by Ciara Graves
“I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“That sadly is not up to you.” He snapped his fingers and shadows slithered to life again. They crawled up my body like snakes, cinching my wrists together and my legs.
I tugged at them, and they give way but more replaced them.
“Such a nuisance, white magic.” He grabbed hold of my arm and hauled me to my feet. “If you insist on struggling, I’ll be certain to knock you out for good this time.”
I twisted my wrists, and the shadows gave way enough for me to get a hand free. I rammed my thumb under the hood, searching for his eye and pressed until the tender orb gave way.
He flailed, screaming as he knocked me aside. The rest of the shadows broke free, but I was far from out of trouble.
I scrambled backward on my elbows.
He rushed me, his weathered hand outstretched.
A hulking shadow appeared behind him, and he froze.
“You think you can stop me?” The question left his mouth as he turned.
The moment he did, his hands raised ready to attack.
Rafael drove a dagger up and under the bastard’s ribs. He twisted it.
The man shuddered and died. Just like that.
Rafael let him fall to the ground then hurried to me. “You alright?”
“Freaking fantastic,” I mumbled, taking the hand he offered. “He’s dead?”
Rafael kicked the body, but he didn’t get up again. “He’s dead.”
We glanced around the lot.
Two of the gargoyles were down, their heads lying nearby. The third was ready to be decapitated by two shifters when I yelled for them to stop. “We need answers.”
Rafael and I ran to the restrained gargoyle.
I fumbled in my coat for the truth serum.
Once I had it in hand, Rafael and Nor forced the gargoyle’s mouth open. He fought them, but I managed to dump the serum down his throat. He swallowed it.
They backed off, so I could ask my questions.
“Look at me,” I ordered.
The gargoyle glared at me, choking and sputtering.
“Who brought you back?”
The gargoyle gnashed his fangs, lunging at me. The agents dragged him back.
“Who brought you back? Answer me?”
Lip lifted in answer, he said nothing.
“I want a name. Who are you working for? Who were you going to take the artifacts to?”
The longer it took him to answer, the more I worried the serum wasn’t enough, but then his mouth fell open, and a garbled word came out.
“Who is it?”
“Envy,” the gargoyle shouted.
My blood ran cold. Envy. It figured it had to be Envy.
“Who the hell is Envy?” Nor demanded. “Speak, you foul beast.”
I was too busy staring at Rafael to tell Nor exactly who Envy was.
The gargoyle let out a garbled shriek, attempting to fight the serum.
“Look out!”
We spun around.
The damned hooded figure raised his hand and snapped his fingers.
The gargoyle turned to stone and crumbled in the agents’ hands taking any hope of getting more answers from him.
A final gasp of breath escaped the man, and then he died. For good, this time.
Nor went to the body and threw back the hood.
A hushed shock fell over us all.
The face of the man was scaly in places, like that of a dragon. His brows were lined with small horns that had broken through his skin.
And his one good eye, frozen wide open in death, was yellow with a black slit for a pupil.
“Dragonborn,” Nor whispered. “He’s dragonborn.”
“That’s not possible.” Iris reached toward the man then jumped back as if he was going to return to life again and take her hand off. “This must be a trick of some kind.”
“It’s not.” Nor ordered everyone back. “I want this body taken straight to our labs and analyzed. If he isn’t really dragonborn, I want to know what he is.”
“And if he is dragonborn?” Rafael tilted his head, studying the man.
“Then it would appear the gargoyles aren’t the only race coming back from the dead.”
I had to get out of there. Rafael’s memories could be triggered at any second by the sight of this dragonborn.
He was the first I’d ever seen, but I certainly didn’t look like that. There were no scales on my face or arms. No horns on my eyebrows or poking out of my hair. He was full-blooded, had to be.
I took a step back, then another, until I was a good ten yards away. Palms sweating, I debated my options for fleeing the scene without anyone seeing.
Two agents picked up the artifact the dragonborn had used and carefully folded it then tucked it in an evidence bag. Four artifacts were now being held by the Feds. Nor might say their vault was secure, but it wasn’t. If Shuval wanted the artifacts, she would find a way to get in there and snatch them away. Getting them first was now my next priority.
I was about to text Bowen and give him a quick update that I’d be bringing this strange cloak with me when a hand fell on my shoulder.
I jumped with a curse.
Rafael apologized. “Sorry, thought you heard me.”
“It’s fine. Need something?” Nor was right behind him, face pinched in anger.
“It would appear the case on the gargoyles is far from closed.” Nor glanced over his shoulder at the dead dragonborn. “I know you’ve helped us, and I hope you will continue to do so. This Envy character is going to become our next target. We’ll start getting as much information on him as possible.”
Rafael looked at the ground, not being helpful at all.
Should I tell Nor a bit of what I knew to point him in the right direction? This was what I wanted, right? The Feds hunting for Envy. They would be able to dig up more intel on him, possibly find him again.
And at the same time, there was a chance they’d get too damned close to those working at shutting Shuval down. Dragonborn. Their view of my race was already poor. What would it be like when they realized this bitch was plotting to start another war? Rafael’s words came back to me, accusing me of not doing anything to stop Envy from carrying out these horrific acts of mass murder to charge the ley lines. I sure as hell wasn’t going to give Nor any details on that, but I could tell him about Envy. With another hybrid out of the picture, we’d get one step closer to Shuval. Hopefully.
“I’ve heard a bit about this Envy,” I said, pointedly ignoring Rafael’s warning look. “He’s a hybrid like Liam Manchester. Damned dangerous.”
“Anything else?”
“Rumors have been going around that he’s tracking down items of power like these artifacts. No idea what for,” I lied.
If Nor picked up on my lies, he didn’t call me out.
“That’s all I know,” I added.
“It’s a start. Thank you, Mercy. We might be calling on you again soon enough. Gargoyles and dragonborn. I never thought I’d see the day.” He growled as he surveyed the scene with so many dead agents.
As much as I loathed the Feds, no one deserved to die like this. They’d lost a good number of their people in a battle that was only getting started.
I nearly told him everything right there, guilt from the dead driving me to confess it all, but I held back at the last second. I’d only be damning myself, the entire operation, as well as everyone involved.
Nor shook his head and eventually walked back to the dragonborn body being placed in a body bag and zipped up.
“At least now the Feds can officially begin hunting for Envy.”
“Yeah, and stop searching for Todd,” I added.
“I can’t close the case with no body and no proof he’s dead.”
“You have the proof.”
“Are you trying to get arrested?”
I rolled my shoulders as all my aches from this fight made themselves known. “No, but it’s the truth.”
“Did you know the dragonborn were back?” he whispered harshly, looking at the dead agents scattered around the lot. Others moved to cover them with jackets.
Rafael’s anger pulsed off him with each harsh breath he sucked in.
The need to comfort him was strong, but I couldn’t let myself get close, not now.
“As Nor said, he might not be dragonborn. Could be a trick,” I reminded him.
“And if it’s not, the Feds are going to have a field day. They’ll bring the Slayers back to the city. If there’s one, there’s a high chance there are others.”
Slayers. A chill shot down my spine.
I never saw the Slayers in person, but heard the stories enough growing up. They hunted down the worst of the worst now, but they were originally formed back in the time of the war to kill the dragonborn. They were the reason my race had gone extinct. Or supposedly gone extinct. They were like me on steroids. Damned good at their jobs.
If they showed up here, I wouldn’t be able to stay in hiding for long. Half-blood or not, they’d find me. Shit. My night just got a hell of a lot more complicated.
“I’m heading out,” I told Rafael suddenly.
“Something wrong?”
“No, but I’m tired, I’m in pain, and I’m about to be extremely cranky if I can’t go check on Damian.”
“We need to talk.”
“About what? They’re going to need your help with cleaning up this mess.” I squeezed his hand as I added, “I’m sorry about your dead. I didn’t want the fight to end this way.”
“Not your fault, but I don’t want you on your own.”
“The gargoyles were destroyed,” I said harshly. “Finished. No one’s coming after me. I’m safe as I’m going to be, and I would like to leave. If you want to talk, you can call me later.” I pulled away quickly and started for the end of the lot.
“How about you just come over to my place when you can?” he suggested.
“So we can get in another argument?”
“We won’t. We’ll just talk. I want to go over what we have and what I can tell Nor.”
That surprised me. I expected the Fed in him would want to come clean with everything he remembered about helping me and the others. All of it connected back to Envy.
“I’ll text you when I’m heading over.”
He started to say something else, but I didn’t want to hear it. I waited until I was several blocks away from the bustling crime scene and so many dead then pulled out my cell.
Bowen answered on the first ring.
“It’s me. We have a problem.”
“With the artifacts?”
“No, we have a worse problem. I’ll meet you at Shep’s in thirty.”
“You alright?”
I was about to lie, as had been my habit of late, but couldn’t find the strength. “No, I’m damned far from alright. See you soon.”
“How many beers have you had?” Bowen stood in the doorway to Wesley’s room in the rear of the Wailing Siren. “Mercy?”
“Not enough.” I drained the third beer and set the empty bottle on the coffee table.
“The gargoyles are dead?”
“Oh, they’re dead alright. Dead and talking about Envy.”
“What?” he exclaimed blurring to sit down next to me.
“Don’t worry. It gets better. The robed figure who attacked me and Damian? He’s a freaking dragonborn, full-blooded from the look of it. Well, he was. He used magic, so I’m assuming he’s a hybrid now, but whatever. Not the point.”
“Where’s the body?”
“Currently on its way to the Fed building.”
Bowen hissed. “We can’t let them have it.”
I started to nod then stopped. “Why not?”
“Mercy, if they believe dragonborn are back, what do you think will happen?”
“As much as I hate to say it, are you sure we shouldn’t bring in more outside help?”
He gave me a blank look. “Did you hit your head?”
“I did, but that’s not the point. Whoever is still around from the original resistance is spread thin. Very thin. No one has eyes on Shuval. For all we know, she’s carried out more rituals already.”
“But she can’t complete them if we hold the artifacts.”
“I understand that, but we can’t fight a war on our own.” I pushed off the couch and walked around the room, feeling close to the edge of insanity. I bellowed in frustration and kicked the wall. If we came clean, the Feds would arrest us for all the crimes we’d committed while trying to stop Shuval and her minions. They might listen to us, but we’d all be locked away. That included any dragonborn linked to us simply for being what they were. No one would believe they fought against one of their own. On the off-chance they did believe it, we’d be dragging more innocents into a battlefield that we barely had any understanding of. Shuval was too far ahead of us in her plans.
“I hate this,” I muttered bitterly. “I hate what I am. Hate that I’m cursed. I hate this Shuval for being alive.”
“Which is why we’re working to stop her. The Feds can’t know the truth.”
“And if we fail to stop Shuval on our own?”
“Then let’s hope the Feds and the rest of the world can see past their prejudices against dragonborn and fight the real problem. Until then, it falls to us.” He blurred to stand in front of me. “We need those artifacts and the body.”
“We can get them. It’s just going to be a long ass night.”
“Isn’t it always?”
He was right, and I hated that, too. Breaking into the Fed building wasn’t hard, sadly. The body would be slightly difficult to find, but the artifacts wouldn’t be. We’d get in, take what we needed, and get the hell out of there. No one would ever know.
“Is your vault set up for more artifacts?”
Bowen nodded. “The warding has already been increased. Nothing will be able to sense the magic from the outside.”
“And you’re sure it’s safe?”
“Trust me, nothing is getting inside it. And if it does, there are certain precautions to ensure that something never gets out.” He bared his fangs, a dark look in his eyes.
“Good.”
We couldn’t make our move until tomorrow night. I needed time to recover anyway. There was no point going anywhere else though. Bowen went to man the bar’s front door, using the story that he’d picked up a shift on the off-chance someone came snooping.
I crashed on Wesley’s old couch, kicked my feet up, and shut my eyes.
With the gargoyles gone, we could get back to hunting down the rest of the artifacts and figuring out what other hybrids were running around the state.
The Blood Moon was months away, but my gut told me we had no time to waste. We were so behind as it was, how were we ever going to a put a stop to this war?
I intended to sleep the whole time, but only managed a few hours.
When Bowen knocked on the door later, I was busy glaring at the ceiling, making myself more miserable than I was before.
“Ready?”
“Sure, who wouldn’t be ready to break a few more laws?” I stood and stretched, reaching for my sword. Only it wasn’t there. “Damn. I’m going to need a new blade.”
“Ask the goblin. I’m sure he has something you can use.” Bowen stopped me from walking out. “This dragonborn, I’m assuming Rafael saw it?”
“He did, and before you ask, no, he didn’t remember.”
“Do you think he will?”
“For his sake, I hope not.”
With my luck, I knew he would.
I left with Bowen, and we stepped out into the evening crowd filling the Underground.
As we walked, I shoved all my feelings for Rafael down as deep as I could. There was no more room in my already crowded mind to add a relationship to it.
Whatever I started with him had to be over. I’d go and speak with him one more time, but that was it.
We’d ha
ve to go our separate ways.
Getting the artifacts and the body safely out of the Fed building had taken longer than I anticipated.
On our way out, we triggered a magical alarm and had to make a break for it.
I knocked out several Feds, but no one was killed. We tucked the body away with Rufus, after he swore that he wouldn’t eat it. I also warned him I’d be in contact with a witch he trusted to verify he didn’t. Gigi, of course.
This reminded me, I hadn’t talked to her. I tried calling, but there was no answer. I knew she was in Sector 13 playing the bad witch, but the longer I went without knowing she was okay, the more my imagination ran off.
Bowen took the artifacts to place in his vault.
We crossed them off the list of the ones that had been found and secured, but there were still so many left. We had five which left twenty unprotected and out in the world. Twenty more chances for Shuval to order one of her hybrids to kill more innocents and charge the ley lines.
The whole way out of the Underground to the hospital so I could check on Damian, I argued quietly with myself over making the choice to keep everyone in the dark. If the rest of the world learned dragonborn were alive and walking amongst them, panic would arise. It would tear cities apart. We’d start the war Shuval wanted out of sheer paranoia.
I might not agree with him, but Bowen was right. For now, we had to keep our plans quiet.
I’d just reached the hospital floor where Damian was when a gruff voice caught my attention.
Damian’s door was open, and a large shadow stretched out into the hallway.
It wasn’t Rafael, but the voice was familiar and demonic.
Curious as to who was visiting him, I sidled quietly down the hall.
“Nice to see your wounds are healing.” Nor? What was he doing here?
“Could be worse. Could be dead.”
“You won’t die that easily.”
“Don’t you know it.”
“The gargoyles are gone,” Nor told him.
I stood in the hallway, struggling to stop myself from charging in there and confronting them both.
Nor continued, “Envy sent them. I thought you’d want to know.”
“Damn that mage. One of these days, I’m going to tear him to shreds.”
