The Reluctant Amazon (Alliance of the Amazons) (24 page)

“You didn’t know which Amazon you took, did you?”

“But—but—you’re a blonde! You’re the one I seek!”

“Ever heard of peroxide?” Rebecca notched another arrow and
aimed it at his heart. Just a moment more…

“But—but—she will be angry. She will—” Jin took several deep
breaths.

“She?” Johann asked. “Who?
Who
are
you working for?”

“Ah, Jin. You’re too easily fooled,” a cool, calm, husky voice
called from the shadows. The orange glow of a cigarette flared, and tendrils of
smoke drifted into the warehouse.

Rebecca let her arms relax. “No,” she whispered in the dark.
“Please, dear God, no.”

“Sparks.” Artair lowered his sword. “What have you done,
lass?”

Stepping into the light, Sparks dropped her cigarette and
ground it out with the toe of her combat boot. Her hair had turned white. Her
face was drawn, her dark eyes menacing.

“What I needed to do. There’s more going on here than you know,
Celt.” She nodded to Gina, Sarita and then Johann. “Take them. Take them and get
the fuck out of here. All we want is Rebecca.”

“Nay. I’ll not let ye take her.”

Jin seemed to have regained his courage. He gave Megan a hard
push. She stumbled forward before locking eyes with Rebecca.

Megan dropped to her knees as her voice exploded in Rebecca’s
mind.
“Now, Rebs!”

The arrow was lodged in Jin’s chest so quickly, he probably
never knew what hit him. He fell to his knees before collapsing in a heap.

Rebecca savored his look of surprise and disbelief before she
notched another arrow in her bow and drew.

Aiming at Sparks was the hardest thing she’d ever done, but she
held the arrow ready. “It’s over, Sparks. We’re taking Megan, and we’re
leaving.”

Sparks chuckled and walked closer to Megan. “You have no idea
what you’re dealing with, little girl.”

“I’m dealing with a rogue Amazon who seems to think the rules
don’t apply to her. I love you, Sparks. Don’t make me kill you.”

“Love me? You don’t even
know
me.
If you did, you’d understand why I left, why I have to do this. Why I follow…
Look, don’t make me kill Megan to get you down here. We’re not going to hurt
you. We have big plans for you.”

“You make no sense. Why would you hurt Megan?” Artair asked.
“She’s Fire too.”

He eased closer to Megan with each word.

“I had to draw Rebecca out, and I knew she wouldn’t leave
Avalon without good reason. Megan was good reason. We need Rebecca.” Sparks’s
black eyes followed his movement, and she suddenly sent two streams of fire from
her palms to scorch the floor under his feet.

Artair jumped back.

“Ah, ah, ah. Too close, Celt.” Turning her face back to the
balcony, she called, “Rebecca? If you don’t come down here, I’m going to kill
Megan! I mean it! I’ll fry her!”

“You couldn’t hurt her. She’s Fire. She’s an Amazon. Just like
you.” Rebecca had no clue how this nightmare would end. Her stomach was a mass
of nervous knots as she contemplated any way to rescue Megan without killing
Sparks. Perhaps if they could convince Sparks that she was wrong, that she—

“I know what you’re thinking,” Sparks said as though she were
still Guardian.. “And it won’t happen, Rebecca. You can’t change my mind about
this.”

Her hands still tied behind her, Megan struggled to her feet as
Johann and Artair moved closer.

Rebecca kept her arrow pointed at Sparks, praying she wouldn’t
have to use it. Sparks seemed to be following Artair with her eyes, but just as
Johann drew close enough to grab Megan, Sparks whirled, pushed her palms out and
threw two huge balls of fire at him.

Tugging Megan into his arms, Johann wrapped his body around
her, turning his back to Sparks as her flames ignited his shirt. Sarita and Gina
ran to his aid. Gina yanked off her jersey and tried to beat out the flames.
Sarita lifted her face up to the sprinklers, narrowed her eyes and caused the
one directly above her to spray a shower of water over them.

The flames were out, but Johann’s face contorted in pain. The
cost of saving Megan had been high.

“The game is over, Sparks.” Artair edged closer to the wayward
Amazon. “You lose. Come with us. We can help you.”

Gina crept slowly toward Sparks, anger etched on her face.
Sarita did the same. The three had Sparks surrounded. Megan stayed next to
Johann as she tried to free her wrists from the bonds.

An earthquake knocked them all to their knees, roaring through
the warehouse. Pieces of skylight shattered, sending a spray of glass over the
building’s occupants.

Sarita and Gina crawled toward the wall, trying to avoid the
flying shards. Megan threw herself over the injured Johann, shielding his body
with her own. Artair rose to his feet, keeping his balance against the swaying
of the earth as he grabbed his sword and took some unsteady steps toward Sparks.
Before he could reach her, vines split the concrete floor and wrapped around
Sparks’s waist and arms.

Rebecca could only blink in surprise. She had no response for
all the curious eyes that turned her way. “It’s not me!”

Six young blondes came hurrying through the doors, seemingly
oblivious to the ground’s shimmies and shakes. Dressed in white robes, the teens
walked around the revenants, the Sentinels and the Amazons to reach Sparks.
Without a word, they picked up the helpless woman and headed toward an exit.

Artair tried to gain his feet, but the floor beneath him opened
and more vines poured out, wrapping around his hips and pulling him to the
floor. Soon Sarita, Gina and Johann were also encased in thick, green
bindings.

A new presence was suddenly so overwhelming Rebecca’s mind
drowned in the sheer power of it. “What do you want?” she shouted as she
clutched the rail.

“I want one thing,” the voice replied, booming through the
cavernous warehouse.
“You.”

After the priestesses carried Sparks away, the ground settled.
A parchment floated from the open skylight. Rebecca flew down the stairs two at
a time to put herself below it, waiting for it to reach her.

As soon as it was close, she jumped and grabbed it from midair.
She read silently.

If you want to save Sparks, you must come
to me. Alone. You will know how to find me. Follow your heart. Earth can
always find Earth
.

She suddenly understood. This was never about gods or
goddesses. This wasn’t some power-hungry demig using humans as puppets. This
wasn’t a demon trying to wreak havoc on humanity. This was never any further
than their own backyard.

This evil was created by someone none of them ever suspected.
By one of their own.

Helen.

Chapter Twenty-Three

“I have to go alone.” Rebecca jammed blessed arrows
into her quiver until it neared overflowing, hoping they would be as effective
on an Amazon as on a demigod. “I have to. Can’t you understand?”

Helen had all the same skills, all the same powers, and she’d
had decades longer to practice them. Weapons really wouldn’t help. Rebecca
prepared her arrows nonetheless, craving the comfort the familiar handling gave
her. Everyone else might have written Sparks off, but Rebecca wasn’t giving up
on her. And if she was going to get Sparks back, she would need every
advantage.

The rest of their group was stuffed into the room she shared
with Artair at the Stay Inn. The setting sun shining through the windows painted
the room orange. Megan rested on the bed. Rebecca didn’t take time to worry
about when or even if Megan would get her powers back. All that mattered was
that she’d survived.

Johann had his arms crossed sternly over his chest, glaring at
Rebecca in the same way Artair always did when he was angry. The younger
Sentinel’s burns had left patches of red, raw skin and blisters on his back and
shoulders. Sarita’s and Gina’s quick actions had saved him from too much harm,
but even after being treated and bandaged, he still had to be in terrible
pain.

Sarita and Gina stayed quiet, but there was worry written all
over their faces. Rebecca kept her gaze away from Artair, knowing she would see
the censure in his eyes.

He refused to be ignored. “I do nae care what Helen demands. Ye
cannae go without someone to see to yer back.”

If she hadn’t already known he was mad, the exaggerated brogue
would have given it away. His accent always got stronger whenever he was
angry.

“Sparks will watch my back,” she replied.

But would Sparks really help her? Or had the Seior truly
changed Rebecca’s mentor into an enemy—a powerful enemy? Had Sparks really been
willing to kill Megan?

Not Sparks.
She would never harm an
Amazon.

With a shake of her head, Rebecca tried to push away the
nagging doubt that she couldn’t save Sparks. But what was she saving Sparks
from?

Helen.
The rogue Amazon who had
been using Sparks as her muscle and now used her as a lure.
Why?
Why would Helen turn on the woman who would have moved heaven
or earth to find her?

The qualities of Earth flowed through Rebecca’s veins—she
understood every nuance, every way being an Earth affected a person. She could
never harm Megan, Gina or Sarita. No matter what happened, she couldn’t bring
pain to her sisters. Perhaps she could reach the part of Helen that wasn’t
corrupted, that wasn’t evil—the part that used to be an Amazon.

She wrapped her hopes around that notion, and tried to ease the
worry surrounding her from every pair of eyes staring holes through her. “I
don’t think Helen’s a lost cause. After all, she’s Earth. She’s Sparks’s sister.
She’s an Amazon.”

“
Was
an Amazon,” Artair corrected.
“Helen released Jin from his prison and let him kill Maria and Trishna while she
gained followers. She’s nae longer one of us.”

“You might be right. And I know what she did. But—I can’t lose
Sparks, Artair. I just can’t. Maybe I can reach Helen, find out what she wants,
why she wants me. Maybe I can convince her to let Sparks go.”

Artair’s scowl told her he didn’t agree. Johann’s pinched frown
held the same message.

“You can’t go alone,” Gina insisted as she handed Rebecca her
bow.

Sarita picked up a dirk. “I could go. Gina could go too. We’re
all Amazons. We should help you. We should watch your back. I know the note
said—”

Rebecca shook her head. “I don’t care what the note said. I
know in my heart that I have to go alone. Don’t ask me how I know. I just do. I
can bring Sparks back.” She reached for her blade.

Sarita handed it to her with a nod.

Artair wasn’t as accommodating. “Nay! Ye will nae go alone!”
His voice caused everyone to wince.

In all the time that had passed since he’d come to claim her at
the church, she’d never seen Artair MacKay so close to losing control. She dared
to look at him, knowing she wouldn’t like what she saw. His face had mottled red
as he held his hands clenched at his sides.

How could she make him understand? How could she make them all
understand? Every cell in Rebecca’s body was telling her she had to face Helen
on her own.

A sudden chill washed over her, the warning the intuition
brought almost knocked her to her knees. If the others followed her, they would
suffer.

Death waits for all who follow you on this
path,
a voice whispered.
Only you may come. Only
you.

A shudder stole her breath. She closed her eyes and waited for
it to pass. Then she opened her eyes and faced her comrades in arms. Her
friends.

“I need to do this alone. Can’t you trust me? Please? Artair,
you promised. You
swore
you’d trust me.”

Artair was shaking his head before she even finished speaking.
“Nay.” He turned to Gina and Sarita. “Grab yer weapons. We’re all going.
Johann?”

The new Sentinel arched an eyebrow.

“If ye are fit enough, get the van.”

“Oh, yeah,” Johann replied, quickly standing at attention like
a well-trained soldier. “I’m plenty fit.”

Megan started to rise. “I’m in too.”

“The hell you are,” Johann scolded, crossing the room.
Surprisingly gentle, considering his size, he pushed her back on the bed. The
movement clearly caused him more pain. The fact a weakened Johann could hold
Megan down without her fighting back spoke volumes. “You stay here. We’re all
going with her. Rebecca won’t face Helen without help.”

Megan might have lost her ability to throw fire, but her eyes
hadn’t lost their ability to scorch. “You’re hurt, but you’re going.”

“That’s different,” he replied.

“Megan, you’ll nae leave.” Artair threw her a chastising scowl.
“Even if you weren’t drained of your powers, you’re too weak.” He nodded to Gina
and Sarita. “Let’s go.”

“Artair…” Rebecca began before he cut her off with a Sentinel
glare.

“Ye will nae go alone.”

“But—”

“Cease! We go with ye, Becca. I’m yer Sentinel. I’ll nae
quarrel over this. My mind’s made up.”

She could argue, but all that would do was waste precious
time.

From the determined look in Artair’s eyes, the battle was
lost.

But she damn well intended to win the war.

* * *

Standing at the rusted gate leading to the abandoned
sleep-away camp, Rebecca planned her attack. She glanced back to the van, and in
the moonlit darkness her companions prepared for a battle she would never allow
them to fight.

Her senses had led them here.
Earth can
always find Earth.
Rebecca wouldn’t allow any of them to go any
farther. She would have to be swift, taking down as many as she could as quickly
as she could manage. She didn’t want to hurt her prey. She just needed to
incapacitate them so she could slip away by herself. This assault would require
more power than she’d ever used before and would leave her severely
weakened.

Yet she had no choice.

This prey was tricky—every single one of them. Quick and smart,
the targets wouldn’t give up without a draining fight. Although her thoughts
nagged at her, reminded her that if she took down her friends she’d be wielding
less muscle when she faced the more powerful enemy, she remained certain she was
heading down the right path.

As the others crawled out of the van and started to slap on
their weapons, Rebecca silently slipped off her shoes. Standing in the dewy
grass, she wiggled her toes. Drawing her strength from the ground and the
memories of children who’d played here in times long gone, she closed her eyes.
In slow easy waves, the power came to her, filled her, enveloped her. She was
ready. It was now or never.

Whirling around, she launched her attack.

The ground shook with a violence she hadn’t known she was
capable of producing. Sarita fell to her knees first, and the vines shot from
the cracks that formed next to her feet. She was wrapped in greenery before she
could launch any resistance.

The rest of them wouldn’t be that easy.

Gina had fallen but rose shakily to her feet. Ready to leap,
Air never left the ground. The closest tree reached its branches out like long
arms and tugged Gina back. As the branches wrapped themselves around her, she
found herself in the unyielding embrace of an elm.

Johann walked toward Rebecca. Having trouble keeping his
footing as the ground beneath him trembled, he was making more progress than
she’d expected. Despite the overwhelming guilt for attacking the injured
Sentinel, she reminded herself she was saving his life and charged. With a kick
to the stomach and a following front sweep, she knocked him down. The kudzu did
the rest, and he lay nestled in a green cocoon next to Sarita.

Three down, one to go.

One impossible obstacle to go.

Could she do this? Could she really bring Artair down?

How many times had the Sentinel bested her in the sandpits and
on the training field? How many times had she suffered defeat at his hands? How
many bloody noses and bruises had he inflicted?

But this was different. She was going to have to fight the man
she loved to save his life. Damn, if he would only understand. Death waited for
anyone who followed her, and she couldn’t lose him. Not him. Not now. Not
ever.

“Don’t make me do this, Artair. Don’t make me fight you.”

His face showed his shock. “You would truly use your powers on
me, Becca? You would wrap me in your wee vines and tie me to the ground?” He
shook his head. “I mean to help you, lass. You can’t stop me.” He stabbed his
sword into the ground and set his hands against his hips. “I won’t raise a
weapon to you, but I won’t let you leave on your own.”

The ground rumbled, low and unsteady. Her powers were draining.
Rebecca wiggled her toes in the grass again, trying to gain a fortifying surge
of energy from Mother Earth. “Please don’t make me do this. You can’t follow me
this time. You can’t fight this battle for me. You promised to trust me,
remember? I asked you to trust me.
Please,
Artair.”

* * *

Artair studied her face, seeing the conviction in his
lover’s eyes. He didn’t want to fight her and waste their skills on stopping
each other in some insane motive to protect.

He’d promised to trust her. So why did the notion of letting
her face Helen alone twist his gut into an enormous, painful knot?

“Artair, I’ve got to do this. I know you’re afraid for me, but
you have to let me go.” She dropped her weapons and threw herself into his
arms.

Lilacs. She always smelled like lilacs. Her body was a mass of
taut muscle as he held her close. This decision could change everything between
them.

Rebecca still didn’t understand the bond they’d created the
night before. Handfasting was such an ancient practice, even out of date from
his own time. But there was no way he could marry her in any other fashion.
Rhiannon and the other goddesses would never allow their union. Yet he couldn’t
let the love between them not change them both and not mark their commitment.
He’d declared her as his own and asked her to do the same, and he’d given her
one of the few things remaining from his old life in token of their bond. In
ancient Scotland, a handfast was as good as any wedding. Rebecca was now his
bride, whether she realized it or not.

He’d vowed his heart to her. He’d vowed his life to her. And
he’d vowed to trust her.

If he truly loved her, he had to let her go. He had to let her
be what she was. An Amazon. He’d promised to let her be a warrior. Now he had to
follow through with his pledge. Even if it killed him.

“If ye need me, all you need to do is call. I can always find
my Earth.”

She pushed back from his chest to gaze up into his eyes.
“You’re letting me go? By myself? You’re really letting me go?”

His throat was so thick with emotion, he didn’t trust himself
to speak. All he could offer her was a simple nod.

“I love you.”

“And I love ye, Becca mine,” he said in a ragged whisper.

“You’ll stay here?”

“Aye, lass. I’ll stay here.”

All the worries of the world reflected in her brown eyes. “I
can do this, Artair.”

“I know you can, lass. But all you need do is call.” He picked
up her quiver and her bow and helped her slip them over her shoulder.

“You won’t follow?”

He shook his head.

She reached up to cup his face. “Thank you, Artair.”

Taking her hand away, he kissed her palm. “Do you know where to
find Helen?”

“I can sense her. She’s in that camp. Someplace…dark. A cave
maybe.” A frown bowed her lips. “Will you tell my sisters and Johann that I’m
sorry? She would kill them. I know she would.”

He nodded and reached out to stroke her upper arms. “Fare thee
well, Becca mine. And remember, if you need me, call out and I will hear
you.”

* * *

Helen’s pull drew Rebecca deeper into the woods. A
canopy of trees blocked what little light the moon could offer. The hills had
grown steep, and yet she wasn’t weary. Instead, an almost giddy excitement
seemed to have her in its grasp.

She was finally going to meet Helen—another Earth. Someone who
could help her master her powers. Someone who could help her know herself
better. Someone who—

She shook her head, reminding herself that the rogue Amazon had
brought about the death of two of her generational sisters. She had a mission.
She needed to stop the wayward and dangerous Amazons, and that meant killing
Helen. And maybe Sparks.

Focusing on the pull of a large cave nestled in a far hillside,
Rebecca followed her instincts and a small voice swirling in her mind, calling
her closer and closer. She was standing in the entrance before she even realized
she’d arrived.