Camille Prentice: The Complete Series

by S. A. Moss

  Finally, the slightly dazed, fearful expression on Seth’s face was replaced by his usual broad smile.

  “Holy shit, Alex. Your girlfriend is going to save the world.”

  28

  I bit my lip. That was what I intended to do, but it sounded so grandiose—not to mention daunting as hell—when he put it like that. I cleared my throat, but before I could confirm or deny his statement, Seth spoke again.

  “I want to help.”

  Alex tensed beside me. “Thanks, buddy. But it’s not a fight for humans. It’s too dangerous.”

  “Too dangerous?” Seth’s brows shot up. “Have you freaking seen what’s going on out there? That’s what’s too dangerous! If those things aren’t stopped, they’ll destroy the world. They—” He broke off, cocking his head. “Wait a minute. What do you mean it’s not a fight for humans? You’re going to fight, aren’t you?”

  “Yes. But I’m not—”

  “You’re not human?” Seth looked shocked.

  A low laugh rumbled in Alex’s chest. “No, I’m human. I’m definitely human. I’m just a little… different than I used to be.”

  Seth put a hand over his heart with exaggerated relief. “Geez, don’t scare me like that, dude! I thought maybe I had an alien for a friend all this time.”

  It didn’t seem worth pointing out to him that Guardians and other creatures of the Shroud weren’t aliens. We came from another dimension that might as well be several light years away, so arguing the semantics was silly.

  “I’m helping too.”

  Sarah’s sweet Southern accent was tinged with steel as she drew herself up to her full height.

  Eve had stood from the couch and joined the two of them, presenting a united human front. She clutched Otis in her hands, and Will was perched on her shoulder, his beady eyes fixed on me as if daring me deny any of them the chance to fight.

  Now my body was as tense as Alex’s. I wanted to tell them all to stay here where it was safe—that we could handle this. But of course, it wasn’t truly safe here. And I wasn’t sure we could handle it.

  But if SWAT teams of trained men and women didn’t stand a chance against the Fallen, what could our friends do?

  “Thanks, guys. Really.” My voice was thick with emotion, fear and gratitude tightening my throat. “But before we agree to let you help, we need to have a plan. I’m not letting you risk your lives on a wing and a prayer.”

  “Fair enough.” Seth nodded, looking older and more serious than I’d ever seen him. He was in his twenties, but usually acted a bit like an overgrown kid.

  “So… what’s the plan?” Sarah scrunched up her face.

  I sighed. “I really don’t know. We know Akaron and my father got through to Earth, along with a small army of dangerous Fallen. They’re spread out around the world, but a high concentration seem to be here—and since this is where Sirius and Akaron are, this is where we need to level an attack.”

  “We better do it soon,” Seth put in, including himself in our battle plans already. Whatever hope I had of talking them out of fighting was fading quickly. Short of binding them and leaving them here, I wasn’t sure there was any way to stop them.

  I nodded, deciding to let it slide for the moment. “I know. Akaron already destroyed several buildings downtown. And we heard a few more explosions in the distance. If we don’t get to him soon, who knows what he could do.”

  “Not just that.” Seth dug into his pocket for his phone and swiped across the screen. “What humans could do too.”

  “What, you mean the people who worship the Fallen?” I grimaced. “We’ll have to find a way to deal with them too. I don’t want any more human casualties though.”

  Alex squeezed my shoulders tightly, but Seth looked confused. “Oh. Shoot, I didn’t even think of them! Dude, I can’t believe some people would actually worship those monsters. But I was talking about this.”

  He held out his phone, and I took it. A short article was pulled up on the screen. I squinted as I read it then gaped up at him.

  “What is this? Is it real?”

  Seth jerked his head toward the TV, which the news still played at a low volume. “More real than what you’re watching. That shit is the watered-down version of what’s happening. They’re trying to keep people from panicking.”

  I gulped. Good luck with that. I’m a supernatural Guardian, and I’m panicked.

  Glancing again at the phone’s screen, I blew out a breath. “The government would bomb Chicago?”

  Alex leaned closer to me to read over my shoulder, and Seth shrugged.

  “It’s not definite. Just one option that’s being floated. Nothing else they’ve tried has worked; this isn’t like any threat they’ve ever faced before.”

  Shit. So we needed to take down Akaron and Sirius not only before they wreaked any more havoc in the world, but before the government attacked its own people in a misguided attempt to protect the human race.

  Our timeline had just gotten even shorter.

  Where is the Council? Where’s Pearl?

  I remembered Arcadius telling me that the Guardians had set up limited communication with human law enforcement. But having spent the past two weeks in the Shroud, I had no idea if those channels were still open, or how to reach out to the humans in charge.

  They might not be much help against the Fallen, but they could at least try to help us prevent a nuclear apocalypse on top of the supernatural threat.

  A thought occurred to me, chilling my skin. Is this what Akaron wanted? What he’d planned on? If he’d spent millennia trapped in the Shroud, he couldn’t know what current human weapons were capable of. But maybe my father had told him.

  Did they plan to let humanity wipe itself out attempting to fight them, so immortals could inherit the Earth?

  Seth plucked his phone from my numb fingers, startling me out of my thoughts.

  “See? This is why you have to let us help. We’re all doomed anyway if you don’t beat this Akaron guy. I’d rather go down fighting.” He squared his shoulders, his expression fierce.

  I nodded slowly. He was right; they deserved the chance to help. I’d spent weeks trying to convince Arcadius the Guardians would be more effective if they worked with humans, instead of operating in secret. And we could find a way for them to contribute without putting them in the path of unstoppable, dangerous supernaturals.

  “Okay. You win, Seth.” I leaned forward, and everyone in our small huddle mirrored my action, their faces sharp and alert. “First, we need to figure out where Akaron is. Then we can come up with a plan of attack. Have you—”

  I broke off as two figures faded into view near the door. My muscles tensed, ready for a fight, but relief flooded my body as I registered their features. Had my thoughts summoned them here?

  “Pearl! Arcadius!”

  29

  They looked much worse for wear than when I’d last seen them.

  Pearl’s long red hair had come undone from her usual configuration of braids, and the wavy tresses spilled over her shoulders. She had a streak of red blood across her cheek, though the wound it came from was already healed. She and Arcadius both had rips and tears in their clothes, the fabric stained with mud and blood.

  But Pearl’s expression echoed the relief I felt as she let go of Arcadius’s hand and darted toward me. Seth and Sarah parted to let her through.

  “Cam! What happened? We were subduing the wraiths when all hell broke loose!”

  I swallowed. In all the chaos and destruction, I hadn’t had time to truly mourn the Seer’s death. Not like she deserved.

  “Sirius found a way into the Haven. Alex and I found him in the Seer’s tower and he…” I licked my dry lips. “He tried to make Alex kill her by torturing me.”

  Pearl’s eyes went wide as saucers, and Arcadius strode forward, his jaw set. “The Seer is dead. She must be, for the protections on the Haven to have fallen.”

  I nodded, blinking fast to hold the tears at bay. I had
n’t known the ancient woman well—I doubted anyone really did, except maybe the Council. But her wisdom and goodness had been palpable, a physical presence I could feel. Her loss was a blow to the Guardians for more reasons than just the loss of a shield on the Haven.

  “She is dead. She—”

  Another figure appeared by the doorway. Huge, blond, and pissed as hell, Owen strode through Alex’s increasingly cramped living room. He barged past Arcadius, grabbing Alex by the front of the shirt and getting right in his face.

  My breath sped up as fear rippled through me.

  “You killed her!” Owen bellowed, his face red and tear-streaked. He was as disheveled and blood-stained as Arcadius and Pearl. “How could you do that? We trusted you!”

  “Owen, no!” I leapt forward, trying to pull the big man away from Alex. I might as well have tried to move a mountain. “It’s not his fault. My father tried to make him turn her mortal, but Alex refused. Then she… she pushed her life force into him. She chose to die. Alex didn’t do it!”

  “Chose to die?” Owen dropped Alex’s shirt and turned on me, his bright eyes blazing. “Why would she do that? She knew we needed her. She knew the Haven needed her!”

  “I don’t know!” The tears I’d been holding back burst forth suddenly, impossible to contain any longer. “I don’t know why she did it. She said her time was up.”

  Owen rocked back on his heels, glowering. “No. She wouldn’t just give up like that. She wouldn’t betray humanity like that.”

  “Maybe it was the only choice she had, Owen,” I said softly, wiping at my cheeks. “She saw things we didn’t, knew things we didn’t. Maybe this was the only scenario that gave us a chance.”

  The large man blinked, his face a mask of grief and confusion. “But…”

  “She’s right, Owen.” Arcadius laid a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Over the years, the Seer gave us many instructions that seemed nonsensical at the time—but she always had a good reason. If she gave her life force to Alex, we have to believe she knew what she was doing.”

  Owen’s lips twisted, the muscles in his jaw clenching. Finally, he turned back to Alex, ducking his head to look directly into his eyes.

  “Fine. I’ll forgive you. If,” he added, his expression growing even more fierce, “you promise me one thing. You’re going to use that power you have to help us. You’re going to kill Akaron.”

  Alex nodded solemnly, not shrinking under Owen’s heavy stare. “I plan on it. That’s all I want.”

  Owen nodded his shaggy head sharply then turned and stalked away. I saw Alex’s body relax slightly, and I realized that when Owen had grabbed him, Alex hadn’t turned the big Guardian mortal. He could have. He could’ve flooded him with mortality then pulled the life force from him.

  It occurred to me for the first time that Alex was, in some ways, the most powerful person in this room. The other Guardians and I were immortal, granted a connection to the raw material of the universe. But Alex had power over life and death.

  I glanced over at him. His gaze was fixed on Owen, his face calm and serious. Sympathy sparked in his bright green eyes.

  There couldn’t have been a more deserving man to wield the power Alex held. He would never let it corrupt him, would never use it to further his own selfish ends or threaten those less powerful than him.

  “Good.” Arcadius stroked his chin. “Without Alex, the best we could hope for would be to force Akaron back into the Shroud—which, even if we repair the shield on the Haven, would be a temporary solution at best. He’s proven himself to be determined and resourceful.”

  “But with Alex…” Pearl looked hopefully up at the mortal man who had somehow become the key to all this.

  “We can end him permanently,” Arcadius finished.

  A tiny spark of hope lit in my chest, despite the seemingly insurmountable obstacles we faced.

  She knew. The Seer knew how important he was.

  The Guardians had never faced a threat as dangerous as Akaron. But they’d never had a weapon like Alex Knight either.

  “I like the sound of that.”

  My voice was fierce, the tears drying on my cheeks as a cold determination settled into my bones.

  “We just need to figure out how to get him close enough to Akaron to be effective.” Pearl bit her lip. “That’s going to be the tricky part. Especially since he knows what Alex can do. He’ll do everything in his power to keep him away.”

  “Good thing Alex’ll have supernatural backup.” Owen cracked his knuckles ominously. Now that he’d decided to work with Alex, he seemed very anxious to get to the fighting part of the plan. I couldn’t blame him.

  “And human.” Sarah’s voice was small but determined. Her eyes darted around the group of Guardians. I could tell she was nervous being around such powerful, intimidating figures. But she didn’t let it stop her from speaking up.

  “That’s good,” I said, smiling slightly. Then my smile slipped. “But to be honest, we need more of both. We’re going to need every bit of help we can get if we want to have a chance against the Fallen. Where are the other Council members?”

  “They should arrive shortly.” Arcadius ran a hand through his short, dark hair. “We split up to find you, so they’ll check here before too long.”

  “Perfect. We’ll need to round up other Guardians that can help. And I have an idea, but I don’t think you’ll like it.”

  Arcadius’s lips stretched into a sardonic smile. “I can’t imagine why you think that.”

  I chuckled lightly. “Oh, just a hunch. But hear me out.”

  Everyone gathered close as I laid out my plan. Part of me wanted to shrink back into the shadows, to abdicated any responsibility and let others make the tough choices. I’d made so many mistakes, and I was terrified of making another one—especially now, when it mattered the most.

  But we were all out of our depth here. The Council, for all their age and experience, had never faced a threat like this.

  When I finished speaking, the room was silent for a moment. Arcadius’s steely gray eyes regarded me seriously, and I was certain he was going to tell me to go sit down and let the adults handle this.

  But he shocked the hell out of me by nodding slowly. “It’s worth trying.”

  “Really?” My eyes went wide.

  He nodded. “We have very little to lose at this point, and everything to gain.” He hesitated, then added, “And perhaps you’re right. Just because we’ve done things a certain way for thousands of years doesn’t mean it was the right way.”

  I tried not to let my surprise show on my face, but Owen’s deep chuckle told me I hadn’t quite succeeded.

  “Okay.” I clapped my hands together. “Then we’d better get started.”

  30

  We spent the next several hours laying out a plan of action.

  Everyone threw in ideas—Guardian and human alike—and I was glad to see that Arcadius gave weight to every contribution. The Guardians knew more about the Fallen than the humans did, but the humans had the advantage of knowing way more about tech than the ancient supernaturals.

  Fortunately, Pearl’s line of communication with the human police department was still open. That would be a critical part of our plan.

  According to Seth, who had been mainlining not only regular news coverage, but also conspiracy theory and supernatural watchdog sites, Akaron had holed up at W Hotel downtown. The incongruity of a powerful, dangerous supernatural making his base at a trendy, opulent hotel made my head spin.

  Then again, maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised. The Fallen who wanted so badly to come back to Earth all seemed obsessed with material luxury and physical pleasure—all the things they couldn’t have in the Shroud.

  But the upside of this strange development was that we were able to do some research on the layout of the space before we launched our attack. Seth’s crazy web navigation skills also led him to a site that had blueprints of the entire building.

  Midway
through our war council, Sada and Adele showed up. They’d gotten held up helping several Guardians bring a twenty-foot-tall scorpion-demon back to the Shroud. Sada bore a long gash on her arm that healed slowly, oozing a dark green substance.

  It was after 3:30 a.m. when Arcadius finally sat back, stretching his large body. “That’s all we can do for tonight. The humans need rest. They need to be fresh for this fight if we want to have a chance at winning. We’ll make arrangements and get things in order for the attack in the meantime.”

  Sarah’s head had started dipping every few minutes, jerking back up as she shook herself awake. I could see her trying to formulate an argument against Arcadius’s order, but the Council leader was right. When she opened her mouth to protest, a huge yawn came out instead. She snapped her jaw shut sheepishly and nodded.

  Eve offered up the spare room in her apartment to Seth and Sarah. I was nervous about having them even that far away. But if there was trouble, I could drop right through the floor and be there in a flash to help them. Besides, there just wasn’t room for everyone to sleep comfortably in Alex’s place.

  Once the three of them left, I squeezed Alex’s hand and stepped toward Sada, ready to leave with the other Guardians. But she rested her hands on my shoulders and spun me around, giving me a gentle push back toward Alex.

  “We can handle this, Cam,” she murmured. “But he needs sleep, and I doubt he will get it without you here. And you need rest. More has been asked of you in the past few weeks than any new Guardian in our history. Tomorrow will demand more still. Rest. Recover.”

  I turned back, an argument on the tip of my tongue. But then Alex’s hand fell on the small of my back, and the words died on my lips. Maybe it was selfish of me, or weak. But I wanted a few more stolen moments with him.

  A part of my brain I tried not to listen to kept whispering that we were running out of time. That even if we won tomorrow, it would be a kind of end.