The Valkyrie's Guardian (35 page)

“Smells real bad, Thundercat.”

“You need to hear Ben's idea. It will work. Besides, how long can SEAL Team Three camp out at Kinmylies? I guarantee Mr. X can hold out longer. Then the MacGunn clan will be even worse off than before.”

“Hand over the radio, or I'll get it myself. That's my idea of fun, sweetheart.”

Cassie made a fist, then opened her hand, revealing a jagged matrix of blue tendrils. “I don't think you understood. This is a fight-fire-with-fire situation. And I'm not asking permission.”

Checkmate.

This time they covered ground fast. Ben knew his way through the brush like a fox, the others followed as silently and swiftly. Even the night animals remained undisturbed. She grew anxious as they approached the craggy hills underlined by the Inverness river. The ruin shielding the entrance to the cave peeked through small spaces in the foliage.

No wonder we didn't find this,
Chief complained, knowing she could hear.
From the river, none of this is visible. I swear I patrolled the north end half a dozen times this week.

They stopped a hundred yards away and staked out the enemy camp. Chet and Pops looped around the perimeter and counted only six guards on watch. Chief scanned the ruin and cave entrance with infrared and found only eight more. Where were the rest?

“Cassie, I have to radio this in. Twenty troops missing from the enemy camp is probably a deployment, for an ambush. We have to warn them.”

He was right. They had no choice. But it was time to strike now anyway. “Agreed. Give us thirty seconds to get into position.” She prayed the SEALs would stay in the forest and provide cover fire. She didn't want them exposed on the field, outnumbered. With any luck it wouldn't be necessary.

“You ready for this, Ben?”

“Been ready all my life.”

“You have to make it convincing.”

“Oh, it'll look real.”

Cassie heard his grim resolve, the reckless abandon of a man who thought he didn't care if he lived or died. It would make him dangerous as well as foolish. She had to respect that, because ever since she realized she loved Jack, not even the threat of death could touch it.

• • •

“Hey! Sniper bastard man, come on out, you wanker!” Ben stomped through the clearing with his shoulders swinging, a walk that screamed,
bad attitude!
He dragged Cassie by the hair, making her stumble. Her wrists were tied, her clothes ripped, and her forehead streamed blood from a nasty scrape on one side and a gash on the other. She hung her head and gasped for breath.

Eight soldiers swarmed from the ruin and surrounded them with rifles at attention. They didn't have their thoughts muted like those from the Torrey Pines ambush. Their scattered thoughts came in Arabic, or Farsi, maybe. She counted all six patrol guards who took the bait, gathering behind her and leaving the perimeter unguarded. Morons.

Cassie tripped again and let Ben wrestle her to her feet, giving the SEALs time to close in behind the guards. She tugged at the bonds and growled at Ben, then tried to sweep-kick him off his feet. He slapped her, she spat in his face, and Chief said,
GO.

Ben yanked a fistful of her hair and made her trot sideways to keep up. He came within thirty paces of the ruin when a light emerged from the black void that was a doorway.

“Hey there, it's about bloody time. A word, if ye please.” Ben's beefy forearm hooked around her neck as he slammed her against his chest. The cold metal of a gun barrel jabbed the skin under her jaw. “We got your message. Nice stunt with the panties.”

A man's striking features illuminated by the lantern he held. He was shorter than Cassie and inhumanly beautiful. Light reflected on his exotic jet eyes, casting his olive skin with a creamy glow. A swarthy dark prince, dressed as though he was on his way to the opera in an expensive silk suit. And he reeked. He walked — slithered — closer, and the stench hit her full on. She doubled over and retched, right on Ben's boot.

“Ugh. Don't know why you want her. She's a whiny bitch, nothing but trouble.” He tightened his grip on her neck and cocked the hammer of the pistol.

Cassie's insides roiled, her throat swollen half shut. She couldn't bear to draw in breath through her nostrils, the cloying dread choking her. She hadn't taken that into account — stupid, stupid, stupid. He was speaking, but she couldn't hear. Her head revolted at the sickening evil battering at her mind.

She breathed through her mouth and that helped a little, but still the lust for violence drumming in her blood put her dangerously on edge. She had to hold back.
Not yet, not yet,
she chanted to herself, tamping down on the urge to let the rage do its thing. Her fingers curled into claws. Her spine shuddered as desire to immolate racked her.

Ben jabbed her hard in the ribs, bringing her back from the edge. No one noticed the boiled-beets smell, right? She didn't mean to summon heat and singe the grass. At least she hadn't gotten to the thunder part yet.

“Ah-ah. Not so fast,” Ben scolded, retreating a step, jabbing the gun against her neck. It made her gag, which set off her stomach again. This wasn't going as planned.

“You find yourself surrounded by my guard,” the sleek prince threatened.

Ben scoffed, “I don' fecking care.”

The dark man narrowed his eyes. Cassie felt him grasp for Ben's mind and she quickly shielded it. This was probably who had been controlling people by brainwash. Cassie hadn't considered that blip in the plan either. Ben could lose control of his mind and turn on her, and she didn't think she could handle both men in an attack.

“What do you want, Scot?”

“I want the two boys back. They are valuable to me. And I want you to leave my clan in peace.”

“I have no concern for the others. I want the female.” He raked his eyes over her, avarice in his expression. She met his gaze and shot back hatred.

“Who are you?” Cassie ground out between clenched teeth.

“Why, Tammuz,
helwa habibti
, and you are my Ishtar.”

Cassie felt like such an über-nerd for knowing right away he'd named himself the lover to a legendary Babylonian goddess, a pair of sadistic nut jobs. Whatever. At least it revealed his motives.

“You can have her.” Ben sounded like he loathed her. Tammuz arched a brow. “Return the boys to me first.”

“The fire-maker and the amplifier I cannot give you.”

“Then you have no deal. I can blow her brains out as easily as I can give her to ye. All the same to me.”

“Perhaps you wish to be wealthy. Or you covet what your brother has.” His voice slithered the same way he walked, smooth and disturbing.

“You can roll up your money and smoke it. But I'll take your offer. Leave my elder brother, and you can kill the younger.”

“Done.”

Cassie betrayed no reaction to their agreement to kill Jack.

Ben squeezed tighter, either in reassurance or to appear threatening. “Then you never set foot on my land again.”

“With pleasure.”

“That leaves the matter of the two boys. I can't go back without them. Trade.”

“The female first.”

Cassie felt Tammuz push again at Ben's mind, looking for a weakness in the shield. She held firm, hoping he didn't sense it wasn't Ben producing the mindshield, or their cover was blown.

Ben grunted in warning. “Take another step and I'll pull the trigger. The boys first.”

Tammuz scanned the horizon, then frowned at a pocket watch he drew from inside his coat. “Your timing is inconvenient, Scot. You should have come sooner.” As if on cue, a dull boom rocked the ground, the sound rising in pitch as the shockwave rolled their way. “And your youths are now martyrs.”

Unreasonably, she was angry with Ben for not comprehending what just happened. She silently explained in a rush,
Magnus creates explosions, and Henry amplifies ability. Neither boy can control it when forced. The explosion — Kinmylies just blew.
A cloud of pink and orange-tinged smoke rose above the hills, verifying the truth.

Chief chose that moment to open fire on the guards; the crack of rapid gunfire echoed through the woods.

Tammuz attacked Ben.

Cassie wrenched out of the way, Ben's gun went off, and he managed to toss her aside. She rolled and landed in a crouch. She tried to scramble out from behind Ben and dive into the fight, but he kept maneuvering to stand in front of her, protecting her. He was slowly losing a bizarre fist fight, grizzly bear versus cobra. Ben was strong and fast, but Tammuz was faster and moved with the practiced ease of a martial artist. No matter how heavy the berserker's blows, it didn't seem to faze Tammuz.

No time to panic over everyone at Kinmylies, to wonder if Chief's warning was enough, but the explosion had ripped apart her control. She could feel it, the feral instincts consuming her, the fury burning through rational thought. Something else was wrong with Ben, she couldn't tell what, but Tammuz was the source. Ben's color reddened unnaturally, his veins bulged, and he started to shake. Nasty welts traced over his skin, down his neck and arms, splitting the flesh over his joints and spreading. She stared in horror, realizing Tammuz was using a mindweapon.

Cassie snapped the ropes from her wrists, snatched the pistol off the ground and fired. Three rounds into center mass, like Jack had taught her. Tammuz only staggered back, regarding the holes in his chest with mild surprise. With the discarded lantern casting light upward from the ground, the scene looked like a bad horror movie.

Ben clutched his head and dropped to his knees, retching — why? Tammuz laughed, a high-pitched cackle. When the three slugs pushed out of his chest and the blood stopped flowing, it confirmed her suspicions. She'd heard of this before. It could only mean one thing.

Tammuz wasn't just Merodach's successor, he was his son. It made sense now, remembering the mythical Tammuz, linked to the power of resurrection. And worldwide fertility, which made Cassie wonder if this creep also believed himself personally responsible for the procreation of their race — the extra-sentient race.

She'd expected a mid-grade extra-sentient, someone she could fry without a lot of trouble. If junior here was anything like his sire, she was oh-so-outclassed. With Kinmylies at ground zero, she couldn't expect help.

“You misbehave, Ishtar,” Tammuz crooned. “You need my guidance to channel your passions.” He turned back to Ben, who pulled himself to his feet. Tammuz spoke over his shoulder to her, “Do you not aid me in disposing of your traitor? I despise the taint of infidels.”

Ben snorted and muttered a string of f-word-laced Gaelic curses, his eyes bloodshot. Long, raw gashes in his neck and arms oozed blood, but he was still ready to fight. She didn't dare lower her mindshield to speak to him. They both avoided eye contact; they were improvising now.

“Oh, yes.” She used a deadly tone and drew out the
s
, pacing a ring around the two men. Stalling was good, in case Chief could clear the guards and provide backup soon. They'd gone into the cave but hadn't come back out yet.

She managed to stuff the gun in the back of Ben's waistband as she passed behind him. Ben gave nothing away and she still shielded his mind. She paused in front of him, keeping an eye on Tammuz. “The traitor is mine.”

“We shall drink his blood.”

Gross!
She decided no comment was best since her acting abilities ended just shy of vampirism. She sprang at Ben and grasped his neck with both hands. She pretended to squeeze for all she was worth, leaning into it with the balls of her feet. Ben was genuinely shocked, so his backward stumble which toppled them to the ground was real. He tossed his shoulders and flailed, then grabbed her elbows and pulled with enough force to make both their arms shake with strain.

She pressed harder against his jugular vein, and his eyes flashed with fear. His pulse hammered frantically as he panicked. He knew she had to kill him. She could see when he accepted it, because he willingly surrendered to the pull of unconsciousness. Cassie grunted and clamped down harder, until his pulse stopped. She heaved for breath, feigning exhaustion, and muttered a curse at Ben's inert form. It was more humane than what Tammuz would've done to him.

Tammuz crept closer, clapping his hands in slow rhythm. “My fearsome Ishtar, you please me.”

She looked up to see flinty eyes narrowed and focused with a hungry expression she knew well, even if the disgusting bulge in his pants didn't give him away.

“You shall give me great sport. At last you are mine.”

Ben's eyes faded from brilliant to dull green. She tore her gaze away, hoping the wave of revulsion didn't show on her face. It took a moment to get her head back in the game. Now she needed to distract Tammuz, goad him. “I belong to no one.”

“Ah, but it is so. Once you belonged to my oldest enemy, and now you belong to me.”

Light bulb.
So this was about Kyros? The war that never ended …

She rose to her feet and paced backward, supposedly putting distance between herself and the dead berserker.

“Too long have you languished, my love. Tell me, Ishtar, does the blood of the gods flow through this incarnation?” He gestured in the air, as though the space between them didn't prevent him from stroking her shoulder.

“Am I immortal? Not at all. Why, is that a disappointment?”

He looked alarmed. “Yes. Severely. Then we can waste no more of what we have far too little of.”

She used a flat tone, “Uh-huh. So, what's the point of all this? Was it necessary to attack Kinmylies? The innocent women and children?”

“No innocents among the allies of my enemy. For The Fallen of the Chosen Ones who spreads his taint like a plague? Necessary, and sanctioned. You cannot comprehend, Ishtar. It is not your place … ”