His Darkest Salvation (37 page)

Julian turned to the sorcerer abruptly and nailed him with a dark look. “Bill the elf?”

Declan rotated his neck slowly. “Ya gotta admit, Castille, the fucker is under five feet and round as a bouncing ball. Dip the dude in green and red and toss him toward the North Pole.” He smiled wickedly. “You’d see. Santa would sign him up for sure.”

Julian ignored Declan and dragged his gaze back toward the stage. The music left much to be desired, but then he’d always been more of a blues man.

Jaden had disappeared, and his animal shifted beneath his skin. The scars that laced his flesh pulsated, and the burn was becoming more of an issue. If would surely drive a lesser man mad.

He just had to hold on a little bit longer, and he’d finally be freed from the constant darkness, the noise in his head, and the need that gnawed at him.

“Let’s do this,” he said abruptly. “You ready?”

“A walk in the park, my friend.” Declan’s voice was light but Julian glimpsed the torment that battered the sorcerer. He knew it well. He’d been eating it for breakfast, lunch, and supper for months.

He nodded. It was time to end this.

Declan indicated they head to the left, the opposite direction from the rest of the team.

Julian called the shadows to his body as he slipped into the darkness. The charm that hung from his neck was powerful, full of Declan’s mojo. A little extra protection wouldn’t hurt. He was confident no one could see them.

At least not the humans.

They slid through the crowd, with none the wiser, and adrenaline pumped through his body as they neared the stage area. It was a rush that he welcomed.

The music that pounded into the air was dark, seductive, and wrong. He glanced into the faces of the humans he passed and frowned at the rapt look in their eyes, as if they were in a trance.

He knew there was dark magick blended between the notes, he felt them, and the pull was strong. Sorry bastards. They were so vulnerable to the forces of the dark. If the demon realm did manage to break through, they’d be screwed. It would be a bloodbath.

His eyes scanned the room and rested on the two large men who stood stage left. They blocked the path to the door and were definitely otherworld. Even without the smell that drifted from them, the pimped-out clothes would have been a dead giveaway.

A smile cracked his face as a growl hung low in his belly.

Silently, he and Declan approached them. The band was in a frenzy, pounding out notes as the singer wailed into the microphone. The sound echoed around the room, a cacophony of noise.

It somehow was appropriate and fed the rage that built inside him. Darkness preyed on darkness, and, in this instance, he was working it.

His animal burned beneath his skin, and the power of his jaguar flooded his veins. Both men were vampires, and he withdrew the deadly dagger from beneath his jacket.

Their presence wasn’t felt until they were almost upon the two men. By then, it was too late.

To the observer, a lone human whose attention might have been drawn from the music, all that was seen was a blur, a slight whisper in the air as if the shadows had moved.

They blitzed the vamps, Declan throwing two sharp and penetrating energy bursts at them, while Julian followed up with clean and precise swipes to the neck.

He watched dispassionately as their heads separated from their bodies, then grabbed the lifeless forms, dragging the remains along behind him. The entire attack lasted less than five seconds, and as he slipped through the door, he turned, his eye quickly scanning the immediate area.

No one had witnessed their advance.

Declan was just ahead and put a finger to his mouth, indicating there was more filth to deal with. The frenetic, heavy chugging of the guitars was somewhat muffled in here, yet the aggressive nature of the music fed his mind, excited his jaguar.

Julian sensed a third body several feet away. This one was different and he held back a snarl as its demon scent slowly drifted toward them. The large man was tapping his foot, moving his neck to the rhythm, totally digging the music.

Declan cleared his throat and smiled as the demon turned toward them. Its eyes were blood red and glowed eerily in the dark.

“Damn, you need to invest in some shades, boy, your freaky laser eyes are fucking ugly.”

The demon snarled at Declan and immediately began making a series of clicking noises from deep in his throat. Julian clenched his hands together. He knew the demon was calling on his true form, and it wouldn’t take long for it to transform.

He’d been itching to hit something for a while now. He might as well start with a nasty-ass demon from hell.

He took a step forward. Declan held a hand out, and he stopped. “This one’s mine,” he whispered. The air shimmered around him as Declan slowly walked toward the demon.

A loud hiss escaped from between its teeth, followed by a moan that was abruptly cut short as Declan came to within an inch of it. He twisted his hand in a gentle arc, yet the dark energy that flowed from him to the demon was anything but. It was a harsh, grinding burst of power, and the demon sank to his knees as it fought for air.

Julian stood back, watched closely, and though he might be mistaken, it looked as if energy was flowing both ways. As if Declan was feeding on the filth that lived inside the demon.

Several long moments passed, the demon’s eyes dimming as it eventually lost the battle. Declan grunted from the effort it took but held firm and relaxed as the demon fell to the floor.

Julian was surprised. He held the dagger loosely at his side and stared down at the corpse. It had been much too easy for Declan to destroy the demon.

The sorcerer ran his hands across the back of his neck and loosened his shoulders. A long, shuddering breath fell from between his lips. When he turned to Julian, the smile that hung there seemed out of place.

No matter. He knew they were both riding way too close to the edge, and the crevice that separated them from the filth of the underworld was getting smaller as time marched on.

“Let’s go.” The urgency to get to the fallen sat heavy in his chest. He wanted it to be done.

“My father is here somewhere. I can feel him, which means if he doesn’t already know I’ve returned from the dead”—Declan nodded toward the crumpled form at his feet—“he will now.” Declan’s eyes narrowed. “He’ll be coming after me full on. Do not touch him, he’s mine.”

Julian snorted. He didn’t give a rat’s ass who snuffed the life out of Cormac O’Hara. His business was with Azaiel.

With stealth, they carefully picked their way across the back staging area, noiselessly moving amongst the massive snakes of electrical cables and cases of equipment. There were several staff, some human, some otherworld. None paid them any mind.

It was not what he expected, and he was beginning to suspect it wasn’t so much the cloaking charm that covered his body, but the music. The hypnotic pull was unnatural.

They found themselves in a long corridor that ran perpendicular to the stage. It headed in the direction Jaden had gone, and, for a second, Julian hesitated. Had she made it past the guards with no problems?

“There it is.” Declan pointed toward a nondescript door that was tucked in amongst a pile of boxes and large road cases. It looked easy enough.

He pushed Jaden from his mind. She was a warrior, after all, and could look after herself.

As they approached the door, he felt a change in the air. It was heavy, full of the weight of darkness, and he narrowed his eyes, noticing for the first time the film of gray that slithered slowly around the frame.

“I’ll need a few minutes,” Declan whispered, his face intense as he studied the magick that surrounded the door.

Julian stepped back and watched the sorcerer work. Declan had become an extremely powerful mage over the last few years. His time in hell had increased his strength exponentially.

He was packing some seriously dark mojo and had no qualms about using it.

The energy that flew from his fingers was quick, precise as he drew his own personal charms into the air. It was amazing really, what the man could accomplish.

It didn’t take him long.

“Ready?” Declan asked, not bothering to wait for an answer. He disappeared through the door, and Jaxon quickly followed suit.

The door swung shut automatically, the locking device clicking into place and leaving the two of them surrounded by total darkness.

Julian was immediately assaulted by the taint of evil, of demon and otherworld. It slithered across his skin like a lover’s caress. He should find it repulsive, but he didn’t. He
liked
it. In fact, he liked it . . . a lot.

A feral smile touched his face, changing the handsome features to menacing as he followed Declan into the bowels of Black Magick.

Chapter 27

J
aden felt like she could eat the darkness. It was that thick.

Her crew had managed to gain entrance to the lower level, not without a few casualties, but luckily they’d all been team Cormac.

Quickly, her eyes adjusted to the gloom. They’d taken a service elevator down and had just spilled out of it into a large, cavernous space. The cold hit her immediately. It was biting, harsh. The air that rushed into her lungs seemed thick and made it hard to breathe.

Down here everything was wrong. Up seemed like down, the air was rank with confusion and pain. She stilled her fast-beating heart, or at least tried to.

“This place is haunted. Things are not right,” Ana whispered.

The magick that slithered across Jaden’s skin was cold, like the underbelly of a snake, and she shivered from the weight of it. The bad feeling she’d been carrying for several hours pressed into her gut,
hard.
Damn, but she wanted to be wrong.

Ethan was pissed.

“Where the fuck did Castille and O’Hara get to?” he asked her pointedly.

She felt Ana’s interest—though the vampire tried to hide it—as Nico slid into view. His face was blank, his eyes flat and cold. She hated the way he looked at her. Like she’d betrayed him.

Finn’s gaze was hard, but he remained silent, a muscle working its way across his cheek.

Where
were
they? If anything, she thought they’d fight like hell to get down here before anyone else. Her belly rolled over. None of this made any sense.

“They’re as committed as we are, if not more so,” she answered roughly, though the doubt weasels were burrowing in fast and hard.

“What the hell does that mean?” Ethan asked shrewdly. His face was tight, his eyes cold. She saw the controlled anger that burned beneath the surface, and an answering flush built inside of her. Who the hell was he to question Julian’s integrity?

She looked at him boldly. “It means we don’t have time to debate their whereabouts. They’re good, so let’s move on.”

“I don’t trust either one of them,” Nico said harshly.

Crane’s grimace spoke volumes. “And you’re telling me this now?”

The warrior remained silent, obviously tense.

“What the hell kind of outfit you running?” Crane said, his dark gaze trained on Jaden. “I have no idea how your unit’s success rate is so high. You’ve got too many people involved with each other, and when that happens, mistakes occur,” he snarled. “Lives are lost.”

“Get over it, Crane.” Jaden’s eyes flashed. “When you care about people,
really
care about them, you’re willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done. Julian would never do anything to jeopardize the recovery of the portal.” She tried to control her emotions but was finding it increasingly hard. “So I suggest we move on and find the damned thing.”

Crane was silent, his mouth pursed into a tight line. “We split up,” he said abruptly. “The space down here is massive, and I’m sure you’ve all noticed that O’Hara has some serious shit going on. The wards are like none I’ve ever seen.” He looked at all of them. “Mind-warping shit, so be on guard. Not everything will be as it seems. Jaxon and the others are coming down from the west end. We need to do a grid search and cover every inch of this place.”

“Our com units have been activated. I don’t know how well they’ll work down here, but let’s stay in touch.” Finn nodded to them, his voice quiet, controlled as always. “Understood?”

Jaden felt the small device nestled in her ear and shook her head. A shadow passed behind Crane, a deviation in the light, and she was instantly on guard. This place gave her the creeps. She just wanted out. She slid the charmed dagger from its sheath against her thigh and squared her shoulders.

Time to dance with the devil.

“Let’s do this.”

“You, Ana, and Nico take the left side and we’ll”—Crane nodded to Finn—“cover the right. Our objective is Azaiel, there is nothing else. Once we have him, we can worry about Cormac.” His face was shrouded in shadow, casting a macabre expression over his features. Ethan Crane was one hell of a dangerous man, and she knew he’d stop at nothing to reach their objective.