Blood Finale (God Wars #5) (15 page)

"It's all over the news vids, right beside the reports on the monsters," Kooper's assistant explained. "Director, what is happening? Is it really the end of the universe?"

"Dene, calm down, all right?" Kooper growled. "There's an explanation for all of this, we just don't know what it is, yet."

* * *

SouthStar

"Mom, I don't understand any of this." James Rome Jr. paced inside a massive kitchen, after Kathleen informed him he was no longer on Earth in the past.

"Jamie, if you'll sit down, I'll pour both of us a glass of wine and we'll talk," Kathleen coaxed.

"You look twenty-five," Jamie exploded. "This is ridiculous."

"Not from my end of it," Kathleen snapped. "James, sit down this minute and shut up. I have to tell you what's going on, and you're not going to like it."

* * *

Lissa's Journal

Even across time, I knew. Aurelius and Tybus had called out just before I felt the explosion around them. Then silence came and I was screaming mentally for help as I folded space and bent time.

Chapter 9
 

Le-Ath Veronis—present

Lissa's Journal

"What the hell happened?" Kyler asked. She and Cleo appeared shortly after Gavin and I arrived at my palace. That's where they'd been transported—by Larentii.

Karzac and most of the healers, including Cleo, worked frantically over mangled bodies, putting them back together as quickly as they could. Several Larentii, including Renegar and Lenigar, were helping. Surgical tables stood in a row inside my arboretum, each bearing a burned and broken body while several worked around every table.

"They got caught in a trap on Du'Ferias. Somebody expected them to come hunting Hordace Cayetes' stronghold there, and planned this attack carefully." I shook my head as I stared at Aurelius' body—he, Edward and Tybus had taken the brunt of the explosion, combining their shields to protect the others.

"Will this make Kay's situation worse?" Kyler drew me toward the doorway as she spoke.

"I hope not," I said. "We'll see how she is when they're done."

"I was hoping to get her help with a few politicians on Earth," Bill appeared beside me and shook his head. "They have obsessions, and Kay can change that."

"Is it worth wasting her time?" I shook my head at Bill.

"No idea," he shrugged. "Maybe it's selfish of me to even think about that. The same is likely going on elsewhere."

"Noppen," Kyler agreed. "That planet has almost been consumed."

"We need Breanne so badly," Gavin came to stand beside me.

"How is he?" I asked. Gavin knew I meant his vampire sire, Aurelius.

"Better, but Karzac says that it may take some time to make them whole again." I knew he meant that Breanne could
Change What Was
for all eleven who'd traveled to Du'Ferias.

"We only thought the God Wars had come before, didn't we?" Kyler shook her head. Flavio appeared and pulled her against him.

"It looks that way," I sighed. "I'll ask Cheedas to find rooms for these, once the healing is done."

* * *

"They're all healed and sleeping quietly." Karzac settled on a guest chair inside my study after spending hours healing bodies. I could tell he was exhausted—he'd used up everything he had to work as quickly as he could to bring them all back.

"You think it was a power trap, too, don't you?" I asked.

Lines formed around Karzac's mouth as he considered his reply. "Yes," he said after a moment. "They were wise not to use power in the beginning, but something happened and they felt the need for it. That triggered the trap."

"It sounds as if they're taking a page from the Copper Ra'Ak playbook," Dragon appeared and settled on the chair beside Karzac's. "You remember how we couldn't employ our power on any world where the Ra'Ak were, for fear that they'd destroy the planet because they knew we were there?"

"I remember," I said, giving Dragon a nod. He, Karzac and I had worked together to save Refizan long ago. I'd employed my abilities as a Vampire Queen, as those wouldn't appear on the Ra'Ak radar. Tybus' mist wouldn't have caused a stir, either.

"Were there Ra'Ak in any of those vids?" Dragon asked. "Where those gates appeared?"

"I saw a few," Kyler said. She and Flavio folded in to join the conversation.

"Have you contacted Youon?" I turned to her and asked.

"Yes. He says that no Ra'Ak from this time period is involved. That means they've collected others from the past."

"And that is the worst news of all," Karzac muttered. "Infected populations will fall quickly, and we have no way to fight all of this."

"We need a meeting." Kooper Griff walked in, closely followed by Trevor and Stellan.

"Ain't that the truth," I agreed.

* * *

Adam's Journal

"Ready?" I asked.

"Yeah." Kiarra sounded depressed, and that wasn't a good thing. We'd gotten the news regarding the explosion on Du'Ferias. We all worried over the same thing, we just hadn't voiced it aloud. Twice, now, the power we had hadn't been enough. Not even close, if anyone took time to study it thoroughly. It looked as though those thoughts were about to be discussed, only I feared that no solutions might be found to counteract what we faced.

"I'll drive," Merrill offered. I was willing to allow anyone else to fold us to Lissa's palace—it gave me more time to consider other things.

* * *

"This is where the woman is," Quislus informed Jarnis. "Take her and destroy the home. Immediately."

Jarnis glowered. He'd been involved involuntarily with too much of Quislus' dealings, and he hated his superior for it. Jarnis knew, too, that if the General ever discovered that Quislus could have done better research and destroyed Breanne Hayworth while she was still humanoid, he would be furious. Without her interference, much of their troubles could have been avoided and many of his colleagues would still exist.

Quislus hadn't thought to keep tabs on her, however. All he'd known at the time was that Breanne was half-sister to the Vampire Queen, and he'd laid a mind cloud on several to cause mischief for Le-Ath Veronis. Jarnis was instructed to bring the woman to Le-Ath Veronis and give orders to one of those affected afterward.

Jarnis felt anger at Quislus for treating him as an errand boy, as he was capable of so much more than what was reflected by his assignments. He'd offered a threat against those pathetic humans Breanne cared for, when she refused to come with him. She hadn't known at the time that he could be punished for harming them, and the threat had been quite effective, as it turned out.

"Get it done," Quislus growled. "You have two things to do. Get the woman and destroy the home. Go."

Jarnis went.

* * *

Lissa's Journal

My library was full. All the Saa Thalarr and anyone else with power, including several from Grey House, arrived. I hid my surprise when Kaldill and Lendill folded in with Ildevar and Willem Drifft.

Jayd, Glinda and Garde came as well, then Tory came with Salidar DeLuca. They appeared to be getting along, and that was a good thing. I'd worried that Tory would resent anyone who tried to teach him after learning from Drake and Drew.

"Mom," Ry leaned in to kiss my cheek when he, his father and Corolan appeared. A host of Larentii folded in last, with Kalenegar and the Wise Ones at the front.

"Quiet, please, we have much to discuss," Belen said, blowing out a flash of light to get everybody's attention.

"Good," someone said from the back. "What are we going to do?" he added. "We don't have enough power to do anything, or so it seems."

* * *

Adam's Journal

I shouldn't have been surprised. Joey was the one who spoke, and he spoke plainly.

"We've lost two rounds, and now they're opening their version of the gates of hell and spewing out monsters to kill anyone close enough and terrorizing the rest," Lisster said. "Devin and I went through the neighborhood on Earth and we have the names of those who died there, but there are ten other worlds in the Reth Alliance that were hit harder."

"We're talking two timelines," Dragon pointed out. "Only Earth in the past has been hit, while ten worlds in the present have been attacked. Eleven, if you count Noppen."

"Hordace Cayetes was involved on Noppen. I hear he died for his troubles," Grace said. "And then ours were hit trying to reach his stronghold on Du'Ferias."

"The creatures used in the attacks were housed in both places on Du'Ferias," Reah said. Nefrigar held her in his arms when they appeared, and I knew this early appearance by her was painful in many ways.

"They have disappeared from there," Nefrigar said. "Since they were discovered, another hiding place has been found, no doubt. Some of ours are watching, but the area has been abandoned."

"We never had an opportunity to destroy them," Reah's voice was rough, her words forced. "If we'd used power, we'd have been attacked sooner. The enemy was waiting for us."

"Have they gone to the past to collect these creatures?" Lisster asked. "If so, then it had to be before the Ra'Ak destroyed their worlds. The same goes for the Sirenali, does it not?"

"Selecting a time and place in the past to meet up with them and attempt to prevent the collection of these creatures would be like choosing one cherry from a tree full of them, and hoping to get the right one with no clues or evidence," Pheligar said. "You could be off by a single day, and be just as wrong as missing it by a century."

"Is he giving a cherry picking reference?" Gavin whispered in my ear.

"He probably came up with it to begin with," I muttered. "He's nearly three-quarters of a million years old, you know."

"Then we're no closer to a solution than we were when we got here," Kiarra said, frowning at Pheligar. She, like most of us, was clearly upset by this kind of attack by the enemy. Pheligar responded by lifting her in his arms and trilling softly.

"Is there any way we can track the enemy? Any at all?" Crane asked.

"All we can do is what they've done—search for expenditures of power. We'll only be reacting at that point, but at least it's something."

"Can we employ nexus echo for that?" Opal asked. I jerked my head in her direction—she stood in a corner, flanked by Jayson Rome and Bill Jennings. She'd only learned recently how to employ nexus echo, but the question was a valid one.

"That bears consideration," Kalenegar said. "I will put a team of Larentii on this and advise everyone if we arrive at a viable solution."

"We'd have to tune the net to fire at the first sign of power," Renegar observed. "And to filter out power that comes from wizards, warlocks and such."

"If we manage to do this—then we need a response team," Merrill pointed out.

"Like a fire department?" Joey asked.

"Yes—something like that. The Saa Thalarr had something similar, whenever a spawn attack warning went out." Kiarra, her arms wrapped around Pheligar's neck, was still listening carefully to the conversation.

"Tracking spawn was so much easier than tracking these will ever be," Belen said. "As well as being far less dangerous."

"Every Liaison knows how to track Ra'Ak and their spawn. Perhaps we can build on that premise," Renegar offered.

"We will employ every option," Kal agreed. "I have already sent mindspeech to the homeworld. Larentii are gathering to discuss the problem."

"If the Larentii employ nexus echo, will their power still be invisible?" Lisster asked.

"It should be," Pheligar gave a thoughtful answer. "As the Ra'Ak could never detect it before. We have those with power, here and now. Can you detect our power when we act?"

"Honey," Kiarra patted his face, "I can't feel your power. Even now."

"Awesome," Joey lifted his hands in the air and sighed happily.

"What can we do in the meantime?" Grace asked. "Anything?"

"Respond if you can and don't get killed," Hank growled. How had I missed him? He'd arrived as Grace asked her question.

"We have an announcement." Dragon and Crane rose, both nodding to Hank after Dragon spoke. "We've moved the High Demon army into the past to train them. They should be ready to go the next time one of those rogue gates opens. We'll see how those creatures match up to those designed to take them down in the beginning. Provided we get enough warning to get them there," he added.

"Then I believe the High Demons, led by the Falchani here, should be the response team, combined with any others they might choose to assist," Hank said. "I will be there as well, whenever possible."

"I'll be happy to help," Caylon Black rose to stand beside Dragon and Crane.

Tory?
I sent.
How long did Dragon and the others train you?

A year
, he replied.

Holy cow
, I responded.

Mom, we're as ready as we can be
, he said.
I have a new respect for the Falchani, believe me
.

Tory, you have to be careful—you and your father. You know what happened to me and the others.

I know. We can fight the creatures they have—no problem. It's what came after you that I'm concerned about
.
I want to visit with Reah for a while
, he nodded to me and walked toward Nefrigar. Reah slept in the Larentii's arms.

* * *

Ry's Journal

"Hey, bro." I slapped Tory on the back. We'd had the same idea—to see Reah.

"Come with me," Nefrigar nodded to us. "I'll put her in bed so you can spend time with her."

"We're coming with you," Amara and Edan walked up. I nodded—Reah was asleep and likely to stay that way, so it wouldn't trouble her if her father visited for a while.

"What was she doing on Du'Ferias?" Edan asked after Nefrigar folded us to Reah's bedroom and placed her gently on the bed.

"Chasing after Hordace Cayetes' bunch so she could track Song and Serenade," I said.