Alamosa Arena (American Dragons Book 9) Read online

  Heridan hissed, flung out tentacles, and grabbed the bearded man in the inky tendrils. She hissed, “Connexra,” then, “Transvexri.”

  In seconds, both Heridan and the elder Drokharis were gone.

  “Uh, did I say something wrong?” Mouse asked, cringing.

  “Magica Divinatio!” Sabina, Tessa, and Steven all cast the spell at the same time.

  Images flickered through Steven’s mind. A vast sea between two mountain ranges. Rolling dunes of sand, hundreds of square miles. A web of silver threads, as big as the dunes, if not bigger, and at its center, something with legs, a belly, and a thousand glittering eyes.

  Heridan, human, naked, weeping into her hands.

  Quinnestri, letting her fur-lined robes drop to reveal her slender, perfect body, her skin as white and flawless as porcelain.

  And Stefan Drokharis, on his back, blood spattering his mouth and reddening his teeth. Saying something, something important.

  Steven tried to dig through the images, to find where Heridan had taken the elder Drokharis. He felt close, then he heard Heridan laughing, cackling, and the spell ended.

  He blinked. Sabina and Tessa were there, their eyes still full of magic. Everyone else in his Escort was gone, to chase after the failed Prosha and the bearded man with the burned-out core.

  Sabina turned to him. Her eyes sparkled like emeralds. “Colorado Springs. There is the hotel, your father’s Aerie. I lost my eyes there. You will find an old friend there. That is where you need to go.”

  Tessa, eyes glowing with a pink light, slid off her chair and hit the floor. On her knees, weeping rose-colored tears, she looked at him. She said three words in English. “Death. Sacrifice. Sorrow.” Then her speech turned into a series of hard consonants, elongated vowels, and harsh unnatural sounds. He’d heard her speak like that before, in the Sloan’s Lake Americos Chamber in Denver.

  Sabina shook violently, crying out, and then she too started up the chant, matching each strange, terrible word with Tessa.

  Their caterwauls hit a crescendo. Tessa shrieked, “Magica Incanto!” She dispelled the divination magic that had gone horribly wrong.

  Terror clawed into Steven’s heart. He managed to shake it away. Anger replaced it. Zothora was closing in on them, affecting their divination magic, and basically torturing his Magicians. Also, Tara Heridan had kidnapped SD. Why? He didn’t know. But he had to retrieve them both.

  They had a plan, or the beginnings of one, and they didn’t have time to go chasing after the rogue Prosha. In the end, though, they had no choice. Heridan was their link to Zothora. And SD had created a master chamber that just might end the Zothoric forever.

  Chapter Seven

  STEVEN KNELT ON THE floor, holding one of Tessa’s hands. He wiped away the tears on her cheeks. Sabina joined them, touching both their backs. The rest of his Escort had gone to chase after Heridan and SD.

  The Latina Magician murmured Reggie’s song, that wonderful tune that pointed to new life. She then sighed raggedly. “We have to be careful with the divination magic. Zothora felt us. She didn’t find us, but she knows about us, and she knows a lot, I think. In two days, she’ll be here. Two nights. I felt that.”

  “I did, too,” Tessa said quietly. “Two days isn’t a lot of time.”

  More rage bubbled up from Steven’s core. BlackBlood tendrils rose from his back. “I will be so glad when we kill that fucking bitch. Did you see anything else?”

  Tessa’s breath hitched in a sob. “Death. Sacrifice. Sorrow. This is going to be hard on us, Steven, harder than anything we’ve faced before. Our plan is good, though. I saw a vision of the Battle World, full of greenery again, a living planet.”

  “Si,” Sabina agreed. “I saw that too. Life longs to live. Even when cattle eat every living blade of grass on a field, that field will regrow. Death is all around us, but life is stronger.”

  Steven hoped so. “Okay, let’s round up the troops. We have some serious decisions to make.” He thought about the spells Heridan had cast. She’d connected to the Morta of the world through Connexra and then used Transvexri to teleport herself and the elder Drokharis away. He pulled up his Morta skill tree.

  HE SAW HE HAD FINALLY leveled, and he was at full Morta. Of course, Heridan’s kisses had been powerful. More skills had been unlocked, but he wouldn’t be able to cast them. He couldn’t even get past Leeze, and that was driving him crazy. Gathering Animus from the Battle World had been a problem; not only was there no natural life energy around him, thanks to the Great Devouring, but every time they killed a Zothoric demon, they lost Animus. Leaching away Morta and transforming it into Animus would give him a definite advantage.

  Going over the skills, he had the idea that Transvexri could be used for line-of-sight teleportation, from one shadow to another, but it could also be used for long-distance travel, more powerful than Magica Porta, since they didn’t need to create a fire, which Porta required.

  He’d seen Corropor in action. You could imbue objects with Morta, or control people. Pru had nearly killed Uchiko on Aqualyra because of Gideon Scaramanga’s magic. As for Connexra, that seemed similar to Magica Divinatio, only it had ties to the Horror Mother.

  That made Steven consider something. If using divination magic was dangerous, that meant Sabina was going to be blind more often. And communication with his wives was going to be more difficult.

  His Escort returned a few women at a time except for Zoey and Quinn. Uchiko and Nefri came down the escalators first. The dark elf held Blackfoot in her arms. Aria returned, her Animus Daggers crackling with light. Then the twins, shaking their heads. Mouse arrived last.

  Mouse scowled. “Well, this is just perfect. Our pet bug took off with the one guy who knows how to fight the demon better than anyone.”

  “We know where they went,” Steven said. “We have to get to Colorado Springs, to the Drokharis Aerie there.”

  “That brings back some good memories.” Aria turned off her daggers and sheathed them in the leather holsters at her hips.

  “Yeah, remember that dinner we had?” Tessa asked.

  “Some of the best BBQ I’ve ever had,” Steven said. “And that’s where we got the ink that showed us what happened to my father.”

  “I was thinking of the sex.” Aria sat down. They all did.

  “Sex and BBQ,” Chazzie sighed. “The two best things in life. Besides guns.”

  Pru waved a hand. “Hello? We certainly don’t have time for a stroll down memory lane. So, Chazzie and I talked, and it’s clear what we have to do. We’ll have two teams. One will go and start throwing orbs into Americos Chambers, getting that shit ready. The other will hunt down Heridan and Daddy Drokharis. We’ll all meet in Alamosa for the final showdown.”

  From Chazzie, “And we don’t bring in the troops until the last minute.”

  “Oh, hell, yeah!” Tessa erupted. “We’re going to Avengers Endgame their asses. Open a shitload of portals to call in the cavalry. We have our Dragonsoul armies on Gaia Alpha, along with the U.S. troops and the U.N. peacekeepers. Not to be confused with my revolvers, which are Peacekeepers, not Peacemakers. Just wanted to make that clear.”

  “Peacekeepers from another reality,” Chazzie clarified. “Gotcha.

  “We also have the Lyra,” Pru said. “Quinnestri’s people are gonna fight like hell to protect their world. Which brings us to something we’ve not discussed—Vandrus Dree and Ohkreela. They weren’t on Aqualyra, not the living ones at least. We don’t really know where our sweet VD and his dark elves are.”

  Steven glanced around. Quinnestri and Zoey were missing. That was worrisome.

  He shot a look at Sabina. “How dangerous is Magica Divinatio going to be now that Zothora is so close?”

  The Latina Magician shrugged. “How can we know for sure? Let me think about this. For now, maybe we better not use it.”

  Steven closed his eyes, focusing on the ring on his left hand. Zoey was close, outside, up in the Arrival lanes.

  “You guys figure out the teams,” Steven said. “I’ll go find Zoey and Quinnestri.”

  He shifted into a Homo Draconi and flew outside, taking his normal path. Too bad he couldn’t just teleport. At some point, he’d be able to. He found Zoey and Quinn in the Arrival lanes on the western side of the terminal. Zoey was in her bear form. The elf queen stood over her, petting the Morphling’s fur.

  Steven landed and shifted human. “Are you two all right?”

  Quinn razored him with her stare. “No. You invited evil into your house, and that evil took off with our best chance of understanding the war we are fighting. This is your fault. You allowed both this Heridan creature and Nefrinasia to continue living.”

  Zoey whimpered and brushed herself against the Lyra queen. It was clear she didn’t agree.

  Quinn caressed the bear lovingly. “Out of all your wives, this one has the gentlest of hearts. She is a kind creature, and she is afraid. Then again, we are all afraid, and we have every right to be.”

  Steven grinned. Zoey was winning the heart of the Lyra queen. That made sense, since Tessa clearly couldn’t think straight around Quinnie.

  “We know where Heridan is, and we’re going to go after her.” Steven let that sink in. “Quinn, I don’t expect you to understand my Escort, or our history together, but we’ve dealt with problem people like Heridan before.”

  “You have never dealt with someone like me!” Quinn stamped her foot.

  Steven wasn’t going to contradict her, though the truth was, Quinn was far easier to deal with than the twins had been. “And what am I dealing with? I’m wondering about your magic. Do you use the Path of the Twin-Souled Dragon?”

  Quinnestri squinted at him. “I am not a dragon. And I am not one of the Alpheros. However,
the Lyra have skills that we’ve perfected through the ages.” She thought for a minute. “Let me recall the magic system you have access to. Yes, the Lyra have the entire branch of Veneficium spells, though our Magica Porta is more sophisticated, as is our Magica Incanto. It is closer to the Enchantrix matrix. Even then, we’ve perfected that skill as well. We combined the Pugna branch into a single system we call Bellicosia, which our warriors train their entire lives to master. We also have something called Astreelia, which allows us to project ourselves across the universe. It is not unlike the telepathy that you’ve managed to cull from Divinatio—similar, but superior.”

  She came across as arrogant. That was okay. Steven could handle that. “We’re going to need you for your Astreelia abilities. Sabina and Tessa had a bad reaction, just now, from Divinatio. The closer Zothora comes to us, the more dangerous that’s going to be.”

  Zoey turned and licked Quinn’s hand. The elf queen smiled, and it was radiant and warm, so different from her normal cold demeanor. “I will do my part.”

  “What do you know of Vandrus Dree?” Steven asked.

  Quinn froze and frowned. “My old friend, Vandrus, was powerful... is powerful, I should say. He’s not dead. Yes, he has become a twisted monster, foul with Morta, but that might aid us in the long run. He took the surviving Ohkreela, his army, to another place, another world, though I’m not sure where. I will reach out to him.”

  Steven didn’t like the idea of traveling to another world, and any kind of portal magic would only put Vandrus and his people in more danger. He had to laugh at the thought. Entire universes were in danger. What was one more world, more or less? “Do you think he will help us?”

  “At one time, I could have ordered him to,” Quinn said. “Now? I do not know. Yet I will reach out to him. We can only hope.”

  “Hope.” Steven nodded. “At this point, that’s our best weapon.” He thought of how Uchiko had won the respect of Vandrus Dree when he’d been in the ice statue under the ocean near the island of Vankeevra. If Quinn failed, maybe the ninja could help.

  Let’s get back inside,” Steven said. “We have a lot to talk about.”

  Zoey shifted human and pulled Quinn into a hug. The elf queen returned it, then drew back. The two women gazed into each other’s eyes.

  “You have a special soul, Zoey,” Quinn whispered. “I feel drawn to you far more than the others. You would tempt me to lose control. I cannot have that. However, perhaps I can have this.” She leaned in and kissed the bear girl softly.

  Steven watched. Quinn wasn’t affected by his Dragonlord charisma, that was clear. Yet Zoey’s spirit had a draw of its own.

  Zoey broke the kiss and sighed. “Quinnestri. You smell good. You feel good. I can feel the power you have. It’s strong and sweet and sad. I don’t want you to be sad.”

  Quinn’s eyes brimmed with tears. She stepped back, clearing her throat. “Yes, inside, let us go. We have much work to do.”

  The elf queen marched off.

  Zoey ran to Steven to hold him close. Then she kissed him. With Zoey, Steven didn’t need to talk much, as their connection was so strong. It seemed the bear girl had a similar attraction to Quinn.

  Steven smelled the elf queen on Zoey, a sweet perfume, alien, yes, but alluring. He wondered if he’d ever get to experience Quinn’s love. His thoughts turned to the feasts they’d had on Aqualyra after she had woken her soldiers. The other Lyra had treated their queen with respect and admiration, but she hadn’t seemed especially close to any of them. She was a distant queen, cold and alone. In a lot of ways, she was like Nefri; the war had orphaned both.

  He thought about the long lives of the elves. What good was immortality if you had to spend it alone?

  He pondered Quinn’s strange words about being tempted and losing control. Earlier, she had said the Lyra had ways to control their urges. All of it made him wonder about Lyra culture, but that could wait. They had a rescue mission to plan.

  Back in the terminal, his full Escort was there: Aria, Tessa, Mouse, Sabina, Zoey, Chazzie, Pru, Uchiko, and Nefri, nine powerful women. Nine. And he thought he’d been lucky with just two. Quinnestri stood, cold and alone, arms crossed. She would make ten. That seemed unlikely. However, her kissing Zoey had given him definite ideas.

  Then there was Heridan to consider. He didn’t know what was going through her mind, but her attraction to Steven was evident. He knew she’d make the right decision when the time came. Yes, she was conflicted, and he had no idea why she’d stolen away SD. Maybe she’d taken the elder Drokharis away to keep them safe. Maybe Heridan had cracked completely, in which case, her motives might be impossible to understand.

  Aria took charge. “We have decided on the strike teams. You might not like what we’ve come up with.”

  Mouse got up and sat on Chazzie’s lap. She flung her feet on Pru. “Me and the twins, since we’re bestest friends now, are going to go on the Easter egg hunt. Only us bunnies aren’t going to look for eggs. Instead, we’ll be putting orbs in the Americos Chamber.”

  Chazzie rolled her eyes. Pru let her tongue loll. “So it’s certainly not an Easter egg hunt. And even your feet are heavy.”

  Mouse just grinned.

  Sabina nodded, tapping her white cane. “I know you won’t like it, my Prime, but I’ll go with them. As you know, I’ve spent a lot of time in Divinatio magic. I know where the chambers are.”

  Uchiko sat up straight. “Nefri and I will also accompany them. Wherever my cariño is, I want to be.”

  The dark elf nodded, petting Blackfoot. In her purple eyes was a mischievous glint.

  Steven didn’t know what Nefri was thinking. He shook his head. “Sabina, you’re safe here. I hate the idea of you leaving the airport.”

  The Latina Magician smiled serenely at him. “The reality is, mi amor, I’m not safe anywhere, not when the Horror Mother is so close. This will go okay. Trust me.”

  There were numerous Americos Chambers spread across the continent, and they wouldn’t be able to get to them in time using normal means. Steven knew what that meant. “You’re going to use Magica Porta.”

  “Si,” Sabina answered. “I’ve been looking forward to using Magica Porta. It will only be on this world. Zothora has other things on her mind. Trust me.”

  Aria stepped up to her and laid a hand on Sabina’s shoulder. “Also, Steven, the orb team will be hidden from the Zothoric by both their amulets and their hurricane tattoos. That leaves me, Tessa, Zoey, and Quinnestri for the rescue team.”

  Zoey clapped happily. “Yes, I get to be with Steven!” She sobered. “Though I’m strong when I’m alone. I’ve proven that.”

  “You have.” Steven went over his options, and while he wasn’t thrilled about Sabina and their baby leaving the airport, she’d be safe with the others, especially with Mouse. The petite blonde might not like to fight, but she could bite and bite hard.

  Quinnestri nodded. “Then let us go. If you start prattling, you’ll never stop.”

  She wasn’t wrong. In short order, Steven and his Escort grabbed their gear. While he packed, Steven thought of Quinn’s Astreelia ability. Could they use it to contact their army on Gaia Alpha? He wanted to let his troops there know that the final fight was ahead of them. In less than two days, they’d either end the Zothoric’s scourge or be destroyed by it.

  Chapter Eight

  HERIDAN FLUNG STEFAN Drokharis to the floor of his Aerie at the top of the Antlers Hotel in Colorado Springs. The place was as she remembered it: hardwood floors covered with lush carpets, priceless artwork in ornate frames on the walls, and leather-covered sofas and chairs in the room surrounded by bookshelves overflowing with books. Priceless jeweled daggers lay scattered about. On an end table, a short-range radio with a long antenna sat in a charging station. The power had been cut off. Or had it? A green light winked on the radio. It seemed the hotel had an emergency generator going.

  Heridan stood in the middle of the room. Her eyes went to the dining room table near the landing pad outside. Glass walls kept the elements out. That dining room had hosted so many celebratory dinners. The walls could be slid back to create an indoor/outdoor space, perfect for entertaining. Heridan was used to being in the Aerie with a ton of people—the Prime’s Escort, his many vassals, and all her friends, including Terry, Florida Rob, and Bryant.