Part 39 (1/2)

The wall of flame began to shrink. It no longer reached the rock ceiling.

”The humans,” said Maura. ”I want them back. I hate being lonely.”

”Then come with us,” urged Gilda. ”You'll never be lonely again.”

”You know I can't. Dabyr is a place for people with souls. Thanks to you, dear Mother, I have none.”

”That's not true.”

”It is. You ripped it from me the day you cut Sibyl and me in half.”

”You're wrong. I've seen the good in you. This path you've chosen is just thata”a choice.”

Maura smiled. ”And so is this.” She pointed to the floor where the flames were rooted. A hulking Synestryn to her right flung himself forward onto the fire.

It screamed and writhed, but fell silent in a few seconds. Maura stepped up onto the thing's back, using it as a bridge to cross over the fire.

Angus lifted his sword. Gilda refused to panic. She gathered power into her, readying it for use at a moment's notice.

Angus's power flowed into her more easilya”not like normal, but better than before.

Maura came to stand in front of them. Not a single Synestryn had moved to attack.

Hope surged in Gilda's soul. Maybe her baby had decided to come back after all.

Gilda reached out a trembling hand toward her daughter.

Maura looked at her hand with an almost wistful expression, as if she wanted something she could never have. ”Everyone I touch dies.”

Gilda ached for her baby and all the mistakes they'd both made. She should have been a better example. She should have spent more time rea.s.suring Maura that she was loved and needed. But like so many other things Gilda had done, it was too late for anything but regret.

”It wasn't always that way,” she reminded Maura. ”It doesn't have to be that way now. Come with us. Come home. We love you.”

”You can't love someone who has no soul. I'm a thing. Plastic and hollow. A weapon. You can't love a weapon.”

”You're our daughter,” said Angus. ”You're our flesh and blood, part of us.”

Tears welled in Maura's eyes before she blinked them away a second later. ”I don't belong with you. My place is here. Killing. Destroying. That is what people with no souls do.”

Gilda saw the change in her daughter the second it began. Whatever cracks of doubt she and Angus may have caused healed up. Maura squared her shoulders and that evil glint came back to her eyes. The softness in her expression vanished and standing before them was no longer their daughter. It was their enemy.

”Daddy,” said Maura, reaching for Angus as if to hug him.

Everyone I touch dies.

Gilda couldn't let that happen to Angus.

She used the power she'd gathered to propel herself forward toward Maura. She tackled her, bearing her down to the ground. The feel of her daughter's body against hers brought back countless memories of the times she'd held Maura or rocked her to sleep.

Each memory broke Gilda's heart all over again.

Maura fought, but she had a child's strength and Gilda subdued her easily. By the time she'd pinned Maura against her body, preventing her from moving, the wall of flames had died down enough that the Synestryn on the far side could leap over it.

Angus had placed himself in the way of their advance, but there were too many for him to fight alone.

”Stop!” shouted Gilda, imbuing her words with the power of command.

Everyone froze, including Angus.

Gilda dragged Maura up, still restraining her. She wrapped a hand around her daughter's throat and said, ”I'll choke her if you come closer. Get back.”

The Synestryn slithered back a few feet, but that was all.

Maura's body began to shake with laughter. ”I've already won. You touched me, so you're dead. Which means Father is, too. My troops don't have to do a thing.”

A throb of panic bloomed inside her, but Gilda controlled it. ”Your magic won't work on me.”

”No?” asked Maura.

As she spoke, Gilda felt the first stab of pain go through her. It started at her feet, sharp and intense, like someone had cut off her toes. She sucked in a startled breath, unable to hide her pain.

”See. No one can touch me and live. Not even you.”

”. . . three.”

Nika found a spot near Tori that wasn't completely infested by Synestryn and aimed for that. She held on to Tynan and sent them through s.p.a.ce.

She landed just as hard, only this time, it didn't make her feel nearly as sick. Whether it was because it was a shorter distance or because her stomach was already empty she wasn't sure.

Tynan wasted no time. Before the Synestryn could figure out they were right there next to Tori, Tynan scooped her up and shouted, ”Now!”

Nika was still out of breath, but she ripped as much power from Madoc as she could, gripped Tynan's arm, and aimed for the spot behind Madoc.

Before she'd finished channeling the power, her body flew back through the air, hitting a rock wall. Her head exploded with pain and her vision began to fade. The last thing she saw was Zillah wrapping his too-long fingers around Tynan's neck and Tori falling from his arms onto the floor.

Chapter 26.

Something powerful and wrong was happening to Gilda. She could feel the slow, insidious creep of evil Maura had inflicted upon her. She'd never felt or seen anything like it before. Pain inched up her body, setting her spine on fire, and yet she refused to let go of her daughter.

She had never been more afraid in her life. She and Angus had been through some tight spots. They'd both been injured and nearly died many times over the centuries, but never before had she felt despair like this. If she didn't find a way to stop the spread of this evil, she would die, taking Angus with her.

”Let her go, love,” he said to Gilda. ”We need to find Tynan.”

”It's too late for that,” said Maura. ”He can't heal what I've done to her.”

”Maura, undo this,” he ordered their daughter.