“Mother,” Bri whispered in protest.
“I think he didn’t notice at first.” She gave a weary shrug. “It’s ironic, or maybe it reflects the justice in the universe. I’m being slowly destroyed by my own power. It eats away at every part of my body.”
“We can reverse the process, destroy the globe, kill Anton, free you.” Bri tossed out one potential answer after another.
Rowan shook her head. “It’s all right, Brianna. I’m ready to go. I could not have imagined such a blessing as seeing the two of you. I certainly don’t deserve it. I need to die.”
The ring of desperation in her mother’s voice tore Bri apart. How could she accept this . . . her mother’s end? Not a second time.
Celeste made a small noise of protest beside her.
“We’re not going to think like that, not yet.” Celeste began to pace. “Has there ever been anyone you haven’t been able to overtake and kill?”
Rowan stared hard at Bri. “Cole . . . Bri, tell me about his power.”
Torn between trusting her mother and fearing the other who inhabited her body, Bri hesitated. Celeste shot her a disapproving frown and she decided to go with trust. “He’s a shape-shifter, a wolf. He’s connected to the earth, used it to ground out the energy from our encounters with you so it wouldn’t destroy either of us.”
Rowan straightened, standing at full height. “Is he coming?”
“I don’t—” Bri started, but paused as she recalled the truth of what Cole had promised her. A warm flush of love soothed her bruised body and battered heart. Of course he’d search to the ends of the earth for her if he had to. “He’ll come.”
The shadow of a smile hovered over Rowan’s pale lips.
“Jonah is coming too,” Celeste interjected. “Cole and his team have joined forces with our Circle.”
Rowan’s expression hardened as her eyes took on a different kind of fire.
“He’s changed, Rowan, since you disappeared,” Celeste offered softly.
“You’re ready to forgive him?” Rowan linked her fingers together in front of her.
“No, not really. But he regrets his decisions. He doesn’t know that I know you’re my mother.” Celeste’s shoulders slumped. “I might never be able to forgive him for that, but I can make peace with it over time.”
How could anyone forgive separating a wanted child from her mother at birth? It was the height of cruelty. Bri knew she wouldn’t be able to forgive her grandfather for a great many things, but that one topped the list.
Drawing in a deep breath, Celeste vowed, “We can fight him, Rowan. My power is returning. Connect with whatever you need in me.”
“It’s what he wants. The more power they throw at him, the more he can harness.” Rowan sounded resigned.
Defiance sparked to life in Celeste’s pale eyes. “I’m not his slave, and I don’t intend to be.”
At the challenge, Rowan lifted her chin, a gesture of arrogance. “I’ve become too powerful. Jonah couldn’t even stop me. How you would expect to do what a Quytel Commander and his Circle could, is beyond me.”
Celeste’s voice dropped to a low, conspiratorial whisper. “Then give it to me. Let me control it, not him.”
Rowan flicked her hand defensively, sagging, pressing her body against the cave wall. Lines of strain deepened around her eyes and mouth. “Celeste . . .”
“I can do this, Rowan. We have to stall him until Jonah and the others arrive.” Celeste stepped forward, radiating confidence.
Bri shuddered, refusing to think about what might happen if Jonah was forced to battle his own daughter, to kill her. As hurt as she was by his betrayal and secrets, she couldn’t imagine how he could possibly live with that outcome.
“They’re the targets, Celeste.” Exasperated, she pushed from the wall in a face-off. “How many times do I have to tell you?”
Celeste lifted a shoulder, unconcerned. “You’ve had years to study him. You know his weaknesses, his strengths. Join with us when he comes. We can do this-together.”
“It’s too risky,” Rowan warned.
“We’re out of options.” Compassion might have glinted momentarily in Celeste’s eyes, but there was no give to her at all. “You helped train me. We can do this.”
“If we’re connected for too long, it will be dangerous for both of you.”
Sudden panic gripped Bri’s throat, and she swallowed hard. Dread and anticipation brewed in the pit of her stomach even as she announced, “I’m game. Let’s do it.”
Both women turned to face her.
Mother. Sister. Family. Bri wanted a family, her real family, more than anything. It was something to fight for, something to stay alive for. She willed that thought to her mother, afraid to say the words aloud as she reached for that life with both hands.
Chapter 31
Silence prevailed as Mack drove them closer to the hidden network of caves beneath the mountain. Tall trees lined the road, and a low fog made it nearly impossible to see anything but the pavement directly in front of them. So many Quytel packed into one vehicle had Cole on an energy overload. He needed the solace of the trees and the comfort of the forest, his animal territory. The wolf paced inside him, clawing at his insides. Never had he required more control.
Mack slowed the Hummer to a crawl and pulled off the main road into a small, dirt parking lot, oddly empty for this time of year given the area’s popularity as an outdoor adventure destination. Scouting the area, he’d found only a handful of guards and campers had been around over the past few days.
Clearly even avid outdoors people stayed away from this place and that most likely meant some sort of magical protection. There wasn’t much of a presence on the ground, which was unsettling.
Cole had expected the area would be heavily guarded. That it wasn’t raised his internal alarm.
Mack navigated the vehicle to a narrow section of the parking lot protected by dense foliage. The trees partially obscured the trailhead from view, but Cole knew exactly where they were going, and he didn’t need a human trail to follow. The syncopation of the pearl would guide him.
Mack cut the engine. “We’ll go the rest of the way on foot.”
Cole opened the door and hopped to the ground. Throwing back his head, he inhaled deeply. Crisp, fresh air filled his lungs. This was his territory. He turned to the group. “I’ll take a look. Anton won’t pay much attention to a wolf wandering around.”
Jonah had changed into darker clothing and seemed to almost blend in with his surroundings. He shot Cole a long, hard look. “If you’re not back in an hour, we start without you.”
“Fair enough.” He grabbed his small backpack from the Hummer before heading for a nearby copse of trees where he could shift in privacy. Embracing the wolf was like coming home. Slowing the shift, he savored the reshaping of bone and muscle as his human body faded and fur replaced skin. The wolf stretched and clawed at the ground. Powerful muscles rippled, and his jaws snapped.
Hackles raised, he sniffed the air, searching for any hint of a guard. This close to dawn, the sky streaked with the blue and pink rays of early morning as the sunrise burned off the low layer of fog. He didn’t have a lot of time.
Nourished by the vitality of the wild forest and the majesty of the nearby mountain, information poured into his mind and the caverns below came into focus. The entire network of underground tunnels and caves were not natural. They’d been constructed to deter and confuse. Evil permeated the area, and the earth’s natural revulsion of the abomination hit him like a sledgehammer to the gut.
Suddenly, Bri’s energy burned brightly white, calling to him as a beacon on the rough sea. He howled a cry of longing, of warning, a chilling sound breaking the silence of the forest, and he took off at a run.
Minutes later he stoppe
d, the pearl finally beating in rhythm with his body. He paced back and forth over the spot where her vibration was the strongest. Bri was beneath him, somewhere in the bowels of the earth. He pawed the ground softly. Deep inside the body of the wolf, he reached for her soul and felt her answering flutter of awareness.
She knew he would come for her. Good. Now he needed to find the way in.
He scanned the perimeter of the small clearing, physically tearing himself away from the place where her presence was the strongest. The pearl protested, beating erratically with each step away from the spot. Breathing became difficult as his chest squeezed tight. Fighting his body and the wolf with every pad of his paw on the ground, Cole gathered as much information as he could from the earth. A deep green ray of light, rising up through his paws, soothed the pearl and showed him the path to Bri.
Then he found the entrance to the network of tunnels tucked into the side of an enormous boulder, hidden by a dense thicket of trees and underbrush. It would be easy to miss, even walking by in broad daylight. The sky lightened by the minute, but this part of the forest remained shadowed, only a few rays of sun filtering through the canopy overhead.
Cole approached cautiously, sniffing the cool air around the darkened opening. One of his front paws brushed the edge of something. It shimmered and disappeared. He leaned in to examine the weave of energy protecting the threshold of the cave, careful not to touch. Focusing on the green ray of light connecting him to the earth, he asked for information and guidance.
A map of the labyrinth below appeared in his mind. He studied it carefully, noting deadly traps and passageways leading nowhere. Committing safe passage to memory, he edged away. Pushing the wolf and his body beyond the pain of separation and the jarring need to be reunited with Bri, he ran.
His backpack of clothes lay where he’d left it in the branch of a tree. Shifting quickly to his human form, he pulled on his jeans, a shirt, and a sweater. The air around him stilled to utter silence, yet he froze as the hairs on his neck stood at attention.
The Quytel materialized next to him as a unit a split second later.
They moved like shadows, and Cole was glad they were on his side.
“We almost gave up on you,” Ash piped up.
“That would have been a mistake,” Cole shot back. “I found the cave entrance to the tunnels. It’s well-disguised in a rock face. No guards anywhere near it.”
“And you’re sure this is the correct place?” Darius asked.
“I’m sure. I felt Bri’s energy below the ground. There is some sort of energetic barrier protecting it, kind of a tripwire.”
“We still don’t know what kind of nasty surprises are waiting for us once we enter the cave.” Ash exchanged a grim look with Darius.
“It’s most certainly a trap,” Byron added.
“Perfect.” Ash smirked almost as if he anticipated the confrontation.
Arrogant bastard.
Jonah stepped forward, commanding the attention of the group. His face set in hard lines, his eyes flashed ice blue. “We know Bri and Celeste are being kept somewhere and they’re alive. Rowan will likely be the one we’re fighting against. Let’s hope she hasn’t figured out a way to use them. Do not underestimate Anton’s power. Combined with Rowan’s, they will be far stronger than you can imagine.”
“Enough talking.” Cole slung the small pack over his shoulder. “We know what we have to do. Let’s go.”
Ash and Darius exchanged a smile and looked to Jonah. The Commander gave them the ‘go’ signal.
“After you.” Jonah swept a hand before Cole. They fell in step together. Jonah took point with Mack and Ash flanking him on either side. Darius followed several paces behind. They moved with coordination and familiarity. Cole suspected it came not only from centuries of fighting side by side, but the mind-bond linking one to the other. He could only imagine the ability of a full Quytel Circle of fourteen if they were all as powerful as the ones he’d met so far.
He led them through the forest, impatient with the slower pace. Bri was below him; he could almost taste her fear.
“Here,” he announced when he came within inches of the cave entrance, squatting to examine it without touching. “Can you feel the barrier?”
Jonah nodded. “Interesting.” He raised his hand, palm out, hovering over the space separating them from the network of caves below.
“Cole, stay here and guard the entrance,” Mack ordered, also examining the protective weave. “We’ll take down the barrier and secure the cave.”
“I’m going with you.” There was no question in his mind, and there shouldn’t have been in Mack’s or any of theirs.
“Mack’s right,” Ash added from behind him. “It’s too dangerous for you. We have the capability to withstand tremendous psychic attacks. You don’t.”
It was a fair point, but Cole didn’t care. “I’m going in.”
Darius pinned him with a dark glare. “It will be distracting, trying to keep you safe.”
“Then don’t try to keep me safe,” he snapped.
Bri was close, just beyond his reach. Her spirit called to his, and the compulsion jangled his nerves. Aside from all that, the woman he loved was in danger, and he would never remain on the sidelines of this fight.
“You have ten seconds to bring that barrier down,” he growled.
Calm settled over him as years of training kicked in. He summoned the wolf and connected, soul to soul. He called to the forest and mountain, to the rock and soil surrounding the network of caves below. His blood sang. His love for Bri and the strength of the pearl would guide him. Power flowed through him from within and below.
With a nod to Jonah, Mack held up his hand. The barrier flickered briefly and went down. Cautiously the Warriors approached. Cole brushed past them all and strode across the threshold.
A wave of energy engulfed him, disorienting, urging his body through space and deeper into the deathtrap of tunnels and caves. Glancing over his shoulder, the entrance appeared as a small pinprick of light in the distance and then faded away.
The air smelled dense and thick with wet earth. He inhaled and savored the experience of being cradled deep in its embrace. The labyrinth held danger, deadly in places, but the data he needed to navigate them lit up like neon signposts in his mind.
“What the hell was that?” Cole heard Ash ask from close beside him.
Shuffling movement, only detectable with his heightened sense, gave Cole the position of the other Warriors.
“A warning, no doubt,” Mack answered. “Be on your guard.”
An orb of light materialized in the space above Jonah’s palm, and he tossed it a few feet above his head where it bobbed, hanging like a lantern in the air, flooding the chamber with an eerie glow. The interior seemed mostly natural, but modifications had been made to reinforce the structure, which allowed for the construction of additional passageways. Whoever had taken the time to create this intricate network of chambers and tunnels had a long view. They were walking into a demon’s lair; any misstep could be deadly.
Caught in the throes of the compulsion and the headiness of being completely surrounded by dense earth, Cole absorbed the information flowing to him like a sponge.
In the next instant he was paralyzed, held in place by more than Warrior magic. Eyes open, limbs like lead, he couldn’t move. Breathing became difficult, but he could do it if he carefully inhaled shallow sips of air.
“Cole?” Darius urged sharply.
He heard the concern and question in the Warrior’s voice but couldn’t respond. Something, or someone took him over, mind, body, and spirit; connecting, fusing, and commanding him.
“What the hell?” Ash shouted as the earth moved beneath their feet.
Cole crumpled to the ground.
Cha
pter 32
Bri recoiled as Rowan started to glow. Bright reddish-gold light shot out from her eyes and hands. The air around her shimmered, bending physical reality.
“Get away from me!” Her voice had split into the tone of the mechanical other, the tears in her eyes drying up. “It won’t work.”
Bri and Celeste exchanged a steady glance. Of one mind, they held to their plan.
Rowan had warned them what would happen the moment the Warriors entered the extensive network of underground tunnels. Her spirit was tied to this chamber, linked to the man who controlled her. Their entrance would trigger Rowan’s psychic drain.
Cole’s spirit brushed hers, featherlight, as if from far away. Pain exploded in his touch, anguish as his life force and psychic abilities slowly drained from his body.
Fear gripped her heart. She couldn’t bear to lose him. Not before she told him she loved him and not when she could do something to stop it. “Mother!”
Rowan tilted her head slowly. The monster inside her had gained supremacy and gave her a chilling smile.
“You have to stop!” Bri fought against letting her desperation show. Cole slipped away from her, one little piece of his soul at a time. She couldn’t hold on to him. “You’re killing him.” The last came out as a hoarse whisper. Tears pricked her eyes.
“Now!” Celeste grabbed her arm. “We have to create the link with her now if this is going to work.”
“No!” Rowan protested. In the next instant, the macabre other being in her surfaced. “Please,” she beckoned in her mechanical voice.
Circle of Dreams (The Quytel Series Book 1) Page 29