Immortal Brother Where Art Thou (The Immortality Curse Book 4)

by Peter Glenn

  I dodged to the side, but he still managed to nick me on the side of the head and more of my own precious blood spilled as a fresh wave of nausea threatened to overtake me. It seemed the copious amounts of alcohol I’d imbibed were finally trying to have their way with me. And locked in a heated battle, no less.

  With one more heave, Grax’thor came free just in time for me to block another downward thrust. The blow sent me reeling backward a half step, and it was all I could do to keep from falling over and vomiting my stomach’s contents onto the ground.

  Dog Ears let out a low howl and jumped down from the top of the car, swinging wildly with his sword all the while.

  I brought my own weapon to bear once more, fending off his strikes, but I could start to feel my strength waning. I’d need a miracle, and soon, or I was going to be done for.

  A yell from off to my left distracted me for a half second, and I spun my head to see what it was. Bad move. Dog Ears took full advantage and scored another blow, this time right across my chest.

  More blood poured down my chest as I mourned the loss of yet another Duran Duran t-shirt. Why was it always the Duran Duran shirts that got torn open in battle? It was starting to get uncanny.

  Still, they were my favorite band, so I couldn’t just stop wearing them.

  With a scream of pain on my own lips, I hurled myself forward, lunging low and under Dog Ears’ guard. At the last moment, I turned Grax’thor upward, sending the tip of my sword into the tender skin of one of his thighs.

  Another tear opened up along Dog Ears’ body, this one wider than before, as a hail of blood droplets flew off my sword and out of the wound, darkening the ground beneath us.

  Dog Ears yelped again and went into full retreat, bounding over a nearby car to try and get away from me.

  “Oh, come on!” I whined. I couldn’t let him get away from me. I had to find out who’d sent him and why, otherwise there were sure to be others just like him coming after us. They’d keep coming until we were dead or I found their base. I just knew it.

  Feeling more than a little weary and sick from the booze and the fresh wounds, I stumbled after Dog Ears. I had no idea if I could catch up to him or not—even wounded, he seemed much more limber than I—but I had to do my best.

  I attempted to jump over the same car he did, only half-succeeding as my butt crashed into the hood with a loud thud. Another car alarm blared to life in response as I half-fell, half-stumbled off the car’s hood and back onto my feet.

  The world swam in front of my eyes once more as I tried to regain focus and find where Dog Ears had gotten off to. Thankfully, he hadn’t traveled far. The car alarm had disabled him again, if only for a moment, and he was only twenty or so feet away.

  Groaning from the effort, I ran for him. In the same instant, he got up and continued his retreat. But the leg injury was having its intended effect, and he was limping quite severely, hampering his ability to flee.

  We met up again shortly after near a large Land Rover. My blade whizzed through the air, aiming for his sword arm. The blow came up empty as Dog Ears dodged underneath, but at least it slowed him down.

  Dog Ears slashed for my midsection again, and I danced backward as the exertion threatened to make me topple over. Thankfully, his attack was no more successful than mine had been.

  My opponent’s lips curled into a half snarl, and he growled at me, then he advanced once again, coming in low. I managed to ward off the attack with a well-timed swing of my blade, but only barely, and the move forced me backward into the side of another large SUV.

  I heard the sound of crunching metal behind me as I slammed into the door, then a slight ringing in my ears from the impact.

  Dog Ears once again took full advantage and tried another swipe at my head.

  But it’s true what they say about old dogs and new tricks, and this attempt wasn’t any better than the last. I brought my own weapon in front of me, and the weapons clanged as they clashed in the air.

  I lunged forward once again, tucking my head in low and slamming it into Dog Ears’s torso.

  Dog Ears let out another howl as both of us tumbled forward, smacking hard into the Land Rover. It held up better than the SUV behind me had, but I still felt the door cave in as our combined weight wreaked havoc on its passenger door.

  With my free hand, I pummeled Dog Ears in the kidney area and got a satisfying yelp out of it. At the same time, I tried to bring Grax’thor around for another strike, but we were so close to one another that I was having trouble maneuvering the blade.

  Plus, my gut was threatening to abscond with its contents once more, and it was all I could do just to hold onto consciousness while continually smacking my opponent.

  Dog Ears’s blade clattered to the ground a second later as I scored a glancing hit on his elbow, then I jabbed at his kidney again to send more pain through his body.

  Victory was finally in my grasp. Just a little more, then I could tie him up and see who’d sent him. Just another punch or two to the gut, and he’d finally fold.

  But something happened. Dog Ears moved quicker than should have been possible and shoved with both hands, and once again, I slammed into the SUV behind us, leaving another dent in my wake.

  I groaned and stars swam in my muddled vision, threatening to overtake me. I felt Grax’thor fall out of my sweaty grip, and I suddenly knew I was done for.

  Well, at least I’d had some fun along the way. I’d never get to make up with LaLuna fully, but that’s the breaks.

  I saw Dog Ears advance on me. His chest was heaving, and he looked worse than I did, but somehow, he was still standing. With one smooth motion, he knelt down and picked up his sword, then he advanced on me.

  “Go ahead,” I spat at him through labored breaths. “Do it.”

  Dog Ears’s face split into a wicked grin, then raised his blade. I closed my eyes and waited, but the blow never came.

  A second later, I heard Dog Ears let out one last, ear-splitting wail and the thud of a body hitting the ground, then it was done.

  I pried one eye open as I slumped over and practically spilled onto the ground. I could just barely make out a fresh, not-even-breathing-hard Taio standing over the body of Dog Ears, his bloodied katana in his hands.

  Dog Ears was no longer moving, and a large pool of blood was forming underneath him, slowly spreading out from a massive chest wound.

  “That is why you should not drink heavily, brother,” Taio said through terse lips.

  Darkness was threatening to overtake me as the adrenaline left my body, but I held on to consciousness as best I could, falling to my knees but managing just barely to stay awake.

  “Damn it, brother,” I admonished him, coughing and wheezing. “Why’d you have to go and do that?”

  10

  Taio balked. “Do what, brother? Save you from certain doom?”

  “Pssh!” I tried to summon the strength to get back to my feet, but it wasn’t coming. Great. I wasn’t going to look very stern or commanding on my knees. “I totally had the guy!”

  I didn’t, but I wasn’t about to admit that to Taio. What can I say? I wasn’t above being petty with my older brother. But you probably knew that by now.

  Taio tsked. “Brother, he very clearly was going to kill you if I hadn’t intervened in time.”

  Gah, I hated how clear and formal he could talk even in the middle of life and death situations. Couldn’t he be just a little riled up? Even when he’d beaten me in the past, it had all been even-tempered words. He’d never yelled or raised his voice.

  “Now, this is for your own good, brother,” he would say. Or my favorite, “Surely you must have known this was coming, Li.” Oh, I really hated that one. Or “I wish we didn’t have to do this again, brother.” That one was reserved for when I screwed up the same way multiple times in a row. Which was more often than it should have been.

  A sad, twisted part of me wondered just which one he’d use to scold me today. Because a scolding
was totally coming.

  “Didn’t you catch any of that battle?” I said, coughing once more. “I had him right where I wanted him.”

  Taio took a step closer. His expression was a mix of scorn and confusion. “I did see the battle, brother. Or at least part of it.” He scoffed. “To be honest, not your best work.”

  “Pfft.” I shot him a dirty glare and placed a hand on my hip. “I bet you couldn’t fight this well half drunk.”

  He tsked again and came forward more until he was nearly on top of me. Then he crouched down so our eyes were on the same level. “We’ll never know, brother, for I wouldn’t get drunk before a battle.”

  I wanted to mimic his words back at him in a mocking tone, but I stayed quiet. I was already beat. I didn’t need another beating on top of it.

  “Yeah, well, you still screwed it all up,” I told him, feeling just a little too haughty as I did it.

  Taio furrowed his brow and straightened so I’d have to look upwards to see him. It was one of his little power moves. “I fail to see how I ruined anything.”

  I put all my effort into pushing myself upright. Finally, I succeeded. The world was also starting to swim a little less. No doubt my improved healing was going to work, fixing me. Within an hour or so, I wouldn’t even feel buzzed anymore.

  Dusting myself off, I looked him right in the eyes. I still had to look up, but only a little. “You killed him, that’s what! How are we supposed to find out who he was now?”

  Taio shrugged and moved over to Dog Ears’s corpse. He rummaged around in the guy’s pockets for a minute and pulled out what looked to be a wallet.

  “Eric Thompson,” Taio read, rifling through the contents of Dog Ears’s wallet and stopping on what I presumed was his ID. “Resident of Perth. Born 1983.”

  “Humph.” Okay, I should have thought of that. Most people carried an ID. “But we still don’t know who sent him or why. It could have been almost anyone.”

  Taio rifled through another few objects in Eric’s wallet and produced another card that had the dude’s picture on it. “Armond Huistad Security ID badge. It would appear he works for what I presume to be a local security firm.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Okay, so that’s probably who sent him. But that still doesn’t tell us anything. Why was he after us? Who hired the firm? Who wants us dead? We’ll never figure it out now.”

  My brother frowned at me for a moment, then came back over to where I was standing and patted me on the cheek. “Undoubtedly, someone that doesn’t want us finding Bao,” he said in his smarmy, too-self-assured voice. “It’s simple deductive reasoning. They told us to turn back in Ravensdale, and we didn’t listen, so now they’re after us in force.” A smile crept onto his face. “You really should try and keep up.”

  I wanted to spit in his cocky little face. Would have done me good if I had. Maybe shown him a thing or two. But I didn’t. I just nodded and stayed silent. My brother was right. Again. Worse, he was always right. And I’d kind of suspected as much anyway, so it wasn’t really earth-shattering news.

  Part of me did wonder where on earth they’d found such an odd assassin, though. Just what was he, anyway?

  “Everything all right?” LaLuna asked as she came into view. She stopped short when she eyed the dead body of Eric Thompson lying on the ground and made a wincing motion, then pointed at the dead body. “A dead fae?”

  So Eric was fae? Well, that explained a lot. I hated fighting the fae. They could be so unfair. But what was a fae doing taking a contract to kill humans? They usually left us alone.

  LaLuna scrunched her nose. “What’s a dead fae doing here?”

  “It’s a long story,” both Taio and I said in unison. It should have been one of those cool bonding moments, but Taio just scowled at me and turned his head instead.

  Asshat.

  “Don’t worry about it. The threat is gone. For now, at least.” I glared over at my brother, but he said nothing. Surely he still thought he was in the right for killing the guy.

  “Are you okay?” LaLuna asked as she looked me over, and her face started to pale.

  I waved her off. “Just dandy. Nothing that won’t heal in a day or so.”

  LaLuna grimaced. “We should at least get you cleaned up in a bathroom or something.”

  “Good call.” I gave her the best smile I could muster, which wasn’t much.

  “Yes,” my brother interjected, “it wouldn’t do to have blood spilled on the car we rented.”

  Just like him to think about a stupid thing like a cleaning bill on a rental car when his brother had almost been killed a few minutes earler. Still, I supposed I had kind of shrugged it off, so maybe I deserved it.

  Ugh, now he had me thinking I deserved the way he treated me. Will the horrors never cease?

  “Right, we wouldn’t want that,” I said in a sarcastic tone, rolling my eyes. But my brother seemed to miss that, too.

  “Agreed,” Taio said with a nod. “We’re already going to have to pay something for all the damages. I’d hate to add a cleaning bill.” His tone lowered. “Good thing I got the rental insurance, though I’m not sure insurance covers armed combat.”

  “Oh, come on, he attacked me first!” I whined.

  “Do you really think that argument is going to hold up now that he’s dead?” Taio asked. I could feel the anger washing over him as he started to fume.

  “Maybe?” I huffed. “What car did you rent for us anyway?”

  Taio’s eyes darted toward the Land Rover behind me. The one I’d smashed Eric into earlier. “That one.”

  Holy hell. I thought I’d escaped his wrath, but I would soon be wrong. There was going to be a scolding, after all.

  Taio pulled a set of keys out of his pocket and pressed a button, and the Land Rover beeped. He shook his head and said something under his breath that I didn’t catch.

  “Let’s just try to put all this behind us, shall we?” LaLuna offered.

  I nodded, coughing once more as I slunk toward the Land Rover, clutching my side. “Yes, please.”

  Taio had been quiet enough at the rental place, even when the employees and the cops had come to deal with the aftermath of the battle. Too quiet. It shouldn’t have shocked me when the scolding finally came. LaLuna had gone into to the hotel he’d booked to secure our rooms for the night, and that’s when it had happened.

  The tongue lashing had been brutal. All about how I should have known better, and if I’d just be a decent warrior for once, I could have easily overcome the guy with no issues and no harm to any of the vehicles.

  Of course, I also heard a full earful just on what the cost of the damages would set him back. And all of it in his deadpan, even tone.

  Pfft. Like the money really mattered in the long run. Taio was loaded. Everyone in my family was. Well, except for me. Everyone else seemed to have inherited the money-saving gene. Why it forsook me, I guess I’d never know, but all of my family members had enough money for ten lifetimes. Maybe more.

  But at least there hadn’t been a beating this time. Whether that was because LaLuna had shown up in time to keep it from happening or not, I had no real way to know, but hey, I’d take it.

  Now we were on our way out to the Delta Fox office in Julimar National Forest. We’d already crossed the forest boundary and been granted permission to traverse it as we desired, so long as we never strayed from any of the paths.

  I’d had no intention of doing that, anyway. My last trip to the fae realm had fully cured me of ever wanting to cross a fae ever again.

  “How much further to the building?” LaLuna asked.

  She was hanging in the back seat with me. I’d taken the seat with the door that was partially caved in. I felt like I needed to take it, seeing as the damage was my fault and all. Besides, it meant I could sit all that much closer to LaLuna. Even if she was still being a little stand-offish.

  “Not long now,” Taio called back. He tapped on the GPS monitor next to the steering wheel. “Th
is device says about two minutes.”

  “Don’t you think we should be seeing it by now if we’re that close?” I asked.

  Taio tapped the monitor again. “Unlike some humans, these devices never lie.”

  I just knew that was a dig at me. Seemed he hadn’t forgiven me just yet. I shrugged it off anyway. “Still, it’s supposed to be a pretty large building, you’d think we’d–”

  My words trailed off as we rounded a particularly harsh bend in the road and the massive structure finally came into view.

  The trees in the forest were tall—some of them easily a hundred feet or more. But the Delta Fox office was taller still, standing well above even the tallest of the trees that surrounded it.

  It was made mostly of gleaming glass, held together by a skeleton of metal beams. A large, rectangular base, easily the size of three football fields put together, made up the bulk of the structure. A circular column rose out of the middle of the base, the sides of which curled upward in a slight spiral pattern, swirling towards some no doubt glorious point at the top that I couldn’t quite see. The clouds blocked out the very top of the column. Around it all stood a rather imposing wall, closing the structure in on all sides, stretching out as far as the eye could see to both the left and right. The wall was at least twelve feet high and probably four feet thick. There was barbed wire at the top of it, though I figured that was mostly for show. Certainly they had some sort of magical defenses that made the barbed wire moot.

  An ornate, almost decorative gate loomed before us with a small guard post next to it in which a singular guard sat, reading what I assumed was the morning’s paper.

  At our arrival, the guard rushed out of the gate, coming over to meet our vehicle. He had black hair that was graying at the temples and a nose that was just a little too big for his face. His uniform was gray as well, head to toe, including a cap that was placed in a precarious position on his round head, liable to fall off at any moment.

  “Name, company name, and reason for visiting, please,” the guard said in a heavy Australian accent. He was carrying some sort of clipboard that he brought out and balanced against his chest. A pen in his other hand sat hovering just above it.