Blood Love (God Wars Book 4) (21 page)

"We have more information, but I'm worried it'll be similar to the useless intelligence we received on the sites in Arkansas and Colorado," Bill said. "Bree, this is yours." He handed an envelope down the table to me.

Those are your new credit cards—with your alias on them
, Bill informed me in mindspeech.
Your accounts have all been moved
, he added.
To the outside world, it still looks as if Breanne Hayworth's accounts are frozen, except those attached to your charity. Terry is still working with those
. I watched him smile as he relayed the last bit of information.

Bill, you're a genius
, I sent back. Bill's cell buzzed the moment we stopped mindspeaking. He stared at the screen for a moment before rising from the table and walking rapidly away.

"Jennings, here," he answered tersely. I knew it wasn't good news the moment he said those words.

* * *

Bill, Opal, Hank, Jayson, Charles, Gavin and I waded through the carnage. I felt ill, but forced my breakfast to stay where it was. Our goal was the captive who'd caused this.

Funeral attendees had been gunned down outside a chapel in Monroe, Louisiana. Few survived, and most of those were wounded.

"We have one who managed not to kill himself after emptying his gun," Bill growled as we walked inside the chapel. "The others saved their last bullets for themselves so they wouldn't get caught or questioned."

I took one look at the young man local police had captured and knew—he was obsessed. He sat on a chair before the altar—where a soldier's coffin had been only an hour earlier.

"He's from that church—you know the one that pickets funerals, hospitals and stuff," I sighed, dropping onto a nearby pew. "Instead of protesting and waving signs from the designated three hundred feet away, the attackers left the signs at home, carried concealed weapons beneath baggy clothing and opened fire as mourners were leaving the church." I saw that much, although I couldn't get to the reason for all of it—why they'd chosen this route—or been obsessed to choose this route.

"It's time to visit that church," Bill muttered. "Although this is being broadcast from one end of the country to the other by now. They may have started running like rats already."

* * *

"You fool!" Calhoun shouted at V'ili. "You know how the weak-minded react to an obsession! They'll do anything to please you, and as picketing this event was in their plans before you placed the obsession to kill, they modified their intentions in an effort to make you happy."

"You instructed me to lay the obsessions," V'ili hissed. Janine, terrified, huddled at V'ili's feet. Anger, fueled by power, vibrated from Calhoun and washed over her. If her mind remained her own, she'd have run away. Instead, she cowered at her master's feet, unable to move away from him.

"Be ready to relocate in two minutes, or I will leave you behind," Calhoun snarled and folded space to get away from V'ili.

* * *

The church in question was located in Kansas, but not many there were willing to acknowledge its existence. The building was small, too, and it amazed me that so much hate could be generated inside such a tiny space.

"There is," Kalenegar began when the structure exploded in front of us. If Ashe hadn't shielded us, we'd have been obliterated with the building and the massive dungeon built beneath it.

* * *

Half the neighborhood had been destroyed with the church and what lay beneath it. Ambulances and emergency teams were everywhere, crawling through the massive crater left behind after the dungeon collapsed. The immense dungeon had been hollowed out beneath streets, houses and other structures, most of which were now small bits covered in dirt and debris.

"There are none left alive in the crater," Kalenegar observed with the Larentii version of a sigh.

"I'll order rescue workers back and ask them to concentrate on those still left above ground," Bill nodded before walking toward the local police captain to share information. Gavin went with him, in case compulsion was required.

Ashe had taken Kay away from the scene, once he made sure the rest of us were all right. I was shaky as hell, but I didn't want to leave in case Bill needed me for anything. Surprisingly, Kalenegar was the one to wrap his arms around me. I looked up at his face—it was grim, and I'd never seen that expression from a Larentii before. Larentii seemed to take most things in stride, probably because they'd seen just about everything before and it no longer shocked them.

"Lara'Kayan, you are shaking," Kal turned his face toward mine. "There is nothing to fear—my shields were up, just as the Mighty Hand's were. I know you grieve for lives lost, but I feel they would have been lost anyway—this was a quicker death than the one planned by those behind this disaster."

"Yeah. I was thinking the same thing." If this dungeon held the same things the one in Dallas had, nobody is safe. They'd die—some of them happily—because a Sirenali had commanded it. Kalenegar had known there was an underground cavern and he'd been attempting to warn us when the explosion occurred.

"If there's nobody down there alive, we can wait until we get better equipment," the police captain said as he walked up with Bill. Gavin was right behind them, so I knew without reading the poor man that compulsion played a part in his cooperation. He wanted someone in that hole to be alive. Sadly, that wasn't the case.

"There's no need to risk your officers and emergency workers," Bill shook his head. "That ground is too unstable to send them in."

"You will not find whole bodies," Kal said from his position above my head. He still held me, my back to his front.

"Not good," the captain brushed back extremely thin hair, his eyes worried and sad.

Journalists and news vans were beginning to show up, too, and the captain's officers had another job to do—holding back the curious and the media. This was the local media—national news would take a bit longer, but they would all come. Likely, reporters were already flipping back and forth from the carnage in Louisiana to the cavernous, smoking pit here.

Connections between events in Louisiana and Kansas were being made, too, without any assistance from authorities. This time, the speculation was accurate.
Kal, do you think this is going on elsewhere?
I sent.

It is likely, my heart
.

* * *

The confirmed death toll in both states currently stood at three hundred seventeen, with more coming. Heavy equipment had been moved to the Kansas site and authorities were sifting through the rubble for what remained of bodies. Teeth, bits of bone, a few pieces of jewelry—that's what they were finding. It could take a while to identify all of it. There was no sign that any of our enemy had perished in the blast, however. No surprise there.

"Was this small church behind the bombings in all fifty states?" One station—the least reliable one, was taking their speculation to a different level.

"Turn that shit off," Bill commanded when we trooped into the meeting room at the Kansas FBI office. An assistant rushed to obey, snatching the remote off the conference table and snapping off the television hanging in a corner of the room.

"We're not looking for visible construction," Bill announced, sitting heavily on a chair at the head of the table. "They're building dungeons."

"I don't think this explosion was planned," Hank began.

"I agree," Ashe said. He and Kay walked in—Hank had probably called Ashe when we left the bombing site. "I think the church members who went to Louisiana took things too literally and too far, and since one of theirs lived over it, the destruction of the source was necessary."

"Where is that one, now?" Gavin asked.

"In a secluded prison cell, but they can't get anything out of him. Breanne supplied the only information we got."

"We have one survivor, and who knows how many dead at the bottom of that pit," Opal shook her head. "These people are nothing more than murderous psychopaths."

"Psychogods," I muttered, "with dangerous minions."

"You will not recall that statement," Ashe laid compulsion on the assistant and two other FBI employees in the room. "Breanne," he admonished, "what the hell are you doing?"

"Speaking the truth," I dropped my head into my arms at the table.

"Did I hear the word
gods
?" Jayson said. I raised my head to find him blinking at me.

"Yes," Hank nodded, drawing Jayson's attention to him. "Do you think this is a one-sided fight, mortal?"

"Did you call me a mortal, bro?"

"Yes. High Demons are immortal, but that is irrelevant. You have gods among you here, at this table. Do not believe that all of them have turned against you. Many fight for you now."

"I guess that's good news," Opal breathed. "Are we outing gods at the table?"

"Not as yet. That time will come," Hank blew a curl of smoke. "Have patience. All will be revealed in time."

"Which way is this fight gonna go?" Jayson asked.

"Jayson, stop asking questions that have no answers," Hank muttered.

For just a moment, he'd been Li'Neruh Rath. In a blink, he was Hank again. I moaned and dropped my head into my arms a second time.

"We're scoping out the churches, religions and fringe groups that are a little on the extreme side," Bill said after we'd settled down and were served tea and coffee by the assistants.

"It may not do a lot of good to send locals out, since we may be dealing with Sirenali," I offered. I was tired, had been exposed to too much death during the course of the day and it was now early evening. "I suggest not sending anybody after dark, since their vampire allies will lay compulsion and send investigators on their way.

"You said before that there were four Sirenali left—that the one Hank killed in San Francisco had four buddies?" Jayson pointed out.

"Yeah."

"Doesn't it make sense, then, that there are—or were—a total of four targeted churches or facilities?"

"Sounds logical," Bill agreed.

"Even if there are more, it would make sense that those four are the most dangerous," Gavin suggested.

"True—good point," Bill said.

"I hypothesize that many of the extreme cases, as you put it, are here in this country," Kal said. "Although others might be found in additional parts of this world."

"I think we should talk to those ministers who did interviews for that article—the one in the Sunday paper," I offered. "I'll check them for obsession, too—when I'm not so tired."

"That's good," Charles agreed. "Their names and locations are listed in that article."

"I'll call Dan Kelsey. Find a place to eat. I'm starved," Bill ordered and pulled out his cell as he walked away.

* * *

Le-Ath Veronis—present

"Cass," Trajan walked alongside Casimir, "how about coming back to SouthStar for a little while? Bill and I are working on something, and we have a houseguest who needs to be entertained."

"I would be happy to do so," Casimir agreed. "At times, constant darkness becomes irritating."

"I knew you'd see it my way," Trajan grinned.

* * *

Earth—past

Breanne's Journal

"Here's the list—and the order to visit them," Bill passed a sheet of paper down the table. We'd settled on an Italian restaurant for dinner, so we could all get something we wanted. It was a family style restaurant, so Trajan ordered a plate of spaghetti meant to serve four, plus a steak. He ate all of it, with a salad and garlic bread.

Kay watched, wide-eyed, as he devoured a large piece of coconut cake for dessert.

"Sweetheart, he's a werewolf," Ashe hugged her close. Charles snickered.

* * *

"Kooper, I'm handing the reins to you and Lendill," Ildevar sighed. "You'll both share Director's duties."

"I prefer it this way—the Alliance is a big place," Lendill agreed. "My father said you might choose this path. Kooper is a trusted associate."

"I know you grieve for Norian," Ildevar told Lendill. "Do not allow your grief to dictate foolish actions. The enemy is a terrible one."

"I keep hearing that from my father," Lendill nodded. "Koop, what are your thoughts?"

"I'd like to talk with Breanne about this," Kooper sighed.

"Do you think we might convince her to visit?" Ildevar suddenly looked hopeful.

"I don't know. We can try. I'll put a message out."

* * *

Earth—past

Breanne's Journal

"Kooper wants to talk to you." That message was relayed by Kalenegar, who'd received mindspeech from Graegar, through Connegar, from Lissa, who'd been contacted by Kooper.

"Where is he?" I asked. Hank didn't like that I was prepared to go talk to Kooper, since we'd had a long, exhausting day already.

"With Ildevar Wyyld," Kal replied. "I will accompany you, as will Hank, if I read his smoke patterns correctly."

"Fine. Let's make this a short trip." I was ready to drop and Hank knew that. Kal likely did, too.