Power (Soul Savers) by Kristie Cook Page B

reminding me of her mother a decade ago when her
father had struck her in the park by the beach. “You won’t help me! You’ll kill me.”
    “Do you want to live like this ?” I asked Sonya, throwing one hand toward Heather at my feet
and the other in the general direction of her nest. She didn’t respond, but her
answer came loud and clear in her thoughts: No! “We can help you. The Amadis can get you out of this. We can show you a better
way to live.”
    Sonya’s blue eyes flew from me to Heather, back and forth several
times. A multitude of emotions stormed across her face as she remained in the
grip of indecision.
    I think she’ll come
with us , I said to Tristan. He didn’t respond, and I peered at him again.
He stared right at me, his eyes hard. Tristan?
    He blinked. His eyes softened. Sort of. Again, a battle
seemed to rage just under the surface, but his only coherent thought came as a
growl. “ This wasn’t the plan. ”
    So you want to leave
her here? I asked with disbelief. What was going on with him?
    Heather’s hands gripped Tristan’s arms as she struggled to
sit up. “Do it, Alexis,” she implored. “Do what you need to, now, tonight, I beg you!”
    The girl’s pleas pulled at my heart, but what was I
thinking? Her hopes were already flying, but I’d only disappoint her. I had almost
no experience with conversions. We had a safe house, but no staff to manage it.
Whose lives would I be risking by bringing our enemy there with no one but
Tristan and me to babysit her until we had help for the conversion? We couldn’t
dare leave her alone. And what about Dorian? What if something went wrong, and
she got to him, then whisked him away? Could I risk my son’s life like that?
    “ You can’t think that
way, Alexis. You are an Amadis daughter. ”
    Not-Cassandra was right, and this was my purpose—defending
souls such as Sonya’s. She deserved this from me. They all did, but especially
Sonya, because I felt somewhat responsible for her being in this position in
the first place. I couldn’t turn my back on her when she needed me so badly.
Helping her was my duty, and I’d find some way to do it and keep Dorian safe at
the same time.
    “ That’s right. You
just need to trust yourself. ”
    Let’s do it, Tristan .
He blinked at me again, as if he didn’t understand. Now, while we have the chance. Go on. Do it!
    Right when I was about to reach over and smack some sense
into him, he shook himself, gave me a strange look, then lifted his hand. He
blasted his power at Sonya, knocking her out. The vampire dropped to the
ground, and Heather screamed.
    “Shh!” I clamped a hand over her mouth. “It’s the only way
to get her to Captiva. She’ll be fine.” The girl fell silent, but I felt
obligated to add, “Well, as fine as we can hope for under the circumstances.”
    Because, really, who knew if she’d be fine? Under my unskilled
care, we could both be dead by tomorrow.
    Tristan scooped Sonya into his arms, and Heather, still
feeling a little shaky, climbed on my back before we sped to Tristan’s truck.
As he unlocked doors and gave orders, I kept my mind’s eye on the signatures
all around us, scanning for any Daemoni who might try to stop us. Tristan
climbed in the backseat of the truck with Sonya, ready to paralyze or knock her
out again if she came to. Heather sat in the front passenger seat, and I cursed
as I drove the big-ass truck out of the parking lot and onto what seemed to be
roads way too narrow for the extra-wide tires. I hated driving the truck. But
so far, so good—no one followed.
    At least, until we were halfway across the bridge connecting
the island to the mainland.
    A red Corvette zoomed up next to us and a yellow Hummer
roared up behind us. The blue light of a mage’s spell hit the side of Tristan’s
truck, and Heather screamed. I cursed that Owen wasn’t here to shield us.
    “Floor it!” Tristan ordered, and I pressed the gas pedal as
far as it would