“It’s all right,” he said, holding her against his chest. “I’ve got you.”

She tried to say something, but she couldn’t speak. Her mouth wouldn’t form the words, her throat wouldn’t work. Panic infused her. She was a prisoner in her own body. What if this never went away? What if this were permanent?

“I’ve got you. You’ll be all right,” he said soothingly as he carried her into the house and to their bedroom.

He laid her down on the bed and, after a few minutes, the feeling began to return to her extremities.

She and Ram sighed with relief, but it was a measured relief. Their worries were now with the others.

Chapter 24

The group appeared not in one place, but in several places, all within sight of each other. They got their bearings as quickly as possible, not knowing if they were going to find themselves dead center of Apep central or not.

They were in a vast field of grapevines. A winery, it appeared. There were many large buildings within easy sight of them and they knew this was where they would find Apep and the Templars. Jasmine took to the air, reconnoitering from above. Adam turned to mist and followed her closely. Noah turned to smoke and followed suit. There were others who could take to the air and they did, but most were left to run up the hillside toward the winery buildings. There were several houses on the property and a barbed wire fence had been erected around them. The Phoenixes burned through them in a heartbeat, leaving smoldering, molten edges in their wake.

“The main house,” Kamen said. “I can sense his extraordinary power. But don’t ignore the other houses. They too are filled with beings of power.”

“How many would you say?” Jackson asked.

“We’re outnumbered,” Kamen said grimly.

“By how much?”

“I’d say two to one at least.”

So everyone would have to do more than their share and they would have to do it quickly.

The Templars spotted them right about then, and an alarm raised up all along the property. Templars began to spill out of the buildings and the Curse of Ra began to burst out of them. The way they poured out of the house as a single entity, it was almost as though they were unsurprised to see them. As though they had been prepared for the attack.

The first bolt hit Jackson, who was leading the charge. It took him down, but only for a minute. It would take a much more powerful caster to bring down a man of Jackson’s power.

Jackson retaliated by grabbing anything loose on the ground and using his power to fling it into the Templars from every direction. A pile of unused metal rods from unfinished fencing became a series of javelins, spearing through Templar bodies, maiming them but not killing them. He would avoid death wherever he could, but no fatalities was an unrealistic expectation. He knew that. He would give these people the chance to change loyalties…whether it be in this lifetime or the next. He didn’t know how…but he would do it.

Sagan, protected from the Curse, drew his kukuri blade in one hand and the katana in the other. He too would only maim those who crossed his path. It was dangerous because even an injured Templar could still cast using magic, could potentially heal themselves and rejoin the battle. But Kamen had assured him that that would take monumental effort and no one could heal themselves in that amount of time in the thick of the battle. Also, Kamen said that mere pain would be enough to disrupt the abilities of the Templars. So, he began to cut down Templars, the muscles on his arms and back playing hard as he swung through bone and sinew, reaching low to bisect an Achilles tendon, crippling the victim, or reaching high to sever a limb completely. Maimed but not dead, and creating enough pain and debilitation to take them out of the fight.

Ahnvil turned to his grotesque state, the stone visage that most looked like a hideous Gargoyle, his wings sprouting forth as he took to the sky with the rest of the Gargoyles, leading the charge with a war cry. He kept close to Jackson’s side; taking hits from the Curse whenever possible, lessening the possibility of injury or death to his leader. His big body was designed for taking massive amounts of damage. He was not invincible, however he did not hesitate nor flinch in the face of the Curse of Ra.

Viève did as promised. She hurried onto the property in search of someone to try her deathtouch out on. Her heart was thundering in her chest and she could feel Kamen protectively at her back. He used the Curse of Ra to beat back anyone who came near them. Only, with his power, his Curse did not simply stun. It killed. He sent Templar souls flying back into the Ether. Kamen had no problem doing so. He knew they would be reborn again in the next life.

“Let me touch one!” Viève cried in frustration when he refused to allow anyone close to her.

“Not until it is necessary!” he shouted back to her. He blasted away another Templar.

“It’s necessary! Jackson wanted me to!”

But he stubbornly refused to heed her.

And that was when Apep arrived.

He exploded out of the house, shards of wood and beams blowing out all around him as he took to the air. Wind whipped through his long hair and he cut quite a beautiful figure in the air, looking like a virago of hate and power.

“You fools!” he cried. “You think you can attack me? You think your puny mortality can stop a god?”

“And we can succeed!” Jackson shouted back at him.

“You!” Apep said with disgust. “Didn’t I kill you once already?”

“I’m not that easy to kill!” Jackson said.

“We’ll see about that!”

Apep formed a discus of brilliant white energy in his hand and flung it at Jackson. Jackson went to dash out of the way, but Ahnvil was there, placing his body between Jackson and the strike. The discus hit him hard and flung his stone body back into Jackson. The two men went tumbling head over heels into the dirt.

“Who else wants the power of a god shoved down their throats?”

“We do!” the Phoenixes cried in unison.

Here it was. The beginning of their plan to engage Apep. Only Kamen had been so busy protecting Viève that he hadn’t drawn his circle yet. Jackson shoved his way out from under the dead weight of Ahnvil and shouted out.

“Kamen, get ready!”

Kamen heard the cry and suddenly remembered what he was supposed to be doing. He pulled back, leaving Viève exposed, hoping she knew what she was doing. He landed not too far away and began to burn the grass in a circle and pentacle pattern.