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A ball of lilac erupted from the sword’s side and shot toward Myer. She swore and dove away, but there was no escaping Amaya’s cage. As the door behind me began to beep, Amaya’s flames flashed around Myer and pinned her to the spot. In half-flesh, half-Aedh form, I moved over.
“I’m sorry,” I said, “but it was either this or kill you, and I really don’t want to do the latter.”
And with that, I raised Amaya and knocked Myer out. As she dropped limply to the floor, the door crashed open and the security guard all but fell into the room. I became full Aedh and flowed past him as he ran for the unconscious Myer.
I made my way through the halls of the Directorate and up the stairwell to the lobby. Once I was out in the street, I shot down Collins Street, heading for Lucian’s grand old apartment building. Thankfully, there still weren’t any workmen on the site, but I guess that was not surprising given he’d only recently died and it was doubtful his will had even been read yet.
Azriel was waiting inside the almost finished lobby, out of sight from those walking by on the pavement. I became flesh, tugged my clothing back into some sort of order, and said, “We haven’t got much time. I knocked Myer unconscious but I have no idea if she managed to get a message off to Hunter or not.”
“Then we need to go.”
He caught my hand, and a second later we were standing on the rooftop of the pale green building that held the key. I pulled my fingers from his and ran to the raised edge. The coat of arms was positioned in what looked like a circle that had had its top section lopped off. Sitting on top of this flatter bit was a rising sun, but it was easy enough to lean past this bit of ornamentation to get to the shield. Energy flickered across the shield as I reached for it, as if acknowledging my presence. It was dark and unclean in its feel, snapping at my fingers.
The Dušan crawled from my flesh, leaving just its tail wrapped around my wrist, gripped the bottom of the shield with tiny claws, and pulled it free. It swung around and crawled back, the shield seeming to shrink in its grip.
I grabbed it from the Dušan before she reached my flesh, suddenly fearful she was going to leach it into my skin. The last thing I needed was the key to hell sitting right alongside the two charms that had become permanent tattoos on my wrists thanks to the Dušan. She hissed, looking annoyed as she returned to her usual position on my left wrist.
The shield was little more than palm sized, but oddly heavy. I heaved it over my head, brought it down on the concrete edge, and smashed it into four uneven chunks.
I tossed one to Azriel. “You keep that one safe. I’ll give one to Tao up in the sacred site, then take the third bit to the remnants.”
He didn’t look happy. “And the fourth?”
“I’ll need something to offer Hunter. Once we kill her, we’ll decide where it should go.”
He nodded, half disappeared, then hesitated and said, “Be careful. It is likely Hunter now knows of your attack on Myer, and she will not react well.”
“I know—which is why I won’t be going back to the café or anywhere else familiar.”
“Good. I’ll come to you, so wait for me before you do anything Hunter related.” He disappeared.
I glanced down at the three remaining pieces of key. I couldn’t hold them all, simply because I needed to keep one hand free in case I had to draw Amaya. And while concrete should change with me, the key was actually metal. The concrete was just a disguise it wore in this world. And that meant it might have to touch skin. I bit my lip, debating the merits of bra versus tucking them into the back of my jeans, and went for the latter simply because my bras had a tendency to be shredded by the Aedh shift.
I called to th
e Aedh and, in particle form, took to the sky. With as much speed as I could muster, I headed for Mount Macedon and the old sacred site that was now Tao’s home—at least for the evenings.
Dawn was beginning to creep pink fingers through the night sky as I arrived. I swept down to ground level and changed form but landed rather ungainly and half fell onto one knee. I grunted in pain but thrust upright, ignoring the dizziness threatening to topple me again as I ran for the old wrought-iron gates that guarded this place. As before, they were padlocked, the lock ancient and heavy, and the chain as thick as my arm. I swerved left and headed for the old chain fence that disappeared into the darkness to either side of the main gate. I leapt up, grabbed the top of the fence, and dropped, somewhat inelegantly, to the ground on the other side. My fingers brushed the dirt as I steadied myself and scanned the shadow-filled landscape around.
“Tao?” I said. “I need to talk to you.”
There was no reply. But then, if he was still in elemental form, he wouldn’t be able to. I bit my lip for a moment, tension slithering through me, aware that time was slipping from my grasp and the longer I stood here, the more time Hunter had to bait her traps.
I swore and forced my feet forward, following the faint path through the trees and the darkness. Shapes loomed through the shadows—small buildings that smelled of smoke and ancient magic, as well as various lichen- and moss-covered stony figures that, even at night, seemed to cast long shadows. I shivered, shoved my imagination back in its box, and strode on.
The path meandered its way through the trees, sometimes widening into broader clearings but generally remaining little more than a goat track. The wind lifted my hair from the nape of my neck and smelled faintly of decomposing forest matter, eucalyptus, and the musk of kangaroo.
But the farther I walked into the mountain’s heart, the stronger another scent became—wolf and magic and fire, all weirdly combined.
“Tao?”
My voice seemed abnormally loud in the silence. An odd sort of tension began to slither through the trees, and the forest somehow seemed more alert.
I slowed my steps and proceeded more cautiously. Ahead, through the trees, light danced, a fierce orange glow that sent sparks cascading into the air and filled the rising dawn with the raw aroma of burning green wood.
It was the witch fire—the fire from which the elemental had come, and what Tao now had to help protect.
The glow of the fire grew stronger, until its warmth and electricity rode the air. The flames moved and danced in a manner that almost seemed to suggest awareness—as if there were still beings inside of it, ready to come out given the right incantation. And maybe there were—maybe that was why the elemental was so determined to protect this place and this fire. He had kin within the flames.
