Reaper's Nox (Chapter 3)

3

Maddox sat on his usual branch outside Ronie’s room’s window. He normally he would sit there minding his own business. Just being that close to her was enough, but he noticed that she stood at her door with it cracked open just enough to see out into the hallway. He wondered what she was doing. He knew her mother was there already, at least. She stood in the same place for nearly ten minutes, then, she stepped out closing her door. He sighed in exasperation and leaned back against the tree trunk. Almost as if on cue, his phone notification went off. A soft growl escaped his lips as he pulled the phone out of his pocket to check who had messaged him. Unsurprisingly, it was from “C”. He shoved the phone back into his pocket, ignoring the message. After a couple of minutes passed, his phone chimed again. This time, he didn’t even pull the phone out of his pocket. Another couple of minutes passed and another chime with them. Finally annoyed enough, Maddox pulled the phone out of his pocket and opened the messages.
“You remember what you’re doing when things go down, right?” -C
“Maddox?” -C
“Stop ignoring me!” -C
He rolled his eyes and shook his head. Never had he ever had to work with anyone as anal retentive as this guy. Still, if he were in the same position, he supposed he would be too. Letting some of his irritation subside, he responded back. As he hit the send button, Maddox felt a pulse of energy that made the hairs on his neck stand on end. He leaned forward on the tree branch and watched Ronie’s bedroom door intently. After another couple minutes passed, she walked into her room. When she faced her window, Maddox spotted it. From where he sat it looked like a bluish dot in the crook of her neck, but he knew exactly what it was. He had seen Margaret wearing the same necklace when he first met her. He knew what it represented and realized what that pulse of energy was. It was the bind breaking completely. He sat there motionless as he watched her wondering if, no, when she would spot him sitting there. He realized that he was holding his breath, so he released it slowly. Relief washed over him as she made no movement toward the window he sat before. As he spied on her, she yawned and moved sluggishly to her bed. She sat down and leaned over, her head barely touching the edge of her pillow as he peered inside.
Hurriedly, he pulled out his phone and called “C’. The line rang a few times before there was a response.
“Hello,” came the calm but annoyed sounding voice of Conway, “What can I do for you?”
Maddox felt annoyance bubble up inside himself. How dare he sound annoyed when he had messaged him several times in a row previously. Swallowing his feelings, he responded, “She is wearing it.”
“What?!” In the background, Maddox heard who he believed to be Gavin asking his brother if something was wrong and Conway assuring him that all was well before he returned to the conversation. “How do you know?”
“I saw it. She has it on right now. She succumbed to the excessive use of energy and barely made it to her bed to sit down.”
“That explains the energy pulse I felt earlier. That broke the bind. Contact the other two and let them know to be ready. It’s going down sooner than we thought.”
“Right. See you in a few.”
Maddox pulled the phone from his ear and sent messages to Meghan and Jenna before slipping the phone back into his pocket. As he did that, he observed Conway entering Ronie’s room. They made eye contact. His gaze followed him as he walked over to the window, unlatching, and lifting it just enough for Maddox’s slender fingers to slide through. He looked on as Conway gently moved his sister into her bed properly. He noted that Conway brushed her hair from her face lightly. There was a mixture of emotions on his face as he gazed down at his sister. That was when he noticed that Conway was trembling. Maddox wondered briefly what it would feel like to have siblings who cared about him. He spied Conway placing a tented paper on the nightstand next to her along with a white feather with black speckles. Keeping his eyes forward, he straightened his spine before briskly turning away from her and walking out the door. Maddox’s eyes returned to the tented paper with Ronie’s name on it and the feather next to it. He had to make sure she didn’t leave those behind when the time came.

Only a few moments had passed since Conway had opened Ronie’s window enough for Maddox to enter. Sliding out further on the branch, Maddox leaned down and pushed his fingers between the windowsill and window frame. He pulled the window up with care and with the ease of a cat burglar, he tumbled noiselessly into Ronie’s room. He set to work doing what he was let in to do. First, he emptied her backpack of her school texts since she wasn’t going to need them any longer. He reached for the tented letter for Ronie but hesitated. After a few seconds thought, he snatched up the letter and feather, stuffing both into one of the front pockets of the backpack. The rest of what he needed to pack was beyond her room so he turned to leave, but as he did the door opened. Maddox stood face to face with the figure standing in the doorway. The light from outside the room temporarily blinded Maddox. The face of the figure was shrouded in shadow, but the height of it told Maddox exactly who was before him. An array of thoughts going through Gavin’s mind were made apparent by the expressions on his face as Maddox locked gazes with his friend’s brother.
“It’s not what you think it is, Gavin,” Maddox uttered.
“Maddox? Wh- How did you get-,” stuttered Gavin stopping as he took in the full scene. His eyes made their way back to Maddox, “What are you doing? Did you do something to my sister?”
Gavin’s voice slowly grew louder causing Maddox to tense up. He looked back to Ronie to see if she were stirring, but she was still out cold. Turning back to Gavin, Maddox raised his hands in a non-threatening way to calm the teenager down. His attempt failed as Gavin reached in and grabbed Maddox by his jacket and pulled him out of the room. Reflexively, Maddox grabbed Gavin’s wrist with his free hand and was about to change the tables on him when his wrist was grabbed. Both boys turned their attention to the new arrival.
“There’s no time for that, boys,” stated Jacob.
“But dad…he was in Ronie’s room,” Gavin started, but trailed off.
“I know, son. He is gathering what he thinks she will need for her time on the lam.”
Maddox sighed deeply and shook his head as he pried himself from both of their grips, “This is why you should have told them instead of trying to be all “Mission Impossible.”
“Perhaps you haven’t had to deal with them because we have taken these actions, Fae human.”
“I’m a changeling,” Maddox growled. He opened his mouth to utter an insult back but was interrupted by another familiar voice.
“There are things we could have done differently, but we wanted to be thorough. We realize that we are asking much more of you in return for what you have offered but, please, continue to help us for our daughter’s sake at least.”
Margaret stepped from behind Jacob. There was a pleading look on her face and her eyes sparkled with unshed tears. He couldn’t help it. His upbringing had trained him to be submissive to authoritative females. As Margaret was much older than him, he couldn’t refuse her request. Pulling his jacket out of Gavin’s loose grip, Maddox smoothed it down and straightened his spine.
“I have a job to do,” he declared softly.
He caught sight of a smile on Margaret’s lips before she turned. “Follow me,” she called to him over her shoulder, “There is something I need to give you for her.”

****

Ronie woke with a start as the bed beneath her trembled and her window rattled in its sill. There was a sound like thunder striking close by followed by what sounded like a sudden down pour. Leaping out of her bed, Ronie dashed to her window to find it partially open. That only held her attention for a moment as she spotted what looked like a gapping hole in her back yard. Pain stabbed at her forehead and stung her eyes, but she managed to spot a man-like figure climbing out of the hole. Ronie turned to run for her bedroom door when she came face-to-face with Maddox.
“You need to come with me,” he whispered to her.
He was so close to her she felt his warm, sweet breath on her cheek. He slipped his cool fingers around her wrist and gently pulled her toward the door. “We need to hurry before he makes it inside,” Maddox told her.
“Who? And why do we have to go? Where are we going in the first place, Maddox? Why are you here? Where are my siblings,” Ronie asked, flooding him with questions. She started to try to resist, but his grip tightened slightly, and he pulled her with a bit more force than she was used to from him. Panic rose in her throat as she looked around the darkened area.
“Stop resisting him, Wennie pooh,” instructed Jacob.
Turning toward her father’s voice, her jaw dropped as she looked at him. She stopped moving altogether. She had to shade her eyes a bit to see the outline of his figure past the nearly blinding golden light. He took her raised hand into his own and kissed the back of her hand gently. He gave her a melancholy smile and spread his wings before letting her hand go and leaping over the banister. Ronie darted to the banister and starred down below. Without looking back up at her, a flame appeared in the palm of his hand. She felt Maddox’s hand slide up her arm toward her elbow as he tugged her. “We need to go! NOW,” he urged her.
In the light her father was giving off she could see Maddox’s feature more clearly. They were sharp and angled. With her free hand, she reached up and cradled her head. Everything seemed so surreal. She let him pull her down the stairs and across the foyer to the front door. Taking in the scene before her, she forgot her panic and pulled free of Maddox’s grip. He reached to take hold of her again, but she stepped away from him.
“I can’t leave! What about the others? Gavin? Me-Me? Conway?”
“It’s Conway’s plan to get you out of here. As for the other two, they aren’t my concern. You are my assignment,” Maddox informed her as he reached for her arm once more.
Ronie looked at him in disbelief and betrayal. She actively moved away from him, avoiding his grasp. The expression on his face told her he regretted his words. “Assignment,” she managed to choke out as she tried desperately to hold back the storm of tears that threatened to break free, “I thought you were my friend.”
“I am your friend, Rons, but protecting you is also a job I was given. Rather, it’s one that I was allowed to take,” Maddox replied. He winced realizing that those words weren’t any better.
She heard him say something foreign under his breath. Frustration and panic shined in his eyes. She wanted to look around to try to understand what was going on around her, but she was afraid that Maddox would try to grab for her again.
Behind her, the backdoor started rattling in the frame. The hinges strained against the locks and the windowpanes vibrated. She could hear the wood of the door creaking under the pressure of the force being exerted on it. After a few seconds more, the door buckled inward sending shards of glass and splinters of wood flying. Ronie cried out in shock and closed her eyes. She opened them slowly and found Maddox standing before her and behind him stood her father. Debris from the door was strewn across the floor.
“Get her out of here, Maddox,” instructed Jacob roughly. His voice was tinged with pain. Before Maddox realized what she was doing, Ronie had ran to face her father. She gasped and coved her mouth in fear. Shards of glass and wood pierced his skin. The grey feathers of his wings were bloodied and there were some patches where they were missing altogether.
“Dad,” she whispered, her eyes brimming with tears.
He reached out, placing his hands on her shoulders, and swung himself between her and the door once more. It was then that she spotted the man with the sword of fire raised above his head, ready to strike. As the bald, honey skin-toned man brought down his sword, Ronie felt a gust of cold air. Her mother stood on the other side of her father, protecting his back while he shielded Ronie. Her mother spun the stick masterfully before her a few times to ward off potential attacks. She watched her mother’s movements. They were fluid and practiced. Along with the long stick, there was a black translucent thing covering her. As Ronie watched, her mother raised the end of the stick and with one hand made an arching gesture at the top end of the stick. Her mother waited in anticipation of the man’s attack.
“Brother, slay the traitor and the abominations. If you do, Father may forgive you and allow you back into the fold,” Ronie heard an unfamiliar voice say.
She looked over her father’s shoulder at the man, then, to her father. His amber eyes seemed to glow and sparkle.
“I will not. You don’t understand what it’s like to truly love, brother. You can’t until you look onto the face of your own offspring. How could Father ask me to slay something so innocent and beautiful,” Jacob appealed to the man.
Ronie cried silently as she listened to her father’s response to the man claiming to be his brother. She trembled with fear and grief as she took in her father’s state. His clothes were stained with blood, and he took heavy breaths, but when they locked eyes, he smiled lovingly at her.
“As for the traitor, she has been more faithful to me than Father or any of our brothers and sisters. Margaret is worthy of my love, and I have spent lifetimes attempting to earn her forgiveness for my initial betrayal. I swore on her first grave I would never allow it to happen without a fight again.”
“As you wish,” said brother.
He swung the sword and Margaret jabbed him in the chest with one of the ends of the pole, knocking him backward a bit. She swung the other side in a downward diagonal. At first, Ronie thought her mother had missed, but then she spotted the red droplets slowly springing up and rolling down the man’s lean form. He let out a low growl as he ran his hand over the wound.
“I never had anything against you, Az, but I can’t let you hurt them. I wish you could understand the pain of watching all you love struck down and tossed aside like so much garbage. I will die defending them,” Margaret stated.
“Tonight, I shall grant that wish,” he retorted as he lunged forward with the blade once more.
This time he was much faster and Ronie lost sight of him. A gust of cold air blew past her once more. Her father drew her closer to himself. She felt the jab of wood and glass in her arms, but what she heard made her breath catch in her throat. There was a short yelp followed by a thud. Ronie tried to turn around to see what happened, but her father held her in place. She gazed up at his face to see tears streaming down and anger contorting his beautiful features. She gasped and started choking on smoke.
“Maddox, get my daughter the hell out of here,” he demanded, “by any means necessary!”
Ronie met his eyes and shook her head in confusion. “Never forget that we love you, Bronwen. We will see you again,” he told her before kissing her forehead gently.
Ronie tried to speak, but the words wouldn’t come out as he pushed her toward Maddox. She took the opportunity to glance around. Where her mother should have been was a charred shell encircled by scorched wood. A whimper escaped Ronie’s lips, and her cheeks were wet with her tears. She started to move back toward her father, but Maddox grabbed hold of her arm with a force she hadn’t felt from him before. He pulled her close, but still she reached out. The words she had lost before found her now in an eruption of sorrow.
“Daddy! Please, don’t make me go alone! Come with us, please,” Ronie pleaded hoarsely.
“Maddox,” shouted Jacob, his angelic voice shaking the foundations of the house.
In that moment of distraction, the other sword struck one of her father’s wings. The feathers were consumed instantly, and he cried out in pain. The other raised his sword, but Ronie didn’t know what happened as everything went dark when she lost consciousness.