Chronicles of Arcana (The complete collection books 1-4)

by Debbie Cassidy

  His eyes widened, and he sucked in a breath.

  Had he heard?

  He traced a hand down my cheek. “Once we get out of here ...”

  Darkness rose up behind him. “We should leave,” Shade said. “If you’re done caressing each other.”

  I rolled my eyes. “You didn’t have to watch.”

  “There’s nothing else to do.”

  Was the shade sulking? He’d been hot and cold. Here and not here ever since we’d gotten to Jinx’s cave, but as for his story, no clue.

  Valance tugged me toward the exit. “It seems Shade is a voyeur. Hope you picked up some pointers,” he said to our companion.

  Shade snorted and then we were outside under the cold, silver moon, running across the hard-packed earth toward the electric storm that danced in the air a quarter of a mile ahead of us, and we weren’t the only ones. Others spilled out of the darkness, black streaks against the night, all shapes and sizes as they homed in on the same location. Fuck, how many had made the pilgrimage this time? Valance picked up speed, taking me with him, and Shade rode the night as if he’d been born to do so, which for all we knew, he had.

  Damn the lead cuff on Valance’s wrist. A dragon would have been useful right now. That would be the first thing we’d get rid of when we got back.

  Lightning split the sky and thunder rolled. The world ahead lit up, and then there was chaos.

  ***

  We ran full pelt, our boots barely touching the ground, straight into the eye of the storm—the seething mass of bodies hurtling toward salvation. So many Others, too many to make it through. A blow to the head, a claw at my back, a boot in my side. Shit. Brutal. But like hell were we faltering.

  And then the inhuman, hungry battle cry of the denizens shredded the night, and the ground shook with the force of their arrival. They came at us from both sides in a pincer movement—shadowy, horrific shapes. No time to look, no time to take it in. The sunlight was all that mattered.

  “Don’t stop!” Valance ordered.

  Yeah, wasn’t planning on it.

  The air whooshed behind us, throwing my hair forward, and startled exclamations turned to bloodcurdling screams for help.

  No. There was nothing we could do to help them. Sunlight touched my face, its heat seeping into my skin. And then a hairy, huge body landed in front of us. Talons pierced flesh, blood sprayed, and gurgling screams cut the air.

  Valance cursed, yanking us to a halt as more spider denizens rushed to join the first leaper.

  “Watch out!” Shade’s warning came a second too late as pincers plucked Valance from my grasp and flung him into the air.

  “No!” I rushed the monster earwig. My body prickled as scales erupted across my skin just as we collided—my armor to its gaping maw. I knocked it sideways and the thud of Valance hitting the earth was muted by the monster’s screech of rage. Its tail whipping round was a blur in my periphery before it rammed into me, slamming the breath from my lungs.

  Scales skidded across the ground, shooting embers where the hard-packed earth touched my body, and the power trapped inside me surged to the surface, coating me in an aura of confidence. To my left, Valance was still down. Blood. There was blood. He’d hit his head. Shit. I had to—

  The moon winked out as a spider denizen appeared above me. A stinger shot out of its underbelly, lancing down toward me. My body acted on instinct, rolling out of the way, even as my brain processed what was about to happen. My talons sprouted and lashed out at the hairy legs holding me captive. They sliced right through, and the monster toppled, missing me by a hairbreadth.

  Shade was covering Valance, but he wasn’t enough to stop the hungry mouths that wanted to feast.

  My legs pumped as I ran at them. “Valance! Up!”

  I was almost there. Almost with him. I sprinted with the sunlight at my back, with what was left of the Others giving me a wide berth as they ran for the breach and the monsters who’d failed to find a meal closed in on those too weak or injured to continue.

  Valance pulled himself up, clutching his bleeding head. He turned to look at me and our gazes locked.

  Thank God. Thank—

  The denizen hit him from the side, a scorpion-spider hybrid, with pincers the length of my body. It clamped down on Valance’s torso, and my scream of horror was a primal thing. Its deadly stinger curled over its head, lashing down, ready to deliver death, and something inside me snapped. Pain ripped through my body, cracking my jaw and burning my eyes. The night flared with light, every detail suddenly in high definition, and then I was leaping through the air, armored arm swiping at the stinger, slicing through bone and eliciting a scream of rage from the denizen.

  Valance hung limp, trapped in the pincers, but not for long. My talons did their work, tearing him free. His body slumped to the ground. More were coming, drawn by the blood and chaos.

  “Go,” Shade said. “You need to go now. He’s dead. You can take me with you.”

  “Fuck you!” My voice was alien, guttural, and deep.

  There was no leaving. Mine. My scalemate. The thud of his pulse pounded in my head. Mine. He was alive. They weren’t getting him. I straddled his body, threw back my head, and roared. The sound was a terrifying warning beating back the denizens who’d dare to challenge me for my prize.

  Mine.

  My second roar battered the night as the monsters closed in, too hungry to be warned.

  “I’m sorry,” Shade said. “So sorry.” And then he was gone.

  Bastard. Go. Go leave. Not me. Not leaving mine. Never. Pain in my head, tearing up my spine. The ground was far away with Valance beneath me, in my shadow. Fire in my belly—red and blue and desperate to vent. It bubbled up my throat and seared me, smothering my scream as it exploded from my mouth, lighting up the night as it hit the ground and leaving a wall between us and them.

  Fire.

  I’d breathed fire. My vision blurred, and the power began to recede.

  No. No, I need you. Please.

  My knees gave way as I hit the ground beside Valance. The sunlight was receding. It was almost over. We’d be the leftovers. The weak. The feast for those left behind. I pulled Valance into my arms, holding him tight as the flames keeping us alive began to die. The denizens scuttled and slithered closer and the Others in the circle of fire whimpered and sobbed.

  I squeezed my eyes shut and reached out to Azren with my mind. Sorry. I’m so sorry. But there was only silence, only the wall he’d erected around himself.

  A low rumble drifted over the flames and then a huge shadow leapt into the circle of safety. My heart leapt, and joy expanded in my chest at the incredible sight.

  Hound glared at me, as if to say, what the fuck have you gotten yourself into? And then he lowered his body and jerked his head with a growl, in a get the fuck on gesture. Others scrambled toward him, but he snarled and growled to ward them off, and it hit me that we would be leaving these creatures behind to be mauled and devoured. My heart squeezed tight, and my gut twisted with guilt, but there was no other option. Valance was all that mattered. Azren was relying on us, and if we could not die that would be great.

  With the last vestiges of my waning strength, I hauled Valance up onto Hound’s back and then climbed up behind him, holding on for dear life. Hound rose up on all fours, lifted his head, and howled a deep, eerie sound that made my hackles rise with the promise of pain. And then we were flying through the air, over the flames, and galloping toward the rapidly closing breach.

  Into the sunlight.

  Chapter 16

  “Wila. Oh, God.”

  Gentle hands touched my face, strong arms lifted me up, and Noir’s cologne filled my nostrils. Home. I was home.

  “She’s bleeding.”

  “Shit. Look at Valance.” Mack? What was Mack doing here?

  Voices, raised and urgent, filled my head and then I was passed to an unfamiliar body whose lean torso smelled of raspberries. My eyes felt glued shut, my breathing was labore
d. I needed to speak, to see, to tell them I was all right, tell them to focus on Valance.

  “Hush, it’s all right. We’ve got him.” The voice was melodic and unfamiliar. “You’re going to be all right, Wila. I promise you. You both are.”

  “Just stay with me,” Noir ordered. “Don’t… Dammit, Wila, just hang on.”

  And then I was fragmenting into a thousand pieces, and the world swirled with rainbow colors, which was weird considering my eyes were closed, but could they be closed if my atoms were being transported?

  With a lurch in my solar plexus, I was back again, looking at the world through my eyelids.

  “Now,” the melodic voice said. “You take us to her now.”

  “Dammit, Leopold. You know I can’t.” This voice belonged to Lex Hunter; I’d recognize that gravelly tone anywhere.

  “Enough!” Leopold’s voice was a boom, and then we were moving, drifting.

  Something rumbled and then there was darkness, and the smell of earth surrounded us. A series of beeps was followed by the hiss of air, and then the aroma of earth faded to be replaced by a flowery fragrance.

  “What in the world?” Noir’s voice was shaken.

  Noir was never thrown. What was going on? Where were we, and why didn’t I have control of my faculties?

  Someone groaned. Wila, are you there?

  Valance. I’m here, babe. I’m with you.

  Good ... need to heal ...

  Just rest.

  You need to heal.

  Was I hurt? But there was no pain, only numbness.

  “Leopold, what are you doing?” an unfamiliar female voice said. “Who are these people?”

  “Where’s Liana?” Leopold demanded.

  “Are you insane? She’ll have your head for this.”

  “So be it. Just summon her. Do it now, or I promise you’ll regret it.”

  “Are you threatening me?”

  “No, because it won’t be me who will deliver your punishment.”

  My body was laid on something soft, head pillowed on someone’s thighs, and then Noir’s aroma surrounded me again. He brushed my hair off my brow.

  “Leopold, what is this? Why are we here?” Noir asked the room.

  “Because it’s time Wila knew the truth,” Lex said. He sounded weary and resigned.

  “Yes, it is,” Leopold agreed.

  Leopold ... Where did I know that name from? It hit me a moment later—he was the beautiful Other from the cage at the Petting Zoo. What the heck was he doing here? How did he know me, and why did he care what happened to me?

  A soft moan drifted to my ears.

  “Wila, are you okay? Are you in pain?” Noir asked.

  Had that been me? Had I made that sound?

  “The wound has stopped bleeding,” Mack said.

  What wound? Was I hurt? Where was the pain if I’d been injured? My inner monologue was interrupted by the flare of charged atoms in the air. Silence descended like a thick blanket, and my pulse began to race in instinctive response. Someone was here. Someone important.

  “Leopold, what have you done?” This female voice was lower in tone than the previous one, but there was no warmth to it. It was hard, cold, and unforgiving. “You shouldn’t have brought her here.”

  “I should have brought her here a long time ago.” Leopold’s tone was brusque. “You should have brought her here. This has gone far enough. It’s time to tell her the truth. She could have died today and it would all be over.”

  “And you think you get to decide what we do?” There was real derision in the woman’s tone. “You think you have a say?”

  Leopold was silent for a long beat. “I think you’ve forgotten that you’re a mother as well as a queen. I think you’ve forgotten that the woman lying battered and bleeding on your sofa is your daughter.”

  Noir sucked in a breath, but his exclamation was blocked out by the blood rushing in my ears, by the insane spike in my pulse and the sudden bloom of rage in my chest. Fire raced over my skin and more exclamations filled the room.

  “Damn you, Leopold. Damn you.” But there was no heat in Liana’s words. “Juniper, speed her healing. Dammit, woman, close your gaping mouth and heal my daughter. And not a word to anyone else or it will be the last thing you’ll ever say.”

  Mother ... My mother was here. She was here, and I couldn’t fucking see her. A tumult of emotions swirled in my chest—anticipation, irritation, rage, but most of all the burning need to tell her where to shove ... everything. Fuck. Fuck this shit.

  Soft hands cupped my face. “This may feel strange. Do not fight it,” Juniper said.

  Fight what? Lips touched mine. Oh, okay. This wasn’t so bad. And then frost bit into my skin, shooting past my lips, over my tongue, and down my throat, freezing the air in my lungs so I couldn’t breathe.

  Oh, God. I couldn’t breathe.

  “Wila! What are you doing to her?” Noir’s thighs tensed beneath my head.

  “Let her work,” Leopold said. “Just a moment.”

  No. Make her stop.

  Just when I thought my lungs would explode, the ice melted and gentle warmth trickled outward into my extremities. Sweet air swelled my chest. My legs and arms, fingers and toes were back. I was back. The lips withdrew, and my eyelids fluttered open.

  Noir gazed down at me. “Oh, thank God.”

  Not even his beautiful face could soothe the anger that was expanding inside me. Anger that lent me strength. I sat up, ignoring the dizzy spell that accompanied the transition. Mack was seated at the foot of the sofa I’d been laid on, Lex stood by a pretty patterned wall, and Leopold, the androgynous, pale Other, stood with his arms crossed by a free-standing ornate lamp. The woman who’d kissed me stared at me with wide eyes before stumbling back, turning, and rushing from the room.

  “Where is she?” My voice sounded alien to my ears, simmering with emotion I didn’t understand.

  Leopold’s lips twisted wryly. “She’ll be back. She probably needs to compose herself.”

  I swung my legs off the sofa and sat head in hands for a few moments. My mother was here, and I felt like I’d done three rounds with a rhino. “Valance? Where’s Valance?”

  “He’s safe,” Lex replied. “He’s in my private quarters being administered to as we speak. His wounds were severe, but with his healing abilities, he should be back on his feet in a couple of days.”

  “You saved his life.” Leopold was looking at me. “You were courageous.” He cocked his head. “You could have left him, but you stayed. You were prepared to die for him.”

  “Not for him. I was prepared to die with him. I wasn’t leaving him to die alone.”

  Noir made a choked sound.

  Oh, man. He’d thought I’d given up, that I’d forsaken him. I slipped my hand into his. “It was different over there in the Everdark. Forty days is a long time in the eternal night. It felt like a lifetime, and half that time it was just him and me.”

  “Forty days ...” Noir looked at me in shock. “Wila ... it’s been three days.”

  What? “No. Forty days.” I pulled up my sleeve and showed him the marks. “I kept count.”

  “Time runs differently in the Everdark,” Leopold said.

  Noir looked at him in shock. “You knew?”

  He nodded. “It was why I couldn’t sit by and wait any longer. Each day we waited was goodness knew how many days for Wila. I had to go after her.”

  He’d come after me? “I don’t understand. You weren’t there. Hound saved us.”

  He gave me a small smile, and his eyes flashed violet.

  Click, click, the pieces fell into place. “Hound?”

  He inclined his head. “At your service.”

  Whoa. How many revelations would I be forced to deal with today. He’d been in my house, my bed, my ... shower! “It was you using my shower gel.”

  He grinned. “Even Hounds need to wash.”

  Man, at least I hadn’t gotten changed in front of him. “Why? Why did
you save me?”

  “Someone had to protect you.” His jaw was tense. “You mean too much to us all to just leave your existence to fate.”

  “So, you disobeyed me.” A woman strode into the room—tall and powerfully built. Her dark hair was piled up on her head, and her pale green eyes were trained on me even though she was addressing Leopold. “You interfered in what was meant to take its own course.”

  “I kept her safe.”

  “If she cannot save herself, then she is no good to us.”

  What. The. Fuck? I pulled myself to my feet, strode toward the woman, and slapped her across the face as hard as I could.

  Her head whipped back, and she blinked at me in surprise, and then a small smile played on her lips. “Or maybe you did us a favor, Leopold.”

  My eyes pricked. “Why?”

  She arched a brow. “Why what?”

  “Why did you abandon me?”

  She sighed. “So many reasons. To make you strong, to teach you how to survive, and most importantly, to hide you in plain sight.”

  She didn’t give a shit. Her tone was just meh. Who was this woman? “Hide me? From who?”

  She smiled, her lips parting to reveal razor-sharp teeth. My breath caught. Shedim ... She was fucking Shedim, which meant ...

  She laughed softly. “Oh, if only it were that simple. No, Wila, you aren’t like me. You aren’t like anyone. You’re unique, one of a kind, and you are my secret weapon.” She reached up and pressed her palm to the side of my face in an action that should have been soothing and maternal, but coupled with the calculating look in her eyes was merely assessing. “You are beautiful and determined, and like a cockroach, you refuse to be crushed. These qualities will serve us well.”

  Us? “Who the fuck are us? What is this amazing thing I’m supposed to do?”

  “You’re going to liberate the Shedim. You’re going to help us annihilate the Draconi.”

  Chapter 17

  Had I heard her right? Annihilate the Draconi? Wipe out a whole race? Was she fucking crazy. “Not happening.”

  Her smile was reflective. “Maybe Leopold is right. Maybe we should have pulled you into the fold sooner. You’ve spent too much time with creatures that could never understand you. But the risk of Elora discovering your existence was too high. I had to hide you away.” She walked across the room to a side cabinet lined with bottles of liquor. “Would you like a drink? Mandarin wine is delicious.”