Tall, Dark & Apocalyptic (3 page)

The Ingress Sentinel had been one of the last of the inhabitants of Atlantis, and had barely survived as the walls of the great kingdom had folded inward and sunk into the sand at the bottom of the ocean.

The experience had left him justifiably angry and inexplicably arrogant. Wearing a skin-tight suit the color of his eyes, the Atlantan stared down at Audie from his great height, the close-set silver gaze focused on him with open hostility. “You were told to remain at large until you’d killed the creature Yeira Ruth.”

Audie held his ground, his jaw tightening with anger. “That’s right.”

The man’s wide, black face showed his surprise, the silver gaze widening slightly. “Does this mean you have exterminated the creature?”

Audie didn’t answer the Sentinel’s question. “I need to speak to the Huntsman.” The Huntsman was the leader of the Sorceri Bounty Hunters, a very powerful mage in his own right.

The Sentinel held his gaze a moment longer, his expression implacable. “That is impossible. Remove yourself from the courtyard, Hunter. Go and complete your mission.”

“I can’t complete my mission until I speak with the Huntsman.”

As the big Sentinel shook his enormous head, Audie clamped down on a surge of anger, forcing himself to speak calmly. “I have new information that the elders need to consider before I complete my mission.” When the Sentinel still hesitated, Audie went on, “I assure you, the Huntsman will want to hear this information.”

The Atlantan situated the tines of his trident before him and placed a hand over its pearl-covered handle, regarding Audie thoughtfully. “Tell me what you’ve come to report.”

Audie shook his head. “This information is for the Huntsman’s ears only.”

“Then you must leave.”

Knowing he couldn’t leave without first speaking to the Huntsman, Audie did the only thing he could. He pulled his sword from the sheath at his hip and lifted it, preparing for battle. “I challenge you for entrance, Sentinel.”

The big man laughed. “Are you mad?”

Audie’s lips curved in a mean little smile, just before he struck.

~
TD&A
~

Yeira slipped along the darkened wall, her weapon of choice clutched tightly in her hand. She was holding the ionic sword too tightly, the handle growing slippery with sweat as she moved closer to enemy territory, a clear sign that she was uncomfortable with her current mission.

Not that she needed any more signs. Her heart beat a rapid, too-loud staccato in her chest.

She didn’t like hunting prey so close to enemy lines. But in this case she had no choice. The fools had taken one of the reborn into their fold, treating him like one of their own.

Through the darkness, on the other side of a high, rock wall, the clang of metal and the meaty sound of flesh hitting flesh told her there was a fight going on. She knew the Sorceri headquarters was protected by an Atlantan Sentinel, a fierce warrior whose size and power were vast even for his race. If someone was trying to get past the Sentinel he was most likely going to be denied.

Sucked to be him. Or her. Yeira didn’t know too many women who’d be that stupid.

She heard voices and stopped, sucking back into the shadows. Twenty yards away, two Sorceri walked along a sooty, brick wall, their heads bent together in deep conversation. They wore their off-white ceremonial robes and tall, black boots, the hoods of their robes pulled up to cover their heads. Despite the covering hoods, the damp wind caught at thick strands of long hair that looked dark in the low light, whipping it around their faces as they walked.

She strained to hear their voices, wondering if one of them was the creature she sought. But she couldn’t hear anything over the surge and retreat of the water behind her.

The surf at her back was violent, black with menace and smashing against the unfriendly shoreline as if angered by her presence.

Above her, the night sky gave off a similarly angry vibe. A thick bank of clouds seemed to press downward, a menacing presence that brought the hairs up on the back of her neck and caused her to keep looking skyward.

She recognized the repelling magics built into the atmospheric conditions. But the knowledge that magic was involved didn’t make the sense of impending disaster any easier to take.

Footsteps sounded on the flagstones of the courtyard and the two hunters stopped to greet a third man as he joined them. Wearing the faded jeans and dark leather jacket of his time, Grimm Forbes shook the hands of the two men in robes. He was smiling widely, nodding as they wished him a safe journey across the water.

Yeira smiled too, because her intel had been correct. And she was about to bag her prey.

Cold, razor sharp metal rested against her throat and Yeira stilled, her fingers twitching around the hilt of her blade. “Drop the weapon and rise slowly, witch. And don’t even consider trying to use that blade, or I’ll slice your pretty throat before you complete the thought.”

Blast! How had he managed to sneak up on her?” The damn surf had apparently masked his footsteps. Reluctantly loosening her grip on the ionic blade, Yeira straightened as the metal handle of the weapon clanged on the rocky ground.

She pushed a thick ribbon of heavy, wet hair away from her face as she turned to face him, the better to enjoy the look on his face when he recognized her.

The hunter’s sexy, dark-blue gaze widened and the pressure of the blade at her throat briefly lightened. “You! Are you mad?”

His handsome face was battered and bruised, the front of his shirt sliced and coated with drying blood. He looked like he’d gone several rounds with a giant bear.

“Audie?” Grimm’s voice rang out across the courtyard, filled with concern. “You need any help?”

Yeira spared the other hunter a quick glance, finding him alone again. The two men he’d been talking to had apparently left. Grimm started walking toward them.

She moved her hands and the knife cut into the tender skin of her throat. “Keep your hands where I can see them. You’re not skipping off through time again, zombie.” He’d spoken softly but the anger in the words throbbed on the air between them.

Yeira had to work hard to avoid smiling. “You look as bad as I did the last time we met,” she told Audie. “What happened to you?”

He shrugged, leaning a shoulder against the clammy surface of the wall and favoring her with a slow, knee-melting smile. “You, on the other hand look much better than the last time we met.” He frowned. “Though you’re obviously suffering residual dementia. What were you thinking, coming here?”

“Kord?” Grimm stopped a few feet away, his curious gaze sliding over Yeira. “What are you doing? I thought you were on that mission…” His gaze swept over his fellow hunter, his eyes widening. “Good lord, did
she
do that to you?”

Audie laughed but there was no humor in the sound. “I had a little disagreement with the Sentinel.”

Yeira snorted. “You went up against an Atlantan? Now who’s crazy?”

Audie ignored her, addressing Grimm. “I thought about what you told me. I decided we needed to have a conclave before moving forward with our exterminations. I came to talk to the Huntsman about it.”

Grimm squinted in Yeira’s direction. It was clear he was trying to place her face. “Who is this woman?”

Yeira steeled herself against what would come as soon as he told the other hunter who she was. Her gaze skimmed toward her weapon. Could she get to the blade before the hunters got to her?

“Don’t even think about it, woman,” Audie told her. “I don’t know who she is,” Audie lied. “But I intend to find out.” He fixed his gorgeous blue gaze on her, defying her to call him on the lie.

Yeira stared at him in shock. What the hell was he up to?

The clouds overhead suddenly split, allowing the light of the moon to feather through.

Grimm made a noise as moonlight slid over them and she turned, smiling as she saw recognition flash through his gaze. She waited a beat until realization lit his brown eyes and he lifted that startled gaze toward Audie Kord.

Her smile widened.
Yes, dead one. Your fellow hunter just lied to you.

Grimm made as if to move toward her, his blade suddenly in his hand and Yeira didn’t think, didn’t consider the consequences of her action…she simply moved.

Reaching across the space between them, Yeira grabbed the hunter’s arm and clutched the bluestone hanging around her neck on a chain.

Seconds later she was tearing through the fabric of time, a roaring hunter along for the ride.

Audie struggled to get free of the zombie’s grip but she held on to him with an unnatural strength, her slim fingers digging deep into his arm.

The pain was incredible—like a thousand knives digging up pieces of his skin. He fought against it to keep his mind engaged, knowing that he’d have only seconds to act once they landed wherever the woman was taking him.

It was impossible to catalog his surroundings. The physical world had washed away on a wave of throbbing silver, with no discernible shapes or sounds. He was dimly aware of the rush of wind scouring their bodies, which gave him a sense of movement, but there was nothing else.

Except for moment after moment of blinding pain.

The pressure in his head was terrifying. He was pretty sure his eyes bulged out of his head, ready to explode, and he found himself tensing against the possibility that his head and limbs would just snap off his body, flying away into the silver maelstrom.

Audie clenched his jaw against a scream, already embarrassed by his initial bellow of pain and rage. The woman had definitely taken him by surprise. He’d been watching for her to try to escape him again, but he’d never expected her to drag him along.

His hand tightening on the hilt of his long knife, Audie swore as another wave of agony pulsed under his skin. If he survived to set foot in the physical world again, he’d lop her damn head off as soon as his feet touched the ground.

He thought the agony might never stop. He’d only felt pain like he was experiencing one other time, when he’d visited the Watcher of the World to gain information on the woman. That pain had been just as excruciating, because the ancient gnome had only divinitive magic. Though the gnome’s magic was stronger than any Audie knew and he was older than time, the Watcher had no defensive magic, so he used a power stripping weave as protection.

Any magic user who wished to seek an audience with the Watcher had to succumb to the excruciating process of having his magic stripped from his cells.

Panic flared as Audie contemplated whether the woman had somehow figured out a way to recreate the gnome’s weave.

What if she was stripping him of his power right in that moment?

Fueled by fear, he struggled against her hold, his gaze catching hers as an amused light came into her pretty blue eyes. Suddenly the roaring of the wind stopped and the world returned as Audie tumbled away from his captor and rolled, coming up hard against a massive tree with a pain-filled grunt.

Too late, he realized he’d dropped his long knife and was lying on his sword.

He reached for the hilt at his hip and felt the burn of cool steel against his throat. The wench was using his own knife against him. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

Audie glared up at her. “Fortunately you aren’t me. Because then I’d be a decaying evil monster.” Despite the tough words, he didn’t try to pull his sword from its sheath. He didn’t like the ruthless look in her bright eyes.

He liked the flash of pain from his cruel words even less.

“No…you’re an insufferable ass with a god-complex. That’s much better.”

She held his glare, not backing down from it for a full minute. Finally Audie sighed and lifted his hands. “Okay. You’ve got me here. Now what the hell do you want from me?”

Her pretty eyes widened slightly and she bit her lush lower lip. Her straight white teeth nervously worried the velvet fullness and Audie marveled at the magic that had made her. She was perfection in the female form. Despite his determination to color her a monster, he really couldn’t see the monster beneath her fair, flawless skin.

That’s what bothered him so much.

“To tell you the truth, I’m not sure,” she admitted. “When I saw the reborn start to attack, I just kind of reacted.”

Audie frowned. “Reborn? What the hell are you talking about?”

Two lines of worry had moved in between her long-lashed eyes and Audie clenched his hand against an overwhelming need to smooth them away. “I wasn’t sure if he was going for you or me.” She shook her head, looking thoughtful.

“Grimm? You thought
Grimm
was going to kill
me
? Are you on drugs? He was going after you.”

Her expression sharpened with anger and the blade bit into his throat as she shifted forward. “You idiots have been chasing all over the twenty worlds and epochs seeking out Edwige’s pets and killing them while nurturing one of them at your breast.” She laughed and the sound was more than bitter. It was filled with rage.