Lamia was Alexander’s wife and a very important part of his personal guard; although, she rarely went anywhere with him. He always kept her hidden away because she had an unusual condition that made her extremely vulnerable. Some Dahmshed would call it a disease or a mutation, but she was indeed very special. When she was altered, her body didn’t accept the usual altering, so she instead turned to a different form. Lamia became a psi-Dahmshed, and one of the very few. It would be a stretch to say that ten psi-Dahmshed had ever been created, and most of them were dead.
Psi-Dahmshed have no fangs and no physical strengths that a normal Dahmshed would have. This is mostly because they do not feed on blood, but on the energy that humans emit. Unfortunately, the younger the human, the more pure the energy is, so most psi-Dahmshed hunt children. Unlike a Dahmshed, the psi-Dahmshed cannot pass on their traits to a human, but can only kill them by draining them of every ounce of energy.
“I sent someone to inform her,” one of the guards spoke up. “She should be here momentarily.”
“Perfect!” Alexander seemed extremely happy, and that was never a good thing. If he was happy about something, it meant that something bad had happened to the Peacekeepers.
“I’m growing very bored,” Rose sighed after about a minute. “What’s taking her so long?”
“Patience, my dear, patience.” Grath put on a fake smile, but he had an irritated look in his eyes.
Finally, a door on the opposite side of the room flew open, and Lamia walked in. She was wearing a white fur coat and high-heeled shoes. Her brown, curly hair fell to her shoulders, and her face was frail and bony. Nothing about her natural appearance was very striking, except her eyes. The one on the right was that of a regular Dahmshed, but her left eye was red without a pupil. Elliot had told me that this gave her the ability to see the energy field that surrounds every human, animal, and even Dahmshed.
“I’m so sorry I’m late!” Lamia dramatized her speech as she ran to Alexander’s side at a normal human speed.
“Do not fret, Lamia; we didn’t wait long.” Alexander kissed her on the cheek.
“I thought we waited long,” Rose said with her voice trailing off.
“Rose, you are trying my patience,” Grath threatened her through gritted teeth.
“Silence, both of you!” Alexander bellowed at them. “I have great news brought to me by one of Caleb’s officers, and I think you’d like to hear it.”
“Yes, yes, we would.” Grath smiled while narrowing his eyes at Rose.
“Well, as most of you know, Chase had infiltrated De Vredestichters’ house in Vermont.” My heart sank, and my throat closed up. I could not believe what he had just said. “Caleb found them and launched a full-scale attack with a small portion of his army. They are now in Cumberland, Maine, with none other than Jason Hook as their captive.”
A single drop of blood ran from my eye and down my cheek. I had failed Jason, and now he was going to die. There was no possible way for me to reach him before the Rogues killed him. I was so angry that my hands clenched and made a permanent indentation in the stone rafter. I had to avenge Jason. I had to kill Alexander.
“That’s great!” Grath jumped from his seat. “Have they killed him yet?”
“No, no,” Alexander said hastily. “I called you all here to tell you this because we are all going to Maine so that I can kill him, personally.”
I had almost jumped down into the large crowd that would have ended my life, but at that news, I flew across the rafters and out the door. Elliot and the others were still there.
“Are they done? Is Alexander alone?” JD asked me instantly.
“This mission is over!” I yelled at them. “I knew this was going to happen!”
“What?” Elliot asked timidly. “What did they say?”
“They have Jason, Elliot.” I could feel more blood pouring from my eyes. “We need to get to him before Alexander does.”
“Shit!” Matt exclaimed. “How the hell could that have happened?”
“There’s no time to explain.” I started to walk away from them. “I have to go. I’m the fastest, and I’m not going to slow down so that you guys can keep up. I’m sorry, but you’ll have to get of here on your own.”
I turned and ran full-speed for the exit to the lair. I had to reach Jason as quickly as possible so that I could rescue him and flee before Alexander and his guards arrived. By then it would be too late. Jason and I would both be dead.
Chapter 16
Parallel
Peter-
My right hand gripped its throat lightly while my left cracked into its skull. I dropped the Rogue onto the ground and went to reach for the next, but there weren’t any. Vlad was having fun with the last three that he had left impaled, but other than that, there were only dead bodies scattered across the front yard. I couldn’t hear Andi doing anything, so she must have finished off the rest of hers as well.
I decided to let Vlad have his fun and ran back into the house to check on Jason and the rest of the humans. When I opened the door, Andi seemed to be just coming out. A look of horror was on her face, and behind her, I could see Trevor and Faith kneeling over Lukas, who was covered in blood.
“Peter,” Andi said slowly. “They took him.”
“No….” I flew up to the loft only to find David and Emeric sitting alone. “How could this have happened?”
When I turned around, Andi was already next to me.
“They killed Lukas, then they took Jason.” She put her hand on my shoulder. I couldn’t understand how this happened. They were only Rogues.
I ran down the stairs to Trevor and Faith with Andi at my heels. “We’re leaving.”
“All of you?” Faith asked.
“Yes, all of us,” I responded sternly.
“Can’t we come with you?” Trevor asked boldly.
“No, stay here with David and Emeric,” I ordered them.
“What if they come back?” David whimpered from the loft.
“They got what they came for,” I replied sullenly. “They won’t be back.”
“Then, why can’t we go with you?” Trevor asked again.
“Because you’re human!” I turned and yelled at him. I was too angry to be nice, anymore. “You’ll slow us down and give us away before we even get there.”
A thought suddenly came to me: Chase. If Jason was gone, then he probably was, too. I threw open the bedroom door and found that my assumption was right; Chase was gone. Next, I ran into the front yard where Vlad was finishing off the last Rogue. He looked up at me with a mouth full of blood.
“Something wrong?” As he spoke, some of the blood slipped from his mouth and splattered the ground.
“Jason’s gone, and so is Chase.” I could barely say it. “They took him, and we have to go.”
“Son of a…” I slammed the front door behind me hoping that Vlad would get the hint to come inside.
“Peter!” Philip yelled across the house when he saw me enter. He, Taddi, and Winston were all standing around Lukas. They must have come back while I was outside. “Andi told us what happened. Let’s go immediately. Our trail hit a dead end, so we can all go after the new one.”
“I’m glad you’re back.” At least one thing was going my way. “I need to send someone to the marina to tell Aderes.” Everyone looked away from me, hoping not to be the one I picked. They knew as much as I did that when Aderes found out, she’d kill anyone responsible. “Winston.” He looked at me and smiled. “I think Aderes will go easiest on you.”
Winston nodded and, without hesitation, ran out the front door, passing Vlad on his way. Vlad eyed him oddly, then he turned to the others, and a look of surprise came over his face.
“When did you get back?” A small smile crept onto his face. “You missed all the fun.”
“All right, let’s go,” I said, ignoring Vlad’s childish comments. The five of us flew out the back door, leaving the humans behind in the dark house.
The putrid smell of the slaughtered Rogues was hard to overcome, but the farther we ran into the woods, the easier it became to pick up the smell of Jason’s captors. There were two at first, but about a mile from the house, I caught the scent of three more. That meant that it would be five Dahmshed versus five Rogues; an easy fight. All we had to do now was catch them. A few more minutes into the run, the Rogue scent began to grow stronger, telling us that we were gaining ground. They couldn’t have been more than a mile or two ahead of us.
“Hey, Peter!” Taddi called to me. “I just realized something!”
“What?”
“Jason’s scent isn’t here, anymore.” I kept running, but everyone else looked at me, waiting for the order to stop.
“Now that you mention it,” Philip said with his nose in the air, “I think it went away when the other three Rogues joined up with the first two.”
“Do you think they could have hidden his scent?” I asked Philip.
“I highly doubt it,” he replied quietly, obviously not wanting to bring any more bad news to the table. We had to turn around then; something didn’t add up. There had to be some other trail that we missed. It seemed highly unlikely, but it was the only possible explanation.
Just as I was about to stop and head back, the pack of Rogues came into view. They were all fully developed, perfect for leading us as far away from the actual trail as possible. When they saw us, they began to yelp and bark, presumably in a panic. I leapt for the nearest one, crashing down on its back with full force. I knew my friends would each take another down, so I didn’t bother to look as I ripped out the Rogue’s throat. He, and all the others, would pay dearly for taking Jason.
“They’re all dead,” Taddi reported quickly. “Let’s go back and see if we can find a second trail.”
Without answering, I flew forward, heading for where the trail merged. The others fell in behind me, and we ran as fast as possible through the snow-powdered woods. It wasn’t long before we made it back to the junction and began our search. As I concentrated more on other scents besides the Rogues, I noticed a faint smell of exhaust.
“Everyone, get over here!” I yelled as I looked at the ground. I almost smacked myself across the face when I saw the scarce markings of covered-up car tracks. They must have dumped snow over them as they drove off.
“Great!” Andi fell to her knees. “We lost him. There’s no way we can catch up to a car.”
“No, but we can follow it.” Vlad smiled. “Plus, I think I know where it’s going.”
“Where?” Philip looked at him puzzled.
“Cumberland, Maine,” I interjected, answering for Vlad.
“Exactly!” Vlad snapped his fingers. “Chase told us that’s where they keep a lot of the Rogue army.”
“What are we waiting for, then?” Andi asked us. “Let’s go before they kill him!”
***
Jason-
“You’re such a smart-mouthed brat!” Chase yelled at me from the front seat of the Jeep. His brother Caleb was driving, and my wrists were tied to one of the backseat headrests. Chase was angry that I had been doing nothing but talking about how Aderes would save me. Little did he know, I had no choice in the matter. I couldn’t help but talk about her.
“Shut up, Chase.” Caleb gave his brother a look of annoyance. He was a good looking, muscular man in his late twenties. His eyes were a piercing, bright blue and his black hair made them look even more intense. His sideburns ran from his hairline all the way to his chin, where they faded away just before the two sides met. Unlike his brother, he seemed to have some type of morals.
“Why don’t we just kill him?” Chase complained. “I thought that was the plan.”
“The plan was that if we ever caught him, we were to let Alexander kill him.”
“It would be so easy, though.” Chase turned to look at me. “I could just shift and then rip his throat out.”
“I don’t care, Chase.” Caleb hit the brakes as we took a sharp turn. He was driving at excessive speeds to outrun the Dahmshed and had almost run us off the road several times already. “Unless you want to tell Alexander why you disobeyed him, I’d suggest you not kill Jason.”
Chase was quiet for a while. He obviously didn’t feel the need to argue any further.
“How much longer?” he asked after a few minutes of silence. “We’ve been in this damn car for hours.”
“We’re almost there. It’s just around the corner.”
“Finally.”
Only a minute later, we pulled into a small, abandoned town. Every house had been burnt to the ground and was covered in black ash. I could only imagine what must have happened to make an entire town go up in flames. It was probably a last ditch effort by a human to rid the place of Dahmshed, but obviously they had failed.
Then, I saw something that I had missed at first glance. On top of a large hill stood a lone, eerie-looking house that was untouched by the fire that had destroyed the rest of the homes. The windows were boarded up, and the outside walls were battered beyond belief. One was almost completely caved in, and another had a large hole in it. The house looked down on me like a giant creature waiting to consume its prey, like a Dahmshed before it tore into someone’s throat. My entire body turned cold at the sight of the large building, and my throat closed up, preventing me from speaking. Chase turned around and caught a glimpse of my pale face as I stared up at the hypnotizing house.
“He’s scared to death!” He laughed. Then his face became still and serious. “If you think that’s bad, just wait ’til we get inside.”
***
Elliot-
“We should go right away,” JD insisted. “Without Aderes, we’ll get slaughtered in a fight.”
“He’s right, Elliot,” Jamie agreed. “There’s no point in staying. Without Aderes, attacking Alexander would be suicide.”
“All right, then.” I didn’t hesitate with my answer. I wanted to leave just as much as they did. “Let’s head back the exact same way we came. I don’t want to get lost.”
“Are you sure we should go by the stadium again?” Matt asked, as I began to walk away. “The nomeds are probably done eating, so the Jagers will be pouring out of there.”
“What else can we do?” JD lifted an eyebrow. “Do you really think we can navigate these tunnels?”
“This is going to be tricky,” I replied. “I say we try going past the stadium. If we see anything, we can turn around.”
“Sounds good to me.” Jamie nodded. “How about you guys?”
“Fine, let’s go.” JD walked forward. Matt didn’t answer, but he followed JD anyway.
Jamie and I quickly caught up, and the four of us flew up the large staircase. I took one look behind us to make sure no one had left the room, yet, and saw that we were still alone. When I turned back, we had made it up the stairs and begun to run along the long tunnel around the stadium. The continuous chanting had stopped, but no Jagers seemed to have left, so we picked up our speed. We were too far along now to be able to hide if the Jagers did decide to leave their show.
“Where are those damn stairs?” JD grumbled irritably as we flew down the corridor. “Shouldn’t we have seen them by now?”
“I was just thinking the same thing.” Jamie turned and gave me an uneasy look.
“Look, there they are…” Matt’s voice trailed off, and we all came to a sudden stop. At the base of the spiral staircase stood a woman in a white fur coat, swinging a short, thin chain around in circles. She looked up at us casually with black and red eyes.
“Lamia,” I spoke softly to myself.
“Hello, everyone.” She smiled, exposing her normal, human-like teeth. “Where’s your friend with the black sweatshirt?”
“You saw Aderes?” I asked her through gritted teeth.
“Of course I did. Her energy trail lasted longer than she did.” Lamia swung the chain around her index finger and walked a few steps closer to us. “She was stupid enough to try to leave w
hile I was still in the room.”
“She knew you were there?” I questioned her.
“I can’t see how she couldn’t have. I’m pretty hard to miss.”
“Why didn’t she tell us?” Jamie whispered to me. I ignored her, knowing full well that she’d figure out the answer; Aderes had been so blinded by the fact that Jason was in trouble that she didn’t give us a second thought.
“Now, here’s the fun part.” Lamia pointed behind us. “Alexander has sent a few of his men after you.”
I turned to see five Jagers closing in behind us. We could take them without much trouble, but then a thought came to me; Lamia couldn’t have traveled fast enough by herself to get in front of us. I turned and spotted five more Jagers coming from the stairwell. Behind them were Grath and Rose.
“Oh, Elliot!” Grath exclaimed with a smile. “What a pleasure to see you!”
“I wish I could say the same.” I balled my hands into fists, preparing for the imminent fight. Grath’s smile vanished, and he pushed his way through the five Jagers in front of him.
“How dare you come into my lair and disrespect me like that!”
“Isn’t this Alexander’s lair?” I provoked him further. Matt punched me lightly in the back, telling me to stop, but I knew better. If Grath was enraged, he would make stupid mistakes, giving us an advantage.
“I don’t think you’re in a position to be cracking jokes.” Grath was dead serious now. His upper lip was curled and his brow was wrinkled.
“Let’s kill them now!” Rose snarled into the air.
“As you wish, my darling.” Grath snapped his fingers, and the other Jagers closed in on us. He then threw Lamia onto his back, and he and Rose took off down the tunnel in the opposite direction, leaving Alexander’s men to take care of us.
“Group up!” I called out as the Jagers formed a circle around us.
“Back to back?” Matt asked me.
“No, we’re not staying for long,” I replied. “There’s no way we can take on ten of them.”
Descendant: The Protector (The Descendant Series) Page 23
