A Nightmare appeared and grabbed one of the men by the collar. It dragged him out into the darkness, his screams echoing. Another darted in and swiped at Quinn, who shot a blast of light at it. Then another lunged forward, snatching the arm of the man next to her in its teeth before disappearing again. His body flew up into the sky, his arms and legs thrashing, and then suddenly he separated into a dozen pieces as the horses swarmed in about him. A fine mist of blood drifted down over us.
“We want to help you!” I yelled. “We want our revenge on Raoul, too!”
No response. Silence stretched over the ridge for a moment.
Then they attacked all at once, from every angle, a blur of silver. Their screams drove like nails into my brain. I closed my eyes and extended my other senses. My katana sang with liquid fury. I was beginning to catch the rhythm of their deadly dance, and quickened my moves to match them. This time, I could feel my blade connecting. Blood scented the air, and my heart thrilled with battle. We could still win this, even if the witch didn’t want to play fair.
A scream cut the night. Quinn.
My eyes flew open without thinking and the Nightmare’s eyes were there, waiting for me, hovering inches from my face. This one’s eyes were glowing orbs of azure, swirling, sucking me into their depths. Everything else fell away but those eyes. The bluest of blues. That blue at the edge of morning, just before the sun breaks over the horizon. And I didn’t see the horse anymore, but another pair of blue eyes, the eyes that had been my undoing almost two centuries ago. The blue eyes responsible for my immortality, but also my damnation.
His face, the face I had once loved, hung before me. “It’s your own fault,” he said in that melodic voice of his. “You were so naïve. So dumb. Just a stupid girl.”
Physical pain, a spear of ice in my stomach. It spread, cold and numb, outwards from my center. A familiar feeling, anytime I thought of him. And I knew who I’d see next.
It came in flashes after that, my nightmare.
Moorlands. A dead tree. Long red hair, flaming in the night. Gray eyes, a cool kiss. Sleep, hunger, agony. But no more broken heart. Sweet emptiness. For a little while at least.
I knew what came after, the culmination of my dream. Because the most terrible thing hadn’t happened yet. My worst nightmare had yet to appear. Somewhere deep down in my dream, a tiny sliver of myself fought to resurface in reality. But I was deep, deep down in the waters of the Nightmare’s spell. Ocean deep. Fighting was useless…
Power. More power than I had ever known. Power to seek revenge. And revenge I wrought. Not the revenge I wanted most, but others that had done me wrong paid. It wasn’t enough, though. This energy, beautiful energy, it lived inside me and it needed to stretch. And I was hungry.
The village lay before me, a white gem in the rolling green. Sunlight painted everything in lemon tones. But the only thing I could see, brighter than the sun, were the dozens of glowing souls occupying the village. They pulsed and shone before me, pure and bright. I wanted them. I raised my hands to the sky…
“No!!” I screamed into the night. The Nightmare hung before me, and in a blur my katana separated its head from its body. Silence fell. My heart pulsed in my ears, my breath coming in ragged gasps. And then I heard footsteps.
A woman appeared before me. Tall, very tall, with cocoa skin and sheets of blue-black hair to her waist. Her face was all sharp angles and proud features, her eyes chocolate. Not a warm chocolate. Cold, defiant, proud. She regarded me and I regarded her. Her gaze traveled to the blood dripping from my sword.
“No one has ever killed one of the Nightmares before,” she said. Her voice matched her eyes, cool and distant, but with a lilting accent. “And few have broken from their spell once entranced.”
She circled me and I stood still, my body ready to spring into action. But something told me to wait.
“You are very, very powerful. A witch, like me. And like that one.” She paused in front of me, uncomfortably close, and nodded towards Quinn. “Obeah,” she whispered in my ear.
“No,” I said, and it came out strangled. “I’m not like you. I’m something different.”
She shrugged. “Magic runs in your veins. Call it what you will.”
“I don’t use that part of me anymore.”
“You just did,” she said.
I frowned. “Bad things happen when I use my powers.”
She regarded me intently for a moment. “If you want to take down Raoul, you’re going to need to use them.”
“Quinn can help with that part. I have other tools,” I said, looking down at my blade.
“It may not be enough,” she said.
“It will be,” I countered.
She thought about it a moment. “He hired you to stop me?” Her gaze traveled around the group.
“I came down to discuss a potential job offer. He kidnapped me when I declined, lied to us, and threatened my friends. He didn’t bother mentioning you. What’s your story?”
Her eyes were terrible for a moment, but then her gaze regained its coolness. “The rumors about Raoul are true, about him being part demon, part faery. His demon side is a unique breed — he assimilates the powers of other supernaturals and makes them his own. In a way, he’s a blend of most types of supernatural beings. We were together for a brief period of time.” She paused. “I have terrible taste in men.”
“I feel ya, sister,” I said with a sigh.
“I should have known, but of course he tried to take my powers, too. I ended it, but he sent his men after me. They killed two of the children in my village to punish me. One of them was my niece.” She shot a deadly look at Belphegor. “So I called forth the Nightmares to protect myself and my family. And for revenge, to be honest.”
“It seems we have a lot in common,” I said. “I don’t even know your name.”
“Vitoria.”
“I think we’ll get along just fine, Vitoria,” I said, the smile returning to my face. “Now, you ready to go get that son of a bitch?”
“I have been for a long time,” she hissed.
A strangled gasp cut through the air to my left. Spinning, I saw that Belphegor had his hand around Quinn’s throat.
“I told you not to cross Raoul,” he said. His grip tightened, and she began to choke as he started to dissipate into the air. He was about to do his little disappearing act.
Riley and I lunged forward simultaneously, but Quinn swung her fist back and knocked Belphegor between the eyes with a glowing ball of magic. His grip loosened enough for her to slip free as he vanished.
“What a jerkface,” she sputtered.
“You really need to learn better language, Quinn,” I said. “What a sneaky little fuck.”
“Raoul will know we’re coming now,” Donovan said, a frown on his lips.
“Fine. That’ll give him time to get good and scared.” I sheathed my sword and stared off towards the city.
“Damn straight,” Riley added.
Vitoria smiled. “We’d better start down the mountain. It’ll be a long walk.”
CHAPTER FOUR
The life and energy shimmering off the streets of Rio was making my mouth water, and causing unpleasant memories to reemerge. I’d done a good job suppressing those memories the last century or so, but my run-in with the Nightmares had brought them to the surface again, sharks circling the edges of my psyche. And I needed to bring my A-game to this fight. It wasn’t every day you faced a half-demon, half-faery like Raoul, even for someone in my line of work.
Vitoria had said Raoul and his goons would be watching the festival from his city apartment. Someone well-known like him couldn’t miss Carnival. Plus, he probably thought we wouldn’t attack him in broad daylight, in front of thousands of witnesses. Unfortunately for Raoul, he was sadly mistaken.
“I’m counting a dozen on the balcony,” said Donovan, without lowering the binoculars he was peering through.
“Lemme look,” I said, butting my shoulder against hi
s and grabbing for them.
“What, you think I can’t count?” he asked with a grin.
“She’s got control issues,” Riley said, smirking.
“Shut up.” I squinted through the eye holes. Raoul’s place was a lavish sandstone structure with a sweeping balcony and fancy arched doorways. “Thirteen. You missed one.”
I could feel Donovan roll his eyes. “Fine, I’ll make sure I kill that one quickly to make up for my heinous mistake.”
“Now you’re talking the way to a girl’s heart,” I said, lowering the binoculars and flashing him a smile.
Vitoria and Quinn came up the stairs behind us onto the hotel balcony we were camped out on.
“Everything set with Team Magic?” Riley asked them.
“Yes, we put our spells in place,” Quinn said. “And Team Muscle?”
“Ready,” Donovan said.
I looked at Vitoria and she gave me a sharp nod. Her face held a mixture of excitement and ferocity. I knew what it felt like to crave revenge on someone you’d once loved, the burn of it deep in your core. Maybe I’d get a chance to fulfill my revenge fantasy at some point…but that was a story for another day.
“Let’s roll,” I said.
We made our way down into the streets. Bodies crammed every ounce of space. And I mean bodies in a sense one doesn’t usually encounter in public. Women clad in nothing but pasties and a thong, men in tiny loincloths. Sweaty, glistening skin everywhere. A spectrum of color that would make a rainbow envious, plus feathers and gems and sequins in every form and fashion. Joy spiraled up into the sky with every move they took, a city-wide dance of epic proportions that made the rest of humanity seem halfway to the grave in comparison. It was making me hungry.
When we hit the street corner adjacent to Raoul’s lux apartment, we split up. Quinn, Riley and Donovan headed down a side street while Vitoria and I kept straight ahead. A few steps down the street Donovan turned and called, “Good luck, Zyan!”
I smiled. “Keep it for yourself. I don’t need any.”
He blew me a kiss and jogged to catch up with the other two.
“Someone has a crush,” Vitoria said.
I shrugged and cracked my knuckles.
We walked right up to the front door of Raoul’s apartment. Four huge guards stood at attention. Their eyes tracked us as we approached, but they didn’t move a muscle, their posture rigid. They looked human in appearance but I could smell a hint of sulfur. Lower level demons with a simple glamour to disguise their true appearance, which probably wasn’t too pretty. The Carnival parade passed just feet from the door, a living river. You couldn’t exactly have dudes with horns and spiked tails scaring the tourists.
“Hello, boys,” I said. “We’re here to see Raoul.”
They ignored us completely.
I turned to look at Vitoria. “Well that’s rude, don’t you think?”
“Yes,” she said solemnly, though her lips twisted up at the corners. “Very ungentlemanly indeed.”
“I guess they need a lesson in proper manners.”
I pulled my katana from its sheath, and in two beats of my heart the two demons closest to me no longer had hearts at all. The two closest to Vitoria were mere piles of ash from a quick blast of magic. Behind us, the crowd continued their merriment, none the wiser due to Quinn’s barrier glamour over the building.
“Shall we?” I asked Vitoria. Without waiting for an answer, I kicked the double doors wide open.
A high-ceilinged room lined with pillars lay beyond. The expanse of cream-colored marble floor felt slick beneath my boots as I strode across. Half a dozen more demons stood on either side of a staircase leading to the second floor. These had no glamour, so the looks of surprise on their scaled/warty/tusked faces was quite amusing. But within the space of another breath, those looks changed from surprise to anger.
“What, we weren’t invited to the party?” I called. “Tsk-tsk.”
They charged us, naturally, and we met them head-on with blade and magic. I took a little longer with this group, because hey, a girl’s gotta have fun, right? I even switched my katana to my left hand to challenge myself a little. A few spins and slices later, and we had another pile of blood and ashes.
“Raoul’s going to need to call in the housekeeper early this week,” I said with a grin.
With a mutual nod of understanding, we charged up the stairs. We reached the landing and I could hear sounds of battle above us. I zipped super-speed the rest of the way, emerging onto the sun-drenched balcony overlooking the parade a moment later. Donovan, Riley and Quinn were already there, back to back in the midst of a dozen demons. The clang of weapons mixed with the snarl of Riley in wolf form. Donovan was still in human shape.
“You started without me?” I cried in outrage.
“Well, someone was taking their sweet time downstairs,” Donovan called. “Probably talking a bunch of smack and savoring the moment.”
“Touche,” I conceded, jumping into the fray.
As I moved in a cyclone through the fight, my eyes sought Raoul. I spotted him over in the corner, surrounded by another cluster of demons. These demons were not the lower level scum he’d placed downstairs — they were from the upper ranks, probably 10th or even 11th level demons. Not a whole lot of those got out from under Lucifer’s personal entourage, which made me reevaluate just how much bad news Raoul really was. He had to have major ties with the big guy to have Hell’s best as his personal guards.
Vitoria wasn’t dissuaded at all. She advanced on the cluster of demons surrounding Raoul, arms raised overhead, lightning crackling from her fingertips. The space around her shimmered and the herd of Nightmares materialized, flanking her on each side. Spells began to fly between her and the upper level demons, who all had their own magic. The balcony lit up with color and chunks of marble and plaster as Raoul’s fancy place got blasted all to hell in the cross-fire.
I darted in and out of the battle, making quick work of the demons in my path. For a moment I fought back to back with Donovan. The heat from his body washed into me, and I could feel the buzz of shifter energy pouring off of him. “Why haven’t you shifted?”
“Well, then I can’t talk to you,” he said, and I could hear the smile in his voice.
“What exactly do you want to talk about in a moment like this?” I plunged my blade into a demon’s heart as it dove for my face and kicked it away from me.
“I was going to see if you’d reconsidered my offer.”
“Your offer? Of what?”
“Mind-blowing sex. After the battle.”
I didn’t answer for a moment as I spun and took the head off another demon. My spin turned me around so I faced Donovan. I shrugged. “I’ll think on it.”
“Drinks first? I know the best mojito place in Rio.”
“Don’t push it,” I snarled, lunging past him and spilling a pig-tailed demon’s intestines onto the floor.
“I’m going to help Vitoria,” Quinn called from a few feet away. She spun, shooting one last blast of light at a nearby demon before dashing across the room.
“Be right there,” I said, stalking towards the last couple demons on our side of the balcony.
I dispatched one as Riley’s teeth took out the throat of the other. Just as I turned to head for Raoul, a piercing agony ripped through my chest. Falling to my knees, I looked down, expecting to see a blade sticking through my heart. Nothing. No blood, no blade. Through a buzz of pain, I heard Donovan yell my name.
An odd wave of sensation rolled over me. As if something was pulling, sucking, draining me… not my blood exactly, but my essence. I wondered vaguely if this is what my victims felt as I consumed them. It would be an ironic and fitting end to me… but not today. I wasn’t ready to die today, regardless of my sins. Especially not at the hands of a douchebag like Raoul.
Something inside bucked against the hold over me. I shoved it back with a blast of my own power, the power I tried never to use. Twice now in the matter o
f a few hours I’d had to call on that part of me, that deadly, wild force. This didn’t bode well. But at the moment it was all I had. So I pushed with everything in me, and felt Raoul withdraw. I rose shakily to my feet.
His voice rang inside my head, though he stood across the room behind his wall of demons. What are you, Zyan Star? Something rare for my collection.
Had he succeeded in taking some of my life force? Vitoria hadn’t said whether he needed to kill someone to complete the transfer of powers. I suppressed a shudder.
“Are you okay?” Donovan asked.
“Yeah. Let’s kill that bastard.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
We charged across the room and threw ourselves into the last bastion of Raoul’s defenses. These demons were a nasty bunch, not ones to play around with like the others. I fleetingly wondered where that sneaky prick Belphegor had gone off to, not like we didn’t have enough demons on our hands here. If that’s even what he was… I wasn’t so sure anymore. We hadn’t heard the last from him, however things ended today with Raoul.
Vitoria and Quinn had managed to blast three of the upper level demons, but another four remained. We needed to get their attention so Vitoria and Quinn could focus on Raoul. Riley took a shot of magic in the side from one of the demons but managed to leap up and latch himself onto its throat. As he rode that one to the floor to finish the job, I engaged the two closest to Vitoria, spinning and twisting back and forth. She nodded to me and darted around them to Raoul. I kept them busy with little slices here and there, nothing lethal yet, just a distraction. Beyond my two opponents, I saw Vitoria and Raoul begin to circle each other, death shining in their eyes. Whose death it would be neither yet knew, but for certain one of them wasn’t walking out of here. A hum of finality mixed with the haze of heat hovering in the air.
Black Magic and Mojitos Page 3