“I will leave you to catch up with your cousin, ma cher,” Rapier rasped. “I must prepare for McAllister’s arrival. She led him right to us, ma cherie, as you predicted she would.”
Oh, God! Somehow they knew she had given Kassian a clue! He was headed into a trap and it was because of her. She had to warn him somehow. She sent her thoughts out on the common channel hoping if she couldn’t yet reach Kassian, she could at least reach some other nearby Earthbound who could get word to him and warn him.
“He’ll suspect a trap, he always does. But, he’ll come anyway, no matter what you say or do. He’s tenacious like that.”
Kat swallowed a gasp. The voice that came into her head was female, and it had come from the bundle of rags in the corner. Whoever the woman was, she obviously knew Kassian, and knew him well. Kat hardly dared to hope; was it possible?
“Callista?”
“So you’ve heard of me. I should have known my stubborn brother would still be looking. I’ve spent over a hundred years terrified that my stupidity would be the instrument of his death.”
“He thinks you’re dead. He’s mourned you all these years, but never stopped trying to avenge you. How is it possible you’re still alive?”
“Jacques has his own twisted reasons for keeping me alive. For now, don’t let them know we can communicate. Play along with your cousin, sick bitch that she is, and if an opportunity presents itself, I’ll help you if I can. Maybe getting you out of here alive will make up to my brother for some of the grief I’ve caused him.”
“We get out together, or not at all,” Kat replied firmly, turning her attention to Miranda, who had stepped between them, blocking Kat’s view of Kassian’s sister. She felt the anger and frustration that rose from Callista’s huddled form as she made that pronouncement, but there was no way in hell Kat could escape this place if the opportunity arose and leave the other woman behind. She would never be able to face Kassian and Alec, nor would she be able to live with herself. She gazed up at Miranda, eyes narrowed, making no attempt to disguise the hatred and disgust she felt.
“Why, Miranda?” she demanded. “If nothing else, we’re family. Why would you betray me like this and hand me over to that soulless murderer? He cares nothing for you and you’re too blind to see it.”
“Family,” Miranda spat as she leaned down into Kat’s face. “What would you know of family? Your mother betrayed both of us and everything we stood for. She let that do-gooder convince her to turn her back on her heritage and lock away the source of our family’s power.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Miranda, and you know it,” Kat hissed. “My mother may have hidden things from me, but she would never betray me.”
“Wouldn’t she? Did she tell you what she was? What you were? Did she ever give you a choice of becoming all that you had the potential to be? She was so worried the power would corrupt her as it had so many others that she refused to accept the power for herself and she made damn sure I couldn’t have it either. Well, I’ll have it now! Give me the locket, Katrina.”
Miranda held out her hand, but Kat noticed that she didn’t make a move to physically take it. Kat remembered the sigils and Luca’s reference to a protection spell. Like the Wicked Witch of the West and the Ruby Slippers, maybe Miranda couldn’t simply take it. Maybe Kat had to hand it over willingly? Not happening; not in this lifetime.
“You want me to believe this harmless little locket holds the power of an entire lineage of witches? Please, Miranda, how naïve do you think I am?” Kat procrastinated. Actually, Kat realized that until recently she’d been a lot more naïve than she would have ever believed possible, but she also knew she had to keep Miranda talking. The longer she could postpone giving her what she wanted, the greater the chance she could warn Kassian of the trap and keep him safe
“Not the locket, you little fool, the ring,” Miranda screeched impatiently. “The locket contains the directions that will lead me to it!”
“What ring?” Kat’s confusion was genuine. Her mother had never owned a ring, aside from the wedding band from her short and ill-fated marriage to Roger Shephard. Lilly had pawned that years ago when money was tight.
“You really don’t know anything, do you? Lilly really was determined that our line would end with her. She locked the ring away and buried it. And that bastard Fiorelli helped, I know it! Well, I took care of him,” she snorted. “I may not have had the ring, but I did have the grimoiré.”
“You bitch!” Kat hissed angrily. Magic. Miranda had somehow used magic to come between her parents. This woman’s singular quest for power had caused so much misery. Kat felt her anger rising. Unbidden, her fingertips began to glow and spark and she quickly put them behind her so Miranda wouldn’t notice. She felt the metal ring that held her to the wall, and keeping her fingers on the seam where the metal was joined, she concentrated on using her mind to slowly and quietly widen the gap in the link, waiting for a chance to her to free herself.
“Sticks and stones, Katrina,” Miranda sighed impatiently. “Now hand it over nicely and maybe I can convince Jacques to spare your life. You are my cousin, after all.” Miranda leaned closer and held out a hand.
“You didn’t have to drug me and turn me over to a sick masochist, Miranda. I know nothing about this ring or this power you speak of. Why would I want it? Did it ever, at any time, occur to you that you could merely ask me for the locket?”
Miranda straightened up and blinked. “No.”
“No wonder you’re so attracted to Rapier. You’re as crazy as he is.” Kat spat out. “Fine. If you want the locket, you loony bitch, then come and get it,” Miranda leaned forward again and as she did, Kat brought the loose end of the heavy chain up and swung it with everything she had into the side of Miranda’s head, sending her to the floor with a satisfying thud. Heart pounding, Kat quickly ran her hands down her leg to feel for the shackle and loosened it the same way. She pulled it free from her own ankle and locked it around Miranda’s. Then she resealed the gap in the link to secure her cousin to the wall. She pulled a short dagger in a sheath from Miranda’s belt and tucked it into the waistband at the back of her jeans, tugging her sweater down to cover it. Kat had never killed so much as a fly, and she wasn’t sure she could actually use the thing, but self-preservation was a strong motivator.
“Impressive,” said a soft voice, hoarse with disuse. Kat awkwardly scrambled across the uneven floor of the cave to the other woman and began feeling for the chains that bound her. In the dim light, Kat could see that Kassian’s sister was thinner, though still as strikingly beautiful as the photograph in his album. Her dark hair was tangled and matted, but hung well past her hips in a thick braid. Callista’s lips were pressed together and she slapped Kat away from her.
“There’s no time for this,” Callista whispered. “Get yourself out. If you make it, then worry about me later. Jacques won’t kill me. Somewhere in his sick, twisted mind he thinks that my love is the key to saving his soul. It’s a completely misguided notion, of course, but one I make no effort to dispute as it’s kept me alive this long. Now go!”
“But, I can’t just leave…” Kat began while furiously feeling for the gap in the chain and breathing a sigh when she finally felt it and began to manipulate it free.
“Kat?”
She nearly collapsed with relief at the sound of his voice in her head. The feeling was quickly followed by fear for his safety. Callista again pushed her away.
“The witch has spelled the caves,” she whispered in a desperate voice. “He can’t get in and they’ll be waiting for him to try. But, there is nothing keeping you from getting out. The fools underestimated you.” Callista forced a smile. “It seems women have become much more resourceful over the last hundred years.”
“You’ve managed to stay alive while being held captive by a sociopathic serial killer for over a hundred years. I’d say you’re pretty resourceful yourself,” Kat returned the smile.
“McA
llister? Where are you?”
“Kat?” The relief in his voice was so apparent to her. “I’m in your basement. Sid led us down here and keeps pacing in front of a pile of crates on the west wall.”
“Don’t tell him I’m here,” Callista warned quietly, “not yet. It will only distract him.”
Kat hated to admit it, but she knew the other woman was right. She couldn’t tell him Callista was alive; not yet. And Callista was too weak; she would only slow her down. The best chance for both of them lay in Kat reaching the tunnel to her basement and finding a way to lead the others back to Callista.
“Move the crates and get the door open so I can get through, but stay where you are, Kassian. I think I can make it out on my own.”
“Like hell!”
“As if!”
“No way!”
Kat heard the emphatic denials of Kassian, Luca, and Alec in her head simultaneously. Great! Just what she needed; triple testosterone. Suddenly she felt the familiar creep of evil approaching. It was now or never. She reached out and quickly pulled the other woman into her arms, surprising them both.
“I’ll be back for you,” Kat whispered hoarsely against the thick, matted hair. Callista hugged her back weakly and nodded. Kat felt her hopelessness. She expected nothing. “I promise.”
Callista nodded again and pushed her away with more strength than Kat would have expected. “He’s coming. Go.”
With a last look that she hoped was reassuring Kat pulled the knife from its hiding place at her back and moved quickly into the dark passage at the back of the cave. She heard Callista’s voice in her head one last time as the deeper darkness engulfed her.
“The dagger is a mortal weapon and it won’t kill a Fallen. Only his own weapon or one of ours can...”
The voice stopped abruptly and Kat heard a cry of pain behind her in the cave, but couldn’t discern whose it was. She prayed it was Miranda’s. It had nearly broken her heart to leave Kassian’s sister behind, but she realized that the only chance for either of them was for one of them to escape. Kat was surprised to find that despite the number of years since she’d been here, she remembered the layout of the caves as though it was yesterday. She moved slowly and carefully, keeping a hand on the rough, damp walls since, unlike the times she had played here as a child, she had no Power Rangers flashlight to guide her. The sense of evil still crawled through her and her heart beat painfully in her throat as she realized that Rapier must be following her. It felt like hours before she approached the fork in the tunnel leading to her basement. She heard a dull, rhythmic pounding ahead and immediately suspected what it was.
“McAllister? I’m almost there …stop the pounding.”
“Kat.” McAllister sounded almost, well, frantic. But that couldn’t be right because it would mean that he was worried. And if he was worried…no, she couldn’t allow her mind to go there or she would become paralyzed with fear.
“Stop where you are. There are animorti in the tunnel…we can see them but we can’t get to them. You must be headed right for them. Is there another way out?”
“No, and I think Rapier is right behind me.”
****
Kassian knew he was in danger of letting his fear for Kat control him. He couldn’t begin to fathom how she’d managed to escape, but she was walking right into a potential ambush and Rapier was close behind her. He could feel it. And if they couldn’t find a way to bring the barrier down, he knew he would be forced to stand by helplessly and watch her die through the impenetrable window keeping them out. Luca knew it too, and wasn’t in much better shape. Only Alec seemed objective enough to still able to reason and he stood in front of the doorway with his head cocked to the side, sizing up the barrier and finally turning to them with a hint of a crooked smile lighting his face.
“Gentlemen, we’ve been going about this all wrong. We’ve been trying to go through this thing. What we need to do is go around it.”
“What?”
“The witch spelled the entrances, not the entire tunnel system. We blast through the wall next to the doorway, open a space parallel to the tunnel and come in from the side.”
Kassian released a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding and turned to Luca. “What do you think?”
“I think it could work and it’s better than nothing, which is what we have at the moment,” Luca replied grimly as he set his daggers on the floor, stepped to the side, and began rubbing his hands together. He directed a blast of blue white energy at the cinderblock wall to the side of the doorway and gave a satisfied grunt as it began to give way. Kassian and Alec added their energy and within minutes they had carved a parallel passage several feet into the earth next to the tunnel.
“McAllister? I can see the light from the basement. I’m close. How many animorti did you see?”
“At least two…and they’re armed. Stay where you are and sit tight, Kat. I think we’ve found a way in.”
“He’s closer, Kassian. I don’t only feel him now, I hear him. I have to keep moving. Will a mortal weapon kill an animorti?”
“What? Cara, don’t do something stupid…give us a minute…”
“No time, brother…in case this doesn’t work, I want you both to know these last few days have been…well, you know what I mean.”
“Kat!”
****
The anguish in both Luca and McAllister’s voice bounced around in her head, but she forced herself to block them out and swallow the sobs that threatened to overtake and incapacitate her when she felt how close Rapier was and realized she might never see McAllister or her brother again. She could hear the increasing ferocity with which the Earthbound were blasting through the rock to get to her, but she knew they would be too late. The animorti were now directly in front of her and Rapier was close behind. Luckily, the animorti were uneasy and preoccupied with the continuous explosions rattling the walls around them and the first one was an oily puddle at her feet before he even realized she was there. She picked up her pace until she was running full out now that she could literally see the light at the end of the tunnel. The second animorti barely had a chance to turn and raise his sword when she plunged the dagger into his chest with all the force afforded her by her forward momentum. The creature exploded into a mass of foul, oily glop that covered her from head to toe as she pitched through it and forward toward the doorway, landing with a painful crash on the hard, concrete floor of her basement.
“Ouch,” she cried, struggling to rise from the floor and slipping in the greasy slime. The three Earthbound turned and regarded her with comical expressions of amazement and disbelief as she finally gained her feet and looked down at herself. “Oh, and also, ewww.”
Her second exclamation was muffled in Kassian’s broad chest as he pulled her against him with enough forced to crack ribs. She was shocked to find that he was trembling from head to toe and put it down to the energy he’d expended to pulverize the rock. She knew she must be right when Luca pulled her away from Kassian and into his arms and she realized that he was suffering from the same affliction. She risked a glance at Alec who merely flashed his dimples, but his Adam’s apple bobbed with an unusual amount of force as he swallowed before turning away.
They all felt it at the same moment; Rapier was near. Kat pulled out of Luca’s arms and reached for Kassian’s hand.
“McAllister, there’s something I have to tell…” Her words were cut off in midstream by the angry roar that echoed from the passage. Kassian pushed her behind him as they all turned to face the threat. Jacques Rapier stood not ten feet beyond the barrier, jet black wings spread ominously behind him, blocking the passage beyond. Miranda sat slumped at his feet panting, held upright only by the length of her hair wrapped in the Fallen’s fist. In his other hand, he held a length of heavy chain that reached to the floor and then trailed off behind him into the darkness.
“So, the witch still wears the locket,” Rapier roared. “Can you do nothing right, cherie?” He gave
a brutal tug on Miranda’s hair. “I arranged her capture, I carried her soft and lifeless body to the cave, and I chained her to the wall.” Kat felt Kassian stiffen and clench his fists with rage. “I did all of the work, it seems, and left you such a simple task, ma coeur…and yet you failed me. What am I to do with you?”
Miranda raised a tear streaked face in supplication. “Please, Jacques…you don’t understand. The locket is protected. I couldn’t just take it from her…I…” Suddenly, Jacques dropped the chain to the floor of the cave and secured it with a booted foot. With his free hand, he reached to stroke Miranda’s cheek.
“There, there, ma petite,” he crooned. “I know that you tried your best.” Miranda gazed at him with a hope and adoration that caused Kat’s stomach to churn. “But your best was not good enough,” he sighed as he grabbed her chin and jerked her head sharply up and to the side with a loud crack, breaking her neck in one quick movement and letting her body drop heavily to the floor.
The moment Miranda’s lifeless body hit the dirt, her magic became null and void and the barrier wavered and fell. While Kassian, Kat, and Luca watched the macabre scene unfolding in front of them, Alec remained slightly behind them using their bodies for cover as his hands wove intricate patterns in the direction of the tunnel entrance creating his own barrier made up of sigils. Jacques yanked a wicked looking dagger from his boot and sent it sailing, full force, directly at Kat’s chest. Before anyone even had a chance to breathe, the dagger hit an invisible wall and bounced back at Rapier with equal force. Kat immediately gathered her wits and used her mind to turn the dagger in midair until it pointed directly at Rapier’s heart. He shifted to the side at the last moment and the blade sliced through his still outstretched wing, its momentum slowing as it sliced through the thick, fibrous membrane. Jacques’ roar of pain and outrage was drowned out by the ear splitting scream that came from behind him.
“No!” Kat screamed, falling to her knees as Rapier’s wings collapsed. He spun to catch Callista as she fell. Kassian and Alec were stunned immobile at the sight of their sister with Rapier’s blade protruding from her chest, but Luca showed no such hesitation. One minute he was standing at Kat’s side, the next he had faded and appeared directly behind Jacques. His daggers were still on the floor of the basement, so he pulled the blade from Callista’s chest and buried it in Rapier’s back.
Undiscovered Angel Page 21
