The sun was starting to turn the morning sky gray when he drifted off to sleep. Still with no answers to his questions.Chapter 25Clay kneeled, his hand resting on the tree beside him as the sun edged closer to the horizon. The world around him was growing quieter, seeming to sink into a light slumber. But all wasn’t easy in the region. They were close to the heaviest concentration of pestilents, and the earth was in pain. Energy seeping up from the ground and into his body was weaker, as if it were straining to even reach him.
But tonight, they were going to fix that. At least temporarily. Buy themselves and the Earth a little breathing room while they waited for the remaining three Circle members to appear.
They’d waited three days after Clay made his breakthrough with his powers. It had taken that long to come up with something that resembled a plan and a definite location. Clay didn’t mind. It took nearly that long for Baer to regain his strength and start shifting from animal form to animal form with ease.
This mission meant they were going in outnumbered. At the very least, they needed to go in at full strength.
Closing his eyes, Clay focused on the door Grey had told him to create in his mind. Very carefully, he reached out and touched it. He imagined himself turning the knob and was a little surprised that it swung open with such ease. Power flooded back through his frame and wrapped around his brain. The little ball of energy in his chest awoke and stretched, pleased to be called into action.
“Is that him?” Grey whispered at his right.
Clay’s eyes flicked open, and he immediately caught sight of what looked like a blue jay as it launched itself from a tree limb next to the old farmhouse where the pestilents had holed up. The bird swooped through the air, soaring on the wind currents as it moved in their direction. It flew past them and landed on a tree branch. The little bird ruffled its feathers and then swooped down to the ground, where it shifted into Baer.
“What di—” Grey started to ask, but Baer slapped a hand over the Soul Weaver’s mouth, silencing him.
“I lost count of how many are in there, but lots. Lots of fucking pestilents,” Baer spit out. “They’re sleeping on the second and third floor. Active on the first.”
“Cor?” Clay demanded.
Baer’s face twisted up as he glared at the ground as if just the act of calling up the memory caused him pain. “Yeah. Yeah, Cor was there. First floor.”
Grey shoved Baer’s hand off his mouth and made a face of disgust. “What the fuck?”
“Small animal brain makes it hard to remember shit,” Baer snarled. He held up his hand with his index finger and thumb extended like they were pinching a walnut. “I just went from bird to mouse to fucking bird again. I’m lucky I remember your name. I didn’t need your questions cluttering things up.”
Clay hadn’t been excited about Baer entering the farmhouse alone as a mouse, but it had been their best shot at getting a peek at how many pestilents they were up against.
They also needed to confirm that Cor was still alive. He was their main target. Everything hinged on getting rid of that pestilent leader.
“Then how about an elephant?” Grey asked with a sneer. “Why don’t we let you charge in there as an elephant? You can trample everything and everyone in your path. Save us a lot of risk.”
Clay rolled his eyes. The Soul Weaver was grumpier than usual, but he was beginning to think that was how Grey dealt with his anxiety. Unless there were humans on site, there wasn’t much he could do to help in the fight magically. Clay had been half-tempted to leave the Weaver behind at the plantation house with Dane.
Thank God Dane willingly stayed behind at the house.
No, he’d not been happy about it one bit, but they needed to know he was safe if something happened and he was needed to heal one of them.
Baer let out a little growl as Grey tap-danced across his ragged nerves. “I’ve never been an elephant, so that could go horribly wrong in a fight. Besides, elephants aren’t super fast. I’d rather be something fast. With really big claws and teeth.”
Clay couldn’t blame him on that front. He’d much rather be something lightning-quick with killer claws, but he’d make do with his powers.
“We stick to the plan. No one goes inside,” Clay said in a low voice. “Baer and I pick off anyone that runs out of the house. Grey finds a way to burn the place to the ground. The main target is Cor.”
“While I admire Flo and Jo’s shotgun collection, why couldn’t they have a grenade or two?” Grey complained. “Would have made this all so much easier.”