“I’m not being protective. I know how tough she is. This is different and personal because Khnurn’s involved.”
“All the more reason to take her. She’ll catch every clue. You hear me?”
“Got it.”
“Call me tomorrow. I’ll let you know what we’re doing at this end.”
“Later.”
Kailen ended the call and returned to the kitchen. Talaith’s and Vallen’s questioning faces waited for him. He riffled his hair, sifting through choices and possibilities, and at the end of the list, he sighed. Erring on the side of caution and considering Soren’s advice, he made up his mind.
“We’re all exhausted, especially you, a stór.” He held her soft hand, thinking of the tremendous power she wielded. “You came directly from dealing with a cosmic event to this problem with no break. We’ll go late morning, when the sun is high enough to illuminate every damned nook and cranny. Any questions, comments, objections?”
“I just checked my weather app.” Vallen grinned, turning his phone screen toward them. “Clear and sunny tomorrow, temps in the low eighties, fifty percent chance of rain in the evening. Call me your friendly weatherperson.”
Talaith’s gaze remained fixed on the table. He squeezed her fingers. “Thoughts?”
When she lifted her face, his stomach clenched. Her gorgeous lavender eyes glistened. That was as far as she would allow her emotions to show.
“I’m so scared. I can’t imagine the earthly plane without my mentor and guardian, the only father I’ve ever known.” She scowled. “If Dubtach has hurt him in any way, even the tiniest hair on his head, he will pay. I vow before you both. I will destroy him.”
“And I’ll be there to witness your justice, if I don’t get to him first.” Kailen brought her hand to his lips and kissed the tips of her fingers. “Okay, let’s get some sleep.”
“All right.” She pushed her chair back.
“If you don’t need us, Vallen, we’re retiring,” he said.
“I’m good, guys. I’ll lock up as soon as you leave.”
He guided her down the short corridor to the guest bedroom and waved her in. She moved around the simple furnishings, touching every surface, then swept her hand over the bedspread.
“Mmm. I feel you here, sleeping,” she murmured, then gazed at him from under hooded lids.
He ignored the spark of electricity her glance elicited. Kailen exhaled a sharp breath. Talaith needed rest and care, right away. Her usually perfect posture bent under the weight of exhaustion worried him.
“I’ve missed you, and I can’t wait to love you. I also see the strain. You’ve been running on empty. I’d be a selfish lover if I pushed you that far. Tomorrow is going to be a challenging day. You need sleep, so that’s what we’ll do.”
He plumped pillows for her and pulled the bedspread to the foot of the bed, slipped back the sheets, then moved to the dresser. Among the pieces that Vallen had placed for his use, he was certain he’d seen a large T-shirt. He rummaged through the drawer, pulled one out that would work, and turned to show her. A wave of tenderness filled his heart. Eyes closed, she sat at the edge of the bed, suppressing a yawn.
“Let me help you, a stór.” He lifted her long-sleeve knit top over her head and down her arms. His movements were slow, borderline caresses. When she sighed, he undid her bra, hurrying a little as he attempted to recapture some detachment. Lingering on her beautiful breasts would be his undoing. Once he finished undressing her, then putting a T-shirt on her, he settled her under the sheets and stepped around to strip.
“Are you leaving me?” Her voice was as sweet and childlike as he remembered from ages ago.
“Never,” he murmured as he removed everything except his briefs. He turned off the night table lamp and slipped next to her. Exhaling a deep breath, he brought her into his arms. Making a contented sound, she wiggled even closer. He repressed a groan.
Maybe in an hour or so, he’d fall asleep.
The portal dropped Kailen and Talaith on an undeveloped field at the rear of the abandoned school, yet close enough to several groupings of trees and bushes they could use as hideouts. The morning had turned out as bright as the shifter had prognosticated. Hurrying in a half crouch, Kailen pulled Talaith behind the nearest thicket.
“Let’s wait a moment,” he whispered, scanning everything around him.
Talaith nodded, her eyes darting in all directions. She was as wary about this mission as he was. Recon could go south without a warning, and they both knew it.
Minutes passed with no discernible activity. He patted his side pocket, feeling for the reassuring presence of his laser sword, then stepped out, flicking his fingers in a forward motion. She followed close behind, skittering from behind the bushes to a cement yard that spanned the width of the building. A line of holes splitting the bare cement in halves spoke of poles used to hold tennis nets up.
A solitary black door stood in the middle of the distressed cement wall. The only way in and out of the building to the yard. He approached and tested the knob. It turned so smoothly, his skin crawled and his heart fluttered. The first alarm bell rang in his mind. By rights, he should have needed Talaith’s magic to open a rusty, rarely used, ancient doorknob.
“I don’t like it.” He frowned. “This was too easy. I have no idea what we’ll find in there. Keep your eyes open. I’m going to push the door open very slowly. You stand on the other side and look in. Be prepared to jump back and run if you don’t like what you see.”
“Got it.” She pursed her lips.
Other than a soft squeal of hinges, nothing unusual happened. Talaith gave a thumbs-up and walked in. His instinct was to yank her back out. Remembering Soren’s admonition, he took a deep breath following her.
They had entered through the eastern doorway. A cavernous hallway—lined with rows of classroom doors and tall sets of lockers interspersed in between—yawned before them. As Kailen had hoped, flashlights weren’t necessary. Sunlight poured in through the windows inside each room. Signaling for silence, he took the lead. Talaith’s soft footsteps continued behind him.
As he passed from door to door, he paused briefly and glanced in through the glass inset. He found the abandoned disarray Vallen had described. The odd juxtaposition was the cleanliness in the main hallway versus years of accumulated dust and debris in the classrooms. About thirty yards ahead, the central staircase’s landing marked a crossroads of sorts. Straight on, the corridor led to the western wing of the building, to the left the southern main entrance faced the street, and down the stairs, the lab where the action had taken place yesterday afternoon.
Kailen sent Talaith a silent question. She shook her head and shrugged. Evidently, the choice was his. He grasped the banister to head down when Talaith clutched his arm with a fierce grip. Eyes wide and her skin starkly pale, she pointed up to the second floor.
“What?” he whispered.
“Voices. Khnurn’s.”
“Are you sure?”
“Well…” She frowned, biting her lower lip. “Sounded like him.”
“Hold a moment. Could be a trap.”
She nodded.
A minute passed. Suddenly, she gasped. “It’s him.” Using her supernatural speed, she bolted up the stairs.
“Talaith, wait!” he shouted, precautions forgotten. But she turned right at the top and disappeared from view.
Kailen took the steps in twos, reached the upper corridor, and glanced in both directions. Empty. Not a trace of Talaith anywhere. Calling her name, he strode in the direction she’d taken priming the laser sword for action. Halfway down, a fleeting blur, a cross between a human shape and shadow, swept past the corner of his eyes. He entered that room just as the shadow fled through an open connecting door.
The blur had an eerie familiar quality. He frowned, struggling to remember… A woman’s twinkling laughter floated in the ether. He stiffened in recognition.
“Nadrine?” The laughter echoed, distant, fart
her ahead. “Nadrine?” Kailen repeated, chasing her. As he reached the threshold the door slammed in his face. He reared, blinked, and reached for the doorknob. His hand hit an invisible barrier. Squinting, Kailen studied the door. Now he saw the faint magical glimmer he’d initially missed.
Holding his sword at chest level, he stepped back a pace, aimed, and fired. The laser beam exploded against the magic protecting the door. The recoil threw him to the back wall.
Dazed, his ears ringing, Kailen took a minute to gather his wits. The second warning bell rang. Now he was furious at his lack of attention. This had been Dubtach’s doing. The mage had lured him on a futile chase, manipulating what he knew about his past, and like an inexperienced idiot, he’d fallen for it. Shaking the dust off his clothing, he stood to reevaluate the situation. Dubtach had placed magical booby traps along the way. Usually, Kailen would have sensed each one, but not when he was a fool running headlong into a room.
Nadrine was gone. That was the inescapable truth. Hopefully, she was resting in the realm of eternal peace and happiness. Anything else was a mirage.
But Dubtach’s objective had been accomplished. Kailen had been distracted from Talaith. With new awareness and keeping an eye open for magical traps, he resumed the search, calling out her name.
The echo of his voice mocked him. He passed a long line of empty rooms, made it to the end, and jogged back to the central stairs. No Talaith, not a trace or an answer to his calls. Raw fear filled his soul. He pivoted full circle. Where could she be? He was getting desperate, when sounds reached him from the basement. Skipping down the steps, he dashed to the main level, jumped over the landing, and a solid surface hit his chest and forehead.
The blocking spell teased him with glimpses and sounds: Talaith speaking and arguing, hands gesticulating wildly, platinum hair swaying, a dreadful rushing noise filling the space. A voice taunted: You’ll never reach her. She’s mine now.
He had to try again. Standing at an angle to avoid a direct hit, he fired the laser sword. The magic was solid and the results were the same as before. The beam recoiled and smashed a hole in the plaster.
“Talaith. Up here, up here!” he screamed. Desperation ruled his thoughts. His healing magic would never penetrate a barrier erected with evil. Yet, he deployed it anyway, only to watch it crumble at his feet. He groaned in frustration. She was so, so close…almost within reach. Thinking of options, he climbed back to the main level. If he exited through the building’s main entrance, he might come to her from the east. He pushed down on the door’s metal bar. A sharp blow struck his head. An explosion of light blinded his sight, he tumbled to the floor, and darkness embraced him.
A brutal, merciless hammer pounded Kailen’s temples. Slowly, one careful inch at a time, he allowed his brain to surface from the void. He blinked and regretted it. The tiny movement doubled the hammer’s torturing blows.
He closed his eyes, waited a long minute before opening them again. This time, the hammer eased. His vision returned, offering a close-up view of the school’s wooden floor and a minute insect burrowing into a crack. His cheek felt numb, which meant he’d spent a long time unconscious. Judging by the length of the shadows, it had been hours.
Talaith. The urgent thought fired up his struggling brain and the need to sit up. With both hands, he pushed on the floor and managed to bring up a knee. Which did nothing to alleviate the relentless headache. Pressing the heel of his hand against his forehead, he grimaced as the pain returned with a vengeance.
Get up, his mind coaxed.
Exhaling a large breath, he leaned forward, set his weight on his knee, and stood. Once on his feet, the school’s entry foyer made more sense. Images realigned, even though a wave of nausea washed through him.
Damn.
For some mysterious reason, or perhaps a large amount of hubris, whoever struck the blow had intended to delay him or hurt him enough to discourage his pursuit. He glanced at the spot where he’d fallen and sighed with relief at the absence of blood. A huge headache was all he’d have to contend with, and that would pass soon. As he pressed his back against the wall, a strange sensation of emptiness caught his attention. Confused, he sent out his feelers throughout the building.
At first, he didn’t quite grasp what it was, but as his feelers returned without clues, he understood. The heavy weight of death magic had departed with its wielder. The building had gone cold, and every booby trap, shield, and dimensional barrier Dubtach had created specifically to block him had disintegrated.
Where’s Talaith?
Ignoring pain, discomfort, and weakness, Kailen searched through every room and floor calling out her name. Only the jeering silence answered him.
An hour later, after all possibilities had been exhausted, he grudgingly accepted she wasn’t in the building. Had she left on her own? Had they taken her? With a heavy heart and promising endless deadly retribution to those who would hurt her, he summoned the portal.
CHAPTER TEN
Dubtach’s magic had turned the school building into a devilish maze. Talaith had traversed an interminable line of classrooms, had walked through endless connecting doors, Khnurn’s call always ahead, luring, leading her to the next room, only to realize she’d come back to the beginning.
Bewildered, frustrated, and second-guessing her actions, she exited to the corridor. This was Dubtach’s doing, he had instilled doubt where there should be none. She’d been absolutely certain she’d heard her old master’s weak plea. In her determined impatience to find and rescue her mentor, she’d become a willing participant in Dubtach’s hunter-and-prey entertainment. She’d set foot on the second floor and the call led her in one direction, then skipped two doors. And as she blindly followed, the game progressed with her going around and around.
A sudden ear-splitting crack reverberated from below and through the hallway. She gasped. The voice had switched location. Now it beckoned from somewhere in the basement.
Quickly, she backtracked to the central stairs, convinced she’d run into Kailen. But the corridor stood empty. She slowed, rubbing both temples as she attempted to read the ether, see through the surface of things, dig for intentions and who’d created the noise. Nothing important was revealed. The ether wasn’t speaking. Only one fact was evident: Kailen hadn’t followed her up here. Or had he? If so, where could he be?
A prickle of warning running down her spine slowed her progress. She saw no mirage or evidence; however, the knowledge was there, and it was as clear as witnessing an event firsthand. Someone had manipulated a soul out of the resting domain and brought it to the earthly plane for selfish purposes. Had to be the necromancer at work. A mage convinced he was above karmic retribution and who didn’t fear judgment from the gods. But why disturb a soul’s rest, and what was his objective? Couldn’t be her. She hadn’t seen or experienced any apparitions…so far.
Exhaling a sharp breath, she pushed that question aside and, still on the lookout for Kailen, began to descend.
Khnurn’s plea billowed out of the ether. “Come to me, child.” The words danced around her, nudging her ever so gently to the lower level. She struggled with logic and disbelief. Confusion had her reeling. Would her mentor sound so meek, so pitiful? The larger-than-life mage who’d taught her, trained her to fight and overcome enemies, was no weakling.
What she should do was find Kailen, discuss the situation, and regroup. Together, they’d present a united front to Dubtach.
And yet…the call wasn’t fake. Khnurn’s intonation and endearment were his.
“Talaith!”
She startled at the imperious command. Abandoning all caution, she picked up speed, hit the landing, and quickly reared back, avoiding a raging current of air from sweeping her down the hallway. Holding onto the newel post with all her strength, she leaned in to see.
Directly ahead, and unaffected by the gale blowing between planes, Dubtach stood at the edge of a flickering dimensional portal. The passage connecting the two dimensions h
ad made the awful cracking sound. An endless tunnel swerved and snaked beyond the gate toward an indistinct alien realm. Already on the other side—two lieutenants guarding her back—the dark-haired lady Vallen had spoken about frowned. She stood next to a floating cell containing Khnurn as she tapped her foot. A sharp pain lanced Talaith’s heart at Khnurn’s pitiful condition. His robe was torn, he’d been blindfolded, cuffed, and gagged, and his pendant stripped from him, restricting his ability to defend himself.
Dubtach smirked. “Let go, child. The wind will bring you to me.”
Heck yes, the current would push her to the mage without any control, and she needed every bit of it to help Khnurn. She held on tighter.
“The woman’s unimportant,” the lady shouted above the din. “They’re waiting for us. We must hurry.”
“My dear Miss Sterling, this pretty sorceress interests me.”
Talaith gasped at this revelation. Was she Richard Sterling’s daughter, heir to the fortune? This was huge. Kailen and the allies had to know.
Dubtach’s smooth drawl made her skin crawl. “She’s young and malleable. So perfect for my every requirement.”
“But we have what we came for,” the woman urged. “You don’t need her.”
“Sweet lady, you’re taking too many liberties.” His tone hardened. “Don’t presume to tell me what I need or don’t.” The edge in Dubtach’s voice could slash the toughest surface.
Miss Sterling lowered her gaze. “My apologies, Lord. She’ll only delay us. We have it. Let’s go, please,” she pleaded, moving closer to the opening.
Dubtach tilted his head with a sad expression. “Alas, the mortal is correct, little one. Another time, perhaps.” He held two fingers to his forehead in salute and stepped through. The gate began to close, and the wind between planes diminished.
“Master!” Talaith exclaimed in a last attempt to get Khnurn’s attention, to let him know he hadn’t been forgotten. He lifted his head. The motion was small, but nevertheless, she saw it, and relief and hope flooded her. He’d recognized her voice, which meant Dubtach had not enthralled him completely. Her master wasn’t out of the fight.
The Last Danann (Titanian Chronicles, #2) Page 20