“Lady Discordia.” One of the parrot-beaked gargoyles looked down from its position at the top of the walls. “Welcome.”
“Hi. We need to talk to Petra, please.” I heard the faint grinding noise of the gargoyles’ mental communication.
He, or it, blinked and lowered his head, “Our queen will meet with you. Please enter.”
“Thank you. Come on, guys.” We walked through the gate, closing it behind us, and I saw Petra at the end of the main path, waiting for us. When we were closer, I saw Tase sitting on top of her head.
Prince Tase made a cute crown. I wondered why Petra hadn’t mentioned her status before, but now wasn’t the time to ask. “Hello, and thank you for seeing us.”
“You’re welcome. Have you news of the one responsible for the curse?”
I grimaced. “We’re pretty sure it’s a demon. See, turns out that one got hold of some of my hair and blood.”
Petra growled. “Careless of you, allowing that to occur.”
“I know that now, but I didn’t then. You can bet I’ll be a lot more careful in the future.” I’d burn any spilled blood, and make certain no one cut my hair other than my hairdresser. I’d burn it, too, though she might think my request to bag the clippings weird.
“See that you do. You’ll need my aid to retrieve your missing pieces.”
“Yes, ma’am. That’s why we’re here.”
Petra flicked her ears. “Very well. Are these two accompanying us?”
“Yes.” Logan and Dane were armed with Mr. Whitehaven’s sword and dagger. “My hound can come, too.”
“No need. Hounds are unable to move as quickly as we can in the demon realm.”
If Leglin couldn’t keep up with gargoyles, neither could we. About to point that out, I flinched as two large shapes dropped from above, landing on either side of Petra.
The new arrivals were in shapes I could identify: Gryphons.
“Rake and Rend will serve as your companions’ mounts for this foray.” Petra inclined her head. “I will be yours.”
“Oh. Okay. Thank you.” Would we be flying? I hoped not, since none of them wore saddles. “There’s something else. We were hired to find and recover an enchanted mirror. We did, but the demons took the spirit it housed and put him in something else.”
Petra snorted. “Demons are known thieves. Have you the mirror, or a piece of it?”
“Yes.” I pulled the long splinter Logan had shaved off the mirror frame’s back from my purse. Petra lifted her paw, so I handed it over.
She ate it.
“Um...”
“We will recover the spirit and return it to the rightful guardian,” she said after swallowing it.
“Lady Celadine.”
“No. Elves are not the rightful guardians.”
I wasn’t going to argue with her. The elf could, if she dared. “Who is the rightful guardian?”
“You are.”
“Okay, that’s ... what? I am? I didn’t even know about it.”
Petra bared one fang in a feline half-smile. “Nevertheless, it tastes of your bloodline. Therefore, you are the rightful guardian.”
Still wasn’t going to argue with her. “Okay.”
“My child’s choice becomes ever clearer. Come forward and mount. We must go.”
I shot Logan a helpless look. He grinned. “Keep your knees away from her wing joints.”
TWENTY-TWO
Gargoyles and shifters aside, I felt sorely undermanned when the tunnel outside the cells appeared around us.
“Stay astride, unless we face a battle,” Petra said. She walked a few steps to look inside the open door of the mirror’s former cell. “We begin from this point.”
I didn’t know how she’d picked the spot, since Petra hadn’t asked any questions or for directions.
“I knew.” Tase left his seat on her head, crawling up on my arm. “I could see it, and showed Mama.”
“Oh.” If he could see inside my head, things would get really awkward in the future.
The baby gargoyle perched on my shoulder, digging his claws into my jacket. His tail slipped around the back of my neck.
He didn’t seem worried. I guess if your mother was an eight-hundred-pound gorilla—so to speak—not much would scare you.
“Alanna is going to be jealous.” Dane patted the feathered neck of his gargoyle gryphon. I thought he was riding Rake. “Dad carved her a few dozen gargoyles when we were kids. She still has them.”
“That’s neat.” I tightened my legs as Petra began walking. The tunnel wasn’t wide enough for us all to travel side by side, but the other two gargoyles could, behind her.
We were the head of a three-gargoyle arrow. Whoopee.
“I sense the mirror.” Petra sniffed. “And your missing pieces.”
The way she said that made me want to count my fingers and toes. Maybe arms and legs, too. “Great.”
My intention was to burn my “pieces” as soon as possible. I’d have to figure out what to do with the mirror or whatever the spirit was in now. I doubted Lady Celadine would be pleased to learn it wasn’t hers. Not that I considered it mine, or wanted to be in charge of a trapped spirit. I had enough trouble keeping myself in one piece.
Hey, maybe I could use the spirit as a bribe, to shut down Thorandryll’s pursuit of me. The idea was more amusing than riding a gargoyle down demon realm tunnels.
Even better if the spirit found Prince Snooty pants attractive.
Who was I kidding? The mirror spirit was a problem. “You said the mirror tasted of my bloodline.”
“Yes.”
“I was told a god trapped the spirit in the mirror. So does that mean an ancestor made the mirror, or that the spirit is an ancestor of mine?”
“No.”
I waited, but Petra didn’t explain. “If both of those possibilities are a no, then how can it taste of my bloodline?”
Tase giggled. “You’re silly.”
“Guess so, because I don’t understand what the deal is.”
“Don’t you know anything about your family lineage?” He patted me right in front of my ear. “You’re a natural mage.”
“So I’ve been told.”
“Natural mages are descended from the gods.”
Which meant... “The god that stuffed the spirit in the mirror is my ancestor.”
“Of course.” Petra paused to study the intersection of tunnels we’d reached. “One of them. You’re descended from more than one.”
Kethyrdryll had told me that, based on the fact I had several abilities. “Do you know which god did it?”
“Cernunnos.”
I looked back, meeting Logan’s eyes. He and Dane both looked surprised. “Seriously? I’m related to that scary dude?”
“Many thousands of years ago,” Petra said. “Though the rapid breeding of humanoids does suggest you’re related to Cernunnos many times over.”
“How?”
“The great families had many children. Some of those children interbred with one another, through alliances. Others bred with untalented humans, or other humanoid species.” Petra went straight. “It’s unlikely at this point in time that you’d be able to find anyone unrelated to you, or anyone else, should you delve deeply enough into their bloodlines.”
“Oh.” That actually made sense, considering the sheer number of people alive in the world now, compared to thousands of years in the past. “Any chance you know which other gods I’m related to, way back when?”
Another intersection passed before Petra answered. She went right that time. “You can discover that yourself, by comparing your talents with those of the gods. Each great family began with the children who inherited similar gifts from their godly parents.”
I had a feeling learning to make spreadsheets was in my near future. “Okay, so since I have electrokinesis, that means I’m related to, say, Zeus?”
“Yes, and other gods who favored wielding lightning.” Petra was turning her head from side
to side and carefully sniffing the air.
“But a really long time ago.”
“Of course.” She immediately dropped a bomb on me. “Which is interesting, considering the lack of dilution in your bloodline.”
“I’m sorry, what?” I looked back again, only to receive shrugs from the guys.
“I believe you may be the product of an intensive breeding program.”
Mind reeling, I waited a few minutes before asking the most obvious question. “Why do you think that?”
“After two thousand years of split realms, the mere existence of a multi-talented natural mage of your power cannot be simple happenstance.”
“Awesome.” My stomach lurched, and I could feel the start of a headache forming. “It couldn’t have been too intensive after the Sundering, though.”
Petra laughed, or that’s what I thought the low, grinding noise she uttered was. “The gods act in mysterious ways.”
That gave me more food for thought than I felt capable of digesting.
TWENTY-THREE
The only conversation after that was Petra’s muttering about how close we were getting with every new turn.
Even I could tell we’d traveled steadily downward, thanks to the pressure building in my ears. Yet we hadn’t come across a single demon. “Anyone else feel like we may be walking into a trap?”
“That thought did cross my mind.” Dane smiled when I glanced back. “But we’re in great company, if we are.”
“Good to know, as long as everyone knows I can’t do anything down here. Oh, except scream and bleed.”
Logan chuckled. “You have a gargoyle guardian. You’ll be fine.”
I reached up to pat Tase’s side. “Right.”
My tiny guardian purred in response, which kept me from saying anything that might offend him. He was a baby, not a full-grown gargoyle.
But his mother was. As long as Tase was attached to me, I probably didn’t have to worry about Petra keeping me in one piece, especially since she’d basically promised to.
“All items are together,” Petra said. “And we are but a moment away from them.”
She moved to the side, allowing the other two gargoyles to pass us in single file. Logan and Dane wore identical, grim smiles, and each saluted us with their borrowed weapons.
Smart, having the people who could do damage go first. I felt pretty useless. What was the good of being allegedly descended from gods, if I couldn’t do a damn thing down here?
Petra followed Rake and Rend—who I hoped would live up to their names—and Tase readjusted his position to snuggle against my neck.
I didn’t complain about the grip he took on my hair. Whatever made him feel secure.
A turn came into view, and when we made it, there was much brighter light at the end of the tunnel. I gulped and whispered, “Here goes nothing.”
Tase giggled, but I felt him shiver. Was he scared, or was he picking up on my fears?
I wasn’t used to being helpless, and wished I’d thought to bring my gun. Preferably loaded with demon-banishing potion.
Wait, that was a pretty cool idea. I needed to run it by the witches, see if it was a worthwhile idea.
Wow, what if we made wooden bullets? Would they ash vampires?
And why was I being inundated with such cool ideas now?
Rake and Rend entered the lit area, and a second later, so did we.
“How pleasant of you to join us.” The blonde woman from my vision smiled. She stood behind a heavy, wooden table. A stone bowl sat before her, and she held an antique-looking, tarnished silver hand mirror. “I’ve been tracking your progress.”
She wasn’t alone, and the dozen or so demons waiting with her weren’t wearing human facades. One of them looked like the demon who’d killed Thorandryll’s thieving ex-girlfriend by raping her to death.
I barely kept from peeing myself, and on Petra, at the sight of him standing there, larger than all the other demons.
“Party crashers, we’re not,” Dane said. “That takes out some of the fun.”
Petra moved between the two gryphon gargoyles. “We are here to retrieve items belonging to my ward.”
“No, you’re here to facilitate our plans. I will give our terms only once: Leave this place without the woman. We need her.”
Petra cocked her head. “For what purpose?”
“Gargoyles are curious creatures. Her death will open a permanent gateway to the world above. We’ll control that gateway, and by proxy, our entire realm.” The blonde lifted and turned the mirror, revealing the spirits’ pale green face. “The living grimoire has been quite helpful.”
“Freaking jerk. No wonder Cernunnos stuffed you in a mirror.” Scowling, I pointed at him. It. What the hell ever. “You just made my list, buddy. The Smash It one.”
“Sorry, babe. Smashing me isn’t a good idea, since no one knows what’ll happen.”
“Then I’ll think of something else.”
Tase murmured into my ear. “Your hair and blood are in that bowl.”
“You guys missed your chance to sacrifice me. The time for it to work has passed.”
“True, for the reworked spell. This one’s different.”
Fantastic. How many freaking spells were there that needed me dead as the final ingredient?
“My ward is not yours to use,” Petra said. “I have no preference for a peaceful resolution to this situation.”
“Neither do I. We only need her alive. Kill the rest.” The blonde placed the mirror on the table, next to the bowl.
Sincerely wishing I could teleport right then, I swallowed a scream as the demons rushed toward us.
Petra didn’t move. Rake and Rend did, the second Logan and Dane slid off their backs. The gryphon gargoyles tore into the advancing demons with hawk-like screams.
“Dismount,” Petra ordered, and I reluctantly obeyed. “Stay here.”
She bounded forward, past Logan and Dane, who’d ganged up on a mottled red and black demon.
One of the gryphons shot into the air, its beak tearing into the throat of the demon clutched in its claws. Blood splattered everywhere as Rake, or Rend, dismembered the demon before diving for another victim.
The demon’s arm plopped down in front of me, fingers twitching. I stared at it. “Tase?”
“Yes?”
“Have you learned anything about demon blood?”
He moved slightly. “A little. It’s a necessary ingredient for some potions and spells.”
“I was told that if I drank some, I’d be able to use my abilities down here. Do you know anything about that?”
“No. Who told you that?”
“A god.”
“Oh.”
“So you wouldn’t know if there’d be any side effects.”
Tase winced as his mother roared. I checked for her, and found her squaring off with a putrid green demon.
“No. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.” I debated for a minute, then crouched down and dragged two fingers through the pool of blood forming at the arm’s severed end.
I made the mistake of sniffing my bloody fingers first. “Oh, gag. That’s awful.”
“It is demon blood.”
“Yeah.” Steeling myself, I opened my mouth and stuck my fingers in. The blood tasted like rotting meat. I fought to swallow it, and then to keep from throwing up. “This had better work, because I’m not doing that again.”
“Mama said to stay here.”
“We don’t,” I gagged, regained control, and finished with, “have to move. I can do what I need to from here.”
Closing my eyes, I concentrated on focusing on the recent memory of where the bowl containing my “pieces” was located. I had to use memory, since I couldn’t see the table through the snarl of demons, gargoyles, and shifters.
A scream opened my eyes, and struck a temporary lull in the battle. “Oops, I went a little overboard.”
Smoke was pouring from the bowl, my intended ta
rget. Flames were devouring the blonde’s scarlet robes as she writhed. “Guess she’s not flame retardant.”
With my “pieces” destroyed, it felt like the time had come to leave. “Tell your mom...”
“She already knows,” Tase said. “She’s going to collect the mirror.”
Oh, yeah. We probably shouldn’t leave that behind. I shrieked as a demon broke from the melee, heading straight for us.
It was the same son-of-a-bitch who’d murdered and eaten Carole. The one who’d seen me during the vision I’d had of her “sacrifice”.
My insides turned to water and I forgot I had the use of my abilities as it charged, knocking Logan aside with its tail when he followed.
“Holy crap.”
Logan flew through the air, twisted, and hit the wall feet first. He rebounded, landing on the floor in a roll, and was on his feet.
But he wasn’t going to reach us in time to do anything.
Tase whimpered.
Right, I had to do something, and the lingering taste of rotten meat reminded me that I could.
I went for my electrokinesis, which responded by surging out. Blue-white lightning crawled down my arms, and I raised them, aiming my palms at the oncoming demon. Thick, flickering ropes of electricity shot from my hands, and my hair rose, crackling.
All that blue-white power struck the big demon dead center, and next thing I knew, I was on my ass in the tunnel, watching a rain of charred demon bits falling inside the room.
“Wow.” Tase crawled down my chest. His mane was standing on end, full of static. “You blew it up.”
“Uh huh.” My hair wasn’t in any better shape. I tried to smooth it down, but it only clung to my hands.
Tase leaped to sit on my knee. “I hope that’s all you blew up.”
Me too. “I still hear some fighting.”
“Cordi?” Logan appeared in the tunnel’s opening, covered in lightly fried demon gore. “You okay?”
“Think so. Headache building.”
Dane appeared next, and he was laughing. “Boom!” was the only word I made out.
“Glad I was able to entertain you.” I scooped Tase off my knee and climbed to my feet. “Did we win?”
Black Magic Shadows (Discord Jones Book 5) Page 16
