Promise of Wrath (The Hellequin Chronicles Book 6) (36 page)

“Everyone place your blood on the tablet,” I said, passing it around. Once everyone had bled on it, Kasey passed it back to me.

Blood elves began climbing the stairs, forcing Morgan and Zamek to defend the entrance to the room. Fortunately, getting from the stairs to the room had been made more difficult by the partially destroyed hallway floor, so they had to stand across the hall and fire arrow after arrow through the doorway.

“Zamek, we can’t leave you here!” I shouted, and ran over to him, forcing the tablet into his hand. “Use it. We can always send you back.”

He paused but then nodded and slammed his bloody hand onto the stone.

“Any time now!” Morgan shouted as her golems blocked the arrows that came through.

I turned at Morgan’s shout and realized her golem was in the wrong place to stop an arrow from flying past toward Chloe, who was oblivious to it all. Adam dove at Chloe, pushing her aside, and took the arrow in his chest. Chloe screamed when she saw her father hit the ground. The others in the group immediately turned to help as Kasey had turned once again into her wolf-beast form and blocked the entrance to the room with blasts of ice.

“It won’t hold forever,” she said.

I ran over to Adam, who was coughing up blood, while Mordred knelt beside him and tried to heal the wound with his light magic. The arrow had been pulled out, and I picked it up.

I remembered what Baldr had told us before we’d entered the citadel. “Spider venom. The arrow heads are coated in it.”

“The people who take the scrolls are still human,” Nabu explained as he dragged me away. “They have a higher ability to heal, but he took an arrow to the heart. He’s going to die, and there’s nothing we can do to stop it. All Mordred is doing is slowing down the inevitable. Let them say their goodbyes. He won’t survive the trip.”

“My dad will not die!” Chloe snapped.

Adam raised his hand and stroked his daughter’s chin, leaving a bloody smear. “I love you, little girl. I’m so glad I got to see you again.”

“No, no, no, no,” she repeated over and over. “Please.”

Adam forced a smile. “Mordred is keeping me alive, but he can’t do it forever.”

“I can try,” Mordred said. “I’m not going to let anyone else die in this shithole. Not without a fight.”

“The venom will kill me,” Adam said. “Magic won’t stop it.”

“I’ve just found you,” Chloe said as tears fell freely.

“I’ll always be here,” Adam said, and he tapped her head. “And here.” Placing the tip of his finger against her heart. “No one can take that away.”

“I love you, Dad,” she said. “I love you. Please stay. Please.”

“Nate, you take care of my little girl.”

“She’s pretty good at taking care of herself,” I told him. “But I’ll always be around.”

Adam nodded and smiled. “She’s made her daddy proud. Now run, all of you. Get out of here. It was an honor to meet you, to know that Chloe’s friends love her. To know that she’s surrounded by good people.”

Mordred looked over at me and shook his head.

“It’s okay,” Adam said, and he weakly took Chloe’s hand in his. “Your daddy loves you. He’ll never stop loving you.” And then he died.

Chloe’s howls of pain and hurt were muffled as Diane and several others surrounded her, hugging her tight, but even their presence couldn’t completely drown out the torment.

The ice at the door began to crack, and I activated the realm-gate tablet, taking us all home.

CHAPTER
38

Now. Earth realm.

I
landed in a field. I wondered why Kay’s tablet was designed to take him back to this particular location. The middle of a field wasn’t exactly what I was expecting. It wasn’t muddy, thankfully, but it was a bit disorienting, and it took me a few seconds to remember what had happened just before we shot through the realm gate.

I staggered to my feet and looked around at the rest of the group.

“So this is the earth realm?” Zamek asked. “Smells funny.”

The howl of pain from Chloe caught my attention, and I spun to find her no longer looking like the Chloe I knew. She knelt over the body of her father, her face contorted, full of rage, and no longer human in color. It was a dark red and orange, with ridges protruding around the eyes and cheeks. Her eyes appeared more like those of a wolf than a human; she was a predator, and one with a power we were unaware of.

“She’s let the demon out!” Nabu shouted as he ran toward her.

Chloe raised her hand in his direction and a blast of bright-yellow power exploded from it, smashing into Nabu and throwing him back over the field.

“Kinetic energy,” the demon that used to be Chloe growled. “I absorb it. Redirect it. Fun, yes?”

“How do we stop her without killing her?” I asked.

“Chloe!” Kasey shouted. “It’s me: come on, you know me. Please don’t do this.”

Demon-Chloe roared something and charged her best friend, but Diane got between them, taking the demon off its feet and planting her face-first on the ground.

“Get off her!” Kasey screamed. “Just let her be, please! She won’t hurt me.”

“She’s been taken over by a demon,” I told her. “Chloe needs to take control back, or this could turn very bad, very quickly. And that demon doesn’t care about you or any of us.”

Kasey stared at me. “Please let me try.”

Demon-Chloe continued to struggle in Diane’s iron grip, but I nodded to her, and she released the younger woman, stepping back a few paces.

“Chloe,” Kasey said, edging closer. “Please. It’s me. It’s all of us. We’re your friends.”

“Friends?” Demon-Chloe spat. “Friends couldn’t save him. Didn’t do anything to try.”

“That’s not true, and you know it’s not,” Kasey said, her voice always soft. “We did everything we could to save him. It’s no one here’s fault. It’s the elves’ fault. It’s the fault of the people who sent us there.”

“Mara,” the Demon-Chloe said, and she sprinted away so fast few of us could keep up with her.

We followed Demon-Chloe out of the field and over a small bridge until we reached a house nearby. The Demon-Chloe screamed for her mum to leave the house, but as the rest of us reached her, Asag was the only thing to leave the building.

“Thought you’d all be dead!” he shouted while several of the little mini versions of him stood around, ready to fight.

I didn’t stop running when I saw him. I poured power into a sphere on my hand and sprinted past the Demon-Chloe. Asag recognized me and began to laugh.

“Sure, you go first!” he roared.

Just before I drove the sphere into him, I changed its shape, making it drill-like, then slammed it into Asag’s chest with every bit of force I could manage.

The magic literally tore him in half, from the top of his shoulder down across his chest and through the top of his hip. There was no blood, just a silver tar-like substance, as the smaller versions of him collapsed into piles of rock.

Mordred walked over to the corpse of Asag and with a blade of blood magic, cut the monster’s head off. It took him a few hacks to get through the rock, but when he did, he kicked the head aside. “Just wanted to make sure,” he said.

I turned and stepped in front of Demon-Chloe. “See? We’re all on the same side.”

“Kill my mother,” the demon said.

“Not yet,” I told her. “Come on, Chloe: fight this. I know you want—”

A window shattered at the rear of the property.

“Make sure she doesn’t kill anyone,” I said as I charged around the side of the building, catching a glimpse of Jerry as he escaped the sun, and ran into the dark woods behind the house. I moved the shadows around in front of where he was running, and he tripped headfirst into a tree. More shadows wrapped around him, holding him in place.

“You’re not even a master vampire,” I said as I got closer. “You’re nothing: a waste of breath. Where’s your girlfriend?”

“Basement of the house,” he said. “She’s alive.”

“Why’d you do this: join Kay? Was it really because I didn’t stop you when I promised I would? Is that what this is all about?”

“I found that I enjoyed hurting people, hunting people. Humans are ever so easy to kill. I found Kay by accident. He introduced me to Asag, and the rest is history.”

“Kay is dead. Asag is in several pieces. Who else?”

“Her name is Siris.”

To hear her name spoken, to have it confirmed that she was involved, made me wonder what her plans were. And how many more had to die before she achieved them. “What does she want?”

“She’s going to kill Brutus. We were meant to get certain people out of the way before we started. You’ve been gone a week now. The attack has already begun.”

I increased the pressure of the shadows. “When did it start?”

“A few hours ago. An explosive in Brutus’s building. They took Brutus. He’s going to be used in some sort of ceremony. I don’t know all the details. I was just here to make sure Mara was kept safe. She knows how to make those tablets.”

“You shouldn’t have killed Francis, shouldn’t have tried to kill me. Certainly shouldn’t have done any of this.”

“Francis was no friend of yours. He lied to you. He knew who you were. Brutus did, too.”

I nodded, remembering the video on the mini SD card. “I know. He told me. And you know what? I’m not angry with him. Not with Brutus, either. I’m going to save my anger for people who
really
deserve it.”

Jerry’s expression was one of utter shock. “But he betrayed you!”

“And he’s dead. And you betrayed me, and you’re still alive. Guess which one of those I’m going to rectify?”

Jerry spat at me. “I turned some humans into vampires. They’re going to be waiting for you and your friends, Nate.”

“I’m so sick and tired of you lower-level pieces-of-crap vampires thinking you can just create an army. You can’t. The only ones of you with any real power are the masters and lords, and frankly none of them would just randomly start creating vampires. It shows how pathetic you are. You might as well not even be the same species as them.”

“They’re going to kill you anyway. It only takes one.”

“Goodbye, Jerry,” I said and forced him down into the shadow realm. The wraith could use him as food to power my magic. At least that way he’d finally have a use.

I walked back to the house and discovered the door had been torn off and tossed aside. Mara was outside in the garden, flat on her face with Diane kneeling on her back. Chloe was sitting on the ground crying, while Kasey held on to her. They’d managed to get Chloe back to her non-demon self, and I hoped she stayed that way.

Remy left the house with several tablets and dumped them on the ground. “I called Olivia and Tommy too,” he said. “They won’t be long.”

“Jerry confirmed it. Brutus is in trouble,” I told Diane, explaining what Jerry had told me.

Remy dashed back into the building and returned with a laptop. He used the Internet to find a news channel, which had a breaking story about an explosion at Brutus’s building.

“I need to go,” Diane said.

“I’m going too,” Nabu and Irkalla said in unison.

Remy threw them a pair of car keys. “I think it’s the least she can do.”

Mara cursed something as Diane got off her, but before she could spit out more of the grass, Chloe was up and punched her in the jaw, knocking her mother to the ground.

“
You murdered him!”
Chloe screamed. “You nearly murdered me, my friends, people I love. And for what? Power? You murdered my dad!”

“I thought he’d died long ago,” Mara said with no hint of emotion as she got back to her feet.

Chloe didn’t have time to hit her again, because Irkalla did it for her, although without using anywhere near enough power as she could have. Mara slumped back to the ground, rubbing the side of her face.

“We’ll go,” Diane said. “Be careful. We didn’t see anyone else, but that doesn’t mean they’re not here.”

“We’ll be up in London as soon as Avalon turns up here. I don’t want to leave Mara alone with anyone here. I don’t think they’d be held responsible for their actions.”

“I am alone,” Mara said, rubbing her jaw. “And you have turned into the daughter I never wanted to have. More like your father than a witch.”

Remy removed his sword and held it against Mara’s neck. “Speak again without being asked to, and I
will
kill you.”

Mara glared at him, but said nothing.

We dragged Mara into the house and tied her hands with some zip ties before I went down to the basement and freed Jerry’s girlfriend, Laurel.

“He’s dead,” I told her after removing the silver manacles around her wrists and ankles.

“Good,” she said. “He was . . . not the man I fell for.”

“I’m sorry.”

She nodded. “Me too.”

She let me help her back upstairs and sat on the sofa. She wasn’t injured, at least not physically, and it appeared that Jerry had only drugged her and kept her here until she’d decided he was in the right. She’d been there a few weeks, surviving on the rats that Jerry or Asag had given her for food. I was really glad Jerry was dead.

I went into my shadow realm to see if Jerry was finally gone from everyone’s life, and found the wraith hovering around.

“Thank you for your help,” I said.

The wraith regarded me for a second.
The vampire was delicious. If such things matter to you, alive is preferable to dead.

“Do I need to keep feeding you to keep you strong?”

Not at all. The more I eat, the stronger you become. There’s a limit. I can only eat so many corpses in one day, or in one sitting. But a regular enough stream would be advisable to see your power levels up.

I wasn’t really sure how I felt about feeding my enemies to the wraith.

You would kill them anyway, yes?
he asked, as if able to read my thoughts.

It had a point, but that didn’t mean I liked it.

I left the shadow realm and went outside, where I found Morgan and Mordred. “Avalon will not be as accepting of me as you all are,” Mordred said. “I do not think they’ll believe me.”

“I think that’s a fair assessment,” I admitted. “Run. Both of you. Get as far from here as you can.”

Morgan nodded a thank you.

“You should know that if there’s any doubt in you about who you are, today made all doubts in me vanish. I saw you try to save a life today. I saw the pain on your face when Adam died. Now go: get somewhere safe. Because this is far from over, and when we stop whatever is happening in London they’re going to come for us all. You two included.”

“Nate, I need to tell you something. It’s important.”

“Mordred, you
need
to go. Whatever it is, it’ll wait.”

“Thank you,” Morgan said, and I watched as Morgan began to drag Mordred away. Then they both ran off into the woods.

I went to find Chloe and Kasey, both of whom were sitting against a nearby tree, taking a well-earned moment of rest.

“Mordred and Morgan gone?” Kasey asked. “My mum isn’t going to be happy about that.”

“I’ll explain everything to her. Somehow. I haven’t quite figured out how yet, but I will, I’m good at explaining things.”

“Can I watch that? Because she’s going to shout and it’ll be funny.”

“Thanks, Kase. Nice to have you as backup.”

Kasey laughed and the tension eased a little.

“How are you holding up?” I asked Chloe. “I know it’s a stupid question, but I don’t know how else to ask it.”

She nodded. “I can’t do this anymore. I need to get away. I need to do something normal.”

“You said that before. I assume this has all confirmed it.”

“Yes. I just want to do something that isn’t fighting demons, or monsters, or having my mum try to murder those I love.” She stared at me for a short time. “I can’t use my witch magic. I can’t access it. The scrolls took it away from me.”

“I’m sorry.” I wasn’t really sure what else to say.

“It feels like part of me is missing. I don’t know how I’ll cope not being able to use it anymore. It feels strange. This whole thing is going to take some time to get used to. I need to learn how to control the demon. I allowed all of the spirits and the demon to merge with me, but I had no idea how much power me losing control gives the demon. It’s scary.”

“Take as long as you need.”

Olivia and Tommy arrived ten minutes later, and both of them hugged Chloe and Kasey so tightly I wasn’t sure they’d ever let go. Eventually Tommy relinquished his hold and grabbed me in a bear hug, kissing me on the cheek.

“Thank you for bringing them back,” he said.

“Chloe lost her dad,” I told him, and then explained to both him and Olivia everything that had happened as more and more Avalon agents showed up. They began cordoning off the area and started their search for even more evidence against Mara.

Mara was dragged out in handcuffs, a sorcerer’s band on her wrist, and I motioned for the agent to stop so I could speak to her.

“Your coven will be disbanded. Your allies arrested or executed. We know Hera, Siris, and the rest of their group were behind it all, and we will find proof of that. You’re done here. You’re done ever seeing the light of day. I’m going to make sure they find the deepest pit in the most awful realm imaginable, and I’m going to put you in it.”

“Filthy sorcerer. Knows nothing,” she snarled.

“I know that Kay’s tablet went from your house to the dwarven realm and back again. Always the exact same spot. I assume you and Kay were friends, so you might like to know that he’s not going to be around again. Mostly because his head is no longer attached to the rest of him. Enjoy prison.”