My stomach churned and I swallowed hard, shoving the cloaks away. The shivering increased as clammy sweat beaded on my forehead and dampened the back of my neck. Desperate, I tried to scramble away from the cloaks.
A cry pushed past my lips as my weight settled on my right wrist. My eyes found it. A gaping ring of torn, bleeding, and blistered flesh circled my swollen and broken appendage. My stomach lurched. I clamped my mouth shut against the threatening eruption. Almost too shaky to support myself, I used my good hand and crawled a few feet before I couldn’t hold it back anymore.
It came up in the same fiery rush as before and filled my mouth with a metallic taste that made me shudder. My stomach heaved until there was nothing left and then heaved some more. When it was finally done, I felt like a wrung-out dishrag. I made it part way back to the cloaks before passing out. As the world faded from view, I heard a raven calling in alarm.
I slowly sank into the darkness. I tried to keep from getting too deep, but it felt like I was drowning. Every attempt to swim resulted in a struggle through thick water that was too hot and too cold at the same time. Too weak to make much headway, I wondered why I bothered. When I stopped fighting, the pain receded. The cold went away. I drifted in absolute comfort.
“Damn it, Josephine.” Caius’s voice cut through the darkness in my mind.
Hey, he remembered my name even if he did sound irritated. Somewhere in the distance, I sensed a sharp sting on my cheek. Did he really just smack me again? I was going to kick his ass when I was done dying.
Wait…dying? I couldn’t do that yet. I needed to be a hobbit and take a dagger to Merlin…or something like that. It was important anyway, I knew that much at least.
I fought to reach the surface. It wasn’t easy. The water seemed to get thicker and heavier the closer I got. When I finally broke through, Caius’s blurry face swam across my vision. The cold that swirled around me left as he rewrapped me in the cloaks. I didn’t seem to be on the floor. It took me a minute to realize he was kneeling with me across his lap. A damp cloth wiped across my face. What the… oh yeah, I had thrown up. Ew.
“I’m sorry to do this, but your replenisher isn’t working.” Caius’s voice was urgent.
I watched in horror as fangs sprouted in his mouth and he tore his own wrist open. A wave of dizziness threatened to send me back to the dark.
“Oh no, you don’t,” I heard Caius say. Then something hot flowed into my mouth. The taste was more metallic than what I had vomited and seemed vaguely familiar. The liquid soaked into the tissues of my mouth and throat on its way down. My stomach cramped and twisted, and I knew what he’d done.
I tried to jerk away. The iron band of his arm held me in place as more of his blood flowed into my mouth. There was no choice other than swallow or drown. When he finally pulled his wrist away, I realized he wasn’t done shoving things down me. The glass edge of a vial pressed against my lips as he dumped the contents into my mouth before I could turn my head.
Oh gods, I really was dying now. Someone had coated a wrecking ball with pitch, lit it on fire and then slammed it into me. My throat convulsed and closed around the scream that clawed for release as the napalm sensation I’d felt in Alaric’s office rushed through me.
And then the pain and the fiery heat were gone from everywhere but my abdomen. Oh no. I didn’t want to—
Caius rolled me over and held me with one arm while he used his other hand to pull my hair back. I could barely breathe it came up so fast. When it was finally over, I was done. I gave all I could; now I was done. I gratefully accepted the darkness this time.
***
“I shouldn’t have done it. Since it could condemn her, it was rather selfish of me. But, I couldn’t condemn myself. This was a dangerous line to walk.” ~Caius
Chapter 31
Sunshine and raven calls pulled me back to the world. I was still wrapped like a mummy in the cloaks. When I opened my eyes, I found my head pillowed on Caius’s leg. Before I could address that, I needed to take inventory.
Thankfully, I seemed okay. No shivers, no burning, no upset stomach. Even my wrist felt fine. The relief was immense. I turned my head to look up at Caius. He leaned against the cave wall, head back, eyes closed. Though his cloak was wrapped around me, he wore another one. Must have brought an extra in his pack. A glance at the wrist I could see revealed smooth skin. Not that it meant anything. He could have used the other one. Or not. He healed faster than me.
The raven calls got louder and more persistent. I shifted and pushed myself into a sitting position, squinting at the bright light beyond the cave opening.
“They are waiting to see if you are all right.”
I twisted to look at Caius. “They’re what?”
He nodded toward the birds gathered in the clearing beyond the cave. “At first, it was just one. It showed up shortly after I brought you back here. The others began gathering last night. One at a time, they’ve flown in. They always get restless whenever you move or make noise.”
“Why would they think I wasn’t all right?” I slowly untangled my legs from the cloaks. “I mean yeah, I felt like I was dying, but it couldn’t have been as bad as it felt.”
“You were dying. There was so much silver in your system I could smell it on your skin. Your replenisher did nothing, it isn’t meant to purge silver from your system. It’s not a metal angels or Children have to worry about. You had just enough demon blood for the silver to infect you, but not enough to fight it off once the source of the infection was removed.”
I remembered then. The hot, metallic taste of his blood.
Caius gave me a weary look and motioned toward the ravens. “That’s when they showed up. Replenisher for demonborn is designed to purge silver. Unfortunately, you didn’t have enough demon blood running through your veins to activate it. Enough for the silver to kill you, not enough to heal you. So I flooded you with my blood then dosed you with my replenisher. If you weren’t already so close to death my blood alone would have worked. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to wait.”
I glanced at the ravens. “Why are they here or care to begin with?”
“Ravens are the messengers of Morrigan, they are tightly tied to her. You are the last of the line of her Children with purer blood than any in Midtween. They would have sensed your impending death and came to watch over you.” He sighed. “You didn’t die, but I’m not sure they feel I saved you.”
I shuddered at the memory of the last violent hurling of my insides. “So the silver is gone from my system now?”
“It is.” His expression turned serious. “You can’t ever return the favor.”
“What?” His statement confused me.
He ran a hand through his hair, making a mess of it. “That wasn’t a few drops of diluted blood, Josephine. It was served up straight and a whole lot of it. More than enough to strengthen the bond.”
I ground my teeth at the use of Josephine. At least he wasn’t calling me, ‘Reaper’ anymore. “Trust me; I’m well aware of that.”
“Then you are aware that if I ever need blood to heal, it can’t be yours or we’ll be fully and completely bound. No way out.” His golden gaze held mine. “I won’t be the cause of your downfall.”
“Why would you be my downfall?”
“People already want you dead because of the mix you are now. It will be even worse if we are fully bound.”
“I already have a bunch of demon blood in me now, what’s the difference?”
Caius sighed. “If we were fully bound, given what we both are, we would both become a mix with my demon side always stronger for me and your angel and Child heritage being stronger for you. It’s not a mix either side would allow, to say nothing of Morrigan.”
“So it wasn’t that Sinmar didn’t want to take the chance of you dying that you only agreed to a partial bond?”
“Is that what Alaric told you?” He shook his head. “For some reason, Alaric went to a lot of effort to hide all of th
is from you. I would like to know why. He is fully aware of the chaos a full bond would create.”
“I was never too keen on being a demonborn blood bank anyway,” I said in an attempt to lighten the mood. “If you end up needing blood, we’ll find some other poor sap to take the job.”
Caius snorted in amusement. Of course, I was only joking…I think. I turned away to look at the ravens with a frown. “So why are they worried I’m not okay?”
“You only have trace amounts of mortal human blood in you. For all intents and purposes, you’re half-angel, half-Child of Morrigan. I wasn’t sure if I would save you or finish killing you with that much demon blood.” He motioned toward the ravens. “I guess they weren’t sure either.”
I stood slowly. “Guess I better reassure them.”
My body felt surprisingly strong. I expected to be weak and shaky after all of that. I felt like I could run a marathon and leap a mountain at the end. As I walked out of the cave, ravens took off from the trees ringing the clearing beyond, the air filled with the noise of their wings and calls.
Hundreds of them took flight then swooped toward me. Perhaps I should have been afraid of that many birds coming right at me, but I wasn’t. I stood at the center of a raven tornado as they swirled all around me and then as one, they streamed into the sky, splintering off in every direction until there was only one left.
It landed on a nearby rock and regarded me for a long moment. I took a step toward it, but stopped when it flapped its wings and moved back. I got the sense that though it might be worried, it didn’t want me any closer.
The raven ruffled its feathers then took off, disappearing into the trees. I turned to find Caius standing behind me. Glancing back at where the raven had been I said, “I’m not sure if I reassured them or not.”
“If I read them correctly they are both relieved and disgusted right now,” Caius said with a troubled look in his eyes.
I frowned. “Why?”
“Because yes, you are healed and technically all right now. At the same time, to them, you reek of demon blood.”
“Is that why I feel like I could tear down this forest with my bare hands if I wanted to?” I asked, flexing my hands.
Caius chuckled and held out my pack to me. “While my blood is still fresh in your system, you possess more strength than you’ve ever had. Still not enough to overwhelm an older demonborn, but it will help keep you safe for a little bit.”
“While it’s fresh? You mean this feeling will pass?”
“Yes.” He nodded. “Most of the extra strength will fade after a short time.”
I took the pack from him and shouldered it. “Why did you do it? If you knew it would strengthen the bond? Wouldn’t it have been easier to let me die?”
His golden eyes were unreadable. “I told you I wouldn’t let you die. Did you think I was lying?”
“No.” I shook my head. “But when you said that, you didn’t know the lengths you would have to go in order to honor it. You didn’t know you would have to break the rules.”
“Sometimes,” he said quietly, “you have to break the rules.”
I stared at him, struggling to understand why he would break the rules for me. Why he would take the chance. How was my life worth that to anybody? Even my own father didn’t think I was worth sticking around for.
His expression gave nothing away though something burned behind his eyes, stirring a warmth inside me that I didn’t understand. He’d once said breaking the bond with me would make breaking the bond with a mortal seem like a minor headache. Was that why he went to so much effort? Or was it something else.
“We need to get back.”
His words interrupted my thoughts and I shook my head at my own silliness. My brush with death must have addled my brain. Ignoring the quiet whisper of dissent in my mind, I asked, “We’re going back to Midtween?”
In answer, he handed me a small slip of paper. In the events that followed getting the key, I’d completely forgotten about the little tube that had been in the nook as well. I took it from him and unrolled it.
The Watcher resides at the edge, beyond the place where whispers wait. Follow the lights to where the red rock gathers.
Oh, look, more obscure babbling. “The ones who set all of this up were big on confusing riddles, weren’t they?”
“This one isn’t so confusing to those who’ve been around for a while,” Caius said as he tossed the straps of his pack over his shoulder.
“Fabulous, so I’m the only one who is clueless once again.” Frowning, I walked toward the cave. “Please tell me this isn’t on a regular map.”
“There are no maps for the Between.”
“The Between? You mean we aren’t headed back to the mortal world?”
“Doesn’t look like it.” Caius stopped next to me right at the edge of the cave opening, an amused glint in his golden eyes. “Meet me at the bridge. You will be harder to kill now if another demonborn tries.”
The mortal world shimmered and slowly disappeared.
***
“My actions had confused her. I knew she wanted to understand, but I couldn’t explain why I broke the rules to save her life. Not without looking closer at things better left alone.” ~Caius
Chapter 32
The Incoming Room shimmered into view. Except it wasn’t the room I was expecting and I wasn’t alone. It looked a lot like the one I was used to with a myriad of freestanding doorways in every style imaginable. However, the dark carpet covering the floor should have been gray. The glossy wooden door in one wall was not only in the wrong place, it was the wrong door.
I turned toward the man next to me and gasped. “Caius?”
“What in the nine hells are you doing here?” he hissed at me.
“Don’t ask me!”
“Shut up.” He walked away to listen at the closed door, then turned and whispered, “It must be the blood. You have enough for us to end up in the same place.”
I hurried over to stand next to the door with him. “At least I don’t have to worry about avoiding Alaric.”
“No, just a roomful of demonborn. Most of which would like to see you dead.”
“Yeah, no big deal.” I did my best to show none of the fear flooding my system. Fear was a weakness I couldn’t afford right now. I tried to think of a way out of this, but came up with nothing. “What do we do?”
Caius glanced at me. “Take your reaper cloak off.”
I wasn’t sure how that would help, but I pulled it off anyway. Caius took it and stuffed it in my pack, then pulled the extra crimson one from his pack. At my questioning look, he said, “Put it on.”
I took the cloak and shoved my arms through the sleeves. It was made for Caius, which meant it puddled on the floor. “Do most demonborn run around in cloaks that are a foot or so too long?”
“A too-long cloak will stand out less than a reaper cloak.” He tugged the hood of the cloak up until the edge shadowed my face then grabbed the handle of the door. His golden gaze locked on mine and his voice was hard and urgent when he said, “You’re going to leave this room and turn immediately to your right. The next doorway leads to the Outgoing Room. You’re going to walk in there like you belong and get the hell through one of those doors.”
I licked my lips, my eyes on the door, and swallowed. “Alone?”
“It will draw attention if we both walk out of this room and into the other.”
“What about you?” I glanced at him. “It didn’t look like they were going to be throwing you a welcome back party the next time they saw you.”
Caius chuckled darkly as the markings began to glow on his skin. I caught a glimpse of fang as one side of his mouth lifted in something between a smile and snarl. “I look forward to anything they would like start. I didn’t get to be my mother’s longest-lived son by being weak.” He opened the door and whispered, “Ready?”
My dry mouth kept me from answering, so I just nodded, squared my shoulders and strolled past
him. The room beyond looked a lot like the Reaper Offices, except for all of the crimson cloaks and the occasional snarling from temperamental demonborn. I allowed my gaze to skitter across the occupants before turning to the right.
With great effort, I kept my chin level and eyes forward. Caius’s words about not being weak rang in my ears. Instinct told me the quickest way to draw attention would be to appear afraid or hesitant. I needed to pretend I belonged here.
The next door down beckoned. Only about fifty feet away. It felt like five-hundred. A disagreement broke out across the room as two of the demonborn suddenly snarled and screeched. No one paid them any mind as they both morphed partially to their demon halves and attempted to tear each other to pieces. Lovely.
A beautiful, blonde demonborn brushed past me and stepped on my foot. She turned in false surprise. “Oh, I’m sorry.” The expression on her strangely familiar face was anything but sorry. Looking pointedly down from the several inches she had on me, she said, “I guess I didn’t see you there. I didn’t realize demonborn came in such small packages.”
Her attitude sent a rush of anger through me and brought a snarl to my lips that surprised me.
Blondie smiled, showing a flash of fang. “Oh, so scary little one.” Her smile faded to a frown. “Where have I seen you before?”
I was trying to work that exact question out myself. I stared at her silver eyes and I knew. She was the demonborn who almost killed me while othersiding. The realization brought a wave of fear that quickly turned to rage.
In a flash, I saw red, and then I saw Blondie crumpled at the base of a wall surrounded by scorch marks, a stunned look on her face. My extended hands trembled. I felt something prickle across the skin of my shoulders and upper arms as tiny flames licked at my fingertips. The fire hadn’t harmed her, only slammed her back.
Unveiled (Raven Daughter Book 1) Page 20
