Shadow's Curse

by Jami Gray

  He closed the distance between them in two long steps then snarled in her face, “You’re a bitch, Natasha.”

  Her lips curled back in a teeth-filled parody of a smile. “You have no idea, Jamie.”

  Her demon slammed home. With a blood-chilling snarl, she yanked her hands down and out, shattering the weakened link. Then, before Jamie could jerk out of reach, she struck. Black tipped claws ripped across his face, and blood scented the air.

  Jamie howled then fell back on his ass as he tried to scramble out of reach.

  Undaunted, she whipped the dangling end of the metal chain still attached to her wrist across his jaw and temple, opening a bloody gash in its wake.

  He covered his face with both hands and rolled to his side on the ground, his legs curling up.

  Even as her muscles screamed, she shoved to her feet and took a step toward him.

  He lashed out with both legs, slamming the hard sole of his dress shoes into the muscles of her upper thigh.

  She stumbled, her leg going numb from the hit. She fell to the ground, her palms and knees slapping the rough metal floor.

  Crouched on all floors was not where she wanted to be. Especially when next to her, Jamie kicked out again. This time hooking his heel for her unprotected jaw.

  With the barrier between her and her demon shattered, her muscles coiled and reacted with inhuman agility. Even as his heel barreled toward her, she shoved against the ground then pushed off. The force of her move allowed her body to spin over his kick. She landed in a crouch.

  Even as Jamie rolled to his feet, she attacked. Using the thick black nails tipping her fingers as weapons, she raked out. He stumbled back, even as material and skin shredded and four bloody furrows bloomed across his chest.

  He swung at her.

  She turned, taking the bruising blow along her ribs. Her claws flashed and ripped another vicious trail from ribs to spine.

  Jamie bellowed, spinning to keep her in sight.

  They circled each other, animalistic growls emanating from both. No more taunts. It was down to brutal savagery. No finesse, no grace. Pain and punishment were the only players. They exchanged blows and kicks, neither gaining nor losing ground.

  Claws and teeth tore skin, and still it wasn’t enough. It didn’t sate her need for pain and blood. Under her demon’s feral haze, Natasha struggled to think instead of react with mindless rage. A physical beating wouldn’t stop Jamie. Not now. The spell he used to trap her—it was starting to warp into something much more dangerous.

  The magic twisted, gaining strength, from both of them. How?

  Whispers circled in her head, sharing bits and pieces of the magic used and how Jamie had set it. The spell was based on the dual nature of the Amanusa and blood. The more they lost, the closer their destructive natures rose, the stronger their rage grew, the stronger the magic raged. But there was more.

  Jamie closed in, viciously swiping his claws across her stomach, leaving deep gouges behind.

  Her blood fell. The magic spiked.

  Instead of backing off, she slammed both hands against his arm, curled her claws deep, and pushed, spinning out of reach.

  Off balance, he stumbled, his skin tearing under her nails.

  More blood. Another magical spike, the spell between them tightening.

  Jamie straightened slowly as he faced her.

  Both of them were breathing hard, their bodies savaged by teeth and claws.

  She watched as Jamie lifted his hand, coated in her blood, and deliberately ran his tongue over one finger, all the way to his nail. “Mmmm…tasty.” The word was barely discernible.

  The crushing urge to spill more blood rose in a fiery wave. Realization clicked into place. The damn magic fed on their combined blood, just like their rage. To hold her from her demon meant Jamie linked the spell’s magic to his blood and hers.

  It was a link she needed to break before they became even further tangled. But she couldn’t do it here, not when her demon battled for dominance. Messing with the spell only fouled the magic, not broken it.

  Knowing she’d pay for it later, if later came, she barreled into Jamie and dragged him into the Side.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Darius left Natasha’s home in the Side, frustration and worry tangling his patience and fraying his temper. An hour and half had come and gone since Natasha disappeared and he was out of places to check.

  Tracing Ryder’s blood was proving problematic. It seemed the duplicitous shit didn’t spend much time in the Side. So far, he tracked Ryder to a condo near downtown, an office at Taliesin, Mulcahy’s home, an abandoned bar in downtown Portland, and Natasha’s house. All of which were dead ends.

  Time to touch base with the others. Leaving the Side, he stepped into the mortal realm under one of the tall trees guarding Natasha’s manicured backyard. Digging his phone out of a pocket, he dialed Gavin. “Anything?”

  “Just found the company car over by the Ross Island Bridge, tucked in a parking lot.”

  “I thought the GPS wasn’t working?”

  “It wasn’t. Cheveyo found the last known location and we’ve been moving out from there.”

  “What’s down there?”

  “Warehouses, a couple of shipping yards, and quite a few businesses.” Gavin’s voice was grim. “You got anything?”

  “Not a damn thing. He’s been careful to stick to familiar places. Nothing sticks out.” Darius blew out a frustrated breath. Time to combine efforts. “I’m at Natasha’s. How far away are you?”

  “We’re roughly four miles south.”

  “Send me your location.” Darius crossed the gardens to the house. “I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

  “You going to fly?”

  “Going to borrow Natasha’s car.” He hung up.

  Two minutes later he started up the Aston Martin and followed his phone’s directions down to the Willamette riverfront. Just under the ten-minute mark, he pulled in next to the dark SUV in a parking lot nestled by freeway overpasses and the river.

  Leaning against the SUV, Raine waited for him, her arms folded across her chest.

  He opened his door and got out.

  “You better take care of Natasha’s ride, Abazi.” Raine said in lieu of a greeting, before she straightened and waited for him to approach. “Xander’s checking out the top floor of the warehouse.” She hitched a thumb over her shoulder, indicating the large, looming building behind her. “The river’s messing with her nose, but she managed to pick up traces of Ryder’s stench from the car.”

  “Where is it?”

  “Inside.”

  She turned on her heel, leading him across the parking lot toward the two-story structure. Metal containers clustered on the end near the river, four or five deep, two to three high.

  He gave the containers a nod. “Anyone check those?”

  “Gavin’s on the far end, he’s clearing them as fast as he can.”

  Which would take hours. Hours he was damn sure Natasha didn’t have. His stomach clenched. “Not fast enough,” he muttered.

  Raine came to an abrupt halt and turned around to him, her hands curling into fists at her sides. “I’m all ear—”

  His demon roared inside his skull, cutting Raine off. The blood-tie he shared with Natasha seared into brilliant life.

  “Darius.” Just his name, but what filled her voice enraged both man and beast. Anger, panic, and fear. Something was very wrong.

  “Natasha!” he hissed. Refusing to waste time explaining, he heeded his instincts and rushed into the Side. Between one blink and the next, all traces of the human world disappeared.

  What took its place was a haunting landscape of abandonment. Buildings, tall and strong on the human realm, resembled bombed out structures in the Side. Their skeletal, twisted fingers reached to a pitiless sky for help. The metal containers were no longer neatly stacked, instead they tumbled in haphazard fashion across the rock-strewn ground as if thrown by some giant hand.

/>   He forced himself to stop and look around. Natasha and Jamie were here. He just had to find them. Lifting his head, he drew in the scents of rot and decay, rust and salt. And copper. Spilt blood.

  A rumble of satisfaction vibrated in his chest. He followed the trail at a run, weaving his way through the scattered containers. Rounding the far corner, he pulled up short.

  There, under the cold light of the moon, he found them. The alabaster white of Natasha’s demon was spattered with dark abstract patterns. She was crouched over another demon, this one dull copper with yellowed horns. She lifted her head, moonlight glinting off her obsidian horns.

  He rushed forward. “Natasha!” He skidded to his knees, facing her over Ryder’s jerking body and reached out to touch her.

  “Don’t!”

  The unexpected vehemence in the word halted his hand in midair.

  She grimaced. “Don’t touch me, Darius. You can’t.”

  “Why not?” he growled, tearing his gaze away from her. What the hell was going on? Natasha’s hands were buried in Ryder’s chest. Or what was left of it. “He’s dying.”

  “He’s not the only one.”

  Her calm statement sent shock ricocheting through him, giving dread a foothold. “Start talking.”

  “When I broke through Jamie’s constraining spell, it triggered a gift from DiMarcco.”

  “DiMarcco?” Son of a bitch!

  “He used Jamie to fracture the Northwest. They’re working with some humans. Ryan’s death—” She took a shuddering breath, a soft groan escaping even as Jamie’s body jerked under her hands. She lifted her head and held his gaze. “Ryan’s death wasn’t intentional, but he’s not crying any tears over it either. He has plans for Zayn, for my people.” Rage burned bright in her red-tinged purple gaze, yet it wasn’t enough to mask the regret underneath. “You’re going to have to stop him.”

  “We’re going to stop him,” he corrected, furious at her casual acceptance of her death.

  She shook her head. “No, you, and you alone.” Fury sparked in those unusual eyes. “There is no physical evidence of DiMarcco’s involvement. My word against his gains us nothing.”

  He growled at the grain of truth in her statement, but nothing said he couldn’t share her information.

  “Don’t you even dare,” she hissed, narrowing her eyes.

  Damn blood-tie. He carefully shielded his emotions. “Dare what?”

  “You can’t tell Gavin, much less Raine. If she has a name, no one will be able to stop her from killing herself to get to him.”

  Anger and worry almost blinded him to the slide of panic under her voice. He cocked his head. “You’re protecting her? Why?”

  For one quick moment that beautiful head bowed, her shoulders slumping. She took a deep breath and the arrogant Amanusa queen made a comeback. “She’s mine.” She held his gaze and, beneath the arrogance, he saw why Ryan chose her to stand beside him, an unending streak of protectiveness for those she considered hers. “They’re all mine.”

  Intrigued, he studied her, deciding to chance a question. “And me?” His question was soft, like a dangerous secret being shared.

  Her lips twitched even as a light red ran under her cheeks. “So long as you remain useful, you may stay.”

  Her rare flash of feminine interest pleased him, more than it probably should. “You and I are far from done, darling. Are you really going to let a piece of shit like this—” He motioned to Jamie. “—cheat us of our vengeance?” He forced a teasing note into his voice, determined not to lose her. “Cheat us of finding just how much fun you and I could have hunting down our enemies?”

  She choked on a weak laugh, even as her eyes darkened with anger and grief. “Darius, you idiot, I can’t escape this. DiMarcco’s tying up loose ends. When Jamie dies, so do I.”

  Natasha’s legs gave out and she sat down suddenly, almost losing her grip on Jamie’s artery. Fiery pain crawled through her, leaving icy numbness behind. Gods above and below, she’d almost missed DiMarcco’s trap. Caught up in her feral haze, she dismissed the whispered warnings hovering in her brain until it was too late. She brought Jamie into the Side so she could destroy the anchors he set between them and free herself from his thrice-damned spell. Instead, when she shattered the first one, she ended up on her ass, feeling as if pieces of herself were among the fragments left behind.

  Jamie didn’t have it much better. He, too, had been laid out flat. As she struggled to sit up, he laughed. A crazed, desperate sound, even as he rolled to his feet. It sent ants crawling over her skin.

  They met again in a hail of claws and teeth. Determined to end it once and for all, she ripped into Jamie’s chest, tearing through tissue as if opening a Christmas present. She found the second anchor and decimated it even as she killed the boy who once belonged to her. His howl of agony was drowned out by the blinding, white pain that wrapped her in a strange silence. Only then did the reality of her situation become frighteningly clear.

  Jamie was not the only creator of the spell, there was one other. Leopold DiMarcco. The Councilman who wanted to bring both the humans and Kyn under his control. The Magi held hundreds of years’ worth of knowledge, making it easy to ensure whoever took out his puppet, followed his fate.

  “Natasha!”

  The sharp sound of her name had her blinking back to the present. Her hands, still buried in Jamie’s chest, twitched. Jamie’s eyes fluttered open, hazy and unfocused, his moan of pain escaping.

  Struggling past her body’s protests, she focused on the warrior kneeling in front of her. She studied his face, the strong lines under ebony skin, the core of determination burning in those ice-blue eyes. A distant part of her wished there was more time to explore him. It would have been a very interesting adventure.

  He reached out. “Natasha, are you listening to me?”

  She jerked back, a slick slide of fear turning her voice cold. “I’m listening to you. Would you extend the courtesy of doing the same to me?”

  His claw tipped hand curled into a fist, but he slowly drew it back. “Tell me something that isn’t complete bullshit, and I will.”

  Arrogant ass. “Jamie used my blood and his to anchor a modified version of the containment spell. Unfortunately, by tying us together, he created a link DiMarcco’s magic could use.”

  “Blood.”

  She nodded and drew in a shaky breath, the numbness now crawling over her hips and up her stomach. “Something I couldn’t see until I broke the anchors of Jamie’s spell.”

  Darius frowned. “How many anchors?”

  Not the question she expected. “Two. There’s one more left.” She stared at him. “So no touching.”

  Although hell waged in his eyes, his voice remained calm. “Darling, it’s a little late to worry about that.” His hand shot out and wrapped around her arm, just above where it disappeared into Jamie’s chest. “You’ve forgotten. We already share blood.”

  Unable to jerk away for fear of losing her grip, stunned realization left her cursing. The blood tie from their oath. “Godsdammit, Darius, I need you alive.” For more reasons than what hid deep in her mind.

  He leaned in and stole a hard kiss. Then he pulled back just enough so she wouldn’t go cross-eyed looking at him. “Ditto, darling. So let’s fix this, shall we?”

  Damn stubborn male. “I’m open to suggestions, pet.” Sharp sarcasm covered her worry that even his strength wouldn’t be enough to counter DiMarcco’s treachery.

  “First, we need to buy ourselves some time.”

  She raised an eyebrow. “And how do you plan on doing that?”

  Black mist began to gather around him, curling close like an adoring pet. “We get Gavin and Raine to do their thing and keep Jamie around long enough for me to work around DiMarcco’s spell.”

  His answer didn’t make sense, but she was too tired to pursue it.

  Those inky ribbons gathered above Jamie’s chest, waiting. Darius watched her, giving nothing away. “You need to
let me take him back.”

  Trust, he was asking for her trust. Strangely, it wasn’t that hard to loosen her grip, allowing him to replace her hold with his magic. Her hands fell into her lap as Darius gathered Jamie’s battered body in his arms. She stared at her gore-covered hands, and considered how she was going to get up since she couldn’t feel her legs. She could crawl, but crawling in front of Darius wasn’t happening.

  An ebony hand tipped in bone white appeared in front of her face. “If you wanted me to carry you, you should’ve asked.”

  Calling on drained reserves, she placed her hand in Darius’s, allowing him to draw her upright. Her fingers curled tight as she fought to maintain her balance even as her body protested. “I’ll walk, thanks.”

  His grip tightened on hers then let go. He adjusted his hold on Jamie and dipped his head in acknowledgement. “As you wish.”

  The first step was the hardest. The racing wave of pins and needles over her shaky legs had black eating at the edge of her vision. She dragged in air, concentrating on not releasing the moans caught in her aching chest. The second one hurt, enough she reached out and placed her hand on Darius’s back, steadying herself. His heat seeped into her, giving her something beside the pain to focus on.

  “Still with me?”

  “You can’t get rid of me that easily.” Too bad her voice shook.

  The next step brought them back into the cool Oregon night. Salt and rot perfumed the air. Rough asphalt appeared under her battered feet. Her next step brought her bare foot down on a sharp edged rock. It was enough to send her stumbling into Darius.

  “Natasha!”

  “Darius!”

  Two different voices rang out. In front of her Darius stopped, so she took advantage of his stillness and rested her head against his back. Just for a moment.

  “We need someplace out of sight,” Darius said.