Chosen Destiny (18 page)

83

Rebecca Airies

“This is the coven house. There isn’t any danger to me here.” She tugged her arm

free, irritated. Tossing a ball of light into the air, she wanted to argue, but this wasn’t

the time or place for it. Even though she expected it, the pointlessness of it made her

angry.

“Someone is obviously giving a Dark Sorcerer information and you were concerned

enough to bring others with you. We don’t take chances.” Jaeson raised a brow in clear

challenge.

“Not for the time of getting the artifact. I was more concerned about an attack after.

Any spies here will know I didn’t come here just to talk. The piece will be safe, but we

can’t leave the coven to face what will probably be waiting for us when we walk out of

here.” She shot a glare at him and stalked to the opening in the wall.

“I’m concerned about an attack here and now.” Jaeson’s voice came from just

behind her.

She tensed. She hadn’t even heard him come up behind her. Moving down the

stairs, she focused on the uneven steps. Jaeson’s hand settled lightly on her shoulder.

The gesture reminded her of his ridiculous concern. She shrugged, but his hand

remained where it was. As tempted as she was to pull away from him, she wasn’t

irritated enough to do it on the stairway.

“It doesn’t make any sense. It will take time for the spy to get a message to the Dark

Sorcerer.” She took the final few steps and tugged away from his loose hold.

“And what if she’s not only a spy?” Jaeson asked.

Meagan looked around the large circular room. Shelves lined the wall. Objects lined

most of the shelves, but books lined a few of them. She had no idea what most of those

things were. She hoped they weren’t as important as the generator.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“I mean that the witch might not just be a spy,” Jaeson said.

“The generator piece is over here. I want you to take it somewhere and hide it so

that it won’t be a threat to us.” Elder Dahles stood beside a wooden table.

Her hand rested on a fairly large, rounded object with what looked like a yellowish

crystal on one end of it. The dragons and vampires moved forward to look at the

generator piece. Meagan hung back, not that interested in seeing the piece. She was a

little curious about everything else in here. Could the elders be sure that the generator

was what the Dark Sorcerer was after in all of this? It could just as easily be one of the

books or one of the other artifacts. The elder walked over to Meagan. It was then that

Meagan saw that the elder was holding a large book.

“Meagan, I need you to see to the protection of this, too.” Elder Dahles held the

book out in front of her.

Meagan took the book. “Do you want either of these things back after the battle

with this Dark Sorcerer is finally finished?” Meagan asked.

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“We’d like the book returned. The other, it would be better if it disappeared

forever,” Elder Dahles said. “If movement is seen in the ruins, check the book and the

one that should be hidden in your sect. There’s a clue to where the other piece is hidden

in the fallen town.”

“I’ll keep the book safe. How can you be sure the generator was what they were

really after?” She leaned a hip against the wall, glancing over at Samiel and the other

men, who were still talking.

“Something one of the Sorcerer’s minions was heard saying as we fought them.

That soon they’d control this area and dragons and vampires would be kept out.” Elder

Dahles grimaced. “That generator is the only thing that would let them even try that.”

“There’s no other weapon here, is there?” Jaeson asked from across the room.

“No, the rest of this stuff cannot give or take power. There are a couple of keys, but

they could only be used by certain people.” Elder Dahles looked around the room and

smiled. “They’d be useless to a Dark Sorcerer even if he or she knew what they

opened.”

“Jaeson,” Meagan called. “Could you come here?”

He turned and walked over to her. She could see the question in his eyes. “Is

something wrong?”

“I need you to take this to the lair. The elder would like me to keep this safe until

the Dark Sorcerers are stopped.” She smiled at Jaeson and handed the book to him.

“I will, but you don’t leave here until I get back. Did you want the generator kept

intact or is it all right to destroy it?” Jaeson asked.

“If all of it or even part of it can be destroyed, do it. That can’t be allowed to fall into

the wrong hands.” The elder said firmly, and without hesitation.

“I’ll see you soon. Don’t go anywhere, Meagan.” Jaeson’s hand brushed her cheek

just before the mist surrounded him. “Could you remove the shielding around the

coven house or possibly just this room for a moment? Taking these things out into the

open wouldn’t be a good idea.”

The elder nodded. Meagan felt a pulse of power. “It’s done. You can leave from

here with it.”

Meagan watched as Danan lifted the generator. Grae stepped close and formed one

of those enveloping tunnels vampires produced. She eyed the dissipating remains a

little enviously. She’d like to be able to find out how they did that if it was even possible

for a witch to do it. She’d love to exit a tunnel she created and not feel as if she’d been

shoved.

“How long do you think it will take Jaeson to return?” Elder Dahles looked a little

uncomfortable as she watched the dragons and vampires in the room.

“Not long. He’s overprotective and I’m not really sure he trusts me to follow a

simple sensible suggestion.” Meagan shrugged. She didn’t know how long it would

take him to get to know her.

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Samiel walked over to her and put his arm around her. He frowned down at her,

but didn’t say anything. She was a little surprised at his restraint. She would have

thought he’d tell her what he was thinking no matter who was in hearing range. Jaeson

appeared. He looked around the room and smiled as he spotted her. He strode over to

join them.

“It’s about time you got back.” Maxim stepped forward to meet them. “We’ve all

been waiting for you. It’s time to go see how well-connected this Dark Sorcerer is. If he’s

not, we need to make sure he learns that we have what he wanted.”

“The sorcerer won’t go away just because I took a few moments to make sure the

book was in a safe place.” Jaeson dropped a kiss on her cheek and patted Samiel’s butt.

“If everyone’s ready, let’s go.”

“I’m ready. Let’s see if we’ve made someone nervous or angry.” Meagan smiled.

“Thank you for trusting us with this problem, Elder Dahles.”

“Thank you for helping us. We’re expecting the attacks to continue, but with the

help from the dragons and vampires, we’ll hold the village. We just needed to be certain

that didn’t fall into the Sorcerer’s hands.” Elder Dahles hugged Meagan.

“There might be a few strong retaliatory attacks, but they won’t focus on the coven

house any longer.” Samiel sounded absolutely certain.

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Elder Dahles led the way up the stairs. Meagan followed immediately but found

herself in the middle of the group. She didn’t try to weave her way to the front. She just

chalked it up to overprotectiveness and the men not knowing her yet. She hoped that

would change with time. If it didn’t, she’d change the way they saw her. When

everyone was out of the room, Elder Dahles sealed it. Meagan said goodbye to the other

elders and left the room in the middle of the group of men. Meagan flexed her fingers as

she drew closer to the door. Nervousness, anticipation grew slowly. She didn’t call her

blades to her, but the urge was there. Something was going to happen. She hoped she

was wrong, but she doubted it. A hand on her right shoulder surprised her. She glanced

to the right and saw Samiel watching her.

“Relax. We’re ready for any attack.” Samiel’s hand tightened.

“I’m always tense when I know there could be an attack.” She shrugged. It seemed

like a normal reaction to her.

Jaeson looked back at her and smiled. “It’s just a dragon thing. You’re with him so

you should be relaxed when he’s anywhere near you.”

“Kind of egotistical. Especially, since I wasn’t really fearing the Dark Sorcerers, just

nervous about what they’ll do.” She slid a grin over at Jaeson.

Samiel moved a step closer drawing her attention. An eyebrow was raised in

arrogant challenge. “You shouldn’t worry about anything when I’m near you. Well,

except for me.”

Meagan laughed and the tension inside eased but it came back once she watched

the doors open in front of them half-expecting to be attacked even before they stepped

out of the building. The dragons and vampires fanned out as they descended the steps.

She once again found herself behind a wall of males. She shook her head and pushed

Jaeson’s shoulder. When he half-turned, she slipped between him and Samiel. Arguing

about it wasn’t going to make them change. It was going to take time for that to happen.

She was going to be at their side in battle even if she had to keep pushing the issue.

Meagan swept her eyes over the people walking down the street. She didn’t see

anyone milling around the area or watching them. She suspected the Dark Sorcerer or

one of his minions was there, gathering strength and trying to find a weakness. They

could teleport out of there without going any farther, but they wouldn’t learn anything

about their enemy if they did.

Jaeson’s head tilted and he put his hand on her arm. “Don’t use your magic for a

little bit.”

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Meagan raised her brows but nodded. She wondered what had caught his

attention. She thought it had to be some kind of magic he sensed, but without her

blades she couldn’t sense even a hint of magic. She didn’t call her blades, but she was

curious about what he felt.

“Do you feel that, Jadin?” Jaeson asked.

“Witch magic, but tainted. It’s a first for me. I’ve never encountered a Dark

Sorceress before,” Jadin responded.

Meagan’s heart lurched. Dark Sorceress. She’d known it was possible for a witch to

choose the wrong path, but she’d never thought she’d even see one in her lifetime. She

couldn’t understand why a witch would betray her teachings and her friends. Who was

it? Which coven did she come from? Meagan knew it could easily be a woman from

either coven. With the two cities so isolated by the mountains around them, the witches

moved freely and were quite friendly.

“Are you sure?” She looked over at Jaeson, hoping that there was a chance he was

mistaken. Mainly because she didn’t want to think one of the women she’d worked

with so closely had plotted to destroy the cities.

“Yes, there’s no doubt about it. There’s a Dark Sorceress here now. I can’t tell what

she’s doing, but she’s doing something.” Jaeson’s hand settled low on her back and

began rubbing in slow circles.

She relaxed into his touch. “Probably creating trouble. We’ll find out soon enough.

Are we going to stand here blocking the stairs or can we move?”

“We want to be near the coven, but we can go down the street a little bit.” Samiel

nodded and stepped away from the stairway.

Maxim and Jadin began walking slowly down the street to the left. Jaeson’s hand

guided her to the right. Only a few people were out strolling now. They were familiar.

She knew she’d probably seen them in the village on other visits, but she didn’t

recognize any of them from the coven. Even as she continued to search for some sign of

attack, she knew the woman probably wouldn’t show herself. She’d hidden among the

other women of the coven for a long time. The witch was obviously smart and wanted

to use her connection to the coven for as long as possible. If she attacked, it would be

from a distance. It infuriated Meagan. She wanted to find the woman now and stop the

traitor from doing any more damage to the covens.

A scream drew her attention away from her thoughts and the street in front of her.

Another scream sounded even as she spun. She fully expected to see a
merdanon
on the

street. She first saw Maxim and Jadin in the middle of the street. What she didn’t see

was the big gray body of one of the Dark Sorcerer’s creations. The running people told

her that in spite of the absence of the big beasts something was wrong. She began

walking up the street. Her eyes slowly scanned the street as she drew closer to Maxim

and Jadin. She was aware of Samiel and Jaeson at her side. They’d shortened their stride

to match hers. A streak of red-brown caught her eyes. The streak stopped near a wall.

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She almost couldn’t believe her eyes. Yellow fur stuck up on its head and arms. The

beast shrieked.

“Well, that looks like one of those beasts on the picture, but it’s certainly not acting

intelligent.” Samiel’s head tilted.

“They don’t feel much different from
merdanons
,” Jaeson said. He frowned as the