On Wicked Ground (Solsti Prophecy Book 4) (11 page)

Elegia stood at the dark outskirts of Halice with two of her Serus demon guards, eyeing the bustling city with distaste. It teemed with creatures who looked down on her race, who laughed at the
pathetic vampires
. As far as she was concerned all these creatures had one purpose—to become soldiers in her army. But that had to wait. She was on the hunt.

A gust of night wind swirled around her and she closed her eyes, inhaling. Her senses weren’t as strong as that of predatory demons, but the extract helped a little. She also called on the magic that thrummed through her body, triggered by the mirror’s visions, listening to its direction. Like a dancing line of fireflies, a trail appeared in her mind’s eye, pointing her toward her brother and the female.

Good. They’d stood in this very spot. Stepping forward, she drew her black hood over her head and walked ahead of her demons, motioning them to follow at her back. Sebastian had gone to a restaurant on this street. And then…she paused as the magic split and swirled, two bright paths diverging in her mind. He and the woman had separated, at least briefly.

Elegia chose one trail of magical markers and followed it into a club district. Brick buildings loomed high overhead, iron bars covering the windows. Drunk fairies teetered on high heels.
Whores.
They thought they had so much more power than she. They were about to find out how wrong they were.

She walked briskly, drawn by the sense that she could almost touch the female’s essence. She was so close now that her fingertips tingled. Slowing, she approached a crowd around a crumbled building. Red caution tape encircled the perimeter.
What the hell?

Fragments of conversation drifted to her ears. “We were just here a week ago.”

“I heard it exploded.”

“No, dipshit, there was a dark elf fight.”

Sparks danced in Elegia’s mind, like bright stars overlaying the ruins. “What happened here?” she asked no one in particular.

“The building, like, collapsed.” A blond fairy spoke up.

Elegia stared at the rubble. Twisted beams spiked into the night sky and panels of wood and plaster lay scattered among broken tables and glass. The scents of blood and sweat clung to the mess.

The female had been here. The air pulsed with her energy, which was unique.
Odd.
Elegia’s life’s work was categorizing living things, yet this female was different. Had she perished here? Or escaped? But her trail…Elegia looked again at her mental vision, willing the dark energy to tell her more.

Nothing. The signal ended here.

Both the interrupted signal and the unidentifiable energy signature vexed her. A thought niggled at the back of her mind. One of her top soldiers had recently captured a female he couldn’t identify. He’d insisted she was some type of fae…and then he’d gone missing. Could she and this one be the same individual?  Her fists clenched in anger at not knowing who the blond female was or why she had reached out to the others. Stupid bitch. Maybe she’d happened to be at the wrong club at the wrong time. Sebastian didn’t surround himself with intelligent creatures. Maybe she was—

Her phone chirped and she picked it up. “Boar. What do you have?”

“We followed the Earth coordinates, my queen. They mark a heavily warded home inhabited by three women and several Lash demons. Most of the males seem to be Watchers and there is one who appears to be an Elder. We were able to get close enough to identify critical points in the building’s structure.”

“Very good, Boar.” Each precious drop of her lily extract gave the user added strength and healing, added sensory perception, added accuracy in weaponry. It also masked their normal scent. She paced along the red tape, boots crushing pebbles beneath them. “It’s in a large metropolitan area. You should have access to ammo and explosives, whatever you need.”

“Yes, my queen. That will not be a problem.”

She gazed at the twinkling lights of Halice and thought of the sprawling Earth city where the three mystery women lived. The homes on their continent used lines of natural gas, built into the structures, for heat and power.
So backward.
Gas wasn’t always stable, and that little fact worked beautifully in her favor. “Blow it up, Boar. Preferably with the Lash and women inside. Attack if they try to get out. You’re stronger and faster than them, even the Watchers, thanks to the extract. Call when you’re done.”

It was a given that he’d follow orders. To ensure her lethal horde stayed loyal to her alone, she added an addictive narcotic to her elixir. They craved the drug, just as they lived to serve her. Too bad it had proven ineffective on Lash demons. Those men, and the women with them, needed to die. They were a threat. The mirror couldn’t be wrong.

She ended the call and turned to her guards. “Let’s move on. Time to find my idiot brother.”

Elegia turned and walked back to the spot where she’d first picked up Sebastian’s energy. Finding the bright pulses of energy from the mirror soothed her anger. Somewhat. She’d feel a hell of a lot better when she found her brother and the female.

The trail pointed her down a street in the opposite direction of the clubs and bars. She stalked in that direction, when one of her demons dared to question her.

“My queen? May I speak?”

“What?” she snapped, not stopping.

“It is close to dawn, my lady.”

Goddamn it. As a full-blooded vampire, she didn’t have the luxury of walking around during the day. Another defect that, like her lungs, the lily extract had no effect on.

She stopped and huffed out a breath, cursing. She was so close…but her plan was pointless if she was dead. Sunlight was one of the few ways she could die. “We will return tomorrow night.” She took out a transportation amulet to open a portal and whisked the three of them back to her headquarters.

C
HAPTER
E
IGHT

P
ERCHED
HIGH
ON
A
WINDY
rooftop, Mathias drew a breath of cold city air. Far above the exhaust and gas fumes at street level, the oxygen here was a smooth burn to his lungs. The vibrant energy of Chicago hummed and glittered under a blanket of falling snow. Beside him, Rhys scanned the buildings across the street.

“This shit beats sappy movies any day, man,” Rhys muttered.

“Damn right.” Mathias would rather patrol a new part of the city any night than sit at home and watch romantic comedies with a bunch of women, despite the half-joking pleas of his beautiful mate. They were called
chick flicks
for a reason. “See anything?”

“Nada.” Rhys rubbed a hand over his jaw. “City’s been quiet lately.”

“That’s usually right before things go crazy.” Mathias had accompanied Rhys to Chicago’s north side. The males in the big house rotated nights and routes, checking for any supernaturals who weren’t supposed to be there.

“This route sees a lot of fairies, with all those bars.” Rhys tugged his black knit cap tighter over his nearly-buzzed hair. “Though nearby was ground central for that Neshi outbreak last fall.”

Mathias nodded. “Which way?”

Rhys inclined his head. “East. We crisscross the area as we head north and end up back home. Well, you will.” He walked to the fire escape and started down the ten story building. “I may find a cute fairy to go home with.”

“Better you than me.” Mathias followed his friend down to the third floor, where they both jumped the remainder of the way. Landing on fresh snow in an alley, they jogged to the street.

Both wearing leather jackets and jeans, with weapons concealed, they blended in with any humans who happened to be out in the wee morning hours. Nearing a bar, the strains of a crowd of drunken voices sang, broadcasting as loudly as if they were on the street, due to the Lash enhanced hearing. Some song about closing time. The door burst open and two female water sprites stumbled out, all giggles and long blond hair.

“Oooh, hiiiii!” They cooed in unison, slip-sliding into Rhys. “Wanna go to our after-party?”

“Watch your steps, ladies.” Rhys caught one in each arm. They came up to his biceps. “Gotta be careful on the snow.”

“We have boots.” One raised her foot to show her knee-high, heeled leather boot, lifting her leg high enough that her short skirt bunched up around her hips.

“Whoa, careful, sweetheart.” Rhys grabbed her foot and lowered it. “Keep those panties covered. Not every man is a good guy.”

The other sprite made her way to Mathias. “I bet you’re really good,” she purred, rubbing her body against his hip.

“My mate can tell you exactly how good I am.” He picked her up and set her a few feet away. “Sorry ladies, we have somewhere we have to be.”

Disinterested in Mathias, the two females hung on Rhys, who typed their numbers into his phone. “Call you later, darlins.” Then he swatted them both on their barely-covered bottoms and walked away with Mathias.

“Sprites are the same, no matter the realm,” Mathias muttered.

“And that’s a wonderful thing, old man,” Rhys said with a shit-eating grin.

They slowed at a corner, avoiding the wet splash of slush from a speeding cab. The hair on Mathias’s neck stood up. He inhaled.

Rhys cocked his head. “What?”

Mathias’s nose was keener than any other Lash. And right now, something was off. The scent of garbage hung in the air, which most demons would chalk up to the usual dumpsters along a street peppered with bars and restaurants.

But this scent was more of a teasing note that he couldn’t grab on to, rather than the strong identifiers that he usually detected. This one was being suppressed with magic. “Smell that?”

Rhys shook his head. “Nothing special. Just fast food garbage, human piss, and fae. What do you smell?”

“I’d say Deserati. But I’m not getting the full effect. It’s cloaked and there’s another element along with it.”

“A cloaked Deserati?” Rhys frowned and pulled out his phone. “Better not be more of Xavier’s cousins.” He scrolled across the screen, then hit a button. Kai picked up right away.

“What’s up?” Kai asked, his voice clearly audible to Mathias. The blond Watcher was patrolling the south side of the city tonight.

“You’re friends with a Deserati female who’s stationed here, right?”

“Yeah. Miranda. Why?”

“Ask her if she knows of any other Deserati demons in the city. The Hunter here detected one who’s cloaking.”

“Okay. Call ya right back.”

Rhys shrugged. “Keep following the trail while we wait to hear back from him?”

Mathias nodded, unable to shake the trepidation crawling up his spine. Though powerful, many Deserati were well-intended and kept to themselves. Unfortunately, some had been swayed to the dark side, resulting in the recent death-by-fire for their local leader, Xavier. He’d been one of Elegia’s lieutenants. Who knew how far his reach spread?

Mathias and Rhys headed east, passing closed businesses and a handful of humans. The elevated trains rumbled overhead, causing a fine layer of rust to sift down from the hundred-year-old iron supports.

Mathias continued to analyze the odd aspect of the scent. It resembled motor oil. But he couldn’t isolate that to the Deserati, not yet, since they were in the thick of busy city streets. And with over a million vehicles registered to the city, motor oil was a common smell.

Rhys phone trilled. “Yo, Kai.”

“Miranda says she doesn’t know of any others here, cloaking or not. But several of her kin have gone missing in the last few weeks.”

Rhys shot Mathias a look. Kidnappings had increased on Torth too. “Well, shit. We’ll keep on it. I’ll let you know if it’s interesting.” He ended the call.

“Can you tell how many there are?” Rhys asked.

“Normally yes, but this cloaking spell is heavier than most.” Mathias stalked next to his friend, boots crunching on the salted streets.

After a few blocks, the scent trail led them north to an industrial area. A Doberman barked from behind a chain link fence. Puffs of air from its snout formed tiny clouds that dissipated in seconds. Low, enormous warehouses lined the streets, their dock bays closed. A lone truck sat idling in a parking lot.

Inhaling, Mathias could tell the Deserati scent was more recent here. Mixed with it was the smells of the materials inside the buildings: rubber, machine oil, solvents, gasoline…

Normal things to smell on a city street lined with warehouses.

But still, warnings screamed like sirens in his mind.

They followed the Deserati trail out of the industrial area and through a neighborhood of modest brick bungalows. Still, the cloak remained in place. And still, the scent of motor oil was woven through it.

“You know that other element of the scent I mentioned?” Mathias asked.

“Yeah. Figure it out?”

“Yeah. I know we’re in the city, but it smells like motor oil.”

Rhys frowned. “How do you know it’s not the hundreds of cars and trucks we’ve passed?”

“Because it’s been constant. On every block. It doesn’t get stronger and then fade, then grow strong again when we pass a different car.”

“Are they
in
a car?”

Mathias shook his head. “No. There’s no accompanying smell of gasoline, exhaust, or rubber from the tires. I’m certain they’re on foot.”

“Why would Deserati carry motor oil?”

“Exactly.”

Rhys cast a glance at the gray-purple sky of the city, which never turned completely black due to all the city lights. “Maybe it’s not motor oil.”

“Yeah?” Mathias eyed his friend. “What smells like motor oil but isn’t motor oil?”

“Dude.” Rhys stopped in the middle of the street, brown eyes glinting in the street light. “Some explosives smell like motor oil.”

“Explosives?” His heart rate sped up, wondering how Rhys knew this but not wanting to stop the hunt. Usually the Lashs’ demonfire was enough to incinerate anything; they didn’t need accelerants or charges.

Rhys nodded. “Yeah, like C4.”

Mathias shot him a glance, but broke into a jog. “Shit.”