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Chapter twelve
JACK
Weweretoolate. I could tell the moment we entered the room. The hatay swarmed through the archway behind us, and we turned as one to defend her like we always had.
“Find something to block the archway,” West shouted, looking over at Wesley and me.
We ran to the sides of the room, searching for things we could use to block it, and between us, we managed to haul several heavy wooden trunks to the doorway. There were already a few hatay who had slipped into the room, but they ignored us. Sensing the strongest warriors, they went for West and Zayn, who drew them away from us as we blocked the onslaught of the rest. We stacked the chests up against the archway, pulling statues and furniture across to brace the temporary wall.
A burst of gunfire sounded behind us, and I turned to see several hatay fall from the ceiling where they had scaled the columns. They were trying to get past us, trying to get to her, but Zayn had noticed too, and with a roar, he took them out with fire from his Uzi. They fell to the ground. Those the bullets hadn’t already killed made a screeching noise as they hit the stone floor. West stalked between them, finishing them off with short bursts of bullets to the heart.
Glancing across the room, I saw Tory sitting on the steps of the sarcophagus,lifting something from a box. She seemed completely oblivious to our presence or that of the hatay, and I quickly realised why and where we were. West turned and saw her at the same moment, and I heard the pain and fear in his voice as he cried out, “Tory! No, stop!”
He was too late. The necklace was already around her neck, and as it fell into place, her body jerked and her head snapped back. As memories flooded her soul, she fell to the steps seizing and jerking. Terrified she would injure herself, I raced to her side, leaving West and Zayn to deal with the remaining hatay. I was there in an instant, sliding my arms underneath her and lifting her up into my lap. I gave her the room for her body to react violently to the process without the risk of her injuring herself against the stone. I cradled her head on my arm, trying to protect it from her movements. Her arms flailed up and hit me, but I knew she wasn’t in control.
“Shhh,” I whispered, brushing her hair from her face. For a second, her eyes flew open, and I leaned down and murmured to her that we were there to protect her and that all would be well. Whether she heard me or not, I wasn’t sure. Her eyes closed, her head fell back, and she continued to fit.
A shadow fell across her face, and I looked up, but it was only Wesley.
“Why is she reacting this way? Is she okay?”
I nodded. “She’s okay. It’s just something she needs to get through, just like you did.”
“But why is her reaction so violent? Why is she seizing? That can’t be right. That can’t be normal.”
Zayn put his hand on Wesley’s shoulder in reassurance. “It’s happened before. It happens to all of us occasionally. With her, the amulet always tries to call her home, tries to call her back to herself. It has no filter. When she’s in this world, it needs to be reunited with her and it calls to her. The older she is, the stronger she is when she receives his blessing, and the easier the memories come. When we’ve brought her here intentionally in the past, it’s because she’s already receiving dreams and memories and the transition is much smoother.”
“But we were trying to delay it,” West explained. “It happened too soon last time. We were trying to wait for her to be older, to be stronger, and to be honest, it’s usually much easier keeping her safe when she’s oblivious to who she is.”
Tory called out in my arms, mumbling and crying.
Wesley cringed. “No, this can’t be right.”
“She’ll pull through in a minute,” I assured him, cradling her close. “She’s getting her memories and her powers all at once. It causes a heck of a strain on her mind, body, and soul. She just needs time, and she’ll need rest.”
“Well, she’s not going to get that here,” West replied. “Not with those hatay out there.” He looked over at Zayn. “We’re going to have to go back into the passageway to fight them. They are going to keep coming otherwise.”
“That’s suicide,” I argued. “West, you’re not thinking clearly.”
West glared down at me. “They are going to break the barrier, and once they flow through that door, nothing is going to stop them from getting to her and feeding off her soul. She’s vulnerable right now, so we need to protect and defend her with our lives. It’s what we swore.”
I opened my mouth to protest then closed it again. He was right, even if he was being a little overly dramatic about it. She was everything. She was why we were here, why we had been blessed with these incredible lives and abilities. All of us would gladly give them up in a heartbeat, however, if that was what it took to protect her.
I sighed. “If you give me a minute, I can put her back down again and come with you. I think the physical reaction is slowing.”
West shook his head and turned to Wesley. “Wes, there used to be a servants’ passageway leading from this room somewhere on the back wall behind the sarcophagus. Do you think you can still find it and open it?”
Wesley nodded. “I have a pretty good idea of where it is. It’s whether or not the mechanism will still work after all this time to open it, and if I can remember how to open it. It wasn’t exactly my area of expertise.”
West gave a sharp nod. “Do your best. It’s our best bet at getting out of here. They have completely swamped the tunnels at the entrance.” He looked down at me. “I don’t know how long it’s going to take for her to come around, or how long it will take for her powers to come in and for her to use them. As soon as you can, get her out. Don’t wait for us, just go.”
“West...”
“I mean it, just go. We’ll catch up.” He looked down at Tory, his expression impassive as always, then reached down and ran his finger down one side of her face. “I’ll see you again,” he murmured, “in this life or the next.” He turned and headed towards the end of the room.
“West!” I called, and he turned back for a second. I reached into my pocket and tossed him my knife. He caught the hilt and glanced down at it then back at me. “Just in case you need a spare,” I said.
He nodded then turned to Zayn, and the two of them headed between the columns towards the archway.
