Curse of Shadows and Light (21 page)

I nod and laugh at her shocked expression. “Yeah, that was my first reaction too. As if one isn’t crazy enough. As if this whole thing isn’t
totally and completely and utterly
insane
. And yet at the same time, it feels so oddly okay and natural that getting twisted up over it seems like just a waste of energy. Does that make any sense?”

After a moment she shrugs. “Yeah. I guess in a weird way it does.” Then a moment later, “Does Kieron know?”

I grimace and turn my attention back to the water. “No, not yet. I—we— have some time before it’ll become obvious we’re pregnant. Hopefully. But… well, other things are going to be changing around here before then. It’s kinda what I wanted to talk to you about.”

She looks at me with apprehension.

“
You know why Vincent and Demetri are here, right?”

“
Yeah, I get the gist of it. And just for the record, I’m not complaining one bit.” She giggles. “Maybe they’ll stick around even after the danger has passed.”

I shake my head. “Well, that’s the thing. As long as I’m still me, as long as I still turn ‘human’,” I make quote marks with my fingers, “then the danger might never pass. Not really. I’ll always be a target. Because I’m weak. And I’m putting everyone around me in danger. Right now the Light-angels want to use me to break into the Demon realm to start a war.
Me
. And the problem is, I don’t really have the powers to stop them. But I’m going to do something that will hopefully change all that. And that’s what I want to talk with you about.”

“
What are you going to—
hey
!” She suddenly scowls, and I turn to see what she’s looking at. Back near the base of the cliffs, the young mother, who only moments before was so sweetly playing with her young son, is now mercilessly shaking the crying infant. As we both watch, she gives him a hard slap across his little face.

“
Oh my God!” Corrine gasps.

The child falls to the ground screaming, and she picks him up and starts shaking him again.

“
HEY!” we both yell at her and immediately start running toward them. Suddenly I’m flooded with rage. How could any mother so viciously strike a helpless infant like that? My eyes widen in horror as I see her raise her hand and whack the sobbing child again.

I run faster. “Stop that! Stop!” I scream, with Corrine echoing me from a few feet back.

The woman looks up at us briefly, and then throws the toddler to the ground again. From somewhere I hear Vincent yelling, but I don’t care; this woman is going to kill her child!

Corrine and I are maybe a dozen feet away when Vincent suddenly appears directly in front of us. He reaches out his hand, but just as he’s about to touch me, a sudden violent gust of air blasts him off his feet and sends him flying back out over the water.

Startled, I follow him with my eyes until I hear Corrine’s horrifying scream. The woman, who was standing right in front of us only a fraction of a second before, has now taken the shape of a hulking beast of a man, at least eight feet tall. His heavy brow nearly obscures his black-as-night eyes, and his salt and pepper hair is greasy and matted. The ‘baby’ is nowhere to be seen.

I recoil in horror as the realization sinks in. “No, no!” I turn to run, but it’s too late.

A debilitating paralysis spreads through my body. I try to scream but my mouth no longer moves. All I can think is that I’ve been caught.

And how unbelievably stupid… and totally screwed I am.

Chapter
20. Liora

Torrents of icy water blast around me like I’ve been shot from a gun at the speed of light. Time and space warp together as the water rushes past me… beating, stabbing, poking, punching… in one disorientating, excruciating blur. Is this real? Or am I dead. I can’t think—can’t breathe. How long will this torture last?

Eventually everything slows, and the icy water no longer stings my skin. I have the sensation of being lifted out of the water and into the air, and then being set down on something soft, and very cold.

Everything is quiet. Unnaturally still.

I try to open my eyes, terrified of what I might see. But I can’t. A violent shudder wracks my body, and it suddenly hits me how cold I am. I’m freezing to death. The bitterly frosty air has already sealed my wet lashes together.

A blast of arctic wind hits my skin like hundreds of sharp needles and every nerve in my body screams in agony. Yet I am unable to move.

When I finally manage to open my eyes, I see only blinding white blending into a pale grey sky. There is no color anywhere, and the sun doesn’t bother to share its golden rays. There is no point. The stinging wind gusts again, and I hear a soft groan.

I roll over and see Corrine a few feet away, huddled up in a tight ball.

I try to move, to speak, but nothing happens. Whatever… whoever… brought us here apparently wants us to die in the worst, most painful way. Neither of us will last much longer out here—wherever here is. I just hope the end comes quickly and that Corrine’s suffering isn’t half as bad as mine is.

Corrine moans again, and I try to force my body closer to hers. But no matter how hard I try, I can’t move. I feel frozen from the inside out.

I’m about to give up and accept the inevitable, when a strange warmth starts budding in my stomach and then moves to my chest. The trickling stream of heat quickly spreads and grows, and the rest of my body absorbs it like thirsty tree roots sucking up water. I gasp, as I’m suddenly able to breathe. Gradually I feel my strength begin to return. I scoot over to Corrine and wrap my arms around her, the bare flesh of my arms covering hers. And I hope and pray that my body heat can somehow help keep her alive.

“
Corrine,” I whisper. My throat is scratched and raw, as if someone had run a cheese grater over it. I shake her gently. “Corrine, wake up.”

She still doesn’t move. The heat grows stronger and stronger, until now I’m almost
too
warm. I hold Corrine close and pray that whatever is helping me can help her too.

She trembles, and I tighten my grip, trying to protect her. But I’m a little late for that.

“
L-Lee-o-ra-ra,” she finally chatters.

“
It’s okay, you’re okay.” I squeeze her tighter. Suddenly I sense a shift… subtle, but there.

We’re not alone anymore.

“
Shhh,” I whisper in her ear. “Just stay still. Don’t move.”

I hear the soft crunch of snow as heavy footsteps approach us. My heart pounds, and my body heat increases even more. Corrine shakes in my arms, whether from cold or terror, I can’t tell.

The crunching comes closer, then stops directly behind us. I want to roll over to see who or what it is, but I stay still.

A moment later something pokes me on my lower back.

“
Ow!” I cry out before I can stop myself.
Crap!

“
Good, you’re alive. Not much use to me dead,” a gruff voice snarls.

“
It’ll be okay, don’t move,” I whisper very softly into Corrine’s ear. I gently let go of her and roll over to face our kidnapper. The huge, ugly man from the beach is glaring back at me.

His eyes flash with evil intent, and he gives a callous smirk. “Girl, you sure are stupid. You were easier to catch than a dead fish in a bucket. No challenge at all. I’ve gotta say I’m a little disappointed. I was looking forward to the chase.”

Of all the things he could’ve said to me, nothing could have hurt more. Because he’s right. Only stupid doesn’t even begin to cover it.

“
What do you want?” I croak.

He grins even wider and cocks his head to the side. “What do I want… what do I want… Oh yes. I want my reward for
you
, little girl.”

“
Your what?”

He pulls from his pocket something that looks like a long, crooked stick and waves it in the air. Then he walks in a big circle around Corrine and me, chanting strange words under his breath. A moment later I hear a weird crackling sound, then a series of pops, followed by a steady hum. A strange neon green haze appears and covers us like a giant igloo. I feel an immediate change in the air, and even the cold snow beneath us now feels like a soft, comfortable blanket.

But my relief is short lived as the reality of our situation sinks in. Corrine and I are trapped here, imprisoned in this magical cell, and at the mercy of a demonic lunatic.

He walks around our green cocoon several times, tapping it with his little stick. Apparently satisfied, he pauses and turns back to me with a toothless smile. “I want my reward. I want what’s owed to me. Plenty of people are interested in you right now, little girl, and they’re willing to pay a price. Old Otto here is going to get himself a piece of the golden pie.”

I start to get on my feet, but he holds up his hand and waggles his finger at me. “
Ah!
Ah! Ah!
You don’t want to do that. You might lose your head. We wouldn’t want that… no we wouldn’t.”

I eye the dome of green haze. It’s only about five feet over our heads and about ten feet in diameter. “What happens if I touch it?” I ask.

“
Anything that comes in contact with the shield from your side instantly disintegrates. So I’d be careful if I were you.” He laughs, and in this moment the only thing stopping me from running at him and pummeling his ugly face with my bare fists is that fact that I believe he’s telling the truth.

I sit back down and bury my face in my hands. “What do you want with me… with us? Why did you take her?” I motion to Corrine who is still lying motionless.

“
I want to collect the bounty on you. As for the human girl, well, she’s just a bonus. Leverage to make you behave if necessary. I’m sure they’ll pay extra for that.”

“
Who’s they? The Light-angels?”

He shrugs. “They put out the initial bounty. But apparently you’re also wanted by some Dark-angels, so I figured I’d see who was willing to cut old Otto here a better deal.” He rubs his hands together and paces the perimeter of our cell. “But it might take some time, and meanwhile, I need to keep you somewhere safe. Somewhere no demon or angel or human will ever be able to find you. So you might as well get comfy in there, because this might take a while. Or not. You never know with these things.”

I frown. “So which side are you on? Light or Dark? Are you Angel or Demon?”

Otto shakes his head. “Both. Neither. I come from a long line of Sovereigns. We’re the outcasts, the unwanted.”

“
I’ve never heard of that. I thought it was only one or the other.”

“
Originally it was. But at one point some in the two races merged, and we became something else. There’s not a lot of us, and we keep a low profile. We’re not bound to any side, and we do what we want, any way we want, and for whoever pays the best, usually.” He lets out a gruff laugh.

“
So you’re a bounty hunter.” I brush the hair from my face, and am surprised to notice that it and my clothes are already dry. We were in water not fifteen minutes ago.

“
I’m what you call a jack of all trades, master of none,” the Sovereign goes on. “Well now, I take that back. I’m pretty good at stealing stupid little girls who wander off their protected property. If you woulda just stayed there, I wouldn’ta never been able to touch you. ” He chuckles again.

“
I don’t understand. Are you bad or good?”

“
Neither. I just go where the work is. I don’t judge, and I don’t ask why. I just do the deed and move on.”

I glare at him. “So you stole me, and you want to see who will give you the better deal, the Light or Dark-angels.”

He nods and walks around the green prison again, tapping it in random places with his stick. “Light-angels want you alive. And from what I hear, Dark-angels don’t care if you’re alive or in a hundred pieces.”