Fading Light: Shadow Born, Book 2 (20 page)

She took it and shoved it into her pants. She moved closer to Keegan, reaching on her tiptoes to see him better. “Don’t let Adare win.” She jumped toward him, pressing a kiss on the dragon’s mouth. “I’ll see you on the other side.” And with those words, she scurried away through the tunnels.

Gray laughed at Keegan’s stunned face. He hadn’t realized Lucy could move like that; maybe there was more to the gargoyle than he thought. “Never thought your battle kiss would be from a gargoyle.”

“Shut it,” Keegan hissed. He glanced toward the tunnels. “She better get out, or I’ll rip Adare limb from limb and take my time eating his broken body.”

“Sounds appetizing.” Adare’s shadow drifted into the room before the man himself. Gray had felt him coming, so he wasn’t surprised.

“I was waiting for her to leave,” Adare continued. “I wanted to spare Brenna her pet, since I plan on taking her lover.”

“Good luck with that.” Keegan grinned. His anticipation was obvious. The dragon wanted this fight.

Adare walked more fully into the room, and Gray got his first good glimpse of him. Standing nearly as tall as Gray, Adare’s lean muscular body was encased in black leather pants and a button-up black shirt. He had rolled up his sleeves, and they strained against his biceps. His dark hair hung in waves below his shoulders. This was not the Adare Gray had known in years past. Gone was the crafty, manipulative deviant mage he had known before. In his place was a self-assured man who reeked of magic and power. And the power that spilled off him did not belong to a mage. Maybe after being burned by Ga’loh he was paranoid, but Gray was willing to bet Adare was something different altogether.

“It took you long enough.” Adare stopped before them, hands on his hips. “It shouldn’t have been that hard to figure out where I was. You’ve lost your touch, Gray.”

“If you wanted us dead, you would have sent your demons to attack us, so what do want, Adare?” Gray tensed. He could feel the magic stirring in the room, thickening the air around them.

Adare held his hand in front of him, palm up. A thick ball of black smoke swirled on his outstretched palm. It sparked with power, sending shards slamming against the dirt walls. “I want you gone, back in your own world.”

“You and I both know that’s not an option.” Gray responded. “Besides, this plane belongs to the humans.”

“So now you’re a sympathizer. Those humans are already dead. I put the toxin in their water. It’s only a matter of time before they’re dust. Once they’re dead, we’ll move from state to state. The idiots will blame the deviants and rise up against them. The ones that are immune to our disease will die from the war. Once the ants are dead, we’ll go after the rest.”

“Not going to happen. Brenna’s working on getting the cure. We’re stopping this thing before it starts.” Keegan snarled. “Sorry about your luck.”

Adare shook his head. “Do you think he doesn’t know what you’re planning? It was ingenious though, I’ll give you that.”

Gray and Keegan shared a distressed gaze. “How would you know that?” Gray asked.

“You’ve got a lesser demon in your house. He’s too weak to fight Ga’loh’s control. I say jump, and he says how high.” Adare grinned. “It’s like having a puppy, but without the mess.”

Sam had left, but Gray had never put up a boundary to keep him from coming back. Ga’loh could have teleported him upstairs to overhear their whole conversation, and they would have been none the wiser. Adare was poking at their weaknesses and Gray couldn’t stop him.

Keegan cursed. “I knew it. I’ll rip that bastard limb from limb and gnaw on his bones until they–”

“Enough.” Gray linked with Keegan. They would deal with the depth of Sam’s betrayal later. If they were going to do something, they had to do it now. They needed to go big, and go home. Keegan tensed the moment before he sprang forward. The room was too small for him to shift fully, but his arms morphed into scaly dagger-like claws, his torso and head into a serpent-like beast with rows of sharp deadly teeth. Keegan was lightening quick. His mouth was around Adare’s thigh, yanking him to the ground, before the other man could blink.

Yelling an incantation, Adare pried the dragon’s teeth free. Blood dripped from his shredded hands. His leg hung useless, nearly ripped in half. But Adare only laughed. Wrapping his magic around his shattered form, he healed his wounds until he stood before them whole once again.

“
Well, shit
,” Keegan’s rough voice spoke through their psychic link. “
What am I supposed to do, swallow him whole?
”

Gray cursed and tossed a fire ball at Adare.

Adare batted it away like a gnat.

Gray filtered his magic through the water in the tunnels. It drained into the cavern in a wave of ice and frost. Gray held it before him, an enormous frozen barrier. Focusing his magic on Adare, he shattered it. Shards of ice flew at the mage, slicing through his clothing and spilling his blood.

Adare shook himself. Ice fell at his feet in clumps, splintering as it hit the ground. He moved toward Gray, a grin on his lips. “I thought you’d be more of a challenge.” He flung one arm toward Gray and a mass of black smoke tangled through the air. It wrapped around Gray’s chest, tightening until Gray hit his knees, unable to breath. As his vision began to dim, Gray saw Keegan lunge at the mage. He wrapped a hand around Adare’s throat and threw him against the wall.

The construct around Gray dissolved. He lay panting. Sweat dripped from his forehead. He stumbled to his feet, a fireball in his hand. It hit Adare square in the chest.

“That’s more like it.” Adare stared at the gaping hole in his chest. Blood dripped from his torn throat. “Not good enough, but a start.”

Gray growled in frustration as the damage to Adare’s body began to heal once again. Gray’s chest ached, and it was still difficult to breathe. He gripped his katana, and waited for an opportunity.

Keegan circled Adare. He had shifted to a smaller version of his beast, and his tail whipped along behind him. It struck the wall repeatedly, sending dirt spiraling into the air. Keegan lunged in a blur of movement. In seconds, he had Adare by the throat. Keegan tossed him up in the air and caught him with his teeth, shaking him like a rag doll. When Keegan spit him out, he fell to the floor, broken and bloody. But, within moments, he stood shook himself off. This time, at least, he was unable to repair all of the damage. Maybe if they double teamed him, they could eventually wear him down.

Adare’s eyes were bright red as he focused on Keegan. He flicked his hand back and a cloud of thick smoke surrounded the dragon. Keegan struggled to stand. He threw his head back, fire streaming from his mouth. As it touched the smoke, the smoke dissolved.

Gray lunged forward. The tip of his blade slashed through the mage’s clothing, sinking into skin. Blood poured down Adare’s chest, pooling in the dirt at his feet. Gray unsheathed the dagger. The blade throbbed against his skin, anticipating the taste of Adare’s blood. As Adare attacked, Gray threw it with a flick of his wrist. Adare dove to the side, his reaction lightning fast.

Cursing, Gray watched his precious weapon slam against the dirt floor. He opened his psychic link with Keegan.
“I’m going to bind his magic. Keep him occupied.”
Gray shifted so Keegan was blocking him. He wasn’t sure if it would work, but it was worth a try.

As Keegan attacked Adare, the two of them moved into the center of the room to give Gray more space to work. He called to the dagger and it slid across the dirt and into his waiting palm.

With a whispered incantation, Gray sliced the blade across his wrist. As his blood muddied the dirt floor, he called on his magic to enchant the blade. For the spell to be powerful enough, he would have to use a portion of his own magical essence. It was a huge risk because it would weaken him.

Adare was locked in battle with Keegan, his back vulnerable. Gray moved behind him, slamming the dagger, into the back of Adare’s thigh. The mage screamed, a shrill ear-piercing howl that sent Gray stumbling backwards. Blood streamed from Gray’s ears as the mage continued to wail.

In horror, Gray watched as Keegan hit his knees, momentarily stunned. Adare pulled free the iron spike strapped to his leg and slashed through the dragon’s belly. Blood spurted the dirt walls as Keegan fell back.

Adare growled. His human form began to flicker, and Gray caught a glimpse of what lay beneath the cultured exterior. What he saw made him wonder if it was a hallucination. Reptilian scales covered an elongated nose and chin. He caught a glimpse of a set of red piercing eyes before Adare managed to repair his glamour.

What lay beneath Adare’s glamour tasted of an ancient magic Gray hadn’t seen in centuries. He watched in horror as Adare pulled the ruby-encrusted dagger from his thigh. The spell was only half cast. What was left played on the blade like a misplaced song. Adare held it to the light, a strange look on his face.

“Creative,” he murmured. Laying the dagger on his palm, he murmured an incantation. The blade sparked once. The spell faltered, then renewed.

Adare glanced over to where Keegan lay trembling in the mud. “I don’t want to kill your dragon. And, believe it or not, I don’t want to kill you.”

He walked over to where Gray lay stunned beside the dirt wall. Before Gray could react, Adare plunged the silver blade into Gray’s side. The remnants of the spell worked quickly. Gray felt the drain on his powers. Without them he would have no defense against Adare. He attacked. Desperately he delved into the darkness inside of him and grabbed his power by the throat. He bound the remainder of his magic into a spell and, murmuring an incantation, threw it at Adare.

The other man stumbled back, a look of shock on his face as Gray’s magic rode his body, eating away at his flesh. “Not possible,” he stammered, spitting blood onto the dirt.

Gray smiled, but it came out as more of a grimace. “Ga’loh wanted Brenna to heal him, so she had to understand the curse. Agnes taught it to her, and she taught me.”

It was a bluff. A big one. Gray had learned this spell as a child, not Agnes’s. It took the victim’s fears and gave them physical form, amplifying them until the spell ran its course. Apparently, Adare was terrified of ending up like Ga’loh. Gray couldn’t blame him. The spell would dissipate within hours. But Adare didn’t know that.

“Damn you.” Adare bent over, a wet sloppy cough wracking his lungs.

Stepping back, he wrapped himself in his magic. His form slowly dissolved into the thick black smoke that housed his power.

Gray stumbled to where Keegan lay. The dragon’s skin was clammy, his body trembling. Blood poured from the wound, pooling in the dirt beneath him.

“Damn it.” Gray stripped the clothing away from the wound. Deep and angry, the gash spread across the dragon’s broad torso. Gray bit into his wrist and let his blood fall onto the gash. As it hit Keegan’s battered skin, the side of the wound began to knit together, fixing the worst of the damage. But it wasn’t enough.

Gray didn’t have the strength to get both him and Keegan out of the caves. But if he left Keegan, the dragon wouldn’t make it. And he wouldn’t let the dragon die alone. He leaned against the dirt wall and pulled Keegan onto his lap. They needed a miracle. Fast.

Chapter Twenty

Brenna pressed her forehead against the cool wood of the kitchen table. Her magic was on the fritz, mainly because she was an emotional wreck. She focused once again on the link she shared with Gray, slamming her psychic fist against the locked door, but he wouldn’t answer. His presence was strong in her mind. She knew he was still alive, but something had gone wrong.

Releasing a deep breath, she forced herself to lift her head. Gray was a grown man, a warrior, he could take care of himself. He wouldn’t want to distract her from the impending battle with Ga’loh. A battle Agnes and Hilda had not stopped practicing for in nearly twelve hours. At this point, Brenna had heard them rehearse the spell so many times, she could recite it by memory.

“We’re ready.” Hilda stepped inside the room. Agnes followed close behind.

Brenna glanced at them. They were quite the pair, the dead witch and the old witch. “Do you have everything you need?” She glanced at the duffel bags they had piled in the center of the room. They were filled with herbs, potions, and other things she hadn’t wanted to look at too closely.

“We’re as ready as we’ll ever be,” Agnes replied. “Have you heard from Gray?”

Brenna shook her head. “We’re on our own. He shut down our link, so I’m guessing something went wrong.”

“Or right.” Seraph stepped through the swinging door. Brenna jumped to her feet when she saw Lucy tottering behind him.

“Where’s Gray?” She glanced past Lucy, but there was no sign of him.

Seraph shook his head. “They’re still in the caves. They got Lucy free, then stayed to fight.”

Brenna nodded. Gray would have shut down their link while fighting. He wouldn’t have wanted to risk the distraction.

Lucy stumbled into the room with Seraph’s assistance. She had taken a beating. Her face was swollen and bloody, and her legs trembled beneath her weight. Brenna rushed across the room to take Lucy in her arms. She didn’t know who was the most surprised, her or the gargoyle.

“You’re not pregnant, are you?” Lucy stared at her, her gaze unblinking. “Since when did you get all emotional?”

Brenna shook her head. “I’m trying to help you. I didn’t want you to fall on your ass.” She awkwardly smoothed the sleeves of Lucy’s sweater. She had grabbed them, planning to give her friend a hug.

Lucy grinned. “Pour me a shot of whiskey, chase it with a moon pie, then we can build a campfire and sing kumbaya. But only if you get one of the witches to finish healing me first. I think the potion is wearing off.”

“Nice.” Brenna stepped back. “Forgive me for giving a damn.”

“Forgiven.” Lucy stumbled forward and grabbed Brenna by the wrist. “I love you too, but if we get soft before this is over, we’ll end up dead.”

She was right. Brenna had no idea what had come over her. To think she had told Gray she loved him over the phone. Her timing sucked. But he was going to make it through so she could tell him again in person.

Brenna went to the pantry and pulled out the biggest bottle of whiskey she could find. Lucy’s injuries were going to hurt like hell to heal, and she didn’t want her to run out of liquid sedative. She moved across the room and placed the bottle on the table.

Lucy winked. “Thanks.” She grasped the bottle in her blood-stained hands, popped off the lid and took a long swig. “That’s exactly what I needed.”

“Are Gray and Keegan all right?” Brenna straddled the chair beside her.

Lucy nodded. “They were fine when they rescued me. I told them to get out before Adare came back, but they stayed. There’s no way the two of them can take him on their own.” She closed her eyes. “I saw Adare doing things I’ve never seen before. He’s no war mage. I don’t know what he is.”

“Like what?” Brenna leaned forward.

“He threw five demons through the Veil for disobeying.” She took another swig of the liquor. “He spoke them out of existence.”

Brenna tensed. “You mean he did a spell?”

Lucy shook her head. “No. I mean he looked at them and said die. And they went poof.”

“That’s impossible.” Seraph walked over to join them. “He didn’t create them.”

Lucy sucked down an impossibly long drink. “You asked me what I saw. That’s what I saw. Adare’s more powerful than any of us. He’s like a Shadow Bearer on steroids.”

Brenna considered. Demon princes held a debilitating amount of power over their minions, but not that much. But Adare wasn’t a demon prince. Whatever he was, Brenna didn’t have time to figure it out now.

The deadline for their meeting with Ga’loh was quickly approaching. They had decided not to drain their magic by teleporting, and the car ride to his location would take at least an hour. If they didn’t leave now, they would be late. And something told her Ga’loh’s tolerance for tardiness was low. They needed to play nice, at least for now.

“Can one of your healers look at Lucy?” she asked Agnes. “I can’t spare the magic to heal her.”

“Sure.” Agnes motioned to a young woman who had helped them pack the herbs. The other witch stepped over to Lucy and ran her hands across the gargoyle’s forehead.

“That tickles.” Lucy jerked away.

The witch shook her head and motioned for Lucy to follow her out of the room. When they were gone, Brenna turned to Seraph. “What do you think?”

He shrugged. “Gray and Keegan will take care of it.” He glanced down at his watch. “We’re running out of time. Pack the SUV, we’re leaving.”

“You can give me a few more minutes. I need to contact Gray.” She pulled her phone from her pocket.

“No.” Seraph snatched it from her hand. “You have a job to do, so does Gray. No matter what you find out, it doesn’t change the fact that you have to go after Ga’loh. Millions of lives depend on us finding a cure.” He shoved her phone in his back pocket. “If anything, I’ll go after them. There’s no reason you can’t do the spell without me,” he said in a softer voice.

“No. You’re right. They’re probably fine. Gray and Keegan have thirty hunters and ten witches to back them up. We need you. The ritual to heal Ga’loh will weaken me, we may not have enough power if you’re not there.”

Brenna closed her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose. All worrying about Gray did was distract her. Even if he was hurt, she couldn’t go after him. Not yet. Still, knowing he was all right would relieve her anxiety, maybe even make her fight better. But she couldn’t tell Seraph that.

The tension in the vehicle was palatable. Seraph, Mira and Brenna had parted ways with Hilda and Agnes at the boarding house. If Ga’loh got even a hint of foul play, the game was up. Together they were strong, but Brenna wasn’t sure they could beat Ga’loh, once she healed him.

Silence reigned, but the undercurrent of tension and frustration was enough to drive a person mad. Brenna ignored the others, continually trying to contact Gray although she had sworn to leave it alone. For the first time, she wished they had completed their bond. If they had, she would hold a part of him with her always. No matter how hard he tried, he would be an open book. It was one of the reasons the bonding process was so frightening. To give another person that much control was terrifying, especially for a control freak like her. But maybe it was time to reconsider.

She closed her eyes, leaned back in the seat, and said a quick prayer as they rolled to a halt. They would have to climb the hillside to reach the tunnel where Ga’loh lived. It was an arduous task, but it would allow her to clear her head. The next few hours would make or break this war. Without the cure, Adare would wipe out the humans. And that wasn’t an option.

They were only a few feet from the entrance to the cave when Brenna felt it. Blood magic wrapped around her like a scratchy wool blanket until she could scarcely breathe. Ga’loh had someone with him, and they were working a nasty spell. Brenna gathered her magic and sent it searching inside the cave to find out what was going on.

“It’s Lilura,” Seraph said with a shake of her head. “I thought she was too smart to get involved.” He glanced at Mira. “You need to take her out. We can’t trust her.”

Brenna nodded. There was a good possibility one of them might not come back from this fight. If taking out Lilura would change that, it had to be done. “Don’t kill her if you don’t have to, but get her out of here. I’ll deal with Ga’loh.”

Mira smiled. Her fangs shone in the moonlight. “My pleasure.”

They followed the trail of magic to the cut in the hillside. It wasn’t the same set of tunnels where Ga’loh had housed Mira. He must not like to keep his prey close to home. Brenna felt a strange compulsion to knock as they rounded the corner. She could hear the faint sounds of the demon speaking from up ahead, and anticipation danced in her stomach.

She stilled a few feet before they entered the cavern. Closing her eyes, she mentally forced herself to push aside all thoughts of Gray. Being distracted wouldn’t do any of them any good. In fact, it might get them killed.

Before she could fully ready herself, Ga’loh appeared in front of her. “Come on in, my dear. We’ve been waiting for you.”

Her eyes played over his features. He had chosen not to wear his mask, and what was left of the skin on his face hung like rotten cabbage from his cheekbones. The only thing still fully intact in his desiccated face was a pair of glowing red eyes. The smell was nauseating.

She followed him inside the wide cavern, Seraph and Mira at her back. The room where he led them was flanked on four sides by narrow passageways which Brenna assumed were the entrances to the tunnels that twisted beneath the ruins. The demon couldn’t have picked a better location for their purposes. Once Ga’loh was distracted, Hilda should have no trouble finding a place to hide.

As they stepped more fully inside, Brenna saw an enormous altar of red rock and aspen near the center of the room. Blood dripped from the flat stone platform to pool in the dirt below. It smelled fresh.

Brenna’s eyes adjusted to the dim light. The room was lit solely by the fire that sat near the far end in a makeshift fire pit filled with aspen and cedar. The witch had been burning sage. The smoke made Brenna’s eyes water.

“Tell her to blow it out. It’s distracting.” Brenna placed the duffel bag with all her “ingredients” in the center of the room. All she needed for the spell was her blood. But Ga’loh would remember her plea for more time. She had to make it look good.

I wasn’t aware you were bringing guests.” Brenna eyed Lilura. “If she stays, keep her out of my way.”

Ga’loh laughed. “Of course.” He gestured to Seraph and Mira. “Not the cavalry I expected.”

Brenna shrugged. To explain herself would be suspicious. “We need to get started. I’ve got things to do.” She motioned for the demon to step back. Walking as close as she could to the center of the room, she knelt before the duffel bag and slowly unzipped the top. The altar took up most of the free space, restricting her movements.

“I need more space.” She sat back on her haunches. A bottle of blood in her hand, she gestured to the altar. “This isn’t going to work.”

Ga’loh hesitated, shooting a quick glance at the witch. “Get rid of it, or I will. I told you to keep it out of the way.”

Lilura started to protest, but he silenced her with a glare. She laid her hands in the blood on the platform and murmured an incantation. The structure gave a low groan and shrank to a manageable size. With an irritated huff of air, the witch pushed it to the side of the room.

Brenna watched her go. Whatever Lilura had done had lessened the play of magic in the room. But, although weakened, the spell was still present. She turned back to Ga’loh. He had leaned against the dirt wall and was watching her carefully.

“Whatever spell your witch is casting is going to interfere with the ritual. Tell her to stop.”

Ga’loh considered. After a few moments he motioned to Lilura. “No magic. Not until I tell you.” There was an audible snap and the spell disappeared. He turned back to Brenna. “Good enough?”

Ignoring him, she took a deep breath and began to pull various useless items from the bag. First came the purple silk drop cloth. She had chosen it in an attempt to appeal to Ga’loh’s vanity. Purple was the color of kings. As he watched, she stood to spread the fabric across the dirt floor. Once she finished, she placed a variety of candles and bottles around the border of the sheet to keep it in place. The bottles were filled with a variety of things, water, blood, antifreeze. She had used whatever was handy. The last step was to place the assortment of blades. Three spelled silver daggers that would, hopefully, render the demon immobile while Hilda worked her magic.

Brenna stepped away and motioned for Ga’loh. “Get naked and lay in the center of the candles.”

He stared at her as if she had lost her mind. But, as much as she didn’t want to see him nude, it would render him somewhat vulnerable if things went wrong. When he didn’t move, she turned to face him. “I need to see what I’m healing. If that’s an issue, I can’t help you.”

A slow smile stretched across his face. “No. I was just…surprised.” He moved toward her, shifting his shoulders to allow his black trench coat to fall to the ground. The gore stained black shirt followed. His ravaged fingers struggled over the buttons of his jeans, but, eventually, they too lay in the dirt at his feet. He wasn’t wearing underwear.

Brenna turned away, but not quick enough to hid the revulsion on her face. His body had fared far worse than his face. Festering wounds spread across the surface. Puss and blood oozed from them to trail down his torso and legs. And, now that he was fully uncovered, the smell was dreadful. The scent of rot and decay followed his every movement. As he crouched on the floor, every inch of his body revealed, she wondered yet again why he didn’t save himself the torment and return home.

Moving to sit behind his head, she motioned Mira and Seraph forward. “You have to stay completely still, or this won’t work. I only have enough magic to do this once, and every time you move you’ll rip open my repairs.” She met Ga’loh’s gaze. “These two are here to hold you down if you get out of hand.”

Ga’loh snorted. “They’re not strong enough. I can control myself.”