The Shadows
Page 26
“No.” Carden reached the great hall and shouted orders in another language to Drow guards who immediately ran down one of the corridors. He turned to Hannah and Rhiannon. “You had best stay here where you will remain safe,” he said before he turned and hurried away with Hark at his side.
Rhiannon and Hannah looked at each other and at the same time said, “Like hell,” before they turned and bolted to the black door in the throne room.
28
“Sure you’re not pushing, Macgregor?” Fredrickson stood at the head of the weight bench as he leaned over and spotted Jake from behind. “Can’t have our captain killing himself pumping iron.” He added with wry amusement, “I think killing you is a Fomorii job.”
Jake’s muscles quavered a little from the amount of weight he had on the barbell. He merely grunted, both in response to Fredrickson and from the power it took to raise the barbell from its rest. He clenched his jaws as he slowly lowered the barbell just above his chest.
Sweat poured down his face and soaked his T-shirt as he shoved the weight up and brought it back down and up again for a few more reps. He’d been working out a good forty-five minutes and he couldn’t get the added problems out of his head.
Now that the government and military leaders—in other words the Fomorii in power—had lifted martial law, people were already out in greater numbers, meaning Ceithlenn had easy access to all the chow she wanted.
The barbell clattered as he racked it before resting and looking up at the high warehouse rafters. Somewhere Alyssa’s owl familiar, Echo, gave a long hoot.
A haunting cry that sent a crawling sensation down Jake’s spine.
“Finished yet, Captain?” Fredrickson asked, sounding farther away than he had been. Before Jake could answer a towel hit him square in the face and he heard the lieutenant’s muffled laugh. “I say you are.”
Jake grabbed the towel and started wiping sweat from his face, neck and arms as he rubbed himself down. Veins stood out on his biceps. In his sleeveless black workout shirt, his eagle, globe, and anchor Marine insignia tattoo flexed with his movements.
It was late, but Jake had needed to work out the frustration of the day. Now the odor of sweat and testosterone added to the familiar smells of wood, the witches’ herbs and spices, and the rain-washed scent of “good” magic.
He climbed off the weight bench, pumped up from his workout. The redheaded Fredrickson was wiping off his own sweat but was staring out the door of the weight room. Jake thought he saw one of the witches, but the woman was gone in one blink.
The warehouse was fairly quiet. A lot of the D’Danann were still up—they didn’t seem to need as much sleep as humans, or even the witches.
Jake went still as he heard shouting from the entrance.
“The Drow are attacking at the pier!” came the voice of one of the D’Danann warriors.
The Drow.
“What the hell?” Fredrickson said.
“Goddamn.” Jake whirled and ran to his nearby locker where he stashed his handgun and duty belt while working out.
Fredrickson got to his locker the same time Jake reached his own. It took less than two minutes for each of them to jerk off their sweatpants and climb into jeans, then buckle their duty belts around their waists. Controlled pandemonium rang through the warehouse. Jake and Fredrickson fastened their Kevlar vests over their soaked T-shirts then shoved their feet into work boots.
Jake had a firm grip on his Glock. His heart had already started a rapid pounding. More adrenaline rushed through him than had been in his body while he was working out.
At the same time Fredrickson and Jake left the workout room, the D’Anu witches flowed from the part of the warehouse where all the bedrooms were.
They were fully dressed for the most part—Alyssa was buttoning her jeans and Mackenzie hopping into her shoes.
The witches and his officers strapped on their Kevlar vests in a hurry while the D’Danann had already left the building. Most of the witches’ familiars followed them.
Jake rushed ahead of his team and the D’Anu witches, taking care when he opened up the door and entered the near darkness. Only a handful of D’Danann remained behind to guard the warehouse.
Shouting, the clang of swords, and other signs of fighting came from around the corner of the warehouse.
“I know I don’t have to tell you not to run out in the open,” Jake called to the witches as he braced himself and swept the lot with his handgun. No Drow here. “Be careful just the same.”
“The Drow use arrows as much as swords.” Copper’s voice was low, but loud enough for all of the witches and officers to hear. “I’ve seen them in action and they’re deadly.”
The sounds of battle grew louder. Jake and the team of officers and witches stayed close to the side of the building until he could see what was going down.
When he reached the corner of the warehouse, he peered around, careful to stay out of sight. In the near darkness the D’Danann fought men with grayish-blue skin—the Drow.
Even though he couldn’t see them, he could tell some of the D’Danann fought from the air because of the sudden wounds that would appear on the Drow warriors, or the way a couple were beheaded.
The sound of metal striking metal rang out in the night along with shouts, yells, and cries of warriors on both sides. Because they were magical, too, the Drow could see the flying D’Danann who were invisible to Jake.
Several Drow warriors stood back and systematically released arrows, taking down a few of the D’Danann. With absolute precision, some of the D’Danann flipped daggers through the air right into the hearts of the Drow shooting the arrows.
Jake’s blood boiled despite the cold air rushing at him and chilling the sweat on his T-shirt. He crouched and motioned for a few of his officers to move and take cover behind a couple of SWAT vehicles and an abandoned wooden building.
Silently, like the professionals they were, his officers slipped through the night to hide and to shoot from the best vantage point.
Holding his Glock with both hands, Jake swung around the building and fired.
Apparently the heart-seeking bullets worked as well with the Drow as they did with the Fomorii. He brought down two of the Dark Elves in rapid succession.
His officers took out a few more. He didn’t have time to be too amazed at how the Drow bodies disappeared into obsidian sparkles, but he took a moment’s pleasure in the fact.
Good. That meant the bastards were history.
The shots of the PSF immediately brought the attention of a few of the Drow to Jake and his officers. In nearly lightning-fast motions, the Drow fired arrows that drove into two of Jake’s officers.
Both men collapsed to the asphalt. One groaned and tried to move while the other remained lifeless where he’d fallen.
Fury burned Jake’s gut and he fired around the building again.
It wasn’t until then that he saw the D’Anu witches—five of them—headed toward the Dark Elves, each witch surrounded by one of their sparkling magical shields that glowed in the night. Some of them had their familiars at their sides.
Thank God the Drow arrows bounced off the shields.
With his knowledge of how the witches fought, Jake was pretty sure he knew what they planned to do. If they dropped their shields to fight now, they’d be dead. The Dark Elves were too accurate, too fast.
Yet he knew the witches weren’t stupid and they were damned good fighters. The D’Anu would choose the right moments to use their powers.
The D’Danann continued to battle from above, beheading Drow warriors. Gore splattered in the air and on the ground.
The smell of blood and that same earth and moss scent Garran had was strong—only the spice scent Jake associated with the Dark Elves was different with these Drow. Darker somehow.
The Drow shot more D’Danann in the sky. A few D’Danann were killed instantly, bursting into silver sparks. Others slammed to the ground and jerked the arrows out of their bodies. They stum
bled to their feet and fought the Drow from the ground.
The magical beings healed pretty fast as long as they weren’t beheaded or their hearts ripped or blasted out. So they didn’t have to worry about loss of blood—unless their injuries were incredibly severe.
They were fortunate the Drow didn’t use iron like the Fomorii. No doubt because iron was just as deadly to Elves as to Fae.
But now all the Drow were too close for arrows and used their swords instead.
The witches waited until then to drop their shields and start flinging fireballs and knocking some of the Drow out, while tying others up with their magic ropes. The D’Anu witches didn’t kill, but they knew how to incapacitate their opponents pretty damn well. It would have been a plus if the light from their magic affected the Drow like daylight did, but it appeared that wasn’t the case.
The familiars did their jobs, too—the Doberman going for one man’s jugular; the cat climbing a warrior like a fencepost and going for his eyes; the wolf pouncing on another warrior and driving him onto his back to the ground.
Jake and his officers continued to shoot at the Drow from their positions. Shots rang out through the night along with the continual clanging of swords, the shouts and cries. There wasn’t much good they could do at close range while the Drow used swords, except to continue using their handguns.
One particular Drow warrior stood out from the rest and Jake had his sights set on the bastard. By the way he shouted orders, the large blue-skinned, black-haired man was obviously the leader of this group.
The warrior turned his attention to Jake as if hearing his thoughts. With a motion so fast Jake barely saw it, the man drew his bow and released the arrow. It flew through the air, and even though Jake dove for cover, the head of the arrow buried itself in Jake’s right biceps. His gun arm.
Jake gritted his teeth, biting back a shout. He did his best to ignore the screaming pain as he snapped the shaft of the arrow and tossed it aside, leaving the arrowhead in his biceps. Sweat broke out on his forehead.
He kept his back against the warehouse, mentally blocking the pain. He took a deep breath, swung around the side of the building, and fired at the leader before the man had a chance to completely dodge the bullet.
It exploded in the Drow’s thigh, dropping him to the ground.
Immediately, Copper bound the big man in one of her magic ropes, pinning his arms and hands to his sides.
In one sweep of his gaze, Jake saw that most of the Dark Elves lay wounded on the asphalt, were bound by the witches’ magic ropes, or were likely dead and had vanished into black sparkles.
Jake let out a deep breath. The D’Danann, witches, familiars, and PSF officers obviously had everything under control now.
It still pissed him off how the PSF had to rely so much on the D’Danann and witches, but human methods of warfare didn’t usually do a whole lot of good against magical beings.
Goddamn, but he had to find the time to work on designs for better weapons for the PSF.
Keir walked up to the blue-skinned leader of the Drow and raised his sword. “We finish this now,” he growled.
“Hold on.” Copper pushed at Keir’s arm. “We should question them to see what in Anu’s name is going on. They’re supposed to be our allies.”
“They are naught but traitors.” Keir lowered his sword a little, the scar on his cheek whitening, making him look even more savage.
Keir’s head snapped up and the expression on his face changed. His gaze cut across everyone in the lot. “Where is Rhiannon?” he said in a harsh voice, his look showing fierce concern for his wife.
The witches and D’Danann glanced around the bloody area. “Hannah’s not here, either,” Silver said with a note of panic.
“They didn’t leave the warehouse with us.” Jake held his hand where the arrow was buried in his biceps, blood coating his palm, as he walked to where Keir stood over the Drow leader. “I’m pretty sure I saw every witch who came out to fight.”
“You’re injured!” Alyssa went to Jake’s side and warmth flooded him as some of her magic started flowing into him.
The pain lessened, but the arrow was lodged deep and Jake knew it would be hell to get it out. “Worry about Hannah and Rhiannon,” Jake said through gritted teeth. “I’ll be fine.”
“We’ll check the warehouse.” Silver’s eyes were wide and she looked panicked. “But I don’t understand why they wouldn’t be here with us.” Silver whirled and practically ran back toward the entrance to the warehouse. Hawk following, obviously anxious to protect his wife.
“Rhiannon and Hannah wouldn’t miss a fight for anything.” Copper rocked on her cast, her arms crossed over her chest, an expression of distress on her face almost identical to Silver’s. “They are two of the most stubborn and toughest women we know.”
“Let’s get this bastard inside.” Jake motioned to the Drow leader with a nod. “We’ll see if he knows anything.”
The Drow male growled and glared at his captors.
Keir kicked the Drow, causing the man to shout in pain. “Put him in one of the cages made to restrain magic,” Keir said. “When we learn what we need to, then I will kill him.”
The Drow leader gave a low snarl. “You will not be able to hold me.”
“Uh-huh.” Mackenzie wound more of her magical rope around the warrior. “Sure. So escape D’Anu magic, why don’t you?”
“I will search for my mate and Hannah,” Keir said before he spread his wings, lifted off, and disappeared from human sight.
Thanks to Alyssa’s powers, the ache in Jake’s arm numbed despite the arrowhead buried inside it. He surveyed the battle scene and the wounded being attended to by the D’Danann and his officers.
Fury made the pain in his arm lessen to where he was barely conscious of it. It looked like two of his officers hadn’t made it. Most of the Drow had been killed, their bodies vanishing into sparkles, as had more than a few of the D’Danann.
“Goddamnit, we didn’t need this.” Jake took his bloody left hand away from his arm, gestured to his officers, and instructed them on what areas to scan for signs of Hannah and Rhiannon.
Two of the D’Danann forced the Drow leader to his feet, his arms still completely bound from his shoulders to his fingertips. They shoved him forward and guided him in the direction of the warehouse entrance. He limped due to the bullet he’d taken in the thigh from Jake’s gunshot.
Five other Drow had survived and were being taken to be caged, as well. Once they were in the containment cells, the D’Anu would be able to drop their magic ropes.
As he again held his palm to his bleeding arm, Jake scanned the darkness for Hannah and Rhiannon. Where the hell were they?
“I have found them.” Keir’s shout came from behind Jake.
He stopped and turned as did several others and relief flooded him when he saw Hannah and Rhiannon rushing forward with Keir. The warrior had a furious expression, his harsh features even harder as he had his arm around his wife’s shoulders. Rhiannon was trying to push him off, but he was obviously not letting go.
Hannah hurried ahead of them and from her heavy breathing it sounded like she’d been running. When she reached Jake she didn’t look like the same unflappable woman that he’d come to know over the course of the battles they’d been in together.
“Is everyone okay?” She scanned those who remained outside. “Where’s Garran? Is he still out cold?”
“Not for long.” Keir scowled as he held Rhiannon tight to him. “I will kill him in his sleep for this.”
“No you won’t” Hannah parked herself in front of Keir and Rhiannon, bringing them to a full stop. Her eyes were hard, her mouth set in a determined line.
“Do you not see what he has done?” Keir nearly shouted.
Rhiannon finally managed to jerk herself away from Keir and stood a few feet from him and braced her hands on her hips. Jake could see the Fomorii scars on her cheek whiten in the low glow of the outside lights.
“Even the leaders, the Directorate, didn’t know anything about it,” Hannah said.
Keir narrowed his eyes. “We will discuss this further, inside.”
“You bet we will.” Rhiannon marched ahead of him to the entrance of the warehouse.
Loss of blood was beginning to make Jake lightheaded.
“We’ve got to take care of that,” the ever intuitive Alyssa said.
Jake just nodded. His adrenaline rush was fading, taking some of his strength with it. Not to mention how tired his muscles were from his workout. D’Anu magic could only do so much for bad wounds, and this was a doozy. He could have taken the arrow in the heart instead, so he wasn’t about to complain.
The sky was graying, a sign that dawn wasn’t far behind, and these Dark Elves would be toast if they weren’t taken inside and put in cells where they could be kept from the daylight. Light was also a good sign that no other Drow would be attacking.
Although Garran was able to tolerate light—he’d said the Great Guardian had given him that temporary gift. He and he alone. What if that was bullshit and other Drow could handle sunlight?
Wouldn’t that be goddamned great.
Several of the D’Danann took the prisoners to the cages while his officers helped carry in the wounded and dead. Jake stumbled a bit as he watched them and his vision blurred before clearing.
Alyssa and the other witches rushed him into the kitchen and he let out a sigh of relief as he dropped into a chair by the table.
The women exclaimed over Hannah and Rhiannon, wanting to know where the two of them had been, and Keir growled his anger.
Both Hannah and Rhiannon seated themselves at the table and looked at each other before Hannah turned to Jake and said, “Take care of Jake first.”
“Already on it.” Alyssa was digging through the cabinets, pulling out bottles and jars for whatever magical potions and herbs the witches used.
Cassia reached Jake’s side almost as soon as he sat down. He wasn’t around the half-Elvin witch often, but when he was, he always got a strange sensation that sent vibrations to his gut.