A Witch's Beauty

by A Witch's Beauty (lit)

  He came to her again, stood before her. Round and round. They'd circled that silver ash so many times it could be a casting, a building of power. There was nowhere to retreat as she stood on the ledge where it met the water, could feel it lapping at her human heels, for she'd shifted to human to lay out the bodies. His broad chest was before her gaze, so capable and strong, and yet so fragile, as all life was fragile. Raising her lashes, she stared at him. "No," she said.

  His hands closed on her upper arms as she quivered at the heat of his touch, the way his face tilted over hers. A lock of his damp hair had fallen loose from where he'd slicked it back. "You won't ask me to sacrifice myself, even if it takes the chance of success from zero to the slimmest of possibilities? Even if you'll be lost to eternal torment and damnation without my help?"

  His gaze seemed to reach down inside her, pick up her heart, for it felt like it was beating in the inescapable grip of his eyes. "I told you that you would eventually say it back to me," he murmured. "You're saying it now."

  Mina stared up at him. "I thought..." She swallowed it back, but he had the courage to say it.

  "You thought I hated you." His hands were becoming more gentle. Gods, stroking her skin. "Mina, I hate that I lost three of my angels. That I didn't realize I needed to trust Jonah with the knowledge of the portal and have faith in my ability to figure out another way to keep your trust. I hate what the Dark Ones do to you. But hate you?" She saw a glimmer of white, the rich brown warmth of his irises for just a moment in the flickering lights of her cave. "You won't get rid of me so easily, sweet witch. You know, in the deepest part of your soul, that you need me in order to do this."

  When he slid his fingers over her hand, somehow now resting on his chest, she closed her eyes. "I'm so afraid, David."

  "I know that."

  "I don't want to do it. Not if I'm going to lose you. I don't want to risk you."

  "Get over it," he said. "It's the plan that makes the most sense. And even if it didn't, I'm not letting you go into that rift alone. I made an oath to serve the Lady, and to serve you. I'm going to do both. We're going to go together, and we'll figure it out."

  As he cupped the side of her face, Mina let out a soft sob, despite herself, and his touch tightened, holding her closer, fingers digging into her hair. He'd left her in anger and violent urgency, come back with guilt and pain. Now, in figuring out what needed to be done to fix mistakes, protect her and serve his Lady, he showed her why he was an angel. Beneath the passion and humor, tenderness, affinity for Rolling Stones' songs and chocolate chip cookies, the uncertainty that could attend making mistakes and learning from them, there was an old soul who understood what things mattered, endured. It pervaded that soothing touch.

  She looked up at him then, her heart in her throat. "I really didn't want to care about you at all."

  Now he did smile. "I know that."

  With a rueful look, David stepped back, though he held on to her hand. "Jonah's on his way. He can be your transport point. You need a strong mind to connect to, one with enough power for a great distance. He's the one to do it."

  "No." Mina shook her head, new resolve on her face. "It has to be you. You have to stay here. I don't want him connected to my mind."

  "Mina, that's been decided. I'm going."

  "You decided. And you can decide all you want, but it's up to me."

  Ignoring her, he continued, "Have faith in Jonah. He may see the evil you fight, but he'll see the good in you that keeps you fighting it. I should have trusted him about the portal. Let's not make the same mistake again."

  "What will he think when he sees the visions I've had of cutting her throat, tasting her blood on my hands?" She pulled back from him.

  David closed the space between them again. "Why are you about to face the greatest fear you have, of the Darkness taking you over, Mina? Why does it matter what Jonah thinks of you? Or even me?"

  "Because I'm the only one who has the ability to get back the Trumpet," she snapped.

  "That's not it."

  Her lip curled back in a feral snarl, her crimson and blue eyes firing as she locked them on his intent face. "Because I'm going to walk in there, be surrounded by them, their energy, their persuasion, and take something from them, damn it. The way they took everything from my mother, so she could give me nothing of herself but my life before she gave up and died. I'm tired of being afraid of it. Tired of fighting who I am, when I don't really know who that is. It's time to find out. And maybe if I can do that, I can believe that I do deserve something else. That I can find out about happiness and laughter. And kiss you just once, without being afraid."

  When her gaze lingered on his mouth, David had to suppress the sudden urge to offer it to her, offer everything. "But I didn't want Jonah to know those thoughts I had about Anna," she added, a note of despair in her voice now. "I don't want her to know that, remember that about me."

  Giving her hands a squeeze so she wouldn't be startled, would know all was well, David nodded. "All right, then." Then he glanced to his left and Jonah moved out of the shadows.

  Twenty-one

  MARCELLUS was on his right and another captain, Bazak, on his left. From Jonah's expression, David knew he'd heard the very best thing he could have heard from the seawitch's lips. Her determination to decide her own destiny, which superseded the hold either light or dark had upon her. And her very personal need to maintain the connection with the one friend she'd had since birth.

  He's only been here for a couple minutes, he said to her in his mind, as Jonah and the other two angels took a moment to pay their respects to the evidence of silver ash, the remains of his three men. He wanted to be sure his suspicious witch didn't retreat from him, thinking all of it had been a ruse. She glanced at him, looking like she could murder him where he stood. For Mina, that was practically an expression of affection, however, and told him they were okay. As okay as any of them could be in this moment.

  "The witch's plan has reason to it," Jonah said in a measured voice at last. "Your participation leaves a few holes to be explained."

  Holes Jonah wasn't going to like at all, David knew. He'd stick with the high-level explanation. "The balance between good and evil within her is very precise," he responded. "She'll be going into a world where she'll be overwhelmed by that Darkness. I can help, even if I'm cloaked. We know the Trumpet can only be used by one of exceptional power. Do we take the risk of waiting until they emerge, if we have better odds sending her in after it?"

  You were right about her power. Let me be her balance. She knows I'm right about needing me there.

  "It's rude to talk about people in your heads when they're standing right here." Mina glared at the two silent angels.

  Marcellus eyed her. "You are going to give lectures on courtesy?"

  "Been craving any fruit and insects lately? Hanging upside down when you sleep?"

  "No, but squid may be on the menu soon." He aimed a pointed look at her legs.

  "Enough," Jonah said, shooting a hard glance between them.

  "Just one jolt," Marcellus suggested, unsheathing his blade. "Not enough to kill her. Just to get her to shut up for two seconds."

  Mina ignored him and stepped around David to face Jonah. "There are things he's not telling you."

  "Mina-"

  "First off, for him to survive in the Dark One world, I have to turn him into one."

  The two captains shifted, muttered, but Jonah kept his gaze pinned on Mina. "How?"

  Gods, being under that look was like being compressed beneath rock, particularly since she sensed David's gaze boring into her shoulders as well. Nevertheless, she held Jonah's look without flinching. "I need to inject the blood of a Dark One into his veins. Your men killed one." She glanced back at David. "I took several vials of its blood before I incinerated it."

  "Why would you have done that?" This from Marcellus.

  "Dark One blood is useful for several potions and spells. It's part of my stores. I rar
ely get the opportunity to obtain it so fresh." She arched a brow at the captain. "One of the things it can do is incapacitate an angel long enough to kill him, if prepared in the right way and sprayed upon his wings."

  When Marcellus stepped forward, Jonah put up a hand. "Seawitch," he said mildly, "I think we're all here for the same purpose. Don't taunt my captain. I may just let him dice you as he desires. So David drinks this blood-prepared in a way I assume won't incapacitate him, and that will make the Dark Ones accept him?"

  She inclined her head. "I would cast an illusion spell on him, for a short time, until we reached our destination. As long as he didn't have too much interaction with them, he would pass among them unnoted. They are creatures of impulse, but they do communicate and have identities. But he has to manage the effect of the blood to function."

  "We all meditate, practice focus. Is it doable for him?"

  She pressed her lips together, wanting to say no, but she didn't think anyone could lie before that dark, piercing stare. David was right. Jonah's daughter would get away with nothing, other than the things an indulgent father would allow. And she knew about the angels' ability for concentration. "Yes."

  "Would he have to live with it forever, when you return?"

  She felt David's tension behind her, knew he really didn't want her to keep talking. So she did, though hearing the words aloud was almost as hard as telling him the strategy in her mind. "We'll be lucky to get the Trumpet out to you. When we do, we will be deep in Dark One territory, with thousands of them between us and our portal to return. We won't make it back out. Which is why you should forbid him to go."

  "We've already covered this. I'm not letting you go alone," David said, his voice resolute. "You will not go without me."

  "For the sake of argument, let's pretend I am the Prime Legion Commander, and you take orders from me," Jonah said curtly.

  Jonah, it's as I said-

  "I heard you clearly, Lieutenant," Jonah snapped out loud. "If I am your blood link contact, Mina, will you be able to communicate with me?"

  She shook her head. "My link with you is like tying a line to a rock to find my way back, only I'll be sending the Trumpet along it. You'll know I'm successful when it appears at your feet. The link would need to be here, in these caves. This is the easiest focus point for me. You'll want additional reinforcements, for Dark Ones will flock to this portal once I'm successful."

  "We have ten outside."

  "You'll need more. Maybe fifty."

  Jonah nodded to the second captain, and he was gone with a clean ripple of water that ruffled the feathers of the angels that remained. "Back out the moment you have it and seal the portal," Mina continued. "Bring down the cave. That will block it off for certain. Many of the things stored here would be dangerous in the wrong hands anyway."

  She allowed herself a glance at her books, the potions and tools she'd collected throughout her life. Briefly lingered on the chimes, the ones she'd created, the one her mother had made her, the one gift that might have been prompted by the love she wished she could have given her daughter, if Mina believed in such things. "There is nothing here I will need," she said shortly.

  "Leave me here with a platoon, Jonah," Marcellus said. "It makes more sense for you and the other angels to spread out over the Earth's surface and prepare for an attack, if she's unsuccessful and Dark Ones come through with the Trumpet elsewhere. I can do the link with the witch."

  "That's fine," Mina said, giving him an indifferent look. "Though I didn't expect you to be brave enough to take my blood."

  "Nothing about you frightens me, witch. Except that hideous face of yours."

  "Enough. The two of you give me a headache." Jonah stepped in front of Marcellus. "This task is mine. I can get to all of you in less than a blink, and I will stay here and destroy the gate. Bazak will back me up with his platoon."

  "So I am going with her," David said.

  Mina's gaze darted back to Jonah, alarmed.

  "I have not decided that yet," the commander said flatly. He locked gazes with David, and his expression was forbidding. "You think I'm such a fool that I missed she said there were two parts of her plan? When it comes to your witch, I can't trust you, David." His attention flicked like the brief sting of a lash at the center of David's chest, where that brand rested.

  David's countenance tightened. "He didn't deserve that," Mina said hotly, stepping forward to bump toes with the commander.

  "Yes, he did. It does not mean I do not value him. Have a care." The brief warning was all she got before Jonah's short blade appeared just beneath her nose. He ran it across his arm, a swift movement, the blue blood welling up, pure and ethereal, causing the blood within her to recoil, making her light-headed.

  "Here." David was already behind her, steadying her with his body.

  When David saw her arm aligned with his commander's, he realized how truly small and fragile his witch was, her thin forearm in Jonah's powerful grasp. Even he seemed affected by it, for his long fingers closed on her arm with a gentler touch than David would have expected.

  He drew his own dagger. "Let me."

  Passing the blade over her flesh, he opened it, cradling her forearm himself while Jonah turned his arm to clasp her elbow, bringing the two wounds together. Mina's gaze met David's. As he'd hoped, he saw being marked by his blade had steadied her, though the storm clouds were still there. She could brew all she wanted. His jaw tightened. He was going to win this one.

  You know I'm right. I need to go. This is about more than your feelings or mine.

  As if that thought brought something else to the forefront of her mind, Mina's attention now shifted to Jonah. David watched her struggle with the unfamiliar act of making a request. "I would be grateful, if you never tell Anna what you see in my mind. It would hurt her to know. I wish it were different."

  "I think Anna understands far more about you than you've ever realized. She is goodness, as pure as any angel ever dreamed of being." As the depth of his feeling for the mermaid crept into the commanding voice, Mina was surprised to see something in the Prime Legion Commander's gaze upon her that might have been kindness. "And yes, innocent in many ways. But she has your bravery and intelligence, and true love goes into the darkest corners without fear."

  His eyes went to David and back to her again. "I think that may be an appropriate understanding for this moment. So tell me the rest, little witch."

  "They will trust me if I bring an angel to their world, bound with Dark Blood and my magic so that he is not only enslaved to my will, but can survive in their world that way. Proof of my willingness to serve their cause."

  Marcellus didn't bother to conceal his expression of shocked horror. Jonah's face became thunderous. "You would sacrifice him."

  "It is only one way. I can figure out how to do it without him, if I have no other choice." Please don't give me that choice, because I can't say no to him. You can.

  She'd forgotten that an angel could read a mind when it spoke directly to him. Jonah's gaze locked with hers, that anger in his expression not clearing, but she saw his mind evaluating. Just like David's, she thought with despair.

  "This blood link works quickly. My sense of your emotions on this is quite clear. You don't want him to go, are terrified of it, in fact. But you are lying about your chances alone. You don't think you can succeed without him."

  David's hand whispered over the back of her neck in a reassuring as well as admonishing touch. "Some things are harder to do alone. She doesn't like to admit that."

  It was like speaking over those jagged oyster shells again, the sharp pain of them cutting into her tongue, only this time it was her thoughts that cut into her heart. All I need is his faith in me, though I'll die without ever understanding it. Or being worthy of it. Because if he goes, yes. He's going to be the sacrifice that buys me time and credibility.

  "Now who's being rude?" David muttered, a hint of impatience at her ear as he apparently sensed the dialogue.
She ignored him, kept her attention riveted on Jonah.

  The commander said nothing. Bending, he picked up and replaced the silver wrist gauntlet he'd removed for the blood link. "You say you can track the Trumpet," he said at last. "How far from the portal do you think it will be?"

  "Not far," she responded, wishing he would make the decision, wishing he would say something so that the pressure in her chest wouldn't cause her to implode. But he was still deciding, and while he was still deciding, there was hope. "There are four towers in the corners of the Dark One world, used to concentrate rift energy. All rifts are entered through those structures. One is close to the exit from this portal, because I've seen it in my dreams. It makes sense they'd take it to that tower and open a rift to use it from there, when they're ready. They can open multiple rift points from one tower, however, so that doesn't help pinpoint where they might come through," she added when she saw the idea flash across Jonah's face.

  "Because it's an object of great magic, they need to keep it strongly warded so it's bearable for them to handle. It's not truly a light magic, but it's been in angels' hands. That will resonate, leave a trail. I can find it easily if I'm wrong about the tower."

  Jonah turned away then and paced to the end of the ledge, which she saw put him in the line of sight of the next water-filled cavern, which could not mask some of her more questionable stores. The commander's impressive wings folded down into a tight, narrow heart along his broad back, the tips twining in the space between his braced legs. She saw the greaves on his calves had the same silver scrollwork as his wrist gauntlets. Protections, praises to his Lady. The right gauntlet had an etching of a mermaid. Knights going into battle had always carried a favor of their loved ones. As she looked at the blood still staining the edge of David's blade, the small trickle of it clotting on her arm, she wondered if this was hers. While Jonah had the option of carrying only the token, keeping the loved one safely out of the line of fire, Mina was on the verge of offering hers up to the enemy to be torn apart.