“There are only three of them here,” Raven announced as she scanned the room. “This can’t be all that’s left.”
I looked at the shimmering gate. “They must have them on the other side.”
“Or they were never here,” Kade countered. “It’s possible they’re in another location. Celeste might’ve figured out that you would get past Kelly’s defenses. She could’ve planned for this.”
“No.” Zoe’s single-word response was a dark hiss. “I feel her. She’s close.”
“You can feel her?” I didn’t want to sound dubious, but I couldn’t stop myself. “Are you sure?”
“Of course I’m sure.” Zoe pinned me with a dark look. “Sami and I are ... connected.” She shook the man hard. “Tell me where she is!”
Aric, his hands shifting into claws, moved behind his wife and glared at the man. “Tell my wife where our daughter is or I’ll start removing limbs.”
“Don’t rip it off,” the man rasped. He was having trouble breathing. “I need my arm.”
“And we need our daughter,” Zoe replied. “You either tell us where she is or my husband will rip off one arm and use it to beat you to death. If that’s what you want, by all means, keep playing games!” Her voice echoed in the small space as she roared the last part.
“They’re through there.” The man gestured toward the gate. “They’re preparing for the final crossover.”
Zoe growled as she released the man. Aric slammed his fist into the gasping man’s face, dropping him where he stood.
“We need to cross over,” Nellie said. “I’ll go first.”
Max caught him before he could fly headfirst through the opening. “We need to go through in an orderly fashion. It’s likely they’re expecting us.” His eyes were on Zoe. “I need to go first.”
Zoe protested. “She’s my daughter.”
“And you’re our greatest weapon,” Max replied. “They’re going to throw magic at the first one through. That person will likely be incapacitated.” He moved closer to her and lowered his voice. “They expect it to be you. You’re the one they fear. Let it be me.”
Zoe worked her jaw. “You could be killed.”
“Unlikely. They don’t understand about mages. The leviathans might, or they might think they’re dealing with some sort of powerful witch given the things the cult members have said. Didn’t you say Celeste kept referring to you as a witch?”
“Yes, but ... this isn’t your responsibility.”
“My dear, this is what we do. When there’s a magical threat, we fight it. You’re part of our team today. Our greatest chance for success is if I go through, magic blazing, and take the initial blow.”
“Will you die?” Kade asked.
“Of course not.” Max sent him a reassuring smile. “I’ll be perfectly fine. You have nothing to worry about.”
He was full of bravado, but I detected a hint of worry in his eyes. We were all willing to sacrifice ourselves to protect the other members of our team. Max was no different.
“Cole and I will be right behind you,” I said. “His fire magic can take down an entire line of them if we join together.”
“What about Sami and Luke?” Cole demanded. “We can’t burn them.”
“Sami will recognize what’s happening when she sees you,” Zoe said. “She’ll take precautions.” A small smile ghosted around her lips. “She can raise protective domes, and she can keep others inside with her. She’ll protect Luke and herself.”
Max shook his hands until teal fire glowed. “I’m going to hit them hard. I’ll probably get off one burst before they throw magic back at me. Wait fifteen seconds and then follow.”
“Be careful.” I rolled to the balls of my feet and kissed his cheek. “We’ll be right behind you.”
Max’s grin was lightning quick. “Don’t worry about me. This is like old times. I’m actually looking forward to it.”
I sucked in a breath as Max swaggered to the opening. He risked one final glance at Zoe and then walked through the shimmering gate.
Nellie started counting down. “Fifteen. Fourteen. Thirteen.”
“I love you, Poet,” Kade said as he watched Cole and I prepare to race after his father. “No matter what, you’re the love of my life.”
“I love you too. It’s going to be okay.”
“Nine,” Nellie intoned. “Eight. Seven.”
“Don’t die on me,” Kade warned.
“Not a chance.” I blew him a kiss and then focused on the gate.
“Three,” Nellie yelled. “Two. One.”
I raced through the opening, taking hold of Cole’s shoulder on the other side. He unleashed a wall of fire as I stepped around Max’s body and surveyed the washed-out landscape of another world. It didn’t look all that different from our world other than the fact that it was gray and bland … and littered with unfathomable enemies.
There were at least six bodies on the ground in front of Max. They appeared human, but that didn’t necessarily mean anything. Izzy said the leviathan could look human. There was no way of knowing what we were dealing with.
Screams filled the air as Cole’s fire magic struck. Figures to my right began flailing as they tried to extinguish the flames engulfing their robes. I ignored them. Whether they’d been suckered into this or not at the start, they knew what they were doing at this point. They’d sat back and watched as young women were murdered in the name of power, and all so monsters could return to a world that no longer wanted them. They all had to die.
Zoe and Aric were next through the gate. The look on Zoe’s face as she started throwing magic was terrifying. She paid no attention to who she struck —leviathan or cult member clearly didn’t matter to her — and her expression was level as she systematically cut through the ranks of our enemies.
“Sami!” Aric called out for his daughter. “Where are you?”
I didn’t see her — or Luke — and the reality was enough to squeeze my heart as I fed more power to Cole. He was burning everything in sight like a flamethrower, but eventually the need to search for Luke would overtake him. He was doing his best, but his fear was palpable.
“Maybe there’s another spot,” I said to Aric, desperation clawing at my throat. “Maybe ... .” I broke off when I heard a familiar voice.
“Daddy!”
I turned to a bluff overlooking the battle. There, a wall of magic dropped to reveal Luke and Sami. They were on their feet. Luke had a vicious bruise on his cheek but looked ready to fight. Sami didn’t hesitate to drop a figure racing toward her.
“There she is,” Celeste said, appearing on my left. “She didn’t escape as we thought.”
I grinned. Now that I knew Sami and Luke were okay, life was much funnier for some reason. “She outsmarted you,” I called out, drawing Celeste’s attention to me. “She managed to hide herself and Luke.”
Celeste gave a curt nod. “She did. The child is more powerful than we imagined. That bodes well for us. We’ll drain her dry to enact the crossing.”
I wanted to slap her, but she wasn’t close enough. “The crossing? You want to help demons who were banished to another plane of existence return to our plane to slaughter humans? Is that your noble cause?”
Celeste’s expression momentarily morphed to something akin to worry, and then she straightened. “They’re gods, not demons.”
“No, that’s what they wanted you to think.”
“This isn’t your world. You don’t understand.”
“I know that you’ve badly misjudged your comrades ... and your opponents,” I shot back. “They won’t give you what you want. I’m assuming that’s power, but all they care about is getting to the other side of the gate. Once they cross, they’ll kill you. There’s nothing you can offer them.”
Celeste hesitated and then shook her head. “No. They’re gods. Our world forgot them and now we’re bringing them back. They told me their story when I found the gate and stumbled into their world. I’ve seen
the truth of their existence.
“Once they were revered,” she continued. “We won’t let them be forgotten again.”
“You’re a fool.” I lashed out with my magic, but she twisted at the last second, resulting in nothing more than a graze to her shoulder and a hateful glare.
“The child has been prophesized,” Celeste hissed. “She’s evil but her magic can be used to free the gods. We’ve been searching for weeks and we finally found her.”
I took a moment to absorb the information. “They told you about blood magic, so you started killing innocent girls. That magic was enough to give you and them a power boost. When you saw what Sami could do that night in the tent, you decided that her power would be enough to open the gate.”
“She’s evil in the guise of a child,” Celeste snapped. “She’s evil like her mother. I knew she would come ... and here she is.”
“She’s the child of two powerful beings.” I gestured toward Zoe, who was striding toward a pack of shifting monsters. Muscles rippled and skin cracked as the human facades gave way to leathery beings with ready claws and snapping teeth. “They’re going to end this here.” I turned to the bluff, where Aric was fighting his way to his daughter. He’d fully shifted, as had Luke, and they made a powerful duo as they stood as barriers for Sami.
For her part, Sami was at the edge of the bluff surveying the fighting. She didn’t look upset as much as determined, her hands mimicking her mother’s earlier movements, clenching and unclenching at her sides. I couldn’t read her intentions until it was already too late.
“Sami, no!” I moved away from Celeste, intent on keeping Sami from jumping from the bluff into the melee below. There was no stopping her, though. The girl was a blur as she plunged into the middle of the battle.
For one breathless moment I thought she’d made a mistake. The leviathans, all shifting into more powerful forms now, descended on her and she momentarily disappeared.
“Oh, god!” My heart threatened to shred.
Then Zoe used her magic to clear a path through the bodies, the flames at the tips of her fingers blazing white. Everyone who dared get in her way was shredded in an instant. Her fury was terrible as she dropped bodies. Those who tried to fight her didn’t even have time to scream before they were shredded. When she glanced up, as if sensing me looking at her, I found her eyes had gone black.
The book. It was the book, I realized. It had taken her over.
Perhaps sensing that her mother was one dropped body away from crossing a line from which she could never return, Sami exploded outward with enough energy to demolish a building, pushing back the leviathans who had tried to take her down. Her shirt was tattered at the shoulder, blood gushing from one of the wounds.
A mother’s love is a gift, I thought, as Zoe grabbed Sami’s shoulder and poured blue energy into her. Sami merely stared at her mother, waiting until the healing was completed to speak.
“This isn’t my fault,” Sami announced.
Rather than chastise her, Zoe merely pushed Sami behind her. “Go back through the gate. We’ll be right behind you.”
Sami shook her head. “I’m not leaving without you.”
“Yes, you are.” Zoe was firm as she gave her offspring a shove. “We need to get everyone on the other side so I can bring down the gate. For every one of these things that falls, another takes its place ... or haven’t you noticed?”
Sami lifted her chin and looked around. “Where are they coming from?”
“I don’t know. It doesn’t matter.” Zoe shoved Sami hard, her eyes landing on Raven. “Start moving them to the other side,” she ordered. “We have to bring down the gate.”
Raven grabbed Sami’s arm. “I’ll take care of it. What about Luke and Aric?” She gestured toward the bluff.
“I’ll get them.” Zoe started moving toward her husband. She paused in front of me long enough to make eye contact. Her eyes were still black. “Make sure your entire team is accounted for. When we take down that gate, there will be no bringing it back.”
I nodded and started for Max. “Cole, help me.”
For a moment, I thought Cole would resist. He wanted more than anything to be reunited with Luke. It was obvious Zoe was going to handle that rescue, however, and no matter how much fire Cole wielded, she was still our most powerful fighter.
“Let’s move him,” Cole said, sending another burst of fire before moving to Max.
He was dead weight, and for a moment I thought that was because he was actually dead. When I moved my fingers to his neck, though, I was relieved to find a pulse, however faint.
“We need to heal him right away,” I said to Cole as I blinked back tears.
“He’ll be okay,” Cole reassured, turning back to the bluff. Aric and Luke were no longer battling at the top. “Do you see them?”
I scanned the rough terrain leading up to the craggy outcropping. There were multiple bodies fighting it out. Luke and Aric were in the middle, growling as they ripped at the leviathans. Someone else was helping them, someone I didn’t expect.
“Kade.” His name was a ragged whisper on my lips when I realized he was with the others.
Cole grunted as he hefted Max’s weight, his eyes following mine to the bluff. “Where did he learn to do that?” he wheezed.
I had no idea, but somewhere along the way — how did I miss it? — he’d found his place. Kade’s hands were a blur as he unleashed magical barrage after barrage, hewing through the leviathans as they attempted to take down the small contingent of fighters. The creatures no longer bothered with their human forms. Instead, they embraced the demon and ripped at the three men as they made their way down the hill.
Kade didn’t let them through.
“I don’t understand,” Celeste moaned.
I’d forgotten her when it became apparent that we would have to flee. “What don’t you understand?” I asked as Cole and I headed to the gate with Max between us. “I told you that you were on the wrong side of this.”
“They don’t look like angels,” Celeste said.
I snorted. “Is that what they told you?” Nellie moved in at my right to help with Max. “Get him through.”
Nellie hesitated, his eyes on Celeste, and then nodded. “Don’t linger. The mage is right. We need to shut this down.”
“We’ll shut it down,” I promised. “Go. I’ll be with the last group.”
Cole briefly held my gaze and then looked to Luke. “Make sure he comes back to me.”
“I’ll make sure he comes back to both of us,” I promised, my throat constricting at his unshed tears. “I’ll be right behind you.”
He nodded one last time and then heaved Max through the gate with Nellie. Once they were gone, a quick survey told me only Naida and Nixie remained. I jabbed my fingers into my mouth and whistled to get their attention, waving for emphasis. “Let’s go!”
Naida spun her hand, creating a magical tornado, and sent it careening toward a group of leviathans. Not waiting to admire her handiwork, she broke into a run and dipped in front of me, pulling Nixie along.
“Get ready,” I ordered as they headed through. “As soon as Zoe is here with the others, we’re going to drop this gate.”
“We’ll be ready,” Naida promised.
Now Kade, Luke, Aric and Zoe were with me. We were all on the same level, Zoe was shredding anyone who came near. They were making good time and were almost to me.
“I didn’t realize,” Celeste wailed. “I didn’t know this would happen.”
She was full of it. “You knew you were killing.”
“I was doing it for gods.”
“That doesn’t make it right.” I had no sympathy for her. I opened my arms to hug Kade as he approached. At the last second, Luke cut in front of him and pulled me tight against his chest.
“It’s been a long day,” he announced, causing me to laugh.
I patted his back and then pushed him toward the gate. “Cole is waiting for you. He’s a
mess. Go.”
“I’m going to expect my favorite dinner and applause when all this is settled,” Luke warned.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” I waved my hand and then pulled Kade to me. “You were amazing,” I whispered.
He kissed my cheek, exhilarated as he pulled back. “I expect my favorite dinner ... and a little something extra, too,” he teased.
“Go.” I gave him a shove.
It was down to Aric, Zoe and me. I knew better than to push Aric through the gate. He waited as Zoe decimated leviathans left and right, extending his hand when she crossed the final distance.
“Let’s go spoil the kid,” he suggested, not as much as flinching at the sight of her black eyes.
“Yeah.” Zoe met my gaze as they hovered in front of the door. “Let’s go.”
I glanced at Celeste, hesitant.
“She’s not coming with us,” Zoe announced before I could say a single word. “This is her home now.”
“No.” Celeste took an extended step in our direction. “I don’t want to stay here.”
“You should’ve thought about that before you murdered innocent girls and women,” I said, moving in tandem with Zoe. Her hands were already sparking. “I can’t save you. You’ve done this to yourself.”
“But ... no!” She looked as if she was going to run through the gate behind us, but Zoe was already pouring her magic into the divide as we crossed.
On the other side, Cole disengaged from Luke and joined Zoe, adding his fire magic to the mix. In short order, Naida, Raven and I joined in, and even though the gate was strong, it faltered, dissolving into fine particles of dust as it disintegrated.
Everything hurt when I leaned over and rested my hands on my knees. I was lost to what had happened, the scene we’d left on the other side. Then I heard it. Sami was talking to Kade.
“Lead with your heart,” she said as I turned my attention to the floor, to where Kade leaned over and pressed his hand to his father’s chest. His fingers glowed blue. “Let your heart tell you what to do,” Sami insisted. “It knows how to heal.”
I watched, amazed, as Max’s eyes fluttered. He was coming back to us.
Mystic Caravan 11 - Freaky Mage Page 27
