The Seduced

by Cheyenne McCray

  “McNulty?” Copper’s heart fell. “I really liked her.” Then she added in a growl, “Damned demons.”

  Silver sighed. “I was so full of rage when McNulty died, that I helped the D’Danann kill the demons.” She looked to her sister. “I came so close to turning to the dark that time that it was frightening.”

  Copper wrapped her arm around Silver’s shoulder and said in a matter-of-fact voice, “That would never happen. You did what you had to. I’m sure I would have done the same in your place.”

  Silver cleared her throat as Copper released her. “Darkwolf—he has some kind of pull on me. It’s like we’re connected on some wavelength, and he uses that to try and manipulate me. I’ve fought him off before, but I’m afraid one day I might fail.”

  Copper rubbed Silver’s shoulder, the purple silk sliding beneath her palm. “You’re strong. He can’t hurt you.”

  Silver gave a shuddering sigh but said nothing.

  “Do you think we’re meant to go there?” Copper turned back to stare at the now quiet cauldron. “Or is it a warning?”

  “I think we are supposed to go to the wharf.” Silver pushed away from the table and pursed her lips. “The only one dangerous magically is Darkwolf. The other Balorite warlocks are not even close to being as strong as he is, and the Fomorii have no magic other than being able to shift into human form and back.”

  Silver tapped her chin with her finger as she looked at the cauldron. “We probably wouldn’t have any problem binding those other two with our witchcraft before they knew what was happening. The third figure, though, I’m not exactly sure what it, he, she, is.”

  Copper’s gaze returned to the cauldron. “That blaze of light—where was it coming from?”

  At that Silver paused. “I don’t know for sure, but I think from us. Sometimes my magic takes on a purple hue—when I draw from the gray.”

  Copper frowned at that. The gray caused Silver’s magic to change hue? “When do you think this vision will happen?” Copper asked.

  “Late this evening,” Silver said with conviction. “I have no doubt about it. The waxing moon will be in that phase tonight.”

  Copper frowned. “I think you’re right. We’ll need backup.”

  Silver rubbed the snake bracelet that wound from the back of one hand and up her wrist. “Yeah, and the D’Danann will want to go barreling in there with swords and fists, and we’ll never find out what’s going on.”

  At that Copper had to grin. “Men. They have no subtleties.”

  Silver smiled. “At least not our men.”

  Our. The word gave Copper pause, and she thought of her relationship with Tiernan. He’d been so possessive last night, yet he was possibly going to end up marrying a woman who was pregnant with another man’s child.

  The thought of him being married to someone else made her stomach pitch and she had to push it away.

  A knock on the door startled them and Silver rolled her eyes to Copper. “No doubt they’ve been trying to listen in while we’ve been talking.”

  Silver let the warriors into the apartment. After she closed the door behind them, she and Copper explained the vision they had seen and what they were positive they must do tonight.

  “I will not allow you to go to the pier, Silver,” Hawk said in a growl as he banged his fist on the table, causing water to slosh from the cauldron. “Especially not so close to the warlock and the demon.”

  “Get over it,” Copper said to Hawk, causing the warrior to pause. “You’d better get used to us in the thick of things.”

  Hawk looked to Tiernan. “Is she as difficult to contend with as Silver?”

  Tiernan shook his head and sighed. “Worse.”

  Copper sniffed.

  Silver glared at Hawk. “After all we’ve been through together, you know I am more than capable of handling myself. I’ve kicked more ass than you can count. Our relationship is based on trust, isn’t it?”

  Hawk took Silver by the shoulders, and he looked so concerned and genuinely afraid for her. “I know, a thaisce. But I worry so about you. And with our babe—”

  “You’re pregnant?” Copper nearly shouted as she looked at Silver in amazement. Happiness rushed through her for her sister, yet frustration, too. “You guys are having a baby and you didn’t tell me?”

  “A babe?” Tiernan echoed, looking from Silver to Hawk.

  “I was waiting for the right time.” Silver’s cheeks turned pink. “It’s just been so crazy. I’ve been so thrilled that you’re here, and with everything that’s been happening—I just wanted some quiet time to sit down with you and share the news.”

  Copper folded her arms across her chest like she was mad, then grinned. She pushed Hawk out of the way and hugged Silver. “We’re having a baby.” She bounced up and down on her toes. “We’re having a baby!” She pulled away, still grinning like an idiot. “I’ll have a niece or nephew!”

  “A son, I think.” Silver pressed her hand to her still flat belly and smiled. She glanced up at Hawk and the love in their eyes made Copper ache inside. “A boy who is the spitting image of his daddy.”

  “Or a girl.” Hawk kissed the top of her head. “As beautiful as her mother.”

  “As beautiful as Shayla.” Silver smiled. “I’m sure Shayla will love either a brother or a sister.”

  Hawk kissed her and the next thing Copper knew, Silver and Hawk were in a serious liplock. Copper glanced up at Tiernan, who looked slightly uncomfortable, and Copper couldn’t stop grinning. “I’m going to be an aunt.” She felt incredibly giddy.

  Copper turned her attention back to the smooching couple. “Hey, get a room already.”

  Silver and Hawk separated. She had a lovely flush over her features and her lipstick had been thoroughly kissed off.

  Hawk held Silver by her shoulders and looked directly at her. “You know that I fear for both of you.”

  Silver sighed. “I understand that. But the baby will be fine. I’ll be fine.” She reached up to cup his cheek. “You can’t treat me like a fragile piece of blown glass.”

  Resignation was in the big warrior’s eyes. “Nothing I can do will change your mind?”

  Silver shook her head. “Nothing.”

  Copper glanced up at Tiernan, who was looking at her as though he was ready to argue, too. “Don’t even think about it,” she said. “Just zip those lips.”

  Adrenaline heightened Copper’s senses as she and Silver moved silently through the night along the narrow strip of rocky shore with Copper leading the way. To the right was a high concrete wall, and to the left was the bay.

  The pier extended far from the shoreline, out into the bay on its sturdy, water-stained, wooden pilings. A white and blue boat was moored at the end of the pier and the boat gave creaks of age as it moved with the gentle swells of the water. The waxing moon cast silvery ripples on the water’s surface through the breaks in the clouds.

  The sisters wore all black—bomber jackets, jeans, and T-shirts. Silver wore her special boots that had sheathes for her stiletto knives. She’d clipped back her hair and had a black stocking cap pulled over her head. Copper wore black jogging shoes and had her braid up under her stocking cap.

  Tiernan, Hawk, and two other D’Danann hovered somewhere nearby. They were able to cloak themselves in invisibility when they were winged. Unfortunately, they could not maintain their invisibility when they fought, whether it was in the air or on land.

  The not-so-distant sound of traffic and the gentle waves of the bay washing ashore were the only sounds Copper heard until a foghorn blared in the distance, causing her to jump.

  She just couldn’t get enough of the scent of brine and wind off the bay. So what if the fishy smell was a little pungent? She didn’t care. She was home.

  They continued stealthily through the night toward the pier. Copper had her wand up her jacket sleeve so that the moonlight didn’t glint off its surface and the crystals didn’t sparkle to give them away. Silver had done the same with
one of her stiletto knives while her free hand was at the ready to do her magic. Her other knife was in her boot.

  Copper often wished she could do the kind of magic that Silver did with her hands. But from the time she was a young girl, Copper had always relied on her wand as a conduit for her witchcraft.

  Voices floated on the salty breeze, along with the scent of wolfsbane, moss, and rich earth. Copper and Silver stilled and glanced at one another. The sounds came from beneath the pier.

  Copper’s blood throbbed through her veins as they moved silently forward. The voices grew louder the closer the sisters got to the pilings. They finally reached the pier and eased up to it, each standing behind one of the pier’s large wooden piles.

  Copper tried to control the nervousness and her breathing as she peeked around the curve of the thick wooden leg. She had to blink until her eyes adjusted to the darkness. The moonlight didn’t fully reach below the pier.

  “You will ensure her safety and deliver her to me,” said a man’s familiar voice, but she couldn’t place it. It was as if that man didn’t belong here, not at all. The man was so concealed by the darkness that she couldn’t make out anything but the slightest shine from the hint of moonlight on his long hair. Perhaps he was one of the Fomorii demons and that was what gave her the sense of wrongness.

  Junga folded her arms across her chest, her glare focused on the shadowed man. “First you must continue to aid us in our search for the door. How close are the—”

  “Quiet, woman,” the familiar voice ordered Junga, and Copper saw the demon-woman’s body go rigid at the same time she flexed her fingers.

  Darkwolf shot her a look, as if in warning. Junga clenched her fists and for an instant Copper caught a glimpse of the demon inside warping the stunning woman’s features, but then it was gone.

  The Balorite warlock opened his mouth as if to speak, but stopped and raised his chin, his nose slightly to the air, like a wolf scenting the wind for prey. Copper’s skin chilled. Did he sense them?

  Darkwolf gave a smile as his gaze returned to the man whom Copper couldn’t see. “All you need to know,” the warlock said, “is that I will deliver what I have promised when you and your people have reached the door.”

  The door. They have to be talking about the same door from my dream-vision. The same one from the parchment.

  She moved against the pile, no longer looking at Darkwolf, Junga, or the mystery man. She glanced at Silver, who also had her back to the pile, away from the trio under the pier.

  Copper’s heart pounded harder as she saw the rapid rise and fall of Silver’s chest and heard her breathing growing harsher. Copper’s alarm grew at the expression on Silver’s face, the way she turned her head from side to side, as if saying no and like she fought something internally.

  Silver let her stiletto slip from her jacket sleeve and into her hand so that she held the hilt tight. The metal glistened in the moonlight as Silver clenched her teeth. She seemed to be at war within herself.

  Fear grew rampant in Copper’s heart. What was happening to Silver? Copper eased her wand from her sleeve and gripped it in her fist, prepared to fight. Was Silver struggling with her gray magic, walking dangerously close to the dark? Or did it have something to do with Darkwolf?

  Copper peeked around the corner and a glimmer of light lit the features of the mystery man.

  Garran. Oh, my goddess, it’s Garran.

  Every piece of the puzzle rushed to her and her head spun with it. The dark familiar shapes in her dreams had been the Drow. Their continuous digging. The giant that had made its way to the Drow cavern, obviously woken from its post in guarding things better not reached. The human-made clock in Garran’s chamber that showed the date and time—probably telling him when to meet with Darkwolf.

  “But for now,” Darkwolf’s voice reached through her fear for Silver and her shock at discovering Garran’s betrayal, “two of our treasures can be found.”

  Alarm bells went off in Copper’s head, but not before brilliant purple light flooded the pilings, just like in the vision.

  Instinctively, Copper threw up a golden bubble, intending to surround both herself and Silver. But to Copper’s horror, the dark purple magic wrapped around Silver first, separating Copper’s shield from her sister. Purple ropes immediately bound Silver to the pile. She couldn’t move.

  The stiletto slipped from Silver’s hand and clattered on the rocky shore. She shouted, “No!” and struggled against the magical ropes.

  Blood thrummed through Copper’s veins. She dropped her own protective bubble and pointed her wand at Darkwolf’s shimmering purple barrier. She released a powerful blast of witchcraft, trying to break through the warlock’s shield.

  His shield wavered.

  Adrenaline surged through her as she sent another blast of power at the barrier.

  It dissolved into a million purple sparks.

  But magical ropes still bound Silver to the piling.

  At the same time, Copper struggled to fight Darkwolf’s magic, D’Danann cries rent the night air.

  Darkwolf appeared at Silver’s side almost instantly.

  Copper’s heart raced as she aimed her wand at him and muttered a chant under her breath. Golden spellfire shot from the end of her wand, but Darkwolf held up his hand and deflected her magic with his own. It struck a piling and the acrid stench of smoke and burning oil filled the air.

  Hawk charged for Darkwolf, sword raised.

  His sword arced through the air at the same time the warlock wrapped his arm around Silver’s waist.

  The bonds dropped.

  Darkwolf’s lips moved as if he were speaking.

  Silver struggled against Darkwolf’s hold.

  They vanished.

  Vanished.

  For a moment Copper was so shocked, so horrified, she couldn’t move. No sound would come from her mouth. Filled with fiery rage, she whirled to fight the demon woman and Garran who had been beneath the pier, intending to capture them to find out where Silver had been taken.

  They were both gone.

  Gone.

  Copper ran into the darkness, her wand light flooding what was once dark. All she saw was the wall of earth and concrete beneath the dock and no sign of the demon or the Drow.

  Tiernan stood beside her with his sword raised and utter fury on his face.

  Copper swung her gaze back to look at Hawk, whose features were twisted into a devastated expression. He roared and slammed his boot into one of the pilings and Copper heard the massive wooden leg crack.

  “Godsdamn!” Hawk shouted, a mixture of rage and fear for his mate in his tone. “I will find that bitch of a demon,” he said just before he bolted out from beneath the pier and took to the skies. The other D’Danann warriors followed close behind.

  “I can’t believe Darkwolf took her.” Tears wet Copper’s cheeks as she clenched her wand in her fist. “The bastard took her!”

  The wand lit up Tiernan’s harsh features. He’d stayed with her, no doubt for her protection. “We will retrieve your sister,” he said in a low growl.

  “It happened so fast.” Copper couldn’t keep the tremble from her voice. “I was in shock at seeing Garran—”

  “Garran?” Tiernan grabbed her by the shoulders, surprising her. “The Drow king was here?”

  She nodded. “Apparently, he betrayed us all along.”

  In the light from her wand she saw Tiernan’s jaw tighten before he released her. “I shall murder the Elvin bastard.”

  “Get in line.” Rage and pain coursed through Copper’s body. “I’m going to kill the sonofabitch. After I finish with Darkwolf and get Silver back.”

  Tears threatened to spill down her cheeks. “I tried to throw up a shield to protect us both, but his sorcery got to her first” Copper’s voice cracked. “And Silver—”

  Copper continued, her voice trembling. “Before she was captured, I saw her face. It was like she was fighting something inside her mind. I was so concerned abou
t her, and so in shock about Garran, that I wasn’t prepared when Darkwolf attacked.”

  Copper rubbed her jacket sleeve over her eyes. She couldn’t stop the tears. “I should have protected her.”

  Her legs gave out and she found herself on her knees, rocks digging into her flesh. Tiernan knelt beside her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders as she choked back sobs. She leaned into him, needing his comfort.

  Copper trembled so badly she didn’t think she could get to her feet. Tiernan took one of her hands and helped her rise, then caught her in his arms when her knees wanted to give out again. “We will find your sister.” He sounded as if he was grinding his teeth. “We will find her.”

  Without responding, Copper went to the location where Silver had dropped her stiletto and picked it up. The hilt was slightly warm where Silver had gripped it. Pain cut through Copper’s chest as if the stiletto had pierced her flesh.

  Goddess, why hadn’t she been able to protect her sister? And Garran—how could she not have put all the clues together before?

  When she finally gathered herself enough to go back to HQ, she drove Silver’s beat-up yellow VW Bug to the apartments, barely able to think clearly.

  On their way to the pier, Silver had explained how Hawk had saved her after she’d collapsed from a summoning. He’d driven the car, taking her back to her apartment above the Moon Song café. Hawk had managed to trash her new car, because he was from Otherworld and had never driven before.

  At the time Silver had told Copper the story, it had been funny enough that she’d giggled almost all the way to the wharf. Silver did have insurance, she just hadn’t had the time to have the Bug fixed.

  Copper didn’t even know why she was thinking about that as she drove up and down the steep streets of the city. Her chest burned with fear and anger, and her head ached from crying. Damn, but they should have listened to the men and not gone to the wharf. But why did the scrying cauldron show them doing just that? It didn’t make sense.