Call of the Siren (15 page)

Dagan tensed when Thorne reached into his pocket, but he only dug out a piece of paper and a pack of cigarettes. He held the paper out to them. Dagan snatched it up and read a couple sets of coordinates.

“The first set of coordinates leads to a hidden portal several hours to the north of the city,” Thorne continued, leaning up against the wall. When he slid a cigarette and a lighter out of the crumpled pack and lit up, Dagan wrinkled his nose. Disgusting habit, but the least of his concerns right now.

“The four of you take the portal to the second set of coordinates. He’ll be there waiting for you.” Clearly enjoying having the upper hand, Thorne took an exaggerated puff of the cigarette. “Once he has the four of you, he’s vowed to let her go. She means nothing to him beyond that.”

Dagan exchanged a glance with Ronin. As if they could trust someone like Belpheg to keep his word.

“Of course, it goes without saying that if you attempt to warn the Council or tell anyone of his location, he’ll kill Lina immediately,” Thorne continued fluidly. “Not to mention that it would be pointless. I’m sure I don’t need to remind you how powerful this guy is. No way the Council could get past his barriers.”

Sensing the merit in Thorne’s words, Dagan gritted his teeth. This Belpheg character must feel pretty confident in his ability to defend himself if he would so easily give up the coordinates to where he was.

“How could you do this?” Ronin rumbled, his voice hoarse. “If you were bonded, if you truly had a child together, how could you give her up as bait for some sick maniac?”

Thorne chuckled and blew a ring of smoke. “What makes you think she wasn’t in on it from the beginning?”

Ronin’s hands curled into fists, but Dagan touched his shoulder in an effort to calm him. “Bullshit. We’ll never believe that.”

Thorne gave him a long look before shrugging. “What can I say? The guy pays very well.”

When Dagan let out a growl at those words, Thorne reached into his pocket and withdrew an object shaped like a golf ball but electric blue in color.

“No,” Dagan yelled, lunging for him. But before Dagan could reach Thorne, he squeezed the ball in his fist. A shock of blinding blue filled the room, sending a stream of static electricity throughout the space.

When Dagan blinked to clear his suddenly blurry vision, the spot where Thorne had just been was empty. Nothing but a curling ribbon of noxious cigarette smoke indicated he’d ever been there at all.

Chapter Fifteen

Keegan paced the length of his living room, trying desperately to ignore how empty and uninviting it seemed now that Brynn and Aegin were gone. “He just wants the four of us? That’s all he asked for?”

“Yes,” Dagan replied grimly, his free hand fisted at his side. He lifted the whiskey bottle in his other hand to his lips and took a long swallow.

“I don’t get it,” Keegan whispered. “Why us? What is he planning?”

“Maybe he plans to hand us over to dear old dad so he can get his revenge on us.”

“But why? What purpose would it serve for him?” Keegan didn’t think for one minute that the dark fae would be doing something if it didn’t directly benefit him somehow.

Dagan shook his head. “Got me.”

“What if he wants to use us somehow?” Keegan wondered aloud. Belpheg had used his abilities to morph the essences of others into powers for Asmodeus. Maybe he wanted to use them.

“I don’t know…
fuck
.” Dagan plunked the bottle down onto the bar, which now was empty. Thank the gods Keegan had had the foresight not to pack that last bottle of whiskey. “I wish Ronin hadn’t run off by himself.”

Keegan shook his head. He wasn’t surprised that Ronin had. He thought of Lina as his responsibility, so as soon as Lina’s ex-husband had disappeared, the fool had flown off to scout out the hidden portal. Keegan didn’t dare give voice to his true fear: that Ronin had actually taken the portal to the coordinates Belpheg had provided. He didn’t want to consider what sort of trap Ronin might have walked into.

“I can’t believe Lina was married and had a kid.”

“I can’t believe her psycho ex handed her over to the dark fae like some piece of meat,” Dagan muttered.

True. How sick was that?

When the lock on the front door rattled, Dagan came to immediate attention.

“Relax,” Keegan said. “It’s Taeg and Maya.”

Dagan’s brow furrowed. “I thought they were going straight to the hideout?”

“They called while you and Ronin were gone to let me know their plane had arrived and they were going to rent a car for the drive north. When I explained I was waiting for you and Ronin to come back from Lina’s, they decided to swing by here first.”

Risky, considering the official order from the Council was due to come down at any moment now. But Keegan knew Taeg better than anyone, except perhaps Maya. Taeg might be a smartass and an asshole to boot, but he was loyal to the core; he would stick by his brothers no matter what.

“Lucy, I’m home,” Taeg called from the foyer. A moment later, he and Maya strode into the room, clad in matching dark jeans and black shirts. While her top was sleeveless and fitted, his was a T-shirt emblazoned with the words NO MERCY.

Taeg hit Keegan with his somber gaze. “Yo, bro. Where’s the rest of the gang?”

“I sent Brynn, Aegin, and Amara ahead with Bram and Reiver,” Keegan said.

Taeg gave a sympathetic wince. “Let me guess—Brynn is pissed as hell about that.”

“Yup.” They’d fought long and hard, in fact. She’d wanted to remain by his side, no matter what. But in the end, he’d talked her into going after pointing out how much easier it would be for just him to get away from anyone the Council might deem to send. The last thing he wanted was to be separated from his family, but he would do anything to protect them. Anything.

Amara had wanted to stay and wait for Ronin, but she’d recognized that Brynn needed her more right now. Good thing, too. He couldn’t imagine how pissed she’d be if she found out Ronin had gone to scan out the portal on his own.

“So what’s going on?” Maya asked.

Keegan and Dagan filled the two of them in on the events of the past several hours. When Dagan got to the part about Belpheg, Taeg’s brows furrowed. He stalked across the room and snatched up the whiskey bottle, taking a heavy swig before wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

“What the fuck does this fae want with us?” Taeg asked.

“Your guess is as good as mine,” Keegan replied grimly.

The ring of Dagan’s phone shattered the momentarily silence. He slid it out of his pocket, then lifted his gaze to the rest of them. “It’s Ronin.”

“Put it on speaker,” Keegan ordered.

“Hey, where are you?” Dagan answered. “I’m back at Keegan’s condo… Keegan, Taeg, and Maya are here. Let me put you on the speaker.”

Keegan only waited long enough for Dagan to push the button before saying, “Where are you?”

“Back in the state,” Ronin’s voice sounded out.

Keegan exchanged a glance with Taeg. “
Back
in the state?”

A beat of silence. “I took the portal to the coordinates we were given.”

No less than Keegan had feared, though he was still pissed about it.

“You’re an asshole,” he growled at the same time as Dagan muttered, “You stupid fuck.”

Taeg let out a somber chuckle. “I happen to agree with both of them, but perhaps the better question right now is, what did you find?”

“Let out to a small Romanian village,” Ronin responded.

Keegan lifted a brow. “Romania?”

“We were just there less than two weeks ago,” Taeg muttered.

“Yeah, well…I flew around until I spotted a castle. ‘Bout a half an hour from the village. It was teaming with the essence of
Others.
”

Keegan scratched his jaw, scruffy with several days’ growth, and leaned against one of the armrests of his black leather sectional. “You think this is the place?”

“No doubt about it. There was an invisible shield surrounding the place. I tried to fly through it and ended up getting bounced back like I’d launched myself into a bowl of Jell-O.”

Damn it. Keegan shook his head, trying to quell his anger at his brother. “So you just fly right up to the freaking place without any care for the fact you might be stepping into a trap?”

“I was careful,” Ronin countered defensively.

Yeah, right.
“I wonder if Amara would agree.”

Another beat of silence. The Ronin asked, “Is she there?”

Much as he’d like to let his bastard brother stew in worry, Keegan said, “No. She went up to the hideout with Brynn, Aegin, Bram, and Reiver.”

“Oh.” The relief in Ronin’s voice was palpable. “Listen, I was too far to say with 100 percent certainty, but there was a man walking the grounds, and he looked a lot like Mammon.”

Keegan bit back the automatic growl that threatened to rise in his throat. No need to note how his brothers stiffened at the mention of Mammon. That fuck was definitely on the top of their least favorite person list.

“It’s no less than we expected,” Keegan finally responded. “We know Mammon was broken out of jail by some dark fae, and who else but the guy we’re hunting had enough power to do that?”

“So…” Maya strode over to where Dagan stood by the bar. She tugged the whiskey bottle from his grip and took a delicate swig. “What are we going to do?”

Ronin took an audible breath. “I scouted the surrounding area.”

Taeg let out an angry growl and started to pace the room. “Ronin, you’re an asshole.”

“You can ream me out for that later,” Ronin said drily. “The shield surrounds the property like a snow globe. It covers the castle and the surrounding grounds, including the forest fronting the castle and up to the edge of a wide lake that protects the entire backside. Several acres of land.”

“Okay.” Resisting the urge to let out a loud sigh, Keegan scratched his chin. “Any suggestions?”

“We’ve still got the sword,” Taeg offered.

Several months ago, right after Keegan and his brothers had captured Mammon, Taeg had begun to search for an item that could destroy the Book of the Dead, the ancient spell book Brynn was bound to. When her ancestor had created it, he’d made it from indestructible metal, but it was far too dangerous an object to continue existing. Especially since Brynn was connected to it.

Through his research, Taeg had discovered that the famed sword Excalibur was not only real, but could be used to cut through any object. With Maya’s help, he’d found the sword and destroyed the book. What no one save Keegan and Taeg knew was that even though the book had been destroyed, the spell had become embedded in Brynn’s mind, ready for her to call forth its power to raise the undead at any time. Not that he ever planned on that happening.

However, as they’d discovered in the time since then, the sword had all sorts of uses. For instance, it could cut through impenetrable shields, like the one Belpheg had placed around his castle.

“This Belpheg dude is bound to know we still have the sword, isn’t he?” Dagan pointed out as he leaned his weight over the wooden bar. “Why put a shield up in the first place?”

Keegan shrugged. “Maybe for general protection. Or to limit whatever sort of invasion he might expect us to pull.”

“Given his powers, he’d probably sense the moment we cut through the damn shield and know exactly where we are,” Ronin’s weary voice sounded out.

When the muscles in Keegan’s shoulders twitched, he popped his back. What he needed right now was sleep. They all did. But that wasn’t going to happen. Not for a while, he suspected. “Considering the fae’s goal is to lure us to him, and given the impressive scope of his powers, I have a feeling he’s not too worried about us successfully invading him.”

Which sucked. Big time.

“I have another idea.” The quiet timber of Ronin’s voice suggested he wasn’t too happy with whatever it was.

“What is it?” Keegan asked.

“When I touched down on the side of the lake surrounding the rear of the property, I was able to go several feet into the water before getting kicked back. But…when I tried to swim under, the barrier wasn’t there.”

Dagan stood to attention, his interest clearly piqued. “The shield doesn’t extend beneath the water?”

“No,” Ronin said. “Only thing is, like I said before, the lake is wide, and the shield extends for quite a distance. When I tried to pop up for air, I couldn’t. Damn near drowned hauling my ass back to the shore.”

It wasn’t hard to read the look on Dagan’s face. Keegan gave voice to the same concerns. “Wouldn’t this fae know what we are? Why would he leave the lake unprotected knowing that one of us can breathe underwater?”

Taeg locked gazes with him, his expression calculating. Finally he shrugged. “Maybe he doesn’t know exactly what each of us is.”

“Or maybe he doesn’t realize his shield doesn’t extend beneath the water,” Ronin said.

“Either way, we can’t just leave her there,” Dagan said, his voice hard.

“Of course not,” Ronin snapped. “Whatever happens, whatever secrets she’s kept from me, in my heart she’s still my sister.”

Keegan exchanged a loaded glance with Taeg. Much as the most selfish part of him might like to argue with Dagan and Ronin, they were right. Lina was Ronin’s family, and by extension, their family. If there was one thing they’d learned from dealing with their evil father, it was that you didn’t abandon your family unless they truly deserved it, the way Mammon had. Whatever Lina’s faults, she was worth saving. Even if he wanted to howl in agony at the thought that he was placing his own life, his future with Brynn and Aegin, in danger.

In the end, Brynn would understand. Oh, she wouldn’t be happy about it…but she’d understand.

“I’m going in,” Dagan said, his jaw setting in the particular way it did when he was determined to do something. “I can get her, I know I can.”

“Not without the rest of us.” When Dagan, Taeg, and Maya looked at him, Keegan took a deep breath. “We’ll do it, together. The four of us.”

“Four?” Maya let out a gruff laugh and walked over to the sectional. She dropped herself onto it and crossed her arms. “I don’t think so. I’m going.”

When Taeg looked as if he would argue, she quickly added, “After all, I can see through glamours. You’re probably going to need my help over there.”

Taeg’s mouth snapped shut, and his eyes took on a dejected expression. “Much as I’d like to argue that, she’s got a point.”

Yeah. She usually did.

“So it’s settled then.” Keegan rose to his full height and stalked across the room to the bar. He snatched up the whiskey bottle and took a big swig. “Now we just need a plan.”

…

Inky tendrils from a lightning storm curled across the midnight sky, illuminating the craggy tops of the countless towers topping Belpheg’s expansive castle. From their precarious positions atop a copse of trees that lined the outer forest, Dagan and Ronin observed the rear of the massive stone structure. The air in this part of the world was surprisingly warm, and Dagan had to admit there was something very picturesque about Romania. It held a completely different sort of charm than his adopted home of New York City.

Perfect home for a lunatic dark fae with impossible powers, apparently.

It was certainly secluded enough. The forest here on the rear of the property opened up to the lake that spanned the length of the castle and was twice as wide. Thick forest led directly up to the castle walls on both sides. For most people, this meant that entry would need to be gained from the front side, which consisted of yet more forest leading out to acres of manicured grass and lawn.

“I feel like freaking Spiderman,” Dagan muttered as he readjusted his grip on the spruce he clung to.

Ronin let out a chuckle. “You and Taeg have become total movie addicts since moving onto Earth.”

“Not like they had such a thing as television back on Infernum,” Dagan answered defensively. Yet another reason why Earth rocked in comparison.

Ronin looked back toward the castle and sobered, as if he too had just remembered they were now fugitives. With all the Lina stuff going on, they’d been blessedly distracted from that particular reality. At least there was one point in their favor. The portal they’d taken here was located less than an hour from the hideout Keegan had built in upstate New York. If they rescued Lina—no,
once
they rescued her
—
it wouldn’t be a long ride back to their new home. Or tricked-out cave, in this instance.