"Nolan! Kill the other one before she recovers!" Gia shouted, pulling wind around her in a desperate attempt to dislodge the lioness trying to eat her head.
He turned back to find a woman inching across the floor, desperately attempting to get her legs under her. One of her legs was clearly broken.
"Stay away from me!" she screamed. "Murderer!"
Nolan heard Gia scream again and turned his head toward her. The woman in front of him took advantage of his distraction to try and shift her upper body again, lunging for him with fangs bared. Self-preservation took over, and he sent lighting in an arc straight through the woman's head, killing her instantly.
Leaving her body for the moment, he returned to Gia at a run and got there just in time to see the largest bear he'd even seen swat the lioness away like a fly. The bear bounded after its prey, its speed surprising for its size. Nolan dropped to his knees and helped Gia sit up, her face gouged across one cheek. Her eyes were blazing.
"Damned numina—not meant for close combat! Is that—?"
The bear and the lioness were mauling each other, and the bear was winning. Finally, its huge claw pierced the lioness's underbelly and it was over. As she hit the forest floor, her body morphed back into the form of a petite redhead missing half of her torso.
Nolan began to charge up again as the bear turned its attention toward them.
"Nolan..."
The bear took one step forward and exploded.
As Nolan and Gia gawked, a cloud of blood and flesh surrounded a skeleton that was changing even as they watched. The flesh converged again over the skeletal form, revealing Idella—still a bit bloody, but definitely Bentley's sister. And definitely naked.
"It's me," she said, hands raised.
Nolan spat the plasma into the dirt, trying to avert his eyes. "Gods above, you scared us half to death! Not that we're not thankful for the help, but what are you doing here?"
"I brought you a present. Didn't I say I would?"
She stuck her fingers in her mouth and let out an ear-piercing whistle.
There was the sound of footsteps in the woods beyond them. A young woman stepped into the clearing, her eyes surveying the carnage with a bit of surprise, but no disgust.
Gia frowned, clearly disappointed. "I was hoping for your brother—and Pyrrhus." She tossed a t-shirt at Idella without further comment.
"They've betrayed us. I told you that."
"Well, I'm still not convinced. Nolan--" She turned, only to realize that he was walking toward the new arrival. "Nolan?"
The woman fell to her knees as he approached. "Lord Fulmen, Swordsmith, I greet you. I have traveled far to reach you and pledge my allegiance." Her voice was soft, with a hint of an island accent that was surprising in these stereotypical New England woods.
"Cherrie DuBois, Lady Gravia, I welcome you," he said softly, putting a hand down on her abundant curls. He waited until she looked up at him before adding, "I'm sorry we have to meet like thieves in a forest, instead of being welcomed with all of the pomp my Court could have offered."
She smiled for the first time, displaying a row of blindingly white teeth. "Lord Fulmen, I understand. Idella has been most forthcoming with details about the current situation."
He helped her to her feet and escorted her over to Gia. "This is my wife, Giada—both Lady Fulmina and Lady Zephyra, though she too has not yet been sworn to the Sword and the table." Nolan tried to sound as official as he could, though the words still felt like marbles in his mouth. The two women exchanged kisses on the cheek.
"Your wife’s been polishing you up, Aeron," Idella said with a smirk. "Thanks for the shirt, by the way." She pulled it over her head, smearing blood all over it in the process.
"Please keep it," Gia said, just barely refraining from rolling her eyes.
"What should we do with these two?" Idella asked.
"They were mine, were they not?"
Before anyone could answer her, Cherrie was already moving toward the body of the woman Idella had killed. She knelt in the blood pooling around her body and placed her hands on the woman's hand and shoulder. She began speaking under her breath in something that sounded a bit like English, but clearly was something else entirely. As the trio watched, the flesh of the woman turned to stone, racing from where Cherrie was touching her to convert her entire body. Once the process was complete, Cherrie pressed down hard.
The entire form disintegrated into rock dust, the breeze already beginning to lift it up and bear it away through the woods.
She rose to her feet and walked to the other body, still lying where Nolan left it. "A clean shot, Lord Fulmen," she said absently, examining her wound.
"I..” Coming off of his adrenaline rush, he stuttered over what he’d done. “I tried to make it as painless as I could... and please call me Nolan. All this formality makes me crazy."
She nodded. "Then I must be Cherrie.”
“So, what’s the plan?” Idella asked.
“We need to find out what’s going on in Caer Anglia,” Gia said. “Obviously Nolan and I are out. I’m not sure sending Cherrie in is a good idea yet.”
They all turned to look back at Idella, who shrugged. “That’s fine with me. I can say—perfectly honestly—that I was on vacation in the Virgin Islands and just got back. What am I trying to find out?”
“We need to know who’s there, what they’re doing, and above all where the Sword is. We know Rebecca is there, but we have to be sure the Sword is, too. We’re only going to get one chance at this—we can’t mess it up.”
“I understand. Who would you like me to touch base with?”
“Leiani,” Nolan said instantly. Gia made a face.
“Frown all you want, my jealous wife, but Leiani was trying to get us to get along even in March. I have to believe she wants this to end the same way we do.”
“Then touch base with Bentley,” Gia shot back to Idella. “I want to know what’s going on.”
“Bentley! Gia, we’ve talked about this…”
“And we still disagree, Nolan! Idella is smart enough to be subtle, but we have to know what’s going on!”
“Enough!” Cherrie said, raising her voice for the first time. “Idella, we need as much information as you can gather safely. Go for five days, then return. If you are not back in time, we will be coming after you—blind, but it will all end either way. Understand?”
“Yes, my Lady,” she said. She scooped up her bag and a hooded sweatshirt and took off in a loping run for the tree line.
***
Pyrrhus was no fool. He’d been expecting the summons for almost a week now. He wasn’t surprised, really… the delay was a classic tactic designed to make him let his guard down.
Bentley wasn’t invited to this meeting…not just excluded, specifically told not to join them. Pyrrhus could only assume that he would get his own separate interrogation.
When he entered the room, Manas was not present.
Instead, Michael Warrington stood behind his desk, studying something intently.
“Lord Artifex, what an unexpected pleasure,” Pyrrhus said, voice as bland as he could make it.
“You thought my son summoned you?”
“I was hoping for the pleasure of his company, but I cannot say I’m disappointed in yours. How can I help you?”
“My son is many things, but a fully trained Lord he is not. In his excitement over your return to the fold, he neglected to ask you one very important question.”
Pyrrhus said nothing.
“Do you know what question I am about to ask you?”
“You want his location, I assume.”
“You are correct.”
“Lord Artifex, I do not know Aeron’s current whereabouts. I do know this. He will return for the Sword. When he does…”
“We will be ready. Aeron and his woman will be put to death, as they deserve.”
“What of the Sword?”
“What of it?”
“Without an Aeron l
eft to wield it…”
Michael smiled, and Pyrrhus saw death in his face. “The Sword will go to the one most honorable. You know… the tale of the Sword in the Stone is no mere myth. Did you know, Lord Younger Ignis, that my ancestors had a hand in that particular tale?”
“I did not, though I suppose that makes sense.”
“A pity our history classes are so incomplete. The Swordsmith at the time died from the Black Death, and it was unclear who was to replace him with so much upheaval. My ancestor encased the Sword up to the hilt in solid rock to stop the Council from fighting over it until the successor could be found. It took many years for the proper person to emerge, but the Sword did eventually return to Aeron hands. Still…” Michael examined his own hands. “One wonders.”
Pyrrhus was wondering when he could tactfully make his escape.
Finally, Michael turned back to face him. “I suppose it doesn’t matter if you know where Aeron is, not really. My son believes you are on our side because you are his friend, and have been since you were children. I don’t believe in anyone but my family, and even that is only because I must. Listen well, Pyrrhus Ignis, Lord Younger. I will be taking my family into sanctuary tonight, deep in the bowels of Caer Anglia, where we are safe in our numina. When Aeron comes, we will be ready for him. This will end, and all will be judged for their part in it and treated accordingly.”
Pyrrhus didn’t have a response. Luckily, Michael wasn’t looking for one.
“You are dismissed,” he said, and Pyrrhus didn’t hesitate for a moment in bowing and leaving the room.
When he returned to his rooms, an unlikely visitor was waiting there with Bentley.
“Idella?”
Chapter Sixty-Nine
Idella stumbled back into camp four hours before her deadline, her face pale with exhaustion.
“Well?” Nolan hissed, his face still hidden. “What did you find out?”
Idella joined them in the bailey, pulling down her wet hood and shaking herself off. “Damned rain,” she grumbled. “Still, good for disguising our scent.”
“Idella!”
“Warrington has taken several people into seclusion, deep in the sub-basements of Caer Anglia.”
“Who is with him? Rebecca for sure,” Gia said.
“Yes. Rebecca, his son Manas, Manas’ fiancée, and Lady Tempus for some reason.”
“There’s no reason for them to come back up,” Nolan said, studying the floor as he cracked his knuckles over and over. “Warrington will stay there because he’s surrounded by his element there. His numina will be almost overpowering.”
“We have to go. We’ll never get a better shot—it may get worse, the longer we wait.”
“Did you see Pyrrhus?” Gia asked. “And Bentley? What about Noel? Is she okay?”
Idella put her hand up. “Yes, I saw them. They are keeping mostly to themselves. Noel doesn’t know that I know you, much less than I was asked to look out for her, so I couldn’t say anything to her. Pyrrhus…”
Nolan growled wordlessly under his breath. Gia put a restraining hand on his arm. “Pyrrhus?” she prompted.
“He spoke to me briefly.”
“What did he say?”
“He’s the one that told me about Warrington’s plans. I…” she hesitated. “I’m not sure what to think anymore.”
“Nolan, I told you! He’s spying for us! He would never betray us!”
“He also spoke to me about our Ignis dilemma. He discovered from his father that the man whose numina was taken was Peter Dix.”
“I knew it!” Gia shrieked. “I knew I should have known who those people were!”
“Dix?” Nolan frowned. “Noel?”
“Noel is the baby girl… her birthday is on Christmas!” Gia said. “How could I have missed that?”
“That doesn’t make any sense,” Nolan frowned. “She wouldn’t have been in our teach year then.”
“There was some sort of family emergency the year she was meant to go… I have to assume it was about her father, knowing what I know now. So she got pushed back into our year. So it was her father? Is he still alive?”
“Any word on how it was done?” Nolan pressed.
“Yes, he is still alive. And no, nothing else on how. Azar wasn’t present in the room—John was afraid that the Sword would be unable to tell which Ignis it was to strip away.”
“But it has been done successfully…” Gia mused. “There’s no real way to test it, though.”
Before Nolan could respond, Idella added, “I was also approached by your brother.”
“Alan? I thought you were going to approach Leiani.”
“He knew somehow that I was in contact with you, or he made a good guess—perhaps because of Bentley, I’m not sure. He and Leiani lost their child.”
“She was pregnant?” Gia asked at the same time Nolan said, “Lost it how?”
“Kale Davis—“
“He was that prick from the interment dinner, remember?” Nolan interrupted to ask Gia. She nodded, elbowing him when it looked like her irritation would stop Idella from finishing her story.
“Thank you, Gia. As I was saying, Kale Davis was apparently given husband rights to Leiani, which he took… let’s just say vigorously. It triggered an early labor—the baby was a stillborn girl.”
“That’s horrible,” Gia whispered, and Nolan couldn’t help but agree. Despite his differences with Alan in the past, to lose a child was a grievous thing. At least his mother had hope when he was taken away… Alan and Leiani had nothing left but promises unfulfilled.
“Alan assured me that he and Leiani are now firmly in your corner, and will fight with you if you need them.”
“Do you trust their word?” Cherrie asked, reminding them of her presence.
Idella shrugged, turning to Nolan. “Do you?”
“At this point, I can’t say no to a potential ally, can I?”
“If his goal is to slit your throat when you aren’t looking, maybe you should,” Gia said tartly, though her expression showed her indecision. For all of their differences, Gia knew Leiani was fiercely devoted to her family. She would never even pretend to defy her mother unless sorely tried.
Losing her child would certainly do it.
“Leiani still cares for you,” Gia said finally. “I know she does. You yourself told me she was trying to encourage Alan to accept you with some degree of familial… well, maybe not love, but close enough for comfort. If she has convinced him that we are in the right in this, he will be a valuable ally. I say we take reasonable precautions, but that we tentatively assume we can trust him.”
“So. We have the four of us, Alan and Leiani, maybe, Pyrrhus and Bentley, maybe… though I’m still not completely convinced of that…”
Gia huffed, but otherwise stayed silent.
“Our odds don’t look good.”
“What about your mother?” Idella asked.
“I would prefer to leave her out of it, if we can.”
“Think of it this way,” Cherrie said with a quirk of her lips. “Four are a lot easier to sneak in.”
Chapter Seventy
“This is disgusting,” Idella said as they slogged through several inches of mud. “I should have just met you in there.”
“You routinely explode and turn into a bloody, man eating bear, but mud is disgusting?” Nolan asked, turning back to give her an incredulous look.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah—you’re lucky I like you, Aeron,” she said, making a face as her boot left the mud with a squelching sound. “There aren’t rats or anything down here, are there?”
Nolan turned away before she could see his face. “Not that I know of,” he lied.
Cherrie was inspecting the tunnels as they passed through, heedless of the mud. “Was the mud here when you passed through earlier, Nolan?”
“No, not at all. It was a little damp, but no mud.”
“It must be runoff from the rain and the melting snow…” Gia said, trailing o
ff as she had a horrible thought. “Nolan! You don’t think it’s a trap, do you?”
They all froze, eyes scanning the tunnel for signs of movement.
“I don’t think so,” he said finally. “Either way, we’re much closer to the exit than the entrance, so onward is the only way out. Let’s pick up the pace.”
“Easy for you to say, Mr. Six-feet-tall,” Idella grumbled. “I’m almost up to my knees here.”
“Idella, enough,” Cherrie said with a bit of bite, and Idella immediately fell silent.
“Nice trick,” Nolan said. “May need to learn that one.”
“Here we go,” Gia said as they reached the large bend in the tunnel Nolan had described. “I’ll go first.”
“What? No, I’m going first,” Nolan protested.
“I’m going first, and all of you Councilors can just shut it,” Idella said, pushing herself forward. “I’m the only one it wouldn’t kill us to lose. Wait here.”
Without another word, she was gone.
“So now we wait?”
They heard a yelp and some snarling, then nothing. “Not for long,” Cherrie said with a smile. “She’s good.”
“We’re clear, come on,” Idella hissed down the passage, letting the echo do the work for her.
They emerged in the basement of Caer Anglia, filthy and battered, but in. Idella and Cherrie immediately took either side of the hallway, searching for security.
“No security?” Idella said finally, frowning. “Why not?”
“He wants me to come,” Nolan said, pulling from the familiar comfort of Caer Anglia to charge his numina, lighting the hall in blue. “So let’s go.”
“Wait!” Gia hissed. Nolan half turned to face her.
“What?”
“Shouldn’t we get the others?”
“No need,” a voice said to Nolan’s left, startling him so badly that he almost blasted the owner through the wall.
“Pyrrhus!” Gia squealed, and rushed to hug him. He had his hands up in an odd parody of their first meeting, in this very basement. “Pax,” he said with a smile over Gia’s head, leaving Nolan to smile back—there was nothing else he could do.
“I should murder you for scaring me like that,” he said, voice laden with meaning. “Where’s Bentley?”
The Complete Chosen Trilogy (The Chosen #0) Page 54