The Dark Storm (37 page)

“Filthy witch!” Gilchrest shook his head from side to side in an attempt to stop the pain spreading across his face.

Rogue placed a soothing hand on Asha’s shoulder and the bleeding stopped. “If this thing is a goblin prince, we may be able to use him as a bargaining chip to get Red-feather back.”

“Goblin never barter with topsiders, especially demons posing as humans.” He glared from Rogue to De Mona. Something about the way the goblin looked at her made De Mona uncomfortable. “Why you hide your true face, bitch?”

De Mona snarled, “That’s it, I’m offing this fucker!” In a flash De Mona was across the Hummer with her claws fully extended. Even if Gilchrest hadn’t been bound, there would’ve been no way he could’ve moved faster than De Mona. Just before her claws tore into his pocked flesh, De Mona found herself wrapped from fingertip to elbow in shadow.

“Enough,” Rogue said evenly. “He’s worth more to us alive than dead, so why don’t you cool it, or would you rather have to worry about every goblin within a hundred miles gunning for a piece of your hide?”

De Mona bared her fangs. “I can handle myself.”

“That remains the question,” Rogue told her. “I don’t know if you noticed it or not, girlie, but we’re in the
shit
here. This ain’t about egos anymore, it’s about survival, because you can bet that as sure as my ass is black, we’re all on the short list of who Titus wants whacked. You’re free to play the tough ass loner if you want, but I’m of the thinking
that there is strength in numbers. We’ve gotta stick together if any of us plan to make it out of it alive.”

“I agree,” Lydia spoke up. She stroked Fin’s head affectionately with one hand and ran her thumb over the runes on her spear with the other. “We are all that is left of the great house and we must uphold what it stood. Whether we are five hundred or five we must keep the darkness at bay.”

Jackson stared at Lydia quizzically. Even though she was blind, she still displayed more courage than most when it came to tackling the dark forces. The gesture brought a smirk to his face. “For as much of a fool as I feel like for saying so, I’m with the young lady. Look, each of us has been fighting our own battles; be it with the dark forces or our own souls.” He glanced at De Mona when he said this. “The point is that going at it solo ain’t working so maybe it is time that we clicked up and put an end to this.”

Gilchrest scoffed. “Impossible, put an end to something older than you or I. This war go since first blood shed in Eden. This war go on forever, or until goblin rule all.”

“Now that’s a world I could do without,” Asha said.

“Then we’re all agreed. We regroup and put a plan together to get our people back,” Rogue said.

Gilchrest laughed. It sounded like a sick wheezing when it belched from his chest. “Man-thing, no need plan for death, only hold on to prince and it come find you soon enough.”

“Goddess, why don’t you shut up already?” Asha waved her hand and an invisible strip clamped over Gilchrest’s mouth.

“Plan? Why do we need a plan when we’ve got his highness?” Gabriel pulled up his sleeve and exposed the pulsing tattoo. “If this thing is so powerful, then why don’t we just use it to find my grandfather and go get him?”

“Did we just establish the fact that we didn’t wanna die?” Asha asked sarcastically.

Jackson placed a hand on Gabriel’s forearm. “Dawg, I know you’re hot right now, but we need a game plan to go off into the Iron Mountains.”

Gabriel slapped his hand away and manifested the trident. “I’ve got a game plan right here.”

“Gabriel, cool it with that thing before you give away our position,” Rogue warned. Gabriel gave him a defiant look but did as he was told. “Gabriel, you know no one wants to help you get Redfeather back more than me, but I have to agree with Jackson on this one. Even on holy ground, we barely made it out with our skins so charging into the bowels of Midland is suicide at best.”

“What’s Midland?” Asha asked curiously.

“The last place of true magic,” Fin murmured before he went back to staring aimlessly at the blacked-out window from Lydia’s lap. Ever since Angelo had forced the spark into him, he had been drifting in and out.

Seeing the confused expression on their faces through the rearview, Morgan chose to explain. “Keep in mind that what I am about to tell you is supposed to be a myth, but in light of some of the things my brothers and I have come across, I have to believe the truth isn’t too far off. Centuries ago, when magical things walked the earth, this was all Midland. When the science forced the magic out, Midland began to die. To protect itself the land separated from this plane and retreated to a realm between the worlds of men and demons, where magic still flourishes. But like a tree, Midland’s roots are still in this world. When the land separated, it caused small tears in the fabric of the realities called rips. These rips act as access points between this world and the forgotten.”

“So you mean to say that both worlds occupy the same place, but on different levels?” De Mona asked. Her father
had spoken of Midland, but he’d always made it seem like it no longer existed.

“In a way,” Morgan confirmed. “The earth is one world of many, but it has different layers.”

“Kinda like those Grams biscuits at the supermarket,” Jackson offered.

Morgan shook his head. “Not quite, but my leather-clad friend isn’t far off with his assessment. Midland is everywhere, yet nowhere all at the same time. It hovers between the two planes like a layer of protective skin, keeping the realms of men and demons from colliding. As a boy, my father used to tell me tales of great magicians who could walk between both worlds as simply as walking through a door, but days of magic that potent have long passed. The most conventional way to cross into Midland now is through the rips.”

“So why don’t we just roll up on one of these rips and cross into Midland?” De Mona asked.

“If only it were that simple,” Morgan said. “With the passing of time and the evolution of technology, there are fewer and fewer rips. The only ones that have withstood the changing of the world are the ones which lead to the last Kingdoms of Midland, and even those are fraught with danger unless you are a member of that particular court. One such rip is the gateway to the Iron Mountain.”

“Then why don’t we have him lead us to the rip to find my grandfather?” Gabriel suggested, pointing at Gilchrest. The goblin tried to mumble something that sounded less than friendly.

“The little one would surely be helpful in gaining access to the Iron Mountains, but it’s navigating the bloody place and the things that dwell there that chill my blood,” Morgan said honestly.

“What if we went in through one of the other pockets?” Rogue suggested.

“What are you getting at, Rogue?” Lydia asked. Until then, she had just been listening and trying to comfort Finnious.

“We need to get to the Iron Mountain, but we may not have to use that pocket to cross into Midland. I’ve got a buddy I can reach out to who owes me a favor.”

Asha tossed him her cell phone. “Be my guest.” To her surprise Rogue wrapped her phone in shadow and crushed it. “Hey, do you know how much I paid for that thing?”

“It’s a small price to pay for your life. Titus has got everybody from street dealers to politicians on his payroll. If somebody’s tracking the cell phone signal, then using it is like painting a bull’s-eye on your forehead,” he said, brushing the rubble from his hands. “Besides, the person I plan to contact won’t talk over the phone and I can’t reach him until after sundown.”

“Rogue, I know you ain’t about to call in no vamps for help,” Jackson said in disgust. He had a special hatred for vampires because of what they’d done to him.

Rogue smiled at him. “Vampires aren’t the only things that go bump in the night.”