Shadowed Blade (Colbana Files Book 6)

by J. C. Daniels

  “No reason to power an empty building.”

  “I take it that’s Anderson,” I said, pity stirring inside for the dead man. His head rested on a stump of a neck, the hand of the remaining arm placed on the scalp, almost as if he was puzzling something through.

  There was a small note nailed the man’s forehead.

  Come and get me, Kit. Before I kill some more of your Alpha’s stray pets.

  Another doll rested against the head.

  “It could be a ploy,” Chang said, keeping his voice calm although his eyes had gone pure gold.

  “It is.” Rana had circled around to stare at the phone and I knew she’d seen every image, and the message. “It’s a ploy to get the Alpha and Kit out of Orlando where the bulk of the strength is. He’ll likely make an attempt to grab Kit, assuming that perhaps Damon will try to leave without her and Kit will follow.”

  Chang smoothed a finger across one eyebrow. “It could be a possibility—if Damon didn’t know Kit well. She’d never be left behind.”

  “No,” Rana said softly. “She wouldn’t.”

  “Again, I really don’t like being talked about like I’m not here.” Leaning forward, I stared hard at the image and then turned to the media screen. “I want maps.”

  Then I looked at Chang and Damon. “I think we should let him think he’s getting what he wants.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  The cat wasn’t even trying to be subtle as he raced along ahead of us.

  I grimaced at the destroyed Milledgeville sign as I climbed out and stood next to Chang.

  Rana was with us, once more clad in the concealing, misleading cloak. She eyed the claw marks down the sign and then turned to look at the girl, still staring in our direction with her ruin of a face.

  Flies had gathered around her and the stink was horrid.

  “You will come back and care for them?” Rana asked softly.

  “Yes.”

  “Come on.” Chang moved to stand next to me. “He’s moving too fast for you to keep up with him, and we’ll have a hard time catching up if we linger.”

  With a nod, I gestured for him to lead on. “Show me the way, good and trusty guide.”

  He frowned at me but settled into a light jog—for him. I was moving at an all-out run. If I didn’t have to keep the pace up for long, I’d be okay. Rana moved in time with me and she shot me a look that I read with more ease than I liked. Do you think this will work?

  Frowning at her, I just gave a shake of my head—not to say no, but to convey I didn’t want to discuss this. It didn’t occur to me that she probably wouldn’t get it. But her heavy sigh seemed to indicate she understood.

  We hadn’t gone too far when somebody stepped out from behind a tree. Rana and I both parted, each of us darting to opposite sides of the road. Chang simply came to a halt in the middle and stood there, arms akimbo and in the span of a blink, his slim form began to…grow. The hair on his hair began to thicken, becoming almost mane-like.

  I couldn’t make out anything more than that before it was over.

  I had my hand on my gun—that and the sword were the only weapons I had visible.

  There was another, waiting for me. Her blood-soaked song wept in the back of my head, letting me know she was ready. Eager.

  But not for this.

  Nova stood in front of me, his face thinner than I’d ever seen. But the smile he shot me was as crooked and crazy as ever, and there were no shadows under his eyes. “I guess you got the message.”

  “Yeah. Next time, the bastard should just send email. It’s a lot friendlier and a lot less evil.” I hesitated for a moment longer and then rushed across the space separating us, flinging myself at him. “You crazy bastard. Leaving without saying good-bye.”

  He hugged me. “Hell, Kit. I suck at good-byes. Said too many of them anyway. But it wasn’t time yet. I knew that.”

  Shoving back, I balled up my fist and punched him on the shoulder. “I didn’t. Jerk.”

  “Things to do, Colbana, and not much time left to do them.” He said that simple statement in a no-nonsense sort of way, and I knew that summed it up for him. That was Nova, plain and simple. Life, for him, was all about the mission. Just like his death.

  “Nova.”

  Chang stepped up to join us.

  The psychic gave him a short nod. He touched the shifter’s shoulder briefly, eyes intent. “Can’t say I’m surprised to see you.”

  Chang returned his stare and for a moment, there was nothing but taut silence.

  Then Nova let his hand fall and he shook his head. “Figured after I saw the pieces of that cat all over…well.” He shrugged and looked back over his shoulder. “I saw the big guy. You all trying to run him down?”

  “Yes.” Chang didn’t elaborate. Neither did any of us.

  “Well, there’s a problem. He tore straight inside, didn’t bother to get the lay of the land or anything else. Ended up barreling straight into one of the traps and our friendly neighborhood bad guy has him. Afraid I haven’t been able to help—there are other…issues.” His lips twisted in a scowl. “Timetable and all. And there are kids, some others you might find on some missing persons list. I get the feeling there were more here, too. Dunno what happened.”

  Chang directed a look at me. “I’m getting the children. You do what you have to. I told him we needed to focus on our missing and our young.”

  “Did I say otherwise?” I demanded.

  “It’s not about what you say.” Chang cracked his neck one way, then the other. “It’s about his insane, infernal need to protect you above all things, including his people. Try to stay in one piece. I won’t be coming back for you.”

  Nova watched everything with great interest, brows nearly disappearing under his hair. But he didn’t say a word.

  “Fine. Go on then,” I said, shoving past Chang. I drove my shoulder into his chest as hard as I could. It felt like I’d shoulder-bumped a rock—and the rock won that round. Fighting the urge to rub at the sore spot, I started up the crumbling stairs. I had no idea where I was going, but I’d figure it out.

  Or…Nova would figure it out for me.

  “Well. Trouble brewing back home?” he asked, jogging to catch up to me. Rana was somewhere behind us, melding into the shadows like she owned them.

  “Shut it.” I stopped at the top of the stairs and looked around. It didn’t take long to see where something ugly had happened. “Oh, no…”

  I took off and came to a stop nearly a hundred yards away, skidding to the ground on my knees. The scent of blood was overwhelming, fairly recent but not fresh. “You big, stupid bastard.”

  “We told him, Kit. We warned you both,” Rana said as she emerged from the shadows cast by the massive shadows of the ruin. “This was nothing more than a ploy to draw the two of you here. We should get you out while we still can. Save the young and—”

  “It’s too late for that.”

  The voice sounded even more unsettling in person than it had on the phone.

  Slowly, I turned.

  Robin Goodfellow came drifting toward us. Behind him, floating in mid-air, was the broken, battered body of a big cat. Blood dripped from a pelt so mottled with blood, it made it hard to see the gold under it.

  “You son of a bitch.” I started to lunge forward.

  Buy time…have to buy time…

  Both Nova and Rana grabbed my arms, Nova’s hands icy cold, Rana’s clad in their concealing gloves. “No, Kit.”

  “But he…he…” The words caught in my throat.

  “He…he…he…” Robin said mockingly. Then, with a cool smile, he lifted his arm and swung it toward me in an arc.

  “No!” Nova and Rana let me go, but it was useless.

  I couldn’t catch the massive weight of the cat and if I had, it likely would have knocked me to the ground. Blood splashed my face as his big body hit the ground just in front of me. Smoothing my hands down bloody fur, I pressed my palm to his neck. A heartbea
t—steady enough, but slow and weak.

  “You evil son of a bitch.”

  “Language, Kitasa.” He came to the ground, his naked feet big and brown, toes curling into the stone as if he craved the feel of the earth beneath him. “You know, in my day, women didn’t speak like that—in fact, some didn’t speak at all. I didn’t like for my women to speak, for example. I’d often cut out their tongues if they did it too often.”

  Drawing my gun out, I pointed it at him. “Why don’t you try that trick with me?”

  “You think that little toy would do you any good?” Brilliant blue eyes glowed against his golden skin. There was something incredibly alien about him, incredibly other. His head was larger than it should be, eyes the same, while his body was slender, almost stretched out. He was muscled though. And despite how bits and pieces of him looked wrong, he was compelling—one might even consider him beautiful, if you could overlook the madness in his eyes.

  He was in my face so suddenly, I nearly dropped my weapon in surprise. Oh, dear…you dropped your guard… A manic laugh burbled at the back of my throat but I swallowed it down as Robin leaned in until we were practically nose to nose.

  “Shoot me with it, Kit darling. Shoot me. See how much good it does you.”

  So I did.

  He’d guided the muzzle to his throat and I squeezed the trigger—once, twice, three times.

  He blinked, almost lazily the first time.

  But the second and third, he stiffened.

  He shoved me away hard enough that I slipped in the pool of blood congealing under my boots. He lurched away, a hand to his throat. There had been iron in the ammo I’d fired into him. Specialty stuff, that ammo. Not pure iron, but a fair amount. And I’d been right. It had hurt him.

  Hurt him just enough to piss him off, probably, but he was bleeding. If he bled, he could die.

  A wet, thick cough escaped him as he turned to face me. “I always wondered,” I said, smiling. “Was there any truth to the fey not liking iron? Looks like there was.”

  “I’m not fey.” Robin sneered, almost looking insulted. And the injury was gone. “You cannot fathom what I am.”

  “Well, I heard all about the Robin Goodfellow bullshit. Sounds like fey to me. Just the darker side of it. You’ve got the good fairies and the bad fairies…you’re from the side who lost in the battle for heaven, aren’t you...” I smirked and added, “Hobgoblin.”

  An ugly noise escaped his still-healing throat.

  “I’ve messed with fairies before and iron is pretty much straight poison.” I leveled the gun at him. “Wanna go again?”

  He snarled and lifted a hand. The gun was ripped away with so much force, I had to swallow back a gasp of pain.

  “Stupid wench.”

  He backhanded me.

  Blood filled my mouth. I could taste it as I crashed into something hard and narrow. I figured out what a few moments later. The remains of a concrete bench crumbled around me as I shoved upright onto my hands and knees.

  As Robin drew near, Nova’s voice flooded my head. Chang’s found the cells.

  Good. That was… I blinked as a rush of pretty stars filled my vision.

  “You were so stupid, coming here. You, your man…his second best. So far from home and you left those ignorant cats back down in Florida. What do you think would happen if somebody decided to go and wreak havoc?” Robin knelt down next to me.

  “I’d feel…very…sorry for them.”

  I’d cut the inside of my cheek on my teeth. Wincing, I swallowed blood.

  “Save the pity. Others need it more…like yourself. The children who will die wailing and gnashing their teeth and screaming for their mummy to save them.” Robin fisted his hand in my shirt, hauling me up. “Screaming for their useless Alpha. But he will be here, trapped in my little hell. You know where you are yet, Kit? I had to kill all of the handlers, of course. But I know how they managed what they did. I have their research. In a few years, we’ll just start it up all over again.” He stroked my cheek with his free hand. “You were so desperate to find Blackstone. And you did—welcome, Kit. Welcome to my latest pet project. It’s hidden, down beneath this old travesty. They used to send their crazy people here. Ironic, isn’t it? People were signing over their perfectly healthy family…little sis or Cousin Max… all because Max could make fire or sis got bit by a werewolf. And by the time my people were done? We had made them crazy.” He cupped my jaw and started to squeeze. “And you, you little bitch, you went and fucked it up for me.”

  “You’re welcome.” I shoved upward with my blade, trying to gut him.

  The sword didn’t make contact. But that was what I’d expected.

  A voice in the back of my head tickled my fogged brain and I had to concentrate so it would make sense. Nova whispered, Thirteen kids, Kit. Need some time. Don’t die. I’ve never been wrong yet. Don’t want to start now.

  My pain-filled brain had the bleary understanding that I needed to distract Robin—and I also had to figure out some other way to do it than acting as a punching bag.

  I needed to find another way to distract Robin, something that wasn’t just me getting turned into a punching bag. Thoughts were muddled, though. Too muddled. I couldn’t think and...

  I shoved him away when he bent down and licked at the blood trickling from my brow. “You taste of fear and deception, Kit. What are you withholding from me?”

  “My complete and utter contempt. Oh, wait…I think you know that by now.” I shoved against his grip, kicked at him.

  “Robin.” It was the sound of Rana’s voice, calm and composed, almost...bored.

  Robin’s head cocked, his eyes narrowing shrewdly as he stared at me. But it wasn’t my face he saw.

  “Well, well, well.” He carefully lowered me to the ground, smoothing his hands down the sleeves of my shirt, fingers lingering. “You truly are a child of surprises, aren’t you, Kit?”

  “I don’t know why you’re surprised.” Swiping blood from my mouth, I managed a smile. It was probably as ghastly as it looked. “You saw her there when you called the Clan. Did you think she was just hanging around for kicks and giggles?”

  He shoved me to the ground and turned, staring at my aunt.

  I guess I didn’t matter so much anymore.

  “What is your queen going to do with you?” He clicked his tongue and shook his head, a look of mock pity on his strangely beautiful face. “You have made a mess for yourself, girl.”

  Rana’s lips curved, her amusement clear. “You think she is more than a paper queen at this point? She could barely lead a few aged fools who continue to cling to the old ways. We’re a dying people because of her.” Now Rana shrugged. “She couldn’t lead our armies if she tried. Because of her, our armies are woefully lacking. She isn’t fit to be queen now.”

  “Oh, this is lovely.” The words were practically a purr and Robin smiled, clapping his hands. “Dissension in the ranks. Why didn’t I realize that before? I should have come to you for help.”

  “Had you tried, I would have taken a blade and rammed it straight up your bloody ass.” Rana swung hers in a pattern so fast, it became nothing but a blur.

  “Now, Rana. I understand why this ignorant whelp here doesn’t understand the way of things. But you…” He shook a playful finger at her.

  While he was busy with her, I shoved myself upright and took a deep breath, taking stock.

  Rana noticed. She never looked away, but she noticed.

  “You should know better. You were trained... But poor Kitasa…she’s just…unfinished. That’s why I set all of this up, you know. She’s untrained, uneducated. I thought I’d make use of her abilities, but she was more clever than I gave her credit for.” He looked at the ground—for me—then frowned when he saw that I wasn’t there. “Aw, look. So stubborn, Kit. You know, it’s a pity they didn’t do better with you. You wouldn’t have made a half-bad warrior if they’d given you a chance. Consider what you’ve done! Even untrained, you deal
t with my firestarter and all the blocks she threw your way. And I know you were the one responsible for freeing the witches in South Carolina.” He gave me a roguish wink. “It’s just us now. You can admit it.”

  “Bite me,” I suggested.

  “I just might.” The look he gave me froze me to the core. “It’s been a while since I’ve indulged so. But first, you’ll all suffer.” He gave Rana a bored look. “Does your old hag of a queen have any idea what a prize she threw away with this one? I’ve a mind to keep her alive. If I break her mind...”

  “I’d die first.”

  As he turned glowing blue eyes my way, I stared him down, despite the fact that his gaze was one of the most unnerving I’d ever beheld. It was enough to sicken me, sucking me in and showing me years upon years of degradations and cruelties the likes of which I’d never imagined.

  “But we would have so…” He blinked. The connection broke and I sucked in a breath. Time shuddered and when it stopped, he was closer.

  I backed away, all but falling on my ass in an effort to get more distance.

  “Much…fun.” He trailed his fingers down my cheek.

  The cold struck the very core of me and I reacted out of instinct, calling my blade and striking out. I shoved her metal deep, deep inside him and he screamed in fury.

  Big furred arms came around me, hauling me back a split second before Robin would have caved my skull in with a brutal fist.

  A heavy weight pinned me to the ground and I looked up into golden eyes for a split second before the shifter pulled away and rose. He stood there next to me on hind feet, his half form a lean meld between cat and man, golden fur no longer dripping with blood although the stain of it was still there.

  “Stay behind me,” he growled.

  “Aren’t you dead yet?” Robin asked irritated.

  The only answer was a low, rumbling sort of growl.

  “Robin,” Rana said tauntingly. “We weren’t done talking.”

  He took another step toward me, but Rana moved between us, her blade upright, no more than an inch from his neck.