And like before, he vanished, evading the explosion, leaving her alone in the circle, the stones thankfully untouched. The boom from the explosion ringing across the lake, Hunter climbed on shaking legs up from the pit, cresting the edge and finding nothing but an empty field.
But behind her…
Turning, she saw him reforming, the shadows pulling together quickly this time, growing darker and impenetrable, the stones beginning to shake as his mass grew by the second.
Without another thought, Hunter sprinted for the city, dodging through the debris, leading him away from Tyr and the others, heading straight for the buildings, praying for any sort of cover as her legs pumped hard, dust kicking up beneath her feet.
Deliberately slow, the Orobus followed, his presence a smudge against the night, blocking out the stars in his wake, sliding through the city streets, his progression almost lazy. While Hunter cut through one street, then another, then leapt through a busted out storefront and disappeared.
26
Tyr tossed the com back to Mir.
Nobody knew where Hunter was. She’d disappeared into the city, seconds after the powerful explosion had rattled the teeth in his head. Whatever she’d done might have bought them all time to escape, but the Orobus was gone as well. According to Thor’s choppy report, the bastard was right behind her.
Hunter might be a master at evasion, but right now, she had the biggest, hungriest predator on her trail. And Tyr wasn’t about to let her go this alone.
He set Ava gently against the wall. “I’m leaving you with your sister, okay? Thor and the others will be here soon. They’ll take you back to the Tower. You’ll be safe there.”
The woman seemed barely capable of speech, rattled as she was, and Morgane pulled her close, her arm going around Ava’s shaking shoulders before she met Tyr’s eyes. “Go and find Hunter. She can’t be out there alone.”
Tyr nodded in agreement, taking the knife Morgane offered, sliding it into his belt.
“She didn’t let loose. Not really.” Ava’s voice was trembling so badly he could barely make out the words. “She will though, once she lures him far enough away.”
Raising those extraordinary eyes to his, Ava continued, the words hushed and broken. “She couldn’t do it, you see, not so close to the circle. Not without destroying the dolmen.”
“How in the hell do you know that?” Morgane hissed, meeting Tyr’s confused gaze. “There’s no possible way you know what she’s thinking.”
A blare of sound issued from the com, Mir raising it to his ear. “Yeah?”
“She headed up East Thirteenth, then disappeared to the right. She’s about four minutes ahead of you.” Thor paused. “And something else.”
“Yeah?” Mir released the button, his eye meeting Tyr’s and holding.
“I’ve got lots of action coming in from the north end. So you’d better get moving, right the fuck now.”
“Got it.”
“Ava’s right, though,” Sydney said as they mobilized, slipping an arm beneath Ava’s. “Hunter would have held back so as not to damage the stones, to give us a chance to trap him later.” She managed a half smile. “But once she lets loose and hits him with everything she’s got, what will that do to her?”
Tyr didn’t know, although images of a wrecked, smoldering mountainside stood starkly in his mind. And the wreck of a human being that surge of power had left behind. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. She’ll lead him on a chase, as long as she can manage. Give us time to get everyone home safe. Then she’ll circle back once he’s lost her scent.”
“And if he doesn’t?” Morgane pushed. “If her tricks don’t work on him?”
“I’m going to make sure her tricks, as you put it, do work. She’ll lose him in that maze of buildings, and she’s never been caught by any creature that’s hunted her before. Hell, I can’t ever find her, not unless she wants to be found.” But fear welled up in his gut, even as he said it.
Clasping hands with Mir, he jogged out of the tunnel, eyes adjusting to the faint light, heading for the silent, jagged silhouettes of the buildings.
The Orobus left a greasy stain on his way into the city, as if he were a slug and his glistening trail was still wet. Tyr followed it as far as he could, to where it disappeared through the open window of a once popular coffee shop. Beneath the stench of brimstone and sulphur, he caught Hunter’s effervescent scent and vaulted over the low wall, jagged glass sticking out like so many teeth. Once inside, he skirted overturned chairs and tables, more broken glass, and skittering rats.
Winding his way through, he exited into a boutique, into an alley, then through another series of formerly upscale shops. For an hour he followed, falling ten, then fifteen minutes behind, the foul odor of the primordial creature drowning out Hunter’s sweeter, lighter scent. But it was still there, as she led him on a chase, deeper and deeper into the heart of the city, Tyr following every step of the way.
Tyr knew the moment she backtracked for the first time.
So did the Orobus.
Again and again, she evaded, doubled back, circled around. She’s spent several lifetimes learning her skill set, and Tyr hadn’t exaggerated when he’d said she was the best. Any other predator would have given up hours ago, having lost the scent.
This creature found her. Every time.
And after an hour, Tyr realized she wasn’t going to lose the monster, no matter what she tried. By the time they’d circumnavigated the Lower West side, he knew she was exhausted. Hell, he’d had a good night’s sleep and was running on fumes. She hadn’t slept at all.
If the Orobus cornered her, Tyr shuddered to think of what might happen. It was time he diverted the asshole. The way he saw it, she’d had her chance and hadn’t been able to shake the fucker. Now it was his turn.
A running leap had him on the next roof, and he made sure he landed full force, with both boots on the poured asphalt sheathing, the impact echoing across the low-slung buildings in all directions.
“That’s right, motherfucker, come and get me.”
Hunter was somewhere to the north, the Orobus between them, taking up plenty of psychic space, the feel of him leaving Tyr faintly nauseous. Almost as if he was sucking the life from him, bit by bit, the longer he remained within range.
Another leap had him across the gap of an alleyway, and after a third, he was skimming the ridge of a roofline, boots pounding along the delicate edge, the slithering presence of the dark god hissing in his ears. Tyr ran. Faster than he thought possible, he ran and he leaped and he ran some more, leading the creature out of downtown, west, toward Chicago Midway.
Plenty of room for Hunter to do her thing.
Plenty of space in case things went south.
And if he had to kick some dark god ass, there was plenty of room for that as well.
This part of the city was abandoned, or at least, it felt like it. The neighborhoods burned out and desolate, the streets filled with half-packed, abandoned cars. As if the inhabitants hadn’t even bothered to take their meager belongings with them. The terminal loomed large in the distance, and Tyr pushed harder, his muscles burning, the half-healed injuries from days ago already beginning to crack open.
But for Hunter, he’d finish this. His lips twisted slightly. She’d hate him for this, for not trusting her to do the job herself. Which he understood. To a degree. Except right now, her temper was the least of his concern.
Racing across the transit yard, he jumped the fence and rounded the north end of the terminal, skirted the few planes still docked at the jet bridges, and headed out onto the open runway. It was raining, and the concrete turned slick, his boots slipping on the grooved surface. The creature crept around the terminal, a smudge of dark against the dull, gray sky, still formless but compact, the shadows so dense they were black.
“Come on, come out here and get me,” Tyr muttered, knives already in hand, crouched into a half squat, his thighs burning from the sheer exertion of thes
e past hours. “That’s right, get out here in the open, you motherfucker.”
The Orobus’s slow, creeping movements were cautious, a sure sign of an apex predator outside of its normal comfort zone. Who knew he was walking into a trap. Not much of a trap, because steel couldn’t hurt him, and Tyr was running on fumes, but he prayed Hunter was on her way.
27
Hunter could not believe her eyes.
The stupid man was alone, just waiting for the thing to rise up and strike him down.
After the interfering son of a bitch had decided to take matters into his own hands, she’d had no choice but to follow. Tyr made such a racket, even the dark god had become curious. And when he’d left her trail for Tyr’s, Hunter had tracked them both, across rooftops and through genteel neighborhoods. At first, she’d been fueled by anger, and now it was sheer will driving her, as she stayed a hundred paces behind them, waiting to see what Tyr might do next.
She certainly didn’t expect him to beckon the thing on, sliver of steel in hand.
Then again, she hadn’t expected the Orobus to actually fall for it.
Yet there they both were, testaments to raging testosterone and male idiocrasy. Tyr might as well have been waving a red flag and yelling olé.
It was just like him, she groused, to stick his nose in where it didn’t belong. She had this situation under control. One more circuit around the city, and she might have lost the creature for good. Another one and she’d have snuck up behind him and blown him to kingdom come, along with a couple of city blocks.
Bur she couldn’t deny, even bleeding and exhausted, Tyr made an impression. Especially now, braced for battle. Perfectly honed for conflict, he carried himself with such ferocious certainty, he rattled her to her core. For a second, all she could do was stare.
But with the two of them in such close quarters, her options were nil.
Trying to shake off a feeling of vague, yet familiar déjà vu, she stumbled slightly on the uneven tarmac, sending a stone flying, the sound amplified to unnatural loudness. When Tyr froze, she stepped away from the building, the bulk of the Orobus looming between them. “Tyr,” she said clearly, her voice ringing over the concrete, “I need you to back away. Then I need you to run.”
“I can’t do that. And you have a hell of a lot of nerve asking me.”
Stubborn ass.
“Think about the damage I did to the mountain in the Highlands. Then tell me I have a hell of a nerve. Leave. Let me do what needs done.”
“I’ve got this under control.” His tight, even voice belied the amount of blood already staining the front of his vest and leathers. Either from fighting or from his old wounds, she didn’t know. “You’re completely exhausted. I don’t want you anywhere near him, Hunter. Trust me, it’s not a good plan.”
“You don’t even know what I’m planning to do.”
“You can’t destroy him. Not if your power comes from him. Why do you think he’s been tracking you all this time?” Tyr’s voice dropped. “Think, Hunter. He wants what’s inside of you. He wants his power back. But once he gets it? I can’t lose you, if he…” Then Tyr just stopped talking, as if he couldn’t get the words out.
Hunter didn’t care. She didn’t care what the thing wanted.
She only cared about killing it. Everything could be killed. And this power inside of her… It killed indiscriminately. It was death incarnate. Of course it would kill the Orobus; it killed everything else.
Problem was, she couldn’t unleash herself with Tyr this close.
“Go. Away.” She hissed, advancing on the shadowy thing between them. “Come back when this is finished.” Once she eradicated it, this whole nightmare would be over. All she had to do was penetrate that shifting surface, find his center, and blow him apart.
“Hunter, whatever you’re thinking, stop.” Tyr’s warning didn’t so much as slow her down. Nope. She had a plan.
Her next step had the outer wisps of him within reach. And from here, she could barely resist his pull, tugging at her insides. The reek of him was palpable in the air around her, a thrumming, sickening heaviness. Without another thought, she surged forward, plunging her hand, her entire arm into that freezing darkness, straight through to the very middle.
Only to find nothing.
The failure flabbergasted her.
She took a step backwards, stumbled more like, her feet clumsy, and in turn, the Orobus lunged for her, oily black tentacles clawing at her face.
Tyr got there first.
Yanking her away, he pushed her to the ground, out of the thing’s range, letting out a loud grunt of pain as the ends of the shadowy tendrils raked across the front of him, the sound wet and tearing and awful.
“Damn it, no.” She sobbed. “No. Why didn’t you leave?” Then she was clawing at Tyr, rolling him over, the Orobus advancing with that slow, steady motion, as if the monster had all the time in the world to mow them down. She yanked at Tyr but he was so heavy, and her hands slippery. Blood was already gathering on the concrete below him, a dark, spreading stain, the shredded front of his Kevlar vest wide open and gaping, blood pouring from the fresh wounds.
Hunter knelt beside Tyr’s body. There was far too much blood. She ran her hands over him, feeling the nothingness beneath his skin. Sightless eyes stared up at a dull gray sky, rain sheeting down his still, empty face. He was as inert as the ground beneath him, as the still, concrete building behind them. Before, he had always pulsed with energy, and she’d sensed him, as if she was somehow plugged into whatever life force kept him going.
“Come on, Tyr. Come on. I know you’re in there.” He cannot be dead. Dimly, she was aware of the creature’s approach.
An hour was a blink of an eye. Or the blink of an eye was an hour. Everything, her entire life narrowed down to this unmoving body in front of her. A bare flicker of his chest in the gray morning light. Tyr was breathing. Barely, but he was alive.
If she used her power, really, really unleashed it, she’d kill Tyr. She wouldn’t sacrifice him, just to kill this thing. She couldn’t. Throwing herself over Tyr, she covered him as best she could, as the smothering darkness crushed down upon them.
Like before, she felt the thing caress her, an icy cold trail of pain licking down her face.
And then, like a siphon, the Orobus began to draw the power out of her.
28
With each draw of her power, Hunter knew the monster would suck her dry.
Would leave her a husk.
As glad as she was to be rid of it, as long as she’d dreamed of being free of the burden, part of her railed against it. The power, the dark, elemental magic the Orobus was taking from her, had been hers for so long. Forever. A foul chill rushed up her spine, sent her heaving to the tarmac, as the thing pulled from her, ravenously, as if the god were starving.
And perhaps he was.
Something dripped from her chin. Copper tainted her mouth. Blood, then. She was bleeding and her insides were being carved out, and her ribs were collapsing as a wave of crushing blackness swamped her. Fighting unconsciousness, she panted, blood running freely down her chin, splattering on the white concrete below her.
Hang on, hang on a little longer. I will live through this, she promised herself.
She barely managed a glance down at Tyr, immobile and gray beneath her.
And still, that depthless hunger feasted.
She should have expended the full force of her magic upon him, when she had the chance. She should have at least tried. Now the dark god would kill them both and steal her magic, besides. Soon, he would have everything.
A yank, a surge, and more flowed out of her. Eviscerated, that’s what this felt like. She was being slowly, methodically gutted, and in its place, she was left with a relentless emptiness as the magic burned its way out of her, to be swallowed greedily.
Hours later, days, maybe, she lay on her side, utterly drained.
Alone.
The Orobus was gone. To where, she d
id not know. She did not care. Only that he was gone and the relentless siphoning had stopped. Probably because there was nothing left to take. Where there had once been a deep well of power, now there was nothing. The roiling, evil center she’d carried within her was gone.
Her hand was stretched out before her and experimentally, she curled her fingers. They barely twitched. It took time for her to shift, to roll over far enough to lift her head. Every movement brought a fresh wave of pain, and she vomited when she raised herself to her knees. Her seeking hand found Tyr.
Hands skimming over his body, she followed his every line. He was still warm, but…wet. Wet and unmoving and something didn’t feel right. Her eyes were unfocused by the drain on her energy, her body barely functioning. She shook him weakly. “Tyr? Wake up.”
The words came out as hoarse sounds. In his vest pocket, she found a com unit, the light barely flickering green. Pressing the button, she whispered, “Please…please, help us,” before her head dropped to his chest. A slow, steady beat stirred beneath her ear, the sound soothing as her eyes slipped shut.
When hands pulled her away, she struggled before her head cleared, realizing it was only Fenrir and Thor. When they separated her from Tyr, she fought weakly against them, fought to get back to Tyr, who was being dragged, limp and unmoving, to a waiting vehicle.
She’d seen enough death in her life to know.
Know what it looked like, smelled like, felt like. Knew that there’d be no more grumpy silences, no more pissed off stewing, no broody mood swings. No more lovemaking. No more Tyr. All of her life, he’d been there for her.
Would have always been there for her.
He’d spent his life guarding her, watching over her. That much, she’d figured out this past week. They’d never been apart because he’d always known exactly where she was. She’d belonged to him, heart and soul, from the second he’d raised her from the dead.
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