by Keri Arthur
I glanced at the stone lying in front of me. “But if it wasn’t actually created with blood magic, shouldn’t the wards hold up against it? It’s only blood magic that’s the problem, isn’t it?”
“Again, I cannot say.” She studied me for a moment, then said, “What has happened?”
I took a deep, somewhat shuddery breath, and said, voice surprisingly calm, “We walked into a trap. Azriel was taken.”
Ilianna sucked in a breath. “Is he . . . ?”
I smiled, but it felt grim. False. “He’s okay.” Or, at the very least, he was alive. “I’d know if it were otherwise.”
“The sorceress using his life as a bargaining chip for the key is not quite what I had envisioned,” Kiandra murmured. “I had thought it would be Hunter.”
“Our sorceress is nothing if not adaptable.” Once again I shoved fear and the need to be doing something—anything—rather than kneeling here calmly discussing logistics and magic back into its box. I couldn’t allow fear free, because it could all too swiftly become debilitating. And if I rushed, I could kill everything—everyone—I was trying to save. “And given that everyone else who means anything to me is otherwise protected, I guess he’s the logical target.”
“But your reaper would not be an easy target to contain,” Zaira said. She tucked a hand under Ilianna’s elbow and helped her rise. “Creating a cage capable of such a feat should have weakened her.”
“Should being the operative word there,” Kiandra commented, “Remember, she has had access to Aedh craft and spells, and we have no knowledge of the effects that will have on human flesh and spirit. It may not leave her anywhere near as debilitated as blood magic.”
“True.” Zaira’s expression was pensive. “Perhaps the only safe way to counter any spells designed to capture or otherwise control your actions would be to somehow not be you.”
I frowned. “She knows I’m part Aedh. She’d surely take that into account in any magic she aims my way. And given her connection to Lucian, she undoubtedly knows I’m also a face shifter.”
“Face shifting is not the answer,” Kiandra said. “Any alternate form you may take is still you.”
Join, Amaya said. Then magic not problem.
I blinked. What?
Join, she said again. Become one. Then not flesh or steel but both.
My heart began to race. As solutions went, it was a pretty damn good one. There was just one slight problem, and that was Amaya herself. The last time we became one, you decided you liked being in my body and I had to battle to get you back into the sword.
Weak you were, she said, somewhat huffily. Not so now.
Which isn’t actually a guarantee you’ll leave when asked.
Can’t eat her soul in flesh. The huffy tone was even more pronounced. And eat will.
That’s one promise I sure as hell hope you’ll keep.
Will, she said. Together we strong.
Maybe, but it was yet to be seen whether we were stronger than a dark sorceress. Or, indeed, a mad vampire with the power of a god behind her.
“I may have a solution that will work.” I glanced at Ilianna. “But I need to find Azriel fast, and I don’t want to use the stones to do it.”
“No,” Kiandra said. “A very well-prepared trap would undoubtedly wait at the other end of them.”
“Then I’ll search for him,” Ilianna said. “Wait here while I get my athame.”
She turned and ran back to the Brindle. I returned my gaze to Kiandra. “Would destroying this stone have any rebound effect on the sorceress’s strength?”
Kiandra hesitated. “Possibly, but it is not something I’d wish to do within the grounds of this place, as we could not guarantee that the evil bound within the stone would be deflected by the Brindle’s shields once released.”
I frowned. “But you have my father’s warding stones in place now—shouldn’t they work?”
“Again, possibly, but we are talking about a bastardization of magic from this world and the next. I will not risk the lives of all those within these walls on such uncertainty. Not when there are greater perils to be dealt with first.”
Like keeping the final gate to hell safe and secure. She might not have said it, but she was certainly thinking it.
“Besides,” Zaira added, “it would warn your sorceress that her plans have gone awry. That might not be a wise move if you wish to save your reaper.”
“Which is why I came here rather than charging headfirst through the stones,” I said. “And you have no idea how hard it was to not do that.”
Zaira gripped my arm and lightly squeezed. “It’s not easy to kill a reaper—and the sorceress would be foolish to even attempt it before she gained possession of the key. There is time yet.”
I took another of those deep, shuddery breaths and released it slowly. “I know. It’s just that . . . everything that can go wrong has gone wrong so far. I don’t want Azriel to join that list.”
“That possibility has been there from the beginning,” Kiandra said, “and the reaper was more than aware of that fact.”
I met her gaze. “That may be true, but it’s not exactly comforting right now.”
“You must be prepared to fight hard, regardless of who or what is at risk,” Kiandra said. “Because unless you are, you will lose, and you will take this world down with you.”
“I’m more than a little aware of what is at stake,” I said, voice grim. “And more than willing to kill both women at the heart of this mess. I just need help to do it.”
“I know, and I do not mean to chastise you in any way. It is more a warning. The fights that approach—” She hesitated and half shrugged. “It will, in the end, fall to you alone to end all this, no matter what outside help you might have.”
Which was both what I expected and what I feared. That, in the end, it would be just me and Hunter and the fate of the world hanging on the outcome.
Ilianna appeared at the top of the steps, athame in one hand. As she ran toward us, Kiandra added, “I wish you luck, young Risa. Leave the stone where it is—it can hurt no one when separated from its twin. We’ll deal with it when all this is over and done, one way or another.”
She turned and walked gracefully away. I had an odd feeling I wouldn’t see her again, even if I did survive the next nine hours.
Zaira stepped forward and kissed my cheeks. “Good luck,” she said softly. “Not that I think you will need it. You have grown in so many ways over these last few weeks, Risa. I truly believe neither Hunter nor the sorceress really understands the force they now face.”
I smiled, though it felt tight. “I’d like to think that’s true, but I’m afraid they both know altogether too much about me. They certainly know all about my weakness.”
“But your weaknesses are also your strengths. Had they realized that, I doubt they would have taken the paths they now have.”
I frowned. The paths they now have? “Does that mean Hunter has a kidnap plot up and running as we speak?”
Because if that were the case, then I had better warn Rhoan as soon as I could. He might not be happy about me harping on about the risk he was under, but he was the only one she had any hope of getting her grubby little mitts on right now.
Zaira hesitated. “I cannot tell you that for sure. I just know both evils are on very similar paths.”
“Fabulous.” Not, as Amaya would say.
Zaira hugged me briefly again, then turned and followed Kiandra back to the Brindle. Ilianna stopped in front of me and gestured toward the sword shoved through my T-shirt. “Is that Valdis?”
“Yes.” I pulled her free and held her out.
Ilianna reached out but didn’t immediately take her. “Will she mind?”
“I doubt it. Not if it helps find Azriel.”
“Oh. Good.” She somewhat tentatively wrapped her fingers around Valdis’s hilt. Flames flickered briefly down her bright blade, but otherwise there was little reaction.
Ilianna moved
several feet away and placed Valdis at her feet. She raised the athame, holding it forward and slightly to the right of shoulder height. Facing east, she drew a pentacle in the air, then said, “Masters of the Watchtowers of the East, Masters of the Air; I wake and summon you to witness my works and to guard the Circle.”
She turned to the south, then west and north, repeating the pentacles and beseeching the masters of fire, water, and earth for their protection. A light wind sprung up, teasing the ends of her hair and tugging lightly at her clothes. Then it died, replaced by a sense of watchfulness.
She sat cross-legged on the ground, placed Valdis across her lap, and began the finding incantation.
I paced. I simply couldn’t stand still. I needed to be moving, to be doing something, and pacing was better than nothing. It was certainly better than worrying over the fact that I couldn’t ring Rhoan right away because the phone was in bits or over what might be happening to Azriel . . . I shoved the thought away. He was alive. For now, that was all that mattered.
I have no idea how much time passed, because I wasn’t wearing a watch, but it seemed like hours rather than the ten minutes or so it probably was before Ilianna made a move.
She rose, made a motion with her athame to remove the protection circle, then walked toward me. The night’s shadows played across her face and made her look tired and worn; my requests were taking a toll on her, and guilt slithered through me. No more, I promised mentally. She’d done enough for me, and so had the Brindle witches. As Kiandra had said, the fights from now on were mine, and mine alone. It was time to acknowledge that and just get on with it.
Though that didn’t mean I would walk into any fight unprepared. I wasn’t that stupid.
“Any success?” I asked, even as I feared the worst.
She smiled and handed me Valdis. “Yes, although he’s protected by some very fierce barriers.”
“That’s not exactly unexpected.”
“No.” She ran a hand through her hair, pushing it away from her face. It just made the tiredness more evident. “He’s at that second warehouse you and Jak found.”
Surprise ran through me. I thought they’d be somewhere new rather than someplace we’d been before. But then, I guess it was situated on a ley line, which enabled the sorceress to tap into that magic and use it to power her own. She might even be able to siphon the force of the ley-line intersection near Stane’s through it.
I shoved Valdis back through the tear in my shirt. “Then that’s where we’ll head.”
“You really shouldn’t go alone—”
“There is no other choice,” I cut in gently. “Kiandra’s right. This is my fight. You’ve all done what you can to help me, but in the end, I’m the only one who has any chance against them.”
And I had to hope that the Brindle’s barrier had kept my Cazador watcher out of earshot. Because if it was Myer rather than Markel, then I’d just outed myself to Hunter.
Ilianna stepped forward and wrapped her arms around me, her hug fierce, almost desperate. “Just be careful. Please. I couldn’t bear to lose you as well as Tao—”
I pulled away slightly. “Tao’s doing fine. He and the fire elemental have come to an agreement. He has to spend his nights up at Macedon, but he’ll have the days free.”
“Oh, thank god,” she breathed. “When did you see him?”
“A couple of hours ago. He was just heading back to the sacred site so the elemental can take over.”
“That’s a good sign, then.” She gave me a twisted half smile. “Now I just need you safe, and all will be good in the world again.”
“Believe me, I have no plans to become a dark angel just yet.” I hugged her again but kept it brief, then pulled away. “You’d better go back inside and get some rest. You look like crap.”
She laughed. “There’s a case of the pot calling the kettle black, if I ever heard one.”
“True. Go. Amaya and I have to prepare ourselves for our meeting with the sorceress.”
Her laughter faded, but she didn’t say anything, just turned and ran for the Brindle. I had a suspicion she didn’t want me to see her fear. Or her tears.
I waited until she’d disappeared inside and the Brindle’s grand old doors had closed once more against the night, then drew Amaya. Lilac flames rippled down the sides of her shadowed blade, and her expectant, excited hum began to roll across the outer edges of my mind.
“Let’s get this party started,” I said, voice grim. “Amaya, become one with me.”
For a moment, nothing happened. Then the lilac fire exploded, becoming a minifireball as power surged across the night, the steel, and me with equal ferocity. It was a storm that tore my core apart, then pieced me back together, all within a heartbeat.
Only it was no longer just me in this body, but we.
Amaya was once again within me, sharing my flesh and my thoughts, even as we shared powers and abilities. It was a strange, unsettling sensation, but one I was more than happy to put up with if it saved both my butt and Azriel’s.
I called to the Aedh. The magic’s response was both swifter and more powerful than ever before, and I couldn’t help wondering whether the union with a demon spirit had amplified its power. In particle form, we turned and headed for the warehouse as fast as possible. The night blurred around us, and the headlights of the cars and trucks on the streets below were little more than bright streaks of light.
It didn’t take us long to reach the old defense site in Maribyrnong, where the second of Lauren’s warehouses was located. There were several other similarly old warehouses located along the same section of road, all of them little more than large concrete boxes. There were no cars in this immediate area, and there didn’t seem to be anyone moving about.
Which didn’t mean there wasn’t anyone here.
Azriel was, for starters. Ilianna’s finding spells were never wrong, and I seriously doubted Lauren would have been able to move him in the brief time it had taken me to get here. Besides, it took almost as much time and effort to dismantle spells as it did to create them. She’d hardly have set this place up as a trap, then flee the minute I didn’t step into it precisely how she’d planned.
We did a quick circle around the building. It was a two-story structure, with small, evenly spaced windows lining both levels. The bottom ones were protected by metal bars, but not the top. I couldn’t see anything unusual or out of place, nor could I feel any sort of magic. But I had no doubt that it was here.
We arrowed closer. Tension rolled through us—mine more fear based, Amaya’s filled with the need to rent and tear and consume. She really was a bloodthirsty little demon.
Is, she said, her voice echoing weirdly through the mass that was the two of us, what demons meant to do.
I guessed it was—and it wasn’t like I could complain given that very bloodthirstiness had saved my backside more than once.
As we drew close enough to look through some of the windows, energy began to flicker across my particles. Its touch was unclean but powerful, and warning enough that magic was active here. But what, exactly, it was set to do was undoubtedly the question we would soon find an answer to.
I spun around and headed for the rear of the building. When Jak and I had come here, we’d gotten into the warehouse through a window left partially open at the back of the building. We’d left it as we’d found it, so unless Lauren had discovered it was open, it might still be possible to get in that way. If the magic didn’t stop us, that was.
The window was still open. I hesitated, then cursed myself for doing so and slipped in through the small gap. Energy crawled across me, pinpricks of power that nipped and stung my particles, but they didn’t impede our entry in any way.
But maybe that wasn’t the intent behind the magic. Maybe it was nothing more than an early warning system. If it was, then Lauren would now undoubtedly be aware of my presence, and that meant I had to be more cautious.
I looked around. This room hadn’t changed
any since the last time I was here. Metal shelving lined the walls, but there was little else except dust. I scooted under the small gap between the door and the concrete floor, then checked out the various rooms on this upper level—all of which were still empty—before making my way downstairs.
The foul bite of magic got stronger. Amaya hissed in annoyance, the sound grating as it echoed through our joined beings. I ignored it and swept around the room, trying to see what traps—if any—Lauren might have left here. Again, there was nothing to see but dust, and it was only the magic that nipped at our particles that told me anything had changed since the last time we were here. There were certainly no obvious signs of magic—no black candles, pentagrams, or other magical accoutrements, and certainly no conventional types of security, like cameras, guards, or demons.
But then, most of the other times we’d been attacked by some form of demon, they hadn’t actually appeared until we’d gained flesh form.
I did another run around the inside perimeter, just to be certain I hadn’t missed anything obvious—and given my current state of tiredness, that was certainly a possibility. But other than the furniture remnants left in offices that lined the street side of the building, this place was a vast, empty space. Which left only the stairs—or rather, the hole Azriel had created under them when we’d raided this place and discovered the tunnels and caverns our sorceress had created beneath the building.
That was where Lauren was.
That was where Azriel was.
And it was undoubtedly also where any trap would be.
But it wasn’t like I had any other choice. Not if I wanted to save Azriel and kill the bitch who held him.
We one, Amaya said. Magic not stick.
I hope like hell you’re right, my friend, because otherwise we could be in trouble.
Trouble not, she said. Trust must.
I did trust her. It was the sorceress I didn’t trust.
We went over to the hole and carefully looked down, every particle tense, ready to run or fight, depending on what happened. Nothing did, but that only made the tension worse, not better. The hole revealed nothing more than a deep well of blackness, and everything was silent, still.