Destiny (The Chosen One Trilogy:Book Three) (37 page)

“You’ll stay behind and out of the way.” He
smirked. “Same as me.”

Harold nodded.

By the time everyone had made it to our side
we had sixteen healers and twelve magic wielders.

“The first thing we’ll need to do is make
sure each prisoner is shielded. Who can shield more than one
being?” Rainen was looking around. There were nine.

“Do you think we should maybe come at them
from inside the camp? We could displace so that we’re with the
prisoners and attack from there.” Marianne, one of Rainen’s
apprentices had a great mind when it came to strategy. Of course,
she had one of the best teachers around.

“The prisoners are tied to trees, but that
doesn’t mean there weren’t any in some of the tents that are set
up.” Ternach was frowning. “If we stand with the ones we know are
there and start throwing magic around, there may be casualties on
our side.”

“How many tents?” Jasper was
recalculating.

“Five big ones.”

I looked to where Matthew, Kacey, Luke, and
Alex were standing. “We need a repeat of the cave rescue.”

“Shlova, you are not going in there.”

“Oh, but I am.” I looked around. For as much
as I didn’t want to involve anyone without a feel for magic, I knew
I would feel much better if I had my pack there with me. “You can
be my human captor if you want. It’s nice knowing it’s not you I’m
going in there to save this time. Matthew, you take Damian, Kacey,
Rainen, Luke, Ternach, and Alex, you can take…” I looked around,
looking for the next strongest sorcerer or sorceress. It was a tie
between Teean and Marianne. Of the two Marianne looked the calmest.
“Take Marianne.” Teean looked relieved but not as relieved as
Marianne, which seemed odd to me. “We walk in, we each take a tent,
everyone giggle and say whoops, guess the freaks get tied outside,
and when we’re standing by everyone else…” I paused. I guess this
wasn’t going to be exactly like the cave rescue.

“Will you just blow them around?” Matthew was
looking at me intently and I knew what he wanted me to say.

I shook my head. “This time no one leaves
alive.”

He gave one nod of his head and I knew I’d
been right.

“All magic wielders and healers come with us.
Everyone else, you’re to stay here until we get back.” Damian’s
voice sounded like he was inviting everyone to a picnic.

“I’m coming too. You might need someone who
can answer questions if they decide to question you.” Steven made
his way to my side. I nodded.

Rainen looked around until she found who she
was looking for. “Collin, you’re in charge of the dogs.”

“Cole, you’ll take over the cats?” Jasper
asked his friend. Cole nodded. “If all goes well we’ll be back
tomorrow afternoon. If we’re not back by tomorrow night, make your
way to Paradin. If we can, we’ll meet you there.”

“Matthew?” Emelly’s voice hadn’t sounded this
small since the day we’d met her. He jerked at the pitiful sound
his name made. “Be careful.”

“I will, Em. Don’t you worry.” He kissed her
softly. “I’ll be back tomorrow. You stay out of trouble until I get
back.”

She swallowed hard and nodded. “I love
you.”

“And I love you.” He wiped her tears and
kissed her again.

Not too far from them, Mel and Luke were
saying their goodbyes. I had the sudden urge to tell him to stay
back, that someone else would take his place. Of course, if I did
that, I had to do it with Matthew and Alex as well.

“He wouldn’t stay behind anyway, Shlova.”
Jasper’s arm went around my shoulders.

Luke tucked her hair behind her ears. “Try
not to miss me too much.”

“I’ll try.” She smiled. It was the way they
always said goodbye, though I noticed it wasn’t quite as playful as
the other times I’d seen it done. He held her a little longer and
kissed her a little deeper while she wrapped her arms around him a
little tighter than usual.

Alex gave Leslie a final kiss on the end of
her nose. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.” She grinned. “Now, get
going before I decide I need to convince Hayden to let me come
along as well.” She winked at me and I smiled. I wasn’t sure if it
was something she was picking up from Alex, but she always seemed
to know when I could use a smile.

I noticed Marianne run a hand through her
blond hair. It wasn’t a casual gesture. This one was so tense I was
surprised she didn’t pull any hair out with the jerky motion. She
looked past everyone to Rodney, a slim man with dirty blond hair
and hazel eyes. I recognized him as one of the jaguars that ran in
Jasper’s pack. He had the same frown on his face as she did. He
gave her a bit of a wave then mouthed the words ‘be careful’. She
jerked, shifted into a coyote, and went to stand by Rainen. Rodney
caught me looking and shrugged. I supposed not all beings were
comfortable with fating with a different kind of shifter.

That thought made me look for Peter and
Cassandra. She smiled up at him and he pulled her close.

“Be sure to come back to me,” he mumbled in
her hair.

She nodded. “It never occurred to me not to.”
He kissed her forehead and let her hand slip out of his as she made
her way to the group. She went to stand by Hailey who had finished
saying goodbye to Cole.

I took a deep breath. Could the same plan
work twice? It was the surprise element that would help us pull it
off and there was no way they would be expecting a pack of shifters
to simply waltz into their camp. Right?

“I can’t think of anything better,
Shlova.”

“I agree, my love. If you want to get those
prisoners out alive, this is the way to go.”

“I know… it’s just… I’m nervous, ok?”

Both of them grunted; obviously they had felt
it. I took a deep breath and tried to relax.

“Alright, then, let’s get going. Sitting
around here isn’t getting anything done.” Everyone who could shift
did and everyone that couldn’t swung onto a Winged One so we could
make better time. I gave Dodge a pat on the neck and we started off
toward a situation I was certain I didn’t want to deal with.

*****

Jasper lay on his stomach looking down onto
the camp from the edge of the ridge. His jaw clenched at the sight
of the prisoners. The fact that he couldn’t see anyone he knew
personally didn’t do anything to calm him down. He scanned them
again, trying to catch a glimpse of Gina. His throat tightened. She
didn’t seem to be here and he wasn’t sure if this was a good thing
or a bad one. He watched as one of the humans walked up to a young
woman with short dark red hair. The dark haired man untied the rope
that was tied from her neck to the tree, hauled her almost naked
form to her feet and dragged her to one of the tents. He remembered
Steven’s description of how the humans had treated his mother and
sister before separating them. Not good enough to live, but good
enough to fuck. Jasper growled low in his throat.

Ternach put a hand on his arm. “Not yet.” By
the look on his face even this was a bit extreme in his books of
what was acceptable to do to prisoners. Most of them were close to
nude, their clothes having been ripped or cut from their bodies.
There were gashes and bruises over almost every part of their
bodies and were it not for the odd moan or groan that escaped them,
it would have been hard to tell if they were actually alive. He
noticed Jasper observing him. “I may have killed quite a few beings
in my lifetime, but I’ve never tortured anyone. I’m immortal, not
evil, for as much as everyone would like to think I am.”

Jasper grunted. There had been a time when
that had been his own opinion. Now, he wasn’t as sure. “Alright,
let’s go. We have to go see what everyone wants to do about the
tents. Obviously, there are prisoners in there.” He felt Ternach’s
magic run over him, felt the ground disappear then reappear. He
opened his eyes at the feel of Hayden’s hand on his arm.

“How bad is it?”

He considered lying to her then dismissed the
idea. She’d see for herself soon enough. “Do you remember what I
looked like when you found me in the cave?”

She paled.

“Imagine twenty six more like me.”

“Oh, god.”

“We know there are beings in the tents, so
let’s figure out how we’re going to get them out before we rid
ourselves of the humans.”

“What if you just don’t hit the tents?” Danny
took a step forward. “Once you get by the ones who are tied to the
trees, you let loose whatever it is you have planned, but skip the
tents. While everyone outside is busy dealing with you, some of us
can sneak in and take care of the ones in there.”

Rainen nodded. “But no healers. We’ll need
all of you in top shape for afterwards.”

“I was thinking about that…” Danny glanced at
Hayden. “I don’t think you should go in there.”

Jasper felt her anger and resentment. He put
a hand on her shoulder. “He’s right, Shlova. A lot of those beings
are going to need extra energy. We can’t afford to have you hurt or
weakened during the fight.”

Her glare honed in on him. “I’m not just
going to wait until it’s over!”

He took a deep breath. “There are more than
enough magic wielders to handle the humans. It’s afterwards we need
to think about. They’re in bad shape, Hayden.” He felt the blood
drain from his face as his thoughts turned to the woman he had seen
taken away.

Hayden watched him for a moment then nodded.
Whatever she’s seen had been enough to convince her. “Ok, fine.
You’ll take Teean?”

He watched as the young sorcerer seemed to
gather himself mentally. “Do you recall the fight against
Marilynn’s mate in Pinsaber?”

Teean nodded.

“This will be a walk in the park compared to
that. At least here, no one will be throwing magic back at you.” He
grinned and tied Teean’s arms loosely behind his back. Everyone
followed suit and captured their designated prisoners.

“Jasper?” Hayden looked miserable. “Be
careful.”

His heart fluttered in his chest as he picked
up on her worry. “Aren’t I always?” He kissed her softly and was
glad to feel it ease her back to a more neutral emotional state.
“You make sure to stay away until this is completely done.”

She nodded.

“Ah, to have had you in this position just a
couple of years ago,” he grinned at Damian who was standing tied in
front of Matthew.

“Try not to have a change of heart.” The
sorcerer chuckled

Matthew started to laugh and they started
toward the camp. The magic wielders waited five minutes then
followed after them while the healers stayed where they were.
Jasper glanced back once to make sure Hayden was staying put then
focused his attention on the task at hand. Steven ran a hand
through his white blond hair and glanced back to him. He nodded.
There was no stopping now.

A few of the humans looked up as they walked
into the camp. Steven gave a wave.

“How many’d you get?” A short man with black
hair made his way over to them.

“Five. You want them with the others?” Steven
did a great job of not showing any emotion as he glanced to where
the rest of the shifters were tied.

“Yeah.” The man looked over the captives.
“Except this one. I’ll take her.” He grabbed Marianne from Alex and
started to walk away. Alex put his hand on the man’s arm and
squeezed until the human stopped moving.

“I caught her. I’ll be taking my turn first.”
He grabbed Marianne back from the smaller man. The sorceress was as
white as the tunic she was wearing, her eyes wide.

“I’m in charge and I get first go at my pick
of the ladies.” The man sneered. “Unless you’d like to challenge
me?” He pulled his dagger.

Jasper took a step toward them but stopped
when Marianne gave a quick shake of her head at Alex. His friend
tensed. Marianne moved ever so slightly away from him and mouthed
the word ‘don’t’. Alex clenched and unclenched his fists.

“Take her then,” he managed to say through
his clenched teeth. A few of the human’s friends laughed.

Marianne closed her eyes and swallowed hard
as she was dragged toward one of the tents. Jasper noticed that
Alex watched until he’d seen which tent they had entered before
following after the rest of them.

Jasper took a quick glance to where most of
the humans were sitting. No one was looking at them. He quickly
untied Teean’s hands and the rest of his friends followed suit. He
heard Rainen and Damian mutter under their breaths and felt the
surge of magic brush past him. There were surprised cries from the
humans. Jasper looked to them again. He remembered the feeling of
being stuck in place. It appeared these beings weren’t overly fond
of the sensation either. It took less than a minute for the four
magic wielders to immobilize the human pack. Some of the tortured
shifters managed to look up to see what was happening.

Marianne cried out from in the tent. Alex
bolted toward it, ignoring Jasper’s yell to stay out of the line of
fire. A fire bolt flew past him, narrowly missing him. The bolt
slammed into one of the frozen humans. The tortured scream as he
burned sent a shiver down Jasper’s back. He held his breath until
Alex disappeared into the tent then set himself to work cutting
loose the captives as the magic wielders took care of the rest of
the humans.

He swallowed hard to keep an angry growl from
making its way up his throat as he laid a young girl onto the
ground. She couldn’t have been older than six or seven. Her face
was blue and swollen and both of her arms were broken. It looked
like she had tried to shift while her arms had still been tied. She
whimpered at his touch. The only thing that kept him from exploding
was the fact that she still had all of her clothes on.

“Shush, now, Sweetling. Just a few more
minutes of this and we’ll get around to fixing you.” He smoothed
her hair and took a deep breath before moving on to the next one.
He jumped as an energy bolt flew past him and killed a human that
had come out of his hiding place in the woods. Teean gave him a
quick nod before moving on to his next target. Though the air rang
with the screams of the dying humans, Jasper was still able to hear
Alex’s outraged growl from the inside of the tent.