Bitter Night (23 page)

Max swung from her neck, twisting and wiggling until at last her toes scraped the floor again and she came to a teetering halt. She gasped wrenchingly, her face scarlet. “I’m going to kill you,” she whispered at Selange, who was locking the cell.

“You’re not going to have the chance. As for this’” The witch held up the pouch containing the hailstone. “You should have used it when you had the chance. Now I will use it to become stronger than any Guardian.”

“She ...gave ...it ...to ...me,” Max wheezed. “Use it ...and you’ll ...be ...cursed.” She laughed, a coughing, hacking sound that knocked her off her feet again.

Selange watched her, the tip of her tongue running back and forth over her lower lip. Finally she shook herself. “I will take that into consideration. In the meantime, you can stew about just how stupid you were not to take advantage of the hailstone when you had the chance.”

The witch went to the wall and pressed her hand against it. A shimmer of pink witchlight flickered over a small square area, then a compartment popped open. The inside was lined with metal and held a wood box. Selange twisted open the lid and put in the pouch, then closed and replaced the box. She shut the door and sealed it with magic.

“It will be safe there until I’m ready for it. Think of it’the means of your salvation only a few feet away and you can’t do a thing to get it. I bet that chews you up, doesn’t it? But don’t worry, I don’t plan to give you all that much time to agonize. I will harvest you, too. I will unwind the magic that makes you. The more you suffer, the more you hate, the more you fight’all of that will feed my strength.”

With that, Selange opened the door and stepped out. A few minutes later, Thor apeared. He pushed into Alexander’s unlocked cell and used a pair of wire cutters to snip the heavy cable ties.

Alexander could not help jerking away when Thor lifted him to his feet. He could not stop the memory of the other man standing in front of Max’s Tahoe with an Uzi cradled in his hands. For the first time since that night, he felt fury at Selange’s dismissal and his own Shadowblades’ betrayal. He felt Thor recoil as his anger swelled into something almost tangible. The air grew thick and heavy. Thor retreated a couple of steps, eyeing Alexander warily. “Selange wants you ready to roll by sundown. She says to put a feed bag on you and let you have your sticks and stones back. Says you’re one of us again.”

“Never wasn’t,” Alexander said, glaring. The Texan’s gaze dropped almost instantly. Alexander’s fists knotted and he strode out of the cell. He halted outside of Max’s. She met his gaze for the first time since he had helped capture her. He felt the impact like a blow to his chest. He glanced up at the rope knotted to the metal loop above her. He could loosen it. Over decades, the spells Selange had layered into him had connected, fused together, and evolved, allowing him a certain amount of telekinetic power. Only Selange knew of it, and if he loosened the rope, she would know he had done it. He could not risk it.

He gave Max one more hard look. She was a survivor. She was not going to let Selange kill her easily. With any luck he would be back to free her before dawn.

He spun around and started out of the room, pausing to twist off the faucet and click off the heater. That much he could get away with.

“It would be stupid to let her die before Selange is ready for her,” he said aloud. He followed Thor into the hallway and shut the door firmly. He would be back, and whatever it took, he would get Max out. He had to. He would be damned if he did less for her than she had for him.

12

AN HOUR LATER ALEXANDER FOUND HIMSELF back in the gray van. Cleo drove, Brynna sat shotgun, Thor slouched beside Alexander on the right, and on his left hulked Mercury. No one spoke. Alexander clenched and unclenched his fists. Mercury took out a knife and started jabbing it into the upholstery. Thor rolled his thumb over his forefinger in an endless circle. It was the only outward sign of his distress. Brynna tapped her polished nails on the dash. The sound hammered sharp and hard at Alexander’s skull.

They were headed for Balboa Park and the zoo. The other two teams of Shadowblades were headed for Sea-World and the beach. Bile filled Alexander’s mouth at the thought of what they had been ordered to do. Even the endlessly ambitious Brynna was troubled. Alexander had always refused to attack innocents when he was bound to Selange, though he was aware she had employed others willing enough to conduct such ugly business on her behalf. Her Tatane familiar topped that list. Jade-eyed Kev was a stone-cold killer.

They reached their destination all too soon. They parked on the west side of the park grounds near the miniature railroad. There were still cars in the parking lot, despite the fact that the railroad and the zoo had closed for the night. Usually families crowded the park on a midsummer’s night, picnicking and listening to music and attending the variety of other events. But a thick pall of smoke from the southern fires hung low, and he hoped those families had found other things to do this night.

Thor stepped out onto the pavement. He carried a pellet gun. Lifting it, he shot out the streetlights with casual ease, and sheltering darkness settled over them.

Quickly the other four levered themselves out of the van. Thor climbed back inside to return the pellet gun to its brackets.

“We should split up,” Alexander said when no one seemed willing to take charge. Who wanted to be in charge of such a despicable mission as this? “We will be less likely to be noticed.”

“No,” Brynna said. She pointed a finger at him. “I don’t know what the fuck you’re up to, Alexander, or what you told Selange, but you are not one of us, and I’m not letting you out of my sight.”

He shrugged. “Then the rest of you scatter and see what you can find. Take some tape. We do not want screaming.” Rolls of duct tape were piled in a sack in the back.

For a long moment, no one moved. Then Brynna snarled and snatched up the bag. She handed a roll of tape to each of them and took one for herself, sliding it up on her arm like an industrial bracelet. “Fine. Questions? Kids no older than six. Don’t worry about mistakes. We’ll sort it out later when we’re back at the covenstead. If we get a couple that won’t work, we’ll take care of it later.”

Take care of it? Did she mean kill them? Did it matter? For what Selange wanted to do, children would die. Alexander turned the tape in his hands. He had had every intention of following through with this. He planned to go after the children and bide his time until he could disable his companions. Then he would release the children and hightail it back to the coven-stead to get Max. He grimaced. Idiot plan. He should have known he could not go through with terrorizing little boys and girls. Not even for what he owed Max. He did not think she would blame him, much as she despised him now.

He eyed his companions. Thor was still in the van. Good. Alexander drew a breath, shaking his head slowly. They were about to find out exactly what made him Prime.

With blinding speed he rammed his fist into Brynna’s back, then caught her back-flung head and twisted it sharply on the stalk of her neck. Bones cracked loudly and she made a single gasping sound. A look of absolute shock was on her face as she stared at him, her head turned the wrong way around on her body. Then she slumped. She was dead. Shadowblades were strong, but not invincible’a lesson she frequently forgot.

His attack had taken only a second. Alexander pivoted and flung Brynna’s body at Mercury. The other man staggered backward and grappled her aside. Alexander ducked as a shot rang out. A bullet whistled past his head. Another creased his neck. Thor was shooting from the van. Cleo’s Glock had hardly cleared the holster on her hip.

Alexander lunged for her. She had a bad habit of planting her feet. It made her slow to move and react. He had spent many hours trying to train her out of it. Now he was grateful. He seized her wrist with both hands. Her gun went off, bucking in her hand. Alexander gripped hard, twisting and bending. Bones snapped. She screamed in agony.

She punched him in the ear with her other hand. Pain exploded through his skull. But his bone-strengthening spells were old and powerful. He shook off the momentary blurriness in his vision and swung her hard around, hurling her toward Thor, who was outside the van now. He was the better shot of the three. He was also smarter and faster. One day he would be a good Prime.

More gunshots. One burrowed into the back of Alexander’s thigh. Another pinged from the fender. Alexander yanked the mirror from the door and flung it at Mercury. He followed it, never stopping. He was fast’faster than they knew. He had never showed them all that he could do, nor how viciously he was willing to fight.

He lunged low, shouldering into the blocky man’s legs. It was not enough to do any real damage, but it gave Alexander time to reach into Mercury’s knees and shatter them with his telekinesis. The joints cracked sickeningly. Mercury made a high-pitched sound and crumpled to the pavement even as three of Thor’s bullets pounded Alexander’s chest in quick succession. The impact slammed him backward. The pain was fierce and his right arm went numb. But astonishingly, Thor had missed anything vital. Alexander let the momentum of the bullets carry him over. He somersaulted backward onto his feet, snatching for his gun in the small of his back with his left hand as he rolled. A bare second later he was on his feet, breathing raggedly.

“Do you think you can get me before I drill you?” Thor drawled in his Texan twang.

Alexander froze. He might be able to foul Thor’s gun with telekinesis, but breaking Mercury’s knees had cost him. He had four bullet wounds and was losing blood fast. Between the two, he could not muster the focus he needed.

Cleo had come to her feet, her face twisted in fury. “Kill the bastard,” she urged, cradling her mangled hand against her chest. Mercury lay on the ground clutching his knees and swearing.

Thor ignored her. “Brynna said we couldn’t trust you. Guess she was right.”

“I will not hunt children,” Alexander said flatly.

“Then you don’t want back into Aulne Rouge. Because that’s the price.”

Alexander lifted his chin, a muscle in his cheek twitching. He said nothing.

Cleo suddenly swore. “I knew it. This was bullshit all along. I couldn’t figure out why you would agree to catching kids, no matter how bad you wanted back in. I figured you had to be up to something. What is it?”

What was he going to do? Cleo and Mercury would not heal quickly’if he could take out Thor, he could deal with the other two. His right arm hung at his side, nearly useless. Blood soaked his shirt and ran down his leg. His healing spells had been so taxed in the last couple of days that they would be slow to close his wounds. Thor was unhurt. Alexander knew he could not defeat him physically. He had to try telekinesis. Max was depending on him, whether she knew it or not. His hand tightened on the grip of his gun dangling at his side.

“Are you going to finish what you started the other night?” he asked, playing for time as he collected his focus. He was only going to have one chance at this. “You were eager enough for my blood. So much for friendship.”

“We were never friends,” Cleo said sharply.

“I noticed.” Alexander paused, then gave an inward shrug. Why not say it? It did not matter if they did not believe him. But saying the words did. “I am sorry. I should have been a better Prime. Had I been’I am beginning to learn what makes a good Prime and I was not. Not like I could have been.”

Thor frowned. “What’re you talking about? You always did okay by us.”

The corner of Alexander’s mouth went up, thinking of Max and her Shadowblades. “Not enough to keep you from trying to kill me.”

“We had our orders. It wasn’t personal,” Thor said.

“Maybe it should have been,” Alexander said quietly.

“We’re wasting time,” Cleo said. “My fucking arm is killing me and Mercury is crying like a baby. Put a bullet in his fucking head and let’s get outta here.”

Thor sucked his teeth and gave a faint shake of his head. “Not so fast. I figure Selange is going to want to have a little talk with him.” His head tipped to the side as he scrutinized Alexander. His pale eyes narrowed. “I never would’ve figured you to turn on Selange. Never heard of a more loyal Prime than you.”

“She cut me loose,” Alexander said. “I do not owe her anything.”

Thor shook his head. “Doesn’t make sense. Somebody else maybe, but not you. And why come back with her’the other witch’s Prime?”

Alexander felt himself smile as if someone else, some alien force, had taken possession of him. Or perhaps it was that for the first time in many years he was letting go of a habitual disguise, a second skin that he could no longer endure. Maybe the real alien was the man he truly was, without disguise.

“She is my Prime,” he said, elucidating every word carefully so that no one could mistake them.

“Your Prime?” scoffed Cleo. “That’s a load of crap. You’d never serve any witch but Selange, and you sure as hell wouldn’t give up being Prime for some scrawny bitch who wouldn’t know how to find her ass with both hands.”

“Would I not?” Alexander asked, never looking away from Thor. “Maybe I found a Prime worth serving.”

“We’re Shadowblades. We serve witches,” Thor corrected, staring intently.

Alexander lifted his shoulder in a half shrug.

“Why?” Thor asked. Alexander could hear the belief growing in the other man’s voice.

“She defied her witch for me, when she should have left me to die. She should have let her Shadowblades kill me. She offered me freedom. Any one of those would be enough.”

Thor didn’t immediately answer. Then: “What were you doing in Julian?”

“Same as you. And now I have to get her away from Selange.”

“That’s it?”

Alexander knew what Thor was asking: was he planning to hurt Selange? Nervous hope unfurled through his tense muscles. Thor would not be asking if he was not considering helping Alexander. “That is all,” he promised. “I plan to go free her and get the hell out of Aulne Rouge. I do not want to set eyes on Selange again.”