the first of the Allies to fall, or rather, be obliterated. Die Glocke will destroy the land, make it barren. The US will retaliate with their own wonder weapons. Germany will be obliterated. The fall-out, the fall-out is unimaginable. In ten years, the entire world’s population will drop to a measly 10 million people. Within forty, there will be no Human population left.”

  “Lucifer, we do not meddle in Human affairs,” another Overlord spoke. He was tall as well, but not like Lucifer. His skin was orange and he smelled of fire. His hair was pitch black. His name was Kagutsuchi.

  “We do when they concern our own,” Morgana, the only female Overlord, spat at him. “This will concern us. We have no idea what that type of radiation would do to us, or to the other creatures on this island. It could wipe us all out, not just the Humans.”

  “Is there no alternative?” The American President finally spoke, standing up.

  “Yes, but it is just as grim. If the US doesn’t use its nuclear arsenal, Germany wins the war, and the instruments of death continue to work their way across Europe. Then it moves to Asia, Africa, finally to the other side of the globe, North and South America. The population drops again, almost as much as if you did use your nuclear bombs,” the Angel with the green wings answered.

  “There must be another option,” the Prime Minister for Britain held his arm out, looking for suggestions.

  “There is,” Lucifer answered him. “We join the war effort. The Elders have kept out of this for far too long as it is. Too many have died, we cannot afford to stand by and watch any longer. The Elders will join the side of the Allies. This will eliminate the use of nuclear weapons and Das Wunderwaffen.”

  “What do you want in return?” The Russian asked in Russian.

  “We want to live,” Lucifer told him. “We will reconvene after the end of the war. Herr Doktor, I believe it is unwise for you to return to your fatherland. You have been a great asset and we would all hate to see you die for your efforts, when we can prevent it.”

  After the Humans left the Council Chamber, Morgana, Overlord of the Fey, stood and addressed the entire room.

  “Their memories are not that short. It has only been a couple thousand years since our war leveled their cities, set their populations back several generations. They still consider most of us ‘evil’ even. Look how they portray Lucifer and Fenrir.”

  “It was their war too, Morgana, they just didn’t realize it then, just as we don’t seem to be taking into account that this is our war now,” Anubis countered her. “Besides, maybe we can alter their perceptions if we fight with them. Maybe we can create the society we have been dreaming about since Human evolution began.”

  “Good ol’ Anubis, always looking for the silver lining,” Chiron sneered. “When it is over and we have won their war, they will turn against us.”

  “But to do nothing,” Anubis gave an awkward frown. “Nuclear holocaust, genocide, darkness, that is the true evil that lies before us. If we do nothing, we have surrendered our own fate into their hands. If we do nothing, we have to watch as they destroy themselves and the planet. How can you even suggest such a thing?”

  “We can fix the earth
when they have finished,” an Elemental suggested.

  “Enough,” Lucifer stood up. All eyes turned to him. “What they think of us has nothing to do with our current situation. What we think of them has nothing to do with our current situation. We were here once before. Only our brethren were the ones hell-bent on destroying Humanity. We cannot sit idly by and watch them destroy themselves. If we do, then what did we fight for all those years ago? To do nothing, is to condemn them to a fate they do not deserve. We have all dealt with prejudice and fanatics. That is all that we would be dealing with here. It is all they are dealing with here. We will take a vote, majority rules.

  “All those in favor of helping the Allied Powers, stand now and be counted.” Lucifer tallied the number of votes. Only the Overlords were in the room. Along with himself, he counted eight. He didn’t bother with the opposed; there were only two of them.

  “It is decided, we help the Humans to avoid their own extinction and prevent whatever fallout would reach us. The two that did not agree to help; I recommend you keep you and yours on this island. We do not need opposition, or those that would begrudgingly assist. We are strong enough without you.”

  “You seem to forget, Lucifer, there are other matters of more importance at hand,” Chiron continued, undeterred.

  “I am aware that Leviathan has pointed out that my mate lives. I only need find her now.” Lucifer looked at him squarely.

  “That is the problem, Lucifer. She must be Human.” Chiron gave a look of pure hatred at the large Demon, as he said the word “Human.”

  “Your mate lives, the prophecy will come to pass, now,” Kagutsuchi, the Elemental, spoke up. “You will create our downfall should you mate. If we allow the war to unfold, we will not have to worry about that.”

  “Centaurian prophecy, regardless of whether it comes from Chiron or another Centaur, is rarely 100% accurate. We cannot deny Lucifer the chance to mate on some random poetic nonsense spouted while a Centaur was entranced,” Gabriel spoke.

  “Agreed, Lucifer’s offspring and their fate is not our concern, especially at the moment. We must focus on stopping the war. Until Lucifer’s offspring are born, we cannot worry ourselves with trivial matters such as prophecy.” Ba’al stretched his wings. “I believe we have had enough conversation and discussion. We must intervene, and we will not prevent Lucifer from mating because of a half-baked prophecy.”

  “For all we know, Chiron, you invented the prophecy to keep him from mating,” a new voice spoke as he entered the Council Chamber. “Forgive the interruption, but I believe we have much to do.”

  “What is it Leviathan?” Lucifer asked his younger brother.

  “You have all been sequestered in here for most of the day, the hordes are getting restless. They want to know what the verdict is, so they can prepare one way or another,” Levi answered.

  “We are joining the Allied Powers. We will stop their madness and preserve the Human race at all costs,” Lucifer told him.

  “I’ll ready them.” Levi left.

  “Chiron, your cruelty is maniacal. I can’t believe you would begrudge any Elder a mate because of a prophecy.” Morgana turned from the table in disgust. “One day, you will get what you give.”

  With that parting shot, all the Overlords, except Lucifer, shuffled from the chamber. Lucifer fell back into his seat, the chair groaned a bit with his weight and he echoed it with a heavy sigh. His brothers all entered the vacated space.

  “Are we doing the right thing?” Lucifer asked, head down, hand over his eyes. He didn’t need to see them to know they were there.

  “Yes,” Beezel spoke first, “this is necessary. We must stop them from eliminating themselves.”

  “And after? When they have defeated the Hun, they have a new enemy to stand up against. They will be screaming for our heads and begging our Demons to heal their fragile Human conditions.” Lucifer gave another sigh.

  “Either they will accept us, or they won’t, Luc. If they do, we will provide them with all the wisdom we have. We will help with their pollution problems, sort out some of their religious fighting, and do everything we can to make the world a better place. We have been waiting for them to reach this point,” Levi reassured his older brother.

  “And if they don’t accept us, we come back to the Island. We find your mate first though, Luc,” Beezel answered the unspoken “what if.”

  “They have reached the precipice, Luc, only the Elders can save them now,” Mammon added. “If they reject us afterwards, it is only proof that they are still not ready for us to walk among them. That time will come though.”

  “Eons and eons we have sat and watched,” Lucifer began, “and I guess there is no time like the present to make an attempt to merge.”

  Three weeks later, headlines read, “Japan Surrenders.” A week after that, the headline read, “Italy Falls Victim to New Allies.” However, the one that got the most attention was, “Hitler discovered by Lucifer in Secret Bunker.” The picture that accompanied it showed an unhappy Lucifer holding Hitler by the collar of his coat; Hitler’s feet were dangling six feet from the ground. Hitler looked terrified. That was seven weeks after the Elders joined World War II.

  In the months that followed, the United States and other countries offered to let the Elders join the Human world. If it was just a courtesy gesture, the US got a big shock, when 90% of all the Elders in the world, or roughly four million beings, set up their own city outside of Kansas City, Missouri.

  After being given commendations for their efforts in the war, most of the Overlords set up their own small communities, with Lucifer and Demonnation at the heart of it. They built several small cities that they called “Post-Merge Cities.” They began retrofitting buildings that did not hold historical meaning, to accommodate their larger than Human sizes. They encouraged Witches, hiding amongst the Humans, to come out, stand up, and declare themselves as real as anything else.

  In 1946, the Pope blessed Lucifer in the Vatican. Lucifer took part in communion and was baptized, and did not spontaneously combust or scream in pain. Together, the Elders began helping Humans write a new religious book that righted several misunderstandings, including, “Demons are bad” and “Angels are good.”

  That same year, Lucifer met a young woman while giving a speech at a university. She was in her twenties, smart, funny, and a Strachan Witch. He fell head over heels, and three years later, they were married. The Pope attended their wedding, as did several world leaders. A new job was created, Ambassador of Human and Elder Affairs, and it was given to Lucifer.

  In 1980, the Elder world was rocked when Lucifer and his bride, Elise, gave birth to their sixth child, a Demon Half-Breed who had lilac skin, lilac eyes, and power enough for twenty Demons and Witches. A prophesized child, Chiron the Centaurian Overlord, immediately demanded her death, but it is hard to kill an immortal, even a half-breed.

  Chapter One

  “I met him once,” Gabriel took a long drag off a cigarette. His eyes were glassy, searching for some long lost memory. Until that moment, I had been reading a book, and was completely clueless whom he was talking about. Especially, since he did seem to be talking to me, as opposed to talking to some imaginary person in the room. He hadn’t spoken in well over an hour. His mind had been preoccupied with other things, possibly my safety, possibly not.

  “Who?” I asked, after I put the bookmark in between the pages.

  “Conan Doyle.” He made a motion towards my book. I had been reading Sherlock Holmes stories.

  “Was he as bright as Holmes?”

  “No one is as bright as Holmes, except Mycroft, and even that could be debated.” Gabriel stretched and yawned, before turning his vivid green eyes on me. “Pleasant man though.”

  “I see,” I frowned at him. “Decided to break the silent treatment?”

  “I figured it wasn’t doing me any good to sit here chain smoking and trying to ignore you into submission, since you seemed to be rather casually reading.”
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  “I’m slightly disturbed that it took you so long to figure it out.” I tossed the hard back onto the coffee table. It made a satisfying “thunk” sound as it hit the wood.

  “You shouldn’t do that to your books.”

  “No, I shouldn’t do that to your books, my books are nice hard bound editions that can be purchased at any local book store.”

  “Someday, your books will be like my books.”

  “Gabriel, no one’s books will be like your books. What is it with Angels and book hoarding anyway?”

  “We all have our idiosyncrasies.” He gave a shrug. He was incredibly pissed at me. I had spent the last day or so feeling it vibrate off of him. It came in waves, slamming into my psyche before rebounding to fill the voids of the room. I was sure that in a month or so, you would still be able to find those pockets of anger hiding in corners.

  Of course, in a month or so, it wouldn’t matter. I wouldn’t be holed up in this room with the angry Angel, or anyone else for that matter. I would be back to enjoying my life, whatever that meant.

  Gabriel stood. He was impressively tall. Not as tall as my father, but then, few beings were. My father made Gabriel seem small, but the Angel was thinly built, his sinewy body belied the strength that was contained in the muscles just beneath the skin. My father was built like a brick wall, and almost the same color.

  “Brenna,” Gabriel frowned at me, “you still do not seem to be taking any of this seriously.”

  “Uh, Gabriel, I’m a Demon Half-Breed, and relatively speaking, immortal. Threats on my life really aren’t anything new, and they certainly aren’t particularly frightening.”

  “You will not be immortal during the Maturing.”

  “No, no, I won’t, but I will be surrounded with an armed guard of very powerful beings, who can efficiently and effectively take care of me, everyone in my condo, and most of the people in this neighborhood by batting an eyelash. All of us have gone through it.” I looked at him finally. “You forget, I’ve had two brothers and three sisters go through the Maturing. My parents are still breeding like rabbits, so I imagine there will be more of us in the future.”