Control (Book Seven) (Fated Saga Fantasy Series) (29 page)

Meghan heard only a frustrated purr as a reply. “I’ve been thinking on it for days, but no. No idea.”

“I did what you asked, Freyne
,” said Colin, his tone turning deadly. “Let. Her. Go.”

“I have a better idea,” said
Freyne. “How about a little game of keep a way?”

Six shadows
materialized, like wisps of smoke seeping through the walls; dark robes layering six bodies as smoke turned solid. Ancient looking hands outstretched, each holding a pure white dagger.

“
Colin, get out of here!” pleaded Catrina.

“I’m not leaving you,” he told her.

Meghan lost her breath, her eyes wide with horror.

This wasn’t just a set up, this was a grand scale attack. The Grosvenor wanted Colin’s powers.
And it was six against two, plus a Catawitch.

“Whoever stabs him gets to keep his power,” Fazendiin spoke to the six figures.

Excited grunts escaped the faceless figures; their dark robes hanging low over their heads.

Meghan spun back around to Catrina.

“Don’t suppose you have any ideas how to escape this prison?”

“I tried using magic from in here, but nothing I did made any difference. I don’t think my powers alone are strong enough to break through.”

Meghan heard Nona say, “I think we need help.”

“Yes!” agreed Meghan. She cast a blue flame down to the ground, careful not to hit any pieces of straw. The last thing they n
eeded was a fire to fight. “Hurry, Nona!” The Catawitch jumped into the flame and disappeared.

“Catrina, you try breaking it down from the inside and I’ll try from the outside... wait, you might get h
urt if that works. This isn’t helping,” she panicked.

Freyne Rothrock’s hideous laughter filtered into Colin’s brain like a drill. He
faced the six approaching figures with nothing but hatred in his eyes. First, he’d kill each of them, and then he was going to destroy Freyne.

Col
in’s guard dropped a little, his mind opening to Meghan... his focus completely on the desire spreading throughout his entire being.

Meghan sensed the outrage
coursing through his veins, taking control of every part of him, bit by bit pushing the Colin Jacoby she knew and loved deeper and deeper into a dark place.

She forced the mind-block back in place.

She could not watch her brother’s demise into darkness.

And she had no way to stop him other than to free Catrina.

##

Nona came out of the first flame she could find in the banished camp. A young woman jumped back, startled.

“Maria,” said Nona, recognizing her.

“Hi-hi,” stammered Maria. “You’re Nona, right?”

“Yes. Sorry. No time! I need Ivan and Sebastien, do you know where they are?”

“I’m sorry. They’re not here. They joined the forces going to confront Fazendiin hours ago.”

“Do you know where that is?” asked Nona.

“Yes
. I don’t know as I can explain where.”

“You don’t need to
. Just think about it and touch my back.”

Maria gulped.

“It doesn’t hurt, I promise,” said Nona.

Maria nodded, leaned forward and grabbed hold of Nona
’s back. She felt her body falling into the flames, as if being sucked into them. Nona was right, though. It did not hurt, although it was an odd sensation as the flames licked at her skin, pulling her towards their destination.

A mom
ent later, Nona startled a group of soldiers as she popped out of a fire they were standing around to warm themselves. 

Maria let go
of Nona, steadying herself.

“Hi,” she said to
the soldiers, giving them a timid wave.

Nona bounded off in search of Ivan and Sebastien.

Maria followed.

Nona came to a skidding halt when she saw the Immortality Stone just sitting in a meadow. “No time
to ask,” she said, eyeing her targets. They were standing to the right side of the Stone, speaking to Sebastien’s father.

Maria caught up, letting out an exclama
tion of shock when she saw the Stone. It was loud enough that it turned heads.

“Maria?” called out Ivan, upon seeing her. He dashed over,
catching a glimpse of Nona.

Sebastien followed.

Before anyone could ask anything, delaying her, Nona bellowed, “Ivan, Sebastien, Meghan needs you, you must come!”

They tossed each other looks of grave concern, following
without question.

I
van caught Maria’s gaze as he ran by her. It was the shortest of moments but they exchanged a look that felt like an entire conversation.

He left
her feeling as though she had embraced him, sending him off with armor protecting his entire soul.

He vowed
he would be fine and she shouldn’t worry. He would return and he knew she would be safe here.

Nona bounded back to the
fire, Ivan and Sebastien in tow, diving into the flames.

Sparks
and embers popped as their bodies disappeared.

Billie approached Maria. “What on earth
was that all about?”

Noah,
Maura, Nashua, Milo, Kanda and Arnon joined her.

Maria replied, “I honestly have no idea. Nona just appeared in my fireplace screaming for Ivan and Sebastien. I brought her here. And then, well, you saw the rest.”

The group huddled in discussion.

Maria did not join them, her stunned gaze giving way to worry.

Maura grasped Maria’s shoulder, giving her a caring pat.

“Do you think he’ll be okay?” Maria asked.

Maura knew she spoke only of Ivan. Maria seemed to realize her mistake and rephrased, “I mean all of them, of course.”

“You don’t have to explain to me, honey,” Maura returned. “And yes, from what I’ve heard about Ivan, I’m sure he’ll be just fine. He’s a strong lad. And he’s lucky to have someone like you care about him.”

The words of comfort di
dn’t help Maria feel any better; what Maura said was true, though. She hadn’t fully realized it until just then, but she did care for Ivan. She didn’t see how
he
could care for her in return. She was a simple girl with no extraordinary magical gifts or duty to fulfill. She wasn’t exciting. She wasn’t part of any grand scheme. Ivan was neck deep in things she couldn’t even begin to comprehend. What could she offer someone leading such a thrilling life?

Billie
shook her head, her eyes staring into the fire pit where Nona, Ivan and Sebastien had just disappeared into. “What are those kids up to?” she asked no one in particular.

“They’re not kids anymore,” said
Milo, just a few feet away. He didn’t want to believe his own words, but they were true. They were not kids anymore. He just hoped Sebastien returned before they left for the banished camp. He dreaded the idea of returning home and telling his wife, Kay, that Sebastien had left again.

Arnon finally
located his ability to speak, having lost it the moment Nona had explained that Meghan was in trouble, and said the words everyone had wanted to say, but had not dared.

“
What if this is the reason Fazendiin’s not here? What if we are the decoy for whatever they are doing, right now?”

Kanda grasped his
hand.

Arnon lost his capability of speaking again.
Helplessness. It’s all he felt anymore.

##

Nona jumped out of the flame Meghan had left for her in the barn, followed by Ivan and Sebastien. They entered a chaotic scene.

Colin was holding out his palm creatin
g a defensive barrier between himself, Meghan and Catrina, fighting off blast after blast from six robed figures. The spells ricocheted off his barrier, flying into various parts of the barn. Wood splintered. Hay flew through the air. Old tools clanged together.

Meghan had her back to Colin, shooting flames towards Catrina. The flames were not reaching her, seeming to be blocked by some
invisible barrier between them.

Ivan and Sebastien assumed this was the bone-dust wall created by Freyne.

Ivan shot off a spell. It hit the Grosvenor closest to him, at Colin’s right. It caught the Grosvenor off guard, knocking him back a few steps, but didn’t do any significant damage.

Colin didn’t t
ake his eyes off the other five, ignoring the arrival of Ivan and Sebastien. They gave a shudder. Something in Colin’s eyes frightened them.

Sebastien saw Meghan and ran to her side.
“What happened to Freyne freeing her?”

“Isn’t is obvious,” she
shouted back. “Sorry. I’m getting nowhere! I can’t figure out how to break her out of here.”

“We’re here,” Sebastien told her, reminding her she was not alone.
“We’ll get her out.”

Ivan sidled
up next to Sebastien. “Maybe if we all try, together?”

“We just need to be careful we don’t hit Ca
trina in the process,” said Meghan. “There’s no place for her to hide if our spells cut through.”

They heard a high-pitched scream and turned to see Nona on top of one of the Grosvenor’s heads. She had torn the hood off
a female Grosvenor, and was clawing viciously at her face.

“Go Nona,” said Sebastien.
“Remind me never to get on her bad side.”

They turned back to Catrina.

“Let’s try to blast it,” suggested Ivan. “We’ll aim sideways. Catrina, stay to the left corner,” he ordered.

Catrina darted into the left corner, cowering and covering her face.

Ivan, Sebastien and Meghan held out their palms and shot off a blasting spell. The three of them together should have been strong enough to blast through just about anything; but again, nothing happened. The spell hit the nearly invisible bone-dust wall and fizzled.

Meghan doubled over, suddenly feeling immense pain. “Nona,” she cried out.

Ivan spun around and saw Nona’s lifeless body strewn on a hay bale.

Sebastien leaned down and helped Meghan back up.

Nona’s body didn’t stay motionless for long. In mere seconds, the breath of life lifted the Catawitch’s belly.

She got up, shook h
erself off and raced to Meghan, her claws still covered in bloodied skin from the face of the Grosvenor.

“Nona, don’t
ever do that again!” ordered Meghan.

“Sorry. I did lots of damage though,” she added in a vicious snarl.

“You might have nine lives,” said Meghan, “but that’s no reason to waste them all today!”

“I’ll be careful,” insisted
Nona.

They went back to blasting at Catrina’s prison, hoping to weaken whatever spell had been cast to keep her inside.

Colin groaned under the pressure as he focused on the defensive spell in one part of his mind, allowing a second part of his mind to focus on attacking the Grosvenor. They could not just stay on the defensive. They needed to attack too.

He pictured the three robbed targets nearest him, each one
flying backwards in a different direction.

The first flew back slamming into the barn wall, crashing through it. Colin caught a glimpse of the moon rising outside.

The second one fell onto its back, skidding across the hay-covered floor, narrowly missing a collision with a rusty pitchfork.

The third flew up into the air, landing high
overhead in a loft.

Colin
tried desperately to get the protective cloak to work again, knowing he could just hide them all, giving them a chance to catch their breath and figure out some way to free Catrina.

His
brain just would not cooperate with him. Between worrying about Catrina, and everyone trying to free her, defending them all against a foe nearly impossible to hurt, never mind kill... he could not calm himself enough to think straight.

And underneath it
all, a dark thought kept foraging its way around his mind... all of this was nothing compared to what he wanted do to Freyne Rothrock.

“We’re getti
ng nowhere,” exclaimed Meghan. “I thought I wasn’t strong enough to break down the wall alone, but nothing we do is even making a mark!”

Colin overheard her.
Panic stalled his mind from working and the defensive shield weakened. One of the Grosvenor saw the opportunity and lunged forward, thrusting its body into the magic shield, attempting to penetrate it. Colin pushed back, his mind furiously focusing on reforming the defensive shield.

Nona looked up, seeing something moving overhead.