Kristie Cook - Devotion

Which meant they'd infiltrated the council.

I won't let them do this, Tristan. They're not going to win. Not this time.

"Your sentence, Martin?" Adolph asked.

"Banish him. We can't be certain we can kill him." The thought startled me. The voice certainly didn't belong to Tristan, but I knew it well enough. The traitor. "Banish the faerie and Alexis, too."

"Banish him," Martin said. "The faerie and Alexis, too."

My arm holding the dagger fell to my side with astonishment. How did Martin hear the traitor's thoughts? And why did he repeat them? I felt for the mind signatures, now finding hundreds of them floating around the room, and focused on the one straight ahead of me. It wasn't normal, but thick and heavy, as if weighed down. Because it wasn't only one signature. Two signatures floated where Martin sat, almost as if bound together. One much more powerful than the other. And that one belonged to the traitor. But how? How could she be doing this?

Only Rina would know, but the traitor blocked her. I had to make her hear. I had to figure out how to share this with her. But my shield would certainly hold strong now, with all these people around, protecting my own vulnerability.

But I have to do this! It's the only way.

"You can do this," Rina's thoughts echoed in my mind. Not her current ones. A memory from earlier.

The only way I knew how was to let go of my control and broadcast my thoughts to everyone. Let the entire crowd hear and feel it all. Expose myself to them completely, my innermost thoughts, everything. I had no choice. Too much was at stake.

I focused all my energy on my power and imagined blowing my shield away as I blew out the breath I'd been holding. I mentally returned to the last time I'd been able to broadcast–during a beautiful orgasm six months ago–and tried to recapture that feeling of a completely open mind, an open heart and soul. Let it go, I told myself. Relax. And somehow I did. A feeling of peace overcame me as the shield, which had once felt solid as steel, simply disappeared. I visualized my own mind as an open door and followed the strange mind signature to the traitor's thoughts, letting them flow through me and out to everyone else.

"With Tristan and Alexis out of the way, Sophia and Rina will be easily disposed of," the traitor's voice said in my mind … and in the minds of everyone else. I knew it worked because shocked sounds filled the room, and Mom and Rina suddenly stood on each side of me. "And then I will rule."

Martin looked at the three Ames women standing united, and his brows furrowed. Did he not understand what just happened? Was he the only one who didn't hear the traitor's thoughts, although he'd heard them only a few moments ago? But his befuddled expression quickly disappeared, and he stood, lifting his arms as if wanting to embrace us all.

"Now," he said, his eyes bright and excited as he looked over the crowd, "we may discuss the future of the Amadis. It is time to end the reign of the Ames women and declare a new leader."

"And I'll lead them right into Hell."

"Martin!" several people exclaimed, Rina and Charlotte the loudest.

"Yes, I would be honored," he said instantly. "It would be my pleasure to rule–"

Cries and yells from the crowd cut him off. Confusion clouded his face.

"They know," the traitor thought. "Katerina!"

Martin snarled as his hand flicked, and a blue light streaked through the air. My grandmother dropped to the floor next to me. Several people cried out as Mom fell to her knees, and Julia blurred to Rina's still form.

"Ignorant vamp tramp. The first of many to–" The traitor stopped, realizing her thoughts were still being broadcast although Rina lay unconscious on the floor. Then the voice changed, dropping several octaves from female to male, and went from a thought to spoken words. "The first of … many to die." Martin smirked. "Ah, Alexis. You broke my block."

"But how–?" I wondered as the crowd murmured with the realization of what I'd done–that I shared Rina's gift.

"Charlotte!" Mom cried out. "How could you tell him? I trusted you!"

"No, not me," Charlotte said, shaking her head, her blue eyes wide and her face paler than her blond hair.

"No, not Charlotte," Martin said. "And not Owen, either. They're more loyal to the Amadis than to their own husband and father. I have my own way of discovering things."

Martin hurdled the table and jumped toward us, but before he landed, my hand flew up, and lightning shot out of it. The electricity didn't stop him, though, didn't even slow him down as he dropped to his feet. In fact, he began pulling on it, drawing it out of me harder than I could push it at him.

"Foolish girl!" Martin threw his head back and laughed–an eerie sound synthesizing a man's low guffaw with a woman's higher pitched giggle–as he pulled the power out of my body and into his own. His physical form wavered. A ghostly image emerged from it like smoke from a fire. A dark-haired woman, her body transparent, stood with Martin, half of her still a part of him. Several people cried out–vampires, Weres and mages afraid of this strange apparition. Martin's voice changed to the traitor's as both of their lips moved. "I feed off your energy!"

He continued pulling on my power, draining me, and I couldn't stop him, couldn't break his hold. My body began to tremble, weakening, but he kept drawing on me, sucking all the force out of me. And as he did, the image of the woman became clearer and more defined. Just as my head began to swim with darkness and my knees began to buckle, a massive figure blurred in front of me, severing the connection. I fell to the floor, next to Rina and Mom, behind Tristan. The woman's image dissolved back into Martin's body.

"Your life force is nearly as good, Tristan." Martin's mouth moved, but the traitor's voice came out of it. "Or should I call you Seth? That is more appropriate."

"Daemoni!" someone from the crowd shouted.

"A sorceress!" someone else yelled.

Commotion broke out behind us–the sounds of Weres trying to control their inner animals and not quite succeeding, and hisses and growls coming from others.

The traitor pulled Martin's mouth into a wicked grin. "Correct. A sorceress. Took you long enough to figure it out."

"But how?" Galina demanded from the dais. All the council members stood now, looking down at the person they'd trusted to be their leader. This person who was … possessed?

Martin's grin became a proud beam. "I am Kali, a sorceress. And it was quite easy. I simply overpowered Martin's spirit with my own and took control of his physicality."

Charlotte jumped down from the dais and stood in Martin's face. "What have you done to my husband?"

He lifted his hand toward her cheek, and she recoiled. His hand fell to his side. "Charlotte, my dear Charlotte. Your husband hasn't been around since … 1939, I believe."

Char's hand flew to her mouth, and her body jerked, as if she'd been punched in the gut. "You lie! It can't be!"

"Oh, yes, it can be. It has been done. How kind of you to be so busy protecting Sophia and the Amadis that you didn't even notice. Such a great wife you have been."

Char raised her hand and whipped it out to slap Martin, but he caught her hand in mid-air and twisted her arm. I sprang back to my feet as Char–brave, strong Char–cried out when the bone snapped. Martin pushed her toward us, and I caught her in my arms. I gently lowered her to the ground next to Mom.

"All I wanted was my bloodline carried on," Kali said through Martin's mouth, his eyes tinted red as he stared at Charlotte, who returned his glare. "I chose Martin because his parents were such powerful warlocks and both physically stronger than any sorcerer–he'd be the best father to my child. I killed his parents, took him and planted him in the Amadis over a century ago. But he wouldn't give in to my desires, always loyal to you." Martin's eyes flared brighter red as he jabbed his finger at Char. "Since you're such a strong warlock, too, though, I decided it was worth it. So I gave up everything. I gave up my life as a sorceress, even gave up my corporeal body, which had aged and weakened, anyway. But my powers remained strong, and I took Martin's body. Whether he liked it or not, you both still gave me a child–a boy with Martin's physical DNA and my magic. The most powerful warlock the Amadis has ever seen!"