Succubus Ascendant: An Urban Fantasy (The Telepathic Clans Saga Book 4) (10 page)

He set her on her feet. Whirling around, she looked back the way she’d come. She could barely see the open, lighted window in the attic of a three-story house halfway up the street.

“Now that you’re safe, we can go in and take them out,” he said grimly.

“Do you want to risk your men?” Irina asked.

“Not really. Why?”

“Just toss some tear gas through the window and stand back. We can dig the survivors out of the wreckage if you want prisoners.” She sent him an image of the trap she’d prepared.

He seized her arms and leaned down close to her face. “Did they hurt you?” His voice was fierce.

“No, they were actually fairly nice. Other than taping a stick of dynamite to my back. That kind of pissed me off.”

He stared at her. “Remind me never to piss you off.”

“I’m a succubus, sweetie,” she said, with a predatory smile that caused him to shiver. “Don’t mess with me or mine. Morrighan calls us the protectors of the Clan. Hugh started this. They blinded one of my lovers. Tried to kill my best friends. Do you really think I give a damn about whether they all go to hell now or later?”

He straightened and she could tell he was sending orders to the Protectors who must be hiding in the darkness all around them.

Seconds later, she heard several muffled explosions and saw several glowing, smoking canisters fly toward the house. One went in the open window in the attic, the rest broke windows on the first and second stories. 

They waited. Less than two minutes later, the top of the house exploded. The roof collapsed, and then so did the rest of the house.

~~~

Chapter 8

You see things; and you say 'Why?' But I dream things that never were; and I say 'Why not?' - George Bernard Shaw

Collin had more than two hundred Protectors staged to assault the house where Irina was held. When the house collapsed, they scooped up Hugh’s fighters that managed to crawl out of the wreckage.

As the emergency personnel showed up on the scene, the Protectors took control and directed the ambulances to the small hospital in Dunallen. Memories were implanted and the police and fire services believed that the house was unoccupied at the time of the “gas explosion.”

Between the hacking of Hugh’s computer network and the interrogations of the survivors, Collin was able to build a complete picture of Hugh’s operation. Over the following three days, Collin’s troops spread out and surrounded all of the safe houses and hiding places of Hugh’s forces in the Glasgow area. When they could, they quietly captured rebel fighters on their way in or out of such places.

A major force moved quietly toward the town of Ayr, south of Glasgow on the coast facing Northern Ireland. All indications were that Hugh was running his rebellion from an estate outside the town.

Collin’s strategy concerning the shipyard was working. Since cutting the utilities, over two hundred workers had come out and given themselves up. They told the Protectors that food was becoming a problem with no refrigeration. The more immediate problem was sanitation. With no working toilets, almost all of the few women inside came out.

Rebecca joined the force heading to Ayr. As she scrambled into a van filled with Protectors, she heard someone call her name. Turning, she saw Rhiannon running toward her.

“What are you doing here?” Rebecca asked.

“I flew in from Dublin. I heard that you’ve located Hugh O’Neill.”

“We think so,” Rebecca said cautiously.

Rhiannon looked into the van. “Teddy,” she said to a man sitting there, “catch the next ride.” She punctuated the order by gesturing with her thumb.

He blinked. “Who are you?”

“I’m Corwin O’Neill’s granddaughter. Out, or I’ll tell the world about what your mum used to do on Wednesday afternoons.”

Teddy’s eyes grew wide, and he scrambled out of the van.

“That’s a good boy,” Rhiannon said with a wink. “I’ll bring you some of those cookies you like when I get back.” She crawled into the van and took his seat.

*
What was that about?*
Rebecca asked as she got into the van.

*
Teddy’s mum used to get together with Corwin on Wednesdays when Teddy’s da was in Derry on business. Corwin bought him off with cookies.*

*You’re shameless. Do you know that?*

*I didn’t ask for Corwin’s death gift, but knowledge isn’t any good unless you use it.*

*But ... blackmail?*

Rhiannon turned a beatific smile toward her, one that reminded Rebecca of the visions she’d seen of the Goddess.

*Rebecca, I’m a licensed private investigator. I’m not your run-of-the-mill blackmailer. I’m a professional.*

*I’ll remember that.*

They rode for an hour in silence, and then Rhiannon sent a spear thread into Rebecca’s mind,
*You’re one of those people who can’t be blackmailed.*

*
Why do you say that?*
Rebecca asked.

*
Did Brenna explain what happened when we shared Corwin’s death gift?*

*Not in detail, no. But I was there, and I’m linked to both of you. I could feel the chaos.*

Rhiannon laughed out loud.

*Chaos? You have no idea. Rebecca, when we shared Corwin’s mind, we also shared each other’s.*

Rebecca turned to her, mouth gaping.

*
You called me shameless, but I’m really not. My skeletons are legion. Most people are that way. People don’t understand blackmail. You can only blackmail someone if you can find something they’re ashamed of. You have no shame.*

*You’ve been in Brenna’s mind and you think that?*

*You’re not the girl you used to be. The woman you are is shameless. You made a conscious decision to dump shame in the toilet and flush it. Instead of feeling shame, you just get angry at people who try to shame you.*

Rebecca thought about that for several minutes.
*Is that what Brenna thinks?*

*It doesn’t matter what Brenna thinks, or what I think. Tell me one thing that you’re ashamed of.*

To Rhiannon’s surprise, Rebecca blushed.
*I forgot to brush my teeth this morning. It’s been bothering me all day.*

Rhiannon erupted with laughter so loudly that the men in the front seat of the van turned to look at her.

“Oh, Goddess, I forgot how much I enjoy you,” Rhiannon managed to sputter.

~~~

The force driving down to Ayr from Glasgow numbered almost five hundred Protectors. They were joined by another three hundred that flew in from Edinburgh and two hundred that arrived in Ayr harbor by ship out of Glasgow. Collin had no intentions of letting Hugh or any of his adherents escape.

The shipboard troops disembarked and quietly took control of the harbor. Half of those who came in by plane took the airport, and the rest fanned out and cut off all the roads out of town. Masquerading as Scottish National Police, one hundred Protectors took up stations in the city.

The force Rebecca and Rhiannon rode with donned battle gear and surrounded the estate where Hugh had his headquarters. At noon, the Clans’ Protectors moved on the rebels throughout the Glasgow region, in concert with the opening attack in Ayr.

The response from Hugh’s forces at the Ayr estate was immediate and violent. Heavy machine guns opened fire. Fireballs were launched at the attackers. Despair and futility were broadcast using Empathic Projection.

The Clan forces responded in kind with rifles, submachine guns and fireballs. With both sides protected by air shields, it was a lot of noise and flash without much damage.

A telepath’s power comes from his or her own physical and mental energy. Part of Collin’s plan depended on getting close enough that the six Druids, augmented by Rebecca and some others, could begin to use their Energy Draining Gifts to drain energy away from the defenders and feed it to the attackers.

“We need to get closer,” Rebecca said. “I can’t do anything from this distance.”

She turned to the Druids crouched with them behind a stone wall. The closest one shook her head. “I can’t either.”

“Well, hell,” Rhiannon said. “I can do something. We don’t have time for this.”

She stood, and began walking forward, covered by her air shield. The front door of the manor house suddenly crashed inward, the thick wood shattering. The next thing Rebecca noticed was the machine guns, one by one, going silent.

A fireball splashed off Rhiannon’s air shield. Bullets ricocheted off of it. She continued to walk, and the sounds of battle diminished. The Clan forces held their fire, staring at her in awe. The entire battlefield fell silent.

Rhiannon stumbled, caught herself, then sank to her knees.

*Rebecca, I can’t hold my shield,*
she sent, then fell on her face.

Rebecca raced from her cover and, reaching her friend, extended her air shield to cover them both.

“What the hell?” Rebecca said to no one in particular.

“She expended too much energy. She’s exhausted herself,” a redheaded Druid who had followed her said. “She needs an energy infusion.”

The Druid put her hands on Rhiannon’s back and Rebecca could feel the energy flowing.

“Be careful. Don’t exhaust yourself,” Rebecca said.

“No danger of that,” the Druid said with a smile. “I took five lads last night to prepare for today.”

“I’ve never seen anyone pass out like that,” Rebecca said. “I’ve seen people tired after a battle, but not like that.”

“You’ve never seen anyone release that much power before,” the Druid said. “Hell, I’m fifty years older than you are, and I’ve never seen that much power released either.”

Rhiannon stirred and they turned her on her back.

“What the hell did she do?” Rebecca asked.

“Listen,” the Druid said.

“I don’t hear anything.” Indeed, total silence had fallen on the battlefield.

“Exactly,” the Druid said. “She killed them all with a massive blast of Neural Disruption.”

“But we’re still three hundred yards from the house,” Rebecca protested.

“I’m aware of that,” the Druid answered.

“Holy Goddess,” Rebecca breathed.

Another Druid reached them and extended her hand to touch the fallen woman. Rhiannon’s eyelids fluttered and then she opened her eyes, looking at Rebecca.

“Well, I’m not dead,” Rhiannon said, “because you’re no angel.”

She turned her head and smiled at the redheaded Druid. “But you might be.”

The redhead laughed. “Nay, not in this life. I’m just Emily. That was a pretty impressive display.”

“Stupid,” Rhiannon said. “I got angry.”

“You have the Krasevec Gift,” the other Druid said, referring to what was commonly called Distance Communication. It enhanced a telepath’s other Gifts. “But that was still impressive.”

“She’s an impressive woman,” Rebecca said.

“How many ...?” Emily asked, her eyes flicking to Rebecca.

“Fifteen Gifts,” Rebecca answered.

“Goddess,” the other Druid breathed.

Rhiannon struggled to a sitting position. “Hell, what are we sitting here for? Let’s go see what a mass murder looks like.”

“There might still be ...” Rebecca started, but the look on Rhiannon’s face stopped her.

“No, I can’t feel anyone,” Rhiannon said. The Druids helped her to her feet.

Protectors swarmed around them, weapons at the ready and air shields deployed. They walked toward the manor house, passing the machine gun emplacements and dozens of bodies on the way. When they reached the house, Rebecca motioned to the shattered double doors.

“I shaped an air shield as a battering ram,” Rhiannon said. “I was going to tear the house down with air and Telekinesis, but then I realized I didn’t have to go to all that trouble.”

“How strong is Brenna going to be?” Rebecca murmured.

“Stronger than me already. Stronger than Seamus O’Donnell, stronger than Niall,” Rhiannon said, referring to the legendary High King from whom the telepathic aristocracy, O’Neill, O’Donnell, O’Conner, O’Byrne, and all the rest, traced their heritage.

“Niall is in your memories?”

“Yes, he was in my and Corwin’s direct lineage. He’s the only one in my memories who had all four Rare Gifts. Except Brenna, of course.”

They walked through the house. Bodies of people lay everywhere, twisted into grotesque positions, along with a few dogs and a cat. Rebecca saw a mouse lying in a corner. The Protectors silently fanned out to the upper floors. The silence was eerie, but no one seemed in the mood to break it.

The task force leader approached Rebecca.

*
My men report three hundred seventy-two bodies in the house and surrounding area. We haven’t found anyone who survived.*

Rebecca nodded. *
I didn’t expect survivors. I should say that she didn’t expect any survivors.*

*She’s Lord O’Neill’s granddaughter?*