Blood Before Sunrise: A Shaede Assassin Novel

by amanda bonilla

  I’d run out of time and could already feel the draw of his presence, my will dissolving. I’d be nothing but a dancing puppet as he pulled the strings in a matter of moments. With determined focus, I cataloged everything Delilah told me, praying I wouldn’t forget.

  “What do you think, Darian?” He beckoned me with a finger and I obeyed, walking toward him as if I had no other choice. “Does Delilah have a big mouth?”

  “Oh yeah.” I blurted the words as if he’d fed them to me on a teleprompter. “She likes the sound of her own voice.”

  “My thoughts exactly.” Fallon pulled a long knife from a sheath at his waist. Not made of anything metal, the black sheen of the blade ran with veins of emerald. “You’ve played your part, Oracle. Now it is time to go to your sister.”

  Delilah clamped her jaw tight and bucked her chin up in the air. The girl had moxie. It was the one thing I admired about her. Her expression softened into that of resignation…no, reverence, as if she sat in the presence of greatness. I’d seen that expression before, when the Enphigmalé had sprung to life before Delilah’s unseeing eyes. She’d stood in awe of them. Fallon ran his hand over her hair—a loving gesture, really. Just as he’d done to me earlier, he soothed her, shushed her lightly, and kissed the top of her head before running his knife through her heart. He twisted the blade with a jerk and pulled it out, cleaning off the blood on Delilah’s own shirt while she died.

  And I did nothing to stop it.

  Fallon returned the knife to its sheath and put his hand on my shoulder. “Don’t mourn her,” he said. “She’s with her sister. I found us something suitable to eat,” he said, letting me go to retrieve the bag he’d left at the door. “Sit and let me feed you.”

  And, damn it, I did. I rested my arms at my sides as Fallon pushed my chair in. He placed a clear-plastic container of food in front of me: breads, fruits, and cheeses all garnished with flowers.

  “I found a Sylph downtown who owns a bakery. You wouldn’t think it would be so hard to find our kind in this city, but I have to admit, it took some looking.” Fallon set a fork beside me and plucked a grape from a small bunch. “Taste this.” He brought the fruit to my mouth, which I opened obligingly. He placed the grape in my mouth, his finger brushing my lip. “Tell me that’s not the sweetest grape you’ve ever eaten.”

  The fruit burst in my mouth. It was sweeter than anything I’d ever tasted, with a strange floral aftertaste that tingled on my tongue—delicious. “Eat,” he said, pushing the fork toward me. “It’s all wonderful without a trace of human taint.”

  I picked up the fork and ate my breakfast as if I didn’t have a mind of my own. Eat, drink, sleep…What else would Fallon command me to do? I shuddered at the thought. While I stuffed my face with “taint-free” food, Fallon retrieved my backpack from the closet. He sat down beside me, unzipping the bag as if it would explode if he didn’t take care. Peering down, he found his prize, and a hungry smile graced his lips. He drew the broken hourglass from my bag and carefully unwrapped the towels I’d used to cushion it.

  “The prize,” he said, setting the glass on the table between us. “We’re so close.”

  “Close to what?” I asked.

  “Freedom,” he said.

  “What does that hourglass do?” The food must have been charmed. I couldn’t stop eating it. Everything tasted so delicious, even the flowers used for garnish. And the more I ate, the more confused I became, having to remind myself that I was sitting at the table of a madman with a corpse for company.

  “Broken, the hourglass is useless. It maintains the flow of time in the realm to which it belongs. But we’re going to join this half with its mate. And when we do, wondrous things will happen.”

  Fallon spoke with a passion only fanatics possess. He watched, mesmerized by the golden grains of sand falling upward and passing into nothing before returning to fill the bottom of the glass. I nibbled on a piece of cheese, my eyes wandering to poor Delilah, who had let her grief and need for revenge steer her toward the dark path that led to her death. If she could have seen her own future, I wondered if she would have done things the same way. I reached toward her with my left hand and touched her shoulder, my gaze drawn to my thumb. The skin below my knuckle was smooth, as if something had worn it that way. Had I been wearing jewelry earlier? It seemed a ring was missing from my thumb. And I had a feeling it should not be missing, and that somehow, without it, I was incomplete.

  “Fallon,” I said, “where are you taking me?” Others would miss me—I thought. I had friends, loved ones, didn’t I? I knew just a moment ago. Remember. I closed my eyes and forced myself to focus despite the fog shrouding my mind. Delilah had told me about someone. Someone I’d been searching for. My friend’s daughter. Raif’s daughter—Brakae—the Time Keeper. She lived…Where did she live? In the Faerie Realm. And I was her Guardian. Don’t forget, Darian. Don’t you dare forget again. You’ve got to find her and kill Fallon before he kills you so you can get home to Tyler. He thinks you’ve left him. “Where the hell’s my ring?” I stroked my thumb with a forefinger. “And where are you taking me?” I asked again with more force behind the words. I pushed the plate away; I wanted more, craved it, but I couldn’t allow myself to eat another bite.

  “It’s not where I’m taking you,” Fallon said, still enrapt by the hourglass. “It’s where you’re taking me.”

  “I don’t have anywhere to go,” I said. Or did I? Yes, I had to find Brakae. For Raif. I couldn’t forget again.

  “You’re taking me home, to O Anel. I have business with the Time Keeper.”

  Chapter 22

  “There’s one problem with that, Fallon.” I held on to lucidity by the skin of my teeth. My mind reeled in his presence. “I have no idea how to get us there.”

  His expression warned of rage, a storm close to breaking. I slid my hand across the table, picking up one of the shards of glass I’d used to threaten Delilah. No way in hell was he getting his hands on me again. I felt the violence coming, uncoiling from somewhere deep within him, and I watched as his hands clenched into tight fists. “Do it,” I warned, my voice low. “I dare you to hit me.”

  The silver light swirling in his eyes calmed to neutral gray, and he busted out into over-the-top laughter. “I can see why you were chosen to protect her. Such a…badass,” he said as if searching for the right word, “aren’t you?”

  “Damn right, I am. I know you’ve laid some sort of magic on me too. Because if I were in my right mind right now, you’d be dead.”

  “You’re probably right,” Fallon said, popping a grape into his mouth. “But you’re not in your right mind, are you?”

  Thoughts swirled in my head, which suddenly felt too heavy for my shoulders to support. “I am going to kill you, Fallon. And I’m going to enjoy doing it.”

  He laughed again, a half-crazed sort of bark. “We’ll see about that.”

  I tried not to look at Delilah, who for all her treachery had gotten the shitty end of this deal. Well, I hoped revenge was sweet in the afterlife, because she sure as hell hadn’t savored any part of it in this world. Fallon seemed oblivious to our dead breakfast guest, paying more attention to his food, all the while caressing the broken hourglass.

  My arms were lead weights at my side as I struggled to push against the table, desperate to get away from him. Inch by inch, I moved my chair, the effort seeming insurmountable. And all the while, Fallon paid me no attention, closing his eyes as he enjoyed every bite of his breakfast. Only when I managed to move my chair enough to give myself room to stand did he look at me.

  “What are you doing?”

  “I’m going to the bathroom,” I said. “Do you have a problem with that?”

  “Not at all,” he said. “As long as you behave.”

  Though I didn’t have the strength of will to do it, I wanted nothing more than to gouge his eyes out with the plastic fork in my hand. Maybe splashing a little cold water on my face would shock me out of the lethargy Fall
on’s presence imposed. Or better yet, I hoped there was a window that hadn’t been reinforced by magic that I could use to get the hell out of here.

  I’m not sure how I made it to the bathroom. One second I was standing by the table, and the next I stood in front of the sink, studying my reflection in the large rectangular mirror. I’d come in here looking for something…a window. How long had I been standing here, staring at the emerald pendulum dangling from my neck, resting just above the swell of my breasts? “Iskosia,” I whispered, wondering how I knew that word. I stroked the gem lightly with my finger.

  Water streamed from the sink, though I couldn’t remember turning it on. I looked back to the mirror, now clouded with steam. I hadn’t moved an inch, had I? I’d wanted a little cold water on my face. Not hot. Fumbling with the knobs, I waited for the water to cool and filled my palms, splashing water over my face and neck. Lukewarm rivulets ran down my shirt and into my bra. Not cold enough. I was still much too groggy. All I wanted was to curl up in bed….

  I fought to form a coherent thought, to keep myself in the present. Water dripped from my nose to the tile floor. Suddenly, a rough white hotel towel passed against my cheeks.

  “Darian,” Fallon said, “I can’t have you a mindless shell. Your idle threats of violence wear on my patience. Others may enjoy that smart mouth of yours, but I do not. If you promise to be a good girl and behave, I will allow you some presence of mind. Agreed?”

  Fallon. But that wasn’t his real name. Delilah had said as much. Clarity returned by small degrees, and I ticked off important facts in my head, securing them like mental sticky notes. The Man from The Ring. He’d killed Delilah and tricked me into stealing something for him. I closed my eyes to better concentrate while he dried my face. Time. I’d stolen time for him. And the emerald…I touched the stone at my neck. The emerald was the key to O Anel, the Faerie Realm. I was going to kill him.

  But not unless I played his game. “I promise to behave,” I said. “I don’t want to feel this way anymore.”

  He pressed a palm against my cheek, and already my mind felt clearer. I remembered most of what had happened since we’d left Seattle; only bits and pieces were missing—black holes in my memory. “How long have we been here?” I asked. The last thing I remembered, Delilah—the thought cut off in my mind, but slowly came back to me in pieces. He’d killed Delilah. Yes, I was sure of it. “We checked into this hotel, this morning….”

  Fallon tossed the towel into the sink. “We’re leaving. Right now. I have business to attend to, and I’m not going to wait any longer for you to come around. We have an accord now, right? You cooperate, I won’t turn your mind against you. I want the other half of my hourglass, and you’re going to get it for me.”

  Sure, you keep telling yourself that. The fog continued to lift, allowing me a clearer train of thought. Tyler was no doubt out of his mind with worry. But I couldn’t think about Tyler or how I’d make amends with him for all that I’d done. Not until I cleaned house here. Though I had reason to hope I’d be rid of Fallon soon, Raif had activated the GPS in my cell so he could track me. The battery had died when we’d pulled in to the hotel, but Raif couldn’t have been more than a couple of hours behind us. Why hadn’t he showed? My only option was to stall Fallon and to keep him rooted to our hotel room until Raif found me.

  “I told you, I don’t know how to get there.” I’d made my tone complacent, a trick I’d learned from years of abuse at my human husband’s hand. “I’m sorry; I don’t want you to be angry with me. But I don’t know how to help you.”

  With a sneer, the puppet master ushered me back to the bed. The room reeked of death, so much stronger to my preternatural senses. Delilah’s body had been removed, though the chair where she’d died and the carpet below were still stained with her blood. I fought a wave of nausea as I wondered about how, when, and where he’d managed to dispose of her body, and I shuddered. Fallon turned me around to face him and placed his hands on my shoulders, urging me to sit. He went to his knees in front of me, and my pulse picked up double time. Leaning in, he caressed the emerald resting just above the swell of my breasts, and my body went rigid.

  His cold laughter filled me with dread. “No need for you to worry, Darian, I’ve no interest in you beyond the bauble around your neck,” he said. “Don’t flatter yourself.”

  By small degrees, my body relaxed, though I didn’t outwardly show my complete and utter relief. I didn’t want to insult him and give him cause to lay down the “mojo” as Tyler would have called it. Thinking of Tyler again sent a jolt of bitter pain through my body and soul. I missed him so much. “Why were you banished from your home, Fallon?” Delilah had told me he’d been thrown out of O Anel. Maybe if I knew why, I could use the information to my advantage.

  “It doesn’t matter. Not anymore. That was so long ago. What’s important is that we’re going there, you and I. And you will help me right the world.”

  I should have known you just can’t reason with the criminally insane. And have no doubt, Fallon was as unhinged as one could get. “But you still haven’t told me how you think I’m going to get us there.”

  “Iskosia. You have the key. The Oracle said you’ve been there.” He placed his hands on my knees and leaned in close. The wild glint in his eyes flashed silver. “What did it look like?”

  The urge to spill my guts overwhelmed me. “Green. Nothing but endless green. Knolls and valleys and rolling hills covered with trees for as far as I could see.”

  Fallon’s eyes drifted shut, and a smile curved his lips. “I miss it. Being surrounded by living, growing things. The world here is crowded, polluted, covered with hard, unyielding surfaces. It’s even worse than it was two hundred years ago. Once-blue shining waters now glisten with the sheen of spilled fuel. Refuse litters the forests. Humanity did that. There is no place for green in their self-centered lives. Humans are indeed rats. Their numbers have exploded in the centuries I’ve been gone.”

  So apparently Fallon hadn’t been hanging out in Connecticut the past couple of centuries, but I didn’t have time to ponder this piece of the puzzle. “Where is O Anel?” The island of the Enphigmalé had existed in another place, so to speak. Another time. But the concept escaped me. “Is it here? On this planet?”

  “You think with the narrow mind of the mundane,” Fallon said, caressing my cheek as if in sympathy. “O Anel exists behind the veil, Darian. It is here, all around us, though we cannot see it. You smell a hint of it on the wind, just before a rain, or see a glimpse as the sun breaks over the horizon. It is a beautiful and sometimes lonely place, but it doesn’t have to be. I am going to change that. I will make it an Eden. And we will never have cause to hide again.”

  He stood in one fluid, unnatural motion and spun in a half circle, turning his back to me. “Get ready. We’re leaving.”

  I stared out of the hotel room window; a large, dingy rectangle speckled with what looked to be mud obscured my view. Not that there was anything to look at. Freeway, parking lots, the strip mall—not exactly a five-star location. But then again, that was exactly why Fallon had chosen it. No one would bother to ask any questions. I watched the cars speeding by on the freeway. People headed home from work, going to dinner or a movie, living regular lives. My life was far from average, but it had been good. I had a job that paid enough to keep me comfortable and made me feel that I’d been serving a purpose. I’d finally managed to make a friend or two, and I had Tyler. Had. I doubted I could claim Tyler as mine anymore after I’d run off on him. And I might never see him again. I had no idea how long Fallon planned to keep me in O Anel. And for that matter, I had no clue how I was going to manage to kill him and get home—not when he controlled me so completely.

  And what about Brakae? I had to protect her too. How long would all of this take? Centuries? The thought of returning to that green and endless place terrified me; yet I knew I had no other choice but to go and finish what I’d started.

  Fallon came up beh
ind me and squeezed my shoulders. How he could have thought we’d actually bonded over my kidnapping was beyond me. But then again, he was off his rocker in a serious way. Who knew what he thought about how I felt about him. “Iskosia is what connects the Guardian to the Time Keeper. The hourglass is like yin and yang, each keeping in balance with the other. The Guardian must be able to travel between the realms in order to protect the essence of time and the natural order.”

  “Reaver?” I asked. “He’s a Time Keeper too?”

  “Yes,” Fallon said with disgust.

  “Who is his Guardian? Is there another key as well?”

  “You ask too many questions.” His features hardened, becoming the threatening guise of controlled rage.

  “Azriel used to tell me that.” I don’t know why I said it. And in the next moment, I regretted it. Fallon backhanded me, closed fist and all, sending me sprawling to the floor. My jaw had to be broken; the pop echoed in my ears like an explosion, the pain searing and instant. Without my quick healing, I’d have been FUBAR. As it was, Fallon’s heavy-handed punishments left me bruised from the inside out.

  “You must like this sort of treatment to provoke me so often.” He spoke too calmly for my peace of mind before grabbing me by the hair and dragging me to my feet. Once, twice, and again for good measure, he slapped me. Blood trickled from a split across my cheekbone, mingling with what had begun to flow from my lip. The bastard didn’t need much provocation to rough me up. “What else did he tell you?” He shook me, hard, his face nose to nose with mine. “What secrets did he whisper in your ear before he died?”

  “N-nothing,” I stammered. God, I did not want to be hit again. Banished memories blinded me with their pain. “He never told me anything. Ever. The entire time I knew him, he kept the truth from me.”

  Fallon’s body relaxed, and he let go of my hair. I stumbled back, leaning on the tacky upholstered desk chair for support. Wiping at the trickle of blood from the corner of my mouth, I asked, “Why are you upset?”