Darkness Rising: The Dark Angel Series: Book Two (32 page)

At least it gave Ilianna time to get out of the elemental’s reach. While she scrambled backward, Tao launched himself at it, his body arcing through the air like a bullet, flames licking across his skin as he hit the creature hard and ripped it from the tree.

“Tao!” I screamed, as the two of them went tumbling, a seething mass of flames and arms and screams. Tao’s screams. Horrible, pain-filled screams.

Oh God, oh God
…
No!

I ran past their tumbling, twisting forms, wrenched Amaya free from the tree, and swung her high. But as I did, there was a weird sucking sound—it was almost as if the fire creature was consuming every ounce of air around it. A second later I realized it
wasn’t
the creature. It was Tao. And his flames were growing brighter, fiercer.

He was drawing the creature’s energy into himself!

“Tao, don’t!” I screamed again, but the words were lost to another explosion—one powerful enough to throw me the full length of the clearing. I hit a tree trunk hard, heard a crack, and knew something inside me had broken. Pain washed through me as I dropped like a stone to the ground and for a moment there were so many stars dancing in front of my eyes that I couldn’t see anything else.

Damn it, it
hurt.
It would hurt more to move. And yet move I did, wanting—needing—to know if Tao was still alive.

I pushed to my feet and staggered back across the clearing, holding a hand to my side and feeling pain every time I took a step or drew a breath. The heat of the fires that still burned all around us was nothing compared with the burn inside me. Sweat broke out across my brow and my stomach twisted, threatening to rebel. But I staggered on, my gaze on the unmoving Tao.

He couldn’t be dead. He just
couldn’t.

I dropped on my knees beside him. The action jarred my whole body, but I swallowed heavily and studied my friend, searching for some sign of life, but fearful of actually touching him lest I find none.

I couldn’t see him breathing, but his skin was red and the heat within him burned so fiercely it washed over me like flame.

He
couldn’t
be dead. Not when the fire was still burning so ferociously inside of him.

“Risa?” Ilianna said tentatively, from somewhere behind me. “Is he … ?”

“I don’t know.” My voice broke as I said it. I swallowed heavily, then gathered the remnants of my courage and touched his neck. It was as if I’d inserted my fingers into the heart of a cauldron. It
hurt.
Burned.

I jerked my fingers away before they blistered, but not before I’d caught a pulse. It was thready and erratic, but it was there.

I closed my eyes and released the breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding.

“He’s okay,” I said, even though I knew that wasn’t necessarily the case. He’d sucked in the energy of a fire elemental—consumed it, in much the same manner
as my demon sword had. But Tao was a half-breed were, not a sword forged in the death of another demon, and who the hell knew what the merging of his flesh and an elemental’s would do to him?

Ilianna dropped down beside me. “God, he’s burning up,” she said, her voice still distressed. “Inside and out.”

“Have you got any holy water left?” I said, suddenly remembering how it had healed my wounds. It might not work on whatever was happening within him, but it sure as hell would help with his outside.

She nodded and scrambled up again, returning a few seconds later with a small bottle. “It’s all I have, though.”

“Then drizzle it over the worst of his wounds. His wolf healing capabilities should take care of the rest.”

I pushed wearily to my feet. Pain rolled through me, catching in my throat and, for a second, sending those stars dancing again.

Ilianna frowned up at me. “You’re hurt.”

“Yeah.” And if I
had
cracked a rib, as I suspected, then there was nothing I could do but grin and bear it. At least until I got my hands on some painkillers.

“You should let me see—”

“Ilianna,” I said softly, “the only cure for a cracked rib is rest and time. I can’t afford either right now. Just take care of Tao until I get back.”

Her frown increased, and her green eyes searched mine worriedly. “Why? Where are you going?”

“I’m going to find the first damn key and attempt to finish this whole stupid thing.”

“But that could be dangerous—”

“Yeah. Which is why you and Tao will stay here for now.”

“But Tao needs more medical care than I can give him. We can’t just leave him here!”

“Ilianna,” I said, as gently as I could, “he took an elemental into his own body to destroy it. I have no idea what that’s done to him, and I very much doubt anyone else will, either. I certainly don’t think there’s anything modern medicine can do for him that you and his own natural healing abilities can’t.”

“But if he’s in a coma—”

I hesitated, studying him, torn by the need to do whatever I could to help him and the growing desire to protect them both. “Look, if you think he needs it, call in some healers. But don’t leave this place. The Raziq are on the prowl, and this is the only place we know for sure they can’t penetrate.”

“But we can’t stay here forever!”

“I know, and we won’t. It’s just for the next twenty-four hours.” I squeezed her shoulder gently. “It’ll be okay. I promise.”

“God, I hope so.” She took in a long shuddery breath, then added, “Be careful, won’t you?”

“I will.” And bit back the instinctive urge to tell her the same, to warn her that Tao might not be the person he was if and when he woke. But on some instinctive level, she’d be aware of that—and as a powerful witch, she’d certainly be aware of the energy storm deep with Tao.

I gave her a tense smile, then walked back across the clearing to grab Amaya—and stopped when I saw the Dušan’s book. Or rather, the remains of it. It must
have been caught in the last explosion, and it had been all but destroyed.

Damn it, could nothing go our way for a change?

I knelt and gently picked the book up. The leather binding crumbled under my touch and was blown away in cindery pieces by the gentle breeze. There was little left of the pages inside—just browned remnants as fragile as the cover. So much for Azriel thinking it would be safer here than on the gray fields.

I dropped it back on the ground, brushed my hands free of its grit, and stood up. There was nothing I could do about the book, and certainly no chance that I’d learn the location of the rest of the keys. I just had to rely on what I had.

And what I had wasn’t a lot.

I picked up Amaya and cased her back into her sheath. Her song was a strand of anger that buzzed at the far reaches of consciousness. It was slightly stronger than before, but certainly no clearer. And right now, I was happy about that. I wasn’t sure I was ready to understand the language of a sword who relished death and destruction so much.

I strode out of the clearing. Many of the trees were still on fire but, oddly, the fire wasn’t spreading. Maybe whatever forces lived and breathed awareness—if not life—into this old ritual site were somehow containing the spread. Right now I was willing to believe just about anything, including a forest that was more than it seemed.

The gates were closed, but opened as I approached. A chill went through me.
Far too aware,
I thought, as I stepped through them.

Azriel was waiting on the other side. His gaze swept
me, and a slight frown marred his otherwise impassive features. “You are injured.”

Which was stating the obvious given I was still clutching my side and breathing as shallowly as I could. And hell, I could be
just
as obvious. “And you escaped the fields before the Raziq could grab you.”

He either didn’t get the sarcasm in my voice or was ignoring it. I rather suspected the latter.

He said, “They were diverted.”

I blinked. “Diverted how?”

“The how does not matter, just the result. How is your side?”

I shrugged, annoyed that he wasn’t telling me how he escaped yet not entirely surprised. “I’ll survive. We need to find those keys.”

He studied me for a moment, then nodded. “What clues did the book give?”

I told him what I’d read, and he shook his head. “That’s not much to go on.”

“No. We need to sit down and try to work out the possibilities.” I hesitated. “We’ll need Lucian’s help.”

“There is no need—”

“Azriel,” I said wearily, “right now I have a friend who may or may not die, another who is scared out of her wits, and I’m injured and tired. I just need it all to be finished. I don’t really care what you do or don’t think about Lucian.
I
think we need his help when we go get the keys, and I’m going to use him, whether you like it or not.”

“Tao won’t die,” he said. “And you must live with whatever consequences arise out of using the Aedh.”

Knowing Tao would live didn’t relieve any of the tension still riding me, because living and remaining
the man we’d grown up with and loved were two entirely seperate things.

“Azriel, I’ve been living with the goddamn consequences ever since you, the Raziq, and my father all decided to screw up my life!” I thrust a hand through my sweaty hair and sighed. Arguing with him wasn’t going to get me anywhere. “I’ll meet you back at the hotel. I’m gathering it’ll still be safe there?”

He shrugged. “It’s probably safer than your apartment.”

“Then I’ll see you there.”

He nodded and winked out of existence. I reached for my phone and called Lucian.

“Hey,” he said, his vid-screen dark and voice brisk, almost edgy. I’d obviously caught him in the middle of something. Or someone.

“Hey, yourself,” I said. “You interested in meeting me at the hotel for a little key-finding strategy?”

Excitement swelled in his voice but didn’t really lift the edginess. “You’ve read the book?”

“Some of it. Unfortunately, we were attacked before I could read all of it.”

“Unfortunate, as you said.” He paused. “But afterward?”

“Afterward we were attacked by elementals and the book was incinerated.”

He snorted. “You’re not having a good run of luck, are you?”

“No, but we’ve got enough to at least find the first key. That’s a place to start.”

“I agree. Where would you like me to meet you?”

“I’m heading back to the hotel now.”

“Then I’ll see you there in twenty minutes.” He
hung up, leaving me staring at the black screen, wondering why our short, sharp conversation had my senses tingling.

I frowned, but shoved the concern aside as I put my phone into my pocket. Holding it tight, I reached inside and unleashed the Aedh. Her energy didn’t rush through me—indeed, it was little more than a trickle, as if there was an inner awareness that I’d pushed my limits and was walking the edge of exhaustion.

The change swept over me gently, shifting me from one to the other. Even in Aedh form, I felt heavy, as if I was weighed down by more than my own flesh. And I guess I was, I thought, suddenly remembering Amaya. God, I had to hope that she didn’t become a part of me for
real
when I re-formed.

I headed back for Melbourne and the Langham. Neither Azriel nor Lucian was in the room when I arrived, and of that I was glad. I re-formed flesh, not only imagining the sword as a separate entity but, for the first time, imagining my wounds as fully healed. I hit the floor with a heavy splat that left me shuddering in pain and gasping for breath, my head spinning so badly I wavered between wanting to throw up and falling into unconsciousness.

“You are such a fool, Risa Jones.” The words seemed to come out of nowhere. I’d been so distressed that I hadn’t even felt the heat of Azriel’s presence.

Yeah,
I wanted to reply,
you’re not telling me anything I don’t know.

Hands touched me and energy flowed from them, bright and sharp and reviving. I wanted to jerk away from it—tell him I didn’t need his help—but the truth was, I did. If I wanted to see this craziness through to
the end, then I had to at least be able to open my eyes and walk. Right now neither of those seemed a possibility.

The energy continued to flow, and my body grew warm again. I opened my eyes and met his. “Thank you, Azriel, but that’s enough.”

He raised an eyebrow, but did as I bid and took his hands from my side. “You are not yet at full strength.”

“No, but giving me strength more than likely drains you, and it’s more important that you’re whole than me. You’re a better fighter.”

“Having seen you fight, I’m not entirely certain that’s true.”

I snorted softly, and regretted the action almost immediately. “God,” I groaned, “whatever you do, don’t make me laugh. I think I’ll die.”

“I’m a reaper. I don’t do jokes.” I merely eyed him in disbelief, and he smiled. “Do you wish help to rise, or would you prefer to lie here until the Aedh arrives?”

“What I prefer is a shower. And that means getting up.”

“Would you like some help?”

“No, I can manage.”