Total Control: Legion Series, #3

By S.M. Ulibarri

She broke the world, now she has to fix it.

The curse that kept Legion locked in hell has been broken and they have taken over the world. Celine was the only one who could stop them, but she gave up the power to save her life and the life of the ones she loved. Now, there will be a war between good and evil, and in the fight to save everyone, it's possible she will lose everything in the process.

With the fate of the world bearing down on her shoulders, will Celine snap under the pressure, or find a way to take back total control?

• Language: English
• Publisher: StacyUlibarri
• Release date: Jul 29, 2016
• ISBN: 9798215253687

S.M. Ulibarri

My passion has been writing from a very young age. Being surprised by the adventure my characters take me on is what I love about starting a story. I have currently published a young adult trilogy and am currently working on my Fallen Angel Series. I have so many plans for future installments and hope you enjoy the ride,

Book preview

By

Stacy Ulibarri

First published in the United States in 2016 by Stacy Ulibarri

Copyright © 2016 by Stacy Ulibarri

All rights reserved. This book or any portion

thereof may not be reproduced or used in any

manner whatsoever without the express written

permission of the publisher except for the use

of brief quotations in a book review.

CHAPTER 1

My lungs burned as I ran down the street and the sound of my feet slapping on the uneven pavement echoed in the abandoned buildings surrounding us. The menacing growl of the Arch-Demon was closing in on us, and I grabbed the arm of the girl running beside me, pulling her along with me since she had started to lag behind.

Her breaths were coming in quick gasps and I knew she couldn’t keep this pace up for much longer. We couldn’t slow our pace or else we wouldn’t make it. Knowing I needed to do something or she would die, I glanced around and saw there was an alleyway just up ahead. I turned sharply, practically carrying the young girl by this point.

How much farther? she gasped, hyperventilating, as her face turned bright red.  

My heart skipped a beat when I heard the loud rumbling of an engine, the sound of our salvation. Just to the end of this alley. You can do this, I said with desperation. I would not lose her.

I could see the exit growing closer, but the growling from the Demon was nearing as well. It was closing in on us fast. We can make it. We have to. I told myself.

With only a few feet left, I pushed my body into overdrive, forcing the girl to keep up with me. We burst from the alley just as the black Trans Am skidded to a stop right in front of us. Castor’s large frame jumped out of the passenger seat and ushered the girl into the back. I spun around, pulling out the familiar dagger hiding in a sheath in the back of my pants.

I crouched defensively, waiting for the Demon as he burst from the alley and charged right for me. This Arch-Demon was one of the bigger ones I had encountered. Its head was an extra-large version of a goat’s skull with long curved horns extending from the sides. It reached into its protruding ribcage and broke off a piece as it lunged for me. I knew better than anyone what these things were capable of, so I wasn’t about to underestimate it.

The dagger in my hand began to glow with red power as I dropped to the ground and spun out of reach of the Arch-Demon. It didn’t need to regroup, as it was capable of turning its body to mist. Right on cue, it did just that.

In seconds, I was back on my feet, waiting for it to materialize. By now, Castor was standing beside me. Where did it go? he asked, looking around.

I got this, I said forcefully, signaling him to join Shiv in the car.

You’re loco if you think I’m gonna let you take this thing on by yourself. Did you see the size of this one?

I gave him a frustrated grunt, then threw my body against his, pushing him to the ground just as the Arch-Demon materialized behind him. It had swung its weapon at the exact spot Castor had been standing. If I hadn’t shoved him out of the way, he would have been dead.

The Demon misted out again, and I jumped to my feet shouting, I told you I got this. I was starting to get really irritated at this point. I couldn’t kill this thing and take care of Castor, too. Get in the car.

I didn’t pay any attention as Castor’s body slumped, and pouting, he walked away. I briefly made sure he was heading for the car, then turned my attention back to the Arch-Demon. Shiv revved the engine, telling me to get in, but I wasn’t about to leave this thing out here. Not this close to the safe house.

I closed my eyes. Since I lost my power, I have had to rely entirely on my enhanced Cambion senses. There was so much fog floating through the world that it was impossible to see them when they misted out. Instead, I listened carefully for the soft familiar humming that signaled to its location. The power in the dagger responded as the Arch-Demon started to materialize behind me.

I waited until the very last second to duck under its attack while spinning at the same time. The dagger contacted the Arch-Demons gut and, as soon as it did, it began to glow a bright red. It took only seconds for the life inside the Demon to fade until it completely disappeared, destroyed by the weapon I took from Samal after I killed him.

Once the Demon was dead, I didn’t wait any longer before running to the car and jumped gracefully into the front seat. Before I had even closed my door, Shiv punched the gas pedal and took off. We were already flying down the asphalt by the time I managed to slam it shut, then sank into the leather of the passenger seat.

He glanced carefully at me while trying to navigate through the twists and turns in the road. You’re hurt, he said finally, concerned.

I looked down at my left arm curiously. Blood was dripping from a cut I didn’t know I had. It must have happened when I pushed Castor out of the way, but I kept that theory to myself. I looked back to see his gigantic frame scrunched up in the back with the girl we had just rescued. He looked uncomfortable enough as it was.  

I’ll be fine, I breathed.

I’m taking care of it when we get back, he said with finality. I didn’t try to argue as I knew it was pointless. Without my power, I felt practically useless. I was capable of so much more with it. Without it, I felt as if all I had was an empty hole it left behind.

Not wanting Shiv to see my pain, I turned my head to stare out the window and watched as the world flashed by. It had been six months since I broke the curse and freed Legion from hell. Only six months and this is what the world has become, I thought to myself.

The curse didn’t just free Legion. Every Demon damned to Hell now had a free ride above ground. Most of them fell in line with the Power, but there were a few who fought against Legion. The majority of them died while some of the survivors ended up with us.

One of which was Shiv’s buddy, Castor. The night I freed Legion and lost my power, we were looking for a place to hide out when we ran into him. Lucky for us, he was on his way to an underground bunker a billionaire had built underneath the building he owned.

Apparently, the business owner loved his company and treated his employees like family, since he didn’t have one of his own. He was one of those survivalist types, but on steroids. He believed the world was going to end soon and began secretly building the bunker.

His plan was to give his employees and their families some place safe to go when the world ended, but unfortunately his world ended before his prediction came true. He died of a heart attack just weeks before Legion was unleashed on the world. Although that may have been more fortunate for him.

We hid in the enormous bunker for about a week before we dared resurface, and I almost wish we hadn’t. By that time, the sun was practically nonexistent. The clouds were so thick, there was no way any rays of light could penetrate them.

The days were constantly dark, and the nights were even darker. The only thing that offered some light was the occasional lightning bolt that would flash across the clouds.

Buildings were burned and turned into rubble from the fire that had rained down from the sky, and piles of dead bodies littered the streets. With a few Arch-Demons out hunting, no one dared give them a proper burial, so they lay rotting out in the open. The smell of death drifted throughout the cities. It wasn’t a smell I wanted to get used to, but I did anyway.   

With the world in constant darkness, people began to panic and looted anything they could find. Crime skyrocketed, including anything from theft to murder. After another week, Legion unleashed the full force of their army onto the world. It turns out the Arch-Demon, Legion’s First Creation I had killed, had only been one of thousands.

The moment the Arch-Demons were unleashed was the moment the world lost the will to fight. The Demons rose up out of the ground all over the world, hundreds at a time, and killed anything that moved. They have no remorse and no mercy. For the humans, it was difficult to fight back against such powerful beasts, and those of us who might stand a chance were far too few to stop them.

Once they had their fill, Legion ordered them to begin rounding up the humans who were then enslaved by Legion. I was shocked at how easily and quickly they took over the world. The majority just gave up. They allowed themselves to be rounded up like cattle.  

A few of them fought back, but most of the ones that did ended up dead. Anyone left that wasn’t willing to become slaves went into hiding, but it’s only a matter of time before they are found and enslaved or killed. We have been saving as many of them as we can and taking them back to the bunker. But it’s not enough. For every one life we save, it seems as if Legion either enslaves or kills hundreds more.  

Every time I look around, I feel a stab of guilt. The guilt is always there, but sometimes it grows so intense that I can hardly breathe. Every day I wake up and remind myself that I did this. This is my fault. I am the one who broke the curse and unleashed all of Hell on the world.

The only thing I can do to repay the debt I owe is to fight for them. I fight for ones can’t, or won’t. I save as many lives as I can, but I know that no matter how many I manage to save, it will never be enough. I was the one who broke the world. I allowed the darkness to get free and because of that; it has swallowed the world along with everyone in it.

Every life lost was a strike against my soul. I know I will never be able to atone for what I did; the damage is too great. But I had to try. So, every morning I forced myself to get up and fight. There may not be much left of this world, but it was my responsibly to save what I could. 

Shiv reached out and gently took my hand in his. It was a simple gesture, but one so full of love. I squeezed back, letting him know I appreciated it, but avoided looking at him. I didn’t want him to see the tears falling down my face.

If it wasn’t for Shiv, I would have never lasted this long. He had been my anchor, tethering me to reality. The first time we emerged from the bunker, I was struck by so much grief over what I had done that I fell into a coma.

I was forced to relive everything. I floated through memories from my past, a witness to everything I was forced to endure from my father, then the pain and destruction I forced upon the world. There was no escape. The pain was burned into a part of my soul.

I would have been lost in my own sorrow, but after a week of internal torment, I heard Shiv calling to me, begging me to come back to him. His voice was the light that shone through the darkness and pulled me out of my own misery, only to bring me back into the darkness of the world.  

I cried in his arms every night for a month before I finally decided to stop feeling sorry for myself and try to fix what I had broken. About a month later, when I was feeling more myself, we asked Father Abraham to marry us. It took a little convincing as we are still so young, but with the way the world is, it was something we both needed. A moment of happiness.

It was a little ceremony, just the three of us and Castor. The moment I said, I do, was the happiest moment of my life. I would never love anyone as much as I love Shiv, and vowing to love him for the rest of eternity made me feel as if I would never lose him, no matter what happened in this life.

But of course, that didn’t last very long. We spent our honeymoon night killing Demons and never really found a moment to ourselves since. Our time is spent searching for anyone still fighting, so we can give them some place safe to stay. I owe them so much more, but that’s all I have in me right now.

The quiet sobs of the girl in the back seat snapped me back into reality and a stab of guilt rose so quickly that it took my breath away. Shiv squeezed my hand harder, knowing what I must be feeling, despite the fact that I was trying to hide it.

I wiped the tears from my face and turned my head slightly, giving him a weak smile. I didn’t want him to worry about me more than he already did, so I pretended I would be ok for him, even though I knew I never would.

Chapter 2

Shiv carefully pulled the car into the parking garage of a large building that, by some miracle, was still standing. We drove slowly to one of the stalls in the back, then Shiv put the car in park and turned off the engine. The echoing rumble of the car disappeared, and the girl sat up to look around. I knew what she was thinking since we had been through these hundreds of times.

This didn’t look any safer than what she had just come from. I could tell she was worried as her eyes furtively scanned the empty lot. The rest of us waited patiently in the car until the ground began to shake softly and I heard a gasp escape her throat.

The concrete split apart in a large, circular shape and began to slowly lower the car underneath the ground. I wasn’t sure how Castor found out about this place, and honestly, I wasn’t sure I wanted to. Shiv was elated when he realized he would be able to bring his car with us and, I have to admit, so was I. It made for an excellent getaway vehicle and even saved our lives a few times; before and after the end of the world.  

Once the platform was level with the ground, rollers underneath the tires moved the car forward until it coasted off the platform, then it silently began to rise up to hide the entrance to the bunker once