Baleful Betrayal (33 page)

The countdown to invasion had begun.

Chapter 30

Elyssa and I spotted my parents and walked over to them while Shelton and the others joined the Arcane forces rallying near the front of the control room.

"Where's Ivy?" I asked.

"Yuuki asked us to help House Wakahisa hunt down a gang of rogue vampires who have been kidnapping Daemos in an attempt to duplicate the blood serum made by Maximus." Dad cast an uneasy glance at Mom. "Ivy developed a crush—"

"On a young incubus," Mom finished. "Your father decided it was okay for Ivy to remain behind and come when House Wakahisa rendezvous with the last ship out of port a few hours from now."

Dad pumped a fist threateningly. "Don't worry, I told that boy what would happen if he broke my daughter's heart."

I snorted. "Ivy would burn him to pile of ashes."

"That's more or less what I told him too." Dad grinned. "At least I never have to worry about pulling out the shotgun with my daughter."

Mom sighed. "I don't like leaving our impressionable young daughter with a pubescent incubus."

"Ivy may be thirteen," I said, "but she can take care of herself."

Elyssa grinned. "I'd be more concerned about the boy."

The group of us walked over to the Alabaster Arch. Auxiliary forces raced back and forth between the control room and Seraphina, carting supplies and siege units between realms. We stepped through the portal and onto Kdosh. A breath caught in my throat at the sight awaiting me.

"Wow." My jaw went slack.

A glossy black sky ship floated just off the skylet, ramp extended to take on passengers and equipment. Wide and flat on the bottom with bulging curves and sharp fins along the sides, it looked more like a spaceship than anything terrestrial. Pulsating gems studded the bottom and sides of the hull. Unlike Cora's ship, it had no wings to keep it aloft. Though I was no sky ship expert, it seemed likely the gems had something to do with its feat of magical levitation.

All it needs is a skull and crossbones on the side and it'd be perfect.

Three other similar ships were docked to other sides of the island, while a fleet of a dozen more of their brethren hovered several hundred yards offshore. Each one bore its name in sparkling Cyrinthian symbols engraved in the crystalline hulls. They ranged in size from that of a galleon, to the absolutely massive mother ship drifting in the center of the formation.

I shivered. "That thing's the size of an aircraft carrier."

Elyssa wiped the side of my mouth. "Stop drooling, babe."

"This is gonna be the coolest invasion ever."

"Holy Hairy, mother of Bigfoot." Shelton came up beside me and took off his wide-brimmed hat in a moment of sacred reverence.

Adam grabbed his friend by the arm as a column of other Arcanes marched past. "Dude, you're not supposed to break formation."

"I'm a freelancer, not an enlisted man." Shelton tugged his arm away. "Can't a man get a moment to appreciate a freaking fleet of flying ships?"

"They are pretty cool." Adam gazed upon them adoringly.

Bella broke formation and stood beside her new husband. "I'll bet the view is even better from the ship."

Shelton slapped his hat back on his head. "Hell yeah." He squeezed my shoulder. "See you guys at the war."

I clapped him on the back. "See you soon."

Elyssa and I watched as our friends boarded the ship straight ahead of us—the
Pstra
, if I read the Cyrinthian correctly. I felt a moment of panic, contemplating how awful it would be to lose another friend in this battle.

It's all a part of war.

I'd do whatever it took to make this battle short and victorious.

Victus stepped up to my side. "Quite a fleet."

"Pretty amazing," I replied. I glanced over where robots worked efficiently reconstructing the nacelles of three airships. "How long will they take to finish?"

"Maybe thirty minutes," Victus said. He motioned toward three containers the size of train boxcars. "Each of those is filled with battle bots. Once the airships are ready to fly, they'll carry the cargo into the city."

The containers sparkled in the sunlight. "Are those made of diamond fiber?"

He nodded. "Impossible to destroy. When the airships set them down, both ends will open so bots can deploy from both sides, using the container as a shield from magical attacks."

"Nice." I didn't much care for Victus, but at least he had both feet in the war.

"Good luck, Justin. Delectra and I will be on an airship." In place of his typical plastic smiles was something far more genuine. "I think celebrations will be in order at the end of today."

"You're really that confident?" Elyssa asked.

Victus looked at her and joy radiated from his face. "Oh, yes. By the end of today, I think it'll be clear sailing from here on out." He shook my hand warmly, his grip lingering as if savoring the moment.

"Wish I could be so confident," I said, a bit puzzled by his behavior. "Good luck, and stay safe."

"I certainly will." Victus turned and walked toward the airships, a skip in his step.

"That was really weird," Elyssa said. "He must be on drugs."

I snorted. "Or maybe he's looking forward to finishing this as much as I am." I took Elyssa's hand and we headed toward the
Evadora
. Cora met us with an expectant look when we reached the top deck.

"Evadora has the bottle," I told her.

A tear sparkled in the corner of her eye. "Did she use it?"

"She tried a yellow one," I said. "Happiness, if I had to guess. When we left, she was skipping around."

Cora wiped her eyes. "Thank you, Justin."

Elyssa cut straight to the chase. "The queen tried to kill us. She had the path warded to alert her if anyone went to the Soul Tree."

"My blessing should have protected you," Cora said.

I shook my head. "Not from the venom in those vines."

"She must have thought I would try to sneak back in," Cora said. "That trap was meant for me."

I wasn't sure if I should be angry or not. I didn't think Cora had intentionally sent us off to die, but she should have warned us if she suspected any traps. "If she has part of your soul, doesn't that mean she thinks like you?"

Cora paused. "In some ways, yes. In other ways, she is much different. Then again, I have been exposed to emotion and she has not."

A horn sounded from one of the other ships. "Sounds like we're ready to get underway," Elyssa said.

"Cast off!" Cora shouted in Cyrinthian.

Illaena relayed the order to the crew, and the
Evadora
sprouted wings. The wood creaked and groaned as the massive ship lifted off of the skylet. The other ships moored to the island raised their gangplanks and drifted higher to join the rest of the fleet.

I decided to impart a nugget of knowledge with Cora before leaving her to tend her duties. "Your crew already knows you're not Seraphim."

Cora's eyes flashed. "Did you tell them?"

"Didn't have to." I nodded toward Illaena. "She admitted it to me when I asked her for help."

Her shoulders slumped. "I wonder why they never told me."

"Because they respect you no matter what sort of being you are or where you come from." I waved a hand around at the ship. "Your crew loves you. Maybe you should respect them enough to admit the truth."

"Perhaps," Cora said. "Others in the fleet might not be so understanding." She tapped a finger on her chin and looked back at Kdosh as it receded in the distance. "Besides, I may return to Eden for a time."

Elyssa arched her brow. "I thought you didn't like Eden?"

"There is something about Conrad that tugs on my soul," Cora said softly. "I sense a great darkness in him that is not his own."

"He seemed pretty happy during the visit to the ship," I said.

Cora nodded. "Yes. It was almost as if something heavy lifted from him and let him be a child, if only for a moment."

I felt certain it had to do with Victor's political ambitions overwhelming his duties as a father. He loved himself too much to truly love anyone else. Delectra showed some signs of humanity, but having a cold fish like her for a mother couldn't be very nurturing.

"Conrad could use a real family," I told her. "Unfortunately, he's stuck with the one he has."

The Lyrolai woman looked down. "I failed my own daughter. Why should I be any better for him?"

I couldn't answer that question. I wondered where the father was, if he was dead or alive and living in the Glimmer. Instead of asking, I ended the conversation. "We'll let you get back to your duties."

Cora wiped at her red eyes, nodded, and walked away.

The fleet reached the Ooskai Valley later in the day and drifted past Kaelissa's village. A lone figure walked out onto the stone bridge as the
Evadora
sailed through. Blond tresses and a royal demeanor gave away Kaelissa before I even saw her face. She watched us go without raising a hand in greeting or shouting a word of encouragement.

It wasn't like I expected her to cup her hands to her mouth and shout, "Kick Cephus's ass for me!" though a wave might have shown she cared. She seemed as detached as the last time I'd seen her, the last link to her world severed by Daelissa's death.

As we neared the eastern end of the valley, the fleet prepared to split in half, delivering troops to the north and south of the city. Elyssa and I went to the prow and waved at the
Pstra
sailing fifty yards ahead of us. Shelton and Bella stood at the stern talking to a group of people. They saw us and waved back.

"Don't tell me they're letting you steer that thing!" I shouted.

"Of course they are," Shelton boomed back. "Hey, wanna race?"

"Hello,
boy
."

I spun around to see one of Fjoeruss's gray men standing behind me. I was shocked by the venom in its tone. "Boy? What's wrong with you?"

The gray man gripped its slicked-back hair and tore off its own scalp, ripping the skin completely off its face to reveal the leering grin of a madwoman beneath.

"Serena!" Elyssa gasped.

But the gray countenance staring at me didn't belong to the real Serena. "No, it's a golem that looks just like her."

The golem held out its hand, palm up and a holographic image of Serena appeared. "I hope this message finds you well, boy." The short blond woman smiled sweetly. "I am sorry to tell you that the shipment of golems Fjoeruss sent you were waylaid and slightly modified."

Elyssa gripped my arm as the hologram continued to speak

"I also want you to know that I've forgiven you for disrupting my valuable experiments and destroying work that took decades to complete." Serena's right eye twitched and the smile flickered. "Just because I've forgiven you doesn't mean you won't be punished."

Slimy dread burrowed into my guts. "Punished how?"

The recording hadn't been charmed to reply, continuing as if I'd never spoken, but it answered the question in the next sentence. "Should you survive this war, you will never return to Eden. Moments after you departed, my allies and I took control of the Alabaster Arch at the Three Sisters and the Grand Nexus. We rendered the entire network inoperable." Serena smiled. "You and the Eden army are stranded, dear child."

A lump of cold formed in my chest. "No, that can't be true."

Serena smirked. "Farewell, heroes of Eden."

The golem reached for its ear. My hyper reflexes kicked in and time seemed to slow. For the first time, I noticed a bulge of skin beneath the golem's ear. What was it hiding? A button? I didn't have time to find out. I grabbed the golem and flung it overboard. Seconds later, it detonated in midair and the shockwave rocked the
Evadora
.

Illaena and Cora raced to my side.

"What was that?" Cora asked.

My heart thudded. "The golems—where are the rest of them?"

"I believe the quartermaster divided them among the ships," Illaena said. "Why?"

"Warn the other crews!" I shouted. "The golems are rigged to explode!"

Illaena touched a gem on her uniform and issued orders, but it was too late.

An explosion rocked the ship to our starboard side, blowing out the hull where one of the large levitation gems kept it afloat. The gem shattered and the ship listed hard port. I saw the crew frantically working to wrest control but there was nothing they could do. The ship slammed into the valley wall. The hull cracked and caved. People fell from the breached hull, bodies crashing down the cliff, screams fading into the distance.

A shockwave from ahead sent a shudder through the
Evadora
. The
Pstra
veered so hard it began to roll sideways. Bella stumbled backward over the railing. Shelton grabbed her. An instant later, another ship, the
Kjala
, smashed into the starboard side. Both ships crumpled, spiraling down toward the forest a thousand feet below.

"No!" Elyssa screamed.

Everything went silent except for a high-pitched whine in my ear as I watched my friends falling toward the valley floor far below. "No," I whimpered. "No!" I didn't even think, just dove over the side of the ship. My wings burst into fiery form. I furled them around me and dove after the
Pstra
.

Shattering crystal and a chorus of screams caught my ear. I looked up as a smoking sky ship streaked toward me. I spread my wings and veered to the side as the stricken ship glided past. I course corrected and dove for the
Pstra
, diving through the breached hull and into the cargo hold. The ship rolled side-to-side as the remaining levitation gems tried to keep it aloft, slowing its descent. A net broke and empty crucibles bounced loose, some shattering on the floor, others bouncing into me. I fought through them and reached a shelf laden with carpets.

Grabbing as many as I could, I tucked them under one arm and raced back to the breach. Rather than relying on my poor flying skills, I leapt up and caught the broken floor of the next deck with one hand, pulled myself up, and leapt up again. The forest loomed closer and closer as the ship spiraled in slow motion to its doom.