Dubtach had lost interest in her. He turned to the path, and the gate began to close.
“No. Wait!” Releasing the newel post, she ran toward the narrowing rim. “Master. I’m here.”
Beyond the opening, Dubtach and his party had now moved on at a speed that defied reason, their bodies becoming smaller against an indistinct backdrop. The gate closed even faster. Undaunted, she sprinted, and just before the glittering edge slammed shut, she dived in.
Talaith rolled over stones, pebbles, and roots. Her shoulder hit a solid surface and that stopped her tumbling momentum. Rising on all fours, she scanned her surroundings.
She’d arrived at a dimension without a sun. A striking chiaroscuro effect ruled the landscape, and shadows moved with her footsteps. In order to follow Dubtach and Khnurn, she needed more illumination. Closing her eyes, she called forth the shimmer magic she’d once used in a memory search with Maya. Within moments, her platinum glow revealed a path composed of stones, dirt, and, oddly enough, human-made concrete slabs. Above her, a celestial vault of sorts showed no stars nor an outline of a moon either, but gray swaths in a range of widths and lengths streaked across as far as her eyes could see.
This plane, wherever it was, had familiar and unfamiliar aspects, like entering someone’s dream or nightmare depending on the point of view. Oak trees, their misshapen and gnarled trunks, eerily reminiscent of twisted human bodies and limbs, lined the path. Disembodied eyes tucked between leaves and branches opened and closed as she passed.
Ignoring the bizarre distractions, she moved without pause. The party had gained ground on her. By her estimation, they were about a mile away. She could reach them, but she had to hurry if she wanted to rescue Khnurn before they made it to dark-purple structures looming on the blurry horizon. “That is their goal,” a voice whispered in her mind. Dubtach wanted to lose and confuse her in the strange-looking city, same as he’d done in the abandoned school.
Inhaling a deep breath, she took off. The sensation of lightness in the environment surprised her. Her muscles responded with rare power. Despite the hiking boots, her feet landed in a precise cadence, and her ligaments stretched at her command, eating up the distance more easily than on the earthly plane. Her lungs rallied to the effort, oxygen saturation remained full and steady, and her vision sharpened. Talaith’s body was a perfectly oiled machine, performing at never before seen levels, and a rush of dopamine ensued. She had the speed and strength to rescue her mentor, snatch him from Miss Sterling and Dubtach’s grasp before they tortured him further or did the unthinkable.
Talaith was a quarter mile away when Dubtach turned, glaring.
“Cease!” he warned. “I don’t have time for games.” Raising a threatening hand, he narrowed his eyes.
Rather than stopping, she slowed to a walk, returning his glare with one of her own. Her combat magic surged. Her palms and fingertips warmed.
Stepping to the side of the road, Dubtach made a forward hand gesture. From somewhere behind him, a drone appeared. She remembered Vallen’s story about the death-magic creation he’d witnessed in the lab. Dubtach gave a second order. Arms flailing, the monstrosity came at her.
If the mage thought she’d be frightened or shocked, he didn’t know her stubborn determination. She’d fought the less sophisticated versions of this creature in Scotland and had mentally prepared for future confrontations. Planting one foot ahead of the other, she centered her weight in between. She stiffened her middle finger, flipped her palms over, and released her magic. Flaming missiles rocketed from the base of her palms, hitting the creature dead center.
“Bitch. Kill her!” the woman screamed, shoving a lieutenant forward. Obeying, the daemon released a beam. Talaith slid on her hip, and the deadly ray passed over her head.
“Rhonda, I give the orders to kill, no one else,” Dubtach growled. “Do I make myself clear?”
“Forgive me, my lord.” Head bent, the lieutenant dropped to one knee.
Rhonda paled and nodded in silence.
Good to know who’s the boss, Talaith scoffed mentally.
“I don’t want to kill you, little one. But I am no longer amused.” Dubtach kicked the ground.
The road trembled, followed by a deafening groan of subterranean rock grinding rock. A fissure opened between her feet, and she plummeted helplessly through a dark void filled with unseen horrors and nightmarish fears. As she tumbled, screams, ear-piercing wails filled her with mindless panic.
The center of a thick bush cushioned part of her right side when she landed. She managed to wiggle to the ground on her left shoulder and hip, even though she’d been hit in the solar plexus and her spasming lungs made it difficult to move. She remained stretched on her back, enthralled by the myriad twinkling stars in this reassuringly familiar firmament—she’d never been so fond of stars before—as she waited for her lungs and heart to recover.
Feeling better, she pushed onto her side and managed to stand as every part of her body complained with the effort. She’d taken a beating throughout the descent, and the gravitational pull of the earthly dimension wasn’t as forgiving as the one she’d just left. Didn’t matter. She was back on earth, and if her eyes were functioning correctly, she was in Hillsborough. Even better, she’d landed behind the abandoned school, on the exact same spot where the portal had dropped her and Kailen a lifetime ago.
Kailen!
She summoned a new portal. Working past the soreness and aches, she hobbled on.
Vallen’s cottage was dark, an odd and ominous sign. Twilight’s dark-blue shadows had surrendered to the advance of early night. By rights, if the shifter was home, at least one light should be on. Kailen walked along the thin space between the garage and the home’s exterior side wall. He sniffed the ether for supernatural presence and got nothing of concern. Then he came around.
The front door had been blown out and hung tilted. A sole hinge kept it from falling onto the porch. Stunned, he climbed the steps as he inspected the scraped pillars with his thumb. The same force that had hit the door had also removed sections of paint.
Alarm grew when he approached the doorway and a whiff of smoke reached his nostrils. However, after a quick scan, he didn’t detect any lingering hot spot or flames. Likely, the fight had been sudden and intense, and the burnt smell came from surfaces scorched by the daemons’ weapons.
The urge to hurry inside and check Vallen’s condition was strong, yet prudence prevailed. He didn’t know the reason for the attack on the lynx, and this could be an ambush in progress. The shifter was the lure, and he, a Westerberg ally, the prey.
Well, he wasn’t going down easily. Priming his laser sword, Kailen stood next to the mangled door and called inside. “Vallen.”
The interior remained eerily silent. Either the shifter was dead or unconscious. Hoping the attackers hadn’t bothered to cut the power, he skimmed the foyer wall with his palm and pressed the switch, and light flicked on.
The place had been trashed. As he stepped over broken glass, ripped books, overturned and broken furnishings, he realized this had been a search-and-destroy mission. Not a single item had been spared, and he’d only gone from the foyer to what used to be the cozy living room. Even the sheers, now hanging haphazardly from rods above the windows, had been ripped and singed.
At the entrance to the kitchen—weapon in hand, senses on full alert—he repeated the procedure. The movement was fast, and his gaze darted to the floor, to where the shifter’s feet stuck out from behind the small kitchen island.
“Vallen!” He knelt, performing a quick assessment. Vallen’s pulse was weak. However, the shifter’s breathing was stronger than he’d expected. Kailen slid his palm along Vallen’s chest, arms, and legs and felt no broken bones. Moving slowly, he propped the shifter up against the island. But Vallen, still in his human form, whimpered and squirmed, drawing his right side away from the cabinet. Kailen looked behind the lynx’s shoulder. Blood seeped from an angry wound. He touched it lightly, and
the stinging sensation was the telltale sign of poison.
Drone weapons had been deployed here.
“Hey, can you hear me? Wake up, man. You need to wake up.” He tapped Vallen’s cheek. Soft moans and mumbled half words answered him.
Kailen searched the kitchen, found the dishcloth folded over the sink, and doused it under the faucet. He placed the cool compress over Vallen’s forehead, waiting for a reaction. Kailen sighed when the shifter moved and his eyelids flickered, then chuckled with amusement when the lynx pushed his hand away.
“Hurts, my back,” Vallen moaned.
“Yes, you have a nasty wound. Where’s your first aid kit?” Kailen asked.
Vallen’s answer came in a flurry of unintelligible sounds.
“Hey! The medical kit, where is it?”
“Uh, the…the laundry room. Above…the washer.”
He found the mangled first aid box on a shelf, brought it to Vallen’s side, and blew out a breath. Gauze, hydrogen peroxide, iodine, tape, scissors… All the items that would work on a human with a normal injury. Would atropine be too much to ask for? At the moment, washing the wound would have to do. Afterward, he’d have to think of something, send an urgent text to Soren, or just transport the lynx to New York where he could treat him properly. Leaning Vallen forward, he poured the hydrogen peroxide freely. Instantly, the shifter squirmed and growled. The disinfecting liquid stung, but it also worked well. He covered the wound with thick gauze to stanch the seeping blood, then laid him on his back. Holding his palms above the shifter, he called forth his healing magic.
Kailen uttered the ancient words. Tiny spots of light floated around the shifter. Shades of gold and rose gleamed and twinkled with the promise of healing. Abruptly, the lights darkened. The poison was too strong. Weakened, his magic faded.
“We need the real big guns,” Kailen muttered, half to himself, half to the shifter, who might appreciate the urgency of their situation. Wiping perspiration from his face, he finger combed his hair as he pulled out his phone.
“Talk to me,” Soren answered.
“Prep the emergency room. I’m bringing a wounded shifter.”
“What happened?”
“Later. Too long to explain now.”
“We’ll be ready. And Talaith?”
Kailen’s heart sank. He’d been pushing aside the horror of Talaith’s disappearance while tending to the lynx.
“Kailen?” Soren pressed.
He drew a sharp breath. “We got separated. But Vallen is in trouble.”
“Got it. Come.”
Soren cut the call.
Back in the kitchen, reality hit him. The working space was insufficient to open a portal. The next ordeal would be overcoming Vallen’s tremendous weight. Bringing him down from the truck had been difficult enough, and to carry him out would be impossible. However, sliding him out would work. He ran to the chaos that used to be his room, took one of the sheets and returned to Vallen’s side. With utmost care, he began slipping the sheet under the shifter’s body.
“What happened here, my love?”
Kailen jumped. “Gods are merciful,” he exclaimed, wrapping Talaith in his arms.
“I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe.” She laughed.
He didn’t care. He kissed her head, face, lips, then pulled her slightly away, studied her features, palmed her, testing and checking for breaks and wounds. He moved up, down, and everywhere as if fearing she’d disappear on him. He embraced her again, tighter this time. “Are you okay? Did anyone hurt you? Tell me the truth. I was so worried.”
Holding him by the waist, she looked up. “What went wrong at the school, Kailen? One moment you were behind me, and the next, you were gone.”
“I’m not sure. You took off, and I couldn’t find you. I searched everywhere. I went from one classroom to the next. Why did you leave like that? We agreed to stay together.”
“I heard Khnurn’s voice. He called me. Didn’t you hear him? It was loud.”
Kailen shook his head.
“Gods,” she said. “That was terribly reckless. I’m sorry, I should have waited for you, ensured you heard the same thing. It’s just… Khnurn sounded close, like he was in the next room. And I thought I’d find you, eventually.”
He dropped his forehead on hers. “I’d guess we fell under the mage’s death magic. He manipulated us so well.”
“His intention was to delay us. But I finally found Dubtach in the basement. He had opened a gateway to escape with his little group and Khnurn, so I went after him.”
“You what?”
Talaith scrunched her lips. “Uh… I’m afraid I did. I was forced to make a split-second decision. Not the best, I’ll admit. The opening was closing fast, and I jumped in before I lost track of Khnurn. Dubtach wasn’t happy to see me and ejected me where we started out, behind the school…”
“Hold on.” He placed a fingertip on her lips. “The main thing is that you’re safe. Later, I want to hear every detail of this escapade. However, we have an urgent problem. Vallen is hurt, badly.”
“I see that.” She made a gesture to touch the shifter.
He was loath to release her. He hadn’t had enough of her warmth to diminish the icebergs coursing through his blood. But her magic was stronger than his. He opened his arms. Immediately, she knelt at Vallen’s side.
“I was about to teleport him to New York.” He watched her work. “I don’t have meds and equipment to help him here.”
“Just as well. You don’t have the right antidote in New York anyway.” She smiled at him. “I can do this.” She moved her knees back a little, opening more space between her and Vallen, then folded her sleeves up to the elbows. Her expression changed when she completed the preparations. The sweet and peaceful Talaith was gone. This persona, all business and determination, was new to him. A twinge of suspicion and fear surfaced in him when she stopped.
“What is it?” Kailen asked.
She narrowed her gaze. “I’m deciding whether to let you watch or not. If you stay, you cannot speak or touch, no matter what you see, until the process is complete and I say you can. Moreover, to witness the healing spell, I demand a vow of secrecy from you. Otherwise, you can go straighten the debacle in the living room and wait there.”
“Whatever you require, I’ll do.” He frowned. “Right now, I can’t tolerate being separated from you. That’s the truth of it, and if that makes me sound weak, I don’t really care.”
“All right, come to me.”
Talaith offered her palms. He knelt facing her and placed his hands on top of hers.
“Kailen, last member of the Tuatha Dé Danann on earth, do you swear never to divulge the ritual you are about to witness to anyone, supernatural or human? Will you guard the secrecy of these arcane mysteries with your life, if need be?”
The twinge of suspicion intensified. What the hell was he about to see? Stiff as a statue, Talaith waited for his response. He exhaled. “My word is my bond. I’ll be a jealous guard of these mysteries, and I’ll never betray the ritual to anyone, human or supernatural.”
“Thank you. You may stay at my side. Once I begin, as I said, you can’t touch me or Vallen. Interrupting the process could kill us both. Understood?”
“Yes.” He nodded, waiting to see what developed.
Closing her eyes, Talaith began murmuring words in a language he’d never heard before. She stretched out her lovely slender fingers and held them open as she spoke faster and a bizarre glimmer illuminated her skin from the inside. Lowering her hands closer to Vallen, she flicked her fingers, and then he understood what the ritual was about. Of course, she’d made him swear to secrecy. For a fraction of a second, he wondered if it wouldn’t have been better to wait in the living room, blissfully unaware of the risk she was taking to save another’s life.
He swallowed, in awe of the process. The love of his life was engaged in the ultimate act of generosity. Vallen’s mouth opened, and a foul breath escaped as the deadl
y substance in his system rose to the surface.
Kailen’s heart raced. Before his bewildered eyes, Talaith was transmuting a powerful poison into a harmless substance. She was the antidote. When her veins darkened with Vallen’s poison and her diaphanous light transferred into the shifter’s body, he sent a panicked prayer to the universal gods for help.
He remembered her secrecy when healing James, and that was encouraging, to a point. She’s done this before. She’s done this before, he repeated again and again, calming the impulse to yank her to safety far away from Vallen. He was fond of the lynx, but Talaith had become his reason for existing. If one had to be sacrificed, well…
“It was nice meeting you, Vallen. Sorry it turned out this way.”
Soon, it was over. Talaith crossed her palms over her chest and remained very still. The blackness she’d taken in submerged slowly within and disappeared. Her translucent skin returned to its normal alabaster color. Time passed in excruciating silence. He wanted to touch her, confirm she was all right, yet he feared speaking, unfamiliar as he was with the end of the ritual. What if he moved too soon?
“I’m cold,” she whispered, her torso trembling.
“Hold on.” He ran to the bedroom and picked up two blankets, then draped one around Vallen and the other over her shoulders. “Do you have to stay on the kitchen floor? Can I take you to the living room?”
She nodded. “That would be nice.”
He swept her up in his arms, kicked a tilted sofa upright, and sat on the sole cushion that hadn’t been sliced open.
“How are you?”
“I’ll be back to normal in a few minutes. It doesn’t take long.” She dropped her head on his shoulder.
Fine. He could hold her this way forever.
When the trembling stopped, she scanned the room. “The place is turned upside down. What happened here?”
“Not sure. I’d say daemons paid us a visit. Lieutenants of the horde, to be specific. They left a trail of scorched walls and furniture. Even poor Vallen got hit.”
The Last Danann (Titanian Chronicles, #2) Page 21