shaede assassin 05 - shadows at midnight (12 page)

It let out a roar that shook the entire tunnel. Rock rained down on me as the goblin fell. I tumbled down with it, crashing to the hard ground beneath me with enough force to rattle my teeth. Jarring pain shot from my left shoulder down my arm and radiated from my hip where I’d made contact with the jagged edge of a boulder.
Ouch
. I didn’t think anything was broken but not for lack of trying. Beside me, the goblin let out one last gurgling breath before it stilled. Thank god. I don’t think I would have survived a round two with the damned thing.

My body screamed in protest as I pushed to my feet. It was perfectly fine staying put on the hard ground, preferably coiled up in the fetal position. Unfortunately, my body wasn’t going to get a chance to rest or recuperate any time soon. Just one of the pitfalls of hanging out in a realm where your usually quick-healing body was met with magical restrictions. What a pain in the ass.

“Don’t touch me! Don’t you put a fucking finger on me!”

My pain was instantly forgotten at Asher’s urgent shout. I rushed to retrieve my daggers from the goblin’s skull, which took considerably more strength than I thought it would. When I managed to pry them free, I sensed their need for violence and blood and immediately sheathed them. I didn’t trust them not to guide my hands to attack friend and foe alike and I couldn’t risk hurting a member of my team. The enchanted weapons were amazing in a clinch, but Fae weaponry of any kind was about as trustworthy as a wolf in a barn full of lambs.

Darkness swallowed me as I backtracked through the tunnel. I hoped that Ty and the others had managed to kill off the remaining goblins and that someone had found Myles since he was the only member of our team left unaccounted for.

I could barely make out the shadow of Ash’s form in the dense darkness. He stood, dagger held aloft, in a defensive stance. I approached slowly, each step carefully placed and ready to defend myself if need be. Fear widened his eyes and transformed his expression, making him appear even younger than he already looked.

“I won’t do it,” Asher said, fearful, to whatever illusion taunted him. “You can’t make me.”

“Ash!” It was never a good idea to get aggressive with someone waving a dagger around. I learned that lesson the hard way as his arm whipped around in a quick downward cut. I leapt out of the way but not before the blade caught my forearm. Painful heat seared over my skin as the dagger cut.
Stupid, Darian!
I assessed the damage and found the wound to be superficial but it still hurt like a bitch. “Asher,” I said gently this time, “It’s Darian. Listen to me. Whatever you think is happening right now, it isn’t real.”

“You’re a monster,” he whispered. “I’ll never be like you.”

I didn’t take it personally. His words weren’t meant for me. It piqued my curiosity, though. Ash had secrets and I’d always sensed that they were dark ones. Whatever illusion his mind had helped to conjure, it wasn’t a pleasant one, and it scared the poor kid senseless. Tremors rocked his solid form and even the dagger quivered in his grasp. I took another—tentative—step toward him.

“Ash, you’ve got to listen to me. Remember those illusions we talked about? This is one of them. You’ve got to find your way out of it. Listen to my voice. It’s real. I’m real. What you’re seeing right now is a trick. You know all about mind games. You’re smarter than Padma’s magic. Shake it off, okay? Just let it go.”

His head angled toward me and a thin ribbon of hope unfurled inside of me. “That’s it. You’re a bad motherfucker. Tougher than any of this petty bullshit. Get your ass back to reality so we can get Xander and get the fuck out of here. Whaddya say?”

In a flash Asher swept his arm out and caught me by the shoulder before slamming me into the opposite wall.

Ugh
. I wasn’t in any kind of shape to be roughed up yet again. The daggers went wild in their sheaths, the magical energy of the blades practically yipping like excited little puppies. They sensed the threat to me and were ready and willing to do a little damage on my behalf.
Sorry boys, not gonna happen.

Ash’s right hand—the one gripping the dagger—came up. He poised the blade inches from my throat as his lip curled in a sneer. “I told you, I won’t do it. Ask me again and I’ll cut
your
throat.”

Well, shit
. “Ash, listen to me.” I spoke more forcefully in the interest of saving my own neck and getting him free and clear of the illusions. I didn’t have any more time to waste. “Snap the fuck out of it! You’re stronger than this! You
know
this isn’t real. Think about where you’re supposed to be right now. What you’re supposed to be doing.”

His gaze cleared for the briefest moment. I couldn’t allow him to lose momentum. “That’s right. We’re in a dark fucking tunnel at the bottom of the earth. And it’s filled with booby traps and nasty-ass goblins.”

I let out a sigh of relief as the tension in his arm loosened and he lowered the dagger. He kept his left palm pinned against my shoulder, though as if he still couldn’t trust what I’d said.

“I will kick your ass right here and now if you don’t snap out of it.” Maybe a good old-fashioned threat would wake him up. “And you know I can do it.”

His hand fell away from my shoulder and his amber eyes cleared. Pain, sorrow, and more of that gut-wrenching fear, passed over his expression. My heart sank into my stomach. Whatever parts of Asher’s past he kept buried, I had a feeling he’d hidden them deep for a reason.

“Jesus.” He let out a gust of breath as he reached for the rock wall behind me and his posture slumped.

I caught the back of his neck in my palm and put my forehead to his. “I know,” I said softly. “Not a good time.”

“I didn’t hurt you, did I?” His eyes went wide as he took in my many scrapes and bruises. His gaze landed on the slice in my arm.

“I’ll live,” I remarked. “I’m a lot harder to kill than you’d think.”

“Don’t I know it.” Ash’s face bore no hint of humor. “I’m sorry, Darian.”

“Nothing to be sorry for,” I remarked. “Let’s get the fuck out of here, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Ash said with nod. “You don’t have to ask me twice.”

That made two of us.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

“Rakshasa, man,” Asher said with a shake of his head. “Consider my mind adequately fucked.”

He was visibly shaken though he tried to pass it off as no big deal. I wasn’t about to call attention to it, I hadn’t held up much better under the assault. Julian had found Myles and with a little help from Liam—who’d taken my right-hook tactic to heart—they managed to break him from the illusions with little effort. The last of the goblins had been routed thanks to Tyler’s magic and Louella’s muscle. I was
so
ready to find Xander and be done with this foul place. I planned to make Padma pay tenfold for making me endure this hellhole for a second time.

It took several moments for everyone to gather their wits—everyone but Ty. He watched from the edge of the orb’s light with wary eyes. Our gazes met and he looked away. His magic might have been affected here but it certainly wasn’t null. The ghouls’ illusions couldn’t touch him. I’d never been scared of Tyler. Not once. But a ripple of anxiety coursed through me as I took in his serious countenance. What I didn’t know about him or his magic had never bothered me as much as it did now. And my need for answers
burned
.

When everyone felt as though they were mentally stable to continue on, I used the pendulum’s faint glow to keep us on the right track. We didn’t leave ourselves unprotected and held our circular formation of bodies, our backs turned to one another.

“Padma and anyone who’s loyal to her will pay for it,” I assured Ash. “I’m not leaving here until that bitch is dead.”

Securing Xander’s safety was our first priority. But I couldn’t leave this place without the key to
O Anel
. I was a Guardian above everything else and I’d be damned if I let Brakae down by not keeping her secret—and the doorway to the Faery realm—safe. I was going to look into the whites of Padma’s eyes when I ripped the silver chain from her neck. And then, I’d run my dagger through her black heart.

“This way.” The pendulum glowed so brightly that it began to heat the chain it was affixed to. I recognized the long corridor and we picked up our pace as we navigated another two hundred yards or so. I’d lived some of the longest days of my existence in this place. Pain etched the details of my time here in my brain. The faintest hint of Xander’s energy buffeted my senses, the satin glide of cool shadows. “This corridor isn’t a dead end.” I pulled the daggers free from their scabbards and they sang their approval. My palms absorbed the tiny vibrations that traveled up my arm.
Down boys. You’ll get your blood soon enough.

“Julian, you and Louella should position yourself at the far end. Liam and Myles, you two stay at our end. If I’m right—” and I was “—Xander is in the third cell down on the left. Tyler, Ash, and I will manage the king. You four give us a heads up and run any interference. Got it?”

Julian raised a questioning brow. “He’s not going to believe what he sees,” I explained. “We might have to get him out of here with brute force.” I didn’t want anyone to see Xander in a weakened state. His ego wouldn’t easily recover from the blow. “One more thing. Anything that happens from here on out stays here. Do you understand me?”

“It stays between us,” Liam said with a nod. “I vow anything I see or hear remains here.”

“Agreed,” Louella said.

Julian and Myles nodded as well. I looked to Ash and he snorted. “As if you even have to ask.”

I knew Ash would never betray Xander. Ty, however, had no loyalties to the king and for good reason. He could make his vow of silence to me later. I’d coerce it out of him if I had to.

I waited for Myles and the others to get into position. I hated splitting up, but we needed coverage. If Xander reacted the way I had, I could expect him to be dubious, hopeless, disbelieving, and at the very least combative. Tyler might get his chance to cold-cock the High King of High Handed Decisions yet again. Because if he fought us, our only option was going to be to knock him the fuck out.

Once everyone was where they needed to be, we moved farther down to the dark corridor toward the cell I was certain Xander was being held in. Torchlight flickered from their sconces, casting eerie shadows on the stone walls. I tried not to let them draw my attention. To remind me of the horrors I’d endured here. While I took point, Ty and Ash flanked me. The daggers hummed in my palms, anxious for another kill. I hoped to hell I’d be able to give them one soon.

The sound of a low moan echoed down the stone passageway. Asher turned to me and cocked a curious brow. A strange mix of pleasure and pain that speared my chest with tiny fingers of fear. We needed to get a move on and get the hell out of Padma’s hellhole. ASAP. I didn’t know how much longer I could stand being here before I cracked.

I’d been prepared for the long and frustrating task of picking the lock to Xander’s cell, but the closer we got, I noticed the door had been left open wide.

“A trap?” Asher asked in a whisper.

“Or an illusion,” I suggested.

“Neither.” Tyler’s tone soured and my stomach twisted into an anxious knot. “Fall back, Darian. I’ll take it from here.”

The hell he would. “No way, Tyler. We do this together or not at all.” I refused to let him put himself in danger when this mission had been my idea.

Tyler swore under his breath and a wave of tension rolled off of him, blasting me with its icy chill. Whatever he didn’t want me to see had him riled. I pushed past him, careful to stay out of sight and froze.

Oh my god
.

Xander lay sprawled out naked on a ratty bed of straw. And riding him like a jockey with the finish line in sight was…
me
.

“Holy shit, Darian. She looks just like you.” Asher’s seething whisper only served to turn my stomach. The woman screwing Xander with mindless abandon was my mirror image. I squeezed my eyes shut. Willed the vision away. And opened them only to find the same unbelievable illusion.  

“What in the hell is this?” Anxiety coursed through my body as I tried to reconcile what I was seeing.  

“It’s Padma.” Ty’s voice was a controlled burn. “I can see through the illusion.”

That bitch!
My anxiety turned to rage in an instant. Ugly welts and cuts marred Xander’s body. Blood trickled down his chest and over his biceps. The raw gaping wounds indicated that Padma hadn’t gone easy on him. She’d been supplementing her disgusting diet well since I’d been here. Xander’s gaze was focused yet glassy. His expression cut with lines of pain despite the seemingly pleasurable act. She berated him, cut him, whipped and abused him. And still, Xander gripped her hips in his palms as he pulled her down with every thrust of his hips. Bile rose in my throat and I swallowed it down.

“I’m going to kill her.” Angry tears sprang to my eyes as I choked on the words. “And it won’t be painless or quick.”

Before Tyler could hold me back, I charged forward. Xander sat up, his gaze still wild and unfocused. He clutched Padma close to him and rolled her away. Protected her. My rage burned in supernova proportions. My own confusion, hurt, and emotional fallout had to take a backseat. Xander was out of his mind. Lost to Padma’s illusions. And as I advanced, daggers in hand, I realized that I was going to have to get through him to kill her. So many times I’d fantasized about kicking Xander’s ass. The problem was, I didn’t know if I could bring myself to hurt him.

He was bleeding. Weak. Used and abused in ways that I couldn’t bring myself to think about. And yet, he came at me with the ferocity of a warrior sent fresh into battle. Padma stood behind him, a smug expression curving her—or my—lips.
Jesus
. A shriek that grated on my nerves rent the air as she called for her guards. Fucking hell. Shit was about to hit the fan.

“Ash, don’t let a single one of them through that door!”

Xander rushed at me, his naked body no less impressive despite the many wounds and bruises. He kept his head down, shoulders poised for a full-body tackle. Tyler intercepted him, taking Xander to the floor instead. I couldn’t take on both Padma and Xander, but the others were going to need Ty’s help in keeping her guards at bay if we were going to make it out of this place alive.