Blood Finale (God Wars #5) (10 page)

That's not good. How much influence do you think Hordace might have over the local politicians?
I asked.

If the enemy has taken over, they're likely bowing and scraping to that bastard now,
Lendill said, his mental voice expressing anger and disgust.
Are Jett and his crew there with you?

Not yet—when we found out that Du'Ferias wasn't our first stop, we asked them to wait until we had a better handle on a final destination.

Good. I'll ask them to keep me informed, and I'd appreciate it if you sent regular mindspeech, too. I love you, Cheah-mul. Don't forget that.

I won't,
I acknowledged.

What are you doing at the moment?
he asked.

Waiting for transport. I assume we're being taken somewhere. The others are shielded and invisible to all except each other and Kay. She's terrified.

No surprise,
Lendill said.
I would be as well, if I were being taken to my torturers
.
Do you know where you are?

At the space station for the moment. Most inbound travel has been diverted—I assume you had a hand in that?

With Ildevar and the twenty, yes. Outbound travel is also put on hold. I can only imagine that your craft was unregistered?

Unless it's registered to the Cayetes Alliance
, I replied, my mental voice dry.

Let's hope that Alliance doesn't expand,
Lendill's sending was just as dry.

I worry that it will,
I responded.
Look, a hovercar just arrived. I'll contact you later.

See that you do, Breah-mul.

* * *

Tybus responded to the limited space inside the hovercar by turning all of us to mist. We fit into a small space overhead as Kay was herded into the vehicle with Rezil, the Sirenali who went by Fe'rangl, plus the wizard and two bodyguards.

I felt Farzi and Nenzi's discomfort—they were coming to like Kay very much and both wanted to eliminate those who now sat around her while she trembled.

"Hordace is waiting for you," Rezil grinned at Kay, making her shrink away from him. With Tybus' apparent disappearance and Rezil's belief that Tybus (as Teeg) was dead, he'd reverted to himself in most respects. Tybus' last command, however, was that neither Rezil nor anyone with him would harm Kay.

Aurelius and I helped in that respect—we watched closely and sent mindspeech to Kay whenever she seemed overwhelmed. Farzi and Nenzi watched even closer—Tybus and Aurelius might not have to destroy Kay's guards—the reptanoids would likely get there first.

Tybus kept us as mist when the hovercar pulled to a stop outside Noppen's Presidential Palace. Covering nearly a city block, it housed the President, his family, the servants and his advisors.

Architecture is nice
, Tybus sent as he surveyed the building. Of course he'd notice—he'd designed many palaces in his day. His work was so much better than this, however.

You think President Utrill will allow Hordace to take over, or will he be Cayetes' hand puppet from now on?
Kevis asked.

It doesn't matter at this point,
I said.
Noppen has pulled out of the Alliance. They're on their own, now. Wait until the population figures out that Noppen is mostly industrial, with very little agriculture. If Cayetes and the enemy don't kill them, they'll likely starve, especially since their president has threatened Wyyld—enough that Ildevar intends to move the planet
.

Where Wyyld moving?
Farzi asked.

Into an orbit around Falchan's sun,
I said
. Li'Neruh Rath says that he can place them in an orbit to keep their seasons much like what they have now. They'll adapt easier.

Understand
, Farzi replied.
Look—they move
.

He was right; Rezil moved Kay toward a side entrance; the Sirenali and the others followed. Tybus moved us overhead, in case we were needed quickly. With another Sirenali likely blocking any information, I had no idea what we'd find once we passed through the guarded door.

* * *

Noppen—present

Kay's Journal

You can do this
, entered my mind. One of those with me was offering encouragement, but my mind was so frozen with fear I didn't recognize which one. The door was getting closer—the door that would lead me to Hordace Cayetes. I shuddered and found myself hoping that Q'Ind Ribalo was far away. That hope was probably an empty one—Hordace kept Q'Ind close most of the time.

The guard at the door opened it for us and I was ushered inside.
We're right over your head
, Reah soothed as I stepped timidly across the threshold.

The interior was dim but warmer than it was outside—Noppen was currently in its third season, which was fall-like with lower temperatures. I shivered anyway as warmth from solar-heated panels enveloped us.

The walk was a long one, down the initial corridor to a set of stairs normally used by servants or employees, away from the public eye. Unless I missed my guess, the public would no longer be welcome inside the Presidential Palace.

We climbed three flights of stairs as increasing dread threatened to still my numbed feet. That meant Hordace was waiting on the top floor—likely in the President's lavish suite of offices. If he wasn't sitting in the President's chair already, he would be there soon enough.

When we arrived outside the wide, double doors leading into the President's suite, my breath threatened to stop altogether. I was petrified.
You can do this,
the voice came again. A male voice. At least I knew that much. Rezil nodded to the guards who stood at the doors, and they were opened to allow us inside.

* * *

Reah's Journal

Kay muffled a scream and struggled in Rezil's grip—she wasn't thinking clearly, else she might have blasted him with a thought. Hordace Cayetes, Q'Ind and Q'And Ribalo, a Sirenali and several others waited inside the Presidential offices.

"Ah, Kalia," Hordace smiled. That smile was vicious, conniving and murderous. "Come in. I have questions. Q'Ind will see to it that you answer all of them."

Q'ind's smile was just as horrifying as Hordace's, as he drew a thin-bladed knife from a leather holster clipped to his belt. Kay cringed as a sob escaped her lips. Hordace's Sirenali stood nearby, waiting for a command to place obsession on Kay.

Kay, change the Sirenali's lines
, Tybus coaxed, attempting to draw her attention away from those who only wished to torment her. Hordace was shorter than I'd imagined—the few photographs available on the ASD websites were poor, as Hordace often killed anyone who held an image of him. I didn't wish to speculate on his sexual preferences, either.

My love
, Aurelius' mindspeech drew me to the one actually sitting in the president's chair—it was neither Hordace nor Noppen's president. The president stood behind this one, obviously obsessed.

Had I not been mist, I would have gasped aloud. A rogue god rose and stared directly at Tybus' mist before raising his hand. If I hadn't seen what happened next, I'd never have believed it.

The rogue god screamed before his body dropped, face-first, onto the President's desk. Hordace shouted for his guards to protect him as the rogue's body began to shrivel.

Kay?
I shouted mentally. Was she doing this?

What is happening?
Kay's mental voice trembled. She wasn't the one responsible for sucking the power from a rogue god. I understood what was happening, now—Kevis had reached out to the shrinking body, before providing us with the knowledge of exactly what was occurring.

Matters became complicated when Ranos pistols were drawn and Hordace's guards fired at everything surrounding them. Chunks of plaster flew from walls and windows shattered around us. Everyone who was mist wasn't in danger, but Rezil dropped beside Kay—dead before he hit the floor, his head blown apart.

Aurelius and I shielded Kay from the pistol blasts as both guards at the door died behind us. Kay screamed, then screamed again as blood, wood, plaster and glass rained around us.

It time
, Farzi snarled as he and Nenzi dropped from Tybus' mist. Both whipped their lion snakes toward Hordace and his crowd. As it turned out, it only took the space of two blinks for the worst criminal in either Alliance to die from lion snake bites, and his guards, minions, the president of Noppen and the Sirenali died with him.

* * *

Tybus' Journal

It was more than fortunate that Ildevar and Li'Neruh Rath moved Wyyld when they did. The shell they left in its place was blasted to atoms when the Ranos cannon fired following the President's death on Noppen.

Somehow, that act was triggered by the President's death and not the demise of the rogue god. I felt the Sirenali had placed obsession on those whose fingers were on the trigger, but that was no longer our concern. Part of our target had been eliminated, but Song and Serenade were still out there.

"We'll still have to travel through the jungles of Du'Ferias," Aurelius said as we surveyed the bodies littering the floor around us. None of them were whole—Ranos fire will destroy most anything when shot from such close range. Farzi and Nenzi didn't care that our next destination was Du'Ferias; they'd shielded themselves and dispatched an enemy who deserved a far worse death, and jungles were no obstacle to them—their lion snakes could comfortably move through the worst any jungle had to offer.

"You think we'll find the contact information there? For Song and Serenade?" Kevis asked.

"I believe so; I'm sure Hordace left someone in command," Reah said. "We'll ask questions later, when Kay feels better," she added. We needed information from her as to who might be left in charge of Hordace's empire. It was my guess that there were plenty of pedophiles in Hordace's ranks, since he was Song and Serenade's best customer.

"I want to know what happened with the rogue god," Aurelius said. "That was completely confusing. Helpful but confusing," he amended.

"Let's make arrangements to get to Du'Ferias," I suggested. "We can talk about fortuitous events as we prepare for jungle travel."

"I'll contact Jett," Reah offered.

"There's something I have to do before we go," Kevis said. We all felt it when the Ranos cannon supplied by a rogue god became dust—Kevis didn't want it used again. Noppen had played its hand—and lost.

"Good," I nodded at Kevis. "Let's get out of here before all of Noppen arrives on the doorstep," I said and folded us back to Campiaa.

* * *

Ashe's Journal

"That seems to have worked," I offered dryly as Charles stood and stretched, a lazy smile on his face.

"It did. I don't feel half bad. Power is power, it doesn't matter where it comes from," he added. "Not with us, anyway."

"Thank goodness for that," Breanne shook her head at Charles. He leaned forward and kissed her.

"I need to contact Kaldill Schaff," Charles said, after pecking Breanne a second time. "We'll track others, and Kaldill can help with that."

"You shouldn't let anyone else know we're back," I pointed a finger at Charles. "We're not ready for a war, yet."

"I know that," Charles chuckled. "That's why I'm going like this."

I blinked at what was suddenly before me—a hooded figure with no discernible features inside the hood.

"Weird," Breanne mumbled, hunching her shoulders.

"Call it anything you like," Charles said. "This will work." He disappeared before either of us could stop him.

* * *

Calhoun worried that the General would destroy everything around him. That included a planet that Calhoun and others were carefully preparing to take, but the General was angry and held little regard for anything or anyone else.

"One of mine, shriveled and dead, even the spirit obliterated," the General shouted. "Find out how this happened. Immediately!"

"As you desire, General," Calhoun bowed and folded away, afraid of what the General might do next.

* * *

Quislus studied the body. He'd searched the area surrounding the Noppen Presidential Palace, but found no evidence anywhere that the spirit inhabiting the body still lived. The holes from Ranos pistol blasts would have been held at bay with the normal power of even the lowliest of gods. This one—one of the Hidden—had been of the Pan'Warha and quite powerful in his own right. Quislus had supplied the body only a day before.

Yes, Acrimus had created Quislus, and made him capable of killing, just as the Koh'Ahmari had suggested. Mortal spirits were so simple to dislodge and send on their way, leaving a viable body for a rogue god to inhabit. So much more could be accomplished that way—if the races believed they were made in the gods' image.

He couldn't help but recall what the Koh'Ahmari had told him, too—that he would trap him as bait to call the General forth. Quislus had been just as shocked to have the General show up as he had, but as a result of his actions, he was now under the General's scrutiny and Kifirin was just as dead.