by Keri Arthur
“I’m well aware of that.” His expression was grim. “I have been on this earth for a very long time, young Risa, and I have not survived by keeping my head in the sand and being unaware.”
Duly chastened, but still not backing away, I said, “Will your sister listen to you? She’s . . . well, she’s gone a little off the deep end since the death of her lover.”
Though I personally suspected she’d well and truly jumped into the crazy pool before that death. Her lover’s murder had just made it more obvious.
“I have not seen her much since then, so you could well be right.” Jack drained his coffee, then tossed the cup in the bin and rose. “I’ll arrange a meeting with her immediately. In the meantime, do nothing to antagonize her.”
“I have no intention of contacting her until the twenty-four-hour deadline is near.” Whether she’d contact me—antagonize me—was another matter entirely.
If you don’t bite back at her, it should not provide a problem, Azriel commented.
Easier said than done, I’m afraid.
Not if you recall the faces of those she might destroy out of sheer spite.
I glanced at him. He raised an eyebrow, as if daring me to contradict the statement. But I couldn’t, because it was true. I simply had to control my temper. No ifs, buts, or maybes.
“Good,” Jack said. “But be careful, Risa. Those who oppose my sister are no angels, either.”
“Something I’m well aware of.” But if push came to shove, I’d use them—and anyone else, for that matter—to protect my friends and to stop the crazies from ruining the world.
Jack walked from the room. I released a long, slow breath, then downed my coffee in several quick gulps. That had turned out a whole lot better than I’d hoped—but it could have very easily gone the other way, and I knew it.
“Liander is, as we speak, jumping in his car and heading to parts unknown,” Rhoan said, as he returned to the table. “He won’t contact me for the next forty-eight hours.”
“What about his phone and the GPS in his car? They can both be used to trace him—”
“He’ll disable both. He has not been the soul mate of a guardian for so long without picking up a trick or two.”
“Forty-eight hours is long enough,” Azriel commented. “One way or another, things will be sorted by then.”
I shot him another glance. I thought you said we had a week?
No, I said we had no more than a week. His expression gave little away, but I could feel the turmoil in him, the uncertainty, and that scared the hell out of me. That timetable has since been revised.
Meaning our actions have revised it? But what actions? Finding Jantz, blowing up his apartment, or talking to Rhoan and Jack?
It doesn’t matter, Azriel said. The timetable is what it is now. And, at the very least, it gives us a shorter period to survive.
And you’d better survive, reaper, I said, mental tones fierce. Or I will not be happy.
You can be assured that I would be decidedly unimpressed with anything short of survival myself.
“I get the feeling,” Rhoan commented, “that there’s a completely different conversation happening right now.”
I glanced at him and smiled. “Yeah, sorry.” I slid the phone we’d found at Jantz’s across to him. “Can you let me know the minute you find any information about who owns this?”
“Can do,” he said. “And I’ll watch my back. I’ll even ensure I have people I trust around me at all times. Will that assuage your concerns?”
“Some,” I admitted.
“Good.” He studied me for a minute, and something in his eyes hardened. The guardian, rising once more to the surface. “Then you need to assuage mine. You will not tackle Hunter without outside help, will you?”
I licked my lips. “Look, I know you mean—”
“This isn’t a request,” he cut in, voice flat. “And there is no refusing. There is only yes, or there’s me walking out of this room right now and confronting her myself.”
I stared at him. “That’s blackmail.”
“Too right it is, and I don’t care. I want your word, Risa, that the minute you even contemplate contacting the forces that oppose Hunter, you’ll also contact me. I know that you’ve already made this promise to Riley and Quinn, and you will damn well extend it to me—and keep it. Otherwise, I’ll do as I threatened.”
He would, too. To keep me safe, he’d risk his own damn life. “You’re fucking crazy, Uncle Rhoan,” I muttered, then flung myself into his arms. “And god, I love you for it.”
His arms went around me and held me tight. After a moment, he kissed the top of my head and said, “I can take that as a yes?”
“You can.” I stepped away, then thrust a hand across my eyes, wiping away a defiant tear. My phone rang, and the tone told me it was Ilianna. My stomach flip-flopped, though I wasn’t sure whether it was fear or just pregnancy reasserting itself.
I dragged the vid-phone out of my pocket, hit the Answer button, and said, “Is there a problem?”
“Other than you and then Azriel making quick exits and not getting back to me to let me know you’re both okay?” she said, voice mild but holding a hint of censure.
“Yeah, besides that,” I said, voice contrite. “And I’m sorry—”
“I know,” she cut in. “I’m just feeling tired and stressed, and bitchy because of it. Anyway, you need to get your butts over here. We have to talk.”
“How urgent is this?”
“Very, if you want to protect the people you care about.”
“Then I’ll be right over.”
“See you soon.” She hung up.
I put the phone away, then gave Rhoan a smile. “Gotta go. Talk to you soon.”
“I damn well hope so.”
I half stepped toward Azriel, then stopped and turned to face Rhoan again. Clairvoyance wasn’t one of my stronger psychic skills, but when it hit, it wasn’t often wise to ignore it.
And right now, it was hitting hard.
I hesitated, then said, “I don’t suppose I could borrow that ring Liander gave you for your anniversary last year, can I?”
He glanced down at the small, unobtrusive ring on his left hand. “Why?”
My hesitation was longer this time. “Because, as of this minute, I have a horrible feeling I might need it to find you sometime in the future. And while I hope to god I’m wrong, given everything that has happened over the last few days, I just don’t want to take any sort of chance.”
“If something went wrong, and I went missing, Riley would find me.” He eyed me for a minute, his expression thoughtful. “You know that.”
“I know, but the twin connection can be disrupted by magic or drugs—and you know that.”
“True.” He studied me for a moment longer, then tugged the ring off his finger and dropped it into my hand. “Just don’t lose it. Liander will kill me—and you.”
“I won’t.” I shoved it onto my left thumb—the only place it was secure given that his fingers were thicker than mine. Plus, it was safer than merely putting it in my pocket. “But if either our sorceress or Hunter decided to snatch you—and there was no way we could find or rescue you—then Riley would likely kill me.”
Amusement filled his tone, though it failed to break the concerned glitter in his eyes. “But only after she’d rescued me—and you wouldn’t be the only one on the receiving end of the lecture.”
I half smiled. Riley’s lectures had become somewhat infamous over the years, but they were born from both fear and relief, and we all knew that. They usually ended with a fierce hug and a plea not to scare her like that again, anyway, so it was all good.
I stepped forward, dropped a kiss on his cheek, then said, “Just be careful. This is one case where I’m more than happy to have instinct proven wrong.”
“As am I. Go. I’ll get the phone information to you the minute I can.”
We went. A heartbeat later we were once more standing within
the halls of the Brindle. The magic reacted immediately, crawling across my skin like electric gnats, its feel sharp. Probing. Kiandra might have recently woven some exceptions into the barrier that protected this place to allow for our comings and goings, but the Brindle wasn’t about to let us enter unchallenged any more than it would evil. And while I wasn’t evil, I was no longer flesh and blood, and the magic was always going to react to that, regardless.
“You were never just flesh and blood.” Azriel caught my hand and tugged me forward. Up ahead, near the door that led into the Brindle’s shadowed inner sanctuary, a tunic-clad witch waited. “Your heritage is Aedh just as much as werewolf, and it is that bloodline which has always allowed you to sense the magic in this place.”
“Just this place?” I queried, remembering my reaction to the sacred site where Tao had consumed the fire spirit to save Ilianna’s life.
Azriel glanced at me. “Neither Aedh nor reaper can enter that place. That the magic lets you pass rather than forbid your entry is something I cannot explain.”
“Risa, Azriel,” the brown-haired witch said softly, as we approached. “Please follow me.”
She turned and led us through the door, then down a flight of stairs to a hall that was lined with darkly stained timber and filled with shadows. Sconces flickered on as we approached, then went dark once we’d passed, fueled by magic rather than electricity.
We turned right at the end of this hall and went down a second set of stairs and into another hallway. Our guide stopped about halfway down and knocked on a plain wooden door. Then, without waiting for an answer, she opened it and ushered us in. I realized almost immediately where we were—Zaira’s office. It was a small and sweet-smelling room, with little more than a very large old wooden desk, a leather chair that had seen better days, and shelves that lined all available wall space. Books were everywhere—crowding not only the shelves but much of the floor space, a riot of leather-bound color that lent warmth to the otherwise barren room. The smell within the room was divine, and I took a deep, appreciative breath. There was nothing quite like the scent of old books, even when it was almost overwhelmed by the richer scents of lavender and rose.
Ilianna and Kiandra were both sitting near the old desk, and they looked up as we entered. Ilianna’s gaze skimmed us; then she smiled. “Not only alive, but apparently in one piece. It’s a miracle.”
“You have no idea just how much of a miracle it is.” I wrapped my arms around her and gave her a brief but fierce hug. “I really am sorry I didn’t let you know earlier.”
“Forgiven,” Ilianna said. “I guess you have been kinda busy, what with trying to save the world and all.”
“Yeah.” My gaze went to Kiandra’s. “The Raziq are no longer a problem. There was something of an intervention by both the fates and the Aedh who still haunt that place.”
She nodded, her expression pleased, though I had a suspicion it wasn’t exactly news to her. “And the sorceress?”
“Went to hell—literally. I’m not sure she stayed there, though.”
“Which is the precise reason we made these.” Ilianna held up what looked like a half dozen multicolored ribbons twined together, then looped through several creamy white stones to form a bracelet.
I frowned. “And what might they be, besides pretty?”
She grinned. “Do you remember asking me to create something along the lines of the wards your father gave you, but for personal use?”
I nodded. I’d figured at the time it might be the only way to protect everyone I cared about from the Raziq. It was a shame said stones couldn’t also ward off the crazy that was Hunter.
“Well, when you made the mad dash home and Azriel came back with the wards, Kiandra said that personal wards against the Raziq was no longer the problem, and that wards against magic would be far more beneficial. Hence, pretty bracelets.”
My gaze met Kiandra’s. She smiled. “And I was right, was I not?”
“You certainly were. And thank you.”
She nodded and rose. “Before I leave, is there anything else you wish help with?”
I hesitated, then said, “You wouldn’t be able to recommend someone with psychometry skills, would you? I need to trace the owner of a cuff link I found.”
“And the owner is the sorceress?”
“We think so.”
“Then you will need a practitioner who has some ability to protect both herself and you against the dark magic should there be a spell of some kind infused within the object.”
I frowned. “If there was a spell, wouldn’t I have set it off by now? I’ve had it for a while.”
“Not necessarily. If the object were mine, I’d set the spell to trigger only when someone attempted to use it against me in some way.” She pursed her lips for a moment, her expression thoughtful. “Unfortunately, we have none capable of psychometry here at the Brindle at the moment, but I do know of someone outside these walls who may be able to help. I shall contact her and see if she is willing to see you.”
“That would be fantastic. And again, thank you.”
“It is in all our interest to aid you in whatever way we can.” She paused, her gaze suddenly unfocusing. Power shivered through the air, its touch as sharp and as electric as the power that protected this place.
“You must trust your instincts, Risa,” she said, voice soft. “No matter how incredible it might seem at the time. And remember, safety lies in four.”
Safety lies in four? What the hell was that supposed to mean?
Kiandra blinked, and life came back into her eyes. She smiled, but there was concern in her expression. “I told you once before there was someone in your life who was not what they seemed. That impression has grown stronger. Watch your back.” She paused, her gaze flickering to Azriel. “And you, reaper, had better watch yours.”
Azriel bowed slightly. “I thank you for the warning.”
Kiandra half smiled. “I shall leave Ilianna to explain the intricacies of the bracelets. I will be in contact if I find someone willing to help you with the cuff link.”
With that, she left. I looked at Ilianna. “I don’t suppose you can explain that somewhat cryptic message?”
“The ‘safety lies in four’ bit, you mean? Not a chance. Kiandra’s visions are often less than informative, unfortunately.”
Great. Though it wasn’t like I could bitch given all the help she was giving me otherwise. “So, these bracelets.” I carefully hooked a finger around one of them and plucked it from Ilianna’s hand. Energy tingled across my fingertips, and the Dušan reacted immediately, spinning around to glare at it.
Ilianna blinked. “That thing just moved again.”
“Yeah, it does fairly regularly these days.”
“Huh. I would love to know how.”
“So would I,” Azriel commented. “The Dušan are not supposed to be active on this plane of existence.”
Ilianna raised an eyebrow, amusement creasing the corners of her green eyes. “So it’s like its owner, and keeps doing the unexpected?”
“Definitely,” Azriel commented, voice dry. “But it does make for a more interesting existence.”
“Undoubtedly.” Ilianna’s amusement grew stronger. “But to get back to the point, these will protect their wearers from most incantations and spells. Given you’re somewhat more sensitive to magic than most nonpractitioners, I imagine you will probably still feel any attack on you, but it will not be enough to influence you—or anyone else who wears them—in any way. It will not protect you from the darker forces, however.”
“Darker forces meaning demon attack and the like, rather than actual spells and incantations?”
She hesitated. “I’m not sure it will protect you against a spell with the full backing of blood magic behind it, but it should withstand most other magic.”
Which was a damn sight better than nothing.
“We’ve only managed to make three of these things,” she continued. “For safety’s sake, Mirr
i and I are going to stay here at the Brindle, so you might want to give one to Tao and the other to Stane.”
“Not Tao,” I said immediately. “Aside from the fact that if we can’t find him, it’s doubtful the sorcerer or even Hunter could, he at least has the elemental for protection. That thing seems to have a sixth sense when it comes to attack.”
Or even being touched. I shivered, and pain ghosted through my hand as I remembered my attempt to stop the elemental reaching Macedon. If Azriel hadn’t been able to heal me, I would have been left with a useless limb.
“You’re right.” Her expression was thoughtful. “And it’s probably the only real protection he needs, when I think about it.”
I frowned. “How so?”
“It’s obvious the fire that gave birth to the elementals still burns within the Macedon sacred site, and as long as it does, the elemental cannot be controlled by other forces of magic.”
“But it can be destroyed by them—can’t it?”
“Yes, but it would take a lot of energy and strength. The elementals are a force of being as much as magic.”
“Our dark sorceress has the strength, though.”
“Yes, but it would drain her. With you so close on her tail, I don’t think she’d risk it.”
Neither did I. Then what she’d said earlier actually hit me. “Ilianna, if destroying the fire will destroy the elemental, why don’t we just do that to free Tao?”
“Because it won’t free Tao. It’ll kill him.” She grimaced. “Trust me, I did think of that solution, but I’m afraid when Tao consumed the elemental, he forever changed his body chemistry. They are too intertwined now to separate. Kill one, and you kill the other.”
“So our only hope is praying that Tao wins the battle for control?”
“Or that, at the very least, they come to some sort of truce.”
I snorted. “It’s hard to imagine what sort of truce would work for two very different beings.”
“Yes.” There was sadness in her expression. She crossed her arms and said, “Who do you plan to give the spare bracelet to?”
“Uncle Rhoan. He adamantly refuses to retreat to safe ground, so this bracelet will at least afford him some protection.” I handed the bracelet to Azriel. “Could you please take it to him?”