Shadows of Fate (Shadow Born) (26 page)

“Not since he took over custody of the vamps you rescued.” He stood, taking back his papers. “We’ll hear from him once they are stable.”

“I wonder how many survived.” For a moment she was back in the compound, watching her blood spill into the mouths of the desperate survivors.

“They lost a few before they were clear of the compound. The rest made it, barely. Claudius will do right by them, but I sent Sam to help, just in case.”

Nodding, she blew out a short breath. Waiting wouldn’t bring Gray back any sooner. A warm breeze drifted across her face. She felt the familiar presence she’d been waiting for form on top of the braided rug in the center of the room.

It was about time.

Brenna leaned against the thin couch cushions. Relief and fury flowed through her as Gray appeared. Since he had no visible injuries, fury took hold.

“Where the hell have you been?” She poked him in the chest. “Why didn’t you use our mental link and let me know what was going on?”

There was humor in Gray’s gaze. It made her want to strike him. She rose above the urge.

“I’ll remember next time,” he said. “Seraph knew where I was.”

She shot her boss an accusing glare.

“A little worry can help put things in focus,” Seraph said with a smile.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

He shrugged. “Only what I said.” He looked to Gray. “Did you verify the locations on the map?”

“I traveled to the sites farthest from here first. It all adds up, so I think Donald was telling the truth. There are three sites below ground less than ten miles from this cabin that still need to be explored. As far as I can tell the underground sites haven’t been active, but I don’t want to miss anything.”

Brenna looked back and forth between the two men, her frustration mounting. “Would you care to share with the rest of the class?”

Gray turned back to Seraph. “You didn’t tell her that either?”

“You can explain. I need to check in with Hilda. She’s running an errand for me.” He left with a carefree wave.

“He can be so infuriating…”

Gray laughed, the deep tenor of it filled the room. “Don’t I know it? Seraph always has reasons.” He pulled a folded piece of parchment from his back pocket. It was the map Claudius had given them.

“You can figure it out?”

Gray nodded, handing it over. “I had a willing translator. The runes are landmarks and the lines are tunnels. That dark area is Blue Lake.”

She studied it, turning it over in her hands to see it at different angles. It all seemed to click. “It catalogues portals to the Veil.” She ran her finger across the one she had traveled through when she was banished, well-secured and guarded. But that was just one. There were far more here than she had imagined. This was bad. If these are all active the very fabric of the Veil could be unstable. And the last time that happened… She tried not to think about it.

“Based on this, I’ve been trying to find the ones they’re using to smuggle in demons. So far the only ones that are active have been above ground.” He ran his finger across the page. “But most of these are buried deep within the Earth, connected by tunnels.”

“We have to shut them down.” She paused, still stunned by the sheer number. “All of them.”

“That’s the plan, but it’s not something we can fix by going from tear to tear.” Gray took the paper from her, folded it then placed it in his pocket. “Seraph’s got an idea. We also have to be ready for Orien—”

“Because he will attack when he realizes what we are doing.” She smiled. “You’re setting a trap, aren’t you?”

“We have to force him into the open, so we can end this.” Gray said. “Once we capture him, I’ll take him through the portal to the Council.”

Brenna froze. “You’re going to take him home? After all he’s done? Why not kill him?”
She’d be damned if the Council would rob her of vengeance
, she finished silently.

“He is a Shadow Bearer. He belongs to the Council. They can punish him in ways we can’t.” He turned to walk toward the fire.

“The Guardians will never let you take him through.”

He gave her a look. “The Guardians will hand him over with a bright red bow. If Orien’s damaged the Veil, the only thing they will demand is justice. They care about the ends not the means.”

The Guardians patrolled changes in the Veil. They were charged with regulating travel between worlds to ensure the threads that bound the planes of existence were not severed. The portals on this map were not premade entry ways, but tears through the very essence of the Veil, damage that weakened the whole of reality.

Brenna wanted to argue. But it would do no good. If he thought the proper channel of punishment for Orien was the Council, she wouldn’t be able to change his mind.

Her emotions were torn. She had spent the past few days struggling to contain her worry. Her dreams had been filled with images of his death. Now that he was back she just wanted him gone. She stared into the fire.

“Don’t ever do that again. You slammed the door closed against our psychic connection. I couldn’t feel you.”

He moved behind her. “I didn’t want you coming after me.” The heat of his body rivaled the warmth of the flames.

“That’s not your call.” Her back pressed against his chest. He was close, too close. “I thought you were dead.”

“You would have known.” His breath tickled her hair. “We are too intimately connected.” His hands smoothed down her arms.

Turning into his embrace, she studied him. “And how is that even possible?” She focused on the movement of his lips as he began to speak.

“Some people are simply connected.” He leaned down and softly kissed her lips. “We are both alone in this world. It was bound to happen. Maybe part of you intended it.” His hands swept down her back. “Does it matter why?”

She pushed back from him when she felt another presence close by. “It always matters.”

Mira entered the room, a steaming cup in each hand. “I made coffee.” She handed a cup to each of them. “I couldn’t help but overhear. Are we still safe here?”

Gray refused the drink, stepping away from Brenna. “According to the map, we are only a few miles from a portal through the Veil. That makes this the last place they would look.”

“So we are hiding in plain sight.” Mira smiled. “But we’re screwed if they find us before we’re ready. Gotta love those odds.”

“There are three locations I wasn’t able to check. Once we have some information about them, we can move forward,” Gray said.

Brenna studied him. Something wasn’t quite right. There was something missing. Before she could question him, another presence swirled through the room. It danced and morphed into a greenish mist which settled over the rug.

“Hilda, cut the dramatics.” Mira slashed her hands through the mist. She cursed and pressed a bleeding finger to her lips. “If you weren’t already dead…”

“What? You’d drain me dry?” Hilda materialized. “Save it.” She acknowledged Gray with a tilt of her head. “Where is Boss Man?”

“I’m right here.”

Brenna started as Seraph stepped forward. Had he been there all along? She was sure she’d seen him leave.

“What did you find out?” He leaned down to stir the flames.

“The demons are gone. They aren’t in Denver, the Underground, the hospital compound or anywhere else.” She drifted by the fire and around to the couch. “They took at least fifty deviants and killed a ton more, then
poof
, gone. The locals are scared.”

“And what about Adare?” Seraph tossed a piece of slender green wood into the fire.

“The Brotherhood are wiped out, except for those they’re keeping for snacks and brainpower.”

Brenna drew a sharp breath. “Adare’s dead?”

“No. He’s wandering the Underground asking for you, Seraph, anyone from the IRT.” Hilda shook her head. “He’s acting crazy, like he’s on a bad high.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” Gray said. “Adare was the only member of the Brotherhood who didn’t want the demons to cross over.”

Hilda shuddered. “They say the Brotherhood committed a mass sacrifice to do something to the Veil. I don’t know what, but it allows the demons to cross over in their natural form. Ancient stuff, really nasty.”

Gray shook his head. “I can’t imagine Adare went along with that.”
 

“But there’s something wrong with Adare’s aura too.” Hilda added. “It’s outlined in black, like something’s marked him. It looked disgusting.”

“A supernatural lojack?” Brenna sighed. “Someone’s keeping tabs on him.”

“Can you get rid of it?” Gray turned to Seraph. “He could still be useful.”

Seraph considered it. “I could, but it would take too long.”

“If he’s been compromised, we have to pull him out,” Brenna responded. “There’s no point keeping him undercover any longer.”

Gray shook his head. “It’s too much of a risk if he’s being tracked.”

“Agreed,” Seraph said. “I will have someone tail him.”

“Why not cleanse him of whatever they tainted him with and grab him? We could use more fire power,” Brenna argued.

“He might be bait,” Seraph frowned. “Adare was one of ours. He had access to all of our information. Our contacts, our passcodes.”

Brenna crossed her arms. “You think he’s the leak.”

“He might not have been willing, but you have to admit it makes sense.”

Gray stepped forward. “You said the traitor would have to be a ghost or have help from a ghost. Adare uses them for covert contacts, and he knows how to ride the astral plane himself.”

“I left him under too long,” Seraph rubbed a hand across his head.

Brenna felt sick. “Seraph, I know you’re not one to make snap judgments, but Adare is one of us. You can’t believe that.”

“I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t have more than just suspicions, Brenna. Adare is cut off.” He paused then took a long breath. “The truth will come out. It always does. Until then no one is to contact him.”

Brenna bit back a retort. She had been friends with Adare before either of them joined the IRT. She wouldn’t dismiss him as a traitor without more proof. At worst he was a pawn being controlled by Orien.

“An attack on the Underground is a declaration of war on all deviants, not just the IRT. Our attack on the compound doesn’t seem to have fazed them.” Brenna considered. “We need to shut down these portals now. We don’t have time to wait until we’ve investigated each site.”

“There is a better way,” said Seraph. “If we repair the Veil, those portals will stop functioning.”

“What do you mean?” Brenna asked.

“The Veil is a living organism, taking up an entire dimension. The tears are a symptom of a larger problem. We know Orien made it sick from the inside, using the Brotherhood to do it. It’s the only way he could have poked so many holes in it. And I’m afraid Brenna knows something of the hows and whys.”

Brenna blanched. “You can’t mean… not my father’s…”

Seraph nodded. “Orien would have been privy to the spellwork involved.”

“How did you even know about it?” Seraph didn’t answer her. “So we need to heal the Veil?” Brenna shook her head. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“There is a place a few miles from here where I suspect the Veil is the most fragile. If we go there and try to heal it, the Veil may recover enough strength to heal the other tears, closing the portals.”

Gray crossed his arms. “What about the Guardians? They might object if they think we’re interfering.”

“I suspect they might welcome our help.
If
you treat them with the appropriate respect,” Seraph warned.

“What makes you think we are strong enough to heal the Veil, when the Guardians can’t?”

Brenna started at the sound of Mira’s voice. She had forgotten the vampire was there.

“You aren’t,” Seraph said, shaking his head. “But Brenna and Gray are. I always knew this was a possibility. It’s why I kept Brenna and Gray together. Brenna’s ability to heal others is the strongest I’ve seen, and Gray has more raw power. Together they might be able to treat it.”

Brenna glanced at Gray. “We would have to fuse our magic together.”

They would have to reach a level of vulnerability with one another that took years of training. Aside from the mating bond, sharing power was the most intimate act a Shadow Bearer could perform. It wouldn’t bind them for eternity, but it would connect them for the short term. And in their current state, the release of that much power could drain or kill them both.

“There is no other choice.” Gray smiled, cocksure of himself. “There are worse ways to die.”

Brenna wanted to smack him. “This isn’t swapping blood, Gray. Fusing power is like putting your soul on display. You know what that means. No more secrets.

Gray came to Brenna, his face expressionless. Cupping her chin, he lifted her face. “We are already linked, Brenna. You’ve known that from the day we met. It would only strengthen a bond that already exists. And the time for secrets is drawing to an end.”

He was right. The moment she walked into her office and found him at her desk, she had felt it. Sometimes, like when he had gone missing, it was so strong it was smothering. She had been so sure Dunham had been her true mate, but what she felt for Gray was just as strong, if not stronger, as what she had felt for her late husband. How was that even possible?