Darkness Falls

by Keri Arthur

  And I can’t sense anything because of that foul energy. His expression was grim when his gaze met mine. This time, you will stay behind me.

  I nodded. While I might not be able to feel any threat, the fact that he couldn’t was enough to have warning bells ringing. Be careful. The dark sorceress is aware of what you are, and she’s had the time—and no doubt the coaching from Lucian—to work out some way of nullifying your presence.

  I am aware of that. Watch the first step—it is deeper than it looks.

  I gripped the cold metal handrail and stepped down into the stairwell. The shadows seemed deeper for some reason, and tension rolled through me. While I wished we could use the swords to light our way, that would only be a warning to whoever—whatever—might lay below that we were coming.

  Azriel headed down cautiously. I followed, keeping close to his back, Amaya’s mutterings a sharp accompaniment to the gathering sense of expectation.

  Azriel reached the final step and paused. I peered over his shoulder. Ahead in the distance light glowed, but it was a strange blue-black color that flickered and danced. Candlelight.

  Yes. And the energy comes from the room at the end of this hall, as well.

  And you still can’t sense anything?

  No. He glanced at me. But if there is candlelight, then someone has lit it.

  Maybe. And maybe not. After all, we were dealing with someone who had the capability of making transport stones. Just because she had been here didn’t mean she still was.

  We crept on. The long corridor was narrow, meaning even if I had wanted to walk beside him, I couldn’t. My grip tightened on Amaya and her background noise ratcheted up. The odd violet-black light continued to dance and flicker, and my skin crawled. I might not be able to sense the energy or magic that Azriel was, but something still felt very wrong.

  We reached the open doorway. Azriel stopped, forcing me to do the same. Flames flickered briefly down Valdis’s blade, but they were very similar in color to the light that crawled from the room beyond, and almost unnoticeable.

  Anything? I asked.

  Only the candles. He glanced at me. Which only makes me suspect something is, indeed, here. Watch our backs.

  I licked my lips and nodded. He stepped into the room, then paused, body tense. Nothing happened. I pressed my back against the wall and followed him in. The room was largish but unlike the other underground chambers we’d discovered, as there was no shelving here, either hewn into the walls or freestanding. There was a table, and markings on the floor I suspected were incantations of some kind, but no pentagram and certainly no altar.

  There were, however, two cuneiform stones. They were smaller, darker, than their kin, and had once stood in a square windowless room within a property that had been inhabited by several—now dead—Razan.

  At least we now knew where the damn things had gone. But did that mean this space was a recently created one? The etchings on the floor didn’t look new, but that didn’t mean all that much.

  Light flickered in the middle of the room, brighter and fiercer than the candlelight. It disappeared as quickly as it had appeared, but it sent my pulse rate into overdrive. Something was very definitely about to happen, and I really wasn’t sure either of us should be here when it did.

  Then perhaps you should follow instinct and leave, Azriel said.

  We’ll never find our sorceress if I give in to the urge to run, I replied, perhaps more tartly than I should have. Besides, whatever is waiting here, I’m sure it would be better faced with two swords rather than one.

  He didn’t comment, but his displeasure echoed through me. We edged farther into the room. Again light flickered, and I realized—with more than a little trepidation—that it was coming from the floor. Or rather, from the etched markings on the floor. I paused, watching an oddly dirty beam of light slip through the various markings and race toward the stones. Nothing happened when it reached them. It just disappeared into the middle of them. The stones weren’t active, so the light could hardly have traveled anywhere, but that didn’t stop the crawling sense of unease from getting stronger.

  Azriel stopped so abruptly I ran into him. He reached back to steady me, but his concentration was on a spot several feet ahead of us.

  What’s wrong? I frowned at the spot, but whatever it was he was seeing or feeling, I wasn’t.

  That foul energy I mentioned? It lies within arm’s length of us.

  What is it doing?

  Nothing. It simply sits there. He took one step sideways, his eyes narrowed. It could be some sort of barrier, given it forms a protective semicircle around the standing stones.

  Air stirred, and the hairs along the back of my neck rose. I shot a glance over my shoulder, but I couldn’t see anything or anyone. But that seemed to be a running theme in this place, at least for me. Amaya, is there anyone behind us?

  Not. She paused. Not live, anyway.

  Meaning there’s something dead behind us? My grip on her tightened.

  Not dead. Not flesh.

  Magic? Demon?

  Not certain.

  Great. If my demon sword didn’t know what the hell was approaching, what chance did I have? I glanced back at Azriel. Maybe you were right. Maybe we should get the hell out—

  I broke off as the cuneiform stones came to life. Light flared between them, warm and soft, shimmering softly in the candlelit darkness.

  Someone is using the stones.

  And that someone is undoubtedly our sorceress, Azriel said. There are no Razan left.

  That we know of. But she was using blood magic to create her own twisted version, remember?

  They were little more than programmable killing machines, he bit back. The warm light was getting stronger and sent slivers of light swirling across the darkness, lifting it, revealing more of the barren concrete space. It was bigger than it had seemed.

  It doesn’t matter who it is, I said. We can’t get to them thanks to the goddamn barrier!

  Then perhaps we should see if we can remove the barrier. As the light between the stones grew brighter, he raised Valdis to shoulder height, then glanced at me. Step back.

  As I did, he drew Valdis back, then plunged her into the middle of the barrier. For an instant, nothing happened.

  Then Valdis screamed, the invisible barrier abruptly came to life, and the room exploded.

  Chapter 11

  The force of the explosion picked me up and threw me backward. Amaya’s flames flared around me, cushioning my fall somewhat and protecting me from the concrete and heat that spewed all around us.

  Azriel? I screamed mentally. Are you okay?

  There was no reply. Panic surged, but there was little I could do until the shrapnel and whatever else was flying around the room had stopped. If there was one thing I did know, it was that he’d be madder than hell if I put myself in harm’s way just to see if he was okay.

  And surely to god he had to be. He was a reaper, an energy being, and no easy kill.

  But that didn’t mean he couldn’t be killed, and he’d been a lot closer to the explosion than I had.

  I took a deep, shuddery breath, but it didn’t do a whole lot to ease the fear-based churning in my gut. As the noise, the heat, and the shards of metal and concrete calmed, I ordered Amaya to lower the shield and carefully rose. Dust, thick and heavy, swirled through the large room, making it difficult to breathe, let alone see.

  Azriel? I cocked my head sideways, listening intently, trying to catch even the smallest sound. What I did hear was coming from behind us—footsteps, running toward the room. Obviously, the people still working in the offices had heard the explosion.

  I swore and took a tentative step forward. Metal crunched under my feet, the sound like that of old bones. I shivered and hoped it wasn’t an omen of some kind.

  Azriel, please, answer me. I took another step. Blue flickered through the dusty darkness up ahead—Valdis. Hope surged. If Valdis had survived, then surely Azriel had as well. But as
much as I wanted to rush over there, I couldn’t. I needed to do something to stop those people from coming in here. I had no idea what other tricks Lauren might have up her sleeve, but I doubted this explosion would be the last of them. I didn’t need innocent bystanders getting caught in the middle of a firefight.

  So even though it went against every instinct I had, I resolutely turned around, raced back up the stairs, and closed the door. Azriel had destroyed the lock, but there was a heavy old dead bolt near the top of the door, so I slammed that home, then brought Amaya down on the handrail, chopping off a chunk of metal and wedging it under the door. They’d force their way in eventually, but at least I’d bought some time.

  I spun and went back down into the dusty darkness. Valdis’s light pulsed across the shadows, reminding me oddly of a lighthouse beacon. I hoped like hell it was a beacon that was guiding me toward good news, not bad.

  I swallowed heavily, my stomach churning faster and faster the closer I got. I couldn’t see anything resembling a dust-covered body, be it alive or dead. I couldn’t smell blood or ruined flesh, either, and that was comforting. At the very least, he hadn’t been blown into little tiny pieces.

  Valdis’s light got stronger, angrier. She was lying on the cracked and filthy concrete, the flames flaring down her sides pulsing between blue and red. She was furious, and I can’t say I blamed her. I’d be furious, if I wasn’t so scared.

  I stopped and looked around. The dust was beginning to settle, and Valdis’s light was strong enough to lift the thicker shadows. The standing stones were still and dark once more. I had no idea what had activated them, but certainly no one had come through them. But maybe that had never been the point. Maybe all along the barrier had been the trap, and the stones nothing more than a distraction.

  It was a trap Azriel had not only sprung, but been ensnared by.

  I flexed my fingers, trying to control my fear, trying to think rather than panic. He had to be alive. He couldn’t be dead. Not like this.

  Is not, Amaya said.

  I frowned. How do you know?

  Sword, she replied. He dead, she dead.

  I closed my eyes against the rush of relief and tears. Valdis’s furious flames might be a good sign, but that didn’t mean he’d escaped unscathed. Didn’t mean that death might not yet be his fate.

  Damn it, he couldn’t die. I wouldn’t let him!

  I reached down to grab Valdis, then hesitated and asked, Amaya, will Valdis mind me picking her up?

  No, she replied. One you are.

  Meaning me and Azriel, I gathered, not me and Valdis. Can you speak to her?

  If wish.

  Ask her if she knows where Azriel is.

  Amaya was silent for a moment, then said, Know not. Alive is all.

  I grimaced, but I’d guessed it wasn’t going to be that easy. Not given who undoubtedly had him.

  Fear rose again, but I shut it down ruthlessly. Now was not the time for panic or fear. If it was Lauren who had him—and really, this had her fingerprints all over it, not Hunter’s—then it would be for one reason: to either get me to come to her or to hold him as ransom until the key was found.

  Either way, she’d be in contact with me sooner rather than later, and that meant I had better get myself organized and ready to fight.

  Because this would end.

  Lauren, or Mike, or whatever the hell his or her name really was, had caused enough problems and done enough damage. I’d stopped Lucian and I’d fucking stop her, as well.

  Something heavy hit the door behind me, the sound echoing loudly in the dusty chamber. I jumped and spun. The door quivered under the impact but held firm. For how much longer I had no idea. I scooped Valdis up, then stalked across to the standing stones. They didn’t react to my presence, but then, none of them ever had when I’d been in human form. I hesitated, then reached out and tentatively touched the surface of one of them.

  The black stone was cool and slick under my fingertips, but within its heart, energy pulsed, making it seem as if the rock was alive and waiting. And I guess in some ways it was, as that beat was the magic, ready to react.

  Stepping through the gateway would be the obvious action if I wanted to find Azriel, but I had no doubt that that was precisely what Lauren wanted. Just as I had no doubt that there’d be some sort of trap waiting for me on the other side of this gateway.

  The door shuddered under another impact. I bit my lip and glanced over my shoulder. There were serious dents and splits in it now; it wouldn’t take too many more blows before it gave way.

  I returned my gaze to the stones. It was tempting—so tempting—to throw caution to the wind and step through them. But as much as I wanted to find Azriel and finally kill our sorceress, it would be a stupid course of action. I couldn’t risk everything on the chance that I’d somehow be able to defeat Lauren as I was right now. Besides, it wasn’t just my life I was risking these days, but that of my child.

  Lauren had been one step ahead of us all the way; there was no reason to believe she still wasn’t. And Mike had seen the charm on my wrist, and no doubt he/she had already found a way to counter it.

  I needed advice. I needed a plan. And the only people who could offer that in this sort of situation were once again the Brindle witches. But they would also need to know what they were up against. We weren’t dealing with just a sorceress capable of blood magic; we were dealing with one who’d been taught the art of Aedh magic. And whether the Brindle witches could even counter it, I had no idea.

  Another blow hit the door, and this time the small split became a fissure. I thrust Valdis through my shirt to keep her secure and free my hands, then pushed up my sleeves and squatted beside the nearest stone. I took a deep breath that failed to calm the butterflies doing speed laps around my stomach, then wrapped my arms around the stone and heaved upward. The damn thing was lighter than it looked and came away so easily from the concrete that I just about flung it over my shoulders.

  I hugged it close, my bare arms against the slick stone, its inner pulse beating against my skin. Moving it away from its twin obviously hadn’t done anything to disrupt whatever magic fueled these things.

  As the door’s hinges began to groan and give way under the force of yet more blows, I called to the Aedh—and hoped like hell the stone would change right along with the rest of me.

  It did.

  Though it felt damn weird. It was almost as if I had an additional heart, but its pulse was oddly dark and foul in feel. I turned and watched as the door finally gave way and two men entered, one carrying what looked like some sort of ax, without the sharper end. As they glanced around, confusion on their faces, I slipped past them and made my way back through the warehouse and out into the night.

  It took me longer than it normally would have to get across to the Brindle. The magic contained within my particles was not only heavy, but also very draining. The lack of strength might have been due to my inability to keep food down of late—which meant I was running more on reserves and determination than anything else—but I rather suspected it was more to do with the stone itself. Our sorceress had created these things, at least in part, through her own blood and life force. Maybe the magic sustained itself that way, too. And because I had wrapped it within my particles, it had naturally started draining me.

  The Brindle finally came into sight. I shifted downward, calling to the Aedh and flowing into human form on the grassy area at the front of the building. I stumbled and hit the ground knees first, my body shaking and my head light. The stone was still clasped tight to my chest, so I released the thing and instantly felt a little better. A little cleaner.

  I drew a shuddery breath, then looked up at the Brindle, waiting for someone to come out. I didn’t want to cart the stone inside—and seriously doubted I’d be able to, anyway, given the Brindle’s restrictions on evil entering its space—but I had no doubt the witches would be aware of my sudden appearance. They would have at least felt the ripple of the st
one’s foulness across the magic that protected this place.

  I had to wait only a second or so before three figures appeared—Ilianna, Zaira, and Kiandra. But as Ilianna took the stairs two at a time and ran toward me, there was something in her face—a light in her eyes—that told me she really had become a part of this place. At that moment, I had no doubt that she and Carwyn would come to an agreement and that she and I would never share a house again. We would remain close for the rest of our lives, but things could and would never go back to what they were before all this madness began.

  I blinked back tears—again, selfish ones, because life itself was all about change, not remaining static—and smiled as she all but slid to a halt in front of me.

  “I’m okay,” I said swiftly, “despite my somewhat inelegant landing.”

  “Maybe, but what the fuck is that?” She knelt on the other side of the cuneiform stone and tentatively reached out a hand. She didn’t touch it, however, but hovered her fingers an inch above the stone.

  “It’s another of those cuneiform stones.”

  She frowned. “It’s rather small, isn’t it? Aren’t all the others at least six feet tall?”

  “Yes, but don’t let its size fool you,” I said. “It’s as powerful as its taller brethren.”

  “Do they all feel this damn nasty?”

  “Yeah, but then, a very nasty sorceress made them.”

  “I think ‘nasty’ is underdescribing the bitch.” She pulled her hand away and sat back on her heels. “Why bring it here?”

  “Because I wanted to know if the warding bracelet you made me is strong enough to withstand the assault of someone capable of this sort of magic.” I half shrugged. “I figured if I brought one of them here, you’d have a greater idea of what I face.”

  “We are well aware of what you face.” Kiandra stopped beside Ilianna. “But we can give no guarantee as to whether the wards will withstand the type of magic that burns within that stone. It is a very foul mix of both the magic from this world and the other.”