Elemental Light (Paranormal Public Book 9) (5 page)

Fear prickled down my spine. We knew the demons were patrolling the area, but we had hoped that we would be safe off the beaten path. It turned out we were wrong.

Vital held a finger to his lips. There was a slight cold wind blowing through the shrubs and trees, and on it rode the sound of voices. This wasn’t just a demon patrol, it was Nocturns patrol, and if Lisabelle was anything to go by we didn’t want to have a battle with darkness mages right now.

Taking a deep breath, I slowly got down from Razor’s back. The horse understood the severity of the situation and stood stock still, his head lowered. Vital had already landed silently on the bare ground.

Up ahead, Sip had slung low, almost to her belly.

The horses didn’t need to be told. They got out of the way, concealing themselves behind a tree. If I hadn’t been so frightened, I’d have been impressed. Even in the cold, the sweat had started to trickle down the sides of my neck.

I had wanted to go on the offensive. Well, this was what “on the offensive against an army when you’re hopelessly outnumbered” looked like. It wouldn’t have been fair to ask anyone else to do this. I couldn’t lead if I wasn’t willing to put my own neck on the line.

And at this point I’d barely have cared at all except for Ricky.

“Get down,” Vital mouthed to me.

I nodded and crouched low, moving behind the nearest shrub. The horses had blended into the field amazingly well. I wasn’t sure they’d have been seen even in daylight.

That just left Sip, Vital, and me to avoid getting caught. Vital had his hands crossed at his hips, and I knew that each hand rested on a knife. He was ready to kill if he had to, but we didn’t want to draw attention to ourselves if it didn’t turn out to be necessary.

The steps came closer and I held my breath. My eyes scanned the darkness, but I saw nothing. Sip had disappeared somewhere in front of us, and I knew I wouldn’t breathe easy until the werewolf had reappeared.

The voices were muffled, but they confirmed one thing. It wasn’t just mindless demons coming toward us. Nocturns were out patrolling.

Vital moved back three paces, so that his body was between me and the incoming threat.

When two figures came into view, I was stunned to realize that they weren’t Nocturns at all. They were Rapier vampires. All I could think of was that they were on Cortov’s side.

I saw Vital’s shoulders lift slightly.

I knew his qualms about going up against Nocturns; he didn’t really like magic. But he was the best vampire fighter in the world. I almost felt sorry for these Rapiers.

I couldn’t see their faces, but the voices were male. Then Vital moved so fast I didn’t realize he was gone. One second I was crouched low, trying to figure out how much time we had until they reached us, and the next second Vital had snapped the neck of the vampire closer to him, leaving just the other one to be dealt with. Unfortunately, a split second of warning was all the other one needed.

The vampire did that floating thing where their feet don’t touch the ground and they can move at super speed. I wanted to cry out a warning to Vital that if this vampire got away and warned the others at Locke we were dead, but there was no need for that, either.

Just as I broke out of my crouch, ready to go after the second vampire, a small body came flying through the air.

The leaping sneak attack was Sip’s favorite kind. She slammed into the vampire with a sickening crunch and the snapping of strong jaws.

Vital righted himself.

Sip wrestled the whimpering vampire to the ground.

Vital came over and slit his throat.

I couldn’t see his face, just the long, blond ponytail.

Breathing hard, Vital turned to check on me, raising his eyebrows in silent question.

I nodded. Well, of course I was fine. I hadn’t done anything. The vampire reached out as if he was about to pat Sip, then appeared to think better of it. Shrugging, he turned back to me and let out a low whistle.

“You okay?” I whispered to Sip. The werewolf gave one nod of her head, then turned and trotted away again.

Where there was one vampire patrol there were probably others. I wondered how long we had until it was noticed that they were missing.

The horses came at a trot, and I could see that one of them had been chewing the dead grass. Ew.

We mounted again, and I had the distinct impression that Razor was resigned to having an idiot for a rider. Undaunted by my horse’s opinion, I clucked and set him in motion.

This time we moved with more caution. I felt better knowing Sip was up in front and that her ears were pristine.

At one point Vital trotted up to ride alongside me. Leaning over he said, “When did Sip learn how to fight like that?”

“We’ve been fighting for years,” I whispered back. “She always attacks like that. I just thought it was animal instinct. She also has a lot of brothers.”

Vital grinned. “That explains it. I bet she can hold her own. It’s a good tactic, since she’s smaller than most of her opponents.”

“Most?” I asked, smiling.

Vital grinned.

“Okay, all her opponents.”

Throughout our ride the mountain that was Vampire Locke had winked in and out of view, and finally we were almost there. It looked cold and silent; there was no sign of life. I saw no demons and no Nocturns watching. The lack of noise scared me.

Lanca and Vital had told stories of seeing the rock face crawl with demons, but there was no sign of them now, and I realized that silence could be just as scary as battle. I didn’t like the fact that we were apparently going to have no opportunity to read our enemy.

“You know what happens if we get separated?” Vital whispered to me, again riding up beside me.

“Run,” I said. “Don’t save you. At least, if it makes you feel better to think we won’t.”

Vital shook his head. “Lanca didn’t want to use you for this mission,” he said. “She just didn’t have a choice.”

“I don’t think Sip will leave without you,” I said. “She’s never left a friend behind before. Neither have I.”

Vital’s expression softened just a fraction, but he remained steadfast. “Lanca would never forgive me if something happened to either of you. She can count on one hand the people she can trust, and three of them showed up in the middle of the night a couple of days ago.”

I nodded. I knew what he meant.

“I’m sure Ricky’s trustworthy,” Vital added. “But he’s jut a kid, and Lanca doesn’t know him.”

“Yeah, well, I’d bet anything that they’re back at Dunne ai Dorn secretly plotting something now that we’ve left them alone.”

Vital silently chuckled.

“Sometimes I forget that she’s a queen, and she’ll do what she has to for the clan,” he said thoughtfully. “Whenever I remember that, I’m always glad we’re on the same side.”

“I just wish we had reached the time when we didn’t have to choose sides anymore,” I said quietly.

I knew Vital agreed with me. The paranormals were becoming more fractured by the day, despite all the rhetoric to the contrary.

“Let’s go,” said Vital. All we could do right now was the task in front of us.

When we reached Vampire Locke, the horses wandered off again. Razor didn’t even look at me as he trotted away.

“This is wrong,” said Vital, surveying the rocks in front of us. Sip had transformed back into her human form and had braced her hands on her hips.

“Didn’t you say there’d be guards?” she whispered.

Vital nodded. “All the other times I’ve come here there were. Lanca ordered me not to come in on my own, and I probably couldn’t have anyway, but this door was always heavily guarded with demons, Nocturns, and vampires.”

“Now there’s no sign of any of them,” I mused.

As we stood there looking at the mountain, worry started to shape itself into a pit in my stomach. I just couldn’t shake the feeling that we were walking into a trap.

“Is there any chance they know we’re coming?” Sip asked.

Vital shook his head. “How could there be? The only other paranormals who know we’re here are Lanca, Lough, and Ricky.”

“Maybe it has nothing to do with us, then,” I said. But even as I said it, fear prickled the back of my neck. “I say we stick with the plan.”

“I love plans,” said Sip. “So, where’s the door?”

Vital smiled. We planned to get inside the fortress using the same door through which Lanca had let us into Locke when we’d come for her coronation.

“She’s been sneaking around since before she was queen,” said Sip fondly. “Only way to get anything done when there are so many busybodies.”

“You wouldn’t know anything about busybodies, would you, Sip?”

She grinned at me as Vital pulled the door open.

We peered inside, but there was nothing but blackness.

“Come on,” said Vital, going first. He quickly disappeared, and Sip and I followed.

“This doesn’t feel familiar,” I whispered to my friend. She nodded in agreement. I had thought Vampire Locke would feel like we were coming back to something we knew, but it didn’t.

The smell was dank and stale, like old flesh. There was also the faint smell of smoke. I tried not to breathe too deeply.

Sip blinked rapidly, her eyes starting to water. Vital kept moving, seemingly unaffected.

Quickly I lost track of where we were. Lanca’s first request, that we get her crown, would be easy to fulfill. The second, to find out what exactly was happening at Locke, was going to be harder; we had known that all along. But we hadn’t expected to be mystified as soon as we walked in the door.

Eventually Vital paused in his slow, careful progress forward and ushered us into a small room off the dark corridor down which we had been making our way.

“Lanca’s bedroom is below,” he whispered. “The crown should be hidden on one of her bed posts. Before she left she painted it black so that it would meld perfectly. She thought she’d have better luck hiding it in plain sight.”

“Makes sense,” Sip whispered.

“One last thing,” said Vital. “There aren’t enough demons patrolling the halls. My guess is there’s something major happening somewhere in Locke, probably in the coronation room.
Either avoid it at all costs, or if you’re in trouble, go find Lisabelle. I’m sure you’ll be able to make your own decision on the fly if need be.”

Before we could make a move, though, a flash in front of us interrupted our discussion, and a shredding screech followed it.

The demons.

Despite the empty silence, they knew we were there. I smelled burning and saw red flickers past the door as Vital darted forward and Sip instantly transformed. Something started smoking not far outside the door.

Looking around for something to use as a weapon, I grabbed a long piece of wood from the deserted room. It felt heavy in my hands, and I would have to be careful not to get splinters, but I wanted to heed Lanca’s warning not to use my powers unless I had to. One, it made detecting me much easier. Two, I might need all the power I had to get out of there alive.

My ring burned, wanting to fight, but I resisted the urge. Following Vital and Sip, I came around the corner swinging at black bodies and saw Vital as a whirl of movement in front of me. He hit and kicked, his clothing protecting him from fire. Occasionally he sunk his teeth into stinking flesh.

The first time my makeshift bat connected with demon flesh, the shock reverberated through my arms. I held on and swung again, and again and again. My arms quickly tired.

I looked around for Vital and saw that he was still fighting, not looking the least bit tired, but Sip was nowhere to be seen. I could only hope that she was on her way to Lanca’s room to get the crown. In werewolf form she should be able to move around almost unnoticed.

Demons just kept coming.

“Vital,” I said, “I’m getting tired.”

Vital glanced left and right and saw demons pouring into the hallway, sensing a battle.

“Look out,” I cried. Vital had taken his attention away from the fight for a split second and a demon had taken its chance.

What Vital did next was unexpected. He darted toward me and shoved me back into the dark little room. Before he could push me out of harm’s way, though, a demon slammed into me and I fell backward with a cry. The last thing I saw before I blacked out was Vital, standing to face the horde alone.

Chapter Five

I woke up with a splitting headache, blinking several times and sitting up slowly, my head pounding so much I didn’t want to move. Where was Vital? Where was Sip? I got to my hands and knees and crawled to peer around the doorway. A lone werewolf was coming down the hall, which was strewn with demon dust, the remnants of the mob that had tried to fight Vital.

“Sip,” I croaked out. Just as my friend saw me, a vampire came around the corner with a spear glinting in his hand. He looked young, maybe not even as old as we were, but determined. He wasn’t very big, and I had to wonder what he was doing there alone.