BROKEN BLADE (24 page)

“She’s strong.”

Curling my lip, I muttered, “I’d already figured that out.”

“She’s not infallible.”

“Nothing is infallible. Even the supposedly immortal have weaknesses,” I said, shrugging restlessly. Knowing that didn’t make me feel any better. “But that woman has walked the earth for
how
long?”

“She’s been around for millennia.” A far-off look entered her eyes and then she sighed, a deep, wracking sound that seemed to come from her very soul. “But she hasn’t walked the earth all that time. She sleeps, and awakens as she chooses…and sometimes, her body weakens and she takes another.”

“Takes
another?” Those words froze something in the very pit of my stomach. As the heat gathered in my hand, I clenched it into a tight fist and tried to ignore it. It was easier that time around because I had something to think about. Something that maybe I could hate. Slowly, I turned and stared at Es. “Just what does
that
mean? It’s not like she can just pick one up at the grocery store.”

“No. Any woman of her bloodline who is with child will suffice for her.”

Her eyes, nearly colorless, practically burned into mine.

Any woman of her bloodline
…

Blood crashed in my ears, all but roared while rage and horror tore into me, leaving nasty, gaping holes behind. “You say she does this when she wakes…what causes this? Why does she sleep anyway?”

“It’s her cycle. You know everything works in a cycle, Kit.” Es rubbed the spot between her eyes, a weary expression on her face. “From the records we have, she’ll glut herself…on power, chaos, the things that drive her. Then she falls into a rest. When she wakens, she’s weaker, tired. And it’s time for her to cast off the old body and find a new one.”

She came toward me, the weariness on her face fading. Her eyes gleamed, all but glowing with intensity. “We kept it safe, you know. The Order of Witches, for centuries, we kept it safe. And then it was stolen.”

We kept it safe
—

“Oh, fuck
me
,” I snarled. I spun away and drove a fisted hand into the wall as the understanding hit me. The vase…the
witches
had hidden the vase. From Pandora.

I felt like I’d been punched in the chest.

And Es just continued to talk, merrily chatting away.

“We kept her hidden, where she couldn’t sense any of the outside world. If she’d just
stayed
where we’d hidden her, tucked away inside…”

“Tucked away…” Hand throbbing, I turned to look at her. I’d donned the mesh-lined gloves again and when I’d slammed my fist into the wall, the weighted mesh had dug into my skin. My knuckles were already complaining and it was a nice distraction, one I didn’t have time for. “Just what do you mean,
tucked away
?”

Es lifted a brow. “The vase is a portal…and a world.
Her
world. Her home. Her prison. She’s been trapped inside for more than eight hundred years. The witch Brighid of the Blue Sky locked her in and all the houses found a way to spell the vase so that she wasn’t able to sense anything happening outside the world. It drained her of her ability to rouse herself. It kept her…quiescent. But the vase was stolen. Outside of our protections, we can’t maintain the spells. She’s awake now. Awake and aware.”

And ready to play Invasion of the Body Snatcher
.

Sucking in a breath, I turned away.
One thing at a time. One thing at a time
.

My mind was still stuck on the pregnant bit. A pregnant woman of her bloodline. Why?

I eased that to the side until my brain was a little more ready to think it through. A minute. I just needed a minute. The more concrete problem was one that needed an answer , too.

“Who stole it?”

Es stroked a finger down the embroidery of her sleeve. “They believe it was the work of several people. A witch we had to cast from our house and he was working with a witch unknown to us. Vampires are also involved—we caught their…reek…on the grounds.”

“The witches?”

“The one we’d cast out is dead. I believe his conspirators saw him as a means to an end—Adjo was always weak. He was used and once his usefulness was at an end? They disposed of him.”

“I need to know more about him…Adjo.”

“I’ll make sure the information is provided, but nothing about him will help you, Kit. He was just a pawn.”

I was starting to feel the same way about myself. Rotating my head one direction, then the other, I thought about the rest of what she’d said. “And the unknown?” I squinted and rubbed at my neck—it didn’t help. The unknown…that didn’t add up. For her to
be
unknown, she’d have to be from outside the houses. “An independent.”

“That’s the thought. Our magic can be traced. We know it. Feel it. Sense it. But Adjo wasn’t working alone—there were powerful magics involved and his skills were only average. An independent is the only answer that fits.”

I nodded slowly. “Why a vampire? Any evidence?”

“Just what was sensed at the place we hid her.”

That wasn’t much help. At all. Rubbing the tip of my finger down my brow, I forced myself to ask the next question—the one that left my gut clenching and knotting. “You think she’s locked on the trail of one of…what, her descendants?”

“Yes. And more…I believe she’s already found her. That’s why she is still
here
.” Another one of those eerie, intense looks. “You’ve met her.”

Sucking in a breath, I spun away and shoved my hands through my hair, thinking of that young, innocent face. That poor, scared girl.

“Clara,” I said softly.

“Is that her name?” Es’s voice was sad. “I’ve always wondered what her name would be. I’d hoped I’d find out. Before…”

“Before what? Shit, Es. What’s up with you?” I asked.

“Many, many things.” She reached out and caught my hands. “Listen. There’s not much time left.”

She spoke and it was like the words she had to say were pushed
inside
me, forced inside me—entire conversations crammed into my head in the span of seconds, all from a touch.

The Blooding…remember.

A power exchange…

You can’t let it happen
—

And then, abruptly, the contact severed.

Es’s hands fell away and I stumbled back, my head spinning, whirling from the knowledge she’d crammed inside it. “The Blooding?” 
What the hell?
“Es, what does some ancient urban legend have to do with any of this?”

“How many urban legends have their basis in truth, Kit?”

Before I could figure that odd little phrase out, something attacked the wards.

Chapter Eighteen

Four of the warriors barred the way.

One of them was Tate.

Her hair had grown out since I’d seen her last. The strength of her magic burned hot as I moved into the hall.

She shot me a look. “This isn’t a fight for half-human dollies.”

We got along really well.

“Not a fight for stupid witches who have their heads up their asses, either.” I gave her a sweet smile. “Hard to see that way.”

I drew the gun from my hip and wondered if the ammo in it would do much good against whatever was tearing up the wards. They were shuddering from the impact and I could feel their distress.

Whatever…why was I trying to fool myself? I already knew who was out there. I could feel the weight of her years, her magic crawling along my skin.

Pandora had come to play.

I had silver-wrapped ammo in the Eagle and the bullets were charged, but how did you take down a…what in the hell was she? Hell-spawn? Es had made the implication she was something far older than us. And something that could actually
create
other races was far stronger than any creature I’d ever come up against. Witches could do some mad powerful things and weres, vamps could make others of their own kind, but to actually create
another race
was a new power entirely.

Hell-spawn seemed to cover it pretty damn well. Especially if what Es had said was true, and she
was
Lilith.

The lights flickered over our heads as something slammed into the wards and the heat in the hall built as Tate’s power gathered around us.

“Tone it down,” one of the witches said, her voice soft. “If you cook us before you blast her, it doesn’t matter if we fight or not

“We don’t fight.”

Es moved up at the hall and as she passed by, a wind kicked up, causing the heat to dissipate and a cool welcoming brush of air that left the sweat on my flesh drying. It wasn’t entirely comforting, though. The look in her eyes, on her face, was one I knew.

Es stopped by Tate and rested a hand on her shoulder.

The two shared a look and then Tate shook her head. “No. Es, no.”

“Go on, now,” Es murmured. Then she turned and looked at the warriors gathered behind her, and the witches standing in a knot behind them. “Take them all to the healing hall. Tate, you stand guard. If you have to, take the whole building down before you lock yourself inside. But that’s
all
I want you to do. Your word on it.”

“
Fuck
that,” Tate said, her voice breaking.

“You do this, or they all die.” Es looked to the door. “You’ve been given orders, my dear ones. I’m still head of this house. You’ll obey that order…or I’ll force you to obey.”

Silence fell, heavy and oppressive.

One of the warriors flung herself at Es. I didn’t know her name. Unable to watch such a private moment, I looked away as the woman, nearly six feet tall, clung to Es and sobbed like a child. It lasted seconds and then, as abruptly as it had happened, the woman pulled away. In a voice that boomed loud as a cannon, she called out, “To the inner hall!”

Listening to their feet, I shouldered through the moving flow of bodies. I brushed against Tate and felt the contact like a burn against my flesh.

Another thunderous crack slammed against the wards. It echoed somewhere deep in my heart. It certainly felt like it; something had just claimed another massive chunk out of me, I knew it.

Gripping the butt of my gun, I placed myself shoulder to shoulder with the witch. Her pale, silvery hair was drifting gently around her, moved by an unseen current and her eyes were glowing. She was throwing power off in waves, yet it never touched me. Gathering it, readying it.

For what?

I wasn’t entirely certain I wanted that answer.

“I’m not locking myself away and hiding,” I said sourly. Drawing the short sword from the sheath at my back, I stared at the door. Death in battle was one I could deal with. Death at the side of a friend, I’d almost welcome.

“You can’t die today,” Es said softly. She turned her head and stared at me. “If you die, the girl doesn’t have a chance. Nobody else can stand against her.”

I gaped at her. “I’ve
met
that foul bitch. She can squash me like a bug.”

As if to reiterate that, that massive power outside slammed into the wards and one of them exploded, collapsing with a shriek around us. The lights flickered, and this time, they died. Gentle green lights rose to life around, powered by magic, hovering just a few inches from the ceiling. In that eerie light, I stared at Es, convinced she’d lost her mind.

“It takes more than power to defeat certain things, child. Don’t you know that by now?” She lifted a hand and placed it square on my chest. I flinched at the contact, forcing myself not to jerk back. “Very often, it takes heart.”

Swallowing the bile that crawled up my throat, I shook my head. “Pretty words. Empty ones. But pretty. She’ll toss me around like a rag doll when the time comes.”

“In a fight, yes. But you don’t
fight
her.” She leaned in, grabbing my shoulders as she pressed her lips to my ear. Her voice was low, almost too low for me to make out. “You’re a trained killer…not a fighter. A
born
killer. She can die. Her body is mortal and right now, it’s the weakest it will ever be. Soon, she’ll be even weaker. What would
kill
that body? She doesn’t know this world…doesn’t understand it. And she doesn’t understand
you
or how you fight.”

She leaned back and dropped a glance.

My heart skittered to a stop as her gaze landed on my gun. “The vessel needs to be destroyed, but so must she.”

Her hand touched my face and yet again, that roaring chaotic rush of knowledge came slamming into me.

The words all blurred together, but then, abruptly, everything slowed. Es’s gaze locked and held with mine.

“She has power over vamps and weres”,
she murmured into my mind, her voice calm and steady.

Power over them…even the thought of that turned my stomach and filled me with terror.

“ The very controls that were bred into us make it difficult for us to strike out at her. You don’t have that problem. You’re the most capable for this, in more ways than one.”

And then the connection ended and Es shoved me back, her voice filled with command and terror as she shouted,
“Go!
”

There was another crash against the wards and I felt it echo in my gut as I stumbled into the wall. My ears rang at the intensity of it and something wet trickled down my neck.

“Go!” Es shouted again. But apparently she didn’t trust me to move fast enough.

Something slammed against my chest and I went flying down the hall.

As I struggled to get up to my feet, arms came around me and lifted me. “Put me down,” I snarled, driving back with my elbow.

“Leave her.”

I sagged, recognizing the voice. It was the woman who’d sobbed as she hugged Es only moments ago.

“She’s going to get herself killed.”

“I know.” Her voice was a husky murmur and I thought she might be crying. “She’s known this was coming since she was a kid. She told me it would happen. We can’t stop it and if we try, just about everybody here will die. So what do we do? At least if Es makes her stand, she’ll weaken the bitch.”