Page 92 of Dark Voyage Matters of the Soul

Kalugal thought that he recognized the voice of the one who had called him, the one who'd said his name was Bud, but he wasn't sure. Still, it was easier to refer to him as Bud than the leader.

When Bud opened his mouth again, Kalugal lifted a hand. "Shut up. You are not to speak unless I tell you to."

He motioned for Negal to step forward. "Go get Luis and his family."

Negal hesitated. "If they heard your command, they will be just as affected as the others and unable to move. I can carry two or three at most, and there are more of them."

Kalugal didn't want to chance releasing anyone else from his immobilizing compulsion. Even using the megaphone to tell Luis to move wouldn't work because there might be another Luis among the humans. It was a popular name.

He could send Dagor and Dalhu along with Negal, or he could wait for the Guardians to get out of the vehicles and send them instead.

"You don't have to carry them," Dagor said. "You can just drive the van over here, and the Guardians will take them to safety."

"Good idea," he said. "Do what he said."

Kalugal offered a prayer to the Fates for the family to be found safe and sound. Until they were in the hands of the Guardians behind him, he didn't intend to do anything and was content with keeping the enemy frozen and waiting.

The longer he made them suffer, the better.

Negal broke into a jog, weaving between the vehicles on his way to the back where the lone van was parked.

Bhathian and Max took up position next to Kalugal.

"Can we get to work?" Max asked.

"Not yet." Kalugal watched Negal throw the van door open and hop inside. "I want Luis and his family to be out of here before we start."

He waited anxiously until he heard Negal in his earpiece. "They are all here, and they are alive."

Kalugal released a relieved breath. "Thank the merciful Fates."

Negal hadn't said unharmed, just alive, but Kalugal hadn't expected them to be unharmed. He just prayed that the harm had been limited to being terrified or getting roughed up. Hopefully, Luis's wife and teenage daughter hadn't been violated.

The sound of the van's engine revving up broke the tense silence, and Kalugal watched as Negal skillfully maneuvered the vehicle towards them, somehow managing not to drive over anyone even though the plan was to kill them all anyway.

Perhaps Negal was looking forward to killing them up close and personal?

Kalugal could understand that. It was how he'd felt when he'd killed those who held the kidnapped women. But then another thought crossed his mind. Perhaps there was a soul or two worth saving from this Sodom and Gomorrah?

Some of the humans looked as young as sixteen, and perhaps they didn't have the blood of innocents on their hands. If so, he would spare them. He would ask the Guardians to enter each of the humans' minds to decide who lived and who died.

As the van pulled up close, he motioned for the Guardians to approach the van and assist with the extraction.

As the van's driver door opened, Negal jumped out and jogged around to slide the passenger door open. He and several Guardians carried the family out of the van and into the vehicles behind them.

Given that their eyes were closed and their bodies were limp, Kalugal assumed that Negal had thralled them to sleep. It should have occurred to him to tell the god to do that, but it hadn't, and he was glad that Negal had taken the initiative.

Luis and his family had been traumatized enough.

Once the family was out of harm's way, Kalugal turned to Max and Bhathian. "Now, we can proceed with our plan, but I don't want us to kill indiscriminately because it will make us no better than them. Look into their minds and kill only those with the blood of innocents on their hands."

Bhathian arched a brow. "What if some of the Doomers didn't kill with their own hands but commanded the humans to do it?"

"Then the blood of innocents is on their hands as well. Though I doubt you will find even one Doomer worth saving."

Kalugal wondered if that was true for him and Dalhu as well and preferred not to dwell on it. He'd never killed innocents intentionally, but some might have been unintended casualties in the wars his father had sent him to fight.

"You heard Kalugal," Bhathian addressed the Guardians. "If you find anyone who deserves another chance, spare him. The leader is to be taken in for questioning."