Fading Light: Shadow Born, Book 2 (14 page)

Gray leaned forward. “I can still kick your ass.”

“You can try.” Seraph grinned. “Maybe you should stay back tonight and rest. It would be embarrassing if you got beat down twice in a week.”

Brenna closed her eyes and prayed for patience. “What’s the plan?”

Seraph stepped back, smiling. “I’ve gathered my men. They’re still here because I didn’t want to tip off the demons. There’s no way to do an effective cloaking spell around the airport. The land is too barren. Lucy found the blueprints, so the witches are going to teleport us. I don’t want anyone wasting magic to do it themselves.”

“IRT witches aren’t strong enough to teleport a hundred deviants.” Brenna sighed. “What’s Plan B?”

“There is no Plan B.” Seraph grinned. “Agnes’s coven is going to do it. It won’t be an issue.”

“Do you trust her?” Brenna countered. He’d made that decision awfully fast, but she knew that like her, he didn’t have a choice either.

Seraph gave her a measured look as though he knew exactly what she was thinking, and she shouldn’t ask any more questions. “Go home, rest. Then find Keegan. He left this morning to hunt down a lead and never came back. We leave at dusk. Don’t be late.”

Chapter Fourteen

Keegan was waiting for them when they returned to the house. He was standing in the living room beside some of the most hideous furniture Brenna had ever seen. A couch and loveseat covered with overstuffed baby blue pillows decorated with a splash of lime, fuchsia, and hot pink paint had been shoved against the far wall. Chipped walnut planks had been nailed to their sides and bottom. A pink suede chair sat in the corner of the room. It had what looked to be navy blue claw marks running across the cushions. At first Brenna thought they were real, but, after touching the material, realized they were part of the design. To complete the look, Keegan had thrown an orange shag rug across the newly constructed wooden floor.

It was hideous, but practical. Furniture was hard to come by, and furniture that matched, nearly impossible.

Gray walked across the room and sat on the sofa. He leaned back and bounced a few times on the cushions. “At least it’s comfortable.”

“Say thank you, Shadow Bearer.” Keegan glared at him, smoke wafting from his nostrils. “Do you know how hard it is to find furniture in this god-forsaken place?”

Brenna moved further into the room to study the arrangement. It was growing on her. “Has Lucy seen it?” she asked. “She’d love it.”

Keegan grinned. “I know. She helped me pick it out. She wants to paint the walls so it all coordinates.”

Brenna shook her head, repressing a groan. “No way.”

Keegan shrugged. “It’s up to you.”

“This is the lead you left headquarters to follows?” Gray asked.

“Nope.” Keegan plopped onto the loveseat. “I did this after.”

For a few moments, they sat in silence. Then Brenna sat forward. “What did you find out?”

“Not much.” Keegan leaned back, crossing his arms. “I went to find Mira. She was supposed to be with Sam, but he hadn’t seen her all day.”

“You’re sure Seraph didn’t give her a job?” Brenna’s heartbeat accelerated “Where was she last seen?”

“At headquarters,” Keegan replied. “On her way to meet Sam.”

Brenna ran through the possibilities. If Mira was truly missing, they needed to find Sam. He might know something. “Do we know where Sam is?”

Keegan shook his head. “No idea. I spoke with him telepathically. He’s supposed to be downtown with the humans.”

“Supposed to be?” Brenna studied him.

“He was real sketchy about his location,” Keegan replied. “It’s so hard to find good help these days. A few hundred years ago, I had an incubus. He was as loyal as a collie. I just had to throw him a few helpless virgins once a week to keep him happy.”

Brenna looked over at Gray. He rolled his eyes, a smile on his lips. There were times she wanted to take a roll of duct tape and wrap it around Keegan’s head. There was no other way to keep him quiet.

“Mira wouldn’t go after Adare. It would be suicide.” Gray shifted to face Brenna. “Give it time. She’ll show up.”

Brenna shook her head. “I don’t think so. I have a bad feeling about this; she was really wound up last night.

She turned to Gray. “Mira drank my blood. I can track her.”

“No.” He sat up. “If Adare or Ga’loh have her, you can’t go in without a plan. You’ll get yourself killed.”

“She’s my friend. I have to try. And Gal’loh needs me to heal him. That gives me leverage.”

Keegan shook his head. “Not with Adare, it gives him another reason to kill you. Besides, I don’t care if you can trace her blood. You won’t find her. I searched everywhere.”

And as a dragon, he would have just as good a shot at finding the vampire. He was a keeper of things. His magic gave him power over things that were lost. If he couldn’t find Mira, she was probably dead.

“Did you find her body?” Brenna asked.

“Wouldn’t it turn to ash?” Keegan gave her a puzzled look.

Brenna rolled her eyes. “She’s not
that
old.”

“How am I supposed to know? I hate vampires. They taste like jerky.” He grinned. “I only like this one because she’s yours.”

Gray watched Brenna carefully. “You’re going no matter what I say, aren’t you?”

She nodded. Maybe he was finally getting it.

“Then I’m going with you.” Gray grabbed the leather jacket he had tossed on the stairs and slipped it back on.

Brenna closed her eyes and counted backwards from ten to one. Not only could she hunt more efficiently by herself, but she could use some alone time. Or, for that matter, any time away from Gray. Although she had berated him about how they should work as a team, she didn’t want him along. But to leave him behind would make her a hypocrite.

“I’m going to scry for her location before we leave.” Brenna began to climb the steps. Healing Gray had taken a lot of energy and magic. If she wasted any more, she would be useless. But what was she supposed to do? She’d already lost two friends because she had been too stupid to realize Adare was a traitor. Their blood was on her hands. If she could help Mira, she had to try.

As soon as they entered the bedroom, Brenna released the spells protecting her sanctuary. Once a walk-in closet, she had gutted it to make a meditation room. The built-in bookshelf beside it had become her makeshift closet. It had worked well until Gray had moved in.

She opened the door, and Gray followed her inside. The room had been stripped to its barest form. Glistening wood planks made up the floor, covered only by a golden woven rug. A narrow walnut table sat at the far end of the room. On the center lay a gold plated mirror, the glass glazed with age and use. It was surrounded by numerous white and gold candles. Kneeling before the table, she breathed on the candles, and fire flickered at the tips of each cylinder.

She blew the dust from the glass. Once it was clean, she opened the narrow drawer beneath it. Inside on a bed of black silk lay her ceremonial dagger. Draped with a quartz cover, its handle infused with sapphires and rubies, the blade glistened in the candlelight. She murmured a spell to release its bindings and pulled the blade free. With one swift stroke, she slid the athame across the smooth flesh of her forearm. Blood welled to the surface. She paused as fear reared its head. If this didn’t work, it meant Mira was dead. Another friend lost. But deep in her heart, Brenna believed Mira was still alive. Hopefully, she was right.

She settled cross-legged on the floor, Gray at her side, the mirror on her lap. Her blood dripped then rolled across the glowing surface. As it absorbed into the glass, a bluish steam took its place. Breathing in the fragrant mist, Brenna opened the compartment beneath the mirror that held her ruby amulet. Power danced across the room as she pulled it free. Unlike human witches, her magic did not require a map to scry. The mirror would provide her with an image of Mira’s location. Hopefully, she would recognize it.

She closed her eyes and called forth her magic. As it swirled around them, she held the amulet several inches above the mirror. It sucked her magic inside before disappearing in a puff of blue smoke. Brenna waited, her body devoid of power, as her magic flew around the city, the amulet its compass. Several minutes passed, and Brenna’s heart fell. The amulet would only return on its own if it found Mira. If Brenna had to call it back, the vampire was dead.

Fifteen minutes went by, then a half hour. But Brenna refused to stop. When an hour had passed, Brenna wiped a stray tear from her face and readied herself. The first word of the spell had barely left her lips when the amulet appeared. It slammed against the mirror and shattered the glass. Something, or someone, had interfered.

Brenna stared into the remaining shards of glass. The image reflecting back was faint, but the red stone monuments were unmistakable. “She’s at Red Rocks. Ga’loh warped my spell, but it still worked.” She shut her eyes, torn between relief and fear as her magic sank inside her body.

“Why would he take her?” Gray stood, careful of the glass shards.

Brenna shrugged. “All I know is she’s alive. We need to make sure she stays that way.”

“Agreed.” He glanced at the shattered remains of the mirror. “Do you have another one?”

“Yes.” She paused. “Ga’loh wasn’t powerful enough to keep my magic, but he’s strong. We should bring Keegan.”

Gray grimaced. “We need to treat Ga’loh with kid gloves. He’s too powerful to fight, and Keegan isn’t the best at diplomacy. He said so himself.”

Brenna shook her head. “He’s not going to give Mira back without a fight, and if we waste our reserves, we’ll be useless to Seraph. Tonight has to go well. We need a lead on Adare.”

“Ga’loh is volatile. If Keegan sets him off, we’re back to square one.” Gray shook his head. “It’s not a good idea.”

Team. We’re a team
. Brenna repeated the mantra in her head. It was stupid not to bring Keegan. They had a dragon, why not use him? A part of her wanted to ignore Gray, grab Keegan and go. But if she and Gray were going to embrace the illustrious idea of being a partnership, she had to listen to him. Trust went both ways. And she had to earn it as much as he did.

“Fine. No Keegan.” She walked into the bedroom. “But if it goes to hell, don’t expect me not to say I told you so.”

“Fine,” Gray said. “But we’ve only got four hours before we have to meet Seraph. We’ll have to teleport if we’re going to make it back.”

She opened their psychic link and sent him the location she had seen in the mirror. “We’ll go separately, reserve our power. This shouldn’t take long. Ga’loh may be a demon prince, but he’s diseased, weakened. Aside from that, he needs me. We should be able to negotiate with him.”

Gray snorted. “You obviously don’t know him well.”

“Don’t go into this with your ego blaring. I don’t want to fight him if we don’t have to.”

“Agreed.” Gray grimaced. “I’m still recovering from the last time I tangled with him. But he might not give us choice.”

“Then we’ll combine our magic and kick his ass.” Brenna took a deep breath. Or tried to. “Let’s get out of here. We’re wasting time.” Her magic crested the air. With a clear picture of the location in her mind, she cocooned herself in power and disappeared.

Once Red Rocks had been a famous amphitheater. Constructed in the mountains above Denver, visitors could watch a concert with the city’s skyline visible in the distance. The views and the acoustics had made it a much sought after venue. But the Fall had changed all that. Now it was a crumbling sink hole of stone and dirt. Filled with vagrants and wild animals, it wasn’t a place for the faint of heart.

They found Mira inside a narrow cavern carved into the hillside. She lay unconscious in a makeshift iron cage, the bars of which were strengthened by a spell Brenna couldn’t penetrate. Unable to free Mira, Brenna took a quick inventory of the other woman’s injuries. Covered in cuts and bruises, she lay in a pool of her own blood.

“I’m going to kill him.” Brenna sliced her wrist. She shoved her arm through the bars and pressed her wrist against Mira’s half open mouth. The vampire stirred at the smell. Too weak to move, she let the blood fall onto her lips. Once the blood had worked its magic, she sat up with a glazed look in her eye.

“Where am I?” She reached for Brenna’s arm, but Brenna pulled it through the cage. She couldn’t afford to lose more blood than necessary.

Brenna sat back and closed the wound. “What do you remember?”

“I was supposed to meet Sam in the Underground. He called me as I was pulling up next to the grate and told me the plans had changed. The last thing I remember was a woman walking toward me.”

“What did she look like?” Gray asked.

“Small, long white hair.” She shrugged. “It’s blurry.” Gripping her cage, she rattled the iron bars. “Can you get me out of here?”

Brenna shook her head. “I can’t penetrate the spell without hurting you.”

Mira sat back with a look of alarm. “What do we do?”

“We force Ga’loh to open it.” Gray shrugged. “I’m sure he won’t mind.”

“He’s probably waiting for us.” Brenna stood and took a quick look around the cave.

Moments later they heard footsteps outside the cavern. Soon after Ga’loh stepped inside. “That didn’t take long.” He smiled as he gazed at Brenna. “Looks like you’re worth the effort.”

Gray moved toward the demon. “You gave me two days.”

Ga’loh shrugged. “You can have her back once I’m healed.”

“It doesn’t work that way,” Brenna replied. “Release her and we talk.”

“Heal me and I’ll release her.” Ga’loh glanced at Gray. “I see why you like her. But she’s forgetting one important point.”

He flicked his hand toward the cage, and Mira hit the floor screaming. “I’m more powerful, so I’m in control.” He squeezed his hands together, and Mira writhed in agony.

Brenna didn’t look away from Ga’loh. The demon would take advantage of any show of weakness. Wrapping her magic around Ga’loh, she slammed him against the dirt wall. Dust filled the cavern. With a flip of her hand, she pulled him free and tossed him to the ground.

“You might want to rethink the whole who’s-more-powerful thing,” she said as she stood above him. Pulling the athame from her boot strap, she drove it into his shoulder. The blade sliced through the rotten flesh and pinned him to the floor. Ga’loh screamed, bucking against the silver blade.

“You bitch,” he cried.

A false smile on her lips, she pulled a second athame from the small of her back and plunged it into his other shoulder. As long as the silver was in his body, he couldn’t shift into his alternate form.

“Now we can talk.” She stood beside him, hardly able to breathe through the stench of rotten flesh. She leaned forward until they were eye to eye. “Release my vampire or I’ll leave you here to rot.”

He spit in her face. “You need me. No one else can help you with the cure.”

“All I need is your blood, I’m pretty sure we can figure out the rest,” she bluffed.

Ga’loh growled. In one swift movement he jerked forward. The blades disappeared into his shoulders and came out on the other side. He stood before her with two gaping wounds where his shoulders had been.

Brenna took a step back. What was he on, demon steroids?

She barely had time to catch her breath before he slammed her against the wall. He hadn’t switched forms, and his diseased hand gripped her neck. His flesh was slimy and wet against her skin.