The Return of the Order: Act 11

“Wait out here,” Louisa instructed the twins as they reached the top of the stairs, “I shall bring Dax to you. You will gather the answers we need, and then release him from this world.”

Entering the main hall, Louisa made to where Margaret and Dax danced. He looked uncomfortable, eyes darting around the room, looking for an excuse to leave without giving Margaret a chance to cause a scene. Louisa approached Dax and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Lord Dax, I need to speak with you urgently.”

His face paled as he saw her, and he tried to pull away from the two women.

Gripping his shoulder tighter, she lowered her voice, "I suggest you come with me if you don't want all these lovely people to be covered in your blood."

He bowed his head and allowed Louisa to lead him from the room with Margaret following behind. As they entered the hallway, he saw the twins and his knees buckled. Louisa let go of his shoulder, leaving him to fall to the floor, and nodding to the twins, she moved away.

Raven moved forward, grasping Dax by the throat as he lifted him back to his feet and pinned him to the wall. Joining her brother, Lilith slowly formed an ice shard. Dax’s eye grew wide as she trailed the point across his face with enough pressure so he could feel it without it cutting the skin.

“What did Peter promise you?” the twins asked in unison.

“They will kill me if I tell you anything.”

“We will kill you very slowly if you don’t. It is your choice.” Lilith pressed the point of the shard under his chin as they spoke.

Dax looked beyond the twins to Louisa, seeing no hope of her intervening the last of his bluster and energy left in him.

“Eternal life, power, anything I desired, as long as I helped remove the demons that had settled in this area.”

“Why?”

"They said you were an affront to nature, especially those breeding with humans."

“Who are they?”

“I don’t know, I only ever heard them in the shadows. Peter was the only one I ever saw.”

The twins turned to their mother, who simply nodded. Lilith raised the ice shard.

“Wait, you said you wouldn’t…”

“No, we said we would kill you slowly if you didn’t talk.”

Before he could utter a sound, Raven placed his hand over Lilith’s, and they drove the ice shard straight into his heart. Blood dripped from the corner of Dax’s mouth as Raven released his throat, leaving Dax to slump to the floor.

"Now, we must leave before he is discovered," said Louisa. She led the twins and Margaret out of the house through the rear entrance, and they moved swiftly through the night back to their home. A familiar figure was waiting for them at her mother's grave.

A low growl sounded in Raven’s throat as he saw the shadowy figure waiting for them. He reached into his breast pocket, only to find his mother’s hand blocking his way.

"Go in with Margaret, both of you. Do not argue, it is only Undertaker, and we are old friends. I am perfectly safe."

Raven growled again, but a flash of his mother's demon eyes stopped any further argument, and the twins sulkily followed Margaret into the house.

“Undertaker, what brings you to us tonight?” Asked Louisa

“Hello, my dearie. A warning actually; you are no longer safe here. You already know something is coming, you’ve been having the visions and you heard what the blustering buffoon said. Now, they know who you are. They will send others, and they will not be so cavalier in their approach. It is time to return to London and to Malphas.”

“We cannot, not with the contract. You know this.”

“The risks of not doing so are much greater, my dearie. Think of the children’s safety. You cannot fulfill your promise to Margaret if anything happens to them.”

Rubbing her temples, Louisa contemplated his words. "You are right. I know you are right, but it is such a risk."

“It is less of a risk than you think, but I can say no more.”

Something about his tone made her believe him. He had never led them astray before. “Thank you, Undertaker. No charge again tonight?”

“Even if I ever took payment from you, the look on Will’s face earlier was payment enough.”

Louisa’s brow furrowed.

Undertaker giggled, "I saw the whole exchange from my little hidey-hole. Kept me laughing the whole way back here."

Louisa smirked, “Then you may wish to remind him that she is only 17.”

Undertaker's laugh filled the night sky, "You were not much older when you chose your mate." Louisa opened her mouth to argue, but before she could form the words, Undertaker continued, "Still, you will have plenty of opportunities to remind him yourself, of that I am sure. Now heed my warning and begone tonight. Do not use your powers or the space between worlds unless you must; they will be watching."

With that, he skipped off into the night.

Louisa entered the house, and found the twins and Margaret waiting for her.

“We need to leave tonight. We will take the horses as far as Plymouth, and make the journey to London by train. We must take care not to draw attention to ourselves, as we do not know who may be watching.”

The twins rushed to her and held her tight; fear was etched onto Margaret’s features.

“Come now. As long as we are all together, we will be fine. This is just a precaution, Undertaker has a tendency towards the dramatic, but it would be silly to ignore his warning as we know there is a threat to us.”

“Yes, mother,” the twins chorused.

“Go and pack only what is essential and change into suitable riding clothes, while Margaret and I ready the horses.”

Margaret and Louisa changed quickly and headed to the stables at the back of the cottage to saddle the horses.

“Just how bad?” asked Margaret.

“Between the visions, the information we gathered tonight, the knowledge that Peter is a reaper, and Undertaker’s warning—bad enough that I am willing to risk taking you all to Malphas while he is bound in a contract I know nothing about.”

“So, just a typical day for us, then.”

Louisa laughed. Margaret was right; nothing had ever been simple for any of them. She had always worried that this day might come. Both she and Margaret had bags packed and secured in the stables, just in case the family ever needed to move quickly. Margaret retrieved the bags and secured them to the horses while they waited for the twins.