The space was vast, at least two hundred feet tall, and the same distance wide. Heavy metal music played at an eardrum rupturing volume, and Jael had to take a few moments to adjust to the change in temperature as the cool of the tunnel turned uncomfortably hot.
A smokeless inferno burned along one side of the cave, and in the center was a man nearly seven feet tall and powerfully built with enough muscle Jael was glad he would never be set against him as an enemy. He wielded a flame thrower at a metal statue, melting it into a silver river that cascaded into metal vats arranged around its base.
Drake was forever melting and reforging the same woman in different forms.
The music cut off and Jael resisted the urge to take a step back, assaulted by the sudden quiet.
“Jael.”
“Hello, Drake.”
“I will not move back.”
“I didn’t come here to ask you to move back to the house.”
“What do you want?”
“I need some help, my friend.”
“Ha!” Drake scoffed. “Since when do you need my help, Assassin?”
“Since speed became more important than stealth.”
Drake’s body tensed. “So, it has happened for you as well. Selene told me things would happen quickly.” His shoulders sagged and his voice dropped to a whisper. “Strygoi do not like to be alone.” He extinguished the flame thrower and set it down. “What do you need from me?”
“A distraction.”
Drake turned around, finally interested. “Of what kind?”
“The kind that goes boom. I need to empty an apartment building that takes up nearly a block. The more chaos, the better.”
“Only chaos? You’re sure?” At Jael’s nod, a smile spread across Drake’s face and the black pupils in his red eyes shifted from round to vertical slits. “I have just the thing.”
DRAKE HELD WHAT LOOKED like a grenade launcher on his shoulder, aiming it at the mage’s apartment building from the rooftop of a higher building across the street.
“What’s that?” Jael asked. While he’d do anything to protect Viktoria, even when she didn’t know he was doing it, he’d been wary of asking Drake for this favor, thinking he’d have to scale down what Drake wanted to do. The man, for good reason, maintained a ‘scorch the earth’ policy when it came to dealing with mages, sometimes literally, but sometimes he scorched the earth just for fun. When Jael asked for a distraction to empty an entire building, he’d been positive they’d have to negotiate from ‘reduce the block to rubble’ to ‘leave most of it standing’.
“Something new.” Drake pulled the trigger, and a projectile flew out of the tube. It soared in an arc, landing on the roof of the apartment building, where it exploded with a loud bang. Thick black smoke poured out of the canister. It flowed over the roof, staying close to the surface rather than rising into the sky. When it reached the edges, it streamed downward,flowing into the building through open windows.
Drake took aim and fired a second time. Clouds of smoke burst from the canister, this time in hues of red and orange, and flowed into the sky. Laughing, he aimed lower and sent the next volley through a window.
Smoke alarms went off and people screamed, rushing from the upper floors to the lower floors down the outside fire escapes. Sirens wailed, closing in on the smoking building. Drake raised a bigger tube to his shoulder.
“What’s that one?” Jael asked.
“You know what they say.” Drake grinned. “Where there’s smoke...” He pulled the trigger on the larger weapon, and when this projectile hit the roof, it exploded into flames.
“We only get one Dragă. I don’t begrudge you, Idris, or Stryx finding yours. You are hesitant to bond, but four thousand years wasn’t enough time with mine. You find her, and you do whatever you have to.” Drake slapped Jael on the back. “I’ll keep them evacuating. Their wards will be going crazy with all the emergency personnel going in and out of the building.”
Jael raced down the stairs to street level and made his way through the crush of people leaving the apartment building. Fire trucks and ambulances pulled up and emergency workers gathered their equipment and entered the building.
Swords drawn and hidden under a bulky, yellow turnout coat, Jael entered the building. The wards stretched close to their breaking point with all the traffic crossing them. Jael broke away from the crowds, following the pull of his swords towards the stronger spells.
He followed the trail to the basement level and hit a wall. The hilts of his blades burned hot in his hands as he touched the tips to the brick. Bringing both swords up, he slashed them in diagonal lines through the ward, expecting the wards to dissolve.
Jael threw up an arm to protect his eyes as the ward flashed a bright white and hot liquid splashed over him, burning his skin like acid.
CHAPTER FIFTY SEVEN
ASIM
ASIM STOOD IN TRIUMPH over the body of the Scourge. No mage had ever had the vampire at his feet before. Ten thousand years of past mages shouted and clamored in riotous celebration, making it hard to think.
The swords, instruments of death to so many, now burned in white flames, nothing more than scrap metal. The Scourge, full of hallucinogenic poison, had no defense.
Flush with magic from the new witches, Asim summoned a glyph to hand and knelt, pressing white, glowing fingertips to the vampire’s temple. White spiders skittered onto the Scourge and sink into his skin.
Flashes of the Scourge’s memories played in Asim’s mind. These weren’t the ones he needed. He extended his reach, delving past superficial thoughts to weave his magic around deep, core memories. This was where fears lived.
Asim drew on recent memories already saved deep, and crafted an image of the blonde witch, then sought remembrances made of guilt and pain.
So many choices.
A village burned. A daughter lost. Witches taken. Friends killed.
“It was all your fault.” As the Spider Mage uttered the words, the witch’s crafted image said the same thing. “You let them down. They’re dead because of you.”
The image obediently repeated the words, full of accusation.
Perfect. Asim wove the witch into the Scourge’s memories. The vampire made it easy, mind latching onto his witch with eagerness.
Killing the vampire now would be simple. Take his head, or stake his heart. Some of the mages inside him wanted that. To see the blood of the vampire who’d killed them spilled on the floor. Others wanted the Scourge languish, trapped in their webs. Let him live, the voices urged. Make him suffer. Break him. Have him watch you take his witch.
Yes. Asim would channel all the lust of his acolytes at once and make the witch his Esne while the Scourge lay aware and helpless.
Deep in the Scourge’s mind, Asim ignored a tingle of fear that tingled down his spine. The acolytes worried over nothing, and a few moments more would result in permanent alterations within the Scourge’s mind, leaving him a puppet. The sliver of fear burst into a full-blown panic.
The same wooziness from before returned, but this time his power drained, like an enormous hole opened beneath him and his energy rushed to fill it. What was wrong? He had plenty of magic.
His children. Something was wrong with his spiders.
CHAPTER FIFTY EIGHT
VIKTORIA
VIKTORIA STOPPED HER car two blocks from the apartment building. “Where should we park, Thomax?”
Thomax sat in the backseat, unfocused eyes staring out the window.
“I think you gave him too much Beer of Oblivion.” Memory shifted in her seat to face the addled man. “He’s not looking so good. Maybe he forgot what he’s supposed to do.”
“It’s not an exact science.”
“I’ll check.” Memory extended her fingers toward Thomax's forehead.
“No!” Victoria shouted.
Memory froze. “What's your problem?”
“Most importantly, I don’t want you to see anything in his memories. You�
��d remember it forever. And you can’t help me with any part of this, Memory.”
Her sister's slumped. “I can’t believe I almost did that.”
Dream gazed at Viktoria with sad eyes. “Oh, Shadow. It must have been so hard for you, having to remain on guard like that for so long.”
Viktoria didn’t want to dwell on that. “It’s okay. We’ll just park here and walk him toward that apartment building. Maybe someone there knows him.”
A set of locked double doors blocked entry into the building. Viktoria pressed the buzzer for the manager and looked up into the camera. “Hello?”
Moments later, a man with pale hair and red eyes opened the door. “What's wrong with you, Thomax?”
Thomax slurred something in response.
“I think he’s had too much to drink.” Viktoria tried to sound ingenuous.
Memory snorted.
“He told us he lives here. We wanted to make sure he got home.”
“Come in.” Red Eyes held the door open wide, allowing them to maneuver Thomax inside. No sooner had they crossed the threshold than the door slammed behind them and locked.
Two wan men, bulky, with white hair and pale eyes, awaited on either side of the doors.
Red Eyes gestured to them. “Thank you for returning our friend. Please, remain as our guests.” The three men drew white knives.
“Don’t hurt us. We just wanted to bring your friend home.”
“Do as we say and we won't hurt you.”
The men herded them down stairs to a basement. One of them cut himself and opened a ward, shoving her and her sisters through. The place was mostly dark, although the men had no trouble moving around.
Viktoria shoved back her panic as Red Eyes cuffed her hands behind her back. This is part of your plan. At least now she remembered why she didn't like being kidnapped. But she wasn't that helpless damsel anymore. She just had to play along.
An occasional lightbulb or flickering torch provided scant shadows, but they were there. She touched each one with her magic in preparation for pulling on them later.
Red Eyes used a key to open a rectangular wooden door with a barred window. The men shoved their prisoners into metal chairs, attached the handcuffs to chains, and left, locking the door.
“The wards are going crazy and there's smoke on the upstairs floors. We're about to be overrun.” Smoke alarms?
“I’m bored.” Dream huffed. “Are we done with this plan yet?”
Viktoria arched an eyebrow at her sister. “We’ve been locked up for two minutes.”
“Getting kidnapped isn’t fun like it used to be. Where is the castle? And the musicians? And the snacks?” Dream glared pointedly at the chairs they were bound to. “The cushions? Why do we have to be manacled in this disgusting basement on these cold metal chairs? This is it nowadays? ”
The earthen cavern lay deep underground and was short on luxuries — all the ones Dream listed plus the basics, like running water and light. Random torches in the corridor offered some light and shadows. A single, dim bulb hung overhead in the cell, an electrical cord strung out the door to some power source.
“And the horses! Maybe it's because these kidnappers are human. Driving isn’t as romantic as being swept away on horseback.” Memory sighed. “A handsome, muscular man put his arms around you and held you close, so you could feel his hard —”
“Memory!” Dream whisper-shrieked.
“— thigh muscles.”
Dream giggled and Viktoria snorted. “This is serious! No wonder Mother doesn’t let you out of Pohjola. I’m glad I was never so naive as you.” She called shadows along the walls and slid them into the cuffs holding them.
“You don’t get to make fun of us, Shadow.” Memory used the indignant, lecture-y tone her voice took on when she accessed her magic to remember exact details. “You’re the one who thought that old man Väinämöinen was handsome and had a nice singing voice.” Her hands moved as she tried to talk with her hands, sliding away from the shadows.
"Hold still." Viktoria reset the shadow key on Memory's cuffs. “He was a demigod, and I only told him that to get him to try to kidnap me instead of you. If I hadn’t, I could never have convinced Mother to make the bargain.”
“He was a creepy, conniving liar.” Memory retorted. “He promised Mother the Sampo to save his life after she caught him spying on us, and when Ilmarinen made it, Väinämöinen stole it and tried to kidnap you. And he told Ilmarinen he could have one of us!”
Well, Memory was wrong about some of that. Viktoria had stolen the Sampo from their mother, right out of the vault, although Väinämöinen subsequently took it away from her. Their mother had kept that quiet, probably to discourage the rest of her daughters from robbing her. But since that was the official record, there was no point in arguing with Memory. Viktoria ceded the debate. “Okay, so one time I chose wrong. And don’t talk about Mother. She’s always listening and might show up. The last thing we need is her coming here to help us.”
“Are you going to choose Jael?” Dream asked.
“She can’t!” Memory elbowed Dream. “He’s the type who will ruin everything.”
Viktoria changed the subject. “Let’s focus on finding out what happened to Musette. The sooner we find the mage the sooner we can get out of this place.”
Keys rattled in the lock, and Thomax staggered into the cell. The other three men followed him, all shirtless. Each had an enormous black spider tattooed on his back, long legs tipped in claws stretching down their arms and hips, the spiders’ heads on the back of their necks.
Red Eyes prowled towards Viktoria. “These aren’t bad. Asim is distracted right now, but he’ll be here soon. We have to hurry.”
She didn’t like the way he stared at them. It was never pleasant, but this ogling was worse than usual. And hurry up to what? Unease made her stomach queasy. Maybe this hadn’t been the best plan.
The white-haired men reached for Memory and Dream. If the protection spell Louhi put on her daughters activated, she would know. She'd say Viktoria needed help.
Viktoria lurched to her feet. Arms caught behind her, she dragged the metal folding chair with her and kicked out, catching Red Eyes in the stomach. He doubled over and the other two diverted their attention to her. They forced her into her chair with a thump.
"Hold the witch." Red Eyes backhanded her, snapping her head to the side.
Her sister's gasped, but the Amazon hit harder. "Takes three of you to hit me?"
Maybe Red Eyes was trying not to damage her too much before the mage saw her.
Viktoria tried not give Red Eyes the satisfaction of making her flinch as he ran his hands over her, patting her down more thoroughly than required. It was obvious she wasn't hiding anything under her clothes.
Foul breath wafted into her face as Red-Eyes leered. “Maybe we should strip search them. Get them ready for Mage Asim. He’s taken enough magic to breed all of them.”
She shuddered then. Breed them? Thomax hadn’t said anything about that. Was that what Musette didn’t want to remember?
Red Eyes removed her cell phone, keys, and the flask from her pockets. “What’s this?” He uncapped the flask, sniffed it. "Smells good." For some reason, Beer of Oblivion always enticed humans, despite what it was made of. As unexpected trait Grandmother hadn’t realized before Viktoria used the beer for the first time, but gleefully experimented with.
Tilting the flask, he took a swig. “Not bad.” He handed it to another man, who swallowed a big gulp and passed it to the fourth man. “Looks like we can have a real party this time.”
Thomax snatched the flask and drank.
“Good boys. Drink up,” Viktoria muttered. She and her sisters couldn't wait. Pretending to be kidnapped was one thing. With the threat of rape hanging over their heads, she had to get her sisters out of here—without their help, and fast, before Mother thought they needed her help.
Relief flooded her as the men passed the flask around again. Vikt
oria no longer cared how much these men drank. The flask refilled magically, and the world wouldn’t miss any of them. She turned her attention to Dream’s manacles, pulling a small piece of shadow along the ceiling and down the wall to her fingertips. Manipulating it into the keyhole, she urged the sliver to twist and shape itself into a key. A moment later one of the cuffs clicked open and she went to work on the other.
“I feel sick.” Red Eyes doubled over and clutched his stomach. “What was... in... that?”
“You really don’t want to know. It’s just a little something our grandmother makes.” Viktoria smirked. “I’d say you could ask her when your soul arrives in Tuonela, but you’re about to forget you ever existed.”
All four men flushed bright red across their chests, arms and backs, and broke out in a sweat. The spiders writhed under their skin.
“I don’t like that,” Dream murmured as she rubbed her wrists and stood.
“Me either.” Viktoria kept her voice low as she freed Memory from her restraints.
“Heeeeey.” One of the pale men slurred as he swayed on his feet. “You can’t get out of those. They stop witch magic.”
“Maybe these would work if we were witches.” Viktoria stood as her manacles clunked to the floor. “And they won’t work on us. Where’s the mage?”
Thomax raised a hand like he had the answer, took a step, reeled around, and stumbled into two of the other men. The three of them toppled to the floor in a tangle of limbs and didn’t move.
“Finally.” Viktoria took Red Eyes by the shoulders and shook him. “Where is Asim?”
A frown wrinkled his brow. “Got... Scourge.” He blinked a few times and collapsed in slow motion. His mouth gaped, his chin sagged to his chest, his knees hit the floor, and he fell onto his face with a crunch.
Asim had Lurky? A pit of dread opened in her stomach and her confidence wavered. Lurky was a warrior. She'd seen him take on thirty men at once, and win. He had over three thousand years of experience fighting mages. If Asim could take down Lurky...
Viktoria's Shadow: Jael Page 28