Death's Storm (The Divinities Book 2)

by Lia Davis

  He picked up his pace with each thrust, sending them both further over the edge until they came together.

  Chapter 21

  He was perfect.

  From his ten toes and ten fingers to the auburn fuzz on the top of his head, Logan Mikal was Lydia’s blessing in the darkest part of her life. Burying her father and then her husband two years later had broken her heart. The pain never subsided. And when Jacen had sacrificed himself to save Ayden a little over a month ago, something inside her had snapped.

  The lives of her family would not go unavenged. Once she healed, she would work out and get back in shape. Then the demons would pay for every sin. It was the least she could do.

  A light tap on her door halted her dark musings. “Come in.”

  The door slowly opened, and Kalissa entered. She hovered near the door, a whirlwind of emotions playing on her face. “Good, you’re awake. How’s Logan?”

  Lydia smiled and peered down at her sleeping son. His lips made a suckling motion. “He’s perfect.”

  “How are you feeling?”

  Lydia’s suspicion turned to alarm. “What happened? Is it the Dark Divine children?”

  Kalissa released a soft laugh. “No. We’ve found their location. The others should be at the Georgia border by now.”

  Relieved that the children were going to be rescued reduced only some of the worry Lydia felt at Kalissa’s strange behavior. Through the Divinity bond Hecate had placed on them, Lydia felt Lis’s uneasiness. She shifted from foot to foot and looked back at the open door every few seconds.

  “Lis, what is it?”

  The blonde Divinity dropped her shoulders and took a couple of steps forward. “I have news about your mother and uncle.”

  Lydia’s chest tightened, and her sight blurred.

  Kalissa advanced toward her, shaking her head, and sat on the bed next to her. “Don’t cry. They’re alive. And here.”

  It took several moments before the words sank in. Her mother was alive and here? In this house? Footsteps drew her attention to the door. She gasped at the sight of her mother being led in by Kristof. Tears streamed down her face, but they were quickly replaced with anger as her uncle and mother got closer.

  The ugly, faded scars running down her mother’s cheeks, and the way she clung to Kris as he led her toward the bed only added to the anger building inside Lydia. She grabbed Kalissa’s hand, drawing her attention. “What is wrong with her?” It was barely audible, but the other witch heard her nonetheless. She shook her head in a silent plea to stay calm.

  Kalissa stood, making room for Angelica to sit in her place. Lydia met Kris’s gaze when he bent down to kiss her on the forehead. When he hugged her, he whispered, “She’s been through hell.” He drew back and locked his eyes with hers. “Gods, I’ve missed you.” Lydia opened her mouth to speak, but he shook his head. “We’ll catch up later. Right now is mother/daughter time.”

  Kalissa and Kris left the room, shutting the door behind them.

  Angelica reached out. Lydia took her hand and brought it to her face. “Mom, what did they do to you?”

  “Shhh. The only thing that matters now is that I’m here.”

  Lydia wanted to argue. She wanted to know what those monsters had done. She wanted them all to pay. Taking a deep breath, she calmed the building rage and focused on the fact that her mother was alive and sitting in front of her.

  Her son squirmed and whimpered. Lydia smiled and cooed to the little man in her arms. “Mom, I want you to meet your grandson, Logan.” Lydia guided Angelica’s hand to the restless baby.

  A beautiful smile lit up her mother’s face when she touched Logan. She ran her hand over him, studying his small form with her fingers. Lydia then shifted her son to place him in Angelica’s arms.

  “Oh, Dia, I don’t think that is a good idea.”

  “Sure it is.” Lydia leaned into her mother and placed a kiss over each eye then cupped her face. “I wish you sight, if only for tonight. Blessed Be.” Drawing back, she frowned when nothing changed in Angelica’s eyes. She released a sigh and sat back. “I’m sorry. I thought I had enough juice left to heal some of your sight.”

  Her mother shook her head. “It did help. The dark shadows are clearer. I can see.” She laughed and peered down at her grandson, now sleeping peacefully in her arms. “Everything is fuzzy, but I can see.”

  Lydia found it hard to keep her eyes off the woman she’d feared she would never see again. It was all so surreal that her mother was alive and holding her grandson. No matter how many times Lydia had imagined and dreamed of this day, it still seemed so unreal. “Mom, what happened…with Dad?”

  Not taking her gaze off Logan, Angie answered, “It was the first snowfall, and your father and I took a walk. He said he was going to build me the biggest snowman anyone had ever seen.” She lifted her head. The tears Lydia was holding back, slid down her cheeks at the loss in her mother’s eyes. Before she could ask her to continue, Angie began speaking again. “When we reached the old bridge, a current of dark magic hung thickly in the air. A few moments later, a dark figure appeared. Your father shoved me behind him just as the creature shot a lethal energy bolt at us. It happened too fast. Once your father was hit, another creature snatched me from behind and dragged me away.”

  Lydia rested a hand on her mother’s arm, silencing her. Logan was stirring again. “We’ll hold a remembrance ceremony for all who’ve been lost. For Father, Jacen, the Danielses, and the Bradentons.”

  Angelica’s tear-filled gaze met hers, and she nodded. “That would be nice.”

  “Right now, we have a new life to celebrate. Two, in fact.” The puzzled look on her mother’s face made her laugh. “Logan’s and yours. We could have a slumber party in here since I’m supposed to be on bed rest for the next day or so.”

  “That sounds great.”

  Relief washed through Lydia at the lightened mood and the chance to act somewhat normal for a little while. “Oh, and wait until you meet Teddy-Bear.”

  Khloe and Jagger were the first to materialize about fifty feet away from the magical barrier surrounding the farmhouse. A creepy, dark visage fell over the old house as the sun set behind it. Shadows seemed to come out of nowhere.

  “An illusion spell,” Khloe mused aloud.

  “It keeps humans away.”

  Khloe rolled her eyes at Ryn’s voice behind her. She knew that, and sure didn’t need the Lackey to state the obvious. Instead of showing her irritation, though, she let it go. Ignoring the demon was best. For now.

  She held her hand out, palm up, for one of the two devices Ryn and she had worked on earlier. To the untrained eye, they looked like metal boxes the size of her palm. Inside each box was a spell mixed with hers and the demon’s magic.

  When cool metal touched her hand, she pivoted to her right to find the weakest point in the wards. Sometimes, if the circle wasn’t closed completely when the magical barrier was set, a vulnerable spot was left behind. Gods, she hoped there was one.

  After a few steps, she stopped, straightened her back, and whirled around. Ryn jerked back a step. Khloe rolled her eyes and pointed behind him. “Go that way with Ayden and Zach. Mel, Jag, and I will go this way.”

  Ryn quickly turned around and trotted after Ayd and Zach. She shook her head and continued around the perimeter. Jagger fell back in beside her. “Don’t say anything. I still don’t trust the little shit.”

  The sound of his chuckle spiked her desire, and she watched him as he took two strides to fall in line in front of her. Broad, muscular shoulders rolled and flexed with every step. Her eyes followed one arm down to his hand, and she shuddered at the memory of what those hands had done to her earlier.

  “Lo, focus.” Jagger’s teasing tone only made her want him more.

  Damn demon.

  But he was right. She had to focus. After the children were safe at Maxville Coven, she’d have plenty of time for naughty thoughts and actions.

  She took a few more s
teps before Mel called out, “It’s here.”

  Khloe turned toward the other Divinity. Melaina waved her hand in a side-to-side motion. Ripples formed on the magical barrier, making it temporarily visible. A flutter of hope and excitement ran through Khloe.

  Thank the gods.

  The weakness in the wards would buy them some time, not much, but enough to at least get to the children.

  Khloe’s connection to all elements warned her just before Ryn, Ayden, and Zach materialized beside them. Whispers from the air spirits in the wind had told her who was coming.

  “Are you in my head again, Ayd?” She sent her brother-in-law a teasing smile.

  He chuckled. “Always. It’s such an entertaining place to be.”

  “The ripples went around to the other side of the wall like a wave,” Khloe said, explaining what Ayden had seen.

  “Now who’s in whose head?”

  She laughed and gave a shrug. They were still adjusting to the bond that had forged Ayden, Kalissa, and Khloe together a month ago. The triple connection was both a blessing and a curse. There were things about Ayden Khloe could live without knowing, but they were working on building mental shields to give each other some privacy.

  Khloe held out her metal box and waited for Ryn to step up beside her with his. Taking a deep breath, she drew strength from the air and earth around her. She might go off half-cocked sometimes, well, most of the time, but she never played when it came to magic. Especially with a spell she’d never performed before and one that was mixed with demon magic.

  She wanted to let the Lackey perform the spell while she was safe behind the shield Zach had just put up around the others. But she wasn’t a coward, and according to Ryn, the only way to lower the wards without detection was to have both white and black magic.

  Gods, she hated messing with black magic. She said a short blessing for this spell to harm no one.

  “I’m ready,” she said, giving Ryn the go-ahead.

  Together, they opened each box and held them straight out, as close to the wards’ wall as they could get without touching it. They softly spoke the incantation to invoke the spell. It wasn’t a fancy phrase like most would think. No, just one randomly chosen word of Latin that Ryn had picked out, one that loosely translated to open.

  The demon wasn’t very creative.

  From her box, a white cloud of smoke floated up and drifted toward the black smoke that came from Ryn’s box. The light and dark magic twined together until they became one gray magical cloud. Khloe called upon the wind to gently blow the energy into the wards, and the cloud disappeared.

  The weak point of the wall discolored, making it completely visible, and continued around in both directions to meet on the other side of the perimeter. Worry started to settle in. What if the demons could see it?

  A few seconds later, the wards disappeared. The surge of magical energy was gone.

  She stood there, listening, waiting for an attack, but it didn’t come.

  Behind her, Zach’s circle fell. Everything went silent. The hum of power from the wards and Zach’s shield no longer electrified the air. No lights illuminated the yard around the farmhouse.

  The calm before the storm.

  Creepy.

  “Should I be worried that demons didn’t charge out of the house?” Khloe’s pulse quickened. Something felt off. This was too easy.

  “They won’t notice for a little while. We should have enough time to get to the children.” Ryn stepped forward and crossed the spot where the magical wall had once been.

  She looked behind her and met Ayden’s gaze. Yep, he felt it, too.

  Jagger stepped to her left side. Ayden moved to her right and took her elbow in a gentle hold. She stared into his baby-blue eyes and frowned.

  “Be very careful. Nothing will be as it seems. Think before you react.”

  Huh?

  “What did you see?” Peering into Ayden’s concerned gaze, images slammed into her mind. Samoan’s evil smile never faltered as she lunged forward to stab Khloe with something. Burning pain rushed through her blood but vanished in an instant when Ayden let go of her and stepped back.

  What the fuck?

  She’d picked up visions from Kalissa before, but not since she’d bonded with Ayden. They were never as vivid as the one she’d just shared with her brother-in-law. There was only one possibility; he’d pushed the vision on her.

  Khloe pushed past him and marched across the yard to the back of the house. Taking deep breaths, she calmed herself. She really needed to get a grip. Ayden was only showing her the vision as a warning, and the information was good to have. One, it meant Samoan—a.k.a. she-demon-bitch—was inside that farmhouse. Two, Khloe would get her chance for payback. She owed the demonic elf an ass kicking for both Kalissa’s kidnapping a couple of months before and the abduction of the Dark Divine children.

  Jagger’s earthy sandalwood scent enveloped her as he fell into step with her. Taking a deep breath, she pulled in the familiar, comforting smell. “Please, don’t say it.”

  His deep chuckle warmed her to her core, and she almost groaned aloud. “I can wait.”

  With a shake of her head and an eye roll, she stopped, took his hands in hers, and met his intense gaze. “We are getting those kids out. Together.” She snaked her fingers through his short black hair, pulled his head to hers, and kissed him deeply.

  His arms wrapped around her, eliminating the empty space between them. With his hand fisted in her hair, he pulled her head back. “Be very careful.”

  Jagger released her and walked toward the farmhouse, leaving her breathless and needy. Damn demon.

  Samoan stormed into the security center after receiving a call from her very pissed-off father. Seriously? Did Demetrius really think she knew how the Divinities had escaped? She wasn’t their keeper or nursemaid. In fact, she hated being around the witches. If it were up to her, she would have gotten rid of them a long-ass time ago instead of playing with them like a couple of lab rats.

  So, did she care if they’d left? Hell, no. Good riddance.

  But what did bother her was they’d taken Ryn with them. The little shit would spill everything he knew and, most likely, lead them straight to where she’d hidden the Dark Divine.

  Damn it. Why did she always have to clean up after people and fix others' fuckups?

  The door to the lab opened, and she didn’t need to turn around to know who it was. The pure evil, pissed-at-the-world power slammed into her. She had to fight a gasp because there was no showing weakness to her father. It was your one-way ticket to hell.

  She might be his natural-born daughter, but that didn’t mean he’d spare her life any more than the other lowlifes around here. He’d struck her down many times as an example to the others. Rule with fear. That was Demetrius.

  “I need a way to make those witches pay,” she spat before he stepped into her personal space. “They will pay...”

  Her father’s gaze shifted to the computer center to her left. Slowly, she turned to see a red light flash on the control panel.

  “What is that?”

  His lips twitched and rose into a smirk. “They just crossed over the perimeter of the farmhouse.”

  With arms crossed, she narrowed her eyes. “How do you know that?”

  “Liam installed underground electronic sensors around the property.”

  She wasn’t convinced. “Wouldn’t Ryn know about those?”

  He shrugged and moved to the computer. “I never got around to giving him the access code.”

  Amazing. For once, her father’s laziness had paid off.

  “So the little shit led them into a trap.” She pivoted toward the door and stopped halfway when he called her name.

  He came to her, took her hand, and placed a syringe full of a yellowish liquid into it. She peered up into his face when he spoke. “The Bradenton twins carry the were gene. Their father was half wereleopard. This is an enhancer I’ve been working on. Inject a small a
mount into each of them. The change will happen hard and fierce. It’ll drive them insane.”

  “And they will turn on everyone.”

  “Yes. I am tired of playing nice with those witches.”

  It was about time he saw it her way. She closed her fingers around the needle and tucked it inside the sheath strapped to her right thigh. Standing on her toes, she kissed him on the cheek.

  Before she got to the door, her father said, “Don’t fail me, Samoan.”

  Clenching her teeth together, she yanked the door open and stepped outside.

  Love you too, Daddy.

  Chapter 22

  Crouching below a small window, Khloe waited for Ayden and demon boy to catch up. Ayd had stayed behind with Ryn to reset the wards.

  Zach shifted uncomfortably beside her. “It’s too damn quiet.”

  Yes, she’d noticed that, too. Even she felt the shift in the air as the wards fell. She expected someone to at least stick their head out the door in curiosity. But, nothing. “I agree. It feels like a trap. The Lackey has some explaining to do.”

  “It would be just like Demetrius to have a backup and not share it with Ryn.” Melaina’s cool tone was barely audible.

  She had a point. Khloe hoped for Ryn’s sake that was the case. She was starting to warm to the demon. If he betrayed them, she would kill him herself.

  Jagger’s hand covered hers, soothing her impulse to charge into that house, firing first, asking questions later. His all-too-familiar strength and power wrapped around her. She turned her hand over to link her fingers with his. Giving his hand a little squeeze, she asked the group, “Ready?”

  Everyone nodded and, in single file, crept along the wall of the house to the back door. Ryn had said the children were being held in the basement. So the back door was the logical place to go in. The blueprints of the farmhouse indicated that the entrance to the cellar was off the kitchen, which was adjacent to the back door.