Blood Finale (God Wars #5) (14 page)

Nenzi, too,
Nenzi added.

I'm willing
, Kevis agreed.

I really want to
, Philip growled.

The only two who didn't vote were Jett and Kay, although I felt Jett agreed. Tybus dropped gently toward the circle of trees below, while all of us searched with sight and senses for any hint or movement that might indicate subterfuge.

There
, Nenzi shouted.

Where?

Somehow, Nenzi pulled our attention to the proper place. It looked to be an ordinary lion snake, hanging from a tree. Nenzi knew, as did Farzi, that this was no ordinary snake.

Change when you hit the ground,
Tybus instructed. We were about to go to war, as none of us believed that a single lion snake shapeshifter guarded the area. We were about to discover just what it was that Hordace Cayetes' ghost might throw at us.

* * *

San Francisco—present

"Well, well, Mrs. Rome," Terry stood and nodded to Laurel, who was accompanied by two men. "What can I do for you today?"

"You can start by handing the money back that Breanne Hayworth stole from me," Laurel huffed.

"No deal," Terry grinned and separated the particles of one of the men behind Laurel, causing her to scream and the other man to curse loudly.

* * *

Trajan's Journal

Terry's office was destroyed. It took a concentrated effort on his part to save his secretary and assistant while his office building was leveled around him.

"Do you think he was more powerful? The rogue with them?" Bill asked, stepping through the remaining rubble.

"I think so," Terry said. "I didn't feel strong enough to stay and fight, that's for sure, and he got Laurel away after I destroyed the Sirenali."

"We know it took someone with power to get Laurel from L.A. to here," Jayson said. "I talked to Jamie. He says Laurel was home the whole time."

"I think Jamie ought to be warned that she has an obsession," Bill said.

"I don't know what to do about that. Jamie thinks she actually loves him," Jayson snorted.

"I suggest we freeze his accounts and get him out of there," Opal said. "Just to keep him safe."

"We can take him to Mom," Jayson nodded. "He won't understand, but he'll be safe. Somebody else can run the company while he's gone."

"I'm concerned that the enemy wants the money," Bill said. "After all, look who we've got involved—the Tanner brothers, Marc Cummings, several members of Congress and who knows who else? They all want money, as if that will save them from what they've allied themselves with in the end."

"Half of them obsessed, too," I said.

"Trajan?" Winkler appeared beside us.

"What is it?" The look on Winkler's face told me something was seriously wrong.

"You need to see this—it just went up on the Internet," he said, raking fingers through his hair in frustration. "I warn you—it's not pretty."

* * *

All of us, Terry included, folded space to Fresno, where we watched the video on the large screen television at Adam's home.

It looked to be an old-fashioned revival, with the pastor preaching hellfire and brimstone. That's when it got real, in the literal sense.

People taken from the streets outside the church were led in, chained together like slaves. All seemed poor or belonged to a minority group, and I could tell that several were gay.

"You're going to hell," the preacher roared and the floor opened before the chained group while monsters spilled from the opening, followed by fire. I imagined that a horrible stench arrived with the monsters, as the people were grabbed, bitten, some of them eaten while others screamed, and then bits and pieces of bodies were tossed into the fiery pit.

Lissa and Kiarra looked green as Adam turned off the television amid claims from the preacher that judgment was nigh.

"This is what they're planning, isn't it?" Joey muttered angrily.

"It looks that way," Merrill nodded grimly.

* * *

Bill's Journal

Oddly, none of the church members could be found after the debacle in Mississippi. Half the church was charred or burned inside and the brick on the outside showed evidence of smoke damage. I had local agents combing through the building for evidence, but they'd found nothing useful.

"I want anyone you can find, especially the preacher, brought in for questioning," I told the local police. "Do we have identification on any of the victims?"

"We only have the images from the video," the lieutenant said. "We've pulled it off the Internet, but enough people have seen it, and who knows how many copies have been made? I'll send information if we manage to identify anyone," he added.

"It'll go viral by tomorrow," I said. "You can bet on that."

"It's already on the news here, and probably traveling outside the country," he agreed.

"No answer at the preacher's house, and his wife is missing, too," another agent walked up and nodded to me.

"I'd sure as hell go missing after doing that," the lieutenant huffed.

"Be prepared," I said. "I think this is only the beginning."

"You mean there might be more of this shit?" the lieutenant blinked at me in shock.

"That's exactly what I mean," I said. "I have possible dates and locations, but after today, those may not mean anything, other than to provide a distraction while the real action happens elsewhere."

"This is fucked up," the lieutenant shook his head. "I've never seen anything like this. Do you think it's real, Director?"

"It's as real as you can possibly imagine, except for the reasons given," I replied. "Those people didn't deserve what they got. You see that no murderers disappeared from prison to get killed, don't you?"

"I noticed that," he said.

"You'll see it again, guaranteed," I said. "This is only the beginning. After a while, if we don't find a way to stop it, nobody will be safe."

"Who is behind this?"

"Somebody you won't see coming," I said.

* * *

Du'Ferias—present

Tybus' Journal

We fought them—a multitude of monsters attacked the moment we touched the ground with corporeal feet. Reah became Thifilatha, burning any Ra'Ak who approached her. Aurelius and I had claws out, decapitating whatever came near. Farzi and Nenzi bit anything they could reach while Kevis placed a shield around Kay, Jett and Keith. Edward's War Eagle screamed overhead, snapping necks of giants leaping from the ground in an attempt to grasp a claw and pull him down. Philip's mountain lion snarled as he fought an aggressive harpy that dived in and out, taunting him as she attacked from the air. For a moment, the balance teetered, as we were afraid to employ power and draw more powerful enemies to the fray. And then, just as suddenly as we'd been attacked, the battle ended and every creature we fought disappeared.

"What the hell?" Edward landed nearby, puzzled by the sudden disappearances.

"There," Kay pointed toward a bare spot not far away. "A gate. I see it."

"They gated out of here?" Reah became herself and stared at the area Kay indicated.

"I don't believe it was their choice," Philip said.

"I feel the same," Keith nodded. We had four with us who could see gates easily—two half Elemaiya, one more than half and one pure blood.

"So they were pulled away to cause havoc somewhere else?" Jett asked.

"It looks that way," Edward replied. "I worry that there may be more than one destination, too. Face it—that's a lot of creatures to send to one place. There were enough of them to cause havoc in several places at once."

"This is awful," Kay moaned.

"Agreed. And we still haven't approached the compound," I said. "Is anyone hurt?"

"I'll check everyone over, then we can proceed," Kevis offered.

* * *

Le-Ath Veronis—present

"This is the tenth report, sir."

Weariness threatened to overwhelm Kooper as he studied the comp-vid handed to him. On ten worlds in the Reth Alliance, pits had opened in crowded areas, regurgitating strange creatures that killed anything they could capture, ate what they could and tossed remains into the fiery pit that had birthed them to begin with. The news vids couldn't keep up with the multitudes of images pouring in from citizens who'd recorded the debacles from a safe distance.

"Koop, the worlds that believe in hell or a version of it are saying it's the end times," Trevor arrived in Kooper's office and tossed his comp-vid on the desk. "I hear Noppen has practically imploded through a massive pit, and the population has almost been destroyed or devoured."

"And nobody there to save any of them," Kooper sighed.

"Earth got hit," Grant rushed in and dropped another comp-vid on Kooper's desk. "Is anybody doing anything about this?"

"We've got people in the field, but this looks to be a hit-and-run type of offensive, and all we can do is react when an attack happens," Trevor said. "We have to be better than this or we'll go down with the rest."

"Any ideas?" Kooper turned pleading eyes toward the old vampire.

"None at the moment," Trevor shook his head. "Right now, I'm willing to entertain any suggestion, no matter how far-fetched or from what source."

"Can we get a meeting?" Kooper asked. "Bring in as many as we can muster?"

"I'll send messages," Grant offered.

"Can you send mindspeech?" Trevor asked.

"Hey, Lissa gave me blood. Of course I can send mindspeech." Grant was offended by the question.

"Then get on it," Trevor snapped. "We can't afford to waste any more time."

"On it," Grant said and rushed out of Kooper's office.

* * *

Breanne's Journal

"How many?" I pleaded with Ashe to tell me—after a while I couldn't stand to
Look
any longer.

"More than fifteen thousand, total," Ashe sighed and sat beside me. I'd dropped to the floor beside the kitchen island, and ended up with my back pressed against the base while I hugged myself.

"This is just an opening volley, isn't it?" I chewed my lower lip while studying Ashe's face. He was pale—that was easy enough to see. This had shaken him, too, but he'd faced it while I'd shrunk from the visions.

"Those creatures are being sucked back into the pits before anyone with weapons can arrive," Ashe added.

"Are the pits left behind?" I asked.

"Oddly enough, no," he replied. "They're opening to let the creatures out, and then sucking them back in after they've caused their chaos, leaving nothing of the crater behind."

"Fucking Acrimus," I muttered.

"Fucking Quislus. Fucking General," Ashe agreed with a decisive nod before pulling me onto his lap and wrapping his arms around me. "Baby, you're shaking," he sighed against my neck before planting a kiss there. "Just relax and let me hold you," he breathed. "Nobody's here to hurt my girl."

* * *

Tybus' Journal

"We have to stop. We're not getting anywhere," Reah brushed tendrils of pale hair back and shook her head. We'd passed the area housing the herd of creatures and through a tunnel formed of trees and vines. Darkness pressed about us as we walked farther and farther down the path, but we should have reached our destination long ago.

"What this?" Farzi grumbled. "Maze?"

"That doesn't sound good," Kevis whispered. "I think the trees are listening," he added.

This is scary
, Kay's voice entered my mind.
I want to leave
.

The tunnel is gradually narrowing,
Edward pointed out.
We think we're traveling in a straight line, too, but that's just not possible
.

Reah backed against me and my arm went around her protectively. We'd walked into a trap without bothering to consider that it might be such.

Farzi and Nenzi moved to flank Kay—I could tell both were prepared to protect her with their lives if necessary. None of us could tell anything about our surroundings by
Looking
, and we'd suspected it was because it was protected by the presence of Sirenali. Fear grew in my mind and I struggled to push it away.

We get out now
, Nenzi's voice rumbled in my mind.

I think you're right
, Aurelius responded.

We'll have to use power
, Reah said.

I think we'll have to combine power at this point
, Edward advised.

Do it now
, Kay shrieked.

* * *

"Director Griff, half of Du'Ferias just exploded," Kooper's assistant was back and handing a comp-vid to Kooper with shaking fingers.

"What in the name of," Kooper snapped as he studied the vid in shock.