They’ll eventually be reformed back at our point of origin. But it takes a long time and is immensely painful.
It was something to keep in mind should I find myself blown to pieces, though I did have the disturbing sensation that my half-nature would prevent me from reforming. The energy surrounding us didn’t appear to be abating. The air was still thick and cloying, making it difficult to breathe through. But I noticed Josian and Que were both standing.
“Josian’s been holding out on me,” I heard Brace say, with just a touch of admiration.
But before I could question him the fight re-drew our attention.
Grantham and the red Walker – what did Josian call him? Right, Toliath – were crawling through the energy to close in on Que. Now that the other two Abernaths were gone, Josian’s men could surround the true threat in the battle. As the visible energy eased, the air cleared and finally I could breathe again.
I watched closely as Que moved around the other three, faster than I had ever seen. Before anyone could react he was at Toliath’s side and, reaching out, he touched him. Josian’s second-in-command wavered for a moment. The look on his face spoke of complete astonishment, and then he collapsed. I held my breath waiting for him to jump back up, but he lay motionless.
“Brace, what happened?” I clutched his arm, my panic increasing.
“I’ve never seen him use it before. He brags about his touch of death, but I thought it was just a scare tactic.” Brace’s confidence may have wavered slightly, and all I could think about was Josian.
He could not get touched by Que.
Que hadn’t stopped moving. He dashed across the field toward Grantham. I gasped in worry for the jovial man. Luckily, the Relli Walker had had enough time to see what had happened to the other red, and managed to avoid Que’s first touch. Then, using his abilities, Grantham erected a massive wall of rocks between them; they rose from the ground to provide a temporary barrier. Que punched through them, but Grantham was already gone, and was now standing side-by-side with Josian.
“You should have let me fight, Abby. This needs to end today, and I don’t think anyone can take him out.” Brace looked agitated.
I glared. “You just said you don’t know how to counteract that touch-of-death thing. I probably saved your life.”
I was angry and scared, and feeling immensely guilty that a Walker may have lost his life because of my weird premonition. On top of that I could lose Josian today, and I had no idea how to save him. Well, I had one idea, but no one was going to let me hand myself over. I needed to remember that I had to save the world from the Seventine, according to the missing member of our group, Francesca. And considering her recent unreliability, I wondered if we should even trust her anymore.
“Something is wrong here.” I don’t think Brace realized he’d said that out loud.
I grabbed his arm. “What, Brace. What’s happening?”
“He’s playing with them. He never does that in battle.” His eyes were glued to the remaining members.
The three circled each other, Josian and Grantham staying side-by-side, never allowing Que to get the drop on them.
“It’s as if he’s ... ” Brace said slowly, his head spinning around to observe the rest of the field. “Distraction.” He bit out before I could demand again. “He’s distracting them, drawing the fight out. But to what end?”
“Your father’s aware of this. He wants me to check if Brace has any idea what Que’s plan is,” Lallielle said from beside me.
She was staying in touch with her mate.
“I don’t know. I have no idea what might be coming that would be more powerful than Josian and Grantham together. Que believes he’s his own greatest weapon.”
“It has to be about you, Brace.” I managed to keep my voice a decibel level under a shriek. “He wanted you in the battle, and he wanted you on Josian’s side. There must be a reason for that.”
Brace’s eyes narrowed as he stared across the field toward his father. “I would never have defected to his team; surely he wouldn’t think a sense of loyalty would turn me at the end. He knows you’re my mate, and I’ll always be by your side.”
I felt it then. Something big was coming, something devastating that was going to rock my world to its core. Again, these emotions appeared to be coming from Que.
“It’s happening now,” I said, my voice tight.
But I was too late.
As the words fell from my lips, Brace dropped to his knees.
I spun around to find Samuel crouched behind us. I hadn’t even heard him move. What was he doing? His eyes met mine for a brief moment, and the screaming agony there was so intense I gasped. Samuel had betrayed us. I turned back to my mate, dropping down beside him. I couldn’t see what was wrong.
He didn’t look at me.
His head hung low.
“Brace?”
He didn’t look up. “Abby ... run.” His words washed over me, their tone biting and intense.