Chosen (The Chosen Few Trilogy #1) (22 page)

YORK, ENGLAND

I sat across from Lucy, a
chess board between us. It was my move. I couldn
’
t take my eyes away from her red-rimmed stare.

The chess set forgotten, Lucy said,
“
I miss her, dad. I miss her so much.
”

“
Lucy-
”

“
No, dad. Where did she go? What did I do?
”

“
It wasn
’
t
you,
”
I told her.
“
Your mother-
”
how could I say
I don
’
t know?
How could that ever be good enough?

I hung my head
. “I still look for her sometimes. On the internet. I trawl through websites of missing persons.”

“I know.”

I had feared my confession migh
t upset her, but in an
adult way she had simply being waiting for me to open up.

“
I failed,
”
I said.
“
Her, and you,
”
I looked down.
“And…and I think I’m going to end up failing
these
people.
This power
they say
that
I have? It exists, Luce. I can feel it inside me. But I can
’
t seem to draw it out. I think between Kisami, Ken and me, we
’
re the only ones who
’
ve failed.
”

Since
Raychel left I hadn’t succeeded at anything.

Why
w
ould I start now?

Later that night I got called into the conference room again. Instantly, I knew we had trouble. I had never seen Myleene looking so stressed.

She walked up to
me, her eyes glistening with
fear.
“
We don
’
t know the full details, Logan, but Ashka
’
s got Belinda. And the
Trevochet
’s
. She captured them coming back to York from the airport. She
’
s holding them at the old Bonding Warehouse.
”

I stared at her in
horror.
“
The
Destroyer
Ashka?
How do you know?
”

“
Kinkade.
That place has been abandoned for years, but the Gargoyles are active. We
must
help Belinda, she is vital to
everything
but we can
’
t risk everyone.
”

“
I
’
ll go,
”
I said without hesitation. Then I thought of Lucy.
“
But I made my daughter a promise that I wouldn’t leave her alone again.
”

“
She won
’
t be alone,
”
Myleene said
.
“
We are only sending Mai, Giles, and Lysette
, and you. People we can trust.
”

Cold.
I stared into her hard eyes.
“
Is
…
is Belinda alive?
”

“
No reason why she shouldn
’
t be. Our enemy can
’
t know how we use the Gargoyles yet.
”

“
This means
the traitor, if one exists, is almost certainly one of the Eight.
”

“
A fair deduction,”
Mai looked bright and happy under the circumstances, the darkness of her eyes offset by several diamond studded ear
piercings
, blood-red lipstick-
at least I hoped it was lipstick
- and even a touch of electric blue eyeliner. And that ’rising-sun’ smile.  A vampire I h
adn’t see
n
before glowered
at her side.

“
You have to go now,
”
Myleene said
.
“
We
’
re being forced to act quickly. Christ, we can
’
t find Felicia, and Ceriden
‘
s too important
to risk.
Our poodle
would be an asset,
but we can
’
t waste time checking under every tree and bush.
”

“
They say a female dog is a bitch,
”
said a voice from behind me.
“
But the more I mix with humans, the more I seem to find among
you.
”

I turned, relief evident in my voice as I said,
“
Felicia. Thank God.
”

Felicia winked at me and grinned nastily at Myleene.
“
Get together soon,
”
she said with a little finger wave and walked out. I followed her at a run.

“
Wait, Felicia. We have to round some people up.
”

“
Everyone
’
s in the car, Logan,
”
she said without turning or slowing down.
“
We
’
re just waiting for you.
”

And then she
did
turn round with a toothy grin.
“
Let
’
s go get your girlfriend.
”

3
4

YORK, ENGLAND

There was nothing subtle about the way we hit the Bonding Warehouse. As we approached, Lysette, seated in the passenger seat of Giles
’
Chrysler
, saw a woman standing in the shadows outside the long-abandoned restaurant.

“
That is Ashka,
”
Lysette said
after a moment
.
“I read her briefly.
And, believe me, that’s a one-time only deal.
”

“
Bad vibes
?
”
I ventured.

“
Horrific,
”
Lysette shuddered.
“
Pure evil.
She was human once, and had her
power
forced upon her by a demon-
she thinks. But she remembers
little of her humanity.
One thing s
he remembers
is
going outside for a smoke.
”

“
Our bloody gain,
”
Giles said, and aimed the Chrysler at her.

All hell broke loose. Ashka leapt out of the way, her angular features hardening and her eyes flashing with fury. The Chrysler crashed through the half open
door of the Bonding Warehouse,
sending planks of wood and rusty metal
flying
. The car slewe
d to a halt about halfway across the rubbish littered floor,
having spun
back around to face the way it had come.

Ashka stood motionless, framed in the shattered doorway.

Doors were flung open. We all dived out. Giles left the motor running.
A
glance revealed Belinda chained to a far wall, her head hanging in a way that chilled me to the marrow. Lying at her feet was a man in a wheelchair, the chair having been upended. The
man’s
hands scrabbled u
selessly as he tried
to
extricate
himself from the chair.

Then-
oh God!
Natalie
Trevochet
was swinging beside Belinda, but her neck was in a noose. Her legs
kicked
wildly. Adrenalin
surged through my body
.
She was being strangled to death before
her disabled husband’s
eyes
even as I watched!

I ran. Nothing had prepared me for this. My feet flew and my heart pounded. As I ran I shouted, screamed at the woman to hold on, t
o slip the tips of her bloody
fingers under the rope.
Just one more second!

I got there. I hoisted her legs so that the rope became slack. I looked up into her eyes.

She was alive, and conscious.
“
Hold on,
”
I mouthed, then looked back to see how the others were faring.

Ashka had not moved, but was flinging her arms to left and right,
unleashing
horrifying visions into the hearts and minds of my friends. I staggered as an image beset me, almost losing my hold on Natalie
Trevochet
’
s legs.

Belinda, chained as she was now, but not here. Instead, inside a vast underground cavern that dripped with rank water and smelled of blood and death. The centre of the cavern was heaped with bodies. Indeed, it was a
mountain
of bodies, all ripped flesh and broken bones. Most of them wore army gear.

It is your future!
Ashka
’
s visage flew at me out of the dark, making me duck and cover. Natalie
Trevochet
choked as the rope grew taught. I slammed my body back upright and caught her swinging legs and heaved again.
Please,
I thought.
Don
’
t fail now. Please God, I can
’
t fail this poor woman.

I watched, unable to move, as Ashka flung vision upon vision at my friends. Felicia ran at her, blonde-hair flying, then fell to her knees amidst the rubble and started beating at her
own
body in horror. I saw Mai take up a splinter of wood and try to pierce her own heart. Her friend Vipas saved her by wrestling her to the ground. Both vampires rolled for a second and then, with stunning speed were suddenly up and streaked to within a metre of Ashka. But the Destroyer flung hell at them again, sending them both to the floor in imagined anguish.

And then Ashka reached behind the broken warehouse doors and pulled something out of the darkness.

My God.
A
broadsword!

Ashka held the weapon high as she
advanced upon the helpless Ubers. I screamed their names, trying to penetrate the miasma that clouded their brains. Then I hea
rd a loud noise and saw Lysette moving away from
the Chrysler
as Giles slammed the boot shut. In one hand Giles held a small pistol, which he handed to Lysette
. With the other he loaded a
shotgun by jerking it upwards in a smooth, practiced motion.

Come on, Giles.

Behind me I heard
a low moan. I turned
. Belinda was staring at me, shock and horror etched across her face. If ever we needed the
world’s
best, it was now.

“
Can you get free?
”
I cried.

Belinda wrenched at her bonds. The rope held, but slackened. She would free herself, but maybe too late!

I turned back to a si
ght that filled me with
horror. Giles
was on
his knees. He had turned the shotgun on himself. In another second he placed the weapon in his mouth and tightened the trigger.

Lysette
barreled
into him. The shotgun discharged, its blast taking concrete chunks out of the far wall. But Giles wasn
’
t free yet. He was fighting Lysette off, and trying to swivel the gun barrel towards her.

What the hell could I do? Feeling inadequate, desperate and desolate I stared up at Natalie
Trevochet
, asking a question with my eyes. Could I waste her life to try to save seven others?

Natalie
Trevochet
stared down at me with
understanding.
It was as if she could read my mind. Then she closed her eyes. A signal of acquiescence.

But her husband was one of the Ei
ght! He was squirming
on the floor, screaming now as h
e saw my dilemma. In a
second of indecision I turned back to the other scene.