by Kristie Cook
Tristan sat on the exam table and gathered me into his arms. We held on to each other tightly, as though if we let go, we might fall to pieces.
“At least we’re certain there are two babies,” he said after a while, his voice thick with the same emotions roiling through me. “No tricks this time.”
“If we’re lucky, which we never are.”
“They’re protected.”
I sniffled and wiped my eyes against his shirt. “But even if we keep them, we have to break the curse. I … we can’t lose our sons.”
He pressed his lips to my forehead before tucking my head under his chin. “Do you remember on our honeymoon when you talked about the children you wanted?”
I closed my eyes, recalling the beautiful memory clearly. We’d lay in bed in the Caribbean room at the beach house, discussing our future. That was back before I knew hardly anything about our world.
“I’d wanted a boy so badly, one just like you, and I have him. Or, I did. You said then that a son was a bad idea, and I get it now. God, do I ever get it.” I opened my eyes and tilted my head to see his face. “Not that I regret having Dorian at all, but it just goes to show we should be careful what we wish for.”
He pulled his head back enough to look down at me. “You’d said you wanted three or four children.”
“And you said that was impossible.”
“Right. And now look.”
I’d have my three, four if we counted the one I lost—actually five, if Satan’s story to Tristan had been true—but we’d be lucky if we could keep one. I sighed. “Again—be careful what you wish for.”
He brushed his lips over my cheekbone. “I prefer the cliché of anything is possible.”
After a moment of pondering his unending optimism, I nodded and said with determination, “Including breaking the curse.”
News about the twins traveled quickly, and while the Normans found the prospect exciting, the Amadis among us knew what this meant. My team, especially, loved Dorian and understood the heartbreak I already suffered … and the intensifying need to stop Dorian and break the curse.
A few days later, Char came rushing into the training room where Tristan and I had been leading an Aikido class. “We have news on the radio. Hurry.”
While Tristan dismissed class, I mentally called out to the rest of the council in The Loft, and we met them in the radio room at the command post up front.
“This news is for anyone listening, hopefully including the mother ship one,” the man on the radio said, referring to The Loft here, since I was the mother. “Movement has been seen toward the land of the great white. Almost seems to be a migration. Take note.” He paused, then started the message again.
“Daemoni are moving toward Hades,” Tristan translated.
I nodded. “The great white of Siberia.”
“Why?” Blossom asked. “What do you think’s going on?”
Dread sent a shiver up my spine when the answer hit me. “This must be one of the signs the matriarchs told me about. Lucas must be getting ready to act. Which means Dorian—”
“Let’s not jump to conclusions,” Charlotte interrupted. “Daemoni heading to Hades may not mean anything. There could be many reasons for them to go to their biggest city.”
“He said a migration,” I pointed out.
“Which is different than a swarm or a rush,” Char said. “They’re moving slowly. Right now, it doesn’t sound urgent.”
“Agreed,” Tristan said. “It’s just information at this time. But that could change.”
“We should check it out,” I said to him. “See for ourselves what’s going on.”
He nodded. “Maybe find out Lucas’s plans.”
Charlotte pointed at me. “You’re not going anywhere.”
“Don’t be like the others,” I said harshly. “You know damn well that I am. Tristan and I are the only ones who can go.”
“Hey,” Owen protested. “Vanessa and I did fine before we found you.”
I turned to look at him while crossing my arms over my chest. “So you’re going to open a portal to Hades and let a sorcerer or Lucas trap you?”
“Fuck no,” Vanessa replied before Owen could open his mouth.
“We’ll have to eventually,” he said. “If we’re going to battle at some point. Why not beat them there now?”
“Because we’re not talking about going to battle,” Vanessa said. “You’re talking about the two of us going there alone to scope things out. On land. Alone.”
Tristan rubbed his chin. “She’s right. We need more intelligence before you take the risk of a portal and getting stuck there like we did last time. We won’t take the chance until we’re ready for that point of no return.”
“Tristan and I can do a flyover, maybe pick a few brains, and get back,” I said.
“You hope,” Charlotte corrected.
I tossed my hands in the air. “We have a better chance than anyone else here.”
“We’re stronger than ever, Char,” Tristan said, clapping his hand on his own shoulder, gesturing to his wings. “Alexis is right. We can be there and back. Trust me—nothing will happen to her and our children.”
With only a scowl as a reply, she turned her back on us and strode out of the room.
“I’m with Char on this,” Sheree said, her eyes sad as she looked at me before hobbling through the door.
Blossom stood up. “Sorry, Alexis, but I am, too. Maybe you should let someone else do the dirty work for a change.”
“My life is no more valuable than anyone else’s.”
She glanced down at my belly. “Considering there are three lives in that package, yes, your body is more valuable.”
She left, too, and I stood there in shock for several long moments while those who remained in the room stayed silent. With a split vote, Tristan would be the tiebreaker, although the final decision always belonged to me. But I didn’t think this was really a split vote. Owen, Vanessa, and Jax showed their support of whatever I decided by staying here, but that didn’t mean they liked it.
Tristan broke the silence. “Since we agree it’s not urgent yet, why don’t we wait a few days or so before we go? Let Robin and the other were-birds continue watching.”
“You were just all for us going,” I argued. “You know we can do this.”
“Yes, we can. And eventually, probably soon, we’ll have to. But for now, you should probably listen to your council’s advice.” He lifted his brow as I stared at him, and I opened my mind to his. “You need them one-hundred-percent behind you when the time comes. Show that you can listen.”
I blew out a harsh breath.
“Okay, fine,” I acquiesced. “Have Robin and the others gather intelligence for now. But if something changes, we’re out of here.”
Giving in to their wishes went a long way with my team, which was good because less than a week later, something did change. Daemoni moved more rapidly and in larger numbers toward Siberia and Hades, according to the reports coming in on the radio. And then Robin showed up.
“I wanted to come tell you myself,” she said as soon as she saw me with Tristan on my heels as we entered the command post room. “Lucas has been sighted.”
My stomach tumbled with fear. “Is Dorian … with him?
“Not that anybody saw. We found it bizarre, though, that Lucas was moving to the east, away from Hades.”
“While everyone else is headed toward there,” Tristan said, as though finishing her thought.
“Exactly.”
I clutched Tristan’s arm. “He might be going after Dorian, tired of waiting on him.”
“That would be stupid of him,” Tristan said. “He knows Dorian must come to him. To the Ancients, more precisely.”
“Unless he doesn’t care about winning Dorian over and only wants him to open the Gates to Hell.”
Robin made a noise that sounded like a freaked-out chirp. “What?”
Tristan eyed me. I threw up my hands. �
��The time has come for our people to know. From the sounds of things, we won’t be able to keep it from them much longer.”
So we told Robin about Lucas’s need for Dorian to open the Gates to Hell and bring Satan to Earth, knowing she’d spread the word to the groups hiding around the world.
“Keep this among the Amadis only,” I ordered her. “The Normans will panic.”
“Everybody will want to fight,” she said.
“Not yet,” I said firmly. “Tristan and I will go first, and find out what Lucas is doing. Nobody moves until you hear from us. Got it?”
She gave a sharp nod. I turned to face my council who stood behind me.
“Any objections this time?” I asked. “Or do we agree the time has come to move?”
“I still don’t like it,” Char said as she stepped up to me and put her hands on my shoulders. “You’re like a daughter to me, Alexis. Those babies are family, too.”
“And if we want them to have any hope for a future,” I started, and she nodded, not needing me to finish.
“You two find out what you can,” she said. “We’ll worry about preparing the Amadis.”
“Nobody does anything until we say,” I repeated. “If we get lucky, maybe the Amadis can take Lucas down, and we can avoid going to Hades to fight the rest of the Daemoni.”
“Wishful thinking,” Vanessa muttered under her breath. Probably, but I ignored her.
Robin took off to begin alerting the rest of the Amadis, while Tristan and I hurried to our room to change into our fighting leathers. Then we headed to the Armory where Char and Brogan met us. I had my trusty dagger on my hip and my knife in my boot, but I didn’t hesitate to grab a silver-bladed sword and two handguns. Brogan fitted straps over my chest and back to hold the sword, gun holsters, and ammo clips. Tristan also strapped on a sword and a couple of guns, although he contained the deadliest power in his hand. We loaded up on as much silver-coated ammo as we could hold.
“Weren’t you the one who taught me guns were pretty useless in our world?” I asked Char as she made sure my leather straps were tightened.
“They are if you don’t want to kill, which has always been our way,” she answered as she pulled the guns out of the holsters and inspected them. “But weren’t you the one who started this war saying we’ll do whatever it takes, even if it means slaying Daemoni?”
I’d said it, but that was before I’d actually done it. I still had nightmares about giving the Daemoni vampires in London their final deaths, as well as Kali, Jeana, and Merrick, even when I knew their souls were damned.
The image of Molita’s dark eyes pleading with me about the others sent a stab in my heart.
“I’m hoping it won’t come to that,” I muttered.
“Me, too, Alexis, me, too.” She shoved the guns back in their holsters, and then grabbed my face between her hands and tilted my head to look up at her. “But if it’s your life or theirs, don’t you hesitate. Do you understand me?”
“Don’t worry. I don’t enjoy it as much as some people think I would, but that doesn’t mean I won’t kill if necessary.”
“That’s my girl.”
My entire council walked Tristan and me to the front door of The Loft, where a group of hunters guarded. They let us out into the night, but closed the door behind us to seal out any radiation in the air. Although Normans were probably safe with brief exposure, as many of the hunters experienced when they went on search and recovery trips, we weren’t taking the chances of letting the air inside.
“Two days to Hades, one day scoping, and two days back?” Owen clarified.
“It shouldn’t take us longer than that,” Tristan confirmed. “Maybe less time, depending on how far this way Lucas has already moved and where we intercept him.”
“Don’t do anything stupid,” Charlotte said, eyeing me specifically. “You wait for the rest of us if you see him. Recon only.”
“And if you’re not back in five days, we’re coming,” Owen said.
Vanessa nodded. “And ready to fight, because that’s the only way in Hell you’ll get me back to Hades.”
“Don’t worry, sister, I have a feeling you’ll have that chance soon enough.”
Tristan and I jogged down the gravel driveway, revealed our wings, and spread them out wide before launching into the evening sky. Although the Daemoni had supernatural hearing and sight, we hoped our black clothes and dark wings would make us little more than shadows against the night as we followed the sliver of moon over the land. We flew northwest, hoping to be far enough north into Alaska before morning, because up there, sunrise would come late in the day this time of year.
We’d barely passed Seattle and crossed into Canada when my mind, always open as I searched for mind signatures, stumbled across one that felt very familiar, but also different from what I remembered. I mentally yelled at Tristan.
Dorian!
Chapter 21
Up ahead, about seven miles, I told Tristan as I took the lead.
We circled the area where I found Dorian’s mind signature in a small cabin hidden deep in the woods. I sensed no other minds nearby, but worried there might have been Daemoni hiding under a cloak. If that were the case, then Dorian served as bait to bring us into their trap.
Dorian, I called out to him.
“Mom?” His mental voice sounded deeper than it had before, just as his mind signature no longer felt childlike.
Are you alone?
“For now. Where are you?”
I gave Tristan the signal, and we dropped to the snow-covered ground in front of the cabin. The front door opened, and a man came running out. I gasped, and my hand flew to my mouth. At first, my mind saw Tristan come to a halt at the top of the steps to the front porch, but my husband stood next to me. With the same hair and the same beautiful facial features, this man was still a little shorter than Tristan and not quite as broad. Yet. It was only a matter of time, and by the looks of it, not much time at all.
“You shouldn’t have come,” Dorian greeted from the porch.
“We’re your parents,” I said. “We’ve been looking everywhere for you.”
“I told you not to. I told you to leave me alone.”
“Dorian, you need to know—” I began, but he cut me off.
“I know everything I need to know. I know what I’m doing, Mom. You need to leave me alone and just let me do it.”
“Dorian, please.” I wasn’t beyond begging. “You’re making a big mistake.”
He suddenly stood right in front of us, a growl rumbling in his throat.
“Dorian,” Tristan said in warning.
Dorian’s hazel eyes flew to his father’s face and then back to mine. “I said to leave me alone!”
“Problems, Dorian?” The icy cold voice pricked our ears before its owner showed himself. Lucas appeared out of nowhere right behind Dorian.
“No,” Dorian said curtly as his eyes narrowed at us. “They were just leaving.”
Dorian, please, I pleaded again, silently to Lucas’s ears. You don’t need to do this. He’s only going to use you to open the Gates of Hell.
“I said I know what I’m doing. Now go!”
“Dorian, you belong with us, not with them,” Tristan said.
“I said to GO!” Dorian bellowed, and his hand suddenly shot up, his palm facing us. A strong gust of wind whooshed out of it, blowing Tristan and me backwards several yards. We landed in the snow and sprang to our feet. “I’m ready, Grandfather.”
“No!” I blurred toward them and latched on to Dorian. “Don’t do this. It’s a mistake. You’ve been told lies, Dorian. All lies.”
He tossed me away with one easy shake of his arm. I turned on Lucas.
“Take me,” I said. “Please, Lucas. Spare him. Take me instead. Use me.”
“Alexis, no!” Tristan barked from behind me.
A wicked grin spread over Lucas’s face. “Are you begging?”
Ignoring Tristan, I nodded vehemently. Even dr
opped to my knees at his feet. “Please, please take me instead. I know what you’re doing. Use me.”
My neck craned backwards to look up at him, and like Hellfire, his ice-blue gaze sent prickles of cold into my skin as he seemed to appraise me. Maybe even considered the trade.
A bar of an arm enclosed around my waist and jerked me backward, up to my feet. Tristan held me against his body as Lucas watched on. Now he seemed to be appraising both of us. His nose and one side of his upper lip curled upwards when his gaze landed on our wings.
“I have no use for you anymore,” he snarled. “Let us go, Dorian.”
“NO!” I screamed as I lunged for them, but I landed face down in the snow. They were already gone. “No, no, no!”
I pounded the snowy ground as tears streamed down my cheeks and a scream ripped out of my throat. Out of my soul.
“Follow their trail!” Tristan grabbed my hand and flashed before Lucas’s trail disappeared.
We appeared in another snow-covered area, but no trees surrounded us this time. No flash trail lingered, either. We’d taken too long to follow the first one. Or, Lucas had wizened up and ensured he didn’t leave a second one.
“We have to go to Hades,” I said.
“Shh,” Tristan replied. “Listen.”
Voices tumbled over the air, and I opened my mind to find the owners. Lucas and Dorian were nowhere in my reach, but many, many Daemoni were. Hundreds of them. They didn’t even try to cloak themselves as they traveled, all of them nearby headed in the same direction—west and slightly north.
Where are we? I asked Tristan.
“Middle of Siberia. Between Alaska and Hades.”
We flashed that far? Our normal range had been about a hundred miles, give or take, but that had been before we’d been given the wings and who knew what other powers.
“Or Lucas did, and we were simply able to follow.”
Of course, we weren’t the only ones who’d gained in power. Lucas had, exponentially.
We need to find him. We have to figure out how to stop him.
“Come on.”
He shot into the air, and I followed before anybody saw us. We trailed the Daemoni, and I’d been wrong about the number of them. Thousands of them headed in the general direction of Hades like a march of ants. Except … they didn’t go as far as Hades. As we flew over a snow-covered mountain range still to the southeast of the Taymyr Peninsula, we had to turn back, because they all stopped and gathered in a wide valley, still hundreds of miles from the Daemoni’s main underground city. Camps were spread across the expanse surrounded by mountains, with fires dotting the landscape. The deep thump of drums echoed across the valley. For as far as we could see, Daemoni came from all directions as though following the sound—tens of thousands of them. Mages flashed, vampires blurred over the mountains, and Weres sprinted through the forests of pine trees that looked like looming monsters, their branches naked of needles but dripping with icicles and covered in snow.