Against the Dawn (27 page)

“Fine, but you do realize that even before you came home, my assignment was to wait for your return. I spent most of my time at your place. Which reminds me, would it kill you to upgrade your cable package?”

I rolled my eyes. I already had the gold package. If he wanted platinum, he’d need to pony up the cash himself.

Asher shifted on the barstool and faced me. He slicked a hand through his messy, sun bleached locks and then shook them all out like a wet dog. What a goof. “Here’s the thing. You only see what’s right in front of you. The fact that the king has put down roots, no matter how temporary, from his kingdom has ruffled more than a few feathers. What good is an absentee ruler? Sure, he’s in contact with his regent, who seems to be running the show well enough. But what happens once that regent develops a hunger for the power that’s been handed over to him for far too long?”

“A coup?” No wonder Xander’s panties were in a bunch. If ever he needed to prove that he was strong, it was now. I didn’t appreciate that Ty was the vehicle for that proof, but at least now, I could better understand Xander’s motives.

“The word hasn’t been spoken outright, but there’s a lot to hint that it’s coming. The delegates you came across in Xander’s council room were sent to convince him to go home before the situation became unmanageable.”

Where was home? Since the Shaede King’s arrival in Seattle, I’d dealt with one problem after the next. I’d never had the opportunity to sit down with him or Raif to get the skinny on his kingdom. Was it large? In another realm? Did he live in a castle?

Ash’s lips curled with amusement. Stupid mind readers. I pulled up my mental shield and directed my best glare his way. “Well?”

“Near Banff,” he said after a moment. “In Alberta, Canada. So not too far from here. It’s been the center of the Shaede kingdom for at least two centuries. There was more turmoil amongst the Fae than Xander’s grandfather cared to deal with. Unrest he didn’t want to be a part of. Rather than take a side in petty squabbles, he packed up his kingdom and left. Our numbers aren’t many, Darian. Several thousand. Maybe more.”

“Who packs up an entire kingdom and moves across an ocean?”

Asher gave me a look. “Seriously, Darian? Boatloads of humans did the same thing several centuries ago for similar reasons. Is it too farfetched that a society of Shaedes would do the same?”

“Of course not.” Now I felt like an idiot. Oh well, too late for damage control. “And the castle?”

“Huge,” Asher said with a smirk. Bigger than huge. Surrounded by forests and lakes but not too far from society to be isolated. Paradise, if you ask me.”

He certainly painted a pretty picture. A castle nestled in some majestic forest, surrounded by pristine lakes. A true fairy tale image. Not for the first time, I considered the sheltered state of my existence. My personal knowledge of the world—and the supernatural world—was relegated to the Pacific Northwest. Even in my human life, I’d never left San Francisco. Perhaps it was time I ventured from my hole and sought out the rest of the planet’s inhabitants. Isn’t that what was expected of someone who had all the time in the world?

“I know you think that Tyler’s arrest is one big jealous hissy fit, but it isn’t. There are greater things at work here. Political machinations that the king has to stay one step ahead of at all times. The royal household is entering into a dangerous time. Allegiances will be made. Whose side will you be on?”

“Ash, you know where my loyalties lie. I would never turn my back on Raif. Or Xander.” I might have been pissed at him, but I’d spoken the truth when I told Xander I loved him. “I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure any rebellion is squashed and Xander keeps his throne.” I’d been part of Xander’s personal security team. I could do it again. And if Raif wanted me on the front lines, you could damn well bet I’d be there. If Xander’s regent needed to be put down, who better than a trained assassin to see that the deed was carried out? Though to be honest, I didn’t know if Xander would want my help at this point.

“This is about the throne and the safety of the kingdom, Darian. Petty squabbles are put on hold in those situations.”

Probably. “For someone who claims to know almost nothing, you sure have a pretty damned good grasp of the situation, Ash.”

He gave me one his enigmatic smiles. “Always keep ‘em guessing, Darian.”

Crafty little SOB. “Something tells me you haven’t told me everything you know, either.”

“I’m starving,” he said as though I hadn’t spoken. “Let’s order pizza and go back to your place.”

“Fine.” It’s not like he was going to spill any more information. At least not while Levi was still hovering. “Hey Levi, if you hear anything about Tyler, call me. Okay?”

“Gotcha. He’ll be okay, Darian.”

I gave Levi a reassuring smile as I scooped up the envelope. Of course Ty would be okay. He was omnipotent, right?

Chapter Twenty-Two

I left The Pit with a metric ton of weight on my shoulders. A burden I had no choice but to carry because of Ty’s explicit instructions that I let this play out and do nothing to interfere. Asher walked beside me with a bounce to his step that made me want to kick his feet out from under him. I couldn’t help but envy the carefree pain in the ass.

“Help!”

A panicked shriek brought Asher’s head up like a bloodhound catching scent. We exchanged a look and I was certain that my own eyes reflected the same glint of excitement. The prospect of breaking the monotony with a little drama. Drama I hadn’t created. Bonus! We sprinted toward the sound, called to action like Commissioner Gordon was flashing the Bat-Signal or some shit. It was almost ridiculous but I wasn’t going to turn down the opportunity to give someone a beating if need be. I had a lot of stress to work out.

The late afternoon sun sunk below the horizon, the gray hour of twilight a hindrance to Asher, but it had no effect on me. I let my body melt away, certain that Ash would sense me by my thoughts and keep apace. Another cry for help followed on the heels of the first and I kicked my speed into high gear. The gray webbing of twilight that I’d adopted had no problem cutting a corner as my ethereal-self passed through the brick, wood, and plaster of an abandoned store front. Asher called out for me to wait for him, but since he couldn’t have been more than thirty or so feet behind me, I didn’t pay him any mind. Instead, I barreled toward the source of the sound, coming from the back of the empty retail space. The terrified shriek echoed off the brick and made my hackles rise. Whoever was in there was in some serious trouble.

Just before I reached the back storeroom, a tingle of energy tightened around me in a bubble of pressure. I regained my corporeal form right as Asher caught up, his breath speeding in his chest. I slowed him to a stop, put my finger to my lips and projected the word through my thoughts,
Lyhtan
.

Ash drew a pair of long daggers while I left mine sheathed in favor of my sword. I was confident that Ash and I could take on a group of the praying mantis looking creatures with little effort. A single Lyhtan should be a cakewalk. Besides, after succumbing to the mindless violence spurred by Xander’s magic daggers once already, I wasn’t quite prepared for a repeat performance.

Side-by-side, we stepped into the empty storeroom to find a girl who couldn’t have been older than sixteen or seventeen, crouching in a corner, arms crossed in front of her face. All seven and half feet of the Lyhtan towered over her, its shoulders hunched as its ragged breath sawed in and out of its chest. In the twilight hour we were equals, and it was the Lyhtan’s misfortune that we’d interrupted its meal during the one time we could send its soul to the light. Thank god for good timing.

“This doesn’t concern you.” The Lyhtan’s many voices melded into a chorus of sound that danced over my skin. “Leave now or invoke my wrath.”

The girl whimpered, her eyes darting toward the doorway. “P-pl-ease. H-help me.”

I could only imagine what this little encounter was doing to the young girl’s psyche. Her appearance was ragged, hair mussed, and dark circles ringed her eyes. If I had to guess, she lived on the streets and had probably come to this abandoned space to sleep off whatever drugs she’d injected into her body. The injustice of it twisted my heart into a knot. Where was her family? Didn’t anyone care enough to take care of her? Jesus. Was it so hard to give a little love and attention?

My outrage had to be put on the backburner, though. There might not be anything I could do about the state of her life, but I could save it before the Lyhtan managed to snuff it out completely. Its segmented body turned, caging the girl into the corner, as though to protect its dinner while it dealt with us.

“I know you.” Yellow eyes darted between Asher and me, the black pupils mere pinpricks. The Lyhtan’s mouth stretched into a leering smile, its sharp teeth glistening in the low light. “You’re the Shaede King’s pet.”

Ugh. I was getting
really
tired of the supernatural community’s assumption that I was Xander’s property. I’d take great pleasure in killing it for that comment alone. Asher took two slow steps to my left and held his daggers at the ready. His concentration was laser focused on the Lyhtan as he shifted his weight on the balls of his feet. For a moment, I considered holding back in favor of watching him fight. The kid was lightning in a bottle and his battle skills were jaw-dropping impressive.

“Your name is whispered on the wind.” The word left the Lyhtan’s mouth in a sinister hiss, “
Asher
.”

Knock me over with a freakin’ feather. A corner of Ash’s mouth hinted at an arrogant smirk and I wished I could scrub my own arrogant thoughts from my mind. Apparently the kid had a reputation that preceded him. I’d always known he was one of Xander’s favorites. Nothing more than one of the many oddities he liked to surround himself with. I should introduce him to Kieran one of these days. They could compare their entourages like baseball card enthusiasts.

The Lyhtan took a defensive stance, claws extended and teeth bared. “You have nothing to say to me, Lyhtan slayer?”

Asher stood, a picture of relaxation, his grip on the daggers so at ease I almost waited for them to drop from his palms. He didn’t engage his opponent, simply stared him down with that exasperating expression of amusement.

“I’m going to take your head as a prize and I will be revered above all others,” the Lyhtan said with giddy anticipation.

I rolled my eyes and took a step forward. I was in a shitty ass mood and didn’t have the patience for the usual overinflated shit talk that accompanied these types of standoffs. Besides, I was hungry and Ash had promised me pizza.

The Lyhtan mirrored my actions, shifting to protect its meal. That poor scared girl must’ve been the equivalent of a Kobe tenderloin. It wasn’t going to let her go without a fight, which was fine by me. I looked around the greenish body blocking my view and said to the girl, “The second you see an opportunity, run.”

Her eyes were wide with fear and she trembled with such force that I wondered if her legs would have the strength to support her. We could give her the opportunity to get out of here in once piece, but it was going to take a joint effort to distract the Lyhtan to the point that it would forget about the girl long enough for her to sneak out.

After a few moments, she gave me an unsteady nod and I had to wonder if she was processing any of this or considered the monster in front of her nothing more than the side effect of a really bad trip. I’d jerk her out of that corner by the scruff of her neck if I had to, but I wasn’t going to get the chance if we couldn’t lure the Lyhtan a decent distance away. This one wasn’t stupid. And it had its sights set on Ash.

Asher took the offensive, striking out with a wide swipe of his right arm. The Lyhtan lunged away, lashing out with talons which were long and sharp, five built-in daggers ready to tear through flesh and bone. Keeping its back to the corner, the Lyhtan guarded its own back, making it impossible to divide our attack. That didn’t mean I couldn’t keep the son of a bitch busy though, and I joined the fray, using the length of my sword to my advantage. In backing itself into a corner, the Lyhtan had also limited its ability to retreat.

My blade nicked its torso and I cast a sideways glance at Ash. Point to me for drawing first blood. His amber eyes were alight with the exhilaration of the fight and he flashed me a wide grin before throwing his body into a graceful maneuver of rotating arms, flicks of his wrist and a high leap that had him bringing his left dagger down through the Lyhtan’s shoulder. It screamed in pain, a cacophony of sound that caused the girl to ball up in the corner, her hands cupped firmly over her ears as she cried. A long, deep cut oozed with the Lyhtan’s green blood and the arm hung limp from a useless tendon. Damn Ash was impressive in a fight.

The Lyhtan was quick on its feet and nimble for its size. Like a leopard guarding its kill, it refused to stray too far from the girl, opting to take a hit in the hopes—I assumed—that it would heal once twilight gave way to night. The Shaedes disdained the Lyhtans, considered them lowly, stupid creatures who relied on base instinct to survive. But the Lyhtan we fought was intelligent, agile, and could multi-task like a motherfucker. It divided its attention between us with ease, keeping us on our toes with wide swipes of its arm and long kicks from its powerful legs.

What I’d considered my advantage in the fight quickly became a disadvantage. If I cut down from the left, I ran the risk of cutting Ash with my blade. Any wide sweeps from the right were impeded by the wall and the girl cowering behind the Lyhtan. I relied on strong forward jabs, aimed high at the Lyhtan’s neck and chest. It swept out with its good arm, batting my blade to the side and sustaining only minimal damage in the process. I kept the Lyhtan distracted, stabbing again and again until my arms ached from the effort. Asher swept out with his right leg, catching the Lyhtan at the ankles. It went down like a felled tree, stirring up a cloud of dust as it landed.