walker saga 07 - earth (26 page)

Alone … SHIT!

I realized then that I hadn’t thought about Brace for almost the entire time I was here. My heart started to constrict and beat in a rapid manner. Why had I not felt him in my mind?

“Have any of you thought about your mates since being here?” I could feel my face screwing up. Brow was definitely furrowed. “Can you feel the connection?”

Fury was the first to react. She cried out. “Dune! No … I can’t feel him.”

Calm yourselves.

The whispered winds-of-power voice was back again. It was the Mother.

You needed time without distraction, without mates and fighting and squabbles amongst yourselves. You seven and your sacred guides are everything that stands between this life and the one which will destroy everything.

We could hear the reprimand.

We had spent too much of the past year acting like the teenagers and young adult females that we were. Sure, we had had moments of battle and loss and great hardships, but we were still girls. And love was still number one on most of our priorities. Still …
Be diplomatic, Abby, just smile and agree …

“You’re wrong about them being a distraction. I wouldn’t be the person I am today without Brace. I’m strong, but he makes me so much stronger.”

“Hear, hear,” I heard Fury mutter.

Yeah, pissing off a god was not my best move. But I might as well stay true to myself.

I felt the energy of the Mother then. It shifted toward me. Before her power had been like beams of sunlight shining over us, and now it was like a blast of UV straight into my face
.

You’re strong, and have shown so much more strength of character than I had expected. You broke the bond with your mate for the greater good. It was not the right path, because of lies and treachery, but it still demonstrated to me that even though you are the youngest in years here, you are worthy of the conduit.

Her words reminded me of something; it took me a moment to recall what it was.
Youngest and strongest
. Right, the prophecy. Well, I had collected the half-Walkers and now it was time to see the rest of it play out.

I wondered for a second what my aunt was doing. Francesca was a soothsayer. Her vision had started this entire thing for me. She was in hiding now, her abilities broken, her soul broken. I was starting to wonder if she’d tapped into something she shouldn’t have. I didn’t know where she was, but Lallielle would know. She kept a pretty close eye on her strange sister.

Your time here is done now. I can no longer prevent the sands from slipping toward the end. There will be hard decisions. You must make necessary sacrifices. For what would this tale be, if not one of love and sacrifice, as you so rightly stated? These are the emotions which are both your strength and weakness. I will be watching
.

The voice of a million energies faded away, and then right before the last speck disappeared we heard:
You still do not have the strength without your guides. Keep them safe
.

“Guess that answers your question, Delane.” Ria reached up and rubbed at her left bicep before wrapping her arm across her abdomen. She looked a tad creeped out.

An echoing boom thundered around us then, and we closed ranks. Our animals too. The ground split beneath our feet and there was no stopping the inevitable plunge downwards. I didn’t panic, trusting that this was simply the way back to our star system.

Back to Brace.

My hands found Cerberus’ coarse fur and I held on to his comforting presence.

I knew now things were real. The countdown to the final battle had started, and as I fell my mind and heart sent out a small prayer of hope. I needed the strength to make it through this, to make sure everyone I loved made it through.

Darkness clouded my immediate vision. We weren’t knocked out like the last time, but we also weren’t privy to the path from the Mother’s realm. We fell, and yet at the same time it was like floating. The strangest dueling sensations. I couldn’t speak with the other girls, but I could feel them there, beside me. The familiar energy continued to ebb and wane between us. Our time in the white realm had strengthened our power. Now, even when we weren’t tethered together, there was still a link there. We were irrevocably tied to each other now.

My contemplations were cut short as the darkness started to recede. A blast of white light rocketed across my eyes and forced them shut. I must have lost a few minutes, because when I managed to pry my lids open I was no longer moving. I was flat on my stomach, the rough rockiness of the cave floor beneath my body and face.

“Abby! Abbs … are you okay? Speak to me or I’ll pixie-dust your ass.”

We were back.
My heart jolted into overdrive at the next voice.

“Give her a minute, Lucy. I can feel the bond kicking in again. Cerberus is here and awake. Abby is going to be okay.” Brace sounded calm but tense as he attempted to talk down my crazy best friend.

Still, I knew when I looked at him he’d have that rigid jaw thing going on.

Hey, baby.

He used our bond and called me ‘baby’. Insert massive
sigh
right there.

Hey, yourself.
I wrapped his warmth and energy around myself.

An emotional resonance streaked across my soul as it reacquainted itself with its mate.

What happened?

The Mother had said that she’d slowed time for us. Brace hadn’t been here when we’d collapsed, so how much time had passed?

After your call, Jedi and I got here as fast as we could. But it was too late. You and the girls were down, and we’ve been trying to wake you for the last few minutes.

Okay, so we had only lost a few minutes. Brace reached down and hauled me to my feet. I knew he was running through the mental images in my mind of everything which had happened in the white realm. To speed things up I filled in the rest of the blanks. Brace seemed slightly impressed about my name-dropping; you know, just chilling with the Mother of All. Well, impressed and worried.

Around the room, the other girls were helped up by their mates, or other Walkers. I reached out and grasped Lucy’s hand, before pulling her in for a hug.

“If I get gray hair, Abbs, I’m totally kicking you in the ass,” she said against me. “And why the heckers do all of you have permanent marks now? What happened?”

I laughed and pulled back. Then the half-Walkers and I quickly explained what had happened to us. I wasn’t sure they all believed our story; some of them were probably wondering if we’d smashed our heads a little too hard.

Ria had just finished telling them of our journey home when I realized that something was bugging me about this room.

I swiveled my head before taking a step into the stone area. “Where are the Seventine? And what happened to the prison?”

The purple light was gone. The area where the opening to the prison had been was closed over now, and only stone remained. Not to mention that I couldn’t sense the first.

“Uh …” Lucy quickly glanced at Brace before coming back to me. “When you all tried to join, the energy blast knocked us all down. Even me. And I was almost out of the mountain. Brace found me, and by the time we got back the Seventine ... they …”

“They freed the seventh. They’re no longer spirit but solid form, and they’re out there leading their army.” Brace picked up where she trailed off.

Shit!

The Mother must have known that our joining had given them enough energy – combined with what they already had – to free their brother. I wondered why she hadn’t told us they were all free. Probably thought we wouldn’t be able to concentrate long enough to learn our abilities. In her own way, she had given us the only shot we had to beat them.

I turned to Jedi, my eyes focusing on the handsome princeps. “Is the ritual still the same now? I know you said it was going to be more difficult …” I trailed off.

Dark eyes, with that unusual ring of silver around the pupil, remained unblinking as he hesitated to speak. “Yes, it’s going to be much harder now they’re free and in physical form. I believe the basis of the ritual is the same, but I need some time to double check. I feel we’re missing something. When the Seventine were still in the prison, that essence would draw the rest of them in. That’s what the ritual did. But now, how does it work?” He muttered a few times. “I need to speak with Nos. He’s our best bet for information.”

Ria’s face perked up at the mention of her father. Nos retained the memories of all past clan members that had held his position. If he decided to share, he could be a veritable well of information.

I took a few deep breaths. “Okay, well we get one chance at this, Jedi, so please hurry and figure out each step. Find me as soon as you know what we need to do. Until then the rest of us will try and keep the Seventine from destroying everything.”

Jedi bowed his head toward me. “I just wish … you were going into this battle with more of the original energies. To lock the Seventine away now. It will take too much from you.”

I knew that, but we had no choice. The rest of the original power was with Que, and as far as I knew he had not been released yet.

I changed the subject. “Come on, girls, it’s time for us to go and kick some ass.”

No one shouted or whooped.

We were not celebrating this shit today. We were just pulling on our big-girl panties and doing what needed to be done.

A calm sort of rage had replaced my fears. I was pissed off, and the Seventine were going down. Sure, Jedi’s dire warning about the increased chances that we were all going to die was spinning through my head. But I also knew that we still had to fight.

It was what we were here for.

Chapter 14

We ran from the dark mountain, in a long line of ancient power. We’d picked up Grantham along the way. He strode along next to Jedi. Colton, Brace and Lucy stuck close to me, along with Cerberus. My mind was focused on the seven of us half-Walkers and our animal guides. But it was comforting to have my loved ones close by. I needed these last moments of security; we had no idea what was awaiting us on the outside, but it was going to be big.

“Jedi, how long until the convergence?” I shouted along the tunnel.

“We’re just a few days out.”

I heard his reply clear as anything, even with the space between us.

“So what are the Seventine going to do between then and now?”

There was no real reason for them to bother traveling between the worlds and severing tethers. They would consider this a waste of time when they could soon take them all in one big bang.

An awkward silence descended over the group.

Eventually Grantham spoke. “They’ll seek to punish the Walker clans, punish us for their imprisonment. They’re angry with the originals, and I know that they’ll want to make the next few days a living hell for every single entity here.”

Shit! Shit! And double shit!
I picked up the pace. I would not let those asshats garner any pleasure through tormenting and torturing my people.

I felt a tapping then on my shields.

The energy was familiar and a smile creased my face. I didn’t even get a chance to drop my barriers before he was in my head.

Aribella.

His familiar voice flooded through me.

Dad, are you okay?

Somehow he could always get around my shields. I had thought it was the lalunas’ powers which allowed this, but apparently he was kickass all on his own.

I’m fine. Your mother and I are heading back to the dark mountains. I’ve lounged around long enough and it’s time to fight.

The Seventine are free.
I tried not to let my fears seep into my voice, but I wasn’t sure I was very successful. I’d almost lost him so many times recently. I couldn’t go through it again. I couldn’t fail.
Grantham said they’ll seek to punish Walkers for their imprisonment. It’s going to be a bloodbath.

The Seventine held elemental powers too. Not exactly the same as ours, but still more than the clans could handle.

We won’t let them win, Aribella. We’ll fight until the very end – and we’ll win.

I liked his confidence.

See you soon, baby girl.

His presence left, and for some reason I felt reassured. Just a small sliver, but it was better than the massive engulfing level of fear and responsibility which weighed me down. Too late I realized I should have asked him about Francesca and Samuel. I wasn’t sure where either of them were, but I didn’t want them in this battle. It was dangerous. Beyond the abilities of First Worlders. This was a Walker battle and I really wished the other species and races would leave.

Not because I didn’t appreciate their help and support. I totally did. But because I couldn’t feel responsible for their deaths. Sure, it was already a fight to the death – if we didn’t re-imprison the Seventine, none of us would be talking about this in a few days – but I just had so many friends and family here. So many loved ones. So much to lose.

Brace found my hand. “Don’t think so hard on this, Red. We can only do our best. I have faith that we’ll win, but if we don’t, at least we know we fought all the way. We didn’t roll over and let them take us.”

His words shot a beam of … power or something straight down my spine. I felt myself grow taller.

He was right.

I had to stop letting the fear get to me. I had to find an internal strength to do this and stop relying on pep talks from others. I had to be strong enough alone. The Mother of All, Josian and Brace all believed in me. Now it was time to believe in myself.

“Is Lasandra here?” I realized that Brace had loved ones around too. “And Caty?” I was pretty sure his sister would be safely stashed on Abernath.

“Both of them are home. I asked Mother to leave earlier. She couldn’t help them with Que’s regeneration chamber, and there was nothing else she could do here. I’m calmer knowing I don’t have to worry about them.”