Ancient (#5 Destroyers Series)

by Holly Hook

  Sophia! Hyrokkin rose into full panic now. You have your full life ahead of you! Why are you just giving it away?

  Sophia closed her eyes. Somewhere, Leslie called her name. Feet pounded on the ground.

  I didn't offer him my life, she thought to the demon inside. I offered him you. Like you said, the gods were the best sacrifices.

  Silence fell as Hyrokkin flattened inside.

  A sensation like a million ants crawling raced under Sophia's skin, and Huracan breathed in.

  Sophia stiffened. A furious cold rose up inside her, thrashing and screaming. Spikes of ice stabbed into every cell of her being, popping the scream before it had a chance to escape. Hyrokkin was a porcupine blizzard, making as many stabs as she could on her way out. Sophia's arms threatened to split open, and--

  Relief.

  The demon was gone, leaving Sophia empty, light.

  Free.

  She opened her eyes.

  Huracan let go, letting her arm fall to her side. He turned his face to the sky and breathed in deep.

  A vapor of shiny ice particles swirled around his head like smoke and disappeared into his nostrils.

  The last of Hyrokkin's essence, consumed by the storm god.

  * * * * *

  Sophia fell away from Huracan as if her limbs couldn't hold her up anymore. Janelle froze as he stood there, shaking his head like the icy cloud he'd inhaled wasn't agreeing with him. But he regained his composure, looked right down at her, and reached for the dagger on his belt again.

  He'd devoured Hyrokkin.

  Janelle was next.

  "Go!" Leslie appeared in front of her, pushing her away.

  Her legs moved. Janelle turned and ran.

  The wind blasted towards her now, trying to push her back, but she couldn't feel it. She was immune now. The trail writhed and moved all around her. Leslie ran beside her, yelling something that got lost in another roar from the ground. It trembled, and it took all she had to stay on her feet. Why hadn't she run when Sophia told her to?

  A hand seized the back of her shirt and Janelle came off her feet.

  "No!"

  The hand turned her around to face the worst.

  Huracan stared hard into her eyes, pupils growing smaller as he took them in. A wall of green spewed up behind him. The gateway grew bigger by the second, now a green wildfire behind the trees.

  See them, she prayed.

  He nodded.

  He saw their new color, then.

  But instead of letting her down, he produced the dagger and readied it in his hands, although a little somber now, reluctant.

  Leslie screamed.

  Sophia called her name.

  Gary howled somewhere. It was the most awful sound Janelle had ever heard.

  The dagger rose in the air.

  Came down.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  A force slammed into Janelle, throwing her to the ground.

  The breath flew from her lungs, leaving her gasping for air. She gripped her chest, feeling for the knife handle. Shock must have taken over. The pain signals just hadn’t come through yet. Or she was dying, losing oxygen and blood so fast that nothing else mattered.

  No handle.

  No sticky blood.

  She felt only the soaking fabric of her shirt, sticking to her like a second skin.

  Then what--

  A low growl sounded above her, followed by a choking sound.

  Andrina.

  She stood in front of Huracan, the handle of the dagger sticking out of her shoulder. Dark blood spread across the arm of her gray business suit, painting her like a shark in a feeding frenzy.

  The storm goddess had saved her life. Twice.

  Andrina turned her head, ignoring the dagger that must be sending waves of pain down through her arm. She faced Janelle and nodded, her eyes swirling and reflecting the green of the nightmare behind Huracan.

  All at once, Janelle understood what it meant, and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

  Andrina plowed into Huracan, throwing him off his feet. They turned into two blurs, racing back along the trail, thrashing and tumbling. They solidified for a split second, enough to show Andrina pulling the knife from her shoulder and throwing it to the ground.

  They turned to ghosts again, shooting around the clearing like a supercharged swarm. Trees cracked. Fell. Puddles exploded. How long could this go on? One of them would tire out soon.

  Janelle wasn't sure who she wanted to win.

  She staggered to her feet in Gary's and Leslie's arms, barely aware that they stood on either side of her, barely hearing as Paul swore and Sophia coughed nearby. The gods fighting took up the whole world, everything that mattered.

  "There's no win here," Gary shouted.

  Janelle's gut knew otherwise. There was only one way, and she wasn't sure she could watch.

  The gods solidified again, closer to the green fire, a pair of silhouettes against its sickly light. Huracan, with his headdress askew and most of his necklaces torn off. Andrina, missing a shoe and her business suit torn. They faced each other, stiff, for what stretched from seconds into what felt like minutes.

  Janelle tensed, ready to run for the van before she had to see it, before Huracan realized she was still there.

  Andrina made the first move.

  She lunged for the old god, wrapping her arms around him in an embrace. He staggered back, shocked. Andrina threw her full weight into him and he came off his feet, flying back at the green fire that towered hungry for them both.

  "No!" Janelle lunged forward but she was still outnumbered. She had no hope of breaking free.

  The gods went to the ground, thrashing for another desperate second…and Andrina grabbed Huracan's legs, pulling him back, pulling them both back into the wall of the underworld.

  Huracan clawed at the ground, eyes huge and pleading, but another quake made the world sway and he lost his grip.

  They tumbled into the light. The wall of green flashed, blinding, and they were both gone.

  The fire of the underworld crested high above the trees as if in celebration, reaching up to the clouds above, and crashed back down into the earth in one final gasp of light.

  * * * * *

  Janelle's legs went out an eternity later. Gary and Leslie released her arms, letting her down to her knees.

  The rain straightened out and the wind died away, leaving only ordinary tears falling from the sky and the soft roar of the rain hitting the ground. The cenote remained dark ahead, silenced and closed. Water flowed in, filling it and restoring its normal state.

  "So that's it," Kenna said.

  Janelle let her hands fall to the mud, struggling to keep herself upright. Her brain couldn't quite process all that had happened in the last few minutes, but one fact screamed louder and louder inside her, threatening to pop.

  Andrina had gone into the underworld to save her.

  Given up her power. Her world. Everything.

  They had freed the world from her, but not in the way that Janelle thought.

  A sob escaped her, mixing with the rain. Why was she breaking down now? This was what they had come here to do. It was done. They had met their goal.

  "Janelle."

  Gary was there, pulling her to her feet. Without a blunt word or a single snarky comment, he wrapped her in his embrace and they stood there in the rain for a long time.

  * * * * *

  Leslie wasn't sure whether to go hug Janelle or leave her alone for the time being. She hung back near Sophia and Paul. The rain poured down on her now, running down her arms and dripping off her fingers.

  "Should I tell her?" Sophia asked, stuffing her hands in her pocket.

  "About what?" Leslie turned, jarred out of her thoughts.

  "About why Andrina really tried to kill me. Or Hyrokkin, I should say."

  "I think she'll figure it out in her own time. Especially after this." Janelle was far from stupid. Impulsive sometimes, but not stupid.
>
  Sophia leaned over and wrung out her hair. Water flowed out and slopped against the ground. "Good point, I guess."

  "How's she doing now, anyway?" Paul asked. He took a step back from Sophia. "Hyrokkin, I mean. What's she going to do now that Andrina's gone?"

  A smile crossed Sophia's features. "I'm assuming Huracan's digesting her essence right now in the underworld. She totally deserves it after threatening to kill my grandmother."

  Leslie felt her mouth fall open. "So that was what you were saying last night to the water? That you were going to give Huracan her?"

  "Yep." Sophia reached up and pulled down a tree branch, examining a leaf. "Now when I go home, I won't have a backseat driver. It's going to be so awesome thinking of ways to get back at Shane without having to worry about her going out of control."

  "Sophia--that's awesome!"

  Leslie held up her hand. Sophia eyed it for a moment, hesitant, that hint of fear still there from the day she had almost died in the old factory. But then she lifted her hand to meet Leslie's in a high five, and the tension blew apart and flew away like a cloud of butterflies.

  "So," Paul said, stepping closer. "Are the days of awkward silence over?"

  "Probably," Leslie said, giving him a peck on the lips. "You can rest easy now."

  If Paul was feeling any relief, he wasn't showing it. He turned away and walked off towards the tree line, hands behind his back. Janelle and Gary broke apart, watching him go. Kenna called his name, but he showed no sign of hearing her.

  "Hold on," Leslie told Sophia, a dark cloud rolling over her mood.

  She found Paul facing the trunk of a huge tree like he wanted to vanish inside of it forever. Water dripped on his head from the branches above, but the downfall wasn't as intense as out on the trail.

  "That's the second person I've turned," Paul said, keeping his gaze on the tree.

  Leslie sighed. "Paul, if you hadn't done it, Andrina would have made Janelle a goddess for sure. That was the last thing she wanted."

  "But she was human. And then I took it away."

  "Andrina took it away, Paul." Leslie clamped her hand down on her shoulder and made him turn around. "Same with me. You just did your best. And do you remember what you said earlier?" She raised her face to his. "You promised that I wouldn't have to turn Janelle. And you kept that. Thank you."

  She kissed him again, deeper this time, melting into his heat and his pulse. He returned her embrace, pulling her close enough to smell the open fields and the summer days he always carried with him.

  Their lips broke apart, soft and barely touching. Paul looked away. "But you're still an Outbreaker, Leslie. And now Janelle is, too."

  "Janelle knows how to deal with that already." Even as Leslie said it, a fist of guilt socked her in the gut. What an insensitive thing to say. "I mean, she knows ways to cope with what's coming. Doesn't she?"

  "But still." Paul linked his hand with her and they walked back towards the trail. "You."

  "I already told you. I'll learn to adjust. It won't hurt to make college wait just a couple of years until I can control things better. Same for you, Paul. Your father never killed anybody with his Outbreaks, right?" she asked.

  "Right." His grip relaxed in her hand. "You're saying I could manage to go to college with my condition?"

  "You could even if we have to go to one out in the middle of nowhere. What would you like to do?"

  "I don't know. I'll have to think about it."

  * * * * *

  Janelle felt as if a steamroller had run her over. She breathed out and settled into the seat as Gary drove, watching the lines of rain march down her window.

  The trip back to Cancun was quiet for its first half.

  "Why are we heading back there?" Gary asked.

  "Well, we have to return this SUV to the storm chasers. I say we just leave it somewhere they can find. And we'll have to disable the camera."

  "They mostly caught Huracan rushing their vehicle, not us. I think we should let them keep that footage. It might go viral on the Internet." Gary managed a smile.

  "Maybe." Janelle was beyond caring about online videos by now. "Come on. We're avoiding the bigger question. What are we going to do now?"

  Gary shrugged. "We can go back to Alara, I suppose. On an island you wouldn't have to worry about, you know, your new abilities hurting anyone. Except for the sharks and dolphins, really."

  "You mean Outbreaks. What happened to your bluntness, Gary? I kind of miss it now. And for the record, I like dolphins." Janelle reached for the necklace that was no longer there.

  Gary looked at her like she'd uttered the worst swear word in all of history.

  "I don't have a problem with saying it," Janelle told him. She sat up taller, glancing at her eyes in the rearview mirror. Brown, flecked with black. Only a minor shock ran through her. She'd expected the sight, and it didn't bother her nearly as much as she thought it would. "I've dealt with worse, really. At least now I have at least a few months before anything happens that I need to worry about. When I found out I was a Tempest I had what? Forty-eight hours before it hit the fan?"

  "That was not fun," Gary said.

  "Janelle," Kenna said. "Missing this?"

  Janelle turned.

  Hanging from Kenna's hand was the silver dolphin charm, shining as if it had never taken a trip towards the underworld.

  Now real shock ran through Janelle. "How…" she sputtered. "How did you--"

  "Long story. I'll tell you all later." Kenna leaned forward, stretching to give her the necklace. She faced Leslie and Paul. "Sorry. I didn't find anyone else's things. Though I don't think you want your offering back, Sophia."

  Janelle put the chain around her neck. It did something to fill the hole inside of her, to make her feel whole again.

  "Yeah. I think we can have all the Tempests go back to Alara if they want." Janelle turned in her seat to face Paul and Leslie. "And do you know what? You two can stay there for now, too. It'll give you time to learn to control your Outbreaks. There's enough storms in the Caribbean." She shifted, remembering. "Though I don’t think I can call myself Tempest High Leader anymore. The Elder Council is going to flip when they see this." Janelle pulled out her phone, drying it on her jeans. Amazingly, it turned on when she pressed the button, glowing like it never had gone into the ocean. "But they don't have to know about my change yet, do they? Let's just deal with one confusing thing at a time. The rest can come later."

  She had twenty-four messages from her father alone.

  About nineteen more from the Elder Council.

  Even two from Manuel. Whether they were messages asking if she was all right or more pleas to not make deals with Huracan, she couldn't guess. That no longer mattered.

  Janelle tucked her phone away, preparing for the onslaught once the ride was over.

  "I think we'll take you up on that, Janelle," Leslie said. "There's worse places we could go."

  "It's an improvement over staring at farm fields and tractors all the time," Paul added.

  Janelle settled back and watched the rain ahead. It parted and slowed, showing the world around them again. They rolled ahead into their new life. Sophia, free of her curse. Kenna, far more strong and capable than she thought possible. Leslie and Paul, with new hope for their lives and their promises kept.

  And her and Gary?

  Janelle had only spent a few hours human.

  But it beat spending eternity as a goddess, losing everyone she loved.

  "You know," she said to the air. "It's better this way."

  "Better this way?" Paul asked. "What do you mean?"

  "That it's us here and not the gods," Janelle said. "Except for you, Kenna. But you know what I mean."

  "In case you haven't noticed, we're still walking disasters," Gary said.

  "Somebody has to be." Janelle turned in her seat to face everyone. "At least we're not demanding sacrifices or enslaving the world. We're a lot closer to humanity than some of the gods ev
er could be. We can understand people. If a Tempest or Outbreaker goes out of control, we can keep them in check. We've done it."

  Silence fell over the inside of the SUV. The rain lightened on the windshield and the swishing of the wipers cut the stillness into neat pieces.

  Why hadn't Janelle thought of it that way before?

  It was true.

  Every last bit of it.

  "But what if some other crazy decides to make themselves all high and holy?" Gary asked. "All it would take is another Tempest taking Outbreaker breath. It's common knowledge now."

  It was a good question.

  Janelle sighed. "Then we will have to make sure the two species stay far away from each other. With just a few exceptions, you know?"

  "Our relationship," Gary muttered, low enough to keep his words for Janelle only.

  Oh.

  She leaned closer, moving her arm in front of her face. A balloon of panic swelled larger in her chest. "What about it?"

  "Well," Gary said, braking for a puddle. "It'll be a first. You know, a Tempest and an Outbreaker…"

  "Andrina and Thomas Curt were together." Janelle didn't like the comparison in the slightest. Thomas Curt, the man who had founded Mobley to get his army assembled. Andrina, who had killed over eight hundred people in hurricane form alone--

  --and saved her life.

  "But there's a big difference," Gary said, locking his free hand in hers. Their strength matched now. "Their relationship isn't going to last."

  The clouds cleared above, letting a ray of sun shine down. Janelle felt it warm her skin, lending her a new energy.

  "I can't wait to see where all of this goes," he said, flashing a real, genuine smile. "Things are going to get interesting."

  # # #

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  If you liked the Destroyers Series, you may also enjoy 2:20, Book One of the Timeless Trilogy. For sale at all eBook vendors now.