Fireborne, p.25
Fireborne, page 25
part #1 of Raven Cursed Series
“She knows that, but even with Cory, there’ll only be five of us and an army of them. I’d prefer some backup.”
“And the object?”
“STF doesn’t want it. Madison wants it destroyed and it should be. If Malific is as dangerous as you say, I want her in the Veil and bound.”
An internal debate played out on his face. It wasn’t Madison’s assistance that was the issue, it was the object. I didn’t think he wanted it destroyed.
Eventually he said, “I’ll let them know.”
His face was unreadable, but his intentions were loud and clear. My objective was to save Victoria and get to the object before Mephisto could. And destroy it.
CHAPTER 28
I would risk my life for this magic.
It sounded so melodramatic, Oscar winning, the queen of theatrics, and all things over the top, but that’s how I felt with Clay, Simeon, and Mephisto in the SUV. Cory’s magic became a trace, barely detectable among their overpowering magic. Kai refusing to ride with us was fortunate. It would have been too much.
Midway to our destination, I fought the urge to make them stop so I could get in one of the two cars following us. It wouldn’t have been a reprieve from magic, just a change of magic—adrenaline-heavy magic. There wasn’t a good situation. Remembering my agreement with Mephisto eased some of my discomfort. In a short time, this wouldn’t be an issue. The thought consumed me as we drove into the night.
Getting out of the car, Cory sidled up next to me. I wished he’d taken my advice to stay behind, but I couldn’t come up with an acceptable reason to keep him away. He wasn’t at any more risk than Madison and the STF because their magic and weapons weren’t effective against the Immortalis.
We all looked at the barren land. Stretches and stretches of fallow land, lightly lit by the emerging moon. Madison moved next to me, a reassuring hand pressing against my back. It was a little unnerving how well she knew me. Unobtrusively, she slid between me and Mephisto. Claire slipped between me and Clay, but not before she gave him an overenthusiastic smile, showing all her teeth. A flash of brightness in the dim night. Based on the arch of his brow and the discomforted look he cast in her direction, if it wouldn’t have been rude to move away from her, I was pretty sure he would have.
“This is the right place,” Mephisto confirmed, raising his hand to lightly touch the air. “A Mirra.”
Mirras were at the top of my least favorite things list. They were different than wards, where hints of magic drifting off them gave away their existence, and if you were especially skilled, the diaphanous patches of discoloration that never quite blended could be detected. Mirras were indistinguishable from what they mimicked. The scent of dry destitute earth soaked the air and wisps of oak breezed in from the trees that I could see in the distance. I would have driven past the place completely unaware that something more existed behind the illusion.
Everyone did another quick weapons check, even me: backup double-edged karambit, cuffs clipped at my back, Asher’s knife at my waist, another knife sheathed at my ankle, and the holstered Glock. I was fully aware that none of them could kill the Immortalis—just injure them momentarily. It was disheartening. I wanted to be more than a distraction; I wanted to permanently stop them.
As we did with the fire at Elizabeth’s, we walked through the deceptive cloaking screen and into a crowd of dense trees, magic-laden air and vibrant lush grass. The lively beauty didn’t belie the dark and ominous energy that coursed through forest. If we had doubted the location, this confirmed it.
“This is it,” said one of Madison’s team. “I hear invocations.”
He changed into his animal form, nudging the other shifters to follow. The first to move in the direction of the invocations, the three shifters made use of their long, powerful legs and cleared the area fast enough that I had to run to keep up.
Mephisto pulled in behind the others, his movements mirroring mine with just a second’s delay. It only took several zags of movement in an attempt to get around him to make me realize that he was purposely keeping me back, slowing my advance.
“What are you doing?” I snapped.
He stopped abruptly, blocking my way. Two large trees flanked me and a massive oak a few inches beyond narrowed the path enough that I’d have to turn sideways to get past him.
“I’m trying to decide if it’s a good idea for you to go,” he admitted.
“It is. Move.” I gave him a little shove.
“You took magic from one, without the penalty of death. They came after you and we don’t know why. I’m not sure you’ll be safe,” he offered.
The others were getting too far ahead, dispersing to cover all areas.
“We’re having this discussion now? They don’t want me dead. If they did, as you so eloquently said, I would be.”
“They wanted you.”
My bravado made me appear far more confident than I felt, and I recalled the putrid feeling of death that overtook me the moment I took the Immortalis’s magic. I could happily go a lifetime without feeling that again, but if that’s all I had to stop them, it was still an option.
“I stopped him before, I’ll do it again.”
He frowned. “Just don’t die,” he said, drawing his sword.
“Great advice,” I mumbled. “Before you said that, my go-to plan was just to die.” The cynic in me wondered if they wanted me to stay behind to ensure that I didn’t destroy the object.
He scowled at me before moving aside and letting me pass. After several more feet, the narrow pathway opened up. The light rhythmic sway of the branches moved faster the farther in we went, the leaves whipping erratically and violently.
A mere touch of a dehydrated and brittle tree trunk caused bark to crumble from it. The verdant grass turned brown and crunched underfoot. The wilted trees and dead grass led us to Victoria better than any of our senses. Madison was already taking magic from the earth.
There were about twenty Immortalis working quickly around an incensed-looking Victoria, who was secured to a tree. The fiery rage on her face promised violent retaliation the moment she was capable of it. The intricate tannin markings on her face and arms guaranteed she wouldn’t be given the opportunity to seek revenge. Her furious eyes moved over her clothing and then the markings, and I wasn’t sure which disgusted her more, the poly-blend fabric of the formless tank dress they had her in, the bindings on her limbs, or the markings stained on her body to restrict her magic. A glance at Mephisto, who looked equally disgusted, made me guess the poly-blend fashion.
The Immortalis were using intricate hand movements, their lips moving just as fervently as their hands. A blade lay next to Victoria, and a black icosahedron-shaped object lay on a white cloth. The ground shook, a small tremble that startled the Immortalis, drawing their attention from Victoria. Madison’s hand pressed to the earth, her eyes intense as she caused the ground to quake. The Immortalis turned to us, using various methodical movements to cast spells and violent waves of magic in our direction. Dodging a bolt, I saw a shifter blasted hard into a tree.
A mage waved his hand and patches of dirt and grass ripped from the ground in front of one of the Immortalis, the dirt flying up into his face and reddening his eyes. The Immortalis’s hand movements changed and the mage dropped to his knees. He howled in pain before collapsing on his back, convulsing. The Immortalis switched his attention from the jerking mage to Mephisto, sword in hand, charging him. The rote movements of the Immortalis stopped abruptly as he seemed to focus on the markings on the blade. Mephisto shoved the blade into him. The Immortalis dropped to his knees. Mephisto yanked the sword out and shifted his weight. I couldn’t turn my head away fast enough to miss the swift arc of movement that beheaded the Immortalis. Blood dampened the ground.
Bolting toward Victoria, Simeon kept pace with me before diverging to the right. The gust of wind from an Immortalis hit me hard, knocking me off my feet. The hammering blast continued battering into my side before abruptly stopping when the Immortalis suffered the same fate from Simeon’s sword that the other had.
A wave from Claire and fire roared around them. Moments later, the blaze was briefly frozen in thick ice until it exploded into shards of ice that sprayed the area. A magical guard was erected, but I couldn’t see who had done it. Probably Cory, but it fell just as quickly as it was created.
A large wolf soared past me and hit the ground with a thud. It howled in pain but managed to come to its feet, only to have a spiraling bolt of magic thrash into its side, knocking it down again. It was breathing, but it was labored and inconsistent.
Sharp cries of pain pulled my attention to the leopard tearing into the arm of the Immortalis who injured the wolf.
The fighting paused when another Immortalis fell victim to Mephisto’s blade. The commotion stopped entirely when his lifeless, headless body dropped to the ground. No movement. The Immortalis eyed the blade and quickly retreated from the only weapon that could kill them.
I placed my focus on the magical object, which was being guarded by the Immortalis I’d tangled with in Sumner’s office. His fingers curling into claws, his hands circled one another, growing in speed with each revolution until he’d conjured a lilac ball that he hurled at me. They might have wanted me alive, but they didn’t care in what condition. I dropped to the ground and it smashed into the tree behind me. Bark pelted me. Drawing my gun, I came to my feet and shot, hitting him in the chest. Crimson colored his shirt, and he staggered back but did not fall.
“Your left,” Victoria yelled, but I couldn’t move fast enough. The arrow-shaped magic didn’t penetrate like an arrow, but it delivered concentrated pain. Hunched over, I searched for the assailant. I watched him drop to his knees, face folding into a painful grimace before he fell face forward to the ground. Kai pulled the dagger from the Immortalis’s back and gave me a quick nod.
Shooting him a sign of appreciation, I ignored the chaos around me, the tree bark splattering, shaking ground, magic-drenched air, leaves fluttering, howls and cries of pain. Focused on Victoria and the magical object, I moved toward them. From my peripheral vision, I saw a wave of magic coming at me. I lunged for the white cloth, my hands shielding my head as the magic scraped over my skin. It was like sandpaper. Pain seared through me. I grabbed the object. It was far lighter than I expected. And stronger. Smashing it against a tree didn’t even crack it.
Five Immortalis stalked toward me, their hands moving rapidly, lips working, magic thrashing off them. They ignored the object in my hand and focused solely on me. One of them held a blade. A vibrant wave of color rippled next to me. Their approach came faster and so did their words. I let the object slip from my hand and dropped to a crouch. Karambit in hand, I planted my feet and crouched lower to get better balance. It wasn’t enough to resist the swell of magic. Dropping the karambit, I grabbed Asher’s blade and stabbed it into the ground, tethering me. My arms strained from gripping it. I took a chance and removed one of my hands to grab the karambit and hurl it at them. It was enough of a distraction for them to lose the rhythm of the spell. The magic’s intensity decreased.
A blade punctured one of them and brought him to his knees. Life left him as fast as the blade had pierced him. Kai moved with a swift grace as the other Immortalis veered away, afraid to fall victim to his weapon. They didn’t use magic against him. When Simeon charged with his sword in hand, they retreated, again without using magic in defense. Two Immortalis fell to Simeon’s blade. Another Immortalis Wynded away. That left one, whose determination to reach me didn’t waver. What the hell did he want from me?
The karambit blade blocked the knife he thrust at me. I ripped Asher’s blade from the ground and plunged it into his thigh. He stumbled back and I yanked it out, watching blood spread over his pants and then the wound mesh and heal as if it had never been. I cursed under my breath and attacked. Slashes with the karambit, figure eights, moving smooth and fast, jabs of the blade, the sole purpose to keep him on the defensive and unable to use his magic.
He Wynded from me and I heard the distinctive whoosh behind me. I whirled to find him trying to grab the magical object. Distracted by the wave of magic Madison thrust at him that left him untouched, I snatched up the magical object and secured it close to me. Madison’s hand went to the tree next to her, which dried and shriveled, dead leaves falling from it as she pulled its energy to make more magic. Magic that didn’t have any effect on him. But Mephisto advancing, wielding his sword, had him retreating. The Immortalis used the trees to do his fighting, adopting the same tactic we used on them, using magic against objects as a defense. It confirmed what I suspected: Their magic didn’t work on Mephisto and the Others. Branches tore from the tree and speared in Mephisto’s direction. Then he Wynded out, the branches falling uselessly to the ground.
Mephisto turned to me. “Do you have it?”
I held the object out.
“A Roboro gem,” he whispered, inching closer and extending his hand for it.
Shaking my head, I secured it to me.
“Erin, give it to me,” he demanded.
“I can’t. It needs to be destroyed.” There were rules I’d violate on a whim, laws that I bucked at, but a promise to Madison was something I couldn’t break.
“Erin.” His voice was sharp and commanding. Mephisto was a collector of powerful objects. Arrogant and overly confident enough to think he could keep it from falling into the wrong hands. I didn’t share that confidence. Even if I did, I never wanted to be in this situation again.
“I don’t care what you think you need it for, I can’t risk the Immortalis getting their hands on it again. We can’t risk it. I won’t risk it.”
Mephisto surveyed the area in silence. “Erin,” he entreated. “Please.”
“I promised Madison I would destroy it,” I explained. A dense cloud of Mephisto’s magic smoothed the air as he coveted the object in my hand. I watched him carefully, fully expecting him to use magic to take it from me.
“I promised Madison,” I repeated, the words weighted with the importance of my commitment. The awareness was expressed in his. I kept my promises. If I made a promise to him, I would keep it and I’m sure he would hold me to it.
His magic feathered along my skin. And then there was the Immortalis magic that lingered as a heavy musk in the air. Hints of it that floated in the air seemed forbidden.
Placing the Roboro gem against the tree closest to me, I smashed the mother of pearl handle of Asher’s gifted blade into it. Chips fell, and more crumbled with repeated assaults.
Holding Mephisto’s gaze, I spread the chipped pieces about, surreptitiously keeping several chips for myself so that it could never be made whole.
It was done. And couldn’t be undone.
CHAPTER 29
The balance in my account made me grin. Victoria had paid me with a bonus to ensure discretion and send another subtle “snitches get stitches” warning. I would keep her secret as long as I could, but the Immortalis were out there, and although the Roboro gem had been destroyed, they would be looking for other objects that could restore their magic. Victoria wasn’t safe. The extra money was a payment for silence but also for bodyguard work. It seemed easy enough, to make sure she wasn’t snatched again.
My phone rang with a notification showing a text from Asher.
I came by your home with your requested item. You weren’t there. I waited with your Ms. Harp. She’s delightful. Call me.
I wasn’t sure who this joker had waited with, but it definitely wasn’t Ms. Harp. I was just about to call and tell him he had been with an imposter when I was interrupted by a knock at the door. Ms. Harp’s silver-gray hair was all I could see from the peephole. I swung open the door.
“Is everything okay? Are you okay?” The rush of panic elevated my voice, and she frowned.
“Honey, are you always like this? Calm down, no one should be this anxious.”
I was astonished to see her at my door. Her cane was hooked around her arm and occasionally she scanned the hallways, presumably on the lookout for Chatty Cathys she’d have to avoid to get back to her apartment and Judge Judy.
“I’m fine…. You never come to visit. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”
It was an effort not to point out that we had exchanged more words in the past few minutes than we had in the last three months.
“I won’t take up much of your time, just wanted to make sure you called your friend. He was waiting for you. Seems like a nice man.” Her words sounded casual, but the smile that flourished on her face told a different story. Even cranky Ms. Harp had been swayed by Asher’s charm.
“Thank you. Next time you don’t have to host him. He can just text me and wait for me to return.”
“It was my pleasure. He’s a very nice man and he enjoys Judy as much as I do.”
Really?
Before I could get “too chatty” with her, she waved me a goodbye and started for her apartment, her cane still hooked on her arm.
“You enjoy Judge Judy?” I asked as soon as Asher answered the phone.
“I enjoyed it with Ms. Harp,” he corrected. My cynicism never rested. I wondered why he was ingratiating himself to her? “She’s someone I’ve wanted to meet for a long time. There have been many rumors and I wanted to see if there was any truth to them.”
“Ms. Harp?”
“Shifter.”
“No.”
People with weak magical signatures often slipped by me, but shifter magic was hard to miss, even if you could ignore the torrid bursts of primal energy that pulsed from them. One look at their eyes would clue you in that they weren’t just human. The intensity of their otherness was too strong to ignore. And their eyes. They glowed at night.
“She’s actually a witch/shifter hybrid,” Asher clarified.
“What?” I prided myself on my extensive knowledge of this world, but now I felt like a fledgling. I didn’t like the feeling.
