Shadows & Flame Complete Boxed Set: Demons of Fire and Night Novels

by C. N. Crawford

  She ran for the bathroom, kneeling in front of the toilet, then heaved up her dinner. As she wiped a shaking hand across her mouth, she tried not to think about Abrax.

  He’d corrupted the oneiroi. And she didn’t know what he wanted to do to her—only that everything about him horrified her. What did he mean—she’s not a normal demon, nor a normal human?

  She peeled off her blood-soaked dress, letting it drop to the floor. He sensed something about her, something that stoked his perverse desires. What sort of an abomination was she?

  She grabbed a cloth, running warm water over it, and washed herself off. In a daze, she snatched a fresh nightgown from upstairs, and slipped into it. Half of her wanted to go to Cera, but Bael was already with her. He’d slaughtered her brother, yes. But he still viewed himself as her protector.

  Sunlight streamed in through the window, but tired as she was, she’d be able to sleep through it. She curled up onto the sofa and let her eyes drift shut.

  She slept fitfully, dreaming of the reaper she’d slaughtered today. Remus chased her through a forest of bones, and Massu waited for her in a desolate wasteland. Each dream ended as they pulled her down and into the unending abyss of Nyxobas’s void.

  “Ursula?” A female voice jolted her from her sleep.

  Ursula rubbed her eyes, blinking at Cera, her eyes red-rimmed.

  An image flashed in her mind—Bael’s knife slashing through Massu’s throat.

  “Cera?” She sat up, throwing her arms around Cera. “I’m so sorry about Massu.”

  “Abrax killed him,” said Cera softly.

  “What do you mean?” she loosened her grasp.

  “The lord... Abrax killed his soul when he fed him raw meat.”

  Ursula nodded. “I hope to kill Abrax some day.”

  “Another thing we have in common,” said Cera grimly.

  The rich scent of food wafted past Ursula’s nostrils.

  Ursula frowned. “Please tell me you didn’t cook. You should be mourning, not making me breakfast.”

  “I didn’t cook. The lord instructed another of his servants to cook for us.”

  Ursula arched an eyebrow. “He’s okay with us eating together? He said it was dangerous for us to be friends.”

  Cera shrugged. “I think he figures we’re in danger no matter what. Might as well not be alone for it.” Cera beckoned her to the bar. “Come. Join me.”

  Ursula stood, crossing to the bar. Since she’d puked up her dinner last night, her stomach was completely empty. Her mouth watered at the sight of orange juice, fresh fruit, toast, eggs, and a carafe of coffee. Cera had already set out two plates.

  Ursula took a seat next to Cera and scooped eggs and fruit onto a plate. Ravenous, she dug in, working her way through the eggs and toast. She took a sip of coffee, then glanced at Cera.

  The oneiroi pushed her food around on her plate.

  “Not hungry?” asked Ursula.

  “Not today.”

  “It will take time, I imagine,” said Ursula.

  “I hadn’t seen him in decades. I guess in some ways, I’d mourned him already. But I didn’t need to watch him die.”

  Ursula nodded. “Bael said to use lavender for the nightmares.”

  Cera grinned. “He is wise. And what does he have planned for you today?”

  “I’m not entirely sure. He said he was going to train me to ride one of the bats, but then we had a big argument, and he said I was a monster, and I said he lived a void like Nyxobas because he was scared of emotions.”

  Cera stared at her.

  Ursula sipped her coffee. “So anyway, I’m not sure if he’s still going to help me.”

  “Well, if he does plan to train you, the main thing is to hold on tight. It’s really not that difficult if you remember to respect the bat.”

  “How do you do that?” Ursula asked.

  “You talk to them. They’ll respond to your instructions.”

  “They know English?”

  “No, but they understand tone and inflection.”

  A knock sounded on the door, and Ursula jumped up. Guess we’re still on, then. “I’ll get it.” She hurried across the floor, flinging open the front door.

  With the sunlight streaming behind him, Bael stood in the doorway, dressed in black riding leathers. His gaze trailed over her nightgown.

  Of course, she hadn’t bothered to get dressed before she flung open the door. But then—after their conversation yesterday—she had the strongest urge to distract him out of spite.

  “Hello, Bael. Come on in.” She turned, knowing that he’d get a full view of the nightgown’s plunging backline.

  “Do you plan to wear clothes to this training?”

  “Thinking about it,” she said, turning back to him. She let the sleeve of her nightgown fall down, exposing her shoulder, but not so far that he could see her breast.

  His gray eyes pierced right through her. “Are you doing this on purpose?”

  Cera cleared her throat. “I feel it’s time for me to leave.”

  “Not yet,” said Bael, his eyes still locked on Ursula. “Please help Ursula find some clothes.”

  Cera let out an exasperated sigh. “Honestly, I don’t know what’s going on with you two.”

  As Cera hurried toward the stairwell, Ursula called out, “Make sure it’s not too distracting for Bael! He gets distracted easily.”

  His jaw tightened.

  She crossed her arms. “Wouldn’t want you falling off your bat.”

  Bael’s features softened, and he glanced away. “Is Cera okay?”

  “As good as can be expected. She wants to murder Abrax, but that is perfectly reasonable.”

  Bael stared at the floor. “I had to kill Massu. Abrax had driven him insane. Once corrupted, there is no returning from the madness.”

  Ursula nodded. “I know. Plus, he was about to mess up your pretty face.”

  Bael glared at her. “Pretty?” He spat the word like an insult.

  Cera’s footsteps thundered down the stairs, and she bustled into the room with a bundle of clothes in her arms.

  “That was fast,” said Bael.

  Cera nodded at the pile. “These should be appropriate for training.”

  “Thank you, Cera.”

  Bael nodded, his gaze landing on the top of the pile—on the lacy black knickers and bra.

  He turned to walk for the door. “I’ll meet you on the roof.” When he was halfway to the door, he turned to face Cera, nodding so deeply it was almost a bow. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

  Chapter 28

  Ursula stepped out of the elevator and onto the roof, shielding her eyes from the bright sunlight. On the sleek black roof, Bael crouched next to the bulk of an enormous black bat. As she approached, her heels clacking over the marble, Bael turned to look at her.

  She wore thick woolen leggings, a leather jacket with a fur collar, and black riding boots that almost reached her knees. To complete the getup, she wore a large leather-covered helmet. She’d asked Cera if the helmet was strictly necessary, but the oneiroi had insisted.

  Bael’s lips curled in a smile. “Nice helmet.”

  She frowned. I knew the helmet was a bad idea. “Cera said it would protect my head.”

  Snorting, the bat shifted. It was monstrous, at least twice the size of Sotz.

  She pointed. “Am I riding that?”

  Bael patted the bat’s back. “Vesperella? No, she’s my baby girl.” He put his fingers to his lips and whistled. A flapping of wings beat the air, and a moment later, Sotz landed next to her.

  “I think you’ll find it’s easier to learn on a bat you’re already familiar with.”

  She nodded at Sotz. “We’ve been getting to know each other.”

  “Can you steer?” he asked.

  “Not really.” Not at all.

  Bael nodded. “You’ll need to learn how to do if yourself if you want to have any hope of surviving the race.”

  “So how does it
work? There was a harness that I held onto before.” Ursula tried to remember how she’d seen Cera steer, but her vision had been blocked by Cera’s back.

  “You need to learn to ride bareback.” Bael climbed onto Vesperella, demonstrating as he spoke. “You can hold onto the loose skin just behind the ears. Then just direct the bat’s head the way you want it to fly.” He tugged Vesperella’s head to the right.

  Ursula took a deep breath, glancing at Sotz. He narrowed his eyes. As she moved in closer, a low rumble rose in his chest and he bared his teeth.

  “Easy, Sotz,” said Bael. “Just step over his shoulders. You’ll need to crouch a little bit.”

  “His shoulders?”

  “Where the bat’s wings connect to his chest,” said Bael. “You’ll want to sit right up against them. When he’s flying, grip onto his chest with your calves.” His gaze slid down to her legs. “You’ll need to use your thigh muscles to hold on.”

  Ursula stepped over Sotz’s neck and eased herself down. The moment her bum touched his back, he clambered forward toward the edge of the roof.

  “Slow down,” she shouted, tightening her thighs around his body. She gripped the loose skin behind his ears.

  An instant later they were streaking down the roof and into the air. She glanced down at the crater, hundreds of feet below, and her breath caught. When Sotz curved wildly to the right, she lost her grip on his skin. Her heart thrummed wildly.

  Panic blazed through her body, and she reached again for a grip, but Sotz twisted away from her. The motion sent her sliding to the side and she grabbed blindly, her fingers wrapping around the soft skin of one of his ears.

  Sotz let out an ear-piercing shriek, bucking and jerking his body. She tried to hold on, but he threw her into the air.

  Her heart stopped, and everything seemed to slow down. For a brief moment, her momentum keep her on an upward trajectory, and the whole valley of the crater spread out before her. She could see the houses of the oneiroi, Asta’s purple spire, even the faint shimmer of magic along the rim of the crater, magic that—unfortunately for her—created gravity. She hurtled toward the ground, terror screaming through her mind. A scream tore from her throat.

  As the wind ripped through her hair, something jerked the back of her jacket, halting her descent. In the next moment, Bael was pulling her on to Vesperella.

  “Hang on to me!” he shouted over the wind.

  Instinctually, she wrapped her arms around his neck, her face pressing into his chest. The bat was too large for her to get a grip on with her legs. Instead, she wrapped them around Bael’s waist. He leaned in, steering the bat through the air. His heart pounded hard through his shirt.

  She clung to him as he guided Vesperella out of a deep dive. The g-forces pressed her against his warm body, and she breathed in the scent of sandalwood by the sea. His sweet breath warmed the side of her face.

  “Don’t worry,” he said. “The first time you fall from a bat is always the scariest.”

  The first time?

  She could feel his muscles shifting as he expertly controlled the bat. With the wind rushing over their bodies, Bael directed Vesperella back to the rooftop in a great lazy arc.

  “When you fly again,” he said, “don’t grip too tightly. It will spook him. You must be gentle with the bat. As I’m steering her now, even a slight twitch of my fingers is enough to make her respond the way I want.”

  Ursula swallowed hard. Talk about distracting.

  Bael guided Vesperella into a soft landing on the roof, and Ursula unclenched her legs from Bael’s waist. She stepped off, fighting dizziness.

  He smirked. “Given the grip you had on me, I know you’re strong enough to hang on.”

  “Thank you for not letting me die.”

  “I had a feeling you might need some assistance on your first flight. I almost smashed into those rocks over there on my race to get you.” He pointed to a particularly sharp looking crag. “But, the main thing is to never grab a bat by its ears. They’re very sensitive. I’ll call Sotz and you can try again. ”

  Before Ursula could protest, Bael was whistling for the bat. This time, Sotz landed next to Bael, his beady eyes trained on her. Ursula was relieved to see that his ear appeared undamaged.

  Bael reached down and scratched Sotz’s head. “It’s okay, little guy. She’s just a little clumsy.”

  “Well, there’s no need to rub it in.”

  “Let’s try it again,” said Bael.

  This time when she sat on Sotz’s shoulders, she didn’t lower her full weight. Instead she crouched down and whispered into the bat’s ear.

  “I’m sorry, Sotz. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

  She nuzzled her head against his. Sotz’s fur was soft as velvet, and while he didn’t purr like a cat, he didn’t growl either.

  “You’re a good bat. A good bat,” she repeated. She scratched behind his ears as she had seen Bael do with Vesperella. Then she gingerly lowered her full weight.

  This time when Sotz launched, she already had a firm but gentle grip on the skin behind his ears. They hurtled toward the ground, and her stomach dropped. Gently, she pulled back on Sotz’s neck and he leveled off. They flew above the crater’s floor, barely one hundred feet above the ground, racing over the little stone houses and narrow alleys of the Shadow Kingdom.

  “Good boy,” she whispered in his ear.

  The sound of beating wings made her turn her head. Bael flew twenty feet away, the lunar wind ruffling his dark hair.

  “That’s better,” he shouted over the wind.

  “Thanks.”

  “Lean forward, and allow your weight to shift with each beat of his wings.”

  Ursula leaned forward until her chest was inches from Sotz’s neck. The position felt a bit more unstable. But when she began to shift her weight with each beat of Sotz’s wings, she saw that Bael was right. The ride smoothed out into a smooth glide.

  “That’s it,” said Bael. He and Vesperella swooped under her and Sotz. With two great beats of Vesperella’s wings, he took the lead. “Follow me!”

  Ursula marveled at his change in demeanor. He seemed so comfortable on the bat, like he actually enjoyed life. It was hard to believe this was the same man who’d slit Massu’s throat just hours ago.

  Bael led her and Sotz in a great curving turn back toward the rooftop. When they were a hundred feet away, Bael and Vesperella dove for the roof at a terrifying speed. At the last instant, Vesperella spread her wings, landing gracefully on the marble.

  Now he’s just showing off. She leaned forward to whisper in Sotz’s ear. “We got this, big guy.” She tried to bring the bat in slowly, but as the roof rose to meet them, she instinctively leaned back. Sotz tensed as he tried to decide whether to land or to pull back up into the air. He chose landing, but they hit the roof with a jerk that knocked her straight from his back. She slammed against the marble, rolling a few times before coming to rest on her back.

  When she opened her eyes, Bael stood over her, a look of concern on his face. “Are you all right?”

  “I’m fine.” Still lying flat on her back, Ursula brushed the dust from her jacket.

  “Good, because you must be in one piece for this evening. We have been invited to dinner at Asta with the lords and their wives.”

  Chapter 29

  A few hours later, Ursula and Bael stepped down from his carriage and onto the marble, on the very top level of the crystal spire. The sun burned bright in a black sky—thankfully, not at its zenith, yet.

  She wore a gown of shimmering white silk, with a plunging backline, now covered by a pale blue cloak.

  She stole a quick glance at Bael. “Remind me again why we’re here?”

  “As lord, I’m required to attend dinners at the spire.”

  She arched an eyebrow. “And remind me why I needed to come?”

  “Because your presence will distract everyone enough that I won’t need to speak to anyone.”

  She cocked her head, t
he wind whipping through her hair. “I’m not sure that I distract everyone. I think that’s just you.”

  He shook his head slowly. “Everyone watches you.”

  That’s disturbing. Steeling her nerves, she glanced out at the dancing swarms of lunar moths. Asta’s purple light shone through their wings, as they wove and dodged silently around the spire. For some bizarre reason, she felt strangely at home here. At peace.

  She reached into her cloak pocket, rolling the silver ring around in the palm of her hand.

  “We should enter,” said Bael.

  She turned to see him pulling open a black door that led into a dark hall. She stepped inside, walking at Bael’s side. Some insane impulse overtook her, and she slid her arm through his.

  She felt his muscle tense as she touched his elbow, but he kept silent.

  The hallway opened into an enormous rectangular hall, the walls painted silver. A spray of ravens had been painted over one of the walls. Black chandeliers, lit with candles, hung from ceiling above two long, onyx tables.

  The lords sat in silver chairs around the table—apart from Hothgar, who sat in an enormous, throne-like chair at the head. The wives sat at the other table.

  A small oneiroi servant bustled up to Ursula, beckoning her forward. “This way, milady.”

  The servant led her to an open seat at the wives’ table, then held out her hand for Ursula’s cloak.

  Ursula pulled it off. “I’ll keep it with me, thank you.” She wanted to keep the silver ring as close as possible. She’d need her little good luck charm to get through tonight.

  As she draped her cloak over the chair, a hush fell over the group. Eleven pairs of eyes locked directly on her, taking in her pearly gown. And as before, she was seated near Viking, Goth Princess, and Talons.

  She glanced at Viking, dressed in a sea-green gown. A deep purple bruise discolored her chin. She nodded to Ursula.

  The other women weren’t quite so friendly. Goth Princess turned away, showing Ursula her pale back, clad in black lace.