Page 70 of Grounded (Convergence #1)

Thax took a breath to still his heartbeat. Focus. He wouldn't kill them yet, not until he discovered as much about their plans as possible, but then he was going to converge the fuck out of them. And Jenvaren was going to get the worst of it.

Looking over his shoulder once more at his Liri, Thaxvarien picked up his emergency bag and stuck her pulser in his waistband.

Liria shouldered her pack, and despite how capable he knew her to be, she looked fragile to him.

Whatever happened, if anyone went near her, Thax would fucking obliterate them.

With that resolve, he opened the door and stepped out into the corridor.

There were two of them outside—Jenvaren and that weasel-faced motherfucker, Collinven.

Damn, that meant Evellor was probably dead.

But better that than this. The Aethari traitors inclined their heads to Thaxvarien as if he were his father.

There were no others waiting to ambush them, not even when they went down the main stairs.

As they walked toward the front door, Thax asked, “What's the plan?”

“Can you carry your destra while flying?” Jenvaren countered.

“Of course.”

“Good. Then we'll go straight to Icara.”

“And do what? I'm not about to storm a sky city without a plan.”

Jenvaren glanced down the hallway toward the staff rooms and then motioned Thax after him. “Let's speak outside.”

Thaxvarien took Liri's hand as they followed the two Aethari men across the entry hall and to the main door.

The aurind door opened as Jenvaren approached since Thax had keyed it to accept his father's soldiers—something he now regretted.

Outside the house waited ten more Aethari.

Ten! So, it was as he'd suspected—these fuckers had brought in backup.

With those numbers, he couldn't take them on with just a pulser.

Not even with Liria backing him up. He'd need convergence—his type of convergence.

The problem was—he didn't know what to use against them. Liri said she'd seen him call down lightning from the sky in her nightmare, but he didn't know how to do that. He'd only just gotten comfortable moving water around the fucking bathtub. He could fly, but that wouldn't help them.

Calm settled over him, and he saw it. Felt it. Power sparked through his veins.

“Tell me.” Thax drew Liria up beside him as he faced Jenvaren.

“Tell you what? What do you want to know, Blessed One?” a dark-haired Aethari joined them. A stranger. All ten standing in the circular drive were unknown to him.

Ugh. Thax hated that moniker, and he'd only been hearing it for a few minutes. “Cease with the Blessed One crap and tell me what your plan is.”

“We'll tell you when we get to Icara.”

“Is this your leader?” Thaxvarien waved at the dark-haired man as he looked at Jenvaren.

“You are our leader, Blessed—er, I mean, sir. But this is our team's leader.”

“I'm Asdorenval,” the dark one said. “And we don't have time for this. Your staff could wake at any moment. We don't want to hurt them.”

“You will not hurt them, even if they wake.” Thaxvarien lifted his chin. “And I'm not leaving until I know what kind of group I'm leading. You think me so foolish as to fly off with you to Icara with my destra in my arms and no idea of what will transpire there? No, not happening. Now, speak!”

Power pulsed up his throat, imbuing the word with both his and the Sources' demands. At any other time, Thax might have smiled at the appropriateness of speaking the word “Speak.” But not right then. Facing those traitors, all frivolous thoughts vanished.

Asdorenval stumbled back with wide eyes, righted himself, and bowed. “You are our true Speaker.” He looked up. “Your army awaits you on Icara. We will march on the Council Hall and demand that your father step down to be replaced by the Source's chosen one immediately.”

“Step down? You think he will step down?”

Asdorenval glanced at the others.

This was not how Liri's dream had gone. So, maybe they had already altered that future. But that didn't mean they wouldn't murder his father in another way.

“I see.” Thaxvarien set his bag on the ground. “This army that you say is mine—will it attack the council members of Icara if your demands aren't met?”

“They are our demands, sir.”

“No, they are not.”

“I thought you wanted change.”

“I do. But I won't murder my own people to achieve it.”

“It's not murder. This is war.” Asdorenval looked at Liria. “Perhaps you need some convincing.” He nodded at Jenvaren.

Jenvaren reached for Liri.

It all happened so quickly after that. Liri pulled her pulsers.

Collinven moved in on her other side. Fear and fury shot through Thaxvarien.

Just as it had that day when Liri and he were coming back from Celestine, his fear for her summoned the power inside him.

But this time, it wasn't just magic that came at his call.

Bright magic merged with hot tech inside Thaxvarien, churning into a strange type of converged energy that wouldn't be used to converge. He wasn't going to pull lightning from the sky or make the world tremble. He was going to do this his way.

Convergence shone from Thaxvarien's eyes, casting a green light upon his targets. But his skin stayed dormant. He didn't speak as his father did and probably never would. That didn't bother him in the least. The power of two sources was better than one. Especially when he was defending his destra.

Clarity came. Thaxvarien saw every move the Aethari traitors would make before they thought of them. He saw the path through them. Knew how to bring each man down quickly and efficiently. But first, he had to take care of these two.

“Kneel!” The voice that came out of him was so deep, it had substance. Vibration. Thunder from the sky and quakes from below.

The spoken word rumbled over the twelve Aethari men and sent them to their knees.

Collinven and Jenvaren were still reaching for Liria as they fell.

She was still reaching for her pulsers. The whir of a pulser came, and energy blasts hit Jenvaren and Collinven in their heads.

It happened so fast, without much thought on his part, that Thaxvarien didn't realize he'd been the one to shoot them until they started to fall.

Even as their bodies crumpled, the other Aethari reached for their weapons.

They may not be able to stand, but they could still pull a trigger.

He sensed those triggers. The convergence in the pulsers.

A mass cry came as pulsers exploded in Aethari hands.

Without pausing, Thax spun away from Liria and shot Asdorenval in the head.

He didn't watch the Aethari man fall. He was already onto his fourth kill.

Out of the corner of his eye, Thaxvarien saw Liria on the ground behind Jenvaren's body, shooting both of her pulsers at once. She brought down two men, covering Thaxvarien as he made his way around the kneeling group. Another man went down. Every shot was quick. Efficient. Men dead in seconds.

Thaxvarien might have shown them mercy if they had merely planned a protest or a vote.

But the men who were truly loyal to his father were missing, probably murdered by these bastards.

They had killed and would kill again if Thax didn't stop them.

His father was still in danger. So was his destra. No, these villains could not be spared.

The extermination was over in seconds.

“Thax?” Liri jumped up and ran over to him.

“I'm all right.” Thaxvarien was more interested in her. He looked her over as he stroked her upper arm. “Are you hurt? Have you been injured at all?”

“No, I'm fine. Thax, you . . . I don't know whether to be awed or afraid.”

“Don't ever fear me, Liri.” He pulled her into a hug. “I did what I had to do to keep you safe.”

“Yes, you did. I just . . . holy shit, Thax. You killed them all in under a minute.”

Thaxvarien leaned back and met her gaze. “That's not true. You got at least two of them.”

She stared at him for a second before a horrified laugh escaped her mouth. “Damn it, Thax! Stop making me laugh in horrible situations. This isn't the time.”

“It's always time for you to smile.” Thaxvarien brushed a finger over her lips.

“Even when we're surrounded by a bunch of dead traitors?”

“Even then.” He bent to kiss her.

“Oh, I don't think so.” She pointed at him. “It's bad enough that we're snuggling and laughing around all these corpses. You are not going to kiss me.”

Thaxvarien chuckled. “Now who's being inappropriate with their humor?”

Liria smiled but quickly sobered. “Thax, we need to find your father's guards. They may still be alive.”

“Fuck, you're right!” Thaxvarien ran into the house, taking her with him.

They split up at the entryway. With no cause for silence now, they both began to shout.

“Evellor?!” Thax roared. “Anyone? Is anyone alive and in need of aid?”

“Sir?” Aga came out of her room, rubbing at her eyes. “What's going on?”

“Aga, go back inside your room and lock the door! I'll let you know when it's safe to come out.”

With a yip, Aga spun and shut her door.

“Evellor!” he called again.

“Thaxvarien,” a strained voice came down the corridor.

Thax spun and followed the sound.

Evellor was half-dressed and sprawled across the floor of his bedroom, his wings outstretched. A black spot marred his chest.

“Evellor!” Thaxvarien knelt beside the man and carefully inspected his wound.

It was a pulser hit—the edges charred. The good thing was that pulsers burned flesh. So even as they pierced a body, they sealed the wound. Evellor's injury was bad, dangerously close to his heart, but he could survive it. If he were treated soon.

“Where's your vidco?” Thaxvarien demanded.

“There.” Evellor jerked his chin toward the nightstand. “The others? Are there any other survivors?”

“I don't know. I found you first.” Thax grabbed the vidco and pressed the buttons to connect to his father's device. “Hold on, my friend.”

Evellor sighed and lay back, his wings closing around himself.

“Thax?” Liri came running into the room. “Oh, thank convergence. At least there's one left.”

Evellor looked at Liri and groaned. “They're all dead? All of them?”

“I'm so sorry,” Liri said. “It looked quick. They were still in their beds.”

“I was too. I woke to pain. They must have shot me and moved on, thinking I was dead.”

“Evellor?” Thaxvarien's father looked frantic as he appeared on the small screen. “Why are you— Oh, it's you, Thaxvarien. Why are you viding me on Evellor's device at this hour?”

“We've been betrayed. I need you to get Mother and leave Icara right now. You aren't safe. An army has already assembled in my name. Bring your healer, but that's all. We can't trust your guards.”

“What? Why do you need a healer?”

“Evellor has been wounded. The rest of the team is dead. Two of them were traitors.”

Even as he spoke to his father, Liri ran off. Thaxvarien assumed it was to check on the staff. He had to remind himself that she was a soldier. Liria could protect herself. Plus, the attack was over. Hopefully, there wouldn't be a second wave of Aethari coming for them.

“Dear magic,” Thax's father whispered.

“Go now, Father!” Thax urged.

“I can't just leave.”

“Yes, you can. You can return later, when we know it's safe. But right now, I need you to get out of Icara! Fly!”

Thaxvarien's father met his stare and nodded. “Very well. I'll be there soon.” The screen went black.