“Remember, she’s a necromancer!” I eyed the demon general, wondering just how the hell to kill this thing. She was twenty feet long, most of that in giant anaconda form. Her torso, arms, and head were female, grotesquely misshapen, with long fangs that dripped a dark liquid. Constrictor or not, I had no doubt that they contained some sort of venom.
Smoky let forth a low whistle, and frost spread from his breath, rippling through the room in a wave, freezing everything it touched. Stacia hissed at him, spitting some liquid toward his eyes. The dragon jumped back, dodging out of the way as the venom splashed against the frost and sizzled.
Shade began to walk toward her, shimmering so that it was hard to tell whether he was corporeal or not. She cocked her head at him, then struck, grabbing for him, but her arms went right through his image. Shit—he was walking in shadow, and that had probably just saved his ass.
I wondered why she wasn’t tossing spells around—she was a powerful necromancer—and then a thought hit me: Could she cast magic in her natural form? Or did she have to be in human form? Necromancy wasn’t an innate ability for her, so maybe she couldn’t use it when she shifted back to her normal shape. Either way, I had to figure out some way to get behind her so I could hack into that damned long tail she had. Menolly joined me and pulled me to one side.
“I can vault over her head,” she said. “A lot faster than she can catch me.
“Go for it. I’m trying to find an opening that isn’t going to kick my ass.”
“Be safe. We can’t afford to lose you. Remember, we’re all in this together—we don’t have room for martyrs.” She took a running leap and went soaring over the lamia’s head in a flip to die for, landing near the end of Stacia’s coiled tail.
Trillian took something out of his pocket, and I smiled. Of course, he’d be the one to figure that out. He slid a pair of shades on. Wraparound Ray-Bans, which looked stunning and would protect his eyes from her venom. He held up the stun gun and began to move toward her.
Stacia spit at him and at the same time slammed the tip of her tail into Menolly, knocking my sister against the wall. Menolly managed to grab hold of the tail, and she was using her long nails to claw her way up toward Stacia’s back. At that moment, Iris came through the door, bloodied and bruised, and she took one look at Stacia and let out a long, terrible shriek.
“You killed Henry; you destroyed the shop!” Her eyes grew wide as she thrust her wand toward the lamia and let out a long string of chanting—I couldn’t understand the words, but the power behind it was vast and terrifying, and I found myself backing away as the Talon-haltija sang her song.
Stacia started to home in on her, but right then Menolly made her way onto the creature’s back and wrapped her arm around the lamia’s neck. She began to squeeze. The lamia’s tail was flipping now, smashing right and left as she reached up to try to claw Menolly from her back. Venom dripped from the demon’s fangs, and she let out a long shriek.
“Do you realize how stupid you are?” Her eyes flashed. “Kill me, and you kill yourselves and this world. I’m your best chance to stand against Shadow Wing.”
Iris let loose a spell that hit Stacia in the face. Energy crackled through the lamia, a web of forked lightning working its way down her body.
“We’ll take our chances,” I screamed, rushing in from the side. “If you’re our only ally, then we’re dead anyway.” As I plunged Lysanthra into her side, Stacia backhanded me and sent me—and my dagger—flying against a buffet. Her tail swung toward me and coiled around my waist and I heard something in my chest crack. Moaning, I struggled to get free, but the pressure was too great, and I was beginning to pass out. Crap, I thought. So close—I can’t die now!
Shade appeared then, at the side of the lamia, and he breathed a cloud of smoke on her. She screamed and rubbed furiously at her eyes. Shade let out a low rumble and began to shift, but he wasn’t turning into dragon—no, he was turning into a creature of mist and shadow, a vaporous form. He enveloped Stacia within his sparkling clouds, and she clawed at her throat.
Menolly grabbed the demon’s hair and began to pull, holding her neck bare and exposed. Shade quickly moved out of the way, and Smoky made a running pass, his talons ripping at the vulnerable flesh. He left five long, terrible gashes that immediately began to fountain blood.
Stacia let go of me, her tail thudding against the floor. I moaned as I hit the hardwood and dragged myself out of the way.
At that moment, Camille and Morio entered the room, followed by Rozurial and Vanzir. Vanzir pushed his way to the front and held out his hands. I knew what we’d see if we were on the astral—long tentacles coming out of his fingers, reaching deep within Stacia’s mind to suck out her life force. His head dropped back, his rocker chic look dropping away to a mad fury as he let out a laugh that ricocheted through the room. His eyes grew wide, the kaleidoscope that made up one indescribable color whirling with passionate intensity.
“And I feed,” he said, laughing again.
Stacia writhed, her heavy tail constricting in on itself. She grabbed for Menolly, but my sister leapt straight up, managing to avoid the tentacle of muscle. As she landed on the floor again, Menolly raced over to me, scooping me up to pull me out of the way. I screamed—the ribs that were fractured shifted, sending a paroxysm of pain through my body.
At that moment, Trillian stepped to the side so he wouldn’t hit Vanzir and aimed at Stacia with the stun gun, hitting her dead center in the chest with the jolt of magic. He shot again and again, until the gun was empty.
Trillian broke off and backed up . . . his breath coming in ragged pants. “She’s done . . . get out of the way—I think when she dies it’s going to be messy.”
We raced for the door, Menolly dragging me with her, but before we could make it, there was a noise, and I turned to look. Stacia wavered and went down, hitting the floor with an earthshaking thud. As she landed, her body began to dissolve, and snakes roiled out of her, hundreds of snakes. Constrictors, vipers . . . all creatures from the serpentine world.
“Move! They’re coming our way!”
And they were—at least three hundred of the coiling beasts. I didn’t mind snakes, but they’d been part of the lamia, and I didn’t trust that they weren’t hungry and aiming for whatever moved.
Iris let out a long shout and once again, a blanket of frost raced through the room, slowing the snakes some. Smoky joined her, and an ice storm raged through the living room, beating hail and frost down on everything and everyone in sight. The pellets hit exposed skin with a fierce sting, and I heard Camille let out a cry—the pellets had to make the glass wounds hurt like hell.
The snakes let out a collective hiss, and I realized they still had Stacia’s essence within them—they weren’t just your everyday pretty serpent.
“She’s still there—in the nest of snakes! She’ll heal if we don’t kill them.”
I could barely breathe by now, my ribs were hurting so bad, but I didn’t care. We had to finish this.
Smoky pushed Camille into Morio’s arms. “Get her and everyone else out. I’ll take care of this.”
As Morio and Trillian herded everyone out, Shade swept me up in his arms and carried me. We headed toward the front of the yard as a loud rumble sounded, and the walls began to shatter. Smoky was transforming into his dragon shape. As we cleared the porch, a huge gust of wind blew us out, and then snow began to fall in our area as a figure—tall and dressed in the purest of whites—came striding out. Behind him, the house creaked as it iced over. Another blast, and the timbers began to fall in on themselves. Whatever he’d done, the place was imploding.
Camille flipped open her phone. “Chase? Get a unit over here now.” She gave him the address. “We just killed Stacia . . . the house is gone. Tell them . . . tell them . . . hell, I don’t know. Tell them Santa Claus paid a surprise visit, and he wasn’t happy with Stacia being on the naughty list.”
And as we watched silently, the Bonecrusher and her
snakes vanished under the silent wash of snow.
CHAPTER 23
“So, did anybody ever find Trytian?” I was sitting in the kitchen, my ribs wrapped tightly. Sharah had me on strict orders to rest for a good six to seven weeks. I’d heal faster than an FBH, but bones could only knit so fast. The kitchen was still trashed, there had been so much destruction, but most of the mess had been cleaned up, and the men were busy, trying to repair the damage done.
Iris was making tea, Menolly was hovering near the ceiling. Most of the guys were spread out in the living room except for Vanzir, Trillian, and Shade, who had joined us in the kitchen.
Camille shook her head. “No, and frankly, I’m willing to leave him alone if he leaves us alone. He’s not out to take Shadow Wing’s place like Stacia was. I wish there was a way we could let him know that.” She leaned against Trillian, who wrapped her in his arms and kissed her head.
“I can make that happen,” Vanzir said. “I’ll put out a note through the Demon Underground, and it will spread. He’ll hear. I have no love for the fucking jerk after he tried to blow us up, but if he’s willing to let us do what we need to and tend to his own backyard . . . I’m willing to let it go.”
“What about Van and Jaycee?” I hated ticking off the list of enemies we still had prowling around, but we needed to remember: They were out there, and they were gunning for us.
With a shrug, Camille said, “I don’t know. We keep watch. We infiltrate the magic shops, spread the word we’re on the lookout. And we hope they move on as soon as possible. My guess is that Stacia’s training camp will either break up or Trytian will take over. We’ll want to keep our ears out for whatever happens in that direction, too.”
Iris brought a bowl of Cheetos to me, along with a glass of milk. “I take pity on you because of your ribs.”
“You never did tell me your story,” I said.
She shrugged. “You’ll have plenty of time to listen over the next few weeks. And on the full moon, with those broken ribs, you’re going to be confined to a room where you can’t jump up on anything or hurt yourself. So get used to being an indoor-only for the next six weeks or so.”
There was a knock at the door, and Menolly answered. She led Luke, Amber, and Chase into the kitchen. Chase looked weary.
“Call me, let me know what happens,” he said. “Meanwhile, I’m needed back at HQ.” I caught his gaze and smiled, and Chase smiled back then, and in that moment, everything was okay. What he would say once he knew about Shade was anybody’s guess, but that was for another day.
After he left, Amber and Luke sat down next to me. Luke bit his lip when he saw the tight bandages around my ribs. “I’m sorry about that. But thank you—thank you all for saving my sister. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t helped out.”
“That reminds me, what are we going to do about the coyote shifters?” I popped a Cheeto in my mouth and savored the crispy cheese crunch, then licked my fingers.
“I think we should bring the Koyanni up on charges at the next Supe Community Council.” Menolly patted Luke on the back—about as close as she ever got to a hug. “After all, they’re breaking treaty by attacking the werewolves, and it doesn’t matter whether or not they belong to the council. The wolf Packs do.” She pressed her lips together, and I could tell she was pissed.
“I agree, Camille said. “Hand over everything to the council, and let them take care of it.”
“Good idea. I just . . . I wish we could have caught all of them.” I didn’t like leaving matters as they were, but we had no choice. I was out of commission, and Sharah had made it clear to me that she’d strap me into a hospital bed if I tried to do anything more strenuous than channel surf.
Luke shrugged. “I’m just glad to have my sister back.”
Camille glanced at me, her eyes pensive. “About that . . . Luke . . . Amber can’t stay here if she’s wearing the necklace.”
“What necklace?” He glanced at her, then frowned. “Why not? What’s wrong with it? Not fashionable enough?”
I let out a low sigh. “We have to tell you something. We’ve already told your sister, so she knows. You can never tell anyone else, but you need to know what’s going on.”
Over the next hour, we filled the two werewolves in on our mission, explaining from the beginning about Bad Ass Luke and Shadow Wing and the spirit seals and ending up with the Keraastar Knights. We did not tell them about our doubts or concerns over giving the seals to Queen Asteria now that we knew what she was planning to do with the spirit seals—a disaster in the making, in our opinions.
They sat, mouths open, shaking their heads. It was easy to see they were brother and sister, they looked so much alike.
“So that’s what’s going on with my necklace.” Amber breathed a soft sigh. “And how will that affect my baby?” She curled an arm around her belly.
“I don’t know, honestly. Queen Asteria’s medics can probably help you with that—you can’t tell anyone here about the problem, except Sharah.” I hung my head. “Amber, you’re going to have to either give us the necklace or volunteer to go to Otherworld and turn yourself over to Queen Asteria. I think you may have the genetic makeup she was talking about—to become a Keraastar Knight.”
“This is sudden . . . I don’t know what to do. I can’t take off the necklace.” She blinked, tears welling up. “I’ve never lived anywhere else . . . even coming here was so new for me.”
“I’ll go with you.” Luke stood up.
She glanced up at him, eyes wide.
“I’m your big brother. I couldn’t keep you from harm with Rice, but I can take care of you now. I’ll go with you to Otherworld and make certain you’re okay. I’ve nothing to tie me here except for my job, and Menolly can find someone to replace me. But you . . . you need family there. You need me.”
“Thank you—but are you certain?” Amber looked overjoyed, but a flicker of fear still ran through her face.
“Yes. If Menolly and her sisters will volunteer to pack my apartment and put my things in storage except what we’ll need over there.” He glanced over at Menolly, who nodded softly.
“We’ll take care of everything, Luke. You’re a brave man—and loyal. Just like family should be.” She smiled then. “We’ll talk to Queen Asteria, make sure you have everything you need. And we’ll visit when we can.”
Just like family should . . .
“Luke, you’re a good example,” I said, motioning to Menolly. “And we need to follow your example. Tomorrow, we’ll figure out just what we’re going to say to Father about what he did to Camille. We’re the Three Musketeers here . . . we stand united.”
Camille said nothing, but her lower lip trembled as she smiled at me.
Menolly gave me a solemn nod, then called Morio and Smoky in. “Camille can travel to Elqaneve, though she can’t set foot in Y’Elestrial. We’re too near dawn for me to go. Why don’t the three of you escort Luke and his sister and the sixth spirit seal to Queen Asteria. We’ll send your things over later this week, Luke.”
“Thank you,” Luke said as they prepared to go. “We’ll make you proud. We’ll do our part in this war . . . because you’re working to save our world.”
Breaking the mood, Camille turned to me. “Hey, what about the hair? You going to let it grow out again?”
I frowned. Having most of my hair chopped off had been traumatic, but like everything that had happened lately, I’d found my peace with it. In fact, I liked it. The short, tousled, edgy look made me feel empowered.
“Actually, I’m going to keep it like this. The original color will grow back in, and that’s fine with me—I could do without the blotchy orange effect, but I’m going to keep the style. It’s . . . who I am now. And I’m really starting to like who I’m becoming.”
Shade rubbed my shoulders. “My love,” he whispered. “You are beautiful. Inside and out.”
Iris glanced up at him. “Remember what Sharah said—no sex for a couple weeks. De
lilah’s ribs are cracked in several places and need to heal. For now, you sleep out in the studio with the Demon Twins and Shamas.”
“No fair—” I started to say, but Shade put his hand on my shoulder.
“We have plenty of time, and I plan on being around for quite awhile.” He leaned down and gently kissed my lips, and once again I lost myself in the glowing heat of his body. The mark on my forehead hummed, and I suddenly found myself standing in front of Hi’ran.
“Are you happy?” He reached out and cupped my chin, tipping my face up.
I gazed at him, my heart swelling. “He’s part of you, isn’t he?”
Hi’ran smiled then, softly, as the boreal wind raged around us. “He’s of my season, but he is his own man in his own right. I told you, I am not a jealous master, as long as you remember that I am your master. When you touch him, I will know it . . . when he touches you, I will also be there. And when it’s time, he will be the go-between for me to father your child.”
I sucked in a deep breath—on the astral it didn’t hurt—and slid into Hi’ran’s arms. But this time, he simply held me, and I was content with that. I had a new passion in my life, and I wanted nothing more than to explore the burgeoning relationship with Shade. I knew him. He was part of me already, and for the first time in my life I believed in soul mates. At least, for me.
Chase and Zachary had been wonderful men, but I was a huntress, prowling the treetops, and I belonged to the Autumn Lord in spirit. And my heart . . . my heart belonged to the autumn, too.
I’d never expected to find my true self in the reflection of death and destruction, of fire and flame-colored leaves, but I’d grown up so much. This was who I was—this was who I would always be, and finally, I could accept my predator side and be happy with it.
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