“Am I asleep?”
“Yes.”
“You’re a dream, like you were for Cade.”
Collett shrugged. “Of a sort. I am happy for you, it’s nice to have family.”
Jarrett shrugged. “It’s different.”
“You smile more.”
“You brought me here?” he asked as he studied her white gown and flowing hair.
“Yes.”
“You look like Collett, but I’m not sure you are Collett. You could be a trick of magic, an illusion,” Jarrett said skeptically.
“You don’t believe?”
“Not really.”
“After all you have learned, you still lack faith.”
Jarrett lifted a brow. “You sound like her too.”
“I need to show you something.”
“What?”
She smiled, and turning from him she walked along the beach. He hesitated, but after a second thought to himself, why not? Jogging a couple steps, he caught up to her.
As they walked side by side, he noted the damp sand on the beach and the lack of footprints beneath her. Jarrett looked at her curiously. Reaching out, he tried to grab her arm, but his hand passed right through her. “You’re not really here,” Jarrett accused.
“No.”
“But you want me to have faith?”
“To defeat him, you must believe in the unbelievable.”
“You couldn’t beat him, and because of him you’re dead,” Jarrett stated firmly, as if he was trying to convince her.
“You never did mince words.”
“Why bother.”
“Watch,” she said, pointing to the east.
Obeying, Jarrett turned his attention to the small dune not far away. There he saw Niall and the scrawny imp Finnawick talking on the rise.
Jarrett took a step forward, but Collett stopped him. “He cannot see you because you are not really here either.”
“Where is he?” Niall demanded.
“I haven’t seen him all day, master,” the desperate demon admitted. “He missed his chance to grab the girl.”
Grabbing Finnawick by the collar, Niall drew him in face-to-face. “Find him! He must finish the job! The seer said it had to be him.”
“Yes, sir. Right away.”
Niall ruthlessly threw the imp to the ground. Finnawick clamored in the sand to get up and scurry away like the rat that he was.
After Finnawick was out of sight, Collett appeared on the rise wearing only an evening gown to confront Niall. Jarrett looked to his side and the ethereal version of her was still standing next to him. “Watch,” she urged with a knowing look in her eyes.
Jarrett scowled and turned back to the scene playing out before him.
“You won’t find him, Bellig,” Collett proclaimed.
Jarrett noticed Niall cringe when she called him Bellig.
“Don’t call me that.”
“You were once proud to be Strength,” she accused.
“I am still Strength!”
“No, you are lost. It’s not too late, stop this madness.
"So it was you? You did something to interfere,” he said wickedly.
“I won’t let you have him. This has gone far enough.”
“Fool! I already own him.”
Collett was shaking her head. “No you don’t. Not yet. And after tonight, not ever.”
Niall scowled. “Oh pretty Collett, what did you do with my puppet?”
As he watched, Jarrett inwardly cringed at the reference. He understood somehow that they were talking about him—that this was Texas.
“What I had to.”
Bellig laughed heartily. “You broke the law, didn’t you?” He clicked his tongue in mock admonishment.
“And I will again if it will stop you,” Collett said as a bright light enveloped her. The silver armor from the night on the cliff manifested in place of her gown. She drew the same sword his brother now carried.
Bellig’s expression turned to amusement. “You’re going to fight me? For the worthless soul of a lycan?”
“You’ve forgotten, Bellig, every soul has worth, and his is beyond your comprehension.”
“You actually care about him?"
She said nothing, but determination was in her eyes.
“And you think you can actually win? Against me?” Bellig sneered. “Victory against Strength. I wonder who will prove stronger.” Black armor appeared and covered his body. The wicked red-bladed sword manifested in his hand in a cloud of smoky mist. A jagged line of lightning streaked through the sky.
“I need not be stronger to win the war. I only need to be smarter.”
The swords clashed, thunder rolled, and the wind swirled about them. The waves began to swell and crashed against Jarrett’s legs. Stinging hail from the sky pelted him, and he felt all of it as if it was real.
On instinct, Jarrett ran away from the crashing sea toward the ringing swords. He tried to invoke the change, but the usual tingling that accompanied his lycan half refused to heed his call. For the first time in more than two hundred years Jarrett was afraid. The wind picked up speed and circled the pair. It was getting impossible to see them.
Jarrett squinted against the storm. Lightning struck between the two combatants, throwing them both to the ground. Another man, in full battle regalia, appeared between them. Bellig yelled in fury, but the newcomer shot a blast of white light from his empty hand, and blasted Bellig into the raging sea.
Jarrett could not see the man’s face, only his back, but he was amazed at the amount of power the stranger wielded.
“Victory! To protect your charge, you have broken our most sacred law. The law of free will,” the stranger accused.
Jarrett glanced back to Collett’s ghost, which hadn’t moved. The ethereal projection met his eyes through the storm, and he heard her voice ringing in his mind, Yes.
“You comprehend the punishment? Yet you still broke the law?” The newcomer asked.
“Yes,” she repeated, and the words echoed through his soul.
“You leave me no choice,” the stranger said as he reached up high. More lightning streaked across the sky. The wind battered Jarrett, the rain soaking his clothes, but he didn’t care. Torn between the two versions of Collett, Jarrett took a step toward the spectral entity, but he could no longer see her amidst the battering wind and hail. Confused, he turned again, and pushing through the storm made his way toward the other Collett, who now knelt before the unknown stranger.
“Collett!” Jarrett called, but the sound was carried away by the storm. Before he drew close, giant waves rose up, towering above him. The violent sea crashed into him and pulled Jarrett into its roiling depths. He sought for breath and swallowed salty water instead. His burning lungs begged for air. Fighting against the power of the ocean, Jarrett tried to reach the surface for the life-giving oxygen. Just as he thought he could see light above, the undertow pulled him down again.
Jarrett refused to give in, but eventually the pressing need to release the little air he had left overpowered him. As water filled his lungs, panic crept in. Then in his mind, Collett’s voice soothed and warmed him. Together you are stronger.
From out of nowhere, a strong hand reached through the dark water, gripped his shoulder, and pulled.
Jarrett woke with a start. Sucking in a desperate breath, he looked up into his twin’s matching eyes.
Concerned, Cade evaluated his brother’s expression, and the startled look in his eyes. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” Jarrett said disoriented.
Cade’s expression turned pensive. “What happened?”
“I’m not sure.”
“You called her name,” Cade told him
Jarrett stood and rubbed his face. “I know,” he said, dropping his hands. He glanced to the other side of the aisle where he sensed Delphene and Ashley’s presence.
“You stopped breathing, Wolf,” Delphene accused.
“Did I?”
&n
bsp; “Yes, you did,” Ashley confirmed. “I was about to try to help you, but Cade grabbed your arm and you finally took a breath.”
Embarrassed by all the attention and everyone’s peering eyes, Jarrett tried reassuring them, “Bad dream is all. I need a minute or two.”
“Wolf?” Delphene questioned with worry.
“Del, I just need a minute, I’m fine.”
Annoyance glittered in Delphene’s eyes, but giving him a tight nod she moved toward the front of the plane with Ashley. Even though he was curious about his brother’s behavior and wanted answers, Cade trusted Jarrett enough to allow him a little time to process his dream.
The plane began the initial descent and Cade turned to leave, but Jarrett stopped him with a firm hand on his left shoulder. Cade turned his head.
“The storm is coming, brother,” Jarrett said quietly so only Cade could hear. “And we’re in over our heads.”
Chapter 31
They landed at another private airstrip owned by The Brotherhood, twenty miles outside of Corpus Christi. Darrin, a member of their Brotherhood and practicing witch, awaited them with three white Escalades. He’d help them travel in secret to Jarrett’s property in New Mexico months before. As an oil tycoon and shrewd business man, a small fortune of his own money went to their organization.
Exiting the plane, Delphene helped the recovering pilot, Chris, into one of the vehicles then, glancing over her shoulder, she pinned Jarrett with a serious glare before making her way to him.
“Start talking, Wolf,” Delphene ordered in a clipped tone.
“Not now, later” Jarrett answered gruffly.
“Tu es ennuyant, Loup,” Delphene said, moving away to stand by the front passenger door of their SUV.
“I don’t speak French, Del.”
Walking past his brother, Cade translated. “She says you’re annoying.”
Jarrett scowled and followed them. “I am not annoying,” he argued firmly.
Using the key fob, Cade unlocked the SUV, and Delphene took her seat in the front, slamming the door.
“How is it you’re driving?” Jarrett questioned.
Opening the driver's door, Cade lifted a single brow. “Last I checked you didn’t even know where we’re going.”
“Point taken,” Jarrett admitted.
Inside the Escalade, Jarrett considered Delphene’s hostile posture and couldn't figure out what he’d done to tick her off. He’d never seen her anything but easy going, and this new side of her bothered him. He waited more than thirty minutes for her to come out with it, but when she remained silent he finally asked, “What's your problem?”
“Broches à tête hommes muet, stupide!”
“She says—” Cade began.
“I think I got most of that one, thanks,” Jarrett injected. “So you gonna tell me why you’re pissed off or do I keep guessing?”
“You stopped breathing, Chère, and brushed me—brushed all of us aside, like what happened does not matter.”
“It doesn’t,”
Cade rolled his eyes but stayed silent as he drove through the gates of the small nondescript installation for The Brotherhood here in Texas.
“Non,” Delphene mumbled, “I guess not.” Cade parked, and Delphene left them in a hurry.
“She’s not wrong,” Cade offered when he saw the confused look in Jarrett’s eyes.
“About what?”
“You are pigheaded and stupid.”
“Are you going to be helpful or are you going to sit there and insult me?” Jarrett questioned.
“She was worried. You scared her—scared all of us. We’ve lost too many of our family to not be frightened of death.”
“Death doesn’t scare me,” Jarrett shot back.
“No. It wouldn’t. Dying doesn’t scare most of us, especially you and me. Living as long as we have—well, I suppose death could be a welcome friend, but losing someone we care about—that’s terrifying. You know that better than anyone,” Cade explained.
“Cade, it was a dream. None of it was real.”
“To her it was real.”
Jarrett shook his head. “It’s not like I could control what happened. Plus, I’m fine, why is she pissed at me?”
“Take it from someone who knows, that kind of thing can twist you up inside. She’s angry because you ignored her fear. Worse, you pushed her away right after it happened.”
Jarrett looked outside and watched Delphene smile at something Rederrick said as they all went inside a small bunker-like building. “You’re not talking about me anymore.”
“When Collett dreamt of you, I couldn’t do anything but watch,” Cade explained. “It’s a hard thing to be helpless.”
“It’s not the same.”
“Why?”
“It’s not like that between us. We’re only friends,” Jarrett assured.
Cade rose a single brow as he looked in the rearview mirror. “Even if that was true, your death would hurt us all, as your friend it would still hurt Del.”
“Connections, family, all of this is dangerous.”
Nodding, Cade conceded. “Sometimes.”
“We don’t have time for this kind of distraction. A lot has changed for me, but sometimes I’m still not sure if friends are a blessing or a curse,” Jarrett admitted.
Cade thought about his own behavior lately and said, “They can be both. But family keeps us grounded.”
“I think I liked it better when you were silently brooding,” Jarrett said with a scowl.
“I’m still brooding, Brother,” Cade confessed.
“Yeah, me too.”
Cade looked straight ahead through the dusty windshield and sighed. “We have to go back to Matagorda. I need to know what happened.”
“You should have seen her, Cade,” Jarrett said with respect. “Even in death, she’s trying to help us.”
Cade’s expression turned somber. He didn’t say anything about her death. Part of him was beginning to hope that if Bellig could come back, so could Collett. “She’s trying to tell us something, and we better figure out what she’s saying.”
Reading his expression, Jarrett guessed his brother's thoughts. “Cade.”
Cade exited the vehicle and ignored Jarrett’s admonishment. As he moved to the entrance of the underground facility, he heard Jarrett behind him. “Don't. Just don't say anything.”
“You can't possibly—” Jarrett admonished.
“Look, it doesn't matter anyway. Right now, I need to focus on them,” he said pointing to the bunker door. “With Bellig back, they need my help. For now, that’s enough. I’ll worry about the rest after that.”
“Brother, there’s a big difference between a belly wound and sword through the heart.”
“I know that, Jarrett. I know that better than anyone. That sword cuts me every day.”
Jarrett pulled him to a stop before he could open the door, “One of these days, your faith is going to get you killed.”
“My faith is the only thing that keeps me going,” Cade admitted as he entered the underground bunker.
The Brotherhood’s base was a secret military location that housed and trained Brotherhood recruits to function in small, black-ops groups within the U.S. military. The below-ground bunker housed just over forty Brotherhood recruits, and more than a few had supernatural talents; some minor, some talents were not so minor.
At this location there were two small aircraft hangars for helicopters and a few smaller buildings. There was one main building for regular military operations to appear normal, along with a small armory, shooting range, and a training gym. Located closer to the bunker, there was also a communications building and a research and development facility onsite. Only a handful of people in the government knew about the secret military division.
The Brotherhood formed these units and trained them within each branch of the military. All these men attended regular basic training. Then they were sent to one of four locations, like this one. Here they r
eceived advanced training before being placed within other installations to deal with supernatural issues in the country. Members could be recognized by their unit badge with black dragon insignia. In fact, Nate had trained with the Air Force division during his tenure with the military and often spent time training the new men that filtered in. These units helped keep uncontrolled supernatural events under wraps until control could be established. The circle of friends listened while Rederrick outlined the events of the last couple of days to the base commander. The commander, a Brotherhood member himself, listened while the organization’s founder outlined their purposes for being there.
“I can give you all a place to rest here, and we can see to your needs for now, but what is the plan going forward?” the commander asked.
“We don’t know,” Cade admitted.
Rederrick leaned over the table. “Cade’s right. We don’t have enough information to do much of anything. I feel like we’re starting at the beginning.”
“You’re wrong. We know who the leader of The Faction is now,” Tracy said. “And we know, or at least we can speculate, about important events during his life. Six months ago you didn’t even have a name to go on, let alone a face to go with that name.”
“Knowing his name won’t kill him,” Ashley said with pessimism, and Nate reached under the table to squeeze her hand.
“Non, it won’t, but it is easier to defeat the enemy at your back if you know his face,” Delphene assured.
“Del is right,” Jarrett said. “He can’t hide from us for too long. We’ll have to do whatever it takes to hunt him down. Sooner or later Bellig will slip up. They all do.” Jarret shifted his attention to Ashley. “If we apply enough pressure, he’ll slip up sooner.”
“If impaling him with a magically enhanced sword didn’t kill him, what will it take?” Tracy questioned.
“I don’t know, but I am going to find out,” Cade promised.
“Selena told me something about Ramee. Right before she died she told me to find Ramee. Maybe this Ramee person knows.”
“Ramee?” Cynda said and grabbed Jonah’s arm in surprise and turned his chair to face her.
“Yeah.”
The Truth of Victory: A Powers of Influence Novel Page 28