Darkness Unbound

  Tao swore and stomped on the brakes. As the Jeep slid to a halt, he threw the car into neutral and twisted around. Flames leapt from his fingers into the hole created by the creature, and there was a whoosh of sound followed by a gargled scream.

  Then the driver’s door was wrenched open and Tao was hauled from the car.

  “No!” I flung off my seat belt and scrambled across the seat after him. Tao was aflame, his whole body burning with fire—flames that would not hurt him but should have consumed the creature holding him.

  Only they didn’t.

  Instead the fire swirled inches from the creature’s skin, not touching him even though the maelstrom of energy heated the air around us and blasted my skin.

  As Tao struggled to free himself from the creature’s massive arms, I launched myself at the two of them. Tao saw me in time and doused the flames but, in that instant, there was a bright flash of light, accompanied by a surge of power that echoed with evil and wrongness. In the space that the two of them had occupied, there was nothing.

  I hit the ground, rolled to my feet, and twisted around, frantically looking for the pair of them.

  But both Tao and the creatures had disappeared.

  I JUMPED INTO THE JEEP AND THREW THE GEARS into drive, slamming my foot on the accelerator.

  “What are you doing?” Ilianna said, fear in her voice. “Tao is out there—”

  “He’s gone,” I said grimly, not looking at her as I concentrated on getting us on the right side of the road. “I don’t actually know where he is, but it’s not out there.”

  “They went after him,” Stane said. “Not you, not me, but him.”

  “Yes.” I swerved around a too-slow motorist and gunned the Jeep through an amber light. “Which suggests the consortium is behind this attack, not the Aedh.”

  “But why take him when they simply killed the others to get the signatures they needed?”

  “I don’t know.” But I knew that killing was still an option. Knew that maybe they’d just taken him elsewhere to do the deed.

  I swung onto Lansdowne Street then right into Treasury Place. The repository was situated in the white, four-story building that had once been a part of the Old Treasury complex. The minute we neared the building, I felt the veil of its power—a tingling caress of energy that seemed to burn.

  I stopped and flung open the door. Stane and Ilianna were right behind me, Ilianna taking the lead as we ran—or in my case, limped—for the main entrance.

  They were waiting for us. Three witches, their hands clasped in front of their tunic-clad bodies and their faces serene.

  “You cannot enter here,” the oldest of the three said. An almost unearthly halo of blue seemed to shimmer around her—meaning she was a teacher, a nurturer, a caretaker.

  So why was she turning us away?

  “Kiandra,” Ilianna said, her face emotionless as she stopped and bowed slightly. “We are in dire need of your help. One of our party has been taken, and—”

  “I know what you need,” the older woman said, “and you will not find it here. To provide you with protection will endanger the lives of all those within.”

  “And yet by turning us away,” I said softly, “do you not break one of the very basic rules of your order?”

  Her gaze swept to me. The sheer level of power evident behind her gray eyes had the instinctive part of me shivering. “We are not turning you away. We are simply saying you cannot enter this building. This is a center of learning and a safe place for historical documents. What chases you could jeopardize all that we hold within.”

  “But you have no objection to us staying within the halo of the Brindle’s outer ring of protection?” Ilianna asked.

  Kiandra’s gaze briefly left mine, and I couldn’t help feeling a slight sense of relief. It was short-lived.

  “You may stay,” she said, her gaze back on mine. “And if the dark witch attacks, you will be protected. However, the halo was never designed to protect you from what now hunts Risa.”

  “So the Brindle couldn’t protect us from the Aedh even if we were allowed inside?” The answer was pretty obvious from what she’d already said, but it never hurt to get clarification.

  “No, it cannot.”

  I nodded and glanced at Ilianna. “Then we’ll make camp here until we get Tao back and the consortium is dealt with, then we’ll leave.”

  She frowned. “But that could take a few days—”

  “I doubt it,” I cut in. “In fact, I’m betting that Stane’s phone will ring any moment now.”

  And right on cue, it did. “Shit,” he said, digging his phone out of his pocket. “Sometimes you’re very scary.”

  “No, she’s just her mother’s daughter.” As Stane walked away to answer the phone, Ilianna glanced back at the three women and bowed again. “Thank you for your time, Kiandra. We shall endeavor not to inconvenience the workings of the Brindle.”

  Kiandra smiled, but it held very little warmth. “Your friends will not be here long enough to be a burden. And you, Ilianna, are welcome within anytime you wish.”

  Ilianna’s smile was ghostly, but just as cold. “You know my answer to that.”

  “I do. But there will come a time when that answer will change. We shall be waiting.”

  Ilianna didn’t answer, and the three women turned and walked into the scented shadows of the Brindle. I blew out a relieved breath and glanced at Stane. He wasn’t saying much, just listening, but his cheeks were stained red and his free hand was clenched.

  After several more seconds, he said, “All right,” then hung up and turned around. “They want a trade.”

  “Well, I guess that means Tao is still alive.”

  “He is. I talked to him. The witch has bound his fire somehow, and he’s chained with silver.”

  Silver was deadly to a wolf. Silver shackles might not provide death as quickly as a bullet, but they would irritate and burn his skin, and the longer they were left on, the more the metal would eat away at him, destroying his flesh and poisoning his system. “What time did they want to meet?”

  “Midday.”

  I glanced at my watch. It was nearing eleven now, so we had just over an hour. “Okay, let’s contact Rhoan—”

  “No!” Stane said, voice holding an edge of panic. He took a deep breath, then added, “They said if we involve the police or the Directorate in any way, shape, or form, Tao will die.”

  “Stane,” I said, holding fiercely on to the fear and trying to ignore the twisted sense that everything that could go wrong surely would. “Unless we get this right, he’s going to die. This consortium has played hardball up to now. I doubt that’s going to change.”

  “I know, I know.” He grimaced and half shrugged. “Tao’s not going to be at the meeting. I’m going to meet one of them there, and then be taken to him. If I sign the papers, they’ll let us both go.”

  “And you believe that?”

  “Honestly? No. But signing the sale agreement doesn’t give them the property, because the law states there has to be a cooling-off period before the transfer of land documents are signed. That can’t—or won’t—happen if either of us is dead.”

  “That won’t stop them from holding on to you or Tao.”

  “No, it won’t. But are you willing to put Tao’s life on the line by calling in the Directorate? Because I’m not, Risa. And if you call Rhoan, God help me, I’ll flatten you.”

  He wouldn’t. He couldn’t. He might be a full-blooded werewolf, but I was something a whole lot more. But as we stood there staring at each other, I knew it didn’t matter. He would do whatever it took to protect his cousin and I would help him, no matter how inestimably stupid that might be. This is what Mom had warned me about. This is what she’d seen. Tao’s life hung in the balance, and I wouldn’t risk losing him.

  “You can’t be serious,” Ilianna said, looking from me to Stane and back again. “Risa, you can’t! Not against these people. Call Rhoan. Let him—”

>   “Tao is my cousin,” Stane said softly. “This is my choice to make, not Risa’s.”

  “But these people have a Charna at their beck and call,” Ilianna said, voice rising. “And I haven’t a hope in hell of defeating her!”

  “You won’t have to,” I said, then glanced behind me, to the space near the trees that was filled with an unearthly heat. “Azriel?”

  He appeared in an instant, his arms crossed and the sword at his back running with an ethereal blue fire. “I will take care of the dark witch, and anything she may raise to stop you. I cannot, however, help you with those she works with.”

  “Why? I mean, I wasn’t asking you to, but why can you deal with the Charna and not the men?”

  “Because the men hold flesh.”

  I frowned. “So does the Charna.”

  He nodded. “But by working her magic and calling forth the demons, she has flirted with the edges of the gray fields. The protection that flesh and life offer her no longer applies.”

  “But you killed the Razan who were chasing me in the tunnel, and they haven’t messed with the gray fields.”

  “No, but they work for the beings who wish to undo the fabric of life as we know it.”

  “And the Aedh themselves?”

  He said, “The Aedh are not flesh beings. Like us, they can take the form, but it is not who they are.”

  “So because of what they’re doing, you can kill them?”

  “If they are not more powerful than me, then yes.”

  Good to know. Although knowing he could kill the Aedh and actually doing it were two entirely different things. And I had a feeling that when it came to my safety, he would only step in to keep me alive if it suited his purpose.

  I glanced back at Ilianna. “What we need now is Tao’s location.”

  “I can do a location spell, but what good will that do us?” She frowned and glanced at her watch. “We have less than an hour. That’s not enough time to find and free Tao before Stane has to meet them.”

  “Agreed. So we deal with whoever—whatever—is guarding Tao, and then wait for Stane and his guards to arrive.”

  “And if it’s that easy, I’ll eat my hat.” Stane thrust a hand through his already disheveled hair. “But right now, it’s the most sensible plan we’ve got.”

  “If you think that’s sensible, then you’ve both got rocks for brains.” Ilianna took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. “First things first. Protection circle, then a locating spell.”

  She spun and walked to the car, rummaging through her bag and returning with her athame. She glanced at me. “Step back. And don’t say anything.”

  I nodded and limped over to the trees. Azriel’s warmth burned into my back and I suddenly wondered what those within the Brindle would think of having a sword-carrying reaper standing in their front yard.

  Ilianna raised the athame, holding it forward and slightly to the right of shoulder height. Facing east, she drew a pentacle in the air, then said, “Masters of the Watchtowers of the East, Masters of the Air; I wake and summon you to witness my works and to guard the Circle.”

  She turned to the south, then west and north, repeating the pentacles and beseeching the masters of fire, water, and earth for their protection. A light wind sprang up, teasing the ends of her hair and tugging lightly at her clothes. Then it died, replaced by a sense of watchfulness.

  She sat cross-legged on the ground and began the finding incantation. I glanced at Azriel. “Where will the soul of the Charna go when you kill her? Hell?”

  He glanced at me. “Why would you think she would go to hell?”

  I shrugged. “Because she’s played with evil and will now pay the price?”

  He shook his head. “She didn’t play with evil. She summoned it. There is no purgatory for her, no moving on after paying penance. She will simply end.”

  “So no chance of redemption?”

  “No.”

  “Good.” I crossed my arms and watched Ilianna. But I could feel the weight of his gaze on me.

  “You would make a good Mijai,” he said, after a few moments.

  I snorted softly. “Why? Because I feel no remorse for the bitch when the thing she raised stole a little girl’s soul?”

  He half smiled, but it was oddly sad. Something inside me wanted to weep—not for him, but for me. I rubbed my arms and tried to ignore the sensation of fate staring out at me from the blue of his eyes.

  “Because you do not quibble with what needs to be done. You simply do it.”

  I snorted softly. “Yeah, that’s me all over. Decisive and proactive.”

  “You have the heart of a warrior, Risa, even if the outer shell dabbles with weakness.”

  The sound of my name on his lips was somehow ominous. I met his gaze again. “I decided several years ago I didn’t want to be a warrior, Azriel. That hasn’t changed. I just want to keep running our restaurant and have a normal life.”

  His gaze moved from me, and yet that sense of fate bearing down on me didn’t ease. “Sometimes we must do things we do not want to.”

  “Like you having to follow me around?”

  A smile flirted with the corner of his mouth. “Yes.”

  “Why is that? And why, if you’ve been following me around incessantly, did you not step in and stop the Aedh from kidnapping me?”

  His gaze met mine again. His face was still impassive, but there was an odd sense of impatience rolling off him. “You have already guessed why I did not step in to rescue you—having heard what your father said, I wanted to see how the Aedh would react. But once they took energy form, I was unable to track them or rescue you.”

  And the truth is, he probably wouldn’t have done the latter anyway—at least, not until he’d gotten every scrap of information possible. “That’s the second part of the question answered. What about the first?”

  “As I have already said, I am a Mijai.” He shrugged, a casual gesture that oddly seemed filled with tension. “I should not be following you but rather fighting those that come through the portals.”

  “But that’s not why you don’t want to be here, Azriel.”

  “And why would you think that?”

  I half smiled. “Because I am sometimes my mother’s daughter, and I can sense the avoidance in your words.”

  “There is no avoidance.” He looked away again. “There is no other truth. I do what I must.”

  Yeah, he did. And his disquiet about being here had nothing to do with his wish to be hunting, but rather his proximity to me. Of that, I was sure.

  Ilianna pushed to her feet and walked across to us.

  “Anything?” I asked.

  She nodded. “He’s at an old warehouse on Ramsay Street, Spotswood. I couldn’t see much more than that—I think the witch has spelled the building. There was thick resistance when I tried to get inside and see his exact location.”

  “You didn’t push?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t know what type of spell she used, so it’s safer not to. At the very least, it might have tipped her off that we’d found him.” She hesitated, her expression a mix of fear and determination. “If there’s magic, you’ll need me along.”

  “That’s too danger—”

  “Yeah,” she cut in, “for you if you blunder blindly through whatever spell she’s set up. I have a good chance of unraveling it if I’m close enough to examine it.”

  I wanted to argue, but I could also see her point. We wouldn’t save Tao if we couldn’t even get into the building. “What if it’s dark magic?”

  “It didn’t feel dark. It felt like a simple guarding spell, but I’ll know for sure when I’m there.”

  I nodded and looked past her to Stane. “Are you going to be all right alone?”

  He snorted softly. “It’s not like I have any choice in the matter. Besides, as I said, they need me alive to sign the papers. Just make sure you’re there to rescue us once I do.”

  “Then we’d better get going—”
/>
  “Wait!” Ilianna turned and bolted for the car. She rummaged through her bag for several seconds, then came back carrying a can of drink in one hand and something clenched in the other.

  “Here,” she said, offering what looked like an old copper coin to Stane. “Swallow this.”

  His look was one of disbelief. “Swallow it? Why in God’s name would I want to do that?”

  “It’s a talisman of protection. The Charna won’t be able to spell you.”

  “And I can’t wear it because …?”

  “Because whoever is meeting you might know enough about magic to rip it from your throat. If you swallow it, they can’t.”

  “But they can gut me.” He picked up the coin somewhat gingerly. “It feels heavy.”

  “It’s neither heavy nor large,” Ilianna said impatiently. “And it’ll pass through your system within a day or so. Don’t be such a baby. Swallow it.”

  He gave her a somewhat dark look, but put the coin in his mouth. She offered him the can. He took a long drink, then shuddered. “God, I can feel the thing sliding all the way down to my gullet.”

  “Bullshit.” Her voice wasn’t in the least sympathetic. She glanced at me. “Shall we go?”

  I nodded, glanced at Stane, then headed for the car. Ilianna climbed into the front passenger seat, but Azriel was nowhere to be seen. And this time, I couldn’t feel the heat of him. Maybe he’d decided to keep a little more distance between us, just in case I decided to ask any more pesky questions.

  The thought brought a smile to my lips, but it died just as quickly. I had a friend to rescue, and it was time to start concentrating on that rather than a reaper who held far too many secrets.

  Tao was being held in a long red-brick building that had obviously been a warehouse at some stage in its past. There were old metal roller doors at regular intervals along its length, and the windows that dotted the front façade were small, solid, and barred with rusting metal grids.

  “There’s no way I’m going to get my ass through those,” I commented. “Even if I could get the grids off without making a racket.”

  We’d parked in the building site just down from the warehouse and on the opposite side of the road. There were other cars parked here, so we wouldn’t look too conspicuous, even though the site itself had no construction work currently ongoing. I crossed my arms and leaned back against the Jeep, my gaze sweeping the roofline. It was a single-story building, so getting up there wouldn’t be a problem. But the metal roof looked as solid as the brick walls, and breaking in would create way too much noise. Hopefully, there was a back entrance that would provide a more viable option.