by Sharon Kay
Raniero leaned brawny arms on the table. “It seems logical that he’d have his sword close to home, as it were. Close to his tomb.”
“Why’d he do anything? Dude was nuts,” Aleksai muttered.
“Teams will go to both locations,” Arawn said.
Gin frowned.
“What, Virginia?” Arawn barked. The woman was crazy smart and he knew she was growing more comfortable to question him. Usually because she could back it up with her beloved logic.
“Teams will go…and do what, exactly?” Gin’s fingers curled around Mathias’s, who sat at her side. “Watch east-facing walls or rocks? What about the part about ‘light is blood’? What if an attack happens?”
“I don’t know what the fuck ‘light is blood’ means, but I do know my teams know how to surveil,” he said. “And yeah, an attack is always a possibility. Again, we know how to prepare.”
“What if something happens when the moons and stars line up? Something about the light they produce, what if it triggers something?” Ria asked.
“Drea’s Tears moves close to the moons at this time every year, and all of them together don’t produce that much light,” Willow pointed out.
Ria rubbed her temple. “True.”
“What if when they all line up and shine on a specific eastern wall, a secret door or keyhole is revealed?” Gin asked.
“Yeah, but we don’t have a key. Just a message,” Brenin muttered.
“And now someone else is potentially looking at that message,” Arawn said. “Whoever killed Thane and stole Renata.”
“I hope they don’t have someone as good at hidden compartments as Sebastian,” Ria murmured, flicking a glance at the vampire.
He shook his head. “Unfortunately, since it was just a button, there’s a chance they could trigger it unintentionally.”
“At least if it was Splinter, they’re more known for being barbaric than for being sophisticated,” Brenin said.
“Yeah, but they could break the flower off,” Caine said. “Then they’d have what they need.”
“And they’d be sitting around just like this, talking in circles,” Ria said. “Unless they know more about the sword than we do.”
Arawn gritted his teeth. Hell, yes, the rogue Ghazsuls knew more about it than most of the fighters in this room. They knew about the connection to him. And that pissed him off more than anything. The ransom note and Nevo’s death loomed in his mind. Would Splinter try to take more Lash demons?
“Wolfe, your drones show anything on those bastards?” Arawn asked.
The dark-haired techie nodded. “Right before this meeting was announced, we saw a large group carrying something wrapped in a tarp.” He shook his head. “It was big. And possibly in pieces.”
Jaws dropped around the room, then Ria whispered, “What? They destroyed it?”
“If they brought it through a portal, I don’t see how it could’ve remained in one piece,” Mathias grunted.
“Shit,” Arawn growled. “They could be reading the message right now.”
“Or, conversely,” Sebastian spoke up, “the impact of dropping from a portal could have jammed the mechanism so that it can’t open.”
Arawn scrubbed a hand over his jaw. “That’s marginally helpful, vamp. Until they decide to break the damn flower off her hand.” He paced the front of the room. “Caine and Aleksai, you’re going in. Get your teams and meet with Wolfe. Wolfe, pull up all the footage of exits, bolt holes, guard patterns. Now.”
A harsh slam jolted Scorpio awake. He launched himself upright, only to sway in the disorienting grip of lightheadedness. Forced to brace his weight against the wall, he felt like his body was stuck in molasses.
Wait…a stone wall.
Darkness danced at the edges of his vision and pressure squeezed his head like a vise. He looked at the floor and drew in deep breaths.
Stone floor. And breathing hurt only a fraction of what it had before. Was that…yesterday?
Where the hell was he? And how long had he been here?
“Bout time you woke up,” a gruff male voice said. “Thought you Lash were supposed to heal quicker.”
Scorpio forced heavy eyes up. Through gleaming metal bars, he saw a tall dark-haired male. Fit, but nowhere near Watcher size. Next to him stood a petite female with red hair cascading past her shoulders.
“He can’t heal normally in there, you idiot,” the female said
Scorpio focused on her as the memory of an intoxicating female scent rushed back to him. He inhaled, desperate to take that fragrance deep into his lungs…but no. No trace of honeysuckle, only the faint cedar of witches.
Balance regained, he stalked to the bars and wrapped his hands around them. “Where am I?” he growled.
“You don’t remember?” the male said in a mocking tone. “You’ve been among us before. Though that was under cover of night, while you murdered our leader like the coward you are!” The man’s voice rose with each word and he stalked closer, until he was inches from the bars. “I am sorely tempted to gut your arrogant ass right here.”
“Stop it, Orser.” The female gave a soft shove to the male’s arm. “It’s out of your hands.” She turned to Scorpio. “I’m Inga. I’m the head healer for our coven. You seem to have dropped out of the sky and landed here, in Bronwy.”
Bronwy. Scorpio had guessed correctly when he’d seen the adamite crystals in the cave. He jerked the bars. They didn’t move. His could smell the two witches that were right here with him, but no others. And he knew there were many more in the Bronwy coven.
That could only mean that his cell had a dampening spell. It would slow his healing, dull his senses and strength, and prohibit him from summoning demonfire.
“You survived, but worse things are set to come for you,” Inga continued.
“What?” Scorpio gritted his teeth.
“Unluckily for you, our chief mage wants you pay for the crime of murder.”
He glared at her. Yeah, he’d killed a few of the witches, or mages, as the males were known. He’d had no choice. Thousands across the realm had died at his hand, all different species who had angered his former master in some way. His past was soaked in blood, but everything he’d done was to protect his family.
“I worked for a Ghazsul,” Scorpio said. “You should take it up with him.”
“I know who your boss was. I also know he’s dead!” Orser hissed. “That leaves you to stand accountable.”
“Why not just kill me?” Not that he wanted to die, or that they’d succeed. But any way that he could get out of the cell would give him an advantage.
“Chief is deciding whether to try out new torture spells on you first.” Orser folded his arms. “That’s why you’re being allowed to heal. Right now, you can barely stand without steadying yourself.”
“You are healing, Lash,” Inga said. “I can only monitor you. I cannot intervene, but each day you are improved.”
Each day? “How long have I been here?”
“Five days,” Inga answered.
Gods, his body should have healed in one day. He glanced down at his torn pants. The right leg was caked and stiff with dried blood. It still ached, but the wound had closed.
Another cell sat empty across the small room. “How many witches are part of this coven?”
“Not something you need to know, demon,” Orser sniffed. “You’ll see them all soon enough, when you’re brought out for judgement.”
Out. Scorpio flexed his hands on the metal bars and willed his body to heal. Somewhere on the other side of these walls was a female whose honeysuckle scent called to him on a primal level.
He vowed to find her. Because she was meant for him.
C
HAPTER 23
ARAWN WATCHED THE LAST BOOTED heels of his soldiers jump into the shimmering iridescent portal, soundless and quick. They disappeared in a heartbeat, bound for one of the most dangerous places on Torth.
Beside him, Ria vibrated with ten
sion. “Go find that pixie!” Her tone was urgent, laced with the grim reality of the teams’ last visit to Splinter.
The drones would help today. Plus, Arawn placed a lot of trust in Caine’s photographic memory to make sure they didn’t walk in circles through Splinter’s tunnels of hell. In addition to aerial views, the teams all wore earpieces with trackers, like the one Ria had at Thane’s home.
The shining disc wavered once, shrunk down to the size of his hand, then winked out.
“Wolfe.” Arawn turned to his tech expert. “I want to see all the feeds your drones are sending.”
The other demon nodded. “This way.” He started in the direction of the tech lab.
Arawn and Ria fell in step behind him, with Gin, Mathias, and Alina following. The pregnant Solsti always seemed to have crackers or some shit she was eating. She could have whatever she wanted if it meant not puking in his hallway. The little thing had to be worried about Caine, though she put up a brave front.
Ria’s slender fingers brushed his. “I’m dying to see those feeds, too,” she whispered.
Wolfe pushed open the door of the tech lab. Four demons worked, busy at computer screens or tables. They all stopped and half rose when they spotted Arawn.
He shook his head. “As you were.” He didn’t spare them a glance, only stared at the grouping of eight monitors mounted on one wall. Four above, four below, all showing various views of the inhospitable mountains.
“There.” Wolfe pointed to one screen in time to see ten Watchers drop out of thin air from a portal.
The soldiers wasted no time getting to their feet and forming a tight defensive formation. All clad in tan and gray camouflage, all carrying multiple weapons, all equipped with prespelled transportation amulets to bring them back home. Unless the Ghazsuls had the same explosive spell charges that Thane had.
“We’re at the coordinates,” Caine’s voice crackled through the speaker on Wolfe’s desk.
Desk was the best word Arawn could come up with, though towering pile of junk seemed more accurate. Wolfe reached through a nest of cables and retrieved an earpiece, which he handed to Arawn before typing a sequence on his keyboard.
The table was eight feet long and covered with equipment. Two monitors, speakers, voice encrypters, extra memory storage, and a bunch of other shit that the tech crew knew way more about than he. Somehow, Wolfe knew exactly where everything was in the haphazard stacks and piles. “You can talk to them now,” he murmured to Arawn.
Arawn nodded and shoved the device into his ear. Wolfe sat and leaned into a speaker. “Copy that, Eagle One, we have visual on you. You’re twenty feet from the remote exit site we discussed.”
“We’ll take that entrance and Aleksai’s team will circle around the north entrance site.” Caine motioned to Aleksai, and the other demon’s team disappeared into a ravine ringed with dead brown shrubs.
“Can we see them? I hate not being able to,” Ria asked. “Wait—I found them.” She walked closer to the screen and pointed to one. Five figures moved in single file, swift and methodical.
Arawn scanned the screens and frowned. Things were too quiet. “Where are the Ghazsuls?”
“You should see some in two seconds,” Wolfe said. “This is a rare three-minute gap in their patrols.”
Arawn grunted, which turned to a snarl as four Splinter members crested one of the highest peaks. “Can they see us?”
“Those four can’t see Aleksai’s team. There’s another patrol they’re going to run into. Eagle Two?” Wolfe addressed Aleksai. “Hold your position for sixty seconds, then look south. You got enemies coming your way, four guards.”
“Copy that,” Aleksai said.
Caine’s group ducked into a cave entrance. “Entering Splinter’s cave,” Caine murmured. “Let’s see what shit we can dig up.”
Alina sighed and dropped onto a chair at Wolfe’s table. Gin pulled up another chair to join her. The fear showed plainly on Alina’s face. Yeah, her mate was a tough-ass Watcher, but she’d grown up in this realm. She knew how vicious Splinter was. One hand rubbed absently over her still-flat stomach.
Hell. How could Arawn put a woman through that? Look how it had turned out the first time.
A gentle voice, buoyed by the scent of orange blossoms, spoke with quiet insistence in his brain. Ria went with you to rescue Nevo, you moron. You trained her. You know how tough she is.
All that might be true. But would she want to carry a child who was part Ghazsul demon?
And shit. It was nowhere near the time to be thinking of young ones.
“Found something that looks like part of the statue,” Caine’s voice broke into his thoughts. “It’s white, one edge is broken. Has striations, might be the grass from the base. I’m bringing it back with me.”
“Copy that,” Wolfe said.
“Part of? Shit,” Arawn muttered.
Sudden movement and flashes of light drew his attention to the screen with Aleksai’s group. They had attacked the four Splinter guards and were flinging demonfire. In under a minute, the guards were gone.
“Nice work, Eagle Two,” Arawn said.
“You’re thirty feet from the entrance. No patrols due to walk by for fifteen minutes,” Wolfe said.
“Going in,” Aleksai said. “Let’s kick some Ghazsul ass.” And like Caine’s group, they melted into the caves.
“Holy shit.” Caine’s voice carried over the comms. “We’ve got pieces of the statue all over. Fuck!”
“Do you see the hand? Or the lily?” Arawn asked, eyes roving the screens as if he could see Caine on them.
“Looking for that now. Shit, it looks like they took a wrecking ball to it.”
“Oh no,” Ria murmured.
The chatter on the line increased, then Caine’s voice cut through. “Found the flower. It’s by itself, not attached to anything. Mother fucker.”
“Bring it back here,” Arawn barked. “Goddamn it. If the flower is knocked off her hand, we have to assume Splinter saw the message. We can’t do anything else at this point. Caine, get out of there—”
“We’ve got company!” Caine yelled, then the speakers filled with the sounds of a brawl. Metal clanged and stone cracked. Thuds of bodies echoed off rock.
“Get ‘em, baby,” Alina murmured from her chair.
Arawn tossed her a glance, admiring her spirit. “Would be nice if you could go over there and collapse the caves once our men are out.”
Alina sucked in a breath. “I’d love to.” Her green eyes glowed with the force of her emotion. “But, um…give me ten months.” She patted her stomach.
“You got it.” Her pregnancy would last that much longer, on top of the two months she already had under her belt. Until then, travel via portal was too risky for her. Not to mention the danger of putting her and the baby anywhere near those thugs.
“Caine. Status,” Arawn snarled. Gods above, he’d go in armed with his own explosives if Splinter harmed more of his warriors.
“Five Splinters down, one more on his way…” A pop crackled over the speaker. “And—fuck!”
“Caine!” Arawn yelled, but the sounds of more fighting filled the room. Everyone in the tech hub stood still, listening, straining to decode the grunts and battle cries.
Suddenly a low voice snarled above the fray. “Where is your leader? He sends you to fight for him while he hides in his fancy home?”
Arawn shook his head. Good luck, assholes. One thing he never doubted was the loyalty of his fighters. Then again, he’d never given them reason to doubt him. Anger flared again at this whole clusterfuck. What would they think if they knew his lineage?
Growls of protest and pops of demonfire echoed from the comms.
“He could stop this in an instant, if he only did as I asked. But he places no value on your lives!”
“Who the hell is this guy?” Arawn clenched his fists as knowing fury built in his veins.
“Dunno but he looks like the leader.” Jude’s voice broke
through. “He’s bigger and uglier than the rest. And about fifteen more of these fuckers just showed u—”
“Your commander is living a lie. Go home and dare him to explain why he has more in common with me than he’ll ever have with you!” The voice descended into a cackle and the sounds of violence intensified.
What the fuck? Rage churned like lava through Arawn’s muscles. “Caine, Aleksai. Get back now. That’s an order. Jude, anyone else in those caves, activate your amulets and return to HQ.”
“Copy that,” Aleksai responded.
“Trying to!” Caine’s yell turned into a grunt.
Ria grimaced. Her eyes remained glued to the screens, which showed only the outside of the mountains. Every yell and cry that came across the line made Arawn more furious. As if the Ghazsul’s words weren’t bad enough, the looks on the faces of all in the room cemented his raw rage. Worry, fear, and the occasional wince as his men took a beating that they all listened to.
Mathias’s phone chirped with a text and he checked it. “Aleksai and his team are back.”
“Thank fuck,” Arawn muttered.
But Caine’s team still fought. Arawn slid a glance to Alina, whose face was pale but her eyes were bright. “He’s okay,” she whispered, meeting Arawn’s gaze.
Arawn nodded and grabbed Wolfe’s speaker. “Caine, get out of there! First chance you get.”
“Copy that.” Caine’s voice repeated the order to his men. “Not sorry to leave this shit hole. Get a healer ready for us.” His voice dropped to a low murmur as he spoke in rapid Demonish, then all went quiet.
“A healer?” Ria’s eyes were huge with dread.
“I’m calling Ashina now.” Gin pulled out her phone and dialed.
“Backyard. Let’s go.” Arawn grabbed Ria’s hand, not caring if his action raised questions, and pulled her out the door. He needed her close by. His men were stubborn and shrugged off healers even when they needed it. If they were taking the time to ask for one…shit.