The Last Danann (Titanian Chronicles, #2)

by Victoria Saccenti

Soren watched and listened in silence. He’d deferred the questioning to his female allies.

  “Then help us see. Show us,” Maya pressed a little more.

  “Brysys, you’re safe here. We want to help you. I can assure you, he won’t get past Soren’s security rings,” Talaith said.

  “Security rings… Fools, you’re such fools.” She buried her face in her palms. “Please, gods of the universe, help me.”

  Talaith crossed her gaze with Maya’s. Soren, sipping the last of his tea, remained impassive. As if by mental accord, they waited for Brysys to spend her anguished tears. When her sobs subsided, Maya grasped Brysys’s wrist in a sign of solidarity. Talaith couldn’t jump in, even with her full support. Further statements, in lieu of hard evidence, were required before she could trust that much. Life had taught her caution. What the hell do I know about Brysys, really?

  “You called us fools,” Maya said.

  Brysys lifted her face. “I did.”

  “That tells me nothing.” Maya’s tone was terse, colder. “Explain.”

  Exhaling a deep breath, Brysys settled against her club chair. The sorceress wiped her face and neck with her palm, then checked whatever hair had fallen forward. She’d been using this delay tactic since the questions began.

  “Dubtach is an entity of death magic.” Brysys spoke at last. “Your assumptions were correct, I helped him escape.”

  Maya angled her head. “No one here suggested you had.”

  “Please. Just because you’re all fools, don’t treat me like one. I’ve survived Tenebrarium for hundreds of years, dodging Astarot’s deadly anger one day at a time. I’ve seen and heard things you couldn’t imagine. And yes, in order to escape, I joined my magic with Dubtach’s, trampling my beliefs and code of ethics. He needed both, bad and good, and it worked. Believe me, no matter how veiled, your sarcasm is pretty damned obvious.”

  “There she is.” Maya smirked. “Say hello to the real, tough-as-nails Brysys. I was getting tired of the eggshells and sensitivity. You’ve confused our kindness for weakness. Let’s hear it, from beginning to end. Don’t think you can equivocate and give half-truths.” She pointed a finger in Talaith’s direction. “We have a damned accurate seer among us. She’ll pick your lies apart.”

  Ignoring Maya’s tirade, Brysys glared at Talaith, then allowed a tiny smile to appear. Smirk? Sneer? Talaith shivered at the ice behind the druid’s expression.

  Clutching the armrests of her chair, Brysys frowned at Maya. “What lies? I’ve been jailed in Astarot’s castle for countless years. That’s common knowledge.”

  “Wrong,” Soren said. “You disappeared. That’s common knowledge. For centuries, mages like Khnurn believed you were dead.”

  “I stand corrected.” She bowed her head. “It all began when Eachann and I agreed to meet in our favorite spot in Loch Maree. Just outside Blackstone Manor.” Brysys’s expression became wistful, lost in the clouds of time. As she continued, her voice cracked. “The place was special for us. We’d spent many happy days there.”

  “Do you need a drink?” Maya asked.

  “No, thank you.” Sighing, she said, “Neither one of us knew about his brother Graeme’s machinations.”

  Soren straightened. “Damn. Eachann had a brother?”

  “Yes. He died before you were born.”

  “I didn’t know. Please continue.”

  “My romance with Eachann was blissful and perfect. Not once did we suspect the envy his brother harbored or that he wanted to take everything from him. Later, I learned the full extent of his hatred.” Brysys tapped her fingers on the armrest. “I suppose Eachann told him of our meeting in passing. Why wouldn’t he? Graeme made a deal. He’d deliver Eachann to Astarot in exchange for me, then set up the ambush. But Graeme was so blinded by his jealousy that he didn’t see the truth in Astarot’s plans. The daemon lord wanted both vampires killed, and gave the orders.” She paused.

  “Still, okay?” Maya asked.

  She nodded. “As lieutenants of the horde descended on Eachann and me, Graeme laughed at his brother. He claimed I was his lover and the architect of the ambush. I tried to argue, but was gagged, and my hands were tied in an instant, which rendered me unable to defend us. Eachann resisted, and a fight broke out. In the melee, a lieutenant stabbed Graeme. He expired in a ball of red dust just as the infamous vampire rage took over Eachann. I saw a moment of his anger before I was pushed through the dimensional pathway. I’ve languished in Tenebrarium ever since.” She rolled her shoulders, then closed her eyes, tilting her head back.

  “And you don’t know what happened after that,” Soren said.

  “I got bits of information through the years. Finally put it all together. I know Eachann hates me. I heard it from his own lips.”

  “That’s the past. Bring us to the present,” Maya said. “How did you escape?”

  “Dubtach took me to his private chambers. Where I had… I had to willingly pay for freedom,” she groaned.

  “I see,” Maya murmured. “You may have agreed, but in essence, he raped you.”

  “Correct.”

  “And then…”

  “Hold on,” Talaith stepped in. “Take me with you.”

  “With me? I don’t understand,” Brysys said.

  “Let me join you in the memory. It will help, make it easier to tolerate, and I can visually capture what is difficult to express or something you might have missed.” She held out her palm.

  “I put my hand on yours and you travel with me. Is that it?” Brysys’s huge questioning eyes darted from her palm to her face.

  “That’s it.”

  The sorceress extended her fingers, the gesture tentative and careful. She touched Talaith’s palm, then yanked her fingers back. “Gods of the universe. There’s power in you. I need to figure this out. It’s like… It’s like…” She rubbed her fingers, searching for the words.

  “You’ve touched an electric socket,” Maya finished for her. “We forget you’ve lived in isolation. Eventually, you’ll catch up.”

  Talaith waited, her hand still outstretched as she had expected this reaction. Brysys tried again. When the sorceress’s fingers descended on her skin, she didn’t pull back.

  “There,” Talaith whispered. “Close your eyes and let go.”

  She clutched Brysys’s fingers…

  A wild vortex sucked them both into a stygian abyss. Wind roared in her ears, energy swells buffeted them backward and forward against invisible barriers where fangs and claws waited to tear and stab at them. Brysys screamed and called for help. And still they plummeted hand in hand in an inexorable downward direction.

  Not downward. Her mind fought to reason through the dizzying speed. Down is the underworld, Hel and Hades’s domain. Brysys whimpered at her side. Talaith regained control.

  Calm down. Breathe, Talaith instructed through the mental link.

  She pulled the sorceress closer, centered her power, and their vertiginous fall ended inside a cavernous chamber. Hovering midair, malevolent green eyes bore into Talaith. Brysys walked toward the mysterious gaze. Talaith followed. From the depths of an endless darkness, a male with no features stepped out. The hovering eyes floated back through the ether and settled within the empty sockets. She knew Dubtach. He sneered in triumph.

  Black ooze, putrid smelling and hideous, pooled on the stone floor and eddied around their feet. The frightening goo continued to rise and fill the room. Poisonous, viscous swirls growing thicker and higher engulfed her body, invaded her mouth, nose, and eyes. Her lungs choked. In a supreme effort, she shouted out her power, and the red-hot explosion ejected the evil slush and hurled Dubtach several feet back. Brysys remained in place. He held up a fist, then gestured at the druid with his free hand.

  Stay away from him.

  Brysys heard no one, only Dubtach’s unspoken orders. Obeying his command, she sent her magic forth, tying it to his. Good and evil forces collided. The resulting sonic boom deafened Talaith, and the walls rip
ped and collapsed. A jagged line cracked the ceiling in two, making one side dark as night, the other bright as day.

  Earth. Reach for earth.

  She dashed for Brysys. As she grabbed the sorceress’s arm, an upended vortex sucked them in reverse. Ascending faster and faster, into the light, into the sunshine, into the pure air, the dimensional pathway roared open and spit them both into space…

  “Talaith!” Kailen’s beloved voice called her name as she tumbled aimlessly. A vision of beautiful snowcapped mountains flashed by…

  When she opened her eyes, she was still sitting in the strategy room with Brysys’s hand in hers.

  Head bent, the sorceress wept. A damp spot formed on the lap of her gown.

  For Talaith’s part, it would take a few minutes before she could speak at all. She’d never been in the presence of so much evil.

  Maya showed her a bottle of water. Gratefully, she downed the full contents.

  Brysys spoke between hiccups. “My power did it. I’m responsible. I gave him the key to this plane.”

  “Not quite,” Talaith panted, still catching her breath. “You didn’t have a choice. In your weakened, spellbound state, his death magic subsumed you. Evil took you. In the confusion, the world upended, and you couldn’t distinguish right from wrong. I saw it, felt every bit of it. The only way to escape was to punch out the pathway. We have a problem, though. Has it retracted to its original place, or is it still extended?”

  Brysys sighed. “I can’t be certain.”

  Talaith glanced from Soren to Maya. “The pathway is a cosmic gate, and we can’t take the chance that it’s still open. Khnurn can send it back. I don’t have that skill yet. I’ll need Brysys’s help. I have a feeling that’s how Oras came through. The longer it stays open, the more daemon mages and high creatures can escape the exile realm. We have to close it now.” She held up a palm. “Listen to me. As soon as the situation with the gateway is resolved, I’m leaving to rejoin Kailen. I won’t accept further orders. And…” She paused. “One of you should come with us. To keep Brysys company on the way back. If you get my meaning?”

  Hell, she couldn’t be more obvious if she spelled out that Brysys must be watched at all times.

  “Kailen, you said? The same handsome man from Scotland? Was the voice we heard his?” Brysys chimed in, her mental processes suddenly rather clear.

  “Listen, sweetheart,” Soren drawled in an exaggerated southern accent. “Kailen’s heart is taken. I suggest you focus your attention on Eachann. Don’t you have some itty-bitty issues to fix with the big vampire?”

  “Only if he lets me,” she retorted icily.

  “Then get on it. Time’s a-wasting.” He stood. “Let’s go check that pathway, gate, or whatever. I’m going with you.”

  Brysys’s directions were on target. Their group exited on a ledge at elevation 4,000 feet, which was about halfway up Monte Darwin, a major peak in Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego, the Chilean Patagonia. Gale-force winds, ice, and snow cut and tore at them from every direction. Directly above them, the monstrous mouth of the dimensional pathway had punched a hole between the exile realm and the earthly plane. Its shattered flap rim slapped and thrummed under the force of the elements.

  They’d come dressed for polar conditions. At this altitude, the cold was much more intense. Talaith attempted to speak, but her frozen facial muscles refused to obey.

  Soren waved at them, signaling they should huddle together. Talaith pushed a paralyzed Brysys toward the big Titanian. Steadying the sorceress on her feet, Soren dropped a glamour curtain around them. The wind and sound ceased abruptly.

  “This reinforced glamour shield will give us a few minutes of warmth to gather our wits and make a plan,” Soren explained. “Talk to me, ladies. You’ve seen it. What’s your diagnosis?”

  “We have to repair the loose pieces, attach them to the rim, make it smooth, fold the blades closed, and send the whole thing back,” Talaith said.

  He turned to Brysys. “And you?”

  “I concur.” The sorceress nodded. “I can patch the flaps if Talaith supports my effort.”

  “Will that take care of it?”

  “Not entirely. After we attach the flaps to the rim, we have to seal the mouth, and at that point, the passage should retract on its own.”

  Soren frowned. “What if it doesn’t retract?”

  “Then we’ll have to do two spells.”

  “Fine. I’ll remove the glamour for phase one. Once that’s taken care of, we come back inside to recover. Okay?”

  “Sounds good,” Talaith said.

  He lifted his hands, and the polar hurricane returned with a vengeance. The howling wind pummeled Talaith against the mountainside. The ledge seemed narrower now. She stepped on a patch of bare ice and slipped. Brysys caught her by the wrist.

  “Hey. Careful. We need you.” The sorceress amplified the volume of her voice.

  Talaith gave her a thumbs-up.

  Turning to face the gate, Brysys opened her arms as if she could embrace the huge opening. Standing behind her, chest to back, Talaith called the spell forth and thrust her hands forward. Energy flew out of them and entwined halfway out, combining both magical forces in a unified spell. The loose flaps returned to their original positions. With a deafening roar, the gateway’s sealing blades rotated on their hinges. In a cascading pattern, one folded upon the edge of the next, effectively sealing the gargantuan exit. The opening flattened into a smooth surface.

  Talaith cursed under her breath. The passageway hadn’t budged an inch.

  Soren quickly motioned for another huddle.

  “Ugh,” Brysys muttered, slapping her hands together. “Damn, it’s not retracting as it should.”

  “We’re going to have to work harder.” Talaith spoke to the sorceress. “I’ll push my magic, and you reinforce me. Can you manage?”

  “Count on me.”

  Soren grabbed Talaith’s shoulder. “When the pathway retracts, take off. Don’t wait for us. We’re going in a different direction anyway.”

  “Got it,” she said.

  The gale shrieked louder. Her hood fell back under the force. Ice sliced her face, and her ears threatened to shatter into tiny pieces. Pulling the hood over her head once more, she concentrated on breathing. By sheer force of will, she ordered her reluctant lungs to exhale and inhale, ignoring the sharp pain. Tensing her fingers into claws, she called upon her cells to link and deliver their power into her core. She revved up like an engine, paused at the apex of effort, then signaled to Brysys. The sorceress stood behind her, clasped Talaith’s arms, and, murmuring the ancient words, they sent their magic forth.

  Nothing happened. The monstrous channel didn’t budge an inch. Redoubling her efforts, Talaith hurled out a new wave. Her internal temperature was rising. Her poison-killing furnace had come alive, and she no longer felt the wind and ice. This time, the thing trembled under the force of her heat.

  “Yaaah!” Brysys exclaimed. “Do it again. Do it again! It’s going.”

  Talaith closed her eyes, muttered the words with a focused intensity she’d never experienced before, and pushed, propelling the last ounce of heat. The pathway shook violently as the solid base of ice and snow crumbled. Released from its frozen trap, the huge channel slung back into the exile realm, leaving nothing but perfect blue skies.

  Wasting no time to rejoice, she called the portal and jumped in. Kailen needed her.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Bright afternoon light and a soft summer breeze swept unimpeded through Vallen’s kitchen windows. Standing at his counter, he added milk to his tea, stirred, and sat at his table opposite Kailen.

  “I remember Roald and Zeus. I’d moved to Hillsborough long before he came to charm his fated mate, Regina Karallas. Pretty girl. Industrious too. I’m glad it worked out for them. Roald used every precaution. He even changed his last name, went by Trenton to throw daemons off his trail and protect Ginny.”

  Kailen peered up from his
steaming mug of coffee. “Is that right? I was too involved with Soren’s and Brant’s missions to learn about Roald’s strategy.”

  “For several months, he crafted and maintained his identity as a blind executive with a guide dog. Her circumstances required care.”

  “Why?”

  Vallen picked up a biscotti from a cookie bowl sitting midtable and bit half off. Covering his mouth, still full of cookie, he explained, “Because years prior to opening her coffee shop, an attempt was made on Ginny’s and her parents’ lives. The Karallases were meant to die in a car crash. Only she survived.”

  Kailen frowned. “Damn. The pattern repeats from mate to mate.”

  “Oh?”

  “Daemons also went after Maya, Soren’s mate.” Kailen sipped his coffee.

  Eyebrows raised, his host stopped chewing.

  He took that as his cue to continue. “Lord Astarot didn’t count on Anna’s quick actions, Maya’s godmother. Right before Maya’s biological father was executed, Anna spirited the baby to the States and placed her with the Browns, a caring couple in middle America. The girl was safely lost for a while. No one knows how Astarot got wind of her home in Oklahoma. He sent lieutenants, and the Browns perished in a freak swimming accident. Anna came to the rescue again. She whisked the teen with her to Manhattan and hid her until Ambassador Devon, high dignitary from the Elf Court, went through Gustaf’s Titanian scrolls and discovered Maya’s existence and whereabouts.”

  “What a bastard. I’m sure throwing him out on his ass presented a diplomatic conflict for Gustaf and the council. How long has Ambassador Devon held his post?”

  “Maybe a few months. Why?”

  “Then it’s someone else,” Vallen said.

  “You mean another spy?”

  “Think about it. An unknown vehicle struck Ginny and her parents’ car. She escaped by the kindness of the gods. Maya lost hers, twice. Last September, I spotted a lieutenant sniffing around town. Two months later, Ginny was attacked again. Roald and Zeus handled it, of course.”

  “Wait until I tell you the rest,” Kailen said. “In March of this year, Maya’s symbol appeared in Soren’s scrolls for the first time ever.” He tapped his fingertip on the table. “It was a miraculous development. Soren was going rogue. The signs were there, and family and allies had accepted the Titanian’s inevitable termination. And even after Ambassador Devon was found reading the scrolls and Maya’s symbol showed up, Gustaf didn’t mention the finding to Soren for fear it was a cosmic error of sorts.”