“Amon wouldn’t do that! He’s not like Kiril!”
“Maybe you’re right, but I’ve never seen anyone who associates with Kiril Gault who didn’t take part in his particular brand of entertainment.”
“No....no,” she muttered sadly, wishing more than anything else in the world at that moment to not hear anything more the councilman had to say about the man she loved.
“Perhaps he’s become a new man since he abandoned a young woman foolish enough to get involved with him, a woman who then took her own life, leaving her child and husband behind?”
Thea shook her head violently, unable to listen anymore. “No! Stop this!”
The councilman folded his arms across his chest. “This woman loved her husband dearly. A devoted wife and mother, she was too innocent to realize what your destined one was before it was too late. He used his powers to manipulate her—to make her fall in love with him and steal her away from her loving husband and destined one, just like he did last year.”
“You’re wrong. He wouldn’t hurt someone he loved.”
“And when he was done with her, he left her alone, shunned by society and with no one to take care of her, she took her own life.”
Thea sat dumbstruck as he finished, unwilling to believe the man she loved in Amon could do the things she’d heard. Amon had said he’d done some terrible things in his past, but she couldn’t bring herself to accept what the councilman had told her.
As she struggled to keep her faith in Amon, Thea sensed him nearby. He’d come for her! But he was walking into a trap with Kiril and the councilman waiting for him. She had to help him. No matter who he’d been or what he’d done, he was her destined one.
Just as she opened her mouth to yell, Kiril burst into the room. “He’s here! My men spotted him in one of the lower corridors.”
Turning toward Thea, the councilman warned, “Behave yourself, dear, and you might just get to hear your beloved himself admit to his crimes.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Amon, Markku, and Gethen quietly made their way through the lower level of the Soren headquarters building prepared to kill those who just a week ago they’d counted as friends. Amon was relying on Markku’s magick to help them since his own powers were rendered useless by Kiril’s magickians and their enchantments that safeguarded the Soren members from anyone looking to infiltrate the organization. Already Markku had proven himself invaluable by getting them inside the building. Now Amon needed him to pinpoint where Kiril was holding Thea.
Each step brought him closer to her; at least that’s what he tried to convince himself of. He couldn’t think about what Kiril might have done to her without becoming blinded by rage, so he chose instead to concentrate simply on finding her. After that, he‘d let his wrath seek out its victim.
Voices from a nearby hallway in front of them put them on alert, and all three men readied their guns at their sides. Backs against the stone wall, they slid toward the intersection of hallways, ready to kill if they had to.
The two unarmed guards they came upon never saw them, and with a sharp hit to the back of each one’s head, they had made it past the first hurdle to getting Thea out safely.
“What do you want to do with them?” Markku asked as he looked down at the two unconscious guards.
“Check them for anything that we can use and then leave them.”
“Amon, do you sense her anywhere nearby?” Gethen asked as they began down the cross hallway.
“I can’t get anything, but hopefully I’ll know when we’re close. I only hope she can hear me.”
“Markku, where are we?”
Pointing to a stairwell at the end of the hallway, he said, “Those stairs go to the main level.”
“I’m not feeling good about being trapped in a stairwell. Any other way we can get upstairs?”
Markku pointed to a freight elevator. “Feel better about that?”
Amon shook his head. “No.”
“Then stairs it is.”
Gethen grabbed Amon’s sleeve to stop him. “I could rematerialize upstairs and make sure it’s safe.”
“Are you feeling better? The last time you did that you looked like hell afterward.”
“And felt like it, but that was traveling between worlds from Nil. I’m not much of a Sidhe if I can’t disappear and rematerialize one floor up.”
Turning to Markku, who was about to enter the stairwell, Amon said, “Hold up. Gethen is going to check things out while we wait here.”
“Gonna try a little Sidhe hocus pocus, huh, old man? Sounds good to me.”
Gethen disappeared before their eyes and the two men waited and watched for more of Kiril’s guards. When the Sidhe reappeared, he looked pale and troubled.
“He’s got guards all along the main hallways to the central room where he holds meetings. But none seem to have any weapons either. We’re going to have to get through a few sets of them before we can get to Kiril.”
As Gethen finished, his breathing was labored and he leaned up against the wall to support himself.
Amon reached out to touch his shoulder. “No more of that. We’ll find another way to do this. Understand?”
Nodding, Gethen took a deep breath. “Amon, he’s got her in the main room. He’s waiting for you and using her as bait.”
In a low voice, Amon growled, “That’s just another fucking reason I’m going to kill him.”
“Okay, guys. We need to get upstairs if we expect to get your lady out of here. No time like the present.”
“Let’s go. Markku, you take the rear. Gethen, stay near me. And this time we might not be able to get past them by just knocking them out. Sorry, Markku. I hope none of these guys are your friends.”
“No need to be sorry. They cut me out like cancer at a moment’s notice. Kill ‘em all.”
As they climbed the stairs to the floor above, Amon and Gethen turned to see Markku stopped on the landing and mumbling something. As he joined them and they hit the top of the stairs, they heard a series of successive thuds. Once the noise had stopped, Amon opened the heavy metal door and looked up and down the hallway. In both directions, the floor was littered with the bodies of unconscious guards.
Looking back, Amon smiled at Markku.
“I’m a lover, not a killer. That back there was just bravado. I’m surprised as shit that it worked, though. But it’s only for a short time, big guy, so you can thank me later when we’re all back at the house and I’m enjoying some whiskey.”
All three stepped out into the hallway and walked to the main room. They were walking into an ambush, but they had little choice.
Amon braced himself as he grabbed the handle to the door. Just days earlier, he’d come here with Thea and the men who stood behind him now to seek help from the Soren. Now he hoped what lay behind the door didn’t break his heart.
The three stepped in not knowing what to expect, but what they saw was even more shocking than anything they could’ve imagined. On the dais sat Thea in Kiril’s chair and behind her stood the head of the Council at Nil. To their right, lay Kiril, unconscious on the ground.
“Come in, gentlemen. Come in. And my compliments to you, magickian. Whatever you did affected even your leader. That’s some talent you possess.”
Silently, Amon instructed Gethen to guard the door and shoot on sight anyone who tried to get in. He and Markku approached the stage Thea sat on, and as he walked Amon attempted to gently insert in her mind that everything would be okay. He only hoped Markku’s magick had made it possible for his powers to work now.
“So we meet once again, Mr. Kalins. I thought the last time we met would be the last, but fate serves you well. Thankfully, very few of my prisoners can count a Sidhe as a close associate willing to risk his life to free them from Nil.”
“Let her go, Adams. I’m who you want.”
A flash of surprise crossed the councilman’s face. “You remember my name? Then have you yet figured out why I’ve hunted you for lifetimes, used y
our friends against you, and even had my bounty hunter kidnap a woman to get you?”
Amon studied the face of the man who could truthfully be called his enemy. Nothing about him sparked even the slightest memory. Average height, average features told him nothing. His attempt to read the man’s mind gave him nothing.
“Don’t bother trying to find out. I’ll willingly tell you. I’ve hated you for so long, it seems there has never been a time when I didn’t want to see you suffer. But even when I sentenced you to spend the rest of your time on Earth in Nil, it wasn’t enough. And it won’t be enough when I do it again, but no matter. It will have to suffice.”
Amon focused on Thea. Angel, I don’t know if you can hear me, but I promise I’ll get you out of here safely. I promise.
Thea smiled and closed her eyes, but Adams tugged on her hair sharply. “No fair telling her things without letting everyone else hear, Mr. Kalins. Thea, dear, tell your beloved what we talked about just a short time ago.”
Amon watched in horror as Thea tried but said nothing. The councilman tugged on her hair again, this time even harder. “Come now, Thea. Do as you’re told.”
Amon fought the urge to tear Adams in two as he feared he’d hurt Thea if he even took a step. “Let her go,” he warned. “I’m sure it’s not your style to harm an innocent woman.”
The councilman barked out a sharp laugh. “No, I’d say that’s better suited to you.”
Amon heard Gethen’s warning interrupting his thoughts to remind him that the odds were in their favor as long as Kiril and his guards were out, but that would change soon. But with Adams standing so close to Thea, Amon knew his options were limited. Unfortunately, the councilman seemed in the mood to talk.
“Adams, you’ve gotten me confused with someone else. Let her go.”
“I admit it took me a while to find you, and then when I did, you were involved with Gault and his group and they protected you. Then that murderer in New Hope did me a huge favor. There was no way a prisoner with no powers could catch you, but then fate smiled on me for once. His destined one was related to an ancient one, and knowing you ancients, I could bet on her knowing you. But even better, she’d been related to you at one time. It was perfect.”
Amon took a step toward the stage and Adams yanked Thea out of the chair. “No further, Kalins. One more step and I hurt her.”
“Amon, please,” Thea pleaded. “Please do what he wants.”
It broke his heart to hear the sadness in Thea’s voice. “Fine, Adams. I won’t move from here.”
As the councilman explained how his selfish desire for another man’s destined one had almost ruined a young couple in love, Amon realized he wasn’t in pain because of Thea’s emotions.
“You’re wasting your time. Thea already knows what I did last year.”
“Ah, the love of a destined one. Tell me, does she know about your other crimes?”
Bluffing and hoping Thea would do the same and forgive him later, Amon smirked and shrugged his shoulders. “We’re destined ones, Adams. She knows about my past.”
“Does she? She didn’t seem to know earlier when I was explaining what you did to poor Victoria.”
At the sound of that one name, Amon felt like he’d been hit in the chest with a sledgehammer. Of all the names he’d hoped Adams wouldn’t say, that was the one. He knew by the look on Thea’s face that he’d told her the story and she desperately wanted to believe he’d lied.
“Let’s hear it. How you convinced her to leave her husband, the man she truly loved, her destined one. Explain to your current destined one how you cheated on your destined one then—Frederika, wasn’t it?—and took Victoria away from the man who loved her and the life she had with him. Explain how you used her until she didn’t interest you anymore and left her alone, so lost she took her own life.”
Dumbfounded, Amon tried to remember how much he’d said about Victoria at his trial to explain how the councilman knew so much. Sure he hadn’t said enough to allow him to know such intimate details, he stood confused.
“Adams, you’ve made your point. I’m a fucker. You don’t have to say any more of what you’ve read in my file.”
“What did she look like when you told her you were done with her, those beautiful green eyes full of sadness when she realized too late what you truly were?”
The description of what Victoria had looked like when he’d last seen her that day in the English countryside nearly knocked Amon off his feet. The councilman’s details were too perfect to be from a Directorate file.
“How?” he stammered.
“How do you think? She was my wife! My destined one!” Adams roared.
Amon stepped back, reeling from the knowledge that the husband of Victoria Adams stood in front of him prepared to once again be judge and jury, but this time punishing Thea also. Thea’s shocked look devastated Amon, and for a moment he swore he felt her pain from finding out about this dark part of his past.
“And now, I’ll let you watch as I make your lovely destined one pay for your crimes,” Harold Adams said as he squeezed his hands around Thea’s neck and began to tighten his hold.
Amon’s rage took over, and he launched onto the stage and Harold Adams. He pulled his hands from her neck, and as she crumpled to the ground gasping for air, Amon began to pummel the man’s face repeatedly, the feel of breaking bones under his hands as he beat him into unconsciousness.
From behind him, he heard Thea scream and he turned to see Kiril, awake and on his feet, taking her away through a side door.
“Markku, watch him!” Amon boomed as he chased after Kiril.
Amon followed the sound of Thea’s frightened screams to Kiril’s bedroom. He’d been there before, so he knew of all the possible weapons his walls provided. Adrenaline coursing through his body, he easily kicked the door in and found Kiril standing next to his wall of weapons and shielding himself with Thea.
“Kiril, you’re a fucking coward. Let her go. Either way, I’m sending you on to your next life, right now, in this room.”
Reaching up, Kiril grabbed a dagger from the wall and held it to Thea’s neck, making her cry out in pain as the blade pressed against her skin.
“Not unless you’re planning to send her on too,” he said as he pushed the blade into her neck and blood began to trickle down her chest.
Thea, trust me. I need you to scream, honey, when I tell you to. Loud. And then stomp your foot. When he releases you, drop to the floor and get the hell out here. Now, Thea!
Exactly as he’d instructed, Thea screamed as loud as she could and stomped on Kiril’s foot. As a stunned Kiril released his hold on her, Amon pushed her out of the way and lunged at Kiril, taking him down onto the bed.
*
Thea watched in horror as Kiril jabbed the knife at Amon as the men rolled around on the bed, cutting his neck and chest. Amon pinned his arms and forced the knife out of his hand, causing it to drop to the bed.
For a moment, Amon stopped fighting, but she knew only one of them would be able to leave this place alive. Picking the dagger up, he drove it into Kiril’s chest. Exhausted and losing blood from his wounds, Amon collapsed onto the bed.
“Amon!” Thea screamed as she watched him fall.
As she gently turned him over, she saw his wounds. Kiril had cut him with a gash across the neck, but the deeper cut was on his chest. The red stain on his shirt was spreading with each passing second. Carefully, she placed her hands over his chest wound and prayed he wasn’t too far gone. If his injuries were mortal, her ability to heal would mean nothing. If he was meant to die, she’d lose him no matter how much she tried to save him.
She pressed gently against his chest, but the blood continued to flow over her hands. Pushing harder, she called out to him to open his eyes. She couldn’t lose him!
“Amon, please open your eyes. Don’t leave me! Please, God, don’t take him yet. Please!”
Slowly, he opened his eyes and focused on her face. “Thea, find G
ethen. Everything I have is yours,” he whispered.
“No! I don’t want houses in dozens of places. I want you! Please don’t leave me.”
Amon closed his eyes, and Thea focused her healing like she’d never done before. The pain was excruciating and she slowly felt herself slipping away, unable to fight it.
Please. Don’t leave me.
*
Markku remained standing over the head councilman, ready to continue the beating Amon had begun. Each time he stirred, Markku prepared his foot to kick him back into unconsciousness.
Gethen stood guarding the door, but no one attempted to enter. As they waited for Amon and Thea to return, he reached out with his mind to search for his former master’s but felt nothing.
“Markku, something’s wrong. Stay here. I need to find Amon.”
As he made his way toward where Kiril and Amon had gone, he sensed Naomi Cooper trying to contact him. Before he could answer, she was standing in front of him over Harold Adams. Within seconds, she was joined by other members of the council who stood near her examining the scene around them.
“Gethen, I’m here to tell your friend his accusations were correct, that Mr. Adams’ presence here is just the beginning of the proof against him.”
Shaking his head, he quietly said, “I can’t sense Amon,” before he left to search for Amon and Thea.
“I’m sorry, friend,” she said sadly.
Turning toward her fellow council members, she said, “Ladies and gentlemen, my investigation has uncovered a close relationship between the head of our council and the leader of the rebel group, the Soren, Kiril Gault. Mr. Adams’ presence here and the testimony I believe we’ll receive from not only the Sidhe but this man will show the exact nature of that relationship to be against Aeveren law and everything we hold ethical.”
Slowly, Harold Adams began to regain consciousness and awoke to see his fellow council members standing in judgment of him.
“Mr. Adams, this council formally charges you with the illegal use of your position to terrorize and incarcerate your fellow Aeveren. You will be tried in a separate council but know that each of us here will be willing witnesses against you. You’ve abused your power and even more than that, you’ve cooperated with an organization that goes against every principle we council members pledge to uphold.”
Destiny Redeemed Page 21
