Torment (Soul Savers Book 6) Read Free Page B

to
our spots throughout the morning and into the afternoon as we watched
the carnage unfold around the world. Blossom and Jax had come into my
office and watched with us, and then Ophelia and other household
staff joined us, too. Everyone’s minds churned over the same
question: What were we going to do now?
    Then Charlotte thought
and began to voice exactly what Tristan and I had been thinking.
“Looks like our reprieve is over. It’s time to plan for
war—”
    Her words were stifled
by the sound of a loud explosion and the ground quaking under our
feet.
     
     

Chapter 2
     
    I gripped the edge of
the antique desk with one hand and reached out to hold onto Tristan’s
forearm with the other until the shaking stopped.
    “That wasn’t
an earthquake.” He barely spoke the words before another bang
and subsequent tremors rocked the ground.
    “ Daemoni! ”
The thoughts came from all over the island, screaming into my head
the moment I opened my mind to them.
    “We’re
under attack,” I announced before delving into a sentry’s
mind—a wizard keeping watch from the tower near the village.
    Through his eyes, I
shared with everyone in the room the vision he saw—Daemoni
surrounding the island, uncloaked and in broad daylight. All mages
hovering over the water, all shooting spell after spell at our
shield.
    “Owen and Char—”
I started.
    “Already on it,”
Owen said, his voice strained.
    My mind left the
wizard’s, and my vision returned to my own, finding the two
warlocks standing in the center of my office. Their hands lifted high
above their heads and their brows and lips set into hard lines as
they concentrated on keeping the shield over the island as strong as
possible. We took another hit, and both their faces turned various
shades of red as the chords in their necks tensed and tightened.
    Sweat beads popped out
on Owen’s forehead. “They have some powerful warlocks.
Maybe a sorcerer.”
    “Go join the
others,” I ordered. “Do what you can.”
    Owen and Char
disappeared from the room to join the mages who maintained the shield
on the other end of the island. When they came together as a group,
their power would multiply. Hopefully it would be enough.
    “We have to get
to town,” I said. “In case they make their way through.”
    “Change first.”
Vanessa pointed at Tristan and me before popping out of sight.
    Right. We both still
wore Norman clothes that provided no protection. We flashed to our
suite and changed into our fighting leathers within a minute. After
making sure Dorian was safe in his room with Sasha, we flashed to the
Amadis village on the other end of the island. We appeared in front
of the council hall at the top of a low hill, looking down the main
street of town that sloped toward the pier and the sea. Some panicked
people ran amok in the streets, but many apparently hid in their
homes and businesses.
    The air crackled with
powerful dark magic feeling thicker than it should have. The
intensity of it meant our shield was failing, and if the Daemoni
managed to pierce it, we’d be in deep trouble. Most of the
Amadis who lived here on the island were among our weakest. My
personal team contained some of our strongest fighters and other
guards protected the mansion and council hall, but for the most part,
everyone else lived here because they weren’t warriors. This
island was their place of refuge. If the Daemoni broke their way in,
though, it would be far from a safe haven.
    Tristan and I lifted
our hands to aim our palms toward the Daemoni to return fire, but the
mages were too far away. By the time our powers reached their
shields, their potency had weakened too much to penetrate and were
easily deflected. Blossom and two other witches joined us, but their
spells also bounced off the offenders’ protection.
    Owen, can’t
you blast them with something? I called out to him.
    “ Not if you
want me to hold this shield up! ” he answered from his
position in the tower with