Power (Soul Savers) (37 page)

“Well, he
did
always take the credit—or the blame, whatever you call it now. But Lucas
used to come back from battles completely pissed. He’d rant and rave about what
a pussy the so-called warrior was for not showing his domination over
everyone
.” Vanessa snorted. “And then
other times, Lucas would brag about how he got to rape all the women because
Seth wanted none of them.” She shook her head. “Disgusting, really, to hear
that from the man who was—” She paused for a moment, as if editing her
thoughts. “From Lucas.”

I lay in silence, letting the relief wash over me and
through me, cleansing my soul from that worry.

“I mean, don’t get me wrong,” the vampire continued, “I’m
sure he was responsible for many of their deaths. But rape and torture of women
and children? That was beneath him.”

I could accept that. After all, I already knew he had a dark
past, including murder and other heinous acts. I’d forgiven him for it all, but
still … somehow, knowing he didn’t partake in the Daemoni’s favorite past-time,
as Vanessa had just described it, made me feel better. And thinking about him
doing the right thing, even when he was at his worst, made me love him and miss
him that much more.

“We should get going,” I said, forcing myself upright.

Vanessa sat up again, too, and eyed the dried blood on my
torn pant leg. “What a waste,” she muttered.

My mouth twisted into a grimace. “Do you need to feed?”

“Well … I
was
just
shot. And we have our longest leg ahead of us.”

I pushed my sleeve up far enough and slid my dagger across
my wrist. She only pulled a few swallows before closing the wound up with her
tongue.

“That’s enough?” I asked. I hoped so. My body probably
couldn’t handle more, especially when there wasn’t exactly a Burger King or
Publix anywhere around.

“I’m good. At least, I am if we can rest for a while longer.
What about you?”

“Does it matter?”

She looked around at the barren landscape. “Good point.”

We lay down and watched the pattern in the sky slowly shift
for a couple of hours before returning to our journey.

The moon never seemed to move as we followed it over the
frozen tundra of Siberia. Several hours later, we finally stopped flashing
outside of a remote village near the Taymyr Peninsula. With Vanessa in the
lead, we hunted the area until we took down a mountain goat, then lugged it to
an abandoned cabin—if you could call the rickety structure a
cabin—where we’d fuel up and regenerate. We settled in a little after
midnight local time, and we would stay until sunrise. Today was the day we’d go
to Hades, and we’d both need our full strength. That meant Vanessa would get
another meal of me, and I’d need a sizeable amount of the goat that she showed
me how to cook over a fire.

Even after being shot, my body aching from all the flashing,
and my belly a little full, I couldn’t sleep. And it had nothing to do with my
surroundings, because when I closed my eyes, the cabin disappeared and I was
home with my two men. My heart ached with longing for them. Tears seeped
through my lashes.
If I make it through
today, I’ll see them again soon.

I’d already decided that if we survived this insane (
reckless
) stunt, we’d flash non-stop to
the nearest airport, call Mom, and have the Amadis jet pick us up and take us
straight home. First, we had to survive. And the reminder of what would come in
only a few short hours sent my heart into a gallop.

“Maybe if I drink now, you’ll pass out again,” Vanessa
suggested after a couple of hours of fighting sleep. She must have heard my
heart pounding, sensed my unease. “You’ll be no good if you don’t rest.”

Her idea worked. She drank. I ate. Then I passed out. She
woke me a few hours later, the gray light of dawn seeping through the cracks in
the walls. I stretched, feeling renewed and even better after eating more of
the mountain goat.

“So,” Vanessa said, standing at the door of the cabin,
watching the sun rise from behind the mountain. “You ready for this?”

Ready to meet the enemy? Ready to face my likely death?

“Not in the least,” I said, joining her.

“Well, then. Here goes nothing.” She paused, then added with
obvious reluctance, “Keep your mind open to me.”

We went over her plan once more, then moved out. I
unsheathed and exposed my dagger, ready for anything, and the feeling of power
rushed through me.

I’m going to need you
now more than ever, Cassandra.

“
I am here as always,
but you already have the power you need. Look to yourself, Alexis. The power
you and I share resides in your heart and soul
.”

What does that mean?
She didn’t answer, but I felt her with me, and for now, that’s all that
mattered.

Wanting to avoid as many people as possible for obvious
reasons, Vanessa took us the “back way” known by only the Daemoni elite. As
soon as we stepped inside an icy cave, the secret entrance to the underground
city they called Hades, my skin prickled and crawled. Every cell of my being,
all the way to my soul, sensed that we’d entered enemy territory. The waves of
evil energy strengthened as we descended down a dark tunnel carved into the
earth, wide enough for Vanessa and I to walk side-by-side, but Tristan and I
probably couldn’t. The air grew colder the farther down we went, but also
heavier, pressing down on me until I thought I might suffocate. The energy
thrummed in my head, and I could easily imagine the world collapsing in on us.

“
You should have warned
me you’re claustrophobic
,” Vanessa said.

I’m normally not.

“
Then you’re letting
their power get to you. Just breathe.
”

I nodded and tried to focus on the fact that we’d been lucky
so far—we hadn’t encountered a single Daemoni yet. But then I couldn’t help
but think how convenient that was. Breaking into the enemy’s compound shouldn’t
be this easy. Where were the guards? The locked gates and doors? The
ear-piercing alarms to alert them of intruders? Of course, they might not need
such mundane security measures. Perhaps we had already set off magical alarms,
and they were just waiting in secret foxholes to ambush us.

Unless …

“
Wow, you have serious
trust issues, don’t you?
” Vanessa broke into my thoughts, already knowing
where those thoughts led. “
I have the
Amadis mark now. The silver didn’t debilitate me. I took a bullet for your
ass—three of them, actually—and I haven’t killed you myself yet.
When will you start trusting me?
”

But why aren’t they
coming? Why haven’t they stopped us yet?

“
Because they’re arrogant
assholes. It probably hasn’t even crossed their minds that anyone but their
most revered would enter this way. They’d never imagine that I’d betray them.
If they even know we’re here, they believe what you were just thinking, that
I’m leading you right to them. But you’re both wrong.
”

I still couldn’t help but think she was setting me up, but I
repressed those thoughts, hiding them away from her. I still needed her help,
and making her angry wasn’t the best way to get it. I couldn’t mask my racing
heart so easily, but hell, we walked through the lair of my enemy. It’d be
racing no matter what.

The packed-dirt floor finally leveled out as a soft light in
the distance grew closer. We were almost at the end of what I was about to
determine an endless tunnel. Just as the corridor widened into a large room
with sconces of fire on the walls, Vanessa pulled me against the wall. Little
particles of dirt crumbled away as we pressed against it.

“
Anyone?
” she
asked.

Although I’d kept my mind open to mind signatures and knew
there were none nearby, I mentally scanned the area again. And bit back a gasp.
Two strange vibrations in my mental realm, one nearby and one several hundred
yards away. My first thought was Weres in animal form, but no, Weres still had
clear mind signatures with their human brains. These were more like something
trying to be a mind signature, but not quite …
there
. Faeries? Possibly, but I didn’t think so. It was more like
they hid behind veils, as if cloaked. I focused harder, trying to break through
the veils, and finally the signatures became clearer. I knew them both.

Kali
, I answered
Vanessa.
But that’s not all.

I peered over Vanessa’s shoulder with a small smile as the
owner of the closer mind signature came around the corner, although at first,
he couldn’t physically be seen. When he came to stand in front of us, he
removed the cloak.

Before I could do the same, Vanessa jumped at him and threw
her arms around his neck.

“Shhh,” Owen whispered as he extricated himself from the vampire’s
embrace. He tapped his blond temple, and I opened my mind for all of us,
although a sense of unease prickled the back of my neck. Something wasn’t right
here.

Have you been
following us the whole time?
I asked.

“
I knew you’d lead me
right here
,” he answered with a smirk.

“
And you made it!
”
Vanessa said. “
When I’d told you about
the village before, I never thought you’d actually find it.
”

“
I’m not stupid. I
waited there, knowing Alexis wouldn’t resist your offer.
”

My eyes tightened as that feeling of unease grew.
So are you here to help us? Or do you still
have your own agenda?

Owen peered at me for a moment. “
If you’re here to find the sorceress, our agendas are the same, aren’t
they?
”

With a clear connection to his mind, I knew that’s all he
thought about. Not anything about this being some kind of trick or set-up. Not
from Vanessa, either. But the thought still niggled its way under my skin.

Yeah, I guess so
.

If we were here only for my personal agenda, I’d do
everything I could to avoid Kali and just get my pendant back. But I needed to
find her to find the pendant, and, besides, I had the faeries’ agenda, too. If
Owen felt the need to kill the sorceress once we found her, well, he’d be
helping me out. My fingers traced the slight protrusion from the inside pocket
of my jacket, where the little jar for Kali’s soul was hidden. The faeries must
have given it some kind of protection for it to have survived in one piece
after everything I’d already been through.

“
Wait
,” Vanessa
said. “
Does Kali even have the stone?
”

I tried to latch onto the sorceress’s thoughts and share
them, but the powerful mage wasn’t stupid. She knew how to block me. Which
meant she knew I was here?

“
More like she doesn’t
trust anyone
,” Vanessa said. “
She
probably shields herself at all times, especially this close to the Ancients.
”

“
She’s the best place
to start
,” Owen said. “
Anyone else
nearby?
”

I shook my head.

Are you going to cloak
us?
I asked Owen.

“
It will make moving
more difficult. We need to be able to see each other, especially if we get
ambushed.
”

I nodded with understanding. At least, most of me
understood, but a tiny part of me still suspected.

“
As long as you keep
your mind open to new approaches, we’ll be fine
,” Vanessa said.

Let’s get on with it
then
.

Staying close to the wall, we crept our way in the direction
of Kali’s mind signature. The large room ahead was a junction of four tunnels,
including the one we’d just come down. We went through the opening to our
immediate right.

“
I’m not surprised
this is where she is
,” Vanessa said.
“
She’d stay away from the crowds.
”

From there, we blurred to Kali’s location, a small room
carved into the earth. A fire blazed in a grate on the far side and more
sconces hung on the walls, lighting up a workbench with scattered vials, herbs,
and old books with ancient-looking handwriting.

A young-looking woman with bright red hair that flowed
thickly down her slender back had been sitting at the workbench, but she’d
jumped up just as we’d arrived, an emerald green cloak, the same color as her
eyes, billowing around her. Kali’s mind signature came from this
woman—the body she must have taken over now. Her snake-like eyes fell on
Owen.

“I knew you’d come,” she said. But rather than fear or
concern, joy filled her voice.

And Owen smiled back at her as he fell to one knee and bowed
his head.

“Of course,” he said. “You’ve always been my one and only
master.”

Owen, stop it!
I
yelled at him.
She’s controlling your
mind.

“
No, Alexis,
” he
answered.
“
This is all me.
”

My jaw dropped as Kali took two steps to stand in front of
Owen, her eyes never leaving him, while Vanessa disappeared into a blur. So
this was their plan? They’d both been serving the Daemoni and Kali all along?
My muscles automatically braced for Vanessa’s impact, but she didn’t come at
me. She continued blurring around the room.

“
She’s distracted.
Search!
” Vanessa ordered me.

I couldn’t move for a moment, frozen with disbelief as Kali
stroked Owen’s hair and cheek. The sorceress then lifted her hand, and Owen
obediently rose to his feet.

“
Hurry!
” Vanessa
shrieked.

Vanessa’s not in on it.
I snapped out of it and followed her lead, moving around the room at a blazing
speed, rifling through everything on the table in a matter of seconds.

“Stop them!” Kali barked, and Owen waved one hand while
twisting the other in the air.