by Sandy James
Her hands still tied behind her, Megan struggled to her feet as Johann and Artair moved closer.
Rebecca kept her arrow pointed at Sparks, praying she wouldn’t have to use it. Sparks seemed to be following Artair with her eyes, but just as Johann drew close enough to grab Megan, Sparks whirled, pushed her palms out and threw two huge balls of fire at him.
Tugging Megan into his arms, Johann wrapped his body around her, turning his back to Sparks as her flames ignited his shirt. Sarita and Gina ran to his aid. Gina yanked off her jersey and tried to beat out the flames. Sarita lifted her face up to the sprinklers, narrowed her eyes and caused the one directly above her to spray a shower of water over them.
The flames were out, but Johann’s face contorted in pain. The cost of saving Megan had been high.
“The game is over, Sparks.” Artair edged closer to the wayward Amazon. “You lose. Come with us. We can help you.”
Gina crept slowly toward Sparks, anger etched on her face. Sarita did the same. The three had Sparks surrounded. Megan stayed next to Johann as she tried to free her wrists from the bonds.
An earthquake knocked them all to their knees, roaring through the warehouse. Pieces of skylight shattered, sending a spray of glass over the building’s occupants.
Sarita and Gina crawled toward the wall, trying to avoid the flying shards. Megan threw herself over the injured Johann, shielding his body with her own. Artair rose to his feet, keeping his balance against the swaying of the earth as he grabbed his sword and took some unsteady steps toward Sparks. Before he could reach her, vines split the concrete floor and wrapped around Sparks’s waist and arms.
Rebecca could only blink in surprise. She had no response for all the curious eyes that turned her way. “It’s not me!”
Six young blondes came hurrying through the doors, seemingly oblivious to the ground’s shimmies and shakes. Dressed in white robes, the teens walked around the revenants, the Sentinels and the Amazons to reach Sparks. Without a word, they picked up the helpless woman and headed toward an exit.
Artair tried to gain his feet, but the floor beneath him opened and more vines poured out, wrapping around his hips and pulling him to the floor. Soon Sarita, Gina and Johann were also encased in thick, green bindings.
A new presence was suddenly so overwhelming Rebecca’s mind drowned in the sheer power of it. “What do you want?” she shouted as she clutched the rail.
“I want one thing,” the voice replied, booming through the cavernous warehouse. “You.”
After the priestesses carried Sparks away, the ground settled. A parchment floated from the open skylight. Rebecca flew down the stairs two at a time to put herself below it, waiting for it to reach her.
As soon as it was close, she jumped and grabbed it from midair. She read silently.
If you want to save Sparks, you must come to me. Alone. You will know how to find me. Follow your heart. Earth can always find Earth.
She suddenly understood. This was never about gods or goddesses. This wasn’t some power-hungry demig using humans as puppets. This wasn’t a demon trying to wreak havoc on humanity. This was never any further than their own backyard.
This evil was created by someone none of them ever suspected. By one of their own.
Helen.
Chapter Twenty-Three
“I have to go alone.” Rebecca jammed blessed arrows into her quiver until it neared overflowing, hoping they would be as effective on an Amazon as on a demigod. “I have to. Can’t you understand?”
Helen had all the same skills, all the same powers, and she’d had decades longer to practice them. Weapons really wouldn’t help. Rebecca prepared her arrows nonetheless, craving the comfort the familiar handling gave her. Everyone else might have written Sparks off, but Rebecca wasn’t giving up on her. And if she was going to get Sparks back, she would need every advantage.
The rest of their group was stuffed into the room she shared with Artair at the Stay Inn. The setting sun shining through the windows painted the room orange. Megan rested on the bed. Rebecca didn’t take time to worry about when or even if Megan would get her powers back. All that mattered was that she’d survived.
Johann had his arms crossed sternly over his chest, glaring at Rebecca in the same way Artair always did when he was angry. The younger Sentinel’s burns had left patches of red, raw skin and blisters on his back and shoulders. Sarita’s and Gina’s quick actions had saved him from too much harm, but even after being treated and bandaged, he still had to be in terrible pain.
Sarita and Gina stayed quiet, but there was worry written all over their faces. Rebecca kept her gaze away from Artair, knowing she would see the censure in his eyes.
He refused to be ignored. “I do nae care what Helen demands. Ye cannae go without someone to see to yer back.”
If she hadn’t already known he was mad, the exaggerated brogue would have given it away. His accent always got stronger whenever he was angry.
“Sparks will watch my back,” she replied.
But would Sparks really help her? Or had the Seior truly changed Rebecca’s mentor into an enemy—a powerful enemy? Had Sparks really been willing to kill Megan?
Not Sparks. She would never harm an Amazon.
With a shake of her head, Rebecca tried to push away the nagging doubt that she couldn’t save Sparks. But what was she saving Sparks from?
Helen. The rogue Amazon who had been using Sparks as her muscle and now used her as a lure. Why? Why would Helen turn on the woman who would have moved heaven or earth to find her?
The qualities of Earth flowed through Rebecca’s veins—she understood every nuance, every way being an Earth affected a person. She could never harm Megan, Gina or Sarita. No matter what happened, she couldn’t bring pain to her sisters. Perhaps she could reach the part of Helen that wasn’t corrupted, that wasn’t evil—the part that used to be an Amazon.
She wrapped her hopes around that notion, and tried to ease the worry surrounding her from every pair of eyes staring holes through her. “I don’t think Helen’s a lost cause. After all, she’s Earth. She’s Sparks’s sister. She’s an Amazon.”
“Was an Amazon,” Artair corrected. “Helen released Jin from his prison and let him kill Maria and Trishna while she gained followers. She’s nae longer one of us.”
“You might be right. And I know what she did. But—I can’t lose Sparks, Artair. I just can’t. Maybe I can reach Helen, find out what she wants, why she wants me. Maybe I can convince her to let Sparks go.”
Artair’s scowl told her he didn’t agree. Johann’s pinched frown held the same message.
“You can’t go alone,” Gina insisted as she handed Rebecca her bow.
Sarita picked up a dirk. “I could go. Gina could go too. We’re all Amazons. We should help you. We should watch your back. I know the note said—”
Rebecca shook her head. “I don’t care what the note said. I know in my heart that I have to go alone. Don’t ask me how I know. I just do. I can bring Sparks back.” She reached for her blade.
Sarita handed it to her with a nod.
Artair wasn’t as accommodating. “Nay! Ye will nae go alone!” His voice caused everyone to wince.
In all the time that had passed since he’d come to claim her at the church, she’d never seen Artair MacKay so close to losing control. She dared to look at him, knowing she wouldn’t like what she saw. His face had mottled red as he held his hands clenched at his sides.
How could she make him understand? How could she make them all understand? Every cell in Rebecca’s body was telling her she had to face Helen on her own.
A sudden chill washed over her, the warning the intuition brought almost knocked her to her knees. If the others followed her, they would suffer.
Death waits for all who follow you on this path, a voice whispered. Only you may come. Only you.
A shudder stole her breath. She closed her eyes and waited for it to pass. Then she opened her eyes and faced he
r comrades in arms. Her friends.
“I need to do this alone. Can’t you trust me? Please? Artair, you promised. You swore you’d trust me.”
Artair was shaking his head before she even finished speaking. “Nay.” He turned to Gina and Sarita. “Grab yer weapons. We’re all going. Johann?”
The new Sentinel arched an eyebrow.
“If ye are fit enough, get the van.”
“Oh, yeah,” Johann replied, quickly standing at attention like a well-trained soldier. “I’m plenty fit.”
Megan started to rise. “I’m in too.”
“The hell you are,” Johann scolded, crossing the room. Surprisingly gentle, considering his size, he pushed her back on the bed. The movement clearly caused him more pain. The fact a weakened Johann could hold Megan down without her fighting back spoke volumes. “You stay here. We’re all going with her. Rebecca won’t face Helen without help.”
Megan might have lost her ability to throw fire, but her eyes hadn’t lost their ability to scorch. “You’re hurt, but you’re going.”
“That’s different,” he replied.
“Megan, you’ll nae leave.” Artair threw her a chastising scowl. “Even if you weren’t drained of your powers, you’re too weak.” He nodded to Gina and Sarita. “Let’s go.”
“Artair…” Rebecca began before he cut her off with a Sentinel glare.
“Ye will nae go alone.”
“But—”
“Cease! We go with ye, Becca. I’m yer Sentinel. I’ll nae quarrel over this. My mind’s made up.”
She could argue, but all that would do was waste precious time.
From the determined look in Artair’s eyes, the battle was lost.
But she damn well intended to win the war.
* * *
Standing at the rusted gate leading to the abandoned sleep-away camp, Rebecca planned her attack. She glanced back to the van, and in the moonlit darkness her companions prepared for a battle she would never allow them to fight.
Her senses had led them here. Earth can always find Earth. Rebecca wouldn’t allow any of them to go any farther. She would have to be swift, taking down as many as she could as quickly as she could manage. She didn’t want to hurt her prey. She just needed to incapacitate them so she could slip away by herself. This assault would require more power than she’d ever used before and would leave her severely weakened.
Yet she had no choice.
This prey was tricky—every single one of them. Quick and smart, the targets wouldn’t give up without a draining fight. Although her thoughts nagged at her, reminded her that if she took down her friends she’d be wielding less muscle when she faced the more powerful enemy, she remained certain she was heading down the right path.
As the others crawled out of the van and started to slap on their weapons, Rebecca silently slipped off her shoes. Standing in the dewy grass, she wiggled her toes. Drawing her strength from the ground and the memories of children who’d played here in times long gone, she closed her eyes. In slow easy waves, the power came to her, filled her, enveloped her. She was ready. It was now or never.
Whirling around, she launched her attack.
The ground shook with a violence she hadn’t known she was capable of producing. Sarita fell to her knees first, and the vines shot from the cracks that formed next to her feet. She was wrapped in greenery before she could launch any resistance.
The rest of them wouldn’t be that easy.
Gina had fallen but rose shakily to her feet. Ready to leap, Air never left the ground. The closest tree reached its branches out like long arms and tugged Gina back. As the branches wrapped themselves around her, she found herself in the unyielding embrace of an elm.
Johann walked toward Rebecca. Having trouble keeping his footing as the ground beneath him trembled, he was making more progress than she’d expected. Despite the overwhelming guilt for attacking the injured Sentinel, she reminded herself she was saving his life and charged. With a kick to the stomach and a following front sweep, she knocked him down. The kudzu did the rest, and he lay nestled in a green cocoon next to Sarita.
Three down, one to go.
One impossible obstacle to go.
Could she do this? Could she really bring Artair down?
How many times had the Sentinel bested her in the sandpits and on the training field? How many times had she suffered defeat at his hands? How many bloody noses and bruises had he inflicted?
But this was different. She was going to have to fight the man she loved to save his life. Damn, if he would only understand. Death waited for anyone who followed her, and she couldn’t lose him. Not him. Not now. Not ever.
“Don’t make me do this, Artair. Don’t make me fight you.”
His face showed his shock. “You would truly use your powers on me, Becca? You would wrap me in your wee vines and tie me to the ground?” He shook his head. “I mean to help you, lass. You can’t stop me.” He stabbed his sword into the ground and set his hands against his hips. “I won’t raise a weapon to you, but I won’t let you leave on your own.”
The ground rumbled, low and unsteady. Her powers were draining. Rebecca wiggled her toes in the grass again, trying to gain a fortifying surge of energy from Mother Earth. “Please don’t make me do this. You can’t follow me this time. You can’t fight this battle for me. You promised to trust me, remember? I asked you to trust me. Please, Artair.”
* * *
Artair studied her face, seeing the conviction in his lover’s eyes. He didn’t want to fight her and waste their skills on stopping each other in some insane motive to protect.
He’d promised to trust her. So why did the notion of letting her face Helen alone twist his gut into an enormous, painful knot?
“Artair, I’ve got to do this. I know you’re afraid for me, but you have to let me go.” She dropped her weapons and threw herself into his arms.
Lilacs. She always smelled like lilacs. Her body was a mass of taut muscle as he held her close. This decision could change everything between them.
Rebecca still didn’t understand the bond they’d created the night before. Handfasting was such an ancient practice, even out of date from his own time. But there was no way he could marry her in any other fashion. Rhiannon and the other goddesses would never allow their union. Yet he couldn’t let the love between them not change them both and not mark their commitment. He’d declared her as his own and asked her to do the same, and he’d given her one of the few things remaining from his old life in token of their bond. In ancient Scotland, a handfast was as good as any wedding. Rebecca was now his bride, whether she realized it or not.
He’d vowed his heart to her. He’d vowed his life to her. And he’d vowed to trust her.
If he truly loved her, he had to let her go. He had to let her be what she was. An Amazon. He’d promised to let her be a warrior. Now he had to follow through with his pledge. Even if it killed him.
“If ye need me, all you need to do is call. I can always find my Earth.”
She pushed back from his chest to gaze up into his eyes. “You’re letting me go? By myself? You’re really letting me go?”
His throat was so thick with emotion, he didn’t trust himself to speak. All he could offer her was a simple nod.
“I love you.”
“And I love ye, Becca mine,” he said in a ragged whisper.
“You’ll stay here?”
“Aye, lass. I’ll stay here.”
All the worries of the world reflected in her brown eyes. “I can do this, Artair.”
“I know you can, lass. But all you need do is call.” He picked up her quiver and her bow and helped her slip them over her shoulder.
“You won’t follow?”
He shook his head.
She reached up to cup his face. “Thank you, Artair.”
Taking her hand away, he kissed her palm. “Do you know where to find Helen?”
“I can sense her. She’s in that camp. Somepla
ce…dark. A cave maybe.” A frown bowed her lips. “Will you tell my sisters and Johann that I’m sorry? She would kill them. I know she would.”
He nodded and reached out to stroke her upper arms. “Fare thee well, Becca mine. And remember, if you need me, call out and I will hear you.”
* * *
Helen’s pull drew Rebecca deeper into the woods. A canopy of trees blocked what little light the moon could offer. The hills had grown steep, and yet she wasn’t weary. Instead, an almost giddy excitement seemed to have her in its grasp.
She was finally going to meet Helen—another Earth. Someone who could help her master her powers. Someone who could help her know herself better. Someone who—
She shook her head, reminding herself that the rogue Amazon had brought about the death of two of her generational sisters. She had a mission. She needed to stop the wayward and dangerous Amazons, and that meant killing Helen. And maybe Sparks.
Focusing on the pull of a large cave nestled in a far hillside, Rebecca followed her instincts and a small voice swirling in her mind, calling her closer and closer. She was standing in the entrance before she even realized she’d arrived.
Mounted in wall sconces, torches burned, casting an eerie glow. Shadows danced across boulders that lined the cave’s interior. She saw no one. The cave was empty, and yet she sensed people near.
“Death waits here,” a voice whispered.
Death for whom? Sparks? Helen?
Me?
Rebecca comforted herself with the notion that Artair was safely away from this place, as were Megan, Gina, Sarita and Johann. Then is death coming for me? It didn’t matter if she never left this dank cavern. The Amazons and Sentinels would go on.
Somehow, she’d finally embraced her inner Amazon, accepted the truths of her state. Danger was her companion and death would mark the end of her career. She almost laughed aloud as she realized just how far she’d come.
Rebecca Massee was no longer the kindergarten teacher who had been abandoned at the altar. She was no longer the one who looked to others for her self-esteem. And she was no longer the woman who was afraid to take the lead, to charge to the front.