by Lynne Ewing
She shrugged and shook her head.
He peered from behind the trellis and wondered how Followers could be hunting him so soon. He tapped his head with one finger and knew Cassandra understood. They had to clear their minds in case one of the approaching Followers was powerful enough to scan the night and pick up thoughts.
Cassandra closed her eyes and he sensed she was concentrating on making her mind blank.
The fog was too thick for Followers to shape-change. There were no deep shadows to drift through and use as camouflage, only mist and gloom. Stanton felt sure that no one could sneak up on them. He would see their dark silhouettes first. Besides, not many Followers knew how to weave through the dark anyway. They would have to become Immortals first.
From gray silhouettes Kelly, Tymmie, and Murray stepped through the fog.
“He came this way,” Kelly whispered. “I know he did.”
“But we haven’t found him and he can’t just disappear into shadow anymore,” Tymmie argued.
“I say go back the other way.” Murray motioned with his head.
“This way,” Kelly insisted, her voice ugly with anger. “We get him and take him to the Atrox before Lambert finds him and gets credit for it.”
“How’d those bitch goddesses catch him?” Murray asked.
“It doesn’t matter,” Kelly answered. “We’ve got our chance now.”
“Then we get Serena,” Murray added hungrily.
Stanton smiled wryly. They had been apprenticed to him once and now they were intent on destroying him. They had been learning how to read minds. Tymmie had been the best, but their talking would distract him. He doubted they could detect him or Cassandra, crouched on the porch. But there were others, like Yvonne. Ones with greater powers might also be looking for him.
He waited for them to pass.
“Come on.” He took Cassandra’s hand. It was cold with fear. “We’d better go.”
As they stood up, Lambert appeared before them.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
STANTON PUSHED CASSANDRA behind him and faced Lambert.
“Such bravery.” Lambert mocked Stanton’s effort to protect Cassandra, then without warning his hand shot out, gripped Cassandra’s arm and took her from Stanton.
Stanton automatically reached for Cassandra, but Lambert sent an invisible burst of power at him. Stanton staggered back.
“Do you really think you can protect her from me?” Lambert’s eyes narrowed as he pulled her out into the yard. “Why would you want to? She betrayed you twice and would easily do so again.” He shoved Cassandra to the ground near the sidewalk. “She’s only an outcast, unwanted by either side.”
Stanton hurried to Cassandra and helped her stand. She jerked away from him and sprinted up the street.
“So you see how loyal she is to you? She runs even now. Such sweet terror.” Lambert breathed the air as if he enjoyed the feel of Cassandra’s fear, then he turned and stepped to Stanton. “Why don’t you run from me?” he asked. “You know what I will do to you.”
Stanton stood defiantly still even though his nerves throbbed with the desire to turn and flee. “You love the chase, Lambert. I was once like you. I remember.”
Lambert ran a cold finger across Stanton’s neck, his fingernail scraping the skin. “So instead of trying to save yourself, you’d rather have a weak easy death.”
Stanton remained quiet.
“How can you fail so miserably?” Lambert turned and paced impatiently, his cape fluttering behind him. “I gave you such a simple task to perform. You would have been rewarded with a commanding position in the Inner Circle. But not only did you fail, you were so weak, you let the Daughters make you a renegade.”
“I might be a renegade,” Stanton answered. “But what will happen to you when the Atrox discovers your treachery?”
Lambert whipped around. His cape slashed through the air with a loud slap. “So you’ve imagined some conspiracy?”
“You never wanted Serena for the Atrox,” Stanton argued. “You were using me for your own gain. You wanted Serena because you thought that if you had her you could overthrow the Atrox.”
“Silly lies.”
“The Dark Goddess told me,” Stanton replied.
“You’re a fool, Stanton,” Lambert sneered. “Everyone uses you. The dark one has been an enemy of the Atrox for eternity. You believed her? What has she sent you back to do? Fight the Atrox? Fight me?”
“I believe her,” Stanton answered.
“You’re an invitus with divided loyalties.” Then he smiled. “You were invitus, but no more. Now anyone can take you.”
Lambert stormed into Stanton’s mind and held him captive. The memories of what had happened to him as a child when the Atrox took him came rolling back. He remembered the cold rush of pain as if his body had been sliced opened and exposed to wind.
“How could you have so much pride that you thought you would destroy the Atrox?” Stanton forced the words past Lambert’s control. “You could never win.”
“Would the end of our world as we know it be so horrible?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “Now your world will end.”
Stanton held Lambert’s eyes, determined that he wouldn’t give Lambert the pleasure of his scream or struggle. He stared into the bottomless black holes with evil promise of his own. Some day he would meet Lambert as an equal and destroy him.
Lambert laughed. “You think you’ll ever have my strength? I’m not here to bring you back but to terminate you. A renegade. A runaway. The worst kind of traitor. Then I’ll take what is left of you back to the Atrox and show him how the fair one has betrayed his master.”
“I know how to fight your control,” Stanton insisted, but already Lambert’s mental force pulsed through him, cutting down his resistance. His head throbbed with it as a bitter cold moved deep inside him. He thought he heard Serena calling to him, her voice distant. Impossible.
Suddenly, Lambert dropped his hold and Stanton fell to the ground. He shook his head and turned. Catty, Vanessa, Jimena, and Serena ran down the sidewalk, their footsteps thundering into the foggy night.
“No!” he yelled. “Go back.” But he was too weakened. The words came out as a whisper.
Then he saw Cassandra running through the mist after them and he understood what had happened. She had gone back to Planet Bang and convinced the goddesses to rescue him.
The four Daughters stood together, their moon amulets glistening. Seen through a veil of fog, they appeared spectral.
“Goddesses,” Lambert whispered, his eyes afire. “You look ravishing. I’m not sure which one of you I will destroy tonight.”
“No chance,” Catty answered with a wicked grin. Her eyes dilated as if energy were building inside her.
But before they could gather their forces, the air shuddered as Lambert fired a thunderbolt at them. The girls jumped away. Leaves on the low-hanging branches burst into flames and acrid smoke seeped into the overcast night.
Jimena smiled dangerously. “We’ve never fought a member of the Inner circle before,” she threatened. “This should be fun.”
The girls locked arms and the air around them glowed, then pulsed. An invisible wave smacked the space between them and rushed toward Lambert.
Lambert’s cape flapped wildly from the force, but he didn’t seem touched. He raised an eyebrow. “Goddesses, is that your best? I’m rather disappointed. I had hoped that this would be a challenge for me.” He stepped toward them. His attack came like a demon howling from the center of the earth.
Stanton grabbed his ears.
Jimena and Serena stood perfectly still as if the sound didn’t bother them but when the force hit, Jimena stumbled back, looking surprised. Serena seemed unfazed. Now the ring, not her amulet, sent fiery embers in a spiral around her.
Porch lights in the surrounding homes came on. Doors opened and faces peeked outside.
Catty and Vanessa confronted Lambert, their eyes focused. They hurled a pie
rcing deluge. Electrical veins crackled through the fog.
Lambert looked pleased. He slapped another roll of power at them. The smell of ozone filled the air and bits of flame floated down to the sidewalk and grass. Small fires dotted the ground.
Stanton saw something on Serena’s face that he had never seen in battle. She looked frightened. Jimena, always the warrior, didn’t hesitate, but Stanton knew that was only because she had faced death before. Catty’s hands were trembling. She took hold of Jimena’s hand for reassurance. All four gathered together again, their eyes dilated, concentration intense, as their powers ran together. They held back and let the force build. When they released it, it tore through the air and hit Lambert with a jolt. His cape caught on fire. Orange flames singed the bushes behind him.
Lambert didn’t smile this time. He looked angry. Then he pointed at Serena, his eyes expanded with savage rage. He flung out his hand and his power screamed through the air.
“No!” Stanton started running toward Serena.
The ring deflected Lambert’s attack. Sparks showered from the stone as lightning smashed from the gem and screeched toward Vanessa.
“Look out,” Serena yelled.
Vanessa turned and stared at the firebolt coming at her, as if mesmerized.
Lambert smiled and stretched his hand, taking aim. A spear of light emanated from his fingers and shattered the night. Thunder rocked the ground and the air crackled with jagged bits of flame as the force shot directly at Vanessa. Now two were coming at her.
Vanessa had her back to Lambert’s charge. She was still trying to dodge the bolt deflected by the ring.
“Watch out,” Catty screamed. She jumped in front of Vanessa and pushed her aside. Vanessa fell and rolled.
The blow from the ring and the new strike from Lambert hit Catty at the same time. Her eyes widened in shock, then her moon amulet exploded, and Catty disappeared.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
THE AIR STILL RIPPLED from the explosion and embers continued to fall as Vanessa crawled to where Catty had stood only seconds before. Her hands patted the ground in disbelief.
Serena ran to Vanessa, knelt down and wrapped her arms around her.
Vanessa shook her head as flecks of ash settled in her hair. “Where is she?”
“She can’t just be gone,” Serena answered in shock.
“Catty!” Vanessa cried and turned her head, looking around as if she still thought Catty could be found.
Serena tried to soothe her. “We’ll find a way to bring her back.” But there was no confidence in her voice.
“When one Daughter is gone,” Lambert taunted, “the power of the remaining three is greatly weakened.”
Jimena stood protectively in front of Serena and Vanessa. She glared at Lambert, her eyes shiny with tears, and sent a surge of power at him. Her aim was off. It hit a tree and flames burst from the bark.
Lambert laughed. “Your power is weak now.”
She wiped her eyes. “You haven’t weakened us!” Jimena shouted back. “You’d better watch your back because no one hurts my friend and gets away with it. You’re going down.”
Lambert pulled his cape around him, the cloth still smoldering. “I’ll destroy you each in turn. That is my promise, Jimena.” He bowed deeply and disappeared into the mist.
Distant sirens filled the night. People in the nearby houses were stepping out on their porches now.
Stanton walked over to Jimena. “I’m sorry.”
She turned on him. “Sometimes sorry isn’t big enough to cover it.”
“I wish I could have—”
“Helped?” she cut him off.
“Stopped Lambert,” he finished.
“You’ve done enough,” Jimena scolded. “Can’t you see what you’ve done?” She sobbed, then took a deep breath and pulled her tears back inside. Her face looked stricken.
Stanton knelt beside Serena. “I didn’t mean any harm to come to you or your friends.” He rested his hand on her shoulder. More than anything he wanted to comfort her, but he could feel her muscles tense against his touch.
“Go away,” Jimena whispered harshly.
“I didn’t send Cassandra to get you,” he offered in his defense. “I was willing to accept my fate.”
Serena looked up at him, her face filled with anguish, but there was another emotion in her eyes, one she was trying unsuccessfully to hide—blame.
“I need to be alone with my friends,” she explained, but she wouldn’t look at him.
Her tone shocked him. His hand dropped to his side. He stood abruptly, then took a step away as a heavy ache spread through him. “I didn’t want you to rescue me,” he said. “That was never my plan.”
None of them looked at him. Vanessa stared at the flickering flames on the ground, her eyes full of suffering.
“Come on.” Jimena stood as the sirens grew louder and a fire truck turned the corner. Lights flashed across the yard. “We got to get out of here before the police show up. There’s no way we can explain what just happened.”
“I don’t care.” Vanessa voice was filled with bitter resentment. “Maybe it’s time the world knows the truth. Why do we have to carry the whole burden?”
Jimena ignored her question. She and Serena helped Vanessa stand.
“We’ll go back to Planet Bang,” Jimena said, “and blend in. We can’t waste time talking to cops. We have to figure out a way to get Catty back.”
“From where?” Serena asked and wiped at her cheeks. “Where is she?”
Vanessa put her hands over her eyes as her shoulders convulsed with grief.
Stanton could see from the sorrow in her eyes that Serena didn’t think it would be possible to bring Catty back. He felt burdened with guilt. The ring might protect Serena from Followers but it couldn’t protect her from the horrible pain he saw on her face now.
“We’ll go to Maggie’s after things have settled,” Jimena said. “This must have happened before.”
“But…” Serena looked lost. “How can you be so sure?”
“There’s no body,” Jimena stated firmly as if she were trying to convince herself that Catty wasn’t gone. “She must be someplace and there has to be a way to find her.”
Cassandra came up behind Stanton and took his hand. Her sudden touch startled him.
“I’m sorry.” Her voice seemed sincere. “We’d better get away, too.”
He shook her off, annoyed by her presence. He didn’t want her comfort or her help. If it weren’t for her, none of this would have happened. “You shouldn’t have gone to them for help,” he snapped.
“I couldn’t let Lambert destroy you,” she defended herself.
“He wouldn’t,” Stanton argued. “He needs me. He was just going to turn me back.”
Cassandra shook her head. “No, he was going to destroy you. I knew he was.” She tried to draw him away as a fire truck pulled against the curb with a rumble of engines.
Stanton jerked his hand from Cassandra and looked for Serena. She was hurrying away with Jimena and Vanessa. He watched them disappear into the fog, the ache inside him growing. He couldn’t let her leave like this. He ran after her.
“Serena,” he said softly, catching up to her. “Can I come see you tonight?”
She turned sharply and flung her words across his mind, I said I needed to be alone with my friends.
Jimena turned and glared at him, eyes narrowed.
He stared at the goddesses. He didn’t need to read their minds to know that they were blaming him for the loss of Catty. He could see it in their eyes.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
STANTON WAS THE only person sitting at the counter inside Jan’s restaurant. He leaned over his second cup of coffee, trying to forget what had happened, but there was no way to ease his mind. He sat near the pay phone so he could look out the front window. The traffic on Beverly Boulevard was thin. A homeless man pushed a shopping cart down the sidewalk.
It was somewhere past m
idnight. He knew he needed to get out of Los Angeles and fast, but he couldn’t leave Serena. He had waited for Serena, Jimena, and Vanessa outside Maggie’s apartment. They hadn’t spoken to him when they left her building, but he knew from the shattered looks on their faces that Maggie had offered them no hope of finding Catty.
He had wanted to comfort Serena. His feelings for her were deeper and stronger than they had ever been, but she had pushed him away. He had sensed the anger seething inside her, and even though he was no longer a Follower he knew the shame she felt for having cared about him. He wanted to go inside her mind and tell her that what happened to Catty wasn’t her fault, but he didn’t have that power now. Finally, he had watched them leave in Jimena’s car before he had driven here.
He glanced at the night pressing against the window. No unnatural shadows hung in the darkness outside, but he had no doubt Lambert or other Followers would find him soon. It was only a matter of time.
“Are you all right?” the waitress asked as she refilled his cup. Steam curled from the coffee. “You seem…I don’t know…maybe you need to talk to someone.”
Stanton shook his head. “No. I’m fine.”
She rested her left hand on the counter anyway, the coffeepot poised in her right. “You sure?”
He wondered what she would do if he did tell her what was bothering him. To save Serena and her friends, he would have to battle Lambert even though there was no way he could win. Only as a Follower did he have the power he needed to protect Serena—but if he became a Follower again, then their love would be forbidden and he knew she wouldn’t risk it this time, not after what had happened to Catty.
The waitress took his hesitation for a yes. “Girl trouble, betcha,” she encouraged. “I’m an expert on that.”
He nodded ruefully. “She doesn’t like me the way I am now and she was ashamed of who I was before.”
Satisfied, she patted his hand. “Don’t change yourself to please a girl. One will come along who likes you just the way you are.” She smiled, job done, and walked away.
