Torment (Soul Savers Book 6) (10 page)

“Yes.
Unfortunately, we were unable to bring any more leaders to our side,”
Solomon replied. “I’m afraid Lucas’s accusations
have lost us any allies we already had.”

“But it will be
the
Normans
who will be fighting each other,” Vanessa
clarified. “It’s just a game to the Daemoni because they
have nothing to lose and everything to gain. They’ll have fun
with their war, creating violence and chaos, and amusing themselves
with the battles between Normans. Their very favorite form of
entertainment.”

“And when he’s
bored and ready to end it all, Lucas will use his Norman
super-soldiers to win, leading the world to the future he wants,”
I concluded, catching on.

The grim look on
everyone’s faces confirmed my conclusion.

“So we need to
figure out how to disable the stones in the Norman soldiers,” I
said.

Tristan nodded his
agreement. “Yes, that will be paramount to our strategy.”

“Are the soldiers
in one location?” Chandra, a were-leopard from India, asked.

“Not likely,”
Tristan answered. “I’m sure Lucas dispatched them around
the world before the Daemoni came out to the Normans. The Summoned
sons and their offspring are like the remote controls of the
soldiers, and they may still be in one place. That would make it
easier for Lucas to control them and orchestrate his war.”

My brow rose with
surprise. “Do you think they’re still at the DoD
buildings in Virginia?”

“It’s been
a few weeks since we were there, but if Lucas is still set up in that
building, it’s possible.”

“Then we need to
go there immediately,” I said. “Maybe figure out how to
break the curse on them while we’re at it.”

“I don’t
know about that,” Tristan said, “but I do agree we need
to make finding the Summoned sons a priority.”

“My core team
here will take this mission,” I told the others. Not
surprisingly, many people had something to say about that, most of it
protests. After double-checking with Tristan to make sure I was doing
the right thing, I made everyone quiet down. “You all have your
own regions to worry about. You’ll need to carry out your own
plan of action where you are, and eventually, be ready to take down
the Norman soldiers so you can extract their stones. But first, we
need to cut them off from their controllers.”

“We’re
already familiar with what they’ve done,” Tristan added.
“We have firsthand experience with what the stones can do, and
know how to locate and extract them. And
because
of the
situation and the danger, Alexis should be there to monitor our
enemies’ thoughts, especially if she’s able to reach
Lucas. Learning his plans for all fronts of this war could be all we
need to succeed.”

Nobody could argue with
him about that. Yet, a tingling came in the back of my mind. When I
checked those around me, though, their thoughts showed agreement.

“I suggest you
gather as much intelligence about Lucas’s whereabouts as
possible first,” Solomon said.

“He was at the
White House this morning,” I reminded him.

“And since we and
the rest of the world know that, he may be on his way out of the
area,” Tristan countered. “There’s a good chance
he’ll go into hiding from everyone since he’ll be pitting
them all against each other. And he can move quickly. Going to
Virginia when he could already be in Hades, taking the Summoned with
him, would be a waste of our time. Besides, the Daemoni had obviously
been expecting us last night, so we need to revise our strategy and
make it look like we’re retreating for now so we can surprise
him later.”

I didn’t like the
idea of waiting—which could also be a waste of time—but
everyone else agreed with this proposal, and they had much more
experience than I did. Since impatience and compulsive behavior were
my weaknesses, I suppressed them this time and went along with the
others.

“As soon as it
makes sense, we’re moving,” I said. “I’d
rather have to chase after Lucas and the Summoned than be sitting
here doing nothing when he lets those soldiers loose.”

“What about the
people here on the island when we go?” Blossom asked. “Without
Owen and Charlotte here to give the shield the most power, the island
will be left quite vulnerable.”

“We need every
single body who can fight to leave the island and do just that,”
Tristan replied. “The elderly and the young can and probably
should be moved to safer locations. I expect the Daemoni will
continue targeting the island, and if not them, the Normans will,
based on the information they’re being fed.”

“There are a few
villages that remain untouched,” Minh, an Asian witch, said
from the phone. I couldn’t help but picture her wearing the
ridiculous green hat she’d worn the first time I’d met
her. “The Daemoni apparently don’t know they’re
there.”

“Dingo Bend?”
Jax asked.

“Yes, that’s
one,” Minh confirmed. “Kuckaroo was hit, but not too
badly. Dingo Bend, though, remains a good place for our weak to hide.
It’s shielded and cloaked well in the middle of the Outback.”

Another, stronger prod
in my mind. My first thought was my instinct or even Mom or Cassandra
or the Angels trying to tell me something. But then I latched onto it
…

“If we can get
people to go, we probably should,” Tristan said. “I don’t
know how much longer this island will continue to be safe.”

At the same time,
Dorian screamed into my mind: “
MOM!
”

Dorian
, I called
back, the hair on the nape of my neck rising.
What’s wrong?
Are you okay?

“
They’re
coming back.
”

The unmistakable fear
in his voice sent a shiver down my spine, and then I picked up on the
mind signatures. I jumped to my feet. “The Daemoni.”

Without further
explanation, I flashed to the mansion on the other side of the island
and sprinted inside and up the steps.

“Dorian!” I
screamed all the way up, my heart and my thoughts racing even faster
than my body.

Had they really come
back for him? Lucas had made it sound like he’d wait for Dorian
to make his choice. Were these rogues? Or had Lucas only been telling
his usual lies?

I barely reached our
wing and his door when Dorian plowed into me.

“Mom! I was
trying to get your attention,” he accused. “They’re
coming.”

As if to punctuate his
statement, the ground and the walls of the mansion shook.

“Get down!”
I threw myself on top of him, flattening both of us to the floor as
the building continued to tremble. Dresser drawers shook open, and
long forgotten toys fell off the shelf. Sasha stood over us, the size
of a horse, growling.

“
Alexis,
they’re already in,
” Owen said. “
It’s
not good here. Not good at all.
”

We’re coming
.
I wrapped my arms around Dorian. “We need to get to the council
hall again.”

“I can fly us
there.”

I shook my head. “My
way’s faster.”

After a quick mental
check to make sure everyone had vacated this end of the island, as
we’d instructed them after last time, I flashed to the main
room of the council hall, taking Dorian and Sasha with me.

Pull the shield in
again
, I told Owen the moment we appeared.

“
I can’t.
”

What do you mean,
you can’t?

“
I don’t
know. All I can figure is the bombs the other day weren’t your
everyday explosives. They must have left some kind of magical trace
that’s interfering with our shield. We have no control over it,
and they’re blasting right through it.
”

I looked through his
eyes to see what he saw from his vantage point on the council hall’s
roof: Smoke and fire throughout the village. Buildings seeming to
spontaneously combust.

“
They’ve
cloaked the bombs this time,
” Charlotte explained. “
So
we can’t see them to reroute them.
”

I pressed my lips
together before the scream of frustration building in my chest could
fly out.

You all need to take
cover then
. I hoped they couldn’t hear the defeat in my
thoughts as they would have in my normal voice.

My eyes scanned over
the hundreds of people stuffed into the council hall—at least a
quarter of the village had sought shelter here in the time it had
taken me to retrieve Dorian. They looked at me expectantly, their
faces full of fear and confusion. I glanced around the top of the
room, pausing briefly to eye the angel statues, who looked more
determined than ever. Would they protect the council hall like they
did the matriarch’s mansion?

Maybe we should all
go to the mansion instead
, I said to Tristan. When he didn’t
answer, I looked around the room again. Neither he nor Dorian were in
here.
Tristan? Dorian!

My thoughts were
drowned out as an explosion cracked directly overhead, and the
ceiling of the council hall fell. Boulder-sized blocks of marble
dropped into the room. Several vampires jumped up and let their
bodies break the stones’ falls. Two blurred to cover me, one of
them taking me to the floor as smaller marble chunks and dust rained
down around us. Magic sizzled and popped in the air as mages rerouted
the biggest pieces before they crushed bodies underneath them. But
still screams and wails tore through the room.

I squirmed under the
heavy body pinning me to the ground, needing to help those in pain.

“Are they gone?”
Vanessa hissed into my ear.

“The Daemoni are.
Not like drones have minds to read, though.”

“We are not
letting you up until we know for sure,” Solomon said from right
next to us. They’d been the vampires who’d rushed over to
protect me.

Tristan
, I
yelled out.
Dorian!

“
We’re
fine
,” Tristan answered me. I found his and Dorian’s
mind signatures in the hallway off the main room. “
We’re
blocked in, but I can get us out when it’s safe.
”

More explosions sounded
nearby, each one hurting my heart as I thought about my people
suffering or dying. The minutes passed like hours. Sobs and sniffles
and wails of pain continued from all around me. And I was stuck,
unable to do anything to help them, to relieve their pain, to protect
them. After all had been quiet for at least an hour, Vanessa and
Solomon finally let me up, and I gave everyone else a mental all
clear.

Piles of marble and
stone filled what had once been the council hall’s main room.
Hands and feet showed first, then arms and finally faces followed,
all covered in white dust. People coughed and choked as they dug
their way out. After ordering my team to assist the others, I flashed
to the hallway and began throwing marble boulders behind me as I
searched for my husband and my son.

“
Watch out
,”
Tristan said as a particularly large chunk, wedged under several
others, gave me trouble. I jumped to the side at the same time the
boulder shattered into pieces, Tristan’s fist punching through.

I grabbed at his hand
and pulled. A slightly smaller hand pushed through a hole, too, and I
wrapped my other palm around Dorian’s wrist. Using all of my
strength, and with their help, I yanked them out of the pile of
rubble, then pulled them into my arms.

“Oh, thank God,”
I breathed as I held them. Their arms wrapped around me and each
other, and we stood in a family hug, relief washing over us.

They weren’t my
only family, and unfortunately, not everyone fared so well. After a
quick squeeze of my dust-covered men, I broke away so we could help
our people and then assess the damage.

“Fourteen deaths,
hundreds injured.” Sheree reported the final count a few hours
later, her voice thick as she held back a sob. I stood along with the
rest of my team at the top of the hill where the council hall had
once been. Now only jagged pieces of the four outer walls remained.
And the angel statues. Amazingly, all four of them were still in
perfect condition, lined up against what remained of the marble front
steps.

“We’ve run
out of the potion with vampire blood in it,” Blossom said. “The
vampires are helping the injured Weres and mages, though.”

“I can give more
blood,” Tristan said.

“I can, too,”
I offered. “We need to strengthen everyone before forcing them
to evacuate.”

I looked to Owen and
Char, who’d been assessing the physical damage to the island.

“Not a single
structure left undamaged,” Owen said. “Most are
completely destroyed.”

“Except the
matriarch’s mansion,” Char added. “Damage to the
contents again, but the building itself is fine.”

“I should have
ordered everyone there,” I said miserably as I pushed a hand
through my gritty hair. A cloud of dust poofed out around my face. “I
was about to, but I was too slow.”

“You couldn’t
fit the entire village in the mansion,
ma lykita
.”

“No, but we could
have saved a lot of them.”

“And how would
you have chosen who would be saved?” Blossom asked, and I gave
her a blank look, having no answer.

“Don’t
blame yourself for this,” Sheree said, covering my shoulder
with a warm hand. “This is the work of evil. We will fight
back, but as you said only hours ago, there are going to be
casualties.”

I turned to stare at
her in shock. Sheree was usually the pacifist. Even she’d been
pushed to her limits.

I blew out a breath.
“Those of us who can need to give blood. Then we need to get
all of these people out of here. This island isn’t safe
anymore.”

It didn’t take
much to convince some people to leave the island, but others stood
their ground.