Destiny Series Boxed Set

by Bronwyn Leroux

  With screeches that had Jaden slapping his hands over his ears, his sound suppressors not enough to deaden the raucous cries, the lower ranks of Gaptors burst into flame. The next level of Gaptors weren’t distant enough to avoid the leaping fire. Whoosh! It consumed them too. The chain reaction continued up through the ranks until it seared an enormous hole through the middle of the Gaptors’ army.

  The Gaptors on the outer edges of the circle of fire bashed into one another as they scrambled to escape, panic blinding them. Yeah, not the brightest creatures. Their wings became entangled, and Gaptors crashed down to earth. Those that didn’t burn up as they dropped perished in the lava flow below. Light strobed the sky, and constant booms echoed up and down the valley, confirming none who fell would pose a future threat.

  Jaden’s attention settled on those who had escaped. While the ranks had been thinned substantially, the Gaptors still outnumbered them three to one. Time to get their hands dirty.

  Han read his mind, already aiming for the remaining Gaptors. With a start, Jaden realized where they were. Kayla and Atu were far below, waving their arms and jumping up and down. Jaden grinned. Yes, I’m just as excited my plan worked. We would’ve been in real trouble if it hadn’t. If . . .

  That familiar, hateful chill raced down his spine. In slow motion, Jaden realized four things simultaneously.

  Kayla and Atu did not have joy or excitement on their faces.

  Their mouths were moving, but he couldn’t hear them through his comm.

  The Gaptors around them had gone rigid, as though afraid of something.

  And a shadow blacker than the night, far too large to be a Gaptor, had fallen over him.

  Han dove as Jaden glanced up. It was a Gaptor, two or three times the size of the usual monster. And sitting on its back, his incredibly handsome face wearing a wicked grin, was the last person Jaden ever expected to see. The usurper.

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  Horrified, Kayla watched Slurpy’s abominable brute latch onto Han. Its talons were long enough to clamp all the way around Han’s waist. Overhead, Taz growled. “What?” Kayla asked.

  “It will crush Han’s chest!”

  Panicked, Kayla engaged the magnification aspect of her goggles. If that thing has its claws around Han, what happened to Jaden? The pain on Han’s face was obvious as he struggled to escape, but the Gaptor had a death grip. Han’s wings were pinned against his sides. His neck was too short for his teeth to reach the talons.

  Blue light blazed, so bright against the inky sky Kayla had to avert her gaze. The Gaptor’s shriek pierced through the other battle sounds. A Gaptor’s severed, gnarled leg suddenly floated across the lens, making Kayla gasp.

  Then Han reached across his body and sank his teeth into the Gaptor’s other leg. It was too much for the monster. With an even louder shriek, it released Han. Han dropped like a stone, Jaden clinging to his back.

  “What’s happening? Why isn’t he flying?” Kayla demanded.

  Taz’s eyes were slits as she studied the falling pair. Then she grinned, her sharp teeth glinting in the moonlight. “He will.”

  Kayla took the smile to mean she shouldn’t worry. But as Han and Jaden continued falling, her worry boiled up again. She was so focused on them she wasn’t paying attention to Slurpy and his beast. Out of nowhere, they appeared.

  The Gaptor’s stump where Jaden’s DD had sliced off its leg trailed a significant amount of the odious black blood Kayla knew all too well. Her nose wrinkled. The blood loss didn’t seem to impede the Gaptor. It aimed for Han and Jaden, its path unerring.

  Kayla’s heart dropped to her feet. “It’s going after Han again!”

  Taz snapped out a command. “Pallaton, take two others and go help Han and Jaden!”

  “It’s my duty to protect—”

  “That’s an order!”

  Pallaton looked torn between duty and obedience. With a heavy sigh and a reproachful glance at Taz, he streaked away. Two of his Legion followed. Kayla didn’t wonder how he communicated with them.

  Her eyes darted back to Han and Jaden. In the two seconds of Taz and Pallaton’s exchange, Slurpy’s Gaptor had reached its target. Instead of ramming Han as Kayla expected, the Gaptor sailed past. She blinked. What just happened? It hit her so forcibly Kayla crumpled to the ground. It took Jaden!

  Atu appeared beside her. Crouching down, he cradled her in his arms. Even if they had wanted to, they couldn’t peel their eyes away. They watched, helpless, until Slurpy’s beast passed beyond range of their magnification lenses and took the choice from them. Slurpy and his beast had vanished. And he had taken Jaden with him.

  “Why did he do that?” Kayla couldn’t keep the tremor from her voice.

  “I don’t know. Why snatch Jaden off Han when he could’ve just—” Atu trailed off.

  Kayla knew what he’d been about to say. She couldn’t say it either.

  “Han and Pallaton will retrieve Jaden. There’s nothing we can do from here. I believe there are other matters you should attend to.”

  Taz sounded so matter-of-fact, Kayla wanted to hit her. Only she wasn’t within reach. Kayla glared up at Taz, prepared to give her a piece of her mind, when she saw Taz’s eyes. Sorrow. Anger. Frustration. It came to Kayla then. Taz was just as devastated. But she was trying to do what Jaden had asked. She was doing what every leader—what every ruler—had to learn to do. Make the tough choice. Put the mission ahead of personal feelings.

  Taz cleared her throat. “We have no way of knowing how what you do here will help. Let’s not waste time. Our army is dying.”

  Gliders and riders were tumbling from the night sky. Whether they would survive to fight another day might depend on her. With shaking fingers, Kayla ran her hands through her hair. “Atu, I think it would be better if you left me sitting here on the ground.”

  Atu stared at her as though she’d lost her marbles. “Why?”

  “Because when we do what we have to with those strips of leather, I won’t have far to fall if I pass out.” Kayla didn’t mention the pain she might have to endure. She winced just thinking about it. Every time she’d touched those leather strips in the past, her birthmark had burned with such intensity she believed her arm was on fire.

  “You okay?”

  Ziggety! Atu noticed that wince. Kayla had to remember he was a healer trained to observe. “Yup. Just a reaction to thinking about touching those strips.”

  “Lucky for you, then. You don’t have to. Where are they?”

  Kayla smiled. It was so like Atu to cut to the chase. “In Jaden’s pack. Here.” She handed it over.

  “Interesting.”

  “What is?”

  “That you could tolerate having the pack on your back with the strips inside.”

  “Not really. They only cause that violent reaction when I touch them directly.”

  “Hmm,” was Atu’s only response as he retrieved the strips. He glanced at them and then Kayla. “What do you want me to do with them?”

  Kayla scooted over to a flatter part of the mountain. “Spread them out in front of me.” Atu did. “Now, take that one and move it to the bottom.”

  “This one with the odd bite out of it?”

  Kayla grinned. It was actually an excellent way to describe the missing chink. “Yes. Position the bite to the right.” Kayla used her hands to show which “right” she meant. “Yup. Now take that one,” she pointed, “and fit it to the top left of the bite piece. It should fit together like a jigsaw.”

  Atu had to jiggle it a little to make it fit. The leather had stretched over time. He glanced at the other piece. “I’m guessing this last one goes here?” He pointed toward top right of the bite piece.

  “Yup. Just be careful when you put that last strip in place. I have no clue what will happen, and I don’t want you getting hurt.”

  Atu wiggled his eyebrows at her. “What would Jaden say?”

  Kayla giggled. Even though her heart ached and despair squatted on her l
ike a brooding cobra, the sound escaped.

  Atu grinned in return. “Whatever happens, remember, we’re in this together. This is where we chose to be.”

  So saying, he lifted the last piece of leather. This time, instead of fitting it on the ground, he angled it in the air until he was satisfied with the position. “I think I have it. Ready?”

  Kayla nodded, unable to speak. Her eyes were wide as Atu crouched down. Gingerly, he lowered the piece a fraction of an inch at a time. When it was barely above the pieces on the ground, he dropped it and jumped back.

  This time, the light was golden, a soft glow as opposed to the dazzling, white flash usually accompanying things from that other world. And instead of the quick release of energy, the golden light hovered over the strips. As it did, the strips melded together, forming a single large piece.

  It confirmed the strips were the product of someone ripping the larger piece apart. Kayla could guess who might’ve been responsible. But is it possible Slurpy got his hands on this piece of leather? If so, why didn’t he just destroy it?

  The golden light coalesced into a wand weaving over the leather, an unseen hand guiding the pointed light. Wherever the point touched, symbols appeared.

  Incredulous, Kayla dared crawling closer. The words on the individual strips had vanished, leaving no sign of the symbols forming the original three messages. As the new symbols appeared, Kayla’s birthmark itched, but it wasn’t the severe burn of before. Not even remotely painful. Just itchy, meaning she should pay attention.

  Snatching up her pack, Kayla found her pen and paper and began transcribing the symbols. She didn’t wait for the wand to finish before she began the tedious process of crossing out and rearranging.

  By the time Kayla reached the last few lines, the wand was drawing a familiar shape to encompass the symbols. When the shape was complete, the wand stopped scribing. Kayla waited, eager to discover what the wand would do next. But with its assigned task complete, the wand had no further purpose. It faded slowly, and the golden glow gradually disappeared with it.

  “That was something to behold,” Atu breathed. “Jaden and Iri won’t be happy they missed that.”

  “Yup. That was incredible.”

  “What does it say?” Atu asked, gesturing toward her notepad.

  “I’m not quite done yet. Give me a minute.” Hurriedly, Kayla translated the last few lines. Although she’d noticed the words subconsciously while writing them down, she hadn’t comprehended their meaning. Not until now, reading the whole thing.

  Something in her face had to have given the importance of the message away because Atu bounded over. “What?”

  Kayla glanced from the paper to Atu and back to the paper, then at Atu again. “These are instructions for using the medallions to eliminate the Gaptors forever!”

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  Jaden squirmed in the Gaptor’s grip. No, Gapzilla’s grip. He’s stronger than a gorilla and the size of Godzilla, so why not? No matter what he tried, he couldn’t gain an inch of freedom. Gapzilla’s grip only tightened the more he struggled. Breathing was becoming difficult, so Jaden stilled.

  He glanced up, finding Slurpy grinning down at him. About to make a rude comment, something shiny caught his eye. Jaden couldn’t hide his sharp intake of breath. Quickly, he averted his eyes. Slurpy couldn’t know he had seen it—or that Jaden knew who it belonged to.

  “You can look. I know what you were staring at,” Slurpy said. “She brought it to me, you know.”

  Jaden gritted his teeth. To say something would acknowledge he’d been looking. Kayla’s medallion! If Kayla’s intricately crafted holder hadn’t confirmed it, Slurpy just had.

  But why does Slurpy have it with him? The answer came to him clear as day. As long as he has at least one medallion, we don’t have them all. If we don’t have them all, we can’t use them to get rid of the Gaptors like we’re supposed to.

  In his peripheral vision, Jaden caught Slurpy leering. “Yes, without this, you can’t defeat me. You can’t become the Gatekeeper.”

  Is that what destroying all the medallions will make me? The Gatekeeper? Jaden’s teeth ached from grinding. Opening and closing his mouth a few times, Jaden tried relaxing the muscles in his jaw. It gave him a few extra seconds to think. “Why do you keep calling me ‘Gatekeeper?’”

  An incredulous bark of a laugh. “If you don’t know, then I’m in a better position than I thought.”

  “Care to explain?”

  “Do you take me for a fool? Without knowledge, you can’t fulfill your purpose.” Slurpy suddenly roared with laughter. “Yes, this little conversation has been highly illuminating. It’s becoming clear that you’ll never achieve that goal. You might have all the artifacts, but evidently you’re ignorant about what to do with them.” Another raucous laugh. “After all this, Zareh’s plan fails!”

  Something beyond menace lurked in that last sentence. Then Jaden made a fatal mistake: he looked directly into Slurpy’s eyes, wanting to read what he could see there. Instead, all he saw was red. Red hot eyes like pokers searing into his soul. Red eyes glowing hotter than the embers of hell. They were bewitching. Jaden tried to look away, but something about that gaze held him, hypnotized him.

  Jaden flung a hand out to stop himself from falling. But his hand was still wrapped in Han’s neck fur. For a moment, something nagged at his mind. As quickly as the niggling thought pricked him, it went away. He thought he’d almost toppled off Han, but no, Han’s heart still thumped below his own.

  The beat intensified, pounding through Jaden’s brain and compounding Slurpy’s hateful red stare. When Slurpy spoke, Jaden jumped. “Behold! See what I am doing to your world!”

  Jaden glanced down. His shock was so severe he almost lost his grip on Han. He lurched across Han’s side and spewed the contents of the stomach. Still heaving, he stared at what he saw.

  The world was ablaze! Malicious lava sprayed death from every mountain top. Fires flared and flames crackled, devouring any place untouched by lava. Worse, their army, all those riders and gliders, lay scattered across the lower levels of the mountains.

  They were all dead. The thought crushed Jaden. They had been here, fighting for him. Despair seized him. These people, these gliders whom he’d barely gotten to know . . . all dead. He would never truly know any of them now.

  Their bodies littering the mountain resembled broken and discarded toys in a maniac’s game. And they were directly below the lava gushing down the mountain, gobbling everything in its path. As the lava poured over them, consuming them forever in its hissing, spitting maw, Jaden’s soul shriveled inside him.

  Kayla! The thought punched Jaden so hard it was almost a physical blow. His gaze darted toward the mountain where he’d left her and Atu.

  He fell to his knees, too distraught to wonder where Han had gone. What does it matter? There was nothing left of the place where Kayla and Atu had been. The entire mountain had melted into the lava flows below. Jaden’s heart constricted, the pain unbearable.

  Then his mind caught up. Jaden shook his head. This can’t be right. No way an entire mountain dissolves in minutes! Was it mere minutes? Or is Slurpy powerful enough to speed up whatever processes he wants to destroy in seconds instead of days or weeks or months?

  Jaden retched again. Sick to his stomach, dealing with Slurpy was the last thing he wanted right now. But since when did I ever have a choice in any of this? A fact that was more repugnant by the second.

  Swiping a hand across his mouth and wishing he had some water to rinse away the vile taste, Jaden righted himself on Han’s shoulders. Huh, Han’s back again. “Sorry, dude. Hope I didn’t spray you.”

  Han said nothing. Didn’t even acknowledge that Jaden had spoken. Jaden’s spine tingled. He didn’t need that sense of his to know something was terribly wrong.

  “He can’t hear you,” Slurpy said. “I’ve blocked his ears. In fact, he doesn’t even remember the peril he’s in.”

  Peril
? Why is Han in peril? The more Jaden tried to remember, the less he felt like himself. Something was definitely off.

  He squeezed Han’s ribs with his knees. A movement too subtle for Slurpy to notice, yet enough for Han to feel. Han didn’t react. This is bad. Really bad! Jaden scanned the area.

  “If you’re looking for your friends, they’re over there.” Slurpy motioned toward a small hill Jaden hadn’t noticed in his frenzied scan earlier. It remained unscathed in the midst of the chaos below.

  Jaden blinked, trying to find a visual path through the acrid smoke belching from the surrounding mountains. A fortuitous breeze allowed him one quick glimpse. Kayla, Atu, Markov, Stovan, and Shianna balanced precariously on a tiny ledge far too small to hold them all.

  Shianna’s arms flailed, and if Stovan hadn’t grabbed her, she would have toppled into the blazing lava below. Those Jaden loved balanced there safely for only a second before the heat rippling from below created another gust of wind, rocking them once more.

  “How long do you think they’ll last?”

  Slurpy’s question held malice and suppressed glee at his own cleverness. Before Jaden could answer, Slurpy spoke again.

  “They’re at least a little more robust than that other friend of yours. What is it with the women in your life? They can’t stay away from me.” Slurpy chuckled, tickled by the thought.

  Jaden’s brain was in overdrive. He had the overriding sense he was missing something. Jaden panted. Get a grip!

  “What, nothing to say? Well, I suppose she wasn’t worth your time, anyway. And after what she did, who can blame you for choosing the living instead of the dead? Still, she was a pretty little thing.”

  Jaden’s face contorted in rage. “Who are you talking about? None of the women in my life have ever willingly come to you.”

  Slurpy waved a dismissive hand in the air. “Think what you must so you can feel better. You know, it was your fault she did what she did. If you hadn’t kicked her to the curb, she would never have taken her own life. You’re no better than I am.”