The Council (Darkness #5) (15 page)

Something clicked deep inside. Snapped closed. Aligned.

I took a huge gasp. The air was so sweet that it should’ve been illegal to be poured right into my lungs. The magic was so hot it should’ve burned me alive and saturated my body. My blood sizzled. My bones hissed. My fingers tingled.

I opened my eyes as laughter bubbled out. Elements danced all around me. Laughing and playing, magic invited me to join it. I didn’t need to suck it in; I needed to simply flick the elements in a direction. I held hands with them at all times. Would hold hands, always.

“We are special, Sasha,” Cato was saying in a hushed bubble that surrounded us. His eyes sparkled as they held mine. “We have a rare gift, and a dangerous burden. If we survive this day, I will show you.”

“Why didn’t you show me this sooner?”

“I had to know your merit, of course. Fate-touched does not always mean good. Nature is both brutal and beautiful. A forest fire, causing mass destruction and death, is necessary for rebirth and new life. I had to know which you were. One to destroy, or nurture.”

“I hate that you are even more long-winded than Charles.”

Cato laughed. With a flick of his hand, the bubble evaporated. Screaming and yelling assaulted me immediately. Swords clashed.

“What’s happening?” I yelled, looking around wildly.

Mine and Cato’s crew stood within the room staring out at struggling and fighting men and women I did not recognize. Mage June lay on the floor, unconscious—hers was probably the link I found. The door had been closed, and now only the hole in the wall stood agape. Except, those trying to burst in froze in midair amid sparks, which led immediately to screaming.

Cato had some sort of protective spell in place. I didn’t have time to analyze, however.

“Andris has been busy. There will be a great cleaning of the Council today.” Cato glanced over my people and let his eyes settle on me. “Rudy is unimportant. I had reports of one of your clan members—Jessie, I believe. He stole one of our vehicles shortly after your motorhomes exited the premises. If all goes well, he is still on your side. If not… hopefully he works with the enemy and you know how to track a cellphone.”

“Jessie!” Hope surged into me. Whether he was a traitor or not, he could definitely lead us to Andris. We just had to hope he still had his cellphone. And also that Charles knew the name of the nerdy guy in the mansion who always played video games. He was the electronic genius of the clan.

“Okay, we gotta go!” I slapped Charles to get him to focus. “We have to get out of here somehow.”

“What about Toa and Dominicous?” Charles yelled over the din.

“I will tell them whence you’ve gone.” Cato leisurely strolled toward the back of the room. “I am sure I will see them. Dominicous will be stuck in the middle of it. Until he learns of the more important battle being waged, of course. He will not resist Fate’s pull. But then, who among us can?”

“I am so tired of hearing about stupid Fate,” I muttered, the elements pulsing around me.

“Come out of there, old man! You’ve been crowned long enough!” A colossal guy bent to look through the mouth of the hole.

“Getting out of here is going to really suck,” Charles groaned, his grip tightening on his sword as he stared at the man.

“Here we are.” A click sounded at the back of the room, barely heard over the fighting outside. Cato gestured us closer as a small door cracked open. “Every important official has an escape chamber, whether they were told about it or not. I am a crafty old fool who has learned a thing or two in his years.”

“Please don’t ever be my enemy.” I rushed in that direction, Jonas and the wolves at my back.

“Where do you think you’re going?” The man straightened up, his stomach nearly filling the entire hole. Muscles waved, his limbs organizing something out there I wanted no part of.

The wolves loped out ahead of us. I paused for Cato as the spell on the house fluxed and bent. It pulsed again, a surge of color visible for one moment, before fading away into the light of the room.

“Oh dear, someone has unleashed a demon.” Cato waved me through. “That won’t be much fun.”

Unleashed sounded to me like something with free rein. Which sounded like a distraction Andris might use—let it loose to rip the place apart and take off so he wouldn’t be followed. It still fit.

A new blast of urgency hit me. I motioned for Cato impatiently. “No, you go.” He was old after all. I half-worried Charles would have to carry him.

The wrinkles around his eyes creased as he smiled. “No, no. I will not be joining you. The battle lies beyond.”

“But—”

A blast took apart another chunk of wall, spewing wood and debris into the room.

“Go!” Charles yelled, shoving me through the door.

“But—”

My protesting didn’t matter. Charles picked me up and carried me through. We filed into a tunnel, pausing at a crossroads for the wolves to break up and scout it out, and then come back and stare at Tim.

“Right! Go right!”

The shoving started again as the weak protective spell on the house flashed.

“What about those plane tickets?” I yelled back.

Muffles and explosions echoed through the walls. We passed the opening of a corridor that carried echoes of battle, someone shuffling toward us quickly.

“Regardless, we gotta get out of here. Ann!
Ann!
” Tim yelled into what I assumed was the phone. “We’re headed outside!”

“She’s still inside?” Charles and I yelled together.

I tried to stop, but damned Jonas kept shoving.

“Yeah, we’ll be right there. No, she’s in a car at the north end. I got a text earlier. Keep going!” Tim shoved Jonas and Charles, who in turn shoved me.

Sprinting now, following the wolves’ lead. When they hit a questionable spot, they broke up, scouting out and coming back; so much faster on four legs. Through the middle of the building we wound until we neared the exit and I tripped over something in the way.

Charles scooped me up in a bear-hug before I could hit the ground. I was shoved roughly against the wall and smothered by a hard back. Opposite, Jonas and Tim held a smaller creature against the wall.

“Please. Please don’t hurt me,” a man begged.

I punched Charles to get him out of the way and stepped forward, recognizing that voice. “Congratulations, Harry, you just got picked by Fate. Welcome aboard.”

I turned toward the wolves. “Bring him. They’ll just kill him inside. He’s too nice for his own good.”

“But my mistress. She’s fighting in there,” Harry pleaded.

“Stop talking like that, Harry.” We ran, Harry carried along with us. “And if she left you behind, she couldn’t have been that worried.”

“She was protecting me. She told me to hide until it’s over,” Harry sobbed.

“Jesus.” By the disgust in Jonas’ voice, I could tell he wanted to drop Harry. He did not like sniveling.

“Well, you’ll hide a little further away than she originally planned. But don’t worry, if any of us, or them, live through this, we’ll get you back to her.”

His whimper indicated I could’ve broken that to him a little easier than I did.

I blamed Cato for putting the thoughts in my head.

A spell whizzed by Dominicous’ ear as he ran through the halls, trying to reconnect with Toa. He’d been sitting with Kallias, discussing plans, alliances, and the sudden interest in Sasha and Stefan Cato had taken, when news reached them of Andris’ and Trek’s escape from one of Kallias’ informants. They barely had time to speculate when the door splintered and three guys came barreling through.

Kallias was getting up in his years, soft and complacent—he hadn’t stood a chance against the behemoths that surged into the room, not even with his magic. Tessa, a quiet female with lethal sword-work, also backed by Kallias, stood over his lifeless body, smeared in blood, after she and Dominicous had dispatched the challenge.

There was no time for tears, though. Whoever had freed Andris had started a war, and they were cleaning out the good Council members to be replaced by the bad. Or not replaced at all. Wiping everyone out meant starting from scratch. It meant no leadership for their people. It meant their enemies had time, space and resources to chase after their expectations.

It meant the Europeans had a green light to move in and take over.

Dominicous had just landed in hell and he didn’t know who was a good guy, and who was bad.

He also had no idea where his daughter was.

He dodged the swing of a glimmering red axe waved by a human without magic. The color wasn’t from power. Dominicous’ sword swung, slicing through an arm—giving him time to slip by. He didn’t want to kill anyone until he knew more.

Breath coming out in even pants, he dodged a fist and ducked past an attack. A door swung inward as he raced past, someone in white robes rushing out with a gun and a sword. A second glance revealed Filacious raising his gun, aiming for Dominicous.

So, bad guy, then
.

He slowed in time to heft a knife out of his belt. He threw it up, snatched it by the blade, aimed and threw in a few quick movements. The blade blossomed in Filacious’ neck. The gun clunked to the floor.

“Dominicous!”

Toa’s white head appeared down the hall, his arm waving an arc through the air. A large man stepped up to his side, knife held low, body bent.

“Look out!” Dominicous screamed.

The blade sparkled once as the dawn light from the windows caught it, before it stabbed towards Toa’s side. The breath caught in Dominicous’ throat… for no reason. A flick of Toa’s hand and the man flew back. Toa followed with a sword through his attacker’s gut. Feathery blond hair swished from Toa’s face as he once again faced Dominicous.

“You’re a pain in the ass, but I’d hate to lose you,” Dominicous breathed when he got closer.

“Yes, well. Where is Sasha?”

Dominicous spun toward someone with a leather vest and long curved blade. Mage Marius jogged to a stop in front of them. Blood spattered his face. “Have you seen Constance? I lost her in the lobby. It’s mayhem.”

“Yes. I saw her with Cato.” Toa glanced around to pinpoint his location. His head whipped north. “They were headed that way.”

“Towards the demon.” Mage Marius spat out a curse under his breath.

“A demon?” Dominicous breathed. “Andris.”

“It would seem. We better help. I know how to cut one off from the source.” Toa’s head dropped. “We should’ve killed him when we had the chance.”

“I would’ve,” Dominicous pointed out. “As I recall, you fought against it. Wanted to get Cato active again, if I remember correctly. Thought that would wake him up.”

“Can you guys argue another time?” Mage Marius started off at a jog, Dominicous and Toa right behind him.

“Sasha?” Toa reminded as they ran.

“I haven’t seen her. I heard a whisper that Stefan might’ve been taken. Hopefully, if that was true, she went for him before all this.”

“She got out?”

“I don’t know.”

As they ran, Mage Marius shot a grayish-white ball in front of him. It pulsed and throbbed through the corridor ahead of them, causing anyone in the way to flee lest they get trapped in it.

“I have not seen a spell like that travel so quickly,” Toa said.

They emerged into the wide open, colors whirling and moving as swords slashed and jabbed. A howl sounded way in the front, a claw rising over the heads and hacking down with incredible force. A group of people fought, working together, trying to bring the thing down.

At the front stood Cato, ten yards from the front entrance, leaning against a couch with his head down and eyes closed. Five men stood around him as protection, facing off to a group of six on the attack. Two lay dead and bloody on the floor, eyes staring. There was no way to determine who the dead belonged to—whether it was the attackers, the defenders, or both. Beyond them fought a crowd of people and one intensely strong demon, so powerful that it stood completely corporeal, moving so fast its limbs got lost in a blur.

“I know how to cut it off from this world,” Toa shouted as he ran up, a wary-eyed defender of Cato stepping to cut Toa off.

Cato glanced up and looked at Toa out of a face lined with fatigue. “Link with me. Pay attention to how you do it.”

“I know how to link,” Toa grumbled as he stepped forward.

Dominicous turned to the six attackers, all tired and drawn. They’d obviously been ordered to kill Cato, but looked like they knew they were no match for his defenders. The question was: would they die trying?

“Are you linked with anyone else?” Toa asked above the demon’s roar. It slashed through someone, ripping the body in half.

“Three, but they are secured in the rooms.”

“Is Constance with them?” Mage Marius asked in a harried voice.

“Yes.” The word was nothing more than a wheeze.

“Hurry Toa,” Dominicous called, stepping forward with a grin for the would-be attackers. Grins with swords always threw people off. “It’s probably sucking all the energy out of him.”

“You act as if I have not done this before.”

“Even in the middle of battle you’re snotty.”

“Must you two always fight?” Mage Marius asked. He whisked an intense spell up and fired at one of the attackers. As if shot by razor blades, gashes opened up half the male’s body. Blood seeped out from over a hundred cuts.

“Learned something from the human, eh?” Dominicous asked with a welling of pride.

“Anyone can get lucky.” Mage Marius lifted his chin in defiance.

“Uh huh.”

“You have the same power as her…” Toa’s breath drifted away into the room, colored with shock. “One in a million. How have you kept this a secret?”

“Notice how you are linking. I do not link like others.” Cato leaned heavily on the couch, his eyes fluttering, his breath forced out in pants. “This is to protect you. Sasha does not know how, though. You must adapt her to human magic. You must show her…”

“Talk after!” Dominicous roared. “Get that thing out of here.”

The demon howled, its monstrous jaws snapping. The tiny black eyes stared directly at Toa. Horrible scrapes and scratches hissed out of its mouth, trying to speak.

“Please tell me you don’t understand it,” Dominicous mumbled.

Cato slumped to the ground, face drawn and white. Toa staggered forward and braced himself. “Dominicous, I need more.”

Dominicous felt out and linked immediately, feeling a huge chasm open up before him filled with a pit of infinite magic. A sea of it, huge waves swirling and crashing, kept at bay. Toa didn’t need power, he needed energy.

Finally, Dominicous completely understood what Sasha had and what Cato had. They would never run out. They would never yank and twist and pull, trying to get every last drop of the elements to accept the invitation into their body. They had all that at their disposal, constantly. Instead, they would not remember to turn it off, and the magic would rage through their bodies, draining them of every last drop of energy until it completed its directions.

Dominicous had never felt so happy to have the kind of magic he did, even though he wasn’t white. It could be worse. It could be infinitely worse.

“Miraculous,” Cato breathed, his body limp as it rested against the back of the couch where he sat. “I would not have thought to go in that way. Much easier, though much more strain magically. More to do.”

“He never stops talking,” the defender next to Dominicous muttered in companionship as the last “maybe I just won’t bother” attacker turned and found somewhere else to be. “On and on he goes.”

As an afterthought, he nodded at Dominicous. “I’m Jim.”

Energy sapped from Dominicous’ body as he stood and waited. “Dominicous. He say anything about the black human?”

“Black human? The one with Julius?”

“No, not skin color. Black, as in magic level.”

“Oh, right. Yeah, that other guy is red, I think.”

“A black level
female
.” Dominicous had the impression this guy wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed.

“Oh right. Yeah, she took off with a bunch of wolves. Can you believe that? Intelligent wolves. It’s weird, man. An animal… that is a human. Anyway, he kept muttering about a link reformed or some damn thing. Said she was going to fight some kind of fated battle, or some form of stupid fantasy shit. I’m not into that kinda stuff. More a mystery guy, myself.”

Dominicous no longer had the energy to punch him in the mouth to shut him up, but he really wanted to. “Where?”

“Where’d she go, do you mean? Oh, she took off down that secret corridor with all them animals and whatnot. Gonna grab a plane to—somewhere. Oh wait—they didn’t know where. That’s right.”

With a final roar that shook the building, the demon dissolved, splashing the floor with thick black sludge. A weight snapped free from the center of Dominicous’ chest, having him pitching forward without the energy to put his hands in front of his face. His face slapped off the ground.

Cato sat right where he was. He did not bother moving. “As I was saying…”

Jim rolled his eyes and jerked his head. “See? Picking right up where he left off—that’s how much the guy talks. You need a hand up, man?”

“You need to push her harder, Toa.” Cato panted for a moment, his breath ragged. “You need to get her on the brink before she will open up to it. She’s a scrapper. She didn’t grow up poor, but she grew up deprived. She fights for survival with her teeth. She needs to be on that stake, with the flames licking at her feet, before she’ll fully give in to it.”

“There he goes with that black foot again. You’d think it was some kind of trophy.” Jim shook his head and glanced out at the battle still raging on.

“She has come extremely far in just a few months,” Toa answered just a tinge defensively.

A huge male with blood splatting half his body jogged out of the crowd. His fierce eyes found Cato, half-dead and exhausted, sitting on the ground. His eyebrows dipping low, he started forward.

“I got this, bro.” Jim jogged forward with his sword. Two other guys jogged forward with him.

Good. Dominicous didn’t have much left. Not at the moment, anyway. He needed a Gatorade.

Cato sighed in fatigue. “Well, we will part here. I have to rest before I can be of any help. I’m not sure what state this place will be in, but if I see the other side of it, we will meet again.”

Toa glanced up at Dominicous with a confused expression. Dominicous said, “We have some traveling to do.”