Each of the five Drow warriors were questioned by Hark with Garran’s permission, and each man said they had followed Vidar’s orders. Vidar had said the king himself had given the command to attack.
As each of the five men recounted their stories, Garran’s muscles grew more and more tense. He did not like the way Jake and the D’Danann looked at him, as if they believed he had given that order.
When Vidar was finally brought out, both Rhiannon and Hannah had their ropes binding the fierce warrior from his shoulders to the tips of his fingers. Two D’Danann followed, prodding Vidar with the tips of their swords.
Vidar limped only slightly. His leg had been bandaged, but obviously his thigh was healing with the usual speed of the Dark Elves.
“Explain your actions,” Hark said, his normally calm voice holding darkness that caused Garran to lift his brows.
“The king is a fool to help these Fae and humans.” Vidar raked his gaze over Garran. “So, they know not your secret?”
Carden and Hark glanced at Garran, but he ignored Vidar’s question. “My decision would be in agreement with the Directorate. To execute you for your crimes against the Fae and humans, therefore against our people.”
Vidar struggled in his bonds and bared his teeth.
“However.” Garran’s gaze met those of the D’Danann leaders and Jake. “I leave the final decision to the human and D’Danann leaders—those beings whom you have harmed.”
Jake crossed his arms over his chest, not even wincing from what appeared to be a large wound beneath bandages heavily wrapping his biceps. Hawk, Tiernan, and Keir again appeared to be communicating via mind-speak.
“We will discuss this with Jake Macgregor,” Tiernan said, and all four men walked away.
Hannah and Rhiannon both glared at Vidar and the warrior grimaced as if they had tightened their glittering magical bonds around him.
Little time had passed before Jake and the D’Danann leaders returned.
“We have decided to turn over the prisoners and their fate to the Dark Elves,” Hawk said. “You may take them and return to the Drow realm.”
“However,” Tiernan added, “should our own be attacked again by the Drow, we shall take no prisoners.”
33
Darkwolf inhaled the San Francisco air, smelling brine and fish, but not the rotten-fish stench of the Fomorii.
It was early evening and he stood beside Elizabeth overlooking K-Dock and the California sea lions that had taken up residence there. An occasional bark bit the evening air to join the noises of tourists, buses, cars, vendors, and everything else one could imagine.
K-Dock was beside Pier 39, the busiest pier and one of the largest tourist traps in the city.
A trap. That’s exactly what it would be if Ceithlenn’s attack was successful. The busy piers were perfect feeding grounds for the dark goddess and the Fomorii. In one of Darkwolf’s visions he had seen what she had planned and it was nasty.
He glanced around him at all the people out in the evening who would be nothing but human snacks to the Fomorii. Yeah, the slaughter wouldn’t be pretty.
With martial law lifted the city was almost as busy as normal. This after assurances by government officials that citizens and tourists were safe from further terrorist attacks. Of course, those assurances were given by officials whose bodies had been taken over by Fomorii demons.
Another tidbit he’d learned from the eye. Or should he call it the heart? The eye no longer existed. The only way for anyone to obtain his power would be to rip his heart from his chest and swallow it whole.
The thought sobered him for a moment when he remembered Elizabeth could have done just that. Since then he’d figured out how to protect himself by pinning her hands over her head when he took her. And he’d taught himself not to lose any control when climaxing.
“Right now you see Ceithlenn with your power to vision?” Elizabeth asked as she looked out toward the lights of Alcatraz. Was she missing her life as the demon queen?
The power of his senses told him Elizabeth was conflicted, confused even. Emotions she had never felt before had left her bewildered.
“Yes, I can see her.” Darkwolf glanced at the sky before looking back at Elizabeth. “She’s close.”
With the power he commanded he’d seen Ceithlenn begin her hunt for him after she visioned that he’d taken the power of the eye for himself. It was somewhat amusing how the goddess thought she could destroy him so easily.
“What are you waiting for?” Elizabeth tilted her head and looked up at him. Considering how tall he was now, she had to crane her neck. “Why don’t you just find the bitch and get rid of her?”
“I need more power.” His coarse growl filtered through the loud chatter and music on the pier. “First I’ll call out Balor, get rid of him, and take the rest of the god’s power for my own.”
She twisted her lips and frowned. “How are you so sure you can do either—kill Balor or Ceithlenn or both?”
It still surprised him how regal and queenly Elizabeth continued to appear, and how she was unwilling to back down from him despite the fact that he could almost kill her with a thought.
He narrowed his gaze at her. “I have the power of a god—I can take him on.”
“Most of the power of one of the old gods.” Elizabeth waved her hand like shooing a fly. “And not a great one at that.”
Anger at her words and dismissive gesture caused heat to flush over his body. She looked away from him, her expression not changing as she rested her forearms on a railing overlooking the bay and barking sea lions.
“I was there in the days the gods ruled this Otherworld. As Fomorii, I was a sea god before we were banished. Balor’s true power was in the devastation the eye caused, and now that’s gone.” She looked back at him. “What can you do?”
He dug his fingers into the wooden railing. “I have other magic the eye gave me. Don’t underestimate how powerful I am now.”
Elizabeth shrugged and again he marveled at her failure to recognize how dangerous he could be to her. Maybe she did realize that fact and she didn’t give a damn. Or maybe she trusted him enough to believe he wouldn’t hurt her.
He took a deep breath and relaxed his grip then rested his forearms on the railing beside Elizabeth.
What she’d said—and what she didn’t say out loud—meant nothing. She didn’t have a clue.
Darkwolf had spent the past day training himself to use his powers most effectively to be prepared for his oncoming battle with Balor. Now he was ready.
A thought niggled at his brain that he’d kept pushing back. When he had his revenge on both Balor and Ceithlenn for what they had done to him, he knew his power would allow him to take theirs.
What then? What did one do with the powers of a god?
At the time he’d obtained the eye, his goals had been magical powers and aiding Balor in returning to the land where he once ruled as a god.
Now Darkwolf could have more power than Balor and Ceithlenn combined, if he was successful.
Then what? He shook his head. No freaking idea.
He closed his eyes and let his mind slide into another vision to locate Ceithlenn.
Shock traveled through him in a cold wave. He jerked his eyelids open the moment he located the goddess bitch.
She had found Balor.
34
Ceithlenn did not let thoughts of her revenge on Darkwolf or her anger distract her. Instead she focused on her last scrying vision. She knew where Balor was.
Finally she would be with her love, her husband. Together they would track down Darkwolf and rip out his heart to give Balor back his powers.
Would the heart return to an eye so that her beloved could see again and lay waste to thousands at a time?
Night wind and fog slid over her wings and moistened her face as she flew to the part of the city where she knew Balor would be. The thumping in her chest grew as pleasure spread through her.
The closer to him s
he got, the more intensely she felt his presence. Since bringing Balor to this world, she had not been able to absorb enough human souls to find him—until now.
Countless souls released by the Fomorii filled her, strengthening her, giving her what she needed. She had fed with the demons and her might was finally great enough to find Balor.
Exhilaration prickled her skin and a thrill rose up within her the moment she saw her love. He stood on a cracked sidewalk on a nondescript but steep street, beside an open manhole to the sewers. He tilted his head as if he could see her even in his blindness.
A smile curved the corners of his mouth as he raised his arms. Despite the empty eye socket in the middle of his forehead, he was the most handsome being she had ever known. His body was fit and muscled, his features strong and proud.
“Balor!” She let the fire vanish from her hair and drew in her fangs and claws.
She folded her wings away as she swooped into his embrace, wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her body to his. She didn’t care that he stank of the sewers, that his skin was coated with slime.
“By all that preys upon the night, you are here,” she said, her cheek against his smooth chest.
“My dreams have been filled with naught but you.” Balor squeezed her tighter. “You, Ceith. My love.”
He grasped her face in his filth-coated hands, tilted her head up and brought his mouth to hers. A fierce kiss that she opened to and she reveled in being in her husband’s arms again.
Now they were both freed from Underworld. Now they were together. No other gods survived in this Otherworld any longer. She and Balor would be unhindered in their quest to rule the Old World.
Their kiss grew hungrier. It was filled with longing and the force and joy of their reunion. His length pressed hard against her belly and she wanted him to take her right there in the middle of this quiet neighborhood.
He raised his head and brushed his hand over her hair, which was now the soft brown it had been in the Old World, when she was a prophetess.
All that was before Balor was cast into Underworld after the battle with the Tuatha D’Danann—when the sun god Lugh shot out his eye.
The power behind the sun god’s shot had knocked out the eye and flung it into the sea. There it remained lost for century after century, until it finally washed ashore.
Ceithlenn had been sent away with Balor and they had survived in the darkest depths of Underworld.
At this precious moment she was not going to think of the horrors they had been through over the past two millennia. Now all that mattered was that she was in Balor’s arms. She would bring him to the apartment she and the Fomorii had taken over.
Together they would prepare to wrest Balor’s power from Darkwolf and attack the city so that she could take more souls. Then her magic would be strong enough to help her husband on their journey to the Old World.
A blast of purple fire slammed into Balor.
The blast drove him to the ground and Ceithlenn with him.
She cried out in surprise and whipped her head up to see a now seven-foot-tall Darkwolf standing just yards from them.
Before she or Balor could react, Darkwolf released another burst of purple fire at Balor. The intensity of the magic tore Balor away from her and threw him against a light post.
He gave a grunt of pain as the force snapped the pole in half. While Balor rolled away, the top of the light post crashed to the asphalt, glass shattering and metal crunching.
“For all that you’ve done and all that you’ve forced me to do,” Darkwolf growled. He focused blast after blast at Balor, who continued to attempt to get up only to be knocked down again. “Your power is mine.”
“No!” Ceithlenn stumbled to her feet, transforming into her goddess form at the same time.
Fucking bastard.
She drew on her power to take souls. She would take Darkwolf’s, now.
The moment she attempted to take Darkwolf’s soul, pain shot through her chest as if she’d been pierced with a dozen arrows. She nearly doubled over from the force of it and she staggered back.
By all that survived in Underworld, Darkwolf nearly had the power of a god.
She couldn’t take his soul.
While keeping an eye on Ceithlenn, Darkwolf never let up on his barrage against Balor.
Her husband cried out his agony. He was weak. Growing weaker. With Darkwolf having taken the power of the eye, Balor lacked the strength to defend himself against the continued torrent of magic.
She would kill Darkwolf before she saw Balor die.
With a shriek, she slung a bolt of fire at Darkwolf. He held up his free hand to ward it off but missed and her magic caught him in the side, burning cloth and flesh.
Darkwolf grunted and dropped to one knee. His aim faltered, and he struck a tree instead of Balor. The tree went up in a blaze of purple flame, crackling and hissing. The sulfuric smell of their magic and the burning wood twisted in the fog.
The lapse of magic slamming into him allowed Balor to stumble to his feet. Despite his blindness, he held out his hand and flung a ball of magical fire at Darkwolf.
It buried itself in Darkwolf’s belly. The warlock cried out as the magic slung him into a hedge. Loud snapping sounds of breaking branches followed his shout of pain.
Both Ceithlenn and Balor attacked Darkwolf with their magic at the same time, but Darkwolf threw up a shield of protection and their power exploded around him. The shield glittered as Darkwolf slowly pushed himself to his feet, and he snarled at Ceithlenn and Balor.
She prepared to rain her magic on Darkwolf’s shield. Together she and Balor could beat it down and destroy the warlock.
Ceithlenn aimed a bolt of magic at Darkwolf’s shield. But to her shock, the red of her magic was absorbed by his power. He smiled.
“Come on, baby.” Darkwolf gave her a mocking grin. “Give me all you have.”
Another shriek tore from her throat. She glanced up at Balor as he grabbed her upper arm, wrapping his large hand around it.
“If we fight Darkwolf together, we can destroy him,” she said as she looked at her husband.
“Give me your power.” Balor’s words were a low, threatening growl as he gripped her arm tighter, digging his fingers into her flesh. “You need naught of it now.”
The pain of his grasp on her arm was nothing compared to the pain in her heart when he gave the command. Stunned, she tried to draw away, but his grip was too strong.
It happened in a matter of seconds.
Balor started to drain her powers. Her mind spun as he began bleeding her of her magic.
Her husband, her love, was stealing from her, making her weak and vulnerable.
Anger exploded inside her like a volcano spewing lava. Now that he was without his eye, her magic was greater than his. She grabbed his wrist in her hand and mentally reversed the drain.
“What?” His cry echoed in the night as she stole his power faster than he had been taking hers.
“You bastard.” Her hair flamed higher and the blaze of anger intensified inside her. “I loved you!”
Balor backhanded her so hard with his free hand that she screamed and almost lost her hold on his other wrist.
With everything she had, Ceithlenn drew Balor’s magic into her.
Purple fire exploded around Balor.
Darkwolf’s magic.
Flames whooshed over his body like the tree that had caught fire and still burned behind them.
At the same time, she sucked the last of Balor’s power from him.
Balor screamed as he began to burn.
She released his wrist and cut her gaze from her husband to Darkwolf, who had dropped his shield.
A blast of his magic shot toward her. She formed her own shield before his power slammed into it. Already off balance, she stumbled back, barely keeping on her feet.
Balor rolled on the sidewalk, screaming, burning alive. She had taken what had been left of his power and he was now only
flesh and blood.
Behind her protection she let her goddess form fall away but kept her shield around herself. She dropped to her knees and watched in horror as her husband’s charred body writhed in purple flames.
The stink of burning flesh and the sight of her lifetime love dying caused her belly to heave. She puked on the sidewalk, keeping her gaze away from Balor. The smell of vomit joined the stench.
When she looked up she wiped the back of her hand over her mouth and watched as his body sizzled, burned, and finally fell to ashes. Drained of his magic, he would not move on to another world.
She had made him human.
Just as he had tried to do to her.
Despite her fury, her hurt, her pain from Balor’s betrayal, tears rolled down her cheeks while she watched a strong wind brush away Balor’s ashes. They swirled, scattering and vanishing into the darkened sky. Only a charred outline remained on the concrete.
She turned her gaze on Darkwolf, who had his arms crossed over his chest and a deadly smile on his face. He extended one of his arms and flicked his fingers in a bring-it-on movement
“Come and get me, baby,” he said as he made the motion.
The heat in Ceithlenn when she looked at him was so great that she could barely see. She thought about letting her shield down and fighting him now.
Even though she now had what power had remained in Balor while he was without the eye, weakness kept her pinned on her knees.
She could use the combined magic to fight Darkwolf, but it might not be enough.
Especially with pain and loss filling her after the death of her husband.
Ceithlenn clenched her eyes shut, blocking out Darkwolf’s arrogant, wicked smile. She fisted her hands and used the transference to take her away.
35
“Balor’s gone?” Alyssa’s words rippled through the almost dead silence of the kitchen.
The night following the visit by Garran’s men, the witches stood around the table and stared at the lingering wisps of fog over Silver’s pewter cauldron. Each and every one of their familiars had joined them for the scrying.
The Shadows Page 30