Visions of Skyfire (33 page)

When the dust settled, he turned back and saw men climbing out of the cars. Big men in black suits, wearing sunglasses, carrying automatic weapons. Fear ratcheted up so fast inside him, he thought his heart would jump right out of his chest. And still he fought for calm. For cool.

“I’m here to see Parnell,” he said. “To explain.”

“Boss ain’t here,” one of the men said.

“Well, get him on the phone,” Miguel argued, looking from one face to the next, finding no sympathy. No sign of mercy.

“He don’t want to talk to you. Said he knows what went down and you’ve failed too many times,” one of them said and nodded to his friends.

He
knew
?

How the hell did he know?

“No, wait. I can do this,” Miguel said, throwing up both hands as he spoke, fast, panicked. “I know Teresa. I’ll get her. I swear.”

They weren’t listening.

He watched, terrified, as six gun barrels were turned on him. Nowhere to go. Nowhere to run. It was over and the man who would be king was going to die in the dust of this godforsaken desert.

Should have killed that bitch
, was his last thought as gunfire erupted and a hail of bullets cut him down.

Chapter 58

T
hey went to Spain by boat.

Of course a plane would have been faster, but with Teresa’s magic growing, they didn’t want to risk a lightning bolt in midflight. They hadn’t had time to look for and procure tickets on a cruise to Barcelona. So Rune being Rune, he had simply purchased a yacht. It was huge and fast, and with a crew paid extremely well to make the best possible time, it was only nine days at sea before they arrived in Barcelona.

And Teresa wouldn’t have traded those nine days for anything.

During the long days and longer nights spent in the arms of her mate, Teresa knew she had finally found the one place in the universe where she belonged. With Rune.

As if thinking his name had conjured him, their stateroom door opened quietly. Teresa looked up and he was there. Her warrior, taking up the entire doorway with his muscular bulk. His gray eyes met hers and she saw the quick flare of desire that erupted between them with exhausting regularity.

Despite her body still buzzing from their lovemaking that morning, Teresa felt fresh need wake and roar inside her. Would there ever come a time when she would be able to look at him and
not
want him immediately?

God, she hoped not.

He braced his hands on either side of the doorjamb. “I told the crew they could go ashore to blow off some steam. They worked their asses off getting us here this fast.”

It had been a fast trip, Teresa told herself, but even with that, their thirty days were nearly over. Absently, she lifted one hand to rub her left breast and the mating tattoo that lay just beneath her T-shirt. The Mating was almost complete. And they still had to find the Artifact and return it to Haven.

They were running out of time.

“We should go see Tía Carmen,” she said.

“Your aunt won’t know where the Artifact is,” he said softly. “Only you will as you access the memory.”

“I know,” she said, feeling the pressure mount. She knew the black silver was here. In Barcelona. But that was a pretty big haystack to find a needle in. “I’m hoping that seeing Tía Carmen will jog something loose. I dreamed about her. There had to be a reason.”

Nodding, Rune asked, “Where does she live?”

“Barri Gotic
.
The Gothic Quarter.”

“I know the place,” he said and pulled her in tight when she came close. He gave her a hard hug and added, “We’ll walk there. Flashing in and out in a city is just too dangerous. Someone would see us.”

“Good point.” She took a moment to enjoy the feel of his strong arms around her and then they left the ship hand in hand.

Chapter 59

B
arri Gotic was the center of the old city of Barcelona. In the hush of moonlight, narrow streets lined with tall buildings became shadowy cobblestoned labyrinths. The walkways felt almost like tunnels with the sheer walls of the bordering buildings rising up on either side. This area had been around since before the Romans, and Rune felt ancient times draw close as he and Teresa made their way past outdoor cafés in the Plaça del Pi—a square filled with trees boasting tiny white lights and a line of artists displaying their wares, hoping for customers.

Teresa took the lead, with Rune’s sharp gaze searching for possible danger as she led them down Carrer de Pi, another narrow, only-for-pedestrians street. The buildings on either side of the street seemed to stretch heavenward, with brilliant splashes of color spilling from flower boxes and vines trailing around ornate iron railings on the balconies.

It should have been beautiful, peaceful even, Rune told himself. Instead, there was an underlying sense of something dark layered just beneath the beauty. Something that nibbled at his instincts, prodded him to keep at battle-ready tension.

“God, I remember this place,” Teresa murmured, her fingers tightening around Rune’s. “And not just from when I was a kid and we visited Tía Carmen. I’m talking about
old
memories. There used to be laundry hanging out here,” she said, waving her free hand to indicate the space between the buildings on either side of the street. “People shouting, arguing. Babies crying. And the street was awful. Filthy.” She shook her head and lifted her hand to rub at a spot in the center of her chest. “It feels …”

“What?” Rune prompted. “What do you feel?”

She looked up at him. “Close,” she said. “I feel
close
to the Artifact. It’s here. In the old city. I know it.”

“Then we’ll find it.”

Nodding, Teresa said, “First, Tía Carmen. I want to make sure she’s okay.” She darted through a doorway and up a flight of stone steps.

Rune stayed close, and as they climbed to the third floor, they passed apartments with crosses nailed to the wall. A couple of the doorways were draped in ropes of garlic and Rune’s instincts went on high alert. Teresa stopped before a closed door painted a bright emerald green. She lifted her hand to knock, but Rune caught her hand in his.

“Something is off,” he said, glancing out a narrow window to the moon in the sky. “Did you notice all the garlic and crosses? People are trying to ward off evil.”

She paled a little and looked at her aunt’s closed door. “Evil? The Artifact? Or—”

He sensed a presence within the apartment. He held his fingers to her lips and for the first time reached for her mind with his.

Someone is in there with your aunt
, he communicated to her
.

What?
Her eyes were wide. Terrified.
Who?

Whoever it is has magic.
The swell of power was unmistakable. Was it a friend of Teresa’s aunt? Or, more likely, an enemy?

“Wait,” he told her, whispering now, not willing to rely on their new mental connection. “Let me go in first.”

Her eyes narrowed and her features tightened as she picked up on the tension coiling inside him. “No. We go together.”

“We have no idea who might be in there,” he said.

“I know. But I’d rather face whatever it is as a team, Rune. I’ve already lost enough. I don’t want to lose Tía Carmen, too. And we’ve come too far together to split up now, don’t you think?”

“I do,” he said, his voice hardly more than a breath of sound. “Are you up for it?”

“I am.” She lifted her chin and flexed her fingers, sending tiny blue and white sparks flashing from her fingertips. “This is why we’ve been training, right? I mean, it’s not just about the Artifact, is it?”

Her eyes shone in the soft light. “I mean, yes, we get the Artifact, find redemption, all that—but aren’t we supposed to be helping people, too? Like my aunt? Isn’t that what power
should
be used for?”

Dazzled by her, Rune could only stare for a long moment. Then he bent, kissed her and whispered, “That’s exactly what power should be used for, Teresa. You make me proud to walk alongside you.”

She took a deep breath, blew it out and said, “Thank you. Now, what do we do?”

He was about to offer a plan when from inside the apartment a short, sharp shriek of pain exploded, then died in the next instant. Time was up. Rune grabbed Teresa and flashed them both inside.

Moonlight slid through an open window and washed the narrow room with a silvered glow. Crocheted doilies dotted the surfaces of chairs and tables. Candles burned in scarlet glass votives, their flames creating dancing shadows on the walls. The scent of charred fabric scarred the air.

“Oh, God.” Teresa pushed free of Rune’s grasp and dropped beside the old woman lying crumpled on the floor.

“Tía Carmen?” she whispered.

Rune quickly swept through the small apartment, assuring himself that the intruder was gone. Magic lingered behind, though, a trace energy that felt as dark as it was powerful.

“Rune, she’s alive!” Teresa’s voice, strained with fear and what could only be tears choking her throat, reached him and he was at her side in an instant.

The old woman was the mirror image of Teresa’s grandmother. The same wise eyes shone with patient stoicism, though the pain she felt had to be monstrous. Her left arm had been burned—in the same way Elena’s body had been back in Sedona. Rune knew now that their enemy—whoever that might be—was in Barcelona.

“Teresa …” The soft, breathy voice came from her aunt and Teresa bent over her, talking quickly, quietly.

“Don’t speak, Tía Carmen. Please. Be still. You’ll be all right.” She turned her gaze up to Rune, her eyes silently pleading and demanding that they save her aunt. “We have to help her. Please.”

She needed him and he wouldn’t fail her. “We will try. Together.”

Taking Teresa’s hand in his, he laid their joined hands gently atop Carmen’s burns. The old woman winced and hissed in a breath, but otherwise lay still.

“Concentrate,” he said. “Let your magic rise and focus it on your aunt.”

Teresa closed her eyes instantly. A look of intensity came over her face as she breathed slowly, deeply, searching for the center of her power. Rune felt her strength join his and their combined magics swelled between them. He called on the fire and focused all he could on easing the pain and healing the flesh of the woman who meant so much to
his
woman.

Carmen jerked beneath their touch, moaned once, and an instant later lost consciousness. Pain and fear had claimed her and she slept through the last of the healing ritual. Rune kept watch on her while the magic and the fire combined to soothe the burns and heal her injuries. Moments later, he said, “It is done.”

Teresa’s eyes flew open and she looked first at him and then at her aunt, examining the now-unblemished skin on her arm. “She’s all right? She’ll be okay?”

“She will,” he said. “We were lucky to get here in time.”

“Lucky,” she repeated, staring down at her aunt. She brushed aside a stray lock of graying black hair from Carmen’s face, then let her fingertips trail along the old woman’s papery cheek. “She was hurt because of me. Just like my grandmother died for us.”

“Teresa—”

“You saved her, Rune.” Her beautiful brown eyes filled with tears as she looked at him and Rune felt the slam of her emotions churning through him. “You saved her for me and a thank-you just isn’t nearly enough.”

“You owe me nothing,” he told her.

“I owe you everything.” She ran her thumb over the back of his hand. “You didn’t just give me back my aunt. You showed me who I was. Supported me. Helped me. Trained me. You’ve been there. Always. I want you to know what that means to me.”

Rune pulled her close, wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in the curve of her neck. He inhaled the scent of her and let it wash through him like a powerful blessing. This witch, this woman, had become everything to him.

Her voice came soft against his ear as she said fiercely, “I’m tired of death, Rune. I want this finished.”

“And so it will be,” he swore, pulling back so that he could look into her beautiful brown eyes. “We find the Artifact and this is finished.”

She nodded and looked down at her aunt again. “Can we leave her?”

“She will sleep and be better for it. Whoever did this won’t be back—they’ve gotten what they could already.” Cupping her cheek, he turned her face up to him. “The only way to ensure her safety is to finish this. Finally.”

“Yes,” she said, reaching up to cover his hand with her own. “I’m ready, Rune. With you, I’m ready.”

Rune carried Carmen to her bed and Teresa covered her with a quilt that had been neatly folded at the foot of the mattress. After looking around once more to make sure there was no danger, they left the apartment and slowly went back down the stairs the way they had come. Teresa’s gaze swept the stairwell and he saw her noting the crosses and the garlic. She rubbed at her chest again, as if her heart were aching, and he thought,
Of course it is.

But he couldn’t help wondering if there was more to it than grief for all she had lost. Was she feeling the presence of the black silver? Was her pain more than regret? Was sense memory rising up inside her?

She stepped into the shadows of the narrow street and Rune came up behind her, laying both hands on her shoulders. He felt her tension and shared it.

Moonlight poured from the sky. The moon itself was nearly full. Their thirty days nearly done.

Teresa tipped her face up to the moon and let its light shimmer over her, through her. He watched as she gathered her strength, filling herself with the moon’s magic. When finally she turned her head to look at him, her eyes were clear, but worried.

“There’s something happening here, Rune. Beyond what happened to my aunt. There’s something … dark.”

A shout, scuffling feet and then a scream jolted the quiet atmosphere and they both whirled around to stare down the street. A police car, lights flashing in the night, was parked outside an apartment. As they watched, a woman was dragged kicking and screaming from her home. Even from a distance, Rune spotted the white-gold chain around her neck as two burly policemen strong-armed her into the backseat of their marked car. An old woman walking by spat at the trapped woman, and Teresa hissed in a breath.