Nephilius - A Walker Saga Book 5 (28 page)

I was alone then, the quiet echoing around
and through me. I closed my eyes, almost too tired to keep them
open.

“
All done,
Abbs, but I still can’t break your chains.” Fury’s voice had my
eyes fluttering open
. I was relieved to
see her face was clear of marks now. No gray swirling through her
red skin. “But your dad and Brace are here. They will surely know
what to do.”

“Baby girl.” Josian’s booming voice had me
shifting my eyes to the right.

I got a face full of red hair as he leaned
over and kissed my cheek. His eyes were swirling in colors of
bronze and gold. He looked fierce, his eyebrows bunched together
and his lips pursed.

I felt Brace
then, his warmth, his aura, his own powerful energy. It wrapped
around me and some of the empty coldness inside me eased. My eyes
locked onto his face as it appeared above me, and right
then
, if I’d had the energy to flinch, I
would have. I’d seen Brace angry before – god I used to piss him
off all the time – but right then he was so furious the air
crackled around him. His features could have been carved from stone
and, while his eyes were black, they flashed all kinds of hell for
anyone who got in his way.

He cupped my face in his hands and
desperation bled into those rigid features.

“
First pixie
land and now Nephilius. You should just kill me, the
long
-term torture is far worse.” He
dropped his forehead to rest against mine. “I will get you out of
here.”

“I’m going to need your help.” Josian
interrupted us.

Brace lifted his head, his fists still
clenched as he struggled with his emotions.

To dial down
the visible flow of energy between Brace and m
e, I forced my eyelids closed. I had to stop what we were
doing; piece by piece I was building ties between us again, and if
they became any stronger we wouldn’t be able to stop the
re-melding. And if that happened I’d never have the strength to
break our bond again. Now that I’d felt the pain and emptiness of
losing Brace, everything in me would fight against ever feeling
that way again. Besides, something told me that the lalunas
wouldn’t help me a second time.

To distract
my thoughts I wondered where Lucy was. I couldn’t believe they’d
stopped her from coming. Colton must have her tied down. A mental
image formed of her pixie butt trying to blind him with dust while
she escaped. I’d have laughed if I
’d had
the strength. I was jolted from my weird daydream by a warmth
surrounding my left hand. It almost felt burning hot compared to
the icy cold wracking my body. Brace had laced his fingers with
mine. I couldn’t stop myself from opening my eyes again.

His face
softened as our gazes met, and when the grip on my hand tightened,
I prepared myself, knowing they were about to free me. Generally
whenever something like th
at happened it
always involved pain. But oddly enough, there was just a simple
clicking sound and my limbs were free.

Josian and Brace helped me to a sitting
position, allowing me to see my prison for the first time. I bit
back an angry curse.

The area was
large, styled in the manner of an underground bunker with no
windows or doors. The only light was still from the moonstale
stones, which must have been shoved into a far corner by the girls.
I was on a metal bench, almost like the ones from old school
hospitals on Earth, which the dead
had
rested on in morgues. Thankfully, though, I was clothed.

There
were two dozen of these metal beds surrounding
us, and each of them was occupied. The Angelica had their wings
tucked up under them. Others looked to be Walkers.

“What happened after you fell?” Brace
captured my chin in his free hand, the other still laced with
mine.

“
I think I
fell to a land beneath the clouds.” I shook back my
hair
. Somehow my long curls were free.
“It was a Utopian world, beautiful, exactly how I imagined
paradise. I couldn’t remember anything about who I was, and for
some strange reason that didn’t bother me.”

I
paused
, wondering if I should tell him
about his family. Were they really there? Or was it some sort of
hallucination? Either way I had to say something.

“Brace, your mother and sister were in my
Utopia.”

Our faces
were really close now – he only had to move an inch and our lips
would touch – so I saw every facet of pain and hope that flashed
across his features. His eyes were wide, his jaw
rigid
, and I knew he was about to either
cry or start smashing things.

“
I’m hoping
it was real
. You have to check if they’re
here,” I whispered to him. “They were beautiful. Caty has dark hair
like yours, and Lasandra’s was like sunlight blond.”

“
Shit.” He
cursed low under his breath. His eyes started to flick away from me
and dart around the room. I knew he didn’t want to leave
me
, so I gave him a little
shove.

“Go. I’ll be right here.”

His lips landed awfully close to mine as he
grazed my cheek. And then he was gone. So fast I couldn’t even
track him around the darkened room.

“
I’m
confused
,” I said to Josian, my heavy
head dropping into my hands. Without Brace’s hand around me the
cold was seeping back into my body. “Was Utopia really there? Did I
actually fall below the clouds?”

He crossed
his arms, brows rising as he took in the room. Low rumbles
shook his chest. “This dwelling is below the
clouds in Nephilius.” His arms spread out to circle the warehouse
area. “The Utopian part was most probably in your mind to keep you
happy and sedated.” Using his index finger he bopped me gently on
the nose. “They didn’t take into account one very special
half-Walker. Destroying the cage destroyed the energy holding you
all here.” He hugged me roughly, his muscled arms tightening around
me. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

I patted his
back, and eventually his heart rate slowed again. When he pulled
back his
gaze rested on my face. As soon
as his warm arms left me I was cold again. I wondered if I’d ever
feel warm. My eyes darted around the room, searching for Brace, but
he wasn’t close by.

“
I can’t
believe how many of these energy setups the Seventine
have
,” I said, turning back to Josian.
“There are years of planning in every single one of them. How is
their reach so far?”

Josian
rubbed his face as he stared around. “I wouldn’t be surprised to
discover – after the dark mountains, Earth and now this on
Nephilius –
that there is some type of
energy-gathering setup on each of the worlds. I always wondered how
the Seventine planned on getting the massive amounts of energy
required to free them.”

Looked like we had our answers.

“
We need to
investigate this.” Fury stepped closer. Dune was right behind
her
, as always. “We’ll search
Crais.”

It wasn’t a
bad plan
. If we could cut off some of
their energy, we might have a shot at beating them to the final
battle. If I had all seven girls before they were freed, well, that
could only increase our chances of re-imprisoning them.

“
Look for a
zone of gathered energy
. It’ll be large
and feel unnatural. For Fury it might seem like a beacon drawing
her closer,” Josian said.

“And when you find it, do not do anything
without me.” I lowered my voice.

Fury stared at me for a few moments, before
the slightest grin turned up the corners of her mouth. “I’m glad
you’re safe, Supes, I’d have missed your bossy orders.”

And then
with a wink she reached out and grabbed onto her
mate
, before tracing them both from the
room. It hadn’t escaped my attention that she hadn’t agreed to let
me know if they found the energy.

“
I’ll go to
Spurn.” Talina kissed my cheek. “Ladre was adamant that I
c
ome back for him. It was damn …” She
looked to be fighting back tears. “So hard to leave him there, but
now that I’ve given him some time to know his true feelings, I’ll
be more confident in his choice. And while I’m there I’ll search
for the energy.”

I gave her a hug. “Was everything okay when
you went back? They weren’t … cruel to you?”

When I’d
first gone to Spurn I’d been amazed at how bad
ly Talina was treated. All of the clans had acted like she
was crap under their flippered feet, as if she were a lesser being,
despite the fact she out-powered them by like a million to
one.

A strange
expression crossed her lovely pink face. “Actually, I’ve never been
treated with more respect. Raror’s last partner – she’s Earon’s
leader now – is almost due to have her young, and she was very
kind. A generous and just leadership changes the whole dynamics of
a clan.” She smiled now, her tears gone. “And I think
the fact that I returned with Ladre. And, Abbs,
he actually introduced me as his mate. It kind of threw the other
clan traditions out the window.”

That was
good. If there was ever an overly-cliquey, asshat
-filled world, it was Spurn. Unlike Fury, Talina promised
to contact me if she found anything, and then with one last hug she
traced from the room.

“So are we thinking the underground killing
area of the fringe was the energy thing on Regali?” Ria’s beautiful
face came into focus.

I met her
serious gaze
, twisting on the metal bench
trying to get comfortable. My strength was slowly flooding back
into me and I knew I’d be able to stand soon.

“
It was
definitely a small
-scale one. But if you
want to go back and have a look around, then I have no problem with
that.” It was no secret that the queen worried about her jungle and
its packs. “Now’s the best time while I’m occupied finding the
half-Walkers. After that we’ll need to train our asses
off.”

She placed
one of her warm hands onto my arm
, and
then with a wink – the right exotically shaped purple eye closed
briefly – she traced away.

Delane
stepped forward. “Brace and I need to get back to the tournament.
It was delayed when you broke the cage on the Isle of
Souls; the council needed to deal with the
fallout. But if you still require my help with your Seventine
battle our original bargain stands.”

I nodded at
the winged Walker. I’d not expected any different from
her
; her word was her honor. And she’d
made a deal and was sticking with it.

The moment I
could feel my extremities –
after lots of
wiggling of my toes and fingers – I jumped off the bench. Josian
moved to help me, but I didn’t need assistance. Once my energy had
been allowed to refill, Walker healing took care of the
rest.

Together
Josian and I moved around the room
,
breaking the chains that held the others captive. Josian showed me
how to crack the restraints. There was a locking mechanism hidden
beneath one of the chains. Once these bonds were broken the others
started to regain consciousness, but like myself were weak for a
little while.

We’d just
about finished when we ran into Brace
. He
was flanked by two very beautiful and familiar women. My heart
jumped with joy, the emotion tearing through me and leaving a
burning wake in its path. He’d found his family.

Caty
leaped
up when I came closer and threw
her arms around me in a hug. I guessed she remembered me. “Thank
you for saving us, Abby.” She pulled back. “Brace has been telling
us all about you … how special you are.”

I met his
eyes
, and the longing there just about
brought me to my knees. When we were melded I’d felt the depth of
his emotions for me. His love had been like a shining beacon,
eclipsing all else. There was nothing in any of the worlds above or
below the place I held in his life. I was first to him. Which was
partly why I’d never told him of Lucy’s prophecy.

But once the
bond
had been broken he’d gone back to
the calm, collected and private Walker. I never knew exactly what
he was thinking. But finding his family seemed to have smashed down
a few of these walls, because he was leaking emotions all over the
place and I had to get away. I could not resist those sad
eyes.

Lasandra
also watched me
, but unlike her beautiful
son, she was still unreadable, and if I had to guess she wasn’t
quite feeling the same gratitude to me that Caty had expressed. In
fact I’d say she wasn’t my biggest fan. What was with that? I was
awesomely likeable.

“
I’m so glad
that you found your family.” I couldn’t help but smile at Brace.
“I’ll see you soon
. I have to keep
helping Dad.” I forced myself to turn away, biting the inside of my
cheeks so I didn’t cry.

I made about five steps before he captured
my hands.

“
Thank
you.”
He leaned in and kissed my cheek.
“My family have been missing for so long, I should’ve known you’d
be the one to save them.”