Tempest Reborn (Jane True) - By Nicole Peeler Page 0,51

of the table and squatting down to take both my hands in his. ‘But we’ll all be right there with you, if it helps.’

I looked at Ryu through the tears and nodded. ‘It does. Not much. But it does.’

‘Good. And I do think this will work. I didn’t want to believe that was really the universe, speaking through Grizzie or the monk. The whole thing seemed ridiculous. I was convinced you’d do some weird chant for three days, and at the end of that time we’d have a tired Jane and a pile of burned bones. Instead we got that stone. And whatever it is, it’s powerful. We can all sense it.’

We looked at the object in question, which was sitting on top of the refrigerator. It had seemed like a safe enough spot, considering it couldn’t really be hidden since it beamed out so much power.

I hadn’t really thought much about the stone, to be honest. And I hadn’t thought about it the way Ryu had – as proof the monk’s poem worked. But that’s exactly what it was, and what Gus had done walking into that conflagration had seemed just as crazy and dangerous at the time as carving someone up.

I picked up my copy of the poem and read it over again as Ryu went to get Iris and Caleb. They filed in and sat down.

Then, with the creature’s help, we came up with a bunch of strategies to get the White on the ground, and surrounded by water, so that I could carve him up like a turkey. We worked for hours, only taking a break when the others returned from their grocery-shopping trip. So as not to be recognized, they went to a supermarket an hour away, with a few coolers in the truck to pack up the frozen and perishable goods. Amy wasn’t strong enough to glamour all three of them, but they needed to get out of the house. My shenanigans had made them all virtual prisoners, another thing I had to keep in mind.

This has to end, I admitted to myself finally. One way or another.

The next few hours were torture as we waited for the word to come that Magog and her team were in Chinese air space and near the target we’d chosen – an abandoned factory that the government claimed wasn’t inhabited. Daniel had done quite a bit of negotiating to get the Chinese to agree to our use of their air space and their territory, and he’d been relieved when they’d acquiesced without too much of a fuss. We were, after all, bringing a dragon into their air space, but he claimed they understood the global threat the creature represented.

And speaking of global threats, there had also been reports of the Red in that area, and we’d had a few sightings of our own – a glimpse of something large and white on the horizon, which disappeared as quickly as it appeared.

So we knew we wouldn’t have long to wait once we threw off shields and made a fuss. That came the next day.

When we were given word that our troops in China were on the ground, Amy took my dad, Grizzie, and Tracy over to her house. They wouldn’t return until we’d given them the all clear. When the civilians were gone, we made our way to my cove. That’s where we’d decided to do battle with the White. It had years of protections on it to keep out wandering humans, and it didn’t matter it wasn’t that big. Because we were going out to the ocean.

We waited for Daniel’s signal – a text message to Ryu. It was such an easy, everyday way to begin what could end up being the loss of my world, that I hardly noticed it when Ryu’s phone sounded.

But then he nodded to me, and I knew it was time.

I commanded the labrys to light up, feeling it like a distant flame in my breast. At the exact same moment, the creature literally moved heaven and earth. A mirror cove to match mine sprang up across from where Iris, Ryu, Caleb, Nell, Trill, and I spread out across the beach.

We all had a role to play, but Nell and I were the real powers, so we stayed in front, while the others took their places behind a powerful shield.

The mirror cove rose slowly in front of us, the actual seabed rising at the creature’s command. Water streamed off, leaving mud and