Someone tapped on the door.
“Charlotte?”
Dro Tar!
Dez moved so the door would conceal him if Dro Tar entered.
“Charlotte,” she called, pushing open the door. “Anybody home?” She spotted Charlotte trapped within the containment field. Her swirling hazel eyes widened and she turned to sound the alarm.
Dez grabbed her, dragged her into the suite and kicked the door shut in one continual motion.
“I’ve never been so glad to see a female in my life,” he muttered. Before she could spout the sarcastic insult so clearly written in her expression, he sealed his mouth over hers.
Charlotte struggled within the containment field, ignoring the searing pain shooting through her body. She could see the energy draining from Dro Tar into Joon. He was taking too much. Dro Tar’s body wilted within his careless embrace.
He was killing her!
Screaming with her mind, Charlotte desperately broadcast her fear and frustration. But the containment field reflected her emotions back to her, building them, amplifying them until she broke off with a mental sob.
Finally, Joon pulled away. His chest heaved, his eyes spun wildly while his body absorbed the energy.
Dro Tar slipped forgotten from his arms, landing hard on her side. Holding perfectly still, Charlotte watched the other woman’s chest.
Waiting.
Praying.
Dro Tar moaned.
Charlotte exhaled.
“Well, I feel better,” Joon gloated. “I might have to keep that one around. She’s just full of energy.”
Glaring at him was the only rebellion possible within the containment field so Charlotte tried to kill him with her eyes.
“Now stop that. I can’t face the TSC looking like that.” He approached the field and studied her. “Let me see.”
In a smooth, sustained ripple, Dez dar Joon shifted away his shape and replaced it with hers. He captured every detail of her appearance, down to the stubborn curls at the nape of her neck that refused to remain confined.
“The voice comes naturally with the shape,” he said, sounding just like her. “But as I failed to do with Vee, I’ve got to mimic your speech pattern. You continually use contractions and I’ll throw in touches of English slang.”
Why?
She focused entirely on the one word. Willing him to hear her.
“Because the Aunes are fanatical tyrants who have held Ontariese hostage for generations. After you assassinate Prefect Aune, people will flock to the Reformation Sect. You’ll have to go into hiding of course, which will give us plenty of time to start our family.”
He laughed, but it was her laugh, which made it all the creepier.
“It would be a lot easier just to kill you, but you are the only catalyst on Ontariese. We’ll debate whether or not it’s reason enough to keep you alive later, but I’ve got to go right now. Be a good girl. No one else needs to die unless you misbehave. Except Roe Aune of course…but that doesn’t count.”
Charlotte focused all her Mystic energy and poured it through the catalyst. She had to warn them. She had to…
Dez spun around, the gown billowing out around him as he intercepted her transmission. “For that, Dro Tar dies.”
Excruciating pain exploded within Charlotte’s brain, radiating out to every cell of her body. Did he intend to leave her in agony? It was her last thought before the darkness claimed her.
* * *
The doors flew wide at Vee’s command, silencing the council chambers. Tal watched Charlotte enter, head held high, steps measured, gown shimmering all around her lithe form. Her beauty mesmerized him but an arrogance radiated from her that he hadn’t notice before.
Their brief conversation had haunted him, tortured him through the night with confusion and uncertainty. He had come today ready to support her, to listen with an open mind to whatever she had planned.
He had been taught from the cradle to accept the traditions as indelible. Perhaps he was too close to the problem to see the solution. As Dro Tar would say, he couldn’t see the forest for the trees.
Charlotte fussed with her skirt, preparing to address the council.
“Thank you for accepting my invitation, esteemed gentlemen,” she began.
Did he detect a hint of sarcasm in her tone?
“You requested an undesignated period of time for study before your coronation, when your official duties will begin,” Tal’s father stated with his typical bluntness. “Is this what you wish to address? Do you have questions for us?”
“Actually I do,” she responded. Instead of moving along the inward curve of the U-shaped table, she skirted it and headed toward Prefect Aune. “How long did you intend to allow your son to brainwash me before I became suspicious enough to do some investigation on my own?”
Roe Aune just stared at her, a stunned expression frozen on his face.
Tal looked at Vee, who stood near the door. He looked nearly as shocked as the prefect. What, by the ghosts of the night moon, was going on here?
Charlotte continued her approach, her eyes intent on the prefect’s flushed face. “All of the information I’ve been given has been Traditionalist propaganda. If you’d been honest with me, Prefect Aune, if you’d presented me with both sides and allowed me to choose, perhaps I could forgive you. But you manipulated me—used me. Was Tal in on it or did you use him too?”
Shoving back his chair, the prefect stood and faced her. “I manipulated no one.” His voice was brittle with restrained irritation. “I did not write the Clarifications. I just uphold them.”
She laughed. “Boy, that nonsense is spouted across the universe. If you must make excuses for your precious Clarifications, then there is something wrong with them.”
His father’s face turned a darker shade of red and an artery at his temple began to throb. Only those who knew him best understood how close he was to unleashing his infamous temper.
Charlotte, you’re pushing too hard.
She wasn’t there. Chills ran down Tal’s spine. He reached for her along the familiar mental path linking his mind to hers, but she wasn’t there.
How could he have been such a fool?
His gaze flew to Vee. Their thoughts arrived in unison.
Dez dar Joon!
* * *
“I appreciate your indulging me like this, Commander Aune. The child simply would not be calmed until he saw me transport out with his own eyes.”
The muffled voice drew Charlotte back to consciousness. She straightened within the containment field and some of the pain receded.
Help! Help me!
“And when said child can throw fireballs, it’s probably best just to indulge him.” Trey’s reply was a bit louder.
They were in the corridor.
“That’s what surprised me most.” She thought it was Mage Gerr, but the voices were too muffled for her to be sure. “Lor didn’t use his pyrokinesis, even at the height of his frustration. That, in part, is why I’m here. If he had thrown a temper tantrum, I would have merely punished his misbehavior.”
“The meeting has already begun,” Trey said, and she heard more footsteps. They were moving away.
Desperation surged through Charlotte. She had to do something. If they left, Prefect Aune would die. Dro Tar lay at her feet, mere inches from the containment field. Hating what she was about to do, Charlotte closed her eyes and poured Mystic energy directly into the field, expanding it.
The sizzling cloud touched Dro Tar’s leg and she yelped, shaking her head and looking around dazedly.
Trey! Get Trey! Charlotte screamed.
Dro Tar looked up and reached for something on the belt at her waist.
“Aune here. Go ahead.”
Charlotte heard the words and wanted to weep with relief. Dro Tar had activated her audiocom.
“Stateroom. Help!”
Dro Tar only managed the two words before she slipped back into unconsciousness, but they were eno
ugh. Charlotte heard several hearty thuds against the door and then the Mystic’s voice. “That’s not going to help, Commander Aune. It has a Mystic seal.”
“Well, unseal it,” Trey said impatiently.
“Now try it.”
Trey barged in, followed a step behind by Mage Gerr.
“Are you okay?” Trey asked Charlotte while he pulled Dro Tar away from the containment field.
Charlotte managed an infinitesimal nod.
“It appears Lor wasn’t just needing attention.” Trey scooped Dro Tar up in his arms and moved her to the sofa across the sitting room.
Can you hear me? Charlotte sent her thoughts to the Mystic.
Just barely. Mage Gerr slowly circled the containment field. How do we get you out of there?
I’ll open the catalyst, but you’ll have to do the rest.
Understood. He positioned himself in front of her and waited for her to manifest on the metaphysical plane.
Charlotte felt as if she were swimming through mud. Each motion drained her strength, dragging her deeper into the containment field. Finally, she felt his presence, the concentration of his Mystic energy.
Opening the catalyst, she let him come to her.
His energy passed through the catalyst and the containment field vibrated. Charlotte braced against the scorching intensity, freed from the containment enough to tremble.
It was slipping! Her hold on the meld wavered but Mage Gerr gently augmented her Mystic energy. The field expanded and then contracted. Charlotte screamed as pain blazed across her skin. The sound was audible now. She stubbornly held on.
With one mighty surge, Mage Gerr burst the containment field, filling the room with brilliant sparks. Charlotte collapsed. The Mystic caught her, easing her to her knees.
“Has Joon assumed your shape?” he asked.
“Yes,” she panted. “He means to kill Prefect Aune.” Trey was halfway to the door before she could say, “You can’t fight him alone.”
“Well, you’re in no condition to help me,” he pointed out.
“If Mage Gerr will transfuse my energy, I’ll be with you in a moment.”
“If you two are going to—”
“There are many ways to transfer Mystic energy,” she interrupted. “This is no time for your locker-room humor.”
Confusion sped the motion of his amber eyes. “What’s a locker room?”
Chapter Sixteen
“No one is fooled, Joon,” Tal Aune said evenly.
Dez dar Joon stood directly behind Prefect Aune, his arm circling the prefect’s throat. Roe’s fingers clasped the aberration’s forearm, the difference in their heights bending him backward, keeping him off balance. Tal approached slowly from one side, Vee from the other. Could they shift simultaneously and trap Joon where he stood?
“Try it,” Dez challenged. “I’ll break your father’s neck and disappear before you reach me.”
“We all know you’re not Charlotte.” Tal refused to ask what Joon had done with her. Doubtless, anything Dez said would only provoke him.
The council members looked on in terrified silence. No one moved. They seemed afraid to breathe. Any interference on their part would only distract and hinder the Mystics’ efforts so their passivity was welcome.
The chamber doors crashed open, propelled by Trey’s booted foot. “You will die for what you did to them!” he shouted, his bronze-tinted features contorted with rage.
Trey fired his pulse-rifle in a high arch above Joon’s head. “Come face me like a man, you sniveling coward! Or are you more comfortable in a dress?”
Blood pounded in Tal’s brain so forcefully it made him dizzy. Trey couldn’t mean Charlotte was dead. Tal wouldn’t even consider the possibility.
Joon shifted back to his customary shape and stalked toward Trey. A transport conduit opened behind Joon, but his angry turquoise gaze was focused entirely on Trey.
Trey was a decoy.
Tal grinned as Charlotte emerged from the vortex, followed immediately by Mage Gerr. Explanations would have to wait. There was no way Joon would escape this time.
Don’t let him shift from the room. Charlotte’s dear voice chimed loud and clear within his mind.
Vee cast a containment field around Joon, but before it completely materialized, Charlotte threw herself toward Joon, and the field encircled them both.
“No!” Tal rushed forward. Trey put out one brawny arm and stopped him.
“She knows what she’s doing,” Trey said.
The field restricted their movements. Still Joon dodged and arched, trying to avoid her touch. Charlotte framed his face with her hands, repulsed by the feel of his clammy skin.
She simply had to do this. Everything else had failed. Knowing what lay ahead made her weak and nauseated, but she remembered the captives and pictured Dro Tar weak and helpless in this creature’s arms.
His fist tangled in her hair and Joon yanked her head back. “I’ll drain you dry, little girl. Right here in front of your lover.”
Quickly finding the mental path she’d accessed once before, Charlotte dove into the depravity of Dez dar Joon.
“Stop it!” he snarled, his hand tightening painfully in her hair.
He tried to block her, to force her out, but Mage Gerr unobtrusively supplemented her Mystic energy. Joon groaned and writhed while she pushed deeper, stirring up his mind like a swarm of locusts. Evil surrounded her, permeated every molecule and twisted every thought. She gathered it, compacted it then directed it through the catalyst.
He shrieked, tossing his head from side to side, desperate to dislodge her hands. Charlotte pressed on. She found the foulest concentration of his corrupt energy and fed that through the catalyst as well.
Over and over she compounded his evil.
Fight turned to flight and Joon clawed at the containment field. He poured the last of his energy into his desperate escape and fought his way through the barrier, dragging Charlotte with him. She dug her nails into his flesh, refusing to relinquish the link.
Tal stood beside Trey, horrified that they could do nothing but watch. “How do we help her?” he asked in an urgent whisper.
“She does not need our help,” Vee said. “For times such as these were the royal twins born. This is her destiny.”
Chills passed through him at Vee’s confident words yet restlessness plagued him still.
Joon’s skin drained of color, turning the putrid gray of a corpse. Charlotte’s hands didn’t budge from his face. His cheeks sucked inward and his eyes bulged but still she gripped him firmly.
Mage Gerr began to pant, beads of perspiration breaking out on his forehead. Tal finally found a purpose. Thrilled to play a more active part in the drama, he linked with the other Mystic, offering a fresh source of energy.
Turquoise light beamed from Joon’s eyes directly into Charlotte’s. She cried out, rocking back as far as her hold would allow. The stream continued and she screamed.
Summoning the metaphysical plane, Tal sent out a pulse, searching desperately. Joon controlled the visualization. His distorted energy vibrated through Tal, making his head pound and his stomach heave.
Sulfuric vapor clouded his vision, stinging his nose.
Where were they?
“Tal, don’t come any closer. Stay back!”
The mist parted and Tal staggered to a stop. Charlotte stood hip-deep in the sucking mire of a mystic trap. Tal’s chest heaved and his hair snapped then coiled tightly around his waist. Calm down. This wasn’t helping her. His fear would escalate hers and she must remain calm—she must remain still.
He hunched down and extended his hands toward her.
“Don’t move!”
“He’s draining my energy. When I struggle, it pulls me deeper.”
“We will fight this thing together! Link with me.”
“It would only make him stronger.” The defeat in her tone fueled his determination.
I will not stand here and watch her die!
&
nbsp; She shook her head. “If I stay still, it’s more gradual, but I can still feel…” Her voice caught on a sob.
He scrubbed his face with his hands. “I will summon the others Mystics—”
“No!” she shouted. “Don’t you understand? That’s what he wants. He knows how Mystics think, how we bind together in times of trouble. He’s counting on it. If the Mystics link and pour their energy into me, it will wipe out the entire Conservatory.”
It was forbidden.
It was suicide.
But it was the only option left to them.
Squaring his shoulders, he resolutely met her gaze. “Then I will purge the metaphysical plane.”
“What does that mean?” She unconsciously shifted and cried out. The trap sucked her down, pulling until she stopped moving.
Tal roared in exasperated fury. All the love pounding through his being and he could not even touch her! The trap now held her immobile to the middle of her chest. Her features twisted and she wheezed. “I—can’t breathe.”
“Listen to me and do exactly what I say. Do you understand?”
She nodded.
He hid his feelings from her. She must be strong. She must be brave. She must not realize…
“I will Summon the Storm here. I will open a portal and it will purge the metaphysical plane. Like opening an airlock on a spaceship. Do you understand? The moment before I unleash its power, you must strengthen your shields with the catalyst or you will be sucked through the portal.”
Her beautiful eyes filled with terror and fresh tears washed her cheeks. “What about you?” she sobbed. “If it will purge… How will you survive?”
“This is your mind. It cannot harm me,” he lied. “I’ll simply sever the link. Do you think you can do this? The Storm will be catastrophic. Will your shields hold?”
“I will make them hold.”
Tal spread his arms, his gaze never leaving her terrified face. Grief ate at him, tore through him, but he allowed only tenderness into his expression.
“Are you ready?” he asked, praying she hadn’t noticed the catch in his voice.
Taken by Storm V3 Page 24
