Invincible (The Aerling Series Book 3)

by DelSheree Gladden

  The Father has been locked up in prison for that same amount of time. There’s no chance that he’s more powerful than her. Tū and Tāwhiri are less than her as well. She would have made sure of that. The increases from the blood ties and bonds should be enough, but we have no hope without everything falling into place at the right time. Please, Hayden, get back here soon.

  “We need to find a place to prepare,” Mason says.

  Looking out the window, I wonder where on earth we are right now. While I was tracking the Mother, I was a little out of the loop. The huge fields, bare in the cold weather, stretch out on either side of the road. I’m not completely sure, but I think I recognize it as a stretch of highway leading to Denver. We’ve been circling the location where I could feel the Mother hiding since Hayden and Sloane left. I’m not exactly sure where that spot is, but I’m pretty confident it’s in southern Utah, somewhere. Moab if I had to take a guess based on my weird GPS and Evie’s research pointing at red clay dirt being important. I think she’s been hiding out there since Mason was brought to Earth as an infant.

  The question now is, do we head straight for her and hope Sloane and Hayden arrive in time, or hole up out here somewhere and wait for her to show up? After everything Mason said, I’m convinced she won’t sit around waiting much longer.

  “Look at that group of fields over there,” I say. “There isn’t a building anywhere in sight.”

  “You want to stop there and wait?” he asks.

  Shrugging, I make it obvious that I don’t know what to do. “Having Hayden and Sloane locate us while we’re moving around was going to be difficult anyway. At least if we’re sitting still Hayden should be able to bring them back pretty close to us. He’s not a Seeker, but our connection is strong enough that he should be able to find us. I guess I’d rather risk being caught like a sitting duck and have to fend the Mother off for a while than risk Hayden ending up a state away with no way to get to us when we need him.”

  Mason nods his head as his eyes scope out the fields I pointed toward. “As long as nobody comes to yell at us for trespassing, it seems like as good a place as any.”

  Putting the car back into drive, Mason’s pulls out onto the mostly empty highway. It’s a short drive to the dirt road sandwiched between two fields. My eyes are scanning every inch of the place as we pull in, but there’s no one around. Mason goes about halfway down the road to where a sparse stand of trees offers us a small amount of cover and turns off the car.

  “Well, I guess we just sit and…”

  The crackle of lightning bursting out of a clear sky sends us both scrambling back against our seats. I’m about ready to dive headfirst back into another panic attack just from the lightning. The flash of light that momentarily blinds us both clears a second before my vision does, but I almost wish it hadn’t.

  “Mason, Mason, Mason,” I start to babble as my finger points at a figure through the windshield.

  “Damn it,” Mason swears. His eyes are glued to her, same as mine.

  That’s all either of us can say or do. Just like the Father, she is the most beautiful creature I have ever seen. Jet black waves ripple down her back, tendrils falling over her shoulders so perfectly you instantly know she must have arranged them there just for effect. Her face is angelic, even if her catty smile is anything but.

  A good fifteen feet in front of the car, even through the windshield I can tell her skin is disgustingly perfect. I half expect her to be wearing a white robe lashed to her trim body by gold cord like some Greek goddess. Instead, she’s wearing a trendy pair of tight jeans tucked into suede boots, the ensemble topped off by an elegant Bohemian top that looks like it cost a fortune. Aside from the clothes, she’s the epitome of beauty.

  All except the evil glint in her eye.

  Shifting her stance, she motions for us to get out of the car. Mason and I glance at her, but I think we’d both rather get out on our own than by her forcing us. I have no doubt that she would. Slowly, we reach for the door handles and push our doors open. The Mother’s eyebrows quirk up in delight. I feel sick. I feel really, really sick. My hands are shaking as I shove the door closed and wrap my arms around my body to fend off the cold and the fear.

  “Such obedient little children,” she chirps. “How wonderful.”

  Her sugary sweetness is so obviously false, it makes the urge to puke double and I have to swallow down my disgust to keep control. Mason’s fingers are twitching. I can feel his power rising from here. I nearly choke on it when we finally reach each other in front of the car. Facing the Mother, I’m too scared to pretend at being cool and collected. I grab Mason’s hand and squeeze it as hard as I can.

  “Aren’t you two just adorable?” The Mother bunches up her shoulders as a fake smile is plastered across her face. “It really almost makes me feel bad about having to kill you.” She smiles again and shakes her head like she’s talking about having to toss out a burnt pan of cookies. “Just almost, mind you. The fact that you’re holding my oldest son’s power obviously means you’re in league with him, so, well, I have no other choice. Can’t have the children revolting, now can we?”

  I’m honestly too weirded out by this freak to do anything more than stare at her. Seriously, what is her deal? If you’re going to be a psychotic murderer, at least have the decency not to pretend you’re something else. This lady talks like she should be working in Santa’s workshop or a fifties era dress shop.

  Luckily, Mason’s head isn’t shorting out like mine seems to be. Squaring up to face her, he says, “If anyone has a choice in this ridiculous mess, it’s you, Mother.”

  “Oh good, you do know who I am,” she says. Her wicked grin splits her face in two. “I do hate having to explain myself.” She claps excitedly, like a three-year-old about to get candy. “We can just get down to business now. Efficient. I like that.”

  I’m sure her desire for efficiency has more to do with her selfishness than any ounce of sympathy.

  “I don’t think getting rid of us will be quite as easy as you’re expecting,” Mason says drolly. He’s clearly disgusted with her performance like I am, but he’s handling this whole situation with way more calm than I can dredge up.

  The Mother chuckles like he’s just said the silliest thing she’s ever heard. “Why, my dear boy? Because you have Tāwhiri’s power? Or is it because you and you little girlfriend are Aerling and Escort?”

  Mason stiffens at her accurate assessment of us. I can feel it in the tension of his body next to mine, but the Mother sees it as well.

  “You poor things,” she says with false sympathy. “You thought that would be enough?” She shakes her head back and forth, the slow twitch of her shoulders pretending to feel disappointed for us. “What a shame you came all the this way…that I came all this way to watch all of this unfold, just to find myself faced with two children too weak and incompetent to pose any real threat.”

  “Came from where?” I ask. My voice sounds like it came from a mouse, but it’s still better than I expected.

  “Pardon?” the Mother asks.

  Gulping down my mounting fear that she might be right, I say, “Where did you come from?”

  “Oh, well, I’m sure you knew what area I’ve been calling home for the last several years while I watched you and Mason grow up. Southern Utah is lovely. The red isn’t quite the same as it is back home in New Zealand, but it’s always nice to have a change of scenery every few centuries. You two have been quite amusing as well.”

  “Glad we could provide you with some entertainment,” Mason growls.

  The Mother bats her eyelashes as she chortles insincerely. “Oh, Mason, you’ve been splendid to keep an eye on. I was quite surprised when you survived Tū’s original attack.” She flicks one of her raven locks over her shoulder. “Of course, Tū and I both felt you arrive the second you crossed the barrier. It would be impossible for either of us not to recognize Tāwhiri’s power, even the little spec you had in the beginning. As usual
, Tū took off in a hurry, determined to capture you for his interesting plans as soon as possible. He always was rather brash. I prefer to take my time. No point in claiming little pseudo Aerlings before they reach their full power. It’s just a waste otherwise.”

  Part of me wants to keep her talking in the hopes that Hayden and Sloane will make it back with the Father, but I’m pretty sure Mason is going to lose it soon if she doesn’t shut up. I have no idea what to say to her that will make any difference, so I just say the first thing that pops into my mind. “This doesn’t have to turn into a fight.”

  Wow, I think I’ve heard that line in about a dozen movies. Mason gives me a strange look, but the Mother only looks down her nose at me. All I can do is shrug, I’ve got nothing. “Oh, Olivia, it won’t be a fight. I can assure you of that. You haven’t the power to make it more than an inconvenience to me.”

  My knees buckle a second later as a massive disruption sends a blast of air crashing into me from behind. Mason’s keeps me from falling, but I stand stock-still, too afraid to turn around. Silently, I’m begging for it to be Hayden. As badly as he handles the trip between worlds, I wouldn’t be surprised at a rough landing. My hopes are dashed when a voice stings the air around us.

  “Mother, how decidedly unlovely to see you again,” Tū says with fake syrupiness he no doubt learned from her.

  Finally…finally, the Mother looks ruffled. One perfectly manicured hand goes to her hip. “What are you doing here? You can’t possibly think you can claim them from me.”

  “Claim them?” Tū scoffs. “I had my chance to claim them a while ago.”

  “Then why didn’t you?” she demands. Clearly, she doesn’t like not knowing things.

  Tū saunters around the back of us to stand just in front of and to the side of Mason’s left shoulder. “Why? Because I had a much better use for them.” He pauses, meeting her eyes and not bothering to hide his hatred for her. “As allies.”

  Now the Mother really looks startled. “No,” she says slowly. “They have Tāwhiri’s power. They’re his puppets. You would never join your brother after he abandoned you during the war.”

  “Never say never, Mother,” Tū chides. The playful tone of his voice is laced with acid. “Everyone has their limits, and I reached mine a long time ago.”

  She surprises me by taking a step back. Her fear gives me a little shot of hope. Maybe this will be enough? That hope dies a quick death when I realize her backpedaling was only an effort to solidify her stance. She’s not running. She’s getting ready to fight. No, no, no, no…we’re not ready yet. We need the Father, and Hayden and Sloane. We need very spec of power we can get. We need to fix Mason’s memories so he knows how to take their power. I’m holding fast to my faith that he’ll realize the answer in time, but we can only hold out so long. If no other help is coming, we at least need that one thing!

  Think, Olivia, think! Tāwhiri had the ability to alter memories. I have enough of his power that I should be able to do it. I have to be able to do it. Desperate, I shove my power into Mason as quickly and as inconspicuously as I can. Crossing my fingers that Tū will keep the Mother distract enough that I can work, I send my power straight to Mason’s head and hope.

  As soon as I locate Tāwhiri’s power nestled around his head, I beg it to help me. Nothing I do has any effect until I feel Mason gasp beside me. His half of Tāwhiri’s power begins to respond, but not to my command. To Mason’s. He guides it to mix with mine, to find a purpose. That’s when it clicks. I can’t fix Mason’s memories. Neither can he. We need more. We need his power combined together, his abilities mixed with ours.

  Drawing on my own power, I combine it with Tāwhiri’s to seek out the damaged portions of Mason’s memories. While I search, Mason’s more methodical side takes each broken piece and begins fitting it back together with purpose. He’s a Warden, born to protect, but also born to destroy. The weapon he needs is locked in these memories somewhere, and he is determined to find it.

  I can feel how close we’re getting as Tū and the Mother argue, every word becoming more and more heated, more likely to explode at any second. We work as fast as we can to patch Mason’s memories back together, but it’s not enough. Tāwhiri’s power holds each bit back where it’s supposed to go, but there’s not enough to repair all the damage. My breathing stalls and panic begins to claw at me again.

  The heavy grip of a hand on my shoulder almost makes me call out, but the voice attached to it sets everything right a moment later. “Take it back,” Hayden whispers. “Finish this.”

  The second the words leave his mouth, power follows. It flows into me, everything he brought back from the Aerling world. The sudden quiet of the world around me tells me I only have seconds to work. No doubt Hayden’s sudden arrival draws the Mother’s attention. Soaking up everything Hayden shoves at me, I race with it back up to Mason’s mind, to snatch the last few pieces still in need of fixing and cram them back into place.

  Seconds later, Mason’s eyes open to the sight of the Mother stalking toward us like a destroying angel, but there is a vicious smile on his face as he looks up to meet her.

  Chapter 31

  Escape

  (Mason)

  Olivia’s power is still burning its way through me. It jumps at my command, and a second later Olivia relinquishes full control to me. All I can do is hope the others are on the same page with me because we’re out of time. Lashing out, my power slams into the Mother. It’s barely enough to make her pause. It does, however, make her realize I’m not a toy to be tossed around.

  Her expression darkens as she starts forward again. I dig deeper, twisting mine and Olivia’s power together, letting the bond between us draw in excess power from the world around us and strength it, just like Conner and Shane told me to when we talked last night. Calling in the air around me, I quickly compress it between my hands until the energy begins to twitch and spark. The second of preparation passes as she takes another step. I hurl it at her, Sloane’s and my wind spirits speeding along after it to intensify the impact.

  The Mother’s body shudders under the electric charge when it slams into her body, but she doesn’t stop moving. I didn’t expect her to, but the first two attacks have given me information about her weaknesses and strengths. I only need one more. Dragging Tāwhiri’s power into the mix alerts Tū. I feel his own power rise and reach out. I’ll need him soon enough, but not yet.

  Drawing on my anger, my fury and hatred for this cowardly, cruel woman, the air around me freezes. In one swift motion, I pull it all in, turning the moisture in the air to solid ice and pitching it straight at her head. This is the easiest of all the attacks for her to defeat. The ice canon bursts into snowflakes a good foot before it reaches her. Now I know how best to attack her. Tū growls in frustration behind me, but a quick hand gesture shuts him up and sets him in motion. We’re not done yet, but I need one more thing.

  “Are you so eager to meet your own destruction?” I ask the Mother as she stops just outside my range.

  “Eager to be done with this,” she snaps. All signs of her plastic niceness is gone. “I’ve grown tired of watching you all hobble around like crippled ants, trying to save everyone.”

  “Then take your best shot.”

  Her eyes narrow for a moment, suspecting a trap of some kind, but her confidence wins out. In that fraction of a second, I reach back, hoping Tū understood what I needed. I latch onto Tū’s power as my hand makes contact with the bare scalp of an immortal being. The second the Father’s power rears against me, the Mother’s eyes fly as wide as they can possibly go.

  “No!” she shrieks. Hidden behind us, she can’t see the Father, but she senses his presence. “No! How is he here? Where? How did you manage this?” Frantic, her power tosses everyone but Tū and me aside. Standing my ground against her requires every ounce of power I have, but I refuse to bend to this woman.

  From the corner of my eye I see Olivia scramble up from the ground where she was t
hrown into the car. She winces as she gets up, fueling my fury even more. With her no longer beside me, the Mother has found her prize. The Father doesn’t even bother to look up at her. I can feel what is left of Tāwhiri’s bonds keeping him bound, but aside from his power’s instinctual rebellion against me, there is no fight left in this creature.

  “Fight!” the Mother screeches at him. “We are stronger than they will ever be! You’re finally free. Now help me end this!”

  Finally, the Father lifts his head to meet her gaze. His hollow eyes are dead as he looks at her. “There is nothing left for me here.”

  The battle I was preparing myself for to take his power never comes. Instead, he releases everything that made him the god he once was. Olivia’s eyes are round as the power hits us both, soaking in, building up, transforming us into something more, something we were never meant to be.

  Olivia slips from my mind as the influx of power assaults me. My skin buzzes and my blood sizzles, trying desperately to contain what’s being poured into me. I have to shove it down deep, bury it all, everything but one tendril I can hold onto and draw from. It’s too much, but Tū’s power encases me like a glove, holding everything in as I face the Father and watch him vanish from sight.

  Turning to glare at the Mother, electricity races up and down my arms, ice crystals form and burst all around me, the air is so heavy I know she can feel it pressing down on her. Terror and amazement are plastered across her face, but unlike her partner, she has no intention of giving up. “You have to take it from me,” she hisses.

  “I won’t leave you to hurt anyone else.”

  Her jaw tightens to the point that her lips turn white with rage. “It will destroy you.”

  “Possibly.”

  “No one can hold so much power!” she shrieks.

  Gathering everything in, I say, “I’m not holding it alone.”

  Her eyes snap behind me, to Olivia I assume, but there is no time for her to attack. Moving through the air as if I am part of it, I am in front of her, fingers clamped around her neck before she can even complete her thought. Everything she has, everything she is, it all rebels against me. Power lashes out in a frenzy. Tū and my friends are dashing for cover as lightning bolts tear apart the ground and whirlwinds laced with ice spin through the air, devastating everything in their path.