Tempest Revealed
Page 64
Kona and Zarek were by my side in a second. “How are you feeling?” Zarek demanded.
“Like I’ve been run over by the Leviathan.”
He nodded. “Seems reasonable.”
I glanced down at my stomach. There was a huge, jagged scar in the center of it, but the wound looked weeks old instead of hours old. Zarek had done it again.
“I’m sorry the scar’s so ugly. I had to rush. You’d lost a lot of blood.”
“I don’t give a damn about the scar.” And I didn’t. Not when Mark and Kona were safe and—“Mahina!” I struggled into a sitting position. “Where’s Mahina?”
“Still out there,” Mark told me grimly. “But we’ve been working on a plan to get us all the hell out of this death trap.”
“What is it?”
Kona gestured to the weapons cabinet. “Kill anything that moves and run like hell.”
“Good plan.”
He nodded. “Tempest, I’m s—”
I brought my fist up, slammed it into his face. It was a total sucker punch, but as he reeled back, I didn’t even feel bad. “Don’t you ever do anything like this again!”
“I’m sorry.”
“You should be.” I hit him again, this time in the stomach. Then wrapped my arm around his neck and pulled him in for a hug. “I’m glad you’re alive,” I whispered.
“Right back at you.” He kissed my forehead, then stepped away, leaving me with Mark.
“If you ever,” he told me in a voice choked with emotion, “ever do anything like that again, I will …” He paused. “I don’t think there’s a threat bad enough for what I’ll do.”
“Me! You’re the one who ran off with Kona.”
“To save you.”
“Oh, right. And how’d that work out?”
Tears flooded his eyes, and he looked away. Clenched his jaw. Blinked. “Not so well.”
“Exactly.”
“So maybe neither of us should ever do this again?”
I nodded. “I’m good with that.” I glanced across the room at the monitors. “After we kill Tiamat, that is. I am sick of her.”
“Me too. And I don’t even know her.”
I sat up, with Mark’s help. “So,” I asked, climbing unsteadily to my feet. “Are we going to do this?”
“We’re going to do this,” Mark told me. “You’re going to stay right here.”
I glanced at Kona, who was shaking his head. “Dude, do you even know her at all?”
“You’re not going out there, Tempest! You nearly died. You’re still weak. You’re—”
I put a hand over his mouth, stopping Mark midrant. “I’m as strong as I need to be to get this done. Tiamat is finished.”
I limped over to the weapons cabinet, grabbed a gun in each hand. “Let’s go.”
In the end, we didn’t bother with a sneak attack. Didn’t bother trying to be stealthy or anything else. It was too late for that. Instead, the seven of us swam straight into the middle of Kona’s town square, lobbing grenades at the bunyip and shark-men.
Tiamat and Sabyn were nowhere to be seen. The cowards.
I thought the bunyip would run away like they had last time, but the grenades only stirred them up. They swarmed us, hundreds of the ugly little creatures surrounding us on all sides, jabbing spears as we dodged and weaved to avoid getting hit.
At the same time, the shark-men circled us from above, looking for an opportunity to strike. Mark was shooting at them while Kona used his own powers to hold them at bay. In the meantime, Zarek, the guards, and I concentrated on taking out the bunyip.
It should have been easy—Kona and I had powers that far outgunned those of our attackers. But there were so many of them that we couldn’t keep up. We took out fifty or a hundred of their ranks to every one of us that they got, but that wasn’t good enough. Not when there were only seven of us to begin with.
One of Kona’s guards—the one whose back was to mine—cried out, and I glanced behind me in time to watch his body go lax. A bunyip sword had pierced his neck, nearly ripping it clean off. Seeing the opening, and frenzied with bloodlust, several of the shark-men started to swarm. I threw my hands up, prepared to shoot a blast of energy straight at them. But Kona got there first, sending a shot of raw power right through the small group of them. One screamed in agony while the others quickly swam upward, all nursing horrific wounds.
Within minutes, we were down to just the four of us—Mark, Kona, Zarek, and me. I knew it was torturing the healer that he had been unable to help the fallen soldiers, but he had other powers that were aiding us in keeping Tiamat’s minions at bay. If he dropped his concentration even for a second and tried to heal them, all would be lost. We were under attack from all sides, and it was taking every ounce of strength each of us had to defend our given side.
The water around us grew red with blood. Selkie blood, bunyip blood, shark-shifter blood. It all blended together until the water was so saturated I could barely breathe through the thickness. The inside of my mouth was coated with the stuff, the sharp metallic tang of it fresh on my tongue. It was taking every ounce of concentration I had not to hurl. Or cry. Nothing that had ever happened to me had ever been this bad, this horrific, before.
Another wave of attackers came at me and I turned to meet them head-on. My barely healed stomach screamed at the sudden movement, barely healed muscles knotting at the effort. Desperate to get through this, to escape, I concentrated on building an orb of near epic power. It was difficult because I couldn’t concentrate on it—like Zarek, if I stopped fighting for even one second, we would fall. So I added to it slowly, in between blasts of energy and telekinetic movement, until it was as strong as I could make it. My own homemade bomb, as explosive as anything Mahina had cooked up in her laboratory.
I bided my time, looked for an opening. And when I saw it in a mixed swarm of bunyip and shark-men, I took it. I lobbed the energy bomb straight into the middle of them. Seconds later, the whole group of them blew up, vaporizing right in front of us. It terrified me even as it consoled me. Though I was grateful in situations like these to have this kind of power, it was horrifying to realize just what I could do if I ever slipped the leash. If I ever failed to control myself. People weren’t meant to have this kind of power—I wasn’t meant to have it.
The bomb, or more likely the vaporization of their friends, did what none of our other powers had been able to do. It chased our attackers away. As the hundred or so remaining creatures scattered in all directions, I relaxed a little. Bent in half and took a few breaths. We did it. We—
I glanced up in time to see Mark, Kona, and Zarek staring straight ahead. I followed their gazes, realized that it wasn’t my bomb that had sent the bunyip and shark-men scattering. It was Sabyn and Tiamat.
They were coming toward us, their eyes glowing with power and corruption and a bloodlust that had every nerve in my body lighting up in alarm. This was it. This was the moment that would decide everything. And I was so exhausted I didn’t know if I had anything left for what might very well be the last fight I ever faced.
Without thinking, I shoved Mark behind me. He squawked indignantly, then turned. Tried to do the same to me. I wasn’t budging, though. No matter what happened, Tiamat was mine. And like I’d promised Rio before I left home, I wasn’t going to take her shit anymore. I would die to stop her, would do anything I had to in order to keep the people I loved safe.
“Like I’ve been run over by the Leviathan.”
He nodded. “Seems reasonable.”
I glanced down at my stomach. There was a huge, jagged scar in the center of it, but the wound looked weeks old instead of hours old. Zarek had done it again.
“I’m sorry the scar’s so ugly. I had to rush. You’d lost a lot of blood.”
“I don’t give a damn about the scar.” And I didn’t. Not when Mark and Kona were safe and—“Mahina!” I struggled into a sitting position. “Where’s Mahina?”
“Still out there,” Mark told me grimly. “But we’ve been working on a plan to get us all the hell out of this death trap.”
“What is it?”
Kona gestured to the weapons cabinet. “Kill anything that moves and run like hell.”
“Good plan.”
He nodded. “Tempest, I’m s—”
I brought my fist up, slammed it into his face. It was a total sucker punch, but as he reeled back, I didn’t even feel bad. “Don’t you ever do anything like this again!”
“I’m sorry.”
“You should be.” I hit him again, this time in the stomach. Then wrapped my arm around his neck and pulled him in for a hug. “I’m glad you’re alive,” I whispered.
“Right back at you.” He kissed my forehead, then stepped away, leaving me with Mark.
“If you ever,” he told me in a voice choked with emotion, “ever do anything like that again, I will …” He paused. “I don’t think there’s a threat bad enough for what I’ll do.”
“Me! You’re the one who ran off with Kona.”
“To save you.”
“Oh, right. And how’d that work out?”
Tears flooded his eyes, and he looked away. Clenched his jaw. Blinked. “Not so well.”
“Exactly.”
“So maybe neither of us should ever do this again?”
I nodded. “I’m good with that.” I glanced across the room at the monitors. “After we kill Tiamat, that is. I am sick of her.”
“Me too. And I don’t even know her.”
I sat up, with Mark’s help. “So,” I asked, climbing unsteadily to my feet. “Are we going to do this?”
“We’re going to do this,” Mark told me. “You’re going to stay right here.”
I glanced at Kona, who was shaking his head. “Dude, do you even know her at all?”
“You’re not going out there, Tempest! You nearly died. You’re still weak. You’re—”
I put a hand over his mouth, stopping Mark midrant. “I’m as strong as I need to be to get this done. Tiamat is finished.”
I limped over to the weapons cabinet, grabbed a gun in each hand. “Let’s go.”
In the end, we didn’t bother with a sneak attack. Didn’t bother trying to be stealthy or anything else. It was too late for that. Instead, the seven of us swam straight into the middle of Kona’s town square, lobbing grenades at the bunyip and shark-men.
Tiamat and Sabyn were nowhere to be seen. The cowards.
I thought the bunyip would run away like they had last time, but the grenades only stirred them up. They swarmed us, hundreds of the ugly little creatures surrounding us on all sides, jabbing spears as we dodged and weaved to avoid getting hit.
At the same time, the shark-men circled us from above, looking for an opportunity to strike. Mark was shooting at them while Kona used his own powers to hold them at bay. In the meantime, Zarek, the guards, and I concentrated on taking out the bunyip.
It should have been easy—Kona and I had powers that far outgunned those of our attackers. But there were so many of them that we couldn’t keep up. We took out fifty or a hundred of their ranks to every one of us that they got, but that wasn’t good enough. Not when there were only seven of us to begin with.
One of Kona’s guards—the one whose back was to mine—cried out, and I glanced behind me in time to watch his body go lax. A bunyip sword had pierced his neck, nearly ripping it clean off. Seeing the opening, and frenzied with bloodlust, several of the shark-men started to swarm. I threw my hands up, prepared to shoot a blast of energy straight at them. But Kona got there first, sending a shot of raw power right through the small group of them. One screamed in agony while the others quickly swam upward, all nursing horrific wounds.
Within minutes, we were down to just the four of us—Mark, Kona, Zarek, and me. I knew it was torturing the healer that he had been unable to help the fallen soldiers, but he had other powers that were aiding us in keeping Tiamat’s minions at bay. If he dropped his concentration even for a second and tried to heal them, all would be lost. We were under attack from all sides, and it was taking every ounce of strength each of us had to defend our given side.
The water around us grew red with blood. Selkie blood, bunyip blood, shark-shifter blood. It all blended together until the water was so saturated I could barely breathe through the thickness. The inside of my mouth was coated with the stuff, the sharp metallic tang of it fresh on my tongue. It was taking every ounce of concentration I had not to hurl. Or cry. Nothing that had ever happened to me had ever been this bad, this horrific, before.
Another wave of attackers came at me and I turned to meet them head-on. My barely healed stomach screamed at the sudden movement, barely healed muscles knotting at the effort. Desperate to get through this, to escape, I concentrated on building an orb of near epic power. It was difficult because I couldn’t concentrate on it—like Zarek, if I stopped fighting for even one second, we would fall. So I added to it slowly, in between blasts of energy and telekinetic movement, until it was as strong as I could make it. My own homemade bomb, as explosive as anything Mahina had cooked up in her laboratory.
I bided my time, looked for an opening. And when I saw it in a mixed swarm of bunyip and shark-men, I took it. I lobbed the energy bomb straight into the middle of them. Seconds later, the whole group of them blew up, vaporizing right in front of us. It terrified me even as it consoled me. Though I was grateful in situations like these to have this kind of power, it was horrifying to realize just what I could do if I ever slipped the leash. If I ever failed to control myself. People weren’t meant to have this kind of power—I wasn’t meant to have it.
The bomb, or more likely the vaporization of their friends, did what none of our other powers had been able to do. It chased our attackers away. As the hundred or so remaining creatures scattered in all directions, I relaxed a little. Bent in half and took a few breaths. We did it. We—
I glanced up in time to see Mark, Kona, and Zarek staring straight ahead. I followed their gazes, realized that it wasn’t my bomb that had sent the bunyip and shark-men scattering. It was Sabyn and Tiamat.
They were coming toward us, their eyes glowing with power and corruption and a bloodlust that had every nerve in my body lighting up in alarm. This was it. This was the moment that would decide everything. And I was so exhausted I didn’t know if I had anything left for what might very well be the last fight I ever faced.
Without thinking, I shoved Mark behind me. He squawked indignantly, then turned. Tried to do the same to me. I wasn’t budging, though. No matter what happened, Tiamat was mine. And like I’d promised Rio before I left home, I wasn’t going to take her shit anymore. I would die to stop her, would do anything I had to in order to keep the people I loved safe.
