43. A Fourth

Antony's POV

While I watched the sunrise, I felt my eyes struggling to stay open, but I hadn't been able to sleep. Something was unsettling the whole night, but nothing ended up happening at least to me. "Baby, did you sleep at all?"

"No, I couldn't. Something was just slightly off."

"How about a nice warm shower..."

"That would be nice..."

"With your favorite soulmate to keep you company!" I turned beet red at the offer, and I ended up burying my face into the window.

"I don't know..."

"Please!"

"Fine, but only showering!"

I allowed Jackson to lead me into the bathroom, and he began shamelessly pulling his clothing off. I blushed profusely before pulling off my own clothes nervously, and I casually got into the shower like nothing was wrong. Thankfully the spray was already warm, and I began to wake up slightly.

Suddenly, I felt hands on the front of my stomach, and I looked up to see Jacky staring down at me. His chocolate brown eyes were slightly darker, and I had to hit his arm when his hands began to gravitate lower. "Just showering!"

"Fine... Can I wash you?"

"If you so desire."

With his gentle hands rubbing a washcloth over my body, I began to drift off. That is, until he got to the inevitable, and I was wide awake. He didn't linger too long on the spot, and I began to relax until he got to my feet. "Lift." I did as he instructed, but the wash cloth tickled at my sensitive skin. I giggled quietly, and I heard the wash cloth drop. Suddenly, his fingers were moving lightly against the soles of my feet, and I fell onto my knees from the uncontrollable giggles.

I had basically every ticklish part of my body attacked before he finally let me settle down. I suddenly realized that he was straddling me with arms on either side of my head, and I abruptly shut up with a blush. I propped myself onto my elbows so that our faces were inches apart, and I could see the desire in his face. Folks, we're missing breakfast!

***

"I told you not to go so hard!" I limped to the dresser to locate some clothes while my whole body was on fire. My lower abdomen got a stab every step, and it was causing me some pretty decent pain.

"That's not what you were saying in the moment. 'Faster, Jacky! I said faster!'" He's right, I was sort of being a beggar while he pegged me, but his mimicking made me embarrassed.

"Bed Antony forgot he wasn't as young as he was once."

I almost stumbled trying to get my pants on, but I was luckily caught by Jacky before I landed on the floor. "I'm sorry I hurt you, so at least let me help you."

"It's quite alright; it was really great in the minute. Help is appreciated, though."

It took us a few tries, but once I was finally dressed, he helped me walk down to lunch. I ate like a pig– I haven't used that much energy in years– before walking over to my son.

"Hey, Alex. How was your first night out?"

"Eventful. Congrats, both of your kids are weirdos."

"Oh? What happened."

I listened as Alex recounted the whole ordeal in detail, and I was intregued that he didn't get super mad about the whole Ash thing. If I figured out someone had deliberately murdered Jackson, they wouldn't hear the end of it. Then again, he had been possessed before, so he must understand the powerlessness. "Oh! And that's not the best part! Ally, tell him what happened!"

My other son has been distractedly staring somewhere else, but he snapped back when he heard his name. "Oh! I'm royalty." I spit out my drink before choking on the remaining liquid.

"What?"

"Yeah, apparently I'm the king of the spirits."

"Ally do you know how big of a deal that is? They only pick one leader every 50 years, and somehow you were chosen."

"Really!" I could tell that he was enjoying his own identity. He was tired of always being in his brother's shadows, but now he got to shine in his own way. Vic appeared behind him, and he looked confused.

"You're royalty, babe?"

"Mhm! I thought I told you."

"I'm so proud of you. Does that mean I get to be royalty, too?"

Ally looked somewhere in the distance, and I recognized that he was probably talking to one of the spirits. "It does, but I'm better than you."

"Fair."

I went through my day as normal, but something was still off like the atmosphere before a storm. "Alex do you feel the tension?"

"What tens– there it is. What is it?"

"It's like someone is sucking the life out of the earth. It's horrible. You can't feel it unless someone attracts your attention to it."

"Do you think it's the Harsin Coven?"

"Doubtful."

"Father, there's a storm on the way."

"Right, weather boy."

"I won't be able to do my job without Ash here to help, Papa. He's the part that makes it so that I don't pass out by using too much energy, but I won't feel right if I don't."

"Do it anyways, and I'll be there to catch you."

We went down to the courtyard, but Ally was already there. "Alex! Can you feel it? The spirits told me to come here. They said we needed four, but there's only three of us."

Suddenly, a hole appeared in the sky, and something unnatural fell through.  "What the fuck is that?" The blob looked up at me, and it took form until it was much more humanoid. Then it took my appearance for its own use. Instead of my eyes, however, its were a yellowish green like a cat.

"Al-Alex... It-It's a de-de-demon."

More of the blobs fell through the weird hole in the sky, and we began trying to decide how to close it. "Maybe if we combine our powers?"

"Alex I don't have powers."

"No, but you need to keep us stable."

When we tried it, we got so close before the hole opened up much wider than before.

"Guys! If we don't stop it, they're going to destroy the world!"

"Maybe we have to fight them?"

We all threw ourselves into battle, but it was no use as they were still rushing out of the hole. "There's too many!"

No matter how much we tried, the hole just got bigger and bigger. "Alex I'm scared."

"We're all scared, Ally. Keep a grip on your emotions or we'll never get it closed."

"We need four! The spirits said we need four!"

Suddenly, Alex gasped, and he began to shout an idea. "Get back into the circle formation, but leave a hole. Don't start trying to close it until there's a fourth person. We all closed our eyes, and as soon as I felt a hand join into my left one, I turned on my ability to keep the other three grounded.

Finally, I heard the bodies stop falling, and I recognized we had at least sealed the hole... How many demons are in our world? I think a storm is coming much worse than just rain.