Christ. The control room was down the hall to his left and Harry had chased her out the door to the right.
James said they’re doing one last sweep. Everyone is keeping an eye out for Harry.
Got it.
I need to stay with Kat until she’s finished feeding, then I’m headed your way.
I’ve got this. You take care of Kat.
He felt her hesitation. Damn. How much had she seen? What he’d seen, or did she have access to his thoughts, too? Had she accessed his memories of the abuse? Did she think she needed to stay with him because he wasn’t strong enough to finish this?
The sound of voices echoed on the stone as he neared a four-way hallway.
A woman. Adia. “I still want you, Harry.”
“Goddamn it to hell.” Harry’s voice. “Fight me.”
Duncan turned down the hall to his left, heading for the first door.
“You’re lucky you didn’t hit my minion, you bitch.”
Harry’s voice was quieter that time. He’d gone the wrong way. He turned around.
Adia laughed and the sound sent a shiver down his spine. Where the fuck were they?
“Disappointed?” Harry’s voice shook. “I may be young, but I’ve been trained by the best. Now show yourself. You owe me.” His voice edged up in volume, echoing off the walls.
Back at the four-way split, Duncan went to the right.
“Oh, I do owe you, dear boy. You’ve been alive all this time? Remember what I told you would happen if you ever denied me?”
“I never denied you.”
“You’re denying me now.”
Shite. Wrong way again. He ran back to the four-way.
“I will have you, or I will destroy everyone you’ve ever loved.”
Jesus, she was crazy. Her voice kept edging up higher, bouncing off the stone walls and making it impossible to find them.
“I’m not a boy anymore. You don’t frighten me.”
There. Duncan’s gaze zeroed in on a door and he broke into a sprint.
“I will frighten you. You’ll never see me coming.”
He burst into the room as the woman faded from sight. Harry was pinned to the wall, a Guardian blade sticking out of his chest. George was curled around his neck.
No. That wasn’t Harry. That blade would’ve ashed Harry. It was a copy. Jesus. For years now he’d thought the whole damn Council had taken Harry, but it’d been a woman. His gaze traveled the room. The big bed. The chains.
His stomach roiled. “Christ, Harry.” He forced himself to look at the lad—the copy. “Where are you?”
“Go away.” The copy disappeared. George dropped to the floor and padded out of the room.
The hell with that. He followed the minion, down the hall and into a different room. George slowed as he entered. Slunk forward, making gurgling noises as he approached. Harry was in the corner, his big frame huddled against the wall, knees pulled up, eyes closed, struggling for breath. Each wheezing inhale sounded painful. His hands opened and closed at his sides reflexively.
Shite. This was a bad attack.
He knelt down in front of Harry. “Breathe, lad. We’ve done this before.” It was all in his mind. He wasn’t even sure if, as vampires, they needed to breathe. They didn’t have organs, there were no lungs in their bodies, but he also knew from experience that if he couldn’t breathe, his body panicked and went through all the same torment as a human body.
Harry scrambled up, leaning his back against the wall as he did. “I’m . . . fine.”
Bullshite. He could barely get the words out. “Eyes on me.” He took a step closer, ready to block the lad if he tried to run.
“Not—” He choked. Closed his eyes. His whole chest heaved in effort with the next breath, his collar bone stuck out under his skin. His veins thick, bulging. “Doin’ this.”
“Yeah, we are.” He grabbed the lad behind the head, pressed his forehead to his and drew in a slow, deep breath. “Like that, yeah?”
Harry tried to shake his head, but Duncan wasn’t allowing it.
“Concentrate on my voice. Slow in. Slow out.”
The lad’s hands fisted, came down hard on his shoulders. Harry wasn’t so little now, his hits hurt. “You . . . saw.”
“Yeah.” Three hundred years walking the earth. Three hundred years of life experience and never had he felt so inept. So unable to come up with satisfactory words. “Doesn’t matter, pup. Doesn’t change nothing.”
“Every . . . thing.”
“Breathe, damn you. Quit fighting it.” He inhaled slowly as if he could breathe for the lad. “Whatever you’re feeling, let it out. Cry. Scream. I won’t think any less of you.”
“Never . . . .” His chest locked up. A shudder ran through him hard enough to shake them both. The exhale was too shallow. “Let true emotion . . . show.”
Duncan reared back. Jesus, he’d taught him that. Like his father had taught him the same damn thing. “It’s a lie.”
“You . . . don’t lie.”
“Sometimes.” Shite. “That’s a lie I tell myself. I think what I meant was that we never let our enemies see our true emotions. But around the people you love . . . I’d never hold it against you, pup. Not ever. I cry. Fuck’s sake, a few hours ago I cried all over Trina. So you let it out, lad. No sense holding on to poison.”
Harry’s whole body shook. “Can’t.”
His hand tightened on the back of the kid’s head. “Let it out, damn you.”
A shout erupted from Harry, the likes of which Duncan had never heard. It lifted the hair at the back of his neck. Made his gut twist. Made tears pool in his own eyes. The pure anguish and hurt and anger that poured from the lad was more than anyone should bear. But the kid’s eyes remained dry.
“Good, lad.” He’d gotten the air out from his body, at least. That was always his problem, getting the air out before he drew another breath. “You look at me now and I’ll tell you the truth.”
Harry’s eyes shifted up. They were so close he couldn’t see more than a blur of features.
“Everybody gets screwed at some point in life. There’s no shame in it. It’s the way it is.”
“Not you.”
“Yes. Yes, me, too. Damn it. Hell, I didn’t even know how much I got fucked over until tonight.”
“Tell me.”
“I’ve been working three hundred years for the man that killed me wife and son.”
“What?”
“Leopold’s a projector. He projected me and went after me family. Killed them, and everyone in me old neighborhood thought I did it.”
“Yeah, but I got fucked over by a—”
“Woman? Me wife used to beat me.”
Harry reared back, this time hard enough to pull free from Duncan’s grasp.
He shrugged. “See, me father used to beat the hell out of me mum. Told meself I’d never do the same. And me wife, Gertie, that woman hated me. She was nice enough at first. Beautiful. Something happened after she got pregnant, though. Wake me up by kicking me in the head. Drop hot soup in me lap. Bashed me in the face with those damn pans of hers more than once as I was coming around a corner. She was too small to take me head-on, but she had a million ways of getting to me when I wasn’t looking.” He kissed his teeth. “Never told anyone that.” Duncan slid down the wall to sit, motioned for Harry to do the same. “Kind of cathartic, you know?” He shrugged. “Why don’t you have a go?”
Chapter 32
Back at the Citadel, Trina waited for Lilith to enter Kat’s room. As soon as she entered, Trina closed the door and leaned against it.
“What happened?” Lilith’s gaze darted between the two of them.
Craziness, that’s what. She motioned to Kat. “You want to tell your high priestess what happened, or should I?”
“I’m sorry.” Kat’s eyes widened and she shook her head. “I would never do anything to hurt the coven.”
Trina waved toward Kat. “I happened to walk past a room and sa
w Kat pinned up against the wall by a man. Crowley.”
Tears trailed down Kat’s cheeks. “You don’t understand.”
“Leopold has a projection talent—he projects his victim’s deepest desires to distract them.”
For a moment, Lilith stared at her. Then she gasped and swung around to Kat. “Katherine O’Hickey what are you thinking?”
She started to cry in earnest.
Trina had zero patience. “Yes. Tell me what was running through your head. I got stuck saving your sorry little ass while leaving my mate and his son to the mercy of our enemies. Enemies you’re cavorting with.”
“No.”
“If anything happens to Duncan or Harry, I will cut you to pieces, do you hear me?”
“He’s my mate!” Kat shouted the confession before slipping to the floor and crying harder. “I didn’t ask for him to be my mate, but he is. And maybe it’s because I’m a healer. Maybe I . . . .”
“Oh, gods.” Lilith turned from Kat and looked at Trina. If he is her mate . . . .
Trina shook her head. She can’t possibly know if he’s her mate. He’s possessed by a Watcher, which means the other Watchers can’t see Crowley. They wouldn’t have heard any summons she made.
Lilith’s gaze narrowed on Kat. “How do you know?”
“I tried straight summoning first, but the Watchers never responded.” Kat shrugged. “Claire used dream Magic. She asked the goddess to lead me to my mate on the Astral.”
Lilith nodded to Trina. Her story adds up. Before you came home from the Navy, I went to get my Grimoire from Kat. She had bruises all over her. Rowena beat the hell out of her because she didn’t want to kill vampires. She told me about the dream and her mate.
Trina deflated. She’d do damn near anything for Duncan. But she and Lilith had both been blessed with good males. Steady. Strong. Sane.
Lilith turned back to Kat. “The day you told me about the dream, you said you didn’t know his name.”
“I didn’t, not then. But on Samhain, when Mother tried to force you to do Magic for him . . . .”
“Shit.” Lilith shook her head. “Of course. Crowley was there.” The whole coven knows what he looks like. I can’t imagine how they’ll react.
“He tried to kill you that night.” Trina paced across the floor. “He’s in league with a Watcher. They’re calling him the Harbinger back on Earth because he’s released Nephilim—”
Kat stood and her chin tipped up. “He’s not. I don’t think he ever was. I saw him on the astral and he’s . . . in bad shape. The Watcher is torturing him.”
“He’s been possessed for a long time, honey.” Lilith led her over to a chair and had her sit. “I mean, he wiped out the old coven.”
Trina sat on the windowsill. “He’s been possessed for at least three hundred years. That’s got to mess with a person. He’s probably crazy as hell.”
“He’s my mate.” Yeah, it always came back to that little fact. Mates were difficult to refuse.
Lilith held her hands up. I can’t imagine being without James.
I know. I can feel Duncan when he’s not with me. I don’t feel right until he’s with me again.
Lilith shrugged. “She’s an amazing healer. Maybe she could—”
“I can.” Kat jumped at the opportunity. “Give him to me. I can heal any damage that’s been done to his mind. I can. I’ll prove to you he’s still good.”
“No,” Trina moaned out the word. “No, no.” She spiked her hands through her hair. “Mason.” Oh, Lil, I screwed up again! “Duncan and I made a deal with the humans. We agreed to give them Crowley.”
Lilith scrunched her face. “What?”
“You can’t.” Kat grabbed her arm. “Please. He’s the Tanin’iver. You’ll suffer as much as me if he dies.”
This time both she and Lilith stared at Kat. “What?”
“It’s in the Black Book of Daemonology.” She hugged herself.
Lilith met her gaze. “Get the book.”
Trina spell-traveled to the great hall, grabbed the book and returned.
Kat waved her hand at the book. “I don’t remember the page. Look up The Original, and at the bottom of the page is a ‘see also Tanin’iver’ and ‘see also Blind Dragon.’”
Trina did as she asked and found the page. There were only a couple sentences there. “Says the Original created him from a lost soul and gave him the title Tanin’iver. Then, the Tanin’iver married Lilith and Samael.”
James’ first name.
Duncan’s middle name.
Kat took the book from her, and flipped through some pages. “Under Blind Dragon, which is his other title, it says that when Lilith was punished, both Samael and Tanin’iver were also destroyed.”
“Why?”
“Samael had bitten Lilith, so his blood flowed through her veins. And she had created a body for Tanin’iver, so her Magic flowed through his. When the goddess punished her, the spell split her soul in two, and it also affected the two of them.”
“Samael’s soul must have split, too, hence our mates.”
“The point is, that the Tanin’iver brought you to your mates. The Tanin’iver is the symbol of your bond. Even now, neither of you would’ve found your mates if Crowley hadn’t been stirring the pot.”
Lilith propped her hand on her hip. “I summoned my mate because Nan was beating me for arguing with her about daemon kind.”
“For being sympathetic to them. For insisting they had mates. Why do you think that pissed her off so much? Because a vampire named Crowley was hanging around Haven House demanding information about the girls within. That’s why Nan beat you and why Rowena cursed you with the dybbuk.” She pointed to Trina. “Why she made you wear that choker. If you destroy Crowley, you may destroy your bond with your mates.”
“We don’t know that.” But could they take the risk? She looked at Lilith. “What are we going to do now?”
Lilith sat on the edge of the bed and took a deep breath. “We’re going to stall for time, that’s what. We’ll move forward with our plan.”
Kat took a step closer. “But—”
Lilith held up her hand. “We summon Crowley and take care of the Watcher. And Kat is going to take Crowley to her home.”
Trina scoffed. “What if he’s dangerous?”
Kat squared her shoulders. “I can handle him. If he’s beyond help, I’ll bring him back and you can give him to the humans. I promise.”
Shit. This was going to be a disaster.
Lilith sighed. We’ll need to find a way to get the humans to imprison him without killing him if he affects our bonding with our mates.
The U.S. military does not negotiate.
Lilith sighed. How much time do we have to deliver to the humans?
A week.
“What are we supposed to tell our males?” Lilith shrugged. “That he got away?”
Trina closed her eyes. They needed a plan. “Okay, Kat, you spell-travel Crowley to your place—I’ll show you how—but you stay here. Wait until everything is done. Make sure the males see you here. Then go. No one will be the wiser that you have him.”
I hate the idea of lying to James. Lilith bit her lip.
Are you kidding? Duncan made the deal with Mason because I suggested it. She glanced at Kat. “Sorry. I didn’t know. All I could think about was how he mesmerized m— We can’t do this. What if he mesmerizes Kat?” And she’s going to lose her Magic. I’m not even sure how to tell her that.
Don’t tell her yet. We have time. Lilith shook her head. It’ll take time before her Vampiric talent replaces her Magic. Hopefully, she’ll have healed her mate and we’ll have everything figured out by then.
“Mother cast over our minds when I was still a kid. You can’t read my thoughts. He can’t get into my head.”
She looked at Lilith. Which means I can’t tell for sure if she’s telling us the truth. What happens if she’s as bad as her mother?
Kat? She’s a healer, for crying out
loud. “The real problem will be finding another peace offering for the humans if he turns out to be okay.”
They talked for a few more minutes and then left to let Kat rest. In the hallway, Lilith stopped and faced her. “Want to tell me what’s going on with you and Duncan?”
“Nothing.”
Her brows crept up. “Well, that is a problem, isn’t it?”
Trina propped her hands on her hips. “You don’t know what it’s like, Lil. You have control of your Magic. But mine . . . it’s better since I’ve been in Machon—”
“I think it’ll keep getting better the longer you’re here.”
“—but what if I hurt him? I’ve had a couple near misses with him already and—”
Lilith frowned. “What happened?”
“I sort of shot him.”
Her friend gaped.
“Then I almost killed him when he was transforming me. And later I threw him up against the wall.” Tears welled in her eyes. “I love him, but I don’t want to hurt him.”
“Don’t do that! You can’t cry because I can’t hug you.”
She laughed. And cried harder. “I can’t help it.”
“Look at me.”
She forced her gaze to meet Lil’s. “I know how to fix this.”
“You do?”
“Yeah. I’ve been thinking about it, since I summoned him, and because of what you almost did to James.”
Her gaze narrowed. “How did you summon Duncan?”
“I summoned the Original’s mate to Haven House. Mine was already with me, so it stood to reason that yours would be the one to arrive at Haven House.” She grinned. “Come on.”
Chapter 33
They waited while the Nephilim dusted the two Sentries guarding their destination. Julius watched without emotion. After the horrendous things he’d seen—that Azazel had forced him to do—the last two nights, seeing a couple of Sentries destroyed was nothing. Had Leopold really thought Sentries would stop Azazel?
They went through the gates, into an old abandoned townhome and straight into the basement. There was another door, one that led to more stairs. The air grew danker with each step. Like the rat he was, Leopold had run back to his nesting grounds after his failure with Sinclair.
The Shadow: The Original's Trilogy Page 32