Read Online Final Solstice by David Sakmyster - Free Book Online Page A

plates met and butted roughly against each other.
    Gabriel raised his arms and held the staff over his head, as Annabelle shadowed his motions.
    “Focus on the ley line, and feel its energy. It’s here, all about us.”
    And when he opened his eyes, it was there. A shimmering aurora, a narrow band just overhead, undulating and throbbing like one of the earth’s veins—a jugular that Gabriel and his colleagues now tapped into, spearing into and sapping the lifeblood of the world …
    … and channeling it.
    Channeling it with a synchronized, massive and combined force …
    … downward.
    Gabriel expected exertion, expected to hear the pounding of his own veins in his skull, expected to be overheating in the robe, and expected to choke under the weight of this responsibility Solomon had placed firmly on his shoulders.
    Maybe it was Annabelle, or the cool breeze she may have summoned up to soothe him, or maybe it was the quality and confidence of the other adepts in the adjacent yachts, but the whole enterprise went as smoothly as he could have hoped.
    So much so that at first, after he had let his trembling arms down and leaned on the staff, catching his breath, he worried if they had accomplished anything at all.
    But Annabelle, eyes closed, turned toward him as if seeing it herself, at one with the seaweed forest, fathoms under water: the rising surge of bubbles, the groaning of the plates, the cracking, grinding and shifting.
    And the enormous force unleashed all at once.
    Bubbles surged ahead of the boat, and Gabriel heard a sound like a cry of pleasure before he realized it came from his own throat.
    Before he realized it, Annabelle was now holding his hand, just as the other pairs in the other yachts all stood by, admiring the sheet natural force they had just unleashed.
    Like Neptune himself surging up from the depths, a mile-wide tsunami rose and ascended into a killer wave bearing down upon the hapless island.
    Without warning, without remorse.
    Gabriel squeezed Annabelle’s hand and licked his lips.
    “It’s begun.”

Chapter 2
    Mason came out of the shower and heard a voice he still couldn’t believe was real. Shelby was in with Lauren, helping her into her chair and chatting away as if her voice had always been this beautiful, this perfect. He dressed, still listening and marveling at the change. Lingering outside Shelby’s door, he leaned against the wall as he finished with his tie, and was about to poke his head in to say good morning and ask for their breakfast requests when a buzz came in on his smartphone.
    He groaned, and was going to ignore it when another followed.
    These were alerts, not messages, he realized. Accustomed to the occasional buzz if weather-related phenomena changed, something he should be aware of, he set a variety of apps with tie-ins to international and regional weather centers to provide alerts.
    He pulled out the phone, tiptoed past the door and started downstairs.
    Halfway down he froze. First alerts were coming in from a variety of sources. Details sketchy but thegeological center in St. Martin was the first to report on the sub-coastal magnitude 7 seismic action reported at 7:45 Eastern. And the tsunami that followed …
    Oh god.…
    Jamaica had been hit full force.
    He ran down the rest of the stairs and in the kitchen scrambled to find the remote for the TV. Clicked the power button and heard the newscaster before the picture emerged. A map graphic with a bright red circle in the Caribbean just outside of Jamaica. They were showing serene pictures of Montego Bay and several other western side resorts as they had been, then cut in with hand-held video and cell phone images of terror. A massive, incalculable wave roared toward the beach as people ran in terror.…
    Mason’s mouth dried up.
    “What’s happening?” came that voice, just a minute ago serene and so full of hope, now tinged with fear and dread.
    He shut off the TV, ever the one to protect his girl, no