Visions of Skyfire

by Regan Hastings

  Teresa smiled, loving that he understood her so well and that he was willing to set aside his own need for retribution.

  Chico swooped in, landed on her shoulder and screeched, “Run for it!”

  Rune frowned at the creature.

  Teresa grinned and reached to stroke its brightly colored chest.

  “So,” he said, “Spain?”

  “Spain,” she agreed, hooking her arms around his neck. “Get us out of here, Eternal.”

  He called on the fire and first took them to the van where their duffel bag had been abandoned. Rune wasn’t going anywhere without his knives.

  When he was armed and ready again, he flashed them away from the ancient site of death and renewal.

  Chapter 56

  They didn’t go far.

  Rune ended the jump just a few miles from Palenque, landing them in a deserted area of the rain forest. Monkeys chattered, a jaguar roared from somewhere nearby and a waterfall surged down a cliff, cool mist spraying into the air.

  “Where are we?” Teresa asked, surprised that he’d ended their jump so quickly.

  He didn’t answer. Instead, his mouth a grim slash, he grabbed the bird off her shoulder and wrung its small neck with a twist of his hands.

  Horrified, Teresa screamed and lunged for him just as a thick twist of black smoke lifted from the dead bird and quickly dissipated in the breeze. “Oh, my God.”

  Rune dropped the dead animal to the jungle floor and reached for her. Instinctively, she took a step back, shaking her head in disbelief. What had she just seen?

  “What? What’s happening? What was that smoke? How … ?”

  He let his empty hands fall to his sides. Pity swirled in his gray eyes as he met her gaze. “I’m sorry, Teresa. At the temple, when Miguel tried to get past the barrier— your bird tried, too. It hit the energy field and bounced away. It couldn’t pass.”

  She looked down at the bright, colorful bird that had been her companion for two years and an empty, hollow feeling opened up inside her.

  “It was possessed by a demon. A familiar,” he said, his voice so gentle that his words were nearly lost in the rush of the nearby waterfall. “When I saw that it couldn’t enter the temple, I knew. Teresa, every time it flew off, it must have been reporting to someone. It explains how Miguel knew exactly where we were.”

  Shaking her head, Teresa pressed one hand to her churning stomach. The sense of betrayal was so deep, so keenly edged, she felt as if she were bleeding internally. She had talked to Chico, told him her fears, her hopes. She’d had him with her when she went to visit her grandmother and practice her magical skills. He had been with her when she did spells, when she visited Elena—“Oh, God, he must have sent whoever killed her to Elena’s place.”

  “Probably.” He reached out for her again and this time she didn’t sidestep.

  Instead she moved into the circle of his arms and let his strength surround her. Memories flooded her mind. Chico had been a gift from Miguel. Had he known even then what he would do? Of course he had, she told herself. He’d planted the demon familiar with her to keep an eye on her and report on what she was up to.

  Then something else occurred to her. She leaned back, looked up into Rune’s eyes and said, “Chico was with us in the van. When I told you about Tía Carmen and about Barcelona.” She looked down at the broken little body and felt anger stir. “He flew off as soon as we got to Palenque, remember? So he probably already reported what he heard.”

  “Probably.” His expression didn’t change, which told Teresa that he had already realized that truth.

  “That means—”

  “—we’ll have enemies waiting for us in Spain.” Rune finished for her. “I know. But that changes nothing.”

  “No,” she agreed, “it doesn’t. We’ll still go. And we’ll still claim the Artifact.”

  “Damn right we will,” he murmured, smoothing her hair back from her face with a gentle touch.

  Teresa had now officially lost everything. Her home. Her best friend. Her grandmother. Even her pet had been taken from her by an evil that still wasn’t finished with her. Her old life was shattered and lay in ruins at her feet.

  But looking up into Rune’s gray eyes, she could feel his fierce strength and unswerving loyalty surrounding her, and she knew a new life was being born. Rising up from the ashes, her own personal phoenix was becoming something else. Something formidable. Her spirit lifted to the challenge. Her heart soared as she admitted to the deep and abiding love she felt for this Eternal. This immortal who made her feel more alive than ever before.

  Whatever came next, she would be prepared for it.

  With Rune at her side, no enemy was strong enough to defeat them.

  “You ready?” he asked, one corner of his mouth lifting into a half smile.

  “Yeah,” she said, hooking her arms around his neck. “Take me to Spain, Rune.”

  Chapter 57

  Miguel made it out of the rain forest.

  With his skin still buzzing from the electrical charge in the air, he raced down the hilly incline to where they’d left the cars. The van he ignored. If the others survived, they could take it. He jumped into his jeep, fired up the engine and floored it. Spinning the wheels, he did a quick turnaround and headed out of Palenque as fast as he could.

  His gaze studied the view in the rearview mirror, but as far as he could tell, no one was following him. And the lightning had stopped. Was Teresa really responsible for that? Damn. The continuous blasts of lightning bolts slamming into the earth had left him partially deaf. His ears were ringing and his heart crashed crazily in his chest.

  He wasn’t safe. Miguel knew that. He wouldn’t put it past the big Eternal to come after him, and if he did, then it wouldn’t matter how fast and far Miguel traveled. The man made of fire would find him.

  “Fuck!” He punched the steering wheel a couple of times and didn’t feel any better.

  The jeep jolted and bounced over impediments in the road, but kept on going. Just like him, Miguel assured himself. There were problems, sure. But he’d keep going. Parnell still needed him. He’d be able to explain. Hell, who would have known that the damn temple was magically protected?

  Teresa, that’s who, he told himself with a furious glower. She must have known what was going on. She’d done it deliberately. Her and that fucking old woman. They’d tricked him. Anyone could see that. It wasn’t his fault. Hell, if it was anyone’s fault, it was Parnell’s for not expecting this to happen.

  Yeah. That was it. Parnell’s fault.

  “But I won’t tell him that,” Miguel murmured. “I won’t blame him, so he won’t blame me. He’ll see I did everything I was supposed to. Not my fault it didn’t work. Fuck it—we can catch up to them. We’ll stop them. We can still get the damn Artifact.”

  The Artifact.

  Ever since he’d first learned of that magical shard of black silver, Miguel had hungered for it. Who wouldn’t? Immeasurable power locked inside a hunk of metal? The key to controlling whatever the hell you wanted to control? If Miguel could only get his hands on it, he could be a king. He could live as he was meant to live.

  Not in a damn desert or rain forest, either. He was thinking penthouse. Acapulco, maybe, to start. But with the Artifact, he could go anywhere, do anything.

  It was still within his reach.

  He would just make Parnell understand the situation. The farther he got from Palenque, the better he felt. In fact, he could almost convince himself that he’d done Parnell a favor. The lightning had killed off most of Miguel’s men and the others wouldn’t last a day in the rain forest. Something was sure to eat them. Another problem solved.

  He drove for hours, finally arriving back at the tavern where he’d left Parnell the day before. In the pit of his belly, nerves were alive and churning, but he didn’t let them show. A real man was nothing if not confident.

  Miguel wasn’t looking forward to this confrontation, but he knew he could talk the
boss around. This was the kind of stuff he was good at. Spinning a well-crafted load of bullshit was Miguel’s specialty.

  Smiling, nodding, he silently encouraged himself and hopped out of the car like a man without a care in the world.

  “It’s all about attitude,” he told himself, plastering a self-assured smile on his face as he headed for the tavern.

  Before he had gone more than a few steps, though, he heard powerful engines roaring up behind him. He turned to watch as three black SUVs skidded to a stop behind his battered jeep. Dust flew into the air in waves thick enough to make Miguel cough and turn his face away.

  When the dust settled, he turned back and saw men climbing out of the cars. Big men in black suits, wearing sunglasses, carrying automatic weapons. Fear ratcheted up so fast inside him, he thought his heart would jump right out of his chest. And still he fought for calm. For cool.

  “I’m here to see Parnell,” he said. “To explain.”

  “Boss ain’t here,” one of the men said.

  “Well, get him on the phone,” Miguel argued, looking from one face to the next, finding no sympathy. No sign of mercy.

  “He don’t want to talk to you. Said he knows what went down and you’ve failed too many times,” one of them said and nodded to his friends.

  He knew?

  How the hell did he know?

  “No, wait. I can do this,” Miguel said, throwing up both hands as he spoke, fast, panicked. “I know Teresa. I’ll get her. I swear.”

  They weren’t listening.

  He watched, terrified, as six gun barrels were turned on him. Nowhere to go. Nowhere to run. It was over and the man who would be king was going to die in the dust of this godforsaken desert.

  Should have killed that bitch, was his last thought as gunfire erupted and a hail of bullets cut him down.

  Chapter 58

  They went to Spain by boat.

  Of course a plane would have been faster, but with Teresa’s magic growing, they didn’t want to risk a lightning bolt in midflight. They hadn’t had time to look for and procure tickets on a cruise to Barcelona. So Rune being Rune, he had simply purchased a yacht. It was huge and fast, and with a crew paid extremely well to make the best possible time, it was only nine days at sea before they arrived in Barcelona.

  And Teresa wouldn’t have traded those nine days for anything.

  During the long days and longer nights spent in the arms of her mate, Teresa knew she had finally found the one place in the universe where she belonged. With Rune.

  As if thinking his name had conjured him, their stateroom door opened quietly. Teresa looked up and he was there. Her warrior, taking up the entire doorway with his muscular bulk. His gray eyes met hers and she saw the quick flare of desire that erupted between them with exhausting regularity.

  Despite her body still buzzing from their lovemaking that morning, Teresa felt fresh need wake and roar inside her. Would there ever come a time when she would be able to look at him and not want him immediately?

  God, she hoped not.

  He braced his hands on either side of the doorjamb. “I told the crew they could go ashore to blow off some steam. They worked their asses off getting us here this fast.”

  It had been a fast trip, Teresa told herself, but even with that, their thirty days were nearly over. Absently, she lifted one hand to rub her left breast and the mating tattoo that lay just beneath her T-shirt. The Mating was almost complete. And they still had to find the Artifact and return it to Haven.

  They were running out of time.

  “We should go see Tía Carmen,” she said.

  “Your aunt won’t know where the Artifact is,” he said softly. “Only you will as you access the memory.”

  “I know,” she said, feeling the pressure mount. She knew the black silver was here. In Barcelona. But that was a pretty big haystack to find a needle in. “I’m hoping that seeing Tía Carmen will jog something loose. I dreamed about her. There had to be a reason.”

  Nodding, Rune asked, “Where does she live?”

  “Barri Gotic. The Gothic Quarter.”

  “I know the place,” he said and pulled her in tight when she came close. He gave her a hard hug and added, “We’ll walk there. Flashing in and out in a city is just too dangerous. Someone would see us.”

  “Good point.” She took a moment to enjoy the feel of his strong arms around her and then they left the ship hand in hand.

  Chapter 59

  Barri Gotic was the center of the old city of Barcelona. In the hush of moonlight, narrow streets lined with tall buildings became shadowy cobblestoned labyrinths. The walkways felt almost like tunnels with the sheer walls of the bordering buildings rising up on either side. This area had been around since before the Romans, and Rune felt ancient times draw close as he and Teresa made their way past outdoor cafés in the Plaça del Pi—a square filled with trees boasting tiny white lights and a line of artists displaying their wares, hoping for customers.

  Teresa took the lead, with Rune’s sharp gaze searching for possible danger as she led them down Carrer de Pi, another narrow, only-for-pedestrians street. The buildings on either side of the street seemed to stretch heavenward, with brilliant splashes of color spilling from flower boxes and vines trailing around ornate iron railings on the balconies.

  It should have been beautiful, peaceful even, Rune told himself. Instead, there was an underlying sense of something dark layered just beneath the beauty. Something that nibbled at his instincts, prodded him to keep at battle-ready tension.

  “God, I remember this place,” Teresa murmured, her fingers tightening around Rune’s. “And not just from when I was a kid and we visited Tía Carmen. I’m talking about old memories. There used to be laundry hanging out here,” she said, waving her free hand to indicate the space between the buildings on either side of the street. “People shouting, arguing. Babies crying. And the street was awful. Filthy.” She shook her head and lifted her hand to rub at a spot in the center of her chest. “It feels …”

  “What?” Rune prompted. “What do you feel?”

  She looked up at him. “Close,” she said. “I feel close to the Artifact. It’s here. In the old city. I know it.”

  “Then we’ll find it.”

  Nodding, Teresa said, “First, Tía Carmen. I want to make sure she’s okay.” She darted through a doorway and up a flight of stone steps.

  Rune stayed close, and as they climbed to the third floor, they passed apartments with crosses nailed to the wall. A couple of the doorways were draped in ropes of garlic and Rune’s instincts went on high alert. Teresa stopped before a closed door painted a bright emerald green. She lifted her hand to knock, but Rune caught her hand in his.

  “Something is off,” he said, glancing out a narrow window to the moon in the sky. “Did you notice all the garlic and crosses? People are trying to ward off evil.”

  She paled a little and looked at her aunt’s closed door. “Evil? The Artifact? Or—”

  He sensed a presence within the apartment. He held his fingers to her lips and for the first time reached for her mind with his.

  Someone is in there with your aunt, he communicated to her.

  What? Her eyes were wide. Terrified. Who?

  Whoever it is has magic. The swell of power was unmistakable. Was it a friend of Teresa’s aunt? Or, more likely, an enemy?

  “Wait,” he told her, whispering now, not willing to rely on their new mental connection. “Let me go in first.”

  Her eyes narrowed and her features tightened as she picked up on the tension coiling inside him. “No. We go together.”

  “We have no idea who might be in there,” he said.

  “I know. But I’d rather face whatever it is as a team, Rune. I’ve already lost enough. I don’t want to lose Tía Carmen, too. And we’ve come too far together to split up now, don’t you think?”

  “I do,” he said, his voice hardly more than a breath of sound. “Are you up for it?”


  “I am.” She lifted her chin and flexed her fingers, sending tiny blue and white sparks flashing from her fingertips. “This is why we’ve been training, right? I mean, it’s not just about the Artifact, is it?”

  Her eyes shone in the soft light. “I mean, yes, we get the Artifact, find redemption, all that—but aren’t we supposed to be helping people, too? Like my aunt? Isn’t that what power should be used for?”

  Dazzled by her, Rune could only stare for a long moment. Then he bent, kissed her and whispered, “That’s exactly what power should be used for, Teresa. You make me proud to walk alongside you.”

  She took a deep breath, blew it out and said, “Thank you. Now, what do we do?”

  He was about to offer a plan when from inside the apartment a short, sharp shriek of pain exploded, then died in the next instant. Time was up. Rune grabbed Teresa and flashed them both inside.

  Moonlight slid through an open window and washed the narrow room with a silvered glow. Crocheted doilies dotted the surfaces of chairs and tables. Candles burned in scarlet glass votives, their flames creating dancing shadows on the walls. The scent of charred fabric scarred the air.

  “Oh, God.” Teresa pushed free of Rune’s grasp and dropped beside the old woman lying crumpled on the floor.

  “Tía Carmen?” she whispered.

  Rune quickly swept through the small apartment, assuring himself that the intruder was gone. Magic lingered behind, though, a trace energy that felt as dark as it was powerful.

  “Rune, she’s alive!” Teresa’s voice, strained with fear and what could only be tears choking her throat, reached him and he was at her side in an instant.

  The old woman was the mirror image of Teresa’s grandmother. The same wise eyes shone with patient stoicism, though the pain she felt had to be monstrous. Her left arm had been burned—in the same way Elena’s body had been back in Sedona. Rune knew now that their enemy—whoever that might be—was in Barcelona.

  “Teresa …” The soft, breathy voice came from her aunt and Teresa bent over her, talking quickly, quietly.