Chosen (The Chosen Few Trilogy #1) (30 page)

I almost screamed. Power exploded from me. But I was a second late. The sword struck.

But Belinda caught the bla
de between her hands! The
room seemed to stop and stare in awe. Almost in the praying
position, Belinda smiled right back
into Ashka
’
s blazing
eyes.

“
Not this time,
bitch.
”

My power, reckless, slammed into everyone, and I mean
everyone.
Those nearest me staggered to their knees, those further away were rocked and buffeted as if caught in a strong wind. I gritted my teeth and tried to focus. Yes, I had been reckless, but I had been trying to save Belinda’s life.

Ashka leapt away, leaving her sword behind.

Dementia screamed
, and then, still with Mai on her back, managed to
flip
herself over, landing heavily on the floor with Mai trapped underneath.

Mai heaved weakly, the breath crushed out of her. Dementia spun and kicked and clawed, now lying atop the vampire.

Ken jabbed the sword
at the demon’s ribs
but she
twisted and rolled away, disappearing among a tangle of legs and bodies.

This time, Ken helped a grateful Mai to her feet. “Just needed a big weapon,” he said with a cheeky grin.

Ashka rose slowly to her feet. I braced myself
, fi
ght
ing
off the whisper of
fear that
crept
through my brain.

There was a moment when the room stilled. A breathless, timeless instant when we all took stock. I saw the chance of my death and the fast-approaching moment when I would stand and fight and live or die alongside my new friends, together.

Then something seemed to pass among what remained of our enemies.
Four
demons, plus Dementia, Jondal, and Ashka. Suddenly, with snarls of
hatred, all the demons broke a far
window. Two of them sacrificed themselves
by
distracting Tanya and Ken. A third died on jagged shards of reinforced glass as it leap
t
through the opening. The
fourth cut itself to pieces widening the gap.

Dementia and then both Destroyers stepped over its still twitching body out into the dark, boundless night.

“
Until New Babylon!
”
Ashka cried out as they departed.

We were left bleeding and
disheveled
, stunned survivors, standing uncertainly
,
staring at
each other with
haunted
e
x
pressions
.

Belinda, our leader, took charge
, rallying us
into the conference room before we started dwelling on the bodies
of the dead.

Lucy laid her head on my shoulder as Ceriden and Felicia
and Giles
brought in the people they had been guarding- the
Trevochet
’s
, Devon,
a
nd Holly.

“
We lost Myleene,
”
Ken said, his voice strangled with grief.
“
And most of the house guard.
”

“
Myleene,
”
Giles
’
face fell apart, and tears welled up in his eyes.

“
Eleanor died,
”
Lucy said in a small voice that wrenched at my heart.

Desolation
filled
the room.

“
You know who
’
s to blame for this!
”
Ken
slammed a fist onto the table, his eyes crazy.
“
That fucking traitorous
bastard.
“
He turned fiercely on us.
“
The one who gave away our location. And released Jondal.
”

Giles cast a murderous glance around the room.
“Lock the doors,
”
he said.
“No one leaves.
I don
’
t care how long this takes.
”

His eyes came to rest upon the person to my right.

“
Lysette?
”

41

YORK, ENGLAND

Giles opened Myleene
’
s laptop and, after a respectful moment, logged onto the website that would give him Kinkade
’
s latest updates.

I turned to
Lysette
.
“
I
’
ll go first, Lysette. No worries.
”

She smiled
.
“
Thanks, Logan. You won
’
t feel a thing.
”

As Lysette worked I allowed my eyes to wander. I saw tension and fear in many faces, confusion in a few,
and disinterest
in others. I didn
’
t envy Lysette
’
s task, not after what she
’
d told me earlier about herself.

“
Done,
”
Lysette murmured.
“
You
’
re okay.
”

“
Thanks.
”

“
Next?
”

Whilst Lysette wo
rked I fought my inner warning system that said I should remain alert because something
had
to happen,
and took a moment to focus on Lucy. Gently, I put a finger under her chin and lifted her head.

“
Hey, kiddo.
”

“
I
’
m not a kid,
”
she said.
“You’re a …”
she blinked. “Hey, I’m…” She pulled away from me and looked her watch.
“
Dad, I
’
m
sixteen!
”

I
t took me
a second
to
understand. It was getting on for five in the morning. Today was Lucy
’
s sixteenth birthday.

“
Not
that’s
old,
”
I laughed.
“
How do you feel about a bus pass?
”

I
heard Lysette move on to someone else.

“
Never be as old as you,
wrinkly,
”
she mock punched me, and it was like before. Me teasing her.
S
he was haranguing
me about my
‘
old
’
age. I felt a sudden urge to take her away, to celebrate her birthday properly, just to let her
live
once more in this teetering old world.

“
I
’
ve come of age,
”
Lucy said
, and a veil
fell
over h
er eyes. I felt my heart pause
. An odd way of phrasing
for a sixteen year old.

“
Time to let yourself
live
,
”
I said
.

“
I
…
I want to, dad. I feel
. . .
different.
”

I tried to ignore the tension that continued to thicken around us.

I noticed Tanya Jordan sitting forward in her chair. “I
overheard,” she said with a
smile. “But then I
was
listening,” she shrugged at me. “Sixteen is big. One of the biggest.
We
wrinkley’s tend to forget.”

Lucy turned a smile on her that was reminiscent of a sunrise illuminating a dark valley. “
See.
Tanya knows.”

“Big changes,” Tanya spoke mainly to me. “You think this Gorgoroth guy’s hard to
handle;
you wait ‘til Lucy turns
eighteen.”

Lucy looked at me and laughed, her eyes twinkling.

“
When this is over,
”
I said.
“
We
’
ll go away somewhere, just you and me, Luce. For as long as you want. Or until the money runs out. Hell, Logan’s Tours has probably gone under by now anyway.
”

“
What about school?
”

Lysette said, “Next.”

“We’
re about to save the world
.
We
’
ll get you schooling later.
”

I saw a brief opening in those iron shutters.
“
Promise?
”

“
With all my heart, darling.
”

I held her
, taking care not to graze her fresh wounds.
“
You came for me tonight,
”
she whispered
against my chest.
“
You did.
”

“
Yes.
”

I glanced up as Lysette stiffened next to me.
“
You okay?
”

“
Got him-
”
Lysette sta
rted to whisper but then a gunshot rang out
!

And then the greatest shock.
Kisami stood up!

And in perfect, clipped English tones he said,
“May I just say that I am
looking forward to testing you all at New Babylon,
”
then turned on a smart heal and strode
out of the conference room.

Devon had start
ed weaving her shield an instant before
Kisami fired at us. It had taken
immediate
effect, slinking over us like a giant bullet-proof tarpaulin.

I sucked in a huge lungful of air. I rubbed Lucy
’
s back until she stopped shaking.

“
Waiting for us,
”
Giles spat.
“
The bloody bastard was just waiting for us.
”
He started to go after Kisami, but Jade restrained him with a shake of her head.
Not worth it. Not yet.

I noticed Lysette was trembling.
“
You okay?
”

“
His mind was not evil, not broken,
”
she sobbed.
“
It was just
gone.
A great black hole. But when I probed, when I pressed the
nothing,
I felt myself being sucked in. Oh, God, I almost lost my mind.
”

Giles walked over to comfort her.

“
You mean the little fucker could speak English all along?
”
Ken was fuming.
“
I spent
hours
teaching that loser…
”

“
And Eleanor died saving
his
life,
”
Jade spat with as much vehemence as I
’
d ever seen.
“It now seems she was
set up
…
to die.
”

“No.”

We stared
at each other with the
knowledge that Eleanor had died for nothing.

“
He fooled everyone,
”
Ceriden side
-
stepped to the centre of the room to grab our attention.
“
All this time. But here
’
s the kicker
, you guys;
here
‘
s the mind-blower
…
we thought Kisami was one of the Eight
. The location spell identified him as such. So if Kisami is in fact allied with our enemy,
then
who…?
”