Nephilius - A Walker Saga Book 5 (24 page)

Colton’s arm came around her and he pulled
her close.

Delane made a noise, as if she were clearing
her throat. “For far too many sun clouds our people have been
trapped. And according to Steva, if the balance of trapped souls
increases, all of Angelica will be sucked into the Isle of Souls.
Trapped for eternity.”

We’d heard this before, but now her words
were ringing all kinds of familiar bells in my head.

Oh, no. Shit. Eff.

This was the dark mountains all over
again.

“
Imagine
what could be done with all of the trapped energy of the Nephilius
inhabitants,” I said. “One guess who might have set this plan in
motion
?”

“The Seventine,” Brace bit out. “Shit.
They’re determined to destroy these worlds.”

We all knew if they weren’t stopped the
Seventine would bring about the complete destruction of the First
World star system. But I wasn’t expecting them to already be
working toward destroying Nephilius. How many of these plans might
be in place already? We’d only stayed on the last three worlds long
enough to find the half-Walker girls. Anything could be happening;
we wouldn’t know.

“The Angelica hold enough collective energy
that, if we don’t break this cage, the Seventine will have a pretty
good shot at releasing their last three,” Colton growled. “We need
to stop this now.”

“What are you talking about?” Delane
demanded. “What are the Seventine?”

I took a deep breath. I had two reasons to
tell her this story now. So she’d understand our weird conversation
earlier, and so she knew why these things were happening to her
world. Which I hoped would just be an added incentive for her to
join us girls.

As I hurried
through the story of our journey so far, she just stared, her
expression unchanging. I touched on the
prophecy, how I was stashed on Earth, the battles with the
Seventine, the mission to gather the half-Walkers from each world,
and the true fear that we would not make it in time to stop the
un-tethering of the worlds. I didn’t want to scare her, but my own
worries continued to leak over into my explanation.

Right at the end of my story, her expression
shifted. And I realized that she’d been waiting for all of the
facts before forming any opinions. As if it had been a puzzle I’d
presented her, she’d not decided on the final picture until she had
every single piece.

“I’m the half-Walker from Nephilius,” she
said without preamble. “I’m the only one born of flesh on this
world.”

I nodded. “Yes, you’re the one we need.” I
felt compelled to add. “We’re all born of flesh. Most of the seven
worlds produce young from males and females … uh …”

“Copulating,” Lucy added helpfully.

Delane met
her gaze, eyes serious. “If you mean what I think you mean, we have
those relationships, but there are no young from this union. It’s
about pleasure and energy
-sharing.”

Good to know.

“I accept your claims,” she said.

I examined her calm features. She was taking
all this pretty well.

“
What you’ve
said makes sense. I’m a warrior without equal on Nephilius.” She
squared her shoulders. “I will go with you for this final Seventine
battle only …”
she paused and faced
Brace, “if you win the tournament.”

“We don’t have time.” I worked really hard
not to let my annoyance free, but I still thought my voice sounded
thin and brittle. I was getting a little sick of trying to convince
these half-Walkers. Seriously, weren’t the words, ‘end of the
worlds’, strong enough?

“We believe that in their current state the
Seventine can’t do much besides gather energy and sever the
tethers, and then we find things like this cage here.” I gestured
to the trapped souls. “And if all seven of them are freed they will
be beyond powerful. This Isle of Souls will look like freaking
Disneyland.” No one but Lucy would get the reference. “And I need
all of the half-Walkers. We need to learn our abilities, and how to
work together. If we can’t imprison the Seventine they will destroy
all the worlds. Every. Single. One.”

Surely that was clear enough.

“I understand that, but you need to
understand something about me.” Delane drew both of her
weapons.

I didn’t sense anything threatening in her
stance. It was more as if she was just making a point. Although
Brace still moved, positioning himself between Delane and me.

“I can only undertake this if it is worthy
of me as a warrior, if I believe Walkers even have the strength to
win. And I’m telling you the only way to prove this to me is if
Brace defeats me in the tournament.”

I shook my head. As always, she was
stubborn. It seemed to be a half-Walker trait.

“We accept this,” Brace said as he reached
out and took my hand.

I think it was to calm me. If my face
reflected my thoughts, I must have looked like I was going to lose
my shit. I pinched the bridge of my nose; my head was starting to
ache again.

“
The
princeps said that we had nothing to fear from the Seventine until
they
are all released, but they failed to
take into account two things: firstly, they have someone or
something powerful working with them; and secondly, they’re damn
smart. They could have destroyed Nephilius without anyone being the
wiser.” I was sort of, a little bit, yelling my head off as I
gestured toward the barrier. “We have to be smarter. We’re like
blind mice chasing our damn tails.”

A ghostly chuckle echoed through my
mind.

You’re wasting your time trying to find an
equal amongst any of these apes. We are your equal.

Eff. The Seventine was back to torment
me.

I shoved energy toward it, trying to expel
the first from my head. It just flowed through it.

Get out of my head,
I screamed.
The laughter started again.

On instinct I projected my tethers and
connected to the half-Walkers.

Abbs?
Talina’s concern filled my
head. Along with the cool, refreshing wash of her water
power.

What’s up, Supes?
Fury blasted in
too, her fire always recognizable.
Who needs their ass kicked?

I’m here also.
Ria was calm, like
the swaying leaves on a warm summer day.

What. The. Hell. Is. This?
Another voice was there, the clipped tones distinct enough
that I knew immediately it was Delane. Her power was a blast of icy
winds, flooding through and around the other energies.

Sensing she was very uncomfortable with her
current loss of control, I hurried to explain.

Delane, this is how the half-Walkers connect
with each other. I’m a conduit; I can move our energy around.

Nice work, Supes.
Fury
whooped.
You found the
Nephilius half already.

I realized then that the Seventine was gone.
In fact it had disappeared the moment I’d connected to the
girls.

Yes, I’ve found Delane, but she won’t leave
until Brace wins the tournament here.

The
other three laughed. I think there had been some
bets on the difficulty level of the Nephilius half. Not that I was
sure what currency they used.

You owe me sea pearls, Talli.
Fury whooped a few times.

Guess that answered my question. I
interrupted before they wasted more time bickering. I needed to get
some information off my chest.

Guys!
I bellowed over the
noise.
I need to tell you all
something. The first Seventine is stalking me …
Silence reigned now.
It keeps talking to me in my mind, bypassing all of my
barriers.

My hastily spoken words had tension flooding
through all of us.

Is that why you called for us?
Ria asked.

Yes, for some reason our combined power
expels it. But I need to figure out how to keep myself
protected.

Is it like, reading your thoughts? Does it know what we’re
planning?
Fury’s angry power washed
through me.

I thought
about her words.
No, I think
it’s more like a projected voice.
I never
felt that it was delving into my mind. It wasn’t that
intrusive.
I guess I’ll just
tether to you all if it happens again.

I didn’t know what else to do right
then.

Alright, I know you have to
leave, Abbs, but definitely connect to us the moment it
comes back.
Talina’s cool worry washed
away Fury’s fire.

You got it,
I promised, before
preparing to disconnect the tethers.

Delane had been very quiet, but I could feel
her there still. Ria was quiet too. She liked to sit back and take
in the information. I was starting to think the sign of a good
leader was one who listened more than they spoke.

Alright, I’m severing the ties now,
I said.
I’ll see you
when I’ve convinced Delane to leave.

Stay safe.

Bye, Supes.

Keep us updated.

Their words washed over me as I directed my
energy to sever the bonds. When my mind was free, the Isle of Souls
came back into focus. While I was tethered to the girls I could
still see what surrounded me, but I was also sort of stuck in my
head. It was a strange sensation, and I still wasn’t very good at
the multi-tasking effort of watching my surroundings and having
multiple voices in my head.

“What happened, Abbs?” Lucy asked.

I was glad that everyone recognized
mind-speak. I never had to explain where I’d mentally disappeared
to.

“I was tethered to the other girls,” I said.
“Delane too.” I gave her a nod.

And then with a deep breath I quickly
explained about the first Seventine stalking me. Which resulted in
lots of muttering and some black eyes from Brace. But at least the
information was out in the open now. I was starting to detest the
world of secrets I was forced to keep. Anything I could share was
one less thing weighing me down.

“I find this all odd.” Delane looked her
usual unruffled and fierce self. “But I do think that tethering
would be a useful way to communicate in battle, if you could
co-ordinate how it worked.”

A grin tugged up the corner of my lips, a
strategic battle-orientated mind was certainly a useful asset for
us to have. Maybe the half-Walkers were going to be a well-rounded
group by the end.

“But before we focus on that problem, we
need to … fix this.” Delane gestured to the cage. “No warrior would
leave their world behind to be destroyed. On my honor I cannot
leave until this is resolved.”

“Trust me. It’s in our best interest not to
let the Seventine have this power.” I moved closer to the abyss
separating the lands. “But to destroy the cage, we need to figure
out where it originates.”

“It almost looks as if it’s coming from the
gaps between the lands.” Lucy was next to me, fluttering a foot off
the ground.

She was right. The visible cage of energy
appeared to emerge from the large crevice. But Delane had said that
no one had ever returned from there. Well, no Angelica. Walkers
could possibly be a different story.

“Someone is going to have to go down there,”
Colton said, peering over the edge. “Someone that is not a little
pixie,” he finished in a low growl.

“You’re not Walker, Lucy.” I backed him up.
“It’s too dangerous.”

“I’ll go.” Brace, as always, was brave and
honorable.

“No,” I said, shaking my head from side to
side, my braid flicking out. “I’m the one who can trace. It makes
sense that I go.”

In a swift movement Brace captured my chin
in his large hand. “You’re important, and you’re only a
half-Walker.” He leaned in closer, his scent washing over me,
forcing my eyes to close. It was that or I was going to kiss him; I
couldn’t have stopped myself. “We don’t know your vulnerabilities,
and you’re too special to risk.”

My eyes flew back open then. “You don’t get
to decide that, Brace.” He kind of did, but he shouldn’t remember
that. “The gathering of the half-Walkers and saving the worlds has
fallen on my lap. This is my responsibility.”

“You’re my responsibility,” he blasted back
at me. “And nothing in this or any of the worlds would make me risk
you.”

It was a really bitchy thing to do, but I
had to pretend his comment was over the line. I narrowed my eyes at
him, giving him a moment to back down on his stance. Poor Brace
rubbed his hands over his face in frustration after realizing what
he’d said. He was so damn confused.

“Sorry,” he muttered, “that came out a tad
crazy and possessive. And I know I haven’t earned that right.” He
shook his head. “I don’t even know why I’m reacting so
strongly.”

He was going to kill me when he learned the
truth.

Delane snarled, “None of you can go down
there. Did you not listen to me before? There will be no
returning.” She clearly had her doubts that Walkers were superior
to the Angelica.

“What about if we tie like a rope around one
of us and lower them down? That way someone can bring them up if
they need help,” Lucy said, peering over the edge for a few minutes
before Colton hauled her back toward him.

“Yes,” I declared. “I’ll go down, and if
things get too crazy you can pull me up, or I’ll trace back to the
land.”

Brace, Colton and Delane all shook their
heads.

“I’m not comfortable with this,” Delane
said.