Baleful Betrayal (32 page)

Chapter 29

A condor's beak snapped, narrowly missing me. I almost wished it hadn't, as Elyssa and I plummeted into infinity. The gust of wind from its wings twisted me around. I saw the bough of the tree bridge only yards away and fired a strand of Murk at it. The webbing caught. We hung suspended for a moment and then swung beneath the tree.

Elyssa gripped my arm with her other hand. "Justin, watch out!"

I already saw the next condor swooping in at us, flies caught on a spider web. "Hold onto my leg!" Elyssa shifted her grip, freeing my arm. I flung out my hand and fired another glob of Murk. It smacked the bird across the eyes, saving us from the sharp beak, but not from the impact.

The condor's big ugly head crashed into us jarring me all the way down to my bones. I screamed. Elyssa screamed. The bird screamed. Stars blurred as we spun crazily and swung on the strand of aether fast enough to loop up around the tree. The magical rope ran out of length and we slammed onto the top of the tree bridge.

I groaned woozily. Elyssa rolled on her side, grabbing her ribs. All but the queen's personal condor had vanished from view. I staggered to my feet, blood drooling from my mouth.

"Babe, can you walk?" I touched Elyssa's side and she cried out in pain.

"My ribs," she croaked. "Help me up."

I scooped her into my arms. A painful twinge in my knee protested as I ran. Elyssa groaned and squeezed her eyes shut. Angry squawks sounded behind me, but I didn't dare look back. All I had to do was keep moving forward as quickly as possible. My gimpy knee caused me to stumble when we reached the ground, eliciting another shriek of pain from Elyssa.

"Almost there," I told her. "Almost there!" We passed through the final tunnel of trees. "Grab the pebble from my pouch and rub it."

Elyssa gritted her teeth and nodded. She found the pebble and rubbed it as we neared the water. "As above, so below," she groaned.

The queen's condor swept into view and landed near the edge of the pool. I expected her to stop us, or deliver a killing blow. Instead, she simply said, "Well met, mortals."

Her emotionless gaze was the last thing I saw as I leapt into the looking pool. Darkness took us in its cold embrace and my guts wrenched with nausea. When the ground rushed up to meet us, I landed hard on my injured knee but managed to remain upright.

"Son of a Salisbury steak!" I shouted, limping in circles to ease the pain.

"Let me down," Elyssa groaned.

I set her gently on her feet. Her deathly pale face and the tears streaming down her cheeks told the story. "Can you walk?" I asked.

She took a few steps, nodded. "Let's go."

I remembered we didn't have time to dawdle, thanks to the soulless versions of ourselves now coming this way. Elyssa began to jog, whimpering every step of the way. Broken ribs were no fun—I knew that from experience.

"You sure you don't want me to carry you?" I asked.

She shook her head and spoke through clenched teeth. "Hurts just as much."

We made our way back to the crack leading from the reflected version of the Glimmer and into the rift. Despite the vertiginous void of space beneath our feet, we soldiered onward to the crack on the opposite side of the starry bridge and crawled through.

Elyssa was gasping by the time we emerged in the reflected version of Queens Gate. She put an arm over my shoulder. "Carry me."

I cradled her again and ran around the ruined mansion and through the dryad forest. As we emerged from the trees, two figures blocked our path, black eye sockets smoldering with darkness.

Our reflections.

Elyssa's reflection held her ribs, face contorted in a grimace. Mine limped forward, hands grasping with longing.

My good knee went weak. "The pebble, babe!"

"So below, as above," Elyssa hissed.

I ran straight for the reflections. Their lips stretched into horrific smiles as they saw their prize coming straight into their grasps. With Elyssa in my arms, I couldn't use magic, I couldn't dodge around them. Hoping my reflection couldn't instantly mirror everything I did, I waited until the last instant and then leapt as high as possible.

I sailed over my creepy doppelganger. He leapt straight up, fingers grasping, but barely missed my foot. I almost overshot my target, hitting the water only inches from the other shore. We flew back into the real world, all the momentum from my jump translating into even more air. I bent my knees on landing, trying to reduce the jolt to Elyssa.

She shrieked and slumped in my arms, mercifully passing out from the pain. I set her easily on the ground and used her phone to call for a portal. "This is a medical emergency," I told the portal coordinator. "Hurry, please!" I texted an image of the area and seconds later, a portal opened.

I sighed with relief. We'd survived the Glimmer and fulfilled our promise, but the true battle lay ahead.

While healers tended to Elyssa's wounds, I met with Thomas and debriefed him on the Glimmer.

"This Glimmer Queen sounds extremely dangerous," he said. "If she decided to launch an attack on Eden, it could be catastrophic."

"Especially if she brings those cat bats with her," I said. "It would be cat-batastrophic."

Thomas stared unblinking at me for a moment to let me know he wasn't amused. "One problem at a time."

"It seems like we have a line of bad guys waiting in the wings." I was going to list them all, but Thomas's raised eyebrow let me know he was focused on the current priority. "Is Victus bringing robots?"

"His robot crews are disassembling airships and taking them through the arch for reassembly." Thomas projected the holographic image of a weaponized airship under construction. "I anticipate we'll have at least three of them ready to go for the mission start."

"Which is?"

"The moment our troops and supplies are boarded," he replied. "The Mzodi fleet arrived a couple of hours before you returned and we've been loading them ever since."

"Kdosh must be awfully crowded right now." I imagined the island couldn't hold more than a few hundred people at a time.

"Even with the flying ships, we'll be lucky to fit everyone onboard." Thomas switched to an overhead map of the island. Curving arrows showed two courses leading to the north and south of the city. "We'll flank Cephus's fortress from both sides. Once we've secured a beachhead, Daemos forces will begin summoning demons on the other side of the barrier to throw the enemy into disarray. That should give Fjoeruss's golems enough time to do whatever it is they're supposed to do."

"I believe they're filled with Stasis."

"But you have no way of knowing for sure."

I shook my head. "If Fjoeruss says they can do the trick, I believe him."

"There's no room for mistakes," Thomas reminded me. "Our people will be most vulnerable when they're up against the shield wall. Without the golems, there is no breaking through that barrier."

I sat on the edge of the table and stared at the image of the enemy fortress. "Then we'll just have to make sure nothing goes wrong."

We left unspoken just how impossible that would be.

Elyssa greeted me with a smile when I entered the healing ward. I peeked beneath the white robes and winced at the deep purple bruises running up her left side. "Ouch."

"I don't feel the pain right now," she said in a dreamy voice. "They gave me something to drink."

"You may have to stay behind tomorrow," I said. "You need time to heal."

"No." The declaration cut through the fuzz in her voice. "I sent for Flava to accelerate my recovery."

"Alrighty, then." I stroked her fair cheek and kissed her forehead. "When will she be here?"

"Soon." Elyssa yawned. "How many plans did it take for us to get out of the Glimmer?"

"I think Plan E was the last one." I counted on my fingers. "Five plans."

"What about the plan to leap over our reflections?"

I grinned. "Fine, six plans."

Elyssa clasped my hand and held it to her cheek. "How are the battle plans for tomorrow?"

"Finalized." I gave her the short version.

"Sounds like my father used the attack pattern I recommended."

"He used almost everything you recommended." I kissed her forehead. "How does it feel to be the favorite child?"

"Hah." Elyssa's eyelids drooped. "That would be Michael."

"Not anymore." I watched her until she drifted to sleep then leaned back in the chair and waited for Flava to come.

I blinked awake and saw Flava covering Elyssa with the robe. She looked over at me. "You looked so peaceful, I didn't want to disturb you."

I wiped the gunk from my eyes. "How is she?"

"Healed enough to throw herself into harm's way again." Flava turned in her chair to face me. "You went to Cora's realm?"

"The Glimmer." My mouth felt dry as cotton so I found a pitcher of water and poured myself a glass. "I had to deliver a gift to her daughter."

Flava pursed her lips. "To atone for breaking a promise to her."

"Technically, I didn't break my promise, but yeah, I should've kept my big mouth shut." I took a swig of water and felt relief melt into my parched throat. "I guess it gives you one more thing to bust my balls about."

Flava looked puzzled. "Why should I wish to destroy your genitalia?"

"You're mad about me not coming with the army to Tarissa in the first place. You blame me for the destruction of the legion." I resisted the urge to slam the glass down on the night stand. "I did this for Cora so she'd bring the sky fisher fleet to help us."

"My accusations were wrong. Commander Borathen told me many things I did not know." Flava's lip trembled. "Before our army left, the commander warned Ketiss that Cephus had long planned the sequence of events leading to the murders of the other Trivectus leaders." Her eyes focused on the past. "He told Ketiss that assaulting the stronghold before we'd had time to recover from the war and assess the situation would be a mistake."

"Ketiss didn't tell you any of this?" I asked.

She shook her head. "Ketiss simply told me he believed a quick offensive was necessary and that we would free Tarissa before the forces of Eden arrived." Flava reached a tentative hand and touched my arm. "If we had but waited, the legion might still be alive."

I shook my head and looked away. "I wasn't there for the Darklings. I ran away from war, from responsibility."

"But you came back when you were needed."

I blew out a derisive laugh. "I came back after a crystoid nearly leveled the island I was vacationing on."

"You returned and you destroyed the crystal menace." Flava's hand tightened on my arm. "You returned to Seraphina and you will once again lead us to victory." She smiled. "Don't you see, Justin? You are always there for people when they need you most. You are here for us now."

Her logic held a certain amount of appeal. True, I'd put my head under the covers and hoped someone else could clean up the mess before I had to pull back on my combat boots and go fight the Seraphim. The question remaining in my head was, would I have returned to Seraphina to unify the Seraphim if the crystoid incident hadn't happened, or would I have been content to procrastinate for a few centuries?

It was a question I couldn't answer. Things being the way they were, I guessed it didn't really mater.

"Cephus wanted to cripple us, to keep us out of Seraphina," I said. "His attacks have directly contributed to our return." I put a hand over Flava's. "I just want peace, but the bad guys won't give me a break."

She smiled. "Then we will have to break the bad guys, Justin."

I couldn't have put it better myself.

I carried Elyssa home and tucked her into bed, then curled up next to her, glad to finally get some rest. For the first time in weeks I didn't dream about Nightliss's final words to me, I didn't replay the horrors of war over and over in an endless nightmare. What Flava told me must have connected with the part of me that felt such awful guilt.

Because I slept like a baby.

Breakfast the next morning was a big affair. Shelton and Bella returned early in the morning from their short honeymoon and whipped up pancakes, bacon, freshly squeezed OJ, scrambled eggs, and mimosas.

Meghan, Adam, Stacey and Ryland joined the four of us and we enjoyed each other's company despite the battle looming ahead.

"Ever notice how Shelton conveniently leaves out the part where Justin threw him in a dumpster?" Adam said as we relived some early adventures. "He always skips to the part where the vampires attack."

Shelton polished off another piece of bacon and shrugged. "It's not something I enjoy remembering."

"I don't think you actually remember it." Bella giggled. "Probably because Justin knocked you out."

"Justin was so sweet and innocent back then," Elyssa said with a sigh. "Now he's all growed up."

I groaned. "Can we talk about something that doesn't involve me throwing Shelton in a dumpster?"

"But it's my favorite story," Adam said.

Cutsauce yipped at Shelton as he grabbed another piece of bacon. Shelton held the treat out and laughed as the tiny dog tried unsuccessfully to jump high enough to reach it. Adam flicked his wand and knocked the bacon out of Shelton's hand with a spell.

"No torturing the pup," Adam said.

I got up and rubbed my hands together. "It's time we reported to our duty stations."

"Aww," everyone chorused, but they finished off their food and began cleaning up.

I hugged Stacey goodbye and shook Ryland's hand.

"I do so wish we could go," Stacey said. "I could get a babysitter for the little ones."

"While you go off to fight a war?" Meghan set her arms akimbo. "That's awful! What if you died?"

Ryland wrapped an arm around Stacey. "Maybe I ought to tie her up just in case."

Stacey smiled suggestively. "That sounds deliciously fun, my dear."

Meghan's face turned bright red. She grabbed a couple of plates and vanished into the kitchen.

Before long, we were ready to go and went to the mansion's omniarch. I opened a portal directly to the Three Sisters where the rest of the army filtered through the Alabaster Arch. My stomach tightened with apprehension.