Destined_The Immortal Defenses Series

by E. L. Davis

  “Where is the book now?”

  “We have it,” Roman blurted out.

  You idiot, Alexia thought to herself, rolling her eyes. Roman didn’t even know that Alexia and Demetri had already found her prophecy, so why would he tell Ahaz they had the book?

  “Get it,” Ahaz demanded. Demetri was out of his chair and back with the book in seconds. “Give it to me,” Ahaz said, holding out his hand. Demetri handed it over and Alexia’s face fell. She felt as if Demetri had just handed her life away. Ahaz looked over it silently, examining the front cover, then the spine, and then the back. When he tried to open it, however, he was shocked to find that it refused to let him look in its pages. “Why will it not open?” he asked in confusion. “What have you done to it?”

  “We haven’t done anything to it,” Roman mentioned. “Only Alexia can open it because she found it, and it’s in her possession.” She had no idea what he was talking about. “When a prophecy child needs the Sapheneia to help them fulfill their destiny, it seals itself from others, and only she can access its pages.”

  Everyone’s jaw dropped. Why had Roman not mentioned this when they first found the book?

  “Open it.” Ahaz thrust the book into Alexia’s hands and looked greedily at the book, waiting for her to open it so he could snatch it back.

  Slowly she lifted the cover, revealing the first page that she had yet even looked at. Before handing it over to Ahaz, she read the first words that the originals had written, but before she could finish reading them, the old ink disappeared, and new words formed on the page in fresh wet ink.

  He is not part of our plan for you, Alexia. He wishes you harm and distraction. Kill him.

  She gasped and slammed the book shut. When her eyes flashed up to look at Ahaz, fear brewed inside of him, as he saw the pure black eyes digging into his.

  “I wish you would not lie to me, Ahaz.” Her voice was slick and dripping with malice. She had never heard herself talk like this before. “Why is it that you lie to me?” She rose from her chair and walked slowly and dramatically toward him.

  “Alexia, what are you doing?” Demetri said, grabbing her arm to stop her, but she pushed him back and allowed her eyes to return to their kind blue color, so he could see she was indeed in control. As soon as she turned back to Ahaz, her eyes flashed back to black.

  “Tell me,” she demanded, “or I will make you tell me.” This was the most control she had ever had over herself when she was angry. She felt strong and wanted to dart around the room in order to frighten Ahaz, wanting to torture him before she ended him.

  When he said nothing, and remained rooted to the spot, she was nose to nose with him in an instant. She allowed the blue to return to her eyes and focused in on his cold, scared dark ones. Concentration filled up her body and flowed out of her, and adrenaline began pumping through her veins.

  When she felt as confident as she ever had, she asked him, “Why did the writers of the Sapheneia just tell me that you wish to harm and distract me?”

  “Because that is what I intend to do.” Ahaz’s voice took on the tone of being in a trance.

  “How long have you been on his side?” Alexia demanded.

  “Since the beginning. I have always known about the prophecy.”

  “Where is Amarantos now?”

  “He is here and he is not alone.”

  She broke her concentration instantly and allowed her anger to brim over. She held the book close to her chest and darted around the entire house, searching every room and every closet only to find nobody hiding anywhere. When she returned to the living room, she found four sets of angry eyes staring back at her. Her friends were prepared for whatever was coming next.

  Ahaz was leaning against an armchair trying to regain energy and Astropos remained frozen, not saying a word. Alexia moved to her and she recoiled, hiding her eyes and pleading, “Please, I had no idea that he was against you… I had no idea.”

  “Then why do you hide your eyes from me!” Alexia yelled at her.

  Astro removed her hand from her face and allowed Alexia to use her defense on her.

  “Are you on my side?” asked Alexia.

  “Yes,” Astro said in the trance voice.

  Without wasting any time Alexia was back in front of Ahaz, demanding answers from him. “Tell me what powers his followers have.”

  “Intense focus, speed, action desiring” – Alexia heard Cheri whisper behind her, “That’s what I used at Headquarters” – “blocking, freezing, endless flexibility, ability to fly, teleportation, and the list goes on.”

  Not wanting to break her concentration she directed the question she wanted to ask Demetri to Ahaz. “What is blocking?”

  “Zackary can block people from using their defenses on him, and those closest to him.”

  “Describe him to me.” This would be the first person she took out. Cheri would not be able to use his defense because he would block her from using her own defense. He would be the biggest threat.

  “Tall, spiked purple hair, and he is wearing all purple fighting gear.”

  “Now tell me, where are they hiding?”

  “They are surrounding the house.”

  Finally breaking her concentration, Alexia turned to those behind her, letting Ahaz collapse with weakness. She began drilling off directions to everybody. So much adrenaline pumped through her body that she was confident they were about to end this.

  “Zackary gets eliminated first. Take out whoever else you can as fast as you can.” She rushed to grab the vials full of the only thing known to kill Immortals: Wither, Immortal blood, and Tera blood.

  When she came back into the living room, she continued to give instructions. “Cheri, using teleportation will give you a huge advantage and you will be able to sneak up on those who you sense have the most threatening power. Ellie, use your defense to sense those that are most afraid, or most nervous, as they will be the easiest to take out. Roman, remain aware of who is communicating to who and keep us all updated on what we won’t be able to hear. Demetri…” she turned to face him and lost her momentum.

  He didn’t look scared, but he looked worried, not about the fight they were about to have, but about her and how she was acting. “I’m fine,” she told him fiercely. “Don’t focus on me; focus on shoving these vials down those bastards’ throats.” She shoved several vials into his hands and looked into his eyes. “Please,” she said in a much kinder voice. “Don’t focus on me, Demetri. We can end this right now if you just focus on them.”

  He bent down and kissed her, holding her close to him. “Let’s get this over with,” he said to her fiercely.

  “I want to help you,” Astro said as she stood beside them, her eyes turned black. They all allowed their eyes to darken and moved to the front door.

  “Be careful,” Demetri whispered just before Alexia turned the door handle and wrenched the door open.

  Twenty-five men stood stationary on the front lawn, all wearing dark clothing that looked tough and heavy. In front of them all was their leader, Amarantos. He had long dark hair that hung lazily over his shoulders, he wore a leather jacket like the one Demetri owned, and if Alexia stood next to him she would be a head and a half shorter than he was. His eyes remained only on Alexia, completely ignoring the small army she had behind her. Desperation and anger blazed behind his eyes as he glared at her. When he finally spoke, it sent chills down Alexia’s spine.

  “My dear Alexia, I so wished that it would not come to this, but, most unfortunately, you must be eliminated.” His voice was calm and left a slimy feeling all over Alexia; it was hard to resist allowing it to calm her. She had to stay angry.

  “I don’t want to waste any of your time, so please do what you must,” Alexia said calmly.

  Instantly, Demetri was gone from her side and attacked the man Zachary that stood closest to Amar. The sounds of Zachary’s scream as he was burned from the inside out triggered the battle. Everyone darted toward somebody and began
to fight. Demetri took down the next man that stood closest to him. He punched him hard in the nose and blood instantly filled the man’s front, staining his dark clothing with red.

  Roman was shouting out whatever he could to warn them of the conversation going on between their enemies, while simultaneously kicking a blonde-haired fat man on the ground. He shoved a vial down his throat and then punched his throat to ensure it smashed. The man screamed and withered in pain, but Roman paid no attention as he moved on to the next one.

  Cheri and Ellie were fighting three men together, each taking turns punching and kicking them. Cheri used the teleportation defense and appeared behind the three men and kicked the first one right in the family jewels. He dropped to the ground and screamed in pain. “That’s nothing compared to this,” Cheri said as she wrenched his jaw open and shoved a vial down his throat, also smashing it to make sure he would die.

  Ellie continued the fight with two men who looked like they could be twins. She could sense that they were scared, so she stopped hitting them to taunt them for a moment. “Scared, aren’t you?” Her brief pause in action allowed one of the twins to hit her hard in the face, knocking her to the ground.

  She was up in an instant, eyes gleaming black and smiling like a crazy person. “Big mistake.” She lunged at him, grabbed his head, and snapped his neck. His whole body collapsed, he screamed, unable to move.

  “Tyler!” the other man yelled, wanting to save his brother but could do nothing, at least if he wanted to survive. Cheri took the top off one of her vials and poured it slowly into his mouth while his brother took off into the night. The man named Tyler screamed in pain and his whole body shook, his muscles twitched, and then Ellie could smell burning flesh and took off to fight with somebody else.

  Astro was sending kicks and punches to everyone within reach, weakening the men before sending them to the ground and stomping on their spines. She shoved vial after vial down their throats, killing as many people as she could.

  Most of Alexia’s fights were much simpler. When anyone approached her, she used her defense to make them get down on their knees and open their mouths. She would then pour the contents of the vial down her attacker’s throat and move on to the next one. Many of Amarantos followers wanted to be the one to capture Alexia; it seemed everyone was trying to avoid a fight with anyone but her. Even after they watched how easily she could kill anyone who tried to hurt her, they still seemed to line up for a turn at her.

  As soon as the battle had started, Amarantos seemed to have disappeared, no doubt searching for the book inside the house. Alexia had left it under the living room couch, but she wasn’t worried about it because she knew she would be the only one who could open it. More than anything, she wanted to shake off all her attackers and find Amarantos and take him out. It was all she could think about while she easily killed the men that came at her. The adrenaline that usually pulsed through her body when she used her defense on Immortals seemed to be blocked out, and all she wanted was Amarantos.

  When there were only two of Amar’s men left to kill, Alexia took her chance and bolted into the house where she assumed Amar would be. As soon as she cleared the doorway it slammed behind her. It was dark inside the house, and she felt around for the light switch beside the door and flicked it on. Amar and Ahaz sat in the living room, both looking calm and serene. The doorknob turned behind her, but the door did not budge, then there was a pounding on the door.

  “Alexia, come out of there!” It was Demetri on the other side, screaming for her. “Alexia, open the door! Let me help you.” She pulled on the handle, but it was useless; clearly, she was trapped in the house with the two men that wanted her dead.

  “It seems you have drained my partner of energy, Alexia,” Amar said. “The powers you possess are quite strong, but you don’t know how to use them, do you?” He was taunting her, and it made her angry, but she had to control herself. She needed a plan.

  The banging on the door continued and then she could see Cheri in the window trying to smash the glass, so she could help her friend. It was hopeless; there was no way for her to get out and no way for them to get in. Demetri appeared in the living room window now, and his expression was one of horror and disgust as he saw the love of his life alone in the house with Amar and Ahaz. Amarantos made a slight twitching motion with his hand and all the curtains shut, blocking Alexia’s view of Demetri.

  “I believe our conversation is best to be had without distraction,” Amar began. “You do realize why I have to kill you?”

  “I do realize why you want to kill me, yes, but you will fail.” Her voice shook slightly, the confidence and adrenaline now gone from her and a small amount of fear taking their place.

  “Ahaz here tells me that you have the book in this house somewhere. Tell me where it is, and I may let you live to see the sunrise again.”

  “For somebody who has not read the prophecy, you are overly confident that you can kill me, but I have read it Amarantos. I win this fight, and you, well, you die.” She was bluffing. She knew that the prophecy did not say if she would win or if she would die. “Besides, the book won’t open for you, as it only allows me to open it.”

  “I suppose,” a sneaky smile spread across his face, “I need something to persuade you with.” He snapped his fingers and Ellie was in front of him. He whipped a knife from the table and held it to her throat. “This dagger is dipped in the same potion you have used to kill my followers tonight. One cut and she will be dead.”

  Alexia could hear Cheri screaming for Ellie outside the living room window. “She just disappeared!” she yelled. Ellie looked scared, but this gave Alexia an idea.

  “Don’t hurt her. I will give you possession of the book, but you have to answer one question.” She could hear Cheri crying outside and hoped that Roman would be listening hard on the conversation going on inside the house.

  “What is that question?” he said, adjusting his grip on Ellie.

  “How did you do that? You just snapped your fingers and she appeared.” Alexia raised her voice slightly. “Is that your individual defense?”

  “Yes, I can summon those I wish to summon with a simple snap of my fingers.” Alexia could hear Cheri stop crying outside. “That’s all you wished to ask? It seems like such a small answer for such a big trade.”

  “So, why have you never summoned me?”

  “Ah, that is a much better question. It does not work on you; you have a permanent block on you. Believe me, I have tried many times over the past few days, but it seems that I cannot summon you or those who surround you. Now that I have answered your questions, give me the book.”

  “Let her go and I will.”

  “First retrieve the book and I will let her go.”

  Alexia moved slowly to the couch and pulled the book out from underneath it. “Here it is, now let her go.” She was speaking very loudly now.

  Amar looked over the book from a distance and, when he was satisfied, turned Ellie lose. Ellie ran to Alexia and threw her arms around her and started to cry.

  “The book, Alexia,” Amar insisted, “or I will kill you both where you stand.”

  “You’re going to kill me no matter what, so I think I will hold onto this a little bit longer. Now, Cheri!” Alexia yelled, and suddenly she was ripped from the living room. She was spinning through the air with Ellie clinging to her desperately. They couldn’t breathe and were about to pass out when they fell onto the hard grass outside the house. Demetri caught Alexia up in his arms and hugged her so tight it hurt.

  “I’m so happy you’re okay,” he cried.

  “This is no time to rejoice,” Alexia warned. “He is going to be out here in an instant to get this book from me.”

  Before the last word left her lips, Amarantos came crashing through the window with Ahaz behind him. “Give me that book or I will kill you all.”

  Cheri was the first to react. She took the remaining vials from her pocket and threw them at him hard. It burne
d holes in his clothing, revealing his skin, but it did not harm him. “That was useless, stupid girl.”

  “No, it wasn’t,” Ellie said, retrieving her last vial. She aimed it right at the patch of open skin and it smashed against his skin hard. It burned his skin, but Alexia knew it would not kill him. She took her last three vials and did the same. Hoping to put him in enough pain that Ahaz would snap his fingers and make them both disappear.

  Amar screamed in pain and his eyes turned black with rage. “It won’t kill me,” he said, choking on his words, trying not to appear weak. Rooted to the spot, he clawed at the air trying to grab hold of Ahaz.

  “You will not return to lead The Union, Ahazj.” Astro threw a vial at Ahaz, hitting him right in the face. He screamed in pain.

  “Amarantos, it’s not the day today.” Ahaz allowed Amar to lean on him just as Demetri and Roman were about the throw their last vials of death at Amar. Ahaz snapped his fingers and they both disappeared.

  ∞ CHAPTER TWENTY ∞

  After burning all the bodies that littered the front lawn, they were all exhausted. Nobody spoke, nobody even seemed to breathe, and everyone was still as statues. The sun had just come up and they all wanted to return to bed. Disappointment pulsed around the room, and Ellie could feel it like a disease. They had used almost all the Wither they had access to, and now only three vials remained. The only weapon they had against Amarantos and Ahaz was basically gone.

  Astro returned to Union Headquarters to give news about the battle that happened and about Ahaz’s disappointing loyalty to Amarantos. She had been a mess by the time the two men disappeared, both howling in pain. Astro, who had always seemed so put together and strong, broke down and cried. Once she regained her composure, she immediately took her leave, embarrassed by her actions.

  Alexia was still clinging to the book. She had been too close to losing it and now she felt like it was her duty to protect it. Even though she had read her prophecy and memorized it too, she still had to read the book. She knew there was information in there that would help her beat Amarantos in the end. Most of the disappointment Ellie was sensing was coming from Alexia, as she had been foolish and felt horrible for what she had put Demetri through.