Chapter 10 #2
His army was waiting, and to their credit, when I appeared naked but for the fabric loosely wrapped around me, they didn’t bat an eyelash.
Though Steth smirked.
Athira glanced at me and smirked too. I’d like to say she was keeping up appearances, but I knew her better than that.
Carmine didn’t relax his iron grip on my upper arm, so I hung awkwardly by his side, like an old tote bag.
He addressed the army like our interaction was nothing. “You know your task. The majority will attack the human tribe with me, while a smaller group will enter through another gate to take the Luthers’ young.”
His voice wasn’t calm, and that would only fuel his anger. He hated appearing as anything other than in control.
Carmine turned, and I was turned with him. I took in the enormous chamber for the first time. This place was the size of aircraft hangars I’d seen in sci-fi war movies. Most of his army was inside, and there was room to spare.
On the walls were doorways conveniently labeled with either Vissimo, Magus, or Luther. These were the gates.
So many.
“We move swiftly,” Carmine boomed. “We can assume they have the usual alarm systems and defenses. Dispatch these quickly, and make as much carnage as possible. Tonight, we are the distraction.” He didn’t look at me. “Mother.”
Athira joined us. “My son?”
“Take her. Keep her in your sights. If she portals, follow her.” He shoved me away.
I rubbed at my arm, hoisting my thin, linen towel. I knew better than to ask for clothing.
“We march,” Carmine said, and his army roared, only to fall silent in the next breath when a gate creaked ajar.
The gate wasn’t fully open before Carmine ducked under and charged into the thick white fog beyond. I fell back with Athira as his army surged forward and funneled through, three astride.
The stream of them seemed endless, but as the last row exited through the gate to Earth, a second gate started to open.
A small number—around fifty—remained, Athira and me included.
We were the pup snatchers?
“Run, and I’ll kill you,” she said. “I’ve wanted to do so for some time.”
I had to snap out of it. My heart still hammered with the need to whisk Adeuto to safety. I should have done so already. Dammit, Syera.
I shook my head. “I’m sure your son will thank you for the loss of power.”
“He will eventually,” Steth said.
Great, fucking Steth was coming with us. Of course. She was Athira’s lap dog.
Athira assessed those gathered, then without comment, she walked through the smaller gate. I traipsed after her. My stride was gone. And being wrapped in damp linen and dragged through the fortress hadn’t done it. But the thought of Carmine hunting Adeuto later tonight certainly had.
I squinted to track Athira as we entered a thick white fog. A loud whining filled the air, and Athira broke into a run. I followed her lead, hearing the thud of running footsteps at my back.
Athira leaped high. I followed.
We were on a ridge above the cleared area dotted with log cabins. Night was thick around us, and so was the howling filling the air.
Feminine.
The males had left to answer the humans’ call.
Athira inhaled. “You know what to do.”
To my surprise, only five were with us. I strained to listen and heard the sounds of battle. Feminine snaps and snarls. Some of the female Luthers were fighting the rest of our group. Steth was with them.
When the other five were out of sight and hearing, Athira glared at me. “Idiot.”
I lowered my voice. “Carmine thinks I’m having an affair. He’s going to hunt them as soon as this battle is over. He’ll find…”
“No he won’t,” she replied.
“Because Carmine isn’t a better tracker than you?” I asked sarcastically.
Athira gripped my thin towel and jerked me forward. “Because I took him to your sister two and a half weeks ago.”
What?
My mouth dried. “You never told me.”
“The fortress was one wrong move away from revolting and hunting down you and my son. I couldn’t split my time.”
“So he and Owu are—”
“Not Owu.”
My eyes widened. “You didn’t take them both?”
“The other one isn’t my problem.”
What? “Where is he?”
She shrugged. “I told him that he was on his own.”
I ran a hand through my damp hair. “Fuck, Athira. What were you thinking?”
“About my family.”
She was fucking ruthless. Owu was five. “So when you said the boys heard me screaming after Neti attacked.”
“I was lying.”
I rounded on her. “You should have told me.”
“You weren’t yourself after waking. I was unsure how you’d react. I made sure that he reached your sister safely. I sent a letter in your handwriting. You kept journals for a time when you were human, so I borrowed your style from those in my possession.”
I gaped. There was way too much to unpack in that. “You swear he got there safely?”
“I do.”
I sagged. “Then thank you, I suppose. And I want those journals back. That’s…”
There weren’t words for what that was.
Athira made a surprised sound in the back of her throat. “I expected a punch in the face from you at least. But I have scrubbed the shacks. Nothing will be found of him.”
Massive relief was an understatement.
The frantic panic ebbed, and my attention was claimed by the cabins below. I couldn’t hear much activity down there. Most had left to face the outward threats.
All I could fathom was that five demons were about to snatch pups of the Luthers who were in alliance with my sister. She now had my child.
And suddenly I saw the giant flaw in Carmine’s plan that he couldn’t have anticipated. The Luthers would use his son as a bargaining chip. Unless my sister could prevent that.
Carmine would learn about Adeuto.
More importantly, I couldn’t be sure what the coven, pack, or Vissimo clan would do to my son in revenge.
“I have to stop this, or it will come back on him,” I said.
I glanced at Athira.
She considered that. “Carmine will know you betrayed him.”
“He won’t know the most important thing.”
Howls erupted behind us, and Athira peered into the dark.
Six Luthers were incoming, though they ran so lightly the number could be more.
“Go,” she said. “Here is my excuse to lose you.”
I didn’t hesitate to slip away down the slope. I widened my magical senses. Luthers were waiting in the dark outskirts of the clearing. Not only that, but magical traps were set throughout the forest too.
I launched over a trap and landed silently, only to push off as a Luther erupted from his hiding position to give chase.
Pulsing magic forward, I located four demons in surrounding cabins. The fifth was stuck in a Magus trap back the way I’d come.
I was too late.
They were returning through the clearing, and three of Carmine’s soldiers carried children. Two were babies. One was older. Owu’s age.
I snapped to a halt as Luthers edged in on all sides. I couldn’t tell where the hell they’d come from, but they were everywhere in the next breath.
They surrounded the four soldiers, and surrounded me.
The largest wolf moved forward, and his snarl echoed through the clearing. He shifted in a grotesque series of pops and cracks, and a huge, naked man soon stood where the wolf had been.
“Release our young,” he demanded. His voice wasn’t loud or angry, yet it rang with authority. “We do not involve children in war.”
My sentiments exactly.
I walked to join the others. “Release the pups.”
Four demons gaped at me in disbelief.
“These pups are the only way we get out,” one of the females hissed.
I arched my brows. “You think you’re leaving?”
“We know our mission. If our lives are claimed, then so be it,” she declared.
“Did the mission include my presence, soldier? Have you considered the ramifications of that?” I asked her softly. “Of course you haven’t. That’s why you are whatever you are.”
She looked me up and down. “And what are you?”
“I’m glad you asked,” I replied.
I released my black smoke and aimed for the few bare patches of skin on her neck. She’d been chosen for this mission because she was one of the strongest. Scales covered all but a few small parts of her.
The demon screamed, and I released my towel to take the baby from her arms. I didn’t stop my attack, and then, as the woman’s dying shrieks filled the air, I took the second baby from the neighboring male, who—for some reason—gave up the baby without hesitation.
I approached the pack leader, who was as naked as me.
I looked slightly up into his amber gaze. “I am sorry for this. We’ll leave you with the two babies, but the older boy must come with us.”
Screams rocketed across the clearing, and I closed my eyes. A mother’s screams.
“I cannot allow that to happen,” the pack leader replied.
I nodded. “I understand. Yet it will happen because it must.”
The pack leader peered past me to the three living demons and the one choking on her last breath.
He returned his perusal to me. “Who are you?”
“My name is Syera. I have a sister in the coven who you ally with.”
Awareness lightened his gaze. A ripple ran through the pack members surrounding us.
I said, “My sister has something that belongs to me. And that is your security for the boy pup. This must be tonight, though I wish it were otherwise.”
I walked away from the pack leader and formed a solid disc of my smoke compressed with my Magus magic. When it was ready, I whipped it forward, and three heads soon thumped to the ground. The last thing I needed were demon witnesses relaying what they’d seen.
The boy scrambled back as the bodies toppled to the ground.
I crouched before him and looked into his wide, panicked gaze. “Young Luther, you must come with me. You must be brave for your pack.”
He scanned the onlookers. “Mama!”
I passed a hand in front of his face and pushed a cloud of my divination affinity over his mind. He flopped forward into my arms, and I stood.
“You are Syera?” A woman walked forward, and her auburn hair hung around her shoulders.
I glanced at her.
“I’m Andie, friend of Tempest. This is my mate, Sascha.”
She pointed to the pack leader.
“Good,” I replied. “I will tell you what I know of the battles to come. But first, you should know that this war will continue until Carmine is dead.”
“You mean your mate?” she said.
I tilted my head. “Partially. You must kill the demon king, and I will help you. But I must find a way to communicate with my sister and the other supernaturals first.”
Andie and Sascha shared a look. They made their decisions together. Why couldn’t I have a mating like theirs?
“We’ll figure it out,” Andie told me.
Sascha stepped forward. “Syera, I can’t let you take Axel. The entire pack will sacrifice their lives to prevent it.”
If a demon had uttered those words, I might have fainted from shock.
I said, “That would be a shame indeed. You are all needed to fight another day. I have given you my word, pack leader. You know what his life means to me. Tell his mother that I will keep him safe.” I glanced at the dead demons behind me. “Make sure you burn the bodies.”
The last thing I needed were remains for Steth or Carmine to inspect and confirm my interference.
I opened a portal and stepped through, the unconscious pup in my arms.