Nate burst out laughing, part of the man I knew shining through this more primal version. “Deal. We will…dedicate ourselves to this training.”
I smiled much wider than any training warranted. “It would be a good time for us to talk about things, too. Rather than these brief meetings, we could get into bigger topics. Like the one I brought up earlier…” I said, my smile fading.
Nate nodded, looking surprisingly serious and…eager. “I think I would really like that, all scandalous insinuations aside. I think sitting down with you and just talking would be fascinating, believe it or not.” And I could tell he was being sincere.
“Of course it would,” I said, sniffing pompously.
“Out of curiosity, who told you to murder hope?”
“A lot of people,” I admitted. “Including Pandora. Others didn’t necessarily say it outright, but now that I think about it…they might have been saying the same thing in a different way, and I just never caught it.”
Nate grunted, grinning in amusement. “Welcome to my life. Someday, maybe you’ll have a crazy mountain of your own.”
I smiled, taking in the mountain as I carefully pocketed the butterfly charm. “Maybe a beach,” I said, rubbing my arms. “In a very general way, how do I use the Mask? Some kind of ritual or spell?”
He grinned, shaking his head. “Just slap it on and hold on for dear life. It might not fully wake up the first time. I used mine a few times before it really opened up.”
“You say that like it’s alive…”
He grimaced. “It is, in a way. I brought it to life with some of the Nine Souls from Hell.” I blanched, and he waved off my concern. “Don’t worry. They aren’t tainted by demons or anything. I technically fed the Souls to the Masks, so if anything, the Masks ate them.”
Horrified, I pointed my boots at my Mask, but I felt no tingle signifying demonic presence. I let out a sigh of relief. He was right. He nodded satisfactorily.
I held up the Mask, meeting his eyes. “Things are going to get wild soon. We will need these more than you know.”
He read between the lines, nodding slowly, curiously…excitedly. “Come back whenever you’re finished in Kansas City. We need to do some talking. And training.” His eyes glittered mischievously.
I nodded. “Pandora told me I had to come back anyway. I need to deliver something to someone for her.”
He studied me thoughtfully but didn’t ask for me to elaborate. “I…would like that, Callie.” He hesitated for a moment, debating something on his mind. “I would offer to come help—if you needed it—but I might cause more damage than help, in my current state. I need to finish clearing my head.”
I smiled back at him. “You already helped, Nate.” I held up the Mask meaningfully. “I’ve got it from here.”
Last Breath was peering out from the igloo—with Alice doing the same a few feet below him. I waved at the pair, letting them know we were finished and ready to leave.
They hurried over, and I couldn’t tell who was more anxious. Last Breath—to escape the tiny terrorist—or Alice. Nate grinned, pointing out the silver ribbons tied into Last Breath’s mane. I chuckled, shaking my head.
“I’ll be back. Soon,” I told Nate, just as Alice and Last Breath reached us. Alice grinned at the charm in my hand, nodding her approval. Then she tapped her forehead, pointed at mine, and gave me a thumbs up.
I sighed, smiling in spite of myself. I’d felt a cold chill on my forehead, so something had changed with my brand to earn her open approval.
“Give them hell,” Nate said, smiling. Grimm landed near the igloo, drawing our attention. He was chewing on something that seemed to still be alive, struggling weakly in his jaws.
Nate suddenly tensed, glancing at Grimm and then rapidly back to me. “Wait. You don’t have a horse! It’s kind of a requirement.”
I cocked my head, glancing at Grimm thoughtfully. An idea came to me, but I didn’t voice it. “I’ll figure something out,” I told Nate, shrugging. I motioned Last Breath to follow me back to the still open portal leading back to the Armory.
I didn’t say giddy-up to Last Breath. But I really wanted to.
Chapter 43
We stepped through the portal, back into the Armory, expecting to find Pandora waiting for us. To my surprise, the hallway was empty. I closed the closet door behind us, halting the gusts of snowflakes that had formed a blanket of powder across the hall, leaving a trail of our boot prints. I called out her name, waited a few moments, and then followed Last Breath to the door leading back to Solomon’s Temple. A large, roaring bear was carved into this side of the wooden door, and I very wisely—without saying that I feared Claire was waiting on the other side, ready to attack on sight—let Last Breath open the door first.
She had been waiting.
She hit him in a bear tackle, pummeling him into a glass cabinet where their combined bulk shattered the contents, and the furniture itself, in a shower of glass, wooden splinters, and whatever else had been on display inside it. I watched a tall, ancient vase slowly topple and crash to the ground, marveling as vapor slowly escaped the cracked clay with an audible chorus of relieved sighs from whatever had been stored inside. Something sentient, obviously. Last Breath sneezed repeatedly as he inhaled some of the vapor.
Claire, not noticing the vapors or caring about the damages to Solomon’s antiques, continued punching Last Breath in the face and chest, her bulky, oven mitt-sized paws doing a real number on the furry lion.
“Claire!” I finally shouted, cupping my hands around my mouth. She froze, whipping her head around to face me, blinking a few times. “We have work to do. Leave the poor guy alone.”
Rather than wait, I began striding down the hallway, paying no attention to my surroundings, thinking furiously about next steps and the silver butterfly in my pocket. Claire caught up to me, maintaining her bear form since the hall was wide enough to mostly accommodate her mass. As long as she took wide turns, Solomon’s antiques were safe. Last Breath gave her a real ass-chewing as they followed behind me—but not about her decking him. He was pissed about the broken cabinet and vase. I tuned him out, double-timing it to the balcony. I didn’t think I needed to head there to travel back to Kansas City, but the walk was doing me some good, giving me a sense of purpose.
I’d already told Claire my plan back when we’d spoken on the balcony, and nothing had changed. I spoke over my shoulder, not slowing. “Things are going to get dicey in Kansas City, so keep your ears open,” I told Last Breath, “or whatever it is you did when you sensed me in danger earlier. Fair warning, I’ll be in various forms of danger pretty much the entire time, so use your best judgment, I guess.”
“You’re not going to ask me to join you?” he asked, sounding surprised.
“I figured it’s best you stay here to watch over Solomon and Phix. If she wakes up and finds no one else here, she might—”
“Claw the furniture?” Claire growled in a surprisingly comprehensible growl. I glanced back at her, impressed. She shook her shoulders, bumping into a dresser in the process. Last Breath lashed out to catch the vase wobbling on top, shooting a glare at Claire—who was pretending not to notice.
“Something like that,” I said in reply. I glanced back at Last Breath again, not slowing my walk. “It’s probably best to use you as a last resort. Fabrizio and Roland both know about you hunting me before I disappeared. It would be hard to explain you at a demon’s side.”
He nodded stiffly, not disagreeing, but not necessarily pleased about it either. It was very hard to take him seriously with Alice’s silver ribbons in his hair, but I decided not to mention them in case he didn’t know. He really looked like a dandy lion now.
“Keep Solomon alive until I get back. I have a friend who may be able to help ease his discomfort, but I need his help in Kansas City. He loves sunshine, so might be able to at least buy Solomon some more time until I figure out the permanent solution.”
I’d gotten the idea to u
se Alucard from Xuanwu cursing out the thorns trapping his feet back when I’d first met him, that without sunlight they just festered and multiplied. Also, his brother Qinglong had told me he would shed some light on how to help Solomon. Maybe they had already given me the antidote.
Whatever Roland was after, he would have it soon. I missed a step, suddenly considering the fact that we had just gone to Fae, and that time flowed differently there. Not wearing a watch, I began to run. What if Alucard and Cain had been caught? What if they thought we had been caught? Had we missed our meeting at the cave? How long had we been gone?
Shit. Shit. Shit.
“What’s wrong, Callie?” Last Breath growled, glancing left and right for any sign of threat.
“I don’t know how long we’ve been gone!” I snapped.
“Then stop running and kiss your ring!”
I skidded to a halt, grabbed a fistful of Claire’s fur, and kissed my ring.
This time, there was a flash of momentary bright light, like we had stepped outside after watching movies for a few hours in a dark basement, and then we were stumbling across a sandy floor in a dim, cool cavern.
I glanced left and right, panting. That had been much better than my last experience with kissing the ring. Then I frowned. “How did we end up here?” I asked, thankful to find Claire standing beside me. We were in the cave she had taken us to, but I had no idea how we had arrived here over any other place in Kansas City. Was it because I’d been thinking about the cave and meeting Alucard and Cain here?
Claire pointed to an old alarm clock on one of the small dressers, showing that it was about seven o’clock. Judging by the warm light outside the cave, I was betting early evening, not morning.
The real question was what day it was. Had we been gone a week or a—
“Finally!” Cain snapped, stumbling out of one of the side rooms wearing only his jeans and clutching a dagger in his fist as if he’d expected us to be intruders. He was tugging a shirt on, seeming to have a hard time while juggling his dagger.
I let out a sigh of relief. “You’re okay!”
He cocked his head quizzically. “Of course I’m okay. Are you okay?” he asked, frowning in concern at the obvious mania tainting my voice. Also, Claire was pacing back and forth across the room, still in bear form—as if she expected trouble. I was pretty sure she was just concerned about the tasks ahead of her.
I waved a hand at him. “We’re fine. We just got caught up in some drama and feared we had lost track of time. When is the Blood Moon?”
“Tomorrow night. But unless you found a way to get inside the church, I don’t see why it really matters.”
I glanced around the cavern, frowning. “Where is Alucard?”
Cain snorted, finally sheathing his dagger into the waist of his jeans. “He’s charging, I think.”
“What is that supposed to mean?
“He said he was low on power so needed some sun,” Cain replied, pointing a finger towards the cave entrance.
Claire made a chuffing sound and I walked over to her to place my hand on her back before she could leave. Her fur quivered at my touch. “Thank you,” I whispered, encouraging her for the job ahead.
Her ears wilted and she nuzzled me with her massive head for a moment. Then she ambled out of the cave to retrieve the environmentally friendly vampire.
“I figured I could use a recharge, too, so found myself a bed,” Cain continued, watching our interaction thoughtfully. His features grew suddenly serious, and he leaned closer as if to tell me an important secret he’d learned while spying on Roland—even though we were the only ones left in the cave. “Did you know Starlight has a grow room here?” he whispered.
I blinked at Cain, finally shaking my head in disappointment. “He grows marijuana here?”
Cain had a troubled look on his face. “Not just marijuana. He has some really strange looking plants in there. One of them even looks like it’s made of scales. Weirdest fucking thing I’ve ever seen,” he muttered, shaking his head.
That…was actually a lot more concerning than Cain apparently knew. Because I’d once seen a tree like that, and it hadn’t just been a tree. I waved a hand at him. “Leave Starlight to his hobbies. He’s probably only growing ingredients for his potions.”
“His drugs, you mean,” Cain muttered, as Claire appeared at the entrance with Alucard. The Daywalker continued walking towards us, but Claire made a low grumbling sound and turned away, shuffling back outside—likely to keep an eye out since she had already heard my plan, and wasn’t necessarily pleased about her role. She understood it but didn’t like it.
I motioned for the men to join me, sitting down on the floor for us to have a team meeting. I caught Alucard and Cain up on the important parts they had missed, and then I asked what they’d learned—which was nothing useful, apparently. At least the vampires had bought Alucard’s fabricated story of escaping the now two demons in town. Paradise and Lost had hurried him inside the church to strategize on how to take the demons out. Cain had watched from an adjacent building, tracking patrols and guard movements. I considered all of this in silence, thinking.
I finally waved a hand. “That’s fine. I’ve got a new plan.”
Cain frowned dubiously. “I liked our first plan—find a way inside the church. What it lacked in complexity, it made up for with impossibility.” Alucard smirked momentarily, but quickly wiped a hand over his face when he caught me glaring at him.
“My new plan is better. It’s loud, messy, and bound to piss off a lot of people.”
“I love it when she talks dirty,” Cain said, nudging Alucard.
Alucard was watching me, pointedly ignoring Cain. “That’s great and all, but you still need to get into the church…”
I waved a hand dismissively. “No. I’ve been looking for a key, but what I really need is a Molotov Cocktail,” I said. “If I can’t break in, I need to force them out.” Alucard leaned back, blinking a few times before nodding, motioning for me to continue. “I need to stir up a lot of trouble, and piss off as many people as possible, in a relatively short amount of time. Any ideas?”
Cain frowned. “Dorian is hosting a party tonight,” he suggested.
Alucard nodded instantly. “Bellerose might attend. I heard him mention it just an hour ago. And he hardly ever leaves the church.”
I clapped my hands eagerly. “Perfect!” If enough supernatural factions from around town went to this party, it would be the perfect place to make a scene—and I needed a big scene for my plan to work. “How do we get an invite?”
Cain shrugged. “I’m always welcome at Dorian’s parties.”
“Even with your recent actions? Being the last person to see Callie alive?”
Cain scoffed. “You kidding? If anything, it will get me the VIP treatment. Everyone will want to hear what I have to say.”
I smiled wickedly and casually mentioned what I had in mind. The looks on their faces changed from abject horror to stunned disbelief and finally to grim resignation.
“Are you sure about this, Callie?” Alucard asked. “Because it sounds like a Nate Temple plan, and those are usually dicey at best.”
I smiled, shaking my head. “This one is all me, but I did just talk with Nate.” Seeing Alucard abruptly tense, I held out a hand. “I didn’t mention you at all. Figured it was best since I refuse to lie to him. The way I see it, Roland won’t be a problem much longer, one way or another. Whatever you need to tell him after is up to you.”
His shoulders sagged in relief. “Thank you. Is…he doing alright?”
I nodded. “He’s gone through a rough patch, but I think he’s on the mend. He’s clearing his head in Fae.”
Alucard looked mildly jealous—probably because Fae was a place where one could unleash their inner id—letting go of all civilized thought. A great place to be a monster. I wasn’t about to let him know how close Nate had looked to madness. Alucard had enough to worry about here. “What do you want me to do
?” he asked. “I feel like there is a lot going on that is not being said…” Cain leaned back on his hands, lifted his eyes to the ceiling, and began to whistle innocently. Alucard pointed a thumb at him, looking at me. “See? He’s been doing that every time I ask him a question.”
In answer, I lifted my wrist towards Alucard. “I need you to suck it.”
Chapter 44
Cain’s whistle faltered as he burst out laughing, falling over onto his side as he hooted. Alucard looked surprisingly annoyed. “You know I don’t really need to drink blood anymore, right?” he said, but his eyes had locked onto my wrist, some small part of him giving lie to his words. Or that even if he no longer needed to, he still enjoyed doing so.
“I just need you to suck it and not ask any questions. No one needs to know,” I added, wondering if he was embarrassed about it.
Cain was rolling back and forth now, laughing harder.
Alucard shot him a dark look before curiously studying my face. Finally, he shrugged and took hold of my forearm. His fingers were warm and tense. He shot me one last look, as if to verify I was sure. I nodded and he lashed out with his fangs, so sharp and swift I didn’t actually feel any pain until he sucked, and that was instantly washed away by a wave of endorphins as his vampire venom counteracted the pain—a natural gift that helped lull his victims.
He pulled back sharply, lapping at the wound one time before shuffling backwards a foot on his rear. His last lick had served to begin healing the bite, the skin already knitting back together. He had closed his eyes and his fingers were flexing at his sides as he visibly shuddered. “I’ve never tasted anything like it…” he whispered under his breath, eyes still closed as he licked his lips.
I closed my eyes, focusing inwardly. Almost immediately, I sensed a hum of power and saw a bright golden cord connecting us. I also realized that there was no crimson and gold cord, but that had only been seen in my Silvers. Since he was now bonded to me, I leaned forward. “Once you learned what Roland had truly become—not when you first came here in good faith—did you ever work for him willingly?”
Feathers and Fire Series Box Set 2 Page 80