Kingdom of War (Kingdom Journals Book 4) Read online

  “I don’t see any other sensors.” He took a few steps inside.

  We can’t be caught. Alena’s and Camille’s forms whisked past me.

  Inside, red velvet lined almost every surface of another narrow hall. Small drawers lined the walls from floor to ceiling. Three larger ones stood at the end of the space.

  I bet the point is in one of these. Camille motioned to them.

  I slid open the bottom one. Inside, a glass chamber held an ornate gold-colored vessel with a piece of wood secured within.

  “That must be the fragment of the true cross,” Jude whispered.

  Closing the drawer, I opened the one above it. Encased in a glass chamber on red velvet lay a crown of sorts. Golden filaments wound around a clear circular tube. Inside the tube, braided brambles formed a crown.

  “This is it, the Crown of Thorns. But I don’t see anything big enough to be the end of a spear.”

  Let me see. Alena’s form drifted to my side. You’re right.

  Camille leaned over to view the crown. If it was with the crown, it’s not now, unless it’s encased in that tube.

  “Stealing from the Church? What type of people do that?” A cool breeze whipped around me as the words reached my ears. I’d have known that voice anywhere. Theron.

  I leapt to the front of our group, landing between Theron and the rest of them. “What are you doing here?”

  “The better question is, what are you doing here?” Theron shook his head as we approached. “Are you collecting ancient artifacts now? What are you going to do with some dead king’s crown? He wasn’t even a witch. That thing has no power. But I’ve strayed from answering your question. I got this odd feeling, like I was being drawn here. Now, I know why, brother; you found Derrick. Did you think I wouldn’t notice? Father will be very intrigued to know that Derrick does have magic capabilities after all.” His eyes cut to DJ. “We thought you were useless.”

  DJ stepped to my side. “You’re Theron?”

  “It’s great to meet you, brother.” Theron extended his palm to DJ.

  Stepping forward, DJ moved to shake Theron’s hand. I grabbed DJ’s arm and pushed him behind me. Theron took a step forward, and I squared my shoulders, ready to blast him to smithereens.

  “You’ve grown strong, brother.” Theron inched back.

  “I have. Now, go. You’re outnumbered. Without your precious sword, you’ll never best us.”

  “Father and Sonia could be right behind me.”

  I took another half-step towards him so our feet were an inch apart. “Then, we’re ready for a fight.”

  “You should have picked the other team DJ. See this M?” Theron held out his wrist. “You will never be anything without it.”

  With a gust of wind, he disappeared. Hearing footsteps, I spied Aaron and Dimitri running down the hall.

  Aaron reached us first. “Something triggered the alarms. We have to get out of here.”

  With one last look at the crown, I slid the drawer closed. The point wasn’t there; we’d guessed wrong or gotten the wrong information somehow. There wasn’t time to decipher anything just then. Invoking a cloaking spell, we sped down the hall, closing the door behind us. Up ahead, I saw the next door closing and pushed off and flew to it. Propping it open, I waited for the last of our team to pass through. Security officers approached and ran past us. I breathed a sigh of relief, and we ascended to the main hall. Sliding on our bracelets, we slipped outside and into the crowded streets.

  “Stick together. We don’t know where Theron is or how many others he has with him. Let’s head to the safe house.”

  “Alena and Camille aren’t going to like the group being separated.” Tyler shook his head.

  “Safety is number one. We’ve had to do this before. It will just be till morning, and then we’ll regroup, figure out what the next step is.”

  Loading the vehicles, we sped off. Aaron and Dimitri stopped to get groceries and then found the safe house.

  “I can’t believe Theron didn’t kill you,” I said to Aaron and Dimitri once inside.

  Aaron rubbed his head. “He packed a pretty good punch. I was out for three minutes.”

  “Why didn’t he kill you?” I paced the living room.

  Aaron peered beyond me. “Before he struck me, he said, ‘God, I wish I could kill you.’”

  “So, he can’t kill in a church? Or he couldn’t kill you for another reason? How many of the perimeter team did we lose?” I held my breath, not wanting to know how many casualties our run-in with Theron cost us.

  “None. Only two others were hit like me and Dimitri, but they’re fine.”

  “Where were they located? On the Cathedral grounds?”

  “Yes. Perhaps he can’t kill on hallowed ground.”

  “That would stack our hand for future missions. We’ll have to ask Grady and Orm about that. If Theron can’t kill on sacred ground, then no witches can. I hate not knowing all the rules. I’m going to call Alena.” I slid a phone from my pocket and walked to the other room.

  “Hunter?”

  “Yes, are you okay? How about everyone else?”

  “Yes, we’re fine. We moved to the secondary location.”

  “Good.” I breathed a sigh of relief. “We’re at safe house one.”

  “What happened?”

  I explained what happened with Theron and how odd it was that he was alone. “His sadistic games drive me insane. And now he knows what we’re up to.”

  “Not necessarily. He knows you were looking through old relics, not about the pieces of the sword. The question is, will he tell Thanatos and Sonia?”

  “Of course he would. Why wouldn’t he?”

  “Maybe he’s trying to figure out what we’re doing. He doesn’t know that the spear they have isn’t the right one.”

  “We have to assume Thanatos knows. I’m so glad you weren’t with us. We made the right call keeping you and Camille out of it.”

  “It sounds like nothing would have happened even if we were.”

  “You’re kidding, right? All three of us together. He would have called for backup. Plus, he wants you. I’m guessing he’d do anything to have you.”

  “You’re delusional.”

  “I’m not. I sensed it. He was disappointed you weren’t there.”

  “Whatever. We’re coming to your safe house. It won’t take an hour for us to get there.”

  “No, absolutely not.” I ran my hand down my pants, praying she didn’t fight me on it. “Somehow, Theron can get a lock on DJ and me. It’s not safe for the two of you.”

  “It sounds like you and DJ should be separated, not you, Camille, and me.”

  “We’ve got our bracelets on. The house is safe. Let’s stick with the contingency plan; we’ll meet up tomorrow.”

  “Okay, I don’t like it, but okay.” She ended the call before I could say more.

  When sleep came, my dreams featured images of Theron, our father Thanatos, Sonia, and a dragon. I shot up, cold sweat covering my body.

  “You okay?” DJ asked from his bed.

  “Yeah.” I shook my head, trying to clear the image. “You can’t sleep either?”

  “I need to know more about Theron. How did he find us?”

  I felt bad that there hadn’t been time to tell him everything one might do with magic and explained that because we were related he might be able to track us with his blood.

  “The two of us together probably left a stronger signature, perhaps he even sensed us telepathically. Every witch has different strengths. I don’t know all of Theron’s capabilities. But I do know one thing, he can be very persuasive.”

  “Like when I almost shook his hand even though I didn’t want to?” DJ hung his head.

  “Exactly. Jude seems to be immune to him, or maybe he was just focusing on blocking Theron’s persuasion.”

  “So many things to remember. What powers do you think I’ll have?”

  “We’ll see. You have photographic memory,
right?”

  “Yeah, how’d you know that?”

  I switched on the light. “Vampire thing. We’ll get some history books from Orm. That way, if you have some downtime, you can be reading.”

  “I’m done trying to sleep. Want to get a workout in?” DJ stood and slid his feet in a pair of gym shoes.

  Aaron and Dimitri were already in the basement. Once Jude and Tyler woke, we sparred for an hour and headed to the kitchen. Conversation revolved around where the point of the lance might be.

  “We have to think like this King Louis, right?” I prompted. “What he believed, what drove him.”

  Jude started to summarize his life from what we’d learned in Greece.

  I paced the floor as he spoke. “He thought the relics were sacred, holy; he wanted them to be safe. Where would the safest place be? With him, right? In his coffin, maybe?”

  “Didn’t Anne say the coffin was once in the catacombs underneath Paris?” Jude jumped up.

  I pointed at him. “I believe it was moved there during the war.”

  Dimitri tapped on his phone. “King Louis IX’s body lies in the abbey of Saint-Denis, known as the Cathedral Basilique de Saint-Denis. It’s not far north of here. Still, we’ll need forty-eight hours to study the layout and security.”

  My phone signaled an incoming call, and recognizing Alena’s number, I tapped the screen.

  “Okay, so we need to meet up, decide what is the next step.” Alena didn’t waste time.

  “We were just talking about that. We think the point of the lance may be with Louis himself.”

  “That’s what my mother said too. Do you have ESP?”

  “Great minds think alike, I guess.”

  “There’s a hotel right across the street. Mother secured a floor for us. It’ll be ready by four. We can use that as a staging location.”

  “Don’t you think two locations would be safer? You guys should take that location, and we’ll secure another. It’s too risky with Theron able to find DJ and me.”

  “With this again?” She raised her voice. “If anything, DJ should be sitting these out. The two of you need to be separated, not the three of us.”

  “Okay, let’s not fight.” I focused on the guys at the table. “We’ll meet you at the hotel at four.”

  “Camille and I are coming to you now.”

  “Alena, No—”

  “Mother created the safe house for a reason.” Alena ended the call.

  “I guess Alena and Camille are coming here.” DJ stood.

  Why couldn’t Alena just listen? Why didn’t my powers work on her and Camille? Theron was a real threat. Magic hummed through me, willing to be released.

  Opening and closing my palms, I stomped downstairs to the gym and hurled a weight ball at the wall. The house shook around me. Theron could track DJ and me and knew that Alena wouldn’t be far away. Our run-in with him reinforced the plan to keep Alena’s and Camille’s physical forms in a secure location away from me. Why couldn’t Alena comprehend that she was in danger?

  What if I practiced my command skills, made them stronger? Maybe I could learn to overpower Alena and Camille. Jude said he learned to command an ape. The darkness within me smiled.

  Running to the restroom, I doused my face with cold water. Leaning on the counter, I studied my image. Don’t give in.

  By the time Alena and Camille arrived at the safe house, we had the intel on the Saint-Denis Cathedral from Anne’s team. Aaron and Dimitri started analyzing the security system, and we memorized the layout, hoping to limit our time at the site.

  Alena bit her lip. “I vote that Hunter and DJ wear the bracelets at all times. Theron may still be in the area. He could be at the location with an army in seconds.”

  “They have Jude’s dad. They could use him to locate Jude. He needs to wear a bracelet too,” Camille pointed out.

  “Could this be any more complicated?” I tossed my pen on the table. “I don’t like being left defenseless. We’d only have Tyler.”

  Alena shook her head. “It takes two seconds to slide a bracelet off. Besides, Camille and I aren’t useless in our remote forms. Let’s vote.”

  The darkness within churned, and I took a deep breath. I didn’t like Alena and Camille teaming up. It’s the right thing. This has to be a team. Who are you right now? The person who just takes whatever he wants? You’ve never been that person; you have to fight that urge.

  I swallowed hard. “You’re right.”

  We spent the afternoon studying the schematics of the Cathedral, planning the best route in and out, as well as multiple exit strategies. We trained and brainstormed work-arounds for every scenario we could think of. Still, I remained nervous. Without as much training, DJ was vulnerable, which put us all in jeopardy. But we had a good team, I convinced myself.

  Alena cornered me in the hall as we broke to have dinner. “Are you okay?”

  “Sure.” I shrugged away from her touch. “I’m just going to catch a shower before we eat.”

  “Don’t do that.” She caught my chin.

  “What? I’m fine.”

  “Something is going on. I can tell.”

  I glanced at the floor and back to her face. “That part of me, Michael’s line I guess, likes to be in control. I’m just getting used to dealing with it.” I realized it might be like Alena’s struggle with her vampire nature, how she had to remember to walk slower, think before she acted, repress the animal nature within.

  She wrapped her hands around mine. “You can talk to me about this. About anything.”

  “I know. Thanks.” I squeezed her fingers. “I just hate it.”

  “Don’t hate it. Embrace the best parts of the gift, and they’ll make you stronger.”

  Weaving back to the dining room, we joined the others for the meal. Halfway through, Jacob and Will were called away for a conference call with Anne. When they returned, their somber demeaners told me all I needed to know—something bad, very bad, had happened.

  Will approached Alena. “Forgive me, but we must leave at once. Your mother requires our assistance.”

  “What?” Alena jumped from her seat. “What happened? Why?”

  “Your mother said she would brief you in the morning.”

  Balling her fists, Alena straightened her back. “Will, tell me now.”

  “Alena.” Jacob reached his hand out to her. “Please, we should not go against your mother’s wishes. She knows best.”

  Alena swung to face Jacob. “No, she is good at keeping things from me. Tell. Me. Now.”

  Jacob cleared his throat. “Gregor is missing. Sarita called a couple of hours ago. There’s no trace of him.”

  Alena’s voice jumped an octave. “Gregor? Missing, like the other vampires? I’ve known him all my life! He’s been kidnapped by Michael’s coven? To be brainwashed and forced to serve them? How did this even happen?”

  Will cleared his throat. “That is what your mother fears. We’re not sure what’s going on, but yes, it appears he was taken like the others.”

  Alena darted to the door. “Does that mean any one of you could be taken at any second? We’re coming with you. We’ll confront Thanatos now, get Gregor back. We have to rescue Gregor. He’s our family.”

  Shaking his head, Will approached Alena. “I know. But our orders are to go to Sarita. Your mother wants you focused on the mission.”

  Eyes darting between those of our group, Alena’s pleading eyes landed on me.

  I swallowed. “We have to be smart. If we engage now, we don’t have a big enough contingency to hold our own.”

  “Mother can have her vampire army there in six hours. We’d have the benefit of surprise. They can’t be expecting us to attack.”

  “That’s probably exactly what they want us to do. Then all the vampires could be possessed at once.”

  Alena’s shoulders sank. “You’re right. Well, I’ll go. I’m part witch. They can’t shove one of those old witch spirits in me. I can convince Theron to let
Gregor go.”

  Shaking my head, I took her hands. “He’s not going to just hand him over. We don’t know that they can’t use the sword against you. You’re not a full witch yet.”

  “And that place is a fortress.” Alena slid her hands from mine. She zipped to Jude. “You got out. How did you get out? Maybe we can get in the same way.”

  Jude shook his head. “I only got out because they were looking for Camille, who got captured, remember?”

  “Arrrrh.” Alena screamed. “We can’t just do nothing.”

  “Alena.” Camille reached out to her but stopped short. “What if we get the end of the lance tonight? We can fly to Turkey, get the middle piece, and then fly to Rome. We could have all three pieces in a week.”

  “Hold up.” Dimitri raised his hand. “We haven’t finished analyzing intel on this location, much less the two others. That’s not enough time to set up a security perimeter.”

  I leaned forward. “How long do you need?”

  “Forty-eight hours minimum.”

  “Can we get two more teams to start on the other locations?”

  “If Anne will allow it.”

  “Okay, ask. Now!” Alena yelled at Dimitri and stomped off.

  The security team relocated to the hotel, and the house didn’t seem so tight. Still, my nerves tingled with anticipation and worry. What if Theron showed up again? Maybe he couldn’t kill, but he could do some damage. I made a note to have everyone carry a vial of vampire blood, just in case. Still my brain itched with the puzzle of why Theron used restraint.

  He couldn’t or wouldn’t kill? I wondered if a kill would be traceable. If he were spying on us without wanting to be discovered, what did that mean? Was he questioning our father’s commands? If he was, would he team up with us? He never believed in the Heaven and Hell mumbo jumbo Thanatos went on about. Theron was smart, way too intelligent and egotistical to be happy standing back while Sonia and Thanatos called all the shots. Theron liked to be in power, that had to be it. He was amassing knowledge for leverage. I rebuked myself for thinking for a half second that Theron would switch sides.

  That night, my early start helped me sleep well, and I rose at six the next morning, itching to get through the day and into the Cathedral. We decided to enter just before closing at five.