Prophecy (Residue Series #4) (31 page)

She lifted her head, but not in search of me. She was looking for Peregrine. “Kalisha’s gift…,” she said.

“Is dead,” Peregrine interrupted, “along with her.”

Jocelyn ignored him, as if he no longer mattered. “Kalisha’s gift is the elements,” she stated with absolute certainty. “She wouldn’t tell me, not until now.”

Now?
I wondered quietly to myself. There was something strange in that statement…something I couldn’t figure out until she pushed herself to a standing position and that look of determination I knew so well washed over her.

When her gaze dropped to the sand at her feet, I knew.

The gift Kalisha had given her, the residue she’d passed on to Jocelyn by taking her own life, was the elements.

Peregrine began moving. I knew this from the crunch of his footsteps. I also knew he wouldn’t get far.

Jocelyn’s abilities were extraordinary. Peregrine knew what she was capable of but hadn’t seen it. Not until now…

The sand at her feet had heated to the point of melting, becoming a gleaming puddle of liquid, which quickly solidified under her focused attention. Before Peregrine could take two steps, Jocelyn bent, picked up the glass she had created, and flung it at him.

He wasn’t prepared but was quick enough to dodge it, and it fell to the ground, shattering behind him.

The raging battle surrounding us became a distraction from anything else landing at Peregrine’s back, but she came into view by the time he reached me. I had stepped in front of him so I didn’t see her until Peregrine’s expression contorted from a scowl to a look of subdued confusion. He made no attempt to defend himself against me while I drew back, preparing to strike. Then he fell to his knees and I saw Maggie clinging to his back with one hand on his shoulder to steady her mount and the other still wrapped around the glass plunged deep into his back. His face shuddered, his mouth slackened, and his face planted directly at my feet.

Maggie craned her neck up to look at me. “One left,” she said, gleefully oblivious that she had again taken a Seven from me.

I should have been upset. I had trained for these moments she repeatedly stole from me, had given up my childhood, my own goals, my own pursuits. But the frustration I’d felt earlier, with the other Sevens, wasn’t there. What mattered was that Jocelyn was safe, and another Seven was dead.

By the time she leapt to her feet, his body was decomposing.

And we weren’t the only ones to notice.

The Vires, who were still breathing, slowed to a confounded silence, becoming motionless in their astonishment, as others like them had done when their impervious leader proved to be nothing but a false icon. It was visible in their lack of emotion and in their attention fixed on the body that was now nothing more than dust in the outline of a body.

The next one in charge made a motion, a solitary move in the crowd of still Vires, and they shot into the air, disappearing instantly.

“Collect our family and friends,” I instructed quietly, even though the courtyard’s calm sent my voice echoing off the walls. I reached back for Jocelyn’s hand and breathed a sigh of relief when her fingers settled over mine. “We need to prepare.”

A hesitant voice from the crowd asked the question on everyone else’s mind. “For-for what?”

I sighed, harboring no illusions on what was headed our way.

“For who,” I corrected. “For Sartorius…”

19
LINEAGE

J
OCELYN HEALED THE WOUNDED ON OUR
return trip to New Orleans. Once there, the mood over the village grew somber. Only intermittent clashes of swords and small explosions as objects burst into flames or cracked under ice broke the silence. The thick cypress trees surrounding us were silent, unmoving, sitting in judgment like elders on a council. It was the quiet before the storm.

While some honed their skills, the rest of us watched the sky. I positioned guards in various locations to signal when our guests had arrived. It wasn’t long before one of them dropped to the dock where I was meeting with Theleo, Lester, and Isabella. He didn’t bother knocking or cowering from his announcement. That just wasn’t like Aidan.

The door to my parent’s shack slammed open and he strolled in. “We have company, but it’s not who you’re expecting.”

“Who are they?” Isabella asked on behalf of the rest of us.

He shrugged. “They’re wearing skull necklaces and coming by canoe.”

That wasn’t exactly what we needed from him, so I stood and went to look for myself. By the time I stepped outside, the first of them were appearing around the bend, from the direction of the village’s undeclared entrance. True to Aidan’s observation, some did wear bone jewelry, including necklaces. Others wore top hats and black suits.

“Voodoos…,” Theleo whispered behind me.

I chuckled. “Scared, Theleo?”

He snickered confidently, but I knew the truth. Vires didn’t have much experience with voodoo. They were instructed to avoid voodoo practitioners at all costs. The Sevens didn’t understand their ways, but they were clear enough about their powers, having taken seven voodoo practitioners against their will centuries ago and forcing them to write the prophecy. None of The Sevens felt powerful enough to defeat them, at least not until now.

They rowed in without a sound, a single line of canoes filled with voodoo priests, priestesses, and practitioners. Their heads were held high and their faces were stern as they passed the crowd of spectators on the docks.

If the village wasn’t completely quiet before, it was definitely stunned into silence now. A profound sense of respect was engraved on the faces I saw around the village, and with good reason. The Voodoo remained on the periphery of our world for generations, and therefore they had seemed immune to The Sevens’ destruction. There were only two exceptions, the abduction of the first channelers and now Miss Mabelle and Miss Celia.

“Are they here for revenge?” Aidan’s gruff voice asked, as he appeared beside me. Another one of my cousins stepped up beside him and then another. They reminded me of their own small army within our large one.

“No,” I said. “They don’t take revenge. They’re too judicious for it.”

“But they look ready to fight,” he pointed out. “So what are they doing here?”

“I’m thinking it’s to make sure what happened to their sisters doesn’t happen again.”

Mrs. LeClaire, being at the front of the head canoe, reached us first. She climbed to the dock and approached me.

“We are here because the seventh is coming.”

Understanding her reference to Sartorius, I remarked, “We could use the help.”

“We know,” she replied simply.

I tried not to take this as an insult.

“Is Ms. Veilleux and the rest of the coven with you? I didn’t notice them come in.”

“They’re gone,” she replied without emotion.

“What do you mean…gone?”

“Gone,” she retorted. “Disbanded, took to flight.” She wiggled her fingers in the air simulating wings lifting off. “Gone.”

“Where?” I asked. Voodoo practitioners arrive to help us and
they
leave us in our time of need? This made no sense to me.

Apparently, it didn’t to Mrs. LeClaire, either. “How should I know?” she snapped.

Aidan raised his eyebrows at me, which I was going to respond to when I saw Gershom on the next dock over.

He was looking at the sky. His mouth drew tight before muttering, “They’re coming.”

Maggie, who stood next to him, groaned. “Coming? They’re already here,” she stated with a rub to the back of her neck.

“How do you know?” I called out.

Without taking her eyes from the sky, she explained, “Gershom’s gift is the same as my curse. We can feel our enemies.”

I needed no more forewarning.

“Jocelyn?”

“I’m with you.”

“Good.”

“Lester?” I shifted to face him. “Is everyone in place?”

“Yes.”

“Excellent.”

One last effort needed to be made, but we were running out of time.

I stepped up to the edge of the dock, making myself visible to those lining the village waterway. The sound of the Vires began to be heard now, a persistent, growing drone.

“To all you here…,” I bellowed.

Faces, which were initially pointed toward the sky, lowered to me. In them I saw anticipation…and fear.

“I am Jameson Caldwell. I’m also known as the Nobilis. And I see a broad army collected here to stand in defiance against corruption and oppression. Here and now you are free. But will you preserve it? Or will you give it back?

“I am one of you…and I have lived as one of them. And from personal experience, I know our strength far surpasses the power some believe they hold. That power is false! It is manufactured…a product of brainwashing by their leaders. It did not grow in them from birth, as it has with us. It did not lead them here today, as it has with us. And it will not persevere as it will with us! This is your chance, your one chance, to tell our enemies that they do not…they will not…ever…own us…again!”

Howls and whoops sounded out then, vibrating through the trees and across the water. Shouts of resolve and defiance, followed as they turned, just as our enemies crested the tree tops.

The massive black blur in the otherwise blue sky didn’t target us immediately. Instead, they circled from above, creating a wide ring around the village. Pausing, they stared down at us, inspecting us as if we were animals in a cage.

To my sides and across the water, our people shifted their stances, readying for the assault.

Everything else around us went motionless, even the glassy bayou perfectly reflected our enemies hovering above.

I wondered if Sartorius might show himself, but I didn’t wait to find out. Bending forward, I roared through the bayou. Aidan picked up on my lead, showing his fervor for the fight. Another one of my cousins joined in. From there, the rest of us on the ground, created a rousing, chest-rattling sound that made the Vires stir.

“Elementals!” I shouted, and as we had preplanned, every shack in the village became encased in ice. From them, Levitators broke off long, sharp icicles, their crackling filling the air, as they waited for my command.

I didn’t hesitate.

“Launch!”

And the icy arrows were sent directly at the Vires. Some dodged the attack, but most hits were true to their aim, and the bodies of black uniforms plunged to the earth, some tumbling into the dark, murky water.

A second later, the first Vire descended, the rest followed, and the bayou became a battleground.

Trees snapped and were sent hurdling through the crowd. Bodies flew into shacks. Fire engulfed the docks. Incantations screamed through the air. Voodoo chants hummed beneath them.

A group of Vires came directly for Jocelyn and me, but before they could reach us, Aidan and the rest of my cousins intervened. I took advantage of the opportunity and grabbed Jocelyn.

“I’m getting you out of here,” I said, sweeping my arm below her knees and lifting her into a cradle.

“No! Jameson, I’m needed here! We talked about this.”

“I changed my mind.” The uneasy sound in my voice made me angry.

Get a hold of yourself
, I said,
Jocelyn will be fine once she’s safe.

“I’m fine now!” she shouted, after reading my thought. “Put me down.”

“No!”

We were breaching the treetops by this point, where the conflict was being carried into the air. Vires fought off Dissidents and winged Alterums as I used Jocelyn’s ability to levitate her out of harm’s way. This sight only increased my desire to get her out of here.

And then something slammed into us, shooting us back to earth. The trees blurred as we passed, the wind whipped in our ears, but it was the arms encircling us that had me more concerned.

We crashed on the muddy embankment just outside the village. My head snapped up in search of our attacker, and I caught a glimpse of the battle raging through the trees.

“You have no idea how to stay out of trouble, do you?” a gruff voice snarled in my ear. His anger fit my expectations, but not his choice of words. He sounded as if he were defending us.

Jerking my head back, I found Stalwart, shoving himself off of us.

“Sartorius is up there, waiting for you,” he said with a frown, “and you’re headed right to him.” He glared at me and then shook his head in annoyance.

Ignoring him, I helped Jocelyn up and then stood myself. “Where can we put Jocelyn so she won’t be hurt?”

“I’m not hiding,” she seethed. “I’m needed here.”

Keeping my attention on Stalwart, he responded with a good answer. “I have a place.”

“I’m not hiding!” Jocelyn insisted.

“Where?” I asked.

“Come with me,” he said, starting to move around us.

Jocelyn exhaled loudly in disgust, but that wasn’t what caught my attention.