by Brenna Lyons
Sarah’s hand rubbed her back. “Erin, snap out of it,” she pleaded. “Erin, come back to me. He’s pissed.”
She raised her head, staring at the enflamed elder. Enflamed. Flames were dancing in his black eyes, and his fangs were bared in a look of pure fury.
“What have you done?” he raged at her. His voice seemed to vibrate the walls.
“My duty,” she whispered as she pushed to her feet. “The duty I was born to.” Her amulet burned on her wrist.
You know your course.
I am your servant. Erin prayed that the stone wouldn’t fail this time.
We are one, a force unto ourselves. With your strength and my aid, we cannot fail. Balk me in nothing, and we will prevail.
How strange her life had become. Erin was agreeing to follow the stone with unquestioning loyalty when little more than a half a year ago, her only wish had been to balk it in any way she could. The irony was almost too much to bear without laughing out loud.
Erin met Lorian’s eyes and nodded in challenge. She handed the right training blade to Mikel. As always, the child took the strange turn of events in stride, unnaturally calm and collected about anything life threw at him. It occurred to Erin that he hadn’t made a sound since Lorian’s approach, even while his mother was screaming and dodging the elder.
She nodded to him. “You know what to do,” she said in complete confidence.
He raised his jaw proudly and gave a slight nod that lifted her lips in a smile.
Sarah tightened her grip on her son. “He’s a child,” she pleaded.
Erin touched his face fondly. “He’s more than that, and you know it. Put him down, Sarah. Trust me on this one. Would I ever hurt him?”
Mikel smiled at his mother’s obvious distress and kissed her cheek. “It’s all right,” he assured her. “Trust Aunt Erin.”
Sarah released her son to the floor with a groan. “I’m going to regret this,” she decided.
Mikel took her hand and smiled. “No, you won’t,” he promised solemnly.
Erin laughed lightly as she turned back to Lorian. Her smile widened as the elder looked at all of them suspiciously. “What’s the matter, Lorian? Not so sure anymore, are you?” Her free hand moved to unbuckle her bracer.
Sarah gripped her arm. “Are you insane?” she screeched.
Erin removed her hand easily. “Trust me. I know what I’m doing.”
Sarah shook her head in disbelief and horror. “No! You can’t do this. Hunter!”
Erin covered her mouth. The stone is directing me. She won’t let any of us come to harm. Trust me.
Sarah nodded and stepped away. You better be right, or both of our husbands will skin me alive for letting you do this.
How would you stop me? Amusement. I am right. Relax.
Yeah, right! Her inner voice was miserable.
Erin finished removing her bracer and pulled her amulet off. It glowed vivid blue as she tied it around the hilt of the weapon Mikel held. She touched the blade fondly, feeling the power beating in the metal already. “Wielded by mine, swing always true,” Erin breathed the simple blessing and prayer combined.
“It will,” Mikel replied calmly.
She turned to face Lorian again.
The elder’s face was steeped in his perceived victory. “You’re mine,” he gloated.
Erin laughed in amusement. “You think the stone will ever let you touch me, now?”
“Being stone lord didn’t save Corwyn Lord Hunter or Lewis of Maher,” he noted confidently.
“You were drawn by my blood mark, Lorian,” she crooned. “Distinctive, is it not?”
He faltered. His smile disappeared. “It is,” he admitted.
Erin glided toward him, still graceful despite the formidable mound of her pregnant belly that jutted out before her. “You remember the ancient language, of course. My mother’s symbol was that of Ani. She’s the mother of the true elder slayers. Do you remember what my mark is?”
Lorian took a step back, his pale skin turning ashen. “Zel,” he breathed.
“Zel,” she agreed. “Do you remember what Zel denotes, Lorian?”
“An ending,” he supplied.
“Death,” she corrected him. “Only in death are you freed. I am death, Lorian. You wish an end to your suffering and want. I am that freedom, as my mother was Veriel’s.”
She advanced on him smoothly, her eyes narrowing as he started to retreat. His eyes widened in shock, and she knew the source of his dismay immediately.
“No tricks here, Lorian. None of your powers will work now.”
Erin threw her remaining blade away as she closed on him, smiling at Sarah’s squeak of fear. She had no need of the weapon for this fight and she knew it. “You are unarmed. I am unarmed. I am Zel, Lorian. It is my duty and honor to deliver you to justice.”
The killing blow, when it came, came from behind him. Lorian sank to his knees and looked at the Warrior who took his heart in detached understanding.
Erin circled him silently and took Mikel’s hand, her chin raised proudly. She knelt next to her nephew and used the blood coating the weapon ripped from Lorian’s heart to paint the blood seals on Mikel. The child stood soberly, the vision of a proud young Warrior, while she accomplished her task.
She met Lorian’s dying eyes and smiled sadly. “I free you, brother. I am Zel, and I deliver you into the hands of Jee.” She uncovered the blood mark on Mikel’s ribcage. “Meet Jee, Lorian Dado. As you recall, he is called Justice.”
A single tear wound down the elder’s face as she led Mikel back to his mother. Erin felt the life leave Lorian’s body. The stone glowed a brilliant blue, and all hell broke loose beyond the door.
Chapter Seventeen
Curt held his breath as the group surged forth into the waiting beasts. Gruber bared his teeth in annoyance, but as Jayde surmised, he could do nothing as long as the Warriors didn’t attack. The beasts paced them, pressing in shoulder to shoulder and seething barely controlled fury at Curt and Hunter as they moved within the group.
“It’s working,” Adam stated in disbelief as he brushed past another beast.
“Of course,” Jayde replied in a smug, rather amused tone.
“Oh, doesn’t Hans look happy,” Hunter taunted Gruber.
Curt nodded, a jerky motion in his restraint. “Just get me to my wife,” he growled. He felt the deaths of his father and grandfather and groaned. “Adam, you better damn well stay alive,” he breathed.
His brother shook his head slowly. “I didn’t want this.”
Hunter sighed. “I was younger. So was Corwyn. You’ll do fine.”
“Better than Bryant,” Curt added. His heart started to pound as the beasts closed in behind their group. “I refuse to offer up allegiance to him.”
“You don’t have to, König,” Adam drawled.
Curt’s heart sank. Only if Erin survives this. He was only König with his wife and children. If he didn’t have them, Curt would be only a Maher — one hell-bent on his own death, at that!
Jayde screamed directions over the sound of fighting, and the house fell quiet, as the other Warriors lowered their weapons and started moving slowly through the throng of beasts.
“No,” Lorian bellowed.
A clap of thunder shook the house, followed by a string of curses from Sarah. Then there was dead silence from the direction of the stone room.
Hunter restrained Curt bodily. “He’s not happy, but he can’t hurt her. Stay cool,” he breathed. “With no malice, remember?”
Curt nodded shakily and started moving forward again. “He’s hurt,” he realized. It wasn’t the minor injury Lorian sustained the first time around. This one was deeper. It was something that wouldn’t heal unless he went to ground, but it wasn’t a mortal wound either.
“Not badly,” Adam qualified, coming to the same conclusion he had.
They were into the hallway, and the Warriors left alive in the library had crowded around them to close in th
e two young husbands, when the next outburst came from the back.
Sarah’s voice was high-pitched and panicked. “Erin, snap out of it. Erin, come back to me. He’s pissed.”
Curt glared at Gruber as the beast laughed at the outburst, no doubt believing that Lorian had the upper hand and Erin was unable to fight him. He cursed inwardly, praying it wasn’t another mind-fuck like the one Lorian laid on her the first time. She wouldn’t deal well with it, if it were.
Their positions reversed almost immediately as Lorian responded.
“What have you done?” he stormed.
“Something he hates,” Curt decided. “What else would she do?”
Sarah’s next outburst chilled him. She was beyond panic into terror. “Are you insane?”
“Erin,” Curt groaned. “What are you doing?”
“You married her,” Hunter dismissed his complaint.
“And you didn’t warn me,” he shot back in annoyance. Erin may be stuck improvising, but Curt didn’t have to like it.
Sarah’s voice was frantic now. “No! You can’t do this. Hunter!”
Terrin and William immobilized the two Warriors, while Gruber took up his mocking laughter again.
“Relax,” Talon growled at them. “We’ll be there in just a few minutes.”
Joel and Patrick slid into the procession and nodded to the other Warriors.
Joel laughed nervously. “If only my father were alive to see this. He wouldn’t believe it was possible,” he decided.
They inched toward the door to the training room and the stone. The beasts got increasingly restless as the silence from the room deepened. Erin struck a blow — a bad one, but the beast still lived.
“I don’t like this,” Curt breathed. “They’re getting antsy.”
Hunter nodded. “It’s coming apart,” he agreed. “Why is it coming apart?”
Several of the beasts roared as Lorian died.
“Ah, shit,” Adam breathed. “She killed him.”
“Uh, that’s good news, right?” Joel asked. “I mean, turneds can’t turn new beasts. It will take a while, but it’s essentially over.”
“Good for the women and children. Bad for us,” Terrin grumbled, summing up the problem perfectly.
While most of the beasts surged toward the Warriors, Gruber faded back toward the closed door.
“Come on,” Curt ordered Hunter. “We have to get to him.”
“How?” he asked in frustration, bracing Patrick up as a beast tried to force him back.
Curt laughed and punched a beast over Talon’s shoulder. It launched back into the two behind it as Curt skidded into Hunter. “Just like a battering ram,” he mused as he pushed past Talon and started striking blows with a vicious smile. “Didn’t your sister teach you anything useful?” he teased. He barely registered that Hunter was following him into the throng, until they bumped together several times.
“This is insane,” Hunter complained. “Why am I doing this? Remind me, please!”
“No sense of adventure,” Curt joked as he plowed another two beasts away with a right jab.
“You have to have a sense of adventure to put up with my sister — and a sense of humor. She would find this hysterical.”
The remaining beasts parted before them as the door opened. Curt surged into the room, breathing hard, and stopped short.
Erin leaned against the stone pedestal, looking cool and unruffled for all the squawking from the room. A few feet away, Lorian lay crumpled on the floor.
“Mikel,” Hunter breathed.
Curt moved his eyes over the four-year-old child in shock. Mikel had a training weapon clenched in his tiny fists, and his eyes were locked on the motionless beast taking in the scene. The blade was fouled with Lorian’s blood, and the blood seals were painted on him carefully. An amulet was wrapped around the hilt of the weapon.
His eyes moved back to his wife. Her bracer was gone. Her amulet was gone. The cold look of battle was in her eyes as she stared at Gruber.
“Sarah?” Hunter asked quietly, at a loss to make sense of any of it, Curt was sure.
“Uh — long story. Whatever Erin does, follow her lead. Trust me.” Sarah looked slightly shell-shocked.
“Mikel killed Lorian?” he asked in confusion.
“We’ve raised an elder killer, honey.” She shrugged and continued in a shaky voice. “He’s a little young for first night, I guess—”
Mikel motioned his weapon toward Lorian slowly. “Gramma would say Aunt Erin had the assist on this one,” he offered the family joke lightly. He motioned his weapon back to Gruber. “You should leave, beast. You don’t know what you face. Lorian ran from Aunt Erin.” He shrugged and lifted his mouth in amusement. “It didn’t do him any good, but you might win yourself a few more minutes of life.”
Erin chuckled at Mikel’s speech, fully more than Curt had heard him say in the six months they spent in Cross earlier in the pregnancy combined, and Sarah visited with the Königs often.
“Now, Mikel,” she chided him. “Don’t tease the poor beast. He actually believes he has a chance. Touch the stone and become the new Veriel, right?”
“Erin, don’t get too cocky,” Hunter reminded her. He glanced from his son to his sister warily, still trying to piece together the strange events.
“Actually,” Sarah offered, “you have no idea just how much right she has to be superior right now.”
“What’s your name, beast?” Erin asked.
“Gruber,” he growled. “You think to stop me? An unarmed, unprotected,” he cast a sneer at Mikel, “pregnant woman?” He laughed as he stepped toward her.
Curt started to throw himself toward her, but she motioned Hunter to stop him, and Curt found himself pinned to the older man’s chest.
Erin sighed. “You forgot König-Crossbearer born, elder hunter, Blutjagdfrau, stone lord, and Zel personified.”
Curt sucked in his breath and stopped fighting in his shock. “Stone lord?”
Sarah nodded her head in a jerky motion.
“Zel? How is Zel personified?”
“Uh, part of that long story. Death personified was a little too scary for Lorian.” Sarah flicked an uneasy glance at Erin then at her son. “By the way, honey... You never explained what Jee personified would be like. We need to have a talk.”
Hunter shot a startled look from Erin to Mikel, as if the idea that both of them bore the unique symbols hadn’t occurred to him before. “Jee and Zel as a team in battle? Gruber, you may want to back off.” He said it laughing hysterically, and Curtis was uncertain whether or not Hunter had cracked at the implication of the destructive force or even at who was wielding it in battle. Surely, no one could guess that a pregnant woman and a child could be frightening, until you considered what they represented.
“Is that it, Gruber?” Erin asked him in a singsong voice. “Do you want to be the new Veriel? Do you want to touch the stone?”
Erin traced her fingers over the pedestal again and again. What seemed an aimless movement took form with repetition. The mark of Zel, Erin’s symbol, was traced like a mantra, while Gruber stared at the motion, spellbound.
He seemed to find his voice abruptly, shaking his head as if coming out of a trance. “You know I do.”
She nodded. “Okay. Mikel, go see your mother. Let me handle this.” Erin smiled indulgently as the child scowled at her and stormed back to his mother’s arms.
Sarah backed toward the far corner, shielding her son in her arms, as if she expected a bolt of lightening to strike.
Erin ambled to the back of the pedestal and waved an arm in welcome. “Touch it, Gruber — if you dare.”
Curt shook his head, trying to clear the situation for himself. The elders were trapped. Why set them free again? “Uh — Erin, is this a good idea?” he asked urgently.
“Trust me. This is the best idea I’ve had all day.”
Sarah erupted in a sound between a snort and a sob. “One more of your great ideas and I ma
y die of fright.”
“Relax. I promised not to get us killed,” Erin argued.
“Actually, you never promised it, as I recall.”
“I promise, then. Back off! This isn’t as easy as it looks.”
“You think?” Sarah quipped.
Erin rolled her eyes and scowled at Gruber. “Yes or no, Gruber? Carte blanche. Touch it.”
The beast hissed at her in warning, his fangs extended. He moved forward, locking his eyes on the stone and taking them from Erin for the first time since she made the offer. She snapped her eyes to Curt’s and motioned with her head for him to move. Without question, he grabbed Hunter by the shoulder and dragged him halfway across the room.
Gruber smiled triumphantly and reached for the stone. The blue flash and the thunderclap seemed to fill the room. The beast flew backward into the wall Hunter and Curt had vacated with a sickening crunch that announced major injury. His hands were burned, blistered, and smoking. He screamed and stretched his hands out to her wordlessly, confused and frightened.
Erin smiled. “Did you think it was so simple? You are already damned, and you weren’t damned by the stone. It amazes me how little you know about the stone when you seek to possess it.”
She moved to the pedestal, bowing her head reverently. “As your servant, I stand. Find peace, old friend.” Erin pulled the stone from its base and cradled it in her hands.
Curt screamed her name in shock and dismay and tried to bolt for her.
Hunter tackled him. “It’s too late. Whatever she’s done, we can’t stop it now. Just pray she knows what she’s doing,” Hunter breathed close to his ear.
“She can’t,” Curt managed, pulling back sobs. “No one can touch the stone, not even the stone lord. Even he can only use the clamps.”
“Let’s hope you’re wrong.”
The blue glow from the stone enveloped Erin’s body, and she closed her eyes and seemed to drink it in. Curt gave up trying to count the seconds she stood motionless. Time lost all meaning. He watched her, terrified that he and her family would be forced to destroy Erin when it was over.