Sin & Lightning (Demigods of San Francisco Book 5) Page 16

  Then again, dealing with a Demigod of Hades, cloaked in invisibility, had been terrifying in its own way. He’d gotten used to that. He could get used to this.

  “Wait for her signal,” Kieran continued, “walk away from us so we don’t get blasted with you, and then turn this mountain into your playground.” He held up a finger. “If you can lock those non-magicals into a stone safe room a Berserker can’t break through, I’d be grateful. One thing, though…”

  The next flash and boom were a little closer to Dylan, the countdown its own warning. Dylan watched Kieran, not moving, not even showing concern. The descendants of Zeus did arrogant indifference in their sleep.

  “If you think Demigod Flora will force you to shift back—”

  “She can’t force me to do shit,” Jerry said, his voice a deep growl. “What’s the signal?”

  “Absolute chaos. You won’t be able to miss it. ”

  Jerry grunted and stepped forward, moving deeper into the trees, his skin mottling as he did so, turning to stone.

  It had been damn lucky getting that giant. He’d made things ten times easier than Kieran could’ve imagined. No wonder he’d been so sought after.

  “Thane, the second you think Flora might regain control of the situation, go Berserk.”

  Thane nodded and jogged back through the trees. He’d find a trajectory that set him directly against the enemy, ensuring he didn’t get distracted by his own people.

  “Boman, bend your light around yourself and Alexis to keep both of you hidden. Alexis can work through the haze. Spirit will help her see.”

  Boman nodded and took off.

  “Donovan.” Kieran paused for the next flash and explosion of lightning. Electricity built in the air and sizzled across his skin. Dylan was preparing to act, Kieran would bet his life on it. Hopefully the guy didn’t try to take Kieran out with the other Demigod. He seemed smarter than to try, but a cornered man was a desperate man, and Kieran didn’t totally trust him. “Stay with me. You might need to rip me out of the way of lightning. Flora’s lightning is powerful enough to punch down multiple feet into water before it spreads out. I might not have feet, especially not at first. Shove or yank me out of the way. Whatever it takes.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Zorn—” Kieran paused again for the lightning. Dylan kept his eyes on Kieran. They needed to start soon. Zorn waited patiently for his instructions—his magic was incredibly useful and didn’t get the credit it deserved. Had he been nobility and able to grant wishes, his magic would’ve been as sought after as Alexis’s. “Take out as many as you can. I doubt they’ve dealt with someone like you. Keep out of sight until you need to strike, and then kill them as fast as possible. Getting hit with lightning will kill you in your gaseous form, too.”

  He nodded without comment.

  “And Zorn, if she forces you to change—”

  “She won’t.” Zorn curled his lip and pulled out a precision knife. His body blinked out, shifting into his gaseous state, only visible if you knew the signs, which most people did not.

  A clap of thunder from the side made Kieran flinch. No lightning followed. Flora had a Thunder Clapper, annoying but not much else. It wouldn’t compare to what Dylan could do.

  A cut-off scream made Kieran’s small hairs stand on end. The next scream crawled up his spine and turned his blood ice cold. A ball of white light flew into the sky and exploded, sending out fissures of electric shock. Alexis was messing with someone’s soul, and the feeling of it was sending them into hysteria. It never got easier to hear. It would never be easy to beat. The love of his life was a fucking boss on the battlefield.

  Thunder clapped in a constant stream, the sound echoing off the cliff face, the originator running through the trees and laughing manically. Alexis apparently had control over that one. Another ball of light went into the air, the scream turning grating, the voice box fraying as surely as the soul’s casing, Kieran had no doubt. Something popped and fizzed. Another scream, this one earthly. It wasn’t an injury of the soul but the flesh.

  “Report!” Flora yelled. “What is happening?”

  Kieran called down the rain, the storm clouds heavy with it. He scattered the clouds, breaking apart their energy. With air, he turned the rain into stinging pellets that slashed and wounded exposed flesh.

  Yells rent the night. Electricity dissipated somewhat from the air.

  “What—” A weak blast of lightning streaked sideways, and Flora was clearly caught by surprise. The bolt hit a tree off to the right, exploding the trunk.

  The mountain bucked like a great beast, trees and plants rising into the sky as the rocks and soil rose beneath them, and then falling as both of those things gave way. The great roots of oaks and hemlocks and beeches pulled up out of the earth, sending the massive trunks thrashing toward the ground.

  Lurching and shambling shadows streaked the space between the rolling rocks and the grinding boulders. Hands out like claws, Alexis’s zombies slammed into the enemy forces, ripping and tearing at flesh.

  Thunder clapped as the coopted spirits danced to Alexis’s tune. Balls of light exploded against trees. Something sizzled and someone else screamed. She had a few people under her power now.

  “Kill them,” Flora yelled, her voice growing like the thunder from which it was made. “Kill those cowards, hiding in the trees like goblins!”

  Clouds rolled above, fighting against Kieran’s hold, ripping from his grasp. It did not stop the rain, though, or the accompanying wind, slashing through Flora’s people.

  He sprinted toward Dylan, hoping against hope that Dylan would accept that they were on the same side. That Kieran and Alexis were keeping their word, and they would continue to do so after this was all done.

  The ground shook beneath him. A great crater opened up not twenty feet away, splitting the mountain open at the seams. Water pulsed within, an underground river cutting through the rock.

  Control of the sky was finally ripped from his grasp. Within moments, electricity throbbed around him, standing his hair on end. A streak of raw power broke from the storm-laden clouds, zipping directly for him.

  He pulled up the water as he tilted his head to the sky. She was going to kill him. She was actually going to push this to the next level and take him out.

  She was going to succeed.

  19

  Alexis

  I staggered mid-stride as I saw, in slow motion, the streak of burnt yellow light rip down from the sky. Kieran’s face had tilted up, but I couldn’t see his expression. I felt it, though. Shock and certainty. Earth-shattering sorrow. He knew this was it.

  I didn’t have time to open my mouth to scream. Or to react at all.

  His body yanked to the side at the last instant, and the blast of lightning rammed the ground right next to him. The concussion sent him flying, though, and he hit the rock next to Dylan and came crashing down.

  Heart in my throat, not thinking, I sprinted toward him. A soul popped into my radar. Hands up, the person was ready to come at me.

  Boman shot out a beam of light, slicing through the enemy’s chest. I yanked the enemy’s soul free, even as I directed my zombies to file in around me. They guarded me as I ran across the small clearing, now in plain sight.

  Boman ran to catch up, but a blast of fire exploded at his feet, knocking him back. Someone must’ve realized he’d been shielding me from view with his Light Bender magic. Divide and conquer.

  Red caught up a moment later, blood splattering her face and knives in her hands. Not knowing I had just turned the enemy into an ally, Red spun and threw out a leg, connecting the sole of her boot with the vulnerable throat, the attack so graceful it was beautiful. A crunch said the blow would’ve killed the man, but the confused soul in a newly dead body was under my control and wasn’t allowed to sink to the ground in misery. Sorry, Charlie.

  Fire shot from the cadaver’s fingers and rolled along the ground, quickly doused by the driving rain. I sent him and th
e other enemies I controlled running at Flora, the red-haired one who clapped thunder, one who emitted blasts of white light that didn’t seem to do much, and the fire spitter—the magic was fun to execute, but not as dangerous as it had originally seemed.

  That lightning, though…

  Flora lifted her hands, building those clouds. Building her power. Another searing blast zipped through the sky.

  Halfway to the ground, it forked and then bent, doubling back on her. It snapped into a tree ten feet from her, and rage crossed her face within the flashing light.

  “Are you okay?” I yelled as I reached Kieran, clutching him.

  He stood and rolled his shoulder. “Donovan is on point. I’m good.”

  Dylan stood from the other side of the rocks. The ground near Flora bucked, throwing her to the ground. Massive boulders rolled toward the rapidly scattering cluster of enemies, dodging the felled trees. I sent my zombies after them, belatedly seeing Bria rushing through the trees from whence she’d gone. Finally she’d showed up.

  After a moment, though, relief turned into horror, stealing through me. She held a knife and a determined expression. She wasn’t rushing for the enemy or running to help with the zombies…she was rushing toward Thane. I’d seen that look on her face before—she was getting ready to take out the enemy, and that enemy was the threat of the Berserker.

  I hesitated in reacting, my heart dying a little, not believing what I was seeing. I knew she’d slunk away from the battle, which wasn’t customary for her, but Bria did strange things all the time. The element of surprise was her greatest asset.

  There was no rational explanation for attacking Thane, however, and from the way her leather vest flew open to reveal her Monster High T-shirt and the dog collar around her neck, there was no denying it was her. She must’ve been the leak. She was the only one who had been around for all of our talks, even in the wee hours of the morning.

  Tears came to my eyes as I grabbed her soul, not sure what I would do, not sure if I could bear to hurt her, my first real friend in the magical world. My teacher, and my buddy in arms. I squeezed her soul a little in warning, willing her to fall to her knees, to come to her senses.

  And then I yelled in frustration and ripped the soul from its casing.

  How stupid was I? That woman looked like Bria, definitely, and she even held herself with the same loose shoulders and I don’t give a fuck confidence, but the soul throbbing within her didn’t match. Assholes. I’d almost let my eyes fool me.

  I slapped that bastard back in, sent a command through the new connection, and watched the image alter into that of Demigod Flora. Thane stared at her in slack-jawed shock, watching as she turned around and jogged back the way she’d come.

  More enemies pushed forward, seeing me exposed and ready to take their shot. They hadn’t battled someone like me, though. They hadn’t asked around to see what my radar was like, much smaller than theirs but ten times more effective. Fools.

  I grabbed the little ribbons connecting all of their souls, waving gleefully within the spirit that surrounded us. With a hard yank and plenty of energy and adrenaline to spare, I ripped them all out. Bodies fell like sacks of skin. Newly freed spirits blinked at me in confusion.

  I shoved the spirits at the Line, not giving them a chance to choose if they wanted to hang around or not. This was battle, and they knew the score—I didn’t need all the confused faces standing around, and I didn’t have enough energy to secure them all in bodies.

  I raked across Flora’s soul box. Punched the casing. Shook and squeezed it.

  A peal of thunder drowned out whatever sound came out of her open mouth. Lightning streaked across the sky with no real target or purpose. I’d knocked her off her game.

  “You are fucking sensational,” I heard behind me, only to see Dylan flicking lightning between his fingertips. He shook his head slowly at me. “Terrifying, but sensational. You took control before I could even warn you about the dog-collar chick. I’ve read the legends, but nothing could prepare a guy for all of this.” He gestured, indicating the zombies scrabbling over and around boulders to get at the enemy. One misjudged a boulder’s trajectory, accidentally getting in front. Its bones crunched under the weight. I pushed it to get back up, ruined body and all, and hobble toward its targets.

  The mountain bucked again, throwing Flora onto her butt. More of her people pushed forward, but they were slower now than before. Cautious. Most were a little too far from me to pull their souls out. The few who were close enough were a little too strong for me to disable them at a distance. I could only slash at their souls, the feeling uncomfortable but clearly not enough to drop them to their knees.

  I was within their range, though. I was within Flora’s range.

  “Stop congratulating me on being terrifying and help out!” I yelled at Dylan.

  “You’re cooler than me, but I’ll give it a go,” he replied, his voice even and steady, his movements slow and precise.

  Meanwhile, I was sweating and swearing like a trucker, and adrenaline and fear were making me jerk about as much as my zombies.

  Power built as Flora crawled to her feet, one hand directed toward where Jerry was concealed in the trees, the other pointed at the sky. The ground stilled. He had to split his focus to keep his rock skin, and she was probably trying to force him to shift back to his normal, and breakable, form. Another bolt of lightning broke from the clouds.

  “Kieran,” I yelled, diving out of the way.

  The lightning painted the sky fire-white, coming at us in a deathly streak, until it hit a halfway point and then forked. Each leg bent, one side burying into a tree, the other punching the ground five feet from Flora.

  Her eyes narrowed. Zorn manifested right next to her and she flinched away. Working with a knife in each hand, he peppered her with strikes, faster than I could process. Definitely faster than Daisy had ever witnessed in training. His blades sliced through ribs and across her stomach. He leaned around and jabbed her repeatedly in the kidneys. And then he was gone, back to gas and probably drifting away.

  Lightning rained down all around her, smaller bolts but plenty effective. The mountain bucked again, Jerry freed from her attentions.

  Heart in my throat, I hoped to hell Zorn had gotten free. That he hadn’t been caught in that sudden, ferocious blast of electricity.

  “Here we go.” Dylan’s hands shot out. Lighting curled around his fingers before flying out, each finger throwing its own bolt, and each of those fracturing into several, like a spray of electric water. Some of the bolts slammed into Flora’s middle. She jerked and her body went taut. The rest of the spray continued on, hitting zombies and the enemies alike, his range larger than mine but his targeting not great. Screams and shrieks filled my awareness, and then a peal of thunder rendered me deaf. It boomed all around me, within me. It took me from my feet and laid me flat on my back.

  Ringing silence followed.

  I was struggling to get up, just like everyone else in the vicinity, when Dylan snapped right next to my ear. That snap brought back the sound as though it had never left.

  He did it for Kieran next, who was shaking his head, probably to rid himself of the same ringing.

  “Sorry, I’m extremely rusty with that one,” Dylan said, having leveled the battlefield. “My targeting has gone to crap.”

  “Holy fuck,” I said softly.

  The reprieve was short-lived. Zeus people knew how to deal with Zeus magic. They knew how to combat it, or at least push through it.

  Flora waved the effects away, her manic expression flickering in the storm of light building within the clouds. Her head tilted, and I knew she was done playing.

  “Bring her down!” I yelled, digging into her middle, slashing.

  “Here’s a conductor.” Kieran lifted his hands, and water rose from the deep chasm Jerry had created in front of Dylan’s rock barricade. He unleashed it across the ground, pushing it across everyone’s feet and then holding it there, kee
ping the enemy standing in a half foot of water.

  Dylan wiped his hand through the air, palm down. Lightning sprang to life along the top of the water like a living thing. Like fire, almost, but a current instead of flames. A raging, fizzing, burning current that sailed across the surface of the water. When natural lightning struck water, it usually dissipated within twenty feet, but this was magic, guided and controlled by Dylan himself.

  Flora screamed, wiping at her chest—my magic—and then flinched as Dylan’s magic washed over her ankles and the electrocution crawled up her legs. She was a Demigod, though. We weren’t enough to keep her down.

  Jerry must’ve known that. A huge boulder, waist-high, rolled uphill toward her. It pinged off a tree, flattened a bush, and barreled into Flora, crunching over her ankle.

  Then stopped.

  “Take cover!” Dylan roared, jumping over the rock barrier and standing next to Kieran and me. He lifted his hands into the sky. “This is her last-ditch effort.”

  A monsoon of lightning crashed down around us, the power distributed across the sky enough to dilute each strike, but if any of them hit me, they’d be plenty powerful enough to send me to the emergency room. Bolts that were aimed right for us curved at the last moment, Dylan acting as our umbrella. But the others weren’t so fortunate.

  Donovan dove into the cover of the rock shelf housing the cowering non-magical people. Red dashed through the trees in Jerry’s direction. A rock fort sprang up, bending trees and branches out of the way. Hopefully she’d get there in time. A scream from an unlikely source caught my attention. Amber’s leg had been caught in the crossfire, but she quickly dove into a tiny rock crevice in the bottom of the cliff face and pulled her knees in.

  I redoubled my efforts, crumbling one of the prongs attaching her soul, then the next. I scrabbled at the squishy middle. I banged on the casing like a drum, working with her primal instinct that had to have been making her want to curl up to protect her middle.