Wrath (24 page)

“
What?
” I demanded.

“She knew it was coming,” Julia said quietly.

Tristan appeared next to me. “Are you sure?”

“Yes,” Rina said, her voice weak. “They . . . are waiting.”

“She insisted on seeing Noah first,” Solomon said. “I told her it was a bad idea.”

Rina’s eyes rolled upward to look at Solomon, and her mouth jerked in a sad smile. “No, darling. I needed it.” She looked at Mom. “Tell Noah I love him.” She struggled to pull in a breath as her gaze traveled to the faces hovering over her. “I love . . . all of you. I am . . . grateful for . . . my life . . . with you. But . . . I must . . . go.”

“No, Rina,” I cried, not wanting to believe any of them. “You can fight this. You can’t give up!”

Her hand gently and oh so lightly squeezed mine. “I don’t . . . give up. I . . . ascend.”

Her eyes closed. Her head lolled to the side. A peaceful smile donned on her lips.

Julia cried out and threw herself on top of Rina’s body. Solomon stroked Rina’s head, and Mom scooted away, toward Winston again. She pushed herself to her knees and then folded herself over them, crying into her thighs, both hands reaching out to the side of her. One still held Rina’s hand and the other rested on Winston’s charred body. Pieces of his skin flaked off and disintegrated into ash.

Without thinking about it, I somehow managed to push myself to my feet. Tristan sprang up and wrapped his arms around me. I hugged him tightly, my cheek pressed against his chest as I inhaled his tangy-sweet scent and let it wash over me, calm me, bring the relief we deserved. Relief that we had our son, and we’d rid the world of an evil sorceress. Relief that although we’d lost Rina, she’d no longer be sick and weak. Relief that the fighting had ceased, and we would lose no more. At least not tonight. For the moment, anyway, we could live with a little peace.

But hot tears streamed down my cheeks as I took in the scene surrounding us.

Blood soaked into what once had been sacred grounds. Several Norman soldiers lay bloodied and dead after taking hits from their own men. Others stood like statues, no life in their eyes. Noah lay on the ground, though not dead. Blossom tended to Jax’s injuries off to the side of the circle of men, while Vanessa and Sheree helped other hurt Amadis. Charlotte and Owen remained unconscious, but their chests rose and fell, so I knew they weren’t dead.

But Winston appeared to be.

And Rina definitely was. My grandmother was . . . gone.

A familiar, icy voice resonated from the dark on the other side of the abbey: “Such a shame, all of this destruction because of a mother’s wrath.”

Chapter 24

Tristan and I both stiffened.

Dorian, get back to the abbey
, I mentally yelled at my son. He flew overhead, his form disappearing into the dark ruins right before another emerged from the shadows.

Lucas walked out to where we could see him, and he stood with the toes of his black boots inches away from the far side of the abbey proper, inches from the line of the sacred grounds. His white-blond hair was pulled into a ponytail that draped over his shoulder. His brow was scrunched together over his eyes that looked dark now, but I knew were ice blue like Vanessa’s. And he held Sasha in his arm, his other hand slowly petting her.

He had been behind Dorian’s kidnapping all along. Behind the mages’ deaths and Sasha’s injuries. And her disappearance, too, apparently. He’d orchestrated it all. And he was ultimately responsible for the destruction around us. Including my grandmother’s death.

My eyes cut to Tristan.

His cut to me.

We both lifted our chins in a slight nod.

And we charged the fucker.

My hand held my dagger as I streaked toward my sperm donor.

In the two seconds it took to cross the lawn, however, Noah and several of the Norman soldiers gathered around Lucas. And they were
huge
. Their muscles bulged out of their clothes, ripping them into shreds, and they grew two feet as we watched. Fire filled their eyes, and as one, they all let out a terrifying growl.

Tristan suddenly stopped in front of me and threw his arm out. I slammed into it as though it were an iron bar.

Lucas snickered from behind the wall of men. “Too bad you can’t hurt them, eh? They’re only
human
, after all. There’s nothing you can do.” He lifted his lip in disgust as he surveyed Tristan. “All that power we gave you gone to waste because of your
beliefs
. Sure, you could probably kill me—I guarantee there’s no hope for my soul—but who are you willing to lose in the process? Alexis?” The guns all pointed at me. “Dorian?” Some of the soldiers aimed toward the abbey. “I won’t need them anymore, so why would I let them live?”

Tristan let out a growl.

“That’s what I thought. Your Amadis vows won’t let you do anything. Not with human lives at stake.”

“Those things don’t
look
human,” Tristan snarled, although we both knew they were definitely Normans.

“Ah, yes. They do have some of Noah’s blood. Oh, and some of your lykora’s.” Lucas’s icy blue eyes glanced behind me to where Owen’s and Charlotte’s bodies lay, and then came back and pierced into me. “Thank you for that, by the way. I’d smelled lykora on you when you came to visit me and sent Victor to get her. But Kali took the opportunity to send warlock-boy in to snatch your son and make
me
look like the bad guy. Imagine that.” He rolled his eyes and let out a mocking laugh. “Because of that damn warlock, Victor didn’t get the lykora, but he was able to collect some of her potent blood. A whole wing, actually. Enough to see that it worked. And now I have the dog herself.”

“
What?
” I seethed.

“Oh, yes, indeed,” Lucas said. “These soldiers here—
all
of them—have some of Noah’s inhuman speed and strength, but his blood was too diluted to give them much else. The stones were a nice touch, too, I’ll give Kali that. But the
lykora
. . .” He said the word with a glee that sounded odd in his voice. And evil. Very evil. Sasha growled under his hand. “Her blood gave them the ability to grow, to fight ferociously, and to be extremely loyal. Kali’s little stones were nothing compared to this. They’re almost as loyal and protective as a mother. But not quite. What, exactly, would you do to keep your son, Alexis?”

“I already have my son,” I said through clenched teeth.

“Only because I allow it. I have no use for him until he comes to me on his own. Do you know why I let you go when I had you in Hades?”

I glared at him, refusing to indulge him with a guess because I still didn’t know. Yet, I remained quite curious.

“For the same reason. I have to admit, I still have hope for your potential. And I know one of these days, you’ll come around and see things my way when Katerina and Sophia never would. They live in a sugarcoated, lovey-dovey world whereas you, Alexis, my daughter, you know differently. You’ve had your own dark thoughts. You know that some people do deserve to die.”

His words were like a knife in my heart. The
truth
of his words cut deep to the bone. I couldn’t deny them. Because at this very moment I was thinking he certainly deserved to die.

“I have no qualms about killing my own when they betray me. In fact, I thank you for taking care of Kali for me. She’d become quite the hindrance. You shouldn’t have such qualms about killing either. You
should
be able to kill your enemy. You should be able to fight this war that’s brewing without having to hold back. You, my daughter, might still have that in you. You better—that’s the only way you’ll win.” His tongue slid over his lips as he considered me. He must have seen the hatred in my eyes. The willingness to fight. He nodded. “This world is about to change, and I want to see you and Seth ruling it. You deserve it. So does Dorian. And when that happens—when you are in power—I will happily descend.”

“I’ll never fight for you,” I said, my voice quiet but full of determination.

“We’ll see about that. You are your father’s daughter, I do believe.”

“Never!” I screamed as I lunged for him, my dagger out.

One of his soldiers snarled and snapped, and when I didn’t back off, he threw himself at me. My hands flew up. I stopped him in midair, and his face filled with surprise. I hadn’t even set him on the ground, though, when his body flew at me. Lucas laughed as his soldier landed on top of me, my dagger piercing straight through the man’s body. He immediately became dead weight.

No! Oh, no!
By the time I pushed him off and scrambled to my knees to inspect him, he was already dead. And
I’d
killed him. I sprang to my feet, my heart pounding, my stomach a small pit.

“So what will you do for your son?” Lucas asked. “How far will you go for those you love? What will you do to keep him
alive
?” His eyes darted around the scene before they came back to me. “Does Dorian understand all that’s been lost for him? And when he doesn’t deserve such protection from these people he’ll only abandon?”

“Leave him out of this,” Tristan seethed.

Lucas ignored him, and called out, “Dorian? Come here my boy.”

No!
I yelled at him.

“Come on out, Dorian,” Lucas yelled louder. Everyone behind us stilled; their sobs and whispers fell silent. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mom rise to her knees, staring at Lucas with confusion. Sasha wriggled in Lucas’s arm, but he held her tightly. “Come see what has happened on your behalf. Come look at all the death and lives ruined because of you. But truthfully, it’s only your mother and father who love you, son. Everyone else blames you. And even your mom and dad will come to despise you one day.”

Don’t listen to him, Dorian
, I told him.
He lies!

“They’re going to tell you that I say nothing but lies,” Lucas said, his voice still carrying across the grounds. “But it’s they who lie! I want to take care of you. I can make you a king. I can give you everything you’ve always wanted and more! But they . . . your mother and father and everyone else you know will blame you for everything. For Katerina’s death! See your great-grandmother’s body lying on the ground? She’s dead, Dorian, and they blame you. But I don’t!”

“Mom?” Dorian’s voice called out from the shadows. “Rina’s really dead?”

At the sound of her master’s voice, Sasha squirmed harder in Lucas’s arms.

“Come with me, son. Let us go before they take their revenge out on you.” Lucas’s voice had grown more and more agitated the harder Sasha struggled. He became more demanding of Dorian even after telling us he had little need for our son right now. But he lied. He needed Dorian to be able to keep Sasha. And he needed her blood. Lucas yelled, his voice booming in the night: “Come on, Dorian! I’ve had enough of this!”

“Who
are
you?” Dorian demanded as he stepped out of the abbey. At the sight of him, Sasha sprang out of Lucas’s arms and by the time she landed on her feet, she’d grown to her size large lykora protective form, wings flapping and lips lifted in a growl, baring long fangs.

Lucas’s thought hit me at the same time his hand twitched: He was about to force Dorian to him.

“Sasha, protect,” I yelled.

The lykora attacked Lucas.

Her jaw snapped at his face as her huge paw swiped at his chest. Her claws drew fat lines of blood in his shirt and skin.

“Soldiers, protect,” Lucas ordered. The Norman soldiers all lifted their guns again and aimed them at us. “No! Get this mutt off of me!”

But the huge soldiers refused to obey. Would they not attack Sasha whose blood flowed through their veins?

Lucas growled, the sound not quite as ferocious as Sasha’s, but pretty near Tristan’s. His icy eyes found me.

“Fine,” he said as his arm swung out and smacked Sasha hard in the side, and she tumbled away from him. “Let’s see how you feel, Alexis, when they’re
all
your children.”

What?
I didn’t understand what he meant.

“Soldiers, aim,” Lucas ordered, and all of the barrels in front of him as well as those belonging to the eighty or so soldiers who hadn’t been killed or injured aimed toward the center of the grounds. Toward Julia and Solomon who still hovered over Rina’s body. Toward Vanessa who now stood protectively in front of Dorian. Toward Charlotte and Owen, who were just now beginning to stir. Toward Mom, who rose to her feet between her dead husband and her dead mother, her eyes wide and her head tilted as she looked questioningly at Lucas.

“I see you enjoyed my gift to you,” he said to her as his eyes flitted to Winston’s black body before returning to her face. He laughed at her expression, but only once. Sasha flew toward him again. He gave one final order before he disappeared from sight:

“Soldiers,
fire
!”

For the third time in ten minutes, gunfire tore through the night. I spun around as each soldier let off a single round this time. Only one. That was all. That was all that was necessary.

I hadn’t realized it, but Lucas had aimed all of the guns only at Mom. Her brown eyes filled with fear as she swung her gaze toward me. Her arms lifted, and she reached out for me. Her mouth moved, and she called out my name. As though she thought
I
was the one being shot, even as her own body jerked in all different directions with each hit she took. She tried to run for me and stumbled a few times, but she kept moving. Kept going. Kept yelling my name.

“ALEXIS!”

And then she fell one last time.

“
MOM!
” I screamed.

“Mimi!” Dorian yelled, and Vanessa threw her arms around him and held tightly before he could fly into any more danger.

Rage filled me. The urge to kill every single one of those soldiers surged through my body, and I trembled as the pressure built inside me. I no longer cared that they were Normans. That they were merely humans under someone else’s control. That they were the souls I was supposed to protect. The murderous rage I felt the first night Dorian disappeared burned like fire through me, consuming any rational thought.

“
How far will you go?
” Lucas whispered in my mind.

And I knew that’s what he wanted. He wanted to see me unleash the wrath I’d kept so tightly balled inside me. He wanted me to lose control. To cross the line. To ignore my values and beliefs—to trade them for his. He wanted me to prove to myself and to everyone else that I was his daughter.

But I wasn’t.

I never would be.

I was my mother’s daughter. And I ran for her now.

“Mom,” I cried as I skidded on my knees next to her. I scooped my arms under her shoulders and pulled her into my lap. “Stay with me, Mom.
Please
.”

I could barely see through the tears in my eyes. I swiped at them angrily.

“Mom, please,” I begged. “Heal. You’re healing, right?”

Mom’s head moved slightly in my now blood-streaked arms. “I can’t, honey. It’s too much. I’m not as strong as you.”

“Of course you are! You’re the strongest woman I know. Tristan!” I yelled again. Could this really be happening for the second time tonight? No. No, no, no. It couldn’t be. “Tristan, Mom needs you. Help her heal. Please, hurry!”

He came around to Mom’s other side, and his mouth turned down as his eyes took in all of the bullet holes riddling her little body. Charlotte crawled over to us, with Owen right behind her.

“Honey,” Mom whispered, “it’s time for me to go, too.”

“No. It’s.
Not
,” I growled. “You can’t
leave
me!”

“Don’t you do this, Sophia,” Charlotte ordered as she gripped Mom’s hand.

“It’s your time, Alexis,” Mom said, her voice growing fainter. “Your time to lead.”

“No.” I shook my head vehemently. “I’m not ready. You’re not supposed to go yet! Mom,
please
. Don’t do this to me. You both can’t leave me!”

Mom’s eyes glassed over and then they closed. The corners of her mouth turned slightly up.

“They’re . . . calling . . . for me,” she gasped.

“No, Mom.
Sophia
. I can’t do this without you.” I crouched further over her, sandwiching her between my thighs and upper body, trying to hold on as tight as I could because they couldn’t have her, not yet, it was too soon. I needed her here, the Amadis needed her, they already had Rina, why my mom, too, why, why,
why
?

“You . . . can. You are . . . so . . . strong.”

Tears flowed down my cheeks as I pulled back. “Mom, you must fight this. You can make it through this. Please don’t give up.
Please
.”

Rain began to fall again, leaving streaks in the dirt and blood on Mom’s face. Tristan brushed his hand over her forehead and wrapped his other arm around my shoulders.