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Sword, she replied. He dead, she dead.
I closed my eyes against the rush of relief and tears. Valdis’s furious flames might be a good sign, but that didn’t mean he’d escaped unscathed. Didn’t mean that death might not yet be his fate.
Damn it, he couldn’t die. I wouldn’t let him!
I reached down to grab Valdis, then hesitated and asked, Amaya, will Valdis mind me picking her up?
No, she replied. One you are.
Meaning me and Azriel, I gathered, not me and Valdis. Can you speak to her?
If wish.
Ask her if she knows where Azriel is.
Amaya was silent for a moment, then said, Know not. Alive is all.
I grimaced, but I’d guessed it wasn’t going to be that easy. Not given who undoubtedly had him.
Fear rose again, but I shut it down ruthlessly. Now was not the time for panic or fear. If it was Lauren who had him—and really, this had her fingerprints all over it, not Hunter’s—then it would be for one reason: to either get me to come to her or to hold him as ransom until the key was found.
Either way, she’d be in contact with me sooner rather than later, and that meant I had better get myself organized and ready to fight.
Because this would end.
Lauren, or Mike, or whatever the hell his or her name really was, had caused enough problems and done enough damage. I’d stopped Lucian and I’d fucking stop her, as well.
Something heavy hit the door behind me, the sound echoing loudly in the dusty chamber. I jumped and spun. The door quivered under the impact but held firm. For how much longer I had no idea. I scooped Valdis up, then stalked across to the standing stones. They didn’t react to my presence, but then, none of them ever had when I’d been in human form. I hesitated, then reached out and tentatively touched the surface of one of them.
The black stone was cool and slick under my fingertips, but within its heart, energy pulsed, making it seem as if the rock was alive and waiting. And I guess in some ways it was, as that beat was the magic, ready to react.
Stepping through the gateway would be the obvious action if I wanted to find Azriel, but I had no doubt that that was precisely what Lauren wanted. Just as I had no doubt that there’d be some sort of trap waiting for me on the other side of this gateway.
The door shuddered under another impact. I bit my lip and glanced over my shoulder. There were serious dents and splits in it now; it wouldn’t take too many more blows before it gave way.
I returned my gaze to the stones. It was tempting—so tempting—to throw caution to the wind and step through them. But as much as I wanted to find Azriel and finally kill our sorceress, it would be a stupid course of action. I couldn’t risk everything on the chance that I’d somehow be able to defeat Lauren as I was right now. Besides, it wasn’t just my life I was risking these days, but that of my child.
Lauren had been one step ahead of us all the way; there was no reason to believe she still wasn’t. And Mike had seen the charm on my wrist, and no doubt he/she had already found a way to counter it.
I needed advice. I needed a plan. And the only people who could offer that in this sort of situation were once again the Brindle witches. But they would also need to know what they were up against. We weren’t dealing with just a sorceress capable of blood magic; we were dealing with one who’d been taught the art of Aedh magic. And whether the Brindle witches could even counter it, I had no idea.
Another blow hit the door, and this time the small split became a fissure. I thrust Valdis through my shirt to keep her secure and free my hands, then pushed up my sleeves and squatted beside the nearest stone. I took a deep breath that failed to calm the butterflies doing speed laps around my stomach, then wrapped my arms around the stone and heaved upward. The damn thing was lighter than it looked and came away so easily from the concrete that I just about flung it over my shoulders.
I hugged it close, my bare arms against the slick stone, its inner pulse beating against my skin. Moving it away from its twin obviously hadn’t done anything to disrupt whatever magic fueled these things.
As the door’s hinges began to groan and give way under the force of yet more blows, I called to the Aedh—and hoped like hell the stone would change right along with the rest of me.
It did.
Though it felt damn weird. It was almost as if I had an additional heart, but its pulse was oddly dark and foul in feel. I turned and watched as the door finally gave way and two men entered, one carrying what looked like some sort of ax, without the sharper end. As they glanced around, confusion on their faces, I slipped past them and made my way back through the warehouse and out into the night.
It took me longer than it normally would have to get across to the Brindle. The magic contained within my particles was not only heavy, but also very draining. The lack of strength might have been due to my inability to keep food down of late—which meant I was running more on reserves and determination than anything else—but I rather suspected it was more to do with the stone itself. Our sorceress had created these things, at least in part, through her own blood and life force. Maybe the magic sustained itself that way, too. And because I had wrapped it within my particles, it had naturally started draining me.
The Brindle finally came into sight. I shifted downward, calling to the Aedh and flowing into human form on the grassy area at the front of the building. I stumbled and hit the ground knees first, my body shaking and my head light. The stone was still clasped tight to my chest, so I released the thing and instantly felt a little better. A little cleaner.
I drew a shuddery breath, then looked up at the Brindle, waiting for someone to come out. I didn’t want to cart the stone inside—and seriously doubted I’d be able to, anyway, given the Brindle’s restrictions on evil entering its space—but I had no doubt the witches would be aware of my sudden appearance. They would have at least felt the ripple of the st
one’s foulness across the magic that protected this place.
