Nick reached my side, eyes narrowed. “Do you want us to transform?”
“No, Nick. These things are big.”
“Hey, we took on the Omias and won,” Marco grumbled, a slight teenage whine detectable in his voice.
I tucked the Hjördis into a pocket. “Trust me, Marco. These things make the Omias look like a midget arm wrestler from Hoboken.”
“Really?” Epi's eyebrows rose in interest. “What did they look like?”
I was growing increasingly jumpy as the seconds passed and pushed past the old man, searching for my cell phone. “They were big, black and ugly. With really sharp teeth, really big claws.” I gritted my teeth. “Epi, as much as I love these in-depth demon discussions, I don't think this is the time.”
“Of course, yes. You're right,” Epi responded tartly. “But Charlotte…”
“Enough, old man,” Nick growled. “Save it for later.”
I shot Nick a grateful smile and glanced around the sea of faces before me. “Nonny, get Katie, bring her stuff with you.” Locating my cell phone, I snatched it up. “Nick, get onto your pack. Tell them to move and do it quickly. They've got trouble headed their way. We'll meet them at the rendezvous point.”
“Gotcha,” Nick nodded his agreement, setting off at a run towards the room where he had been sleeping with Rafe and Marco.
I punched the shortcut button for Conal and waited impatiently as it rang. With a frown, I flicked it shut, worrying about why Conal didn't answer. Epi's shelves of books caught my eye and I motioned to him. “You need to pack up anything you need that's vitally important. The Monster book of Demons might be a great place to start.” I closed my eyes, reaching out to the spirits. Shut Up! I know they're out there and I promise I'll get everyone to safety. But stop yelling at me! I sighed with heartfelt relief when they quieted, although it had the unpleasant side-effect of making the sound outside increase tenfold.
Striker was back to his usual enthusiastic self and bounced eagerly on the balls of his feet. His blue eyes were excited, ready for some action. William had scooped Gwynn into his arms and held her petite body close to his chest. From the corner of my eye I spied Epi holding a large rucksack and wave his arm in a wide arc. Every book from the shelves disappeared simultaneously. When I glanced at the rucksack, it was bulging at the seams, but Epi swung it nimbly onto his shoulder as if it weighed nothing. “Remind me to get you to pack if I ever go on holidays, Epi.”
Nonny reappeared with Katie and the tiny girl ran across to where William stood with Gwynn. Ripley scooped the little girl into his arms and he pressed a kiss against Katie's cheek. Nick strode back through the room and nodded curtly. “My people are on the move. Did you get Conal?”
I shook my head, throwing my phone to him. “Keep trying.” Behind us, the steady pounding on the stone walls made the overhead lights swing with the force being exerted on the building. “If you get him, they need to move out and get to safety. They've got younglings on the way to their caves.”
“How do you know all this?” Jerome demanded. He'd been standing quietly to one side, with Marianne and Rowena.
“I had a nightmare,” I explained brusquely. “Epi, I need some floor space.”
Epi waved his hand again and the long table vanished. I knelt down, marking a pentagram on the stone floor with the Hjördis, placing sigils in four of the five corners. Envisioning our destination, a sigil appeared in my mind's eye and I drew it in the fifth corner. The ground beneath the pentagram began to glow, erupting into a circle of shimmering golden light. “William, you and Gwynn first, then Ripley and Acenith. I'll give you 30 seconds, then I'm sending Nonny through with Katie. You'll need to give them a hand when they come through, we don't want them to fall and get hurt.”
William nodded tersely and stepped through the portal without question. Ripley dropped Katie down onto my lap and grasped Acenith's hand, dragging her quickly through the portal after William and Gwynn.
“Okay, Katie. This is really cool, isn't it?” I gave the little girl a bright smile and squeezed her in a brief hug, trying to reassure her.
“Will it hurt?” She stared at the portal with round eyes.
“No, honey. It's more like a fairground ride. This is how angels travel all the time. You want to be an Angel, don't you?” She nodded and I helped her up onto her feet.
“Is Nonny coming?” she demanded in a high voice.
“Yep, Nonny's coming with you. She's going to hold your hand.”
Nonny crossed herself and uttered a few words in a language I didn't understand. She clasped Katie's hand and stepped up to the portal, eyeing it with unease. Straightening her shoulders resolutely, she stepped through without a backward glance, gently guiding Katie.
The pounding against the walls was increasing steadily and I worried about how much time we had to escape. “Striker, you and Marianne. Go.”
“This thing makes me nauseous,” Marianne admitted with a weak smile.
“Me too. See you soon.” They stepped through. “Rowena, you and Ben next.”
Ben rubbed his hand across the top of my head and smiled gratefully. “I owe you our thanks again.” He and Rowena stepped through, disappearing from sight.
“Jerome, you and Epi, then Nick and Rafe, Marco and Holden. Get through as quick as you can.”
Holden strode forward on his turn and winked at me. “That thing outside makes the Omias look like a midget arm wrestler from Hoboken? Nice one, Charlotte, I like your sense of humor.”
There was an ominous rumble from outside and I flinched as the solid rock wall started to crumble. “Charlotte, let's go!” Lucas urged, reaching for my hand.
“Two seconds.” I drew a sigil on the ground beside the portal, the Hjordis burning it into the stone in vivid blue lines. “Okay.”
Lucas wrenched me to my feet and a massive blast detonated behind us. The church wall collapsed in a cloud of choking dust as we ran and I saw the demons leaping over the shattered stone before I was drawn into the swirling maelstrom of the portal.
Chapter 11: Rendezvous
I wasn't ever going to get used to this and I certainly wouldn't like it. Lucas and I hurtled through the portal and when we reached solid ground again I was nauseated and dizzy. I would have fallen but Lucas caught me, holding me tight against him. “Easy, Charlotte.”
“Jeez, I hate that thing.” I peered around in the darkness to find Epi kneeling, blocking the portal after our appearance. “Epi, any chance of some light?”
I expected some objection about using his powers for such a menial task, but he surprised me by agreeing to the request immediately. Epi gestured towards the ground and a tiny flame materialized on the soil, rapidly growing into a healthy blaze. The fire cast a flickering glow over the immediate area and I inhaled deeply, relieved we'd gotten out unharmed. “We're safe. They can't follow us here.”
“You drew a mark on the floor before we left the church. What was that?” Lucas asked.
“An explosion sigil. We needed to slow them down, stop them following us into the portal. It might have killed a few of the vamps, if we're lucky, but I doubt it did anything to the demons besides annoy the heck out of them.”
“Will the demons attack others around the church?” Ben asked.
“No, they're essentially stupid things. They will have been programmed with a simple instruction. 'Kill Charlotte', I imagine,” I responded drily. “They'll return to the Otherworld now their orders have been thwarted.”
“Where are we?” Striker questioned. He was eyeing the surrounding area with interest.
“A couple of miles out of Crater Lake National Park in Oregon. I'm new to this portalling thing, can only go to places I can visualize. We used to camp here, when I was a kid.” Nick was attempting to contact Conal again on my cell phone and he disconnected the call, shaking his head. “Nick, give the phone to Nonny, see if she can get anyone from the pack.”
“How did you manage to portal into Sfantu Drâghici?” Luca
s asked.
“Epi did it. He can't use a Hjördis, but he has the ability to create portals with magic. I got us back to the church, because it was a fixed location in my mind.”
Epi was speaking to Ben and Jerome. “… don't know how they located us. It was impossible with my enchantments.”
“That would be my fault,” I admitted guiltily.
Epi stared, his eyes wide. “How can that be?” He dropped the backpack and scrutinized me through his thick glasses.
“The nightmares.” I met Ben's eyes as I explained. “The nightmares give me information and I see current events, even when they're far away. I could see you in Sfantu Drâghici and knew what was happening to you.” Ben flinched and I lowered my gaze. “Archangelo was created before he developed the ability. But now Archangelo can find me in his dreams.”
“That's not possible.” Epi shook his head firmly in denial.
“Charlotte, he's vampire. He doesn't sleep,” Lucas said gently.
“He does sleep, they've developed some sort of potion to make him sleep.” I explained all the facets of the dream and told them about the gray-cloaked man and his role in the Consiliului's plans.
Epi cackled with delight when I concluded, looking positively gleeful. “I knew it! I knew who it would be!”
“How about you let us in on the secret?” Nick grumbled.
“Alberich Bran,” Epi announced triumphantly. His toothless smile dimmed a little when he realized we were staring at him blankly. “Alberich Bran was my apprentice. I trained him and he assisted my search for Nememiah's Children.”
“So he knows what you do?” The implications were alarming, it meant the Drâghici knew far more than we'd allowed for.
Epi peered over the top of his glasses, eyeing me coldly. “Of course he doesn't, child. He was a pitiful apprentice, he wanted to harness the power of Nememiah's Children for all the wrong reasons. He was interested in exploiting for his own gain, not the quest for peace upon this earth.” He smiled smugly. “I kicked him out.”
“Kicked him out?” I repeated blankly.
“This was many centuries ago, before I moved to America. Long before most of you were born. I lived in medieval Europe and was studying Nememiah's Children when Alberich Bran was indentured to serve an apprenticeship. He worked with me for a little over a year, but I discovered his interest was disreputable and requested he leave my employ.” Epi crossed his arms over his narrow chest, nodding firmly. “Although he knows much about Nememiah, there is a great deal more he doesn't know. Concerned about his nefarious purposes, I withheld much information from him.”
Nonny was talking on the cell phone and gesticulating wildly at me. She handed me the phone with a delighted grin.
“Conal?”
“Hey, Sugar.” Relief coursed through my veins when I heard his husky voice.
“Where are you?” I demanded. “Why didn't you answer your phone?”
“We've been a little busy here, Sugar. We were attacked by younglings.”
“Is everyone okay?”
“Fine. We got away safely, don't worry.” His deep voice was calm and soothing and a little bubble of happiness grew in my chest, knowing he was out of harm's way. Glancing across to discover Lucas watching me, I turned away uncomfortably.
“How did you know they were coming?”
“I've had the pack running routine patrols since the last attack. One of the sentry's picked up vamp scents and warned us. We got out of the caves and collected our cars. We're on our way to you now,” he paused. “Nonny says you got attacked.”
“Yeah, five demons and about thirty five younglings. We portalled out and we're at the rendezvous point now.”
“What about Nick's pack? They okay?”
“Yeah, they had vampire's heading their way too. Nick warned them and they're on their way.” I paced back and forth across the ground, pungent pine needles beneath my toes. “But we've got a problem – I'm the one they're tracking.”
“What?”
I explained the events of the night again. “It might not be safe for any of you to be near me. This Alberich Bran told them they couldn't use the potion very often, but it means they'll be able to locate me every time they do.”
“We're still coming to you, Charlotte. There's safety in numbers,” Conal insisted. He lowered his voice an octave, letting it become a sexy rumble. “Perhaps you should still be sleeping with me, Sugar. I could keep the nightmares away from you.” The humor was clear in his voice and I knew he would be smiling at the other end of the line, even as butterflies stirred low in my abdomen.
“Shut up.”
“See you in a couple of days.” Conal disconnected the call and I slipped the phone into my pocket, relieved now everyone was safe.
Epi was examining me suspiciously. “What is all this about a rendezvous point? How come I didn't know about this?”
“Half the time, you forget to tell us what's going on. Guess this time, we forgot to tell you old man. Sucks to be you.” He grumbled under his breath and I grinned. “While we're on the subject of not telling me stuff, who the hell makes defensive shields out of glass?” Epi stared at me for a minute, then stalked away in a huff, dragging his rucksack behind him.
I turned back to the Tines, who were huddled together in a group. “Well, this is home for a few days at least and I'm guessing you could all do with some fresh, non-bovine blood. How about you head off and hunt while Nick and I get things sorted out here?”
Striker whooped with delight and he and Marianne ran off into the woods immediately. Ripley and Acenith quickly followed them.
“Since when did you manage to discuss our thirst without so much as blinking an eye?” Lucas demanded quietly. He sidled up beside me, one eyebrow raised in question. “Five months ago, you couldn't bear the thought.”
“Five months ago I hadn't discovered all the other things which happen in this world. You needing to drink blood seems pretty minor in the whole scheme of things.”
“I'll stay and help,” he suggested.
I gave him a gentle shove. “Go. We're safe here for now.” From the corner of my eye I saw Epi producing a large tent out of nowhere and he headed inside, followed by William who still carried Gwynn. “I think I need to go and smooth Epi's ruffled feathers. Go and find something nice for dinner.” I watched as he and Holden disappeared into the darkness.
“Are you sure you don't need help?” Ben offered.
“Nah, we'll be fine.” Their eyes were still shadowed by purplish-black bruising, despite the amount of cow blood they'd fed on. “Go and hunt. You both should go.”
Rowena reached out and pulled me into an affectionate hug. “We'll be back soon, Charlotte. We missed you so much, whilst you were gone.”
“I missed you too,” I responded honestly. “Now go. I'm certain there must be something out there you'll like.” Ben caught Rowena's hand in his and they ran off into the darkness, Rowena's skirt flowing around her legs.
“So, Lottie. What do you want us to do?” Rafe and Nick sidled up beside me and Rafe draped an arm across my shoulders.
I sighed. “Before anything else, I'd better go and eat humble pie with the old man…”
Chapter 12: Nightmares
I threw myself onto the ground in the small clearing I'd come across, breathing heavily after running through the forest for more than twenty minutes. I had a stitch in my side and folded over on myself, trying to relieve the ache with my arms wrapped around my legs.
For long minutes I lay on the ground panting, adjusting my breathing to take short, shallow mouthfuls of oxygen – any more tore at the pain in my side and made it feel like a knife being dug into the skin around my ribs. The pain gradually dissipated and feeling better, I sat upright and viewed my surroundings.
The forest encircled the clearing, tall pine trees on all sides. There was the perfume of summer in the air, the soaring trees filled with the sounds of local wildlife; honeyeaters, woodpeckers, sparrows and the l
ike. Squirrels were frolicking in the long grass, scooting up and down the tree trunks as they foraged in the vegetation before returning to the protection of the trees.
Certain the stitch had dissipated, I flopped down in the grass, feeling it scratch against my bare arms as I settled comfortably on the ground. I rested my forearms across my eyes to block the small amount of sunlight which penetrated into the tiny clearing.
Four weeks had passed since the escape from Jackson and the suspicions I'd had regarding Archangelo had been unerringly accurate. The Consiliului could only use the sleeping potion roughly once every seven days, but it was enough to cause us endless problems. Every time Archangelo entered the potion-induced sleep, he was able to trace us and we were forced to move locality, fleeing from both demons and vampires with negligible amounts of warning. It had been difficult enough the first time, when we'd fled the church – now we had a bigger group with the merging of Conal's and Nick's packs. We'd also been joined by the Bustani Kiss, who'd fled Egypt after an unsuccessful attack by the Drâghici and flown to the states to join us. Thut had been incensed by the Council's decision to attack his small Kiss, when he was one of the oldest and most respected vampires in existence and swore he would help defeat them. Harley Fitzgerald and his small group had also decided to join us. Whilst they hadn't yet been attacked, Harley decided against taking any chances and joined his group with ours. During the past two evacuations, we'd lost fifteen people when they didn't make it through the portal in time. I took each and every death personally – these people had put their faith in me and the very act of staying with us was putting them in even greater peril.
Morale in the encampment was at an all-time low. In the first few days after escaping Jackson, the werewolves and shifters who'd joined us viewed me as a savior. With each new attack, their faith was being eroded. They were losing confidence in my capacity to help them and they were all aware the Drâghici were locating us with Archangelo's induced sleeps.
Knowledge Hurts (The Nememiah Chronicles Book 3) Page 10