The Dark Matters Quartet

by Claire Robyns

  He found Lily in the co-pilot chair, eyes closed.

  “No,” she moaned. “No, no…”

  The guttural sound twisted his insides. He reached for her, then pulled his hands back, fisted. They needed to know if the demon had changed course, or if he’d already reached East Cauldren. They needed the demon glass and she was the only one who could do this.

  Her eyes snapped open, the strain deepening the hollows beneath. “Let’s go.”

  Greyston dropped into his chair, setting the lever position to vertical thrust. “What did you see?”

  “A dozen men, maybe more,” she said in a small voice. “Word must have spread about the villages. Some were armed with rifles. One of them…” She dropped her head, rubbing her brow. “He had a pitch fork, Greyston. He brought a pitch fork to a demon fight.”

  “He didn’t know—”

  “Of course he didn’t!” Her voice pitched, then dropped again. “They rode straight for the demon…”

  Greyston didn’t need her to finish that sentence. He engaged the throttle. The ship hummed as the pressurised steam built within the pipes. Attuned to the cadences of her song, he knew the precise moment to ease the vertical thrust lever and take them up into a graceful glide.

  “This is going to be quick,” he warned her.

  “I hope so.”

  He lifted the speaking horn and spoke. “Ana, can you hear me?”

  “Now?” she said.

  “Not yet, but keep the horn pressed to your ear. Timing is of the essence.”

  “You’re nervous,” she said.

  “What makes you think that?” he muttered sarcastically.

  “You’re repeating yourself,” she said. “You’ve already told me to keep the horn pressed to my ear and that timing is of the essence.”

  Greyston didn’t bother with a response. He threw the horn back onto its hook and looked out for the river. The road snaked along it, a thin line far, far below. He pointed at the capped brass tube next to Lily’s chair. “You need to man the periscope. Angle it toward the ground directly beneath us. We’re following the road, but I’m going to keep us high and out of firing reach, I think, until we have a visual of the demon.”

  “You think?”

  “I’ll keep us safe,” he promised. “If we take a hit, I’ll rewind it.”

  “We only get one trial run,” Lily said quietly.

  We only get one try, period. If their first attempt failed, he wouldn’t risk another. The last time a demon had attacked the Red Hawk, his ship had been crippled, Jean had died. They were too vulnerable in the air.

  Nothing more was said as they sliced the Aether. The sky was thankfully clear, giving Lily an unobstructed view of the ground. When she spotted a rider, Greyston culled their speed and looped around in a wide circle, coming up behind the demon rider from a decent distance.

  He lifted the horn. “Ana, now!”

  “We’re an easier target at this speed,” Lily said. “Can’t we go faster?”

  “Not with the platform out.” He pulled the thrust lever. The nose dipped, taking them into dive. “The force might rip off the hydraulic arms.”

  The road grew wider and wider as the Red Hawk swooped lower, staying a fraction to the left of the road now. He engaged the spin rotators, banking left at a deep angle to give himself a better view of the road and the blurred speck of the rider up ahead.

  “Ana?” he clipped out over the horn.

  Her response was instant. “The platform is down.”

  “Get Neco away from the gap and anchor yourselves.” He spared Lily a quick glance before rooting his eyes to the target they were rapidly approaching. “Ready?”

  “As I’ll ever be,” she said hoarsely.

  The demon glanced over his shoulder, face turned up to them. One hand released the reins, his arm taking aim right at the ship.

  Greyston hit the throttle with one hand, the elevation lever with the other, bursting the ship into a steep arc at full power seconds earlier than he’d planned. The force slammed him back into his seat. Lily screamed as a flaming bolt lashed past the glass that wrapped the nose of the Pilot Cabin. The near-miss rippled heat through the glass.

  “That was close!” Lily heaved.

  With adrenaline surging through his blood, Greyston adjusted their trajectory to bring them around, banking the ship again as they flew over the demon. The last spray of water that had tipped from the stern showered the ground, mere yards from the demon.

  “Yes, that was close.” He cocked a grin at Lily’s white-faced frown. “But I’ve got the measure of this now. Our next run will be close enough to banish its plague-ridden arse back to hell.”

  The demon clearly thought so, too. He kicked his horse into a gallop, as if he could possibly outrun the Red Hawk.

  Greyston’s grin spread. God, he’d missed this. The thrill of the chase.

  He flew a wide circle, backtracking a mile or so down the road again as he lifted the horn. “Ana, do we have enough water left for another fly-over?”

  She conferred with Neco, then came back to him. “The pouch is still half full. Neco says the rest won’t dump, no matter how sharp the tipping angle, without a little help.”

  “What does he have in mind?”

  “He’ll loosen one of the rope ties and hold that end up himself,” she said. “We felt the ship arc upward. He’ll know when to release it.”

  Greyston crunched his jaw. “What are the chances that he won’t go tumbling out along with the water?”

  A moment later, Neco’s voice came down the horn. “I’ll hook a leg around the hydraulic arm, Grey. The probability of my grasp breaking is 2 percent.”

  “And if you splatter to the ground?”

  “There’s a 50 percent probability you will be able to put me back together,” Neco said.

  “Did you just make a joke?” Greyston chuckled, but didn’t wait for Neco to compute an answer. They’d aligned with the road again. “Do it, Neco. Be quick and ready in, say, three minutes?”

  Even at their slower speed, Greyston gauged they’d be upon the demon in approximately one. He engaged the oscillatory rotors to hover in place, giving Neco the extra two minutes.

  Lily pressed her eye to the periscope, adjusting the angle. “Blast, I don’t see him.”

  “Are you looking in the right direction?”

  She lifted her eye to send him a glare.

  He threw his hands up. “I’m just trying to lighten the mood.”

  “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were enjoying this.” She snorted and put her eye back to the brass tube. “Oh, right, I do know better.”

  Greyston couldn’t deny he was in his element.

  “Still nothing?” he asked when they were once again moving forward.

  “I see the road, but no demon.” She fell back in her chair and squeezed her eyes shut.

  Damnation! Greyston brought the ship lower and stood, leaning forward over the console so he had a clear view of the ground. The road stretched straight along the river and there was no sight of a rider, no speck even in the distance.

  “He’s veered off the road,” Lily finally said. “Riding through fields.”

  “There’s only river to the left.” Greyston turned them around, flying parallel to the road, his gaze scanning the farmlands to the right. “Look again.”

  Between Lily’s demon glass and his own two eyes, they soon got a fix on the demon. He’d tied his horse outside a barn and taken cover inside.

  Greyston landed the Red Hawk in a nearby field, out of sight of the barn. “We’ll have to wait him out.”

  “For how long?” Lily demanded in exasperation.

  “This one’s following orders, Lily, and I’ll wager his orders are not to scurry into a hole and hide. Not long, I don’t think.”

  “Why would Agares do this?” Lily gave him a worried look. “Why order this path of destruction?”

  “Because she’s a demon?” Greyston shrugged.
>
  Lily pursed her lips and closed her eyes.

  “Lily, don’t, you promised…” But she was already gone. He could tell by the way her mouth softened and the muscles of her face slackened.

  An hour passed. Then another. They were all gathered in the boarding cabin, saying little in between the updates Lily fed them.

  Agares was on horseback, navigating the streets of South London.

  The barn demon had planted himself on a bale of hay, his eyes fixed on the door.

  Agares had left London, travelling south.

  The barn demon paced back and forth in front of the door.

  Agares had crossed the county border into Surrey.

  “Surrey?” Greyston queried.

  “I think so.” Lily screwed her gaze on him. “Oh, God, what if she’s heading for Harchings Castle?”

  “The castle and its grounds are protected,” he reminded her. Kelan had arranged for the runes to be carved into the perimeter walls as well as the actual building. “It’s more likely Agares is going after the Gossamer. No wonder all those weeks of scouring Scotland yielded nothing. Harchings hid it closer to home than we guessed.”

  “But what…?” Lily put a hand to her mouth. “What if Agares doesn’t know where the Gossamer is? What if she’s headed to meet Devon?”

  “If Agares wants the Gossamer completed, she needs Harchings. She won’t harm him,” Greyston reassured her. “And even if Harchings tries to invite her inside, Agares wouldn’t be able to set a foot within those walls. Evelyn will be safe.”

  “I still don’t like it,” Lily said. “I don’t like Agares being anywhere in the vicinity of Evie. Dear Lord, I have to warn her!” She cast her eyes around wildly, twisting her lower lip between her teeth in anguish. “But we can’t leave, either. I can’t risk this demon continuing his rampage while we’re gone. What is he waiting for?”

  “He may be waiting for nightfall,” Greyston realised.

  “Then we’ll lose him in the dark, anyway.” She jumped up to pace. “Our original plan isn’t going to work.”

  Greyston’s mind raced through the alternatives. “We could set the barn on fire, chase him out into the open.”

  Lily gave the idea some thought, then shook her head. “Fields and a barn? That means there’s a farmhouse nearby. If we force him into the open, there’s no guarantee we’ll get him before he makes it there.”

  “Then we take this fight to him in the barn,” Greyston said grimly. “While he’s isolated and caged.”

  Lily stopped pacing to look at him. “I’ll take Ana and Neco with me.”

  “You’re staying with the ship,” Greyston said at the same time.

  “You’re the only one who knows how to fly, Greyston.”

  Greyston stood, scowling down on her. “Please tell me you’re not suggesting I’d send you off to face a demon while I cower in the Red Hawk.”

  She folded her arms, glowering up at him. “I’ve trained months for this fight.”

  “No.”

  “Greyston, be reasonable,” she snapped. “I know what I’m doing and I know exactly what I committed myself to, while you…”

  “While I…?” he growled. “While I what, Lily?”

  Her gaze dropped. “This has never been your fight, Greyston. You’re only here because of me, because you promised me. If anything happens to me, you know this was my choice, that I was determined to see this through no matter how hard you tried to persuade me to leave Kelan and his demon cause behind.”

  Her eyes lifted to his, her voice softening. “If anything happens to you, I’ll know it’s my fault. I’m the one who dragged you back into this mess.”

  “There was a time when that was true.” Greyston rubbed a hand over his brow, closing his eyes. His entire life, starting with his birth, had been shadowed by demons. By the McAllisters and their damn demons. “Not anymore, Lily. I’m doing this for myself. I’m doing this for my mother. I’m doing this for my brother, who only died when he came looking for me. I’m doing this for Jean. For my ancestral home, incinerated by Flavith. For the months I was bedridden, believing I’d be crippled for life.”

  His hand fell to his side as he looked her in the eye. “I’m done running, Lily. This is my world, my life. If demons want any more pieces of it, they’ll have to come through me.”

  Her gaze held his, unwavering, for a long moment. The sigh that followed was loaded with understanding. She unsheathed the sword at her boot and, with a flick of her wrist, extended the blade to its full length. “Let’s do this.”

  Greyston bit down on the natural protest. As much as he wanted to keep Lily safe, she needed this as much as he did. She’d had as many atrocities in her life. She’d witnessed too many horrors.

  He wouldn’t stop her. Not on the first attempt, anyway. If anything went wrong, he’d rewind. After that, his protective instincts could go wild. He’d carry her down into the pump room and bolt the hatch if he had to.

  “Is your leg troubling you?” Lily asked when she saw he’d collected his walking stick.

  “My leg hasn’t bothered me in ages.” Greyston grinned as he uncapped the bulbous end and withdrew his own Cairngorm sword.

  Lily’s brow arched high. “I never realised you were always so… so prepared.”

  “Now you do.”

  The wind gusted with an icy chill as they crossed the field. The cold stung Lily’s cheeks and deepened the colour of her lips. Her hair whipped furiously, spitting out the pins that had held her up-style in place. Without breaking her stride, she pulled out the remaining pins and twirled the long lengths into a rope, knotting it at the base of her skull. She’d left the bottom half of her coat unbuttoned so she could move more freely. The wind caught the tails and every other step revealed a glimpse of buckskin-clad thigh.

  Greyston’s heart warmed with love and pride as he looked at her. When he’d first met Lily, he’d accused her of being afraid of her own shadow, too afraid of death to live life. Now she was a magnificent tempest. A formidable force of nature.

  He’d loved her, desperately. But as they strode across this field in the bitter winter day, he consciously acknowledged the truth his heart had probably known for a while. He still loved Lily, always would, but she was no longer the woman he’d fallen in love with.

  When the barn came into view, they slowed their pace while outlining a brief strategy.

  Neco immediately raised his objection. “Ana and I should go in first.”

  “Absolutely not,” Lily said.

  “We all go in together,” Greyston reiterated. “Lily, you’ll draw the rune to bind and keep right outside the door. Don’t even think of coming to our aid until that’s done. Neco, you and Ana flank me but keep a pace behind. Use your strobe lights to distract the demon, nothing else.”

  “This isn’t optimal,” Neco said.

  “We’ve been training,” Ana pointed out. “And we’re stronger.”

  Greyston had no choice but to give it to them straight. “The last time you two went head to head with a demon, you were both torn to shreds.”

  Neco cocked his head. “I have no data to substantiate that claim.”

  “Because I rewound the incident.”

  “It’s true,” Lily said. “Besides, you can’t incapacitate the demon without a Cairngorm weapon.”

  “And you’re not getting my sword,” Greyston added, well aware of where Neco’s logic would go next.

  They quietened as they neared the barn, but the demon’s horse had no qualms in announcing their presence. Greyston flattened his back to the front of the barn and waved Lily and the others to do the same. He could only hope the foul weather swallowed the horse’s indignant snorts.

  He put a finger to his lips and gave Lily a prodding look. With a nod, she checked her demon glass. Every bone in Greyston’s body tensed. The flimsy wooden wall between them and the demon was no match for a fire bolt. If the demon suspected he’d been compromised…

  Lily grabbed his
hand and rose onto her tiptoes to whisper at his ear, “He’s still pacing toward the far end of the barn, but his attention is focussed on the door.”

  He took a deep breath, counting to three. From Lily’s earlier descriptions, he knew what to expect. The barn was an oblong structure with bales of hay stacked against the back wall. No equipment, no loft. Once he entered, there’d be nowhere to take cover.

  On another deep breath, he bashed through the swinging barn door with the broadside of his sword angled high. His first glimpse of the demon was a lanky form draped in black from head to toe, almost blending into the barn’s dark interior.

  The shadowy figure moved. Greyston’s muscles tensed, the two-handed grip on the hilt of his sword tightening. A flicker of white sparks illuminated the demon’s hands. A heartbeat later, the bolt of fire leapt the distance between them. In that same moment, electric strobes lit the barn in a criss-cross dance. Greyston had been expecting the disruption, but still his gaze flickered. In a stroke of pure luck, the bolt glanced off his blade and deflected, striking somewhere above with a hiss of wet timber.

  Greyston staggered from the unexpected force of impact. I should have practised more and spent less time scouring Scotland for a needle in a haystack.

  He regained his balance just in time to see the demon cast another round of fire to the left.

  “Ana!” Lily screamed, surging up into his peripheral vision.

  Flames licked the hem of Ana’s skirts. Still flashing electric strobes from one hand, Ana slapped the flames into smoking embers.

  “It’s me you want,” Lily shouted, rocking on her feet, her sword held ready in one hand.

  The demon’s arm shot out at her.

  Terror gripped Greyston, but Lily swerved her upper body around the whip of fire with the control and grace of a ballerina. She caught the next bolt with her blade and flung the fire back at the demon. It went wide, but only just. He’d seen her train, but her composure, her steady head and hand… Disbelief and admiration shivered along his spine.

  He pulled his eyes off their duel and started edging around the opposite side of the barn. As good as Lily was, they couldn’t rely on a direct rebounding strike that would stun the demon. The demon lashed out with bolt after bolt of fire. Greyston didn’t look back, didn’t take his eyes off the demon as he inched closer and closer. In a moment of genius, Neco trained electric strobes into the demon’s eyes, blinding him for precious seconds. Greyston sprinted the last few yards and drove his sword into the demon’s gut.