by Danica Avet
The bears regained their feet, their gazes concentrated behind them.
“I think that was our stash of ammunitions,” Beard muttered darkly as his eyes searched the woods around them.
“There’s no one out here,” the other one mumbled as he started back the direction from which they came. “Ben sent us out here for nothing.”
Beard didn’t follow right away, his keen eyes sweeping the landscape. Grant held his breath, certain the bear would discover them, but after several tense minutes, he too started back in the direction of the explosion.
The group waited another few seconds though Grant was chafing to follow. Isola was where the explosion was, he knew it as surely as he knew he loved her more than life. Please don’t let her be hurt, he prayed to the gods. He didn’t know what he’d do without her.
Finally, after what seemed like ages, Saga gave the signal for them to move out. They crept through the woods, following the bears back to their encampment. The closer they came, the stronger the scent of brimstone and ash became. The trees were burnt to a crisp in a perfect half-circle. The snow had melted, leaving a muddy mess behind.
Grant noted all of this, but his focus was on the large field at the edge of the woods. Bears fought against…nymphs. He stopped dead in his tracks, everyone else following suit.
“What the hell?” Saga breathed as she took in the ferocious fighting going on.
Not able to help the smugness he felt, he looked at them. “Isola and I told you.”
* * * *
Izzy cursed as her knees buckled again. Dov didn’t even pause, pulling her through the tunnels beneath the shack. The explosion had tossed him on top of her which had broken the chair she’d been tied to. She’d tried to get away from him, but the wily bear had tackled her and cuffed her on the back of the head with one of his gigantic fists.
It was nearly impossible to walk with her hands tied behind her back and her feet shackled together, but she tried. She thought she’d finally caught the rhythm, but no such luck. She stumbled, falling to her knees behind Dov. He just tightened his grip on her arm and dragged her.
“Ouch, you bastard! I’m getting stone burn here!”
Her leathers had shredded at some point during the explosion and escape attempt. The tunnel was solid rock and no one had bothered putting soft carpeting down on the floor to protect helpless Amazons from getting their legs torn up.
“You’ll get more than that if you don’t shut up and walk,” Dov said absently. His head was held high as he scented this way and that.
“Who blew up your shit anyway?”
She knew it wasn’t her people. She was the only Amazon in her tribe with the demolitions bug and she seriously doubted the Council would want to make a big Hollywood-type production of a simple rescue mission. Besides, the heat that had nearly cooked them alive had been scented with magic. It had been no chemical accident, but a fire bearer who’d set off that explosion. So either the killer nymphs had come back for round two, or someone pissed off a fire elemental.
Izzy stopped, forcing Dov to throw her over his shoulder to keep moving. Fire elemental. Why hadn’t she thought of that? Ormond Steele was a fire elemental—one of the most powerful beings in the Veil. Elementals were their elements, they lived and breathed it and only another elemental could defeat them. But why would Ormond be after Izzy and Dov? It was Grant who’d been the original target.
She stared at the flagstones as Dov carted her down the corridor. So maybe it wasn’t Ormond, but someone else. But who—
“Dov,” a feminine voice purred from somewhere ahead.
A jolt went through Dov at the sound of the voice and he tensed as though faced with another predator. Izzy tried twisting in his hold to see who could have Dov so freaked out, but the most she did was hit herself in the face with her ponytail.
“Avyn.”
Avyn?
“This isn’t the minotaur, Dov.”
He fidgeted, which was a very unpleasant sensation for Izzy. She closed her eyes as nausea flooded her. It was like being on a very small boat in a very big ocean. Bleurgh.
“I know this isn’t the minotaur,” Dov muttered as he shuffled his feet slightly. “She’s bait.”
“Bait.”
“Yes, they’re mated.” Even as he said the words, the arm clamped around Izzy’s legs tightened.
If she hadn’t been so sick to her stomach, she would’ve protested the hold, but as it was, she just moaned a bit. He needed to put her down or she’d hurl all over his back, which he so deserved.
“And just where were you going with your…bait, Dov?”
“I don’t answer to you, woman,” Dov growled taking a step forward.
“No, but you do answer to Ormond and I’m almost positive he said he wanted the minotaur, not some overly rounded Amazon.”
Overly rounded! Oh these people were just asking to have their asses kicked!
“I want the Amazon.”
There was a beat of silence as though the woman was surprised. Then she spoke again. “That doesn’t signify at this moment, Dov. You failed to bring the minotaur on the specified date and you know how Ormond deals with those who fail him.”
“The minotaur is on his way.”
“But he isn’t here now, is he? No, I’m afraid you and your clan are off this case. Permanently.”
Izzy landed on the ground with a thud and a moan seconds before the sounds of battle echoed down the corridor. She didn’t spare the combatants a single glance. Instead, she used their distraction to look for something to cut through the rope looped around her wrists.
Spying a jagged piece of stone along the wall, she wiggled to it and sawed at the rope. She couldn’t look at the fight, couldn’t let herself be diverted by what was happening. No, she had to focus on getting free. After that, she could deal with everything else.
Izzy lost count of how many times she cut herself on the ragged stone, but eventually she felt the rope slacken until she could break the threads. She winced as she brought her arms around to untie the link of rope around her ankles. She couldn’t stop, not now. Grant and her sisters were coming. She knew they were, could almost feel them in the air, and she didn’t want them walking into an ambush filled with Eturians and Eturian sympathizers.
Her frantic scrambling to get free blinded her to the atmosphere, and then she sensed it. Something was wrong, well more than what she already knew. She paused with her fingers on the knot between her ankles. It was silent. The fight had ended, but who had won?
Chapter Twenty-Six
“Should we um…wow, I’ve never seen nymphs fight before,” Saga said in a wondering tone. “They really suck at it.”
Grant had to agree. The females, whom he recognized from his botched kidnapping, were losing to the bears, but they didn’t go down easily. There were flames erupting all over the place, holes forming beneath the bears’ feet, and one enterprising nymph had filled one of the holes with water to try and drown the bears. Overall, it was the worst pitched battle Grant had ever seen in his life.
It was hard to tear his eyes away from the train wreck, but he did because his mate was still in danger. The rest of the group watched the fight with dismay. They still hadn’t believed nymphs were responsible for his kidnapping, but now they saw for themselves—these were no ordinary nymphs.
“I want to get Isola and get out.” He looked at Shikoba, whose eyes were round as half dollars. “Is she still here?”
Her green eyes narrowed as she stared passed the fighting figures. “Yes, but the trail is muted, like she’s surrounded by something.”
Grant didn’t want to think about what that meant, so instead, he thought about how they were going to get across the field of battle to the small shack in the distance. The others, apparently, were wondering the same thing. Shikoba could dissolve to shadow and slip across unseen, but the rest of them were SOL.
“Thoughts?” he asked Saga, who glared at the combatants.
“
We’d be seriously outnumbered if we tried to contain them, so we can’t just waltz out there.” She looked at the perimeter of the field, which was littered with blackened husks of trees. “The Smell Be Gone will wear off in about twenty minutes, so we need to get out there before the bears catch our scent.”
“I can get to the area right before the shack,” Fallon murmured, his eyes on the door. “As long as I see where I’m going, I can get there with no problem.”
It was a battle not to demand the incubus stay behind, but Grant managed. This operation was bigger than jealousy, and he wanted Isola safe. If the incubus could get there and at least check on her…
“Do it.”
Fallon’s silver eyes flicked to Grant and a small smile played around his mouth. “Are you sure, taureau?”
“Just make sure she’s safe. We’ll be right behind you.” Somehow.
“Don’t engage,” Saga warned as she stepped closer to the incubus. Ricky growled softly, but no one paid him any mind. “We don’t know how many are in there with her and the last thing we need is to lose the New Orleans Sin Den Master.”
Fallon stiffened as though insulted, but he must have seen the same concern in her face Grant did because the incubus relaxed. He leaned over and kissed her forehead.
“Mais, oui, I can do that.” He saluted the group. “See you there.”
The incubus disappeared in a puff of sandalwood-scented smoke that had the Amazons and shadow fairy sniffing the air appreciatively. Grant squinted across the field and between one moment and the next Fallon appeared in front of the door of the shack. He crouched beneath the small window next to the door and peeked in before sinking back down.
Fallon turned towards them and gave a shake of his head. Isola wasn’t in the shack. Grant’s hands tightened into fists. Where was she?
“What’re we watchin’?”
The deep, gravelly voice startled the group into jumping. As a unit, they whirled around on the newcomer, weapons and fangs drawn. Grant slumped. It was Duffy.
“What are you doing here?” he demanded of the demon lord, waving at the others to relax.
Duffy swiped the sleeve of his shirt under his nose. “Eh, been tryin’ to track your girlfriend down to talk to her about that terror spell on her.”
“Terror spell?” Saga and Rosetta echoed, exchanging a startled glance.
“Yeah, someone cursed the girl. Wanted to let her know Glenda got a call. It seems the warmage who cast the spell was killed in a bear mauling, so she should feel the effects of the spell wear off soon.” The demon lord frowned at the field behind Grant’s group. “Are those nymphs?”
“Yes,” everyone said in unison.
“Huh. Just when you think you’ve seen it all,” Duffy marveled, scratching his head.
Grant didn’t want to discuss anything else. “Can you get us across the field without being seen?”
The demon lord studied Grant carefully. “Why would I want to do that?”
I will not kill the demon lord. I will not kill the demon lord. He should’ve known Duffy wouldn’t do something just because Grant asked. He opened his mouth to beg the demon lord, but was interrupted by Saga who stepped up to the older and much taller Duffy.
“Duffy Sinclair, you old bastard, you’d better get us to that shack, or I’ll make sure everyone knows about that tithe you paid during the Gold Rush.”
Grant never thought he’d see the demon lord shocked, but that’s exactly what he looked like as he stared at Saga. “S–Saga Ingvar?”
A dangerous smile crossed the Amazon’s face. “It’s Saga DeLacey now, but yes.” She stepped closer to the demon lord. “You either help me and these people get to that shack, or everyone in The Veil will learn about you and—”
Duffy slapped a hand over Saga’s mouth, the whites of his eyes showing. “Don’t say it! I’ll take you!”
Letting out a sigh of relief at Duffy’s strange capitulation, Grant sent Saga a nod of appreciation. She ignored it of course, contrary woman, but he knew from this moment on, he’d do his best to be more tolerant towards her and Rosetta.
Duffy shot Saga a mean look before raising his hands to the sky. Demon lords knew spells and magics that the rest of the Veil was uncomfortable with. Everyone shifted slightly as the demon somehow ripped a hole in the fabric of space and time. He entered the tear, dragging the group with him.
In mere moments, Grant found himself in front of the shack. Nausea churned his stomach, but he fought down the urge to hurl. Ricky didn’t fare so well, leaning over behind a stack of firewood to puke. Saga glared at the bear, her face green.
Duffy was gone, which wasn’t surprising. If Saga had dirt on the demon, he’d want to be as far away from her as possible. Oh well, he shrugged, hopefully the demon wouldn’t close the bar and move somewhere else. He had a feeling he’d need a drink after this operation.
“Ma fouine is not inside,” Fallon stated once everyone either emptied their stomachs or controlled their nausea.
Grant slipped between Rosetta and one of the other Amazons to peer through the window. It was a mean, primitive room. It was more like a line shack than a cabin with only one room and the necessities to spend the night. It was hard to tell what had been in the room because everything in it had been destroyed.
“What’re we waiting on?” Rosetta asked impatiently, her sword in hand.
Lifting his foot, Grant kicked the door open. The smell of scorched wood scented the air. It was obvious the explosion they’d heard and felt in the woods had originated somewhere in this area, but the shack remained standing.
“Must’ve been warded,” Ricky muttered as he followed Grant into the house, pushing Saga aside.
Grant stood in the center of the room, breathing deep. The smell of bear was nearly overwhelming and combined with the acrid scent of smoke, it was almost impossible to distinguish other smells. Then he caught a whiff of rose. Isola. She’d been here.
Turning back to the others, Grant saw they were studying every part of the room, trying to pinpoint where Isola might have gone. Though he trusted the Amazons and Fallon to find his mate, it was the fairy that caught his eye.
She stood in the center of the shack, her eyes laser bright. “There’s a trapdoor in the corner.”
Everyone stopped, swiveling around to stare at the fairy walking towards the far corner of the shack. Grant arched an eyebrow at Saga, who shrugged.
Shikoba squatted down, moving things out of her way and sure enough, she uncovered a trapdoor. “I can’t tell how many are down there, but it’s a big tunnel,” she muttered as she traced the edges of the trapdoor.
Saga stepped forward and gently urged the fairy to her feet. “I need you to get out of here, ’Koba.” The Amazon’s eyes were steady and clear on the fairy. “Go back and tell Lucian about this. Council needs to know there’s more going on here than we originally thought.”
The fairy’s eyes were sharp as they studied Saga. “You also don’t want to have to tell Malachi you got me killed.”
“Um, right, ’cause your sister would kill us, and I’m not ready to die. Okay?”
Shikoba rolled her eyes. “Fine.” She glanced at Grant. “Good luck, minotaur.”
“Thank you, Shikoba,” Grant replied, bowing deeply.
“Kick some ass,” Shikoba told the Amazons, bumping knuckles with Rosetta before she disappeared into the dark shadows of the room.
Grant looked at the group left and nodded. This would do nicely for a rescue. Isola would be saved. Even now he could almost feel her through the fragile bond she’d forged with him.
“Let’s go get her.”
* * * *
Izzy ducked and rolled across the wide corridor, just barely missing the hand that swept down at her. Heart thumping as adrenaline coursed through her body, she pushed to her feet and prepared to defend herself.
It was the female, a nymph if her appearance was any indication. Izzy blinked. This little bit of thing had defeated Dov?
“So you’re the one my sisters were talking about,” the nymph said as her golden brown eyes assessed Izzy coolly.
Feigning indifference, Izzy relaxed against the wall. “You mean the brainless wonders? Yeah, I’ve had the pleasure of wiping the floor with them.”
The nymph didn’t rise to the bait. If anything, the look in her eyes said she agreed with Izzy, which was a shocker for sure. She let her eyes drift to the darkened corridor behind the nymph, wondering if Dov was dead. And what did the two of them want Grant for anyway?
“You were a part of the equation I didn’t take into account,” Avyn said conversationally as she summoned a ball of fire. It hovered above her hand, the flames greedily licking at the air. “The minotaur would have been easily controlled if you hadn’t interfered.”
Izzy snorted. “You obviously don’t know Grant.” She shifted slightly, letting her body loosen. She had a feeling this little conversation wouldn’t last much longer and she wanted to be prepared for the upcoming fight. “The imps were a surprise.”
A cool smile curled the nymph’s lips. “I wish I could take credit for that, but the bear came up with that disaster.”
“And where is Dov?”
One of her auburn eyebrows rose. “So you know him. I wondered why he was making off with you.” She cocked her head to the side. “Are you his missing mate?”
“Um, no.” Izzy balanced on the balls of her feet. “As far as I know, Dov doesn’t have a mate.”
“That’s a shame. It would’ve been fun to torture you for him. Ah well, the best laid plans and all that.” She gave a negligent flick of her hand, sending the ball of fire shooting towards Izzy.
Izzy, ready for the attack, sprang away from the wall, just barely avoiding being lit up like a Christmas tree. She was weaponless and sore from Dov’s rough handling, but there was no way she’d let a nymph do her in. It would be like dying at the paws of the Easter Bunny. She was not going out like that. Hells no.
