Fading Light: Shadow Born, Book 2 Page 14

  As soon as they entered the bedroom, Brenna released the spells protecting her sanctuary. Once a walk-in closet, she had gutted it to make a meditation room. The built-in bookshelf beside it had become her makeshift closet. It had worked well until Gray had moved in.

  She opened the door, and Gray followed her inside. The room had been stripped to its barest form. Glistening wood planks made up the floor, covered only by a golden woven rug. A narrow walnut table sat at the far end of the room. On the center lay a gold plated mirror, the glass glazed with age and use. It was surrounded by numerous white and gold candles. Kneeling before the table, she breathed on the candles, and fire flickered at the tips of each cylinder.

  She blew the dust from the glass. Once it was clean, she opened the narrow drawer beneath it. Inside on a bed of black silk lay her ceremonial dagger. Draped with a quartz cover, its handle infused with sapphires and rubies, the blade glistened in the candlelight. She murmured a spell to release its bindings and pulled the blade free. With one swift stroke, she slid the athame across the smooth flesh of her forearm. Blood welled to the surface. She paused as fear reared its head. If this didn’t work, it meant Mira was dead. Another friend lost. But deep in her heart, Brenna believed Mira was still alive. Hopefully, she was right.

  She settled cross-legged on the floor, Gray at her side, the mirror on her lap. Her blood dripped then rolled across the glowing surface. As it absorbed into the glass, a bluish steam took its place. Breathing in the fragrant mist, Brenna opened the compartment beneath the mirror that held her ruby amulet. Power danced across the room as she pulled it free. Unlike human witches, her magic did not require a map to scry. The mirror would provide her with an image of Mira’s location. Hopefully, she would recognize it.

  She closed her eyes and called forth her magic. As it swirled around them, she held the amulet several inches above the mirror. It sucked her magic inside before disappearing in a puff of blue smoke. Brenna waited, her body devoid of power, as her magic flew around the city, the amulet its compass. Several minutes passed, and Brenna’s heart fell. The amulet would only return on its own if it found Mira. If Brenna had to call it back, the vampire was dead.

  Fifteen minutes went by, then a half hour. But Brenna refused to stop. When an hour had passed, Brenna wiped a stray tear from her face and readied herself. The first word of the spell had barely left her lips when the amulet appeared. It slammed against the mirror and shattered the glass. Something, or someone, had interfered.

  Brenna stared into the remaining shards of glass. The image reflecting back was faint, but the red stone monuments were unmistakable. “She’s at Red Rocks. Ga’loh warped my spell, but it still worked.” She shut her eyes, torn between relief and fear as her magic sank inside her body.

  “Why would he take her?” Gray stood, careful of the glass shards.

  Brenna shrugged. “All I know is she’s alive. We need to make sure she stays that way.”

  “Agreed.” He glanced at the shattered remains of the mirror. “Do you have another one?”

  “Yes.” She paused. “Ga’loh wasn’t powerful enough to keep my magic, but he’s strong. We should bring Keegan.”

  Gray grimaced. “We need to treat Ga’loh with kid gloves. He’s too powerful to fight, and Keegan isn’t the best at diplomacy. He said so himself.”

  Brenna shook her head. “He’s not going to give Mira back without a fight, and if we waste our reserves, we’ll be useless to Seraph. Tonight has to go well. We need a lead on Adare.”

  “Ga’loh is volatile. If Keegan sets him off, we’re back to square one.” Gray shook his head. “It’s not a good idea.”

  Team. We’re a team. Brenna repeated the mantra in her head. It was stupid not to bring Keegan. They had a dragon, why not use him? A part of her wanted to ignore Gray, grab Keegan and go. But if she and Gray were going to embrace the illustrious idea of being a partnership, she had to listen to him. Trust went both ways. And she had to earn it as much as he did.

  “Fine. No Keegan.” She walked into the bedroom. “But if it goes to hell, don’t expect me not to say I told you so.”

  “Fine,” Gray said. “But we’ve only got four hours before we have to meet Seraph. We’ll have to teleport if we’re going to make it back.”

  She opened their psychic link and sent him the location she had seen in the mirror. “We’ll go separately, reserve our power. This shouldn’t take long. Ga’loh may be a demon prince, but he’s diseased, weakened. Aside from that, he needs me. We should be able to negotiate with him.”

  Gray snorted. “You obviously don’t know him well.”

  “Don’t go into this with your ego blaring. I don’t want to fight him if we don’t have to.”

  “Agreed.” Gray grimaced. “I’m still recovering from the last time I tangled with him. But he might not give us choice.”

  “Then we’ll combine our magic and kick his ass.” Brenna took a deep breath. Or tried to. “Let’s get out of here. We’re wasting time.” Her magic crested the air. With a clear picture of the location in her mind, she cocooned herself in power and disappeared.

  Once Red Rocks had been a famous amphitheater. Constructed in the mountains above Denver, visitors could watch a concert with the city’s skyline visible in the distance. The views and the acoustics had made it a much sought after venue. But the Fall had changed all that. Now it was a crumbling sink hole of stone and dirt. Filled with vagrants and wild animals, it wasn’t a place for the faint of heart.

  They found Mira inside a narrow cavern carved into the hillside. She lay unconscious in a makeshift iron cage, the bars of which were strengthened by a spell Brenna couldn’t penetrate. Unable to free Mira, Brenna took a quick inventory of the other woman’s injuries. Covered in cuts and bruises, she lay in a pool of her own blood.

  “I’m going to kill him.” Brenna sliced her wrist. She shoved her arm through the bars and pressed her wrist against Mira’s half open mouth. The vampire stirred at the smell. Too weak to move, she let the blood fall onto her lips. Once the blood had worked its magic, she sat up with a glazed look in her eye.

  “Where am I?” She reached for Brenna’s arm, but Brenna pulled it through the cage. She couldn’t afford to lose more blood than necessary.

  Brenna sat back and closed the wound. “What do you remember?”

  “I was supposed to meet Sam in the Underground. He called me as I was pulling up next to the grate and told me the plans had changed. The last thing I remember was a woman walking toward me.”

  “What did she look like?” Gray asked.

  “Small, long white hair.” She shrugged. “It’s blurry.” Gripping her cage, she rattled the iron bars. “Can you get me out of here?”

  Brenna shook her head. “I can’t penetrate the spell without hurting you.”

  Mira sat back with a look of alarm. “What do we do?”

  “We force Ga’loh to open it.” Gray shrugged. “I’m sure he won’t mind.”

  “He’s probably waiting for us.” Brenna stood and took a quick look around the cave.

  Moments later they heard footsteps outside the cavern. Soon after Ga’loh stepped inside. “That didn’t take long.” He smiled as he gazed at Brenna. “Looks like you’re worth the effort.”

  Gray moved toward the demon. “You gave me two days.”

  Ga’loh shrugged. “You can have her back once I’m healed.”

  “It doesn’t work that way,” Brenna replied. “Release her and we talk.”

  “Heal me and I’ll release her.” Ga’loh glanced at Gray. “I see why you like her. But she’s forgetting one important point.”

  He flicked his hand toward the cage, and Mira hit the floor screaming. “I’m more powerful, so I’m in control.” He squeezed his hands together, and Mira writhed in agony.

  Brenna didn’t look away from Ga’loh. The demon would take advantage
of any show of weakness. Wrapping her magic around Ga’loh, she slammed him against the dirt wall. Dust filled the cavern. With a flip of her hand, she pulled him free and tossed him to the ground.

  “You might want to rethink the whole who’s-more-powerful thing,” she said as she stood above him. Pulling the athame from her boot strap, she drove it into his shoulder. The blade sliced through the rotten flesh and pinned him to the floor. Ga’loh screamed, bucking against the silver blade.

  “You bitch,” he cried.

  A false smile on her lips, she pulled a second athame from the small of her back and plunged it into his other shoulder. As long as the silver was in his body, he couldn’t shift into his alternate form.

  “Now we can talk.” She stood beside him, hardly able to breathe through the stench of rotten flesh. She leaned forward until they were eye to eye. “Release my vampire or I’ll leave you here to rot.”

  He spit in her face. “You need me. No one else can help you with the cure.”

  “All I need is your blood, I’m pretty sure we can figure out the rest,” she bluffed.

  Ga’loh growled. In one swift movement he jerked forward. The blades disappeared into his shoulders and came out on the other side. He stood before her with two gaping wounds where his shoulders had been.

  Brenna took a step back. What was he on, demon steroids?

  She barely had time to catch her breath before he slammed her against the wall. He hadn’t switched forms, and his diseased hand gripped her neck. His flesh was slimy and wet against her skin.

  “You look shocked,” he began. ‘Thanks to the witches, I have a rotting body, a very high pain tolerance, and nothing to lose. At this point, damage to my body is irrelevant.” He squeezed, cutting off her oxygen. “At least until you heal me. And you will, even if I have to force you.”

  Brenna choked, distracting Ga’loh as Gray moved behind him. She ripped Ga’loh’s hand from her throat as Gray grabbed him by the back of the neck.

  The demon’s laughter filled the small space. It echoed off the walls and sank into the dirt. Ga’loh murmured an incantation, and Gray fell back, stunned but uninjured. Brenna closed her eyes and called her magic. It burned through her skin, forcing Ga’loh to let her go. “That body can’t hold you for much longer. What are you going do then?”

  “Doesn’t matter because you’re going to swear you’ll heal me so I’ll let your vampire go.” Ga’loh stepped back, grinning. She wanted to rip the expression off his face.

  “But?” She didn’t trust him. There had to be a catch.

  Lightning fast, he moved the cage and grabbed Mira by the hair, pulling her against the bars. Her feet dangled in the air. “You fail me, and I’ll kill her. Then I’ll kill every human in this city while you watch.” He dropped Mira, and she landed in an unceremonious heap at his feet. “Understood?”

  She wanted to fight him but it was pointless. They needed his help, and he needed theirs, so they had to come to some sort of truce.

  “I’ll do it,” she said as he moved toward her. Agnes had said not to promise anything, but they’d have to do the spell after she healed him. That would make things difficult, but not impossible, and she didn’t see a way around it.

  “Finally,” he said, his smile fading. “I want a blood oath that you will do everything in your power to heal me. No matter the cost. And you won’t stop until I’m whole again.” Shifting his weight to one foot, he pulled a small vial from his jacket and held it out.

  “Not until we set terms. The three of us walk out of here and you swear not to maim, injure, kill or in any way interfere with any of our people, either yourself or using a middle man. And we get the cure.”

  “Done.” He held the vial out again. “You’ll get what you need.”

  “And,” she continued, “I want you to swear not to help Adare in any way or try to get revenge on the witches who cursed you.” The request leapt over the bounds of what was reasonable, but, if he was desperate enough, he would agree.

  He didn’t speak. She prayed she hadn’t gone too far.

  He sliced the skin of his forearm with his fingernail. “I agree to your terms.” Black tarry blood welled in the wound. He drained it into the vial.

  “It will take me three days to get ready. I’ve never done this before. I want to be prepared,” Brenna hedged.

  He glanced at her. “I already agreed. Get on with it.”

  He tossed her an empty vial, and she caught it. Reopening the wound on her wrist, she let her blood flow into the glass. Once it was filled, she handed it to Ga’loh. In exchange, he gave her the vial of his blood. The terms had been set, the bargain struck.

  Chapter Fifteen

  By the time they arrived at headquarters, Brenna was exhausted. After dragging Mira home and healing her, she had managed to get an hour of sleep. Gray’s blood had refueled her magic, but she was still beat. It hadn’t helped Keegan had cornered her as she stumbled down the stairs to grab a cup of coffee. He had refused her access to the potent nectar until she had told him the gory details of their meeting with Ga’loh. By the time she had managed to make a pot of coffee, it had been too late to drink it. So they had arrived late, because she refused to go into battle without being fully caffeinated.

  Lucy was beside her desk when they entered the compound. At first Brenna didn’t recognize her. She had swapped her usual jeans and sweater, made to fit her voluptuous gargoyle body, for a flowing orange floral dress. It trailed the ground as she waddled toward them. A bright yellow daisy was stuffed behind one ear to complete the look. Brenna couldn’t help but wonder where she had found it. The only flowers she had seen grew in greenhouses.

  Keegan plucked the flower from her ear and held it to his nose. “I like it,” he murmured, pressing his lips against it. He looked like he was going to eat it. Instead he returned it, tucking it behind Lucy’s large gray ear. He gave her a short bow and a wink. Lucy blushed bright pink.

  Oh geez. The gargoyle had a crush on the dragon. That wasn’t going to end well.

  “Do you know where we’re supposed to go?” Brenna asked.

  Lucy turned to face her. “You’re late. Seraph took the others to the gym. You’d better haul ass. He’s pissed.”

  Brenna shook her head. All of Lucy’s charm had been wasted on Keegan. “How’s the cure coming?”

  The gargoyle’s face lit up. “I’ve almost got it. I managed to isolate the antidote in the shifter’s blood, but I still need to reconstruct the original toxin.” She grimaced. “I need more time.”

  “Maybe this will help.” Brenna handed her the vial of Ga’loh’s blood. “This is from the demon that created the toxin. I’m sure the witches’ curse tainted his blood, so it might be useless, but I’m working on getting something better.”

  Lucy grabbed the vial and held it to the light. “It’s a start.” She slipped it in her pocket. “Now get the hell out of here.

  Once Keegan had blown Lucy a kiss, they made their way down the narrow hall.

  “You shouldn’t tease her,” Brenna warned. “Gargoyles mate for life.”

  Keegan shrugged. “It’s harmless. She’s too smart to think anything will come of it. We’re not exactly anatomically compatible.”

  Gray snorted. “I didn’t realize you were particular.”

  Keegan shot him a warning glare.

  Brenna stepped between them. “I’m saying be careful. Lucy may not realize you prefer leggy blondes. She’s my friend. I don’t want her hurt.”

  Keegan stopped. With a sigh, he turned to face her. “We were friends once, too, remember?” He glanced a Gray. “At least until he came into the picture. Try trusting me occasionally. I’m not a complete bastard.”

  Brenna felt properly chastened. He was right. Had she become a bitch overnight, or had it happened gradually? Making a mental note to change her ways, she stepped into the gym
nasium. She could immediately see why Seraph had chosen it. Although they referred to it as a gym, its sole purpose was to allow the hunters to practice their combat skills. This was where they beat the crap out of each other. She smiled. It was a fantastic way to work out stress.

  Dark padding lined the floor to protect the hunters from injury, and a mirror stretched across one side of the room so they could watch their form. Aside from that, the room was empty. Seraph stood in the center, Agnes by his side. He was sorting the hunters who stood around him into teams. Once he finished, Agnes would send them to the far corner of the room with two of her witches. Their assembly line style seemed to be working. The teams were stacked in rows, waiting.

  Brenna tensed as she moved across the soft floor. She dreaded facing Seraph. The balance of their friendship was skewed, and this time she was at fault. She had let him down far too often. His gaze met hers as she stepped closer.

  “It’s about time.” He whispered something in Agnes’ ear before walking over to them. “I told you to be here an hour ago.”

  “My fault.” Gray stepped forward. “I got sidetracked.”

  Brenna looked at him with surprise. He never covered for her.

  “Nope.” Keegan grinned. “It was my fault. I withheld coffee from Brenna.”

  Seraph shook his head, smiling. “And you lived?”

  And like that, they were fine.

  “So what’s the plan?” Gray glanced at the rows of soldiers.

  “We send them in one at a time.” Seraph said. “Then we pray. They have their orders, if they follow them to the letter they should survive if we get there in time.”

  “Shouldn’t we go first?” Keegan asked. “I could take out the guards, then we could send them in.”

  Seraph shook his head. “That would defeat the purpose. Our main goal is to get a lead on Adare. If whoever’s running the show sees it’s a lost cause, he’ll get the hell out of there. Then we have lots of dead demons, but no hostages.”