My Savior (25 page)

Darian held tight to Amelia as he turned and left his friend behind him. Outside, Gavriel and Colton had tackled Aiden to the ground to keep him from going back inside. Out of nowhere, Lorcan and the Beta Unit ran up to them from the parking lot.

"Where are we at?" Lorcan yelled.

"Bomb!" Colton shouted.

Kade, the Beta Unit witch, had just enough time to raise a shield when a pulse wave slammed into it. It threw the men to the ground, shoving them back several yards.

It took a couple minutes for the ringing in his ears to stop. He gently laid Amelia on the ground. She wept uncontrollably into her hands. He stood on unsteady legs and blinked, trying to clear the dark shapes from his vision.

He could just make out the forms of the other men standing and shaking their heads.

Lorcan turned to him. "Where's Keelan?"

"Guard Amelia!" Darian yelled.

He didn't answer Lorcan's question, because he didn't want to say it out loud. If he said it out loud, it would become real. He pushed past Lorcan and ran with Aiden back into the building. The turned the corner and skidded to a stop. There, in the middle of the hallway, lay Keelan's crumpled body.

"No! No, Keelan! You idiot!" Darian ran over and pulled his friend into his arms. "Aiden, help him!"

Aiden sat on the ground, his elbows on his knees his face in his hands. Was their commander crying? He couldn't be crying, because that would mean they'd lost Keelan.

He shook Keelan. "Wake up!"

Behind him, Oron tried to gently pull Keelan from Darian's hands.

"No!" he pushed Oron away.

"He said he'd been having the same nightmare for weeks, and every night he tried to change the outcome. This must have been the only series of events that he would allow to happen. He said this was the only way we'd all live," Amelia said, tears streaming down her face.

He pulled Keelan up and yelled in his face, "You knew! You sonofabitch! You knew and sacrificed yourself anyway!" He heard his voice crack and didn't care.

"Get him up! We need to get Keelan back to Lycaonia, maybe we can figure out the spell to undo whatever this was," Lorcan said.

"The voice over the speaker said that the spell would rip the soul from the body of any living thing in the building, creating soul spheres. He said that they would collect the souls of all the Alpha Unit members." Amelia shuddered.

Aiden looked up from his hands. "They have his soul?" His voice was almost unrecognizable. Amelia could see the image of a bear semi-imposed over his body. Aiden's anger was almost palpable.

Lorcan looked around, confused. "Why didn't they just kill us in the parking lot when we were all stunned for a few minutes?"

Amelia looked up, her eyes distant. "I don't think they would have risked a fight with two units. Besides, I think they have plans for your souls."

Colton pulled Aiden to his feet. "We'll get his soul back."

Aiden nodded. "Yes, we will, right before I destroy every single one of them," he promised.

The men nodded looking at each other.

Oron helped Darian stand, but Darian refused to hand Keelan over. He carried his friend's body to the car and gently laid him in the backseat.

Aiden turned to Lorcan. "How did you know to come?"

Bishop, Beta's vampire, shook his head. He turned to Gavriel and Aiden. "Your mates. They were uneasy and said something was wrong. They sent us after you."

Aiden looked shocked. "She never ceases to amaze me."

Lorcan clapped Aiden on the shoulder. "Wait until you hear this. Sascha kept us updated as we drove out here. Meryn moved everyone from the Alpha estate into Council Manor, evacuated the city, then proceeded to set up on the roof as a sniper before working with the witches to release this particle spell that made all the invisible ferals visible."

Aiden opened his mouth and closed it.

Gavriel shook his head and turned to Bishop. "How'd you find us?"

Bishop rubbed the back of his neck. "GPS locator beacons that Meryn made us install on all the vehicles."

"Let's go help my baby sister-cousin," Amelia said, her voice sounding flat.

Darian turned to his mate. "Love? Are you okay?"

She nodded absently.

Kade walked over and laid a gentle hand on her shoulder; he immediately pulled it back as if he had been burned. "Gods above, her magic is completely unfettered. It's as if something stripped her of every discipline or restraint that she built to control her magic. What in the hell did they do to her?"

Darian cupped her face in both of his hands. "Baby? Do you know what that machine was that you were in?"

She nodded, her eyes unfocused. "He said it would steal all my magic."

Kade turned to Darian. "We need to get her to Quinn. He uses earth magic like Amelia. He can help her get her magic under control."

All at once, the men were moving.

Oron took the seat next to Keelan's body. He met Darian's eyes and nodded. Darian knew that his brother would look after Keelan while he helped his mate. Once Amelia was well, he'd face what had happened. Later, he'd face it later.

*****

Just outside the city, Darian heard Colton start cussing.
 

"We have company," Gavriel said from the drivers seat, keeping an eye on the rearview mirror.

"Maybe they changed their mind about a fight." Aiden cracked his knuckles.

Colton's phone buzzed, and he answered it putting it on speaker, it was Lorcan.

"What do you want to do, Commander?"

"Punch it. Let's put some distance between us. Then I want to pull over and transfer Keelan and Amelia to your vehicle. Your only objective is getting them to Adam and Quinn as quickly and as safely as possible. Alpha Unit will handle our guests," Aiden said, his face dark with emotion.

"Roger that," Lorcan confirmed before hanging up.

Aiden turned in his seat to face Darian. "I'd understand if you wanted to go with Amelia."

Darian looked over; his poor mate stared into space, tears trailing lightly down her cheeks. He kissed the top of her head then turned to Aiden. "No. I owe them for what they did to my mate and for what they did to Keelan. With any luck, Keelan's soul is with them, and we can set him free."

Aiden nodded and turned back in his seat. Gavriel pushed down on the accelerator, and the van behind them became smaller and smaller. After about ten minutes, Gavriel brought the SUV to a stop, and the men moved quickly. Darian had time to kiss Amelia before Lorcan picked her up and carried her to their SUV. Larik, Beta's fae warrior, nodded at Darian, his eyes flicking to the silver ring on Darian's right hand. Larik raised his fist to his chest in salute before picking Keelan up. Darian trusted all of his unit brothers equally, but he felt relieved that it was another fae looking after Keelan and Amelia.

Doors slammed and the SUV carrying the most important person in his life, his mate, turned left and sped toward Lycaonia. Everyone, including Oron, got back in the SUV.
 

Aiden looked around. "Let's take this off the main road. I don't want any innocents to get hurt."

Gavriel nodded and turned left down the same road where the other SUV had just disappeared. They drove slowly for about five miles before they saw the dark van coming up fast behind them. Gavriel pulled off to the side of the road, and the men got out. They stepped into the road and watched as the van got closer and closer. Less than a mile before the van reached them, it came to an abrupt stop, and the front of their car collapsed in on itself like an accordion. Steam from the radiator created a cloud that was barely seen in the grey pre-dawn light.

"Well, you don't see that every day," Oron said, squinting at the wreck.

After a few minutes, the van doors opened and men stumbled out. They looked up and saw the five unit warriors standing in the middle of the road and ran forward. Seconds later, like their car, they slammed into an invisible force, and blood spraying, their bodies fell to the ground.

"Well, I'll be a sonofabitch; Elder Airgead must have figured out a perimeter spell." Colton whistled his admiration.

Gavriel tilted his head and watched as the completely dazed ferals tried again to run at them only to be knocked senseless against the barrier. "As much as I would love to watch them do this all day, we do have ferals attacking the city." He pulled out his gun.

Colton looked over at the men on the ground and sighed. "Doesn't seem right. They should be frothing at the mouth and trying to bite us."
 

"Think of it like killing a mouse in a mouse trap, it's just a quicker way to exterminate," Aiden said, pulling his gun out.

All five men walked over and took aim. The sound of gunshots shattered the tranquil winter morning. They checked each body and the car for Keelan's soul. Not finding it, one by one, they dragged the bodies into the ditch for burial detail later and got back into their SUV.

"I bet you it was a witch in the city that freaked out during the attack that created the perimeter," Colton said, looking out the window.

"We need to find out who it was so we know the conditions. No perimeter is perfect, we learned that with..." Aiden swallowed hard.

"With Keelan." Gavriel said, finishing their commander's sentence.

"One thing at a time, Aiden. Let's secure the city and make sure our mates are safe first. Then we'll let your father try to figure out who broke the law and cast a spell over the whole city while we get some rest," Colton said, resting a hand on his friend's shoulder.

Aiden just nodded.

Everyone was quiet for the rest of the drive to the city.

*****

Amelia stared out the window as Lorcan maneuvered their SUV through the parking garage. No one spoke as they pulled into a spot and got out. Larik picked up Keelan and gently lifted him out of the vehicle. Amelia watched; to her, it looked like he was sleeping. She recalled his smile, they way he teased Darian, his concern for his friend, and the way he would wink at her, making her feel like she belonged. He was the sweet one, the kind one. Why? Why had this happened to him?

"Amelia, time to go." Lorcan said, holding out his hand to her.

Wordlessly, she took it, and he helped her out of the SUV. "Can you run?" he asked.

She looked up at him and blinked.

"I'll take that as a no. Come on, sweetheart, let's get you to Quinn, he can help you get that magic under control. You'll feel more grounded then." Lorcan easily lifted her and began to run with his men down Lycaonia's cobblestone alleys.

Just a few days ago, her only concern had been whether or not she would have enough time to go shopping. Now, she had lost a friend and was being carried through what sounded like a war zone.

She looked ahead and saw unit warriors running toward them. They met up with their group and surrounded them, acting as an escort.

"We heard you were bringing in precious cargo," Ben said to Lorcan.
 

"Amelia needs Quinn, and Keelan... I don't think anything can be done for him. But I promised Aiden we'd try," Lorcan said.

The blond pulled out a walkie-talkie. "Gamma Kitten One, this is Adonis, have Foxy Boy on standby to receive Big Sister-Cousin, over."

"I really fucking hate that you got Adonis and I got Gamma Kitten One!" a male voice complained.

"Take it up with management," the blond said flippantly. "Over and out."

"Ben, who's Foxy Boy?" Lorcan asked as they ran.

"Quinn, that's the name Meryn gave him because his last name Foxglove."
 

"Gods, I can't imagine the call sign she's given me," Lorcan said.

"Lorelei," Ben said with a grin.

Lorcan grimaced. "I had to ask."

The group ran into the city square. Two warriors broke off to intercept four attacking ferals. Lorcan slowed down and finally stopped after they had gotten behind a tall barricade. He set her down on her feet. "You okay to stand?"

She nodded. All around her, the men started barking orders. Gunshots were almost non-stop, filling the air with the acrid smell of gunpowder.

"Gamma Kitten One, what happened to Key Largo? Why did he have to be carried into Council Manor, over?" Meryn's voice demanded to her left.

She watched as Sascha picked up his walkie-talkie. He took a deep breath. "We'll talk about it later, Menace, not over walkie-talkies."
 

"Let me talk to my big sister-cousin" Meryn ordered.

Sascha handed her the heavy black walkie-talkie.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Amelia nodded.

"I can see you nodding only because I'm peeping you out with my scope; you have to press the button to talk," Meryn said.

Amelia just stared down. She couldn't muster up the desire to speak.

"Gamma Kitten One, what's wrong with her!" Meryn sounded frantic.

Sascha gently took the walkie-talkie from her and looked up at the roof. "She went through a bit of an ordeal. We have, what in the hell is his call sign..."--Sascha scrunched up his face--"...Foxy Boy, that's right. We have Foxy Boy coming in to help her with her magic. She'll be okay, Menace, I promise."

"You better not be bullshitting me."

Sascha scowled up at the roof line. "Would I bullshit someone who's looking at me through the scope of a sniper rifle?"

"Good point. Menace over and out."

Sascha rolled his eyes and reattached the walkie-talkie to his belt. He steered Amelia over to the steps leading up to the Council Manor. "Let's head inside, Quinn will be here soon."

She nodded followed him docilely. With every step she took, the pressure built in her mind. All over her body, she began to feel cuts, broken bones, bullet wounds, and concussions. She staggered back causing Sascha to stop. "What's the matter?"

Mothers' fear for their children, fathers' impotent anger, children crying, all flowed through her as if the emotions were her own. Anger and fear flooded her heart.
 

"Gamma Kitten One, come in, over."

"Not a good time, Menace," she heard Sascha say.

"Make time. The ferals are congregating just outside the square. I think they are going to make one massive attack on the building." Meryn reported.