“Right,” she said, finally free of her stupor. “So the good news is that Wesley can feel the pulses that generate our power. He’s got some sort of sense of where they are and how fast they’re coming. He won’t be able to relay the information to the rest of us quickly enough to do much good, but at least he’ll be safe. He’ll have the tool he needs to stay out of harm’s way that much longer.” Brianna glanced at Emily. “He tells us you’ve got quite a grip on your new talents.”
Aern’s eyes rolled to the ceiling, and Brianna was sure he was purposefully not thinking of the damage she’d done to their front hall.
Emily shrugged. “It’s a bit trickier than I imagined. The wind is easy enough, fire too. But I don’t have much control over projectiles yet. Can’t focus the strikes as well as I’d like.” She smiled. “You were right about the water, though. That one will come in handy.” A sound came from Aern, indecipherable and barely audible, but Emily didn’t seem to notice. “Too bad we didn’t get the—”
Emily’s words dropped off as she reached forward, barely catching the tail of Brianna’s shirt. It was only then that Brianna realized she was falling backward, that Logan had caught her. Her vision had lost all focus, and he was dragging her into his arms as Emily’s hands pressed to Brianna’s face.
Emily’s voice was far away as she called her name. She was pleading with her to come back.
To be okay.
Chapter Nineteen
Aern
“They’re coming,” Brianna said. She was wrapped in Logan’s arms, Emily’s palm pressed to her cheek. She’d only been out for a moment, but it hadn’t made it any less terrifying. Aern moved closer, touching Emily’s back as he listened for more. “Seven of them,” Brianna continued, “dark clothes, some kind of uniform maybe. There are three women and four men.” Her eyelids fluttered, but did not open. “He’s not going with them. He wants me to see. To know.” She shuddered, squeezing her eyes shut tight. “To kill them.”
Aern’s gaze connected with Logan where he stood, jaw tight as he held Brianna’s limp form. This was it, the start of what their prophet had feared. They needed to fight, but they needed to protect her. “How long?” Aern said.
Brianna took a deep breath, forcing her eyes open to find him. “I can’t see. The building looked industrial, maybe a warehouse, but they were heading toward a van. There’s something stopping me from finding it, something blocking my real visions.”
Aern nodded. “This time, we wait at the gates. I don’t want to give them the chance we gave Morgan.” He hesitated, remembering the fall Brianna had taken before the battle with Morgan, the vision this dark-haired man had sent her that was nearly a seizure. “Can we trust him, Brianna?”
“I don’t trust him at all,” she said, lowering her gaze. “But the images he’s sending me are real. Don’t ever doubt that.” She wrapped a hand around Logan, steadying herself until she was certain she could remain upright. Her eyes were clear when they met Emily’s and then Aern’s. “I’ll meet you downstairs in ten minutes.”
Emily touched her sister’s arm before turning to Aern, ready to follow whatever plan of attack he had in mind. It was less than four minutes later when his men were assembled in the main hall, all of them aware of the new threat they faced, the power that could overwhelm any of them. Kara, Seth, and Eric stood front and center, key players now that Brianna had given them extra abilities, restored their connections. Wesley came through the west entrance with Ellin, who appeared to have some trouble with her right hip, but Aern didn’t think she would let that stop her.
“Give them nothing,” Aern continued his instruction. “Don’t hesitate, because they. Will. Not.” He punctuated his words by connecting with the stares of his men. They had to understand, to have no doubt. “There will be fire. There will be wind. There will be destruction the likes you’ve never imagined. Push through it. There is only one way out. Seven men. Seven.”
His gaze roamed the room of fifty, hoping it would be enough, hoping they weren’t making a mistake.
Emily slid closer, and he could feel her impatience, her readiness, her concern. He gestured for the group to split as he’d instructed, catching Emily’s eye before he called to Wesley and Ellin. “With me.” Soldiers filed past them, a steady rush of boots on the ancient timbers covering the floor, leaving nothing but the four of them to walk toward the lawn. “Eric, Seth, and Kara will be splitting their teams just inside the gates and across the lawn. The rest of the men are positioned throughout the lobby and entrance points. We will be waiting at the south gatehouse, able to move wherever their response requires.”
“I can’t run,” Ellin put in, an apology in her tone.
Aern kept walking. “You won’t need to. This will happen fast.” He glanced at her. “If they make it past us, there’ll be nowhere to go.” Seven, Aern thought. Seven shadows and only the handful of them.
As they walked from the building, down stone steps laid in place a hundred years ago, Logan’s team darted past. One by one, heavily armed, they ran over the lawn to their positions, until the sixth man slowed in a spin, his rifle tip pointed to the sky. It was Daniels, catching Aern’s gaze to throw him a wink that could only mean one thing.