I gave up my last resistance, thinking, “Do what you will, this is my fight, and I will surrender to it.”
With one terrifying shriek, the forces that we had built rose up, and I opened my mouth, letting them rush out on my breath, toward the Demon Lord, and then…I knew no more.
Menolly
THERE WERE ONLY five of the daemons left as Camille began making her move. The Keraastar Knights followed, spreading out into a V. Chase was directly behind her, then Shamas and Venus, then Tanne and Bran, Amber and Luke, and finally, Clyde and Lisa.
As I watched in horror, they approached Shadow Wing head-on. The magic was so thick around them, it was difficult to tell what was happening, but Camille was holding up the unicorn horn and her dagger. Sparks were spiraling around both, a nimbus of crackling blue and purple. In fact, her entire body seemed to be surrounded by a web of magical threads that wove and rewove themselves. A wail of wind rose up, gusting by with so much force that it almost knocked me off my feet, and the skies clouded over, unleashing a torrent.
I wanted to run to her, to push her out of the way, but I couldn’t move. This was it. This was our chance. And whatever happened, I had to let happen. Trillian joined me as Morio and Wilbur stood to the side, waiting to help in whatever aftermath was to follow.
And then, amidst the massive storm, a jagged fork of lightning shot out of both the horn and the dagger, aiming for Shadow Wing’s soul receptacles. I tensed, waiting and watching as the attack landed square on. A massive web of light began to spread out as the receptacles shattered, and then, as though fueling a giant internal furnace, Shadow Wing’s body began to crack. It was as though he were porcelain, hit by a hammer. Tongues of flame emerged from between the cracks and I realized what was going to happen.
“Run! Get out of there!” I screamed at Camille,, but my words were drowned by the gale storm that the unicorn horn had summoned. The ground was still trembling beneath our feet, and as I tried to run forward, a tremor hit hard and knocked me down. I forced myself to my hands and knees as the ground rolled beneath me.
The lights emanating from between the cracks on Shadow Wing’s body grew so bright I could barely watch. I shaded my eyes, thinking that it was as bright as the sun, and then I realized that my skin was blistering. I had to find cover. I looked around for anything behind which I could shield myself and saw one of the giant charcoal stumps that was in the circle. It was wide enough to protect me from the light so I made a mad dash for it, sliding behind it just in time.
Delilah
SHADOW WING’S SOUL receptacles were gone, but it wasn’t over yet. His body was breaking up. I saw Menolly scrambling for cover as I stood, turning away from Smoky, but Camille and the Keraastar Knights were in the direct path. Frantic, I began to run toward her, but Shade caught me, twisting my arm as he pulled me back.
“You can’t survive that. Let me go,” he said, thrusting me behind him. I screamed at him but he just shook his head and, running, he headed for my sister. I wanted to follow him, but I knew better—he’d just worry about me. I held my breath, watching, and suddenly felt someone beside me. Glancing down, I saw a leopard by my side.
“Arial!” My twin had come to help. She could only appear in her spirit leopard form, but she was here with us at the end. She bobbed her head, then bounced after Shade.
The light from Shadow Wing had grown too bright to look at, and I saw that Camille and the Knights were trying to scatter. Shade was almost there, but he wasn’t going to make it in time. The next moment, Chase grabbed Camille and threw her out of the way as a giant explosion rocked the clearing, setting off yet another quake. The massive pillars of the Demon Gate rocked precariously and then began to fall as the Demon Lord exploded into pieces, fire pouring out from his core. He was a creature of fire, and fire was his blood and life force.
Camille rolled to the ground, pulling the unicorn hide cloak over her body. The Knights scattered, but with all the smoke and flames roiling through the area I couldn’t see if they’d all made it to safety. The ground rocked again, toppling trees around the clearing, and then…everything was still except for the sounds of the torrential rain beating down on the flames as they crackled under the sodden night.
Camille
MY HEAD WAS still ringing with the sound of the explosion. I blinked, trying to sit up, but everything felt catawampus. I managed to push myself to a sitting position and shoved the hide away from where I’d covered my head. It was covered with a fine ash, and I stared at that, wondering where it had come from. Then I glanced over to where Shadow Wing had been standing, and I realized that the ash was from him.
He was gone. He was truly gone. I had expected to feel victorious, to jump up and scream with joy, but all I could feel was a hollow ache inside. I blinked, looking around, trying to figure out what was going on. Delilah was coming toward me, saying something, but I couldn’t hear her. I pointed toward my ears and shook my head, and she paused, then nodded and reached down, grabbing me up by the arm. Tears were streaming down her cheeks and I knew something was wrong.
“What happened? What’s going on?” I glanced around, wondering if I had been wrong about Shadow Wing. Was he still alive? But then she was leading me over toward the edge of the Circle. The area was far too reminiscent of Elqaneve during the siege, and I shuddered as we passed body after body of the daemon guards.
As we approached Trenyth, he was kneeling on the ground, and beside him was Smoky. For the first time since I’d met my dragon prince, he was covered in blood. Then I realized the blood was his, and part of his arm was missing. I began to scream, falling to my knees in the mud-laden clearing as the rain pounded down around me.
Trillian was there, and he grabbed me, shaking me.
Delilah said something to him that I couldn’t hear, and he took my hand and put it on Smoky’s wrist, where I could feel a faint pulse.
“He’s still alive?” I asked.
Trillian nodded, and I burst into fresh tears, hanging my head. He was alive, and that was what counted. Then Delilah tapped me on the shoulder. I was loath to leave Smoky’s side, but I let her lead me over to where Menolly was standing with a somber expression on her face.
Shade was tending to Venus, who had burns over the left side of his face, and Nerissa was tending to Tanne, who was also wounded. At that moment, out of the forest surrounding the clearing, I saw Derisa appear, several of the priestesses from the grove behind her. They entered the circle and immediately began helping to tend to the wounded.
But Delilah turned me around. She was still crying as she led me over to one side where Shade’s duster was laid out open on the ground. On the coat were Chase and Shamas, both still, heavily burned. I looked back at Delilah and she shook her head.
They were dead.
An image flashed into my head. Shadow Wing was looming over me, the light from his wounds blinding me, and then somebody had pushed me out of the way before the explosion.
Chase— Chase had saved my life.
I began to shake, the numbness cracking, and the tears turned into a torrent, and then into silence as I dropped to my knees between the two men, staring up into the rain as it pounded down, extinguishing the flames. After a long moment, I began to speak. I couldn’t even hear if I was actually talking aloud or just mouthing the words, but tradition held true and I would honor it for my cousin and my dear friend.
But as I began to speak, Delilah and Menolly were kneeling beside me, taking my hands as we recited the prayer to the dead.
“What was life has crumbled. What was form, now falls away. Mortal chains unbind and the soul is lifted free. May you find your way to the ancestors. May you find your path to the gods. May your bravery and courage be remembered in song and story. May your parents be proud, and may your children carry your birthright. Sleep, and wander no more.”
As I fell silent, the only thing I could think was that we had defeated Shadow Wing, but we had paid with blood and with loss.
; Chapter 13
Menolly: One Year Later
I LOOKED AROUND the Wayfarer at the bustling crowds filling the booths and tables. I missed the place. I missed the smell of the booze, the smell of the food being grilled, I missed greeting people and hanging out and even the occasional bar fight. But those days were long gone, and it was time to move on. I turned back to Derrick, who was watching me expectantly.
“You’re finding it hard to give this up, aren’t you?” The werebadger understood how I felt. He had been with me several years now, and he had become a friend as well as an employee.
I nodded. “Harder than I thought it would be. When I first came over here, I didn’t know what to expect. And they stuck me in the bar, which was run by Jocko at the time. And then he was killed, and everything snowballed from there. It’s been a whirlwind, especially since the bar burned down and had to be rebuilt.”
I looked around again. “You’re doing a really good job of keeping her up. She looks wonderful, Derrick. I trust you to take care of her for me.” I pulled the documents to me, scanning them once more. Once I signed these, the Wayfarer would belong to Derrick, lock, stock and barrel, including the portal in the basement. My sisters and I had pulled some strings and he now worked for the Otherworld Intelligence Agency, which had undergone a great deal of change since the war in Otherworld. But he would do a good job, and we could trust him.
He handed me the pen. “Are you sure you want to do this? I know this is your baby. And I know how many memories you have here. I don’t want to take those away from you.”
I took the pen, staring at the sleek black barrel of it. “You can’t take them away from me—nothing can. It’s stupid of me to keep it, when I can’t even get down here most days. The Wayfarer deserves better than that. She deserves someone who can love her and watch over her on a daily basis. And you’re the only one I really feel comfortable handing it over to.”
I scribbled my name across the bottom line, and then on the next page. The woman sitting next to me was a notary public. I had brought her with me for this express purpose. She watched as he signed, and then she put her signature to the deed as well, indicating that she had witnessed the transfer. And then it was done. Derrick owned the Wayfarer.
My heart hurt, but I also was happy. I was happy for Derrick, and I was happy for the bar. I slid off the stool, waving at him as I headed for the door.
“Don’t you want one last bottle of blood for the road?” he called after me.
I shook my head, glancing over my shoulder. “Nerissa and I leave for the UK in a few hours. We need to finish packing for the trip.” I saluted him, forcing a smile to my lips that I didn’t feel. “Take care of her for me, I’m counting on you.”
“You can drink me dry if I don’t!”
As I headed out into the night, I took one last look at the bar, and then straightening my shoulders, I headed for my car.
NERISSA WAS WAITING for me. I was grateful to see that she had packed for both of us. She was good at those sort of things, whereas I wasn’t. She gave me a kiss, pulling me into her arms and snuggling me.
“Was it so very terrible?”
I shrugged. “It wasn’t easy, but we’ve been through worse. Far worse.” I closed my eyes, trying to rid myself of the images that still played from that fateful night. We had killed Shadow Wing, destroyed him for good, but the aftermath was still settling. There was no telling when things would feel back to normal. If ever.
“Roman’s waiting for us in London. He won’t be able to meet us at the airport, because it’s going to be about 1:00 p.m. when we get there, but I’ll make sure you’re protected as they take you out of the plane, and he’s arranged for several of his werepuma guards to meet us. They’ll arrange to drive us to the hotel.” She glanced through the stack of travel documents. “I think we’re good to go. Did you have a chance to say good-bye to Delilah and Camille?”
I hefted the suitcase off the bed and sat it next to the others. “Yes, we met out at Delilah’s. I cannot believe how big she’s getting. Not long, now. I wish I could be here for the birth—though frankly, I have no idea what kind of niece to expect, given she’s the daughter of an Elemental Lord. The gods know, Delilah’s going to be running ragged after her, I’ll bet.”
Nerissa nodded, then bit her lip. “How’s Astrid doing?”
I gave her a bleak look. “Astrid’s rebounding remarkably well. She was only about a year old when Chase died. She’s toddling around like a moppet now.” I leaned on the edge of the bed. “You know, when I first met Chase, I used to tease him. I’d scare the shit out of him because hey, it was easy and fun. And he was such a lecher at the time, chasing after Camille’s skirts. He’s lucky we didn’t beat his ass black and blue. But he came around. He actually grew into being a man I could respect and enjoy spending time with.”
Nerissa grinned. “Did you two ever…”
I stared at her for a moment, clueless, till she gave me a little wink. “Oh, hell no! No, Chase was not my type. I did sleep with Roz once, though it wasn’t nearly the sparks and fireworks we hoped for. Speaking of Roz, he’s supposed to drop by. He had something to tell me—apparently he already told Delilah and Camille.”
At that moment, I stopped when someone tapped on the door. Nerissa answered it, and Dolph escorted Rozurial in. After assuring Dolph that we would be just fine left alone, he retreated.
Roz sat down on the loveseat, his long hair pulled back in a ponytail. He was sans his walking armory status. “They swiped my duster at the door. They’d better not pilfer through it.”
I laughed. “You’ll get your duster back, doofus. They can’t let you into the ‘Princesses’ Palace’ when you’re wearing more ammo than anybody needs.”
“True that.” He paused, glancing at the suitcases. “So, you’re headed out soon?”
“Yeah, we’ll be touring the UK. Since our Vamp-Human mutual appreciation gig went over so well in the US, and since it’s almost a guarantee that the Vampire Rights Act is going to pass this year, no small thanks to our efforts, Blood Wyne asked us to take on Europe. First stop: the UK for two weeks, visiting ten cities around England, Ireland, and Scotland. I want to make a stop at Stonehenge. Camille asked me to take something over to the Merlin for her.”
This was going to be my first trip overseas and I was excited about it. Which actually seemed silly, given I had traveled between worlds to get to Seattle in the first place. But I was looking forward to the trip.
Nerissa and I had spent five months on the road over the past year, and it had been good for us, and good for our connection with Roman. He had found a girlfriend who had fallen hard for him—Valentina, his assistant when he was dealing with the Harriman issue. While Blood Wyne forbade him to marry a third time, she had no objections to him seeing her on the side. And neither did Nerissa nor I. If she could make him truly happy and feel truly loved, then we were all for it.
“You have news for us?” I asked.
He nodded. “Yeah, I know you’re in a hurry to get to the airport. I tried to get here earlier, but the traffic was nuts. So…I’m going back home to Otherworld.”
I stared at him. He had been part of our life for five years, since he had stumbled into us on the hunt for Dredge. He had fought alongside us in every battle. And now…
“You’re leaving?” I swallowed the lump rising in my throat. “Why?”
“Because there’s nothing left for me to do here. Everybody is moving on with their lives, and it’s time for me to do so, as well.” He looked like he was about to burst. “I’ve got incredible news.”
“What?” I was ready for just about anything, given all that had happened.
“I talked to Pentangle the night of the siege on Shadow Wing. She agreed to put in a request for an audience with Zeus and Hera. After all these hundreds of years, they’ve agreed to remove the curse they laid on Fraale and me.”
I stared at him. Roz had never expected to ever be able to reunite with his
wife, even though she had longed for the day since they were first swept apart.
“You’re kidding?”
“No. In a few days, I’ll be back to the Fae farmer I once was, and so will Fraale. And we’re going to return to the hills of Otherworld and buy a house and settle in. We’ll be together again.” His voice cracked and he hung his head. “I never thought this day would come. I kept telling Fraale to get over me, that there was no hope. But finally, hope has come. And so we’re going to give it another chance.”
I sat down on the bed, stupefied. “You’re joking, right? I mean, it’s been hundreds of years. How can—do you really want to go back to who you were? How can you, after all this time?”
Nerissa poked my arm. “Menolly, what kind of question is that?”
Roz raised his gaze to meet mine. “Look, I never asked to be an incubus. I learned how to cope with it, but it’s not who I am by birth. It’s not my nature. Fraale was my heart, until we were cursed. Now, we’re getting a do-over. We get another chance to make it work. How can I not try? And if it doesn’t work out, well, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Life’s too short to be afraid. Any moment, a Demon Lord can pop out of the woodwork and lay you flat.”
I knew he was thinking of Chase, and how he had never gotten to be with the woman he loved. “Yeah, all right. I get it. I don’t want to lose you, Roz, but you need to follow your heart. Don’t be a stranger, okay? Bring Fraale over to visit. If you have kids, bring them along.”
We hugged, Nerissa murmuring her best wishes, and he headed out. As the door shut behind him, I felt one more surety in our lives vanish, off into the future.
“Our lives are shifting right before our eyes,” I said, staring at the door.
“New adventures, new friends, new enemies. You know that it’s not really an ending, Menolly. We’re growing up and moving on. Just think—we get to spend six months traveling through Europe. And look at what Erin and Wade have done—the Vampire Rights Act isn’t passing just because of our tour, but thanks to the incredible amount of work they’ve done on it.”
Blood Bonds Page 17
