Shadowed Blade (Colbana Files Book 6)

by J. C. Daniels

  Light flared, too bright for a moment and then it went soft, soft enough that I didn’t fear opening my eyes to stare at the tall woman standing by the window and studying me.

  “You,” I said, my voice shaking.

  “Me.” Frankie—or whatever in the hell her name was—looking quite pleased with herself. “It took you long enough, but I take it you figured out what I did for you. Do you like it?”

  I gripped my sword tighter. “I…yes. Thank you.”

  “Nice manners.” She winked at me and came over to sit on the foot of the bed. “Why don’t you join me? You look silly there, crouched on the floor like you’re hiding from a monster.”

  “Am I?”

  Her brows shot up almost to her hairline. “Girl, you have no filter.”

  Well, that was true enough.

  “I like it.” She started to smile, then to laugh. “Come on, honey. Sit down. I’m not going to hurt you, but I think you figured that out well enough.”

  Slowly, I shifted upright, taking care not to jostle my aching head.

  The second I was mostly vertical, she reached up and touched the space between my eyebrows.

  “Don’t—”

  I’d no sooner spoken than her hand fell away. “Don’t be a crybaby.” She flicked her hand away. “No reason for you to hurt and no reason for me to go hungry.”

  Flattening out my lips, I inched back.

  “You know how that works, I take it. I feed from your pain.” She lifted a negligent shoulder. “I don’t like it, but this is the life I was given, so I live it.”

  She said it so bluntly, so matter of factly.

  “Where am I? Why am I here? Where is…” Abruptly, I stopped, reluctant to offer any sort of information.

  “You’re at a hotel just south of the Florida-Georgia Line. Don’t worry. You weren’t abandoned. Your man is at the office—paying for the pizza.” Frankie pursed her lips and pressed a finger to them. “Shhhh…don’t talk too loud. I can keep him from hearing for a few more minutes.”

  I blinked at that. Then… “The others? Scott? And…”

  “Rana? Your darling auntie?” She smirked at me. “Relax, honey. I’m not going to mess with her. I think she did right by you in the end. She’s out and about—took care an errand, then I think she was going to make sure all is safe from the defiled ones.”

  “Defiled ones.”

  “You are a parrot, aren’t you?” She lifted a brow. “The ones the puck broke. Defiled. He ruined them. A few were set loose, heading to Orlando.”

  “Damn it.” I squeezed my eyes shut. “I told him—”

  “Psh. Your man made plans. He contacted the Assembly—miserable group, for the most part. But they serve their purpose, I suppose. But the witches, his ally the wolf Alpha—even Banner, they’ve all been watching. And his young cub.” Frankie smiled at me, amused. “He didn’t leave the city unguarded. But Robin was quite a threat…you know that. So did your aunt. That’s why you all came to deal with him.”

  “Since you know everything…how is Scott?”

  She smoothed a hand across a tight braid. “He lives.”

  He lives. I wanted to yell at her, but it wouldn’t do any good.

  “Why are you here?”

  She sighed then and rose, moving over to the window. “A friend of mine was…in the area.”

  “Nova.”

  Quietly, she said, “You shouldn’t sound so surprised. Surely you’ve figured out he is…was…more than he appeared.”

  When I didn’t answer, she turned to me. “He’s gone, isn’t he?” I asked.

  “Yes.” Frankie tipped her head back, staring up at the ceiling. “But don’t hurt too long over him. He’d been bumping around on this miserable old planet a damn long time and he finally took out the last monster he was meant to take on, plus one more.”

  “The last?”

  She shot me a quick look. “Sometimes special monsters need special killers. Nova was a very special killer. He’s earned his downtime.” She came closer and reached up.

  I froze as her hand neared my face and stayed that way as she flicked my hair back. “You’re not a monster killer, but you didn’t do half-bad, Kit. Taking out Robin. That was impressive. And now his little hell-lab is gone too. Nobody else can make more monsters either. Well done.”

  “Gee, thanks.”

  “You’re welcome. Again…nice manners.” She smiled at me, so brightly, it took a moment to realize she was fading.

  Fading into nothing.

  “Hey!”

  “Don’t forget, honey…you owe me a favor,” she said, her words echoing around me.

  “Hey!” I shouted again.

  But she was already gone.

  The door flew open a split second later and Damon came rushing in.

  And he didn’t have a pizza.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Waking up was a sweet, sweet pleasure and at first, I couldn’t figure out why.

  Damon lay warm against my back, his thigh pushing between mine, a hard pressure against my butt making it clear that he was appreciating the overall morning experience as well as I was.

  His hand pressed against my belly and pulled me back against him.

  I arched my neck as he raked his teeth along my skin, bit me lightly.

  I hummed in appreciation, a sound that quickly changed to a gasp as he pulled me onto my knees and came inside me.

  There was no foreplay, little tenderness and I didn’t care.

  We’d gotten into Orlando late—he had been paying for pizza, then dropped it as he realized things weren’t as they should be in the room he’d rented for us. So we’d had to get food on the way. I was exhausted. I’d probably slept ten or twelve hours. I still felt worn thin and stretched out.

  Two of his men had seen us coming.

  I didn’t remember much after getting to the Lair. There was a blur of people talking, a shower, somebody shoving food at me.

  Then bed.

  Now…Damon.

  His fist tangled in my hair, drawing my head back and I groaned as he brought my face around and stole a deep, drugging kiss from me.

  Thick and hard, his cock pulsed inside me. He barely moved, content to rock against me, just feeling me, letting me feel him.

  Right up until it wasn’t enough.

  And then he began to drive himself inside me, thrusting deep and hard, one arm braced at my waist to hold me still.

  The climax was harsh and sudden and when it was over, I lay face down while he draped over me, his cheek pressed to the skin above my spine.

  After what felt like an age, he stretched out next to me and pulled me into his arms. “He had a lot of monsters tucked away, probably released them as soon as he got there.” A harsh noise of disgust left him. “I had a bad feeling in my gut over all of it, talked to the Assembly and the head witch over at the Road here in Orlando. And…”

  Even more disgust worked its way in his voice as he shoved up onto his elbow.

  I turned to face him and he cradled my face in his hand.

  “I got in touch with Abraham, then Amund.” Damon watched me, his eyes solemn. “All of them agreed it was in the city’s best interest to…come together, for this at least. No more than a few hundred yards of the city was left unguarded—there were sentries everywhere. The Road reached out to Red Branch—the house by the state line and once they were alerted, they started watching, caught some stragglers and helped with patrols between here and there. The pack took out several. Doyle killed a few—got hurt, but he’ll heal. The vampires had pairs watching from the air—the ones that could fly. Some of the leeches died but they were taking them out, too.” His eyes glinted, an icy sort of rage compared to his normal fire. “Whittier House declined. Two of the…”

  I hesitated, then offered, “The defiled?”

  “Defiled.” He frowned, something that might have been pity in his eyes for a moment. Then he shook his head. “Yeah. That works. Two of them got in and k
illed a few of their just-turned. Probably wishes they’d shown a little more concern.”

  He nuzzled my neck. “You ever going to spill everything that happened with this…Frankie, kitten?”

  “No.” Closing my eyes, I curled my arms around him and clung tight. We’d almost gotten into a row at the motel—he’d heard her, had known something was going on. Just like now. “No, I don’t think I will.”

  “Figured as much.” He grunted and rolled onto his back, pulling me with him. “I don’t have all the numbers yet. I know we lost at least two—the pack lost one. None of the witches died—they’re all pissed about Colleen and Justin.”

  Closing my eyes, I braced myself for the worst.

  “One of them got to the Road here in the city. There’s not enough of him left to identify.” He traced a random path on my hip, his fingertip rough. “The other one…he almost made it here. Killed two of my people before Doyle took him down.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be. That plan of yours…” His hand tightened on my hip, then he kissed my shoulder, moved in until he was kissing the bite mark hidden in the tattoo ink along my neck. “You were the one who had to kill him—it was the fucking arrow—but the threat wasn’t just to the Clan. Others had to step up, too. And I needed to be there. Scott’s strong, but he’s not me and Chang’s always going to protect the young.”

  “You’re the Alpha. Your people needed you.”

  “My people were protected.” He touched our foreheads together.

  “How is Scott?”

  “He’s going to be fine. Apparently, Rana hauled him out of the line of fire and once she saw that everything was done, she got him home.” His mouth went tight. “I think she wants to keep things level—doesn’t like feeling like she owes me so she saved Scott.”

  “Could it be that maybe she just didn’t want to leave him there?”

  “I would have gotten him out.” The look on his face was the kind that made think he’d swallow glass before offering anything else about Rana.

  I couldn’t say I blamed him.

  After a few more moments, he said, “Chang got all the children here. We’ve got healers looking at them. Some have been missing for almost a year.”

  Squeezing my eyes closed even tighter, I tried to figure out what I could say to that.

  “But they are alive.”

  Alive...

  Damon slid his hands to my waist. “They’re alive, Kit.”

  Justin hadn’t stirred the entire time I sat there talking to him.

  His leg had healed.

  The witches caring for him told me that sometimes, he’d respond to their voices, but he hadn’t opened his eyes.

  And Colleen...

  Now I sat in front of her.

  They were both in the same room because when they tried to separate them, Colleen got violent—violent—she hurt herself and she tried to hurt others. The father of the Green Road house here, the largest in the entire state, was worried.

  She’s not a warrior. Something inside her is broken and she’s trapped in the maze of her own mind, I fear. The longer she stays there...

  “I didn’t kill him hard enough,” I said as Damon sat down next to me.

  He rubbed the back of my neck. “She doesn’t need to hear that right now, baby girl. Talk to her, okay?”

  I fought the urge to scream.

  Talk to her.

  About what?

  The fact that Justin wasn’t waking up?

  About the fact that we’d discovered the hospital? Or the graves of children Damon and Alisdair’s people had uncovered?

  Or maybe I could tell her about the news that had broken this morning—there was a bunker somewhere in Virginia that had been discovered. Two soldiers had guarded that bunker—and they claimed they had no idea why they were there, but they knew they had been there for over six years. They only ever had a handful visitors, and they were on a mission classified as top secret.

  Guarding a prisoner, it turns out.

  The president.

  The real one.

  He’d been rescued by Shanelle and company—she’d been in charge of questioning the one man we’d brought back from South Carolina. Apparently, she’d had a suspicion that had been planted by the discovery of that little camera and she’d gone to Damon. He’d told her everything. She hadn’t exploded, though.

  She’d turned her canny mind—and her vast resources—to finding the truth.

  She’d actually been to that bunker.

  The rescue op was headed by NH personnel and that was widely publicized. But whether or not it would shine favorably on us, nobody knew.

  The president wasn’t even the president now, though. He’d been missing during the actual election and his imposter had run.

  It was a confusing mess and definitely not something to chat to Colleen about.

  Sighing, I leaned over and touched her hand.

  “Wake up, Coll,” I said. “I miss you. I need you.”

  Dropping my head down on the bed, I tried not to cry, but the tears were there and they were going to come no matter what. Colleen continued to stare blankly at nothing. She was awake, in a way. But words had no impact, touch had no impact. Sound…nothing.

  Fingers brushed my hair.

  I froze.

  It happened again.

  Slowly, I looked up and saw Colleen’s eyes flitting back and forth, never resting on me. But she was looking at me.

  “Colleen?”

  “Is she waking?” One of the witches in the healing hall came rushing over. “Let me...”

  Her voice faded into a rush of noise as I caught Colleen’s hand in mine. “Leenie, talk to me,” I said, leaning in and trying to catch her eyes with mine.

  “Kit.” Her voice hitched. Broke. “Kit...”

  “Oh…oh, my. Kit, Alpha Lee, you’ll need to—”

  Screams broke out. Harsh, unending peals of them. Magic exploded and knocked me back into Damon. Even he staggered under the blast.

  “Get out, now!” the witch shouted as she rushed closer.

  Or rather—she tried. She, too, was flung back.

  Colleen huddled up in a ball on the bed, face pressed to her knees as she shuddered and shook and screamed. Magic boiled and swirled through the room.

  I tried to go to her, but Damon tightened his arms around me. “Not a good idea, Kit.”

  “Let me go!”

  The sound of my voice set off a shockwave. It shook the entire room and we were slammed flat.

  Panting for air, I shoved against Damon, trying to get up. But he wasn’t moving. His heart slammed against my back, thundering fast and hard.

  “Just be still,” the witch murmured.

  She lay next to us, staring upward, seeing something I couldn’t see. “I’ve called for the Father. He’ll know what to do.”

  The swirling magic storm stole the words from her lips but I heard them, just barely.

  “I—”

  The wail of magic grew louder.

  Damon’s arms tightened. “Be quiet,” he said, exasperation turning into anger. “She’s reacting to you, baby girl.”

  Me?

  There was a faint creak—the door opening.

  Then a thud—as it slammed shut.

  Were we trapped?

  Oh, hell. Oh, shit—

  Then, from one breath to the next, it ended.

  “Coll.”

  The voice was tired and strained.

  I drove an elbow upward, as hard as I could—and it was surprisingly easy because Damon had abruptly moved, coming to his feet and jerking me up.

  Justin was upright, moving toward Colleen with a limp.

  His hair hung lank and unkempt around his face, his normally golden skin sallow, his cheeks sunken in.

  But he was awake.

  And he only had eyes for Colleen.

  She was still huddled on the bed, her face hidden.

  “Colleen,” he said gently, sitting down
on the bed.

  She flinched, but he didn’t let that stop him. He touched his hands to her knees and she flinched again.

  “Look at me, Coll,” he said quietly. “You ain’t wanting to do this. Look at me.”

  Colleen didn’t look at him. But she did collapse against him and broken sobs escaped her. Justin pulled her in close, a weary sigh escaping him. His eyes came to mine. I took a hesitant step forward.

  He smiled and nodded.

  I went to the bed then and sat down.

  Colleen’s hand snuck out and gripped mine.

  Curling my free arm around Justin, I leaned my head in and rested it on his shoulder. “You’re going to be okay, Colleen. We’ll take care of you.”

  There was a letter waiting for me when I returned to the Lair late, late that night.

  His arm slowly regenerating, Scott stood outside my door holding a note. I almost didn’t accept it. I’d had…well, just about enough happen for the day.

  Colleen had eventually slept and Justin had talked to me for a brief moment before he collapsed back into an exhausted slumber.

  You know what it’s like to be broken, Kit. That’s how she feels. They tore her apart inside—unmade her. Unless you’re a warrior, witches weren’t meant to harm. And they used her for all sorts of harm, trying to break her. And they did…because she wouldn’t let them kill me.

  That was what it boiled down to. They’d used Justin against her.

  If they weren’t dead, I’d go back and kill them again, but slower.

  I had no idea what was going to become of Colleen now, but Justin said he wasn’t going to let her go through it alone. Neither would I.

  But I was exhausted and all I wanted to do was sleep.

  Not deal with…this.

  Because I knew who that letter was from.

  I opened it, though, cracking the heavy wax seal and taking a deep breath to steady myself.

  Let your cat know I’ve dealt with the rest of the broken ones.

  I’m leaving for now.

  I have matters back home that need seeing to.

  But I have unfinished business here as well.

  I will return.

  She knows you live, Kitasa, and for as long as she lives, that is a problem.