by Eva Chase
“That was quite a ruckus you stirred up downtown last night,” he said instead.
I grimaced. “Not by our choosing. We meant to ravage the pricks on their own turf, but they caught wind of our plans and ambushed us on our way there. We still managed to do plenty of ravaging, though, just not the rescue effort we’d hoped to include.”
“They’ve moved their prisoners again,” Thorn added with a grumble of frustration. “And they may have captured one of our own.”
Rex’s gaze skimmed over us. “Oh, yes, your ray of sunshine is missing, isn’t he? What a pity.”
A squeak sounded as if in agreement. Sorsha’s shadowkind pet had been huddled in a corner of the sofa at the arrival of the newcomers. Apparently having recognized them now, the little dragon scampered across the floor to twine around Laz’s ankle like a cat. The troll stared down at the creature with an expression of such anguish that I had to suppress a laugh. So much for the tough-guy front.
Sorsha slipped out of the bedroom alone, her face drawn, and moved to rejoin us. I tipped my head to Rex with all the authority I could emanate. “Why exactly are you all here, Rex? Does your dryad require this much protection or were you simply wanting to gawk at us? Because we have more plans to make and battles to carry out on behalf of all shadowkind that I’d like to get back to.”
The werewolf chuckled, but the arrogance in his pose deflated a little in recognition of who was the greater alpha here. I didn’t push the matter far enough to force him to outright cower in front of his associates. There might be times when it’d be useful to call in a favor from this man in the future. Aggression got you farthest in the long run when tempered by diplomacy.
“We’re not here as bodyguards or to gawk,” he said. “I got the impression last time we spoke that you wouldn’t mind a little assistance with all this battling. Well, here we are. We can battle on our own behalf. Just point us at the bastards who need gutting.”
I had to stiffen my expression to hide my shock. He was willing to step into a conflict that didn’t directly involve him yet—and not just offering his own allegiance, but that of his followers as well?
“I got the impression you didn’t give a shit what happened to the rest of the shadowkind as long as you and your comrades weren’t affected,” I said, keeping my tone dry. “What changed your tune?”
“Oh, we’re affected now.” A growl crept into the werewolf’s voice. “This is our city, and those assholes think they can burn down the fucking Finger? Maybe I’m not going to join you on any epic quests to win justice for all, but they clearly need to be taught a lesson.”
I managed to stop my gaze from twitching in Sorsha’s direction. From the corner of my eye, I could see her lips had pressed tight. It seemed wisest not to mention that it was one of my associates and not the Company who’d reduced the better part of that monstrosity of a statue to ashes.
“So they do,” I said without missing a beat. “And who better to deliver that lesson than you and your followers.” A smile curved my own mouth. “I’m looking forward to seeing how much damage we can inflict on them together. If I have it my way, they’ll never light so much as a cigarette around here again. Let’s get down to work.”
We’d just finished filling the gang in on what we knew and our plans so far—“Infecting their computer system,” Tassel purred. “I like it.”—when Birch emerged from the master bedroom. Somehow his nearly translucent skin looked even paler than it had when he’d gone in. His voice seemed to have faded too.
“The unicorn shifter will live,” he murmured roughly. “She woke up enough to exchange words with her partner. It may take another day or two before she can even move around on her feet, though. I’ve suggested they retire to the shadow realm until she’s fully recovered, as soon as she’s strong enough to make the leap through a rift.”
“You’ve got yourself a unicorn shifter?” Rex gave a disbelieving guffaw and then snapped his fingers at the troll. “That reminds me of something. Laz, fill Birch in on what he missed. Omen, a word?”
We stepped into the second bedroom—and damn if I couldn’t still scent a trace of the passion Sorsha must have shared with at least one of my shadowkind companions in the past couple of days. I willed it out of my awareness before my thoughts could linger on the moment in the yard when her body, her lips, had drawn me in with a nearly magnetic pull before I’d broken out of the spell. “What?”
The werewolf rubbed his hands together. “On the subject of unusual and powerful allies… I don’t remember many details—this was at least a couple of decades ago, though not so long it couldn’t be relevant. The Highest were searching for a particularly virile and apparently unpredictable shadowkind in this realm back then. I got the impression this one had caused some kind of chaos they needed to settle. Can’t remember the name they asked us about… A red stone of some sort. Jasper? Garnet?”
“Is this story going anywhere?” I asked, as though my interest wasn’t already piqued.
“I’m getting there. From what I heard from my contacts, they were looking for this red-stone-name all over the country. Maybe farther out too. And they specifically told us not to engage with the shadowkind if we got any word. It was too great a risk, and we should let them handle it.” He grinned. “I never heard that they caught that one. If you could track this Jasper or Garnet or whatever down… That’d be someone to have on your side in this war with the mortals, don’t you think? Could be almost as much a rebel as you are.”
I had a vague recollection of hearing murmurs about this subject, but I’d mostly been shadow-side during that time. As it probably had back then too, the first thought that flitted through my mind was of a being long-gone. I didn’t think the Highest had ever taken issue with anyone more than they had with Tempest, my once some-time partner-in-crime, and she’d gone through guises like mortals shed clothes… but I’d watched the minions of the ancient ones batter her to a pulp centuries ago. The sphynx was long gone, and we were likely all better for it. I doubted she’d ever have reformed.
Whoever this newer rebel was, it certainly sounded as though they had energy and guts to spare. Stumbling on them would be a longshot, but a possibility to file away all the same.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I said. “If we need the extra assistance in the first place. I say we crush the bastards tonight and end things there.”
“That works for me.” Rex bumped shoulders with me hesitantly, as if half expecting me to take a bite out of him for his forwardness. I settled on a simple glare. He hadn’t needed to offer anywhere near this much help. I could allow a little chumminess.
And maybe not just with him. When we returned to the living room, my eyes settled on Sorsha—sitting cozied up to Ruse now, poking Thorn in his massive bicep without any fear of the wingéd’s power, shooting a snappy response back at something Tassel had said. Like she belonged here.
Could I really say she didn’t? Correct blame for the fire aside, I doubted Rex would be here at all if she hadn’t laid into him about his self-centeredness.
Our mortal and her hope springing eternal.
I just had to keep a careful eye on all the other emotions her presence tended to stir in me. There was no room for distractions. We had a conspiracy of humans to destroy—and I intended to see them fall before the night was done.
30
Sorsha
In taking on the Company of Light, we’d faced old office buildings, modern lab facilities, and now what might as well have been a castle, set well back on its sprawling lawn. I wouldn’t be surprised if the man who owned the old mansion figured he really was some kind of king. Victor Bane—that was a super-villain name if I’d ever heard one. If that even was his real name and not yet another layer of subterfuge.
Thanks to Birch’s healing efforts just before we’d headed out, my no-longer-wounded stomach could rest against my thighs in my crouched position without pain prickling through it. I scanned the yard from my perch on the branch of
an oak tree in Bane’s neighbor’s backyard. Thorn’s initial scouting through the shadows had shown him about twenty armed guards on the premises outside the building, and I could make out several of them stalking along in their patrols.
No big deal. We were more than ready for them. Bane or whoever couldn’t know that we’d more than doubled our numbers since the Company’s last assault on us, or I suspected he’d have called in every man he could.
Of course, maybe he already had. Thorn, Omen, and the others had torn through quite a few last night.
We had to crash their party before they got the chance to find out about our latest plans. The Company had eyes and ears in too many places—nothing we did seemed to stay secret for long. The only times we’d really turned the tables on them was when we’d acted on our information right away.
I just wished this plan didn’t depend so much on my powers kicking in when they should. Or on keeping those powers secret even from our new allies.
Omen had pulled me aside after we’d finished settling our strategy, in which he’d claimed responsibility for setting a few things alight once we were at the Bane property.
“You know which parts you were meant to handle,” he’d said in a dark undertone. “Stick to the original plan on that count—I’ll be with Thorn focusing on cutting down as many of the guards as we can. But don’t let Rex or his lackeys see you at it if you can help it. Easier for us to keep you as our ace up our sleeve if word doesn’t get out too widely.”
I already didn’t love the way Rex tended to eye me as if speculating how he’d carve me up into steaks given the opportunity. Keeping any additional attention off me sounded just dandy.
I would hold my own tonight—I’d be more an asset than a liability, even if some of the help I offered went under most of our allies’ radar. If we lost anyone else tonight because of my actions or my mortal limitations…
My jaw tightened. No, I wasn’t even going to think that far. It wouldn’t happen. I wouldn’t let it.
To begin with, our main trick would be creating small enough diversions that the shadowkind could pick off one or two guards at a time without them realizing they were under attack. We’d rather no one clued in that an assault was underway until we’d reduced their numbers already. If we could make it all the way to wherever the Company was keeping its imprisoned shadowkind, even better—but I didn’t expect our luck would stretch that far.
The shadowkind could pull off a hell of a lot of their own, but they were going to need me to open those silver-and-iron cages, and I couldn’t waltz in through the shadows unseen. Without Snap to taste the locks, I wasn’t even sure how long it’d take me to break into whatever cages the captives were currently being held in. We might have to rely on Ruse charming an employee who happened to know the entry codes or Rex’s techie guy to find the details in the computer system.
So, yeah, the more of our opposition we picked off ahead of time, the better for all of us. Particularly, for me making it out of this alive and without taking anyone else down with me.
A light flickered on and off around the back of the Bane property. I tensed on my perch. That was my cue. I was supposed to wait ten seconds.
As I counted, I sang under my breath to bolster my nerve. “We’ll laugh and flare, woo-oah, giving them a scare.”
Holy mother of margaritas, did I wish I had Snap’s upbeat presence by my side now. If these assholes had caught him in their nets and hurt him in any way… I’d happily join the shadowkind in the bloodier part of this rampage.
That thought sent a little spurt of adrenaline through me, just enough to kick my pulse up a notch—and to fuel my inner flames. With the narrowing of my eyes, I flung the energy out toward the electrical wire that cut across the sky from a nearby post.
Sparks leapt from the cable. Then a lick of fire spurted up, sizzling over the rubbery coating.
Shouts volleyed across the lawn. Some of the security force had noticed. My heart thumped even faster as I aimed my attention at the post itself. Another flame flickered into being where the cables hooked onto it.
Just a little electrical issue threatening to cut off the entire property’s power. Wouldn’t want to have to explain to the big man how they’d let that happen.
Someone was talking into a phone in urgent tones, and a few of the guards approached the front gate. That was right—just walk on out past the wall like it’s an ordinary night, just a little hassle with the utilities…
The gate’s metal bars clanged shut behind them, and my perked ears caught the faintest grunt as a couple of the shadowkind must have toppled that bunch. I didn’t have time to waste on wondering how the skirmish was playing out or how horribly my allies might be eviscerating the Company dudes right now. My gaze darted across the grounds to the trees closest to the utility post.
A little smoldering here, a little flare of heat there. At least, that’s what I wanted to happen. The branches stayed dark and unburnt as ever.
Come on, come on. I gritted my teeth and thought again of Snap—of Snap on one of those metal tables where the Company did their experiments, pinned with silver and iron bindings so he was in too much distress to be able to shed his physical form, his body pierced with scalpels and needles and whatever other horrors these people inflected on their prisoners—
Flames darted across a few twigs at the top of the trees, as if they’d leapt from somewhere along the burning cable. I willed them higher until another round of shouts rang out.
A few more guards headed out through the gate to their doom, and a handful more hustled into the stand of trees near the northern wall by me, where monsters lurked in the darkness.
The distraction part of the plan wasn’t all on me. A motor growled, and footsteps thumped around the back of the yard too, where Ruse would have activated the ride-on lawnmower. On the far side of the mansion, a few of the gang members would be standing on the other side of the wall hooting with laughter and smashing bottles against the stones like drunken hooligans.
How many of the guards had we drawn away between all our efforts? I edged farther along my oak branch, readying myself to spring onto the top of the wall and then down when I got a signal that the coast was clear.
Hardly any guards were in sight now. The two I could see striding across the lawn to check on their colleagues toppled abruptly under the impact of two burly shadowkind who burst from the shadows. Silver and iron might protect these people from shadowkind voodoo, but it couldn’t do anything to stop those fists from smashing their skulls in.
A molten orange glow streaked across the grass toward the building’s side door—Omen, making himself visible in hellhound form just long enough for me to see him. We were heading inside. Time for the hard part.
I threw myself onto the wall and then landed with a thump on the grass just inside the property. A voice started to bellow in alarm, but the sound was cut off with a bloody gurgle. Fickle fates willing, no one up at the house had taken note of that first sound the guard had barely managed to get out.
The grass whispered under my sneakers as I darted across the lawn. The side door swung open, its lock released, just as I reached it. Quieting my rasping breath, I ducked into the hall on the other side.
Thorn solidified completely just long enough to give me a nod and an encouraging squeeze of my arm. We’ll be right there with you, he’d said when we’d discussed this phase of the mission, and the same sentiment was etched all over his face.
Here I was, the most essential piece in the plan and also the most breakable.
The shadowkind intruders had already gotten to work on clearing my way. I darted past a body slumped against the wall, her gut gouged open beneath her metal vest, and pushed through the doorway ahead of me.
In the first second as the wavering blueish light washed over me, I thought I’d stumbled on a mad scientist’s lab already. Then my eyes adjusted to the dim light—and the stink of chlorine. The bastard had his own indoor pool, for fuck’s sake.
I skirted the still water and the glow of the lights beneath it. I’d made it halfway around the pool when a guard pushed past the far door. From his stern but not frantic expression and the energy to his stride, he was concerned about whatever he’d come down here to investigate but not yet aware it was an all-out invasion.
At least, until he spotted me. “Halt right there!” he shouted, his gun hand jerking up.
He had better instincts than Leland, but not good enough. I’d already grabbed a life preserver that’d been mounted on the wall beside me. I hurled it at him like a massive discus in time to smack his arm to the side.
The good news: I remained bullet-free. The bad news: His finger still squeezed the trigger, sending one of those bullets into the far wall with an unmistakable boom that echoed through the building around us.
There went our advantage of stealth. Our chances of victory were really ticking away now.
I dove at the guard’s legs, aiming to stay out of the line of fire while I knocked him on his ass. Unfortunately, there are rules about running on pool decks for a reason. My feet skidded on a slick patch, and I tumbled over on my ass.
Ruse materialized beside me looking ready to come to my defense however he could, but at the same moment, Bow leapt from the shadows in full centaur form. “I can’t touch your head in that helmet, but the diving board doesn’t have the same problem,” he declared, and spun so he could slam his hind horse legs into the guard’s gut.
The man hurtled across the water. The back of his skull smacked into the edge of the diving board so hard the helmet dented halfway through his head. He dropped like a sack of potatoes into the pool. Bow wiped his hands together with an unusually vicious expression.
Possibly too vicious. “Maybe a little lighter on the hoof power next time?” Ruse said as we dashed to the door the guard had emerged from. “We need at least one of these fools alive—and conscious enough—for me to charm them into leading the way to their prison.”
