by Dean Murray
"I'm sorry, Celeste, but I'm not going to be the reason that Set dies. The longer we stay here the less likely it is that Set can talk himself out of the pickle that we've put him in. I leave tomorrow morning, and I'll be taking Ash and Kristin with me. I doubt that Set and the others will let you stay here without us, so I think you should pack tonight."
Her hand came up almost like she was going to slap me, but in the end she just turned and ran out of my room.
I would have liked to stay and pack, but there was something I had to do first. I picked my phone up off of the stone shelf where I'd left it, and headed outside as I waited for it to finish powering on.
No sooner did it finish coming up than it started vibrating with an incoming call. I didn't recognize the number, but I didn't have anything to lose by answering it, so I clicked the accept button.
"Who is this?"
"Ah, that was what I was going to ask you. Wait, are you reading my mind?"
The voice on the other end of the line was female and she sounded flirty and cheerful. It took me a second to realize why I was having a hard time placing her. I'd never heard Rachel sound like this, but it was definitely Rachel.
"Rach, is that you?"
"I don't know—which Isaac am I talking to?"
I wanted to throw my phone into the side of the cliff. I wasn't in the mood for more of Rachel's crazy delusions, but I forced a measure of calm into my voice.
"It's me, Isaac Nazir. Does Alec know where you are?"
"Well duh. Of course it's Isaac Nazir, but which Isaac Nazir am I talking to?"
"It's me Rachel, you only know one Isaac. Where are you? I'll call Alec and he can have someone pick you up within a few hours."
"Why would I want to do that, Isaac Nazir? The flowers are so lovely this time of year."
Something about the way she said my name sent shivers racing up my spine. It was still Rachel's voice, but the inflection and cadence was a perfect match for Set.
"Why did you say that, Rachel? Who have you been talking to?"
"I said it because you assured me that there was only one Isaac Nazir. I haven't been so sure lately, but you promised, so I'm willing to take you on faith. Wait, I'm still talking to you, aren't I?"
It took me a second to follow the twisty almost-logic that she seemed to be using, and by the time I'd decided that she really was just talking nonsense I'd missed my chance to get a word in edgewise.
"I hear you're back on the market, so I wanted to make a run at you early on—you know, before all of the girls started lining up."
"Rach, you've lost me again."
"You are back on the market aren't you? You know—knight-errantry, dragon slaying, maiden rescuing, all that? Is it still knight-errantry if you slay the dragon before they actually threaten the maiden?"
"Rachel Graves, you really need to tell me where you are so that someone can go get you. You're not well."
"Oh, that's a good one. Is the disease still bad if it hasn't hurt you yet? I like that one even better. Do butterflies get sick?"
"Rachel, I can't keep talking to you if you're not going to make sense. Are you going to let me help you or not?"
"I don't know, Isaac. Are you going to let me help you?"
"Probably not. I don't think you can get me out of this particular problem."
"Hmm, I think I'd like to withdraw my request for your hand. There are other maidens who are ready to let me help them. Don't worry though, it's not you, it's me…or whatever the kids are saying these days."
That actually made me laugh. "I thought that I was the knight and you were the maiden."
"It's all relative, Isaac. If you want to be the knight then be the knight, but don't come running to me complaining that you're getting saddle-sore and your armor is too hot and heavy."
There was something there buried underneath all of the flirting, but before I could latch onto it and give it the analysis it deserved, Rachel sighed.
"Sorry, Isaac. It looks like it's time for me to go. We really could have been great together, but try not to let it get you down too much. Some things just aren't meant to be. Tell Alec and Adri hi for me."
She hung up before I could respond and I was left looking at my phone in bemusement. The old Rachel never would have managed to dominate a conversation so completely. Maybe being crazy had some benefits after all. It meant everyone was too busy trying to figure out what you were saying to actually get a word in edgewise.
I shook myself and then dialed the number that I'd been planning on calling in the first place. I was hoping against hope that Alec had listened to my voicemail and forgiven me for being so erratic lately, but once again he didn't pick up.
"Hey, Alec. If you get this I really need to talk to you. I…well, I guess I need a favor. I know I don't have any right to ask you for anything, but there it is. Ash, Kristin and I are all down in New Orleans and things are every bit as bad as Ash kept telling us they were.
"This Onyx guy is seriously bad news and I'm not sure that anyone but you can stop him. I would if I could, but I can't. I'm in over my head. I'd just pack up and go home, but that wouldn't be right. It would hurt people I care about."
Once again, it was even harder to do this kind of thing via message than I'd thought it would be. In person Alec was pretty forgiving and understanding, but this way I didn't have any of the verbal or nonverbal clues that would have told me that I was getting through to him.
Apparently in my imagination Alec was even more remote and unforgiving than he'd been back when he and Adri had been on the outs.
"I guess that's it. If you won't do it for me, can you at least come down for Ash? You said you'd be willing to come down if Celeste and the submissives in the pack wanted an out. She wants an out now, but we will need your help. Even Grayson or Jaclyn wouldn't be enough to dig us out of this hole.
"Oh, and Rachel called me. I'll text you her number in a second. I tried to get her to tell me where she was, but she refused. I'd get online and look it up myself, but I don't have internet access right now."
I couldn't help the chuckle that escaped me. "I know right? Who would have thought I could survive for more than a few hours without some kind of access to the rest of the world? I guess some things do change after all. Please give me a call as soon as you can. I need to make some decisions and knowing that you're going to be able to come down and put Onyx down would make some of them easier."
I hung up and powered my phone down. Jax was still asleep and Celeste ducked into her bedroom as soon as she heard me coming. It was going to be a long night.
Chapter 26
Isaac Nazir
The Lamia Enclave
It ended up being a long night for reasons I hadn't anticipated. Celeste didn't give me any more grief, but my dreams were so vivid that I felt like I never actually got to sleep. More dreams where I was fighting. They lasted all night and I slept for more than eight hours, which had to be some kind of record for a shape shifter.
I'd needed every minute of it though, because battling lamias, werewolves and other hybrids isn't the kind of thing that leaves you feeling refreshed afterwards, even when it's just happening inside of a dream. Surprisingly, I seemed to be fully recovered from all of the effects of the fight with Onyx, which had to be a side effect of having slept for so long.
Under other circumstances I would have missed the extra free time that I'd lost by sleeping so much, but that didn't bother me as much inside of the enclave. There wasn't much to do other than talk, sleep or fight, so it was actually kind of nice to spend more of each day unconscious.
Even so, I was starting to get a little worried by how much I was sleeping. Hopefully it was just a side effect of all of the weird time and space manipulation that was an inherent part of being inside of the enclave.
It wasn't until I stepped into the shower that I realized that I hadn't spent the whole night fighting, or rather that I hadn't been just fighting. Bits and pieces of the conversation with
Rachel had played through my head too.
It had left me with a weird collage of memories. A werewolf coming at me while Rachel asked me which Isaac I was. A lamia sticking its claws into my gut as Rachel told me that it was okay to kill a dragon even if it hadn't hurt me yet. Even as the water ran down my body it still felt like Rachel's words were still playing through my mind. Not the memory of our conversation, but the actual conversation, happening again and again.
It was surprisingly disturbing.
I'd expected to find Jax and Celeste both waiting for me. I didn't expect to see Set likewise waiting for me to leave the shower.
"Greeting, Isaac Nazir. I'm afraid that it is time for another challenge if you all wish to stay here."
I opened my mouth to tell him that we were leaving, but the words stuck in my throat. I heard Rachel's voice in my head again, but I couldn't remember what she'd told me. It was all mixed up for me now, but the one thing that kept coming through was that I had a choice.
That was what I'd been missing all of this time. I had a choice. I'd always had a choice; I just hadn't always been willing to live with the consequences of some of the paths available to me.
If we left now, it would mean that Set might be able to talk himself out of a challenge. If we stayed and I killed another one of his men, then it would almost certainly mean that he'd end up fighting Pal, and he would lose.
There was another option, but even just a couple of days ago I probably wouldn't have been willing to take it. I was ready now.
"Set, if Pal was out of the picture, if he was dead, would anyone else challenge you for the position of first consort?"
"What do you mean, Isaac Nazir?"
"Please just answer the question. Are any of the others likely to try and kill you if Pal is out of the picture?"
"No, Isaac Nazir. There is only one other remaining consort other than Pal and me. I do not believe that Rast will challenge if Pal is not around to stir things up."
"And how much would the loss of Pal impact your ability to keep the enclave hidden?"
"It would reduce the time that we can safely shelter you by a day or two. We lamias are only able to do so much to mask your presence. Mostly the length of time you can be hidden is a function of the…reservoir."
I nodded. I'd hoped that his answer would be something like that. It was only logical given that Pal was ready to kill Set. He wouldn't have been considering that course of action if the loss of another consort would result in the enclave instantly being found by the Consumed.
"I know that I've been having you pick out my opponents, but is it still permissible for me to pick out my own opponent if I so desire."
Set shook his head. "Isaac Nazir, please don't do this."
It seemed impossible for Set not to have realized where my line of questioning was headed. Maybe he'd known all along but just not wanted to admit it to himself. He knew now.
"That's a yes, then. Set, I accept the challenge but I would select Pal as my opponent."
Celeste was at my side, but I didn't remember her crossing the length of the room to get there.
"Isaac, what are you thinking? The consorts are a whole different ball game than fighting a worker. Pal won't be able to use his venom, but that's not going to matter. If he's looking at challenging Set then he's got to be their number two fighter."
"Yeah, I figured as much."
"You don't have to do this. You've made your point. Let's go back to New Orleans and call your friend."
Even through all of the anger and disappointment she was still concerned about me. Even if her actions hadn't said as much, I still would have been able to see it in her breathtaking gray eyes. I wanted to tell her the truth, that Alec hadn't called me back, that he wasn't going to come save us, but I couldn't bring myself to tell her.
Alec was mad at me, but that didn't mean that he was a bad person. There was still a chance that he'd change his mind, and even if he didn't, I wasn't going to let the fact that he and I had been fighting ruin Celeste's opinion of him.
If the worst came to pass and I died at Pal's hands, then I wanted Celeste to accept Alec's help when he came around offering her his friendship. It was the only real chance that she and her people had, but she was stubborn enough to turn him away if she thought that he was the reason that I'd died.
"I'm sorry, Celeste, this is something that I have to do."
Set was still shaking his head. "It does not have to be like this, Isaac Nazir. You can change your mind right now, but once I go tell Pal of your challenge there will be no going back."
"I understand, Set. Please let him know that I'm ready to meet him inside of the challenge circle at his earliest convenience."
Set bowed his head in acknowledgement and then turned and left. I already knew that Celeste wasn't going to be as easy to convince, but then again I didn't have to convince her. She couldn't stop me any more than I could stop her from going to the queen and asking about a way to save her pack rather than asking for the location of the Coun'hij's base.
"You're a fool, Isaac. You don't have to do this. You don't need to prove anything to me. I already know that you're good and moral and fearless."
"I'm sorry, Celeste. This isn't about proving anything to you; it's about proving something to myself. Besides, if I win it will mean that we both get what we want. I'll have saved Set and you'll get a few more days to try and get your audience with his queen."
"I don't want you to throw your life away in a fight you can't win."
"I owe Set this."
"He doesn't want this."
"I know, but that doesn't change the fact that it's exactly what he needs. I might win, but even if I don't I can still guarantee that Pal isn't going to be challenging Set by the time I'm done with him. He's going to be hurt, which means that Set is going to have a chance to recover before Pal takes him on."
She looked like she was going to cry, which just made me realize how much I still had to learn about women. She turned away from me as though planning on running to her room, but I grabbed her elbow.
"Do me a favor if I don't make it?"
"Maybe, depends on what it is."
Her tone drew a smile out of me despite the seriousness of what I was about to go do.
"You're a terrible liar, you know that? You should have just told me yes and then not done it if it was that distasteful."
"Maybe, but I don't want to break my streak. I haven't lied to you yet, Isaac. I haven't told you everything, but I haven't knowingly said anything that wasn't true."
"I appreciate that."
Tears were starting to leak out of the corners of her eyes, but she turned her head so I couldn't see her face.
"What do you want, Isaac?"
"Tell Ash that I'm sorry I couldn't save Kristin for him. There's a file on my tablet with his name on it. It's got all of my notes on it. I think it will be enough for him to be able to run the hack that the two of us discussed. Donovan and Alec can help him run the team. It won't be quite the same, but I think it will still work."
"Is that all?"
"No. Kristin isn't the only one I'm sorry I can't save."
"Whatever. Words are cheap. Don't expect me to be there watching today."
I let her go and headed outside. It wasn't how I'd wanted to end things with her, but there wasn't anything I could say to make her okay with what I was about to do. Besides, I didn't dare stay there with her for much longer or there was a chance that I'd lose my nerve.
It wouldn't change anything. By now Pal had already been informed of the fact that I wanted to fight him, but losing my nerve would make it that much harder to win.
I pulled my clothes off as I walked, and then shifted into my hybrid form as I reached the cave that held the challenge circle. Nobody else was there yet, but that was fine. I knelt down in the sand and closed my eyes in an attempt to clear my mind.
It must have worked because I didn't hear everyone arrive. One moment I was floating in s
ilence and then in the next I heard Set saying my name.
"Are you ready, Isaac Nazir?"
I nodded and opened my eyes as I stood. The cave was smaller than it had ever been before, but the size of the circle hadn't changed. Despite their smaller numbers, the spectators filled the cave up to capacity.
Most surprisingly, Celeste was there. I gave her a sad smile, but she refused to meet my eyes. I shrugged and put her out of my mind. It wasn't easy, but it was something that had to be done.
Pal stepped into the circle and hissed at me.
"I know what you're trying to do, beast. You hope to beat me and thereby save Set from having to face me himself, but all you've done is give me the pleasure of killing you days before it would have otherwise happened. You'll still be dead, and Set will still have been dishonored by having turned to you to save his miserable life."
I shook my head. "Set didn't ask me to do this. In fact, he would much prefer that I not fight you, but my honor is of a different sort. I will not stand by and see him killed for doing the bidding of your queen. You're nothing more than a traitor. We know how to deal with traitors where I'm from."
I stepped into the circle before I'd even finished speaking, and Pal charged me.
He was fast and he was bigger and stronger than I was, which meant that he was holding all of the important cards. All that was left was for me to try to take him by surprise.
We exchanged fast, probing strikes and both reeled away bleeding. No surprises there. His scales gave him a decided advantage against raking attacks, and he was scary fast for someone so big. Going just off of who was bleeding the most he was already ahead.
If we kept on like we were doing so far he'd win simply by bleeding me out. I needed to manufacture some kind of opportunity, which was going to be difficult to do without opening up a dangerous vulnerability on my side.
"Is that the best you can do, mutt?"
I didn't bother responding, saving my breath as I tried to work around the perimeter and tire him out. I managed a nice slash across the same spot that I'd hit earlier and smiled as his arm started really bleeding.