Breaker (Ondine Quartet Book 4) (61 page)

And seated on the mat were twenty-five.

Twenty-five ondines who never would’ve stepped foot inside this center if it hadn’t been for the efforts of Marcella and Rhian. Ondines representing a dream my mother hadn’t lived to see.

Young faces gazed expectantly at me, all reflecting a combination of fear, adrenaline, and determination. Helene wrapped her long, thin arms around her legs, her eyes wide and unblinking.

“Whatever happens, I want you to know you already won,” I finally said. “You stayed while others fled. You’re here because each of you has something you’re fighting for. Remember it.”

I glanced at the row of gardinels, many of whom had trained me over the past year. One of their own, Ewan, had given his life so I could stand here.

The warriors levelly met my gaze, the cool mask of battle already settled across their faces.

“
Kahliev
.”
 

Garreth nodded and they replied as one. “
Kahliev
.”

I left. Whatever they did in that room was no longer my battle. It was theirs. Those twenty-five would help determine the future once this ended.

A familiar, broad-shouldered figure exited the Head Chevalier’s office.

“Just who I was looking for.”

Ancelin raised his brow. “Are you sure you have the right person?”

“Sadly, yes.”

“If you’re seeking a rematch, it’ll have to wait until this is over.”

I tried not to smile. “Why are you here?”

Ancelin was leading the group defending Haverleau’s front gates. Dax had also initially been assigned to his father, but had insisted on taking position with the group defending the Academy.

As usual, the King had roared and raged, but Dax’s stubbornness had ultimately won out. Helene’s positioning as a sniper on the roof of the ondine dorms might have had something to do with it.

“I came by to pick up something.”
 

He removed the machete from the sheath strapped to his back. He swung, expertly handling the larger weapon. The blade whistled through the air.

“Not bad,” he murmured.

High praise coming from him.

“We are hours away from battle.” He smoothly slid the blade back into its sheath. “What possible reason could you have to look for me and not my son?”
 

“I once said there may be a day, in my journey against the Shadow, when I would need the help of your people. No questions asked. You agreed to provide it.”

“I remember.”

“That day is today.”

A long pause. “What is it?”

“You’ll know when it happens.” I hesitated. “I’m sorry, Ancelin.”

His expression instantly hardened. “For what?”

For doubting how much you loved your sons. For the additional grief you will have to bear.

“I’m sorry I’m not the kind of leader you wanted. I love your son.” I made sure he saw the truth in my eyes. “I did my best.”

He studied me for a long moment. A muscle in his jaw ticked.

“I trust you, Kendra.” Iron gaze held mine. “I trust you as I trusted Rhian. My men will be instructed to provide whatever you need.”

It wasn’t acceptance. But for today, it was enough.

I spent the rest of the afternoon double-checking every spot along the perimeter and checking in with every group leader stationed around Haverleau.

We were as ready as we could be.

By the time I reached my cottage, the sun had set and night claimed the land. Clouds crowded the sky, but the moon hung high, a solitary witness, its silver glow bleeding into the sky and sea.
 

Without much effort, my Virtue now sensed the Aquidae encroaching the boundaries of Lyondale.

Time was running out.

Raised voices filtered through the open front door.

I walked in. Jeeves sat on the couch, several
kouperets
glowing on the table before him. Julian stood near the fireplace, frustration etched on his face.

“What’s going on?”

Father and son ignored me. Julian rubbed his face. “This isn’t up for debate.”

“Everything is debatable,” Jeeves pointed out. “Why?”

“Because it’s a weak spot. Our strongest fighters are along the perimeter, but you know the numbers,” Julian said coolly. “The likelihood of Aquidae breaching our defenses is very high. If they reach the Governing Complex, we need to have a few strong fighters left to protect the core.”

“Then I’ll join you.“

Julian shook his head. “You need to be on the west perimeter of the Academy. Your fighting style suits the other chevaliers stationed along that same line—“

“Which means you’ll be stuck here alone with our weakest fighters.” Jeeves frowned. “If Aquidae reach this complex, you’ll be taking up the slack alone. Let me —“
 

“Don’t be a worrywart, Augustin. The boy knows what he’s doing. And he won’t be alone. I’ll be here with him.”

Nexa sauntered in, enveloped in her usual perfume of alcohol and cigarettes.

Julian grinned. “Conference room in the Governing House has cable.”

She pointed a finger at him. “Exactly. There’s a
Restless Passions
marathon starting in a half-hour.”
 

“What are you doing here?” Jeeves put down the blade and stood.

“I’m exactly where I should be. With my family.”

I hid a smile.

“Fine.” Jeeves sat back down. “Don’t get dead.”

She snorted and took out a cigarette. “There are still a few things I can teach you, dear.”

“I thought you left,” I told her. Accusation colored my voice.

“I did,” she said serenely. “Because I had to retrieve something.”

“What?”

“Me.”

Patrice stepped through the door. Gone were the pricey outfits and high heels, the perfectly coiffed hair that spoke of long hours at the salon.

She wore a soft, loose t-shirt, faded jeans, and sneakers. A simple clip held back her hair.

Nexa slipped into the kitchen. An uncomfortable silence fell.
 

Jeeves stared. “What are you doing here?” he asked hoarsely.

“I…” Patrice’s gaze flickered over to her son.

Julian remained frozen, his expression unreadable.

She tilted her chin. “I came here to fight.”

“Where’s Nathaniel?” Julian asked warily.

“With people I trust. He’s safe. But this is where I’m supposed to…” She stopped and shook her head. “This is where I
want
to be. With my family.”
 

I recovered first. “You can join Jeev…Augustin at the Academy.”

Patrice’s Virtue would be a huge asset. The Academy position was also close enough to the coast that she could use her powerful Transmutation magic to control the ocean, if necessary.

I looked at Julian. He moved away from the fireplace.

“Sounds like a plan,” he said casually.

Patrice beamed.

Jeeves shifted over and made room on the couch. “We need to get them out to the right flank.”

Patrice settled beside him, picked up an extra soft cloth and
kouperet
, and mimicked his movements to clean the blade.

Her hands were steady.

I grabbed my bag near the door and headed out.

“Hey.” Julian caught up with me outside.“Everything set?”

I nodded. “Double and triple-checked.”

We stared at each other.

After everything we’d gone through, after training me, working with me, and fighting alongside me from Haverleau to Lyondale, New York, the Selkie Kingdom, and Fontesceau, it had come down to this.

The weight of the moment stretched until he broke it.

“Don’t worry.” He winked. “We got this.”

“He was wrong,” I blurted out.

“What?”

“The Shadow. What he said to you back at the GrandView.”
 

“That I’m a second-rate chevalier?”

“That you’re a demillir of no worth. Because you are, Julian,” I said fiercely. “Someone of immeasurable worth.”
 

“Oh.” A long pause. He glanced away then back to me. “Thanks.”

A strong urge to comfort him washed over me. Instead, I offered my hand and he clasped it.

“Don’t make me have to save your ass.”

“Don’t do anything stupid.”

“Isn’t that my line?”

His eyes sparked. “See you on the other side, sweet iris.”

I made my way back to the chevalier post I’d visited earlier today with Aub and Holden. A tall lamp exuded a soft glow over the clearing, casting the woods in shadows. The others in my group had already arrived and were setting up.
 

A large shadow passed over a bright cloud and I felt an answering warmth in the brand on my chest.

Valeil.

A faint ruffling sensation against my chest, the light caress from an invisible breeze.
 

I am here.

Cam approached. “Care package from Aubrey.”

He handed over a small pouch. I opened it and fitted the tiny earpiece into my right ear.

Four throwing knives, glowing brightly with Essence. I tucked one under each wrist and the remaining two in my ankle. I left the throwing stars in and tied the bag to my belt.
 

I touched the tiny button on the earpiece. “You hear me?”

“Loud and clear.” It sounded like Aub was inside my head.

“You know who I’m looking for.”

“Don’t worry.” Her voice turned cold. “As soon as I spot him, I’ll let you know.”

I moved into position with the others. Tristan occupied the spot on my right, followed by Adrian, Garreth, and three other selkies. To my left, Gabe stood alongside Cam and four other chevaliers.

We faced the tree line of the woods. A current of nervous energy raced down the line.
 

Tristan gently touched my hand. He scanned my face, the hard, battle-ready mask of the Warrior Prince in place. Like his father, he had a machete in the sheath strapped to his back.
 

I leaned on his solid certainty, his strength that also gave me strength.

I gripped my dagger and nodded.
 

We were here together. We would fight together.

Power coiled in my gut. Empath sensed the encroaching darkness and used the fiery tangle of emotions around me to steadily pulse Essence into my blade.

The guns strapped to holsters at Gabe’s shoulder, waist, and ankle glinted in the moonlight. He glanced at his watch. “Any moment now.”

Thirty seconds. A minute.

And then I felt it.

A tremendous force as the Warden Pairs uniformly connected to the invisible boundaries around us. Magic saturated the air, a cascade of energy flowing over, around, and beneath us.

An abrupt yank.

Haverleau’s wards fell.

An avalanche of magic stormed over us.
 

Tristan stiffened. Power punched my gut and my body jerked at the impact.

For one brief moment, the sky lit up with golden threads woven into an intricate curved pattern above us. Energy swelled until the magical dome shattered into a million glittering pieces, raining down upon us like a waterfall before ebbing away into the darkness.
 

We were open, exposed. Without the protection of the wards, raw, swarming Aquidae energy slammed into me.

I gritted my teeth against the assault and held my Virtue steady.

“They’re close.” Maybe a mile from the perimeter.

Tristan bent his knees slightly, his hard body poised for a strike.

Gabe tensed and raised his arms. He held a
kouperet
in each hand. One was his; the other my father’s.

The roar grew in my blood, a torrent of the corruption that tainted the Shadow’s blood pressing against me like a suffocating wave of emptiness.

Cam stretched out his arm, his
kouperet
blazing bright. “Irisavie, if we make it through this I want you to feed me Stan’s eclairs every day for the next year. No, the next five years.”

I balanced on the balls of my feet. Adrenaline pumped through me, its copper taste flooding my mouth.

“I will personally go down to Mexico and drag Stan out of retirement so he can make you and me as many damned eclairs as we want.” I braced myself. “So you better make it, Martin.”

The roar grew to a cataclysmic violence, a deafening demonic thunder.

The hairs on the back of my neck rose.

“Here we go,” Gabe murmured.

Wind howled and the clouds shifted.
 

The stars emerged from the darkness and they, too, glittered as hard and bright as the moon.

Dark shadows loomed before us, one form after another scuttling between the trees.

The ground rumbled under our feet.

They came.

THIRTY-SEVEN

The first line of demons dotted the woods, shadowy figures coming up from the waters and over the sandy beach.

A mass of empty voids pressed against me.

“Hold,” Tristan murmured.

They neared, figures of all shapes and sizes racing through the trees.
 

Work, damn it.

A sharp boom resounded in the air, quickly followed by a succession of five explosions

It came from the east. The front gates.
 

Tristan’s voice grew quieter. “Hold.”

I bent my knees. Gabe shifted his weight forward.

Another series of explosion, this time from the north.

The demons approached the tree line. Moonlight illuminated their faces, overwhelming violence twisting their features.
 

Come on, come on.

The first blast came from our left. The ground, woods, and air shuddered like a living being. Dirt, roots, and body parts soared through the night.
 

One by one, the mines detonated like synchronized cannons, ripping the line of Aquidae apart. It rained blood, flesh, and bone.

“Now!”

We ran.

Feet flew over grass, puffs of dirt floating up in their wake. The universal roar of battle shook the night.

The first Aquidae lunged. My blade snapped, a predator ready for blood. It bit into its throat and spat out its blood.

To my right, another Aquidae vaulted forward.