Faith Defiled (Gray Spear Society Book 14)

by Siegel, Alex

"Tell us about Rachiel," Jia said in an effort to get her mind off her discomfort.

  "She's very talented," Olivia said. "I felt her power. She sings the most beautiful songs."

  "Is she nice?"

  "I think so. She tried to poison Marina, but she did it to protect me."

  "From Marina?" Jia raised her eyebrows.

  "Rachiel thinks Marina will turn into some kind of super-nasty monster."

  Jia frowned. She had heard about Marina's promotion, and clearly, things would change after the mission in Chicago was done. Marina wouldn't be the commander in San Francisco for one. Jia expected Hanley would take her place. She liked him a lot, so the prospect didn't bother her. She had to admit not having Marina's fearsome presence in headquarters would be a bit of a relief.

  The journey took an hour, but it seemed like all day to Jia. The team crested a hill and saw the tiny village where Rachiel and her coven of witches lived.

  The homes were just huts made a sticks, vines, grass, and mud. There was clearly no plumbing or electricity. The witches had to use an outhouse, and the idea made Jia's skin crawl.

  A communal fire was burning in the center of the village, and three women were working around it. One was stirring a big iron pot hung over the fire, one was weaving on a loom, and one was sewing a dress. Their colorful gowns reminded Jia of a Renaissance fair. Their faces were dirty, and their hair was a mess, but they seemed happy. Jia couldn't believe people would choose to lead such a primitive life.

  Olivia led the way down the hill. The girl was almost running, and Jia had to press to keep up. Her legs were so tired, they felt like they would break off.

  "Hi!" Olivia said excitedly. "Where is Rachiel?"

  An old woman with gray hair emerged from a hut. Her gown had a silky green sheen, but it needed to be cleaned.

  "Olivia?" she said. "Is that you? Great Mother, I never expected to see you again! Who are your friends?"

  Olivia pointed. "Jia, Imelda, Min Ho, and Corrie. We're in a lot of trouble. We need your help."

  Jia was shocked and appalled. Olivia had used their real names in front of a complete stranger. Olivia would have to be severely chastised later, and when Marina found out, she would be furious.

  "What kind of help?" Rachiel said.

  "Bad people are trying to kill us," Olivia said. "We need to hide."

  "Of course. I would do anything for the Bride of Light. Stay as long as you like. We'll do everything in our power to protect you."

  Rachiel turned to Jia and stared. The witch had beautiful brown eyes with green flecks.

  Jia drew back. "What's wrong?"

  Rachiel walked over to her with a suspicious expression. Rachiel squinted and got very close to Jia's face.

  "What are you doing?"

  "There is something in your eyes," Rachiel said.

  Jia touched her eyelid. "Dirt?"

  "No, it's inside. Something twisted and evil. Hold on."

  "There's nothing twisted and evil in me!"

  Rachiel went back into her hut. She came out with a small wooden table and set it in front of Jia.

  "What are you doing?" Jia said.

  Rachiel retrieved a silver tray from the hut and put it on the table. The tray was full of occult items including knives, amulets, crystals, candles, and jars full of herbs.

  In the meantime, two more witches came out to make a total of six in the coven, including Rachiel. All the women looked like they needed a long, hot shower, and Jia was glad for a fresh breeze. She still didn't understand how they could live in these Stone Age conditions.

  Rachiel used the knife to draw a circle in the dirt. She placed black candles around the circle after lighting them in the fire.

  "Stand there." She pointed to the center.

  Jia crossed her arms. "I won't participate in a primitive, useless ritual."

  "Please, for me," Olivia said.

  Her black and white eyes melted Jia's heart. She stepped into the circle.

  Rachiel turned to her coven. "Ladies, we will perform the exorcism spell, and it needs to be a strong one. This is a tough case."

  Jia shook her head. This witch is crazy, she thought.

  Rachiel's five assistants surrounded Jia. They began to sing in some strange language that sounded Gaelic. Their voices were surprisingly powerful and harmonized beautifully. Jia was enjoying the chorus even though she thought it was pointless.

  "Power of wind have I over thee," Rachiel chanted in a deep voice. "Power of wrath have I over thee. Power of fire have I over thee..."

  Jia rolled her eyes.

  Rachiel's voice grew strained, and the words came slower. Tears rolled down her cheeks. Jia decided the witch was a great actress if nothing else.

  Jia began to feel a strange pain behind her eyes. The frightening sensation made her grab her head. The ceremony suddenly didn't seem pointless at all.

  "What are you doing to me?" she cried.

  Rachiel was laboring to continue the spell. The words were so low and harsh, Jia could barely understand them.

  "Power of the sun have I over thee! Power of the stars have I over thee! Power of the truth have I over thee!"

  Jia felt an incredibly painful popping sensation inside her skull. She screamed and dropped to her knees, but a moment later, she felt much better. In fact, she felt great.

  Rachiel stumbled towards her hut. "I need to sleep," she mumbled. "That was brutal."

  * * *

  Iris screamed and opened her eyes. "She kicked me out! That fucking bitch kicked me out!"

  "What do you mean, ma'am?" Laurence said.

  "Some kind of witch cast a spell that broke my lock on the Chinese woman."

  "I didn't know that was possible."

  "I didn't think it was." Iris shook her head in disbelief. "Dealing with the Society is bad enough. Now they have a sorcerer."

  They were parked on the side of the road next to the green SUV the enemy had driven. She got out of her own car and walked over to a trail leading into the forest. Olivia had gone down that trail, and Iris had to decide whether she would follow.

  Laurence joined her at the head of the trail. "Are we going or not?"

  She looked into the forest. Tall trees blocked out the sun and created an ever-shifting pattern of shadows. Loose dirt and rocks covered the steep hills. The trail wasn't even wide enough for two people to walk abreast.

  "It's a long hike, and we could easily get lost. I hate hiking anyway." She turned to him. "Get the troops up here. We'll send them into the forest to kill Olivia."

  "Send them where? This is a big mountain range. They can't just wander around."

  Iris furrowed her brow. "The witches had huts. I should be able to find them on a satellite photo. That's where Olivia is."

  "It will take hours to get the men organized and deployed, if not longer. They're not well equipped for a mountain assault."

  "I know." She sighed. "Hopefully, Olivia will stay put. Otherwise, we're screwed."

  He grunted. "Yes, ma'am."

  They walked back to the car.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Lacking anything productive to do, the legionnaires in Chinatown were fighting each other. Marina and the four legates had taken on the roles of referees in a sparring tournament. Most of God's warriors were participating, and the basement had become a battleground.

  Marina had fought in a similar tournament a year ago during the North American convention. Those matches had been impressive, but merely second-tier legionnaires had fought then. Now commanders, bodyguards, elites, and other freaks were having a go at each other. In all her years in the Society, Marina had never seen fighting at this level.

  She was currently overseeing a match involving her old teammate and friend, Yvonne. Yvonne was a small woman, and at first glance, she didn't seem very threatening. She had curly blonde hair, and her skin was so flushed, it looked sunburnt. Her distended muscles were the main indication she wasn't normal. They bulged underneath her clothes lik
e balloons, and every part of her body was lumpy. Marina knew she was unbelievably strong and durable. Yvonne could hurl a grown man across a room with lethal effect.

  Her opponent was a man from India who had the nickname "Pieces." He was the bodyguard of Sight, the legate of South Asia. By implication, Pieces was one of the most dangerous fighters in the world, but he didn't look it. He had stripped down to his shorts, and he had the muscles of a top athlete, but Marina could've mistaken him for a normal man. His black hair was shaved almost down to his scalp. He had a warm smile.

  "Begin," Marina said.

  Pieces wound up his arm like he was going to throw a baseball, but when he threw, his fist came off instead. It smashed Yvonne in the nose. A band of stretchy, white energy connected his hand to his arm, and his fist snapped back into place an instant later.

  Yvonne rubbed her nose, and her hand came away bloody. Her face showed shock. Marina was just as startled.

  Pieces spun around and threw a kick. His leg shot away from his body like a missile aimed for Yvonne's chest. This time, she managed to dodge the attack. The leg snapped back and joined seamlessly with his body again.

  Impressive, Marina thought.

  Yvonne growled and attacked with her usual ferocious aggression, closing the distance in an instant. She smashed headlong into Pieces' chest with little concern for her own welfare. What happened next shocked Marina who thought she had seen it all. Pieces shattered like a broken vase, and parts flew in all directions. Bands of white energy pulled all the pieces of Pieces back together in less than a second. Now, he was behind Yvonne instead of in front of her. He kicked her in the head hard enough to make her fall to her knees.

  "Hold," Marina said. "Yvonne, come here."

  Yvonne stood up and trotted over. Marina remembered the years they had served together in Chicago, and she felt she owed Yvonne a favor.

  "Ma'am?" Yvonne said.

  "I'm giving you a short break to come up with a plan. You're not going to beat this guy with brute strength."

  Yvonne glanced at Pieces and grimaced. "I'm starting to realize that." She stared at the metallic floor for a moment. "OK. I know what I'll do."

  "Good." Marina smiled. "Kick his ass for the honor of Chicago."

  Yvonne went back over to Pieces, but instead of attacking, she settled into a solid defensive stance. She was waiting for him to make the next move.

  He obliged her with a spinning back fist which had the speed of a bullwhip. His arm broke off to make up the distance between them. She grabbed his arm in midair and held tight despite his strong efforts to pull it back. He threw a low leg kick while she was distracted. The leg struck her in the gut, but she was tough enough to shrug off the blow, and she grabbed his detached leg with her other hand.

  He had only one leg and one arm still available, but he put them to good use. He hopped over and started banging on her head. She let go of his limbs, wrapped her arms around his chest, and threw him to the ground.

  Pieces went to pieces. Yvonne became ensnared in a net of white energy strands and body parts. It was one of the freakiest things Marina had ever seen. The energy was squeezing Yvonne like a boa constrictor, and she grimaced in pain.

  Marina heard an ominous pop.

  "Stop!" she yelled. "Halt!"

  Pieces pulled his parts back together and stood up. Yvonne's eyes were bulging, and she inhaled deeply. Her arm was bent in a place it wasn't supposed to bend.

  "Smythe!" Marina said. "Get over here. We have a broken arm for you."

  Smythe ran over.

  "No. I'm OK." Yvonne stood up. "I don't need him."

  He frowned at her. "Your arm is broken."

  "I'll heal. Just give me a couple of minutes." She turned to Marina. "You didn't have to stop the fight, ma'am."

  "You were in trouble," Marina said.

  "I could've fought my way out."

  Marina shook her head. "You'll never change. You think you're immortal." She paused. "And after tonight, you'll be right."

  Her phone rang, and the caller ID showed Aaron's code number.

  She took the call. "What is it, dear?" she said cheerfully. She walked off to get some privacy.

  "Something terrible happened," Aaron said in a grim voice. "I don't think I'm qualified to be Lord of the Society. We have to back out."

  "Slow down. Start at the beginning. What happened?"

  "We got intel about a high-value target. I sent Leonardo and his group. It was a trap. A giant bomb killed them all. Thousands of civilians probably died, too. It's my fault. I should've anticipated this possibility and triple-checked our information before committing so many legionnaires to a single operation."

  The bottom dropped out of Marina's stomach. Aaron was talking about the death of over three hundred members of the Society. It was inconceivable, but she realized now wasn't the time for grief. Her lover needed her to be strong.

  "I'm sure it's not that cut and dried. In the moment, the decisions made sense."

  "Did you hear me?" he barked. "Do you understand what just happened? A third of the Society just went up in smoke!"

  "Don't yell at me," she said with irritation. The casualties weren't her fault.

  "Sorry. I don't think I'm qualified to lead. I'm obviously not very good at it."

  "That's ridiculous. You got fooled. It happens to the best of us. You're a great commander who just lost focus at a key moment. That's not a surprise. You've been running yourself ragged for a week. Too little sleep and too much stress. A mistake was inevitable."

  Aaron paused. "Some mistakes are unforgiveable," he said softly.

  Wesley trotted over with an eager expression. He pointed at the phone.

  "Hold on," Marina said. "Wesley wants to talk to you."

  She crouched down to the boy's level and put the phone in speaker mode.

  "Aaron?" Wesley said in his musical voice.

  "Do you know what just happened?" Aaron said.

  "Destiny."

  "What the fuck does that mean?"

  "Those legionnaires weren't chosen for the new Society," Wesley said calmly. "Leading normal lives wasn't a possibility either. Boredom would eventually make them crazy. They would've become criminals. An honorable death in battle was the best choice. They can go to God as heroes instead of rejects. They died at the right time in the right way."

  "Are you telling me they were supposed to die?" Aaron sounded incredulous.

  "I'm saying you shouldn't be too sad. You made a terrible mistake, one you'll never forget. You'll learn from it and do better next time. Think of it as your initiation as Lord. At the same time, your mistake accomplished something that had to happen anyway. That's how destiny works."

  Aaron was silent for a long moment. "The path to the future is a river of blood," he mumbled eventually.

  "That's right."

  "You knew this would happen, didn't you? Yesterday morning, when you were picking teams, you were actually picking who would live and who would die."

  Wesley hesitated. "Yes."

  "And you did it with a smile. You're a cold-blooded monster."

  "Choices had to be made, and I was the best person to make them. I can see who destiny favors. I can feel who is right for the new Society."

  "You could've warned me," Aaron growled.

  "That would've just made things worse."

  "What about my group of legionnaires? I got four hundred of them sitting in the woods right now, waiting for my order to attack. Are they slated to die, too? They didn't make the cut, and now they have to go?"

  "Don't fight destiny, Aaron," Wesley said. "You'll lose."

  "I hate destiny. I hate you."

  Marina heard a crashing noise, and the call ended. She put away her phone. She wanted to call Aaron back and offer more words of comfort, but he needed time to cool down.

  She stared at Wesley. "What about those four hundred legionnaires? You never answered the question."

  He frowned. After a moment, he waved hi
s arm towards the other people in the room. "The new Society is here. These are your soldiers. The others are..."

  "Unimportant? Irrelevant? Redundant? Useless? We're talking about many fine warriors who dedicated their lives to serving God. True heroes, all of them."

  "And they'll die like heroes. Isn't that what every legionnaire wants?"

  Marina snarled. "You should at least give them a choice. Maybe some of those four hundred will decide to quit instead."

  "When did you become so compassionate?" He raised his eyebrows. "You celebrate death. You've filled graveyards with corpses."

  "Those were my enemies."

  "And with only a few exceptions, the legionnaires who don't pass through the aperture will eventually become your enemies. They won't know how to live without the Gray Spear Society."

  "What about Smythe and Odelia?" she said.

  "There are exceptions, and fate has a plan for them. Why are you arguing with me? You know I always tell the truth."

  "Because I don't like the truth!"

  Other people in the room glanced at Marina and then quickly turned away.

  "What about all the assistants?" she said in a low voice. "Are they to be sacrificed too?"

  Wesley shrugged. "They have skills they can use for regular jobs. They can revert to a normal life. It will be challenging, but it's possible. You and Aaron can decide how you want to handle that problem."

  Marina was glad to hear fate hadn't decreed everything, but she was still furious.

  She looked across the room at the aperture. It was like a big donut with sprinkles, but the colored flecks were actually incredibly sophisticated components. According to Bethany, the most important parts had been built one atom at a time.

  Bethany and Leanna were working at a frantic pace. They hadn't stopped since waking up this morning, not even to eat. The fifteen scientists were moving a little slower, and Marina could see exhaustion on all their faces. She expected they had been pushed to the limit during their time in Chicago. The aperture had to be completed tonight, and it was becoming very clear why that deadline was so important. Aaron couldn't hold off the enemy much longer, and Olivia needed to be rescued.

  Marina was done talking to Wesley, but she wasn't done being angry. She marched over to Bethany who was adjusting a device that featured large red crystals arranged in a lattice. Marina cleared her throat to get Bethany's attention.