The Fallen One (Sons of the Dark Mother, Book One) (42 page)

And his fangs were
showing.

He had perhaps thirty men with him,
standing behind him, waiting for him to make his move. Justice
could only hope that the horns that were blowing would not
intimidate his armies—in much the same way that humans had used
music to intimidate their enemy when they had fought the war in
Vietnam.

But the sound was eerie. And from
the looks on the men’s faces—the attempt at intimidation was
working.

Constantine was most at home—in
war.

He sprang off the cliff and came to
land before them in an impressive stance. His men were there beside
him in a flash.

Justice and Dracon were there with
their armies to greet him.

Jasmine and Ophelia slipped through
the woods like silent thieves. Their sister was in the hands of
Constantine, and the waiting had been horrible. She had walked into
the greatest danger—willingly—to give them an edge.

But now, they were finally moving
to get her back.

It felt good to be doing something.
They had just come through one of Roman’s doorways and now scouted
the woods for the Sisters of Three, relaying what they found back
to the sisters, who waited to cross through the doorway to meet
them at the shack where Mia was being held.

They felt strange with one of them
was missing, but they were going to fix that now.

They were in constant contact with
Justice and Dracon, kept up-to-date with how the battle was
going—but from the sounds of it, the men were not faring well, and
it was also apparent that Constantine was again interfering with
their communication with Justice and Dracon—although, after the
last time, they
had
expected this.

What he had been unable to
interrupt, however, was the connection that Jes had formed with
Mia—
from the moment she had helped Justice
find her
—through the shamanic
journey.

That connection had strengthened
over the last few days, and Constantine had been unable to break
it. Both sets of sisters were now counting on that to help them to
save Mia.

But from the panic that Jes had
been in ever since returning from the journey, they were all afraid
that it may already be too late.

No one knew for certain what trap
an aged vamp like Constantine might have ready to spring on them.
He certainly
had not
just been waiting for them to make their move. He most
likely
had
been
anticipating the moment that they failed to see what he was
about.

The two sisters approached the
shack on silent feet. The forest again held its breath. Not even
the birds warned of who walked the forest this day.

That in itself was an omen they
didn’t care to think about.

The two sets of sisters were the
ones who would try to free Mia, while the battle hopefully kept
Constantine busy. They knew they were dealing with a formidable
enemy, one who quite possibly knew every trick ever known,
throughout all of history, for defeating his foe.

But they were astonished to find
that
no one
—
no one at all
–had been left to guard the shack. It sent a shiver down
their respective spines—for Constantine was not
careless.

And they did not have time to try
to figure out exactly what trap he
had
set for them.

They approached the door, and Dara
had almost stepped through the doorway, when they saw Morgi—and
witnessed her hushing them with a wave of her hand in an effort to
sound a silent alarm. The sisters moved forward quickly, as quietly
as they could. The Sisters of Three were already approaching the
other side of the cabin. They had come through Roman’s doorway, but
Jasmine immediately put up her hand to halt any further action on
their part.

Ophelia stared at them from the
broken window across the way. They could see Mia. She stood within
a circle. No one guarded the circle either.

Yet, even so, each of them
knew
they wouldn’t be able to get her
out.

When the Sisters of Three had come
around through the shack door—and stood in front of the circle—Jes
finally met Mia’s gaze.

She had to fight to do
so.

She did not want
Mia to see
—what she knew
would show within her own eyes.

And she did not want to see—what
would be there
within Mia’s
either.

When Jes finally
did
meet her gaze, Mia
only shook her head at her in sadness. She looked at all three of
them—meeting their gazes bravely. “Go sisters,” she commanded
softly. “
There is nothing you can
do
!”

But Morgi was already waving at
them to stand on the other side of the circle. Mia stared at Morgi
as she slowly walked the circle surrounding her. Mira also walked
the circle. Jes had no idea what was going on; the power she felt
was far too strong for any of them to break. They could potentially
kill Mia while trying to free her from Constantine’s
charm.

And Mia appeared
to be sick.

Jes and Mira looked to Dara for
confirmation.

Dara shrugged. “I want to say that
he’s somehow turned her,” she whispered. “She looks sick
enough—that he may have
found a way to do
so.
That—or the vaccine didn’t work.” She
frowned as she appeared to concentrate on Mia. “But something
doesn’t feel right—she feels different…,” she said, making sure
that Mia’s sisters did not hear.

Morgi had stopped on the other
side. She directed Ophelia and Jasmine to stand on either side of
her. She told them to use their love, nothing more.

She looked across the circle,
expectantly. But the only one she stared at was Jes.

“
Shira!” she commanded, “Raise the
power!”

Jes stared at Morgi. She raised
her hand, pointing at herself in her surprise
.
“
Who—me
?” She stared at the woman
like she’d lost her mind. Who was she talking to? She was
not
Shira!

Was she?

“
Do as I tell
you
!” the witch commanded.

Jes was trembling with shock. She
raised her hands, intending to tell the witch where she could get
off. She was too amazed by the name she had just been called to
think straight. Was that the name that Amar had forbidden her
sisters to reveal to her?

Who did Morgi think she was,
calling her that, when her
own
sisters
had been so careful
not to tell her
what it
was?
Who did she think she was—to do what
even her own grandmother had said
not to
do
!

“
I have watched the witch who made
this circle!
Now, do as I
say
!” Morgi again commanded.

Jes opened her mouth to tell Morgi
it was impossible. She could feel the power of this circle, and she
knew it was impossible. But then—she caught Mia’s eyes. And the
look in Mia’s eyes stopped her cold.

Mia was a fierce warrioress—but
what Jes saw in her eyes scared her beyond anything she’d ever
felt.

For Mia stood there calmly,
without fear. She stood there with only love shining in her gaze.
And she stood there—
ready to
die.

“
Oh,
hell
no
!” Jes yelled at her.
“
No one dies today
!”

And she did
indeed
raise the power.

Mira joined her—and then Dara. The
power was so immense it brought tears to the eyes of those who
watched. It went through the Sisters of Three like a great, white
light, and they became like the ones of old, shining
brightly—
too brightly to
behold.

The circle shimmered. Mia passed
out. Jes felt her throat close with fear—and the light began to
fade.

“
Hold steady, granddaughter!” she
heard Amar command.

She didn’t know where her
grandmother was watching her from, but it was
all she needed to hear.

The light magnified, brighter than
ever. It turned the shack into a ball of white prisms. Jes was
afraid that all of Justice’s sisters would die this day, but she
couldn’t think of that. Fear was her enemy—especially
here.

She raised the power higher
still—Dara and Mira continuing to join in with her. The walls of
the shack fell away—and then the circle that held Mia
disintegrated.

Morgi yelled at Roman. She was a
fierce sight to behold, standing there. He and Micah had stopped at
the edge of where the shack had stood only a moment before—near to
where the shack used to have a doorway—only moments
before.

But now they saw only bare
ground.

They both stared at first the
ground—and then at Morgi. When the shack had disappeared within the
blinding light, it had forced Micah and Roman to cover their
faces.

And now they could only stare at
where the cabin had stood—where now they saw only charred
earth.

Roman raised the doorway and
stepped across the charred earth to pick up Jasmine. Micah picked
up Ophelia.

Morgi had not waited for them to
gingerly cross the hot earth, but had immediately picked Mia up,
tossed her over her shoulder, and carried her through Roman’s
doorway—and had then returned to where Micah was holding Ophelia
and took her from him.

He barely paid her any mind. He
only stared at where the Sisters of Three now lay.

“
Stay with them, I’ll return
shortly,” Roman commanded, and Micah could only nod.

He couldn’t take the Sisters of
Three through Roman’s doorway—none of them could. Their bodies were
gone.

And in their place were beings—made
only of light.

Where the sisters may have
succeeded—the armies had not. It was the kind of war one often saw
in movies where the armies fought hand-to-hand.

Steel rang in the night as the
armies fought, sword against sword, muscle against muscle, sweat
and blood flowing under the silvery fingers of the moon. The
difference from the movies was that these were armies comprised of
beings that carried supernatural powers. Many warriors had
shape-shifted into their Jaguar forms, or into a more dangerous
vampire form. Others of them were forced to their form of hawk or
bird to fly away.

This time Constantine’s armies were
simply too great in number for their armies to push them back—and
then the bat-like creatures had come and the Jaguar, Fae and old
vampire armies had been forced to retreat.

In the end, many of those whose
true form was not predatory took on their animal forms so they
could more quickly take flight. Even those who were more predatory
in nature—who were Jaguar, vampire, or others—were forced into
retreat as well.

All had fought with everything they
had inside of them.

One side fought for their
home.

The others fought for the age-old
need to have more than they already owned: the desire for
acquisition and control.

When the battle was over many had
been bitten. And it would only be a matter of time to see if the
vaccinations would hold.

But the Princes of the Four
Directions had
not
won
this night.

Long before the battle had ended,
many of the Jaguar People, the old factions of vampires, and the
Fae armies had known they would have to fall back so they could
live to meet Constantine’s armies again. They had been beat back
with an ease that did more than just destroy their forces. They had
been beat back with an ease that threatened to cripple their hearts
and minds, threatening their morale. Though they fought with all
their strength and power—Constantine had swatted them out of the
way like a great wind that had blown in, much too strong for their
own armies to push them aside.

He had shown them that he would
defy all who would stand in his way.

And when the destruction he had
wrought had finally blown completely through—many of them lay
dead.

Chapter
Forty-Eight

Power of Three

Justice stared at where
Constantine had been
only a moment before.
Constantine had gone to the hillside that would lead him back to
the shack the moment he had realized that his armies were forcing
the Alliance back.

Justice and Dracon both chased
after him. He had reached the top of the bluff—and then he had
simply disappeared.

Justice turned first one way—then
that the other. It was as though Constantine could just turn
himself into a ghost! How the hell was he supposed to fight a
ghost?