As another of Aurora’s fierce panther cries
echoed into the chamber, Amber tried again, unsuccessfully, to send
out a thought to Gabriel. She kicked her opponent’s sword hand
using the heel of her foot, knowing her unprotected toes would be
damaged otherwise. The kick wasn’t strong enough to dislodge the
weapon. She used the time he took to recover his loosened grip to
dip down in an attempt to retrieve her dropped weapon using her
less dominant left hand.
Then Kanika ran into the chamber, followed
closely by Olivia. The Orculesti threw herself at Amber, forcing
Amber to catch her weight and pushing them to both to the ground.
Vaguely, Amber heard Olivia cry out in surprise and, oddly,
pain.
“He’s mine,” Kanika shrieked, clawing at
Amber’s left arm, which she was using to shield herself. Her long
nails drew blood. “Gabriel was always meant to be mine! I waited
eighteen years for him to come back here and learn to love me. You
stole him from me, you whoring human half-breed!” Using brute
strength fueled by anger and hatred, she managed to wrench Amber’s
arm away from her body. “This ring is
mine
.”
And then she made the mistake of trying to
pry the ring off Amber’s finger.
Gabriel hadn’t wanted the sisters to be
involved in his conversation with the Gloresti who protected them
because he had a few delicate issues to discuss. For one, he wanted
to give James and Caleb a run-down of what he had identified as
each of the girls’ strengths and weaknesses. The two males needed
to be particularly focused on defending the sisters in the areas
where they most needed it. Jabari had provided an overview of each
of the girls’ abilities and areas in need of improvement, but he
couldn’t include the human mindset behind that like Gabriel could.
He saw no reason to put the sisters through a possibly humiliating
highlight reel of the things Estilorians considered weaknesses.
And then there was the conversation he forced
himself to have with James and Caleb about human females—especially
young human females—and some of the thoughts and emotions they were
bound to experience. Because he wasn’t sure just how soon this
topic might become an issue, he felt it best to just get the
conversation out of the way. He talked briefly about the human
penchant for privacy and modesty, which most Estilorians
disregarded but the girls would want to be respected. And he
talked, in very general terms, about some of the physiological
things the girls would likely experience as a result of their human
mother.
“So, if they menstruate, can they conceive a
child with an Estilorian?” James asked curiously.
Struggling with his intense discomfort over
the topic, Gabriel shrugged. “I have no idea. But, well, our
females don’t experience this monthly reproductive cycle. We don’t
even have the, um, feminine products for it on this plane that
they’re used to on the human plane.” Good Lord, Amber’s sisters
owed him big time for this. “Just know that they’ll likely be
embarrassed when this ultimately comes up. And even more emotional
and irritable.”
“I hardly see how that is possible,” Caleb
said dryly.
Gabriel struggled not to laugh. It was going
to be very interesting watching the sardonic and abrupt Gloresti
interact with the exuberant Skye. “Another tip: don’t let them hear
you say something like that.”
Suddenly, James tilted his head as though he
was listening to something. “Did you hear…?” He turned and looked
behind them toward the tunnel a short distance away. “Where is
Aurora?”
Curiosity had Gabriel walking toward the
tunnel. In truth, he wasn’t overly concerned because he figured
Amber would have sent a thought his way if something was up. Maybe
Aurora had gone into the tunnels to investigate something she
heard.
Amber?
His thought echoed back to him. That was when
he started running. James and Caleb matched his stride, picking up
on his alarm and confusion. He realized that the tunnel was now
dark where it had been lit a short while ago. Then they heard
Aurora’s cry from somewhere in the tunnels, confirming something
was terribly wrong. But why wasn’t he experiencing the rush of
Gloresti energy that he should have felt if Amber was in
danger?
Realizing as they entered it that the inside
of the tunnel was too narrow for them to use their wings, Gabriel
fought back a curse. Beside him, James put his hands together and
created one of the balls of light that floated freely on the
Estilorian plane. They didn’t break stride as they plunged into the
tunnel.
Gradually, the sounds of shouting reached
them, though the words were indistinct and the directionality was
thrown off due to the echoes. Gabriel couldn’t determine whether it
was one of the girls or someone else entirely making the noise.
When they reached a branch in the tunnels, he hesitated, uncertain
which way to go. He didn’t want to give away the element of
surprise by shouting.
And then the amber stone in his ring shone
with a brightness that rivaled the ball of light floating above his
head. He knew they had to hurry.
When Olivia charged in after Kanika, she had
intended to try and halt the obviously crazed Orculesti. What she
would do then, she had no idea. But she knew from the sounds coming
from the chamber that Amber and Skye had their hands full, and
Kanika would only serve to hinder them further. So in she went.
And promptly found herself roughly grabbed
from behind, her bow and quiver ripped away and tossed uselessly to
the side. She could do no more than gasp at the fierce pain in her
ribs as arms vised around her. Something snapped audibly. Even as a
wave of nausea threatened her, she was dragged to a dark corner of
the vast chamber, a knife pressed to her throat.
“Well, now, what have we here, eh?” asked a
deep, raspy voice in a whisper against her neck.
Olivia struggled for terrified and agonized
gasps of breath. She listened to Kanika shriek maniacally at Amber
and felt the sharp edge of the knife cutting into the delicate skin
of the underside of her chin as she swallowed hard.
“You and me, we are going on a little trip,
chickadee. The second that blasted light eases, consider us out of
here.”
Deciding she would never overpower the
muscular male holding her so tightly against him, she risked
accidentally cutting her throat and used the only weapon available
to her: her mind. “You may think so, but I believe you’ll choose
differently in another moment.” Blood trickled down her chin, the
pain that roiled through her bringing tears to her eyes.
Suddenly, Kanika let out a distressed scream.
Light flashed through the chamber, causing the male who had
attacked Amber and the one now holding Olivia to also cry out with
its intensity. The knife dug deeper as her captor flinched.
Amber did something then that made a gruesome
crunching noise as she connected with Kanika’s face. The Orculesti
fell to the ground, obviously unconscious. Even as Olivia watched,
Amber rolled, picked up her sword in her left hand and hurried to
face the large, bald male who was already advancing toward her.
Olivia saw blood running down Amber’s side and right arm. It
dripped onto the ground as she moved.
“Hurry up, you idiots!” a female voice called
out impatiently from what Olivia realized was another entrance to
the chamber. Amber fended off a strike of her aggressor’s sword,
using her smaller size and better mobility to evade rather than
attack. “My energy is flagging. I cannot keep their connection to
their Gloresti dampened forever. Just grab one of them and come
on!”
Amber and Olivia both flicked glances toward
Skye. Their younger sister moved quickly in the direction of the
entrance still hidden by shadows. The strain of using her power for
so long without any training was evident on her face, but she also
looked determined. When the bald Mercesti moved to try and stop
her, Amber launched herself between them, feinting with her sword
to keep him off balance. She actually managed to score a hit on the
Mercesti’s sword arm.
“Was that what you thought would change my
mind about taking you, chickadee?” Olivia’s captor grated against
her ear as she watched the scene playing out before her. “A little
bit of pain from some puny light? I know a great deal about
handling pain. And administering it.” He squeezed her tighter and
she bit back a cry.
Another scream came, this one from the tunnel
leading out of the chamber. Skye must have found the unidentified
female. The light inside the chamber dimmed as Skye moved further
away. And suddenly, Olivia once again felt Aurora’s presence in her
mind.
Deliberately digging her nails as hard as she
could into her captor’s bare forearm where it pressed against her
chest, she smiled despite her pain and the knife he twisted quite
brutally against her neck. “No,” she responded as she drew shallow
breaths.
Just then, Aurora leaped into the room with a
growl fierce enough to have even the intimidating bald man starting
visibly, allowing Amber to get in another strike. “I mean her.”
Aurora’s growl increased, her glowing green
eyes focusing on Olivia.
“What the hell?” her attacker asked, his
voice louder and higher than before.
“I can control her with my mind,” Olivia
explained, moving her jaw as little as possible. She watched Aurora
get closer so he could see her vicious fangs and razor-sharp claws.
“So, you have a choice. You can release me…or I’ll release
her.”
Skye had been debating what she could
possibly do to help Amber or Olivia that wouldn’t disrupt her
energy and cost them light. Then she heard the female voice coming
from the unseen tunnel. Somehow, she felt her sisters silently
compelling her toward the female’s voice, and she quickly
understood why. That female was disrupting their connection with
their Gloresti, and Skye had to do something to reestablish the
connection.
Although she felt exhausted enough to
collapse onto the floor and sleep for a week, she hurried closer to
the tunnel. As she neared the entrance, she hesitated slightly,
making sure she wasn’t walking into a trap. After seeing the
terrifying shadows part to grab Olivia and snatch her away, Skye
knew better than to go in blindly.
Closing her eyes, she clenched her fists and
pulled from whatever reserves she had to bring forth more light.
Then she “threw” it into the tunnel.
The resulting scream was rather satisfying.
Emboldened, she edged further into the tunnel. She heard Aurora
behind her and realized that reinforcements had arrived. She
suddenly saw a flash of bright red light a short distance ahead of
her, and she realized the female had called forth her wings and was
preparing to flee. This tunnel was obviously wider than the other
one leading into the chamber.
Gathering her resolve, Skye took a deep
breath and held her hands together. The building ball of light
wasn’t as bright as the one before it, but she wanted it to last
longer. When she sensed it was stable enough, she lobbed it toward
the ceiling in the large chamber above her sisters, where it hung,
casting a soft blue light over the center of the chamber.
She turned and thought,
I need to fly
after her and stop her.
And her light blue wings unfurled. She
soared ahead, hardly able to appreciate the exhilaration of
suddenly flying, she was so intent on stopping the Mercesti who had
endangered her and caused bloodshed for her sisters.
Blood-red wings grew visible as she rounded a
corner. She gave another push to her already strained power and
flung a pellet of light ahead of her toward the retreating
figure.
There was a sharp, panicked gasp. Then, the
female shouted, “Sleep!”
Skye found herself unable to resist the dark
and powerful command. She never even felt it when she crashed to
the ground and slammed into the stone wall.
When Gabriel hesitated in front of the split
tunnels, James pointed out Aurora’s prints. They quickly followed
them. Not long after that, Gabriel was suddenly flooded with
Gloresti energy and Amber’s thoughts and feelings. He hissed as
searing pain shot through his right forearm and the side of his
waist, but he didn’t stop running. Thoughts ran through his mind
faster than he could process them. Silent cursing. Violence. Fear.
Anger. Protectiveness.
Amber!
he thought desperately.
Oh, thank God! Gabriel. There are at least
three Mercesti—
“Mercesti,” he panted to Caleb and James as
they paused to evaluate a set of Aurora’s prints that seemed to
circle back and forth. Then Amber’s thoughts grew more jumbled and
rapid-fire.
Down. He’s—slash. Parry. Aurora. Gotcha!
They were getting closer, he could sense
it.
Kanika led us in here. I knocked her out
when she tried to grab my ring. Hope I broke her nose.
He turned another corner.
Who’s
Kanika?
If thoughts could laugh, hers would have. The
ironic humor she was feeling flooded through him.
The Orculesti
who prepared me after the transition. She thought she was the love
of your freakin’ life.
It suddenly fell into place. He still
couldn’t remember this particular Orculesti, but it was easy enough
to understand how the girls had been taken off-guard and lured into
their current location.
They had been betrayed. And the Mercesti had
added to their ranks by one.
Amber smiled humorlessly as Aurora neared
Olivia and her thoughts with Gabriel flew back and forth, bringing
him ever closer. She never moved her gaze from the brute in front
of her. He was now circling her, seeking a way to get around her
frequent movements to evade.
Blood still flowed steadily from her
injuries. That and the insane amount of pain radiating through her
indicated they weren’t shallow scratches. The blood loss would
weaken her over time, but as unbelievable as it seemed, it had
actually only been a matter of a few minutes since Kanika shoved
her into this blasted chamber. She had enough energy left to
protect herself.