Darkness Unbound (20 page)

Or had I?

I frowned, thinking back over the impressions that had swamped me a heartbeat before I’d fled my flesh. The soul stealer had been at the base of the stairs when I arrived, looking up but not moving …

“But you would know her if you saw her?”

I jumped at Azriel’s question, then nodded and rubbed my arms. The stain of her still lingered in the dark recesses of my mind.

“Good,” he said. “That is at least a starting point.”

“We may have more than that.” I pulled out my phone and said, “Ilianna.” When her somewhat exasperated-looking features appeared on-screen, I added quickly, “I know, I know, we’ll hurry. I just need to ask a question.”

“Ask. Then you and Tao better get your asses into gear and get over here. The roast is spoiling.”

And given she was a vegetarian and only cooking the roast for Tao, she’d be totally pissed off for the next several days if that actually happened. “We’ll be there in twenty-five minutes. Tell me, those wards you set up—just how strong were they?”

“Strong enough to hold up for several minutes against a concerted attack. Why?”

“So enough time for Stane to escape, but not enough to completely stop a major magical attack?”

“Yes.” She frowned. “I didn’t have enough time to create those sorts of wards. You know that.”

I knew, but I needed to check. “Thanks. I’ll see you soon.”

“But why—”

I cut the connection and looked at Azriel. “The stealer wasn’t actually trying to kill Stane.”

“This is the name of one you came here to rescue?”

“Yeah.” I carefully stood up. My stomach behaved itself, but it felt like there were a hundred tiny drummers going mad inside my head.

“Why would you believe the oni wasn’t sent here to kill?” He turned around and opened the door, stepping back so I could precede him.

“Because Ilianna’s wards weren’t strong enough to physically stop it, yet when I arrived, it was simply hovering at the bottom of the stairs.” I hesitated, glancing at Azriel as I walked past. “Why does Stane see you as a man-mountain?”

“I merely present a form he feels inclined to trust.”

“Most male wolves would feel threatened by someone fairly sizable.”

“But your friend was once rescued by a man similar to the form he sees.”

I paused. “And how would you know that?”

“Because I may be a Mijai, but I am still a reaper. We can reach into the minds of humanity and see their desires and fears.”

Fuck, I hoped he wasn’t seeing
my
desires and fears. That might get a tad embarrassing! “Then why do both Ilianna and I see your true form?”

“Because there are a rare few in this world who can see past the glamour.”

“Feeling better?” Stane swung around in his chair and gave me the once-over. He frowned slightly. “You still look a little peaked. Maybe a coffee would pick you up—”

“Not coffee,” Tao said, as he galloped up the last couple of steps. “In times like this, only a Coke will do.”

He handed me several cans, then his gaze fell on the dragon glittering fiercely on my arm. “What the fuck is that?”

“Long story. I’ll explain on the way home.”

He grunted, and his gaze slid past me. “Then who’s that?”

“Azriel.” I popped a can open and gulped down some fizzy brown life-giver. I immediately felt better—although by rights, given I’d only just finished chucking my heart out, it should have had the opposite effect.

“The reaper?” Tao said, surprise in his voice. “Why the hell does he look like Marat Neale, then?”

Marat Neale was the youngest of the brothers who co-ran the Neale wolf pack. Kellen—who’d once been one of Aunt Riley’s lovers—was Stane’s father and the oldest. Sian—the middle brother—had been Tao’s. I looked over my shoulder. Azriel’s gaze met mine, a small smile touching his lips and briefly warming his eyes. “The man-mountain previously mentioned.”

“Ah,” I said, then reached out and squeezed Tao’s shoulder. “Long story. Right now, we need to concentrate on finding the people behind the attack on Stane.”

“And we need to do it quickly,” he said. “Ilianna’s stuck at home with Mom, and she’s
not
happy.”

“Yeah, already spoke to her.” I glanced at my watch. “We’ve got fifteen minutes. I told her we’d be back in twenty-five.”

“Ris, this is far more urgent than a goddamn birth—”

I pressed a fingernail against his chest and tapped lightly to emphasize my point. “You tell that to Ilianna after she’s spent weeks organizing it, because I have no intention of having a clumsiness spell—or something far worse—flung my way.”

Which she probably wouldn’t actually do given the threefold rule, but when Ilianna was pissed off enough, you never knew.

He obviously saw my point, because he said, “Okay, what did we learn?”

“We learned that the people behind this didn’t want Stane dead. They were merely trying to scare the shit out of him.”

“Well, they succeeded.” Stane leaned forward, caught a nearby chair with his fingertips, then rolled it in my direction. “But why would they spare me and not the others?”

I gratefully spun the chair around and collapsed more than sat down. The day had been a long one, and it was starting to tell. I felt like something the cat had regurgitated. Worse still, I thought with a sliver of amusement, I probably looked like it.

I met Stane’s gaze. “Maybe the other attacks were either a final warning or a last resort. Maybe there
had
been previous warnings that had been ignored. Or maybe they simply need you alive for the moment.”

“There are simpler ways to send a warning,” Tao commented. “Why in hell would anyone want to wreck a person’s very existence? Especially when it’s a little girl?”

“Humanity is often more monstrous than the monsters they endeavor to emulate or control,” Azriel said softly. “And many times the cause is nothing more than money.”

I spun the chair to look at him. His mismatched eyes were as unreadable as his expression, but the wash of his contempt ran across my senses, stinging like flame. He might be a reaper, he might be a warrior who protected us from the things that came through the portals, but that obviously didn’t translate to any respect for those of us who populated the real world.

“Not all of us are like that, Azriel.”

One dark eyebrow rose slightly. “Did I say they were?”

“No. But you implied it.” I spun around again. “When the soul stealer attacked me, I got an impression of the witch behind it. She’s powerful, she’s mean, and she’s borderline insane. But while she might be part of whatever is going on, in the end, this is just a job for her.”

“Could the link between me and Handberry,” Stane said slowly, “be something as simple as the fact that we both work on this street?”

“A street someone is trying to buy up,” Tao said, catching on. “Although I still can’t see why they’d go to
this
extreme for a housing development.”

“Interestingly enough,” Stane commented, “this area is classified as commercial, but no approaches have been made to the council about rezoning the land.”

I frowned. “Why would they make an approach if they don’t own the land?”

Stane snorted. “Why would they waste millions without at least investigating whether a rezoning application would go through?”

Unless they were idiots, they wouldn’t. “So I guess that begs the question: What else is here that they’re willing to go to such extremes for?”

“An intersection of several major ley lines,” Azriel said softly.

I swung around to face him. “What?”

“Ley lines are powerful sources of magical energy—”

“I know what ley lines are,” I interrupted testily.

Azriel gazed at me. “Then you are aware that their intersections can used be to manipulate time, reality, and fate?”

No, I wasn’t. “Are all intersections that powerful?”

He shook his head. “But this is one of the strongest in Melbourne.”

“So it makes sense,” I said softly, “that a practitioner after power would want to control the area in which such an intersection sat.”

“Wouldn’t the Brindle witches be aware of something like that happening?” Tao asked, confused. “I mean, they’d have to know that there was an intersection sitting here.”

“That’s a question for Ilianna, not me.” I rubbed my aching head wearily. “I’m guessing that Hanna Kingston’s parents own either the milliner’s or the general store. If they did refuse an offer on their property, then maybe Hanna’s death was the hammer blow to budge them.”

“Now,
that
is something I can check. Their names?”

“Her name is Fay, his Steven.”

“I don’t recognize either, but I’ll run a quick search.” Stane turned around, his fingers speeding over light screens and sliver-thin keyboards. After a minute or so, he said, “No Steven or Fay Kingston listed with either the Australian Business Register or the local land office, but there is a Fay Bruner listed as the owner of the milliner’s building.”

“If you check the marriage certificate, I’m betting that was her maiden name.”

He didn’t answer for a moment, then said, “Yep, you’re right.” He faced us again. “So if they’re going after relations or employees to scare owners into signing over the properties, why haven’t mine been attacked?”

“Possibly because most of them are interstate,” Tao commented. “And few people here in Melbourne actually know we’re related. They just think we’re friends from the same pack.”

“Then why kill Handberry?” I asked, confused. “He can’t sign anything over if he’s dead.”

“No, but if he has no heirs or kin, the government will take his assets and sell them off,” Tao said.

Note to self
, I thought.
Do a will
. I glanced at Stane. “Have you actually received any purchase offers yet?”

“One,” Stane admitted. “I haven’t gotten around to reading it in detail yet, and told them as much when they called. And if they kill me off, then everything I own goes to my pack.”

“Meaning this attack was probably nothing more than a hurry-up,” Tao commented. “These people are truly twisted.”

“Totally,” I muttered.

“Is it possible to uncover the names of the people behind the land purchases?” Azriel asked. “We’ll need to interrogate them in order to ascertain the witch’s location.”

I wondered what passed as interrogation in the world of the Mijai. And whether it involved the sword that screamed.

“I’ve been trying to uncover that for a while,” Stane said heavily, “but there’s a mountain of misinformation and government tape to wade through.”

“So how long?” I asked.

He looked at me and shrugged. “The program is running. It could be minutes, it could be days.”

“Either way,” I said, “you can’t stay here. Gather some clothes and whatever bits of computer wizardry you need, because you won’t be back here until it’s over.”

“But—”

“It’s sensible,” Tao cut in, then glanced at his watch. “And you have two minutes. Any later and Ilianna is going to start throwing curses our way. I’ll go down and start the car.”

As the two men disappeared, I pushed to my feet. The room spun a little and I grabbed blindly for the chair—and got Azriel’s arm instead. He’d obviously moved without me even hearing him. But as my fingers touched his flesh, the heat of him leapt up my arm and fanned through my body—a warmth and strength that chased away much of the weakness from my limbs.

“Fuck,” I said, jagging my hand away. “What was that?”

He shrugged, like it was nothing of consequence. Yet there was a fierceness about him that belied his otherwise impassive expression. “As I’ve mentioned, I’m attuned to your Chi. A consequence of that is the ability to inhibit or enhance your life energy.”

“Meaning the link is a whole lot more than what you’re admitting.”

“No.” The denial sounded genuine, but I wasn’t believing it. He added, “You will call me when you get more information?”

“If it means breaking this link and getting you out of my life,” I muttered, “most definitely.”

“As I have said, I want this no more than you do.” He winked out of existence, but wasn’t gone, because the heat of him still swirled around me. Then he added softly, “And you do not look like something a cat has regurgitated. I’d put it more on the level of a dog’s effort.”

Then the heat of him did fade and I was left smiling—despite the confirmation that he
could
read my thoughts.

The reaper had a sense of humor. Fancy that.

It was a close-run thing, but we made it home in time to stop both the roast being ruined and Ilianna from throwing curses our way. Although—given the scent in the air—she’d been in the process of preparing some nasty little potions as we walked in the door.

It seemed she
had
been pissed off enough to risk the threefold rule.

After the food was eaten, the wine consumed, and Tao’s birthday appropriately celebrated, I went to bed and slept the sleep of the dead.

It was well after ten by the time I crawled out from underneath the blankets and staggered into the bathroom, but the shower did little to wash the fuzziness from my mind. I dragged on clothes with little thought, then headed out into the main living area.

“Well,” Stane said, amusement evident as he studied me from the dining room table, “I take it you’re planning to cause a riot in the near future.”

I frowned in confusion, then glanced down. The shirt I’d grabbed was a striped black-and-white tee. The only trouble was, the white bits were actually sheer, revealing my flesh in teasing flashes. And I hadn’t bothered putting on a bra.

I struck a pose. “I’m thinking diversionary tactics here.”

“Well, it’s diverting me. But I think it’ll only work on the witch bitch if she’s into women.”

“Don’t let Ilianna hear you call the bitch a witch,” Tao said, coming out of the kitchen. “You won’t be getting the old boy up for a year if she does.”

Stane laughed, but Tao was actually serious. Ilianna
could
do something like that if she wished. I walked across to the table and studied the light screen. “Anything?”

He shook his head. “The company buying the land is the first in a long series of business fronts. As I’ve already said, backtracking through all the paperwork is taking time. But I think we’re close.”