Shadows grace, p.20
Shadow's Grace, page 20
“Don’t shoot her!” Ivan cried. Vio turned back to the man he planned to kill, when a bony hand grabbed his arm. Two skeletons stood on each side of him, their skulls grinning and glowing white in the moonlight. The one holding him squeezed its finger bones, and Vio screamed at the strength of the claw.
“You can’t stop them,” Ivan said from the ground. He was still too weak to move. Vio slammed the door at the skeleton. Its head rattled off to the ground and rolled next to Ivan’s feet. But the hand still had fast. He slammed the door again, becoming aware of the heavy weight of the piece of metal. Gunfire rang out at him, but the skeleton took more of the fire. It was enough of a shock to the undead that it released Vio.
Vio stumbled away on weakened legs, and twisted his position to face all threats. He couldn’t run away and leave the open crypt. It was too vital to what he had to do. But he now faced off against two skeletons and two guards, and seriously wondered about his odds. He took another step back when a breeze rushed over him.
The air running over his face was warm. It shouldn’t be warm in January in England. “Vio, get ready!” Ariel called. He looked up. Her voice could be coming from anywhere. He took a step back, and the wind stopped. He moved forward again, back into the warm air, that was blowing harder now. He blinked, and in the moonlight, thought he might have seen a face on that breeze.
Her ghosts, he thought. They were rushing at him, hundreds of spirits, enough to make the air move in the direction she was coming from. He braced himself. Her footsteps were close enough now that he knew she was right at the edge of the circle.
“Don’t stop, just jump!” he screamed.
Ariel didn’t stop. Above, she flew through the air in a flash of darkness. Vio raised the door over his head. The guards raised their guns. They fired. Bullets tore through his stomach and legs. Ariel’s feet landed on the door. He grunted and pushed up, sending her and the door flying into the centre of the Circle of Lebanon. He thought he heard her land, but it was too hard to tell in the echo of gunfire.
“Get her!” Ivan called to the guards. Vio, bleeding and exhausted, grabbed a shovel and a pick. He threw the shovel up to Ariel, hoping she could get it, then turned to the guards. Vio threw the pick. It took one of the guards in the back, dropping him. He scooped up another pick from the ground and threw it. It landed in the guard’s leg. The man fell but still moved, though he wouldn’t be climbing to get Ariel, or anyone, soon.
Vio screamed from sudden pressure in his shoulder and dropped to one knee. Behind him, Ivan chuckled, as a skeleton dug its claws into Vio’s flesh. Ivan pushed to his feet, his hand using the wall of the open crypt to steady himself. “Impressive,” Ivan said. “You are impressive, brother. I’m sorry I have to destroy you.”
“I don’t believe you,” Vio said, his tone mocking as he repeated Ivan’s words from earlier.
“You know, you might be right. But I’ll tell our father and our financier that I was. Get him up!” he ordered the dead. Vio was jerked to his feet. He swayed with his injuries. In the jerky movements, he slipped a hand into one of his pockets.
“How do you plan in killing me?” Vio asked. He was genuinely curious, since – as far as he knew – there was only one way to destroy their kind. They had to be completely crushed.
“You know, I’m not entirely sure. We’ll start with decapitation and see where we go from there. Of course, your spirit healer will get to watch it all.”
Ivan took a step forward, putting himself between Vio and the open crypt. Vio had one chance at this. Using all the strength he had left, he wrenched his body away from the skeleton’s claws. Its fingers left gouges in his arms as they tore at the skin and muscle. Vio bit down his scream and rammed his body into Ivan. Ivan flew into the crypt, his back smashing against the wall. He only looked mildly annoyed.
“That’s what you do with your last chance?”
Vio pulled the pin on the grenade and threw it into the crypt. Ivan’s expression changed to fear. He opened his mouth but Vio didn’t hear what he said as he leapt away. The bomb went off.
It felt like the entire cemetery shuddered under the impact of the blast. Dust and stone burst out of the crypt in a wave of deadly force. Shards sliced through Vio’s arms and legs as he took shelter in the doorway of another crypt. The earthy scent of dirt and mold flooded his nose.
When the blast settled, Vio regained his balance on shaking legs. His entire body ached as it healed. With a dark sense of gratitude, he was relieved the shots fired at him had been close range, leaving no bullets inside. His body healed his wounds with each trembling step he took towards the rubble.
His boot crunched on something, and he looked down to see one of the skeletons – his blood still on the curled fingers – laying on the ground. Which meant Ivan’s hold on the creatures was severed. With cautious hope, Vio walked to the destroyed crypt. Dust coiled around the air. He squinted through it and waded through the debris. Finally, he cleared the cloud and looked at the crypt. The ceiling of granite had completely fallen, totally crushing everything under it. Vio moved to his knees. Between what was once the ceiling, but was now a thick slab of fallen granite, and the floor, blood seeped through the cracks. There was no way Ivan could have survived. His entire body had been crushed, his brain, heart, lungs, all of it smashed. Complete and total destruction. One of the few ways to kill one of his kind. Vio breathed a sigh of relief and leaned against the shattered doorway, his eyes closed in rest.
“Vio.” Ariel’s voice forced his eyes open. He pushed up. “Fuck, don’t move,” she said, running over the rubble to him. He didn’t know what happened to the guard who was still alive. He could still be there with a gun. But Ariel carried something. He thought it was the shovel he had tossed to her, but when he squinted through the dust and darkness, he saw it was one of the machineguns the guards had used.
She put the gun against the crypt and rushed him. Her arms flung around his neck. “What did you do?” she asked.
“Ivan’s gone,” he said. He leaned back and cupped her face in his hand, leaving a smear of blood and dirt on her pale skin. “Are you hurt?”
“No,” she said, though a darkness passed through her eyes. “No, and I found the part of the skull.”
Vio sagged with relief. He rubbed her chin affectionately. “That’s my little witch,” he said.
“We need to get out of here,” she said.
“I couldn’t agree more,” a voice said. Vio’s hackles rose. He straightened and tried to shield Ariel with his body.
“Who’s there?” he demanded.
Suddenly a man stood before them. He was well dressed; in a suit with a button-down shirt undone at the collar, giving him a ruggedly handsome look. Vio’s heart rate tripped. There was no denying the family resemblance. The picture Dennis had sent them was accurate. Lucian, brother of Death, stood before them. Grinning.
“Hi, kids,” Lucian said. He put his hands on Vio and Ariel’s shoulders and transported them away from Highgate Cemetery.
Chapter 25
Ariel
Seconds after transporting, they arrived in a dim room in what must have been a castle or palace. Without thinking, Ariel reached for her pendant. Her mind processed what was happening while everything was still in a blur. Lucian. Dennis’ brother, the one he warned them about. The one who could rival Vio on a good day, though today hadn’t been a good day. Vio’s injuries after Highgate would leave him useless against someone as strong as Lucian until he could recover. Ariel had to contact Dennis. Their lives depended on it.
“Ah ah,” Lucian said. He grabbed Ariel’s hands, which had been clawing at her throat, and twisted them away.
“Get away from her!” Vio cried. Ariel looked at Vio. A wall of men – mostly muscle – separated them.
“Vio!” She twisted her arms, but Lucian held her. And then a gun was pointed at her head, and one was pointed at Vio. She stopped moving.
“Let’s just calm down,” Lucian said, slowly releasing Ariel’s hands. She took a deep breath and looked into his black eyes. “Okay?” he asked her.
Ariel nodded, her throat tightening and knees weakening. This was bad. She knew instantly that this wasn’t a normal battle. That this would require Dennis’ help. Lucian motioned to someone in the room, and suddenly a large man was before her, his hands expertly taking hold of her wrists and fastening them together in front of her with a zip tie.
“Please, have a seat,” Lucian said. Ariel looked around the room. The ceiling was high, at least twenty feet, with a crystal chandelier as wide as a desk, glowing above. The maroon walls were studded with framed landscape paintings that looked centuries old. Glass balcony doors were the only windows, where the moonlight crept into the room. She thought the room must be a master suite based on the furniture. An ebony bed rested in one corner. A fireplace crackled to their left. Heavy wood furniture dotted the room.
From the view, they must be up high. Thick treetops stood at her eye-level when she looked out the windows. No lights dotted the shadowed hills that stretched beyond wherever they were being held. No one would hear them scream. And if she did find a way to escape, she would be on foot through an unknown forest.
“I’d rather stand,” Ariel responded, not wanting to touch anything here. Everything was beautiful, yet the entire room emitted a sense of wrongness, of something festering within.
“Very well,” Lucian said. He moved to stand before her. “Now, let’s see what you were pawing at when you arrived.” He slipped his hand around her neck.
“Get your hands off her!” Vio cried. Lucian made a motion without looking towards him. Ariel screamed when one of the human-shaped walls of muscle punched Vio in the face. Vio crashed to the floor.
“Well, well,” Lucian said, pulling the pendant from Dennis free. His face turned into a snarl. “Planning to tattle on me to my big brother? I think not.” He jerked the necklace down, breaking the chain.
“No,” Ariel whimpered. Without it, they had no chance.
“I’ll hang on to this for you,” Lucian said smoothly. “Let’s see what else you have.” He motioned again and two men came behind her. Ariel flinched when she saw a blade drawn. Dread coiled around her. The last few scrapes they had been in had been bad, but they didn’t seem hopeless. This situation felt very different.
But the knife wasn’t for her. It slid through her pack like butter. Across the room, Vio’s pack was removed from his shoulders. The thugs working for Lucian used their knives to open the bags, spilling everything on a table in the centre of the room. Ariel worried about Lucian getting his hands on the piece of the skull she found in Highgate. But then, when she watched the contents of Vio’s bag fall, she nearly fainted with panic. The rest of the pieces from the skull they had collected tumbled amongst granola bars and her period pads.
Why would he have brought it all? There was no reason to, it should have stayed safely at his home.
“Why did you . . .” she said without thinking. Her eyes flickered to Vio.
“I was worried about Gloria,” he mumbled.
“Who?” Lucian asked, but turned away quickly. “Doesn’t matter. Whatever this Gloria did to make you bring this with you makes her a friend of mine. What a find!” Lucian said. He reached for the skull, but hesitated before coming in contact with it. His hand hovered over the black pieces for a moment before falling to his side. He turned to her with a grin. “You know, I was about to be very angry at Vio for killing Ivan, but he’s made it up to me.” His gazed turned back to the pieces of the skull. “And then some.”
When he turned to Ariel, she flinched under his gaze. “You look like shit.” He turned to look at Vio, who sat on the floor, fresh blood from his battle wounds bleeding on the tiles. “You both do. But, you killed my partner,” he said to Vio. “And, based on the way she’s looking at you, you’re valuable to me for leverage. But you smell like the dead. Go be leverage somewhere else.”
The thugs wrestled Vio to standing. Vio tried to fight them, though Ariel wished he hadn’t. In his weakened state, he was overpowered easily by their fists and kicks. Which, considering his strength, he shouldn’t have been. They’re not humans, Ariel realized. Then what were they? Vio was dragged from the room. He called her name, he threatened to kill Lucian if he hurt her. Ariel closed her eyes, tears falling down her cheeks as Vio was torn away from her. She took a steadying breath and clawed within her soul for strength.
“What do you want with us?” Ariel asked. “You have the skull pieces, you can let us go.”
Lucian raised an eyebrow and looked at her. “You don’t know, do you?” he asked, pacing the room.
Movement from the door caught her attention. She hoped it would be Vio, smashing the door open and breaking them out, but the door didn’t move. Instead, a ghost floated through. A woman, tall and elegant, dressed in a modern gown. But there was something different about her, a darkness in her pale form that Ariel didn’t recognize. Ariel wanted to focus on the woman, but thought it would be better to keep their guest a secret from Lucian.
She licked her lips and forced herself to ignore the woman, who looked heartbroken as she glanced at the men. “Know what?” Ariel asked.
Lucian shook his head. He gripped her pendant so hard the stone cracked. Her hope cracked with it. “You’re just another innocent my brother is using. Well, doesn’t matter. I’ll happily fill you in over dinner. But, you do look awful.” He motioned to one of the men standing by the door. “Tell Sorana to come.” The man nodded and left the room. That left just her, Lucian and one other. And her blades, which hadn’t been removed yet. If there was a chance she could lower to her feet while he was distracted, she might be able to cut her arms free and get out of here.
As though sensing her thoughts, Lucian motioned to the other man. “Search her. I have a feeling there is more to this spirit healer than meets the eye.” Ariel tensed at his approach, and her hope fell just a little more. His hands ran over her legs and pulled free the blades from under her pants, and moved up to find the ones at her forearms. But there was nothing perverted about the way he touched her, only professional. At least, for now, she thought, wondering what Lucian would allow them do to her if she didn’t comply.
Before she could dwell on that particular brand of darkness, the man who had left returned to the room with a woman. “Ah, Sorana,” Lucian said. We have a guest who will need a woman’s touch.” Ariel took in Sorana. Tall, creamy skin and dark hair, and lithe muscles on her bare arms. She wore an emerald satin gown that hugged her hips and breasts, with a slit that exposed a muscular thigh. The ghost woman watched Sorana with narrow eyes, openly hostile towards her.
Lucian checked his watch. “Dinner is in an hour, she needs to be presentable.” His eyes ran over her and Ariel wanted to wash that gaze off her skin. “I’ll have one of Maria’s gowns sent up, it should fit. You’ll take care of the rest.”
“Of course,” Sorana said, her husky voice firm and her gaze strong. Lucian busied himself with the items they had brought. He opened a drawer for the round table and swept the pieces of the skull into it with his arm, then closed it and locked it with a key he kept in his pocket.
“I will see both of you in an hour.”
“Wait, you’re leaving!” Ariel cried. The last thing she wanted was Lucian to remain here, but if he was here, then he wasn’t with Vio. And Vio was nothing more to him than leverage. The possibilities of what he would do to Vio made her heart freeze in fear.
Lucian grinned. “You’re so eager for me to stay?”
“I thought you would tell me about why it matters that I’m a spirit healer. What did you mean when you said your brother was using me?”
Lucian walked over to her. He stopped only a breath away. She tried to take a step back, but Sorana blocked her path. Lucian touched her bound hands and she flinched as he raised them up. One of his hands held hers, and his other held a black sheath. He clicked a button and a knife appeared. Ariel’s body tensed with fear and her breathing turned ragged.
“These hands,” he said, running his thumb over her fingertips, “are going to do wonderful things for me. They’re going to change the world.” Lucian cut the zip tie with his blade.
“How?” she whispered.
“All in good time. I prefer to discuss these matters over a good meal.” He turned and walked away.
“Wait!” she cried before he left the room. She took a step towards him but Sorana’s hand clamped on her shoulder. Sorana squeezed with an inhuman strength and Ariel gasped at the sudden force.
“Stay here, Bogdan,” Lucian said to the large man standing by the door, then slipped out of the room. When he closed the door, Ariel shuddered.
“Come,” Sorana said. Still clutching Ariel’s shoulder, she dragged her captive to the vanity and pushed her down on the white upholstered stool. Ariel looked at herself in the mirror and grimaced at the sight. Her face was smeared with dirt and grime from the cemetery, her braid knotted and greasy from sweat, and now that she could smell Sorana’s perfume, Ariel realized she stank.
A knock at the door sounded and Bogdan opened it to allow another man – and a ghost, another woman – to enter. He carried a beautiful grey gown, the bodice and skirt studded with sparkling black glass beads. He placed it on the chaise next to the vanity and left without a word. But the second ghost approached the first, and together they began speaking rapidly in a language Ariel didn’t understand. Which meant it was unlikely they were still in England.
“Where are we?” Ariel asked tentatively.
“A bedroom,” Sorana said. She pulled the elastic from Ariel’s hair and picked up a brush.
“What are you doing?”
“Lucian prefers his guests to dress for dinner.” She ran the brush through Ariel’s tangles, yanking out hairs and bruising her scalp with the harsh bristles. “Your hair is a mess,” she said, dropping leaves and twigs on the floor. She twisted the dark locks into an elegant bun on the top of Ariel’s head.
