Wrath

“Honey, there are thousands of people’s lives on the line. Their souls are at risk if you don’t do what you’re meant to do.”

“How could I forget?” I threw a hand into the air. “Nobody will let me. But I won’t abandon Dorian. I won’t let this go.”

“I understand. I lived with the same fear throughout your childhood. But you have a duty.”

“Why can’t someone else do it? What did you do before me?”

“Everyone else who can convert is already out there. Except you. And now Char.”

I sighed as guilt poked me in the side. “I just need a little time, Mom. Let me go after Dorian and get him back. Maybe take care of Kali once and for all. Then I’ll do whatever the Amadis want me to do.”

“I really wish I could, honey. Believe me. But these are your people. They look up to you. They need to see that you can lead. That you will do what needs to be done for them and all we stand for. A waver like this from our primary creed will create a lot of distrust that you may never be able to rebuild.”

“And abandoning my son won’t? How can they trust me to stay true to them if I can’t do so for my own child?”

“You know how they feel about Dorian. About any Amadis son. And choosing one soul over all others— especially one we know has no hope in the end—”

My temper flared. “There is always hope! And I won’t give up on him, Mom. I can’t believe you and Rina gave up on Noah so easily. He was her son. Your twin. How could you?”

My accusation must have hit Mom unexpectedly because she sucked in an audible breath and didn’t answer for a moment. When she did, her voice came out much softer than it had been. “He was already deeply entrenched in the Daemoni before Mother knew he was still alive.”

“Well, Dorian’s not. And the sooner I find him and rescue him, the less likely he will be. As for the Amadis— they don’t know the future. They don’t know what Dorian could mean for them. Right now he is one of us, and we won’t give up on anyone, no matter who he is. At least I won’t! Tell that to anyone who questions my loyalty.”

Mom fell silent again, apparently having no rebuttal for my excellent point.

“So, please,” I continued, softening my tone to more of a plea. “Let us go north. Blossom’s been working a spell, and together we felt Dorian north—at least north of us. We can keep trying until we find exactly where he is. We’ll convert souls along the way, I promise. But please let me do this. I’m useless to the Amadis without Dorian home, where he belongs, if only for a few more years.”

“I’m sorry, Alexis,” she said. “I can’t give that—hold on.”

She paused again, and I assumed someone on her end was speaking to her.

“Honey,” she said when she came back on the line, “Rina wants you to come here to the Island. Immediately.”

Crap. Crap, crap, crap. I must have pushed a little too far. “Is that really necessary?”

“She wants to speak with you in person.”

I rubbed my forehead, wishing my flash range reached a lot farther than a hundred miles at a time. But it didn’t, and going overseas to the Island meant traveling by plane. I didn’t have time to fly all the way to Greece. And who knew how much farther away from Dorian the trip would take me?

“Tell her I get it. My purpose and all that. I don’t think we should waste any more time, with everything going on.” Hopefully I showed enough agreement to placate them both.

“Alexis, you don’t deny Rina,” Mom said, her voice full of warning. “When the matriarch calls for your audience, you come.”

I frowned, thankful Mom couldn’t see me. “Is that what she’s doing? Because I really don’t need to hear her tell me everything you already have. Like I said, I get it. You two—and the rest of the Amadis—aren’t budging.”

“Come to the Island, Alexis,” Mom said more firmly. “You and your team. Rina wants a personal meeting with all of you, and she’s already sent the jet.”

“All of us?”

Mom paused again, and I assumed she spoke with Rina.

“Yes, all of you,” she confirmed when she returned. “When you’re done here, you’ll be starting on your mission. So you and Char ensure the safe house and the colony are settled and will be able to operate without you. I don’t know how long you’ll be gone.”

What? I didn’t understand them. A minute ago she told me to stay nearby to save those souls in our own backyard, and now they wanted us to fly halfway around the world and didn’t know when we’d be back? All of us tied up in this unnecessary trip?

“But—”

“Matriarch’s orders, Alexis. Don’t delay.”

Great. Freakin’ great. I hung up the phone, and once again, I wanted to hurl it across the room. Instead, I flopped backward onto Dorian’s bed and covered my face with my hands. How could Rina and Mom do this to me? To Dorian? How could they claim to love someone so much but then abandon him? How did I know they wouldn’t do the same to me or Tristan or anyone else? I thought I’d made a valid point—if your own loved ones couldn’t rely on you, how could anyone else? But apparently, the Amadis didn’t believe the same way. Or, at least, the matriarch didn’t foster that kind of culture. When I became matriarch, that would change.

“We’d better get going,” Tristan said. “We don’t want to leave the matriarch waiting, and she’s given us the jet, which could probably be used elsewhere.”

I pulled my hands away from my face to give him a dirty look. Was he as bad as them?

“The sooner we get this done and over with, the sooner we can get on track to find Dorian,” he added.

“We can keep trying the spell while we’re gone.” Blossom glanced around Dorian’s room. “His presence here really helped. I need to take something . . . .”

I sat up and lifted the blanket bunched in my hands. “How about this?” I pushed my face into it once again and inhaled. “It smells so much like him. He’s all over it.”

“A whole blanket is kind of awkward to carry around,” she said. “And I can’t flash with it if we need to.”

Oh, right. I pulled out my dagger and cut away two squares that could be folded and stuffed into a pocket —one for her and one for me. Then I stood and blew out a heavy breath.

“He has a room at Rina’s, too, so maybe we can try again there.” I handed her the piece of fabric. I stuck mine in the back pocket of my leathers and returned my dagger to its sheath. “I guess we get this done with. Another stupid lecture. You ever been to the Island, Blossom?”

Her face paled, and she shook her head. “Oh, no. Never. I don’t even know what to do.”

“Well, we’re going. All of us. Matriarch’s orders.” I let out a hollow chuckle. “This should be especially fun with Vanessa.”

Tristan and I gathered a couple of things we could take with us, secured our home as best as possible, and then flashed to the safe house. With Vanessa and Sheree’s assistance, Charlotte had everything taken care of. The people she’d brought to the mansion with her were experienced converters, and since Sonya proved to be an easy patient, they were already discussing their first target in Fort Myers Beach.

“Don’t worry about a thing here,” Char said to me when my impatience and worry began to show. “They’re a good team. Everything’s taken care of.”

“It’s not that,” I said. “I’m glad they’re here. I just wish we were rushing off for other reasons than for a trip to the damn Island. And it’s my fault Rina’s being a pain.”

Charlotte’s brow shot up. “I’m sure she has her reasons for needing to see us. Remember to never underestimate her.”

Right. A lesson we learned with the Martin/Kali debacle. When we all thought Rina had lost her mind completely to the sorceress, she’d actually been setting up Kali’s downfall and Tristan’s acquittal.

Before we left, Tristan and I took a few minutes to be alone in the suite we’d been using.

“I hate this,” I told him as he pulled me into his arms. “I feel like we’re putting more miles between us and Dorian rather than fewer.”