Page 107 of Destined for Dreams
“Does no one care what I think?” Kerbasi asked, stopping his murmured prayers and opening his eyes.
“No!” they all answered.
The guardian mumbled more complaints before settling down as Cori began working on him. He winced when the needles first struck, but to his credit, he didn’t make any squeals of pain. The man had his pride, and with a large audience watching him, he wasn’t going to keep the fuss up any longer. He knew he’d fought the battle and lost.
Bartol continued to hover protectively over his mate even after the others let go of the guardian. Though he doubted Kerbasi would try anything, it still made him feel better. Only fifteen minutes passed before Cori completed her work. She’d been getting faster over the last few days, which he suspected was assisted by the physical changes from Melena’s blood. His mate could still get tired, but she was far more resilient than before.
As Cori cleaned Kerbasi’s forearm of any traces of blood, Melena rushed into the room. “We’ve got a problem.”
“What?” Lucas asked, going to his mate.
“The River Thames just turned to blood ten minutes ago, and radars are picking up swarms of locusts heading straight for London from the south,” she said, breathless. “We’re out of time. The other teams are gearing up and heading out now.”
Caius’ expression took on a dark look. “Are the scouts still reporting the demon at the warehouse?”
“Yes.” She nodded. “But they suspect our activities to evacuate the area have been discovered. We have no idea if they’ll stay or move, so we have to strike as soon as possible.”
“Then we must go,” Lucas said.
Everyone exploded into activity.
Cori let the guardian up from the chair and moved to hug Bartol. His initial instinct was to balk at her touch, but he fought it down and embraced her instead. Until the battle was over, they would have to be apart. He didn’t like the idea of her being out of his sight and wished he didn’t have to leave.
“Be careful,” she said.
He kissed her gently on the forehead, then stared into her hazel eyes. “I would ask the same of you.”
“She will have my protection,” Ariel said, coming into the room.
Micah followed closely behind. “And I will be here to guard her as well.”
Bartol turned, directing his attention to the fallen angel. “Will you start the protection spell on her now?”
“Of course.” Ariel lifted her chin, showing some of the old pride she once had before falling. “Nothing will hurt your mate if I can help it.”
“She will be in good hands,” Micah promised
Bartol was honored the two of them would go through so much trouble for his mate. “Thank you.”
“You should go,” Ariel said, urgency in her tone. “Little time is left before it will be too difficult to reach the warehouse.”
Bartol swept Cori into his arms once more, holding her tightly. She did the same to him, pressing her face into his chest. He wanted more than anything to stay right there and never leave, but the best way to protect her was to destroy Haagenti.
“I will see you again soon,” he promised, moving away.
She put her hands on her hips. “You better!”
With a final farewell, Bartol hurried from the room and joined the others as they exited the house toward the waiting vehicles. They couldn’t risk flashing or exerting any extra energy if at all possible. Their powers had to be conserved for the coming battle.
The expected drive time to Purfleet—where the demon’s warehouse was located—was about thirty-five minutes. They drove well past the posted speed limit, but a little over halfway there, the locusts began to catch up with them from the west. The first few hit the back window, startling them. Lucas was driving the lead SUV they rode in, and he picked up the pace. Many of the human drivers ahead of them began pulling off the road as visibility diminished, clearing the way. It helped a little, but the road became slick with squashed bugs.
Before long, the windshield wipers were working overtime to keep up with the locusts striking the glass. Bartol recognized the area as they neared Purfleet. It had turned dark outside as the swarm blocked the sky above them, but he could make out the warehouse easily enough—not a single bug came close to it. Haagenti was ravaging the rest of the area with his tricks while keeping his own base of operations safe.
They pulled into an area pre-designated for task force parking. Already, troops were gathering, police were starting to cordon off the nearby streets, and tents were being set up for team commanders. The sensors gathered in the center with Kerbasi and the other protectors standing near them. While the guardian could only use his range abilities, the other supernaturals would stay close to their charges. Werewolves and witches made up the bulk of them since it was daylight—or at least it had been—and vampires hadn’t been an option. Now Bartol wondered if the locusts weren’t only being used to terrorize the London area, but also to block the sun and allow Haagenti’s night bound followers out. The darkness was near complete, triggering the streetlights to come on.
“Dammit,” Melena cursed as she stared up at the sky. “We were going to blow the roof off the warehouse to take out the vampires with sunlight, but that won’t work now. They can’t even get any helicopters off the ground in this mess for air support.”
The ceiling for the locusts was no more than two hundred feet above them, but the annoying bugs moved much closer to the ground in the outlying areas beyond the warehouse.
