The Betrayer (Crossing Realms Series Book 3)

by Rebecca E. Neely

  Fully healed, Abel ran.

  And she let him escape. Her senses brutalized, her ears rang in the aftermath with the clashing of battle cries.

  In the distance, a lone voice reached her, distinct and urgent.

  “Jordan!”

  Curtis.

  She could hear him through the portal.

  “Curtis! I’m here.” Her ears still ringing, she charged toward it.

  “You have to cross when it opens.” Garbled, the words reached her in waves.

  Panic bit into her. “It’s dark energy. I can’t!”

  “Re-purpose the Vitality. Do it now!”

  Facilitating the energy as she’d been taught, she turned it unto itself and watched, fascinated as his hand appeared through the portal opening.

  Her eyes blurring with tears, she clutched his fingers. Channeling all her strength, she leapt into the portal.

  And crossed realms.

  Chapter 28

  A blitzkrieg of sensations whirled around her, hurtling Jordan through the void.

  She landed on her back with a thud. A hard, rocky surface, her exploring hands informed her. Groaning, her back aching, she opened her eyes. Just as quickly, she shut them in defense of the dizziness.

  Levering herself into a sitting position, her head cleared marginally. Her eyes, adjusting to the darkness, recognized shapes.

  And the scent mingling with her own.

  Hope filled her. “Curtis. Curtis! Where are you? Where are we?”

  “Mount Verdant. In a cave,” he replied shortly.

  Tight. Cold. Furious. His voice, that’d soothed as well as captivated her, now lacerated with the precision of a scalpel. Her actions had unleashed the full bent of his temper she’d tried to goad him into only days ago.

  Desperation strangling her, she scrambled to her feet and smacked her head on the cave ceiling. She stumbled and arms steadied her.

  “You’ll be better off if you stand still. It’s close quarters in here.”

  A Vitality stone glowed, pulsing its unmistakable green, illuminating Curtis’ face.

  She’d never been so overjoyed to see him. And he’d never appeared more miserable.

  Her heart cracking, she held out an imploring hand. She would do anything, say anything, to never again witness the pain engulfing him. That she’d caused. “Curtis, please. I’m sorry.”

  He turned away.

  Leaving her hand extended for another moment, she let it fall to her side, crushed. Air. She couldn’t get enough. Couldn’t breathe.

  “Did you get what you needed? To make the synergy work?” he fired off.

  She gulped. “You got my note.”

  “Yeah. I got it,” he tossed back. “Well, did you?”

  Her pulse tripped. “Yes. Yes. I did.” At what cost?

  “You know, I might not be street smart like you, but I’m not an idiot.”

  Even in the dim light the pallor of his skin, the glassiness of his eyes was unmistakable, along with the despair emanating from his every pore.

  He cut her off before she could speak. “So, I want to know.” Like broken glass, his voice razed her. “Did you make love to me just to get the energy you needed for your mission?”

  His words hung in the air, ugly and accusing, annihilating her. “Curtis, no.” He might’ve stabbed her directly through the heart. “No. You can’t believe that,” she protested, her voice shattering.

  “I don’t know what to believe anymore,” he said hoarsely. “You lied to me. Jeopardized what might be our only way to reverse the Similitude.” He took measure of her and narrowed his eyes. “And for what? Revenge?”

  Hearing him say it shamed her. She twisted the hem of her bloodstained shirt. “That was part of it. I won’t lie.”

  Curtis snorted.

  She accepted this fresh blow. “I know I was wrong.”

  “I almost lost you. It nearly destroyed me. And without a thought, you go off by yourself, into a war zone?” The agony curdling his voice morphed into rage. “You didn’t listen to me or think we could do it together. You never believed in me, or yourself. I honestly don’t know which is worse.” He threw his hands up, his fingers curled as though he might strangle her. “The Watchers are holding off the brood. You need to go to Libby and Meda. Now.”

  Panic pumped through her already amped up system. This couldn’t be the end. “Please, Curtis. Please give me another chance.” She took a deep breath, then uttered the words she promised herself she would. “I love you.”

  He stiffened, his eyes widened. But he didn’t echo her, nor make a move toward her.

  In a flash she comprehended she’d been terrified of loving him and of losing him, same as everyone else important in her life. “Let me show you,” she begged, her plea ragged, pitiful. “I’ll prove it to you.”

  Curtis’ lips parted as though he were about to speak. But with an unmistakable finality, he turned his back on her and walked away. The glow from his stone cast shadows on the walls of the cave, illuminating Libby, Meda, and Tan, who huddled at the entrance.

  “Curtis!” she cried, but he ignored her.

  “We’re leaving to defend the quarry,” Curtis told Libby and Meda. “Ladies, make the synergy work.”

  He strode from the cave, taking his light with him. And plunging her, and her heart, into darkness.

  “Please come back!” she begged. Gasping for air, Jordan hurried after him.

  The Vitality stone glowed around Libby’s neck. “Jordan,” she ordered, gripping her by the shoulders. “You have to stay here.”

  “No!” She struggled out of her grasp. “I have to talk to him. Make him understand. I can’t let him walk away!”

  Meda rose, grabbed her arms, and shook her. “Calm down,” she commanded. “We need you.”

  Her thoughts scattered and surreal, Jordan’s attention sawed back and forth between Libby and Meda. “Where did he go?”

  “To battle the Betrayers with Nick and Dev,” Libby said sharply. “Now sit down and pull yourself together.”

  The edge in her voice cut through Jordan’s haze. Their mates had joined the battle. They too, had much to lose.

  Hollowed out, she sagged to the ground beside the other women and tried desperately to form a coherent thought.

  “You can’t go after him. It’s too dangerous.”

  “Because of the Second Rebellion? Or because of Curtis?”

  “Both,” Libby retorted. “I’m going to say this once, so get it into your head because we have work to do. I speak for myself and Meda. Leaving was wrong. You scared the hell out of all of us. You devastated Curtis, and by extension, you hurt us.” Her voice softened. “I also know the paths we follow with our mates are rocky. We hurt each other plenty.”

  “I had to go,” Jordan said, barely recognizing her own voice. “To face Abel. So I could make the synergy work.”

  “And?”

  “And . . .” Her chest ached. “I was wrong. About everything. What the hell am I going to do?”

  “I understand, more than I want to.” Meda’s lips stretched in a grim line.

  “Curtis doesn’t. I’m not sure he ever will.”

  “All’s not fair in love and war,” Libby said softly. “Is it?”

  Jordan blinked. “No. It sure as hell isn’t.”

  Libby hugged her fiercely. Meda joined in. “Don’t you ever do anything like this again. Do you hear me?”

  Close to tears, Jordan hugged them back, gratitude flooding her. “I won’t. I promise.”

  The women sat back and formed a circle. Libby placed the Similitude stone on the ground in the center. “All right, then.” She fixed them each with a conspiratorial smile. “Let’s get to work.”

 
Abruptly, sunlight filtered into the cave entrance. Mystified, Jordan peeked outside and watched the fiery ball in the sky gallop across the horizon.

  Her heart tripped. “How can something that takes hours happen in minutes?”

  Just as quickly, dark clouds stormed the atmosphere, plunging everything into gloom.

  “What’s happening?” she demanded.

  “It’s the clashing of energies in this realm and the human one. It’s also from the portal opening and the network crashing,” Meda explained, wringing her hands. “As I understand it, mists once shrouded Mount Verdant. Now, we’re experiencing crazy weather phenomena.”

  “Dear gods.” Torrents of rain and hail lashed the opening of the cave. In seconds, sheets of ice formed, sealing them inside.

  Frozen. Like the chasm between her and Curtis. Jordan trembled violently. Desperate for comfort, for unity, she joined hands with Libby and Meda.

  I love you, Curtis. I’ll show you. I’ll prove it to you.

  All the misery from a lifetime of regrets, along with the joy garnered from a glimpse at a second chance, spiraled through Jordan. As the women had done in the kitchen in the network, they focused on the stone, their own energies and one another’s. With all she’d been, all she was, she channeled.

  Like she was outside herself, she watched sun scorch the ice and reduce it to flood waters in mere minutes. The deluge roared unchecked, wasting all in its path.

  Bones breaking. Boulders crumbling. Men shouting. Screaming. Dying.

  Jordan’s gift exploded in her mind, through her body, bringing the horror of the Second Rebellion alive.

  Fire. Smoke.

  Her uber hearing fused as one with Libby’s and Meda’s abilities.

  Heartbeats. Pounding.

  Joy. Rage.

  Her Vitality stone pulsed like a strobe light at the base of her neck. Tan barked fiercely. Meda squeezed her hand so hard, Jordan feared her bones might break. She cried out.

  Outside their stone sanctuary, the elements waged their own war, the noise deafening as water and wind battered the quarry. Light and heat flashed, then seared.

  A sudden, ethereal silence penetrated the cave, as mighty as the storms.

  Her breath heaving, Jordan slitted one eye open. Warily, she assessed Libby and Meda, doing the same. “We’re alive. I think.” Releasing their hands, Jordan blinked hard and rubbed her abused fingers.

  Their gazes lit on the stone in the center of their circle.

  And her heart nearly beat from her chest.

  It was green.

  A bright, verdant, spring green.

  We created synergy. It worked.

  Curtis was right. They’d restored Similitude to Vitality.

  Excitement and the beginnings of hope bubbled up in her. She tried to leap to her feet, but exhaustion hammered her. Dizzy, Jordan sank to the ground and reached for Meda and Libby, both leaning against the cave wall. Tan whimpered and licked Meda’s face.

  I’ve got to find Curtis. I’ve got to show him what we’ve done.

  They still had a chance. The clan, too. She refused to believe otherwise.

  “You have succeeded.”

  As a unit, Libby, Meda, and Jordan whirled in the direction of the voice.

  In the rear of the cave, a young woman stood, dozens of platinum blond braids cascading down her back and dripping to the waist of her blinding robe. A man and woman, their hair as white as their robes, appeared behind her. The trio glided forward and blinked at them with silver eyes.

  Watchers.

  “Yes.” The woman inclined her head at Jordan. “That is what we are. I am Áine. This is Laird and Eden. We are the Triad. As we are three, so shall you be. Libby. Meda. Jordan.”

  Studying them carefully, she placed her hands on their heads, one after the other . . . and in moments, restored their energy.

  They stood. Stared at one another, then Áine. “Thank you,” Libby breathed.

  She nodded in welcome. “We have been waiting for you.”

  “Me too.” Another voice sounded behind them. A man’s. “Let’s get this show on the road.”

  Wearing a lopsided grin, Zane stepped into the cave.

  Chapter 29

  High atop the west face of Mount Verdant, Libby, Meda, Jordan, and Tan took cover inside yet another cave.

  “I’m so grateful we’ve had this opportunity to see Zane,” Libby said, her eyes damp.

  Meda nodded as she gave Tan’s head a quick rub. “Me too. And damn glad we have him on our side as a Working Watcher.”

  A Working Watcher, Jordan marveled, helping the Triad.

  “Áine.” Zane rushed from the mouth of the cave to her side. “The eastern end of the realm has taken a direct hit.”

  She stiffened but acknowledged this with a quick bob of her head. Turning, she huddled closer to Laird and Eden in hushed conversation.

  Zane returned to the entrance of the cave to continue his surveillance.

  A direct hit. To the quarry, and Jordan’s confidence. Firsthand she’d witnessed the death and the loss, the brood’s rapid progress as the Watchers transported them, gliding over miles of ground in seconds. Black patches had gaped at them like missing teeth, marring the otherwise pristine green of the quarry.

  Similitude.

  Her hope in the synergy, in the stone they’d restored, flagged. How could they ever defeat them?

  Bodies of Keepers, Watchers, and Betrayers littered the paths zigzagging in and out of the quarry. Losses were mounting on both sides.

  Jordan, Libby, and Meda huddled next to the Triad, along with other Watchers and Keepers. A dozen more, led by Zane, guarded the cave. How much time had elapsed? Hours? Days? It was impossible to know, what with day and night, blizzard and hurricane assailing them at warp speed.

  The sounds of war rose from the depths of the quarry like dirges, wracking Jordan’s mind.

  Sickened, she buried her head in her hands. Somewhere, hundreds of feet below, in the Watchers’ precious realm the Betrayers desecrated, her mate fought.

  Despair maligned her soul. What if I never see him again? What if the last memory she had was him walking away from her? How could she live without him?

  She met Meda’s, then Libby’s gaze, knowing their thoughts were on their own mates. My sisters. What if Nick and Dev were killed in battle? Libby and Meda were carrying their babies.

  By unspoken agreement, the three women threw their arms around one another.

  Zane reentered the cave, his face grim. “Another section of the eastern side of the quarry is gone. Bigger than the last.”

  Áine raised a hand. “Stay.” Though petite, her voice—along with her iron will—carried throughout the cave, to every Watcher and Keeper. “We’re running out of time. We have a weapon in the synergy. We need to figure out how to use it on a grander scale. The Betrayers are destroying the quarry, rendering it into Similitude faster than any of us thought possible. We also have the portal to contend with, as well as the weather and the shift in energies.”

  She took them in with her sweeping, silver resolve. “I fear for the very existence of our realm.”

  Still holding on to Meda and Libby, thoughts pounded Jordan furiously. In a span of days, she’d nearly died. Been transformed. Fallen in love. She had every reason to believe in the unbelievable and in herself. She’d beaten the odds, time after time.

  She was a soldier. And dammit, she was a Keeper.

  She squeezed Meda and Libby one last time. Right here. Right now. She recalled Curtis’ words, the way both he and Charlotte had bolstered her confidence her first day in the network.

  We can do this.

  Rising, she gestured with her hands. “The stone we restored was in the center of the c
ircle we formed. What if we could somehow surround the Betrayers?”

  Áine’s eyes lit on Jordan’s. “We might have a chance to restore the Similitude. All at once.”

  “Proximity. The Vitality would overpower them. They’d die instantly,” Libby reasoned. She regarded Jordan and Meda. “But how? We were connected to one another, with our hands joined. There are hundreds of them and three of us. Just restoring one stone drained us.”

  Libby turned to Áine. “Originally, we thought our mates could add their energies to the mix. That’s impossible now, as they’ve joined the battle. We’re grateful your Watchers revitalized us. But that was after the fact. How can we possibly restore hundreds, maybe thousands of stones? Let alone the acres of unhewn Vitality?”

  Áine paced. “Though a physical connection is powerful in its own right, the Vitality transcends this. You are in the Watchers’ realm. We will lend the aid of our energy to bridge the connection.”

  Lightning flashed outside the cave and a crack of thunder boomed. Dust showered them.

  Áine whipped around, her braids swirling like a cape. “The weather. Until now, it has been working against us. The elements are a powerful force. Channeled properly, we could harness them, along with the synergy.”

  She motioned them, including Zane, to gather. Kneeling, she hastily arranged a group of small rocks from the cave floor. “This is the quarry,” she said, etching an oval shape on the ground with a stick. “There are fourteen caves located around its perimeter.” She marked each with a stone.

  “Several are safe houses for Keepers. If we could place Libby, Jordan, and Meda each in one of them, we could surround the Betrayers as Jordan proposed.”

  Áine regarded Zane. “You are a strategist. Which caves will give them the best position?”

  His brow creased, Zane examined the arrangement of the stones. “Here.” He pointed. “One on the north face, one on the south, and one on the west. They’re equidistant from one another and furthest from the caves housing the Keepers, and from the portal opening. They’re also on different tiers of the quarry. Thus, their synergy will create a circle of energy that’s also multi-layered.”