Dark Flight (The Shadow Slayers)

by Cassi Carver

  “I’ll do it,” Ted answered. “I’ll go.”

  Kara smiled. Ted was a good guy. “I’m still putting that good word in for you with the ladies.” Just as soon as they regenerate. And they had to regenerate. That sweet little boy needed a mother like Rachel.

  Ted nodded. “I look forward to it, my lady.”

  Kara only had to endure a few torturous minutes of silence and suspicious glances at her wings before not just one of the men in her life showed up, but all four. Gavin, Jaxon and Aiden were bloody messes, but Julian hovered behind them, as if watching everything unfold.

  “Kara?” Gavin breathed. He rushed to her and was about to hug her until he seemed to remember the arrows poking from his chest. With a grunt, he tore them from his flesh as Jaxon and Aiden did the same. Only Julian looked unaffected and whole.

  When his red, sticky chest was free of arrows, Gavin took Kara by the arms. “How did you escape? And Rachel? Where is…the child?” The way he said the last part was as if he already knew the baby was dead.

  Kara grasped his cold cheeks, needing to touch him. “I’m sorry…Rachel is regenerating—but the baby is fine! He’s with Mazeki. He’s beautiful and strong, and he’s totally safe. You know no one’s going to get through Mazeki’s wards.”

  Gavin’s eyes filled with moisture, and the strange noise from his mouth was something between a laugh and a rush of wind from his lungs. “He lives?”

  “He does. He’s doing great.”

  Gavin hugged her then, dangerously close to crushing her ribs. Then a second later he pushed back. “What in the name of the Maker?” He took her by the shoulder and spun her around. “What are these? What is happening here?”

  Jaxon stepped forward and yanked on one bony wing. “That can’t be what it looks like.”

  Kara shrugged. “They may not look like much, but they got me here.”

  Aiden narrowed his eyes. “Females don’t have wings. This isn’t Kara.”

  “Okay, listen guys. I don’t understand it myself, but here it goes…” Kara cast a quick glance at Julian. She needed to look into his eyes again and know he was all right, but it would have to wait. “You know how I went to the Sanctiáre for a feather that would help Julian in the battle against Brakken? Well, it looks like I got featherless wings instead. These are them.”

  For the very first time, she tried thinking a command to her wings, and to her surprise, they responded, expanding to their full breadth across her back. They didn’t have much mass to them, but if she ever grew flesh and feathers, they would probably be around the same size as a silver-wing’s.

  Julian spoke for the first time. “That lying, black-wing bastard. That wasn’t Mazeki’s only untruth, Kara.”

  “Ah…he told you about that, huh?”

  “He decided the time was right to confess he had no claim on you when he could no longer best me.”

  “Yes, Mazeki is full of crap. But we’re going to let that slide, because he makes a pretty good babysitter. And then there’s you. You wouldn’t have been able to best him if he hadn’t shown you how.”

  “Wings… I’m truly astounded,” Gavin said. “Truly in awe. But how is this going to help in the battle?”

  “I think I have to help Julian trap Brakken.”

  “No!” Gavin and Julian said in unison.

  “I didn’t make the rules here, guys. That’s just how it has to be. And Mazeki thinks I need to make one more stop before I’ll be ready.” Which was all complicated enough, so she planned to tell them about Mazeki’s Shadow Slayer nonsense the day after never.

  The flow of blood from his chest finally ebbing, Gavin scrubbed his palms over his eyes. “My men are already in the battle—a battle I don’t want you anywhere near. Where could Mazeki suggest you go next?”

  “He’s been right so far,” Aiden chimed in.

  “You wouldn’t care if Kara took two arrows to the eye sockets! You have no say in this,” Julian growled at Aiden.

  “Kara and I came to an understanding, Jules. We talked things through. Oh, and sorry for getting you captured,” Aiden said to her, and then he winked.

  “Mazeki has been correct,” Gavin conceded, “and although it strips my soul bare, I gave Kara my word she could be a part of this.”

  Julian growled and turned away, but Kara smiled. “Okay, this is what I know. This woman is a recluse and probably won’t want to help us against Brakken, but we’ve got to try.”

  “I’m hoping she has a name?” Aiden asked dryly.

  “Hexa. She lives in the caves on the outskirts of the Land of Desolation. Does anyone know where that is?”

  “I do,” Jaxon said. “And I think she will give you any help you need when it comes to sending Brakken to the Abyss.”

  Kara paused and looked at her friend. “How do you know, Jaxon?”

  “Because Hexa the Hairy is my mother. And the man she hates most in this world is my father—Brakken.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Suddenly Kara understood. Not everything—no, most of the chaos was still whirling in her brain—but she understood now why Jaxon and Abbey had been arguing over the battle and why he’d been determined to be part of it. It was personal for him. A mission of retribution.

  “Hexa and Brakken?” Gavin’s voice was so low, Kara wasn’t sure if he was talking to himself, but Jaxon nodded. “And you didn’t want to tell me that we were brothers?”

  “Half-brothers,” Jaxon said decisively. “And although I respect you, Gavin, and I appreciate all you’ve done for me, I saw no reason to celebrate that half.”

  Gavin seemed at a loss for words, somewhere between angry and amazed. “Then we’ll say no more on it this day.”

  But Kara wasn’t letting Jaxon off the hook that easily. “You and I have some things to discuss when we get back to the Gaslamp.”

  Jaxon inclined his head. “I can take you to Hexa now. She might have moved around a bit, but I can find her.”

  Aiden turned to Gavin and Julian. “And we need to get back to the men.”

  “No,” Julian said. “I stay with Kara.”

  “They need you,” she told Julian.

  “No,” Gavin agreed. “If the Sanctiáre have foreseen that you and Julian will unite to send Brakken to the Abyss, then he should stay with you. Learn what you can from Hexa, and hurry. Our men are stronger and better trained than Brakken’s, but evading his arrows and his direct attacks is tiring them rapidly. If you must go—go now. And may the Maker lift your wings.”

  Gavin stepped forward and threaded his arms around Kara’s back, careful not to jostle her wings, then he dipped her back and gave her a kiss that made lights dance in her vision. When he tilted her upright again, she swallowed, totally blown away by the magic in his lips.

  “I love you,” he said, “and when this is finished, I aim to spend the rest of my days showing you that truth.”

  Emotion burned her throat, and the moisture in her eyes made her vision go blurry. She squeezed Gavin’s hand. “Just stay safe, and you can spend your days showing me anything you like.”

  Aiden and Gavin flashed back to the battle, leaving Kara and Jaxon to deal with an irritated Aniliáre. She wasn’t sure if Julian really didn’t want her to be part of the fight, or if seeing her kiss Gavin so soon after their break-up was difficult for him. It was hard to feel bad when he’d battered her heart with his callousness.

  Jaxon came to her and took her hand. “Are you ready?”

  Kara tried to stay focused and block out the dozen warriors gathered around them, as though they had front-row tickets to the show. “Do I need you to flash me? I mean, I have wings.”

  Geez. Maybe she could call them bings—short for bony wings, since they weren’t very wing-like. It was odd to feel so unique and special on one hand and totally mortified of her strange protrusions on the other.

  “Truly, Kara, I am stretched thin. I don’t want to worry about you crashing and burning with those things on the first day they grace
your back.”

  She had to agree that with the battle already raging, she didn’t have time to get accustomed to solo flight. “Okay. Let’s go. Julian? You know the way?”

  He stared at her, still and quiet for a moment before speaking. “I can track him. I will follow a heartbeat behind.”

  The next thing Kara knew, Jaxon was pulling her through the vacuum of space and she opened her eyes to see red-orange hills, eroded down the sides to make tall, rounded shapes. And the way the mountains had formed, it was like salmon-colored Swiss cheese, with openings everywhere, and she couldn’t tell how far they went back.

  “I was born there.” Jaxon released Kara’s hand and pointed to a particularly deep and dark cave. “I know Hexa would have no interest in inhabiting that same space, but it gives us somewhere to start.”

  With a gruff nod, Julian stepped past them and plodded toward the opening of the cave.

  “Careful. She had them warded,” Jaxon called. But when Julian hit the wide entrance, his whole body lit in shallow pink flames. With a shiver down his spine, he sucked the energy into himself, extinguishing it until his skin smoldered. If it bothered him, he didn’t show it. He glanced back over his shoulder. “Are you coming?”

  When Kara got to the entrance, she poked her finger at it first, just to be safe. Nope. No more ward. If Julian could learn that much control over his gifts in one day with Mazeki, what would he be like a month from now?

  Kara crept quietly behind Jaxon. “You grew up here?” she whispered.

  “Yes.” His voice was strange and low, as though his mind was caught in a different time. “I didn’t have an unhappy childhood. I might even believe Hexa felt affection for me if it weren’t for the way she cast me out when I came of age.”

  The walls of the cave were red inside, too, and the soft sound of dripping water sifted through the tunnels. “She kicked you out?”

  “Yes. She wanted nothing to do with me when it was time for me to go. I haven’t seen her since.”

  “How long ago was that?”

  “One hundred and thirty-four years.”

  “What’s this?” asked Julian.

  Jaxon and Kara came around the corner, and Kara slowed to a stop. There was a perfectly placed row of stones along the wall to one room with carvings of some sort prominently displayed on them.

  “This was where I slept,” Jaxon answered, “but I don’t know what those are. They almost look like…”

  Kara picked one up. It was a rudimentary wood carving. She was more into clay sculptures, herself. Though with the amount of hours she’d been putting into training with Gavin and working at the bar, she hadn’t made a sculpture in weeks. “I’d say this one was a…bear.”

  “No,” Jaxon said quietly. “It’s a hellhound. I made that.” He walked along the row of stones, picking up each carving and then setting it back down. “I made all of these. They were some of my only toys. I threw them into the woodpile when I left. I told Hexa to burn them. I guess she didn’t.”

  No, she hadn’t, indeed. She’d made a shrine of sorts to Jaxon, and it choked Kara up to be a witness to that fact. She wanted to say something like, your mother must have loved you, but it wasn’t her place to put words in the mouth of a woman she didn’t know—one who’d sent her son packing only for him to spend the next hundred and thirty years as a whipping boy in a harem.

  Suddenly, Julian’s fangs snapped down, and he hissed, “Someone is here.”

  Jaxon’s breath drained from his lungs. “It’s her. She’s still here. After all these years, she’s still here.”

  When Jaxon turned and went down another tunnel, Kara followed. She smelled Hexa before she saw her.

  “Mother?” Jaxon said.

  Kara squinted, but in the dim light all she could make out were the rocks—until Hexa moved. Slowly, Jaxon’s mother peeled herself away from the corner of the room, and her fur was the same shade as the walls. She wasn’t just furry, she had the ability to change colors to match her environment, like a chameleon.

  “Who are you?” Hexa whispered. She had the shape of a woman, but she was covered in thick, silky fur, about an inch long, from the tops of her feet to her fuzzy cheeks.

  “I am your only son, Jaxon.”

  “Jaxon?” Her voice cracked with emotion, then Hexa wrapped her hands around her middle, as though unsure. “You promised not to come back here. What have you done? What trouble have you brought down upon me?”

  Jaxon took Kara by the arm and brought her to his side. “This is Kara Reed. And this black-wing is one you won’t have seen before. He is Julian Mercés, lord of the Mercury Clan, risen from the dead.”

  “What do you want from me?” Hexa asked.

  “We are here to battle Brakken. The time has come to put an end to him. Kara had an audience with the Sanctiáre themselves, and she believes that she and Julian are meant to send Brakken to the Abyss. We have heard that you are the only female who has bested the Shadowland and has learned to stay here permanently. This knowledge of how to manipulate the realms would be a great benefit to Kara. Can you help us?”

  Hexa’s coat seemed to ripple with color before turning back to the brownish-red of the walls. “Brakken, you say? Send him to the Abyss? He would no longer darken this world like the living shadow he is…”

  “He would be finished—and you would be free.”

  Hexa wrapped her arms more tightly around herself. “To have my son here, and the chance that Brakken might finally get what he deserves. I have dreamt of this too many times for it to be real.”

  “It is real, Mother, and we need your help. Helping Kara is directly aiding the forces that stand against Brakken.”

  Hexa walked forward and thrust a hairless palm toward Kara. “It’s so nice to meet you. Now how may I be of assistance?”

  When it was time to go, Jaxon stepped closer to Hexa. Looking unsure, he finally closed the distance and hugged her tight. Hexa seemed stiff in his arms until finally, she gripped him back. “For what Brakken did to you, we will send him to hell where he belongs. I promise you.”

  She closed her eyes while she held him, and her eyelids were covered in hair so short, they almost looked normal—except for the red hue. “I have spent well over a century hating that devil, but I have missed you more than I have hated him. I would rather have you alive, and in my life, than live free of the fear of Brakken. If you…if you are not ashamed of me, I would be honored to see more of you.”

  “Would you come to my wedding on Mercury Island? I swear you would be welcome there.”

  “Your wedding?” Hexa’s eyes went wide. “You and Lace are getting married? Can she not travel here for the ceremony?”

  Jaxon laughed. “Lace isn’t invited to the wedding. And my future bride cannot travel to the Shadowland—she’s a witch.”

  Hexa’s hand flew to her mouth. “A witch? The one who’s going to help with the spell?”

  He stood a little taller. “That’s the one.”

  “May the Maker have mercy. Times have certainly changed since you were a boy.”

  “So, will you?” Jaxon asked her.

  “My son, I haven’t faced a crowd or been to the surface in two hundred years. Let me think on it.”

  Jaxon smoothed his hand over her head and ruffled her fur. “Of course. Either way, I will see you again soon.”

  “Oh, don’t forget the vial you needed. Here you are.” She handed him a tiny jar made of clay. “If you are successful and if my guidance helps, would you return to tell me?”

  “I will return at once.” He squeezed her hand then turned to go.

  “Jaxon!” she called. “I am sorry.”

  When he smiled, Kara was so proud of the man he’d become. “I forgive you. We all do the best we can with what we’re given.” He glanced at his old room and the toys displayed there. “And you did a marvelous job with the time we had together.”

  Witnessing Jaxon and his mother reconnect after so many years and seeing the pro
mise of more to come made Kara long for her own mother. What kind of place was the Shadowland, where the strongest dictated life and death, even afterlife, for so many others?

  “Thank you, Hexa,” Kara said.

  “Deanna’s daughter—with wings. I never had the chance to meet your mother, but I’ve heard many great things about her.”

  Kara smiled and slowly nodded, acknowledging the kindness in her words.

  “We must go,” Julian said quietly, and he bowed to Hexa. “Thank you for your time and instruction.”

  The three walked quickly from the cave, and when they exited, Kara turned to Jaxon. “Okay, are you sure you feel good about this? Remember, if Abbey doesn’t want to take it, she doesn’t have to.”

  “I understand. It will be her choice. Either way, we’ll do what we can.”

  “Okay.” Kara nodded and took the vial from him. “Julian, would you do the honors, please?”

  With a long-suffering sigh, Julian nicked his wrist, filled the vial with blood and then handed it to Jaxon.

  “Thank you. I’ll go prepare Abbey and help her secure the surface. Try to buy us a little time before you join us.”

  “Of course,” Kara replied. “Guess it’s a good thing Abbey didn’t listen to you, and she hid The Book of Death instead, huh?”

  “She rarely listens to me. Every once in a while, she gets lucky and it still works out for her even without heeding my advice.”

  Kara chuckled. “I’m sure everything will be fine, but if I don’t see you guys later…tell her I love her. And schedule a plumbing service to install the new parts for the toilets on the eighth floor.”

  He crushed her to his body. “Knowing you has been my honor, mistress. You gave me back my pride and introduced me to the woman I love. When this is finished, dinner is on me. All the raw meat you can stomach.”

  She squeezed him back. “I think we’ll fire up the barbeque this time.”

  Jaxon flashed, leaving Kara and Julian alone for the first time since the break-up. “Okay. You ready?” she asked. “Let’s see if we can get the hang of what Hexa was telling us before we find Gavin.”