The Shadow City (The Demon-Born Trilogy Book 2)

by L. C. Hibbett

  Eve caught my hand and gave me a searching look. I pressed my fingers against my lips and nodded to the closest tunnel. The room behind us was still abuzz with the sound of squabbling and blame. Eve tipped her head and nudged me through the exit with her palm. I waited until we were several meters down the tunnel before I opened my mouth. I grimaced apologetically. “This is probably just stupid, but I thought I felt something. I just don’t want to draw all the attention on me—”

  “And be embarrassed if you’re wrong?” My cheeks flushed at the truth in Eve’s words, and I glanced down at my dirt-encrusted feet. Gentle fingers squeezed my shoulder. “I believe in you. Lead the way.”

  I bit down on my lip to hide the rush of gratitude twisting my mouth into a smile. “It seems close, but the energy down here is a mess—there are random blind spots where magic is useless. That’s probably how Jonah designed it.”

  The tunnel suddenly split into two branches. One led right, toward another network of branches, the other stopped at a heavy door carved from polished wood—strangely out of place in the dust and dirt. My stomach jumped as another familiar blast of energy hit me. Eve grabbed my elbow and shot me a warning look, reminding me to raise my arms and adopt a stance worthy of a warrior.

  I steeled myself and twisted the doorknob, easing the door open soundlessly. I squinted at the sight on the other side of the door.  The sound of gentle humming brushed my ears, and I shot my hands into the air, ready to fight. Ready to protect Eve.

  Edging further into the room, I followed the sound of the lullaby. As I turned the corner my jaw dropped open, and Eve stopped short behind me, drawing breath into her lungs in a short, sharp gasp. The room was decorated like an old-style drawing room. A woman in a deep purple cloak was bent over two sleeping bodies with her eyes closed as she worked her charm.

  My mouth gaped open as I caught sight of the sleeping faces and a blast of energy shot from my hands, sending a violent gust of wind at the woman and knocking her to the ground. Deirdre stared up at Eve and me, but she didn’t lift her hands to strike back. Her gaze flicked from my face to the sleeping bodies on the sofa and my heart convulsed again as I stared at the two faces—back from the dead.

  Gabriel had been right. Somebody had escaped the massacre at the doomed Silent Home.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  A spell had fallen over the room. Deirdre, Eve, and I were frozen—as still as Frank and Lydia’s lifeless bodies on the sofa. Only Deirdre’s eyes moved. And the pulse in her throat. I lowered my hands and Deirdre sagged forward, hugging her arms across her belly. Eve dragged one of the stiff Regency chairs across the floor. She left it in front of Deirdre, took a few steps back, and gestured for me to do the same before she addressed Deirdre. “Sit. Please.”

  Deirdre watched Eve from under hooded lids. Her eyes darted from my hands to Eve’s as she perched herself on the edge of the chair. A wave of pain contorted her face, and I shot Eve a horrified glance. Deirdre gritted her teeth. “I can’t help you.” She lifted her chin defiantly, and a bead of sweat rolled down her brow and over the curve of her cheek. “This was as much as I could do. I can’t risk anything else. If Peter finds out—”

  “This was as much as you could do?” I waved my arm wildly over Lydia’s head. “This? What is this? How long have you kept them like this? Were you there, in Moscow? You know Sam thinks they’re dead and that it’s his fault? We grieved for them. Lucas, Megan, Jasmine—your students.”

  I ripped my glare away from her face and dragged my fingers through my tangled hair. Deirdre shifted on the chair and leaned her weight forward. “I was going to return them to the Shadow Children. It’s a simple sleeping spell, it hasn’t harmed them, and anyone can break it. I wanted to send them home, but I needed to find a safe time. You don’t know how hard it’s been for me, trying to keep them hidden, moving their location to keep them safe, sneaking away—I have made sacrifices to keep them safe. I saved their lives at that Silent Home! Do you know what would have happened if I hadn’t rescued them? You have no idea the risks I took.”

  “The risks you took?” The words scraped over my tongue like a knife on glass, and Deirdre winced. “What about all the others people that were in that Silent Home? Did you stand and watch them? Huh? Did you watch them slaughter the children? Did you wash their blood from your clothes? Can you ever wash it from your hands?”

  Eve stepped in front of me with her arms outstretched and I stared down at my clenched fists in horror. Deirdre shrank back into the chair and wrapped her cloak protectively around her body. I stumbled backward and sat down heavily on the sofa beside Lydia’s unconscious form. “I wasn’t going to—Eve, I’m not like her.”

  “We’re all like her, Grace, in the end. There’s so little to separate any of us. Heartbreak, a chance encounter, the loss of someone we love—all it takes is a twist of fate to transform us from who we are, to who we could be. We’re all like her.” Deirdre blinked rapidly as she watched Eve press her lips to my forehead.

  I rested my head in my hands and exhaled. “We should go back to the others. We’ll need help to carry Lydia and Frank, and to make sure that she doesn’t escape.” I shot Deirdre a glare out of the side of my eye, and my voice froze on my tongue. Deirdre's face had drained of all color, and her hands were clasped over her abdomen like a vice.

  “Who knows you’re here?” Deirdre’s words hissed through the still air.

  Eve pulled herself up to her full height and raised her arms in the air. Her eyes flashed from the door back to Deirdre. I stood up slowly in an attempt to move silently as possible. I screwed my eyes shut and tried to focus on the energy outside the room, cursing Jonah and his charmed tunnels under my breath. The barrier was too strong, but I could tell from the terror etched across Deirdre’s face that she had heard something. The door creaked open, and I threw my hands into the air, but Eve shot her arm in front of me, and I held my magic in check as Dawn’s slender body slipped into the room.

  “Dawn, what the hell are you doing here? You terrified us, we thought it was one of those Circle creeps or—” Dawn took another step forward, and the air turned to freezing mist in my lungs. Her face was paler that a winter's moon and a trickle of crimson blood ran down her throat, staining the front of her white sun dress like a rose in bloom.

  My stare traveled along the blade pressed against her neck and up the thick arm holding it, freezing when it reached a leering face. Fergus leaned against the door frame and kicked the door open with his foot so that I could see Lara standing behind his shoulder. A sly smile spread across the width of his face. “Hello, darling. I told you we’d meet again.”

  I could tell by the way Eve's jaw was set that she wanted to blast the smile off his face as much as I did, but we both stood as still as statues—terrified to put Dawn in greater danger. Fergus prodded Dawn with his knee, and she walked ahead of him with his blade still pressed to her throat. Lara strode by them into the center of the room, but she ground to a halt once she rounded the corner and saw Deirdre and my sleeping friends. Her eyes widened. “Fergus, it wasn’t the old hag who was helping them…”

  Fergus dragged Dawn to Lara’s side, keeping one eye on Eve and me. He stared down at Deirdre hunched on the chair and began to chuckle. “Well, look what we have here, hey? Little Marie Antoinette and her living dolls.” He reached over with his free hand and stroked Deirdre’s round cheek. “What have you been getting up to, dumpling? Does Peter know about your little secret hideaway?”

  Deirdre jerked her chin away defiantly, but her downcast glance spread the grin further across Fergus’s face. “This must be my lucky day, I thought I was going to find an interfering old bag down here meddling in the sewers, but instead I find you lovely ladies. So many possibilities..
.” He rolled back on his feet and cracked his neck. “What do you think I should do, Lady Deirdre? You were too high and mighty for me before, but it looks like the ball is in my court now, doesn’t it?”

  He beckoned Lara with a nod of his head, and without lifting the blade, he shoved the knife and Dawn in her direction. Lara took over the role of captor without even a glance at the small girl. Her eyes narrowed as she watched Fergus approach Deirdre and circle her, running his fingers over her shoulders as he moved. I wanted to close my eyes so that I could focus and reach out for Sam with my mind, but I was too afraid to look away from Dawn for a second.

  “So, what have you been getting up to down here, Deirdre? Or will I call you Dee-Dee? I like that. Has a ring.” Fergus began to massage Deirdre’s back, and she stiffened. He flipped her long hair to one side so that he could knead her bare neck. “I mean, this doesn’t look good, does it? We find you in a secret tunnel system under the city, with newly escaped prisoners, and two Shadow Children that were marked for execution by Peter himself. I can’t imagine how he’ll feel when he finds out the woman who shares his bed was the one who freed his precious Demon-Born.”

  Fergus trailed his fingers over her shoulder and down the center of her chest until he reached her abdomen. His hands grabbed the two sides of her cloak and ripped it apart, exposing a swollen belly. Deirdre tried to pull the fabric over her stomach again, but Fergus snatched her two hands in his left fist and held them over her head, using his right palm to caress and fondle her bump.

  Bile rose in my throat as I watched Deirdre squirm under his touch. I felt a scorching pain in my gut as I realized I had raised my hand to a pregnant woman. Fergus leaned over Deirdre to gain better access to her flesh, and her cheeks burned as his hand moved further down her abdomen.

  “You’re a common beast. Did your people send you to this world in exile? Were they so desperate to rid their realm of your filth that they chose the one place you could never escape from?” I flinched as Fergus whirled away from Deirdre to stare at Eve. His eyes flashed, and he reached out and pinched Dawn on the arm hard enough to bruise her flesh. Dawn bit down on her lips and didn’t cry out.

  “Mind your mouth, or she’ll be next after this pregnant whore, do you understand? I’ll save you for last so that you can appreciate the show.” Fergus gave Dawn’s skin one last twist as he glared at Eve, then he turned his attention back to Deirdre. The black humor had drained from his face, leaving only viciousness. He pulled her hair at the roots. “What do you want to do, bitch? I can tell Peter that you freed the prisoners and see if he lets you live long enough to see your babe take its first breath when he cuts it from your belly, or we could blame it on the old hag—if we can with an agreement between ourselves?”

   Deirdre’s chest rose and fell as she stared from Lydia and Frank to Dawn’s deathly pale face. Lara’s fingers trembled against Dawn’s throat, and I felt a wave of pity for the girl as she watched the creature whose affection she clearly longed for ravaging the pregnant Angel with his eyes. Deirdre looked down at the ground without answering Fergus, and his face reddened in anger.

  “I can help you decide if you like, you snobby cow. Give you a taster of what the Hounds will have in store for you once I tell Peter what you’ve been doing behind his back.” Fergus raised his booted foot and smashed it in the direction of Deirdre’s bump. My scream tore through the silence in the room, but before I could lift my hands to my mouth Fergus was lifted off his feet and sent smashing head first into the wall behind Deirdre’s back.

  Jonah and Cat stood in the doorway, with Cain and Sam towering behind them like menacing shadows. Jonah kept his hand raised as he surveyed the scene, and I watched the blood drain from Cat’s face as she saw the blade Lara was pressing against Dawn’s windpipe. Fergus pulled himself onto his feet and glowered across the room at his fellow Demon. “You! I should have known you’d creep out from whatever rock you’ve been hiding under at some stage. The hero. Well, you’re too late. We’ve got your little friend. If you lay another finger on me, Lara will slit her throat and feed her to the darkness.”

  Cat’s pupils widened so that the sky blue was swallowed up by black and her pulse beat against the side of her throat. My mouth was so dry I felt my lips would crack when I opened my mouth to speak. “If you harm a child who possesses a Hidden Power, the Circle will crucify you.”

  Fergus didn’t blink, but I saw Lara’s grip loosen on the handle of the blade. Fergus dug his fingers into Deirdre’s shoulder. “Make one of those pretty barriers you’re so famous for and contain these vermin until we can show the Circle the little rat run we’ve found.”

  Deirdre’s brow creased, and she stared down at her hands as if they might hold all the answers. Fergus shook her arm. “Don’t let them suck you in. You think the Shadow Children want you back? They’ll lynch you. You betrayed them. You’re a traitor. And you know there’s no hope for them, as soon as they find the last Hidden Powers the Circle is going to make the Great Sacrifice, and the Shadow Children and any Angel who stands in their way will face the same fate as the Humans and the Halfbloods. If you want to stay alive for that baby—”

   “Does your child deserve this life?” Eve’s voice was gentle, but Deirdre shrank back in her chair as if the words were dripping with acid. “You’ve seen what the Circle do to children that don’t meet its needs. Are you willing to take that gamble with your child’s life? The Shadow Children are not monsters. Whatever your crimes, they won’t make your child pay for them.”

  Deirdre’s head fell forward onto her chest, and she squeezed her eyes shut. Fergus wrapped her hair around his fist and ripped her head backward so that she couldn’t escape his glare. “Make the bloody barrier, slut. You think the Shadow Children are so pure and forgiving? They’re foolish pawns. They haven’t even realized there is a viper sitting on their chest, pretending to be their ally before it strikes. They can’t protect you. There is no place on this earth that you could hide that bastard child from the Circle, and if you run from me, I swear, I will hunt you down and let you watch as I break that child with my—”

  Warm droplets of blood splashed across my face as two massive shards of ice flew from Deirdre’s hands and cut through Fergus and Lara’s necks. The sound of Lara’s blade clattering to the floor was followed by Dawn sprinting across the floor and into her mother’s arms. A river of crimson crept across the ground in front of my feet, and for the second time that day, I found myself staring at a severed head.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  “Get back to the chamber.” Jonah’s tone was urgent as he directed Sam and Cain out the door with the sleeping bodies of Lydia and Frank flung over their shoulders. Cat wouldn’t even look at my face as I scurried into the corridor behind her. Anger radiated from her body like a halo of flames, and she pressed Dawn against her side as if she could attach her to her flesh with sheer physical force. I chewed on my thumb.

  Eve gripped Deirdre’s wrist gently, but her eyes were sharp as she watched the Angel’s every move. Jonah sealed the door of the blood-soaked room shut with a spell, before ushering us down the passageway at a run. “The Circle hasn’t explored beneath the city in the two thousand years since it was built, too convinced of their invincibility to imagine they have enemies, but now that the tunnels have been breached by two separate parties, I have to assume they are no longer safe for use.”

  Ozzie’s face flooded with relief as we ducked under the arch into the circular room, and Anna released a slow breath and her head fell forward onto her chest. Jonah looked at Cat and Ozzie. “Can you hold the sleeping girl in the circle, while the Reaper and the Seeker return you to safety?”

  Cat and Ozzie nodded, and Sam lowered Lydia gently into their waiting arms. Jonah pushed myself and Sam into the center of the room and got down on his hands and knees to clear th
e dirt from the floor at our feet.

  Anna pulled at my arms as she placed my soiled backpack over my shoulders. She patted my cheek. “Jonah’s diary is still in your pack. You must read it, child, and be brave. I once held the fate of the world in my hands, but I was too weak. You are not.” I opened my mouth to ask her a question but snapped it shut again when my voice abandoned me, swallowed by a hurricane of emotion. The old woman turned to look at me again as she left the room. “If you see my son again, break the glass and use it to cut his throat. Set my baby free.”

  Sam brushed his thumb against my cheeks to wipe away the hot tears as they coursed down my face, but it was a pointless exercise. The dam had been broken. Jonah didn’t need to ask us to step closer this time. I let Sam pull me into his arms, and I buried my face in his hard chest. Life beat against my flesh with the force of the past, the future, and the present in its fists.

  I inhaled the scent of Sam’s skin as if it could numb my pain, and the world began to shimmer and spin as Sam’s energy connected with mine. Jonah’s voice was in my ear, and I prised my eyelids open to focus on his words. “Seeker, concentrate on the perfect place. A place where only a friend might look for you.”

  A viper on their chests. I pushed the memory of Fergus’s prophecy away and tried to focus on a safe place. Sam stared into my eyes, and we cast the golden net, feeling it flow over Cain and Frank, Cat and Lydia, Ozzie and Dawn, Eve and Deirdre. When we reached Jonah, he stepped away, pulling himself into the closest archway. “I cannot leave this place, children. Tell Niamh my heart still beats only for her—I have not forgotten my promise, but my part in this battle is here, within these city walls. I wish you luck. The world is in your hands. Read the book, Seeker.”