“First, tell me what the last page means,” Caine said. “Light and love and forever dusk? It sounds like some sort of kumbaya pimple-faced kids sing around the campfire. I think Izan has given you a way to destroy Baku in a code only you’ll understand. There’s never been anything written on the final page in the book before now. Tell me what it means. And tell me about the sanctuary.”
“Don’t tell him, Addy,” Dad said before Caine flexed his energy, and Dad cried out.
“Stop it!” I knelt by the book where it had fallen out of my hands onto the stairs. “I’ll read it, just stop hurting him.”
I turned to the last page that didn’t appear as yellow or aged as the rest. There were three short paragraphs written in neat script. Was it my mother’s handwriting?
I read aloud. “The meek must find strength through fear, for only they can bar lesser evil from the sanctuary gates as the way is opened. Those who rise up in the face of horror will see clearly its power. Only light can hold the darkness, and only love can keep it there. If its will is not strong, the light will fade. If it should go out, the sun will fall and never rise again, and the Earth will be forever dusk.”
I wasn’t sure what I expected to happen once I had the assembled bible in my hands. A lightbulb to come on in my head. A mental self-help video on how to imprison the king. A new talent to emerge or at least an idea of what to do. I didn’t expect a goddamned poem. Had Izan given us the book and its memories as the final emotional charge before we rushed in? A new hatred of him slicked over me, and that, too, surged along my ties to Asher and our storm, which had gone past category five and off the charts.
“What does it mean?” Caine demanded.
“How am I supposed to know? Please let Dad go, and we’ll all go together. You’re a sentinel, and your first duty is to the Machine. We can still fix this, whatever it is, but if you hurt Dad or any of us, I will kill you.”
“You think I’m afraid to die? That would be a blessing, but not until she’s free. I won’t let you hurt Baku. He’s my only chance to save my conduit.” A strangled cry caught in Caine’s throat. “She’s out there beyond the veil. My Amanda. Cold, alone, blind in the darkness. Terror and grief is all she knows as time stands still for her. No seasons. No touch. No voice. All she knows is that one of our own betrayed us, and the surviving sentinels ripped out her soul and sentenced her to a frozen hell.
“All because Izan didn’t take care of his toys. He’s the reason Marcus went insane, did you know that? Marcus lost his bonded conduit in our first encounter with Baku, only Izan wanted to keep him, one of his best sentinels, so he wiped his memory. But just like Asher feels echoes of your death, Marcus was feeling his conduit’s utter despair through the veil, and in his own way he was trying to get back to her. Like I’m trying to get back to mine. Asher, brother, you can keep Addison with you forever, so make the right choice.”
“Oh, shit.” My stomach fell. “You made some sort of deal with Baku to save her.”
“Lying bastard!” Asher shouted, and I grabbed his arm so he wouldn’t do anything that might hurt Dad.
Caine regained his composure and stared at me with dead eyes. “If I can convince you to let Baku merge the realities, he’ll bring her through the veil, because she’s too weak to come herself.”
I steadied my voice. “Even if he does bring her back, she’s a wraith. Hurting my dad and possibly wiping out life on multiple planets isn’t going to fix her.”
Caine winced, looking away. Shame colored his cheeks. “No, but I have someone who can make her whole again.”
What?
“Christ,” Asher said. “He took the Colonel. He’s going to let her crawl inside him and suck his soul dry so she can be reborn and become fully immortal.”
Shouts and cries came from the others around us. “No, Caine, you can’t do that,” I said. “Listen to me. We’ll help you figure this out, but trading one innocent life for another isn’t right. You know that.”
“Izan took all of the right and wrong in this world and pissed on it, and my Amanda deserves life more than the Colonel. Baku will be waiting at your father’s cabin in the true reality. Don’t be long, or I can’t promise he won’t get creative while entertaining your family.” He vanished.
And so did Dad.
I wailed, rushing up the steps as if I could pull him out of thin air. “No. Dad!” I called the Shift, but Asher grabbed my arms and made me look at him.
“Addison, wait. Baku’s counting on you rushing down there, off-balance and not thinking straight. I want to murder both of them, too, but we can’t fall for this trap. He played on our emotions every time you faced him in your past incarnations, and he won. I know this is bad, but if this is the last time we do this, we need to keep our heads.”
I collapsed against his chest, sobs racking my body. “What do I do? I don’t know what to do.”
The entire population of the village had gathered in the predawn light. Kyle came up and put his hand on me. “We go, and we fight,” he said with more strength than I’d ever heard in him. “You told me doubt isn’t a helpful trait right now, so I say we go down there and do what we do best—kick ass. This is what Izan put us all through hell for, right? Live or die, at least this’ll be over.”
“For the Machine!” Sampson cried. Sophia had come out of the crowd, and she stood a little taller than she had last night. She echoed him while staring up at Remy, and it almost hurt to watch her fight the fear that kept her from him. They were all casualties of Izan’s wayward shortcut through the veil. No more. “Go to hell, Izan,” I said to the sky. “We do this our way, and then we are so done.”
A few more shouted battle cries as the sun crawled over the horizon. Their fists shot up and they stood sentinel, their eyes flashing with jade and blue fire, and their bodies ready. Asher looked over them, keeping my hand. “It’s beginning,” he said. “Can you feel it? The meek must find strength through fear. So let’s take them to the horror and become the Mortal Machine.”
Their mingled energy seemed to light the air on fire, and behind that, a powder keg’s worth waited to be born through the bonds they’d forge with each other. The potential hit me square in the heart. The connections between us all grew brighter as I searched for them, but not strong enough yet. No, not yet. With my Shepherd by my side, and my new family staring at me to save them, the courage I’d found back in New York took over me again. I let everything else go bit by bit as I stared back at them. The fear I’d suffered for a lifetime. The doubt that weighed me down since forever. The hundred different ways some or all of us would never come home again.
For Mom and Dad, I would be strong. For a world that would never know my name, I would be brave. For my love, I would be unbreakable, incorruptible, and would fight to my last breath.
“For the Machine,” I roared back.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Thirty-five of us appeared in the front yard of my childhood sanctuary in the pink light of dawn. The log cabin had a red roof and a long, winding driveway, and trees enclosed the entire property. At least Dad’s closest neighbors were miles away. Wildflowers spread out in a riot of color even in the semidarkness. The Camaro I’d helped Dad build from the frame up during my younger years sat by the detached garage.
I couldn’t help but grind my teeth. How dare Baku violate my home!
Caine stood on the front steps with Dad. I wanted to rush to him, but I had to keep my cool, make sure I didn’t bumble headfirst into whatever Baku had planned. The rest of my company shifted nervously in our huddle. Asher met my gaze, his holding as much uncertainty as I imagined mine did.
The Colonel lay facedown and unmoving on the grass in front of the steps, his arms tied. He seemed to be breathing, his back rising and falling slightly. A woman sat beside him struggling with her own bonds wrapping her wrists and ankles.
She had long red hair and wore black jeans and a green blouse. Even with her flailing, I could tell I had her build of str
ong shoulders, slim at the waist and round at the hips. It seemed odd that she could be my mother when she appeared to be my age or maybe a year or two older. She stared at me with tears in her eyes. They weren’t sad, but wild with the ferocity Dad had mentioned.
One look at her, and I knew Dad and I weren’t the only ones who’d been suffering with our separation. “I’m so sorry, baby,” she said.
I nodded, every lingering doubt, hurt, and bad thought about her vanishing at the pain in her face. “I know, Mom. This isn’t your fault.”
She closed her eyes and smiled as if she’d been dreaming of me calling her name for a lifetime.
I couldn’t stand watching her struggle, so I stepped forward, but Asher threw his arms around my waist and held me back. “No, stay with me,” he said, his touch driving back my utter rage. “Something’s wrong.”
Gasps behind me drew my gaze to white-eyed people emerging from the woods. They held everything from scythes to shotguns. One lady even had a chain saw. A rift opened in the purple sky, and empty-eyed wraiths without hosts spilled in, spiraling as they slowly descended to lock us in from every direction.
Holy mother of crap.
“Stay together,” Kat shouted when a few of our company broke out of our circle. “When it begins, everything with a wraith in it is ours.”
I met her eyes and finally saw her strength. We’d never get along, but she understood the plan without any of us making one. Baku belonged to Asher and me, and the rest had to give us time to put him away. If it came down to it, I’d break his neck and take my chances that Marcus might come back through the veil. He was just a human soul. How much damage could he do without a body?
“You let Dad go this instant, Caine,” I said, “or I’ll rip your soul out and throw you out there in the cold with the rest of the dead.”
Caine left Dad and jumped down by the Colonel, staring at the sky and back at me. “Forgive me, Addy. Now that you’re with Asher, you must understand why I’m doing this.”
“Go to hell.”
Dad rushed down the steps and ran toward me but stopped about five feet away. The fear left his honey-brown eyes as he stared at me. Their color faded, and he smiled. “Nice of you to come, Adaline.”
The dragon mantis erupted out of my childhood hero, rising up like a leviathan of mist and the coldest evil I’d ever drowned in. It stood as tall as the house, Dad in the middle of it, his feet still on the ground. Faint iridescent blue-green wings spread out twenty feet in either direction.
“No!” I screamed, my breath crystalizing the air that glittered in the growing light. “Get the hell out of my dad, or I swear I’ll—”
“You’ll what?” Baku said out of Dad’s mouth. “You’ll kill me? The last time we met you almost succeeded in that. Such a power even then, but your sentimental bleeding heart always fails you. Now come, admit I’ve beaten you again and that you have but one option—to merge the realities and heal the universe. Shall we begin?”
His dragon head swept its gaze over the gathered army of wraith-infected people. “Keep them busy,” he said.
Inhuman cries shattered the morning as weapons raised up, and the crazies rushed forward.
“Now,” Kat shouted.
It took every ounce of control to stay facing Baku as everyone else bolted out to meet the murderous mob. Sophia, Iris, Kyle, and every other damaged soul went with them, and I wanted to call them back, to tuck them under my arms and protect them.
Mom had made it to her feet, having freed her ankles. With her arms still bound behind her back, even she ran out into the shadows where the sounds of fists hitting flesh and gunshots were punctuated by screams. Of death or battle cries, I didn’t know which, but every one tore me open inside.
“Bring it on, assface,” Asher said as I fought to control my nerves. “We’re ready for you this time.”
We were? I let go of his hand and went back into a defensive stance. What was I supposed to do? Those who rise up in the face of horror will see clearly its power. Only darkness can hold the light, and only love can keep it there. See what power? How could I entomb darkness within light? The presence of light meant there was no darkness. Where was the sanctuary?
First, we needed to get rid of the wraith-riders. I began drawing on Asher and the Machine, knowing our mingled storms wouldn’t be enough.
“I see you thinking, Adaline.” Baku took a swipe at me, not with Dad’s hand, but with a wing. Asher dove to the side, but I wasn’t fast enough, and my concentration broke. The wing wasn’t physical, but it packed a metaphysical punch as if lightning had struck the ground in front of me. The force of it threw me through the air, and I crashed against the steps of the house.
The wind rushed out of my lungs, and I clutched at what might have been a broken rib. Oh my God, that hurt. Down in two seconds flat. How was I supposed to do this? I needed time to let our energy build up to pack that kind of punch, but I had a feeling Baku wouldn’t let me have it.
“Addison!” Asher dashed right when Baku slammed a mantis foot into the ground between us, splitting the lawn open.
“Oh no, Shepherd,” Baku said. “This is between me and your lover. You’ve done your part, and now you can go away. If she doesn’t fight me, I’ll return her to you before I leave to find my mate and our young.” A slice of his back leg launched Asher into the trees beyond where I could see.
I’d have screamed if I wasn’t choking to fill my lungs.
Psychotic laughter spilled out of the king as he moved toward me, Dad walking, and the dragon floating above him. Both wore victorious smiles. The Colonel had woken up, and he madly pulled against the ropes. Caine bent to grab him, but I jumped up, fought through the pain, and threw my weight into that lying dirtbag of a Thor look-alike.
Caine stumbled sideways, and I hauled the Colonel to his feet. He stared at me with shock and something that might have been gratitude.
“Run!” I said. “Go to the woods and hide until you get the ropes off, and then help them!”
When he just stared wide-eyed, I shoved him toward the trees. “Now, Colonel, go!”
Baku slammed his wing into the ground in front of the Colonel, but I drew on Asher from wherever he’d gone and sent a shock wave of energy in the king’s direction, driving him back again.
As the Colonel ran full tilt into the bush, Remy jetted past holding an ax. Jesus. Where was Sophia?
Thoughts of her hurt filled me with adrenaline’s burn. Not over. Not by a mile. Nobody would hurt my man, or my family, and get away with it. I called only my storm. It crashed out of me like a psychedelic tornado of morphing colors. I threw power, not at Dad, but at his rider.
Baku hissed and rolled away, recovering faster than I expected. A pillar of blue lightning came at me. I ducked and rolled as half of the cabin crumpled in. Oh no he didn’t. Roaring, I drew on Asher, could feel him coming toward me fast, and threw everything I had at the dragon mantis. Just like in Chicago, he absorbed it. What the hell? I couldn’t beat him physically, and metaphysically he could eat us alive.
“Look out!” Raldad’s deep voice hit me before he did, knocking me to the ground as another wing went for a flyby. Through the fairies dancing around my eyes, I watched Asher fight his way through a mob of infected, his stare intent on me.
“You will not interfere!” Baku picked Raldad off the grass by his stunted dragon arm, and I screamed when he crushed the sentinel’s body and dropped him in a broken heap beside me. Iris pounded the ground, throwing herself over Raldad, her mouth wide with silent wailing.
“No!” I yelled over the sounds of war, trying to drag Iris away from Raldad so I could get her out of the way. “Stop this. Please, stop.”
“Invite me in,” Baku said, “and this ends.” Something powerful hit me in the chest, and I went down again, tasting blood in my mouth. Iris rushed toward Dad, her face streaked with blood and tears, but one of the possessed piled her into the ground. A gunshot echoed in my ears, and she went still.
I rolled away. Asher came like a black streak from the dimness, tackling Dad to the ground. At first I thought he was somehow forcing Baku into Dad’s body, because the misty dragon shrank in size. Too late, I realized he was rolling back, like a tsunami readying to crash over the shore. And us.
“Asher!” I screamed, but Baku exploded outward.
My back met hard with the ground. I blinked against the white eating the edges of everything. My ears rang, drowning out the war raging around me. I rolled over and met Asher’s eyes where he’d fallen in the grass five feet away. Blood coated one half of his face, and his jade star eyes held wildness I’d never seen before.
I reached for him, but he was too far away. Always out of reach, and my body had become one giant pain I couldn’t overcome. My heartbeat joined the ringing in my ears as I watched Remy go down under four wraith-infected men. Sophia screamed and jumped into the fray, flinging them off one by one like a monkey on crack. Once she reached her gentle giant, she took his bruised face in her hands and roared as her eyes became glowing beacons in the dawn. The force of their bond tore every wraith out of the people around them, coating the grass in snow.
Kyle wailed on the other side. I blinked away the darkness creeping up on me to find Sampson lying at the feet of a tall man, blood spreading out from a bullet wound on his chest. Kyle grabbed the man’s gun hand and kicked the guy before throwing himself down by Sampson, and he, too, let go and claimed his strength through their bond. Only a moment passed before our Medic’s scream broke my worry, and the one’s who’d been attacking them fell, wraithless. Kyle and Sampson held each other for a moment, and then came to their feet hand in hand with a look of pure menace. They dashed toward others still in trouble.
Other bonds formed, and slowly, the Machine spun to life around me. They will keep the lesser evil out of the sanctuary as the way is opened.
Midnight Dawn Page 29
