by K. F. Breene
Kieran lifted more water from the crevice. Then more. He pushed it forward, rolling it across the ground, slopping it over Flora, submerging her. Caging her without air. He lifted his eyes skyward next, working on the weather, trying to force those clouds away, fighting her power while multitasking with his.
“Incredible,” Dylan said, still keeping that lightning off us. “You win the most trained award.”
“It came at a steep price.” Kieran, his muscles bulging, rain soaking his light shirt, kept up the pressure.
Flora’s soul casing loosened, her body probably fighting for breath. The prongs weakened. My grip slipped in past her protections. I grabbed her soul.
“Oh shit—”
20
Alexis
“Are we trying to kill her?” I asked in a panic.
“No. We are making her submit,” Kieran answered.
“Then stop. Stop! Pull back. Quick!” I tried to keep absolute focus so I didn’t do something stupid, like sneeze and accidentally pull her soul out of her body.
The lightning cut off suddenly. The thunder died and the clouds cleared away. The black sky, holding a full, heavy moon, lifted its skirt and showed off all its stars.
Dylan lowered his hands, one perfect eyebrow arched.
“Pull away the water,” I told Kieran, not relaxing, my fingers out like claws.
Kieran did as I said. Silence as thick as death settled over the scene.
“Do not move, Flora,” I yelled, feeling another prong disintegrate within my magical grasp. This time I hadn’t been trying. “You gotta give in to Kieran right now, but do not move! I will pull my grip out of your chest, but I need a very calm second in which to do it. Your life is in my hands right now, and I am not trained nearly as well as everyone else in this clearing. I repeat, I am very new at this, and your life is literally in my hands. I know you can feel that.”
“I submit,” she said, pain lacing her words. “I submit. Stand down!”
“Jerry, keep that rock on her for a moment,” I said, dribbling the power of the Line through my magical touch and repairing the first prong. “I’m trying to fix a couple of things, Flora, and then I’ll get out, okay? Just hang on.”
“You’re a danger to the magical community!” Flora screamed, her primal terror clearly overcoming the pain of the boulder pinning her in place.
“I am not trying to minimize your situation, Flora, but honestly, you started it.” I released the prong, and sighed when it held. “Just one more. I’ll leave the last one broken for insurance purposes in case you act up.”
“It’ll repair itself,” Harding whispered from ten feet away.
I jumped—and then let out a ragged breath when Flora’s soul stayed put.
“Way wrong time to pop in, Harding,” I said, rebuilding the second prong. Most of the time, when I got this far in ripping out a soul, I went through with it. I was fighting against muscle memory right now, and more than a little worried I’d mess up.
“I’ve been around, watching from a distance. You have a certain way about you, you know? It’s thrilling.”
“No, I do not know,” I said through clenched teeth.
“That is why Hades was banished to the Underworld, with his disgusting, cowardly magic,” Flora spat, her arrogance helping her fight her fear.
“Did it ever occur to you that maybe the reason Hades slipped under the earth and Poseidon dove into the deep oceans was to get away from Zeus carrying on about himself, his courage, and his schlong? That must have gotten old. I’d find somewhere else to be, too. Honestly, you and your people are about as dumb as a box of hair. I’d take Hades magic over yours any day.”
Harding laughed. “Good one. You’re definitely one of us. Sure wish you’d been a Demigod so they’d care more.”
Sweat dripping off my brow, I slowly disengaged from her soul, then took a step back. I took a long, steadying breath. “It’s good. We’re good.”
“Jerry, roll the rock off her foot,” Kieran said, lowering the water back into the crevice and walking around it to get to Flora. I went with him. “Zorn, anyone left?”
Zorn emerged from the rock fort Jerry had created as we neared Flora. “Of theirs? Six. Three are very badly hurt and might not make it. The others will need medical attention but should be fine.”
“Bria should be waiting a couple of hundred yards down the hill with the four-wheelers and the flatbed trailers,” Kieran said. “The injured can be transported on those.”
“When did you give her that directive?” I asked, my heart squishing, remembering the moments when I’d thought she had turned. “It’s not like her to skip a battle. Not for any reason.”
“And she didn’t skip this one. I told her to take out any transportation Flora might have, then go along the outskirts of the battle on the way to checking on the kids, taking out anyone she ran across. I’m sure she took out one or two enemies, at least.”
“But…why her? Were you worried she was the leak?”
“I knew she wasn’t. Bria’s too smart to betray a Demigod. In her field, she’d run the risk of becoming unemployable. I knew she wouldn’t want to fight another Demigod unless we were going in for the kill, and that you’d be handling cadaver duties, so I figured I’d use her in another way. She saves face, you get your kids checked on, we have transportation for the injured, and she still gets to take out some enemies. Wins all around.”
I touched his arm, not really able to believe my love for him could grow even stronger. Bria was great in combat and we’d had less people than the enemy, but instead of pushing his own agenda, he’d put her needs first and given her an out. From what I was learning, not many leaders would’ve done that. Not many leaders would have allowed people as intimate with our plans as Red and Bria to hang around without a blood oath, either. He was one of a kind.
He smiled at me. “Let’s get this all cleaned up, and we can get out of here. If we don’t leave soon, I have a feeling this town is going to chase us out.”
“He’s of Zeus’s line,” Flora said, sitting up with a pained wince as we stopped next to her. Her leg was in bad shape, and I kept from looking at it to avoid losing my last meal. “He belongs with me.”
“He belongs with whomever he chooses,” Kieran said, looking down on her coolly.
“Noble words coming from someone that’s here for the same reason I am. You Drususes have always thought you were above the rest of us. Well, I have a prosperous territory, too. And I—”
“Let me just stop you right there.” Kieran lifted a hand. “I am not here to secure the Thunderstroke. I am only here to prevent you from unlawfully forcing a magical worker to join your organization. After this, if he is willing, I will transport him wherever he would like to go, and there I will leave him, in anonymity if he so chooses. If he would like to join you, he will contact you. If you try to force his hand, you will, once again, come up against me. Next time, however, I won’t stop the Soul Stealer from turning you inside out and using you like a puppet. Think it through.”
Flora stared up at him with a moving mouth, no sound coming out. I was pretty sure it was the last thing she’d expected Kieran to say.
“We’ll round your wounded up and deposit them in town,” he went on. “Hopefully you were nice to the townspeople, since you’ll now be in their care. See you at the Summit.”
He turned away, thoroughly dismissing her, and scanned his people. He might not make arrogance an art, but he sure could turn it on when he wanted to.
Amber stood with her weight on her uninjured leg, the other blackened badly where the bolt had struck. Thane leaned against a tree, his perfectly cut torso on display, marred with charred smudges. His vest lay at his feet, and I could just make out a blistered hole in it, plus the blackened remains of what had to be his shirt. He’d obviously been struck, but while his shirt had literally gone up in flames, he didn’t appear to have sustained any lasting damage.
“Are Berserkers immune to lightni
ng?” I asked as Kieran inspected a large gash down Red’s back. Boman stopped beside them, his pants only singed at the ankles, already digging for supplies to patch Red up.
“Not totally, no.” Thane rolled his massive shoulders, and a ripple of power ran through his muscles. “It still hurts like an absolute beast. I barely stopped from changing.”
“Wait…” I bent to touch the scorched hole through the vest. “You were still in human form when this hit you?”
“Yes. I sure would’ve liked to get free, but you all had it locked down. I didn’t want to piss on your parade.” Each word was laced with a growl. It sounded like he was still resisting the urge to go Berserk.
Dylan waited just beyond the tree that Thane was using as a leaning post, his hands in his pockets, watching Kieran move through his people.
“Hey,” I said, stopping beside him. I’d just get in the way if I tried to help the others. I was better at causing the mess, not cleaning it up.
“Hey,” he replied softly, no longer as cool and confident as he’d been in battle. The training had fallen away and now he was just a guy again, maybe not quite sure where he stood or what he wanted.
“You okay?” I asked.
“I’m not hurt, if that’s what you mean.” He pointed toward Thane without looking. “Did I hear that right—he got struck by lightning and didn’t go Berserk?”
“Yeah. Crazy, right? The hole in his vest was pretty big.”
He let out a slow breath. “I have never, in my life, heard of a Berserker who could take a hit like that without tearing the whole place apart. That’s incredible.”
“Kieran has gathered a pretty incredible team.” I chewed my lip as I stood beside him, both of us watching the others. “Look, I’m really sorry. We tried to be careful. I fucked up your life, and I realize that. I’m in your debt.”
“I checked your house this morning, to make sure you’d gone.”
“So did Flora’s people, apparently.”
“Biggest mistake they ever made.”
A glance revealed his lopsided smile. “Bria isn’t subtle when she takes care of business. Poor Jerry probably doesn’t know what he’s in for, hanging out with her.”
“How’d you know Demigod Flora had found out about me?”
“They passed us on the road. They weren’t subtle about who they were.”
“That’s the funny thing—Demigods usually aren’t. They’re so used to being on a pedestal that they never think to hide their talent or their status. Even the Demigods sitting over failing territories puff up like peacocks. A level-five leader of a prosperous territory is still just a level-five leader. It isn’t specifically called out, but they are deemed lesser than.”
“Yes, well, thank God, right? Because it helped Kieran and his people identify her.”
He turned just a little so he could look at me. “My point is, your outfit didn’t come in that way. You tried to fit in, and you accomplished that goal perfectly. I didn’t even know you were in town until I physically saw your mark. I’d heard about the Hammermil house selling, but that was it. No one knew anything else. The names on the paperwork didn’t lead anywhere—I checked.”
“Kieran is good.”
He shook his head. “I don’t think you realize how strange Demigod Kieran’s outfit is. When you came back, I figured it was some sort of trick…until you started ripping souls out.”
“Right.” I tightened my lips, feeling like he was making a point that I just wasn’t getting. I said as much.
He huffed out a laugh. “Something isn’t adding up, that’s my point. I don’t understand this, and I don’t trust what I don’t understand.”
“Fair enough. For the record, I’m the one that’s not adding up. I’m sure Kieran’s situation would make a lot more sense if he didn’t pander to me. My life has always been a mess. He probably thinks it’s easier to just go with it than try to fight it.”
“That’s the thing. Demigods don’t just go with things.”
“Most of the Demigods you’ve known probably weren’t sequestered on small islands with their tortured and slowly dying mothers, either. We all have bad crap in our lives. Sometimes you just have to make the best of it and push on. Anyway, look, I know you have a lot to think about”—his expression closed down—“but we both know you can’t stay here. Kieran can help you disappear again, if you want. You can start over. That doesn’t cover the debt I owe you, obviously, but it’s something. It’s an apology.”
He was staring at me again, perplexed. “I thought you guys wanted me in your crew?”
I frowned. “I thought you didn’t want to work for a Demigod again?”
“I don’t.”
“Right, well… Sorry, I’m confused. What’s the problem?”
He threw his head back and laughed. “It’s just…I was in the magical world for a while. I took an immortality blood oath, so I’m older than I look…”
“Most people seem to be, yeah.”
“I’ve never run across someone like you. I might not have left if I had.”
I rolled my eyes. “First, you were chained to a bed by a psycho half the time. How could you have met someone like me? That’s not my jam. Second, you were chained to a bed by a psycho. No one would’ve decided to hang around after that. No way.”
Bria walked past before doubling back and spreading her arms at me. The hair at her temple was matted with blood and a dribble had dried down the side of her cheek. “I heard you killed my lookalike? What a bitch, seriously. That could’ve been me.”
“Imagine my disappointment when I learned it wasn’t. What’s up with your head?”
“Yeah.” She fingered the wound. “I’d just taken out one of theirs, and I look in the trees and see my face staring back at me. It was a trip! I jumped out at myself, clubbed me in the head, and took off running. I’m not going to lie, I could’ve killed her, but I hesitated. It’s a weird damn situation trying to kill yourself. What a trip!” she repeated, and then laughed. “Hey, Dylan, what are we doing with your Chesters? Do they need a ride back? I don’t want to ask them myself—the old guy keeps aiming shotguns at everyone. I don’t have fast healing powers, as you see, so I’m not trying to get shot.”
“I’ll be right there.” He turned to face me and then enveloped me in a tight hug. I could feel him shaking, as if the touch was an unwelcome feeling but the act of a hug was worth it. It probably had something to do with that psycho. I accepted it gladly. “Thanks for coming back. You evened the score. No debt to repay.” He held both of my shoulders. “Tell Kieran thanks, but no thanks. I’ll make my own way.”
I nodded at him, feeling a tinge of sadness at parting. I hardly knew the guy, but I felt for him. “If you ever need anything, look us up. We have a place to stay if you ever want to slip back into the magical world.”
He winked. “Maybe I’ll take you up on that, someday.”
I watched him stride away before glancing off in the direction of the cabin. I needed to check on the kids. They were probably worried sick. Then we needed to get out of here before the townspeople went for their pitchforks.
It wasn’t until I turned to join the others that I noticed Harding sitting off to the side, his lurking well past creepy at this point.
“Don’t go telling me about some other rando that needs saving,” I said, striding past him. Weariness dragged at my bones. “This was not worth the risk.”
“Are you so sure?”
“Yes. Yes, I am so sure. Bugger off, Harding, would ya? I could do with a few days without you.”
He put a hand to his chest, his customary smirk never far away. “That’s hurtful.”
I shook my head and kept going, thinking over the battle. One Demigod down, one more to navigate before we even made it to the Summit. I just hoped the next one was a little nicer. I was tired of fighting for the right to freedom.
Fear coiled in my gut. Dare to dream.
21
Dylan
Dylan slipped into the café right before closing, his muscles sore and fatigue dragging at his eyelids. He couldn’t rest yet, though. He had a lot of work still to do.
Demigod Kieran, Alexis, and their group had left shortly after all the wounded were transferred into town. True to their word, they hadn’t pushed Dylan to join them. Kieran had simply given Dylan a card, wished him good luck, and walked on.
That would’ve been that, too. Had nothing else happened, Dylan would’ve gladly pushed them from his mind. Something about their group didn’t add up, and Dylan didn’t want to be on the wrong side of a blood oath when he figured it out.
But Alexis’s feisty young ward had hung back as the others walked away. She’d pulled from her pocket a folded-up piece of notepaper, the edges torn, as though it had been hurriedly ripped out of a notebook.
Looking straight ahead, she’d held it in front of her stomach between her first two fingers. “Kieran didn’t think you had much in the way of funds.”
“I have enough.”
“Enough means very little. Here.” She didn’t move, continuing to hold the paper low and between them, although her expression was studiously casual, as if they were having conversation about birds or trivial matters.
“What is it?”
“A fucking bomb.” She rolled her eyes. “Don’t tell Lexi I swore. It’s an account number. Just take the bloody thing and slip it into your pocket so those yuk-ups behind me don’t realize what I’m doing.”
Wrestling with a smile, he did as she said. Despite her age, he was half afraid not to. There was a raw, ruthless quality about her, like a feral cat.
“You don’t need a Demigod in your business, I get that,” she said, stepping back a pace. “You don’t need him trying to set up a new life for you, because then he knows your shit. That’s smart. But you still need money, and these guys don’t travel with nearly enough cash. On that paper is sign-on information for an offshore account. There is also the login information for a generic email. Log in to the email, change the password. Log in to the bank, change the password. That will effectively remove me from the equation. Transfer the funds to an account you set up. Close this one down. I won’t use it again after you touch it. No offense, but you get where I’m coming from. The account has two hundred grand in it. Choose a cheap town and it’s a good start. Good luck.”