Edged Blade (31 page)

My ears picked up the sound of footsteps—quiet rustles as they flew over the grass and I swallowed.

“It’s done,” I said again. “Dair’s almost here. Tell me why.”

She was silent.

Circling around her, keeping a wide distance between us, I lifted the gun. “Next time, I’ll shoot you in the back—several times. I’ll sever your spine, Megan, and I use silver. You know that. You can feel it by now. If you’re lucky, the scar tissue won’t interfere with your ability to walk or run. But you’ll heal
slowly
and
painfully
.”

“
Heal
? I’m already
dead
. If Dair knows…” She laughed and the sound was bitter and broken. She lifted her head now and stared at me through a mess of bangs and blood. “Just kill me already. There’s no point to this.”

“I will kill you—and I’ll be quick about it. But I want
a fucking answer
.”

She roared, the sound inhuman. She lunged at me, fueled by fear and the desperation that had driven her this far. Although she only had one good leg, it was strong enough and she still had two good arms.

And one of them had done a partial shift, fingers elongating as black claws slid out from where her nails had once been.

I don’t know who was more surprised by what happened next. Me…or her.

Blood geysered out from the stump where her monstrous hand had been only a fraction of a second earlier.

She fell to the dirt on her knees—but she only managed to balance there for a second before she went over onto her side. Dumbfounded, she stared at the stump of her lower arm as blood pumped out in a fountain.

She grabbed her arm just above the wrist as she rolled to her back.

Then she threw back her head, the noise that left her throat was more scream than howl and it chilled the blood in my veins.

The sound was still dying in the air when she awkwardly rolled herself to her knees and one hand. Her lower leg was already regenerating and if she had time—minutes even—she’d been healed.

But she didn’t give herself minutes.

She leaped at me.

I sensed movement behind me but I ducked to the side.

I know my speed. I know my strength. I’ve never moved that fast in my life and I’ve never struck out with that strength. She went down with a force that spun her around and I leaped on top of her back, driving my blade in through her back, then through her chest, down deep into the dirt.

Magic rippled in me, made me shudder as Megan jerked away. The place on my neck where I’d cut myself, where Colleen had mingled her blood with mine and forced her magic into me, it stung.

What the
hell
had Colleen done?

Megan struggled to jerk away, but the blood pumping out of her veins, coupled with the poison that was now circulating
inside
her from the silver left her weakened.

I dropped my weight down onto her, shoving my knee into her back, close to where my blade skewered her.

I grabbed her hair, the long, shining, silken banner, and jerked her head up.

Her eyes met mine, tormented and full of pain. “Dair…” she whispered raggedly.

I looked up then and saw them all, gathered around us in a loose circle.

Doyle had a smug, shit-eating grin on his face and Dair’s soldiers stood at his back with their jaws locked. The rest of them, I couldn’t read their expressions for anything, although I could
feel
Damon—something that was pride and fear and relief and…I rolled my eyes.

The man was a walking sex bomb.

Dair stepped forward, dragging my attention to him.

Okay,
him
, I could read.

The wolf pack’s Alpha was all but trembling. The look in his eyes was one that spoke of heartbreak as much as rage.

Megan closed her eyes and started to weep.

“Why?” I demanded as he continued to stare.

“They…” She shuddered, her body spasming as pain from the silver wracked her system. “They gave me…no…choice. A few…strays. They leave the…” She started to cough and half screamed as it sent more pain lancing through her body. “They’d leave them…alone. If I helped. It seemed…a safe bargain.”

A growl worked its way out of Dair’s throat.

She flinched at the sound and then gasped as the movement drove the silver closer to her heart.

“Who is
they
?” I demanded. “And who would
they
leave alone?”

She wasn’t looking at me, though.

Her gaze locked at Dair.

He took a step forward. “I’ll get the information out of her, Kit. Please allow—”

She wrenched herself underneath me.

I recognized her intention but too late.

In the next second, before anybody could stop it, she heaved her body to the left—and completely shredded her heart on the sharp edge of my blade. Reflex had me jerking up, pulling my blade free, but it was too late.

Megan was dead.

Dair closed his eyes.

Damon was the one who found him.

Justin, battered to a bloody pulp and barely breathing, was in the bathroom of Colleen’s house and while I watched, my lover lifted my friend as though he were a fragile, broken doll.

Now, as I stood at the foot of the bed, Damon waited behind me, a silent presence.

We watched as Colleen worked.

And I prayed.

I don’t know that I’ve ever prayed before.

I don’t even know what—or who—I prayed to.

But I had to do something, because with each fragile beat of Justin’s heart, I could hear him slipping away.

When his heart slipped, I spun away and pressed my face against Damon’s chest.

His hands came up and rested on my hips.

Memories flashed through my head.

The first time I’d ever seen Justin—the dumbass had been getting the shit kicked out of him in the alley behind TJ’s.
His
idea of an interrogation.

“Well, you look like a little bit of nothing. But you went after a rat pack and helped bring them down. There’s gotta be something to you.”

Something to me? He’d been the first one to think so—the first one to make me
want
to think so.

A million other memories blurred through my mind—a job we’d taken because Nova had said,
I think you’ll like the payout
. And we’d found nearly twenty grand buried under the floorboard in the house of the guy we’d hunted down.

That time up on the mountain, when he’d come for me.

“Justin. You…are you here?”

“Yeah, Kitty-kitty.” A weak attempt at a smile. “Did you ever doubt it?”

And he hadn’t just
come
for me—he’d brought an entire fucking army.

I tightened my fingers in Damon’s shirt. “He can’t die, Damon. He’s my best friend. He can’t…”

Damon pressed his lips to my temple. “I know, baby girl. If he does, I’ll just have to haul his ass out of hell and throttle him for you.”

I would have laughed. But I was too afraid I’d start to cry.

So I just stood there, breathing in Damon’s scent and letting the memories swarm me while Colleen funneled her magic and her healing into Justin’s broken body.

“Bruised spleen, bruised kidneys, both lungs are punctured, perforated intestines, nine broken ribs…” Colleen grimaced and passed a hand down her side. She took a deep breath and gave a long look at her patient. “Subdural hemorrhage and his heart is bruised as well. She almost pulverized his chest. Must have punched him hard enough to break every bone—had he been fully human.”

She slid me a look. “Apparently, she’s uninformed about the differences between warrior witches and the rest of the people out there.”

“Let’s keep it that way,” I said, rubbing the heel of my hand over my chest. I stared through the door at his pale, gaunt form. “Will he make it?”

“He should.” She leaned against the door frame opposite me, exhaustion in every line of her body. “If he doesn’t, it’s not for lack of trying on my part. And…if he doesn’t, I’ll find a way to make him suffer for it even if he
is
dead. I didn’t work that hard to put him back together just for him to die on me.”

Her voice went husky and tight.

I slid her a look, but she wasn’t facing me.

I reached down and caught her hand.

She squeezed mine.

“Where did the goon squad go?” I asked.

It startled a laugh out of her.

“Only you would call some of the scariest sons-of-bitches I’ve ever seen
the goon squad
, Kit.” She let go of my hand and then shifted to put her back to the door. Sliding down, she rested her elbows on her upraised knees. “I think Damon and his men are close by. Hunting…or just running. Although one of them probably went to the store. Damon opened the freezer and told me I have no meat here. Apparently this is problematic for him.”

I smiled. “Yeah. He thinks if it doesn’t bleed, it’s not really food.”

A look of mild disgust crossed her features. “I’ve never been inclined to go vegan, but that image is almost enough to tempt me.”

Chuckling, I leaned back against the wall. “He’s always fussing at me to get more protein.” The wall didn’t seem to help much, so I decided to follow Colleen’s example and I slid down the wall as well, groaning as my body screamed at me. Although I’d gotten off pretty damn light, I still felt every second of the fight with Megan—particularly in my back. That short, unscheduled flight across Colleen’s living room had done nothing for my spine.

Thinking of Megan, I sobered. “And the MacDonald?”

“He left.” She looked away. “He was very…grim.”

“Grim. Yeah.” Drawing my knees to my chest, I hugged them tight, trying to ward off the chill. “I can understand that.”

The question that had haunted me all these hours burst out. “Damn it, Colleen, I don’t understand. Why did she do this?”

“I don’t know.” She rolled her head against the wood of the door and met my eyes. “Even if I knew the reasons, I wouldn’t know, Kit. But I don’t know the reasons. I don’t have any answers.”

She sucked in a harsh breath and then spat out, “I
hate
her. It’s this huge ugly thing inside of me and I want it out, but I can’t get rid of it. Why did she hurt him, Kit? Why?”

The venom in her voice took me off guard and I blinked, staring at her, and for the first time, I saw something…more.

Oh, hell.

“Coll?” I whispered.

Her gaze flitted to me and then away. “Don’t,” she murmured, shaking her head. “I can’t…I can’t talk about it now.”

She came to her feet, her movements harsh and jerky, unlike her normal graceful motions. “She hurt. Tell me you made her hurt…” She screamed and spun away, shoving her hands through her hair. “
Damn
it.”

Quietly, I moved up behind her. She was tense, tremors wracking her entire body. Slowly, I slid my arms around her. “You don’t want to ask those questions,” I said softly as I hugged her from behind. “This isn’t who you are. You can’t carry that poison in you, no matter how mad you are, no matter how scared.”

She started to cry.

A few seconds later, so did I.

Evening gave way to night in a thundering torrent.

Justin hadn’t moved.

Damon told me Dair’s men had taken Megan’s body.

Chang was gone but I hadn’t even noticed his absence until he came through the doors, four of Damon’s enforcers at his back.

Two of them carried grocery bags. I guess Chang wanted to make sure there was meat for everybody. They moved straight into the kitchen and Colleen followed them with a frown. It’s a dangerous thing, messing around in a girl’s kitchen. Even more dangerous when that girl is a witch.

The other two moved to stand guard at Justin’s door and that had me turning to Chang.

“What is going on?”

Chang gestured to the couch. “Kit. Please. Sit.” He softened those words with a smile. “You look exhausted.”

I wasn’t exhausted. I’d cruised past exhausted and sailed straight in zombified territory some hours ago. It was possible that if I sat down, I wouldn’t get back up and I didn’t want to sleep until I had news—news about Megan or news about Justin or news about…
something
.

“I have information,” Chang said, as if he’d read my mind.

Sulking, I flung myself down on the long, wide couch, tucking my body up against Damon’s.

“How is Justin?” Chang asked.

“I don’t know,” I said waspishly. “When he’s done being all comatose and shit, you can wake him up and ask him.”

Chang looked away.

Aww, hell
. Sighing, I rubbed my hands down my face. “Chang, shit. I’m—”

“Please don’t apologize,” he said, his voice gentle. But when he looked up, his eyes flashed—and stayed—green. The pupils slitted, going feline and his voice lowered to a rougher growl.

Next to me, Damon said something.

I blinked, not catching the words.

Chang responded in the same language and then he looked away, shaking himself like a bird settling his feathers. When he looked back at me, his eyes were normal. “Please, don’t apologize. This…travesty lies at our feet. Ours, Dair’s, perhaps even at the feet of the Witches Council—even the Assembly.”

Confused, I straightened, settling my weight on the edge of the couch, rather than against Damon. “What are you talking about?”

His lips twisted. “It all came from within our ranks. All of it. We never saw it.”

The faceless Barry now had a face—or at least
something
of a face.

He lay in a bloodied mess of limbs and torn flesh and silver pinned him to the floor in four places. Enough silver to keep him not just restrained, but trapped in his human form. They weren’t just relying on the blades pinning him, though.

He was also chained and I had a good idea of where Justin had gotten the idea for his cuffs.

Blades skewered his wrists. If he tried to rip his hands out or dislocate a bone, he’d have to cut his hand through completely. It had to be torturously painful. But I felt no pity as I hunched down in front of him.