by Joshua King
“Were you alone the whole time?” I asked. “Did the mages stay with you?”
“For some of the time,” she said. “There were times when I opened my eyes and they were there in the sanctuary, talking. I couldn't understand what they were talking about, but it didn't sound good. Other times I woke up and I was alone. That's when I would try to figure out how to free myself. If I had just been close enough to something that I could use to support myself with my feet, I would have been able to get enough leverage to release the strap.”
“Did it hurt?” I asked, taking her hands in mine.
She nodded, and I turned her hands over to kiss her wrists.
“Yes,” she said.
“I'll make it up to you later,” I said, nuzzling the side of her neck.
She moaned a little and pressed her thigh closer to me.
“Yes, you will,” she said.
“You didn't understand anything they said?” Ty asked, dragging us back into the conversation.
“No,” Ashe said. “Why?”
“I know there have always been hybrids in Lunaris that had mage in them. There have even been a few warlocks in the organization from time to time. But I've never known an established link between the mages and the Dragon. If they are aligned, it's for a reason. What's happening that they're both a part of? And what does it have to do with you, Hayden?”
“Why do you think it has to do with Hayden?” Ashe asked.
“They knew I was coming,” I told her. “I don't know how, but they did. They said they wanted to see me. But it's also why they took you. They said you were payment for the council they gave me.”
“What council?” she asked.
“I asked where to find Malakan,” I said. “I thought they might know.”
“Did they tell you?” she asked.
“They gave me a riddle to figure out and dumped my ass out in the back alley, is what they did,” I said.
“And that was enough to make them take me?” she asked. “Wow. I'd hoped I'd have a little higher value than that.”
“I think their pricing structure is way off,” I said with a teasing smile. “They could have at least included a taxi service if they were going to do that.”
“Thanks,” she said with mock offense in her voice.
“I don't think they'll be too happy when they find out I gave myself a refund.”
“They know by now,” Ty said. “The mages will have already been in touch with the Dragon.”
“If they got out of the church,” I said.
Ty's eyes appeared in the rearview mirror.
“What did you do?” he asked.
The thought of the fire consuming the men flashed through my mind, quickly followed by the image of Aurora draped in my arms and the smell of smoke in my nose. I shook my head.
“Whatever you did,” Ashe said. “I don't think it killed them. The mages are powerful. It would be difficult to kill them at all, and nearly impossible without some sort of magic or weapon.”
“I don't care what happened to them,” I said. “Nothing justifies what they did to you.”
There was an angry grumble in my voice, and despite being up all night, I felt adrenaline pumping through me. I should have been exhausted, but I wasn't. All I wanted to do was keep going and bring this all to an end.
“It's over,” Ashe said. “You rescued me.”
“I want to see Malakan again,” I told Ty. “Bring me back to Final View.”
“You went to see him?” Ashe asked.
I nodded.
“It's how I was able to find you. He put me through a ritual that showed me visions of the past, the future, and the present. It showed you hanging in the church. He was able to tell me the church was across town, but we had to figure out the rest. Ty figured out where you really were.”
“Thank you,” she said to Ty. He gave a slight nod. “Where did you find Malakan? What's Final View?”
We described the community under the bridge to her.
“When we got there, Aurora and Darien were coming out of the cliff. They had just been to see Malakan. When we got in to talk to him, he said he knew I was coming. Aurora told him she sent me to find him. He was waiting.”
“Really?” Ashe asked. She sounded excited. “Did he tell you? Did he answer the question Aurora asked?”
I shook my head.
“No, he didn't. But he's going to now. I'm tired of this. I'm tired of the games and getting the run-around. I'm tired of the riddles and the rituals and everyone expecting me to jump through hoops. I'm not doing it anymore.”
“What are you going to do?” Ashe asked.
“I'm going back to his house and I'm going to demand he answer the question Aurora asked. She asked me to get the answer to a question, so I can exchange it for her blood. And that's exactly what I'm going to do.”
“What if he won't answer you?” Ty asked. “Remember, he's the one in control. He could have told you the answer whenever he wanted, and he decided not to. What happens if you go back to his house, and he doesn't want to answer you, or he says in order to answer you, he has to put you through the ritual again?”
I shook my head.
“What was the ritual?” she asked. “What was the point?”
“He didn't tell me exactly, but it seemed like he had to do it in order to figure out what it is about me that's so different, and what Aurora needs to know. He said the images I saw were going to be the ones I needed to see, and that no one else would really know what they were.”
“You really saw your past, present, and future?” she asked.
“Well, I said I saw the past. It wasn't mine.”
My eyes slid over to Ty, but I didn't say anything more. Now didn't feel like the time to ask him about the event involving the baby I had seen in my vision.
“What did you see?” she asked.
I shook my head.
“I don't want to talk about it right now,” I said. “I just want to go and see him.”
“I don't think we should,” Ty said. “I think I've had enough of mages today. You have no idea how he'd react to you showing up and demanding the answer to the same question again. You're running out of time. I doubt he would be willing to help you any more than he already did.”
I considered what Ty was saying. “You're right,” I said. “Going back to Malakan would just be a waste of time. There's nothing impactful for him to tell me. Aurora sent me to see him on a whim. That was all. It was just to amuse her and give her some sort of reassurance, because for once she's actually being held accountable for the things she did. She enjoyed being privileged and special because she is a princess, and she thinks she can dictate everyone's lives. That might have worked for her before, but it's not working anymore. I'm done being a plaything for her. Today is the third day. I don't have any options left. I'm done with this. I'm going to take what I need from Aurora.”
“What if there are consequences?” Ashe asked.
“Consequences be damned,” I said. “If I don't, I'm looking at a slow, miserable death. There is nothing she could do to punish me that would even come close to watching my own dick rot off.”
Ashe put her hand on the inside of my thigh and ran it up to cup my crotch through my pants.
“No one wants that,” she whispered into my ear.
Ty's phone buzzed on the passenger seat and he reached over for it. A smile crossed his lips as he turned the car toward the center of the city.
“Speak of the devil,” he said, tossing the phone back onto the seat.
“Was that Aurora?” I asked.
“No,” Ty said. “But it was my contact. Remember I told you someone had told me Aurora was at Nakatomi Tower?”
“Yes,” I answered.
“Seems she's made a return visit.”
“Let's go,” I said. “With any luck, tonight will be a celebration. My new birthday.”
31
I was relieved when there was no blood price to get
back through the portal, even though I was getting better about the whole blood thing. Not that I really had a choice. I'd seen and shed more of it over the last three days than I had in a long time. Just being able to pass through into the basement of Solomon's without bleeding for it felt like a nice break. Ty went first, moving the tapestry aside as he passed through, then holding it out of the way so Ashe and I could follow. Even though it had only been a few days since the first time I had walked into the bar, the surroundings felt familiar and comforting. Coming back into the basement almost felt like coming home. I wondered if I'd ever feel that way about the Underworld. When this was all over, and I had completed the transition and begun my life as a vampire, I'd have to decide where to go and what to do. They were the same types of decisions I had to make when I realized my injury was bad enough to keep me from ever having the career I had wanted. I'd had my entire life mapped out for me, and grand ideas of everything I was going to do. That day, as I stared up at the ceiling of the hospital room and listened to the drone of the doctor's voice explain the extent of the damage I'd done, I had known none of it was going to happen. The injury had cast me right back to the beginning and I had to rethink everything ahead of me. I had to come up with a completely new concept of who I was and what I was going to do with my life, and it had been overwhelming.
It didn't feel like that this time. Now it felt like freedom.
I led the way as we moved through the basement to the stairs leading up into the bar. It was still early in the day, and I didn't expect anybody to be there when we went in. As soon as I opened the door, though, I noticed several figures in the dim room. Ashe, Ty, and I paused just beyond the door to the basement. The lights in the bar were still off, and the dark drapery hanging from the windows only let a tiny bit of light filter in, enough to show shadowy forms but nothing more. I felt the burn in my thigh, and my defensive instincts tingled. I looked at Ashe and she gave a slight nod. Backing up a few steps, she hit the light switch to flood the space with an even brighter light than I had seen the morning I woke up here. As soon as the lights flashed on, the figures turned to face us. Exactly as I expected them to, each wore crimson colored sunglasses.
“Darien sent them to stop us,” Ty said. “He wasn't kidding when he said he wasn't going to let you get near his daughter.”
“Too bad for them he doesn't have a choice,” I said.
None of the guards had moved from their original positions. I expected them to run at us when they saw us, but their stillness was somehow even more unnerving. I felt like they were daring us to move, knowing the instant we did, they would attack. If there was ever a time for me to be able to communicate without speaking, now was it. I glanced at Ashe to get her attention, hoping it would create the connection we needed.
“We need to split up. We will have better chances if we get them away from each other.”
Her eyes slid over to the bar, and I knew she could hear me. I nodded my agreement. Ty and I met each other’s eyes. I couldn't communicate with him the same way, but I hoped he would understand. I drew in a breath and burst forward into the room. Immediately, three of the Shades swarmed me. Behind me I heard Ashe jump over the side of the bar, and Ty ran to the other side of the room. A guard followed each of them, leaving me in the center of the bar with the three guards surrounding me.
“Three now?” I asked, staring down the man in front of me. “Did you hear about my little encounter in the Underworld? Or did you bring a friend because two just didn't cut it last time?”
One guard swung at me, but I easily avoided the punch and pushed him to the ground by slamming into his thighs with one shoulder. Another of the men grabbed me by the back of my shirt to yank me away. I threw my elbow back and heard it come into crushing contact with his nose. I punched the third Shade in the stomach and took the opportunity to step away from them.
“What are you doing here?” I demanded.
“You aren't to go to Nakatomi Tower,” one of the men said.
“So, you speak now. That's new.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw one of the men trying to sneak toward me. I spun and planted a kick on the side of his head, then directed another kick backward to take out the guard I had sensed coming up behind me. I faced off against the man in front of me again.
“Get out of my way,” I said.
“You aren't to go to Nakatomi Tower,” he said again.
“I heard you the first time caveman, but I still disagree.”
He lunged at me, and I caught him with my hands around his neck. I pressed in with my thumbs and he began to struggle, gurgling as he fought for breath. Beside me the other guard grabbed onto me and tried to pull me away, while the third yanked me from the other side. I heard a crash from the other side of the bar and in an instant the pressure of one of the guard's hands released and he pulled away from me. The man I was choking was clawing at my hands, but it wasn’t long before he crumpled to the floor. In one movement I released him and swung around to land a blow in the middle of the third guard's throat. Turning around, I saw Ty standing over the Shade he'd pulled away. Behind him, the man who had first attacked him was climbing out from the wreckage of a table they had broken.
“Watch out, Ty!” I shouted.
He heeded my warning and turned in time to catch the man's fist. The sound of shattering glass dragged my attention over to the bar. Ashe was leaning back against the rail, fending off the Shade who was trying to overtake her. They had knocked almost all the bottles of liquor onto the floor, but I could see Ashe's fingers creeping over to one that was left. She managed to grab hold of the neck of the heavy square bottle and smash it across the man's head. He dropped down to the floor in a heap. She stepped over him and opened a drawer beneath the bar. Sifting through what was inside, she snatched out a ring of keys.
“Hayden!” she called.
I looked over to Ty. He was still grappling with the Shade.
“Go!” he yelled. “I'll take care of things here. You do what you need to do. I'll meet you there. If I don't, come back for me.”
I nodded my acknowledgement and ran after Ashe out of the bar. She tossed me the keys, and I followed her as she ran to a car parked across the street. The sound of the bar door slamming back open told me at least one of the guards was after us again. I jumped into the car and waited as Ashe got in beside me.
“Whose car is this?” I asked.
“One of the Shades',” she said with a laugh.
The engine roared as I turned the key.
“How do you have keys to a Shade's car?” I asked.
“When you've been around as long as I have, you learn to collect things. During the war with the warlocks, I found out Darien provides cars to all of his Shade guards. Custom made cars that all have the same key.”
“Efficient,” I said, pulling away from the curb.
“Efficient, and very easy to take advantage of,” she said. She looked in the rearview mirror. “Two of them are chasing us,” she said.
“How did you get them?” I asked.
“I'd been thinking about the cars ever since I found out about them. Whenever really bad shit goes down around the vampires, the Shades are not far. They're there to protect the Prime and the royal family, which means they're the safest ones to be around.”
The Shade driving the car behind us revved his engine and drove up closer. I glanced in the mirror and saw the car was an exact match to the one I was driving, just like Ashe had said.
“Unless you're the one pissing them off,” I pointed out.
“Which is why you find a way to look like them.”
“Like being able to drive one of their cars,” I said, impressed by the plan.
“Aurora came in with several guards a few years back. Usually she just has Jaxxim with her, but something must have been happening that night because she came in with a group of them. I managed to smuggle them off of one when they weren't paying attention. I was pretty proud of myself, to be h
onest.”
I laughed.
“You should be. I'd loved to have seen his reaction when he realized he didn't have them. Or Darien's when he found out.”
Ahead of me the traffic was picking up. I took a sharp turn down a side street to avoid it, the Shade close behind me. He drove even faster and bumped into us.
“What the fuck?” I shouted.
I tightened my grip on the steering wheel and sped up. People jumped out of the way, but I didn't care. I was too focused on staying far enough away from the Shade that he couldn't ram us and send us spinning out of control.
“Take the alley!” Ashe said, pointing to an alley that cut behind several buildings.
The car scraped the side of one of the buildings as we took the sharp turn, but we leveled out and shot down the narrow passage and out onto the road. I oriented myself and headed in the direction of the business district.
“Are they still behind us?” I asked.
Ashe turned around in her seat and scanned the road.
“No,” she said. “You lost them.”
“For now. They still know where we're going. They'll find us. We just have to make sure we get there first.”
“I have to admit,” she said, sliding across the seat toward me. “I'm very impressed by your driving.”
“Oh, really?” I asked.
“You are very good at it.” Her hand found my lap and cupped my crotch. She massaged it and I was instantly hard. “I knew your dick was pretty exceptional, but how does it help with your steering?”