“It’s a choice.” Bri stood facing her, calling to the soul of her mother somewhere inside. “Fight him, damn it. Fight!”
Pushing her fear down deep, Bri focused on the telepathic bridge to her sister’s mind. “Will it work?”
Celeste’s eyes flashed to hers and then to Rowan. “It has to.”
Forcing her mind away from terror, she faced her sister. “I’m ready.”
Cole’s life force faded, his grip on her soul weakening as he slipped away from her. She couldn’t lose him, wouldn’t lose him. How she could love him this deeply and so fast, she had no idea, but it wasn’t the compulsion or magic; it was the real thing. Powerful and true. She wished she’d told him. If she ever saw him again, she would tell him every day.
“Now!” Celeste commanded, pulling Bri down to her knees.
Her sister’s sea-blue eyes swirled and glittered hypnotically, drawing Bri into a trance-like state. Opening herself up completely to the process, she felt Celeste’s essence—a warm, golden-orange energy—weaving a path between their spirits and providing an anchor for her unstable abilities. Bri could suddenly see her psychic gifts in a swirl of greens and blues, wild and chaotic. And they were gifts, parts of herself, beautiful and untamed.
Information flooded her as years of training flashed through her synapses, connecting strategies, methods, and history together, taking root in her brain. A map to her abilities appeared in flickering images, a guide to her strengths and weaknesses, imprinted models of how and what to practice to gain control and mastery.
At a deep level, she tuned into a vibration, a reservoir of power she could access anytime, a continuous part of her now, solid and true. It was a homecoming, two pieces of herself reunited.
Celeste guided her and Bri followed, but then paused in a moment of absolute serenity and perfect balance. Harmony. Tears blurred her vision at the sheer joy of alignment until her sister gently tugged at the edge of her awareness. She couldn’t stay here forever. They had to find Cole.
On the heels of that intention, an image appeared in her mind. She found herself the center of a ripple on a cool mountain lake spreading out in a wide sweep. Suddenly, she hurtled through space, flashes of light sparkling close and far away at the same time, brushing her skin with tingling strokes; forever and an instant all at once.
Bri sensed him then, Cole’s familiar vibration somewhere above her. His solid strength and connection to the earth seemed to flow through her veins. Constructing an image, she tried to see him in her mind’s eye and marveled as the image of a huge black and silver wolf with glinting silver-gray eyes appeared clearly in front of her.
Deep within, Bri’s gifts leapt. Celeste held her mind together and kept her power from spiraling out of control. Together they connected to Cole’s spirit, blending, melding him with them into a formidable trifecta. She sent everything she was, all the power she had into their connection.
Celeste reached for Rowan.
“I will destroy you all,” the being inside their mother vowed, her voice cold and mechanical.
“You have to fight this,” Celeste insisted. “Let us in.”
Bri’s eyes snapped open. She stopped breathing and waited. Rowan could very well kill them all. Standing in front of the nightmarish altar, her body jerked unnaturally. The luminescent glow of the other being faded in and out, leaving their mother pale and drawn in the aftermath.
Rowan raised her head and drilled Celeste with a sharp stare. “I hope you’re as strong as you think you are.”
Barely a second later, Rowan’s power blasted them. Bri clutched Celeste’s hand in a death grip, afraid she’d be thrown across the cave with the force of it. Her body vibrated, almost past her ability to endure. Pain, pleasure, torture . . . Wave after wave of increasing intensity threatened to peel off her skin. The pressure in her brain was incredible.
Celeste faltered under the blow but quickly stabilized, holding the link between them until it glowed and pulsed with power.
Cole’s spirit flickered and grew stronger, filling her. His connection to the earth grounded them. Bri’s heart expanded with joy at his nearness. She focused all her energy on Celeste’s mental direction, wrapping him up in a warm orange halo of protection. Male and female energy joined to create a grounding force that shook the cave, shattering crystals throughout the chamber.
Then Bri caught the movement of Rowan’s unnatural, halting steps as she approached the altar in the center of the room. When she placed her bony hands on the smooth surface, it glimmered in a vibrant rainbow. With each passing moment Rowan’s skin paled, becoming increasingly translucent. Lines of terrible strain stretched around her mouth.
Once more the vision-woman, illuminated from within, stared at her from her mother’s face.
Bri nearly faltered.
“Focus!” Celeste’s sharp command in her head startled her. Wrenching her gaze away, Bri pushed sheer terror to the recesses of her mind. Maybe they would all die here, but she wouldn’t go without a fight. She poured everything into the link Celeste held between them, drawing on every last reserve she had.
The metal door to the chamber creaked open.
“I’m going to let go of your hand, Bri,” Celeste cautioned, “but I will hold the connection.”
Bri nodded and loosened her death grip on her sister’s hand. Celeste dropped her arms to her sides. The link still hummed between them, stable and constant. Cole hovered, a shadow in the background.
Despite Rowan’s shift in appearance, their mother was still in control. Bri hadn’t seen it until now, and she breathed a sigh of relief, her knees threatening to buckle.
The impatient tapping of Anton’s shiny shoes sounded like thunder in her head as the heavy metal door continued its slow rise. All too quickly, he was in the chamber with them, and the door slammed closed with a hard clang.
He stalked across the smooth floor straight to Rowan, his entire attention focused on the woman staring at him from her place in front of the altar. Pacing a slow circle around her, fanatical admiration for Rowan sparkled in his inky gaze, thin fingers stroking his chin.
“How beautiful you are.”
His voice, soft and oily, made Bri’s skin crawl. She felt the subtlest of shifts in their connection, a small wave disturbing the hum of the vibration. A warning. In the next instant, he cupped the side of Rowan’s face with one hand, a perversely loving gesture which sent a bolt of power along their link.
Suddenly his face contorted. An unseen force pulled at his skin and veins popped out on his neck and forehead. A shout of rage tore from his throat.
And then it came, muddy brown and twisted, destructive power exploding through each of them. Rowan’s red-gold essence threw up block after block, trying to protect her daughters from Anton’s annihilation.
Celeste countered with a cool stream of sea blue, soothing and calm, harnessing Bri’s abilities and her connection to Cole, binding them to her. Following her lead, Bri discovered she could harness her own power. It came together with a thought, and she sensed Celeste’s approval.
They blasted the rancorous energy back at Anton in a giant wave of blues and oranges, consuming the darker particles in its wake. Bri felt Cole opening up a channel to direct the wave deep into the solid mass of the earth below them.
Anton pushed out a strained laugh, but his face paled. “Is that all you’ve got?” He clapped his other hand on the side of Rowan’s face, forcing her to meet his eyes.
A shockwave hit the cave and a thin, slicing pain shot through Bri directly to Cole. Celeste shuddered under the force of it. Bri felt the blow as if Anton had physically struck her. She choked back a scream as their link took hit after hit.
Celeste struggled to hold them together, but their connection frayed to the breaking point. Fatigue battered at Bri’s abused brain, and her body and soul
shook with excruciating pain. Cole hung on, fighting against his own hell of being pulled apart by whatever force ran along their shared bond.
As coherency vanished from Bri’s crumbling senses, Anton pressed Rowan’s head in a vise grip between his palms and snarled, “You can’t win. You are mine.”
Chapter 33
Paralyzed, Cole ached as if stretched on a rack of torture. Strands of his soul shredded in his link to the three women. All of them fought for their lives, the humming vibration of their bond increasingly chaotic and fragmented. The attack in full force, he’d lost all control of his own body.
A subtle shift in the link was all the warning he had before unseen hands flung his body like a ragdoll.
“What the hell?” Darius shouted, grabbing hold of Cole to keep him from flying down the tunnel.
The Warrior’s strong arms held Cole tightly as his soul ripped apart, internal organs vibrating hard enough to rupture. It was as if his skin peeled off his body in ribbons. Recoiling at the excruciating sensation, Cole scraped up the destructive energy with all his strength and sent it slamming into the earth.
The cave shook. Darius staggered under the force of the blow, fighting to hold onto Cole’s body.
The connection with the women steadied, momentarily, but there was more. With Bri locked in a mortal battle, he held on, conserving his strength for the next blow, the wolf sensing the enemy’s proximity.
Through the devastating ache in his skull, Cole heard bits and pieces of what was going on around him. His vision clouded, he could vaguely decipher the intricate network of tunnels lit by the yellow glow of Jonah’s globe.
“Keep him with us, no matter what,” Cole heard Jonah order harshly.
Someone tossed his body over their shoulder as the group ventured deeper into the cavern. By scent he recognized Darius as the Warrior whose shoulder blade jammed into his stomach with each stride.
A deafening thunderclap hit them in a rush. The fierce backlash, a giant vacuum sucking up all the air, loosened rock and dirt in its wake. The Warriors stood their ground and Darius tightened his grip. The overwhelming pull threatened to rip Cole’s head from his shoulders.
Then the air stilled. The echo of destruction bounced off tunnel walls, releasing Cole, the link fragmented, broken. All the tension left his body and he groaned, the only sound he could force out.
Darius laid him gently on the ground near his feet.
Cole coughed weakly and tried to prop himself up on his elbows, managing only to roll onto his side, his strength completely depleted. Panic tore at him when he realized he couldn’t feel Bri or any of them.
Something terrible had just happened. His heart stuttered as the wolf howled.
Darius helped him to his feet with an outstretched hand. “Welcome back.”
Cole grasped the beefy forearm, needing its support.
“What the hell happened to you?” Ash asked. His nonchalance had disappeared behind the shield of a Warrior.
With the help of a nearby wall, Cole shakily stood, his legs like rubber. The earth breathed around him, the grounding energy doing what it could to replenish him. He swallowed even as his parched throat protested.
“Where are they?” Jonah demanded.
Cole coughed. “They’re in trouble,” he croaked.
“They?” Ash prompted, his green eyes sharp and assessing.
Cole took a breath and tried to explain. “Bri for sure and two others, one of them incredibly powerful.”
“Rowan.” Jonah scowled.
“I think so.” Cole felt stronger now, but it wasn’t enough. His hold on Bri was gone. “I have no idea what’s happening, but we need to find them, and fast,” he urged. “I felt their connection, but something broke it.”
Jonah crowded him, blue eyes glittering chips of ice. “Can you track Bri?”
Cole nodded, reaching for Bri’s spirit, for the compulsion buried deep, throbbing with increased urgency to get to her. He pointed to the tunnel where the screaming wind had been pulling them only moments before. “She’s down there.”
“Perfect,” Ash muttered.
Mack shot him a dark glare of reprimand, and Ash retaliated with a humorless smile.
“I’ll be able to move faster as the wolf.” Cole shed his clothes and handed them to Darius with his small pack. Welcoming the popping of his bones and reshaping of muscles and limbs, he hit the ground on all fours.
“Stay close,” Jonah ordered. His glowing orb hovered above them, chasing the darkness.
Cole trotted down the tunnel, ears back, teeth bared, eyes and senses more acute. He had one purpose, a singular goal. Man, wolf, and compulsion united to that end.
Parts of the ceiling and walls had been reinforced with steel in an unnatural construction. Dark magic sealed each tunnel and chamber, connecting the deadly labyrinth. The surrounding earth was seared, protesting the abomination. He paused to soak up information, and it was like breathing shards of glass.
Eight passageways branched off, leading out in spokes.
“Which way?” Mack asked at a fork in the tunnels.
Cole turned right, leading them into yet another chamber with additional tunnels heading in different directions. The corridor narrowed in spots with some sections dropping off sharply. The wolf’s nimble pads easily navigated the treacherous terrain.
“This doesn’t feel right.” Darius slowed his pace. “We’re walking straight into a trap.”
“We are,” Jonah snapped over his shoulder. He raised a hand, and they stopped as a unit. The Commander tilted his head to examine the passageway that drew them all like magnets.
“Well, that’s reassuring,” Ash added wryly, eyeing the tunnel suspiciously.
It started with an easy rush of cool air, instead of the gale force that had hit them earlier. The breeze swirled around each of them in subtle eddies, fingertips licking at skin and clothing.
“Seriously?” Ash brushed at his clothes. “This is creepy.”
“Put up all the shields you have,” Jonah ordered, raising his hands out by his sides. “It has begun.”
He threw his head back and an indistinct white aura surrounded him. Palms facing the ceiling, Jonah gathered power to him as they each battled to keep their shields up against the increasing counterforce shimmering at the edges of their defenses, softly seducing each to let gentle fingers take over, take their power, take everything.
Cole’s protections eroded much more quickly than the others. His mind starting to tingle in spots.
“Can you get us out of here?” Darius asked Mack, who appeared unaffected by the destructive feeding frenzy.
“I’m trying,” he shot back. “I see something down this tunnel, but I can’t make out what it is.”
“Hold your shields,” Jonah ordered. “This is only a test.”
“Some test.” Ash’s voice strained with effort.
Jonah nodded grimly, his blue eyes sharp and dangerous. “Yeah, some test.”
The chamber shuddered, drawing them all into a unifying force. Cole felt the presence of the full Circle through Darius. Fourteen strong. The images of men and women floated in his mind’s eye, each connected to the others by a ray of light at three points on the body—forehead, heart, and stomach. They formed a virtual circle with Jonah in their center.
The bond melded each individual Quytel into a balanced whole, the soothing balm of harmony settling around them. Jonah held that connection as alpha and leader of this pack. Through it, he accessed the psychic abilities of each Warrior, Judge, and Seeker, and the tremendous strength of the unified whole.
As the wolf, Cole understood his authority and accepted it.
Chapter 34
Crystals pulsed and flickered in a silent Technicolor cacophony along the walls
—a thousand disco lights thrumming to their own tune, shaking. The clear quartz altar stood majestically in the center of the chamber. Locked to it, Rowan leaned forward, hands splayed out on the smooth surface. Her translucent skin stretched impossibly over delicate facial bones, and her long silver hair flowed around her like a wiry veil.
Anton eyed Rowan through half-closed eyes, deceptive calm covering his rage, just before the cave erupted.
From her vantage point, lying on the floor, Bri barely had time to roll out of the way of a falling stalactite missile that would have pierced her thigh.
Their link was destroyed, Anton determined to take his house down with it. As he increased his draw on Rowan her body arched, a scream bubbling in her throat. The cave responded, breaking apart.
Celeste lay crumpled on the ground next to her. Pushing her body beyond any endurance she thought she had, Bri dragged herself to her hands and knees, then stood on violently trembling legs.
“Leave her alone!” Bri yelled, swiping at useless tears.
Anton’s oily tentacles brushed against hers, assessing her strength and abilities. Calling on every shred of power available to her, drawing on Celeste’s guidance, Bri built shields tight around her. With almost no strength left, she barely blocked him. Nothing but a damned test.
She braced for more, much more.
Celeste was suddenly on her feet, her form-fitting black leggings and loose white shirt stained and ripped. Even so, she was formidable, a Quytel Warrior Bri wouldn’t want to cross.
Anton took in every detail of her firm, athletic body. “Do you think to defeat me?” He spread his hands, gesturing around the open space. “Here, within the power I’ve created?”
Celeste glared at him and widened her stance. Arms loose at her sides, she appeared battle-ready. “Let’s find out.”
Anton laughed, a sharp, harsh sound. “I have a better use for you at the moment.” He waved his fingers dismissively.
Circle of Dreams (The Quytel Series Book 1) Page 30