Earth

by Jaymin Eve

  “There’s nothing here,” Colton said. He had his nose slightly elevated as he sniffed around. “I don’t think the energy was ever stored in this grid.”

  Lucy nodded. “That makes sense. We were taught that power isn’t stored in these grids. This is simply where they distribute it after it’s generated.”

  Told you the pixie was a nerd. A sexy, smartass nerd. She just loved school.

  “So, where the hell did all the power they gathered through the barrier go then?” I said, still attempting to shake off the tingles like a wet dog.

  “Do you think the Seventine already have the power?” Lucy’s nerves had her voice wavering. “Did we waste too much time making sure the girls were secure?”

  Eva made a sort of growl noise. “It wasn’t wasted. No matter how important and powerful you are, if you forget about the little people around you then you don’t deserve the gifts you have.”

  Lucy gave a heaving sigh. “Yes, I get that, but we’re ultimately working to save all the people in these worlds. Not exactly forgetting about them.”

  “That means nothing to those girls if they’re raped and brutally beaten to death by smugglers. That was almost certainly the fate for most of them. You gave them a chance to survive. You don’t have to do more than that, but people deserve a chance.”

  Some of the defiance had left Eva now, but she wasn’t backing down.

  Lucy simply flipped some of her golden hair over her shoulder. “I’m not saying I disagree with you. I’m just hoping like hell that when we get back to First World, we don’t find the last Seventine free and kicking.”

  I knew the last Seventine wasn’t free yet. I was tied to those evil-suckers, and for now I sensed no change in their energy.

  “Looks like it’s time to head back to First World,” I said. “As long as we join the seven half-Walkers together and perform the ritual before the last is freed, it doesn’t matter if they have the energy.”

  Let’s hope it ended up being as easy as that.

  Girls! My tether shot out in five different directions. We’re on our way back and there’s no time to lose. Find Jedi and meet me at the mountain entrance. We need to perform the ritual.

  I hadn’t included Eva in the call. I was getting good at controlling who I connected with. I was heading straight for Jedi now, he had the information on the ritual. It was time to lock the Seventine away for good.

  “You ready?” I asked Eva.

  She was still looking skittish.

  She took a deep breath. “I’m ready. Nervous, though … what if they don’t like me?”

  I was sure that since her family’s death she hadn’t given a shit about anyone liking her, but already the half-Walker magic was working on her.

  I gave her a one-armed hug. “Girl, if everyone can like Fury then you’re going to have no problem.”

  Lucy snorted. “Word on that. Double word.”

  A warm, furry body hit me right around the time the screams of Abby rang out. I’d traced us to the spot near the dark mountain entrance. Cerberus was enthusiastically greeting me and I was grateful he managed to keep the majority of his bulk from crushing me. Luckily he was only in his horse size. When I finally managed to untangle myself from the two-headed hellhound, I found myself surrounded by the half-Walkers.

  Sapha cleared her throat. My gaze was drawn to her dramatic red eyes, which practically glowed at me.

  “Jedi will be here soon. He said to meet him at the … prison.” She still struggled with some of our words.

  All the worlds spoke English, as that was a main dialect of Walkers, but they had their own languages also. So some of the halves were a little rougher at it than others.

  “Everyone,” I said, capturing the group’s attention. “This is Eva.” I pulled the blond female forward. “She’s the Earth half-Walker. Eva …” I left my hand on her shoulder while I introduced everyone and also their sacred animals.

  I knew she wouldn’t keep them all straight. There were a lot of names to learn, but it was a start.

  Eva met each of their gazes, before giving a brief nod. She wasn’t overly friendly, but not rude either. Cautious was what she was.

  Delane and Ria exchange a glance. Those two were the more mature, least hotheaded of our girls. They would be wondering how Eva fit into our group, what her skills were. Delane especially would want to know how she would benefit us during the fight.

  Talina shuffled closer, and smiled gently. The Spurn half was the softhearted one. She would want to take Eva under her wing, and hug away all her hurts. She wouldn’t actually do it, of course. She’d learned that the hard way after Fury, but she would be the one to empathize the most with Eva.

  Fury didn’t have much time or attention for our newest member. The Crais half was hard to please, but brutally loyal once you earned it.

  Sapha seemed ambivalent; Eva and she could bond over the way they didn’t really want to be here helping us, but were still doing it because of the mystical ties between us.

  “Alright, now that we’re at full power, let’s lock the Seventine away.” Delane was the one to usher us toward the mountain entrance.

  Brace halted me. “I’m going to check on Abernath. My men tell me that the fighting has increased. They require a few moments of my time – and my guidance. Don’t do anything until I return.”

  I stood on my toes and placed a kiss on the closest spot I could reach. His chin. “The girls and I will take a few moments to connect and share the power before we do any rituals. I’ll let you know when we’re about to start.” I flashed a cheeky grin at him. “So you can hurry back to me.”

  His lips curled up, revealing perfect teeth. He looked wolf-like right then. He must be channeling Colton or something.

  “I’ll always hurry to you, Red.” Then, with a brief but sweet kiss, he was gone.

  Colton followed him. He was Brace’s second and didn’t let his princeps go off into danger without him.

  Lucy remained with me and the half-Walkers.

  Her blue eyes clashed into mine. “Yeah, Colt wanted me to stay by his side. I informed him that I wasn’t his leash and he’d just have to take himself for a walk.”

  I snorted. “Must be interesting inside your head, Luce. The conversations are …” I trailed off, unable to think of the right word.

  “Boring as eff,” Fury chimed in, finishing my sentence. “Pixie and wolf-man don’t have a single thing worth listening to. Except if you need advice on flea maintenance or how to work out a mirror timetable … you know, because they’re both pretty and need equal time admiring themselves.”

  Lucy, who had her wings back in action, fluttered them a few times before doing this weird cough-sneeze at the Crais half. Within seconds Fury’s white hair and creamy red skin were coated in green glitter. Fury blinked at the pixie for a few moments; I think she was in shock or something. Then she shrieked. It was loud, echoing across the space, and all faces turned in our direction.

  Crete, who had been curled around her feet, suddenly gave an almighty roar – which was much too loud for an itty, baby kitten – and he jumped between Fury and Lucy. He hissed once at the pixie and then with a popping sound the tiny, fluffy kitten disappeared. In his place was a pony-sized panther.

  I stared for a moment, trying to take in Fury’s sacred animal. My initial thought had been panther, and he was definitely from that animal tree, except Crete was all prehistoric-like. Not smooth like a modern panther, but all ropy muscles and broad features. He also had a mane like a lion, it was black with wisps of white throughout. Dude! Fury’s baby kitty was a scary-ass monster. That was sure to make her happy.

  Of course, before she could celebrate this, she’d have to stop rolling around on the ground. Laughter and curses were flying from her mouth.

  “I’m going to kill you, pixie,” she managed to holler out a few times.

  Cerberus had shifted himself to my side, and was covering my flank. I knew he’d step in if Crete tried to eat m
e. I turned to Lucy, lifting my brows as if to say “what the eff?”

  She shrugged. “Pixie dust can be used for a few different weapons. This particular one is quite … itchy. Don’t worry; it’ll wear off in a few minutes. She’s just lucky I didn’t use the blinding ability.”

  I sighed. Wrangling all these hot-headed females was more than a full-time job. I needed a pay rise. Lucy had been right, though; within a minute Fury was back on her feet and coming for my friend.

  I held out a hand. “Now is not the time. We have an effing world to save and any moment the Seventine could be freeing the last of their brothers.”

  And we all knew what would happen then. We’d still have a shot to lock them away, but it would most probably cost us our lives. Somber expressions flittered across each of the half-Walkers’ faces. Fury huffed a few times as she visibly calmed herself. Most of the green dust was gone; she just had a few clumps in her white hair. The moment Fury calmed, Crete returned to his cute kitty size and jumped into her arms.

  “I knew you were a badass,” Fury crooned, snuggling her face into the black fur. “Best sacred animal ever.”

  Cerberus and Sass – Ria’s giant snake – both glared at the Crais half. They clearly took great offence at those words. I noticed then that Eva was standing dead center of the group. She hadn’t flinched during the fight and she didn’t look scared. She was going to fit in perfectly with the rest of these crazy chicks.

  We didn’t delay any longer. As a group we marched into the entrance of the dark mountain.

  The eyes of many followed us. There were lots of Walkers, faeries, pixies, and First Worlders lingering around us, but no one physically ventured after us. The sacred animals made sure of that as they brought up the rear.

  Eva had managed to squish herself in next to me. “So, there’s an animal for me out there, right?”

  Just like the rest of us, a deep respect and love for animals was in her tone.

  “Yes, I expect that your sacred guide will be here very soon.” I shot out a small energy ball to light up the dim underground cavern.

  “I’ve always wanted an animal,” Eva said.

  I felt I had to warn her then, even though I believed she was one of the good ones. “They aren’t like pets on Earth. They’re powerful and beautiful. We don’t own them; they’re our friends and fight beside us.”

  Humans had a terrible way of thinking of the animals they shared their world with. I hoped there was more Walker in Eva.

  “I’ve never treated a living creature as anything less than an equal. I consider most of them superior to ninety percent of humans I’ve met.” Her reply was instantly shot at me. “I’m a vegetarian, for freak’s sake.”

  “I’m really glad to hear that.”

  The path through the cave and to the prison was familiar now. It was much more pleasant since I’d broken down the dark energy-gathering room, and released the negative energy. We had thwarted the Seventine in so many areas, but still they continued to come back every time. As soon as we unraveled one plan, there were four more to take their place. I was trying not to let myself hope too hard, but a small part of me prayed that maybe now we were going to come out in front. We just needed Jedi and the ritual – he’d explained it to me once before, but I wanted to check the details again – and this entire saga might finally be over.

  Right then I couldn’t sense the Seventine close by, but with so much energy around from all the different races and clans, it was hard to differentiate the wash of power. They could be close.

  Finally we strode into the round area. The light that splashed across the prison room was a deep, royal purple. It had been like that since we’d imprisoned the lalunas; the hole in the center would close again once we had finished the ritual. This time, when the Seventine were locked away, they would never be freed again. The walls were too strong with the ancient stones embedded.

  Jedi wasn’t in the room yet. The half-Walkers spread out to encircle the space, our animals by our sides. Lucy remained near the doorway. It was strange to have all seven of us together. My golden cord was almost twitching; it wanted me to connect to the girls.

  The seven of us stared. It was a tad creepy, but also sort of – bonding. Learning about each other and our sacred animal guides. Feeling the connection between the thirteen of us. Each of the animals was so fitting to the personality of the female they had chosen.

  A majestic and scary snake for Ria, who was queen of a jungle; water dragon for Talina, who was our very own version of a mermaid; a beautiful and mythical unicorn for Delane, who was the closest thing I’d ever see to an angel; a phoenix for Sapha, whose world literally rose from the ashes to be reborn; a panther kitten for Fury, who was the epitome of someone who could be cute and cuddly one moment and a ferocious raging beast the next. Of course, I couldn’t forget Cerberus, my very own puppy. He was the animal friend I had always dreamed of.

  I wondered which sacred guide was destined for Eva. One of the princeps could probably tell me. Many of the older Walkers had known these sacred animals throughout the years. No time for that – we’d find out soon enough.

  Just as I was thinking more random and inane thoughts, a shot of energy and the chill of winds rose in the cavern.

  Oh, crap.

  The tingle of the first washed across me, and that stupid bond between us tugged to life.

  Why hello, sister, nice of you to join us. Thanks for releasing the energy on Earth. We can’t thank you enough.

  I sighed. He was in my head again. Dude was a creepy-ass stalker. I really didn’t want to encourage his creeptasticness, but I had to ask. The energy on Earth? Was he talking about me breaking the energy transference barrier?

  Your father was a clever and deceiving little minion. Even though he can’t even remember half of his laluna-induced actions, he still placed a safeguard on that barrier. Energy of his clan was needed to infiltrate it, and you provided that in spades.

  Well, crap on a slice of crap. That was just freaking great. Too late to worry about it now though, I needed to tell the others that we had to do this ritual. The Seventine had the energy. They were going to free their brother.

  Whenever the first was in my head, he kind of muted my connection to Brace. But there was still a small section of our bond which the first couldn’t infiltrate. Our melded connection. This part of us could never be touched by the Seventine – even the lalunas had failed to really tear us apart.

  I reached for that section now. The Seventine are here. They said that Josian had that barrier spelled so only someone with his energy signature could interrupt the electrical pulses.

  His reply was instant. That’s why I sensed your energy on it. You hold strong ties to your father’s power.

  The thought of that made me smile, and also the fact that even against beings so much more powerful than him, Josian had still managed to do what he could to save the worlds. He hadn’t even been truly aware of his actions when he’d erected that barrier, and still the innate goodness within him made sure there was a safeguard.

  Gods, I hoped he was okay. I loved my father and mother more every day, and wanted time with them in the future. For that to happen I needed to focus on the present and stop the Seventine. I forced myself to focus and start building a barrier between the first and myself. I could block others out, and now it was time for him to get out of my mind. Drawing on the half-Walkers for help, the itchy sensation of a parasitic attachment faded away.

  “The Seventine are here. They have the energy to free their brother. We have to stop them.” I spoke quickly, words running into each other, but everyone got the gist.

  “How’re we going to do that?” Lucy drew herself up as tall as she could, which was five-feet-nothing, and looked left and right as if she was expecting the scumbags to be floating around her.

  “We need Jedi!” I shouted, but knew he wouldn’t get there in time.

  I’m sorry, Brace. I have to attempt the ritual. We have no more time.
I remembered the words Jedi had told me.

  His growl was low. Red, we’ll be there in about forty seconds. Just hold out that long.

  The winds increased and I knew we didn’t have forty seconds. We probably didn’t have ten. The Seventine were swirling around us. The half-Walker girls with long hair were attempting to stop it from whipping everyone in the face. It was cold in the mountain now, the iciness of each breath rattling in my chest.

  “The first step is for us to connect our power,” I shouted to be heard above the wind. “Prepare yourselves.”

  Just before I released my tether I turned to Lucy. “Go,” I yelled. “Find Brace and Jedi.”

  Wide blue-yellow eyes locked on me, but for once she didn’t fight. She just turned and sped out of the room. The winds almost sent her flying, but her wings managed to catch on, allowing her to glide through a small gap and out of the door.

  Okay, now that she was gone, I felt better. Crap was about to go down, and I needed to know she was safe. I reached for my golden tether and shot it out toward the seven half-Walkers. It hit one at a time, but was moving so fast the seven of us were connected almost instantaneously. I had known in theory that it was going to be a lot of energy. Damn, when there were only six of us it had almost been too much to handle. So I knew seven would blow my socks off.

  I was half right.

  It wasn’t our socks which we lost, but our damn heads. The moment the power exploded between us the well inside me erupted and then everything went dark.

  Chapter 12

  Our story has been passed through time. It is said that millions of years ago there was an area in space which was devoid of sentient life forms. It was the ultimate black void, encompassing the size of a thousand star systems. The gods looked upon this and thought it was a waste, so they decided to combine two of the most powerful mineral elements they could find and create life.

  The collision between the lalunas and moonstale was incredibly intense. Beyond anything the Gods had expected. From this ricocheting of power, beams of energy were released. First came the original Walkers – seven of them – perfect and powerful. They would be the leaders. The ones to bring intelligence to the worlds, to maintain order and to keep the balance. They each held elemental power and needed the other to be a complete circle. Then the universe ensured that there was a system to keep them in balance, so the Seventine came next. And for a time the fourteen of these powerful beings coexisted, peaceful, prosperous and powerful.