The Reluctant Amazon (Alliance of the Amazons) (25 page)

Mounted in wall sconces, torches burned, casting an eerie glow.
Shadows danced across boulders that lined the cave’s interior. She saw no one.
The cave was empty, and yet she sensed people near.

“Death waits here,”
a voice
whispered.

Death for whom? Sparks? Helen?

Me?

Rebecca comforted herself with the notion that Artair was
safely away from this place, as were Megan, Gina, Sarita and Johann.
Then is death coming for me?
It didn’t matter if she
never left this dank cavern. The Amazons and Sentinels would go on.

Somehow, she’d finally embraced her inner Amazon, accepted the
truths of her state. Danger was her companion and death would mark the end of
her career. She almost laughed aloud as she realized just how far she’d
come.

Rebecca Massee was no longer the kindergarten teacher who had
been abandoned at the altar. She was no longer the one who looked to others for
her self-esteem. And she was no longer the woman who was afraid to take the
lead, to charge to the front.

Rebecca Massee was an Amazon. She was Earth. And she was here
to save humanity. Damn, but it felt good. She smiled despite the danger around
her.

“I knew you’d come,” a voice called, echoing off the rock
walls. “You’re as curious about me as I am about you.”

Helen stood deep in the cave, dressed in a flowing white dress
of the same medieval style Rhiannon favored. She was beautiful. Her blond hair
flowed around her shoulders in long curls. Her amber eyes sparkled in the
torchlight, giving them a cat-like glow. She was flanked by several girls, most
of whom were probably teenagers. Dressed in white robes, they had hair of every
shade of blond imaginable.

“You came alone. I’m glad. I wouldn’t want to hurt any more
Amazons.” Helen’s voice sounded too sweet, too calm to be coming from a woman
who was trying to sway the balance of good and evil.

“You mean like you murdered Trishna? Why? What did she do to
make you hate her enough to let a revenant rip out her throat?”

Sadness touched Helen’s features, but it quickly fled. “Trishna
was…collateral damage. I needed time, and Sparks was getting too close. Trishna
was a distraction for all of you. I regret her loss, just as I regret
Maria’s.”

“How could you? They were your sisters.”

“My love for them isn’t as strong as my purpose for being on
this Earth. Once I left Avalon, I knew I was meant for something more than being
a mere Amazon.”

“Yeah. You were meant to be a murderer.”

“I wish things had been different. I didn’t want to hurt my
sisters, just like I don’t wish to hurt yours.”

“But you
did
hurt one of my
sisters,” Rebecca replied. “Remember Megan? You stole her powers.”

Helen flippantly waved her hand. “Freya can restore them. Megan
is fine.”

“Where’s Sparks? You know,
your
sister? Where the hell is she?”

Deep-throated trills echoed through the cave. A short man
dressed like some stereotypical witchdoctor—grass skirt, mask and all—shook a
stick decorated with long streamers with one hand while clutching a small burlap
doll in the other. Chanting in a language Rebecca didn’t recognize, he pushed
his way through the girls and planted himself in front of Helen.

He danced around for a few moments before screeching at the
girls. They parted to reveal two tall teens holding an unconscious Sparks.
Standing on each side, the girls braced their hands under her arms. Sparks’s
feet dragged on the ground as her head lulled from side to side.

Rebecca had to swallow her fear and anger and concentrate on
how she could get to her. She climbed atop a large boulder, hoping to get a
better view and perhaps a clear shot. “What did you do to her?”

Helen chuckled, the sound so chilling it sent shivers racing
over Rebecca’s skin. “She’s here for me, just as you’ll need some
assistance.
”

“You know, I’ve had a couple of really rotten days. Playing
word games won’t get you anywhere except to piss me off.” Rebecca climbed a
little higher, seeing the strategic advantage of seeing the whole of the cave’s
interior. “What in the hell do you want with Sparks?”

“As I said, I need her.”

Rebecca swept her hand to indicate the priestesses. They held a
groaning Sparks who was trying to put her feet on the ground. At least she was
alive, and Rebecca doubted she’d be on Helen’s side anymore, not after being
double-crossed. “And why do you
need
these girls?
Have you suddenly decided that humanity needed another power-hungry superbeing
and that you’re the bitch to fill those shoes? Let them go, Helen. Give this up.
Humanity has plenty of trouble. They don’t need you screwing with them.”

Helen smiled, the torchlight gleaming off her straight, white
teeth. “Ah, but I never said I cared for humanity. They made their own bed. What
I’m planning to do is make them lie in it.”

“You’re an Amazon. You’re sworn to protect humanity.”

“This has nothing to do with humanity. It never did. I need
something far more important than a few humans to serve me.”

“It’s not about humans?”

“No, Rebecca. This is, and has always been, all about you.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

Helen had the unsettling laugh of a person lost to
madness. “This was always about you. And about me. Actually, about
us.
”

The irony of the situation chilled Rebecca to the bone. The
evil that had been unleashed on the world was an Amazon. Another generation of
Amazons had been called to fight a rogue sister. Earth was here to defeat Earth.
“You wanted me?”

“I
needed
you.”

“You know what? You need
a lot
of
people. That’s why you started taking the girls?” Rebecca glanced down at the
white-robed young women. It was her job to try to save them, but she focused on
Sparks. The girls weren’t in danger at the moment. Sparks was.

“I needed their service. They’re my priestesses and will be
rewarded for all they do for me.”

“What about Jin? Why did you turn his sorry ass loose?”

“He is—well,
was,
quick and very
smart. He could harness electricity, and that suited my purpose. That and he
hated being imprisoned and felt he owed the world some payback.”

Figuring she might find a weakness in Helen’s defensives if she
kept her talking, Rebecca peppered her with questions. That tactic always seemed
to work in superhero movies. “Why would you need priestesses? Do you think
you’re some type of goddess or something?”

The only answer was Helen’s Mona Lisa smile.

She fired more questions. “Why me then? Is it because we’re
both Earth? I mean, Sparks is much more powerful than I am, and she was helping
you. Well, at least she was before you went all psycho-hose-beast on her. Why
me?”

Helen glanced to where a semi-conscious Sparks was being
dragged over to a pole embedded in the hard ground. At least Fire could now hold
her head up. She stood on her own feet and glared at the girls as they leaned
her against the pole. One of the girls bound Sparks’s hands.

The shaman was antsy, dancing around and chanting. Damn, but he
was annoying, and after what he’d done to Megan and Trishna, the man deserved
killing.

“It’s true Sparks has great powers,” Helen said. “But she’s not
like us.”

“Like us? You mean Earth?”

“Oh, yes. But we’re so much more. Much, much more.”

She fought the urge to simply pull her sword and lop off the
shaman’s head. He waved some little doll full of long pins at Sparks and trilled
that tongue. The sound grated on her nerves. Knowing he was probably taking away
Sparks’s powers, she wanted to prevent him from doing further damage.

As she formulated plans, waiting for the opportune moment, she
kept Helen occupied. “More? We’re more than what?”

The woman had a smile that could turn the hot water of Eden’s
spa instantly into ice. Helen motioned for one of the priestesses to come to
her. The strawberry-blonde couldn’t be more than fourteen, and a wave of
protectiveness washed over Rebecca.

Girls like this needed her. This girl mattered. Her family
would miss her, her friends would mourn her, and she might one day change the
world for the better. This one girl mattered, as did all the other young women
in the cave.

She was their only hope.

After whispering a few things in the girl’s ear, Helen turned
back to Rebecca. “Didn’t you ever wonder about your mother?”

Rebecca was slowly moving up higher on the boulders, not even
caring that she was climbing. Her fear of heights represented the least of her
worries. She needed a vantage point and a good shot because she had few other
advantages on her side.

“Of course,” she replied, using her best casual voice. “I
always wanted to know what she looked like, who she was. Why she left me
behind.”

“She had no choice.” Helen cocked her head like a curious
child. “Why are you climbing? I was told you’re afraid of heights. Most Earths
are.”

“You were told wrong. Can we get back to the topic?”

“Your mother.”

“So you know my mother. Is this going to be like
Star Wars
where you tell me you’re my mother? Way too
cliché. Try again.”

Helen’s amber eyes flashed red for a few moments, just like
Rhiannon when Rebecca angered the goddess. “I’m not your mother. Amazons can’t
be mothers. It’s one of my greatest regrets.”

“Mine too. You think you’re still an Amazon? Screw that.
Killing two of your sisters cost you that title.” Rebecca kept the conversation
going. “What makes you think you’re still an Amazon?”

A stall—nothing more than a stall. When the time was right,
she’d take a shot at Helen, but one shot was probably all she would get. It damn
well had to be perfect.

“Is that what all the stuff in your old apartment was about?”
she asked. “Looking for your mom?”

“You were meant to go there, you know,” Helen replied. “I had
Jin plant the information for you to find. I hoped you’d have the intuition to
figure out what was missing and come to me.”

“I didn’t have time to think about it when your revenants
attacked.”

“That was Jin, not me.”

“Nice to know. Now I’m
really
glad
I killed that bastard.”

Standing above Sparks, she assessed her chances of getting to
her before the Shaman took away all of her powers. Looking over the entrance of
the enormous cave, she hoped there was some way for her to get Sparks and the
girls out before she had to fight Helen. Then she realized that hope was
fruitless.

This wasn’t going to end well. Her intuition had been screaming
from the moment she entered the cave. Death waited here, stalking victims.

She kept up the chatter. “You still haven’t told me why you
think you’re still an Amazon.”

“I’m more than an Amazon,” Helen snapped. “I’ve always been
more than an Amazon. It just took some time for me to figure that out.”

The adolescent priestess returned. Rebecca had to swallow hard
when she saw the baby the blonde carried. Swaddled in white satin and lace, the
child slept peacefully, even after being transferred into Helen’s waiting arms.
She couldn’t be more than six months old.

Things just got a helluva lot more
complicated.

“Do you know who this beautiful little girl is, Rebecca?”

Watching Helen stroke the baby’s cheek disgusted her. How in
the hell was she going to get to the baby, save Sparks
and
help the girls? “Well, you got me on that one. I have absolutely
no idea. Who is she?”

“My daughter.”

Rebecca scoffed. “Didn’t we settle this debate a couple of
minutes ago? Amazons can’t have babies. Geesh. Get with the program, Helen.”

“Silly girl. I didn’t bear her. I stole her.”

Stole her.
Just like all these
priestesses, stolen from their families. Thinking of all the people Helen had
hurt made Rebecca mad, and being mad made her strong. She was going to fix this.
Somehow, she would fix this.

The shaman chanted again over Sparks’s groggy form.

Rebecca had seen enough. In one swift motion, she reached over
her shoulder, grabbed an arrow and notched it in her bow. A few seconds later,
it was embedded in the shaman’s chest.

One problem down.

A million to go.

She grabbed another arrow, expecting Helen to retaliate.

The woman merely laughed. “I don’t need him anymore.”

“I don’t give a damn whether you needed him or not. Let Sparks
go. You’ve got me where you want me. I’m not going anywhere. I’m yours. Just let
her go.”

“But I already told you, I need her,” Helen replied with a
condescending flip of her wrist that reminded Rebecca of Rhiannon. Shit,
everything
about Helen reminded her of Rhiannon. “I’ve
been planning this all along. She’s my sacrifice. She’ll be the one who helps me
ascend.”

The word
sacrifice
sent panic
sizzling through Rebecca. “Ascend?”

“I know who your mother is, Rebecca Massee.”

“Do you have attention deficit disorder? ’Cause you switch
topics at the drop of a hat. Right now, I don’t give a damn if my mother’s the
fucking queen of England. She doesn’t matter.”

“So you say. But your mother’s the reason I found you. She’s
the reason I’m here, ready to help us become so much more than what we were,
ready to help us be what we have always been meant to be.”

“You sound like a Marine recruiter. Just what will we become,
Helen?”

“Goddesses. Equals to the Ancients. Everything we were born to
be.”

Rebecca threw Helen a wry chuckle. “A goddess? You think you’re
a
goddess?
You’re no better than a demig, thinking
you’re something you’re not. I sure as hell don’t want to be a goddess.”

Helen cooed at the baby then turned cold eyes back at Rebecca.
“Oh, but we are. We’re sisters. Not generational sisters, but we’re both Earth.
And we share our mother.”

“Bullshit. You’re seventy years older than me.”

Helen handed the baby back to the young priestess who carried
the child away. Sweeping her now empty arm after the girl, she said, “You’re
thinking like a human. We have the same mother, and that infant is our sister as
well. She’s the next Earth, the one to be called if your generation fails or is
lost.”

“I suppose you want me to thank you for finding her. Not gonna
happen. Will you just get to the point?”

“We’re all goddesses. You, me and that baby.” Helen smoothed
the skirt of her gown. “Don’t you feel it? Don’t you feel the power that flows
through your veins?”

Rebecca was too busy sizing up the situation to pay much heed
to the ridiculous claims spilling from Helen’s mouth. The priestesses she wanted
to rescue now formed a small semi-circle around Sparks. The dim torchlight
reflected off something silver, then she saw the knife.

Notching an arrow, she aimed at the priestess. The girl holding
the dagger was probably twenty, twenty-one tops. Rebecca sure didn’t want to end
such a young life. “Drop the knife.”

The priestess ignored her.

“I mean it, kid. Don’t be a dumb blonde. Drop the knife unless
you want to join that stupid witchdoctor.”

“Go ahead, Rebecca. Kill her. There’ll only be another to step
forward and take her place,” Helen said with an evil glare. “I require a
sacrifice of someone who loves me to ascend, just as you’ll require a sacrifice
of one who loves you. Sparks is my sister. She’s always loved me. Megan was
supposed to be your sacrifice, but now I’ll have to bring forth another.”

The priestess raised the knife.

Rebecca let the arrow fly, and it found its mark.

The knife clattered to the ground as the girl howled in pain,
clutching her bleeding hand to her chest. The white robe quickly stained red.
Rebecca swallowed the guilt. She’d had no choice.

A second priestess stooped to reach for the knife.

“Ah, ah, ah.” Rebecca clucked her tongue and notched another
arrow. “I wouldn’t do that if you want to keep that hand, honey.”

The girl stared up at her wide-eyed, but she edged back and
left the knife on the ground. The circle of priestesses retreated slowly from
Sparks.

Helen actually growled at them. “You serve me. I require a
sacrifice.”

“It would appear you won’t be getting one.”

One of the girls seemed to find some courage. As the girl bent
over, Rebecca prepared to shoot the instant the teen stood tall. She was spared
the ordeal as a dagger suddenly sailed through the air.

The priestess screamed in pain and clutched her wounded
shoulder.

Helen’s chuckle filled the cave. “I knew you’d come.”

Megan was to be your sacrifice, but now I
shall have to bring forth another.

“No,” Rebecca whispered.

Artair smiled up at Rebecca.

“I heard your call, lass.”

“I didn’t call you, Artair. Please go! You’ve got to go!”

“I heard your voice. You asked me to come to you,” he said,
looking around the cave and frowning.

“You heard the voice I wanted you to hear,” Helen said with a
malevolent smile. “And you came—just as I knew you would. Sparks told me
how…
close
you and Rebecca have become. I knew
you couldn’t refuse a plea from her. You love her.”

Rebecca couldn’t concentrate, couldn’t even plan how to bring
Helen down. All she could think of was the danger to Artair. “I need you to
go.”

Helen beckoned him closer. “Oh, but
I
need you to stay, Artair.”

“Get the baby and go. Please, Artair.” Desperation seeped into
Rebecca’s tone. She hated showing Helen that kind of weakness.

“Baby? There’s a bairn?” he asked.

Rebecca nodded, trying to swallow her fear for him. “Helen
stole the next Earth. One of the priestesses took her out of the cave. Go get
her and get the hell out of here. Let me finish what I started. Go. Please
go.”

“No, Sentinel,” Helen practically purred. “Stay. Please
stay.”

“Ah, well then, Helen, I shall grant your wish. The bairn will
be returned to her home when this is over. I could nae leave Becca to clean up
my mess anyhow.”

“Your mess?” Helen arched a blond eyebrow.

“Aye. Had your Sentinel done a better job teaching you humility
and discipline, we wouldn’t be here.”

Helen shifted her gaze between Rebecca and Artair. “You
couldn’t know what I was, what Rebecca and I are destined to be. The moment I
learned about our mother, I finally understood. I finally knew what we
were.”

“I told you not to come,” Rebecca scolded. “I told you my gut
said for me to come alone.”

“Aye, well… My own gut had a word or two with me, and it said
to go after you. And then I heard your voice calling to me. How I got here no
longer matters. I
am
here.”

Rebecca wanted Helen distracted, and Artair was definitely a
distraction. But damn, things were quickly getting out of hand. Sparks was
rousing and her gaze swept the cave. Rebecca hoped her mentor would come to her
senses and be back to her old self soon. With Helen changing from a loving
Amazon sister to a psychopath intent upon offering Sparks up as a sacrifice,
perhaps Sparks’s loyalties to the Amazons—the real Amazons—had returned.