Succubus Ascendant: An Urban Fantasy (The Telepathic Clans Saga Book 4) (21 page)

*
Her backup plan, in case everything else failed, was to go to Hong Kong and hope Jill would take her in,*
Moira sent to the group.

Jill’s eyes filled with tears. *
We were friends, but I didn’t consider us that close. Does she really feel that alone in the world?*

*
Completely alone. You’re the only person she’s ever known that showed her kindness. The emotional scars are impossible to erase without changing who she is. But I think we can give her a life going forward,*
Moira sent.

“Galina,” Rhiannon said. “Do you want to be Clan Chief, or do you want asylum? If you want out of Russia, we can take you to the British Isles or America, or even to Hong Kong.”

“You make it sound as if I have two options. Why would O’Neill and O’Donnell care who sits in the Romanov seat?”

“Because I plan to kill Sergei Gorbachev,” Irina said. “If we had an ally in Romanov, then we might also consider taking control of the Gorbachev Clan. But we can’t do that with Romanov as an enemy.”

“And because we’re trying to end the slave trade,” Rhiannon said. “We don’t want telepathic women trafficked anymore.”

“I don’t know if I could do that,” Galina said. “The business is so profitable.”

“Von Ebersberg got out of the business,” Rhiannon said. “At least the trafficking of telepaths. I wish I could have ended all of his trafficking, but that probably would have gotten Siegfried deposed by his sons.”

Galina’s eyes widened. “You! You’re the woman von Ebersberg’s sons were looking for. Rimma Gorbacheva!”

Rhiannon smiled. “I might have used that name once or twice.”

~~~

Over the following days, Moira and Jill worked with Galina. Sometimes Irina joined in. Using the intelligence they gleaned from her, much of it with her active cooperation, the Protectors began laying plans to assault Viktor and the younger Alexander on news of their father’s death.

Galina’s captured men were carefully vetted for loyalty to her and several manipulations to their motivations were implanted. Then they were used to gain access to her country estate and various business interests. Rhiannon led those efforts, ruthlessly searching for spies from the other Romanov factions or from Gorbachev.

Anyone who was found to be less than loyal disappeared. Vladimir’s team took them to the train station, put them to sleep, and put them on a train to Minsk, in Belarus, without their papers.

The joke was that Belarus was still a Soviet state at the time, and without a passport or visas, they were detained by the Belarussian KGB. At that point, they would be considered spies by the Kovalchuk Clan who controlled the KGB.

When Moira announced that it was safe to take the blocks off Galina’s Gifts, Rhiannon contacted the Irish Clan Chiefs. That evening, Galina was invited to the dining room. In addition to the four women she’d had the most contact with, Vladimir, Andrei and Mikhail also were there.

“Galina,” Rhiannon said, “our information is that your father has at most days to live. Do you want to visit him?”

Galina shook her head. “It’s too dangerous. Besides, he wouldn’t know me. He’s been almost comatose since his last stroke. But thank you for asking.”

“What do you want to do?” Jill asked. “We can get you out of the country.”

“You’ve spoken of backing me as Clan Chief. Was that just talk, or are you willing to take the chance I can do it?”

“It depends on what you plan to do if you take the seat,” Rhiannon said. “In exchange for our help, we want a number of assurances.”

“I understand that. If you want me to end the slave trade, I’ll need support for an extended length of time. And the war that will result won’t be quick or easy.”

“Yes, we know that. We would want the slave trade ended, yes. In return, we would offer trade and business opportunities to help fill the gap in your revenues. We would also want an alliance, an agreement of mutual assistance. The Irish Clans would support you against any aggression, but we would expect you to support us, also.”

“Yes. I’ve had a chance to think about this. I would agree to that.”

Rhiannon looked at Jill, who nodded. Almost immediately, Seamus, Fergus and Brenna appeared in the room.

“I’m not the one to work out an agreement with,” Rhiannon said. “That’s something Clan Chiefs do. But if you’re on our side, I’ll make sure you win that seat.”

~~~

The older Alexander was at the Romanov estate near Strelna, southwest of St. Petersburg. Viktor’s estate was nearby. The younger Alexander had an estate on the Neva River, southeast of the city. Both of the brothers’ estates were fortified and guarded in anticipation of a conflict. In contrast, Galina’s forces abandoned both her country dacha and her house in the city. As far as her brothers might know, she and her followers had disappeared.

In Russia, a
dacha
usually refers to a summer house outside the city. Usage of the term has changed somewhat over time, and currently it might be used for anything from a small shack to a huge mansion. The Romanovs’ dachas were definitely not shacks.

Jill had teleported to Ireland and brought Collin and Rebecca back to help with planning the operation. Andrei was the most experienced commander of the group in Russia, but none of them had ever been involved with a battle plan of the magnitude they were considering.

“I was talking with Antonia Federicci,” Rebecca said the morning after she arrived. “She was telling me that a true Storm Queen was able to do more than manipulate lightning. Everyone focuses on the ability to channel lightning because it’s flashy.” She paused, a crooked grin on her face, waiting for the pun to sink in. Amid the groans and a few chuckles, Collin threw a pencil at her, which she caught.

“What’s involved in a storm?” she continued. “Wind and rain or snow, sometimes lightning, right? Now, what is the basic threshold of talent to join the Protectors? Aerokinesis, so they can form an air shield. But the Gift can be used for a lot of other things.”

A breeze stirred in the still room, becoming stronger until papers began to flutter and the women’s hair fluttered. Then it died.

“If you have a hundred people with Aerokinesis, they should be able to link and create a hell of a lot of wind.”

“Goddess,” Rhiannon said, as memories of ancient battles surfaced in her mind. “Clan armies used to do that. Not only can you create incredible winds, you can move storms to deluge your enemies. But for an assault on a fixed structure, such as a castle, you can use the Corliolis effect to create a tornado.”

Collin looked thoughtful. “Do your memories include actually being involved in creating something like that?”

“Yes, and I have the Gifts to do it. In order to do it safely, you need someone as a focal point. Someone strong enough to dissipate it after it’s done its damage.” She was quiet for a while, searching her memories. “Rebecca, according to what you said, and what I can find in my memories, Antonia doesn’t have the Gifts to be a true storm queen, and neither do I. But we have someone sitting here who does.”

She turned to Galina. “Aerokinesis, Cryokinesis, Electrokinesis, and Magnetokinesis, with the Krasevec Gift. The perfect combination to create a storm.” She looked around the table. “I have what I’d need to create and control a tornado, so I can be the focus at one location. Galina can be the focus at the other.”

Galina didn’t look too sure. “I’ve never done anything like that. I wouldn’t even know how.”

“No problem. I have the knowledge in my memories, and I can transfer the knowledge to you.”

Collin spoke up, “Forgive my skepticism, but something that you’ve never tried isn’t something I’d want to hang the success of a battle plan on. I can envision all sorts of things going wrong.”

“Such as the tornado taking out all the friendly forces and leaving the enemy to die of laughter?” Andrei asked.

Rhiannon glanced at Jill. “We could go someplace to practice. How many people can you transport at once?”

“About a dozen,” Jill replied. “My range is unlimited, but I’d need a landing place. And we need someplace that’s completely uninhabited to practice.”

“I know the perfect place,” Rebecca said. “Last summer, Carlos and I went hiking in the Blue Stack Mountains in Donegal. We came across a dolmen that, to my knowledge, no one had ever reported. I called Brenna on my sat phone, and she and Collin teleported in. I can give you the image I sent Brenna.”

She projected the image to Jill, who said, “Yes, I can use that. You’re sure we won’t land on top of any hikers?”

Collin nodded. “It’s completely uninhabited and no one ever goes there, as evidenced by the fact the dolmen was completely unknown. There are some deer and other small wildlife, but I don’t think that will be a problem. If you can bring us in ten feet from the ground, I can use Telekinesis to lower us safely. It would work.”

He turned to Rhiannon. “Would a dozen people provide enough power?”

“I could create the tornado on my own. But we need to test if a linked circle can supply the power to make it larger and more powerful. A dozen people could do that. I mean, we don’t want to destroy the whole countryside.”

“When should we try it?” Andrei asked.

“Right now,” Collin said. “We need to know if it would work before we plan any further.”

Jill looked around the room, counting the people involved in the planning session. “Are all twelve of us aerokinetics?” Everyone nodded. She motioned to a clear space of floor, rose and walked to it. “Lock the door. We don’t need anyone coming in here and interfering with our return. Who besides Collin is a telekinetic?”

“I am,” Rhiannon said.

“And so am I,” Jill said.

They all gathered around her and held hands. The world turned black and they were in a place without light, sound, gravity, or any other earthly force. The sensation lasted less than a second, and then light returned. Hanging in the air, the group looked over a meadow high in the mountains. Rugged, rocky peaks ringed them. A golden eagle soared overhead and a small herd of red deer grazed several hundred yards away.

“Where’s the dolmen?” Jill asked as they floated to the ground.

Rebecca pointed up a hill. “It’s behind that copse of trees. It’s not very large, only about five feet tall. What’s unusual about it is the size of the rocks. Brenna speculated that it was built by children, just coming into their power. They used over thirty rocks, all between two hundred and three hundred pounds.” Modern scholars believe dolmen are Neolithic tombs, built with rough stones that usually weigh tons. The most well-known site of such building is Stonehenge.

“That would make sense,” Rhiannon said. “I used to build things like that when I was a teenager.”

Jill nodded. “So did I. What’s the largest stone you ever lifted?”

Rhiannon blushed. “Well, if you promise you won’t tell the English authorities, I got curious about the stones at Stonehenge when I visited.”

Jill laughed. “So did I. I lifted a couple of the bluestones. I think they’re around four tons.”

“I lifted one of the sarsen stones completely out of the ground,” Rhiannon said. “Then I got worried about whether it would stand when I put it back. Luckily it did.”

Jill’s laughter died. “The sarsen stones weight forty or fifty tons.”

“I didn’t try with the largest ones,” Rhiannon said.

“You scare the hell out of me,” Collin said. “Don’t tell Brenna you did that. She’ll probably want to rebuild the damn thing.”

“Perhaps we should play with the wind,” Rebecca suggested. “We don’t have a lot of time to spend here, and we didn’t bring lunch so we can’t have a picnic.”

Under Rhiannon’s direction, the group linked minds and then triggered their Aerokinesis Gifts.

“Okay, now don’t release the power, just channel it to me,” Rhiannon said. She felt the power flow into her, then projected it about two hundred yards in front of her, directing the air flows as her ancient ancestor had done.

The wind whipped up around them, growing stronger. The women’s hair flew about, and everyone braced themselves. The young eagle overhead gave an alarmed cry and dove to the shelter of the trees behind them.

A funnel of air gradually grew in the sky, pulling earth and debris into it. Soon, a hundred-foot dust devil whirled in front of them.

*
Can you move it?*
Collin sent.

Rhiannon pushed and the whirlwind moved away from her. A different push caused it to move to their right.

*
Is that as big as it’s going to get?*
Jill asked. *
Is that all of our power?*

Rhiannon poured more power into it, and the whirlwind grew, growing taller and wider.
*I could probably make it a lot larger,*
she sent. *
Do we want to do that?*

*I don’t think so,*
Collin answered. *
Do you still feel in control?*

*The control really isn’t a problem. What I’m worried about is having enough power to wind it down. I don’t think it will just stop if I withdraw my control.*

*Enough, then,*
he sent. *
Show us how to wind it down.*