Synchronicity (Scintillate Series Book 3)

by Karen Tjebben

  Zoe startled when the loud crash of thunder split the air. The thundering repeated and growling seemed to surround them. For each crash of thunder, large cats, the size of tigers, stepped out of the paste. Zoe had never seen anything like this. The tigers were made entirely of fire. Flames danced about their bodies and white, fiery orbs shaped their eyes.

  The fiery beasts encircled the Asteris and hummed a threatening purr. Then they stretched their bodies and bent their heads to the ground, almost as if they were bowing before Netra.

  “Kitty has come to play.” Netra’s smirk burst with confidence and power.

  Shock and awe zipped along Evan’s flesh and fueled the hope that simmered within. “I’ve never seen anything like this before,” he mumbled. Evan slowly shook his head and his mouth hung open. “What are they?”

  “Silvestri,” Netra said. “They will fulfill my will.”

  The unicorns paced at a safe distance. They snorted and stomped their hooves. They waved their horns through the air as if they were challenging the fiery tigers. Netra stepped towards the unicorns and ran her hand down Onyx’s neck. “No need to fear,” she murmured. She ran a steady hand across the sides of the other unicorns too. “These warriors will not harm you. They seek the blood of the wicked.”

  The unicorns nodded their heads and snorted.

  Zoe turned in a circle as she looked at the ferocious beasts that surrounded her. Hope flooded her as she knew these magical beasts would support them in their attack. “Will they know what to do?”

  “Yes,” Netra said. “They are linked with me. They know their job, and they will do it. They will support us.” Netra’s gaze swept across the beasts whose bodies seemed to pulse as their bodies blazed. “We should go. We are needed.” Netra extinguished the fire and gathered up her provisions while Zoe and Evan prepared the unicorns for battle.

  They did a quick weapons check and then led the beasts through the woods and stopped at the edge. The fortress stood before them. They knew that the others had started the assault, but the fortress didn’t seem to be in chaos. That was about to change.

  Evan realized that as soon as they left the cover of the woods, they would be spotted. The bright, glowing beasts could not be hidden. He looked again at the group of Silvestri and hoped that they were are dangerous as they looked.

  Evan gave a firm nod and ran towards the fortress with a contrail of fire raging behind him. The beasts’ great paws padded softly against the ground as they raced into battle.

  ~ ~ ~

  Ergo was furious. He’d heard the rumors about the Asteri causing trouble. He knew Kahan was preparing for something, and he fervently believed that he should be involved. Kahan’s fortress had a small unit of Dolums, and he was the top dog. As far as he was concerned, Kahan made a severe mistake when he shut him out. Ergo had recent business with an Asteri. He knew the Asteri better than the others in Kahan’s ranks, yet his opinion wasn’t even considered. Anger flowed off of him in waves. None of the others around him even tried to communicate with him. Ergo figured that meant they were smarter than he gave them credit for, because if they annoyed him right now, he would literally snap their heads off.

  When Ergo had asked to speak with Kahan earlier, he’d been turned away, so he marched to the barn to lick his wounds. But as he paced, he just got angrier. And it didn’t help that he was surrounded by cerberi who always made a racket. They growled and roared at each other as they wandered through the barn. Ergo knew they were restless. They sensed the unease that flowed from the Nephilim and Dolums. Cerberi were not stupid. They had incredible predatory skills and sensed the emotions of those around them.

  Ergo paced up and down the main corridor of the barn. Kahan had captured some unicorns and was making good use of them. These unicorns were strong and beautiful, but they were powerless. Typically unicorns were incredibly smart. In the wild, he’d seen them problem solve, but these unicorns were shoed with poisoned metal. Without their reasoning ability, they were now as simple-minded as their horse cousins. Ergo figured they were now too stupid to even realize their fall from glory.

  Fall from glory. That was what he experienced. One mistake and he was rendered useless. He was wrongly blamed when the band sent to capture Alex and Kate failed. He’d warned them of the power of the new Asteri. He’d argued that a larger group should go to claim her, but his superiors decided against it. They couldn’t fathom that a newbie would be a challenge. Their lack of ability to think outside of the box destroyed them. Now Kahan and Daevas had a real problem on their hands.

  Ergo believed in the magic of old. He knew to be cautious of the young one they called Kate. Rumor had it that she was somehow imbued with another Asteri’s powers. Ergo didn’t think it was likely, but one should always be prepared. But Kahan ignored his advice, so now Ergo was reduced to storming through the barn with the stupid unicorns. He felt their pain as they stomped their hooves and whinnied wildly. It was clear that they hated their narrow stalls. He sure hated the direction his life plummeted at the reported deaths of the band sent to capture the Asteri.

  Ergo gripped his head with his hands and growled out in frustration. He couldn’t take this anymore. The bellowing of the unicorns and the noise of the cerberi just intensified the anger that grew within him. He pulled open the sliding barn door and stepped into the night.

  The cool night air washed over him as he inhaled deeply. It almost seemed as if the coolness extinguished the raging anger that heated him. He closed the door behind him and began to slowly pace, but this night seemed different somehow. He sighed heavily and figured the bad vibe that seemed to hover around him was just his own anger. Ergo had always struggled with anger issues, and he knew he needed to get the anger under control. Perhaps that’s why he’d been turned away from Kahan. Maybe he wasn’t trusted because of the rage that controlled him.

  Ergo rounded the corner of the barn, and his heart nearly exploded. A wall of fire blazed towards him. He instantly clenched his hands at his sides as he processed the scene. This was no ordinary fire devouring the ground as it encroached upon the fortress’s walls. This fire was living and breathing. Things were far worse than he’d imagined.

  Knowing he couldn’t fight the blazing wall of fire, he turned and ran back. The barn door slid off its track at the immense force he used to shove it open. He jerked it free and righted the door. Sliding the door shut, he ran down the main corridor and yelled out the impending assault to those that loomed in the barn.

  At Ergo’s words, the cerberi growled and foamed at the mouth. They raged and banded together. He didn’t bother assisting them. He had to warn the others. He raced out of the barn and ran towards the fortress. Kahan needed to know how dire their situation was.

  Netra noticed the Dolum as soon as he rounded the corner of the barn. She resented his presence. He’d robbed them of their advantage, but if the fear on the Dolum’s face was any indication, their presence was still a shock.

  The Silvestri followed Netra to the large sliding barn door of the outbuilding. The sound of the cerberi inside the building sent the Silvestri into a tizzy. They snarled and their flames sizzled against the cold night air. Evan gripped the handle on the large door. With a firm nod to the others, he pulled it open.

  The Silvestri flooded through the opening and pounced upon the cerberi. Shrieks and yelps resounded through the large outbuilding. The unicorns became as rabid beasts, whinnying and stomping their hooves in a crazed fashion.

  Zoe had never seen carnage pile up so quickly. The cerberi were no match for the flaming Silvestri. Their fiery bodies reaped havoc upon the cerberi and the barn. Fire raced along the wooden beams and devoured the hay that was scattered about.

  The eyes of the prisoned unicorns bulged as fear consumed them. Evan shouted above the racket of the fighting animals, “Help me! Free them!” Evan raced down one side of the long corridor of unicorn stalls while Zoe ran down the other. As they opened the stall doors, the unicorns fled towards the large do
or at the other end of the barn. In a frenzy, the unicorns impaled the cerberi with their horns and crushed their bones as they stampeded to freedom.

  Netra hadn’t seen such ferocity and bloodshed since the night of Sarah’s death. The blood had flowed freely that night, but she was thankful that the bloodletting she’d delivered to Kahan’s doorstep would be one-sided. She hoped beyond words that her friends would escape with their lives, and she would do her part to help that hope become a reality.

  The Silvestri made quick work of killing the cerberi, and as the barn was swept up in fire, they made their way towards the main fortress to provide support to the other Asteri.

  ~ ~ ~

  Kate looked at Alex and Michael. They had to work quickly if they were going to overpower the monsters that lived in the outbuilding. They raced through the grass and came to the building’s granite wall. Pressing their bodies against the cool stone, they inched their way towards a large window that looked out on the backyard.

  Shouts and curses seeped through the windows. The Nephilim and Dolum argued about something. Every once in a while, Kate heard references to their success at overpowering the group of Nephilim sent for them. That pleased her. They still had the benefit of surprise, and the gossip would only heap more fear on the Nephilim and Dolum.

  “Has anyone seen Argo?” Matius bellowed. The Dolum looked out the large window and a shard of ice jabbed his heart and raced along his veins, turning his blood cold. He’d heard the rumors, and he didn’t like that Argo had disappeared. It was a bad omen.

  “He went to get some air. Chill out,” Chais replied. “Do you really think a tiny band of Asteri can hurt us?” Chais shook his head and walked away. “These old fogies get worked up over nothing,” he mumbled.

  Matius may be old compared to Chais, but that only meant he better understood the danger. Thankfully Chais’s attitude wasn’t the norm. Matius figured Chais would be a goner if anything did happen. His head wasn’t in the right place. Arrogance is a swift and merciless killer.

  Kate eyed Matius from the shadows. His dark tattoos stood in contrast to his bright, glowing body. She imagined that without the tattoos covering part of their flesh that the Dolums would be blinding. Their white bodies almost seemed to radiate light.

  Alex shook his head to signal ‘no’ to Kate. He wasn’t ready for them to make their presence known. He wanted to gather more intel. They had no idea how many Dolums or Nephilims lurked in the building. He cast a quick glance to the main fortress; everything seemed fine over there. But Alex knew that chaos would soon engulf them.

  Michael hunched over and scooted along the wall. He came to a window and took out a mirror that was attached to a thin piece of metal. He held the mirror up, just enough to allow him to sneak a peek into the room. The mirror was small, but as he turned it, he scanned the room. Two Nephilims sat on beds at opposite sides of the room. They were absorbed in their own worlds as they played portable electronic games, and this distraction worked to their advantage. He signaled to Kate and Alex, letting them know that there were two in that room. Then he scooted to the next window. When he looked in the mirror, he saw no one. He scanned the room more carefully this time. He didn’t want to miss anything.

  Slowly, Michael poked his head up towards the window. He looked in the room and confirmed that it was empty. He ran his hands over the glass and noticed a lock in the middle of the window. Placing his hands near the lock, he turned the latch, and opened the window. He slung one leg and then the other over the window ledge and dropped noiselessly into the room. Kate and Alex followed behind.

  Alex signaled to them to drop below the window, out of sight. They huddled together. “Stay low. Right now we’re in a fishbowl. Anything outside could easily see us in the light and we’d never see them.”

  Kate and Michael nodded in agreement. “Let’s go room by room exterminating them. Hayden may be in this building.”

  Michael wanted to capture someone. They could learn a lot from a hostage. “Agreed,” Michael whispered. “But if we can capture one, we should question him.”

  Alex nodded. He wasn’t sure how far they’d get before they were noticed by the soldiers. Alex crawled to the door and listened. He didn’t hear anyone in the hallway. He silently cursed. He didn’t even know how long the hallway was. Would he step out and instantly come face-to-face with an enemy?

  Kate double-checked her weapons. A poisoned knife hung from her belt, her bow and poisoned arrows lay at her side, and she had grenades and other poisoned delights to destroy any hostiles they encountered.

  Alex signaled to Kate, informing her that he’d cover one direction of the hallway and she’d cover the other. She nodded and rolled her shoulders, preparing to step into the hallway.

  Alex cracked opened the door. He took Michael’s mirror and checked the hallway. It was empty. Handing the mirror back to Michael, he stepped into the hallway, looking down to the long corridor. Kate followed behind him, her back to Alex’s back so she could cover the short length of the hallway. Only one door on each side of the hallway loomed before her. Loud voices came from down another hall. Alex and Michael faced that direction and waited for someone to step into their view.

  Kate tiptoed to the last two doors before her. She pressed her ear against the door and listened. Nothing but the gentle hum of electronics stirred in that room. Then suddenly Kate’s eyes darted to the door on the opposite side of the hall. The round handle slowly turned and the door creaked open.

  Kate lunged at the Nephilim who was on the other side of the door and covered his mouth with her hand. She pulled her knife free and plunged it into his abdomen. His eyes bulged and fear flooded the air around him. She stabbed him again, this time closer to his heart. Blood seeped from the wound. She held the knife in him; she wanted the poison to do its work.

  Alex and Michael entered the room behind her and silently shut the door. Alex knelt beside Kate grabbed a blanket from the bed. He covered the Nephilim’s face, blocking his airway. The monster kicked and thrashed, but they held him firm.

  Michael slipped his backpack off and dug out his rope. He knelt at the monster’s head and slipped the rope around his neck and pulled. As the rope tightened, the Nephilim’s claws clutched at the heavy rope.

  Alex removed the blanket and stared into the soulless eyes that bulged back at him. Kate touched Alex’s hand and gave him a look. He recognized the dark gleam in her beautiful eyes. She wanted point, and he’d let her lead. “Don’t scream, or you’ll die a painful death,” she whispered in the Nephilim’s ear.

  Her sweet breath whispered across his face as she spoke in his ear. He’d always hated the sickeningly sweet aroma that wafted from the Asteri. The dark-haired Asteri dug his knee further into his bleeding abdomen and restrained his arms. The other male held the rope tight around his throat.

  The female scowled at him. He knew it was all over. All he saw in her eyes was death, and he knew she’d enjoy killing him. Avengers didn’t offer mercy, just a promise of a quick death. He nodded in agreement that he wouldn’t scream.

  “Where is Hayden, the Asteri prisoner?” Kate asked.

  He shook his head and gasped for air when the rope loosened. “They took her,” he choked out between breaths.

  Alex leaned close, his eyes inches from the Nephilim’s. “Where?” he asked. Alex didn’t think Nick could hold onto his sanity much longer if they’d moved Hayden to a new location. She needed to be somewhere on this compound. “Where?” Alex repeated.

  “Fortress. She’s with Kahan,” the Nephilim said as he gagged. He felt his powers dissipate as the poison from the knife still lodged in his body worked its way through him.

  “What is this building?” Kate asked.

  “Our home,” he croaked out. “Storage.”

  Michael had a few questions for the monster that suffered in their presence. “Where’s the dungeon? Is it in this building?” Michael had to ask. He had to know if others were held here. He wouldn’t leave them
here to die or suffer.

  “No,” the Nephilim said. “The dungeon’s in the main fortress. Kahan likes to keep them close.”

  “Underground?” Michael asked.

  “Yes,” the Nephilim said. He wanted to scream. He wanted to warn the others, but his strength was gone. As he bled out and the poison seeped into his system, he didn’t even have the energy to grasp at the rope anymore. He was helpless. He accepted his death and only wished for it to be painless.

  “Is Daevas here?” Kate asked. She wanted to know if Vires would affect this rescue attempt.

  “Yes,” he nodded. His eyelids were heavy and his heart stopped thundering and slowed to a crawl. It felt as if every blood cell dragged heavy weights as it made its circuit through his body.

  “We prepared for this,” Michael said, looking at Alex. “We can take them and save her.”

  Kate nodded and ripped the knife from the Nephilim’s chest. His mouth opened in shock an instant before she plunged the knife deep into his brain. His body twitched, and then he froze in place.

  Kate sat straighter, resting on her feet that were tucked neatly beneath her. “I say we destroy this building and move on to the fortress.”

  “I agree,” Alex said. “They’ll need our support if they are battling Kahan and Daevas.”

  “What’s the plan?” Michael asked. He wanted to be finished with this building and move on. His heart seemed to pulse with the desire to punish those responsible for so much suffering. The Nephilim and Dolums had plagued the human world for too long. They orchestrated wars and empowered evil people who lived for the misery of others. Michael needed to be a part of their destruction. He’d earned that right with his blood, tears, and misery.