Power (Soul Savers) (5 page)

“I did try with Lilith, but …” My eyes stung again at the
thought of Lilith. I cleared my throat. “But I failed.”

“Alexis, darling,” Rina said, “you did not fail. Lilith’s
soul is safe. I made sure of it before returning.”

My mouth fell open. We’d all thought Rina’s grunts when
she’d first come out of the coma to be nonsense, perhaps a muttering of her
last memory before she went down.

“You mean …” I stammered.

“The Angels took her soul, yes. I’d been holding the
connection to the Otherworld for her, and when Lilith finally accepted your
power and moved on, I was able to let go. You did well.” Rina tilted her head
as she seemed to study my face more closely. “This explains your exhaustion,
however. Your low power levels.”

“What do you mean?”

“Your Amadis power is low for you, Alexis. You have tried to
do too much.”

I shrugged. “I had to. I had to help Lilith. And you … you …”
The tears came against my wishes. The emotions I’d been trying to hold inside for
days burst through. “Oh, Rina, I’m so sorry I doubted you before! You always
take care of us and I had thought … I had thought …” I couldn’t admit now the
blame I had put on her for betraying Tristan and me, of keeping our daughter
from us, and calling me a liar about it all. I’d been so wrong, so very wrong
about her. “I’m so sorry, Rina. It’s my fault you were even hit.”

Rina withdrew her hand from my clasp, and I couldn’t blame
her one bit. She’d probably blocked the ugliness between us from her mind, and
now I had brought everything flooding forth again. What a miserable excuse for
a granddaughter I was. I squeezed my eyes shut and stopped the sobs. I had no
right to cry.

Both of Rina’s hands wrapped around mine. “Darling, I do not
blame you.”

“Nobody does,” Mom added.

I shook my head, denying it. Sure, I had revealed the true
traitor, but both Kali’s spirit and Martin’s body were gone, so who knew if it
was really over? And when I did reveal the truth, Kali had thought Rina shared
the sorceress’s thoughts, resulting in the matriarch’s coma that had thrown the
entire Amadis into a downward spiral.

“Considering what I have heard about the events in that
council room,” Rina said, “I am very proud of you, Alexis. You did what needed
to be done.”

“But at what cost? You’re my grandmother! I hurt you before
the trial even began and then to see you … so …” I trailed off again, the fear
of Rina dying choking me as it had done nearly every day since she’d been hit.
“I was so worried,” I finished lamely.

I mentally kicked myself in the shins. I’d been waiting so
long to apologize and that was the best I could do?

“Alexis, darling, everything occurs for a specific reason.
Do not fret anymore. Worry is a waste of energy, and you obviously have little
to spare.” She withdrew her hands from mine once again. “In fact, I do not want
you sharing your power with me anymore.”

“But you need—”

“What I need, darling, is for you to have your full powers.
Have you been meditating? Spending time alone? Allowing your body to absorb the
power from the Island as I suggested three days ago?”

“I’ve tried,” I said. “I’ve sat on the beach. Even did some
more writing.”

Rina nodded. “I have noticed you scribbling in a journal
while you sit with me as I rest. A new story?”

“Not exactly new. It’s my story—mine and Tristan’s.
I’ve filled three books and am finally about done. Well … caught up to now,
anyway.”

The itch to write again had nearly consumed me within the
first week of sitting with Rina and Lilith. Holding them with my left hand
allowed my right hand to be free—not exactly good for banging on a
keyboard, but fine for old-fashioned writing. I’d started what I’d thought
would be a journal, but it really came out more as a story, deeper than the one
in my history book because my thoughts intertwined with the actual events.

“If you would like, you may keep the filled books in the
Sacred Archives,” Rina said, a twinkle in her eye. “The Island and the writing have
not helped, no?”

I shrugged. “I think they have. I feel more rested … sort
of.”

Rina studied my face for a long moment. “Of course. You need
your family. You need to be with Tristan and Dorian.”

“I do miss them,” I admitted, trying to mute the desperation
I truly felt. My heart
ached
with
longing for them. “But I’ll be fine. You and Mom need me here. Besides, it’s
only been ten days.” Ten days, three hours, forty-two minutes to be exact … but
who’s counting?

“That is settled. You go home immediately.”

My jaw dropped.
Am I
that transparent?

“
Yes, you are
,”
Rina said in my head.

I frowned.
Really,
I’ll be fine, Rina. Please, let me stay here with you and Mom.

“
You will not be fine.
You will be useless to us if you continue as you are.
” She spoke her next
words aloud. “I may never fully recover, and in the meantime, the Amadis need
us. All of us. As does humanity.”

“Which is why we need to help you regain your strength,” Mom
said.

“Sophia, it is too late for me.” Mom and I both gasped, but
Rina shook her head and let out a little chuckle. “No, no. That is not what I
mean. The Angels visited me often while I was unconscious, but no, they did not
share any plans for my impending death or ascension. I only mean that you have
done as much as you can for me. I believe I am as well as I am going to be.”

Mom and I exchanged a glance. If this was Rina’s best …

“You continue giving me Amadis power, and I can feel it coursing
through my veins, but I am not regenerating as I should be, no?”

Neither Mom nor I could argue with her.

“I know this. I accept it. The two of you need to accept it,
as well. It is time to move on. To move forward.” She repositioned herself
against the pile of pillows, straightening her back to sit up to her full
height. Her eyes narrowed as they looked into Mom’s and then into mine. “It is
time we prepare for war.”

***

Only two mornings later, Ophelia came into Rina’s suite as I
once again protested my departure.

“Ms. Alexis, the jet is ready and waiting for you,” the
elderly witch said.

I scowled at Rina. “Are you sure about this? I hate leaving
you and Mom here.”

“Honey, we’ll be fine,” Mom said from a desk in the corner
that she’d set up so she could work while still being close to Rina. “We’ve
been doing this for a long time.”

“Preparing for war?” I asked.

“Not so urgently, but, yes, that is what we do. Rina and I
can manage things from here. We need you out there, serving your purpose.”

“My purpose is not going home to sit on the beach and
relax,” I argued.
Who in their right mind
disputes that?
I wouldn’t have a year or two ago, but now we were on the
brink of war.

Mom folded her arms over her desk. “How many times are we
going to discuss this?”

“I just don’t get it. There’s so much going on, you need
every bit of help you can get and you’re sending me
home
? To do
nothing
?”

“We’re sending you home to recuperate. The sooner you do
that, the sooner you can be of help to us.”

“Alexis, darling,” Rina said, “there is much we need you
for. But you are useless to us in your current state.”

Hmph
. As if Rina
should be talking. She still couldn’t get out of bed for more than thirty
minutes at a time without exhausting herself.

“I am surrounded by people who love me here,” Rina said. She
couldn’t usually listen to my thoughts as easily as everyone else’s so it must
have been written all over my face.

“So am I,” I countered.

“Not the two whose love you need most,” Rina said. “Go home,
Alexis. We will be putting you to work very soon, do not worry. We will need a
new safe house to start with, and eventually, I will need you to oversee
conversions in the entire Western Hemisphere, since Sophia will be here, and I
will need Charlotte elsewhere. Most importantly, I will need you and Tristan to
recover the stone.”

Mom rose from her chair, came over to me and took my hands
into hers. She ducked her head so her eyes could catch mine. “See? There’s a
lot you’ll be doing. But first, you need to be at your best.”

“Darling, simply by leaving the Amadis Island, you are doing
something for us,” Rina added.

With a quiet groan, I gave her a nod of resignation. This
part we’d gone over many times already. We hoped that when I left the island
and the Daemoni saw both Tristan and me out of the Amadis’ direct protection,
they’d lay off the Normans and focus back on us. That had been their ultimatum
before, so hopefully it still stood. We also hoped Vanessa would be too tempted
to come after me and would abandon her game of hide-and-seek. In other words,
I’d be bait, and although it could become dangerous, the role felt passive when
there was so much going on. At least now I knew Rina had other plans for me,
too.

But still, my first and primary orders were to
rest
. Because I was useless.

After two days of arguing this, however, I knew by now Rina
wasn’t going to budge. So I reluctantly said my goodbyes to her and Solomon,
Ophelia, and even Julia, then flashed with Mom to the island’s runway. A small
private jet sat outside the hangar, the steps down, waiting for me. A figure
moved from the cabin to right inside the entrance.

“You need an escort,” Mom said, laying an arm over my
shoulder.

I already knew this, for the same reason I wore my leathers
and had my dagger and knife on me—just in case. I had secretly hoped
Tristan had returned to serve the role of protecting me, but the figure
standing at the top of the steps was definitely not my man. Not any man,
actually—admittedly, after Tristan, I’d hoped Owen would have been there.
That would have been an even bigger and greater surprise. Before my heart
plummeted too far, however, Charlotte moved closer to the edge of the doorway
and waved. I grinned for the first time in days, happy to see her face.

Mom turned me toward her and placed a hand on each of my
cheeks. A small smile curved her lips, but didn’t reach her eyes.

“Charlotte will be working with you again, but I wish it
were me. I wish things were different. I’ve been waiting for this time since
you were a little girl.” She pulled me to her in another hug as I tried to
figure out what she meant. “But we each have our duty, and mine, for now, is to
be here with Rina. So you take care, listen to Charlotte, and get some rest.
Then I promise you’ll have more than enough to do.”

“Love you, Mom,” I said into her ear as I squeezed her
tighter.

“I love you, too, honey.”

And as she held me a little longer than what seemed natural,
I felt she knew the truth of something ominous coming. The world would be very
different the next time we saw each other. After all, everything that had
happened in the last year or so had been only the beginning.

“Ready for more training?” Charlotte yelled over the scream
of the engines as I sprinted up the steps and threw my arms around her.

“It’s so good to see you!” I gushed. “How are you doing? Are
you holding up? Have you heard from Owen? Where the heck is he? Where have
you
been, anyway?”

“Whoa,” Char said, giving me a squeeze then extricating
herself from my embrace. “We have plenty of time for Q & A.”

She led me into the main cabin. I’d only been in the Amadis
jet once and I’d been unconscious then. Julia and the so-called Martin had
brought us all here after we found Lilith and Bree in the Florida Everglades.
Every other time I’d traveled to and from the island, we’d needed to make a big
performance—sinking the famous author’s boat right after the
Ang’dora,
and then ensuring the Daemoni
knew when Tristan and I had left the Amadis Island and its protection. This
time, however, Rina didn’t want the Daemoni aware of my departure until I was good
and ready—well rested, in other words.

The main cabin looked like a living room, with a beige
leather L-shaped couch, cushy chairs, and tables. It could easily seat ten
people. Charlotte gave me a brief tour, showing me the two bedrooms, a medical
suite, and a full kitchen in the rear. The jet was piloted by a vampire whose
blond buzz-cut backed up the claim that he’d been a fighter pilot in World War
II, and a wizard with strawberry blond dreadlocks served as his co-pilot.

“If something goes wrong, a mage in the cockpit can keep the
jet airborne for a while,” Char explained. I nodded with understanding. Owen’s
magic had powered the tiny plane we’d used to escape Australia. “He also keeps
us cloaked and shielded.”

We took our seats on the couch, and I watched out the window
as the Amadis Island shrank and then disappeared once we broke through the force
field that kept the island invisible. As we lifted into the clouds and the
scenery below was whited out, I looked at Charlotte and my heart squeezed. I didn’t
know her true age—at least ninety, I figured—but she appeared to be
in her mid-thirties. Or, at least, she had when I’d first met her.

Now she reminded me of how I’d looked right before the
Ang’dora
, when Tristan had been gone—a
perma-frown creating lines around the corners of her mouth, her sapphire eyes
tight and distant, her straw-colored hair short now and sticking out all over the
place, as Owen’s often did. The shock and anger of learning about the real
Martin had consumed her. She’d thrown herself into her work, unrelentingly
pursuing the Daemoni, jumping into every fight even when Mom had ordered her to
stop. Mom and I both knew why, though. Char searched for answers.

Charlotte explained that Owen tried to do the same. They
both wanted proof that Kali still existed. What worried us all, though, was
that while Char sought revenge, we weren’t aware of Owen’s intent. After
learning his life had been a total farce, he’d cut himself off from us so
thoroughly, we didn’t know if he’d ever return. If he thought he somehow
belonged with the Daemoni now. For all we knew, the fight a couple of weeks ago
could have been for show, or perhaps his attempt to prove something. The
thought of losing him to our enemy sucked the breath out of my lungs.